"What? What the hell's going on?"
By now, nearly all the bounty hunters were awake and staring at the horrible scene. Mirage remained resolutely in place, gripping Orvi's head to expose his slit throat.
"You heard me," Mirage said, cold and terrible. His voice rang across the outpost, silencing whispers in its wake. "I am Captain Mirage of the Infernal Legion. I claim this territory in the name of the Infernal Lord. Swear your loyalty, and none of you will be harmed. Resist, and you will share his fate."
Confused, dismayed murmurs rippled among the bounty hunters. Mirage glared at them, golden eyes fierce – yet strangely desperate at the same time.
And the Levia throbbing in Victor's bones only grew stronger. Not Mirage's, not his own. This chilled him to the core, blacker than night. Beneath its force, Victor could barely keep his legs upright.
He clenched his teeth, urging himself to stay strong. Strange. Back on Earth, he'd bathed in this power every day. Every time he entered the lair, every time he dealt with an enthralled wizard. But in his time spent away from it, his body had forgotten just how dreadful it could be.
As the power swelled, a sound came with it. Faint at first, but becoming louder until it almost drowned out the bounty hunters' murmurs and Mirage's barked orders. A low, throbbing drone.
Skycraft propellers.
The instant the thought hit him, Victor whirled around. His heart dropped all the way into the pit of his stomach.
Like a whale surfacing from the depths of the ocean, a massive silhouette had appeared above the horizon. With every frantic beat of Victor's heart, it crept inexorably closer.
By the time it came within a couple hundred meters, the wind from its propellers lashed through the outpost, stirring up sand and dust, blowing clothes off lines. Victor squinted, refusing to take his eyes off the enormous skycraft. Cannons bristled from the heavily armored gondola, while the jet-black curve of the medusid swallowed the sky as if night had fallen.
Tiny silhouettes crowded the deck, rushing back and forth in a bustle of activity. Even from this distance, Victor could make out the horns on their heads.
Dread thundered in Victor's chest, drowning out both his heartbeat and the skycraft's rumbling propellers.
When the craft landed, the impact raced through the ground like a shockwave, trembling Victor's legs. With a great groan of metal, a ramp unfolded from its side.
Figures came striding down the ramp. One marched ahead of the others, leading the charge. As he approached, the heavy dark Levia of the Infernal Lord slowly began to fade, overwhelmed by this man's power. A Levia that was also dark as night, but scented of earth and loam, bringing to mind a steaming jungle.
A dull thud from behind, a patter of quiet footsteps. Mirage had thrown aside Orvi's corpse and stepped forward, approaching the man. His skin was chalk-white, his eyes huge and trembling. When he moved in front of Victor, alarm spiked inside Victor's chest, but it felt dim and distant.
And even if he wanted to, Victor couldn't move an inch. Not through the strangling power of this man's Levia. All his instincts screamed at him to kneel, but he used every last ounce of strength to stay upright.
It only became harder as the man came closer. Tall and broad-shouldered, he far outstripped the demons behind him. His hair tumbled down his back in reddish-purple waves, so dark it was almost black, while his long, curving horns were forked like a stag's antlers.
The coat of an Infernal Legion officer rested on his shoulders, but under it he wore no shirt – revealing the sculpted muscles of his chest, the scars marring his earthen skin. Even without sensing his Levia, Victor understood this demon's sheer strength. Here was a man who had fought countless battles and emerged victorious from every one.
The demon came to a stop less than ten meters in front of Mirage, bare feet thudding against the ground. Trembling like a leaf, Mirage pressed a fist to his chest in a salute. Victor quickly strove to imitate him.
But the demon didn't have any attention to spare on him. Instead, he fixed pitch-black eyes on Mirage's face, and Mirage flinched like he'd been struck.
"Well, well, if it isn't Captain Mirage." The demon's voice was deep yet surprisingly warm. Even so, Victor couldn't miss the menace girding every word. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"G-General Hellebore." Mirage's voice came out quieter than a wingbeat. "Welcome. I – I have claimed this territory f-for, for the Infernal Lord."
General Hellebore. All at once, the pieces clicked into place. This man had to be one of the Four Grand Generals, second only to the Infernal Lord himself.
"Hmm." General Hellebore swept his eyes across the outpost, a sneer lifting the corner of his lips. "So is that what you've been up to all these months, Captain? Claiming this...fine...outpost?"
Mirage swallowed, throat visibly throbbing. He moved his lips, but Hellebore was already approaching him, stalking like a predator that had cornered its prey.
"Actually...the blood on your clothes seems rather fresh, doesn't it?" His gaze darted from Mirage's stained jacket to the corpse behind him. "As does that body. If you ask me, little Captain, I'd say you only killed him just now."
A violent shiver wracked Mirage's body. It was a wonder he didn't fall to his knees.
Hellebore rubbed his chin, his smirk widening. "Could it be...you sensed my approach and claimed this outpost at the last minute? Oh, but you wouldn't do that, would you? Your devotion to the Infernal Lord can't possibly be that weak."
Soft titters rippled through the demons behind him. Mirage trembled harder. The insane urge to grab him and run away came to Victor, but thankfully he couldn't do anything about it. Not when he was frozen in place.
Even so, as Hellebore closed the distance between him and Mirage step by step, Victor's nerves only wound tighter. This close, the size difference between the two demons was almost perverse; Hellebore towered a good two heads over Mirage.
And somehow, he only seemed huger when he bent his head and clapped a heavy hand on Mirage's shoulder. The force of the impact buckled Mirage's knees, but he dug his heels in, just barely staying upright.
"If you only just happened to claim this outpost," Hellebore said in an intimate whisper, leaning close to Mirage's ear, "then I have to ask...what exactly have you spent the last couple of months doing?"
Sweat rolled down the back of Mirage's neck. If it weren't for Hellebore's firm grip, he might've long collapsed.
Not that it made Victor feel any better. He couldn't take his eyes off Hellebore's fingers digging into Mirage's shoulder, his lips brushing the tip of his ear. 'Let go. Don't touch him like that.'
The words – and his rage – he kept locked deep inside, of course.
Suddenly Hellebore lifted his head and pushed Mirage away, sending him stumbling. He spun toward the soldiers behind him, sweeping a dismissive hand toward the outpost.
"By the way, whatever makes you think we need a shitty little outpost like this? Aren't you just mocking the Infernal Lord at this point?"
A savage grin split his face in half, matching the glee sparkling in his eyes. The demons behind him tittered again, louder.
But dread twisted like a snake in Victor's stomach, and this didn't just belong to him. He could feel Mirage's terror blasting across their contract like an icy wind. When Hellebore clapped his hands together, the sound echoing across the wasteland, the terror sharpened into a hundred jagged spikes.
"Captain Mirage, I believe you're sorely due a reminder of our Lord's will."
"N-no, wait," Mirage burst out, high and hysterical. He flung himself to Hellebore's feet, trembling from head to toe. "Please, sir, I d-didn't – I assure you, I live only for the Infernal Lord, please believe me, I swear I – "
His feral grin widening, Hellebore lifted his foot.
Just like that, sense slammed back into Victor's body. Forcing all his strength into stiff muscles, he lunged forward.
When he realized he couldn't reach Mirage in time, he yelled at the top of his lungs, "Wait!"
Hellebore froze. Slowly, he turned to face Victor. His eyes were darker than ever, brimming with deadly intent, and the pressure of his Levia almost crushed the breath from Victor's lungs.
Only almost. He could still speak. So he moved his lips, forcing the words out of his tight throat.
"Don't punish the Captain. None of this is his fault. It's mine."