Piper stopped a short distance down the tunnel and squinted at the darkness. While the fire behind them cast a flickering light, it didn’t penetrate far into the corridor. Would all of their exploration plans be defeated by a simple lack of light?

  I wish I still had the aetherstone.

  At her thought, a string of gems embedded in the walls about chest high flared to life. They bathed the tunnel with a harsh red glow and illuminated a tunnel that must be at least a kilometer long. But it wasn’t the tunnel stretching off into infinity that caught her attention. It was the bodies lying near the entrance.

  Ophelia took a step forward. “Is that…”

  Piper nodded her head. “It’s a demon.”

  The monstrous body of a demon lay slumped against the wall. How it had even fit into the corridor, she didn’t know. Even sitting, the creature's horned head was pressed up against the ceiling. It had four arms, each of them ending in scythe-like talons, and its feet were cloven. Dozens of weapons were sticking out of its desiccated ribcage, including a golden spear.

  “And those are...”

  “Angels,” Piper whispered. “Real life angels.”

  Around the demon's corpse lay three humanoid bodies with feathery wings. They wore resplendent golden armor, though it was battered and torn from their encounter with the demon. In their hands, they clutched silvery swords.

  “He was my best friend,” Gorebark sniffled from her back. “I can’t believe he’s dead.”

  “Really?” Piper’s eyebrows shot up. “You knew this demon?”

  “No, not really.” Gorebark chuckled. “You think I know all the demons out there? This big guy was a harroth, though. They’re usually used to break the enemy lines. Very big and very mean. I’m surprised those fragile, feathered guys could bring it down.”

  Piper’s mind raced at the revelation that there were angels in this world. Though she probably shouldn’t be surprised, since demons existed. Were the two races mortal enemies? If she stumbled across an angel, would it want to kill her?

  As Piper pondered the implications, Ophelia raced over and poked one of the angels with her toe. “These guys look like they just died, don’t they?”

  “You shouldn’t do that,” Piper said quickly.

  “Why not?” Ophelia shrugged. “They’re dead, aren’t they?”

  Biting her lip, she shook her head. “It just feels wrong. Aren’t angels special in this world?”

  “I guess so? I never listen to anything about Infernus and his holy host.” Ophelia bent down and picked up a silver sword. She grunted as she gave it a test swing, the weight almost pulling her off her feet. “Look at this thing! I bet it’s magical.”

  “I think we should leave,” Piper said, her skin prickling. “This feels wrong being in here.”

  “But just think of all the treasures we could find in this place,” Ophelia said as she dropped the sword with a clatter. Bending down, she unsheathed a short sword from the fallen angel’. The size seemed far more appropriate for her. “One of these could probably buy me a suit an armor. Mom would have to let me be an adventurer then.”

  Piper walked over and looked down at the sword Ophelia had dropped. The blade shone with a dull light, almost as though magic burned within the metal. And the hilt was inlaid with delicate golden filigree. For a moment, she was reminded of the strange golden container she’d seen in the tomb where she’d awoken.

  Bending down, she grasped the hilt before crying out in pain. The second the weapon touched her hand, her flesh began to sizzle. She dropped the sword and clutched her wrist.

  Gorebark snickered. “You know, you really shouldn’t have touched that thing.”

  “Where were you a second ago?”

  “Are you alright?” Ophelia rushed over and took her hand. When she peeled back Piper’s fingers, she revealed blackening skin.

  “I think it’s an anti-demon weapon,” Piper gasped. She quickly activated [Demonic Blood] as the blackness began to spread up her arm.

  Ding! Your racial skill, Demonic Blood has reached level 7.

  Ding! Your racial skill, Demonic Blood has reached level 8.

  Ding! Your racial skill, Demonic Blood has reached level 9.

  Piper’s eyes widened as her racial skill [Demonic Blood] warred against the weapon’s curse. She’d barely touched it, but the magic was trying to kill her. How powerful were the enchantments on the blade?

  Ding! Your racial skill, Demonic Blood has reached level 11.

  ……

  If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

  Ding! Your racial skill, Demonic Blood has reached level 17.

  Her mana was rapidly dropping, and the blackening skin was see-sawing back and forth on her hand. For a second, she was worried that her skill wouldn’t be able to stop the curse, or whatever had afflicted her, before she ran out of mana.

  “What can I do?” Ophelia cried out. “Should I get Mom?”

  Piper gritted her teeth and shook her head. Already, she could feel the rot eating at her hand slowing as her racial skill began to win out. But now she could understand how the angels had taken down the massive demon. The horned creature had nearly a dozen of the blades sticking out of its chest along with a golden spear. It never would have been able to heal from all of those wounds.

  Ding! Your racial skill, Demonic Blood has reached level 22.

  With a gasp, she uncurled her fingers to see they’d returned to normal. In the future, she’d have to avoid any weapons that looked like they had come from angels. Stopping the corruption creeping up her hand had taken every drop of mana she had.

  “I think you should sheath that thing,” Piper said, pointing at the weapon in Ophelia’s other hand.

  “Oh, right.” Ophelia gave her an embarrassed grin. “I’ll go grab the belt from the angel.”

  Piper stepped back and gave her friend a wide berth as Ophelia unbuckled the sheath from the angel’s waist. She watched as Ophelia tugged and pushed on the fallen angel until she finally managed to drag the sword belt out. Then the girl buckled it around her own waist.

  Once the blade was safely covered, Piper picked her way around the angels and over to the demon. She searched the corpse for anything useful, but the demon didn’t have anything on it. Not that it would need weapons with the massive talons protruding from the ends of its arms. The thing looked like an armored tank.

  “I want to see if I can grab an aetherstone.” Piper walked over to the wall and inspected the closest glowing red stone. She didn’t spot any enchantments like those that covered the angel’s weapons. But that didn’t mean they were safe to touch. “On second thought, I’m going to let my mana regenerate a bit first before risking it.”

  “How long?”

  Piper shrugged. “As long as it takes.”

  Ophelia screwed up her face, clearly wanting to explore further. But after a few minutes, she just started to poke around the angels. She must have found some interesting trinkets, because she shoved a few things into the pouch on her belt.

  Piper waited until about a quarter of her mana had regenerated—all the while shooting glances back at Alfred and Ethel to ensure they were alright—before she hesitantly tapped the gem with the tip of her claw. Recoiling, she waited to see if anything happened. But when nothing did, she grabbed onto the aetherstone.

  Unlike the one she’d taken from the tomb, this one refused the budge. She wiggled it back and forth, but nothing happened. Frowning, she briefly considered using her knife before discarding the idea. Who knew what would happen if she damaged an aetherstone?

  Defeated, she leaned back, gazing longingly at the immense wealth embedded in the wall. If she could pry out just a few of the gems, she could set them up in luxury in the Arissian Empire. Maybe Alfred would know a way to remove them.

  At the thought of Alfred, she turned to Ophelia, who was wearing an oversized angel helmet. “You know that was on a dead person.”

  The younger girl shrugged. “So what? It’s not like they’re all gross.”

  Piper had to admit her friend was right. While the demon looked like an ancient mummy, the angels appeared to have only just died yesterday. How long had they been entombed down here? And more concerning, were there more around? They probably wouldn’t like a demon wandering into their base, or whatever this place was.

  “We should head back.”

  Ophelia lifted the golden helmet to peer out at Piper. “Can’t we go a bit further?”

  “We can’t leave your parents without anyone on watch.”

  “Come on,” Ophelia pleaded. “Nothing is going to be wandering around in that snowstorm. They’ll be completely safe until we get back.”

  Piper briefly considered pushing deeper into the tunnel, but then shook her head. “Maybe tomorrow if your dad agrees.”

  Her friend let out a huff before pulling off the helmet. She placed it beside the fallen angel and then started to walk back toward their camp. After a few steps, she stopped and chewed on her lower lip. “What about my short sword?”

  “We’ll wrap it in a blanket when we get back. That should at least hide it for the time being.” While Piper didn’t want to get into trouble for disobeying Alfred and Ethel, it wasn’t everyday you found an angel’s weapon. It might come in handy someday when Ophelia became an adventurer.

  Together, they crept back to the campsite at the mouth of the tunnel. When they passed through the door, Piper touched it, and it silently swung shut behind them. Then she hurried over to her bedroll and sat down.

  Looking up, she spotted Ethel’s irises glittering in the firelight. Swallowing, she averted her gaze to look at the cave entrance. How did parents always know when a kid was doing something wrong? Not that Ophelia had been overly quiet. But at least they hadn’t woken Alfred up.

  Piper continued to watch the snow driving outside, a sense of weariness descending over her like a cloak. Beside her, Ophelia had laid down and was already snoring like a rhino. She was amazed that such loud sounds could come from such a small girl.

  Her thoughts turned back to the demon in the tunnel. From what she’d heard, it’d been centuries since anyone had seen a demon in the Bloodveil Empire. How long ago had the angels and demon died fighting in the corridor? Did the angels have some sort of special ability where they didn’t decay?

  At her thought, she was surprised to see a new notification.

  Ding! Your racial skill Demonic Intellect has reached level 7.

  If simply thinking about demons and angels increased her skill, she would have to do some serious studying when she reached the Arissian Empire. There must be books out there somewhere about the Ascendant Realms. If she could figure out a way to earn enough money, she might even be able to buy a small library.

  The thought of reading again filled her with excitement. Fantasy books and anime had been her only companions during the long nights in the hospital after her parents had fallen asleep. She would kill to have the chance to read again. Did they have novels in this world? Or was it all dusty books about farming?

  She was about to rise to her feet when she heard a faint sound from outside the cave. Straining, she listened for the noise again. But after a minute, she relaxed when she didn’t hear anything.

  Just when she was about to dismiss it as a figment of her imagination, she heard it again. It was the unmistakable sound of something scraping against rock.

  Leaping to her feet, she grabbed her bow and slung her quiver around her waist. Then she nocked an arrow and kicked Ophelia awake before heading over to Ethel. She gave the same treatment to Ethel, only gentler.

  As the blond-haired woman sat up groggily, Piper held up a finger to her mouth to indicate silence. Then she moved over to Alfred and prodded him with her toe. The big man immediately sat up and reached for his axe.

  Piper took a step forward and watched the darkness intently. Someone was out there, slinking around the cave entrance. Had the redcaps found them again?

  Her heart sank as two figures emerged from the gloom. Their plate armor shone in the firelight, and they wore unmistakable blood-red cloaks. The Crimson Guard had caught them at last.