Burning Flames

Fish Coast, Tsi Luen City, Cheena, Earth

***

In the largest fish port of Tsi Luen, the Zi Lok clan had converted an abandoned warehouse into a drug operation made subtle as a fish business a front. There were hundreds of forced slaves inside the facility and ten armed Demon thugs.

The moon was high and the place was quiet, only small distant fish port lamps gave the environment faint illumination. A perfect time to attack stealthily. They planned to take down demon thugs one by one from outside and then push inside.

Viriel had taken his matters to Azakiel and looked for him for confrontation. Hence, they could not rely on the Angel momentarily.

Elaine positioned herself on top of a crane, seven hundred meters from the facility. She had her sniper rifle and settled herself stable, digging her eyes into the sniper scope. Sweat drenched her forehead as nervousness mixed with immense worry loomed but she disregarded her pessimism.

Hunting was her wild hobby when her father was still alive. They stalked mountains for birds and wild boars. She had killed a few of the birds and one boar, a feat that she could proudly consider herself a true hunter.

It was a few years back and she felt rusty. Her breathing raced and her hands quivered uncontrollably. It affects the accuracy of her aim. She had a lack of confidence but it was a necessity to provide support for her comrades. Moreover, a safer position for her beyond the reach of demon thugs.

"I saw ten demon thugs outside the parking lot." She radioed Dreygo and Officer Sho, a small earpiece loosely lodged in her ear canal.

"Two on the northwest part, the other two are on the southwest. The others were on the far end of the lot. The remaining guards are at the entrance door." She added.

***

They two took advantage of the dark areas, unreachable by the distant port lamps. They hunkered behind parked cars and tiptoed to the nearest Demon guards. Dreygo clasped his purge blade and beside him was Officer Sho with his handgun.

Dreygo strapped five grenades on his belt, beneath his shirt as a last resort. As they were nearing, Dreygo could hear the two thugs talking while gazing at the waves that collided on wave breakers, their backs facing the former.

"I will stab one and you shoot the other," Dreygo whispered to Elaine through his earpiece.

He signaled the officer to stay while Dreygo sneaked from behind the oblivious thugs. As he closed his gap to them, Dreygo quickly wrapped his arm around the thug's neck, choking him, and buried his purge blade in the demon's chest.

Simultaneously, a wooshing sound of a bullet devastated the face of the other demon thug and knocked him to the ground. Assessing, their concealment was still maintained.

The shrieking sound of Demon ether as it escaped from the first demon could be heard from nearby Demon thugs. Fortunately, the sound of the waves crashing on the port's curb was strong enough as it surpassed the shriek of Ethers. The cold sea breeze muffled the hearing of other thugs like bees buzzing in their ears was an advantage for their clandestine attack.

Shortly, Dreygo quickly veered to his other side and stabbed the other Demon in his neck. Officer Sho saw the Demon ethers enter Dreygo's body dramatically. A horrific scene for a human.

The dead demon bodies disintegrate into thin air, leaving only their clothes burning what's left on their hosts. With what the Officer witnessed, he concluded that Dreygo was not of this earth and all they face henceforth were not also humans.

The thought of it gave Sho shivers down his spine. His gun was useless as he assessed. If only the purge blade could kill the Demons, his gun was a futile weapon in this arena.

***

The port drug den was the first and the biggest of all Zi Lok's drug operations - a piece of vital information that Sho provided. The destruction of this operation could topple a week of drug production and hurt a significant fraction of the Triad's drug money.

All manufactured drug powder in packs was inserted in fish carcasses and shipped beyond regions without detection, spreading the merchandise to the neighboring countries through fish boats. Paying or buying customs inspection officers for smooth transactions was a norm the Triads used.

This has been the police target for many months but mysteriously the blessing from above the police ranks was not given to them, thus the place thrives.

Officer Sho believed that Zi Lok's network reached their high ranks and other authorities in power, enabling them to run illegal operations without police hindrances. The thought of it irked him and he knew that the said Triad had to be stopped.

He witnessed from the bowels of the city, families suffering, deaths, and many more, brought by the untouchable syndicate.

***

Carefully, they moved swiftly but made a few stops to further assess movements or changes the demon goons made. Oblivious, the demon goons were lenient with how they manned their posts.

They silently attacked the other two afterward, then the other pair almost with the same technique, and was a success so far. Still, they maintained their concealment, luckily, nature was on their side.

After a few skirmishes, only two Demon guards left, positioning themselves near the entrance. There was no way for them to attack in stealth. A space gap between them and the thugs. The facility's fog lamps lights illuminated enough hence, attacking in stealth was not an option.

"Do not worry, boys!" Elaine spoke through their earpieces.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two silenced sniper shots hit on the two demon thugs' foreheads. The first went down and was followed by the other almost at the same time.

Without a second thought, Dreygo quickly sprinted toward the knocked-down demons before they could recover. The Demons struggled to get up as recuperation needed time. They could alert the others as the shot surprised them.

Dreygo stabbed the two demon thugs on the floor with his Ferrum Minus and delivered their quick demise.

Dreygo peeped from the door's window and nobody noticed their attacks. Fifty to seventy slave workers were slicing large fish carcasses, placing the drugs inside their sliced bellies, stitching them back, and placing them on insulated boxes ready for shipment.

The stench of dead fish grew stronger and invaded Dreygo's nostrils. Moreover, the floor was bathed with fish blood added to the aroma.

He suddenly recalled the same stench on rotten dead humanoid carcasses in hell. It was almost the same odor but it was stronger. Hell's environment forced into his vision, imitating what's inside the facility, but only with the presence of flames.

What transpired in his thoughts, the workers wearing white aprons had suddenly turned into human demons, and fish carcasses turned into various animal corpses.

It was a Hell abattoir for slaughtering different horrendous animals that lurked in the Demon world, a feast that provided the demons temporary and instant savor. Dreygo shook his head and the visions were gone. These memory flashes still lingered in his thoughts, involuntarily forcing them to appear almost every day when he was on Earth.

At his back was the Officer, who leaned against the wall. "They are all slaves from poor countries Dreygo. They will just run with any intimidation that we make." The Officer whispered.

Dreygo kicked the doors open and the wooden double door swung, forcibly detaching themselves from their hinges. The sudden kick caught the attention of everyone in the facility.

They stopped working and all their eyes were on the two beings storming themselves inside the front door.

"You are free to go!" Dreygo shouted at them. Instant chatter and sobs grew but most of them hesitated to move. It was their fear of being killed if they escape the said facility. The Officer pointed his gun to the ceiling and,

Bang!

The deafening sound of his handgun echoed loudly in a compressed space. It rang loud to their ears, pushing them to escape the room until everybody was out. Dreygo felt slight happiness to have saved lives, he saw them in their faces too. Others were crying as they went out. Dreygo's heart was squeezed upon the sight of them.

Officer Sho found gasoline tanks from the generator and vehicle supply. He started pouring on every corner of the facility. Right after, Dreygo threw the grenades inside with not a single soul.

The facility was quickly engulfed by fire right after two deafening explosions made by the grenades. All of the drugs inside, estimated almost half a billion dollars worth of merchandise, burnt to the ground. Flames grew larger as they consumed the roofing, creating a thick smoke escaping wherever hole they could find.

Dreygo and Officer Sho stood outside the facility in the parking lot, marveling at the power of flames eating a whole structure. Suddenly, a light gleamed from behind. It was a portal, opening, creating a cracking sound.

Expecting Viriel, they turned to the source of the light and saw Azakiel instead.