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The girl, named Celeste, was being reprimanded by a woman with red skin wearing black and white nun robes. She was obviously a demon, as Shade immediately recognized her as a Red Demon, or Oni for short. They were mighty warriors stronger physically than even Amazon. They took a large part in the war, and many of them were the demon king's soldiers and close retainers.
They were a tribe of demons that prided themselves in their physical strength. However this woman was… incredibly different than how Shade remember those valiant warriors that sought challenges and exhilarating battles. Back then in the Demon King army, there were many demons of this tribe.
She had a very passive expression in her face, and she had a large scar across her nose, such a scar went through her left eye, which wasn't orange red like the other, but gray, probably having lost its vision. Also, Shade was very sure that both males and females of the Red Demon Tribe had enormous and sharp horns that grew out of their heads, which they used as weapons to pierce foes by charging at them like bulls.
However, she had none. They were… horribly cut. And that was not all, Red Demons also had long and strong tails which they used as a fifth limb to fight and smack foes, but she also lacked a tail. Her entire body was covered in scars, even her hands looked as if they were disfigured after having been burned through searing and unforgiving flames.
Was she a survivor from the war if she was so filled with scars to this point? What could she had gone through for such a thing to happen to her? And to boot, she was wearing nun clothes, meaning that she was part of the church that protected the orphanage… Shade had never seen a pure demon being a nun, especially because to become a nun, a woman had to swear allegiance to the Gods that protected humanity, and that would be a terrible sin worth death for any demons, who prayed to their own Evil Gods, or the Ancient Demon King, the first to have ever existed, which was a religious figure to them.
Celeste heard the words of the girl, as she looked back at the red-skinned demon girl.
"Mary, where's Mist? I didn't see her."
"Mist…"
Celeste quickly stood up, without leaving aside the knife covered in monster blood. Mary looked at the knife, scared, she fell to the floor and crawled away in fear.
"N-No! Please!" She screamed as if she was panicking. Celeste quickly realized she had scared her friend, and dropped the knife in the floor, running towards Mary.
"Mary, I'm sorry! I-I didn't mean to scare you…" She said, infusing a bit of light into her body. Mary slowly calmed herself, breathing softly and looking back at Celeste.
"Hahh… S-Sorry… When I see… things with blood I…" Muttered Mary, her face darkened as she recalled a terrible past.
"Don't worry… Sorry for that, I forgot… I-I will go take a bath afterwards but… where's Mist?" Asked Celeste.
"Mist is… She hasn't come back yet… I thought she was with you like always, Celeste!" Said Mary, as her hands began to tremble. Celeste's eyes opened wide; something was wrong. Mist was missing! And it was already so late and she hasn't come back either…
"No… She didn't came to visit me in the dungeon like she always does, she told me in the morning that she would come back to have lunch with you and the kids…" Sighed Celeste. "Mist… what happened to her? Damn it… Damn it!" Celeste ran off upstairs, reaching the room where all the children were sleeping. Her commotion woke most of them, as Shade realized they were all particular in shape and forms, they were either demons, beast-kin, or hybrids.
Celeste calmed down the children while she ran off into Mist's bed, collecting the little white hairs left behind by her over her bed. She quickly grabbed them and began conjuring an incantation, forming runes masterfully into a magic circle, all while the hair was being burned down by blue flames.
"Phantoms of the night, guide me towards my target, use these hairs as parts of her body, and lead me to where she is…" She chanted.
"Incredible, she can use high-tier magic so easily!" Said Shade. "This girl is brimming with talent… But Mist? Isn't that the girl we rescued? Should I go there to tell her or…?" Wondered Shade, as the girl suddenly saw a phantom guiding her somewhere.
"Mary, I'm going off, protect the children for me, alright? Here's a charm!" Said Celeste, giving Mary a kiss in the cheek and a small talisman.
"C-Celeste, wait!" Cried Mary, without being able to stop her.
Shade quickly began chasing down Celeste as she ran off through the streets, she was incredibly fast, and he immediately noticed that she was able to administrate mana all over her body through special Mana Veins she had formed some time ago. It seems she had managed to cultivate her own body through special Physique Refining Techniques that used the Mana Flow Technique as its base. It was a rather basic way to grow stronger physically for beginners, but because she was a half-demon, it was enhanced multiple times and she was easily someone comparable to a C Rank Adventurer in terms of strength and reflexes, which was incredible.
He quickly began to compare her with Aquarina, Sylphy, and Zack, and he immediately could tell that she could beat all three of them together… Perhaps Sylph could stand until the end if she went all out though, her bottomless Mana also meant endless possibilities in a battle. But this girl seemed experienced in battling people as well, too experienced, in fact.
"Mist is… out of the village?!" Asked Celeste to the small phantom, which seemed to nod. She jumped over the city's walls, and looked out into the grasslands, noticing several tents near the Faraway Forest.
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