The Ansu

When Mi-sun's katana and the man's claw hand met, sparks flew. His hand was as hard as steel and it was made of scales. His nails were as sharp as razors, Mi-sun knowing she had to stay away from them.

In just three seconds they had exchanged dozens of blows with close calls on both sides.

The man backed away trying to gather himself for a second round, but Mi-sun charged in after him, not allowing him to breathe. She could not afford him breathing out his poisonous green gas again.

In a fight, depending on incantations was dangerous as your opponent would not allow you to finish them and you needed a decent amount of concentration to cast them.

The man grimaced because of her fighting ability. It seemed that showing her his ability at the beginning was a mistake. He had tried to get the upper hand and it had backfired.

He dodged as the katana was aimed at his head. Him, tilting it sideways as it sliced his cheek.

He lifted his hand to push it away, but Mi-sun had turned the blade and made it face downward, pushing it down against his shoulder and pulling it towards her. The move living a deep gash on the man's shoulder.

His skin was hard but not as hard as his hands. He moved away and that was when Nolamine was hit by the Sepcapto. The two looked at his fight for a split second before looking at each other and concentrating on their own fight again.

The man's grimace turned into a smile while Mi-sun's motherly instincts towards him turned her into a monster. She wanted to finish the fight and go help him before anything irrevocable happened to him.

Again, not allowing him the space to breathe, she dashed in, her attacks fueled with purpose. She had to stop and go no the defense as the man had something up his sleeve.

The whole of his arms had turned whip-like, resembling a snake. His train of attack had changed and it was like she was fighting against a person using two whips to attack her.

The man had something else up his sleeves, his confidence was boosted after seeing Nolamine on the back foot for that instance.

He opened his mouth and smoke could be seen in it, resembling a needle as it rotated at an incredibly high speed. It was an attack that allowed the smoke to drill into its victim, infecting her with poison as it did.

As he looked at his victory on the horizon, he laughed inwardly as he thought of the bounty he was going to collect. To him, there was no way Mi-sun could dodge his whip attacks and the needle at the same time, and she was in close range.

That confidence was his downfall. The smoke needle launched and to the credit of his attack, it was as fast as a bullet.

What he failed to take note of was her bracelet. If he had Nolamine's eyes, he would have realised that it was special.

'Bellator' was the word meant to activate the incantation she cast, boosting her strength and speed together with her defenses. 'Spiritus' was the bracelet's name. It, activating after the incantation and calling its name. It was for this very reason, to protect her against projectiles.

The smoke needle hit a shield that instantly sprung up when it launched. She had put her wrist in front of her, knowing what would happen. When the needle hit the shield, the smoke dispensed and it was still activated. She had not canceled it and it was for a reason.

Like a Spartan, she leaped at him with her shield up. She had put all her strength on her legs as she did so. The man was still surprised after seeing his perfect attack fail, but his arms were still whipping about.

They hit the shield as she crashed into him. Hitting him with her full body weight and the momentum behind her leap. The man was knocked off of the ground as he flew away and hit a car. The impact momentarily dazing him.

She instantly got to him and a punch met the side of his face, hitting him right next to his left eye. Her punch was full of power, making his eye pop out as his head hit against the car. Unfortunately for him, she was not finished.

She stepped to the side and ruthlessly stabbed his throat, making blood gush out his mouth. She pushed the katana sideways, making it cut his throat open.

She had to make sure he was dead. So, she backed away to the side to look at him and see if she killed him for sure.

'These Ansu bustards are troublesome to kill. Sometimes dismembering them is the only way to make sure they stay dead just like beasts.'

She thought as she took a look at Nolamine and to her surprise, she saw him killing the Cabol in style. Seeing that he was managing himself, she stood and watched as she heard the man's heart slowing down.

As it stopped, she watched Nolamine throw Tobi, her kunai at the Sepcapto with it only as lethal as the sound it made when the flat side of the blade hit it.

She laughed inwardly. Her sense of agency and worry taken away by the act. After seeing him killing it, she could not help but comment on the throw. That was until she saw him vomit.

At that point, she knew what she had to do. Tough love was the only thing he needed right now from her for the journey he had resolved himself to take.

She looked at him while looking at the sea as the plane flew. She had to do something to take his mind out of the abyss of uncertainties he was going through.

"The Ansu... Knowing you, I thought you would be a tad bit curious about them."

She said, baiting him in, and it never failed, as she knew him even though not spending time with him that much. Learning new things was what kept him alive.

In school, he would read ahead when learning something new that interested him, but would quickly get bored once he understood it. That was one of the reasons he seemed disinterested in class all the time.

Nolamine finally turned around and looked at his aunty, not talking but his eyes showing he wanted to know.

"Awe, not talking yet, then I guess you do not want to know."

"Yes, yes, yes... I do want to know. They might come after me, you know."

He was back. Mi-sun smiled inwardly.

"They are..."

"Can we get some food first? I am really, really hungry."

He said, to the annoyance of Mi-sun. She wanted to clobber him right then.

After getting some snacks, she continued.

"They are part of an organization that opposes us. They called themselves 'The Light'. They want to shine light upon the truth of the world, that everything you know now exists."

"I'm guessing that that would be a bad thing?"

"Well, yes, and since I gave you snacks, why don't you tell me what's so bad about it?"

She said, still trying to settle his feelings about killing people. Nolamine thought for a while and it all went back to Miss Park's class. What she had said during her class about mythical creatures and what he experienced in the parking lot.

"If so many people believe in the supernatural, ghosts, beasts, and the like, that would weaken The Veil? and just like I had stepped into it and came back with a beast after I saw it, many could experience something similar."

"You know, I never doubted how smart you are."

She said messing up his hair.

"In fact, it would be much bigger than that. Our world has little to no defenses to The Veil, unlike the other world that has mana. It, just being there between the two worlds but our world only managing to keep it at bay. If they succeed in making everyone believe in The Veil and it's monsters, then our world and The Veil would combine and be one. Monsters would room the Earth."

She said, but Nolamine still had many questions.

"The key here is 'believing', not ' faith', which is a discussion for another day as much power comes from it. I am talking about seeing something in order to believe it. That's how much it takes for such an event that happened to you to come through, though that in itself would be difficult as I believe it was because of your mother's eyes that you saw The Veil during the storm."

She stopped for a second to make what she said sink in.

"That is why ghosts that haunt people start out weak, they are fazing in and out of The Veil. But, Nolamine, what is for this world stays in this world. Do not go on to the other world expecting that the same rules and concepts apply there."

Nolamine nodded. Many of his questions had been answered even though he had more.

"The Ansu, their name meaning 'Ray of light', believing to be reborn as the symbol of ecstasy once they have gone through their rituals and who I have already stated are part of 'The Light', fuse themselves with beasts using ancient forbidden techniques and rituals, many involving sacrifices. Sometimes something horrendous comes out of their fusion and sometimes it is acceptable in their standards, as some come out looking like Elon but with the beast's power. But if the person is weak mentally, they can be taken over by the beast's mind."

Nolamine was now feeling a little better about having such a person not rooming the streets anymore.

"The underground is a place where people like them, us, including witches and shaman go to exchange materials we need to grow our power."

Mi-sun concluded

'Wonder why she would be wanted with a price over her head then?'

He thought, not wanting to ask, as he would tell when she did not want to entertain a subject.

The plane landed and at last, they had arrived in South Africa.