The Damned Demon

Under the cloak of night in a forgotten town, an abandoned building, steeped in dust and shadow, came alive with an ominous glow.

Besides the broken tube lights and bulbs, fire torches mounted on the walls cast flickered light across the dusty hall, revealing twenty-five figures draped in dark brown cloaks.

Seated on the worn floor, they formed a circle, their heads bowed, hoods obscuring their faces as they chanted in unison.

At the heart of their gathering, a ritualistic circle pulsed with an eerie dark orange light, its glow casting sinister shadows on the walls.

"Keep praying to our Master so that his demonic power will keep flowing through us and allow us to reach new heights!" The leader's voice, fervent with zeal, cut through the rhythmic drone of the chant, urging his followers to deepen their devotion.

However, the sanctity of their ritual was shattered by a mocking query, "What good will it do to you people by praying to a weak Master?" A woman's coy voice, laced with derision, reverberated through the hall, startling the cultists into silence.

The cult leader and his followers, momentarily shaken, quickly rallied, leaping to their feet with a practiced agility. Weapons that shimmered with a subtle glow were drawn in an instant, their readiness to defend their faith palpable in the tense air.

"Show yourself, intruder, unless you want to be sacrificed to our Master," commanded Hangul, the cult leader, his dark eyes scanning the shadows.

His visage, marked by a black beard and mustache, was underscored by dark circles—a mirror to his dedication or perhaps his madness.

From the darkness stepped a figure that seemed to make the fire torches wildly flicker.

A woman, her presence as striking as it was menacing, advanced into the light.

Dressed in a red leather jacket that accentuated her curves and left little to the imagination by exposing her deep cleavage and the upper part of her well-endowed breasts, she exuded confidence and blazing allure.

Her vermilion hair cascaded from beneath her hood, a fiery contrast to the somber setting.

Flanking her were two women, their black eyes piercing from behind masks that concealed the lower halves of their delicate faces.

One sported a red jacket and a shirt underneath, her bobbed black hair a sharp silhouette against her attire, while the other was clad in silver armor, a vision of purity and innocence as evident from her big, round eyes.

Both of them held a staff, green and pointed, glowing with a subtle radiant green light.

"Careful there, little man. We aren't here to fight," the woman with vermilion hair said, her smile both disarming and dangerous.

Dark vermilion lines traced her skin, letting even a fool realize that dark power flowed through her veins.

"I am Hangul, the leader of the Iron Bullet Cult. You chose the wrong cult to mess with. Who are you, and which cult do you belong to?" Hangul demanded, his own body aglow with dark orange lines that mirrored the ritual circle's hue. The cultists, emboldened by their leader's stance, aimed their glowing guns at the three intruders.

The woman, unfazed by the display of aggression, shrugged casually, her demeanor betraying no concern, "I had a good old name, but unfortunately, I can't use it now. So you can call me Huntress, and I am the leader of the Coven of the Damned," she introduced herself with a smile.

"Hahahaha," Hangul's laughter, rich with mockery and disdain, filled the air, his cultists mirroring his amusement as they relaxed their guard, lulled into a sense of superiority.

"Coven of the Damned? Isn't that the same cult that has been going around destroying some of the Hunter guilds?" One of the cult members whispered in a trembling voice.

"No way they destroyed those guilds without at least a hundred members in their cult," Another one whispered.

Hangul frowned upon wondering if they were the real deal. But then he did the math.

His expression eased, "So what? You made a grave mistake by only bringing two Soulservants with you. Our numbers would easily eat through you three in no time," he jeered, his gaze roaming over Grace, Emiko, and Yui with unsettling hunger, "Still, the three of you look quite delicious. So we will have a good time having fun with you three before offering your souls to our Master," Saliva drooled over his lips just by staring at those huge knockers of this chick in red.

He felt as if he hadn't ever seen such big and naturally curvy breasts anywhere else. Those huge tits were tempting him too much as if they might pop out of her jacket any time.

Emiko's expression twisted into one of revulsion and anger, her grip on her green staff tightening upon hearing the vile insinuations he threw upon the two people she loved the most.

Yui gently placed a hand on Emiko's shoulder, a silent plea to not do anything while hinting that a certain someone has got this.

Grace, unfazed by the crude remarks and the tension crackling in the air, maintained her composure, her smile unwavering as she played with a strand of her vermilion hair, "As expected of a leader, you are so smart that you think numbers are everything. But aren't you curious why we came here?" she inquired, her tone teasing, yet laced with an underlying challenge.

Hangul's response was a bark of derisive laughter, his amusement tinged with arrogance, "We can't care to give a shit, but you are quite funny, lady. So you can have a few seconds to yourself to entertain us with your dumb reason for coming here," he scoffed.

Grace's sigh was a prelude to her revelation, "Initially, we came here to convince you little dogs to follow and wag your tails for us whenever we commanded it. But after seeing how well-

mannered you all are, I felt like that would be an insult to street dogs. So we are going to kill you all and loot all the life crystals and mana shards you people are hoarding here," she stated, the corners of her lips widening to make her smile seem more unsettling.

The laughter that had filled the hall moments earlier died in Hangul's throat, his amusement replaced by a cold fury, "Shoot their legs and let's fuck them up," he ordered, his voice laced with killing intent while lust blazed in his eyes.

The cult members, quick to obey, raised their guns, the weapons glowing with the same dark orange light that illuminated the ritual circle, and fired.

The bullets, infused with demonic energy, sliced through the air toward

the three women.

Emiko and Yui, tensed at the sound of gunfire, braced themselves for impact instinctively.

However, the ensuing scene unfolded into an unexpected spectacle that left Hangul and his followers agape in disbelief.

The air, charged with a momentary silence, was suddenly filled with the sight of glowing bullets suspended in stasis, mere inches from their intended targets.

Grace, standing unharmed, wore a smug, alluring smile, an embodiment of confidence and power, "Didn't I warn you...You are all going to die," she declared.

"Don't you dare! You have no idea who our Master-"

But before he could complete his sentence, Grace casually snapped her fingers, and the bullets reversed direction, turning on their owners with swift, merciless vengeance.

"NOO-!" Their cries of shock and terror were abruptly cut short as Hangul and his cultists met their fate, their bodies jerking violently under the force of their own weapons.

The hall, once filled with the cult's menacing energy, now echoed with their agonized groans, fading into silence as they collapsed, their blood seeping into the dusty floor.

"And you had no idea that our Master is the Demon King himself," Grace said with a cold smirk as she looked down at Hangul's corpse, his expression frozen in shock and terror.

"No matter how many times I have seen you do that...it's still as awesome as ever, Aunty Grace. Don't you think so, Emiko?" Yui's voice, laced with excitement and awe, broke the somber aftermath.

Emiko, her admiration for Grace evident in her gaze, could only nod, mesmerized by the display of raw power and finesse.

Grace, stepping lightly over the vanquished, reveled in the carnage, "This is why I love killing fools with guns. They are easier to deal with compared to those sticking to traditional weapons," she mused.

"No wonder some of the powerful Hunters stick to traditional weapons," Yui mumbled as she agreed to Grace's words.

"Or you have to be confident in your defensive powers," Emiko commented in contemplation.

"Now, you two go and search around. I can smell a lot of loot here. We need to be prepared to receive our Master when he gets here," Grace said with a smirk while her once voluptuous form began to wither, morphing seamlessly into that of a slender, aged woman.

The vibrant vermilion of her hair, which had danced like flames around her face moments ago, now faded into the soft white of winter's first snow. It cascaded down her shoulders, lighter yet still full.

Despite the emergence of delicate wrinkles etching her skin, tracing the paths of laughter and sorrow alike, there remained an undiminished grace in her movements.

Her skin, though losing its youthful luster, held a certain glow while her almond-brown eyes still sparkled with an unyielding vigor, belying the physical transformation that enveloped her.

Even in this altered state, Grace moved with a poise that defied her age while Emiko and Yui had gotten used to her transforming back and forth like this, knowing that she had no choice but to assume her aged form to save life crystals which she needed to use her powers.

"B-But what if the other branches of this cult learn about our attack and try to take revenge?" Yui's worry pierced the air as she inquired, clutching her staff as if seeking comfort from its familiar weight.

Grace's response was a beacon of confidence, her smile unwavering as she faced Yui's apprehension head-on, "So what? Let them come. That is what our Master wants...to keep growing our cult and spread our name. So far we did it low-key but now that he will soon join us, we will be in for serious business. Besides, we shouldn't worry too much when our Master has become strong enough to even become a serious threat to the top 10 in our world."

The revelation of their Master's newfound strength left Yui and Emiko in a mixture of awe and disbelief, "T-Top 10? Ohhhh...." Yui mumbled in awe while Emiko blinked her eyes in disbelief, wondering just what he had been doing to quickly get that strong within a short time.