Chapter XXIV: The Birth Of The Celestial Hero (8)

Previously

“Tell me, human,” He ordered, letting his pair of bat-like wings flare out menacingly. “What is your accursed name?”

Elm didn’t respond. No, she did respond - by casually pointing the tip of her blade against the vampiric demon. . .which only served to further worsen his mood. 

He roared out in anger, letting his aura as a direct descendent of the Vapula Household pressure the area, rusting and thereafter, blowing the nearby houses into dust. A tiny hole appeared on the bottom of the mass of black blood above him, a stream of blood trickling down like a mini-waterfall as it bathed the vampiric demon. He relished in the familiar smell of blood and sense of power, tongue lashing out so that he lapped at the blood. 

With every tongue fed of blood, his form grew larger and larger until eventually, his form quadrupled in size, turning large enough so that he was now larger than any bear-type monster Elm had hunted, tearing apart it’s clothes as it stood on air, completely nude for the world to see. One would think she would feel fear from the amount of rage and power rolling off the demon’s body but all she felt right now was disgust at having to see it’s nude form and delight at having the chance to exact her disgust upon him. 

In honesty, the vampiric demon, in its current form, had a body akin to a god of beauty and a dashing face to go with it but after she had seen the incarnation of beauty that was her brother, she could see nothing more than a talking dead demon in front of her.

No, even that was too much. All that was in her sight was a prime target, large enough so that she could efficiently hunt it down, large enough so that she could keep slicing it and it wouldn’t die so easily. She watched as a scarlet pole-arm manifested out of blood, equipped under the large palms of the demon. 

“Under the name of She, you shall meet your end at the blade of my spear,” The vampiric demon said, it’s gravelly voice booming into the area. “I, Bartos Vapula, swear it.”

Elm didn’t care for his words, finding herself unable to bear listening to anymore of it’s disgusting voice as she returned back to her turtle world, reappearing behind Bartos. “You talk too much.” She swung her sword down enough for air to spark and cause an explosion but as the cloud of dust split, she saw that he was still there, unharmed and had blocked her slash with his spear. 

A disgusting grin was on his face. “You shall entertain me, maggot.” 

Elm saw a couple of spears forming in her peripheral vision and quickly blinked a couple steps back but saw that her back had landed against someone’s chest. A turn of her head and she saw the towering body of the demon blocking the light of the moon as he smirked down at her. She tried to change her grip and reach for a cheeky slash past his stomach but she found her blade tasted nothing but air. Her senses tingled again but she was too late.

“Over here, little maggot,” Sounded from behind her. Elm barely had enough time to block the demon’s powerful kick with her sword before her body had been launched back, sent crashing past a number of houses, destroying all of them in the process. 

Bartos reveled in his glory, watching over the blanket of rubbles the maggot had been buried under. “You performed well for a little fly.” He grinned, showing his sharp canines. “I wonder what the blood of the Celestial Hero tastes like!”

Elm came out of the rubble quickly enough, barely dodging the knee to the face that would have sent her a few houses back again. She repositioned herself mid-air, flipping over the large demon as she sent a back kick to his head, the edge of her boots laced with her light. It felt satisfying to hear the crunch of bones before his body shot downwards due to the force of her kick. 

She landed gracefully on a nearby balcony, a bored look on her face as she summoned a spear of light, one that was significantly larger than the last one. “Again, you talk too much.” She threw the spear like a javelin, it’s speed worthy enough to break past the sound barrier as it shot with a thunderclap. 

Bartos had barely collected himself before he found his face full of the disgusting holy energy rolling off the fly’s spear. “You dare?!” He constructed a barrier of blood in front of him, just in time to protect himself against the spear, the nearby constructions quickly turning to dust due to the force of the collision - a force great enough to push him a few steps backwards. He had underestimated her. It was a bad habit many of his old aides liked to complain about, where they told him multiple times not to play with his food as it could be his end. 

Bartos could have easily repelled instead of blocking the spear of light but his pride didn’t allow him to acknowledge the fledgling’s power. He was Bartos Vapula, a direct descendent of the Vapula Household and a great warrior even in the realm of Hell. He would rather die than to admit that he couldn’t win the battle of attrition he had against the spear. 

He roared with renewed vigor, using both of his hands as he enveloped his claws in blood energy before literally tearing the spear in half. The light spear disappeared into motes of brilliant light in front of him as he laughed in victory. 

See? He was far stronger than a mere, little fledgling hero. A giant grin split across his face.  “How was that, little fly?! Do you fear me no-?!”

“One last time,” A voice appeared from the large back of the vampiric demon. He could barely turn around in time to see the dense amount of light collected in her sword. “You talk too much.”

“I curse y-!” 

Elm swung her sword horizontally with all her might, betting most of her prana on the final attack as her sword of light beamed in delight when it made contact with the skin of a demon, quickly slashing Bartos through his stomach, disemboweling him as his upper body flipped around from the force of the slash. His lower body couldn’t even fall to the ground before the disconnected body burned in the most brilliant flame yet, a light bright enough for the people to cover their eyes with their hands. 

Elm breathes out calmly, unsummoning her sword of light as it disappears in motes of light. She turns back to see that the people were still here for some reason, looks of disbelief and shock written all over their faces. She tilted her head in curiosity before one of them yelled out. 

“Sh-She’s done it!”

The entire town square broke out in cries of delight and cheers of happiness as their lives had just been saved. They all thought that they would die there and then, some of them even froze on the spot, accepting their fates but it appears that the gods had smiled upon them. And, to think they would have been saved by a young woman - the daughter of Hunter Leo to mention! - who had just started on the path to adulthood. There were many who had questions as to the origins of her power, but most of them had been too busy celebrating the safety their savior had just granted to them. 

One of them, however, had the opposite reaction as he could barely breathe, eyes full of guilt as they looked over to what his daughter had become. He was still full of shock at the fact that his daughter had survived but to think she had not just survived, but utterly dominated the demons like they were nothing more than toys? Had she made a deal with the devil to gain that much power? That much strength?

Elm stood for a moment, relishing in the surge of power rising from within her core as she felt herself grow multiple steps stronger, absorbing the energy from the demon she had just vanquished. With this, she was one step closer to changing that fate. She opened her eyes, looked around and saw her parents had a number of small injuries on them. 

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