The Demon King's First General
Chapter 113: No Longer Human

Chapter 113: No Longer Human

Everyone gathered around Alles the moment she regained consciousness. They were curious if she was the friend they knew or a whole new, different entity.

"Alles..." Rye mumbled, staring at her friend.

Then, the moment Alles’ gaze moved to find where the whisper came from, Rye failed to stop her tears from flowing.

"Rye? I-I am alive; how come?" Alles asked, stuttering.

Her response brought them a sigh of relief; they were elated, especially Royle, who couldn’t help but smile.

The priestess pulled her into an embrace, and she started wailing again like a child. The others stared at them and waited for her cries to die down.

After a minute of endless crying, Rye let go of Alles and examined her. The person in front of her was a pale corpse just a few moments ago, but it was really a miracle. Her warmth, her pulse, and the life in her eyes were real.

"You really came back!" Rye exclaimed and hugged her once more.

This time, Alles saw the duke standing behind Rye, smiling while looking at them. She smiled back at him before freeing herself from the priestess’ embrace.

"Can you stand?" Rye asked.

"I feel weak, like there is no energy circulating inside my body," Alles answered.

Upon hearing her words, the group felt worried, and they glanced at the demon, who had distanced himself earlier from them.

However, Zeno ignored their gazes and just stared at Alles. He was so deep in thought that he didn’t bother himself to answer the human’s query.

Instead, it was Heaire who spoke and explained the situation.

"That’s a given. The energy inside her body depleted the moment she died, but don’t worry too much; she will regain it in no time," she said.

The mercenaries sighed in relief after digesting the psychopomp’s explanation.

Afterward, Rye helped Alles stand up, and then the combat mage let her eyes roam around. The first one she saw was the Ruby-class mercenary, then Heaire. Just like Goomer, her eyes widened upon seeing the state she was in, but she chose not to ask.

Next to her was the black giant snake with two heads.

"I somewhat recognized that monster..." She paused for a second, thinking where she saw the creature, and when she remembered that they looked like the snakes in the monster’s eyes whom they met, she trembled in fear.

As soon as Rye sensed Alles quivering, she tightened her grip on her arm to get her attention and spoke.

"The situation is now under control, I suppose," she stated, then gave Alles a warm smile.

The mage was confused, but she still nodded and looked at the monster again before moving her eyes towards the silver-haired man who was standing beside the creature.

Zeno was staring at her without any emotion on his face, which made Alles click her tongue. She said nothing, but still, the man’s presence still gave her some sort of annoyance, even after returning from death.

Afterward, she moved her eyes next to the masked man, and she gave a warm smile after Goomer raised his hand, giving her a thumbs up.

The next second, she saw a very familiar face; though the color of his hair changed, she still managed to recognize him at first glance.

"Royle," she said.

Then memories from earlier surged into her mind—her conversation with Royle—before her consciousness drifted away, and like a tomato that was ready for a harvest, her face turned red, and she felt that steam was rising from both of her ears, so she lowered her head.

But the moment she did, Royle ran towards her and snatched her away from Rye, though the priestess didn’t mind. She let her friend get pulled away from her, and a smile bloomed on her face after Royle threw her arms around Allesanah.

"Please! Don’t leave me like that," Royle whispered into Alles’ ears, though his voice was loud enough for everyone to hear.

Silence enveloped the area; no one was speaking. All of them just stared at the two hugging each other.

. . . . .

After a while, while waiting for Allesanah’s recovery, Rye tended to Heaire’s wounds. It took some time, but she was successful in regenerating the psychopomp’s limbs, while Goomer reported what happened to the mercenaries who chose to stay and wait with them. Jez gritted his teeth and smashed the pillar beside him.

He was the one responsible for those lives; their deaths were his failure, but Rye comforted him that they had already made them choose to return, and it was their own accord to stay.

Afterward, Royle started to fill up Allesanah, from the moment she died until they managed to revive her. He told her stories about their journey deep inside the dungeon, how Tencent chose to help them, and their battle at the swamp. With the knowledge he acquired from their conversation with Tencent, the Fallen, and their Twelve Commanders, he told her everything and even warned her about Zeno.

"Why would I need to be careful about someone like him?" Allesanah asked, confused.

Seeing her reaction, Royle smiled.

’She is indeed Allesanah,’ he thought before proceeding to answer the question.

"That man... He is far more dangerous than any monster living inside this place; he’s a demon and not an ordinary one," he said.

Allesanah’s eyes widened; even her jaw dropped upon hearing Royle’s revelation.

"He was the one that made your resurrection possible; without him, we couldn’t pull off such things," he added.

Then, the mage directed her gaze to the demon lying down at the top of the snake’s head. She gulped after remembering those comments she made to him. Royle had no reason to lie to her, and no one from their group objected to his words, guaranteeing that what he said was all the truth.

Like them, she tried to recall if she saw that demon’s face, but aside from the Demon King and his Four Darkness Generals, she couldn’t trace any particular demons that matched his criteria.

’Unless it was not his true form,’ she thought.

Then Zeno moved his head sideward and caught Alles looking at him, so she immediately retracted her gaze and even turned around to face Royle.

After exchanging some lighthearted words, Alles regained a portion of her energy that was enough to invoke a teleportation spell, so the group decided to go back. Almost all of them were tired; they were restless and didn’t even know how many hours had passed since they started the exploration.

Alles picked up her scepter, and the mercenaries gathered around her. Zeno leaped down from Tencent’s head and walked towards her as well, while Tencent and Heaire remained at the side.

"Should we tell them now?" Heaire spoke out of nowhere without averting her eyes from Allesanah.

"There’s no need," Tencent replied.

On the other hand, Jez gave out the command for Alles to start chanting, which the mage started right away.

"Oh space hidden in reality, open up a passage to travel towards thee," she chanted before placing her scepter in a horizontal position on the ground.

Then, from both ends of her scepter, two dots came out to draw a magic circle beneath them. The dots moved faster than the last time Alles cast the spell.

It took a minute for the circle to be formed before, but at this moment, it took just several seconds. Even though it was a smaller version, Alles believed that it would take her thirty seconds at least to create one. Even her, found it strange; she was clueless but chose to shrug it off in the meantime.

And as soon as the magic circle was completed, it emitted a gray hue. Then Alles looked around, making sure that everyone was stepping inside the magic circle. Afterward, she glanced at the beings at the side and nodded.

"Mass teleportation," she uttered the next second.

Afterward, the light on the ground shone brighter, giving brilliance to the entire place.

. . . . .

At the center of the town plaza, a magic circle appeared. It alerted the townspeople, but after seeing the individuals emerge after a bright light diminished, they rejoiced.

"It’s the duke; they returned," one of the crowd members shouted.

The people started to gather and flock towards them. Despite their losses and failure to conquer the dungeon, Jez still gave a warm smile to those who approached them, and Rye did the same. Even the Ruby-class mercenary puffed his chest out, proud of his accomplishment for staying alive.

It was peak midday when they returned. Zeno looked up and stared at the sun.

"I miss that thing," he stated before starting to walk away.

He didn’t even bother himself to bid farewell to the group, but he soon halted his step after hearing a shout.

"Alles!" The voice said.

He looked back and saw Royle with a dumbfounded expression.

"Alles, where are you, Alles?" He asked, searching while looking around at the sea of people.

Rye covered her mouth in surprise, while Jez and Goomer began to look around as well.

’So that is the catch,’ Zeno thought.

. . . . .

Back in the underground place, Alles was left there frozen in shock.

"W-why am I still here?" She asked as she looked at the two figures staring at her.

"Young lady, you can’t leave this place," Tencent answered.

"I-I don’t get it, w-what do you mean?" Alles replied, curious about the snake’s words.

"Fallens cannot escape this shelter until the deities say so," Tencent said.

However, Alles shook her head and rejected what she heard.

"No! That’s i-imposible! I’m not a fallen after all," she stated.

This time, Heaire was the one to shake her head and speak.

"You’re no longer human; you’re one of us now," she said before walking towards the mage.

But Alles’ stepped back and screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Do not come near me!" She yelled, and her scepter disappeared.

Her hair turned red before it started burning. Meanwhile, her right eye became red as well, while fire began to sprout into the other. Blazing runes materialized on the left part of her body, from her head to her toes. The clothes she was wearing were burned, but the flames kept on burning at her chest and on her hips, giving her undergarments the appearance of fire.

. . . . .