Raijin took down the paper hanging from the guild board and stared at it for a few moments.
The name written on it wasn't new.
Gravedigger Mantis.
A faint bell rang in his mind as he read it. This was no ordinary monster. It had been mentioned in stories, whispers, and warnings.
This monster wasn't one to simply eat humans.
It killed them first.
Then it buried them in the ground.
And when the bodies had decayed and worms had started to grow on them, it would return to eat them.
That's why it was called Gravedigger Mantis.
Raijin muttered this softly.
He folded the paper and put it in his front pants pocket without looking anywhere else. He didn't feel the need to take anyone with him.
It was his job. That's it.
He left the city and headed for the forest. The location on the paper led him to a forest near the city where there was an old cemetery.
They said it had been closed for some reason.
As he stepped into the forest, a strange smell wafted through the air. There was a strange silence in the forest... one that didn't bring peace, but instead felt like a burden on his heart.
Clank Clank Clank...
As he walked, Raijin suddenly heard some sounds.
Metal clashing with metal.
He immediately became alert and headed in the direction of the sounds. The path wasn't perfect; he often got entangled in bushes and was scratched by branches. Raijin ignored all of this and continued on.
In a short while, he arrived.
Raijin found a suitable spot and hid behind some bushes.
And then what he saw made his eyes widen.
Sofiya, Ishan, and Kade...
All three were covered in blood.
The girl standing before them looked like a 16-year-old child, with dark, flowing hair that hid her ears. She wore tight leather pants and a tight leather armor. She wore wooden sandals, tied to her feet with tree bark. But even with them, she ran like lightning, easily dodging Sofia Ishan or Kade's attacks.
In her hands were two daggers, their handles strangely curved.
She repeatedly attacked Sofia Ishan or Kade, but not every blow was fatal. Each blow narrowly missed death.
They were all barely able to defend themselves. Seeing the opportunity, Kade raised his hammer and tried to attack, but the girl easily dodged, counterattacking, plunging the dagger into Kade's stomach.
Blood spurted out like a fountain.
Kade immediately clutched his stomach. A scream of pain erupted from his mouth, so powerful that the birds perched on the nearby trees flew away as if their lives were in danger. Kade fell to the ground, groaning in pain.
Ishan, who was still in no condition to walk, exploded with rage and swung his sword at the girl. But the girl ducked and easily defended herself with her dagger. She turned around and stabbed Ishan in the shoulder.
The sound of flesh tearing was clearly audible.
Sofiya tried to attack from behind. For a moment, it seemed she would hit, but the girl seemed to have foreseen it.
She grabbed Sofiya's wrist and threw her to the ground.
Blood mixed with the dirt.
Still...
Still, the girl wasn't making a fatal attack.
It was clear.
She could have killed them.
But she wasn't.
As if all of them were toys to her, something she would play with as long as she pleased, and later, when she was done, she would break and throw them away.
After a few moments, the girl spoke, her voice cold.
"Tell me, what is your relationship to Raijin? And why did you save and help him?"
Sofiya spat out blood and said, "We... he's no relation. He saved our lives. That's why we helped him."
The girl narrowed her eyes.
Raijin felt a familiar feeling. One he'd felt before, in the distant hills. As if someone was watching him without seeing him.
"Do you think I'll believe it?" she said.
Hiding in the bushes, Raijin had been watching all this.
His fingers had become numb.
After a while, all three fell to the ground.
The girl took out her dagger and placed it on Sofiya's neck.
"I'm asking you one last time," she said.
"Tell me, what is his relationship to you?"
Sofiya's voice was shaking; fear was evident in her voice, but her eyes, which had been filled with blood, opened wide once again. "I hadn't lied."
"I... I told the truth."
Without hesitation, the girl lifted the dagger from Sofia's neck and thrust it at Ishan.
Clank...
The entire field, which had been filled with fear until now, had become even heavier.
Raijin jumped from the bushes straight into the field.
The girl's dagger, which had been pointing towards Ishan, had now sunk into the ground.
The girl looked at Raijin with excited eyes.
As soon as Raijin landed, the dirt on the ground flew away.
Dry leaves flew into the air.
"That's enough," his voice was calm, but there was a strange pressure in it.
The girl turned with a smile.
And took out her dagger from the ground.
As if she...
had been waiting for this moment.
The girl turned and looked into Raijin's eyes.
Her eyes were completely cold, and an enthusiastic smile appeared on her face.
Raijin looked into the girl's eyes and stared at her. A cold shiver ran through Raijin's body, just like the one he had felt when he first entered Eldhavn City, and as he went to his room, Raijin immediately understood. This feeling wasn't the result of borrowing power from the mortal realm, but rather because this girl was watching him, which was why he was experiencing this feeling again and again.
Raijin's eyes turned red with anger, and he felt a strange pressure just standing up. Raijin looked at Sofiya Ishan and Kade and said coldly, "You guys get out of here."
They could still walk, so Raijin didn't need to worry about them.
Thank You For Reading This Chapter.
Author: Mohammed Zaid Saifi