Rescue (Pt 2)

The three walked down the stairs under the altar. Ethan looked around noticed that electricity works even down here.

After the stairs, there was a single passage. Sometimes there are doors in both side of the wall.

"So this is a basement huh?" Ethan thought

"I'm sensing energy signatures at the end of the passage." Rose said as she pointed at the far end.

When they went further in, a big door appeared

"Is that it?" Ethan asked

"Yeah, without a doubt there are a group of priests inside. Are you ready?" Upon Rose question, Ethan and Kaguya nodded

"Okay, let's open this door..."

As Rose was able to open the door the door opened by itself. While making a large noise, the inside of the ritual grounds becomes visible.

"Welcome, I was expecting you." The woman known as Mizuki, spoke from the end of the room.

As expected, the room was filled with priests who were holding swords in their hands. But what caught Ethan's attention was the young woman attached to the cross.

"Wendy!!" As if hearing his voice, Wendy raised her head up.

"Ethan?"

"Don't worry, I'm getting you out of here." Ethan declared.

"Such a happy reunion, that's what I will like to say but you're too late. The ritual is almost complete." Mizuki said

"The ritual is finished? What does she mean?"

"iyaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

Suddenly, Wendy's painful screams echoed throughout the room as her body began to glow.

"Wendy!" Ethan immediately dashed forward as once, but how could the priests let him do as he please. They have planned this ritual for a long time, they won't let them ruin everything.

Without wasting time, the priests immediately surrounded Ethan.

"I won't let you interfere!"

"You shall not pass!"

"Out of my way!!"

BANG!

With a loud bang, Ethan punched one of the priests away. But he was not the only one that was acting.

Just like that, Kaguya appeared behind one of the priest and stabbed his neck while Rose unleashed several fire magic spells.

This was an all-out war.

At the same time, a bright light illuminated the entire room. After the light cleared, there was a woman emitting a bright and dark aura from her body.

"Hahahahaha!! I've finally done it, The supreme power! With this I can payback all those who were looking down on me!" Mizuki declared with a mad laugh.

But Ethan ignored her and made way to Wendy. Of course, the priests tried to stop him but Rose and Kaguya supported him by blowing them away.

"Thanks, you two." Ethan left those words as he reached Wendy. As his gaze landed on Wendy, her once beautiful face was replaced with a face void of life and emotion.

She should still be okay, right?

Ethan untied Wendy and held her in his arms.

"Wendy!" Ethan called out but she did not reply. He tried tapping her but that didn't work.

It's almost as if she was....

"It's futile." Mizuki's words caused Ethan to look up.

"What did you do?" Ethan asked as he glared at her.

"It's something we call the Ascension Ceremony. A ritual where we obtain the power of darkness of the demon race." Mizuki explained.

"Bullshit! How can you possess the light and the darkness in one body? The two powers can't coexist." Ethan obviously didn't believe what the bitch said.

"Normally that will be the case, however this was all thanks to our "Leader" intellect." Mizuki said with a blush. Normally, she would look very cute, but this case was different.

What's this bitch brushing for?

"But that doesn't explain why Wendy was like this. Wait, it can't be, right?" Ethan's eyes widened in realization.

"It seems you figured it out. In order for the ritual to work, a sacrifice is needed. A person soul." Mizuki's words were like a knife that pierced Ethan.

"It can't be!" Ethan mumbled in disbelief. If what she said was true then Wendy was.... No, that has to be a way to save her. There has to be...

"Ethan!" The voice of Rose brought him back to reality.

"Ethan, we are at a disadvantage here while protecting that girl! So go upstairs at once! We'll make the path for you! Now, hurry!" Rose said while taking down a group of priests.

Ethan looked down and saw that was the case as there were still a great number of priests left. There is a limit to fighting this bitch here while protecting Wendy. Therefore,

Ethan just stared at Mizuki before he left the place while carrying Wendy in a princess fashion.

"Kaguya, let's make an escape path."

"Okay!"

Just like that, both Rose and Kaguya began to clear a path for Ethan at once. Thanks to their support, he was able to leave the ritual room. But there was still one problem.

"Rose! Kaguya!"

"You go ahead! We will handle here!"

"But!"

"Just go!"

Ethan was worried about them but he remembered they were hunters because he joined. Therefore, Ethan just nodded and went straight to the passage at once.

****

Ethan went up the chairs while carrying Wendy and came out to the sanctuary. However, there was something seriously wrong with Wendy.

"Damnit!" Ethan took at Wendy's pale face and laid her lifeless body on one of the pews.

She was dead without a doubt, even so Ethan wanted to deny it. Everything had to be a joke. He couldn't hold back his tears any longer. He had known Wendy for a short while, but was deeply affected by her death.

How come no one became her friend?

How come no one was never by her side?

"At times like this, are we supposed to pray to God?" Those words slipped out of his mouth without him realising it.

"No, what am I saying? Despite her suffering that "God" didn't do anything to save her and I'm here with the power of a "Devil" yet I couldn't save her as well." Ethan said with a self-mocking tone as he made a wryly smile.

"Did this happen because I turned into a Devil!? No, I was already a devil from the start. After all, I'm part of a race described as the enemy of "God", so it's natural that I'm cursed with misfortune.

If I had more power, would I have saved her. But even if I regret it now, she will never smile again.

"My, a devil repenting in a place like this? or were you wishing for something?" The voice of one known as Mizuki came from the side. Ethan turned his head and glared at the person who was responsible for all of this.

"Look at this, this is the wound I got from that [Mage] while I was coming here." After she said that, the "Darkness" of the demon race began to heal her burn wound.

"Look. I can heal any kind of wound. The "Darkness" and the "Light" of those races, isn't it wonderful?

With this I will finally have my revenge against the Vaticans for looking down on me and "Arch Micheal" will have to acknowledge my existence."

"Like I give a F*ck!" Ethan said with a hateful glare.

"I don't care about that. I don't care about your shitty revenge or whatever your plans are. It had nothing to do with her."

"No, it did. She was a chosen human bestowed with a "Divine gift"."

"Even so, she could have lived quietly and normally."

"No, that's impossible. Those with irregular will be left out of the world. Because they are different than others. You know, humans fear the unknown and those different from them. This girl was a prime example of that. The Catholic church found out she healed a vampire and made her their target of hatred. In the end of the day, people only care about themselves."

As Mizuki explained, Ethan could only remain silent since what she was saying was the truth and it angered him to new heights. Normally, he could say he was a level headed person who remained calm in all situations, but this event pushed his anger to unknown heights even he was unaware of.

The church first trusted Wendy like a goddess because of her power But word got out that she healed a vampire, she got treated like trash Because they found an excuse to project their hatred onto her. And she got Killed because of Mizuki's selfish plans.

Ethan couldn't forgive them.

Then John's words immediately came to mind.

–Desire–

Demonic power is driven by the power of desire and emotion. Therefore, the stronger your desire for strength and emotions, the more the "power" will respond.

"Give it back" Ethan mumbled under his breath

"Sorry, what did you say?" Mizuki said as she tilted her head to the side.

"I said "GIVE HER BACK HER SOUL!!!!!" With a demonic roar, Ethan shot towards Mizuki with the speed of a bullet.

He thrust his fist towards the bitch before him. Mizuki responded by jumping into the air, completely dodging Ethan's aggressive strike.

"I admit that you are strong, but it's futile. I possess the power of light and darkness, so please tell me how you are going to win against me, who possess ultimate power." Clearly, Mizuki was acting arrogant because of her newfound power, not aware of the consequences of using that power.

Ethan ignored what she said and charged at her again like a madman. He charged his fist as his power began to grow.

"Huh? Did your power increase a little? But it's still not enough!" Just like that, she dodged his strike again.

In the next moment, two swords of light immediately manifested in her hands.

"I put alot of power into this! Eat this!!"

ZUDON!

The two sword of light pierced through Ethan's thighs without resistance. The light can easily pierce through the defenses of a demon.

"GUAAAHHH!!!" Ethan released a painful scream as he refused to fall on his knees. How could he? Wendy suffered worse than this.

So just like that, he grabbed the sword of light.

"GUAAAHHH!!!"

As expected, the sword of light immediately burned the flesh of his hands as it made contact, however, that didn't stop him.

With a forcedly pull, he removed the sword of light from his legs and blood immediately gushed out from the wound. His legs shivered uncontrollably as he found it difficult to stand.

"Quite impressive. A devil removing the sword of light. Although it's no easy feat but it's futile. My light has a high killing ability against Demons, you know. Even as a strong devil, this is your limit. You can't look down on the damage caused by the power of light, you know?

The light circulates around your body, and cause damages to your whole body. Not even the [Darkness] of the demons will save you. Normally it won't be weird to die with that damage. You really have a strong build, don't you?

Her question received no reply.

Ethan knew she was right. He could feel the pain inside his body. I felt as if his entire body was melting from the inside out. But even so, he stood tall and refused to fall.

He glared straight at his opponent without blinking and then decided, his next attack, he will imbue all his hatred of the church, Mizuki and the world into his fist.

Then with a single step forward, blood gushed profusely from his wounds. His state was more serious than he thought. Even his [darkness] couldn't fully heal his wounds. But that didn't matter now, he wanted to do was to punch the woman before him with all of his might.

Then he continued to walk forward as a dark blue aura began to expand from his body. The ground trembled and pieces of rubble began floating in the air. At the same time, a mysterious spiral black mark appeared on Ethan's forehead, right above his right eye and his sky blue eyes turned completely black as clear void. That's not the only unbelievable thing, the holes in his legs began to heal at terrifying speeds.

"—! I-Impossible, How did heal from the light that purify darkness!? ...It can't be. It's not possible. Why has your power surpassed mine...? This wave of demonic-power I'm feeling.... Impossible!!!" Mizuki said with eyes full of horror as she took several steps back.

"Lies! This is all lies! I ascended into a superior being by obtaining the power of two races. I won't lose to a shitty devil like you!!" Mizuki once again created a sword of light and charged Ethan like a madwoman that just caught her boyfriend cheating in the act.

She swung her sword with a vertical sweep, obviously hoping to slice him into two. But it didn't go as she planned.

Ethan, who didn't bother to move, just stopped the attack with nothing but his finger. Seeing him stop her attack with a finger, Mizuki's face immediately turned paler as she fell deeper into despair.

"N-No, No!! Stay away from me?"

Just like that, she turned her back and was about to flee.

"Is she turning to run away? You were looking down on me a few seconds ago and now you want to run away as soon as you find out you can't win? Ethan thought as he stared at her in disdain.

"Pathetic!" Ethan was beyond disgusted.

He dashed towards her as she was about to flee and grabbed her arm. What terrifying speed! It was the type of speed that rivaled teleportation.

"Did you think you think you can run away, fool!"

"Noooooo! stay away from me!" She screamed as she turned to struggle like a headless chicken.

"Now you die!

Then Ethan gathered all his strength and demonic power into his fist and used that fist to punch the enemy before him. All of his bottled anger and hatred, she was going to feel all of it.

POW!!!!

A thunderous sound echoed as Ethan's fist dug into Mizuki's face and he pushed his fist even further.

"GASHAAAAAAAAN!!"

Broken teeths and blood escaped Mizuki's mouth before she slammed into the wall with a loud bang. The wall broke and a huge hole was created. The hole continues till outside of the building where Mizuki was laying on the ground.

She wasn't moving so it was unknown if she was dead or unconscious. But one thing didn't change, she wasn't going to move for a while.

With that, Ethan smiled from the bottom of his heart. It was a true feeling, that punch felt really good. However, that smile immediately disappeared and tears flowed from his eyes.

"...Wendy"