Devil hunting chronicles of the impossible city.

Devil Marchosias II

A reunion had been called inside the junkyard, deep within the Wolves' territory, and a ritual had to be set in motion.

The wolves were all reunited in a circle of broken-down furniture and forgotten scrapyard. They were howling and clapping, wishing for blood in the night sky. Even if there were men, they had a bestial excitement under that full moon. Two people stood in the center, above a ritual sign carved into the dirt with red paint.

One was a woman, with dirty blond hair in a long ponytail. She had a bitter smile on her face, displaying a carved scar. She was dressed in a broken black coat and carried a long pipe over her shoulder. She smiled for a moment as she looked at the man entering their circle.

He was far taller and skinnier than him, but he had the rabid expression of a furious mutt with a metal bat in his hand. His black hair was unkempt, and he had a lot of broken teeth and a serious expression as he stared with calm fury at the woman. The wild crew became silent as they finally walked towards each other.

"Petra, it is hard to believe this day has come again. I really don't like having to kill my kin. Do you feel the same as I do boss? " The man asked her.

"Come on, you weren't the only candidate to fight me, Neil. You wanted to be here right. You wanted to get killed by me. " The woman laughed, and he smirked as well; there was no genuine anger in her voice.

"You know that taking the offer from the syndicate is our best bet boss. You saw what happened to the snakes and they had two demons in their ranks. To be honest, we are at our limit here. Do you get that? Or do I need to bash it into your head? " The woman's teeth were clenched as she heard his threats.

''No thanks, the wolves don't need any city folks barking at us. The snakes were wiggling their tails like crazy at the yakuza and that didn't help them. This is all because they were a bunch of cowards hoping someone would save them and I had it with that. People from the city should just keep their paws off our turf. "

''Is this really all you want? We are barely scraping by now and with the city guard and that bastard of Rush, we keep having to raid towns so far away that it is not even worth the gas... We need enough strength to make the idiots in Center City get back in line as we did in the old days! You were not strong enough to face Rush, so you can't be the leader anymore. That is what our people declared! " She looked at the ground, keeping her smile, but she seemed to evade staring at his eyes.

"You think you will do better? Even if you can only do it by having a master and a collar to make it there? "

"A wolf survives." Neil declared and their audience howled in excitement at his words. Most of them, but some remained quiet.

"Maybe this is why this old rite is done. I have been the boss for almost as long as the old one. I'm not surprised you lot have already lost your patience with me... but I won't apologize, I believe that if we put that collar on us, we will just be another stupid pet that will be thrown away by the city folks, but I guess you lot don't really remember what making a deal with the devil really means. '" Petra raised the pipe she carried like a club.

"I wish we could continue following you, Petra. Believe me, I have more respect for you than I ever had for the old boss, but we are all going to die unless we reach that city. "

"Dying here or inside those walls, what difference does that make if you have no pride? But enough about that. You are here because many of our numbers believe strongly in you. I'll admit that if you become the new boss, maybe you could be strong enough to go further than I can, but that comes at a price. " She pointed her weapon at a massive pile of scrap and Neil looked at the top of the mountain of trash, where a beast came to witness their fight.

It could be called the shadow of a wolf, a black mass resembling such a beast but only resembling it. A creature could barely be sure if the creature was covered in fur that resembled tar that moved like a living breathing being. Blue eyes shining so bright one couldn't see any pupils on them and a maw with long sharp teeth, thousands of them, small teeth in rows and rows. The demon could be called a wolf, at the very least, to give it a shape to understand it, but this creature had the massive wings of a bird upon its back as well, and they raised them, casting a shadow upon the two humans below it.

"Neil, if you really want to become Marchosias's partner, come and kill me and then keep going if you are so sure that you are right. Hahaha, but I'm going to do the same; I killed the old boss because I got lucky with nothing else, and that luck has kept me alive for years now, and Nick, you are going to need that kind of luck. "Her expression changed into a bitter scowl. Petra walked forward as she waved at the demon above them.

"Right, I will do just that, but only you, I will survive with my strength! " Neil rushed towards her with his bat and the crow went wild with cheers and insults. The two crashed against each other with their weapons.

A loud thump was heard and, just like that, their fight had ended with both of them now lying on the ground.

"You got too excited Neil, Petra stood up in pain. Looking at him lying on the ground, she managed to hit him on the head before falling to the ground after losing her balance. She was smiling all the same, even if she was completely out of breath. looking into the sky above, trying to stare away at the open head of the man below her.

"Sorry, my pipe was just a bit longer; you should have chosen a better weapon, but if you overthought things, it wouldn't have been you, Neil...I'm sorry. I will try to make this year worth it for all of us. Now that I must remain the leader, it is the least I can do for you. What a pain. I swear it... The sound of gunfire was heard and everyone cheering in the stadium came to a halt. This was a sound they all knew perfectly. The sound of gunfire.

"I almost made it, which is a shame, but I'm surprised this beast is so loyal."At the entrance to the ritual site. The massive form of the black-winged wolf took the bullet for her and now howled towards the stranger, as a man in a black suit with long black hair pulled the trigger on a handgun.

"I'm going to have to hunt you the old fashion way, then." Multiple people in black suits came from the shadows pointing their weapons towards the boss at the center.

"My name is... well, call me Mr. Cao; now, would you mind taking on another challenger, Petra Neumann?"The woman stood up again, looking at the strange man who had dared to intrude himself upon their most sacred of rites.

"Sure, not enough blood has been spilled tonight. " In a moment, the woman seemed far younger, as if she had healed herself of all that had tired her, and as she smiled at him, the eyes of the black wolf above the junkyard seemed to glow with the same hunger and wrath as those of the woman that summoned it.

''Welcome to the mouth of the beast,'' Petra spoke as she pointed at him with her pipe and stepped over the corpse of her fallen comrade.