Rona watched with fear in his eyes as Alex destroyed the Sun Wraith without so much as touching it. Not only had he not touched it, he hadn’t used any techniques either.
The man had barely moved up to the wraith, and it had died for reasons he could not fathom.
His wide eyes continued staring as Alex landed next to them after defeating the bird.
Rona only just then remembered that a beast had appeared near them and looked around in search of the millipede. However, the beast had been long since defeated by the dozens of warriors that were gathered there.
“What are all of you doing here?” Alex asked, his eyes moving through each one, landing longer on Rona.
Rona felt his spine grow cold in that moment. He hadn’t yet rid himself of the doubt he had regarding who Alex was, but he knew he would have to have a death wish to tell Alex what he was there for.
“We heard you were trying to get rid of the rest of the Sun Wraiths,” Inga quickly spoke up. “We came here to help you with that.”
Alex raised an eyebrow. “Is that so?” he asked. “You must have been very considerate to not immediately reveal yourself from the start.”
“I-it didn’t look like you would need any help, so we chose to leave you alone,” Inga answered.
“Is that so?” His eyes turned toward Rona.
Rona furiously nodded right then. “Th-that is true. We came to help you,” he said. “But it doesn’t look like you need any, so we will return now.”
Alex smiled. “The warriors must be needed back in the city,” he said.
“They are,” Rona quickly said.
“And the chief must need someone to counsel him.”
“He does,” Rona replied.
“But I’m sure he will be fine with just one counselor, right? Who knows, I really might end up needing some help here,” Alex said and turned toward the rest. “You guys can return. Go back to the city. Let Counselor Rona stay back as my aid.”
The many warriors paused in that moment, staring at Rona in wait for his command.
Rona could hear his heartbeat through his ears in that moment, his back sweating heavily in deep fear. His lips quivered, wanting to speak, but no words came out at all.
“I think it is better if we all return,” Inga said. “We will be out of your way.”
“There’s no need for everyone to leave,” Alex said, placing his arm on Rona’s shoulder. “Counselor Rona can stay back. I was getting bored all by myself, so it will be fun to have someone to talk to while the beasts aren’t around.”
Everyone tried to refuse multiple times, but none of them succeeded in changing Alex’s mind. In the end, Rona stayed behind but three other warriors did as well. They would stay around just to deal with the beasts, however, while Alex dealt with the Sun Wraiths.
Alex made the old man sit beside him, staring at the endless blackness that stretched across the sky. The lack of moon or stars made outer space look far more terrifying while in the middle of the desert.
“So,” Alex said. “How long before you try to kill me?”
“W-what? I wouldn’t dare try to—”
“Give me a break,” Alex sighed and quickly took off his headwear. When the covering dropped, Rona moved away in fear of what he saw. The white skin with black hair, even at night, was a feature he couldn’t stand.
“You are scared to just look at me. If I was any weaker, I would’ve been dead already,” he said. “Since that is the reason why you came here anyway, I’m going to tell you two things that I want you to know are the truth.”
Rona gulped while the ground beneath him rumbled. The sand cascaded down the dune they sat on, flowing to the bottom in waves.
“First,” Alex said, “I want you to know that I am not related to Death at all. I am not its subordinate, avatar, disciple, or whatever else you called me the other day.”
The rumbling ground continued for a few seconds longer as something massive burst out of the sand, rearing its large head toward the two.
Rona turned and recognized the beast to be a fox with two tails waving behind it in multiple directions. He stood in that moment, ready to fight. All his instincts as a warrior told him that he needed to prepare for this.
“Second,” Alex continued, his eyes still on Rona.
The wolf jumped toward them, and Alex’s sword swung to the left. A bright white slash flew at the beast, decapitating it in one single strike. The beast’s head fell to the ground, rolling down the side of the dune.
“If you ever try to attack me,” Alex continued, his eyes never leaving Rona’s side. “Or worse, if you ever try to kill me, you will die before you even had the opportunity to realize what had happened.”
“Do you understand?”
Rona froze with abyssal horror growing inside of him as he failed to understand just how Alex had killed the beast all on his own.
He gulped and sat back down on the sand, doing his best to not meet his eyes. “I… I won’t do it,” he said. “P-please don’t kill me.”
Alex nodded in satisfaction. He wrapped his head with the cloth once again, hiding his face before the other three warriors far away could come and notice him. He didn’t want more trouble than he already had.
The other warriors arrived with nothing to do. They looked around for a while and took away the beast once they handed the beast core over to Alex.
Alex took the beast core and sat back on the dune. He looked toward Rona, who seemed lost in his own thoughts.
“Since we’ve nothing to do now, can you tell me about something? I want to know the geography of the desert.”