Chapter 6:

The Wolf And The Demon (III)

Child Of Darkness



“So, you’re an Enigma Jaeger, a line of warriors that co-exist with the Guardians?” Aiden asked, trying hard to keep himself from flipping out.

“Yeah, that pretty much sums it up,” the mystery girl stated nonchalantly as if she just hadn’t just revealed shocking information to him. Aiden stared at the girl with newfound awe and confusion.

It had been fifteen minutes since she appeared in to hallway and another ten since he had convinced Miss Kudelia successfully (albeit with difficulty) that he was practicing a script for Sepira Festival. After that he had dragged the girl behind him into an old classroom to get more privacy so that he could inquire her about what had just transpired.

“Listen, if you are here to join the city theatre, then I can show you the way,” Aiden said in disbelief and also something what he would never admit himself to be in - denial. “But I just cannot believe this Enigma Jaeger thingy.”

“You think I’m lying,” the girl scoffed at him mockingly.

“At this point, I’m trying to accept you as a normal person though many others would call you a psychopath,” he said as he crossed his arms over his chest indignantly.

The mystery girl’s eyes darkened at his words. She grabbed the hood that was covering her face and pulled it down.

“You won’t believe me until I show you, yeah?” the girl demanded. Aiden could clearly see the cold, hard eyes staring at him, watching his every movement. For a second he was mesmerized by her olive green eyes.

“Look-” before he could utter any other word, the girl gently touched his chest as his arms unfurled from their position, petrifying him on the spot. All the Astarte particles that were present in his body began to vibrate and nullify each other. It was as if his entire body was breaking itself from the inside.

What the hell was this feeling?!

Never had it been heard or seen a manipulation technique like this. In school, Aiden had been taught about all kinds of Astarte Manipulation and that’s why he knew all about them but what this girl was doing was something that shouldn’t have been possible. Rather the natural laws of Astarte Manipulation terminated this kind of manipulation, as it stated in the basic laws of Astarte Manipulation: 

‘No Guardian or human is allowed to manipulate the Astarte particles of another living deity. If anyone tries to do so, then his/her own body would not be able to handle the strain and the person’s body will crumble.’

Then how was this girl able to do it?

Aiden was shaking with the pain that it was causing – hours? Days? It felt like an eternity and a day until it finally stopped. The girl had pulled her hand back and looked at Aiden with a satisfied smirk resting on her face.

Life came back to his body and the Astarte particles began to settle but the phantom pains remained. His body still felt as if it was burning from inside. Aiden took deep breaths trying to regulate the temperature of his body.

"What I just cast upon you was not a simple manipulation technique,” the girl said. “It’s called the Illunius Art. It is an advanced Manipulation technique that only the Enigma Jaeger can use.” She spoke with pride while flipping her hair behind her shoulders.

“B-b-but the law of manipulation does not allow you to control any other living being’s Astarte particles! How-” he rushed to speak in a frantic tone.

“That law does not apply to our line,” she replied before he could complete his question. “The only ones who are bound by the natural laws are you mere Guardians.”

Aiden’s head dropped to look at the ground as he once again stared at the partition on the granite flooring, his favorite game to play when nothing around him made any sense.

“I guess, I don’t even need to ask for your confirmation on your belief anymore. That is, if you still don’t doubt me?”

Aiden had lost his power to speak and simply nodded his head, his gaze still fixed on the granite.

“Great! Now I can get to explaining everything to you,” she said in a sarcastic tone. “I’ll explain it in such a way that even a thick-headed, dense person like you can understand.”

Aiden’s head snapped up at the way he was referred to. He opened his mouth to protest but was interrupted before he could do so.

“Shut up and listen!” she ordered him, “In this world, there exists two types of warriors. The first one are called the Guardians. They are the most commonly known since they exist in every nation and are the military strength of the kingdoms. Their main job is to maintain peace, order and stability in their respective kingdoms. They also have a duty of maintaining the order of stability with the spirits, gnomes, goblins, orcs and many other gifted creatures that scourge these lands.”

The girl stopped to catch her breath before she continued once again.

“The other type are the Enigma Jaegers. We co-exist with the Guardians and share the same interest but our jobs are entirely different. Sure, we share the common responsibility to maintain law and order, but the difference is that the Guardians do that for their kingdoms and we maintain the Natural order of this world. We are present to keep a check on the changes in Astarte particles and also on those people who break the natural order of the world. Take Enigmas as an example. So our job is to eliminate Enigmas who disrupt the order of this world and that’s also my current mission. Did you understand?”

Aiden was trying to process all the information that the girl had just given him. Enigma Jaeger, natural order, stability and all that stuff seemed to have meshed into his brain and turn it into jelly. These things were something that everyone denied to believe but today he was shown evidence of its existence. What should he do now?

‘Well, there’s only one thing to say in this situation!’ he thought to himself.

“If you came here on a mission,” he asked. “Does that mean the thing called Enigma is still around here somewhere?”

“That should be the case,” she replied, suddenly seeming rather timid.

“Are you stupid?” Aiden asked, disbelief clear as day in his tone. “Why are you wasting your time in a place like this then?! Hurry up and get rid of that creature already!”

“Well, you see…” she said while looking around the classroom worryingly. “I cannot feel its presence anymore. I have no idea why.”

“What?!”

Aiden’s eyes widened as his senses started going off. His body tingled with the sensations of malicious aura that was coming from somewhere above him. All the Astarte particles around him began to behave in a distorted manner. The air around him began to get corrupted in the reddish aura.

“Well, I think that the forces of nature might be hindering with my senses…” the girl continued to ramble on.

“Hey, Enigma Jaeger!” Aiden yelled to get her attention.

“What now?!” she asked annoyed.

“What do you mean ‘what’? Don’t you feel the presence of that malicious aura?!”


                                    *

“Malicious au-” her senses tingled as they caught on to what the boy was referring to.


‘I feel it. The negative Astarte particles are accumulating in this place. This is undoubtedly the aura of an Enigma,’ she thought baffled. ‘But how was this guy able to sense it even before I, an Enigma Jaeger, did?’


                                      *

A feeling of dread spread around Aiden’s body. Something was going to happen and it wasn’t going to be good. He knew it, he could feel it but he couldn’t understand – what was going to happen? His eyes scanned the room to see if any kind of cracks were opening up again.

Aiden was about to sneak out to the roof and look for the source of the aura. But that was solved when the explosions began.

His heart hammered in his chest as he leaped from the chair he was sitting on and grabbed the mystery girl’s arm to drag her over the desk and away from the windows. An instant later, flames tore through the reinforced glass and incinerated most of the benches of the classroom as the intense heat from the flames engulfed the atmosphere around them.

“Holy Sepira!” Aiden swore under his breath.

“It’s here,” the girl whispered.

“Who is?” he whispered back.

“The Enigma.”

Through the whole in the wall, emerged a creature that Aiden had never seen in his life. He found himself breathing heavily and clutching at his chest in an attempt to calm his racing heart as he saw the razor sharp claws of the Enigma clutching the granite stone.

“Hey, Enigma Jaeger! I am here,” the creature said in a sing-song manner. “Your prey is here. So let’s end this game of tag.” Its voice echoed throughout the empty classes. The Enigma’s demonic voice sounded more terrifying as it continued to speak in that sing-song manner.

Aiden couldn’t help but think of this as the beginning. The beginning of the end.

**************************************

And here is the new chapter. The first sub arc is reaching it's climax as the Enigma appears Infront of the duo. What's gonna happen next? .... 

Find out in the next chapter!!

Well, thank you again for taking time and reading my story, hope you all enjoyed it and were able to fall in love with my world. Well please comment if you find any errors and also please vote and follow me for future updates!!

And like always:

                           HAPPY READING!!