Black Stained Winter: Chapter 17 - "Beware, Demons"

Red color is staining Rick’s hand. He stands looking down at a demon with bloody head lying still. Tama and Usami watch from afar, still. Both of their eyes are open wide from shock and disbelief. Usami covers her gaping mouth with both hands still surprised by what just happened.

Tama knows Rick hates demon from deep within his heart. But, this? She didn’t expect Rick to attack a passing Raygn, a demon with reason and conscience, swiftly without hesitation. And obviously she wasn’t expecting for him to attack an unarmed and harmless demon like this.

Rick’s eyes are locked to the body in front of him, watching and prepared to strike at first sign of life. If the demon is still alive, he’s ready to deliver a final strike. And then, a cough. The dying demon coughing out blood. His breath is heavy and looks like in pain. But, he still unconscious.

Rick raises his hand and prepare his favourite palm strike. A full power strike to the head will finish him off, he thinks. Swiftly, he uses full power on his palm and move it down toward the helpless demon’s head.

BAM!

Black Stained Winter: Chapter 16 - "Foreign"

“Ignis, is that you?” Ren asks the man in black suit and armor in front of him. He recognizes his voice even though it’s slightly muffled by the mask.

“Yeah,” the mask opens in the middle of the face and slides sideway revealing Ignis’s face, “It’s me.”

“What’s with the suit?”

“New stuff from Gerogom. Ah,” Ignis leans sideway a bit and tries to look pass Ren. Ren turns and see Lyon already walks away.

“Keep on talking, go on. Those trespassers will wait for us,” says Lyon without even stopping. “Useless bunch,” the words whispered just before she dashes away and soon gone from the view. The two man on the rooftop are left alone together by the blonde swordswoman.

“So, who’s that?” Ignis frowns curiously as he turns to Ren.

“Lyon, a girl I met several minutes ago,” Ren reaches to his pocket and, like always, pull out a pack of toothpicks and take one out and bite it.

“That’s not helping.”

“Well, can’t help more than that. She’s strong, I give you that. This, “ Ren points to a dead white beast with his thumb, “was her doing.”

“Not half bad.”

“Not at all. But her attitude needs some help though.”

Ignis chuckles, “You got that right.”

The two man look around from the high rooftop and see the vast city lays before them to the horizon. “We can’t cover this much area,” Ren mumbles. There’s only a handful of them while the city is too big.

“Hey, how many do you think are there people like us and that woman?” Ignis asks suddenly.