One day before.
In a white room that contained a lot of medical tools such as scalpels, scissors, syringes and others, then there were many bottles containing various liquids with different colors and stickers on the front neatly arranged in a glass cabinet, it seemed that this was a research laboratory.
"Are all the preparations complete?" said a professor wearing a white laboratory coat.
"Yes prof, we have confirmed the target's residence, school, family tree, and abilities," replied a purple-haired woman also wearing a white lab coat.
It seemed that the woman was the professor's assistant, judging from the behavior of the woman was very careful about her attitude and behavior, she was also ordered by the professor.
They were both looking at a monitor screen where there was a picture of a boy and his family.
Then on the other monitor screen there were a lot of CCTV camera recordings from various angles and locations around the boy's house area.
"It's been about 7 years since the android was stolen from us," the woman continued.
"Right, the fact that it's perfect is probably one of the reasons why it was targeted, even though I made it with great care," replied the professor.
"But since Mr. Aquila requested that the android should be given to him within this month so we should take it as soon as possible," she continued.
"Will the boy be taken too?"
"Yes, because he can regenerate so we have to get him."
"Then, what about the sister? She seems very talented and smart too, do we need her too?"
"That's right, but the first priority of this plan is still the boy."
"But from the information available, that sister can kill low-level demons easily, is she not dangerous?"
"As you said Violet, she is indeed dangerous but because her opponent is a demon who can't think so she has the upper hand, but now her opponent is a human."
"That's right, then when can we start the operation, prof?"
"Right now, call Zeratile."
"Yes, prof."
Then after that came a man in a black suit and sunglasses covering his eyes.
"Zeratile Mercery, division agent of the special unit is here," he said firmly.
"Well, Zeratile I'll give you the task of retrieving this laboratory's property," replied the professor.
"Exactly what kind of items, prof?"
"All the information is in this document," replied the professor as he handed over a white document folder with a gold snake emblem.
Zeratile opened the document folder and looked at sheet after sheet of detailed plans and information contained in the document, then his eyes stopped when he saw a picture of a boy who seemed to be in elementary school.
"Please excuse me prof, please allow me to ask a question."
"I'll allow it."
"What does this boy have to do with the laboratory property?"
"Nothing, I just want him," he replied casually.
Then Zeratile looked at the purple-haired woman who had been standing beside the professor at his office desk with a puzzled look, but the woman said nothing and continued to stare intently at Zeratile's face.
"Alright, I'll do it."
"If anyone gets in your way just kill them, and again if you find the sister, take her along with the boy."
"Yes prof," he replied as he turned and left the room.
"That poor boy," the woman said suddenly.
"This is all for the sake of my research," replied the professor.
***
"Haaaahh," Zeratile sighed as he walked out of his superior's room.
Zeratile was one of the specialized investigative agents of the search division, so it was his job to search for things, although he usually always got missions to find missing people or investigate the backgrounds of certain people.
It was also not uncommon for Zeratile to get missions to kill his targets, for example if he was on an investigation mission and the target made strange movements that could endanger him, he was forced to kill the target and report the killing as a special cleaning protocol because the target knew that he was being investigated.
But, this was the first time he had gotten a mission to capture someone alive, this was not his area of expertise.
Although he was actually an officially certified assassin graduated from the Lupusrica academy, but he was not used to capturing people.
There were other divisions in the corporation that specialized in kidnapping and capturing humans, but why should he be the one given this mission? Even though allowing the target to live was not his specialty, he was used to killing.
"Again, Professor Ryvolin is acting on his own, even though he is not my superior, he should talk to the division commander to send someone who is more professional in this field," he continued grumbling.
The division specialized in dirty work, that's what his colleagues from other divisions used to call his division.
But that didn't matter, because this was his job so he had to give his best for this corporation.
A private mercenary company owned by one of the ancient heroes with 900,000 combat-ready mercenaries, Anima Corp.
Each soldier is equipped with modern weapons and equipment that use highly advanced technology.
The corporation was not bound by any country or state, and could be hired by anyone who needed it, and was professional in any field.
Well, work is work, Zeratile thought.
After that Zeratile headed out of his office, handed over his paperwork to be approved by the division head on duty at the time and reported to the officer on duty in the lobby of the Anima Corp office.
If he did not do this, then his actions would not be protected by the company and all his movements would be illegal.
It was easy for someone even in a large elite company like Anima to deal with the laws of the kingdom of Aurelius, so all work that took place in the area of the kingdom of Aurelius had to be official and protected by the corporate law, in short whatever Zeratile did later the company would be responsible.
"The documents have been approved, special division agent Zeratile Mercery is authorized to perform duties, good luck," said the officer who signed Zeratile's assignment documents.
"Special division agent Zeratile Mercery, ready for duty!" he replied respectfully.
With that, the paperwork for kidnapping androids and elementary school children would begin.
"Where are we going this time, Special Division Agent Zeratile Mercery?" said the person sitting in the driver's seat of the car Zeratile was riding in.
Of course, a large corporation like Anima Corp would have a personal driver who would be on standby to take whoever was on duty to get to their destination wherever it was, besides that the drivers could also fight if needed, the minimum employee for this field was a person with a first-level degree from the Lupusrica academy with an official certificate from the department.
"Lilac City, Kingdom of Aurelius."
"Uwah, it's quite far huh."
"I'm counting on you, Pablo."
"Ready, leave it to me!"
Anima Corp's headquarters is located next to the Republic of Cestisia, a little far from the Kingdom of Aurelius, but it can still be reached by car, after all, Lilac City is located on the border of the kingdom so it is still relatively close instead of having to enter the capital of the Kingdom of Aurelius which requires complicated documents to enter there.
Geographically, the Republic of Cestisia is located east of the great continent of Olfein while the Kingdom of Aurelius is west of it, and Lilac City is the border gate between the two countries, so it is not so difficult for outsiders to enter there, especially since there is no Royal Guard guarding the border, just ordinary policemen.
It's a different story if an outsider wants to enter the capital of the Kingdom of Aurelius, the outsider must meet a lot of requirements and fees, and will be watched for the first 1 week to prevent intruders from entering, plus because the capital of the Kingdom of Aurelius is close to the demon continent or Fertissio continent so the Royal Guard is very widely patrolled there, and it is almost impossible for intruders to cause trouble in the vicinity, as well as the city being the safest place in the entire Kingdom of Aurelius.
Basically the world was divided into 2 large continents and several small continents around them, the 2 continents included the great continent of Olfein and the great continent of Fertissio.
The great continent of Olfein is a place where humans live and live peacefully without the disturbance of monsters or demons, while the great continent of Fertissio is a continent where the demons from the great war 2000 years ago fled and live there until now, even according to reports of special expeditions from the Aurelius Kingdom, there have been several dimensional gates connecting the demon world and the human world there.
Not a lot of people from the border areas far from the capital of the Kingdom of Aurelius knew about the demons or monsters in the great continent of Fertissio, because it was never seen once and the information was also hidden by the kingdom to build a good image for all residents of the Kingdom of Aurelius and cover up the mistakes of ancient heroes 2000 years ago.
Time flew by and the car Zeratile was traveling in finally arrived at Lilac City.
"Special division agent Zeratile Mercery, we have arrived at Lilac City."
"Where are we going next?" he continued.
"Hmm, to the Evernoir family residence, I have sent the coordinates on your car screen."
"Ah, now that it's late, how about you stay at the hotel first?"
"That's right, then take me to the hotel around the target house."
"Yes."
"This city, it's beautiful at night, very different from Cestisia."
"Ah right, you have a good eye Special Division Agent Zeratile, maybe it's because of the neon lights of this huge shopping center."
"It's possible, after all this is also a very peaceful city, I don't want to commit a crime here."
"Special division agent Zeratile, we have arrived at the hotel."
"Ah, thank you Pablo."
"Tomorrow there will be another car to pick you up, so please confirm your assignment data with the driver who will be coming tomorrow."
"So? What about you?"
"I have someone from the research division to pick up tonight in the next town, I'm sorry, Agent of the Zeratile special division."
"Oh well."
"Good luck Special division agent Zeratile."
"Yes, you too Pablo."
***
The next day, as usual when he went on assignment, Zeratile prepared all forms of combat and torture equipment and supplies that he had brought from his corporate headquarters.
Even though this was a capture mission, there were sometimes circumstances where Zeratile had to get information quickly and efficiently by torturing the person closest to the target, or the person who knew the target best.
This method may seem a bit cruel but it was the only method that came to Zeratile's mind when he received this assignment, or that was the goal from the beginning.
It's the usual dirty work after all, Zeratile thought as he walked towards his target's house with a large suitcase in his left hand.
After arriving right at the door of his target's house, Zeratile politely knocked on the door, and he was greeted by a woman dressed as a maid.
"Etto, I beg your pardo-," before the maid finished her sentence, Zeratile indiscriminately strangled the maid's neck.
But the servant did not shout, instead his eyes stared intently at Zeratile and her pupils turned red then a sentence came out of her mouth.
"Echo, engage in combat mode"
The moment after that the servant's neck released smoke and burned Zeratile's hand, Zeratile suddenly pulled his hand back and set up a close combat stance.
However, the maid swiftly threw her hand at Zeratile's stomach and it hit him hard.
"Guh!"
Not to be taken down by the attack, Zeratile fixed his stance and kicked the maid's leg, but the maid quickly jumped low and brought her foot down hard on Zeratile's head.
But Zeratile, who had predicted the maid's movement, cast a defensive magic and protected his head.
From below Zeratile continued his movement and cast a magic.
"Blood Magic: Stagnate."
After that, a blood tattoo suddenly appeared on the maid's neck resembling a magic circuit around her neck.
The maid could only stay frozen in place not knowing what was happening, she was unable to move her body or speak.
"As expected of an android with a Quantum Artifact inside, if I'm not serious I'm going to die here," Zeratile said casually.
"But, I will give you permission to speak, even though you are just a machine," he continued.
After that the maid's eyes and mouth began to move slightly, realizing her opportunity she immediately shouted.
"Mr. and Mrs. Evernoir, get out of here right now, there are thieves breaking into this house!!!"
As soon as the maid shouted, a man in full police uniform appeared, pointing a gun at Zeratile.
"Put your hands up! I'm from the police!" the man snapped.
"You are, if I'm not mistaken, the target's father? You're not on my list," Zeratile retorted.
"Don't talk! Raise your hand right now!"
"Blood Magic: Chain Snake."
After Zeratile cast the spell, several chains with knives at the end of them shot towards the policeman.
Then the policeman tried to shoot the chains but the bullets only penetrated the chains, realizing the futility of the action, the policeman immediately raised his hand to protect his head.
But the chains pierced his hands to the head, then the other chains pierced the policeman's neck and stomach until his head was cut off which made the blood of the policeman splattered everywhere making the front room of the house filled with blood.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"
Suddenly there was a woman's scream from the direction of the back room, the woman then fell limp at the sight of the police chief and cried in fear afterwards.
"Mr. Evernoir, Mrs. Evernoir... you bastard! I'm going to kill you!" shouted the maid in a very angry tone, but she remained helpless as she was unable to move an inch.
"As for you, the target's mother, you're not on the list either," Zeratile said as he approached the helpless woman.
"Please, someone please!"
The woman screamed hysterically while pleading towards Zeratile, her face looked pale and desperation was clearly drawn to the woman's soul making her feel very helpless.
In her despair, thoughts of her family crossed her mind. Am I going to die soon? By the way when is Arche coming back, I want to celebrate his graduation together like before, is Ellora okay? I hope she doesn't wander too far with her friends, oh yeah I just remembered Lily has never come to her brothers' school, I want her to see the graduation ceremony with her father.
Zeratile approached the woman and quickly hit her stomach, the woman then fell down writhing in pain while holding her stomach, blood came out of the woman's mouth but Zeratile didn't care he continued his beating until the woman was unconscious.
"How dare you hit a woman!" shouted the maid who was trying to escape Zeratile's magic, but no matter what, not even an inch of her body could move.
"I'm going to tidy up this room a bit, just looking at it makes my head hurt."
"Blood Magic: Blood Control," he continued
As if time was going backwards, every drop of blood around the policeman's corpse slowly lifted and floated, then disappeared into smoke that filled the room.
Zeratile then flew the pieces of the body under the table in the back room, and moved the unconscious woman on a chair near the dining table in the room.
"Oi, wake up!" snapped Zeratile as he slapped the unconscious woman across the face.
"HIAAAAAAAAAA," as soon as the woman came to her senses, her face changed as if she was looking at a ghost, once again feeling a sense of despair as she looked at Zeratile's face.
"So noisy," Zeratile retorted.
"W-what are you trying to do! N-no, don't!" the woman begged for mercy as Zeratile brought his hand holding a coil of wire closer to her face.
He then thrust the end of the wire into the helpless woman's mouth and sewed it shut.
Not caring about her cries, Zeratile with a sadistic smile on his face began to stab her in the stomach, but because her mouth was sewn up, she could not make any sound, only tears and blood coming out of the gaps in her slightly open mouth.
In the end, the woman was dead from the many knife stabs in her stomach, her face fell onto the table and blood flowed to the floor from the stab holes in her stomach.
While committing his heinous act, not a second of guilt crossed Zeratile's mind, his heart was completely dead without any feeling at all. Perhaps it was because of the many killing tasks he had carried out throughout his life that he could not feel sympathy when hurting and even killing other humans.
Morally, Zeratile does not deserve to be called a human being at all, but in his group he is highly respected and honored by fellow assassins, especially beginners, Zeratile's figure seems to be a role model and the pinnacle of achievement in his field as an assassin.
***
The next day in a secret research laboratory room.
"W-what are you trying to do!? H-stop it! GYYYAAAAAAAAAAA."
"Father, mother, sister help me! Aaaaaaaaaaahhh."
There was a death cry from a child accompanied by the sound of a chainsaw and the sound of blood splashing onto someone's hazmat suit.
***