alusion (because the world needed it)

A Life to Remember (2)

yeahhhh im working on this again
category: series
word count:1424

It didn't take long to go through the village--what was left of it, anyways. It was basically the same scene in every house, ashes, rubble, ruin. Utter destruction without a single thought behind it other than to just kill and destroy. It was disgusting to Alucard, really. The disgust only served to fill his hatred for the hellish creatures. They needed to die and he wasn't going to stop until they were all dead.

"I'm going to go look for its tracks."

Gusion made no objection, letting Alucard walk off to search for the demon. He knew the mood Alucard got into in situations like these, and it was best to just let him do his job. Besides, it was only one demon, there wasn't much to worry about. Alucard could handle it, he'd killed of hordes of the hellspawn by himself in the past. Gusion couldn't even remember how many Alucard had killed yesterday. Why wouldn't he be perfectly fine killing some rogue demon on his own? Of course, it wasn't like he was going to stray too far from Alucard. He'd just search in the opposite direction Alucard went.

And that's what he did. He searched the perimeter, senses alert in the silence as he walked, searching the ground and brush for any signs of a creature's escapes. It was a whole lot of nothing until he peered further back through the brush, noticing something off. There looked to be a trail left behind by something that was heading to the village, but.. never entering. Cautiously, he took a few steps forward into the brush, keeping his senses alert. A frown slipped onto his face as he looked at the oddity. They were too large for a bear's or some other large animal, and prints were unlike anything he'd seen except--

It was the pain he felt first, a searing pain down his left shoulder blade. Gusion quickly bolted forward, using his power to get out of what he hoped to be the demon's range and drew his daggers. He whipped around to face to grotesque being, who's claws were dripping with the mage's blood. What could only be described as a guttural laugh came from the hellspawn.

Gusion gritted his teeth, partially from the pain, and got into his fighting stance. It was so stupid of him to get caught off guard like that. Dammit. He rushed forward, throwing out his daggers upon nearing the demon, what should've been a killing blow. But instead his daggers hit nothing but the ground. In the nick of time, the demon had moved to the side. Fast. Surprised, Gusion slightly paused in his step, head whipping in the direction the demon had went. The creature's claw was raised for a blow to his head. Gusion quickly stopped himself and used his momentum to dart to his side, recalling his daggers as he turned to face the demon, who's clawed hand was now back at its side. Suddenly, the demon rushed at him, its form a blur from the speed. Gusion quickly blinked forwards--a skill he called Incandescence--away from the demon and threw a single dagger towards it. A miss. The demon quickly dodged it, seemingly moving even faster than before.

Strangely enough, the blood that was on the demon's claws had, what looked to be, soaking up into the demons greyish arms, the red bright in contrast to the rest of its skin.

Was this demon..? Shit. This was going to be harder than Gusion thought it'd be. Nonetheless, Gusion brought up his daggers again. Speed was nothing without proper training. He charged forward.

Meanwhile, Alucard had found the demon some ways outside of the forest, gnawing on a decapitated arm. It was on the larger side, as the report had depicted, meaning it was sluggish and slow. Utterly no problem for the extraordinary demon hunter, the demon's body was turned to dust. What pained him to see, though, was the body of the innocent villager. If he had been earlier, then it could've been different. They might've still been alive, and not just some feed for a demon who decided he was hungry. It made him mad, it really did. Guilt. Hatred. Revenge. It kept him going.

But, of course, as Gusion would remind him, he couldn't save everyone. Sling his arm around his shoulder, hold his hand and give it a squeeze, or if it was a time when Alucard especially felt like shit, a hug.

Gusion.

Where the hell was he?

The grip on his sword tightened as he turned around. "Gusion?" He called out, waiting a few seconds a response.

Nothing.

Dammit. Did something happen? Or was he just taking his damn time strolling around the other side of the perimeter? Alucard started to make his way back to the village at a brisk walk. It better not be the damned latter. Gusion would know that he'd be pissed at him if so, with all the blabbering he did about his speed. Which also would be a reason why he wouldn't do the latter.

Shit.

Alucard brought his pace up to a sprint as he ran back towards the village.

Was there another demon? One the reporter might've overlooked in the hysteria?

He'd already lost the his family to demons. He didn't want to lose another loved one. Not Gusion, he silently pleaded, please, not Gus. Don't take Gus from me.

Due to the sluggish pace of the demon he'd killed, it wasn't too far from the village itself which meant it didn't take long for Alucard to get back to it. All that he had left to do was make it to the other side of the damned place. Alucard pushed himself harder, picking up his pace once again as he listened for any sounds other than the lone sound of his feet hitting the ground in repetitive thumps. He knew he should probably try to conserve some energy by switching from jogging to sprinting, but right now seeing Gusion alright was more important.

It seemed to take forever before he finally heard any noise. The village had seemed to have grown and multiplied while he killed the demon, as if fate didn't want him there, wanted him to give up and stop, save him from a fate he didn't deserve. The noise was vague at first, but the closer he got to the outskirts of the village, the clearer it got. A fight, definitely. Shit. He had to be on time. He couldn't afford losing anyone else to demons.

"Gusion!"

Hearing Alucard yell out his name made his blood run cold.

Oh, fuck.

Instinctually, he turned his head towards Alucard, eyes wide in panic. "Alucard! No! Don't--" He barely managed to skid backwards as the demon's claw racked down the side of his face, nearly missing his eye.

"Shit-" Gusion spat out, having his attention forced back towards the demon as his own blood started to trickle down his face. He couldn't have Alucard come over here, like it or not, the creature's speed was damn high and damn near Gusion's own speed for Alucard to habdle, and Gusion had just had finally gotten a generalized idea of the demon's pattern of attack.

Thought after thought rammed into his head, one after the other, what his next move could've been, could've been, should've been, but instead the world slow down as Alucard charged straightforward towards the demon, no idea in his head other than to protect the one last person in the world he gave a damn about. The demon turned towards the demon hunter and in less than a second had shot out in front of Alucard, claw raised to strike. Gusion's dagger slowly lodged itself into the demon's side. Too slow, too slow, everything was moving too slow. The demon's claw began its slow climb downwards, the look on Alucard's face slowly turning into one of shock his brain was slowly processing what was happening in such high speed.

Gusion's own speed almost seemed sluggish to himself as he made his way back to his dagger, his daggers already in hand, ready to be thrown. Fast, he was supposed to be fast. Why couldn't he move any faster? Break his limits. This was too slow. His daggers seemed to drift endlessly through their directed path, almost cleanly cutting the demon in half.

The droplets of Alucard's blood seemed to slowly float down to the ground as though feathers would.

Too slow, too slow.