A wrinkle, in unison with a blue light appears from within the forested landscape revealing the body of Yuusha with Maou in his arms. His eyes slowly scans as much of the vibrantly colored environment, created by the afternoon sun, as he could before setting out on his quest. With each step the sound of twigs snapping under the weight of his foot echoed in his surroundings. While the young hero moves deeper within the labyrinth, trees and roots impede his ability to move as freely as he'd like.

'Where is it?' Yuusha asks himself as his eyes remain on constant alert.

The warrior begins to feel as though he was on autopilot the longer he drags himself through the brush of vegetation. His footsteps accelerate up as the sun begins to get lower in the evening sky. After what seemed like hours, he is met with the maze exit. Blowing past the boundary of trees he welcomes the clearing in front of him with a huge smile, while casting his gaze upon the dwelling he sought. His eyes glances over the darkened blemishes possessed by the wood on the roof, and the deep scratch marks etched into the wooden exterior of the structure. The entrance to the building beckons to him as he halts in front of the wooden door. Yuusha lightly shifts the unconscious redhead's body, gaining himself more movement of his hands before grabbing the doorknob and pushing the door open. Stepping onto the dusk covered flooring, Yuusha hurriedly advances towards the room closest to the door. Just before making it to the entrance he kicks a chair that impeded his progresses and clears the doorway. Yuusha's arms lightly place his dependent on the firm bedding before dropping all of his weight onto a chair adjacent to the bed.

'What am I doing helping a demon?' he ponders, staring up at the ceiling.

The waving pattern of the ceiling holds the male's attention for a moment before jumping out of the seat and leaving the room. Returning to the main area of the building, he keeps straight and finds himself standing over the wooden counter of the kitchen. Pots, pans, and other utensils clank together as Yuusha manhandles the item. Rummaging through the final set of cabinets, his fingers graze across a gourd. Taking possession of the object, Yuusha places himself in the doorway of his companion's room. Standing in the entryway, the rhythmic rise and fall of the young woman's chest charms him. He forcefully rips his head away from from the sleeping beauty so he could live up to his promise.

'It's a good thing I cleared the demons out of this place.' he thinks before turning towards the entrance and removing himself from the domicile.

The thud of the cottage's door vibrates through the house. Maou's lips quiver before her pastel eyelids decide to release her crimson orbs to the world again. Her eyes gaze upon the wooden ceiling while taking in the silence and colorful sunlight beaming towards the center of the main room. Every muscle in her body felt like a weight was pressing down on her. Maou's eyes traverse down her red dress to uncover her blood stained abdomen and hand.

"So that's what it feels like." girl says softly to herself, using her index finger to feel around for her wound.

Maou's body jolts as her mind's replays the scene of Yuusha's sword cutting its way into her soft flesh. Her head shakes erratically as she throws the intense feeling out her mind.

"I d-don't want to go through that again," she says, placing her scarlet hand back on her abdomen while hiding her crimson eyes yet again.

The evening sun's ray glimmer off of the men's steel weapons. The sound of three distinct clashes of metal carries its way through the network of trees. Their hardened faces beam with smiles of joy as their fatigued bodies stained in dirt and blood continue to move forward.

"It's finally good to be away from those demons." the oldest knight says glaring at the stains of blood that ruins his sword.

"At least we were able to get a decisive victory for the Northern Brigade." the youngest of the group adds, leveraging his pike on his shoulder.

"Only three human survivors in the entire skirmish." the third soldier spits out placing stretching his bow behind his back.

The mood in the air darkens upon the realization that so many men had been lost in the previous battle. The oldest knight raises his sword in the air victoriously.

"Let's not dwell on it men! When we get back let us dine in memory of our fallen brothers and sate our appetites with as many women as possible."

The silence between the other two knights quickly fades into nothing as their hearty laughter cuts through the air, with their weapons thrust high. Just as the atmosphere had changed for the better, the sound of thunder bursts through the evening sky. The knights hastily push forward deeper into the forest after hearing the cry of Mother Nature. After a few minutes of heading north, the men reach an exit to the tree maze. Stepping into the clearing, smiles break over the men's faces.

"This place looks like it will have to do." the archer says as he stared up at the charred wood of the roof.

"I wonder if anyone lives here." the pike man throws out curiously while running his fingers along the scratches on the exterior of the dwelling.

"I'm sure they won't mind helping out fellow soldiers." he says, giving the man a sly grin.

Yuusha's mouth widens in excitement as he finally locates running water. Leisurely, he takes each step cautiously as to not lose his balance as he descended the slope of earth. Yuusha savors the moment as the cool flow of the water collides with the skin of his hands. Once the capacity of the container had been reached, he places object over his mouth, letting the refreshing liquid roll down his throat sending spouts of the energy through his already powerful body. After satisfying his thirst, the gourd once again is placed into the calming waters below him. As before, he fills the object to capacity before sealing its opening and returns in the direction from whence he came. The colorful rays of the sun have disappeared and the approaching darkness forces Yuusha's attention to turn to the sky. As he brought his attention upwards, a streak of lightning shoots through the sky, illuminating its path.

"Now would be the perfect time for rain," he says shaking his head in slight disappointment.

The young hero finishes his climb of the slanted earth and hastens his pace to return to his companion. An image of him staring the young woman down with his sword ready to strike infiltrates his mind abruptly. As the scene stands frozen in his mind the heaviness finds its way back into his heart. Throwing the scene from his head, his hand moves to his side only to realize that his weapon is no longer on his person.

"Where did I leave it," he whispers to himself while scratching his bare chin.

Thinking back on his return to this area, he realizes he didn't have possession of it when he was walking in the forest earlier. The peeved Yuusha halts his advance and focuses on the square throne room from which he met Maou. A ripple is produced through the air in unison with a blue light resulting in the male vanishing from the area. Moments later, the returning azure glow places Yuusha at the foot of the stairs within Maou's throne room. His eyes glance over the stone stairs in an attempt to find exactly where he left his weapon. Shifting his glance upwards, the faint shimmer of it's blade hangs over the edge of an upper step. As Yuusha advances his way upwards to retrieve his partner in crime, the contrasting shades of red and gray begin to eat away at the young man as he hastens his operation. Taking his weapon into his hand sends a feeling of completion through ever fiber of his being. While he performs the motions of sheathing his sword, he notices the stains of blood on the furthest parts of the blade. Only seconds after the hilt of weapon connects with his scabbard the image of two red eyes appear in his mind. As quickly as they appeared, he forces the image to disappear.

'Stop tormenting yourself.' he thinks while closing his eyes to concentrate yet again. Another ripple goes off causing the young man to vanish in a flash of blue light.

Maou's eyelids rise at a blinding speed as the sound of beating echoes through the house's innards.

"Is anyone home?" a voice asks in her proximity.

'Where is Yuusha?' she thinks to herself frantically as the increasing frequency of her heartbeat manifests itself in her head.

"We are soldiers from the Northern Countries. We request shelter for the night if anyone is present!"

"Soldiers." she repeats softly to herself rolling onto her side. "I can't let them find me."

As she repositions herself, the room suddenly begins to gyrate causing her to loss her balance and crash onto the wooden floor. As if it was planned out, the pounding of her body on the floor coincides with the next wave of hammering from the men outside. Taking a look at the entry way and then bed, she takes quickly hides herself under the draping sheets.

"We're coming in!" the rough older voice shouts as the door creaks open revealing the barely lit living area.

As the last of the knights steps through the threshold, the anticipated downpour crashes upon the house and earth. Everyone in the lodging quickly looks up at the roof as the groaning sound of boards raises their awareness. The house's joints quiets down finally giving the three knights the ability to stop worry about staying dry. Maou's heart beat increases more as the footsteps of the knights come closer to her location and then retreat away multiple times. Sweat begins to form under the redhead's bangs as her anxiousness grows from the sudden silence in the dwelling.

"Whoever you are, come out now and we will spare your life!" the oldest knight yells.

'How did they know I was here?' Maou ponders to herself as the terror of being caught by these strangers begins to take hold of her.

"I'll repeat myself only once more. Come out and we will spare your life."

Maou's hand emerges from the dangling sheets, which she uses to slowly pull herself into the men's field of vision. Their hearts jump out of their chests while they witness the women's ascent from under the bed to the standing before them. The lust inside of them builds as they focus in on her plump breasts, flowing red hair, and slender build. Leveraging herself against the entry way, she stands before the hungry men with caution in her heart. Maou's blood covered hand stays hidden behind the other appendage, while keeping her eyes open enough to see what they men are doing.

"I'm t-terribly sorry to have tried to deceive you men." she says, giving the men a warm smile.

"Are you the only person here my lady," the enchanted knight asks with his hand on his sheath.

"Yes I am. I was heading home to the Northern Countries, when I thought I heard a storm coming so I took shelter here."

The sword wielding knight moves towards the beautiful woman, and notices that she appears sickly. In addition to her pale complexion, her eyes are only partially open, and the scent radiating from her aggravates his mind.

"Are you afflicted with a type of blindness my lady?" he asks moving even closer to her.

"I-It's a slight affliction. My eyes become s-sensitive. It should pass in no time, but thank you for your concern," she says bowing towards them. "You men are highly observant aren't you?"

"Yes. For example, I noticed there were fresh foot prints in the dusk when we first entered," the archer blurts out hoping to win favor with her.

That's what it was, she thinks to herself.

The elder knight stands before her like a ravenous dog. Reaching down he takes her hand into his, but she quickly removes them from his.

"I-I'm really sorry," she says with a small chuckle. "Those are my reflexes."

The sword wielding knight looks down at his hand and notices patches of dark red on his skin. Looking up at the women's face again, he speaks to her.

"May I ask why there is blood on your hands," he asks grabbing the woman's hand revealing the blood stained appendage.

The other knights stand in alert as their comrade hoists the woman's hand into the air. Reaching down at her dress, he pulls it closer to his eyes, to find the soaked material in the abdominal section.

"I was attacked by a man while on my way here."

The knight's gaze slithers its way across the young woman's face, down to her breasts, and then back up to her eyelids.

"I can believe that," the man says unsheathing his sword and holding it up to her neck.

"What are you doing sir," the pike man blurts out in surprise.

"Open your eyes," the man commands her lightly pressing down on her neck with the blade of her sword.

The knight's command yields no results as it causes his anger with the Demon Lord to increase exponentially.

"Open your eyes, or lose your head," he spits out light cutting the girls' ghostly skin.

'What do I do? He's probably going to kill me if I don't do it, but if I do…'

Her thought is interrupted as she could feel the cold, hard steel collapse onto her neck even more. Fearing that not obeying them will result in a quick death, she wills her eyelids to release her crimson orbs for the men to see. Her aggressive eye color and reptile like pupils cause the bystander knights to take a step away from her.

"I thought you were filthy demon," he says throwing the redhead to the ground. "You reek of demon blood."

The sudden movements cause Maou's head to feel bubbly as the room twists and reposition itself as if she was in a dream.

"What should we do with her?" the archer asks grabbing his bow from the corner. "Should we kill her?"

"She's look too good to kill. I say we use that body of her up before we throw her away."

"What the hell is wrong with you? That's a demon not a damn person! Have some decency," the elder knight says.

The sword wielding knight makes his way over to the unbalanced Maou. Reaching down, he grips her by the hair and drags her towards the door. Snatching the entrance open, the knight gives the torrent of rain the permission to soak the threshold of their housing. He repositions his hand around his captive's neck before tossing the demon onto the soaked earth.

"We'll play hide and seek. I'll give you to the count of thirty to get as far as you can and then we'll come find you," the knight says placing his sword in front of him. "One….two….three…"

The falling rain beats the woman while she uses her limbs to hoist herself from the ground. The crackle of the lightning in the sky hides the voices behind her, as she puts all of her energy into standing up. Her legs tremble as if she was in a horror movie, before she hears the next set of numbers in the air.

"Fifteen….sixteen….seventeen…"

Her legs take their first couple of steps forward, but she could feel them about to give way under her if she attempted to keep going. Bracing herself, she pushes tries to push forward, but is greeted with the wet presence of the earth as her body topples over.

"Twenty-five….twenty-six….twenty-seven…"

As his counting finishes at thirty Maou could barely keep her eyes open. The sound of their metal armor and equipment infiltrated the woman's ear, but provoked no response from her. She could feel their presence threaten to envelope her by the second as their auras slither beside her fading body. Cold metal rubs against her face as it feels like a last taunt towards the Demon Lord's life. Awaiting the final blows that will end her, she closes her eyes in acceptance. A moment later, the feeling of something heavy crashing to the ground reverberates through her body and this repeated itself two more times. Fighting to open her eyes, for just a moment Maou catches a glimpse of a blue light flashing before her consciousness slips into the darkness of sleep.

The morning sun's rays begin to penetrate the window of their dwelling, while the rain continues its onslaught. As Yuusha looks into the dancing inferno housed within the fireplace, he runs a wet cloth over the blade of his sword. During the fascination of the cleaning process, he doesn't notice Maou's eyes break free of their prisons. Her body still houses minuet energy, and the room still dances around her. Moving her finger tips she could feel a woolen material covering her wet body as she lay on the floor with her head being elevated by a pillow. Shifting her head a bit more, Yuusha finally appears in her vision. Her body cringes slightly as the she sees him running his hand over his weapon.

"You s-saved…my live again," she stutters to get out.

"Don't remind me," Yuusha shoots at her quickly and sharply, cutting into her heart.

"Did you k-kill them?"

"No, just took them far enough away from here."

The two beings of legend sit in silence as they both stare into dancing flames.

"I k-know this is a stupid question, but d-do you hate me that much?"

Upon finishing that last word, Yuusha shoots her a dirty look before staring back at the fire. He removes the cloth from his weapon and places it on the floor.

"You and your evil demons have caused so much death, pain, and suffering. How could I not hate you?"

"You h-humans have caused just as much for us d-demons, but I do not hate humans."

"Why should I believe you?"

"I have no r-reason to lie to you."

"You're a demon. Lying is your specialty. You're more than likely trying to set a trap for me when my guard is down," he spat at her, eyes narrowing.

Maou lets out a small laugh before it transforms into a series of coughs.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but I can't beat you or anyone else for that matter…"

"How the hell did someone so weak and fragile become the Demon Lord? Plus, you're also a woman at that," he interrupts.

A glitter of interest brings Maou's eyes to life.

"Is my being a woman that burdensome to you?"

'It is. That's why...that's why I need to do this.'

"All I need to do is kill you and the human world will be safer, but I can't bring myself to kill someone so weak," he says turning his body towards her with his sword plastered across his lap.

Maou closes her eyes as she notices Yuusha's tormented eyes stare her down.

"I want you to be mine Yuusha."

Yuusha looks at her in bewilderment and in disgust.

"I refuse," the young hero says with total conviction. "That's another reason I can't trust you. Are you willing to betray your race that easily?"

"Call it what you want, but I want to end this senseless war with the least amount of bloodshed. Y-Yuusha defeats Maou and then what? The cycle r-repeats itself. I-I want to try another approach."

Yuusha remains silent as the woman's word's dance in his head.

'What's she getting at?'

"Would you become mine if I gave you half the world?"

"No. You can't give me something you don't own," he answers, giving the woman a frown.

"You're right. Instead of humans and demons quarreling it would change to Maou and Yuusha."

The pattering of the rain holds away the silence between the two. Maou's gears work harder and harder as she tries to devise a better idea to persuade Yuusha to her side. A smile breaks out across her face before she speaks to him again.

"I will give you everything I am if you would become mine. In sickness and in health I will stay by your side. If at any point you think I am being dishonest or behave in a manner not to your liking you are welcomed to take my life and I will not give any objections."

Yuusha's face adorns a mask of disbelief as he processes the bombshell she just dropped on him.

'Why should I take this demon up on her offer?' is the first thought that comes to his mind. 'Why am I not turning this down outright?'

Yuusha sits and ponders the conditions of the woman's agreement as if this was the deal that would make or break his entire existence.

"Okay," he answers with a hint of displeasure in his voice.

Maou's face seemed to come back to life with color after hearing him agree to her proposal.

"Can you come around here please?"

Yuusha removes the sword from his possession and repositions himself next to his companion. Her hand weakly emerges from under her covering for Yuusha to take hold of. Grasping a hold of her hand appendage they both stare each other in the eyes.

"We have a deal," she says giving him a weak smile. "Do you mind if I ask you for a favor?"

"Okay," he says shifting his eyes away from her.

"Do you mind if I touch your face? I know it's weird, but this time asking you would probably be better."

He hesitates for a minute before giving her a head nod. Her cool hands move along the man's face inch by inch. Maou could see the disgusted look in his face , but she didn't mind as long as she got to feel his warmth.

"Thank you." she said, removing her hand from his face. "I'm happy now."

She places her arm back under her sheet and closes her eyes. Yuusha stares at the woman's beaming face with the smile plastered on it.

Why did I just sell myself to a demon?

TO BE CONTINUED…