In an alleyway beside an inn, two figures under the veil of darkness were discussing with each other. One was a young lady and in front of her was an old man. They were none other than Mercedes and Caesar, who were talking about the graduation mission.
"So that's the mission, huh..." Mercedes furrowed her eyebrows after hearing the graduation mission of the old man. She expected a hard mission, but it seemed that the old man always managed to go beyond her expectations.
'I can't believe this old man.' Mercedes thought to herself before calmly remarking to the old man. "Never did I think that you would be a vengeful one, old man. But I guess I should have expected this. After all, you are the Paragon of War."
Hearing her remarks, Caesar simply smirked and didn't mind her annoyance. "That's the way it is, Mercedes. You must complete the mission before the end of the week and find the one that's managing the criminal underworld of this fortress city."
"Yeah, yeah, I'll prepare myself."
Mercedes didn't want to hear more and walked back to the inn to prepare herself. Before entering the front door, Caesar threw something at Mercedes. It was an old fox mask created in the eastern region of the Imperium.
"I got this mask during my travels. Take care of it and make sure to hide your identity well." Caesar expressed and Mercedes lightly nodded in understanding. She opened the front door and entered the inn, navigating towards her room.
Arriving at her room, Mercedes stepped in front of her wardrobe and sighed in relief. "Looks like my urge to buy cool clothes was a piece of good news."
Mercedes opened her wardrobe revealing tons of clothes she had bought using the old man's money. She wasn't slightly bothered by her waste spending since it was the old man who gave her a large sum of money to use.
Nonetheless, the feeling of buying too many clothes that couldn't even be used every day was bothersome inside her head. Her heart got the good of her during the shopping spree.
Mercedes then took a dark cloak with a hoodie and wore jet-black cargo pants. Under her dark cloak was a white tank top, and along with it was a pair of combat boots. There was also a utility belt around her waist, which she finally equipped with daggers.
While it would have been preferable to have a gun. The graduation mission was for her training in the Imperial Grim Art to shine. Smuggling arsenals was also not easy and would give suspicion towards the old man.
"This will be a bloody night," Mercedes quietly muttered to herself before gazing through the window. The skies were embraced by darkness along with thousands of twinkling stars. It was clear of any clouds, signifying a calm night.
It was unfortunate to start her operation on such a calm night. However, Mercedes didn't want to waste any more time. She needed to complete the graduation mission and finally achieve the special quest. After all, she was missing her home.
'I'm finally reaching the end,' A quiet thought emerged in Mercedes's head.
Her preparation had reached its completion and it was time to start the massacre.
The mission that was given by the old man was a task of four. The first one was the eradication of local gangs. The second was the destruction of all their properties. The third was the collection of their wealth. And the fourth was the assassination of the criminal leader.
It was a simple graduation mission.
"I have a feeling that the old man is using me," Mercedes mumbled to herself and opened the window. It resulted in the breeze of wind blowing inwards which caused her brunette hair to ruffle along with the cold air.
Looking down at the ground, Mercedes hopped from the window and smoothly landed without dirtying her clothing. She swiftly disappeared afterward and became one with the darkness.
A couple of minutes later, a figure was seen jumping from one roof to another as silent as the wind. The citizens navigating through the streets didn't notice the strange figure and went on with their lives. However, some noticed it, particularly gang members.
"Did you notice that?"
"Notice what?"
A gang member questioned, wondering what his ally had seen in the darkness of the night. The one who noticed the figure shook his head and thought that it was nothing but his head playing games with him.
"Never mind, I thought that someone was the-" Before he could continue, he felt a cold pointy metal pointed at his neck. His eyes turned sideways and noticed the gang member beheaded. Beside him was a dark cloak figure holding a dagger.
The one he had seen jumping across the roofs of the buildings.
He squinted his eyes as the dark cloak figure questioned him with a rather hoarse voice. "Where is your base of operation? Reveal it to me." Hearing the words of the strange figure, he realized who the figure was.
"You're an avenger, right? You must be trying to avenge your loved ones who got caught up in the criminal underworld. But you're trying to puncture a wasp nest. A dangerous one that covers the entirety of the city. I suggest you to give up."
"Otherwise, you'll experience a fate worse than death." He said with a warning tone, trying to make the dark-cloak figure spare his life. Also, within his mind, he wasn't planning to let the dark-cloak figure go. Revenge was already in motion within his thoughts.
Without warning, the dark cloak figure punctured through his neck. It caused blood to spurt out of his throat, making him fall backward while holding his wound.
*Thud!*
He looked at the strange figure with a shocked expression plastered on his face. He finally perceived the face of the dark cloak figure and saw a fox mask. His gaze trembled before the figure dislocated both of his legs.
The man was forced to suffer instead of dying smoothly. His blood kept spurting out of his body, creating a silent and cold pain. The dark-cloak figure disappeared in the shadows, while the man mustered his strength to write something with his blood.
A couple of hours passed since the incident in the alleyway. The golden sun has risen from the lines of the boundless horizon, and news has spread throughout the fortress city. A strange figure, speculated to be an avenger, has destroyed a couple of local gangs.
It was a massacre as bodies were left behind, shrouded with blood-crimson puddles. The authorities were investigating the case, though many local gangs were on high alert.
In the alleyway where the first incident happened, the garrison was investigating the two victims. One had been beheaded while the other died because of blood loss.
Both of them have connections to the criminal underworld. So it was ruled that the case was connected to the Avenger massacre. But the investigators of the case noticed something written on the wall.
"Fox mask?" An investigator questioned which made the other one squint his eyes. The other one then calmly remarked to his partner. "It must be a clue regarding the avenger. The suspect must be wearing a fox mask to hide his identity."
"I see... Though, why should we seek justice with these bastards? I thought that they were criminals?" The investigator expressed with a tone of annoyance. He didn't want to be the dog of criminals, so he wanted to stop aiding this investigation.
His partner, on the other hand, was curious about their suspect. "It is the law to not murder any human being. So as law enforcers, it is our duty to protect the city from a murderer."
Hearing his words, the investigator sneered. It was irritating to hear the words 'Justice' in their line of work. That word had lost its meaning ever since the beginning of the Heavens Fall.
"Justice, huh? Makes me wonder why criminals are walking free throughout the city. It doesn't look like justice to me. From the looks of it, those at the top are afraid of someone rocking their position." The investigator uttered with contempt.
His partner sighed and decided to not continue the bickering. It was a waste of time, and it wouldn't help them in catching the suspect. As he left the crime scene, he looked back at the investigator.
"There's nothing we can do about it. It's the orders of the higher-ups."
"Tsk!" The investigator clicked his tongue and followed his partner. In the fortress city, justice was merely a husk of its former name. It was nothing but a word used to manipulate the citizens of the city. Those who used it for manipulation were worse than the criminals.
A few days passed since the massacre of the local gangs in the fortress city.
Ever since the first day of the massacre within the criminal underworld, continuous killings have spread throughout the city. Local gangs died off from the alleyways one by one as the streets began to calm down.
The opinion regarding the avenger, who was now known as the demon fox, had changed for the better. However, the citizens were still afraid of the demon fox, especially with the ways it killed its enemies. The demon fox always beheads the sinners, like the executioner of god.
The citizens knew that they weren't saints. And while not vile like criminals, they weren't exactly as innocent as a usual ordinary human. They all had crimes that could be punished by the demon fox.
Anyhow, within a particular warehouse near the outskirts of the fortress city, thunderous gunshots reverberated throughout the air.
*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*
Flashes of glimmering light could be seen on the windows, flickering every second. Screams also sounded afterward, and a minute later, silence covered the warehouse. The warehouse was homed to the operational base of a drug lord within the northern side of the fortress city.
He was a powerful man and had various connections with local gangs. It was the reason why he was the one in power in the north. However, it all changed when numerous attacks spread all over the fortress city. Local gangs were being snuffed out, one after another.
The remaining survivors were planning to have a final stand and the drug lord was the one sponsoring it. He used all of his men to protect him and aid the remaining criminals in executing the demon fox.
But the demon fox was too powerful for them to handle. Under the dark, the criminals died without even having the chance to fight back. Their guns were useless as the demon fox would appear between each of them. Each time they fired, they would hit their allies.
There were some who tried to have a close-quarters combat with the demon fox. But they were soon beheaded a second later. Half an hour had passed since the siege and the drug lord was the only one that remained in the warehouse.
He was kneeling on the ground with his hands raised. Crimson blood was splattered around his body as heavily breathing for air. His heart thumped like an iron hammer beating his chest. It was hard for the drug lord to calm down.
"The one leading the criminal underworld of this city is-"
The strange figure beside the man carefully listened to his words. After hearing the things it wanted to hear, the dark cloak figure gazed at the man and swung the dagger through his neck. The man was then beheaded and fell forward to the floor.
*Thud!*
The strange figure, known as the demon fox, slowly walked away from the corpse of the drug lord. Surrounding the corpse were dozens of beheaded people, lying lifelessly on the ground. Puddles of blood were everywhere along with a hill of corpses.
This was the rise of the Demon Fox.