Year 952, day 260, Elfen territory, Border town with Mercy, 07h.

.

.

In the lighted stone house of the Nevin family, Kalui, Whiger and Kahyu sleep in the same room, each on one of the three mattresses together. The tiger boy's leg rests on the belly of his sister and friend.

The sunlight through the round window slowly rises until it reaches the faces of the three children.

It has been almost a month since the last sword training. As usual, Kalui sleeps at his friends' house whenever their parents intend to make delicious food.

With almost absolute silence, only the birds singing, Laruel opens the door to the children's room, speaking very loudly:

— Breakfast! You don't even wake up with the sun on your face !?

Frightened, Kalui and Kahyu wake up to Laruel's call, but Whiger just grumbles under his breath:

— Just one more hour ... Ok?

— Children ... Until Whiger wakes up, nobody eats.

The moment Laruel utters those words, the two rise from the mattress and begin to tickle Whiger and shake him until he wakes up.

Later that day, after lunch, someone knocks on the door and Bend runs to answer it. Upon opening, he is surprised to see his savior, the lord merchant.

— Come on, how long, Mr. Eliot!

— Hello, Bend! Your kids gave me a hard time!

The elderly gentleman is dressed in a light colored cloak and a summer outfit underneath, in addition to a light brown beret.

Bend opens the door to his home.

— Come in, come in. I will prepare tea for you.

— Oh! Thank you very much. — Eliot says, walking next to Bend to the living room. — How's your wife's beast? Is it in the garden?

— She is fine! It must be ending now in the vegetable garden. My children and their little friend are helping.

— Understand. But going straight to the point, I managed to sell the eggs. It was pretty easy actually.

— I'd forgotten about those eggs. The kids were so excited about it. It was really cute! — Scratching his head, he asks. — But then ... How many pennies did the two giant eggs give?

Eliot looks at his old friend with a suspicious look. When he raises his finger and opens his mouth to start talking, Bend interrupts him by saying:

— Wait a second, I'll get the tea first.

— It's all right.

"These kids ... Didn't they tell their parents?"

A few minutes later, Laruel's husband returns with the tea.

— Before we drink, dear Bend, please call your family.

He puts the tea on the table and says:

— Sure, I'll go right now.

With everyone in the room sitting at the table, the two children can barely contain their excitement.

— So, kids. You clearly didn't tell your parents about the eggs. I believe that the shock will be great for them, you little pests.

He looks at his parents in distress and places a small cloth bag on the table, closed by a rope.

— Is that the payment? — Bend says anxiously. — Really, it seems to have a lot more copper than I imagined! Haha ha...

The old merchant shakes his head.

— Mr. Bend, Mrs. Laruel, open the bag and please don't be scared.

Carefree, the children's mother takes the bag. When opening, pallor takes over your face. She turns the cloth bag upside down, tossing the coins on the table. The sibling couple start to laugh softly while their father's skin also whitens.

“I don't understand ... What is it about these golden coins? Roldi has a lot too. ”, thinks Kalui.

Stammering, Laruel asks:

— Mister Merchant ... Is that for real?

Before Eliot could explain, Whiger jumps out of his chair, saying:

— Each egg was worth 8 gold coins!

— Roldi will kill you ... — Kalui says, shaking his head. — He forbade us to sell or show it to anyone, remember?

Totally ignoring his friend, Kahyu comments:

— They are happy? Now our life will change forever!

The parents remain silent, pale, staring at the gold coins thrown at their table.

— Give your parents time, young people. — Eliot says, getting up. — I will withdraw now.

The couple of brothers bow to the merchant and say:

— Thank you very much, sir!

Kalui does not take his eyes off his friends, with a serrated look.

Still bewildered, Bend wakes up from his crisis of astonishment to open the door.

— Mr. Eliot ... Is this money really legal and ours?

— Calm down, young Bend. Don't lose your trust in me. The eggs that their children brought were sold legally in the Elfen Guild. Keep calm.

Bend takes a deep breath. Clearly calmer, he replies:

— It's all right. I don't know when the plug will fall! Hahaha ... I will talk to my wife now. Thank you very much for coming.

In farewell, the merchant takes off his beret, bows slightly and leaves.

A few minutes later, everyone is still facing the coins thrown on the table. Kahyu and Whiger keep smiling, excited about what their parents will say. Kalui remains seated, bored and restless, swinging his legs and the children's parents gradually come to their senses.

— Bend ... Husband ... This is real, isn't it?

— Yes. — He answers, slowly getting excited. — It's real, honey!

Laruel and Bend get up from the chair, and his wife throws herself into his arms, emotional and hysterical.

— My god, love! — She says with her face glued to her husband's. — What will we do!

He spins his body, dancing with her on his lap.

— I can't imagine what you can do! But one thing is certain. — Bend says while dancing.

— Uhum! Uhum! — She says shaking her head.

— Let's go to capital, my wife! Buying land outside the walls, but very close, where we can cultivate at will. A lot of ground! To buy many animals too.

— What for an empty land, love? We are going to buy a house with land soon. We no longer need Kahyu to build anything for us!

— That's a great idea, rich lady Laruel.

— Thank you very much, Mr. Rich Bend!

— We will also pay for Elfen's citizenship, so that children have access to the prestigious schools there!

Kalui raises his arm, saying:

— No need for me, thank you very much.

Again, Kalui is totally ignored and the parents continue to dream:

— Husband, when are we going ?!

— Calm calm. We will talk to the children and also ask if Roldi wants to go along. He's already part of the family.

— Truth. Children, what do you think !?

That was everything the sibling couple expected. Shouting, Kahyu replies:

— Can you be a princess ?!

Parents laugh at their daughter's cuteness.

Impatient and concerned, Whiger asks:

— Could you tell Roldi this yourself when he comes to get Kalui? He's going to be a beast with us ...

— We talk to him. Leave it to me. — Bend says, stroking his son's head. — I'm proud of you two. They have completely changed our lives, even though you are so young ... Daddy loves you very much!

— Mom too!

The father claps a palm and says:

— Well, tomorrow I will start looking for people to talk about buying the land. The sooner the better! The furniture and tools we will buy all new. We can give this house here to your little friend who lives in a barn with his family.

— That's it, husband!

— That's it, Dad! — Says Kahyu, excited. — Let's go!

— You're welcome! I was the one who had the idea to sell ... Hehehe! Let's go to the capital! — Celebrates Whiger.

Calming down a little, Laruel asks:

— Kalui, when is Roldi coming for you?

— He said he's taking the time alone to relax. You must come and pick me up in two or three days.

.

.

.

.

Year 952, day 249, Elfen territory, Sewers in the city of Elfen, 13h.

.

.

Somewhere in the sewer network, underground in the capital of Elfen, eight large tunnels of dirty water connect, forming a large hall. In the tunnels, there is a small part above the water level, designed for two people to be able to walk smoothly. The dimly lit room, on the other hand, is all elevated, allowing dozens of people to get together without getting dirty. Like the vast majority of constructions in the world, the sewer network was also made by stone elementals and therefore, the construction is smooth and compact, without bricks or the like.

Forty hooded people, dressed in black, with only their hands and feet exposed, line up for the announcement of a single man, who wears a luxurious suit.

— Most should imagine, since you were the ones who discovered the information, but anyway ... — The advertiser raises his arm. — New request! This time it's from a very fat nobleman. The mission is to find two children.

One of the people in the first row of the alignment lifts his hand to his chest and says:

— Sir, could I stay out of this ?!

The man in charge replies:

— Calm down, Natu. I know you don't do missions involving children, rest assured. Any more comments? — He raises his voice and opens his eyes wide. — I will not allow another interruption. Any more comments?

— No sir! — Answer the forty people.

— Coming back ... The mission is to find two children. According to the conversation you heard from the merchant with the guild attendant, these two children were able to get two very rare eggs, impossible to find normally, on their own. The idea is to convince them to come with us, if they are alone. Buy them if your parent allows or kidnap them at any cost. — He snaps his fingers pointing at one of the men in the crowd and then a stone bench emerges from the floor. As he sits down, he continues. — You will arrive at the border town, you will find the children and act immediately. Other groups may be after them too, so you need to be quick. In the worst case, if the guardian does not want to sell the child, kill him by surprise. Imagining that children are powerful, there's a chance that they inherited this from the family, so don't take any chances. Bring them alive at any cost.

He gets up and points to certain people. Those selected are three people with a thin red band on the edge of the hood.

— You three, choose two men each and go now! The rest is excused.

— Yes sir! — Shout the squad.

.

.

.

.

Year 952, day 262, Elfen territory, Forest of the border town with Mercy, 08h.

.

.

Nine men, dressed in black hoods and cloaks, wake up around a recently extinguished fire. The first to get up, with a red band on the edge of the hood, says:

— Wake up! Time to work.

The second hooded to wake up also has a red stripe on the edge of the hood. When she gets up, she moves her hands and manipulates the water in the bucket near the fire, dividing it into small portions and throwing it in the face of everyone who is still lying down.

— Get up! — Says the woman.

— Yes, Mrs. Alice! — Answer some of the men.

Later in the day, the three hooded with red bands talk. The most muscular, with green eyes, says:

— Rayrin, I know that you are new and just arrived, already being appointed as captain, but rest assured that I know the pressure it is. I just ask you not to do shit. Be quiet and do what we say.

Stuttering, he replies:

— Okay, you can leave it, Mr. Zack.

"Because the strongest one is soon a coward ..." , thinks Alice.

.

.

.

.

Year 952, day 262, Elfen territory, Border town with Mercy, 10h.

.

.

A humble green—eyed gentleman, neighbor of the Nevin family, watches from the window of his house on the third floor, the arrival of the squad of nine people in the village. Luckily, they pass by the house of the siblings without realizing it, since it is the first house in the village, if it comes from the forest. As the mysterious group leaves that street, the humble man leaves his home and runs into the forest.

The squad disperses, each member in a part of the village, secretly looking for someone with the children's descriptions.

.

.

.

.

Year 952, day 262, Elfen territory, Village Forest bordering Mercy, 11am.

.

.

An hour after the squad arrives, someone knocks on the wooden door. Upon opening the door, the strong forest breeze invades the house.

The humble lord, tired and panting, exclaims:

— People ... Strange people ... They arrived in the village ... Nine ...

Startled, Roldi holds the man's hand, saying:

— Calm down, Mr. Revin. Breathe. What were they like?

The man rests his hands on his knee and says breathlessly:

— There were nine men in black, hooded ... Three of them with a red detail. You couldn't see the faces.

Roldi places his hand on Revin's shoulder, while his skin reddens and thick veins bounce throughout his body, at the same time as his skin hardens.

— Revin, rest at my house. Need to go. On the way back I pay you the gold coin.

.

.

.

.

Year 952, day 262, Elfen territory, Village on the border with Mercy, 11am.

.

.

Someone knocks on the wooden door, while Laruel and Bend prepare lunch for the children who are napping before lunch. The woman runs to answer, opens the door and says:

— Hi!

She comes across three people. The youngest, Rayrin, widens his eyes, staring at Laruel.

The mother suspects them and asks with a frightened look:

— Who are yo-

Before he could finish, the frightened Rayrin held out his palms and, from them, a flare of fire emanates towards Laruel. Zack strikes his companion with a strong umbrella, throwing him on the wall and making him stop. But there is nothing else to do, the strong fire completely covers the woman's body, dying instantly without even screaming.

The husband, still in the kitchen, is startled by the light coming from the entrance to his house, but even so, he goes towards the light, slowly.

— Damn Rayrin! — Alice holds the newbie by the collar. — What did you do, you fucking kid!

Zack takes his hand to the face and says:

— For that I didn't expect to, Rayrin. Blurred with fear, kid? — Laughing, he continues. — Well, now we have nothing to do. At least we can take the money and say we bought them! — He opens his arms and exclaims to the rest of the group, who are outside the house, watching. — Let's see the bright side! Extra money for everyone!

Furious, Alice punches Rayrin in the stomach with a punch, while saying:

— Let's get this over with.

Hearing Zack's speech, Laruel's husband runs across the room to see what's going on. When he turns at the corner of the entrance, he finds the three people at the door and just in front of them, a human being lying on the floor, with his head against the wall; burning, unrecognizable, with clothes and skin totally melted.

Bend spends a few seconds staring at the body, then a few seconds staring at the three people, totally paralyzed and with panicked eyes. Zack faces him, laughing, with the body hardened and thin veins protruding by the body. Rayrin lowers his head, bowing. Alice looks into the man's eyes and says:

— My bad.

Hearing these words, Bend is overcome by hatred and screams to attack the woman, but he is hit by Zack, with a strong punch in the face, popping his nose and throwing him away, leaving him passed out between the entrance of the house and the living room.

— Ah! I hate getting my hands dirty! — He says as he shakes his arm, and wipes his hands on the wall. — Rayrin, take advantage of the fact that you already burned one and burn the other, please.

He stretches out his palm again and sets fire to the man passed out on the floor. The three enter the house, dodging the two bodies on the way.

With the noise generated by the confusion, Whiger wakes up, sleepy. Without haste, he walks slowly, to see what is happening. When he leaves the room, he is faced with a strong and tall man, with short dark blond hair, like his. Startled, he asks:

— What are you doing here?

Before the man could answer, Whiger looks to the side and notices a man lying on the floor, burned. Even without being able to recognize the appearance, the boy understands that that person is his father. Instantly he turns his nails into claws and jumps on top of the mysterious fortifier in front of him. Zack just holds the boy's arms and throws him away, hitting him hard on the wall.

— Hey! You troglodyte! — Alice says, punching her partner in the back. — Don't hurt the kids too much!

— Calm down, the kid is strong. Anything, Artur is a doctor. Minor injuries will not be a problem.

— In case something happens, I'll end you!

— Ui, ui, ui! — He shakes his hands. — A thousand pardons, I'll be more careful.

With Whiger's impact on the bedroom wall, Kalui wakes up and shakes Kahyu.

— Hey! Kahyu! I think they broke into the house! Wake up please!

The girl wakes up frightened, fully awake. The two run into the room and see Whiger passed out near the wall and the three hooded, with a light of fire coming from the entrance, without noticing Bend's flaming body.

Kalui takes her friend's hand and runs to the kitchen, which is at the back of the house. He opens the wooden window and realizes that the house is surrounded by hooded men. Kahyu doesn't speak or cry, she just curls up in the corner of the kitchen, terrified.

— Kahyu! Kahyu! — He rocks it in despair. — Please help me! I also don't know what to do!

The three intruders walk slowly towards the kitchen.

— Come on, Kahyu!

Kalui takes her friend's hand and takes her running through the other exit from the kitchen. The intruders only watch the two children passing by in their sight. The boy stops with his friend and crouches next to Whiger, trying to wake him up.

— Come on Whiger! — He says as he starts to cry. — Somebody help me!

Zack starts to laugh and says:

— Calm down boy. It's gonna be okay.

The child holds his friend with one hand and drags Whiger by the arm with the other, to the corner of the room.

Kahyu still panicking, just stopping crying without making a sound. Kalui crying screaming and Whiger passed out.

The black-haired child grips his friends' hands tightly and watches the three invaders walking towards him. For him, each step of them lasts an eternity, each meter close to them, is one meter closer to death.

Kalui's fear gradually turns to despair. He starts looking at every corner of the house, looking for a solution, but what he realizes is Bend's body, on fire, besides the firelight of something else.

Memories take over the boy's head, remembering all family gatherings, with and without Roldi; all the laughter, jokes and scolding from the parents of your friends. Little by little, with each recollection, despair turns to hatred. Along with his fury, the air begins to circulate through the room and everything gets heavier. The invaders feel the strange weight and stop moving, being three meters from the boy.

— Hey, are you two feeling it too? — Asks Zack.

Rayrin widens his eyes in fear and opens his hands towards the boy as he screams:

— He's dangerous!

Alice and Zack grab and quickly raise the arms of their companion, throwing the flames of fire towards the ceiling.

Kalui is startled, making sure he doesn't die of luck. At that moment, the remnant of fear that remains is gone, leaving only hatred. The boy gets up and raises his arms, his eyes red with crying.

— Calm down little boy ... Do not try anything that you will regret. You will not be able to hurt us with this wind

Kalui screams with all his strength and quickly lowers his arms; along with the movement, the three invaders fall to the ground with their broken legs forward. Lying on their own legs, they scream in pain. The child continues with his arms lowered and the eyes of the three bleed, next to their noses and mouths. Their bodies start to break and compress, being crushed, as if there were a giant stone on top of them. The floor starts to crack below them, next to the ceiling above. Meat, blood and clothing are the only things visible from the three intruders. The boy screams with even more force than before, with eyes full of water, at the same time that the ceiling in the area where the killers are, collapses.

The crash of the collapse is heard by the other men, who head to the front of the house. With everyone gathered, before the group entered to check what happened, another bewildering sound began to be heard echoing from the forest. An oppressive sound, loud as giant steps.

Away from the confusion, inside their houses and at the end of the street, people simply watch and amazed.

The men raise their guards. The two metamorphic men stab their swords in the floor and take their clothes off, throwing them away. The first one begins to modify its bones, muscles and skin, transforming itself into a black gorilla of two meters and, after finishing the transformation, thick bony plates — like those of a crocodile. — form on your chest and wrists. The second man transforms his legs, arms, shoulders and chest, gradually increasing them, becoming extremely muscular; after finishing, the man removed and imposed the two swords stuck in the ground, preparing for battle.

As the footsteps grow louder and louder, one of the six men outside throws a jet of fire from his hands towards the forest. His fire is much weaker than Rayrin's, both in volume and in heat.

— It's coming, get ready! — Exclaims one of the elementals.

Seconds after starting to hear the loud sound of footsteps, Roldi emerges from the forest, leaping fifty feet at high speed, flying a knee directly into the head of the muscular metamorphic and landing on the ground on top of his headless body.

https://soundcloud.com/oussama—kamili/mozart—lacrimosa

He stands with his back to his enemies, with reddish skin and big bulging veins; wearing only loose black pants, with long wavy hair tied in a ponytail and two giant curved daggers, like crescent moons, held in his hands.

— Hey Hey hey! Is this guy Roldi from Stron !? — Shouts one of the fortifiers.

— Who?! — Answer one of the elementals.

The gray-haired gentleman looks into the eyes of each of the men in black, opens his legs slightly flexed, leans down and punches the floor repeatedly with all his strength; the large impacts raise a cloud of dust that takes over the place completely.

Bearing in mind where the men are, Roldi advances ferociously towards the fire elemental that set the forest on fire, immediately kicking his two legs very hard, dislocating them from his knees and decapitating him as he fell to the ground. No screaming, no sound, an efficient and quick death.

Before the blood gushing from the elemental's neck reaches his feet, Roldi sets out towards Gorilla, who punches him in the chest with a punch before he can attack, knocking him down.

“I didn't expect him to see me in that dust ... Maybe he heard me? Anyway, I underestimated Gorilla. ” thinks Roldi.

The instant the gray-haired lord is knocked down, the big gorilla strikes his opponent's torso consecutively. On the seventh punch, Roldi grabs the beast's arms and pulls it down, striking his forehead with his head. The strong impact breaks your neck back. The sound of the headbutt was louder than the animal's fall.

Hearing the little fight ahead, the last elemental hurls a small amount of water into the sky. By moving your hands, the amount of water increases — The equivalent of a glass turns into a bathtub. — and then a large ice spear forms and is launched in the direction of the sounds.

At the same time that he lowers his arms by the ice spear, Roldi appears in his vision, running with the daggers prepared for the cut; before it can react, the large blade is passed through its throat.

"Only the two fortifiers are left ..." thinks Roldi.

The tension in his shoulders eases and the gray man shouts:

— Kalui! Are you alright?!

Hearing the cry, the remaining men begin to circle their opponent at high speed. One wields a long sword and the other holds two in both hands, an iron with claws that jump between his fingers. The dust curtain has already been lowered and the view is now clearer. The kidnappers are already able to see the bodies of their friends on the ground, but they just keep circling Roldi.

“Did I arrive late? Be well, children! ” thinks Roldi.

Impatient, Roldi advances at full speed against the sword fortifier, crossing his stomach with the black blade.

Choking on his own blood, the man asks:

— How is it possible?

Taking advantage of the breach, the last man jumps and strikes Roldi's back using the weight of his fall, but the thick, pointed and sharp claws of his knuckles break when he hits Roldi's reddish skin.

The gray-haired gentleman turns around slowly, imposing his frightening size difference on the last survivor.

Perplexed by what he just witnessed, the man stumbles on the ground as he picks up his friend's long sword. Roldi approaches him slowly. The hooded man perceives the shadow of his enemy on his back and stands up swiftly turning the sword, using all the force of the swing to strike the reddish lord's neck, but his sword is ricocheted by Roldi's skin, as if he had hit a stone.

The man falls, crawling backward with his back on the floor.

— What are you?! He asks, desperate.

Roldi keeps his daggers in the scabbard around his waist, approaches his enemy, picks up the long sword from the ground and sticks it to the hooded fortifier's thigh.

— Wait here. — Says the gray man.

He runs into the house and stops in front of Laruel's body, still burning.

"It looks like I was really late ... I'm sorry."

Just ahead, he finds Bend's body.

"Please forgive me ..."

His body returns to normal, his eyes fill with water and his face contorts to keep from crying.

“Be well! Be well! ”

Upon entering the room, he sees Kalui and Kahyu crying embraced and Whiger passed out. He crouches in front of them and hugs them saying:

— It's gonna be okay. It's gonna be okay. I promise. I love you, everything will be fine.

He gets up with angry eyes and says:

— Wait here, please.

Returning outside the house, Roldi jumps, falling with his legs between the last hooded one. He removes the sword from his thigh and exclaims:

— You will die! Don't think otherwise. The question is, when are you going to die? Suffering too quickly or suffering too much for a long time ?! It's your choice! Start talking about why you are here!

Lying in a pool of blood, trembling in pain, with a pale face, the man replies:

— We overheard an old man's conversation with the Guild. He sold two Haast eggs, so we broke into the document area and stole his sales record. The idea was to try to buy but something went wrong…

"From the record, this scum discovered the real salespeople ... The Guild's incompetence is also to blame." thinks Roldi.

— Is there anyone else with you? Who are you! — Roldi asks as he spins the stabbed sword.

The man screams in pain and after a few seconds he replies:

— No, sir ... The three elite members ... They were inside the house ... Since you ... I imagine they were killed ... They were ... Elite members ... The commanders of mission. We are just ... Subordinate ... The organization has no name ... Only mercenaries from Elfen led by a guy who also doesn't know his name ...

“The children sold the eggs ... I was naive to think that they would obey me. Why didn't the parents tell me? Didn't they know it too? ” thinks Roldi.

— So the scum came to kidnap two children, murdering their parents. Do you think this deserves forgiveness?

— I am not to blame, sir. I just obey orders ... We were just reinforcement. We didn't do anything, sir.

Roldi removes the sword from the man's thigh and strikes his leg in the same place repeatedly while shouting:

— Do you really think you are not to blame for their death !?

The right leg is pulled out and soon after it starts hitting the other, at the same time that the man screams desperately.

— They were ... — Roldi shouts. — They were great people!

The other leg is pulled out and he starts to hit one of the arms, while the hooded man cries, in silence.

— You don't deserve the opportunity to live!

The right arm is amputated and he starts to hit the last member of the man with the sword, but the life of his eyes is gone.

— You fucked up those kids' lives!

After separating the left arm from the body, Roldi repeatedly strikes his chest with the sword.

— You are monsters! Monsters! You bastards! Damn you!

He tosses the sword away and throws himself on the ground, with shaking hands and his body completely dirty with the blood of several men. Sitting beside the dismembered body, he screams with all his soul to the sky.

After a few minutes looking at the floor, incredulous of what happened, Roldi gets up.

“I need to compose myself. Children need me. ”

He wipes the blood from his feet on the dismembered man's face; his face and hands, he wipes on the black clothes that are lying on the floor and then he enters the house.

The three children continue in exactly the same way as before. Between them and the bedroom door, blood begins to drain from the stone debris on the fallen ceiling.

He crouches in front of them, wipes the tears from Kalui and Kahyu's eyes, and says:

— We need to get out of here, kids. Kahyu, give Kalui your hand and follow me.

He picks up Whiger and leaves the house. The blue-eyed boy holds on to Roldi's baggy pants as he follows.

"What should I do now?" thinks Roldi.