D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad - Chapter 2144 Fae Chase

Chapter 2144: Chapter 2144 Fae Chase

— Nixilei — (About the same time as 2143)

“Almost feel bad tracking this guy into the desert,” commented Nixilei as she skimmed across the ground. Ugalaz was keeping up… and the lack of cover meant his giant form wasn’t going to hide. They’d been tracking Clive Moore for a bit now. They hadn’t originally planned to ’kill’ him after the first instance but the town had been a wealth of information, and complaints.

Turns out Clive was running low on orbs now, and this seemed like a great chance to take him out. At least, it had at the time. The problem with asking around about him meant they could be asked about in turn and Clive had either worked out someone had been looking for him, or one of the actors had given him the heads up.

It meant that even though he’d returned to town to drop off a bounty, he’d left just as fast. Now it was two days since that event and they’d made it into the desert and regardless of if Clive was suspecting that he had a tail… he clearly wasn’t taking the time to properly hide his tracks. Perhaps he simply didn’t know how to do so properly on the sand.

Still, he was fast. Perhaps he’d picked up some sort of artifact… or perhaps it was the fact that Ugalaz was all too happy to take frequent breaks for snacks, a bit of water. Sleep. Before it was just something Nixilei needed to account for, now it was an active annoyance. Then again, it’s been like that the entire time I’ve worked with him. A constant back and forth of reliability and then laziness.

I’m surprised he’s not a sloth demon. Then again, I suppose it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that the sloth demon has healing flames. Not normal for one so aligned with Wrath. For all that he’s strong, tough, and clearly capable of fighting above his weight class… he just doesn’t want to.

Their partnership had its ups and downs, but the fact of the matter was… Nixilei did most of the work and she kept most of the rewards. Ugalaz didn’t even try to fight about this, in fact, it was arguably his idea in the first place. Constantly pushing challenges in her direction. Earlier on Nixilei had assumed the idea was to exhaust her and then take her out when she was in need of rest…

But Ugalaz was simply a lazy demon. It was also the main reason he was very ’letter of the law’ when it came to contracts. It wasn’t that he was picky, or that he wanted to stick to the contract. He used the contract as a way to get out of doing extra work. *Makes me wonder if he got a whole heap of extra work one time and said ’never again’ if it was instead his parents that taught him… or if he’s just that lazy.*

Nixilei wasn’t sure, and she’d needed to re-negotiate the contract between them multiple times. It wasn’t too big of an issue, but Ugalaz had a habit of extending those conversations and making them annoying. Nixilei had gotten around it ’recently’ by just making it so the current contract would last until either Thyme announced that the centre had opened, or they had substantial evidence that the centre had opened. Recommended to be double checked by going there and then leaving, before the contract would dissolve.

Timmy was far more useful. Currently, Nixilei had the Timmys both on cleanup duty. They were to remove the tracks they were leaving, but only the tracks left by Nixilei, Ugalaz, and the Timmys themselves. Nothing else. From what she could see when she looked back occasionally, it was working out well. Sure Nixilei had no reason to suspect they were also being tracked… but that was no reason to be lazy.

*Makes me wonder why Clive didn’t think of it. Then again, those guys do tend to fade into the background when you’re not thinking about them. I suspect it’s something they do intentionally. They’re strong yes, really strong, but easy to overlook if you’re not actively thinking about it. Ugalaz certainly hadn’t suggested them as a way to ensure they weren’t followed.*

Nixilei pulled out her spyglass as she topped the next dune, looking out into the distance… and there. Clive, or at least, someone close enough to his build. He was a few dunes over and seemed to still be walking. “I think I can see Clive. Should we speed up to catch him?” asked Nixilei.

“Do we need to?” asked Ugalaz.

Nixilei sighed. “I don’t know. If we want to catch him before sundown then probably,”

“And why does that matter? Wouldn’t ambushing him in his sleep be easier?” asked Ugalaz as the pair started to descend the next dune, both sliding to conserve energy and make slightly better time.

“He was already low on orbs before this whole thing started and we didn’t see too many places he could have gained more. If we take him out before six, then that should be enough to knock him out permanently,” offered Nixilei.

“It’s not like we have a great deal of orbs left either. Found a few Clive missed sure, and we had a better stockpile going into this… but as you said it’s been days. You sure it’s worth the risk? We might get taking out if he gets the drop on us instead,” commented Ugalaz.

Nixilei rolled her eyes. She knew for a fact that, while Ugalaz might be a bit low on orbs, she wasn’t. Even should things go completely sideways and she was either knocked out, or forced to flee with injuries, Nixilei had enough stashed away to recover for a day, maybe two if she could find a few more orbs. Last she checked, Nixilei had about fifty-two hours’ worth of orbs. “If that’s what it takes,” answered Nixilei without trying to seem evasive.

“There’s always some risk,” Nixilei continued. “But we know he hasn’t met up with anyone else, he’s been alone for quite some time. He doesn’t seem to have picked up much new gear, with the clear exception of the boots he’s using that likely have some sort of speed boosting effect.

“The bigger risk is that he runs away, wasting our time more… but between the two us I think we can keep him pinned down… unless for some reason you don’t think we can take him out again?”

Ugalaz shrugged, “The terrain ain’t so favourable anymore. There’s nowhere to hide, not really and while we can be somewhat quiet on the sands if things shift poorly that can be heard.”

Nixilei shrugged. “We can always wait for some sort of monster attack? It’s not like he’s had completely smooth sailing so far and neither have we. Even if they weren’t major threats they are good distractions.”

“Didn’t you want to ensure that he’s taken out before it got too late?” countered Ugalaz.

Nixilei shrugged, she wasn’t too worried. Had a preference for full elimination where possible, but it wasn’t necessary. “I’d like it sure but your help will be more useful. If you want to wait I can accept that.”

Ugalaz shrugged back without answering properly. *Of course. Thinking about which is going to take you more effort is ALSO effort. Especially if I end up fighting him on it. So instead, he chooses to just not make the decision and likely complain later. Whatever, in that case let’s just try to get this over with.*

“If you aren’t going to say no, then let’s get this over with. You can rest after we’ve knocked him out. Try to be stealthy as possible. I’ll go in first and you can ensure that if a fight does break out, we win it,” stated Nixilei.

Ugalaz shrugged again, but Nixilei waited for a few seconds, ensuring that there was some real confirmation. Eventually Ugalaz cracked and gave her a “Ok,” as his response. Still not amazing, but it was something. So Nixilei sped up in an effort to catch Clive before sundown.

Nixilei’s ears were straining as they walked, ensuring that her rhythm matched up with Clive’s, for everyone step he took, Nixilei took two in swift succession, disguising any sound she might be making with his steps. She glided across the dunes, rapidly gaining distance now that she was trying.

Ugalaz could be heard behind her. He wasn’t bothering to match any sort of rhythm, but he was at least quiet enough that the wind was hiding most of the noise. Hopefully Clive wouldn’t detect him… but that would be a harder task. At least Ugalaz had the excuse of being so much heavier even before his equipment was taken into account.

Nixilei was a little surprised when she managed to make it right behind Clive without him looking back. She’d managed to slide down behind him on the dunes, and just before reaching the bottom she reached out with her knife… one quick slash across the neck.

Only, that wasn’t the end. Even with her skills it wasn’t enough. Instead of slicing into wet, bloody flesh as she pulled Clive’s head back to expose his neck… a gleaming magical shield blocked the way. A fight it was then.