“Where on earth did it go?”
On a narrow mountain path, a young girl walked alone.
With cascading black hair like a waterfall and a face still full of childlike innocence, she should have been an age for acting spoiled in her parents’ arms, yet she wore custom-fitted sword armor and traveled through monster-infested lands.
Her name was Selina, the genius swordswoman humanity had placed great hopes upon.
“I need to find it quickly, or the people down the mountain will be in danger.”
Little Selina felt anxious; her voice was childish and cute, but her tone carried a maturity beyond her years.
She was currently on a mission, pursuing a monster that had attacked humans, and had arrived here.
“…Let’s try this.”
Selina stopped, took out a small magic orb, and sensed changes in magic.
During the earlier battle with the monster, she had deliberately left the paired orb on its body.
If it was nearby, she could detect it.
Buzz—
The orb vibrated.
“It’s close!”
Selina’s eyes snapped open; she leaped onto a tree branch, nimble as a monkey, darting through the mountain’s ginkgo forest.
She had sensed it—the monster was ahead!
The girl kicked off a branch, soaring into the air, sword raised, ready to strike at any moment.
As she looked down, an unexpected scene unfolded.
The tracked monster lay on the ground, lifeless.
Before it crouched a boy, covered in wounds, clutching his chest, breathing with difficulty.
The boy, about her age, had black hair and red eyes, radiating a repulsive demonic aura.
A demon descendant.
Selina landed; the boy turned, gazing at her with half-open, puzzled eyes.
That single glance convinced Selina: this was indeed a demon.
Demons were an extremely dangerous race, capable of infecting monsters with abyssal energy, driving them berserk to attack humans. From past to present, countless had died by this evil race’s hands.
Humanity’s enemy.
From childhood, her education had been clear: demons must be killed.
She needed to become the sharpest sword piercing them.
“Ugh—”
The demon boy tried to speak.
Selina raised her sword, charged at the demon, aiming the tip at his heart, intending to end his life in one strike.
Injured, the demon could only wait for death in place.
Just as the blade neared his heart, Selina halted.
In her peripheral vision, not far from the monster’s corpse, lay her own kind—a mother and daughter from the village below, in a safe zone protected by magic.
This was the demon’s magic.
Selina struggled to accept it.
Why would a demon save humans?
After scanning the surroundings again, a near-heretical suspicion arose.
Could this demon not be attacking humans, but fighting and killing the monster to protect them?
Her gaze met the boy’s once more.
His eyes held none of the demons’ characteristic cruelty or madness—only clarity.
…Unbelievable.
Truly unbelievable.
…
…
“Mommy, we were saved. Shouldn’t we thank big brother?”
“What big brother? That’s a terrifying demon—who knows what he’s plotting!”
The rescued mother fled in panic with her child.
“…”
The demon watched their retreating figures, motionless, lost in thought.
“Wow, so the monster I was tracking was killed by you,” Selina said, circling the beast. “Now how am I supposed to report this?”
“Take it if you want…” The demon’s voice was weak; blood from his wounds dripped down his thigh to the ground.
“I don’t need it.”
“Alright.”
“Are you… really a demon?” Selina couldn’t help asking.
“Yes.”
“Why save that mother and daughter? Aren’t demons supposed to control and attack humans? Are you doing this on purpose to gain our trust, lower our guard, and get close?”
Selina fired off a string of questions.
The demon merely shook his head. “No special reason. I just saw they were in danger.”
“Impossible! Every demon I’ve seen was brutal!”
“Then I’m different,” the demon said earnestly. “I don’t like doing that.”
“You…”
Selina was momentarily speechless, shaken.
She never dreamed a demon would bleed for humans.
Had the world gone mad, or had she?
The girl felt irritated; this clashed completely with what adults had taught her.
“Sorry.”
“Hm?” The demon was surprised.
“I misunderstood you earlier and tried to kill you.”
“You’re strange too. Every human warrior who saw me attacked without question. You not only talked to me but apologized?”
“If the Holy Land knew, they’d brand me a her… a heretic.” Selina muttered.
She took out a portable potion from her pack and handed it to the boy, roughly her height.
“Take it. Consider it thanks for saving them. Without you, they might really have died.”
“Okay.”
The demon boy accepted and drank it.
“You really drank it? Weren’t you afraid I poisoned it?” Selina couldn’t resist saying.
“Huh?” The boy looked scared. “You poisoned it?”
“No, just teasing you.”
“I knew it.”
“You trust me?”
“Yeah. You seem… different from the others.”
“What a fool.” Selina pouted.
“Maybe. My kind says the same—that I’m a soft-hearted freak. They shun me, won’t even talk to me.”
After lingering a while, the potion took effect; the demon boy’s wounds improved enough for movement.
He started to leave but turned back after a few steps.
“I want to know your name.”
“…”
Selina looked at him, an idea forming.
Maybe this demon really can communicate normally.
On impulse, she gave her real name.
“Selina.”
“Selina? What a nice name. I’ll remember you.”
The boy smiled innocently at the girl.
A gentle breeze blew, rustling through the golden mountain forest with a shush, golden-green leaves brushing past them, their paths like threads connecting the two.
“I’m Ville. If we meet again, let’s call each other by name!”