The Scarlet Witch fell to its knees before its lifeless body hit the ground with a soft thud. Its head rolled across the ground, disappearing into the darkness. Avic stood above its dead body with his dagger tightened between his fist.
He breathed heavily as if he had just finished running a marathon. Sweat crept down the side of his face and a sense of victory slowly encompassed him. He had won. He had defeated a Demon. However, he still wasn't proud of himself.
Avic gritted his teeth in frustration. The feeling of failure still lingered within him. His victory didn't mean much since Lori's mother had still died despite promising to protect them. To make things worse, Custos, Eliisabet, and Lori were all still missing. He needed to find them. He felt like he was responsible for everything that had happened so far.
Calmly, Avic then moved through the darkness to find the others. He held onto the hope that they were still alive. They had to be. The thought of continuing his journey alone was stifling. As he walked, he noticed that the head of the Scarlet Witch had stopped by the root of a small tree.
"Right..." He muttered. "I need to keep its head to show the School Of Sicarius for our enrollment..."
Slowly, Avic then stooped as he reached out to pick up the Scarlet Witch's head. His fingers brushed against the rough texture of her black hair. However, as soon as he grabbed it, a boot slammed into the side of his face with a bang.
He let out a sharp squeal of pain before he was sent crashing a few meters away. He bounced and rolled across the dirt road, picking up new cuts and bruises. Avic groaned in the cloud of dust that now surrounded him. The side of his face stung like a killer wasp. He didn't know what had happened but it had certainly caught him off guard.
"Urgh... Damn it... What the hell was that..?"
Holding the side of his face, Avic looked up. This was when he saw the silhouette of a tall figure standing not too far in the distance. Mist swirled around his body and his fists were clenched.
"Another enemy..? What's up with this? Can't I catch a break..?"
"You ruined my experiment!" Boomed the figure from the dark. His voice was as heavy as lead—the type to belong to very muscular guys like Bolton.
"What are you talking about, jackass? Who are you anyway? Don't you know it's rude to suddenly kick a guy in the face!?"
Before answering, the figure stepped closer to Avic, putting himself into full view. Just as Avic had suspected, he was a muscular man of tall stature. He wore sturdy bronze armor around his shoulders and chest, long black pants, and thick brown leather boots. He had a small scar on his left cheek and looked in his early thirties with oakwood-brown eyes and shaggy black hair. Sheathed by his side was an average sword that looked quite small for someone of his stature. He looked just like a Sicarius.
"Man, what a pain in the ass... This is such a drag and I'm not in the mood to deal with it. Who are you?" Asked Avic with a bother.
"My name's Gatio and you seriously pissed me off, kid!"
"Pissed you off? Well, you're gonna piss your pants in a second if you don't tell me why you attacked me."
"You have a big mouth. How dare you kill my Scarlet Witch?!"
Avic's eyes widened with shock.
"Your Scarlet Witch..? Does that mean you're the one who brought that thing here?!"
"I was. I found a Demon Core at the edge of Daemonium the other day. So I brought it here to the Wilderness between Initium and Discite to see how well it would adapt to the environment."
"A Demon Core?"
"Huh? You don't know what that is? Aren't you a Sicarius?"
"Does it matter?"
"Hmph. Given that you don't even know what a Demon Core is, it's obvious you aren't. But I must say that it was quite impressive that you defeated a Scarlet Witch even though you're not a Sicarius. Anyway, I'll tell you what a Demon Core is. It's an item used to summon Demons using a ritual. See that fire over there? That's what I used to summon it."
Avic then glanced over to the flame that was burning under the tree which the merchant was hanging from.
"Damn... Guys like you really get on my nerves. You're telling me you did all of this for your dumb experiment?!"
"And what if I did? It did help me stumble upon something quite interesting. You seem to be special. For some reason, the Scarlet Witch didn't kill you when it had the chance. It seemed to like the taste of your Hemo Energy. It's the first time I've seen a Scarlet Witch take such interest in a mere human."
"Just shut up! Aren't you supposed to be a Sicarius? You're supposed to protect people despite your stinky attitude! Not kill them for your childish experiment!"
Gatio laughed at Avic's remark as if he had told him a funny joke.
"Protect people? I couldn't care less about that. I do whatever the hell that I want, kid! Protecting people and abiding by dumb rules are for Registered Sicarius who choose to become government dogs. I'm an Unregistered Sicarius so I'm free to do whatever I please..!"
"Tsk! I don't know what you mean by that but I couldn't care less! I'm going to kick your ass and get my friends back!"
"Hmph. I'll gladly take you on. There's something different about you and I want to find out what it is. If you think you can beat a Sicarius then go ahead and try. If you win, I'll tell you where your friends are!"
Avic knew he needed to control himself but he was overwhelmed by emotions. He felt frustrated and angry. Ever since he left Initium, things continued to take a turn for the worse. The others were missing and two people had already died. It sickened him. The life of a Sicarius truly wasn't for the weak of heart.
Picking himself up from the dirt, Avic charged toward his final opponent. He did not plan on losing. It didn't matter if his opponent was a Sicarius or not. He planned to win. Shouting atop his voice, Avic lunged at his enemy.
"Damn it all! I'll make you regret ever messing with us!!"