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[ 11/05/x769 - Same Day ]

(Ethan's POV)

"You good, Zancrow?" I asked, gasping for air, completely exhausted. At this point, I was all out of Magic, but thankfully we had managed to kill the demon.

"Yeah, give me a minute. My body hurts like hell from using all those damn spells." Zancrow fell to the ground, causing a small amount of dust to rise. "But we actually managed to do it. We killed a demon of Zeref."

"Hahahah…I don't think any other kids can brag about that." Zancrow laughed but immediately started coughing pretty hard afterward.

"You got the point there," I said a little excitedly. I can imagine Gramps and dad's faces we told them about the mission.

I lay there for what must've been five minutes before finally getting and I began walking up to where the demon was killed.

In truth, the town was an absolute mess even before, but now more than half of it was reduced to rubble, with burn marks everywhere, some parts of it crushed to hundreds of small cubes. Making the entire town pretty unlivable unless the Warrd saint, whatever his name was, gets involved.

"Huh, I guess this is his true form?" I muttered, confused as I stared at a book where the demon dyed. The book was old and looked ancient as fuck, but it had a simple design with the word IXTAL written on the front. " Hopefully, I won't die from a curse or something." I covered my right hand in some magic, making it glow somewhat, and enhanced my body in case the book exploded on contact. "Feels like a normal book."

The book didn't move, so it looked like I had nothing to worry about.

"So he became a book. How does that even work?" Zancrow, who was now standing next to me, looked a lot better.

"No clue. Some Rune Knights or some kind of authority figure should be appearing soon from all the commotion we caused. Not to mention, Gramps let them know we took the mission as well."

"By the way, you think the demon absorbed all the civilians?" I asked, hoping at least someone survived.

"Who knows, but I bet you if they are still alive, they will be inside the house," Zancrow answered. " Ah, shit, we just bombed the house, Zancrow; come on," I said, running into the house, hoping we didn't kill any civilians by accident.

"What the fuck!"

Inside the house were hundreds of bodies lying around l, looking like all their nutrients got sucked up, which is what the demon did with his Magic.

I couldn't handle the smell and the sight as I threw up right on the spot. Zancrow wasn't doing any better than me in the situation.

I quickly noticed Zancrow forming a Magic circle but managed to stop him. "Wait! Zancrow, don't burn their bodies; they deserve a proper burial. Some of them might have family members throughout Fiore." My voice was shaking from seeing all the dead bodies around us. But I managed to stay strong.

"Yeah, you got the point there," Zancrow replied, dispelling the Magic circle. We continued exploring until. Eventually, we got to the basement.

There were 20 people ranging from kids and a few teenagers, and the rest were adults hanged up in the air with a bunch of vines around them, looking like they were getting crucified. All of them looked pale and skinny. But I could still sense some life in them.

We immediately started bringing them down, being extra careful not to hurt them. We didn't even use magic to make the process go faster if something went wrong. About 6 minutes later, we got everyone down and safe on the ground.

"What do you think we should do now? We aren't equipped for this shit." Zancrow said, frustration and sadness coming out of his voice.

I know, but we can't let those people die because we weren't prepared for this. Otherwise, we would be no different from dark Mages." I said back, hoping Zancrow would understand my point.

"Yeah, I get it. Let's bring them outside for some light. And wait for the Rune Knights."

We had the twenty civilians all laying outside in 2 rows of 10 on some comfortable grass since we couldn't find any proper beds that weren't destroyed, and we were also tired.

(2 Hours Later)

"Finally, took them long enough," I muttered, as I could hear loud footsteps coming from the entrance to the village where Zancrow and I could see a squadron of Rune Knights, around thirty of them, coming in.

As the Rune Knights arrived, Zancrow and I stood back and watched as the powerful Mage who seemed to be in charge stepped forward to assess the situation. The Mage was tall, with piercing blue eyes and long blue locks. I couldn't help but feel a sense of awe as I could practically feel the aura of power radiating from her.

'She looked quite pretty, though I wasn't planning to tell her that in case she took offense. Even with my, in truth, somewhat lackluster sensing capabilities, I could still tell that her Magic power easily dwarfed Kenny's, meaning her strength was that of an S-rank Mage.

"I want this entire area surrounded; no one gets in or out, understood!" The lady who had taken charge of the situation instructed.

"Yes, Ma'am!" The Rune Knights replied in unison as they all scattered and began to surround the town, and after only 30ish seconds of waiting, they returned.

"Captain, we've secured the area," one of the Rune Knights reported as she nodded.

"That was fast," I whispered to Zancrow as he inclined his head in agreement.

She seemed to scan the area briefly before she stepped forward and began to walk toward Zancrow and me.

"My name is Marika Ainsley, and I am the commander of the Templar Knights, the second legion amongst the four serving under the command of the Wizard Saint Richard Lionheart. The mission was listed as B-rank as you were hunting the injured leader of the Mountain Wolf Bandits, but he wasn't anywhere near powerful enough to cause such a commotion, so I want to know just what happened." She said to us, her voice commanding and authoritative.

I looked toward Zancrow, and he signaled for me to explain, so I took a minute to gather my still-rampant thoughts.

I took a deep breath, trying to remain calm as I spoke to the powerful Mage. "My name is Ethan, and this is my partner, Zancrow. We were on a mission to capture the leader of the Mountain Wolf Bandits, but we stumbled upon something much more significant. The leader of the Mountain Wolf bandits had actually turned out to be a demon of Zeref, and he had been using his magic to absorb the nutrients of the surrounding civilians."

The Mage listened intently, nodding her head every so often. "Interesting," she said finally. "A demon, you say? Do you have any proof of this?"

I looked toward Zancrow and seeing that he nodded, I reached into my bag and pulled out the ancient book we had found. "This is the book that the demon transformed into when we defeated him," I told her as I handed it over.

Marika took the book from my hands, examining it carefully. "I see. This is indeed a powerful artifact, and it seems that you two have stumbled upon something much more significant than a simple bandit leader. We will take this book into custody and investigate further."

She paused for a second before continuing, "You two have truly done exceptionally on this quest. Few would be able to fight off the demon, and even fewer would have paid any heed to the book. You should be very proud of yourselves."

"Templars!" She commanded, "Let's begin searching through all the different buildings for any survivors."

"Um, Ms. Marika," I began as she turned to look toward me, "My partner and I found some… bodies where the demon resided if you wouldn't mind coming to check it out," I told her respectfully, still dreading seeing the corpses again.

Her eyes softened, "You sure you don't want just to point me in the direction of the building? We're the professionals leave it to us; you two have already done Fiore a great service." She told us with a slight smile.

Her smile flustered me, and thankfully Zancrow took over, "That would be nice. The building is at the very back of the town," He pointed.

As she went over Zancrow, he shot me a slight smirk as we sat at the camp the Rune Knights had prepared.

"I didn't think the mission would turn out like this," I admitted as Zancrow nodded.

"Ya, I never thought that even whole towns would be powerless in front of powerful Mages," he told me

After that, we merely watched the Rune Knights as they began combing through the wreckage, searching for clues to help them uncover the demon's true identity and purpose.

As they worked, I couldn't help but feel a sense of unease. The demon had been powerful, but seeing the civilians' bodies left a deeper impression on me. It was a stark reminder that even in a world filled with Magic and powerful Mages, there were still those who were vulnerable and in need of protection.

The events of the day had truly taken a toll on both Zancrow and me, and slowly as it got later, we could not keep our eyes open and drifted off to sleep.

(3rd Person POV)

"Sigh, those kids shouldn't have witnessed this at all," Marika sighed, feeling a pang of guilt for what had happened to the civilians and for what the two young children had to witness.

"Captain, those two boys are both from the Guild Cait Shelter," A Rune Knight reported.

"Is that so? Well, then, I suppose we should send someone to message their guild about what happened and also make sure what the two witnessed doesn't cause any psychological trauma. And I want those twenty people healed, don't let a single one of them die. Have someone check the entire town, too; we can't miss anyone even if they are dead."

Marika ordered her subordinates, walking out of the slaughterhouse and toward the camp to send a report on what happened there.

'Someone has to take responsibility for this fiasco; a whole town disappearing just like that because Shirou let a damn demon of Zeref escape,' Marika thought to herself as a dark aura manifested around her, causing the Rune Knights to avoid getting in her way.

(3 Hours Later Day Break)

"We heard you guys had a tough fight," Kenny called out, startling the two kids, who had their eyes closed but were still somewhat conscious due to the repeated iMages they were having of the dead bodies. Both of them opened their eyes in surprise when they heard that and saw Kenny standing before them.

"Kenny, don't bother them. They had a rough day." A wizened voice rebuked Kenny, and that voice belonged to Roubaul.

"What are you guys doing here?" Ethan asked, standing up along with Zancrow.

"You guys brought some food, or did the Rune Knights cook something up?"

"Hahaha… don't worry, Zancrow, there should be some food in the camp, but I'm delighted for you two without any physical injuries," Roubaul said, hugging the two kids. The two of them may seem ok physically, but mentally, he could tell they weren't after what they saw and experienced.

He walked towards the camp to see if there was any food left and to offer his assistance to the Rune Knights. When he arrived at the camp, he saw that there was indeed some food left, and he quickly grabbed some for Zancrow and Ethan.

When Kenny returned, he saw the three engaged in a conversation that he joined in on, but he could see that Zancrow and Ethan were still shaken up by what had happened. He knew that it would take time for them to recover fully, but he hoped that they would be able to bounce back soon.

Zancrow and Ethan recounted what had happened in the mission.

Kenny and Roubaul listened intently as Zancrow and Ethan recounted their experiences from the mission. They spoke of the demon they faced and the horrors they witnessed. Kenny could tell that it had left a deep impact on them, and he felt a pang of sadness in his heart.

As Zancrow and Ethan finished their story, Kenny spoke up, "I'm so sorry you had to go through that. It's never easy to witness such horrors, but you should be proud of yourselves for doing your best to protect the civilians. You're heroes in your own right."

Zancrow and Ethan looked at Kenny, surprised by his words. They had never thought of themselves as heroes, but Kenny's words gave them some comfort.

Roubaul smiled at Kenny's words, knowing that they would help the two kids in their healing process.

"Kenny's right. You both did everything you could to help those in need, and that's what makes you heroes. Take some time to rest and heal. We'll be here to support you every step of the way."

Roubaul paused for a brief moment before continuing, "Remember, it's okay to feel scared," Roubaul said, placing a reassuring hand on each of their shoulders. "But what's important is how we respond to that fear. We can choose to let it overwhelm us, or we can choose to face it head-on and find a way through it."

Zancrow and Ethan nodded, grateful for the support they were receiving.

As the night wore on, they finished their food and settled down to rest. Kenny stayed for a while longer, chatting with Roubaul about the next steps in the duo's training. They had to be prepared for anything, and they knew that the road ahead would be challenging.

[Who's stronger Garp or Roger now that the new chapter of one piece came out, personally for me right now I got Garp a little stronger.]

[Word Count 2485]

That's the end folks.

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