Chapter 696: True Demonlord [27]
*Operation canceled; Boss-level monster Chains has been defeated. Victor, unknown, more information in the afternoon announcements.* Mobilized force of nearly fifty men returned with smiles and easy glances.
“We’re lucky we didn’t fight,” said one. Many squads were sat in often crowded transport trucks, intimacy and the sharp pain of weapons jabbing into the neighbor, a nice ride towards death.
“Second that,” voiced another, “-listen up boys, those who aren’t on patrol duty, come to Q5 Zone 2. We’re hosting celebrations for a new tavern and marketplace.”
“Cheers for the new tavern!” went about the rowdy interior.
Snow, timid and feeble, descended from the moon’s white motif. Specks of ashes landed atop the open palm, ‘-what happened...’ wondered Jonas, ‘-was I inside a tornado of flame?’
An energetic figure landed and stormed its way to Igna’s face, “-what did you do?”
“I only protected what was mine. Listen, masked man, I wish to hear none from a bystander. I defeated the beast fair and square, if there’s any trouble, take it to the leader.”
.....
“No, the issue isn’t about who defeated the beast.”
“Hey, we’ll excuse ourselves,” nodded Harlie, “-come on, Bunda,” she took his arm and left. Gale blew from the mountain, a dim mist settled onto Zone 4 and Zone 5, cautionary warnings flashed across the numerous communication channels.
*Beware, night is upon us – monster activity will spike to its apex in a few hours. Those on patrol duties, make way to Q3 Zone 2; medics and healers, please return and make for the hospice. Another day of battle has been completed.*
“The weather took a change for the worse,” the fog thickened as did the lowered temperature, “-come on, princess, drop the mask, we’re alone. There’s a bathroom at the back, take a shower or whatnot.”
“Igna, why be so courteous?”
“There’s no point in fighting one another,” said a gentle smile, “-I’ll fix up something to eat. Shall we wait for the fog to ease a little?”
“Sound good,” the mask lifted and revealed her rosy lips, to which it cringed in pain, the fabric caught her earring, *-ai, ai, aiiiiiiii.* Igna, who stood idly and watched, had a strange feeling wash over, ‘-she’s awkwardly fun to hang around with.’ Agile as a cat, the fingers reached and unstrained the fabric, “-there,” he pulled, “-must be hard, the mask seems high quality and tedious to wear.”
“You helped me?” her brows crinkled, ‘-what’s wrong with him, I thought he hated me and my family, I don’t get it...’
“Go on, princess,” thus, they split, the days stress and fatigue washed under the warm stream of water, ‘-heaven,’ a relieved exhale carried for an adjacent mirror, ‘-what’s the purpose, should I be wary of him or accept the kindness. What did big sister say?’ the eyes closed in thought.
“What kind of person Igna is?” the fuzzy outline of the Ice Empress sat in what seemed to be a lonely chair surrounded by faceless silhouettes, “-I don’t know, I can’t say I know him, goes the same for everyone I’ve met and will ever meet. It’s foolish to assume you know a person from the subjective image one has of another. I know, tis common knowledge by this point, human beings are complex people – as for a nightwalker, they’re twice as complicated. They’re superior in every way to another human, a purebred is akin to a demi-god, I say with heart, if ever the nightwalkers rally under the same banner, the world might not survive. Enough about his kind, my cousin’s a bit of a weird one, whimsical, thinks about himself most of the time, and most likely is rude to anyone he meets. I won’t ask for sympathy or whatnot, some people care about him. I can say this for sure, if ever someone he cares about is in a problem or danger, even if he were weak, I bet the man to drop everything and run to the rescue. No one values the bond of friendship like him. Trust me, if you get to know, take the chance, he’ll annoy the hell out of thee, keep an eye out, there are moments where he shows his true self, a humble man who returns kindness and malice in full. Meet him in good faith, you’ll see. About the personality type, I found the better word, mercurial.”
‘Mercurial,’ the water halted, ‘-very tedious, here I thought I was a handful,’ her reflection stared back, ‘-meet him in good faith, I’ll try.’
*Creek,* ‘-oh, a bag with a change of clothes,’ an oversized hoodie paired with shorts and a beanie of which held cat ears, ‘-is this the best he could have done... wait,’ she took out a pair of heavy black shoes, ‘-boots, aren’t these expensive?’ curious to the brand, ‘-oh, yeah, I knew it...’ her face lit in glee, ‘-these clothes are expensive, what, what?’ Hastily in her outfit, ‘-I like it, I mean, the pairing works, I’m definitely a few inches taller,’ she stepped out, a harsh aroma of fully wound up spice sucker-punched her into a sneeze, ‘-my eyes and nose,’ she coughed and made for the upstairs.
“Hey, returned Igna cupped into the corner of the room, “-are the clothes to your liking?” a stained cloth wrapped around the mouth muffled the tone.
“Come again?” she climbed and sat opposite the cooking station, “-what you say?”
“Wait a second,” ingredients flung in a glistening coat of juices, the stinging pain soon eased to a bearable level, “-done,” the cloth lowered to a badly positioned scarf, “-I asked if the clothes were nice?”
“About them,” she leaned on the table, “-where did you get these?”
“From the storage,” a portal opened, “-see,” the arms reached to take out a branded watch, “-carrying around a backpack isn’t a good idea. Besides, the storage space’s limitation is what I impose,” he flung the accessory, “-keep it, I bought the latter to assess the craftmanship of Meldorino, the strap is nice – the movement inside is atrocious, sure it looks nice on the outside, the inside is a garbled mess of stolen mechanism.”
“Alright, the gifts are getting on my nerves.”
“Oh, let me guess,” he began to plate, “-you think I’m giving these in ways similar to fattening a pig before a feast?”
“Yeah, somewhat.”
“Don’t worry,” he carried the beautifully dressed plates, “-what happened at the beach estate wasn’t anyone’s fault. I gained strong allies and my cousin managed to make up with her family, all and all, I say tis a good deal. You truly hate my guts, don’t you.”
“Wow, look at the mister Smartypants.”
“-Awkward,” said he in a little jingle, “-don’t call anyone smarty pants again.” The tempest outside grew into a full thunderstorm, lightning struck maliciously, the already unstable debris, fell, rain poured heavily.
“Very delicious,” said she, “-the stories about you being an excellent chef are well based.”
“It’s elementary, don’t compliment the food too much. I wish I could prepare something better. My problem, worry not, I’ll take the compliment, thank you very much.”
‘He’s hiding something, Chef Leko if memory serves well.’ The outside light dimmed to naught, the room dropped to black.
“Have you eaten?” inquired Igna.
“Yeah, where’s the light?”
“Electricity was knocked by Chain’s rampage.” *Mana Control: Light Element Variant: Firefly.* orbs scattered about the room.
“Beautiful,” said she.
“Here,” he threw another piece of cloth, “-the assassin outfit must be a pain to wear. Use that when there’s no fight; it’s imbued by magic, the wearer gains the trait of grey man. Speaking to another won’t reveal thy identity.”
“Expensive clothes, a watch, and now this, a piece of magical gear. Igna, I can accept the former, the this... the gear is too valuable to be thrown around lightly. Magical enchantments cost a fortune to acquire...”
“Oh, don’t worry, I enchanted it. Therefore, the cost is mine to bear. Don’t misunderstand, it isn’t a gift, tis insurance. Your identity needs to be hidden.”
“I suppose I should repay the kindness...”
“Sure, I’ll wait patiently. The rain seems to have eased, shall we head out?”
“It’s 18:00, monsters prowl the streets.”
“They’re obstacles at the end of the day,” the roar of a very fast machine pulled into the tiny yard, “-transport’s here.”
“Transport?” she followed down the stairs, ‘-he skipped like a kid just now, I’m confused beyond belief.’ Headlights stormed through the entrance, “-a sports bike?” her jaws dropped underneath the mask, “-how loaded are you?”
“Me?” he stopped and stared, “-money isn’t an issue,” a snarky thumbs up followed into, “-there should be a backpack in the room outback, put the outfit, we’re leaving.”
“Where?”
“The dormitory,” he straddled the Spuntna X8V2 SST, ‘-good thing I had éclair bring it over.’
“Not to be rude, isn’t flying the better option?”
“No, not really, flying’s for extreme circumstances only.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because it’s too fast. Lock the door and let’s go.”
“The rain?”
“Use those powers to keep it away.”
“Wait a moment,” she straddled the bike, ‘-were we not fighting a few days ago, he speaks to me with reckless abandon...’
“Don’t get worked up; it comes across weird and scheming, I know, still, you’re family to my sister, want it or not, the families are united.” Strong on the start, they burst onto the streets and darted across the roads. Debris, boulders, monsters, name it, and the obstacle was there, ‘-maniac,’ it got air time, ‘-holy sh-,’ she unknowingly gripped his stomach, “-are you c-c-c-crazy?”
“Don’t talk, else you’ll bite your tongue.” 10 minutes later, the gritty-sounding bike pulled into the parking lot.
“I’m surprised they have cars,” the helmet came off.
“Zone 1 is still considered normal.”
“Well, we’re here, want to get off?”
“No,” the petrified expression sufficed, “-give me a few more seconds, my legs are dancing.”
“See, I told you, driving is more fun than flying. On the roads, death may strike suddenly, face the ultimate end in stride.”
“I admit, I had fun.”
Off the bike and around to the back near the medical camp; adequate lights shone lightly, the addition of spotlights added a little touch of flare, “-what was the announcement about?” they ambled into the uninfected first-aid area.
“A report of the day’s casualties, death, that sort of thing.”
“My head...” said a whimper, “-I can’t see...” the medics up ahead were busy, a broken-down jeep carrying injured arrived. What little forces were available were drawn thin, “-help me...”
“I should get to work,” said Igna, “-let’s hang out another time.”
“Wait, you leaving already?”
“I’m a medic, remember, I came here to research the plague and heal the injured. Also, before you leave, I forgot to say something.”
“Yeah, what is it?”
“You’re a weird girl,” he dipped inside the tent.
“WHAT?” she frowned and made for the inside, ‘-what does he mean weird?’ along the way, the various vigilantes took notice and gawked, ‘-oh, I forgot,’ the phone showed her reflection, ‘-I’m wearing quite the outfit. Let’s see, does the mask work,’ she tapped the side of her jaw, the attention soon vanished, ‘-people still notice but don’t pay much attention. I’m impressed, he’s very talented.’
“-A-A-are y-y-you?”
“Chill out,” down on one knee, “-you were stabbed by a rusty spear, don’t worry,” he dawned surgical gloves, ‘-treat the physical wounds then use potions and healing spells to accelerate rejuvenation.’
“Heavily wounded,” echoed from a frantic cry, “-she was stabbed in the neck....”
“Take her to that camp over there,” pointed a man with a bloodied white coat.
“Doctor...”
“COME ON MAN,” cried he who carried the lady, “-we all know the camp over there are for people who aren’t for this world.”
“I know, I’m sorry,” he ignored the man’s plea, “-we’re out-staffed, tis a triage. For the greater good, those unable to fight another day will be abandoned, I’m sorry my friend.”
.....
“DON’T GIVE ME THAT CRAP!” attention focused on the supervisor.
“Stop standing and move the patients. As for you, there’s no hope for the lady, take her to the camp else we use the collar,” sharp daggers dug into the woeful expression.
“You’re all the same...”
‘Sorry my friend, should have taken her to the hospice; there’s no way I can treat her in such harsh conditions.’
“Doctor...” said a sympathetic glance.
“Don’t worry about me Ada, focus on the others.”
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