Hell's Greatest Weapon

Chapter 24: A Storm in the Desert

The demon was only a shred of what it had been by the time you go to it, so you flicked your wrist and watched its body go limp as you put it out of its misery.  While the demons were pests to you, there was still a part of you that was protective over them; naturally you turned to Cain with vengeful eyes after you saw what he did to your demon, and took a few menacing steps toward him only to watch him smirk at your anger.

The two of you were standing in a desert with mountains of dry, orange rock erupting from the ground in every direction, the only sign of life being small weeds that somehow managed to peek through the cracked, rocky desert floor.  There were masses of rocks easily hundreds of feet high surrounding the two of you on all sides, and you were quick to conclude that this particular spot would make an excellent arena; the center was large enough for a great deal of action, the edges where all of the seats might be were high enough that everyone would be able to get an excellent view.

There were smaller boulders, too, spread out around the flatter portion of the ground in the center of the mountains, and it only took a few seconds of looking for you to have picked out one, maybe two dozen boulders that were easily accessible to you.

It was one of those boulders that Cain had used to bind your demon, to torture it within an inch of its life, and when he saw the anger flash through your eyes he only smiled and shrugged, the angel blade in his hand reflecting the light as he lifted it to mid-torso height.

“I don’t know how you keep finding these demons, Y/N,” He said, “But that one was easily one of the best trackers you’ve sent after me in quite some time.”

You sent a surge of energy toward Cain and watched as he was thrown off of his feet and through the air, his flight eventually being stopped when he smashed into a boulder and fell to the ground.  Running over to him, smoothly pulling a blade from your backpack before tossing the bag to the ground, you approached Cain and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, pulling him up on the boulder while holding the blade to his neck.

“Stop torturing my demons.” You growled at him, taking one second to actually let the anger vent from you.  “If you want that job so goddamned bad, you can go to the pit and do your business there.”

After holding Cain’s eye for a bit longer, you pushed off of him, sending his head smashing against the rock behind him before taking a few steps away and allowing him to stand.  

“At least that would keep you from killing the humans you’ve got no right to waste.” You said, finally, watching as Cain brought a hand to his face to wipe away some of the blood that was pouring from his nose.  “Which is why I’m here.”

“Did Death give you another lecture, then?” When you were silent Cain nodded, laughed a bit, then walked to his side to start his pacing.  “So what’re you planning on doing to me this time, Y/N? Guilt me into stopping?  Maybe do a little bit of that torture daddy taught you? Threaten to kill me?”

“I’ll politely ask you to stop, first.”

Cain only looked at you, his eyebrows raised in a mocking way, before shaking his head and chuckling softly.  “Well you must have known that wasn’t going to work.”

“Why are you doing it, anyway?”

“Killing humans?” When you nodded, Cain continued. “I got bored with demons after a while and decided to up my game.”

The mockery in Cain’s voice irritated you beyond believe, and Cain must have noticed that you were done messing around, because his face suddenly dropped and his eyebrows raised a moment before going back to normal.

“I’m eliminating my bloodline, so you can run along knowing I’m not entirely a monster.”

Your eyes widened at that and you took a step closer to the demon. “Cain, that’s one for every ten people.  You’re insane.”