Himitsu – Kuro no Chikai

Velcant Region, Kingdom of Alphine. Not a large country, it consisted of a series of islands floating in the middle of a huge lake. Due to the abundant fishery resources and mild climate, all the people enjoyed a rich life with the natural resources. Running through the center of the main island, called Rulen Island, was a massive bridge that connected the large countries to the east and to the west of Alphine. Bechstein Bridge, which served as a road for commerce between these counties, was approximately forty kilometers long, and two hundred meters across at its widest point. Many commercial establishments were lined up on top of the bridge.

Alphine served as a neutral point between Folle, to the east of the bridge, and Violente, to the west. During several points in history, it was caught in the destruction of the great wars between the east and west. However, as if by some miracle, a certain charismatic statesman suddenly appeared, and due to his leadership, it became a wondrous country that escaped being dominated by either large country.

Perhaps because they had this historical background, statesmen began to be appointed periodically, and the citizens became faithful towards God. The long-standing continued independence and good political standing of Alphine was accredited to God’s blessing, and over the generations, people continued to believe in Him more and more. As if to ascertain this, churches began to appear all over the country, each built to display the highest luxury. The first travelers to this country were fascinated by their breath-taking beauty.

The Kingdom of Alphine, along with the Kingdom of Folle to the east, and the Kingdom of Violente to the west, made up the Velcant Region, which the Seventh Unit, led by Kaito, was responsible for in Heaven.

The Velcant Region was a region in which the humans were constantly battling amongst each other, and was also once the site of the “Fall of Paradise” incident that took place during the Great War of Heaven.

The Paradise That Fell To The Earth—In Heaven, this was what Alphine was called. As the name suggested, the Kingdom of Alphine that was surrounded by a lake, was once Heaven’s Paradise. During the Great War of Heaven five hundred years prior, the force of the demons far exceeded the angels’ expectations, and the “Tree of Life” that was said to be the heart of Heaven, had been on the brink of being taken over. f𝓇𝘦e𝑤𝘦𝚋𝒏૦ѵℯ𝒍.c𝐨𝒎

If the Tree of Life had fallen into the hands of the demons, all life would be under their control, and it would have led to the collapse of both the existing worlds of Heaven and Earth. In order to protect the Tree of Life at that time, the Great Archangel decided that the regions the demons had penetrated would be dropped to the earth.

This became the Kingdom of Alphine. In the ancient texts written by the humans at that time, this was what was recorded.

“On a very bright and peaceful day, accompanied by a deafening roar, the sky fell to the earth. The birds fled from the sky to the ground, and vegetation withered away in an instant. As the sky gradually drew closer, all the townspeople became overcome with indescribable fear, waiting with bated breaths for the end to come. Once the sky had fallen to reach the top of the town’s big church, a myriad of white and black wings came twirling down from the sky, surrounding the townspeople, and engulfing everything in a flood of blinding light. As they struggled to remain conscious, the townspeople realized that they were suddenly standing in the middle of a beautiful land. Although everyone was puzzled over why they were all naked, they soon forgot this at the sight of the beautiful, lush flowers as far as the eyes could see, and beyond that, the wide ocean. All of it was like a paradise that they had seen only in the land of dreams. And so here, we founded our new country.”

Originally, this region did not have a lake, and five hundred years ago, was only deep forests and a few small towns. But in one day, a beautiful island came to float in the center of the lake.

Due to the small population and underdeveloped civilization, those that knew the truth about this fallen paradise were few. As five hundred years passed, it became only an old fairytale.

When Alphine was dropped to the earth, because the invading demons had been taken down along with it, the holy power and dark power became mixed. Due to this impact, although the land was rich, it became a land of never-ending fighting. Ever since the Fall, whether it was between the angels and demons, or wars the humans fought amongst themselves, this land was the main battlefield.

Being positioned between two large warring countries to the east and west, and affected by the wars on several occasions, the fact that it remained a rich and independent country was truly due to God’s blessing. The country was original Heaven’s Paradise that “fell to the earth.” It was protected by the angels, against all odds, from the sidelines.

Because of this, the well-being of this land was entrusted to only powerful, capable angels from Heaven. Since a hundred years prior, Kaito had been left this responsibility.

Here, the internal factional wars between those with power continued to go on, and complex power relations with the affected east and west countries had been established. The job of Kaito’s unit was to investigate the lives of the humans, and if necessary, to intervene.

—-

The season was soon to be early summer. Avoiding the blinding rays of sunlight, Rin, who was resting her wings in the shade of a tree, breathed softly while listening to the sounds of bells from a far away church. After being promoted from an “angel trainee” to a “junior angel,” Rin had come to investigate the rumor of the “demon faith” that had infiltrated the churches in Alphine. Demon faith in itself was not something so uncommon; demons had always tempted humans with weak hearts, using the brainwashing technique known as “Honest” to fuel the power for the demons. Usually, the mission would be to gather information, find a likely hiding place, and then engage in battle with several demons. However, it seemed that the situation this time would be different than the norm.

Typically, demons’ Honest attached to humans with simple, weak hearts, amplifying their emotions and corrupting them, thus gaining the demons “dark power.” However, for some reason, this time, the demons were only targeting devout humans with strong hearts. Humans with strong hearts had strong wills, or to be exact, high life energy, and were much more difficult to corrupt. Why would they be purposely choosing “devout humans with strong hearts” when they were so hard to control? This was something that needed to be investigated, which led to this task of simple surveillance being entrusted to Rin.

“Ah~h, I’m so bored.”

The captain of the Seventh Unit, Kaito, had gone to assist in a sudden battle that had broken out with the demons, leaving Rin to investigate alone. Rin had been enthusiastic about her first missions since being promoted. However, after a month passed without being able to grasp even the tail of any leads, all of her motivation completed disappeared.

It was boring … but not simply because of her lack of progress. Even as an apprentice angel, she had always held a passion for her duties as an angel, and been a hard-working person. She’d had numerous past experiences with reconnaissance missions, as well, and like now, there had been times where she hadn’t been able to bring about any results.

“Why is it so boring this time ….. Even though I always work so hard, no matter what it is …… Kaito, and even that person before him, would praise me for being so diligent– …. Ah!”

As she thought about it, Rin finally realized the cause for her lack of motivation.

“I get it. It’s because I’m alone this time ….”

For all the missions until now, she had always had a partner with her. Angels usually worked together as a pair, and it was rare that they would receive a mission alone. Up until now, the reason that work had been enjoyable was probably because she had a partner beside her. Rin felt very lonely by herself right now, and when she was alone, it was hard to understand the enjoyable things and the difficult things.

“I wonder when Kaito will come back~ It’s boring to be on my own.”

Just as she decided to sleep off her boredom until the humans would start moving for the time of prayer, she suddenly heard screams coming from the inside of the nearby church.

“…..! Did a demon come!?”

Getting up in a hurry, she flew up to the stained glass windows of the church she had been keeping watch over. Once she looked to see how the state of things were inside, she saw that humans were killing each other with weapons.

“Ehh!? Wh-what is this!? Is this the work of a demon ….? But I don’t sense any signs of darkness from them …..”

It seemed that the humans were fighting each other with killing intent. Humans that were brainwashed by demons had dull eyes, loss of reason, and disoriented movements, but the humans that were killing each other right now were clearly different from that. If this wasn’t the influence of demons, then she had no jurisdiction to interfere. A junior angel was not allowed to directly tamper with deaths caused amongst humans. The law was absolute—severe punishment awaited those who broke it.

Frustrated that she could do nothing to stop the slaughter unfolding before her eyes, Rin clenched her fists and made to quietly leave this place.

Bang—

A gunshot. Sharp pain erupted in her left wing, and fresh blood spewed out.

Clutching the wing that had been shot, she looked behind her and saw a youth with long, red hair, beating his large, jet-black wings and carrying a black gun.

A demon—

She quickly pulled out her own white gun and pulled the trigger. Overhead the humans who were fighting amongst themselves, Rin and the demon had a violent shootout in the air.

He was strong. The demon was fending off Rin’s bullets at just the right timings, and as if dancing in the air, left few openings with his light and fluid movements.

The foe was firing as well, but it was most likely a feint. If he was able to leave so little openings, it was safe to say that he had confidence even in a bare-handed fight.

If this turned into close combat, the odds would be against her.

With one attack from the demon, the stained glass windows cracked with a loud sound. Rin quickly flew from the roof and pulled the trigger. The bullets they exchanged hit the walls and ceiling of the church, causing parts of it to collapse.

“Look out!”

Below the crumbling roof were the frenzied, fighting humans. Using all the strength in her in a split-second decision, she aimed a bullet at the falling rumble.

Within a hair’s breadth, it hit its mark and shattered the debris into small pieces. However, the humans continued to rampage without taking notice. At this rate, she wouldn’t be able to gather the evidence for the investigation, and even the brainwashed humans would be lost.

“Ugh ….!”

The fight resumed again. Since being distracted by the humans below, it became even harder to land a hit. This demon wasted not a single minute in his movements. To be more accurate, he was specifically targeting Rin’s wings. An angel’s weakness—every time their wings, which were stored with holy power, were touched by a demon’s dark power, they would deteriorate.

While protecting her battered left wing, she desperately aimed for the demon’s vital point.

Yes, this was it!

With all of her strength put into this one attack, she struck the demon’s heart with spectacular accuracy—-At least, that had been her intention.

“You’re pretty good. But, too bad.”

In the next moment, both of Rin’s hands and wings were restrained from behind her; she had been caught by the demon.

“…..! But I was so sure that I’d hit you ….. How!?”

Flailing with her restrained arms and wings, she desperately struggled.

“What you hit was an illusion that I created. Didn’t you notice?”

“!”

As if ridiculing her, the demon laughed boldly, and in a terribly charming voice, whispered dangerously.

“I’m fine with killing you here and now …. But there’s one thing I want to ask. If you behave and answer me, I’ll let you escape. That oh-so-precious tree you’re all protecting—Where is it? It’s been moved since the battle five hundred years ago, right?”

“…. I won’t give in to a demon like you!”

“Oh~ …. Feisty, aren’t you? I like girls like that.”

Smiling cheerfully, the demon tightened his grip.

“Ah ….”

Strong …. The level of this demon was clearly different from those she had encountered so far.

She couldn’t win …

“If you don’t tell me soon, your precious wing will be torn off, you know?”

“I’ll never tell you!”

“Huh. Well, then …”

“! Ahhhhh!”

The demon mercilessly gouged the wound in her left wing. As dark power entered directly into her body, Rin writhed in agony at the pain that washed over her—the most intense she had ever felt.

“You’re rather stubborn~ I hadn’t planned on killing you, but I guess it can’t be helped ….. Hm? Oh, and what’s this ….?”

Just as she felt her consciousness slipping from the dark energy flowing into her, the demon suddenly released his grip on her. Losing that support, she began to fall, but the demon lightly caught her in his arms.

“Wh-why!?”

“….. Don’t you wonder~ …. Well, there are a lot of whimsical ones among demons.”

The demon was staring at Rin’s face with a pensive expression. Glancing from her pretty blonde hair, to the earring on her right ear, he stared intently as if confirming something—- And then, with a graceful flap of his wings, he lay Rin down underneath a tree in the garden.

“…. If it’s here, the humans being controlled with Honest won’t be able to find you, so you’ll be able to rest a bit …. Well, even though I say that, they may not be able to even see you~”

The demon that she had just been fighting with suddenly stopped trying to kill her, and as if concerned with her wounds, even went as far as carrying her to a safe place. Being much too surprised, Rin couldn’t speak at all, and simply listened.

“You seem really surprised. … Not without reason, I suppose. After all, you angels are almost idiotically blind with your faith.”

“Sh-shut …. up! ….. Why … are you helping me? I’m your enemy, aren’t I!?”

“Yes, that’s right, we’re enemies. But I don’t feel like fighting with you anymore. ….. It feels like I might remember some stupid thing from the past, so I’m going now. See ya.”

“Ah! Wait– …. It hurts ….”

Saying this, the demon spread his large, black wings and flew off.

“Why ….”

Somehow resounding with the scene from that day, her chest began to hurt. While staring in the direction the demon had flown off in, she tried to figure out his mysterious actions, but couldn’t. Why? She couldn’t understand the words that he had said at all. And, there was some kind of haze in her heart ….. as if warning her that it was dangerous to think about this.

“Yes, that’s right, we’re enemies. But I don’t feel like fighting with you anymore—“

They were enemies, but he didn’t want to fight—

To understand those words correctly— …….Words had double meanings; she was scared to think about what he was feeling.

Without being able to finish her thoughts, Rin lost consciousness.