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Author's guide:
This is narration
This is a character's thoughts
"This is a character speaking"
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25th of June, 1789
It was a pitch black night within Eichenheim. The streets were flooded from the heavy downpour of rain that was relentless. The advanced drainage system that was installed into Eichenheim's streets could not last and so sewage water mixed with the blood of corpses and the raindrops. The water was already at knee depth, it wouldn't be optimal to engage in combat with an Anomaly in conditions such as these.
A silhouette of a man could vaguely be seen jumping from rooftop to rooftop with agility that only befitted a monster. After a while of travelling using the rooftops of factories, offices and other industrial structures as surfaces he could stand on, he'd end up on the edge of the district. He looked down on the edge of the concrete structure he was on top of and made an attempt to see the train tracks that were below him, yet only darkness greated him.
"This darkness isn't natural," Sierra remarked in Ijin's voice.
"Tell me something I don't already know," Ijin responded rudely.
"How?, we're practically share the same brain," Sierra remarked with a false tone of confusion.
Ijin did not respond, not wanting to deal with Sierra's mind games. Instead, he continued on, jumping onto an office building that was around 40-50 meters in front of him and catching the wet ledge, just barely managing to hold on, its cold wet surface did not help.
"Close one there," Sierra remarked.
Ijin climbed up onto the rooftop of the structure he held onto before proceeding to leaping to another. The cold air of the night touched his hardened pale skin. The unpleasant smell of sewage water and blood was prevalent, even on the rooftops.
"Halt!" Sierra's alarming voice pierced the sound of the heavy rain.
"Tsk," Ijin stopped, crouching down onto the rooftop.
"A powerful cousin is near," Sierra warned.
"What kind?"
"An Eldritch type, as you call them"
"Is it the heart or body?"
"Both, plus a puppet"
Ijin clutched his silver blade tightly, attempting to survey his surroundings using his superior sense of hearing and intuition. He calmed his breathing and focused his entire body, entering a sort of meditative state where even the downpour of rain could not be heard. After a few minutes, Ijin hears an unusual noise somewhere out west, it sounded like a floorboard creeking. Ijin exited his meditative state and made a dash towards the source of the noise.
"It knows where we are, I can feel its senses gazing upon us," Sierra warned as Ijin lunged towards an open window that lead him into an office building.
"It's not here, something is with here but it isn't our prey?" Sierra warned.
"Then what?" Ijin inquired as footsteps sounded out from behind him.
"I DON'T WANT TO!" A familiar female voice screamed out as the sound of footsteps got closer.
Ijin instinctively ducked down, managing to dodge an attack from a machete. Ijin spun around and kicked his attacker, pushing her back a meter or two. Ijin stared at his attacker in disbelief, he pointed his blade to the wooden floorboards beneath his cold leather boots.
"Rheanna?" Ijin called out to his attacker.
Ijin stared at his attacker, her once beautiful hazel eyes were replaced with red grafted flesh that looked grotesque, it looked similar to a Weaver's webbing. On her head was a large parasite, it was difficult to see due to the darkness but blood dripped down her forehead. Her legs were grotesque, they were bloodied, some spots were exposed to the elements, pure bone could be seen. Her legs looked to be glued together by Weaver webbing, they looked like they were about to fall apart at any given moment.
"I-Ijin, i-is that you?" Rheanna's voice shivered as she managed to speak out. Her once carefree persona crumbled completely, just from the sound of her voice, it felt as if she was on the verge of tears; if tears could even fall from the blank spot of her face that is.
"I-Ijin, are you there?" Rheanna called out again, her voice cracked with every syllable.
Ijn's eyes narrowed slowly, he raised his blade as he stepped back from Rheanna.
"Sierra, where's that bastard who did this?" Ijin asked.
"Ijin, who are you talking to?" Rheanna asked with confusion in her voice.
"Above you, rooftop," Sierra communicated telepathically.
The parasite on Rheanna's head forced her to lunge at Ijin with machete in hand. Ijin parried the blow and kicke her away before dashing out the open window and beginning to climb. The parasite forced Rheanna to do the same and so she climbed the building in pursuit of Ijin.
"Ijin, are you still there? I-I didn't ki-kill you did I?" Rheanna shivered as she asked out loud.
Ijin climbed the building with great speed, reaching a balcony and jumping onto the rooftop. Ijin could feel a sense of dread, the atmosphere was tense and heavy. He looked onwards and saw a silhouette of a humanoid figure around 10 meters in front of him. The thing had a massive head that looked like beating heart, it was connected directly to the torso and it had no neck. It did not have eyes but veins were spread out all over its grotesque fleshy body.
"That's the heart, go!" Sierra screamed into Ijin's mind.
Ijin lunged at the figure, blade in hand with the eyes of a hunter before making an attempt to plunge his blade into its heart. The tip of his sword touched the being's flesh before he felt his entire body sent flying towards the edge of the rooftop. Ijin braced and managed to catch the cold wet edge just before he fell of the building entirely.
"It's the body," Sierra warned.
"What kind?" Ijin inquired.
"A Winter lantern most likely"
Ijin climbed up and focused his gaze onto the figure, its body was darkened, it looked more like a shadow than a living being.
"Dodge right!" Sierra warned.
Ijin dodged to his right, he felt an invisible force to his left, he breathed a sigh of relief for but a moment.
"It's to the building behind you," Sierra warned.
Ijin turned his head around hastily, finding another darkened figure standing proudly on top a building. The figure moved its hand around, Ijin felt dread run through his being and dodged once more. He looked to the Winter lantern once more but it was gone, replaced by the darkness of the night.
Ijin focused his gaze on the heart once more before lunging towards the shadowy figure.
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"Let me go!" Rheanna's voice pleaded, appearing in front of the heart, becoming a meat shield.
Ijin stopped in place immediately, thinking of his options.
"Move!" Sierra warned.
Ijin dashed to the left, avoiding an attack from the winter lantern that could not be seen.
"Where?" Ijin asked as Rheanna lunged towards him.
"It's beside you," Sierra said.
Ijin felt the atmosphere change in an instant, he felt a touch on his right shoulder, he looked and found a hand that invaded his space.
Looking up slightly, he found the winter lantern, its head had many eyes, too many to count. Its eyes flickered light for a moment before Ijin slashed its head within a nanosecond, too little time for the Anomaly to enthrall him with insanity.
The thing stumbled backwards, blood dripping from its supposed forehead down to the cold concrete ground. Ijin lunged at the dammed creature launching a barrage of cuts with his silver blade.
Rheanna suddenly appeared in front of the Anomaly, causing her to be cut by Ijin's attack.
"It hurts!" Rheanna cried out before Ijin realised and backed away.
The Winter lantern moved its hand before the ground beneath Ijin cracked. A cascade of curses escaped Ijin's mouth. He clutched his blade tightly. Before long, pieces of concrete broke off from beneath him. Ijin dashed out of the way, but chunks of concrete would be hurled towards him which he managed to dodge successfully.
Suddenly, the sound of what seemed to be a crossbow firing echoed out. Not a moment later, a silver stake pierced the head of the winter lantern.
"Go Ijin!" A familiar male voice screamed out.
Ijin dashed towards the heart, Rheanna's body followed but a man lunged at her. The man pinned her down to the cold concrete before unsheathing a dagger and begun cutting at the parasite on her head.
Ijin lunged at the heart, blade in hand. He launched a flurry of strikes, cuts and blows at the heart. Within a few seconds, it was bleeding profusely, blood splattered all over the place. And then it was over, the heart was dead, its body laid out on the concrete, covered in its own crimson fluids.
Ijin Yu breathed a sigh of relief before looking back at Rheanna, the parasite on her head was dead, its corpse laid out on the ground. On top of her was Hunter K. who was still pinning her down onto the concrete.
"Let her go, she's unconscious by now," Ijin told the hunter.
Hunter K. carefully let go of the unconscious Rheanna and began to approach Ijin.
"You look horrible," Hunter K. remarked with his signature accent.
Ijin looked at Hunter K in disbelief, his clothes were torn and blood covered his entire body. His right hand was missing its thumb and bloodied bandages covered parts his body.
"You really have the gall to say that when you look like this?" Ijin asked.
"Atleast I'm not missing an entire arm," Hunter K jested.
"Whatever helps you cope mister Kasprowicz,"
"Dear god, don't call me that,"
"Why the hell are you here?"
"Been hunting that bastard for a while, I don't appreciate you stealing my kill,"
"It's your fault for not killing it sooner,"
"You make it sound likes it's as easy as eating breakfast,"
Ijin chuckled slightly, he approached Rheanna's unconscious body and picked her up from the concrete.
"Are you with anyone?" Ijin inquired.
"Not really, been alone for a damm while," Hunter K explained.
"Weren't you the driver of the train? You're pretty crap at it, don't do it again."
"First of all, it ain't driver, it's operator. Second, it ain't my bloody fault that some Eldritch bastard derailed my train," K rambled on.
"Wait, did you hunt down this thing for retribution? For a goddamm train of all things?"
"Well... it's partly true, let's put it at that"
"Heavens, do you have a camp nearby?"
"As a matter of fact, I have a mansion all to myself," Hunter K jested as he walked towards the staircase.
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Relentless Slaughter
Chapter 14: Trust, Traitor
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Hannah jumped just before debris hit the floor she stood on. Debris flew all over the place, scattered in the wind. The large complex collapsed due to the sheer force of the hurled objects.
Hannah plummeted to the streets below, debris surrounding her. Hannah managed to barely catch a loose balcony ledge of a nearby building. Hannah clutched tightly and climbed on and moved towards inside the building just before the balcony fell to the streets below.
Hannah made a dash for the stairs and descended the building with haste. Reaching the streets below, she hesitate to immediately begin trudging through the foul knee deep waters.
Before long, Hannah would reach the large apartment complex where she saw the old man. The doors were stuck, glued together by Weaver webbing, blood and flesh. Hannah blasted it open with her shotgun and proceeded onwards.
Inside, it was like a human body, flesh and organ-like objects adorned the concrete structure. Loud screams echoed out, causing Hannah to shudder in discomfort. She looked around frantically and saw four demons charging towards her.
Hannah's fingers twitched as she held onto the trigger of her shotgun. Hannah dashed towards the demons with a wrathful battle cry.
She lunged at the closest demon and pierced its heart before firing her shotgun, blowing the corpse to oblivion, chunks of flesh and blood splattered the ground. Two more approached and attacked from two sides simultaneously. Hannah backed away but was lacerated in her left arm in the process.
Hannah fired upon the demons with her shotgun, eviscerating one's head, pieces of brain tissue flying with blood and flesh. Hannah followed up by lunging at the other hell spawn with her bayonet and piercing its flesh, destroying its dammed heart.
Disgusting filth, ugh...
Hannah pushed on further, deeper into the organic complex she found herself in, killing every Anomaly that deigned to appear before her.
She ran around the labyrinthine of organic matter and flesh until she found what remained of the stairwell. She climbed the stairs, her footsteps echoing against metal, concrete and crimson liquid. Eventually reaching the endpoint, no longer she could climb up any further.
She headed for an open doorway, finding herself in what was a hallway, now a wreck of debris and corpses. Concrete walls were torn open like paper by an unknown being and the entire district could be seen by Hannah.
"Hannah~" A voice of a familiar old man said.
Hannah's eyes darted all over the place, her shotgun prepared to fire.
It's that bastard, thst damm traitorous dog, I'll spill his guts and feed his head to the rats when I get to him.
From the corner of her eye, she saw a small creature moving slowly towards her. Hannah aimed her shotgun and fired upon the filthy thing.
"That's not me, sorry to say," the old man said mockingly.
"I'll kill you, you sick dog!" Hannah said out loud.
Hannah could hear the old man chuckling to himself, laughing, "That's not how you talk to your elders missy, you need to learn some respect,"
A loud ear ringing cry of what seemed to be a bird echoed throughout the district. Hannah had to cover her ears due to the sheer volume of the sound. She looked around frantically in a sort of daze just before the sound had stopped, and it was silent once more.
What the hell was that? An Eldritch bastard? Why the hell does it have to be an Eldritch filth?
And then the chaos begun again. The complex shook violently. Hannah was thrashed around the room, almost falling off the building entirely, only being able to stop her fall by clinging onto a concrete pillar.
Dammit, what the hell? My shotgun... What a load of crack, did it fall off the ledge?
Hannah felt a large presence that loomed over her. Hannah's eyes darted around the darkness of the night, eventually landing on a hole in the wall.
It took a moment for her eyes to adjust but when her eyes did, she saw a large creature. Seemingly 20 meters tall perhaps, and had the vague appearance of a crow.
What?
...
Hunter K. swung the doors open to the doors to a dishevelled office building. He leads Ijin inside the place, Ijin obliged.
"Sorry for the mess, lay Rheanna down there," Hunter K. said, pointing to a makeshift bed.
"Couldn't you find a better place?" Ijin asked.
"Hey, this is the best I could do"
Ijin laid the unconscious Rheanna on the makeshift bed made of scraps of tables, wooden boards and cloth that were found around the place.
"I'll handle her," Hunter K. said, bringing a medical box.
"Can I trust you? Or will you handle her like you handled that train?"
"My god, will you shut up about that damm train?" Hunter K. opened the medical box and took out a few items.
Ijin sits down beside a kettle and a gas stove. He looked at the pile of canned food that were scattered about.
"Well now what?" Ijin asked.
"What do you mean?" Hunter K. asked.
"What do we do now?"
"Well... we venture to the residential district"
"Why?"
"The hunters and the military established a stronghold there"
"That so?"
"Yep, they haven't contacted me for a while though, I don't really know why"
"Johan and the others... are they fine?"
"Johan took the mantle of leadership, Rachel's been missing, I think"
"Old man is in charge again?"
"Something wrong about that?"
"I feel a bit uneasy about that"
"Why? Is it related to the Solderheim Massacre?"
"Yeah... I don't think I can fully trust him after that"
...
December 7, 1782
Ijin Yu runs through the streets of Solderheim as the heavens pour down rain.
Screams of people echoed throughout the night. Hundreds of demons are running around the city.
Ijin arrives at Gerfardo street and finds the place devoid of any life. Many dead corpses of civilians were scattered about. The roads and walls were coated with the blood of the innocents.
Ijin treads carefully, blade in hand and eyes full of determination.
And then...
Ijin finds a statue of the national hero; Emilia Shakespeare, she was in a gesture of embrace, her figure looked holy and a sign of hope whilst completely coated in crimson. And in the surrounding area were the bodies of his dead comrades.
And standing before the statue was two figures. One was a demon, the other was Johan...
The demon placed its hand on Johan's forehead. Johan was kneeling, his eyes were shut and his hands were in held tightly together. It looked like he was begging the demon for mercy, perhaps even worshipping it.
"I have done what thou had wished" Johan said.
"The father will be proud of thee," the demon replied.
"Praise the father!" Johan chanted.
Ijin dashed towards the demon, blade in hand. He sliced the demon's head clean off and stabbed it in the heart.
Ijin looked at Johan, his face was a mix of confusion shock and horror. He looked at Ijin with wide open eyes, attempting to speak but he stumbled on his own words.
"Sir... Johan... what the hell was that about?"
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Relentless Slaughter
Chapter 14: Trust, Traitor
Chapter end
To be continued