Chapter 9: The Hunter

“Why don’t we relax on the ferris wheel next?” Elle suggested.

Layla looked up at the tall, rotating mechanical wheel, imagining the group trapped in its pods like sitting ducks, waiting to be assaulted by the dark force tracking them.

“I-I don’t think so.” Layla stuttered. “Looks kinda slow and boring.”

“How about Rad’s Ramming Go Karts?” Faye smirked. “They’re like bumper cars you race. You can crash them into walls and other cars and turn the whole race into a chaotic free-for-all.”

The thought of the stalker, eerily lurking in the crowd until the end of the race, or worse, rampaging through the race itself, terrified Layla further.

“N-no thanks. The line looks kinda long and who wants to race with a bunch of screaming children, you know… with all their… screaming…?”

“What about the ferris wheel with the go karts in it?” Elle pointed in excitement.

Even under normal circumstances, there was no force on Earth that could convince Layla to ride that monstrous mistake of human engineering. She instead led the girls through the park, desperately trying to lose the stalker, ignoring all other attractions despite her friend’s protest.

“Hey, where’re you going!?” Faye called, as Layla continued ignoring them.

“Is she okay? She’s looking all sweaty again.” Elle commented.

“Something’s up. She’s been acting jumpy ever since lunch.”

“Layla just seems like a very jumpy person.”

“Yeah, but this is bordering on paranoia.”

“She keeps looking back at us. Are we the ones making her paranoid? I hope not.”

“Not sure…”

“Layla! We’re sorry if we made you feel uncomfortable! Please don’t avoid us!”

However, Layla didn’t even acknowledge she was being addressed and just kept walking.

“I don’t think we’re the problem.” Faye looked over her shoulder, but couldn’t figure out what, if anything, Layla was staring at. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, just the usual crowd of people she’d expect to see roaming the park.

Losing her patience, Faye ran up to Layla, grabbing her arm. “Hey!”

Layla jumped away, holding out her palms, ready for a fight, only to immediately stand down when she realised it was just Faye.

“D-don’t do that, Faye!” She whined.

“Layla, what the fuck are you doing?”

“I-I’m just… looking for something to do… “

“Well, you’ve been looking for about ten minutes now.”

“W-wow… time sure does fly when you’re hanging out with your friends.”

“Layla…” Elle asked. “If we’re making you uncomfortable, you should just say so… I don’t mind if you need some space. I won’t be offended.”

“What? No!” Layla held Elle’s hand, feeling horrible that she may have hurt her feelings. “You’re not making me uncomfortable! This isn’t your fault, Elle! I’m just… really indecisive, that’s all.”

“And really sweaty, too.”

Layla bashfully wiped her hands on her pants.

“Alright, come here.” Faye grabbed Layla by the arm, dragging her away from the bustling crowds and sat her down on a bench.

“Wh-what are we going to do on the bench, Faye?” Layla nervously asked.

“You’ve been acting like a paranoid weirdo ever since we left the Spook House. So, spill it. What’s going on?”

“N-nothing. Everything’s just super.”

Faye raised her eyebrow, Layla was a horrible liar.

“W-what? Seriously, I’m fine.”

Faye continued looking down on her with skepticism.

“Please, stop looking into my soul like that.”

She impatiently tapped her foot until Layla finally snapped under the pressure.

“St-stop it! I… I can’t take it!”

“Then talk!”

“I can’t!”

“Why not?”

“I… I just can’t, okay? I’m too scared…”

“Well, isn’t that a shame…” Faye turned away. “And just when I thought I could trust you, but if you’re going to keep secrets from me, then I guess we can’t be friends.”

“What!? N-no wait!” Layla cried, immediately falling for Faye’s act. “I’m sorry! I wasn’t trying to deceive you! Please, come back!”

“Layla, what’s wrong?” Now even Elle was concerned.

“I… well…“ Layla had hit a mental wall. She didn’t know how to describe what was happening, or if they would even believe her, but her friends were staring expectantly. She had no idea if they would even understand, but she couldn’t stand lying to them, so Layla swallowed her fears, thought of an explanation and hoped for the best.

“I can feel… a dark presence.”

Faye looked visibly confused. “The hell does that mean?”

“I can sense the presence of other people’s Magus. Normally it doesn’t bother me, but ever since lunch, I’ve felt a dark presence following us. Powerful Dark Magus, like a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.”

“You sure it isn’t Darma?” Faye joked.

“I felt Darma’s Magus when she broke up your fight, this morning. This is different. It feels violent, destructive and scary.”

“Can you sense my Magus?”

“Yeah?”

“Is that so? What can you tell me about it?”

“It’s dormant right now, so I can’t make out anything, just that it exists within you.”

“Layla, why didn’t you tell us sooner?” Elle asked.

“Because I… I-I… I didn’t want to ruin our day out.”

“Really?” Faye groaned.

“I’ve never had a day out with friends before… and I didn’t want to ruin it by scaring everyone. So, I tried to ignore the dark presence and hoped it would go away, but it never did.”

“Where is this dark presence now?”

Layla broke out of her saddened state, as she realised she had lost track of the presence that had been stalking them. She quickly attempted to relocate them and considering how big their presence felt it didn’t take her very long.

“I-it’s right there…” She pointed to the hooded man advancing toward them from just a few feet away. He had a confident posture, with his hands in his front pockets, as he calmly approached Faye.

“Excuse me, Miss. But, are you-”

The man was suddenly engulfed in a towering inferno, erupting from the ground. Without hesitation, Faye leapt into the air, using the jet flames from her boots and delivered a powerful, blazing kick to the man’s head, sending him flying.

Faye pompously flicked her hair back over her shoulder. “There. Problem solved.”

“Faye! You can’t just assault strangers like that!” Layla scolded.

“Oh shit… was that the wrong guy?”

“No! That’s not the point! Just because he’s scary doesn’t mean we can attack him without warning! We don’t know what his motive is! This could all be a huge misunderstanding!”

Faye took a closer look at the man lying across from them. “Nah, that guy’s a piece of shit.”

“You don’t know that!”

“Yes I do. Everyone from Veritati knows that guy.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I recognised the hoodie. His name is Hunter. One of Apathia’s elites.”

“Oh no…” Elle cried. “I fought with Apathia. Is he after me?”

“No. Just me.” Faye corrected.

“How are you so sure?”

“Because…” Faye caught herself almost admitting to being a killer. Even if the victim was the most despicable person on the planet, the shame she felt from committing such an extreme act still left her traumatised and she wanted her new friends as far removed from that trauma as possible.

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Are you brats done talking, yet? You’re boring the crap out of me.”

Hunter was already standing, fixing a crick in his neck, patiently waiting for the girl’s next move.

Layla couldn’t believe her eyes. “He recovered that fast? But, I didn’t sense him using any Magus to shield himself. How is he not unconscious?”

“You look confused, Blondie. You never seen a demon before?”

“Cut the shit, Hunter.” Faye berated.

“I’m sorry, who are you?”

“I’m your target, jackass.”

“Exactly. A worthless, unimportant target. Another piece of trash that blew off the city’s dumpster pile, that’s stinking up the place. Don’t you dare talk to me like we’re equals, scum.”

“You want me to singe your mouth shut?”

Hunter laughed. “Oh, now you’ve got me shaking.”

Frustrated, Faye marched over to Hunter, but once she was in range, a pool of darkness appeared beneath her, with black tendrils shooting from the ground, holding her limbs in place. Faye wasn’t the least bit concerned. Her body burst into flames, incinerating the tendrils binding her.

“I guess that last attack wasn’t a fluke, you seem to know what you’re doing, but you’re still no match for-”

Suddenly, Faye launched herself at Hunter like a rocket, ramming her fiery fist into his face, sending him flying across the ground a second time.

“You talk too much…” She remarked, checking her nails.

Hunter howled with laughter, as he immediately got back up. “With reflexes like those, it’s no wonder that fat asshole, Ravage never stood a chance against you.”

“He did it again…” Layla thought. “He barely used his Magus and still took Faye’s attack like it was nothing.”

“Hey, stupid!” Faye called Hunter. “In case your clothes not being a pile of ashes wasn’t a hint, I’m holding back! If you don’t fuck off, I will incinerate you!”

“Man, you’re way more obnoxious than the last Fiammetta we dealt with.”

“What!? You gotta death wish!?”

Faye was outraged by the mere mention of her deceased father, but she was quickly interrupted by Layla grabbing her arm.

“Faye, stop! Don’t attack him!”

“Why not!? He’s just asking for an ass beating!”

“Something’s not right! No human should be able to recover from those attacks without defending themselves with Magus!”

“No human? What are you-? No… no fucking way… ”

Faye fired a searing shot at Hunter’s face, who took it head on.

“What the hell!?” The hood concealing his identity disintegrated from the flames, revealing his true face, as Hunter rubbed said face in shock from the sizzling heat.

His skin was pale white, his hair was like long grey spines and he had long, elf-like ears with small, gold earrings. Although Hunter was more concerned over the damage to his clothes than his revealed identity.

“You bitch! This is my favourite hunting hoodie!”

“Unbelievable…“ Layla gasped. “That’s a real, honest to God, demon.”

“I thought those things weren’t around any more.” Faye asked.

“Most of them disappeared a century ago, but there are still reports of a handful of demons living peacefully in our world.”

“There’s nothing peaceful about this guy.”

“And I bet you thought The Demon Hunter was just a pretentious nickname.” Hunter smirked. “As you’ve probably already figured out, we demons are far more resilient than you humans.”

“Why the hell would a demon be working for Apathia, anyway?”

“My own amusement.”

Faye did not appreciate his lackadaisical answer. “Layla. You can sense our Magus, right?”

“Y-yes.”

“Can you tell which one of us is stronger?”

“I-I don’t think that’s really going to help.”

“You don’t need to be specific, just give me the gist.”

“W-well, in terms of raw power, you seem a lot stronger, but-”

“That’s all I needed to hear.”

“Faye, wait!”

Faye didn’t listen, confident she was fully capable of taking on Hunter by herself.

“You ready for round two, you elf-cosplay reject?”

Hunter blushed at his ears being compared to an elf, but quickly shook it off. “Alright, but be careful with those flames. Burn off too much of my clothing and you’ll see things you’ll never unsee.”

“Trust me, I’ve seen enough Apathia crotch snakes to last a lifetime.”

Hunter chuckled. “I’m sorry, could you repeat that for everyone else to hear?”

“Shut up!”

Faye rushed Hunter, burning with intense heat. She pounded her fist straight into his stomach and retracted her arm back. Flames suddenly burst from her elbow, thrusting her fist back into Hunter’s abdomen. Faye continually crashed her fists into Hunter using the explosive force of her Fire Magus, pinning him on the spot.

Once she was satisfied with her beatings, she pulled back and launched her entire flaming body into the demon with a fiery tackle, sending him flying a third time. This time, he smashed up against the back wall of a building.

Hunter merely laughed off Faye’s vicious assault. “Now that’s more like it! I actually felt that! That would have killed any normal human for sure!”

“Laugh it up, elf boy. You may be a demon, but you’re not invincible. I’ll wear you down.” Faye assured.

Pulling himself out of the wall, Hunter slowly approached Faye, completely undeterred by her threats, taunting her. “Oh yeah? Try me.”

Faye launched herself toward Hunter, only to suddenly stop when a sharp tendril shot out of the ground. She leant back, narrowly avoiding impalement, with a cut slashed across her forehead. She angrily stamped at the earth beneath her, as the flames she emitted from her boot incinerated the dark pool underneath.

“Cheap trick.” She chided.

“That’s not a cheap trick. This is.” Hunter created a dark pool beneath him, with black tendrils wrapping around the contaminated area like overgrown vines, obscuring him in a web of darkness.

“Try to punch your way through this!”

Faye widened her stance and clenched her fists, as her flaming aura burned intensely.

“You can powerup all you want, but you’re not breaking through this one.”

With a flick of her fingers, the dark pool turned searing crimson as a swirling firestorm erupted from the ground, obliterating the darkness and the cocky demon within.

“How’d… you like that one…? Asshole.” Faye wheezed, breathing heavily after exerting so much force into a single attack.

However, Layla could still sense Hunter’s powerful darkness and once the smoke cleared her fears were confirmed. Hunter had shielded himself from Faye’s explosion. Her heart raced as she broke into a cold sweat, realising just how dire their situation really was.

Hunter’s shield melted like butter, flustered by all the steam escaping his barrier, whilst fanning himself from the heat. “Holy hell! I wasn’t expecting that! Congrats, you actually made me have to try!”

“You… can’t be serious.” Faye groaned.

“Uh oh… looks like you’ve run out of fuel to burn. That’s what happens when humans abuse their Magus.”

“Fuck you! I can still fight!”

“Sure, if you call desperately flailing a fight.”

“I swear, I’ll beat you senseless!”

Hunter reached out his hand, as his darkness morphed into a serpent coiling around his arm, with the head surrounding his hand, gathering dark energy into his palm. “Oh please. You’re the only one here without any sense.”

He fired the black ink bomb, as it exploded upon impact with Faye’s chest. Despite the damage, Faye took the pain, refusing to fall.

“Still standing? Guess that’s not a surprise. I heard Ardente died the same way.”

Faye snapped, immediately throwing herself at Hunter with what little strength she could muster, but a serpent tendril lunged itself from Hunter’s other arm and rammed into Faye’s gut, completely halting her advance.

She fell to her knees in agony. “W-why…? My Magus is stronger than yours…”

“A rookie mistake.” Hunter lifted Faye by her hair. “Unlike you I don’t throw my Magus around like it’s a big dumb hammer, mine is refined like a sword. You see, having powerful Magus means nothing without DISCIPLINE!”

With a solid punch to the face, Hunter shattered Faye’s nose, leaving her a bloodied mess.

“You humans treat Magus like it’s a toy to flex on people and then act all sad and confused when a being with real power puts you back in your place. You fought exactly how I expected you to, wasting all your Magus on flashy BULLSHIT!”

With a second punch he threw Faye into the dirt, unable to even stand, spitting up blood.

“You’re making me sick. Just keel over, already.”

Just as Hunter was about to fire one last dark orb, the earth beneath Faye rose into the sky, like a pillar, safely removing her from the fight.

“That’s enough!” Elle demanded. “I’m not going to let you hurt her any more!”

“Shouldn’t you have done that a little earlier?”

“Maybe, but Faye was so determined to beat you on her own, I didn’t want to be rude and interrupt!”

“You let your friend get the shit kicked out of her, just to be polite?”

“I’ll make up for that mistake by finishing her fight. Layla, please back me up.”

“H-huh!?” Layla jolted. “U-um… yeah…!”

Layla was utterly terrified. She never imagined she’d fight someone this powerful so soon, on her first day even. She couldn’t stop shaking, all she could do was follow Elle’s lead and observe.

Hunter sighed, having just been handed extra busy work. “Look, ladies. I’m just here to take out the trash. Fighting the rest of you would just make my job harder than it needs to be. If you leave now, I’ll turn a blind eye to all this and pretend it never happened.”

“What kind of horrible person takes on a job that involves killing?” Elle questioned.

“A demon, obviously.”

With dark serpents coiling around his arms, Hunter latched onto the pillar with their jaws as he began scaling the rocky splinter. In response, Elle took control of the earthly spire. A cube of crust jutted out of the pillar’s side and slammed into Hunter’s gut, impeding his progress.

“What the hell is that?” With his arms and legs grasped around the pillar, physically defending himself from the ramming block of stone under his chest was impossible.

Hunter focused his Magus into armour on his chest to prevent further damage, but he was still trapped in place by the repeated pummeling. One wrong move and the thrusting stones could throw him off the pillar with the force of their strikes.

Incapable of moving, Hunter reached out his arm, and gathered Dark Magus. “I wanted to see the look on her face before I killed her, but this is getting ridiculous. I’ll just blast her from here.”

“He’s going to shoot her!” Layla cried.

Realising his plan, Elle immediately retracted the pillar back into the earth, with Hunter slamming into the ground below from the speed of the pillar’s movement.

With Faye back on the ground, still struggling to stand, Elle quickly mustered a stone wall from the earth to protect her from Hunter, as she ran to her beaten friend’s aid.

“Elle, you dumbass…” Faye whined. “Forget about me, just beat this guy already.”

“I don’t care about beating him, I just want to save you.”

Their stonewall defense suddenly shattered, as Hunter was up and ready for a counterattack. With Elle preoccupied with carrying Faye, the girls turned to Layla for assistance, but she was still frozen in fear.

Layla desperately wanted to help, but her body wouldn’t move. She had no confidence that she could hold Hunter off, let alone beat him. Memories of her exam flashed in her mind, how she failed to pass even simple target practise.

Hunter raised his arm, charging a black orb, ready to blast Faye and Elle. With Layla paralysed by anxiety, Elle rose the earth beneath her into the sky, keeping them out of harm’s way.

The demon brushed the move off. “Saw that coming a mile away. But, that strategy won’t work twice. No matter how much she tries, she’s only delaying the inevitable. All she’s done is corner herself.”

He looked over to Layla, still sweating up a storm, her arms were stretched out, like she was preparing some kind of attack, but she lacked conviction, unable to conjure her Magus.

“Don’t waste your energy, kid. Just walk away and let me do my job. You’re embarrassing to watch.”

“Wh-what…?” Layla just barely squeaked out through the fear.

“You're as dull as dishwater. Now get lost.”

Hunter grasped onto the pillar of stone and began scaling it again, leaving Layla to ponder over his words.

“Embarrassing? Dull? Am I really so mediocre that I’m not even worth fighting? But… I studied so hard… I used to ace my tests… I know all about Magus and how to wield it… but every time I try to use it in public… I can’t…”

Layla fell to her knees. “Hunter’s too strong… I can tell without even fighting him… the gap between us is just too wide… he’ll kill me… but, if I don’t do something, he’ll kill them.

Elle’s too concerned with protecting Faye to defend herself. They’re trapped up there. How do I stop him? What should I do? What would Dad do?”

That’s when Layla was struck with inspiration. Her father Abner, would never give up. He’d face any challenge with a cheeky remark and a winning smile. She also remembered her mother’s words, how she didn’t raise her to be a quitter.

Layla had become so overcome with fear that she had forgotten why she even came to Nexus City in the first place. To use her Light Magus to help those who needed it most and right now, her friends were in desperate need of help.

Just as she was losing herself in her anxiety, the need to save her friends helped push those negative emotions aside, allowing her to focus solely on the needs of others, as her Magus finally began to shine.

She raised her left arm and held it steady with her right hand. Fighting past her fear, she channeled her Light Magus and fired a short burst of light energy toward Hunter.

At this point, Hunter put no further thought into Layla, assuming she was a non-threat, so it came as a massive shock when he was suddenly blinded by a bright light that blew through him with such force it flung him off the pillar as he hurtled toward the ground.

“Where the hell did that come from!?” He yelled, picking himself up.

Once he noticed Layla, holding her arm out it all became clear and he couldn’t help but laugh again.

“So, you actually attacked me. And it stung too. Light Magus sure is a bitch. The way it burns your soul instead of your body. That’s practically cheating.”

“Please… stop this.” Layla pleaded.

“Excuse me?”

“I don’t know what Faye did to upset you, but there must be another way of solving this problem without killing.”

“Oh God, don’t start preaching.”

“Well, isn’t there!?”

“Maybe, but I don’t call the shots, kid. Gotta keep those Admins off my back, you know? Plus, I still need to get paid.”

“I see… that’s so sad… to fall so low that another person’s life becomes nothing more than an obstacle, getting in the way of your next paycheck.”

Hunter sighed in disgust. “I didn’t come here to be lectured by a child. Go take a nap, already.”

He charged another dark blast through his hand and fired it at Layla, only for the girl’s body to shine in a bright yellow light, as she batted the orb aside.

Now, Hunter was intrigued. “Ooh… you’re finally getting serious.”

“I’m only fighting to protect my friends. You can still leave.”

“You expect me to leave after seeing you do that? I don’t think so.”

He fired another dark orb, but Layla simply stood still and took it head on. The light of her Magus shielding her from any damage.

“Lucky punk.” Hunter grimaced.

“No. I could sense your attack wasn’t very strong, so there was no need to defend against it.”

Insulted, a dark serpent crawled around Hunter’s arm as he readied his next attack, but Layla immediately took action and fired a wave of light that ripped through that same arm, erasing the serpent and the sleeves of his shirt and hoodie, leaving his singed skin exposed.

“Bitch! That wasn’t my soul! That hurt for real!”

“I could sense you were about to attack, so I acted.”

“You’re starting to get on my fucking nerves, kid.”

Layla ignored Hunter’s vitriol and remained entirely focused on sensing his Magus, with her eyes staring intently into his, unblinking. From an outsider’s perspective she appeared fearless.

“Faye, you have to see this. Layla’s incredible.”

As Elle looked down from atop her pillar, Faye crawled over to get a view of the action.

“Holy shit… that’s Layla?” The nervous wreck she met this morning was now standing tall and shining like the Sun, with Hunter clutching his arm in pain.

A black shadow darted across the ground with a sharp tendril protruding from the darkness to impale Layla, but she instantly side-stepped, having already predicted its movements.

“So, you sensed that too? But, how about this!?”

The tendril loosened and wrapped itself around Layla’s arm, briefly detaining her before her Light Magus melted it. That short moment of distraction was exactly what Hunter was looking for.

With his free arm, he blasted a powerful dark orb toward Layla, who fired her own light orb to quickly counter it, but rather than the attacks cancelling each other out, Hunter’s orb began growing in size.

Layla was shocked. Hunter’s orb grew in power, absorbing the light and she didn’t know how to stop it. Soon, her light was devoured by the darkness and the now strengthened orb crashed into Layla’s stunned face.

Though she was still standing, her shining aura had disappeared and her focus was completely shattered. There was an excruciating pain in her face. She lifted her hand to her nose, only to notice it was covered in blood.

After spending years honing her Magus and training in simulations, this was the first time she ever experienced real pain in a real fight and it left her paralysed. She was so distraught she didn’t even notice Hunter had gotten close to her.

“So, kid, did you sense this?”

With his serpentine fist, Hunter delivered a darkness infused, one-inch punch to Layla’s gut. Managing to block it with Light Magus, Layla still flew backwards, skidding across the dirt with a new horrible sensation plaguing her abdomen.

Layla had never experienced being punched in the stomach with such ferocity in her entire life. But, the pain numbing her body was nothing compared to the true torment of her overwhelming nausea. She clutched her stomach, shaking and breathing heavily, as her throat became irritated. She desperately tried to force her jaw shut, but the dam had already been broken.

Hunter stood back in glee. He couldn’t believe what he was about to witness. Hunched over in agony, Layla stammered around until she eventually found a trash can. She leaned over it, still fighting her body’s reflexes until she couldn’t contain herself any longer.

She vomited.

It was the most shame she had ever felt in her life. The physical pain from Hunter’s punch was nothing compared to the sheer embarrassment she felt, staring down at her own puke, coughing and spitting while he laughed in total delight.

“I can’t believe she actually threw up!” Hunter quickly composed himself. “That just made my day. Alright, let’s finish this.”

Faye forced herself on her feet. “Elle! You need to lower this pillar right now!”

“But, if you go down there, he’ll kill you.”

“If you don’t, he’ll kill Layla!”

Seeing the determination in Faye’s eyes, Elle returned them to the ground. The moving pillar caught Hunter’s attention. As he turned to face the pillar, Faye blasted herself toward him, decking the demon in the face. As he reeled back from the sudden assault, a stone wall emerged behind him, as a chunk of it jutted out, ramming into the back of his head.

Hunter clutched his skull in pain. “Son of a…!”

“If you want to get to Layla you’ll have to get through me!” Faye declared.

Despite having slightly recovered, Faye was in no condition to pose any real threat. Hunter batted her aside with his forearm, knocking her to the ground, as he marched toward Elle.

She thought about raising the earth beneath him to remove Hunter from the fight, but once Hunter was close enough, he leapt over Elle, exploiting her blind spot, directly above her, where she couldn’t raise the earth without launching herself towards him. All she could do was look above as the demon fired a dark blast that blew up in her face and knocked her out.

As he landed Hunter felt something singe the back of his head.

“Stay away from her, you bastard!” Faye threatened, barely standing.

“Will you give up already?” He politely requested.

“Never!”

Faye focused her Magus into jets on her boots, as Hunter summoned one tendril after another to try and stab her from below, as she avoided each strike. He chased after her with his tendrils, until she was backed up against the same wall she punched Hunter into earlier.

Successfully trapping her, Hunter threw his serpentine covered arm into her neck, and lifted her up, as she helplessly dangled off the ground. The teeth of his dark snake were just one slight twitch away from piercing Faye’s veins.

“You look pretty pissed for someone who’s about to die.” He taunted.

Faye grasped at his arm, kicking as hard as she could, even if it was ultimately ineffective. “Shut up! You’re the reason everything’s fucked up! You and you’re stupid fucking gang! You ruined my life!”

“Well, for your sake, I hope they have therapists in Hell.”

“Put her down!” A massive blast of light energy suddenly exploded on Hunter’s back, ripping the back of his clothes apart, leaving his skin fully exposed.

Layla had gathered as much strength as she could to protect her friend. Against a regular opponent it would have been sufficient, but to a demon, her attack was just a painful nuisance.

A black serpent appeared from the darkness gathered on his back and with no energy left to properly react, it struck Layla’s face with a vicious slam that forced her to the ground. She laid in the dirt, eyes agape, hardly moving.

“Layla! No!” Faye cried. “What did you do to her!?”

“Not sure, hopefully killed her. I’ll check in a minute, but first, I’ve got a job to finish.”

“She didn’t deserve that and neither did Elle! Who the hell do you think you are!?”

“I’m Apathia’s Hunter. If anyone stands in the way of my target, they become a target too, body counts be damned.”

“If she’s dead, I swear I’ll kill you!”

“Really? I’d like to see you try.”

Hunter summoned another serpent, ready to blast Layla, sending Faye into a frenzied rage. Her entire body immediately burst into flames, throwing off Hunter, as he frantically waved his arms to put out the fire.

“Are you fucking kidding me!?” Hunter yelled. “God, I hate fighting Fire Users! They always come back from the brink of death, like five or six times before finally shutting up!”

“You fucking demon! I’m sending you straight back to whatever Hell you crawled out of!”

“Hey, don’t be so prejudiced, you’ll hurt my feelings.”

Faye placed her hands to her side, as a swirling vortex of flames gathered into her palms. Her flaming aura burned intensely and her long, bestial hair, flared wildly. Roaring in anger, she poured every once of her strength into this one devastating, meteoric fireball.

Hunter just rolled his eyes, as he picked up Layla’s body and drooped it around in front of him. “Okay, fire when ready, kid.”

“You piece of shit!” Faye cried.

“What? Come on. Hit me with your best shot.”

There was no way Faye was going to waste this last attack, but she wasn’t going to risk hurting Layla either. She was frozen in place, holding onto the volatile explosive in her hands, praying for a miracle.

“Hey. I think I can feel her heartbeat. Be a real shame if some angry little girl blew her to pieces in a blind rage, wouldn’t it?”

“You fucking sadist! You’re enjoying this!”

“Why do you think I kept you alive so long? I love toying with stupid humans who think they’re Magus experts. Now, hurry up and shoot me already!”

Just then, a gust of wind blew past Hunter, as Layla’s body flew out of his grasp, landing safely in a bubble off to the side.

“What the hell!?”

Hunter cried in disbelief as Faye immediately acted upon this miraculous opening.

“GET FUCKED!”

She launched her firebomb, as Hunter watched in disbelief, before being engulfed in ravenous flames. The resulting explosion rocked the entire park. The rush of the people temporarily came to a halt to marvel at the seismic energy unleashed from the blast.

“Thank…. God….” Faye leant against the wall, gasping for air. This time, she was completely spent.

“Fuck me!” A voice yelled. “That was one hell of an attack! Good thing my impeccable hearing and deductive skills led us here before you died or something.”

Faye could just barely make out Winnie’s smug face through her exhaustive haze. “Go… be a bitch… somewhere else…”

“Hey! I just saved your life! You fucking owe me!”

“Where’s Layla…?”

“Oh right… Hey, Juany! How’s Layla!?”

Juanita had Layla lying on her lap. “Inconsciente!”

“What!?”

“Unconscious!”

“She’s alive…? Good…” Faye sighed.

“Aww, you got a thing for the shy girls, Faye?”

“Shut… your face… cockroach…”

“Bitch.”

“Whore…”

“Cunt.”

“Shut up!” The smoke had finally cleared, revealing Hunter, still standing, but extremely pissed off.

“Should have figured… that demon… would still be standing… he’s all yours…” Faye fainted.

Hunter’s clothes were scorched and tattered as his Magus armour flaked off his body like burnt ashes. “That hurt… if I hadn’t protected myself that could have killed me… that trash nearly killed me!”

“Juany! I can see what’s-her-face asleep all the way back there! Go grab her!”

“Sí!”

As Hunter turned to attack Elle, a gust of wind forced him to the ground. He had no choice but to face Winnie, who was already levitating over him, with a cocky smirk.

“Hey, Fuck Face! You’re fighting me now!”