7th Night: Static Screens
All the screens surrounding Rinne Enomoto and Tetsuo Asakura had suddenly gone static. The hunters knew, it was their cue to begin the hunt.
"What's happening to the colorful screens?" Napaea asked, clearly disoriented by the situation.
"A demon's tampering with them." Tetsuo quickly replied.
"And we are endeavoring to find and defeat this demon." Angel added.
"Let me join you, then." the little fairy quickly replied, clenching her fist in determination and anger "No one touches those screens!"
"Rinne! I can see something!" Karasu Tengu called "On top of that palace!" Immediately, both the mysterious girl and her companion looked at the direction indicated by the demon, and saw the silhouette of a winged man perched up on top of the palace. Its head seemed to be bigger than a normal human head.
"We're going up there, then." Rinne resolutely said, before barging towards the palace, followed by her demons and her fellow hunter. As soon as they set foot in the tall building, they saw demons all around them. There were small figures with a head shaped like a crescent moon, holding bags, and little girls with raven-black wings for hair.
"We're surrounded!" the amber-eyed youth exclaimed.
"Suzaku!" Rinne ordered to her demon "Open us a path!" The fiery peacock chirped loudly in response, and flapped its wings, unleashing a wave of fire that repelled almost every demon in the area, dealing great damage as well. The wing-haired girls, in particular, found themselves under great distress from the flames, shrieking in agony as they slowly vanished, losing magnetite.
"Those demons seem to be weak to fire attacks..." Tetsuo noticed.
"Asakura-kun, stay alert!" the mysterious girl sternly called her fellow hunter "If you see a demon, strike it down quickly." the youth nodded, showing his understanding, and so the two hunters rushed to the stairs, with their demons following in tow. As he looked around, Tetsuo noticed two more moon-headed demons were running towards them.
"Angel-san!" he called, prompting his demon to unleash lightning attacks on them. Immediately, the two demons were knocked out, and began dematerializing, dropping magnetite.
"Those demons are weak against lightning, instead..." the hunter noticed as he headed up the stairs, following Rinne. As they went up the stairs, Tetsuo's eyes went above them, and spotted two more moon-headed demons. Their bags were aimed on Napaea, and from them two blue magical needles were shot out, hitting her.
"Ah! What the..." Suddenly, the little fairy demon began to feel drowsy "Why… Why am I… So… Sleepy…?" she slowly lowered on the ground and laid down, fast asleep.
"Napaea-san!" Tetsuo called, as Rinne and her demons spotted the assailants as well.
"Angel-san, strike down the one on the right!" the amber-eyed youth ordered, to which the winged demon immediately shot lightning bolts against the demon.
"Gryphon, you take the one on the left." Rinne ordered to her own demon, which immediately spread its wings and lunged up, mauling the demon with its claws. The two demons fell down from the spot they were perched on as they slowly disintegrated, losing the mineral which enabled them to have a physical presence.
"Do you have anything to wake up that demon?" the girl asked to her fellow hunter, and Kabuso heard the question, while it licked the fairy's face, in a vain attempt to wake her up.
"One of the thingies I found should help..." it remarked, before jumping on his master's shoulder and whispering in his ear the description of the object it had in mind. Tetsuo nodded and immediately took a golden-colored stone from his inventory, then held it next to the fairy demon, who slowly stirred awake.
"Ah… Wh-What happened?" Napaea asked, upon waking up.
"Some demons had put you to sleep." her concerned master replied "Are you all right?" The little fairy nodded began lifting back up, next to her master.
"Sorry for falling asleep on you, Tetsuo-kun." she said, before winking at him "I'm ready to go, now."
"Then let's not lose one more minute!" the youth exclaimed, and the party immediately resumed walking up the stairs. Kabuso swiftly stepped ahead of everyone else.
"I'll see what's up ahead." it said.
"Stay safe!" Tetsuo exclaimed, concernedly. Eventually, the two hunters reached the end of the stairs, along with their demons. However, as Kabuso stepped at the end of the stairs, two blades of wind were directed at him. Immediately, the cat demon shrieked in fright as it jumped away from the slashing gusts.
"Demons over the stairs!" the amber-eyed youth noticed, as Kabuso jumped back next to him, frightened.
"Don't worry, kitty-cat!" Napaea smiled at the cat demon, before winking at him "I've got this!~" Then, she immediately flied to the exposed spot, facing upwards, and attacked with her own gusts of wind the wing-haired demons responsible for the attack. Her blade of wind clashes with the enemy demon's attacks, repelling them. Then, she attacked the flying girls with small balls of fire, defeating them. The demons fell to the ground, out cold, and began fading from existence.
"Targets down!" Tetsuo called, as he and Rinne stepped on the final stair, along with their demons. Napaea flew down to Kabuso and smiled warmly while gently petting it.
"No one lays a finger on this adorable kitty~" the fairy murmured, while the cat purred under her hands, enjoying her attentions. In the meantime, the two hunters looked around, and Tetsuo's jaw dropped as he saw different demons roaming around.
"These demons..." he uttered, impressed "They look… Strong..." His eyes wandered around the room, catching dragons with the body of a sea creature and with the head and hind legs of a deer, and demons with a crooked appearance, small bat wings and a small, green purse latched on their belly.
"In fact, they are stronger than the fiends we found on the lower floor." Rinne confirmed "We'll have to be nimble on our feet, and avoid fighting unless necessary."
"I guess we'll have to save our energies for the demon at the top of the palace..." Tetsuo understood.
"Exactly." the stoic girl confirmed, with a nod.
"Heard that, guys?" the amber-eyed youth immediately turned to his demons "We're fighting only the demons that are on our way. No fight-seeking."
"Understood." Angel nodded.
"Those guys look mighty strong..." Kabuso murmured, intimidated by the new enemies before them.
"Don't worry, kitty-cat~ I'll protect you!" Napaea said, gently stroking the cat demon's head.
"Through them. And fast." Rinne said, and the two hunters immediately began rushing through the area, trying their best to avoid enemy demons while looking for another way up the building. Fortunately, they managed to discreetly slide among the demons and find a second stairway.
"Something tells me that they were expecting any human intruder to die in the ground floor or at the end of the first stairway..." Tetsuo said, as he rushed up the stairs with his fellow hunter.
"Agreed." the girl replied. However, as they reached the second floor, the situation changed. Some deer-headed demons spotted the two hunters and began flying towards them.
"Er, Enomoto-san?" the amber-eyed youth called the girl's attention, with some fright in his voice.
"I know." Rinne replied, before calling her demon "Suzaku!" the peacock chirped loudly and flapped its wings, unleashing a wave of fire once more, which repelled the assailants. "Let's finish them off. Asakura-kun!" she then called her fellow rookie hunter.
"Yes!" he nodded, before calling out to his own demon "Napaea-san!"
"On it!" The fairy readily replied, with a nod of her own, then she began shooting fire balls at the deer-headed demons, along with Suzaku. The fiends cried out in agony as they lost magnetite and faded.
"So cool..." Kabuso murmured, its eyes sparkling as it watched Napaea, while she attacked the deer-headed dragons. Upon finishing, the fairy winked at the cat demon and blew it a kiss, making it chuckle rather embarrassedly.
"We must hurry." Rinne reminded her companion "Remember, keep a low profile." Tetsuo nodded, and so, the two hunters quickly moved away from the area, before any more demons could spot them. They managed to get through the floor while keeping themselves concealed from the eyes of the demons populating it. They made it to the next stairway unscathed, and immediately began rising up to the third floor.
However, much to their dismay, they were spotted by some demons upon reaching the end of the stairs.
"What?! Humans?" a crooked, bat-winged demon exclaimed upon seeing the two hunters.
"Would've never expected humans to come this far..." another demon of the same kind added.
"Well, they must be pretty tired from the trip here..." a third bat-winged fiend said "Killing them shouldn't be too hard..." The three crooked fiends began chuckling darkly from the statement as they flied towards the hunters, along with a couple more demons of the same kin.
"Demons inbound!" Rinne exclaimed as she and Tetsuo noticed the assailants approaching.
"Leave this to me!" Angel said, as she moved to intercept the flock of demons, and aimed her hands at them. Then, she released an attack of light against them, repelling them. The fiends shrieked in anguish as they were pushed back by the attack.
"They seem weak against the light..." Tetsuo observed, as the demons tried fighting back by shooting small fireballs.
"Karasu!" Rinne called her demon.
"On it, Rinne!" the Tengu replied, as he skillfully twirled his staff in his hands, then slashed the air, creating a gust of wind which clashed with the demons' fire attacks, dissolving them.
"Let me join in!" Napaea exclaimed, as she attacked the demons with her own windy slash, created by swinging a flying kick in the air, which struck the assailants. The fiends which had mocked the two hunter had been quickly rendered powerless.
"And now, for the finish!" Karasu said, as he held his staff between his hands and made a hand sign, creating an attack of heavenly light which proved to be the final blow against the demons, which began fading as they cried out in agony.
"Ha, take that, suckers!" the Tengu exclaimed, in victory.
"Good job, but we're not done yet." Rinne reminded "Now we know how to strike them down most effectively." Everyone nodded in agreement at the undeniable statement, and so the party resumed its rush towards the top of the building. Along the way, the two hunters avoided pointless confrontations and, when it was not possible, defended themselves with their weapons and their demons, striking their enemies down as swiftly as possible.
Eventually, they reached the top, where they found the demon they were looking for. A humanoid with an owl's head and feathered wings.
"Humans." the demon said, in a calm, deep voice "How dare you intrude my lair?"
"We're here to destroy you, demon." Rinne replied, to which the demon laughed. Its laugh had an almost solemn tone.
"And you think you can destroy me, Andras, Marquis of Hell?" it said "How conceited you are, humans! I shall show you how truly powerless you truly are!"
"What have you done to the big, colorful screens?" Napaea asked, infuriated.
"Screens? Are you talking about those pits of hollowness?" Andras replied "I am merely testing them."
"You want to use those screens against the humans that have built them?!" Tetsuo asked, with shock and a hint of fury in his own voice.
"Precisely." the owl-headed demon answered "What humans have built is constantly under their eyes, taking their attention, until all that's left of them is their obsession for their own work. In contemplating their beloved monuments, they become hollow, losing every willingness to act within them." It then quoted a phrase from Shakespeare, using it in favor of its argument "And enterprises of great pitch and moment… With this regard, their currents turn awry, and lose the name of action. It is from this hollowness, this impending and devouring sloth, that we demons gain our strength. Why we should not take advantage of it?"
"We won't allow it!" Tetsuo retorted, strongly "You're not the one who gets to say what we are!" In response, the demon let out its laugh once more, as a magical circle appeared under its feet, before multiplying on the ground. Four more circles were created, and from them, copies of the Marquis of Hell rose, joining in the demon's spiteful laughter.
"Let me show you, the true weakness of humans, and the superiority of us demons! You shall know the chill of death!" it solemnly proclaimed "The demons that have joined you shall not be spared, for they dishonor themselves by serving such weak and helpless creatures." Then, it charged against the two hunters and their demons, along with its clones. Tetsuo quickly unsheathed his katana, which was met with sturdy claws, and repelled one of the owl-headed fiends, while Napaea repelled another one's assault by shooting a small fireball.
"Back off, you creeps!" the little fairy shouted as she fought by her master's side, attacking the two fiends with balls of fire. While some hit their targets, causing them to shriek in pain, some were avoided. A third owl-headed attacker flew towards Tetsuo, as he struggled against its two clones, but it was quickly met by a light attack from Angel. The demon was damaged, but not as much as the assailants which had been struck by fire, hinting at Andras's glaring weakness against flames.
Meanwhile, the remaining two owl-headed demons charged against Rinne and Karasu Tengu, who clashed with them. Rinne defended herself with her twin knives, while the Marquis of Hell's claws were met with the black-winged demon's staff. As soon as both the attackers were pushed back, Karasu swung his staff in the air, generating two flaming slashes and directing them against the demons. The fiends responded by crafting two spikes of ice and hurling them against the fire, but the only result of their action was the division of the slashes into four little flaming gusts, which finally struck the demons. Upon being repelled, the owl-headed fiends responded to the enemy fire with ice, which was to be inevitably shattered by Karasu's fire attacks and by Rinne's knives, enchanted with fire by her demon's staff.
Kabuso was simply standing there, watching as the battle unfolded. However, once the five demons had been pushed back, they settled for trying to attack the two hunters and the demons fighting by their side by hurling ice spikes against them. The cat demon's eyes widened in horror as it noticed that one of the sharp and icy attacks was heading towards him. However, right before it could reach its target, just as Kabuso was bracing itself, the ice spike was destroyed by a small fireball, shot by none other than Napaea.
"Like. I. Said." she said, winking at the cat "No one lays a finger on my adorable kitty~"
"Th-Thank you, Napaea-san..." Kabuso replied, blushing.
"Suzaku!" Rinne called, and the fiery peacock flapped its wings, releasing a wave of fire which struck all five demons.
"Angel-san!" Tetsuo called, as well, prompting his demon to flap her wings, summoning needles all around her, and then twirl around, hurling the spikes against the five fiends, and striking them gravely. Two of them vanished, their magnetite the only thing that was left of them. However, Andras was not done. It flapped its wings, as some feathers flew around, and summoned two more clones, to replace the ones it had lost.
"I must commend you for coming this far, humans." the Marquis of Hell remarked "However, your struggle only delays the inevitable." The five owl-headed demons then let out a loud screech, which called many smaller, crooked, bat-winged demons in the area "If I cannot finish you by myself, the demons under my command will fight for me! You shall die here!" The fiends waved their arms, generating an icy mist.
"Be careful, Asakura-kun!" Rinne warned. Just as she finished speaking, Andras and his clones released a wave of ice against the hunters and their demons. Tetsuo and Rinne covered themselves with their arms and weapons, Angel, Suzaku, Gryphon and Karasu Tengu tried to shield themselves with their wings, and Napaea used her body to shield a shocked Kabuso.
"Aaahh!" she shrieked in pain as she felt the full force of the Marquis of Hell's attack, then, once the onslaught of cold ceased, she lowered to the ground, panting, heavily weakened. Both the owl-headed fiends and the bat-winged demons fighting under their orders began closing in.
"That felt like..." Tetsuo thought, as he recovered from the blizzard attack as well "Like I was being pierced by icy needles..." However, there was not too much time to analyze the sensation for him. The rookie hunter looked at his fairy demon, gravely injured, but still trying her best to protect Kabuso.
"Napaea, you're hurt bad!" the cat demon exclaimed, its voice filled with concern.
"As long as you're not hurt… It's fine by me… Kitty-cat..." Napaea replied, looking back at it and trying her best to smile despite the pain.
"Stop it! Please!" Kabuso shouted, tears welling up in its eyes, as two of the five owl-headed attackers prepared to hurl more ice spikes against her, sure to finish her off. Without a second thought, Tetsuo rushed to protect its companions. He wouldn't have let none of the demons fighting by his side die.
"Tetsuo!" Angel exclaimed, quickly understanding the intentions of the young man, as he ran towards the injured fairy and the cat demon she protected, his katana in his grip. It was then that he heard a voice in his head.
"I'll help you."
The amber-eyed youth stood in front of the two little demons as the enemies' ice spikes were speeding towards them. He stood in a defensive position, with his katana held horizontally in front of him, as a new, mysterious light began glowing inside his eyes.
And, upon approaching him, the icy attacks shattered instantly, much to the surprise of his demons and of his fellow hunter, as well as of his enemy.
"What?" the Marquis of Hell exclaimed in utter shock, while Rinne Enomoto simply stood speechless, bewildered by the sight that had just unfolded before her eyes.
"Angel-san, protect and heal Napaea-san and Kabuso!" the amber-eyed hunter ordered his demon as it stared at one of the owl-headed fiends, the original among the copies, and began stepping towards it, while it readied itself for the fight, creating two blades of ice on its arms.
"Yes, Tetsuo." the winged woman replied, before swiftly flying to her fellow demons and crouching beside the injured fairy, then, she put a hand on her, slowly healing her most grievous wounds.
"Here, now you'll feel much better." she said, in a gentle and soothing voice.
"Th-Thank you, Angel..." Napaea replied.
"Thank you, bird lady! Thank you so much!" Kabuso thanked, bowing repeatedly as tears streamed down its face.
"What does that human think he's doing, rushing like that?" one of the bat-winged demons mockingly exclaimed as he rushed at the apparently defenseless youth
"Those demons are weak!" one of the bat-winged demons remarked "Let's finish them!" His bold statement prompted many fiends of the same kind to fly towards the apparently defenseless demons, intent on assaulting them. An equally numerous flock flew towards Rinne and her demons.
"Let's fight together." Angel said.
"Sure thing!" Napaea replied, determinedly.
"Karasu! Suzaku! Take care of these little fish!" the mysterious girl ordered to her demons "Gryphon and I will be going for Andras's clones!"
"Consider it done, Rinne!" the black-winged demon replied, while the fiery peacock simply chirped in response. Immediately, the huntress and her Gryphon ran through the flock of bat-winged demons. Karasu quickly cast a fire enchant on her mistress's knives, before reading himself for the fight. Meanwhile, Tetsuo kept stepping towards Andras, whom, in turn, was awaiting him, ready to clash with his katana.
"Taste this, scoundrels!" he exclaimed, before swinging the staff and generating a sharp gust of wind, which repelled the flock of enemy demons, dealing heavy damage. Suzaku then finished them off with fireballs and waves of fire, making them shriek in agony as they vanished.
In the meantime, Angel and Napaea fought side by side, fending off the bat-winged, crooked demons with slashes of wind, created by the fairy demon, and projections of heavenly light, cast by the winged woman.
Tetsuo kept stepping towards Andras, as the third and final flock of fiends flew towards him, and began shooting fireballs at him. Once again, the amber-eyed youth rose his blade, putting it horizontally before him, and the fireballs just dissolved upon reaching his proximity, much to their shock and rage, prompting the demons to rush at him, with the intent of mauling him with their claws. However, they were met with an unexpectedly powerful slash of Tetsuo's blade, strengthened by gusts of wind, which ultimately cleaved them into oblivion.
Andras rushed at the youth, and its ice blades met his katana, in a clash that marked the start of a dangerous dance of dodges and slashes between the rookie hunter and the Marquis of Hell. As they battled, Rinne and Gryphon attacked the fiend's clones and destroyed them, one by one, with her knives and its claws. After the dance had delivered some cuts on the amber-eyed youth's body, as well as Andras's body, the two adversaries clashed once more, struggling against each other.
"Your power… I should have realized it by the incredible magnetite in your body..." the owl-headed demon observed, as the hunter glared at him "There is a god behind this power of yours." As it finished speaking, Tetsuo sensed Rinne running behind him, heading to the fiend's right side, and jumped back, only to attempt to slash his opponent on its other side.
"Enomoto-san!" he shouted, as his blade was blocked by Andras's ice.
"Yes!" the girl replied, before slashing the fiend's other arm with her fire-imbued knife and shattering its blade of ice. The demon was clearly weakened by the maneuver, and Tetsuo quickly seized the moment to slash at it. Rinne reached the demon's back and, as a result, Andras was quickly met with slashes from its front, as well as from behind him, and was defenseless. A final slash from Tetsuo's katana on its stomach and Rinne's two smaller flame-imbued blades embedding themselves in its back marked the last stand of the Marquis of Hell.
"Ahhh… You conceited… Humans..." Andras uttered, clinging to physical existence as the huntress took her knives out of its back "You are more… Akin to demons… Than you delude yourselves… Into thinking..." As it spoke, it slowly began losing magnetite "We are… Your shadows… Your sloth… Your darkness… Is our strength..." Finally, it vanished completely, after it had spoken its last words, as the two hunters panted and put their weapons back in their sheaths.