4 An Unseen Promise.

Demon Lord Yang Meilin shot up from her seat, dropping her cup of wine in the process, her face switching from a look of frustration to that of disbelief. Her already light-coloured skin seemingly turned a shade paler.

"A hero? Right at the gates, now?" she asked the attendant, a palace maid who ordered to deliver the news.

"Y-yes, my lady. The palace guards had organised a defence, but the hero who goes by the name of Sir Alex is too p-powerful!" the attendant replied, shivering in fear.

"How many guards were there?" Meilin further enquired. 

"A-about 52..."

"A single man took on 52 of my guards all at once?" exclaimed Meilin, standing in front of her golden throne. The rays of the setting sun glint off the solid gold, causing it to shine.

"Well... two young human girls were accompanying him who were there too... But they were mostly um... cheering..." the attendant clarified as cold sweat dripped from his head while he remained kneeling before Meilin and her throne.

"Cheering? They were cheering?" Demon Lord Meilin said firmly. "Who does this hero think he is? He dares to simply walk into my abode with a pair of fangirls and kill off 52 of my guard?"

Meilin walked down the steps from her throne and walked towards the entrance of the throne room, her dark robes trailing behind her like a river of silk. The presence of her magical aura grew more and more noticeable to those around her with each heavy step.

"Where are the my Court Magicians? Where are the Five Lotus Masters of Shenwu?" she cried, gritting her teeth as she listened to the sound of battle not far from where she stood.

"My lady, we... don't know..."

Meilin stopped just short of the doorway and turned around to face the attendant with a confused glare on her face. "What do you mean you don't know?" with a tone of cold annoyance in her voice.

"Um... None of the masters or any of the court advisors are here today my lady, we can't find them!"

"What???" exclaimed Meilin, as the sound of battle got even closer. "These old bastards... At a time of danger, they leave me to face it alone... " she scowled, her clenched fist banging against the frame of the doorway.

With a fire of determination in her eyes, Meilin conjured two dragons made of a dark purple mist which slithered down the sleeves of her robes, releasing a powerful demonic aura that caused the air around her to turn cold immediately and muttered, "Looks like I'll have to settle this by myself then..."

The Demon Lord summoned her magic-infused Jian which flew into her hand from her room in its scabbard and held it by her side before shouting to the attendant, "Gather all the palace maids and eunuchs and get out of here! I'll show this snot-nosed prick the power of the Demon Lord of Shenwu Domain!" 

...

Henry Li listened at the door of his cell. He heard the scurrying of feet and the chaotic noise of furniture being knocked over as people bumped into each other, the vibrations from the commotion causing dust to fall in his cell. This noise could only mean one thing, there was an emergency and everyone was trying to get out of here.

Whatever the threat was, he did not know for sure, but judging from the noise earlier of terracotta warriors being smashed to pieces, he could only assume the threat to be an attack on the compound.

"Shit... I need to get out of here..." Henry said to himself as he did a quick recount of the ammunition he now had on himself. In addition to the already loaded full magazine, he had another 4 magazines of 9x19mm Parabellum rounds. As a former naval officer, he had not fired a gun at another person before, with his only experience being with board targets.

As such, he closed his eyes and took deep breaths to calm himself down, rehearsing what he had learnt from training and experience in his mind.  'Keep a calm head and always look where you're shooting' he thought to himself. Once he opened his eyes, he cocked the pistol and kicked the old and rotting wooden cell door down with full force.

With the door hitting the ground of the hallway opposite him, he stepped out, pointed his gun both ways and observed his surroundings. There was not a single person in sight. Dirty footsteps could be found all over the floor, with beautiful shelves and cabinets being knocked over and trampled into scraps of wood.

"All clear." Henry muttered to himself as he moved down the hall to try and find an exit, keeping his steps quick but quiet while keeping low and tactical, his pistol pointed forward.

As he reached a bend, he was greeted with the sight of several defeated and no longer recognisable palace guards, the terracotta warriors now reduced to nothing but fragments of clay and dust. The only sign that they had been warriors was the Chinese weapons that lay all over the floor. Judging by the weapons left on the floor, about 30 of these guards were defeated in this tight hallway.

As he stepped through the dust, he could not help but notice that there was only the residue of the terracotta warriors, with no sign of their opponent. This revelation instantly put his mind into thinking.  'Just what the hell is going on? Who's attacking this Demon Lord's Palace? Are they some sort of wizards or a pack of beasts? Will they be friends or foes?' he questioned himself as he maintained a look of focus on his face, staying aware of his surroundings.

...

Alex stepped into the vast courtyard, his metal boots clanking against the stone floor. His greatsword lay sheathed in its scabbard as he approached his target, Demon Lord Yang Meilin, who stood waiting for him in the middle of the courtyard, her Jian drawn and pointed downward.

As Alex approached her, he couldn't help but feel excited and aroused by her form. He eyed her exquisite face, her tempting hourglass torso, and her soft skin, and allowed his eyes to feast upon her perfect bosom, which to his dismay did not show cleavage. Down below, a soft 'thunk' could be heard from something impacting the insides of his armour.

Demon Lord Meilin peered at him, her eyes analysing his form to search for weaknesses she could leverage.

"Sir Alex of Eire. What is a summoned hero from the west doing so far out east of the continent?" she asked, her voice authoritative and cold as she held a soft glare upon him. She maintained her magical aura, with the two dark dragons at her side which she could send out to devour him at her will.

"They told me that you were a strong one Meilin... And the rumours of your beauty don't lie..." Alex replied as he licked his lips, his voice confident and conceited as he kept a cheesy and creepy look traced upon the Demon Lord.

"But your work as a low-rank Demon Lord ends today. I can give you a much better life than doing such pointless work... Take my hand and join me by my side... I can convince the King to grant you a peaceful life with me and my other girls..." he added, gesturing to the two girls he brought with him. Both were scowling in jealousy as they observed Meilin's superior female qualities.

Meilin grits her teeth, her blood coming to a boil as she hears him call her a 'low-rank Demon Lord' who does 'pointless work'. She raised her sword and slashed the air in an X-shape before entering an aggressive sword stance with her sword pointed directly at Alex.

"Silence! Stop speaking such nonsense!" she exclaimed as she leapt forward and glided through the air gracefully with her sword trained directly at Alex while sending her dark dragons forth to attack.

"Oh... A feisty one... Let's hope you're as active in bed as you are now..." Alex said with a confident smirk on his face. In response to his attack, he simply raised his sword parallel to his face. "Behold! The Holy Sword of Eiru!" he yelled as a blinding golden light shone from it.

Meilin attempted to cut through the light with her  Jian  infused with her demon magic, she soon felt a force meet the tip of her blade like an expanding barrier. Meilin's eyes widened in shock before she was pushed backwards through the air, the dark dragons she had conjured shrieking before disappearing into nothing.

As Meilin landed back to her original position on her feet, Alex chuckled. "Oh my, have you perhaps forgotten? Eiru is the greatest exporter of holy weapons! Holy weapons are effective against demons you dummy! You aren't suited to be a demon lord... Why not just give this up and be my wife?"

Raising her sword once more, Meilin leapt towards him once more. "Never! You'll pay for your insolence you perverted trash!"

...

Henry left another hallway to find himself near the entrance to the courtyard. There, he found the Demon Lord Meilin fighting Summoned Hero Alexander Davis, their swords clashing with Meilin looking more and more fatigued with each strike she blocked.

'Great, while these two are fighting it out, I'll take the chance to get out of here.' he thought to himself, walking towards the gate of the courtyard. Just as he took a few steps forward, he felt someone tugging at his feet.

Looking down, Henry found that it was a young girl with horns on her head like the demon lord, no taller than 5'4 crawling towards him, with a deep wound on her back. She was bleeding from the mouth with tears streaming down her cheeks, her hair in a bun. This was the same maid that had warned Meilin about the arrival of the hero Alex.

As Henry knelt to face her, the girl coughed as she tried to speak through her pain and the blood in her mouth. "Please... protect... our mistress... hero..." she muttered, excruciating suffering with each syllable. To the end, this simple palace maiden's thoughts were still with her service to the Demon Lord. With those last words said, the little palace maid, who looked no older than 15, collapsed and drew her final breath, her eyes still open and looking at Henry.

Gently shutting her eyes, Henry whispered into her ear "I promise." They say the last organ to go once you die is your ears. And to that end, she had heard him.

Henry rose and turned around, watching the two sword-wielding fighters battle it out, with Meilin approaching her breaking point as the anti-demon properties of the hero's holy weaponry made an effect on her mana reserves and her stamina.

Witnessing this, Henry stepped forward, his handgun at the ready, his current focus switching to the battle at hand, and said the same phrase which he had said in another world to motivate his demoralised men just a few hours ago:

"Let's get back to work."