Rade's Demon Elimination Service

Chapter 4: Feral Beasts on the Streets

Lovenya Kov, Nina for short, is not having the time of her life.

Nina screamed loudly and involuntarily as her whip tried to latch on the demon's arms.

It was only the other day that the eight-arm demon appeared and fought her, not there was another one. With Dianzi, the name of her weapon, she slashes at the five feet tall demon. It dodged her and instead of Dianzi getting the advantage, the demon pulled at silver whip with enormous strength that overpowered Nina.

Similar to a rag doll, she was tossed to straight to a wall. Her hunter reflexes told her to land on two feet and bounced back which she did with difficulty. The demon was still pulling on the whip like it was an ordinary rope, and, with futile effort, Nina pulled it right back to her.

The demon has big claws for arms, but its legs were like a crab's, all pincers and wickedly sharp. It snapped at her and tried to also snap the whip, seemingly a thin strand of hair compared to its bulbous crustacean-like body. It was similar to a great big crab except it has upper body of a deformed human without any face and only reached up to a chest where two black beady eyes were located.

"Blech." Nina stuck out her tongue from her mouth. Demons don't necessarily have such ugly features, sometimes they were even more alluring as part of their bodies. It was just Nina's fortune, that on every turn and twist of her head when she saw a demon, it wasn't the best at a pageant when it terms to its looks.

If the demon she took down the other day was oozing with pus, this one smelled of a septic tank times ten of its smell.

Nina could feel vomit swarming up her throat, but as disgusting as it sounds, she swallowed it and successfully pulled her whip back from the clucthes of the demon.

She looked around her, and even with the darkness that the night brought, her keen hunter eyes saw a park. With careful steps, she led the demon over to that patch of land where it was already deserted from people due to the deepening of the night. Nina had been worrying with the worth of money she had to pay the Watchtower, HODE's own version of permanent street cleaners, for every building she damaged and obstructed. Going to a place where she and the demon won't be able to destroy anything seemed like a solid plan.

Anyways, her worries even came to the point where she doubted if hunting for demon cores was still a job worth doing. HODE doesn't pay for the hunters to hunt demon cores, they only put regulations and restrictions for hunters. It was similar to drawing a line of a boundary, there were parts of demon hunting that were allowed and some parts were also closed off. It was also a matter of ethical considerations.

Besides regulating demon core hunting, HODE also acts as the judiciary system of the hunters' society. Holding courts, punishing those who didn't follow regulations, and such were some of their jobs. Acting as the judiciary and executive systems of the hunters' society, one would think the HODE would be extremely corrupt. Oddly enough, HODE exceeded everyone's expectation and have been running for at least three hundred years, holding up to justice and order.

No matter with how good the HODE maybe be, Nina thought, they don't pay bills and buy food.

With another screamed, Dianzi's body landed on the hard skin of the demon. There was a sound of a glass cracking, but it didn't shatter as Nina expected.

"Another!" she shouted at the creature though it surely can't understand her just as much as Nina can't understand it. "Another!" she screamed and pulled at her long whip.

Her arm has gotten weary and Nina heaved a heavy deep breath of air, filling her lungs though it burn and burn her. A last hurrah from her depleting strength, Nina flicked her wrist and brought Dianzi's lethal length to the demon. The cracking glass finally shattered completely, but Nina can't land the final hit. She only shattered the armor of the demon, not extracted its core. Nina needed one more hit, just a last hit.

She was too exhausted, her arms felt like they were going to be torn off any time now and her legs felt jelly for jumping from buildings to buildings.

"Pismo!" she cursed. "Kaj za vraga..." Her voice trailed off and she summoned Dianzi back to her wrist and get ready to run away. Maybe she could do a thirty-minute rest before taking it out again, at least then, it would be in a weakened state.

As she turned to leave, the demon froze and a circle— similar to what a giant bubble would look like, enveloped the demon. Both of its beady eyes looked at Nina before it exploded inside the circle which was actually called as a boundary- a protective barrier that shielded either what was inside or what was outside. It was great for protecting and even trapping something- such as this demon.

What was left of the demon was a gleaming red precious stone. When Nina went to pick it up, the red stone made her skin looked paler.

"Lovenya," a low voice greeted behind her. Before Nina could turn, she already recognized the voice. The intensity and the coldness which could also be change into violence when the owner of the voice lose control which almost really never happens.

Pursing her lips, Nina closed her eyes and prayed silently though she wasn't really in any religion. Then, with a smile on her face, she faced the owner of the voice.

Hair that reached down to her knees and lovely blue eyes with the tinge of green, Geneva Aldeia stood on top of one of the branches of the tallest tree inside the park. If it wasn't for her rather ominous expression and the fact that she was standing on a tree as high up as a four-storey building, she would look fairly normal.

"Geneva!" Nina greeted and waved her hands. "I didn't notice you'd be here! Would you mind if I take this!" Nina waved again, but there was the demon core on her, indicating her request.

Geneva looked at her, sharp eyes and all full of cold grace, a slight nod could be discern through the darkness. Within the next seconds, only the sway of the leaves indicated of her presence. Behind her was a familiar smirking face full of mischief touch.

New York Aldeia, the third child and second son of the Aldeia clan, landed beside Nina. There was that frequent smirk and a raise of brows.

"Sis Nina," the younger boy greeted her, "I see you're still out."

Out of the three Aldeia clan's children, New York was in the middle when it comes to his temper. Compared to her second older sibling, his temper wasn't something to be proud of but when it comes to Geneva, the firstborn of the Aldeia clan, it was still better.

New York was also a socialite, if Nina would describe the boy. He knew exactly how to play with words and also with the people around him. Nina was close enough to talk to him casually, but never close enough not to feel the restraint of their relationship. New York was always going on and about putting up boundaries on the sides of his heart, and only a few people have access to it.

"Erm—" Nina cleared her throat and brought the core on the depths of her coat's pockets "—you know how it is. Wherever the chaos is, that's where I am."

"Or the money," New York teased.

They both chuckled at that.

"Me overworking myself is not a surprise though," Nina said as an offhanded comment, "but you guys are still out. Something major happened? Even Geneva is out."

It took a while for New York to answer that Nina had look at the young man. His face was set into a tight grimace, but it vanished as soon as it appeared. Nina nodded to herself, not expecting an answer anymore from New York.

"I don't know what's going on exactly," Nina started, her hand patted New York on his shoulder in an affectionate way. "But is it related to this?"

Even with a slight hesitation, Nina still took out the demon core from her coat. She wasn't actually pertaining to this one particular demon that Geneva Aldeia killed and New York was clever enough to realize that.

"Demons are going crazy," New York said with a raise of one of his brows, from the grimace his face's expression, it sudden my turned into his usual nonchalance. "It's not like we haven't seen this before, but Geneva is wary. Can't even sit tight at home, she is restless."

"Extra vicious," Nina commented, her eyes squinted while she remember her last encounters with demons starting from the month before, "and even stronger, these demons."

"Yep," New York said lightly, "I'm surprised Kalleid called the Watchtower for a clean-up for you yesterday."

"Well I haven't seen the people from the Watchtower for a long time," Nina casually said, "a change of scenery, yeah? But I have heard of what's happening within the Watchtower though."

New York's ruby lips pursed.

"Increase demand for clean ups," New York continued for the older woman beside him. They were both looking at the stars and the horizon seemed too blue and lonely. "Because the demons are too dangerous for a single hunter. Yes, I'm also aware of that, Sis Nina."

"This—" But Nina held herself back. The person in front of her was still one of the members, an upper echelon member as a matter of a fact, of the ruling clan within these town.

No matter if they were casual with each other, within the hunters' society, rank was still rank and Nina knew where her place was at.

"What, Sis Nina?" New York urged at her. "This isn't the usual? Is that what you're going to say?"

Nina remained silent, New York chuckled sarcastically at the lack of answer from Nina.

"This is why Geneva patrolled the town herself," New York added. "Formalities be damned."

"They haven't told you anything yet," Nina stated as a fact and saw New York's veins protruded with vex hidded behind the smirking mask of his face. "Don't sweat it, New York, I'm sure they're still prepping you for it, yeah?"

Nina saw the loathe that passed through the young man's expression. There was the feeling of helplessness and desperation that Nina knew well based on her experience. Before Nina could provide any words of comfort, New York has already moved on from the topic.

"You have seen the last member of the cursed bloodline, I presumed?" he asked nonchalantly, almost as though he doesn't really care and was only looking for a topic to talk about to pass time.

Maybe that was the case, Nina thought to herself, or maybe not considering who the person was connected to that new girl right now.

"The Aldam girl?" Nina asked and nodded. "Yeah, she's tryna kill Kal from the looks of it. I even paid the Watchtower for their mess. You should guard your charge against her. We don't know if her cursed skill will do weird things to Kal."

New York only nodded.

When Nina thought that he was about to end their conversation and move after his sister, only then another demon appeared. This one was unlike the crustacean-like demon from earlier whose core was now safely tucked on Nina's pocket. It had four limbs and a human feet where its face was supposed to be.

"Aiyah!" Nina lamented and called forth her holy weapon— Dianzi.

On Nina's muscled arm, it sizzled with dangerous glint. Beside her was still New York who was looking at the demon with a bored expression. He didn't bother calling forth his majestic holy weapon. Any hunter who have the mind to watch out for some particular weapons should know about the Aldeia clan's family heirloom weapons and the power each hold.

There was an armory full of holy weapons belonged to that family.

It wasn't the opulence of money or even property that was so amazing about the ruling clan, but their massive collection of weapons. Nina had been on their mansion, only once though, and she doesn't really have the keenness to return to that mansion just to see their massive collection.

"Sis Nina!" New York cautioned her and jumoed straight to the demon faster than how Dianzi wrapped around one of its limbs.

Raised hands that were both directed to the demon, New York concentrated his spiritual energy to creating a spell that would trap the demon inside. Not a second passed and a perfectly made boundary was erected.

New York didn't have to say anything to the older woman before she attacked with the force of a hundred men. There wasn't even any indication that she got tired from the other demon from earlier.

Three slashes from Dianzi and the vicious demon vaporized, leaving only its core that clattered on the ground. Cautiously, Nina went to retrieve the core that has fallen on the grass of the park.

She sighed heavily and the weak breeze of the spring brought by the faint late air of the last season which only called forth the whiteness of snow and cold.

"Hey, New York—" Nina turned around and stopped.

New York has taken off after his sister, leaving the older woman alone in the middle of the park. When Nina looked at the sky again, she saw how blue it was against the roundness and light of the moon hanging above.

"Nevermind," she murmured, the newly obtained core tossed on the air then was immediately wrapped by Nina's calloused hand. "I guess more core means more money, and more money is better than nothing."

Nina walked away, the heels of her stiletto clanking loudly against the pavement and New York, who was actually stepping on the same branch as his sister did earlier, finally turned away and created spatial boundaries to hopped from one place to another.

At the manor of the Aldeia clan, Geneva has just returned from her patrol around the region's premises. Unlike to what New York was expecting, Geneva arrived later than he did and when she did, she was already with someone.

On the enormous window of New York's bedroom, he watched as a young man went out of a luxury car and was greeted by his sister by her usual cold eyes. There wasn't any expression to be seen on Geneva's face though the young man, maybe around Geneva's age, was all smiles and warmt.

New York continued to watch, drying his hair off a white towel. He hasn't even worn any shirt yet and the water still dripped from his long hair to his chest. When he looked back to where his bed was, he was tempted to just jumped right in. From where he was standing, the bed looked like a cloud of comfort.

Then, New York looked again at the scenery below.

New York sighed and picked up his shirt. Curiosity got him, and his mind kept on wondering who the young man was. New York doubted if he could sleep with the curiosity within him.

"Felif Astride," someone spoke behind him.

A few steps could be heard, echoing at the stairs where New York was climbing down on. He wasn't surprised to see his older brother who was already on his own sleeping pyjamas. Wrapped around his arms and neck was a white bandage, a usual thing to be seen around her body.

New York only raised a brow, though if he was being honest with himself, he doesn't know if his sister could see his face clearly.

London Aldeia was New York's other (prettier) and older version. Instead of hard muscles and broad shoulders, London Aldeia's waist curved slightly softer though he was also as packed with muscles as his brother. His face was fiercer than New York that most people mistake the two apart though his facial features were almost the same. Similar piercing eyes, though London's held a certain vibrancy fitting of his personality. Similar full lips though New York's own were curved much perfectly than London's cupid bow. Even the shape of their faces were both quite alike.

Untrained eyes would suggest they were twins and so, both the brothers were almost always mistaken from one another.

London as New York, and New York as London.

London never minded though.

He never minded anything, New York corrected his thoughts. London gets what he can, and as a middle child who was never paid attention to, he was not really in any place to talk.

"And I supposed you would tell me since I don't know?" New York asked sarcastically.

London made a face at New York, sticking out his tongue and scrunching his nose up before answering with a puckered lips.

"Someone from the HODE," he said. His arms crossed in front of his chest and looked down at the still well-lit receiving room of the manor. "I heard..."

London glanced at New York who only rolled his eyes, impatient with suspense London was giving him.

"What?" New York demanded rudely.

"That something big is happening," London finally answered. He looked down again at the receiving hall where a deep voice of a man was resounding throughout the silence that night provided. "Or is about to happen."

New York turned to his older brother with a suspicious glare, but London remained smiling at him, exhaustion was evident on her pretty face. A yawn from him disrupted New York's thoughts, reminding him of the late time and that he still has classes to attend tomorrow.

"When did you get back anyway?" New York asked out of a sudden, looking at his brother from head to toe so he could ascertain that he was indeed his brother. "You are actually London, right?"

Having been sent to a training ground on Romania for the past weeks, New York didn't remarked any noticeable change on London except for the fact that she was suddenly at the manor so abruptly— without even sending any word or message to his friends. By friends, New York actually meant only one person.

"Want me to punch your balls?" he remarked and raised a fist. "Or have they descended yet?"

"You are London," New York muttered.

"I rushed back after getting some big f*****g news," London said and he turned his back to return up the stairs, probably to his own room, without making sure that his brother was following him.

"What news?" New York asked nonchalantly seemingly not really caring though London knew better, his smile getting bigger while he watched his little brother.

For that matter, New York was actually aware.

"You're about to find out. Soon, lil' bro," London said before proceeding to climb the stairs, leaving New York alone to watch the flickering of the lights and to hear how the Aldeia clan and its servants entertain the manor's new guest.