4 Clearing a Ghoul Nest and An Unexpected Arrival

Going through the near pitch black hallways, I held the modified pistol up and kept my ears peeled.

Most people think a Hunter/Slayer's most useful power is the strength or the speed or the ability to actually take a hit from a supernatural creature and not die from it. But in reality, a Hunter/Slayer's most useful power are their senses and perception of their surroundings.

Because while before I would've needed a flashlight to properly navigate these halls, right now, I could stealthily walk through these pitch black halls like they were somewhat lit up.

'Bright and full of light' lit up? Not really. But 'I can see enough to not fumble around like an idiot' lit up? Sure.

Even better was that I could hear all around me. Anything that entered a certain range was instantly heard and I could easily pinpoint where it was. I had no doubt that further training that focused on my senses and perception would allow me to navigate places like this with my eyes either closed or blindfolded.

I heard a chittering behind me and I quickly spun around, keeping my pistol at eye level.

Inwardly, I chided myself. Why did I need to go straight to dad and ask him for harder missions? I should've taken a week off to get used to my powers. Alas, arrogance and hubris got to me. First time that's ever happened, honestly. I ought to keep an eye on that to stop myself from doing stupid shit.

Seeing nothing down the hallway behind me, I took a few steps backward, advancing to my destination before turning back around and walking forward again.

...But really dad, a Ghoul nest? Jesus Christ, man. I'm your 14-year-old son! Show a little care!

A single Ghoul? Easy. Two Ghouls? Harder but still very manageable. Three Ghouls? Okay, now it's getting a little harder. Especially if they're somewhat clever Ghouls - which they always are - they'll send decoys at you while one of them waits off to the side, waiting for an opportunity to attack.

A whole nest of Ghouls? Hard. Very, very hard.

You see, Ghouls don't really have many weaknesses other than getting shot in the head or decapitated. Their advantages/powers, however, are many.

They're strong, annoyingly cunning, faster than you'd expect and they had an aggravating healing factor. Not as fast or intensive as a Vampires but fast enough they as long as you get too distracted to finish the job, their wounds can heal and they can come at you with 100% strength again.

The way to combat a Ghoul is to take it down as quickly as possible. Though that's usually the way to combat most supernatural creatures, honestly.

Yet with a Ghoul it's easy enough - a bullet to the head and they're down.

Yet that gets infinitely more difficult to pull off when you have to take down around a Dozen of them and some of them won't just wait to be shot in the head but will instead hide and wait for the best chance to injure/kill you.

Giving a silent sigh, I heard the chittering right above me and froze solid. Almost instantly, I entered the focused state and slowly tilted my head up slightly which is when I saw it.

Skinny to point of looking malnourished and gaunt. Skin that was a mixture between alabaster white and lifeless grey, and looked to be stretched to the seams over odd-looking bones. Arms that were like an apes - long and easily being down to it's knees in length. A body about the same size as mine but hunched and crooked in places. Fingers that were tipped with five razor sharp claws and were midnight black in color.

But most of all, a pair of pitch black eyes that were completely black, save for the white pupil in the middle that rapidly looked all over me like it couldn't concentrate on one part of me. It's toothy maw opened and closed, a dribble of saliva falling from it's black tongue and landing on my shoulder.

Then it saw that I was looking at it and it got ready to scream.

But I beat it to the draw. Literally.

*Bang!*

The pistol in my hand pointed upwards instantly, my gun play skills having been trained over and over for a decade so that I could use a gun anyway I wanted. Especially a pistol. It was my bread and butter, so to speak.

The Ghoul's head practically exploded because of the force of the pistol in my hand. If I had to compare it to anything, I'd say it looks and acts like one the duel pistols Alucard uses in Hellsing Ultimate. ''Jackal'' if I remember correctly. Just...I don't know, shorter and less unwieldy.

But it's still got a longer barrel and overall length than say, a Glock 17.

With this size and length, comes a greater increase in power. It's made like this because it's a weapon made to take on supernatural creatures in close range and to kill them.

It has a lengthy, and frankly boring, name but I do good ol' Alucard proud and call mine ''Jackal''. As a homage to the big bad Vampire himself, I guess.

Reaching to my right side, I grabbed the handle of my other pistol and pulled it out as hell broke lose around me. Down the corridor where I'd come from, a Ghoul was running at straight for me, it's saliva dripping everywhere.

Oh, did I forget to mention that despite eating dead Humans, a live Human is a delicacy to most Ghouls? No? Well, now you know.

Pulling the gun that was a completely identical copy to Jackal, I aimed it down the corridor and pulled the trigger in less than a second. Another tumultuous bang went off and another Ghoul's head exploded due to the power of the gun in my hand and the type of bullet it shot. What kind? The best kind. Explosive rounds.

Despite being an average-ish soldier, I was always enamored by guns and marksmanship in my past life and even without the talent for it, I still practiced as much as I could. So now that I had the talent, I was more than happy to use guns whenever I could.

Though admittedly only on feral Ghouls like these. I don't fancy turning my guns on a human or intelligent creature unless their actions warrant such a reply.

I affectionately refer to the gun in my left hand as ''Hound''. Jackal and Hound has a nice ring to it, I guess? Honestly, the name just popped into my head when I was thinking up possible names to call it and it fits the theme of ''Canine-like animal'', doesn't it? Whatever.

The only difference for these guns from the original Jackal from Hellsing is that these guns aren't as strong. 1) Because if they were any stronger, not even a very well-trained Monster Hunter would be able to use them without breaking or blowing off his own arm and 2) Because there was very little need to make it any stronger. It works good enough as it is and any more power would just be overkill.

Though the gun can be somewhat useless against higher-tiered creatures like Demons and Trolls, it's pretty good for everything else. Plus, there are specialized guns and bullets to take on Demons and Trolls anyway.

Anyway, hell was breaking out, wasn't it?

I dodged to the side, putting my back against the side of the corridor's wall and a clawed hand stabbed just where I'd been. Lifting the gun, I blew another Ghoul's head off.

Three of them. That leaves another ten. Or so the intel said.

On instinct I didn't know I had, I lifted Jackal up and blocked another swipe coming at me and blew out the Ghoul's stomach with Hound before pushing it off with Jackal and using the same gun to finish it off with a shot to the head. For a split second, I marveled at how much my strength had improved after the Activation. Blocking a hit like that before the Activation of my powers? I'd have been knocked back a few feet. But after the Activation? I'd barely even felt it.

Yet I didn't dawdle at my strength for two long and I proceeded to dodge an incoming claw swipe. Ghouls were among the weaker Monsters of the world. They're only dangerous in numbers. So don't get cocky and too confident just yet, Arthur.

As I dodged into the center of the corridor and was about to get my face clawed off, I did a backroll to avoid another swipe and shot the Ghoul that missed. Another one was down.

While I was on the floor, two Ghouls chose this as their chance to attack and I quickly reacted as I slammed my elbows into the ground, cracking it in the process but also throwing myself upward into the air. Using my momentum, I spun sideways mid-air and fired off two shots. One of which hit true and blew another Ghoul's head off while the other only nailed the gaunt bastard in the chest, blowing a hole in it. A hole that was already starting to heal little by little.

Not one to miss a beat, as I began to come back down, I positioned myself so that my foot would come down on the Ghoul's head and it did, and with it, a squelch sounded as I flexed my leg muscles and crushed the Monster's skill my enhanced brute strength.

7 down, 6 more to go.

As I put down the 7th Ghoul...everything went quiet. I couldn't hear or see any other Ghouls but my instincts told me not to let my guard down. That the remaining Ghouls were just bidding their time, waiting for a chance.

But that didn't feel right. Ghouls, while cunning, are usually not very patient. Sure, they'll wait for a minute or two but as the seconds pass by, their animalistic urges and hunger will get the better of them. Once that happens, all that animal cunning goes out the window and is replaced with animal stupidity.

Though as soon as this thought came to my head...I realized what this felt like:

It felt like someone was ordering and controlling the lesser Ghouls and stopping them from falling apart due to their instincts.

Inwardly cursing my luck, I began hoping that I wasn't right.

Yet my hope was for naught as steady footsteps came from further down the hallway. I turned both Jackal and Hound toward the slowly encroaching figure and kept my breathing steady and my eyes focused.

If whatever was coming was what I thought it was, I needed to be at the top of my game to fight it. It wouldn't be as easy as a normal Ghoul.

And I was right.

Walking about five inches above the other Ghouls I'd seen and covered in plumes of scruffy white fur that were mainly centered around it's chest and lower arms. It was also much more healthy-looking than the other Ghouls but for it's overall size, it was still too gaunt and skinny to be considered human. It was skinny to the point that if it were a human, it should be dead via starvation. But despite this, it gave off an aura of intimidation and authority.

An Alpha Ghoul. For fuck's sake.

"Hoo-man..." it got out in a terribly accented version of English, "...Why...you...kill us?" it asked in a stunning display of intelligence for a Ghoul. Even for an Alpha Ghoul.

But hearing that question, I couldn't hold in the snort and the sneer that followed it, "Why am I hunting you down? Gee, I don't know," I sarcastically said, seeming to question myself, before continue, "Maybe it has something to do with the fact you've kill over a dozen kids and the relatives and police officers who've come looking for them?" I questioned, backing up slightly as four Ghouls came from holes in the wall next to where the Alpha was.

Two to each side. This...this had been practiced. A Ghoul using strategy? Formations?

This really needs to be reported to dad when I get back. I feel like southern England is about to have a massive problem with Ghouls. Like how it did during the Black Plague.

"They...come to our territory. Hoo-man understand what that mean?" the Ghoul growled taking a few steps forward and seeming to attempt a polite and amicable smile. Which obviously looked absolutely horrible.

"Yeah, yeah, I understand," I continued backing up as I did calculations and simulations in my head on which way would be best to take out this group, "You're a bunch of territorial idiots. That's what I got from this little chat," my reply caused the Alpha and his group to instantly begin hissing and growling at me but I kept a calm head as I thought through the situation.

Logically, I need to take out the Alpha first. But that'd require more than one bullet...and I only have three left in either gun. With how many are here, that means I'd have enough as long as I took down the normal Ghouls with a single bullet and got the Alpha two times in the head.

But upon further thought, I knew I wouldn't be able to do that. A Hunter-Slayer hybrid or not, there's no way I can guarantee a 100% shot accuracy. Especially with Ghouls who can be annoyingly swift and agile when their life is really in danger. The benefits of being double jointed creatures, I guess?

Even without the accuracy problem, there were currently five Ghouls in front of me. That meant there was an extra one somewhere and maybe even another extra one because I don't think the intel guys included the Alpha in the count anyway. If they had and they hadn't given me a heads-up that there would be an Alpha Ghoul here...well, I'd have to kick their asses when I get back from dealing with these Ghouls.

So that meant I didn't have the ammo to take out these guys quickly enough. Even with my reload speed, they'd have crossed the distance and made my gun advantage pretty useless. Meaning I'd have to take them down via CQC.

Which is doable, by the way. I'm just not entirely used to my new powers. I don't know if I could fight barehanded against multiple Ghouls.

Amping my focused state up to maximum, I felt the world practically freeze as I fired off two shots almost instantly as I entered the state. The Alpha's black eyes widened and it instantly went to roar out to commence the attack.

I watched it do this in slow motion and instantly, two of the Ghouls jumped in front of the bullets going straight for the Alpha.

...Tch. Such undying loyalty is admirable yet annoying, you know?

Turning Jackal and Hound away from the Alpha, I fired at the remaining normal Ghouls and easily hit their heads, killing them.

Knowing I had another Ghoul to deal with after this, maybe two Ghouls, I didn't fire my last two bullets at the Alpha and instead ran at it. It saw me do this and screamed in a primal rage before running to meet me, it's upright posture lowering as it ran across the ground like a Chimpanzee.

Unperturbed by it's roar and aggressive stance, I kept my charge up and holstered Hound, saving it for later.

As soon as I was close enough, the Alpha swung it's right arm in a wild haymaker, hoping to slash my face in half with it's incredibly sharp claws. But I didn't want to harm my handsome face, so I ducked under it and grabbed it's arm before pulling it into an Americana submission hold*.

(*A/N - If you don't know what this is, it's a submission from Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Usually you have to be mounting your opponent to pull it off and have them on the floor but with Arthur's inhuman strength and technique, who's to say he can't just pull it off while him and the Alpha are standing? Don't think into it too much. Just search up 'Americana submission' and you should understand what he's doing.)

Well, before I continued to push it backward and snapped the Ghouls arm and broke it's shoulder.

They're double jointed but even that has limits, you know?

Once again, I was awed by my strength but I kept up with what my job was, so I quickly backed up, letting go of the Alpha's arm as it flopped to the Ghoul's side. Looking at it's arm, it's white pupil constricted until it was nearly invisible.

The Alpha roared at me, more in anger than in pain. This would probably be because Ghoul's don't really feel pain in the same way as Humans. It's waaaay more subdued for them.

Getting it's arm snapped and it's shoulder broken probably felt like a lightly banging your arm against the corner of a wooden table or something. So, it felt much less painful than if it happened to a human.

Anyway, in it's anger at being injured, it charged at me again and I took the same approach - I dodged and attacked it's arm. Except this time, I took out it's left arm.

Why was I doing this?--

The Ghoul lunged at me with it's only available weapon, it's mouth, and tried to take a chunk out of my jaw/neck region.

--Because I wanted it to attack me with it's mouth, of course.

Backing up just enough to avoid the toothy maw from digging into my flesh, I took Jackal and shoved it right into the Alpha's mouth. Giving it a pitying look, I spoke up to it one last time, "By order of the Jäger Family, I hereby sentence you to death for your violations of the laws placed by my family."

*Bang!*

The back of the Alpha's head was blown out at this point and I was nearly down with this job. Hearing a small creek above me, I drew Hound from it's holster and pointed it up before firing.

*Bang!*

Another squelching sound signaled another death Ghoul. Putting both my guns away, I wiped my brow with my gloved hand before putting my arms akimbo on my hip as I looked at all I'd down for this job, "Jeez, the clean-up crew aren't gonna like this one. Though I suppose it's better than cleaning up a Troll hunt, huh...?" I mused to myself as I looked at the brains, skull pieces and blood sprayed all over the place.

Though before long, I began hearing feet pitter pattering on the floor behind me.

Looking over my shoulder, I saw one last Ghoul running toward me. Turning around, I gave a sigh before lifting my hands and settling into a basic fighting stance.

Just as I'd practiced with guns, I'd religiously practiced and learned martial arts and CQC techniques in my decade of training. Mainly because I knew that when I activated my powers and when canon finally began, fighting with my barehands would become the norm for me. But I also kept practicing because the progress I made was intoxicating. So much so that I kept going back for more training.

In the end I became specialized in CQC and marksmanship.

Though I must say it's a shame this world, or rather my family, didn't have Gun Kata. Well, I was getting on my way to making it myself anyway, so it doesn't really matter.

Bursting forward, I shot toward the Ghoul and put it into my range but got a bit too close for it's swipes to be too effective. So, like it's animalistic instincts told it to, it lunged in with it's mouth wide open. I kept my calm and sent a blindingly fast uppercut at it.

The hit connected with a bang that sent the Ghoul up and off it's feet and I quickly spun on my heel before planting a kick right into it's midsection.

As it flew backward, I wasn't idle and quickly went after it.

Upon catching up, I grabbed it's neck and slammed it down and into the ground. The ground cracked and caved in a little but the Ghoul was mostly fine if not a little dazed. Though suddenly, as if something came over me, I felt an undeniable urge to kill the Ghoul in front of me. Don't get me wrong, I was gonna kill it anyway. But this urge...it felt brutal and terribly invasive. It felt almost angry.

Before I could even stop myself, I began slamming my fist into the Ghoul's head over and over and over again. It kept it up, losing myself to this odd and mysterious urge and this overwhelming bloodlust.

And I kept up the hitting until the Ghoul's head was no longer there and all I was hitting was a bloody sludge and the concrete floor below it.

Slowly, I came to, my breathing heaving. But not out of exertion. It was like my body had entered overdrive and it now needed a massive amount of oxygen to replenish it's stocks. Yet my focus wasn't on that.

Instead, my focus was on the fact that I'd lost control. Completely.

...I had to be more careful in the future. I can somewhat guess at what this was caused by: A mixture between the Demonic energy inside of me and the Hunter's instincts to kill supernatural creatures (though it should only be Vampires and Immortals, really). Obviously they've mixed together and created something very volatile.

So, like I said, I'll have to be more careful in the future. I'll have to keep a tighter grip on my instincts and the urges they give me.

Guess I need to add a new regimen to my training: Resist urges to brutally murder things.

How troublesome.