The Demon Slayers Sidekick

A week had passed since Risa’s confrontation with Distrona and the marriage arrangements.

Distrona had mysteriously disappeared from the castle and the arrangements for Risa and Daniel’s marriage were put on hold.

Feeling everything was turning around, Risa returned to her room having finished her duties as Daniel’s guard for the day.

Putting her sword in her sheath, she placed it near her closet before heading over to the soft bed she slept in every night and snuggled up under it. Soon entering the realm of sleep.

A few hours passed. Then a few more. Everything seemed peaceful.

Suddenly, a rustling sound could be heard from the front door of her room. Causing her to open her eyes and quietly grab her sword before approaching the door. However, when she opened the door, ready to attack who was on the other side, she was met with a rather surprising visitor.

“Whoa! Whoa! It's okay kiddo! It's just me!”

Risa’s father, who normally guarded the king day in and day out, was standing at her door.

Her father, the proud knight known as Richard, was normally quite composed. However, he currently stood there in a nervous sweat. Causing Risa to remain vigilant.

“Dad? What are you doing here at this hour?” she asked.

Instead of responding to Risa’s question, he grabbed hold of her arm.

“That doesn't matter! We need to leave here! Now!”

Not giving her a chance to react, he yanked her hand and the two bolted through the castle halls. Lost on her dad’s actions, Risa spoke her mind.

“Dad!? What's wrong!?”

Richard continued running forward as he responded.

“I'll explain later! But we have to hurry! Before she gets here!”

“She?”

Still not sure about what was going on, Risa let her dad drag her through the halls. All the while, the ground began cracking beneath them.

The two continued running before coming to a stop as a wall of sand shot up from the ground below. Locking them in.

“Damn! It's too late! She's here!” Richard whispered.

As he said that, a laugh echoed from the wall in front of them as three more walls popped out of the ground. Sealing them in from all sides.

“Well Well Well. It appears my catch has fallen right into the trap,” said the voice beyond the wall in front of them.

Deciding to make themselves visible, the person who was talking stepped through the wall and turned their head toward Richard and Risa.

The person standing there was a woman dressed in a rather strange outfit.

How strange?

Well, if one were to describe it best, it was like it was the most revealing clothes in the world, and yet not at the exact same time.

The cloth covering the thighs was completely black, and the armor around the chest looked like the bare minimum which covered up a shirt that was a dark grey.

Bright red lines circled around the woman's hands looking almost like gloves. However, the transparent texture made it almost impossible to see these lines.

The rest of her body was hardly covered up by anything more than thin lines of cloth that made it so that the woman appeared covered up. But one look would make it clear this wasn’t the case.

But moving past her outfit, one look at her rather creepy smile caused Risa to freeze in place.

The blood lust was painfully obvious. She’d only heard about this woman through stories, but Risa never knew she could be so terrifying.

This woman was Angelica. The Angel of Death.

A woman so skilled at assassination that the only reason people know about her existence is because she let them know.

She was truly terrifying.

Richard jumped in front of his daughter, sword in hand as he glared at the woman.

“Don't you dare lay a hand on my daughter you monster!” he shouted.

Angelica's smile never faded as she looked Richard up and down.

“Well Well Well. It appears that the father has come to protect his daughter. How amusing.”

She let out a chuckle.

“Well Well Well. Too bad it’s futile!”

In what seemed like an instant, Angelica charged straight at Richard and formed a glove made of stone in her hand before striking Richard in the ribs. Causing him to spit up blood as his body was flung into the ceiling.

Richard gasped for air as he fell to the ground. Risa looked up in terror as her father landed on his feet.

With just a single punch, he already looked like he was on the brink of death. Solidifying just how powerful Angelica truly was.

“Dad!” Risa shouted as she ran over to her father.

However, as he coughed up a little more blood, he held out his hand to signal for her to stop.

Scared, she looked at her father who turned his head toward her.

Tears streamed down Risa's face as she looked at her dying father.

Seeing her like that, he simply smiled and tried his best to look strong for her.

But as he did so, Angelica jumped forward and jammed her fist into Richard's heart.

He screamed out in pain for a few moments before the light vanished from his eyes.

In a matter of twenty seconds, the man known as Risa's father was dead.

“Father!” Risa shouted as her tears continued falling down her face.

Feeling powerless at the situation, Risa fell to her knees.

Only a single thought echoed inside her head as she stared at her father's corpse.

“Why...Why is this happening?”

Leaving the man's corpse to rot, Angelica turned to Risa.

“Well Well Well. Now that that’s taken of, you’re coming with me, little lady!”

Risa couldn’t move.

And so, without little to no resistance, Angelica lifted Risa over her shoulder and carried her out of the castle and toward the meeting spot of her comrades.

Upon arrival, Risa was tossed into a cage as two other people walked up and looked down at her.

Risa recognized one of them immediately while the other was a person she’d never met before.

The two Angelica had met up with were none other than SpellsWorth and Distrona.

“Well done Angelica. I knew I could count on you,” said Distrona with a smirk.

“Well Well Well of course! However, my work isn't quite done yet. I should make sure this little pipsqueak doesn't tattle to anyone.”

Having said that, Angelica walked over to Risa and shot a small speck of some kind into Risa’s body. Causing a strange feeling to jolt throughout Risa's throat.

After the horrible sensation was gone, Risa attempted to say something only to find her voice was completely gone.

Angelica turned back to the others.

“There. That should keep her from tattling.”

SpellsWorth turned to look at the prey in his cage.

“This is quite a fine specimen you have retrieved for me, my friends. I shall treasure it for as long as I live.”

Distrona turned to SpellsWorth as her smile grew bigger.

“Please make sure she suffers!”

SpellsWorth bowed to Distrona.

“Of course.”

With that, Spellsworth led his cart away towards the Outbursts with his new slave in tow.

With no hope of escape left, all Risa could do was sit in the cage as the wagon raddled onward.

Finishing her story, Risa's eyes were filled with tears.

Rorio simply sat there in silence as Domino looked about ready to give Risa a hug.

Clearing away her tears, Risa clenched her fists.

“I truly hate what my mother did and I'll never forgive her, but I also can’t forgive myself for giving up hope as quickly as I did. That's not something a knight should do!”

After that, things went silent within the group until Domino opened his mouth hoping to break the tension.

However, before he could get a word out-

“Well, no matter what happened in your past. You're here with us now. And I promise that I won't ever let anything like that happen to you ever again.”

Not sure if he heard him right, Domino turned to Rorio who stared at Risa with a relaxed smile on his face.

It was a bit out of character for him, but Rorio truly did care for others more than himself. It's just that Domino always beats him to the punch before he could say or do anything.

Risa looked at Rorio as a small smile spread across her face before getting up and hugging Rorio’s chest. Letting out tears as she wrapped herself around him tightly.

Rorio didn’t say anything as she cried into his chest. Instead, he simply sat there waiting for her to let it all out.

The group ended up lying around for a little while longer until Risa finally stopped crying.

When she finally came to her senses, she realized she’d been lying on Rorio the whole time and turned away as she blushed in embarrassment.

Deciding it was time for bed, the group laid out their sleep bags.

Finishing the last of her setup, Risa let out a yawn before looking out toward the night sky.

It shined as bright as ever. Even out here in the Outbursts.

Eventually, Risa lowered her vision and spotted Rorio looking off into the sky by himself on a nearby hill.

Getting out of her sleeping bag, Risa ended up walking over to Rorio and gazed out at the sky next to him.

“It's amazing how the sky doesn’t lose its beauty even here in the Outbursts,” Rorio muttered aloud.

Risa nodded.

“Yeah. It's pretty amazing.”

After she said that, Risa joined Rorio on the ground and the two sat in silence for a little while before Rorio turned to Risa.

“I know it may seem a little late, but I actually wanted to ask you something before anything else happens.”

“Hm? What is it?”

Looking like he was struggling to get the words out, Rorio looked at the ground before turning his head back to Risa.

“We'll be going up against some pretty difficult enemies on our journey. I don't want you to get hurt if possible, so before you lose the chance, I wanna know if you'd like to join us or not.”

“Huh?”

“While it may not be easy, you’re free now. Meaning if you wanted, you could return to the Inlands. Guaranteeing at least a somewhat peaceful life. But if you’re with us, your life will be in constant danger. You might not even make it out alive. I just...wanna make sure you know you can choose to run away.”

Risa understood what he was saying. While there was still the risk of Spellsworth being out there, Risa had a much higher chance at peace in the Inlands than here in the Outbursts.

Even so, Risa shook her head.

“I may not be it in title anymore, but I was a knight. And as the ones who saved me, I have to repay you. That’s why, even if it’s just because of a favor, I want to travel with you two.”

When she said that, a small smile formed on Rorio’s face.

“In that case, I have something to ask you.”

Getting onto his feet, Rorio held his hand out to Risa.

“Risa. Knight of IronForm. How would you like to join the party of the Demon Slayer and his sidekick?”

As Rorio asked that, Risa didn’t hesitate to take his hand

“I'd be honored.”

Once those words left her mouth, the two looked at one another in silence when...

“WAHOO! Welcome to the party Risa!” came the booming voice of Domino.

Rorio and Risa both dropped their heads at his unwelcome response as Domino stood there with a gleeful smile on his face. Oblivious to the moment he just ruined.

“Wow. Way to destroy the moment, dumbass.” Rorio growled as he turned to Domino.

Domino, who didn’t know what he did wrong, took a step back in shock.

“What! Why are you so cold all of a sudden!?”

“You should know damn well why!”

“I don’t! So I’d appreciate if you’d explain!”

“Why you-!”

Domino and Rorio continued this back and forth as Risa let out a light chuckle.

Something told her, this was gonna be a very interesting adventure.

Within the darkness of the night, a girl ran as fast as she could. Struggling to catch her breath as the monsters closed in on her.

She could use her powers on them, but that would leave her magic completely depleted.

As she ran, she thought back to her friend who vanished from her site only a few hours prior.

The two had just made it to the Outbursts in an attempt to escape the terror that was occurring within the Inlands.

However, while she was off fetching food, her friend mysteriously vanished.

In terms of their whereabouts, the only clue she had was their sword which she found lying on the ground near the campfire.

Terrified, she continued to run at a speed she could barely hold when the sounds of the monsters started to slowly vanish from her ears.

Believing that she lost them, the girl stopped for a moment to catch her breath.

She hadn't anticipated this to happen, but she still felt terrible about how she wasn't able to help her friend.

Never once considering that maybe it wasn't her fault since she was just trying her best, she let out a frustrated sigh.

After a few heavy breaths, she managed to calm down and looked around. Keeping her senses on high alert despite how terrible they were.

She had no idea how she was gonna survive out here, nor did she know how she could save her friend.

Still, she knew she had to find someone out here who could help her.

And so, she set off once more.

“If only the Demon Slayer hadn't been put on a wanted poster a few weeks ago then none of this would have happened.”

This thought echoed through her head as she continued dashing through the forest.