"Since this was given directly to me by Lord Gan of our organisation, the [Visions of Glory], I will not fail him with a lack of results this time."
Upon saying that, the winged figure dispersed into countless feathers. They vacated to a place further away and watched the creatures' anguished shrieks echo into the skies.
And, around this time, Harlock, Redrich, and Hara finally emerged from the cavern. By now, Hara noticed that it was midday, and the sight of the remarkable mountains right by them made all of them, even Redrich, breathe a sigh of relief.
However, this sign was short-lived, as he noticed the foul beast lurking around immediately.
"…What the… a Demonkin?" Harlock asked.
The powerful shrieks of the strange, bird-resembling creature, which seemed to have multiple beings fused into its body, grew louder.
"That doesn't look natural. From the little wisps and traces around it that were generated just now, that creature seems to be in some sort of hyper state." Redrich said.
"…Hm. Then, let's put it down quickly." Hara said.
Harlock stepped forward first, leading the three of them to the creature, which still hadn't noticed them due to the aberrations covering its body that made it shriek uncontrollably. However, it looked like the creature was still mutating.
Its body pulsated erratically, and moments later, two arms sprouted from its body, furthering the transformation.
Hara winched and stepped back, ushering another small twitch from the mutating monster. He decided he couldn't stand another moment looking at the scene in front of his eyes, so he summoned all the strength he could muster to put it out of its misery.
However…
"…Hm…"
Before Hara struck the creature, Harlock noticed that it had reacted to his power, and its flesh was slowly hardening in response, while large, black wings, covered with many staring eyes, immediately budded from its form.
However, when Hara finally struck it, its transformation stopped briefly, before resuming.
"This isn't normal… a normal Demonkin shouldn't have such high Corruption levels to begin with…" Redrich said, readying himself.
Meanwhile, Hara's heart pounded as he looked at the creature's changing form. It was slowly but surely becoming a more "complete" being.
"We need to get out of here! We can't risk our lives for this!" Hara said, as he realised its strength would soon reach levels surpassing anything he had ever seen before.
Though before they decided to make a swift escape, something strange happened.
From the skies above, all three of them noticed the presence of a large, spinning slab of metal that looked like a greatsword coming from above like a meteor, and it was aiming directly at the monster.
Moments later, the force of the spinning sword collided with the creature, and a small impact knocked all three of them away. And then, as Hara opened his eyes again, he saw a mechanical humanoid in officer attire appear before him, tearing the metal sword away from the body of the Demonkin.
"…As I thought. This Demonkin is another one of the [Exalted Machinations]. I need to tell the others to put more effort into their investigations…"
"Hey… Who are you?" Redrich asked, stepping forth.
The Construct turned to stare at him, and placed one leg on the dead "monster" before lifting his metal sword before pointing it at the three of them.
"That's what I should be asking you three, as a member of Hasuja City's Defence & Protection Squads. What are any of you doing around here? Do you have a connection to this beast right here?"
"Uh… Nope." Hara replied, shaking his head.
"Well, this creature didn't exactly appear out of nowhere, then, right?"
"…Yes, but we also have absolutely no idea where that thing came from," Harlock replied.
"I'm sorry to say, but we have no idea what just happened."
"…Hm…"
The Construct inspected their facial expressions, and he slowly determined that these three were not lying.
"…Well, I can't be too cautious, right? But still, I'm guessing there could still be some value I could pull out of you three. So, in other words, you're all coming with me."
"…To where?"
"A nearby city, of course! We need to inspect you, and, more importantly, find out the origins of this creature, which I already suspect is from that cult…"
Hara noticed something about the mechanical humanoid. Something familiar.
"…Hey, wait… I think I recognise you."
"…Recognise me? What are you on about, kid?"
Hara stared at him more closely but couldn't confirm the familiarity. He just felt like he had met someone similar to the Construct before him.
"…Nevermind. I just thought you looked familiar."
"Hey! That's an insult!" The mechanical humanoid replied.
"All Constructs pride themselves on looking distinct!"
"…But, on second thought, I think I recognise you as well. But, let's save that for later, since I have to take you all with me. Don't try and run away either, or this little ole' blade of mine will tear right through your chest, got that?"
The trio nodded.
"Alright then." The Construct said, picking up the corpse.
"And, by the way, you three can call me, [Silver]."
Hara felt his eyebrow raise, as he also found that name to be familiar, but he continued to shake it off.
This jump-started the journey from the Sauti Mountains to Hasuja City, which was one of the major cities in the Grassfield Wilds.
Such cities were growing increasingly ordinary, especially in the last 100 years. But yet, despite all the advancement during those last few years, there has been increased pushback by the Demonkin in the arduous task of pushing the Dark Border further and further away.
There were now not just Demonkin enemies, but more and more human enemies, who operate based on a "grand mission" as an excuse for their insanity, have begun to surface, like the [Lotus Garden], an organisation dressed like Saints in robes that worship the concepts of "eternity" and "rebirth", which they also link to a being they call the [Enlightened One].
They were also led by the still uncaptured and highly dangerous criminal, the [Mother of Eternity]. But they were also far from being the only human enemies that the leaders of New Humanity faced either.
During the 30-minute walk through grass, dirt and soil to finally arrive at Hasuja City, a mysterious figure watched the four of them from close behind, undetected and unseen through the use of strange magic.
"Unfortunately, I can't do anything to them in the city, not without gathering unwanted attention… "Horn", "Needle" and "Deceiver" should be around, so perhaps I can ask them for help…"
The winged figure stared at the group of four that walked further and further away. But their eyes were only focused on one person. Hara.
"…His scent… It's so pure and magical that it makes me nauseous. He wields something within himself that is harmful to our [Glorious Enchantments]. Taking care of him here will do us all some good."
"Let me follow them for a while longer…" The winged figure said, while they took off their mask and undressed their robes, revealing purple, snake's eyes, long, dark hair, a sly smile and a long dark coat underneath, imbued with feathery bird motifs.
"…I will show that I will do anything for the sacred cause."