The mercenary captain stabbed his swords through the plated chest of an Order soldier. He was thankful his wife had enchanted his swords so they could cut through armor quite easily. Otherwise taking down these soldiers would have been a lot harder. The advantages of magic were far too many to count. The captain stood fast and looked around himself.

They had just finished a small skirmish with the Order soldiers. They had come at them en masse, hoping to overwhelm them. He had taught them a violent lesson. Eight Order soldiers lay dead in the hallway. The rest had retreated once they realized they wouldn't win outright. He snorted. Cowards. That's what most Order soldiers were in his opinion. Bloody cowards that couldn't push when they needed to.

He sighed. Yet he knew that wasn't always the case and even here, he had lost a bit. A few of his own mercenaries were killed. The surprise attack hadn't done them any wonders. Many of his mercs weren't wearing too much armor since they had just thrown on whatever to see what was going on. Some of them hadn't even brought their weapons. He was sure a good portion of his troops were dead.

That couldn't be helped. Especially not when a Hero was present. He had ordered his mages to confront and stop the Hero. They were probably all dead by now. Shame. That meant he didn't have too much to repel the normal Order soldiers. On the bright side, he had come to control a key point in the castle. The Order soldiers had to come this way in order to advance. So he had successfully stalled them. Good for him. Now he just had to hope he could buy enough time to-

The next to him exploded. A couple of mercs were killed by the debris since they were standing next to it. Before they could retaliate, Order soldiers started to pour in. The merc captain had to act fast. By the time he had reached them, several of his mercs were dead. He severed the arm of one with a powerful swing before stabbing her chest. Another tried to stab him with his sword. He smacked the sword away and cleaved his head off of his shoulders.

He parried another blow. Once more he did so and moved his sword forward into the neck of an Order soldier. He pulled back and kicked another away. He ducked and swung both swords, cleaving through the stomach of a soldier. As the soldier started to cry out in pain, he cut his head off. The next two Order soldiers fell with ease due to his skills. Then the rest pulled back, keeping their shields to him. He panted and looked around. His shoulder sagged. He was the last one. He guessed they'd come at him in another couple of minutes. Oh well, he could take on a bunch of nobodies.

Someone walked into the hallways before he could finish that though. Her armor was obviously beautiful and enchanted. Her figure curvy underneath her armor and she was just as pretty as any Hero he had ever seen. He sighed as he noticed the sheer level of mana exuding from her. He didn't even come close to comparing to all of that. HIs shoulders sagged.

"So you're the Hero I've been hearing about all day," he called out.

"I am," she said.

"Might if I get a name?"

"Eliza Fullmoon," was the response.

His shoulders sagged even further. The Fullmoons were a family of powerful Heroes. Yeah, he wasn't getting out of this alive. "Well no sense in giving my name since I'll be dead in a couple of minutes." He laughed, "So just call me Merc Captain."

She frowned, "Do you not believe in your skill? You seem quite powerful."

"Trained my ass off since I was a kid," he explained, "Even wanted to be a Hero at one point."

"And you failed, I see." She narrowed her eyes as she readied her sword.

He shrugged, "'Course I did. You don't see them accepting commoners much, especially not that exceptional ones. So I became a mercenary instead. Gives me a lot more freedom anyways."

"Perhaps," the Hero said, "But you also find yourself losing your way much more easily."

"That depends on what you consider 'the way' in this life," he said before readying himself in a battle position, "But I don't think either of us are going to accept the other's position in life."

She sighed and shook her head, "I wish we could settle this with words."

He laughed again, "Lady, if the world worked like that, I'd be out of a job." He mentally wished his wife and daughter the best in life. It seems he wouldn't be meeting back up with them. "So do you want to come at me, or continue to stand there like a coward?"

She didn't respond with words. He barely had any time to react. He just raised his arms and blocked her strike. It felt like someone was jack hammering his arm with a sledgehammer. He jumped back and then tried to make a swipe at her head. She blocked it. With his other sword, he made to pierce her chest. She moved her sword down faster than he could react and knocked his sword away.

Shit, he couldn't help but think. He'd need to be smarter. He moved around as fast as he could be and struck like a viper. This normally got through the defenses of opponents. He was faster than most normal people due to many years of training. He'd stab through her defenses and make a break for it.

His sword broke once it hit her sword. His eyes widened. That sword had been enchanted with powerful magic. How could it have simply break like that? He couldn't fathom it and didn't react when she punched his face. He grunted as he was sent to the ground.

"I sense the powerful spells on your swords," she said as she walked over him. She put a foot down on his person, "Normally they would have cut through any armor. Thankfully my mana shielding was strong enough to negate it. Besides, while the spells were excellent, the sword was still of normal make. It could not hope to pierce me."

He grunted, "You damn Heroes. Always wanted to show off."

"I am not showing off," she said, "I am stating fact." She lifted her sword, "I wished we could have met under different circumstances."

He snorted, "Yeah, yeah. Just get it over with."

Her sword came down. His wife's small smile was the last thing on his mind.


Eliza kept her sword embedded in him for a moment as his life finally ebbed away. He had been a capable fighter. He could have beaten any of the soldiers she had seen come into this fort today. However, he was still not a Hero nor had the proper equipment to take her on. She pitied him. He was still human like her. She had sensed he had not turned. There was corruption around him but so minute that he could easily shrug it off.

She pulled her sword back. Her magic swept over it, cleaning it of blood. Her eyes drifted over the many bodies littering the ground. Again, she had come to witness such bloodshed. Again, her heart pained her from seeing all of it. The knowledge that she had killed a good number of people today didn't help. Nor did she ponder how many lives she could have saved if she had reacted quicker.

Was this just her life? An endless expanse of blood and war? Her daughter would end up following her footsteps. She knew. She looked down at the man. He could have been a Hero. Would her daughter end up like him? A man who fought for coin? Dying in some backwater part of the world?

It hurt to think about but stuff like that kept her up at night. It was something she thought about a lot these days. Her head snapped up as those thoughts were pushed back down. She could feel a large amount of magic nearby. Demonic magic but weird. It felt… odd but it certainly fit with a monster of sorts. She could hear Order soldiers shuffling about nearby. Again her gaze locked onto the bodies. No. She would fight this foe alone. None of her soldiers would die more so then they already had.

She rushed forward, cutting through any magical shields with ease. Thankfully the room was close by so it didn't take her long to reach it. She bashed the door open with her fist, easily crushing through the thick steel. Walking into the room, there were several implements and magical items. Things that looked so strange she didn't know what they were. Yet they all seemed focused on what was in the middle of the room.

It was an Egg. She blinked in surprise. Were the people in the castle here to guard this thing? Perhaps they were given the spells around it. Her sword moved idly as she cut through them all like butter. Now the egg was defenseless. She could take care of it now.

Her hand moved forward as she idly touched it. Her curiosity was getting the better of her, she knew that. Yet she just felt like she wanted to. It was certainly a big egg. She wondered what creature grew inside of it.

As though listening to her thoughts, the egg started to crack. She pulled back, sword at the ready. She would see whatever this egg had to hold before making her judgement. Blindly swinging at it could prove disastrous. It could be boobietrapped.

The egg simply cracked and splintered for a moment and then went still. Before she could do anything about it, the egg shells blew apart. She flinched as some hit her but they were harmless. Her jaw dropped as she saw what lay inside.

It was a baby. In some ways, it looked like a normal human infant. Caucasian skin like hers and black hair. Yet it was not a human. The tail, wings, horns, and its legs and arms told her of its dragon heritage. Her heart nearly stopped. A dragon? A red dragon? A creature like this could level a city with ease. It was simply too powerful and even she would hesitate to fight such a beast. Her sword went up and she prepared to strike. She needed to kill it. It was a threat. It was a monster.

The baby turned towards her. Her body froze. Its eyes were reptilian but they were so big and soft. There wasn't an ounce of evil within them. Not one bit. The baby simply looked at her for a moment. Then it did something she wasn't prepared for.

It reached out to her. It reached out to her like her own child did when she was a baby. LIttle gurgles escaped its lips. It was happy to see her. Did… Did it think she was its mother? Well she was the first thing it had seen. It only made sense. Yet she couldn't just grab it. It was a monster. She needed to kill it. Yet her body wouldn't move. She was frozen in place. What should she do? She… could she kill a baby? It hadn't done anything wrong. That wasn't what a Hero should do. They were supposed to protect the weak, yet it was a monster. What-

It started to whimper. She wasn't sure if it was because it was afraid or just wanted a hug. The moment she heard that, her sword clattered to the ground. Her arms swiftly moved to the baby and picked him up. She made sure to be extra gentle because of the armor covered her arms. The baby gurgled in happiness, loving to be embraced so.

Eliza sighed. She had just picked up a baby monster on instinct. She couldn't tell her superiors that. They'd kill her for sure. Yet as she stared down at its face, she couldn't help but let out a small smile, "Why did you have to hatch now, little one? You know I'm supposed to kill monsters, right?"

The baby just stared at her in confusion.

She chuckled, "You don't even know what a monster is. Typical. It's never easy, is it?"

She frowned as she noticed something. Her gaze had moved downwards. Her eyes widened. To her knowledge, all monsters were female. There had never been a male mamono, as they were called, seen. Ever. That's why they stole men. To breed. They certainly need to do so with as much veracity if they had males.

Yet this baby… was a boy. Was that why they were guarding it? Was that what the spells were doing? Making a boy monster? This would cause problems. If a boy appeared in their ranks, they could breed away from humanity. They could build their numbers up secretly and then overwhelm the Order territories.

She should get rid of it. It was her duty to protect humanity. A monster like this was a threat. Not just because he was a dragon. He was also a threat that could tip the scales in the monster's favor. She could easily do it. She just had to crush the baby. Her arms were easily strong enough. It would be a simple venture.

Yet she couldn't do it. The baby just looked at her with such blind devotion and curiosity. It… it was so innocent. So pure. Yes it had demonic energy about it but not to extreme levels. She could easily deal with it. She could keep other people safe from it as well.

She thought about all the bodies. All the death. All of that had happened today. If she killed this baby, she… she didn't know what she would do. She was a Hero. Killing the innocent would just make her life pointless. She sighed and brought the baby up to her face.

"Do you… do you want to come with me?" It was a question that bubbled up before she thought about it. If the Order found out, they'd kill her and her daughter. Yet she couldn't think of doing anything else.

The baby gurgled in happiness, touching her face with his little hands. She giggled and nuzzled his chest.

"I'll take that as a yes," she said. Consequences be damned. Her conscious would outweigh her duty today. She would do something good and she didn't care what other people thought. She'd have to hide him of course. That part would be easy. She set a sleeping spell on him and wrapped him up in a blanket she had found nearby. Yes, she'd take him home and teach him to be a good person. That would be her contribution to this world. Perhaps he could change things for the better.