Chapter 406. Ignorant Mortals
Master Asher Reynolds??
The name echoed in Loona’s mind. Did this boy mean the Asher she knew? The quiet, harmless security guard? No. It was impossible.
Ifrit raised a thick crimson eyebrow, his small face twisting with sudden, dangerous arrogance. "You dare harbor doubt toward the Master... human?"
A suffocating wave of pure killing intent flooded the room. The temperature plummeted, and a sudden vortex of wind whipped through the chamber, causing Ifrit’s dark coat to snap violently around him.
Loona shrank back, paralyzed by terror. The aura radiating from this tiny boy felt utterly ancient and violently oppressive.
Rex stepped forward, his tone shifting into something mocking and gentle as he licked Loona’s toes like a faithful hound. "Ignore him, my lady. His fanaticism gets the better of his manners. To a creature like him, failing to revere the Master is a sin punishable by death."
Ifrit’s cheeks flushed a furious, childish red. "I-I am not a fanatic! Stop mouthing off, you mutt! So what if I’ve waited a long time for his summons? That doesn’t mean I’m eager! I don’t beg for his favor like some desperate vassal!"
’You are literally begging for it right now,’ Rex deadpanned internally.
Turning back to Loona, the dog’s voice carried a calm, chilling authority. "We are Master Asher’s familiars. I realize your fragile mind struggles to process a talking beast, but accept it as reality. The necklace gift he bestowed upon you was no mere trinket. It anchored our spirits to your bloodline so we could cross find you at anywhere in this world the moment you called out in despair."
As the dog spoke, Loona’s confusion shattered into awe. The only person who had given her a pendant necklace was Asher. But how could a simple guard hold leash over such... horrifying entities?
"Hahaha! Look at you fools, blabbering like lunatics!" Josh’s voice bellowed from the doorway, backed by the clatter of boots. "While you were playing fairytale, I called in my strike team! You’re trapped like rats! Kill them all!"
A dozen men in dark armor and black helmets flooded the room, instantly raising submachine guns and locking their sights on the child and the dog.
Josh yanked Loona off her feet by her hair, dragging her toward the door. "You’re heading straight to the lab, bitch! No gods, no guardians, and no magic tricks are saving you from me!"
He threw her into the hallway and roared to his men, "Mow these monstrosities down!"
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
A deafening storm of lead shredded the room, filling the air with smoke and muzzle flashes. But beneath the thunder of automatic fire, a sickening sound echoed—the sound of high-caliber bullets flattening against solid iron.
"Is this the pinnacle of human ingenuity?" Ifrit’s demonic voice boomed through the gunfire, dripping with utter contempt. "Shooting tiny scraps of metal at a lord of hell? How pathetically primitive."
"You’re a forged blade, so of course it bounces off you," Rex grumbled, his voice low and dangerous. "One of those lead pellets actually lodged in my hind leg. It... tickled. And now my patience has evaporated."
"Evaporated?! My blood is boiling!" Ifrit clutched his head, his small form trembling with violent urge. "I can’t stand this! I refuse to let these insects sting me!"
Closing his eyes, Ifrit projected his voice straight into Asher’s mind. ’Master... grant me leave! These hairless apes are testing my sanity. Permit me to paint these walls with their entrails!’
’Still as bloodthirsty as ever, Ifrit,’ Asher’s voice resonated in his consciousness.
Ifrit grinned, his sharp teeth glistening. ’You expect anything less from your blade, Master?’
’Restrain yourself. Neutralize them, but do NOT take their lives,’ Asher commanded. ’Humanity has its own systems for trash like this—prisons, executions, the law. We are not here to butcher them. Just break their spirits and leave them for the authorities.’
Though a growl of disappointment escaped him, Ifrit’s grin didn’t fade. Permission to break them was more than enough.
He slammed his fists together, a spark of crimson hellfire erupting between them. As the smoke cleared and the gunfire faltered, the guards expected to see meat and shredded fur.
Instead...
CRACK!
Ifrit vanished, reappearing instantly in front of the lead guard. He delivered a brutal side-kick to the man’s knee, snapping the joint backward like dry firewood. Before the guard could scream, Ifrit grabbed his rifle-arm and twisted it until the bone shattered out through the cloth of his uniform.
"Shit! Bullets aren’t stopping them! WHAT ARE THEY?!" the men shrieked, scrambling backward in horror.
Rex flexed his spine, and with a squelch, the flattened lead bullets lodged in his flesh popped out and clattered to the floor. His fur instantly knit back together. "To think we once ruled over your kind... how far you’ve fallen into ignorance."
Rex cracked his neck. His shadow expanded across the walls, stretching violently as his small puppy frame ballooned upward. In seconds, a monstrous, towering hellhound loomed over the soldiers, his black fur dripping with shadow and his exposed fangs as long as broadswords.
The remaining guards dropped their weapons, paralyzed by primal dread.
"N-No... it’s a demon..."
"It’s a demon from the pit!!"
Ifrit chuckled, his eyes blazing like dying stars. "Ah, so the vermin do possess an ounce of intellect. Yes, little worms. We are the nightmares your ancestors warned you about." He raised a fist, his smile sickeningly wide. "Now... let us see how much punishment your fragile little bodies can endure!"
The heavy steel doors slammed shut. What followed was a symphony of crunching bones, high-pitched weeping, and desperate prayers that went unanswered, illuminated only by the flickering strobe of the room’s dying light.
***
Outside, Josh dragged Loona through the dirt toward a massive, armored transport truck.
He threw open the rear cargo doors and callously shoved her inside. Loona gasped. The dark interior was crammed with terrified captives—gagged, bound in chains, and cowering in the corners. There were young mothers, shivering elderly men, and wide-eyed children.
The doors slammed shut, locking them in total darkness. Outside, Josh slammed his fist against the driver’s door. "Drive! Get us to headquarters before those freaks figure out where we went!"
The heavy engine roared to life, kicking up dust as the truck sped down the dark, unpaved road toward the distant neon horizon of Tokyo.
They hadn’t driven three minutes before a shadow descended from the sky like a falling meteor.
Josh glanced at the side mirror. "What the—"
BOOM!
Rex brought a single, massive paw down onto the truck’s hood. The force crushed the engine block instantly, sending the heavy vehicle flipping violently through the air. The cab slammed into the dirt, hurling Josh and the driver through the shattered windshield onto the jagged rocks.
Josh’s world spun before fading into blackness. The driver lay motionless beside him.
’Target rendered immobile, Master,’ Ifrit reported telepathically, standing over the wreckage with his arms crossed.
’Excellent,’ Asher replied. ’Retreat into my shadow immediately. The mortal world isn’t ready for your true forms.’
’As you wish, Master. But what of the herd trapped in the back?’
’Help is already on the way. Just make sure Loona keeps her mouth shut about you from the police. She saw you right? Oh, well...everything went according to plan. Well... almost everything.’
Ifrit frowned. ’Did something go wrong, Master? Has an enemy confronted you? Shall we return and annihilate them?’
’Silence. Return to my shadow and await further orders. Now!’
The connection severed instantly, leaving Ifrit staring blankly into the night, a rare flash of concern crossing his arrogant face.
Rex, towering above the treeline, looked over his shoulder. "Hey... look down the highway. Red and blue lights and sirens."
Ifrit scoffed, far too short to see past the wreckage. "Hmph. The ’poris’ Master mentioned. Idiotic mortals playing at justice."
"It’s police," Rex corrected smoothly, his form shrinking back down into a tiny, harmless puppy.
"Yeah, whatever. Wouldn’t care anyway."
Walking up to the rear doors of the cargo truck, Rex barked loudly enough for his voice to carry through the thick steel. "Loona! The Master commands your silence! Do not utter a word regarding our existence to the mortals. Stay put—your rescuers have arrived!"
Before the approaching sirens could flood the road with light, the shadows beneath the two demons stretched upward, wrapping around them like a cloak, and swallowed them without a trace.
To be continued....