Chapter 4: 4 – Infants’ execution

The two exorcists walked through the white-stained scenery.

That devil’s final attack had managed to cover a larger section of town that it had been previously believed.

Because, even if it was just a small amount of web covering the walls, it was enough to be considered a possible hazard.

Entire blocks had been closed off.

His hand twitched, ready to grasp his sword at any moment. His breathing was stilled, and he focused on all his surroundings.

Dozens, if not hundreds or even thousands of oval shapes could be found all throughout the webs. It was fine if those were just remains of the devil, but if they were something hazardous, it could end up in a disaster.

The sun was setting in the background, coloring the town gold. The uncharacteristically cold breeze that flowed through the streets chilled even more, and the sense of life became dimmer and dimmer.

That part of town had been restricted from the public, and only a few space members of the Holy Assembly could be seen mingling about. Studying, cleaning, getting rid of the mess.

“Should it be taking this long?” The fake-angel inquired.

“I don’t know. This is the first time I had to be around when they were investigating something.”

“I see.” She nodded, a still tense air about her.

It wasn’t incorrect to say the two of them were on edge. There was no real way of knowing if they were going to fight, but the possibility continued to hang above their heads.

They kept on walking, trying to be sure nothing was going wrong.

It was only as the sunset began to fade, a man wearing black approached them.

“Hello, exorcists.” Without a single intonation in his voice, the man, seemingly uncaring about the situation, approached them. “We judged wise to warn that we are finishing off our investigation.”

He nodded along, putting his hands behind his back. “Was there any worrying discovery?”

The one in black shook his head. “No. Nothing that came out of that thing seems particularly durable, or seems to have any special offensive characteristic. We will be ready to begin cleaning up soon.”

He nodded, satisfied with the answer.

“Is it so? If I may ask, were there any characteristics in those… spheres?” With a divine and mature behavior, the fake-angel serenely smiled, looking at the many oval shapes in the web.

“We believed there would be some, however, research proved otherwise.” The man turned to the shapes, as if analyzing them carefully even now. “There was a gelatinous substance inside, however, testing showed that they suffered no reactions and had no outstanding characteristics beyond retaining heat. We currently believe the devil stored the blood in its body inside of those spheres.”

The fake-angel turned to the man with untold grace, a soft smile gracing her face. “Are you sure of that hypothesis? I am sure I saw these things outside of its body back in the office it was nested in. Besides, the devil wasn’t nearly big enough to have this much material inside of it.”

“When it comes to demons, especially devils, the concept of space, especially in its innards, cannot be so readily applied… Inside of the office?” The man turned to the fake-angel in genuine surprise. “The one at the top? You two managed to penetrate it?”

That single phrase stopped their heartbeats for a second. A chill ran down their spines, and for a moment, the faces they wore at work seemed to falter.

“What do you mean, penetrate it?” He inquired.

“Well, you see, the office is…”

“Hurry up and get to the point.” Slowly his tone became more and more aggressive, his patience running thinner as the situation slowly devolved.

The man swallowed hard, and proceeded with his explanation. “The office was completely covered in webs, over five meters thick of substance with steel-like durability.”

For a moment, his body faltered. That was wrong, that had to be wrong. The office had been full of webs, yes, but it was also fully available when they had gone in.

If that was the case, there was only one option…

The monster was not… no, that wasn’t it.

The fake-angel’s expression turned darker. “I see. If that’s the case, we better investigate it ourselves. Shall we go, Alma?” She turned to walk toward the office, but stopped and turned back when she realized her partner had not been following. “Alma?”

“It’s awfully cold, isn’t it?” His hand slowly stalked up towards his sword. A deep and bothersome sensation covering his mind and senses.

“…”

Now that he thought about it, wasn’t the outside just as cold as that office had been?

His eyes snapped towards the oval shapes. ‘Retaining heat’, the man had said…

The fake-angel looked around tensely, her grip on her own scythe tightening.

The holy man in black’s face slowly paled, a faint breeze of cold sweeping through the area.

For an instant, nothing.

And then—

A crack.

The oval shapes all throughout the web began to crack.

From the shining orange point inside of them, cracks full of light began popping.

Light seeped out.

A strong odor, a putrid smell.

Those things… they were not oval shapes made out of web, they weren’t bags of blood… they were eggs.

“Get the remainder of the Assembly and scurry off.” And with such words, he drew the sword from his back.

No more needed to be said, the man in black immediately paled and ran away. His legs moving the fastest they ever had, he moved like the wind. Driven by fear, he would alert the entirety of the Assembly, that area wasn’t safe, it was the most dangerous of all.

The eggs reached their limit, orange light shone as white, distorted forms came out of the eggs.

Their bodies were segmented and covered in white fur. Many and many legs and arms came out of their bodies, each of them covered in sharp blades.

Like miniature and childish forms of the devil, they all skittered around.

Every single one of them was almost the size of a grown adult.

Hundreds, thousands, they covered the walls and the ground.

“That thing… its true power… was reproduction.” It was unheard of, unfathomable. For a demon, even if it was a devil, to reproduce…

“Heh… that explains such a short incubation time.” Sweat ran down the nape of her neck, and fear ran down her spine. Even her little jest couldn’t help with the feelings inside her.

When it died… that explosion… was it sacrificing its life force and giving it to its offspring? The thought ran down his mind. If it was like that, then it probably manipulated the same thing as his blood.

No, more than that; if that was the case, that the situation ended up like this was their fault. They hadn’t eliminated the devil correctly, so now they had to.

Back to back with his old friend, he uttered the last words before slaughter.

“Take that side, I’ll take this. Make sure the assembly escapes with little to no injuries and casualties.”

She nodded. “Take care.”

He closed his eyes, there was no need or time to talk.

The demons slowly became aware of their surroundings, and with that, so did they become aware of the presence of those two humans on their way.

“Come, demons.” Challenging his enemies, the red-wearing man jumped straight into the fray, the pressure of air on his back telling him the fake-angel did much the same.

He shot straight into their midst. A piercing sword that sought to tear apart all the enemies that came in its way.

Skittering away, slashing and biting, the newborn demons all came at him relentlessly.

Covering buildings, walls and the ground, the entire surrounding had been covered by white forms that sought nothing but destruction.

Their claws sought to tear, their jaws sought to maul, their eyes only saw the enemy in front of them.

Another one jumped in his way. His sword thrust forward, impaling it. The blood that came out crystalized and sought others, harming more and more.  A continuous reaction that resulted in eternal slaughter.

His sword moved again and again, relentlessly. Any enemy that came his way was slashed in twain.

He carried no hesitation, no fear, only the single-minded desire to destroy all the demons that stood in front of him.

Spinning on his feet, he delivered a slashing strike to his rear side, splitting apart the monster that sought to take his back.

More and more blood pooled around.

A claw of crystal blood coalesced around his feet and was used to tear the enemy closest to him. A tail that was formed out of blood crystals sought to slash and impale the enemies like a whip. Curved blades that grew out of his elbows made his every movement a mortal slash.

Piercing an enemy with all his strength, he forced the blood inside to crystalize. The heart became a bomb that made crystals explode out of the body. An impalement born out of implosion.

Blood coalesced around his sword; his body spun in a full circle, his sword dragged along in a perfectly circular slash. The blood around the twisted blade expanded and cut, a larger blade of blood that expanded from the original one, a deadly and bloody slash.

Scores died with each attack, blood exploded into the air and ground.

Still, no matter how many he killed, how incessantly he attacked, they kept coming and coming. Hundreds and hundreds, without tiring, without fear.

“Tch.”

He clicked his tongue.

Flexing his legs, he pushed against the ground and jumped—!

Unimaginable force coming from a power that swelled deep within, his body shot straight through the cold air into the heights of the sky.

The reached altitude took him straight to the top of a building, slamming down on the roof with all his strength, the few enemies that had been there were destroyed.

His red eyes shot to the horizon, looking, searching.

Even as the sunset faded and dusk colored the sky, his vision still sought out that which laid far below.

More and more enemies climbed the building, slowly reaching the roof.

He didn’t bother with walls of blood crystal. He wasn’t planning on staying on the roof for long, such an action would be little more than a waste of time.

His eyes found it. On the far, far below and away, remainders of the group the Holy Assembly sent.

They ran away frantically. Even those who survived were maimed and bleeding.

It was expected, truly. Not a single one of them possessed the power to slay demons, not a single one of them was an exorcist.

And that’s why, for the moment, they were a bother.

That’s why I prefer working alone.

He clicked his tongue, a part of his mind inevitably going to the other side of the fight, where golden light purged all.

This was why he hated working with others. The uncertainty, the possibility of it all going south.

In the end it was a matter of what ifs. Did she manage to protect any members of the Holy Assembly that had been there? Was she managing her own against the monsters? What if she couldn’t last the whole fight? What if, in trusting she would manage her own, he ended up in a worse situation when she failed?

How could he trust others not to die in a battle of life and death? How could he turn his back and believe that she would succeed? The possibilities always swarmed his mind, the fear that maybe something would go wrong.

He didn’t want to die, so even if it was foolish, he… no, all the exorcists chose to work alone. It was something they learned back in training exercises. If you are strong enough to depend solely on your strength, you won’t be lacking by the weakness of another.

Control the battlefield, control all change. Know how it will all go, and do it by yourself, for you know you can achieve it.

That’s why, if those people were there, he couldn’t go all out. He couldn’t use the power he needed because they may get hurt.

The demons approached, a promise of slaughter and bloodshed.

He did not waste time, with his body and sword he attacked them all. Tearing away at all that approached, slaying all the enemies without a shred of mercy.

For an instant, the roof was clear of life. Only blood, corpses, and him.

And that instant was all he needed.

Once again, he flexed his legs, a powerful jump that shot him out of the roof!

He shot downwards at breakneck speed, his form becoming a red blur that could barely be perceived.

Within less than a second, the faraway ground became close.

Extending his feet, he brought a halt to his movement in an instant. The concrete was uprooted, a tremor was transmitted through the entire street.

Behind him, was a group of bloodied holy men in black.

His sword snapped forwards, his body twisted and turned as he advanced upon them, and slaughter came down upon all the enemies that had moved in to surround and hunt them.

Blood exploded into the air, corpses were laid down the road.

Instantly, it all came under his control.

He turned to the holy men behind him. They were bleeding and hurt, their faces desperate. He supposed they had just barely managed to survive due to his attracting the enemy’s attention, and their own hiding.

That ended then and there.

“You’ve got to help us—”

Whatever the holy man tried to say, it was forever lost.

Blood encased them like a cocoon, it crystalized into a spherical prison of his own making. With a dark red shine, it began to exude life force. Even if they eventually lacked breathable air, they should still manage to survive.

More and more blood came, surrounding the sphere and rooting it down on the ground. It would not be allowed to move.

He turned back to the approaching enemies.

The only ones he had to worry about were not a concern anymore. As long as that fake-angel stayed far enough away, she would be fine, after all.

They all lunged forward like ravaging beasts, a promise of pain present in their very existence.

He breathed in, blood flowed through.

The crystals in his own body affected him. Increased blood flow, stronger breathing, stronger muscles, better vision, better hearing, more power, more strength. As long as he could find something to empower, a crystal would be charged with it.

Throwing away all worries, the only thing he should pay attention to was slaughter.

The only thing he should perceive was the next prey, the only thing he should think of was his next move.

He lunged forwards and met the enemy charge with his own!

As soon as they came into contact, the enemies became minced meat, their bodies were torn, their movements halted.

Blood coalesced around his sword, slashes made out of the liquid thrown about with reckless abandon.

A twist, a jump, a stomp, a swipe of the tail. Each and every movement was a fatal one.

Great red crystals raised themselves in the streets, shining like monoliths of red darkness.

An aura of death and disease brought all the enemies low.

Beings made out of reproduction. Given the life force needed to survive, and the energy derived from heat to mature and move. Beyond the power that brought all life low, they were nothing but bugs.

“Wha—t?”

Yet, like rabid beasts they continued coming.

Crawling over, as if filled with renewed hatred, they all sought to kill.

Yet, even though their conviction overwhelmed their killer’s expectations, even though they walked and attacked with the power of demons, the result was all the same.

They all died with a single cut.

Swarm after swarm attacked the man and the crystals that made them weaker and weaker, rotted their bodies more and more.

“Tch.”

Stomping over a demon that came in his path, he raised himself in the air and thrust the sword back down.

Twisting his body like a weapon of destruction again and again, he sought to eliminate all of them.

The longer the fight went, the more his power was raised and his enemies decreased.

Still—

“Tch.” He clicked his tongue and complained out loud. “Just how many of you are there?”

He was still assured that killing all of them wouldn’t be an issue, however… there was no telling if one or two would escape.

Even if they were weaker than even normal demons right now, if they could all actually grow into something like that devil, it would become a real issue.

He needed to end it fast, before any of them could run off.

There was no telling if the church would send reinforcements, or even if those could even catch any runaway strays.

For all the church knew, nothing was happening, or maybe it was just an outbreak, or something he and Azza could easily deal with.

Although, it wasn’t necessarily an incorrect line of thought.

Raising his sword high above his head, he swung it down with a powerful slash, blood trailing behind.

More and more, he slashed. More and more of his crystals were formed in the streets and buildings, more and more he weakened the beings.

Was it a matter of time until they rotted off? Or would they continue to come?

It was as he began to believe he would have no true means of destroying all of them, as they incessantly swarmed him and his crystals, that the ray of hope from the heavens rained down on him.

A powerful and golden light that purged everything, disintegrating the enemies.

Pillars of light that formed around him, swirling about and destroying everything.

“Hello, Alma. It appears you require assistance.” An angelic woman called out from the skies.

With flowing white hair and blue eyes. Her wings did not shine with the same intensity as before, but her light was powerful all the same.

Acting around like a divine angel when you’re working, I swear… With troublesome thoughts, he turned towards her.

“Can you kill them all?” And asked without fanfare or hesitation.

“Thanks to you weakening them.” With a serene smile, she joined her hands. “Normally, this is too weak to do anything but blister the enemy, but in this case.” She opened her hands and a bright light poured out. “It shall purge them all, my blessing.”

It was a divine and bright light that illuminated the falling darkness. It wasn’t concentrated enough to truly purge the enemy, but for half-rotting newborns, it was a wave that reached out to all of them and forced their bodies to return to nothingness.

An obliterating light brought by blessing, the enemies all around began to disappear and disintegrate.

One by one, the purge of demons was being wiped away.

He tightened his grip on his sword, ready to take the offensive again at any instant.

It was only—

“What?!” He couldn’t help but cry out.

Suddenly, it was as if a wave of power resonated deed within him.

Like a darkness that had come to shroud them all, he couldn’t help but gaze.

“The demons are—!” The fake-angel glanced ahead, the light in her hands dimming.

One by one, as if controlled by a collective consciousness, they all turned around and ran. It wasn’t a chaotic march for escape, no, it was an organized procedure.

It wasn’t something he had ever seen before.

During outbreaks, demons would always attack, completely uncaring for their own survivability.

Yet, all around them, from all across the area they had filled, the demons who were yet alive all ran in coordination towards an epicenter. A tall building that had been broken in a few places, the great skyscraper where the devil had rested!

“Alma, this may be…” Her inflection losing the graceful control, she couldn’t help but speak normally. Slowly, she descended down to his side; her wings’ brightness was nowhere near how it was the previous night.

“Something bad, yeah.” He flexed his legs and tightened his sword, ready to lunge into the fray once again.

At least he didn’t have to worry about any escaping right now.

The fake-angel adjusted her grip on her scythe, ready to hack and slash.

In no time at all, the side of the building began to be covered, a thousand white dots climbing up its length.

It seemed, that no matter how many of them they had killed, it had barely made a dent on their numbers.

“Prepare yourself!” With his warning they readied their blades.

For a moment, the white dots continued climbing the building, with seemingly no sign of stopping.

It was then—

A great white web exploded from the tallest floor!

It descended upon the climbing beasts like a blanked, covering every single one of them. Parts of the web floated off, grabbing the beings and bringing them into the air along itself.

The entire skyscraper had been hidden from view, it was all covered by a great white web.

And, through its entire length, making it seem as if the silk threads were nothing but links between beings, were the demons.

Four threads floating in the air linked by the web, it almost looked like—

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Her voice was filled with a nervous timbre, sweat ran down her head.

A tremor, the two lower threads slammed against the ground. The earth shook with the weight and power.

With the weight of an entire skyscraper held on the two threads made by hundreds of demons, the massive web tore itself from the base of the building at the ground and rose.

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A bright orange eye on the top.

A giant golem made of web and demons.

A hole opened below the orange eye, and what came out from what could only be its mouth was a massive web.

A massive web that darkened the sky, covering half of the area that had been hit by the original blast. A giant cocoon that locked them in.

“What?! It’s locking us in?! Why?!”

“…” He had no certainty but…

If the devil sought to reproduce, it stands to reason that it would want to spread its offspring as far as it could. They all seemed to share a consciousness, on some level, so… if they realized the threat to the objective of “spreading and reproducing” existed, wouldn’t it make sense to create something that wouldn’t be defeated, as long as that meant the continued existence of the species?

In other words, the true objective of this cocoon wasn’t to imprison… it was an egg. That thing… it would use everything it could to form offspring in that egg, be it a huge number or a single behemoth.

“It’s… hot.” The fake-angel brought her hand to her forehead and wiped it. It came off filled with sweat.

“It’s absorbing outside heat.” He eyed the monstrosity above. “We have to kill it, before we die ourselves.” And prepared himself for combat.

The fake-angel took a solemn expression. And with a face of pure determination. “Let’s!”

They had underestimated the power of a devil, believing it could be killed with something as simple as the combat from the previous night.

This was its true power, and they would end it. Regardless of whether the church sent any reinforcements or not, they would not fail.

The fake-angel fluttered through the sky, her wings shining with the light that would purge her enemies.

He prepared himself, the power of his crystals resonating deep with his body.

The two exorcists lunged ahead!

A powerful flexing of his legs took his body to the sky in a blast!

His form shone in the darkness of the web-made dome. A half-crystalized body that charged straight against the enemy.

He raised his sword, and the blood of splattered enemies spread across the entire city coalesced around it!

The city trembled as the beast moved, its legs raised the body that surrounded an entire skyscraper and forced it ahead.

The web moved the hundreds of bodies in its arm into the air, and with all its might it swung down.

He slashed at the air, the blood that coalesced into his own sword met the downing arm with a powerful cut!

Blood and web met. The cutting liquid severing all the thread and forcing the arm down.

In the end of it all, it was just a bunch of web slamming demons around, when it came to power, it simply couldn’t compete.

The beast sought to ram its body ahead, throwing the entire weight of a skyscraper against the airborne exorcist, however—

A dozen beams of light struck true in its chest!

A searing light of continuous beams that purged all it touched!

It cut away threads and seared demons into nothingness.

The beast was forced back, its leg skidding backwards in a desperate motion to prevent it from falling down.

Its movement was rough, every time it moved its limbs impacted against other buildings, shattering constructions and the very road.

“Alma!”

Her scream reached him, and he did not hesitate to act with whatever next action she took.

A screen of hardlight appeared behind him.

He smiled.

Slamming his feet against it, he shot his body towards the monstrosity ahead!

His sword held in his hand once again coated in the blood from the earlier massacre, he had a new method of attack.

Its right arm was already cut partway, and its main body partly seared. What it needed now was to have the rest of its body finished off!

His claw-like crystalized feet slammed against the main body, his sword slamming against the body of a demon nearby.

Putting all his strength into his legs, he used his clawed feet and ran around the demon’s body!

A speed too fast for the human eye to follow, he dragged his sword by his side, slashing away at the creature’s entire body.

No, it wasn’t just his sword, it was his entire body. Spikes that grew out of the legs, a tail, blades that grew out of the elbows, his entire body had turned into a weapon made to slaughter.

He shot around the thing’s body like a bullet, a red dot crossing its body multiple times, and wherever he went, a clear line of crystals forming and restraining it.

The beast tried to move, to raise its feet and throw him off its body, but—

A great golden blade of light slammed against it!

The fake-angel’s outstretched scythe told of the one who unleashed the attack.

And within the next second, she too disappeared.

Like a spinning wheel of golden death, she appeared in the beast’s body, slashing away with golden power!

Demons fell off here and there, threads being cut left and right.

Two fearsome enemies who cut its body apart with reckless abandon!

The red form slammed his sword down, and, bringing his head up, shot towards the sky!

His sword dragging behind him, his body flew high into the sky. Above the aberration, above the body he was meant to cut.

Reaching the peak of his arc, he turned around, eyeing the monstrosity below.

He breathed in, blood coalesced into his sword.

“Ha—!”

He slashed in a wide arc!

A powerful arc of blood that extended from his blade cut at the thing’s body from above! A severe cut that went deep inside.

Yet, he did not stop.

He spun his body and slashed again, and again, and again!

Each swing followed by a bloody slash more violent than the last, cutting away into the monster’s body and making it fall apart.

The beast’s body approached and his fall was drawing to an end. He brought his sword high, surrounding it in blood.

The body came, and he slammed straight into it, sinking his sword deep into its body, delivering a piercing stream of blood!

The attack went all the way through the enemy, coming straight out at the other end.

The giant buckled.

And before it could do anything—

A great beam of light slammed straight into it!

It forced the beast back; its body threatening to lose balance and fall down!

The seared demons were pushed back and disintegrated.

A huge tremor rang out, telling that the beast neared its end.

He slammed down in a nearby building, one that was surprisingly still standing.

The earthquakes and the destructive body of that beast threatened to bring all the surrounding apartments down.

He eyed the falling behemoth.

The ray of light slowly died down, and its body was now frailer than ever. In the end, even this was just a meager attempt at surviving longer.

He brought his sword up, ready to deliver his own final attack.

It was then that the ground shook with a powerful earthquake.

“What?!” The beast wasn’t moving, could it be a regular earthquake, at such a time?!

No, it was something more.

He eyed the beast, and could only widen his eyes as he realized. His crystals, they were shining a dark red.

He hadn’t prompted them to do anything but weaken and restrain what they could. Why were they shining so much as if exerting a great effort?

It was then—

“Wha—”

The body began to regenerate. Silk threads to rebuild, demon bodies to reform healthier than ever.

A beam of light slammed against it, but faster than it ever had before, it brought its hand up, and used it to defend against the purging light.

He saw, then. Near one of the cuts he had made near its head. It was… his own red crystals shining.

The one he had used against the devil on the previous day.

His fists tightened, that thing dared?!

He had willed those pillars to simply turn into normal blood, but if that thing that also controlled life force had gotten a hold of it… it shouldn’t be impossible to subvert an inactive blood crystal.

“Tch. So, that’s how it is.” It was using the blood crystals to heal and strengthen itself… and he had given its entire body whole lot of them.

He wasn’t capable of using his crystals to heal, that was a power born out of the beast that used life-force to create more life, a complete upgrade of his own capabilities.

He clicked his tongue. They had to end this.

“Azza, with me!” He jumped from the roof, out into the air.

Bringing his sword to his side, he unleashed a cutting slash of blood that slammed against the monster and sliced part of its torso once more.

He landed with a skidding halt at an opposing roof.

The fake-angel arrived right by his side.

“I think I have a way to defeat it.”

He only managed to get those words out before the beast slammed its fist against the building, forcing him to jump away.

Jumping from roof to roof, he swung his sword again and again, bloody slash after bloody slash.

“And what is it?” The fake-angel flew by his side, her voice almost inaudible amidst all the destruction and violence.

From her wings, many rays of light flew out to meet the giant’s likeness.

The giant was momentarily stunned by a ray that almost tore its shoulder off, and he took the opportunity to stop once more.

“It’s using my crystals to redirect life force and become stronger.” He narrowed his eyes. “Everything’s being controlled by the one at the top.”

In the end, it made some more sense. If the true meaning behind that devil’s existence was to reproduce, it wouldn’t make sense to have a shared mind. Such a thing would just mean that it was the same beast on many weaker bodies.

Something had to allow it to communicate, and he had the faint idea of how to use those crystals to communicate. At the end, it was life force being used to manipulate and control all.

If he destroyed the source that was moving them…

“You think that if we destroy it, it will die?”

“Yeah.”

She scoffed. “Fine, it’s not like I have much light left, so a gamble like this might be for the best.”

He nodded. “Make me an opening, I’ll deal with the final blow.” His were the powers making that thing stay alive, it was his responsibility to kill it.

“On it!” With those words, she flew away.

The monster recovered, its shoulder once again in the right place. It swung its fist down on the building with unmatched ferocity and speed!

It evolves surprisingly quick with my powers aiding it. The bothersome thought entered his mind.

He supposed it was only natural, given how much he normally weakened his enemies with them.

He jumped around roofs, delivering slashes of blood with every move.

The beast was much too powerful right now, it would be inadvisable to approach with the intent to use all his appendages.

It was relentless, all its movements made with the intent to kill.

The heat of the inside of the egg slowly became more and more, and spontaneous combustion of things would soon be a worry.

Yes, if this next attack wasn’t enough… well, he wouldn’t have enough blood to continue for long, anyway.

That beast had been made mostly out of web, and its insides were a skyscraper. It was an awful matchup for someone who needed things that bled to become stronger.

Would the opening Azza was planning even work? He didn’t know, he could never be sure.

Honestly, he didn’t want to die… and… if this plan didn’t work, he would die.

He couldn’t trust in something he had no control over working. He couldn’t trust and he couldn’t be sure.

But… he could hope.

He smiled. His body was bloody, his red-priestly robes were a mess, and his white hair was colored red.

Even so, even if it was created on blind and foolish belief, he would believe and rely on her for that combat alone, he would relish in the feeling of depending on another. It was a nice change of pace. A power and reach he could never achieve alone.

…if it worked, that is.

He saw her body descending from the heavens, and he knew it was time.

Putting all his hope in that one opening, in that one success. He joined all the remaining blood above his head.

It all coalesced and amalgamated into a great crystal made out of blood, spinning lazily in the air and ready to pierce the main body.

From the clouds, descending in an arc, was the form of a girl enshrouded in light.

In her hands, was a golden scythe whose blade extended into a great golden wing!

She came like a bullet, an emissary of the heavens sent to scythe away life!

The monster of web and crystals turned to her, raising its arms prepared to slap away the fly that came in its way.

Golden light that came in a flash met the swing of the destructive beast. The overwhelming power confronted the purging light, and the result—

Was its body being completely scythed away!

The great slash colored the heavens! Like the closing maw of a dragon, the wing-like blade closed around the beast’s form and severed it!

Its arm fell off, no, more than that, half of its face had been completely cut off without the smallest amount of resistance!

He smiled wildly, the woman encased in waning golden light skidded to a halt against the roof of a building, her scythe dragging her to a halt.

His hope, it seemed, paid off.

After all, it hadn’t met his expectations, rather it had completely blown them off!

The crystal above him spun madly, in his sight was only the exposed crystal inside that thing’s head.

A last-ditch effort that had paid off, the feeding of life force through his own powers. The remnants of a will born from that thing’s web.

He raised his hands up, there was no more doubt!

This was the moment of truth!

Without hesitation, without retreat, his command over the blood thrust the spinning crystal forward!

The shot broke the speed of sound with a crash, a torrent of spinning air left in its wake.

It reached out to the enemy meant to be slain and met it with full force!

Regenerative walls tried to form, to protect the crystal that directed life, but it was completely obliterated by the blood crystal that ended all in its path!

It slammed against the crystal that gave it life, and drilled against it incessantly! A shower of sparks that would set anything ablaze.

And with a final push—

The crystal shattered the life-giver and tore straight through the behemoth’s head!

The monster immediately lost all strength.

Like a puppet whose strings were cut, the web in its entirety fell all around it.

The building nested inside fell against another and almost shattered in its entirety.

Smoke wafted unto the air, and tiredness began to overcome him.

Thrusting his sword into the ground, he used it to support himself.

High above, the dome of web slowly began to be undone.

Slowly, the threads of silk came down on them like a curtain.

And once again he was met with the chill air of the night.

In the distance, he spied the form of Azza, the girl supporting herself in her scythe and smiling at him.

The moon shone high above.

Absentmindedly, he remembered to release a group of holy men he had imprisoned.

And as the destroyed part of town became visible to the rest of the world, he breathed in.

“Finally, it’s over.”

This time for sure, all action originating from the devil had been purged, he had seen with his own eyes.

In the distance, his eyes caught sight of movement.

Darkened forms jumped across the roofs, some going after Azza, some going after him.

It was when they all approached him that he recognized them.

Other exorcists. In the end, it seemed, the church had decided to send more reinforcements.

Thinking about it now… he wouldn’t have minded it.

“Alma.” They greeted him.

“Hey.” He tried to move and greet them properly, but almost fell face first into the roof.

The only thing that prevented him was their arms, who all jumped out to hold onto his body.

“Easy, you idiot.” One of them chided him.

He sighed. His strength was indeed… far from its best.

The exorcists looked at each other, apprehension in their looks. The ones that checked the fake-angel were most certainly doing the same.

After a while, they seemed to come to a consensus. “You exerted yourself too much. We’ll get you to rest, and you get some blood to strengthen you back to health.”

More blood? But I already have blood keeping me healthy, it was all around my body… oh, he remembered, he had used all the blood available for that last attack, that included all the enhancements to his body.

“You can get back to the field after that.” It was as one of them said that, that he became worried.

“Back on field? What do you mean? The devil’s dead, there shouldn’t be any more alarming threats.”

“… we saw that thing before the dome closed. Alma, you and Azza defeating it is extraordinary… but it was alive for too long.”

His eyes widened, realization downing on him.

A devil must be slain quickly, lest not only its overwhelming power destroy everything, but the sheer distortion born from it invited more demons into the world.

“Outbreaks left and right, we are all doing our best.”
“For now, let’s get you and Azza out of here.”
“The church will serve as a good enough place to rest.”

Biting down his lip, he could only nod.

In the end, he had killed and killed, and it still wasn’t over.

He was someone who killed monsters so that people could live safe…  and it seemed… his duty was still not over, there were still more things that stood in the path. He still had many to kill and he would still be hurt a lot, again and again, until all were slain, and the people terrorized now could sleep soundly.

Doing all he could, he tried not to be a nuisance as they carried him back to the church.

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