The Grim Reaper

When the coast was clear, Sting cautiously visited the village. The corpses of the bandits were splayed on the ground. He counted his ammos and he still had enough to take out another settlement. Luckily, when he took out the enemy, everyone was called to show up in the open.

When Tesha saw the dead bandits, she was surprised. Finally, since she suffered under their hands for many years she felt satisfied.

She was in daze for a moment until Sting called her to go with him inside the room.

Sting thought that the enemies were fools or that they were unaware snipers or guns in generals existed? The first thing someone should do after getting shot was to take cover.

He was starting to doubt whether this was earth or that he travelled into some dimension.

But for now, the best thing was to enjoy the food this place had to offer. He found out there were some rye bread, potato soup and some water inside the houses. He munched it up while he still could.

They were sitting on a table and Teshia shyly sat opposite to him. She was staring at him as he ate.

Sting slid a plate of bread to her. "Go on eat."

She didn't even hesitate to take it and devoured it all down.

Sting noticed that the rye bread was coarse, rough and bland. It was a poorly made bread. But for the sake of filling his stomach he ate it.

Teisha saw the skull mark on his face mask. She could recognize that skull mark. "Umm, My Lord could you be the god of death?"

Sting raised his eyebrows. "Huh? No. Where did you get the idea?"

"That symbol."

Sting sighed. "I just bought this from an inconvenience store."

"But how did you kill them from distance? Back then, was it your doing too?"

"Yeah, it was me. Anyway, don't tell me you never heard of a gun."

Teshia shook her head, saying she didn't. Sting then crossed his arms. No country would ever be this late to not hear something as important as a gun. Then this world was still using bladed weapon. Seeing the corpses with swords it was the only explanation.

Teshia pointed at his weapon. "Could that be your reaper? Grim Reaper's reapers are actually different after all."

Sting patted his Barrett. "This? This is my partner. It was a gift from my father." He could still remember when his father a WW2 veteran gifted him this barrett.

"I see, so is your father a grim reaper too?"

"No, but he took many lives back then. I guess, him and I were the same."

When they were done, Sting grabbed all the supplies he could take. From water and food. Teshia volunteered to carry it for him. They placed it inside a leather bag they found elsewhere.

They found a horse at the stables and Teshia was lively. "Oh, My Lord look maybe we can ride a horse."

Sting stared at the horse anxiously. He never rode one before since there weren't any in Vesna. Though he couldn't just walk to the capital but he may as well try.

Sting slowly approached it. The horse looked terrifying since it looked like it might attack him any time. But Teshia already sat on it.

He was relieved since it looked safe. So he mounted on it and looked around.

Teshia grabbed the halter and lent it to him. "My Lord, here."

"Uh, yeah." He grabbed it and gasped since the horse neighed and shook slightly. "Ah!"

Teshia chuckled in response. Sting felt some embarassment. He cleared his throat. "It's my first time."

"Oh, is that so? Then I'll ride it for you." She was filled with glee and shook the halter.

Sting almost fell but he managed to hold her. "Be careful."

Teshia chuckled. "Sorry my Lord." She smiled.

Sting finally saw her real self. He was somewhat satisfied with it. The girl who was harshly shaped to be in a traumatic position was just a normal girl. He couldn't believe the chocolate prevented her true self from getting lost.

It was a new experience for Sting to ride a horse. It was an unsteady ride and he could see himself about to fall any moment. Though right now, they were heading to the capital.

***

Chief Marg of the Patch bandits returned with most of his men while riding horses. An alt-mage and an elf were also accompanying him. Despite their agreement with the capital, they secretely attacked small villages. They made sure none survived to tell the story.

Sometimes they even staged their pillages to look like they were a work of the magical beasts. The coins and resources were enough to keep their group from working.

The Patch Bandits originated from a group of nomads. Chief Marg's father turned them into bandits and the legacy was passed unto him.

If they were only battling against adventurers or mercanaries their men were unstoppable. He had a great trust to his men. He thought that if not for the capital's knights none could stop them.

However to their surprise, their camp was littered with corpses of his men. Chief Marg was horrified. "Heinz, Shuhik, Vans! What the hell happened here?!"

There was something off about the whole scene. They suspected that they were raided and it was normal to see a body of an enemy but there was none. He refused to believe that his men were incompetent since of his best fighters were on the ground.

Or the enemy was too skilled. But that waa unlikely. The enemy must have been too wise as to not let a single trace of them remain. But who were they?

The elf assessed the corpses. He was tall and had a bow behind his back. He found it odd since the wounds looked like they weren't from blades. Rather it looks like their skulls were holed. Elves have sharp eyes that could see beyond the distance of a human. He could also shoot a target several meters away accurately with just one gaze.

The alt-mage came forward. She was a an attractive woman with white-hair. She was also Chief Marg's assistant. "Looks like one of our horses was stolen."

"Just one?"

From a house, a man left through the door. He was scared and fumbled around as he approached the chief. "Boss!"

"Huh?! You survived? Tell us what happened here. How many were the enemies?"

The man nodded. "I'm not sure but when everyone began falling one by one, I hid in the basement. I managed to overhear their conversation. But there were only 2 of them."

"2?! How could there be 2?"

"The other was a slave. And I'm not sure but one of them was called the Grim Reaper."

The Grim Reaper was said to be one of the gods who facilitated the deaths of the many. His return was a sign of omen. To many it was just an old folk take story. There was no way he was real.

The men were taken aback for a second. Chief Marg was annoyed. "Are you a moron? Grim reapers don't exist."

"Boss, I just told you what I heard."

The alt-mage smiled. "Hmm interesting." She then crouched and her bracelet with a gem on it glowed. From the ground, she summoned three muscular spirit hounds from thin air. Since the scent of the Grim Reaper would be left here, these hounds could easily track him. Although this might take a while.

The spirit hounds sniffed the ground and they were tracing their target.

"Grim reaper or not, this person will pay!" Marg sneered.

***

Sting stopped by a river and decided to let their horse drink. They were travelling for an hour now to their destination. Around them were the thick forest and trees. They just have left the wild valley and entered the land of lush forestry.

Sting finally understood that this wasn't earth. The animals he observed where looking too alien. Not to mention, the girl in front of him was not human. He once thought it was just a cosplay.

The last thing he saw before this occured was a meteor hitting him. He tried his phone again and noticed there was a 1 bar of signal.

It hit him. He tried calling.

"..."

Sting was anxious.

"Hello, this is Major Hanzen from the VMF."

"Major! This is Sting from the sniper division. Can you send help?"

"Sting? Where are---" The phone suddenly dropped the call. He lost his signal.

Sting tried tapping his phone again but there was no hope the signal got disconnected. He clicked his tongue. To relieve his stress, he grabbed a hersheys bar from his pocket. It was the last one.

Teisha went to him. Her eyes glimmered. Seeing her, he couldn't resist but to cut them into half. "Alright."

Teisha gladly took it and then licked it. She began biting it with her fangs. "Nom, nom."

Sting smiled. "Eat it slowly, this is my last bar."

Sting's eyes widened. They heard a loud roar that pierced the skies. A thick shadow was casted upon them.

Gazing up, a lion the size of a tank was flying across the sky. Its wings were wide and managed to carry its heavy body in mid-air.

Teisha gasped. "My Lord that's a fully grown Vogius."

"Vogius, huh? Let's follow it." Sting quickly grabbed his Barrett and mounted on the horse. "Come!" He gave his hand to her, which she took and rode with him to pursue it.

As they head towards the forest, they came across five people riding horses with various attires. The three were plated in heavy armor, one had a long sword, the other had a halberd and one had a bow, while the two were wearing robes and holding a staff.

"Teisha, who are these people?"

"If I have to guess they are adventurers."

"Adventurers? From the television shows and videogames?"

Sting and Teisha were noticed by the adventurers. The team leader which was a man with heavy armor came close to him. He had a confident grin. He spoke in a language he didn't understand but judging from his tone it was condescending.

"Hey moron, you should go somewhere. You are bothersome on our mission." Teisha translated.

Sting found it easier to communicate that there was a mediator. But he intended to explain himself. "Teisha tell him that I'm on my way to inspect the beast."

Teisha complied and spoke it to him.

The team leader was annoyed. "You must be new here, but I'm willing to tell you this. You weaklings will be killed so you better return to where you came. That thing is going to attack a village and we don't want more casualties."

The woman with a robe gasped after seeing the Teisha. "Hey, that's an unrestrained beast-man."

The adventurers was concerned. They then blocked his path forcing Sting to stop their horse. They unsheathed their blades and dismounted from their ride.

"Hey, moron with a skull mask. Why are you bringing something dangerous that is unchecked? Even us adventurers have to find and slay feral beast-men. We encountered who already killed many civilians. Stay away from that monster so we can neutralize it."

They then slowly surrounded Sting.