Demon Hunters

Consequences III

"Was my performance satisfactory?" she asked, a small grin on her face.

Franz huffed, walking up to the table.

"You have a bad habit of getting drunk on your adrenaline. You tend to make certain bad judgment calls because of it."

Lucretia stared at the ground, dejected. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't deny that what Franz had said was the truth.

"Well, that is something for you to work on. I suppose you'd like to know what happened to that woman in the sewers?"

"Yes, please! Surely she wasn't a cultist?" Lucretia blurted, looking up.

Franz sighed.

"Is suppose you thought she wasn't an enemy because she looked scared or miserable? I can assure you; cultists are perfectly capable of looking pathetic, especially when hunted by demon hunters or inquisitors... Still, this time around, she turned out to be harmless. I made sure that the inquisitors who captured her didn't hurt her before they determined her identity. Indeed, she turned out to be a captive who had managed to escape during our raid."

Lucretia closed her eyes and let out a sigh of relief. Still, something bothered her.

"But if she wasn't to blame, why were we attacked? Did some cultists perhaps escape?"

Franz grunted and looked away. It was clear that something was bothering him.

"No, I doubt it. The inquisitors were very thorough," he said, leaning over one of the corpses. "I'm afraid I am to blame here."

Lucretia was surprised, to say the least. How could her mentor be the one at fault? The man who was every bit the perfectionist? She wasn't sure if she wanted to open this particular can of worms, though – Franz seemed uncharacteristically taciturn with regards to this matter. Still, her curiosity grew too intense to be ignored, and she gathered her courage. However, she couldn't manage to voice her question, as a gunshot suddenly rang out. A man had suddenly appeared in the doorway, holding a smoking gun.

"Finally, I have my revenge," he – a young man with dark, wavy hair – said.

Franz grunted in pain as the man disappeared into the night. Blood was dripping from his abdomen.

"Are you okay?!" Lucretia yelled out, feeling panic seeping in.

"I am, I don't think it hit anything vital... Now go! Get him!"

"But..."

"Go! I will be fine, but he cannot be allowed to escape!"

Lucretia nodded and dashed out into the cold night. She could still faintly see the man's silhouette in the distance, so she quickened up her pace. After all, speed and agility were her forte – the man wouldn't be able to escape her. Besides, focusing solely on the pursuit made it easier for Lucretia to distract herself from what had just happened. Instead, she concentrated on breathing as efficiently as possible. Quite unlike many other demon hunters, Lucretia was lightly armed and armoured. She wielded only one rapier, itself lighter than a standard-issue sword, and a pistol that was currently empty due to the earlier altercation with the cultists. Still, she soon caught up with the man, who had managed to run into a dead end. He turned around, panting heavily. Lucretia, meanwhile, was barely winded.

"So, he thinks so little of me that he dared to send a mere child – a girl, even – after me? Even in death, he seeks to spurn me, I see."

"I think you will find me an adequate opponent," Lucretia retorted, swinging her rapier through the air. "I've fought plenty of men before, and as you can see, I'm still standing here today. Furthermore, my mentor is still very much alive."