Centorea, the proud centaur and self-proclaimed knight/protector of one Kimihito Kurusu, was at a loss for words.
Of course, the term "loss for words" was a massive understatement for her true emotion. Is it a mere surprise? A simple feeling of absolute shock? No, far beyond that, actually.
No words could describe her severely unbalanced mix of feelings at this very moment. Not that anyone could blame her for feeling so. Anyone would feel the same in her position.
A normal person tends to do that after witnessing what should amount to be the most vile, raw, violent, inhumane, grotesque, and outright disgusting thing one could ever lay eyes on.
To say that she was feeling sick to the stomach, would be putting it very lightly.
She expected terrible things upon finally meeting the infamous Doomslayer, catching him doing... whatever unspeakable horrors he may possibly be doing. But this, was far beyond any of her wild imaginations.
Yet, at the same time, she felt something that she had never thought possible, especially towards the very being whom she once treated with caution and distrust.
But, where to begin?
-10 minutes before-
The moment Centorea decided to follow the MON squad into the secluded zone, bypassing the oblivious security officer and essentially trespassing illegally into a quarantined area, she was struck with the nasty feeling of dread that had stuck with her since.
Call it a mere hunch, or simple instinct, but she felt like there was just something dangerous waiting within the formerly intact suburban areas and industrial districts of the Ground Zero of the Asaka Incident.
Maybe it was just the feeling of discomfort and despair that loomed over the area. This was once a place filled with life after all. Hundreds of people, both human and liminal, used to live here. Now, it's a ghost town.
That train of thought only served to throw her off even more.
Minutes went by, as they marched past the abandoned suburban districts, until a bitter sight of a cloudy sky began greeting them. It was a strange sight. Just a while ago the night sky seemed perfectly clear. Now, there were no more stars to gaze upon.
The sudden change of weather did nothing to wash away the uneasiness clouding the squad's minds, in fact it made it worse for Centorea.
But her uneasiness eventually turned to outright fear, the moment she first laid eyes on..
"Bl...blood..."
Blood splatters, painting the road and pavement ahead of them. A police car not far away, its front doors open, and the emergency lights strobing continuously.
But there were no police officers present. Or worse, no corpses.
"Oh...my god..." Kimihito had finally broken out of his silence after so long.
"Oh no..." Tionishia softly uttered, holding her mouth with her palms, tears becoming visible. Doppel remained silent, but she had clearly lost her composure. Manako took a deep, terrified breath. She couldn't believe it with her own eye.
It's happening again. That day. It's going to be like that day again.
"Tch...shit, it's them again..." Zombina only gritted her teeth in anger.
She knew what happened. She fought those things before. She'd come to know what to expect. But she never expected for them to come back this early. And this time, she, and the rest of them, were too late to the party. Just like before.
Then something clicked in her head.
If they are here, then that means, so is he.
"COME ON!! We gotta keep moving!" Zombina shouted to the rest of her teammates.
The wide-eyed expressions of her team indicated that they were not expecting her to say that.
"Huh!? Are you serious!? We could barely hold our own last time we fought them, now you're telling us to run towards certain death again!?" Doppel responded harshly.
Zombina answered. "LISTEN!! He's close! I know it! Remember last time? If those those things are here, that means he's here too! We need to find him now!!"
"But why!? Why are we risking our lives to find this one dude!?"
"Because HE'S the only one who can help us, and I don't wanna be a fucking coward!!!"
Zombina's sudden outburst shocked the rest of her team. She took deep breaths, before softening her voice again.
"That day...when we first met him, I stepped inside the warehouse, the center of it all. You knew, Doppel...you went inside too...and, you saw what I saw, didn't you?"
Doppel gulped. She knew what Zombina meant. It was perhaps the most haunting sight she had ever seen in her life. The strung corpses of liminals, their skin painted red with their own blood, their pale faces filled with agony...it was too much for her. She saw how furious Zombina was then. She couldn't imagine what she must've felt deep inside.
"I don't...I don't want to remember that anymore.." She muttered.
"Well guess what? I remembered that scene every single day, thinking about those poor goddamn girls who never knew how their lives would end, and then I imagined all of you, in their places. And I can't shake it off my fucking head! That day, I swore to myself, I'll find whoever the fuck was responsible for that mess, and beat the shit out of them til they're dead, human or not!
And what if those fuckers come back, from whatever depths of hell they're from? I'm not gonna run away. I'm not letting that scene happen again. Not if I can help it. And our green friend? He shares the same sentiment I do. I bet he knows where they come from. And the best part? He knows how to kill them. And he's pretty damn good at it too.
So I'm going to find that goddamn mute space marine, and he's gonna help us send those motherfuckers back to hell, and make sure they never come here again. And you can't change my mind."
...
A long pause of silence followed after Zombina's outburst. It wasn't like anyone had anything to say in response.
She was always known to have quite a short fuse, but her ill temper was never to this extent.
"... I'm sorry."
Zombina was surprised to hear that sentence coming out of Doppel's mouth.
"Huh?"
"I.. didn't know you felt that way, all this time. And maybe, I should've thought about that day more like you, rather than try to forget about it. I guess, I just wasn't brave enough to face it. Until now. So, I'm sorry.
And yes, I can't change your mind. But that's okay, coz I'm going with you. We're teammates after all, right? Can't leave each other behind."
Doppel couldn't imagine the words coming out of her mouth. She wasn't always the type of person to acknowledge others' feelings, much less let her feelings out. But just for once, just this time, maybe she could break out of that mental container.
"Actually, Doppel... that's where you're wrong. We are going with Bina-chan."
Tio's sudden interjection came as a shock to Doppel. But at the same time, her words brought a much needed sense of relief.
"We appreciate your concerns, Bina-chan, but we can take care of ourselves, and we should be concerned about you too. So we are all going together. You can't be the only one to watch all of our backs. After all, we're all a team, right Manako-chan?"
"Uhh, yeah Tio-chan...I agree...we are..a team..." Manako timidly replied, her face red as a tomato whole clutching her sniper rifle tightly, but still glad that she could be apart of this.
Tio continued. "See? Manako-chan agrees too! We should all watch each others backs, because we are the MON squad, and nothing is ever going to break us apart!"
Somehow, Tio's overly optimistic speech resonated with the rest of the squad, even if by a little. And yet, it took them a moment to realize how right she was. The long pause of silence did not last long, however.
"...tsk- Hahahahahahah!! Aaaww... I can't believe I just heard all that dramatic corny ass speech..." Zombina finally returned to her usual self, slightly embarrassed at her outburst earlier. Though she tried her best to hide it.
"You say that, but you forget how melodramatic you were yourself..." Doppel retorted much to Zombina's dismay, though she couldn't help but agree anyway.
"Heh...yeah.. I guess I was acting like a total drama queen earlier too, my bad.."
"-Ahem."
After being pretty much ghosted this entire time, Centorea felt it was finally time to make her own thoughts known.
"Zombina-sama, there is something I must say-"
ROAAARRR
All sense of relief was completely washed away in an instant.
That roar, came from the direction they were just heading to. And it definitely did not sound human at all. Or even liminal for the matter. No, it sounded demonic.
"W-what was what just now!?" Kimihito blurted out in horror, finally regaining his voice.
"That... doesn't sound like anything I've ever heard before...you don't think it's...one of them, do you?" Doppel muttered anxiously.
"Wha-what are we going to do?" Tio asked, still in shock.
Looks of terror was plastered on everyone's faces...except for Zombina, who was.. grinning? She wasn't terrified. If anything, she was excited.
If the source of that roar was what she thinks it is, that means he should be there too. Which meant they were heading to the right place.
"Hey horse girl!! We'll talk later! Right now we gotta catch up to our green friend first!" Zombina shouted, feeling ecstatic.
Centorea was slightly offended by the former calling her a "horse girl" instead of just her name, even if it was technically correct. But she was willing to let it slide. Perhaps whatever she was going to say to the zombie girl could wait.
Right now, they've got a space marine to find.
"Ho. Ly. Shit."
Were all Zombina could spout out.
Ruins of an destroyed building, half of its remaining structures now covered in... flesh? And inside those ruins...
Corpses. So many corpses. But not belonging to humans or liminals. And they didn't stay for long before disintegrating.
And in the middle of them, stood one man.
Armed with a weird looking shotgun.
And it was just the kind of sight she was expecting.
"Im.. possible... h-he.. killed them, by himself..?"
Centorea stood agape, along with Kimihito and the rest of MON squad.
Kimihito was still in denial. That guy... he couldn't be the one who killed all of those things, right? Sure, his weird green armor may be drenched in blood that was probably not his, and he may be holding what looked like a fully loaded shotgun in his grips, but.. no, it just couldn't be.
Then again, he was called the Doomslayer of all things. That alone was a big warning flag.
Why would Smith put such a dangerous person, under his care? In his household? What was she thinking!?
Or, maybe she wasn't thinking. Maybe she was either drunk or sleepy when she assigned him as the host of this... monster. Or, she actually overestimated his capabilities as a host.
It's one thing to take care of half a dozen liminals with raging hormones. It's an entirely different thing to watch over a fully armed space marine from hell.
So lost in thought he was, that he didn't notice one of the MON squad was considering making a move that might just spell disaster for the rest of them.
"Zombina? What the hell are you doing?" Doppel whispered loudly towards the aforementioned zombie, while tightly grasping her wrist.
Said zombie was trying to step towards the hot zone to make herself noticeable by the Slayer, only to be stopped by Doppel's grasp.
Zombina tried to justify her behaviour. "What? He's right there, I'm just going to say hi to him and... maybe ask if I could hold his gun, it'll be cool, trust me."
Doppel simply stared at her in disbelief. "Didn't you see all those disappearing corpses around him? What if the coast isn't clear yet? Did you forget we almost got ourselves killed last time we weren't prepared?"
Tio also decided to chime in. "I'm gonna have to go with Doppel-chan this time. Maybe we should wait for a while."
Zombina looked dumbfounded by their suggestion. "What's up with you guys? Those bastards are all already-"
"-Uhm, Bina-chan.." Tio cut her off immediately, sweat heavily forming on her head.
"What?"
"There's a- there's uhmm.. " Doppel stuttered, while staring wide-eyed at something behind Zombina.
"What's wrong with you? It's like you're seeing something-"
ROOOAAARR
And her sentence was never finished.
It was huge. Easily towering over almost everything in its vacinity. It looked like twice the height of Tionishia.
Its left arm and right leg seemed cybernetic in nature, strange wires covered its abdomen, and it looked very, very pissed.
Not at them, fortunately. But at the Doomslayer.
And the latter also seemed to be responding the same way.
This... might be a battle that none of the girls should get involved in.
"Uhhh yea you know what? Y-you're right Doppel let's just sit this one out... " Zombina muttered out. She may be undead and thus a bit more reckless, and also have an unruly hate towards the demons, but she was in no way that suicidal.
Centorea, Kimihito, and the entire MON squad stood back and simply watched, with jaws open, as they witnessed a battle between two of the most powerful beings they have ever laid eyes upon.
The tension continued to grow exponentially. The huge tyrannical demon growled louder. The Slayer simply remained silent. His stare was enough to send the message.
And after what felt like an eternity, both beings made their first move.
It was like witnessing a battle among gods.
The cybernetic beast fired dozens of missiles from its arm cannon, and the Slayer responded with his own rockets.
The beast's rampage completely levelled the entire foundation of the ruined building, and yet... somehow the green space marine didn't falter one bit.
In fact, he seemed to be winning.
The Slayer must've had magical powers or his suit had some magical abilities in it, because he's somehow able to summon multiple different weapons out of nowhere, and it was clear that the tyrant demon was losing badly.
And then, two new arrivals joined the fight.
They were huge. Not as much as the tyrant demon, but very close. Their skin was fractured and was literally burning. And they conjured blades made out of pure flames from their forearms.
And both seemed to be eyeing the Slayer the same way the larger demon did.
At first, it seemed like the demonic beings had the upper hand now. After all, it was three against one.
And yet... he still seemed to be coming out on top.
They were fast. He was faster. Relentless.
Within seconds, he overpowered them with massive firepower that no man should have.
They tried to hit him, he just hit harder. Every shot he fired never missed its mark.
He literally tore them apart one by one, even with his own hands.
It wasn't a battle, it was almost like a one-sided slaughter.
In mere moments, the two burning demons were nothing more than a couple of corpses mutilated beyond recognition.
But in the midst of the Slayer's rampage, the last remaining demon took the opportunity to deliver a devastating blow while he wasn't looking.
SLASH
And the Slayer was swatted away like a fly, no doubt injured by the demon's massive flaming arm blade.
"NO!" Zombina shouted instinctively, before her mouth was closed shut by her teammates.
"What the hell are you doing!? That thing's gonna hear you!" Doppel whispered loudly into her undead teammate's ear, hoping to calm her down.
As she struggled, a hasty idea formed in Zombina's head.
Releasing herself out of her team's grasps, she looked towards Manako, who... had already fainted after not being able to withstand the brutality displayed in front of her.
Without hesitation, she went and grabbed Manako's sniper rifle and immediately aimed for the massive demon's head. Much to the dismay and panic of her team.
"Zombina wai-!!!"
BANG
The 50 cal. round did manage to stop the demon in its tracks.
Unfortunately it did little to even crack its skull.
Zombina initially had a smile on her face, but as she realized what she had just done, the smile quickly faded.
'Oh shit what the hell did I just do.'
She was obviously not thinking straight when she made that shot.
And now said demon was staring back at her, eyes filled with anger and a slight curiosity.
She was scared. Scared for her life, ironically. But none of that was obviously going to help now.
And it looked like that huge half robot motherfucker wasn't even looking pissed. No, it was looking down on her. Like she wasn't even worth its attention.
So instead, her fear was immediately replaced with rage. And she did perhaps the most moronic thing she had ever done.
She pulled out a middle finger to the demon, and yelled as loud as she could. "Fuck you!!!"
Yep, she definitely was not thinking straight at all.
Her entire team simply stood back, too shocked to even make a noise.
Although, it seemed like the giant demon didn't hear her insult, since it just stood there, menacingly.
Or maybe it did, because now its expression turned from one of confusion, into one of fury.
Fwoosh
A bright blue projectile broke off one of the demon's massive horns, causing it to roar in agony.
Out from the fog, the silhouette of a certain green space marine began to form. Eventually, the Slayer himself could be seen clearly with a ridiculously large cannon in his hands. A large burned mark can be seen across his armor, but it didn't seem to bother him at all.
As the demon was still struggling to recollect itself, the Slayer dashed toward its broken horn, then proceeded to jump onto its head and stab through its skull and into its brain.
Rooaarrgh
It cried one last time, shaking the earth and the sky, before finally succumbing to its death.
As its corpse slowly disintegrated into nothingness, the Slayer alone stood, victorious.
"Ho. Ly. Shit. That was fucking AWESOME!!!"
And now, he was staring right back at them.
Kimihito Kurusu found himself in his bedroom. With no idea how he got there.
"Huh? Where...what..."
"Master? Are you awake?"
Centorea's voice was the first thing that greeted him. He noticed the centaur right beside him, looking all worried.
Before he could utter a word, the door suddenly opened.
"Darling? You're awake? What happened last night?" Miia bursted out the door, her serpent body almost covering the entire room.
"Miia, calm down! Master Kurusu is fine! He just needs some rest." Centorea told Miia in an effort to prevent her from accidentally hurting Kimihito even more.
"Why are people shouting? What is all the shouting about~?" Papi asked obliviously from outside the room. Suu was also peeking behind her, curious on what the commotion was about.
"Darling? Are you fine? Did Centorea do something to you? Why did you come home so late last night? And why were you unconscious?" Miia rapid-fired her questions towards Kimihito.
He stared at her, still shocked, but he understood her feelings. She was teary-eyed and her face was flushed.
He must've been knocked out cold since last night, and Centorea had probably brought him here on her own in the middle of the night. He couldn't believe he had left the girls alone for that long without even telling them what happened to him.
"I'm... I'm fine, Miia. It's okay. I just need some rest, that's all." Kimihito spoke to the lamia softly while petting her head, immediately putting her at ease.
"*sniff*... Darling.. *sniff*... what happened? Centorea-san.. carried you home, and... she didn't explain everything to us. Is there something you two are hiding?" Miia asked, still trying to hold back her tears.
Kimihito was surprised by what she said, but kept it hidden. Why did Centorea kept quiet?
Oh... right. The memories, they were all coming back to him now.
All the blood and gore, plus the fact that one of his 'guests' is a literal killing machine... he couldn't take it. So he pretty much fainted the moment the armored Bane of Hell stopped his rampage on the unfortunate hellspawn.
Then, how did he get back here, to his own house? Did Centorea carry him all the way back?
And more importantly, where was he now?
"Miia, is.. umm... is Doomguy-san here?" He still couldn't get used to using that name. Couldn't Smith had thought up of a simpler, and less malicious title for their green friend?
"Huh? Oh.. he's umm, downstairs in the living room. I think he's playing a video game with Papi, but Papi is here now, so..." Miia uttered.
Kimihito's mind was blaring with red alarms as of that moment. That beast is still here? Why hasn't he been deported yet? What the hell was Smith planning?
Wait... did Miia just said he was playing video games ?
"Miia... can you leave me alone for a while? I think I just needed some more time to rest. Please?" Miia was initially shocked by Kimihito's request, but reluctantly accepted.
"Come on, Miia. Master wishes to be alone right now. He has already dealt with enough as is." Centorea further explained, as the rest of the girls went downstairs.
"Oooh, is it over already?... Papi is hungry now."
"Suu~"
"Wait, Cerea-san. I need to speak with you for a minute."
Kimihito's sudden request caught both Centorea and Miia off guard.
"Darling? Why do you want to speak with Cerea-san, but not me?" Miia asked, scared that her Darling may not want to see her for dubious reasons.
"It's nothing to worry about, Miia. I just needed to talk to Cerea for a while, that's all. I promise I'll talk to you later, okay?" Kimihito responded.
She wanted to argue, but ultimately decided that her Darling's happiness is worth more than her own, so she finally complied.
As she left Kimihito's bedroom, Papi and Suu both accompanied her downstairs.
"Hey Miia.. why did Master want to be left alone?" Papi innocently asked.
All she got in response, was a defeated sigh from Miia and an unsatisfying answer. "...I don't know..."
-
"Is there a reason you would like to talk to me, Master?"
Kimihito thought about Centorea's question, wondering about what he should ask first himself.
"Cerea... why didn't you tell the other girls what happened last night?"
Centorea was taken aback by the unexpected question, and she struggled to find the appropriate answer.
"... I thought it would be best, if the other residents of the Kurusu household did not know of the Doomslayer's actions last night. We should not worry them more than they already have."
Kimihito could see where she was coming from. But the question still stands... should they keep the Slayer living in their home? After all, both of them were very much aware of his... unprecedented aptitude in murder.
It didn't matter that he had never harmed any humans before, the fact that he had guns at his disposal should already be an obvious enough warning sign. And yet Smith still allowed him to stay here?
"Cerea, you think... we should keep letting him stay with us?"
Centorea pondered on Kimihito's question for a long while, before finally deciding for herself.
"I believe that him continuing to stay here, could bring a lot of distrust between them, especially with Miia. And to an extent... I too share that same sentiment.
In fact, now that I've personally witnessed what he was capable of, I feel far more afraid of him staying so close to you, Master, and with all the other residents of this household.
But, then I think back to the times he had stayed in our household before, and he had never once tried to actively harm any of us. In fact, he may have even helped reduce the number of "accidents" happening with so many of us living together in one place.
Perhaps my feelings may be clouding my judgement, but.. that night, when I saw him.. slaughterthose unforgivable monsters from hell, I felt truly terrified, unlike anything else in my life before. But at the same time... I felt safe, the moment I looked into his eyes, or rather, where his eyes would be behind his mysterious helm. It was like looking at another knight like myself. Well, not exactly like myself, but somewhat familiar to it.
It was clear that the amount of anger within him was only directed towards the creatures who actively tried to harm innocents, as he had never shown such hatred towards any of us. Perhaps there is still a sense of humanity and justice within that man, even if others could not see it at first glance.
I... don't believe that he would be a threat to us, Master. At least, not the way it is right now. Although we never truly know what the Slayer is truly like deep inside, so my words can only bring forth so much meaning."
Centorea's answer was clear but not absolute. She was sure the Slayer would not pose a threat to Kimihito and the girls, yet at the same time there was uncertainty in her voice.
Quite frankly, he felt the same himself.
The Slayer is truly an enigma. Capable of doing such traumatizing actions without even flinching, yet able to contain his emotions whenever needed. In fact, he himself had never seen the space marine ever harming any of the girls in his house, except for Rachnera, though that was probably justified considering what she tried to do to him first.
And to a certain extent, Smith's words rang true. The Doomslayer did help Kimihito with dealing with the girls' antics much easier. Now he didn't have to worry about Miia accidentally strangling him every morning, or Rachnera deciding to tie everyone up again, or Suu doing... whatever she likes to do much to anyone's dismay.
Maybe, Centorea was right.
But first, they needed to come up with an excuse for why he fainted last night.
"I think, you're right, Cerea-san.
... We should keep quiet about this. Let's just tell the other girls that I saw a really scary Halloween costume and fainted by accident, that should be fine right?"
"But, Master... I don't think it's Halloween yet..."
Well, maybe coming up with a good excuse is going to take a little longer than a while.
There was still one rather disturbing thought he couldn't shake off his head though.
'The Doomslayer... plays video games ?'
-
The Doomslayer, suddenly felt an urge to sneeze.
But he resisted, and it never came. It was still weird to think about, it wasn't like his Praetor suit was dusty on the inside or anything.
Last night, the Slayer's suspicions were confirmed. Hell's army was not giving up on this world. They knew he was here. And it seemed like they have upgraded their ranks. At least he knew all his daily patrols weren't in vain.
He was always up for more challenge, but he may need to upgrade his weapons as well. If bigger and tougher demons are going to come out next time, he will need more firepower to take them down easier.
Destroying that massive Gore Nest was just the first step. There would be more to come, but until VEGA could pinpoint just who exactly is doing all of this, there wasn't much he could do but wait. Gore Nests don't just appear overnight, someone was creating them for a reason. Perhaps they were trying to test him. But who would go through all that trouble?
So far, both invasions happened within the quarantined area of Asaka. It wasn't out of the norm to assume the next ones might happen there or somewhere close as well. Hell, he would probably need to scour through all of Japan looking for more possible demonic infestations.
Perhaps he could convince this country's government, assuming they're competent enough, to allow him access to their most sophisticated RD facilities so VEGA could somehow build a portal for him, or at least a place to upgrade his arsenal. There's no such thing as too much firepower after all.
He remembered that VEGA claimed that creating an interdimensional portal to Hell would be near impossible without sufficient Argent Energy or advanced tech, but if these demons were somehow able to find their way here and was actively trying to invade this world, plus the fact that all the liminals also possessed the same energy in their blood, then that means.. there must be a source of it somewhere. He just need to find it. And maybe, the demons also had the same idea.
He hadn't thought with his head this hard in a long time. He would need to go for another "evening stroll" later this evening. Still too many possibilities for his liking. So many questions, so few answers.
For now, he'll settle for relieving his pent up stress through playing this game called 'WooD'. Apparently all you do in this game is run around chopping down as many trees as possible with a chainsaw that never seems to run out of gas within a time limit. It sounds dumb, but surprisingly fun and relaxing.
"Hey, Doom-san... can Papi play too~?" The blue harpy came up from behind the Slayer and asked shyly.
The Hellwalker, in response, immediately paused the game and simply gave the harpy the controller.
"Ow!! Tio, what was that for!?"
"That was for acting reckless and nearly getting all of us in trouble, Bina-chan!"
"You already hit me in the head once last night when we got back!"
"Umm, well, I'm just making sure you remember, alright!?"
"Tio-chan, I'm pretty sure 'in trouble' would be putting it very lightly..."
Zombina pouted, realising that she had no legs to stand on after having Tionishia smack her in the head as a lesson and Doppel agreeing with the ogre.
"Fine... I'm sorry I acted like an idiot earlier, I guess I wasn't, well, thinking straight.."
"Because you thought your 'boyfriend' got hurt by the big bad demon?" Doppel mocked.
"Hey!! That damn mute space marine is not my boyfriend! I was just.. worried about him because that guy was our best chance against those fuckers from hell and you know that! And don't act like you weren't interested in him too!" Zombina explained herself, while her face was in deep red.
Doppel snickered. "Pfft... yeah sure, whatever you say. And for the record, I was just curious about his origin, like a scientist when seeing a new specimen. It's not like I'm the one practically swooning over that guy."
Tionishia ceremoniously decided to shut both of them up. "Oh please, just admit you were both interested in knowing Doomguy-san and stop trying to hide it and blaming the other! You're both acting like an old married couple, you know?"
Zombina and Doppel's faces immediately flushed as they looked away from the ogre, trying to hide their embarrassment. Which only served to please the latter even more.
After a moment of silence, Doppel decided to break the ice.
"... Say, I've been wondering, what did Centorea say to you last night?"
Zombina thought about that question. And her memories came back to her aid.
-
It wasn't long before police squads and even the CESS began arriving at the place which were called Ground Zero. The Doomslayer had pretty much done everything by himself. By the time reinforcements arrive, there wasn't any demons left alive.
Even though it was the second attack to happen just this month, the researchers couldn't extract much information regarding the demons themselves, since the corpses and any remains of demonic activity just disappeared into thin air after a while. The only other reliable source of information they could get was from the green marine himself, and he wasn't going to talk anytime soon.
So as Centorea was walking back home with an unconscious Kimihito on her back, accompanied with the MON squad since it was kinda their fault for bringing them in the first place, Zombina managed to get an unexpectedly sincere confession from the centaur. And all of her teammates didn't get to hear it as well.
"What I meant to say before this, was... I, Centorea Shianus, had misjudged you, Zombina.
When we first met, I looked at you and assumed you as the worst: a shameless, inconsiderate, sharp-tongued person. But perhaps my judgement were too harsh, and obviously I did not know you very much then.
But, after your selfless speech, I would be lying to say I wasn't moved by it. That was wehn I realized there is indeed more to you than meets the eye. You are a brash and eccentric person, yes.. but one who deeply cares for her friends and would put them above anything else, even at the cost of your own self, and an upholder of justice. As a fellow knight, I could share that same sentiment.
So, I hope you could find it in your heart to accept my apology, for I have thought ill of you before. If there is ever a favor you need to ask, I am willing to do my best with it."
Zombina stared at the centaur for a few long seconds, trying to comprehend what she had just heard, before finally erupting into laughter.
"HA HA HA HA HAHAHAHAHAHAH!!! Aww... that was really funny, Cerea. I didn't realize you were such a good joker."
The centaur only stared at the zombie in a mix of shock and confusion. How could she had taken it to be just a joke? Did she worded it wrong?
"Hey, Bina-chan! What was all that?"
Doppel yelled back at Zombina, curious to know what made her teammate laugh so loudly.
Zombina, decided to lie as even she herself couldn't believe the essay that came out of the self-proclaimed knight centaur's mouth.
"Oh, it's nothing. Just heard a really good joke."
-
"Like I told you before, it was just a really good joke, no need to worry."
Doppel eyed Zombina in suspicion, but decided to let it slide.
"Riiight, sure, if that's what you say.
*Sigh*... alot of things have happened in the last few days, haven't they?"
The once cheery atmosphere immediately turned sour, as the MON squad, now receiving a few days off work courtesy of Smith, pondered upon their recent experiences.
Even though they had encountered these 'demons' twice before, it still struck fear into their hearts every time. They could never simply get used to such a deadly and unrelenting danger, now existing in this world and becoming part of their lives.
Smith had been awfully quiet about their next line of work, although they could guess it probably would involve just more surveillance on their friendly neighborhood space marine.
The attack last night had not been made public and the local enforcement did extremely well to keep it that way. Perhaps the people had gone through enough already, they don't need another mass panic on their hands.
It still wasn't easy to console the grieving families of the law enforcement officers who died within the quarantined zone, when the attack happened. Excuses had to be made up, no matter how unbelievable, in order to prevent prying eyes.
But one thing was for sure, this wouldn't be the last.
"I'm just pissed that I didn't get a chance to even fire my guns last night, we missed all the action." Zombina complained.
Doppel raised an eyebrow to the zombie girl's statement. "Really? You're mad that you didn't have to fight? The last time we fought them we nearly died, and you want to test your rotten luck again?"
Before another heated argument popped up, Tionishia immediately cut off the both of them. "Listen, girls! Why don't we just be grateful that we didn't have to put ourselves in such a dangerous situation again? Now Smith-sama is even giving us a week off! Let's take this spare time to do some fun stuff together, as a team!"
Despairing over what had already happened would not help much in the long run. The best they could do was try to move on. Tionishia simply didn't want her team to feel down all the time because of events that were simply out of their control. So, she tried her best to become the friendly big sister of the team.
Both Zombina and Doppel stared at their biggest teammate, before finally relenting to her charms.
"Yeah sure, whatever." Doppel nonchalantly replied.
Zombina also couldn't find it in her to argue against the ogre. "Fine, I guess we could all use a break. What exactly do y'all wanna do?"
"Hmm.. I'm not quite sure. Why don't we ask Manako-chan?" Tio suggested.
And the three of them turned towards their most introverted teammate, only to find her still in deep slumber since last night. With saliva dripping down the side of her mouth.
" *Whistle*.... must be one helluva dream she's having." Zombina joked.
CODEX ENTRY 4
CATEGORY: Monsters
ENTRY: Pinky
UAC REPORT FILE: ZJC94UBY:
These demonic animals are unnamed by those in Hell. They were colloquially named Pinkies, due to their unusual skin pigmentation, when first discovered by the Lazarus Project's Tethering Operation (MTC 2146/351). Their aggressive nature against the living is well documented.
UAC REPORT FILE: YX7348LC:
Pinkies will charge once their prey is detected, using a cortical bone plate that covers their face as a battering ram. They accelerate quickly but have limited control while charging. Their inability to stop quickly or turn makes them vulnerable to charging over ledges or into hard surfaces, stunning them. At close range, the Pinky has a significant bite which it will use to fend off attackers. They have limited visual perception and rely primarily on pheromone detection to locate enemies. The thinner skin on their flanks does not offer as much protection and should be considered a point of weakness.
Gnawed carcasses of Pinkies have been extracted from portals, suggesting they are considered a delicacy in Hell.
Author's Note
Well, this chapter took longer than I expected.
For all those who had abandoned hope, well I don't blame you. But for those still reading, thank you for still sticking around. I really appreciate it. And yes, I do read the comments, and I appreciate every one of them(even the troll ones).
There isn't much for me to say here, except that this chapter is quite more character-focused than my usual ones. Most of it's pretty much just a retelling of the previous chapter, but in a different perspective, and primarily focusing on characters other than our favourite demon exterminator.
I gave it some thought, and just concluded that the MON squad deserved alot more attention, since they often get left out alot in most fanfics. Hell, even in the anime they didn't get much attention. So yeah, expect more Zombina and the gang in future chapters. The squad deserves some love.
Unexpected character development, yay? I don't know if I could call that development though, to me it's really just a whole chapter of characters acting probably a bit OOC for the sake of plot, but it is kinda hard trying to take characters from an ecchi harem manga/anime and putting them in very serious situations and see the effects of said situations on their personalities.
I wish I could tell you when the next update will come out, but I'm bad at making schedules and promises. So once again, I'm asking you to be patient. Hopefully, if I'm lucky enough, it wouldn't take this long next time.
Thank you for reading, and until next time.