Chapter 19: The Mercenaries

On top of the church of the Lady, Luna sharpened her sword as she sat down on a ledge. She was a girl at roughly 160 centimeters, with black hair flowing behind her back. She had light armour on, indicating she had combat frequently.

With her ferocious green eyes, she glanced at her partner, Victoria. Victoria was muscular, standing far taller than Luna. She had blue cascading hair that fit well with her chiseled face. It didn't take a genius to understand she was a Knight.

"Where's Winston? He's our eyes and ears during this mission, we can't tell what's happening inside without him." Luna complained at the absence of their partner.

"Probably with Mick and Anthony. Those three are never up to any good." Victoria replied, her voice slightly deeper than Luna's.

"If we fail this because of those idiots, I swear.." Luna lampooned audibly, not hiding her frustration to her teammates.

They had been paid by a relatively wealthy figure they knew little about to protect the Church, and to deploy instantly if something happened. Of course, without someone who could actively see inside at all times, there was little they could do. If they barged in there, they were certain to attract the attention of unwanted individuals, being heavily armoured as they were.

Luna and her four teammates were mercenaries, living off mission to mission, celebrating each victory and mourning each loss. They had been through a lot, yet they still couldn't be considered veterans. Being a mercenary was tough work in a world where everyone was powerful.

Suddenly, they heard three men laughing loudly. Luna instantly recognized them as their teammates, Mick, Anthony and Winston. She jumped off the church, her skirt fluttering in the air. She landed right in front of them. She was visibly annoyed.

"What are you three idiots doing? If something happens while we aren't paying attention, we'll be held responsible." Luna scorned them for their inattentiveness.

One of the men, someone of average build with black hair and green eyes, instantly retorted. "Oh come on, nothing's happened so far. What are the chance-"

BOOM!

Luna jumped, readying her sword. "This is what I meant, Winston!" Luna yelled at her teammate who had just gotten his response immediately after his poor attempt at a comeback.

Victoria jumped from the top of the building, landing next to them, forming a minor crater in the process. It was to be expected from her.

Victoria pulled out a war axe that was nearly her size, clearly rendering anyone below her weight, height and muscle mass unable to use the weapon. It was something only she could wield.

Winston analyzed the situation quickly. "There's a fight. It's some kid fighting a.. Demon!?"

The five team members instantly widened their eyes. Even to experienced mercenaries like them, demons were a bad sign. They knew they couldn't approach this haphazardly.

"I'll go in first." Luna said, with the agreement of the others. She was from the Echo descendancy, granting her incredible ability for stealth. She doubted that even a demon would be able to recognize her.

Sneaking in through the creaky door, she first saw a boy with golden hair struggling to get up. She then saw the demon, who was leaking bloody hell, carved into a wall. She knew they had to step in now if they wanted to end this quickly.

Signaling to her party members, she signaled them to enter through the front door. They would do a pincer attack on the demon.

Suddenly, the demon got up, much quicker than Luna was anticipating. She watched in anticipation as the demon clung to the ankle of the boy,

"You son of a.." The demon was clearly nearly dead, but would recover if left unattended. "I'll kill you!"

Just then, her party members finally arrived. In a swift move, Luna cut the head of the pathetic demon, taking the kill.

It was then that Luna noticed the mechanical human holding the boy with golden hair in his arms. It looked at them in a shocked manner. "Who in the world are you?"

Luna saw that the boy with golden hair had already passed out due to blood loss. "Anthony, can you handle the kid?"

A man with a rough beard, scarlet eyes and short brown hair showed himself among the mercenaries. He was none other than Anthony, the party's physician.

"Fine, let's see." He grumbled.

The robot backed away, clearly uninterested in giving up the boy. "Back away. Who in the world are you people?"

Victoria, the leader of the team, explained their intentions. "We're mercenaries hired to protect this place. We mean no harm."

The robot scoffed, upset with them by outside judgement. "Where were you when a demon almost killed my friend?"

Victoria glanced at Winston, indicating she'd have a word with him later. "We were having a few.. complications. Anthony is our physician. He should be able to help your friend. Otherwise, he may not survive."

The robot, after pondering for a few moments, eventually relented. He knew that if he continued to resist them, he would eventually be putting the life of his dear friend at risk. He didn't want that in the slightest. This was his best option.

Placing the boy on the ground, he sighed. "My name is Arc, and he's Lua. We were the ones fighting the demon earlier."

Anthony nodded, pulling out a few medicinal herbs. He applied them directly to Lua's wounds, preventing further bloodloss. It was as if it was magic.

Arc instantly knew this person was a high-leveled Physician. Simply from how the wounds recovered, he could tell. He instinctively asked, "What grade are you? That was bloody quick."

Anthony looked up slightly, as if a bit confused. "You know about the Grade system? I guess it does make sense.. An intelligent machine like you can't be made by someone who is lower than at least Sequence 10."

Arc noticed his blunder, freezing for a moment. He had given them away. "Well, not precisely. We are at Grade 12."

Arc suddenly got very offended. "I would appreciate if you didn't call me an 'intelligent machine', I am as much human as he is. We are essentially the same person."

Arc looked at the mercenaries, questioning their integrity. "What do you call yourselves?"

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