Fuck. An enemy I can't even fathom how to defeat. And one that is after my skin, bit by bit. I have to think of something. But now a rescue. I possess one of the demons and cast invisibility.

I teleport to the Colchester warehouse wearing my new demon host. I am painfully reminded that living demons belong not in human settlements but I was able to fly invisible away from there before things got too grim and my efforts at getting a scapegoat were in vain.

The transport bringing the [Magic Down] boy should be less than two days away from Colchester. I soar over the western road until the second-day' campsite and find nothing. There was a merchant caravan going away from Colchester on their route to the second-day campsite, but no one coming. I messed up. They are coming from Easthallow. I fly north-east over some lakes and see a curious creature. A seven-headed hydra. I'll come back to hunt it later.

The sky is almost without clouds. I rise the maximum I can to get a satellite view of the land below. There is a road. I went too far north. Searching for a couple more hours I've found it. It will be a night in one or two hours. The one-day-away campsite next to the road is a few miles ahead of them.

Approaching the group I see a semi-open wagon with several people inside. The wagon is a cage on wheels and they are chained to it. Are they prisoners? Too pale, too skinny. Elves, dwarves, beastfolk. Fourteen in total. A lot of guards and adventurers are guarding the cage-wagon. Thirty-six in total.

How should I proceed? I have to secure the prisoners and either defeat or drive away the guards. And pin the blame on the demons. I follow the group and see some guards abusing the prisoners. Some other guards make disgusted faces but don't speak up against said abuse. The adventurers are eyeing the beastfolk and elven women.

"Johannes, I will have the silver-haired elf girl tonight! It is not fair if you hog her for yourself the whole trip!"

"Suit yourself. Dibs on the bunny ears then!"

"Shut up! You disgust me! I'm trying to scout for threats here!" And you are not doing a good job, sir. There is a demon possessed by a monster flying over you this very moment.

I mark three guards that show a shred of decency and the 'you disgust me' adventurer scout. They get to live and deliver my message. Night comes and they stop the wagon at the edge of the clearing. Some of them go into the forest to get wood for the campfire. I don't think they will get the women before eating dinner and resting a bit. They return and begin to cook some soup. There are two guards stationed near the wagon. I hide in the woods near them.

"You should go there and eat soup while it is hot! {Suggestion}!"

"Fuck this, there are no monsters this close to town. Let's eat, Fabio!"

"Yeah, I'm hungry!"

They leave. The silver-haired elf girl and another male elf that look very similar to one another heard me. No problem. I go around the clearing installing overlapping snail, polar bear, mosquito and tiger totems. Trying to leave the clearing is a death sentence now. Back near the cage, I cast the ultimate space magic, Dimensional Sphere over the horses. I think it is intended to be a prison, but it can also be a shelter. I prolong the chant and the bubble closes almost instantly. And now another fast-chanted and slow-closing one over the wagon. The prisoners can't escape anyway.

"What is that thing?"

"Why is there a black bubble where the prisoners were?"

"Forget the prisoners, our horses are gone!"

"Get ready for an attack!" This one seems their leader.

I sneak to the middle of the clearing near the campfire. There I place a dragon totem and three monkey totems. Once placed, the monkey totems sprang up and became a real monkey or some kind of monkey illusion. I don't know but they feel very real. The heat pulses begin to emanate and the monkeys get to their taunting and dodging routine. I fly up.

"Shit there is a fire spell there, quench it!"

"Monkey monsters, get them!"

They rush to the monkeys only to be sucked in by the dragon totem right before the heat and flames were sent in all directions. I cast the healing pulse on the ones I decided to keep alive. I bet they won't even figure out they are being healed. And if they do I can erase that particular memory.

"Gaaaa! It burns!!!"

"It is cooler in the forest, run!"

"Stand your ground, fight these monkeys!"

Chaos ensues as they lose any kind of teamwork and activate the human racial skill [Every man for themselves]. There is no such skill though. The ones that resist the monkey's taunt and go into the woods are slowed, paralyzed, frozen, cut, left to bleed to their dooms. The four marked to survive didn't go out of the clearing. They are fighting the monkeys.

I cancel the dragon totem once they are worn out enough and reveal myself.

"Hahahaha! Puny humans, fear before my evil demon magic!" I score a perfect 10 for cheesiness.

The ones still alive look at me with dread in their eyes, "Fabio, what is that gray guy flying in the sky?"

"It is a hybrid! Attack it!"

"Preposterous! I am not a hybrid! I am a demon! One of the great sons of the demon lord! Behold and despair! Dark Bolt!"

Sorry, Fabio, you die tonight. Omae wa mou shinderu. I can even descend now, they have no chance of defeating my host.

I toss dark bolts into the ones scheduled to die and curses on the ones scheduled to live. Hex and Weaken make a nice combo. Reducing their stats also reduces their damage output and then it gets reduced again.

"The demon is too strong! Attack!"

"No, run away!" Oops. You won't run away because you'll die to the totems.

"Flash Freeze!"

I end up encasing all my targets in ice. "You four should be grateful. You will be allowed to live and give news of this great me to your realm. Let the humans despair before the demon plague that will encase the whole world!"

I get the mensicles... That didn't sound good. I get the ice cubes with people frozen inside (better worded now) and move them to the roadside away from the clearing. When they thaw they will be able to go home. Before I go I erase their memories of the bubbles and the healing. It would be troublesome if they relate this to the bubble I used in Colchester.

Back at the campsite, I remove all the totems and the bubble over the horses. They are agitated but I can handle them. Five by five they are sent to the Hill as well. I got quite the haul of horses today, now that I think of it. Almost fifty. Grand Theft Animal.

I don't need this demon anymore. Let's renew the bubble over the prisoners and sink my host to the waist in the ground. Self-gag, bind the arms and dismiss possession. Wait for exhaustion to be over and painlessly finish him. This is my thanks for letting me use your body. I guess everything around including the corpses should go to the item box.

Beowulf has gained 2 + 4 + 8 levels (4-Racial: 66 > 68, 2-Apprentice Acolyte 41 > 45, 3-Acolyte 31 > 39). +83 SP

The steep ramp of the last 10 levels to master a job...

I tie a bandanna over my face just like some western bandit, place a stealth barrier over the bubble, and dismiss the sphere.

I approach them and take a careful look. They have bruises and tenderness in the skin where the cold iron shackles bite their skin.

"My dear people, wait just a little longer, your imprisonment is almost over. I won't hurt you. {Healing Pulse}!"

I observe the effects of the healing pulse on each one of them. And there I find it. A dwarf kid that is so skinny he could pass as a human didn't heal as well as the others. I cast the healing pulse again. And again. On the fifth casting did his wounds completely heal.

"Who are you, mister?"

"Before I answer that, I will take you to a safe place and have a conversation." I had half a mind to just release them or even take them home, but I am lacking manpower. If I can recruit them, the better.

Most of they hung their heads. The silver-haired elf girl spoke, "We were captured long ago by slave traders. Our families split apart, tortured, starved. Please have mercy on us, I beseech you."

"If you had somewhere to go, I'll try to take you there. You don't have to worry about any brand, shackle, crest or curse they engraved on you. I can remove them all. I will take you to a safe place, please give me your hands five at each time."

I move the anchor from the former location of Azelinus' house to here and teleport them five by five to the wyvern killing chamber. It was a good thing to always clean up the place after every use.

The dwarf boy was last. I couldn't teleport straight to the dragonspine with him. I had to blindfold him, and go to Colchester, Barnsley, Strawford and then to the chamber. Each spell cost five times the usual MP cost.

"Where are we, mister? I feel... mountains around us. Death. This place is an execution chamber!" The silver-haired boy was almost in a panic.

"Fear not. This is a neutral place. I will reveal myself now." I pull down the bandanna. "I am Hero Beowulf, and I am not a human.

"I can feel the blood of our kin in your veins," The elf boy tells me.

"Yes, I have elven ancestry, though I didn't know my parents." I lie. Blame 43 The elves smile at this development. I appraise each one of them, and they are either villagers or second-jobs. The dwarf boy indeed has a Magic Down title and the associated skill on level five. The elven twins have magic sensitive and blessing of the winds for the boy and blessing of the water for the girl as their titles, and they know the respective magic school. All twelve have a 'Slavery Crest' curse cast on them. Had.

"Curse Breaker!"

I have yet to see a curse cast by humans that I can't break. Once the curse is gone, they clutch their hearts in a brief jolt of pain but make surprised faces.

"The crest is gone!"

Rinse repeat.

I make small changing rooms with earth magic and behind a wall place some chests with clothes from the item box. "I have clothes for you here with me. Please pick whatever you want to wear, enter one of these cubicles and get out of these slave rags. You don't deserve them."

While they are rummaging through the stash of captured clothes I have accumulated over the months, I make a stew for them. It is also a shamanic cure fatigue potion enchanted to also not give stomachache regardless of how much you eat. I also set tableware, benches and a table. Jugs of fruit juice too.

They return and are amazed at the sudden mess hall I brought out. "Please have a warm meal. We can talk about self-introductions after."

They begin to eat, but the elf boy stops after the first spoonful. "This food is enchanted!" And everyone stops. His sister elbows him.

"It is just some magic to alleviate your fatigue and the weariness of the road. Don't worry."

"Are you really a hero?" An ox-kin girl asks me.

"Yes. I'm a real hero. I even have the title to boast." I laugh. "Eat, eat, eat your fill."

Title Hospitaller awarded.

Those of religious inclination that go out of their way to provide devoted shelter, care, and nourishment to a large group.

Doubles the rate of recovery from any negative status for those in your care (including you).

And one more to the collection. I have my doubts on this religious inclination thing, but now this is the 32nd title excluding the two curses I removed.