Republic of Kaldstein, Outside of Kaldstein City’s Walls: 936, May 14th, Monday, 12:00 PM.

In the snowy plain outside the walls of Kaldstein, a fierce battle between Ninigi’s students and the exile broke out before the daemon could reach the city. The white snow of the cold region covered the entire field, with starshaped snowflakes gently dropping from the sky—the whistling cold winds angling their fall.

“I-I-I-I-I can’t do anything!” Gal stuttered as she struggled to keep up with the furious onslaught of the daemon.

Maulik tackled the redhead away with a sudden push, protecting her from the incoming blow—crossing his arms in front to block the approaching fist of the daemon. The absurd magnitude behind the man’s attack however, forced Maulik’s arms back into him with a crunching sound—repelling him a great distance away.

From above the walls of the city, Yeon observed the battle between the pair of hybrids and the daemon unfold. She was accompanied by Aria and Xun, both of them preparing their equipment to join in the fight. Aria securely strapped her limbs into the exoskeleton, proceeding to turn on its electrical capabilities—emitting quick sparks of electricity from the fists and feet. Xun in the other hand, hopped inside her mech suit and loaded its weapons with whatever remaining ammunition she had left.

“Stop!” Yeon ordered the pair. “This fight is beyond your qualification. You will only be putting your lives at risk.”

Xun was the first to reply. “With all due respect, miss Yeon. We do that all the time during our operations.”

“We can’t just stand here and watch, miss Yeon.” Aria offered a few words. “I mean, I know our specialty is the Deadlands, but we are also responsible for protecting the outside world!” she pumped her shocking fist with a smile.

Xun hummed in agreement, stretching the limbs of her mech. “I usually don’t agree with Aria, but she is right in this case.” she said. “Let us handle this fight before those kids get themselves killed.”

“That’s right, they were knocked out cold when we found them.” Aria said. “It’s our job to protect the young ones!”

“You don’t understand, that man is like nothing you’ve seen in the Deadlands.” Yeon retorted. “I’ll call for Sebastian, you two stay—”

Before she could finish her sentence, Xun took Aria in the arms of her mech suit before jumping down the large wall—implementing the thrusters in the sole of its feet to soften the landing—sinking slightly into the piles of snow gathered all over the battlefield.

Back in the fight, Maulik struggled to pick himself up as his legs quivered with both pain and fatigue. Running across the deep snow with little effort, the daemon rapidly approached the hybrid as he stretched his fingers—pressing them back together into a fist.

“I can’t move!” Maulik yelled in panic—seconds before a barrage of missiles arrived to save his life.

An array of whistling sounds from behind caught the exile’s attention immediately—prompting him to stop his advance against the hybrid. He quickly turned to face a batch of homing missiles, which flew at him from above with near perfect accuracy. In a split-second decision, the daemon secured his feet on the ground, and rapidly twisted his body from the waist up in multiple directions—left, back, right, left, forward, and then one last time to the right, avoiding all projectiles in an astonishing showcase of inhuman reflexes—finding no need to move from his position.

The missiles sunk deep in the snow and detonated a mere second later, lifting a large amount of dirt and rocks around the daemon—leaving all spectators stunned at the display.

“Wow…” Aria reacted with wide open eyes. “M-maybe we should support from the back…”

Focused on the job, Xun pulled the trigger of the mech’s rifle while aiming at her target’s torso—discharging the entire magazine with a rain of high caliber bullets. Although smaller and faster than homing missiles, the daemon continued to avoid the onslaught with little effort as he approached—weaving left and right as the bullets flew past him.

“Xun!?” Aria began to panic, raising both hands while pressing her fingers into tight fists.

“Don’t distract me!”

“Here I go!” Gal’s voice proclaimed enthusiastically from behind the daemon.

With a quick huff from her mouth, the redhead half extended one leg as she raised it in front at chest height—smirking confidently as Xun’s bullets flew in her direction. The girl’s foot began to glow brightly with an azure light, utilizing her gifts as a hybrid to kick the projectiles with the bridge of her foot—deflecting them back towards the daemon.

The bullets ricochet from her kicks back towards the exile—impacting with his back, shoulders, and limbs from behind. The man’s sturdy skin fended off the heavy steel projectiles with a thin sound however, barely scratching its surface. Despite the unsuccessful strategy, Gal continued to divert Xun’s bullets towards the daemon with her fast reflexes and kicks—redirecting the attention of her foe back to her.

“I’m out…” Xun muttered. “These bullets should be enough to down a Wendigo, I made them specifically for that.” she commented with a mix of awe and agitation.

“Well, that’s no Wendigo.” Aria replied. “If your bullets did nothing, then I probably stand no chance against someone like that…”

Having his attention successfully diverted from Heretic’s members, the exile began to stomp his way towards Gal—both fists clenched tight to his sides. The tiny flakes of snow landed on his bruised body, his expressionless face glued on the redhead girl as she hopped up and down in one leg—keeping her body warm.

She took long breaths to calm her nerves, inhaling through her nose and exhaling through her mouth—keeping her knee raised at chest height. “I can beat you,” she said. “I am Gigi’s best student!”

Halting his advance at Gal’s words, the exile pressed two fingers together before extending his arm towards her—pointing directly in her direction. A small flake of snow suddenly crossed the redhead’s vision, losing complete sight of the daemon in half a second—drawing a quick gasp for her lips.

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“Wha-!” the girl recoiled back in surprise—thrusting her foot forward into a powerful side kick. “Not there!?”

Her leg fully extended without reaching its target however, kicking nothing but air as she was unable to track her opponent. Just as Gal prepared to retake her stance, an abrupt rush of wind nearby broke her balance immediately. She glanced to her right towards the tall figure standing a mere inches away, her eyes shooting open as she noticed the daemon emerge from nothing.

“Gal!” Maulik yelled from a distance, desperately breaking into a sprint to aid his companion.

The hybrid girl’s reflexes could not match the exile’s overwhelming speed however, as he violently took a hold of her head—enveloping Gal’s face with his hand. The daemon slowly lifted the girl in the air while continuously applying pressure on his grip, forcing Gal to sink her fingers deep on the man’s hand and wrist—frantically attempting to break free from his clutches.

“Aah!” Gal let out a short scream—suppressed by the daemon’s grip.

“Crap!” Aria reacted at the sudden turn of events—pressing a small switch in the hand of her exoskeleton suit, engulfing her fists with shocking waves of electricity. “I’m coming to help!”

While Aria rushed in to assist from her side, Maulik was able to reach Gal with a long leap towards the daemon—reeling his arm backwards before thrusting it forward against his opponent. By utilizing his free hand however, the exile slapped Maulik’s fist away with the back of his hand—springing the man’s arm backwards on impact. With the hybrid stunned at the sudden deflect, the daemon took the opportunity to strike at Maulik’s face with the back of Gal’s head—breaking his nose and propelling the pair a great distance away.

“Agh!”

“Oomph!”

Both hybrids plummeted back into the snow, facing the ground with short and weakened breaths. Despite being late to assist the pair in the fight, Aria took advantage of the distracted daemon to close the distance between them. She reached an advantageous position and released a short whistle once near—prompting the daemon to quickly turn in the sound’s direction.

“Strike’em down!” Aria yelled as she propelled her fist upwards—connecting with the chin of her foe. “Ha! Hya! Haya! Ha!” she repeatedly struck at the exile with a combination of electrified jabs, hooks and uppercuts—the significant difference in height prompting her to focus more on the areas around his torso.

Aria raised her knee at chest length, activating the electric waves of her exoskeleton around the foot. She quickly propelled her leg forward into a thrusting kick against the daemon’s abdomen—connecting with a clean hit as her foot sunk into his stomach.

“Gh!”

Unfortunately for Aria, her attacks proved insufficient to even shake the daemon—who looked down at her with a firm gaze, even after the storm of strikes she managed to land on his already wounded body. The daemon wrapped one arm around her leg—pressing tightly against.

“Augh!” A loud scream escaped Aria’s lips as she felt the crushing pressure on her leg—emitting a crunching sound the further it bent.

The exile lifted the other arm above his head—with his elbow pointing at the clear blue sky above—In a quick motion that cut the air around his elbow, he brought the arm back down with all the weight of his body into Aria’s leg, shattering her bones with a snapping sound.

“Aria!” Xun cried out in shock.

Before Heretic’s proud martial artists could process the burning pain in her body, the daemon clenched his fingers tightly into a ball, and mercilessly clobbered Aria with a direct punch against her face—violently forcing the woman into the snow with a bleeding mouth.

“…” with three of his four opponents down, the daemon quickly turned his gaze towards the last standing foe in his way—his head tilting slightly to the side once she made eye contact with him. “…”

“Ah!” Xun visibly recoiled at the exile’s approach—sluggishly trudging across the snow.

The man looked weakened and injured, with bruises, cuts and burns covering his entire body. Despite his appearance however, the daemon’s strength was undeniably out of Xun’s comprehension. She stared silently with her hands shaking on the controls, unable to make her next decision.

“Can I even… do anything?” Xun’s mind wondered as sweat rolled down her forehead.

Noticing his opponent would no react to the fight, the exile decided to take the first move of the match instead—forgetting about his sluggish approach to break into a rapid sprint towards the petrified woman. The sudden outburst from the daemon snapped Xun back to her senses, pressing the switch on the controls to release the remaining missiles in the pods of her shoulders.

To Xun’s dismay however, the exile weaved around the fast projectiles with ease—dancing around them with swift and accurate moves. The unstoppable approach of the daemon instilled fear in the brightest mind of Heretic, swallowing dry as she ran out of options.

“Stop!” she instinctively pulled the controls backwards—prompting her mech to protect itself by using its arms.

Ducking in front of Xun’s suit, the daemon slashed at the mech with a horizontal attack of his fist. The sheer amount of energy behind the strike split the air around his arm, slicing through the sturdy armor of Xun’s mech like knife through butter—instantly splitting the suit in half from the waist.

“Ah…” Xun’s eyes opened wide as she noticed the cockpit of her mech angling upwards, landing on the snow with a soft banging sound—which left her gazing up at the clear blue sky.

The lower half of her suit dropped to its knees with snapping noises, sparking through the sliced cables of its body. Xun immediately forced herself out of the cockpit with panting breaths, hopping into the snow in a desperate attempt to flee the battlefield.

“Dammit, Aria…” she whispered with a quivering voice.

Her small body would prove detrimental for her escape however, as she was unable to lift her legs high enough to break into a sprint—forced to stomp away with small steps instead. She quickly turned to look over her shoulder, a fearful gasp escaping her lips as she fixed her quivering eyes on the daemon—pointing straight at her with two of his fingers.

“Aria… Major!” she screamed once the exile disappeared into thin air—gone from her field of view in half a second.

A loud banging sound echoed across the region, which shook the ground violently around the area. Xun dropped to the ground at the magnitude of the impact—landing on the snow in her stomach. Huffing loudly while crawling away in her escape, Xun suddenly flipped around to notice a tall brown-haired figure standing in front of her—his messy hair accommodated into a high ponytail, swaying with the cold breeze of Kaldstein.

“Go get your friends,” the man turned to look over his shoulder—smiling gently at Xun with bright azure eyes. “I’m sorry you had to go through that, but I’ll fix things here in a moment.”

Ninigi quickly returned his gaze towards his adversary, facing him eye to eye as he shifted into a serious expression—scrunching his eyebrows into a downwards curve. Although he was able to block the daemon’s attack, the sheer force behind the impact managed to draw blood from his palm—cut by exile’s knuckles.

“…” the daemon stared directly into the champion’s azure eyes—applying further pressure into Ninigi’s hand as he pushed his fist forward, attempting to free himself by pure force.

“I’m sorry for what happened to you,” Ninigi kindly expressed. “But as a gladean knight, I can’t allow you to terrorize these people any longer. I will end your life here and now, daemon.”

In a swift and rapid motion, Ninigi maneuvered his hand around the daemon’s hand to take a hold of his wrist—gripping tightly with his fingers. He drove one foot in between the legs of his opponent, pulling the daemon’s arm towards himself, and catapulting him away with a powerful throw.

The exile flew a great distance way with his head pointing at the ground—seconds before landing with his back against the snow. Unharmed by the knight’s attack, he quickly picked himself back up into a slouching stance—his right dangling to his side.

Ninigi inhaled calmly through his nose, filling his lungs at full capacity. He closed his eyes while taking a relaxed position, resting both arms to his sides with both legs slightly separated.

“Now…” he lifted one arm at chest height, half extending it in front. He calmly guided the other arm near his ribs, pointing backwards with his elbow while separating his legs further. “Let us begin.”

END OF CHAPTER