Second Time's a Charm (MxM)✔

Chapter 37 - Turn of Events

 Hunkered down, deep in thought, the ex-marquess only barely noticed a silhouette moving around the edge of the battlefield. Whoever it was, they were low to the ground, trying to blend in with the shrubbery as they moved away. At first, he thought it must be a deserter trying to escape from the deadly battle, but he realized that the man was not dressed at all in armor and instead wore green and brown leather to camouflage himself

An Empirical spy...

The man had somehow gone unnoticed by the demons, and Cain realized it'd be up to him to stop this man from reporting back to the Emperor who so far was still ignorant of the fact that the Kingdom was utilizing demons in their army.

It would certainly be a problem if they somehow started showing up prepared for such supernatural encounters...

An arrow struck the ground just in front of Cain. The ex-marquess moved around it and began to follow the spy. He could handle one human with his supernatural strength. It was dodging the projectile weapons that he was worried about.

The further he got away from the battlefield, the more confident he became until he was able to get up and burst into a full sprint, following the spy as he disappeared back into the tree line. He wasn't sure if Catalina spotted him leaving, or Maddox for that matter, but he had to hurry and make sure this threat was dealt with.

Turning around a rather thick trunk, he was surprised when the man suddenly disappeared into thin air. Cain whipped his head around, desperately trying to see where he'd gone, when something flew out from behind him, hitting him square on the head and knocking the man off his balance.

It was a thin tree branch, which had broken upon contact. It didn't hurt so much as surprise Cain, and he glanced upwards to find the Spy pulling out a dagger and lunging at him.

All it took was a simple upwards kick for him to send the man flying, hitting his back against a nearby tree and falling limply to the ground. Cain then hurried over and pinned him, not taking any risks, and checked him for further weapons.

Aside from an Empirical symbol and a few drafts of the paper, the dagger seemed to be his only weapon. Cain quickly tucked that into his belt and smacked the man's head once more for good measure before dragging him down into a new ditch to wait out the battle. There he sat, guarding his catch, so he could later be tortured for information.

Eventually, the battle cries died down and it started to get quiet. Cain was all but ready to drag the unconscious man back when he heard the heavy footsteps of a soldier heading his way. Once more ducking down, he prepared himself for another fight, only to coil into himself as the hulking figure of a demon appeared.

For a split second, he forgot they were o the same side, but once he calmed his rapidly beating heart, he slowly revealed himself, waving a hand so the monster would notice.

"Tell Maddox I've captured a spy," Cain called out.

The demon's horned brow furrowed, not liking that someone else was giving him orders. Then he sniffed the air, tilting his head curiously before nodding. From there, Cain made sure the man wasn't awake yet, wishing he had a rope or something to tie him up with, and dragged him out from the forest.

Seeing that the battle was over and the Empire's forces were greatly defeated, he summoned Catalina. The demon was dripping with blood, looking as though she'd bathed in the stuff, and smirking evilly. Her eyes then drifted down toward the unconscious figure.

"Oh, I see you participated in the fight after all." Her lilting voice did not match her threatening appearance as she kneeled to flick the spy's head.