Chapter 9:

The battle

Lights Off


John Clark's point of view

I was on my knees praying to mentally prepare myself for what was to come when Joseph walked into my room and politely warned me that Mr. Rickshark's army was approaching the church.

John: For now we will act normally, tell Klovis to silently organize the defense teams and tell Lunna and Emilya to lead non-combatants to a safe haven

Joseph promptly left my room and I finished my prayer.

“May God allow us to resolve this conflict without shedding innocent blood” I said to myself to comfort my heart for what was to come

I left my room and went to the church altar, arriving there I could see Klovis dividing his soldiers into specific areas of the church, as soon as he saw me he approached

Klovis: The Teams are in place and we are awaiting your orders sir

John: Alright, keep formation and let's wait for the enemy to make their first move

Klovis: Yes sir!

Not long after, it was possible to hear the voice of a man shouting into a megaphone outside the church.

“Mister John Clark! Leader of this filthy church! Come outside immediately! I won't repeat myself" he yelled so loud he hardly needed the megaphone

Klovis: What are you going to do?

John: I'll go there and talk to him

Klovis: Are you crazy?

Klovis: Have you looked at what's out there waiting for you?

John: No

Klovis: And you're just going to walk in there unarmed and talk to him?

John: I as a priest and leader of this church have a mission to preserve everyone's life even if I have to sacrifice mine

John: Besides I'm not unarmed

I then took my rosary that I have kept with me since I started my studies as a priest.

Looking at Klovis brought back some memories of my past

“Looking at you like that reminds me of the apostle Peter as Jesus surrendered himself to the Romans” I said to Klovis as I remembered Alexander's words

So I walked out the front door of the church and the first thing I saw was Rickshark staring at the church, beside him was Ascla floating casually

But what caught my attention was to see that Miss Walker was riding her sheep next to the 2, but she didn't look well.

Her skin that was already quite white was now a pale shade, she was sweating a lot as if she was passing under great pressure at that moment.

Behind them were demons of the most varied types and several "zombies" were together with the demons

I then walked closer to that army with a serene expression on my face

Adam: Oh! Are you approaching me?

Adam: Instead of running away you are approaching me

John: I can't have a civil conversation without approaching you

Adam: So get as close as you want

I walked to a midpoint between him and the church and friendly signaled for him to join me.

He then confidently came alone and we came face to face with each other

John: If I may have my opinion, you haven't changed anything since the time we met

Adam: The years were kind to me, but it looks like they punished you

John: You're right, but while aging is punishing to the vain it is kind to those who wish to become wiser

Adam: Don't apply your primitive logic to me! I mastered youth and wisdom

John: I have some idea what you do to stay alive

John: If I may ask, how many people have you killed to stay young?

Adam: What a cheeky question!

Adam: Have you ever counted how many slices of bread you've eaten in your life? Or how many ants have you already crushed even if by mistake?

John: Sorry, I was flippant to think you would care about these things

John: Well... Let's get to the main point

John: Should I invite you in?

John: You know, I always had faith that you would someday accept God as lord and savior

Adam: Don't be insolent inferior creature

John: By the way I would like to know what you drink

Adam: Today I will use your skull as a cup and drink your blood

He then picks up his cane and surprisingly shows that it wasn't an ordinary cane, it was a disguised sword.

He then draws his sword in front of me

John: Ah... So we can't solve this without shedding blood can we?

Adam: Spare you was never an option

I was really sad for the way the conversation took, I really wanted to convince him with words to give up his plan but it wasn't possible

So I quickly pulled air into my lungs, clenched my fist tightly and surprised him with a straight punch to the jaw.

He lost the sparkle in his eyes as he fell without any resistance to the ground

I asked God to allow me just this once to allow me to return to my dark past as a mercenary

I abandoned everything to become a priest more than 20 years ago, but even so I couldn't abandon my old habits such as keeping calm and calm in extreme situations or waking up at dawn to do physical training

I hoped I would never have to do something like this again, I bought a baseball bat just to scare off the goths who were vandalizing the cemetery

But this time it was different, I wasn't doing it to get money from one boss who paid more than the other, I was doing it to defend everyone in the church.

After Adam fell to the ground I took advantage of the short time to disarm him by kicking the sword out of his hand

Ascla flew at an impressive speed and grabbed me by the neck

I reacted quickly by taking the cross from my rosary that was in my left hand and placing it on her forehead

It was a thoughtless act, so much so that only after I realized that I had hit her third eye, she then gave a loud cry of pain and threw me meters away

I didn't have a gentle fall on the asphalt, my sweatshirt tore to a point that was already unusable so I just finished taking it off.

I was grateful that my clothes had taken the damage and not my back, when I hit the ground I could see Ascla recovering from the recent damage and advancing towards me again.

It was then that she received a straight shot in the chest that made her lose direction and miss her charge

I knew from the angle of the shot it was Stevan, Ascla seemed to be confused about what had just happened, I took advantage of the situation and stood up while Stevan covered me

As soon as I could get up the zombies and demons started making their assault on the church, I knew I was incapable of dealing with them so I ran towards the church as Klovis opened the doors and advanced his team to war.

We were in a very low number of soldiers compared to the enemy army but I had faith that with our weapons and with Klovis' training our soldiers could balance the battle.

“You're good grandpa” Klovis said as we approached and he gave me a crowbar.

As soon as I picked up the crowbar I could catch a glimpse of Ascla flying towards the bell tower where Stevan was

"I'll help him" I said to Klovis who gave me a thumbs up and advanced with his scythe towards the larger mass of enemy soldiers

"Where do you think you are going?" an angry voice caught my attention amid the screams between the armies

When I turned around I saw Adam with messy hair and bloody mouth

He looked like he had just got up and looked for me quickly.

Adam: We're not done yet

Adam: I already said I'm going to drink your blood today and I won't go back on my word

John: God is on my side, you won't win this war

Adam: God? GOD? How can you say that someone who is not even present will protect you

John: You at your age should have noticed, God is present in everything, including you and me

Adam: You're wrong, if I ever had God I made sure to cast him out of me

Adam: If you're so confident in his strength then explain to me how he allowed the darkness to take over

John: God has a plan for each of us, I fully trust him

Adam: Don't make me laugh, this is nothing more than an excuse used to disguise that he abandoned you

Adam: But unlike your master, mine is present even in your physical form

John: What do you mean by that?

Adam: Isn't it obvious? I thought that with age you had become wiser

Adam: He himself was the one who brought us the darkness as a way of establishing his presence

Adam: As soon as I exterminate everyone from this church I will offer all souls to him and thus become one of his generals in this war

John: We won't let you complete your goal

Adam: “We”? For the love of Satan, have the guts to assume your responsibilities at least once

John: You still don't understand, I'm not alone, even if I fail in my mission to stop you someone will come and finish the job

Adam: I've fought in 2 world wars and benefited from minor wars without even being noticed, do you really think you and your lackeys are going to be able to stop me?

John: They're not my lackeys, they're my brothers

Adam: Hahaha! Am I having déjà vu?

Adam: Not so long ago I had the same conversation with 2 young people

Adam: One of them is there riding a sheep and soon she will become one of my most powerful servants

Adam: And the second one I made sure he's already in hell right now

Of course he was talking about Elai and Miss Walker, at that moment maybe it didn't matter anymore to hide whether I knew them or not but I preferred to act naturally

John: What did you do with the girl?

Adam: I gave her a high dose of Ascla blood

Adam: Right now he's spreading her body like a virus, she's pretty stubborn so it's taking longer than the others

Adam: When the blood breaks her will and dominates her she will definitely become powerful and I will completely dominate her

Adam: But you won't be in this world to witness

Adam then makes a quick lunge with his sword, I quickly defended with the crowbar and then kicked his knee causing him to fall to the ground with a broken knee.

He pointed his sword in my direction and I hit it making it break and then I slashed at his hand breaking it instantly.

He showed to be in pain but not like a normal person, it was more like it was not hurting him much

"Finish the job" he yelled in a menacing tone as he purposely lowered his guard for me to attack him.

If we were 20 years earlier I wouldn't hesitate to kill him, or rather I would have killed him by the time he got to church

But I was changed, I really tried hard to abandon the monster I was and I intended to get back to that shape

"You can not! The church has made you a coward!” he said as he grinned evilly staring into my eyes like a beast

Then before I could notice, a shadow came out of him and hit me full in the chest making me fly away from him.

It caught me so off guard that I dropped my crowbar as soon as I took the hit

Once I got to the ground I quickly repositioned myself and could see Adam being lifted by the same shadow that hit me.

Adam then began to recover from the damage received recently.

John: What is this?

Adam: What is this face John?

Adam: Did you really think Ascla was the only demon under my direct control?

Adam: I am many steps ahead of you, even if you have unexpectedly brought reinforcements I will be the one to triumph in this battle

This was indeed impressive, with so many reports of demons taking physical forms in this world I completely ignored the possibility of demonic possession.

Adam: Now you will be taught in practice how to finish off an enemy

He then made a gesture ordering the shadow to take my crowbar, when the shadow tried to take it it started to burn with a characteristic blue fire

Adam: What is this?

John: Looks like your shadow can't touch sacred objects

I then finished getting up and set up my fighting stance

John: It seems like if any of us want to do something, it will have to be the classic way.

Adam: You son of a bitch! I will make sure your death is slow and painful

So the 2 of us ran towards each other in order to solve the fight using our fists.

Neither of us dared to act safely, we looked like 2 goats nodding at each other, I was somewhat superior in combat to Adam but he balanced the table using his shadows

We continued fiercely until I started to feel the weight of age coming on

My physical resistance was no longer the same as it was 20 years ago, I was already losing my breath while Adam was in a much better situation than mine

Fighting him was similar to fighting a pair of trained assassins, little by little he was beating me, I needed to do something about those demons but I didn't have time to concentrate

It was then that a shadow managed to open up my guard and Adam stabbed me with the piece that was left of his blade in my abdomen, then he trapped me in a sleeping hold

I tried to defend myself but the shadows held me like chains in a dungeon

"It's over you fucking priest" Adam said as he squeezed my neck like a snake, I was losing my strength, my vision was darkening, there was nothing more to be done at that moment

Is this the end of me? Was this where my story would end?

I had already accepted my fate of dying in battle when suddenly something hits Adam's head making him let go of me

I fell to the ground without any strength and then sucked in air as if I had found an oasis after almost dying of thirst

I looked to the side where Adam was I saw Emilya fighting him

She was struggling to deal with Adam and his shadow but I knew she wouldn't be able to do that for long.

I had to do something but I was hurt, if I healed myself Adam would have enough time to kill Emilya

I gathered my strength and ignored the pain of being stabbed and got up again, I no longer cared about my well being, if I was going to die I wanted it to be saving even if it was a soul

I ran with everything I had and knocked Adam to the ground, Emilya was a little startled by the way I showed up

“Help me hold him Emilya” I yelled as I held Adam and placed the cross of my rosary on his forehead

Adam: What are you going to do? Exorcise me? What a joke

I then started to pray an ancient prayer in Aramaic that I had been researching for a long time.

As soon as I started to pray, the cross started to heat up and strange smoke came out.

“That won't work hahaha! I'm going to kill you 2” Adam became more and more hysterical as I continued the exorcism

The shadows were scratching at me and Emilya tearing at our clothes and skin as Adam scrambled on the ground like a fish out of water.

The shadows were starting to hurt Emilya who soon after was flung away

Adam seemed to have noticed and started giggling in ecstasy at what happened, I then punched him in the jaw making him stop laughing.

As I was finishing the prayer I suddenly felt something cross my chest making me spit blood all over Adam's face

"I said I would drink his blood today" he licked the blood off his face as he boasted of victory

Adam: What will your last words be?

I opened a big smile on my face already knowing what my destiny would be

John: Amen!

"What? But what kind of last words are these?” he looked at me disgusted as I fell to the side

Then Adam starts to feel weird, he was getting hot and smoke was coming out of his mouth

"What did you do to me ?" he screamed as he scratched himself all over until he took off his clothes

He was tearing at his own skin as if there was something wrong inside him, until he started to glow with a strong light that could be seen from inside him.

He then started screaming, his orifices were glowing in blinding white light.

When he stopped glowing he just collapsed to the ground and his body turned to ash.

John: May God one day receive you in paradise

I had already accepted my fate, it was a matter of time before I found Adam again...

The last things I remember were seeing Emilya running at me in despair with her torn clothes and loose hair

She tried to heal me but it wasn't having much effect, my eyes were heavy but my body felt light

I didn't feel pain, I was at peace

The last thing I saw before I closed my eyes was the church door being destroyed and a blue fireball flying

A few moments before....

Stevan Silva's point of view

I saw in the distance the silhouette of an army approaching the church and I reported it to my team.

Some time later their leader stopped and his companion handed him a megaphone

“Mister John Clark! Leader of this filthy church! Come outside immediately! I won't repeat myself" he looked like a kid calling to fight after school

A few moments later Mr. Clark left the church alone and headed towards the army.

Stevan: What the fuck is this Klovis? Why is he going alone towards the enemy?

Klovis: I don't know, he said he would have a chat with the guy over there

Klovis: Keep your eyes on him

Stevan: Right!

Mr. Clark walked halfway between church and army and stopped.

He then signaled for the leader to meet him, not long after the conversation of the 2 didn't seem to be going well but the priest was still in a firm pose with his arms behind his back.

He then without even demonstrating to his enemy made me a sign that I should prepare myself, I didn't know how a priest knew how to communicate silently like a mercenary but at that point it didn't matter

Mr. Clark then punched the army leader in the mouth, that punch was good in an unusual way, the leader then fell without resistance on his back to the ground and Mr. Clark kicked the unconscious man's sword

The demon that was with him quickly came forward holding Mr. Clark by the neck, he then used his cross on her third eye which started to smoke, she then threw the priest away.

I had little time to calculate the demon's reaction time, distance and wind resistance so I could fire my rifle.

Fortunately I was able to predict the demon's movement and managed to hit her in the chest that made her miss her attack giving the priest time to escape

From that moment the enemy army started to advance and Klovis opened the doors of the church and left with his troops to attack

I continued shooting at the demon that was confused when being hit, as soon as she realized where I was she took off towards me

I managed to hit one more shot before I needed to get away from the bell, she went in knocking everything in front of her

“the enemy entered through the bell window” I immediately reported the situation to Lunna and Klovis

Lunna: Do you think it's up to you to take down the demon yourself?

Stevan: I managed to land 2 rifle shots on her and it doesn't seem to have any effect.

Stevan: Prepare measures for a possible evacuation of non-combatants

Lunna: Right

Klovis: The priest said he's coming to help you

Stevan: Great! I'll see if I can hold her from the bell in the meantime

I took my Apc9 and started the cat and mouse game with the demon

The room was clean, there was only my gun case and some irrelevant stuff

"Hello there" I greeted the demon like a hero from a movie I saw a while ago

She then answered me with grunts like an animal

Stevan: Sorry ma'am but I don't speak demonish

she then clears her throat

Ascla: So... Is that better for you?

Stevan: Wait, can you speak my language?

Ascla: Of course I can! How old do you think I am human?

Stevan: I don't know, for me you have every year

Ascla: Hahah, you humans are fascinating

Ascla: The more time I spend with you the more I have fun

Ascla: Ah... Where are my manners, I am Ascla Olmi

Stevan: Stevan Silva

“Forget about the priest's support, he's fighting Rickshark right now” as soon as I finished introducing myself Klovis sent me a disheartening message

Ascla: Looks like my master is going to kill your master soon

Stevan: He's not my master, he's my boss

Ascla: Whatever! You humans invent new words all the time

Ascla: What matters is that now you're all mine to play with

She then makes a sensual pose putting a finger in her mouth to charm

I quickly took aim at her chest and fired a quick burst of bullets.

She took all the bullets without resisting and backed up a little

Ascla: Hey! That hurt!

Stevan: But that's the intention

Ascla: Tell me how you resisted my seduction? Do you not by any chance like women?

Stevan: Of course I like it, but I know how to differentiate between work and fun

Stevan: Besides... It helps a lot that I know what you are

Her face suddenly changed to a horrible face and then she opened her mouth and fired a red flame like she was a dragon

I instinctively jumped to her side to dodge her flame but she was aiming towards me

I retaliated with a few bursts of gunfire on the few opportunities I had until it stopped the flames.

Ascla: You damn rat! Stay quiet!

Stevan: Not a chance! I'm sure I don't look good  cooked

Ascla: Your wand is really annoying

Stevan: This "wand" is a product of human evolution

Stevan: This is capable of releasing more than 1000 fireballs per minute

Ascla: This is unfair!

Stevan: Oh come on! You're a demon that flies, breathes fire and can take more shots than any creature I've ever seen in my life.

Stevan: And you're the one complaining

Stevan: This is war! Fulfilling your mission is your only obligation

Ascla: You're right!

She then tries again to advance towards me and I replied shooting back at her but unexpectedly the bullets ran out

Before I could reload my weapon she came forward and gave me a blow with her shoulder that threw me straight into the room door causing me to cross and fall down the stairs

“What was that sound? Are you okay ?" Lunna yelled into the communicator

"Of course not! This bitch threw me through the door and I fell like a piece of shit on the stairs.” I spoke almost without strength as I tried to get up

“Bitch? Are we ever so close human?" She was walking down the stairs calmly as if nothing had happened

"Do you think this is a compliment?" I asked surprised by her reaction as I reloaded my weapon

"But that's exactly what I am, my existence is just to satisfy men and then consume their souls" 3 of her eyes glowed as she said it

“Well then! If you want my soul you'll have to work hard to get it” I finished putting the clip of my machine gun and then I unloaded the shots on top of it without daring to blink my eyes

I left my communicator channel open so that Lunna and Klovis could hear everything I was doing.

Ascla was walking as if the bullets were no longer taking effect, I started screaming in frustration and anger as she got closer and closer

Until she came close to me and crushed my gun

"That was fun human... I mean Stevan, now relax and let me do my job" she hugged me gently but firmly, I couldn't let go at all

She then started kissing me, this had to be the best kiss of my life, everything was starting to get dark, I didn't feel pain anymore, I could only hear Lunna's screams on the communicator...

Lunna Victoria's point of view

“Stevan, STEVAAAAN! SAY SOMETHING!" I screamed for Stevan's name terrified just thinking about the idea that that demon had taken him

“Shit shit SHIT!” I screamed in rage and punched the wall as hard as I could, I didn't want to accept it but the truth was there, Stevan was dead

“Joseph! Immediately drive non-combatants out of the church now!” I turned to Joseph angrily

Joseph: What are you planning on doing?

Lunna: I'll kill that bitch

Joseph: You can't do this alone, we must wait for someone like Klovis or Father John to come to us

"If you dare to stop me I swear I'll kill you before she does" I grabbed Joseph by his shirt like I was a lioness ready for the hunt, Dorothea then pushed me in with the intention of making me let go of Joseph

"Get your filthy hands off my son!" she spoke in an imperative tone, I then punched her cheek with the back of my hand making her fall to the floor in pain.

“Put yourself in your place, you goody motherfucker! If you can't treat Joseph like a fucking man I'll do it!” Dorothea and Joseph were looking at me scared

"Ah... Do what you want" Joseph then took a breath and looked straight into my eyes as he spoke.

He then helped his mother up and he led people to the nearest exit.

I ran to the kitchen and got flour and ran to the altar already anticipating that Ascla would go there

As soon as I got to the altar I saw her looking at the art on the church ceiling very casually.

"Ascla!" I screamed with all my anger to get her attention

She turned to me but she looked at me like a child who had just made a new friend

Ascla: You seem to know me already

Lunna: You killed Stevan!

Ascla: Oh! So that's why you came

Ascla: I must say he was a worthy meal

Lunna: You bastard, I'm going to kill you!

Ascla: Young lady, do you have any idea how many times I've heard this?

Ascla: Whatever, before we start, tell me who those painted on the ceiling are

Lunna: These are angels, how can you not know what this is?

Ascla: Angels? What is this joke? All the angels I knew were way more imposing than these cute things

Lunna: Enough of the chat! Where am I going to send you they don't exist

Ascla: Oh! Are you by any chance threatening to send me home?

I then drew my knife and got into combat stance

Ascla: Aren't you going to use one of those strange objects?

Lunna: I want to open you up and see you beg to die

Ascla: Those are strong words, do you think you can fulfill them?

I then held my knife in my mouth and ran towards Ascla with the flour packages in my hands

She then came flying in at a high speed, I waited until a good moment to throw the package up to her face and rolled to the side.

She went right through the package getting dirty all over while I got up off the floor and quickly stabbed her in the back with the knife

She tried to hit me but I quickly removed the knife from her back, at that moment I understood that she didn't understand advanced combat tactics, I dodged low and made a side cut at the height of the spleen and with all the strength I had I stuck it a whole package of flour inside it

The knife made her wounds burn in a blue fire and without my noticing the flour also seemed to be working on its own.

I then started to press her with stabs until she approached the church door

She managed to beat me to get away from her

Ascla: Do you really think you can kill me with this white dust? That's ridiculous!

Lunna: No, but I intend to kill you with this

I then took Holyotov and threw it with all my strength at her chest

As soon as the mixture reacted with the air it exploded in blue flames hurling Ascla out of the church and causing me to fall to the ground.

Lunna: This worked better than I imagined, now I have to go outside and watch that bitch burn to death

-june-
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