The Walled City of Arel sat at the crossroads of three borders: those of the Nexia Empire, the Ashen Kingdom and the Reia Theocracy. Being at such a strategically important point, Arel was surrounded by two sturdy layers of walls. Of all the Imperial cities, it was the most heavily fortified, aside from the capital, Noxastatus. Essentially, it was a sort of heavily armored square.

  The city was divided into five main districts. The largest, the military one, was located right in the center of the citadel. Every year, the Kingdom declared war to the Empire, and since Arel was the border city, it had to accommodate the Imperial troops who would be leaving for the front. Since the soldiers were poorly trained, they had to rely on sheer numbers against the Kingdom, so the military district was furnished with barracks and other military facilities. They were uncomfortable, but spacious.

  Then there was the commercial district, which encompassed the northeast side of the city. It was there where people spent most of their time, among taverns, shops and stalls.

  Nearby was the warehouse district, where the city's supplies were stored. While it paled in comparison to the district in the capital, the city of Arel boasted no fewer than forty warehouses, though only a dozen or so were actually used throughout the year. During harvest time, which was wartime, those forty warehouses would magically fill with supplies for the soldiers preparing to go to the front.

  Next came the cemetery district. It was the smallest of all, but still within the city. Due to certain traditions, the nobles of neighboring fiefdoms had their relatives buried there, along with some valuables. It was considered a disgrace not to do so, and every self-respecting house was required to perform this strange ritual. However, this led to an increase in grave robbers.

  Who could blame them? There was practically a treasure buried in that cemetery. To address this problem, the district was kept under constant surveillance, even at the cost of depriving the city of precious police force. Despite everything, however, the city of Arel remained a peaceful place.

  Finally, there was the working-class district, where most of the common population lived. It was a collection of one-or two-story houses, all identical and squeezed together. It would be more than accurate to call it a maze of alleys. It was precisely in this district that the Adventurers' and Monster Hunters' Guild was located. It was one of the most famous in the Empire, despite not having any big-name affiliated groups.

  Not far from the Guild building, time seemed to have frozen. Everyone stood still, watching two individuals making their way through the alleys.

  One of the two appeared to be a girl in her late teens, probably no older than twenty. Her snow-white skin shone like pearls in the sun. Her red eyes shone like rubies, and her glossy crimson hair, tied in a ponytail, were visible despite the thick cloak covering her body. She was noticeably thin, though little or nothing was visible from the neck down.

  One thing was obvious and as eye-catching as its otherworldly beauty, however: She was tall...really tall! She towered over everyone except the person walking beside her.

  The gender of her partner was unclear. The armor was clearly male, but the massive size of the breastplate left one wondering if, hidden beneath the pitch-black armor, there was a woman even taller than the breathtaking beauty of before.

  There was no doubt that it could be a man either; in fact, many thought so when they saw this colossal knight in full black armor, a crimson cape and a large sword slung over his shoulders. The most bizarre thing was the three red "A"s inscribed in a circle on his breastplate: one on each shoulder pad and the last in the center of his chest. His weapon was so large that no one thought its owner actually used it, so much so that many theorized it was just for show.

  The armored person stepped forward, proving to be the leader of the duo.

  The citizens immediately realized what they were, because they were approaching the Guild building. Many of them murmured among themselves, trying to figure out which group they belonged to. Adventurers’ parties usually consisted of at least four members, sometimes three, but never two. It was unlikely for them to be the only ones in a party; it would have been impossible. They would have had to be able to heal and deal damage, combined with search and infiltration skills.

  That said, the two had attracted that attention because of the girl's divine beauty and the size of her companion, who was over two and a half meters tall.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  "Um... Are you okay? You seem disoriented..."

  Asked the otherworldly beauty, beckoning with her right hand, covered by a metal glove.

  "Yes, I'm trying to figure out where the Monster Hunters Guild is..."

  The knight replied, looking around. He still had to get used to the helmet's peripheral vision. Almodeus had chosen to wear armor not only to make it easier to act out what he and Almodea had agreed upon, but also to attract someone's attention.

  The armor he wore was none other than his body, modeled after the armor of Abadon, the Demon of Courage, only it was made black and red instead of white. Almodeus hoped to attract the attention of anyone who would recognize this armor as Abadon's.

  I hope I don't sound ridiculous with this deep voice.

  "Here it is, Dad! Found it!"

  Almodea pointed to a large tavern. She shouldn't have said "Dad" out loud, but no one was nearby, so Almodeus didn't say anything.

  Apparently, in this city, the Guild has merged with some sort of restaurant. It makes sense.

  "Great work, little spot. Let's see inside..."

  The two entered the building. It was quite large, with a rustic, non-luxurious style. To the right were some tables and the restaurant, while the rest of the building contained various noticeboards with assignments and the reception desk.

  "Look at him! I'm sure he's some noble, rich boy who thinks he's something special..."

  "Yeah, what's he doing here?"

  "He's trying to show off!"

  The comments about the newcomers quickly came pouring in, especially those directed at the knight and his gleaming, jet-black armor. The girl, on the other hand, received whistles and rather idiotic comments, often regarding her obvious beauty, such as "Hey girl, what are you doing with someone like him?" or "Why don't you come with real men? Forget that walking can!"

  It's probably my armor; it makes me look like a show-off.

  "What bastards! How dare they talk to you like that?!"

  Almodea was furrious, even more irritated by the insults towards her father than by the dirty flirtations of the men nearby. She was used to ignoring men in general, so she didn't even notice that they were looking at her like a piece of meat.

  "Calm down...We're here for a reason and there's no point wasting time with beings like them."

  Her father admonished her in a gentle tone, speaking so only she could hear. The girl seemed to calm down at his words, and in fact, she followed him to the reception desk. There, they completed the registration process without saying a word.

  "Remember, as long as we keep this disguise, we are the knight Amon and his apprentice, the sorceress Alcina. Understand?"

  “Yes, I understand!”

  “Unfortunately, we will start from the lowest grade, that is, Copper..."

  Almodeus handed his daughter a copper dog tag and an identification card bearing the Empire's stamp. The grades were based on the market prices of the various minerals: Copper was the lowest, followed by Bronze, Iron, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Emerald and finally Diamond.

  From Sergio and Soundwave's research, it seemed there were only three Diamond-grade groups in the Empire. The Black Rose, who resided in the capital; the Red Lightning, who were said to operate in the southern part of the Empire; and last but not least, the Arcane, about whom little was known, except that there were three of them and that their leader was a powerful elven sorceress.

  "It's not a problem! With our skills, we'd have a huge advantage!"

  His daughter replied, not being entirely wrong. If they were only judged on sheer force alone, they would both have been Diamond-ranked; in fact, the two demons would have been a rank all their own, so much so that the Guild would have had to create a new one just for them.

  "Let's look for a job for ourselves. Remember that we have to appear human and that we can only choose certain types of jobs..."

  Due to Guild rules, each task had a sort of "difficulty level", and a low-ranking party was forbidden from choosing a mission deemed too difficult for them. The reason lay in the "precedence" rule. When a party claimed a task, it was removed from the message boards and no other party could claim it. Therefore, to prevent idiotic low-ranking adventurers from taking important missions away from higher-ranking parties, a sort of "level barrier" was imposed.

  Another reason was the difficulty or specific preferences of those submitting a request to the Guild. If a noble wanted an Emerald-rank party, they would get an Emerald-rank party, and no one would say anything. As for difficulty, the level barrier also served to prevent low-ranking adventurers from choosing missions that were too difficult, which would lead to suicide.

  However, there was one exception to the rule. If more than forty-eight hours passed from the time a job was offered without anyone accepting it, the level barrier was removed.

  Unfortunately, it doesn't look like there are any for Copper-rank adventurers...That's a big problem.

  The message board wasn't as crowded with requests as Almodeus had hoped. The most prestigious jobs were all for adventurers of at least Gold rank. He felt like he was playing a video game on a second account and being seen as a noob by everyone.

  He approached the reception desk, where a woman was sorting out some paperwork. She had brown hair and green eyes. She was probably the same age as Almodea.

  “Excuse me, Miss…”

  Can you use "Miss" here? Wouldn't that be seen as offensive? I have to use this disguise to figure out how to speak in this world.

  The girl looked up at him, visibly surprised by his height. However, when she noticed the copper plate on Almodeus's armor, her eyes lost interest, fading completely.

  “Yes? Do you need anything?”

  She seemed quite annoyed. The Absolute Lord wondered if it was because of the way he'd addressed her, or because of his low rank.

  Or maybe she's just pissed off…

  “Sorry to bother you, but I’d like to ask if there are any assignments for Copper-rank adventurers.”

  “Aren’t they on the bulletin board?”

  “No, I don’t think so…”

  “Hmph! Then there aren’t any! You’ll have to wait!”

  The girl's response was cold and rude. Almodeus wasn't used to being treated with such disrespect. Rather than irritating the demon, it confused him and made him wonder what he'd done wrong.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  “Her boyfriend left her, if you ask me…”

  Almodea whispered to him. He sighed and summoned the courage to ask the woman something else, hoping he wouldn't get yelled at again. It was all so embarrassing...

  “Could you tell me if there are any jobs where the level barrier has expired?”

  “I see you've read the rules book…”

  The sales assistant's expression seemed quite surprised, so much so that she seemed to become less aggressive.

  “Let me check, give me a minute.”

  The girl opened a drawer, with various papers inside.

  “No, no, not even this one…Ah! Found it!”

  A sheet of paper was placed in front of him. He grabbed it and began to read the request carefully. It was an extermination mission, requested by a mid-ranking noble. It required the elimination of a Giant Basilisk, a high-level monster according to the new world's categorizations.

  “Eliminate a Basilisk? We accept it.”

  “Are you sure?”

  He saw the girl raise a doubtful eyebrow.

  “Yes, why?”

  “Giant Basilisks are hard enemies for warriors, and you look like one of them. Is your companion a sorceress, by any chance?”

  “Exactly. Where are you getting at?”

  "It's a dangerous mission for only two people. If the level barrier hadn't fallen, you'd be required to be at least Emerald rank. My fiancé faced one of those monsters before, but he ran away, becoming the laughing stock of the town! Then he left me for a prostitute...That piece of shit!"

  Damn, Almodea was right…

  He looked back at his daughter, who was smiling under her cloak.

  “I have to make you sign a release…”

  “Certainly, I understand your needs.”

  After signing the release papers, which was essentially a document that released the Guild from any liability in the event of death or injury caused to the adventurers in question, they started walking towards the exit.

  “Let's go, Alcina.”

  With that, the two adventurers walked out of the building.

  “Those two are really strange…”

  The girl at the reception muttered.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  The Adventurers' Guild had rules to follow when offering a task. For example, you couldn't request the killing of a top predator in a specific area, as this would disrupt the forest's ecosystem. However, if the predator decided to leave the area of its own accord, attacking a village, for example, then the Guild had a duty to intervene. Its goal was to protect the people, rich and poor.

  However, some magical beasts could prove quite difficult to counter. Among these was the Giant Basilisk, a creature similar to a gecko, but over eight feet tall and twelve feet long, with six legs, a scaly tail, independent eyes with a petrifying gaze, and colossal mandibles capable of secreting deadly poisonous gas. They were also quite intelligent creatures; they were one of the few races that did not make their young leave after they had grown to adulthood, and they only used the petrifying gaze in times of danger, never for hunting; they could not devour prey turned to stone.

  Some believed that they had evolved to be able to eat rocks, which they could do, but would not have gained any nutritional value from it.

  Recently, an adult specimen had been spotted near the edge of the Dark Jade Forest. It was not uncommon for magical beasts to spawn in that area, given the incredible magical power present there. This placed the villages and towns bordering the forest in constant danger. It was precisely out of this dismay that the Guild system was born.

  “Dad, do you think it’ll take long to find this monster?”

  "No. According to the report, it should be near the city of Noxia. Many villages in that area have fallen victim to the Basilisk..."

  “Why do you think he decided to leave his usual hunting area?”

  "Beasts are difficult to understand, especially when they reason with instinct and not intellect. A stronger predator might have arrived, it needed more food or it was afraid of something."

  “Afraid of what?”

  Almodeus shrugged.

  "It's not our place to ask, after all, it's to our advantage. Try sending your shadow ahead, maybe she'll find it before we do."

  “Okay! Almy, I choose you!”

  Almodea's shadow magically came to life. She began to move at high speed through the trees.

  “Did you name her Almy?”

  “That's right! Instead of using it as a nickname for myself, I gave it to her!”

  The two continued to advance through the forest, walking boldly, as if there were no dangers in the area.

  “It's said that the Dark Jade Forest has a guardian deity who is a dragon! Can I go look for him when I have free time?”

  “Little spot…Why do you like dragons so much?”

  The Absolute Lord had always wondered that, but had never received a complete answer. Almodea raised her hand to the chin, clearly trying to think of what to say.

  “I don't know, I just like them! I want them as pets!”

  “So…Are they like giant dogs to you?”

  “Yes and no! I’m not sure how to describe it. I’ve always liked them, maybe because they’re rare in our world?”

  He sighed at that answer. In the world they came from, true dragons were practically extinct. Almodea had asked for a dragon as a gift several times, for Christmas or her birthday, but Almodeus had never been able to find one.

  He could summon demonic dragons like Atlas, the Red Dragon Archfiend, or the Hundred-Eyes Dragon, but it wouldn't be the same. His daughter had asked for a real dragon, not a demonic one. Would she appreciate them? Of course, but it was a matter of principle for Almodeus. He wanted to fulfill his daughter's wish to the fullest, doing more than what she asked, not less.

  “You got this collecting thing from me, Uh! Uh!”

  He was laughing, but that conversation was bringing a wave of despair to him. It was a reminder of his constant failures as a parent. The Absolute Lord would never call himself a horrible father, but he wouldn't call himself a great one either. He was somewhere in the middle, and that made him angry.

  His daughter was the most important thing Almodeus had, yet he could never make her happy in the right way. Maybe he was exaggerating, but he didn't want Almodea to have to settle when she could have the best. She was the child of fear itself. Why was it that, whenever he was supposed to help his daughter, something always happened to derail his plans?

  As a king, I'm decent, but as a father? A complete disappointment...

  Almodeus sighed internally. The only satisfaction was that his daughter seemed happy.

  “Oh! Almy found it! I can see it through her eyes!”

  The girl suddenly screamed, bringing her father's mind back to the mission.

  “Really? Where is it?”

  “In a nearby grove! It seems to be feeding on some carcasses taken from a village.”

  “I know it's wrong to interrupt someone while they're eating, but we should make an exception to the rule this time. What you think, little spot?"

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  The Basilisk's jaws closed as it swallowed part of the carcass of a man it had previously killed. Nearby lay a dozen more corpses, also victims of its attack on a nearby village.

  There was no malice or sadism in its actions, only the enjoyment of satisfying a craving. Was that considered a sin? Perhaps, but a creature like the Basilisk was unaware of the meaning of such a word. Right and wrong were human terms, entirely foreign to beasts. The only thing such a creature had in common with the humanoid race was fear: the fear of not being able to survive, or to not satisfy its hunger or...the fear of death.

  "Rahhhh..."

  His independent eyes kept looking in different directions, as if he were expecting something to attack him. He was clearly agitated.

  It was then that he heard noises behind him. The Basilisk whirled around and saw two figures approaching. They looked human; the larger one was completely black, while the other was hooded. For some reason, he felt unsafe. He had faced dozens of beings like them, but these seemed different.

  His venom sacs began to produce their deadly poison. He would kill and devour them, as he always did; it was the technique his parents had taught him.

  “Rahhhh!”

  He roared to scare them, but they just stood there and watched him, as if he were something strange, not dangerous.

  “?”

  Surprisingly, he was the one to step back. Was the world going backwards? Why a Basilisk like him should move backward agains some humans? His eyes continued to dart wildly, as if searching for the reason for his senseless fear.

  -There was nothing there except those two simple humans.

  “Here it is. I expected it to be bigger…”

  He heard a noise coming from the human in black, but couldn't make out what it meant. It didn't sound like a roar of terror or aggression. What was he doing? Why weren't they running away from him like all the other humans? Why hadn't they attacked him like all the iron-clad ones he'd encountered before?

  Besides, he didn't understand why they were wearing iron in thew first place. It wasn't a problem for him, since his teeth could pierce it effortlessly, but it made it harder to extract flesh from corpses. Often, pieces of it got stuck inside the armor, and he had to waste time ripping the iron plates off to feed himself.

  Over time, he'd realized that the iron-clad ones would attack him, while the others would flee. He guessed that the one in black armor before him was the human pack's alpha. He was, hands down, the largest human he'd ever seen.

  “Rahhhhh!”

  The Basilisk roared again, even more forcefully, but he couldn't bring himself to take a step forward. He felt like he would die if he got too close.

  “Dad, what we do now? Shall I take care of it?”

  “No, I can do it myself. Just make sure there's no one around.”

  Again, those strange noises he didn't understand. This time, however, the alpha stepped forward, unsheathing what he recognized as a sword. Humans used them instead of claws. Seeing this adversary approaching, he felt his heart pounding faster and faster. Why? Why was he so afraid of this human?

  “Rahhhh!”

  His instincts were screaming at him to run, but he didn't understand why. He would have, if it wasn't for the fact that even that option brought on a sense of death. No matter what he thought of doing, the Basilisk felt he would die in any case.

  While he was thinking, the human had approached. Frightened, he immediately decided to use his secret weapon: the petrifying gaze.

  “Issssk!”

  His eyes locked with the knight. He activated his ability, causing vibrations to begin to form in the air.

  “?”

  What was happening? His ability had activated, yet the knight remained completely indifferent. It was the first time this had happened to him. Could his best attack miss? Was that even a possibility? Maybe it was that strange helmet covering the knight's face? No, it should have worked anyway. It wasn't the first time he'd faced a human in similar attire.

  “Rahhhh!”

  The knight continued to approach, inspiring an innate terror in his heart. The Giant Basilisk took another step back. Feeling increasingly in danger, he unknowingly filled the sacs under his chin with poison and blew it at him.

  That would kill the man...Right?

  “Ugh! That stinks!”

  The human reacted for the first time, but it was only a brief movement of his arm in front of the helmet opening. Was that all? He should have fallen to the ground and let out a roar of pain, but instead he had only emitted those strange, incomprehensible noises.

  “?”

  Was he really immune to his attacks? Was that even possible? How? Maybe it was because of the clothing? The Basilisk didn't know the answer to all those questions.

  He shifted his gaze to the corpses he was supposed to bring to his parents later. One of them had worn similar clothing, yet it hadn't survived the poison.

  Against that one, everything had gone as planned, but not with this human before him. Why? What had changed? Was it because he was an alpha? Normally, alphas were the strongest in the pack, but it was uncertain whether this applied to humans as well.

  “Well…I think we should get it over with.”

  He heard those incomprehensible noises again, but this time they were accompanied by a longer action. The human had raised his sword, which was far larger than any he had ever seen in his life.

  “Rahhhh!”

  He roared again, even though his heart was beating faster than ever. His instincts were wild, telling him the same thing over and over again:

  Death.

  Death.

  Death.

  Since his abilities had had no effect, he considered attacking with a claw slash, but felt unsure about approaching the human. He emitted the same aura as a much stronger monster, like the Sand Crocodile, who was the alpha in the area of the forest where he lived with his family.

  The knight took another step, while the Basilisk retreated. It was clear which of the two was afraid and which was not.

  Realizing that sooner or later they would have to fight hand-to-hand, he decided to raise one of his six paws. His claws were strong enough to pierce the iron with which humans covered themselves. He should have won…Right?

  “Rahhhh!”

  He vibrated his limb towards the knight and…

  "R-Rahhh?"

  …Saw his own body fall to the ground in front of him. He tried to roar, but no sound came from his jaws; now that he noticed, he couldn't even move them at all. For some reason, his right eye was motionless, fixed on the ground soaked in some strange liquid, while the left eye was watching the sky.

  Beside him was that creature, the human in black; the alpha. His blade was stained with a strange reddish liquid, similar to the one that gushed out when he ate a carcass. He found it bitter to the taste.

  The knight swung his sword again, but without a precise target. He had only done it to clean away the red liquid. The Basilisk thought it was a strange movement, but then he remembered that he too took a break between bites to lick the same liquid off his claws.

  He tried to move or get up, but couldn’t. He felt nothing, neither pain nor hunger. He only felt fear. Fear of the darkness that was beginning to blur his vision. Time seemed to have stopped around him.

  “You done, Dad?”

  “Yes. It was easy.”

  Those strange noises again. What did they mean? Did they have something to do with the fear he was feeling, even though he no longer heard his heartbeat or the constant rumbling of his stomach caused by hunger?

  “…”

  “…”

  “…”

  Finally, those mysterious noises ceased, but not the darkness; that continued to advance. Somehow, he knew it wouldn't stop until there was nothing left to obscure. What those noises he'd stopped hearing were was the last thing he could ask himself before everything became blacker than the damp cave he lived in.

  Then, the Giant Basilisk's eyes finally closed, once and for all.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Almodeus swung his great black sword, causing the blood of the beast he had just slain to spray out. He shifted his gaze to the severed head of the Giant Basilisk. It had all happened in an instant; with one swift movement he had struck it down.

  “You done, Dad?”

  “Yes. It was easy.”

  He looked from his daughter to the Basilisk. It had been dead for only a few seconds, yet the expression on its face still seemed to be in agony.

  Maybe I should have used an instant death spell? No matter, he's not in pain anymore.

  Almodeus wasn't an empathic one, but he wasn't a sadistic bastard either. He enjoyed the pain of others only if they had wronged him. Calling him selfish would be accurate, but was that really a negative adjective? Almodeus didn't think so.

  “Mhm…”

  The Absolute Lord began to circle the Basilisk's corpse. Something didn't seem right.

  “We're done here, aren't we?”

  His daughter asked him.

  “No, not at all.”

  “Huh? But we killed it! It's as dead as can be!”

  “It wasn't our target…”

  Almodea's face darkened with confusion. Had she missed something?

  “What do you mean?”

  “The report spoke of an adult Giant Basilisk.”

  “And isn't that it?”

  He shook his head.

  “These types of beasts reach twelve meters in length when fully grown. This one is barely eight.”

  “It was a teenager…Damn! Sorry! I didn't know that! I wasted your time!”

  Almodea began to apologize, thinking she had found the wrong prey, but Almodeus put a hand on her shoulder, calming her down.

  "That's not true. Basilisks hunt in packs, usually family groups. If it was here, it means its father and mother are also in the area. It's probably one of these two that was spotted and reported to the Guild."

  “So…I didn’t make a mistake?”

  “Nope.”

  “Hurray!”

  Almodea cheered, raising her arms to the sky, then looked at the pile of corpses that the Basilisk was devouring.

  “What do you do with those?”

  “We’ll take them to Fear Tower. After all, Shockwave needs new test subjects.”