It has only been a few minutes since Yami called Arsène and Arsène had already come to regret picking up the call. Yami had informed Arsène that another demon has been spotted. Arsène gulps, looking around the corridor before looking down at his feet. He went silent for a moment, before taking a deep breath. He let a few seconds pass before sighing. He opens his eyes and looks forward, walking to towards the roof as he finally spoke to Yami, who was silent the whole time on the other line.
“So this demon, where was it spotted?”
Arsène asked, curious about what this demon was like or where it was. To this question, Yami let out a loud ‘Hmm’ and Arsène could hear him typing away on something.
“Ah!”
Yami exclaims as he seemed to have picked up the phone again. He chuckles as he puts the phone close to his ears.
“The demon was spotted in the mountain range north of here. It was said to be riding something at a normal pace as it was making its way to HK-36.”
Arsène raised a brow as he slowed down the pace of his walking. His eyes looked to the side, at the phone next to his ears.
“In a mountain range? Why the mountain range?”
Yami thought for a moment before replying.
“Well, the demons were said to come from the ocean, I have no idea how or why though.”
Yami answered, there seemed to sincerity in his voice, Arsène was unsure if he was telling the truth but it was sounded like he was being rather honest.
“The demons come from the ocean?”
Yami chuckled. He seemed amused by the lack of knowledge Arsène had over demons.
“Of course. Or that’s what the scientists and explorers from the past have discovered. At least most of the demons were spotted coming from the ocean.”
Arsène frowned, seemingly confused whether it was truth that Yami spoke or lies he had made up. He sighed as he continued.
“So it’s possible for the demons to come from elsewhere too?”
“Sure, perhaps they could come from under the earth, from the space or another dimension..”
Yami replied, seeming to enjoy telling all this information to Arsène. Arsène however was annoyed by Yami’s voice alone, not to mention he isn’t completely truthful or trustworthy.
“Alright, back to the main question.”
“Hmm?”
“The demon we currently are focused on, why is it coming towards HK-36 via the mountain range? Why not come along the straight and clear land?”
Arsène asked, seemingly curious and in need of knowing on why the demon was coming through the mountain range specifically. To which, Yami just chuckles.
“Well, the northern region of this continent seemed to be surrounded by a mountain range. Sure, you can take a detour and come towards the city, but it would take an awfully long time!”
Arsène halts, thinking for a moment.
“So they go through the mountain range to reach HK-36 faster?”
“Bingo~”
Yami replied, seeming entertained by the conversation. He then continues.
“And the demon seems to be quite enduring since the mountain range was known for being really cold and blizzards were said to form and happen every few minutes. Most travelers don’t even dare go to the deeper parts of the mountain range.”
Arsène continues walking, listening to Yami.
“And what happened to those who went to or through the mountain range?”
Yami let out another audible and loud ‘Hmm’.
“Most of them died or couldn’t be found again. But that’s because they ventured into the deepest parts of the range, where the winds can make a person fly off or launch into the air. Or freeze to death.”
Arsène gulped a little before asking again.
“So I am headed there too?”
Yami clicks his tongue.
“Not to the deepest trenches, you will be only be sent to the outskirt-ish part of the mountain range.”
“So I won’t be in any form of danger?”
Arsène asking, obviously concerning for his well being.
“Yes, Yes, you will be absolutely fine! The winds aren’t that bad in the outer parts of the range! In fact, most people sometimes go there to chill. Like family or young cou-”
“Okay, whatever. That isn’t something I was concerned or wanted to know about.”
Arsène repled, cutting off Yami as he was speaking. Yami in return sighs, speaking in an obviously fake crying like tone.
“Sniffle Sniffle.. Whatever.. Just go to the roof and an aircraft should be waiting for you there. It will drop you off at the demon’s location. Sniffle.”
Arsène raised a brow, obviously confused by Yami’s behavior and tone of speech.
“Why are you saying ‘sniffle’ outlou- Never mind.. Forget it. I am on my way. Don’t call me unless its important!”
Yami cuts the call before Arsène can even finish, slightly infuriating Arsène but he just sighs and puts his phone in the pocket. Without wasting anymore time, Arsène starts walking faster, looking at the time. It was around 5:30 in the evening, by this time, he would be half-way to the dorm by now, along with Ethan. Speaking of Ethan, he must be either waiting for Arsène or going alone.
Poor Ethan…
Arsène thought to himself. Ethan was just like Arsène but worse, he wasn’t the type to make new friends or talk a lot. He is mostly a silent type of person who spends majority of his time doing work, playing violin or drawing sketches of things. Arsène sometimes envied Ethan’s skills, wishing he was as skilled as Ethan. But hey, nothing beats having superpowers, right?
As Arsène was thinking this while walking, he suddenly hits someone. Arsène falls back down as he lands on his ass, scratching his head. He opens his eyes to see the same girl, at least who he thinks is a girl, fallen down, shaking her head as she picks up her glasses and puts them on. She quickly lets out an audible gasp as she starts collecting the books she ended up dropping when she collided with Arsène.
Arsène takes a second to realize whats happening, he immediately also starts gathering the books that have fallen down. He quickly gathers them and holds them in his hands. The girl, finishes at the same time. She then stands up, looking at Arsène, a smile on her face.
“Thanks a lot!”
She thanks Arsène, but then she looks at Arsène blinking for a few seconds. Arsène unsure, takes a proper look over the girl. Then it strikes him, its her. Its the girl Vanessa and Arsène had met on the rooftop after the fight with Valefor. She was the one who saw Arsène transform in and out of his armor. Arsène is left speechless for a minute but then clears his throat, raising his hand to wave.
“Yo…?”
He says with nervousness, unsure how she will react. The girl, in return smiles, nodding.
“Yo! Its been a while since we last met, superhero!”
Arsène blinked a few times before nodding his head.
“Yeah.. Superhero..”
Arsène had forgotten the fact this girl thought Arsène was a superhero, and that thinks he has some sort of super powers. Well, she wasn’t wrong about the powers but super hero was a stretch, Arsène wasn’t exactly a hero, neither was he a villain. He just wishes to do what must be done to keep his loved ones safe.
The girl looks at the time, then at Arsène, the smile still painted on her face.
“Where are you headed at this hour? Back to the dormitories?”
She questioned, seemingly curious about where Arsène was headed. Arsène hesitates, thinking for a moment. The girl already knew of Arsène’s powers but would she need to know about the demons? What if most people do already knew about the demons but just choose not to speak about it? Arsène gulps, unsure how to answer. He then stands up straight as he says.
“I am actually headed to confess to someone!”
“What?”
The girl replies, seemingly in shock and confusion. Arsène realizes what he said but decides to play along.
“Y-Yes! I must go! So please, make way!”
The girl immediately makes way, looking at Arsène with confusion. Arsène chuckles nervously before starting to run, he immediately sprints through the corridor. The girl just watches as she mumbles.
“What the…”
A few minutes pass before Arsène finally makes his way to the roof, he immediately swings the door open violently as he falls to his knees, gasping for air. He then coughs as he gasps. He looks up to find the soldiers wearing helmets staring at him. Perhaps they were finding this humorous? Or were they cringing? Either way, it didn’t matter since Arsène was quite exhausted. He had been exhausted all day to begin with.
Ever since the battle with Demon President Marbas, he had been tired, unable to do much work or let alone walk properly. He had dark circles under his eyes. Yet he also had a hard time falling asleep for some reason. Well, it didn’t matter much now. Once he fights this demon, Arsène will go to his room and sleep well all night. This time properly!
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Arsène nods his head as he stands up. He then looks in front to see the soldiers just looking at him. Kind of awkward but he couldn’t see their faces so maybe not that awkward. Arsène then walked over to one of the soldiers.
“Are you here to escort me to the battlefield?”
The soldier nods, looking at Arsène from top to bottom, scanning him. He then nods again and makes way for Arsène. Arsène looks at the soldier, nodding as if he wanted to say ‘Thank you’. He then slowly walked and climbed onto the aircraft. He sat down in one of the seats, the soldiers outside then climbed into the aircraft, one of the soldiers then spoke into their comms.
“Ready for take off.”
Though it was faint, Arsène could hear the person on the other side of the comms.
“Roger, taking off.”
Then the aircraft slowly lifted off and ascended into the air. It ascended into the clouds, traveling at a fair speed as they made their way to the mountain range. Though the views were mostly filled with clouds, Arsène could make out the city below him. It was hard but it wasn’t impossible by any means. He then looked down, then noticing The Slums. He could make out the small hut-like structures below, they were small and almost hard to notice. Arsène could also make out small dots moving around, whom he presumed were people living there.
According to Yami, prisoners or outcasts are mostly sent to The Slums. But was that really the case? The people or dots in the area seemed be a lot in terms of numbers… Perhaps Yami was lying to Arsène? Why would a prison or exile place be considered ‘The Slums’? Couldn’t it be named something normal? Or perhaps Arsène was just overthinking this.
As he was thinking all this, the aircraft travels over the grassy planes outside of the walls of HK-36. Arsène looked down, smiling as he enjoyed the view. A few minutes pass as the aircraft enters a slightly cloud area. The aircraft slowly descends, making its way down towards the mountains. Arsène looks in awe as he spots the mountain range.
The mountains were covered in snow, at least the top area was. It was purely white and looked like ice cream. Okay, maybe not ice cream but you get the point. The top looked like whipped cream was sprayed across it, almost as if some massive being was going to take a bite out of it.
“Why am I thinking of food..?”
Arsène thinks to himself. A loud roar was heard then, a roar so fearsome that it would make some tremble in fear. It was the sound of hunger, it was Arsène’s stomach! He was hungry, duh!
Arsène briefly brushes his hands over his stomach, hungry and in need of wanting to eat some food. But he shakes his head, trying to focus on what needs to be done. What needs to be done is that Arsène needed to fight the demon and then defeat it!
All of a sudden the soldiers walk over to Arsène, looking down at him.
“Sir, we are ready to drop you.”
Arsène nods, understanding, then replies.
“Of course, I am ready, tell me when we lan-”
Wait… ‘drop you’…?
Arsène thought to himself, something about that phrasing didn’t feel right. Arsène nervously looks at the soldiers, looking at them both.
“Don’t you guys mean.. ‘we are ready to land’?”
The soldiers both look at each other, whispering something before nodding. They both then look at Arsène.
“Sir Yami ordered us to drop you off at the mountain range. Literally.”
One of the soldiers answered, looking at Arsène. Arsène’s eyes widen, then the same shell like pod forms around Arsène. Arsène gasps but then mumbles.
“Not again..”
Suddenly, the pod’s movement shift in a sudden motion. The pod then suddenly drops, going into a free fall. This feels like a deja vu, doesn’t it?
The pod goes into a free fall, dropping at great speeds. Arsène silently watching as the pod falls into the mountain, rethinking his life’s choices so far. Well, not much can be done about it.
Then the pod crashes into the snowy area of the mountain with a massive thud and explosion, the impact of the fall causing snow to slightly melt and the earth creating a crater. Arsène steps out, dawning the armor like he always does during his battle with demons. He steps out of the pod, looking around as if searching for something.
Arsène looks around, trying to find the demon but fails. He sighs for a moment, putting his hands on his hips as he looks down. Yami had informed Arsène that there was a demon here but didn’t elaborate on where exactly. He just said that there was a demon here. The purple energy pulsing through the armor, as Arsène just stood there and waited.
But suddenly, Arsène felt a shift in motion, not exactly motion but… the ground felt less steady. All of a sudden, some part of Arsène told him to leap away, not exactly sure why but some part of his mind just yelled ‘Jump!’.
Not wasting a second, Arsène leapt to the other end of the road or the area. He looked back to see him standing at the edge of the mountain, almost falling off. Then suddenly, there was a cracking sound, then a massive beast leapt out of the ground before landing in front of Arsène.
“What the..?”
To Arsène, it looked like a massive crocodile was standing in front of him. But that was not all, the crocodile seemed like it was made of.. stone…? It had a crusty and hard skin, it didn’t look like crocodile scales, more like stone.
The crocodile roared as it leapt at Arsène, which Arsène dodged rather easily. The crocodile then fell down the side of the mountain. Arsène looked down, sighing as he turned around. That encounter felt too small and like it was an act… What if..
Suddenly, the ground shook at the crocodile emerged from the ground once again, this time biting into Arsène’s arm. Arsène let out a grunt of pain. That grunt then turned to a screech of pain as the crocodile bit off the arm and gulped it down. Arsène held onto his should where his arm once was. He quickly went into a labored breathing.
“Argh!”
He grunted in pain, it hurt, it hurt a lot. But Arsène didn’t let this ‘wound’ wear him down. He had a job, and that job was to take down the demon. But Arsène was unsure if this crocodile was the enemy. Arsène looked around trying to find someone else, but he had trouble doing so, the snow and fog were getting in the way of his sight.
The crocodile leapt again, this time aiming for Arsène’s other hand but fails as Arsène then kicks it, sending it flying off yards away. For a moment, Arsène has a chance of recovering. He concentrates, trying to focus on his wound. He closes his eyes for a moment, thinking and straining. But then suddenly, as he opens his eyes, his arm had already recovered.
Arsène tests to check if his fingers could be felt, and they did, He first counted with his fingers, then closed and opened his palm. He could feel his arm, he could sense his fingers and everything. It seemed like a miracle but it seemed to be the ability gained from defeating Marbas. Arsène nodded then turning to look at the crocodile, he smiled. As he then went into a stance.
“Come at me! You beast!”
The crocodile growled, then leapt at Arsène. Arsène however had this planned, he dodged the tackle but before the crocodile can escape, Arsène grabs its tail and points his hand at the crocodile. In an instant, the snakes around his hands let out breath of flames. The breath of flames weren’t much but if he increased the heat…
The crocodile growled, trying to escape Arsène’s grip but fails. Then as planned, the rocky structure of the crocodile melts away, slowly it turned to nothing but molten rock. Arsène sighed, falls to his knees as he let out a few breaths. He felt tired and exhausted but he couldn’t do much about it. But at least, Arsène defeated the demon…
“..?”
Suddenly Arsène felt a change in the environment again, this time he couldn’t escape in time. Suddenly a sharp pillar of rock penetrates Arsène, causing him to scream in pain as he is lifted off his feet and is impaled by 5 more spikes of rock.
“GRAAAH!”
Arsène screamed in pain but then froze as he saw a figure walk out of the mist, looking at Arsène as it chcukled.
“So you are the being that had killed Purson, Valefor and Marbas? Hahaha… I guess you’re not what they said you were.”
*