Rade's Demon Elimination Service

Chapter 2: The Hunter that Manipulates Blood

They were called by many names.

Shikari.

Slayers.

Killers.

Hunters.

And they went by with many more names.

Rade or, as her birthname stated, Elora Isolde Aldam was one of a kind. Even among those from the same society wherein violence is just breakfast and blood is equal to wine, she is one of a kind.

"Please let me kill you!" she shouted as she ran after the other boy, Kalleid Hiro as she learned earlier on.

It was desperate, she knew, and it was pathetic to the extreme. She can never understand that even after many fatal wounds she inflicted to the boy who was her senior by only a year, he could still move and go about like nothing ever really happened. It was incredible, and she was becoming more pathetic she knew.

After that one incident with Rade as one of the main parts, she was thrown out and exiled. Maybe she was even killed, or she knew they would wish that and she would be fine with that. That was what she always convinced herself everyday.

She is fine... even when she dies.

She finally caught on with Kalleid who was breathing deeply, she could feel the thump of his very alive heart and how his lungs heave bouts of air, and turned to face her. She jumped with the sudden direction of his gaze to her face. With hesitation, she stepped back slowly and posed with her sword, a scimitar really, with a killing intent.

"Please," he blurted out stupidly, "how many fatal blows should you receive to reveal your core?"

A demon's fatal part and the only place on their bodies that a hunter could break to kill them.

A core.

In the black market, where even the Huntsman Order of Demon Eradication, or HODE as everyone calls it, gets involved often times, demon cores are one of the ways a hunter like Rade could earn a decent living by being a hunter. Hopping between being a hunter and a student, for someone like Rade who doesn't have any means to provide for herself, this could be the only way she could get some money.

She was small for her age and was too skinny that it was hard to assume she was actually on high school. No establishments would hire her because she looked too young. A shy teen, Rade was also never one to talk back to people and would only accept what she was given. She was timid and silent, but her grip was stronger than those with bigger bodies.

"Why are you running away!" she howled, her feet moving smoothly on the floor unlike the one she was pursuing.

On her grip was the scimitar. Known for its brutality and strong killing intent, it has gained an infamous name for itself: Aíma. But it was hard for Rade to imagine the spelling of it and so she would always replace it with an alternative name that was easier for her to imagine which was Emma.

Emma contained the blood of every person that its holder has ever killed and even the blood of its owners rendering a rather ominous red shade. It doesn't have a scabbard and the blade of it reached until where it was supposed to be held that every time the holder would hold it like a normal sword, their hands would be soaked with blood from the cut that Emma required so it would allow its holder to use it. When it was not a scimitar, it could be found as markings all over Rade's skin as though she was some sort of criminal.

Drawing it again, Rade whipped Emma around the corner, splattering a line of red on the wall that sizzled and vanished though there were some notable dents on where the blood from the cut of her hands has been splashed.

"I'm retreating!" Kalleid shouted back at Rade who ran after him. "Not running away!"

Her feet were light and her breathing was also light. Kalleid knew that if he even stopped for a second to think or breathe, instant blood will be spilt and, for his love for his life, he cannot endure yet again. Kalleid picked up anything he could to his grasp— curtains and mop or broom— and threw them at the girl who was running after him.

He could hear the deathly swish of the scimitar behind him, though in his mind it was called just a plain sword since he couldn't really differentiate two and two or one and one with weapons. He didn't pause nor did he even attempt to look back at the freshman, Elora Isolde her name was.

Kalleid ran quick, the quickest he did on his life, away from her and yes, now he was shamelessly calling it as running instead of a dignified retreat. Nothing was dignified with what he was doing and he doesn't really want to add more shame to his face now with blood from his body or even just a devastating defeat.

"s**t!" Kalleid screeched as he gazed down at the flights of stairs that await him. His heart sank low on his stomach that he felt nauseous and he wanted to pull out his intestines just to make the nausea stop. "I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this," he kept on repeating to himself.

Kalleid started jogging down the stairs while chanting those four words under his breath, but his brows furrowed. He looked back behind him and saw none of that girl, the Aldam girl who wanted to pierce his heart to its core. Not a shadow and certainly not even a rustle of a sound from her. Could it be that she gave up? With widening eyes, Kalleid continued going down the stairs, relief was evident on his face and he almost cried with the overflowing solace that suddenly befell him. He hoped the Aldam girl really gave up, he might be an immortal but he could still pain with those attacks.

With every push and stab on his, Kalleid though his corporeal body would give in and be destroyed until it cannot heal itself.

But with the solace that suddenly graced the atmosphere, Kalleid knew it was too good. There was a flash of blue and flesh going down the very center of the stairs. A small thump was the only indicator that the Aldam girl just jumped from the seventh floor to the ground floor to keep up with Kalleid.

"Oh my gods!" Kalleid screamed while he watch the Aldam girl flourish her weapon, droplets of liquid fell on the weapon, and also looked up to Kalleid.

There was that determined expression on her face yet again, and Kalleid turned around and jogged up on the stairs, not finishing his descent to the ground floor. Cowardly, yes, but Kalleid thought it was smart to avoid engaging in battle when he has none of the fighting prowess that the girl has. Kalleid was ahead by two floors and he kept on going. He could make it, Kalleid thought inside his head though he has no idea what to do when he was finally up the building. Maybe then, his futile attempt on escaping would come to its end.

A gust of wind on his side, the girl has already caught up with him. Kalleid realized that she was actually leading him down the building. She once tried executing him on the top of the building and she paid a considerable amount to HODE for calling the Watchtower to clean up the mess her blade caused.

New York's gaze had been sharp then, Kalleid remembered, and it wasn't directed at Kalleid as surprising as that sounds. Kalleid almost thought that he would attack Elora Isolde Aldam, but New York had been unusually calm and turned the other way, joining the other hunters from the Watchtower who patched up the mess and also patched up the mess that was Kalleid Hiro.

"Oh come on, girl!" Kalleid said, or complained rather and stomped his foot on the ground similar to how a child would. "I'm tired! It's been a week and if you would just let us talk, maybe to reach a middle ground of some sorts, we can both be happy with our lives. Without any bloodshed," Kalleid added when the girl posed her weapon to attack him.

Meanwhile, Rade looked at Kalleid. At the demon, she reminded herself, at the demon. He might look like her, he might look like how a normal and ordinary human being would, but Rade can never be sure. Though she didn't swing Emma on the boy's body, Rade was still vigilant and her eyes were keen and alert.

"You always let me though," she said in a quiet voice, "fight you, I mean."

"I think when you said fighting, that's a pretty one-sided statement," Kalleid retorted and Rade actually agreed with him.

It wasn't much of a fight really, more like Rade bullying Kalleid by bodily harm. It still made Rade guilty. The demon can speak and can cry and can beg her, of course Rade could feel its pain. With every strike, Emma would absorb Kalleid's blood and Rade would feel how for every wound she inflicted he would feel hurt. And she felt guilty for the demon, Kalleid, but then she would feel guilt for being ever guilty of taking pity on a demon.

"Then why would you stay here late? Then why set up boundaries?" Rade felt him sighed and she felt him closed his eyes, maybe in aggravation.

"So no one would get hurt," Kalleid answered her, there was seriousness on his gentle eyes that Rade, even with blurry eyes, could see. "And I'm not the one who put the boundaries, it was my clubmate so no one would see what we're doing. I hope you don't mind."

"I don't understand you," Rade said suddenly, "tsk, it's irritating. What are you? I've never seen something like you before."

Kalleid was still walking slowly, maybe he thought he still got a chance against the girl or he was just trying his luck to get away from her. They were already on the first room of this building floor's door and Kalleid grabbed it to get inside. He was clumsy but quick enough to be able to do what he wanted. Once inside, he attempted to lock it, the girl though wasn't having any of that and swiftly cut down the door. It broke and fall from its hinges. A loud crash was the second thing that happened and, in a split second, Kalleid was able to dodge the oncoming door before it hit him.

"What are you?" Rade asked again, scimitar on hand and a determined look on her face that was still slightly hidden behind her dark hair.

Kalleid pursed his lips before pushing his glasses on the bridge of his nose. It kept on sliding because he was sweaty and his face was all oily and slippery. As Rade stepped closer to him, Kalleid also stepped backwards.

His voice was shaking when he spoke, "I'm not a whole demon like what your senses are telling you, actually I'm—"

Before Kalleid could explain or continue what he was saying, someone burst through the glass of the window they were both facing. The sound of glass breaking echoed at the hallway they stopped in front of and the shards rain on them. Rade easily deflected the sharp little pieces of the glass with Emma, but Kalleid wasn't as adept on deflecting the shards and it went to him, cutting him in various places. Kalleid clamped his lips with both of his hands, already the cuts were healing and the blood on his skin has stopped from dripping. Even with his cuts healing, he was already stained though, an ominous scent spread. The salty metallic smell of blood filled the hallway and Rade felt even guiltier.

But there was no time to worry about anything, a demon actually appeared and it wouldn't take a genius to realize it was nothing like Kalleid— docile and gentle demon that he was.

A six feet demon with eight arms, crawling and oozing with pus. It was hairy on some parts and the crazed eyes, all twelve of them distributed all over its body, looked at both Kalleid and Rade. Instinctively, Rade stood in front of Kalleid— seemingly trying to protect the fragile demon who, at the same time, was also sturdy enough to endure every strike of Rade's.

"A demon...?" Rade murmured under her breath. It was just slightly but there was a tremor on her hand that shook with the heavy scimitar. Her eyes scaled on the demon's enormous physique and it took all of her strength not to tremble all over her body.

"Get back!" Kalleid shouted at her and pulled at the sleeves of her cardigan that Rade wore over her uniform causing her to falter on her steps.

Kalleid dragged Rade's small body at the direction of the door, or what was left of it anyways. The demon was rampaging in the room, trampling the chairs and desks causing them to crumple and make a mess out of what used to be an organized classroom. A shadow from the window also appeared and entered through it. A second later, the demon let out a guttural sound and a whip touched its coat, pus dripped down the floor of the classroom and both students gagged at the smell.

Holding a whip, a woman turned to look at the students. There was a smile on her red-stained lips and a nod was passed at them before turning back to whip the demon which let out another ugly and ominous noise. It tried to claw at the woman, but the whip prevented it from doing any real damage, slapping its numerous hands away. It hissed at her and jabbed at her body. The whole building shook terribly and both Kalleid and Rade thought that it would collapse though that was a bit of an exaggeration. The battle between the woman and the demon didn't took a moment because instead of fighting at the closed confines of the classroom, the demon broke through the wall and jumped from the building, causing yet another mess of things.

Under her breath, the woman cursed and looked at the hole on the wall created by the demon; the whip on her hand crawled on her arm as though alive, no longer as deadly as earlier.

"Sis Nina!" Kalleid called out at the woman.

"Hey there, Kalleid!" Nina greeted and waved at Kalleid. On her late twenties, Nina wore a corporate attire of black slacks and a handsome suit, her hair was tied up in a smart casual ponytail, swinging here and there as she walked. "Can you please, please, call the Watchtower? Hhhmm." Her eyes glanced over at the broken door. "At least you could say those were all caused by me, yeah?"

"Yes, Sis Nina," Kalleid obediently said and nodded at the woman.

"Alright, Kal!" she said and waved again at them before she leapt down to the hole caused by the demon.

A rumble sounded through the whole room and Kalleid curled himself on the corner of the room they were standing on with both of his hands on each of his ears. It was quite loud and after what happened, Kalleid didn't trust the safety of himself and neither the girl's that, shockingly, protected him from the rubble from the demon's berserk reaction from earlier.

"It came back!" he shouted then he realized just what exactly it was and the sound wasn't caused by the demon. "Eh?" His head tilted and his hands fell away from his ears, his eyes glances over at the freshman who was still standing in front of him. Kalleid wasn't aware because Rade's dark hair was covering her ears and her back was in front of him, but blood has pooled on her face. "Is... is it you? Stomach?"

Kalleid also felt awkward and he doesn't know how to say it or if he should say it since he was afraid of being skewered by the weapon on her hand. He felt the air tensed up, heck, Kalleid himself felt tensed.

"Do..." He hesitated, his voice was quiet, but he stood up from where he curled like a fetus and took a peek at the girl's red face. "Do you want to eat?"

It was slight movement of her head, but Kalleid was sure she nodded at his question, a positive answer and he was actually surprised.

So it was hunger after all. Maybe Kalleid should have offered her food at the very start.