…The girl stood in the center of a sea of ashes…
One of the 13 Knight Squads of England, the 1st Lancer Squadron, was assigned the mission of "gathering enemy information before any others."
That time, the enemy territory was a mountain village located in Kyoto. They had to decipher why the mana flow had become abnormally large and eliminate any threats. Thus was their aim.
…It had been over six hours since they had lost contact with the village…
…It had been over three hours since the investigating police had disappeared…
As every member of the squad could have guessed, the village was in ruins. It was not a rare occurrence for them. England had the British Museum which was known as the Arsenal. That bloody altar contained spiritual treasures stolen from all over the world.
Compared to the raging soul of some ancient emperor residing in age-old treasure, the mission was riskless.
In fact, they were only equipped with cast armor and cross-shaped spears that were not mass-produced holy spears. Though the cast armor were simply defenses possessing magical power that increased the bearer's mobility by 20-fold, they were still first class spiritual items that their superiors saw as more than enough.
But, there was one thing that everyone was mindful of. The last survivor who had called had said something along the lines of "Help… me—that's not human… that's—"
Of course, nobody had believed him. The church superiors did not believe it and had not afforded the knights proper equipment.
But, the battle-hardened Knights of England felt some irritating sensation.
Though many records existed in the British Library, none had actually seen it before let alone capture one. As this creature seemed to somehow exist, it was a mystery as to why so many refused to admit they existed.
If they admitted that the certain creatures existed, the world would have been destroyed.
The terrifying fact about them was not the power they wielded. If the power were unmatchable, humans could always improvise with something besides brute force, such as tools and weapons to succeed.
The terrifying fact about them was not their immortality. If they could not kill the enemy, they could use other means for victory. For example, they could freeze them beneath the Antarctic ice or cut up the immortal flesh into 200 pieces and place them in bottles.
These were not issues. The issue at hand was the rumored mana stores the certain creature possessed. Mana was the magic world's gasoline. It involved the refining of raw fuel like lifespan and lifeforce into something simpler to use. To humans, who from the very beginning had shortened lifespans, the power of the mana depended on the adept or inept refining methods.
However, it was different for the creature.
In essence, their original fuel, lifespan and lifeforce, could not simply be compared to a human's. Or rather, more accurately, their lifeforce was infinite so of course, the amount of magic they could use was on a completely different level. How could a handgun with limited ammunition combat an unlimited missile raid?
Thus, the members of the company laughed at their insecurities but still could not rid them completely. Like that, they passed through the mountains and reached the age-forgotten village. As they encountered the scene, their hearts felt crushed.
Around, ash was everywhere.
The seemingly age-abandoned Eastern wasteland was caked by a layer of white ash. The roofs of the huts, the earth in the fields, and the narrow channels were covered in ash.
Were the ashes… the remains of the creature?
But, that was not the truly shocking part. If they were real corpses, the number of dead was not limited to 10 or 20. By looking at the amount of ash, the members of the squadron were in disbelief.
In the middle of it all, a girl stood.
Around 5 or 6 years old, she was an Eastern black-haired girl. But, seeing the cute face of hers, the knights specializing in the elimination of radicals could not stop their hearts from beating wildly.
Among that scene of dancing ash, where the remnants of the certain creature were present, the girl was unharmed.
The wind began to blow and the ashes rose.
The ash that covered the entire wasteland scattered about except the area around the girl, as if she were in a Holy Sanctuary. It was as if the dead ashes still feared and avoided her presence.
"I…" The girl spoke. "…I… killed so many again."
It was like she was describing her everyday life.