Demon from Hell

Cries rang out one after another, followed by a dense hail of bullets.

The rapid, dangerous symphony of "bang bang bang" gunfire and "clang clang clang" shell casings hitting the ground filled the air.

Gelman conjured a Winged Shield in his left hand and raised it before him, blocking the incoming bullets.

The bullets struck the shield with dull "puff puff puff" sounds before ricocheting away.

He strode forward, his movements becoming incredibly swift as his figure flickered between the dim yellow light and gray shadows.

Every time he reappeared, several gang members would cry out in pain and be cut down.

"Are all these people enemies? I should give Gelman a hand too."

Shizuku had no intention of merely watching.

With Gelman drawing most of the fire, she took the opportunity to conjure an appliance resembling a vacuum cleaner—Evil Tenderfoot.

She raised the vacuum cleaner and smashed it hard into the back of a gang member's head!

Blood immediately sprayed everywhere!

Seeing that things had taken a bad turn, with fallen gang members piling up like a stream, someone finally panicked. He hurriedly turned around and pulled a rocket launcher from the trunk of a sedan.

"Everybody, move aside!"

He shouldered the launcher and aimed at Gelman's exposed back. Not caring whether he might hit his own people, he shouted and fired.

"Boom!"

The armor-piercing shell shot out with a shriek, startling the other gang members into scattering in all directions.

Those who had nearly failed to dodge began cursing loudly.

Gelman had already noticed the incoming shell. He was not Uvogin, an Enhancer capable of taking a shell head-on.

But in his eyes, the armor-piercing shell was moving far too slowly—slowly enough for him to evade it with ease.

With a flash, he vanished from where he stood. The shell flew past and exploded with a thunderous blast, hitting nothing.

The man carrying the rocket launcher stared wide-eyed, desperately grasping at straws.

"He dodged that too?! Does he have eyes on the back of his head?"

Before he could understand what had happened, Gelman suddenly appeared beside him as if frames had been skipped. The Meat Saw sank into his neck with a "puchi" sound.

"Y-you..."

The man's head snapped sharply to the side, still connected to his neck by only a thin layer of flesh. The rocket launcher slipped from his hand and rolled to the ground with a "thud."

The remaining gang members nearly had their wits scared out of them at the sight.

They all held guns, yet they felt as though they were completely unarmed, while Gelman was the one holding the gun.

Gelman carried the Meat Saw as he went after his next prey, casually cutting down several gang members who had raised their guns to ambush Shizuku along the way.

Shizuku was equally nimble and ruthless.

The vacuum cleaner in her hands was like a massive iron hammer, swinging again and again, stained crimson.

Several gang members charged blindly in terror, but all of them became corpses at her feet.

The two Conjuration Nen users took less than five minutes to eliminate every gang member present. Not a single one escaped.

One of the gang members who still had a breath left lay sprawled on the ground, clutching a wound that continued to gush blood as he stared at them in terror.

"Are you... are you demons from hell?"

"No."

Shizuku raised the vacuum cleaner high and smashed it down on his head. With a "puff," his head caved in.

"The priest at Meteor City's Grand Cathedral told me that even if someone commits crimes as unforgivable as a demon's, they can still go to heaven as long as God forgives them."

"He also told me to wear an Inverted Cross, saying it was the 'Key to Heaven' and represented our humility before God."

She lifted the Inverted Cross necklace around her neck and showed it to the dead man.

But the gang member was already dead and could not hear Shizuku's sermon at all.

Gelman walked over with the Meat Saw in hand.

The battle was not over yet.

He keenly sensed two more people approaching. They were different from these gang-member grunts, so he warned Shizuku.

"There are two more people. They're probably Nen users."

"Oh."

Shizuku lowered the Inverted Cross necklace and looked toward the darkness beyond the streetlamp's reach.

Two shadowy figures emerged, stepping over the corpses carpeting the ground and walking upon a red carpet of blood.

"Even if the enemies are Nen users, losing this badly as a group is still far too embarrassing."

The tall, thin man had one hand in his pocket while the other scratched at his spiky hair, his tone full of helplessness.

The short, bald man beside him nodded, then shook his head.

"Luckily, we were carrying out a mission nearby. The Ten Dons sent us straight over. Otherwise, they would have gotten away, and we'd have been utterly disgraced."

These two unremarkable-looking men were members of the Shadow Beasts, the Ten Dons' personal combat unit.

The former was Sick Dog, and the latter was Porcupine. Both were Nen users.

"You're the ones who killed Shanzhi?" Sick Dog demanded, baring his sharp teeth. "Do you know what it means to lay hands on the Ten Dons' subordinates?"

Porcupine chimed in with a couple of agreeing grunts.

"We'll capture you and make you, along with your closest relatives and friends, suffer torture worse than death... This is the end you brought upon yourselves."

"I don't have any close relatives or friends."

Shizuku interrupted with a reply.

Her right hand gripped the nozzle of her vacuum cleaner, pressing it against the corpse at her feet. The huge mouth at the top of the vacuum was gulping down blood with loud slurping sounds.

Then she pointed at Gelman.

"I don't think he does either."

Sick Dog and Porcupine were left speechless by her words, staring blankly for a moment.

Drawing on the information from his memories, Gelman pointed at Sick Dog.

"He reinforced his teeth. They're strong enough to bite through steel rebar and iron plates."

Then Gelman pointed at Porcupine.

"He reinforced all the hair on his body. It can pierce steel as well."

In the future of the original timeline, Sick Dog and Porcupine had fought Uvogin and even injured his flesh.

Comparing Uvogin's body to "steel rebar and iron plates" or "steel" was probably still an understatement.

"I understand."

Shizuku did not doubt the information Gelman had given her.

Sick Dog and Porcupine, meanwhile, looked at Gelman in surprise.

"You actually know our Nen abilities? It seems you already know who we are."

That only made them more astonished.

Even knowing that the Ten Dons' personal combat unit had arrived, there was still no fear or hesitation in their eyes.

Had Meteor City unknowingly raised a group of monsters like this?

"Don't hold back."

Sensing that something was wrong, Sick Dog patted Porcupine on the shoulder.

"Kill them. Don't give them a chance to strike back."

"Alright." Porcupine answered, "I'll deal with the girl, then come help you."

"Mm."

Having worked together for years, the two swiftly made their judgment and divided their tasks. Without any warning, they flashed toward their respective targets.

Porcupine did not attack immediately. Instead, he flickered back and forth, trying to confuse Shizuku.

At the same time, he stared at her vacuum cleaner for a while and came to a conclusion.

"A conjured weapon in the form of a vacuum cleaner with a huge mouth. It most likely has suction capabilities similar to an actual vacuum cleaner. I just need to avoid that mouth..."

"This'll be easy..."