The sky darkened. Thick dark clouds clumped above the land. The strong wind blew the dried leaves on the ground, and the corns were bent in the direction of the wind.
However, even though the breeze was strong, the clouds above were stationary. Looming down the ground, the night was darker than normal. And the skies roared as the lightning crackled above.
Sao went to the jeep, turning the headlights on. The light was directed to the house. Revealing the house that melded to the night.
Pastor Opium stood to the side reciting his prayers. Rain went to the bumper to check her things, while Lorian was weighing a big mallet in his hand.
"Finally, I could try out these custom-made revolvers. And the first victim will be a Tier B- at that," Sao said, caressing the cold steel of the revolvers strapped on his hips.
"How can guns kill an Astral?" Lorian was confused.
Sao shook his head. "It's not how, but why not? I ordered blessed bullets, cast with bronze and quenched in holy water. I called this the Angel Shot," he proudly explained.
Pastor Opium was intrigued after hearing the details of the Angel Shot of Sao. "Sam Smithery?" he asked.
"Oh! You know him too, Pastor?" Sao was excited to hear that someone knew Sam Smithery.
"We regularly order exorcism stuff from him. Specifically, our Bible covers," Pastor Opium shared.
Sao stared at the metal book cover of Pastor Opium's Bible. He couldn't help his eyes from shining while looking at its artistic intricacies.
"He went all out with these details. Mr. Sam loved his work," Sao commented.
"Now, now, don't look at it too much or it will melt. Focus on the task, it's already starting," Pastor Opium said as he opened the book.
The book flipped open, and between the pages was a flat gum used as a bookmark. Pastor Opium picked it up, unwrapped it, and placed a flat gum in his mouth.
"Prepare," Pastor Opium informed.
Rain ignored Pastor Opium's words, and focused on assembling something at the back. While Lorian and Sao stood in front, battle ready.
"Why is my weapon just a regular mallet?" Lorian asked.
"Because we have a demolition to do," Sao replied.
The black house's windows glowed red. Its door opened up, showing nothing but darkness inside. Batches of red eyes appeared, as they slowly went out of the house.
Awoooooo!
Growls flooded the silence of the place. As five wooden dogs walked out of the house, their eyes glaring at them. Although wooden, their teeth and claws were as sharp as a blade. One wrong move and they would receive deep wounds.
Lorian stepped forward, dragging the mallet onto the ground. Seeing that Lorian didn't look frightened, the wooden dogs barked and revealed their fangs. While one of them dashed at Lorian at a quick pace.
It ran sideways and suddenly vanished out of sight. Lorian grabbed the mallet with both hands and swung it upwards. The wooden dog was taken aback, however, there was nothing it could do in mid-air.
Crackle!
The wooden dog broke into pieces, scattering behind him. Pastor Opium walked to the wooden pieces pulling a bottle of holy water. He sprinkled it on the pieces, the holy water sizzled and black smoke evaporated along with it.
"At least use some blessed objects. They will reform back again if you only wreck them physically," Pastor Opium said to Lorian.
"Sorry pastor, but I got nothing other than this," Lorian apologized.
Pastor signaled Lorian to approach him. Lorian complied and handed his mallet to Pastor Opium.
The wooden dogs were confused looking at them. They were treated like they weren't a threat, which offended them even more. All four of them rushed in Lorian's direction, ready to shred him to pieces.
Sao yawned looking at the approaching wooden dogs. "Hey, do better than this!" he shouted, pulling a revolver with his right hand.
Bang! Bang!
Sao fired two shots from his revolver. His bullets flew right in the wooden dogs' direction. Tiny metal balls scattered and peppered them with holes.
The four wooden dogs stopped moving, as their red eyes dimmed. Black smoke dispersed from their bodies while they fell to the ground. Sao blew the smoke out of his revolver's muzzle. Standing proudly at the sight of the four wooden dogs on the ground.
"More! More! More!" Sao shouted at the house while reloading his revolver.
While Pastor Opium was busy blessing Lorian's mallet, the house started glowing with intense red light. Its wood creaked, as the house shook.
Sao, who was confident a while ago, smiled awkwardly. "Guys you need to see this," he said in alarm.
The creaking continued, as the house started to deform. Its side grew long sharp legs like that of a spider and the front grew two pincers. The pitch-black house transformed into a crab.
Shaaaaaaaa!
White smoke bellowed out of the front door. A human-sized doll appeared standing at the doorstep looking down at them, while the house stood with its eight legs.
"Dear guest, it's rude to hurt your host guard dogs. They only wanted a snack and you brutally hurt them. I need some compensation and your life will suffice," the doll said.
The doll went inside the house with its hands behind its back. Lorian, Sao, and Pastor Opium looked up at the towering house. Their expressions became serious.
"Here boy, it's now blessed. Start swinging that mallet and break those legs," Pastor Opium said, handing the mallet back to Lorian.
"Watch out!" Sao screamed.
The house stabbed its pincer to where they were standing. The three dodged in different directions. Lorian ran under the house and smashed one of its legs making it lost its balance. Sao stepped back, while Pastor Opium sidestepped, dodging by a hair's breadth.
He swung the thick book with his right hand, breaking the pincer into pieces. "Bless you!"
The house swung its other pincer to Pastor Opium, ready to snip him. Pastor Opium jumped to the side while dirt flew around as the pincer became stuck on the ground. The heavy book on Pastor Opium once again smashed the pincer to bits.
However, before they could celebrate, the house's front door opened. And to their shock, the wooden pincers started growing back. The exorcised wooden dogs' pieces started flying back to the door like they were being sucked by an invisible force.
"How troublesome," Pastor Opium sighed.
The wooden house back door opened. Lorian under the house, saw wooden balls rolling out of the back door and down the ground. The wooden balls started growing legs, heads, and a tail. Their growls once again echoed across the field.
"Motherfuuuuu-"