X-Loves: From Another World
Chapter 35: Ika, The First Elder

“What's up, little girl? Are you afraid of me?”

His breath hit Anna's face. It smells like chemicals, or it might be a combination of organic ingredients. Slowly the girl saw the entire form of the creature.His legs were overgrown with scales like crocodile skin, but the difference is green.

Slightly up to the middle of his body, visible yellow scales cover his stomach that is not too distended. While both of his scaly hands look stocky and have fingers like a human.

The girl then tried to look at his head. But before doing so, the mysterious creature immediately faced his face. Anna was immediately shocked to see the true figure of the creature.

“Eh...” Anna slightly shouted and tried to retreat after the creature advanced its face.

He looks like a demon who is often depicted in various stories. His face was green and layered with crocodile scales. It has a nose and ears that are similar to humans in general, but it has a horn in the middle of its head. His eyes were yellow and glowing like crocodile eyes. Her sinister gaze made Anna quite frightened looking at her face.

“Ka..ka..”.

Anna still stammered at the terrifying figure of the creature. And seeing his terrified expression made the creature laugh with excitement.

“HAHAHAHA..”

BRUKK.. The green creature violently kicked the face of Anna who was still helpless, until she crashed for several meters before finally stopping after hitting a wall.

“Aghh..

The blonde-haired girl looked back at the creature. Out of the dust, he walked boldly.

“You must know who I am, right? I am Ika, First Elder of the Great Azazel,”

“Ka...kau..”.

Ika, the first Elder of Azazel. He had heard of her while conversing in the sacred library with Aldy and Pearl. He is one of four Elders who will return to the surface of Tierra Hyuma before the arrival of Azazel ‘The Demon King’.

And now, Ika has set foot here. That means Azazel will soon arrive at Tierra Hyuma. Given what Aldy had said a few months ago about his terrifying magic abilities, his arrival meant ruin for Tierra Hyuma.

The girl did not expect that the Demon King and his four Elders had returned today. That means Tierra Hyuma is in danger. Someone has to stop it before it's too late.

“Huff.. I've guessed, you must already know who we are. The library keeper seems to have talked a lot to you,”

Ika spoke while occasionally growling like a monster. He walked towards Anna, who was still leaning against the wall, explaining something to her.

 “Thousands of the past year, this historic event has indeed been foreseen before by the psychic, about the great fight of a leader and his four guards against the troublemaking humans of Tierra Hyuma. And I didn't expect, I'd be the one to free the planet from you guys,”

Ika's words were as if blaming humanity for everything that happened in this Tierra Hyuma. They are a threat to the planet. Anna denied his words, though with great difficulty.

“Sa...is it humanity you said? It is precisely you and the poor Azazel who pose a threat to the planet. You have attacked us in the past. You are not liberators, but criminals,” Anna said.

Hearing that, Ika smiled widely.

“That's according to you. But the truth is we are the ones who will liberate the planet. By the way..”.

He turned his face back to Anna and shocked the girl again.

“... Nor did I expect that you were one of the two parasites that would hinder our efforts,”

“A...What?”

Anna's confused. What is meant by the parasite by the green creature.

“The psychic also said that we have to deal with two young witches who will hinder our goals. And I can't believe one of those two guys is you, pretty blonde girl,”

Ika stuck out her tongue that resembled the serpent's tongue on Anna's cheek, so that the saliva soaked her bright skin.

“Iyuhh. Stay away from me strange creature”

Anna tried to keep her face away from Ika, but it made the green creature smile.

“Haha... You want to stay away from me huh? Alright. As you wish, you will never see me again. But..”

Unexpectedly, the green creature instantly clasped Anna's neck with both hands.

“...after you meet your death, little girl,”

“Aghhh..”

Ika strangled the girl's neck so she couldn't breathe,

“After you have been eliminated, I will finish off the other parasite, and Azazel the Great's move to free this world will be smooth,”

From his words, it seemed like Ika would finish off Dwi after he managed to kill Anna here. That would be a threat to that man. He must immediately escape from the green creature and tell Dwi that he is also in danger.

“D...Dwi..”.

“A...I should immediately save her”

The girl clutched the two green hands of the creature, trying to break away from it. But it seems to be in vain. The creature's grip was too strong. The girl could not escape from him. His neck was strangled and he could not breathe.

“K...If this continues, I can die,” thought.

His respiratory tract began to burn. The oxygen supply to his brain has begun to decrease. The girl's body started to limp and her vision started to blur. Anna continued to try to escape from Ika's grip with all her might. He did not want to die that way.

But in the midst of that precarious condition, he suddenly remembered something. It's an alternate world, not a real world. His current body was not his real body. She was a student, not an academy girl. This strange world had locked him up and left him perplexed.

Therefore, Anna wants to immediately return to the real world, no matter what. Various ways he had traveled, from learning various kinds of magic techniques to breaking one of the main rules in this world. But everything is nil.

Anna was desperate in the various ways that she went, until she finally found another idea. It's a very extreme idea, but there's no other way than to do it.

“Ah, yes. It's just an alternate world, right? The world that makes me so exhausted lives here. I want to put an end to all this and return to the real world.” he said in his heart.

Anna looked at the sky above her. His eyes look empty. The girl looked completely exhausted and desperate, with everything going on in this strange world.

“Maybe if I die here, my goal will be achieved. Perhaps this is the only way to return, by eliminating the existence of an Anna Sahilatua,”

Anna let go of his grasp. He was resigned to his fate, killed by Ika the First Elder. He slowly closed his eyes, and waited for his death to arrive in this world.

In his own heart there was doubt. If he dies here, he can go back to the real world, or he will be completely lost from the universe. Worried, that was what was on the girl's mind.

He then remembered the shadows of his past when he first stopped at Una Island. Anna is lost and a girl named Licia Salampessy helps her. He and the girl eventually became my friends, studied together, practiced witchcraft together, and lived a life together.

But everything may be just an illusion. Anna Sahilatua, that is just a pseudonym, the result of a pact with her partner Dwi Septianto who is also lost in this strange world. Everything here might just be a lie. All those wonderful memories he probably had to forget before he completely parted from this world.

“Licia.. Sorry..”.

Anna is ready to face the end of her history here. But in the midst of that silence and darkness, a loud voice sounded out.

“DON'T GIVE UP, ANNA!!”

It was the voice of a girl his age, the voice of his countryman. I don't know where that scream came from. But the voice seemed to tell her not to give up so easily.

“Licia?”

Anna immediately remembered something. It is one of the ‘two rescuers’ Tierra Hyuma. His responsibility for the safety of the planet is enormous. Finally he realized that the way he did it was not right. He can't give up now.

The blond girl opened her eyes again and clasped Ika's hands, strangling her neck.

“No... I can't die now...”.

With all his might he tried to release the grip of the green creature. Ika who saw it was surprised, but she immediately smiled with a grinning expression.

“Oh, you're not giving up yet either huh, little girl. All right, I'll speed up your time of death,”

Ika strengthened her grip on the neck of the girl. Anna also felt tremendous pain in her respiratory tract.

“Aghhh..”

“Death to you, parasite,”

Although her grip grew stronger, the girl still did not give up. He rebelled with all his might in order to escape from the monster.

“Sial, I must release it immediately..” he said inwardly.

His sight was back blurry. His body is getting weaker. Slowly his gaze began to blur until darkness enveloped his vision. His fate is now on the edge of the horn. But in the midst of that life-and-death fight, an event happened in front of them. It sounded like the sound of a smooth object darting very quickly and then stopping in front of them.

VUSH…

“What?”