The price of entry

Letting loose the first rounds from Aetheris, I duck the lippy Assassin's blade as a fireball erupts where I shot, sending a different assassin flying into a tree. Turning and stopping his blade, I catch Ella dispatching another of the assassins with her sword to the side of me. Pushing me back, he slashes at me with speed and precision. Jumping back, the blade narrowly misses my face, cutting a slice through the brim of my hat. Concentrating hard, I focus on Thorne in my hand.

"Fifty cal rounds." Dodging another assassin, I shoot him in the back with Aetheris, sending him flying as the Thorne clanks the large-caliber rounds into the cylinder. Turning, I fire a round at the lead assassin. Holding his blades up to block the round, he grunts as the blades shatter.

"Well, it seems I underestimated you. A mistake I won't make twice. You may have some skills, but they won't help you." Throwing the broken swords away, he holds his hand out to the side.

"From the depths of hell I call upon thee. Tormentor of innocence and manifestation of rage. Come to me now. Mal'gren!" As he finishes his shout with a click of his fingers, wind swirls around, blowing my coat open, and lightning crackles from the sky. At the tip of his fingers, a long black sword appears. Gripping it tightly, he raises the sword and looks at the blade. His tongue licking his lips.

"You may be skilled, Human man, but you are nothing against my demonic blade. And once I'm done killing you, I'm going to take my time with the Boss's daughter over there. She will beg me to end her miserable existence, and the best part about it, it won't end. I can torture her as long as I want." Struggling to contain my rage, I bring Thorne and Aetheris to bear.

"Akimbo." As the words leave my mouth, the magic takes over, propelling me into the sky. Focusing every shot on the Demon in front of me, I will ever bullet to strike true. Watching as lightning infused fifty caliber rounds strike his blade, in a burst of sparks. Losing sight of him in the cloud of dust from my attack, I land heavily, turning to look over at Ella, seeing her struggling with two assassins locking blades against hers. Deciding on the spot, I fire a round in her direction, taking out one assassin. Falling to my knees as the dust begins to clear, I look up to see the demon standing there. The blade shining with a purple-black glow. Looking over the edge at me, he meets my eyes for a split second, then charges. Leaping back to avoid the first slash, I try to keep some distance between us as I let off round after round with Thorne. Deflecting every shot, a crazed look fills his eyes, and he cackles as he slashes at me. For a moment, panic fills me, and I lose track of his movements. Grunting as the blade catches me on the side of the arm, I twist away from the sharp edge of the blade, holstering Aetheris. Looking down at the blood flowing from the cut on my arm, I adjust my stance to bring Thorne across the front of me. Concentrating hard again, I switch the rounds to smaller armor-piercing rounds. Checking my surroundings, I grab Thorne with two hands and bring above my head, blocking the assassin's blade as he brings it down. Squinting as sparks come off the impact, I shove back and, in a moment of inspiration, I headbutt him in the face, sending him sprawling into the dirt. Clutching my head, I stagger backwards. Okay, that works so much better in the movies. With a shout, another assassin runs towards me, before a well place shot sends him sprawling onto the dirt with the other assassins. Staggering back, I slide Thorne into its holster and with a slide of my finger, Final Testament appears in my hand. Looking at its white shining metal, I swallow a bolt of fear and aim the gun at the demon in front of me. I check the round counter and see five rounds remaining.

"That's far enough. Drop the sword." Looking up at me as he finally gets to his feet, a bolt of fear and recognition covers his face.

"Well, well, well. I didn't expect to see a Seraphim weapon today. And certainly not in the hands of a human." Looking at the gun that is as long as my arm, I feel confusion for a moment. Not for the first time do I wonder about the rules of this world and what exactly my outlier title and status mean. Laughing, he fingers the edge of his blade whilst staring at me with madness.

"You do not even know what you possess, do you? This is great. It's a pity that you'll never get the chance to find out. Refracture!" At his shout, time stops, and he moves towards me, the blade gleaming wickedly as I cannot move. Reaching the space in front of me, he swings his sword, connecting with the giant hand cannon that is Final Testament. Unable to react, I watch as the force rips it from my hand, sending it spiraling off into the trees. Watching on in horror, as he lands a kick to my chest and time speeds up. Flying off the ground, I brace myself as I whip through the tree branches, landing heavily on the ground a good distance from where I started. Coughing at the pain in my chest, I scrambled to my feet, doing my best to ignore the pain in my chest as I stand. Drawing Thorne, let off rounds towards him through the haze of pain, gritting my teeth as the recoil from the gun runs down my arm and into my injured chest. Dodging the bullets, he shimmers and disappears. Hearing a branch snap behind me, I leap forward and roll across the ground, the crackling energy from the blade making the hair on the back of my neck stand up as it narrowly misses the back of my head. Rolling off my shoulder, I push off the ground with my free hand, and the entire world turns upside down as I propel myself into the air again.

"Akimbo." Moving on its own, my left arm draws Aetheris, and a hailstorm of fire-infused bullets rain down on the demon assassin as I land heavily, losing my balance and falling to the ground. As my head starts ringing, I see Final Testament a few feet away. Rolling to my feet, I slide the other guns into their holsters and leap towards the gun, smiling as my hand closes over the handle. With a twist, I get to my feet, and seeing the assassin bursting through the dust, I sight down the barrel and release a round. With white lightning and a crack like the sound of a cannon going off, it releases a round. The very world bends around the bullet as it flies towards the target. For the briefest moment I see surprise light up his face, as his sword flashes in front of him. With a mighty explosion, the world turns white, and I'm thrown back into the clearing, landing hard against a tree, the back of my head connecting with its trunk. Blinking to clear the black spots from my eyes, I groan and roll off the trunk, letting the gun fall from my hand. Trying to push up to my feet, my body gives out and I collapse back into the dirt. Turning my head as the world spins violently, I see the assassin stalking from the wreckage of the forest. Stepping over the flattened trees, he comes clearly into view. One side of his body, missing its armor and scorched a deep crimson color. With hatred in his eyes, he stops above me, the tip of the sword hanging dangerously close to my neck.

"Looks like you came up short, Human. Pity for you. As thanks for the burns, however, I'm not going to kill you." Pressing the blade into my arm, I cry out as it pierces my skin and cold radiates from the blade.

"Once this curse sets in, you'll wish you were dead."

"Go fu…" Before I can finish, Ella appears next to him and with a single movement, slide her blade up the length of his, sending it flying into the trees. Hitting him hard, she twists and in a move that I couldn't even follow, she hurls him through the air. Watching with satisfaction as he lands heavily in front of the cave, a smile comes to my face.

"Nice throw." Looking down at me, she cries out and drives her sword into the ground.

"Oh, Oscar. You're so badly wounded. Here." Reaching down, she pulls me up onto my feet, sliding under my arm in support as my body refuses to cooperate. Grunting as we take a step, I wave my hand, and Final Testaments disappears off the ground and back into my inventory. Before we can take more than a few steps, an energy wave comes from the demon in front of the cave. Getting to his feet, his eyes glow red as the energy pours off him in waves.

"If I can't defeat you both, I'll take this whole forest with me!" Holding me up, Ella channels magic at the end of her hand, it blossoming outward like a shield.

"From the depths of hell comes the power to destroy all who stand in my path. I sacrifice my soul to those below so that thine enemies shall perish where they stand. Forsake all ye who bear witness to this moment. Final Cata…" As soon as it began, it ended. His headless body collapsing on the ground. And standing behind him was not a sight I expected to see. A small old woman, leaning heavily on a walking stick, small glow on the tip of her finger.

"Foolish whelp. As if I would allow such a low-level demon to use cataclysm magic in my presence. Well, Ellavessa, it's been a while." For the first time since arriving in this world, I was truly afraid. Not even the Demon King possessed the presence that this old woman did. Looking at me, Ella waits for my gesture showing I can stand before she takes a step forward, bowing to the old woman.

"It has been Lady Elisaria. Apologies for the disruption. I did not expect my father to send his assassins after me."

"Worry not, child. It seem you and the Outlier here did a fine job of dispatching them yourselves for the most part." I don't know if it was the look of shock on my face or perhaps she could read my mind, but she smiles and looks at me with emerald eyes that seemed to bore holes into my soul.

"I know who you are, Earthman. Come. We have much to discuss, and out here is not the place." Taking a step forward, I cry out as cold pain radiates down my arm. Turning back towards me, Ella runs over and pushes back the sleeve of my duster.

"Dammit Oscar. He hit you with a curse. Even though he's dead, the curse still lingers. We need pure fire and heat to treat it. Elisaria, can you create some?"

"I'm sorry child, I may be powerful, but time takes its toll on all who walk this plane. Even I am not immune to that. I cannot create it anymore." Gripping Ella's hand, I squeeze it gently.

"You said fire?"

"Yes. We need a really hot fire."

"I have an idea. Help me down." With her help, I sit down on the ground, gritting my teeth against the growing pain. Opening up my inventory, I pull my Glock out of it.

"What good is a gun from your world, Oscar?"

"Shut up and watch." Sliding the magazine out, I pull back the slide, and a round pops from the chamber. Catching it, I drop the gun and mag to the side and look around for something to open the bullet with. Seeing a small knife on Ella's belt, I gesture for her to hand it to me. With an uncertain look, she gives it over. With practiced skill, I slide the blade against the bullet, wiggling it carefully until it comes free from the casing. Pulling the sleeve back, I pour the bullet into the wound, grimacing as the black powder comes into contact with the open cut.

"Now for the part that sucks." Grabbing the gun, I slide the magazine into it and chamber a round. Pointing the gun near the edge of the wound, I pull the trigger. As it goes off, the muzzle flash catches the gunpowder in the wound, burning it with a sizzle. Crying out, I drop the gun and roll to the side, clutching the wound on my arm as pain sears through it, causing the edges of my vision to go dark. My breath catches in my chest as the pain overwhelms me and time does that weird stretchy thing. After a moment or an hour, it's honestly hard to say, the pain lessons and I start to breathe normally. Turning over, I come face to face with Ella.

"Don't do that to me again, Oscar. Please promise me you won't. I thought it killed you."

"It almost did. God, I was not ready for that pain. That works so much better in the movies."

"What's a movie?" Laughing, I shake my head and take her hand. Looking down at my arm, I flex it and wince as normal pain lances through it. Pushing softly against it with her hand, Ella smiles.

"It seems like that did the job. The curse is gone. Come, let's get you inside." Helping me to my feet once more, she supports me as we walk over towards the cave, stopping in front of the old lady. Looking me over, she smiles.

"Well, boy. Therese certainly more to you than meets the eye. Come inside." Leading on, she chuckles to herself and whistles a little tune as the darkness swallows her figure. Looking over at Ella one last time, I shrug and we both follow the Crypt Master into her cave.