Devil hunting chronicles of the impossible city.

Devils Mezu and Gozu IV

On the first floor, the remaining guards had reunited on the easterly side stairway where they were being pinned down from using the stairs by Deborah. There were still at least six armed men, but they were already missing a lot of their numbers and were at the peak of their building anxiety. But they were suddenly forced to quake as they heard the rapid-fire of a machine gun just behind them as someone shot into the floor.

"That is enough. I think it is best if you guys just throw your weapons down and run. " Rock had sneaked right behind them, catching all of the armed men in his line of sight as he pointed at them with his Tommy gun. They quickly pointed back at him, but two of them remained on the stairs, aiming their guns in case Deborah tried to come down. The remaining guards looked at each other, unsure if they wanted to take the shot. The huge man with his Tommy gun had simply walked into the middle of the hall without any cover and faced them straight on.

''Come on, drop the guns and flee; this is your only chance; we're only here for the brothers."He pointed his gun at the ground, implying to the men that he should throw away his weapons.

"You think you're scarier than the bosses? You're not even from Nishiyama."One of the men on the left was about to be shot when he received a bullet to his foot, making him miss fire on the ground as he startled the rest of them. From the service door at the side of the stairs, Tina leaned out, pointing at him with her rifle.

"As I said, your bosses are finishing. Do you people really want to share their end? Are they worth the sacrifice?" Rock pointed again at the floor and stared down at them with some distance. The man who had screamed at him gritted his teeth and threw his gun to the ground. The rest of them followed him. Rock moved to the side of the hall and lowered his gun as the men ran towards the exit while keeping their distance. Tina came out of her hideout and came closer to him.

"That was way too risky and not part of the plan, Mr. Rock." She came closer to him while still pointing her weapon at the hall.

"I'm sure Captain Abram won't mind the outcome; thanks for looking out for me, old friend."He put his huge hand over her messy head and ruffled it.

"Jeez, Mr. Rock, stop it."

"Now, let's go take a look at the other stairs. We are hardly done now. I just hope the captains will be able to finish the job." Tina nodded as she went to the stairs to stay as a guard, and Rock ran off through the hallway.

A crash could be heard above as the mighty iron shield crashed against the ax of the huge bull demon. Even with Collins's stature, he was being overwhelmed physically by the demon Gozu. He stuck to the side as Collins barely managed to deflect it with his shield, but the mighty Ichiro rushed him again, forcing him off the ground and throwing him against the wall before trying to punch him in the face. The demon stroked his ave against the shield and at the same time he moved his hand to grab Collins' head, Rush raised his left arm, now covered in metallic scales, and blocked his palm. His scales were shot like spikes, hitting the demon in the eye, making him recoil, and with all of his strength. Rush raised his shield and used it to clober the demon on the head over and over to force it back. The demon strikes back, his ax finally landing a hit against Collins's left arm. He winced in pain as even the iron scales could not protect him from having the axe pierce into his muscles. Another hit and it would have cracked a bone. Collins forced him back with his shield and threw him back against a table, making some distance between the two of them. Collins has never fought a demon that was that much stronger than himself.

You bastard... I'm finally going to have a worthy sacrifice. It's been so long since I could consume a human. I need it. "

"So... the reason they kept kidnapping people on the outskirts was to feed monsters like you. Is that really why we had to endure so much on the outskirts?" Collins raised his shield as the long cables connected to his body began to suck more blood. Sabnock needed more strength. He had to go all out and hope not to pass out from the bleeding.

"The outskirts? I heard that the reason we are no longer getting sacrifices is that the smugglers and slavers got crushed... what the hell do you have something to do with that! "' Collins smiled for the first time, and he saw a change in getting under his opponent's skin. "'

Yeah, I wish, but there won't be any more sacrifices for you all. The people on the outskirts are untouchable now. I'm sorry your feast has ended and I'm not letting you devour anyone in this town either. " The red eyes on him glowed as the shield opened its gaping mouth.

''Shut up. You don't know how it feels to always have that desperate hunger. There is no end to it. The demon that possessed me never calms down. I have to fight that hunger every waking moment. " Ichiro shook his head as he raised his ax and breathed heavily.

"Hah, why did you become a demon then? You must have known the price for it."

I was going to prove to every idiot who thought I was a worthless thug how wrong they were. I made a deal with the devil to show every fool who looked down at me what they deserved! " Collins's expression soured.

"I see, if that is the reason you make a deal with the devil, I won't have to feel bad about you at all. I'm glad my first assassination was against a man like yourself. I can do this. If it's you, the killing will be easy. " The cables on his back turned red as they sucked away his blood. The shield opened its mouth, its eyes shining red.

Your blood is boiling. Let me give you my all and ruin this monster! " Ichiro struck with his ax against the shield, forcing him back with his massive size, but the devil Sabnock opened its gaping mouth just as the ax struck against its iron surface. It ate its wooden handle and ripped the top of the ax with its iron jaws. Ichiro backed away as he saw the handle of the ax into the wall. Rush screamed, bashing against him with his shield as a blunt weapon, striking the ox on his snot and making him crash back against the wall of the small apartment.

"You idiot, no one beats me in strength, not even my brother! " The huge demon kicked the floor and rushed forward, possessed with blind rage. He lowered his horns to strike straight at Collins's shield. He gritted his teeth and stopped moving forward, trying to stop his charge on the small apartment, but he was being forced back by all that strength. Sabnock noticed, and he quickly threw the scales on Collins's arms into the walls, the long cables strapping him in place and trying to resist the pressure. Collins screamed as he attempted to walk forward, relying on the stability of the scales that functioned as hooks to stay in place, while the long needles on his back flew and injected themselves into the bull to suck at his blood.

Finally, Ichiro slipped, falling back and crashing his head against the wall. The long needles broke off from him as they split rails of blood over the apartment wall. Collins didn't hesitate to rush forward, the scales breaking apart from the walls to let him move. He put his foot against the neck of the demon, forcing him down, and raised his shield with both hands above his head. He looked at the black eyes of what was once a human and saw fear. He screamed, crashing down the shield upon its head, and then the deed was done.

Collins moved back and fell to his knee. He was terribly tired and used way more blood than he had expected. 

"I'm not that good at long fights... I guess I killed my target first. "

''You really can't forget him, curious. I wonder if you had contracted with another demon... would you have fed on humans to protect that little town of yours. "

"That would be the worst. I'd rather just die...I won't bother arguing with you devil" He tried again to get back on his feet, using the speaking shield as a crutch.

"You are lucky then, we really fit each other well as partners, the only blood I need is yours."

''Shut up, you blood-sucking trinket. " He got back on his feet, evading the corpse of the demon that began to burn with a green flame.

"You better still be alive till I get there, Abram." Even struggling, he slowly walked out of the apartment.