The reek of demons followed me for a long time. I wandered far from the strange castle before I felt safe enough to stop for more than a minute. A small steam gurgled happily from beneath a cluster of rocks, shielded by the forest that stretched for miles now.

Grateful to be out of the open plains, I sheltered in the shadows and slunk my way to the rocks.

Terror had shook my bones for most of the run but now only a knot in my stomach remained. I made myself drink and calm my thundering heartbeat. Birdsong flitted between the trees and a soft breeze brought untainted air. I relaxed slowly in the peacefulness, settling myself in the hollow of a large tree with a sigh of relief.

Now I could think.

Ten insanely strong demons were hunting Meliodas, with powers that would make a grown man wet himself. Where they had come from was a mystery but Hendrickson hadn't been with them which meant they seemed to be unrelated. Maybe they had just crawled out from the depths of hell and decided today that they wanted to hunt the strongest individual in Liones.

And I had walked into their midst and reactivated the powers I'd had as a Holy Knight because I'd had the sickening sense that I was about to be killed. If not stronger powers.

The static in my fur responded at even just the thought of it. Mana flowed plentiful through my body, deliciously powerful and straining against the confines of this tiny fox body. Had those demons confronted me, while I might not have survived, I most definitely could have put up a daring fight.

The thought roused a feeling in me, a need to prove that theory right. I shook the stupidity from my head. Now was not the time to play martyr. I had to find the others as quickly as possible, turn back into a human and warn them. As a fox, I was hindered, even though it comforted me to know that I could use magic in this form with ease.

Please don't let those demons find my friends first though.

The hunger still clawed at my stomach but the image of the grotesque ballooning of that bird sent bile straight to the back of my throat. I tried to ignore it as I rested, allowing myself the luxury for a short while. I couldn't smell the demons in any close proximity nor any other dangers I should be worried about.

I chuckled at that thought. With powers, there weren't many things that would be a danger to me at the moment.

The sun had risen quite a bit since I'd run from the demons. I contemplated staying by the stream for the night but delaying sent shivers down my spine. Time wasn't on my side. These little legs could still cover many a mile before I got tired again.

My most pressing problem was... which way was Liones?

Nothing looked familiar which meant I had never been here and Leraj hadn't either if his memory bank was up to scratch. Perhaps I should have paid more attention to which direction that armour-clad demon had blasted off to.

I started trotting along the road just to get myself moving. Blood flow helped the brain, maybe it could fix sense of direction too. By the sun's position, it was a little before noon. Back when I'd 'lived' at the barracks, the sunrise had always blinded me through the flimsy curtain.

Which meant Liones had to be north?

Even my thoughts sounded it as a question. I sighed. "Just wish there was a sign that I was headed in the right direction," I muttered.

A flock of birds burst into the sky with a cacophony of screeches past the rise before me. I slowed, senses on high alert. The animal life had silenced. My ears flattened on my head and I slithered up the rise, just like I'd done at the castle.

In the middle of the road sat an askew caravan, horses fled, and two humans - male and female - standing stationary with the doors wide open. Towering over them, clutching a grizzled corpse in its blood stained fist was a Red demon.

I watched in horror as it dropped the remnants of a human into its mouth, swallowing it whole. Then with delicate slowness, it licked its fingers and lips clean before giving a gruff laugh and grasping the man in hand.

The humans didn't even move, didn't flinch or cry out.

"Hey!" I screamed, barrelling towards them. The demon put the man's head between his lips. "Don't you dare!"

There was a sickening, tearing sound as the demon yanked back its head, beady black eyes on me the entire time as it swallowed. The headless body toppled to the ground, ruby red spreading quickly in the dirt towards me.

The demon merely chuckled then turned and reached for the next unmoving victim.

Something primal and instinctual snapped inside me. My paw hit the ground and Kitsune bloomed to life, feeding me the Mana from the earth faster than I'd ever absorbed. My canines lengthened, senses sharpening, the rancid smell of blood filling my nostrils.

I sank my teeth into its arm, demon blood spilling out over my tongue. With a howl, it stumbled back and tried to shake me from its arm. I let go as it threw its arms upwards and I landed on all fours. The mana within the ground skittered up towards my paws as I prowled around the demon, my enlarging muscles rippling beneath my fur.

Those beady eyes followed me, human target forgotten, malice written across its clown face.

"Man, you are ugly," I spat, luring it away from the human. Static danced in the air around me. "Wonder if smashing you in the face would fix the problem or only make things worse."

It charged with a roar, swiping at me with palm splayed. I jumped out of the way as it took out a tree, ripping it, roots and all, from the ground with the powerful swipe.

With a quick word, I cast Cold Fire over the remaining human and her companion's bodies and she glowed blue-green from the harmless flames. That would shield her from most of my attacks.

"Is that all you have?" I goaded, laughter bursting past my canines. "That's probably why you only attack helpless humans, barely the strength to go up against a fighting one."

It roared at me again, bringing both fists down onto the ground. A shockwave went through my feet in an attempt to unbalance me but I only smiled as the static around the demon multiplied.

"Boom, boom, big boy."

The explosion flattened the trees around us. I pressed myself low to the ground, my claws barely enough to anchor me to the ground. I heard the human's body thwack into the side of their caravan but when I glanced back, she still had Cold Fire protecting her.

The echoing booms dissipated and debris rained down on me with clinks and clatters. A fine layer of dust coated me and I shook it from my fur. Something wet slapped the ground next to me.

A chunk of demon flesh lay beside me. With a yowl, I jumped away from it then realised that all around me was a minefield of broken demon bits.

Had I just decimated a red demon with Firework? The mana inside me quickened and that feeling arose again. The need for more fighting, more bloodshed. It craved the thrum of power I felt at my paws, to paint the heavens in the flames dancing in my veins.

I cut my connection with Kitsune and felt the strength ebb slightly from my muscles. The craving subsided, simmering below the surface.

Firework had never caused that amount of damage against the new generation back in Liones. All it had managed back then was to knock them from their feet and that was with a supposed helping of demonic power courtesy of siphoning it from him with that newfound Thief power.

Maybe I was stronger than I had been in Liones and, coupled with the close distance, it had caused more damage. Or the Mana in the ground here was strong. Because if I had this strength inside me, perhaps even a Grey demon would have little chance against me. I could have taken Hendrickson down and I wouldn't be in this mess; I could have delayed those high powered demons... I shook my head. No point considering, I had more important things to do instead of imagining battles and whinging over the unfairness of a past one.

I pondered what to do with the bodies. I couldn't just leave them to rot in the middle of the road, carrion for the birds. Even the thought turned my empty stomach. So I dragged the bodies into a pile and resolved myself to the only option. A funeral pyre.

But before I could light my tail and use Enflame, which seemed the smartest and least destructive option of all my skills, four blue dots zipped past my ears. I ducked then faced whatever they were.

Three of the wisps bobbed over the mangled bodies before floating off into the blue sky. A fourth and final one fluttered over to the only human technically still alive. It bonked her on the chest and disappeared into her. I cocked my head as the light in the woman's unblinking eyes returned.

Slowly, she looked around, her eyes taking in the shattered caravan, the pile of bodies, the flattened trees.

"What happened here?" she rasped, pushing herself onto her elbows.

"You were attacked," I said.

She jerked, only now noticing me. "A talking fox?" Her wild eyes darted about for a weapon.

"You're safe now. The demon's dead," I added.

"You-you killed it?" She scrambled over on all fours and threw her arms around me before I could react. Her tears wet my fur. "Thank you, oh thank you!"

Then I made the startling realisation that I had grown larger.