On a quiet morning, coffee was served in steaming cups. The bartender, Firy, sat behind the counter with her fingers intertwined, her eyes lowered and distant. Customers cast brief glances in her direction before awkwardly looking away. One of them leaned toward his friend and whispered that Firy seemed deeply disheartened.
The other agreed, saying that with so much bad news circulating, it was understandable for anyone to feel that way. He wondered if he should try to cheer her up, but his friend doubted it, suggesting he would hardly approach a woman like her without ulterior motives. The man fell silent and sat back down.
Firy discreetly observed everyone. She slipped her hand under the counter, found some still-warm sweets, and brought them to her mouth, closing her eyes for a moment.
Suddenly, the television, which had been off, emitted a hiss and turned on by itself. A man with an adjusted tie cleared his throat, staring fixedly at the camera, and announced that Libretãnhya's attempts to seek partnerships with other countries had failed, met only with chaos. The screen showed images of NeonyRain: men working on reconstructions, women running toward hospitals, and children receiving care.
He continued, revealing that NeonyRain's army had attacked them and that Aurora had returned to action, though not on their side. The video, captured from a ship, shook as it showed Aurora walking toward the camera before everything went dark. Finally, he reported that their leader, Rito Zen Heng, was in critical condition, although already capable of commanding. General Hite had disappeared, leaving behind a letter in which he explained that he had nearly been killed while trying to form an alliance with IceStorm. He said he was abandoning that life of senseless wars and would leave with his family to a distant place.
Before the newscaster could finish, his mouth stopped moving. He slowly turned his head, his face twisting. The camera fell, screams echoed, blood splattered across the floor, and a severed head rolled until it stopped facing the lens, its eye sockets empty.
Firy covered her mouth. The customers broke into a cold sweat; some vomited. She tried to react, but the door burst open. A wave of Renkai Creatures invaded the place. People ran to escape. Some succeeded, while others were dragged by their feet toward the demons' mouths.
Firy turned toward the emergency exit and ran. However, a humanoid demon with red skin and bulging muscles dropped from the ceiling in front of her, its long tongue swinging. It leaped at her.
A blue flash tore through the air above the roof. The monster was sliced in half before it could touch her. In its place appeared a woman, lowering her blade after the strike. In an instant, she grabbed Firy by the waist and teleported her, along with several other survivors, far away from the city.
Every second, the creatures that tried to devour someone lost their prey. The larger demon commanding them, wielding a sword of pure whitish material, raised his voice and shouted that humans had never protected their queen, ordering them to show no mercy.
Seconds later, the woman appeared before him. She swung her enormous sword over her shoulders and delivered a horizontal cut. The demon defended himself, creating space between them. He tore the ground with his own blade and roared, ordering the others to attack that human.
A wave of demons launched themselves at her. The woman closed her eyelids, her serious face covered in shadows. She leaped into the air, drove her blade into the ground, and released electric trails that made the creatures tremble and explode. Blood splattered across her face while Renkai energy floated in the air.
With her lungs full and a white light striking the lead demon's eyes, she tore through the air with a vertical cut toward his chest. The demon smiled, raised his sword coated in red energy, and brought the blow down with equal speed.
A massive cloud of smoke rose to the clouds. In the distance, the people covered their faces as they were pushed back by the force of the wind. Firy, with her back against a tree, slowly lowered her hands, her heart still racing.
When the smoke cleared, the demon lay motionless, a drop of blood dripping from his mouth. The woman sighed, brushing the wet hair from her face, and commented that the fight had been short but surprising. She asked if he had fought for honor or revenge.
The demon laughed, his claws falling beside his body as his horns shattered on the ground. He replied that they didn't need honor like humans did and that they served only their queen, the one who had been abandoned by them. He then collapsed, spitting blood.
The woman crouched, placed her fist beside his body, and said in a deeper voice that if he wanted revenge for his queen, he should have attacked her or the people of this country, and not the innocents.
As she turned around, countless weapons were pointed at her. Rito, with his bandaged leg stumps and half of his face deformed into a distorted smile, approached in a wheelchair and thanked her for saving the civilians.
Morgana furrowed her brows in contempt. She replied that she had done more than they had and that they should thank her for not reducing the city to ashes, as they had done to hers. She added that, of course, that would never appear in the news, only Rito's distorted truth, just like the state of his face.
Rito expressed regret but stated that while she was in the country, she would have to tolerate their unwritten rules. Although grateful, he drew a pistol, spun it between his fingers, and pointed it at her, saying he still needed to eliminate a threat. He suggested they talk and work together to finish "them" off.
Morgana looked back and saw another wave of demons running or flying toward Libretãnhya. Rito asked if her people wouldn't be safer in the forest. She confirmed they were, far from any battle.
Clenching her fists, Morgana spun her body. The bluish glow from her sword's hilt extended to the tip of the blade. To answer his proposal...
She declared that she preferred to eliminate both.