The war outside the door and temple could be felt all around the air. Salem felt its presence best despite not being anywhere near involved. She didn’t care for the politics of this world. She just wanted to leave this hellish place and go somewhere she could rest. 

The doors offered no bright light as she pulled them open. Her ears were bombarded with the sound of cries not inside the temple walls, but outside. But her eyes were greeted with the sight of two opposing forces based on the armor each group wore. 

These groups were deadly quiet as they took in not only Salem’s appearance but the fact that she had come from a sacred room only high-ranking officials would be able to enter. It was a known fact that only saints, the pope, and or those with the will of a god could enter the offering room. And even then, some Popes could not enter unless their will was in alignment with the lords. It was a little-known secret that no pope or saint had been able to enter the chamber in centuries.

So, this mob was currently petrified. 

One young soldier immediately stepped to the back. He was a knight of the temple of Dawne. He wanted to become a paladin. He had holy power and above-average instincts. He felt he could do it, so long as his attitude and will were righteous. 

Maybe because he was such a person, he found the being in front of the doors exceptionally terrifying. The aura coming off her was hills, even mountains higher than that of the Pope he had met on a few occasions. He found it hard to look at her. 

When he heard her hoarse voice, he felt as though the time froze.

“Hm… is my hair white?” The statement was one of shock, but her tone of voice had no emotion. She seemed to be looking at her reflection through the shield one of the soldiers in the front had. 

“My eyes… are they red?!” Again, the statement was meant to be full of shock but carried no emotion. 

In fact, the only trace of emotion was the frown on her face.

This young soldier gulped. He could barely breathe because of the pressure she was giving off. So, he was certain everyone else had either fainted standing up or just gave up entirely. 

The woman, who he could not tell was young or old, looked at both groups disinterestedly. The young man noticed the two egg-like things floating by her head as she did so. He wondered if those came from the room or elsewhere. And what else lay hidden inside the room.

One of the front-line soldiers of the temple must have recognized this woman because he instantly snapped out of his trance.

“The demon from the prison!” He shouted in realization. In his shout, the others beside him snapped out of their daze and moved into a position better for a fight.

The young soldier did not miss the expression on the demon’s face at that word. The being did not seem to like those words because an emotion crossed her face for the first time as she looked at the man in front. He also happened to be the man whose shield she had used as a mirror. 

The soldier in the back only heard one more dry hoarse word from the woman before he saw red.

“Demon?” 

***

Demon. 

That accursed word that began her torment. 

Demon, Demon, demon… always a demon

Salem’s eyes narrowed dangerously. She would overlook her current physical appearance. She would not overlook this blatant hostility. Not anymore. Not ever again. 

She watched the group to her right all move into some formation and ignored the dazed group to her left. Salem’s eyes flashed to match her anger. She wanted to behead every single one of these bastards and to match her will, what could only be described as a wind scythe cleanly and swiftly swept through the crowd to the right. Every neck was missing its head by the time she blinked and looked to the left. Fountains of red burst from the necks missing heads but Salem wasn’t looking at the theatrics.

I thought committing my first kill would be more nauseous…

“Are you with the temple as well?” 

Salem asked, staring down at the other group. If the temple knights had silver-like armor with gold trimming, this group's armor was gold with purple and black trimming.

The man in the front seemed to be approaching his 30s. His brown hair was partially swept back but still a mess nonetheless. He was about a foot taller than Salem but Salem could see the fear in his eyes as he stuttered a response.

“N-no, ma’am… We’re with the re-rebellion… we’re tr-trying to build a unified empire…” 

His legs and his companions' legs all trembled at Salem’s icy and furious glare. 

“Empire?” She whispered to herself. She took one more look at the group before turning her head to the group she massacred easily. Her rage was not directed toward this group. She felt no emotions. She could faintly feel the presence of someone running away from her current position but she cared not. Part of her was tempted to kill the presence, but the direction she felt it running was coming from the direction she had emerged from. She would not waste the time. Her current goal remained unchanged. 

She needed to leave.

“I see…” She began, “Where is the exit?”

The older man pointed to the right with trembling arms.

Salem looked in the direction he pointed and tried to pinpoint the presence around the area. With her eyes closed, she could sense what was going on around her more clearly. Satisfied with what she sensed, she nodded to the man. 

“Thank you.”

She began to walk past the group of knights and they parted for her. Not a single one dared to stop her.

***

The older soldier known as Gerald could finally breathe when the mysterious woman finally left this floor for the third floor. The third floor was the main floor. They were currently on the fourth floor. The first underground floor. 

“Vice-captain… Do we report this?” Felix, a young soldier he had personally trained, asked him with wet eyes. 

“I... I am not sure. Let us finish what we came to do. Then we will report this to his majesty if need be.”