Rade's Demon Elimination Service

Chapter 36: The Building on Fire

A few days before Rade's reappearance, she was actually still investigating about Carys and she found some information that she doesn't expect would surface by her probing.

It has been a ride for Rade and if she was being honest with herself, she wa certain that she did not enjoy a lot of it.

While she finished torturing and interrogating the head of Heatherington clan, she quickly went to the lead she got from him which she was hoping would lead her into something that could be useful for her.

She was back on being alone and that suited her just fine though she could not help thinking about how were the others doing. She has not said a word about the mission that the Aldeia clan's head have given to her. She imagined Kalleid and Lyu fawning over her. New York would probably stomp around on Geneva Aldeia's office, demanding not to let such a mission to her, and, finally, London would definitely go with her. Megumi would either packed her a lunchbox or give her advice, or maybe even both.

That was why she didn't want to be attached to other people before. It was softening her in the best way and it made her want to have a conscience which was something that would not necessarily help her on any of her missions and would instead hinder her further.

Those people made her want to forget her past.

She was back on being on the road with her black gear and the red blood stained steel blade of her scimitar Aíma. Rade was expecting that she would come back to this kind of path, she never even thought she would stray too far from it actually. When she arrived in the region, she never expected that shhe would change because, after all, old habits die hard (though it was not exactly a habit of hers to go around on a killing spree).

Adults would often tell her things. Things that should be compliments and flattery, but those words weren't compliments and flattery on her own ears. There were many words that she had been told by thhose she worked for, in that span of years that Laurinette Haeven had became a vessel for the Shadow Fantasm.

Stealth was her strength, they would say, and the fact that her kills have always been neat and swift, not needing for any torture just to interrogate. Elora Isolde Aldam was truly a marvel for the officials within the Huntsman Order.

She was being labeled as a great assassin. Her emotionless face was suitable for killing yet she never really liked killing. Rade supposed she had a choice though. Walking away from everything would be hard for someone like her who does not know anything other than being someone else's tool and equipment.

But right now, she couldn't walk away, not when Carys needs her.

Maybe she would not be able to set things right, things and events would never ceased from being in the past and written history (Rade was also certain that if it was written history that was being talked about, she would always be theh villain of canon fodders which was not really something appealing). Or maybe she would not be able to set Carys to the right path and she will forever be regretful of the things that she did and was not able to do.

But she has at least got to try it.

She couldn't give up now that some more blood has splished splashed on her hands. Her hands were already dripping wet with that red substance, more of it would not really make much difference for her.

She looked up at the building in front of her. This was where the lead that Johnson Heatherington gave to her. Her heart pounded and Rade unconsciously put her hand over her chest, trying to suppress her racing heart that had been beating abnormally fast since earlier.

She hasn't felt like this since her first attempt of assassination, but Rade has to admit to herself that she was frightened of what she might see inside of this building.

Nothing too horifying, she thought.

The building looked like any other building, wirh gray walls and multiple floors, but it wasn't just like any other building since it was hidden within a private property within a forest. Miles away from the Aldeia clan's territory, Rade felt vulnerable. She felt cold despite having worn a full-body suit and fighting gear. Even the pain from Emma, the nickname of her holy weapon, that she could feel was more intense. It was like Emma was sawing through her very bones and she felt stiff with the hurt.

Rade scrutinized the building.

It seemed abandoned, she thought, but her senses told her of a different story. Her eyes spotted at least a dozen cameras, hidden in the crooks and crannies of the building. Every corner of it was peppered withh security cameras that made it hard for Rade to sneak around the building. It solidied her suspicion that this could be something out of her imagination and it also made her more frightened.

What kinds of things did Carys endure while he was inside? Or was he really inside of this building ever? Was Rade trying to find a dead end from the lead she might have foolishly followed?

The Heatherington head told her that, in order to be able to do hunter like skills, Carys have to undego a lot of trainings within this building. He even told her that Carys was the perfect specimen. He has the ancient bloodline of a hunter clan, his body was flexible and fit for a hunter, and it would only take a little for him to achieve the perfect skills of a hunter.

If Carys really undergo just simple things such as 'trainings' though, Rade was uncertain. She was afraid of what she might find out.

Rade shook her head as memories from the night that she killed that Heatherington head flashed inside her mind, unconsciously remembering everything that she refused to remember. But her mind was too cruel and forced her mind to dig deeper into her memories, picking the most painful ones.

"It's too bad though," Rade remembered Johnson Heatherington saying with a mocking glint on his swollen eyes. He even clicked his tongue and shook his head in disappointment. "He's such a perfect specimen, his body is so beautiful and supple—"

Before he could even continue what he was about to say, Rade has her blade on his throat. She drew yet anothing bout of blood on his already bleeding throat, a line of cut was clearly visible as blood dripped on his chest down to his torso and limbs. Rade remembered herself being so intoxicated by the pain that she forced to the person that, in return, inflicted pain to the person close to her.

"Did you touch him?" Rade asked him, burying the blade just a few centimeters on his skin.

She thought then how filthy this person's hands were and that Carys was the most innocent and purest person on her eyes. For Carys to be under thheh gaze of a person like this man, it was truly abominable. Rade could not help herself from being scared of what else happened to Carysia. She spat on his face as he cried and begged her pathetically, again, like what he had been doing since the very moment that he saw Rade.

"N-no! No!" he denied and denied, drowning from his own blood that Rade spilled with her holy weapon. "I didn't even touch him! I didn't touch the Haeven boy!"

"You're not even allowed to look at him," Rade stated with cold eyes, enunciating each of her words to the man. Her long hair was loose on her shoulders and with a flip of her hair, Emma, who has been sucking Johnson Heatherington's blood since earlier, has finally reached his beating heart. "And now you would never be able to, do you understand?"

With the last words, Rade freely let her holy weapon run through the man's throat, decapitating the head cleanly from its torso. The head rolled down, dragging more blood on its path yet Rade did not feel an ounce of guilt.

Rade blinked, dragging herself out of the daze.

It was terrifying for her how easy it was to drive Emma on a body. It was like slicing through a butter with a hot knife, it was that easy. With her skills, it even became easier.

Most people would not be able to do anything against her physical prowess and she was terrified to fall into that chasm of blood that she has already fallen once and twice.

Thrice would hurt, Rade thought, it would hurt too much that she wouldn't have any strength to get back up.

And this was the third time so she thought she had to make it worthwhile.

Finding a blindspot on one of the sides of the building, Rade ran towards the wall to hide from the cameras and, with quick movements, she targetted the cameras on her way to the entrance with the blade Emma, making it as though it was a javelin stick. When she was certain that there wasn't any hindrance any longer, she finally revealed herself.

Rade took a deep breath before she slashed the door to enter the building. The inside of the building was quite dark with only a few lights giving brightness on the hallway. She observed the surroundings and prepared Emma on her hand. Behind her, she could faintly hear the sizzle from the cameras that she destroyed ruthlessly.

It was quiet. In fact, it was so quiet that Rade could hear her own heart beating loudly and her ears started to ring with the silence. She does not know if it was only her imagination or if she could really hear the beats of her heart or maybe it was only theh static silence messing with her mind, but her moves became careful.

She immediately went to the upper floors. Some of the doors where shut tight so Rade has to s***h through them with her blade while others were left hanging open. There was a sudden dread that crept up to her body.

This place felt as if it was abandoned but there was a question lingering on Rade's mind.

Why was this place abandoned?

Just what exactly was this place?

Rade's thoughts were racing as fast as the beat of her heart. Her mind went directly to Carys and she wondered how come he went to this kind of place. It was dark and it reeks of illegal activity.

It wasn't like him at all.

But then, killing someone wasn't anything like Carys at all and Rade has to assume that he changed in the span of the year that they were apart from each other and it should not have been too shocking if Carys learned a thing or two. To think that Carys has been tainted with anything bad, with anythung evil, was something that pained Rade the most. She wasn't able to protect him and had been too wrapped up with her own reality that woul not change even if she tried hard to change anything or make things right.

But Carys...

Carys was different for Rade.

"What is this place?" Rade couldn't help but to ask.

She has been seeing a bunch of medical equipments. There was even room that has a whole MRI scanner. Rade tried to browse through the documents and it was apparent that people who used this building left in a rush. But it wasn't just a medical building from the looks of it and from Rade's observation.

It was also for training.

Was the information that Heatherington said to Rade was actually true and not just some random thing?

She found a few pieces of discarded holy weapons, a few were unknown while others were actually quite popular in the hunters' society. Rade picked up a famed single-edged sword and slashed it around. Upon finding another holy weapon on its wielder's hand, Emma, that was being held by Rade's other hand, began to heat it up to the point of smoking on her other hand.

Rade didn't bother on soothing the weapon (it was just a weapon still, it was not as if it has actual human feelings) and just dropped the one from her other hand.

Thinking back to Johnson Heatherington's last words, Rade has a suspicion of what this building was and what it was used for yet still she wished it would not be so. She finally came to the part of the building that was livelier and brighter. When she opened one of the doors, she noticed personal things.

It must have reach the living quarters, Rade thought while she rummaged through the doors individually. Although the space was huge, she was unhurried to be careful on checking everything out since she hasn't seen a single camera nor an individual.

On a particular door, Rade found something that tugged at her heartstrings and made her already watering eyes teared up further.

The unfinished cardigan that was on the bed was very similar to what she was wearing right now, just different colors and hers have more design. There were a couple of yarn balls everywhere of the room and needles for crocheting. On the walls were painted murals of angels. The murals were not painted skillfully, but rather what made it capture anyone that would look to it was its thoughtful choice of colors.

This was Carys' room.

She tried to find anything on the room, but it has only traces of Carys. None that would tell Rade more about what happened to him. Rade tried to come back to the offices to find anything else, but there was still none that would be able to help her.

She looked at the logo on the wall of one of the office rooms in the building. Her hands clenched and she suddenly has the desire to burn the building down if there was nothing she could use it for.

On that logo was the one that provided Rade with a certificate that tied a noose on her neck, forever tying her life down. It was also the one that put the same noose on one of the gentlest person that Rade has ever known. The only one that could go up against the most powerful and influential clan within the hunters' society.

It was the Hunstman Order of Demon Eradication or HODE as they most commonly call that certain organization.

Rade and the Huntsman Order have a long history with each other.

Rade was only a child when was first picked up by the officials of the HODE. She was not aware that she just killed someone, she did not know that it was a bad thing to rid any living person of their life. She did not know that thhe blood that she thought could be washed will never leave her name.

There was no one to teach her those things and the HODE was the one that beat her into shape.

The officials from the HODE was the ones that stated she was perfect to become an assassin rather than the all high and mighty role of a hunter. She was not resentful because she didn't know how to, but things have changed just like how the time has passed.

Now, Rade knew how to resent and get angry. She knew how it meant to lose someone she dearly loved and how it meant to have a person be important to her.

She started from the inside of the building. With a single match, Rade lighted a fire within the interior of the building. She doesn't feel remorse about taking it down. For Carys to have spent a year, or maybe just a few months, in this kind of place and come out thinking that revenge was everything he was ever good for.

Rade knew that there might be more to it than she imagined. A person, specially those who were not gifted with the abilities of a hunter, just doesn't become a hunter by will or by sheer training. The speed, strength, endurance, and other physical attributes weren't the only ones that define a hunter as one.

They did something to you, Rade thought, her mind was tangled with images of Carys.

On her eyes, the raging fire that the building was in was reflected brilliantly. It was bright and it created a beacon in the middle of the forest. Just a few minutes later, people from the HODE finally arrived with firetrucks. They desperately tried to vanquish the fire but they could only watch as it eat the whole property.

What was striking for Rade though was a figure robed in black cloak and hood. The direction of that robed figure was standing and turned towards Rade's direction. Although she was a good distance away from the scene, she felt that she was being watched by that figure.

Without any second thoughts, Rade immediately sought escape from that place.

She did not look back, but she was right when she thought that there was someone watching her. The robed figure watched as people around frantically moved about, the fire was ferocious and violent. It was so hot that it almost scald the surface of their skin.

"What shall we do?" someone asked the robed figure.

A cold voice came from under the hood. It was piercing and bone chilling, frost was crawling on the ground despite the winter season has passed.

"Just let it burn."