"We need to head West and then keep going North until we enter the desert. The lady told me that she had never seen or visited the Desert Of Siren so we'll have to figure out the way ahead." Iris started leading them to the West while regularly making sure they were going the right way from the map that she'd bought back from the market.
...
After what felt like hours, they could finally see the yellow dust gently blowing over the vast golden layers of sand spread across the land. The blinding mist created by the sand enveloped around their bodies. They shadowed their eyes with their hands to prevent the dust from irritating their eyes.
"We need to be careful. We don't know what we're about to face." Kyou whispered to them as he gripped his dagger tightly. The other two do the same.
Nothing could be heard except for the whistling of the wind as it blew over the desert sand. The cold breeze sent shivers down their spines as soon as it hit them. They stood still and quiet for a few long minutes, waiting for whatever was in there to come out.
"Well, alright. I don't think so anything's here." Ae Rin dropped her guard and turned to Kyou with a sigh.
"WATCH OUT!" Kyou's eyes wandered from her to something behind her. He quickly tackled her to the ground.
Ae Rin's expression turned from relief to horror when she saw a column of fire pass above her.
"Told you to be careful!" Kyou flashed a glare at her before quickly getting up and repositioning himself to face the enemy. Ae Rin sat still on the ground in surprise as she saw the monster growling before them as if it had been starving for centuries to feast on fresh human blood. Its razor sharp teeth seemed like it could pierce through anything.
The monster charged straight at them, growling louder than ever. He threw a few merciless shots and blasts of flames in their direction but they were quick to dodge it.
"Rin, get up...they need your help!" Ae Rin encouraged herself. She took a deep breath and rose from the ground determined to give a hand in the struggle. But what she didn't see coming was a giant ball of red flame aimed at her from behind her. The fireball was advancing towards her without any noise, which made it harder for her to detect it in the first place.
Kyou's heartbeat quickened and he grew anxious as he instinctively ran towards Ae Rin when the fireball was closing the distance between it and her. "This is no good! I won't be able dodge it in time. I have no other choice but to..." Kyou thought as he shoved Ae Rin to the side and shielded his head with his arms but failed to get away from the fireball.
*Boom!*
The red ball of flame exploded right before he could dodge it completely. His body flew high up in the air before roughly landing on the ground with a loud thud. When the smoke and dust cleared out of Ae Rin's vision, she saw the tattered sleeves and wounded body of Kyou unconsciously lying on the ground. A sickening sensation filled Ae Rin's gut and her anger flared up to the highest peak.
"Hey, can you hear me?!" Iris rushed to his side in concern and she let his head gently rest on
her lap.
Ae Rin glanced at him one last time, eyes filled with guilt and regret bubbling inside her.
"I've had enough of this." Her deep brown eyes slowly changed its colour to crimson red indicating that she was about to become the merciless devil she is.
The monster flinched when his eyes peered into hers and a shiver electrified through his body as if he had seen those intimidating eyes before. He took a few steps back hesitantly and immediately kneeled on the ground with his forehead attached to the ground for his dear life.
"Lady Servia! Lady Iris! P-Please have mercy!" The monster cowered in fear all of a sudden.
A crease formed on her forehead as she frowned in confusion, "How do you know our names?"
The monster didn't look up at her since he was afraid that she'd just wipe out his existence from the world if he ever raised his eyes. "I-I-I am a d-demon."
"Then why can't I sense your black aura?" She asked with a puzzled yet suspicious expression.
"I was sent to kill two woman and a man b-by... someone. But I didn't know it was Lady Servia and her sister...! " He confessed. Tears started shedding as he grabbed her leg hastily and begged for mercy, "P-Please don't kill me! Please! I beg of you."
Ae Rin remained calm, but her eyes revealed how deadly and merciless she was going to be. She pointed at Kyou who was still unconscious on Iris' lap. "Do you see what you've done?" She raised her hand which held her dagger firmly and pointed it at the monster. She was definitely not going to spare him.
She slowly inched closer to the monster with her dagger still fixedly pointed at him.
He didn't see it coming or maybe his eyes couldn't read her quick movements.
"AHHHH!!!!"
The monster screamed and winced in agony when he felt a strong stinging pain in his left arm which was holding her leg. He looked to his left to find nothing but blood spraying out immensely and his left arm missing. He looked up to see Ae Rin, with the same deadly eyes looking down at him with his left arm in her hand. She threw it down to her feet and crushed it with a single step.
"I didn't kill you but punished you. I'm sure you can make yourself more useful to me if you don't want to die. Did Flare send you to Arthalia?" She asked him while keeping her dagger so close to his neck, ready to dig inside his skin.
His body trembled on feeling the blade against his thick skinned neck. He quickly nodded in fear.
"I don't want you to just nod your head. Spill out everything." She slightly increased her pressure on his skin and a drop of blood trailed down his neck to the ground.
"Flare created a species of demons about 3 decades ago. He performed some experiments that included deaths of humans and demons to create us who don't have a demonic aura but.. are demons. His first human test subject ran away half way through the experiment and he couldn't find him ever since. We were infused with the ability to shape shift as well. He sent us to this world a month before you'd come... he already knew your next move." He explained with his head still attached to the ground.
"Flare did...all of this? Creating demons..? Is he out of his mind?!"