"While I, Urpize the Despoiler, can feed upon humanity's fear, I am unstoppable!"
Zemin's back was clammy with cold sweat. He glanced around, gathering his bearings.
While the demon was distracted, Narcisa had quietly crawled to the fallen Citri. The younger girl didn't stand up, but Narcisa nodded at Zemin and even smiled—so Citri must've been fine.
Danis hid behind a glass monolith and injected an ampule of a painkiller. His right hand looked terrible, but the right one could still shoot—as soon as the injection kicked in.
Jagger rapidly reloaded his rifle and flicked open the bayonet attached to it. He met Zemin's eyes, gave a pointed look towards the captives rounded up by the Goblin A, then at Urpize.
The demon spread his arms wide and laughed, reveling in fear and pain of his opponents. His aura flared with the oppressive power that made Zemin's hands tremble until he clenched them into white-knuckled fists.
He understood what Jagger wanted. The demon was so arrogant, because there were a dozen panicking people behind him, being his batteries. Someone had to remove them from the situation.
'That would work, too… Wait, no! We have to capture this demon alive—it's certainly powerful enough to know things! Otherwise, this all was for nothing!'
Demons were sturdy enough to (sometimes) live as nothing more than a head, or the opposite—without a head at all. Being creatures of pure negative energy, they had no vital organs: the only way to kill them was to attack until they died. Some places still hurt more than others, though.
But a Void Portal would kill anyone in an instant.
Zemin made his decision, and things moved again.
Urpize leaped at Jagger, who raised his rifle with the bayonet like a spear. Both moved with speeds impossible for a normal human, dodging and blocking the first strikes.
The demon had the upper hand, although Jagger used his weapon masterfully, mixing bayonet's attack with point-blank shots. He moved with experience, using his natural height, which almost rivaled the demon's, to his maximum advantage.
This distracted Urpize enough. Zemin raised his gun and aimed at the demon's head. With how quickly and erratically Urpize moved, there was no way to hit him with Zemin's skills alone.
But in front of his eyes, the Void System lit up a circle in the air, suggesting the most likely place where the target will move. Priceless advice.
Zemin charged his bullet with Psi-energy and shot.
Urpize jerked slightly away from the predicted trajectory, but Zemin used telekinesis to direct the bullet at him, anyway. It met another telekinetic barrier and exploded with creeping frost, creating a cloud of icy mist in front of the demon's eyes.
"The monster will die today!" Jagger shouted, stabbing his bayonet into the demon's gut.
Zemin didn't watch the rest. He dashed towards the captives, crossing the twenty meters to them in three soaring leaps. Goblin A stared at him with bulging eyes, then aimed his carbine—but Zemin was faster.
His Psi-charged bullet hit the demon in the chest, freezing him dead on the spot.
Zemin stopped next to the prisoners, the nearest of which immediately fell to his knees and reached his trembling hands towards Zemin.
"P-please, save us!"
From up close, the group looked even more miserable than Zemin thought before. All but one were men, and the rags that were left from their clothing barely hid their grime-covered bodies. Under the layers of muck and blood, one could barely tell how many wounds they had, but the answer was definitely "many".
There was no saving these people from the pain, not quickly. But if their hope and faith could outweigh the pain, not all was lost.
"You will be saved. Our Lord in Heaven will deliver us, and your faith will be His sword," Zemin promised solemnly and crossed himself. "Don't ask us—pray to Him, and let the power of your faith destroy the demon."
"We… We understand!" Another civilian fell to his knees.
"I c-can't remember a single prayer..," a person admitted over tears.
Zemin heard shouts and more gunshots behind. It felt like Danis joined Jagger. Were they winning? He was itching to return and keep fighting.
"Repeat after me. Our Holy Lord with a flaming sword, we pray to Thee!"
An uneven chorus of voices rose over the noise of battle, echoing Zemin's voice.
"…pray to Thee!"
"Smite the evil, purge the unclean, we pray to thee!"
"…pray to Thee!"
"Take the worthy to your Golden Halls, we pray to Thee! Cleanse the wicked souls, we pray to Thee! Burn away our sins, burn away fear, anger and pain, we pray to Thee! Let only purity remain, we pray to Thee! Let us not be the tools in the Devil's hands, we pray to Thee!"
With each line, the voices of captives grew louder and stronger. Instead of fear, faith shone in their eyes, falling upon Zemin like warm rays of sunlight. He himself felt like he was glowing from the inside.
"NOOOO! HOW DARE YOU TO STOP FEARING, WORMS?! FEAR IS YOUR NATURE! FEAR IS YOUR PURPOSE!" Urpize roared.
Zemin turned to him and saw the demon lying on the ground, separate from his legs. Danis had a gun aimed at his head, while Jagger melted the glass around the demon until he sank to his shoulders into it.
Zemin's help wasn't needed there. He smiled and returned to the people he saved.
"Your faith was strong enough. God helped us! Now let me remove your chains."