「Melas Castle – The night after the siege」

The siege of Melas was already over, a verdict had been agreed from the negotiation between the human forces and demon forces. The humans would had to retreat away from Melas castle, but in return, they would be granted safe passage from the demon forces, safe retrieval their own dead soldiers and the right to reclaim Origen’s shield, the Evalach. The negotiation seemed a bit uneven for the demons, simply because the human had one advantage over the demons on the negotiation table. Nonetheless, the demons took any chances they got to kick the humans away from Melas. Despite being the victor in the end, the demons of Melas felt like they lost more than what they gained from the victory.

That was the reason why by the time of nightfall, there were no feast or celebration inside Melas castle, only tired soldiers who luckily managed to survive this ordeal, who were sleeping like dead men, awaiting a whole new busy day after they woke up.

For a mysterious infiltrator hiding in the shadow, was there a better chance than this moment to sneak inside the castle?

“Arghh!”

Two demon soldiers dropped dead on the ground after having a throwing dagger went through their neck, right at the unprotected part of their armor. The reason for their swift death was simple: they were standing guard at the Chapel. The unknown infiltrator who cloaked himself in a tattered black shroud didn’t have any personal vendetta against them, the soldiers were just unlucky that they were assigned here the moment the infiltrator arrived.

“…”

Two dead corpses lied on the ground, blood flowed out of their neck and soaked the dirtied floor in red. If another guard came by, it would be a pain to escape without a fuss, but the infiltrator didn’t care enough to clean up his mess. His business in the chapel would be quick, and by the time the demons even realized what was going on, he would be long gone by then.

The infiltrator cloaked in black entered the chapel. The mess inside did not spark anything inside his heart. No matter what kind of battle that happened here, it interested him none. He walked past the corpses and items lying on the ground. Origen, hero to men, villain to demons; a nameless corpse of a nameless soldier, whose name would be remembered by none; and Evalach, a Hundred Regalia, a weapon worth the treasury of a small kingdom. But none of them interested the unknown infiltrator, his sole objective didn’t lie with them, it lied with what was hidden beneath the chapel’s underground, where the barrier protecting Melas castle once was.

The man descended to the underground, through the tunnel and arrived at his location. The faint light on the walls illuminated the hidden room. In the middle of the round room lied the remains of a broken crystal which used to act as the barrier of Melas castle. With the destruction of the barrier, the magic that sapped away intruders’ life force had been turned off, allowing the mysterious man to enter without any fuss.

-So it’s here…

The man mumbled to himself. Even in a mess that is this room, there still lied another undiscovered treasure unbeknownst to anyone.

In the middle of the crystal fragments was a sword. A broadsword. It was sword unlike others, in a bad way. Rather than a fancy sword that screamed extraordinary and superior craftmanship, the broadsword on the ground was rusty from the tip to the handle. Even if someone sold it for free, nobody would even want such a junk in their house. It made one question why there was such a thing inside a place as important as the room used to held Melas’s barrier core.

But no matter, it was not the infiltrator’s job to doubt, it was his job to act.

The shrouded man held out his hand, preparing to grab the junk sword and made a run for it…

…until he heard footsteps from outside.

-!

Like a rat alerted by the yawning of a cat, the infiltrator swiftly hid in the darkest corner inside the hidden room. The darkness was his friend, as it always was for those whose job is to dwell within the dark. And thus, he waited for what or who was coming to this place at this kind of time.

The footsteps got louder and louder, and eventually, someone appeared from the entrance. Not a group of soldiers searching for an sudden infiltrator in the night, but a lone man in armor, with bandaged right arm supported by a cast. Judging by his lonesome, the soldier looked like he was sleep walking rather than being alerted by the lying corpses at the chapel’s front door. If he did, the whole castle would be in alert at this moment.

The infiltrator misjudged, he wouldn’t think there would be someone still up right in midnight after a big war like the siege of Melas, but he was more surprised that very person didn’t realize there were two freshly killed corpses that lied literally right at the door.

‘It will be his last mistake.’

The infiltrator prepared a throwing dagger. The soldier’s death would be swift, and his job would be done after he grabbed what he came for and made a run with it in hand. This was simply a mere coincidence, a crazy soldier who was doing things off pattern and would die a lonely dead inside the secret entrance. It would be quite a mystery for other demon soldiers, but the infiltrator did not care.

Suddenly, the soldier with the bandaged right arm walked toward the center of the room, where the rusty broadsword was lying. He picked the sword with his intact left arm and examined it through the visor of his helmet. The infiltrator felt a chill down his spine for a brief moment, thinking the soldier was after that sword just like he was ordered to.

‘No matter what, he must be brought down’ – thought the man hiding in the dark.

He prepared his dagger. In the next second, there would be another man to join the ranks of the dead.

But suddenly…

-Stop hiding, I know you’re here.

Said the soldier, despite his intense gaze fixed upon the rusty sword.

His words only helped fuel the infiltrator’s desire to kill him as swiftly as possible.

And so, he threw his knife. The knife flew with the speed of a bullet, with strength capable of penetrating iron armors. The moment the knife hit the soldier’s vital, it would be over in an instant.

But it failed. The knife got caught in midair by the soldier’s bandaged right arm. The cast fell off his arm as he caught the oncoming dagger aiming for his life with his fingers. The infiltrator was surprised a simple soldier could react fast enough to catch his dagger, but that was simply the start.

-I said…stop hiding!

The soldier’s bandaged right arm suddenly burst on fire, but despite having a literal burning arm, the soldier did not blur out anything to indicate he was hurt by the sudden fire. The bandage warping his arm came off and turned to ashes, revealing an arm tattooed with glowing magical runes colored in red. One might say it was the source of the fire magic he was using.

Finally, the infiltrator came out of the darkness despite having no sensible reason to, but deep inside, he knew hiding would be useless. The soldier didn’t throw any threats around, but his little show of power was enough to send chill down the infiltrator’s spine. When the infiltrator revealed himself, the soldier made no reaction despite being aware of his presence in the light, even when the infiltrator was now armed with a chain sickle, exotic weapon befitting an assassin in the dark.

-How come someone like you possess the mystical 「Flame Rune」!?

The soldier stayed silent, he didn’t even look at the infiltrator shrouded in black cloak nor response to his question. The only thing he did was to throw the rusty sword at his enemy like it was the most natural thing to do. He didn’t even throw it like a knife capable of killing, he threw it like it was a toy to be carelessly tossed around. Despite catching the rusty sword with ease, the infiltrator stood there in confusion, being puzzled by the unexplained action of a mere soldier who appeared out of nowhere.

-Take it, isn’t it what you came here for?

Said the soldier, with perfect mastery of the human common tongue, the same language used by the infiltrator, if he was even bothered enough to talk again like earlier.

-What do you even want?

Despite having his objective already in his grasp, the infiltrator still remained hostile as he prepared his weapon for a fight. The whole thing was too fishy it made him feel uneasy. The only thing that stopped him from throwing himself at his opponent and slit his throat was because of the Flame Rune embedded on his opponent’s right arm.

-Deliver a message for me.

-What message!?

The infiltrator yelled.

-Tell your master this: 「I’ll come for you, eventually.」

The infiltrator’s hands trembled, but at the very least, he knew his opponent had no desire to fight him…for the time being. Knowing it was the right time to leave, the infiltrator ran away to the entrance without saying anything, and the soldier named Lapidoth did not do anything to stop him.

After the unknown man had left, the soldier simply looked to the ceiling above…

…as if asking for a reason why he did that.