(Jamie)

"-the fuck is going on?" A guard yells as Max and I descend the steps of the prison.

Max, being the head of DCS, can locate any Warlock in existence, meaning that he was able to simply lead me to the prison the Elf is being held in. Though he insisted we stop at my house first, so I could take a quick bath and put on some clean clothes.

Showing up covered in blood would probably traumatize the poor Elf further.

"What, indeed?" I ask.

The guard turns to look at me, looking horrified when he realizes who's standing before him.

"I'll give you one guess," Max says as I examine the dungeon's cells. "Why the Hells unleashed a Crusade upon this city, after you threw a Warlock into a cell for defending himself."

So the full story turned out to be that the Warlock was attacked for being an Elf, then thrown in prison for defending himself. Pitifully defending himself, but still defending himself. That only made my anger even hotter, and Max did everything he could to keep me from just wiping out everyone within a hundred-yard radius when he told me that.

I did kill a few people, though. They were guards in the first place.

"Is that him?" I jerk my head in the direction of a black-haired, young-looking boy with pointy ears. He looks terrified and confused. "The black-haired Elf? Name's Leif, like you said."

"Yeah," Max glances at him. "That's the one we're here for."

"I'll get him out," I start to make my way over to the boy, and some guards try to stop me.

Morons. They've forgotten how powerful I am, haven't they? And I'm in no fucking mood for this, considering the hell I've been going through for nearly a full day – which is how long it turns out we were on that Floor, fighting wave after wave of monsters for.

"I'd be careful, were I you," Max warns the guards who hesitate after seeing their allies receive my fist to their faces. "Jamie here isn't an ordinary human. He's much, much stronger than jerks like you."

They really, really should have remembered that. It's not like I don't stand out in this city. Not like people don't know me.

I reach Leif's cell without further incident, looking down at the terrified Elf. He's in the far corner, and I could only see him because the cells only have one solid wall – the back wall. He's damn cute, but hilariously naive, the latter known to me through Max's comments. There's an Eye Demon with a light blue iris floating beside him. Pretty weak, but it seems content to just watch us.

Probably can't do anything to us, and knows it. I don't think it would if it could, though, based on what Max says Leif's demon, which he calls 'Hex', is like, thanks in no small part to Leif's own ways.

I give Leif a reassuring smile, then grab two of the bars and pull them towards me with all of my strength, snapping them straight out of the ground and ceiling. I drop them to the side, then grab two more bars, ripping them out as well.

These cells are meant to withstand high-power adventurers. They aren't meant to withstand the power of a monster born as a human. Even Light, with his Fairy strength, would be able to easily do what I just did.

Leif's eyes are wide with awe at my actions, and I give him another smile.

"Hello, Leif," I greet him. "We heard that Tiol's student needed some help getting out. I don't really know who that is, but Max said he's a powerful Archdemon, and I'd rather not have him try to kill me. I might be able to adapt, but I'm not that adaptable."

Seriously. According to Max, I'd probably need a few more years of practice before I could handle Tiol, and that even Light would struggle against him. That's a hella powerful Demon, if there ever was one.

"Come here," I say.

Leif suddenly looks scared again, but obeys. I ask him to hold out his hands, and he obeys. I grab first his right hand, slipping two fingers under each side of the Mana-draining shackles on his wrists, then flick, snapping the shackles off of him. He jumps, yelping in surprise, then I repeat the process with the other arm.

Immediately, his Mana starts increasing. Despite how low it is, it's increasing pretty fast, almost on-par with mine or Light's own regeneration, which is pretty damn impressive.

"I'm not sure what Tiol was thinking," I say. "Sending you here by yourself, but it was kind of foolish of him to do that. People tend to dislike things that aren't their own Species, and you most certainly aren't human. Strange that you're in this area, I thought Elves were in the lower half of the continent?"

"I live in castle," Leif tells me. "It two weeks away, Tiol said. Took me twenty-six days get here. Probably took long 'cause I try make Skills better. What Species?"

What Species? What? Oh, he's probably asking me 'what is Species', not 'what Species'.

"What is Species?" I ask, and Leif nods happily. "It's what type of creature you are. I am a Human, and you are an Elf. Some places are okay with beings of other Species, but most aren't. If you're going to be here much longer, Max and I will happily protect you from the stupid, stupid Humans wandering around town."

"Stupid, stupid Humans?" Leif curiously asks, head tilted to the side a little bit.

"Yeah," I smile. "And trust me when I say that Max and I are powerful enough to protect you. I have a body like steel – tough and resilient. That's before I trigger any sort of defensive Skills. You saw my strength – I did that with my raw strength. Max here… well, let's just say that his spells pack a powerful punch, just like his fists."

"Spells punch?" Leif is definitely confused.

"Leif doesn't understand more complex things," Max tells me. "Explanations will need to be a bit simpler. Leif – Jamie and I will protect you while we're here. We are good. Make sure you safe. Okay?"

"Okay!" Leif says. If he were Cole, he'd be wagging his tail. He's not, so he isn't. Mostly because he doesn't have a tail. "So how spells punch?"

"It's a way to say that my magic is strong," Max explains. "How much longer do you have here?"

"I dunno."

"What do you need to do before you leave?"

"Nothing," Leif answers "I got all stuff Tiol want me get. They want take it from me. They mean."

"Yes, they are," Max nods. "Why don't we bring you to our room at the inn and get you cleaned up? You can sleep with us tonight."

We aren't staying at an inn, Max. Unless you'd rather?

"Hex staring at you lots," Leif tells Max. "Even though you all way over there."

"He can probably sense what I am," Max explains. "He's an Eye Demon. It's unusual to see them, but once they're up a few Levels, they're actually pretty powerful. See if he can get to Level 100 overall for his Classes, and he'll Rank Up into a more powerful creature."

"Rank Up?"

"Become better," Max explains. "Change from what he is to something stronger. The Hells are quite amazed by your ability to hit Warlock 2 and Summon Demon 2 so quickly. Good job. Hex already being Level 3 Overall at just six months old is amazing, too."

Leif looks happy at Max's comments.

"Is that rare?" I ask Max.

"Eye Demons are probably the absolute worst Demon one can contract," Max nods. "They're notorious for having absolutely no way to really gain Levels, outside of the Class Hex currently has, which, as you know, will only have 10 Levels. No one summons them. Them, imps, and a few others."

Then how the hell can it hit Level 100? And how the hell did Light's become so powerful?

"I got Imp Demon named Tim," Leif tells Max. "Tiol real mad. Meant get incubus, not imp. Got mix up. I do that lots. Tiol say no contracts without Tiol present, now."

He was trying to contract an incubus? I can see that spelling disaster, based on what Max told me of the little Elf.

"Imps are pretty useful," Max says. "If you can control them. Problem is, orders don't hold as strongly over them, and they find ways to do extra stuff, too."

"Tim in time-out," Leif tells Max simply, as if putting his Demons in time-out is perfectly normal.

Then again, Light does the same thing. Waking up to find one literally standing in the living room corner – a Demon I've never seen before, mind you – was not something I ever expected to see.

"While this is nice and all," I say. "I'm sure you want to get out of here, right? We can take you for food, then to our inn to get cleaned up. You can stay with us as long as you'd like, though we might have to leave soon, ourselves."

"I'd like to see them make us leave," Max snorts. "Considering how strong the two of us are. It isn't every day a human hits Orange Rating before they hit forty, and you're only twenty."

I'm still nervous that they're going to manage to get some high-Level Adventurers out here and cause problems. If they manage to convince a few Heroes… yeah, it might get bad. And what you've done might push them over the edge and do it behind my back.

"Come on," I say. "Let's go, Leif."

"How you know name?" Leif looks confused again.

"Appraisal," I tell him

"Oh, right!" Leif beams. "I use it, too! You Jamie! Max no show up!"

"Max is a Demigod," I explain. "His father is a god, his mother, a human. Appraisal doesn't work on him. What kind of food do you like?"

Well, his mother's actually a Demon, but whatever. I'm not sure how Leif would react to that, so let's just say she's Human.

"Good food!" Leif helpfully answers.

"Anything in particular?" I ask.

"No know what meats Tiol gets," Leif answers. "But they good! I like fruits, too! Most veggties are bad, though. No like them. Fruits good!"

He doesn't like vegetables? Well, I guess I can't blame him for that, though I thought most Elves enjoyed 'nature's bounty'? I suppose there are always the outliers.

"Alright," I say "Let's go get dinner."

We leave the prison, Max canceling the Crusade on the way out. I mention my home to him, since it was him who suggested on the way there that we take Leif to the inn he's staying at, instead of to my home.

"Yeah," he shrugs. "Light's Eidolons make me nervous, so I'd rather stay at an inn. You don't need to come."

Um… how powerful are Light's Eidolons, if they can make you nervous?

"Who's going to stop you from going apeshit on people?" I ask, and he sighs. "Let's go get food, there's a nice restaurant not far from here."

Max sighs, then follows me. As ordered, the Demons stood down, and are no longer running rampant.

We reach the restaurant I'm aiming for, and they yell at us that they're closed. The door is closed, and the lights are off. They probably shut down when the attacks started, though it's still intact.

"It's over!" I holler. "Please let me in, I'm starving, and so is the Warlock who was imprisoned!"

Silence, then some shuffling around. A few seconds later, the door opens, and a worker pokes his head out, looking nervous.

"Forgive me, Lord Jamie," the worker says. "We didn't realize it was you. Come on in, come in."

They're terrified, and probably have every right to be, considering what just happened. I'm a bit annoyed that Max just unleashed a Hellish Crusade on us, though, rather than asking me for help. He must know I could've dealt with that much, much more tactfully than unleashing a horde of monsters upon the city.

Well, Demons.

"You look annoyed," Max says as we enter the restaurant, the lights turning back on with a wave of the worker's hand. "Why?"

"Why do you think?" I ask. "Instead of waiting for me or popping into the Dungeon and saying something, you unleashed a fucking Hellish Crusade upon the city! You know I could've handled this!"

"And?" He asks, and I round on him. The Demigod flinches. "Jamie-"

"You just want an excuse to go murder-fuck," I say. "You were waiting for me outside, which means that you knew I was done with that and on my way out."

"I-"

"No!" I exclaim. "You unleashed hell upon my city, Max! I'm not happy! You can bet your ass that it's getting another beating from your father for this."

"He's not going to-" Max stops when I glare at him, then he sighs. "Jamie, I'm half-Demon, you can't expect-"

"No!" I interrupt him. "Don't use that damn excuse! If you wanted to unleash hell, you could've done it somewhere else! Not upon my damn home! If you think for even a moment that you're getting any, think again!"

Max flinches again at that, and I turn to the server, take a deep breath, then smile.

"Sorry," I say to the terrified employee. "Where shall we sit?"