Chapter 2: Crossroads
The Demon King's continent, a craggy and hazardous waste full of danger, powerful monsters, and hostile demons. Poisonous bogs of bright red acid, towering mountains with strange and difficult to navigate outcrops. Vast fields of soot and blackrock, lava geysers and heat vents everywhere. Home to the dastardly Demon King and his army of demons, hell bent on destroying all humans, claiming only nonhuman races deserved to live. At least, it used to be that way before a few years ago when Gorum stepped up to the plate.
After the Demon King first announced his slaughter campaign, several countries did a "hero summoning ritual" to bring warriors from another world to either defeat the demon king or to at least protect their country. Although they were more powerful than the average warrior by a long shot, they were all weirdos. Fools who ignored their duty to "live a slow life", lechers who went around engaging in all debauchery they pleased without taking a single thing seriously.
Wingnuts with hearts blacker than black, who committed atrocities unspeakable because to them it was simply "A game." Idiots whose heads were full of flowers, falling in love with whomever they saw and always righteously "saving the day" and screwing things up because their world worked differently in terms of values. Those untrustworthy, halfhearted fools would always either die in a battle they foolishly started or had no business being a part of, or they would fade into obscurity and grow lazy. Failures who couldn't cut it when a real challenge appeared.
After enough failures, when the Demon Kings Army began to grow too large, the King of Ugdual finally stepped up and sent Gorum to take care of it. At that point, all of the demons who didn't sympathize with their king had already fled to other continents or were executed for treason. So Gorum didn't even need to think. He simply leapt across the oceans, propelling himself off the top of the water and arrived within a mere 5 "steps". Once he arrived, it was simply a matter of hunting them all down. Within a month, he had meticulously hunted every demon, big and small across the continent before once and for all charging to the Demon King's castle. Breaching the throne room and ending the Demon King's life in a matter of seconds.
After he was done, news traveled of a single Brave accomplishing in a month what hundreds of summoned heroes failed to do for ten years. Due to his show of power, countries soon stopped relying on summoned heroes for much more than anything but defending small towns or cities. The only otherworlders anyone could rely on were those from sub-worlds or people summoned by the gods themselves. But now, those were simply nostalgic times, and the current Demon King's continent was in a state of disrepair beyond what it ever was before. All life on the surface was wiped out, even bugs didn't dare come out from the cracks in the ground.
Gorum let out a sigh, already bored of the wasteland scenery as he peered down from the highest mountain top. He glanced aside at the strange statue of a naked woman with a hood over here head, a scale in each hand, a heart with a dagger in it on the right scale and a feather on the other. Both arms had a crease at the shoulder where it was clear they could be lifted or lowered.
"A puzzle? The letter didn't say anything about which arm to raise..." Gorum mumbled, impatiently tapping his armored boot on the ground. Gorum was never one for puzzles, he was more so they type to just break whatever contraption was impeding him. However, doing so to this statue probably wasn't a good idea...
Fed up with having to think, Gorum arrived at his own, special conclusion and simply pushed both arms into a raised position. And then click! A mechanism made a bit of sound, glowing red orbs representing the hooded womans eyes lit up, casting some sort of communication magic from what Gorum could guess. Magic was never his forte, not that he didn't like it, he just didn't get it. That was the job of his fellow Brave, Idalia, The Mystic Supernova. Truthfully, Gorum considered her above the other two in strength, her magical firepower comparable to his combat power.
Gorum heaved a sigh, unsure of what he was doing. A feeling that was completely foreign to him, someone who never hesitated. Even though this would clearly be considered an infiltration tactic, what if it turned out to be real? What if Gorum truly did harbor negative feelings about the way he was treated. What if these people actually swayed him into betraying his duty? Thoughts like these racked his brain. Although it was true in battle Gorum had unshakeable will and determination, outside of battle Gorum was a simplistic and feeble-minded man with little ability outside combat.
Unsure of what to do next besides wait, Gorum stood against a rock and began waiting. His spear gripped tightly in hand incase things went wrong.
....
....
....
As night fell, and harsh silence filled the air, Gorum stood at attention, certain that he could hear footsteps. And sure enough, 5 robed figures arrived, three women and two men, all humans. After a synchronized bow the leading woman stepped forward and spoke to Gorum.
"Greetings to you, Master Gorum. We are the emissaries of Omen's Order and shall be your guides to the meeting place." the woman said, speaking in a cold voice, yet polite tone.
"Please follow us, and ask any questions you need, dearest Gorum..." the woman said, gesturing Gorum to follow along with the group.
Gorum thought for a moment. 'If I go along with them, I could just be plunging myself into a trap...but no, I've got to go no matter what. The enemy is inviting me into their home, and it would be stupid to refuse.' he said to himself.
And so, off Gorum set with these strange people. Following them across the wastes to what awaited him.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone