Fiend Hunt II: The Dance Macabre

Village Cemetery

- Bastion and Ilio -

Bastion smiled and nodded at Vayu. He liked coordinating their efforts much more than opposing each other.

"Sounds good to me. Prince?"

Principality, sweeping aside a horde of skeletons with his Crosswinds spell, nodded curtly before turning his attention to the Fiend as he unleashed his Cursed Concerto.

"Behind me!" he ordered the two Vanguards as he hovered into the air and swept his wings wide. "Void Dark!"

A barrier of light illuminated the area, and the cursed apparitions collided into it harmlessly. At least, for the Vanguards. The Fiend's spell was potent, and Prince shuddered and winced as some of the curse's power managed to seep through and hit his body.

"Prince!"

"Nevermind me," the angel replied. "Watch for your opening."

Bastion turned his focus toward the Fiend and the other Vanguard. She surged in toward the oncoming barrage of cursed apparitions and unleashed a shockwave with her shield that knocked them back toward the graveyard, where they mindlessly surged toward the rest of them. Bastion ignored them, keeping his attention trained on his target, as the other Vanguard's demon flew toward the fiend and cast its spell.

David shied away from the light, shrieking in pain, and held his violin away to protect it. And Bastion saw his moment.

"Certainty!"

The slash of his fingers sent the maga infused with Bless magic straight for the violin, striking its neck and shattering the wood.

"Villains!" David shrieked. "You dare silence my songs!"

Brandishing his violin bow like a sword, he lunged for Ilio.

-------------------------

- Asher and Vayu -

Asher's jaw tightened as the Fiend unleashed a barrage of cursed at them, and he gripped his hand into a fist as he cast his spell. "Devil Trigger."

His strength and agility boosted, and he made to evade when Catequil's Power Bind swept over him, paralyzing him in his tracks. Eyes wide, he swore under his breath and flexed his arms as the apparitions swooped in closer.

"Rebellion!"

In a flash of golden static, the ailment shattered, and the boosts he'd cast amplified. Without them, he couldn't have reacted as quickly as he did, nimbly leaping aside at the last second as a ghostly form slammed into the ground where he'd stood, detonating in a burst of curse magic.

Flipping, twisting, and leaping, he dodged each apparition as they threw themselves toward him until the last had finally dissipated. As he straightened up, Vayu charged in toward him, obviously intending to block him off.

"Don't be stupid." Asher pointed his guns at Vayu, eyes narrowing. "Move if you don't want to die."

At the sound of the violin shattering and the Fiend's desperate cry, his neck went taut and his muscled rigid.

"Now."

Village Cemetery - Ilio

As the instrument broke, the fiend lost his temper and lunge forward with its bow as if it was using its sword.

Vidofnir quickly flew between David and his partner. "Reversal!" Blocking the fiend's attack and hopefully impacting the fiend with greater force that would hit it from behind.

Spoiler:

Ilio did not let her partner's work go unnoticed, she muttered, "Tide Breaker." with sheer of determination, she overcome injuries she got from the impact of clashes between the shockwaves, she dashed forward with enhanced speed and with her added strength she swung her sword up diagonally.  

Spoiler:

Village Cemetery

Vayu, still protected by his barrier, was able to ignore the remaining apparitions that flew towards them. Unlike Asher who only managed to escape by boosting his agility.

“Two can play at this game,” Vayu murmured to himself and raised his hand. “Synchro Gift,” he cast to boost his own speed and agility.

Finally, the last apparition had faded, and Asher and Vayu faced off with the Vanguard standing between Asher and the Fiend.

“I won’t let you through,” he said. His sole focus was on Asher, and he ignored the commotion behind him as the violin of the Fiend broke.

Then a smile played around his lips. “But I will give you the same advice.”

Catequil, upset that his spell had failed and also needing to dodge the apparitions earlier had taken to the air with a huge leap. He was now coming down, brandishing his spear that was already sparking with the charged lightning.

The lightning and the spear burst down on Asher just as Vayu moved his hands towards him and cast “Confusion Wave!”

Village Cemetery

- Asher and Vayu -

Asher gave Vayu a humorless smile before turning his eyes toward Catequil, who plunged down at him from above with his spear pointed straight at him. Rather than running, Asher sprang straight upward toward the demon, over the Confusion Wave that Vayu cast at him, and met the god's spear with the underblades of his guns. The lightning coursed over him, but he pressed through it, gritting his teeth, and pushed the demon away.

As Catequil landed behind Vayu, Asher dropped in front of him and lunged in the blink of an eye. The tip of his blade stopped just short of Vayu's throat, and the barrel of his gun pointed directly into Vayu's face.

"Are you really willing to die for that Deathstone?" he asked, his expression stony.

-------------------------

- Bastion and Ilio -

David gave a start as Vidofnir flew between him and Ilio, and as his violin bow hit the barrier, he was pummeled from behind by a rebounding force from his attack and staggered.

Right into the path of Ilio's blade.

Her sword splintered bone as it hacked into his skeletal torso, and he staggered back to his knees.

"How cruel you are, to deny the dead this chance of freedom," he lamented. "But no, I shall not allow it! I will join them myself if I must."

As he spoke, the bones of his lower body began to break apart, swirling together around the broken violin. The pieces of bone clamped onto it and mended it before levitating it into the air. David - or what was left of him now, just arms to hold the violin and a skull perched on top of a vertebrate holding it all together - hovered in the air and began to feverishly play his Dance Macabre.

The dead, which had begun to lose life after the violin had broken and lost its song, now began to reanimate once more in a frenzy, their course orderly and directed. They circled around David, protecting him, and surged like a tidal wave at Ilio.

Bastion and Prince swooped in near her, keeping their eyes fixed on David's form disappearing in and out from among the surging mob.

"Can you make an opening for us?" Bastion asked. "If we can get a shot, I think we can finish him."

Village Cemetery - Ilio and Bastion

"No, 'if's." Said Ilio, she glanced at the vanguard, and looked at the hordes "Have faith in your ability, and remember that you are one of us, the Vanguards. The last line of defenders of humanity and the greatest weapon to put an end to the nightmares that hunts the world." Then she muttered to herself.

"Indomitable Will."

Maga surrounded her and the greater numbers of her enemies empowered her spell and it enhanced her with new strength, and as she swung her sword, the dead found their peace as they did before. "Stand by me, and Vidof!" She called out to her demon partner. Her demon partner knew what she was asking him to do- it  quickly jumped into the space created by Ilio's powerful swings and as it flopped its wings, "Thunder Wave!" an electrical explosion followed, hopefully it had created enough of opening for the vanguard do what he must do.

Spoiler:

Village Cemetery

– Asher and Vayu –

For a moment it looked like his plan worked, but then Asher pressed through and even managed to push Catequil away.

Then he was in front of Vayu, his guns at his throat. The Vanguard froze, his eyes locking with Asher’s stare, and he did his best to ignore the gun shoved in his face or the blade touching the tip of his throat. Behind him, he could hear the commotion of the fight as well as Catequil growling.

Stay there, he thought towards Catequil. Asher cannot be let near the fiend.

Reluctantly, Catequil stayed where he was.

“I wouldn’t die for a deathstone,” he said slowly. “But I would die for my friends. And I know they are willing to do everything to keep you from getting that deathstone. So it’s all the same to me.”

Village Cemetery

- Asher and Vayu -

At Vayu’s declaration, something shifted behind Asher’s eyes. Though his gun never lowered and his hand never wavered, his lips twitched, as though struggling with words or an expression.

Then he spoke one word. “Freikugel.” And pulled the trigger.

-------------------------

- Bastion and Ilio -

“No, ‘if's.’ Have faith in your ability, and remember that you are one of us, the Vanguards. The last line of defenders of humanity and the greatest weapon to put an end to the nightmares that hunts the world.”

Bastion stared at the other Vanguard, her words resonating in his heart. He smiled, then turned to face the hoard alongside Prince. The angel caught him up as Ilio and her demon surged in and blasted a whole in the hoard, and they flew through the gap. David’s eyes widened at the sight of them, but he was powerless to react as Prince released him in midair, and the two of them pointed their weapons at the Fiend.

“Holy Horn!”

“Holy Arrow!”

The two shafts of light surged forward, one slamming into the violin, and the other into the Fiend’s head. With an anguished cry, they broke apart, washed away by the light. In the brightness, Bastion only just had a chance to glimpse the golden bullet that whizzed past him and right at David’s forehead. But, too late! The Fiend vanished just as the bullet reached him, and it smacked uselessly into the wall behind.

-------------------------

- Asher and Vayu -

Vayu’s throat stung from the small nick he received as Asher’s gun shifted at the last moment to fire the bullet just past his head. Asher stepped away, with the calm assurance of someone who’d just won, but flinched a moment later as he whirled around.

The Deathstone emerged from where David had just been, deepest black smoke swirling together and condensing into an obsidian stone. It fell in Bastion’s outstretched hand as the undead dropped to the ground like puppets with their strings cut.

Asher stared, hands trembling on his guns, then gripped them more tightly as a humorless smile pulled at his lips.

“If you’re so willing to die for your friends, now’s your chance,” he said to Vayu. “Because now I have no choice. A Deathstone can only be freely given or fatally won. And I know your friend’s not going to hand it over willingly.”

He raised his gun, eyes hardening, and fired at Bastion. “Memento Mori.”

Village Cemetery

- Asher and Vayu -

The shot came too fast for him to react. A moment later, only the stinging of the small cut on his throat and a ringing in his ears remained and it took him a few seconds to realized Asher had fired at the Fiend.

A smile curled around his lips when he saw that Asher was furious, which meant that Bastion and the others had succeeded in killing the Fiend first.

However, it disappeared when he saw the dark look in Asher’s eyes and his determination. He wouldn’t just let them go. “Bastion! Watch out!” he called behind him.

“I won’t let you get to them” he said, his teeth gritted and quickly he swiped his ninjato down to hit Asher’s gun and get the bullet off path. However, he was still too slow and his weapon only connected after the bullet was already fired.

At the same time Catequil, also realizing what Asher was going after now, reacted.

The demon jumped at the path of the bullet and with his spear charged up with lightning, he intercepted the bullet, causing it to explode before it reached Bastion. The golden spikes released, with Catequil bearing the brunt of the blast and the rest burning up in the lightning.

Village Cemetery - Ilio and Bastion

Ilio smiled warmthly at the other vanguard as she walked toward him. "Good job, now it seems like-" She was about to say something, or rather ask him a question what this mission was really about. But a shout from the other vanguard who supposedly keeping the gunslinger busy caught her attention.

She was about to defend the vanguard who was called 'Bastion' as it looked like the gunslinger fired its shot at him. However, the other vanguard's demon partner managed to prevent the bullet from reaching them.

Ilio stared at the gunslinger's direction, and frowned. "Is he a human?" She asked, but she did not wait for the answer as it was very clear that Gunslinger did not fire that one as 'friendly fire', but a 'kill' shot.

Ilio tossed Apeiro at the gunslinger, the weapon duplicated itself into many and flew at the gunslinger.

Spoiler:

"Vidof!" Ilio shouted at her demon partner, who was flying straight toward the gunslinger and made himself disappeared and appeared back of the gunslinger, little far from its melee range attack. "Ultrasonic"

Spoiler:

Village Cemetery

Bastion turned in surprise at Vayu’s voice just in time to see Catequil move between the bullet Asher had fired and himself, blocking it at the cost of personal injury. As Catequil fell back, wounded, he and Ilio rushed forward to help when Prince’s hand stopped him short.

“What?”

“You are the hunter’s target,” Prince told him. “We should escape now and let them handle it.”

Bastion glared. “I can’t abandon them after they just-“

“This is too important!” Prince interjected sternly. “You must consider the greater ramifications around-“

Bastion took off running toward Asher, leaving Prince to sigh heavily and follow after.

Meanwhile, Asher’s gun went wide as Vayu’s ninjato struck it, and Asher backpedaled to get some range when Ilio and her demon came into view. With teeth gritted, Asher abandoned his offense to dodge Ilio’s blades, using the graves for cover as he maneuvered and scrambled away. His speed was enough, but it was obvious to see his enhancement was starting to bleed off. When Vidofnir used his spell, Asher jolted in surprise, confused, before the lightning connecting the two points surged and struck him, throwing him back.

Rolling on his back, Asher righted himself, guns raised, as Bastion and Ilio joined Vayu’s side and stared down the fiend hunter.

“We might as well get this over with now,” Bastion said. “Put this race behind us. Get him!”

Village Cemetery

Vayu could hear the explosion from Catequil’s move but refused to turn around and take his eyes off Asher. However, he did take a second to de-summon his primary demon partner.

“Rest for now,” he thought. “We’ll get you taken care of soon.”

He was able to take a breath when Bastion and the other Vanguard joined him, and she and her demon began to attack Asher as well who was now forced on the defensive.

“Fine, let’s finish this,” Vayu agreed with Bastion. He pushed his hands out, casting another Confusion Wave towards Asher.

“We’ll fan out, to give him a harder time at targeting us with those guns,” he added and with a flick of his wrist, he summoned the Empusa that in turn sent a Frolic Frost spell towards Asher. The sharp ice particles flew towards him dancing in a cloud between him and his enemies.

Village Cemetery

As the other male vanguard casted spells at the gunslinger, Ilio rushed forward. She was not going to let the gunslinger to have easy aim at other vanguards.

She slashed her sword upwards, but she did not let the gunslinger get too far from her as she kept in mind that gunslinger would take every opportunity to shoot at Bastion. She moved towards him again, quickly letting the sword slashed downwards - the vanguard called Bastion had something in his possession that the gunslinger wants badly, so what she could do for now was keeping the gunslinger on the defense.

"Why are you risking others and yours to collect that stones?" She asked the gunslinger as she keeps him busy.

Village Cemetery

Asher winced as Vayu’s Confusion Wave washed over him, but he wasn’t too concerned. If he could just enhance himself again with Devil Trigger, then layer with Rebellion…

But there was no chance. The Empusa’s Frolic Frost swept over him, and he had to double back and duck behind a tree as ice crystals raked across his skin. He hadn’t been behind the tree more than a moment before he had to duck as the shadow of a spear swept past him, and the next moment, the tree toppled in half as Bastion’s spear narrowly missed his head. But Prince’s wind spell didn’t miss, knocking him back to his knees.

As he gritted his teeth and raised his gun, he had to quickly turn the maneuver into a defensive move to deflect Ilio’s blade, then stagger back a step to cross his blades. His eyes swept over the three of them, reevaluating.

“Why?”

He blocked Ilio’s next struck and slashed back, but she dodged.

“They’re the crystallization of death itself. They can inflict the concept of death where it wouldn’t even exist. Who wouldn’t want that?”

“Is that it?’ Bastion scowled. “Just something to make yourself feel more powerful?”

Asher straightened up and glared at him. “You really think you’re the only one with a worthwhile goal for those things, kid?”

“I need them to kill Mother Harlot!” he shot back. “To save everyone from her corruption. What could you possibly want to use them on?”

For a long while, Asher stared back at them. Then, he slowly lowered his gun.

At first, Bastion thought he was simply deescalating the situation, but then Bastion realized… he was pointing down. “The… earth? You can’t be serious.”

“It’s already dead. It just doesn’t realize it. And neither do any of you.”

Bastion shook his head, unable to grasp this. “And how do you know?”

“Because I was there when it happened. When the Conception failed.”

Conception? When it happened… did he mean the day that the demons entered the world? That the old society fell apart?

Asher turned his back on them, shoulders relaxing, and shrugged. “Now that I think about it… There’s no point in trying to kill you now. One stone or all the rest, I’ll have to kill you eventually. Might as well let you collect the rest. Then we can settle the score.”

Bastion gritted his teeth. “I’m not done with-!”

Prince’s hand fell on his shoulder, stopping him short. “He’s right. Let him go. Little reason to concern ourselves with him now.”

“Fine.” Bastion gripped the deathstone in his pocket. “Go then. We’ll be collecting later.”

Asher paused, letting out a cold chuckle. “Assuming you live long enough. Even if you do kill the Fiends… humans aren’t meant to dwell so closely to death. Don’t be surprised if you come to regret holding onto that stone.”

“And what are you anyway?”

Asher’s golden eye met Bastion’s over his shoulder before turning and walking away. “A Demifiend.”

Village Cemetery

"Demifiend?" Ilio eyes were at the gunslinger, not so sure what to think about it. Should she attack him before he becomes something that would hunt the living?

Ilio was conflicted for the first time what kind of action she should take it. She looked at the other vanguards, "What exactly is that stone?"

Village Cemetery

Finally, with the three of them working together, they managed to get Asher on the defensive.

In that, they also managed to get some more information about the death stones from Asher. Some of this was quite surprising to Vayu, especially when Asher pointed at the earth.

“The earth?” he echoed Bastion’s question looking confused. And what was this Conception he was talking about? Asher then decided to take the high route and left after giving Bastion some more questionable advice.

Vayu wanted to follow, but he could see that Prince and Bastion held back.

“I think there is enough time for explanations once we return,” Vayu suggested and pointed towards the village. “Who are you anyways?” he asked Ilio almost as an afterthought.

Ilio

"Name's Ilio, a Vanguard like you two." Said Ilio, "Well, let's get to the village and listen to what you two have to say."

Then she stopped her steps, "Vanguards have to make hardest decisions whenever things get dicey, but there's something Vangaurds must remember - we are the last line of defenders of humanity. You two better have some good reasons why you would choose to ignore those who you were sworn to protect. Especially, when you two were not even sure who I was."

She sighed, then she moved towards the village again, the golden bird demon followed her. She was not so sure why she was feeling irritated. What that demifiend said echoed in her heart - 'earth is already dead.'

Something her father said long time ago as well, the old humanity have failed to save the earth and he said Vanguards' other mission was to set that right - she did not get what he meant by then. Did the demifiend knew something that her father knew as well? Or did they know something completely differnt things? Whatever the case was she decided it was clear this was something she had to involve herself little deeper.

Village Cemetery

Prince didn’t look particularly eager to share, his expression closed off as he seemingly worked through his thoughts.

Bastion regarded him for a few moments, then nodded to the others. “Let’s head back then.”

As they continued down the cemetery path toward the village, the other Vanguard, Ilio, stopped and turned to face them. "Vanguards have to make hardest decisions whenever things get dicey, but there's something Vanguards must remember - we are the last line of defenders of humanity. You two better have some good reasons why you would choose to ignore those who you were sworn to protect. Especially, when you two were not even sure who I was."

Bastion stiffened, mouth tightening. “I’ve never ignored those I’ve sworn to protect. Taking down the Fiend was the only way.”

Before he could continue, Prince fluttered his wings, one of them encircling Bastion both to split him off from Ilio and to shepherd him toward the village gates. “Your duty is all well and good,” the angel said calmly. “But some are called to protect on a greater scope. For you, you can’t see beyond one village at a time. For those like Bastion, it’s necessary to look beyond that, to consider the good of all humanity. If you fail to understand that, then there’s no need to concern yourself with things like that Demifiend, the Deathstones, and the Conception.”

Conception? Bastion shot his angel a questioning look, but Prince, perhaps realizing he’d let out more that he’d intended, gave no indication he’d noticed.

When they reached the village gates, the people began to ease out of their doors and windows, regarding the returning Vanguards. One of them broke away from the rest, a girl who rushed over to beam up in admiration at Ilio.

“You did it!” she said. “You stopped the dance of the dead!”

Ilio - Village Gate

"Don't you dare!" The golden bird shot back at the angel as it rushed to Ilio's side, "You two only had the fighting chance as my lady stepped in. Don't you dare to think that you two had the even the power to have the upper hand against that demifiend."

Ilio raised her hand to stop from Vidofnir to stop his burst of anger against Bastion and his demon. "You maybe right, if your beings left the Earth alone instead of making this place as your war ground, I might take your fight for greater good ideology seriously." Said Ilio, looking at the angel and then to Bastion, "I see that your angel friend did not share everything with you yet as well." she commented as she cought the glimpse of emotion of Bastion. She then smiled with warmth as she saw Davina greeted them.

"Remember Vanguards - hope may seems to be a small fire, but it only takes a small fire to actually burn whole mountain. Sometimes today's world needs that hope and I really wish you could be that beacon of hope and may your life bring others to lit that small fire inside them so that they could be the fire to burn the nightmares ahead of them. That was what I was told when I became a Vanguard, and did you say I only saw Village? I saw more than that." She rushed and scoop Davina into her arms, without difficulty.

"Why are you surprised? I told you, didn't I, Divinia? I was going to stop that or die trying." She smiled at the girl with warmth.

„Well…,“ he began to say but then Prince and Bastion stepped in and with Ilio’s demon giving an emotional reply the discussion became a little heated. Looking at it from his own perspective, taking down the Fiend was the only way to save that village, giving their small number. They would’ve been exhausted before he ran out of Dead to summon.

As for the Vidofnir’s accusation that they wouldn’t have made it without her, well Vayu didn’t really feel like thinking about the what ifs. Instead, he preferred to focus on the now. And for now, healing and recharging was very high on his list.

Vayu sighed and shook his head, unsure who irritated him more. Prince with his higher than mighty attitude and cryptic remarks or Ilio with her holier than though attitude.

“Whatever any of you saw in the village, the fields or the rest of the world,” he said, “If you’re done looking, can we go home now?”

Village Gates

Prince gave a tiny tut of incredulity at Vidofnir’s words, but otherwise gave the other demon little attention. When Ilio spoke, though, he gave her an imperious look down the end of his nose.

“Soldiers rarely have the luxury of choosing their battleground,” he said. “Blame the demons for their relentless schemes against humans. Blame humans for being so easily tempted and swayed. You need look no further than the Ring of Gaea for that. But words of wisdom are wasted on idealists. Come, Bastion, let us be off.”

With that, he vanished back into the gauntlet. Vayu actually seemed to be on the same page as the angel as well, and it was hard to miss how worn he looked.

“Right. Let’s head back. Who knows what Cleo has been reporting on since we’ve been away,” he said, putting a hand on Vayu’s shoulder. “And… thanks again for sticking with me.”

He gave Ilio one last look, considering her words as she scooped up the young girl, Davina, who beamed up at Ilio.

“I want to be a Vanguard someday,” she confided in a low voice. “I want to be a hero like you.”

He remembered thinking the same when he was young, when he saw his father returned from missions, worn and scarred but bold and proud. Before he his legs and his warmth.

Bastion and Vayu turned away from Ilio and the villagers, ignoring the celebrating that had begun to catch on as they slipped out through the gate. As they headed back for their mounts, he clutched the Deathstone in his pocket. It should have been alarming, having concentrated death so near to hand, and yet, there was something strangely familiar about it…