An Unborn Hero

Dreobeth found himself significantly vexed. Much thought had gone into the design of the hero's prison. Certainly more than Xander had offered, who simply wanted to kill everyone except the pink one, then chain her up somewhere. The idiot hadn't even thought far enough ahead to plan how to feed her. Yes, his suggestion of imprisoning the [Hero] had been a stroke of pure genius, by demon standards, but they were very low standards indeed.

Dreobeth hated to admit it, but the bloody elf was right. Demons seemed to have an ingrained hole in their psyches when it came to long-term planning.

And so the evil fairy had plotted carefully, double checking every plan, and meticulously asking questions he wasn't used to, like 'if I do this now, what will be the outcome ten years from now?' He'd thrown Kellela and Hayedalf into the same cell, because keeping the family together reduced the chances of any one of them killing themselves. It would take a serious act of will to commit suicide with family watching. Leaving them unchained, and ensuring a reasonable quality of life, reduced the chances of a collective suicide, too. They didn't need to be chained; the collars sucked them completely dry of mana, and without mana, they should all have been helpless.

Grace and Rose had been thrown together to give Grace someone visible to protect. Grace couldn't be collared, since her abilities were vital to keeping the [Hero] healthy, so putting her together with the hero's family would have been far too risky. Instead, she had Rose. With the information his spies had fed him about the princess, he knew she would never let Rose die, nor would she flee without her. Even if Grace somehow managed to open the door to her cell, he judged she would helpfully remain inside of her own accord until Rose had been freed. By fastening Rose so securely to the cell that she was practically a part of it, he had confidence that would never happen.

Rrillandral was, perhaps, his only failing. He'd intended—once she'd fed a false location to the outside world—to simply kill her. She served no further purpose, after all. But he hadn't been able to. Yes, she'd scarred him in their last encounter, but that didn't hurt half as much as the way she'd been right. He wanted to keep her around simply so that in a few years' time he could pay her another visit and gloat. He'd carefully analysed his decision, acknowledged that it was not tactically sound, but that the reward outweighed the risk, and allowed himself that single indulgence.

With the five and a half enemies locked away, he'd stuck around for long enough to watch Hayedalf investigate the collars and admit he couldn't remove them, to ensure Grace wasn't capable of freeing Rose, and that no-one else was trying anything unexpected. He'd gone so far as to ensure there were no loose objects or accessible soil around, as an extra layer of defence against Hayedalf and Rrillandral. Then he'd left to mollify the demon lord before the imbecile got fed up with the continued contamination of the [Hero] and decided to give a self-defeating order.

He'd only been gone a couple of hours. When he'd left, everyone had been secure and unable to escape. So why, on his return, was everything on fire? The prison was built from metal and stone; it shouldn't even have been flammable!

A few minutes prior to Dreobeth's return, Grace was finding herself increasingly uncertain about her life. From one perspective, she'd been raised in a gilded cage, spending fifteen years being brainwashed by a series of sour-faced teachers who meticulously installed in her 'proper' patterns of behaviour, often reinforcing their lessons with pain. She'd lived a life bereft of freedom, with her mind so filled with propaganda that she couldn't even see it. Then, in something of an emergency, her father had been forced to send her out into the real world without preparation. Now, thanks to Mystery and Rose, the walls that had been built around her mind were rapidly crumbling down, freeing her from her mental prison.

From another perspective, she used to be a 'proper' princess, perfectly happy, and perfectly well behaved. And then she'd met Mystery and Rose, a pair of uneducated commoners, who'd infected her with their uncultured ways, gradually corrupting her and tearing down the life she'd so carefully built. Burning the future she had planned and erasing any place she had in high society.

She wasn't sure whether she hated them or loved them. She spent half her time fighting a desire to give Rose a good slap, and half resisting the urge to kiss her. And they weren't even different halves! Rose could make her want to do both at once with a single sentence! How could she not know the contents of her own head? How did that make any sense whatsoever?

It didn't help that a part of her seemed morbidly curious about just how far she could fall. There she was, locked helplessly in the demons' prison, with barely a flicker of hope remaining, and a small piece of her mind was excited about the fact she'd needed to piss in front of Rose. Not in a sexual way, of course, but rather in a look-how-uncouth-I-am sort of way. As if it was a game. How un-princess-like could she act before one of her old teachers spawned into existence, right here in the middle of the demonic forest, harisen in hand, to declare 'no more'? She'd even stole a couple of quick glances at Rose to see if she'd been watching.

Of course, she hadn't been. The girl was far too nice for that. Even in that situation, she'd respected Grace's privacy and kept her eyes shut. It was unbelievably frustrating!

That same small part decided that her current situation, hung upside-down by the ankles, slimy tentacles probing at her as she desperately fought to stop one wrapping around her neck, was an appropriate time to point out that if that particular tentacle moved across by a couple of inches, she might get to experience something that no princess should experience outside of wedlock.

And that was finally enough. Thinking that sort of thing while her party members—not to mention the [Hero]—were in mortal danger, was further than she was prepared to fall. Treating it as some sort of game was fine most of the time; all that was at stake was her own future, and she wasn't convinced the new one she was building for herself was any worse than the old. What did it matter if she ended up an adventurer if she had fun doing it? She didn't need to be a princess. She didn't need to win an engagement to some [Crown Prince] or other who would probably never love her. That future wasn't something she needed to fight to protect.

But with her friends at risk?

She would fight with every last scrap that she had. As long as a drop of her vitality remained, she would not let Rose or Mystery come to harm. Whether they'd corrupted her or saved her made no difference. They were hers, and no-one was going to take them away.

"Creature of evil, I will not permit you to threaten a young maiden's dignity any longer. Purity wave!"

She burst with white light, but unlike her usual attack, this one tore into the tentacles that bound her and Hayedalf. They bloated and burst, splattering the room with green goo. A terrible shriek sounded from below, followed by a loud crash that shook the entire prison.

"Wow," said Rose.

"Ow!" said Hayedalf as he crashed to the floor.

"Ow!" echoed Mystery, who'd also been hit by the wave, which shoved her straight out of the cell and into the corridor outside. "I've been waiting for them to get new abilities, given that the spell description said they would, and it's cool that it finally happened, but why does it target me?!"

"I'm really glad Kellela learnt that cleaning spell," muttered a rather slimy Hayedalf as he grabbed a handful of green, lumpy ex-tentacle and ran out into the corridor with it. There came a bang followed by an agitated hiss before he came back in to reload.

"Grace! Get Rose out of there. Maybe Mystery can help," he shouted before running back out.

"Come on. Now that you're transformed too, we can work together to rip a hole in the wall."

Rose sighed. "No, we can't. But I've got another plan. You just have to do exactly what I say."

"Okay?" replied Grace, a little confused by Rose's hesitation.

"Exactly what I say. No questioning. No buts. No hesitation. Just do what I tell you to. Promise?"

"What are you...?"

"Promise?!"

"Okay, sheesh. I promise. Just how obscene is this plan of yours?"

"Obscene?" asked Rose, using the mana she'd recovered to summon a single sword. It fell to the floor in front of her with a clang. "No, never mind. I don't want to know what you're thinking. Just take that sword."

Grace picked it up, wondering what the next step would be. The restraints that bound Rose's hands to the wall were solid metal. Or rather, there weren't really any separate restraints to start with. She'd need to cut straight through the wall. Unless her magical swords had a significant upgrade, how would they help?

"Now slice through my wrists."

"What?! Why would..."

"No questioning!"

"How in the hells do you expect me not to question that?!"

"Look, we can't break me out. The others are outside fighting, and they aren't going to leave us behind. You aren't going to leave me behind. Every second I delay you is another second for more enemy reinforcements to show up. We don't have time to discuss this. Cut me free, we'll all escape together, and you can heal me later. Or would you rather I told you to abandon me and save yourself?"

Grace floundered, but couldn't poke any holes in Rose's logic. She'd been trying for hours to free her, and not a single section of wall had even the slightest hint of give. Rose had been struggling since the second Mystery had transformed her, and again, it had been utterly ineffectual. Everyone working together, given enough time, could probably get her free, but it was time they didn't have.

And so, as requested, she cut Rose's hands off. Rose gave a sharp intake of breath at the pain, but Grace immediately blasted her with healing magic, numbing the wounds and staunching the flow of blood. Regrowing her hands would need to wait, but she was no longer stuck to the wall.

Yes, her ankles were still chained together, but that only limited the length of her stride. It didn't stop her rushing out into the corridor, Grace close behind her.

"Good timing," shouted Hayedalf, throwing another handful of lumpy green goo down the corridor, where it impacted a flaming dog monster, turning the creature to ice. "Corridor is clear; let's get out of here."

The five ran down the corridor and through the door at the end, finding the charred bodies of a few demons on the floor.

"They must have come in response to the disturbance, but been caught in Grace's purification wave before they had a chance to do anything," said Hayedalf.

"Anyone see signs of our equipment?" asked Kellela.

"No."

"Not me."

"Damn. I knew the single shot items would be a lost cause, but protection from status conditions is important."

"That's unfair," thought Mystery to herself. "In a game, when you get captured like this, your equipment is always left in a chest at the end of the corridor. The demons are doing it wrong!"

"Let's just get out of here. We can worry about that later."

The group continued running, fighting through monstrous guards and low-ranked demons. Thankfully, the resistance they met was minor. For monsters, strength tended to scale with size; there were few monsters that could fit through human-sized doorways and still pose a threat to the magical girls, and with the recent cull, nothing suitable had yet spawned. Nor had Dreobeth successfully purged demons of their selfish tendencies, so the duty of keeping watch had been pushed onto the youngest and weakest. With Dreobeth himself away, and narrow doorways and corridors preventing the demons from fully taking advantage of their numbers, there was nothing to pose a threat.

And so the group of five burst out into daylight, exiting from what looked like a mining tunnel in the side of a hill. The trees in the area were dead, the ground grey and barren, placing their location near the centre of the demonic forest, but nevertheless, a beautiful blue lake glistened in front of them as it reflected the sunlight.

"Wow, pretty," said Rose.

"The dead lake," said Rrillandral. "At least that makes it obvious where we are."

"Then what should we do now?"

"I... don't know. The demons are not behaving as they should. I can't..." she started, trying to articulate her desire not to lead the group into another trap. Alas, she was interrupted by a kraken.

The monster burst from the surface of the lake like an eldritch god, a cankerous mound of grey, slimy flesh with deep-set red eyes, tentacles flailing all around it, whipping up the water into froth.

"It looks angry," sighed Grace.

"I wonder why!" exclaimed Rose sarcastically, noting the way a dozen tentacles ended in green, oozing stumps.

"Oh?" said Grace, following Rose's gaze, eyes narrowing as she made the same realisation. "That was you?"

Her eyes narrowed further, and the rest of the group instinctually took a step away from her.

"Steady on now..." said Hayedalf.

"Purity wave," declared Grace with a voice of ice, and the wave of white light washed over the kraken. The tentacles paused in their flailing, the light in the monster's eyes dimming as it made a pained high-pitched whine. And then it began to swell.

Rose, remembering the effect Grace's new spell had on the earlier tentacles, had just enough time to say "Oh..." before the monster detonated. Being quite large, the resulting gloop covered the entire lake and hill, and the magical girl squad were not spared.

Kellela spat out a mouthful of kraken. "I am so glad Grace made me learn cleaning magic," she muttered.

Mystery, who this time was tossed straight up into the air, glared downwards. "She one-shotted that monster? It was huge! What is that spell? Some sort of anti-hentai magic? Effective against anything with tentacles? Then why does it hit me?! I don't have tentacles!"

She watched the magical girls stumble their way to a cleaner section of forest, after which Kellela managed to magically scrub them down to the point they no longer looked like they'd been sneezed on by a dragon with hay-fever.

"Still, Grace is right. Monsters should keep their tentacles away from my magical girls!"

A furious Mystery cast [Fireball], and it turned out that liquefied kraken was surprisingly flammable. The kraken exploded for a second time.

ding

For leading your girls back into daylight, [Magical Girl Transformation] advances to level 26.

For setting the world aflame, [Fireball] advances to level 6.

Mystery (Human)

Age: -9 months

Occupation: Hero (L)

Skills:

- Soul's Eye (U) (42/100)

>> Sense Vitality (U)

>> Sense Soul (R)

>> Sense Mana (U)

>> Sense Light (C)

>> Sense Sound (C)

>> Pierce Illusions (U)

>> Sense Miasma (R)

>> Multi-focal (R)

>> Sense Spirit (R)

- Astral Projection (U) (26/60)

>> Sure Navigation (U)

>> Uncontainable (U)

>> Tether of Will (L)

- Robust (C) (30/50)

>> Hardened Soul (R)

>> Secured Mana (U)

>> Pain Tolerance (C)

>> Strengthened Will (U)

- Stealth (C) (3/20)

>> Camouflage Vitality (R)

- Magical Girl Transformation (R) (26/30)

>> Age Correction (R)

>> Gender Bending (R)

- Light (C) (12/20)

>> Heterochrome (U)

- Increased Attributes (C) (11/20)

>> Mana Storage (U)

- Investigation (C) (6/10)

- Cosplay (U) (12/20)

>> Skit (U)

- Mana Absorption (U) (13/30)

>> Drain Mana (U)

>> Conduit (U)

- Translate (U) (10/20)

>> Two Way (U)

- Telepathy (U) (18/40)

>> Reciprocity (U)

>> Empathy (U)

>> Guarded Mind (U)

- Lightning Bolt (U) (8/30)

>> Multishot (U)

>> Continuous Discharge (U)

- Fireball (U) (6/20)

>> Multishot (U)

- Wall of Light (U) (1/10)

- Energy Resistance (U) (7/10)

- Recharge (U) (3/10)

Achievements:

- Early Bloomer II (R)

- First Skill (C)

- Adept (U)

- Survivor of Zarklaxxos, the Arcane Infernal (R)

- I Broke The System, And All I Got Was This Lousy Achievement (E)

- Astral Explorer II (E)

- First Spell (C)

- I Broke The System Again, And Now The Administrators Hate Me (E)

- Famous Spell Forger (E)

- Demon Slayer III (E)

- Monster Slayer VI (E)

- Curiosity (U)

- War Veteran (U)

- Royal Audience (C)

- Diligent Hero (L)

- Studious (C)

- Pioneering Guider (E)

- Royal Pervert (R)

- I Couldn't Stop Breaking The System, And Now I've Been Smited (E)

- Royal Corrupter (E)

- Blessed of the Forest (C)

- Artefact Wielder (R)

- Veteran of the Corruption (R)

Artefacts:

- The Vale's Finger