The Bounty Hunter
Chapter 88: The Show Must Go On

August 30th, 2089

Terra’s POV

I am grumpy.  I thought that when I uncovered and stopped a plot to annihilate two worlds that I had used up my allotted number of troublesome things one deals with in life.  In nearly every web novel I have ever read, the protagonist lives happily ever after with his harem after terminating a world-ending threat.  I have a harem, I was sort of like a protagonist, and I did successfully terminate a worlds-ending threat.  Yet here I am, fighting an actual fucking demon lord while shapeshifted as a woman.  Oi!  Heroes are supposed to come to your world to kill you, not the other way around! 

We were both holding back at first, but after his declaration he unleashed his demonic aura and attacked at full force.  Any doubts about his title disappeared the moment he revealed his true strength.  There’s a reason why the stories say Heroes are the only ones who can kill demon lords.  Shortly after that I sensed the protective magic artifact I gave Reiji activate.  Good, since he’s safe I no longer need to worry about collateral damage. 

I ducked beneath Dante’s roundhouse kick and countered with a ferocious uppercut which he evaded by detonating an explosive magic beneath his foot.  The shockwave propelled him away while also engulfing me in flames.  I doused it immediately with water I pulled from the moisture in the air and then pressurized it into a steel-cutting jet.  Dante responded with a gout of burning white hot flame, turning my water jet into steam instantly.  I swung my arm at full strength, using the wind caused by the motion to disperse the steam. 

I saw Dante standing in the upper levels of the stadium with his left arm raised high.  He then brought it down while yelling “Fire!!”.  All around me were various terrorists and creatures I recognized as demons who started unloading a full salvo of bullets, hexes and explosives at Dante’s signal.  I clapped my hands, amplifying the sound to create a massive sonic boom that blasted away the incoming projectiles and shattered all the glass fixtures in the arena.  I then flickered above Dante and drastically increased the gravity in the area, pinning him in place temporarily while simultaneously powering up my falling drop kick. 

“MY LORD!  I HAVE COME TO ASSIST!!!”  Something knocked me away mid-kick, sending me careening back towards the stage.  The impact destroyed what little of the stage was still standing.  I barely managed to extract myself from the rubble before my new assailant was already upon me.  “HOW DARE YOU ATTACK MY LORD!  PERISH!!!”  A massive one-armed oni with two prominent horns, a shaggy mane of black hair and huge jagged fangs that couldn’t even fit into his mouth loomed over me with a ridiculously sized kanabo.  His bright red skin gleamed like it was bronze, barely containing enormous muscles. 

He slammed the kanabo down with great power, forcing me to teleport away to avoid becoming a red smear on the floor.  The concrete floor was pulverized and the very ground shook from the blow.  I reappeared in the middle of the lower level and leaped to the side to avoid another salvo of long-range attacks from the peanut gallery. 

Shit, it seems like Dante has signaled all his lackeys to stop their slaughter and focus on me instead.  At least he hasn’t bothered trying to control any more audience members after the first try.  I guess he realized that I wouldn’t hesitate to strike them down.  I didn’t really want to kill innocent civilians, but they were dead the moment they were possessed.  I don’t know how the hell did he manage to possess multiple people remotely and at the same time, but it doesn’t matter right now. 

Before I could reengage him, Dante carved a curse sigil into the flesh of his arm and I could feel it brand itself onto my own arm.  Crap, I know this spell.  It’s a blood magic curse of debilitation that works on both the cursemonger and the target.  The embodiment of “an eye for an eye” this curse takes as much from the victim as the cursemonger is willing to give up themselves.  I hate blood magic with such a passion!  It consumes life-force along with mana to power some of the most vindictive and vicious spells imaginable!  There’s no way to properly defend against it unless you’re a fucking vampire and are thus immune to it!

I felt my mana reserves drop drastically and my body felt weaker, putting me at a severe disadvantage as I engaged the oni bearing down on me like a typhoon.  He swung his kanabo with reckless abandon, forcing me to dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge once more.  His reach was far greater than mine so I couldn’t manage close combat, but every time I tried to put distance between us so I could try to break the curse the peanut gallery fired on me.  Trying to undo blood magic is hard enough as it is without distractions, it’s impossible in this situation.  My attempts to eliminate the small-fry were thwarted by Dante and so I was locked into a stalemate that was slowly whittling away at my strength. 

I know the moment I show an opening, Dante will pounce.  I miss my rhomphaia, guns and ninjato so much right now.  I didn’t bother replacing them after they were destroyed during the battle with the Hero due to my mistaken belief that I was finished with fighting.  I thought my magic and martial arts were sufficient for any future threats, but I was wrong.  Damnit! 

I decided to gamble and rushed the oni, jumping high over a low swipe and reinforcing my fist to the limit that my reduced reserves could allow to deliver a potentially lethal blow.  The oni is strong, but frankly it is nowhere near the level of Dante or myself.  If it weren’t for the damn blood magic I would have wiped the floor with it already.  But right as I was about to strike the oni, I saw Dante give a smirk as he fell to one knee.  The curse sigil glowed and suddenly the magic I had in my fist dissipated, and I was weakened even further.  I still followed through on my punch, but instead of smashing the oni’s face in I barely managed to knock him back.  He slid backwards, but I was still within his reach. 

I saw the kanabo home in on me and I was smashed into the ground.  Hard.  An impressive crater formed as I vomited up blood.  8 strikes later and my world was spinning.  Another 14 strikes and I was teetering on the edge of consciousness.  “That’s enough Ibaraki-doji, I’ll take care of the rest.”  Chains wrapped around my limbs and were pulled taut, lifting me off the ground slightly and splaying me out like a starfish.  The coldness of the metal managed to rouse me enough to open my eyes once more.  “Ah good, I was worried that you were bludgeoned into unconsciousness by Ibaraki-doji.  That would have put a dampener on things.”  Dante was standing some distance in front of me with a huge grin on his face.  S~ᴇaʀᴄh the ɴøᴠel Fɪre.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

This is bad.  At least 30% of my bones are broken, I have multiple internal injuries, ranging from a punctured spleen to a ruptured kidney, and I am all but drained of my mana.  I maintained my indifferent expression, knowing that demons get off on getting reactions out of others.  I won’t give them that satisfaction.  The low-level demons and possessed terrorists were all gathered around me, they must have all stopped their assault to assist Dante.  The pitch-black chains restraining me were anchored to dark portals floating in the air.  Dante slowly walked towards me, slightly unsteady on his feet.  His face was quite pale and he had slight tremors as he moved, it seems he gave up nearly all his power for the curse. 

He noticed my gaze and let loose a snicker “I knew there were still Remnants in this world, but you’re damn near Hero level.  I am almost fully spent with that curse.  It’s embarrassing to say, but you seem to be slightly stronger than me one on one.  But true power is more than just the strength someone possesses on their own.”  He wiped away some of the blood on my face, I don’t know if it was my own or from someone else, and licked it. 

His eyes were glowing in delight for some reason and his demonic aura was pulsating powerfully, causing the other demons to watch him in awe and worship.  But something he said stuck out to me “What do you mean by ‘Remnants’?” I asked.  “You speak to me at last!  Since you’re going to become my woman I’ll tell you, but you’ll have to wait for now, darling.” 

What.  The.  Fuck?  Did he just say I’m going to become his woman?  I summoned the last of my strength and spat out a stream of fire, aiming to incinerate Dante.  If he dies, the curse sigil would fade, allowing me to regain my strength. 

Unfortunately, my last-ditch effort was for naught.  A barrier shielded Dante, one that had been created beforehand by several of his minions.  “OOOOH!  You naughty, naughty girl!  Did you really think I wouldn’t have any protection prepared now that I am nearly as weak as a regular human?  But I must say I am impressed.  Even now when all seems lost, you remain proud, aloof and cold.”  His mocking grin morphed into a truly demonic one as he continued “I so look forward to breaking you.”  Fuck.  Fuck.  Fuck.  Fuck!

“My lord!  The police and military are approaching!  Someone managed to get past the seals and alert them!”  A small, purple imp flapped over to Dante while yelling.  “Hmm, that’s disappointing.  I assumed we would still have plenty of time to slaughter everyone even after I got side-tracked by my new play-toy.”  He blew a kiss at me before asking “How many did y’all manage to get?”  “We believe that it was about 1,400.”  “Tch, that’s not even a quarter of all the attendees.  How unsatisfying.  Alright then, activate the fail-safe.” 

The oni at that moment chose to interject “WILL THE POISION WORK TO DIVERT THEIR ATTENTION?”  His roar knocked Dante onto his back, causing him to let loose a very long sigh.  He picked himself up, dusted himself off, and then asked the oni in a tired voice “…What have I said about using your inside voice?”  The oni opened its mouth to respond, but then closed it.  Dante let loose another sigh “Well that’s progress at least.  Anyways, to answer your loud question, the hallucinogenic gas that is currently being flooded throughout the building will eliminate the credibility of the witnesses.  They’ll think we were hallucinations, keeping our cover intact and helping spread our notoriety even further.”  He turned back towards me “Let’s go darling!  I can’t wait to show you my pad.  There’s this lovely dungeon that’ll really take your breath away!” 

Fuck.  Fuck. Fu— never mind.  I just sensed something that changes this situation drastically.  I looked at Dante, gave him the frostiest glare I could muster and coldly said “Go fuck yourself.”  Dante, who was obviously startled by my actions, was about to ask about it when there was suddenly a very large explosion on the roof of the arena.  Steel and black fire rained down, followed shortly after by a 3-tailed demonic fox the size of a bus.  The demons nearby scattered as Rin landed right in front of me, snarling and ready for a fight.

Sᴇarch the Nʘvᴇl(F)ire.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.