The fire in the pool of blood emitted hot winds, causing anyone nearby to suffer burns and feel intense heat.
Even the thick police uniforms were barely able to withstand the hot winds. Fortunately, one of them did not come into direct contact with the fire. The four police officers immediately took three steps back to keep their distance.
Calling two other officers who were extinguishing the remaining flames, the four police officers did not immediately inform others about the blood. They felt strange and puzzled, as they found no casualties from the devastating house fire.
But shortly after that, a sound like raindrops was heard. From the pool of blood, a strange creature emerged, human-like in appearance, with two pointed horns on its head and two black wings covering part of the crowd, shielding them from the sunlight.
The residents fell silent, including the police officers, the firemen who were underneath it, Albert and Liam. The atmosphere turned gloomy and quiet, some people were frightened, their mouths tightly shut as if something was blocking them. But their gaze was focused on the strange figure floating above them.
The creature flapped its wings once, causing the people around it to react, afraid, thinking it would kill them. Two seconds later, a scream for help was heard, and one of the women in the crowd immediately ran away, thinking that the creature would kill her viciously.
From one scream, it branched out. The crowd immediately fled to the right and left, leaving the place and planning to return to their respective homes.
But the plan to escape was not as easy as imagined. Some selfish people did not care about others, pushing those around them, and some were even thrown into the river and immediately swept away by the strong current.
There were two ways out, one straight ahead to the main road and the other to a small bridge on the right.
The four police officers tried to calm the situation, but their efforts were unsuccessful. They were blocked by a bearded man who told the police not to interfere and instructed them to get rid of the strange creature.
One of the police officers refused, becoming emotional. The officer, who had a single star badge on his chest, pointed his gun. He aimed it directly at the man's temple.
Click. His index finger wanted to pull the trigger, but the police captain covered the barrel of the gun with his hand while shaking his head at him.
"All right," said the police officer after seeing the captain's command.
The bearded man was frightened. He growled angrily and left, pushing past the people in front of him.
Meanwhile, three firefighters approached the police officers. They asked them about the strange creature that had suddenly appeared. However, the four police officers shook their heads in unison, not knowing how to answer.
Meanwhile, Albert gave one of the revolvers to Liam. He told him to get ready to shoot the creature, especially at its wings and wrists.
"Do you know what that creature is?" asked Liam, panicking as he looked at Albert's face, seeing a strange creature for the first time in his life.
Albert sighed before answering, "Yes, I know. That winged creature is none other than your friend, Forn."
"What!?" Liam whispered in surprise, learning that the strange creature was Forn. He didn't know how Albert knew that.
He fell silent. Wondering, who was Albert really?
The glint of the revolver momentarily blinded his eyes. Liam immediately looked at the revolver and, without hesitation, aimed it exactly as Albert had instructed earlier.
Liam sighed calmly before giving the order to attack simultaneously.
Bang! Bang!
The bullets flew through the air, hitting the right and left wings. The strange creature, a Forn, screamed in pain, and at that moment, its consciousness returned.
But not as a human, trapped in a beautiful dream and controlled by an evil spirit that sought to destroy everything it saw.
The creature's condition had reached ninety percent; it only had a few percent left before it could move freely.
The police and firefighters were shocked when they saw the two of them suddenly shoot. The captain's eyes widened as he saw Albert blink twice, as if signalling something.
Because of his experience as a police officer and captain, and his understanding of body language, the police captain ordered his three men to shoot the strange creature flying in front of him.
"Are you sure you want to do this, Captain?" asked one of his subordinates, unsure whether the pistol he carried could kill the creature.
"Trust me," replied the captain calmly, even though he wasn't sure whether a bullet could defeat the terrifying monster.
Even with the remaining bullets, Albert did not have enough to destroy the black wings that protected the monster's wrists. He was also unsure whether a regular bullet could penetrate the hardness of those wings.
He tried to stay calm, thinking positively and believing that he and those here could defeat the monster. On the other hand, he wanted to repay Forn and save 'her' from the control of the evil spirit.
"Shoot!" Albert shouted loudly, followed by a barrage of gunfire.
As he had thought, even the bullets couldn't scratch the monster's wings. Before the creature could fully transform into a monster, Albert wanted to defeat it as quickly as possible.
But he couldn't. He was just an ordinary human being who relied only on a revolver. Unlike his other colleagues, who were able to control different abilities according to the roles they took on.
He was desperate, but he saw the policeman and Liam continuing to shoot without caring about his current situation. Albert smiled slightly before putting his right hand in his coat pocket.
He took out a bottle and an amulet with something written on it with a star and crescent moon symbol on top. At a glance, Liam saw it, reflexively stopped shooting, and walked closer to him to find out.
"Is that an amulet? And what do you plan to do with those two items?" Liam asked curiously, wanting to know how the amulet worked in this world.
Previously, Liam knew what an amulet was. Even in his hometown on Earth, a village or more accurately a town. People believed in an amulet that could ward off evil spirits, ghosts, and even bring good luck.
At the time, he didn't believe in such nonsense. He lived like a normal person, ignoring such silly and illogical things.
Meanwhile, Albert ignored Liam's question. His gaze was fixed on the amulet's inscription, and his left hand was focused on holding a pointed bottle with a wooden cap.
"O Fortune, I beseech you, drive away fatigue and evil from his body," Albert's voice rose high. "Make him sleep soundly, and protect the damaged body of the person inside him."
Instantly, a blackish-purple aura emerged from the paper talisman. The sky above reacted, turning grey, and a soothing atmosphere descended. The talisman flew from Albert's grasp, striking the creature at high speed and disappearing before it touched its physical body.
The sky returned to normal, sunlight piercing through the clouds, hitting the body of a woman who was falling down.
Everyone who saw it couldn't believe that Albert could defeat the creature with just a piece of ordinary paper—which they thought it was, but it was actually a talisman.
Albert gripped the bottle tightly and threw it towards Forn's limp body lying among the charred ruins of the building.
The atmosphere became calmer and different from before. The four police officers approached, followed by firefighters from behind, intending to thank him for helping resolve this tense situation.