3.01 OBSESSIVE LOVE: Exorcism

warning: violence, dark themes 

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[ World ########'s FATE has been concluded. ]

[ Calculating anomalies… … … stability : 82% ]

Ouros: If only you hadn't been so stupid and reckless you could have easily gotten more points! Nothing to be done about it now. The Fates are stable enough for us to move on.

Ouros: You have accumulated 266 Red Karma Points and 1481 Black Karma points. 

Ouros: I do hope that you've learned your lesson from last time so try not to waste time.

|| RED KARMA SHOP || Balance: 266 RKP

- [ Vermilion Halo ] level two : 400 points

- [ Crimson Coin ] level one : 175 points

- [ Rose Sword ] level one : 150 points

- [ Ruby Shield ] level one : 200 points

// [ Crimson Coin ( level one ) ] has been successfully purchased! Thank you for your patronage. Remaining Balance : 91 RKP //

|| BLACK KARMA SHOP || Balance: 1481 BKP

- [ Third Eye ] level one : 666

- [ Venom Blood ] level one : 666

- [ Ebony Bones ] level one : 666

- [ Soul Echo ] level one : //LOCKED//

- [ CONVERT ]

// [ Venom Blood ( level one ) ] has been successfully purchased! Thank you for your patronage. Remaining Balance : 815 BKP //

// Your balance of ( 815 BKP ) has successfully been converted to ( 163 RKP ) | You currently have a total balance of 254 RKP and 0 BKP //

Ouros: …!? Why did you convert your Black Karma Points, you selfish bastard!?

// [ Rose Sword ( level one ) ] has been successfully purchased! Thank you for your patronage. Remaining Balance : 104 RKP //

Ouros: …! You—!

[ World ########'s FATE parameters are loading … ]

[ Karma Points multipliers set to 1.5 ]

[ [ Vermilion Halo ( level one ) ] is now activate: moderate increase in CHARISMA, minor increase in the LIKELIHOOD of White Fate Scenarios. ]

[ [ Crimson Coin ( level one ) ] is now activate: minor increase in LUCK, increases the SEVERITY of consequences by one level. ]

[ [ Rose Sword ( level one ) ] is now activate: moderate increase in POWER, minor increase in the LIKELIHOOD of Black Fate Scenarios. ]

[ [ Venom Blood ( level one ) ] is now activated ]

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A middle-aged man gasps as he runs down old apartment stairs. The lights blink above him and he's being pursued. His clothes are plain; jeans, old runners, and a grease-stained shirt. 

The one who chases him is younger, lithe, with long and sturdy legs. The pursuer is dressed in black, the classic uniform of an exorcist. The middle-aged man has no chance with an old corrupted body, with blood already blackening from rot. 

The older man still has one advantage and pushes his palm to the wall between floors. His body turns into a wispy black smoke and passes through. 

Suddenly, he's outside. The ground is far from the 18th floor so he's unconcerned when he falls and instead holds out his hand, uncaring if the concrete scrapes the skin right off. With some concentration, he turns into a wisp again and phases through. The hall he ends up in is empty, for now. So he runs and hides around the corner, next to the stairs to catch his breath. 

Meanwhile, the young exorcist curses when he watches his target phase through the wall. "Ahhh! Reverend Kyden is going to kill me!" he whines and fumbles through his jacket. There are so many damned tools in his blazer that he has to waste half a second to grab the right one. 

Eventually he picks out a small circular tool and attaches it to the wall. It beeps red in the center, once, twice, three times before finally turning blue. Bingo.

…

In the apartment lobby a single figure sits on the cheap grey benches that surround a fake tree. He too, wears the exorcist uniform but his collar is higher with the Mother Oracle's emblem dangling from his neck. He looks young, not older than twenty-five at most, with dark hair that's grown a bit long, falling over silver eyes. 

It's quiet, the residents of the apartment have been instructed with strict guidelines to remain in their residence while the hunt unfolded. Still, he's annoyed that most of them didn't vacate. 

Static tickles him through the earpiece, a panting voice is heard on the other side. "Rev. Kyden, I have him pinged."

"…" 

Kyden pulls out a compass from his pocket, its silver needle madly until it stops, pointing to the back of the building. He rises from his seat and turns around, walking with steady strides.

"Rev. Kyden?" The voice asks hesitantly through their line of communication after not receiving a verbal response.

A sigh escapes Kyden's lips, still annoyed that the Exorcism Department saddled him with such a green brat. While Reverend Kyden could hardly be considered a veteran, he has ample achievements and credentials under his belt despite his young age, unlike his new partner. "Moving towards the target. Are you going to flank or not?"

"Ermm…"

He pushes open the back door with his shoulder, taking out a silver knife.

The alley is dark. Though it's only the afternoon, the sky is dark in hue, dense with clouds. The entire area has been sealed off, people locked down while the hunt unfolds. Parameters have already been marked with divine pillars, sealing the demon inside the area. 

Kyden stalks his prey, compass in one hand, blade in the other. 

"If you're not coming then just stay put," his voice comes out, sharp.

"W-what?" His partner replies with confusion. Kyden can hear shuffling about and what sounds like stairs. "But I can't just leave you on your own. We're partne—"

Kyden cuts him off, "It's fine." He pockets the compass as he comes to a dead end. "You helped flush the target out. That's more than enough."

It doesn't actually look like a dead-end though, because the alley opens up a little behind a rundown burger joint. It extends out towards the streets. But he knows that the divine pillar placed on the other side is more than enough to seal in a host with such advanced rot.

He watches as a black wisp zooms past him, coming out from the back wall of the burger joint. But it crashes into the invisible barrier, fluctuates. A large, middle-aged man appears from the blackened smoke and falls on his behind. 

Kyden takes the ceremonial blade and cuts a line into his palm. A line of red is spilled onto the filthy concrete ground. 

The demon's eyes veer towards the exorcist, its pupils trembling and breath heavy. There's already black blood in its mouth, bubbling and sputtering with every lung-deep cough. 

Kyden has no mercy and rushes forth, his bloody palm extended to meet the demon's face. 

The demon shuts its eyes, teeth grit. It turned into that black vapor, trying to phase around the priest, but Kyden is fast, even faster than the creature. With a flick of his wrist, his blood comes into contact with the escaping smoke, a sizzling sound is heard before a sharp cry.

The smoke contracts and the host's physical body appears again, tumbling onto its knees as it scrambles to crawl away.

Futile, Kyden thinks as he raises his blood-soaked blade and stabs it right into the back of the host's neck.

A choking gurgling sound comes out, the blood is black.

Dark vapor starts to rise from the body and Kyden hears a voice echo in his head.

"Tell me of your deepest desire, any wish and I shall fulfill—" 

He ignores it, immune to its honeyed lull, and pulls out a small vial of holy water. With a swift motion, the vial is uncapped, its contents spilling atop the black vapor. An ear-piercing death cry haunts the air. 

Only then does Kyden hear another set of footsteps coming from the alley. He looks up and sees his useless partner approach, panting, auburn hair a mess. 

He doubles over and clutches his knees. "Why…" he pants, "Why didn't you wait for me?" 

"You're slow," Kyden says mercilessly as he retrieves his blade. 

"But Rev—"

"Voir," Kyden cuts him off with a scolding tone, as though talking to a child. Though in truth, they are not so different in age, and in fact, Voir is frustratingly taller than Kyden, just thinner built. "Stop standing around and being useless. This case isn't over yet, we don't know who the contractor is."

"R-right." Voir snaps to attention and turns around.

"Where are you going?" Kyden hisses, feeling like he's about to snap as his hands cross over his chest.

"Huh? Well." His useless partner points to the apartment building and this time Kyden can't hide the roll of his eyes anymore.

"Host first, lair second. What are they even teaching in the Academy these days?" Kyden's disappointment is evident in his pulled lips. 

Voir shrinks as his eyes fall onto the corpse at Kyden's feet. "I thought you were—"

"You thought I was going to do all the work." Kyden rolls his eyes and steps away. He peels off his gloves before reaching into his pocket to check his phone. Though unprofessional, today's a special day and he has a special appointment.

Voir makes a whining sound and confirms Kyden's accusations. But when he looks over his shoulders, he's pleased to find that Voir has at least remembered the steps for collecting data from the demon's host. 

So he begins to walk away.

Voir pauses, his hand still clasped around the special blood sampler as he looks up. "Where are you going, Rev. Kyden?"

"Dinner," Kyden responds shamelessly and abuses his privileges as a member of the clergy to sign off from work early, leaving behind a disgruntled, pouting Voir. 

He plans to go home and change out of his work uniform first but spots a familiar, sleek black car parked on the side of the road. Kyden makes a bee-line for it and slips into the passenger side without a word. 

"How did you know I'd be here?" he asks.

A smooth, baritone voice replies, "I have my ways."