The iron bars of the cage were cold, and the damp, moldy straw beneath them prickled against their skin. The handcuffs bit tightly into their wrists, occasionally knocking together with a dull clink.
Blanc leaned lazily against the cage, gazing through the narrow gaps at the stars scattered across the dark sky. He turned to the man beside him and complained:
"Lahar, you really screwed me over this time. Looks like I'm about to get the first failed mission of my life, all thanks to you."
"Sorry... It was my mistake that dragged you into this hopeless situation."
Lahar sat there dejectedly, his once-straight back hunched. Shadows swallowed him as he sank into bitter self-reproach.
"Still, I don't get it. Why were you the only person from the Magic Council sent to arrest this dark guild? If you'd had even a few more people keeping watch, they wouldn't have been able to monitor your every move and turn the tables before you even got out the door."
At that, a flicker of resentment crossed Lahar's downcast eyes.
"Because the higher-ups didn't think it was worth it. Pandemonium is cunning and has escaped several times, but so far, their activities have been small-scale. They haven't posed any substantial major threat. The Magic Council's judgment was that there was no need to waste additional resources on them."
Lahar's lips twisted into a self-mocking smile. "I disagreed. The damage they've caused is real. I couldn't accept such a careless decision to ignore it just because it was small-scale."
"So I requested permission to conduct surveillance alone, then asked for guild wizards to assist me. That way, I could keep pursuing them without tying up the Magic Council's forces..."
"Ohhh..." Blanc drawled, lightly knocking the back of his head against the bars.
"Got it. Good intentions, disastrous execution."
"Now we just have to see where these guys take us. We'll figure things out as we go."
Blanc's flippant remarks and relaxed posture made him look as though he had resigned himself to his fate. Yet a faint sound of a spinning wheel, audible only to him, had already quietly sounded several times.
Click, click, click, click.
Blanc lowered his gaze to the heavy Anti-Magic Handcuffs around his wrists. For now, he left them alone, intending to wait and see.
After they had traveled for some time, the trees began to thin, and a glimmer of firelight appeared ahead.
They finally reached the dark guild's temporary camp in the forest.
The cage was unloaded at the edge of the camp. Several underlings were still terrified of Blanc, their fingers trembling even as they set the cage down.
Someone couldn't help approaching the Guild Master and asking in a hushed voice:
"G-Guild Master, what should we do with these two?"
"Quiet. Let me think."
Marduk didn't answer right away.
His gaze lingered on Blanc's face before shifting toward the path they had come down. Caught up in the moment earlier, he had simply gone along with things, cuffing the two men with Anti-Magic Handcuffs and taking them away.
But now that he had calmed down, the memory of the magic power that brat had unleashed still sent chills down his back. It had felt almost tangible, terrifying beyond belief.
If possible, he really didn't want to keep this ticking time bomb anywhere near him.
But dumping the monster in the wilderness, somewhere he couldn't keep an eye on him, would make it even harder to sleep or eat in peace.
Kill him? If he killed such a young, gifted wizard, the guild backing him would hunt him down relentlessly.
Marduk glanced at Blanc again. The boy's face remained calm, his eyes utterly untroubled.
This brat had surrendered far too readily.
Marduk's throat bobbed as he forcibly swallowed that trace of murderous intent. He suspected the Anti-Magic Handcuffs didn't work on this monster at all! The brat was probably putting on an act, only cooperating because he was worried about the hostages.
If he actually tried to kill him and pushed the brat into dropping the act, everyone here combined wouldn't stand a chance.
But he couldn't keep stalling either. Instinct honed through years on the run warned him that something would go horribly wrong if he delayed any longer.
Damn it... I, Marduk, have been cautious my whole life. How did I let impulse go to my head? Why did I have to come out and test my newly enhanced power? Does gaining power cost you your intelligence? Now he was trapped between a rock and a hard place.
In the end, Marduk decided to save his own skin.
He took a deep breath and put on his authoritative Guild Master's demeanor.
"We may be a dark guild, but we still keep our promises. Here's what we'll do. I'll go tell our people in Red Apple Village to release the villagers. You stay here and watch him. Once I've released the villagers, kill them."
A slightly sharper underling raised a trembling hand.
"G-Guild Master, why don't... I go to Red Apple Village and release the villagers?"
Another member, who looked rather simple and honest, innocently made things worse.
"Guild Master, couldn't you just call them and tell them to release everyone? Why go all that way yourself?"
"Huh?!" Marduk's eyelid twitched as he barked:
"Are you the Guild Master, or am I? You dare disobey my orders?"
"N-no."
"That settles it! Stay here and watch them. Keep in touch. I'll go deliver the order."
With that, Marduk abruptly turned and strode away as fast as he could, preparing to make his escape.
Rustle-
Just then, a sharp rustling of branches and leaves came from a nearby tree. Blanc's gaze shifted, sweeping toward the sound.
A figure concealed beneath a pitch-black cloak stood atop the tree.
In the next instant, a girl's clear voice, laced with bone-deep hatred, rang out from beneath the cloak:
"You're the ones, aren't you? The people who've been summoning demons everywhere..."
"You summoned a demon in my village's church. You're the reason I was possessed! I've been looking all over for you! I'll never forgive you!"
Before her words had faded, the figure launched herself down from above.
She swung her fist in midair, hurtling straight at the fleeing Marduk with vicious force! Her raised arm was entirely black, its joints grotesquely elongated and its nails curved like sharp hooks. Hideous and terrifying, it was a genuine Demon Hand!
Marduk, who had been about to slip away, paled in shock. Black magic power erupted from his body. In his haste, he transformed into his Demon Form again and raised a claw to take the blow head-on.
"Where did this brat come from?"
Marduk stared at the vaguely familiar black demon arm before him, and a sudden realization stirred beneath his panic.
"Wait... that arm? I see. So it's that failed demon from before."
The breathing beneath the cloak suddenly grew heavy.
"So it really was you!" The girl's voice trembled with fury. "You got me possessed by a demon. You turned me into this monster... It's all your fault!!"
"Heh, you should feel honored. Demons are the ultimate goal of human evolution. You've become a superior life-form that surpasses humanity. You should be thanking us!"
"Don't give me that crap!!!"
The girl's face instantly twisted with rage as she lunged at him. Her fist tore through the air with a short, dull rush and slammed squarely into Marduk's crossed arms, driving him back half a step. His hooflike claws gouged two distinct tracks in the ground.
"You turned me into a monster, drove my family from our home, left us with nowhere to go- I'm going to kill you!!"
The two exchanged blows in a furious clash.
Yet as the fight dragged on, the sense that he was doomed if he stayed any longer seeped from Marduk's very bones. His expression grew increasingly agitated and terrified.
No. I have to finish this quickly!
"Heh, don't underestimate me, demon brat!" A vicious look crossed Marduk's face. Something black and taillike suddenly extended from behind his hideous demonic body. It swelled wildly in midair, instantly gathering into an enormous ink-black fist that slammed into the girl's stomach!
Bam!
The devastating blow sent the girl's small body flying backward. Her back smashed into a tree trunk thick enough to wrap her arms around, blasting great chunks of bark loose.
She let out a pained groan and slid helplessly to the ground.
The rushing wind had torn her hood off in midair. White hair spilled down like a waterfall, revealing a girl's face that remained strikingly beautiful despite the dirt smeared across it.
...Is that Mira?
Inside the cage, Blanc silently watched the white-haired girl who had suddenly barged in, rather surprised. The distinctive white hair, the demon arm, and her age suggested she was Mirajane, the future Demon. What was she doing here?
"What is that thing? Disgusting." Mira roughly wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth. Watching Marduk's black tail slowly retract, she spat, her expression grave.
"Heh, don't lump me in with you."
Marduk puffed out his chest. Black cursed energy erupted from within him, even dimming the surrounding firelight. He sneered:
"The demon possessing you is nothing more than an inferior, low-grade demon we discarded. The one inside me is a carefully selected high-ranking demon!"
"My rank is far above yours. You aren't even worthy of being my opponent."
"Shut up and die, you disgusting monster!"
Mira gritted her teeth and stood again. Roaring, her face blazing with anger, she charged once more!
She nimbly sidestepped Marduk's wildly swinging tail, planted her foot, and sprang into the air. A powerful punch landed solidly against the side of his face!
Bam!
The tremendous brute force snapped Marduk's head aside and sent him stumbling backward several steps.
"You irritating little piece of trash!!"
Marduk flew into a humiliated rage. With a roar, he burst forward through the black mist at astonishing speed.
Putting all his strength into it, he tore through the air and drove a fist hard into Mira's stomach, sending her flying again to crash headlong into the ground.
Looking at the white-haired girl lying there crying out in pain, unable to rise for the moment, Marduk spat in disgust. "Pah! Wasting my time."
No longer willing to bother with the crazy girl who had appeared out of nowhere, he turned and prepared to leave the camp again.
Crack-
Clang!
The crisp sound of something shattering, followed by metal hitting the ground, suddenly rang through the quiet forest.
Marduk went rigid. He spun around and looked at the iron cage behind him, which should have been holding the two men.
At some point, Blanc had risen to his feet and was now leisurely rolling his wrists. The Anti-Magic Handcuffs, supposedly capable of completely restraining a wizard, lay scattered at his feet in useless fragments.
Lahar stared in shock beside him, then his face flooded with joy.
The surrounding dark guild lackeys were even more at a loss, as though confronted with a reality they simply couldn't accept.
I knew it... This brat was playing me the whole time!!!
Overwhelming terror stripped Marduk of all composure, and he shrieked hysterically:
"You brat from a light guild, what do you think you're doing?! Don't forget, I still have hostages!"
"The hostages..." Blanc casually kicked aside a fragment on the ground, his voice so calm it sounded mocking. "Why don't you try contacting your people in Red Apple Village?"
Marduk panicked. What was this brat saying? Why was he telling him to contact them? What had happened over there?
"Also," Blanc raised his head, looking past Marduk's shoulder to something behind him, "turning your back on an opponent during a fight isn't a smart move."
"What!!? Don't tell me-" Marduk's expression changed drastically as a chill shot from his feet to the crown of his head! He whipped around. What filled his vision was a black demon fist, growing impossibly large before his eyes.
Bam-!!
The punch slammed squarely into Marduk's face. Its monstrous force instantly crushed and distorted his cheek, sending him flying like a kite with its string cut. Blood sprayed from his mouth as he crashed into the dirt, unable to rise again!
The disturbed dust billowed up, taking several seconds to settle.
"Don't underestimate me, you bastard!" The white-haired girl held her punching stance, covered in wounds and gasping for breath. Though she looked battered and her face was filled with fury, her eyes shone fiercely.
Only then did the quicker-witted members of the frozen mob snap out of their daze. They tried contacting their accomplices elsewhere, intending to keep threatening the hostages.
With a beep, the connection went through.
As though clutching his last lifeline, the underling screamed hysterically into the communicator:
"Quick, turn the camera toward the villagers! If anything happens here, kill them!!!"
The image on the other end slowly shifted, gradually coming into focus.
But what appeared before them wasn't the villagers. It was a sight that chilled them to the bone-another Blanc sat atop a small mound of piled-up unconscious bodies, tilting his head slightly as he waved and smiled at them!
The remaining dark guild members' legs went weak. Nothing remained in their eyes but bottomless despair.
Inside the cage, Blanc tilted his head toward the utterly broken scum. A grin slowly spread across his face, looking especially sinister in the darkness, and he brought his hands together.
"Wood Release-"
Before you continue