Chapter 110 - The Enemy

"Heh. If I'll be completely honest, you guys will only slow me down."

Kai said to his squad members.

"Still! We absolutely cannot leave a member while we turn around and run for safety."

Yin responded back.

Kai Xin said nothing in return.

As the squad continued onwards in search of the monster responsible for this horrendous act, the heat was gradually burning their skins.

Cosette was panting.

"How much longer until we get there?"

She asked in a tired voice.

"I for one do not know as well, we are going to have to stop this monster, though. I would not want to fight against Reanimated Slayers. It leaves a bad taste in all of our mouths, right?"

Zach said while turning around to Yin and June's direction.

"I-I agree…"

June said with a nod.

Kai was leading the march.

After about half an hour more of the grueling walk under the burning sun, they were finally starting to get close. Too close for comfort.

Kai stepped on a single piece of wooden stick on the ground, he noticed it first…

There was a beam of flames coming from the north.

"Everyone! Get down!"

He instructed them, they all complied and got on the ground fully.

"W-What's the matter?!"

Zach frantically looked onwards and saw the concentrated beam of flames.

It was thin, very thin, in fact. But as the beam traveled to the space above them, everyone could feel the intensity of it.

If Kai Xin had not told them to duck immediately, they were sure if that beam had pierced their hearts or chest, they would have been long goners by now.

"S-Such power..."

June Alcindor remarked while shaking.

"Another one is coming! It is trying to aim below! Jump up and dodge it!"

Kai Xin instructed them once more.

And once again, they all followed his instructions. June could not leap as high as the others, however.

He almost had his feet pierced by a few centimeters off.

The beam had hit his shoes instead, lucky for him.

"Are you alright, June!?"

Cosette asked the rookie.

"Y-Yeah, it almost got me."

Kai sprinted north towards the area where the beam came from.

"Follow me! Make sure to dodge the beams when I say so!"

Kai Xin shouted to them.

As reluctant as they were to head straight towards it, they had no other choice but to face the enemy.

The monster who was spamming the flame beams at them was hidden well enough for them to only sense it whenever it was firing. Only for a split second, and after each attack, it switched to a new location to cover its tracks.

Kai focused long and hard.

After dodging the third flame beam it fired out, Kai pinpointed the pattern where it would be heading towards successfully.

He heaved up his sword and held it by the handle as he revved it up and threw it straight at the monster's location.

An ear piercing scream was heard, all of them had to cover their ears because of the high pitch it had.

"Did we get him?"

Yin said as he looked around the area.

"No. I can still feel the monster's Anima concentration."

Cosette replied back as she got ready for a fight, brandishing her war axe around.

"That will not be enough to kill this monster, I believe."

Kai said calmly.

He walked towards the location of where the scream originated from.

"Be careful!"

Zachary said as he gripped his grimoire in preparation for a retaliating attack.

Kai Xin's sword had pierced the rocks from where the monster was hiding behind.

He walked around the stone and saw the true figure of the monster. It was an Angel.

It was a white humanoid Angel writhing in pain from being pierced by Kai Xin's sword through where it was hiding.

Kai Xin immediately took out his grimoire and blasted it with bursts of fireballs, alternating between both left and right palms.

The smoke from the initial S Rank Fire Slayer's barrage covered his retreat as he pulled out the sword from the back and went back to his squad.

Kai was panting.

"This is worse than I had thought…"

Kai said under his breath as he shook his head.

"Prepare for battle! We will bring this Angel down all at once!"

"Yes, sir!"

Yin called forth the black lightning from the skies above once again.

Footsteps were heard amidst the smoke. Kai had failed to finish off the monster.

Not that he expected that his earlier attack would have been enough, but still. He did not think that it would get up this easily.

"June!"

He shouted.

June Alcindor knew what to do in an instant.

The smoke from Kai Xin's attack was hindering both of his squad's and the Angel's field of view.

The rookie Wind Slayer pulled out his grimoire and casted a miniature version of the typhoon he casted against the Reanimated Slayers before.

But this time, it was not casted in order to damage the Angel, no, it was far too weak of a spell to even put a dent on it.

This spell was casted in order to blow away the smoke from the fires and dust.

"Yin! Follow my lead!"

Kai said as he sprinted towards the Angel who is now visible once more.

"Remember, react to its move set and what it does! Dodge its attacks the way that I do!"

"Right!"

Kai slashed the Angel's stomach but the Angel had already blocked it with its own arms.

Yin was surprised at how resilient and durable the Angel was.

"I-Impossible! Even Kai's sword swing did not manage to cut its hands off!"

Zachary said to himself.

Kai Xin pulled back out and let Yin shoot his shot instead.

Yin Sohaya jumped upwards and did a roundhouse kick right in the face of the Angel.

But his attack hurt his legs more than it damaged the Angel itself.

Both of them jumped back and collected themselves.

"Why aren't our attacks working!?" 

Yin clicked his tongue.

"Damn. Were my kicks not strong enough?"

He was blaming himself for that clean opportunity to strike and his inability to follow through.

"No. It was strong. But this thing is built like a truck. Its body is not that thick, it is of skinny build, but its skin is solid. Rock solid."

Kai absorbed the information about this Angel.

"This is not a normal Angel. I believe."

His last words sent shivers down everybody's spine.

Judging by their faces filled with immense shock, there was only one possible answer for what this Angel was.

"A-A Seraphim?!"

Cosette stammered on her words before asking fully.

"Seems we've got bad luck on our side this time."

Kai Xin grinned.

Deep down, the S Rank Slayer always wanted to know how it felt to fight a Seraphim.

When the news of Artorias Khalil dragging the body of a Seraphim into the Grand Castle's chambers were rumored among the higher ranking Slayers, every single one of them felt fear.

This was the elite of the elite among the Angels' ranks.

Although Kai Xin definitely was afraid of the implications of what it would be to be in a death match against such monstrosities, a part of him was glad to be given the chance to prove his power against Seraphims.

"We have talked about this earlier. I already told you that you should run back. The odds of stumbling across one of the Twelve Seraphims would be much greater when we are this far away from the Barrier."

Kai said.

"Enough of that foolery, Kai. Minutes ago, we already affirmed that we will stay and fight."

Zachary replied back as he cracked his knuckles and readied his scythe in his right hand and his grimoire in his left.

"We are going to bring this Seraphim down together!"

Yin said with passion and confidence.

"I for not do not know just how strong the Basilisk Slayer is, fighting something of this degree would definitely be a cool way to gauge it."

Cosette Akim replied back.

She was an avid fan girl of Artorias Khalil.

The number one ranked Slayer always kept to the shadows, away from the limelight of the crowd and reporters.

Cosette has never even laid her eyes on her idol.

She only heard about him from his successes as a 'prodigy' when he was still a rookie and his accolades as the top weapon of humanity.

June gulped down all his fear and anger.

"Let's go!"

He shouted.

Even the youngest kid in the class was exemplifying what it means to be a Slayer, it would be a shame if Yin, Cosette, and Zachary were to tattle their tails and run.

That was what they thought.

The Angel flew upwards.

It had a drastically different appearance from the typical Angel.

It donned on white bracers and neck armor only.

Leaving other parts exposed, but it was not important to cover it all up, as it was virtually invincible from physical attacks like earlier.

Its white hair floated about and covered its eyes.

The wound that Kai Xin hit it with from earlier was already healed up.