Inside of a Hidden Bunker, Belial Territory
Memphis POV
They were trapped.
Memphis scanned the laboratory for any potential exits but it was no use, the only entrance and exit was blocked by the cloaked young man and the monsters behind him.
"Muraah…"
One of the bear cubs' gnawed at the laboratory window as their heated breaths deposited onto the glass.
Memphis' heart pounded against his chest, and his blood ran cold.
Memphis had never fought such a big demonic beast before, not one especially as dangerous-looking as the malformed bear in front of him. He was stiff as a frozen deer.
The multitude of stitched arms slowly wiggled and grasped in the air. It looked so unnatural that Memphis wanted to gag.
The mutated bear and its cubs began to slowly lurch forward as it stepped towards them.
Memphis turned to look at his friends, Sidmen was chattering his teeth so fast it almost looked like he was vibrating, while Ethel looked very alarmed with coldsweat building on her forehead.
Were they all going to die?
Memories flashed in front of his eyes. The image of his Mom's still body bleeding on the floorboards. The helplessness he felt. The despair on his Dad's face.
No…
This was not the time to be scared. Vengeance still needed to be carried out.
Memphis buried his fear and entered into a brawler-like stance. A blue aura surrounded him as he flared his Demonic Power.
"I'm not sure what your plans are for Riverton. Or what you did to those poor bears…"
Hearing his voice, Sidmen and Ethel appeared to gather themselves as Memphis spoke. Sidmen aimed his pistol at the mother bear, and Ethel conjured a large shield and sword around herself.
It was likely his Demonic Power carrying his intent that woke up his friend, Memphis was letting a lot of his emotions seep out. And if Memphis took the time to pay attention, he would have sworn his Demonic Power levels were higher than this morning.
"Is the brat going to try biting back? How adorable."
The cloaked young man did not look visibly offput by the amount of Demonic Power Memphis was radiating. He merely found Memphis' anger humorous as he gave a sadistic sneer, and it made Memphis more furious.
"You hurt the people of Riverton! You threaten my friends; and worst of all…you killed my Mom, and that is unforgivable!"
Memphis kicked off the ground like a stampeding elk, and charged at the young man. Immediately his fist was covered in a thick blue aura that sparked occasionally.
The cloaked young man dropped his sneer and scowled in annoyance as he blocked Memphis's punch as it smacked against a defensive magic circle. The magic circle glowed and blasted Memphis backwards, tumbling through the lab.
The cloaked young man walked slowly towards the pile of rubble that Memphis was buried under, as he waved his hands towards Ethel and Sidmen.
"Get them. Dinner is served."
The malformed bears roared as they ran towards Memphis' friends.
[Line Break]
Ethel POV
Memphis had made that face again, and it left a pit in her stomach. She never liked it whenever Memphis made that face, and she was not sure how to feel about it.
The first time was when Memphis invited her to the Themos' household, and the second time was when he appeared in the alleyway after his mother died.
Ethel had not properly met the woman, but she seemed pleasant.
Ethel could fairly picture the type of household that Memphis grew up in, an idyllic life in the Underworld's countryside afforded by the current peace and isolated from most of the cutthroat politics of the Underworld. It was why he was so naively friendly with everyone, almost to a fault.
However, Ethel would never get the chance to properly introduce herself to her friend's mother, which she had internally looked forward to after his mother invited her to come over later, and now it made her feel regretful.
Despite her feelings, Ethel could understand why Memphis made that face. She likely would feel the same if it was her own mother that died.
Still, It was a scary face, and she wished Memphis remained the carefree and jolly boy she first met. It gave her new feelings, and she did not fully understand them. From somewhere, a part of her wanted to comfort her friend, she was not sure how, but if they survived she would find a way to do so.
Honestly, Memphis made her feel complicated.
She had only met the boy for the first time today, along with her other new friend Sidmen. However, Memphis seemed to be different from the other boys she's met in her life.
Sidmen was like a timid cat, although at times he was very thoughtful and witty, but her feelings about him were amicable at best.
Diehauser was too polite and hid his feelings behind a forced smile, even though she knew he was from a low ranking family and was trying his best to give a good appearance, she could not help being bored around him.
The many butlers of her family were distant professionals. Same for the many guards and soldiers.
Some of the young Devils from the Paimon Clan's branch family, or other Noble Clans that acted as her followers felt like they were pressured to be friends with her or were trying to gain something from her Clan.
Her father was both strict and soft on her during her childhood, and Ethel thought he was a good father even with all of his duties. While her older brother Gilmand was overprotective of her. In both cases, she felt coddled around them.
However, she felt different about Memphis.
For some reason he really bothered her. Was it because she sometimes wanted to call him an idiot for his clueless answers, or perhaps it was his cheeky smile whenever he, without care for societal norms, dared to poke fun at her.
At the same time, Ethel also appreciated how easy it was to spend time with him and found his bright smile endearing. Or how sometimes his pretty blue eyes sparkled like gems whenever she caught him glancing at her…
Memphis was weird.
Yes, he certainly was, but Ethel would contemplate her feelings at a later time, like after she solved her more immediate concern of the rampaging abomination chasing after her.
"Rooooooaaar!"
The mother bear and its cubs chased after Sidmen and Ethel around the lab, with Mr. Sparky clapping its tiny feet close behind them.
The large mutated bear smashed through the laboratory without care for delicate glasswork and equipment. The numerous arms on its back rabidly tried to reach out for its fleeing prey.
"I hate bears! Especially that one! It's sooo creepy!" Sidmen shouted as he fired off a few shots that bounced off the thick hide of the charging bear.
"Just focus! And aim for the eyes!"
Demonic bears had thick skulls and tough bones so piercing the eyes should be a weak spot to aim for. It's also why she had conjured a pair of sword and shield, especially in the tight aisles of this laboratory, it should provide a decent enough defense.
What terrified her was the presence being exuded from the mother bear itself, somehow the remnant Demonic Power from the stitched Devil arms on its back increased its own and if Ethel had to estimate, the power of the mother bear was well into High Class.
Ethel waved her hand and the large round shield floating next to her landed with a clunk as it blocked the side aisle, preventing the smaller bears from cutting them off.
"We need to lure the bears outside of this laboratory. It's too cramped inside here!"
The mechanical room.
It was large enough to effectively use her magic, while providing enough height to safely fly above and create a safe enough distance. They just needed to lure the bears away from Memphis and create an opening to leave the laboratory.
Ethel turned around as she ran and saw a bubbling setup of alchemical mixtures. Now if she just timed this right…
One…two…three…now!
Ethel conjured an ethereal rifle, and aimed it as it built up an enhanced demonic bullet. "Fire!"
Just as the bears approached the glass apparatus, a quick beam of light blue Demonic Power crashed into it, igniting the volatile chemicals and causing it to explode.
It was a small explosion and went off with a quick bang, but the shattered glass pierced into the bears' hides and the sound was loud enough to stun their sensitive ears.
It provided just enough time for Ethel and Sidmen to turn the next corner and find the entrance of the laboratory being left wide open.
"Sidmen, this is our chance! We'll handle the bears outside, while Memphis handles that criminal."
"B-but what about Memphis, doesn't he need our help?"
"No, Memphis is strong. I can feel it, even though he's not aware of it yet. If I had to be honest, he's likely stronger than me who is Middle Class. We can help him once we handle the bears."
"Really?? And you blew up the town square too! When did Memphis get so strong?!"
"Not the time! Just follow me!"
Ethel let out her Devil wings and shot towards the door, with Sidmen following behind.
By the time they reached the door, the bears had already collected themselves and chased after the young Devils.
As Ethel and Sidmen were flying through the dark and dank hallways of the underground bunker, the oversized mother bear smashed through the sliding door to chase after them, its roars bouncing down the long bunker hallways.
Ethel and Sidmen finally reached the mechanical room and flew closer to the ceiling. Ethel then quickly set up a line of floating shields.
It was a good thing she did as the mother bear did not give up as it climbed the metal framing of the equipment and jumped towards them.
Despite not having wings, it had powerful muscles and Ethel assumed it was also enhanced by whatever experiments were conducted on it, it had almost grabbed on to them before Ethel bashed it away with several shields.
The mother bear crashed into a piece of equipment down below and crumpled it underneath her weight.
This had continued a few times, Ethel would bash away the mother bear while Sidmen would take shots at the targets below, with Mr. Sparky mostly hovering next to them.
Ethel was still recovering her Demonic Power from earlier expenditure so there was only so much she could do at the moment.
One of the cubs had also managed to jump at them, but with the swipe of a glowing sword, its head was lopped off as it lifelessly fell to the ground.
Sidmen had also managed to take out the other two other bear cubs, a demonic bullet each through their thinner skulls, as they clumsily climbed the equipment before they could jump themselves.
The mother bear went still as her cubs laid motionless on the floor.
Soon a dark red aura flared as a demonic aura built up inside the mother bear. The red web-like veins on its body bulged and grew with her more intensity and the muscles of the arms on its back became thicker.
It looked up at Ethel and Sidmen and gave a furious roar.
"ROAR!"
Even after becoming an abomination, the mother bear still cared for her children and Ethel would have pitied the demonic beast, if not for the intense bloodlust seeping throughout the room.
As if following the roar, an intense explosion boomed from the laboratory and magical flames erupted from the hallway. While the following shockwave echoed into the larger mechanical room with a loud pop.
What was happening over there?!
Was Memphis okay?
Ethel started to worry about Memphis, however her thoughts were soon distracted by the sound of an alarm going off.
"Bzzzzzzzzzzz"
The sound of steam puffing and heavy doors being unlocked from other places were heard. Then came the footsteps.
Many footsteps.
As infected villagers came pouring into the mechanical room, red glowing web-like veins on their body and all wore medical gowns.
The infected villagers twisted and torqued their bodies, releasing their own Devil wings and began flying towards them. The mother bear also was readying itself to jump at them again as well.
"There's too many of them! I am not sure if I can hold them all back."
Sidmen furrowed his brow and then begrudgingly nodded.
"Okay, this is my last trick. It won't last long as my Demonic Power is not that high, but it should buy us some time."
Ethel confusedly looked at Sidmen and raised an eyebrow, while she split her focus on cutting down any infected villagers that got too close.
Sidmen looked to Mr. Sparky that harmlessly flew next to them with its single rotor blade.
"Mr. Sparky. Activate Battle Mode!"
Sidmen grit his teeth as Demonic Power left his body and funneled into Mr. Sparky. Then suddenly several mechanical limbs extended from its main body, shooting out were two limbs with rotating saw blades, along with a gun that protruded from its head.
Clink. Clink.
"Beep. Boop."
Finished its transformation, Mr. Sparky flew into the crowd of infected villagers and sliced them apart into a red mess.
At the same time, the mounted gun on its head would fire lightning bolts that would zap targets, dropping them like flies in repeated succession.
Sidmen grit his teeth as he endured the drain of Demonic Power. With focus in his gaze, he reloaded his pistol and started blasting.
"What?"
Ethel was confused.
What was happening?
For a moment Ethel was flabbergasted as she witnessed a ridiculous sight. Mr. Sparky zipped to and fro across the room turning the crowd of infected villagers into a messy blender of red mist and cut limbs.
"When could Mr. Sparky do that?!"
And he was so cute and innocent looking too…
"It's a trial mode I've been experimenting on, you know, in case of an emergency. However the drain on my Demonic Power is way too demanding. So I can only hold it for a couple minutes!"
A couple minutes, that should give them plenty of time.
"Hmph. Let's do this then!"
Ethel forced herself to create another line of shields and several larger swords the size of her body.
Her Demonic Power was getting really low, but she could squeeze this much.
Ethel pointed at the mother bear that was recovering on the floor and commanded the swords to move.
"Go!"
The ghostly blades that were well over her 5 ft in length shot towards the mother. One by one, they impaled into its thick hide with a heavy thud, pinning it into the ground in a cage of swords, while another sword cleaved through the Devil arms that were stitched onto its back.
The bear roared out in pain as it tried to free itself but the cage of blades held true. At the same time, Ethel could sense the bear's demonic level drop once the stitched Devil arms were severed off.
While Ethel had pinned the mother bear down, Mr. Sparky was making good work taking out the horde of infected villagers.
From a glance of the bodies pouring out from the nearby hallways and the bodies on the ground, the amount of villagers that were likely experimented on was only two hundred at most.
Ethel and Sidmen kept up this rhythm.
Ethel would push away any infected that got too close in a formation of floating shields, while pinning down the mother bear. Meanwhile, Sidmen was doing his best to reload his pistol as fast as he could between shots, cursing under his breath about finding a way to make an easier reloading mechanism, and lastly Mr. Sparky zapping and slicing through the hordes.
Eventually, it seemed the amount of infected had been defeated and no more were coming from the surrounding hallways or elsewhere.
"We're close, just a few more left!"
However, Sidmen was panting heavily. He looked almost pale, almost looked like he was going to pass out.
Ethel could sense that Sidmen's Demonic Power was getting really low. Like she was surprised he could barely stay awake right now.
Oh no…
"Ha…ha…I'm sorry Miss. Ethel, but I can't keep it up any longer…"
Mr. Sparky froze in its movements.
"Beep. Boop."
Its extra limbs retracted back inside with a swift clasp, then its flight rotor stopped rotating causing it to fall to the ground.
At the same time, Sidmen also began falling as he did not have enough Demonic Power to keep out his Devil wings.
"Sidmen!"
Ethel flew after his freefalling form and caught him before he hit ground. The two landed on the wet floor with a thud.
"Ugh."
Sidmen's head spun in a daze as he barely could keep consciousness, and while Ethel was distracted the remaining infected villagers got dangerously too close.
"Satans, damn it!"
Just as the infected villagers were about to hit the critical threshold, Ethel conjured a large shield to smack them far away into an opposing wall, where they hit the wall with a sickening crunch before exploding into magical flames.
"Ha….Ha… that was close."
Ethel checked on Sidmen and began transferring some of her Demonic Power to him. "This should help you stay away. Sidmen, are you feeling better?"
"Uh…. Miss. Ethel…I see birds."
No, he was delirious and was forcing himself to barely stay awake. He would be useless for any more fighting, and she had to change her plans.
However, during this distraction Ethel had forgotten one critical point.
She had lost her focus on the swords that were pinning the mother bear.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Heavy footsteps approached them as the eyes of the bloodied mother bear stared into Ethel's red eyes.
Thinking of her options, Ethel was not sure she could take down the bear by herself while also protecting Sidmen at the same time.
Ethel tried to conjure a few swords and hurtled them at the bear in an attempt to pin it once more, but it easily knocked the blades away.
It was already too close.
Ethel sat on the cold and wet floor, her frilly dress was tattered and her hair was a mess, and she was running out of ideas.
Tears welled in her eyes as shivers creeped across spine and panic filled her heart.
Help.
Someone.
Please help.
"ROAR!''
The beast angrily roared in front of Ethel as she felt the hot breath escaping from its maw. Thick salvia splashed onto the floor.
She did not want to die, not yet!
Ethel cried out.
"MEMPHIS!"
[Line Break]
A/N: Sorry, I wanted to release this chapter sooner but my friend dragged me away onto a ski trip. Besides that, I was recently convinced by another author to start a P.a . t. r.e. o.n. So with regards to this fic, I will not have advanced chapters and will still update every 1-2 weeks at least. However, for another original fantasy/sci-fi/romance story I am writing, which is inspired by DxD and Fate, that will be later be posted on others sites like Q Q / R R and maybe Webnovel, will have advanced chapters. If you are interested and like my writing, then you can check it out once its ready. Either way, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. If you have any thoughts let me know in the comments.