"...I'm here again. In Arnica…"
Donovan was floating high above in the air. He looked down, and watched the man in silver armor look around helplessly, trying to search for him.
I can't believe I was spotted… That's almost an impossibility! When a Visitor teleports to a planet, they will always be teleported in a place where that planet's inhabitants are not directly looking at… Damn it, why'd it have to malfunction now?
With a sigh, he opened the holographic map and flew over to his destination. He took a moment to admire the starry, night sky.
After precisely five minutes, he reached his destination, and flew down. He deactivated his invisibility, hiding behind a large bush.
One Reaper, and only two drones… Donovan looked closer, and saw the corpses of two Drone Annihiliths on the ground. Huh… Miss Sylvia was right… Should I wait a little more and see if the Reaper kills the other two as well?
Ten minutes had passed, and nothing happened. The three Annihiliths were sitting on a log, huddling around a campfire.
It's surprising that they actually know how to start a campfire, at least… I've been seeing reports of Reapers having increased intelligence…
Nothing's happening. I should go for it now.
Donovan quickly took care of the two Drones by a single Light Beam that reduced their upper half to dust.
The Reaper was immediately woken from its slumber, and grabbed its pitch-black sword beside it. But before it could even stand up to face the unknown enemy, a laser beam struck its chest, sending it a few distances back and hitting a few trees.
It shook its "head," looked down, and saw that its chest had been somewhat melted. But not enough to kill it.
As it was about to stand back up, it was once again met with agonizing and scorching pain as it was sent a few distances back once again.
…Its right arm had melted right off. It groggily looked straight ahead, trying to discern what the enemy looked like.
A human with a black umbrella.
A Visitor.
The next second, flames erupted from the approaching figure's left hand. Then, it was struck by a large and destructive ball of fire.
As it was writhing around in pain and agony, there was the sound of thunder that followed next.
***
Donovan stared at the Reaper Annihilith's pitch-black corpse.
"No more half measures…"
He suddenly heard the sound of flames. The fire from his spell, Flame Ball, was rapidly spreading!
Sh*t! At this rate, I'll start a forest fire! I don't have a single spell for quelling fires! And there's no water option in the Umbrella Settings on my watch…
…Damn. Uh…
Donovan's heart tightened, and took a few steps back. Should I call for help with this planet's natives?
The fire kept spreading.
"...Help! Someone! There's—"
At that moment, someone tackled him from behind, followed by a punch on the face, and an impressive throw towards a tree!
Donovan barely managed to keep his consciousness. Wha-... What… just happened…? Who-... Who's… there…?
Before his consciousness fully slipped away, he saw a giant wolf somehow blow the flames away, effectively quelling it.
…Then, there was the sound of footsteps.
***
Donovan slowly opened his eyes. Huh…? Damn, my head hurts…
What happened…?
As his vision stabilized, he saw a man in knight armor, as well as a wolf, sitting on a log and huddled around a campfire. The same campfire that the Annihiliths used earlier.
…!
…Huh?
Donovan came to the realization that his mouth was tightly gagged, and he was tied to a tree.
"...Mmf! Mmmph! Mmph!"
The man in silver armor wearing a helm, as well as the wolf, looked at Donovan.
"...Sebastian, doing this to a stranger is very bad, y'know? I mean, I get that he started a forest fire, but still…"
…Huh? The wolf can speak?! Donovan was astonished. Speechless, even. Literally.
The man in rusty, worn-out silver armor, known as Sebastian, kept his gaze at Donovan who had a bruised-up right cheek that was caused by his punch earlier. Then, he stood up, unsheathed his sword, and approached Donovan.
…Sh*t. I'm done for.
Sebastian then thrust the sword right beside Donovan's head, plunging it deep into the tree. Then, he removed Donovan's gag.
The next moment, the wolf spoke again, "Why'd you start a forest fire?"
What do I say…? It's fine to reveal the existence of Annihiliths to them, right…?
Also, they're speaking in English… Which is a relief, because if not, I wouldn't be able to save myself in this situation…
Donovan cleared his throat. "I was trying to exterminate a few Annihiliths. I made a mistake, and I accidentally caused a fire…"
The wolf's tone of voice implied that he was confused when he spoke again, "Annihiliths? You mean… these unusual-looking corpses around us?"
Donovan nodded. "Precisely."
Sebastian retrieved his sword, and brought it near Donovan's head.
Huh?! What, did I say something wrong?
The wolf spoke again, "...My friend in front of you is curious about which kingdom you belong to. Tell us your name while you're at it."
…Sh*t. If I tell them I'm from outer space, they won't believe me. These two are your typical fantasy characters…
Donovan looked around, and saw that his umbrella was beside the wolf. After a sigh, he then answered, "I…" Sh*t, should I use a different name after all?
"My name is Dean Aldridge."
"Dean Aldridge…" repeated the wolf. Sebastian sheathed his sword, and went back to the campfire.
After a moment, the wolf said, "Of course, you could just be lying to us, and you decided to use someone else's name. But we have no way of knowing for sure."
"But still, we'll introduce ourselves to you. My name is Varkas, and this man is Sebastian."
Varkas… Sebastian…
"What will you do to me now?" asked Donovan.
"You didn't answer my question of which kingdom you belong to. I'll take it as your refusal to answer, so now, we'll strip you of your belongings and sell you to the slave market."
…What? Did I just hear that right…? The slave market?! No, no, no!
"Hey! All I did was make a simple mistake, and now I'm being sold as a slave?! I even killed a few Annihiliths that are bad for your planet!"
…The wolf Varkas sighed. "Sorry, but the decision to sell you as a slave was not my decision…"
Donovan looked at Sebastian, who was wiping his sword with a handkerchief. "You! Tell me the exact reason why you want to sell me as a slave!"
No response.
"Hey! I'm talking to you!" shouted Donovan. No response once again.
"...Sebastian, I also agree with this man. You should really stop doing this, you're only making enemies for yourself," said the wolf.
But still, Sebastian did not budge at all. With a sigh, the wolf Varkas looked at Donovan. "Mr. Dean, I'm sorry, but you'll have to accept your inevitable fate from now on."
…F*ck. This is the worst…
"...Okay, fine. I won't resist anymore, so can you untie me? It's getting harder to breathe."
Of course, the two were skeptical about him, but Varkas walked over and proceeded to untie him.
…Varkas spoke again, "What kind of clothes are those?"
…Huh? Oh, they've probably never seen a suit before…
"...Oh, it was custom-made specifically for me. I have an imaginative mind and a passion for fashion…" He successfully made up a lie.
The wolf hummed. "And what's that?" He pointed towards the black umbrella beside the tree log.
"Oh, that? That's called an umbrella… Uh, my father was a great inventor, and he wanted me to have this as he passed away… It's quite important to me, thank goodness it isn't damaged." He lied just as easily as he breathed.
The two were curious about it. "An umbrella?"
"Yes, it helps… protect me from the rain. It has a special feature, do you want to see it?"
Varkas nodded. Sebastian remained silent.
…Donovan walked over, and picked up the umbrella.
At that moment, his mind worked at an incredible speed.
Should I activate the teleportation sequence now? No, that'll grant me an instant death from the guy with the sword. Flight? I don't know how excellent their combat capabilities are. They could lunge at me mid-air like a Reaper Annihilith. Invisibility? Could work. Alright, here goes nothing.
The next moment, Donovan's figure disappeared.
This immediately set off all alarms in both Sebastian and Varkas. They looked around, trying to search for him.
But meanwhile, Donovan was high above in the air.
…As a Visitor, I was seen, knocked out, and interrogated by this planet's natives. Damn it… I know that someone at Umbrellas HQ is watching me through my umbrella, which means that my pay will be heavily deducted… Goddamn it.
He then flew away, and landed somewhere far away from those two.
It's a shame that I wasn't able to meet the deer again… Hm, and I forgot to ask those two about it. Sigh…
Oh well…
Donovan then activated the teleportation sequence, and was more than eager to leave this planet.
***
"Damn it, we lost him… His target was the… 'umbrella' after all." Varkas sighed.
Then, Sebastian swung his sword towards the wolf.
The wolf dodged. "Oh, come on. Okay, fine, it was my mistake…"
Sebastian put his sword back in its scabbard.
Varkas then sniffed the strange-looking corpse that the man earlier called an "Annihilith."
"...I knew it," said Varkas.
Sebastian looked at the wolf.
"...Both that man, Dean, and this corpse have a similar scent."
Varkas looked at Sebastian, and continued, "They're not of this world."