Infected Humans!

"You seem to have gotten much stronger after using your soul armor, but now the other Contractors are weary of you," Landon commented, as the Contractor slumped on the ground.

Hearing Landon's comment Aiden looked around and discovered that Blood Pact, the cloaked woman, and the woman beside her stood frozen in fear.

They didn't move, as they watched another reddish humanoid figure that represented their comrade die through their heat vision goggles.

Seeing their frozen appearance Aiden shook his head, as he threw the blade in his arm in the air catching it by the hilt.

In the next moment, Aiden's muscles bulged a bit as he channeled Soul energy into his arm, and before anyone could react he threw the blade at the green-haired girl.

"Slash!"

A piercing slash sounded out, and the green-haired girl who stood helplessly, her senses dulled by the eerie silence surrounding her, suddenly felt her whole body being pushed back by a massive amount of force.

Before she could make heads or tails of the issue, a searing agony tore through her skull, shattering the stillness with its ferocity.

With a strangled cry, she stumbled backward, clutching her head in shock as a sharp blade pierced through bone and flesh.

Waves of excruciating pain engulfed her, pulsating with each beat of her heart, threatening to consume her very being.

Tears blurred her vision as she grappled with the unimaginable torment, the cold metal of the blade a cruel reminder of her harrowing reality.

At that moment, amidst the suffocating darkness of the cave, the green-haired girl's world was torn asunder by the relentless onslaught of agony and despair, as she slumped to the ground lifeless and alone.

Just like that, another Contractor had perished.

With the green-haired Contractor who was the source of the mist dead, the greenish mist that hindered everyone's vision cleared up and Aiden's appearance was suddenly revealed in full.

For the most part, he looked normal with his lower body being covered by a ripped coverall, but his arms were different.

If one were to look at Aiden's arms they would notice a dark and metallic-looking substance that stuck to his arms, the claws at their tips looking even more menacing.

Not only that, but a darkish mist was constantly being emitted from his pores slightly hindering his appearance.

Because of Aiden's ripped coverall, one would notice that his veins had become pitch black as well, a black that was visible through his skin, the swaying tail behind him only served to heighten his menacing appearance.

"W-what the fuck are you," Blood Pact muttered as he took a step back, but as he took a step back, Aiden took a step forward.

In that moment Aiden closed in on Blood Pact immediately swinging his claws at him, but Blood Pact true to his name as a veteran struck Aiden with a comeback.

"Clang!"

A collision sounded out as Blood Pact's arm was flung back by the sheer force of Aiden's attack, seeing this Aiden smiled a bit.

"Slash!"

Aiden suddenly felt the tip of a blade invade his skin causing him no small amount of surprise, it took a moment but he discovered that Blood Pact's second blade had managed to graze him even as he was pushed back.

"I knew you were dangerous," Aiden muttered as his cut healed, but Blood Pact dispute being intimidated, muttered under his breath.

"The only reason you're still alive is your strength, you freak, you have no skill at all, you're just overwhelming your oppone-"

"Slash!"

Aiden's tail moved again pircicing the Contractor's neck before he even finished talking.

And just like that Aiden got rid of Blood Pact, "why talk so much If it'll only lower your guard?" Aiden muttered, feeling like he'd killed the leader too easily.

"It's like that Sometimes," Landon's voice sounded out in Aiden's head causing him to nod as he said, "Now to take care of th-"

Aiden suddenly tilted his head, and just as he did this.

"Whoosh!"

An arrow flew past him, imbuing itself into the ground.

"Getcha," Aiden muttered as he narrowed his eyes, although he knew where the attack came from he couldn't see it.

Looking even closer Aiden suddenly smiled.

In the far distance, he noticed a pair of floating eyes staring straight at him.

As if noticing that he had been caught, the person stopped hiding and turned tails, but Aiden wouldn't let such a person escape.

Picking up Blood Pact's saber, he threw it towards the fleeting Contractor.

"Whoosh!"

The blade cut through the air, and at that moment it hit the Contractor dead in the chest, causing him to groan and struggle before finally hitting the ground.

Aiden was a little sad because of this, but he just shrugged it off, he couldn't expect to hit everyone dead in the head.

"Now it's your t-" Aiden muttered as he turned around, but discovered that the person he was speaking to had disappeared.

"When did the black-cloaked woman run?" Aiden muttered to himself, his eyes scanning the tents as he noticed something, "Jonathan is gone as well."

Narrowing his eyes Aiden activated his energy vision and discovered that a person was hiding in one of the tents.

Noticing this person also gave Aiden a mighty sense of relief as it was the person he was looking for.

Raising an eyebrow, Aiden slowly walked towards the tent, ripping it open as soon as he got close enough.

"Hello Jonathan," Aiden suddenly greeted with a warm smile, as he gazed at the brown-haired man who trembled before him.

-----------

Meanwhile at another part of the deep caves, one could see a cloaked woman moving swiftly throughout the dark tunnels as she constantly looked behind her.

This woman held a big bag, that lit up for some reason, and on her face was a frowning mask.

"I have to get out of these caves, he could be behind me right now," she thought as she moved, ignoring the smell of dust and cooled minerals that permeated the air.

Shuffling through the caves, the cloaked woman suddenly noticed a dead end in the distance.

As she reached this dead end, her heart pounded with anxiety, pumping with every breath.

The cloaked woman, quickly scanned her surroundings, her eyes landing on the makeshift lift constructed from wood and ropes.

Without hesitation, she approached the platform, her movements urgent and frantic.

With trembling hands, the masked woman gripped the ropes of the pulley system, her agitation evident as she muttered curses under her breath. "Stupid, stupid plan," she chastised herself, berating her decision to agree to such a risky plan.

As she began to hoist herself up using the pulley, her mind raced with thoughts of the demon she believed to be following her. "It could be right behind me," she thought, her fear fueling her determination to escape the depths of the cave.

With each pull of the ropes, the woman's frustration grew, her muscles straining with the effort, as she let out light breaths of relief.

"I need to report to base," she muttered, her voice laced with urgency as she pulled faster.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the masked woman reached the surface, her breath coming in ragged gasps.

Without hesitation, she turned to the makeshift lift, her resolve firm, and with a swift and decisive motion, cut off the ropes with a knife she had on her.

"Bam!"

A faint thud could be heard as the platform hit the ground.

The cloaked woman on the other hand let out a breath as she watched the wooden platform splinter and break apart, a sense of relief washed over her.

She knew that destroying the lift would prevent anyone from following her, buying her precious time to make her report and ensure her safety.

With a determined stride, the cloaked woman disappeared into the darkness, leaving behind nothing but echoes of her hurried footsteps in the empty cave.

----------

(Back at the open space)

"I'm innocent, I didn't know that it would get to this point, please don't kill me, I'm only 43, I'm not even a Contractor, all I've done is dedicate my life to the-"

"Stop talking," Aiden's voice sounded out interrupting the brown-haired man named Johnathan who stopped talking immediately.

Aiden, feeling a bit skeptical focused a bit on Jonathan's appearance once more.

Trembling in fear with beads of sweat glistening as they flowed down his forehead Jonathan looked like an ordinary middle-aged guy.

In fact, the only thing that gave away his identity as a Contractor were the pieces of light armor he wore.

As Aiden pondered, lost in his own thoughts Landon's voice sounded out in his head, "Why don't you use your special eyes eh?"

Ignoring Landon, Aiden chose to heed his advice as he used his energy eyes, and what he noticed was something different.

The darkish mists of energy were flowing around Jonathan just fine passing through his body as though he was a normal Contractor but there was something very difficult.

Unlike other Contractors Aiden had seen, Jonathan didn't emit any hell energy of his own.

Take Mai or Blood Pact for example, if Aiden used his energy eyes on them he would see that they were emitting some thin strands of darkish smoke, instead of being accustomed to hell energy, they themselves were a source of hell energy.

With his brows scrunched up in confusion, Aiden ordered, "strip!"

"What?" Jonathan replied as he took a step back, his face scrunched up in repulsion.

Seeing such a reaction, Aiden raised a brow before asking, "Do I have to force you?"

Hearing Aiden spit out such a violent threat seemed to scare Jonathan a bit as he hesitantly took off his body armor, by the look on his face one could tell that he was afraid and conflicted.

Glancing towards the human-looking brown-haired youth before him, Jonathan thought of a few words to say as he unbuttoned his shirt.

"M-Mr. Demon sir, I-I am a Male in my species, judging by your appearance, I'd say you're Male too, I may not know how you do it in your species, but-"

"What are you blabbering about?" Aiden suddenly asked, dark lines forming on his forehead as he said, "Take off your clothes and shut up."

Feeling threatened by Aiden's sudden interjection, Jonathan took off the rest of his shirt and threw it to the ground revealing his upper body.

Jonathan had the body of a fit athlete, but such a physique was nothing special in this day and age.

Seeing Aiden observe his body with such an inquisitive look in his eyes, Jonathan felt a chill run down his spine his eyes shaking as he thought, "I'm gonna get raped."

"Take off your pants," Aiden's voice sounded out again.

At the sound of Aiden's voice, Jonathan suddenly shook a bit, goosebumps appearing on his skin as he stuttered "I-I d-"

"Do you want me to repeat myself?" Aiden asked, interrupting Jonathan before he could even speak.

Jonathan had no choice, he didn't want to get killed, with shakey movements he undid his pants, cursing his fate as he did so.

Just when he was about to take off his underwear, Aiden frowned, "You can stop now, put your clothes back on."

Hearing what Aiden had just said, Jonathan looked up, his expression as though he'd just heard the words of a god.

Quickly, Jonathan put on his clothes, letting out a sigh of relief as he buttoned his shirt.

"You don't have any Detritus Markings and you're not a Contractor, how is it possible for you to survive in this environment?" Aiden inquired, as he started walking away from the camp, prompting Jonathan to follow him with a gesture.

The duo walked into the cave Aiden had come from, with Aiden in front and Jonathan following behind as he replied clumsily, "My kind dubbed me, an infected human, this refers to humans who have grown accustomed to hell energy without the help of demon's."

"What?" Aiden exclaimed looking towards Jonathan with shock-filled eyes.