The Devil in Me remastered

Chapter 3 - I'm already one

David -

The blood was seeping through my clothes, she dragged me through the grass and past countless dead sisters. I could hear her faint grunts and whispers of reassurance. I faded in and out of consciousness until everything became foggy and dark.

I remember seeing old memories of her, we found each other in the holy war. After Jack saved my life I searched endlessly for that kitsune hybrid. I remember she was alone and young, held up in the rubble of war with demons surrounding her. It was the first time I used the fire stance. I didn't just see red, I created red. The demons tried attacking yet everything was in vain for them until every demon was gone. That was the day the seeker clan dubbed me the red reaper. Because when the smoke cleared, the remaining kitsune claimed I had fought off over a hundred demons and sent veteran generals running to their hell holes.

When I came to, I saw her praying at the only intact kitsune shrine. She turned to me and hugged me so tight I had to gently pull her away to breathe. She teared up as she smiled "I knew you'd survive David" I smiled back and faced the destruction of Inari. Everything was grim and eerie, the once beautiful land corrupted by the devil scum. I could hear Melena loading up my handgun from behind. "They left for the dead forest, we can track them down and avenge our fallen sisters." She informed me. I doubled back and checked our gear. With a plan brewing in mind I decided it best to play the long game. This devil and child are different from what I've fought. Normal head on collisions would be pointless with elemental stances alone.

Melena considered using Confort to our advantage. She planned to turn our sights elsewhere so we could capture the enemy rather than facing them. Together we abandoned Inari and traversed through the deep forest toward the main gate of Confort. On the way Melena brought up an interesting topic. The child never killed any of the kitsune nor did he get physically stolen form Inari. I questioned why he was brought to Inari, and how. Melena revealed that he was originally under the control of Confort. She and some Kitsune were tasked by the Isle of Daughters to steal the boy and aid him in remembering his past. I cocked my head to her "the Isle of Daughters? What do they want with him?" Melena pulled the scroll from her robe and read the exact order

Valued one,

The city of Confort is crawling with suspicion. Gather only red stripes and obtain the one they call PROJECT 0409. Secure his memories and deliver him to us. Begin operation Baby Viper

She rolled up the scroll and placed it back in her robe. I took a moment to process, why would they only need red stripes? Why is this classified as a viper mission? Melena stopped us dead in our tracks, the intense intent to kill drawn on her face. Lower-level demons blocked the path ahead. Three targets to kill, Melena drew her blessed dagger and I my sword. The demons came at us. Melena played defense, making me the offensive player. I drag my right foot back while planting my left onto the ground; My waist bending back as I set my sights on the first target. Melena kept all three demons on her. She gave the signal once all demons were in the perfect zig zag pattern. In one motion I sliced the first demon in half along the waist, the second demon fell into eternal sleep with a clean neck shot while I danced beautifully toward the last target. As my sword drug across the floor, I locked in the third demon with my right hand and stapled him to the ground. He tried to take the sword out of his gut. However, I kept my boot on the hilt as I questioned the demon.

"Who sent lower class demons here?" I interrogated. The demon spoke in his native tongue, but Melena was able to translate him saying the name Judy Calmer.

Melena shook to her core; without hesitation she held her blade against his neck and demanded he tell her everything he knows about Calmer. The demon trembled in terror. I don't blame him, even I've never seen Melena act like this. She grunted and pushed down on the blade, splitting the demon's head from the rest of his body.

She got up slowly and gazed into the distance. "David, do you remember the day we met?" I stood next to her and remembered back to that fateful day

During the holy war

Blood blanketed the ground. My sword is still burning red from sheer friction and speed. In a distorting blur I shambled to the rubble, sweat dripping from my forehead drowns my eyes. Unstable breath followed by erratic heart rate makes me feel even the slightest breeze.

Everything felt different when I saw her though. That snowy white hair only reached her shoulders. She had the softest eyes of a red angel that matched well with her calm voice. I fell to my knees, then my hands. I lost some hearing in the moment so I couldn't make out what she was saying. She pulled her blessed dagger and ducked me into the rubble. I was paralyzed when I felt a sharp gaze pierce my soul.

Atop the small hill looking down on us is where she stood. Judy Calmer was watching as Melena squatted, placed her left hand to the dirt, and raised her dagger to her left shoulder. She called it the fox stance. This stance was thought to be impossible to use even by the red striped kitsune because of how complex the body must be manipulated. Judy Calmer didn't hesitate to take down the red reaper though. In the blink of an eye, she rushed to Melena who at the time was an inexperienced fighter.

Judy was fast but the fox stance kept Melena faster. And as quickly as the fight started, Melena intensified it, controlled it, she was the fight. She sprouted nine golden tails, her fangs stuck out from her mouth as her saliva constantly drooled from her. Her once innocent eyes sharpened to a pitch red and locked onto Judy with no moment of blinking. Melena cut so deep into Judy that even I felt the wounds. I watched as Melena stabbed through Judy and tugged the blade upward to chest level. Melena was going to kill Judy when she suddenly removed the dagger and vanished in a gust of red mist.

Present time

Melena sheathed her dagger and continued to the gates of Confort. She told me that Calmer could only have one purpose on Onegai. She and I made it to the gate "She could only want to take this planet for herself." The realization settled in. Judy Calmer spread her demons around Confort and the valley so she could be more than just a devil. She wanted to become a founder. As Melena and I passed through the gate and into Confort we collaborated on what the second devils' goal in all this would be. Maybe they both wanted to be founders. Randomly my WMDS vibrated. I checked the scanner to find demon activity just down the road. Melena threw down her hood and urged that we check it out. Together we played the role of ominous stalker and traversed the rooftops. We lured around the area when I found the source of demonic activity. Melena and I watched as the intense fight broke out beneath us. I couldn't make out the hooded figure, but the second figure was definitely one of Calmer's demons. Melena and I entered the fray.

The battle quickly rose to out rank me. This was no ordinary demon under that cowl. Two jagged horns were sprouting from the hooded figure, torn up clothing that didn't reveal skin but a burning pit of rage. The demon fled from the fight while Melena and I attempted to hold off the devil. Our efforts were pointless though. This devil was much stronger than Calmer, yet he put his hands into motion while chanting incoherent words then vanished without a trace. I fell to my knees out of breath while Melena leaned up against a wall, sweating profusely and wiping away the flames that caught her robes.

As we gained our strength, we tracked that demon from earlier. He didn't make it far yet when we discovered him his head was drastically lacking most of its bits. The second devil and Baby viper taking his place.