We started the journey through to the massive building. Me and Katherine took the duty of scouting ahead for any possible dangers. With Katherine's duty to signal and run, and my duty to defend Katherine.
We really didn't know how to pass time in our conversations... We still had a air of tension, yet a sense a sense of connection as we scouted ahead of the main group.
"... Um--, are you not... scared at all by... it...?" Huh... hearing Katherine speak softly reminds me... I forget she is still a girl, perhaps around my age or younger.
I shook my head... "No--, perhaps it is something about me, maybe to normal people it feels like pure-horror, but to me it is simply a enemy. I am simply someone who is meant to fight these beings." I told her.
"Oh--..." She muttered... "Um--, doesn't that seem... mechanical?"
... Why did--... I feel like killing it? Besides a life-and-death situation, I could have easily just Dissipated away into nothingness, yet I stood and fought it to the death? To the point that no one except me and Katherine knew what it was...
"Eitherway..." I really couldn't say much... "Perhaps... it is the role I inherited..." I quietly uttered... The Grievous Lady, was this what the countless beings of the past did? Even I shuttered--, we mercilessly murdered outsiders and threats without fail. Even now, I felt a hidden urge to recklessly charge in, and I felt glad that the commissioner Arlen didn't turn away.
... I looked at the stone fortress ahead of us... We would soon approach and confirm it's safety before we enter it together.
I got up and started walking around. I still needed to wait for Katherine to finish eating before we went on, so I decided to take in the sights to look around. The smaller ruined wooden and part stone buildings looked... unique. I didn't know what style of architecture they belonged to, but they were distinct. The best I could compare it to was the Holy Asterian Kingdom's style of church buildings. Even the stone fortress looked like a giant church fortress.
I turned back to see Katherine finish eating as she washed her utensils with a water spell. "Let's go." I told her.
-----
" | Flame Blast| , | Flame Lance | --!" A massive tornado of flames engulfed Katherine before a powerful, searing hot spiral of fire shot forward from her towards the Demon. A dull explosion and a flying arm came out.
... Focused high-intensity Magic strikes can work... Though I felt like it was a lot weaker then the one I fought before, and smaller. Eitherway, I had no idea about the measurement of Magic Potential, so I just decided on defending Katherine.
A break in the Magic bombardment by a continuous stream of small Fireballs and mild Flame Lances left me to charge in and commit to a strike with the dull-transparent Fragment. Without one of it's arm, I struck at it's open side and swiftly took it down.
"That--... why did I feel... so much fear?" She shivered as she spoke, and her facial expression showed her fear.
"..." I looked at the black dust on the ground. A strange sense of fulfillment surged through me seeing the dust flow with the wind. "A being of misery..." I muttered... I kicked the remaining on the ground dust with the worn out boots I wore here.
I looked around, nothing much... We should be safe - probably...
"Sorry, but could you send out a flare Katherine. I'll be your defense." I prepared to look and scan around with my link. The fuzziness of my Dark Magic Link went around and never came back--, grr--!
I kept my eyes open, and paid attention to any sound... before the sound of a massive fuzzing of the Solar Flare blurred out any noise. So it went to my eyes and my Dark Magic link to detect any abnormalities.
... much to my dismay, or luckily to us, nothing came... Katherine after finishing her Solar Flare came to help watch our surroundings. Within an hour, we met up with Aether and the group.
"... It already doesn't seem easy to get in..." Rudel noted...
I let out a sigh... and stared at the stone fortress... We were going to have to go in, and find whatever our commissioners wanted.
