The Punishment of A Demon General

I'm lost. How did I even manage to get lost when I did all that? I already ended up walking away from the treeline so I can't even find my original markers to go back.

So I'm just in an open field surrounded by a couple forests. This is my home now, I guess.

Unfortunately the two with me are beginning to look even worse than before, especially with the chilling breeze coming across the less wooded area, not helped in part by the sun beginning to go down.

I really just need to try and make a fire now. It's been a couple hours so everything isn't going to be as soaked as before, if the heroine finds me I kind of just have to accept it at that point.

I have no idea where I am, my only guides are unconscious and looking extremely unwell, I'm not soaked like before, but the clothes are still drenched...

Survival is really hard. I slowly make my way to a nearby tree, setting the girls inwards of the treeline to prevent the wind from hitting them as hard.

I begin using my thankfully tough nails to peel off the bark from the trees, the trees closest to the edge having been sun-baked for several hours once the sun had come out.

This is kind of nostalgic, honestly. It reminds me of the time I wasn't a Demon General, scrambling up even the smallest sources of food, even if it was just grasses or tree bark tea.

Though this isn't for tea, it's for fire! I've never really done that before, yeah, but I've read in stories that humans would aggressively rub pieces of wood together to get it to catch fire.

There was a man who would grill bears, drink their urine, and then eat them as a survival method.

+Hero weeeeb.+

(Shut it.)

I don't have that kink so I won't be doing that, but if things go more wrong I might need to find food for these two.

Finally, though, I've got a lot of bark! I even dug out some of the stringy insides of the tree which was a bit more dry than the bark.

I tear off a bit more bark for eyes, and now the tree looks like it's screaming in agony, how fun! It's really the little things in life you have to learn to appreciate.

I shake my head of the distraction, heading to the girls before dumping my load next to them. I repurposed the chest pack I had made for the boots to carry wood! I'm so handy.

I grab the two most dry pieces of wood I can before beginning to aggressively rub them together as hard as I can, hnnnnng!

Oh, hey, fire! I did it! Humans are really so ingenious sometimes.

+Okay, hold up, how the fuck did you do that?+

(Do what?)

+How did you start a... No, like, you're supposed to... It's not...+

(... Did you forget how to speak?)

+How the fuck did you start a fire like that?!+

(I mean, I did what it said. I rubbed the wood together, and bam, fire.)

+I mean, I guess you were rubbing it crazy fast and hard, far harder and faster than a human could, but what the fuck?!+

(Thank you for appreciating my survival skills.)

+That isn't even a skill, that's just fucking insane!+

(Wanna see me do it again?)

+No, law states you can only be competent once per section.+

(What? I've been competent a lot more than once per!)

+Sorry, but I think the viewers will be on my side this time!+

(Nuh uh.)

After poking around the pile of bark and shredded tree fibers, the fire gradually began to grow in size, filling the area with a cozy warmth, and no small amount of smoke rising.

I position the girls in a comfortable position by my side so I can make sure they aren't getting too hot, and begin to let them warm up.

Time ticks by while I stare at the fire, the entrancing flickering flames burning away any errant thoughts much like the source of the fire itself.

I have to get up and restock the fire pit a few times, but even then, the girls don't seem to be waking up.

While they seem to be shivering less, they're panting and sweating, their faces contorted in exhaustion and pain.

Normally I would find that really hot, but right now it's a bit more sobering than anything. I really know nothing about how humans work.

Perhaps when I get back I'll ask my slaves to teach me a bit more. Unfortunately, however, it doesn't look like these two will end up surviving the trip.

Sighing in frustration, I poke at the fire with my finger tip. It does burn a little bit, but not much, just enough to know it's there and licking me with its cute little orange peaks.

Suddenly, I perk up my ears. Beyond the crackling pops of the fire, I can hear voices among the trees! Ah, help has arrived!

I hope, at least. I stand up and brush myself off, making myself look not the least bit more presentable as I climb one of the trees bordering the edge of the forest and begin whistling and calling out.

"Hey, over here! Heeyyyy! There's sick people, we're in need of help!" Well, I say that but I'm going to be leaving the instant I find out they're actually gonna help those two.

I hear a more raucous set of voices calling out, getting nearer to my location. I unfortunately can't identify what they're saying, but they weren't shouting quite as loud as I was.

I chill in the top of the tree, watching down to the two girls, keeping an eye for anyone approaching with a cautious gaze.

If it's bandits I'll just jump down and make them kill each other, at the very least we'll net some clothes and hopefully medicine and food out of it.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, it isn't! It's knights! I recognize them, 'cause they're apart of the heroine's gaggle of misfits.

I keep as still and silent as possible, just resting near the top of the tree and keeping watch through the leaves. Thankfully, the recent darkness is concealing me while the fire illuminates them.

I see a blush on some of the knights faces while others call out the word 'captain' worriedly, they begin to scramble to try and- oh, shit, one of them is a holy mage!

I immediately scramble off the tree, trying to sprint off into the woods as I hear the mage shouting in my general direction, likely pointing at me!

I barely make it a dozen steps before I immediately face plant into the mud, gravity pressing me into the moist dirt and grass, nearly suffocating on the gritty texture.

I can't speak, see, or even smell. I'm only able to hear as small footsteps begin approaching me, as I try to claw at the dirt, trying to will my body to move somehow.

Well I can taste still but let's not get left out on the unimportant details, okay?

I groan weakly, muffled by the dirt, still trying to claw as I hear soft crunching next to my head as the footsteps stop next to me.

"Honestly, while I can tolerate you making a mess of yourself, what I can't tolerate is you hurting people close to me." I hear the heroine's cold voice enter my ears, far more chilling than the night's breeze on my skin.

I squirm and try to find a way to make an excuse, but she doesn't let up on the gravity at all, in fact it gets even worse as she steps onto my back, causing my bones to creak as the weight increases even more.

Oh, is she going to kill me? The thought flickers past my mind while I'm trapped there, an indignant frustration beginning to build.

Killing me over something as little as hurting two humans? Isn't that a bit much?! I groan out muffled obscenity after muffled obscenity as my back aches from the weight being put onto it, my spine protesting with the stress.

Finally, all the weight lets up at once. Immediately, I roll over onto my side and gasp, sputtering out dirt from my lips, my entire front side a mess from being pressed so hard.

In the lantern-lit darkness, I can see the heroine's cold blue gaze matching her earlier tone looking down on me. "Haah... If you're gonna kill me, just do it already," I groan out.

If I'm going down, I'm not gonna go down without my pride. Begging for your life is something only weak demons do!

"Kill you? Oh no, you've earned a punishment far worse than that." I can see a smirk forming on her pretty lips as she taps her muddy shoe on my face, leaving no small amount of the mud remain after.

"Whatever..." I try to ignore a creeping feeling of dread as I look over to the encampment I had made, watching the two girls get treated by holy magic.

Looking at the light makes me feel uncomfortable, but at the very least it seems like the two are looking a bit better, albeit still unconscious.

"Will those two be alright?" I ask, trying to use them to deflect my discomfort as the heroine looks at me like I'm her prey. It's not like I'm not worried about them, they are my future slaves after all.

Well, were, maybe. Humans are known for their unusually cruel punishments, so something worse than death has to be really bad.

Perhaps they'll trap me in a panel like that one Hand Solo guy? That name had stuck out to me because I sometimes use my hands solo too, if you get what I mean.

I realize she hasn't responded after a while, so I look back to her. Her gaze had gone from 'predator' to a 'I'm thoroughly disappointed in you, and am confused how you ever managed to disappoint me this much.' look.

She lets out a sigh before speaking. "At the very least you could act the part of an uncaring horrible demon better so I could have more fun breaking you, but you can't even do that."

I feel shame rush to my cheeks, likely not very visible under them mud and grime, and for that I'm thankful, but what the hell does she mean?!

I open my mouth to speak, but my thoughts quickly scatter in strange directions before darkness suddenly takes me, unable to even be aware of what had happened.

+That was me, hi, I did that!+

(Your gravity magic is seriously scary, you know.)

+Yep! It requires a lot more control but being able to just make someone's blood go 'WEE' and cause them to faint is a really crazy technique.+

(Unfortunately while a lot of certain weaknesses can be removed by being amorphous, the body does still have to have some way to operate, and she can very much remove the operation capability of a body with a snap of her fingers.)

+You don't know how OP I really am, I'm OP as fuck boiiii!+

(OP as a fuck boy, maybe.)

+Also true. Anyway, congrats on escaping! It lasted like 14 hours.+

(Yeah.)

+What's with the short response?+

(I still feel a bit bad that I ended up hurting Julia and... Well, maid's name is still a spoiler.)

+Pshhh, c'mon, all's well that ends well.+

Author's Note:

I was thinking about whether or not to write a chapter today because of how mentally exhausted therapy leaves me.

However, we ended up talking about how I was writing a story and she really helped me reinforce how much I appreciate you all enjoying my work.

Thank you all very much for 10k views! I'm really happy you all stopped by, even if it's only for a little bit or a lottle bit.