Awakened

High Priestess of Eternity

"High Priestess... As per your request, my Razors and I have caught and have held onto that girl you wanted us to capture. I have come to bring you my report on our progress." Hendrick explained, gulping nervously as he kneeled down onto a knee out of respect. The High Priestess tilted her head quietly, not showing any sort of emotion in her hidden expression. "Your progress? Do tell, I would love to wonder where the young child is if you have caught her." She spoke in a soft tone. The black knight right next to her kept still and silent as she spoke.

"Well, that's the thing, High Priestess. There was a break-in at the camp we had her caged in and she... Escaped." The leader of the Razors explained, looking up to the High Priestess and then looking down once more. Masa kept looking between the High Priestess and Hendrick, he had never seen his boss in such a state of fear or nervousness before, he was usually so high and mighty but now he seemed so vulnerable. The High Priestess kept quiet after hearing Hendrick's words, though a tense feeling began filling the air, a feeling that could be felt by all that was in the room. "Escaped..." The white-haired head of the Eternal Church spoke quietly. "Why haven't you gotten her back yet?"

Hendrick flinched, looking to the side before looking up again. "We've been trying to get her back! I've been looking over it myself! She just keeps slipping out of our grasp!" He spoke up, the tone and pitch of his voice rising from the nervousness rising within his stomach. Suddenly, the High Priestess stood up from her throne and took a step towards Hendrick, her hands behind her back. "Slipping from your grasp? Hendrick Kane, if you haven't noticed, she is simply one little girl. I thought your Razors were meant to be the best of the best. Why can't you catch one child?" She spoke in a colder tone of voice.

Hendrick gritted his teeth at those words, he always got pissed off when someone talked crap about his group though he was trying to keep his cool. "S-She has help! From the ones who broke her out of the camp!" Hendrick spoke shakily. Masa shook at the way Hendrick was getting, as well as the cold tension that was beginning to fill the air. "Help? From who, Hendrick Kane?" The High Priestess spoke up, taking another step towards Hendrick and Masa. "K-Koa Aiken, the hunter. He's apparently helping her out." The leader of the Razor's spoke up.

"So a simple swordsman is also helping her out, you have swordsmen too, surely Koa Aiken isn't an issue for the mighty Razors." The High Priestess was speaking in a mocking tone of voice, almost as if insinuating that the Razors were all weak for not being able to catch a single child and a simple swordsman. "Is there anyone else helping her?" She asked. Hendrick froze up, almost as if all the anger and fear were beginning to get to him.

Suddenly, Masa stood up and spoke in an affirming tone. "Yes, High Priestess! A man with purple hair and blaze orange eyes!" Masa spoke up, looking to Hendrick who was now giving him a look as if saying "What the hell are you thinking?". Without warning, The High Priestess suddenly stopped in her tracks and slowly turned to Masa, showing an emotion in their hidden face that Masa wasn't sure about. "Tell me boy... Did this man have unique symbols in his eyes?" She asked. Masa blinked before nodding to the question that he had just been asked.

Silence...

After a moment of complete silence throughout the entire room, The High Priestess suddenly turned to Hendrick again and spoke in a cold, collected tone of voice. "Go. Take your Razors and find the child and her comrades. Once you do, I want you to bring her and this purple-haired man right to me. Is that understood?" She spoke coldly to Hendrick. The leader of the Razors nodded in understanding, "Yes!" Once he had spoken, he stood up and turned to leave the building, being followed by Masa.

Once the two Razor's had left. The High Priestess turned and sat down on her throne, seemingly showing no more reactions... However, after what was only seconds, she suddenly burst out into a maniacal laugh, bringing her hand up to her face and using her other hand to grip the throne's armrest. "This must be a sick joke! Some bad comedy if you will!" She laughed. The black knight beside her turned their head towards the High Priest, as if wondering what she was laughing about.

Within a few minutes of the white-haired lady laughing, she leaned forward with a dark grin on her face. "So he's actually alive... Apollyon Zalvedir. He's actually alive." She grinned darkly.

-

After spending the past couple of days traveling, Apollyon, Koa, and Violet eventually rode into the City of Mosvil. The city was similar to the other cities that the trio had been in, it was full of humans for the most part, each going to the different shops and attractions that were there. It also didn't surprise Apollyon that there were very few demi-humans within the city as well, at this rate the discrimination towards demi-humans didn't surprise him anymore, he always expected it from humans. As they rode into the city on their carriage, Apollyon then turned to Koa and spoke, "So, anything I should be worrying about when coming into a fight with a demon?" Apollyon asked, leaning back in his seat.

"Well, there are a few things to take into consideration. Demons are often weaker when they are in direct sunlight, so you'll mostly see them coming out at night. They have regenerative properties, almost like yourself but different-" Koa began, obviously referring to the way that Apollyon seemed to be able to regenerate some of the damage caused to him, "- As well as that, they have a few weaknesses as well. Celestial magic is highly effective against them." He explained.

"Celestial?" Apollyon tilted his head curiously. Koa nodded to his words, looking forward as they rode through the city. "The gods and their angels, they were the ones who brought the Titans to extinction in the Great Holy War to command over this realm." The blindfolded swordsman explained, "Their magic also works really well on demons, however since we don't have any sort of celestial magic, we will also have to make do with another demon's weakness- The head. If you were to decapitate a demon, they won't be able to regenerate." Koa explained.

Apollyon nodded to the words that were said by Koa. He knew about the Great Holy War that Koa had just talked about. Back before the realm of Akranes was civilized by humans and demi-humans, it was reportedly full of war-mongering Titans who only cared about keeping their land to themselves and not caring for any other race who lived within it. To combat these Titans, the gods and their angels descended from the heavens to wipe them out, causing an all-out war that led to the extinction of the Titans.

"So take decapitate demons to stop their regeneration. Though I also assume causing a lot of damage to the demon will also be enough to hurt it?" Apollyon asked, looking forward as well. He kept looking at all the humans they were riding past, a lot of them kept giving him disgusted looks which he always hated. "Yes, that would be enough to kill it as well," Koa explained, looking around for a spot where they could park their carriage.

Violet was keeping quiet in the back of the carriage, she was listening to the two men talking about the Demons, Celestials, and Titans though she already had some knowledge of all of that, her mama had explained it all to her a long time ago. She was nervous about this quest for some reason, something about Apollyon and Koa fighting off a supposedly strong demon worried her. She didn't like it when the people she cared about got hurt.

Not too long after their chat, the trio found a quiet spot where they would be able to park their carriage. Koa jumped down off the carriage first, attaching his sword to his belt as he began to look around. Apollyon and Violet followed soon after. "Likely, the demon won't show up until later tonight, I would advise we spend this time to get some food and rest. We will begin hunting when it gets dark." Koa advised. Apollyon nodded to the words that had been said by Koa. They had all been traveling for a few days to get to this city so some rest and food was always nice. After looking around for a little bit, Apollyon pointed over to a bar that was nearby.

"That works, I could use a drink and some food," Apollyon explained, pointing over to the bar and turning to Koa. The blindfolded samurai crossed his arms and looked to Apollyon, "You want to head into a bar with a child? There are usually some rowdy adventurers within them." Koa pointed out, looking to Apollyon who shrugged. "I'm sure it'll be fine, we'll be right next to her. Violet will be fine." Apollyon spoke up to which Koa shrugged and nodded. With that, the trio then walked over to the bar to get some food and drink.

-

The bar was pretty well-made though it looked like an average bar. The main bar had a long countertop with stools and such, allowing people to sit down as they ordered their drinks. There were round tables around the establishment, each table being occupied by different adventurers, some of them looking a lot more rougher than others. Once they walked in, Apollyon kept a hand on Violet's shoulder, as if telling her silently to keep close to him.

The trio walked in and found a seat at a free table, not too long after, they also ordered themselves some food and drinks. Both Koa and Apollyon got themselves some beer while Violet was given some juice. "Isn't this nice? Just being able to sit back and have some drinks?" Apollyon smiled, drinking his pint happily. "I guess so, I'm not a massive fan of alcoholic beverages but I guess that this is fine," Koa murmured, taking sips from his beverages. Violet kept looking around curiously as if the entire establishment made her incredibly curious.

It didn't take long for the trio to get their food, to which they each happily began digging into. As they were eating, Koa ended up snatching up a newspaper that was just sitting on an empty table, when he took a look at it, it appeared to be the latest issue. "Hmm," He hummed as he began reading through it. "What is it?" Apollyon asked, his mouth full of food. "It appears that the Queen is still rather unwell, the government still happens to be running the realm in her stead. They also seem to be working really closely with The Eternal Church." Koa explained.

"Well that's obvious, that church seems to be all that any humans follow these days," Apollyon grumbled, looking away with a frown. Koa tilted his head in response, "No, not any human. Some humans do believe that what the church preaches is wrong, however the percentage of humans who don't follow The Eternal Church is very small." The swordsman sighed, shaking his head. "I have noticed that the queen did get sick when the church took power though I'm sure it's a coincidence, hopefully, she gets better, she was rather nice from what I heard"

"Is that so? I'd believe that when I see it." Apollyon grumbled, taking a sip from his drink. "Apollyon... May I ask, what is your reasoning for hating humans so much? You don't seem to be fond of them at all." Koa asked, looking at his comrade, "I know we agreed to stay out of each other's business but I must know." He asked. After the question was asked, the purple-haired Apollyon frowned and looked away, letting out an audible sigh. "They hate demi-humans, despite the fact they haven't done anything wrong. I can't respect anyone who would do that." Apollyon explained. "Though... Not all humans are bad, I guess."

Koa tilted his head quietly, "What makes you say that?" He asked. Apollyon sighed, "My parents- Well, the ones who raised me. They're human." Apollyon explained, taking sips from his drink. Violet was listening closely to the conversation, she blinked at this new piece of information from Apollyon, she hadn't known the ones who raised him were human. "I see." Koa murmured, "Where are they now?" Apollyon shrugged at his question, "Probably on their farm in the countryside, I haven't seen them in a while." He explained. Koa nodded quietly, though he decided it was best not to ask any further questions.

The trio sat in silence for a few minutes, eating their food quietly. As they were eating their food, suddenly the doors to the bar threw open, catching the attention of everyone in the building. Walking into the building was a figure whose face neither Apollyon nor Koa could see as of yet, they were wearing a black hood over their head and nothing was showing what type of person they were. The person walked over to the bar and leaned their arms on it before speaking, "Give me your strongest bottle. Fast." They spoke, their voice was rather light.

"You're not going to cause any more trouble here, are you?" The bartender frowned, looking at the person with a frown. "I don't need more adventurers walking out of my bar with bloody noses." The person seemed to let out an amused snicker, leaning their head on one of their hands. "Well, you need to tell those adventurers to stop poking their noses where they don't belong." They spoke. After the person had gotten their bottle, they put some gold coins on the countertop before reaching up and pulling down their hood. Apollyon's eyes widened at the sight of the person...

It was a woman, she had long raven-black hair, the left side of her body was scared from her face down and her left eye had an eyepatch on it. Her right eye was blue in color with a cross-shaped pupil. She was wearing a long great coat and a black button-up shirt that opened up around her chest and she seemed to have bandages wrapping around her chest like a makeshift bra. She also wore black jeans and big black boots. Apollyon could also see that her left arm seemed like it was made by some spectral magic as if it was some sort of magical prosthetic. She also had a long purple tattoo going up her collarbone.

Apollyon couldn't lie, but this woman had completely caught his eye in a few different ways, some he wouldn't say out loud. Firstly, her appearance was something that he felt couldn't go unnoticed for one thing. "You do realize it's rude to stare, Perv." The unique-looking woman spoke, glaring right at Apollyon before she took her bottle and left the establishment. Apollyon blinked, he hadn't realized he had been staring at her until she had pointed it out. After a moment, he then looked at the bartender and raised his hand. "Excuse me, but who was that?"

"Hmm? Oh, that was Ellis Laurier, she's an adventurer who comes through this city from time to time. I wouldn't get on her bad side if I were you, she can pack quite a punch." The bartender laughed as they cleaned out some glasses. The purple-haired Apollyon let out a sigh and shook his head. Koa tilted his head before speaking, "Focus, Apollyon. Focus on getting yourself rested for later tonight. We can't get distracted." Koa explained.

Apollyon nodded in understanding before leaning his head on his arms... Why had that girl caught his eye so much?

-

The night was quiet in the City of Mosvil. It was around midnight at this rate and there were very few people about, the lanterns in the street were all turned on to provide light for the light-goers. There were some guards patrolling the city at this time and something told Apollyon they were looking for the same thing he was. Apollyon, Koa, and Violet were now walking through the streets of the city, their guards all up as they began searching for any sight of this demon that they were looking for.

"Don't let your guard down, demons can be known for jumping out at their prey when they are least expecting it. If we let our guard down, there is no telling what might happen." Koa advised, keeping his hand on the handle of his sword, making sure he was ready in case he needed to pull his weapon out to defend himself. "You don't have to tell me twice." Apollyon nodded, looking around before looking down at Violet, "Don't go running off on your own, okay? Stay near me or Koa." He advised to little girl.

Violet nodded to Apollyon's words, whimpering slightly out of fear as she looked around herself She wasn't going to be fighting for obvious reasons but she was keeping her eye out in case she saw something and needed to warn the others. The trio had been searching for an hour or two at this rate, having found no sign of a demon in the area as of yet. "We've been looking for ages now and we haven't found anything. Maybe we should split up to try and cover more ground." Apollyon advised, looking over to the swordsman in their group.

"That would be wise. I'll go scout off on my own, Violet you stay near Apollyon." Koa advised before he ran off in a random direction to begin searching for the demon. Apollyon looked to Violet before nodding and beginning to walk again. The pair began walking together and eventually, they turned down a nearby alleyway, continuing to search the surrounding area just to be safe.

Suddenly, Violet let out a groan and brought her hand up to her nose, covering it as if something was disturbing her. Apollyon frowned and looked at Violet, "You good?" He asked before blinking and bringing his hand up to his own nose, "Ew... What the heck is that smell?" Apollyon grumbled. There was a putrid smell coming from nearby and it was awful, both Apollyon and Violet felt like they were going to throw up just by smelling it. After a second, the pair of adventurers began to walk towards the smell, curiosity getting the better of them.

Once they found the origin of the smell, the sight before them was almost as sickening as the scent it was giving off. Right in front of them, down the end of the alleyway, was a pile of mangled and destroyed corpses. Each one had limbs ripped off, chunks of their flesh bitten out and the whole sight itself was simply horrifying. Crouching right over the corpses was the demon that they were looking for, it had sharp claws on its hands and feet, and black skin that looked as tough as rocks. The demon suddenly turned its head towards Apollyon and Violet, it had glowing red eyes and red markings going up its body. It also had sharp teeth, each one being stained by the blood of its victims.

"Crap! Violet get back!" Apollyon shouted, reaching for his sword but before he could grab it, the demon suddenly launched itself from its seated position, grabbing Apollyon by the chest and slamming him into the nearby wall, revealing a big evil grin. Violet jumped, letting out a yelp in fear. "Damn it! Get back!" Apollyon growled, clenching his fist, his fist sparking with magical energy before he slammed his fist into the demon's head, forcing it to let go and stumble back.

The demon then let out a growl, showing off its sharp claws and slashing at Apollyon who was able to just about quickly side-step out of the way. The purple-haired Apollyon then slammed his fist back into the face of the demon, infusing his fist with more magic to create a stronger strike, causing the demon to go flying out of the alleyway. "Violet, stay back!" Apollyon shouted, running after the demon. The monstrous beast had landed in the middle of the street, standing up and letting out a big growl.

"Let's see if you like this!" Apollyon growled, lifting up his hand which sparked with black fire, sending out a blast of flame right at the demon though the outcome was not satisfactory. The demon just growled, running through the flames and grabbing Apollyon's arm, throwing him down the street and into a nearby light post. The blaze-orange-eyed man let out a groan, coughing up some blood but then standing up, he then got himself into a fighting position and began infusing his fist with magic. The demon let out a growl and charged at Apollyon however when it got close to him, he threw his fist so hard into the demon's chest, that it created an explosive force, sending the demon through a nearby building.

Violet was watching the confrontation from nearby, her eyes full of worry. She was scared that Apollyon might not be able to win this fight, though she wasn't giving up on him. Speaking of which, Apollyon began walking towards the building that the demon had been sent through. He stood wondering if he had defeated it but his eyes widened and he quickly raised his arms. All of a sudden, a blast of flames was shot out of the building and fired at Apollyon, scorching parts of his skin and parts of his clothing. When the flames died away, the demon charged out of the building, grabbing Apollyon and slamming his head into the floor, dragging it along the ground before slamming him into a nearby wall by the throat.

"F-Fuck!" Apollyon coughed, grabbing onto the demon's face, lifting his leg, and forcing the demon back with a forceful kick. When Apollyon was dropped, he let out a growl before clenching his hand slightly, charging up a ball of energy in his hand. "DIE!" Apollyon growled, lifting his hand and blasting a black and red beam of energy from the ball of energy right at the demon who lifted an arm to block the attack, however, its arm was suddenly blown off by the attack.

"Didn't like that did you?" Apollyon grinned, clenching his fists tightly as he glared at the demon who let out a growl of rage. Suddenly, it charged at Apollyon with the claws on its remaining arm shown, Apollyon tried to jump out of the way but it grabbed him by the chest, digging its claws into his flesh, causing him to yelp before slamming him onto the floor. "Damn!" He groaned, trying to free himself. The demon soon began to regenerate from his injuries, the arm that had been blown off was regenerating into a sword-like arm. It tried to pierce Apollyon with its new appendage, but he was able to grab it quickly, holding it back despite the blade cutting into his hands.

"Shit, this is bad. Nothing I'm doing is working on this thing!" Apollyon thought, glaring up at the demon and trying to think of some way out of this situation. "I don't know how far Koa is, this isn't good if it kills me... It'll hurt Violet." He thought, looking over to where Violet was... However, Violet was no longer standing there. She had suddenly walked over to near where Apollyon and the demon was, she had an angry frown and was clenching her little fists tightly.

"NO! VIOLET GET BACK! RUN AWAY!" Apollyon shouted in fear, reaching his hand out to Violet though she wasn't listening. The demon suddenly looked up at Violet, grinning before jumping off of Apollyon and charging at Violet, its sharp arm and claw ready to tear her to shreds...

Just when Apollyon thought he was going to have to watch Violet get torn to shreds... Violet's eyes began glowing a golden light and her pupils changed into the shape of stars. Her hair began floating and her whole body was resonating with a golden light; As well as that, two tiny wings all of a sudden sprouted from her head. Apollyon's eyes widened at the sight of Violet, he couldn't believe what he was seeing, he had never seen her get like this before.

The demon let out a growl as it pounced at Violet...

"EXPLODE!"

Violet let out a loud scream as she shouted that word. Apollyon could feel it, the immense power and magic shooting out of her voice like a cannon. While the demon was still in the air ready to pounce, it abruptly began expanding before it exploded in a burst of flames, sending blood and demon guts shooting around the area. Violet stood there, not standing in demon guts and blood.

"Violet?" Apollyon winced, standing up, struggling a little bit due to his injuries. "W-What was that?" He asked quietly, slowly taking a step towards the little white-haired girl who now had little wings on her head, as well as star-shaped pupils. Violet frowned, bringing her little hands up to the wings on her head, feeling them and causing them to flap a little. They didn't seem to be causing her any sort of discomfort. "Violet, we'll talk about this later, we need to get to Koa and-" Apollyon began, looking around before looking back to Violet.

When Apollyon looked back to Violet, she abruptly had her hand on her nose which was now dripping with a lot of blood and unanticipatedly her eyes glazed over and she collapsed to the floor, falling unconscious.

"VIOLET!" Apollyon screamed, running over to her and picking her up, looking at her face and trying to stop her nose bleeding. As if right on time, Koa arrived from a nearby street. He stopped when he saw Apollyon holding the unconscious Violet.

Both adventurers were now feeling fear beyond their wildest fears for Violet's health, as well as that Apollyon was still trying to comprehend the new form and power that Violet had shown and why it felt so...

Familiar...