FSE

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Chapter 4

"(Whoa...that's one fucking keep)."

"(Which one do you admire? The fact that it's entirely made of trees and woods or its size? For me, it doesn't matter. The region has the biggest trees in this continent, and they are the best defense one can add)."

"(But they are woods, right? What if someone accidentally start a fire and burn everything?)"

"(Oh, you mean like...)"

From the wooden wall there was an explosion from the inside of the building, and the next moment Ifrit knew, the gate was forcefully opened and a big puff of smoke came out from the inside. The smoke was from something burning inside the keep, which suddenly made Ifrit panicked before Miza patted his back and said, "(Don't worry. We've got a demolition expert in our group, although...you might don't want to make him explode...if you know what I mean)."

Ifrit saw a Lycan beside him tried to take a bucket of water, but then, a hellhound came to him and said, "Don't give that explosion water. He doesn't like having his creation destroyed."

As the Lycan nodded and walked to another side (of course, with a good reason to be annoyed), the three approached the hellhound. He somehow took noticed of them. As he sighed, he turned his head to face them and said, "(That idiot really is a burden. What kind of a royal hellhound teaches his son the art of exploding things?)"

"(It's his life, right? Anyway, Karkos, this is Ifrit of the Schelkz family. I found him in a coma when scouting the mausoleum in Dusdolf)."

"(Ifrit, huh? You look very much like Hynorsi when he was still young)."

Ifrit was surprised. He heard that name before in his dream, and in the confusion, he could only say "(You know my father?)"

"(We go way back, kid. You two are quite the survivalist. I'm sorry about Anarim's grandson, Ifrit. Eshdar was his name, right?)"

"(Yes...but, where did you find his body?)"

Both Anenka and Karkos stared at each other for a while, before Karkos reluctantly said, "(His body was...in a very bad shape when we found it. Unlike you, he died during the fall. When the rebels took you to that 2 years coma in the mausoleum to cement you in, they left his body. He was shot with arrows to his vital parts, and his body had started to decay. Since it was near a river and we can't find a good burial spot, we resort to a warrior's burial. We put him on a boat and burn him...with the current carrying him away)."

When they saw Ifrit's expression, they knew that talking about the process was painful enough. The black hellhound was a good friend with the red one, and they were travelling partners. Aside from that, Eshdar was the only hellhound that was his ally, so...

"(I'm alright, guys)," said Ifrit straightening up. "(We can't stay in sadness. We must honor his death. Now, about our real goal here...)"

Karkos nodded and walked to the gate, followed by Anenka, Ifrit, and Miza. Upon entering the keep, Ifrit could see what's beyond it.

There was a big city inside the giant rainforest trees, as if the place was carved from any trees growing there. Since the roof was so high and no natural light came inside, they used gas lightings. Much like what happened earlier with the explosion, the lightings didn't burn the wood much.

The houses and the shops were built inside the trees. They lived with simple elevator system and ropes that made bridges from one house to another. The first layer and the second layer were different homes and shop, making the city more vertical than horizontal, as he could see the hustle and bustle higher up.

"(This is the Second District of Tanah's third megapolis. It's called 'Hijau Daun' by the locals, owing to the evergreen Jati trees that never shed their leaves like normal ones)," said Karkos while waiting for a lift. "(Our organization is based in Pohon 7, just some walk after we got to the fifth floor. I have an apartment to settle in, and for us to brief on our objectives."

Just a short walk later, they reached Pohon 7, which was the same giant tree as before, except that it was a crowded mall strip with apartments near to the top. Karkos opened the door to a wooden elevator and punched a button to where he wanted to go. The elevator started to rise up nearer to the top of the tree, where there was a balcony with a door in front of it. Karkos pulled a key from his pocket and opened the door into a vast mostly wooden room which served as his home.

While Ifrit sat and admiring the woodwork, Karkos disappeared into the kitchen and a moment later he put some cakes and four cups of tea for the four of them. Ifrit ate some of them and drank his tea. He became quite accustomed with the flavor of the tea, all due to Lilac's encouragement so the hellhound could embrace Tragorian culture.

As they finished their snacks, Karkos cleared his throat and said, "(Okay, now...this rebel problem is getting out at hand. I must tell you that you three had no rest time. The three of you will take a car to district 5 and investigate a weird occurrence there)."

"(What?! We just came back from taking this nonsense one-horned fucker and you just casually get us into another mission?!)"

"(Who did you call a one-horned fucker?!)"

"(Now, now, calm down, both of you)," said Anenka slowly and calmly while trying to separate the two pissed hellhounds. But then, he became serious and said, "(Karkos, are you serious? The three of us were exhausted from trying to find a route to conceal our journey back here. You could just send others there, right?)"

"(I don't take no for an answer, especially to the importance of this mission)," said Karkos coldly. His tone caused Ifrit to shudder. Somehow that greetings back down was like a fake one.

"(So? Why us? We're just your usual soldiers, right?)"

"(The fact that I invited you into this room is a proof that you three are trusted by me, and I have a bad habit on not trusting hellhounds, Lycans, or humans that are trying to stab me in the back. No...of course not. I knew the two of you, and Ifrit is a royal)."

"(Wait, Karkos. Consider Ifrit's condition too)," said Anenka while grabbing Ifrit's wrist. "(He has just woken up from a two-year coma. We haven't even got into a fight for the past week, so we don't know about his readiness. Are you sure?)"

"(I'm not sure, but this is not something that Ifrit must not go. I have a feeling that the problem is intended for him. Now, don't waste any more of your time and go. Be safe. The car is waiting for you on the second floor)."

They left silently through the door, but when they had reached the elevator, Miza suddenly lashed out and said, "(Goddamn that fucking prick! We have just met him for only a year and he barks orders like a general! Oh, if I can get to that hound's sorry ass I'll smack it into pulp)."

"(Calm down, Miza. Why are you so angry? Karkos never do us wrong, so why do you lash out like that?)"

"(I think I know her reasons)," said Ifrit. "(Karkos is surprisingly cold and calculating. From how I see it, he makes us as if we're just pawns)."

"(You may think of that, Ifrit, but Miza's rage is uncommon. Okay, we need to get to the cable car and go to district 5 immediately. If Karkos said it is urgent, I'd say something's up in there. Best we go there first and know something that hellhound want)."

As they descend and found the waiting wooden cable car, Ifrit kept thinking on the fate that had befallen him. First, he got seemingly woken up from a deep sleep, and the second thing he knew he was assigned to do an investigation with no apparent lead. What a life he got, he thought. He then thought about Lilac, Albreich, Rhynsa, Sammael, Krozani, and Nergora. They were such good company, especially with Lilac and Albreich around, his life would be complete. Now, with no knowledge on where to go and where to start, he had no choice but to believe the strangers that saved him.

The cable car stopped after sometimes, and they walked down. Miza sniffed the air and said, "(This place doesn't feel right. I can sense demonic traces but it could have been hellhounds)."

"(I guess Karkos' fear was right...)"

They walked around the seemingly deserted district. Much like the district they first got upon, this place was dominated by many houses carved into trees, except that the district still had dirt road. Ifrit knew something wasn't right about the aura. The place was too quiet, as if there was a massacre going on in there and nothing else. The sudden disappearance of the inhabitants was eerie, and the hellhound shivered on what fate they fell into, especially if it was demonic in nature.

As they tried to walk into a home, Ifrit stumbled upon a rag doll on the platform. He took it, but then realized that this was the answer they needed right before Anenka tried to barge into a house.

"(You won't find any survivors here. They're dead)," said the hellhound. "(Some work of a demon killed them)."

"(How can you be so sure about it?)" asked Anenka.

Ifrit then handed him the doll. Anenka quickly gasped. He felt demonic presence inside the doll. The doll then started to make a trail of blood from its buttoned eyes, as if it was crying blood. The smile made them even surer that it was possessed.

"(Those rebels are here)," said Ifrit. "(They are hiding from us)."

"(But why?)"

"(Because this is a place where you will die...)"

The deep sinister voice originated from the doll, where it suddenly come to life. The doll grabbed a nearby stick that jutted out from a pole on Anenka's side, and quickly tried to hit the black hellhound. Somehow, he moved faster and grabbed the doll's hand, ripping it off. The ripped part drew blood like flesh.

"(Ahhh! You son of a bitch! That was my hand!)"

Without replying, Anenka pulled his hand back and quickly pushed two fingers into the doll's button eyes. It screamed in an unearthly pitch when Anenka coldly pulled the buttons and proceeded to crush the doll's head, where it stayed lifeless.

"(Damn it, I hate poltergeists)," said Anenka in disgust. "(Now that he shrieks they will be coming)."

True enough, there were many hellhounds and other demons coming out from the seemingly empty houses, where they quickly surrounded them. There were dozens of them, and they hunger for the kill. Both Miza and Ifrit were in their battle stances, but Anenka said, "(Run for the stairs. I'll cover you)."

One of the hellhounds quickly ran forward, and with a quick movement, Miza cut him with her dagger. With his heightened sense Ifrit found a loose pole, pull it, and caused an unstable balcony to fall over the hellhounds. They quickly ran up while being pursued. Ifrit quickly saw a danger and shouted, "(Guns!)" before they took a cover behind the overturned table near them. By then, Miza pulled out two guns from her pack, gave it to Ifrit, and said, "(Can you use one of these?)"

"(Do you have any rifles?)" said Ifrit half-shouting. Miza pulled out another one, this time a bolt-action rifle that was almost similar to the one Ifrit once use. When he saw it, he said, "(If we fall back, we'll be surrounded. We need to push into them into another connecting moving platform and haul ass out of here)."

"(What kind of strategy is that? Unless there's another one joining our cause behind them we can't just waltzing in and out like phasing out of nothingness. As much as I like the carnage and violence, we gotta think about our survival)."

Suddenly, out of nowhere, there was a sound of blown flesh. The hellhounds glanced to where there was a red light coming from the back of the group, flickering as there was another scream of death. Thinking that it was their only chance of getting out from the place, Anenka took the rod from the doll, which was long enough to become a staff. He then made a stance and said, "(We got to find that light, enemy or not. Fight through them!)"

"(Hey! Where do you think you are going?! You royalists are fucked!)" said a hellhound in front of them. "(Just surrender and taste what we...)"

"(Oh shit! This can't be!)"

"(What? Why do you suddenly...)"

Anenka quickly lunged forward and made a stabbing movement that knock the hellhound out cold. Without any time for the others to recover from the shock, Anenka ducked and made a giant sweep that caused most of them to trip. The hellhound became ruthless when he breathed a great flame breath that burned the whole wooden balcony under the hellhounds in front of them so they fall many feet down.

"(That black fur is the reason he is feared! He's the former general of martial arts division of the Winsel family, Anenka Kolvics!)"

The name Winsel quickly struck Ifrit more. Somehow he became responsible to so many people's grief when Eshdar died and it was partially his fault. This revelation caused him to get out of focus that Miza must pat his back and said, "(Don't just stand there, move it!)"

Ifrit quickly recovered when he saw another death scream. Knowing that he must survive, the black hellhound made a covering shot by shooting some of the hellhounds. Somehow fueled by that same will and to protect Eshdar's legacy, when the rifle was empty, he quickly turned the gun so the back faced him and he made a bat, hitting hellhounds everywhere around him.

Anenka still made some good way to push forward through the horde of demons while Miza and Ifrit tried to protect him from any flanks. Just then, when they found the one making the red light did they became surprised.

It was a human male, around his early 20s, carrying a lethal-looking kitchen knife, covered in blood. He was panting hard, and upon seeing the three of them, he shouted, "(Friend or foe?!)"

With no time to even be surprised why the human can speak Hordo, they grabbed him and quickly ran through the way that the human made. They ran fast enough to get to the open and continued running toward the gate to the outside river, where they jacked a small boat and made their way away amidst the gunfire.

As they got far enough, they made a sigh of relief, before Anenka said, "(Okay, maybe we can talk sense about this problem with Krakos. This is getting into a goddamn problem)."

"(This IS a goddamn problem. Why can't we just talk openly)," said Miza while cleaning her back. "(Why is that crazy-ass hellhound becomes our leader anyway?)"

"(He's the one that got us out of the warzone in the first place, so we chose him as our leader. He can be pleasant enough if you're getting the hang around him)."