The distorted scenery outside the train came to a sudden halt. Absolute silence dominated the space.

“W-what is this.”

“Get behind me.”

Pureborn demons return to their original size in the astral space. Lucia was surprised that xe’s grew so big. Curiously enough, comparing hirself to Elf, xe was slightly more translucent.

Carlos crushed a gem, a barrier appeared around Elk.

“Don’t move from here.”

They were in a strategically disadvantageous position.

The space was not only narrow and hard to fight in.

Elk couldn’t even call reinforcement even if he wanted to. That was because the train was a closed space. No one in, no one out.

It was one of the exploits in using the astral space strategically. Once someone gets caught by a mine inside a boxed off area, the initiator holds absolute power.

Of five submarines, three of them were using ranged weapons, all equipped with shields.

Elk was a sword user. Jumping outside the barrier Carlos erected would be akin to suicide. And if Elk goes down, Carlos and Lucia fall with him.

Was there no worse situation than this?

How long would Carlos’ barrier last from all the concentrated fire? They were about to test its limits.

“What the hell! You’re a demon so why are you fighting against your own kind!”

“Are you talking to me?”

“Yes, you bastard! Can’t you see I have clients?!”

“Of course. That’s why we spent our resources on you. That means you have resources, yes?”

“Fucking angels.”

Staying wasn’t an option either.

Thinking that, Elk charged forward.

With the barrier dividing the train into two battlefields, he chose to fight the side with two angels first.

Meanwhile, the angels from the opposite direction fired their guns to tear down the separation. The pellets were negated the moment it came into contact with the translucent bubble. Tech-like ripples spread across the surface.

Elk swung his sword.

The angel slipped under him, the sword crashed into the wall and bounced off.

The angel tore into his side.

The barrier, under the constant fire, began to flicker.

Taking the chance, one of the angels knocked him to the ground.

Elk bore through the pain, using a hex to resist some of the erosion.

He swung his sword once more.

He clashed with one of the angels.

But a shield bashed against his spine. A bullet punctured his thigh.

Left disoriented, the angel commanded.

“Give it up already.”

Carlos shuffled his pocket for a specific gem.

“Dad, don’t we have that weapon we could use in the cargo?” Lucia said out of desperation.

It was a suggestion that would warrant a lot of censure if Carlos’ company heard it.

Nevertheless, they knew that their life was more important.

“It’s inaccessible from here,” Carlos shook his head.

“What?”

They couldn’t use it even if they wanted to.

“I’m sorry. I failed you two..” Elk looked towards Carlos and Lucia.

They watched him from inside the barrier. Only Elk could see their transparent figure as they were tethered to him. Though, it wasn’t like the angels weren’t aware of their existence.

The only option Elk had left was to ask for the angels to spare these two pureborns. He cursed his weakness, his lack of foresight.

He should’ve been more attentive.

Camping at the train station, aiming for unsuspecting victims– he wasn’t unfamiliar with these incidents. Yet..

KAchik.

The two angels had their gun muzzle directed towards his head.

“Spare them at least...” Elk pleaded.

The sound of glass shattering; Carlos’ barrier had depleted itself.

“Stop.”

At the demon’s command, the angels took two steps away from him.

“I’m glad you understand your position.”

Carlos placed his sling bag around Lucia. Then pushed a gem from his pocket to hir.

“Dad, what..?”

“Crush it.”

“Dad why are...”

“Don’t think too much about it and do as I say.”

“...”

“Your father is very sorry.”

He expressed a bitter smile. The wrinkles on his face made him look older than what Lucia was used to.

Carlos wrapped the gem around Lucia’s palm. Squeezing hirs hand from the outside, he made hir crush the gem.

“Don’t exit the pod until you find another demon. Lucia, you’re my smart elf, you know what to do. ”

The gem flashed, Lucia felt hirs vision warp. The next thing she knew, she was back in the mortal sea. Everything was in colour except– hirself.

A red line bound to hirs leg, tethered to a black sphere on the ground.

“This is..”

Xe noticed Elk who looked confused.

“No.. dad just..”

The submarines who were in the astral space just a while ago came up to Elk.

“Hey.”

“Hm? Excuse me?”

“Do you have a black cube thing in your bag?”

“What black cube?”

“Just check your bag.”

Thinking that they were thugs, Elk complied out of fear.

“S-Sure.. huh. There is. What is this?”

“Is it alright if we bought it off from you?”

“Sorry, I don’t think I can give you this. It’s probably something important..”

“What about it is important?”

“I.. can’t remember.”

“Look here, we’ll buy it for a thousand dollars, what do you say?”

“It’s a good deal, don’t miss it.”

“Where is this from anyways?” Elk muttered to himself, examining the black thing.

“You don’t need to know where it’s from. We’ll buy it from you. Think of it as a stroke of luck. Two thousand.”

“You’re actually going to give two thousand for this?”

“Yeah, we’re not lying. I’ll send half to you right now.”

“Wow..”

An unusual feeling of loss welled up inside Lucia’s chest.

So this was the death of a mortalborn demon?

The person xe was looking at– is not Elk. Not anymore.

It was the shell of the person who once harbored his name.

“Dang, we were so close to capturing hir.”

“His irul escaped.”

“Can’t someone just stay here until the elf appears again? Xe couldn’t have gone far.”

“Um.. thank you.”

Elk, who had completed the exchange, awkwardly scratched his head. He excused himself and found another place to stand, all the while smiling wryly at the unexpected fortune he had received.

“If you can hear us, come out. We still have your father here you know?”

“Hey, watch your mouth. We’re out in public.”

“Hahaha, you’re a freaking weirdo.”

Lucia’s knees went limp, wings felt numb. Gripping onto hirs father’s sling bag xe got down to hirs knees.

Looking upon the angels who were akin to giants. Xe shuddered. In hirs current state, there was no way xe could do anything to defeat them.

This was supposed to be an excursion.

A happy time spent together.

Not even a day had passed and.. hirs dad had already become a hostage.

Now xe was stuck out at sea, alone.

Xe could die any time.

“Dad.. I..”

Following the red string, Lucia’s line of sight fell towards the black sphere. The pod. All xe needed to do was release the lock. Then xe would be able to give herself up to the angels.

Xe chance to reunite with hirs father..

– You’re my smart elf, you know what to do.

Lucia stopped one hand with the other.

What if hirs father had already died?

No.

Even if he was still alive, xe knew that xe can’t fall for their coaxing if xe truly wanted to rescue him.

“Dad. I’ll save you..”

===

dotturndot: Welcome to Volume 3, I hope I get to crush all your presumed assumptions of world-logic in this Volume. GET READY!

Oya, if you haven’t, you really should take a look at the illustrations for Volume 3 on my website. You’d get a sort of hint from the cover art, wink.