Surrounded by the darkness of the abyss and standing on the puddle deep water beneath her feet, Sierra stood, looking into the darkness, her back towards a young eastern boy, not older than twelve. The young lad looked malnourished, his eyes looked like they had not experienced sleep in a while, he wore torn and dirty clothes that did not hide the scars and bruises on his arms.
"Who are you ma'am?", the young boy asked.
Sierra smiled and turned her face slightly towards the young boy, "I am Sierra, and I am a god... or... goddess...", Siera replied.
"A god?"
"Yes", Sierra faced the boy, her entire head was now faced towards him, "I am here to help thee rid of thy problems"
"Really?, did you hear my prayers?"
"Oh I most certainly did, and I believe that thou art deserving of my blessing"
"Really? really? What is my blessing?", the young boy asked enthusiastically, excited at the thought of receiving a blessing from a god.
"I can give thee powers, similar to the ones that the saints had"
"Whoah! So... I will be able to walk on water like saint Griffith?"
"Well... not quite"
"What will my power be then?"
"If thou wishes to accept my blessing, thou shall be as strong as saint Guts, those bastards that beat you to a pulp, no longer will you have to grovel at their feet"
"I don't understand"
"You won't have to be beat up anymore"
"Wait... so I will now be able to beat them in a fight?"
"Indeed"
"What else?"
Sierra flashes a face of confusion at the young boy, "Thou does not have a clue on what saint Guts' powers are?"
"I don't, I only hear about saint Griffith"
Sierra turns her entire body to face the young boy and chuckles, "Well.. saint Guts faced an entire army, an army of a hundred men but he came out on top"
"How did he do that?"
"He could not die... whenever his arms got cut off, they would just grow back and whenever a blade pierced his body, his wounds would just heal"
"Will I be able to do that?"
"Yes, but there's a catch"
"What is it?"
"If thou art unable to wake up from death by the hour, thou shall fall into the after life, if there is one that is", she said as she approached the young boy, "Thou also won't be able to heal thy wounds if the remain amputated for more than hour"
"Why?", the young boy asked with curiosity in his eyes.
"Well... that's just how it is", she said as she knelt down to the young boy's level.
"Will... will I no longer go hungry?"
"That depends on thee, but so long as thou makes the right decisions, thou shall no longer have to go a night without food. So do you accept?"
"Yes... I want to become a powerful like a saint"
"Well then, I am glad to hear that, in this life of darkness, may greatness find thee"
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Relentless Slaughter:
Chapter 9: His eyes, returning to normal...
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Ijin Yu was awoken from his sleep by a sound of a horde of people running on the tight cramped streets below. Ijin sat up from the sofa he slept on and looked to the shattered but still functional timepiece on the coffee table. His vision was still blurry, he rubbed his eyes and looked to the timepiece once more to see that it was 2:30 AM
"You've been sleeping for an hour", Adelaide said, sipping on a hot cup of tea as she sat on a chair some distance behind Ijin.
"You've been watching me?"
Adelaide sipped on her tea, "I was just about to wake you up, apparently the fire is getting really bad out there, Aiko said we're gonna have to leave"
Ijin attempted to move his prosthetic arm but failed to do so, it seemed to have become jammed in place. Adelaide put her teacup down on a nearby desk and went to another room. Moments later, the doctor comes out with a small toolbox and approached Ijin.
"Tsk... It keeps jamming", Adelaide muttered under her breath as she recalibrated the prosthetic.
Ijin looked outside to see rain beginning to pour down from the sky as the hordes of people below continued to run. As Adelaide continued fiddling with the prosthetic, the sound of the rain outside became louder and louder by the moment, eventually drowning out the sounds of the people below.
The prosthetic clanked, it's cogs turned with every turn of Adelaide's screwdriver. Adelaide's face grew frustrated and she moved her face closer to the prosthetic.
"Come on!"
Ijin hears a commotion next door, the sound of thuds, footsteps and eventually a loud scream of a woman. Adelaide hears this too and hastens her work on the prosthetic. The door handle to Adelaide's apartment turns and shakes while someone banged on it loudly.
Ijin's prosthetic arm makes a clanking noise and he is able to move it once more.
"Finally!", Adelaide exclaimed.
Ijin walked up to the door and peeped through the peeking hole to find multiple beast type Anomalies standing there, banging on the wooden door, it would soon be broken down Ijin thought.
"Who's there?", Adelaide asked with worry on her face.
"Stay back", Ijin motioned to Adelaide, grabbing the silver sword Aiko gave him.
The door got pushed and banged and knocked, with each and every push, the door got closer to slamming open. Eventually, the door slammed open, the multiple beast Anomalies funnelled into the room.
One of the beasts glared at Ijin and charged at him, in response, Ijin lunged at the beast with his blade and stabbed it in the heart. With his blade still piercing the corpse of the Anomaly, he charged towards the remaining Anomalies and launched a flurry of cut, causing the corpse on his sword to be ripped in half along with the multiple living Anomalies.
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"Be careful!", Adelaide exclaimed to Ijin.
The two remaining Anomalies back away from Ijin before lunging at him simultaneously, Ijin responded by stabbing one in the heart and bashing the other's face with his metal prosthetic arm. With a deformed face, the beast screams in agony before it's heart was pierced by Ijin's silver blade.
Ijin looked around in the dark halls of the building for a moment before looking to Adelaide, "Grab your things, we need to leave"
...
June 22, 1789
2:48 A.M.
On the rooftops of the Kingpin quarter, Aiko stands on a balcony of the tallest building within the region, looking towards the tall 26 meter high walls that surrounded the Kingpin quarter, walls that prevented most individuals from leaving.
As the rain continued to fall, a Silverblood(Aiko's second in command) approaches her from behind.
"Aiko", the Silverblood called out to her.
"Riro..."
Riro stands beside Aiko as she sighed heavily.
"How bad is it?", Aiko asked Riro.
"Teams 7, 4, 8 and 9 are gone, the amount of Anomalies in the area is rapidly increasing"
Aiko sighed heavily, "Riro... do you think our plan has got a chance?"
Riro lights a cigarette and puts it to his mouth, Aiko looks at him as he breathes out the smell of tobacco, "We will survive, like we always do"
Riro offers Aiko a cigarette, Aiko accepts the offer as she says: "That outcome seems so far away"
"Aiko... even when Ijin left us at the worst point of our lives, we still managed didn't we?, Plus Ijin is back with us"
"That's different...", Aiko says as she exhales tobacco from the cigarette she used.
"Perhaps, but who's to say the outcome will also be different?, maybe it will remain the same"
"I... I appreciate your efforts to reassure me..."
Aiko drops her cigarette to tbe floor and stomped on it, killing the flame in her cigarette, the smell of tobacco still in the air. She heads down to a lower level of the building, along with Riro. She stands on a balcony on the third floor which overlooked one of the only open areas in the Kingpin quarter, a sort of courtyard. There, 150 Silverbloods stood, waiting for the words of their leader.
Aiko holds her throat and looks to her people, "SILVERBLOODS!!"
All their eyes became focused on her, "FOR ALL YOUR LIVES, YOU'VE BEEN JAILED IN THIS DUMP BY THOSE BASTARDS IN THE HIGHER DISTRICTS"
Aiko breathes heavily before continuing, "THAT CHANGES TODAY, TODAY YOU WILL LEAVE THIS DUMP, TODAY IS THE DAY YOU GET ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THAT DAMM WALL!!!", Aiko pointed to the walls.
The Silverbloods cheer and praise their leader loudly.
"ARE YOU GONNA LET THE WORDS OF SOME BASTARD LORD LET YOU ROT HERE?"
"NO", the Silverbloods said in unison, even the loud noise of the rain could drown out their voices.
"ARE YOU GONNA LET YOURSELF DIE BY FIRE?"
"NO"
"ARE YOU GONNA LET SOME ANIMALS KILL YOU?"
"NO"
Aiko raised her right arm into the air, "LONG LIVE THE SILVERBLOODS!"
"LONG LIVE THE SILVERBLOODS!!!"
Aiko began reminiscing the day when Ijin returned...
Ijin, let's see if your end of the deal holds up.
...
June 19, 1789...
"Oh Ijin, what could you possibly do for me?", Aiko asked the single armed Ijin Yu, her face full of smugness.
"You can ask me to do a task that's beyond your reach", Ijin said with conviction in his voice.
"A task beyond my reach?, well if you are willing to turn me into a goddess, I might be willing to consider"
"Aiko, please, this isn't an appropriate time for your sarcasm"
"There is no such thing as a time bad for jokes and sarcasm"
"Aiko, I know you're pissed at me for leaving you behind but I wish to make up with you, even if you don't forgive me"
Aiko closes her eyes and thinks in silence for a moment. Ijin waits in anticipation for an answer when Aiko opens her eyes, she gazes into Ijin's eyes and says: "How far are you willing to go?"
"You've always wanted to go beyond the walls that jail us inside Kingpin quarter, do you still feel the same?"
Aiko chuckles, "Are you serious?, you're gonna help me out of this dump?"
"Yes, but not just you, if you are willing to help me, I will help not just you, but your entire gang leave the Kingpin quarter"
...
Present time...
Aiko stares into the crowd of Silverbloods and finds Ijin and Adelaide in the crowd. Ijin nods his head at Aiko. Aiko grins and gestures for him to come...
...
Ijin and Adelaide walk into a room. In a dark corner of the room, Riro and Aiko sat on a sofa with a coffee table in front of them.
"Take a seat", Aiko offered a seat to the two.
Ijin accepted but Adelaide remained standing at the door, still frustrated at Aiko's words about her brother.
"What now?", Ijin asked.
"We use the sewers that lead to the industrial district", Riro explained.
"I know that much already, I meant what do I need to do?"
Aiko lays down two maps, one of the complex and maze-like sewer system below, it seemed rather unfinished. While the other illustrated the area around the entrance to the sewer system.
"You will be leading the scouting team in the sewers, you are one of the only ones who managed to navigate that maze successfully, multiple times might I add"
"Will that be all?"
"Well ye-", Aiko was about to say when Silverblood barges into the room and disturbs the meeting. His left eye, he could barely open, it was bruised. His clothes, soaked in blood while his left arm was broken. Everyone in the room stared at him as he dropped to his knees in exhaustion.
"Those animals, they killed everyone"
Adelaide instinctively laid the Silverblood down and began treating his wounds. Aiko approached the injured Silverblood and knelt down.
"What happened?", Aiko asked as Riro and Ijin stood behind her.
"Ther-... ther... there was... a... a thing... a massive thing... as big as a... uh... buil- building... yes... a building"
As Ijin and Aiko looked at each other, a animalistic scream echoed out from outside followed by the sound of a gunshot and the Silverbloods shouting.
Ijin, Riro and Aiko ran outside to find the Silverbloods scrambling, running to somewhere.
Aiko grabbed a Silverblood who was running and asked him, "What is happening?"
"There's some massive Anomaly over there", he said as he pointed to the rooftops.
Everyone looked to the rooftops and saw a massive two-story tall goat headed Anomaly that had leaped towards them, it was about to land in the courtyard.
Every Silverblood in the courtyard scattered and spread out, dust flew into the air when the goat-headed Anomaly landed.
Riro, Ijin and Aiko along with the Silverbloods in the surrounding area unsheathed their weapons.
"That thing is massive", Aiko remarked just as Ijin ran towards it.
"IJIN", Riro attempted to call out to the Black Heart hunter.
Ijin had realised something:
The Silverbloods, no matter how many of them were willing to fight had little to no chance at beating this thing, without the firepower, skills and hunting techniques of the Black Heart hunters, no one could win against something like that.
The goat-headed beast roared loudly at the sight of Ijin and attempted to smash Ijin with its massive hands.
Ijin used the beast's arm as a way to get closer to it, he climbed up on top and began cutting away at it as he ran towards the beast. In the blink of an eye, the beast's arm had been cut to pieces and Ijin was now standing at the beast's shoulder, the Silverbloods watched the scene in awe.
"It feels wonderful does it not?", Sierra's voice echoed in Ijin's mind.
The beast shook it's body violently, hurling Ijin some distance away. Ijin landed on his feet and stabbed the ground with his silver blade to halt the momentum caused by the beast's reaction.
"Doest thou regret casting me aside yet?", Sierra's voice asked.
"No", Ijin said as he charged towards the beast once more.
The beast swung it's regenerating arm at Ijin as he ducked down and slid towards it and reached it's legs.
The beast stomped and thrashed around before Ijin managed to cut it's ankles, causing it to fall over.
"It's not over yet Ijin", Sierra warned as the beast began growing tentacle-like limbs, a dozen of them.
Aiko did not hesitate and began hacking away at the beast, the rest of the Silverbloods followed.
"BURN IN HELL!!", a Silverblood shouted as he and a few others hurled fire bottles at the beast, causing it to be set ablaze.
The goat-headed beast thrashed around, causing debris to fly and some Silverbloods to die.
8 out of the 12 tentacle-like limbs attempted to attack Ijin, in response, Ijin closed the distance as he launched a flurry that cut the tentacle-like limbs to bits.
The beast began growing more limbs, eventually becoming completely unrecognizable, it now looked more like an octopus or squid now.
"Gross isn't it?", Sierra whispered into Ijin's mind.
"Will you shut up?", Ijin said as he charged towards the beast.
The beast's tentacles attack Ijin in a stabbing motion which he dodges, Aiko and Riro were not so lucky, Riro was stabbed in the shoulder and Aiko was forced to retreat to a safer distance.
The beast screamed out and manages to grab Ijin and throwing him up in the air, around 20 meters in the air.
"Ijin!!", Aiko screamed outz her face filled with despair.
"Thy ally truly cares about thee", Sierra's voice remarks.
Ijin's face flashed a look of disappointment, he closed his eyes and says, "Sierra... I will give you a moment, only a moment"
"Really?", Sierra asked, almost enthusiastically, like a child that had been given a gift.
"Only for a moment", Ijin reminded Sierra.
"I'd be happy to do so", Sierra said as Ijin continued to fall. Ijin's eyes became dark, much like the abyss, his veins began to show and he got into a strange fighting stance.
His face was calm as he fell.
Like lightning, he fell to the ground with a speed that could not be seen with the human eye, dust flew into the air and blood particles flew.
"IJIN!", Aiko shouted.
When the dust had settled, Ijin was kneeling on one knee, his back toward the beast.
A few moments later, the beast began bleeding, another moment later, the beast was now in bits and pieces, blood flew everywhere, both in liquid form and gas form.
The Silverbloods looked at Ijin in silence and awe, Ijin lifted his head to look at everyone. His eyes, returning to normal...
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Relentless Slaughter:
Chapter 9: His eyes, returning to normal...
Chapter end
To be continued...