"Hmm, that’s odd. The river isn’t purified." Gwen noticed as she and Kai walked along the bank.
"I left it that way on purpose. This way, we can follow the water to the source."
"Ahh, that makes sense. But why are we walking in the opposite direction from the water?"
"Because if the river is being contaminated, then the contamination will flow with the river, not against it."
"Ohhh, I get it. Wow, you’re smart!"
’No, you’re just dumb. Wow! That was mean. Don’t worry, my lovely Gwen, you’re not dumb. Wait, I haven’t fucked her yet! Damn, I need to get on that soon. After this quest.’
They followed the bank for two hours, stopping here and there to check the surroundings for anything suspicious before reaching the source. Upon reaching the end of the riverbank, they spotted a large lake surrounded by rocky hills and plant life growing wildly.
"Is this the place?" Gwen asked, taking a look around.
"Dunno, we’ll have to check." Instead of wasting time, Kai used his super vision to see if there was anything around. His eyes came to a halt when he spotted an opening that led to a cave in the hill that was blocked off by hanging vines, moss, and a boulder that was inside the cave, which acted as a door.
"Over there." Kai pointed. "There’s a cave behind that boulder."
Gwen looked at the spot where Kai was pointing. "What boulder?"
’Oh, she can’t see it.’
"Ahem, follow me." He led her to the opening, casually rolled the boulder to the side, and entered the cave.
"Woah! Something fishy is definitely going on here!" Gwen muttered under her breath.
Kai agreed.
The cave wasn’t large, however, everything in there gave off cultish vibes. Blood stained the ground, bones were piled up in corners, and there were symbols carved into the stone walls. However, that wasn’t the creepiest part.
Venturing further, Kai and Gwen came across a lab with tons of books, vials, monster parts, human parts, and a large magic circle made entirely out of blood in the center of the room.
"You know, I was expecting a mutated rat or turtles maybe, but not whatever the hell is going on here. Literally, what is this? Some kind of demon ritual?" Kai wondered, looking around.
"I think I’m gonna be sick."
Kai didn’t blame her. He, too, would have felt the same way if it weren’t for his perfect body. Having a perfect mind really helped him in this situation.
"I’m sure those humans will be dying soon, which is great for me! More bodies for experiments and more people for sacrifices!" A voice spoke in a moderate tone, walking into the room.
When he entered, Kai and Gwen froze.
"I-Is that..."
"A monster?"
Without wasting any time, the creature flew into action, leaping toward Gwen with their fingers pointing forward, claws protruding from them.
"No, you don’t!" Kai stepped forward, pulling the creature back with telekinesis, then slamming his fists into the creature’s face.
"Agh! Stupid human! I don’t know how you found this place, but you won’t leave alive!" The creature swirled its hands around, and a purple energy formed around them.
"A spell!" Gwen slammed her staff onto the ground, and a large magic circle beamed into light. [Inferno] A pillar of fire erupted from the ground, engulfing the creature in the smoldering flames.
"Agh! I yield! I yield!" It screamed.
Kai and Gwen looked at each other and nodded. The flames vanished, then Kai restrained the creature with ropes.
"Who, or what, are you?" Kai asked the small, black creature with black wings.
"Are humans stupid in this era? Do you not recognize a demon when you see one?" The demon asked.
Kai nodded. "Huh, so that’s what you are. You’re not a mutated rat, but close enough. I’m guessing you’re the one who poisoned the villagers."
"And if I am?" The demon smirked, its sharp, pointed teeth on display.
Kai released his power. "Are you testing me?"
"Eeeek! N-No, I’m sorry! Yes, I was the one who did that to them!"
Gwen slapped the demon across the face with her staff in a fit of rage. "Why! How could you do such a thing? Children died!"
The demon scoffed. "So? Am I supposed to care about your kind? You don’t care about us, do you? You should be thankful that those pathetic humans were going to be used as a sacrifice to the demon king!"
"Sacrifice?" Kai asked
"Gekekeke! That’s right! The demon king is coming and when he does, you humans are fucked! He’s stronger than ever before, and with some human sacrifices, he’ll be even stronger than he’s ever been! We’ll finally take over the world!"
’So he contaminated their water source to use them as sacrifices? That’s fucked up.’
"I’ll kill you!" Gwen raised her staff, but Kai stopped her.
"We need him alive. We’ll turn him in to the authorities so they can handle the situation."
’I’ll be dammed if the fucking demon king is the reason why my adventure comes to a halt! Nothing will stop me from fucking all the woman I can. Wait, what if I kill the demon king? That would solve all my problems. No, no, then I’ll get unwanted attention. However, I’d be known as a hero. Haha, a hero of hypnosis that is! Hmmmm. I’ll think about it. I’d rather become an S-Rank adventurer for now.’
"Fine." Gwen backed down.
Kai completely restrained the demon, making sure he had no way to escape or use his power. He left the lab intact so the authorities could inspect it. Finally, he purified the lake, which then purified the river, and headed back to the village.
"I’m assuming this would be our quest in this village?" Gwen wondered
"Yeah, there wasn’t really anything here because of the epidemic the village was facing. Let’s see, Highgrove Village is the next stop, so we’ll see if there is anything there we can do."