Disclaimer: Black Clover is owned by Yūki Tabata, Studio Pierrot, and Shonen Jump.
Saga 37: Hellhound on my Trail Finale
Nean Cavern Depths, Common Realm, Clover Kingdom, Early Dawn
At the ruined chambers, Dagda, Dragunov, and Tiamat were staring each other down, all three of them now emitting a killer's aura aimed towards one another.
Tiamat twirls her knife between her fingers, Dagda tossed his blade in his hand, and Dragunov kept a firm grip on the end of his arrow.
The atmosphere becomes increasingly tense, with neither side not making any drastic moves, each combatant carefully observing each other with eyes of hawks, ready to pounce at a moment of slight notice.
A drop of sweat drips down from Dragunov's brow.
The bulb makes its way down across his cheek, down to the tip of his goateed chin...
... Before it fell and splashed onto the stone earth.
Upon the dew landing, Dagda and Tiamat charge towards each other, blades out and striking each other, sending hot sparks flying into the air with their respective swings.
"Ya gonna pay that tab ya owe me, little tart." Dagda whispered out menacingly.
"I owe you jack, midget." Tiamat growled in retaliation before swinging her blade once more, striking against [Fragarach]'s fine edge.
The two continue clashing blades, as Dragunov ran around the fight's circumference, trying to get in a clear shot at the Demon.
He didn't care which one, as long as it hit.
"Come on, you bastards..." Dragnuov thought. "... 'Just hold still', is what I would say to normal game, but Demons are beyond such reason."
Dragunov already accepted that in order to hunt down Demons and their willing worshippers, it's anything goes for him as much it is for his prey.
At the epicenter, Dagda and Tiamat continue to clash, the Hellhound Prince of Conquest not relenting against the half-Demon's assault.
"Out of all the people I've had the displeasure of running into, you're easily the most aggravating." Tiamat growled out as she locked her knife against Dagda's shortsword. "Will it kill you to just drop dead already!?"
"Sorry lass. As an Ulsterian, I gotta live out until I find someone that can actually kill my arse with respect." Dagda remarked. "Simply 'dropping dead' ain't gonna cut it, so fuck it the right off, ya cheeky brat."
[Fragarach] then begins to glow in a bluish-green light.
"[Counter Magic: Blowback Counter]!"
Dagda shoves his blade lock against Tiamat, sending her flying off of the ground and creating distance between himself and the Hellhound.
"NOW DO IT, YA EYEPATCHED BASTARD!" Dagda yelled out.
"I don't take orders from a Demon!" Dragunov shouted back as he lined up his shot towards the suspended Tiamat. "I'll do it myself!"
He then lets loose his arrow as it began to glow bright-yellow.
"[Spatial & Lightning Rune Magic: Sagitta Iecit-Fulmen]!"
The arrow turns into a snaking bolt of lightning, before piercing through Tiamat's stomach and pinning her into the stone walls of the caverns.
However, the two aren't convinced that she isn't dead yet.
After all, she's no willing channeler for the Demons. She was, in fact, a pure-blooded Demon, through and through. A mere shell of a deceased human, no longer harboring any trace of mana, allowing the Demon to play by its own rules rather that of this world's.
When mana leaves the body, the physical composition of the human body begins to erode and deteriorate, allowing the decomposers to work their purpose and break down all physical matter into reusable matter such as soil and carbon.
But in the Demon's rule, there is no end to their form. There is no such thing as "the end". A never-ending cycle of death and rebirth, each "death" just coding another immunity into the Demon's biology, allowing them to forever adapt to their surroundings, getting stronger with each failure, never dying the same way twice.
Tiamat has died just recently from "electrocution". But "profuse bleeding", "puncture wound to vital organ", and "blunt trauma", however...
... Were the things that she's already adapted to.
With that revelation in mind, the two see the Hellhound pull the arrow that has pierced through her gut and into the stone wall behind her, spilling our tar-colored blood from her wound as it closes into a black-colored scar mark.
"... Try again."
"As much as it takes, foul Demon!" Dragunov roared out with hardened resolve.
"Imma make you pay out what you owe, lassie." Dagda remarked unflinchingly. "I have all the time in the world to do so."
The three resume their fight, now each side driven to kill the other, regardless of method or means, only the outcome being their own self-justified end.
At the Cavern Corridors...
"Keep running!" Kalashnikov barked out as she and the other Magic Knights ran towards the cave's exit.
Over her shoulder was a dull-lavender-haired young man with a black robe draped around his shoulders. The torture inflicted upon him cost him a right eye, two pinkies and a right thumb, a broken nose, and several missing teeth.
The girl in Cole's arms was way worse off; a missing ear, a missing right eye, and several molars either chipped into pieces or come off completely. Worse, her body looked sickly pale, from all the trauma, both physical and psychological, as if a gentle breeze would destroy her.
... The man in the royal blue robes wasn't exaggerating when he said that her body was extremely fragile. In hindsight, she shouldn't have tossed her to him like a sack of charcoal, but desperate times.
Kalashnikov can only hope that the healers in this kingdom were skilled.
"We're almost at the exit!" Jericho shouted out. "Everyone, just hold on-"
"Too laave."
From the cavern's ceilings, came crashing down was Romulus, [Bident] in hand, licking his fang-ridden maw in hunger.
"You should know..." Romulus grinned out. "... We Hellhounds don't let our prey escape."
"Please tell me that you got kids out." Cole begged.
"Oh we could've just simply set upon them and devoured them whole." Romulus pointed out condescendingly. "But letting them prosper and multiply for later? Plenty of fish in the water, I assure you."
"Typical Demon..." Kalashnikov grumbled out as she put down Gauche and drew her blades. "... Always so assured in your prospects."
"Unlike you humans, we happen to know our rightful place." Romulus retorted. "We've all earned our clout through pure merit, whereas you maggots were born with a silver spoon dribbling in your mouths. Well, most of you, anyway. So far, the only one seems to be from a humble background through rich scent of earth coursing through her, but the lot of you reek of the sheen of yul and putrid perfumes. Just being near you cockroaches makes me want to vomit out of sheer disgust, but our fair lady would scold us if we waste food."
Behind the group, Masquerade's whole body trembles in rage upon hearing the Hellhound's remark.
"... So that's all Papillon were to you?" Masquerade remarked. "... Just food!?"
"Like pigs to bacon, you bitch."
The facade of of the masked Blue Rose Knight tranquil fury shatters.
"YOU BASTARD!" Masquerade roared out as she put on another mask, a blank chrome-silver visage.
The silver mask plants onto her face, and grants her an enormous boost in power.
"[MASK MAGIC: SILVER STRIDER]!" Masquerade roared out as she was now transformed into a blank humanoid figure with anatomical details, completely chrome-silver from head to toe. "NOW FREEZE!"
From her hands, a massive vortex of silver snow expelled out of her palm, rushing towards Romulus.
The Hellhound dodges out of the way, only for Masquerade herself to enter the vortex and propel herself towards the Hellhound on a snowboard-like construct.
"YOU'LL PAY FOR WHAT YOU AND YOUR SO-CALLED 'FAMILY' DID TO MY FREIND!" Masquerade roared out through her blank mask. "DIE FOR YOUR SINS, YOU DEMON!"
An explosion of cold, silver air bursts from the epicenter of Masquerade's impact, sending out an ejection of frost-laced shockwave across the whole cavern's chamber.
"... Did she get him?" Cole asked out loud.
"Hold your breath, Magic Knight." Kalashnikov pointed out. "Demons are and will be Demons. They're stupidly hard to kill even just once."
"Wait." Jericho remarked. "Once?"
"You got one thing wrong, maggot."
From the fading snow-laced screen of opaque fog, Romulus held up the Blue Rose Knight by her neck with his clawed hands.
"We Demons cannot be killed to begin with. We simply reincarnate from the Ninth Layer, and our lady's [Summon Magic] grants immediate access from the Ninth Layer's flesh pods." Romulus boasted. "So kill me as much you wish. I'll simply come back stronger the next moment."
Masquerade struggle to break from Romulus's grip. Even expanding ice with her [Silver Strider]'s [Ice Magic] between the Demon's fingers, she still couldn't pry herself free. The ice itself simply expanded around Romulus's unflinching fingers.
"And what 'sins' are you referring to?" Romulus asked Masquerade. "To 'sin' means to go against your own instincts, and our instincts scream that we eat. But don't fret, you haven't sinned, for you have simply sought to avenge your friend's death, so you won't be condemned to Hell. So instead, I'll send you to Heaven personally."
The grip around Masquerade's neck tightens until a loud and audible *SNAP* sound was heard.
Masquerade's whole body falls limp, her head now torquing adjacent to her back, as if her whole neck was shattered.
The masked Magic Knight falls dead, and into the Hellhound's maw, devoured whole.
"... I thank for thy meal, for her despair was indeed delicious. Amen."
Romulus then turns his head towards the remaining Magic Knights and Inquisitor.
"...Now then, what will you do, dear Inquisitor?" Romulus taunted. "What will you do after I just utterly wasted a small fry from a foreign kingdom?"
"It matters not who've you killed and devoured, Demon." Kalashnikov bit out as her blades caught on fire. "I'll wipe you away from the face of this world like the blight you are!"
Romulus simply smiles.
"Then have at thee."
Kalashnikov and Romulus charge towards each other.
"[Demonic Art: Cerberus Fang]."
Romulus flashes forth towards the Inquisitor with fist stuck out forward.
"[Flight Magic: Heavenstride]!"
The Inquisitor then begins running on thin air, with the exact grace and precision as if she were on solid ground, causing the punch to miss and insert three craters into the stone walls of the cavern instead.
"So, you think you're the only one who can walk on air?" Romulus remarked at the Inquisitor running on the air. "[Demonic Art-Modified: Harpy Talon-Okypete]."
Romulus's legs then tense and swell up before springing into himself into the air, then transitioning into jumping midair, as if he himself was also walking on air as well.
"No magic required, just one of the many perks of having a Demonic body." Romulus boasted.
"It matters not! I still have the high ground!" Kalashnikov retorted. "[Flight & Fire Rune Magic: Phoenix Quills-Firestorm]!"
Several quills of blue flames flew towards the hopping Hellhound, which Romulus deflects all of them with his [Bident].
"Is that all?" Romulus taunted. "If so, allow me to retort; [Demonic Art-Modified: Hydra Barrage-Mushmahhu]."
A blinding flurry of thrusts of his spear came swarming forth towards Kalashnikov, which the Inquisitor dodges and weaves around effortlessly.
"As expected of an Inquisitor." Romulus faux-praised Kalashnikov as he continued his [Hydra Barrage-Mushmahhu]. "You lot are a slippery one."
"So says the slippery one." Kalashnikov spat back as she jumped from wall to wall, slowly gaining speed with each stride made.
The others outside of the fight's circumference, just stood and watched in awe.
"... Should we go help?" Sol remarked.
"Don't be stupid." Cole replied. "We'd be just getting in her way."
"He's right." Jericho pointed out. "I've fought one of them before, and it nearly ripped both of my arms off."
"... So... It seems... that we're unable to... escape until... he dies." Morrigan slurred out.
"No shit." Bastet remarked. "That bastard wasted Masquerade, and somehow, some random woman with two swords is keeping up with him."
"No traces of excess mana is emitted from her." Aion commented. "The way she's moving in the air, it's all her own physical dynamics. Her magic is simply lifting her off of the ground."
"So what do we do?" Sol asked. "Sneak out?"
All of them look at each other in befuddlement as each of them weigh their options.
On one hand, using the time bought by Kalashnikov to make their escape with the last two survivors is ideal, and the fact that Romulus himself was preoccupied with Kalashnikov to even acknowledge their presence is tempting.
On the other hand, Romulus himself could easily lure them into a false sense of security and do either of the following two: either multitask and begin picking them off one by one while they escape, with the two hostages being their priority, or simply spring another ambush at the final stretch before reaching the exit, in which will put extra burden on the Inquisitor, and will most likely get her inadvertently killed along with themselves.
The real risk here, were the unknown factors for the Clover Kingdom Magic Knights. For most of them, this was their first time dealing with a Demon. Even Jericho, who's at his second, was still walking on eggshells when it came to dealing with them, for the only thing he knew about these Demons?
One is the utter bane of anyone using magic (i.e., EVERYONE), the other wiped out the entirety of the Diamond Kingdom in one day. This one?
Simply a meat puppet that knows how to kill, but knows how to kill efficiently. Astaroth's skills were unrefined due to a lack of formal experience, where as Yama didn't even lift a finger while everyone else around him simply crumpled. This Hellhound was a predator, through and through.
It doesn't fight, it kills.
From what little tidbits of the two's movements of the clash between the Inquisitor and the Hellhound, the two were executing killing blow after killing bow, each attack meant to instantly kill their intended target, and the only reason why the fight has gone on long as it has was that each of them were familiarizing with each other's combat patterns at a breakneck pace, each attack missed, an attack learned. Each variation of movement, from a single step to an array of strides, instantly memorized.
Jericho can barely sense Kalashnikov's Ki, only due to the fact that she was moving so fast that she was now effectively leaving behind afterimages. Romulus however, had no Ki, just like Astaroth.
He himself, just like the Fallen Angel, was merely a shell. A hollow vessel, void of the dynamics and workings of a living being, moving and shifting solely on instinct.
Should they even take one step out of where they stood, they will die. For should they even twitch, they will be devoured by the storm of adaptation, and will not adapt fast enough to even hope to survive.
"You're a persistent one, Inquisitor." Romulus remarked mid-flight, clashing once with Kalashnikov's blazing blades with his spear. "I now understand why my younger siblings fear your kind."
"I don't take compliments from a Demon like you!" Kalashnikov snapped as she clashed midair once more. "So put your vile words back in your mouth and keep it shut, you czubek!"
"Alright then, I'll stuff it with your corpse." Romulus replied with a sneer. "[Demonic Art-Modified: Ladon Flame-Charybdis]."
Romulus's chest then swells and bloats up like a balloon as it sucks up the surrounding air like a vacuum, before expelling the collected air out of his body, causing the whole cavern to light up like the surface of the sun.
"OKAY, HOW THE HELL IS HE LIGHTING THE AIR ITSELF ON FIRE WITH JUST HIS BREATH!?" Cole cried out over the explosion.
"Surprised?" Romulus remarked. "Hell's essence turns all regular oxygen into combustable elements. All I need to do after I expel out Demonic Matter, I simply need to grind my teeth, and one spark so much as touches the tainted air... Well, I hope you like being finished well-done. My preference for human meat is raw, though."
"Wait though..." Jericho pointed out at the completely-immaculate Inquisitor. "... How is she not burnt?"
He notices that something was jutting out of her mouth. Something that resembled an ornate-looking cigarette holder, but without the smoke, but a single red tassel.
Kalashnikov sucks in on her oral fixation before exhaling out a faint amber-yellow vapor.
"Ahh, so that's the rumored Anti-Demon measure." Romulus commented. "[Sacred Extract: Ambrosia], isn't it? Brewed from one of the Three Sages, Merlin, the one holding the sacred knowledge of Heaven's fruit, [EVE] (Evangelic Vitalization Extract). By exposing your physical body to Heaven's matter, you've countered my Hell's exhausts, just as water would put out fire."
Kalashnikov frowns upon his observation.
"Now now, neither we Hellhounds nor the Demons seek out such power." Romulus reassured. "For even us Demons don't attack Angels and their properties until [Armageddon] comes. But since you're a human and not an Angel, we don't have anything penalizing us from killing each other, so with that loophole established..."
The two resume their fight, bouncing from wall to wall as they resume to clash midair.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Magic Knights continue watching as they collectively contemplate their shared bafflement.
"... So anyone know what they were talking about?" Cole pointed out.
"Just smile and wave, manservant." Jericho remarked. "Just smile and wave..."
Everyone else looks at the Black Bull.
"... You know... something... do you?" Morrigan pointed out.
Jericho lets out a frustrated sigh.
"I can't hide anything from you guys, can I?" Jericho sighed out.
"You make the tells that are way too obvious." Bastet dryly snarked out.
"Your heart rate has been steadily increasing ever since you've entered the cave with us." Aion pointed out. "... Do not underestimate me, Black Bull, you're not the only one educated in the art of Ki. I am born blind, and yet still a Magic Knight for about the past 10 years, you nit."
"That, and well, you're sweating out a whole lake." Sol remarked.
Jericho lets out another long sigh before slicking his face with his hand.
"... I swear, if the Wizard King mindwipes me after all this, I'm blaming all of you."
Outside...
"So let me get this straight..."
A plume of smoke was exhaled out of someone's mouth.
"There's some children-kidnapping cult holed up in there, using said children as sacrifices to summon, and correct me if I'm wrong, Demons." Yami pointed out. "And you sure that's the full report that my Black Bull who's currently in there gave it to you a few minutes back?"
"Are you not going to point out the fact that now there are two factions from the Spade who illegally crossed borders into the Clover Kingdom?" Charlotte remarked.
"Hey, not my fault that Dagda had other friends." Yami retorted. "Still, the whole situation is close to FUBAR, correct?"
"Yes sir." Jaqueline answered. "I managed to get a glimpse of what the Black Bull and the other two Spade Kingdom countrymen were fighting against. And from what I can tell, that thing had no mana and yet somehow it took three of them to simply take it down."
"As expected of a Black Bull, pathetic as always." Nozel remarked.
"That's rich coming from someone who lost roughly a few pounds around a half a month prior." Yami bit back. "You sure you should be in the front lines? I mean, surpass your limits and all, but do it after you recover."
"I have no need for your sympathy, assuming if you had any, foreigner." Nozel glared back.
"Keh keh keh!" Jack cackled out in excitement. "So tell me, pinky, are those cultists worth cutting up?"
Jaqueline sighs in resignation before answering.
"... If there's any solace, there will be no children hostages left to get in your way, Captain Jack." Jaqueline sighed out. "Just don't cause a cave in, we still have yet to contact the others that are still in there cleaning up-"
From the cavern entrances, the four Magic Knight Captains all heard an ear-piercing roar bellowing out of the depths, followed up by several explosions and tremors.
"... You said something about a cave-in?" Yami pointed out.
"Keh keh keh!" Jack cackled out as he manifested his [Death Scythes] on his forearms. "That's the bell for us to go in-"
Before the Green Mantis Captain can charge in first, a blustering gale of wind passes by them, which it then funnels into the cave's entry point.
"... Just who was that, and why does it have a massive surge of mana?" Nozel asked.
"... Son of a bitch."
Yami then hops onto his broom and flies into the cave at high speeds.
"That Ki from the earlier blur..." Yami thought. "... Goddammit Yuno! You better not be trying anything stupid that can get you killed!"
Back Inside...
"Ahahahaha!" Romulus roared out in laughter. "The more you resist, the more you'll be worthy of our lady's palate!"
"I WILL END YOU EVEN IF IT KILLS ME, DEMON!" Kalashnikov roared back. "FOR THE PATREM INQUISITOR AND KING!"
The battle between the Demon and the Inquisitor continues, still paced in its blinding speed, barely visible to the naked and untrained eye, but an utter certainty that their attempts of reckless escape will be met with a quick and messy demise.
"This is getting really bad..." Jericho stated as he now resorted to giving both Adlai siblings first-aid. "... The Demon is nowhere close to being defeated."
"Tell us about it..." Cole remarked upon the behalf of everyone now being bestowed with the knowledge of Demons and their existence. "... You're saying that thing can be even defeated!?"
"If I recall correctly, you mentioned that one of them wiped out the entirety of the Diamond Kingdom singlehandedly." Aion pointed out. "The way you said it, you had no reason to lie. Your heartbeat was normally-paced, and not erratic that of a liar's."
"... Still doesn't change the fact that we're fucked, ain't it?" Sol bitterly pointed out. "Can't even step in without being rended into piecemeal, and all we can do is twiddle our thumbs and hope for the best on a stranger..."
"We're failures as Magic Knights..." Bastet grimaced.
The two clashing break off from their midair scuffle.
"I'd have to say, Inquisitor, for a human, you're quite a fighter." Romulus gleefully pointed out. "Hell, I'm actually starting to enjoy fighting you. Almost makes me want to eat you for myself!"
"Cease your fraternizing." Kalashnikov retorted. "All Demons are nothing more than blight that must be purged from this world. It's what we Inquisitors have been training for since initiation..."
"Whoever trained you, they've done splendid work, for you have proven yourself to be not like the other fragile humans that dare encroach our territory. You and your kind are to be feared and respected amongst us Demons." Romulus praised. "You've more than earned my respect, Kalashnikov Turgenev. I will relish the flavor of your flesh, down to the last morsel and marrow, knowing that I bothered to even remember you."
The Inquisitor crosses her swords before taking a stance with one pointed towards the Demon from her rear arm, the frontal also pointed towards him.
"... No more words then." Romulus stated as he also took his stance after he tosses his [Bident] away, with his arms now raised up to his face, both white-knuckled and palms facing forward. "Fine, let's end this hunt once and for all."
The Magic Knights were frozen where they stood. All of them can literally taste the murderous intent radiating from the two fighters.
One was that of a righteous fury of a thousand suns.
The other was the bottomless hunger of a world eater.
And before the two choking presences, the Magic Knights were but mewling mice in the face of ravenous gods.
The two then sprint towards each other, each ready to deliver their killing blow.
"[Flight & Fire Rune Magic: Phoenix Flight-Flare]!"
Kalashnikov then transforms into a phoenix wreathed in azure-blue flames as she flew towards the charging Hellhound like a shooting star falling from the aether beyond the blue sky.
"DON'T HOLD BACK, MY LONG-AWAITED-NO, MY DESTINED MAIN COURSE!" Romulus roared out in joyous glee. "[FINAL DEMONIC ART-VARIANT RESULT: TYPHON-GIGANTOMACHIA]!"
Romulus then flings himself forward with enough force to leave behind a sonic boom, springing off of the earth, leaving behind a massive crater where once he stood, propelling himself as a violent comet of pure muscle and violence.
The two titanic forces clash violently, emitting a singularity of pure inertia and physical dynamics that whoever even tried to step in, would have their physical bodily constitution reduced to that of a wet noodle's structural integrity in a heartbeat.
Before they knew it, the shockwave reaches its apex, causing a massive explosion of pure force that sends everyone flying off of their feet, including Kalashnikov and Romulus.
Everyone was now flung into midair, Jericho catching both Gauche and Marie in his arms in order to cushion them from the hard landing that was inevitably coming, Bastet and Sol were flailing around before Cole caught the two of them while riding on his [Nimbus Platform], Morrigan whistled for her broom and caught Jericho and the Adlai siblings with her [Dark Calling] conjuring a black hand from her grimoire, Kalashnikov trying to recover from her badly-injured state, and Romulus laughing his heart out as he falls towards the ground.
"AHAHAHAHAHA!" Romulus victoriously howled out in laughter. "TRULY, YOU ARE A WORTHY HUNT! AND NOW, I SHALL CLAIM MY RIGHTFUL BOUNTY!"
He lands on his feet before springing back up towards the injured Inquisitor.
"I THANK THY FOR THE MEAL I AM ABOUT TO PARTAKE!" Romulus roared out as he opened his maw wide. "THANK YOU FOR THE THRILL AND PLEASURE OF THE HUNT, DEAR KALASHNIKOV TURGENEV!"
The gaping maw edged towards the Inquisitor.
"TIME TO FEAST-"
*SHRUCK*
From Romulus's chest emerged a bright green blade of wind.
"... Yuno!?" Jericho gawked out at the winged youth.
"GO TO HELL! AND TAKE YOUR FRIENDS WITH YOU!"
Yuno's [Spirit of Zephyr] tears through Romulus's chest, with the youth bursting through the Hellhound's chest covered head to toe in tar-colored blood and viscera.
The mangled corpse of the Hellhound plops to the ground, and the youth catches the female Inquisitor as his body skidded across the stoney earth.
"... You okay?" Yuno asked the woman.
The braided woman than looks at Yuno with a slight glare.
"... So the prince lived."
"Huh?"
Kalashnikov then faints from exhaustion on Yuno's chest.
"... What the hell was she talking about?" Yuno muttered to himself as he tried to get the woman off of him. "'Prince' of what?"
In front of him, the mangled corpse of the Hellhound lets out a slight scoff of malicious bemusement.
"Peh..." Romulus huffed. "... You really don't know, do you?"
Yuno then approaches closer towards the Hellhound.
"What do you mean, 'I don't really know'?" Yuno asked. "Just what do you mean!?"
Romulus lets out a hoarse laughter aimed towards the confused Yuno.
"... Ah, truly, 15 years is indeed a fleeting moment." Romulus addressed to the youth. "... A Grinberryall spawn lived though the bitter cold."
"... Grinberryall!?" Yuno gawked. "What do you mean, that 'I lived'!? ANSWER ME!"
Romulus simply shoots a sneer towards the boy.
"... The Morningstar." Romulus pointed towards Yuno's charm hung around his neck. "... You know nothing, boy."
The Hellhound, with the last of his reserves of strength, snaps his finger, the snap echoing throughout the cavern depths, replied with numerous growls and howls of wolves.
... The Hellhounds has come for them.
"More Demons, then..." Yuno gritted out furiously as he caught a look of the badly-wounded Gauche and Marie, raising his already-precipitous rage even further beyond, pushing him to the dredges of his sanity. "... First you hurt my friend, my elder Magic Knight, and an innocent child."
Yuno's body flares up with even more mana.
"PREPARE TO DIE, YOU FILTHS!" Yuno roared out in unrelenting fury. "EVERYONE, GET THE TWO OUT OF HERE! I'LL HOLD THEM OFF!"
Jericho wanted to protest, but doing so would simply insult his friend's resolve.
"... DON'T DIE, YOU HEAR!?" Jericho roared out. "I'LL BE BACK TO DRAG YOUR ASS, YOU HEAR!?"
"THEN HAUL ASS!" Yuno yelled back as he threw the braided woman to Jericho.
The remaining Magic Knights then make their getaway with the two siblings and an exausted Inquisitor, leaving Yuno behind with the encroaching brood, all of them hungry for fresh meat.
"... [Sylph]." Yuno spoke to the sprite. "... If I don't make it, run. This is my responsibility, not yours."
The [Sylph] shakes her head in adamant refusal.
"No Yuno." The [Sylph] replied. "I'm staying, period."
"No, I dragged you into this." Yuno stated. "If anyone else dies because of me, then how will I-"
[Sylph] shuts him up with a peck to his lips.
"... But I stayed by choice." The [Sylph] bluntly replied. "I stayed not because you found me, nor because of your mana, nor because of the Demons running about in this world."
[Sylph] simply smiles.
"I did it because I love you, dummy." [Sylph] answered with a bright smile. "From the moment we met, you and I were destined for each other. And for Pete's sake, when a girl's asking you out, the least you can do is ask for her name!"
Yuno now knew. There were now people who cared for him as much as Asta did.
Both he and his brother shared the same dream; of becoming the next Wizard King, but upon the day when he died and a Demon took over his corpse, all love he had in his heart slowly began to crumble away like gravel.
For Yuno, the only love he had left was for his dream, but what he failed to realize was that there were other people that loved as much as Asta did.
The Hage Church's orphans, Sister Lily, Father Orsi, Juniper Hage, Jericho Platnia, the Black Bulls, and the people that were still alive to this day.
Love wasn't dead for Yuno. He simply neglected it. He rejected love from everyone else that wasn't Asta.
... He never loved himself. He never forgave himself. He never moved past from himself.
No more. No more he'll stay as the loveless shell of a man only moved by his own dreams.
He'll fight, all in the name of the love that he'd initially rejected.
Yuno lets out a small chuckle after breaking though his mental threshold that was holding him back for so long.
"... Yeah." Yuno muttered out. "Guess I was being an asshole..."
"You can be so stubborn sometimes..." [Sylph] remarked. "... Just shows what I know about men in general. Then again, the other [Elemental Spirits] called out that I have horrible taste in men."
"To be fair, I was pretty horrible back then." Yuno sheepishly pointed out. "Sorry you had to see me like that, but also thanks for sticking around as long as you did."
"Well, you're still a blockhead, but that's what I love you about the most." The [Sylph] remarked. "Now that we're a pair, ask me for my name! That's an order!"
"... Alright then." Yuno remarked with a slight smile. "What's your real name, [Sylph]?"
[Sylph] giggles in response, finally ecstatic from getting Yuno's full attention.
"... I'm Titania." The [Sylph] answered. "And from now on, you'll be my new Oberon!"
"... Titania." Yuno spoke out her name. "That's a nice name."
Titania's whole face then turns cherry-red before squeeing out in joy.
"OMIGOD, HE SAID MY NAME!" Titania squealed out ecstatically. "IT'S OFFICIAL, WE'RE A THING!"
From the reforged bond between the Magic Knight and the [Wind Spirit: Sylph], a new spell was grafted into Yuno's grimoire.
"... So this is it, huh?" Yuno remarked as the Hellhounds encroached upon them.
"That's the power of our love!" Titania remarked. "Now let's show these creeps who really in charge!"
"Right!"
The winds begin to stir around them as the Hellhounds now all swarmed towards Yuno and Titania.
"Geav tak!" A [Zealot]-class Hellhound barked out. "Geav tak! Geav tak! Geav tak! Geav tak! Geav tak! Geav tak!"
"Behold..." Yuno's voice echoed in power.
The Hellhounds continue to swarm towards them.
"All the pain and hopes that we carry..." Titania chanted. "The fruition of our love..."
The caverns flash with a blinding light, as the Hellhounds exploded out of the singularity formed around Yuno and Titania.
"... OUR TRUE STRENGTH!"
From the vortex of wind emerged Yuno, now clad in a flowing green regal regalia befitting of a king, a complete crown of wind orbiting his head, four blade-like wings sprouting out of his back, and a flowing cape of verdant wind that surpasses the most finely-woven of silk for how smooth and fluid it danced around the wind. The youth's hair was now that of the flowing spring breeze, verdant and flowing like the blades of freshly-grown grass in the spring solace, and his eyes were that of an emperor's gaze, dignified, freed of pain and hatred, ready to look towards the future with unclouded eyes.
"[Wind Spirit Magic: True Spirit Dive-Reincarnation Romance, Oberon]!"
The Hellhounds scramble back up to their feet, hastily resuming their assault on Yuno.
"Drepa naj-ri!" The Hellhound bellowed out. "Drepa naj-ri!"
Yuno then readies his sword made of wind, with the blade growing even bigger and longer.
"[Wind Spirit Magic: True Spirit of Zephyr-Caledwlch]!"
With the single swing of his blade, the Hellhounds were scattered across the cavern floors.
The surviving Hellhound scramble back to their feet, resuming their attack on Yuno.
"NOT YET!" Yuno roared out. "I'M NOT DONE YET!"
The Hellhounds all pounce towards him, teeth bared and maws drooling.
"[Wind Spirit Magic: True Spirit Storm-Aether]!"
A raging cyclone of wind envelops Yuno, shredding the Hellhounds that came too close to him into piecemeal.
Even as the Hellhounds were being overwhelmed by the sheer power of Yuno's [Reincarnation Romance, Oberon], not one of the even retreated, instead opting to keep overwhelming him through sheer numbers.
Every single Hellhound, from the ones roaming the caverns, to the ones scouting the surrounding forest, all of them, upon sensing their brethren in turmoil, all concentrated towards Yuno, their greatest current threat.
"NOT YET! NOT YET!" Yuno roared out. "YOU ALL WANT A PIECE OF ME!? THEN COME GET IT, YOU MONGRELS!"
One by one, each Hellhound was cut down, the repetition continuing, as both Yuno and the Hellhounds fought to their last.
Eventually, the last Hellhound, a [Zealot]-class with a bardiche, was slain.
"... Hah... hah... We did it Titania." Yuno heaved out in exhaustion, planting [Excalibur] onto the bloodstained earth to hold himself up. "We actually killed them. We actually killed... Demons-"
"Don'av counav par iav."
Yuno was then grabbed from behind, raised up into the air, before being slammed headfirst into the stoney earth via brainbuster.
[Reincarnation Romance, Oberon] was then dispelled upon impact, separating Yuno from Titania's influence.
Standing above him was Romulus, now completely healed, as if the last twenty minutes of combat meant nothing.
"YUNO!" Titania cried out. "YUNO! OH GOD, PLEASE! DON'T DIE!"
In fading moments of consciousness, Yuno mutters out a few words.
"... Why?"
Romulus simply smiles.
"Guess you missed the memo." Romulus sneered. "We Demons cannot die. And thanks to my [Bident], I was able to collect enough blood to cast [Summon Magic: Reinstatement-Messiah] unto myself in case if I fell in battle, allowing me to return from the Ninth Layer immediately."
Upon hearing the revelation that the Demons were practically immortal, all hope in Yuno's heart was completely destroyed. As the Hellhound picks Yuno up by his head, he then tosses him up into the air before winding back both of his fists.
"YUNO!" Titania cried out as she cast her [Wind Creation Magic: Storm Mail] around Yuno's body to protect him the best of her abilities.
"Uukeleukuk." Romulus sneered as he thrusted both of his hands forth towards the falling youth. "[Demonic Art-Modified: Cerberus Fang-Orthrus]."
Both of his fists gently tap on Yuno's ribs, right before they coil and ball into white-knuckled fists that both ram into the youth's chest, embedding six holes into his ribs, fracturing his entire set of ribcages as he was flung into a stone wall, knocking all the air out of his body upon impact.
"YUNNNNOOOOOO!" Titania cried out as she rushed towards the gravely-injured youth.
Titania flies around him in panic, trying to see if he was okay, in faint hopes that he'd survived.
"It matters not what you do, insect." Romulus remarked as he retrieved his [Bident]. "The Grinberryall spawn will die regardless. All you did was simply prolong his suffering."
"... Please don't leave me, Yuno." Titania sobbed out as she laid against his broken body. "Don't leave me Yuno. I promise that we'll be together..."
"And since I'm a nice person, I'll let you watch as I take his life with my own hands." Romulus faux-reassured. "... With a single blow."
Romulus then winds back his spear, staring down onto the downed youth as Titania stood in its way in a futile attempt to shield.
"NOW I SHALL PURGE THE ACCURSED BLOODLINE FROM THIS WORLD, AND CLAIM OUR VENGEANCE!" Romulus loudly declared. "FAREWELL, GRINBERRYALL SPAWN!"
Titania shuts her eyes as the dual-pronged lance came down towards them, but then...
*CLANG*
... Upon opening her eyes, she then sees a ruffian-like man wielding a sword blocking the spear's trajectory.
"Hey small person." Yami spoke to Titania. "Let me guess, the oversized mutt behind me did this to him?"
Titania nods.
Yami cracks a smile.
"Then it's official, this is also my problem." Yami stated.
"So another interloper..." Romulus remarked with a barely-contained rage and disdain. "... Are the denizens of this kingdom of sheep so eager to die?"
"Hey, I ain't originally from here." Yami pointed out. "But he's one of my guys, so yeah, call me suicidal."
Yami's katana then begins to emit an explosion of a dark aura.
"So do me a favor, and fuck off."
Yami's sword arm then tenses up as he swung his blade to parry off the [Bident].
"[Dark Magic: Tōzoku no Ikari] (Purgatorial Wrath/盗賊の怒り)!" Yami roared out as the [Messiah]-class Hellhound was sent skidding back.
Before Romulus can reacts, another array of slashes came raining down toward the Hellhound.
"Keh keh keh!" A familiar laughter cackled out. "You got a lot of balls to start this fight without us, you damn bull!"
"Hey, first come, first serve, beansprout." Yami remarked at Jack the Ripper.
"No shit!" Jack remarked. "Look at your damn brat! He got fucking wasted! So that means that the mutt over there is worth cutting up-"
Romulus then leaps towards Jack with his claws out, only to be bound by multiple tendrils of thorn and chrome-silver liquid metal.
"Eyes on the battlefield, Jack." Nozel stated coldly. "Talk later, there's an enemy to kill."
"Of all the stupid things you've done, this is easily the most stupid." Charlotte remarked at Yami.
"Admit it, prickly princess, you'd done the same if the same thing happened to your girls." Yami pointed out. "Hell, that's why you're even here to begin with, right?"
Charlotte turns her head away from Yami.
"... Wow, you're rude." Yami remarked.
"YUNO!" Jericho cried out as he ran towards the downed Yuno accompanied by several other mages. "Someone get a stretcher, hurry!"
The mages then pick up the boy to put him on a stretcher and evacuate him from the caves.
"Well that's one thing down..." Yami remarked as he readies his focus towards Romulus. "Now nothing is getting in our way."
"Agreed." Nozel remarked as he extended his sole left arm. "[Mercury Creation Magic: Silver Wing Lancer]."
The liquid metal then transforms into a massive spear with an eagle motif, spinning before the lance rushes towards the Hellhound's head.
"... DON'T FUCK WITH ME!"
Romulus than bites down on the spear, while breathing out his [Ladon Flame] to melt the spear back into liquid form before breaking out of his bindings.
"First I am denied of a worthy prey, than I am denied of vengeance against the accursed bloodline..." Romulus growled out. "... And now, mere interlopers are getting in my way."
He then kicks the ground staked with his [Bident], flicking it up to his grasp.
"... I am now at a complete loss of patience with you lot." Romulus coldly declared. "I won't even bother remembering you once I completely destroy you all."
Yami's eyes turned into a focused glare of concentrated fury, a calm before the storm, as his Ki began to slowly expand out of his body, emitting an intense aura around him.
"And I you too, mongrel."
Deeper in the depths...
"ORRAAA!"
Dagda then drives his fist into Tiamat's cheek, forcing her to spit out molars from her gums. She then springs back up to her feet and thrusts her dagger towards Dagda's throat, which the latter dodged by backflipping away from her before springing back towards her, snatches her by her collar, and rams his head against her nose, crushing it into her face.
Dragunov fires an arrow towards the two, Dagda kicks her away and the arrow pierces her throat.
"OI! WATCH WHERE YA FUCKIN' AIM!" Dagda hollered out.
"No promises, halfling." Dragunov dispassionately remarked as he fired another arrow.
Tiamat rips the arrow out of her neck and lunges forth towards the bickering two while trailing tar-like blood in her path.
"DIE! DIE! DIIIIEEEEEEE!" Tiamat hatefully screeched out. "DIE LIKE YOU SHOULD'VE FIFTEEN YEARS AGO!"
"Sorry, don't plan to." Dagda replied. "Got a tavern to run."
"I don't take requests, especially from Demons." Dragunov retorted. "SO YOU DIE INSTEAD!"
He pulls out another arrow, this time, one glowing in a reddish-orange color.
"[Spatial & Combustion Rune Magic: Sagitta Dolum-Longinquus]!"
Dragunov fires the glowing arrow towards Tiamat as Dagda tilts his head out of the way, hitting Tiamat right between her eyes.
The Hellhound keels back from the impact, right before pushing herself back forwards.
"... Pft, you think a single arrow to my skull's enough to kill me?" Tiamat taunted.
"I only need the one."
Dragunov then snaps his fingers, and the arrow explodes.
... A puft of black hair was sent flying off from the explosion.
"... A wig?" Dragunov exclaimed. "... So that Demon was-"
"We got fuckin' duped, boyo." Dagda remarked. "Tiamat's not here."
From the smoke, a shrill laughter was heard. As the plumage disperses, a white-haired Hellhound with a black spade running down the center of her front bangs.
"... Yep, that's not her." Dagda remarked. "Tiamat had jet black hair, and I just realized that she's a Demon. It takes more than 15 years to get a growth spurt, but then I just realized that she's no ordinary Adaptor."
"That's right, midget." The fake Tiamat sneered out. "Mother is not here. In fact, she's far, far away from here. I simply played mother's guise to carry out our plan."
"WHAT PLAN!?" Dragunov roared out as he pulled back another arrow. "ANSWER ME, YOU SUKA!"
The Hellhound lets out another laughter before answering.
"Picture this..." The fake Tiamat pointed out. "Imagine a group of children being rescued from their captors, and among them, there's a snake that wears the hide of the rat."
Both Dagda's and Dragunov's eyes widen.
"... Oh shite." Dagda gasped out. "We need to bounce, boyo-"
"TOO LAAVE!"
The Hellhound then makes a gagging sound, before revealing a black apple with two cross-outs for eyes and a stitched-up crease for a smile.
"An ADAM!" Dragunov pointed out. "RUN!"
The fake Tiamat crushes the apple between her fangs, emitting out black sparks and lightning from her body, contorting and transforming into a titanic humanoid dog-like creature, sprouting two additional heads and a massive serpent as its tail. The heads were a twisted amalgamation of a human woman's and a canine's visage, all six eyes now glowing blood-red, all three sets of jaws drooling out tar from their array of sword-like fangs, and the serpent's head on the tail stretches its maw open, revealing a red-haired human woman with pale-white skin and pitch-black eyes, carrying a bow and a quill full of poisoned arrows.
"YOU NOW FACE SEMIRAMIS, [MESSIAH]-CLASS HELLHOUND, AND LOYAL DAUGHTER OF TIAMAT, THE PRINCE OF CONQUEST!" The now-revealed Semiramis spoke out with all three of her heads in perfect unison. "I SHALL STRIKE YOU DOWN, SO THAT WE HELLHOUNDS MAY PROSPER! IN THE NAME OF APOCRYPHA, THE DEMON KING, I SHALL BRING VICTORY UPON MY CLAN!"
The three-headed dog Demon then chases after the two running Inquisitor and bartender, crashing through several cavern walls and ramming through the whole cave's interior support, as the whole system begins to come down upon their heads.
On their way, the find themselves in another standoff between four Magic Knight Captains and a spear-wielding Hellhound.
"OI YOU BASTARDS, GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE WAY!" Dagda roared out.
The spear-wielding Hellhound jumps away from the confrontation, and hops onto the giant three-headed Demon's back.
"What the hell's going on-"
"JUST SHUT UP AND RUN!"
The rest of the Captains followed the Inquisitor and bartender as the group ran from the rampaging Demon.
"THE EXIT'S UP AHEAD!" Dagda cried out. "HURRY!"
In their last spurt, all of them jumped towards the exit, with the cave collapsing behind them into a mountain of rubble.
"... Okay, what the hell was all that-"
Dragunov and Dagda stood back and kept running away.
"WHAT ARE YE BASTARDS GAWKIN' FOR!?" Dagda cried out. "RUN!"
The rock pile behind the Captains rumbled, revealing the three-headed Hellhound and Romulus emerging from the rubble.
"HQ! THIS IS NOZEL SILVA OF THE SILVER EAGLES! WE'RE IN THE MIDST OF A RETREAT OF AN UNKNOWN FOE! HQ, DO YOU COPY, OVER!?" Nozel cried out into the [Magical Communication Device].
All he received was static.
"What the hell's going on?" Charlotte cried out. "Am I hearing static!?"
"Communications are down for some reason." Nozel stated. "Until we know what's going on, we're going to have-where's Jack?"
"KEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEH!"
From the treetops, Jack the Ripper was facing down the three-headed Hellhound and Romulus.
"I AIN'T GETTING BLUEBALLED JUST BECAUSE OF A CAVE-IN!" Jack stated. "FIGHT ME, YOU MANGY MUTTS!"
He jumps into the air with his [Death Scythes] manifested on his forearms.
"[Severing Magic: Death Scythes-"
An arrow fires in Jack's direction, catching him into a portal, and landing into Dagda's arms.
"WHAT THE HELL, MAN!?" Jack cried out.
"ARE YOU FUCKING STUPID!?" Dragunov cried out. "YOU'RE FACING A DEMON AFTER IF CONSUMED AN ADAM!?"
"WHAT THE FUCK IS ADAM!?" Jack asked in his screeching tone.
"Advanced Demonic Ascension Morsel. Called ADAM for short." Dragunov informed. "Demons love eating the fruit grown the branches of Qilphoth, with each of them containing a piece of the Demon King's power, allowing it to unleash their [Apocrypal From]. The only thing we can do when go into these forms is wait them out."
"How long then!?" Yami asked.
Dragunov sucks in air before answering before shooting up a bright red flare up into the with one of his arrows.
"... Ten minutes."
All the Magic Knight Captains go completely silent upon hearing those words as the roars of the Demons bellowed behind them and flare above crackled in the air.
"TEN MINUTES!?" Charlotte cried out. "AT THIS RATE, THE ENTIRETY OF NEAN WILL BE RAZED TO THE GROUND!"
"SO SHUT UP AND KEEP RUNNING!" Dagda roared out. "AWAY FROM THE VILLAGE! INTO THE FOREST!"
All of them continue to run away from the unleashed giant three-headed Demon, with Romulus still on top of Semiramis.
Now normally, Romulus himself would join in on the chase, but as soon as he noticed the rising plume of smoke coming from the village adjacent to the forest that they're in, he smiles.
"... So the mission has been completed." Romulus spoke to himself as he slowly sat down cross-legged on Semiramis's back, satisfied that their mother had completed her own part of the mission. "... Alright, I'll simply let the things play out as is then."
Nean, Common Realm, Clover Kingdom
It all happened so fast.
Throughout the whole town was now set ablaze, chaos running amok as Hellhounds were chasing down civilians through the streets, the bipedal [Zealot]-class Hellhounds breaking into homes and slaughtering the families that live there like sheep, the numerous amount of people slaughtered were wrung out dry, the spilled exsanguination bringing forth even more Hellhounds back from the Ninth Layer, [Treachery].
The town's [Magical Communications Beacon] was toppled to the ground, with their collective efforts being the root cause of its destruction.
From the pool of blood emerged a clawed arm, pulling itself out of the red and reforming itself into a whole, a white-furred bipedal Hellhound with a black spade running down to his snout.
Before him was a short, ash-haired girl with small fox ears and tail being in similar color, jagged dagger in one hand, a patchwork grimoire bearing two opposing spades in another, emitting a pale blackish-white aura.
"Welcome back, Sargon." The little girl addressed the resurrected Hellhound.
"Yes..." Sargon growled out. "... Mother."
The other Hellhounds that climbed out of the blood pools began clamoring and swarming towards their minisucle mother.
Their true mother. The true Tiamat.
Name: [Tiamat]
Rank: [Prince of Conquest]
Magic: [Summon Magic]
Sin: [Obsessiveness]
"We now have bigger things to worry about." Tiamat dispassionately remarked. "To think that these vermin were smart enough to put the wounded separate from the rescued. Not that it matters, as long as I get my revenge."
Tiamat and her pack begin to move towards the sick area, where the wounded or injured hostages and Magic Knights were being treated at. Along the way, several mages and other Magic Knights made their defensive line in order to stop Tiamat's horde.
"Mother..." Sargon snarled out. "Your orders?"
"Kill them all." Tiamat ordered. "But the Grinberryall spawn is mine."
The Hellhounds then begin to charge towards the mages and the Magic Knights.
"Fire! Fire! Fire!"
The mages and the Magic Knights all fired towards the coming swarm of Hellhound coming their way. Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind were slung towards the horde, but there were too many of them. There were too many to kill. The Magic Knights were simply sand being engulfed by the coming wave that were about to crash against them.
And crashed the Hellhounds did. Fang and claw tearing through bone and flesh like hot knife through butter, mages being ripped apart and devoured piecemeal, screams and cries of agony and fear echoed and blared throughout the rising morning dawn.
Tiamat herself simply lopped off a limb or two that simply got in her way, not even bothering to even consider listening to their yelps of pain, for they were devoured like the rest.
She slowly makes her way to one of the tents containing the injured children and one Magic Knight.
... The accursed Grinberryall spawn. Lying on one of the cots near the end of the tent.
To hype herself up to exact her revenge, she stabbed one of the feverish children in the chest four times, slashed a girl's throat open, and drover her fist through a boy's head, piercing through the pillow that he was laid on.
Now she's standing before the accursed spawn of the family that she owed her suffering to.
The ones that accepted the accursed Dark Triad in the first place. The ones who just simply hung her out to dry as mere filler for the populace. The boy who was the cause of all of her suffering for the past 15 years.
She then recalls ripping the father's throat out of his neck with her teeth, then the time when she broke every single bones of the mother as she defiled her with her dagger.
"... How should the boy die?" Tiamat pondered. "Should I kill him and be done with it, just like I promised myself, or should I eat him from the leg up, so that he can feel the agony and fear as his life slowly fades away?"
She then saw a sprite carrying one of the chrome scalpel blades from the tray near the boy's bed.
"Y-You're not hurting Yuno-"
Tiamat simply flicks the annoyance away from her like the bug she saw her as.
From the squeak that the little insect had made, Tiamat sees the boy slowly opening his eyes.
"I know..." Tiamat grinned as she raised her dagger. "... I'll be the last thing you'll ever see before you DIE!"
Before she can bring the dagger down, she then feels the dagger's grip begin to vibrate.
"... No." Tiamat whispered out in horror. "NO! NO, IT CAN'T BE! ALL THE WAY HERE!?"
Without hesitation, she bolts out of the tent, howls for retreat, and evacuate the village before he arrives.
... Before the Demon Slayer, the Patrem Inquisitor, arrives.
Nean Outskirts, Common Realm, Clover Kingdom
"DON'T STOP RUNNING!" Dragunov cried out. "IF YOU STOP, THEN YOU'RE DEAD!"
"Well, you heard the man." Yami remarked. "Time to surpass my limits!"
Yami then begins picking up speed, running just ahead of Nozel and Charlotte.
"I swear, foreigner." Nozel sighed out. "Of all things you make me do..."
"LET ME FIGHT! LET ME FIGHT!" Jack screeched and flailed out in Dagda's arms. "I AIN'T MISSING A CHANCE TO CUT UP A DEMON!"
"Trust me boyo, not in a million years." Dagda remarked. "They'll eat ya up and shite you out in a minute."
"Ugh... men." Charlotte sighed in disappointment.
Behind them, the fake Tiamat, Semiramis, were still rampaging though the trees, all three of its maws and fangs chomping and biting through the foliage with brutal zeal, and Romulus, sitting on her back, watching as the carnage unfolding.
"So, the maggots continue to crawl." Romulus bemusingly remarked. "No matter, we Hellhounds will never let our prey get away-"
ROMULUS! SEMIRAMIS! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU RIGHT NOW!?
Their mother's voice screeched inside their heads.
"We are at the forest at the outskirts of the town." Romulus stated.
GET OUT OF THERE! THE DEMON SLAYER HIMSELF IS COMING-
A massive beam of blue light shoots past both of the Hellhounds, causing the two of them to stop in their tracks.
"... Oh, son of a taint."
The others stop upon seeing the flash of blue light arc by above their heads.
"What the hell was that!?" Yami asked. "Just what kind magic was that?"
Before anyone can speak, numerous people clad in full suits of silver plate armor with white capes draped over their shoulder and backs, each carrying a handheld ballista-like weapon on one hand and a massive tower shield with a four-pointed cross emblem on its center of the bulwark in their other hand, around their waists hung cylinders of blue crystals along with a mace emblazoned with a colored gem.
"Umm... who are these guys?" Yami asked Dragunov while pointing at the armored men. "Are they with you?"
"... Just what in the name of Sephira are the 7th Thaumaturge Division doing here?" Dragunov asked. "I mean, glad you're all here and all, but where's my detachment!? The flare was for them!"
"We've received reports that the scouting mission has escalated to an extermination of a Hellhound infestation." One of the Thaumaturges answered through his helmet. "Inquisitor Dragunov Smirnov, the Patrem Inquisitor has come in person and would like to see you himself. Please head to the encampment at the rear, ASAP."
The Thaumaturges then aim their ballistas towards the Hellhound's direction.
"READY!?"
The tips of their weapons then begin to glow with the surrounding mana concentrated into projectiles.
"AIM!"
All of the Thaumaturges slam their shields to the ground, with sounds of stakes nailing into the earth coming from the bottom of their shields.
"OI YOU SHITES!" Dagda cried out as he dragged Yami and Jack in his hands with [Fragarach] clasped between his teeth. "GET BEHIND SOMETHING IF YOU DON'T WANNA DIE!"
"Wait, what-"
"FIRE!"
The Thaumaturges all fire their magic projectiles towards the Hellhound's direction, with both Nozel and Charlotte being sent flying off of their feet from the sheer force and volume of fire coming from the Thaumaturge's weapons.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?" Yami cried out as he covered his ears to shield his eardrums from the sound of the consecutive fire from the Thaumaturges.
"[Firebolt M3]s!" Dragunov answered. "Magic weapons that use the surrounding mana to create projectiles and fires with enough force to level entire forests!"
"WHAT THE HELL!?" Charlotte cried out as she scrambled toward where Yami, Jack, Dagda, and Dragunov were at. "JUST WHY THIS MUCH FIREPOWER!?"
"WHEN IT COMES TO HUNTING DEMONS, YOU SPARE NO FIREPOWER AVAILABLE!" Dragunov cried out. "THIS IS NO LONGER A SCOUTING MISSION! THIS IS AN EXECUTION!"
"Yeah, you Avalonians love overkill." Dagda sighed out. "... I swear, you bastards nearly destroyed my tavern in a crossfire ten months back."
Nozel simply grumbles as he tries to protect his eardrums from the deafening fire of the [Firebolt M3]s.
"RELOADING!" One of the Thaumaturges cried out. "VANGUARDS! ADVANCE!"
A third of the Thaumaturges leave their shields and [Firebolt M3]s behind and pull out their maces, the handles telescoping outwards, the heads expanding into more threatening silhouettes.
"FOR THE PATREM AND KING! UURRRAAAA!"
The armored Thaumaturges then charge towards the Hellhound, with Romulus meeting to their challenge.
"SO WHO WANTS TO DIE FIRST!?" Romulus roared out as he parries one of the maces with grace before thrusting his lance into the helmet's gaps on the visor, before all of the Thaumaturge's blood was siphoned out of his body.
"DO NOT FALTER!" Another Thaumaturge roared out as he charged towards Romulus. "KILL THE DEMON! AVENGE YOUR BATTLE BRETHREN!"
The mace lights on fire as it struck against Romulus's head, but not long after, he himself punched through the plate armor, making a huge dent that punctured into the Thaumaturge's gut.
"... I WILL... I WILL DIE WITH MY HANDS AROUND YOUR THROAT-"
The Thaumaturge's throat was then pierced with Romulus's [Bident] before he himself was sucked dry.
"RELOADING COMPLETE!"
"FIRING!"
The Thaumaturges resuming putting fire on the massive Hellhound in a deafening chorus of sustained fire that tore through trees before making it to the chief candid Demon.
"So what now?" Charlotte asked as the Thaumaturges continued to hold off the Hellhound.
"Well, I for one recommend you all get the hell out of here." Dragunov stated. "This is our business, and you're just caught in it."
"Precisely, Smirnov."
Before the group, a large man with a wild and unkempt crimson hair flowing down to his back, a chiseled and stubbled face with a massive gash running across his faded left eye, wearing black plate armor with a cardinal-red cape with a pelt of an entire wolf draped around his neck and shoulders, and a white cross emblazoned on it around his shoulders, and in his hands was an extremely long and thin sword, sheathed in an equally long casting, with the words Subvertite Omnia Malum (Destroy All Evil) carved onto it.
"... Patrem Inquisitor, Tokarev Lebedev!" Dragunov remarked in surprise before bowing to him. "To what in Sephira's glory brings you here?"
"Same reason as I've sent you and Kalashnikov here in the first place; root out the Hellhounds and destroy their nest." Tokarev answered bluntly. "Speaking of which, where's Kalashnikov?"
"Oh, you mean the girl with him?" Yami spoke out. "I think one of my guys took her away to medevac after she got the shit kicked out of her by that guy with the tin men."
"DO NOT FALTER! DO NOT FALTER! DO NOT FALTER!"
"WHO WISHES TO DIE NEXT!?"
"... Reckless as always." Tokarev sighed out in disappointment. "Which, by the way, the same can be said to you, Dragunov."
"... I have no excuses for my incompetence." Dragunov apologized.
"We'll talk later." Tokarev stated. "For now, zero in on Kalashnikov's location."
"I'll help." Charlotte remarked. "Head back to Nean, near the town hall."
"Right, just a sec." Dragunov stated as he aimed his bow towards Nean. "[Spatial Magic: Sagitta Nuntius]."
The two then hitch a ride on Dragunov's arrow, teleporting all the way back to Nean.
The Patrem Inquisitor then faces Dagda.
"Sup, ya towering bastard?" Dagda greeted Tokarev. "How's it up North?"
"Freezing as usual." Tokarev answered. "What brings you here of all places, Dagda?"
"Wanted to expand my business here, but on the first day, me tavern almost caught on fire." Dagda answered. "Oh, and the beer they serve here is literally comparable to actual piss."
"Not of my concern, then." Tokarev bluntly remarked as he headed towards Romulus's direction.
The other Thaumaturges notice and begin to make way for their leader.
"Patrem Inquisitor!" One of the Thaumaturges greeted as she bowed.
"Stand back." Tokarev ordered as he drew his sword. "Prepare to lay suppressing fire onto the [Messiah]-class with the lance on my command. Until then, keep fire on that Demon in its [Apocryphal Form] until my signal."
"Yes sir!"
The Thaumaturges then begin intensifying their rate of fire onto the massive three-headed Hellhound as he finishes drawing his blade.
"Resuming prior execution." Tokarev stated as his 15-feet-long blade began to glow in an azure-blue flames. "Targeting [Messiah]-class Hellhound in [Apocryphal Form]. Engaging with extreme prejudice."
The man charges in a blinding speed towards the Hellhound.
Tokarev's blade clashes against Semiramis's claws, pressing down against him before he himself shoved the Demon back, which in turn was met with more successive fire from the Thaumaturge's [Firebolt M3]s.
The faux-humanoid on the Demon's tail then lashed out at Tokarev, clashing its bow against his sword.
Tokarev simply forces his blade through the bow's wooden frame before beheading the faux-humanoid then cutting its body frame in half, following it up with his blade severing off the beast's tail before mounting on top of the flailing Hellhound.
Semiramis thrashes around the forest, trying to knock the Patrem Inquisitor off of her back, but Tokarev simply adjusts his footing on her back while moving with grace and precision.
Eventually, Semiramis springs up her back, and sends Tokarev flying into the air, ready to breath out its [Demonic Art: Ladon Flame-Thricefold] onto him.
But the Patrem Inquisitor refused to falter in the face of certain death, for he knew which outcome is certain.
"My sword [Dainsleif, the Demonbane Blade] won't melt against your flames!" Tokarev stated as he plummeted towards Semiramis.
The black flames then exhaust towards Tokarev.
"Thy faith is thy sword, thy conviction is thy shield." Tokarev chanted. "Oh holy mother of mana Sephira, grant me the strength and will to destroy the evil that I face today! In the name of Sephira and her divine radiance, I shall prevail!"
Tokarev's [Dainsleif] then glows even brighter.
"[Aura Destruction Magic: Soulpiercer]!"
The 15-feet blade elongates to that of a 60-feet-long blade of holy light, piercing through Semiramis's whole body.
"NOW!" Tokarev roared out his following order. "FIRE!"
The Thaumaturges then switch all of their fire upon Romulus as Semiramis's whole body then begins to burn up into blue flames.
With a bellowing roar, Tokarev then pushes himself further into the Demon's burning body, gradually and slowly carving a hole through her mutated form, and comes out of the other side.
"Farewell, loveless one." Tokarev stated as he sheathed [Dainsleif]. "May Sephira's radiance grace you."
The Hellhound then explodes into blue flames before completely disintegrating into ash.
"REARGUARD, LAY SUPPRESSIVE FIRE!" Tokarev barked out his orders. "VANGUARD, FALL BACK! AVOID FRIENDLY FIRE!"
The vanguard Thaumaturges fall back as Romulus was pressed down by cover fire from the rearguard.
Romulus continues to parry away some of the [Mana Bolts], although some grazed past his body, but as he was continuing to deflect the projectiles, he spots Tokarev charging towards him, [Dainsleif] in hand, his glare emitting murderous intent.
"Die Demon."
Tokarev clashes his sword against the Hellhound's [Bident], pushing him across the earth as bolts of concentrated mana flew across them.
"TOKAREV!" Romulus roared out. "JUST WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE!?"
"Killing you."
Tokarev and Romulus continue to clash with their weapons.
"I HAVE NO TIME TO WASTE UPON THE LIKES OF YOU!" Romulus roared out furiously.
"Then do all of us a favor, and die."
Tokarev drives a hard kick into Romulus's knee, causing the Hellhound to buckle down, and the Patrem Inquisitor swings down his [Dainsleif] onto Romulus's [Bident].
With a roar, Romulus uses his other leg and sweeps it across Tokarev's own, also causing him to buckle down, right before the two knock each other away from clashing with their weapons.
The other Thaumaturges continue to lay suppressive fire unto the Hellhound, giving time for Tokarev to get back up and charge back towards Romulus.
"[Aura Destruction Magic: Soulbreaker]!"
[Dainsleif] explodes into an arc blue flame, striking the earth, cutting off Romulus's left arm off in the swing's path.
"SHIT!" Romulus cursed as he jumped back away from Tokarev. "Your [Aura Magic] is something to be feared, slowing down our natural healing factor to a crawl..."
"More than enough time to kill you in a single stroke."
Tokarev swings down his blade once again, taking out an entire section of the forest as collateral from the impact.
Romulus, now wounded, refocuses on retreating, but that itself was proving rather difficult with the rearguard Thaumaturges continuing to lay cover fire for their vanguard battle brethren after him.
"IT'S OUR CHANCE!" One of the vanguards bellowed out. "KILL HIM BEFORE HE GETS AWAY!"
Romulus swings his [Bident] out, sweeping away several vanguard Thaumaturges away, but left his chest open to be riddled with several [Mana Bolts] to stake into his away.
"FUCK!" Romulus howled out as he pulled out one of the [Mana Bolts]. "FUUUUCCCCKKK!"
"A fitting final words for a Demon."
Above Romulus, Tokarev was in the air, [Dainsleif] now blazing with a massive pillar of azure blue flames, ready to swing his blade down towards Romulus's neck.
"[Aura Destruction Magic: Soulcrusher]."
The swing arcs into a bright blue flame, swung down like a hammer unto an anvil.
But the swing was stopped before it can cleave through Romulus's neck, by a glowing red dagger with a jagged blade.
"Tiamat..." Tokarev cursed. "About time you showed your face."
"And unlike you, I have no time to waste on the likes of you."
The minuscule Hellhound than parries [Dainsleif] away from her, and hoists Romulus over her tiny shoulder.
"The wielder of [Athame, the Sin Shiv]..." Tokarev scowled. "... My [Dainsleif] will pry such weapon from off of your filthy hands."
Tiamat simply smiles.
"Then wait a little longer."
Tiamat then disembowels herself, unleashing a torrent of tar-colored blood that spilled onto the forest's earth.
"GET AWAY, NOW!" Tokarev barked out as he retreated.
"[Summon Magic: Accidental Invocation-Eighth Layer]."
For the next few seconds, the whole forest fell back to winter, before going completely white, then after the blizzard subsides, Tiamat and Romulus were nowhere to be found.
"... Gòwno. They got away again." Tokarev cursed. "Also, how long do you plan to hide from me, stranger?"
"Oh my, was it too obvious?"
From the trees emerged Julius Novachrono.
"Do forgive me, but I was so engrossed with your magics and techniques that I couldn't help but watch." Julius remarked. "That and well, I get the feeling that you would've told me to not get in the way should I've intervened. After all, the Demons are an unknown to us, so best let the professionals handle it, collateral damage aside."
"You're right on that regard." Tokarev remarked bluntly as he sheathed his [Dainsleif]. "What do you want?"
The Wizard King caresses his chin before answering.
"... Can we talk for a moment?" Julius requested. "You Inquisitors and that Dagda fellow-"
"I'm only sending in Dragunov and Kalashnikov with the bartender." Tokarev replied. "The rest of us are confidential to your curiosity, Wizard King. But if you wish for an address..."
He then hands him a blank sheet of paper before walking away towards the rising sun.
"... Send it through post." Tokarev remarked. "Avalon's hard to miss."
To Be Continued...
Author's Notes: And so, the Hellhound make a hasty retreat after killing off a lot of people.
Needless to say, this chapter was way longer than I thought I anticipated. But after writing Chronicles of the Wayward Tome Hero and getting several pointers from Masked Spider on writing advice, I made this Saga extra-long of content just to keep you all entertained.
Also, Tiamat's little play-along hostage plan was a last-minute inclusion since A, it wouldn't make sense for the leader to fight head on, strategically speaking, doubly so when she has the numerical advantage, so might as well take advantage of the chaos caused, and B, just to drive home that no matter what the Clover Kingdom does to alleviate casualties, the Demons will find a way to make their efforts in vain, just as the Hellhounds always say, they never let their prey get away.
... Except for Tokarev, because the guy's the boss of the Inquisitors for a reason. He's earned that scar over her left eye. Demons fear him, for he's the only one that not only got away, but also surviving and capable of killing them.
Also, another shoutout to shootingstaria, I've been collecting your art for my fic on your Tumblr page, and suffice to say, you're awesome as always, and I look forward to more of your works posted at your own leisure!
Also, hypothetical voices (for funsies)!
Sargon: Yoshihisa Kawahara (JPN), Nick Landis/Lanipator (ENG)
"True" Tiamat: Tomoyo Kurosawa (JPN), Maggie Flecknoe (ENG)
Tokarev Lebedev: Kenta Miyake (JPN), Brad Hawkins (ENG)
So what do you guys think of this Saga? Please leave a comment or a review, for I'd like to know what my audience are thinking!