Ena

Ena was a Quartz rank Deva who was in her fifties but due to Devas' incredibly long lifespan, she appeared to be in her early twenties. When she first awaken as a new Deva, she also took the EDF exam but she failed, dooming her life to what it was now.

She had a three years old sick daughter whom she had rained all the money she got from the middle class family she worked for as a low ranked guard but quite unfortunate, the poor girl seemed to be suffering from a congenital soul disorder and she had to hire a mid rank alchemist to get the job done

It was a Quartz rank alchemist that told her this after she spent all her savings to get her to check on her sick daughter and since then she had been buying drugs which could only delay the inevitable.

Ena knew that there were many substandard alchemists who didn't work for EDF or private companies but for them to continue their alchemy job, they involve themselves in many inhumane research such as buying mortal corpses to perform experiments on.

If it was to save her daughter, Ena wouldn't mind getting a mortal corpse to exchange in the underground market for the service of a mid ranked alchemist. She wore a helpless but resolute expression as she got ready to soil her morals for her only daughter.

******

It was midnoon already and Zeralf's outfits still looked clean as if he was not experiencing battle every now and then. He was currently battling a long snake that reached a couple of meters in length, surprisingly, the snake which was brown and about ten centimeters wide actually had the physical strength of a Quartz rank Deva even though it clearly wasn't a Deva.

Zeralf was just here to catch fun as most if not all the vermins could not do anything to him should he take them seriously.

The slithering creature shrunk and expanded creating a recoil force that headed for Zeralf but he was too lazy to dodge, he slashed upward and the arrow edge of his kusarigama sent the snake flying. it collided with some thin trees which broke from the explosive force and the surrounding shrubs smothered.

'' You tried. '' He grumbled in a low voice that only he could hear.

'' I should find the herds of some red rhinos and go back. '' He turned around not sparing another look at the snake's corpses.

He moved through the forest and searched for traces of the herds which were not that hard to find, they eventually led him to a savannah plain where he saw a herd of red rhinos having about a hundred members.

Red rhinos were very popular among mortals for their meat and leather but they were hard to get since they were usually in groups and ordinary hunters need to form parties to hunt just one down. They had canine teeth with powerful bite force and thick horns that could grow up to half a meter in length.

Their attack strength usually stayed at the mortal level but their thick skin could compare with that of a Quartz rank which made them even more difficult to kill.

Zeralf was not concerned with all these though, he was going to enter their ranks and kill every one of them at least with their number they should give him some challenge.

He sent two spatial cuts each reaching a meter in length and they sliced the lower limb of the one closest to him.

'' urggh. '' It screamed in pain which called others' attention.

They all charged at the annoying intruder with the aim to kill and feast on it since he didn't know his place.

Zeralf would not allow them to make physical contact with him, his body was still weak, and being hit by their horn might spell his end.

Zeralf continued launching spatial cuts while teleporting and dodging whenever they came too close. His long white hair danced in the air and his hoodie remained stuck to his thin frame.

The number of the red rhinos had reduced to ten and they were going frenzy entirely. Zeralf just spammed them with his spatial abilities and their numbers dwindled.

He saw one rhino heading for him but he didn't teleport, he was not going to do any fancy move, he would just dodge and retaliate with his kusarigama he felt since their number have reduced, he can test his Zajra on them.

The rhino close in with eyes full of anger as it galloped in ' thud ' sounds raising dirt with his movement. He was a little distance away from attacking Zeralf and the latter finally decided to dodge to his left and twist in midair to attack with a rotating slash.

However, Zeralf's body failed him as he found a golem hand holding his two legs making him lose focus and stopped his movement for a couple of seconds but that couple of seconds decided a lot of things.

'' Doom. '' The rhino collided with Zeralf's body and the latter was flung away, before he could reach the ground another rhino hit him with his horn.

'' Fuck it. '' Zeralf screamed in his head. He was sure something definitely held him when he was about to dodge which caused the delay that led to him being engaged in a frontal assault.

His left lower ribs together with his kidney were pierced by the first attack and the second rhino broke his arm.

Zeralf knew something or someone was apparently butting in, and if he didn't act fast he would be seriously done for. He called back his Zajra and waved his left hand which rained down hundreds of spatial cuts that finished the remaining rhino.

'' That Ki reserve? '' A figure clad in black thought. '' Well he's still a mortal so this should be easy.''

It was the figure of a lady with short thin brown hair and she had been tracking Zeralf for a while now. She was really amazed by how a kid was so skilled at such a young age when he was not even a Deva yet but that steeled her heart further. She could not get herself to kill the child directly so she planned to interfere in his fight thus making the rhinos finish him and everything seemed to have gone as planned with the element of surprise in her reach.

Zeralf's complexion drained off colour as he used his right knee to support himself and blood gushed out of the large wound from his left lower torso and right arm. He knew he might lose consciousness if he bled too much so he did the only thing he thought he should do, cast temporal drag on the wound which slowed down the bleeding process.

He looked ahead and saw a figure with a flabbergasted look staring at him.

'' He survived? '' The female figure wondered.

Zeralf waved his right hand and hundreds of spatial cuts targeted the woman. She was a powerful Quartz rank though full of experience and she was able to dodge them all revealing her haggard expression.

'' Killing people is one of my least favourites but it's still on the list. '' Zeralf muttered with an emotionless face and he teleported twice appearing beside the woman, he swung with his scythe end and slit her throat in a clean cut.

It all happened so fast that she could not keep up with the whole scenario, she had looks of horror, fear, regret, and sadness all over her face as she felt the warm blood gush out from her throat and the taste of iron was surreal.

'' M...y.. my... daugh..'' She tried to rumble something but Zeralf indifferently pulled his scythe back and that ended her.

He didn't feel bitter about Killing someone, and neither would he hesitate to do the same should the scenario repeat itself. He would not interfere in people's business unnecessarily but should anyone cross his boundary, he would literally show them some part of hell he was building for someone.

He walked some distance deep into the forest before he collapsed.

'' Is this how it ends? '' He had conflicted feelings as he thought of this but he eventually passed out.