Man-Eating Demon

"Ah~ Morning, everyone!" Feng Lan strolled into the guild late in the morning. "Going on a job, Mira... Huh, where's Mira?"

Lisanna and Elfman hurried into the guild. "Everyone, have you seen Mira?"

Feng Lan asked curiously, "Isn't Mira with you two?"

Elfman shook his head. "No. When we woke up this morning, Sister wasn't home. But no matter how Lisanna and I looked, we couldn't find Mira."

"Yo, what are you guys talking about?" Laxus pushed open the door and walked in from outside.

Feng Lan looked at Laxus. "Laxus, have you seen Mira today?"

Laxus scratched his head as he thought back. "Mira... Oh, right. When I was out running this morning, I saw Mira sneakily heading off to do a job."

"A job?" Feng Lan said doubtfully. "She isn't really mad at me, is she? She went on a job without even telling me... And why was she being so secretive about a job?"

Makarov, who was looking through the records book nearby, said, "Huh? That can't be right. No one has accepted a job today."

"This is bad." Feng Lan's heart tightened, and he hurried up to the second floor. "Old man, this is serious! One of the S-rank requests on the second floor is missing!"

"Let me see!" Hearing that, Makarov rushed upstairs to check. "One, two, three... eleven, twelve. Damn it, one really is missing!"

Feng Lan hurriedly asked, "Which one?!"

Makarov rapidly flipped through the records book, comparing it with the requests on the board one by one. "It's... it's that one, {Man-Eating Demon}!"

Feng Lan cried out in horror, "{Man-Eating Demon}?! Isn't that an SS-rank job? Isn't Mira just going to her death?!"

Lisanna said anxiously, "D-Did something happen to Mira? Guild Master, please save Mira! I'm begging you!"

Feng Lan slammed his right fist against the request board. "Old man, I'm going to bring Mira back. I'll take this job in my name!"

With that, Feng Lan ran out of the guild, immediately unleashed Dragon Force, spread his wings, and flew off at high speed.

"Hey, hey! Where are you going, Feng Lan?!" Dada Liya flew over, panting heavily. "Seriously, I even brought you some fruit."

Lisanna asked worriedly, "Mira... she'll be okay, right?"

Elfman nodded. "Yeah! She'll be fine. Feng Lan is really strong!"

Please, don't let anything happen, Mira... Feng Lan flapped his wings and sped through the sky.

In an unknown small village

"I'm the mage here to complete the request. Please tell me about the details of the job." Mira walked up to a little old man and spoke.

The old man led Mira into a house. "All right, come in and have a seat. I'll explain the details of the request."

Mira did not stand on ceremony and walked in to sit down. "All right, tell me. What's this demon thing about?"

The old man sighed and slowly sat down. "Sigh... You may not believe this, but not long ago, a red, four-winged monster suddenly appeared near the village!"

"A monster..." Mira said. "Are you sure it was a monster? Could it have been a human using some kind of magic?"

The old man shook his head. "Not likely... Because we saw it before. That monster directly ate several people alive! The oldest was not even fifty, and the youngest was under seven!"

Hearing that, Mira said painfully, "It even spared no children... I understand. I'll get rid of that demon!"

The old man nodded. "Yes, then I'll leave it to you, miss. Otherwise, that demon will kill everyone in our village sooner or later!"

Mira looked at the sun outside. "Can that demon come out during the day too? There's no time limit?"

The old man nodded. "That's right. That's why we never have any chance to prepare."

Mira walked out of the house and looked at the dense forest ahead. Come on, you can do this! You have to become stronger!

"Whew~" Mira let out a long breath. "I'm off!"

The old man smiled and nodded at Mira. "May your mission go smoothly, Mage."

Mira walked alone through the forest, her nerves taut at every moment.

"Rustle~ Rustle~" A sound suddenly came from the nearby bushes.

Mira immediately jumped back a step, her eyes fixed tightly on the bushes.

"Gulp." Mira swallowed and cautiously approached the bushes.

Mira suddenly sprang out from the bushes. "Come on!"

"Ah!" Just as Mira was about to use magic and fight, she heard a scream.

Mira focused her gaze and saw a woman who looked to be under thirty. "Who are you?! What are you doing?"

Mira looked awkwardly at the woman. "N-No, um, I don't mean any harm~"

Seeing that Mira was only a child of around thirteen, the woman lowered her guard. "Ah... You scared me to death! Whose kid is running around scaring people?"

Mira awkwardly scratched her head, then suddenly saw a figure slowly appear behind the woman. "Watch out behind you!"

"Huh? Ah!" Before the woman could react, the suddenly appearing figure grabbed her tightly.

The figure was a humanoid monster with a dark crimson body, black patterns, two pairs of unevenly sized wings growing from its back, and blood-red eyes.

"Who... are you?!" Just as the woman was about to turn around and see the monster's identity, the monster pinned her down tightly.

"Ah... ah... ah!" The monster held down the woman's head with one hand and seized her arm with the other. With a violent pull, it tore her arm clean off.

"Ugh... ah..." The woman clutched the stump of her arm and lay on the ground, groaning in agony.

Yet the monster held her arm, bit off a bloody piece of flesh, and began chewing it.

The next second, the monster frowned and threw the arm aside. "Pah! Disgusting..."

The monster stared expressionlessly at the woman, raised its right foot high, and crushed her skull beneath it. As if that was not enough, it stomped down several more times, trampling the woman's body into a mangled ruin.

A moment ago, she had been alive. Now blood and marrow sprayed everywhere, while her organs were crushed to pulp and scattered all over the ground. Seeing this scene, Mira could not help but retch.

Mira stared at the monster before her, filled with fear and tension, not even daring to breathe.

The monster turned its head and glanced at Mira. "You... look like you'd taste good..."

Cold sweat instantly covered Mira's body. She muttered softly, "A... a demon!"

"Demon... A demon?! You ants dare call me a demon?!" Hearing Mira say the word "demon," the monster immediately flew into a rage. "I'm... very angry now!"

In an instant, terrifying magic power swept over her, crushing Mira so completely that she could not move. "W-What is this terrifying magic power...?"

The two pairs of crimson wings behind the monster abruptly spread open, and violent magic power radiated from its body. "What kind of pathetic demon... I am a devil... I am one of the Seven Deadly Sins... I am Samael of Wrath! And you ants dare degrade me into some mere demon? I'm very angry now!"