Underground

'Damp and moist as winter' That's how Vergil described the place. Though it was called a sewer it didn't feel like one. Dark, smelly, wet till ankles ...that was what he had been expecting, but it was not like the one in the outskirts. This one was well maintained.

It felt cool, in contrast to the hot weather outside. The ground was hard dark concrete, with thick steel pipes embedded on the walls. The sound of gushing water could be heard. Good water he guessed. The sewage must be below this and covered tightly.

The echoes of the steps of three could be heard and occasionally the squeal of rats which must have been running in some dark corners.

The flashlight guided their way, it was a silent walk, half of the sound of their boots damped by the moss. They didn't encounter anything for the past 10 minutes.

They had been tense all the way, Vergil thought to break the silence

"Hey Nora, why did you decide to come with us"

Nora who had been walking to the left of Vergil took her time before answering " well, firstly I'm curious what's going on too, I wouldn't have dared to check out alone. Since you guys are going ...I thought why not?"

"secondly the magic stuff seemed pretty important "

" Are you not afraid that we may find something truly out of world creature?" Hector asked giving her a sideways look.

she just shrugged and returned with a question " Well are you not?"

True, Hector was a bit spooked but he pretty much went along the flow. The flow being Vergil, He did not seem a troublemaker but in reality, he damn was a top-tier one.

From provoking gangs to making them almost get caught by the police for stealing...well to say the least he had gotten used to being put in a dangerous situation due to Vergil.

...

The three went on for a while now, occasionally talking to not get too weary by the tense atmosphere. Though they didn't see anything, a cold sense gripped their hearts like a soft touch of silk.

Suddenly, Vergil raised his hand to signal them to stop. Putting his hand on the hilt he readied himself. Hector and Nora took their stances too, one held a knife other a steel rod that still had red glints at its edges.

Up ahead there was a cross-section, like many they had passed. And out of the corner, a shadow loomed.

" Hey " Vergil called. But there was no answer, it came out, its face pale. It took only a second before Vergil dashed like spring and brought his sword to cut off its head.

Surprisingly, there was a shock plastered on Hector and Nora's face. From the cut spewed a beautiful fountain of glistening molten red liquid.

It was blood! and no undead bled that heavily

"Shit we killed someone!!" Nora reeled in horror.

Hector was surprised by the unexpected but his reaction was not as exaggerated.

Ignoring their reactions " His body is covered in something odd" Vergil commented, not bothered that he killed someone. And it was not his first, maybe one of many.

Nora trotted forward and flashed her torch on the corpse. His body was covered in some black threads, spread across his body closely like blood veins.

Hector bent and pressed his knife onto those black threads, but it didn't offer much resistance and broke off as easy as cutting spider webs.

"Strange " he muttered.

Strange? more like creepy...Vergil thought. And he found lots of things odd about him.

" He didn't respond when I called...and if he was sane human he would be cautious seeing the torch lights and warn before coming out. But he did neither"

"But was there a need to kill him?" Nora asked in a flat tone.

Vergil shrugged and said " Better safe than sorry "

Nora looked like she wanted to say something, but before she could a large pale human hand grabbed her head and yanked her down. The thing upon her, she was with her back on her cold ground. Instinctively she pulled her rod up. Which saved her from the agony of getting her face shredded.

Slam...

The man on top of Nora got kicked hard by Vergil, torn away from his prey, the man or thing...growled.

This time it was Hector who dealt the final blow. The knife lodged into the man's throat and he pulled it downwards which sliced half the neck.

With a Thud the man fell sideways, forming a puddle of blood underneath.

"They're not in their sane minds," Hector said glancing around to check if there are any others, but there were none.

Staggering Nora stood up, breathing roughly she barely said "T-thanks"

Vergil looked at her for a second in silence and put his hand on her shoulders

" No need to say thanks, just glad your okay"

Nora just nodded her head in gratitude. She looked at the thing that attacked her

" What happened to him," She asked questioningly.

" probably the same thing that happened to everyone in the city " Hector guessed.

It was a wild guess, but it is evidence enough that some strange creature had caused the disappearance of the people. If before it was doubt now it was a certainty.

They moved deeper, only this time nobody spoke. What happened before drilled some fear in their hearts.

slowly the surroundings changed subtly, black threads appeared on the walls. first, it was only some thin lines and then it became thicker as they went on.

Vergil now knew they were close, not only by the signs but the feeling the place gave off. It made him feel like he was penetrating a marshy wetland and every step made him drown by an inch.

The three were huddled much closer, covering each other's back. Vergil knew that they too felt it, but still marched on. He was all praise and thankful for them. He didn't know much about Nora but he knew Hector had put enough trust in him.

He felt gratified by that and that only made his decision of heading in heavier.

He didn't want to be the reason for their fall.

' if push comes to shove, I will buy enough time for them to run. I brought them here after all'

With a few dark thoughts, he led the front. They soon came to an opening, a depression down from where they stood. Looking straight ahead brought chills down his spine and jogged his dread to their limits.