"Raarg!" Terra roared as her tomahawk hacked a skeleton to bits. These things were easy to kill, but it always seemed like she ran into swarms of them. She could count off at least twelve with a quick glance, and an unknown about more coming into the halls. Twirling her weapons, Terra get herself pumped up as she charged into the horde.

"U͝r͝g͝h, wh͝at is̸ that́ ͡n͘o͢i̸se?"

The demon opened his eyes weakly. The sound of bones getting chopped and smashed was something he hadn't heard in a long time, not since he first came into these catacombs. He cleared up a hard-to-reach, upper area that probably served as some sort of ventilation (why a bunch of catacombs had ventilation eluded him) as his little personal demon lair.

Ever since the civilians of the nearby village of Widds chased Adell out over a murder blamed on him, he spent his time hidden here. He only went out to get food, a hard enough business as it was. He couldn't raid the crops, and hunting in the post-apocalyptic world was difficult. There were those normal folk (physically, perhaps not mentally) that attacked him out of hatred, to which he would never admit to cannibalising their remains. He did, but he never would dare admit it.

Adell peeked his head out from the his hiding spot, his horns and white hair first showing up from the edge of his vantage point before his glowing, emotionless red eyes. A woman, a tall one with a skintone mixed between orcish grey and the light pink of an average human's colouration, was surrounded by a bunch of skeletons. When the demons rose, the dead had to come along for the ride too, bemoaned quite a number of people Adell met.

Was she a treasure hunter? What sort of girl considered the magical trinkets of ancient history more important than her life? This woman looked tall, and definitely had the muscle implying a seasoned warrior, but he wondered if she could survive long enough to unravel the treasures.

His back appendages twitched. He wasn't sure what they did, even after more than 400 years of being like this. An former friend of his once compared it to a dog's tail, and found that his knife couldn't penetrate the carapace that had grown on his spine where these appendages spawned from.

Adell kept an eye on the circumstances below him. Death was so commonplace now, even in a world lacking people, that the world would feel nothing if this woman was cut down by skeletons. Perhaps he would feel nothing if she died.

"N̸o rįs͢k̵, no re͜war̢d.̡ That is probably what she thinks." His words skipped across Demonic and landed in Common. His Common wasn't as good as it used to be, but he hoped never to forget it.

A little blip in his heart said a little phrase.

"Ḑon't ̵le̶t̀ ͘t͡his̨ gir̷l d͝i̷e͟ th̸i͠s d̨ay."

Skeletons were no threat to Terra. While she did suffer a few cuts and bruises from their weapons, ultimately the skeletons were elimiated by a mixture of Terra's attacks and the traps previously set in the ruins meant to ward off invaders. Terra had been able to navigate through the traps safely, the same could not have been said for the skeletons chasing her. She made use of a swinging pendulum trap she had previously encountered and avoided it's blades long enough to by pass them entirely. The horde of skeletons followed her, ignorant to the old rusty but still very much deadly blades that swung infinitely. None made it through alive. After collecting what little valuables they had on them, Terra resumed her exploration of the ruins, this time using her crossbow instead of her main two weapons in order to maximize the damage she can do with a sneak attack.

Crouching low to the ground Terra slowly made her way through the corridors. She spied more skeletons standing guards, seemingly awaiting for her arrival. They walked around aimlessly, paroling a hallway with nothing of noteworthy value inside. Loading an explosive bolt, Terra waited until the skeletons grouped together before she sent it flying, destroying five and and setting the last two on fire.

But it was than that a trap had sprung unknowingly on Terra. The walls behind her bang to violently close on themselves, and would do the same to her if she did not avoid them. Terra sprang forward and barely managed to prevent herself from becoming flatten. She had immediately loaded another exploding crossbow bolt to finish off the other two skeletons, had she not been aware of an even greater threat.

Just at the end of the hall was some sort of creature chained to a monument. It seemed that in all the commotion, the creature had awakened. When Terra revealed herself, the creature looked at her with a ghastly visage before breaking free of it's bonds. From there the monstrous being roared so loudly that it caused dust to fall from the ceiling, and shattered the remaining skeletons. The monster was a demon, who was sealed in stone up till very recently. Terra did not hesitate to shoot an exploding bolt at the demon, landing it it's chest. This one was made with ice magic, and caused solid ice to cover the demon. But the demon caused an explosion of fire from it's body, clearing the ice as soon as it began to cover the demon. "Telr lyrmdih!" Terra quickly put away her crossbow and wielded her axe and dagger, ready for the monster to attack.

The girl's actions were masterful, as if this sort of solo expeditions were part of her mundane activities. Adell sneaked a grin to himself as he watched the skeletons sliced up by the pendulum blades. He had mapped out most of the place in his head, but this tomb raider reacted quickly to their appearances and used it to her advantage.

He almost lost a part of his back appendages when he first saw them. It was something he'd rather not go through again.

He crawled along the ventilation shafts, keeping her in his sight. When the walls and floor around him shook, he knew what trap she triggered. But a few explosions told him she was still alive.

At least, she would be until she met that demon. He didn't know his name, but it was someone that went mad from demonic corruption. Most would kill demons outright, but someone either had the decency or lacked the guts to put down this demon, and just sealed him up. Adell didn't do anything but the seal when he first saw the demon, but the girl must have accidentally unsealed it.

"S̀h͏e͡'̷s҉ g̸oìng ̡t̵o d̷ie."

He scurried to the corner of the shaft where he could see the fight between the two. The fight had just started, with neither of them worse for the wear. If she died, he would have something else to eat for a couple of days. Of course, he had to snatch it from that crazy demon.

He thought about it for a few moments, and shook his head. Helping that girl could pay off. Maybe if she was charitable, hiding here wasn't needed anymore. And if she was treasure-hunting, Adell knew of a few treasure spots where even the most experienced tomb raiders would not unravel.

"Two year of staying here will do that to I," he muttered to himself, somewhat amusedly. How long would it take for him to become sort of cavern-dwelling monster, he wondered. When one was a demon, Adell took some amusement in wondering how things could get worse for him. It was a way to cope.

He grasped a stray piece of rubble with his hand, trying to ascertain the arc he could throw it in. The movements of the two combatants threw his plans into a loop. The idea of hitting and stunning the girl made him hesitate, and hitting the demon seemed just as equally likely.

Adell tried a different plan.

"Sh̶è's͝ m͏ine!̸" The rough, harsh language of Demonic rolled off his tongue perfectly, drawing the attention of both the mad demon and the girl. Even as these demons lacked their sanity, they responded to Demonic long enough for an opening.

The rock bounced off the demon's head, cracking its skull.

"Now!" yelled Adell. He sat at the edge of the shaft, giving the girl a gaze of affirmation, as much as demonic eyes could. He just hoped that she wouldn't shoot him with the crossbow.

When the demon and Terra squared off, it was obvious that the demon had a physical advantage. Terra may have been an experienced fighter, but the demon's raw power was much greater than her own. Terra fought defensively, dodging, parrying, or otherwise avoiding harm the best she could. A direct blow from the demon would likely sunder her weapon at best, or tear through it and her at worse.

She sneaked in some stabs and cuts here and there, but unlike the skeletons the demon's hide was much sturdier. It took a heavy blow from her tomahawk for the demon to even wince at her attacks, and even as she slid her weapon across the demon's face it didn't so much as blink. Terra feared that she would need to escape, or hoped that the walls that closed behind her would open up again so she could use it to crush the demon.

As the fight drew on, Terra was beginning to tire. Her attacks didn't seem to be working and she could not play defensively for long since the demon showed no signs of letting up. But just as Terra was about to flee for her life, a demonic voice screeched out. Terra did a double check but could not ascertain the source of the voice, but she did notice a rock flying towards the demon's head, cracking it. The demon stumbled from the force of the blow and Terra took the opportunity to land a finishing blow. Building momentum with her axe Terra raised her weapon up and brought it down with her full weight onto the demon's cracked skull. The blade sunk deep into the demon's head and Terra let go of it. The demon flailed it's arms and tried to pull the weapon out, only to begin to bled profusely. The demon began to stumble, and Terra took this chance to land another blow. When the demon went down onto it's knee, Terra took her dagger and plunged it into the same crack in the demon's head. This time the body went limb, and soon turned to ash.

After retrieving her weapons Terra looted the ashes for treasure. Bits of gold and gems were inexplicably held in the ashes, and she could feel the magic pulsing from the jewels. She pocketed them for later, but before she would leave she looked around. "Zny ehi ayo?" She spoke out. That rock did not simply fall from the ceiling, it must have been thrown or propelled somehow. Someone or something was here, but she didn't know where. She checked the ceiling and while she did notice some places were someone could hide, she saw no one there. Terra was cautious now that she knows someone else is here, but she was not done yet. The demon was a mere obstacle towards her goal. She proceeded onwards, watching her surroundings carefully as she went into the lower levels.

The girl failed to notice Adell, but he surmised that his position was quite hard to identify when so few natural light sources existed in the catacombs. He saw her quite well, but he had the high ground. And she wasn't trying to remain hidden.

He continued alongside her in secret, but the winding ventilation shafts left him with a byzantine bunch of interconnecting mazes. Considering that she was descending into the lower levels, the demon couldn't keep up with her at this rate.

As she turned the corner and down a flight of stairs, Adell poked his head out from a ventilation shaft. He gently lowered himself down onto the same level as her with a soft thud, and peeked around the corner. There she was, the tomb raider.

And considering how she was marching blindly into the lower levels, the soon-to-be corpse. There was a reason why the people of Widds did not dare to chase him out of the catacombs. They always knew he was there, but the skeletons and even the occasional sealed demon was not what they feared.

Inside the catacombs was one of the gates of hell. The sort that brought this world to its knees. He recalled the flaming abyss that first appeared in his country, the desperation of his country's soldiers against the demons that spawned from it, the pain that shot through him for every second he was near it, and the leftovers of his nation when he woke up as a monster. It was almost 500 years ago, but those sorts of thoughts never left him.

She wouldn't see the gate immediately, but the larger amount of 'pure' demons (demons that were not previously races of this world) she would encounter on her way there would kill her. These gates did have magical artifacts, but one had to have some sort of protection, cure or immunity to the corruption it emitted. She probably did not.

He took in a deep, hesitant breath. What would this girl do if she saw a demon like him?

Without stepping out of his hiding spot, he yelled: "Don't go down! There's a demon gate!" Adell tried to sound as 'human' as he could, even as his voice crackled with the dry tone of a demonic accent.

It did not take long before Terra's stalker made revealed himself (Or at least his voice). Terra suddenly disappeared, hidden in the small shadows of the lower reaches. Even if the voice was the one that helped her, it's cracked demon accent made her immediately distrustful. "Erydnih tilyr." Terra had vanished, which was helpful when as she wanted to find the mysterious voice and ascertain if it was a threat. It was also helpful because at the same moment, a few demons came to investigate. They would not be able to find Terra, as they were actually looking for the source of demonic energy that was not familiar to them. Though the voice had been here for quite some, the demons themselves have awakened fairly recently and never left, at least until Terra had killed the demon on the first floor. It's death alerted the others of an intruder.

As the demons began to investigate, one appeared right in front of the mysterious voice, only momentarily unaware of his presence, but as soon as he was discovered violence would be had.

There was silence. The footsteps of the girl had ceased. She had probably paused. But when Adell poked his head from around the wall, he stared into the face of a demon. A 'pure' demon. With a face and body like a twisted red bipedal dog, it looked stunned for a moment before it began to snarl at him.

Long enough for him to impale the creature in the chest.

"D̶a̶m͜n̢ i͝t̛!̷" he yelled, kicking the demon off his blade and into two others that followed him. With both hands grasping his blade, he leapt backwards and into a offensive foot stance. The two demons, of roughly the same 'breed', if that was the appropriate term, pushed the corpse off them and got up. They growled and snapped their teeth, with big globs of drool dripping off the sides of their mouths like hungry dogs.

"M̷o͘nste͜r̷s! Damn it, don't you regret anything?!" There was no word for 'regret' in the demonic language, so he ended up speaking Common. As the two beasts lunged towards him, Adell pushed his blade in front of him with one hand, stabbing one of the monsters in the heart. Well, pure demons did not have hearts, but the stabbing that area was still highly fatal for them.

His other hand went for the neck of the last dog demon, and he squeezed. The creature turned from the visage of a snarling beast into a pathetic, whining dog.

"L͜e͏t ̢m͜e g̨o! ̀Le̴t ̶me ́g̵o͝!̷" it whined, though its whining still sounded quite horrific to a ear untrained in demonic tongue.

Adell forgot about the girl in that moment. It was a while since he got his hands on a demon like this. His people were long gone. His father, dead from suicide. His brothers, all dead, demons or worse. These sort of creatures were to blame.

Torturing this thing couldn't bring his kingdom back, he knew.

The prince slammed the demon onto the floor, holding his blade over the dog's face. There was a little glint in his eye as a sadistic smile spread across his face.

Nothing could bring back his kingdom. He was living in the moment. And in that moment, the pain of failure was going to define the rest of the dog demon's short life.

The blade pressed against the beast's skin and gently sunk in. There were going to be a lot more cuts by the end of Adell's sadistic escapades.

"I used to be human, you know."

He lifted up his blade and sliced another part of the dog's face. It whimpered, but otherwise said or did nothing.

"Until you fuckers came in. It was around 490 years... since this world went to shit. Yo҉ư wi͜ll͡ ̷ḑi̸e̴ ͠a̸ t͢h̷ous̶a̧nd d̀e͜a͟t͜h͡s̷ ̡ẁòrth of p͜ain. There's no word for 'mercy' in our language. I wi̡l̷l͢ m̷a͢ke͡ ҉sur͏e you ̵u̡nde͜r̡sta̢nd͠ that."

Terra watched from the shadows as the voice revealed himself. Unlike the demons, who looked monstrous, the only inhuman thing about this one was what appeared to be wings, his ability to speak the tongue of demons, and his attitude. He seemed to be able to take on the demons much better than she could though, but she still wondered why he followed her. Did he plan to make her a snack? Does he want to help her? Is he shy? Questions that Terra wanted answers from, but not right now. She did a bit of scouting and noted that there was seven more demons in the next room. She could sneak past them, but if she had any plans of leaving this ruin alive she would need to kill them somehow. If she can get them alone, she could slit their throats with her dagger, which had been enchanted to be extra lethal against demons. However they were not just guarding the next room, but prepared for anyone to step through the entryway. She couldn't even enter the room less she get herself killed by the demon's formation. But she did notice what appeared to be a ceiling trap that would kill all the demons, but since they're still alive the trap was not active.

Back to the other demon, Terra noted that he was taking his sweet time killing the demon.She wondered if she should try to converse with the stranger. No doubt that he was a demon, but since he hasn't tried to kill her yet, perhaps he was friendly? "Ry. E nordih lea pi beduird, pod num urdirduyrm ehi scieh." She thought to herself. Whether it was waiting to kill her or not, she couldn't just trust it now. Terra continued into the ruins, drinking an invisibility potion to help her sneak pass the demons guarding the next room.

The creature he had in his hand stopped squirming and whining after the 27th cut on its face, though Adell wasn't sure whether it had given up resisting him, was in shock from blood loss, or dead. He had put out the eyes on the 20th and 21st cuts, after the beady, glowing red eyes of the demon began to distract him. Each cut took about 3 seconds, carefully done for the pleasure of torturing a living, if demonic, being.

After the 80th cut on what was left of the thing's face, he was pretty sure that it was dead. There wasn't much flesh remaining on the bone, and if he probably would have vomited if he was human. But as a demon that did not manage to get breakfast this day, he was getting hungry.

Adell lifted up one of the other bodies and shoved it over his shoulder. He was at least going to cook it first. There were some things he wasn't going to stoop to, like eating demon flesh straight from the corpse.

"Òh ͠r̵ígh̸t̵... ͠th̸a͞t g̛irl. ̀Wh͝e̸re͏ d͝id̸ ͡sh҉e g̵o̢?" he murmured to himself. He glanced around, but saw and heard nothing.

Maybe̕ I͢ shouĺd͞ņ't̴ ̧ha͜ve t͝òr͢t̡u͟red th͘ąt ͟thi͠n͞g̀.͝ Gi͞r͜l'͝s di͘sa̧ppear̀ed̴. ͏P͢r̡o͘b̡ábly̵ ̕do̷w̛n̴.

He shook his head and walked with body in tow towards one of the wider, more open areas of the catacombs. Slamming the body down onto the floor, he sat down and sliced off an arm of the corpse and cut off its fingers. With his blade, he skinned it carefully, tossing aside the red furry skin of the beast in a corner. Skin tasted disgusting.

Manifesting a small flame in his palm, he held the chunk of red meat above the fire like a hand-held barbeque spit.

Most people didn't dare eat demons, and considering how much demonic corruption their flesh held even when dead, they were smart to avoid it. Even some of the 'impure' demons he met were afraid of eating demonic flesh. Adell knew better, and even though eating demonic flesh was frowned upon by what was left of civilised society, it was useful enough in today's times for an 'impure' demon.

The flesh was done in 5 minutes, turning a brighter red that could at least be associated with venison. A slightly foul-smelling piece of venison that tasted alright to the demonic palate.

He looked around for the girl just one last time before sinking his fangs into the meat.

"Aaaggh!" Terra was thrown against the wall, breaking her left arm and dropping her blessed dagger. She had tried to sneak pass the demons, even slit a few of their throats, but she got too greedy and slipped up. She was fighting off three of the demons now, and while she wounded one, the other two where just pissed. Terra got to her feet quickly but her left arm wasn't in any condition to fight, and she was now bleeding. Her armor managed to absorb most of the blows, but these demons were strong and wasn't even winded, while Terra was half dead. She threw a explaining bolt of ice at the demons to cover her escape, but there wasn't much places to hide. She dived into a small room where she could sit in the dark, but it was only a matter of time before the demons went looking for her.

"Hah... Aaahhh this hurts..." Terra looked at her arm. She had a nasty cut going down her forearm and it was blacken. She couldn't bend her fingers withing causing much pain. She likely shattered her bone, and would cost her the entire expedition to get someone to heal her. If she finishes it. She could head foot steps coming down the hall, and Terra knew that she wouldn't make it. Even if she had her blessed dagger (Which she didn't because she dropped it) and fought using her good arm, there was no way she could overpower one demon unless she had a powerful magic weapon or the element of surprise. She may die here, and hopefully all they do is kill her. She wasn't about to let herself live through whatever hell they where going to do with her body. When the foot steps drew ever closer, Terra stood shadily on her feet. Gripping her tomahawk tightly, she charged out for what she thought would be her last stand.

The meat went off the bone pretty fast. With a last bite, his teeth picked off the bone clean.

If this wasn't demon meat, he'd be quite satisfied with the meal. It did taste good, but eating this sort of thing spread corruption in the bodies of normal people. Throwing the bone aside, his ears picked up the sound of quick, hasty and multiple footsteps. The demons below were moving for something. He frowned. What did that orc girl get into?

Sucking off the warm demon fat off his fingers, Adell stood up and readied his sword. He tried to sync his footsteps with the demons', making his way past the 2 dead demon bodies. The footsteps he listened to go louder, but never changed in their beat. And when he saw a group of 3 demons in the midst of some demonic healing magic, he thought the worst.

Though the very fact that the demons still watched out for something must have meant that the girl escaped. It also meant that one of them looked into Adell's direction and roared. And it also meant that the orc girl charged at them, tomahawk in hand.

"Ço҉me a͜t m̛e, yo͞u̡ uģl̸y bas҉t͘a̵rds. ̧I̵'m̶ ͝a f͘or͠m̴er h̷úm͞a̛n,̡ ̕b̸u͡t I'̶ll̵ cut y͘ou͘ ̷all ̡d͟own̷ ̨t͝h̵e͏ ͏sa̡m̸e͠!̛" he threw his arms apart, taunting the demons.

Two of the beasts, the ones that looked relatively uninjured, roared in some mix of demonic language and cursing that Adell barely recognised, lowered their heads towards him, horns pointed at him. And like bulls, they charged, ignoring the girl. She did try to swing her axe at them, but the injuries on her were clearly weakening her. All she did was graze one of them.

With a swift swing, he sidestepped both and swung his blade to decapitate one. The other went down as Adell threw the hand holding his bloodied blade into the demon's chest. Drawing his blade back, he mustered the most evil grin he could, fangs and all. The sort of grin he had when he was torturing the dog demon a while ago.

"D͢òn͞'͡t͞ ͡ki͜l͝l҉ m̶e͏!͢" it screamed, and ran off. Probably to find reinforcements.

Well, it didn't matter. He wanted to get out of here too. And as much as these demons probably outnumbered Widds, they weren't going to march to war without a demonic centurion at their backs. And considering how long they were hiding down here, they didn't have one. Adell would be safe from them outside the catacombs.

And the girl was injured too. He couldn't heal her. Widds had a healer. A healer that was remarkably tolerant of demons, even if the rest of the town wasn't.

"Hey... uh... are you going to not die?" he asked, in awkward Common tainted by his demonic accent. "I'm... Adell. Nice to... meeting you."

One moment Terra was fighting the demons, and than he arrived. She couldn't get a good look at him in the darken hall, but the way he struck down those demons told her that he was no normal man. And once she got a good look at him, he wasn't. He was another demon.

Terra slumped against the wall as the man finished the demons who chased her here. She had a hard time focusing, probably because of all the blood lost. She tried to keep steady, but eventually she simply fell into a slump. "Ah... Am I going to die here? This it? Damn..." The last thing she remembered doing was gripping her dagger, which she had managed to reach. After that, it all went dark.

The girl tried to maintain some sort of caution towards the demon, but her injuries got the better of her. When her hostile eyes lost all focus and her eyelids shut, he feared the worst. He held his hand just below her nostrils, slightly relieved by the warmth of her breathing. It at least meant that she could be saved.

"She'͘s͡ ̀los̷įng to͢o ͞much͠ bl̛ood.͠ I͟ ne͠e͟d t̵o ͞g҉e̡t ̢ţó Daĺen̛." Adell knelt down and wrapped the girl in his arms, and with a groan between clenched teeth, he lifted her up. The girl was well-built in terms of muscle, and her orcish blood made her much taller than him. All that contributed to her weight, and the demon prince made a silent thanks to whatever deities still survived that the tomb raider did not wear any heavy armour. He had the strength of a demon, but the strength of a demon was not an overwhelming advantage.

It took him an hour for him to exit the catacombs and reach Widds by the back roads.

Widds was a town constructed from the ruins of the larger, demon-infested city ruins nearby. Adell recalled that the city still stood for a few weeks after the end of the world, but he forgot its name when he lost his Common language to the demonic corruption. The people of Widds called it the 'Ruined City', but that made it a little difficult to differentiate it from all the other ruined cities around the world.

The town itself was a mish-mash of wood and stone buildings, with a seedy look even for post-apocalyptic buildings. Windows were without glass and roofs had holes patched over with whatever that could be found. The local healer's shack was better than others, considering that it was made from stone rather than wood. Dalen would say that he managed to build a stone house due to the demand of his healing skills, though Adell would know better.

The orange sun was half-way below the horizon when Adell knocked on the door of Dalen's house. He heard a loud, aggravated groan from within the house, after which a few loud footsteps on the stone floor led to the door opening.

Dalen was a rare sight, even rarer than demons like Adell. He was a human man in his 70s, with a short white beard and a shaggy white mop for hair. Certainly, he was dressed in rags, just like every survivor out in the demon-tainted world, but a man who reached Dalen's age was so rare that one expected to see a second demonic invasion before meeting Dalen.

"What is—"

The old man dropped his questioning gaze when he saw the girl in Adell's arms.

"Is she—"

Adell nodded.

Dalen ushered Adell and the girl towards a spare bed in the makeshift infirmary his house had. Fortunately, the three were the only people in the house when Adell laid Terra's body onto a bed. The old man sat down on a nearby chair, and focused his healing into the girl's body.

"How long would it take?" asked Adell. The demon leaned on his shoulder upon a stone wall. Those weird appendages of his made leaning on his back tricky.

Dalen was silent for a minute or so. Without an answer, the demon took to closing his eyes.

"An hour to heal. More for physical rest."

The answer jolted him out of his respite. Adell took another chair nearby and sat down, just watching her. Did the girl find what she was looking for, he wondered.

Hours passed. By the time Terra was able to open her eyes, it was already well into the night. She tried to get up, but her body couldn't muster the strength for it. She saw that most of her body has been bandaged up stiffly, and her possessions were piled on a table not too far away. She still had most of her clothing on her, sans the ones that were soaked in blood. There wasn't much light aside from moonlight, but once Terra's eyes adjusted for the darkness she could see clear enough to notice the demon sitting on a chair not too far from her. If Terra was well she would have jumped to her feet and drawn her weapons, but she knew he had been out for quite some time now, defenseless, and if this man had any intention of doing anything to her, why wait? But than again, he may have been the type who liked a struggle. Terra hoped for the best.

"I take it that you were the one who rescued me? Or is this was the afterlife looks like?"

Throughout the hours the orc girl spent sleeping, Adell's attention shifted from her to the surrounding, then back to her and then elsewhere. While the lights in the room darkened, he fell asleep on his chair, though he didn't look the part from an outsider's point of view. Dalen had probably went off to sleep at some point throughout the day, and the prince considered it fortunate that no villagers came along that day to ask for healing.

He awoke gently when Terra spoke up, and turned his blank eyes towards her. He guessed that it looked a bit scary, but the girl didn't seem to notice or care that much about it. Or the fact that she was in a room, presumably alone, with a demon.

"Well, I did bring you out. You shouldn't have been going down there. Demon gate and such," he explained, making a smile that tried to pass off as genial, as much as a mouth with demonic fangs could.

He extended his hand towards Terra. "My name's Adell. Used to be human. Demonic corruption really messed up me."

Terra looked at this Adell. She'd shake his hand, but she still couldn't move her body. It was quite the challenge just to turn her head. "I knew what I was doing..." It was a poor excuse. Sure, she knew what she was heading into, but she was too arrogant. She didn't want to admit this of course, but she figured that her pride was still healthy enough all things considered. "I... I was just careless..."

Giving up keeping face, Terra just let out a breath as she tried to move. It was excruciating, but she managed to at least get her body up. "The name's Terra. Half-Elf. And Half-Orc. And a mercenary... And I promise, just because I'm here right now doesn't mean that I'm a bad mercenary." Terra tried to chuckle, but it just hurt. Once she managed to stop hurting herself, Terra relaxed and looked out the window. "So, why'd you save me? You don't seem to malicious by demonic standards... Either that, or you prefer your prey to give you a struggle. What's your end game?" This world wasn't so kind that "heroes" like Adell would just come around to help. Even those who claim they were such people were either madmen or fakers. Terra hoped that she didn't need to sell her soul to Adell or something. She already sold it off to someone back at one of the larger settlements, no need to give Adell an IOU.

Adell smirked at Terra's attempt to hold onto some form of pride, though the smile dropped when she questioned him. Such was the ways of the world. Despite living a life perhaps 20 times longer than the injured mercenary girl on the bed next to him, he could never hold himself in whenever people questioned his motives. Certainly, looking like a demon did bring some sort of cause for that. A few impure demons he met were quite cruel in disposition, but this sort of questioning struck a nerve in Adell's heart.

He stood up, his expression just as blank as his eyes.

"A 'thank you' would work very well. Just because the world has been gone to hell doesn't mean that you'll hate everyone and everything. It's ̨no̡t ͟évęr͝y fu͡ck̛ín̶g ͝d͡a̸y͏ ̵y̢o͞u҉ ̸h̨av̢e a͜ ͢ģu̡ardi͟an͢ ͠st̨o̕p̨pin̵g ͏you̧ ͡f͞róm̧ d͟yin҉g͝! Show some appreciation, Terra!" he lapsed into Demonic during the rant and never realised it.

Adell sighed and leaned back on his chair, staring at the ceiling. His thoughts cleared up a bit, and he thought he understood her point of view a little bit more. "I look like a demon, I do know. No one trusts demons on first sight. But I was human once. And I did saw the world end," he said with the enthusiasm of a deflated balloon.

Terra simply gave Adell a stern glare as he blew up at her. It was really all she could do. He yelled at her for being ungrateful for saving her, but either he's been living in that cave forever or had a chip on her shoulder. No doubt he was much older, but that doesn't mean she was so naive that she'd trust everyone who saves her. This isn't the first time it happened, and only a few times did they ever go so well. At best, it's for a mutual advantage; Terra's good a fighting and they needed another fighter. But one too many times she fell prey for those who sought to take advantage of her graciousness. She didn't know what Adell wanted, and she wasn't in a position to resist him. For all she knew, she avoided death and gotten a worse fate. Such was life.

"So?"

Terra spoke diversely. She didn't know him, and yelling at her did not make her think of him any better than before. If this Adell has been living in this world for longer than a year, than surely he'd understand her distrust. But than again, she knew nothing about him either. "We all have our own sad past. All that matters is if we lived to be able to learn from it. And from what I've learn, the only people who saves me wanted something from me. Things that... I don't always want to give. So if you want me to appreciate this, I need to know if I didn't just get into a deal I wanted nothing to do with." It was harsh, cold, rude, and would likely get her killed. But hope was worse for Terra. She's built too much and fell too many times to feel happy or relieved to be alive. All she wanted was to know how much time she had left.

"I wouldn't care if you were a demon, human, or god himself. You could have been there when the world ended or you could have been the one to cause it, and I wouldn't care. Because no matter what happened back than, we're still here now, and we're not planning on leaving any time soon. So I'll ask again. Why did you save me?"

"You always think things can be worse, huh..." That was all he could say. Cynicism was quite the comforting shield. When the world ended, there was a sense of unity amongst the survivors, at least for a few years or so. When things got worse, however, as food supplies dwindled and demons launched further attacks, the survival instinct drove people apart.

The tides ebbed and flowed. People flocked to safety within the masses even as suspicion divided them personally and emotionally.

Adell wasn't sure why he wasn't the same, cynical bastard that he thought a long life tended to shape. Perhaps Terra would have been less likely to give him lip if he had left her to die, but death taught the dead nothing.

"Eve̶r̵y͜ d͢ȩc̨ìsi̷o͏n̸, ̀e̷v̡ery ̶sing҉le̢ ̛śa̧cr̴i̡f̧ic͠e̵, e̷v͏ér̛y si͢ng͜lȩ d͘ea̢tḩ, ͝ev́ęr̶y si̡ngl͏e͏ ̕ma̸n,̸ w͟o̢ma̷n̴, ̶an̢d ̀c͘hild̴ ̢suf͞fèŕi͠ng͞ ̶a ho͘rr͞i̵bl͘e͞ ͏li̢f҉e ͏i҉n͜ th̷e͝ worst c͟o͜nditio̶n͢s ̡ima͟g͞i̵na̴ble͘, ̷perhap͝s ̧is̢ ̡thȩ abso҉l͡ut͏e͡ b͢e͏st̴ t̕h̛at͢ c̢án ͏be ̕d͢o͞n͠e̵ i̴n͏ thi̸s͝ ̴w̛o̧rld͢. ͢I͜f̴ ͢t̨h͝e̷ ̕w͝o͠rs͟t hap͜p҉ene͘d̢ ͡to͝ ̧e͠veŕyón͜e ̸aņd ą ͟p̧a͝rt of̶ yo͡u ͟mus͜t͠ be ̶s̛acr̕i͟f́i͞c̶e̡d t̛od͢ay ͏ju̷s̴ţ to͝ śt͝an̛d̛ a cha͝nc̢e ̡o̸f s̵u̷r̨vi̢v͏àl, a͜ll̨ I às͠k̴ i҉f͜ i͢t wou͝l̕d҉ h҉av̵e ͏perhaps͡ ͢b̀e͞en̛ ͡bèt͞t҉e҉r͢ to ̡die." He lapsed in his demonic tongue, sounding pensive and inward-looking even by demonic standards. It was an old philosophical quote by a man who lived even before Adell's time. Perhaps old books still had his name, but such books dealt with poetry rather than practical survival methods.

A few seconds later, an answer popped into his head.

He looked back at Terra, and tried to smile. It was a nervous smile, of one so unsure and yet attempting to project confidence.

"I don't know. I just... thought that leaving you to die in there was no fate for anyone to have. T̢ha̧t so̧un̴ded ҉bęt͠te̵r̛ ̶įn͡ my̕ h͝ead̨. I almost think you'll be relieved to hear me saying 'I'm going to turn you into my sex slave' or something along those lines... Err..."

His face turned beet red, and he shied away from Terra's face. Corrupted demons couldn't breed, anyway, not even with each other. He recalled trying it out with a lady demon. The awkward romance that started from an experiment to a weird tryst on an old romantic holiday only bombarded his mind with shame and embarrassment. If demons were red-skinned by nature, Adell certainly looked the part at this point.

"Forget it," he muttered.