Cider suddenly laughed out loud, surprising both Megumi and Dino.
Dino irked. "What's so funny?"
"I'm glad… So, you aren't here to hurt Megumi."
"Megumi was a little dumbfounded by his words since mere moments ago, Dino was about to kill her with his strange crystal power.
"Since you're not here for Megumi…"
Cider clasped both his feet, shaping them into a blade and stabbing Dino!
Dino's grasp loosened, letting cider push him away. In an instant, Cider stretched his arm and whipped it at Dino, almost sending him flying out the building.
Dino glanced at his wound, finding it to only be a little cut. He quickly shifted back to Cider and charged back in with a fury, his arms crystalized, and his fingers outstretched. "Just go to sleep!"
Cider blocked this attack with his bladed arms. Cider then noticed Dino glaring straight at him.
Spikes of crystals erupted from the ground and wall around Cider. Some of it is scraping and scratching Megumi.
"Megumi!" Cider, noticing this, quickly changed priorities.
Using all his powers he deflected Dino's attack and broke from the makeshift crystal prison.
He made a bee line for Megumi grabbing her by the hand, pulling her with him. She reluctantly followed. "Hey w-"
Seeing they were heading for the hole in the window, Megumi panicked. "W-wait! Wait! That's not saf-"
Cider pulled Megumi along out the window and kept a firm grasp on her hand.
"W-we're falling!!"
moments later, Cider plunged his bladed arm into the side of the building, slowing their descent. Both landed hard on the ground; Cider on his feet while Megumi fell straight on her stomach.
Cider quickly turned to Megumi. "Are you alright?"
"I… Think so…" Megumi croaked, with her eyes now dazed.
Looking back up, the chaos reigning in the streets felt like a warzone. She couldn't believe that everything had changed so quickly, and in so little time too.
Cider glanced up, as if sensing something.
"We have to go," he said. "Come on."
"But where too?"
Cider quickly glanced around. His head then pointed in a single direction and using his finger, he pointed. "That way. If we find that stupid skeleton guy he could help us."
Megumi, hearing his suggestion, agreed.
"This place was supposed to be a hideout, but that guy somehow found it..." Megumi quickly put aside the question of how he found them in the first place. "If we could find K, maybe he could help us."
A demon suddenly leapt into the air to attack Megumi. She panicked for a moment falling on her back. Luckily Cider was already on the job, and sliced the demon in half.
"W-we need to hurry." Megumi quickly stated. She quickly got to her feet allowing Cider to lead the way.
Dino, who simply watched the two from above, looked to see the direction they were heading. He saw that it was the western gate.
"So, they're looking for help, huh?"
He stepped out of the room falling from the glass building while sliding his feet against the panel. A second later a crystal spike launched him from the building.
He landed on another tall building and began his pursuit.
Demons, seeing him chased after him with a thirst for blood. He easily dispatched each and every one of them with ease. Not even batting an eye.
Unknown to him however, the woman he followed earlier watched him from her room in the reaper hideout.
"So, he's the one that followed me…. I thought he was a demon too. And now he's chasing that girl." Her eyes drooped ever so subtly. "What a pain in the ass…"
********
Back with Megumi and Cider, they were fighting and pushing though the hordes of demons that ambushed and chased them left and right.
They were completely and utterly relentless in their pursuit as each and every one of them leapt to attack Megumi, all the while Cider was forced to protect her.
Cider sliced the head of their latest attacker.
"Why do they keep attacking me!!?" Megumi complained. She stopped, seeing that they demons seemed to have ceased.
"I don't know. Maybe they like how you smell too?"
"What's that got to do with anything!"
A horrifying looking demon grabbed her from behind. She screamed, horrified.
"L-let me go!!" She elbowed the demon in his face, practically destroying its head. Shortly after, it turned to ash.
This left Megumi in an utter state of confusion and panic
"W-w… W-w-w-w. What did I just do????"
Cider simply gave a thumbs up and smiled. "Good work!"
This didn't comfort her as she fell to her knees forcing Cider to turn back to her.
She looked at her hand briefly, "H-how did I do that?"
Several more monsters came for the attack, but like the many times before, Cider stepped up to save Megumi.
"Megumi we have to-!"
Crystal spiked grazed Cider's face. He ducked, avoiding the second.
Sensing the urgency, Megumi quickly tore away from her last thoughts and quickly got back on her feet, fleeing with Cider.
Dino continued to hop and launch himself from building to building, all while sending spikes of crystals their way. His intent was clear to them. It was shoot to kill.
Crystal spikes after crystal spikes were sent their way. All they could do was dodge each one that came their way, while at the same time, defend against the demons coming after them.
"I don't think so!" Dino charged up a more powerful spike and shot it straight at a building.
The building exploded with shards of black crystals blocking their path!
Cider tried slicing through them to little success, surprising him.
Just as the demons encroached on them, they were saved by a group of reapers. Several of men in hooded robes slaughtered the demons before Kalika and Cider with their powers.
Chain shot from a reapers hand as another blaster some sort of pressured wind through the hordes, killing them in an instant. Another two came in wielding sword, slicing through the demons in their way
The last one brought his hatchet down on Dino, who dodged.
"Tch! The reapers!"
Just as Dino was about to back away and make an escape himself. A woman's voice entered his head. His eyes widened in shock.
"I don't think so. Failure is not an option…. Remember…"
********
Elsewhere, Annabelle, the woman who watched Megumi and K pass through the forest with Cider's core, sat in some dungeon. A grotesque, gnarly looking demon stood by her side as she talked.
"You don't want to become a demon too, do you?
********
Dino's heart thumped. He felt at the collar on his neck, with a cold sweat running down his face.
"Damn you." He muttered.
He then glanced back at Megumi and Cider who were now departing with a few reapers by their side.
A couple more Reaper's showed up to back up their ally.
"We'll give you one chance to turn yourself over. If you don't, we'll bring you in ourselves. The reaper's ready his hatchet as the other two held their palms out as if preparing to use their powers.
Dino calmed himself quickly. "Fine..."
He sighed. With much more confidence, Dino smirked. "Damn. I almost feel sorry for you three." They went on the attack. The first threw his hatchet that was caught in Dino's hands,
He then uppercut Dino just under his chin, forcing his to release the weapon.
That same instant, crystal spikes erupted from the ground, forcing the reaper to jump back.
The other two followed up with the second reaper blasting a perfectly shaped round hole through his crystal and and the third chaining Dino's neck!
They pulled him towards his own crystal, shattering them upon impact.
Glancing up, Dino found the first reaper gone. Seeing this, Dino rolled to his feet, avoiding an attack from a ginormous axe as he slammed it to the ground!
Dino gritted his teeth and placed his hand on the ground. "Damn… These Reapers are no slouches." He thought to himself.
Once again, the ground beneath erupted into an entire terrain of crystal spikes. The chain around Dino's neck shattered. They looked back to where he was, but he disappeared.
"But it's not enough to beat me!!"
Dino pulled himself out of one of his crystals behind the reapers. He grabbed the second reaper by the back of their neck with his crystalized hands and shot a spike out!
Despite this otherwise lethal attack, the reaper turned to aim his palm shakily at Dino, but this was met with a slice of the hand.
Hidden at Dino's back hip, just under his shirt was his trusty combat knife.
Not wasting the opportunity, he stabbed into the reapers neck and sliced his head off!
The reaper became a pile of black ash.
His allies, seeing this, rushed in to attack Dino. The chain shot from the third reapers hand had merely grazed Dino's face. He quickly dispatched of the second reaper and moved to the last one standing.
Their weapons clashed against each other and interlocked.
"Who the hell are you?' The reaper questioned.
"Heh. Funny you ask."
Spikes of crystals shoot through the reaper, forcing him to turn into a black ash. Dino licked the tip of his dagger before sheathing it.
"I'm a demon hunter."
His gaze then turned to a far-off building. It seemed empty just at first sight, but he knew better. Amused, he blurted out a chuckle.
He quickly collected the reaper's cores and laid them out in the open. He then took his leave chasing back after Cider.
********
Megumi, sprinting to their location alongside Cider and the other Reapers, felt a little more comfortable.
"Are we almost there?" She asked.
"It'll be another twenty minutes this way. Over there, we have few 'Grimms' that could keep the two of you safe. If what you say is true.
"Grimms?"
"Yeah, think of them as the commanding officers or captains if you will. In times of crisis like these, they are usually on the front lines taking care of the problems while we acolytes take in the smaller stuff like killing off the small fry and collecting their cores."
The reaper turned to Megumi with his serious gaze. "By the way are you alright,"
"Y-yeah? Why."
"Excuse my rudeness, but you smell like death."
Megumi had no idea how to respond to that.
"D-do I really stink!?" She whined.
"No, no… J-just forget about it."
"I think you smell nice," Cider retorted.
She could only sigh exhaustedly, her face becoming a little flush from embarrassment.
Just then a building to their left. Began to collapse.
"Watch out!!" one of the reaper's warned.
Another building in their path collapsed, then another behind them!
It was like the entire city around them was starting to get demolished.
Suddenly, spikes of crystals shot from several different directions. The two reapers accompanying Megumi and Cider dodged and deflected these attacks with their conjured weapons.
Both had equipped themselves with swords.
They both gritted their teeth, understanding that their allies had failed to capture the assailant after Cider.
"Get behind us!"
To everyone's surprise, demons erupted from the rubble of the destroyed buildings, each one, more horrifying than the last. They came from the rubble, from the streets blocked off even from some of the tops of the buildings and windows.
They were getting surrounded by an army of demons. It was clearly more than what two could handle. Even if Cider helped them, even he would be overwhelmed.
"So now you help me…" Dino said.
********
Annabelle, understanding that Dino was talking to her, smiled.
"It feels only right to lend my little hunter a hand…"
********
Megumi could watch as the number of demons continued to rise before them.
"This… This is crazy! There's so many of them!"
"Don't worry…" Both the grips of the reaper's swords tightened. Ready for battle. "We won't let them take either of you."
Cider's arms became blades too and in a single movement, the demons charged their way.
Megumi's heart sank and became pale as the chaos of battle erupted around her.
Waves of energy shot from the reaper's weapons like magic as Cider sliced through demon after demon.
Dino, who was watching from above, aimed his palm. "Now who should go first?"
He shot out the first spike, piercing the first reaper's leg.
"C- Crap!"
The reaper pressed on fighting the demons, not once wavering.
"He's shooting out those crystal spikes!"
His friend glanced at Dino who was watching and sneered.
Dino wasted little time continuing to be a thorn in the two reapers' sides. Spikes shot out, one after another, piercing foe and friend alike.
While this happened, Megumi tried to find a safe place to stay as the battle ensued.
She was jumped by a few grotesque demons but was surprisingly saved by Dino.
He gave a glare before returning to shoot at the reaper bodyguards.
Finding the prime opening, he shot the first reaper in the chest!!
This allowed the demons to swarm him, turning him into a black ash.
It wasn't long for the last one was overtaken and shot in the head with Dino's spike.
"Heh. That's two."
With the two reapers taken care of, the remaining demons slowly encroached on Megumi and Cider.
Dino continued to watch on with his confident gaze.
Megumi bawled her fist now trapped in a den of demons and now at the mercy of this assailant.
********
Back within the room Megumi and Cider were in, a familiar man with formal black shoes stepped in with his long loose black pants. He saw the messy living room and the glass scattered on the floor.
"Well, this isn't good."
He looked out the window, rubbing the back of his neck.
"And here I thought I'd have a little more fun with her…"
He conjured forth a sword sheath with an ornamental-looking sword inside. He placed it at the side of his waist, overlooking the city in chaos.
"Welp. Back to work I go."