Tobey kept looking alternately between his hand and his grandmother. Though she was not blood-related to him, he considered her as a part of his family. She watched him grow up, she helped him to choose his beloved profession and taught him many things.
The person that he was seeing in front of him didn't seem the same grandma that cooked cookies for him and made apple pies every time he and Han asked. She was acting out of usual, her eyes had a different gleam inside, and her expression wasn't that kind and comforting expression from before.
She gave another step forward, in which the sound echoed through the room and woke him up from his intense line of thought. He gave another step backward but kept pointing the gun at her.
'She is right. I can't shoot at her at all. I can't just... just pull the trigger and live with it. Also, her eyes are showing something... maybe it is confidence, even. My instincts tell me that she isn't confident about me not pulling the trigger but rather that she won't get affected even if I pull it.'
At that point, Tobey wouldn't get surprised if she was able to dodge his bullets.
"So? What will you do, little Tobey?" she asked again with a bit of malice behind her tone.
Tobey didn't know what to say or how to act, so he stayed silent for the time being.
The old woman took another step forward.
"What a hassle. Differently from what I thought, there were some lessons I taught you that you didn't follow strictly, huh? I am quite disappointed..."
'L-Lesson?' he thought, frowning hard.
Then, a flashback crossed his mind quickly.
'I know that I was the one that came up with this idea of you working as a detective, Tobey. However, now that you are a former agent, I need to advise you about something: you have a brave and righteous heart. You are always craving justice. However, even when it is unfair, never hold yourself back from pulling the trigger when your life depends on it.'
Tobey's breathing got heavier every second more. His arms were trembling way more than before. Each one of his grandma's steps hurt his heart like a sword piercing through his chest. Cold sweat ran down his face, which had now a demonic aspect.
'I am sorry... However, knowing who you are, you gave me this chance for a reason. So, I am sure that you will forgive me if... if...!'
Tobey widened his eyes, holding his breath and forcing his arms to stop shaking. The detective gritted his teeth as strongly as he could to ignore his impulse to reconsider his resolve. He pulled the trigger several times, the sounds of the shots echoed inside the room.
"Too slow, darling," the old woman muttered, wearing a sad expression.
With abnormally quick footwork, she nimbly leaped to the sides, avoiding the bullets. The ones that she couldn't dodge at all she easily blocked with her sword. That job seemed like nothing much to her.
"I am sorry... But demons are demons, in the end... They are born to be executed by us!" she stomped the ground, approaching him, her sword shining in a divine color.
Tobey's heart raced and his face distorted in an expression of perplexity. His body moved on its own as he dodged the first slash of the sword. In the second, he put his gun in the way, shooting at point-blank range on the flat side of the sword and sending it flying to the side.
The woman didn't stop there. She never let go of her sword. Instead, she exerted all her strength from the same position, swinging it downwards again. The blade of that short sword looked like a lightning bolt crossing the air in Han's perspective. She was on the corner of the room, looking at that battle with dumbfoundedness and shock.
Nonetheless, in Tobey's eyes, it was a rather normal swing that he could dodge by jumping backward. To his surprise, though, once the sword passed right in front of his eyes, missing him by inches, and hitting the ground, an explosion was caused then a shockwave that pushed the detective away.
Tobey flew through the wall that got broken due to that orb of light that blew it up before.
'Damn it! Fall from the second floor isn't good news at all!'
In the middle of the air, he spun his body and got in position to land on his feet. He clenched his teeth, preparing himself for the upcoming impact.
With a loud thud, he landed on the ground on both feet.
"Huh!?" he said, surprised. "It didn't hurt at all? A fall of eight meters high didn't hurt at all? What the hell is this?"
Before he could question himself about something else, an orb of light landed beside him, exploding the ground. Tobey's reflexes allowed him to leap to the side, avoiding getting caught in that explosion.
'I don't have time to think anymore, I need to run away right now!'
Tobey stomped the ground, dashing forward. A huge chunk of the front yard's soil got launched backward as he did so, such was the strength of his stomping.
Tobey couldn't believe how fast he was running. His body seemed two times lighter than before. His muscles had an explosive strength way beyond their usual. The detective felt like he was in someone else's body.
'I-Is she going after me?' he thought, looking backward.
Right after he did so, his heart skipped a beat. Something was coming in front of him, and very quickly.
Tobey bent his body backward, seeing the blade of an axe passing above him. If he didn't dodge, it would rip off his head.
A man wearing full plate white armor, went past him, just losing momentum some meters beyond. His face was covered with a helmet. He carried a double-edged axe and was leaning it in his shoulder, preparing himself for another assault.
'Another one? How come? There are more people like grandma!?'
Tobey couldn't find openings to run away, he felt like he would get split in two if he turned his back to him. However, fighting back seemed quite impossible.
"Die already, demon!" the person shouted, their voice indistinguishable from behind the helmet.
Tobey waited for his next assault, bending his knees and opening his arms.
The armored guy kicked the ground, closing the distance in a matter of seconds. Such a feat wasn't possible for a normal human at all. There wasn't agility or speed in his moves but pure strength, only.
Tobey watched the axe draw a bow towards his head vertically. He gave a side step, short enough not to take him off balance. The axe passed by him and struck the ground, cracking it.
The detective bumped into his opened flank, passing both arms under his right armpit, then spinning his own body and leaning forward.
'I wasn't sure whether my new boost of strength would be enough to accomplish this move but...', he thought as he felt the man's body sliding from over his shoulder, 'it seems that, after falling from eight meters and destroying a yard by stomping the ground only, I don't need to worry about it anymore!'
Tobey threw the man on the ground head first, warping his helmet and destroying the asphalt in the process.
He didn't lose time and flew off, dashing through the streets without looking back. He knew that the helmet and armor were able to absorb a great part of the impact, so it wasn't even close to enough to defeat that man. Tobey wasn't going to stay there and test his luck.
As he ran, more people surrounded by a golden aura and holding all kinds of weapons, not just medieval but modern ones as well, began to show up in the streets and challenged him.
Tobey never stopped running, avoiding each of their attacks and fighting back when it was needed, using his gun as well to keep them away from him or to deflect their weapons. His legs went numb by struggling so much in his race. The detective's joints and muscles were far stronger than before but they got exhausted, anyway.
As if his despairing situation wasn't enough, it began to rain all of a sudden. A strong rain, orchestrated by claps of thunder and the sounds of swords, axes, guns, and all sorts of weapons pursuing the detective.
At some point, a man wielding a scimitar could cut his gun in half.
Tobey got frozen for a moment. Now that he was disarmed, what would he do?
The response to that question, though, was part of his body.
He remembered about his long black nails and didn't hesitate in using them to protect himself, wide opening his hand and attacking like he was a tiger. His nails were more resistant and sharper than steel and pierced through the protection of that man, slashing him profoundly.
Without losing his momentum, Tobey continued running forward until he got to an intersection of four different streets, standing in the middle of it.
He looked around, noticing that archers and shooters were appearing on top of the buildings.
His heart seemed to sink inside the chest.
'How many...?' he thought. 'How many of them are there!?'