—–
“…Apparently, he’s nearing 8 years of age.”
“What?!”
The entire room remained in silence. They had expected a teenager, at most, but not… someone below 10 years of age.
The entire cult remained in silence as they heard the news about Cassandra, especially those about being slain by somebody below ten years of age. Although he received the aid of the Head Priest, this boy… was someone incredible if he had accomplished such a feat.
“You’re telling me that a kid that is not even ten years of age has defeated Cassandra?! Is he a prodigy that was born with a powerful spirit or something? Maybe he’s Rank 2 due to some special item he consumed?”
“…No.”
“Are you sure he’s a human? Maybe the “kid” was a halfling or a dwarf!”
“No, he’s a human boy… It was confirmed by our informant.”
“It is a pity that the informant hasn’t managed to get in the team of the Head Priest yet.”
“Now that the kid is using the last spot, he will probably not recruit anymore members…”
“It would be ideal if we could get that spy near the kid to get more information. Try to tell that person to get as close to him as possible.”
“Understood…”
“However, is this really true? How can a kid be this powerful? It shouldn’t even be more than two years since his awakening! Has he been slaying monsters and receiving blessings constantly?”
“It is a mystery, we only know he’s capable of using a powerful magic spear and a wide range of elemental magic without any previous teaching, he’s a natural magic genius.”
“This kid… if he really defeated someone as strong as Cassandra with the help of the Head Priest, then that kid cannot be left alive…”
“If he grows into adulthood, who knows how strong he will become? Will we even be a threat to him by then? Our strongest member is only Rank 3… Although we have many resources and connections… The higher ups are not interested in this smaller village to even care about giving us their power.”
“Well, about that, there’s another topic we must discuss regarding Cassandra… Her son.”
The group of people quickly fell silent, looking at one another. The child of Cassandra was a rather interesting specimen, a being born as a half-demon without any negative side effect, something they had been looking for all this time.
“You mean the half-demon, the Cambion?”
“Yes, the child that Cassandra gave birth to…”
“After many attempts over generations with many of the women in our cult, a pure and healthy half-demon was finally born, huh?”
“Has he been reported to control his demonic powers without losing his mind?”
“Cassandra reported this some years ago when she exposed her son to demonic energy to help him get used to it. It was a secret between her and her son, but he was able to shapeshift into an Oni-type Cambion.”
“Incredible, a perfect Cambion… We must get him, what has happened to him?”
“He’s been put in the orphanage, and he’s going to be adopted by the Head Priest, it is surprising how they decided not to kill him on the spot, but this opens the possibility for us to retrieve him.”
“Now, now… How are you even planning to do that when he’s living in the middle of all those religious people? They’re all strong light mages as well, our demon parts are weak against the magic they wield, we must be careful.”
“Hmm… Indeed. Well, that’s why the Demon Gate that has been artificially opened over there will serve its purpose.”
“Oh, so it is growing bigger now? Are there more demons than simple Imps?”
“Yes, apparently, the hunters fought an Oni, but he was defeated… mysteriously by another… kid.”
“Wait… the kid is…?”
“Yes.”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“He can kill an Oni?!”
“Kill him quickly! We can’t let this kid get in our plans!”
“If he’s actively participating in all the things that involve our plans, we cannot let him grow any stronger…”
“Do not worry, we’ll kill two birds with one stone after we manage to amass enough demonic energy, we’ll overrun the village, catch the Half-Demon, and kill the kid and the Head Priest.”
“The Demon Wave… is it soon to emerge?”
“Yes… have patience, my brothers.”
—–
Erdrich looked into the mirror of his room. After all that happened almost a week ago, he has spent all this week in the church inside of his small room, being fed two meals a day. He hasn’t wanted to walk outside ever since, fearful of the world outside and also of what he truly was.
He was also fearful he was no longer with anybody, alone. With his mother dead because she was an evil demon that tried to poison his beloved and gentle aunt, and with his father deciding to disown him, what else did he have now? His siblings were far away from him and he felt hopeless.
No matter how much he was told that his mother was a monster, he really couldn’t accept it. He had good memories of Cassandra, his beloved mother always worked hard and did everything to make him happy. Bringing him nice clothes, special potions to control his demonic powers and even strengthen him secretly, spoiling him, hugging him, kissing him, and teaching him a lot of things…
“Erdrich, one day you will become the head of the family. When that day comes… I want you to become a just man, someone that can reach the hearts of the people.”
Recalling his mother’s tender words, he couldn’t help but cry a river, as he rubbed his face against the bed. He felt lost, without purpose. He didn’t want to do anything with anybody, and didn’t want to interact with anybody either…
“Am I really a monster?” He cried, as he looked into the bright moon atop the night sky.
Knock, knock.
However, his depressing thoughts were interrupted by the knocking of his door. When the doors opened, a pair of children near his age greeted his sight.
—–