Vol 1 Chapter 16 – The Surviving Eight Demon General【Vol 1: The Beastkin Hero Arc】

The Parasite Shell race was a type of demon.

The Evil Eye King’s trusted confidant entrusted with the conquest of the Kingdom of Riguacqua—the Eight Demon General 【Flavorus the Parasitic Eater】—was a mature specimen of the Parasite Shell race. As long as they had mana, that race could multiply infinitely through asexual reproduction.

In their larval stage, they would parasitize various creatures, manipulating the host’s body and growing by feeding on the host’s flesh from the inside.

Once they consumed a certain amount of mana and flesh, they would kill the host and evolve into their mature form — demons far larger than humans, clad in tough outer shells.

Their combat prowess in this stage was worlds apart from their larval form.

That was exactly why Branford didn’t hesitate for a second when he locked eyes with the Parasite Shell larva through the window.

The larva was attempting to burrow deep inside the arm of his agonizing childhood friend, the gentle-faced middle-aged man—Village Chief Eamon — intent on nestling inside his body and taking full control of its host.

If it managed to get inside, the only option left would be to kill Eamon.

(—I have to take it out before that happens!)

In a split second, Branford smashed the windowpane with his elbow, grabbed a shard of glass, and hurled it at the larva.

“Kyuu?!”

His Combat Skill for physical enhancement paid off — shot like an arrow, the glass blade pinned only the larva to the floor. Blood splattered with a wet smack, and the larva twitched frantically, opened its diamond-shaped mouth, and shrieked.

“Kyuuuuuuun!!”

It thrashed in its death throes and went still.

“Are you alright, Eamon?!”

“…Ah, eh…? That voice, could it be… Branford?”

“Yeah, it’s me!”

Stepping through the window, he rushed to Eamon’s side, supporting his back and peering into the pale face of the man drenched in a cold sweat.

Opening his eyes faintly, Eamon spoke.

“…Am I dreaming? W-What about the Knight Order…? Why are you here…”

“I quit! I’m not getting any younger, you know! But more importantly, what happened?! What on earth is going on in this village?!”

At that question, Eamon grimaced and cast his eyes toward the dead Parasite Shell larva on the floor.

“…O-One day, a heavily wounded demon came to this village… She called herself Flavorus, and completely wiped out the village vigilante corps in the blink of an eye…”

“…An Eight Demon General… So she really was…!”

This was the worst — the absolute worst possible scenario he could have imagined.

“Do you know that demon…?”

“Did the name alone not ring a bell?! What if I say 【The Parasitic Eater】?!”

Eamon’s eyes widened in shock.

“…You don’t mean the demon commander… who was attacking the central capital?”

“Exactly! This is an absolute nightmare! The Eight Demon Generals are demons certified with a National-class threat level; no one but a World Knight can stand a chance against them! But no matter how many casualties a small village suffers, a World Knight won’t make a move unless the kings grant their approval at the World Council!”

Magical beasts and demons were assigned threat levels. Unless a threat was judged to have exceeded a certain level, World Knights could not be deployed.

• Village-class — Can be subjugated by villagers with no combat experience.
• Small City-class — Can be subjugated by the military forces of a small town with a population of over a thousand.
• Mid City-class — Can be subjugated by the military forces of a city with a population of over ten thousand.
• Large City-class — Can be subjugated by the military forces of a city with a population of over one hundred thousand.
• National-class — A calamity requiring an entire nation’s united effort to combat. Can be subjugated by a single World Knight.
• Continental-class — Requires the summoning of three World Knights to subjugate. A threat level capable of destroying several countries.
• World-class — Requires the full mobilization of all World Knights. The end of the world.

Out of the seven distinct threat levels, subjugation missions were only requested of the World Knights for three of them: National-class, Continental-class, and World-class.

It was common sense in this world that magical beasts and demons of any other threat level were to be handled by a country’s own army or knight orders.

Even if a small village in a mid-tier nation was wiped out, no one would ever suspect it was the doing of an Eight Demon General. They would simply be told to handle it first with their own nation’s forces — the Kingdom of Riguacqua’s Azure Sword Knight Order.

However, against an Eight Demon General — unlike your average demon — the Knight Order wouldn’t stand a chance. Branford understood this better than anyone, as he had actually been in the Knight Order fighting against Flavorus’s army.

(…If I take this information to the central capital… no, if I report to His Majesty that the Demon General Flavorus is still alive, there’s a chance a World Knight will come. But…!)

By the time that happened, what would become of Log Village?

“…Have the other villagers been parasitized by larvae too?!”

“Yes, all of them. Women and children alike… We weren’t allowed to resist… I don’t know the exact details, but she seemed to harbor an intense hatred for Leonhardt-sama. It’s just a guess, but she might be planning to parasitize the villagers with larvae and use this village as a base to rebuild her forces.”

Her plan was to feed the villagers’ mana and flesh to the larvae, raise them to maturity, and restructure her army. The reason there were so many insect-type magical beasts on the nearby road was that the demon commander was hiding in this village, and the reason there was no sign of them attacking was simply that their commander was right here.

“For the first time since she passed away, I’m glad my wife went before me… This kind of suffering… she is the last person I would ever want to put through something like this…!”

Clutching his arm—which was missing everything from the elbow down—Eamon trembled, tears streaming from his eyes, and Branford rubbed his friend’s back, biting his lip tightly.

Eamon had said Flavorus was wounded — she had fought Leonhardt, suffered grievous wounds, and barely escaped with her life. In other words, even if she was an Eight Demon General, he might actually have a fighting chance.

“——You weren’t actually thinking that, were you?! Come out here, you intruder who killed my precious baby!”

The voice reached his ears alongside the rumbling of the earth — the larva’s death cry had been heard, and Branford’s position was already compromised.

Peering through the broken window, he saw a massive demon crawling out from the ground in the center of the village.

Her black, gleaming carapace bore massive scars in several places — one of her four eerie compound eyes had been slashed open, and the fangs in her diamond-shaped mouth were chipped.

She was bipedal, but six sharp, sword-like protrusions extended from her back like a spider’s legs — she had used those to dig through the earth and lie dormant underground.

Contrary to her feminine tone of voice, her appearance could only be described as hideous — there was no way he could forget that figure he had seen on the battlefield.

One of the Demon Lord’s Eight Demon Generals — 【Flavorus the Parasitic Eater】 — had revealed herself.