"Let's follow him," Zaka said. His voice wasn't loud but it was enough for Aruta and Raven to hear.
The three of them then walked, following the mercenary mage.
"Who is he?" Aruta asked.
"A mercenary mage," Zaka answered in his flat tone.
"They've been around since Mr. Kuroto and the other captains were still regular Juntoshi mages," he continued. "They'll do anything for money and what they want. Juntoshi mages and mercenary mages have been sworn enemies since forever."
The mercenary mage started to walk away.
"He's leaving. Let's hurry up," Zaka said, quickening his pace, and Aruta followed.
On the other hand, Raven initially wanted to follow but suddenly her steps halted and she immediately turned to the spot where she was hit by the rock earlier. She looked up, glaring sharply at the roof of the building.
Aruta and Zaka kept following the mercenary mage. They saw the mage wander around the market area for quite a while. Looking around here and there as if searching for something.
"What's he looking for?" Aruta asked, turning towards Zaka. But when Aruta turned his head, he didn't see Raven near them. "Wait, where's-"
Suddenly, Zaka covered Aruta's mouth. "Shh, he'll hear us. Raven can handle herself."
"O-okay," Aruta's voice was muffled by Zaka's hand.
Zaka then removed his hand. But when they looked back towards the mage, he was already gone.
"Where'd he go?" Aruta and Zaka asked in unison.
They immediately rushed to look for the mage. They scurried around, even checking from the rooftops, but found nothing.
"Gosh, where is he?" Aruta asked.
"Ugh, what a pain. This is just tiring. Let's just bounce, Aruta," Zaka said.
"Huh?! You were so serious a moment ago, why are you suddenly like this?" Aruta asked.
"Yeah, well, I can't be bothered. I'm tired," Zaka said.
"Good grief," Aruta thought to himself.
Suddenly.
"WAAAAAAAAHHHH!!" a loud scream was heard.
Aruta and Zaka were startled and immediately rushed towards the source of the sound.
When they arrived, they saw several people howling, writhing, and doing other strange things.
"WAAAHH!!" Someone was thrashing about on the ground.
"Hey, what's wrong with you?" said the person next to him, who seemed to be his friend.
Suddenly, that person lunged at his own friend, opening his mouth wide, ready to bite him. But fortunately, the people around managed to restrain him.
There was also someone running amok, screaming and destroying several merchant stalls. And a group of people immediately tried to restrain that person.
"What's going on here?" Aruta asked.
Aruta looked around and saw the mercenary mage from earlier standing in the middle of the crowd, who then left shortly after.
"Zaka, that's him!" Aruta said.
"Let's go after him!" Zaka said, immediately quickening his pace towards the person.
Aruta and Zaka then continued to follow the person. They followed him quite far until they reached the outskirts of the village that bordered directly with the forest.
They went a little way into the forest and finally saw the person leaning against one of the trees. He seemed to be resting for a moment.
"Is it time for us to ambush him?" Aruta asked.
Zaka nodded and walked slowly towards the person. "Don't make too much noise," Zaka whispered.
"Okay," Aruta replied, turning his head towards Zaka.
But when Aruta returned his gaze forward, he saw a junoi resembling a giant fly with a terrifying human face right in front of him.
"WAAAAHHH?!!" Aruta screamed reflexively.
Zaka, also startled, immediately coated his hand with LYNK energy and punched the junoi, shattering it to pieces.
"Huh?! Who's there?!!" the mercenary mage snapped, immediately going on guard.
The mage instantly made a knot with his hands, and Aruta saw many strange symbols appear all around them. On the trees, the leaves, even the ground they stood on.
"What is this?" Aruta muttered.
"LOOK OUT!!" Zaka immediately jumped, pulling Aruta away.
BOOM!!!
The strange symbols instantly exploded. The blast was large enough to topple several trees nearby. Dirt and wood splinters flew everywhere.
***
On the other hand, in a dark corner of the market. There was a robed woman standing there, observing the situation. And behind that robe, a badge with a wolf emblem was attached to the woman's chest. Yes, a mercenary mage.
"Ugh, where is him?" the witch mumbled.
She began to jump high and perched on the roof of the building above her. She looked around. Jumped to another roof. Stopped for a moment. Jumped again to another roof and observed the market area.
Suddenly, the mage felt a strong LYNK energy.
"Hmm? What's this..."
The mage then approached the source of the LYNK energy. After a while, she arrived in front of a house. She looked up and saw the window of the house's attic was open, and she felt this LYNK energy was coming from that window.
The mage then jumped to that window. Upon arriving and perching on the window, she saw the room inside. It was so dark even in the middle of the day like this. The only light entering the attic was the sunlight from the window she was perched on now.
She then climbed down and entered the attic area. The mage walked slowly deeper into the attic. The place got darker the further she went. But the LYNK energy she felt also grew stronger the more she advanced.
She felt absolutely sure that the source of this energy was at the far end of the attic, which was the darkest spot in the entire attic. As she was almost at the end of the corridor, the mage found a light switch. Full of caution, the witch pressed the switch and the light turned on.
There was nothing at the end of the corridor.
"Huh?" There were only some junk items there. But the mage still felt the LYNK energy. "Huh, seems like it's not here."
The witch turned around but was immediately stopped and shocked by what was in front of her.
She saw the figure of a small girl. Her long hair hung down freely, untied. She just stood there silently. Her face wasn't visible because the girl was standing in a part of the attic that was still quite dark.
"Who are you?"
***
Back to Aruta and Zaka.
Aruta and Zaka fell to the ground after trying to avoid the explosion earlier.
"Tch, we've been spotted," Zaka said while quickly getting back on his feet.
Aruta also stood up again.
"Who are you?! Get lost before you face the consequences!" the mage threatened, throwing several pieces of paper with strange writings on them.
The mage instantly made a knot with his hands, and immediately the papers turned into terrifying junoi. All the junoi then charged straight at Aruta and Zaka.
Aruta immediately coated his hands with LYNK energy, ready to face the junoi.
One of the junoi came at Aruta and leaped to pounce on him. Quickly, Aruta ducked his head and avoided the junoi's lunge. Aruta swiftly turned around and punched the junoi in the stomach. Instantly, the junoi was sent flying by Aruta's punch.
On the other hand, Zaka was still standing calmly in his spot, watching the junoi charging towards him. Zaka calmly drew a knife from the sheath on his thigh with his right hand. He gripped the blade with his left hand and...
He slashed his own palm.
A considerable amount of blood flowed from his left hand.
Some of the blood that came out floated, and when Zaka grabbed it, the blood transformed into a sword of deep crimson.
He then charged back at the junoi.
One of the junoi, which took the form of a bull, charged at him at high speed. Just as the junoi was about to ram Zaka, Zaka swiftly dodged and
swish
Zaka spun around and decapitated the junoi.
A few moments later, another junoi in the form of a bird swooped down towards him. Some blood from Zaka's left hand floated up again and merged with his sword, and instantly, his blood sword transformed into a fairly large blood hammer.
Quickly, Zaka swung his hammer and smashed the bird junoi, destroying it instantly. But at the same time, Zaka's hammer also shattered and turned back into blood. The blood splattered onto the ground.
After that attack, Zaka became still again. Completely still, just standing calmly in his spot while many junoi were still charging towards him. The junoi got closer and finally reached the area covered with blood from Zaka's hammer earlier.
"Blood Manipulation: Blood Spike."
Instantly, from that blood-covered area, numerous large blood spikes emerged, growing extremely fast and piercing through the bodies of the junoi. All the junoi were wiped out in that single attack.
But suddenly, a rather large junoi figure came charging towards Zaka, smashing through the blood spikes in its path. The junoi had a tiger's head but could stand upright and had hands.
The junoi directed a punch at Zaka. Zaka quickly leaned his body to the side, causing the junoi's punch to miss. Zaka immediately brought his fingers together and swiftly thrust his left hand into the junoi's stomach.
"Blood Manipulation: Blood Spike." Blood from the wound on Zaka's left hand began to flow out, forming into small spikes. And rapidly, the blood spikes grew enormously large until they pierced out through the junoi's body. The junoi died instantly on the spot.
On the other hand, Aruta had also finished dealing with the junoi that attacked him. Aruta and Zaka then redirected their gaze towards the mercenary witch.
"Huh?! You're really strong. Are you Juntoshi mages?" asked the mage. Cold sweat was already soaking his forehead.
Without answering the mage's question, Aruta and Zaka immediately charged towards him. Seeing this, the witch immediately ran, trying to escape. The mage enveloped his legs with LYNK energy. Aruta and Zaka also enveloped their legs with LYNK energy. The mage tried hard to run, but Aruta and Zaka were too fast. The distance between them kept shrinking.
And shortly after, they passed through an area with many papers inscribed with strange writings stuck to the surrounding trees. Aruta also noticed this.
"Huh? Again?!" Aruta thought to himself.
The mercenary witch made a knot with his hands, and suddenly, all the papers spewed a massive amount of LYNK energy. Aruta and Zaka reflexively jumped to avoid the flow of this LYNK energy, which was like a raging river but with red-colored water. The energy flow centered on one point, forming a brightly glowing ball of LYNK energy. And it didn't take long; after all the LYNK energy merged, the ball exploded with red energy, sending Aruta and Zaka flying. Aruta was thrown back until he hit a tree, while Zaka fell to the ground. Smoke from the explosion also filled the area.
"Oww ow ow ow ow," Aruta was in pain but tried to stand up again. "What the heck was that?"
Zaka also quickly stood up.
Aruta and Zaka got into their stances, ready for anything that might emerge from the cloud of smoke. Soon, the smoke mixed with dust faded, revealing a giant shadow. After the smoke cleared completely, a giant junoi was visible. Its form was utterly disgusting. Its belly was bloated. Extremely bloated, which was probably why the junoi was sitting, not standing. Tears were visible at each corner of its mouth.
"Haha! You can't possibly defeat this one!" exclaimed the mercenary witch.
"Tch," Zaka produced more blood bubbles from his hand, which circled around his body.
The junoi began to open its mouth extremely wide.
But suddenly, a female mercenary mage arrived and went straight to the male mercenary mage.
"Huh? What is it?" asked the male mercenary mage.
"Run, now!!" said the female mercenary mage.
Suddenly, something shot into the junoi's mouth. That something moved so fast that Aruta and Zaka couldn't see who it was. Shortly after, slashing lines appeared all over the junoi, and BOOM!! The junoi exploded, leaving Raven standing while holding her large scythe amidst the explosion of the junoi's flesh.
"HAAAHHHH?!!" the male mercenary mage screamed. "Just like that?!! Damn it!"
The male mage immediately grabbed the pouch on his waist, opened it, and threw all its contents, which were papers with strange writings. The male mercenary mage made another knot with his hands, and instantly all the papers turned into an army of junoi.
"ATTACK!!" shouted the male mercenary mage, causing the junoi army to charge straight at Raven.
Dozens of the junoi army charged at Raven simultaneously. Raven looked towards the horde of junoi, raised her large scythe, and charged back at them. The distance between the junoi and Raven closed rapidly, and without them realizing it, the junoi passed over a spot where there were many blood bubbles on the ground beneath them.
"Blood Manipulation: Spiked Floor!"
Suddenly, from beneath all the junoi, large blood spikes grew, instantly piercing through each of their stomachs, bringing them to an immediate halt. Raven kept running, and this time, she began spinning her scythe rapidly until it looked like a fast-spinning wheel in her hands.
"Calamity Reaper: Dance of the Death."
Raven then danced through the midst of the trapped horde of junoi, slashing with her scythe as she moved. Every swing of her scythe precisely decapitated each junoi. Raven dealt with the junoi so quickly that it took less than ten seconds, leaving only the red smoke from the junoi's dissolving bodies.
Without delay, after finishing off the junoi, Raven shot straight towards the two mercenary mages.
"WHOA?!!" The faces of the two witches instantly turned pale upon seeing Raven's power.
"Tch, if that's the case... " The male mercenary mage immediately pulled out another paper from his pocket, threw it forward, and made a knot. "Moonlight Magic: Armored Wallman!" A junoi in the form of a large wall appeared. Its small head on top looked like a decoration on the wall, its arms and legs were super tiny, and its massive body had a pattern that resembled wearing armor. "This is my thickest junoi. There's no way she can defeat it quickly. We can escape," the mercenary mage muttered.
Suddenly, a slashing line appeared, diagonally cleaving the junoi. The top part of the junoi began to crumble sideways before finally collapsing and hitting the ground with a loud, thunderous sound. Raven was revealed, still hovering in the air while holding her scythe.
"HAAAAHHH?!"
That was the power of the Calamity Reaper, the power of the angel of death that attacks the target's soul directly.
"Calamity Reaper: Death Grip!" Raven threw her scythe, which instantly vanished into black smoke. Both of Raven's hands also emitted a black aura, and on her hands appeared skeletal gloves that covered the back of her hands, with sharp claw-like tips. Raven shot forward and leaped at high speed. Before the two mages could even blink, Raven's hands were already precisely at their necks, just a moment away from closing her grip. Raven's petite body size was no obstacle for her to reach their necks.
But just as Raven closed her grip, the necks of the two mages turned into black smoke, and Raven's hands passed through them. Shortly after, the two mages fell into their own shadows. They vanished as if swallowed by the earth.
"Huh?" Raven landed. "Aw man, they got away," Raven said still in her soft voice. "Hoaammm... whatever, then."
On the other hand, Aruta could only stare dumbfounded at what had just happened.
"That was amazing," he muttered.
"He ran away. Let's head back," Zaka said.
"Huh? O-okay," replied Aruta.
"Okay..." answered Raven in her faint voice, walking slowly towards Aruta and Zaka.
Aruta and Zaka turned around and suddenly, Mike was standing right in front of them. His face was bright red, his breathing sounded like an angry bull, and his face was full of visible wrinkles and bulging veins.
"MR. WISE HAS BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU!!"
Mike then brought them back to the village.
"You darn naughty kids. You could've at least listened a little! I got scolded by Mr. Wise because of you earlier!" Mike ranted.
"Sorry..." said Aruta.
Meanwhile, Zaka wasn't paying attention at all and was looking around, and Raven was sleepwalking beside him.
Shortly after, Zaka spotted an ice cream stall not far from them.
"Hey Aruta, want some ice cream?" Zaka whispered.
"YES, PLEASE!" Aruta whispered back.
Mike, who was ranting, started to take a deep breath, closed his eyes, and exhaled.
"Sorry for getting so angry," but just as Mike opened his eyes, the three kids had vanished. "YOU STILL MANAGED TO DISAPPEAAAAARRRR????"
***
A few moments later, the three kids finally arrived before Mr. Wise. Mike's face was still bright red like a demon's, but he couldn't do anything about it because Mr. Wise was there.
"So, you ran away from Mike, huh," Mr. Wise said calmly, but his tone alone made it clear he was not happy at all. But Zaka didn't seem to care much, and Aruta was too clueless to realize it.
"Didn't run away, just made a quick detour," Zaka retorted.
"Oh? Just a detour?" Mr. Wise asked.
"Yeah, we saw a mercenary mage so we just took care of him. Seemed like he was the one behind the incidents in this village," Zaka said.
"Zaka and Raven were so cool earlier!" Aruta added.
"You should have known well enough to just report a mercenary mage sighting. No need to fight them. They'll be on high alert now," said Mr. Wise.
"Ah, we thought about capturing them but..." Zaka's voice trailed off as Mr. Wise approached.
"I did say to only act if you were absolutely sure your actions would yield results."
When they returned to the inn, all three of them ended up with large bumps on their heads.
"Oww... Mr. Wise's punches are something else," Aruta said.
"Get used to it," Zaka said casually, putting his hands in his pockets.
"Hey, but I gotta admit, you two were really awesome back there! How are you so strong like that?" asked Aruta. "Training? Meditation?"
"Dunno. I already forgot," Zaka answered nonchalantly.
"Raven was really awesome too! Even though you're so short, you beat up all those junoi and the mercenary mages earlier," said Aruta innocently, but immediately Raven's eyes snapped wide open and she glared at him sharply.
"You said the magic words," Zaka muttered.
The bump on Aruta's head increased by one.
"Watch your words. I am not short! One day I will definitely be taller than both of you," Raven said.
"Wait, I called you a short ghost yesterday and you didn't do anything?" Aruta asked.
"Well, I'm not a ghost. So of course I didn't care," Raven answered.
"Won't you just make peace with your fate of being short?" Zaka asked.
"Do you want to feel my fist too?" Raven asked, already showing her clenched fist.
"Nah, I'm good, thanks," Zaka said, immediately turning his face away.
***
That night in the village.
A man was loading sacks into a cart. Sweat soaked his brow. Occasionally, the man would use the towel hanging around his neck to wipe away his heavy sweat.
"Phew, there's so many. And it's already night. Let's finish this quickly and rest," the man said, continuing to lift the remaining sacks.
The night was very quiet. The only sound was the man throwing sacks into the cart. All the villagers were probably already fell asleep. Only the moonlight kept the man company.
Not long after, the man felt there was someone else around. He turned and saw a girl walking alone on the village road. Her hair was long, reaching her hips. She was just strolling casually down the empty road.
"Hey, young lady! It's dangerous to be out this late at night," the man called out.
The girl stopped for a moment and looked towards the man.
"Is that so. Thank you for the warning," the girl replied.
A few moments later, the place was still quiet. Very quiet. Leaving behind the cart and a few sacks that hadn't been loaded into it yet.