Chapter 43 - Side Chapter: The Nest of Nightmares (Part 1/4)

(A.N.: This is not the best way to cut, I apologize, but I wanted to speed up the training part a little bit, however, I can't just ignore our old vampire hunter this much. Once again, sorry for jumping around.

Also, just a note: I don't usually do this, but this time I have added a counter to the parts, so you know how long this look back is. While this is a side story, it does go deeper into the history of a character that will play some role in the future. If you skip over it, and later feel that you don't understand some actions, this might be the cause. :) )

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Going back in time a bit, to the nasty, grimy sewage system of the city…

(A.N.: This is not the best way to cut, I apologize, but I wanted to speed up the training part a little bit, however, I can't just ignore our old vampire hunter this much. Once again, sorry for jumping around. )

After spending all of the specially prepared silver bullets, the rest of the journey turned slightly more tiring. As he got closer and closer to the central regions of the underground system, the previously sparse patrols increased in volume by a great deal.

What was a loner or maybe a pair of garkains now were varying from three to half a dozen. While this still wasn't too much of a problem to Jonathan, the old man, he started to feel the wear and tear of the passage of years.

His stamina wasn't like before, and going through such an intense exercise was now starting to show its toll on his aging body.

With a loud thud, yet another of these evolved rat-like bipedal vampiric beasts fell into the ground, only to be lit on fire and burned to ashes a moment later. Its last pain-filled shriek echoed into the darkness, hopelessly asking for help.

As the last of the monsters finally fell, Jonathan could finally heave a sigh in relief. With a shake-like motion the small, silver blades snapped back to their original, hidden position.

"God damn… these beasts are swarming in here! How can such a big city in the supposed 'strongest' country in the world ignore them? Shouldn't there be some hunters assigned to thin their population regularly?! What is the Society even doing?!" He grumbled reaching for his aching back.

"I am way too old for this sh*t…"

Releasing yet another tired sigh, he reached for his breast pocket, giving a gentle rub on the picture hiding there, before reaching behind it and pulling out a light brown square-shaped gum, and swiftly popped it into his mouth.

However, instead of joy, only a frown settled on his face as he began to chew this tasteless supplement.

"I miss my cigs… But, I made a promise to her, I have to keep it." He muttered to himself. As his mind wandered to his little princess, determination replaced his outlook. "I will find her, and get my little princess back!"

After taking a bit of a breather, he returned his focus to the last part of his adventure laying in wait ahead. He squinted his eyes, trying to pierce into the dark void that dominated this entire journey, and stepped over the pile of ash on the ground.

His fists clenched, he looked sternly ahead, which added the slow-paced chewing of the nicotine-supplement gum, had a unique look to it.

The tunnel slithered around, going deeper and deeper, seemingly with no end in sight. Whilst he had a rough outline of this underground urban maze mapped out, it wasn't all-knowing. There were several old, archaic dead-ends for example that weren't drawn at all, whilst in other areas, whole sections were missing.

All in all, Jonathan was mostly relying on his own instincts and experience. He knew that he just had to follow the smell of blood, and if he was met with more and more ambushes and a patrolling group of monsters along the way, he could relax as he was most likely heading the right way.

Eventually, he reached a split. The path continued towards directly to his left, heading roughly towards the north and to his right, which would then mean it would be heading south.

Looking at both tunnels, the earlier frown made its second appearance on his bearded face.

"Great. Just great." He grumbled once again, turning his attention towards the left arching pathway first. From a first look, it looked exactly the same as the other one or the one he was standing in. It was dark, the walls were covered with the same oily, dark grime just like the others, the penetrating stench of blood and human waste could be smelled from both directions.

Jonathan slowly inspected both options, focusing his gaze to see something that could make this choice just a bit easier. Sadly, no matter how hard he tried, his regular, human eyes couldn't find any fault, or difference in both ends. For all, he knew both could lead to the same direction, or he could waste a huge amount of his time by picking wrongly.

Releasing a sigh filled with growing annoyance and frustration, he reached for his forehead and rubbed it.

"Just my luck. That bastard gave me a useless map, not to mention way too few bullets, for a job like this."

He reached into his leather pouch, which only had the matchbox in it, he pulled it out and gave it a light shake. From the sound, it seemed like there were only a couple of matches left.

"And I don't even have enough matches. He really is forcing me to get back to using that huh? God… Once I get back, I will be sure to give him a few kind words…"

With no other options, he reached for the picture in his breast pocket once again, and gently rubbed it. His scowling face instantly relaxed, a thin smile emerged under the thick cover of his silver beard. He crouched down as if he was looking at someone with a child-like height.

"What do you say, princess? Which path should I take, huh? Where do you think the big baddie could be hiding?"

He kept caressing the hidden picture, whilst speaking to nobody in particular. However, that didn't bother the old man at all, as he acted like someone was just whispering the answer into his ear. He had a look of enlightenment, turning his attention towards the left, pointing at it with a wondrous look in his eyes.

"The left, you say? You sure honey? Remember, I only have materials to check out one of these tunnels. Even if I end up using my… gifts, I can at the most finish up one of these sections tonight, and would then be forced to rest for a couple of days afterward. So, do you really think I should pick the left?"

He looked in front of him again, before offering his ear to the imaginary figure once more. He nodded a few times as if he was listening to some whispers before he rubbed the top of the head of this elusive being and stood back up.

"Okay honey, I will trust your instincts. Let's go and check out this one then!"

With the decision made, he turned towards the left, leaving the right option behind, and entered the slightly smaller tunnel.

It didn't take too long for the first welcome committee to arrive. 3 pairs of scarlet-colored demonic eyes popped up from the distance. A loud, monstrous shriek filled the hallway, carrying much more power than the ones Jonathan met before.

A grin slowly appeared and crept up on his face, twisting his bearded facial muscles. He wasn't afraid, or wary, no. He had a look of elation and an emerging expectancy.

"Finally… My little princess was right!"

Instantly he entered his usual battle-ready pose, whilst flicking his wrists as he raised both of his arms in front of his chest. The silver blades snapped to attention, revealing themselves to the world once more.

Keeping his left open palm in the front, he slowly twisted his torso to the side, while cocking his right arm back, entering a thrusting posture.

He waved with his frontal left hand, inviting his opponents to the party.

"Come on you over-sized rats! Come and meet your just doom!" He bellowed with a rising craze in his eyes, his grin curving higher with a clear eagerness towards the upcoming clash!

Another wave of screech filled the area, as the trio charged forward, rushing to tear this invading human to pieces!

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Meanwhile, far from Jonathan's current location, another figure entered the underground world of the city. Her high heels clapped loudly against the stone floor. She was wearing an elegant but totally out-of-place tight one-piece violet dress, reaching barely to her supple thighs.

The only tool she seemed to carry was a tablet that she kept looking at whilst venturing into the darkness without any care.

The faint, neon-green light was reflected on her rounded glasses as a long, seemingly endless stream of data kept flowing through the device's screen, causing her stoic, nonchalant look to twist into an eerie-looking smile.

She reached for her head, combing her black tinges back to their orderly fashion using her right hand, as she looked up, straight into the black void.

Instead of turning scared, her grin stretched further.

"Perfect… Absolutely perfect! This place is filled with good specimens! This will be the perfect place to set up shop!"

Slowly averting her gaze, she looked at the flowing dark brown sewage next to her. Her smile slightly receding, she added thoughtfully.

"Well, after a bit of cleaning of course…"