I'm Actually Not Overpowered!

However, the statement she had just heard was so absurd that she needed Red to repeat the words to her.

"I said there is another Elf around him and—"

"No one cares about the other Elf. It\'s probably another runaway or something. I\'m referring to the three demons you talked about. Why would there be three demons around him?"

Red bobbed his head a little awkwardly. He shrugged, indicating that he lacked the information she needed. He was just as clueless as his leader, after all.

"What\'s the meaning of this? Any chance the demons could be from us? But what would that mean? Do the higher ups think I can\'t do my job right?" Zerci surmised that if these demons were indeed on her side, then that officially threw all the accomplishments she had attained thus far, out the window.

The very purpose of having her own independent team was to avoid such pointless, and frankly annoying, surveillance.

"You think they captured Dustinel as he made his escape? If that\'s the case, they\'ll return him here." The lanky demon asked his superior.

His face was still calm, but even he could tell the kind of problem such a scenario posed. Zerci was someone who liked her autonomy, and it was pretty clear that their superiors understood that.

She had been excellent up until this point, and was far more functional as a Supervisor. Why would their superiors make such a blunder as to send extra demons now?

"It makes no sense. Unless… could they be demons from another city? That would make more sense, right?" He said thoughtfully, glancing at Zerci.

Fortunately, their leader overheard his statement, thus quelling her mounting rage.

"Yeah, you\'re right. As always, your idea is smart. Jessop is correct."

The lanky demon, Jessop, sighed in relief. The danger of having their leader explode in anger had been avoided. That was more than good enough for him.

\'Unfortunately, this new and hypothetical scenario opens a different can of worms.\' He thought to himself.

Wasn\'t it even more improbable that demons from other territories would come upon a land already taken over by a demon sect. The Demon Realm was divided into separate regions, and they were all civilized enough to understand not to intrude the land of others.

\'We\'ve annexed this place as our area of conquest. Of course, the process hasn\'t been completed since the Elves need to either be dead or rightfully enslaved to our region.\' Jessop thought.

Still, since the Elf Chief was their subordinate, and he represented his entire people, one could say they fulfilled the conditions quite well. There was also the principle of \'finders choosers.\' In any case, no demon in their right mind would perform such a reckless act.

It made Jessop wonder if the first option was indeed the correct one. Unfortunately, his inner contemplation didn\'t amount to much in light of their leader\'s new disposition.

"Red, you\'ll go there and retrieve the Elf they have with them. If they try to resist, kill them. They shouldn\'t be here in the first place."

"Wha—?!" Jessop was shocked by the leader\'s sudden decision, though he didn\'t really show it with his deadpan face.

"Won\'t you at least try to confirm their identities before resorting to such an extreme measure?"

To Jessop\'s question, Zerci shrugged nonchalantly. Her facial expression matched her bodily movements, indicating how little she cared.

"I doubt any Upper-Rank demons would be found around here. They\'re Mid-Demons, aren\'t they?" Zerci\'s grin grew wider, and Red nodded rapidly.

"Then it\'s their fault for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Kill them if they resist."

"What of the Elf with Dustinel?"

"Not important. I just want a useful Elf here, and that\'s… er… Dustinel. Yeah! Dustinel. Get me Dustinel."

Jessop nearly screamed in frustration, but he controlled himself. As the most level-headed of everyone in the room, he had to maintain his rational stance.

In her own terribly brutish way, Zerci\'s solution was quite efficient. No matter how one looked at it, the Supervisors were simply doing their jobs—it was nothing personal, really. In essence, they were justified in their actions.

"Alright, Red. Get our prize. Jessop, teleport him."

"I understand." The lanky demon undulated his Miasma, touching the short and red demon\'s shoulder in order to get an accurate idea of the exact area he needed to teleport him to.

"I see it. Alright then, here goes."

Red and black crackles of electricity burst forth, and space warped.

"You\'ll be sent to the coordinates of the target. Your job is to retrieve him and signal me to bring you back. If they give you any trouble, or you feel you can\'t handle it alone, then just—"

"I can handle them!" Red scoffed loudly, and he scowled in response to Jessop.

\'Sigh. I understand, you don\'t want to seem weak. Very well.\'

Jessop said no more, and simply focused on his task of teleportation. A red and black gate formed right behind Red, and it instantly enveloped him.

Zerci grinned widely, now feeling a little curious about what Red had seen. Her heart wouldn\'t stop racing, and something within her craved the violence that would surely result from the defiance of the three demons with Dustinel.

"Well then, let\'s see just who these demons are. Hehehe!"

*

*

*

"W-what are you saying, Dustinel? Why are you just saying all of this now?"

Asa was beyond terrified at this point. All her bravado and resolve might have all been wasted at this point.

Why?

Dustinel had told her about the Supervisors, their imminent arrival, and just what that meant for whatever plans her group had.

With the Hero on her side, something like that wouldn\'t have fazed Asa. But now…?!

A little something called fear began to creep in.

*

*

*

Asa didn\'t know what to say to the cowering Elf in front of her.

She knew it wasn\'t his fault for not mentioning the urgency of the Supervisors impending arrival sooner. However, she also couldn\'t attribute such a major oversight to her perfect image of the Hero.

It brought about a dissonance that left her confused.

"I-I honestly thought you knew." Dustinel croaked, trying to justify his position, but also doing his best to convince himself that it was indeed the truth.

If his kidnapper—Asa—didn\'t know about the Supervisors, then that would make her an incompetent fool. In that case, siding with her team was going to be a fatal error for him. If he could, he would ditch them.

Unfortunately, in his current situation, that option was impossible.

\'The Supervisors and Elf Chief will think I escaped. Shit, I can\'t go back!\'

That was why he had no choice but to cling to the little faith he had, that Asa and her group knew their shit. Otherwise, that would mean—

"H-how could I know about it when you didn\'t say anything?!"

—He was royally and utterly screwed.

At the same moment Dustinel came to this realization, strange energy suddenly swept through the room. And—

"Uh?

"Eh?"

>VWUUUUUUUSSSSHHHHHHH<

—A wormhole emerged within the tent.

"Haaa…" A voice came from within the portal, and a creature emerged from it before it closed up.

It was short, crimson, and had two large horns on its head. It had a pointed tail, and its stubby stature added to its terrifying appearance.

"So this is where you were Dustinel." The crimson demon spoke—its extremely sharp fangs on display.

The Miasma the demon exuded made Asa almost pass out. Its sickening pressure was too much, so much so that she fought to keep her eyes open and her mind intact.

With every step the demon took, she descended further into despondency. Until finally, it was right in front of her and the shivering Elf beside her.

"Might as well take the two…" The demon whispered, stretching its fat hands to retrieve the defenseless Elves.

However—

>WHOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSHHHHHHHH!!!<

In a brilliant burst of power, and in three flashes of light, three demons appeared.

"... Uh?"

>BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!<

An explosion followed their appearance, and the entire area was buried in a sea of flaming destruction. Plumes of smoke and dust ascended to the air, shrouding the vicinity in thick, fog-like smoke.

>VWUUUUUUMMMMM<

A good distance from the blast, on level ground, a purple portal manifested. It spat out five individuals—three demons and two Elves.

"Are you guys alright?" Hogun asked, stretching his hand to help up the flustered Asa.

Fortunately, she hadn\'t grown deaf or blind from the explosion; as she accepted his warm gesture, nodding swiftly as well.

"A-ah… ah…" Unfortunately, the same couldn\'t be said about poor Dustinel.

He was most likely in a trance-like state. Not only did he lay helplessly on the ground, but his eyes stared emptily into space while his body shivered in fear. It was an undesirable state, but the Elf was still alive, at least.

That was good news.

[A/N]

Alright, guys! I am back. Sorry for my unwarranted hiatus, and all those clone chapters.

I will desist from such shamelessness from now on... I hope. Thanks for your understanding. Now, then, let\'s get into the story.