Return of the Runebound Professor

Chapter 465: Mistake

Vrith’s eyes darted around the room in search for any sign of the demon’s arrival, but there were none. The door was closed and locked. There were no large cracks in the walls or holes in the ceiling.

There was no way that anyone should have been able to enter without, at the very least, making their presence known. The back of her scalp prickled.

“If Spider wants to challenge me, then he should have come himself,” Vroth snarled, pushing out of his chair. Claws sprouted from his fingers soundlessly and he bared his teeth. “He dares send a messenger to infiltrate my court?”

Court is a bit much, Vroth.

“You never said how you got in here,” Vrith said. “If you wish to bargain with us, then you should at least approach the proper way.”

“She is correct,” Vroth growled. His fingers flexed and he took a step toward the intruder. “This Spider lacks understanding of how business is done. He has no respect. You have not even introduced yourself, yet you dare make demands and break into our sanctum?”

“Oh, sorry. I forgot about that bit. I’m Lee,” the demon said, completely unperturbed. “And I think you missed something.”

“Oh?” Vroth’s voice was like a deadly sharp razor as it ground out from between his clenched teeth. “And what would that be?”

“We aren’t bargaining.” Lee stretched her arms over her head and yawned. “And you aren’t worthy of respect. Can you just let me know what your decision is? Spider is going to be pissed at me if I start doing stuff without an answer, but I’m hungry and you’re making me waste time.”

A deep sense of unease built in Vrith’s gut. Lee was entirely too unconcerned with everything. This went too far for it to just be a bluff, and they still had no explanation as to how she’d managed to break into their room completely unannounced.

“She’s got to have some form of artifact,” Vrith muttered. “Something that lets her conceal herself. That’s why she’s so bold.”

Vroth glanced to Vrith, then his lips pulled back in a smirk. “Is that so? Evading my awareness before I know of your presence is one thing, but don’t think you’re going to leave without my permission.”

Lee just stared at them. “That’s not an answer. I can’t leave until you give me one anyway, so could you just get on with it?”

“My answer to Spider will be your head delivered on a plate.” Vroth spat on the ground. “Try to run, messenger. See how far it gets you.”

“That’s a no, then?” Lee asked, tilting her head to the side. “Wait. Is that a no from you, or a no from your whole gang? Do you mind if I come back in a second? I need to ask Spider something. I can’t remember if I’m supposed to just kill you or if it’s meant to be everyone here.”

Vroth blurred, the only sound of his motion a single thud as he launched himself toward the arrogant demon. His claws flashed through the air like streaks of silver light, moving so quickly that Vrith could barely even follow him.

Despite her position, she couldn’t help but feel a flicker of admiration. This was the reason that Vroth was the streetlord. Vrith didn’t think of herself as a particularly slow demon, but Vroth was easily twice as fast as she was.

Fighting him was impossible. Every single match they’d had always ended in the exact same way. The same way it had already inevitably gone for Spider’s messenger. Complete and utter defeat.

There was a faint snik of claw carving through flesh. Vrith started to blow out a relieved breath, already trying to determine what their next step would be in dealing with Spider. Then she spotted Lee standing — not before Vroth, but beside him.

Blood dripped from her fingers, which had more than doubled in length and turned to razor-sharp claws. Vrith’s lips parted in disbelief as Vroth peeled apart like a rotted fruit behind Lee, split into six strips.

The remains of his body collapsed to the floor in a pool of bloody noodles that once been her brother. Lee shook her hand off as the fingers returned to normal. Her eyes flicked to Vrith. A very un-demonlike whimper escaped Vrith’s lips and she took a step back.

Vroth — how? I — no. This isn’t possible!

Vroth couldn’t lose. Not like that. He was the strongest demon she’d met, and this wasn’t even Spider. It was just his messenger. Vrith’s back hit the stone wall with a thud and she realized that she’d been backing up. Blood pounded in her ears and her palms prickled with sweat.

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Lee hadn’t budged from her spot. Involuntary shivers gripped Vrith’s body. The small demon was so fast that Vrith couldn’t so much as see her move. Vroth hadn’t even stood a chance against Lee. Vrith’s survival instincts took over as she analyzed the situation, searching for a way out, and it took a remarkably short time for her to find it.

The only way out was death.

I’m going to die here? Like this?

“Oh, crud,” Lee said, grabbing the back of her head and letting out a groan. “Oh, I screwed up.”

Vrith stared at her, not even daring to say a word. Perhaps the demon was just completely insane. If Lee didn’t pay her any attention and she crept around the side of the room, there was a chance she could slip —

“You,” Lee said, thrusting a finger in Vrith’s direction and killing any hopes the demon had left.

“Y-yes?” Vrith asked weakly.

Lee grabbed a handful of the bloody strips that had once been Vrith’s brother and held them up with a distraught look. “Can you find where his head is?”

Vrith swallowed. Lee wasn’t just the fastest demon she’d ever seen. The short demon was a damned sadist. Even if Vrith hadn’t loved Vroth, he’d still been family in the loosest sense of the word.

“It’s shredded,” Vrith forced out. “And soaked in blood. There isn’t much of it left.”

“Oh, no,” Lee tugged at her hair. “How am I supposed to mount his head on anything? Do you know how to stick it back together?”

What kind of twisted creature do you think I am?

“No,” Vrith managed, mustering what little self-respect she still had left. If she was going to die, then she wasn’t going to do it scrounging around for a way to paste her dead brother’s head back together so someone could mount it from their wall. A proper demon would have charged Lee to die a proper death, but the only other thing Vrith could muster was a weak, “I don’t.”

“We’re in so much trouble,” Lee muttered, chewing on the ends of her fingers. “Spider said I had to mount the streetlord’s head from a stick if he refused the offer to surrender, then kill the whole camp. But how am I supposed to do that if he’s shredded?”

She can’t be serious. Is she genuinely asking for advice after shredding my streetlord in front of me?

“I — how would I know?” Vrith stammered. “And you’re the one that did it! How am I in trouble? You’re just going to kill me anyway!”

“You saw it,” Lee said. “You should have told me that I had to leave his head intact, so it’s partially your fault.”

“How does that make any sense?” Vrith demanded, incredulity somehow managing to overwhelm her mounting terror. “You’re the one that killed him! I didn’t know you were going to do that!”

“Yes you did. I told you I would if you didn’t surrender.”

“Who would actually believe that?” Vrith asked. “Everyone threatens to kill people all the time! Nobody actually manages to do it that quickly!”

“Your fault,” Lee insisted. She chewed her lower lip, then cursed. “Spider is going to be so pissed. I screwed up.”

Vrith’s fear continued to mount. If a monster like this was so terrified of Spider, then the demon had to be leagues even more powerful than she was. That was a scale that Vrith couldn’t begin to even comprehend.

“He might not let me eat jerky for a week if he finds out about this,” Lee muttered, but the blood pounding in Vrith’s ears was so loud that she completely missed it.

“I — if you let me live, I won’t tell him?” Vrith offered, more than aware of how pathetic her request was. There was no reason to leave someone alive with a secret when killing them would be far more effective.

Lee’s eyes lit up. “Oh! That’s it!”

Vrith blinked. “It is?”

“Yeah! I’ve got it!” Lee exclaimed. Before Vrith could ask what she meant, Lee scooped up the remains of her brother and started shoveling them into her mouth. The words froze in Vrith’s mouth and she watched with horror as every last scrap of Vroth vanished into Lee’s gullet in the span of seconds.

What the fuck?

“Okay,” Lee said, wiping the blood from her mouth once she’d finished. She glanced around. “You don’t see any left, do you?”

Vrith nearly threw up on the spot. “I — no. I don’t.”

“Nobody else is here either,” Lee said. “Good. This is perfect.”

“It is?” Vrith asked weakly.

“Yeah. Here’s what happened. You killed Vroth.”

A spike of panic shot through Vrith. Lee was planning to pin the entire thing on her. Living a bit longer wasn’t worth it if it meant being punished by someone so awful that the cannibalistic monster before her was terrified of them.

“What? No! I’m not just going to take the fall for you! Just kill me already”

“No! Then he’ll know something went wrong and I won’t be able to stick anyone’s head up on a post. I already ate the other guy, so he’s gone. We’ve got to do it the other way.”

“I’m not going to let Spider torture me!”

“Torture?” Lee gave Vrith a baffled look. “Why would he do that? All we have to do is say that you killed Vroth before he got to answer my question! That would make you streetlord, right?”

Vrith opened her mouth, then paused. She blinked. “I… suppose? But how would that help? Are you going to kill me and stick my head on a spike?”

“So you agree that you killed Vroth?” There was a dangerous glint in Lee’s eyes. “Which would make you streetlord?”

Something told Vrith that Lee wasn’t going to accept any answer other than yes. At the very least, it looked like Vroth hadn’t suffered long. She squeezed her eyes together and nodded. “Yes.”

“Great! So do you surrender to Spider?”

Vrith cracked an eye open. The same question Lee had asked Vroth. Lee watched her expectantly. The other eye cracked open.

A tiny flicker of hope caught in her chest as she realized the game Lee was playing at. If Vroth was dead before he answered Lee’s question, then Lee could re-direct the question to the new streetlord.

If she said no, she’d end up just like Vroth, but with a head left intact to mount on a spike. But if she threw her pride as a demon to the side… there was a chance.

Vrith dropped to the ground and prostrated herself before Lee. “We surrender. Please don’t stick my head on a spike.”

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