"You won't skewer me if I hurt them, will you?"
Basil was a little bit of a sensitive dick tonight. If he had strong feelings for these orphans, Karma would take his nose off their reunion and carry Kou out of here if he had to.
"They're already in pain, there's no difference if you'd hurt them or not…If hurting them is the only way to cease the pain, then we have to give them their last ass whooping."
"At least we're clear about that," the teenager stated. "Do you still know how to do holy rites?"
Karma wasn't trained to do the sacraments to purify vessels or any creature that came from Sheol. These weren't vessels; they were ghosts. Their master did not bring them on exorcism missions or haunted houses missions; because, unlike vessels who do whatever the heck they wanted, ghosts had a purpose for remaining on the land of the living. They were smarter, more cunning, and could play mind fuckery tricks. It was either a powerful demon or one of the seven princes of hell pulling their strings.
Basil groaned. It was true that all of the viels were trained by the previous pope. They could do basic or advanced holy magic depending on their body components. If you're a viel that has mostly demonic parts, the holy magic won't be as effective as people like Kou's and Boota's. Basil was part unicorn therefore his holy magic was just as strong; but, considering the fact that he had slaughtered so many humans for the past centuries and even turned an acquaintance into stone before eating her, the efficiency of his holy magic wouldn't even blow a leaf. He would have to pray for forgiveness.
"Can you buy me some time, kid?"
"How much time are we talking about? Because if you're going to take until morning, I'd be in a curry and you'll be in a stew."
While the two of them conversed their plan, Jinx was bull riding Belladonna.
"Get off of me you little runt!"
Jinx jumped off her back, grabbing a bottle of holy water from his side pouch, sprinkling it over her.
"Die you demonic apparition!" He grabbed some garlic, breaking it into cloves, throwing them piece-by-piece at her. As soon as he finished off his garlic, he snatched his other ingredients for distraction: pepper and onions. He sliced the onion in half, dodging Belladonna's scalpels and sticking the halved onion on her eyes before running off to sprinkle pepper in front of the dead orphans.
"What is this?! My eyes!!!"
Ayami sneezed, her head fell off her hand. The other two were also sneezing non stop, causing Roi to weep even more. The fire grew wider. The knights grew bigger.
Basil shut his eyes, sliding his arms parallel to each other. Karma extended his leg out, spinning to draw a perfect circle on dirt. He cut his hand, smearing blood on the ground and placing a special gold coin on top of the blood. His eyes flashed a purple light which ran down on his body like trickles of water before merging with his shadow. His shadow was divided into three. Two more figures of him rose from the divided shadows. Karma #2 took on Ayami, Karma #3 dealt with Roi, and the original Karma overlooked the activities of the silent Castor and the sneering Belladonna.
Jinx scrambled to Karma's side, lost on how he could contribute. "How about me, Karma, what should I do?"
"Go and be with Kou, holler if something happens."
He saluted Karma like a loyal soldier. If he had a tail, he'd be wagging it because that meant he would sit back and relax until these two solved the Belladonna issue.
Belladonna didn't seem to be interested in Jinx anymore. She did follow him with his eyes; her grin growing wider.
It was two against one. Karma #2 and Ayami were already engaging in an expeditious combat. Ayami's head released the scythe from the base of her neck before creating a spiked morning star. The scythe was used by her body as they assaulted Karma simultaneously. The clone deflected the attacks; he was holding a dagger with his other hand to counter the small weapons that the head continuously spat. The chain from the morning star wrapped around Karma #2's left arm. The head took the opportunity to spit more bladed wheels which struck the clone on his head. Ayami's body took the chance to throw the scythe, aiming for the blade to end the clone. Karma #2 hauled the chain which dragged the head, having the scythe penetrate through her right eye.
Meanwhile, Karma #3 was having a hard time with indestructible knights. His scythe merely swipes them like a finger through a candlefire. He had burnt marks on his neck and left cheek. Roi was only crying more. It was even louder this time. Karma #3 swung his scythe in an orbit, leaping through before the knights could come back.
The third clone proceeded to swing his scythe to temporarily eliminate the fire, reaching Roi who tensed up and hurled one of his eyeballs to him. Karma #3 burst into flames. The flames didn't burn him in an instant, instead, it made him draw his sword against Karma #2. Ayami and her body were immobile. Her body was still holding the scythe to which was pierced into her.
Anyone that would be consumed in his fire would automatically be on his side. Roi seemed to have the weakest willpower but the emotional display covered how dangerous the child could be.
"How do we defeat Roi?" Karma queried to himself. He glanced at Basil who was sweating profusely.
What the hell was he saying in his prayers? Better harvest? World peace? What the hell was taking him so long?
A loud and familiar shrill of a vessel came out from the treehouse.
"Oh…you have got to be kidding me…" Karma groaned.
He did say holler when something happened. Something did happen that killed his wimpy roommate.
It was supposed to be a time for relaxation. Jinx was planning to heat water for some tea. He already had a biscuit between his fingers. He sat on the chair, and as soon as he tossed the biscuit in his mouth with a satisfied sigh, a child pounced on him, causing him to fall back while still sitting. He grabbed the child's hands that held the knife against the bridge of his nose. The strong stench of pickle made his eyes water and his nose hurt.
"I'll make the Lord proud of me! Why don't you just die and get out of my way? Die die die die you pathetic piece of crap!!!"
"He–help! Karma!!!"
With the biscuit still in his mouth, he couldn't scream for help. The child that appeared like that other orphan used his other hand to strangle him. Black spots emerged from his vision like ink dripping. The moment Jinx was about to lose consciousness, the vessel living inside of him couldn't help but laugh.
"You are really one heck of an unlucky human."
Jinx's head rolled to the side. Saliva pooling out of his mouth. The orphan wasn't content with the strangulation. He couldn't let these mortals do his job and take all the credit. He was serving a new master. He had to show off. He punctured holes into Jinx's face, starting off with two of his eyes. He slit his throat and cut off his ears, sticking the ears together as if they were butterflies. The boy giggled.
His smile fell when the human below him released a black smog. His body bulked up. Horns grew at the sides of his head. The orc-like vessel with the face of a well-aged man screamed, grabbing the orphan and snapping him into two. His length and width slowly outgrew the treehouse; his eyes of dark orbs peering before opening fully.
Jinx's killer was hurled out, landing exactly in front of Castor whose scared expression became even more petrified.
"That's him! That's him! He's the one who killed them! It wasn't me! That's not me!"