Interlude 5 - The Vessel

10 reviews = bonus chapter

500 gems = bonus chapter

Advanced chapters at:

patreon.com/FanFictionPremium

***

- 'Three of us will go with us, and the rest of you cover the area to make sure no one escapes,' I said to the Assassins.

- And remember, don't be naive or overly merciful. A demon could very well be a child or a woman, so don't be fooled by innocent appearances. Demon worshippers themselves are not known for their good-heartedness," Konstantin said, frowning.

- I see," Uther said glumly, gripping his hammer tighter. He had gone into this operation in his battle armour, along with his weapon. It hadn't changed much, but now the symbol of the Argent squad appeared next to the symbol that Uther had asked to keep.

Among all of us, only Miss Semilia was not worried, who looked even somehow too relaxed. All she needed was to start humming a cheerful song. The Assassins were as indifferent as usual, but I didn't expect anything special from them. I couldn't understand Mukuro's emotions through my helmet, which was completely closed.

We moved forward cautiously, clutching our weapons. In this situation, I realised that I was, in fact, the weakest of everyone here. Hopefully my past skills hadn't rusted away....

As we entered the small village, we noticed that it was completely empty. There were no people in any of the houses, and I understood why. The Assassin had already told us that all the villagers had gathered in the local church, which was much larger than expected.

You could even call it huge, which made it stand out from the rest of the houses. And I was pretty sure there was a basement, maybe even several levels.

When we reached the door to the church, Uther gently pushed it open, stepping forward. And we were immediately confronted with an unusual scene.

Many ordinary-looking people bowed before a man in a black cloak who looked quite ordinary. Except that he smiled strangely at the sight of us.

- You're early, John," he said, looking at Konstantin, "And I see you're with your friends. I'm surprised I don't remember you being in the habit of teamwork.

- These are my employers, Crozell, and we are here to banish you," Konstantin began seriously, looking at the demon.

- Well, why would you do that right away? And why use magic?" he chuckled and made a gesture that almost knocked the spirit out of John, "It's not interesting, let's do it the old-fashioned way.

- You think you can beat me with just a little restriction on magic use? - John asked the demon with an ironic arch of his eyebrow. I gripped my gun tighter, waiting for the fight to begin.

- Of course not, but I don't think it would be fair to fight me with such a large team," he looked around at all of us, focusing his gaze especially on Uther, "Let you have some fun with my vessel. Although I don't have full control over it because of your attempts to disrupt the ritual, it's enough. Let your friends have their fun with my servants. I don't think all humans are as cynical as you are to go around killing innocents and even children.

After these words John and the demon disappeared at the same time, and we were all left alone with a crowd of maddened people looking at us with carnivorous eyes.

A second, and then I saw a slightly hunched man coming at me, clearly wanting to tear me apart. I only had time to raise my pistol, but not to shoot, because he was too fast for me. But at the decisive moment I saw before me not the madman's grin, but Uther's hammer, which simply smashed the enemy's head.

- The light has long since left them, leaving only empty shells with demonic spirits inside. We must avenge these innocently taken souls! - Uther said angrily, pointing his glowing hammer at his opponents, somehow weakening them and making them even angrier.

- Uther, help John! We can handle this place ourselves," I shouted in a decisive moment, pointing to the entrance to the basement. There was probably a battle going on down there as well, and Constantine was weakened as well. He will need Uther's help for sure.

Without saying anything, the paladin just rushed to the entrance of the cellar, literally destroying former civilians along the way. I've seen a lot of things in my life, but something like this... it's too much even for me.

It all seems kind of surreal. But this is my new life, and I'm going to have to live like this for a long time. And so I pushed myself back, and pulling out my gun, I started shooting at our opponents.

I don't know if I should believe Uther's words or not, but my life is at stake now, and so excessive mercy won't help.Bullets hit the madmen, but it didn't hurt them much. Blood poured from the wounds, flooding the floor, and some of them even had wounds in their heads, but it didn't bother them. Is the body just a vessel that holds their souls? Then a gun wouldn't be much help. However, even though I know a lot of martial arts, I don't think I'll be able to use them against such a superior opponent.

And while I was thinking, Mukuro reloaded without firing a single bullet, and Miss S just kept firing at them without any distractions.

After a moment, however, I did realise exactly what Ikusaba was reloading for. Explosive rounds that simply tore apart the victims' bodies, rendering them motionless or incapacitating them altogether.

But our opponents were clearly not willing to be mere punching bags either. One of the madmen approached Miss Semilia and tried to put her on the knife, which he successfully did. However, she did not let the knife in her chest get in the way, as she calmly killed her opponent with his own knife by simply pulling it out of the wound.

As far as I remember, her ability is immortality, so this fighting style is more understandable. She looks like she's not used to fighting like that, but her opponents are forcing her to.

Ikusaba, on the other hand, felt completely at ease, instantly dodging her opponents' clumsy lunges and responding with a burst of bursting bullets. And I stayed alive only thanks to the help of Assassins, who backed me up during the fight.

The shots were not very effective at first glance, but with their help it was possible to reduce the mobility of opponents enough to kill them later, but there was one thing I couldn't do in this fight, namely shooting at children, even though I realised that they were already dead.

However, I was replaced by Assassins, who did their job perfectly, quietly killing everyone around them with great efficiency.

With such allies, we quickly finished off almost all the enemies until the building suddenly shook. I fell on my back and watched as the floor above us splintered, causing us all to fall down.

- Demon spawn, prepare to die," I heard Uther shout, followed by a blinding flash of light.

After the fall, I felt disgusted and could hardly continue the fight, and the way my comrades calmly stood up, rushing to continue to destroy demons, only made me feel even more inferior.

Though it would be silly to call it that. I just feel too weak here. So next time, I should stay at the headquarters... or get stronger.

But how? I could ask Boss to help me again, but I don't want to stress him out again. He's already doing more work than all of us, and now me with my exorbitant requests. Still, I don't think he has a way to turn a normal person into someone like them with the snap of his fingers.

After recovering a bit, I also glanced at the battlefield. At that moment, the wounded Ikusaba was lying on the side, covering her stomach with her hand, while the others were fighting the demon.

There was nothing left of the past appearance of an almost normal person there. His entire body was covered in strange growths, some kind of hellfire burning in his eyes. His ears were stretched out a little, and horns grew on his head, and one of these horns was already broken. His clothes were all but gone, apparently damaged during the transformation and the battle. The demon calmly held off Uther's attacks while Constantine did something on the sidelines. However, judging by the look on his face, the demon wasn't feeling particularly pleasant either.

- You miserable trash, you better accept your fate without resisting! Even if you cast me out, you won't stop being hunted. John Constantine has offended the wrong mind, and now you will wash in blood with him, - said the demon, in anger tried to throw Uther away from him, but he only struck back with his hammer, which was covered with light. And from the look of our opponent, he was obviously not feeling well.

- Hunting?! - Uther shouted, throwing the demon aside with his hammer, "Can a pathetic threat stop justice? You will fall, and all the other demons after you. Creatures like you shouldn't exist!

After that, Uther's entire body was enveloped in what felt like a solid light. And John also did something, enveloping the demon with something strange. A sharp jerk, which I wasn't even able to see, and the room was flooded with bright light.

And blinking I didn't see the demon anymore, but only a pile of ashes in its place. And the corpses of all the former residents began to turn into some kind of slime, soaking into the ground.

- Let me help you," Uther said, turning to us tiredly. A warm light enveloped my body after that, and I felt much better. I felt like I wasn't fighting a demon, but lying in bed, resting.

I wasn't much help in the whole thing, though, and I was just ballast that prevented the others from fighting. And this feeling is not particularly pleasant.- We're done here," John sighed, not really happy about it.

- You and I are going to have to work together," I said, getting up from the ground.

- Yeah, it's not going to be a very pleasant job," he said.

After that, he was silent and thoughtful, and I was already dealing with the consequences. According to the Assassin's report, no one had escaped, and no one had tried at all. But something has to be done about this village. I think we should call for help, but not the regular police, but special services.

Leaking information and killing an entire village wouldn't be good for the squad's reputation.

Well, now that this task is over, there won't be any particularly difficult cases in the near future... But the moment I thought about it, my phone rang, which immediately alerted me.

- Yes? I picked it up.

- Um, Neo, my case is a little more complicated than that, and I think there's something weird going on. Strange things are normal for Gotham, but this is strange even for this city," Domino's voice came out of the phone, sounding a little wary....

Eh, boss, when are you going to finish your assignment already? I really don't like being in charge of everything here...

***

Don't forget to donate gems.

And subscribe at:

patreon.com/FanFictionPremium