The Demon King's Paladin Part 2. All Out War.

Chapter 395. Protect Or Attack?

" The spell came from the Northwest, so I'd imagine they're somewhere in the forest in that direction. There's only 2 issues with that though."

After we picked off the stragglers that weren't killed from Jaime's attack, Jaime began to explain what we should do moving forward. However, she seems to think that there're 2 issues with heading over there immediately. Lucy, Laura and I looked to her to hear her explanation.

" First and foremost, nobody would be here to help protect the village. They were already surrounded when we arrived and from what I can tell, we picked off what would amount to the lower-level foot soldiers."

" Really? But they talked such a big game?"

" Of course they would, they were able to surround the final line of defense around the village just from sending in the lowest ranks, you'd be arrogant to if you could beat back these Demons with a flick of your fingers, wouldn't you, Ashley?"

" I mean... It certainly would help out right about now, don't you think?"

" Sure, but it's not the current case, you even had to resort to using that new Style of yours even though you're still not sure how to use it completely right?"

" Well... Yeah, but I'm getting the hang of it! Mr. Mark said that learning through battle is a great way to master Job Abilities!"

" Maybe so, but I don't want you to get hurt here, Ashley... Anyways, I'm willing to bet most of the stronger Demons are currently fighting in the fray where Jessie and Luke went. And I'm willing to bet those Mages who've been lobbing those spells are being protected by strong Demons as well. We need to judge whether it's best to stay here and protect or go forward and attack... The 2nd issue is that we don't know what we'd be walking into, it could be like when we tried invading 2 years ago..."

" Well, there's really only one way to get an answer to that, isn't there? Besides, we need to be strong enough to never allow something like that to happen again. We need to get through situations like this if we want to get back to our world."

Laura cut into Jaime's words as she looked at the Shield Users while scrunching her face. Laura seemed different since Jaime mentioned what happened 2 years ago. I mean, we all don't like thinking about it, we were too cocky and then they all showed us up... To make matters worse, we all could tell that they didn't kill us because we weren't really a threat to them. To the point they thought letting us live wouldn't be an issue. That black-haired Demon is someone I want to fight again. If for no reason than to show that I'm well worth being labeled a threat... Speaking of which! The entire time we fought, she kept making strange comments! Stuff like how I lacked " honor" or was unworthy of " his mercy". When I went to ask her what the hell she was talking about, that Demon with the strawberry blonder hair told her that she was being too loose lipped. I still wonder what it is they were trying to keep a secret from us... I mean, what could a Demon want to keep secret from a Human during a fight? While I was thinking about that exchange for the umpteenth time, without missing a beat, Laura quickly walked up to the Shield Users and explained the situation to them.

" Point blank, the magic that's been attacking the village in this battle, we believe we know where it's coming from, we'd like to go and stop the Demons responsible for it, but to do that, we need to leave you all unprotected which would mean you may end up in the situation you were in before we arrived. Right now, we're split on the idea since we're here first and foremost to kill the Demons that have come into Promethia's lands; however, we also don't want you all to die as fellow Humans."

Laura truly didn't hold back. She quickly explained what the issue was, and the faces of the Shield Users looked worn down. I could understand why, it's hard to be told that you need protecting instead of being an asset... It's how I felt after we got back, and King Roman punished us in everything but name. Sure, our teachers trained us, we were fed and clothed well. But Luke was made to attend party after party even though he only wanted to train with Jessie and we, the girls, were only able to take on quests as Adventurers that were agreed upon to be " on our level", whatever that meant. We still haven't seen this " group" that judged the requests. Regardless, it took 6 months, but we were given a chance to show that we could be " useful" to the Royal Family and that was during the event in Atheis. Sure, we captured the Nobles, but their mercenaries that we fought were able to escape from us. Even though it barely felt like a victory for us, King Roman quickly let the news out that we were responsible for freeing Atheis from the tyranny of Duke Refpa. The only issue was he conveniently ignored the fact that we found proof connecting Duke Refpa's crimes to 3 other Dukes, 2 Marquess and 7 Viscounts... Regardless, that event bought us our freedom... Well, " supervised" freedom, but enough. We quickly left the Royal Palace as quickly as we could and got a house in Whitestone so we could have a private place for us. Luke was fine staying with Jessie, so I've no real idea what he does during the day. I guess it's better that way since without seeing him so much, Laura has relaxed to a degree... Anyways, after a few minutes, what seemed to be the Captain of the Shield Users began to respond to Laura's straightforward explanation.

" We want you to go, we're all adults here, we know what could happen, but we'd like to bet on you 4, if you don't mind, Lady Cleric, Lady Mage, Lady Thief and Lady Monk."

" Lady Cleric?"

Laura and the rest of us were surprised by how we were addressed by the Captain Shield User. He looked confused as well, even with Laura stating what she found strange.

" Oh! It's what commoners have taken to calling you 4. We know that you've all been doing quests recently, from monster hunting the likes of goblins and man-eating wolves, to picking medical herbs, we've all heard about it. So, the commoners have taken to calling you all those nicknames and it's even made its way to Adventurers like us."

" I... I see..."

" Either way, you've saved us 3 times already, when you first arrived, when the spell came at us and finally when those Demons showed up after, we need to earn our keep as well. Go and finish this, we'll hold the line, I promise you that!"

The Captain looked determined as he spoke, but Lucy and Jaime didn't seem too convinced. I couldn't see Luara's expression, but I'd bet it's not too dissimilar to theirs... Or mine if I'm being honest with myself. But what are we going to do... I mean, we need to go ahead to the forest and stop this... Maybe if we can get Luke and Jessie to bring a small group of fighters back here? I'm sure some would be willing if we share with them the news that Jaime gave us. With those thoughts in my head, I decided to bring up the idea.

" Say, what if we-"

" You all don't seem too confident about what they've stated. You should know when a man decides on something, you should let him ride out that decision!"

/ Thump!/

Just as I was about to suggest grabbing people from the fray, a familiar voice spoke to us. Just as it finished, a figure landed on the ground next to us.

" Ben?"

I was the first to say his name.

" Yup! I'm back from protecting and bringing the cart into town! Now I can get to what I do best fighting!... Is what I would say, but from what I hear, you girls have an idea on how to stop this, right? If that's the case, leave them to me, I'll make sure that nothing happens to them. Even if a spell like that comes barreling down on us."

" Y... You can stop something like that?"

Lucy couldn't help but question Ben's assertion that he could stop the spell that took nearly everything from Jaime to stop... Even when she was buffed by Laura. I found it hard to believe as well. To Lucy's question, Ben simply unsheathed his sword and brought the handle up level to his eye to look fully down to the blade tip...

" 2... Maybe 3 of them if I push it? Let's be realistic and say 2, shall we?"

Ben quickly sheathed his sword and then simply walked over to the line of Shield Users. He looked back as us and began to speak again.

" Like I said, things will be fine here, go and take out the Mages. Put some trust into your Elders for a change, we're not all idiotic like some of the ones you've run into here."

" But... You're more experienced than us, shouldn't you join us as well, Ben?"

Jaime sounded confused as she asked Ben about his decision. He just looked at us all and spoke in a relaxed tone.

" I could, but I'm not a member of the Hero Party. I'm just a hired Adventurer. You've been stopped in your tracks a few times trying to be Heroes, why not take this chance to prove you are Heroes? Besides, I'm an old man at the end of the day, sitting back here with the defensive line suits me better."

With Ben's last words, Laura simply shrugged her shoulders and turned around to the rest of us. She took her first step towards the forest around a mile behind us and said the only thing that made sense.

" You heard them and him, Jaime. let's go end this, everyone."

With that, each of us took our positions like when we're fighting. Myself in front, Lucy behind me, Laura behind her and Jaime behind us all. It only made sense since she was the Mage of the group. We all began to head to the forest, with our eyes open looking for any surprise attacks or Mages behind the forest trees.