"Ugh! W-What…?"
Mika, who had unknowingly fallen into a deep sleep, abruptly awoke as a powerful thud struck his back. Swiftly placing both hands on the ground, he hoisted himself up and vigorously shook his head to dispel the lingering drowsiness. Sand cascaded from his back and head, and he realized how he had been buried beneath this sandy mound.
Glancing down at his arms, Mika observed that his dominant hand, which should have been broken, was now already healed. The burns on other parts of his body were almost gone too. He realized that his healing ability had increased since becoming a demon.
"More importantly, what's with this sandy landscape… Ah, right. He must have done it. He saved my life, didn't he?"
Casting his eyes around the surroundings, Mika couldn't help but let out a chuckle, mixed with a tinge of exasperation. The landscape that had been a harvested farmland just a day ago had been transformed into an expansive wasteland of sand that stretched beyond the horizon, all at the hands of a single individual. Faced with such absurd power, all he could do was laugh.
When the eastern horizon began to brighten, signifying the imminent rise of the sun and the arrival of morning, Mika murmured while gazing up at the sky, still adorned with visible stars. "I survived in the end".
"For allowing master Orvo to be killed at the hands of master Karelvo…I apologize to Lord Caspar, who entrusted his sons to me."
Mika's oldest and most vivid memories were of his time working as an assassin. As an orphan, he had been taken in by an organization that no longer existed. From a very young age, he underwent rigorous training, and when he grew up to be a full-fledged assassin, he was engaged in various operations as an active member of the organization.
He excelled as an assassin, always delivering the desired results, regardless of the nature of the orders. Whether it was staging an accidental death, carrying out a gruesome execution as a deterrent, or boldly eliminating targets in broad daylight and making a clean getaway, he had done it all.
However, a turning point arrived for him shortly before he reached adulthood. After completing a challenging mission and returning to the organization's hideout as usual, he noticed a thick, overpowering scent of blood emanating from within. Concealing his presence, he entered the hideout and found himself immersed in a veritable sea of blood.
Scattered among the lifeless bodies strewn about were numerous unfamiliar figures, most of whom were adorned in attire similar to Mika's own. Observing this, he deduced that they must have fallen in a clash against another hostile organization.
Now, if asked whether he would seek revenge, Mika didn't feel any obligation to go to such lengths for the sake of the organization. While his basic needs were provided for, he was constantly subjected to dangerous tasks. Therefore, he sincerely rejoiced in the newfound freedom that came with the organization's demise.
Utilizing his skills as an assassin, Mika began living among ordinary people, blending into society. He ventured to a town slightly distant from where the hideout had been and spent his days working as a day laborer in the slums.
It was during this phase of concealing his true identity and living his life for about a year that Mika faced his second turning point. In the slums where he resided, brawls and conflicts were a daily occurrence, and despite his efforts to avoid them, Mika found himself getting caught up in them from time to time. As a former assassin, dispatching small-time thugs was a trivial matter for him. Hence, he effortlessly silenced those who dared to provoke him.
By sheer coincidence, the father of Karelvo and Orvo, Caspar, happened to witness Mika's display of combat prowess. At that time, Caspar was working as a mercenary spiritualist operating alone, and he recognized Mika's skill and invited him to join his ranks.
Caspar possessed a spirited and open-hearted personality, making him the first person for whom Mika truly felt genuine respect. Naturally, he started using honorifics when addressing him, and while serving as his attendant in daily life, they fought side by side on the battlefield.
Subsequently, Caspar was invited to join the "Seventh Pillar" society, and through that connection, he met and married another spiritualist. Mika faithfully accompanied them as a butler. However, their happiness was short-lived. The couple was blessed with two children but tragically succumbed to a rampant illness at a young age.
Just before their deaths, they entrusted their children to Mika. In response to their heartfelt request, he served them diligently, despite being a mere servant. However, the outcome was nothing short of calamitous. Unable to forgive his own pitiful self, Mika sought a place to die and volunteered for this mission. Yet, due to his resilient demon body, he actually survived.
"Even though there's no worth in my continued existence…huh?"
Just when Mika started mumbling in disappointment, suddenly his keen hearing detected a sound of movement beneath the sand. Swiftly, he placed his hand on his waist, unsheathing a dagger. Then, to his surprise, the sand a little distance away from his location stirred, revealing a white armored arm emerging from within.
When it came to the sight of a white armored figure, there was only one answer. Seeing this, Mika swiftly spread the four wings growing from his back and silently took flight from above, preparing to launch a surprise attack.
"…?"
Just before Mika could pounce, the arm of the white armored soldier emerging from the sand drooped powerlessly. It seemed that its strength had been depleted in the effort to push through the sand. Since there was a possibility that the figure was feigning weakness, Mika remained vigilant as he approached.
He focused his hearing, searching for the soldier's heartbeat and breath. Both were faint, unmistakably indicating that it was near death. With no concern for retaliation, Mika decided to seize the arm and swiftly pulled it out.
"Now that I've survived, I must prioritize my mission. This goes along with the teachings of the 'God of Shadows ' after all."
The god Mika worshipped was a lesser-known god called the "God of Shadows". The ones who followed this faith were individuals who could not stand in the limelight, making it a perfect god for someone like Mika, a former assassin turned servant.
The doctrine stated that, as shadows, they should faithfully support the light. For Mika, his light had been Orvo and Karelvo. Now, he faithfully carried out his duties as a member of the demon unit. That was how Mika interpreted it.
The white armored soldier remained motionless while unconscious. Mika pondered over what to do with this one. The most straightforward and convenient solution would be to kill the soldier. After all, eliminating an elite soldier like the white armored soldier would not be contradictory to the mission's purpose.
"However, capturing him alive would prove more useful than killing him. Now, what should I do…"
After much deliberation, Mika decided to take the soldier back alive. With his decision made, he started removing the armor from the white armored soldier. Although the armor differed significantly from the armor found in the Enzo continent's nations, just like any other armor, it was possible to predict the areas where it should be removed. Mika started by taking off the helmet and mask of the white armored soldier.
As he looked at the face beneath, Mika's eyes widened ever so slightly. The characteristic black hair and blue skin of the invading forces were as expected, but he was surprised by the unmistakably feminine features of the face.
Since she was unconscious, the woman's eyes remained closed, but there was no doubt that she had a well-defined face. However, Mika never let his guard down just because the other party was a beautiful woman. As an assassin, he had been trained to know that beauty was a natural weapon that could make opponents lower their defenses.
Furthermore, no soldier within the coalition army could afford to lower their guard because of their enemy's beautiful appearance, especially if they recognized her as a white armored soldier. Any who did so would either be inexperienced recruits who had never tasted battle or individuals securely stationed in the rear.
"■■… ■■■…!?"
"Don't move. I won't kill you."
As Mika removed the helmet and then the gauntlets and front of the armor from the white armored soldier, the woman within awakened. She attempted to hurriedly rise, but her weakened body prevented her from standing up. While realizing that they couldn't communicate through words, Mika tried to calm her down as gently as possible by speaking in a soothing voice.
However, it didn't seem to have much effect. The woman in the white armored soldier's uniform berated her faltering body, intensifying her fighting spirit to forcibly move her weakened body. With the remaining armored leg, she tried to kick Mika.
Mika swiftly turned his body, flapped his wings, and escaped into the air. The white-armored soldier, witnessing this, attempted to retrieve the discarded armor and gauntlets nearby. However, Mika conjured a powerful gust of wind with his wings, knocking them away.
With a click of her tongue, the white-armored soldier touched the armor around her thighs, causing it to transform into two swords. Seeing her holding a sword in each hand, Mika regretted not killing her earlier.
"I didn't intend to fight… but I suppose there's no other choice."
Mika held a dagger in his right hand, concealing a throwing knife in his left. As the two confronted each other, ready to move at the same time, the white-armored soldier's ankles were grabbed by a black hand emerging from the sand. Before she could shake it off, she was forcefully dragged deeper into the sand.
Buried in the sand from the neck down, the white-armored soldier struggled desperately to break free. However, the sand around her seemed to have turned as heavy as iron filings. Slowly emerging from the sand, between Mika and the white-armored soldier, was the sinister figure of the Hades Scorpion Demon, the owner of the black hands that dragged her inside.
"You're still as skilled at concealing your presence as ever. I'm glad you're alive. And thank you for saving me."
"… "
"■■■! ■■■■!"
Mika touched the ground and holstered his weapons before he expressed his gratitude. The hades scorpion demon merely shook his head slightly, indicating that gratitude was unnecessary. Mika grasped that the other party probably wanted to say that there were no need for thanks, and that was indeed the case.
The hades scorpion demon, still overlooking the struggling white-armored soldier trying to free herself from the sand, lifted the greatsword in his left arm, which he had been holding since emerging from the sand. Then, he prepared to swing it down without a shred of hesitation.
"please wait!"
"■■…!"
"…?"
Mika hastily intervened, halting his actions, and just moments before the sword would have crushed the woman's now terrified face, it was stopped in the nick of time. The hades scorpion demon seemed almost perplexed by Mika's actions, and with a confused face, he looked back at Mika, as if questioning, 'Why did you stop me?'.
Despite having compound eyes and a lack of expressive features due to being encased in an exoskeleton, Mika could still somehow discern the hades demon's emotions. This quirk amused Mika quite a bit, causing the latter to chuckle softly.
"…?"
"I apologize. I was thinking that perhaps we should capture her alive if possible. With both of us, we should be able to bring her back as a prisoner of war, I believe." Mika suggested.
"… "
After a brief moment of contemplation, the hades scorpion demon nodded in agreement. He set aside the great sword he had been wielding and discarded the battle axe his tail was coiled around. Then, without hesitation, he swiftly injected his poisonous stinger into the neck of the white-armored soldier, who had just let out a sigh of relief.