High-ranking Demons

The cafe was named Cafe Amour. The outer appearance was welcoming and had a soft color of white, while the inside was light turqoise and it had a comfortable feeling that make you feel like home. The scent of lavender could be smell everywhere.

The customers paused what they were doing and stared at Raiden and me. The girls mostly looked at Raiden while the guys seemed to be looking in my direction. Their faces were blushing red.

Raiden and I went to the counter. The cashier was a college-age boy with auburn neck-length hair and sapphire blue eyes. Next to him was a woman who appeared to be in her mid-thirties or early forties. She had olive green hair tied as a bun and hazel, gentle eyes.

"Hello, Auntie! It has been a while!"

"Oh, Raiden! It's so nice to see you!" She looked at him and then at me. She smiled brightly as she said, "Oh, looks like you got a beautiful girlfriend! My, how time flies!"

"She is not a girlfriend, just a friend!"

"Oh! Really?"

Raiden nodded. He introduced me to her and introduced her to me. She turned out to the owner of the cafe. Her name was Bianca Swift. She and Raiden's mother were close friends, so he knew her since childhood.

"Sorry for mistaking you as his girlfriend, Selene dear! It's just you two are wearing matching color clothes, not to mention you look beautiful! The two of you together would make a beautiful couple!"

"It's alright, Auntie!" I said, glancing at the display case.

"We sell various types of sweets. Each day we would sell different kinds of sweets, and we also have seasonal flavors. Though the types of sweets would rotate, the one thing that would remain unchanged would our famous lemon cake!"

All of them looked beautiful and delicious to eat. I would definitely order the lemon cake, but I also wanted to eat all the other sweets. It's hard to choose what to eat.

"If you can't decide. Why not just order one of everything!" Auntie Bianca suggested

"Really? Can I?"

"Of course you can!" Auntie Bianca said with a bright smile. "Do you like to eat sweets?"

I nodded. Auntie Bianca was brimming with light and joy. Raiden and I sat down and enjoyed the lemon cake. The cake that he bought yesterday was from this cafe. The drinks were on par with the sweets. Delicious and sweet!

"Oh, it's you two!" Auntie Bianca exclaimed. I looked over at who was at the door. I was shocked to see Solaris as he wasn't a sweet tooth like me. Beside him was a college-age boy to be a bit taller than Solaris and a similar build to Solaris. He had scarlet red neck-length hair and sapphire blue eyes.

His facial features were similar to Solaris. I noticed that Raiden was surprised to see them together as well. He appeared to be staring at the man beside Solaris. I wonder if he knew him. Solaris noticed both of us.

"Oh, you two are also here! With those outfits..." He said with a shocking expression

"What's up? Oh, Raiden and a girl?" The red-haired man said and smirkingly said, "Don't tell me this is a date?"

"No, it's not! It's just a coincidence that we wore the same color!" Raiden said. From the tone I could sense that he wanted the man to believe him. I was curious about their relationship.

"Do you guys know each other?" I asked

"Yeah! This guy is Solaris's older brother, Zander! What are you two doing here?" Raiden replied

"This guy over here wanted to check out the cafe Auntie Bianca opened and dragged me with him!" Solaris answered. After ordering, Solaris and Zander sat down with us. Solaris sat by me while Zander sat by Raiden. I had. I noticed that Raiden was glancing at Zander and looked away when Zander realized it.

The atmosphere around him also had softened up when Zander was talking to him. After our time in the cafe, I bought a lemon cake to go. It was delicious that I might as well buy it. The sponge was soft and bouncy, the flavour was sweet and I could taste the lemon. I couldn't wait to eat it again. All four of us went to the park to take a walk. Solaris and Raiden were ahead of Zander and me.

I noticed that Zander was staring at them both with intensity. I looked at his eyes to try to figure out what he was feeling. It then clicked me. I realized something shocking, I probably should ask at another time. I suddenly sensed something was coming. It was a dark, dangerous and strong, that sent a shiver down my spine. My heart was beating loud and at a rapid pace. What was this? I stopped.

"What's wrong?" Solaris asked

I looked around frantically, trying to sense where it's coming from. I replied with a calm tone, "Something is coming...!". I looked up to see a black dot in the sky. It turned out to be two human-like bodies coming down. The moment they hit the ground, dust went flying everywhere, and the ground shook like an earthquake had struck. If Zander hadn't held onto my body, I would surely be blown away by the gust of wind and the shake.

"So, this is the human land? Interesting to see after decades of being locked up!" A man's voice said. It came from where the focus of the impact was. As the dust cleared up, an athletic, muscular man and a slender, muscular woman appeared. The man had dark brown neck-length hair and green eyes, while the woman had peach shoulder-length hair and green eyes. They appeared to be twins as they looked identical. Both of them had a strange symbol on their cheeks.

"No way...high-ranking demons?" I mumbled

"Looks like it! Rainer didn't mention anything about this!" Solaris said, "Wait! How did you know?"

"Rainer told me about the different demons. Those marks on their cheeks symbolize that they might be a high-ranking demon, maybe a 5-star demon!"

I looked around the park. Luckily the park was empty, so no one would be injured other than us. The man and woman's reaction when they saw Raiden and Solaris was anger. Anger filled their green eyes. I had a bad feeling about this. I might have to do it, but I would wait to see what would happen later.

"Looks like we have some Kiyomeru Exorcist over here! Time for some revenge!" The man exclaimed with a furious tone. The man took out a sword while the woman took out a spear. A strong blast of wind came from them. Solaris and Raiden managed to stand their ground, and so did Zander. As Zander removed his grip on me, the strong wind lifted me from the ground. I rolled on the ground, and smashed my back on the tree.

"Selene!!" Solaris, Raiden, and Zander exclaimed. Zander walked towards me and held me tight to not be blown away. I felt as though I had met those two before, but I couldn't remember where or when. The more I thought about it, the more pain in my head became.

A red barrier appeared surrounding Raiden and Solaris with the demons inside. Those two demons seem to want to handle Solaris and Raiden first, so they set up a wall where we couldn't enter to ensure no one would interfere or help them. All we could do was watch. I saw panic and worry in Zander's eyes. Naturally, one would feel worried about one's family member. Suddenly it became a lot darker. Clouds were covering the sun, which means Solaris wouldn't be able to go all out.

Solaris and Raiden were at a disadvantage as there was no source nearby, and they weren't expecting something like this on a bright summer day. Even though they were captains, I was worried as they had only been training for one year, so they had not that much experience. According to what I know, Exorcists need to have at least two or even more years of experience, or the Kiyomeru need to have the source close to them. Once the Kiyomeru was at its max, it could instantly defeat a high-ranking demon or two.

From what I could tell, those two demons seemed to have a lot of experience in combat as well as knowledge about the Kiyomeru. Solaris and Raiden were in a defensive position. I could tell from their eyes that they were worried and scared.

"Darn it!" Zander exclaimed, punching the barrier. The man went after Solaris, and the woman went after Raiden. Their speed was outstanding and fast like lighting. I could see Solaris and Raiden's surprised faces however, they still managed to dodge their attack but barely. .

"Humans have grown very well during the past years! Not only in looks but in base stats!" The woman said with a smirk, licking her lower lips. Solaris managed to go against the man though I noticed that he was mostly defending instead of attacking. Raiden was also mainly defending instead of attacking.

I texted Rainer to come over quickly and to bring back up. I hoped those two could stall them long enough, and hopefully, they won't get badly injured. The man came down to Solaris hard, resulting in him rolling over the ground a couple of times.

The man didn't even give a second for Solaris to rest. As Solaris bounced back, the man forced Solaris to defend as he continuously attacked with sharp and powerful swipes with his blade. I looked over at Raiden. The woman strikes with the might of a bull, and Raiden maneuvers swiftly like a snake. The woman appeared to be getting full of herself and she summoned lighting, which was a big mistake on her part.

"What the hell?! Are you an idiot?! He is wielding the lighting one!" The man roared, noticing that there was lighting. The woman was surprised, and I could tell she regretted it. While on the other hand, Raiden stood there with a smirk and absorbed the lighting. A bright light came from under his left ear and lighting was surrounding him.

"Thanks for the meal!" Raiden grinned. Her lighting must have been mighty as I could see sparks of electricity running around his body. A symbol of lighting appeared coming from his left bottom eyebrow to the middle of his cheek. Raiden wasted no time in using his advantage. From what I could see, Raiden wasn't only dodging but also reading her attack and defense. That way, he would understand where to strike the hardest. Raiden dashed forward at the speed of lighting towards her.

At close range, he put everything into a single strike. He blasted a powerful, strong lighting blast towards her side torso, which was her weak spot. During the time she was defending, she would often try to move her body to a way that the attack would not hit her left torso.

The woman was unconscious, and afterward, Raiden also collapsed. Using something powerful all at once could drain the user's energy and stamina, resulting in the user to collapse from exhaustion. Raiden was awake and breathing hard. I noticed the bushes rustling, so did Solaris and the man.

Coming from the bush was a young boy who seemed to have passed out and woken up. I touched the barrier, and for some reason, I could pass through the barrier. The man dashed towards the boy, and so did Solaris. Solaris shielded the boy, getting ready for impact. I dashed forward in hopes that I could make it in time.