Everybody was shocked and confused, including the Sabertooth Cat Demon itself.
As they turned around to see who was the one responsible for this, they saw a tall man walking towards them at a brisk pace...
He had short green hair and heterochromatic eyes -- one was blue-silver while the other was erald in color. His ears were a bit pointy and he was lean.
He's wearing so kind of uniform that nobody from the squad recognized. It was blue with golden linings and a hood. It fitted him perfectly, emphasizing his lean but muscular figure...
When the humans looked at him, they couldn't help but feel srized for so reason. To them, it's as if this man causes lotuses to bloom at every step he took. His re presence brought peace and serenity to their minds and it's actually alarming.
He's like a fresh spring breeze in this putrid environnt.
To the Sabertooth Cat Demon, however, this man was the epito of a true nightmare.
From his shadow, the demon could sohow see the endless abyss where his kind drowned and cried out for help. It was a horrifying sight, sothing that struck true and primal fear into the beast despite its demonic upbringing.
The demon was frightened, and rightfully so. And as the man got closer and closer to where they were, the overwhelming feeling of dread started drowning the demon beast.
"W-who are you, Sir?" Dennis asked nervously.
He couldn't rember seeing soone like him in his experience as a Federal Agent. This man looked important, he gives off an air similar to that of the President.
"Call Ash..." he said in a friendly tone, walking past them and arriving in front of the demon beast. "Don't refer to as 'Sir' though, I am a nobody and most probably younger than you all think."
Dennis and his team looked at each other in confusion.
"U-Uhm, I...I don't think that it's wise for you to be so close to the demon cause it can--"
Ashton raised his hand and rcilessly yanked the fangs of the demon using his bare hands.
"...hurt you...yeah, sorry my bad, I should've known better." Harry deflated from embarrassnt and looked away.
Ashton didn't seem concerned about what he said, he just smiled at them and proceeded to skin the demon beast, alive, and using only his bare hands, under the shocked gazes of the squad behind him.
When they heard the pitiful whimpering of the demon beast, the team felt like their entire lives were a lie. Nobody told them that Demons could emit those pitiful sounds before yet here it was.
If anything, this is the closest they could get at seeing a whole-ass demon beast, begging for rcy, and that just makes this even crazier.
"A piece of advice just in case you all encounter a Demon Beast again..." Ashton spoke as he continued with his ministrations.
"Demons' bodies are tougher than what they look like. Compared to us humans, their physical paraters are way stronger. This is even more evident to Demon Beasts."
"Go for the weak spots. There's no sha in doing that especially if it ans that it'll get the job done." He continued, "Eyes, mouth, nose, ears, tail, underbelly, joints, fangs, wings, and especially, their horns...these should be your targets."
"If a certain part of their body looks like it could kill you, chances are, it probably could. Either you target that or you take it away so that it couldn't hurt you. That's the best way to deal with them."
"Druid Girl (Olivia) and Elentalist Dude (Harry), next ti, don't use Green Magic against Demon Beasts. Not only will it not work, but you're also just making it more difficult for yourself and your team. The combination of Vine Growth, Briar Growth, and Poisonous Haze worked as a Berserk Drug that caused this thing to go ballistic."
"If I wasn't here, then you all would've already died by this very second. Your corpses will be eaten by this thing, making it stronger. Also, you didn't cover up your scent, this demon would've most likely used that to track you down or worse, lead it back to where the Last Bastion is. It is also your scent that exposed all of you earlier, allowing this thing to attack you even while you all were inside of the formation."
Ashton's words were like resounding slaps delivered across their faces, causing them to turn red from embarrassnt.
Unbeknownst to them, Ashton was already being nice by telling them their mistakes in such a gentle fashion. If he was being honest, the only reason why he made a move was that their performance was too painful to watch and excruciatingly disappointing.
"...well, the biggest mistake you probably did is taking on this mission without bringing a White Mage with you," Ashton murmured this part, yet everybody was still able to hear him.
Dennis wanted to explain, probably to preserve so of their dignity, but that's when Ashton held out his hand.
Suddenly, his palms glowed with pure white light. Under their amazing gazes, the demon suddenly faded into dust particles. It couldn't even make a sound when it died. It just disappeared. Simple, direct, and effortless.
"...chant-less and paperless casting!" Harry gasped softly, his words were only heard by Olivia, the other Mage in this team, who was also shocked by the astounding display of pure skill in magic casting.
'He used White Magic to kill a Demon! How was that even possible? Who is this man?' Olivia scread inwardly.
As for Dennis, he's feeling quite ashad that he could only smile wryly. It was a little difficult to accept that a Demon who almost demolished all four of them, was easily handled and dealt with by a single person.
Of course, he also noticed the fact this man used only used his bare hands and White Magic to kill a Demon, plus whatever that was that this man used that froze the demon mid-air. Not just any random Demon at that -- a fully matured Sabertooth Cat Demon.
Initially, he felt a little unconvinced when they were being lectured by a stranger but such a gap in strength was sothing he simply couldn't ignore.
In short, they were outclassed by the man. He's better than all four of them combined. Just like that, plain and simple.
After dealing with the demon, Ashton dusted his hands and turned around to face them. He wore a friendly smile on his face which puts them at ease.
"Pardon for interfering. Things were starting to look bad before that so I stepped in. Either way, since that's a done deal, can I ask for a little bit of your ti? I just want to ask so questions."
Dennis looked at his teammates and saw them nodding at him. He then faced the man and said: "Sure, what do you want to know?"
Ashton smiled but didn't say anything just yet. Instead, he snapped his fingers. That caused everything within a hundred ters around them to be cleansed of all types of corruption.
And if that wasn't enough, Ashton suddenly released a green pulse of energy which not only restored the energy of the team and healed them at a very rapid pace, but it also promoted life to bloom in their surroundings.
Under the team's dumbfounded gazes, grass started growing..flowers too. The bones of small animals that were littered around them suddenly grew flesh once more and ca back to life. All of a sudden, there were butterflies, squirrels, and tiny insects around them.
The scene was so miraculous that was akin to the work of God. The team was so shocked by the display of power that they didn't notice when Ashton took out a table, a couple of chairs, and so piping hot tea. They just turned around and saw him sitting down, gesturing for them to co and take a seat as well.
Props to Harry though...the man didn't shy away from the invitation. Even before Dennis gave out the go signal, he was already sitting down and making himself comfortable.
Helpless, the rest could only follow and subtly apologize for their teammate's shaless behavior.
To this, Ashton just waved a hand, a way of saying that he doesn't mind.
"Okay so, may I know your nas?" Ashton asked after they sat down.
One by one, the team introduced themselves. Dennis is the captain, Olivia, Harry, and more specifically, Jane.
Jane who had been staring intently at Ashton so far like he owes her money.
"Okay, first of all. Why are you staring at like that?" Ashton looked at Jane, who looked taken aback by the sudden question. "Yeah, you've been staring at so heatedly. I don't think we know each other so what's the big deal?"
"Oh! Uh..." Jane blushed in embarrassnt as she cleared her throat to explain. "Sorry about that. I must've made you uncomfortable. It's...well, your right, we don't know other. But I think I have seen you before."
"...that shouldn't be possible." Ashton shook his head as he lifted his teacup. But then, Jane said this...
"Uh, I have a friend whom I share a room with. She has this photo of herself along with her friends, she frad it and sotis I would catch her looking at it with lancholic eyes."
"One of the people in that picture looked like you. You are even wearing that sa school uniform."
Ashton's hands trembled upon hearing that, he looked at Jane and asked: "What's the na of this friend of yours?"
"Mary..."
"Her na is Mary..."
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