Mark of a General

The soldier's mouth opened and closed without saying anything.

Yvanna asked again, "Do you know where the exit is? I walked past the corridor but then I saw many passages. If I tried going through them all, it would take a very long time, you know."

She lightened her tone and spoke gently. The soldier gazed at her blankly, still not saying a word.

'Oh, I need to look friendlier.'

She smiled at the soldier.

The soldier gulped loudly. That smile nearly made him piss his pants. He never thought there will come a day when a nobody like him will be forced to make such a hard decision.

He remembered the small village situated near the entrance of the ruin. They offered food and willingly gave his squad shelter without expecting anything in return.

'It's going to be us or them. I don't want them to die.'

He turned to look at his companions. The look in their eyes told him everything he needed to know.

'Choose them. We're with you.' He nodded at his companions. Then he turned to face Yvanna. He gathered all his courage and started, "D-D-Demon Lo-"

"The name's Yvanna. I am not a demon lord," Yvanna harshly interrupted the soldier, not forgetting to send a condemning glare towards the bound and gagged kneeling man.

'What a shame.' She thought when she saw the tattoo on the man's face. 'If only he didn't mistake me for a demon lord.'

"D-Demon Lady Y-Yvanna, I-I apologize. W-we do not know where the exit is!" The soldier finally gave her an answer. Then he gazed at his companions again. They gave him looks of approval.

'I did my best. Hopefully, reinforcements will arrive before the demon lord leaves the ruins.'

At that moment, he was no longer afraid. He felt at peace with his choice. Closing his eyes, he resigned to his fate. The other soldiers saw this, they, too, knelt on the ground and followed his actions.

Yvanna, on the other hand, is on the verge of exploding. She was so close to beating sense into every single one of the people inside the room, especially that kneeling tattooed man who is the cause of this misunderstanding.

"Oh, gods!" She screamed in frustration as she clenched her fists, then relaxed them. Fortunately, she is quite a rational person. She massaged her temples and pinched the tip of her nose.

"Positive thoughts, positive thoughts." She muttered softly.

The soldiers were still kneeling, with their eyes closed, when she looked at them again.

'These soldiers...They are as dramatic as Father.' Her lips twitched as she remembered how her intimidating father, feared and respected by all, would turn melodramatic to get her mother's attention.

Her irritation visibly lessened when she recalled those memories.

'I have to get to them soon.'

She needed to get out of this place soon, but...

There is only one thing in this life that she never trusted herself. It's following directions. She desperately needed their guidance.

'If they were not willing to help them, I'll just have to force them to. ' The flames of her anger were quickly extinguished. Excitement welled up inside her but she kept a straight face.

"You! Do you know the way out?" She asked the kneeling tattooed man. All the soldiers tensed when they heard her question. Since they cannot win against a demon lord, they decided to ignore her and they directed their murderous glares at him.

'These guys are looking pretty grim. They ignored me, too. Should I continue?' A small smile crept on her face. These guys are adorable. She decided to mess with them a little more.

"If I save you, will you lead me out of here?"

The kneeling man bobbed his head. He felt a spark of hope inside him. With the demon lord by his side, nothing will be impossible for him.

The greed that showed his eyes and his you-owe-me expression, irked and disgusted Yvanna that she decided to stop messing around.

"Much as I want to save your pretty face, I can't."

All the men in the room looked at her as if she has grown another head. She raised an eyebrow in response.

"What? I was just telling the truth. He looks pretty. Back to the topic." Yvanna said and cleared her throat.

"Truthfully, I don't want to save you. First, because I don't like THAT expression," she pointed at him, "And last because I don't want to be a traitor. I am not a demon lord. I am a human and a soldier of Orden."

She pulled her right sleeve up and showed then the deep violet royal seal of Orden inked on the inside of her wrist. It was the mark of a general personally given to her by the king.

Ruska's and all the soldiers' eyes bulged from their sockets at the sight of the mark. It was the mark of the elite Shadow Unit that served directly under the king. The mark is well-known but this was the first time they saw someone bearing it.

The color of the mark proved its authenticity. Dyes and inks in that color are already very rare. On top of that, most of them are poisonous. Only the king and his direct descendants know of the method of producing a non-toxic violet ink.

In a split second, all the soldiers fell to their knees.

"P-please accept our apologies, Miss Yvanna. We mistook you for a demon lord. We have no excuse," said their captain.

'Finally! I should have done this from that start, but then, that would have been boring. They are so adorable.'

* * * * * * *

Yvanna followed the squad as they dragged the man out of the ruins. When the soldiers finally relaxed around her, they conversed with her. They told her that the man they arrested was a member of a demonic organization called Tribute. Not much is known about it that is why they needed to capture a member.

"I see. So where are we right now?" Yvanna asked Cid, the captain of the squad.

"We are at the Memorial Ruins close to the Rigali border. Really close. You can see their forest on the horizon."

Yvanna nodded her head. She was familiar with Rigali. It was the country north of Orden. It was where she spent her shortlived childhood.

"We don't need to travel far for accommodations when we get out. The Lilac town is only a kilometer from here."

"Lilac Town?"

"Yeah. They serve the best flower salad I've ever tasted! You should give it a try when we get there."

Yvanna felt something was wrong. But despite that, she kept her expression neutral.

'This is strange. As far as I know, there are no towns or ruins near Rigali. Is this a hidden town? A newly discovered ruins, perhaps? If so, why was I in the ruins?'

Yvanna gently massaged her temples. She felt even more confused than when she woke up. None of the things happening to her made sense right now. She felt like she was searching for answers only to end up with even more questions.

"Uh, Miss Yvanna?" Cid's voice brought her back to the present.

"Yes?"

"We're close to the entrance."

Yvanna looked up saw the light at the end of a long narrow steep stairway. The danger posed by the stairway did not dampen the relief that building up inside Yvanna as she drew closer to the light.

'Finally. I have to find a way to contact them once I get out.'

On the other hand, a certain tattooed man was falling deeper into despair the close he got to the light. He does not want-No! He cannot go to jail. Once he does, he will be branded as a traitor whether he gives away information or not. The Tribute does not take kindly to traitors. They have many methods of making traitors suffer a fate worse than death.

He was only a few steps away from the end when he realized there was only one thing left for him to do. He gathered his remaining mana and released it on the tattoo on his cheek.

Yvanna and the soldiers felt the movement of mana. It was swiftly spreading around them. They turned and noticed the tattoo on the man's cheek light up and reveal strange symbols previously hidden on each petal of the flower.

"This…It's an inscribed spell!"

[Mana. Burst.]

"Get out of the range. Run!" The soldiers released the tattoed man.

Everyone ran towards the exit. Except for Yvanna. She remained unmoved, her gaze still on the tattoed man.

"Argh!" Veins' popped on his head and neck as he thrashed on the ground. His screams were muffled by the gag.

Contrary to the rushed movements of the soldiers and the thrashing of the man, the surroundings remained calm.

'What a ruthless spell.' Yvanna unconsciously rubbed her wrist. He cast a suicide spell meant to take everyone down with him. Right now, all his mana is leaking uncontrollably out of his body. When the last of mana leaves his body, he will lose control of the spell and everything within the mana's reach will explode.

Yvanna turned and ran to the exit. She was surprised to see the soldiers still a distance away from the exit. The steep steps have slowed them down.

'We won't make it like this. I need to do something.' Yvanna clicked her tongue. She's almost out of mana.