Last bit of chapter 1! We'll take a bit of a rest here again, to give our proofreader some time to catch up :3
Enjoy!
From atop the tree, Fio saw how Leina lost consciousness and collapsed. As if he had received the electric shock himself as well, his strength left his body. Granted, that was still preferable to his companion having taken a full hit from the Electro Finger, but it didn’t change the fact that they were in a critical situation.
They had nowhere to go, and he didn’t even have any way to help.
Even so, he couldn’t let Setra take the Vance girl away.
“Let her go! Release Leina!”
Summoning up what little courage he had left, he shouted at the devil.
“Huh?”
Holding Leina under his arm, the foe slowly turned to look at the boy on the tree.
“...”
“...”
Both stared at each other in silence.
Fio had told the devil to let Leina go, but he didn’t really have any plans.
The Devil, on the other hand, seemed to have felt something from looking at the boy, his whole body giving off a feeling like he could barely restrain himself.
“Why are you here?”
Setra asked the boy, tilting his head in a strange angle.
“Eh?”
“You should have died.”
“Huh?”
“No way, you were revived too?”
As his fingers got enveloped by the lightning that had made Leina faint in one blow, Devil Setra asked him a strange question.
“W-Wait, don’t you got the wrong person?”
Fio hurried to wave his hands. If he got a direct hit from the Electro Finger, no matter how one put it, he wouldn’t be able to laugh it off.
“What’s your name?”
“Fio, Fiotiel Shelagleed.”
“I see... so you ain’t Saria?”
Setra shook his head for a second, relieved.
“That’s fine then... it’s okay.”
The electrified charges on his fingers disappeared, dissipating into the air.
“Who is Saria?”
Fio noticed the devil no longer seemed intent to do battle, so he figured it was safe to ask now.
“You don’t need to know...”
The other flatly cut off his question.
“So, what are you going to do?”
In a rather pushy way, Devil Setra got them back on track.
“Err...”
Fio didn’t understand for a moment what he was being asked, but seeing Leina being carried by the devil jogged his memory.
“Let Leina go.”
He said, sticking out his chest. He tried to sound as dignified as he could, given the circumstances.
“And if I don’t?”
“Err...”
The boy scratched his head, stumped on that one. He was all out of cards to play.
“Won’t you take me as well, along with Leina?”
[If he refuses to release her no matter what, I can only go with him. We’re trying to save the people kidnapped by the devil, and since we need to get into his headquarters, it’s more convenient if he takes us both there himself.]
“If you’re taking masseurs and female fighters, won’t it be fine too if you bring a singer along?”
“A singer?”
“Yeah, I guess I’m somewhat famous as the Silver Singer Fio... You don’t know me?”
“I don’t... and even if I did know you, I’d still refuse.”
“Why!”
“Milady didn’t ask for a singer.”
Refusing the boy’s offer completely, Setra’s buttocks began shining with a pale light.
“Wait! We aren’t done tal—!“
“I should warn you. Our headquarters, the Khan Oasis, is a natural fortress surrounded by quicksand. You’ll never be able to get there on foot, give it up!”
“Hey! Hear me out here!”
“Nuhahahahahahahahahahahaha! Farewell!”
Laughing loudly, he rose towards the sky, drawing a path with pale light, under the moonlight’s dominion.
***
“She was taken away...”
Devil Setra had taken flight towards the south.
The pale glow soon became indistinguishable from that of the stars, and faded into the night sky. For a while, Fio just stood there seeing them off, sighing.
“What should I do, now?”
[Should I heed Devil Setra’s advice, and give up on Leina? Or should I tackle the massive cloud of dust?]
“Like I have a choice in the matter...”
[Quicksand? Mirages? As long as I follow the feeling of the Sword, I won’t be led astray by either.]
The boy put on the black coat that was left behind, and started walking south.
Now that Leina had the serenading sword, his other half, he had to get her back at all costs. That was Fio’s mission.
***
Beyond the heavens.
Night had come to the world humans called Heaven.
The Head Angel... the supervisor of the angels called so by Nanael, awoke to a tone that suddenly arose from earth.
“That sound is...”
It was the sound of an instrument that played a tone capable of driving off demons.
She hadn’t heard it for some time, so the angel strained her ears to hear the power of that pure, true sound.
However, that beautiful melody didn’t sound again.
“Did it disappear, so soon?”
It was the second time she had heard the sound in a short while. The first time she had thought it was her mind playing tricks on her, but now she might need to investigate. Heaven had to manage all halidoms that could play true sounds.
“Shall I ask one more thing of Nanael?”
The Head Angel muttered to herself, turning her gaze to the earth illuminated by moonlight.
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