It is still nighttime, and Delphine is walking in the town of Eastmarch to receive her payment and be on her way. She did not have any more time to waste here, and she knew that she would have to continue onward in the world. The people started to turn their eyes upon Delphine as she walked forward and ignored all of them. They began to see that she was going inside of the Inn to get a cup of wine and be there for about an hour before leaving again. The Tavern was not very big, and it could only let people rent about ten rooms on one floor and one night.

Then, Delphine opens the door of the Tavern and walks inside, and she sees that a dozen people were drinking wine. The other dozen people were staring at her face and her armor as she stepped inside; some of them were terrified, and the others were surprised at her appearance. Nobody in this town has ever seen a person carry such strong armor before, and they rarely ever talk about warriors and hunters. Delphine continued to walk in the tavern, and she begins to find herself a place to sit down and rest herself. It wasn’t a large tavern, but it was enough to fit at least fifty people inside, and there was enough wine and bread for everyone.

"Mephiles. The Demon Wolf. What is he after? And of all people, what does he want from me?" Delphine asked herself. As she was in the tavern, Delphine started to recognize the appearance and the power of Mephiles.

He was a knight of the darkness, a warrior of the very thing he swore to eradicate from the Earth, and a being who carried the blood of the wolf inside of him. When it comes to people having wolf-blood inside of them, they will carry it inside of their veins forever. It’s a regret they will have within themselves for the rest of their lives, but it was enough for them to either stay away or stand up and fight the great evil of the world. But Mephiles used that power for himself and, in the end, became a king of the demons and was never able to return to the light. Then, Delphine looked up to the ceiling and tried to forget everything that happened tonight, but she couldn’t forget; she knew Mephiles was telling her the truth.

Meanwhile, Simon walks inside the tavern, and everyone saw him, and some of them didn’t care that much about him. Only a few of them knew the young hunter, but some of them gave him a strange look and a look of confusion.

"We’re even," Simon said. A few seconds later, everyone returned to their duties and continued to either drink something or play with cards.

Then, Simon slowly walks around the tavern, and just like everyone else, he waits for the morning sun to rise and conquer the horrible night. The many nights that fell upon the people were very common, and the people could not sit around and do nothing. Then, he turned to his left and saw Delphine seated at the very back of the tavern, and he sees that she was all by herself. Delphine was always a person who remained by herself, and she had nobody to look up to or discuss her problems with. Then, Simon walked towards the Ebony Warrior, without hesitation and slowly realized that demonic blood was stained on her ebony greatsword.

"Hey there, Delphine," Simon said.

"Oh, you again," Delphine said. She was sitting down and staring at the young hunter for a few seconds before looking away from him.

"It seems you haven’t broken your promise. I take it you don’t run that many errands for anyone. That is, of course, if you cared about anything," Simon said.

"What do you want, Simon?" Delphine asked.

"I’m here to say that it appears to be true about what they say of you. That you can cut down even the mightiest and strongest of demons and monsters. You just defeated a ruler that controls his army of demons. Of course, there will be so much more on the way," Simon said.

Then, Delphine said to him, "I only did what had to be done. I didn’t do it for you or anyone. It was because I found out that to drive the demons away from these lands, I had to find the ones who are responsible for letting it happen. Also, because there is no other way for me, I’ve been hunting the hordes of Hell for as long as I was able to swing a sword. And because of that, I’m still alive... no blade or arrow has ever managed to pierce my heart, and my armor is not one to be lightly dealt with."

Simon started to look down at himself, and he began to have a few drops of sweat run down his face as he began to remember the words that Delphine said. He started to realize in himself that this warrior who sat before him was more powerful than any person he had ever known. Then, Delphine began to see Simon trembling in agony, and she stands up and gets close to his face.

"You’re shivering. Are you alright?" Delphine asked. As she was talking, she lifts her left hand and tries to touch his cheek to see if he was feeling any good.

Then, he gets startled when she gently tries to place her hand on his face; he never had anyone touch him, let alone a woman. She stares at him for a long while, and her soft, smooth hand was placed on his right cheek; Simon started to feel a bit better. Then, he slowly looked down at her breasts and saw that her other handheld her chest, which allowed her breasts to move upwards. The sight made Simon’s face turn utterly red in surprise, and his eyes started to open as widely as they could. Then, Delphine moved her other up to the young hunter’s chin to make sure that he was staring directly at her face.

Even though Delphine was a hunter of the creatures of the night, she was a pretty gentle person towards people around her, yet though most of the time, some people treat her like a stranger. Truthfully, she was a stranger, but not so much in a sense that would make other people seem to look the other way.

"Are you sure you’re feeling alright? You’re giving me some weird vibes," Delphine said.

"Oh, it’s nothing. I’m fine," Simon said.

"It’s alright. You can tell me," she said. Then, her hand starts to play with the side of his hair as she spoke with him.

"It’s complicated. If I told you, I feel like I would be wasting your time," Simon said.

"You’re not wasting my time. I have plenty of time to be here before I get going," Delphine said. Then, she lets her hand stop resting on Simon’s face, and she slowly backs away from him after she saw that he was feeling a little better.

"Now, if you don’t mind, I have to go meet with Jarl Dengeir in a few minutes. I have to collect the money that he promised to me, and I shall be on my way," Delphine said.

"I thought you said you didn’t need any money," Simon said.

"I didn’t. However, who else would be trusted with it? Since I’m not dead, they’ll probably give it to me anyway. So I don’t have that much of choice," she said. Then, Simon didn’t have that much to say in that matter, and he watches Delphine put her double-edged sword back to her sheath.

Delphine wraps the sheath around her back, and she was now ready to set out into the world as it was sometime after midnight and before early morning.

"Well... see you around, Delphine," Simon said.

"Take care," Delphine said. Then, she heads for the front door of the tavern and heads outside while the people behind her still minded their own business.

As she was outside, some of the men were sharpening their swords, axes, and spears as the others were heading back home. They’ve always known and believed the legend that whoever defeats a ruler of the demons will cause the ruler not to have the night hordes roaming around any longer. Now that the ruler has been defeated, there won’t be as many demons as there used to be. The people still had to defend the walls and prevent any beast from reaching into the city and kill anyone in sight. Then, Delphine enters the Jarl’s palace and sees a dozen people inside who are about to witness what is about to happen.

Then, she walks inside and sees the Jarl with the bag of money on a table in his hands, and she starts to see something very different about Jarl Dengeir.

"We’re grateful that you came. I didn’t think you’d get here so fast. If we’d waited any longer, we might’ve lost more villagers to those wretched creatures, and I would’ve failed them as the Jarl of this city," Dengeir said.

"The attacks started only a few weeks ago," one villager said.

"So that’s the Ebony Warrior?" Another villager asked.

"You have done a great service for me and my city, Ebony Warrior. After discussing it with everyone, I decided to call you. Here’s the fee we agreed upon. Please accept it with our thanks," Dengeir said. Delphine began to see something very different about the way the Jarl appeared to her; his eyes were demonic and inhuman.

"You’ve changed, didn’t you? You let them take hold of you," Delphine said.

"Oh, please. Just a little scratch, but nothing too terrible," Dengeir said.

"And you know that I can’t let you leave here alive," she said.

"Come again?"

Before the Jarl could say or do anything else, Delphine pulls out her greatsword and thrusts her blade into Dengeir’s throat. Lots of blood started to fall out from the Jarl’s throat and neck, and gore began to stain both the ground and the upper half of Dengeir’s body.

Then, the villagers shouted and said, "She killed the Jarl! She killed him! Murderer! I knew she’d do something like this!"

A few of the other villagers stood there, and they started to see and notice that their Jarl was transforming into something they never knew would happen. Delphine began to see that Dengeir was still alive, and she sees that he takes hold of the bag of money with his bare hands. Rarely are there ever any circumstances of which someone is attacked by a demon and become like them a few hours later. Delphine sees that Dengeir is growing claws on his hands, and she releases the blade and allows it to still stick onto the man’s throat.

"You’re a fierce one. If only you would come a little closer. I would’ve sliced through your flesh with these claws," the demon-possessed man said. Then, all of the villagers started to cling onto the front door to cover their faces from the horrific thing that just happened.

Even Delphine was surprised at the fact that Dengeir can speak with her with a sword stuck to his throat; sometimes, a demon who wields dark magic can be able to inflict it upon somebody and make them lose their humanity.

"I thought I’d suppressed my aura, but I guess there’s no fooling a warrior who walks in the darkness. You used our strength to attack us. I’ll be waiting for you... in Hell," Dengeir said. Then, he takes one last breath and falls onto the table with the rest of his blood and gore staining Delphine’s sword and his body.

The villagers were in a stage of all sorts of shock and despair at their fallen leader, and there were left with nothing else to do. Delphine takes out the sword from Dengeir, who was now dead, and she wipes the blood off of her blade. Then, she puts her greatsword back to her sheath, and she takes the small bag of money and puts it in her pouch. She was planning to use that money to either have a blacksmith sharpen her sword or go to a tavern and have a drink.

Then, Delphine turned to the villagers and said to them, "My work is done. You all have a part to play here. It is only a matter of time until another invasion comes from those monsters. You still have to do everything you can to keep the walls defended and the city secured. Whatever you do, don’t worry about me. What I have done will serve as a warning to all of those who wish to tear you apart."

Then Delphine walked outside of the Jarl’s palace, and she wanted to stay away from anyone who would try to bother her. She began to see a dozen people from a distance run into the Jarl’s palace to see what had happened and why it happened. Once again, she ignored them and their problems; they were all nervous and horrified at what they were about to see before their eyes. The witnesses would tell them that the Ebony Warrior came and killed the Jarl, because he succumbed to the darkness, and he had to be put out of his misery. Meanwhile, Simon watched Delphine leave the city from a considerable distance, and he followed behind; he did it without her realizing it.

Then, she was about a mile away from the city of Eastmarch, and she watched as the morning sun started to rise slowly. Simon saw that she took off her armor, laid down her sword, and found herself a place to rest behind a tree. The last thing she would ever want to do after killing a hundred demons and surviving their many onslaughts is to find somewhere to sleep. Delphine used her long cloak to wrap her body as she slept, and she did not care about anything else during that time. Then, Simon strolled towards her as she is sleeping, and he gazed at Delphine and her armor, which laid next to her.

"Hey... Delphine?" He asked. Then Delphine slowly opens her eyes, and she sees Simon kneeling and looking at her; he wanted to talk to her about what happened.

"Oh... what are you doing here?" Delphine asked.

"Hey, nobody said I couldn’t come visit," Simon said.

"I thought I told you to stay with the villagers. It’s too dangerous around here," she said.

"Oh, please. I’ve been through all sorts of danger when I walked those many roads. You see something new every day and new monsters to be dealt with."

"Believe me. You haven’t been through what I’ve been through. I’ve traversed pretty much the whole world for ten years. I’ve fought worse, been through worse, and witnessed much worse than what has happened to that village."

"Wow, what a waste of ten years."

Then, Delphine laughed a little bit after she heard that, and she slowly sits up and still had her cloak wrapped around her body.

"What do you want, Simon?" She asked.

"I... well... I came to talk about the village chief and how it happened," Simon answered.

"I did only what was necessary. Not that anyone would care, but it had to be done. One way or another," Delphine said.

"I was the first to witness it before my eyes. The way he moved and the way he checked his surroundings. It was not human, and I’ve never seen a demon even use that kind of magic. There were hundreds of us and hundreds of them. I couldn’t even keep track of who was killing whom."

"And you didn’t do a single thing about it? You didn’t so much as put that man out of his misery?"

"Well, if I did kill him right away, those people would rise against me. And they would believe that I sided with the demons. Quite clearly, I’ve never sided with anyone who serves the darkness. Only the foolish would sell their souls to Satan. I will never do such a thing."

"I like the way you think. You are different than most men I’ve come across to tell me of such things. But allow me to tell you something."

Delphine gets herself up from the ground, and she slowly walks straight to his face; she was very serious about everything she says, and she wanted to make sure Simon could hear her.

Then, Delphine said to him, "There comes a time when even a village chief can be tempted by someone who wields a power too durable for a human to handle. The strongest and mightiest of the demonic creatures can lure you into your trap if you’re not careful. However, I know all of their tricks and weaknesses. I’ve been hunting demons and monsters for a long time, and only now have I found my purpose in life. When a person succumbs to power, it will affect both their bodies and their lives forever. Some people who catch these diseases don’t become demons because they wanted to.

"There is no way to change people who have become like this back to the way they were before. We kill them quickly for their good. Is that something you can understand?"

This was a thing that Simon already knew, but it was difficult to understand any of it; there are most people out there who would keep important matters recognized, and there are those who refuse to understand. But Simon wanted to understand these things that Delphine knew, and he wanted to know more about the other regions and how much it will take to survive.

"Yes, I understand. By the way, where are you going?" Simon asked.

"I’m going to go to Solna, a village west of here," Delphine answered.

"What will you do there?" He asked.

"Same as always. To find and kill any demonic creature that stands in my way. It takes less than two days to get there on foot."

"Don’t you find it tiresome to walk that much to a certain place? Someone... or... anyone could rise against you."

As he spoke, Delphine was getting herself ready to go and making sure that she had everything she needed to be walking alone. All she ever carried on her back beside a bow and many arrows was a large ebony sword, and her mind was still as sharp as her blade.

Then, she said to Simon, "If you want my advice, don’t follow me. Remain here or remain hidden if you wish to walk outside. And you better be prepared with a weapon if you’re outside in the night. If you ever do hear of me, then check out the nearest tavern where much important information is passed out every day. I must be going. See you around, Simon."

"Yeah, so long," Simon said. As she was walking away, Simon stood there and started to think about what he believes he must do.

He knew that he no longer had a place in Eastmarch, and he knew that he’ll be shunned out if he reveals any unwanted information for the people. So, in secret, Simon follows Delphine from behind, for he believes he might find a worthwhile purpose in life; this seemed to be rather pleasing for the young hunter to be following the Ebony Warrior.

Next Chapter: Chapter 6: Memory of a Demon Slayer