"They're strong, but they're having a hard time finding their purpose. Humans call them gods. They reached heaven, but they fell to the darkest places. There, they found their true nature. They do not exist to create and destroy. Their gifts heralded an even more cruel fate. They are the enemies of the gods. ”

- Memories of the old man.

Carinthia

I walked forward, one foot carefully resting on the ice. This winter was unexpectedly cold, so the Great Lakes froze for the first time in years. Heavy fog shrouded the lights of the city and the various villages around the lake. Slowly, the mist condenses on the surface of the lake into beautiful ice flakes, ready for a wonderful sight as soon as dawn comes. But it's still dark. The sound of my feet on the ice is the only sound here.

I hate the weather because it frustrates me. Unfortunately, this happens in this valley almost all year round, except in summer. The mountains surrounding the lake are natural protection and also hinder the dissipation of fog. So that means we have foggy weather half the time. Or at least the fog, if it didn't actually fall to the ground. At least the weather makes it unlikely that anyone will see what I'm doing here in the middle of the night.

Panting, I pulled my large package a little further. City Lights is my only navigation point, but I'm pretty sure I'm on the right track. My goal is for fishermen to keep their holes that don't freeze. I have a certain reason to visit it from time to time. It is possible to dispose of my garbage in another place, but that place belongs to the divers. And they also tend to pursue their hobbies during unholy times, so if I don't want to be disturbed, this place is my best bet.

Sure, I can make a new hole here and now, but it's a hassle to cover it up afterwards. So I endured the drudgery of pulling my package across the ice. It is tied around the waist with a thick rope to reduce the force of pulling heavy objects. At first I thought it would be easy to pull things across the ice, but the damn ice made it harder than I thought.

A few minutes later, after some tossing and turning, I finally arrived at my destination. The hole is about a meter in diameter and already has a thin crust of ice. This could mean that the fishermen are coming home early today. Grunting, I crushed the ice with my boots and silently thanked Gore-Tex for his invention. Getting wet now will be the last highlight of a bad day.

Once my work is done, I'll settle down and giggle at the thought of being found out now. A man in a black coat with a strange white baggage in his hand, apparently brought here on foot from the shore.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my cigarette. I don't usually smoke. Actually, I never smoke. But some days are just too bad and I need to relax. Otherwise I might have killed someone, and I wanted to avoid that. The people who provided me with these things assured me that the cigarettes were 100% natural. Even the wrapping paper is made from tea leaves.

After calming down for a minute, I pulled out the firecracker and lit the first one with a cigarette. Then it fell into the hole. The water bubbles up a little until the firecracker explodes under the water with an almost imperceptible "pop-thump" sound.

Completely unremarkable, but it gets the job done. Sometimes I really don't understand human beings. It is forbidden to have firecrackers and other things that are essential to life. I understand weapons and hazardous materials. There are some very stupid people out there. The less likely they are to be exposed to harmful substances, the better.

But what about firecrackers? What will they do next? Tell us to only use kitchen knives with safety guards? I'm really glad I have enough firecrackers in my collection to last me a lifetime. I don't have many minions to summon. I'll have to find something else that makes him angry enough for a long time to come and get to the root of the problem.

I was about to throw the eleventh firecracker when a large, round head emerged from the water. The man in the lake opened his mouth and corrected: with a large mouth, he spat out the water, revealing several rows of needle-like teeth. I didn't hesitate to throw the firecracker down his throat. He choked and swallowed, and then his throat bulged like a toad. With a cough, he spat out the wreckage of the firecracker and a cloud of smoke.

When he was finally done, he looked at me reproachfully with dead fish eyes. "Why are you polluting my lake? I told you that when you do this, the water will taste good for days! And the noise! Have some compassion for the aquamarine life form! ”

Instead of answering, I looked down at him, indicating that I was someone who had to be respected. Nothing is said to be powerful.

He opened the nostrils of his big nose and pulled himself out of the water, revealing his dwarf-like body covered in a seaweed cloak. I guess he seems more human than a normal member of the paranormal community. If he wears decent clothes and keeps his mouth shut, he will be mistaken for a little guy with Down syndrome. The clothes will hide the fact that the rest of his body looks like a swollen, drowned corpse.

After landing in front of me like a penguin and standing up, he said to me again, "Tell me what you want." The kids were hungry and my wife was waiting for me at home. ”

He always bragged about his speed and agility in the water, but when I saw him on land, I had a hard time believing it. I deliberately blew a circle of cigarettes in his direction and pointed the cigarette at the bundle. "Disposal work."

The man in the lake pursed his lips and bared his teeth. After coughing up more water, he looked at the bundle. "No way! I only accept corpses. This one is still alive. You should stop sucking those things. The mind is groggy. Didn't your parents teach you well? ”

In fact, they did. The fact that I smoke this stuff is the only reason you're still alive. Otherwise I'll rip your throat out in your first sentence. Yes, actually I'm glad I'm still cold. Everything is fine, there is no reason for rape and murder. Well, in his case, murder alone is the preferable option.

And he's useful. If I kill him, I will have to look for a replacement. It's too much work.

Sadly, all I got was a state of relaxation. It has helped me a lot in dealing with other paranormal phenomena. The desire to tear them apart and leak their guts is less intense.

"Yes, Paul."

"My name is not Paul. It's—" He opened his mouth wide and let out a strange grunt.

I threw the rest of my cigarette into the lake, much to the annoyance of the people in the lake. It's too much effort to use his real name. If I had a glass of water on hand, I think I could reproduce the sound.

Reaching under my coat, I pulled out my trusty Glock17. Then I unloaded half of the magazine into the twitchy bag. The action stops, and the red liquid begins to seep into the fabric. This should be done before Paul arrives. "It's dead. Take it. I don't want to see it again anytime soon. ”

The man in the lake shook his head. "It smells bad. What did you kill this time? Corpse? Necromancer? This is definitely immortal. Something like that won't get into my lake. ”

I hissed and aimed my gun at this stupid toad. It's been taking too long. I can watch movies at home now. "Stupid toad. It's a lich, and I don't have time to kill him again and again until he finally decides to keep dying, and I don't want to lock him up somewhere, just let him catch up with me as soon as he breaks free. ”

Getting closer, I waved my pistol in front of him. "We have an agreement. Or don't you remember when I dealt with the Japanese kappa invasion? You promised to dispose of my garbage. ”

Toads are hairy. "I thought I agreed with the delicious human body. Don't bother, move the meat. ”

A low growl came from deep in his throat. "There's no way I'm going to feed you humans. No one cares if the human body is found in the city. It's not even worth moving them. Our dealings always mean trouble with the corpses of supernatural forces. ”

He looked down at the barrel of my gun for a moment, then turned and began to push the bundle towards the hole. "I guess it's nice to have a renewable source of meat. The little one won't mind if it tastes bad. Then he fell into the water after the package.

And gone.

It took me a long time to realize that he had left me alone, and the blood was flowing all the way to the hole. He first provoked me to shoot the Lich, and then he told me to clean up the mess. Cursing, I walked to the mouth of the cave and poured the rest of the magazine into the water, just to annoy him. I'm sure there's no way to hit him. He may have reached half of his tadpoles.

I turned, stared coldly at the bloodstains, and lit another cigarette. There's no way I'm going to leave it like that. If they find this, humans will scream "mordio". And the blood is already frozen. There is no chance to scrape it off quickly manually. If I don't want to spend the night here.

Usually I would avoid magic at all costs. It's like lighting a beacon for every damn Superman, even with a little bit of talent. I want to give it my all at all times. Especially after today. Something must be going on in my city, and I have a feeling that I have to make laws very quickly. So what should I do?

Tired is worse than consuming a little mana. And I guess if I use it here, no one can connect it to me. I waved my hand, imagining a blade of power, drawing the power from within me. With a light scrape, I cleared the path and poured everything into the water.

Now I'm left with a nice blank surface. Still suspicious and strange, but there is no reason to call the authorities. Maybe the ice crystals are long enough to make it look less suspicious until tomorrow.

One can hope.

I spent a few more minutes there, smoking a cigarette and looking at the city lights. My city. Someone tried to mess with it. For some reason, many treasure hunters put aside their fears and plunged into my turf to find the right person.

Today, I had to decapitate a group of vampires trying to build a new lair. Then there's a stupid bear man who thinks he can wander around my city like an elephant in a china shop. To celebrate the day, a lich tries to take over the central cemetery. A strong one on top.

I managed to minimize human contact with the supernatant, which is a miracle. When the bear man broke through the wall of her bedroom, an old lady suffered a heart attack. I shrugged. The old witch would soon die anyway.

My mind went back to the lich. He said that if he found someone, it would be a big price. Sadly, there is nothing to be gained from him. Most lichs are inherently insane. When I took it apart, his mind was already in chaos.

Contrary to popular belief, lichs are flesh-and-blood creatures. A little more bones and more skin than meat, but still a breathing creature. They simply inherited a particularly powerful talent for necromancy, turning themselves into almost immortal beings. Immortal, but not invincible. I shot him, chopped him to pieces, burned him to ashes, and the guy dared to come back. When I realized that no matter what I did, he would slowly reassemble, I collected all the pieces of him and brought him here.

Usually my city is quiet. It is known for the fact that unruly elements tend to disappear.

Who or what is important enough for so many supernatural people to risk their skin? No lord will allow them to reveal the supernatural community to humans. So why are those mercenaries rampage through my city? Well, I think I'll do some research tomorrow. But now I have to get out of here, or some nasty superman will look into the magic I used before.

Then I'll have to do more cleanup.

Sometimes I wish it was all just the result of my consumption of hallucinogenic weeds. Yes. That would be fine. Everything that happened was just an illusion! I'm just an ordinary ordinary person with little to no human problems and human ambitions.

Sadly, this is not the case. And I have a certain ambition. Whoever is at fault for the trouble will soon find out.