Devil Dokkaebi II

''I don't understand, how could it fail. I did everything you told me to do!'' A man fell to his knees. He let go of a knife he had been holding on to for dear, sobbing and unable to stand on his own any longer.

''It seems the ritual has failed boss. We were unable to summon Seir again. " The leader of the snakes, Kyung Park, walked over to the kneeled man. He crouched down as his subordinate reported the situation. Kyung was a svelte short man with black hair combed to the right side. He wore a white formal shirt and white pants, giving the impression of someone who wore formal wear without wanting to make any effort to look proper, He also had a tattoo on his neck of a snake moving towards his head.

He looked at the man with a tired expression, but no anger, just disappointment.

''I killed him. He was my best friend and I killed him. How could I have failed? " The man charged at Park and he just punched him down in an instant.

''I'm sorry, you can consider yourself part of our lieutenants now and if you would rather simply leave the snakes, I won't oppose it. Your dedication is clear and I'm sorry our ritual has failed us. Let's take him out so he can calm down for now. " Two men grabbed him as he cried, his clothes still stained with blood. Park looked at the altar with the figure of a person underneath a white sheet, the victim of a failed and pointless ritual.

''Clean this place up. We won't be attempting any more rituals for now.'' Park leaned against a wall as one of his men came closer to him. His expression was filled with disappointment as he looked at the ceiling.

''How can the contract fail like this? We have summoned Seir many times and we are the only ones that know the exact ritual."His second in command wasn't nearly as calm as Park was

''The ritual was given to us by the people on the city, but I doubt they will summon Seir themselves. He is not worth the trouble in the upper districts, I don't believe someone else summoned it before us, but it would be best if we stopped attempting to summon it anymore, at least till we know for sure. "'Park took out a cigar but left it unlit as he pondered.

''Maybe the people that killed Nicholas wanted to summon it for themselves. That would be terrible for us. "

''It's all right. Seir was almost nothing but a huge burden to deal with. As long as the wolves don't know that we have lost it, they will stay in their lane. We have work to do. We have enough merchandise to send to the Onigashima district. If we get this job right, we may be able to be invited to their district soon and we won't need that demon anymore. " He lighted his cigar, but even with his words, he looked unsure as he scratched his neck.

''They keep promising us that for years. Do you think this time they will really let us in?''

''Demons always need souls. The people in the city have it easy to request humans from us, but we are just a service for stuff they don't want to bother with." His subordinate sighed as he looked at their men beginning to take out the corpse from the center of the ritual, the white sheet still tainted red with blood.

''It was like this for the old boss too. That is why he wanted a demon of his own. The snakes have never managed to make it out of this den. Unfortunately, I don't think Dokkaebi is the kind of demon they want in their ranks. It is too hard to control, but I don't really care. I killed the old boss because I knew that they wouldn't accept a group led by a coward who couldn't even summon his own demon himself. " Park gritted his teeth at the bitter memory.

''Honestly, he was never going to make it any higher. His time was already over. Mr.Kyung, we should focus on making sure that we can make it. "You did manage to control that demon for a reason, Sir.''

''Dokkaebi can only be summoned by a child, a child that beats his game. I honestly got lucky back then and without him, I wouldn't have been able to kill the old boss, I'm lucky our sponsors up there in the city didn't mind me doing so, since by then I already had a good record working under that old man. "

''You and me both Mr.Kyung, but I still hate this job.''

''We can't leave it just like that. If we fail, their bosses will hunt us down. There will always be another shipment to get ready. If we can make it to the city, someone else can handle it. We will only have to oversee it from afar. That is the best we can do. We will make it there. We just need to work properly and show them that we are meant for something better. Someone will always need sacrifices in this city, but anyone else can get them for them. I just have to prove to them that we are worth more than that. "Park walked out of the room and towards the center of the small stadium.

In the center of a wide vacant space of sand, there was a massive number of huge cages all put together with a few guards walking around their perimeter. Kyung Park leaned on the fence on the benches as he looked at the huge blocks of steel. It was hardly humane, but that was the only true way for a small group like the snakes to look at all of their hostages at once.

''I'm so tired of this place and this smell, I really am.'' Park breathed in the smoke of his cigar as he looked at the sky.

''Even if it is the only home I was ever given, I need to leave it now.''Park took another breath of the bitter smoke and closed his eyes, he was simply tired.

At the entrance of the stadium, a makeshift gate had been built with wood, working as a huge fence over the only entrance that was still open. The gate began to open as some of the guards left for their patrol, but as they did, a strange fog began to roll in. The guardian at the door looked at it and slowly began to close down the gate, but as he did, he fell down to the ground with someone standing behind him stabbing him in the back.

Abram took the guard's hand from the lever of the gate and let it rise up again.

''So this is their real market, I can't say I'm happy to be here.'' Abram raised his hand and waved to signal that it was time to rush in before disappearing again, with the fog crawling into the stadium.