BUTTERFLY

THE DEMON HUNTER

The seven one will pay the price of six, and the end of the coming apocalypse will fall in front of the god.

Of course Irine could have come to harm me. Being found dead in such a chaotic situation would have brought the monster to mind, not Irine. But just because I was afraid of her, or the possibility that she might harm me, didn't mean I would keep quiet. If she came to harm me anyway, she would do it even if I remained silent.

Normally, I tried to remain quiet and calm in front of her, but the way she belittled my house in this way made me extremely angry. When I frowned and opened my mouth to speak, Grandma beat me to it. "Since when has a woman of God spoken to the people like this? What insolence." She said, looking at Irine. She raised her cane in anger. "Who are you to speak to me like that!" Irine said, her voice raised and she took a step towards Grandma. "You think you're something because I ignored what you just said, senile!" She continued and my eyes widened. I took a step forward and approached the grandmother, I would definitely fight back if she tried to hurt her.

"You are not on duty, Irine, we know that, but what is the reason for coming to my house?" I said, squinting my eyes. Her eyes, which had been looking at Grandma with anger, turned to me. " f*****g look at me, I'll tear you apart, I'm a woman of God, I'll go wherever I want." She said through clenched teeth. Her demeanor and words were as if they belonged to a child who had just entered puberty.

Grandma raised her cane towards her. "Your job is to protect us, not to come and bother us. You women have gotten out of hand. I've had enough of your maverick behavior, I'll tell God about it when I go to him. Pull yourself together, you're forgetting who you are." Grandma said and pushed Irine's shoulder with the tip of her cane. I saw Irine's eyes widen, she looked first at the shoulder pushed by the grandmother and then at the cane. The bridge of her nose wrinkled in anger and when she took a step towards Grandma I knew we were in trouble.

I balled my hands into fists, which had begun to tremble slightly, and took a few steps forward to stand in front of Irine, with Grandma behind me. Her eyes, glowing with anger, looked at me with disgust. "Go away Irine, you have no business here." I said, trying to be brave. My heart was racing so fast that I was both scared and excited to fight for the first time in my life.

When Irine raised her long clawed hand, I narrowed my eyes and clenched my muscles to counter the coming blow. Just as her hand in the air was about to land on my face, she froze at the sound of a male voice saying "Irine!" It was Kize's voice. Irine's eyes, glowing with anger, dimmed and a look of fear slowly appeared on her face. When she swallowed and turned around to look at Kize, I carefully studied all her expressions. She was scared, very scared.

I let out a deep breath of relief, even though I tried not to show it, and looked at Kize standing in front of the garden gate with his hands in his pockets. His terrible energy, which I hadn't felt for a long time, was reaching me with the wind. I felt goosebumps, I was scared of Irine, but Kize's energy was definitely more terrifying. Of course I knew he wouldn't hurt me, but I couldn't stop my instincts that told me to run away from here.

"Kize." Irine said in a low voice, the woman who had just attacked us now lowered her head and her voice dropped. This was exactly Irine's problem, she liked to attack and harass those weaker than her, but when confronted with someone stronger she would just shrug her shoulders and cower in a corner.

Kize frowned and took a few steps and stood right in front of Irine, looking down at her. "Go back to the palace." He said in a calm voice. Irine quickly raised her bowed head and looked at Kize's face. I couldn't see her expression because I was behind her, but I saw that her knees were shaking. She looked surprised and very scared at the same time.

"I'm sorry Kize, they made me very angry. This woman underestimated me." She said and pointed at me with her index finger. Her trembling finger was pointing in the air towards me. I focused my eyes on Kize, he never looked at me, he just kept looking at Irine. "Go back to the palace, Irine." He said again, lowering his voice. The lack of expression on his face was even more frightening, and I could see Irine's fear clearly in the way she was shaking to the bone. What exactly was it that Kize was threatening her with?

I expected Irine to be afraid of Kize, but now she was very afraid, more than I expected. Why was she so afraid?

"Is it really for this woman!" Irine said, sounding disgusted and raising her voice. When Kize frowned, she took a step back and looked at him in silence for a while. A silent stare passed between the two of them, brief but with great impact. I got goosebumps, was Irine actually begging now? Was she asking for forgiveness with her eyes.

After that brief glance, Irine turned around and looked me in the eyes. I saw the hatred in her eyes, a hatred so great that it made me take a step back, but I couldn't understand why she hated me so much. She exhaled a deep breath through her nose and started walking towards the exit gate of the garden, tossing her hair. I just stared after her.

Next to the anger in Irine's eyes I saw a huge fear. Her fear was causing questions about Kize that confused my mind.

"Are you okay?" Kize asked and came to me and put his hand on my shoulder. I took my eyes off Irine who was slowly walking away from us and looked at Kize. "I'm fine." I said, unable to stop my eyes from squinting. We had only seen each other on training days since the monster chased me in the forest, and it was a great chance that Kize was here at a time like this. I was happy to see him, of course, but... Why was Irine so frightened when he heard the phrase 'back to the palace'?

When Grandma grunted, we both looked at her. She was shaking her head from side to side and watching Irine go. "Those women are going too far. Someone has to put a stop to them." She said this for a while and then she gave us both a glare and went to Kamer's house. I knew she did it on purpose to leave us alone. I shrugged and turned to look at Kize, who was already looking at me. A small smile formed on his face. I found it strange that Irine was so scared of Kize, but when Kize smiled, everything went out of my mind, for that moment of course.

"I've come to make you an offer, ma'am." He said, taking my hand. "I guess the timing was perfect?" He continued and I nodded my head in the affirmative. It was really right on time. Even though Irine wasn't going to hurt me in any real way, if she touched me at that moment, she would have realized that I wasn't of this world and it would have definitely meant the end of me.

As Kize kissed me on the tops of my fingers, my thoughts scattered and an involuntary smile appeared on my face. "Yes, sir, I am listening to you." I said and made a short reference to him. He watched my reference with an appreciative expression as he caressed my fingers.

The bruises on some parts of my hand from yesterday's training had healed as soon as I touched Kize and my darkened skin had returned to its original color. It was strange that I knew he had cast a spell on me but I couldn't feel it. I guess that was the power of being the right hand of God. Or maybe it was because he was so powerful that he became the god's right hand man.

"Would you accompany me to the ball for the spring festival, ma'am?" He said, looking into my eyes. I knew there was going to be a festival, and I had heard that there was a ball in the god's palace beforehand, but I didn't expect Kize to make such an offer. After all, I was a commoner and it seemed unlikely that I would attend the ball in the palace of the god.

The smile on my face widened when I found out that I could go to the ball, and although I felt a huge thrill of excitement, I continued to act like a lady in the game that was going on between us and pretended to be shy and averted my eyes. "I didn't know if it would be right to turn down the offer of such a young and handsome man. But I can't come, I'm poor." I said dramatically as I rested my hand on my forehead. When Kize suddenly let go of my hand, I turned my eyes to him. He had an angry expression on his face, his brow furrowed. A small scream escaped my mouth as he grabbed me by the waist in a limited way and lifted me into the air. But I laughed when he started spinning me around and around.

"Turn me away, you will pay for this, woman!" He stopped and threw me over his shoulder. I quickly grabbed his shirt, "help, I'm being attacked by a bear!" I said, but I couldn't stop laughing. "A bear?" Kize stopped when we heard a voice and my laughter died down. It was a familiar voice again, a male voice. I guessed it was the man with red eyes. "Iske." Kize said and lifted me off his shoulder. I staggered because I felt dizzy, but Kize kept holding my waist to keep me from falling. My eyes went back to the man who had just spoken, the one with the red eyes, I had guessed it right. God, why were they always hanging around our house? Was it because I was in danger? But everyone was in danger, not just me.

"There's a sacrifice here." When he said that, his eyes met mine for a brief moment. I felt my breath catch, why was he looking at me when he said that? Was he talking about me? "Apparently she came here today, she talked to a few people, the women are looking for traces of her." When he continued, I involuntarily took a deep breath. He wasn't talking about me, but the person he was talking about was in a lot of trouble. Ah, someone had to stop this.

"So what, is she causing trouble?" Kize said, as if this was something that happened every day and it was strange for Iske to come and tell him. " She told Beera that she had come after a demon." Iske said, there was a hint in his voice. I frowned, could the demon be the monster I had seen?

"Beera?" Kize asked, tilting his head to the side. At that moment I remembered who Beera was, the woman who asked if Kize was holding me against my will. But wasn't Berra a woman of God? If she talked to the incoming sacrifice, why didn't she kill her? Or was she a good woman who didn't kill sacrifices?

"'She didn't dare to attack the woman." Iske said and put his hands in his pockets and looked at me. Why was this man looking at me?

When Kize looked back at me, I turned my eyes to him. "I've got you a dress for the prom, I'll send it to you soon." When he said that, I knew he was leaving. As much as I didn't want him to go, of course I wasn't going to tell him not to go or make a face. After all, he wasn't going for something arbitrary.

"Okay, tell me the date and stuff, okay?" I was surprised when he leaned over and kissed me on the lips. Of course it was normal for him to kiss me, but it was the first time we had kissed with someone else present and it made me incredibly embarrassed. Even though it was a short kiss, I was embarrassed enough to make even my neck blush. When he pulled back, he looked into my eyes. "Don't go out tonight, if something happens ..." I interrupted him when he said "...I'll put the necklace in my mouth, yes I know, sir." I said with a sigh. "You say it every day, do I look like someone who is hard to understand from there?" I said, crossing my arms over my chest. He laughed and shook his head from side to side. "From here, I see that I spoiled you too much." When he said that, I laughed and stuck out my tongue at him and quickly turned around and walked into the garden.

He came out of the garden with me on his back as he spun me around, the maniac. When I looked back before I entered the house, both Kize and Iske were gone. I couldn't help the smile on my face and went inside. Grandma was coming out at that very moment. "Where to, grandma?" I asked, as she walked out the door with her bag slung over her shoulder.

"I'm going to my friend to talk to God for me. I'll be back before nightfall." She said as she walked without looking at me. I shook my head from side to side, she was going to complain about Irine, she shouldn't have pissed off Grandma. "That's it, grandma, show Irine!" I cheered as she stopped at the gate of the garden and turned around and waved her cane. I closed the door of the house with a short laugh. I could finish cleaning Kamer's house by the time Grandma returned.

I was still smiling when I went out into the backyard and entered Kamer's house. I was so excited that Kize and I were going to the ball. Besides, maybe I would have a chance to meet God there.

"White head, take a look." I was busy sweeping Kamer's house when I heard an unfamiliar woman's voice. Even though the word "white head" sounded strange, I knew she was talking about me, so I looked up and looked at the woman behind the garden couples. Although there was a distance between us, her burning eyes immediately caught my attention.

I exhaled with an exasperated attitude and left Kamer's house, putting the broom in my hand aside. Were these men and women of God not going to leave us alone today!

"Yes, ma'am?" When I said that, her eyes narrowed and she looked me up and down. Her eyes briefly looked behind me, somewhere near my back, but then she looked me in the eyes. "If you get scared and run away, I'll swear at you." My eyebrows furrowed involuntarily when she said that. I took off my gloves and took a few steps closer to her. She had a strong energy, but I didn't feel that she was going to hurt me.

"Why should I run scared?" I asked as I turned the gloves inside out and tucked them into the pockets of my overalls. She exhaled a strained breath and leaned her elbows on the pairs. "I said what I said, it's up to you." She said with a shrug. Immediately she looked behind me again, and even though I wanted to look where she was looking to see what she was looking at, I didn't want to take my eyes off her. Even though she didn't look like someone who could do any harm, I had to be on guard in case she suddenly attacked me.

My eyes widened when she said, "I'm looking for God, does he live in this world?" I involuntarily took a step forward, was this woman the sacrifice who had come here in pursuit of the aforementioned demon?