Dazzling stars brightened the path and plains as the adventurers set camp in the dense forest.
"Umm... can i have some?"
Jack was fervently begging at this point to obtain food.
"Oh forgot to give you some, here take it."
at
A loaf of bread, cheese, and dried meat, it was the only rations that was viable for long journeys. And Jack humbly accepted it, there was no fear on being poisoned as his already a captive and even if they did [ Unhindered Body ] would devour the foreign substance with his antibodies.
Without much thought, He made a sandwich with his portion of food. It was fairly simple, cut the bread and half, cheese in the middle with the dried meat. He took a bite and smiled widely at the flavor, it wasn't delicious but it finally gave him a better flavor than charred meat.
Making a sandwich was common for adventurers however the others, which is the adventurers like the one that's taking Jack into custody, simply enjoys food slowly and saving them if they were to get lost.
"So mr. Lucifer, why were you chasing the beast?"
'I don't know why you actually agreed to having Lucifer as your last name.'
'Our last name.'
Daniel and Jack were having an internal argument.
'F*cking communist!'
While Stephen was simply watching from the sides waiting for a long internal scream.
Jack's outside body merely made a solemn face and stared blankly at the fire.
"Well... I was simply bored. Hunting down beast is and was my job. See, i have a family of three, our parents passed away so all three of us were left to fend for ourself. After years of isolation on our own home, we made a choice. I left in order to be better at hunting and maybe making a name to myself, while learning more about the outside world. That was until i saw that... 'Thing'. I took it as a challenge to kill that bastard, and you know the rest."
It was all completely made up. Jack's acting made it sound as real as it could be.
'...'
'Wow.'
Now they had a history and an identity. If they were to change into Adam or Sura then they can use the same story without problems in the near future.
"Oh..."
To the adventurers it sounded morbid that their family is crumbling. Rosan felt awkward for asking a painful(he presumes) subject.
There was an awkward silence except the fire cackling.
"Here." Rosan said while looking down.
He handed Jack a water skin, the most common and cheapest water container in their time.
Taking a sip, Jack was suddenly informed by Thrisix.
[ Cation. [ Unhindered Body ] has detected foreign chemicals entering the body. ]
This greatly alarmed the brothers, right here and now were they being drugged or poisoned.
'What is it?' Jack asks with a questioning tone.
[ Sedative. Merely small amount, enough to calm or remove any form of aggression. ]
It wasn't poison but a sedative? As sedative were either used for tranquilizing targets unconscious or preventing targets from outraging and or having aggressive thoughts.
The adventurers didn't mean any harm however, they learned that keeping their targets secure and calm would benefit them more than agitating said target. It would make their tasks much more easier.
'Play along, i don't think they're looking for trouble. The quicker we get to the city, the better.'
'Aight.'
Jack stretched his cuffed hands up and yawned.
"I think i ate too much, i'll get some sleep."
Laying down near a tree while using it's root as a pillow, Jack pretended to sleep while his enhanced hearing allowed him to listen.
"This is a problem." Rosan said with a worried face.
"Why? Everything's going smoothly." The assassin answered while looking beyond the tree line to spot any abnormalities.
"If he really did injure the beast then might be in a worse situation. That beast might be pissed beyond belief right now and once it heals, it'll want revenge."
"So? If we take all the current B class adventurers and maybe even an A class then we'll be able to put it down. If some nobody can harm it then i don't see why B class and A class adventurers can?"
It was Yve that answered. She had an arrogant look, with a shit eating smile. Although she may not look like it but she is a Grand Wizard and an A class adventurer. In terms of fire power, her most powerful spell could create the same force as a Fat Man(Nuke). That enough power will kill Sura the only problem is that it needs a very long preparation time to which in that time she is a sitting duck.
Magic was a very confusing concept and mastering such subject would deemed one a genius or a gifted individual, Yve was amongst those that were natural gifted with magical talents. Her arrogance were not made by empty presumption but built by years of accomplishment and research. Taking a strong monster down was childs play for high ranked adventurers, although they cant kill it in a matter of seconds, they can however kill it by perfectly trapping and killing said monster together.
"That's not the problem. Khert, explain it to them."
Khert, the priest, opened his book to show 3 dimensional images.
"Sir Lucifer is undoubtedly the strongest demon i have ever seen. In the records of the church, Demons are ranked through the pureness of their bloodline. Demonic, Half-Ling, and True Demons. Demonic are those who have small demonic attributes, Half-Lings are half demons with other races mixed in. True Demons can only be described as being only born from hell or by strong resentment.
If i could measure Sir Lucifer's bloodline then just by the pure miasma create by his dense demonic energy then he could only be scaled as an Arch Demon. If he, an Arch Demon that is above A class adventurers and bellow S class adventurers, could only harm such creature then we are facing something much more dangerous than a simple beast. To give you a few insight on how strong he is, my [ Guardian Angel ] skill is screaming and crying at Sir Lucifer. Yet he could only injure the monster ]
In this world, the church, which is unified under the banner of world order, controls most if not all of the worlds knowledge on different races. The difference between Earth's churches, and this world's church's is as the like heaven and hell. This world's church has a large army for crusades, Paladins that move and walk as the vassals of the Pope, and Individual who can only be described as heaven gifted. It was founded and built by an unknown man that the people called "The Messiah'. With his command and guidance, they led a large organization that focused on maintaining peace rather than stopping chaos.
With it's iron fist, no kingdom or empire dares to stand on its way. However, even with all it's knowledge, power, and fame, the church has remained neutral without helping or benefiting anyone other than the betterment of the world. But even with such an organization, demon knowledge was far beyond their reach. One might think that the church would create a crusade to exterminate all demons however that is not the case. They maintain world order which demons are a part of. Without shadow their is no light, their goal is not a temporary peace but maintained order. Small scale wars and maybe even large wars are nkt within their concern as this is the nature of sentient life. However, if an entity, which causes indiscriminate destruction and death without restraint, existed then the church would have to mobilize their strength inorder to neutralize said threat.
Khert was only tasked to investigate the area before launching an attack. They weren't maniacs with power, this is a society. The adventurers, other than Rosan and Khert, knew nothing of the church's plan.
"So? Even with it was strong, it's only a mindless beast. With a few high magic arrays and large area magic, it would be enough to take down even a behemoth class beast."
"Yve, i don't think you understand. Arch Demons are extremely powerful and just from his appearance alone, sir Lucifer is something similar to a hunter or assassin. If something designed to take down powerful opponents could only harm the monster then... we might need someone within Saint class to take this foe down."
Rosan was serious, this was the very reason he was shocked to hear Jack injured the 'Slaughterer' after Khert used [ Magic: Message ] to tell Rosan what Jack was.
"Further more, his miasma is extremely toxic. Normal humans would have their emotions affected just by breathing the miasma in. If one stays too long then they would lose their life... getting him in the city might be troublesome but our employer told us to bring any form of evidence that the 'Slaughterer' might still be within the mountains."
"Hold on! What do you mean 'our employer'? Weren't we ordered by the adventurer guild?!"
"Look, ill explain it to you later. But i can exactly tell you who our employer is."
Throughout the entire conversation, Rosan was completely emotionless. Unlike his colourful expression when Jack was 'awake'.
"Forget it, but you better take on night watch."
Yve stood up and walked away without a care in the world.
Everyone just sighed, they didn't know what their leader was getting them into but one thing was certain, he never brought them misfortune.
Rigeria took the watch as the others slept with Greght. Meanwhile the 'sleeping' Jack heard everything.
'Well f*ck.' Daniel cursed.
'And here i thought that it was all too easy.' Stephen, who was being disheartened by the fact that he could've gotten them killed by attracting powerful opponents, like a high ranked adventurer which his weeb mind knew how powerful they might be.
'There are no free meals.' Jack was simply lamenting over his sandwich while saying a famous quote.
Their efforts of eavesdropping were not in vain, they found a huge problem in their plan. It appeared as they themselves are the problem, due to strange phenomenon called plo- demonic miasma, they were unable or should be prevented to enter a city. A bigger problem now was also the unknown employer of the adventurer team, this could be beneficial or outright problematic.
Another problem was also how they were gonna explain if someone were to actually chase down the 'Slaughterer' which is Sura, said person would be in a wild goose chase and the only clue to finding the monster was Jack. They would either question him, detain him, torture him to pry out information, or all of the above. Reality is very cruel and right now they could not afford to be careless. Jack could kill them all in one fell swoop but that would attract a large amount of unwanted attention, that is if the employer cared for his employee but one could never be too careful.
'We f*cked aren't we?' Stephen asks very restlessly.
'Depends... we could go what fate offers us and try to reason with the man behind this team or just run away.' Daniel said.
'Or... hear me out. We kill them!'
'No.'
'No!'
Daniel spoke in a flat tone and Stephen internally screamed.
'*Sigh* If everything fails us then im pulling my army. Lets go with option one, let's hope we don't get dissected.'
'Can you get us out Dan?'
'I've got an army... and a monster. What more could you want?'
'A nuke.'
'F*ck off!'
After having a long chat within themselves, they slept and awaited for the day in order to continue their march.
What they didn't see or hear was Rosan sending a message by using a crow, Jack was too busy arguing with Daniel to notice.
****
It was already mid-day yet they could barely see the tiny little city, yet even after another hour the tiny city never grew. The distance they travelled should have already reached 50 miles, and that was just the distance they travelled before seeing the city.
*Caw* *Caw*
A bird with pitch black feathers with a red ribbon tied on it's feet had landed on Rosan's shoulder. He carefully untied the ribbon which had a piece of paper attach to it, his face became serious after reading it.
Soon,he stopped walking and the rest followed. Turning around, he faced everyone.
"New objective, secure Sir Lucifer's safety towards the cathedral within the city."
After that he unsheathed his blade, while being on guard. The others didn't question him and already knew what was happening. Greght got his shield and spear up, Yve prepared enhancing spells, Rigeria focused all of his senses into smell and sound, white Khert chanted blessings.
Their marching speed had slowed down. However, everyone was on their edge, this was a typical assassination attempt and thankfully they were warned before they could be ambushed.
After 8 whole hours they were finally close, so close that the city itself looked collosal(Which it is). Just right between the tree lines was the path to the city yet they all knew this would be the striking point. There were no other spot similar to the current one.
"Uncuff me, i can help."
Jack asked but without much thought of getting an answer yet Greght unlocked his cuffs without word and returned to his defensive stance.
[ Terra Magic: Debris ]
Out of nowhere a strong wind carrying large to small pieces of shattered rocks, they could block it by hiding behind Greght while he faces the wind with his shield. Instead, Yve activated her own spells.
[ Fire Magic: Fiery Dome ]
All debris that touched the area of a dome like object that protected Yve as a center, would be vaporize without delay. The air turned heavy as embers danced in the the wind.
Out of nowhere a large crossbow bolt was fired out of the dense forest almost striking Jack down as the reflexes on his [ Unhindered Body ] forcibly bent his body down trying to avoid said crossbow bolt only for it to never pass. In front of him is Rigeria who held the crossbow bolt in his hands with a reverse grip indicating he caught it in mid air.
It was silent and fast, crossbow bolts after another was launched within the forest but this time Jack was prepared. He didn't have enough skill to catch one but dodging his was a breeze to him, the attackers could barely see his movements.
"Hehehe, cheeky b*tches."
Jack silently whispered as his misty aura began to expand. It didn't just cover his body nor the battlefield but an entire mile radius with Jack at the center.
Everyone became weary as the dense fog blocked and entirely disabled their sense of sight. A strike could be delt at any moment once the opposing side can navigate through the fog.
"ARGGH-"
A scream was heard but it was quickly silenced. Rigeria could hear blood gush out right when the scream happened, she knew it wasn't one of his teammates from just the voice and positioning alone.
"GAGGH-"
Another scream once again echoed through the fog. The ambushers were now at a disadvantageous situation.
"Agh-"
Fear quickly filled the hearts of the attackers, what could they do in this situation. They've already took on defensive stances but it still was useless as their numbers quickly dwindled.
Rigeria, who only stood still and listened suddenly moved at breakneck speed. He jumped while twisting his body in air creating momentum and when he was about to reach the ground his hands which held his large knives similar to short swords, slammed down with great force. He felt resistance when his blades struck and when he finally took a closer look at his opponent, he saw a man with armor plating around his vital areas while wearing a hood and cloak.
His knives where deep within his shoulders which broke through the pauldrons his opponent wore. Although the man was dying an alarming rate, he showed no sign of fear fully displaying his iron will.
Raising his long sword, the man swung it diagonally up towards Rigeria. Meanwhile Rigeria had kicked the man's chest and jumped off leaving his blades stuck withing the man's shoulders. He hid within the fog only relying on his ears to travers around the hidden foe.
*Inhale*
"Hwwuuhh~"
Rigeria took a deep breath and unsheathed a single edged short sword and held it in a reverse grip, while lowering his posture similar to a runner at an olympics.
[ Hidden Strike ]
Every assassin knew this skill, it is an essential part in assassination which serves as a skill that will deal a finishing blow.
His iris turned red, his muscles constricted, and his presence disappeared. He dashed forward creating absolutely no noise, his scent was also nonexistent while his body became a blur. It was unknown how fast a master assassin could move when using such a skill.
The man was already bleeding to his death, yet he didn't sit down. He accepted the job of assassinating an adventurer team full knowing who or what he was currently up against. Rigeria Weller Piones was the genius of the Piones household which held hundreds of assassins within their descendants. At a young age he had already earned the title of master assassin, he spent most of his life joining the adventurer that made up of geniuses amongst nobles and quickly made a name for himself. One might not know the individual Rigeria Weller Piones, but the reputation as a genius seasoned assassin was enough to strike fear among the hearts of the many.
He grabbed a small throwing knife that was strapped on his left thigh and jumped. While he was falling he threw the dagger in front of him, while preparing his short sword on his right hand, ready to strike as he was falling.
*Thud*
The man heard a noise to his right, it sounded close, he turned his direction to face where to sound coming from only to see a blade right besides his throat. He couldn't move fast enough to stop it and paid for it with his life, it was quick and painless as his head toppled down and rolled on the ground as his body fell.
Rigeria landed on the ground however he didn't stop and only ran forwards without batting an eye to the corpse which was drowning in a pool of its own blood.
***
Rosan was raising his sword, similar to a claymore, up. He didn't where his enemies where but he could faintly grasp where they should be. He closed his eyes and ran in a direction where his instincts told him where his opponent would be.
He ducked down as a large blade swung past his head, his skill which was passed down from his family allowed one to see without eyes, merely it gave the user a sixth sense.
"Rose blade..."
He whispered as his he jumped from one place to another while striking each time he jumped. Each time he struck, the large blade would try to hit him but only missing by mere centimeters.
When he delt the final blow, he finally opened his eyes to see a man in the middle of a painted rose on the ground with it's own blood as paint. Rosan swung his sword to clean off the blood and stared at his own master piece.
Kindness was only those he deemed friendly, and those who are hostile will only know pain and death.
***
Purple glowing eyes was moving within the wind, his smile was ever so deeply etched into those he killed. Coupled with a sinister laughter and and various methods for ones death.
His footsteps were nonexistent and his body became ethereal within the fog. Unlike the others who's vision was blocked by the fog, he could see perfectly fine through it. He could even feel those who was inside the fog, just as how Rigeria took down an attacker, how Rosan displayed his swordsmanship, Yve's ability to cast magic and move through the fog, and how Greght found Khert and protected him throughout the entire time.
'I feel like i can fly!'
Jack internally laughed and screamed.
'Maniac.'
'You lunatic!'
Daniel and Stephen were surprised at what Jack was doing. They couldn't see through the fog like Jack, and they could only see white, however, if Jack was executing an attack then both them could see how he delt with it.
It was truly cruel. The first man to die was unlike Jack's first kill. The first person he killed on the mountains were a merchant which didn't put much fight and died with one strike. This time however was special, even when being impaled they would still stay alive. What the brothers didn't know was that these were high ranked adventurers, they already tossed away their sense of fear and carried out their mission whether they die or not. It was stupid and illogical to throw away ones life for merely a goal, however, this was what they chose. Adventurers might work under the same banner, but their work could differentiate from a job to a life. They were trained and would die for their work.
The first attacker to die had his lungs punctured by Jack's hands. Seeing as the man didn't die, Jack lifted him up. The man retaliated by using his daggers to strike Jack's hand and face only for Jack to pull his hands down which completely decimated the man's internal organs, Jack's hand got a few wounds and his face had a slight scar from the man's attack. The entire sequence only happened in a matter of a second, and Jack didn't stop there.
He ran towards a hooded woman and slammed his right hands on her stomach in such an incredible speed that she didn't see him until his had was inside her body. She screamed in pain only for Jack to pull out her intestine and used his left hand to decapitate her.
His body allowed him to move and strike such powerful blows that this was nothing more than a game to him. At first he was startled by the crossbow bolts but now, he somehow felt safe and strong.
While still dragging the woman's corpse by the intestine, Jack approached another hooded figure. He couldn't tell if it was male or female but it didn't matter to him, he was a preacher of true gender equality. He used the woman's intestine as a rope and hanged the hooded person by a tree, this was one of the few people who shot at him with their ranged weapons. The hooded person resisted and broke the intestine in half but Jack was already in front of him kicking his head into oblivion.
His head splattered around while Jack simply ran amongst the fog killing and killing until he heard a voice.
"[ Aether Magic: Luscious Wind ]."
A strong gust of wind blew the fog away with Yve floating in the air with dozens of corpse around her. Everyone could clearly see through the battlefield that corpses were laid everywhere and they were internally thankful it wasn't their comrades.
Rigeria glanced towards Jack to see what could only be described as a slaughter. Unlike Rigeria's quick and clean kills, Jack's were rather messy and brutal.
"Is anyone injured?"
Rosan's first thought was to check if any was harmed. To which everyone responded by moving their heads side to side while Jack just walked towards him checking his arms.
They were completely fine, every wound inflicted on him was completely healed. Except for the scar on his lips.
"Sir Lucifer... your face."
Rosan said while pointing at Jack's face.
"Hmm? What about it?"
"Are you fine?"
"It's just a scar."
"It could've been poisoned... are you sure you're fine."
Rosan had the mindset of treating others as they treat you, although they captured Jack, he never resisted nor harmed them even when he did nothing wrong. He was just another innocent man being brought to custody without explanation yet he has not acted any form of aggression.
He would rather be kind to others in order to obtain kindness back, and if they don't then only what they gave him would be returned.
'Thrisix?'
[ There was a slight dose of high purity poison within the knife. [ Unhindered Body ] has already detoxified the host. ]
Although Satan gave them 'weak' bodies with high potential, it was by no far weak in human terms. With the ability to superhuman senses, strength, stamina, flexibility, instincts, and endurance, as well as the ability to be immune to weak poisons, he was very strong.
It was unknown whether he can kill a stronger opponent than himself and just as Rosan stated, he could kill them easily. That is if he knew how to fully utilize his abilities. He might have the strength of a very powerful individual, however, he doesn't know how to properly use it's full potential.
"Yeah, im fine. Anyway, were finally at the last stretch. Are we gonna leave the bodies here?"
"Yve will handle the bodies, it's already sunset. I'd like to finish this before tomorrow."
He didn't even need to tell them, Yve was already burning down the corpse with [ Fire Magic ] which completely charred and cremated the corpses.
They all were tired and wanted to have a long and well deserved rest within the city, without pause they began their march once again. As hours passed by they finally reached the large wall with a giant gate. Jack didn't need to listen much as the gatekeepers had opened the gate within seconds.
Now they were inside the city as beautiful lights covered the long streets, shops and all types of establishment were right along side the road. It looked like marvelous with the city lanterns shining within the night and people wandering around carrying all sorts of objects.
Ch: End.