Remains of a battlefield.

The sun slowly rose in the horizon, washing the sky over with a sweet, cream-like pink color. The wooden houses contained the townsfolk, most of which were people still deep asleep.

Not everyone was, though.

Carrying two sacks each, a pair of demons quickly snuck through the buildings in the settlement. 

"I hope we have enough for the trip," voiced the male, who looked around rather suspiciously.

"We clearly have enough for the trip. And even without food, we can simply hunt down some monster and cook it," answered the fellow demon, also wearing the dark green cloak.

"Alright."

They continued, eventually leaving the settlement behind. And stepping into the wilderness.

….. Soon enough, they arrived at a clearing, surrounded by a few rocks and a hill. 

A tall man stood by the side of a wooden wagon. The old inverness coat, made with brown leather, acted as a defensive measure for any attacks from monsters and raiders alike. As for his gunslinger-like hat, it shielded his eyes from the sun. 

His appearance caught his attention, but he had no choice but to keep quiet about it. After all, "the demon" didn't know him.

"You two are finally here... Let us depart,"  stated the human male, before getting on the vehicle's front seat.

The two demons climbed into the wagon, and placed the sacks on the frontal seats.

The male, wearing brown clothes and a gray cloak, took the freedom of accommodating himself. "Mind waking me up when we get there?" he requested, before closing his eyes.

***

[Randall's POV]

A few bumps kept me half awake, but my brain still remained somewhat asleep. Fortunately.

'..... mm.'

Something shook me towards the left. A hand, to be exact.

'Round and round they go…'

The shooks became rougher. "..ke…"

"Wake up, Llen. We arrived."

"Mmgh?"

"We're close to our destination."

My body woke up fully the moment I heard those words. Looking out the window, I spotted a barren land… almost purely dirt, and a few blackened spots.

A multitude of footsteps covered the ground below us, along with flags.

Regarding the flags, a red triangle on the bottom right sector contrasted with the green one on the top left corner. The other two extremes of the red one ended in the middle and the top corner, whereas the green triangle acted as a mirror of sorts. Finally, between the green and middle, an open book rested. A sword positioned itself between the center and the red corners.

The wagon continued, and the environment only turned worse.

Limbs belonging to both humans and demons splattered across the ground, along with a few body parts from monsters- 

… I averted my gaze, and focused on the wagon's wooden floor.

'This isn't a good place to be, really.'

Really bad.

"Passengers, this is as far as I'll go."

The wagon stopped, and Anne got off quickly. "Come on, we have to get going."

She placed a bag onto Andrew's palm. While he checked its contents, she went back to the wagon and grabbed the two remaining sacks.

I made sure to stretch my body while focusing on nothing. We've been sitting for three days in a row.

"The two thousand notes we had agreed upon… Everything's in order, Miss. You may go."

"Thank you for your services. Don't forget the deal."

"... What deal? Nothing happened here."

She smiled slightly, and passed one of the bags on to me. "Let's get going."

We had to walk across the remains of this place. This shitty, reeking place… It made me want to puke quite a bit.

"Looks like the war has started again…"

"..."

"And it's quite brutal, too."

I kept quiet. Having a conversation about this would make everything… awkward, to say the least.

"Lle- I mean, Randall, wait."

Her footsteps halted, only to head in a particular direction. She kneeled down, and inspected a particular body… A human one.

A fairly large corpse belonging to a Titan towered over a bunch of both demon and human bodies. A battered down, obsidian-like armor coated some parts of his body, with a notorious exception being the two arms.

"Most of the deceased around this area seem to have awfully similar wounds..."

Her gaze scrutinized the rest of the area, and she eventually reached a conclusion.

"I suppose that titan fell into a meltdown. Pathetic."

"A meltdown… Anne, would you mind reminding me what that is supposed to be?"

"It's when someone loses their shit and decides to throw a temper tantrum due to a lack of control. Simple as that."

"I see…"

"Weren't you an heir to a human crown? How come no one taught you that? More so when the Ego is one of the humans' strongest weapons."

… People really did their best to talk about the issue. To the extent that even mentioning meltdowns seemed to be a minor taboo. 

Frowning, the demoness walked along the remains of the dead soldiers with her usual aloof behavior. I wish it was that easy for me, but it wasn't.

A pale, round head with white hair rested along his partially torn body. Two wide-open eyes stared at me, its slightly open mouth hung down. Barely showing the human teeth remaining on the mouth.

I don't know why, but… Nevermind.

I shook my head–

"... Oi!"

–just as someone called out from a far away distance. 'Run.'

That's what I wanted to do, but…

"Stay still, they belong to a Teutonian Syndicate," quickly said Anne, who adjusted the pink mask on her face.

'Would I be even fast enough…?'

Probably not. 

"They seem to be rather weak, so we can handle them in combat… But if this situation can be diffused through words, it'd be better," she added.

I turned to face the faraway voice, and located the exact source.

Four demons wearing a dimmed yellow uniform and a goldenrod cocked hat. The one ahead of the rest had a single white feather on its head.

They approached us in a rigid, cold manner. And communicated at a safe distance of a few meters.

"You two, why are you not with the main division? They need support at the moment," askes the one with the feather on its hat. The soft pink sky shed light on the male leader's white skin. 

"Also… What's with your masks? And what about your uniforms??" Spoke the demon behind him, a behemoth at least twice as big as the captain.

Anne cleared her throat, and kept her rather menacing gaze on the strangers. 

"We have other business to attend to."

"Elaborate," commanded the one with the feather. Sternly.

"... A High Apostle has told me to keep this under the rug."

With that sentence, the leader's face went through a transformation. The tough guy façade was quite literally snapped out of existence, leaving behind a solemn demon.

The three behind him had some notorious reactions, too. 

The one wearing an eyepatch while holding a custom-made yellow blade widened his only visible eye. Then, it turned into a slit, and the grip on his weapon tightened.

The titan-looking demon looked away, with discomfort creeping on his face.

As for the spectre-like demoness in the back, she used her hand to cover her mouth akin to a surprised aunt when hearing gossip.

"W,we understand, Herald."

"... Apostle."

Their bodies froze upon hearing that word.

"Not a Herald, but an Apostle."

She turned around, her waist-long brown hair following her movements by spinning in the air, and took a few steps away from the group. The four yellow-wearing demons remained rooted to their spots.

"An Apostle moving under the orders of a High Apostle. It must be quite an extraordinary situation…" commented the blade holder.

"Yeah. Remember how the Velliesta school took over as the country's main School? I suppose that counts as extraordinary."

…. What?

Violet lost her throne?