82 POV: Guards' Contrac

James and his fellow soldiers were quite curious about their newly-assigned mission.

[Protection of national asset, X-001]

[Confidentiality level: Level X]

[Mission: Protection of the national asset, X-001, and continuous, daily reporting of the asset's activities.]

That was all that was contained in their mission briefing, and they had to be in the target location, waiting and ready.

________________________

2 weeks later.

Michel, Danes, Rafa, and Farhouid were talking with one another, discussing the possible strategies in fighting barehanded or a combination of varying types of attacks.

James looked at them, then looked at his co-captain, before looking at himself.

How did it come to this, I wonder.

It was a week ago when everything began to change.

It was an accident, really. Danes, Rafa, and Farhouid were on patrol near the empty field, and they felt magic vibrations that were roughly around Demigod rank suddenly appearing in the grassy field.

What they did was protocol: Alerted me, their captain, and the vice-captain, and headed to the field to confront the possible enemy.

It was then things got out of hand.

When Azaya and I reached the area, there was blood all over the place, the parts of their bodies scattered and out of place.

It was then we faced the monster.

It was a large, snake-like monster, roughly 5 meters in height, and 20 meters in length. All over its skin were its scales that glittered under the sun, creating multiple rays of colored light, blinding and mesmerizing those who see it. I have never seen anything like it in Eteria, and we soldiers are usually trained for situations like this.

I almost fell for its abilities, causing me to be in a daze; Azaya helped me snap out of it, causing me to regain my clarity after a few seconds. I shivered a bit, thinking about what would happen to me if I wasn't able to snap out of that control.

We prepared our strongest spells and attacks, crushing the monster's defenses bit by bit. Roughly 30 minutes in, another disaster strikes. Another beast could be seen burrowing upward from the ground, this time, a mole-like monster with roughly the same cultivation level as the previous monster, which was nearly dead.

The two beasts screeched at one another, and moments later, they began to attack us.

Fuck, I'm going to die in such a scenario? Damn it. Damn my life.

I didn't give up though. As we fought the beasts, I attempted to contact Xander, to warn him of the situation in his villa. No signal. I tried connecting to the head general; no signal as well. I was dumbfounded. How is it possible to have no signal in one of the main cities of Eta, where high-speed communication is the norm?

Am I unlucky? Or could it be the target is Xander itself, and this is an elaborate scheme?

I sighed, and as we finally eliminated the snake monster, disaster struck. My right arm was completely cut off by the claws of the mole monster. However, this was the least of my worries because the one that took the brunt of the damage was my Azaya. Damn it, her torso was nearly ripped out from the rest of her body!

I immediately applied emergency treatment, and then carried on to attack the mole monster myself.

As a Demigod-4, my powers were quite strong, but so was the monster in front of me. Clash after clash, blow after blow. No one wanted to give in, and I was merely delaying enough time for Azaya to recover on her own.

I launched two of my strongest attacks towards the head and the chest of the mole, assuming these were the weakest parts based on animal physiology.

My bet paid off. The mole monster began to stagger, his hairy body stained with black blood.

As I turned back momentarily to look at Azaya's situation, my face fell.

Azaya, who should have been recovering, is now left with her torso, her legs gone. Her face was catatonic, unable to process anything happening around her. I heaved a sigh of relief when I noticed the small fluctuation of her life essence. It means it's not yet too late. I administered healing solutions prepared for military use, yet they were not showing much effect. I even attempted to place them in the open area, trying to close the gaping hole momentarily, to staunch the blood flow.

Once again, my luck was really crappy today. The mole monster launched a flurry of attacks, this time, using its hair, launching them out, straight and sharp. I didn't want to know how that would feel, so I immediately activated my domain, Slow Dense Earthen Water.

Immediately, my surroundings began to turn murky, and when the needles entered my 10-meter radius domain, they slowed down, before falling into the ground, a meter away.

However, not every hair launched was stopped this way. Some of them managed to reach my body after penetrating the magic barrier I created. It wasn't painful; what was painful was the burning feeling that the hairs brought about, causing me to lose control a bit of my domain, destabilizing it.

The mole monster took advantage of it and began to suppress my domain. Fuck. I hate this helplessness, I said to myself as the pain surged in every cell, in every corner of my body. I didn't know how to cool it down, or even remove it.

The domain finally broke after a minute of continuous attacks from the mole monster. So this is the end, I say to myself bitterly.

"Damn." I released a mournful laugh.

However, before I could even react, a hand suddenly appeared by my face, gently caressing it before it faced the opponent.

I heard a gentle, weak voice to my left.

"It's going to be alright, James. Live for us, will ya? Haha."

"Forbidden Magic Array: [Bethesdal Expulsion]" once those words left Azaya's mouth, her body visibly withered, before turning into dust. The mole monster froze the same time her body disappeared, before it quickly turned crystalline, and then shattering to pieces.

Those pieces then turned into pure energy, entering my body, recovering my severe injuries. Although I was still injured, I could still move and run if necessary.

However, I stayed motionless, my face blank.

I... I don't know how to feel about this situation. My team is dead.

"…Fuck. Ha. Haha! Waa!" I laughed for a bit, before sniffling and releasing a full-blown sob.

They were my friends, goddamn it! They just died. Why am I feeling this? I have experienced so many deaths in our missions. Why does this hurt so much?

I then heard a voice from the villa.

"Oh my. What a travesty." Xander's voice rang out in the field, his voice full of surprise and a bit of curiosity.

I steeled my emotions and calmly looked at Xander, reporting the situation.

After hearing the case, Xander was not perturbed. He nodded before saying,

"Yep, those beasts were caught by my uncle. These attempted to escape though. Good job killing them. It's a pity, though, your comrades died. I-" I cut him off, holding his clothes, raising him high to his eye level.

"Please, do not mention this again," I said coldly, releasing my cold, merciless aura. However, it seemed that Xander was not affected at all. He just eyed me confusingly.

"Why do you weep? Your friends are back and one with the universe once more. In the future, they would reincarnate and become different people. They never died, they merely passed to their next identity."

When I heard this philosophical bull from him, I couldn't help but laugh sardonically.

"What do you know, boy, of friendship and kinship? If I could exchange everything in the world to bring them back again all in one piece, I would do so." I said, bitterness seeping in every word.

"Is it really that deep? I mean friendship and kinship, of course." Xander asked, his curious nature appearing once more. I was confused. Was this child that emotionally stunted?

I patiently, but coldly said,

"Friendship is a bond you make, one that's strong enough that the dead will not rest. Kinship is the idea of belonging, the concept of being with someone or a group of people, sharing traits that one finds pleasing or fascinating."

Xander looked at me curiously, his eyebrows scrunched up. He then said, his voice calm and containing that innocence of a child,

"Are you willing to give up your freedom for them, though? As well as their individual freedoms?"

I was taken aback, wondering why the target, Xander, had asked such a question. I took a moment to think about it, before coming to a simple answer: Yes. If it meant they wouldn't die because of my carelessness and weakness, I would sacrifice my freedom for them.

"…Yes. Yes, I would do it in a heartbeat."

"But isn't that selfish? Are you sure that's what they want?" Xander asked, curious. In fact, Xander was really curious. He often wondered if the people he killed or was caught in the crossfire wanted to remain dead than be bound by a contract to serve him.

It kind of felt normal for him, yet lately, this thought had been bothering him.

I was taken aback, yet a shook my head, giving a bitter smile.

"You're right, I'm selfish. I'm selfish for wanting them to live again, in full health, unhurt, and able to make many more memories along the road. I am selfish for it, but damn it, I don't want to lose them."

Xander, listening to my answer, nodded his head, as if he understood something. Before I could even say anything else, he dropped a bomb.

"Oh. Ok, so if I completely resurrect them, you'll all have to give your complete loyalty to me, then? That's a deal?" Xander raised his left hand, awaiting me to shake it.

I was flabbergasted. Resurrect? Did he think it was an easy thing? Although life and death magicians had practiced the art, it was never perfect. Whenever they resurrected someone, the damages ranged from losing memories to completely turning to different people, creating mental damage, and the like.

However, what do I have to lose? If everything went well, I got my comrades back. If it didn't, I'll have to dispose of them myself, before retiring and joining them in death.

I took his hand, firmly clasping my right hand.

"Deal."

_________________________

I still don't know whether what I did was the right thing, but seeing their smiles, their arguments, their petty fights, and brotherly words and actions… I think I did pretty well.