The following morning, Emrys returned exactly as he had promised.
He had no reason to think that the demons would accept his invitation. After all, he had merely offered them a possibility. They could just as easily have decided to continue fleeing or search for another place to live.
When he arrived in the forest, Emrys realized that they were still there.
The eleven demons hadn't left.
Emrys appeared in front of them and observed their reactions. Several immediately straightened up, while others exchanged glances before the older demon stepped forward.
"We've decided to come."
Emrys looked at him for a few seconds.
"All eleven or all fifty?"
"All fifty."
"Then let's go get them."
The demons seemed surprised by Emrys' proactiveness.
"Well... they're several days' walk from here," one of the demons said.
"Meh. It's not a big deal. It's not like I have anything urgent to do."
The demons looked at one another for a few seconds before sighing in exasperation.
And so, they set off.
*
Eight days passed as Emrys followed the demons toward the group they had left behind.
After a week of walking, they finally reached a clearing in the middle of the forest.
The demon at the front spoke.
"This is where we left them."
Emrys didn't need him to tell him that. He had already sensed their presence some time ago.
They entered the clearing and came face-to-face with the thirty-nine demons.
They looked very different from the eleven accompanying him.
There were gray demons, red demons, blue demons, copper demons, orange demons, and all sorts of other demons.
The one thing they had in common was that they all belonged to the lower ranks of the Demon Clan.
Some were sitting against trees. Others were lying on the ground.
When they saw the eleven return, suspicion immediately appeared on their faces.
One of the gray demons stood up and spoke.
"You're back."
The older demon nodded.
"Yes."
He turned toward the others and began speaking in their language.
Emrys couldn't understand what they were saying.
They speake in the demonic language.
The eleven demons explained the situation.
They told them about their encounter with Emrys, their escape, the battle from the previous day, and the offer they had been given.
Most importantly, they explained that Emrys wasn't asking them to become his servants or soldiers.
He was simply offering them a place to live.
As the conversation continued, the thirty-nine demons turned toward Emrys.
Some looked at him with suspicion.
Others with curiosity.
A few even seemed frightened.
Emrys could perfectly understand their reaction.
He was a human.
And even though these demons had decided to stop participating in the war, that didn't mean they trusted humans.
Especially not a human who had effortlessly defeated everyone who had been pursuing them.
After several minutes, the older demon turned toward him.
"They accept."
Emrys looked at the group.
"All of them?"
"Yes."
"Surprising."
Emrys observed their emotions.
All he could sense was exhaustion and hope. These demons had nothing left to lose, so they had decided to follow Emrys.
"Very well."
He stepped forward.
"Let's go."
The demons instinctively moved closer together.
Emrys concentrated his energy.
He had already transported entire villages before. Moving fifty additional people wasn't particularly difficult.
However, he had to be careful not to separate anyone from the group.
He had learned to control his power well enough to precisely define the area he wanted to transport.
He therefore extended his perception around all fifty demons.
Swords appeared in a circle around the entire group.
Then he began his chant.
"I am the bone of my sword. Unaware of this place nor aware of this age. Thus my refuge and my consolation are unlimited blade works."
Compared to moving an entire village and its surroundings, transporting fifty individuals, even if they were massive, wasn't particularly complicated. He therefore didn't need to use the complete aria to transport them into UBW.
Light enveloped them.
In an instant, they and the surrounding area disappeared.
*
The first thing the demons noticed was the sound of thunder.
When they looked up at the sky, what they saw shocked them.
"What is that?"
The sky was covered with thick dark clouds that constantly sent red and black lightning flashing across the horizon.
An immense plain stretched around them, dominated by the strange, seemingly endless landscape that made up Unlimited Blade Works.
Weapons planted in the ground were still visible as far as the eye could see.
The fifty demons stood frozen.
Some looked around with expressions of disbelief.
One of them slowly approached a weapon embedded in the ground before stopping himself.
The eleven demons who had already met Emrys the previous day were also shocked, but less so than their companions after seeing the countless weapons surrounding them.
Emrys watched them.
"Welcome."
There was no answer.
He could hardly blame them for their silence.
They had just discovered an entirely different world from the one they knew.
"You are now inside my refuge."
He pointed toward the villages.
"But there's still one thing to deal with."
The demons followed his gaze.
"The humans."
Some of them tensed.
Emrys noticed immediately.
"I'm going to talk to them."
The older demon nodded.
"And if they refuse us?"
Emrys didn't answer immediately.
"Oh, they're going to refuse. But don't worry. I've got a way to convince them."
*
A few hours later, Emrys had gathered the inhabitants of the different villages.
He hadn't summoned only a few representatives.
He wanted everyone to hear the same thing.
The inhabitants of Fondval were already present when the other villages arrived.
When the fifty demons appeared behind Emrys, the reaction was immediate.
Several people stepped backward.
Some instinctively reached for their weapons.
Others froze.
A woman let out a cry before covering her mouth.
The children were quickly pulled behind their parents.
The demons themselves also stepped back slightly.
Emrys positioned himself between the two groups.
He didn't need his Haki to understand what was happening.
Fear was everywhere.
But it wasn't irrational fear.
These people had reasons to hate demons.
Most of them had lost family members and their homes because of them.
To the majority of the inhabitants, the creatures standing before them represented the direct cause of their suffering.
A voice rose from the crowd.
"Why did you bring them here?!"
Another immediately followed.
"They're demons!"
"You want us to live with them?!"
"After everything they've done to us?!"
The voices began multiplying.
Emrys remained silent.
They figured it out pretty quickly. Then again, every time I bring someone here, it's because I intend for them to move in.
Eventually, someone shouted:
"What's stopping them from killing us?!"
Emrys sighed at the question.
"Seriously. I know you're angry and tired, but use your heads for a second. What's the condition I gave you for being allowed to stay here?"
The crowd fell silent.
The more composed among them, those who hadn't allowed their emotions to take over, already had the answer in mind.
"I'm simply going to use the Code of Hammurabi," Emrys finally said. "I'm not asking you to become best friends with them."
The demons themselves seemed surprised.
"I'm not going to ask you to work with them or trust them, either."
Emrys then looked at the demons.
"And I'm not going to ask them to pretend that their past never happened."
He turned his attention back to the villagers.
"Some of them have killed humans. They admitted it to me."
Murmurs spread through the crowd again.
"But they've also refused to continue."
Emrys didn't bother telling them the demons' entire story. If anyone was going to do that, it would be the demons themselves.
"I'm not going into the details, but they're now deserters being hunted by their own clan."
A man in the crowd clenched his fists.
"That won't bring my family back."
Emrys looked at him.
"I know."
"Then why should I accept these monsters? That wasn't part of the promise you made to us."
"The promise?" Emrys asked. "I promised to take you somewhere safe, yes. But I don't remember ever saying that this place was reserved for humans."
The man fell silent.
"This place is a refuge for people who want to live peacefully. And these demons want to live peacefully, so I don't see why I should forbid them from entering."
Several people lowered their eyes, and Emrys paused.
"I'm going to establish an oath to prevent them from harming you."
He turned toward the fifty demons.
Then he turned back to the population.
"But you will have an obligation as well."
Nobody spoke.
"You'll have to treat them like ordinary villagers when you see them. In other words, don't go looking for trouble with them, and I'll be happy."
The reaction was immediate.
"What?!"
"Impossible!"
"After everything they've done?!"
Emrys didn't move.
He spoke calmly.
"I'm asking you not to do to them what you wouldn't want done to you."
The inhabitants remained silent.
"You won't be allowed to attack them."
"You won't be allowed to drive them away."
"You won't be allowed to steal their belongings."
"You won't be allowed to prevent them from working, eating, or simply living because they're demons."
Their faces remained tense.
Some were still trembling.
Emrys could feel fear and hatred mixing together.
He understood.
This was probably the most difficult request he had made of them since he had started saving them.
"I know what I'm asking you to do."
His voice remained calm.
"And I know that some of you have lost things that no one will ever be able to give back."
He looked at the entire crowd.
"But I can't build a refuge where some people are protected by laws while others can be mistreated simply because they belong to a different race."
He paused.
"If I do that, then what I'm building isn't much different from the world outside."
Nobody answered.
"I'm simply creating another war."
The words hung in the air.
The inhabitants of Fondval were the first to react.
An elderly man stepped forward.
He looked at the demons for a long moment.
Then he looked at Emrys.
"You saved us."
Emrys said nothing.
"You had no reason to do it, but you did it anyway."
The man looked at the other inhabitants of Fondval.
"And ever since then, you've kept every promise you made."
Several people nodded.
"I'm not claiming to be a saint..."
His voice trembled slightly.
"But I don't consider myself ungrateful enough to reject them when you didn't reject us."
Emrys lowered his head slightly.
He knew the inhabitants of Fondval would be the easiest to convince. After all, they had already been living with a demon for some time and had gradually become accustomed to it.
But the other villages still weren't convinced.
Some discussed among themselves.
Others looked at the demons with hostility.
A woman finally spoke.
"And what if one of them attacks us despite the oath?"
"He won't be able to."
"And what if we're attacked by someone from their race?"
"I'll deal with it."
"And what if they lie?"
"The oath doesn't care what they think. As long as they accept it, they're bound to keep their word."
Emrys turned toward the demons.
"The Code of Hammurabi will prevent them from violating their agreement..."
He then turned toward the crowd, this time with a certain hardness and coldness in his voice.
"Exactly the same way it does with you."
Emrys's tone reminded the villagers that, in the end, they had no grounds for making demands. Emrys had saved them of his own free will, and they needed to remember not to take that for granted.
A collective gulp went through the crowd.
He then turned back toward the demons.
"And you'll have to accept the same thing."
The older demon nodded.
"We accept."
The others gradually nodded as well.
Emrys waited.
He didn't want to force their decision.
Several minutes passed.
Then someone stepped forward.
"I don't forgive them."
Emrys looked at them.
"I'm not asking you to."
"And I don't want to become their friend."
"That's not my problem. Weren't you listening?"
The person took a deep breath.
"But if you guarantee that they can't hurt us... then I accept."
Another villager spoke.
"So do I."
Then another.
The decision slowly spread through the crowd.
It wasn't unanimous immediately.
Some remained silent for a long time, while others still had their fists clenched. But eventually, one after another, they accepted.
The fear still gripped them, but they trusted Emrys enough to agree.
After everything he had done for them, they would feel like complete assholes if they refused.
Emrys waited until everyone had agreed before taking out the Code of Hammurabi.
He positioned himself between the two groups.
"We'll establish the rules now."
The demons swore never to intentionally attack an inhabitant of UBW, never to steal, never to destroy other people's property, and to respect the same rules as the villagers.
In return, the inhabitants swore not to attack the demons, drive them away, or subject them to violent discrimination.
As soon as the rules had been established and both sides had consented, a light passed through all of them.
After a few seconds, the light faded.
Silence filled the area.
Then Emrys abruptly broke it.
"Alright, we're done! Move along! There's nothing else to see!"
Emrys shouted and waved his hands like a traffic officer trying to disperse the crowd.
"Go home! We're finished with this matter!"
"Alright, it's over. Welcome to Unlimited Blade Works. I'll explain the details later. For now, get some rest."
Emrys left, abandoning the two groups to deal with each other.
One of the humanoid demons finally spoke.
"Well... That was a weird experience."