Scarlet Asger

Demons. The enemy of humanity. The harbingers of the apocalypse, and enders of the old world.

“And your kin.”

The fae’s words strike something in me, making my mouth part in silent shock as the realization fully hits me. That I’m technically part of those harbingers. Those monstrous creatures.

What does that mean for me? Am I still a human? Can I still exist on earth? What’ll happen if the demon genes fully obliterates my human genes? Will I die?

The fae seems to answer my last couple questions first with a rather shocking answer, “You will not die. With the System in place, should your human genes be fully obliterated by the demon genes, you will simply become a full blooded demon instead. However, there are ways to stop your human genes from being obliterated.”

I let out a sigh of relief, not really sure what I was expecting to hear. The fact that death isn’t in that sentence is a huge relief. But becoming a full demon?

That…

How do I stop my human genes from being obliterated? And is there a way to obliterate my demon genes instead?

The fae whose name I still do not know despite having a contract with him waits for a second before asking, “Girl, do you not wish power? To have the ability to rule?”

The question surprises me, and honestly, if he hadn’t said it himself, then I probably wouldn’t have thought about it.

I want the power to do what I want to do. To not be herded around like cattle by those Guardians and other wealthy people at the top of the human food chain.

“Your demon blood is particularly pure to an incredible degree. With it, you may someday surpass the strongest of humans, even in this Tier 1 City of yours,” the fae responds to my thoughts as if some sort of devil floating over my shoulder, whispering temptations to me.

And for once, I… might just agree. I never went with what others told me before.

When everyone told me to give up on advancing to a higher education because of my status as an orphan, I proved them wrong and became the top scoring student in our high school. When the Board of Education tried offering me a half paid scholarship to Rhettford University in the Tier 2 city of Rhettford, I managed to negotiate it – with Allen’s help – to be a chance at joining a Tier 1 university in the capital of the Terran Republic, despite my lack of success in that particular department.

But now…

I feel heat begin to build up all over my body, with it being particularly strong around my eyes, the top of my head, my hands and feet, and my chest. But I ignore it as a burning desire to prove everyone that has ever mocked me and the other orphans wrong grows stronger and stronger in my head.

“Very good. This may just be the most fun I’ve had in decades.”

Through the haze of warmth that I’m feeling, and through my current feelings, I hear the slightest hint of emotion in the fae’s usually robotic tone of voice. And that has me smirking.

“The best way for you to survive is to remain a half demon. And to do so, you must hunt. Whether human or demon, you must hunt. You must build up your lifeforce to a point where your genes will reach stability with themselves. Then your path will be set, young mortal girl.”

The fae’s last words in that sentence feel almost as if it’s mocking me, what with how he paused for a split second between each of the last three words. But at the same time, I remember hearing in school that the ‘spirits’ cannot lie.

I narrow my eyes at the creature as the heat reaches a fever pitch throughout my body.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

What is your name, fae?

The fae-professed-tanuki stares at me for several seconds without saying a word before it eventually answers me in a lower pitched tone than normal.

“Tarankar Floorid Del Vaschmir Detra. As my contracted partner, our lives are now linked, and you deserve to know of my name.”

The smirk on my face grows even wider.

I open my mouth, only to quickly tilt my head when I cough out blood onto the carpet before responding in kind, out loud this time, “I am Scarlet Asger.”

This fae is a tricky one. I better keep an eye on the thing.

One block away from the building Scarlet is in

The Demonic Assault so far hasn't been as bad as most of the ones Cipher has to help deal with. And he's been in a lot at this point.

Nothing but Class II and I Fractures for the most part. Which is a rather tame Demonic Assault.

The man can't help but let out a sigh as he watches the civilians run past him into a different room before turning around and stabbing his hand straight through the head of a large demon fomorian – one of the weakest Class II demons often used as cannon fodder in a Class II Fracture – that had attempted to sneak up on him. He then opens his other palm up and whispers, “Flame. Release,” making a geyser of flames burst straight out of a small opening in the armor covering his hand, burning another fomorian alive that was attempting to sneak up on him.

The Class IV Guardian is wearing a full set of cybernetic armor, colored with blue armor plating on his forearms, shoulders, torso, and other areas that are often used in combat to block a hit. These armor platings have veins of blue energy moving between them, serving as the magical conduits of the man’s armor, which easily block the fireballs being sent at him by the demon acolyte as he blurs across the cafeteria he is in, his speed greater than the average uninitialized human eye can track. The tables in his way smashing into the walls of the cafeteria in the process of his passing, before his raised fist meets the chest of a demon wraith that was attempting to sneak around the cafeteria to chase one of the citizens that he had already let escape from the room.

Damned thing probably already fixated on one of those survivors.

After giving the wraith one more smash to the head, ensuring that it’ll never be getting up again, Cipher turns back to the acolyte, raises his hand, and activates a skill that sends a bolt of lightning made out of nanomachines straight at the creature. And before the bolt even strikes, the man turns to the rest of the demons, sending another wave of flames that turns them all into ash, following which he begins walking back to the exit of the cafeteria. All before the ash even gets the chance to hit the ground.

“Tenth floor is cleared,” he states into a device on his arm. One of which the Guardian uses in order to get past the signals of the shield that block other types of internet and telecoms.

It takes only a few seconds for a response to come through the coms before Cipher nods his head to himself and states, while walking towards the door that the citizens hid behind, “I’ll get these citizens to safety before clearing the eleventh floor.”

A beep sounds from the device on his wrist, following which he lowers his arm. But just a second later, another long and drawn out beep sounds from it, and he raises the arm again.

Another call?

The moment he sees the caller id on the small display shown on his arm, his eyes widen, and he immediately accepts the call.

“What is it, Belle?! Are you okay?!” he shouts into the device the moment his daughter’s face shows on the other side with a worried frown. The girl has the same amber eyes as her father, with long black hair, and is wearing a white blouse and black pants on the other side of the call, seemingly in a classroom of the university she goes to.

Belle immediately nods her head and says, “It’s not me you should be worried about! I can’t connect to Scarlet!!”

Shit. That’s not good.

Cipher, also known as Allen Silvester, frowns at that and asks, “Do you know where she was before this?”

At this, his daughter scowls at him and practically shouts into her device, “She was at your company headquarters to ask you for a favor!!! Have you not been looking at your emails over the past few days?!”

She what?!

The people hiding inside of the pantry room connected to the cafeteria send frightened looks at the door as the muffled sound of someone shouting makes its way through the steel doors.

Arabellia ignores his outburst of not-so-quiet curses as she asks, “Are you able to go to her?!”

Cipher shakes his head slowly as he answers, “Not yet. My company’s building is, according to Sage, only a Class I Fracture. So the City Board is prioritizing the building I’m currently in, which is a Class II. Even if I asked, they wouldn’t be able to let me out. And even if I tried breaking out, it might destroy the entire building and kill everyone in it in the process of breaking the shield.”

And all that would do is let the demons escape the building, leaving them unchecked in the streets.

Arabellia’s scowl grows deeper, only to soften slightly as she thinks of the many people trapped in the same building as her father.

“Just, please hurry. I can’t lose her too…” she says, a tear beginning to trail its way down her cheek as she no doubt thinks of her dead sister.

“As fast as I can,” Cipher answers with a quick nod before the call cuts out and he rushes over to the pantry door and proceeds to rip it open with his bare hands.

Let’s see if I can’t speed this up. For Scarlet’s sake.