Chapter 43: Raining Devils
No POV:
"What?!"
Yuri stared at Nightmare with an outraged look.
"I said what I said... The plan’s changed. The longer a summoned devil stays, the harder the subjugation would be. Meaning we can no longer use the Scar Devil."
"But you said—"
"However," Nightmare cut him off, "That doesn’t mean he has become useless."
Bringing out a codex and brushing the dust off it, Nightmare spoke again. "I found a way... A way to summon our King directly."
Yuri’s eyes widened. Up until now, he was made to understand that a devil that would be summoned through the summoning ritual couldn’t be predetermined. Meaning that it was all random...
So seeing that Nightmare had the very thing that could contradict that made things so much easier.
"Although it may seem easier now, it is, in reality, far from that..."
Yuri raised an eyebrow. "How so?"
"When we succeed, bear in mind that we are no where near powerful enough to subjugate him."
"That’s where the Scar Devil comes in." Yuri concluded in understanding.
"Exactly. As you know, a devil in possession of a human’s body gains full control over the body after said human dies," he said, going through the pages...
"In theory, the Scar Devil should be strong enough to bring him to his knees in his weakened state. When that happens, we’ll bring him back with us."
Then, he looked at Yuri:
"Your new objective is to kill the boy, allow the Scar Devil to take over and bring him to me."
Yuri grinned. He still got to kill the boy. This was good...
Nightmare closed the codex and clenched his fist.
"This time we must succeed, no matter what..."
~~~~~
"Oh no.... No no no..."
Axel stared at the incoming object. It was coming in hot. Almost like an asteroid...
And it was heading directly towards them.
[Shit.]
**BOOM**
It crashed into the street, creating an explosion as it slammed into the ground.
"Ack—!"
Axel was fast enough to pull Milley out of the way as they were blown away by the blast.
He quickly carried her an ran to the safest place he could see — an alley down the street.
Milley was shaking. Things were moving way too fast for her, leaving her disoriented.
**BOOM**
Another slammed into the ground behind them, sending him flying.
The alley was in sight, but reaching it proved more difficult than he thought.
"Whoa!"
Dodging a car that was blown towards them, he kept running towards the alley.
The "asteroids" came down like rain. Raising fire and debri all over the place.
"Shit!"
Sliding into the alley, an "asteroid" slammed into the building beside him.
Axel peeked outside. His eyes widened...
The "asteroids" that fell earlier started to move. Soon, it straightened and took the form of a devil.
It stretched it’s back, creating a sickening *crack, pop* sound.
Another one rose...
Then another...
And another...
Soon, the whole street descended into chaos as it became clear that devils were literally falling from the sky.
Milley clutched his hoodie, tears streaming down her face.
She was scared...
’Shit... what am I going to do?’
"Huh?"
In his field of vision, the system appeared.
He stared at the screen for a few moments before understanding what it was.
A map... it was a map...
It was a mini map, showing a green dot at one end, and a red one on the other end.
In-between the dots was a labryinth of sorts...
Showing various corners and dead ends.
Within them, there were smaller red dots...
"One... Two... Three... Four..." He counted.
"Eight. Eight dots... what does this mean?"
[Host Location Recored. Safe Zone marked.]
[New Objective: Bring Civilians to Safe Zone]
He blinked as he stared at the notification...
[Casualties Avoided: 0/8]
[Failure to complete this would result in the deaths of innocent civilians.]
It was at this moment that he knew what the system meant.
’Ohh, this map is showing me where the people I’m supposed to save are and I’m supposed to bring them here, where it’s safe’
Same as the time he faced the Crimson Griffin...
"Hades," he called. "How many devils are we talking about?"
[Hmm... my closest guess would be about 20 of them.]
’Wait...’ He stopped himself just as he was about to move...
Was it reasonable to leave a six year old here alone?
Sure this was a "safe zone" but he couldn’t just leave her there without a way to keep an eye on her.
And he knew that it would be even more dangerous to take her with him...
He turned to Milley. She was quivering and clutching her dress so hard her knuckles turned white.
’what should I do?’
The system appeared again. This time a different thing was written on the screen.
[Synchronizing...]
[Complete.]
[New skill unlocked: Nexus Link]
He blinked. This was oddly convenient, considering the timing...
He clicked on it.
[Skill: Nexus Link Level 1]
[Skill type: Support. Upgradable]
[Description: Nexus Link is a support skill that allows host to establish invisible connections with selected individuals. Once a link is formed, host can monitor the status and location of every connected target in real time.]
[Warning: Host can only be connected to three targets at a time.]
[Distance Limit: 500 meters]
[Sub-Skill, Telepathic Communication activated.]
Very convenient indeed...
"Milley, I gotta go help these people or else someone will die."
Hearing the voice in her head, she flinched, slightly surprised. But upon recognizing his voice, she quietly nodded.
Axel smiled. "Stay safe alright? Stay away from the entrance and don’t make a sound."
He instructed, placing a finger on his lip to emphasize his point.
He pulled up the map and searched for closest red dot. "I see..." The first target wasn’t too far from him.
Without wasting a second, he transformed and dashed forward..
[You have activated phase one of Scarion]
He blitzed through the street, dodging the debris that occasionally flew towards him.
"Somebody help!’
His first target was up ahead. Putting just a bit more energy, he dashed forward...
The devil growled in shock as it was suddenly slashed through.
Axel grabbed the civilian—a middle aged salary man and sprinted towards the alleyway.
[Casualties Avoided: 1/ 8]
He dashed outside again, running towards the next dot.
~~~~~
As he went, he noticed d that there wasn’t just eight people that needed saving.... He had realized that there were other people who ran a risk of dying to a devil but his system had prioritized eight people who had the highest possibility of dying as some of the people he saved were either being cornered of chased.
"Tch..." His power surged as he leaped into the air, looking for the next civilian.
"No!! Please!!"
The lady screamed as a devil walked towards her. She was currently backed in a corner with no where to go.
Pressing her back against the wall as tears rolled down her cheeks. She closed her eyes, accepting her fate.
"Raarrrh!!"
Axel blitzed forward and planted his feet into the devils face. His power crackled as he pushed with all his might.
**BOOM**
A small explosion. It came from his feet as the devil’s entire top half evaporated.
Ignoring the burns on his leg, he dashed forward bringing the girl to the "save Zone"
[Casualties Avoided: 5/ 8]
[You have received 1000 points.]
Points? This is the first time he’s seen this notification.
Deciding not to dwell on it, he sprinted forward desperately looking for the next target.
.
.
.
.
.
Rolling behind a wall, Axel tried to catch his breath. He spent around 15 minutes looking but couldn’t find the sixth target. It was getting harder to search for the civilians and fight off devils alone considering the fact that the street was almost overun by now.
He had to find the next civilian and quick...
But how?
"Ahhh I wish Hayley or the others were here..." he mumbled, closing his eyes.
"Noob! Where the hell are you?!"
His eyes flew open...
"Huh?" That was undeniably Hayley’s voice.
"The alarm’s going off where are you??!"
She asked, louder this time.
Right. They had a Neuro Link that allowed them to communicate telepathically thanks to Hayley’s ability.
"Hayley! I’m already at the scene. It’s crazy out here. Devils are falling from the sky!"
"We’ve already received orders. We have the location and we’re on our way..." Came her reply.
Axel flinched. "O—oh okay, sure."
Hayley noticed. "Is something wrong?"
"Oh uhh nothing...it’s nothing..."
Hayley wasn’t having it... "Shit! Talk to me. Is there a problem??"
Axel exhaled. Then, he looked at his legs—burnt skin and the fabric of his pants missing in some parts— he replied in a low voice...
"I’m gonna need a new pair of shoes...."
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