"Everyone, hide, now!" Michael bellowed at the fear-frozen civilians, jolting them into motion; with panicked shrieks, they used their feet like their life depended on it and made their way inside the nearest house.
Eventually, the streets were vacated, and the only ones left were the legion of demon killers who stared down the city doors like they stole something. Their hands squeezed the non-life out of their weapons as they anxiously waited for the Demon of Violence to do something such as dislocate them from their hinges with a single strike. But, nothing.
"Something's wrong," Virgil muttered with concern.
The malicious intent that permeated the air was intensified. Then, a demon leapt over the wall. And another. And another. Dozens upon dozens of demons crossed the wall in a single bound poured into the city en masse as a great flood would. Like locusts, they destroyed the homes in which the civilians hid and began a massacre.
"We should leave– accept the loss and just go before one of us dies," Virgil advised.
"No," Michael shot down, "we will save as many as we can. They're one of us, too. Let it be known: you're either with me or against me. You may retreat if you'd like, but know I will find you should I come out of this alive. Now, with me, gentlemen!"
With that firm declaration, Michael rushed towards the group with a longsword in hand. None of his men buckled or yielded, so they followed suit with war cries. Screams of anguish followed by bones snapping and flesh tearing filled the ears of the advancing demon group which tried to save them– only a few humans up against an entire army of devils.
Lucius faced this swarm of demons with a new resolve; he'd resist indulging in the pleasure of killing. Instead, each unholy execution will have the intention of saving others behind it. Then, he figured, he'd be one step closer to being righteous.
And so the demons and demon hunters battled. Blades ripped through demons and claws ripped through humans. Each swing from a demon hunter meant a demon or two–or five, in Lucius's case–dropped dead. But the crowd of creatures made up for their lack of combat skill with sheer numbers as they vied to tear into the demon-hunting squad.
Thus, not even Michael could avoid injury, and there were far too many of them. Virgil, Noel– everyone except Lucius had sustained lacerations across their body. Yet they still had the grit to keep fighting, especially Michael, who could not let his men down in such fashion after leading them into this fight.
Eventually, however, the maulings were too great and the squad members fell one-by-one like flies before getting pinned down by various demons. The only one left standing was Lucius, who looked around and saw nothing but his downed allies. Demons surrounded him, but did not attack yet. A standoff. Was this Michael's intentions? To sacrifice them to demons? This was a nightmarish scenario, and yet he found the will to tighten his grip on his colossal sword's handle. He didn't know how to feel at the moment; all he knew was that he must fight.
He had full intentions to take on all of them by himself, but a whistle rang out, causing every demon to clear a path towards Lucius while dragging his allies out of the way. One final demon leapt over the wall.
Cain.
It dawned upon Lucius that he carefully planned this assault so they could fight once more. And as he made his way towards the demon hunter, he hummed whilst cracking his knuckles.
"What do you want?" Lucius questioned.
"A rematch, of course. Before you refuse, keep in mind exactly what's surrounding you. And keep in mind the people that are still alive over there," he replied while pointing behind Lucius– towards the people huddled up and in tears next to the few buildings that remained.
Cain didn't need to detail, for Lucius understood the implications.
Virgil, being one of three demon hunters still conscious, managed to wrest free from the demon pinning him to a wall and cut it down with ease. Michael observed and waited. Had everyone lost, he'd resort to going all out– a risky move, but he'd have nothing to lose at that point.
"Why a rematch? You already won," Virgil asked with anger in his voice mixed with labored breathing.
"No, I didn't."
"What do you mean, you didn't?"
"I lost, see?" Cain pushed his hair aside to reveal a scar across his cheek with a smile. "There's never been a wound I didn't recognize. He landed a hit after all. He's strong– he just doesn't know it yet. I'll bring it out of him before winning this fight."
"Like hell. You're gonna have to go through me, first," Virgil demanded as he assumed another quickdraw stance. He planned on using the same move that defeated the Demon of Violence before. Cain's smile faded away; replacing it was malice. Displaying how fast he was, he vanished and reappeared inches before Virgil.
"I'm not interested in trash like you."
Michael and Lucius looked at Virgil with horrified eyes with mouths agape. Virgil's blade dropped, for he felt weak; as if life had been drained from his body. He felt something lodged in his chest. The rapid heartbeat in his chest that reminded him he's alive was no longer there. With utter terror etched upon his face, Virgil looked down and saw an arm. Cain punched a hole in his chest– no, he punched his heart out.
With a spectacular display of blood, Cain mercilessly yanked his arm out of Virgil's body, leaving a bloodied hole where his heart was. The fire of determination in his eyes sputtered out, and the second-in-command collapsed instantly.
Michael's breath turned shaky as he contained his rage with gritted teeth and clenched fists; if he were to go all out now, he'd endanger the only one he knew for sure was still alive.
"Cain," Lucius spoke with rage creeping upon his voice, "you..."
He held his blade tighter than he ever had in his life.
"... shouldn't be allowed to exist."
Cain scoffed away Lucius's insult.
"I could say the same about you. I know a violent man when I see one. You and I?" he monologued while circling Lucius, "We're the same. I kill humans without a second thought. You kill demons without a second thought. We're two sides of the same coin– just different species. So why act like you're better than me?"
"Because you enjoy what you're doing."
"And you don't? Bullshit. I'll get violent if you spout that nonsense again. You are me, and I am you. Tell you what– I won't even fight you."
Cain pointed to an unconscious Noel.
"If you kill your buddy, I will spare everyone that's still alive and leave. You know, deep down, you'll enjoy it. So don't pretend like you don't want to," he warned.
"No, Lucius! Don't do it!" Michael screamed.
"I am many things, Michael, but I am not a liar," Cain rebutted.
Lucius mulled over the decision as he loomed over Noel– his first friend in a while. He thought the guy was annoying at times, but he didn't deserve to die. But if he didn't follow through, then everyone–including him–would be killed. Would he make a sacrifice for the greater good, or would compromise and let everyone die?
"Before I kill you, tell me your name," he whispered in Lucius's ear under the presumption he'd crumble under pressure.
He raised his blade. Pushed at his mental limit, Lucius made his decision. He'd do neither.
Right before he brought his blade down to kill Noel, Lucius swiveled around–catching Cain off-guard–and drove his massive blade through the Demon of Violence's body; the blade having such width it almost divided him in half.
Cain stumbled around with a look of shock, for he was dealt a life-threatening wound. This was not a thrill of battle that he could enjoy– this was a sneak attack that drove him to death's door.
"Y-You..." Cain struggled to sputter out.
"You're right," Lucius delivered with a deranged yet distant tone and look, "I'm you. You and I kill each other, and we enjoy doing it. We're evil."
Lucius ripped his hefty sword out of Cain's body and tossed it, reducing the flesh that held together his top and bottom halves into strings. The vice demon collapsed and attempted to crawl away for his life. No more bravado. No more drive to fight. Only the desperation to survive, as Cain made Lucius feel back at the castle. The irony was not lost on him.
Lucius stalked him with a decisive walk.
"The only difference between you and I is you're stuck in your ways. I recognize my faults and I'm trying to be better. That makes me stronger than you."
With a vicious kick, Lucius turned Cain to his back.
"The thrill's in these, right?" he asked the demon while holding his fists out. The only thing Cain could do was shoot the demon hunter a glare while fighting for his life.
Lucius then got on top of Cain and started punching his face in with rage-filled shouts. Over, and over, and over. He kept slamming his fists into Cain's face until he stopped moving. Until he knew he was was dead. Michael–and the civilians–watched; relieved, impressed, and slightly terrified of Lucius all at once.
With shaky breaths, he rose to his feet as Cain's blood dripped from his fists. It was over.
Cain had been defeated by the only thing he said could.
More violence.
Superior violence.
Righteous violence.
Intimidated by their leader being bested–and faced with someone who can and will kill as many of them as he could–the demon flock fled back the way they came, vacating the city streets as quickly as they flooded them.
It was only then he'd give his name.
"It's Lucius."