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Tales of Arcadia Vol 1



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King Wolfe

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Dante & Elyse

All was well in downtown Arcadia. It was well into the morning, so the usually bustling city was quieter than usual but it was still a sight to be appreciated. Down in the Industrial District, things were quieter than usual, but it was a serene type of silence rather than a foreboding one. Contradicting its name, the Industrial District was perhaps the cleanest part of the city, even managing to outdo the parks and nature spots.

There weren’t were carbon emissions here, thanks to a legislation by a certain eccentric “cursed liar” and the only things being emitted into the atmosphere was the steam from the cooling towers. When thinking of an industrial district, Dante immediately thought of a rust ridden, dirty, smelly part of the city were the uncouth gather. But looking around, all he saw were pristine building complexes, humble, clean warehouses and factories and not one uncouth person around.

It’s been a while since Dante came to the city, in fact that only reason he’s here to begin with was because of Lupa, the Roman goddess, convincing him to do so.

“It’s your duty!” she told him. “You’re a soldier of Rome! Protect the State!”

It was only after the 50th fight that Dante finally decided to go. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Arcadia, he enjoyed the city more than he liked to admit, it was what he was leaving behind. A clean, untouched piece of country, a house out of the way and Annabelle. For what? To go gallivanting as a hero? Pfft, was it worth it? No, not really.

But then again…

Dante glanced over his shoulder, sparing a glance at Elyse chattering away with Lupa. Elyse was a capable mage but she was young and inexperienced, plus, like him, she wielded a dark power that she could barely control. It would’ve been reckless to let this girl go off on her own, not that he could tell her that, she wouldn’t appreciate the idea of Dante babysitting her.

He ran a hand through his curly hair and sighed. Dealing with this “issue”, as Lupa called it, wasn’t in his pay grade. There were people in power more capable than him, but then again, even that clandestine organization has gone dark for a little while. Octavia, one of his best friends, had gone away on some mission for them for a while, he wished she hadn’t because then she could deal with this than him.

It might be bad wishing a difficult job on a best friend, but Octavia was more than capable. Besides, who is Dante kidding? If Octy was getting into a jam, he’d be right next to her anyways.

Dante tugged at his suspenders and frowned. He and Lupa were following some demon’s scent but there was absolutely nothing around.

“Lupa, are you sure there’s something here?” he asked.

Lupa, a tiny ancient wolf goddess, sat on Elyse’s shoulder, recalling stories from Ancient Rome like it was just yesterday. She was cute in her tiny wolf form, but when she got bigger she was downright terrifying. “And then I said, ‘Oatmeal? Are you crazy—‘"

Lupa!” Dante snapped.

Lupa gave Dante her traditional wolf grin and waved a dismissive paw. “Oh, Dante, don’t be such a grumpy face.”

Elyse smiled and laughed along with the wolf goddess. Elyse was even weirder than Lupa, if you can believe that, she was absolutely enamored with magic and loved to hang around people capable of it. She was taught, as a Red Mage, that Black Mages were the top dogs when it came to magic, they could bend and fabricate anything. The Black Mages were legendary and considered myth, which is why, of course, Elyse set out to find one. Good thing she came across Dante, the very last Black Mage.

“She’s right, Dante. You should lighten up,” Elyse agreed.

“Don’t listen to Lupa, she smells butts for a living,” Dante grumbled, turning back around and taking another look at the street they were on.

“What was that?!” With the power of a fully-grown lion, Lupa pounced on Dante, easily taking him down despite her miniature size. She bit his ear and Dante cursed in Italian, trying to shake her off.

Elyse walked past the dueling duo and looked around, ignoring Dante’s swears and Lupa’s war declarations in Latin. There wasn’t anything around, like Dante said, but she could still feel a... presence.

She wasn’t as perceptive as Dante, but even she could sense something was wrong. The phoenix within her burned with anticipation, the prospect of bloodshed. That was generally a warning that a fight was about to ensue.
“Guys…” she called, but Dante and Lupa were still fighting. Shadows shifted in the walls. “Guys…!”

A cold presence washed over her and her skin tingled. Elyse blinked and every cell in her body told her to jump. Instead, she tripped over her foot and fell down, keeping her eyes shut as she felt the malevolent force materialize in front of her. Opening her eyes, Elyse exhaled shakily as she realized that Dante and Lupa were in front of her, the Black Mage with his arm extended, blocking the fatal strike that would’ve taken Elyse out.
“T-thanks,” she mumbled, getting to her feet.

Dante didn’t say anything, only glaring at the materializing shadows in front of them. Demons, a dozen or so, appearing right before them. It was hard for Elyse to keep track of how demons looked like. She’s seen hundreds and none of them looked the same. Some looked human, save their pure black eyes. Others looked like eldritch monsters, horrible creatures with gnashing fangs and blades for arms.

Apparently they were as changeable as anything.

One of the demons sniffed and huffed disgustingly. “A goddess,” it hissed, zeroing in on Lupa.

“You smell worse, pretty-boy,” Lupa countered.

“Surrender and we won’t hurt you,” Elyse bravely declared.

A roar of laughter came from the demons. Dante raised an eyebrow at the Red Mage, to which Elyse shrugged sheepishly.

“And why would we do that?” asked one demon. “You may have a puny goddess by your side, but your God, capital-G, has abandoned you. He doesn’t care about you, why should He? Our God cares for us, and soon he will walk the Earth.”

A wave of fire exploded and completely overwhelmed the speaking demon, leaving only a scorch mark and the smell of burning flesh. Dante grinned impishly. “Blah, blah, blah. Your preaching is worse than your smell, dude. Either try to kill me or don’t, just don’t try to convert me.”

The haggle of demons hissed and roared at Dante. The sight of those monsters intimidated Elyse, but she had to be strong, she wasn’t dead weight.

Fire manifested on Elyse’s coat, not burning it, thankfully, and she stepped forward. “So, who’s next?”

Aiden

Aiden rolled out of the way as the Giant struck the wall behind him. It wasn’t a demon, weirdly enough, it was something out of Greek mythology. Aiden tried to remember where exactly this monster was from for a moment. The Giant struck once more with a straight right, aimed directly at Aiden’s face.

The blow was stopped by Aiden, blocking the punch with only one hand despite the Giant’s fist beings twice as big as Aiden. “Oh, definitely Greek, you smell like gyros, man.”

The Giant roared, spouting out angry Greek swears, but Aiden didn’t speak the language, so he opted to punch him right in the stomach. The blow was so detrimental that the Giant exploded in bronze dust, fading away into the primordial ooze that was Tartarus.

Aiden’s never been there, but it wasn’t exactly a vacation spot. Supposedly, Tartarus was one of the ancient primordial deities that helped create everything. He’s called the Father of the Monsters, but there are some myths that describe him as this bottomless pit where all monsters go to when they die.

That was a weird thought. If Greek monsters go to Tartarus, would demons go there or would they go to Hell?

Keeping the myths and stories straight was confusing, it’s hard determining what came first you know and what’s the one true story. Aiden has met Gaia, the ruthless Mother Earth, and he’s also met plenty of angels and gods from all sorts of myths. To Aiden, it was pretty pointless racking your head with complicated things like that, he just decided to face the fact that everything exists and if he could fight, he sure as hell would.

More demons spawned from the ground, like evil daisies, clawing at the dirt as if it’s been centuries since they last touched the earth. There were enough demons to form a flash mob. Some of them looked human, some looked monstrous. Again, it was hard keeping track of demons and their stories. Some stories claim they can only exist when they possess a human, others claim they are the twisted souls of the damned and didn’t need a physical body.

Again, to Aiden, he didn’t really care, if they wanted to kill him they’ll have to try hard.

The demons hissed at Aiden, and he brushed off his blazer slightly, grinning broadly at them. “That’s how you say hi? Sheesh, I guess politeness isn’t a thing for you guys.”

“You will die halfbreed and end up in the deepest pit of Hell, begging for sweet death,” promised one of the demons.

“Well, that certainly isn’t happening…” Aiden folded his arms and stepped forward. “Look, I just need some information. Take me to your leader and I won’t kill you… much.”

Hisses and swears sounded like a symphony from the demons. “Fine… When you get back down to Hell, tell whoever is in charge that I’m gonna put an end to whatever they plan…”

They charged him, claws and fangs slashing wildly, eager to tear him apart piece by piece. Aiden disappeared for a moment and reappeared right behind the group of demons, he held his sword as if he was going to sheathe it.
The demons succumbed to invisible slashes, being torn apart they all roared in pure agony and pain. “Or I’ll come down there myself and stop him,” he finished.

Aiden sighed, turning around and taking a look at the scene of carnage. Another random attack for no good reason, what was going on? The demons weren’t this active. Sure, being half-angel, Aiden tends to attract a lot of attention but it was getting ridiculous. It didn’t help that they had a “no-prisoners” policy and were happy to die rather than give up information.

He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out his little red box, holding it gingerly as if afraid of breaking it in half. This damned “war”, or whatever we’re calling it, put everything on hold. Everything was going well for him and Rika, then this problem comes out of nowhere and no one has any answers. Not even Section III.

Aiden chuckled under his breath. That place was filled with eggheads so seeing them baffled was a first, I mean it was terrifying but interesting at the same time. He was sure that “I don’t know” wasn’t in their vocabulary.

A dark presence overwhelm the little park Aiden was at, his instincts took over and he dodged just as the samurai slashed at him. Getting to his feet, he pocketed his little box and glared at his attacker. It was a ghostly-looking samurai, armor and all, it wouldn’t normally look scary but his armor was covered in insane amounts of blood.

“More? Seriously?” Aiden brandished his katana just in time for the other dozen demons to reappear. “Wonder what Mayuka’s doing…”

They charged.
 

ThePromise

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Lightly tapping her fingers against the surface of a babbling brook, a young woman by the name of Mayuka Ashford kept her gaze focused on the clear stream of water that brushed against her skin. The scenery and fragrance surrounding this small grove outside of Arcadia was a welcome environment after the anxiousness all of her friends had felt the past few weeks. The appearance of dark creatures, referred as demons, were making rare but increasingly-frequent displays of aggression within Arcadia; in even rarer cases these attacks were on the doorstep of the families of Elysium’s defenders. None took too kindly to their family threatened, and the consequences for the act weren’t forgiven. That inspired them to come together like old times against an enemy that had decided to threaten each of them personally, but given the attacks were often on the innocent it was still uncertain if they were after anyone in particular.

They had mobilized and the majority of her friends, even her elder brother, were now off of Elysium to assist those they had come to form bonds with from another world. Under the leadership of an impressionable man by the name of Satoshi Hiyori, an intellectual with nearly no peer in the field of analysis, strategy, and most of all mercy. He led Section III, a secret organization tasked with defending Arcadia and all of Elysium from the supernatural, and although in his hands he held the power to change the world he knew it wasn't his place. Instead, Satoshi dedicated his time into organizing the Superhumans and others who had affiliated with the organization, and helped this generation learn to control their powers and master them. The role of leader had been with his family for three generations, and with incredible results.

For as long as Mayuka had been here resting, her feet bare into the grass and her right hands forefinger and middle finger still prodding the surface, she hadn't spoken as much as she had intended to with her friend Doa. Doa and Mayuka had become acquainted a couple years ago; it was Mayuka herself that saved her from terrible injuries as a result of her crash landing here. Having been a slave all her life, Mayuka had spent much time with Doa in her first few months in order to help her readjust to freedom. Musty air on a filthy ship didn't compare to the clean and pure air she could breathe in so clearly. It was through Mayuka’s own divine power that healed her wounds and restored her energy, but it was the good in her heart that allowed Doa to finally make her first friend. Having accompanied her here, Mayuka was glad to have the presence of her close friend, but given the feelings she had been having recently she had determined that things were going to grow violent.


Her potent energy hung suspended in the air surrounding this grove, keeping her awareness high and showing true her cautious nature in regards to battle. In Satoshi Hiyori’s stead and leading what remained of Section III was a high-level operative named Connor Owens who had encouraged everyone to keep in contact with him to better protect those at high-risk of attack. There were a couple rebellious types Satoshi had to coax personally, but the rest available here, and there weren't many, were cooperative. All there seemed to be now was an anxious calm before a terrible storm. The young woman knew what this might all lead to, and what she would have to do to make sure everyone was protected from harm. As her bright blue eyes moved to the silver engagement ring on her right ring finger, it seemed to trigger the curtains to raise on an incoming violent performance.


“Doa, let me handle this please.” Mayuka had mentioned to her friend, standing up and otherwise turning where the brook continued to flow. Amongst this aroma of beauty and grace, she had caught the scent of a putrid musk and felt the dark desire of multiple presences as they hung suspended in the air. They had been surrounded for some time now, but at last they had seemed to emerge all at once from blackness. Varying shapes are sizes, some carried crude weaponry; jagged blades, worn clubs, some with razor sharp nails and teeth which dripped with an overwhelming amount of saliva. Hunger hung in the center of their eyes, only kept at bay for a purpose still unknown to her. They all appeared gathered, but they remained silent. Among all this bloodlust there still came a small aura of uncertainty among some of them. Was she the one they were here for?


A sharp blade connected with the midsection of a tree Mayuka recognized to have been here for over one hundred years. Most trees within this grove were strong, but to wound one so close with nature to the point she could hear its cries made Mayuka’s blood begin to boil and her heart start to race. Among these horrific faces rested a particularly hideous one with sagging pink skin but with a visible bulk of muscle underneath it all. His ears were sharp, eyes void of good, and within his hand he wielded a bloodstained blade closely resembling a large machete. He stepped ahead of the rest, knowingly turning back towards another tree and spat on it. The saliva was as grotesque a color as his dark red skin, and not even all the sweet aromas in the world could wash him of the scent of murder.

“..You picked a beautiful place to die, girls.” The demon in the lead said, his voice raspy as though he hadn’t drank water for quite some time. He hadn’t cared for how long he had to wait, but the boss was very specific on giving them time to flee. Instead, they foolishly chose to remain, unknowingly holding firm in the disgusted flora that would soon be coated in their blood. Having waited for at least half an hours time, the odds of someone coming out to save them were odds he was in favor of. “Should we leave your faces unmarked so your loved ones can recognize you, or will the horror in your eyes be enough?” A resounding laugh erupted from the gathering of demons; Mayuka had managed to count twenty three in total, a generous sum for Doa and herself to deal with.


“I’d like to know what you want with us. Are you a part of the demons that keep attacking people?” Mayuka was very much desiring to cut to the chase. She didn’t care for threats, nor a display of power, but they needed answers to determine how to put this aggression down. Tightening the grip in both her hands, she looked among each face around her. “What do you hope to gain from doing this?”

Her desire for answers was met with another round of laughter; Mayuka wasn’t being taken seriously, and the only one who seemed not to laugh was the one at the very front of this party. With a raise of his hand, the laughter had soon ceased, and the rasped and dry voice of the leader reached out once more to the ears of both Mayuka and Doa.

“It would be a waste to reveal our intentions to two dead women, but I’ll tell you this; your purity ..it disgusts us. And right now I’d love nothing more than to carve your heart from your chest.” His blade was raised, his followers seeming to take that as a sign to get ready for battle. Snarls and howls were the response to the leaders gesture. It seemed there was no more use in trying to extract anything out of them now, not when they found themselves in a cradle of power. “I, Murtogg, promise to make your death as slow and painful as possible. What say you, you half-breed bitch?” He was loud and immensely proud of himself, something Mayuka was taking note of. Yet something struck Mayuka as odd; there were clearly two of them here, and while this guy apparently referred to as ‘Murtogg’ had passively taken note of that, his vendetta seemed to be with her especially. Why was that?


With all this said, the pressure in the air had instantly changed as though it had grown much more dense. Doa and Mayuka were immune to the difficulty found in breathing this air, but the demons themselves were very sensitive to the change. They had all simultaneously begun to cough, but Murtogg had stood firm, clearly a level above the others as far as showing weakness went. Still, he couldn't ignore how strange it was that the air had moved from tranquil and disgustingly fresh, to so distinctly thick. It was impossible to identify other than how much heavier it felt, but things had definitely changed in this grove. As well as the coughing fit his men seemed to have, that babbling brook beside them appeared to have slowed to an eerie crawl. The sound was gone, the wind that blew so frequently halted, and even the sun was growing hard to see from here. Mayuka’s eyes steadily went from their bright blue to a fearsome and horrifying blood red.

“I say that five days ago a group of demons appeared much too close to an elementary school and almost got innocent children killed out of their reckless rage.” The beautiful tone of blue in her hair had begun to slowly shift to a deep black, slowly crawling up to the very top of her head. “I say that the minute you came before me with such cruel intentions, this conflict was already decided.” The sun and surrounding area had begun to turn red, the mana that hung in the air beginning to respond to such an extraordinary level of power. With the tone of the area now changing, she could at least begin to make each of them know now that this wasn't a lowly ‘half-breed’ and her friend. This was something else entirely.

In mere seconds multiple bodies had begun to drop, clutching their throats and writhing on the ground, hoping to intake air within their disgusting black lungs. Murtogg had taken notice of this, turning his head to see as at least one-third of his group had all collapsed and strained. The shock in their eyes had begun to bring Mayuka a sense of pride. Warmth and an aura of dominance and absolute control was exuded from her body all at once, the pressure of her mana being cast from her very body coming so rapidly that it would have completely destroyed the stillness of the brook beside her should she lose complete control. It was in this moment that these demons knew why Mayuka and Doa were so composed, even when it was made clear the demons arrival wasn't a surprise. It had been because neither had reason to be afraid of them.

The aura Mayuka cast let out a distinct high-pitched roar, even as the beautiful girl stood in absolute silence to take in the effects of her strength. She felt, one by one, the life leave the demons bodies she had chosen to effect. When the last one had ceased struggling and unwillingly accepted his own death, only then did that aura of colorless power cease in a sea of potent red.

“I say that if I wanted to, I could turn each and every one of you into ashes and dust …but that would be selfish of me, wouldn't it?” Shifting her gaze to Doa, Mayuka’s stare was hardened in a way Doa would probably never be used to. The kindness seemed to have left her, replaced only with a boiling rage that these demons had the gall to show their faces, and even worse disrespect the nature Mayuka held so closely around her. At least, for the sake of Doa who more than likely recognized that these whelps had mostly ignored her presence, she would hold back. “I say ..you will live long enough to tell me everything you know. The rest won’t see another tomorrow.”

Tilting her head slightly to the left with an amused smirk, the narrowing of her eyes showcased her true intentions all along. This was beyond each of them, and Doa here only meant that this overkill was even greater. As she stood there, mocking those that still stood to attack her, Murtogg had taken this as the ultimate insult. Was he truly sent here by the master to kill her, or was he merely required to test her? No, for the cause he followed, for what each of them hoped to attain, he wouldn't be led to believe that he was used. The masters goal was absolute and true, a paradise for all demons. All he had to do was make certain that girl’s blood coated the ground, even if it was the last thing he would do.

“ATTACK!” He bellowed, roaring towards the sky. Those who remained were frozen with fear, but should they not act Murtogg would end their lives regardless. The price for failure was steep, and it wasn’t as if the girl had a weapon. Yet as they rushed towards both Mayuka and Doa, he couldn't help but notice that that disgusting purity of hers was nearly smothered, replaced with a scent he might only associate with a demons.

Just who was she?
 
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It wasn't every day that Doa could relax like this. A few years had passed since she had arrived on this planet, yet she still was not fully accustomed to it. It took her a while to learn that it wasn't normal to eat everything with one's hands. At first she thought the eating utensils were part of some old ritual to eat with weapons by one's side, after all eating did place one in a vulnerable position. That didn't confuse her as much as the whole 'praying' thing. When she asked about it and the 'gods' were mentioned that only further confounded her. Why worship strong people so much? Simple respect should be enough. Though her worst case of culture shock had to be the handshake. The first person to offer her a handshake had been flipped onto his back, and nearly got his neck snapped. How was she to know it was a greeting? To her it looked as if he was getting into some sort of passive fighting stance. At least Mayuka saved her the pain of learning that her own version of a 'handshake' wouldn't fly in Arcadia. Yes, a quick sparring match of kicks might set off a few alarms with 'normal' people...

Doa opened her eyes, looking over to Mayuka, who was admiring a small body of water. You'd never guess that such an innocent looking young woman was as powerful as she is. She looked as if she belonged on the cover of a fantasy novel, starring as the timid princess who can always be found frolicking in a patch of perfectly placed flowers. But she was more than that, she was the first person Doa met on this planet, and one of the few she could call a friend. And being considered her friend was not something to be taken lightly. Doa's ill tolerance for weak willed individuals left her with the stigma of that of a loner. It was tough, but she dealt with it. It wasn't as if the entire city rejected her after all. She had all she needed in life, the power to rely on her self, and the companionship of Mayuka.

“Doa, let me handle this please.”

Doa raised a brow at her azure haired comrade. "Oh, are they here?" She asked a rhetorical question. Doa herself was not much of a scout, the most she could do to locate someone was to sense their killing intent, something only useful in avoiding surprise attacks. She stayed where she was, laying on the ground with her arms behind her head. She noticed all of the demons rise from the ground like infested boils, but she didn't bother to pay them any mind until one of them got the bright idea to hack up a tree.

"Tsk tsk tsk..." Doa lightly shook her head, of all the things to do, they had to effectively sign their own death warrants by defacing that which Mayuka held in high regard. The head demon (whoever it was, Doa wasn't paying much attention) did what she expected of a demon, and threatened them in a cocky fashion. Mayuka maintained her calm for now, and attempted to question the demon. Too bad the ugly bastard didn't realize that this was basically an interrogation at gunpoint. The demon must have thought her funny, as he brushed her inquiry aside and insulted her.

"Calling my friend a bitch? Huh..." Doa mused to herself, her foot tapping a bit anxiously now. She wasn't the only one who was losing her temper, Mayuka had begun to exude a presence of thick malice and encroaching death. Doa couldn't help but smirk, as it was always fascinating seeing this side of her friend. Doa watched as the surrounding area changed to match Mayuka's mood, dark and crimson. Several of the weaker demons couldn't handle the change in the air, and simply perished before they could even make a move. Meanwhile, Doa admired the effects, laying there patiently.

And then a look was sent her way, one familiar and yet hard to become accustomed too. The look in Mayuka's eyes sent an excited chill down her spine. It was a dangerous gaze that invited violence, Doa was all too glad to accept. "I thought you'd never ask." Doa said, calmly standing to her feet. Five of them rushed towards her with reckless abandon. Doa grimaced. She balled up her fists, and with a flurry of five power jabs sent balls of explosive energy crashing into each of the demon's faces. Their craniums exploded like watermelons filled with cherry bombs. Many of the other demons took a step back, shocked. Doa flexed her fingers, clenching them as if to prepare them. "You dare send the runts of your litter to fight me? How insulting." She glared at the remaining demons, they did not back down however. A single demon charged from the group, one draped in a ragged brown cloak. He was much faster than the others, in but a moment he was withing striking distance of Doa. Pale, tan claws struck out towards her, as if to cut her to ribbons. Doa did not step back, instead she stepped forward. Her hands went into fists, and she sent aimed blows to her foe's arms. There was a sound like something solid snapping, but it seemed it wasn't bone. This demon had a carapace. Even still, it's arms were useless now.

"YOU!" The demon screeched in a voice that had to be going through sand paper, and what seemed like an extra limb flung from his back towards her. Doa caught it in her right hand, just as it was about to strike her head. It was a stinger. Doa yanked on the tail, lifting the demon up and slamming him on the ground as if she were trying to hammer in giant nails. With a final fifth slam into the ground, she placed a foot on his back, and pulled the stinger right off of the demon's body. Yet the demon was still alive.

"Tough one, is it?" Doa picked the demon up with her free hand, and proceeded to stab the demon rapidly in it's torso with it's own severed stinger. She finally impaled him, and tossed his lifeless body aside. Right after that she was assaulted by the next one in line. This one was more humanoid in shape, though he possessed eight hands. In each of these hands was a sinister blade. These blades were swung quickly, and so Doa had to react in kind. She extended both her middle finger and pointer finger with both hands, and ran her ki into them. In a dazzling flurry she deflected the strikes, sparks flying every which way as her aura sent the metal blades backwards with explosive energy. The demon caught on that he was being pushed back, and jumped backwards to gain distance. When he looked at his blades, he was shocked to see that most of them had been broken in half, with the others almost as damaged.

The demon roared in anger, and pulled a thick broadsword from his back. He charged towards Doa, and swung down towards her. Doa flattened her right hand, and ran ki along the edge. She moved in closer to the demon, and slashed him. Her foe's sword split in two, and then his body followed suit. Doa's blue suit was a mess of blood by this point, though she was unfazed by the gore. "This is almost disappointing." Doa sighed, and walked forward towards the rest of the demons. They each tried to kill her, but every one was met with a quick and violent death.

Pulling her fist out of the chest of her final target, Doa swung her hand to get excess blood off, and looked to what remained of her and Mayuka's 'company.' "Feeling more... Talkative now?"
 

purgatory

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The smell of brimstone, the warmth of several hundred degrees. Grotesque were the appendages of all the native fledgelings that flaunted their visceral jaws. Hell was known as a place of abolishment for the wicked, sinful, and diabolic forces and souls alike. The formless dauntingly floated, except...this wasn't hell and that smell wasn't brimstone. The lowest point, street level, became coated in thick layer of smoke quickly expanding all throughout the street level. Producing a caustic substance, a bitter magic from a demon capable of replicating this affect as many times as needed to cover the streets.

Naturally formless, this blanket of smoke became a bank of smog with only the sensation of hot ashes brushing against all material trapped within its reach. Filling the space, the smoke was starting to dissipate and become filled with a series of footsteps, the ashes swirled and the sound of an exuding "poof" was heard as the steps became filled by civilians. Or so this is how they appeared, all human, all terrified, and each were running at a break neck pace as the demons that hid behind the smoke were revealed and attacking the natives in a less defended part of this grandeur land.

A demon sat at the top of a column, both composed and silent. The appearance seemed to be as a male human, with long flowing black hair, no distinguishable breasts, but certain traits and elements of a woman's face. Androgynous, a fitting term, but the form and body belonged to none other than Blanca Del Isla, "White of The Island" or its anagram, "Island of White." Blanca was a powerful mid-tier demon, it could do and use its three singular skills for a few tasks. As its smoke was an excellent cover for his regiment of lower level apparitions to wreak havoc, to them Blanca allotted their fun. He saw no such appeal in insensible carnage, Lucifer would think with some level of tact in approaching such a seamless act.

No, the truth was they deserved to be crushed with overwhelming force rather than this feeble game of stick-poking. From Blanca's back two arms, wet of his cells, grasped his right and left shoulders, as a duplicate of himself was emerging from his back, about half formed. Carrying blonde hair, and looking over the horizon as the smoke field was about to be lifted. The duplicate's skin coagulated and began to transmogrify in a grotesque manner as its skin and flesh was being molded into what appeared to be a massive hand, it clenched into a fist and ripped like an extension cable from Blanca's back and whirled over the lingering blanket of smoke. The hand protruded just enough to act as a vacuum, absorbing the burning remains of ash caused by its caustic traits.

The first part of the quadriga's assignment was done. It stood now to prepare for the next part, carefully monitoring the street level.
 

Tenyas

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gallivanting about
Alana was very secure where she stood before her work of several days. The abandoned building she had chosen to complete this ritual in was fairly run-down and filled with debris and rotted furniture, meaning much of her time had been spent clearing out an appropriate space to complete the process. Although chance could've been better, chances had it that this house was sitting upon a particularly strong ley-line. Invisible to most, such lines were described as carrying strong paranormal energy in many texts and by many names. In modern terms, one could maybe say it had something to do with rotational and magnetic fields, but Alana didn't think the books she was referencing in this instance cared about what terms were in use.


Proportions were very important to the ritual, lines needing to be precise in order to have the desired effect. Precautionary defenses also needed to be set up, fortifying the building against further collapse and intrusion from outside forces as well as the escape of internal ones once the ritual was accomplished. Salt was nice for smaller things, unwanted spirits wandering by, but fermented roots boiled with the blood of white rabbits were necessary on each window, with the remaining fluids used to paint the bulk of the circles used for the summoning.


Upon getting everything together, the only thing that had been left was timing. The circles she had painted on the floor could not be activated until aligned with the current celestial bodies above. Thankfully, the patterns that could be used were numerous, saving her from having to wait years to enact the powers of the being she was summoning.


In what could have been a living room, she wasn't sure, the iestheli woman stood. Dusky light filtered in from the shattered windows, lighting parts of the browned circles with its faint orange touch. As the light stretched to shine upon her frame it reflected off of the many charms she wore across her wrists, neck, and wings. Opening a dark, faded, leather-bound book she began to recite an incantation. As she did so, the many circles drawn throughout the home seemed to revert to a brighter red, moistness returning to the dried blood. The center-most circle looked as if it were widening, the markings around its rim making it appear like an opening maw. Alana continued to recite the words before her, speaking in a lower tone as she approached the end. As the final words were pronounced, the circle before her contracted violently, shaking the entirety of the home.


Standing with her back to a collapsed fireplace, the iestheli woman held her breath.


An almost magnetic humming sound rang out, the circle appearing as if it were coming to a boil, before a bright light and heat began to exit it. Arising from the now expanding portal came a crowned figure, looking at once like a bird and a man.


Alana stood still as she waited for the figure to speak.


He had a way of holding himself that elicited respect in spite of holding himself with bird-like legs. Perhaps the image was furthered by the presence of a shimmering multi-pointed crown upon his tufted head. Large, very intelligent, eyes followed the lines of the circles around him until they gazed upon the figure before him. "It is not often a being not begotten by Eve's loins graces itself with the task of summoning my visage. Pray, tell me, what kingdom do you herald from?"


Alana's various charms clinked gently from the draft entering the home, her feathers shifting slightly although the demon's own did no such thing. "I am of no kingdom but you may consider me a child of humanity of a sort, Prince Stolas."


The demon nodded and did a positive waving gesture towards the woman, "You are a knowledgeable being and I applaud you for demonstrating an understanding of the text you hold in your hands. With such understanding, what have you come to accomplish?"


"I invoke your services in describing the uses and purposes of a certain text."


"M'lady, I shall gladly give these services. But, I am sorry but to ask for a small payment in return." Alana's hand wandered near the belt at her side. "I see you carry with you a variety of herbs, some of which unfamiliar to me from the times and lands I walked upon this earth. I would wish to have an offering of each to add to my libraries. As you request of me knowledge, I wish for knowledge in return. A reasonable price."


Alana relaxed and offered a polite nod. "You shall recieve the payment before leaving. Now, I am going to hand you the tome I wish to have explained to me. I request that you acknowledge the limits of our deal and the sanctity of such before I do so."


Stolas bent down to what could be interpreted as a bowing gesture. "I respect the deal made between us, in our pursuits of knowledge."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------​


A large man stood upon a street corner, regularly adjusting the sleeve of his suit to check his watch, brows furrowed in concern and faint annoyance. A bit of sweat dotted his dark skin. "This is the last time I allow him to arrange our meetings." The man's baritone voice was gruff, deep, and one of a person used to authority. The street was mainly empty, a few stragglers quickly walking along to their destinations paying little heed to the man who now leaned impatiently against the traffic light pole.


After time passing further, a fairly messing teen boy came walking out of an alleyway and advanced towards the man dressed in a tux.


"Where have you been?"


"Shut up. I'm here and you should be thankful for even that." The boy sniffled, also flecked with sweat but more from exertion than stress. His denim jeans were ragged and dusty, and the button-up shirt he wore also showing signs of use and abuse. "So, you heard?" He sat roughly on the curb.


The older looking man nodded, "Why else would I be here to speak with you, Munkir?"


"Hey, hey, keep the high and mighty on the down-low, there's lots of ears listening."


"Understood. Now, you owe me an elaboration on current events." The man in the tux set his hands to his pockets.


"Long story short, this town is going to be f***ed over. Whole nine yards."


"By which legion?"


"Heh, you'd be better off asking which one isn't."


"So, you are also involved in these matters?"


"No, no, don't be putting words in my mouth. I'm a simple pawn, you see. Not allowed in these big games. I still have no idea how the hell you wound up down here, darling." The boy chuckled, "S**t, I ain't got a clue as to why these legions are even coming up. You wouldn't happen to know if a certain set of seven trumpets were being blown up top would ya?"


"No." The man glared.


"Alright alright." The boy did a plaintive gesture, "Not that I'd have much issue against that being tooted."

"Perhaps you should prioritize finding actual information on such matters before coming to me with the express purpose of divulging such information."

"No need to get aggressive, alright? We're friends here. I have nothing to gain from withholding this kind of stuff from you, if anything I would gain far more through allowing you to know more. But, as of right now, that is not possible until events clarify themselves."

"And am I to expect such matters to become clear after said legions have had their way across this land?"

"I'm crossing my fingers for that. Then they'll be tired."
 

nightmarezeroX9

Let's Get Down To Business
Joined
Dec 5, 2009
Messages
1,450
Age
28
Location
Unknown?
The sky was clear, and the breeze felt great. Sitting at a tiny cafe on the corner of some street, a man, or rather, an angel, sat at a small circular table, sipping on a cup of hot tea. A cigarette lay in an ashtray to his right, about halfway gone. His name was Oriel. Many times Oriel had found himself sitting here, at this very same cafe. Something about the tea here always made him want to come back. Or was it the fact that it was never crowded here, and he could always come here to relax and have some time to himself? Whatever the reason, when others were looking for him, this was always the first spot they would check. Finishing what was left of his raspberry tea, he placed the empty porcelain cup back down onto the table, and picked up the burning cigarette, placing it into his mouth. He inhaled the smoke, allowing it to fill his throat, and reach his lungs, before he blew it all back out. Of course, this was an awful habit that he should probably kick as soon as possible, but hey, he was an angel. Stuff like this wouldn't kill him as fast as it would a human. Not to mention smoking was one of the few things that actually managed to calm Oriel's nerves.

At the moment, a bit of tension was rising inside of him. Oriel could smell the stench of demons rising around Arcadia. A good amount of them seemed to be disappearing at an alarming rate, but when one went down, another one would rise up in its place. Currently, there was no explanation to the sudden rise in demon attacks, but it obviously was a bad sign. Being an angel, demons were already attracted to Oriel, and it would be a matter of time before they showed up, looking to take his life. The peoples safety was a concern for the angel, so he placed money on the table to account for the bill he had already received, and walked along on his merry way. While walking along the crowd, he used his abilities to blend in with the light, making himself invisible, and masking his presence to the entire world.

Oriel relocated to the roof of a four story building. He didn't really pay any attention to what was inside of the building, but it provided him a good enough vantage point to attempt to spot any demons. Some demons were capable of disguising themselves as humans, making it difficult to pinpoint exactly who was what. Of course, this wasn't much of a problem for Oriel, since he could tell when a demon was nearby, and pinpoint its exact location, if need be. This worked both ways, as demons usually sought out an angel with ease, hoping to slay its prey, and prove itself in being able to fell something as powerful as a holy being. There were a few times where high level demons came for Oriel's pretty little head, but they never proved to be a problem.

It wasn't a secret that demons had already picked up on Oriel's scent. As he was currently concealing himself, it would be a while before they ever picked up on his presence again. He could visibly see a few, frantically searching around, and trying to pick back up the trail that they just lost. It was a little pathetic, seeing how badly they wanted to hunt him down and kill him. Here in the city wasn't a good place to pick a fight with them, though. With how destructive they tend to be, and with Oriel's power, collateral damage could potentially be a thing, if not guaranteed. Oriel had to lead them somewhere where there weren't many civilians. Possibly on the outskirts of town. Or in a secluded section of the city. There were plenty of those around, and luckily for Oriel, one was nearby. He had his destination, and now, he would be off. Taking flight, he soared in the skies, albeit unseen due to his ability, and arrived at a warehouse district. At this time of day, there weren't many people around, which provided the perfect opportunity to dispose of any demons that were currently tracking him. While he was making his way here, he had allowed some of his power to leak through his invisibility barrier, knowing that the demons would pick up on it easily, and start following it to this destination. Any smart demon would know that this was an obvious bait to lure them away from the residential districts. So far though, many of the demons that Oriel could feel approaching were low tier, with a few mid tier demons not too far behind.

"This will prove to be interesting, to say the least,"
Oriel silently muttered to himself. It had been a while since he was able to fight any demons, which was usually a great release for his stress. Not necessarily the idea of killing demons relieved his stress, but just being able to get worked up and not having to worry about destroying anything majorly important helped level out his stress. It kept him healthy, to say the least. The cigarette that he had been smoking was nearly finished, so he took one last puff, and removed it from his mouth, throwing it on the ground, and stomping the entire thing out with his right shoe. Just to make sure, he ground his foot a bit, smearing the burnt tobacco on the ground, leaving a nice black streak where the cigarette was put out. The demons were here. Oriel wanted to finish this up as quickly as possible, then leave to go get food for the first time today.

"It's show time."

 

Cassette-Disk

Don't Panic
Joined
Feb 23, 2009
Messages
2,773
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16
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32
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steamcommunity.com
Something was happening. The young girl gingerly tiptoed across her modest room towards the window and opened it, along with the worn wooden shutters, pushing with mild difficulty as the putrid smell of burned wood, stone, and flesh invaded her nostrils. Cathy peered through the cliff-side house that stood peculiarly away from the rest of the city. She didn't like people. Really, who did? But even she knew better than to live in total isolation. What if she was to get injured? At least at this distance she could send out a flare to rouse someone to her location. She mostly kept to herself, and the rest of the city kept to itself as well, which is exactly how the young witch liked it. However, from her perch she could see the destruction that was happening in front of her. To the city that had, while maybe not accepted her, at the very least tolerated her. Someone would have to put a stop to this. Someone needed to take a stand and protect the city, and maybe even the world from whatever foul forces were at work.

Cathy stood tall, her eyes full of determination. She then slammed the shutters closed and crawled into bed. Someone else would probably take care of the city.
It didn't take long for the sound of a large explosion to reach her ears. The witch ignored it. What she didn't ignore was the crashing sound that came from above her. Nor could she ignore the sudden appearance of a large pale stone hand that broke through her ceiling and into her room. Grabbing her broom, Cathy flew from her new roof-hole and made her way to the city.
"I hate people." She grumbled to herself.


---​

Something was happening
. The young-looking man stood from his bed and strutted across his massive hotel room towards the sliding glass door that lead to a balcony and effortlessly slid it open as the wondrous smell of the burning world embraced him. Jet leaned over the railing and watched as a lowly demon was incinerated somewhere below. He smiled. He didn't really like that particular demon. His smile faltered as he realized what was happening.
"Whoops." He whispered to himself. Was this really today? The whole attacking thing? The Trickster could hardly remember what day of the week it was. There had been some meeting to go over the details...probably. And he had been given a set of instructions to follow...wasn't he? Bits and pieces of the meeting were coming back to him. There was a big guy talking, and...and a really cute girl sitting next to him. With a really short skirt. And a really bewildering smile. And an intoxicating tail. And a voluptuous pair of...Wait a second.

"Succubus." Jet growled, suddenly realizing he was missing his shirt. He should have known better. Meetings aren't for meeting people, especially not in his type of world. But then, where would the fun be? Jet felt a dull pain coming from his neck. He placed a hand over the offending area and flinched. A small keepsake from his new vitality sucking friend. He turned around just in time to catch the door to his room begin to close with a particularly intoxicating tail playfully wiggle away before the door closed completely. The Trickster waved at the door with a silly grin as something exploded behind him, reminding him of the important things.

What were the important things? He had no idea. There was no doubt a plan, but he hadn't a faintest idea of what it might be. A night with his new friend made sure of that. Jet walked back into his room and began looking for his clothes. A quick poke around yielded his possessions, and then some. Along with something lacy that most definitely did not belong to him, there was a small scrap of paper with numbers written on it.
"Oh I like this one." Jet smirked as he pocketed the phone number. He walked back to the hotel room's balcony and produced a card which he placed on the floor. The card expanded, and Jet walked gingerly to the center of it. With a quick tremor the card levitated off the ground and began to fly away from the hotel.

Jet might not know what the real plan was, but he sure as hell knew what his plan was. He would find the biggest, nicest, most beautiful statue. Then he would blow it up. The first part wasn't very hard, as there was a rather nice looking statue that looked over the town. It was a statue of a woman wearing a very elegant dress. Jet didn't recognize her, but she must be important if there was a statue made to look like her. The second part was a bit more challenging, but not by much. Thanks to the chaos that was running through the city, nobody noticed someone zooming around the statue placing cards on it at random. He flew back a safe distance and sat down on his card. It was then he realized that there were a few demons running by the statue who were in the splash zone. He also realized that the statue might be important to his side in some manner. He also realized that he didn't care, and blew the statue up. Jet watched with glee as the statue's hand flew spectacularly into the roof of a small rickety house that stood at the border of the city.
 

SilentTrinity

Master of the ECKKK
Joined
Apr 30, 2009
Messages
3,492
Age
30
Location
In the world of Change.
It was nice and cool in the store today. A cool breeze was flowing in from the windows and the sunlight warmed Sindile's body as he sat in his chair, awaiting his next appointment. He was content with how today was going. Money was steady in his work, being a fortune teller and what not. He had also met a large array of people; business-men trying to find out if their company is going to let him go, CEO's who were desperate to find the one thing that could help them get even more money, a young mother wondering if she was pregnant, a young boy who wondered if Sindile was as real as people said, and a man in a suit trying to find his daughter. All ordinary people, or at least that's how they thought they were. Sindile knew better than that. Time had taught him many things, and one of those things was that ordinary people are the ones who are the most important people in this world.

Ring-ring

The familiar sound of the door bell hanging over the door made Sindile look over to where the newcomer was entering. He was in the room past the entry way and knew that his assistant would bring his client in with all the necessary information. He got up to close the blinds, something he did with each client so they would feel a bit more comfortable knowing that prying eyes would not know whatever future his clients life would show to him. He sat back down surrounding himself in the darkness, though he could clearly hear the sound of his assistant talking to the client. But he also started to pick up on other things, specifically the sound of explosions in another part of the town. Another set of attacks on this mysterious city by the spawn of Hell. Sindile was lucky enough to not have any clientele of that kind, even if they were in the body of a host. Sindile wouldn't tell them anything.

He was brought back from his thoughts by the sight of his assistant and his client, a man in a similar outfit to his own. He wore a dark grey undershrit with a black vest, dress pants, leather shoes and wore a grey trench-coat. The client was nervous as Sindile could see him being slightly fidgety, his left hand scratching his right and his eyes darting to the windows and back to Sindile. Sindile leaned forward, his hands propped up but folded together. He motioned for the client to sit across from him. His assistant knowing how Sindile worked, brought in a chair and placed it for the client. The man sat down and watched as Sindile's assistant walked back into the lobby and locked the door.

The two were alone now. The man seemed to relax a bit more, knowing that Sindile's assistant was out of sight. He calmly shook his nerves away and looked at Sindile, who still hadn't moved since pointing towards the chair the client was siting in.
"It's been a long time Sindile. Though the assistant is new. A good sign I assume?" The man said making small talk. Sindile nodded his head, he was indeed a good sign, as Sindile needed help with the paperwork part of the business he ran. He had only two assistants a few years back but one of them had left for better ventures while the other remained loyal to Sindile. A good sign of character that Sindile respected. But his thoughts moved back to what he was doing in the dark room. The client had been chatting about things going on in his life since they last met. He mentioned that Sindile's prediction had come true and that his business was now a huge success and all sorts of other things. Sindile sat there listening, his milky-white eyes blinking every now and then, wondering about other things.

"And since I can tell I've bored you with all the stuff that's happened with me, I take it you want to get down to business correct?" The man had suddenly become more formal and straight faced. Sindile nodded and sat up in his chair, his arms relaxed as he turned them over to show his palms. The client recognizing the sight extended out his right hand. When he made contact, Sindile closed his eyes as a sight came to him. He saw the businessman siting in front of him at his desk, siting comfortably before someone enters, a woman, with a folder. She doesn't say a word but hands it to him. The man looks at it and opens the folder. He reads the contents and smiles. He says that they have renewed the contract. With that Sindile opened his eyes.

"It seems fortune continues to smile on you Andrew." He spoke, his voice soft from the lack of use. The man gave a hearty laugh and a sigh of relief. Sindile raised an eyebrow before the man spoke.
"I'm glad that you say that Sindile. I've been working on this important contract for a client of mine and I was worried I might screw it up, especially since they are so important to me and all." The man sat back in his chair his arms dangling for a moment as his face looked up into the dark ceiling.
"What did you see exactly?"
"You renewing that contract I assume. You were given a folder, read its contents and said that. Though I do not know if this is the same contract," he warned knowing that his predictions were always right but were never really clear on the when part. But those who knew Sindile and his power always understood what he was telling them, that they still had to put hard work into whatever it was that they wanted so that the prediction could come true. There were only a few who had come to him who had not understood this, and ever since, Sindile made his assistant warn each client.

The man chuckled a bit before sitting up a bit more. He thanked Sindile and got up to leave. He knocked on the door and asked for the assistant to open the door. Sindile's assistant did this and allowed the man to leave, hearing him again say thanks and open the door, making the bell ring again. Sindile came out of his room and into the lobby where his assistant, Clark, was finishing the paperwork for the day. Clark looked up for a second before returning back to his work.
"He seemed happy." Clark spoke nonchalantly. Sindile nodded and sighed. He was use to seeing these kind of sights, but there was still something bothering him. Clark seemed to pick this up when Sindile had sighed.
"Something wrong Sir?" He asked stopping his writing to look at Sindile. Sindile shook his head. He need not let someone so young and kind know the troubles of an old man. With that Sindile headed over to the staircase and waved goodnight to Clark. His business was below his home and he knew that Clark would still be here until the later part of the night. But Sindile had to rest now, as a headache started to set in.
"What I wouldn't give for a beer," he muttered to himself as he walked up the flight of stairs.
 

King Wolfe

Basically... Run
Joined
Nov 30, 2006
Messages
5,430
Awards
5
Location
Pressing F5
In a dusty old house, in the middle of particular nowhere, stood John Winters carefully contemplating his next course of action. He had acquired the several ingredients for this particular spell and has learned the incantation forwards and backwards until they were seared into his mind but something made him hesitate.

John had performed summoning spells before, hundreds and hundreds of times. So far he’s had a 97% success rate in getting out of the spell unharmed, so, statistically speaking this time should be just as safe. John scoffed at this uncharacteristic optimism; nothing was certain, not even probability, at least in his experience.

There was nothing very novel in how he was doing the spell, even the person he was trying to summon wasn’t exactly a stranger. This hesitation, therefore, was irrational. Just go through the motions as he had a hundred, hundred times.

Still, his hands hadn’t moved. He had drawn the sigil in chalk on the unbalanced table, gathered, and crushed, the ingredients in the bowl on the sigil (angel dust, soil of the dead, foliage born of fire) all he had to do was concentrate on the person he wanted to summon and light the ingredients.

But he hadn’t struck the match, not yet.

John sighed wearily, leaning on the table. What the hell was he doing? This wasn’t his normal gig, he dealt with possession and poltergeists, not this angel crap. Last time he dealt with an angel this weirdly oriental woman nearly took his head off. But he needed information. There was something going on, even now, he could feel it in his gut. Like a storm on the horizon, only this time he felt it was more apocalyptic than usual.

But still, why get into it? Just silently work in the background as always, deal with the monsters he could, this was way above his paygrade.

John struck the match and tossed it into the bowl and watched it puff up in a small explosion. He focused on a name and muttered a few words of Latin and Hebrew, unsure which language his new guest would appreciate more. After a moment, he heard the flap of wings and turned around.

The stranger had materialized out thin air. He was just as tall as John, if not taller, but held a different aura about him. His sandy-blond hair was done in an impeccable manner, something that always amused John. He wondered if angels took time to groom themselves in the morning.

“John Winters,” he growled, his dull blue eyes glowing to an impossible golden light.

“Balthazar,” John greeted with a coy grin. “Looking good, new vessel?”

Balthazar glanced down at his body as if looking at it for the first time. For an angel he was particularly well-dressed, like he belonged in a country club or something, he wore a pure black blazer over a nice black collared shirt to go with his black trousers and black loafers.

Seeing a pattern here?

“Who’s the poor sap you’re wearing now?” John asked, sitting down on the table with the casual demeanor that Balthazar hated.

“If you think you can just summon me like.. some call-girl—“

“Oh, please. You aren’t nearly worth that much,” John interrupted.

Balthazar took a step forward but John was ready. He struck another match and tossed it at the ground. Where the match hit, fire exploded but instead of spreading it produced a circle that trapped Balthazar. The circle of flames quickly ensnared the angel and John smiled.

“So arrogant!” cursed Balthazar.

“That’s where you’re wrong,” John said with a slight shrug. “You’re the arrogant one here. You can move faster than I can blink, Balthzy, but you took your time, trying to scare me or something… Now you’re trapped. Holy oil, one of the few things that can really cage an angel.”

Balthazar shrugged off John’s remark and tried to look unbothered by his little con, but was failing to mask his panic. John wasn’t sure if it was because of the holy oil, but Balthazar looked particularly disturbed being trapped like this, he wondered if they were like birds in that they both didn’t really appreciate having their wings clipped.

“No need to get your feathers ruffled. I only want information,” John promised.

“And you couldn’t have asked in a more civil manner?” Balthazar snapped.

John stood up and shrugged. “Last time I saw you, you were trying to smite me for… what was it, blasphemy?”

“You desecrated a shrine to a patron saint,” Balthazar reminded him.

“And I told you, it was for a spell. I needed the gold. But enough about that. I need to know what’s going on,” John explained. “There’s been a spike of demonic activity, monsters I thought were extinct have surfaced. Just last week, I encountered a dragon in New Harmony.”

“It is no concern of yours, trickster.”

“It is when I’ve got demons crawling out of hell trying to kill me,” John countered. “I don’t mind the enthusiasm, but it gets old after a while.”

Balthazar said nothing, only glaring evilly at John. For a moment, John was reminded of those sweet and fluffy angels depicted in most lore, guardian angels and the like, but they were completely off. Angels are ruthless and if you happen to be in the crosshairs of one, run or be struck down.

“Fine,” John sighed. “I guess I’ll have to ask another angel, maybe they’ll be more receptive after a little persuasion.”

“What leverage could you possibly have?” Balthazar sneered.

John reached into his coat and produced a silver, 7-inch blade. Balthazar balked at the sight of the weapon. “H-how did you get—“

“An angel’s blade,” John finished. “A weapon guaranteed to put down an angel for good? Let’s just say the last owner won’t be needing something like this anymore.”

This pissed Balthazar off making John regret this plan slightly. He took a step forward, getting as close to the flames as he could without burning himself. Wind began to pulsate from the angel, and John worried that it would be strong enough to extinguish the flames but thankfully they held on.

“When I get out of here, Winters, you will be the first to encounter divine wrath!” he promised. “Where you will beg for something as appealing as Hell.”

“Get in line,” John answered. “Maybe I’ll summon one of your little friends and let you watch. One of those little soldiers under your command, Captain.”

“You wouldn’t dare—“

“I would. Unless, of course, you tell me what I need to know.”

Balthazar looked at the flames as if wondering if he could extinguish them with willpower alone. The holy oil zaps the power of the angel it’s trapped, but Balthazar was a particularly powerful angel, with a little effort he could escape… But thankfully he didn’t dare try.

“You understand this information is highly classified,” Balthazar began.

“Don’t worry, I’m not a gossip.”

Balthazar sighed. “Our Brother, Lucifer, is intending to rise from his cage.”

The name Lucifer brought the room’s temperature down a dozen degrees, even John couldn’t help but shiver. He wasn’t exactly Lucifer’s favorite human and if he wanted to crawl out of hell with the rest of those demons…

“How? Who would be stupid enough to try that?” John asked.

“He has a following,” Balthazar explained. “Demons and monsters… they seem to think of him as a God.”

“And why aren’t your flyboys putting a stop to that?”

Balthazar paused for a moment. “It is a plan in progress…” There was a second of hesitation in that answer… as if it wasn’t the whole truth. “But they are shielded from us. After they had wiped out the Hunters—“

“Wait, what?” John interrupted. “They did what to the Hunters?”

Hunters weren’t exactly his favorite bunch, they weren’t in his fan club either, but they were one of the human groups designated in fighting the supernatural. Well, one of the groups that wasn’t a covert, secret government agency.

If they were gone…

“I’m surprised you hadn’t heard,” Balthazar remarked with a grin.

“I’ve… been away,” John said, trying to maintain the stoic persona. He had to make it clear to Balthazar that he knew way more than the angel on a few things, if he figured out that John was just as clueless, well there goes his leverage.

“We have been attempting to track down these demons,” Balthazar continued. “But with little success.”

“How can Lucifer rise, though?” John asked. “Angels need a human vessel to appear on earth, right?”

Balthazar shook his head. “There are exceptions. Some angels were created from a human soul and therefore do not require a vessel, and some angels create their own vessel. But yes, archangels like Lucifer would require a human.”

Some demons can possess a human with little difficulty but angels are the only thing in the universe that require consent before possession. Hard as it is to believe, there are actually some humans out there who pray to be possessed by an angel.

“No human would accept that,” John insisted. “How are they going to pull it off?”

Balthazar shrugged. John ran a hand through his hair, he wasn’t expecting the big bad to be Lucifer. “Fine, then I’ll just gank him with this,” John raised the angel’s blade. “It kills angels.”

“Not archangels,” Balthazar corrected with an eyeroll. “He’s too strong for that.”

“Then what? Point me to whatever God-weapon that can take Lucy out.”

“Lucy?”

“Sue me, it’s a coping mechanism.”

“I’m afraid I can’t tell you.”

“Fine, I’ll find someone who will.”

“I mean, I really can’t tell you,” Balthazar stressed. “There are only a few things in the universe that can kill Lucifer. Unsurprisingly enough, none of them are at hand at the moment.”

“Then I’ll find another,” John said. He pocketed his angel blade and proceeded to walk away. Balthazar tried to follow but, of course, the holy oil prevented him from doing so.

“Hey! You aren’t just going to leave me?!” he demanded.

“Sit there and marinate,” John answered. “It’ll do wonders for your patience.”

Balthazar glowed so brightly that despite having his back to him, John still had to cover his eyes. When the light died, John turned around and found Balthazar right in front of him. He tried to brandish his blade, but Balthazar wasn’t messing around this time. With a simple shove, he tossed John across the room with the force of a truck.

John’s angel blade fell out of his hand and clattered to the ground as he smashed into the wall and crumbled to the ground. Balthazar picked up the angel’s blade and glared at John. “Now then… shall I begin?”

Before John could retort with a witty comment like, “No.” Balthazar materialized in front of him and grabbed his neck with one hand, pinning him against the wall.

“I will smite you and shall be rewarded for ending the Trickster’s horrid life,” Balthazar explained with an eerie serenity only angels could have. “It will be a shame you won’t be around to see the Apocalypse, it will be quite a show.”

Balthazar held up the sword to John’s throat. “Ended by the very blade you stole.”

As best he could, John chuckled without chocking. Balthazar raised an eyebrow. John could only stare at the blade with an incredulous expression. “Do you really think I could steal a sword from an angel?”

“Wha--?”

“Well, excluding now.” John pulled his hand from Balthazar’s blazer and held up his angel blade. Before Balthazar could react, John used his free hand to tear open his shirt, revealing a blood sigil painted on his chest, and pressed his hand against it. The sigil glowed with the power of the human soul and Balthazar let out a roar as it banished him back to Heaven.

John fell to the ground, coughing violently but relatively unharmed. The blood sigil was designed to banish angels to Heaven in the most violent way possible, it’ll take a while for Balthazar to shake off his disorientation, so there’s that.

“I can’t believe that actually worked,” groaned John as he looked at the bona fide angel’s blade right next to the fake one. “Angels… so arrogant…”

John got up, fixed his shirt, dusted off his blazer, and headed out. He decided the best way to get to the root of the problem was to jump right in the middle of all the danger…

It was a suicidal plan but then again, all of his plans were.
 

ThePromise

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The force of bloodthirsty demon was outmatched by the whim of simple women who, in the face of a threat that would send fear in the heart of most, didn’t show any sign of shivering nor hesitation. The efforts they put forth were without desperation or thought. As things played out before Murtogg between the initial of his horde crumple and fell from some sort of dark magic and the blue woman’s blows, the disgraceful creeping fear of weakness crept up his spine. For over a century his reign over the demon-kind in the low-class segment of the realm beneath went unchecked. The way he had to run things was about strength, leaving no doubt among his peers that he was the strongest, the most experienced, and the very best that his keep had to offer.

As he stood there seething in his hatred and fear, watching those he called his top men crumble uselessly before Doa’s blows, it had dawned on him that one of two things were about to happen. One: He would be the very last of the devil’s presence here and would need to slice the blue one apart, and test the pale-skinned ones abilities as he was explicitly told. Or Two: He would be the very last of the devil’s presence here and would die like the rest of them. Option Two would not be allowed to go through, as even demon’s as ‘low’ as him had their pride. This wouldn’t be his final rest.

With the last body hitting the ground before Doa’s might, her bloodied arm shaken off to rid herself of his comrades excess blood. Having such nerve to ask him if his tongue found itself loosening at the site of so many falling before her, the saliva-covered yellow of his elongated fangs were bared with the low rumble of rage and utter hatred were present to both women. This couldn’t end here.

“They died fighting, not fleeing. You gave them a swift death as a warrior ..but I promise to make yours in particular as excruciating and slow as I can bear.” Raising the jagged blade covered with dried blood of past victims, the weapon’s tip was pointed towards Doa in particular. “Your blood I will drink.” Beginning a reckless charge towards Doa in particular, the vengeance for this humiliation was going to be his new priority. The glow of the blood red eyes seemed to glow only brighter now that his lust for battle and death grew, and with Doa in his sights drew his blade as far back as he possibly could. In the motion of this the demon-powered woman before her had placed a hand on her friend’s shoulder, but it hadn’t made him hesitate. Once only several feet away he dropped his blade down towards Doa only to find that his arm wouldn’t continue. Where his arm wouldn’t follow, the rest of his body still wouldn’t leave the stroke of his now frozen blade. “…What ..?” it had even become much more difficult to part his lips, but he could not yet identify why he hesitated.

It was then that Mayuka had allowed her power to erupt around him. The culprit of his now mid-suspenseful overhead attempt to slice Doa entirely in half was halted due to the sudden appearance of solid, crystal clear ice around his entire red-skinned form. All that was free was his head, but the rest that was Murtogg was carefully encased in ice so strong that the earth beneath it was shaking more than the ice itself whilst he struggled against it. To think that he felt the effects of this unnatural frozen attack before it was even formed…

“Enough.” Mayuka said softly, the red of her eyes and the black of her hair evaporating before Doa and Murtogg both. Adopting her original form, the passive red of her aura in this air faded as well. Doa had dispatched the rest of Murtogg’s party rather violently, and while in normal circumstances Mayuka would ask her to be more merciful, there was part of her that felt that demons like them deserved no mercy. All that mattered to her right now was ending these attacks and getting justice for those that were under threat of attack. Despite so much anger she had initially felt, the death Doa wrought had helped bring her back to her senses. “No more blood …just tell me what this is all for. Why are you going after humans like this?”

Murtogg was, other than shivering to his very bone, having trouble reacting to this woman’s up-and-down attitude towards him. Moments ago she was prepared to let them all burn before her eyes, and now she no longer wanted to see blood spilled? He had been told that, of the two targets confirmed to still be present within Arcadia, she was no doubt the easiest to target. Given her demonstration, and what he was resting in, he shuddered ( not just due to the frozen prison ) at the idea that her ‘brothers’ might exceed this power in some form. Emotionally, he could see the uses in going after her, but it was not foolish to think that the power he held was not enough to cripple her. His pride was hurt, yet the will Murtogg contained would not allow him to accept this kind of defeat. Still, what he felt aside, he saw now why they took interest.

“…The daughter of an angel, yet with the faintest trace of blood shared by us. If she is anything like the woman we suspect of mothering her from a separate womb, then lightly you dare not take her.”

Mayuka blinked in confusion at the words this demon spoke of, but what he seemed to be referencing was her strength. She wasn’t deeply rooted within Section III like a couple of her friends had been, so how could they have known about her? And if they knew of her, did this mean they knew of Aiden and Isaac?

“You’re saying that everything you people did ..was to find me?”

“Those were the words I was told, yet make no mistake. Important your kind may be ..you are not the only holder of blood we desire.” Murtogg seemed resigned in his current state, believing that perhaps his fate was always meant to be this. Sent as a messenger, merely used as fodder to pass along a sort of greater message to those they sought. He didn't intend to die here, but his strength failed him and his mind failed to operate where his body couldn't. This was a frozen deathtrap; before these two women he was rendered completely powerless. When he heard of this place he believed he would seek a great battle, and if his foes were lucky a great death with it. Here he found himself, trapped, freezing, humiliated, his dead party failing to inflict much more than a stain of blood upon the blue woman’s being.
Was this all the cause demanded of him?

“Finish it …I will say no more.”

“What?” Mayuka wasn’t psychic, but her time knowing others led her to feel out a person’s will. It wasn’t on the level of her other friends, but somewhere within this demon she felt something die. That proudness, the aura of force and what commanded respect from the peers beside him had vanished. They had broken him. Somewhere within Mayuka, she genuinely felt ..sorry for him now. “I know what I said earlier ..but I don’t want to fight anymore, and I’m not going to execute you. I want this to end, no more death.”

"It wasn't you I was referring to. Her."


By now Murtogg had closed his eyes and hushed himself of these petty emotions. His regrets were few, his last words to this daughter of divine power were true. A demon with no power was deserving of death, and his failure meant nothing to his superiors he worked with. This cause, a new world to conquer and make their own, it was something he was too weak to see for himself one day. His world had gone black and his breathing stilled itself, right until the sudden jolt of a blade pierced his forehead to its very hilt.

Mayuka had been in awe at just how fast that dagger had flown past her, connecting against Murtogg’s skull and piercing it as though it was warm butter. He didn’t utter a sound. The ice Mayuka had maintained had broken instantly with Murtogg becoming engulfed in green flames, his body evaporating in the air before her. Covering her eyes with her arm, she turned around and raised a hand to intercept anything more that came towards Doa and herself, but no trace of anyone had remained. By the time to the flames had disappeared, Murtogg was gone, and in a weird way Mayuka had hoped he would find peace.

“Did you feel anything?” Mayuka peered toward Doa from the corner of her eye, still on considerable guard. That blade was deadly quick, and a creeping feeling began to be felt across her entire body. They had some kind of information to bring what remained of Section III and her brother, yet she still felt some semblance of concern being here. How long was someone there? Was it just one person? Why didn’t they kill Doa or herself instead? Even with her connection to this natural area, she literally felt no presence behind her. That was considerably threatening, especially considering her abilities at feeling particular locations that she influenced were top notch.

“At least we know now ..that they were after us for certain.”
 
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Doa clenched her fists as the demon charged towards her. He was a proud fool, from what he had just witnessed he should know that he was marching to his own death. She would respect it if his convictions weren't so pathetic. His attack was unrefined, akin to what a neanderthal would think best to do with a sword. His arm reached far back, so far she swore she could count the clouds in the sky and still have enough time to punish him. Her legs shifted to allow her to counter, her fist was prepped to strike but she halted. Mayuka had frozen him on the spot, binding him in place. Doa let out a sigh, easing her shoulders and turning to Mayuka. "Sorry about that, for a moment I forgot we wanted him alive." She said in jest, crossing her arms and remaining silent while her comrade did the talking. The demon spoke something cryptic, the words of another. Doa was aware of Mayuka's unique bloodline, but they were close allies, that was to be expected. So not only did these demons know about Mayuka, they were in fact after her for some reason. A reason they would not get out of their stubborn captive.

Murtogg asked to be killed, something she was half expecting considering his feeble warrior's pride. Mayuka, ever the gentle soul, refused to execute him.

"It wasn't you I was referring to. Her."

Doa raised a brow and scoffed. "You shouldn't be so quick to accept your death, but lucky for you I-" The sudden whiff of a dagger flying past her head had her eyes open as wide as the moon. Her instincts kicked in, and her entire body lit up with ki as she swung around. It was only after that she realized that the dagger had killed Murtogg, and that the one who had thrown it was nowhere to be found. Their captive vanished in a phantasmal cremation, and over the sound of everything being amplified by the adrenalin running through her body Doa heard Mayuka speak. "No." She answered sharply right away. "I didn't feel a thing, whoever it was they had no intention of harming us, I would have felt their killing intent at least... Killing Murtogg in the state he was in was effortless, there's no way to sense an action when it is as thoughtless as breathing." There was a clear hint of frustration in Doa's voice, she did not enjoy being toyed with. She didn't want to admit it, but knowing that there was someone capable of sneaking up on her like this made her feel vulnerable. Vulnerability... it was a feeling that was the antonym of nostalgia for her, it was like bugs crawling in her skin. Whoever this executioner was, they had to be dealt with.

“At least we know now ..that they were after us for certain.”

Doa gritted her teeth, looking towards the city as her ki died down. "First the weak are their prey, then us. Why don't we show them that this prey has claws, Mayuka?"
 

purgatory

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The smell was similar to that of petroleum, it burned, but it was the scent of an angel. Blanca's hands were placed firmly in its own pockets, the trail of smoke that encircled the "it" soon began to encompass the quadriga and moved within a span of seven meters as a migrating smokescreen. It floated, and began to move through the air, hovering with no natural speed other that of rising heat. The face of the quadriga appeared on the exterior, as ash and broken residue following the foul smell of an angel.

Lesser demons moving sporadically away from the civilians, carnal pleasure sought in hunting an angel, angels that were more than capable of masking their presence. It was hardly a course of action that was rational, to become palpable by other demons, deliberately becoming exposed. Such thinking was shrewd, you were either fully exposed, or fully covered, experience would just usher in unnecessary doubts. This was the kind of ploy that only seemed necessary when you were trying to hide from a superior enemy after loosing them in broad daylight, and deliberate unveiling as a tactic called misdirection.

This was more driven out of sport, that had to be the only answer. Blanca drifted down the lower level and his floating smoke cloud came undone. From there it took the form of a small male child, easily passing for ten mortal years of age and blending in numerically with the civilians gathering into the building. This boy navigated through the pushing and held up in one of the bathrooms, all the while reverting it's entire body to smoke and slipping through the vents only traveling upward by the current.

From the pipes, they expelled smoke. Normal of course, coming out upon one of the rooftops, and it was then the demons had begun to gather, not truly realize it having been fixed on the angel in front of them. The smoke that lingered in the air, beginning to build and store itself around. Even as they encircled the angel, outside of their circle they'd also become encircled in a mighty bank shaped ring of smoke, growing more feverishly darker as the seconds passed, until suddenly.

Hands lunged out from the dark clouds, as if dragging the lesser peons back to hell. The horrendous appendages that resembled hands were grabbing at the demons, and the blood curling scream of a child was heard as it frantically fled from the bank of smoke and clutched at the leg of the angel. Shivering, terrified, and above all else something else had been lurking within the smoke. The quadriga itself had emerged and its eyes fell upon the angel, it released more of its demonic aura to quickly incite its dominance as the focal point of confrontation with the angel. Unknowing of the angel to pinpoint his deceptive point to be left later explored. As the demon rose its hand, it became gruesomely modified, growing in size exponentially and being lifted by what looked to be its frail left limb.
 

nightmarezeroX9

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Of course...

Several moments after the demons began to encircle Oriel, they were all almost immediately taken out by a mysterious smoke that began to surround the area. Feeling the presence that was secreting from it, Oriel could tell that it was the work of a moderately powerful demon. In one swoop, every demon that Oriel had lured here away from any bystander that was around was already taken out, either dead, or well on its way. What he had set out to do was already done for him, but it was always a bad sign if it was something that wasn't an angel or a superhuman that accomplished the task. In all honestly, Oriel wasn't expecting to attract a demon of such power, but he wasn't at all shocked by it. Judging by how he could feel the murderous intention practically smacking him in the face, this demon wasn't much in a mood to talk. The smoke began to creep closer towards Oriel. The sound of a child screaming startled him slightly, for he was sure that no human was around where he had lured the demons to. Sure enough, a small child ran out of the smoke, obviously terrified beyond all hell. Immediately the boy clung to the angel's leg, shivering, looking like he was about to wet himself out of sheer terror. In the next few seconds following, a demon, the one responsible for what was currently going on, revealed itself, asserting more of it's aura to show that Oriel was its main target. The demon, without word, raised its hand as it began to modify its size to a grotesque size. Reflex kicked in, and Oriel manged to pull the child off of his leg, and held him to his side as he leaped upwards.

Oriel had seemed to be floating in mid air, something that would seem impossible to a human. The boy looked in shock as the pair didn't fall back to the ground, but instead levitated in mid air. This was thanks to the wings that all angels are given. They are unable to be seen by humans, unless the angel allows his wings to appear in physical form, allowing them to be seen by all who are around. Those who have angel blood flowing through their veins were able to see the wings of an angel at all times, whether it be a fallen angel, half-angel, or full blooded one. The physical form of the wings was not needed to be shown for an angel to be able to use them, as the angels only ever show them to humans when they are showing signs of affection or trust, or perhaps both. Flying his way over towards a nearby alley that led back to the populated area that Oriel was in, he gently placed the boy back onto the ground, and motioned for him to run to a safe place. As much as he didn't want to leave the boy alone, Oriel could not leave a demon such as the one that appeared before him to run rampant and cause chaos among the city. The boy reluctantly complied, running as fast as he could to make it to safety. This was currently all that Oriel could do, silently praying for the boy's well being.

Returning his attention to the demon, Oriel rose back into the air, hovering over to where he just was a few moments ago. He remained hovered in the air, potentially giving him a slight advantaged over the demon, assuming he couldn't fly as well. There were many demons that could fly, just like angels, so something such as that wouldn't be much of a surprise at all. Staring down the demon that had emerged from the smoke, Oriel materialized a ball of light in his hand. It started out at the size of a pea, but in a mere second, it grew to the size of a golf ball. Wasting no time, Oriel pointed his index finger, the ball of light now hovering in front. Without warning, the ball of light shot forward like a bullet at its target; the demon in the smoke. As soon as it would make contact with anything, whether it be the demon itself, or the ground, the ball would explode, reducing everything in its blast radius to mere dust. This power was incredibly destructive, so Oriel would have to take great caution as to not level this district in the city. It would be very awkward to explain what happened. Despite the great caution he knows he should take, it would be more than likely that that this district was going to be leveled if this fight continued on. Oriel could only hope that everything ended here quickly.

Alright, let's see what you can do.

 

Cassette-Disk

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Jet rose a finger in front of his face after the explosion. Then he brought the finger slightly higher as screams drowned out the sound of flames. A large piece of rubble fell, and Jet lowered his finger to the bottom area of his torso as it smashed against the ground below. He heard someone rush into his hotel room and run into the balcony. The balcony began to creak under the new weight. The intruder, a man holding a gun, ignored the ominous sound and got as close to the edge as possible, aiming the gun at the floating Trickster, who smiled in response. He pointed his finger at the balcony, which startled the man into stepping back a few steps before renewing his resolve. As the man took another step forward, the balcony collapsed and the man fell with the debris. Jet could hear his screams as well as the firing of the man's pistol, though he was more likely to hit a civilian instead of the card user.

It was almost like music to his ears, and he was only a single player in the grand stage of things. The demons would create havoc and destruction, basically the drummers. The helpless humans were, naturally, the drums to be banged over and over again. And, in Jet's eyes, the angels were the backups. Oh sure they meant well. But even if they tried to stop the demons they would only cause more chaos, and really that was all that mattered to Jet. Nearby he saw a cloud grapple some people, which he thought was odd since most clouds didn't have arms, or indeed hands. Of course, this wasn't most clouds. Jet lazily flew towards Blanca, listening happily to the happenings he/she/it/whatever was causing, barely noting the fact that it was fighting an angel.

"Hey hey hey." He said cheerfully. "I know you're busy and all, but are you in a talking mood? Cuz boy, I met up with this succubus and, man oh man, I think she's the one." A fast moving ball of light was heading towards Blanca, but Jet ignored it. It could take care of itself. "I know that sounds stupid," he continued, "her being a succubus and all, but I seriously can't shake the feeling that we're just meant to be, you know?" He turned around on his card, it still holding his weight allowing himself to stay afloat. "Unless she dies, anyway. That would blow, I've only just met her." As he turned back to face the demon, he pretended to just take notice of the angel, Oriel. "Oh hi." He said simply. "Don't mind me, just shooting the breeze. Carry on with your fight."
 

King Wolfe

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John

It might’ve looked strange to anyone else to see a tall, rather intimidating man, dressed as a lawyer strode down the street armed with a pistol and a particularly annoyed grimace on his face. His projected confidence, however, was more than convincing to trick anyone into thinking he was a figure of authority of sorts. Which was good, John hated explaining himself.

The entire point was moot, however, considering that this particular district was near abandoned. John never really understood people and humans in general (he sometimes considers them even worse than monsters) but they seemed to have some form of sixth sense for danger. There wasn’t any national disaster or Biblical omen or anything but these people just cleared out as if they knew something big was going down.

Like wild animals that can tell when a major storm is going to pass through.

People are weird, John decided.

As he walked down the street, John recalled where he was heading and remembering how suicidal this idea was. Olympus Tower, one of the biggest structures in Arcadia and probably one of the oldest, it was also home to the Greek pantheon. Why were dusty Ancient Greek gods living in the city of Arcadia? No clue, but there they were. Anyone savvy enough could get inside, but that wasn’t exactly the best idea for mortals, especially for John.

Last time he checked, the Olympians didn’t exactly enjoy his presence, not since he tricked Aphrodite into letting him free after he accidentally broke into this ladies-only clan out in the wilderness. Aphrodite was a bit tricky to deal with.

But why, you might ask, is he heading to a place where superpowered gods were eager to blast his face off? The same reason he summoned an angel only five minutes ago to nap his weapon. If John was going to fight in a demonic war, he’d need an arsenal, who better than the god and goddess of warfare: Athena and Ares to provide said weapons?

Storm clouds rumbled in the sky, John wasn’t sure if Zeus was reading his thoughts or something but that never spelled fortune for him. Shadows began to shift and writhe around him as he walked down the street.

John wasn’t a superhuman by any means (unless you consider sarcasm a superhuman ability) but even he could tell that he had been quickly surrounded. His skin crawled and the back of his mind tingled like he was being watched.

Without breaking stride, John produced a lighter and a handkerchief while pocketing his pistol. A simple gun wouldn’t do much against a horde of demons. He turned on his heels and faced the now fully assembled legions of baddies. They were grotesque creatures of the damned, some of them looked horrible, fabricated from the stuff of nightmares while others looked perfectly human with blackened pupils and terrible expressions.

“Legions of the damned and particularly ugly,” John announced with a frown. “I assume you’re here because you know who I am and what I do.”

The demons chittered and growled in agreement, their eyes bloodthirsty and evil.

“As much as I’d like to give you all the undivided attention each of you ugly bastards deserve, I’m in a hurry.” John wrapped up the handkerchief in his hand and muttered a few words of Hebrew into it, a conjuring spell. “I invite you all to kiss my ass as soon as you climb back out of the Pit.”

The demons jumped at him at once, claws gnashing and intent on tearing his throat out. Before they could reach him, John ignited the handkerchief and held it up in the air. The blaze burned unnaturally bronze and as bright as the sun. The ensuing light vaporized the demons instantly as they howled with agony and fury.

In only a few seconds the demons were destroyed completely, leaving only ash and the sickening scent of sulfur. John’s handkerchief continued burning, however, and was threatening to cause a bit of second-degree burns, so he jumped around awkwardly trying to extinguish the cloth.

Oddly enough, however, the handkerchief was completely free from any evidence of burns, appearing perfectly fine aside from a little wear and tear. It was a simple spell but potentially dangerous if he had continued it for a little while longer, the light from that fire was designed to vaporize any monster or demon but it could damage humans if left exposed for an extended period. It was basically like radiation, but a decent cleansing spell will wash away any side effects, but he didn’t have time for that now.

John coughed raggedly, not from the sulfur but from the leftover odor from the spell. He needed to keep moving, a spell like that would be a beacon to anyone even remotely supernatural, which is something he didn’t need at the moment.

Aiden

Aiden dodged another attack with relative ease. It was so slow, he could’ve taken a year to dodge. As the demon missed, Aiden raised his sword and the monster was dissolved into shadows. These demons were more incessant than the ones he was used to. They weren’t really strong, by all means, but they just kept coming in hordes, as if trying to whittle him down, to chip at Aiden’s endurance.

A sly grin appeared on Aiden’s face, if they were trying to wear him down, it’ll take a while his endurance was legendary. After all, he managed to stay up three days straight playing League of Legends with his adoptive little sister Octavia with ease.

He blinked and quickly found himself surrounded. “Tsk, so tenacious…” he growled as he gripped his katana and magical energy poured out of his body like a beacon of divinity.

Aiden teleported from the spot in an instant he slashed at the demons around him, destroying them. Sheathing his weapon, Aiden surveyed the battlefield. The alley wasn’t too damaged but there was still a lot of residual demonic energy, for now, however, it didn’t look like anything else was coming.

“What was that about?” Aiden grumbled, first he gets mobbed by hundreds of demons then all of a sudden they retreat? Last he checked, demons didn’t give up.

Something pricked at the back of his mind as he felt a familiar magic appear suddenly. It was like Nature herself manifested in the city then got really really pissed off and started throwing a fit. There was only something that strong that could produce that sensation, his actual little sis, Mayuka.

“Maybe I should check up on her,” Aiden considered. But before he could make a decision, he felt more and more demonic energy appear all around the city.They were coming en masse now, that wasn’t good. He sensed there was resistance, which was good, but the demonic magic overwhelmed whatever hoped to combat them. He even felt this weirder older magic appear, not from a superhuman, though, from a regular person.

Before he could dwell on it, a bigger demonic force appeared nearer the center of the city.

“Crap.”

Aiden disappeared as the shadows began to swarm around him. He reappeared closer downtown, to the source of that demonic energy. For some reason the place was nearly cleared out as if the people somehow could sense this foreboding power here. It probably wouldn’t matter considering this force was bigger than anything Aiden had sensed (well barring a few friends of his).

He stood atop a skyscraper and watched the inner city from above. The demonic magic was overwhelming at this point, it was like an army. Even the skies resembled how dangerous things were getting, they formed a little dome surrounding the entire city as if sealing it off from the outside world.

Bolts of lightning streaked in the sky, but as Aiden looked at them more closely he realized it wasn’t lightning. Streaks of light came down from the clouds and landed on the earth, they weren’t anywhere near the city (probably some spell keeping them away temporarily) but he recognized them: angels.

Angels were crash-landing all around this place.

Despite being half-angel on his mom’s side (it’s complicated) Aiden didn’t get along with most angels, including the archangel Raphael. Some saw him and his siblings as abomination (which earned them a right hook) while others were more bothered by how disruptive he could be.

Aiden supposed hunting demons on a daily basis and essentially doing an angel’s job was too arrogant for these winged idiots.

Then it appeared. It looked like a human, or rather it had a humanoid shape, fabricated entirely out of the never-ending darkness. It was as tall as the skyscrapers that composed the city.

“Well, that’s gonna be hard to ignore…” Aiden remarked as this monster began to look even worse as time passed. Its obsidian skin morphed into the color of blood, spines protruded from its back, forearms and head.

A horrible mouth appeared with bloodstained teeth and weird green ooze pouring from its mouth. Boils popped up all over its body and even other faces and mouths began to morph on its neck and chest. It was horribly ugly as it let out a monstrous roar, still Aiden glared at the thing indifferently but couldn’t help being reminded of a familiar video-game creature. “Baron Nashor?”

The Titan turned to Aiden and slashed with its hand that was the size of a city block. Aiden charged the hand and met the strike with his kitana, parrying it away from the building. He landed on the street and stared up at the eldritch creature.

“Come on ugly.”

Dante & Elyse

Dante watched Elyse fend off the neverending demons with some admiration. It wasn’t like he was going to let his unofficial protégée get into a fight she couldn’t handle, she was doing very well for someone so inexperienced.

Elyse was surrounded in a monstrous blaze, it was like she had her own personal fire-tornado. Any demon that got too close to her melted into this gross dark puddle. Elyse looked like a single flame, all Dante could distinguish from her form were her glowing orange eyes.

“She’s strong,” Lupa remarked.

Dante rolled his eyes, Lupa had a habit of stating the obvious sometimes. He looked at his side toward his wolf companion, she had grown to her adult size which was about 7 feet tall. Her gray fur looked like tempered titanium and her red eyes were the color of blood. She looked deadly, dangerous, the perfect predator, but Dante could only see the wise-cracking pup that had been with him since he was 7.

“A bit too strong,” Dante countered. “The phoenix is going nuts in there, she wants to break free.”

Lupa scoffed. “Wouldn’t you? Being trapped in a fleshy little body is uncomfortable.”

Dante made a face and Lupa chuckled. “I felt that way at first when we met, but now I’ve grown fond of you.”

“Thanks…”

“Seriously,” Lupa insisted. “You’re cool for a human.”

Before Dante could respond, a few more demons spawned in front of them and charged him. Dante didn’t even have to react, Lupa swiped at them, killing them instantly.

“I am fire,” Elyse said, her voice wasn’t her own, it was layered with another voice… an old, powerful voice. The phoenix was speaking through Elyse. “I am death.”

“Well, that doesn’t sound good…” Dante muttered.

Elyse let out a powerful fiery blast that killed any remaining demons around. Dante blocked the fire with his own magic. She’s losing control too quickly. Elyse raised a hand… at Dante as a fireball appeared in her palm.

Dante charged faster than Lupa could react. He was right in front of Elyse in an instant. The fire surrounding her didn’t burn him, thankfully, his magic was stronger than hers apparently. Dante placed a hand on her forehead and her back.

“Calm down, Elyse. Don’t get overwhelmed,” he told her. Dante absorbed her magic and in a few seconds the flames around her disappeared and she reverted back to normal.

Blinking away the disorientation, Elyse finally noticed how close her teacher was to him. She blushed and tried to backstep but a wave of nausea hit her. “Ugh, Dante what happened? Did I go all ‘orange-eyes’ on you again?”

Dante nodded, taking a step back but staying close in case she keeled over. This happened often during their training, the phoenix overwhelmed her magic too easily and came close to fully possessing her a few times. Dante is able to counter this by acting as a magical sponge, he absorbs the phoenix’s magic to balance Elyse out.

The phoenix isn’t able to possess Dante (his magic was too corrosive for her plus he had Lupa to back him up) so it didn’t have an effect on him.

“Sorry,” Elyse grumbled, shaking her head. “I promise I’ll be better at controlling her next time.”

“You did fine,” Dante promised. “You took care of the demons and didn’t burn Lupa’s fur for once!”

Lupa reverted back to her puppy form and leapt on Dante’s shoulder. “You know how hard it is to get the smell of charcoal off fur?”

“Not that it’d make a difference from your usual aroma of dirt and garbage,” Dante remarked sarcastically.

“Watch it, Curly!” Lupa growled.

Elyse let out a laugh despite how close to death she was. Those two could cheer her up pretty quickly, that’s what she loved about them and was thankful to have them around.

“We should keep moving,” Elyse said, standing up straight. She hated looking weak and wanted to reassure them that she was fine. “There are more demons around.”

“And angels,” Dante reminded her. “There was this powerful burst of divine magic a while back, felt familiar actually… What was her name again…”

“Anyhow, our job isn’t done yet! Allons-y!” Lupa cheered.

“Excuse me?” Dante interrupted. “What the hell is that?”

“It’s French, for ‘let’s go’!” Lupa explained.

“Yeah, don’t say that again…” Dante muttered.

“You’re really asking for an ass-kicking,” Lupa complained.

Elyse let out a chuckle as the trio ventured closer into the city, downtown as they felt a larger demonic force appeared.

??

Near the demonic Titan sat an unassuming alleyway. No one dared venture into the alley, as if some primal sense of fear kept them away from the place, after all not everyone survives a trip into the dark. But one person sat in the alley, one that wouldn’t normally be seen in such a dark and depressing place.

Her long curly hair was the color of the clear sky, her complexion was coppery and youthful perfectly representing her 16 years of age. She wore a black hoodie that had intricate eagle wings on her back, and under her hoodie she wore a simple purple top and worn out jeans with sneakers.

Headphones covered her ears as a somewhat mood-breaking song played muffled in the alleyway. She was leaning over a wooden bowl filled with a red liquid that probably wasn’t fruit punch. The liquid bubbled unnaturally and she grimaced as if it had said something she didn’t like.

“Angels?” she spoke into the bowl. “They are responding quicker than expected…”

The bowl bubbled some more. “No, they shouldn’t be an issue… I guess.”

Despite the music playing in her ears, she carried out a conversation with the liquid as if it was an actual person speaking to her. “I don’t know,” she told it. “But I’ve got a few agents surveying the area. Have they met up with her?”

The liquid stayed silent. “Well? Have they?”

It bubbled angrily and violently but the girl was unmoved, only glaring darkly at it. “I did say to just keep an eye on her, she’s too strong for you fools.”

The liquid became timid and meek (as best as a mysterious liquid could). “Whatever, it isn’t like you could hurt her anyways. I think I’ll go check out her brother, he’s probably playing around with the Titan in the square.”

She stood up and fixed her hoodie. The liquid bubbled once more causing her to roll her eyes. “I told you, my name is Lucy. I’m nobody’s princess…”

Lucy waved a hand and the bowl exploded. She stepped out of the alleyway and headed straight for the downtown area… as the shadows shifted and followed her, clinging to her as if she was the one who casted them… casted every shadow.
 

purgatory

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As if almost instinctively, it had already done something without much stroke of care. Picking up the child and carrying it to safety, perhaps even angels could be kind and chivalrous when they wanted to be. The quadriga simultaneously couldn't help but make eye contact with the boy that the angel carried away. It was more than a coincidence that a child was there, considering it was one Blanca had placed just to experiment behavior. The quadriga tickled the faint hairs on its chin and understood enough about an Angel's sense of chivalry, at least this one in particular.

Releasing its demonic aura, the smoke grew blacker and soon the demon was obscured from view hidden behind the smoke. A demon's eyes and sense of smell were the preferred senses beyond simply sensing emanations of aura. Turning its head within the shrouded cloak of black smoke it began to put together a small army, instead of using his flesh he took from the smoke, using smoke he could substitute them in the form of a miniature bomb, depending on the density, the clone could use transformation and expand its size without sacrificing explosive damage or blast radius.

From the smoke the demon threw a single human-like double. As it approached the sphere, it altered shape and transformed, distorting its size and shape into that of an underwater mammal, monstrous in scale. With its jaws expanding wide open, it bit down crunching the spherical shape of light between its jaws. Causing an explosion high suspended above the city as a thin trail of smoke raced further upward as if being controlled. Once it reached its pinnacle height, the stream of smoke began to dive downward towards the roof where the demon was located, all flushing into the cloud of smoke that seemed to shrink, all the while the aura emanating from the demon intensified.

'Ok. That was way more than I started with, should I do a feint or a direct attack?'


It ran scenarios, holding its hands out lit a flame as if holding the heat of a cigarette the size of his arms. Truthfully, the comparison of the quadriga's powers matching that of a cigarette would make perfect sense. It's aura being the tobacco and its appendages embodied the filter and rolling paper. Cigarettes are also fairly finite, and the principle seems to stem exactly the same way. Blanca tends to illicit smoke from other areas to conserve its own aura, a basic exercise in pragmatics and cunning.

Its innate one-track sense of traction and prudent thinking, it suddenly became aware that its "Cohort Trickster" Jet happened to have floated next to it. Suddenly negating its focus on the angel; who had to been a little alarmed at the light being gimped and converted into an explosion to strengthen the enemy.

"Jet?" Blanca actually sound surprised. "Was my aura that deviously stringent, I suppose its good that you found me. Assistance?" Rather, the demons showed no intention of concealing themselves from angels or the third party. Jet however turned it attention to the angel and barred himself from confrontation. Blanca gave a simple nod and acknowledged this; from there the quadriga jumped fairly high and a black cloud of smoke formed beneath it as it stood floating on a smoke cloud elevating due to its lacking of ability to hover, flying was possible, but consumed far more aura than a construction of smoke.
 

ThePromise

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Doa's eagerness for an aggressive response wasn't unfounded, and Mayuka could feel the subtle impatience she had likely struggled with for some time. They had been on the defensive for weeks prior to today without any hint as to where they could strike and how to properly do it. There were others like Doa who shared her feelings; they were ready to put an end to this, some relished the challenge, others wished to return to their lives and continue to protect those they watched over. She had deeply wished they were all here now with her, yet nothing could be done. There were other worlds that Section III became affiliated with, leaving them unaided wouldn't have sat well with anyone either. That was why so many were gone now. Without the presence of so many familiar to her, this world felt so unfamiliar as a result.

"I think you more than got that message across, but ..things don't add up right now. Why would--" A vibrating sensation was emitted from her left pocket, disrupting her train of thought. Reaching into her pocket, she retrieved her pale white phone and read the ID visible on the screen. In red letters the word 'Section' could be read. Placing it on speaker, she held it out between Doa and herself, a firm grip in the face of what was beginning to creep up within Arcadia. It hadn't come yet, but something felt like it was about to happen, and she didn't know what. "We're here."

"Good to hear you're both safe. What's the situation?" The voice on the other line was Connor Owens, currently the man in charge of what was left of Section III's resources on Elysium. Within the underground Headquarters personnel were frantic in movement, darting around various consoles and constantly relaying information from one point to another. Only the more dire news would have to reach him, as securing Arcadia was the priority here and nothing could come before it. Currently on a significant alert status, most of the armed personnel that weren't within the base were now on the streets helping law enforcement clear high-priority buildings. This included hospitals, day cares, and schools. He would have liked to give the units under his command an opportunity to strike back, but the safety of Arcadia's people was at the top. Besides, that was what people like Doa and Aiden were here for - to display that there was more than enough resistance to combat these hell spawn.

"It's like Satoshi believed. These attacks aren't at random, they're after something. People, I think."

"What more can you tell me?" Satoshi was the leader of Section III for a reason, and filling these shoes was no easy task. It was a wonder how his family had managed this role for the past couple generations at a time, respect had only grown for the young man as a result. For Connor now, he was viewing a detailed overview of Arcadia from multiple angles via special satellite imaging and things were obviously not looking good.

"They ..know who I am. And if that's the case, Aiden needs to be warned too." Mayuka looked to Doa, and then past her towards the city. That creeping feeling was beginning to grow much more intense now. "Connor, someone finished the last attacker off. Doa and I couldn't even sense their presence. You need to be careful too."

"Thanks for the heads up. I need both of you back in Arcadia, there are some troublemakers of interest and I don't think local law enforcement would have any chance. Doa, I need you to --" Connor's voice had faltered, growing dead silent with the newest intelligence forming dead center on his screen. A mass of darkness reaching as tall as skyscrapers was rapidly forming dead center within the city, destroying any and all thoughts that didn't pertain to seeing it destroyed as possible. The individual centered on smoke could wait, compared to what was in store for everyone now. "Change of plans. Something much bigger just arrived, I need both of you, right now." Sucking in air, Connor braced his feet instinctively with this new creature, this Titan, raising its hand back and sending it towards a building. Miraculously its massive blow was knocked back!

Focusing on the area of would-be impact, Connor could make out Aiden Ashford there to halt its offense. Keeping up with his location had been difficult, given his speed hadn't allowed this imaging to pick up on him very easily. "Aiden's already on scene, but I don't think he'd object to some help."

"....." That feeling had made Mayuka go slightly paler with such a level of powerful evil radiating so close to home. She was desperately concerned for the well being of all within that city who couldn't defend themselves, and was glad to know of the evacuation plans before this bait was cast. Knowing Aiden was there brought much more comfort to her than anything else. Her brothers were capable fighters, and if anyone could stall for time if not outright kill it, it was Aiden. Still, this lingering disgust in the surrounding grove was also her duty. "Doa, please back him up. Connor, I'll remain behind for now."

"What are you--"

"Please, I'll offer an explanation later. By the time that system cools down, you should be able to send me after her. I'll only need two minutes." The desperation in her voice was frightening. Mayuka was the most frightened out of each person in this party without a doubt; she'd love to arrive there immediately, but there was something else she had to do before she had done so.

Connor hadn't fought beside Mayuka before, but he was more than aware that she was one of the most frightening people to upset. He had heard some stories from her brothers and some of her friends. Satoshi left her here strategically, and according to what he was told there was only one other individual to his knowledge that could compete with her on a devastating scale. The devil behind that smoke, the crude axe-wielding demons that ran amok, they were all pale in comparison to what would happen if she had ever gone bad. Connor wasn't her boss, he was at best her intelligence officer and someone who was here to help her should she need it. "Okay, two minutes. Doa and Aiden have to hold out until then. Doa, get set, and use your earpiece. I'll contact you directly." Looking over his shoulder, the intelligence officers behind him to handle the surveillance of all things of interest within Arcadia were now priming their satellite system towards Doa.

Teleportation had been a new means of rapid transportation and was still in its early stages. Satoshi had helped engineer it to transport people or objects of interest across long distances quickly, but the drawback was that the lock-on was not instant, and the actual porting also taken time. The cooldown was of current significance, as too much overuse risked destroying the overhead satellite system entirely. There was a tingling sensation that had come with the lock-on to warn the targets of immediate travel, sending subtle shivers to inspire a minor amount of goosebump activity along the body. They were working on how to properly warn those using it without the sensation, but for now it would have to do.

"Twenty seconds. We'll put you right above it, so launch in the air on my signal."

The line had closed, giving Mayuka the time she required and further communication would be given to Doa from the earpiece she carried. Doa may have understood exactly what had to be done given the bloody mess of the area, a cleansing was more than necessary before this land grew corrupt. Pocketing her phone, she took a few steps away from Doa to let her get clear space for her own teleport.

"I'll be right behind you!"

"Doa, do it now!" Upon her inevitable leap, she would vanish from thin air before Mayuka's own eyes, appearing now several feet above the Titan in a space clear enough to land a strike.
 
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Doa grumbled something intelligible as Mayuka pulled out her phone. She had left her own phone back home. Again. She knew how to use the thing; however she still wasn’t used to carrying a phone around. It took her a short moment to recognize Connor’s voice from the speakers. She had only heard his voice in person, and even then only a few times. Like him she worked for Section III; likely one of the only places where she could fit in even a little. Fighting with dangerous supernatural monsters was a lot more comfortable than the seat of a chair in a cubicle. Doa had gone on only one mission with Connor, a stealthy affair, in which she simply took part as a contingency plan in case anything went wrong. As far as normal humans went he seemed to be fairly skilled, which made him okay in her book.

That was the only reason she was okay with him taking over for Satoshi; the real leader of section three, right now. She listened to the exchange between Connor and Mayuka, the tone of which turned frantic as the situation in Arcadia took a turn for the worse. The sky above the city looked like something a depressed artist would create after mixing all their paints in a drunken stupor. What came from the sky soon after was a disgusting monstrosity, that revolted her even from here. Connor wanted them both there, and she was ready, however Mayuka was hesitant. She asked Doa to go on ahead, Doa looked back to the scene of the battle that had ended only a minute ago. Doa was far too jaded to be bothered by the mounds of corpses and blood, but she knew cleansing this area was important to Mayuka. Doa looked to her, and simply nodded.

Connor gave her instructions, and she placed a small black earbud into her left ear. “It’s in, I’m ready.” On his mark she waited for the signal, keeping a track of the time in her head. As the time lowered she began to feel the now trademark sensation that accompanied the teleporting process. Someone once asked her what it felt like, and she wasn’t sure how to describe it. It was as if every inch of her skin was being teased by feathers, giving her an uncomfortable feeling of violation. “Of course!” Doa called out to Mayuka, as she told her she’d be right behind her. Connor gave her the signal, and on cue Doa leaped.

Instantly she found herself above the city, and more directly over a towering abomination. “Even more hideous up close.” Doa muttered, the wind blowing her hair and clothes as she rocketed towards the titan. Her aura flashed to life around her, and she focused much of it into her right leg. She spun her body forward quickly to gain even more destructive momentum, and slammed the creature’s head with a powerful axe kick, the point of impact exploded, and the titan reeled forward to fall. As the titan fell, Doa planted her feet onto it’s back, it’s spines came whizzing by, forcing her to bound off of them and leap side to side to avoid them. One of the creature’s boney spines came close to hitting her, Doa strengthened her right fist and punched the base of it, splitting it off and letting her pass by. She ended up landing on the street, with the severed spine impaling the ground close by to her. However the titan was not beaten, it rose to it’s feet with surprising speed and prepared to strike back. “Hm.” Doa calmly looked at the charging beast, and then to the severed spine near her.

Dashing towards it she sent a kick towards the base that snapped it out of the ground and lifted it slightly upwards. Doa then jumped up and kicked it straight into the titan’s chest. The spine barely pierced it, certainly not causing enough damage, though it did cause it to stop in it’s tracks and stumble.

“Aiden! Hammer it in!” Doa yelled out to her comrade, who shouldn’t have been far.
 

nightmarezeroX9

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It was slightly alarming to see that the demon was easily able to negate Oriel's attack, although it required him to throw what was at first a human double... thing. Whatever it was, it grew in size to something grotesque, eating Oriel's light orb and flying up into the sky, where it exploded. The smoke that exploded outwards had returned to its owner, now relocated on a rooftop that Oriel was looking down upon. Yet another demon had appeared, although this one seemed to have no interest in joining the fray. Despite appearances, Oriel was a bit skeptical, as his run in with ended with all of them attacking him. This one he would have to keep his eye on. It wouldn't come as a surprise if the demon decided to attack Oriel while he was busy holding the other demon back. He had immediately devised a plan on how to deal with the two, while hopefully keeping the newly appeared enemy at bay. While it was normal behavior for an angel to attack any demon in sight, Oriel knew he had to pick this fight carefully. Both of the enemies in front of him weren't average, everyday demons. He decided to set his plan in motion quickly, before the opportunity was wasted.

The demon that controlled the smoked leaped up into the air, a cloud of black smoke forming beneath it, allowing the demon to essentially fly in the air. So far, neither of the two demons seemed to be making an effort to attack. It would be a little weird to just have everyone stand there and not do anything, so Oriel took the initiative. Extended his left arm and opening his hand, he formed another ball of light in front of it. The ball glowed, giving off a warm light, bright enough to make someone who stared into it have sunspots for a while. The ball of light wasn't formed to be used as an explosion, but rather, something else besides that. Oriel's power to bend light gave him a lot of utility, and could be used to any extent that he saw fit. The ball of light shot forward, towards the demon that was now hovering in front of him.

Before it was even anywhere near close to Oriel's opponent, the ball exploded in a incredibly bright light in the middle of the air. It was no problem for Oriel to look directly into the light, as he could still see both of the demons clear as day. As for the other two, the feeling they would be experiencing would be akin to being victim to a few flash bang grenades. This little plan of Oriel's had a main objective. To prepare for any attack that the newly arrived demon may decide to fling the angels way, he had a small piece of the ball break off after the explosion, and make it's way to nestle within the demons clothing. Just that had occurred, as the tiny fragment of light had gently floated down and attached itself to the collar of Jet's shirt. Despite being a fragment of light, it's glow was similar to that of a shiny rock found in the dirt. Of course, it was still bright, but it was hidden enough not to be seen immediately, and since it practically had no weight, it would barely be felt by the demon at all.

Despite that being the main focus of the plan, Oriel needed to make it seem like the flash of light was a plot to attack the smoke demon. Immediately after the flash went off, Oriel formed a spear of light above his right index finger, and flung the spear forward at great speed. It's target destination was the demons chest, where it would pierce through and do a considerable amount of damage. Oriel was prepared and focused, ready to follow up with another attack; something that wasn't normal of him. Anyone who knew him would know that he was incredibly laid back, and occasionally lazy. But not today. This demon threatens the very people that Oriel is sworn to protect. It wouldn't exactly look good if the demon succeeded in harming anymore humans.
 

Lumine

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Seven.

Not four, not five. Nope. Apparently six was not even enough. It had to be the seventh freaking time!

Claire huffed in annoyance creating a small puff of mist in the still and damp air of the old warehouse. Her brisk footsteps echoed in rhyme to the persistent plip plop of a leaking pipe somewhere. The Warehouse was one of a series of others near the docks, not so far from downtown, rendered useless and abandoned by the passage of time. Due to their deteriorated state the government has planned to demolish them and erect something more useful in their place. These days they hardly received any visitors, except for the occasional sketchy business of some gangs and drug dealers. It was highly unlikely, however, at that time of the day. It was empty inside, with nothing but some broken crates and rusted iron shelves strewn around the place. It was perfectly contained and secluded, and from a different perspective, entirely trapping and isolated. When you had a group of bloodthirsty demons coming after you that was practically suicide, but for Hunters, suicidal do come occasionally with the job specification.

Claire came to a sudden halt at the middle of the spacious warehouse and turned around. She trained her eyes at the door, her hand clutching a sleek silver handgun casually to her side. She felt weary and exhausted. Not physically though, it was almost impossible for her to ever feel physical fatigue, not with the kind of stamina she possess. Rather she was mentally drained. Ever since the attack on her house three days ago, she had been hunted unstoppable by hordes of demons, from every legion and sect you could think of. From Hell Hounds and Daevas to your typical Black-eyed possessors. They often came in dozens, one after the other, no matter how many she killed or sent back to hell, they persistently kept hounding her. But today, the numbers just rose to a new record. She hadn't rested since yesterday night. Her attempts at contacting her aunt had all ended in failure, she had been away from the city on a hunt for a week, but two weeks have already passed and she still hasn't returned. All other hunters she knew were either killed in the last two days or were entirely missing. She had no relatives other than her aunt, and any other friend she had wouldn't be aware of the hunter's life she led. No, she wouldn't risk involving them on this. She was on her own.

The worst thing though is that she had a felt the sign for a while, that something bad was going to happen, like this thin layer of air pressing insistently on her chest. She still can't understand what is exactly happening to the world. She has been on the run for three days and didn't have a single chance to think clearly and evaluate the situation. In fact, she had never seen this large amount of demons at any given time in her life coming to the city or even gathering like that. The very idea made her stomach lurch, what could they possibly be planning? She had been trying to drag the answer out from the demons that attacked her earlier, but what they spouted made no sense. Their only goal so far was to eradicate her and every other hunter as it seems. Judging from their persistence in attacking her though, they were probably trying to wear her out enough to deal the finishing blow. Not happening.

The plip plop of the leaking water penetrated the silence like the waning seconds of a moving clock. Claire was at ease now, she needed to be in order to survive. Her goal was clear: Get Information, Finish the Job, and Clear out of here. She could already hear their footsteps approaching.

Plip Plop

A Dozen at least, larger than the last group.

Plip Plop

They barged in, a group of 20 varied ages, women and men, completely normal and unwary humans ... with entirely black eyes. All Possessed. They didn't attack right away, they circled around fast and 6 stood blocking the exit. Claire stood where she was, looking, observing quietly their movements. Their black eyes bore into her gray ones, and they spoke only of one thing. Murder. The air was cold now as it brushed against her arms, the foul stench of darkness and sulfur invaded her nostrils. Things Claire was all too used to but didn't give a thought to right now.

Plip Plop

She sensed, however, that among these demons one stood out most out of the others. His Darkness was murkier, his aura much more vile and he reeked horribly of Evil. He stood at the very back of the others blocking the exit, a man in his early thirties with silvery gray hair, strong features and eyes the red of Crimson. He stared right at her with interest. Amusement even. And walked forward past the others. No doubt, their Leader.

Plip Plop

" Confident aren't we Clairy Girl? " he smirked, " Thinking you can take us all by yourself. "

I can.

" Foolish... " he tut-tutted, his face weaving into a fake show of empathy, " very foolish of you sweet heart. "
There were some snickers from the others, a laugh of mockery or two. What's with the stalling?

" I must say, I'm impressed. " That, Claire thought, was at least some truth from his part. She could recognize it in the sudden tone shift of his voice, " Still up and kicking. You don't look like it, but you're quite the survivor Clairy girl. " He grinned wickedly, and clapped his hands in slow deliberation.

" I honestly didn't think you had it in you. Aunty must have done a great job training you, hasn't she? " He teased.

Don't listen to him. He's trying to unhinge you off.

" Why take all the trouble to come after me? " Claire uttered, her voice high but quiet, controlled, " Why are your kind suddenly concerning themselves with the hunters when they can be off messing around as they like? "

Plip Plop

" What do you hope to gain from doing this? " She gazed right back at him, her gray eyes intense like a brewing storm. Her fingers tightened ever so slightly around the cold metal of her gun.

" Curious, aren't we today Clairy girl? "

What's with the weird nickname? It's getting on my nerves.

" Since you don't have much time left on your clock, and I feel oh so charitable today, I'll indulge you . " His grin, receded into a sinister smile. He started walking around.

" To answer your first question, We are coming after you because I think your lovely head would look perfectly lovely in my Head collection . " Claire pursed her lips. She knew instantly that he was lying, he wasn't going to give her a straight answer. The Bastard.

" As for your second question, we demons don't like you hunters. It's that simple, so why not do some cleaning job while we are at it? "

That might hold some truth, but not enough motive for the kill fever. Not enough at least for demons to throw their self preservation aside.

" Ah Lastly, what do we demons hope to gain from this? " and he pointed all around him, pointing metaphorically to the current state of things. " The World. " he said it slowly, purposely. As if the word held more to it than it seems.

" The World? " Claire questions, but he ignores her question and carries on.

" Your kind have had their chance. Living in this world so Blissfully, So Peacefully, Doing what you want, living like you desire and leaving so little to our kind. This all shall end. Now it is OUR time. "

" What are you planning to do? " Claire pressed, but he waved her question aside.

Claire knew he wouldn't be telling her more.

" Now, now enough with the questions Clairy girl. We have more important things to do like gouging out your heart. " He laughed with malice, as he walked out to the far end of the warehouse waving for the others to move forward.

" End this. "

They all started at her, closing the distance in fast strides all around her. The Ring on her thumb melted and reshaped itself into a twin handgun in her other hand. Her mind was empty, quiet. There was no time to decide, the thinking was already over. There was only feeling. Because if she stopped to think, to evaluate, she'd be already dead before her first bullet came out. No, it was already over. She had seen this happening before in her mind, she had clutched her guns, raised her hands and pulled the triggers. She knew where they are, each one of them, she knew how they will come at her. She had angled her bullets at just the right tilt, each one fired to hit, each one hit without a miss. She had seen how she turned, how she ducked, how she balanced herself. She had already killed them all. In her mind it was already over. There was no thought now, there was only being.

She took a deep breath, feeling the adrenaline rush in her veins, the air tingling against her skin, seeing everything sharper, crispier, every smell more potent, every breath more precious, every heart beat more vibrant as it drummed against her chest. She felt so alive. All it took was a split second, and her arm was raised, the light soft and lambent hugged her figure as she twirled around, bullets of luminescence zipping out of her guns in reckless speed. She turned ducked, shot another and rolled to her left.

Don't break the flow. Keep moving.

A hand grasped at her jacket, but she quickly elbowed the attacker turned, and shot him in the head. She rose, their last coming at her from the back. She turned and without aiming, shot him at point blank. He fell to the ground with a thud. It was already over. It all happened so quickly, but to Claire, she felt as if it was still going as if time had slowed and let her absorb each single detail of it. She didn't like to admit it, but it was always so exciting to be on the verge of life.

" It Can't be... " Their leader still stood at the very back, untouched. His eyes wide and his face a mask of utter surprise " You are... " and at that he burst in laughter. Claire ignored his reactions, and walked to him, her right hand gun aimed to kill.

He knows.

" Ah I think I just hit the Jackpot," He said and looked at her, somehow his eyes seemed to have become a brighter red, " Dear me, Clairy girl, you are so full of surprises. I think you'd make a very interesting candidate. " That caught her off guard.

" A Candidate for what? "

" You'll know soon enough. " He wasn't smiling anymore, there was instead a prickle of dark amusement on his face, " I'd love to stay and talk more, but time is ticking by and I have business to take care of. Nice meeting you, Claire. "

" Wait!" But the host's mouth was already screaming wide open, Black smoke pouring out and flying out to the sky before the man dropped to the ground.

Dammit.

So they weren't just randomly killing people. They were searching for Candidates. The Question here is candidates for what? She checked the bodies of the hosts, most of them were alive. A Couple were sadly dead, probably died during their possession or before getting possessed. She walked out and started heading to downtown Arcadia. Claire knew she needed more information. More time to clear her mind and think about it. The sun felt refreshing after the tingling cold of the warehouse. She gulped in the fresh air letting it soothe her, the wind flickering her locks playfully around her face. Out of the pocket of her leather jacket, She took out her mobile and opened her phone list.

She scrolled through the names and numbers, ones that stared back at her helplessly, none of them will do. She found that one name left that she hadn't called yet. Her aunt had warned her not to call him ever, not unless he was the last resort. She said he was a man who had too many enemies, even for a hunter, and getting close would mean tipping the scale against herself. She never understood the reasoning though. That man was a hunter right? That man was helping others. Why in the world shouldn't they be in contact with him. She pressed his name, and put the phone on her ear. There were a couple of rings on the line before someone picked up on the other side.

" Hi. This is Claire Slevain. I'm Alyss Slevain's Niece. She told me to call you when the world stops making sense. "
 
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