Promise

The sea of blood in Akarmara. Abkhazia

August 8

Magic existed long before humans were created. When God created the devil, magic was ocured. The saying "magic belongs to demons" is not incorrect, but over time, magic no longer belongs to the demons. Human greed and reason are the ideal combination to copy the demons' magic to satisfy their desires.

At the begining, there were only three types of magic: defense, attack, and antimatter magic. Two of these three basic types of magic were then imitated by humans to wage war in order to expand their territories or simply to demonstrate dominance over other tribes. Nevertheless, only antimatter magic has remained unchanged throughout time. One of the reasons that has prevented antimatter magic from being studied by humans or even developed by demons is the large use of manna; as a result, the magic has been abandoned over time and is only mentioned a few times in history or community stories as a legendary magic.

Although antimatter magic is often described as "similar" to defensive magic, the two types of magic actually function very differently; defensive magic generally only withstands magic without giving a counterattack, whereas antimatter magic neutralizes and disintegrates not only magical attacks that target the antimatter shield made by condensing manna but also the attacker's ability within a certain radius.

...

A middle-aged man yelled, "Damn…!!" he threw his cigar onto a pile of maroon snow beside his shoes.

"They left me alone in this hell!" he sighed for the umpteenth time.

Alexander Puzrin 45 years old is a sorcerer specialist in S-rank defensive magic assigned to the city of Akarmara. Alex has dedicated more than half of his life to Lazuardy Sword, who protects the Terra border in Abkhazia. An autonomous republic in the northeast Georgia that borders Russia. Unfortunately, this night he has to carry out the patrol mission alone. Because his teammates, the Romanov twins have to be hospitalized. Zirael Romanov, who is a 423-year-old elf, suffered severe diarrhea after consuming a strange mushroom they found in the forest a few days ago. Meanwhile, Kael Romanov had an accident during the trial of the defensive magic they had developed.

Alyosha, as he was fondly called. He never imagined that night would be the most unfortunate of his life. While carrying out a solo patrol mission, Alex unexpectedly found a blood-red snow covering an area of approximately 10 square meters. Not only that, several pieces of meat were scattered on the snow. At first, Alex suspected that the pieces of meat were from a cow or pig, until a few minutes later he finally realized that they belonged to a human. Alex was quite sure of his assumption, as there was a piece of a blue sweater still attached to one of the pieces.

"There's no cow wearing a blue sweater, right?!" said Alex while drawing the Damascus steel blade from the sheath at his waist.

Alex's right hand then reached out into the empty air. Slowly, the shards of ice crystals solidified, then gradually changed color to a deep black. A few seconds later, the ice crystal shards formed a solid black shield with a random water wave pattern.

"I'm doomed!" Alex whispered while on guard, continuously watching the surroundings with vigilance.

"If only Louie could come back earlier.., then I wouldn't have to use this old sword!" he grumbled again before starting to walk further to look over his surroundings.

Louis Anderson, the team's blacksmith, is 23 years old. Alex instructed Louis to go to Ein and get mithril ore to polish his sword. The young man might return the day after tomorrow or in three days. Unfortunately, Alex is unable to use offensive magic without his sword.

'KRACK…!!'

Alex turned around. He heard a sound not far behind him. Alex's heart was beating fast, but he tried to hide the fear with a foolish smile. Alex walked as slowly as possible. Although the pile of ice crystals under his shoes continued to make a rather annoying sound as they rubbed against each other when stepped on.

In the darkness, among the frozen branches and bushes, Alex caught a moving shadow. Alex paused for a moment, weighing whether to approach the shadow without an attack spell or simply observe it from a distance. Alex was hesitant. A fleeting shadow zipped past Alex. A moment later, Alex felt an intense sting on his right arm. The four-layer thick winter clothing he was wearing was torn. Blood seeped through the gap of the cut, then fell onto the pile of snow. Alex was attacked by 'what' or 'who' he didn't know.

Alex remained alert by creating a protective barrier around his body and continually observing his surroundings. Guessing what creature had just scratched his left arm. Alex's body shivered suddenly. Not by the almost negative forty-degree weather, but by the clump of hair that hung down and moved slowly in front of him. Someone appeared to be hunched over, dragging themselves through the snow piles. His or her fingernails were elongated. Even curving at the tips, with a deep black color tinged with a hint of green. A vacant gaze, with dilated pupils and disheveled black teeth. A long tongue jutting out, oozing blood combined with saliva.

Alex raised his sword, ready to slash the hungry creature. Alex thought at first it would be easy, until he noticed the barrier started falling apart; he quickly retreated. The creature's body apparently emitted a mist of decay magic, which Alex realized too late. The creature suddenly moved quickly towards Alex. Reflexively, Alex swung his sword to deflect and attack at the same time. A scream of pain was heard immediately, and Alex retreated again.

"Witch…!" the creature whispered weakly. The clump of hair belonging to the creature moved slowly as if it were alive.

The strands of hair then stuck together, solidifying until they resembled iron blades. Realizing what was about to happen next, Alex prepared with his magic shield. Sure enough, the metal shards made of hair moved very quickly as the owner's incantation was recited. The iron blade tried to slice every inch of Alex's body, which was enveloped in a protective magical barrier. Alex, desperately trying to fend off the attack by continuously strengthening the power of his protective barrier, which he didn't know how long it would last. While reciting the incantation, the creature's expression suddenly changed. He looked at Alex with a confused expression.

"Blood… witch...?" whispered the creature.

‘KRACK…!’

A cracking sound was heard from the protective magic barrier that Alex created.

"No…" Alex said, his body trembling. His defensive magic had reached its limit. He has been relentlessly bombarded with hundreds of knives continuously aimed at him. The sound of metal clanging that had been continuously striking Alex's protective magic barrier suddenly disappeared.

Alex lowered the shield that had previously been used to protect his body with trembling hands. The palms of Alex's hands seemed to be burning, and his joints ached because he had been solidifying manna for too long to apply the defensive magic. If Alex had to do that for a few more minutes, it could be assured that his hands would turn to ash. Alex looked around.

"Did he leave?" Alex whispered, collapsing onto the pile of snow. Alex fainted.

…

Alex awoke three days later in a hospital in Gagra, some two and a half hours from Akarmara. A guard from another gate found him unconscious and buried in snow, while the body parts found next to Alex had been identified as human. Nevertheless, his identity is still unknown.

"What happened?" asked Rudolf, the guard who found Alex.

Alex gestured for Rudolf to come closer. Alex said with a whisper, "I thought it was a banshee, but looking at its attack pattern, I'm no longer sure about that." Alex was still too weak to provide a statement.

Rudolf fell silent, staring at Alex with a puzzled expression.

"If you ask me about the characteristics of the creature that attacked me, I would say it is very similar to a banshee. However, the creature did not attack me with its voice. The long black hair transformed into sharp metal blades that were constantly aimed at me." Alex tried to explain to Rudolf what happened the night before he ended up under a pile of snow.

"Where's your sword? You are a guard; how can you do your duty without a sword?!" Rudolf felt angry with Alex for ignoring his own safety.

"I just got back from duty at the coal mine. Louie is still fixing my sword since it is dull. Two of my teammates are also hospitalized. They are Zirael and Kael, the twin elves from the Romanov clan," said Alex.

Rudolf went silent. He pulled out a chair and then sat down next to Alex. His face looked pale, with black circles under his eyes. It is certain that Rudolf may not have slept for several days.

"Previously… there was a…"

"I've already brought it," interrupted Rudolf. "The other guards... are still investigating the area," he added.

"So... is it really human body?" whispered Alex.

"Yes… several similar cases have just been reported. 1 case occurred in Butugychag, 2 cases near the former Pripyat nuclear reactor, 1 case in Varosha, and another in Vorkuta. Maybe others will follow, although I hope what happened in Vorkuta is the last," said Rudolf hopefully.