The Punishment of A Demon General

Thankfully the trip to the river was short, and really, all of them have seen me naked at this point so I'm undressed within about 4 seconds of spotting it, tossing everything to the side of the river before diving in.

Ow, okay, maybe I shouldn't have dived in, it's kind of shallow but that's to be expected since it's more of a stream, I guess. Larger rivers would be more heavily guarded around this area... In fact, this place SHOULD be guarded as well, but maybe the boar scared them off?

At least it covers my body if I lay down, so that's a bonus! I immediately begin to twist and writhe in the water, not minding the sharp rocks resting at the bottom of the river. Thankfully, my skin is pretty tough, but it might not be good for the others.

Poking my head out, I look to the rest who seem to be undressing slightly less aggressively than I had. "Careful of the bottom, the rocks are pretty pointy."

Julia kneels over in her underwear, testing one of the rocks out curiously. "Holy, wow, yeah those are insane. Are these obsidian...?" She casts a glance to me curiously, raising an eyebrow. "Are you, uh, okay in there?"

In response I just shrug and nod, feels a little itchy but that's basically it. Better than smelling horribly. Frankly, I need some soap, so I should probably get some...

Julia stands up, rubbing her knees a bit, a little bit of blood getting rubbed off onto her hands, spreading around her knees. "Don't take your shoes off everyone, seems like it's not just the river." ... What the heck?!

Why are you already bleeding?! Are you literally allergic to the ground now?! I can't help but almost flail in frustration, questioning how insanely fragile these idiots are.

I dig my fingers through the grass a bit, finding lots of small black shards, much like in the river, otherwise completely concealed by the dense untamed grass. Is it this stuff?

The Heroine hops over pretty quickly to Julia, grabbing some medicine from the bag I was once carrying, beginning to apply it to her knees, causing her to wince hard. Julia speaks while occasionally chewing her lip.

"That's not great... Is it alright if we use the rest of our water to try and wash out any shards that might've stuck in? I don't think it'll be smart to use... That water. I mean, we could risk it after purifying it, but I don't think I've ever seen anything like this." The Heroine gives a curt nod to Julia while she speaks, turning to Killa and Fluffy to ask for their waters, plopping down a small fold-out chair to help repeatedly rinse the wound out while I watch in astonishment.

Wait, is it really that bad...? I'm confused, what? I was just enjoying cleaning myself, but did Julia just suddenly get put on death's row or something?! "... Uh, is Julia gonna die or something...?" I hop up, stepping out of the water, looking over the three doting over Julia with a furrowed brow, it's kind of strange seeing a bunch of half naked ladies tending to another's wounds, but it is what it is.

The Heroine glances at me briefly before shaking her head, returning to work on cleaning out the wounds. "She'll be fine, we just need to be really wary of infections for a while. Looks like you're getting a bigger load to carry, mm?" She tries to joke, but I can tell she's also being pretty serious when mentioning the whole infection bit.

... Are the demon lands really that hostile to humans that just kneeling down can just make them go 'whoopsie, I might die'?

I've said it a million times and I'll say it again. I hate humans, they're too fragile. Do I seriously have to just sit here and do nothing while these kinds of things happen over and over again? Do I need to trap them in a bubble or something so things like this can never happen?

Should I just keep them all locked up so they can't get hurt? I protected them from demons, like, an hour ago only to have them kneel onto the ground and get themselves hurt! How is that anything but an act of that dirty rat Goddess?!

I can't even enjoy my bath anymore because of these annoying pieces of... Ugh! I kick the ground in frustration, sending a mixture of dirt and obsidian shards scattering into the water with a splash.

I jump back into the stream, grumbling in frustration as I do, just sitting there while they all dote and help clean up Julia.

I hear some kissy noises next to me after a while, looking up to see the Heroine trying to lean over to pat me, though not risking stepping in the water. "Your eyebrows are doing the thing again." Oh yeah? Well you can't touch me from there, so go away! I try to just turn away and pout harder.

I know this shameful, but I hate that she always tries to take care of me like that, so I'm not gonna let you!

"Oh, ow, they really are sharp, that hurt..." She mutters, causing me to nearly leap out of the water, looking her over. "You idiot! You already knew they were sharp and you get yourself hurt?!" I shout.

I search her for wounds quickly, trying to find wherever she had injured herself... Only to find nothing. "... You were worried about meeeee~." She smugly says, resting a gloved hand gingerly on my face, causing my cheeks to heat up immediately.

"W-wh... S-shut up, where are you hurt?!" I want to deny it, but I don't want this idiot to die because she just because she was stupid. If she's gonna die it's gonna be by my hands and my hands alone!

"Mmm... Sorry, I'm not hurt. I lied." I freeze for several moments, watching her with a blank expression. ... I hate her. Hate. Hate. Hate. Hate. Hate.

I duck back into the river, burying my head under the flowing cold water to try and cool off my hot face and ears.

...

After a while, a stick begins poking me on the back of my head, causing me to raise it, glaring at the source. Killa doesn't stop, continuing to poke me in the face with her found stick.

"We're about to leave, get dressed already." She arrogantly states as I reach up and break the stick, huffing in frustration. I stomp out of the river shaking myself off a bit before putting on the pack, not bothering getting dressed.

I won't forgive you this time, heroine! I won't let you say the words 'I'm sorry' to trick me! You're a dirty liar! I know you now!

I wasn't worried about you, anyway! You're just my... Directions! Yeah, I don't know where to go from here, so I just need you to direct me the rest of the way, so I'm just gonna kill you after that or... something.

That thought leaves a slightly sour taste in my mouth, causing me to furrow my brow even harder as I try to ignore it. I make sure to dodge any attempt of the Heroine to try and 'correct' my eyebrows this time, not registering or responding to a single thing she says as we begin walking.

"I think you made her mad." Fluffy says, probably to that trash Heroine, not that I care. She can go die for all I care! In fact, why didn't you get hurt when you pretended you did?!

That kind of petty thought leaves an even worse feeling in the pit of my stomach, the negativity swirling around there only managing to make my frustration even worse, forcing me to take a few deep breaths to try and calm down.

Julia's bag is the second smallest one here, Fluffy's being the first, so thankfully my load hasn't really increased all that much. Killa and the Heroine are actually taking a surprisingly large amount considering they're humans.

Julia seems more like the 'medical strategist' type so I guess it makes sense she isn't completely jacked.

... Jacked. Jacked off. Jack jacked off. Jacked Jack jacked off. My mind wanders off a bit, amused by the random tangent I had just discovered. I shake my head slightly, trying to remember what I was doing.

... Oh right, I was mad at the Heroine! Do I even waste energy on that anymore? I mean, being mad at her is like being mad that the grass grows. She's always a cruel and mean psychopath, so, like, doesn't it just make me the weird one to be mad at her?

Or am I just gaslighting myself? If I am, honestly I should just take what I can get... I feel my arm get pulled suddenly by someone, nearly sending me off balance with a yelp.

"H-hey! What gives?!" I shout at the Heroine, who was the one who dragged me.

"You almost tripped over that root. Hand-holding time." Before I can even try to complain, her fingers intertwine with mine, her warmth seeping into mine once more, leaving my heart feel conflicted once again.

Ugh, fine! Whatever! I'll hold your stupid hand! I grumble quietly as we continue to make our way step by step through the woods.

...

Now that I see it, it's gonna be dusk here pretty quick, I think. I don't know how long I was in that 'bath' but I guess it was probably a couple hours given the time that passed since we started walking.

Usually we start making camp by this point, so what gives? I shoot the Heroine a curious glance, though she seems to be looking elsewhere, her cute lips pursed as she thinks about something while she walks.

She looks really pretty like this, the way her slightly tousled blonde hair falls past her neck, leaving just enough visible to make me want to bite on the slightly concealed flesh... Either I'm a vampire or I have a neck fetish, but honestly? Same thing.

"Hey, Heroine, uh... Shouldn't we be stopping for the night soon?" I can't help my curiosity, plus the woods will be a bit more dangerous with monsters at night, though I still feel like most will be afraid of the Heroine. Maybe that Lust monster wasn't because it sensed kin with the Heroine also being a lust monster.

"Mm?" She turns to me curiously before speaking properly. "Aren't you the one who said you can keep an eye out for us? We're not that far out now, so I figured we could make the rest of the trip. Especially because a longer rest would do Julia better than a single shorter rest."

... What makes you think we're gonna be able to get a longer rest there?! You do realize that place is gonna be crazy chaos, right?! Also, wait, we're almost there?! Aah! I can't help but almost panic as I realize I have to start thinking about what I might have to do if the things I was worried about happen.

Also, you really are leaving the entire night watch up to me?! To me?! I have to sit here and focus this entire time even though I have to make plans to not die within the next like 3 hours now?!

My face is suddenly squeezed by one of the Heroine's hands as she pinches my cheeks together. "Calm down. Whatever you're thinking about it'll be fine. You've got an OP Heroine with you, okay?"

That... Makes it worse, what the hell do you think I'm supposed to say? Oh, teehee, I brought the BANE OF OUR KIND HOME, NOW SHE'S MY GIRLFRIEND. My face immediately darkens with that thought. Okay she's not my girlfriend, I know, but like, ugh!

My head is chaos as we pierce the treeline to be met by a ton of sparkling and flickering flames in the distance of various exotic colors, lighting up the purple nearly-night sky with a haze of various plumes of smoke.

Where the human capital looks like an orderly starry sky from the distance, the demon capital looks like an indistinct nebulous form of lights, some being snuffed out, others being lit with unnerving frequency, as if reflecting the expectancy of life within the city for those unprepared to be within the short surrounding walls.

The walls more than anything are barely a deterrent, more a 'beyond this point, you enter a place where the game is no longer your own, enter at your own risk.' Not that any demon in particular is averse to risk if they've already made it this far...

The nervousness is replaced with a thrill of excitement after seeing home for so long, my castle a noticeable speck, but still a speck nonetheless in the distance. In sight after all this time! Thankfully it hasn't been blown up or anything.

Ughhhh, please God give me the strength to pass the ordeals ahead...

+The end of Arc 1! Also known as 'Ilvia being trained like the good little puppy wuppy she is'+

(Don't say it like there's gonna be a hiatus or anything.)

+Yeah, just saying it as more like a story beat thing.+

(Also, don't go calling me a puppy wuppy, I am a proud demon!)

+A proud demonic puppy wuppy.+

(I knew you were gonna say that, I just wanted you to amend my title, so this is my victory, loser.)

+I knew you were gonna say that I knew you wanted me to say that that I knew you-+

(Stop the mind games.)

+Anyway, I'm curious if theres anything you all would like to see more of in the next arc, maybe? Or maybe in an interlude or something.+

(Same, maybe I can skip some of my more embarrassing moments if you all hate those, heh...)

Author's Note:

Thank you for those who have followed thus far up to the end of arc 1! That means we're technically like 1/4^th to 1/5^th through the story! Depends on how I feel pretty much.

I appreciate everyone's support so far, it's been really nice to write through all the ups and downs I've had. (Hopefully with my new medications they're supposed to reduce my ups and downs, haha.)

It's still funny at the beginning of this I only expected like maybe 2 consistent readers at best, but there's a good 40-50 reading all my chapters (With more attending the smut ones, I love you too, my smutty buddies).

I'll do my best to keep improving from hereon!