Muriel THE Demon Lord

Act 1

Muriel THE Demon Lord

In a city on the western continent, at the Adventurers' Guild, a party of adventurers was scanning the quest board. One particular quest caught their eye: "Explore the Newly Discovered Cave." The reward was any treasure found inside the cave and an additional 50 silver coins for travel expenses.

"Hey, how about we take this quest?" A red-haired elf girl, with twin sabres at her waist, plucked the quest notice from the board for a closer look. She flipped the paper over to reveal a map showing the cave's location.

"Hmm, a newly discovered cave in the forest not far from here, huh? Sounds like a good starting point for us." agreed a black-haired young man wearing leather armor, who was also examining the board.

"Yeah, let's take it to the counter." suggested another young man with brown hair, dressed in a light blue robe. He held a wooden staff as tall as his shoulder.

"Sounds great Nya! I wonder how much treasure we'll find in that cave!" said a red-haired catgirl in a black cloak, her excitement evident. She eagerly nodded in agreement with the others.

After deciding to take the quest, the four adventurers walked to the front counter of the guild. The guild receptionist looked at them for a moment before stamping the bottom of the quest paper with the guild's emblem, marking the quest as accepted. She handed the quest paper back to the group, and with that, their journey began.

"Do you all want to take this as your first quest? Well then, I wish you all the best of luck." the guild receptionist smiled as she handed back the quest paper.

"Thank you. We'll be on our way now." said the young man in armor, accepting the quest paper, rolling it up, and placing it in his side pouch. He then led his party out of the guild.

Following the map on the back of the quest paper, the four adventurers traveled for nearly two hours until they reached the entrance of a medium-sized cave deep within the forest. As they approached, the brown-haired young man sensed residual magic energy, suggesting a barrier or illusion spell had recently dissipated.

"It, seems like someone had hidden this cave from sight, but now that the spell is broken, there's quite a bit of leftover magic." he said, moving closer to the cave entrance and placing his hand on the ground.

"Hmm, Ed, when do you think that spell was cast?" the red-haired elf girl, Elwyn, asked.

"I can't say for sure, Elwyn. It's been so long that I can't pinpoint it, but it's strange. The magic was extremely powerful just to conceal a cave entrance." Ed replied, standing up slowly and turning to face his companions before looking back at the dark cave. With slight fear in his expression

"If the barrier broke on its own over time, whatever it was meant to contain should be dead by now," the black-haired young man, Philip, mused, though worry crept into his voice.

"It- it might not be that simple." the red-haired catgirl, Fixis, said, gently tapping Philip's arm. "I have a feeling there's something dangerous in that cave, but my skill suggests that something is sleeping inside."

"What could live in a cave like that? A dragon?" Philip asked.

"A d-dragon? Is that what you think, Fixis?" Elwyn pondered, turning to the catgirl.

"Yes, a dragon, perhaps. I think there's one sleeping in there, but I don't feel it close by." Fixis replied, her tail slowly rising beneath her cloak.

"If, if it's sleeping in the deep depths of the cave, we should be safe." Ed concluded.

"But maybe we should go back to the guild and report this first?" Philip suggested.

"We've already traveled nearly three hours... going back would be a waste of time." Elwyn countered.

They stood in silence for a moment, each weighing the risks and the promise of adventure. The thrill of the unknown tugged at their hearts, yet the potential danger loomed over their heads.

"Alright," Ed finally spoke, breaking the silence. "We continue, but we stay cautious. If there's even a hint of real danger, we retreat and report back to the guild."

The others nodded in agreement, and with a mixture of excitement and trepidation, they ventured into the cave, their first quest unfolding before them. However, within less than twenty minutes, they began to encounter piles of gold and treasures. Fixis, with her greed, quickly ran and leaped toward the treasures.

And instantaneously, due to their her of caution, some of the gold fell to the ground. Not only that, the three who had never seen such a vast amount of wealth before also forgot themselves and joined in without considering the consequences. But a black dragon hears the sound of its hoard scattered around the cave ground so much it finally woke up at long last

“Wah? Do I have a rat infestation??”

Muriel, who had just awoken, found herself in a daze, confused and groggy about how she ended up in this place. To add to her bewilderment, strange noises emanated from outside her chamber. She knew she had been asleep for an exceptionally long time but wasn’t sure exactly how long. Suddenly, another clattering noise, as if something metallic had hit the ground, reached her ears from outside her room.

"What on earth, rats? How disgusting." Muriel muttered, baring her sharp, pristine white teeth in disdain. She slipped off her bed, walked barefoot towards the door, and peeked outside.

"Not rats." As soon as she cracked the door open, she caught the scent of the four adventurers. Utilizing the darkness of the cave to blend with her black nightgown and long black hair, she quietly followed their scent, listening intently to their conversation.

.

.

.

"Fixis, you're making too much noise! Something might hear you!" Elwyn warned, seeing her cat-eared friend stuffing gold and silver coins into her bag. She stepped in to stop her.

"Elwyn, look at all this treasure! There's so mu—" Fixis started to say, excitement and greed evident in her voice, but Elwyn quickly covered her mouth to silence her.

"I said be quiet you red cat! Ed, use a soundproof spell already."

"Oh! Right! I totally forgot. Skill Activation [Silent Veil]." Ed responded, hearing Elwyn's request. He tapped his staff on the ground, and a grey magic circle expanded from the point where the staff touched, enveloping the four adventurers and muffling all sounds within.

"Hey... this necklace looks really old." Ed remarked after setting up the spell. He noticed a gold necklace on the ground and bent down to examine it.

"I think we should continue exploring deeper first. We can come back for the treasures later because we can't carry all of this with us right now anyway." Philip suggested, separating Elwind and Fixis and then turning his attention to Ed, who was still inspecting the treasures.

"Did you find something, Ed?" Philip asked.

"Yeah... according to my skill, all these treasures, artifacts, and magical equipment are over 500 years old." Ed replied, holding up the gold necklace and looking at the others.

"What!? 500 years? That's from the time of the missing Demon Lord!" Philip exclaimed in surprise.

"We may have stumbled upon an ancient site." Fixis added, after pulling Elwyn's hand away from her mouth, speaking with a mix of shock and excitement. Elwyn pondered for a moment while the others also paused, considering Fixis's words. They were uncertain if venturing further was worth the risk of leaving behind the valuable treasures they had just discovered, especially since this was their first expedition as a group.

"In that case, we need to be cautious. Besides that dragon, there could be other dangers too." Philip concluded, deciding to continue deeper into the cave while still worried about his friends' safety. The others agreed and prepared to proceed into the cave's depths.

.

.

.

“Heh, So those guys are not far from here, and they're even using a soundproof spell. Invading a dragon's lair like this…”

“What would Fumiko think if I killed them all…?”

Muriel, while following the scent of the four intruders, halted her steps as soon as they cast their soundproof spell. She paused to think for a moment but then remembered what her deceased friend Fumiko might think of her actions. This thought caused her to change her mind and continue tracking the four adventurers.

Not long after, as she continued through the cave, she sensed their scent growing stronger. A sinister smile spread across her face as she waited for them in the darkness, like a shadow lurking in a nightmare, ready to pounce on its prey.

"It’s getting darker the deeper we go." Ed remarked, walking in the middle of the group, his staff emitting a dim light to guide them, though it barely illuminated their surroundings.

“Everyone, I feel something extremely dangerous nearby nya…” Fixis’s ears and tail stood on end, causing her to freeze in place, paralyzed by the fear gripping her.

“Fi-Fixis, what’s wrong? Get a hold of yourself!” Elwyn, walking right behind her, started shaking her friend when she saw Fixis trembling and unable to move.

“Everyone... that girl up ahead... who is she?” Philip, leading the group, also came to a halt. He slowly raised his hand and pointed at the young girl in a black nightgown, standing barefoot with a wicked grin on her face.

“What is that? A ghost!?” Elwyn immediately let go of Fixis and drew her twin sabres from her waist.

“No… I can sense that thing isn’t a ghost. It’s something much worse-”

“Heh, a ghost? Not at all.”

“I’m much scarier.”

Muriel let out a soft, slow laugh as she gazed at the four adventurers. Soon, a black liquid began to ooze from her mouth, ears, eyes, and nose, covering her entire body. As she laughed, the sound was muffled and distorted by the black liquid.

In moments, the black liquid spread out across the cave passage, revealing Muriel in her full draconic form: a tail covered in black scales, a pair of dark wings, and, of course, the majestic black horns on her head. Her black nightgown transformed into the black regal princess outfit she was known for.

“She’s a demon!”

“No, Elwyn! She’s the dragon of this cave!” Fixis, standing near the back, shouted with all her might, warning her party members.

“Hey, you four, could you drop the soundproof spell? I can guess what you're saying, but I can’t read every word… Plus, you’re speaking weirdly.” Muriel said with a bored expression, unable to hear their conversation despite seeing Fixis shouting.

“Ed, I think you should do as she says…” Philip stood still, barely daring to move but instructed Ed from the front.

“Yeah, who would dare disobey a dragon.” Ed carefully tapped his staff on the ground, dispelling the soundproof spell, allowing their voices to be heard again.

“Ah, thank you, all four of you, for cooperating. As you might have guessed, if you try anything funny, I will eat all four of you. Don’t worry.”

“But if you cooperate, I will-”

Muriel’s stomach suddenly growled loudly, cutting her off and causing an awkward silence. The growl echoed through the cave passage they stood in. After all, Muriel had been without food and water for over 500 years, so it was no surprise that her body immediately demanded sustenance upon waking. After the growl, she wrapped her tail around herself slightly and looked at the four adventurers.

“So, uh, if you don’t mind, do you have anything to eat? If not, I’ll eat all four of you.” Muriel said, placing both hands on her stomach while looking at them.

“Uh, You just ask like that?” Elwyn slowly lowered both her sabres and turned to Fixis.

“Hu-Nya!? Uh, yeah, I-I have...” Fixis took off her backpack, opened the food storage box, and revealed the contents.

“We-we have some dri-dried bread, dried me-meat, dried fruits, and ha-hard cheese. That's all.”

Fixis nervously checked the food in the box, then looked up at Muriel, her voice tinged with fear. Muriel could barely understand her due to Fixis' quivering. Muriel rolled her eyes slightly, sighed in boredom, and then walked over to Fixis and snatched the food container from her without hesitation. She sat down on the ground and began eating with her bare hands.

Seeing that Muriel was satisfied with the food in the container, the four adventurers breathed a sigh of relief. Their legs weakened, and they all collapsed to the ground, sitting together with Muriel. They could only sit and watch the dragon girl in her black regal princess attire, unsure of what she would do to them after she finished eating.

“Do you have any water? These dry foods are making my throat sore.” Muriel said, glancing up at Elwyn, who was closest to her.

“Huh!? Y-yes, we do.” Elwyn quickly grabbed her backpack and took out a waterskin pouch from the side pocket, handing it to Muriel. Her hands shook so much that she almost dropped it, but Muriel managed to take it before it slipped.

“Gulp... gulp... ah... By the way, what year is it now? The Syra calendar, if possible.” Muriel asked after taking a few sips and closing the pouch.

“The year? It's, 2210-”

“500 years!?”

Philip paused for a moment, thinking about the current year, and then began to tell the dragon girl in front of him. But before he could finish, Muriel interrupted him. Shocked, she dropped the food container, causing some of the contents to spill out. She slowly used her right hand to cover her right eye, as if trying to cope with the overwhelming thoughts flooding her mind. Memories from before she fell asleep surged into her consciousness, causing her chest to ache where she had been stabbed.

“Five hundred years, five hundred years... What has happened in all this time? Has the world ended?” Muriel removed her hand from her right eye and placed it on her chest, while her left hand picked up the food container from the ground.

“The world, no, Er-Ciel hasn’t ended. Are you really 500 years old?” Elwyn asked, surprised by Muriel's age.

“Not exactly. I'm over six hundred and fifty years old... Wait, you’re an elf, aren’t you? You should be about the same age as me.” Muriel said, picking up the food container and looking at Elwyn with a puzzled expression.

“No, it's not-” Elwyn tried to respond, but before she could, Ed spoke up.

“Elwyn is the same age as us. We've been friends since our village days.” Ed explained, seeing Elwyn's discomfort at Muriel's gaze.

“No wonder I didn't recognize you. You're just a young elf. So, what’s been happening outside? As adventurers, you must know a lot.” Muriel asked, taking another piece of dried meat from the container and chewing it.

“Uhhhhhhh... We just became adventurers todaaaay...” Ed said, looking at Muriel and dragging his words.

“……”

“Excellent. I had no expectations for you, and yet you still managed to disappoint me.”

“Do you wish to die now?” Muriel raised her right hand into a fist and looked at Ed and inside her mouth a light blue flame starting to emit light from her throat.

“Wait, wait a moment! We do know a bit about what’s going on in the Western Continent!” Fixis raised both hands towards Muriel as if to calm her down, while Elwyn moved away from Muriel and closer to the others.

“Alright, just this continent will do. I'm listening, cat ears.” Muriel said, turning to Fixis and lowering her hand.

“Uh... well, there are about two demon lords in the Western Continent now, and, um... the Eastern Continent is trying to unite, um...” Fixis began, her voice shaky.

“Wait, stop. What do you mean there are other demon lords on this continent? Isn't there supposed to be only one demon lord?” Muriel tilted her head slightly, her expression puzzled again.

“Well, no, there have been multiple demon lords for several hundred years now,” Fixis continued, but when she saw Muriel's face, her ears drooped immediately. She wasn’t sure how the dragon in front of her would react.

“Huh... uh... huh...” Muriel muttered, her confusion evident.

“Go, Go on, continue.”