Monday, 3rd of February.
Sylvia sat up on her bed, and rubbed her eyes. Looking at the blinding sunlight that shone into her room, she was able to guess the current time without looking at the clock.
Her room was very simple. No wall decorations of any kind. A mirror in front of her bed, a tall wardrobe, and a small desk.
She got out of bed, exited her room, and was met with the sight of Clara in the kitchen making breakfast.
"You're awake. Odd, because you woke up past seven. You usually wake up before six. What's the matter, Sis?" asked Clara.
"Nothing's the matter, jeez. Can't I wake up late without getting reprimanded for it?"
"Fine…"
A while later, after having breakfast, Sylvia asked Clara to make a cup of coffee for her, which earned Sylvia a groan from Clara.
Sylvia was dressed in a white t-shirt with gray sweatpants. Upon receiving her coffee from Clara, she grabbed her phone and went out on the balcony.
The view was beautiful.
She sat down on a wooden chair, putting the cup on a small table next to her. Sylvia stretched her arms with a yawn. Following that, she sipped on her cup of coffee and scrolled on her phone for any recent news.
No matter what she does, that piece of news that a man—which she knew was Donovan—saved a child from the inside of a car and Hana Isabelle, The Sunrise, appearing right after, can't seem to escape her mind. She keeps thinking about it.
Why would a renowned Shade such as The Sunrise herself would appear in front of him… and then heal him for absolutely no reason? It's so strange… Was she just passing by? Or is this even deeper than it should be? If it's the latter, then I can't think of any reason on why she'd have an interest in Donovan. Well… I get that he's a sight for sore eyes, but that can't just be it, right?
Sylvia sighed, and sipped on her cup of coffee once again. She kept scrolling on her phone.
Fifteen minutes later, she finished her cup of coffee and went back inside. Clara had just exited the bathroom clad only in a towel.
Seeing this, Sylvia realized that she should also start getting ready for work. But upon arriving at the sink, the dishes were unwashed.
"...Huh? Hey, Clara, you're seriously not expecting me to wash the dishes, right?" asked Sylvia.
Clara shouted from inside her room, "It's your turn to wash the dishes, I've been the one washing them for two days straight!"
"Ugh…" Sylvia sighed, and began to wash the dishes.
Thirty minutes later, Sylvia exited the bathroom clad only in a towel. She wasn't hearing any sounds inside the apartment other than her own breathing, which meant that Clara had already gone out to start her missions.
It was a particularly chilly morning, so Sylvia decided to wear her favorite coat. She wore a blue necktie with a white shirt and black pants, along with her favorite black coat.
As she went to grab her umbrella, she saw herself in the mirror and realized that her hair had gotten quite long.
…I'm too lazy to get a haircut.
Heading to the living room, she passed by the metal, training dummy and gave it a quick three jabs. Sensing that nothing was wrong, she exited her apartment.
Sylvia decided to take the bus since she was too lazy to walk to the Portal Chamber. She flashed her ID on a scanner next to the driver, completing the pay for the bus fare.
Two minutes later, she reached the Portal Chamber. If she had walked or flew with her umbrella instead, it'd have taken her more than ten minutes.
She looked around, and spotted her handler, Marston. He was dressed in only a white shirt with brown pants. Walking towards him, she offered a simple "Good morning," followed by the same greeting from him.
"39-Flordo-61. Eight Drone-types," said her handler in a rough voice.
"Anything else? Something more difficult," she said.
Marston scrolled down the blue holographic screen in front of him, and said, "23-Voldron-98. One Reaper, six Drones."
With a nod, Sylvia said, "Alright," and received the Planet Card for the planet Voldron. Marston didn't say anything else as Sylvia activated the teleportation sequence.
23-Voldron-98.
A bright flash of light, followed by Sylvia appearing after. The sight that presented itself clearly before her was magnificent.
Floating chunks of land, high up in the sky with buildings that resembled castles on it. The thick snow that covered the land in every corner, and the flying dragons that could be faintly seen high up in the clouds.
Sylvia's figure slowly disappeared. She was now invisible. Checking her holographic map every now and then, she finally came across her targets in just ten minutes.
They were feasting on the remains of the bloody corpses of humans. This seemed to be a camp for these knight soldiers, who fell prey to these Annihiliths.
The pure, white snow on the ground was being tainted by blood. Sylvia, determined to finish this up quickly and move on to another mission, simply walked towards them without a care in the world.
One by one, the Annihiliths who were busy feasting on the prey that they've caught, raised their heads to look at the figure that was walking towards them.
A Visitor.
Their worst fear. The aliens with a miniature black hole for their head all stood up, raising their pitch black blade-arms. Sylvia, however, was wary, despite looking carefree. She knew that a mere team of six Drone-type Annihiliths wasn't enough to entirely decimate a camp of more than twenty knights.
Where could the Reaper be? Sylvia's eyes kept searching every nook and cranny of the scene in front of her.
With a loud "roar," the six Drones all charged towards her. But Sylvia ignored them, as though they were just ants to her.
The real threat was—...
Behind me!
Sylvia immediately cast Ice Cocoon, and the Drones that were charging towards her were all immediately frozen in a cocoon of ice.
Following that, she twisted her body around, raised her umbrella, and blocked the strike of the Reaper Annihilith!
Both Sylvia and the Reaper were sent flying, with Sylvia crashing into two Drones that were frozen in a cocoon of ice, thus killing them, and the Reaper hitting a tree.
Cracking her knuckles, Sylvia simply swung her umbrella once, and the remaining four Annihiliths that were frozen in ice immediately shattered into pieces.
Now, it was a battle to the death between Sylvia and the Reaper.
…Except, it was a battle to the death where the Reaper would surely die. A battle to the death? No, it was a one-sided massacre.
The snow gently fell to the ground. The silence was deafening. In a bloody camp of massacred knights, there was a black-haired woman staring at something above.
On the upper part of a tall tree, lay the Reaper Annihilith with its own sword plunged deep into its chest. The corpse of an alien was just hanging there, with yellow blood dripping from its feet and falling to the snow on the ground.
Sylvia only had a minor cut on her thumb. That… was the only injury she sustained from fighting a Reaper-type Annihilith.
She looked back, staring at the corpses of knights strewn across the snow-covered ground. The next moment, she heard the sound of horses approaching.
That was her cue to return to Umbrellas. It was a shame, because it was a mission where the "cleaners" could not retrieve the dead Annihiliths because of the approaching humans. Which meant that the pay she'd receive for this mission would be deducted.
Activating the teleportation sequence, Sylvia hastily teleported away.
A total of twenty knights, all riding on horses, arrived at the bloody scene. Upon seeing the horrible and repulsive sight, every one of them was taken aback, with three of them taking a moment to vomit.
"...What could've done this? A bear? Were they ambushed by forces from Cedira?" asked a male knight in a deep voice, who seemed to be their captain.
"N-No! Look, up there…!" A knight pointed to "something" from above a tree.
Gasps from each knight resounded across the camp. Even the horses seemed to be getting agitated.
"No…! It can't be…"
"It's starting… already?"
"That's…!"
"The Children of Destruction…"
***
1:42 p.m.
Donovan was dressed in a green necktie with a brown, three-piece suit and brown leather shoes. Grabbing his black umbrella, he walked towards the front door.
Layla chuckled, and said, "Ooh, first time I'm ever seeing you going out for a mission. I'll engrave this sight into my brain."
Donovan only sighed, and didn't give a response to that.
"Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone," he said.
"I won't, jeez. Shoo, shoo."
Opening the front door, Donovan exited his apartment.
He arrived at the Portal Chamber in just a few minutes. Donovan and his handler, Tiero, both greeted each other.
"How are you holding up?" asked Tiero.
Donovan smiled, touched by Tiero's worry and care towards him. "I'm doing fine, Mr. Tiero."
Tiero hummed. Is Ms. Isabelle still harassing him? Hm…
Shaking his head, Tiero sighed and gave Donovan the mission details.
"This will be a repeat mission. You'll once again arrive on the planet 38-Arnica-81." Tiero paused, scrolling on the blue holographic screen that only he could see. He continued, "One Reaper, four Drones."
Arnica… The same planet where I, uh, "almost" died. Ah, this is my chance to meet that deer again… If I can even find the same one.
"Be quick and precise, and remember your training. Good luck."
Upon receiving the Planet Card for the planet Arnica from Tiero, Donovan nodded with a smile and activated the teleportation sequence.
…I hope there won't be a repeat of last time.