Disclaimer: Black Clover is owned by Yūki Tabata, Studio Pierrot, and Shonen Jump.
Saga 34: Hellhound on my Trail Part 2
Nean, Common Realm, Clover Kingdom, Night
"So, Mr. Magic Knight?"
Yuno turned his head towards Rebecca, who is currently fixing the broken-down door to block out the snow.
"Yeah? What is it?" Yuno grumbled out, disappointed that he's stuck on guard duty due to his injuries.
"Just why did you become a Magic Knight?" Rebecca asked. "I mean, nowadays, everyone around my younger siblings's age wants to be a Magic Knight, but the mere thought of losing them in that kind of line of duty... well, I almost lost them tonight, so forgive me if I sound a little biased."
"No, you're kinda right." Yuno stated. "It's a dangerous line of work, where death is a factor, and only the brave or the foolhardy would only dream of."
"So why then?" Rebecca asked as she sat across Yuno. "Why do such a thing in the first place?"
"... Did you know that I came from the Forbidden Realm?" Yuno pointed out. "I was one of the orphans at Hage Village's chapel, and life there, while peaceful, wasn't exactly bright in terms of future prospects."
"Hm, that sort of makes sense." Rebecca replied. "Although I still wonder why not just move up and work like people in my generation."
Yuno's knuckles whitened.
"... Rebecca, do you believe in Demons?" Yuno asked.
"Not really." Rebecca pointed out. "I mean, when you're taking care of four other kids after your parents die from sickness, you really don't have lots of time to expand your horizons."
Yuno lets out a small, bitter sigh.
"... I lost my foster brother." Yuno stated. "Asta was killed by a rouge mage after defending me, and I killed the mage after he bled out."
Rebecca lets out a gasp coupled with a sightly horrified expression.
"Can you believe it?" Yuno asked. "My very first kill, was right after I got my Four-Leaf."
He then tosses his grimoire onto the table.
"Every time I hear people praising me for the sole virtue of being a Four-Leaf." Yuno bitterly stated. "People no longer see me as a Magic Knight or even a person. No. They just see my grimoire, not me..."
Yuno's eyes begin to tear up and begins sobbing.
"... If I can trade in anything for my brother's life, I'd trade in my Four-Leaf Grimoire in a heartbeat." Yuno spoke out. "But when I couldn't even bury Asta, the next I saw of him, a fucking Demon was using his corpse like some sort of meat puppet! I feel like the whole world is mocking me. To the majority of the people in this Kingdom, I'm simply a Four-Leaf. To those Demons, I'm just a joke to them..."
Yuno then pulls up his shirt, revealing a massive incision running across his stomach to his chest, just below the massive claw-mark running across his upper torso.
"This one up on my chest?" Yuno spoke out. "I got that from a Demon, got raked across my chest when I tried to get my brother back. And the one below it? I got it from my second mission, where my team and three other Golden Dawn Magic Knights got ambushed inside a Dungeon by the same Demon wearing my brother's body and his worshippers. I lost one of my legs and a fellow Knight to a cheap shot, and the Golden Dawn? Only one of them survived, and she lost an arm in return."
Rebecca was at a loss for words upon hearing Yuno's story.
"... All of that, and at around my age." She stated in shock. "... I'm so sorry."
"No, the fault is mine." Yuno apologized. "... No one deserves to hear what kind of hell I've gone through. Hell, when I hear myself speak like that, it almost sounds too vile to be real, almost like the ravings of a madman."
"Believe me, I'm sort of with you on that." Rebecca stated. "... And Yuno?"
"What is it?" He asked.
"... Why did you join the Magic Knights?" Rebecca asked. "I mean, surely, it's not just to avenge your brother, right?"
"... I want to become the next Wizard King." Yuno answered. "But it's not just for my sake, or my brother's, or for the people I love and hold dear."
"Then what for?" Rebecca asked.
Yuno faces Rebecca, his once-teary eyes now replaced with ones of stalwart resolve.
"... Just so that no one has to go through what I went through." Yuno answered firmly. "No one deserves to have their loved ones torn away from them. Especially like me."
Behind one of the covers, [Sylph] watches in horror on her master's recounts before their fated meeting.
"... Am I strong enough to help Yuno?"
Nean Outskirts, Common Realm, Clover Kingdom, Night
For the past couple of minutes, Jericho and Theresa find the trail of children leading up towards a cave entrance.
"Anything in that cave?" Theresa asked.
"A really potent magic signal." Jericho answered. "Although for how large-scale the operation is, the way it's handled... it's almost amateur."
"How so?" The nun asked.
"Well for one, there's no sign of outside watch." Jericho pointed out. "I mean, even if they cloaked themselves with some sort of method that hides their magical signatures, they would've easily jumped on us, or at least, warn us of our presence."
"So we miraculously have the element of surprise then." Theresa stated. "If that's the case, then we should take the initiative while we still have the chance-"
"MARIEEEEEE!"
Below then, the two spot Gauche speeding into the cave's entrance without a second thought.
"... Of all the things, he's the one who goes makes our job harder." Theresa sighed out. "Sephira bless his heart, at least he's determined."
"No, I think this might work to our advantage." Jericho stated. "We'll simply hide out in the chaos as our cover, and take them by surprise. Sister Theresa, are you prepared for the fight of your and those children's lives?"
Theresa simply grins.
"Heh, I'm an ex-Magic Knight, sonny." Theresa assured. "Death and I have been dancing for decades, and I sure as hell won't back down when proposed."
Jericho grins in admiration for this twilit nun's resolve.
"... All the more reason to come out alive and well." Jericho stated. "We come back alive with those kids taken back home, even it kills us."
"That's more like it."
Jericho then speeds into the cave, following the children in.
Elsewhere around the same location...
"Niko, watch your six!"
Kalashnikov spins around, raking her twin swords through more of the Hellhounds surrounding them.
"Nice work!" Dragunov praised as he fired his arrow, skewering through two more Hellhounds with a single arrow.
"OLD MAN, WATCH IT!"
Kalashnikov throws one of her blades across Dragunov, nailing square into the Hellhound's head.
"Thanks." Dragunov stated. "Oi Magic Knights! How you're holding up!?"
Masquerade, now in her [Strange Object] form, barrels through the pack of Hellhounds like a rampaging beast, Papillon was slashing through the horde with her rapier, Bastet was riding on top her [Ursa Major] while brandishing her whip, Morrigan was bombarding the horde with her [Dark Creation Magic: Thousand Knives] and [Dark Magic: Dark Burning], and Aion was engaging in her usual hit-and-run tactics with her broken sword.
"They go down easily enough, BUT THERE'S NO END TO THEM!" Masquerade shouted out as she squashed one of the mongrels underfoot. "HOW MANY OF THEM ARE THERE!?"
"Usually, a lot." Dragunov bluntly stated as he shot his arrow. "There's usually no indications on how many of them are there specifically, but usually confirmed that whenever there's one, there's usually more."
"So even you don't know?" Papillon pointed out. "Non non non, that won't do for self-proclaimed Demon Slayers."
"We would've pinned them down long ago if we could in the first place, you dumb suka!" Kalashnikov barked out. "Also, to your right!"
Both Papillon and Kalashnikov slash their blades across the wolf's maw, killing it dead.
"... Okay, fair point." Papillon stated as she flicked the blood off of her rapier. "Also, what magic do you use?"
"Does it really matter?" Kalashnikov bluntly replied as she kicked a charging Hellhound aside before throwing her shortsword at its chest. "Just kill these mutts and don't die. That's all there is to Demon Slaying."
"Less talking, more killing!" Dragunov roared out as he swatted another Hellhound away with his bow before firing an arrow at it.
Deeper into the woods, something big approaches the Magic Knights and the Inquisition at breakneck speed.
Breaking through the trees and scattering them like flies, a massive bipedal lupine creature appears, letting out an ear-piercing howl towards the moon to acknowledge it's own might presence.
"... Uh, kapitan?" Kalashnikov stated in a concerned tone as the other Hellhounds regrouped towards their alpha. "That spade on its head..."
"NIKO, IT'S COMING!" Dragunov roared out as he fired an arrow into a magic portal, which then summoned a hail of arrows above the monster's head. "IT'S KINGU!"
Even as the arrows broke through the beast's skin, Kingu remained undeterred.
"This presence..." Aion commented. "... There's no mana, but at the same time, there're no signs of life either."
"It's like staring into a walking pitch-black void..." Masquerade pointed out. "So that's an actual Demon?"
"Well if it bleeds, then it can be killed!" Papillon remarked as she charged towards the arrow-ridden beast. "En garde, wretched beast!"
"WAIT, DON'T!" Dragunov cried out in ignored desperation.
"[Silver Creation Magic: Jardin de Epee-"
"Lat avalk avoo much, shara."
Kingu's arm pierces through Papillon's chest, in its clawed hands, her still-beating heart, burst out from her back.
"... Papillon." Bastet gawked out in horror as one of their Divas's bodies hung from the Demon's arm like a fresh cut of meat.
Kingu stares at them before tossing Papillon's heart and body to its pack, the Hellhounds devouring it with extreme gusto.
"Guav avhem gith." Kingu ordered the Hellhounds in his abyssal and booming voice. "Leave none alive."
The Hellhounds resume their offensive, now with even more reckless zeal and savagery, all of them snarling and foaming at their gaping fanged maws as they charged forth towards the remaining Magic Knights and two Inquisitors.
"HERE THEY COME!" Dragunov roared out as he fired his arrow.
Back around near the Cave...
"You sure that they're here?" Cole asked.
"Aren't the trail of kids obvious enough?" Sol pointed out. "Or are you just that dumb?"
"No, what I'm implying is that if we know that this is their base of operations, why aren't we rescuing the kids?" Cole pointed out. "I mean, that's what Magic Knight do, right?"
"But our objective is to capture the guys behind this whole mess." Sol replied. "The kids aren't on the top of our priority right now."
"Are you implying that we let those kids potentially die?" Cole retorted.
"Regrettable, but that's what Magic Knights do." Sol sighed out. "We can't save everyone. Only follow our orders to the letter."
"Only that's because your 'Big Sis Char' ordered, huh?" Cole pointed out.
"Don't you dare say her name out of your filthy mouth-"
"Would you two please, shut the fuck up?" Juniper hissed out. "You're gonna get us caught!"
Inside the cave, a detachment of Blue Rose Knights were sneaking into the trafficking ring's base, following the trail of kids walking in.
"Whatever the case, the sooner we catch whoever's behind this mess, the better." Noire pointed out. "C'mon, Lyra and Cygnus are scouting ahead. Time we actually covered more ground."
The four Magic Knights meet up with the other two ahead.
"Anything?" Noire asked.
"I heard two ahead." Lyra stated. "Both male, with one being younger than the other, with the younger one being the cause behind the abnormal snow."
"I've confirmed that it's [Snow Magic]." Cygnus stated. "Neige is behind this. And Baro's not too far off."
"Anything out of the ordinary?" Noire asked. "What about the client?"
"Hidden." Lyra asked. "The leader might be deeper in, so first, we're going to have to catch both the brothers and the leader in one, clean, motion-"
"MARIEEEEEEE!"
A screaming voice speeds above their heads, echoing down deeper into where the kids were.
"... Son of a bitch, he blew our cover." Juniper cursed.
"Time's of the essence." Noire pointed out. "Let's move!"
Noire opens her grimoire, using her [Spatial Magic] to cover more distance by warping their steps through spatial distortion.
"... By the way, who was that guy?" Cole asked.
"No idea, but I think I sort of recall from my friend's letter that there's a siscon mage in the Black Bulls." Juniper pointed out. "If that's really him, then god forbid if we get in his way."
"Why's that?" Noire asked. "Ain't he just some Black Bull?"
"He's no Black Bull, but out of all of them, he's the one causes the most collateral damage." Juniper replied. "And the fact that his sister might've been one of those kids that got abducted..."
"Oh shit." Cole remarked. "Forget the mission. If the whole cave comes down on our heads, then!"
"Less talking, more moving!"
The six reach a clearing, where the Black Bull was facing the [Snow Magic] user with several mirrors firing rays of light at the other mage in reckless abandon.
"... I think he got him." Juniper pointed out. "Leader, want me to bag the fatso?"
"Knock yourself out." Noire stated. "I'll cover you."
Before the fat mage can pull a fast one on the [Mirror Magic] user, Juniper dashes out of her cover, jumps up into the air, before delivering a dropkick to the mage, grinding both of her heels into his face, with Juniper springing off of his face before landing on her feet like a cat.
"This is the Blue Rose Knights!" Juniper shouted out. "Under the charges of mass kidnapping and human trafficking, Baro and Neige Sluice, you two are hereby under arrest!"
The other Magic Knights come out of the cover, cornering the two brothers.
"Big bro-"
"EYES ON ME, SISTER-STEALER!"
The [Snow Magic] user was fried alive by Gauche's [Mirror Magic: Reflect Ray].
"Nice work Black Bull." Noire stated. "We'll take it from here-"
"I'm not done with this little shit yet."
The enraged Magic Knight grabs Neige by the collar before picking him up.
"Where. Is. Marie?" Gauche snarled out as he showed the terrified mage a photo of a little girl. "If you don't give me a straight answer, then I'll personally escort your scrawny ass straight to Hell."
"I-I-I DON'T KNOW!" Neige blubbered out. "SHE'S NOT HERE! SHE WASN'T PART OF THE GROUP THAT WE WERE ORDERED TO ABDUCT!"
"BULLSHIT!" Gauche roared out as he drove his fist into his face. "I SAID WHERE IS SHE!?"
"OI, BLACK BULL!"
Gauche turned his head towards the Blue Rose Knights.
"... What?" Gauche asked.
"We'll take it from here." Noire stated. "Go find your sister if she's that important to you."
With a growl, he picks up his broom and flies deeper into the cave.
"Alright, shit for brains." Noire spoke to Baro as she stomped down onto his fat belly. "Who's behind this little stunt?"
"Tch, why should I tell you bitches anything-"
He felt the cold edge of a blade made of ice stroking against his neck.
"We have ways of making you talk." Noire pointed out. "I happen to know your kind of scum, and I know that you won't take death as an option, even if it means unable to take your secrets to the grave. So please tell us, who, is, behind, this?"
Baro looked towards Neige, only to see him constricted by strings of ivy.
"... Tch, alright, I'll talk." Baro spat out. "About our current boss? She killed the one originally behind this little outfit, and assumed control over all of the routes to herself. She's shit at running this outfit, hell, she's putting scumbags like me under the cart, until she approached me and my bro for one last job before we get to leave."
"Juniper, take over." Noire pointed out. "I need to get these kids out. Sol, Cole, lend me a hand."
The three then begin evacuating the kids out of the cave, with the three running into Jericho and Theresa.
"Another Black Bull?" Sol groaned out.
"We're looking for Gauche." Jericho asked. "You know where he is?"
"Further in." Cole pointed out.
"So Marie isn't here then..." Theresa remarked. "Damn, they're making this hard for all of us."
"What do mean?" Noire asked as she opened a portal leading out of the cave.
"... Call it a hunch, but I don't think this cluster is the only one." Jericho pointed out. "There might be others separate from this area."
"You don't mean!?"
"Sister, we need to move." Jericho stated as his broom flew upwards. "HANG ONTO SOMETHING!"
The broom speeds off into the same entrance where Gauche went in.
"... So what you're saying is, that there are others?" Sol pointed out.
"Now that think about it..." Cole looked at the evacuated kids. "... Isn't this group a little too small for a population of a town?"
"So the mission isn't over yet..." Noire stated as she took the last kid into the portal. "Sol, Cole, watch the kids."
"Yes ma'am!" Both saluted at once, much to their shared surprised.
"Heh, guess I underestimated you." Sol pointed out as she went into the portal.
"Likewise." Cole replied.
The two then end up outside with the kids, the snow starting to slowly dissipate, but the low temperature still being present.
"I'll contact Headquarters." Cole stated. "Sol, you know how to keep them warm?"
"Worth a shot." Sol stated as she opened her grimoire. "[Earth Recovery Magic: Mother Nature's Warm Embrace]."
A golem made from earth appears out of the ground, before curling itself around the kids with its warm earth.
"That'll do." Cole remarked as he took out his standard-issue [Magical Communication Device]. "HQ, this is Cole Evens of the Blue Rose Knights. Do read me, over?"
The device then goes into static before a coherent voice was heard...
... Albeit not the one that would be expected of a Magic Knight, nor did it inspire any confidence or reassurance.
"Yawn... This is Sekke from the Green Mantis (What am I even doing here...), what's with this call? You know what time it is-"
"Cut the crap, you idiot." Cole bit out. "We're in amidst evac of the kidnapped children from Nean. We require additional assistance to aid us of our extraction. Send any [Spatial Magic] or any [Recovery Magic] user available!"
"Wha-WHAT!? SOM-SOMEONE CONTACT THE MAGIC KNIGHTS-"
"YOU DULLARD! YOU'RE A MAGIC KNIGHT!" Cole barked out at the communicator. "NOW DO YOUR DAMN JOB, OR I'LL DRAG YOUR ASS THROUGH THE PROJECTION AND MAKE YOU DO IT MYSELF!"
"AGH! ON IT!"
The communicator shuts off, leaving the two Blue Rose Knights with a slight feeling of dread.
"... We're boned." Cole stated. "We are fucking boned with that idiot at the helm."
"For once, we agree." Sol groaned out. "... I'll set up a few walls around the kids before we can gather some kindle."
"OI!"
From a distance, the two spot a short blond male running towards them.
"Um excuse me!?" Cole shouted out. "This area is off-limits for civilians."
"Peh, I could hold me bloody own." The short blond male stated in a gruff tone disproportionate to his stature. "Got me sword here, and I know how to throw a punch."
"... If you insist." Cole stated. "Can you go get us some firewood? At this rate, the kids are gonna freeze to death."
"Got it." The short male then runs into the woods at blinding speeds.
"... Son of bitch, I forgot to ask for his name." Cole clicked his tongue.
Back at the woods...
"ARGH!"
Dragunov's whole body smashes through a tree upon being tossed aside by Kingu.
"Son of a whore, you haven't gotten sloppy at all..." Dragunov grunted out before he backhanded at a charging Hellhound. "But then again, I'm practically praying for a miracle."
"HEY OLD MAN!" Kalashnikov roared out as she slashed through the horde. "WATCH YOUR ASS!"
"Got it, Niko!" Dragunov replied as he drew his bow towards Kingu. "Not my first brawl with a Demon!"
The arrow fires towards the alpha, but before Kingu can parry the arrow, a portal opens right in front of the arrow's trajectory, before another portal opens behind Kingu, staking the arrow into its back.
The wolf-man grabs the arrow staked into it, only for said arrow's shaft to begin glowing in an emblem-like pattern.
"EAT [COMBUSTION RUNE], SUKA!"
The arrow explodes into a bright conflagration of flames, knocking Kingu off of its feet, as Dragunov draws another arrow towards the wolf-man in the air.
"What the hell was that?" Bastet asked as she kicked aside a Hellhound.
"[Rune Magic], lady!" Dragunov shouted out. "NIKO! NO NEED TO HOLD BACK NOW! UNLEASH HELL!"
Kalashnikov's blades begins to glow in a similar pattern as her swings begin to become more and more akin to a dance.
"Oh miraculous Patrem Inquisitor, grant me thy strength to exorcise the foul Demons back to the pit where they've spawned from!" Kalashnikov chanted as her blades's glow became brighter and hotter with the arcs of blue flames emitting from her swings. "[Flight & Fire Rune Compound Magic: Phoenix Arc-Free Flyer]!"
Both of her blades's runes emits flames that transform into a blue phoenix, slashing through numerous Hellhounds like hot knife through a block of butter.
"Well, my turn then." Dragunov stated as he saw Kingu get back up on its feet as he drew his bow. "[Spatial & Light Rune Compound Magic: Sagitta Luminus-Stella]!"
The arrow flies towards Kingu, transforming it into a shooting star that sped towards Kingu.
The wolf-man tries to parry the arrow of light, only for it to disappear, before the arrow reappeared right above Kingu's head.
The arrow explodes upon contact, with Dragunov rolling away from the blast.
"We have an opening." Dragunov stated. "Everyone, kill that that damned thing!"
All of the mages present open fire at the alpha.
"[Mask Magic: Burning Man]!" Masquerade's mask replaces itself into that of one resembling a man on fire, right before shooting out massive jets of fire towards Kingu.
"[Dark Magic: Dark Burning Attack]!" Morrigan sends blasts of pitch-black flames toward the alpha.
"[Beast Magic: Leo]!" Bastet projects a massive lion to attack Kingu.
"[Severing Magic: Shinken]!" With her broken sword, Aion sends out a slash towards the Hellhound.
"[Flight & Fire Rune Compound Magic: Phoenix Flight-Heavensend]!" Kalashnikov throws both of her swords towards the Demon, the twin blades transforming into firebirds flying towards Kingu.
"[Spatial & Stone Rune Compound Magic: Sagitta Meteorum-Etiam]!" Dragunov fires his arrow up into the air, passing through several portals in its trajectory, slowly transforming into a massive stone arrow that crashed on top of Kingu's head.
The collective magic attacks bombard at the alpha, engulfing it into a massive explosion, taking the rest of the Hellhounds out with it.
"... Did we kill it?" Bastet asked.
"Niko, go check to find the body." Dragunov ordered.
"Got it." Kalashnikov then tossed her swords forward, both of them floating around like a pair of divining rods, poking around the snow to find Kingu's body.
Meanwhile, the rest of Blue Rose Knights try to find Papillon's body.
The only things left of her were a single scrap of her Magic Knight robe and her rapier's handle, now all chewed up like a well-used dog toy, both of which lying on top of a pool of blood where she once lay.
"... They ate her down to the last bone." Bastet gasped in horror. "There's not enough of her left to even bury..."
Morrigan throws up behind one of the trees.
"They really are Demons..." Aion remarked in horror. "... It's as if her soul devoured into the void."
"DAMMIT ALL!"
Masquerade rips off her [Burning Man] along with her opera mask before throwing both onto the snowy ground, revealing a perfectly-normal looking face beneath it.
"We couldn't save her..." Masquerade lamented as she fell to her knees in tears. "... Papillon, I pray that you're at a better place."
Dragunov kneels down before offering a small prayer in foreign tongue.
"... So this is what you two hunt every day?" Masquerade asked Dragunov.
"All the more reason why all of the Demons residing in our world must be expelled." Dragunov replied in a serious tone. "They good for nothing aside from causing tragedies like this."
"Oi!"
From a distance, a short blond male was spotted, carrying wood under his arms.
"Anyone know where good tinder is?" The male shouted out. "It's fucking cold as balls here-"
"DAGDA!" Dragunov roared out in rage as he fired his arrow towards the short male.
At the same time, Kalashnikov was flying away from a heavily-wounded Kingu, trying to swipe her down with its sole remaining arm.
The arrow flies towards Dagda, but the short blond draws his short sword and parries the arrow back towards Dragunov...
... Only for said arrow to graze his cheek, pass next to the fleeing Kalashnikov, and the arrow stakes itself into Kingu's head, before the arrow glows yellow and electrocutes the Hellhound, knocking out cold.
"Aw dammit, you fucking lot!?" Dagda cried out. "What the bloody 'ell are you twats doin' here of all places!?"
"Same reason as always, the extermination of every Demon crawling in this world, INCLUDING YOU, DADGA!" Dragunov roared back in unhinged fury.
"Well, fuck your mother's arse!" Dagda shouted back as he waved his sword around. "I ain't got time for ya schmucks!"
Dagda then kicks up a massive dirt cloud before fleeing out of their sight.
"Dammit all." Dragunov swore. "Damn Ulster bastards, letting that filthy halfling live to begin with..."
"Old man!" Kalashnikov called out as she landed next to Dragunov. "Sorry about that. The bastard was playing dead before I can cut its head off."
"Well what are you waiting for?" Dragunov stated. "Get to it!"
Kalashnikov then throws one of her swords into the air, right before the sword slashes through the beast's neck, severing the head off of its neck.
Dragunov then approaches the severed head, takes it, and hangs the head around his belt underneath his cloak.
"... By the way." Dragunov stated. "I forgot to mention, the Hellhounds and this little fucker? They aren't actual Demons. Just offshoots of the damn Demon's power."
The four remaining Divas all adopt an expression of shock and horror.
"... You mean Papillon died from a Demon's power!?" Masquerade barked out in disbelief. "THEN WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR HER DEATH!?"
Both Inquisitors sigh out as Dragunov breaks the awful truth.
"... Tiamat."
Meanwhile, inside the cave...
"MARIE!" Gauche cried out. "MARIE! WHERE ARE YOU!?"
For two hours, Gauche has been flying around the twisting caves in his desperate search for his beloved sister.
"Where is she?" Gauche thought out loud. "I swore that mirror that I gave her would lead me to her location... So why are there... multiple signals of her!?"
He then spots something glimmering in the dark.
He sets down and finds a shattered mirror, the mirror itself no longer there, sans for the single fragment let on the frame.
Gauche then immediately goes into a panic attack upon finding out that whoever kidnapped Marie figured out the mirror's gimmick, and took the mirror and smashed it, shattering its numerous pieces all over the damned cave system.
It at least explains why his [Magical Eye: Reflector] is picking up a total of 37 signals of Marie.
"Dammit all..." Gauche gritted out. "If I find whoever did this, I swear to God, they'll wish that weren't even born to face me..."
"Mr. Adlai!"
Behind him, Jericho and Theresa land their broom.
"What are you two doing here!?" Gauche barked out.
"Making sure that you don't get yourself killed while off-duty." Jericho replied. "If Captain Yami hears of that, Yuno and I will wind up sharing your grave."
"That, and making sure you and Marie are actually alive." Theresa spoke out. "You're not the only one's who's worried sick for her, you know."
"No one asked, you old hag-"
Jericho then cuts him off with a slap to Gauche's face, which knocks out a few of his teeth and sends him flying off of his feet.
"Oww... WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!?" Gauche cried out. "YOU WANNA DIE-"
"Would you like me to smack you again?" Jericho menacingly spoke out as he cracked his knuckles. "If so, then I guess I'll send my condolences to your sister."
Gauche reluctantly steps down.
"... Fine. But only for Marie's sake." He begrudgingly remarked.
"Hm, never thought that someone can calm him, of all people." Theresa remarked to Jericho.
"He's odd case, even for among the former Nobility I've accustomed to familiarize." Jericho stated. "He's just as cold-blooded, but it's clear that Marie is the only thing left that means to him."
"For once, I agree." Gauche remarked as he got back up to his feet.
"So, what's with the mirror?" Jericho asked as he pointed at the shattered mirror in Gauche's hands. "That's not yours, correct?"
"It's Marie's. Gauche gave it to her to keep track of her location in case if they get separated." Theresa explained. "And I'm assuming that he's lost her signal?"
"The opposite." Gauche pointed out. "Those bastards shattered the mirror itself and spread out the pieces in random directions."
"Smart move. That means that they're more likely to lead us into a wild goose chase." Jericho pointed out. "Which only leaves us with two options."
"Either we fly around blind, or fall for a potential deathtrap." Theresa pointed out. "Either way, we're going to waste time."
"No, there's a third option."
Gauche then raises the mirror's wooden frame over his head, right before snapping it into two against his raised knee.
"... With the mirror now completely destroyed, the shards won't emit any dummy signals." Gauche reassured. "Now all I can do is let my love alone guide me to Marie."
Before Jericho can point out Gauche's faulty logic, Theresa shuts him up.
"... Ludicrous as it sounds, believe me when I say that his assumptions are true." Theresa stated. "The boy has a nose of bloodhound for little Marie, and oh Sephira, I said those exact words as a compliment."
"Remind me to tone down on my reminder for me to say that Mr. Adlai needing help." Jericho stated as he carried Theresa onto his back.
"You think I haven't tried?" Theresa remarked as she pointed to Gauche sniffing deeply into a bloodied band-aid.
"... I stand corrected."
Unbeknownst to the two Black Bulls and the elderly nun, a dog-eared youth pulling an arrow from his wood-crafted bow was spying on them, now his scouting turned into an assassination.
The itself arrow was dipped in buckets worth of hallucinogenic mixture of fungi, plants, and excrements of various Wilderbeasts from the Spade Kingdom, with so much as one scratch of his venomous arrow being enough to kill an adult Wyvern.
... Granted, his previous attempt of hunting one almost ended with him being set one fire, but hey, at least humans were easier pickings.
With the Hellhound's breathing slowly steading itself, he aims the point down to the purple-haired man's body, before letting it go.
... But just as he was about to let go, his mother's voice echoes in his head.
"No. Fall back."
"But mother! I have this! They're just three humans!"
"No, one is clearly too large to be a full-blooded human."
"Still, it's an opportunity. I can take em from here-"
"No. Fall back."
"... Yes mother."
"Good pup. Now hurry along, and let the boy pass."
His eyes were that of his mother's, as for his will being her's.
The same can be said for the rest of the Hellhounds. All were mere extensions of their matriarch's will.
The Hellhound did not question their mother, for it meant that she had her own plan for the human.
As long as there were dead humans, then that meant there are plenty more to eat later on.
Deeper inside...
"... So the boy came with his friends, then?" Tiamat spoke in a bemused tone. "No matter. Soon they become part of our carrion that my children will feast on by the next sunrise."
She then walks down from her throne made of human bones, walking towards several children tied to wooden poles, all of them blindfolded and their mouths gagged.
They were all arranged in a circular pattern, with said circle being almost ritualistic, bearing drawings of runes around its edges, as the children struggled to break free, but to no avail.
"Now now, my sweets. No need to struggle." Tiamat assured. "Soon enough, you'll join my family."
She then caresses one their napes with her dagger's edge.
"... After all, humans hold no love in their hearts." Tiamat stated, dropping her faux-motherly tone. "The Elves were too arrogant to acknowledge anything of love, the Dwarves and Jotuns are too stupid to know what love means, the Witches confuse love for subservience, to their so-called queen, and the Angels only pay shallow lip service to the word 'love'. At least the Demons are honest on their regard with them holding no love in their pitch-black hearts, but I, am different. From the depths of lovelessness, I've learned what love means!"
Tiamat then descends into an unhinged rant towards the bound children.
"TO LOVE MEANS TO PROVIDE TO YOUR KIN! TO LOVE MEANS TO SHELTER AND COMFORT THEM IN THIS COLD AND BLEAK WORLD, A COMPLETE FARCE OF A CREATION! TO LOVE MEANS TO KILL THOSE WHO HURT YOUR FOLD, STRIKING THEM DOWN WITH THE UTMOST OF PREJUDICE! TO LOVE MEANS TO HATE THOSE WHO DON'T RETURN YOUR LOVE! TO LOVE MEANS TO TAKE OVER THIS JOKE OF A WORLD AND RESHAPE IT TO YOUR IMAGE! TO LOVE MEANS TO SHARE YOUR DREAM WITH YOUR BELOVED, AND LET YOUR LOVED ONES RUN FREE AND LET THEM SHAPE THE WORLD TO THIER LIKING! SUCH LOFTY DREAMS AND AMBITIONS MAY AND ARE IMPOSSIBLE FOR YOU FILITH, BUT NOT I! I, TIAMAT, QUEEN OF THE HELLHOUNDS, SHALL TAKE THIS WHOLE WORLD BY STORM, AND SHAPE IT TO MY IMAGE, A LAND FREE FROM HATE AND IRE, AND INTO A WORLD WHERE MY LOVE WILL REIGN SUPREME, SO THAT I MAY LEAD IT TO ITS LONG-AWAITED SALVATION!"
A girl tied next to the boy that Tiamat was holding at knifepoint struggles to say something through her gag.
"Hm? What was that my child? I didn't hear you properly."
She then unbinds Marie's gag.
"... You're wrong." The girl spoke out. "That's not love."
"Mother, let me put this maggot in her place-"
"No." Tiamat vetoed. "Let her speak."
Tiamat undoes her blindfold, revealing the girl's eyes to be defiant as the embers of a long-extinguished wildfire that refused to die.
"... The world is cruel, yeah, but that doesn't mean people can't love." The girl stated. "My brother and I lost everything, our home, our parents, our money, but we still had each other. I saw him go heaven and hell just so that we can live another day, and along the way, I got to learn that there are people who can love other people with all their heart. My brother may not know or even care, but it's thanks to him that I got to live long enough to know that there is love in people's hearts! People can learn to love, you just need to let them!"
Tiamat then kneels down to face her eye to eye.
"Then tell me." Tiamat asked the little girl. "If your brother is one of those people who can love, then why did he go and kick my daughter in her ribs?
Tiamat then stakes her heel into the little girl's big toe, crushing into ground meat.
The girl lets out a scream of sheer, unrestrained agony.
"IT HURTS! IT HURTS!" The girl screeched out as she flailed like a fish on dry land.
Tiamat simply glares at the girl, the queen's eyes now being completely empty of empathy.
"Trust me, dearie. It's going to hurt more." She stated dispassionately. "Keep her eyes open."
The girl's eyes are then forced open by one of the Hellhound children's digits prying the scared girl's eyes open.
"Wha-What are you doing?" The girl whimpered out as she saw Tiamat walk towards one of the children bound to the stakes.
"You said that people can learn to love if they live long enough?" Tiamat remarked to the girl. "Allow me to prove you otherwise, that my love is the only true love."
Blood is then splatted into her eyes, unable to look away from one of her fellow orphans having their throats silt open, with his blood gushing out onto her face.
"... Please. Stop it." The girl whimpered out. "You... You killed him."
"And here's my two yuls: I don't care."
Another, this time, a girl around her same age, the jagged silver blade running across her throat, splashing more blood onto her face.
Then another, a boy, the one younger than her, another splash of blood.
Then another.
And another.
And it kept going.
And going.
And going.
... Until she couldn't take it anymore, with the last dredges of her sanity escaping the poor girl's throat, with one, final, desperate cry.
"HELP ME! SAVE ME, GAUCHE!"
... But no one came.
And with that revelation, the girl abandoned all hope, as she watched the last of her friends and fellow children get slaughtered like cattle.
With her next in line-
"MARIEEEEEEE!"
Her cry was miraculously answered at the eleventh hour.
Because from the darkness, her brother, Sister Theresa, and that big man that she ran into in the streets came to save her.
"Big brother..."
Marie's consciousness fails her, blacking out with the last thing seeing being her saviors and the monster that killed her friends stare each other down.
All she could do now, was to pray to Sephira, that they succeed.
And for Gauche, he knew what had to be done.
The dead bodies of Marie's friends, their blood marring her pure visage against her will, and a missing toe.
Kill that whore who hurt Marie, with extreme prejudice.
"YOU BITCH!" Gauche roared out towards Tiamat. "I'LL COOK YOU ALIVE!"
Gauche opens his grimoire, surrounding Tiamat with an array of mirrors.
"[MIRROR MAGIC: REFLECT RAY-KALEIDOSCOPE]!"
All of the summoned mirrors surrounding Tiamat fire all at once, blinding her with an array of light beams.
"I'M NOT DONE YET!"
The [Reflect Ray-Kaleidoscope] keeps firing down at Tiamat, bombarding her with more beams of light.
"DIE! DIE! DIIIIIIEEEEEE!"
The beams of light eventually stop firing, with Gauche, now completely spent on his mana reserves, collapses onto the stone floor.
"Mr. Adlai!" Jericho cried out as he ran towards him and picks him back up. "Are you alright-"
"It's too soon to celebrate." Theresa pointed out. "Look."
From the smoke emerged a dome of canine-eared children, all of them forming a protective dome of bodies around Tiamat, before collapsing from the abuse that they've all received from Gauche's onslaught.
The queen looks at the Black Bull, her eyes now emitting a tranquil stillness of a calm sea, hiding a titanic beast of pure rage within its depths.
"... You'll pay for that."
She then takes out a patchwork-grimoire, bearing two Spades, one black, and the other white, imposed to each other on opposite ends, as if one was the other's shadow.
The Paradox Spade. The symbol of Conquest, and the pale white light that it emits from its haphazardly-assembled black, brown, and navy blue covers, as its pages fluttered, beckoning Hellhounds from the deepest of Hell.
"[Summon Magic: Bloodhound Horde-Zealot]."
From the spilled blood of the collective children, a magic circle was formed, with a massive clawed arm bursting out of it.
"This presence..." Theresa gawked out in horror. "JUST WHAT KIND OF AN ABOMINATION IS SHE BECKONING FORTH!?"
Tiamat then lets out an ear-piercing laughter as the foul beast emerges.
"... Oh Gilgamesh?"
A massive humanoid wolf, with a black spade running down its forehead, adjacent to its pair of blood-red eyes scorching with hate, licks its maw in hunger.
"Dinnas iuk ukervun."
To Be Continued...
Author's Notes: Sorry if this took a while, but hey, COVID-19 is kinda fucking up with my daily college life, for better or for worse. At least I'm not infected.
So regarding on writing this chapter, holy shit, I kinda made it a bit dark, but if I'm going to introduce another Demonic Faction, might as well make Tiamat impressionable as possible.
That, and Yuno's Asta-shaped hole in his chest is growing bigger and bigger, with [Sylph] practically helpless to aid his pain. And Marie, but trust me.
It's gonna get worse for her.
Also, regarding [Summon Magic], self-explanatory. Just get a shitload of human sacrifices and hope for the best.
In a way, it's like every Gacha game, but the Saint Quartz here is literal blood. Richer the mana, the more likely Tiamat will summon an uber-powerful Hellhound variant.
The Hellhounds that ambushed the Five Divas and the Inquisition? Measly 1-Stars.
Kingu? 3-Star at best.
And Gilgamesh?
... Not telling.
Also, a massive (and long-overdue) Shout-Out to ShootingStaria for noticing my fic!
My fic shall be your muse! Feel free to draw as much fanart as you like! It's got lots of blood and gore to it, also tears.
So, what do you guys think of this Saga?
Please leave a comment or a review, for I'd love to know what my audience are thinking!