Chapter 3 – Kaji

By the time that the Travelers reached the gates, they were already open; no doubt to serve as a potential escape route for the citizens. The guards that had been posted there were no longer present, allowing the two to head in unimpeded.

Frantic, screaming citizens running away from the source of the explosion – guided and defended by armored guards – gave the pair a clear direction to follow. Passing through the cluttered alleyways between the numerous well-built stone buildings, they made their way towards what appeared to be a fairly large and (quickly emptying) market square.

As they approached, the source of the commotion came into view: a tall, spindly humanoid with pale blue skin, shock-white hair and glowing red eyes. He was draped in flowing black cloak and wielded a long wooden staff with a blue crystal in his left hand. The cackling figure was floating 15 feet above the square, launching fireballs into both nearby structures and the shields of a retreating phalanx of guards. The thick stench of burning wood filled the air as merchant carts were consumed by the wanton balls of flaming destruction. The rising flames cast a wicked shadow over their caster.

Elise, who was crouched behind a crate in the alley, attempted to stand and draw her blade. A gentle hand pressed on top of hers, causing her to pause. She turned right to face her companion, whose right index finger was pressed against his lips. With a tilt of his head, he urged her further back into the alleyway. Once they were a sufficient distance away, he dropped his finger and allowed her to speak.

“What’s wrong?”

“I recognize that guy. The Demon Lord that was terrorizing this world – the one that necessitated a Hero Summon – had a couple of Generals. He’s one of them. Um…” Amon put his head to his hand. It had been a while since he went over the information, so he didn’t remember everything. But he knew for sure that he’d drawn this one’s picture at some point. K… Kuni… Koji…

“Kaji!” Amon’s head snapped back up as the name breached his lips. “Kaji the Mystic Inferno. A demonic dark mage specializing in fire magic. And the Demon Lord’s Second in Command.”

Elise nodded in response. “So why is he here? Wouldn’t the Hero that was sent here have beaten him already?”

“From what I remember, he’s a massive coward. It’s possible he escaped before the Hero could finish him off. That, or he decided not to risk fighting the Hero at all.”

Elise scowled, then turned back in the direction of the ongoing screams. “Fine then. We’ll just have to do the job ourselves.”

“Actually, I think I’ll let you handle it.”

Amon was worried that Elise had snapped her own neck given the sheer speed with which her head whipped around to stare at him.

“Excuse me!? There is a literal demon over there attacking a city and you’re going to stand by and watch!?”

Amon put his hands out and gestured for her to calm down. “Remember, I’m here to observe you and report on your skills. The enemies out in the field were nothing for you…” He then gave her a knowing smile and added: “…but this is a C-Rank villain’s commander. I expect he’ll be significantly more of a challenge for you.”

“But still-”

“In the field, a Hero might be on their own,” he said, almost playfully.

Elise grit her teeth in frustration. His tone slightly irritated her, but he wasn’t wrong; sometimes Heroes were sent to worlds without any additional support. Sometimes they might receive aid from combat-capable residents of that world, but it wasn’t a guarantee. They had to be ready to survive on their own if necessary. But this was just a test. Could they really put people at risk just for the sake of a test?

As if sensing her concern, Amon continued, “Don’t worry, I’ll still be here. If I have to step in to provide support, I will. Alright?”

The look on his face told Elise that he was being serious, and that was good enough for her. She stood up and placed her right hand on the hilt of her left-side blade, turning back towards the fountain square as she did so. After closing her eyes and taking a deep, preparatory breath, she moved as if to charge out of the alleyway. Suddenly, however, her legs stiffened, and she jerked to a stop mid-step. Amon got up and walked over to her. As he did, he could hear her whispering to herself.

“…right in, get his attention… sneak attack? Stupid… on fire… go… the buildings… could work…?”

He managed to make out a couple of words as he approached, his previously teasing demeanor replaced by one of concern. Did I put too much pressure on her? If she’s never been in a real fight, maybe I should-

Before he could finish the thought and make his concern known, however, Elise had shifted her stance and begun kicking her way up the sides of the alley and onto one of the buildings above. All that Amon could do was look on, arm half outstretched, as his companion parkoured her way out of sight.

“…well alright, if you’re gonna just jump off like that, I guess you’re fine,” he shrugged. “Suppoooose I’ll just stay here and watch the fireworks, then.”

-           -           -           -           -

Kaji was having the time of his life! Darson, that bastard Hero, may have dealt him a humiliating defeat, but the brat been far too preoccupied taking out his master to properly finish him off. Not only did he give the mage a chance to feign death and escape in the aftermath of their final battle, but he’d also met with a stroke of luck finding an incredible new toy. Now certain that the Hero had returned to his own world, and having regained a sufficient amount of his power, he was free to take his master’s place as the conqueror of Veldern!

Pure glee shone on his pale blue face as he pranced in midair, throwing fireballs in all directions with wild motions of his hand and staff. The terrified screams of the populace and the percussive destruction caused by his magic were his absolute favorite music, and he danced gleefully to their carnage.

“That’s right, run, you insignificant specks! Your new master has come to rule you all!” he decreed in his shrill, nasally voice. Then, turning to his side in order to face away from the crowds, he sighed: “Ahhhh, what bliss!”

The terrified reactions his declaration earned caused him to turn back and shudder in delight. “Ooh, it’s so much FUN to say things like that! No wonder Master was so keen on speeches and proclamations!” he smiled to himself as he launched bursts of flame into the quickly emptying streets.

He was so preoccupied with throwing fireballs and planning out his next lines that he barely managed to move out of the way when an unfamiliar female figure kicked up the walls of a nearby alleyway, vaulted up to the roof of one of the houses to his right, and launched herself at him. She drew her blade mid-flight, clipping a bit of his hair with a two-handed horizontal slash that the demon narrowly managed to avoid by swaying his head back.

Having missed her strike, Elise rolled in midair so that she could land facing her target. Her timing was excellent, since Kaji immediately launched a pair of massive, red-and-black spiraling fireballs in her direction as soon as he recovered.

The fireballs seemed to hit their mark as Elise slid back across the damaged street. They converged on impact and engulfed her in a wild mix of red and black flames. The ebony inferno covered the street and climbed the buildings. It was a show of destruction far beyond the basic, paltry fireballs that the demon had been carelessly tossing around before.

Kaji maintained his distance. That swing had been aimed at his neck, and the force behind it would certainly have separated his head from the rest of his demonic body. He’d already had a close encounter with death once before; he didn’t intend to make a habit out of it, especially now that he was practically unopposed.

Of course, to remain unopposed, he’d have to take care of this little assassin. My Hellfire Burst should have done the trick, he thought to himself, but all the same he remained where he was. There was no reason to put himself at risk, after all, especially after launching such a powerful (and draining) spell.

As if affirming the wisdom behind that decision, a faint cerulean light appeared from within the inferno. It approached the edge of the wall of hellfire before it, accompanied by a human-shaped silhouette. The light rose up and came down with a fierce swing, blowing the flames away with a frigid gale. In the center stood the assassin, entirely unscathed. A cold glow emanated from her frost-covered blade, nearly masking the faint white glow that seemed to coat her body like a fine translucent film. Tiny flickers of hellfire caught the edges of this second glow, sizzling into nothingness as they made contact. As she stepped away from the flames, this protective glow seemed to fade away.

“Hellfire,” she stated in a pure monotone. “It burns hotter and for far longer than regular fire, but it’s easily dissipated with ice or holy magic.” Elise pointed her blade at the wide-eyed mage, wearing a scowl darker than the black flames behind her. The monotone in her voice vanished, replaced with pure intensity. “I’m takin’ your head before you can use it on anyone else.”

Kaji continued to stare at his aggressor with a mix of surprise and rage. That white aura that seemed to protect her body was strange, to be sure, but her outfit was what had truly captured his attention. He easily recognized the clothing that she wore. It was the same style of clothing that that cursed Hero Darson wore outside of battle!

“I thought I was rid of you Heroes!” he snarled petulantly. “Why are you even here!? I just got started! At least let me enjoy my rule for a little bit before you come messing everything up!”

Elise’s eyes focused on the ranting demon, and then almost immediately glazed over. This wasn’t a ploy, and it wasn’t some strategy to throw her off-guard; this guy was legitimately angry that a Hero got sent his way ‘too soon.’

Her anger broke, if only for a second. “Y-you must be kidding, right?”

“KIDDING!? My Master had years to rise to power and begin asserting his rule over this place before a Hero was summoned! I haven’t even had enough time to think of a good takeover speech!”

Elise wasn’t sure whether to feel dejected or pissed off beyond relief. It was almost difficult to take someone so petty and childish as a serious threat. On the other hand, his destructive powers were very real, and his willingness to use them on innocent people for personal satisfaction were unforgiveable.

“Pissed off it is, then,” she muttered to herself, drawing her sword back while running her hand along the flat of the blade. A streak of blue frost followed the path created by her hand, solidifying the frozen crystals that clung to the sharpened steel. A single visible breath passed through Elise’s lips as she chanted her command:

“Imbue, Ice.”

As the words left her, her hand reached the tip of the blade. At once, jagged ice erupted forth and coated the weapon. It only lasted for an instant, however, before the ice retreated into the blade, leaving only a frigid blue glow behind. The surrounding flames flickered and faded in response to the frozen blade as Elise swung it around and assumed her stance.

Kaji floated backwards in fear, before bending forward and gritting his teeth. No… I’m not ready to lose yet. Not again! He swung back up, flames exploding to life in his hand. “I won’t let another damned Hero defeat me!” he roared as he launched a barrage of fireballs at his foe. Elise charged forward to meet his attacks head on. She deflected and dissipated the spells with precise, flowing swings before leaping high into the air to bring her icy blade down on the demon.

Amon watched the clash from the shadows of the alleyway just long enough to get a preliminary glance at Elise’s acrobatic fighting style and to confirm that he wouldn’t need to step in and help her. He shook his head and chuckled as he recalled their short conversation in the Equipment Room.

“That sneak! She did know how to use Aura Guard!” he said to himself with a self-congratulatory smile.

Aura Guard was a magic technique that used an individual’s Mana – their magical power – to create a barrier that blocked most forms of attack. It was an advanced technique that was simple in concept, but quite difficult to employ efficiently. To make the most of it, the user had to use the minimum amount of mana to keep it up passively at all times, and only strengthen it when an attack landed. Trying to keep it at full power constantly risked draining one’s Mana too quickly, but not maintaining it passively and just trying to activate it on reaction carried the risk of not being able to react quickly enough to fully block the incoming attack. And even though it blocked the damage, it was still only a thin protection; the user still felt some of the impact. If Elise was in any pain from the blast she took, though, she was doing an excellent job at hiding it.

“I wonder how long she can keep it going?” Amon wondered aloud. Aura Guard wasn’t something most students managed to learn, let alone master, and he had no idea how much Mana Elise had to burn. Did she do it just to block that first attack, or to is she just trying to throw her opponent off?

“Would she be that sneaky?” he answered himself quietly. “She’s been pretty straightforward so far, if a bit… unpredictable, emotion-wise. And she did go right for the kill at the start, so she’s probably not trying to play mind games…” He rested his cheeks against his fist, trying to unpack her actions as he followed the ongoing battle.

Kaji remained in the air to keep out of range of Elise’s blade, but the swordswoman had no problem jumping at him from either the ground, the buildings, or the few remaining mercantile carts to deliver her strikes. She was able to easily deflect every one of his blazing blows, and even worse, her own attacks were getting more and more precise. Though she hadn’t yet been able to land any clean hits due to the distance and his reflexes, every strike seemed to get closer and closer to connecting, forcing him to make more attacks and aerial maneuvers to keep himself untouched.

Amon, however, quickly noticed that Elise wasn’t aiming for the demon’s body – at least, not primarily. Her focus was on the staff that he carried. The scout squinted his eyes and looked closely at the implement while reviewing the events of the fight thus far. Considering how quickly Elise had gone for the kill at the onset of the fight, why wasn’t she aiming at him now? The staff didn’t seem to be helping him summon his fire, and he wasn’t brandishing it like a weapon. It wasn’t emitting any sort of barrier, either. Truly, it didn’t seem like it was doing anything at all.

“…unless…” Amon squinted, “…unless that’s what’s keeping him up in the air…”

As he continued to analyze the fight, his hand twitched and reached for the compartment of his bag that carried his art supplies. The fight was progressing quickly, but he knew the moment he wanted to capture. Whether or not his guess was correct, he needed to catch the moment that Elise destroyed that staff.

As he reached into the bag and began removing a pencil, a ground-shaking BOOM! dislodged it from his hand. It fell back in with a soft tok. Amon whipped his head towards the source of the commotion: a massive section of a nearby building, weakened by fresh flames, had dislodged itself and crashed to the ground. Panicked screams emerged from the nearby crowd in response. Once he recovered from the initial shock, he ducked back behind the crate, peeked back at the ongoing battle, and sighed.

“Guess I shouldn’t be too surprised that she hasn’t noticed. There’s no way that she’d be used to fighting in a populated area.” Glancing back over to the massive piles of burning rubble, he added “Looks like I’m taking care of the collateral. Hope I can watch as I go. Not gonna be able to draw it, though…”

Now set (if a bit reluctantly) on his course of action, Amon rose from behind the crate and ran back out of the alley – away from the fight – and made his way towards the escaping citizens.

After weaving his way between a few buildings, he found himself back on the main street. The fight was sufficiently far away, but the effects were obvious even here: flames scorched the buildings, and smoldering debris created blockages in the road. Some of the guards were frantically attempting to extricate a few unfortunate citizens who had ended up buried beneath the fallen chunks of stone. Others attempted to keep people from being trampled as they tripped over the rubble. The remainder were focused either on guiding the evacuation or on putting their shields between the fight and the remaining escapees. It looked like most of the citizens had managed to make it out already, but everyone who was left remained fully preoccupied. That served Amon just fine. I work better unnoticed, anyways, he thought.

A single scratchy scream cut above the others in the quickly-emptying street. An elderly man who had been pinned under some fallen stones looked up to see a massive, burning chunk of roofing directly above him break away. No guards had reached him yet, and by the time they noticed the falling debris and attempted to make their way over, it was too late. Two of the guards rushed forward as quickly as they could, trying in vain to reach the old man in time. They reached their hands out desperately, as if attempting to catch the roofing with their willpower alone, and cursed their slow reactions as they did so. Seeing that they wouldn’t make it, the old man closed his eyes and prayed. Darla, my love, I’ll see you soon…

Shnk shnk shnk.

Crkkk-CRASH!

The old man popped an eye open and looked around. To his right, no more than a few feet away, he saw the stone chunk that should have fallen directly on top of him. Shards of ice melted off of the edges with a light sizzle. He glanced up at the building, back to the debris, and then at the building once more, before letting out a horse, mocking laugh and roaring towards the Earth:

“You can’t drag me down to you that easily, Darla, you bat! Ha-HA!”

The deflected chunk continued to smolder, but by the time it would have posed a threat the guards had already made it to hysterical old man’s side. They pulled him free of the rubble and sent him along with the rest of the escapees before something else could fall on his head. As they moved away, one paused for a split second to question the three slim, jet-black throwing knives that were now buried in the fallen roofing. She traced their path back to a nearby rooftop. The rooftop, however, appeared to be empty. A scrunched, suspicious stare began to emerge from under her helmet, but before it could fully form she shrugged and decided not to question it too much. Whoever had thrown those knives had just saved someone, after all. After giving a quick, silent “Thank you” to the mysterious knife-thrower, she ran after her partner.

Amon kneeled upon the relatively undamaged roof he had just scaled, just out of sight of the crowds below. The long end of his scarf billowed as he deftly drew three new jet-black throwing knives from the belt beneath his shirt and brandished them between his fingers. He made a mental note to retrieve the others when he had a moment. Only have so many, after all.

Equipped once more and certain that he’d waited long enough that nobody would be looking up, he peeked over the top of the building. A quick survey of the area revealed a few more incoming fireballs and numerous precariously crumbling buildings. A few stragglers remained impeded by the collateral damage. Meanwhile, the guards were starting to regroup at the city entrance.

“They’re going to come back to fight the mage and get themselves killed for it.” He turned to face the ongoing fight and rested his fist against his cheek. “He’s way stronger than them. A bit too much stronger than them, actually. He didn’t have this kind of power when we Scouted this place – I’m not even sure if he’s still C Class. Which means we’re well past the point of this just being a simple evaluation mission.” Amon let out a small breath and stood up with a serious look on his face. Squeezing the front of his scarf with his free hand, he took off across the rooftops.

“Guess it’s time to play Hero, then.”