Sigils felt the urgency to act upon his newfound revelation about the demons. The possibility of their weak spots not being where he thought they were sent shivers down his spine. He detected the scent of a fifth demon lurking, hidden in the midst of the battlefield, evading their notice.
"Sigils, watch out!" Nico's urgent cry made him snap back to the present moment, as lightning crackled around them. Birsha, Typhon, and Charon had completely regenerated, ready to strike once more.
"Kate, join Nico and engage the clones!" Sigils commanded, redirecting his focus to the immediate threat, while he moved away to search for the elusive fifth demon. Nico engaged Charon with gunfire while Kate faced off against Typhon, his gusts of wind narrowly missing Sigils.
"Not on my watch!" Kate's defiant cry shielded Sigils from harm.
The wind attack, oddly enough, enabled Sigils to use his heightened sense of smell once again. He honed in on the fifth demon's scent, tracing it to a cluster of bushes nearby.
"Nico, follow me!" Sigils called out, darting into the forests in pursuit of the elusive demon. Birsha, noticing Sigils' movement, directed Charon to intercept him. Sigils found himself facing the demon of joy, urging Nico to head northeast, indicating the demon's hiding spot.
Birsha conjured lightning around them, momentarily halting their progress. As Nico made his way through the forest, Sigils called out to Kate, "Kate! Aid me by targeting the demon of anger to disrupt his lightning!"
"I'm on it!" Kate responded, plunging into action.
Charon soared skyward while Typhon emerged behind Sigils, summoning a fierce gust of wind that sent him hurtling. Catching hold of a tree stump, Sigils steadied himself, then lunged towards Typhon, only to be pinned by a gust of wind. Nico was his last hope, urged to move northeast where the demon lay hidden in the south.
With a swift kick to Sigils' abdomen, Typhon momentarily staggered him. However, he managed to regain his footing, shouting to Nico to shift his direction, revealing the demon's hiding spot amidst the vegetation—now shrunk to the size of a mouse. Shocked by this revelation that the small demon controlled the clones, Nico pursued him, realizing the battle had revolved around this elusive foe, who had caused such destruction while cloaked within the combat of the four powerful manifestations. Attempting to strike the demon's neck with his blade, Nico watched in disbelief as it snapped in two upon contact with the demon's thin neck.
"What the—?!"
Dumbfounded, Nico aimed his shotgun at the demon's back, firing directly at it. However, the demon remained unscathed, completely unaffected by the gunshot. Astonished by its endurance, Nico suddenly sensed a presence behind him. In an instant, Birsha materialized, preparing to strike him down with his staff. Helpless in that fleeting moment, Nico realized he couldn't evade the imminent attack, and his ability to regenerate was futile.
"This is it. I'm done?" Nico's thoughts raced. "I-It can't end like this..."
Nico's mind drifted back to a time when his family was whole, before everything changed in the blink of an eye.
The scene unfolded before his eyes—the horrifying sight of his father lying lifeless on the ground, his sister standing there, trembling with fear. She was the only witness to the assailant's act, staring in terror at the perpetrator.
"What's going on?" Nico's voice trembled, trying to grasp the grim reality.
"There he is," the assailant muttered coldly.
Before the assailant could advance, Kate intervened, descending from the sky to swiftly incapacitate the assailant.
Extending her hand, she helped Nico and his sister to their feet, seeking an explanation for the chaos.
Detailing the chilling incident, Kate extended an offer. "The assailant who took your father away was a serial killer. By joining the assassins, you can seek vengeance against the serial killers who shattered your family's lives and prove that you're stronger than ever."
"I won't do it," his sister retorted firmly.
"I think I'm with my sister on this one. Sorry, Kate," Nico responded, hesitant to commit.
"Are you sure? Henwy and Sigils are part of the assassins~ and Ian leads them~" Kate tried to persuade.
"Then count me in," Nico finally agreed.
"Geez, Mom was right about you. You never do anything right," his sister remarked, walking away without a word of gratitude to Kate for saving them.
"Hey! Not even a simple thanks?" Kate called after her.
"It's alright, Kate. She's always been like that, influenced by my mom. I'll still join the assassins, but don't expect me to be fully focused," Nico admitted, feeling a pang of disappointment.
"It's alright, Nico. You'll mend your relationship with her. Someday," Kate reassured, attempting to comfort him.
Reflecting on his actions, Nico was overcome with regret for not reconciling with his sister, feeling the weight of his past mistakes as his life hung in the balance. He desperately longed for a chance to make amends, to seek forgiveness before it was too late.
Nico, battling against the fifth demon, grappled with his own emotions, yearning for closure and understanding from his estranged sibling, even in the face of a seemingly inevitable demise.
...
...
...
"NICO! DON'T GIVE UP YET!"
Sigils's urgent cry sliced through the chaos, jolting Nico back to the present moment. Rushing forward, Sigils severed Birsha's hand, saving Nico from impending doom. "Go after it again! Strike it once more! Don't give up! This time, you'll succeed!" Sigils encouraged, reminding Nico of his aspiration to ascend as a high-ranking assassin. Suddenly, Acheron materialized behind them, unleashing projections of his weapon to attack. Unharmed by the onslaught, Sigils witnessed Nico, bloodied and wounded, standing before him.
Accepting that he couldn't decapitate the demon, Nico pleaded, "You do it, Sigils."
"But—"
Acheron lunged towards him, and Nico fired his shotgun at the demon. "I'll take it from here!"
Navigating the dense forest, Sigils homed in on the fifth demon's scent and caught sight of it, now exposed in a clearing. As he dashed forward, preparing to strike the demon...
Something materialized behind him, looming in the shadows...
YOU ARE READING
Assassins and Angels
Adventure(Cover by me!) There lived assassins and serial killers who were nemesis's. As lives were lost, discoveries unfold, and shocking truths get revealed, the assassins realised it took more than just blood, sweat, and tears to face all this revelations...
