I looked at the short green hominid I had in my hand. It emitted strangled sounds and continuously tried to chip at my arm with its broken blade, while I firmly kept my grasp on his neck.

All of his comrades had already fallen. Disposing of the mana-born humanoids was even less bothersome than I had expected. They were both weaker and less resilient than the average beasts, so much so that snapping their neck or inflicting a deep enough wound was enough to stop them in their steps.

Differently from beasts, their bodies decayed in a black soot and left behind clots of stone and ether which closely resembled crystals. Their weapons decomposed in the form of dirt and fine sand, both stained with dark colours.

I turned to look back and saw that the battle with the beasts was coming to an end. The artillery barrage had diminished significantly, now focusing on the few remaining clusters of beasts, while the on-foot combatants cleaned out the rest.

I grew bored of the gurgling noise of my prey and its vain attempts to pierce my skin, so I tightened my grip. Its vertebrae snapped and every movement of his stopped while it hung limply in mid-air. I let it fall and it slumped floppily onto the ground.

I kicked it away and sent its saggy body amid its disappeared fallen comrades, where it slowly started decaying. It was clear at a single sight that the crystals the body of these things contained would be valuable to the Delta and it would be easier to collect them if they were all in a single area.

I had finished cleaning up the neighbourhood, so I retraced my steps back to the walls. All the people I passed by took several steps back to free my way, and even those far away retreated a small distance. Those on the walls in charge of the artillery raised their hands to the sky and walked away from the batteries as if showing me they had no hostile intent.

I reached the base of the walls and reached the top with a single kick, using just the right amount of force. I put my feet firmly on the floor and approached the person I had aimed for.

“I’ll have you discuss with Faye the repayment of my services,” I spoke amicably.

“... Certainly… Mr…”

“You may continue to address me as usual”

“... Yes, John. It’s… a pleasure to see you. I see you have matured, congratulations,” Jonah answered sincerely to my words.

It had been a few years since I had last seen him. Faye and he had kept in contact in the form of letters, but with the work overload they both had to take care of it became impossible to meet.

Although he hadn’t grown taller, he had become sturdier and even his aim seemed to have improved. Throughout the whole battle, he had been synchronising himself with the artillery personnel to deliver the final blows to the affected beasts in the form of accurate bow shots.

Jonah gave me a polite bow to thank me for my intervention. In his eyes, words and demeanour there was no fear, nor the haughtiness of the past, but only awe and respect. His behaviour deeply surprised the surrounding personnel, although no one seemed comfortable enough to speak out.

“I thank you for your help, John. Had it not been for you, it would have taken several days to clean up the stampede. It would have ended up in urban warfare and no one can tell how many personnel and resources we would have lost. The damage would have been incalculable. I will repay the support of the Gamma handsomely, you have my word”

“I will trust your word”

Jonah straightened his back up and closed his eyes. The next moment, his pale purple aura rose from his body, and the same happened to those of all the fighters and artillery personnel, painting the atmosphere in its colour before dissipating in the wind.

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It was the second time I witnessed Jonah’s spellcasting. The first time had been during the tournament, where the full display of his ability could not shine. Jonah’s ability consisted in influencing the behaviour of those affected by his aura. With enemies, it could be used to tamper with their actions, but with allies, it could be used to guide and synchronise them.

“Nevertheless, I’m in wonder. I knew you were unique, but reaching adulthood… And not only that but at your age is… I don’t even know what to say,” Jonah broke the silence.

“It is rare,” I responded uninterested.

“Rare is an understatement. The last recorded instance dates back to centuries ago and the recorded individual was just as old”

This last piece of information was quite surprising. Although I knew it was extremely difficult for an archuman to reach complete maturity, I would have expected the numbers to be higher. Moreover, it should have taken decades and not centuries, for those with the right potential.

Still, this explained why the only examples of senior archs I had met since coming to this world were Tobias and the Sloan Matriarch. It was something worth looking into, but I was confident I already knew the answer: the meddling of the usurper in the structure of the world was deeper than I thought.

While Jonah mumbled things to himself, such as how to explain the situation to his mother, I felt an extraneous movement in the ambient mana. I snapped around and looked into the distance.

In the middle of the great stretch of black soot, a deformed being was chanting in an unknown language. The way it behaved and mana swirled around it at its every world, gave me a similar impression to that of the genais I had seen.

I paid more attention and soon came to the conclusion that even if I intervened immediately, I wouldn’t be able to stop whatever it was doing. Its body had already dissipated in the raging winds and the chant was repeating itself autonomously, created and reinforced by the wild swirling of mana.

“Retreat behind the walls! Artillery, ready to fire!” Jonah shouted commands to all that were in earshot.

The people moved immediately at his words, although with a lesser degree of harmony. The foot soldiers re-entered through the opened doors scattered along the walls, while the artillery personnel ran around rallying shell shot supplies and rearming the batteries.

The winds didn’t die down and quite on the contrary increased in strength and area involved. The gusts gathered the scattered black ashes of the fallen hominids and brought them up high into the sky, where they started to coalesce.

From the cloud of black ashes, shades of ivory became noticeable. The filth became bones and flesh, and skin covered both. A tail covered in spines, two hind legs ending in a set of razor-sharp talons and a pair of bat-like wings casting a great shadow on the ground sprouted from the great mass. An armour of green scales covered the skin of the newborn being and yellow reptilian eyes formed on the sides of its head, which hung from a long neck and was endowed with a set of jagged dagger-like teeth.

“A monster… and mother isn’t home…” Jonah spoke.

His face had hardened and his voice betrayed anxiety. What he had called a monster was a true deviant, a rarity in this world. It was a being born not of the remembrances of the past life of the world, but of the stories, legends and folklore of humanity.

I had in the past used the term deviants quite loosely, but this thing was different. I could see it in its eyes. It was sentient and even intelligent, although there was no way to tell how much. It was looking me straight in the eyes as a sign of defiance, while it mightily flapped its wings to keep itself afloat.

“I will take care of it,” I washed away Jonah’s concerns.

This kind of beast was dangerous and it was clear it should be taken care of by the adult supervising the Perimeter. Unfortunately, Jonah’s mother appeared to be missing, so the Delta was currently uncovered. Or it would have been, had I not been there.

Jonah turned towards me with a still-hardened look.

“Are you sure?” he inquired cautiously.

I understood his reaction. The adults of this world were as famous as they were infamous. I was sure not one of them would have lent a helping hand had they been in my place, not even Tobias, which was most likely the most reasonable of all.

As an answer, I stepped on the parapet of the wall belt and walked alongside it until there was empty space all around me. I looked at the opponent waiting for me in the distance. The opponent flapped its wings, generating winds which raised a cloud of dust and started to travel in my direction, gaining velocity.

I let my body gently fall down the wall, then kicked its side to propel myself like a bullet against the wyvern.