Atop the edge of a hill overlooking the modern cityscape of Silholt that was brimming with life and lights, with the bleak night sky as the contrasting backdrop, the space shimmered and rippled before it tore apart like a piece of fabric, revealing the abyss within. From the darkness of a gap in space itself, a boy who looked to have grown into a man only just recently, in a plain white t-shirt and beige trousers, strode out of the spatial rift.

The young man had a plain face along with plain black hair and eyes of the same shade. However, he had much brawn to his physique for his supposed age but one wouldn’t be able to tell with his shirt on. As soon as he completely stepped out of the portal, the tear in space closed itself up and everything was seemingly back to normal.

The young man took his first step on the hill he now found himself on after coming out of the tear and he toppled. It was even a huge step. It was short and slow but he still tripped on his own footing. He tried to recover his bearings but he wasn’t fast enough to prevent himself from hitting the ground.

“Son of a bitch…” he cursed while wincing and rubbing his rear. He looked at his own hand and arm that fell into his sight. He then touched his own face, feeling the structure of his skull and the suppleness of his skin. He chuckled with a scoff. “This body feels ironically weird and awkward to move around in… To think this is how I regained the body of a human.”

This young man was none other than Henry, currently in the form of a human, courtesy of Nadea, the Dragon God. This appearance of his wasn’t an illusion but a real transformation, albeit with a tinge of illusion magic. His form was magically altered, not physically. That was to say, the current clothes he was wearing would not be torn apart if he assumed his Dragon form. He would immediately don back the clothes he was wearing upon reassuming his human form.

All of this convenience was at the discretion of Nadea. But convenience was a luxury and it never came without a price, which Henry would be paying in instalments through his assignment as the Dragon God’s champion.

“Demons have broken through into this world, something that shouldn't have happened since the fabric of space and reality of this world is still at their optimal state. Fortunately, I only sense Demonic presence in the city you will be arriving at. This means the scope of your mission will be limited to the city. Here's where you come in. Pinpoint the source of the Demon's emergence and neutralise it,” Nadea had told him while they were walking through Limbo, the realm between realms.

“Are you serious? That’s it? That’s all there is to it? Don’t you have any more information for me to work with? That’s too vague of a briefing, damn it,” Henry had retorted to those absurd directives.

“That’s all I have, Henry, truly.”

"Truly?" Henry questioned with dubiety.

"You have implications. Say it."

"Your intervention is a little too... timely. Are you protecting the girl, Rayne?"

"I'm protecting the Zeras."

"Why?"

"Why? Because you were about to go to town with your fury on them. Your anger may have subsided but it has not disappeared. A single glance at the girl would have reignited your rage and that darkness. I can't have you ruin the Zeras or the girls. They're important to the world and the balance of the forest."

"How are they important?"

"Their presence deters a lot of strong and fearsome creatures in the mountains. Moreover, you have seen and experienced the girls' martial prowess. Don't you think she would be vital in your fight against the Demons in the future?"

"You want me to make amends with her?"

Nadea chuckled. "That's one way to go about it but not the only way. You could return her favour."

“...I see." Henry sighed. "Anyway, what more can you tell me about this... assignment of mine?"

"If I tell you more,  I would be spoon-feeding you."

"Can you at least tell me how long I would be here?”

“Time moves differently between realms and dimensions. But you I wager you would at least be here for a month."

"A month?"

"What makes you think it will be a breeze? You are dealing with a potentially world-ending threat here.”

Henry remembered blinking at that counter-question. “You’re right. It’s very naive for me to think it will be quick and simple… What if I’m not up to the task?”

“You have to be, Henry, even if you’re not. I have no one else. Trust me, if there is, they will be the one by my side instead of you. There may be one in the future but the crux of the problem I’m facing cannot be delayed even if I wanted to. So, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry for putting such a heavy burden on you.”

“...You needn’t be sorry. What's done is done. It’s not as if you forced this on me. I chose this. You gave me a second life and a chance to beat up the abominations that destroyed my old world.”

“Well, if it’s any consolation, feel free to have some fun here and mingle with the locals, so long as you do it in moderation and make sure you or the mission will not be compromised. I’ll know when you finished your assignment and I’ll check up on you once in a while. Farewell and good luck, my champion.”

“Hold it right there, Nadea!”

“Questions?”

“Yes. A big one, in fact. What about identification and money? Where am I supposed to sleep and live in the meantime?”

There was nought but silence from Nadea for a while. “I did not think of that. I forgot you are still largely human. I was expecting you to just eat whatever you can find and sleep wherever is comfortable.”

“In the wilderness, that is how it is but I am not going into the wilderness now, am I?”

“I suppose you’re not.”

“Then what do you propose I do? Be like a beggar?”

“I certainly won’t mind.”

“I do.”

Nadea sighed. “You mortals are so needy and finicky.”

“Excuse us for not being able to conjure the things we want into our hands at will.”

Nadea chuckled. “You have a very fallacious perception of us gods. Well, as for the plight of yours, I suppose this would be acceptable, I hope.”

“What are you—” Before Henry could finish his inquiry, a bulky envelope appeared in his hand. As he peered inside, he discovered stacks of blank papers within. “Um… what is this?”

“Blank notes. They will automatically transform into the money of the world you entered.”

“Wouldn’t this be illegal?”

“It’s only illegal if you get caught and you won’t get caught, not if there’s someone who could dispel a god’s miracle.”

“Don’t jinx it, please.”

“Alright, alright. I won’t say anything else.”

“Is this all there is to it or will the notes get replenished if the envelope becomes empty?”

“The former, silly. If it’s the latter, I’ll be interfering too much and I’m already interfering more than I should be by sending a Dragon in the form of a human where the public is not aware of the existence of magic.”

“Are you saying there’s a secret organisation that dabbles in magic?”

“It is a possibility.”

“You don’t know?”

“I’m merely the overseer and arbitrator. I’m not the administrator or the creator.”

“Then where are the administrator gods?”

“Dead.”

“Dead? How?”

“Old age, simply put.”

“Gods can die of old age?”

“Oh, they can. Gods will die too, in about billions of years. We may pride ourselves as immortals but that’s not entirely true. It’s just that… no other beings or races have ever outlived a god. So in their eyes, gods are immortal but in truth, we’re just very long-lived.”

“How old are you?”

Nadea did not answer but simply giggled in response. In the next second, a portal appeared before them and Nadea was gone without a trace.

Henry sighed and stepped out of the portal, which brought him to the present.

Despite being a god, she’s still sensitive to such a question. Ah, women. Well, whatever. It’s too late to second guess now.

Henry mused in his heart as he gazed at the city below. The modern structures of concrete and steel were as gaudy and exaggerating as he remembered. The city was beautiful but only on the surface. Even from above the hill, he could already smell the filth and corruption in a figurative and literal sense. He still retained his enhanced sense of smell in his human form. He could smell the various types of chemicals in the air. The modern-day was practically drowned in it. From just the scents alone, he was already starting to miss the tranquillity of the world he had come to call his home. This advanced world was simply too much for him and his senses to handle, once again bringing home the fact that he was a beast, a monster.

Henry sighed. Nevertheless, the quicker I finish my task here and the sooner I get to return home.

He then extended his Murux senses as how Nadea had taught him when they were traversing through Limbo. It was basically like casting a net into a sea and then reeling it back in when a tug was felt. As it had a slight feel of sonar to this skill, Henry had taken upon himself to name this skill as Murux Sonar. As this world was devoid of Murux, the presence of magic could easily be felt. A Demon’s presence would be extremely apparent.

For the first few minutes, there was no response. The city, the world, was devoid nearly entirely of Murux or any forms of magic. If Henry didn’t have the Dragon God’s blessing, he wouldn’t have been able to use his magic and other abilities to their full potential in this world. It was his privilege as the Dragon God’s champion.

Hmm? Two presence?

There was finally a response from the Murux Sonar. Henry was surprised to find the presence of two individuals with magic. One was definitely a Demon but the other one was something unfamiliar. It definitely felt mystical but it wasn’t Murux that he was sensing.

Get there first, questions later.

With that said in his mind, he hopped off the edge of the hill, only to remember he was in his human form and he could only use twenty percent of his full strength and power. He didn’t leap very far before gravity reclaimed him. Thankfully, there was a slope and he crashed and slid down that slope which ended with him getting only mild bruises and scratches. However, he landed on a street where many pedestrians were present and they all looked at him weirdly.

Damn it. Am I already compromised?

The pedestrians shrugged and moved on with whatever they were doing, namely continuing staring at their smartphones. Henry breathed a sigh of relief. He remembered the videos on social media. The amount of absurdity people was willing to do just to gain attention and validation. The people most likely think his abrupt fall from the hill was one of those attempts. He felt belittled but also grateful. Unless he used his abilities blatantly, no one would pay him much attention. The bane of the future generations became his salvation.

He hastily dusted himself as he stood up and broke into a sprint in the direction where the presence of magic was coming from. No one gave him a second glance as he stumbled and tottered speedily through the streets, dashing past shops and stores that used to be subjects of interest to him but now, everything in the city just appeared dull. It didn’t end at just him being uninterested. He was mildly revolted by the state of things. There were too many facades and pretences no matter where he looked or whatever that came to his nose. Everything just felt too spurious to his senses, the curse of having enhanced senses. Worst of all, the fumes from the transports were so suffocating that he had to cover his mouth as he ran. He made a mental note of buying a mask after the current issue was resolved.

After running for about ten minutes, he arrived at a back alley in his lightly tattered garments as he kept falling due to him not being accustomed to his body. He had thought he could quickly regain his instincts for the human body but he couldn’t. He could barely stand straight and he got hurt too easily. He was even lightly bleeding from the shallow wound he had accumulated.

In this human form, everything just felt wrong to him as he moved around. After living as a quadruped beast for nearly a month, he found out just how terrible the human body was. For a start, their balance was atrocious and the base of their feet was much too small for their overall size. Not to mention humans were also frail. Their bones could easily snap just from falling. A wound left untreated could spiral into a very terrible condition that often resulted in death.

Fortunately, he was only a human in appearance and body. His soul was still that of a Dragon, though his mind was a hybrid. He was keeping as much of his human values as he could without conflicting with his values as a Dragon.

Henry snapped himself out of his contemplation and focused on the present conflict. He straightened his body and mind as he trod deeper into the back alley, inching closer to the source of the magic presence. It was just around the corner and before he could make the turn, something flew past him and slammed into the wall of the corner.

He lowered his posture in an instance as he would always do in his Dragon form but since he wasn’t a quadruped in his human form, the stance he adopted felt wrong to his balance.

Henry’s eyes fell on the individual who slammed into the wall. The individual was wearing some kind of grey bodysuit that covered even the legs and face but left out the neck-length black wavy hair. The fully-covered individual was obviously a woman with how emphasising the bodysuit was. It was woven of some material he did not recognise. Much like Rayne, she had a very lithe figure but far less in abundance on the lower rear and chest department.

Why am I getting a superhero vigilante vibe from this person?

In spite of the woman’s shapely figure, Henry’s attention was focused on her bodysuit. It was made of magic but not Murux. His hands instinctively reached out towards her, trying to get a feel of the bodysuit’s material. However, the woman shirked away from him upon taking notice of his presence.

“You should not be here,” the woman said. “Leave, now.” She sounded young and her voice was unmuffled despite her mouth being covered.

Henry was about to respond when the woman suddenly lunged at him. He knew why. He let her dive into him, tackling him to the ground as a large black creature crashed into the wall behind them. The creature immediately pulled itself out of the hole it made and crawled toward the two.

“A giant rat?” Henry muttered out loud. But not just a rat that was a giant. Its deathly and pallid appearance reminded him of the zombie bear that the haggard man sent after him with one striking difference. Tendrils of darkness were coiling and moving around the giant rat’s body.

If I’m not guessing it wrong, the rat appears to have been made into a vessel of the Demon. This is different.

Henry recalled his encounter with a Demon. It merely used the haggard man as a portal. It did not use his body as a vessel. It did not need a vessel at all but this giant rat in front of him was obviously possessed by a Demon and being used as some kind of host.

“Run, damn it!” the woman shouted and kicked Henry aside as the Demon Rat lunged at them again. She flipped to her feet and launched a kick to the Demon Rat. It barely fazed the Demon Rat. She switched to an uppercut and the Demon Rat just shrugged her punch off. It snarled and lurched with a swipe. The woman moved quickly and dodged the vicious claws of the Demon Rat.

The Demon Rat screeched and tossed its body at the woman without any regard for its own well-being. The woman was caught off-guard and she was rammed into a wall. She quickly bounced back up and conjured a blade into her hand.

Henry saw how the blade was conjured. Some sort of grey goo leaked out from the suit morphed into a solid blade in her hand.

Wow. That’s neat.

The woman slashed at the Demon Rat’s face as it approached her. It staggered a little but it didn’t stop its approach. The Demon Rat wasn’t bothered by the wound it suffered and continued with its charge. The woman leapt and flipped over the Demon Rat. Landing on its left, she sliced open its side. Blood gushed out like a fountain but the Demon Rat didn’t bat an eyelid and spun around as if nothing happened.

“What in the name—” she couldn’t even finish uttering her shock as the Demon Rat lunged at her again.

She ducked low this time and plunged the blade into the Demon Rat’s belly from underneath, carving open its body. However, it was unfazed by that and retaliated immediately with all of its entrails spilling out. The woman was surprised by the ineffectiveness and the gruesome sight. She ended up getting pounced on by the Demon Rat due to her misplaced attention.

“Shit!” the woman cried. She stabbed the blade into the Demon Rat’s face but it was completely unconcerned as if it couldn’t feel any pain that normally accompanied a stab. The woman gasped in terror. “What the fuck are you?”

“I don’t believe it can speak, Miss,” Henry said and easily pulled the Demon Rat off of the woman by its tail and tossed it across the alley. He was astonished by how easily he lifted and threw the Demon Rat considering he was only using twenty percent of his full strength.

It would appear I’m not the only one that is weakened.

Henry grinned at that realisation.