Heroic Chronicle of the Reincarnated Demon General

Chapter 5

‘But which path should I take? Relying on the church and the royal family would be relatively safer and eventually grant her political power, but it’d also come with the unpleasant experience of the church attempting to brainwash her, a much slower rate of power growth due to their coddling, and greater inconvenience for me in terms of status.’

Even though Judith had said she’d take him along with her, Luke knew things wouldn’t be that easy.

The church only cared about the Hero, and even if they initially allowed him to accompany her just to appease her, they’d eventually try to get rid of him.

‘The self-development route would be a LOT easier for me in terms of status, and there wouldn’t be any church priests trying to brainwash her or royals attempting to use her as a pawn in their political games.

Most importantly, her power growth speed would be much faster since I’d be the one directing her growth.

The danger associated with this route, however, is incomparable to that of the first.’

A finger suddenly poked Luke's cheek, prompting him to turn around and find Judith staring at him.

“Whatever you're thinking about, you can do it after dinner," she said, moving her finger away from his cheek before pointing toward the darkening sky and the sun that was gradually dipping below the horizon.

"It's getting late, and I'm hungry, so let's go make dinner."

Having said that, she got up from where she'd been sitting, and Luke tossed the stick in his hand onto the ground before asking, "What do you have in mind?"

He got up after her, kicking some sand across the ground to scatter the images he'd drawn there as he followed her toward their little house.

Rubbing her chin as she stepped through the back entrance of the house, Judith replied, "I actually want to try out a new mashed potato recipe from Auntie Iva."

The name she called made Luke immediately recall the unpleasant experience he'd had with the medicine he’d drunk a week ago.

"You mean the apothecary who gave me that ridiculously bitter headache medicine? Are you sure the recipe she gave you is going to produce something safe to eat?"

Judith laughed at his question before responding, "Yeah. You know she's the one who taught me most of the recipes I know, right?"

"That thing she concocted for me and called ‘headache medicine’ has made me doubt anything she prepares in a pot," Luke replied, eliciting another laugh from Judith.

The two entered the two-roomed house and began preparing dinner while chatting about random things, finishing their preparations within the hour.

By then, the moon was already visible in the sky, and the two sat down in front of the fireplace to eat by its light while keeping themselves warm.

After finishing her meal, Judith set her plate aside, deciding to wash the dishes later, before looking up at Luke, who was still busy with his food.

"Hey, Luke."

"What's up?" Luke asked, taking another bite of his food.

"About this Hero skill of mine," Judith began, her voice sounding somewhat hesitant as she brought up the subject.

Hearing her mention the Hero skill that she clearly wasn't particularly fond of, Luke paused his meal for a moment and silently stared at her, waiting for her to explain what was on her mind.

But just as Judith opened her mouth to continue speaking, her brows suddenly furrowed.

She rubbed her arms with her hands, frowning as she muttered, "I suddenly feel so uncomfortable. Why do I have goosebumps?"

Luke tilted his head in confusion, but before he could even make a comment, a loud clanging sound echoed from somewhere in the distance, the familiar sound of the village's emergency bell.

The moment that sound rang out, Judith suddenly flinched, her gaze snapping toward the wall behind Luke before she abruptly leapt out of her seat and reached for him, grabbing him and tackling him down onto the ground.

In that same instant, something suddenly blasted through the wall, sending chunks of stone flying everywhere as part of the roof and ceiling collapsed.

The entire room was instantly filled with dust and smoke as Luke’s body slammed into the ground, the sound of a scream mixing with that of the collapsing roof.

Luke groaned in pain, coughing heavily as he struggled to gather his bearings. After a moment, his vision gradually stabilised, and he forced his upper body upright and looked around, his eyes widening at the sight before him.

A giant creature, roughly two meters tall, occupied the space where the wall of their house had been moments earlier.

It resembled an enormous bird with a bony body, a long neck, and a pair of brown wings extending from its sides, while its elongated beak looked capable of piercing through flesh with ease.

After looking around in silence, the creature opened its beak and released a loud, ear-splitting screech that reverberated across the entire village.

‘A monster!’ Luke exclaimed internally.

Just then, he heard a groan of pain from beside him, prompting him to quickly turn away from the monster and look toward Judith, whose arms were still wrapped around his body.

He immediately grabbed her and tried to pull her back onto her feet, but she groaned in pain the moment he tugged at her, making him realise that something was wrong.

Looking down, he noticed that several broken pieces of the roof had fallen across her leg, and judging by the blood pooling beneath the debris, she’d clearly been injured.

Suddenly, Luke felt a gaze fall on him, and he slowly turned his eyes towards the source, locking eyes with the giant monster whose head was tilted slightly to the side.

‘Fuck!’, he cursed internally. ‘This is bad. This is very bad.’

Such thoughts crossed his mind as he slowly pushed himself up onto his feet, trying to position himself in a way that would allow him to dodge easily if the monster suddenly lunged toward him.

While doing so, he noticed one of the fire tongs they'd used to adjust the firewood in the fireplace lying on the floor nearby. The metal was still red hot from the fire, and Luke slowly began moving his hand toward the makeshift weapon, hoping to get hold of it before the monster attacked.

The moment his fingers curled around the handle, the monster bird turned its attention toward his hand and released another screech before immediately thrusting its head forward, attempting to stab the youth with its long, pointed beak.

Luke poured the little magic power he possessed into the tongs, infusing the metal with his energy to strengthen it as his Mystic Eyes activated. He swung the weapon upward, and the red-hot tip collided with the bird's beak, knocking it aside before it could reach him.

"Ugh!" Luke groaned in pain, his unbalanced body falling backwards from the force of his own movement.

"L-Luke??"

Turning at the sound of Judith’s voice, Luke saw her attempting to force herself upright. She instinctively tried to raise her leg, but the moment she did, she cried out in pain.

"Don't move!" Luke shouted, quickly forcing himself back onto his feet.

Judith turned towards him, but her attention immediately shifted to the side, her eyes widening as she noticed the giant monster lunging toward Luke once more and attempting to pierce him with its beak.

Even though the monster's movements should've been far too fast for a Level 10 like Luke to properly follow, his Mystic Eyes granted him superior kinetic vision that allowed him to track the trajectory of its beak.

He swung the tongs in the right direction and at the right angle, successfully knocking the monster's beak toward the right before it could reach him. The creature immediately attacked again without giving him a moment to recover, and Luke swung the tongs once more, knocking its beak toward the left before it could pierce him.

His arm screamed in pain from the strain of the repeated impacts, but Luke endured the discomfort without making a sound as he lunged forward and adjusted his grip on the red-hot tongs. He then thrust the weapon straight toward the monster's head, stabbing the heated metal into the eye on the side of its face with all the force he could muster.

The monster screeched in agony, immediately raising its head, and the sudden movement lifted Luke's body slightly into the air. It began thrashing around violently, flinging his body from side to side as he struggled to maintain his grip on the weapon lodged in its eye.

Suddenly, the creature spread its wings, attempting to take flight with Luke still clinging to its head.