15 – The Supreme Leader (10)
After obtaining general information from Emily, the devil hunters had gathered in one place.
The current client, Bishop Emily, had made the following request:
Identify the nature of the devil present here and, if possible, exterminate it.
Upon this, they set aside time to discuss the specifics of the matter among themselves.
“First of all, our location is this church, slightly to the south of the center of the village. We should initially use this as our base for the investigation…?”
“…”
Gabriel had spread out a map and was about to explain the situation.
However, she quickly realized something and abruptly stopped speaking.
That moment, she became aware that everyone’s gaze, except hers, was not on the map but rather…
Specifically, they were all looking at one person.
“…Leader?”
It was Gellard, who had been quietly looking out the window.
Even when they had listened to Bishop Emily’s story earlier, and now as well, his demeanor suggested that he seemed preoccupied with something else entirely, which naturally led the devil hunters to become engulfed in curiosity.
“Master, is something the matter?”
“Why… why are you like this, Lord Gellard?”
“…”
Gellard maintained his silence in the face of the devil hunters’ questions.
Unable to break the heavy atmosphere, they too fell silent, momentarily following their leader’s lead, and just looked at his face.
And then.
The moment when the silence started to feel excessively long.
“Alright. I’m going.”
“?”
“You’re leaving… What on earth are you talking about?”
Gabriel showed doubt at the incomprehensible words.
Gellert, who had been staring intensely at the window, closed the curtain and sat down immediately.
“First, before I start the story, let me say one thing.”
Gellert spoke with a serious expression.
He then continued, his expression filled with coldness, speaking quietly yet clearly.
“From this moment on, don’t trust anyone who approaches.”
“…?”
“W-what?”
Gellert spoke incomprehensible words.
Starting from that moment, words flowed from his mouth that surpassed the expectations of the women.
*
“Sigh…”
“Bishop, please make a decision now. We cannot increase meaningless sacrifices.”
Emilie let out a heavy sigh.
By her side was a man dressed in clerical garments.
A priest named Simmons was speaking with a pleading voice.
“However, since you’ve all come this far, might as well keep an eye on them. They seem to be capable individuals.”
“The ones who came last time didn’t fail, did they? It doesn’t make much of a difference whether they’re from the central association or not. It would be more efficient if I led the chorus and went into battle now.”
Despite it being a matter that had already been decided, Simmons stubbornly insisted on changing it.
However, Emily’s confident words, which had always been close to her subordinates, were making her seriously contemplate this issue.
“Indeed… Maybe this job isn’t suitable for Devil Hunters. Considering that Devil Hunters have almost never been defeated by demons…”
At that moment,
“Excuse me, may I disturb you for a moment?”
“Huh?”
Suddenly, a presence was felt from behind.
There stood one of the Devil Hunters who had come from the central association this time, Gabriel, with brown skin.
“Yes, what’s the matter? Do you need something?”
Emily asked cautiously, as they were just discussing something a little earlier.
While looking at Emily, Gabriel slowly approached her.
And,
“It is our leader’s statement.”
“Ah… Our leader’s… Yes, please tell me. What do you want to say…”
-Shhh!!
“!!!”
At that moment,
At that moment, Emily’s voice, which had been expressing anger, abruptly stopped.
Just moments ago, she had been talking with Simmons.
But at this moment,
there was no longer a trace of the companion priest in her eyes.
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“Grr… Huff… Gasp…”
What lay collapsed on the ground, emitting agonizing screams, was a creature.
Just moments ago, the creature had taken on the form of a human, but now it had transformed into the appearance of a fish demon with scales and fins.
A demon, suffering and groaning from charred wounds caused by the blue flames.
Amidst the suffering, the creature was desperately trying to crawl, but its movement was blocked by Gabriel.
“What in the world is this?”
The fish demon writhed on the ground with its fin pierced by the sword.
Looking at the creature, Gabriel spoke in a cold voice.
“Indeed… as the leader had said. This city is already…”
“What? What do you mean…”
“Follow me, our leader will explain in detail.”
With those words, Gabriel picked up the fallen demon and headed somewhere without delay.
Despite the lingering shock of moments before, Emily, for the time being, began to follow behind her.
By the time danger was recognized, everything was already over.
Nothing remained that could be turned back, and the only choice left was to flail about, trying to preserve what little was still there.
A situation doomed from the start.
That was the reality we were confronted with.
This city.
The current state of Innsmouth.
“Ughh… Ahhhhh…”
A fish demon, writhing while bound.
Observing the creature, Bishop Emily still wore an expression of disbelief.
“How… how can this be…”
That a colleague with whom she had been conversing amicably moments ago was a monstrous demon.
However, facing the shock-stricken Emily, I spoke in a chillingly calm voice.
“Regrettably, it’s true. Regardless of whether you had noticed or not, this city is beyond redemption. The simple fact that a priest has come to this is evidence enough.”
The demon, convulsing in pain from the flames kindled by Gabriel.
I was well aware of what sort of being this creature was thanks to the knowledge from the first part.
A lesser demon, Deeptooth.
As its appearance suggested, it emerged near the coastline and, possessing skin extremely vulnerable to flames, each individual demon didn’t possess high combat strength—in fact, they were quite insignificant, like a shoal of minnows.
Yet,
Despite the fact that each combatant’s strength was negligible, what made this creature truly frightening lay elsewhere.
Firstly, these beings possessed the ability to transform into human form, quite apart from their hideous true nature.
And the second factor was even more perilous.
It was because of a unique ability called ‘blood infection.’
Contrary to demons that could generally have their meat consumed for food purposes, the flesh of the demon Deepthu was deemed inedible in the game.
The reason lay in their blue blood coursing through their bodies.
This blood held the power to transform other living beings into demons like themselves, and they would use this ability to stealthily increase their numbers, much like zombies expanding their ranks, and slowly engulf a village or city in their vile scheme.
Furthermore, this blood could affect a victim not only via ingestion but also through mere contact.
Therefore, in the game, hunting a Deepthu required the use of flame-based attacks, their essential weakness, which also had the capacity to weaken the blood infection.
When subjected to a certain temperature, the blood would turn red and lose its infectiousness.
Even then, due to being unsuitable for consumption, the creature’s flesh, though fish-like in appearance, could not be eaten.
Moreover, should one carelessly wield a regular weapon, it could lead to a sudden infection and transformation into the form of a Deepthu—a game over.
While players can respawn in the game, in its setting, those transformed into such beings had no means of reversal.
Not only a mere physical metamorphosis but also a demonization of the mind ensued, and therefore, those who became Deepthu had no option but to lose their lives.
Of course, separate from the necessity of their death, their intellect remained intact, enabling conversation.
On that note, we were currently extracting as much information as possible through interrogation of a creature who had infiltrated even the church to plot its schemes.
“Come on, speak. What exactly have your kind been up to in this city?”
“Krrrk! You filthy humans!!! I’ll curse you all! Just kill me… Aghhhhh!”
The devil resisting slowly getting roasted by Gabriel’s flames.
Towards such a fellow, Jenne, who was practically leading the interrogation, spoke with a smile on her face.
“Why do only demons get to do the dirty work? Anyway, now that it’s come to this, you know we can only die. So, just call it quits before you go. It’d be nice if we could go in comfort, right?”
With those words, Jenne took the knife handed to her by Nico.
Without a moment’s hesitation, she plunged the knife with Gabriel’s flames into the devil’s thigh.
“aaahhh!!!”
The demon screamed in agonizing pain.
Leaving such a fellow behind,
I took Emily, who was clearly struggling with the situation, and left the room for a moment.
– “This won’t work, will it? This isn’t going to work. If it’s come to this, the only option is to completely numb the lower part.”
– “!!! Wai… wait… even if that’s the case… argh!!! Ughhhhh!!!”
Meanwhile, I pretended not to hear the muffled cries coming from behind.