Demons Among Gods

"Thank you for your timely help; without you three, we all would have died a terrible death."

Brunhild, Caius, and the others bowed sincerely toward Eric, Lyria, and Livy. Even Garrick and Eilif leaned on their friends to stand up and bow toward the trio in deep gratitude. They were all immensely grateful to the three who had arrived out of nowhere at the absolute lowest point of their lives. If not for them, they would not only have died a horrible death but would also have had to watch their friends perish helplessly—a despair far deeper than they could express.

"You are all welcome," Eric smiled. "To be honest, we arrived just when you guys were sneaking into the village. Out of curiosity, we followed and quietly watched everything unfold, deciding to intervene only when you guys were really about to die. I hope you all don't mind our late intervention." He wanted to be completely transparent about this so they could talk freely about the incident later without needing to hide one detail after another.

"It doesn't matter," Caius replied with a sincere shake of his head. "All of you rescued us before any of us could die. Thank you." He bowed once again, and the others quickly followed suit. Each of them remembered how helpless, cornered, and deeply filled with despair they had been just moments ago. Even if someone rescued them at the absolute last second, it was still a rescue worthy of endless gratitude.

"Please allow me to introduce us. My name is Caius Valerian, and these are my companions." Following that, he introduced everyone to Eric, Lyria, and Livy one by one.

Caius continued, "We are a Grade D Adventurer Team called Eclipse, and we are affiliated with Batley City's Adventurers Guild."

Grade D?

Eric recalled the cards Lyria and Livy had picked up from the mercenary group that attacked them when they were leaving Ringwood Town; those cards had "Grade E" printed on them.

'I see, so that’s how it is...'

He had originally thought those mercenaries had just scored the lowest possible marks on their graduation exam and barely escaped getting a complete F.

Eric introduced his own group, "My name is Eric. To my left is Livy, and to my right is Lyria."

Lyria and Livy gently nodded to the Eclipse team with polite smiles.

"We are not affiliated with any guilds at the moment," Eric continued. "We were originally just training under our teacher since childhood and were only recently allowed to travel outside. We happened to get lost in this part of the wilderness and were seeking out a nearby human settlement for some directions when we stumbled upon this village."

Caius and the others nodded understandingly, but they inwardly shivered upon learning the trio had a ‘teacher.’ They wondered just how terrifying that person must be to produce such monstrous powerhouses at their age and rank. It was no wonder their teacher had finally let them leave; after all, they were simply too strong.

They all still vividly remembered Eric's first words upon arrival—‘Just an Adult Rank 1; is it that difficult to deal with?’

Everyone felt goosebumps recalling that line, which was filled with utter dismissal. The Eclipse team had deep, etched fear in their hearts over the Night Hag Arachnid, but it meant absolutely nothing to this boy. Though it was technically just an Adult-stage Rank 1, its actual capabilities rivaled the Elder stage! Yet, it was handled like a helpless toddler in front of him.

Elianor's eyes were sparkling. She took a bold step forward and asked, "Since Eric doesn't belong to a guild, how about joining ours?"

Suddenly, there was a pin-drop silence. Everyone stared at the red-haired girl in absolute disbelief.

Lyria and Livy's mouths twitched simultaneously.

'This girl is really straightforward with her intentions. Does she think we don't exist? How about inviting us too?!'

Brunhild nearly slapped Elianor upside the head. What possessed her to suggest such an outrageous thing to these monsters?! Did Elianor honestly think their small team was a good match for these three? They would only drag Eric, Lyria, and Livy down!

Brunhild laughed awkwardly to disperse the tension in the air, saying, "Little brother Eric... if you don't mind us calling you that." Seeing Eric and both girls agree with calm, relaxed smiles, she released a silent sigh of relief. She really didn't dare anger these three, let alone accidentally antagonize them.

Coughing slightly, she continued, "Then, Little brother Eric, Little sister Lyria, and Livy, if you guys don't have a specific destination in mind, how about coming with us to Batley City? We will happily guide you and properly thank you for saving our lives."

Hearing this, Caius and the others' eyes lit up. They were incredibly excited to get to know all three of them; after all, they didn't get to meet such unusual and powerful young geniuses every day. In fact, they doubted that even the Adventurers' Guild leader, Rodger—who was at the late stage of Rank 3—could match the three of them combined.

Eric pondered for a moment, deliberately showing the others that he was 'considering' the offer. After a while, he nodded and smiled, "Sounds good. In the meantime, I also want to ask a few things. Since we used to live in an isolated place, we lack information on many common matters. By the way, how far is Batley City from here?"

Seeing Eric agree, Caius and the rest of the team rejoiced. Their smiles bloomed like flowers, particularly the red-haired girl's, who looked like she was practically drooling.

Caius quickly answered, "We left our horses a little way from here. By riding them, we should arrive at Batley City within two weeks. Otherwise, traveling by foot would take over a month or more."

Eric, Lyria, and Livy truly wished to reach a city after months of living rough in the wilderness. Two weeks was still better over getting lost again, so they nodded in agreement.

"Then we will spend the night here in this village and leave early tomorrow morning," Eric concluded.

Caius and his team readily agreed. They were exhausted and heavily injured; they desperately needed rest. If not for Eric and the girls, they might have had to camp out in this village for at least a week to recover, as that was how long it would take for Garrick and Eilif to heal reasonably using the Tier 1 health potions they had left.

"Please choose any house here to rest," Caius suggested. "We will handle the remaining zombies and the aftermath. We will answer your questions to the best of our ability starting tomorrow."

The remaining 'alive' zombies were mindlessly wandering around the clearing. Unlike a standard summon spell, zombies or undead created from real people behaved differently; they didn't automatically disintegrate after their controller perished. High-rank undead might even possess intelligence, but these mortal-rank ones were entirely braindead; they would simply keep walking until they ran out of energy and collapsed.

Eric waved his hand dismissively, "No need, we will sleep in our tents." He disliked staying in a stranger's house or bed, especially when the previous owners had only recently died.

Caius and the others were thoroughly confused by his response but didn't question it further.

Eric glanced around the clearing. Seeing that the area was largely clear, he located a sufficiently wide, clean space and pulled out his pocket watch. After summoning his tent, he tossed the pocket watch to Lyria and ducked inside.

Lyria caught the watch deftly and pulled a similar tent right beside Eric's. After that, both she and Livy calmly stepped inside as well, leaving Brunhild, Elianor, Garrick, Eilif, Thorne, and even Caius completely dumbfounded, their jaws hanging open.

They had seen their fair share of luxury in life, but nothing on this level of sheer, unadulterated wastefulness! Leaving aside storing such a massive tent inside a pocket-watch space-storage artifact, who on earth would use priceless Tier 2 materials just to build a large, fancy tent?! If those materials were used to forge lightweight armor, a single one of those tents could easily furnish high-grade protective gear for several people!

Even Brunhild and Caius, who were actual nobles back in Batley City, didn't have enough money to be this extravagant. It made far more sense to craft those materials into armor or sell them to purchase potions and high-end weapons.

At that exact moment, another detail clicked in their minds, and their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets in sheer shock.

Eilif slowly turned his head, completely disregarding his own pain, and asked Brunhild and Caius in a stammering voice, "N-now that I think about it... were all three of them wearing T-Tier 2 outfits?!"

A heavy silence fell over the group.

After a moment, Caius gulped and nodded. "Yes, I am certain it was Tier 2, and definitely above low grade," he sighed heavily after speaking. He suddenly realized the staggering 'background' these three youngsters must come from. These kids were definitely not individuals their Batley City—or perhaps even the entire Silvia Kingdom—could afford to provoke!

Correctly identifying a weapon or armor's Tier was fairly simple, as those objects radiated a unique presence of their own. However, accurately judging the specific grade within that Tier required deep knowledge and specialized experience. Of course, those who had never laid eyes on a Tier object could easily misjudge the tier entirely. These things could also be concealed through various methods, like donning enchanted cloaks over them. Eric, Lyria, and Livy, however, weren't covering up, making it instantly recognizable.

Ever since the trio appeared, all six members of the Eclipse team had been so mentally overwhelmed that they had subconsciously neglected to properly evaluate their gear. Only now did they realize that not just their outfits, but their looks, demeanor, physique, and overall presence were entirely different from anything typically found in this remote region.

It was glaringly obvious that Eric, Lyria, and Livy were foreigners, likely from far outside the boundaries of the Silvia Kingdom. They had never heard of any young geniuses within the kingdom capable of effortlessly slaughtering enemies an entire rank above them.

Brunhild massaged her temples, nursing a mild headache from consuming too many hasty potions. She spoke in a exhausted voice, "Let's finish up our work here and get some rest; we need as much sleep as possible for the journey tomorrow. We can discuss the mission's overall status later."

Caius nodded, casting a sweeping glance over everyone's physical condition. He then commanded, "All of you are exhausted and injured, so go get some rest while I deal with these zombies. Elianor, help me out by gathering the dead zombies into one pile." He planned to incinerate them later, as leaving bodies exposed felt entirely inhumane.

Brunhild and the others nodded, not bothering to act tough since they desperately needed to rest. Caius and Elianor were the least injured among them; they were tired, but physically sound.

Elianor's eyes, however, remained completely glued to the tent Eric had stepped into, and she hadn't heard a single syllable her leader just uttered.

"Elianor?" Brunhild nudged Elianor's elbow sharply.

Elianor snapped back to reality, looking startled, "Ah, yes, yes. Brunhild, did you need something?"

Brunhild sighed deeply. She was simply not in the mood to educate lost, love-struck souls at this moment. She quickly reiterated what Caius had requested.

Elianor readily agreed. She didn't feel tired at all; in fact, she felt like she could run an entire marathon. Although fighting the zombies had previously taken an immense toll on her body, the moment Eric rescued her, she felt completely revitalized on every level.

Caius and Elianor then set off to complete their duties, while the rest of the team scattered to find some intact huts nearby to rest for the night.

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