Looming Threat
"AAAAAGGGGHHHHH-"
"KRRREEEEEEEE-"
"IT HUURRRTTTS! IT HURRRRTTTTTS-"
Screams of agony filled the estranged carriage. Layered in lively flesh that seems very much alive, it has become what one would define as a recreation of hell, one crawling with hideous deformed creatures.
SQUISH! SQUASH! SQUISH! SQUASH!
Dressed in an elegant tuxedo, a man in his twenties strode through the horrors cheerfully. With a wide grin on his face, he clicked his new shoes in satisfaction as he turned back to the fully-cloaked figure behind him.
"Is anything wrong, sir?"
"Keke, I didn't expect much but you did a better job than I thought, Jarid." The man spoke, yanking a head that just popped out beneath his feet as if it was the most natural thing, "See? Isn't it cute?"
"It is my honor to receive such praise from you, Master."
Throwing the creature aside, the man was about to take another step when a hand grabbed his ankle.
"Hm?"
"YOU! W@ren't #s supp#sed +o b£ @#####?"
Filled with loathing, the gibberish voice belonged to a scarred deformed face. With half its skins ripped off, it is no longer recognizable to its original form.
"What are you doing, you ungrateful scoundr-"
"Wait." Signaling the cloaked figure to stop, the man knelt down, grinning. "Kuku, what a beautiful little thing."
Gritting its exposed teeth, it tried to swing at the man but he dodged effortlessly, chuckling in the process.
"I can understand." He nodded slightly. "It's very painful, isn't it? But worry not! It will end soon! Soon you will feel rejuvenated! Stronger! Faster! No longer will you be bound by these pitiful human limitations! Isn't it a great thing?"
With an applauding tone, the man shouted from the bottom of his heart, his eyes soon dyed in insanity. Even it was stunned in place by the crazed man.
"What do you humans call it?…Ah, right! A blessing in disguise?"
"Most accurate, Master."
"I know." The man exclaimed confidently, looking at it straight in the eyes. "So behold my benevolence, human! You're personally blessed by me after all."
Spat!
"B#llsh!t!"
"I see. That's fine. I can understand."
Blood was stuck to his face, but the man simply didn't care. His smile persisted, he leaned in even closer to its face as he held it by the chin.
"Let's change the topic then. Mind telling us where the CHILD is?"
***
"Why don't you surrender, little girl?"
"…."
Surrounding a small figure, the Kreej mercenaries scanned her movement cautiously as they contemplated their first move.
Normally, they would've run in and easily subdued the figure. Since these were mostly just first-year students of the prestigious academy, no matter how excellent their talents were, they simply did not measure up to their current strengths.
However, the girl was one of the few exceptions.
At first look, she was just another student of the famed Astrea, wearing the same full-body jet-blue uniform as every other peer.
One'd even assume she belonged to the lucky and usually weaker 5%, seeing her borderline brown color that'd not be present much outside of the Wild West.
That couldn't be further from the truth.
Marked by the distinctive carvings on her dorsals and her face, she was the prodigal daughter of the Drune clan's Chief Giru.
Whilst her true accomplishment wasn't exactly well-known, stories spread far and wide about how she was the deserving heir of the 101, so much that even a nomadic mercenary group like Kreej traveling on the other side of the land would catch the wind of it.
It is a general trend to believe that most of her told feats were exaggerated to an extent like many other wild tales, but one can never be too wary, living on a continent as rough as the Wild West itself.
"Don't blame us for being too rough, girl."
"…."
Since compromising didn't work, the men decided to take action with their own hands.
Sensing bloodlust, the girl also took out a familiar dagger from her little scabbard, ready to take on a fight with her cold, determined glare.
It appeared being in such a disadvantageous position didn't discourage her at all.
***
"Magnificent. Simply magnificent."
Quietly observing from afar, the scrawny man was amazed by the petite girl's performance.
Even though she was surrounded by a well-coordinated group, even though she was fighting alone, she was dominating.
Elegant and alluring, she danced through the narrow battlefield gracefully, evading every strike no matter the range.
She was picking up every Ether trail possible, which usually required deep concentration just to read one, with ease to grasp her entire surroundings and predict - something he could never do.
But then how would he know?
It was merely an assumption, but he trusted his pair of eyes more than anything, and it told him so.
Intuition was also something he always had faith in, which was also why he went ahead with the conclusion so fast.
'Incredible...'
And no, it didn't simply stop there.
As opportunities would present themselves to her, she was also taking down the squad members one by one with relatively no problem. Using only a stolen regular dagger, despite the difference in raw strength and experience, her presence itself engulfed the battlefield.
At this rate, he was starting to believe that she was being undersold instead of exaggerated.
While the inhabitants of Wild West are said to possess an innate growth rate surpassing a regular genius, they're still very much bound by their potential.
More often than not, born in the worst environment to ever exist, the inhabitants' potential with Ether is always limited in exchange for a tough body against the tough conditions. Even bloodlines have to abide by this rule.
Nevertheless, it isn't impossible to possess both.
Right now and right here, there was a living testament that overcame that barrier, or so he wanted to believe.
Born a curious child, he always wanted to taste all kinds of things he deemed "Beautiful".
As he became enamored with her shortly, he wanted to "taste" that "beauty" with his blade.
Unlike Mad Dog, nonetheless, he didn't go in with the intent to lose. He wasn't one to care about honor, and would resort to all sorts of dirty tricks if need be.
"Show me yours, little girl." He mumbled excitedly, sneakily approaching her from a distance. However....
POOOOWWWWW!
The small girl, without warning, was sent flying straight through the door at high speed in a blink of a moment.
In her place was a giant grotesque beast he had never seen before. And yet, the stature and the overwhelming muscle brought a sense of strange familiarity to him.
"Huh-"
SPLASH!
***
"I think the circle was like this…right?"
In front of the sliding door, Rodrick stood still, pondering about the circle he drew from Ether just a few moments ago.
According to the plan, he was to seal it off with a basic sealing circle to prevent sudden intrusion while Jack was sleeping.
But…since he only learns about crafting potions and practicing his arts most of the time, his knowledge in this area is rather lacking. As such, he didn't know why the circle didn't function properly.
"Hmmm…"
THUD! CLANG!
All of that, however, seems to be no more than a futile effort now.
"Huh?!"
The door fell over much to Rodrick's shock, revealing a small girl in the same uniform as him.
Amidst the rubbles, she lay unconscious, her dagger gripped tight within the confines of her scarred hand.