Apatura runs towards the creature, positioning herself in front of Iris. Her eyes are doubtful yet full of rage.


    “Why are you doing this! What do you want?” Apatura screamed, which bounced through the trees.


    The creature locks eye contact. “Do you forget the deal ‘we’ did?”


    Iris is on the ground trying her best to not die, looking up at Apatura, wanting to know what is happening and why she is being targeted.


    “I never did such a deal! That was those scum at ‘the Antennae’; why would I sell myself for those traitors?!”


    The artifact pulsated, sending Iris into a violent, bloody cough.


    “Leave her out of this!! She has nothing to do with this situation!!”


    “It was an order for the higher-ups; I didn’t disclose any information regarding them.” The creature said in a bone-chilling.


    “W-what w-e-why. I—I haven’t done anything.” Iris said, struggling with her words as her lungs felt that they would collapse if she raised her voice.


    “That is not for me to discuss; I am just following orders.” The creature changed its vision to Apatura. “Butterfly, if you don’t do what you are supposed to do, then that girl will die. My mission is to weaken her, and if she is strong, to kill her immediately.”


    The fog changed color to a light brown, changing its consistency from simple fog to a fog that sticks to the skin; the smell of burning leather can be smelled everywhere.


    “Don’t you dare touch her!! I swear to **** that I will kill everyone!!”


    Iris looked up at Apatura, intrigued. Why can’t I hear the word? It is the name of…. Why can’t I remember what the name is? Her body shaking, her mind drifting in and out of consciousness.


    “How are you planning to succeed? Did you not tell the girl that you are a failure of a butterfly?”


    Iris''s eyelids'' weight increased; she had reached her limit. “You can do it.” Iris passed out.


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    “She has fallen; how pitiful. I was ex…”


    Apaturas'' dull pink sword pierced the stomach of the creature, releasing a dark black liquid. The creature looked down, appearing unbothered.


    The creature, in a swift motion, moved backwards with its left hand covering the injury. Looking up, it sees Apatura lunging herself to attack.


    The creature lowered its body, positioning its leg to the right and lowering its shoulders. Throwing a fast kick to Apatura''s uncoordinated footing caused her to lose balance. Seeing this, the creature raised its leg, launching a barrage of kicks to her liver, bringing her to her knees.


    Apatura sees the creature''s blade closing in, and she quickly moves out of the way, creating another blade. Focusing on increasing the amount of power in the blade raised the beauty of the pink. Transforming from a dull pink to a simple pink.


    Apatura launches herself at the creature, which is met with a block, and attacks begin. Apatura swiftly sends high-speed attacks in a point-blank position. The creature, using its blades, struggles to defend against her attacks.


    The being lands its right leg to the left; quickly it changes its position, creating a fake-out that allows it to have the upper hand.


    With Apatura leaving her back completely unprotected, the creature launches precise attacks. Apatura feels the blade enter her right hand before managing to correct her footing and protect herself from the attacks.


    Apatura, seeing an opening, sends a powerful kick at the creature''s calf, causing it to lose footing. Apatura swiftly moves to a blind spot, and with little time to calculate, she grabs both her blades, inserting them inside the creature''s back.


    The creature begins twitching, its black blood pouring out; distracted, Apatura doesn''t see the creature punch toward her stomach.


    Boom


    Apatura is sent flying, colliding with a tree. Her head smacked the wood with such potency it led her to lose consciousness.


    The creature looks over at its blade, grabs it, and runs towards Apatura to finish her off. Apatura can barely open her eyes, seeing how the creature raises its blade in a fatal angle. Aiming to pierce her skull.


    Tick


    Apatura senses the blade on top of her head, blood slowly pouring out, while the being looks back to its artifact.


    “Weren’t you going to kill me! Kill me but leave her alone!!”


    “Shh!” The creature, irritated, covers her mouth.


    “We both were lucky to be alive.”


    Biting the creature''s hand, Apatura screams, “Shut up!! Didn’t you want to kill me?!”


    “Don’t miss construction. I do want to kill you, but orders can’t be disobeyed.” Pointing at Iris, “That young girl can be saved if you decide to complete our deal.”


    The creature walked back to grab its artifact.


    “Why are you using her as blackmail?!” Apatura screamed, causing her to launch her blade at the creature.


    The creature, narrowly avoiding the blade, took a deep breath. “You have ten days; each day the girl will get weaker, and on day eleven she will die.” The creature said before disappearing with the fog.


    Seeing the creature disappear, Apatura fell on her knees; she felt stuck in a situation where she would only be losing.


    “Also pay respect to a rose angel.”


    A mysterious voice echoed through the forest; the potency caused many trees to fall down.


    Apatura smashes her head to the ground out of desperation. She has nowhere left to go and no one else to turn to. The words ‘a rose angel’ sent her further in despair.


    With her bleeding arms, she hugged the sleeping Iris. She always knew that Iris was special, but her original thinking of her being half an angel was disproved by the confirmation that Iris is a combination of the strongest races.


    Half-bloods are rare and are known as the strongest beings in any world that has the fortune of having an angel visit them and impregnate a human woman. The possibilities are incredibly low, and the chances of the woman surviving are even lower.


    Pure angels are rarer due to the low fertility of female angels; however, pure angels are the third strongest beings, and their extremely high level in every statistic makes them a defender of many words.


    They are nothing compared to a rose angel, being the second strong being aside from the superior being. A combination of a Rose and an Angel can only birth one child; however, the hardest part of this combination is due to how politically divided both angels and Roses are.


    “Iris I promise I will save you. I don’t want to fail another person.” Apatura, he muttered before falling unconscious.