DIS surveyed the house from a distance.
His job was simple.
It was to kill his target.
He had been busy in Miami on a vacation when the bosses called him to complete his task. He didn't want anything to do with the initial bounty on the witch kid, but he was told directly by the bosses to complete the job.
What could he do?
All he had to do was kill the target and vanish- which was his speciality. He didn't like getting involved in unnecessary fights. He preferred watching them.
He located his target through the scope of his sniper.
He was perched at a guard tower near the mansion. He had killed all of the so-called 'elite security team' and moved to the top.
Modern exorcists were weak. He couldn't blame them. Demons had been inactive for a while. A while, being two thousand years.
His own part was being done. He wondered what the others were doing.
He didn't know what Belial was supposed to do, but Quinn had to perform his task excellently.
Something in black behind him moved.
He referred to it as a toy, but in actuality, it was a kid who would do his every bidding. Another demon had given him for safe keeping, but Dis liked playing with him.
He was the one who would do the killing.
* * * * *
What are you doing, Reyna? thought Camilla as she and everyone looked at the stage.
One didn't have to have any knowledge on fashion to see that Reyna's outfits had two problems.
The first problem was the double-edged colour she used.
White.
It was a popular colour in design, but it was more common for winter-themed outfits. None of her designs were winter-themed.
Then came the whispers. Whispers of people badmouthing her daughter.
"I expected more from the daughter of one of the best leading fashion brands, but I guess I overestimated her abilities. Seems like her curse affects more than her charism," somebody commented behind her.
Haoyu Zhang, head of the technology manipulating Tubal-Cain exorcists, was the one who'd made the snide remark.
"Well, someone woke up and chose violence," said Noah appearing suddenly beside her.
He wore the dress code like all the other guests, but he still stood out because of his white hair, just like Reyna.
She smiled. Noah reminded her that fighting him would just cause a ripple between their exorcists. People would look at them and believe that as close as their factions are, they were always at each other's throat.
"Thanks," she told him and grabbed a drink from a particularly young waiter. He looked like he was still going to high school. She'd had to check with Ludo about the waiter.
"How'd you know I was about to lash out him?" she asked.
Blanc just looked her in the face. "My ears may not be as perceptive as Leo's, but it's still good."
"What now?" she asked him.
"Don't you think you're being too hard on your daughter?"
There it was.
She knew expected him to talk about Reyna. It was normal to show some empathy to those in your situation.
"How I treat my daughter doesn't concern you now, does it Noah?"
"Hard-headed as usual," he sighed. "If things go on like this, she'll break, Camilla. Stop now before it's too late."
"I'm not in the mood for this discussion," she said and downed her glass of wine. "What I'm concerned about is what's on that girl's mind."
The purpose of the event was to show how the Rahab exorcists could make clothing beneficial to exorcism. Using clothes and armour for defence in exorcising was complicated. Armour was useless against wraiths and intangible creatures since they passed through physical objects. Consecrated garments were the ideal form of defence against them. Even consecrated garments could only do so much, and they were very limited in supply.
Armour was ideal for physical entities. That was why exorcists analyse their targets before engaging them.
So Camilla had charged her exorcists to find ways to overcome this problem. Their solutions had to show promise and not disgrace the Rahab faction.
At the end of the day, only ten people claimed to have found the solution. Camilla tasked Tori with accessing the projects and deciding if they would be displayed.
He had cut them down to three people, including Reyna.
One had presented clothes woven with threads from consecrated garments (materials of cloth purified by a priest) and pieces of armour. The vital parts were covered with armour while other non-vital parts such as the arms and legs were covered with garments. Another had presented armour, which was enchanted with the S.M.A. charism, which defended wearers from attacks.
They were smart ideas, but Camilla noticed their flaws.
Spiritual attacks would still penetrate since the cloth wasn't fully woven with consecrated thread. Apart from that, it looked okay. Camilla could tell that the designer had taken into consideration the imbalance the weight of the armour would place on the wearer. The armour was made of a light but sturdy material.
Camilla actually liked the second designer's idea, but it had a terrible flaw. The S.M.A enchantment. It was the protection charism that took its name from the biblical trio Shedrach, Meshach, and Abednego, S.M.A for short. It consisted of various charisms that all had protection attributes. The designer must have collaborated with an exorcist who could place protection on various items and probably people too.
The flaw was that the exorcist was as human as ever other person on the planet, meaning that he or she lacked unlimited power. The enchantment would wear off after a while, or it could only last as long as the exorcist was continuously pouring energy into the enchantment.
Then, there was Reyna's design.
Camilla had to admit that she, like the other people who had gathered here, was eager to see what Reyna had prepared.
Everybody in the hall suddenly went quiet as the atmosphere changed.
* * * * *
Pure bafflement and disgust.
Reyna had expected their reactions.
Then she gave the signal.
The air suddenly went cold, then hot, followed by a subtle humming. People suddenly had their guards up until they saw what had caused the commotion.
The outfits of the people on stage had changed.
They had activated their respective charisms, and it had begun to affect their outfits.
Orange flames started trailing Adrien's clothes from his arms to the rest of his outfit. The places where flames had passed changed significantly. His shirt became navy blue with orange thread marking the outline. His suit became orange, gradually fading from bright yellow to white and finally navy blue representing the flame spectrum.
In Audrey's case, it was frost. Her clothes thawed immediately after it was fully covered woth it. Her jacket retained its white colour, but it was complimented by the cool, icy blue tones her wrap-around skirt had become. The cuban heels were designed with little grey snowflake patterns. Her outfit mirrored the simplicity of a snowy landscape, creating a stylish and seasonally inspired look.
Leo's clothes seemed to vibrate and the phenomenon gave headaches to people who stared long enough. His gloves, cargo pants and the hood of his tank top all sported a grey and black plaid design, while the rest of his tank top became black with a ripple pattern on it and his boots became black. His outfit was designed to reflect the subtle richness of sound.
Reyna's dress changed in a way as if someone poured blood from her head, leading to a beautiful design of blood red blending to pink the finally white.
While they had activated their charisms to activate their clothes, Isaac had to release a little of his mana. He couldn't use his magic properly, but he had no problem expending mana.
His eyes glowed softly, and he began releasing his mana. He felt it seep into his clothes and watched them change. His shirt didn't change at all, but the rest of his clothes did. The front part of the waistcoat turned Kelly green and developed a pentagram design. His moccasins acquired the same Kelly green as his shirt.
The crowd cheered and took a little time to die down.
Next was to showcase how it defended someone against both spiritual and physical attacks.
* * * * *
Dis watched his target intently.
It was time.
His toy was getting ready with its sniper and Dis imbued magic into it. There was no bullet in the cartridge, but his magic would create one. A very special one.
5.
He fixed the cartridge.
4.
He cocked the gun.
3.
He re-checked his aim.
2.
He closed his right eye.
1.
He held his breath.
0.
He fired the shot.