Clarissa didn't hesitate. The instant Velastra finished speaking, her arm snapped forward, two throwing knives slicing toward the Demon Lord, one aligned with her eye, the other for her knee. Velastra plucked both out of the air without even shifting her stance, catching them between her fingers as if they'd drifted toward her on a breeze. "Good reaction time," she said lightly, rolling the knives once before displaying them, "but I'm a bit too fast for throwing knives."
Clarissa already had two more in hand, her expression unchanged, gaze narrowing by a fraction. She didn't throw them this time. She simply shifted her weight, poised to act again. Around her, the rest of the villagers trembled beneath a crushing instinctual terror. For most, their bodies barely obeyed the command to breathe. Only three stood steady. Clarissa, unable to feel fear due to not having emotions. Karin, because the fear she should have felt was dulled for the most part due to being a blood-fed thrall. And Mari, frightened, yes, but not to the point of paralysis. If anything, she thought Eirisse was scarier.
"Well, you can't all just stay down there," Velastra said cheerfully, clapping her hands. Light flared beneath the group, forming a glowing platform that lifted them upward as the Demon Lord raised both arms. As they were slowly elevated out of the pit, the world above came back into view—demons swarming the village, the inn reduced to rubble, fires licking at broken homes.
"Uncle Lennix! Mister knight!" Mari cried when her eyes found the two wounded figures. Lennix managed to meet her gaze, shame twisting his features. The black knight bowed his head slightly—they had failed to protect them.
The remaining guards forced themselves into a trembling ring around the villagers, their movements unsteady but desperate enough to defend their families with whatever strength fear hadn't taken from them.
"Is that his name?" Velastra asked, amused. "Huh. I never got it while I was beating him." She turned her head, eyes locking on Mari with a slow, predatory smirk. "They're important to you, I'm guessing?"
With a flick of her fingers, she gestured. Three imps peeled away from the demon ranks, cackling as they scrambled forward to seize the girl.
Two never made it. Clarissa's daggers flashed past the heads of the guards and buried themselves in the imps' skulls, dropping them mid-step. The third imp lunged, only to meet the slicing arc of Karin's kusarigama, the chain whistling as her blade split its head clean in two.
Karin didn't stop. Momentum carried her into a pivoting swing aimed straight at Velastra, the weighted ball whirling toward the Demon Lord's temple, only to rebound off a conjured wall of light with a heavy clang. Before either woman could adjust, columns of radiant light snapped into place around them, sealing them inside transparent prisons.
Clarissa's expression sharpened as she struck the barrier with knives and fists, each blow meeting the same unyielding surface. Karin hammered at hers with kicks and violent swings of the weapon's iron weight, but nothing even flickered.
"Now that those two can't do anything," Velastra said, lowering her hand with a satisfied smile, "bring the girl."
Three more imps scurried forward, their claws hooking roughly around Mari's arms and collar as they yanked her toward Velastra. She tried to pull away, heels digging into the dirt, but the creatures were too strong and too many to break free from their grasp.
"Don't you dare do anything to her!" Lennix shouted. His body wasn't healed enough to move—not even close—but he still tried. Goddess knew he tried. Every strain of muscle only shredded half-mended flesh, slowing his regeneration further, but he fought to lift himself anyway…and only collapsed harder for it. "Let her go!" the black knight yelled, forcing himself to crawl despite the blood pouring from him. His limbs shook, his strength almost gone.
The demon knight said nothing. He simply watched with the grim understanding of someone who already knew what Velastra intended.
The imps hauled Mari to the Demon Lord's feet. She stared up at Velastra's towering silhouette as a smile spread across the Demon Lord's face. "Do you want to know why I picked you out in particular, little girl?" she asked, patting Mari's head. Mari flinched at the touch, glancing around—and noticing, for the first time, that one person was missing.
Velastra continued regardless. "It's because the portals are powered by misery, you see. And with the sheer amount of innocence radiating off you, and how important you clearly are to several people here, your death will charge them beautifully."
Mari barely heard her. Her breath hitched, eyes darting again. Only one question mattered. "Where's Uncle Carver? Wha-what did you do to him?" she asked, tears welling.
"Carver?" Velastra echoed. "Hmm. Considering the vampire's name is Lennix, and the knight you only ever called 'knight,' I'm assuming you mean the man who ran away like a coward?" Her smirk widened. Mari froze, disbelief cracking across her face.
"No… no, he wouldn't leave." Her voice trembled. "H-he's still here. I-I know he is. And he's going to stop you. He's going to make you leave."
Velastra let out a genuine, ringing laugh. "No, little one, I don't think he will. But your words do confirm you're as innocent as I hoped. Now, keep your eyes open as I blast off your legs, okay?"
Her hand rose, palm glowing with gathering light, aimed directly at Mari's left leg.
Mari squeezed her eyes shut, tears slipping free. "You're wrong," she whispered. "He will help us. He will make you leave. He won't abandon us. He's not that kind of person. You don't know anything about him."
The beam never fired.
Velastra froze. Her eyes widened behind her glasses. The demon knight tensed. Every demon stopped moving. The guards and villagers stared in disbelief and hope. The black knight's eyes went wide. Lennix stared, stunned. Karin stiffened mid-strike against her barrier. Clarissa remained still, but her gaze locked forward with laser focus.
Mari felt a hand gently pat her head.
A hand that wasn't Velastra's.
She opened her eyes.
A soft sigh brushed the air above her. "How can I leave after you put so much faith in me?"
Mari turned, and there he stood behind her.
Darek. Or rather…the man the they knew as Carver.
"Alright, kiddo," he said, ruffling her hair with a crooked, tired half-smile. "Uncle Carver here is gonna take care of all this. Don't you worry. But after this, I've got a secret to tell you, and everyone else. So try and stay alive, okay?"
Mari nodded through her tears, a shaky smile forming.
Darek straightened, the softness in his expression evaporating as he faced Velastra. "See, I don't like putting in effort. I'm lazy." His voice sharpened. "But after what she said, and what you said, I'm currently both determined and really pissed off."
He lifted his fists.
He wasn't just Carver anymore.
He wasn't going to pretend anymore.
He stood as Darek Quill, The Reluctant Deity of Veridiania.
"So I'm going to put in the effort to put you all in the ground."