Erika's mother showed up not long after Sarauviel's defeat, she was complaining she would had wanted to join the battle, but because we were controlling the flow so well, she felt like she would had only bothered us, she wasn't wrong.
"Honestly, those High-Ranking Demon Cultists appear rarely, this probably means that the invasion wasn't just a coincidence caused by wild demons, it was something planned. And they're planning to keep fighting so we don't triumph." Cattalina analyzed. "The other duchies might be in a similar situation and could harbor one or more of these Cultists with them."
"Their power might had been comparable to a B+++ Rank Monster." I said. "Maybe A Rank, what a pity that even then, it wasn't much. Maybe because we made sure to weaken him severely before defeating him. Though, it felt like he lacked mastery over his arts, he was brute forcing things and relying on his demonic spirit for everything."
"Yeah, that's how Demonic Cultists usually are. They are people that lost hope in their own powers and decided to betray their own spirits and twist them into aberrant demonic creatures." Said Cattalina. "It's nothing like your own Spirits, though, as you've made them evolve gradually with demon materials.
What they do is force their spirits to mutate and become aberrant creatures of great power, but that are hard to control."
"To think that Spirits can be twisted in such a way…" Erika seemed a bit sad. "Aren't they a gift from the Hero Allen, the Ancient Summoner? It was a gift to all of us so we could grow stronger and always have a partner! Or so says the church… To betray them is like betraying the ancient hero, whose Blake is his successor…!"
"It is wicked indeed, my daughter." Cattalina sighed, gently giving her daughter a head pat. "But that problem is already dealt with. For now, let's concentrate on the present."
We all gathered inside one of the last intact buildings, the duchy's castle, there were over four hundred survivors, it was a tremendously high amount of people.
However, as the duchy was right now, left in ruins and without any food for them, it felt that leaving them here would only hurt them.
So, Monica was now negotiating with their Duchess, a woman named Anastasia that had managed to luckily survive alongside her daughter, Henrietta.
"So, I was planning that we should accept you as refugees in my duchy, it is a large space and there's a lot of vacant houses too, which Blake and his friends made before leaving." Said Monica. "We had already planned this, we've got enough space for over three thousand more people, so you're invited to stay there until things go back to normal."
"L-Lady Monica… To go to such an extent for us." The silver-haired woman sighed, having already been cleaned and wearing some commoner clothes for now, much better than her tattered luxurious dress. "Thank you so much… I don't know how to repay you for such kindness, I-"
"You have to simply remember our kindness in the future." I stepped in. "Remember who was your benefactor, Monica, and all of us. One day we might come back, so you can pay us back once you rebuild your city and capital."
"Y-You're…! You're Blake, isn't it? The Summoner that saved our city! And you also defeated that wicked Aranthas!" The woman ran to my side, falling to her knees. "Thank you so much! I will make sure to remember you well, young man!
Ah, perhaps to start with, how about I give you my daughter's hand?! She might be a bit young but in a few years, I am sure she could become a wonderful wife…!" Her daughter was nodding at her side in silence, until she spoke.
"I don't mind, mama! He's very handsome!" She said with shining eyes.
"Sorry, dear, but he's already engaged to my daughter." Cattalina stepped in with Erika. "I cannot let you steal my son-in-law from my daughter."
"L-Lady Cattalina…! The Witch of Dreams is here too?! T-To think you were here- A-Ah! Of course, I apologize for my rudeness!" The noble lady was panicking.
"Aww…" Her daughter sighed in disappointment.
"Well now, Anastasia, I've heard from my father that you were quite a cunning woman sometimes, to think you would had tried to get some political power by making your daughter marry the Summoner…" Monica glared at her from behind. "Perhaps I should reconsider things?"
"W-Wait! I was just saying! I-I didn't had any underhanded motives…!" Anastasia giggled a bit nervously, even the commoners that served her glared at her with rather angered expressions. "I-I apologize… for my rudeness… again."
"Don't worry about it." I smiled. "How about you marry your daughter to this handsome young man over here? His name is Chris, he defeated a Demon Lord and he's a strong fire magician." I presented the noble lady to my friend.
"E-Eh?" Chris was shocked to have been brought to a conversation he never thought would take part of. "What are you even talking about, Blake?! She's too young anyways!"
"I don't wanna, he's ugly." The little Henrietta pouted.
"Sorry, we are no longer interested." Anastasia smiled.
"Eh?! I got rejected without even asking for it!" Chris cried.
"Hmm, I guess it failed, I was sure that this time you would get a girlfriend." I sighed. "Sorry, friend, maybe next time."
"Since when did I asked you to look for a girlfriend for me?!" Chris blushed in embarrassment. "Ugh, whatever! Let's go eat something already, I'm starving."
"Okay, we can't waste much time, our next stop is Greenbow. We'll be moving the people to the Darkage Duchy through my Familiars, a hundred Dracos carrying four people each should be enough." I nodded.
"E-Eh? We're going alreadyyyy? Uwaaah!" Anastasia and Henrietta screamed as they were grabbed by a gigantic Wyvern and flew into the skies.
"We'll make sure they get to safety within a few hours, my lord!" Draco, the Familiar General, said with a prideful tone of voice.
"Alright, thanks for your help."
With that done, we went to eat whatever we could before continuing our journey. There was still a lot of demons we had to slay.