Mission 6

Hunter's Strength

Takedown the demons in a short timeframe

/

"Well then, there's a demonic aura coming from that direction so I know where I'm heading… maybe grab a bite to eat afterwards and call it a day."

Tony walked down the street with his hands in his pockets, looking for anything of note. He twirled his guns around, waiting for something to happen. His wish was answered with a spear attached to a chain flying towards him. The teen leaned back and let the spear fly past him.

Staring down on Tony was a hulking monstrosity with uneven arms and tiny as hell legs. Everything about it defies the laws of anatomy with muscles that could only be obtained through heavy steroid usage and a face with bulging eyes that can only be loved by a mother. The skin was a gross purple with boils bubbling. Doesn't help that their breath stinks.

"Hey, bud! The circus just left last week! It was quite lonely without the incredible hulk!" Tony mocked as the monster pulled back the spear.

"Hmmm, not strong enough for a challenge..." the beast growled.

"...Excuse me?" Tony said, slightly dumbfounded.

The creature held out its hand and Tony felt a strange feeling on his own. He examined his palm to see a glowing 50 branded on it.

"Kill 50 of my brethren in half an hour and I may consider fighting you." the hulk demanded. "Fail, and your life is forfeited."

"Hey wait! This isn't how it's supposed to work!" Tony complained, falling to deaf ears as the demon vanished.

The mercenary groaned and ran off to kill more demons.

/

Tony twirled in the air and shot down his seventh demon before stomping on the eighth's head. He raised his sword and spun himself around windmill style, slicing the demon in half vertically. He stepped down onto the ground and spat at the sliced demon, making it topple over. He let the artifact do its thing before dashing to find the next wave of demons.

He reloaded his guns before smacking headfirst into a force field. He stumbled back a bit before regaining his balance. He got a better look at what he smacked into and sighed as he stepped back to avoid getting attacked by the manifested hand.

"I mean, I was going to kill them anyway. But you didn't have to be rude about it."

Ah yes, the sealed door. The mercenary had read about these before and this was the first time he's experienced it. Demons would use these to corner their prey or to initiate a battle. Once one is set up, no one can enter or leave, except for the initiating side, until one side is victorious. They might also be used to block a person from moving forward until a certain condition is met. Although, this is the clear all enemies kind of seal. Tony turned around and twirled his guns on his fingertips as a group of demons began to show themselves.

The teen gave a malicious smile, "Well… you wanted to play, so don't complain when I wipe the floor with you..."

The demons rushed at Tony, only for him to somersault over them and shoot them in the heads. Upon landing, the teen sweep kicked the three creatures behind him and swung his sword to finish them. Four more demons materialized and charged at the swordsman. The mercenary leaped into the air and let his attackers run into each other. Tony turned himself upside down and aimed his guns below. He spun himself like a top and let his guns rain bullets down on his prey, internally naming the move rainstorm. The attack was doing well, that is until his guns jammed. Tony scowled and redirected himself away from the bullet-filled demons.

The demons collapsed as the sealed door dispelled. Tony landed on his feet as he stuffed his guns back in the holster. He checked his palm to see that the count had been reduced to 33.

"Damnit, now I have to get these guys fixed again. Why couldn't granny be sent here with me!"

As much as he wanted to linger on his homeworld and how lovely it was, demons and mercenaries and all. He was on a time limit and he needed to be alive if he wanted to go back.

The teen started running again in search of more demons to kill. He swung his sword at the Fetish and sliced it in half. He readied his sword to kill the two Bloody Mari approaching him, only for them to be engulfed in blue flames.

"Hey, Kill Steal! Find your own demons to burn down." Tony yelled at the intruder.

The man had burn scars all over him and donned staples and piercings. He looked bored beyond belief.

"Well, Mr. Albino, I had no idea this was supposed to be a competition." Scarface mocked.

"If you insist..." Tony trailed off as a large herd of demons surrounded them, "Let's have a competition, shall we? Who can kill the most demons? Loser pays for dinner."

The scarred man smirked, "Fine by me."

The two started slaying the surrounding demons as fast as possible. Tony decapitated a Hell Pride with a manic smile and engaged in casual conversation with the other man.

"So, what's your name, burn scars? You can call me Tony." The mercenary asked as he directed a scythe away from him with his sword.

"Dabi." the man responded, not wanting to deal with this bullshit.

"Not much of a talker huh?"

"Shut the hell up," Dabi growled as he set a Marionette on fire.

"Why are you hanging around here anyway?"

"I said shut up Albino!

"Is that the best insult you can think of Mr. Burnt Skin?"

"If you end up holding on to your life, I'm going to leave you for dead." He said, missing one of his flames.

"You wound me..." Tony said, not feeling sorry at all.

"Alright wise guy, what's your current score."

"25," The white-haired teen said with a cheeky grin.

"What?! How did you manage to get that high?!"

"Simple! My plan worked."

"What plan?"

"Oh hey! Now I have 30 kills!" Tony noted with glee.

"What the hell?! How did you get 6 times my score?!"

Tony ignored him and slew 3 more demons, freeing him from the timer. The number faded from his palm as he looked around to see the two had killed off the last of the demons. He turned to Dabi and rested his sword over his shoulders.

"Well then, I guess you owe me dinner?" Tony said.

"You… You were distracting me weren't you?" Dabi asked with a hint of venom in his voice.

"Maybe," The mercenary said without hesitation.

"You think this is funny don't you?!"

"Eh...a little bit."

"You cheating bast-" Dabi yelled, only to be interrupted by a spear grazing past his cheek and tearing off the staple on his right side.

Tony stepped out of the way and let the spear stab itself into the ground. Behind the bleeding Dabi was the hulking demon Tony met earlier.

The demon growled, "I am Chulainn! You have proven yourself worthy for a fight."

Dabi stared shellshocked before taking a look at Tony's unimpressed face.

"Why aren't you freaking out!?"

"You get used to it."

"If I die here, I want you to kill my dad for me."

"Yeah sure, what's his name?" Tony said, planning to not kill whoever this guy's father is.

"Enji Todoroki..."

Tony nodded as the buff demon raised his fists in the air. The two jumped out of the way just as Chulainn's fist smashed into the ground. Dabi conjured a fireball and tossed it at the beast's eye, only for it to move out of the way and charge at its attacker. The beast and threw a punch at the scarred man and sent him backwards. Tony ran up to the demon and swung his sword overhead and was rewarded with a shoulder tackle to the gut, sending him straight into a building.

Chulainn yanked the chain to bring back its spear. The demon aimed the spear towards the mercenary before Dabi jumped in smashed his fist at its face. The mercenary kicked himself off the wall and zipped over to the stunned demon. Tony used Roundtrip on the beast and let his sword whittle down the enemy's defences before ducking down and grabbing the sword midswing to stab Chuliann's head. Tony ripped his sword out from the demon's head and moved out of the way to allow his teammate to make a follow-up. Dabi set the demon into a blaze of glory and moved back far away with the teen.

"You think that did it?" Dabi asked the mercenary.

"Nah, it's gonna take more than that." Tony as he switched to his fists.

A spear came flying at the two, only to miss from its targets sidestepping.

"Case and point..."

Chulainn charged at the duo with its burnt arms. Dabi shoved Tony forward and rolled out of the way as the beast threw a punch at the teen. Tony skid back for a couple of decametres before stabbing his sword into the ground. He swung himself around in a circle at blitzing speeds and carried the momentum to fling himself at his target. Tony spun himself horizontally in the air and held his fist above his head. The teen drilled into his foe, using Shock N' Awe to electrocute the beast in the process. Eventually, the teen penetrated through the demon as Dabi set it aflame once more.

Chulainn roared in pain before collapsing to the ground. Its body started melting until there was nothing but blood. The flames died down and left behind the spear that was stabbed into the ground. Tony plucked it from the ground and started to play around with it.

Dabi watched unamused as the mercenary stabbed the air and spun the spear as if they were helicopter blades. The teen propelled himself into the air and dropped down to the ground to stab the spear into the ground. He took the spear out and retracted it to the point where it looked like an iron twig.

"Judging by the air, I'd say that the demons are done for today," Tony noted as he stuffed the spear in one of his pockets.

"Do I even want to know how you can tell?" Dabi asked, concluding that this guy's insane.

"Nope!"

Dabi sighed as Tony looked around the empty streets.

"Wait a minute… I live around here..." Tony turned to where his house is supposed to be. His eyes widened as he saw its state "No! I spent money on that trashy place!"

The whole building was collapsed on itself thanks to the chaos brought by the demons. Dabi started laughing at the mercenary's misery.

"Serves you right!" the scarred man laughed.

Tony glared at the laughing man and pointed at him. "Forget the dinner! I'm bunking with you until I find a new place!"

The older man stopped laughing at that, "You can't do that!"

"I can, and I will… now help me get my stuff out from this rubble," Tony said as he moved to his ruined home.

"You know, I could just kill you."

"And I could kill you faster."

Dabi sighed and started to clear away some rubble, "You're still helping me take out my dad by the way."

"Yeah, yeah, just get my stuff." the teen muttered as he crossed his fingers.

/

That night would be known in infamy as the Corelia Incident. The heroes weren't prepared and some lost their lives as a result. Civilians were lost in the chaos and died as a result of a lucky amount surviving the incident. Criminals tried using the event as a way to commit crimes easier, only for a majority to be caught off guard.

While some heroes were able to fend off the threat, it proved to be much more difficult than anticipated. The initial preparations proved to be ineffective against the invasion with it proving to be more harmful than helpful.

The incident was announced on the news the next morning. Not much footage was shown due to its graphic nature although some of it was leaked into the internet. Amongst some of the footage was the same man that killed the demons at the mall parking lot a few weeks ago. While many didn't recognize the teen, there were a few who did. And some found an interest in him.

/

Mission Complete!

Time: S

Orbs: S

Style: S

Damage: A

Mission Rank: S

Artifact Charge: 7%

Time Since Arrival: 1 week and 1 day

/

I'm back? Sorry for being slow with updates. I'm working on other stuff at the moment so this fic isn't exactly on my mind for very long. Shocker, I know, I have a life outside of this.