Chapter Twelve: Bonding Time

"Demons shouldn't be allowed to live amongst humans. After all the harm they have caused? Executed on sight. They devoured children, killed for sport, burned villages, and took women.", Ash thought. Disgusted by these thoughts, Ash smashed his fist against a bookshelf. They were wicked beings hated by God. The captain shouldn't be letting him live.

"Why was he showing so much favoritism for a demon? A DEMON!"

As Ash brooded over his thoughts, he heard a voice speak out in the quiet library.

"Come. Lost child of the light."

He looked around confused. There was no one in the library but him. "I'm losing it," Ash thought as he shook his head. Whatever he heard must have been his imagination playing tricks on him.

However, a white light illuminated a corner of the library, hidden behind several large shelves housing hundreds of books. Approaching the white light, Ash found a white hovering orb twinkling in the corner of the room that seemed to call out to him. Startled by another intruder in the cathedral, he jumped back a little. The orb spoke again with a gentle but stern tone, 

"If you need the power to kill a demon, I can grant thy wish. Just like Mel, you can kill powerful demons. She is only strong due to her Archangel's gifts, not from the fruits of her own labor, but rather she exploits her blessings."

"However, you, you are different child. Every day, every hour, you pursue nothing but the eradication of monsters. You need a blessing, one bestowed by God. Something all humans are given. They deserve. Why can't you have one? Why were you excluded?"

"Such a tragedy, I believe. An angel must give to the humans the blessings God gave us to give. Who are we to deny the eager, the righteous, those who desire to do his will? We find the mightiest warriors to do God's will. You should've been given one, yes, a strong gift, one that will help you do God's will." 

"Who are you, and how did you get in here?" 

"You know and understand it that a demon can't enter a Cathedral. That... ogre is breaking God's law! Lacking demonic mana, it bypasses the barrier used to repel such vile creatures. You'll become strong enough to kill that demon. He shouldn't be allowed to enter a cathedral. God's sacred ground. All you need is my blessing and the knowledge I can bestow upon you. Take it, it's yours. Accept it and do God's work. Deny it and let the demon live." 

Ash felt a strange force compelling him and persuading him. His mind seemed to be strained by two conflicting forces trying to win his favor. However, he did desire to eradicate all demons from their world. Ash pondered the offer and asked, 

"If you're an angel what is your name?" 

"I am the messenger of the morning star. A gift giver, a redeemer. My name is not something a human can speak out to the world. To say my name is to call upon the star. Just as God is unable to be seen by those impure, my name must not be spoken by them." 

"Alright. I can only sense holy mana from you, so you must be an Angel. However, why show yourself now?" 

"We have been commanded by God to refrain from intervening. However, with some leniency, I have been allowed to give aid to those who can handle my blessings. We seek those willing to stand against the demons. They grow stronger as the sun sets and the moon rises. You have already felt the wickedness allowed into the temple. Demons are appalling creatures who need to be purged. Only the righteous will prevail over the wicked." 

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Mel groaned, deeply annoyed by Asura's presence. After returning from cleaning up Wain's and Asura's mess, she was immediately told to help Asura out with his clothes. For some reason, this idiot kept ending up naked. They had already given him enchanted clothes to deal with this situation, but he still managed to leave them in rags. Baffled by his inability to keep his clothes on, she slammed her head against the wall as Asura got dressed behind her. 

Asura shimmied as he put on his new blue T-shirt. It fit nicely; slightly larger than his build, it hung loosely, making it feel very roomy. To his surprise, this time, it had extra holes for his arms too! However, his pants were the same, which disappointed him. He would much rather have the sweatpants he had before coming to the Cathedral, but the cargo pants would do, he supposed.

"Who is my roommate?" 

"You'll be rooming with Wain. Since you guys seem to get along, he can watch you, so you do not do anything stupid again. The fact the captain is leaving a demon alive is a mistake. I do not know why he thinks you will be useful. All you have done is get into trouble." 

Asura's face twisted at the insult, 

"Again, with the demon crap? To think Karen never learns. Ya racist asshole, can't you just call me Asura or monster like Wain?" 

Whipping around to face him, she put her pistol to his forehead. Her brows furrowed deeply alongside her narrow eyes, making it obvious she was furious with him.

"A demon killed my family when I was young. The thing ate my mother in front of me as a child. He then ripped my brother apart as if it were a game. But he didn't stop there... No, he wanted more and converted my dad into a brainless monster."

Mel stopped for a moment,

"The demon left me alive and returned to wherever it came from, leaving me to fight my own father and kill him. I have a reason or two to despise you and your kind. All your monsters are demons to me and always will be." 

Sighing, Asura pushed the gun out of his face and crossed his lower arms. 

"Look, I don't care about your sob story. That has nothing to do with me. I didn't kill your family. Some monster ate your family, so what? Doesn't mean I did... I mean, most monsters would eat your family, but like, I'm one in a million." 

Asura rubbed his chin as he thought about it, 

"Well, I have thought about it once, but you guys smell horrible. I do not think you'd taste good, so I would rather not eat a human... I lived a long life without it, so I don't need it. Quit assuming we are all demons. It's a term used for wicked assholes who want to torment humans and monsters."

Asura shoved a finger into Mel's chest,

"Monsters aren't excluded either by those shitbags. Do you think those demented freaks don't torment us? They feed off the sins everything commits. Humans aren't special in that regard. And I ain't one of those. Obviously, I didn't eat those children either, so I got a track record of not being a dick." 

Hesitantly, she pulled the gun back and let out a sigh. For a moment, she debated what Asura said. She looked at Asura and crossed her arms. 

"If it is true that you've never eaten a human, I'll stop calling you a demon. Although I still don't know your name, what was it again, demon?" 

Asura, annoyed, raised his middle finger pointing it at her, 

"Ain't no way you don't know my name by now! I just said it you dumb-" 

Mel got angry and shouted back at him, 

"What? It's not like you were memorable anyway. Just a loud monster, nothing new." 

"Yeah, and you're just an annoying bland woman named Brittney. Karen? Who knows, pick a basic name, and it'll probably fit." 

"Pfft, don't lie to me. You could never forget a beauty like me." 

"Beauty? Guess this world's beauty standards are messed up too." 

She punched the back of his head before storming down the hall. Shouting her final words she disappeared down the hall,

"Go back to your room, I am done with your moronic-" 

Barely hearing her complaints as she stormed off, Asura whispered under his breath.

"Dumb bitch." 

From down the hall came a bullet that smacked the back of Asura's head. Exploding into a ball of fire, it sent Asura tumbling forward, causing him to face plant against the floor. Groaning, he pushed himself up off the ground. For a moment, he expected more, but it seemed her anger was satiated. Asura grabbed the back of his head, rubbing the spot of impact. From out of sight he could hear Mel call out one final time,

"You say something?" 

"Nope, nothing." 

After returning to his room, Asura noticed a few changes in his bedroom. Wain must have returned and then left at some point. The bed next to his now had headphones on it and a laptop that remained open. A backpack full of plants was now sitting at the foot of the bed. Asura did not recognize it as he snooped through his stuff.

The plants were radiating with holy mana. For a second, he thought about trying to smoke it but stopped remembering the fate of the Banana Wyrms. Whatever that green smoke was, it was surely going to kill him, too, if it went inside his lungs. Sitting down on the bed, Asura opened the laptop and put the headphones on, curious about what he could find within.

Upon placing one of the headphones in his ear, he found hip-hop began playing, a genre Asura did not seek out but didn't hate either. The beat was rather pleasant to his ears, making him nod and enjoy the beat. He couldn't help but begin to dance slightly in his seat while grooving to the music. 

After closing his eyes to relax for a moment, he opened them, finding Wain had suddenly returned without warning. The sudden intrusion into his embarrassing dance break startled Asura. Standing above him, Wain looked down with disappointment, like a parent who caught their child with something they shouldn't have.

Asura couldn't help but feel like he got caught by his mom. Wain stared at him with those eyes that made it feel like he had let him down. The ogre quickly jumped up hiding the headphones behind his back as if Wain hadn't already seen him wearing them.

"My bad, I just wanted to watch some movies, but I saw some music." 

Asura put Wain's items down gingerly, patting them as though to remind Wain they were still in good condition. Sliding across the room to his bed, Asura watched as Wain checked his belongings for any damage. Although Wain... somewhat trusted the ogre, he still checked his backpack to see if anything was missing. Who knows what the ogre was doing before he arrived? 

Plopping down onto his bed Wain turned to his neighboring ogre asking,

"Did you like it?" 

Asura relaxed, sprawling out across his bead, before turning his head enough to see Wain. He replied, 

"Yeah, shits good! You make it?" 

Wain smiled and pulled out the headphone cord to connect the laptop to a speaker. He was eager to share his hobby. No one had ever taken an interest in his music before, which excited him. Mel was always busy, and Ash was a jerk, so nobody ever gave him some time to share. He did try to share it with the old man once, but he preferred metal, "Which was okay", Wain thought because everyone has their preference.

Wain shook his head, pulling himself out of his deep thoughts and focused on the present. Pressing play, they both listened to the music for a few hours, enjoying it as time flew by. Asura bobbed his head to the beat, which made Wain smile. Someone was finally enjoying his music! However, his happiness was cut short as Ash walked into the room. Ash remained silent as the two jumped up like startled cats. 

"Hey, woah man... What's up?" 

Wain threw the laptop to the side, cutting off the music as Asura whistled suspiciously. Ash rolled his eyes at their failed attempt to hide what they were doing. Although he didn't know why they tried to hide it in the first place.

"Look the captain wants to talk to us, come with me." 

As Ash walked away, Asura called out before he could disappear down the hall. 

"Can I have some boxers or something first? I thought Mel or someone would give me them after the clothes, but they never came..." 

Wain became appalled at the thought Asura was without underwear, 

"Wait, you were just going commando under there?" 

"Yeah? I mean, no one ever gave me underwear." 

Ash was disgusted by this revelation. Trying to erase this unnecessary knowledge from his memories, he shook his head as he walked away. 

"There is no time. Just follow me." 

The three of them walked in silence as they traversed each hall back to the office. Asura could never get used to this confusing maze created in the shape of a cathedral. It became more confusing every time they walked down another hallway.

"The main worship room has four hallways connected to it. One leads to the office, and another leads to the training room, but you can get to the classroom through some doors. It's confusing as hell..." Asura debated with himself.

"Just how many doors he had opened as he explored this place, trying to find secrets. Was it fifty? Maybe that was exaggerated... forty? Who knows, but what he did know is that this place sucked." He thought as they continued to walk.

The three of them arrived at the classroom. Ash opened the door for the two of them, not to be nice but to make sure Asura did not run off again. Everyone remained vigilant of the ogre's actions trying to prevent another disaster.

Ash was growing increasingly impatient with the ogre, and Asura could tell. His eyes were filled with even more animosity towards him, prompting Asura to stick his tongue out as he walked by Ash, taunting him. Ash did not take the bait, ignoring the childish attempt at provoking him.

After entering, Asura noticed Mel was sitting in the same spot as last time, and Ash went to his seat. Asura turned to Wain, expecting an answer, but he was just as confused as the ogre. The two of them found seats next to each other in the same row Asura sat in before. The ogre put his feet up again on the desk in front of him, resting them with his arms behind his head. Wain looked for the captain and found no signs of his presence. "Did Ash lie?" Wain asked himself.

After waiting for a few minutes, the old man walked in and stood in the middle of the room. He was wearing reading glasses already and looking down at a stack of papers. Peeking up from the papers, the old man saw everyone in the room, which prompted him to start his report.

"Good, all of you are here. Let's get started. Wain and Asura encountered the main leader of the cultists, causing the problems in town. His name is Malachi. This is not his first rodeo either. He orchestrated twelve prior rituals. He has been very illusive and managed to escape several attempts of ours to catch him. Most of them result in those who confront him dying painfully."

After reading off another page, the captain continued,

"He carries a crimson book called the Book of Beelzebub. A book that can heighten one's demonic magic capabilities. It's usually held by high-ranking monsters, but he has managed to get his hands on it. Normally, humans can't use it because it acts as a medium to refine and increase the user's magic capabilities, but somehow he can." 

Asura was curious after hearing about another fact that was unknown to him.

"So, humans can't use quotidian mana?" 

"No, not normally. There are rare instances where hybrids can. A monster and human's offspring. They don't normally cause problems, though. They tend to be alone and away from society. We call them witches, and they can be quite helpful most of the time. Almost all of them cooperate with The Temple to ensure their safety. Witches have a unique mana, and Malachi's does not match their mana type. We ran blood samples, which revealed that he was a full-blooded human. The mana he seems to have is a rawer type of mana than the refined demonic mana witches have." 

"Witches? When were those created?" Asura thought as the curiosity worsened,

"Wait, so there are offsprings of monsters and humans? What about Angels?" 

The old man shook his head. 

"No, the Nephilim were killed off long ago." 

Asura pounded his fists on the desk, startling everyone. Damn... he was too late to have some epic Nephilim battles. 

"Hm. So, then witches huh, Can I fight em?" 

The old man let out a deep sigh. He was growing tired of Asura's suicidal urge to fight anything that moved, even if it left him dead.

"No, you can not. Malachi has gotten more aggressive recently due to the failed attempts at summoning. Whatever he is trying to summon is big. It's bigger than anything we have seen. He is growing impatient and sloppy. Normally we would never see him, just the presents he leaves for us. This leads us to the next issue. The Cathedral we report to is getting annoyed by the number of attacks happening recently as well. If they get involved, no one will be happy." 

Mel sarcastically laughed, 

"I'm sure my sister would love to harass me some more." 

Ignoring her comment, the old man read more from the pages. Asura looked around the room, confused. It was not hard to find information about their world. They just needed to talk to the right people, and he knew just who to talk to. 

"Um, I could get us information if ya need it." 

All their heads turned whipped to Asura, curious about what he had to say. How could a monster who arrived only a few days ago know something about this before them? They have been hunting this guy for years now. There is no way the moronic fight-seeking four-armed doofus monster, who was new to the world, could get information.

Asura squirmed as everyone stared at him. The old man pulled his glasses off, concerned that Asura was scheming something. 

"And how would you do that?" 

He smiled wickedly, 

"I'd ask the shadows, but I doubt they would respond, creepy bast-.... buggers always lurk around like creepy stalkers. But there are other monsters lurking in the town that even you do not mess with. I mean, almost every town has them. Humans love them. My aunt runs businesses in the human world, and she used to tell me all about them. They gossip over there more than anyone I know. She would help if I asked her subordinates." 

With a worried expression, the old man stroked his beard.

"And that place would be?" 

Smiling, Asura responded cheerfully as he threw his arms up, 

"THE STRIP CLUB!" 

Everyone groaned in union. What did they expect? This idiot only cared about two things apparently. Fighting and now women.