The Incubus System Chapter 104. Silent Scream
Emma's PoV
The night sky looked cloudy, Emma ran as fast as she could as she clutched her chest, enduring the pain. Her eyes looked for a hiding place on that abandoned building. A stair that had been destroyed was far behind her, trapping her on that rooftop with nowhere to go. Her legs were difficult to move, her sweat was dripping, her body felt weak. She had no choice but to keep running from the dark purple winged demon behind her. Occasionally, that demon threw his acid bombs at her, creating a hissing sound with an acidic smell that pierced her nose and holes where those bombs landed. Seeing an unfinished large pillar, she hid behind it and turned her gaze at Ethan who was fighting fiercely with another demon not far from her.
She knew she would not be able to face this demon and had to ask his help, but on the other hand, Emma knew Ethan was having a hard time dealing with that another demon, he couldn't possibly face two of them at once. So instead of screaming for help, she decided to keep running and distract the demon as best she could.
- Shhh! - Shhh! - Shhh!
The pillar behind her started to melt, she knew she couldn't run away anymore. She came out of her hiding place and aimed her hand at the demon.
'Mana Strike!'
A white lance flew at that demon, but of course, without the Holy Chain, that demon could dodge it easily. And since he was an aerial type, she knew her Holy Chain would not be able to reach him, plus that demon wasn't an ordinary demon like the usual demons she had been dealing with.
Unwilling to give up, she shot her mana strike repeatedly but the demon flew to dodge easily. Her hand started to tremble as her MP got lower. Then the demon shot his acid bombs again. She dodged and lowered her head to hide at the pillar which barely covered her now. But suddenly the attack stopped. Emmaturned to the demon and could see Ethan was standing with his back facing the building she was in.
"Thank you," she muttered as she stepped out to find another hiding place. Her back was leaned to another unfinished pillar as she tried to catch her breath and calm herself. But a few seconds later, explosions sounds could be heard and several of the acid bombs flew to her, destroying the floor and also the pillar behind her.
She glanced at their fight, Ethan looking so serious that he didn't even notice it. But again, she didn't want to be a burden so she kept quiet and tried to hide herself as best she could. She felt so useless, she was a demon hunter but all she could do was hide.
- Shhh!
An acid bomb landed on the pillar behind her again, melting the last pillar in that building which was also her hiding place. She turned around as she ducked down, trying to hide herself. Her eyes widened in shock as several acid bombs had flown over her. She was sure she would die this time. If that acid bomb could melt rock and steel, her body wouldn't stand a chance.
But it turned out she was wrong, Ethan grabbed her and took her fly away. At the same time she could see two acid bombs landing on his body. She could see he was in pain. He protected her ... Again ...
'Why do you keep protecting me? Didn't I attack you? Didn't I try to hurt you? Didn't I look down on you by saying you are more suitable as a prostitute than a fighter? ' But one thing for sure Emma knew Ethan's feelings for her were true.
She noticed Ethan's wounds and whispered his name in worry.
"Damian ..."
"I'm fine ..." he said. His blood flowed down and started to wet her face and body. She knew Ethan couldn't be okay.
"I'll protect you ..." Another voice came from him but it wasn't Ethan's voice but a woman's voice.
She tilted her head and realized that she was hugging her mother. The scenery around her turned into an elevator where she and her mother were trapped and attacked by two demons when she was 7 years old. The demons tried to attack Emma but her mother pushed her into the corner and covered Emma with her body. Whereas she could only curl up in fear there.
"Mom ..." she said in a trembling voice. Her face was full of tears. She knew the demons were tearing and biting her mother's body from behind, trying to get her away from Emma. But her mother was so persistent and didn't move from her position no matter what they did to her.
"I'm fine ..." said her mother in difficulty. Emma could see the blood flowing from her mother's mouth. Emma stretched out her hand, trying to get her Holy Chain out but no matter how many times she tried, nothing came out of it. She stared at her palm and realized she had shrunk. She came back when she was 7 years old.
"No ... Please ... Let me protect her ... Let me protect her ..." she whispered in a trembling voice.
"Be strong ... Emma ..." her mother whispered. Then her eyes closed and her body fell. Emma could see the demonswho had killed her mother, grinning at her.
Emma clenched her hands, she decided to fight them to the death. But a second later, those demons' grins faded. Their bodies fell and turned to ashes.
She looked at a man in a demon hunter uniform standing in front of her and recognized him as her mentor.
"Mr Renart ..." Yes, she remembered that Mr Renart was the one who saved her in the elevator.
Mr Renart smiled and extended his hand to her.
"It's okay. I'm here ..." said Mr Renart in a gentle voice.
Emma extended her trembling hand to take his. But before she reached it, blood came out of Mr Renart's mouth and he collapsed.
"Noooo!" Emma screamed hysterically and turned over her mentor's body.
She startled as she could see the severe wounds on her mentor's body. Claw wounds everywhere even his face was almost unrecognizable. Emma shook her head in terror, her body trembling violently.
"AHHHHHH !!!!!"
Emma woke up with sweat running down on her face and breathing heavily. Her body was shaking violently, her heart was pounding and her face was pale.
"Mom ... Mr Renart ..." she whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks. She knew it was just a dream but after yesterday's incident those terrifying memories returned to her.
After pulling a couple of deep breaths, she took a glance at the clock in her room.
01.52 PM
She couldn't sleep last night since she was so worried about Theo. So she slept after she got the news that Theo had passed his critical condition this morning. Her eyes stared at her palms that were tremblingviolently. While her heart was beating fast, fear and sadness overtook her. It had been a long time since she had this condition.
Theo's words rang out in her head.
'A man who doesn't want to fight demons on the front lines are just losers to me. Because of a pathetic man like him, women like you are forced to fight. '
Apart from her family, only Theo and Mr Renart knew about her condition since she was too scared to tell anyone. A demon hunter who had trauma to the demon was a failure from the start, but she didn't want to let that defeat her.
She shifted to the side, opened the drawer on the small table beside her bed and took her medicine. Quickly, she poured two of it into her hand, but since she trembled some of it fell to the floor. She ignored it and immediately shoved the pills into her mouth.
She closed her eyes as she caught her breath, trying to calm herself. The incident when the demons killed her mother in front of her left deep scars in her heart and memories, making her so angry when she saw Ethan trying to kill that little girl. In her eyes, Ethan looked like the demon who was killing her mother and trying to kill her. Her emotions and feelings overwhelmed her heart and she couldn't think straight. Even though she knew her misunderstanding was completely her fault since she was patrolling without her Demon Compass.
But despite what she did, despite her distrust, Ethan still protected her ... just like her mother protected her and like her mentor saved her life in the elevator. As if… Ethan heard her cry for help that never left her mouth.
Her mother's death traumatized her, after that incident she locked herself in her room and was terrified when she met strangers. But after she started to recover, instead of running away from her fear she decided to face it. She decided to become a demon hunter so no other child would have the same fate as her. Her condition started to improve when she reunited with Mr Renart at the Demon Hunter Association. Her mentor's presence gave her calmness, but it was gone again. Like her mother, the demons killed her mentor. She felt so hopeless and frustrated because... The people she loved died one by one in the demons' hands.
That's why when she saw Ethan dying after protecting her, her feelings flared up, her heart wavered, she was willing to do anything to save his life.
Without realizing, his sincerity ... made her fall in love with him so deeply ...
He was a demon ... So what?
Her best friend loved him ... So what?
He was a prostitute ... So what?
He had so many women besides her ... So what?
She didn't care about that anymore, this time she didn't want to lose the person she loved again. Therefore she did not hesitate to become the source of his power.
Emma stared at her palms one more time, this time they weren't shaking like before. Then she wiped the tears on her cheeks and her eyes were filled with determination. She knew the demons were getting stronger, even Theo almost died and Ethan was badly injured because of them.
'I have to get stronger ... Next time I won't run away or hide like before, but I will fight together with you ...'
Author Note:
(erase the *)
