For the first time, as I look at the hero, I see an aura without doing anything special. It looks like a dark grey, almost black, transparent, veil of flame around him. The only other aura I have seen is Ruby's, which was bright blue, nothing like this dark dirty aura.

Hero says "Well, well, it's my lucky day! First the king gives me a little priestess to play with and now the monster I was sent to hunt walks right into my camp! When I bring back your head the king will give me gold and women beyond my wildest dreams!"

"So, you knowingly serve an evil king because you are greedy and lustful?"

Hero says "No, those are just perks, I do it for the power!"

"Well, then I don't have to feel bad about killing you."

The hero scoffs and twirls his sword, absolutely showing off and trying to intimidate me. From his movements and his balanced stance he may be a bit difficult. As blue energy surrounds his blade I realize this might be more than a bit difficult.

Hero says "I am going to enjoy cutting you into pieces, slowly!"

As he talks he suddenly swings in mid sentence to try and catch me off guard. I parry his swing easily, he may be skilled but he seems so slow to me. He looks surprised when I parry his blade, he seems like he was expecting something to happen.

Hero shouts "Strengthen!"

His body is shrouded in green energy and when it fades his muscles have doubled in size. He takes a two-handed grip on his katana and goes for an overhead swing with all his strength. I bring up Blitz to parry and stop his blade, and again it is easy.

The blades meet with a clang that echoes around us and I realize I can't hear the screams anymore. A quick look around shows nothing but human corpses, the girls and Drog must be off chasing the runners. Then my ears catch another noise, very faintly I hear a mewling cry coming from inside the tent.

A flex of my arms throws the hero back several feet, and a flick of my wrist severs the tent flap. As it falls open, I can see inside, and I see a young woman, maybe sixteen, she is tied up, naked, and bleeding. So, this is what he meant about playing with a priestess.

As rage burns through me I turn back to the hero, I know he can see death in my eyes but he just smirks. My worry about feeling bad after I kill him disappears, this is going to feel good! I swing Blitz at him with all my strength.

He snaps his katana up into position to parry my swing, and the smirk vanishes from his face and turns to pure shock. Blitz cut through his katana and through him. That felt really good!

*DING*

Congratulations! You have earned a new title!

Title: Anti-Hero

Effect: +10 Speed when confronting heroes

Before his body even hits the ground I am inside the tent cutting the ropes. Once she is freed I cover her with a sheet, but she doesn't react at all.

"It's okay now, you are safe!"

She doesn't react at all, maybe she is in shock. If she was an innocent priestess then what happened would definitely have put her in shock. I have absolutely no idea what to do!

For now I reach out and gently stroke her hair, I keep repeating that it is over and she is safe now. Finally after ten agonizing minutes Ruby enters the tent and freezes when she sees what is going on.

Ruby says "What happened?"

"The so called hero raped her."

Ruby says "Oh no! What should we do?"

"Um, go fetch Mericel. She should have some idea?"

Ruby rushes from the tent and starts yelling for Mericel as she moves away. Hopefully, she will find her quickly and return because I am completely lost in this situation. Even in my last life I was no good at these kinds of things, being comforting is not one of my skills!

Mericel comes in, she looks almost alive, she has fed well I guess. She looks at me and then at the priestess and her eyes widen in surprise.

Mericel says "Leyla? Is that you?"

For the first time the girl reacts, and she turns towards Mericel. Unfortunately, she tries to throw herself into Mericel's arms, leaving behind the sheet that was covering her. Mericel tries to open her arms to catch her but she passes right through Mericel and crashes to the floor, just as Drog walks in.

Drog thinks 'Wow, she is hot! We should keep her!'

'Shut up and go scout around!'

The girl, Leyla I think Mericel called her, is looking around in shock trying to figure out what happened. Mericel kneels next to her and starts talking softly, while I grab the sheet and cover her back up. Drog hangs around watching until I shoot a glare at him and then he runs off to do as he was told.

Leyla says "Mermer is that you? But I heard you died?"

Mericel says "Yes it is me, and I did. I am a ghost now."

"Haha, Mermer?"

Mericel says "You shut it!"

I cover my mouth to stifle my chuckles but I still get glared at.

Leyla says "I don't know how you are here but we need to leave before he comes back!"

Mericel says "Before who comes back?"

Leyla says "Shinami, the hero!"

"He won't be coming back unless the king has a necromancer."

There is a blue flash and a low key roar from outside the tent.

Ruby says "Now even a necromancer won't be able to bring him back."

Leyla says "He's dead? But how? He was so strong!"

Mericel says "Ash is a lot stronger! Don't worry, you are safe now."

Leyla suddenly bursts into tears, and since Mericel is a ghost she ends up crying into my fur. I just freeze, kind of like a deer in headlights. I look at Mericel for help and she mimes putting my arms around Leyla.

Reluctantly, I put my arms around the sobbing Leyla, I do my best to pat her back gently. I really wish some soldiers would show up and attack us right now! But with Drog patrolling and a very angry Ruby outside it would take an army to reach us in here.

It feels like hours before the sobbing finally subsides, although it is probably only twenty minutes or so. Leyla finally sits up and tries to wipe her eyes with the sheet, I do my best not to see anything when the sheet moves. Speaking of, I should probably try to find her some clothes.

Heading out of the tent, I leave Mericel to talk to Leyla. I start searching the soldiers' tents, looking for clothes small enough to fit Leyla. While I am at it I grab a tent and some bedrolls, I put them in my bag after using the cleansing stone on them.

Finding the smallest clothes in the camp I clean them and head back to give them to Leyla. When I walk into the tent I find Mericel hovering over a sleeping Leyla.

"Is she alright?"

Mericel says "Yes, just exhausted, and she lost a lot of blood."

"Did she heal her wounds?"

Mericel says "No, she thinks she is tainted now and the Goddess won't hear her prayers."

Covering my right eye I focus on Leyla with my demon eye. After a few seconds I am able to see her aura, it is a little dim but still a pure white. Then Drog appears behind me in the tent's entrance.

Drog says "Master, I smell humans and horses."