N/A: Hey guys! Sorry it took me a while to make a comeback for this Helluva Boss fanfic, but in the past few months was though for me to continue since I was struggling with writer's block, the commissions and real-life stuff. But I'm happy to announce that the remake of Hellwalker is finally published! I had so much fun writing this chapter and I'm really sure you are gonna love this version more than the old one. Speaking of which, since this new version is published, I have to delete the old one. I'm sorry for those who actually enjoyed it, but I promise this version is gonna be more of your liking!
What I can tell you what you're going to expect in this story is the new version of Tristan Relish, and I'm sure you're gonna love it. There's also gonna be some interesting references that will probably make you hooked into this new concept! And if you could recognize those references, then you are a man/woman of culture!
I hope you enjoy it!
A lone man wearing a hoodie was walking across a small, desolate street while a dense fog rolled in during a frosty night, cloaking the streets and the buildings in a thick embrace. Their lights shone through the thick fog, casting a dulled and almost ghostly light that looked like hanging lighthouses in the middle of a storm.
The hooded man seemed to be on the edge as he looked around while trying to tuck his hood over his head. The bloodstains all over his hoodie was a clear sign of why he's trying to avoid being seen, even though the fog was the perfect cover. It was like he was starting to feel like he was being watched.
The silence was suddenly broken when the sound of an engine humming, making the hooded man whip his head around and saw the headlights coming closer. His glowing eyes glared at the vehicle, which from the closer look appeared to be an Oldsmobile Delta. But then turned back around and continued walking, thinking that it was just a car about to pass by and play cool.
He turned around again, only to notice the Oldsmobile had started to slow down. And from what it looked like, it was following him.
Sensing a newfound danger, the hooded man sprung forward before the car speeded up to pursue him. But he proved to be much of an excellent runner to keep himself away from the vehicle. In fact, he was running at such a high speed that it would be impossible for an average person to do so.
The hooded one made a turn around the corner, but as he turned back over his shoulder, he saw the Oldsmobile going around with its tires screeching and continued to follow him. Letting out a growl, he made a jump and landed on top of a parked vehicle, and shockingly made another jump towards a nearby building and crawled up the wall like an animal digging its four limbs on it.
After reaching up to the roof, the hooded man continued to run before he started jumping building by building with incredible agility. Even though he was now out of the reach of the vehicle, he didn't stop jumping across the buildings. Whoever was pursuing him, they must have found out what he just did, so he needed to find a place where he could hide.
Sprinting across another roof, the hooded man leaped off the building and crashed into a window of an old factory building.
Meanwhile, the Oldsmobile actually found the way to follow the runner by taking shortcuts. It slowed down when it reached the factory before parking just in front of it.
The driver door was opened, and a man stood out of the Oldsmobile as the light from the lamppost revealed his figure. He was wearing a red-collared dark suit, with a matching tie and a crimson vest underneath, and a worn wide-brimmed fedora over his head.
Closing the door, the young-looking man headed towards the main door to the building before kicking it down. The banging noise echoed across the room that anyone inside would be alerted.
He ventured into the shadows of the factory as he looked around, but then a cracking sound emitted from under his shoe. Stopping his tracks, he looked down to see the glass scattered around the floor with some droplets of blood on it. Rising up his gaze, he saw the broken window before coming to an understanding that the hooded man had jumped through it.
There was no doubt he's still inside.
"Oi, you can come out and show yourself." The young man in the hat spoke as he sauntered across the darkened room. "There's no point in hiding, ya know. I could smell your stinky body odor from a few miles away. What else do you think I'd find out where you're running?"
Unbeknownst to him, the hooded man was hanging upside down off a steel beam while glaring down at the stalker.
"Not to mention you left a mess back at the alley, enough to smell the blood of that poor woman all over you." He continued in a dry tone as he took a sniff. "And I'm pretty sure that the three mutilated bodies that were found two weeks ago were your doing. Am I wrong?
The hooded man let out a growl as his eyes glowed furiously.
"Here's the deal. My superiors see you as a threat to mankind, so I've been sent to find you and hunt you down. Not to capture you, not to give you a choice to turn yourself in and make peace with yourself. You get the death sentence." He then took out a handgun out of his jacket and aimed straight at the ceiling.
A shot rang out loudly, followed by the sound of the bullet hitting the steel beam. Furrowing his brows under his hat, the young man looked around once more without lowering his gun. Suddenly he heard a faint rustling of feet at his side, before he whipped his body around, and took out a second handgun and shot a few more rounds.
His eyes caught on a silhouette jumping out from the scraps before shooting at it once more. He noticed the hooded jacket was taken off and fell to the ground. The moment he looked back up, a loud screech was heard before a lump came swiftly out the shadows.
Reacting quickly, he jumped aside just before the lump passed him by. Rolling across the floor, he turned around and saw a red-haired giant creature with wings sitting on top of the steel beam, glaring its bright yellow eyes at him.
The monster let out another shriek and lunged forward, snapping its jaws open with its sharp teeth ready to tear some human skin.
"A dire bat… No wonder he would've picked this kind of place to hide." He muttered with a humorous tone before aiming his dual guns at the dire bat, but the creature flew upwards to dodge the bullets.
As the hunter tried to shoot down the monster, he ducked his head down when the dire bat flew down and tried to tear his head off his shoulders. When the flying creature flew above his head, he took the chance to shoot one of its wings and legs.
The dire bat wailed as it faltered in mid-air, but the monster was now more pissed to feel the pain. Clinging against a wall, the bat glared at the human before letting out a high-pitched screech, making the glass of the windows shatter by the sound.
The young man hissed as he tried to cover his ears. He ran away from the creature to get out of its range until he took cover behind a metal pillar.
When the bat stopped screeching, he shook off the pain in his ears as he proceeded to reload his guns as fast as he could. After that, with his ears still ringing, he stepped out of his cover and aimed the guns where the monster was last seen, but it was gone.
A shadow suddenly landed behind the young hunter, which made him feel the unnerving sense. Just when the realization hit him he turned around quickly, only to feel his breath coming out of his lungs when he got kicked in his torso.
He was sent flying across the room until he crashed into a cluster of barrels like they were bowling pins. The young man groaned in pain, but before he was about to get on his feet, the dire bat already jumped close to him. The monster grabbed him and threw him up to the ceiling.
The young hunter screamed until his back collided against the steel pipes, bending them upon the impact before falling down to the ground with his fedora slipping off his head. Letting out another groan as he got on his knees, he noticed that he wasn't longer holding his guns, meaning he must have dropped them the moment he was thrown.
Once he was back on his feet, he watched the dire bat crawling towards him menacingly like a predator cornering its prey. But the young man didn't move an inch, instead he glared at the monster while clenching his fist, challenging the monster without a hint of fear in his eyes.
The dire bat bared its teeth as it was provoked by his taunting. In a split second, the monster lunged at him with its massive razor sharp claws out.
As the time seemed to go slower, the young man watched its claws drawing closer to his face without thinking of dodging it. But then, his lips curved up a smile. In a blink of an eye, he swung his arms forward and crouched down before the monster flew above him.
The sound of the steel cutting flesh filled the air, followed by a shriek from the dire bat before it fell down and writhed in agony. The blood started spilling all over the floor as its severed arms were laying next to the human.
"Hurts, doesn't it? You're probably wondering how I could cleave your arms like cutting butter?" The hunter said, standing up to his feet and turning around, and raised his arms to reveal he was holding a pair of long-bladed, sword bayonets. "Blessed weaponry. Brought to you by The Vatican."
For the first time, the dire bat felt the terror when it looked at the blessed bayonets. And without its arms regenerating, it's now completely defenseless. The monster stood on its knees and looked up at the human.
"It's been fun and all, but I'm afraid this is the part when we say goodbye." The young man said as he sharpened the blades with one another. "Before I cut your head off, do you have some words of wisdom you'd like to say as your last will? Something that should be marked on your grave?"
The dire bat only screeched angrily at the human's face.
He wiped the drool off his face. "Ah, spoke like a poet." He swung the bayonets across the monster's neck. The young man then turned around and sheathed his blades. The dire bat remained frozen until its head fell off his shoulders, the blood started to spurt out of it before its body collapsed in a heap.
Letting out a tired sigh, the young man went to recover his lost handguns, and picked up his hat to dust it off and put it back on his head. As he made his way out of the building, he took the cellphone out of his pocket and made a call.
"Hey, it's me again… I got the job done. I'll send you my location so you can clean up the mess." The young man said as he leaned his back against his car.
"Well done, mate. Listen, I just finished my assignment, I need you to meet me at the O'shea's House." The female voice said from the other line, and sounded like she was in a hurry.
"Can't that wait for tomorrow? That bastard really put up a fight and I think I need to lay down." He replied while rubbing his fingers tiredfully.
"I'm afraid it cannot, it's something that you need to hear about. Don't worry, the first drinks are on me."
"You think I would change my mind if you buy me a drink? Because I'm in. Alright, I'll be there in a minute." He hung up the phone before getting into his car. After all, the night was still young for him.
After a few minutes of slow riding, he parked his vehicle next to a small building made completely out of black painted wood. There was a large window with checkered glass on the left side of the door with a small painted picture of a barmaid with a tray full of glasses of ale and beer. Hanging pots of flowers hung around the edges. And a large sign on top of the window that read 'O'shea's House'.
He came out of his vehicle and got into the establishment, before feeling the welcoming warmth instead of the coldness of the mist. The place was very traditional given the place's long history in the neighborhood. The walls were littered with pictures and framed pieces of old posters and a map or two.
"Oi, Tristan!" The bartender, who was standing at a large heavy oaken bar with a large shelf of liquors, greeted him cheerfully "Your friend is waiting for you at the back."
"Thanks, Shane. Good to see you too." Tristan waved him back as he took off his hat and made his way through the wooden tables and booths around the pub. He reached the last booth where a large fireplace burnt next to it offered extra heat in their bones. A dark-skinned woman with dark hair styled in dreadlock was tapping the table with her finger until she noticed him.
"Hey, glad you chose to come by." She said with a weary smile.
"You know I can't refuse that invitation, especially if we're talking about a free drink." Tristan chuckled as he took a seat across from her. "Another tough day at the office?"
"It was a bloody nightmare. Drowned under a lot of paperwork lately, and I had to be in charge of a couple of assignments this afternoon. The last one I finished was catching a bunch of goblins who disguised themselves as a healer just to scam people. When we confronted them, they tried to flee by going underground like gophers." Ashley sighed while taking a sip of her beer.
"What did you guys do to them?" Tristan asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Blew those little bastards when they tried to stab us with their knives." Ashley snorted, shaking her head. "By the way, I sure hope you didn't have trouble chasing your monster with all the mist outside."
"You can thank my good sense of smell, though the downfall was that I almost barfed when I smelled its stench." They both shared another laugh as he took a drink of his whiskey.
"Anyway, let's get down to business. The reason I asked you to come was that we found new information about the unusual increasing numbers of murders in North America." Ashley placed a folder on the table and slid it towards Tristan.
He took the folder and opened it to find a stack of pictures inside. The first picture he saw was of a blown up house by the lake, with the police surrounding the premise and recovering the bodies. Another picture was some kind of ritual in the forest and the team were carrying the body of a blond-haired woman with a missing eye, which could mean she's been shot by a high-caliber rifle.
"We did some background research of those victims, and learned something you'd love to hear. They weren't just a happy little family, they were also cannibals. We found some disturbing burnt trinkets inside the house, and the tissues belong to some of the people that'd been reported as missing." Ashley said as she took a cigarette package out of her suit.
"Were they also satanists?" Tristan inquired, pointing at the picture of the ritual.
"Most likely. According to the police reports, they received an anonymous call who gave them all the info about this family. But of course instead of taking them to custody and making them stand in the courtroom, they chose to drop a bomb on their house with the family inside." Ashley grumbled, finding their course of action too excessive, not to mention dumb.
"Can't blame them, they're probably too good to stay breathing in this world." Tristan shrugged before continuing to look at the gruesome pictures. "So do these killings have any kind of pattern apart from being messy?"
"We still haven't figured that out yet, but what we could learn was that all of these murders have been classified as cold cases because the police haven't found a single piece of evidence in the crime scenes. At least that's what their reports say." The dark-skinned woman in a suit replied as she lightened up her cig.
"Sounds like they've been trying to cover all these cases for a while." Tristan said knowingly.
"And that's why they decided to ask our help and provide us with the footage they could gather from their own paranormal bureau."
"Wait, you mean those idiots from the DHORKS? I thought that was a joke from our colleagues!" He snorted in disbelief.
"I thought the same, but give it some time until the US government would cancel their budget and start putting their trust in us more." Ashley chuckled before blowing a puff of smoke. "Moving on, we conducted a thorough investigation into the cases, as well as we solicited the intelligence service with all the sources they had found. We have come across some interesting discoveries that their police didn't classify as evidence to begin with. You can find them in those pictures."
Tristan leafed through the stack of photos until he saw a picture of a dark dagger with a carmine edge. The other photo that caught his attention was a shot of a bullet shell.
"You didn't see that kind of craftsmanship before, did you?" Ashley asked, referring to the knife from the picture. "It's one of the knives that's been recovered in the crime scenes like in that forest. And get this, even though they found fingerprints, they couldn't find a suspect who could have owned this weapon."
"What about the bullet shell?" Tristan inquired gravely.
"The FBI tried to find the source of the bullet, but shockingly there's no weapon around the world that could match that. They also gathered some DNA samples over the past few months. And you know what the test results revealed? Unknown." Ashley continued with a serious frown.
Finding himself more intrigued than before, Tristan took his own cigarette package, pulling one of them with his mouth, and lit it.
"Now you understand why this is a matter of concern." Ashley finished, leaning herself back against the cushion of her seat.
"Aye, but what exactly are we dealing with? A bunch of demon assassins?"
"They are far from being professional assassins, but there must be a reason why all the victims were picked up as targets. So far we don't know where they come from or when they will strike again. So the best course of action is to follow their tracks and try to predict their next move." She pulled the cig out of her lips. "That's where you come in, Tristan."
"Oh, do I get to play as a junior detective?" The young man replied with an amazed expression.
Ashley snorted, blowing the smoke out with her nose. "You're gonna love this part, we have reports from the surveillance that they sighted demons in disguise in the streets a few hours around. We are convinced that these are the same assassins we're talking about. We sent on your computer the footage of their last sighting in the security camera. I'm sure you'll have no trouble seeing through their disguises. Once you find that out, find a way to track them down and engage them if you must."
Tristan blew another puff of smoke as he scrutinized the flash drive as if he was holding a big piece of information. "I'll see what I can do." He said in a laid-back tone, before he took the cigarette out of his lips with his other hand and crushed it in the ashtray.
"I'm counting on you, mate." Ashley smiled as she slid the folder back into her jacket. Then she drank the rest of her drink and stood up. "Well, I think I should go."
"Wait, aren't you gonna stay to have at least another round?" Tristan raised an eyebrow quizzically.
"I'd love to stay here and have another round, but I have to go. Tomorrow it's gonna be another nightmare in the office, but if you can deal with this problem sooner, I could try that next time. Take care." She walked away and left the bar.
"Well, another day, another moment to drink in solace." Tristan sighed as he lifted his glass before drinking the rest of his whiskey.
He took out his cellphone to check the time, noticing that only twenty minutes had passed in his conversation with Ashley. Having the idea of spending a little more time to have another drink, he stood up from the booth and headed to the bar.
"Another shot of Whiskey, please." He asked politely as he placed the glass on the counter.
As the bartender poured the whiskey into the glass, Tristan noticed out of the corner of his eye there was another person sitting in the bar. A goth-punk young woman with the right side of her head shaved, showing a couple of piercings in her ear while her voluminous gray hair fell over the side of her head. She wore a black choker with spikes around her neck, a gray crop top with strings shaped like an inverted pentagram, a pair of fingerless gloves, dark shorts with a crescent moon on the right side, and black stockings with sneakers.
Tristan could guess she showed up just now since he didn't see her by the time he arrived, and if he would say that he's not feeling attracted to this gothic girl, he would be a bad liar. If anything, he thought about going ahead and inviting her for a drink, just to have some company he was looking for.
He didn't do so, however, because there was something odd about her though, and he could tell when he picked up a distinct scent from her.
The goth girl just finished her bottle of beer before she stood up and headed towards the exit. Tristan thought of letting it slide and just enjoy his drink, but the moment the girl was leaving, he noticed a backpack that was sitting next to her was left behind. She didn't seem to realize since her eyes were glued to her cellphone.
Letting out a sigh, Tristan drank his Whiskey with one big gulp. He then took out a euro bill out of his pocket and left it on the counter.
"I'll be right back." He told the bartender before he stood from his seat, picked the backpack and strode out of the bar while putting his hat on.
When he was outside, he looked to both sides until he saw the goth girl crossing the street as she walked away.
"Oi! You there! Wait!" Tristan whistled loudly to get her attention as he followed her.
The goth girl stopped her tracks and turned around, though she rather seemed collected even after being called by a stranger.
"I think this backpack is yours. You left it back at the bar." He said politely as he handed it to her.
"Oh shit, I did?" The young woman said, but Tristan could hear the sarcasm in her tone.
"Yeah, I figured you might have realized and come back to retrieve it, but I thought I could save you the trouble. You should be careful next time though."
"Uh-huh. Thanks, I guess." She replied as she slid the backpack on, still wearing a bored look on her face. Tristan raised an eyebrow at her apathy response, but he had no reason why to bother.
"Well, have a good night." He turned around and was about to be on his way back to the bar.
"Wait. You're a nice guy. Let me at least give you something in return…"
Tristan stopped his tracks and turned back around. "You don't have to, just being a good samaritan is all I need." He replied with a smile.
"Oh, but I insist…" The goth approached him with a smile on her face. Standing an inch from him, she traced her finger across his chest as her crimson eyes gazed up alluringly at him. She bobbed her head to the side, pointing to the entrance to an alley next to them. "Wanna have a fun time?"
Tristan found himself surprised by the unexpected offer, or almost at the very least, as he could maintain his neutral visage. Looking towards the spot she just pointed at, he knew that it wasn't the most romantic spot in the city, let alone the safest spot where a couple can smooch and plow.
He turned back to face the goth, expecting that she was just outright joking, but he could barely notice a hint of humor on her face. There wasn't a sign of sexual desire behind her eyes, either. Whatever reason she wanted him to go into the alley with her, it's something else.
"Lead the way, biscuit." Tristan responded, motioning her to go first out of politeness.
The goth let out a scoff, yet she complied as Tristan followed her from behind. The alley was the home of the back entrance to several local stores, the smell of old leftovers, and one or two cars parked inside. Despite the charming and colorful brick buildings and fire escapes, the alley always carried a sense of lonesome danger, and from time to time it was accompanied by the feeling of tempting muggers to jump out.
The more he was getting deep into the alley, his instinct screamed at him to turn back before it's too late. But instead, he stopped in his tracks when he was just halfway through and watched the goth getting ahead until she realized.
The goth turned around and looked at him in confusion. "What? Are you nervous for your first time getting to stick your little dick into someone?" She asked with a sneer, tapping her foot on the ground.
"Cut the shit." Tristan gave a blunt answer, as he took a cigarette out of the package.
"Huh?" The goth young woman was completely taken aback by his answer.
Tristan stifled a chuckle and shook his head as he took out the lighter to light his cig.
"What the fuck is so funny?" She retorted, as if this guy had just touched her nerve.
"I'm sorry, but I can't just help it. That was just, like, bad. Really bad acting there. I'm guessing you thought I was gonna be the dumbass who think only with their dicks. But sorry hot stuff, I'm not that easy of a guy. So drop the act and start to spill the beans." He demanded, folding his arms across his chest.
The goth seemed at a loss for words, but her expression turned into a snarl as she stood defiantly in front of him.
"Alright, allow me to humor you, then." Tristan began to approach her steadily while the smoke wafted from his cigarette. "Just ten minutes ago, a little bird told me that there's a bunch of wannabe assassins who are randomly attacking around the world. I've been tasked with tracking them down, but I gotta say, you coming to me saves me a lot of trouble."
"So what, you want a fucking medal?" The goth spat, placing her hands around her hips.
Tristan stopped a few feet away from her. "How about you tell me who sent you to go after me? And trust me, I think it would be better for you if-" He trailed off just when he made another step.
The goth suddenly lunged forward and swung her left hand, with her nails suddenly turning into claws.
Tristan ducked before the goth was about to slice his head, but ended up slicing his cigarette instead. He turned around and launched a heel kick into her abdomen.
"Aghk!" The goth gagged, clutching her stomach while stumbling back when she felt her breath coming out of her lungs. Her eyes flared up in anger, only to freeze when Tristan drew one of his guns out and aimed at her.
"I was gonna say we can do this the easy way, but nevermind! We're back in business!" Tristan cackled with his finger ready to pull the trigger. But suddenly, he heard a shouting coming from above.
"SURPRISE! MOTHERFUCKER!"
Tristan shot his head up and saw a big horned demon falling down and about to strike him with a sword. Acting quickly, he drew his bayonet out of his sleeve and blocked it, creating a loud sound of two blades clashing against each other. The sparks from the blades allowed him to look at who was trying to cleave him in half. A big horned red-skin demon with white blotches covering its left eye, glowing yellow eyes and a heart-like tattoo on its forehead.
The demon sprung its feet off Tristan's chest and dropped away from him with a backflip. After that, its tail wrapped around Tristan's leg, pulling him to catch him off his feet. However, Tristan regained his footing before he used his leg to pull the demon's tail and forced the horned creature to stumble towards him.
Instead, it spun around and swung the sword horizontally. Tristan blocked the strike with his bayonet, as the sparks revealed the two adversaries glaring at each other. Parrying the attack and using the weight against it, he smacked the demon away with his gun, sending it crashing into the nearby vehicle.
A feral growl caught his attention before he dodged at the last second, almost getting bit by the goth girl. He saw she had just transformed into a white anthropomorphic wolf, as her eyes changed to red sclera with white irises. He rolled back, skidding to a halt before aiming his gun at the beast.
'BANG'
Out of instinct, Tristan jumped to the side right when he heard a gunshot coming his way, followed by the sound of the bullet hitting on the pavement. Looking up, he saw two short creatures standing on top of a rooftop with eyes glowing in the darkness. They both jumped down from the rooftop and landed behind the exit of the alley, glaring towards the young. One of them was holding a weapon with smoke coming out of the barrel, and the other was holding an ax.
At this stage, the demons already surrounded him from both sides, leaving him unable to get out of the alley if he'd tried.
"Alright, Mr. Fancy Pants. If the hard way is what you're looking for, we can fuck you hard all together!" The demon with the big horns said, flashing a toothy grin. Apparently, that must be the leader of the gang.
"Why did you give away our position, sir?! I had him in my sight!" The short one with the rifle snapped.
"Oh, fuck off, Moxxie! It's not my fault you can't handle the gun the same way you can handle your teeny weeny in your pants! "
"Guys! This is not the time!" The other demon with the ax yelled with a female voice.
Tristan found himself a little puzzled at the sudden bickering and the innuendos that it was hard to take the aggressors seriously. With a relaxed posture, he took a few steps away from the wall until he was now standing between them.
"Well, ain't that a treat? A big bad wolf, a devil..." Tristan turned over his shoulder to glance at the short demons "...and a couple of sneaky little goblins, I see."
"Hey!" The short demons shouted, clearly offended.
"I have to admit, I didn't expect I would be your next target just right after I've been told about you guys. So what's your deal?" Tristan asked with a calm tone.
"Our deal? Oh, no, no, I'm afraid that's where you're wrong there. Someone put a price on your ass, and we're here to collect it. Nothing personal, we're just doing our business." The big-horned demon explained nonchalantly.
The answer piqued Tristan's attention. "Really? Who paid you to get rid of me? Was it the troll from Hamburg? No wait, was that leprechaun? Did he tell you about the pot of gold that I stole? Tell him that I was the one who found it and it's mine." He asked, earning confused looks from the attackers.
"Wait, what? No, you dumbass! It's someone you screwed over and he wants to get that back to you!" The demon pointed its finger at Tristan.
A dumbfounded look grew on Tristan's face. Sure, he gained many enemies because of his line of work, but as far as he's concerned, most of them are exterminated while the others are imprisoned. It could only mean that it's someone else who learned something about him, but the demon's claim only raised more questions.
"Alright, now that's out of the bag, just stay still so we can cut off your head. Millie!"
Tristan heard a giggling from behind, before he whipped his head around and saw the ax-wielding short creature lunging towards him, jumped up and swung her axe straight at him.
He ducked his head before the ax whizzed above his head and pierced into the wall. Holding the bayonet, he was about to use the chance to strike her down. But suddenly, another gunshot and felt his hand being whipped back, before turning to his side and saw his bayonet was shattered by a bullet.
"Hey! I said 'stay still', dammit!" The big-horned demon shouted, holding what appeared to be a flintlock pistol with smoke wafting out of the cannon.
"Shit!" Tristan greeted his teeth, dropping the broken bayonet. He saw the other small one leaping off the handle of the ax and tried to jump on him with a dagger in its hand. Acting quickly, he grabbed a lid from a nearby trashcan and held it up as a shield.
When the blade pierced through the lid, almost grazing his arm, he took the chance to slam the creature against the wall. The assassin uttered a cry of pain as Tristan kept her pinne, but before Tristan reacted, he was kicked in the face that left him stunned for a brief moment. The sound of a cocking gun snapped him out, and saw the other small demon leveled the gun at him. He dodged just in time before the demon shot a couple of rounds.
He looked around to see he was cornered once more. Usually he wouldn't back out from this kind of challenge, but he's outnumbered by assassins who seemed to be armed to the teeth, and being in a narrow space was becoming a disadvantage. At this stage, and as much as he hated it, he knew this was the time to make a retreat.
When the assassins were about to attack him, Tristan reached to his back before whipping his hand to the ground and suddenly the area was engulfed with smoke. Taking the chance of distraction, he climbed on top of one of the vehicles before leaping off the roof to reach the fire escape ladder and climbed up to the first platform.
"Hey, bitch! Where the fuck do you think you're going?!" The leader shouted between coughs. Once the crew spotted the target coming out of the smoke, they started chasing him.
Tristan was about to go up the stairs, but he skidded to halt when the wolf girl ran up the wall and climbed up the safety rail. With a feral growl, she lunged at him with her jaws open. Without thinking, Tristan jumped through the window to enter the building, as the wolf and the big-horned demon followed him inside.
Meanwhile, the two little assassins climbed up to the next platform as shooting and barking could be heard from the inside. A scream of a woman was heard before another window was shattered by a flying chair. Tristan jumped out of it and tried to proceed to go up the fire escape, only to notice the two 'goblins' were expecting him.
He dropped himself to the floor as the ax flew above him and kicked back up to his feet. The other assassin swung the rifle onto its back before taking out a couple of handguns and started firing at him. Tristan swerved on both sides to dodge the bullets and rammed the gunslinger into the safety rails.
After leaving the creature stunned, he turned around and saw the wolf jumping out of the window as the big-horned demon was hanging onto her back.
"There's that piece of shit! Go fetch him, Loony!"
"I'm not your fucking horse, Blitzø!"
Tristan took out his handgun once more and fired some shots as he went up to the next platform. The big-horned leader returned fire with the flintlock pistol as the wolf chased him up stairs.
The young hunter turned around and tried to shoot the wolf, but she dodged some of the bullets before he was within her reach. Tristan jumped aside when the wolf tried to attack him, but before he tried to shoot her, she kicked him in the chest and sent him crashing through the window.
"Ha! That's what you get! Nobody fucks with my sweet daughter!" The demon cackled before jumping through the shattered window, while the wolf only groaned before she and the two little demons followed their leader.
The commotion continued to go up to the upper floors, as the sounds of battle could still be heard inside the building. From the sound of gunshots banging across the hallways, the sound of blades clashing with each other and objects being shattered.
At the rooftop, the door was riddled with bullets before it was kicked down and Tristan sprung out with some glass shards stuck in his shoulders. He continued to run outside on his way to the end of the roof.
Another gunshot rang out and a whizzing sound reached to his left ear, luckily the bullet didn't hit him, but instead knocked his hat off his head.
"No!" Tristan stumbled to halt and went for his hat that just fell down to the ground. His hand was about to reach for it, but suddenly a large foot stepped on the hat before he could catch it. Tristan felt his instincts kicked in and jumped backwards before he was almost slashed by the claws.
As he stepped backward, he looked back up to see the gothic wolf growling at him after failing to leave him a scratch. He then turned to his side and saw the other assassins standing a few meters away from him, with the leader holding the smoking flintlock gun.
When the clouds began to disperse, allowing the moon to glow up in the night, the shadowy forms of the creatures became distinguishable for him to see what kind of creatures he's facing right now.
Outside the goth wolf, the demons were two males and one female, all of them share the same physical traits such as red skin, yellow eyes and long tails. The tallest one with the white blotch over his eye was wearing a torn black collared coat with red buttons, black boots, and large black gloves with yellow eyes.
The second short one had white freckles, a matching pointy hair, and curvy black and white striped horns, just like the tall one. Wearing a tailcoat suit with red buttons and a large red bowtie. He also had lanky bovine legs with what appears to be cloven red hooves.
As for the female one, she stood the same height as the demon in the penguin suit, with messy bob-styled grayish-black hair and a birthmark on her left cheek. Unlike the rest of them, her horns were small and plain black. She wore a black crop top and torn black pants, though she doesn't seem to wear some shoes, which exposed her hoof-like toes.
Clearly they don't look like goblins as Tristan assumed earlier, but from the looks of it, he could guess without a shroud of doubt that these creatures are Imps.
"Alright, shithead. I've had enough of you running away with your dick tucked between your legs! Our client wants you dead for a good reason and we're going to fulfill our contract one way or another!" The tall Imp growled as he reloaded the flintlock gun.
Tristan could only glare at the imps and the wolf as they started to surround him from all the sides, like a pack of predators circling around its prey. Meanwhile, the wolf girl picked up the fedora with a hint of curiosity, but when she glanced at the human, a smirk spread across her face before she threw it behind and off the building. This action seemed to upset Tristan, but he kept his composure as he returned his gaze back at the leader.
"I just have a question." He asked in a grave tone, earning a puzzled look from the tall imp. "That client of yours, have they ever told you anything about me?"
"No. And even if he did, why the fuck we should care since you're gonna die, anyway?" The imp with the big horns said with a shrug.
The answer made Tristan blink twice as his face slowly changed into a surprise look. After a long minute of silence, he grew an amused smile and started chuckling.
"Oh for fuck's sake, now what?! How can you find it so funny when you know what we're going to do with you?!" The imp shouted, vexed at the human's response.
"Sir, calm down! We're supposed to be professionals!" The white-haired imp snapped.
When Tristan stopped laughing, he shook his head and took a breath through his nose. "Alright, tell you what. Because now I'm in a good mood, I'll save you the trouble and tell you what you need to know about myself."
The young man began as he pulled the glass shards off his body, slightly flinching in discomfort while doing so. After dusting off his jacket, he said.
"My name is Tristan Relish. Born in Carlow, Ireland, and raised in Coventry. I used to work for a special operation task force in England when I reached twenty, but years later I became a new employee for a secret global organization known as the Anomalous Research, Evaluation and Security." He spoke as he cracked his neck and flexed his shoulders. "As an agent, my duty is to be on the lookout for the supernatural, paranormal, and occult. My job is to deal with creatures, monsters and even terrorists that could be seen as a threat to the world and mankind."
"Did he say a secret global organization?" The female imp muttered with a look of puzzlement.
"Oh, you're full of shit! If all of that it's true, then what the hell was all that running five minutes ago?!" The tall imp spat, but a state of denial was more clear.
"That's pretty obvious. I was looking for an open spot where I can fight against all the four of you." Tristan replied, with his head hung low to the point his eyes were shadowed. "But I have to admit, you four are pretty tough compared to the last monsters I faced. If I wasn't fast enough, you'd probably kill me by now. But…"
With his eyes glowing in his obscured face, Tristan reached to his sides and pulled out a pair of bayonets. His sidearm going across his face with the blade pointing down and his right arm's blade going across to it, he made a cross with the blades.
"Now it's time for you to see how a real monster hunter can fight!" He rubbed the blades together, creating a spark to show a glimpse of the grin etched on his face.
Silence was filled in the air as the imps seemed to be on the edge after Tristan just finished with his introduction, meaning they were actually unaware about the target's profile to begin with. It seemed like they thought it would be just a simple job, but they didn't consider that the human would be carrying weapons.
"Sir…" The white-haired imp faltered as he glanced at the boss.
"Moxxie, don't you puss out on me." The boss hissed at him before turning back to Tristan. "So what? Just because you're the fucking Blade means you're better than us? Well, fat fucking chance! We are professional assassins and we faced humans who are far worse than trolls or leprechauns or some fucking fairies you hunt!"
He cocked the hammer of his flintlock gun and pulled the sword from his back. The little imps readied their weapons after his words brought encouragement, as the wolf girl clenched her fists and let out a guttural growl.
(Play Music: Devil May Cry 3 OST - Taste The Blood)
Without any hesitation, he and the crew charged towards the grinning human from all sides.
Tristan sidestepped to dodge a straight slash from the imp's sword, and bowed his head before the female imp's ax would cut his head. Turning around, he deflected the wolf's claw attacks with his bayonets as sparks flew off by contact and then jumped backwards when she tried to strike him again.
The little imp by the name of Moxxie fired his dual handguns at the monster hunter, only to miss when Tristan leaped to the side before he charged towards the imp.
"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Moxxie yelled and tried to shoot the human at hollow point, but with poor accuracy that not a single bullet could land on Tristan.
When he was now feet away from the little imp, Tristan brandished his bayonets with a manic grin on his face. But just when he was about to close the gap, he halted before the female Imp brought the ax down between him and Moxxie. Suddenly, the tall imp jumped over the ax with the flintlock gun cocked at Tristan's head and fired a round.
At that moment, Tristan titled his head just before the bullet almost grazed on his cheek. He then brought his bayonets up and blocked the sword when the imp swung down in mid-air, as a loud clanging noise filled the air. However, the big-horned imp twisted around and whipped his tail.
CRACK!
Tristan hissed as he stumbled backwards, feeling his cheek stinging after getting slapped by the imp's tail. Rubbing the spot on his cheek, he looked at the imp who was smirking at him after landing a hit.
"Thank you, sir. Can I have another?" He taunted, albeit there was a hint of teasing in his tone that would catch anyone off-guard.
"Oh, daddy has one more for you, bad boy." The tall imp replied with a dirty toothy smile.
"SIR!" Moxxie shouted in shock.
"Hey, it's not my fault you can't give someone a tail-slap to compensate for your small wiener!" He retorted before turning back to the human while gripping the handle of his sword. "But enough of that. Back to kill you! Let's go, Millie!"
"Right behind you, Blitzø!" The female imp stood beside the boss with a confident smile.
The imps charged the human and swung their weapons, forcing Tristan to fall back while he used the bayonets to parry their attacks. The female imp, who was named earlier as Millie, went ahead and spun around with her ax swinging at Tristan, but failed to make contact when he leaned back before the blade would slit his throat.
Tristan then took his turn to counterattack the imp by swinging his bayonets down at her, but she held the steel haft up, bracing herself for the attack. The imp almost gasped at the sheer strength of his attack that made her knees buckle.
All of a sudden, she slipped under Tristan's legs and threw an attack from behind, but Tristan lifted one of his legs before she could cut it. Blitzø tried to stab him while the target was distracted, but Tristan swatted it with his blade and continued to parry and dodge more attacks from the imps.
Tristan bent down his head as Millie's ax flew over his head, before launching a spinning back kick into the torso of Blitzø and sending the imp flying away. Millie jumped up and tried to deliver an overhead slash to the human, but Tristan took it off swiftly and threw it at her, revealing himself wearing a rolled up buttoned shirt underneath his vest and a pair of bandolier holsters on his sides.
He lifted up his bayonets to strike the female imp down while she thrashed under his jacket, but suddenly one of his bayonets was shot out of his hand. He turned around to where the shot came from and saw the white-haired imp charging towards him while firing his guns.
"Stay away from my wife!" Moxxie shouted before stopping and continued to shoot.
Tristan dodged some of the bullets as he sprung towards the imp, waving his bayonets to deflect the bullets, even cutting one of them in half. Once the imp was now on his reach, Tristan spun around and unleashed a flurry of slashes with one bayonet in his other hand, but Moxxie could dodge it while trying to shoot him.
The hunter then swayed the blade downwards, only to be blocked when Moxxie crossed his guns.
"Come on, Moxxie! How hard it is to shoot him when he's standing three fucking feet in front of you?!" Blitzø shouted out in frustration while he sat up on the floor.
"You're not helping sir!" Moxxie snapped before he stepped back and shot his guns at him.
The young man leaped aside, avoiding the bullets once more, before he swung the bayonet and sliced the handguns in half.
"Oh crumbs…" Moxxie looked at the broken pieces of his weapons in shock. He raised his head to see Tristan holding his bayonet over his head. Acting quickly, Moxxie dropped the broken guns and moved aside before the bayonet darted next to him, and then leaped backwards when Tristan tried to swing the blade to the neck. "That was close…"
Tristan strode towards the imp, but then he heard a snarl coming closer to the side. When he turned his head, the goth wolf was already close to him as she launched a spinning kick, which Tristan dodged. With the sword that she just took from Blitzø, she twisted around and brought it down, only to be blocked by Tristan's bayonet with a loud clunk.
"Loona, be careful! That human is nothing we ever faced before!" Moxxie shouted in a mix of concern and frustration.
"Would you shut the fuck up?!" The wolf, now by the name of Loona, spat as she grabbed Tristan by the collar of his shirt with her other hand.
To her surprise, the young man grabbed her arm and pulled it away, before twisting his body around her and then hit her back with the pommel of his bayonet, making her stumble. Gritting her teeth angrily, Loona turned around and swung the sword at him, but Tristan ducked his head and backflipped as the sword almost cut his legs.
"Your name is Loona right? I gotta say, you got some deadly moves for a goth." Tristan smiled at her while holding the bayonet in a reverse grip. "Did I mention I like your look? They really match with your personality."
"You keep spitting shit out of your mouth and I'll break your fucking jaw…" Loona growled with her hair and fur standing on end.
"Oh, how I love the kind of woman who can make me feel threatened." Tristan replied nonchalantly, yet a taunting smile was plastered across his face. His response only vexed the wolf.
"You stay away from my Loony, freak!"
Tristan turned his head back and saw Blitzø leaping at him while holding a dagger in his hand. The imp went for a stabbing attack on him, but Tristan stepped aside and threw a slash at the imp.
Meanwhile, Loona took the advantage of the distraction and thrust the sword to stab him in the exposed back. However, Tristan saw that coming and stepped away from the sword. He then kicked it away from Loona's hands, sending the sword flying in the air and away from her reach.
Turning back at the imp, he noticed Blitzø twisted about to slash diagonally across his face, however he was quick to lean himself away from the sweeping dagger. Blitzø then drew the flintlock gun and shot a round, but Tristan ducked under the bullet and followed by slipping around one side and slashed across the imp's exposed side.
"Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!" Blitzø screamed in pain when the bayonet sliced through the fabric of his jacket and drew blood.
"BLITZØ!" Moxxie, Millie and Loona shouted in shock, completely shaken after hearing the scream they probably hadn't heard before.
Dropping the flintlock, Bltizo fell on his knees while grasping his arm. "What the… Nngh! Fuck! What the fuck is this?!"
"That would be the side effect of my bayonet." Tristan answered while standing behind the imp. "It was forged out of pure Macedonian silver and dipped with holy water. Even if it's just a flesh wound, you'll feel the same huge amount of pain as a red hot iron pressing on your skin."
Blitzø cast a furious glare at the young man, only to grimace as the pain remained.
"You know, I'm willing to give you a chance to walk away if you answer my question." Tristan said as he walked around the imp, before he lifted the bayonet's blade at Blitzø's neck, making him freeze. "Who gave you the contract to kill me?"
"Hey, asshole!"
Tristan heard a gunshot and leaped backwards in a split second before a chunk of the floor was blown by a buckshot. He turned forward and saw Loona now holding what appeared to be a shotgun. Meanwhile, Millie was hanging onto Loona's back where she was carrying the backpack.
She pumped out a shell out of the chamber and fired another buckshot, forcing Tristan to run around the roof. This gave Moxxie a chance to check on the boss while the others were distracting the human.
"Sir, are you okay?" The little imp asked in concern.
"Oh, yeah! I'm fine! It's just a papercut! Are you here to give me a kissy kissy on my boo boo~?" Blitzø said sarcastically while pointing at his bleeding arm, only to let out a hiss of discomfort.
"Alright, I get it, that was a dumb question!" Moxxie sighed exasperatedly.
He turned to see Loona and Millie splitting up when the human rushed at them. The human took out one of his handguns and shoot at Millie while trying to slash Loona. Moxxie had no doubt they could handle themselves, but after witnessing what this human is really capable of, he had reasons to worry about them.
"Sir, we need to get out of here right now." Moxxie told the boss with a grave frown.
"Moxxie… Don't you fucking start…" Blitzø growled without looking at his employee.
"Sir, look at you! You're hurt! You already heard what that human said! His bayonets are blessed and I'm pretty sure his bullets are too! We never faced a human who could possess such weaponry! Our client didn't even tell us he's working for a secret organization to begin with!" Moxxie raised his voice as he was getting impatient by Blitzø's stubbornness.
Suddenly, Blitzø faced him with anger in his eyes and prodded his finger into his chest. "I don't wanna hear any of that shit! We're here because our client is expecting us to do the goddamn job, not asking questions! So quit your bitching and-"
"Just shut up and fucking listen!" Moxxie snapped and pushed his boss' arm away, before he grabbed Blitzø by the collar and pulled towards him. "We don't stand a chance against him! He's nothing like the other humans we killed! And if we're not going to retreat while we still have the chance, Millie or Loona are also gonna get hurt, or worse! If something happens to my wife, or even your own daughter, I'm not going to forgive you!"
Blitzø's expression slowly changed into bewilderment, but not because of Moxxie's outburst and words, rather the part where he brought about Loona and Millie. Letting out a scoff, he was about to deny that and claim they know what they're doing, but when he turned his attention to the girls, he began to notice they're in a tight spot.
Millie was backflipping to dodge the blessed bullets from Tristan's handgun until the magazine was dried. This gave Loona a chance to attack him as she charged and swung the end of the shotgun, but the human ducked under it and threw a slash at her. Loona parried it and went to whack his face with the buttstock, but he sidestepped and held the bayonet over his head.
She raised the shotgun the moment he swung downwards and the blade went through the weapon, splitting it in half. "FUCK!" She cursed, dropping the broken shotgun as she stood firmly in front of Tristan.
Noticing Loona was in trouble, Millie sprinted with her hands gripping around the handle of her ax. When that drew the human's attention, she jumped forward and threw a wide swing at him, unable to cut him in half when he stepped back. In a growing frustration, Millie twirled her ax over her head as she rushed towards the human, throwing rapid strikes that were being blocked by his bayonet.
Meanwhile, Loona was standing while she was rummaging inside the backpack, trying to find another weapon she could use against that human.
"Loona! The book!"
Her ears went upright before turning her head and saw the one who shouted was Blitzø. There was a moment of hesitation as she wondered why he would make that kind of request, but her thoughts broke out when she heard a cry of pain. Loona turned to the other side and saw Millie sliding across the floor while holding her ribs in pain, after she got kicked by the human.
"MILLIE!" Loona heard Moxxie crying out before noticing rushing towards his wife, firing his rifle to at least keep the human away.
(End Song)
Letting out a curse under her breath, she rummaged her backpack again until she took out a golden-brimmed, navy blue book with a large red gem on the center of its spine. Turning back at Blitzø, she threw the book at him.
"Whatever you do, just hurry the fuck up!" She shouted before taking out a submachine gun out of the backpack and unloaded the magazine at Tristan, while Moxxie helped Millie to get up and retreated.
Blitzø caught the book in his hand, and when he opened it he started to mutter some inaudible words. In a split second, a portal emerged behind the wounded imp and on the other side showed an alley that looked like it was from the other part of town.
"Everyone! Let's get the fuck out of here!" Blitzø shouted, with Loona helping him to get up as she unloaded the last bullets of her submachine gun.
After shielding himself from the bullets, Tristan lowered his arms to see the demons now heading towards the portal. It was kinda disappointing since he was having some fun, but he was sure it wouldn't be the last time he'll see them. However, they'd need a reminder note just in case.
"Oi! Before you go, here's a parting gift!" Tristan shouted, growing a sardonic smile on his face. With a whip of his arm, he threw the bayonet straight at them.
Blitzø stopped when the human called them out, before he turned his head over the shoulder and his eyes widened when he saw the bayonet flying towards him. "SHIT!"
Out of instinct, Blitzø held up the book with his eyes closed shut. Suddenly, everyone gasped.
"S-Sir…" Moxxie stammered with shock written over his face.
"Oh no…" Millie covered her mouth with her hand, flabbergasted.
"Huh? What?"
Blitzø cracked his eyes open, only to flinch when the first thing he noticed was the tip of the bayonet almost touching between his eyes. At first he was confused at the shocked reactions from his crew, but when he noticed they were looking at something else, he looked down and his eyes bulged out of the sockets as realization hit him like a hammer on his head.
The bayonet just pierced through the magical book.
"Oh, sorry about that! That wasn't on purpose!" Tristan deadpanned, completely unaware what the book actually was for the demons.
Before anyone would make a remark, a horrible ear-piercing screech caught everyone off guard. The next thing Blitzø and his crew began to notice was a viscous black goo bubbling out around the part where the bayonet pierced it, as the smoke literally drifted out of it.
"S-Sir, the book…" Moxxie said with a shaky voice, unable to comprehend the strange behavior of the item.
Blitzø's mouth trembled as the anger took over him. Shooting his head upward, his livid eyes stared at the clueless human. "You miserable sack of shit! Do you realize what you have done?!" He yelled, holding the pierced book.
"Uuuuhhh… Trying to make a good impression for our next encounter?" Tristan replied with a shrug, only to earn the bewildered looks from the creatures.
When Blitzø was about to unleash a barrage of insults out of his mouth, the book unexpectedly glowed in bright light that caught everyone's attention to look at it. And before they tried to comprehend what was happening, they were blinded by a flash of light before the darkness clouded their consciousness.
"Ugh…" A groan escaped out of Blitzø's mouth as he cracked his eyes open. As his blurred sight became clear, the first thing he was staring at was the ceiling. He sat up while rubbing his head in a daze, only to hiss as he clutched on his wounded arm.
"Sir?"
Blitzø turned to the source of the voice and saw the white-haired imp sitting next to him.
"Moxxie… Why the fuck are you sleeping on the floor?" Blitzø asked groggily.
Before Moxxie could answer, he heard another groan before turning to the side and saw his wife lying on the floor. "Millie!"
"Uh, what?" Millie muttered as she recovered her consciousness.
"You're okay, honey?" Moxxie asked, gently moving her face to look at him.
"Yeah… I think so." Millie asked with a smile. "Where are we?"
Moxxie perked up at the question before he looked around. To his surprise, he recognized the taping on the walls, the couch sitting at the far end of the room, and the office door next to a large desk. "Guys, I think we're back in our world! Inside the I.M.P building!"
"Wait, what? How the fuck did we end up here? Wait a second… Where's my beautiful princess?!" Blitzø exclaimed after noticing someone was missing, looking frantically around the room.
"I'm down here…"
Blinking his eyes, Blitzø looked down and realized he was sitting on top of Loona's back, as she was growling through her teeth.
"Oh, Loony! I'm so glad you're okay, my sweet baby girl! I thought I was gonna lose you forever!" Blitzø said childishly as he got off her, allowing her to stand up.
"Ugh, just stop! My head hurts!" Loona retorted, shoving Blitzø face when he tried to give her a hug. As she got on her feet and cracked her back, she looked around the room. "Can someone tell me how the fuck did we get here?"
"Well, if I can remember, our boss opened a portal to get somewhere else on Earth, but…" Moxxie trailed off.
"Wait, the book! Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! Where is it! We need to find it!" Blitzø gasped, clutching his head anxiously as his eyes roamed over the carpeted floor.
"Found it. I mean… at least I think it is."
Everyone looked at Loona as she was pointing at the dark puddle of dark slimy substance on the floor. It didn't take too long for them to remember that the book was pierced by a blessed bayonet and from the looks of it made the book literally melt into goo, much to the concern of the crew.
"So… you think Stolas has more of those fancy books he could lend us?" Millie asked with an apprehensive smile.
Blitzø's eye twitched after she mentioned the name he didn't want to hear at this moment.
Moxxie opened his mouth to answer, but when he looked back at the puddle once more, he gasped out of surprise. "Wait! Look!"
Everyone watched the slime starting to twist and wriggling disturbingly as they gathered together in one place. The crew backed away from it, thinking that this 'thing' was still alive and probably was going to act aggressive, but what they didn't expect was that the slime began to shape itself up into the same form as a book.
A flash of light blinded them for a brief moment, and when Blitzø and the others recovered their sight and looked back at it, they found the same golden-brimmed, navy blue book lying on the floor, just as good as it was moments ago.
The imps were completely stunned by the turn of events, as Blitzø walked forward and picked up the book with his uninjured arm. Opening it, he leafed through the golden pages to find all the text and the runic symbols were still the same as he could remember.
"Huh, I guess we don't need to ask him for another book after all." Loona said casually, folding her arms across her chest.
He let out a breath through his nose when a new sense of relief washed over him, as he slammed the book close and turned around to face the crew.
"Alright guys, listen up! Right now we have a lot of shit to do than expected! First order of business, we're going to get all the weapons we have in our storage and we're going back up there in the human world and we're going to find that piece of shit!" Blitzø announced, slamming the book on top of the desk.
"Sir, don't you think you need to recover first before we continue the job?" Moxxie asked in concern.
"I will after I cut his head and piss over his corpse!" Blitzø snapped, making Moxxie flinch at his outburst.
Looking over at the wound of his arm, he went behind the desk and opened a drawer to take out a piece of cloth, putting it over the cut.
"We are fucking assassins! And we have a job to send anyone a first-class ticket to Hell, where their souls can rot for all eternity! That's why we call ourselves The Immediate Murder Professionals! Right now, I'm pretty sure that asshole is laughing at us after he kicked our asses, but he'll soon learn that he just extended his lifespan and next time he won't be that lucky! So I say we should lock and load and we'll show him how much of a big deal we are!" Blitzø finished by slamming his fist on the desk.
"Well, if you really want to settle it, the guy is right here." Loona pointed her thumb to the other side.
"What?"
Blitzø, Moxxie and Millie turned to where Loona was pointing at, and to their shock they saw the same monster hunter lying face-flat on the ground, apparently unconscious.
"Wait, he was there the whole time?! Why didn't you say anything?!" Moxxie shouted at the hellhound.
"I would if you guys would stop shouting like a bunch of bitches for five fucking minutes!" Loona growled before she walked away and took a seat on the couch.
"But wait, how did he end up right here? Did that book accidentally teleport him with us?" Millie asked as she held her ax, yet she couldn't help but feel more confused than she was before.
"Does that even matter? Whatever happened just made the job a lot easier…" Blitzø responded with a wicked smile, approaching the young man while he took out a dagger out of his jacket.
Just then, a knock came from the door that lead to the exit caught everyone's attention, much of Blitzø's frustration when it came at the worst time.
"Oh, Christ on a stick… Moxxie, would you go out there and tell whoever it is to fuck off? We're busy here!" He shouted before he continued approaching the human.
Moxxie sighed as he went towards the door, thinking that it must be another new client, though he couldn't help but feel it was a strange timing. He opened the door and cleared his throat.
"Good day. We're sorry, but at this moment we're not-"
"Is Blitzy inside?"
Moxxie's eyes shot wide open before looking up and saw a towering, slender figure standing in front of him. His face began to sweat the moment his eyes met with two pairs of almond-shaped red eyes.
"O-Oh! Y-Yes! Yes, h-h-he is! J-Just give me a moment and I'll let him know that you're here!" Moxxie said before he slammed the door shut. In a hurry, he went back to Blitzø as the latter was just about to stab him. "Sir! It's him! It's him!"
"Oh my fucking Satan! The fuck are you blabbering about?" Blitzø shouted, having his patience run thin by the constant interruptions.
"It's Stolas! Stolas is at the door!" Moxxie replied.
"What?!" Blitzø's expression instantly changed into a mix of shock and disbelief. He grabbed Moxxie by the collar and pulled towards him aggressively. "What the fuck is he doing here?! We can just let him in and see all of this! If he ever finds out what happened to his book, we're FUCKED!"
"Calm down, Blitzø!" Millie jumped in and shook his shoulders. "As long as we don't tell him anything about it, it'll be fine!"
"Tell me about what, exactly?"
Moxxie, Millie and Blitzø shuddered after hearing the voice as the lights of the room flickered momentarily. Turning to the other side of the room, they froze when they saw a pair of long, thin legs before the imps raised their heads and faced an owl demon dressed in an elegant, if not expensive, attire that represented himself from a royal class. The owl also wore a feathery top hat with a golden crown encircling it on the head.
The owl demon was looking down at the imps with a stoic expression that it was enough to make them feel on the edge.
"Stolas! Hey! I gotta say, what a pleasant surprise for you to stop by our office without a notice!" Blitzø said as he, Moxxie and Millie stood up and wore their fake smiles.
"You know I'm fond of making surprise visits, Blitzy. And I see you have a 'guest' here." Stolas asked in a calm voice as he approached Blitz.
"Guest?" Blizto blinked a few times before realizing that Stolas could notice the unconscious human behind him. At this very moment, his face was starting to sweat. "Oh, yeah, yeah! Well, it's kind of a funny, long story. So how about we go to my office and we can have a little chat?"
"Wait." Stolas spoke firmly when he was now standing a few feet from Blitzø. He crouched down and pulled the imp's arm to see the cut on it, and a worried expression began to form on his face. "You're wounded…"
"Oh, that! It's just a flesh wound." Blitzø averted Stolas' gaze, though he cursed inwardly for forgetting about hiding his wound.
"Did that human do to you?" Stolas asked gravely, glancing at the unconscious young man with a frown.
"Look, it's not much of a big deal! We'll take care of him in a moment!" Blitzø retorted and pulled his arm away.
Stolas let out a sigh as his featherly hand cupped around Blitzø's face. "Blitzø, the reason I came here is that I felt a disturbance I never thought I would experience for once. I'm so glad to see all of you are okay, but it is clear that something went wrong, and it has something to do with the grimoire."
"What are you talking about? The book is fine! It's right there at the top of the desk and I can assure you nothing bad happened to it!" Blitzø pointed at the grimoire sitting on the desk.
Loona let out a snort while shaking her head.
"Very subtle, sir…" Moxxie muttered with a frown.
"Shut. The fuck. Up…" Blitzø growled through his teeth, nudging Moxxie's side with his elbow.
"Blitzø, one thing you should know about is that the grimoire has a deep connection to the Goetia family. When I was given it by my father, it created a new bond with me. You could say it granted me a new sense, for if anything happens to it." The owl explained.
Stolas stood upright and walked around the imps where they were trying to hide the human.
"And you're going to tell me that this individual behind you has nothing to do despite the three of you constantly going in and out to the Earth?" He asked in an accusing tone.
"Sir… I think we should tell him the truth." Millie sighed in resignation.
Out of frustration, Blitzø ran his hands over his face. "Alright, you know what? Fuck it! You want the truth? Here's the truth! This shit for brains here threw some kind of blessed knife to my beautiful face, and I used your fancy book as a shield by accident!"
"Did you say he threw a blessed knife?" Stolas repeated that part with a look of surprise.
"Yeah, that weapon also hurt our boss. It turns out that man's a monster hunter, and a very fierce one we never faced." Moxxie added, glancing at the human with an unease look.
"Wait a minute, how come you didn't know about it?" Stolas inquired, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.
"Well, our client didn't tell us many details about the target. And the more we're thinking about it, we probably should have asked questions in hindsight." Millie replied with an awkward giggle.
Stolas groaned exasperatedly, rubbing the bridge of his beak. "Alright, so you say that a blessed… 'bayonet' pierced the grimoire. What happened next?"
"Right, the book acted really weird. Like, it literally screamed, it started to leak with some sticky goo or some shit, and then we got blinded by a flash. And the next thing we knew, we all woke up in this very room. As for the grimoire, at first we saw it melted for a moment before it got back together and it was good as new. And here you are." Blitzø finished as his tone grew tired.
The royally-dressed owl demon scrubbed his chin in deep thought as he took a moment to process all the details Blitzø gave them to him.
"Don't worry about it. This guy is our target, we'll take care of him in a minute, and we'll move on from this mess. M&M, go get some trash bags and the chainsaw from the storage room, will ya? We have some cleaning to do." Blitzø gave the order.
"What would you do, sir?" Moxxie asked with an eyebrow raised.
"I'll put down this little dog out of its misery." Blitzø grinned as he picked up the dagger and was ready to finish the contract once and for all.
The boss was about to step closer to the unconscious human, but suddenly a feathery hand on his shoulder stopped him. Blitzø blinked and looked up to see Stolas in confusion.
"Hold on, there's something I need to see closely." He said before he kneeled next to the young man.
"Oh come on… Fine, but if you're curious about what's in his pants, don't have any expectations." Blitzø grumbled as he crossed his arms, tapping his foot impatiently.
What Stolas didn't tell Blitzø was that there was something peculiar about the ring on the young man's finger. Lifting the human's hand, Stolas scrutinized the engraved chrome ring, but more particularly the small crest, which appeared to be a regal cross with sharp blade ends.
His two pairs of eyes widened as he let go of the human's hand. "Oh my Satan, that crest… I never thought I could see this again after centuries!" Stolas uttered with his voice full of wonder and surprise.
"What was that?" Blitzø tilted his head sideways as he asked.
Stolas whipped his head to the imp with a scowl on his face. "Did all of you realize what kind of mess you just got yourselves into?" His fed up voice caught everyone off-guard.
Blitzø rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Come on, Stolas. No one's ever gonna find out about this human when we get rid of him." He replied, waving his dagger to make the point.
"That's not the issue, Blitzø! That crest on the ring he's wearing… is the Van Helsing family crest!" Stolas revealed.
Moxxie and Millie were back with the stuff Blitzø told them to bring, but when they heard that particular name, their faces grew stunned.
"Did… Did you just say the Van Helsing family?" Moxxie muttered, dropping the bags to the floor.
"Who the fuck are they?!" Blitzø shouted, completely oblivious.
"Yeah, what's up with that?" Loona looked up from her cellphone while raising an eyebrow.
"You guys… have you never heard about them? They're the baddest tough motherfuckers on Earth!" Millie exclaimed with her hands up in the air.
"They're the famous monster hunters, very well known for hunting an elder vampire back in the 19th century! Even most people in Hell talk about that!" Moxxie added with his face beaded in sweat.
"My parents even told me tales about them when I was a child, but I thought they were just a legend!" Millie said, turning to Stolas in disbelief.
"I was also led to believe that Van Helsing's bloodline has gone extinct, but since we're clearly wrong, that makes the situation even more troublesome than I expected. Not because the Van Helsing is still surviving, but the fact that you brought the descendant here in Hell." Stolas pointed to the unconscious human.
Blitzø remained stoic even after hearing all the explanations given to him. "Okay, but why can't we just kill him and be done with it?!" His answer made Moxxie slap on his face while Millie wore a dumbfounded look.
"This is going to be a long day…" Stolas groaned in hopelessness, looking up at the ceiling.
N/A: And that should wrap it up for this chapter! To be honest, I'm surprised that this chapter became longer than I expected, but I still hope you enjoyed it!
So yeah, some details are quite similar from the old version, but let's just say I had to make some twist and turns to make this introduction work! Also I hope you liked the new version of Tristan Relish, but if you are concerned if I'd make my character a Mary Sue or something, do not worry, I know what can I do to avoid making those mistakes most writers do.
And I'm pretty sure some of you have questions about this story, but more particularly if my OC is gonna have a harem? Well, the answer is yes, but right now it's too soon to reveal who's gonna be in Tristan's harem. Maybe if I update one or two more chapters, I'll give you the answer.
Another thing you should know, there's a possibility that this story will have a crossover with one or a couple of franchises, but so far I still haven't decide because it all depends how the story progresses and if those serious would play a significant role for the story. Only time will tell.
Now one last thing, I'd like to invite you to join my Discord channel where you can chat with other people or get to know about my ideas I have for this story and others. So if anyone is interested, please let me know through the PM so I can give you the invitation code.
Alright, without further ado, I wish you a very good day! And if you like to see more of this stuff, please review/follow/favorite! Also your support is gonna help me a lot to keep writing!
