I Hate Being The Protagonist

"WAH!! Where am I!?" Amon jumps, surveying the ship we are flying in.

Lucidel explains the situation, with Amon thinking for a moment. It appears that he's remembering what happened, as he sits down obediently.

"So, where are we going?"

"To the southern forest Telenete," I respond.

"Never heard of it."

"You live in Holdanis yet you don't know where Telenete is? The biggest forest in the entire region? Where do you even come from?"

"I don't feel like answering to small fry," Amon snaps at me.

"Are you always this obnoxious?" I ask him while rolling my eyes.

"Shut your mouth small fry," he retorts.

"Be nice!" Lucidel commands.

Amon seems to follow his order, remaining quiet for the rest of the ride.

Once we arrive at our destination, we walk out to find a wooden house waiting for us. There are many military personnel waiting there. Most of them have the military buzz cut and scars over their face or body, just like Lucidel. By their uniforms, I could see multiple squadrons were sent here. Holdanis, Emperia, Nytria... Soldiers from many regions have gathered here, with manapools comparable to mine.

They were strong, indicating that our target isn't a pebble on the road.

They were chit-chatting and laughing. Most of them carried deep voices, with faces that you could see have been through hell and beyond.

"General!" they all said in unison.

Lucidel saluted back, immediately following up with many questions on the matter.

I heard Lucidel ask "How many?"

"Few dozen," one of the guys says.

There were many red-eyed freaks in this forest, with their nest closeby. Am I going to see the Dreamer again? I felt a chill run down my spine as I realized that I have no idea what his intentions are, except that he needs the mark I have on my chest in some way. I have no idea how strong he is or what his magic is capable of. He can't be stronger than Lucidel, right?

The soldiers talked to each other some more while drinking caffeinated beverages. I guess alcohol on the job is a no-no.

While Lucidel was surrounded by these strong men and women, I tried keeping small talk with Amon.

"So, do you actually come from Hell?" I ask him.

"My father moved the second Hell into the primary Hell, filling up the space where the 8th Circle was before it got destroyed," Amon answers matter-of-factly.

So... he is a pathological liar it seems? There's no way his father moved an entire Hell. Besides, he speaks of this second Hell as if it even exists.

"I'm sorry. Second Hell?"

"Yes, there was more than one Hell. What is so hard to grasp about it? It was a dimension that is now a part of the 9 Circles," Amon doubles down.

"Aha... And what is the 8th Circle of Hell like?" I humor him.

"Nothing special. For a mortal like you it would be grandiose. For me, it is a playground just as this dimension is."

"The Overworld is your playground?" I ask, irritated by his preposterous god complex.

"You're kind of slow, you know?" Amon insults me in a nonchalant tone.

"Gosh, and you're quite frankly a pretentious brat," I retort.

He gets up from his seat, pointing his left index finger at me. Mana circles his body, moving towards the pointing finger.

"Do you wanna go again?!" he raises his voice.

My hand reaches for the Sunsword, but we're interrupted by Lucidel walking over to us.

"We've got everything we need. It's time we head on one of the trails leading towards the nest. Follow closely after me," he orders.

We quit our bickering, mounting the forrest buggies we would travel in. The 4-wheeled trucks had magic protection and a sturdy roll cage, made for expeditions and missions like this one.

Lucidel, Amon and I sat in one buggie, driven by a female soldier with blonde hair tightly tied into a ponytail.

"A woman driving?" Amon asks misogynistically.

A hand raise from Lucidel was all that was needed for the demonic kid to shut his mouth.

We drove only for about half an hour before stopping.

"The rest is on foot," our driver exclaims, shutting the engine off.

I had my Sunsword with me, while Lucidel carried a silver handle, with which he could project his light magic better. The female soldier coming with us had a gun resting on her back, along with a machete on her hip.

Not a lot of time had to pass before Lucidel raised his arm, signaling us to get into position. The female soldier followed his order effortlessly, as did I. Amon just stared blankly at what just happened, but hid behind a tree when he sensed the red-eyes approaching. His demonic sense was much better than our own, being able to sense a single entity from miles away.

We followed behind the red-eyed individuals, keeping a safe distance so they don't sense us. I was surprised to see Amon easily cloak his aura into the forest, becoming unreadable.

The whole forest was filled with enlightened mana, set up by these people.

As we quietly stalked them, Amon stepped on a branch, not paying attention to his surroundings. As soon as he did that, our foes turned around, taking their weapons out. Amon accepted his mistake, dashing forward with killing intent. We had no other option but to follow after him, surveying the forest around us.

We stalked a group of three men, which were now preparing to fight Amon. As soon as he stepped into range, he set a trap off, which tied him up into a magically enhanced net.

The second the rope net lifted him off the ground, a burst of flames burned it. The enraged kid tore through the trap without difficulty, launching a wave of fire towards the enemies. Two of them managed to escape, while one of them got caught in the scorching flames, crumbling into dust along with a dozen trees behind him.

The ground beneath them turned into black charcoal, with the smell of smoke emanating throughout the forest.

"Pesky bugs!" Amon furrows, accumulating more heat in his hands this time.

"Stop him before he burns the whole forest down," Lucidel orders.

I jump in front of him, conveying the danger of using such wide-ranged spells here.

"We'll be found out the moment you let those flames loose!" I reason.

His eyes notice Lucidel, his blazing hands lowering while the fire dissipates.

Lucidel quickly gets rid of one of our opponents, while the female soldier shoots the other one down, not yet killing him.

Lucidel slowly walks towards the shot red-eyed, a bright energy blade coming out of the handle he's holding.

"We won't get any information out of them. After their magic disappears, their lifeforce is taken along, killing them instantly."

With a swift motion of his arm, the last red-eyed is dealt with.

Amon inhales deeply, closing his eyes. After a short moment, he opens them, pointing in a certain direction.

"The rest of them are piled not far away from here," he says, smelling them out like a police dog.

"Didn't know demons share the olfactory senses with dogs," I quip, albeit a tad racist.

He growls fumingly, but calms his anger down when he sees Lucidel standing behind me.

"Don't be rude," the strict general hits me on the head in a playful manner, although it does hurt slightly. "Lead the way," he tells Amon.

The demonic kid sticks his tongue out, pulling his eyelid down while doing so.

I laughed at his immature way of showing superiority, yet I still found it appeasing, contrary to the rest of his persona.

One thing was undeniable, this kid had amazing potential.

As we trailed the Telenete forest using Amon's mana sense, we were brought to a sight of more than 20 red-eyes. Their hideout was a place filled with giant cargo packages strewn all around.

The female soldier took her walkie talkie out, connecting herself to the base.

*Wolf to Alpha, we have found the nest. I repeat, we have found the nest*

Lucidel turned to us, grabbing his silver hilt and creating a blade of light.

"Boys, this is why I brought you. It's time to stop the biggest enlightened criminal organization."

At his signal, we jumped out, surrounding the nest from each side. This was going to be a massacre.

Usually, we had 3 or 4 red eyes patrolling a criminal act, never more than 5 at a time. Today was different, as we had to fight more than 20 red-eyes. The reinforcements would be here shortly, but weren't needed as we could cast semi wide-range spells.

After we jumped out, a huge blast of light energy detonated in the center of their nest, taking a few of them out in the giant explosion. With this, Lucidel sent them into a panicked and frenzied state, like uncoordinated flies.

As he damaged the cargo, magic dust spilled out. The dust carried a strong magic aura, as mana was condensed into it. This could be used in all kinds of ways, with some of the red-eyes snorting it like a drug. This boosted their magic power and manapool, with red runes being carved into their arms.

I extended my arm, light swords raining down on multiple opponents at once, trapping them in the tight space while I decapitated their heads with the Sunsword. Lucidel gave me a satisfied nod from far away, after which he tended to his own business.

I could see and feel the intense heat of Amon's flames, which were burning these men alive. I got accustomed to killing because of Lucidel's way of teaching and his mentality seeping into my own brain. The moral implications it had on a 13 year old kid weren't a worry of mine, as I grew dull to the sensation after countless missions. The general has turned me into one of his soldiers already.

That said, it looks like Amon doesn't have any problems with it either. Demons deal with death on a daily basis, as most demons are worldly people which died and got sent in Hell. Their race is aggressive and apathetic in nature, unlike angels whom I've never met.

As I tried to pierce one of my opponents with a light ray, he deflected the attack, using a double edged sword. This one was different from the others, having better fighting skill and a manapool twice that of mine.

With a single cast of a spell, he blasted me away by using a weird form of magic. It felt like I was falling in slow motion as I landed a hundred meters from the hideout, where my opponent appeared, wielding his dual-bladed weapon.