Chapter 34

"Well, well, well, look who we have here," said a man with spiky black hair, brown eyes, and a rifle slung over his shoulder, grinning menacingly. "Oh, goddess, it's you," Xain remarked, recognizing the man as the leader of the first band of mercenaries he encountered. And, of course, he wasn't alone. Alongside him were his men, as well as mercenaries from different companies, all standing ready with weapons in hand.

"Do you know this guy?" the angel asked Xain, who replied, "Not really, but we've met before." Meanwhile, Zee took a moment to assess the situation, counting the mercenaries one by one. *Nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two... There are twenty-two of them,* she observed. This was going to be challenging to survive.

"Hey, Jakal, are these the ones you let escape?" asked another mercenary, presumably the leader of a different company. Unlike the others, he wore old leather armor instead of something more practical and carried a mace in his hand, with scars visible all over the exposed parts of his body.

*He looks menacing,* Grace thought as she focused on the scarred mercenary leader. "I didn't let them escape. Don't make it sound like I did it on purpose, Mar," replied Jakel, his voice deep and menacing as he glared at the scarred mercenary.

"Whatever you say, Jakel," Mar retorted dismissively. As they spoke, tension rippled through their men and even the other mercenaries and leaders. *They're rivals, and the strongest ones here,* Grace observed, reading the thoughts of Jakel, Mar, and the other mercenaries.

"Are you two done with your little couple shit? 'Cause I'm getting a bit bored watching you talk," he taunted, drawing the attention of both Jakel and Mar, leaving Xain and Zee in disbelief.

"Very funny, but I've never seen you before. Care to give yourself a little introduction before we kill you?" Jakel challenged, gripping his rifle tightly. The angel grinned sinisterly as he replied, "I don't have a name yet, but..." His pure white, faintly glowing wings suddenly sprouted from his back, shocking all the mercenaries into silence.

"I don't need a name to introduce myself to you humans!" the angel declared, laughing maniacally. *Did we mix up angels and demons in books or something?* Xain wondered as the angel's demeanor seemed more demonic than the demon itself, instilling fear in most of the mercenaries.

"What the fuck! Is that what I think it is?" one mercenary exclaimed, sweat dripping down his face. "That can't be right. No way," another muttered, her legs trembling. "Th-that's an angel!" one finally exclaimed, vocalizing what everyone else was thinking.

Jakel however, clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Tch, they've got an angel on their side now too, huh?" He and Mar were the only ones who weren't afraid; they were just shocked. "Do you think he's as strong as the demon?" Mar whispered to Jakel.

"I don't know. I didn't fight the demon, but we should be careful no matter what," Jakel whispered back, displaying professionalism despite the tense situation. Grace observed their interaction, noting, *Despite being rivals, they're professionals when it comes to doing their job.*

Meanwhile, the angel continued taunting them. "What's wrong? Don't wanna fight anymore!?" he yelled, causing the mercenaries to flinch. Zee noticed that the mercenaries were about to move, so she braced herself for a charge. However, just as they were about to make a move, all of them, except for Mar and Jakel, turned and started running as fast as they could.

"Well, darn," Xain muttered as he watched the mercenaries flee. Suddenly, a gunshot rang out, and a tree shattered from a swing of a mace. "Don't any of you fuckers dare move," warned Jakel, glaring at his men. "Do not make us look weak," Mar added, his gaze equally stern. Their respective men stopped and reluctantly turned around to stay, while the rest of the mercenaries continued to run away.

"Oh, looks like some of you have balls," taunted the angel, his bravado evident. "Could you stop? Some of us don't have wings to block bullets," Xain said to the angel, expressing his concern as he observed Jakel and Mar, who managed to stop their men despite their fear.

"Haha, of course, most of the guys in this line of work are pussies. Don't go thinking just because you're an angel that we'll all be afraid of you," Jakel sneered, glaring at the angel. "We'll make you regret descending from Heaven," added Mar, his tone dripping with malice.

"So, uh, what's our plan here?" Xain asked the angel, looking around at the remaining ten mercenaries, not counting Jakel and Mar.

"Well, you're gonna take your armor for a test drive while I take care of everyone else," the angel replied, putting away his sunglasses and cracking his knuckles.

"What?" Xain asked, confused. But before the angel could charge in blindly, Grace grabbed his shoulder. "What is it?" he asked, annoyed.

"You fight Scarman over there while me and the elf handle the mercenaries. Xain can take care of Spiky Hair," Grace explained, her voice firm.

The angel arched his brows in surprise, while Zee and Xain looked equally puzzled. "Why the hell should I—" the angel began, but Grace's glare silenced him. "Okay, whatever you say," he conceded.

Zee then turned to Grace, her voice filled with concern and anger. "Why are you telling Xain to fight Jakel?" she demanded.

"Just trust me. I picked the best-suited person for each opponent," Grace replied firmly. Before Zee could continue arguing, Xain grabbed her shoulder, saying, "Let's listen to her, Zee. She's the one who beat him, after all," referring to the angel.

Zee wanted to argue, but she let out a resigned sigh. "Fine, just be careful," she said to Xain, who nodded in response. Grace then touched Zee, and her body started emanating a faint glow. Zee was surprised at first but then nodded as she remembered what this meant.

"Hey! I thought you wanted to fight! Now you're all huddled like you're on a fucking camping trip!" yelled Jakel, growing impatient.

"You want to get your asses kicked that badly, do you? Fine, let's go at it," the angel retorted, as they all prepared to fight.