After Carter landed the helicopter, Lieutenant Robert rushed out the side hatch, boots pounding against the earth as he sprinted toward the wounded. Captain William lay slumped beside the landing zone, barely conscious. At the same time, Markus turned sharply, weapon raised and aimed directly at Matthew.
"Sir! We need your help over here! He is severely injured!" Jessica called out, urgency in her voice as she knelt beside Simon.
"William! Stay with me, please!" Robert cried, dropping to his knees next to the captain. "Carter, take us to the base now! Stay with me, William!"
"I'm... fine... help Simon..." William rasped, his eyes fluttering weakly.
"Simon?" Robert repeated, eyes darting to where the others had gathered.
"Help! Simon is not moving!" Alucard's voice cracked with panic.
"What?! Where is his injury?" Markus demanded.
"I don't know! He's just not moving or talking, and I can barely hear his heartbeat!" Alucard responded, checking Simon's pulse.
"Let me help him," Matthew offered, stepping forward.
"No! You stay right there, you evil shit!" Markus snarled, tightening his grip on the weapon.
"Me?? What did I do??" Matthew asked, raising his hands in confusion.
Without warning, Markus charged the laser gun and unleashed a powerful beam of energy. But to his shock, Matthew didn't even flinch—the beam was absorbed entirely by his gauntlets, dissipating in a swirl of black smoke and violet energy.
"Hold your fire! He's an ally! Without his help, we wouldn't be alive right now!" Alucard shouted, stepping in between them.
Markus stared at him in disbelief. A tall human, cloaked in suspicious gear and shadowy smoke... and he wasn't a demon?
"He what?!" Markus muttered.
Matthew wasted no time. He activated his gauntlets, releasing a strange energy that shimmered in the air as he began to "heal" Simon.
"Focus on your injured friend! Take him to the nearest hospital or base as soon as possible. I've healed him a little, but I can't do more than that—his brain might be damaged," Matthew warned.
"Thanks. Help me carry him to the helicopter, and then heal the captain over there," Alucard said.
"Sure thing!" Matthew replied.
He turned to William next, repeating the healing process, then carefully carried both Simon and William to the helicopter. He also collected all of the armor sets lying nearby. Just as they were about to depart, a distant explosion rocked the area, a fiery flash visible on the horizon. Carter quickly checked the radar.
"There are about fourteen entities heading toward us," he reported.
"Ignore them. We don't have time for that," Lieutenant Robert ordered.
"I'll go check. You can go, and I'll cover you," Matthew offered.
"You can't walk or ride from here to the base!" Robert objected.
"Why not? I can fly, though," Matthew replied with a small shrug.
"We'll go as fast as we can to reach a base in Colorado. We'll rest there, and then head toward the main base in Tennessee," Robert explained.
"Tennessee?! That's like—what?—two or three thousand miles?!" Matthew exclaimed.
"I already told you—it's very far away. So hop on, and leave those entities be," Robert said firmly.Matthew gave a small nod, stepping back as the rotors picked up speed. The helicopter began to rise, dust and leaves swirling around them. As it lifted off, he took one last look toward the horizon—toward the rapidly approaching shapes. His eyes narrowed beneath his visor.
He leapt into the air and vanished in a burst of black smoke.
Inside the chopper, Lieutenant Robert looked over at the wounded—Simon was barely breathing, and William's pulse had weakened. Jessica knelt beside them, applying what pressure she could, eyes flickering with worry.
"Hold on," Robert muttered, watching the forest blur beneath them. "We're almost there."
Fifteen Minutes Later – Military Base Delta-7, Colorado
The landing pad trembled as the helicopter descended. Armed soldiers and medical personnel rushed forward. As soon as the landing skids touched down, the side doors flew open.
"Get stretchers, now!" Robert ordered.
Two doctors sprinted toward the aircraft as Matthew reappeared from above, dropping lightly beside the team, his armor scorched and smoldering.
"We lost visual on the enemy mage," he reported. "I drove him off—for now."
Robert gave him a sharp nod. "Good work."
Simon and William were quickly lifted onto gurneys and rushed inside. Blood trailed behind them like a second set of footprints.
Then, a voice cut through the commotion.
"Hold it!" a commanding shout rang out.
A soldier, tall and grim-faced, pushed through the crowd. His uniform bore the insignia of a high-ranking officer, his rifle already raised—pointed directly at Simon's unconscious body.
"Get away from him!" the soldier barked. "He's a traitor! He's not going anywhere!"
Robert's eyes widened. "Stand down, Noah!"
But Noah didn't lower his weapon. "That bastard nearly cost us an entire platoon during the assault of that organization don't you remember??. I should've shot him then."
"You move that trigger a millimeter and I will personally put you down." Robert stepped between Noah and the gurney, his hand gripping his sidearm.
Tension exploded into shouting as soldiers began to gather. Some raised weapons, unsure which command to follow.
"Lieutenant, he's a danger to all of us!" Noah snarled. "Why are you protecting him?"
"Because he saved me. He saved William. He saved more people than you'll ever know!" Robert snapped. "He fought beside us when no one else did. He risked his life again and again, and you dare point a gun at him when he's half-dead?!"
Noah didn't flinch. "He disappeared for months. You don't know what he did."
"I know exactly what he did," Robert said through gritted teeth. "He infiltrated the demon lord's ranks. He fed us intelligence. Without him, we wouldn't have made it out alive."
The two men stood nose-to-nose, fists clenched, weapons tight in their hands.
"Enough!" Markus shouted, stepping between them and raising both arms. "You want to kill each other? Go ahead. But not here. Not now."
Robert's chest heaved. Noah's eyes burned with suspicion—but finally, he lowered his weapon.
A slow clap echoed from behind them. A new figure emerged from the base—older, grizzled, wearing a black coat lined with gold trim. His rank was higher than both of theirs.
"Lieutenant Robert and Lieutenant Noah. Step inside with me," the man said calmly. "We need to talk."
Robert holstered his weapon reluctantly. Noah cast one last glare at Simon, then followed.
As they entered the command center, Matthew turned to Markus and Jessica. "Keep watch on Simon and William. Don't let anyone near them until I get back."
Markus nodded grimly.
Something told them… this wasn't the last time someone would try to finish what the demons started.
Matthew's encounter with a demon sorcerer.
As the helicopter vanished into the distance, its echo fading behind the clouds, Matthew hovered mid-air—still, silent, watching.
Then he saw it.
From a break in the tree line, the air shimmered with heat. A rift cracked open in the sky like splitting glass, and from it descended a figure wrapped in fire and malice.
A demon.
Tall, broad-shouldered, with obsidian-black skin etched in glowing infernal runes, he hovered with burning confidence. His eyes blazed with controlled fury, and a twisted grin played on his face. Adorned in dark crimson robes streaked with ember patterns, he looked more like a warlord than a sorcerer.
But Matthew's gaze locked on one thing: the glowing symbol carved into the demon's forehead. A circular crest wrapped in sharp glyph.
Matthew's visor translated it instantly.
"High Rank 4 Mage – Demon Lord's Elite Squad."
His jaw tensed. This was no random attacker. This was an executioner.
The mage raised both hands and conjured a sphere of fire so bright it washed the sky in red. He hurled it—not at Matthew, but at the helicopter.
Matthew's gauntlets sparked to life, glowing with a deep purple hue. Veins of black and violet crystal laced up his forearms. His armor shifted subtly—sleeker, denser, yet still calm and composed. His eyes darkened to pitch black, glowing faintly beneath his helm. His hair shaded into a deep purple as his voice deepened into a cool, dual-toned resonance.
"I won't let you."
He blurred into motion, intercepting the fireball mid-flight. The explosion lit up the sky like a second sun—but when the smoke cleared, Matthew remained, floating unharmed, hand extended from where he had stopped the blast.
The mage raised an eyebrow, amused. "Interesting."
He unleashed a barrage of fire bolts toward the retreating aircraft. Matthew spun through the air with precise control, batting each bolt aside with his crystalline gauntlets, one after the other. A circle ignited beneath the mage, and a mid-tier demon burst from it, wings flaring and fangs dripping.
Matthew didn't flinch.
He raised one hand and, with a pulse of concentrated energy, shattered the summoned beast mid-flight. Flames and black ash rained down.
The mage descended, slow and deliberate, landing on the cracked earth below them.
"You're no ordinary human," he said with a smirk. "But you're not a demon either. What are you?"
Matthew hovered just above the ground, arms lowered, tone calm but laced with quiet authority. "Someone who knows what you are. And what you're doing here."
"Oh?" The mage chuckled. "Then you know I'm not here to kill you. Not yet. I was only toying with your team."
His hand twitched, a spark of flame flaring to life.
"But now you've caught my attention."
The demon lunged—fast and brutal. Their clash sent a shockwave through the trees, fire and shadow slamming together in a burst of pressure. Matthew met each strike with practiced precision, blocking and redirecting rather than matching rage with rage.
In one sharp counter, Matthew slammed a gauntlet into the demon's side, sending him sliding back through the dirt, leaving a trench in the earth.
The demon stopped, breathing heavier, one eyebrow twitching in annoyance.
"You're... different," he muttered.
Matthew's voice remained steady, unreadable. "I don't need to scream to end you."
The mage stared at him for a long moment. Then he chuckled lowly and straightened.
"This was supposed to be sport. But next time... it'll be a hunt."
With a snap of his fingers, the fire around him swirled into a vortex, and in an instant, he vanished—leaving behind only a scorch mark and the lingering heat of his presence.
Matthew remained motionless for a few seconds more, scanning the area. The danger had passed—for now.
He turned toward the horizon and launched himself into the air, streaking back toward the helicopter's last known path.