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Some residents of the settlement were already gathering around where he had landed, wondering what had just crashed into the ground like this. A few of them feared an enemy attack.

But once the first of the militiamen arrived, he saw Astaroth, embedded into the ground, and stood by. The young man, no older than sixteen, felt like the man before him was familiar, but the demonic traits about him kept the man from getting closer.

The younger militiamen waited for someone with more authority to arrive, standing close to Astaroth, weapons at the ready. When Astaroth got up to his feet, after catching his breath, he laughed at their attempt to project strength.

"No offence, kids. But you are shaking in your boots."

Un-melding with Asmodeus, Astaroth regained his normal appearance, which already assuaged the young men a bit, but they stayed put around him.

Aj\'axx was the one to come and see who the intruder was first. When he saw Astaroth, he hollered at the young men.

"Alright! The show\'s over! Get back to your training, you little maggots!"

"Yes, Sir!"

The young men shouted in unison.

Leaving Astaroth alone with Aj\'axx, the two men looked at each other for a moment.

Astaroth was the first to speak up.

"I\'m sorry for being inconsiderate earlier today. I was just trying to find out what happened, and didn\'t stop to think it might still be a sensible subject."

Aj\'axx sighed deeply.

"It\'s okay, Astaroth. I understand how you felt. You\'ll get your answers soon enough, though they won\'t come from me."

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"Kloud woke up. He\'ll be the one to tell you what happened. He\'s the best placed to do so."

"He has already recovered? I thought he would be out for days… In that case, I will let you rest, or whatever you were doing, and I\'ll go talk to him. Where can I find him?"

Aj\'axx chuckled softly.

"I was watching the trainees from afar. I train them once in a while. You can find Kloud at the outskirts of the cave, where his tent was."

Astaroth nodded at the man, before walking in that direction. But he stopped next to Aj\'axx.

He spun around and hugged him tightly.

"I swear I\'ll find a way to fix you. I know it\'s not my responsibility, but I will try. I wasn\'t here to help when this happened to you, and I share the burden."

Aj\'axx pushed Astaroth away lightly, smiling warmly.

"I\'m sure you will. Now, go."

Taking off in a quick gait, Astaroth walked away from Aj\'axx, intent on finding out what had happened.

He rapidly reached the collapsed tent, where Aberon and Kloud were seated in front of each other, talking in a low voice. When they heard him arrive, they went quiet.

Kloud seemed tired and aggrieved, sitting on a crate, his shoulders slumped. He looked like his world had collapsed around him, and was pushing his body on itself.

Aberon looked at Astaroth, motioning him to take a seat on a nearby stool.

"Kloud. I\'m so glad—"

Before Astaroth could finish his phrase, Aberon lifted his hand to silence him.

"Now is not the time. He is still fragile. I will explain what happened while you listen."I think you should take a look at

Astaroth nodded his head, confused.

He could see the man that had trained him in the past tremble ever so slightly.

Sighing loudly, Aberon repositioned himself to face Astaroth.

"There was a reason I wanted to explain this to you alone. It was dangerous to discuss this while Kloud was still under the influence of that fiend. But now, the danger is gone. And he must hear this, to atone."

"Atoning? What does Kloud have to atone for?"

Kloud started sobbing quietly, tears rolling down his face. Aberon responded in his stead.

"All of this."

Astaroth\'s confusion deepened.

"You wondered why Aj\'axx was missing an arm. Or why Korin could no longer see or run. You also asked where I\'dril and Chris were. That is what Kloud has to atone for."

Gazing from Aberon, to Kloud, and back, Astaroth tried to understand what Kloud could have to do with all of this.

"I don\'t get it. Isn\'t the demon the one that did all this?"

"Partly, yes. But the demon didn\'t do this on its own."

"Was there another demon?"

"Stop interrupting me, young man!"

Lowering his head, Astaroth apologized.

"I\'m sorry, sir."

"Good. Now be quiet. Let me talk, and you can ask your questions after."

"Yes, sir."

"This all happened months ago. We were already getting attacked by all the corrupted monsters by then, but we were holding on. Your wolf was a big help to us, beating back the toughest opponents while we took care of the weaker ones.

"But, one day, with the wave of corrupted monsters, came a much stronger being. The demon. We were originally ill-prepared to fight it off. It took a lot out of us to beat it back, to the point we had almost defeated it.

"But in a desperate attempt to break away from us, the demon critically injured Christopher. That is when things started going sideways. Kloud left after the demon, trying to cut its path of retreat, while I\'dril attended to Christopher\'s wounds.

"It took Kloud half an hour to come back, so we don\'t know exactly what happened in the forest, since we still had some monsters to fight back. But when he came back, he felt… different.

"It was only after he walked over to Christopher and I\'dril that the former realized the man standing before him was no longer his friend. When I saw Kloud raise his sword in the air, I was too slow to react.

"We lost I\'dril in an instant, his head hitting the ground faster than most of us could realize what was happening. Christopher went berserk, trying to take down the imposter posing as his friend. He died doing so.

"Whatever the demon did to Kloud, it unlocked his former strength, and most of the weakened men under him were no longer a match. The demon controlling Kloud tortured and killed Christopher before tormenting the other warriors.

"Koring lost his eyes, with which he always tracked prey down, before also losing a leg. Then the demon moved on to Aj\'axx, not even finishing Korin, taking off his shield arm, the man\'s pride.

"It took much effort, and almost my entire strength, to pin the demon down. After knocking it out, most of the villagers wanted to kill it outright. But I knew Kloud was still in there. I could sense him.

"We brought him down here, where the mana from the tree acted as a damper on the demon. I figured that as long as nothing roused Kloud\'s emotions, I could find a solution with time.

"This is what Kloud has to atone for."

Astaroth was stunned, unable to speak or even move.