Alain, Sable, and Danielle caught up to Az just as he turned around a street corner and ran right into a crowd full of blood-soaked demons. Dead civilians littered the streets, as did fallen demons. Spent brass casings and shotgun shells were scattered across the cobblestone, a sign that the humans hadn't gone quietly, but Alain didn't care about that.

As his gaze landed on the children among the fallen civilians, all he saw was red.

Alain snapped his shotgun up to his shoulder and began to fire, moving from target to target as fast as he could. When his shotgun ran dry, he let it hang from its sling and ripped his revolvers from their holsters, and then continued to send rounds downrange. His entire being was cold precision, his mind focused on nothing but killing. And in the state he was in, he simply couldn't miss – his bullets flew as if guided by sheer rage; every round fired met its mark, boring into demon flesh and scattering gore across the pavement.

By the time all of Alain's guns ran dry, it was over. Over a dozen demons lay lifeless on the pavement, their blood and gore mixing in with that of their victims. Alain stood there for a moment, gun barrels smoking and his shoulders heaving, before he began to reload, all while searching for his next target.

"Alain."

Sable's voice only just barely managed to snap him out of it. He paused in the middle of sliding a .45 caliber round into his Single Action Army, then turned towards Sable, only to find her staring at him with concern.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Alain blinked. He stared past her and found Danielle and Az were eyeing him with concern as well. He let out shaky breath, then nodded.

"I'll be fine," he answered. "Just as soon as we can end this nightmare."

"If you're sure-"

"I am." Alain finished sliding the final round into his revolver and snapped the loading gate on it shut, then holstered the weapon and continued on with his other two. "Just as soon as we can figure out where-"

He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence, as the whole city began to shake. The four of them nearly lost their footing; Alain only managed to remain upright because he was able to lean against a nearby building for support. Meanwhile, Sable had to be supported by Az, and Danielle fell to the ground.

"What's happening?!" Danielle called. "Is this an earthquake?!"

"If it is, then I'd be stunned if it were natural!" Alain shouted back. "Az?!"

"Be ready!" Az warned. "We don't know what's coming! Only something with real power would summon such a reckoning"

Alain grit his teeth, trying his hardest to maintain control even as the ground continued to shake. Off in the distance, he watched as the floor suddenly shifted and the pavement split, a jagged gouge tearing a deep scar through the road ahead of them.

It was over almost as soon as it began. After a few seconds, the ground stopped shaking, and a heavy silence fell over the city, interrupted only by the blood that continued to fall from the sky and impact against the ground below. But then, Alain heard it – a chorus of screeches, apparently coming from inside the jagged gouge that had just been torn in the road.

Az took a step back, his eyes widening. "Get ready," he said, "The Scions of Hell approach."

"What do you mean?" Danielle questioned. "Is something coming?"

Az didn't answer, but then, he didn't have to – the screeching came up again, this time closer. Alain swallowed nervously, pulling his Winchester's stock into his shoulder. Danielle readied her revolver, and Sable stepped up, placing herself between Alain and the scar in the road.

A few seconds later, the first of the new demons came flying up out of the gouge in the pavement. They were smaller than the other demons they'd been fighting, but they had thick leathery wings, which carried them through the air easily, and wielded bows of midnight-black obsidian. Alain and Danielle didn't waste any time – they both opened up on the demons, managing to down a few before the arrows began to fly. Az and Sable, to their credit, dove for the two of them, pushing them out of the way of the incoming arrows just in time.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"Fall back!" Az growled. "We need to regroup with the priests!"

"Alright!" Alain agreed. "We'll head back to the cathedral, and-"

A series of gunshots suddenly split the night, and several of the flying demons fell. Alain turned towards the source of the noise, and was stunned to see Father Alex moving forward, flanked by his cadre of priests and nuns. Their normally-white vestments and habits had been completely stained red with blood, but they were all upright and uninjured, and were advancing as they poured fire on the demons.

"You four, fall back!" Father Alex shouted as there was a lull in the gunfire for a moment. "We'll keep you covered!"

Alain didn't get a chance to argue, as Sable suddenly picked him up off his feet. "You heard the man, get moving!" she called.

Alain didn't need to be told twice. Him and Danielle took off running, flanked by several priests and nuns, while Az and Sable followed after them.

XXX

They arrived back at the cathedral in record time, the four of them filing into the church's walls. Father Alex and the rest of his men and women weren't far behind; the moment they were all inside, the doors were slammed shut and barred from the inside, allowing them all a chance to breathe.

"Okay…" Alain managed to get out through the gasps of air he was drawing in. "What now?"

Father Alex didn't say anything at first, instead focusing on reloading his own lever-action rifle between heaving breaths. After a moment, he shook his head. "We need to find out where the ritual is taking place."

"Well, then we've got a problem, because we don't have the slightest clue as to where these idiots have set up shop. We even tried to interrogate a cultist and got nowhere."

Again, Father Alex shook his head. "Trying to interrogate them won't get you anything. Anyone who had even a small amount of sense no doubt left the organization already, or was otherwise dealt with by them; anyone who remains now is little more than a die-hard fanatic."

"Then what do we do?" Sable asked.

"I think it's simple, we-"

Again, the ground began to shake, this time even more intensely than before. All the humans clutched their weapons with white-knuckled grips as they leaned against the nearest wall, when there was an ear-piercing screech that tore through even the thick walls of the cathedral. Alain let his shotgun hang from its sling, and slammed his hands over his ears as he grit his teeth, desperate to keep the noise out. The other humans did the same; in the back of his mind, Alain couldn't help but hope that no demons tried to attack them at this moment, because they would have all made for easy prey.

Just like the first time, it was over after a few seconds. Tentatively, Alain pulled his hands away from his ears, pressing his shotgun against his shoulder in anticipation of an incoming assault. But it never came; rather, another heavy silence fell over the city for a few seconds, before it was interrupted by the demons screeching in unison. To Alain's confusion, the screeches seemed to increase and decrease in pitch and frequency.

"What is this…?" Alain asked.

"It's a chant, it sounds like," Father Alex growled. "But what they could be chanting about, I have no-"

He suddenly trailed off as he looked out a nearby stained glass window, his eyes going wide. Alain followed his gaze, freezing at what he saw. Through the stained glass window, he saw the outline of some kind of large, wicked-looking black spire, looming overhead and jutting out from the center of town.

"Well," Alain said slowly. "I guess we know where the ritual is taking place…"

Father Alex let out a low grunt, then stepped away from the window and began to march through the cathedral.

"Alain, I need you and your friends," Father Alex said without looking back.

"Of course," Alain said, the four of them following after him. "What do you need us for?"

Father Alex just kept walking, even as he spoke.

"I think it's time we start issuing some of God's gifts," he said.

XXX

Father Alex led them down to the underground area. To Alain's surprise, he didn't take them to any of the rooms he expected; rather, he directed them towards the end of the hall, where a large, reinforced-steel door with multiple locks stood. As Alain watched, Father Alex began reaching into his vestments, retrieving a series of keys, which he used to steadily unlock the door.

"What is this…?" Alain asked as he continued to undo the various locks on the door.

"Like I said, these are God's gifts, the treasure of the church," Father Alex replied with a grunt. "Feel free to help yourselves."

With that, he undid the final lock and threw the door open before stepping aside. And the moment he did, Alain's eyes went as wide as dinner plates.

Inside the room were racks upon racks of weapons and boxes of ammunition. Just from what he could immediately see, they had rows and rows of repeating rifles and shotguns, many of which he couldn't even recognize. The ammunition boxes, curiously enough, were all marked with a cross, which he found ironic. But the crown jewel of the entire arsenal stood in the center of the room on a tripod. Tentatively, Alain pointed at it.

"Pardon my language, but what the hell is that thing?"

He was motioning towards a large, brass-coated, multi-barreled gun operated by a crank of some kind. Father Alex stepped up alongside him, and crossed his arms.

"That's a Gatling gun," Father Alex said, sounding for all the world like a proud father. "It fires .45-70 caliber ammunition at a rate of 200 rounds per minute and can fire 36 rounds before needing to be reloaded."

Alain let out a low whistle. "And the other stuff?"

"Repeating rifles and shotguns, mostly," Father Alex confessed. "But that's not the real treasure."

He stepped forwards and reached for a box of ammunition, pulling the top off and retrieving a bullet from inside, which he tossed to Alain. Alain turned the round over in his hands until his gaze landed on its base, where a cross had been stamped into the brass.

"Cartridges and shotgun shells, courtesy of the Vatican itself," Father Alex reported. "Each of these rounds has already been consecrated. A single one of these will put down a lesser demon as easily as you or I would squash a bug. And like I said, feel free to help yourselves."

Alain nodded, and together with his friends, stepped into the room. He immediately breached his shotgun and emptied his revolvers before loading up on consecrated munitions, while Danielle gravitated towards one of the nicer-looking lever guns and grabbed a bandoleer of consecrated rifle rounds. To Alain's surprise, Az immediately moved over to the Gatling gun, ripping it off its tripod and throwing it over his shoulder. His eyes widened at the sight of it.

"I didn't think you were interested in using guns," he said.

"I greatly dislike dispassionate savagery," Az replied. "This, however?" The corners of his mouth quirked upwards as he motioned with his head to the gun on his shoulder. "This savagery puts a smile on my face."

Sable, for her part, understood what Az was getting at right away. She followed him into the room, and after a bit of direction from Father Alex, started loading up on .45-70 ammunition.

Once they had all loaded up, they regrouped next to Father Alex, who gave them a nod.

"Excellent," he said. "I'll get the rest of my men and women, and then it's time we took the fight directly to them." His face suddenly darkened. "First, we must prepare our final communion."