Chapter 4: Mark of the Dragon
Every city in every country has sections they don't want to acknowledge, where their refuse, both living and otherwise, can usually be safely hidden away. Unfortunately, such places were havens for the less desirable elements of society: criminals, sociopaths, killers, rapists as well as the poor, the misbegotten and the unfortunate.
At sundown, the police had come en masse to lay siege to a supposedly abandoned hotel complex in Cheju (1) City of the Soltace Province of the country of Evrai, the home of the Brotherhood of Saint Evans. The criminal that the police had cornered in this building was a serial rapist and murderer; this man would abduct under-age girls, have his way with them and then kill them. That man was wanted for the murders of eleven girls in that year alone, this would be his twelfth, if the police didn't stop him. The police, however, were not going in; the commissioner didn't want to accidentally hurt the girl that had been kidnapped. Snipers were stationed in adjacent buildings in hopes of taking out the criminal long distance. An ambulance was on standby in case they did get the girl out and she was hurt. The commissioner was arguing with his lieutenant about the fact that they were just standing there waiting for something to happen. As they argued, a long stretch-limo pulled up. The commissioner ceased his argument with his subordinate and went to great the man who exited the limousine. The man wore a black trench coat, a black vest with a white shirt underneath, black pants, black boots, a tie, clasped with a silver religious symbol, which he adjusted with his white gloved hands and atop his head was a black, wide brimmed hat.
"What's the situation?" The man asked.
"Agent LaCroix (2), I'm glad you came as soon as you did... We've been hunting down this child molester for sometime now and now that we have him cornered, we've run into... er... problems." The commissioner replied.
"It can't be simple child rapist if you have called for our help." LaCroix said.
"Right... see we could take him down easily, except that there's a Blood Seal on the door. No one can get in, we've tried." He said in hushed tones.
LaCroix looked at the building and the other officers. He scanned the area looking for something or someone unseen.
"So... He's a Chongyom (3) then. I assume that you haven't told your officers what they're dealing with?"
"Yes... as far as they know, it's for the child's safety that we aren't going in yet and they've been told you are a special agent from the FBI, as per our agreement with your organization."
"Have any Nikanoru been spotted, any incidents that would lead to their creation reported?"
"None at all. If it wasn't for the Blood Seal, I'd never have known it was even a Chongyom we were dealing with."
"Just him then... strange. Fine, I'll deal with it, just keep your people out of my way until the job's done." LaCroix said, walking forward.
As LaCroix passed the officers, the lieutenant that had been arguing before walked up to the commissioner.
"So you're just going to let him go in there?" The lieutenant demanded.
"Yep."
"B-but... he's alone what can he do?"
"He's a professional, he'll do the job and no one will get hurt... as long as we stay out of his way. I wouldn't expect the perp to come out alive though..." The commissioner replied.
LaCroix came to the front door and placed his hand upon it. He could feel the dark energies of the seal. It was indeed a Blood Seal, not that he doubted the commissioner's judgement; officers in that position in this country were trained to recognize such things. The Seal, a rather powerful one too, was created to keep everyone but blood relations of the building's inhabitants out; bullets wouldn't even pierce the windows. Fortunately, LaCroix had a key for this lock.
"Na Mo Pa Ka T'I,
Na Mu Pa Ka Pa T'I Yi,
Sa Chyu Ya Ku Ru Pa I Du Ru Ya,
P'U Ru Pa Ha Ra Chya Ya,
P'U Ru Pa Ha Ra Chya Ya,
T'A T'A Ka T'A Ya Sam Myak Sam Pu Ta,
Ya T'A Du Ya T'A Om, Pa Yi Sa Chya,
Pa I Sa Chya Pa I Sa Chya,
Na Mu Ka T'E Sa Pa Ha!"
The incantation (4) was old, powerful and could break many magic seals depending on the strength of the user. The Blood Seal shattered like glass before LaCroix's power. He took a couple of steps back and then kicked down the door. The door burst open, the door almost coming off its hinges. As he entered the building the commissioner prevented his men from following. It looked like the interior of a once rich hotel with high ceilings and red carpets, but it was badly in need of maintenance. LaCroix walked down the corridor and through another door. He could sense the demon and could, in fact, navigate the building blindfolded with just that sense alone. He stopped in the middle of that corridor; there were several doors as well as an elevator on each side, with the door to the stairs at the end of the corridor. The lights were on, barely, and the place was pretty run-down. Shadows were everywhere and not just those cast by the light.
"Come on out, I haven't got all night." LaCroix said.
Shadows, lesser demons created by a form of magic, separated from the walls. As the name 'shadow' implied, that was indeed what they looked like: humanoid, two-dimensional things made of fathomless darkness. Only their eyes and mouths stood out with a fiery red colour. LaCroix glanced around and saw he was completely surrounded by theses things. He smiled confidently, reached into his vest and pulled out a rather large, silver handgun, a 454 Cassull and aimed at one of the leading Shadows. The creatures looked at him and seemed to laugh, for what mortal weapon could harm them after all. LaCroix pulled the trigger and a loud bang resounded. The bullet struck one of the Shadows and if it could have made any sounds it would have shrieked before its body collapsed into a mushy black goop. The gun and bullets may have been man-made, but they were designed specifically to kill demonic creatures. The bullets were made of a silver alloy, melted from a holy cross and had been blessed with holy magics; they were more than capable of killing demons with a single shot.
The Shadows looked at where their fallen comrade once was, back to LaCroix and then they rushed him. Just as the throng of darkness converged, LaCroix jumped above them and fortunately the ceiling was high enough for him to pull such a stunt. Twisting in the air, he fired off more bullets at his enemies, each a perfect shot. He landed on the floor, skidding a bit and he aimed his weapon strait up, firing on a Shadow that was trying to take him from above. He moved out of the way quickly to avoid the falling demonic residue. He had used an entire ammo clip to eliminate these Shadows and he hadn't wasted a single shot. With a flick of his thumb, he released the ammo clip, which slid out of the gun handle and onto the floor. With a quick, fluid motion he retrieved another one and loaded it into his gun. He then put it away as he would not need it for the Chongyom.
In a once lavish room, a bedroom large enough to hold at least twenty people was the criminal and his intended victim. The girl, who could be no older than fourteen, was bound and gagged on the bed. Tears flowed from her eyes; she was terrified and she wanted to see her family again. She prayed to St Evans to let her see the light of day again. The criminal, a burly human with dark, oily hair and a handsome face, appear4ed to be someone whom you could trust implicitly without having known him; apparently a mistake as they had met over the internet and this man had coerced the girl into meeting him at which time he had abducted her. He was about to have his fun with her when he turned suddenly, as though listening to something. He closed the curtain of the bed, obscuring the girl's view.
"Don't want you getting traumatized before I have my fun. The sight of blood will take the pleasure out of you." He laughed.
He walked up to the door, listening. He heard rhythmic, slow and continuous footsteps approaching the door.
"What the fuck?" He asked silently, approaching the door.
The door exploded, shards of wood splintering and lodging themselves into his face. LaCroix walked through the door.
"You just made a big mistake, asswipe." The criminal said.
He charged LaCroix and tried to punch him. LaCroix caught the fist and smashed him across the face with the back of his own right fist. The criminal reeled and then charged again. LaCroix delivered a crushing blow to his nose; he could feel the cartilage and bone crush beneath his fist. The criminal fell back a few steps; his face was now pushed inward and no one would mistake him for handsome now.
"Garbage..." LaCroix sneered.
The criminal screamed, more from anger than from pain. LaCroix delivered several blows to his gut, finished off with a kick to the side of his head and he went crashing to the ground.
"You know what I love about my job?" LaCroix asked of the fallen criminal. "I get to hunt down shit like you for a living. "Now cut the crap. You're a lousy actor. Get up and fight."
The criminal began to laugh as he got up to face LaCroix. The scleras of his eyes were black and the pupils and irises were a fiery crimson. His skin seemed to darken to black and began to bubble as though it were under extreme heat. His flesh became a network of thick veins and he grew taller, his hands becoming claws, his teeth elongated and sharpened, now reminiscent of shark's teeth. His clothes were absorbed into his body as he grew; the criminal was now a demon, no longer human.
"Garbage, barely worth my time." LaCroix smirked.
The demon attacked and LaCroix dodged easily. As he landed he pulled back on his gloves and smiled.
"Since you seem to be putting effort into this, I guess its only fair I do the same." LaCroix said.
LaCroix began to incant 'Diamond World and Nine Assemblies Mandala' (5) and as he spoke each character his hands came together in positions representing each character.
"IM PYONG T'U CHA KYE CHIN YOL CHAE CHON HAENG!"
His turned his palms towards the demon after the last character and white light surrounded by black lightning streamed from his hands into the demon's chest. White light exploded in the room and when it cleared all that remained of the demon was an expanse of sludge that covered the floor. LaCroix walked over to the bed and opened the curtain. He broke the girl's bonds and picked her up gently.
"It's alright, no one will hurt you now, you're safe." He consoled her.
The girl began to cry, LaCroix brought her outside and handed her to the paramedics. The commissioner came up to him.
"I thank you for your help in this job." The commissioner said. "Glad we can count on the Brotherhood of St Evans."
"That's why we're here." LaCroix replied. "Its our job."
A white van pulled up to the hotel, the Brotherhood clean-up crew; they would clean up the remnants of the demon and the Shadows that had been its cohorts. LaCroix ignored them; the leftovers weren't his problem anymore. He got into the limousine and picked up the phone.
"How did it go?" A voice on the other end asked.
"It was too easy, sir." LaCroix replied.
"I'm glad you feel that way, because it will get much harder from here on out. Demons far stronger than that one have been making their appearance in this area recently. I need you to dispose of them."
"As you wish, sir."
"I knew I could count on you Joshua (6)." The voice said.
-SOL Nina-
I'm grateful to Ryu, but I knew I couldn't just keep him. Once the holidays were over I was planning on helping him find a job and then eventually his own place. The Dragon's Tear was the thank you for saving me, but I couldn't just leave him like that it just didn't seem right, you know?
-End SOL-
She pulled into the next street and something caught her eye. Ryu was walking in the opposite direction of her apartment.
What's he doing? Nina thought.
She parked the car, locked it and ran after Ryu, trying her best to remain unseen by him. He was so focused, so intent on his target, that she could have been walking right beside him and he would never have noticed.
They passed buildings and small privately owned and home businesses, hotels, apartments and houses. A veritable melting pot of different types of construction, they came to a church of the Brotherhood of St Evans and Ryu went inside. The huge monolith of a building was made of white stone and sparkling marble with coloured glass in the windows that were its unblinking eyes. It was constructed in a way to awe the public, to make it seem above the physical, almost heavenly. Nina didn't like these places, they seemed hell-bent on convincing people that they were these great bastions of spiritual fortitude; to her they seemed very pretentious.
Nina entered the church and almost gaped at how high the ceiling was. It was heavily decorated with paintings on the ceiling, with gold lining the white stone walls; statues and sculptures were by the walls. The pews were made of sturdy oak and intricately carved and there was a pulpit and golden organ at the front. It all seemed very expensive and Nina wondered why the place hadn't been robbed. A noise caught her attention and she looked forward to see Ryu facing a woman dressed in black. She took a step forward; she wasn't sure how much noise she actually made, but it was enough to alert Ryu to her presence for he turned slightly to look at her.
"You shouldn't have come here." He said calmly.
"Ryu, LOOK OUT!" Nina screamed.
Ryu turned in time to see a huge claw grab him. The woman had somehow extended her arm and made her hand grow into the large claw that now held Ryu. She lifted him off the ground, her long arm seemed to bend a bit as she did and she slammed him into the pews. Wood shattered, broke apart as Ryu crashed into them. The woman retracted her arm, her forearm inflated as she did so. The clothes burst apart and her skin melted slightly, becoming a black oily sludge. Both of the woman's forearms had become huge and her hands had become massive claws and the rest of her body began to grow as well. Her torso become a massive ball of sludge-like flesh on a small waist, the legs were stubby, but heavy, to support the body. The thing the woman had become had become was skull-like with an eternal smile and the nose looked like it was melted away. She grew a tail with a bone blade at the end of it, like a scorpion's tail and it was aimed at Nina. Whatever the woman was now it wasn't human.
"Oh crap..." Nina said upon seeing the creature.
A loud click was heard and Nina turned; the huge doors of the entrance were closed and now locked.
"Oh fuck..." Nina exclaimed.
The monster roared and Nina turned; it was coming for her and there was nothing she could do.
"Oh crap fuck!" She screamed and closed her eyes as the monster's tail blade descended upon her at incredible speed.
She heard the sound of metal cutting through flesh, bone and sinew and she looked; Ryu had leapt to her rescue, cutting off the thing's tail. He landed and sheathed his sword in one swift movement, turning, leaping and grabbing Nina, jumping out of the way as the monster smashed its fist into the ground where Nina once was. They landed in the undamaged pews and Nina looked at Ryu. Blood was streaming down his face, but the way he acted it was as though he hadn't been wounded at all. He took her hands, arranging one into a fist and placing the other just above it, like a roof.
"Don't move your hands from this position." He ordered her.
"Are you kidding me? That won't do... anything?" Nina said as she looked up.
The demon's claw was poised just above them, but for some reason would come no closer. Ryu leapt at the demon, unsheathing his sword, slashing at it. The creature reared back and roared and focused its attention solely on Ryu. Ryu stood in the centre of the room, his sheathed sword before him, floating in the air. He began to chant, his hands coming together in positions indicating each character he spoke.
"Yim Byong Too Ja Geh Jin Yeur Jeh Jeun Pa!" Ryu incanted (7).
He spread his hands before himself, palms facing the beast and a great black light, surrounded by white lightning streamed from him towards the demon striking it. The demon seemed to puff out a bit, swelling like someone was inflating it and then it exploded. Black sludge went everywhere except on Nina, this little hand formation thing had protected her, somehow. She stood up and looked; the woman was human again, naked and lying on the ground before Ryu. He looked back at Nina.
"Do you want to die? I told you not to undo the Mudra (8)." Ryu said.
"But its okay now, right? You defeated her... didn't you?" Nina asked coming forward.
Ryu took a few steps towards the fallen woman who was now getting up again. He unsheathed his sword and thrust it through the woman's chest. She didn't make a noise and collapsed again. Ryu sheathed his sword once more. Nina stood there, shocked and then grabbed Ryu by his coat.
"What the hell did you do that for? She was beaten!" She yelled at him. "You didn't have to do that!"
"Nikanoru continue to rise after they've been killed, as long as the demon seed exists." Ryu said, brushing Nina's hands off him.
"Ni-ka-no-ru? What's that?" She demanded.
"It means 'Dead Beings'. They are created by demons from weak-willed people as slaves." Ryu replied, walking away.
Nina looked back at the scene and back to Ryu. Realization dawned on her as she found the scene slightly familiar.
"You killed them... those other people, the St Evans murders. They... those people, they were Nikanoru too?" She asked as she dashed after him.
"I did not kill anyone, one cannot kill what is not alive. The demons had already killed them when they became Nikanoru." Ryu said.
Nina looked back at the church. This was not something she could report to the police, they would never believe her and this... this was far bigger than she had ever thought possible. This was not something she could talk about, she knew. They went back to Nina's apartment and Nina got some of Joshua's clothes from when he'd stayed there last for Ryu: Ryu and Joshua were about the same size. Ryu began to disrobe in her living room; Nina would have objected right away, but was rather mesmerized by the musculature of his body. He had powerful, tightly packed muscles, the prefect male specimen. But what intrigued her the most was a tattoo on his back: it was a black dragon, designed in a similar manner to the Dragon's Tear trinket she'd bought, except the dragon tattoo's eye was closed. It looked almost alive, like it would open its eye any moment and leap off his back. Nina shocked herself out of her reverie.
"H-hey!" She yelled. "Don't change here, go to the bathroom, clean off and then change! Gods, don't you have any modesty?"
"In the name of God, impure souls of the living dead shall be banished into eternal damnation. Amen." Hellsing Prayer (Anime: Hellsing).
Music: 'Survival on the Streets of Insincerity' (Hellsing RAID CD)
1)- Cheju: "The southern most island on the Korean Peninsula. Now a popular tourist destination, Cheju also contains one of the great mysteries of the ancient world. Scattered around the tropical paradise are 45 great stone statues called Tolharubang or 'Stone Grandfathers'. Like the Moai of Easter Island, each one is carved with a unique expression, and like the Moai, no one knows how old they are, who built them, or for what purpose." Griffin Smith JR. (National Geographic Vol. 157). This place also contains a wealth of stories of demons, such as the Chongyom and the contract God Penjullae.
2) & 6)- LaCroix, the literal translation is 'The Cross'. Joshua LaCroix, remember him? He's Nina's boyfriend from the first chapter.
3)- Chongyom: Gives humans sexual powers and is widely classified as a demon. It often appears in representative oral literature such as Miscellany of Songhyon and Historical Record of the Three Kingdoms. It is the vicious demon that appears on the first wedding night to rape the new bride or to impregnate a widow to banish her from the village. It may be added that Pak Yonggu, the author of Bizzare Tales of Korea (1996, Somunmungo), writes as an introduction "Chongyom's lust is hotter than the pillar of fire in hell and if there is a beautiful woman, he will follow her to the summit of Paektu Mountain to destroy her purity."
4)- The incantations Joshua uses is widely called 'Mantra', the language of the Third Universe. They imply dozens of meanings and each syllable contains a spirit. All the incantations actually exist but I want to make it clear that their effects are fictionally exaggerated.
5)- IM (to face; front on), PYONG (soldier), T'U (fight; to fight), CHA (person), KYE (all; whole), CHIN (position; formation), YOL (column; row; line), CHAE (existence; to exist), CHON (front; in front of; before): This is called 'Diamond World and Nine Assemblies Mandala.' This is a religious art and, in magic, it's called the incantation of nine characters.
6)- See LaCroix.
7)- Both Joshua and Ryu use esoteric, existential spells, in other words the same type of magic. However, the source of their respective powers is different: one draws from the light, the other draws from the darkness. Can you guess which is which?
8)- Mudra: this hand gesture incorporates magic. It is used by a specific religion, who's name escapes me at the moment. If anyone knows what it is, I'd appreciate the information.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter. In case you are impatient for the next one, please keep in mind that I work and am writing two other stories besides this. You are free to check out my other stories if you wish to see more of my work.