Chapter 13: The Assault Team and the Magic Relics

Somewhere in the north of Japan, on the islands of Hokkaido, there was an isolated mountainous region that was difficult to access. In the heart of a dense forest, invisible to the curious, stood a secret installation.

It was one of the Legacy Guild's many research labs scattered across the world. This one, in particular, had as its main mission the study of the ancient and lost technologies of Eldrath, brought back by the exploration team at the risk of their lives.

It was pitch black. The moon was absent, leaving the sky completely empty, and at this icy altitude the air bit the skin.

On the only road leading to the foot of the mountain, just before joining the main highway, a figure stood motionless. A woman with long silver hair blowing in the wind.

Around her, a group of heavily armed men formed a threatening circle. AK-47 assault rifles and pistols in hand, all guns converged on her, as if she were a wild beast ready to pounce.

This coldly beautiful woman was none other than a member of the Legacy Guild's assault team. Her name was Katerina Morozova.

"Give yourself up nicely. You can see you have no chance of getting out of this. There are more of us, and we're better armed. So don't play the fool," one of the men said, his voice full of confidence.

Fifteen men formed a tight circle around her, rifles raised. Katerina looked over them, cold and impassive, as if she were assessing the distance between each one and the time it would take to silence them.

She wore a perfectly fitted black suit, tailored trousers that accentuated her slender figure. His legs, meanwhile, were protected by metal leggings, engraved with ancient patterns. The pieces of armor covered his shins and reached up above his knees, contrasting strangely with the elegance of his ensemble.

"Fuck, I'm going to kill that bitch. Get on your knees now or we'll shoot."

The man tried to intimidate, but his voice betrayed the fear he didn't dare admit.

These men were nothing more than bandits who came to plunder the inventions developed by the research team. Unfortunately, they had come across Katerina—and Joy, who was in the area on a mission. The bandits had witnessed the superhuman strength of the two youths and now knew they were no match. That's why they treated Katerina like a ferocious beast, ready to pull the trigger at the slightest movement.

"It doesn't matter how many of you there are, whether there are ten or a hundred of you, it doesn't matter. Humans don't stand a chance against an heir. You're the one who should retreat before you get hurt," she said icily.

The temperature was already very low, but his icy gaze made his interlocutors shiver. Fear was evident on their faces.

The man who appeared to be the leader growled, refusing to be intimidated.

"FIRING! Fire at will!" he ordered.
At the signal, the bandits opened heavy fire, raining bullets down the road.

"What the... what the hell is this!?" one of them cried, stunned.

Her dismay was immediately shared by the entire group. Bullets passed through Katerina as if she were nothing but mist. No impact, no injuries, just the whizzing of projectiles through the air.

“Fuck… that girl is a ghost!” one of them whispered, his voice filled with now-visible fear.

“No! She’s a demon… there’s no other explanation!” one of the bandits yelled, his face ashen.

Despite the fear that gnawed at them, they continued to pull the trigger, showering the target with a deluge of lead. The roar of gunfire echoed through the valley, raising a thick cloud of dust. When their magazines were finally empty, a heavy silence fell again.

Katerina appeared through the gray mist... unharmed. Not a scratch. Not a drop of blood. As if the bullets had never existed.

Some refused to believe it, but their eyes betrayed them. If ghosts existed, then they had one in front of them.

And yet, it wasn't true. From the bandits' perspective, the bullets pierced the young woman as if she were nothing more than an illusion.

But on the ground, between the craters left by the projectiles, fine footprints surrounded Katerina...

Katerina followed a series of side steps, sliding laterally from left to right, constantly returning to the starting point with footwork of incredible precision and speed. She performed these movements so quickly that the human eye struggled to follow her.

Terror began to creep into the minds of the bandits, who instinctively backed away, their fingers clenched around their weapons.

“Keep firing!” the leader shouted, ordering the offensive to continue, his voice now betraying less confidence than panic.

As they rushed to reload for another round, Katerina had no intention of letting them do so.

She suddenly raised her foot, then brought it down with inhuman violence. The ground rumbled, cracked, and a shock wave immediately spread out in all directions. The earth ripped apart under the impact, as a harsh blast swept through everything around her.

The bandits were torn from their positions, thrown into the air like straws. Some fell heavily onto the asphalt, others crashed against the trunks of nearby trees with a muffled crash.

A dull rumble was heard behind the still-hanging dust. Headlights ripped through the darkness, and an armored van sped out. The engine roared at full throttle, the horn blaring incessantly. The machine was heading straight for Katerina at over ninety kilometers per hour, making the asphalt vibrate under its weight.

The driver, gripped tightly to the steering wheel, had bloodshot eyes, determined to crush him at all costs. But Katerina, standing in the middle of the road, didn't move a millimeter. Her slender figure remained frozen, like an icy statue, defying the vehicle launched against her.

Katerina waited until the last moment. She calmly raised one leg, her heel slicing through the air before bringing it down with surgical precision. His foot sank into the bumper of the van, bringing the speeding behemoth to a halt.

The impact was so brutal that the entire weight of the vehicle was thrown forward. The driver, caught by the force of the stop, was violently thrown against the steering wheel before collapsing, unconscious.

Outside, the still conscious bandits watched the scene with wide eyes, unable to comprehend what they had just seen. In an instant, the entire group tasked with attacking the laboratory had been neutralized. Those still trying to escape had already been wiped out.

Now there was only one problem left: the attackers were holed up inside, holding the researchers hostage. But Joy, already at work, rushed to their aid.

Katerina summoned from her amulet a series of thin but formidable black cables, forged from a special alloy designed to retain even an heir. Stronger than handcuffs, more secure than chains, these restraints were the guild's ultimate guarantee against those who refused to obey.

She began to tie up the still-conscious, moaning bandits, effortlessly immobilizing them.

A voice sounded behind her, familiar and tinged with irony.

"You've already cleaned up here too, I see."

It was Joy, returning from the building with an amused smile, her hands still covered in dust and dried blood.

Joy approached quietly, a huge hammer resting casually on her shoulder as if it were just a gardening tool. His heavy footsteps echoed in the silence that had returned after the chaos.

His gaze swept the scene. The armored van was smashed in, the bumper completely crushed, and all around, men were lying unconscious or half-dazed. Some began to stir, their moans breaking the icy mountain air. They tried to sit up, but the pain and dizziness immediately pushed them back to the ground.

"I see some vermin are starting to wake up," he said in a low, menacing tone.

Without giving the man time to regain consciousness, he raised his foot and brought it down violently on his face. A sharp crack echoed through the night and the jaw dislocated under the impact, and a spray of blood splattered the ground. A few teeth flew into the dust, ricocheting like pebbles.

"Stop it, Joy!! What do you think you're doing!?"
Joy turned her head briefly towards her, her hammer still resting on her shoulder, her gaze dark.

"Can't you see it? I'll settle their scores."

He didn't even wait for an answer and brutally slammed his foot down on the head of another, still half-conscious, bandit. A dull thud echoed through the damp earth. The skull hit the ground violently, and a red pool widened around his face. His nose crooked and his mouth shattered, the man gasped for a moment, probably swallowing his own broken teeth.

Joy slowly circled the fallen bandits, mercilessly striking each one, without giving them time to get up.

"Stop! They're only human! If you continue, you risk killing them!" exclaimed Katerina, trying to reason with the young man.

Joy looked up at her, her face hard and cold.

"So?"

Before she could react, he slammed his foot down on the last man's face, making him groan in pain.

Joy's merciless gaze, tinged with an almost murderous violence, made Katerina flinch. She felt a shiver run down her spine and swallowed hard.

"Would you prefer that I offer them tea and invite them to a picnic? These scumbags kill people for reasons as trivial as money or pleasure. And just because they're human, we should spare them?" he threw, his eyes burning with anger.

Assault team members typically worked in pairs so that each partner could compensate for the other's weaknesses. Joy excelled in brute strength and stamina, but her speed left something to be desired. This is where Katerina came in, who was specialized in agility and speed, but lacked pure strength. Together, they formed a complementary duo capable of handling almost any situation.

Katerina had known Joy for three years. They had worked together on many missions and, on several occasions, had been assigned as pairs, which neither of them was happy about. Over time, Katerina had witnessed a disturbing trend in her partner.

A deep hatred that could turn him into a real fury. While most people knew Joyce Decker as Joy, "the joy boy," Katerina saw a very different side. A dark side that he tried to hide, but which always appeared at the worst times.

It was said that the heirs all possessed eccentric and peculiar traits, each manifesting itself in their own way and often linked to their origins. Some let their desires grow without limits, others seemed incapable of expressing the slightest emotion.

Some could not bear the presence of other species, while others suffered from singular syndromes that pushed them to perform absurd, sometimes dangerous acts.

"It's a stupid rule! For me, it's simple, you see, those who have no respect for life deserve no pity."

With that, he left, leaving Katerina to tie the bandits with the cables, and then sat down against a tree. He seemed to calm himself by doing breathing exercises while sitting cross-legged.

“You should take up yoga, it helps relax your nerves. I do it on my days off; there’s nothing better for staying in shape, and it also teaches you some self-control.”

"I don't want your postulate."

You bastard! For once I'm going to be nice to him, that'll teach me... she thought.

The leggings protecting his legs disappeared in the glow emitted by the amulet. Katerina, for her part, took out a first aid kit. Bending down, she rolled up her pants and kicked off her shoes, revealing her toned, slender legs. She then applied the pain relief strips contained in the kit.

Joy's gaze fixed on her, and Katerina noticed it as she ministered.
"What? What do you want from me?" she said, her cold tone returning immediately.

"No, nothing! It's just... I don't understand your obsession with care. I mean, we're heirs after all."

“Being heirs does not make us invincible, and on Earth, we are still susceptible to falling ill, dying of exhaustion, or contracting a deadly virus.”

Katerina listed everything that could represent a potential danger, and only Joy knew how many times he had heard the same advice in different contexts, all related to the health of the assault team members. She was seen by many as the caring older sister of the group, a trait that contrasted with the icy air she involuntarily projected to people.

When missions were over, she would treat even the smallest scrapes and ease everyone's pain, always with her medical equipment.

She crouched down next to Joy, first aid kit in hand.

"Show me your injuries," she said in a firm but calm voice.

"Huh? I'm not hurt," he replied, surprised.

"What about this?" she asked, pointing to her slightly swollen forearm with a small cut.

"It's just a scratch I got getting between the guy with the hammer and a researcher. There's nothing to be alarmed about," he replied, glancing at the hammer leaning against the tree.

"Don't act like a tough guy, let me do it," she insisted, her eyes fixed on his arm.

Joy had had enough of his insistent stare and quickly reached into the first aid kit to pull out a bandage, which he applied directly to the wound.

"There! You're happy!" he said proudly.

"You should have disinfected the wound first," Katerina replied, frowning.

"Hmph!"

Joy sighed in annoyance, stood up, and grabbed the hammer leaning against the tree.

"It's a relic, isn't it?" asked Katerina.
"Yeah, it's a reinforcement-type relic, and it's very useful. I think I'll keep it."

Relics were weapons once used by the various races that warred on Eldrath. After the fall of the world, these weapons were found scattered across the land. The heirs coveted them for their special powers and embarked on a veritable treasure hunt to recover as many relics as possible and build up an “Arsenal”.

There were three types of relics, classified according to the abilities they granted to their user.

Reinforcement relics, as their name suggests, increase the physical abilities of their user. Depending on the weapon used, they can increase strength, provide a speed boost, strengthen resistance to a specific element or even sharpen the senses. Some weapons are capable of enhancing a single ability, while others can enhance up to three simultaneously.

Attribute-type relics allow their user to acquire a type of magic, which depends on the weapon itself and, sometimes, the innate attribute of the species if the user is an heir.

Magic, in principle, consists of shaping and controlling the matter that makes up the universe by the power of imagination alone. It is the ability to bend the rules of the world to one's will.

Attribute weapons are based on the concept of the four fundamental elements, considered the basis of all matter in the universe: water, fire, wind, and earth. This principle appeared in the 6th century, but it was not entirely complete, two elements still missing from the initial explanation.

If humanity had retained the four elements present in abundance on Earth, There were two other elements that made up the vast universe: the light of the stars and the darkness of the void. These elements are considered abstract concepts, more subtle than tangible matter.

However, the diversity of magical attributes is not limited to these six elements. On the contrary, they constitute the basis from which countless derivatives are born. By combining these elements together, we obtain even more variations. The possibilities are endless, just like the universe itself.

The last type of relics were special relics. Like attribute relics, they could grant magical powers to their user, but some also possessed special effects such as enchantments, spells like healing, hexes, or unique abilities that defy all logic.

No type of relic had natural superiority over another. Everything depended on the compatibility between the weapon and its wielder, their affinity for the object, and their mastery of their own abilities.


"If you do this, you can kiss your Jahanam sword goodbye. You know very well that one can't own more than three relics. That's the rule," Katerina declared.

"These damn rules again... honestly, they're bullshit," Joy grumbled, returning the hammer to her amulet.

The guild had a huge armory where all the relics recovered during expeditions were stored. They were then awarded to members deemed competent. However, a strict rule limited the number of relics that a single person could carry to three.

Officially, this restriction existed to prevent any one individual from concentrating too much power. But there was another, more pragmatic reason.

In a duel or confrontation, the winner could seize his opponent's amulet and all the weapons it contained. The classic rule of loot. Thus, limiting the number of relics per person reduced the risk of too many valuable weapons falling into enemy hands.

As a result, any guild member who found a relic was required to hand it over to their superiors. Those who attempted to keep it for themselves faced severe penalties.

"The guy using the hammer wasn't an heir. I didn't feel anything when I saw him."

"There were no heirs in the group. They were contract mercenaries. I grilled them a little to get them to come to the table." he replied with a small smile, which immediately upset Katerina.

"You mean someone hired them to attack and rob the lab?"

Joy nodded.

"First of all, how did they get a hold of a relic? These weapons are beyond the reach of any armed unit."

"It's pretty clear, isn't it? There's only one group of bastards who has a massive stockpile of relics. And they never hesitate to distribute these weapons to unscrupulous humans, just to use them as common pawns."

There seemed no need to name names. Katerina had perfectly understood who he was talking about. The only other organization capable of gathering so many relics, and whose members were themselves heirs, was Avalon.

"In that case, how did they locate the lab? Its location is supposed to remain secret."

"Again, nothing surprising. This isn't the first time confidential information has leaked from the guild."

"Are you saying there's a mole in our ranks, someone who's feeding information directly to Avalon?"

"Spot on!" he replied without hesitation.

Katerina narrowed her eyes at Joy's far too casual attitude as she spoke of a potential traitor within the guild. Such a revelation was no small matter. It could sow discord among the members. Everyone would begin to suspect their neighbor, distrust would gnaw at the bonds, and sooner or later, chaos would set in. No one could trust anyone anymore.