The Hunt
Belialthorn had to sniff again for some time before he picked up Cana's trail. "Where exactly is this man going?"
He had to double back a lot of time as Cana's trail got mixed up but he managed to hold it and kept walking. Passing through street after street until he ended up in a place reeking of dirt and corruption.
The buildings here were a lot smaller, this was the poorer district of the town. Mostly populated by unclassified humans.
"What is a high-ranking member of the Holy Church doing here?" Belialthorn wondered. This didn't seem like the place a man like Cana should be staying.
The streets echoed with laughter as people drank cheap alcohol and shouted for more drinks. Belialthorn slowed down to take it all in, seeing the humans as if from above.
"Let me extend my sense." What Belialthorn wanted to do was create a hollow space. A flimsy domain that all that happened could be communicated to him with all his five senses.
With his mind, he sent his sense out. Covering the whole street, it's a skill that doesn't use any mana to power but instead uses a massive amount of mental energy.
There over the street, two drunks were fighting each other with sloppy blows, one slumped over and started snoring. Belialthorn snorted. "Fools."
Three buildings from his place a man placed his hand on a woman's hip and followed her out of the inn and into the alley where they quickly pulled their clothes and started mating, moaning and grunting.
It interested Belialthorn. He knew that was how beings were reproduced but it seems it could also be pleasurable. In Demon City he was always watching his back to bother about any of that.
The woman gave a sharp moaning cry and the man grunted as if he was being hit then they both fell silent, rubbing their bodies together and using their mouth...to eat each other. Belialthorn couldn't be sure.
He looked down at himself. "Fascinating, why is the body part I use for leaking water getting hot and suddenly solid?"
He shook his head. "Humans have such odd bodies. Demons are so much different than this. Bigger too."
From another street a tall woman with a short blade got about butchering a man, smiling as she did. Belialthorn would smile if he saw all that meat too.
Belialthorn returned his awareness to a few feet from himself. He had enough of humans and their behavior for today. He started following the trail faster until he started seeing better buildings again.
"So this is where you are saying, Cana," Belialthorn said into the darkness opposite the building where the Holy Church Alchemist was staying. It was like an inn but much bigger and the building was well made. There were even armored Hunter guards standing there.
Belialthorn checked his real status.
Name: Belialthorn
Species: Demon
Age: 38 -62
HP: 140/5000
Ap: 2000/5000 [Arcana power]
Strength: 120
Agility: 50
Class: Noble Demon - Level 299
Bloodline Trait: Lowly
His Arcana power of 2000 should be enough to do the work. All his spells were backed by the initiate power of his class [Noble Demon] it was strong compared to average humans even though the Bloodline Trait made it difficult.
With a quick thought, he started crafting a spell. There are different ways of crafting a spell but the one Belialthorn used most was the formation one, where he would put spell patterns in his mind and powered it with mana.
The spell activated and the darkness around pulled towards him, covering him until there was nothing left, he blended in with the darkness and the surroundings.
He started walking towards the building in front of him, hoping the guards didn't have any illusion-piercing skills. Fortunately, none of them have and Belialthorn continued until he was around the building, staring up at the open window that led to where Cana was staying.
He started climbing with the illusion still on, using the metal and railing as a handhold and foothold. When he got to the balcony he undid the illusion spell and entered the open window then stopped. He stared in shock as the smell of blood hit him.
"Who stole my hunt?" Belialthorn whispered angrily staring at Cana who was slumped against his bed clutching his stomach.
Cana's head whipped up and his eyes widened in surprise. "You!" He coughed blood.
The room was turned upside down with clothes and papers flung around randomly. Cana himself was clutching his bleeding stomach.
"Are you part of them too?" Cana asked weakly.
"Part of who?" Belialthorn was confused. Was he talking about the people who stabbed him?
Cana looked at the man in front of him and nodded. "You are not. You are here for another business. The Demons?"
The wound and pain must be getting to him. Belialthorn thought. But Demons? Could it be just a coincidence?
"What about Demons?" Belialthorn asked.
"You shouldn't trust them. The Holy Church...."
Belialthorn snorted. "Shut up. I don't care, do you think I want to join your rotting organization? I'm here for your head but someone beat me to it."
Belialthorn had come to torture this man, to let him feel the pain of having his flesh picked one by one but someone had stolen that from him.
Cana started in disbelief. Was this boy a spy too? This was just all too much. What had the Holy Church turned into? Maybe he could help him, he did say he wasn't part of them... "Help me please."
Belialthorn looked at him in disgust. "You are poisoned already but I wouldn't if you weren't. You deserve more than death."
Belialthorn raised his hand and constructed another spell, a disc of spinning light that he sent through the air. The disc cut Cana's short scream with half of his head.
Blood and brain sprouted in the air and Belialthorn moved back to avoid it. "So that's what is happening." He thought. Someone, probably the one that stabbed Cana in the first place had placed a silence spell that was still in effect in the room. That was why the guard didn't hear anything.
[Congratulations on defeating a level 120 Alchemist, EP awarded]
[Your class is at max level. Climb a rank to claim EP]
Belialthorn went out the window, still feeling disappointed in tonight's hunt.