God of Hell - Chapter 38 - The Devil’s Song (Patreon)

“Who the fuck is that?!” Klaus screamed. He pointed his gun at mercury and the weapon roared as it spat out a bolt of bright red energy.

It whizzed towards the Demon but Mercury just turned his head a fraction to the side, letting it bite into air instead of scale and flesh.

Nero could only watch as the Demon kept on coming, his fresteed gaining with each moment. His was faster, stronger, leaner than any other he’d seen.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit!” Klaus cursed and shot again, this one did  hit Mercury, striking his foot and sending him tumbling into the dirt. “We, we did it… We got him.” Klaus whispered, disbelieving.

“No…No we didn’t.” Ember groaned, voice hollow with fear.

Nero didn’t let himself hope even for a moment that it was over. So he wasn’t at all surprised when Mercury rolled to his feet, drew back his rapier and threw it at Nero like a javelin.

The rapier came and Nero hit it.

But only with a glancing blow.

Not strong enough to throw it completely off course, and weak enough to still let it sink into the side of his mount.

The creature reared in agony, throwing Nero off and sending him to the ground.

He scrambled up to his feet to see Mercury covering the feet between them like they were inches and.

He’s fast… so, so fast.

He called on his Light Breathing but it didn’t come, even as Mercury quested ever forward to end his life, it slipped from his grasp despite his many attempts to wield it.

Behind he could hear his allies fleeing.

“Nero, Nero he’s coming!” Ember yelled.

The only thing that flashed in his eyes over and over were the bodies the monster had cut down, the helplessness Nero felt while he was hunted down like a rat.

“Nero, he’s going to kill you!” Ember yelled and he knew she was right, but he just couldn’t bring himself to move. His body was trembling, shivering, absolutely petrified in place.

Something fast whizzed towards Mercury.

The Demon leapt out of the way and then it exploded right next to him, lifting Nero off of his feet and leaving him skidding on his back.

Selvas stood on a roof, bow at the ready, and one of Erlo’s vials tied to the arrow. “Get the fuck up!” She roared.

Nero scrambled to his feet.

Mercury was on the ground, dazed but climbing up to his feet regardless. 

There were bruises, cuts and scrapes across his scales and the skin underneath. Black ichor ran down his body in grimey streaks.

He can bleed…

Selvas leapt down from the roof for the ground but something whipped out towards her, wrapped around her leg and slammed her into the earth with a painful dull thud.

“Selvas!”

Mercury pulled his tendrils back, face twisted in a grimace. There were six of those limbs now sprouting from his back, each one coiled like vipers and hungry for violence..

Nero would feed them Light instead.

His hand lit up in a fury, he splayed them out and shot a bolt of furious magic at Mercury.

He saw fear etched into a face he was convinced knew no terror.

Mercury twisted out of its path with a frantic haste and then came straight for Nero. “You’ve managed to pick up a few tricks all on your own, have you child?” 

“A few.” He hissed and swung his blade at the Demon.

Mercury caught it with his rapier and Nero was still wondering when he’d picked it back up by the time Mercury’s tendril whipped into his face.

The strike was hot, like iron pressed against his flesh, and Nero could barely think through the pain when the other tendrils leapt in to attack, each like a hornet, stinging Nero with a flurry of strikes that he could only barely fend off with swings from his blade and blocks with his arm.

Said arm was already bleeding from being struck so often and the few times Nero had managed to force his way out of the defensive, It grew heavier, slower. Mercury was already slipping out of his attacks like they were thrown through honey.

He was faster than Nero, faster than Cain too.

The Demon kept on swinging his blade in angry slashes and Nero doubted he’d managed to dodge even one. Each and every one of them landed, the only question was whether or not they hit their intended vital marks.

That he was still alive told him they hadn’t all.

But that wouldn’t be the case for long.

He was covered in wounds, bleeding from what felt like a thousand cuts and helpless to find an opening in the monster he was facing.

This wasn’t a fight, it was a feast.

It was a good thing then, that Nero had just a few more tricks up his sleeve.

Mercury’s tendrils came for him and he raised his tortured arm to block yet again. The limbs viciously leapt to strike beaten, bruised and battered flesh, but this time would be different.

The moment they connected, his hand lit up into an inferno of golden light. The limbs hissed and sizzled upon contact with his Light and pulled back like a dog struck by their owner.

Nero reached out to grab them, caught three instead of all six and heard the Demon scream in agony as the flesh corroded in his palm.

Nero’s blade went for his neck not a moment later, but the bastard was already moving. His edge caught the air where Mercury used to be and his face met the man’s elbow.

Something crunched, the world flashed white, Nero let go, and when he opened his eyes again, Mercury was on the offensive. Bringing his blade down like a hammer to an anvil first, and then just when Nero thought he was beginning to predict what was coming next, he switched from slashes to stabs, then changed grips to alter his angle of attack, added kick, a punch and then a strike to the face from the butt of his blade.

Nero tried desperately to fend them off but it was clear from the start that he was facing a superior opponent, one that outclassed him in every way he could think of. Mercury wasn’t just strong, he wasn’t just strong and fast. He was skilled, trained. Nothing at all like the Chieftain- a giant, raging animal capable of speech- he had all the coordination and technique of a warrior. Nero would’ve been disadvantaged even with an equal body.

He’d let himself dream, even just for a moment, that the agony of all his training and the countless obstacles he’d faced would have been enough to shrink the gap between him and this monster enough to stand a chance.

Nero was a fool, and he would die a fool.

Well, it wouldn’t be the first time.

Something flew towards Mercury and he caught Selvas’ arrow in his hand.

“You’re really making something of a nuisance of yourself, girl.” The Demon growled, red eyes burning into the woman.

Selvas was sliding another arrow into her bow, eyes as cold as ever.

Nero dashed at the distracted Mercury and got a foot sunk between his ribs before he could even attack.

He was on his knees in moments, puking out the contents of his stomach and tasting acid on his tongue.

He scrambled up to his feet as quickly as he could and Mercury seemed as unbothered by the action as a lion might be by a rat.

With a grip he snapped the arrow in half and set his eyes on Nero. He was outnumbered now, but if he noticed Nero couldn’t tell on his face. “Do you seriously think there is any other outcome to this than one which has you turn into a corpse.”

Nero didn’t say anything, because he knew the answer.

He was tired, hands shaking, losing blood and barely able to keep himself upright at this point. The more he exerted himself, the more he sweated, and the more those drops of sweat fell into his wounds and added to his torture.

Still he stood and fought, for a reason he couldn’t understand.

It was madness, surely madness.

That only seemed to enrage the monster even more. His frown deepened, like carved wood. “You’re wasting my time, why won’t you die alr-”

Selvas let an arrow loose and Nero swung at him the very moment she did.

Mercury twisted fractionally, letting the arrow graze him and bounce harmlessly off his scales. Effortlessly, he caught Nero’s blade with his own yet again and put his rapier straight through his shoulder.

Twisted agony bit into Nero and he couldn’t help but cry out loud as his blade dropped to the dirt. He sent out a ball of light that missed only to have Mercury put the shoulder responsible out of commission with yet another stab.

The Demon struck Nero on the face and sent him down to his knees as a fountain of blood erupted from his nose.

The only thing that saved him from having his throat cut open was a dagger that raced towards Mercury’s neck.

Selvas had stepped in, sacrificing the edge that distance gave her to protect him. It didn’t matter, it couldn’t matter.

Mercury stepped out of the blade’s path long before it came, as if warned by some clairvoyance. Selvas’ second slash didn’t get even half as close before her arm was caught by his three remaining tendrils.

She dropped her blade and caught it in her other hand, swung again but Mercury was already stabbing his blade at her heart.

No!

Nero willed himself to move but he could only kneel there uselessly, like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

Selvas caught the thrust with her dagger, tried to shove it awry but Mercury pushed the blade through her knee instead.

“Fuck!” Selvas screamed, dropping on one knee instantly. Mercury silenced her with a backhand to the face, she dropped down to her back in a daze. Nero could see the pain etched into her, bloodshot purple eyes staring up at the sky while the lower half of her face was covered in blood.

“I suppose I should kill her first and save the best for later.” Mercury grinned through monstrous shark teeth and crouched over Selvas.

“You touch her and I will k-!”

Mercury buried his blade through Selvas’ shoulder and Nero heard nothing else in the world but her cry as she writhed and struggled in the dirt. He heard that same voice break when Mercury twisted the blade in her before pulling its bloody metal out of his friend.

“P-please don’t.” Nero begged, and Mercury’s blade stabbed through her hip. 

She screamed and Mercury twisted. Eyes locked on Nero, like Selvas was barely even worth acknowledging for him. There was only Nero and his pain, there was only the torment of watching his friend be tortured.

“Fuck! Stop, please, please just stop!” He begged, hearing his voice give in and tears stream down his eyes. “I haven’t done anything to you, I don’t even know you, why are you doing this?!” He was sobbing now, but what else could he do.  “I’m begging you, kill me… Just… Just let her go, please, I’ll do anything, please.”

The glee in Mercury’s eyes faded and Nero thought he saw hints of pity in them. No, that was disgust, and the more it settled in the more raw and acidic it was. “If a creature threatened the entirety of your people, everything you love, every one you cherish, would you show it mercy? Would you cradle it gently?”

“Run… Nero.” Selvas struggled and Mercury struck her with a sickening backhand.

“I’ll stay away, I’ll hide, you’ll never see me again, just please fucking stop!” He tried desperately to reason with the Demon.

“No you won’t!” He roared. “You will either lead us into a generation of prosperity, or you will burn us to ashes.” He hissed. “And I will not take that chance.”

The Demon raised his blade high above Selvas’ throat and drew in a preparatory breath. Groggy purple eyes drifted to Nero, speaking softly through burst lips. “Not your fault…” She wheezed. “Not your fault.”

And then the blade came down.