Marching down the dimly lit halls, a group of six people moved to the barracks with one taking the lead. The journey was eerily quiet as the group moved along, their shadows slithering across the walls.

  At the front, Teddy couldn’t help but feel nauseous.

  ‘How had it come to this?’

  In that room, he could see the obvious changes that had occurred to Sera. And seeing Leo’s uncomfortable expression basically confirmed his suspicions. It was a blessing Leo had shown that note to him, or else he would have had no evidence backing up the claim.

  He could only hope the note writer would attest to his suspicions should the need arise.

  Behind him, Sera leisurely looked around as she walked behind him. Hands in her pockets, she looked toward the outside world through the barred windows of the stone walls.

  “Tell me, Lieutenant. How long will the snow last?”

  “Hm, I’d say it will melt around March. The winters are much longer here as you can tell.”

  Nothing more was said as silence took the group once more.

  Turning the corner, Teddy moved out of the way for Sera as he motioned for her to enter.

  “Your room is just around the corner, Apostle Sera.”

  Nodding, she moved on ahead, the four guards all trailing behind her as they dispersed from the square formation.

  Just as she turned the corner, her eyes somewhat widened as she let out a surprised noise. Without another moment, her vision turned upside down as her headless body came into view.

  She sighed as if mildly annoyed by the inconvenience. “Tsk. And I thought it would last just a bit longer too…”

  Sheathing his katana, Teddy lightly breathed out before picking up the head. The four guards behind him trained their guns at the body allowing him to focus on the head of “Sera”.

  Teddy chuckled, unable to hold in his disbelief. “Perhaps. Though you weren’t the best of actors, demon.”

  Weirdly enough, a gentle smile creeped up on the head’s face as she laid her eyes on Teddy. “You are right, it’s difficult mimicking humans. So many useless actions, I simply can’t comprehend such a primitive way of life. Especially that of one who believes in false idols. The Sun…Hahaha…What a comedic thought that a star would have any deep thoughts or will.”

  Teddy shrugged. “You may not understand, demon. But people need to cling to hope some way or another. Not like you’d need hope to begin with. Now, let’s bring you to the Chairwoman, shall we?”

  Turning her head toward where he was walking, he allowed her to see dozens of soldiers aiming their weapons at the demon, some carrying swords and spears while others carried assault rifles and machine guns.

  At the center of this group was a young blonde woman carrying a large, black greatsword on her back. She had an officers cap similar to Teddy’s in addition to a gold star placed at the center of the cap as well as being lazily worn as it threatened to slip off the side of her head. Her left shoulder was covered by a short white cape, contrasting the dark green jacket and grey pants she wore. Covering her shining hazel eyes were sunglasses reflecting the dim lights of the hallway, the figure of Teddy carrying the head of Sera in sight.

  Teddy approached the group with Sera’s head in tow, stopping right before the blonde woman. Finally, with his right hand, he gave a salute, clicking his feet together.

  “Chairwoman Troyer, here is the target’s head, intact and conscious.”

  A beautiful smile grew on her face as she looked at Teddy with a lethargic look.

  “I’ve told you so many times, Teddy. Just call me Laura. You’re so formal…”

  “Understood, Chairwoman Troyer.”

  She rolled her eyes as she lightly picked up the head by the ear, her eyes full of disgust.

  “So you’re the demon Teddy’s been talking about, eh? You’ve caused so many problems so far, tell me, what was your plan after getting in here, anyway?”

  The head remained silent, her eyes glancing over at her decapitated body.

  Noticing it, Laura signaled for the four soldiers with Teddy to contain the body.

  Quickly, but carefully, the four switched to their maces as they began to wrap the body in some leather clothing. After they finished encasing the body, the guard that had sent his astral projection placed a paper with a symbol of a red eye onto the body.

  Looking up, the soldier nodded to Laura.

  With that finished, Laura gave an exaggerated sigh as she looked down at the head.

  “And there goes the body. Now, let’s see what a Lord-rank demon is doing in such a decrepit place like this.”

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  Finally, Sera’s eyes looked at the colonel.

  “Oh? You know my title? Wonderful, that should shorten things then.”

  Right after she said that, the paper quickly burned up as the body ripped itself out of its leather prison. Her body now had what appeared to be sharp shards of glass running along her arms, the body glistening in the hallway.

  Laura sighed as she stared boringly at the sight.

  She tossed the head to Teddy as she gripped her greatsword.

  “Hold onto this, will ya?”

  In a matter of a second, Laura swung the obsidian greatsword down from her back with such force some of the soldiers behind were almost blown back from the wind. Its jet black blade blended into the dark hallway as it swung in the direction of the attacking body. It was as if the blade was weightless in her arms as she stopped the blade just above the ground.

  Without a sound, Sera’s body split in half from the head down as it fell into a fleshy, yet glassy lump.

  Sera’s expression turned to curiosity, unfazed by her body’s destruction. Her eyes slowly closed as Laura appeared before her, placing a paper seal on her head.

  “Teddy, protect that head please. I’m going to request some Sunderers from the Reprocessing facilities to get some information from Sera here. It should take no more than six hours for them to get here. In the meantime, make sure the demon in that kid stays here.”

  Teddy saluted. “Yes, Chairwoman.”

  “It’s Laura…”

  She quickly started barking out orders to the remaining soldiers causing them to begin running across the fortress to carry out her orders.

  Once she finished, she turned back to Teddy as if she forgot something.

  “Oh, and if you need anything more. Just ask Sina, ‘kay?”

  Teddy nodded as she disappeared from his sight in a blur, leaving behind a small gust of wind.

  ‘As fast as usual…’

  Heaving a sigh of relief, Teddy sat down resting his back on the cold stone wall. Leaning his head back, he couldn’t help but be thankful that the colonel was such a battle freak. If she knew how to do anything, it was the ability to fight.

  Paperwork? Not so much.

  He put his head down and patted the ground.

  “You get that, note writer? Go ahead and tell Leo the situation, okay?”

  The shadows below him trembled as if surprised.

  Slowly, a dark figure’s head emerged from below, the shadows masking her identity.

  “You knew?”

  Teddy nodded. “Unfortunately so. My Refraction is quite useful in such situations…Sadly I’m too tired to explain this to Leo right now, and quite frankly, I don’t think he’s too happy to see me now anyways. As for you, Ma’am. I’ll have to have a talk with you at some point. Especially regarding…” He motioned to the ground below him. “...this.”

  The dark figure sat still for a moment, her eyes remaining emotionless before she nodded. She completely emerged from the dark, the shadows coming off her like a blanket as her black hair cascaded down her back, her brown eyes staring at Teddy filled with annoyance.

  “Well, you’ll know who I am anyway, so might as well get it over with.”

  Teddy scanned her, marking her appearance in his memory.

  “Connie, huh? Can’t say I’m too surprised to see it’s you. But latching onto Leo? Is he your next victim? Hm?”

  A shimmer of irritation glistened in her eyes as a dark spear emerged from the dark, surging forth at full force straight at Teddy.

  Teddy sighed. “Really…?”

  Tilting his head, the spear collided into the wall behind him. Small stone debris fell onto his shoulders, causing him to frown.

  “Oh, c’mon…I just washed this uniform…”

  Connie hissed, “Say that again, and it won’t just be dirt on that pretty little uniform, filth..”

  He rolled his eyes. “Whatever, just make sure you don’t do anything to him please. My superior is quite interested in him.” He whistled. “And who knows, maybe the deal will be cancelled if you interfere too much.”

  Connie looked at him, her eyes filled with rage and disgust at the man in front of her. “Touch a hair on him, and you can kiss your work good-bye. And your Chairwoman can thank you for that, you piece of shit.”

  As quickly as she appeared, Connie submerged herself into the shadows, but not before flipping the officer off, quickly disappearing from the scene. The light grew brighter the farther she went as they flickered back to life.

  A few soldiers ran around the corner with concerned expressions.

  “Lieutenant, what happened?”

  Putting the head into his pocket, Teddy got up as he patted off the debris on his shoulders and tiredly shook his head.

  “Don’t worry, soldier. A grumpy raven just passed by. Continue on.”

  “Sir!” The soldiers saluted before resuming their duties. Seeing they were gone, Teddy leaned his head against the wall, looking up at the ceiling. His body began to shake as he struggled to contain his laugh, covering his mouth to hide a wide smile.

  He hadn’t expected to get so much information from Connie. He had just been saying things that matched the vibe, but they ended up with genuine results! A deal with the Chairwoman? No, she’s not clever enough. Sina? Maybe, but Sina didn’t seem to recognize her. So who else…?

  And what was that Refraction? He could’ve sworn he had seen it before, but where?

  Having calmed down, he sighed. There were too many unknowns right now. He’ll have to look into it after these trials. Only then could he wrap his head around this mystery.

  He couldn’t wait to go back home.