In a fortified city shrouded by the pitch-black. Devoured by the gloomy night with dim lights of human civilization flickering beneath the cold hour. It was under the veil of silence and calm. Nothing and no one seems to be walking upon its streets.
Along with the unforgiving silence was the sense of dread that enveloped the fortress city. It has been a couple of days since the demon fox began its hunt. A dangerous being that was said to be freed by the Paragon as punishment.
Many local gangs had been hammered to damnation because of the demon fox. When the sun rises from the lines of the boundless horizon. Only cold and lifeless bodies were left behind. Their faces had the same expression. It was none other than horror.
Anyhow, the infamous demon fox has begun its hunt. Most citizens of the fortress city have begun living in fear of the demon fox's wrath, so none dared to step outside the walls of their homes.
A couple of seconds later, screams and cries echoed throughout the fortified city.
"Ahhhh!!! Help!!!"
"Please don't kill me!!! I'm innocent!!!"
"I don't want to die!!! I did it for my family!!!"
"It wasn't me!!! I didn't kill him!!!"
"Who are you, Grahh!!!"
"You're the f*cking b*stard that kept attacking the underworld!!!"
The echoes resonated with different emotions, whether they be sorrow, despair, hatred, or annoyance. One can understand that what may be happening in the fortress city was a horrific change. An insurrection against the current status quo.
They seemed to be pouring from a specific location. Such reverberating cries came from a certain mansion dwelling amongst the upper sector of the fortress city.
It was a massive mansion that exuded the tantamount wealth that its owner had. With golden pillars and a paved path of bricks, along with luxurious wooden furniture. One can consider it the best mansion in the fortress city.
Such a mansion was a sight as even in the Heavens Fall, the power of wealth barely stood with its golden pillar. It also gives an idea about the personality of its owner. Fearless, confident, and ruthless. Like a king amongst peasants.
Anyhow, the grandiose mansion didn't have a hint of gleaming lights. No luster emitted from inside of it as if the mansion was dead. There were also occasional screams escaping the mansion's walls, echoing outward towards the fortress city.
Within the lengthy walls of the mansion, a bodyguard with a bloodied arm leaned upon a wall. He was holding a gun under his fingers, a rare weapon that was withheld by the local government of the fortress city.
"Haa... Haa... Haa... How is that damn fox puncturing through the security." The bodyguard muttered in annoyance while blood dripped from his arms. Everything was becoming hazy, though he held on to his consciousness.
He was amongst the elite bodyguards of the merchant known as Euro, a fat and short man with golden teeth inside his mouth. Euro was a prominent figure in the underworld, mainly selling weapons and restricted substances.
In the time of an apocalyptic era, Euro perceived himself as unstoppable. There was nothing that could stop him in the Frontier. He was free to do whatever he wanted.
"That fox was stronger than expected. I never thought that the fox could puncture through walls."
The bodyguard gritted his teeth as he remembered what had happened to his colleague. The demon fox practically punctured his colleague's heart and took it out of his body. This made the elite bodyguards realize that they weren't dealing with a human.
They were fighting against a monster in human form.
Footsteps then bellowed in the curtain of pitch-darkness. The bodyguard felt beads of cold sweat dripping from his forehead, a particular dread shadowed his heart. He prepared his gun and glanced forward with a scrutinizing gaze.
Squinting his eyes, the man continued staring at the end of the lengthy hallway. He wondered to himself whether or not it was a false alarm. He had barely escaped the massacre of the demon fox, and he was sure that the fox would come after his boss.
There should be no reason to keep chasing a nobody like him, right?
Before he could continue his thoughts of reassurance, he felt a strange sensation on his neck. His perception swiftly changed as he noticed his standing body while falling to the ground.
The bodyguard was instantly beheaded without being given a chance to react. Crimson blood spurted out from his neck while his body plummeted forward. The fallen head dropped down on the floor with a thud and rolled towards the wall.
*Thud!*
Beside the corpse of the dead bodyguard was the infamous demon fox. A tall and slender figure covered in a jet-black cloak. A fox mask was on the figure's face along with the cover of the cloak's hood. The demon fox resembled the god of death.
Unforgiving and ruthless in its ways.
The demon fox didn't mind the lifeless body and continued on its way. The mission that was given to it was the elimination of everyone in the mansion. No one and nothing shall be left alive.
Navigating through the lengthy hallway, the demon fox arrived at the other end of it. A giant door exuding an aura of grandeur was in front of the demon fox. Gazing curiously at it, the demon fox tried to open it, but to no avail, it wouldn't budge a single inch.
Without hesitation, the demon fox punctured through the door and opened it from the inside. It took three seconds for the giant door to open, and the demon fox continued on its way.
Beyond the grandeur door was a hall where two individuals stood side by side. One was a fat man while the other was a tall man and bald man with a scar on his face. He had a stern and cold expression as he held a sword under his scarred fingers.
"The infamous demon fox. I can't believe that the Paragon of War is after me as well. Here I thought that I would be rejoicing for him taking out the parasites of my business." The fat man chuckled with arrogance plastered throughout his being.
Despite losing most of his personnel in the mansion, he wasn't afraid of the demon fox. It looks like he was confident that the swordsman would be able to protect him.
The demon fox didn't give a reply and ignored the fat man. Its gaze was focused on the swordsman, sizing him up from head to toe. One can notice that the swordsman's posture was heavily guarded, despite looking somewhat relaxed.
It made the demon fox understand the skills and confidence of the swordsman.
"I was wondering why I was brought here by the employer even though my job is protecting him from cryptids. It seems that there is a monster lurking in this city." The swordsman remarked, but the demon fox didn't pay him any heed.
"This bastard is too arrogant. Just because you work for the Paragon of War doesn't mean that you would be unstoppable. You're a frog in a well, monster." The fat man clenched his teeth, wanting to curse at the demon fox.
Not wanting to hear any of their words, the demon fox didn't waste time and proceeded to lunge at them. Her footwork was silent and swift as she appeared before the swordsman in barely a second. The swordsman took a single step sideward and dodged the dagger in the demon fox's fingers.
"It looks like you trained in daggers, but you haven't mastered it enough to be called a master. Quite a disappointing opponent." The swordsman shook his head and took out the sword from his scabbard.
The swordsman swung his blade at the demon fox, who dodged it by performing a flip in the air. Using the body of the swordsman as a stepping stone, the demon fox pushed its body away.
The two found themselves in the same situation as before. The only difference was their weapons emerging out in the open for the world to see.
"You're skilled in dodging, but that doesn't mean that it will give you victory. Let's finish this." The swordsman pointed his blade at the demon fox and started his counterattack.
Charging at the demon fox like a thunder strike, he appeared beside the demon fox with a swing of his blade at the trajectory of the fox's neck. But unexpectedly, instead of dodging, the demon fox attacked as well.
The swordsman squinted his eyes with a tinge of cautiousness in his pupils. The demon fox then abandoned her daggers and let them fall from her fingers. From an outside perspective, victory was clear for the swordsman.
But sadly, he was fighting against an opponent that had fought against the Paragon of War numerous times before the fated time. In the eyes of the demon fox, the swordsman was many times weaker than the foe it had faced during the training.
So no fear could be felt from the emotionless mask of the demon fox.
Like a slithering snake, the demon fox weaved through the swordsman's body. Afterward, using the force of the swing, the demon fox swung a punch that dislocated and broke the shoulders of the swordsman.
And it didn't even end there, the demon fox arrived at the neck of the swordsman and used its legs as an anchor. The demon fox swung an attack, puncturing through the nape of the swordsman.
Its hands deeply penetrated the swordsman as the demon fox clenched the swordsman's cervical spine with its bloodied fingers. A second later, the demon fox pulled with everything it had.
The results were terrifying.
The demon fox forcefully took out the cervical spine of the swordsman, causing his head to fall forward without any support and his body to become lumped backward. The demon fox hopped away from the back and landed graciously while holding a bloodied bone under its fingers.
*Thud!*
It was an immediate victory.
"Tsk!" Despite the clear victory, Mercedes clicked her tongue. Her pale and bloodied fingers were trembling as some of them were bruised. The penetration wasn't without price. Forcing a finger deep within the skin would injure a normal human.
Of course, Mercedes wasn't an ordinary human. With her abnormal strength, she could puncture through the barks of trees without any problems. This means that the skin of the bastard swordsman was nearly as hard as iron.
'As expected, killing him swiftly was the best choice.'
Mercedes thought to herself while glancing at the body of the swordsman. While it may look like an easy victory, she knew that the swordsman would have killed her if she didn't attack with all her strength. That guy was a master of his art.
And Mercedes knew more than to underestimate a master.
She slowly gazes at the fat man and finds him already dead, lying on the ground. She sighed before calmly muttering in the darkness that surrounded her.
"Show yourself, old man."
Silence enveloped the interior of the warehouse. Pitch-black darkness shrouded everything, and the atmosphere was damp. A couple of seconds later, claps echoed within the darkness.
*Clap!* *Clap!* *Clap!* *Clap!* *Clap!*
"You did a good job, Mercedes."
"The criminal underworld of the fortress city is practically in shambles right now. All of this was through your hard work." Caesar, the old man, slowly emerged from the darkness. He had a proud expression on his face, though he noticed the eyes of Mercedes.
His proud expression disappeared and a saddened smile replaced it.
"It looks like you're planning to leave, my disciple."
"Your time here is done, huh?"
Mercedes raised an eyebrow, wondering if the old man had known of her identity since the beginning. However, his next words threw such thoughts out of the window.
"Hm. Are you going back to your homeland?" Caesar questioned which Mercedes calmly answered. "I'm going back to my home, old man. I'll leave in the next hour."
"I see... Well then, it is what it is. You're the first disciple to have graduated under my tutelage. In the span of a couple months, you have learned the Imperial Grim Art. In this falling world, you will survive until the end. Your aptitude for fighting says so."
"Though, until then, shall we meet again."
"Mercedes, my disciple."
Caesar stepped back into the darkness. Separation was a usual event for the Paragon of War. He understood that others have lives and paths they were walking through. While, he, who was in the end, could simply guide them in their journey.
"Old man..."
Mercedes wanted to stop her master. But before she could, the recently emerged notification window expanded and grew before her perception. From the information within it, it appears that Mercedes has completed the special quest.
It was finally time for her to go home.