Hellhunters Neo - Chapter 18 Sky Program

Riku laid in the bed as his body had been drained of its energy. From using the Dazimuse to the battle against LS15 had taken its toll. Normal demons would have died thankfully with his half-human heart he was able to press through. But just because he survived he had managed to slip into a coma. His mind drifted through the empty void of unconsciousness. He felt like he was floating through the air slowly drifting through the depths of the sea. Slowly little windows formed and passed him by causing his eyes to open inside his mind. They were memories of his life as if they were flashing before his eyes. He sighed slightly as he heard this was something people did before dying. slowly trace back their memories in hopes of having that last moment of joy. He shut his eyes trying to deny his fate till the sounds of lightning thunder and rain drew his attention. His body stopped just before the memory.

The rain was pouring over the buildings that seemed like a city straight out of the human world. It looked like a new york city without lights on. The flash of lightning was the only thing illuminating the city for brief moments. What could be seen was a destroyed and desolated city ruins. It was something out of the apocalypse in movies. This city was once the pride of humans to the point of being considered their next evolution. This was the city called Sky City. It floated high above the demon realm with the focus of giving light to their world to create an artificial sky. It was by leaps and bounds more scientifically advances that normally hoverboards were the mode of transportation. Now those same advances lay flat on the ground as the power of the city had been sucked dry. Riku stood at the docking point of the city. This was once a busy port that allowed transfers from the ground to the sky program. Unfortunately since the passing of Lord Shindow the sky program lost its benefactor that pushed for trade between the two lands. Now Sky was left on its own which might have been how this prominent city came to ruins.

Riku looked towards the female carrying a bow and towards Desmond. The two had accompanied him to the sky after the sun that created the false sky faded out. Currently, the ground below was enveloped in darkness. Creating a land of chaos and war that was not favorable for humans. Without the sun to give them light humans were in a constant state of disarray. While demons can see fine in the night otherwise. Their goal was to come and address the issue but after seeing the damage that Sky City had undergone. It made sense the false sun was no longer functioning. “Guys…we gotta find Saku he had came up here a week ago from the reports. It makes no sense the commander Saku would come to the sky and shortly after the sun would go out. These two things can’t be a coincidence and that means either he knew it was coming… or” he cut himself short seeing the look in their eyes. They didn’t want to believe it as much as he did. Rumors over the past few months were that Saku was going rogue and doing missions under the radar. This was something even as a commander of the HellHunters could not be allowed.

The three said no more on the matter as they slowly made their way into the city heading towards the central hall. It was common knowledge to HellHunters that the Sky City was the original stomping grounds. That meant that it was easy to collect info about the city in the archives of the HellHunters. By the three of them going on a rogue mission it also meant that there would be repercussions for this.

The further they headed into the city the greater the destruction became apparent. Desmond stopped short looking around at the buildings before speaking up. “Is it me or with this level of destruction shouldn’t there be dead bodies lying around? I mean I am glad but this isn’t something normal. There isn’t even blood… I heard the humans up here were genetically modified but… To no have blood?” said Desmond as they assumed walking.

They all thought about this silently but the Riku looking over this memory could only scream. He banged on the false window that displayed this memory as it taunted him. He knew what was coming next.

As the group made it towards the central hall they noticed the doors had been sealed shut by chains. Luckily they weren’t Ti Zhoa’s nearly unbreakable chains. They broke easily with a slice from Desmond’s sword but as soon as those chains fell the door flew open nearly flying off its hinges. Out poured humans whose skin was plagued with silver metal cysts. among them were with cysts so large that they caused the head to wobble causing them to stumble as they walked. The three quickly jumped out of range of the people. Their hands had a knife like growths of metal that made claws off their fingers. The creatures who barely could be considered human anymore slowly shuffled forwards as they tried to push past each other. Their eyes were glazed over showing signs that their own conscious was gone. What was left were these zombie-like creatures left in their place. As the three slowly moved back the sound of glass shattering drew their attention to a nearby building. Out fell more of the creature that ended up slamming hard against the pavement. Those whose heads didn’t smash under the pressure slowly started to rise to their feet.

“you wanted to know where all the humans have gone… well thanks for fucking asking Desmond.” said the girl before she nocked an arrow in place. She released the arrow as it flew towards one of the creatures. The arrow bounced off the metal cyst showing it’s durability at the moment. Tho the arrow left a scratch the creature made no real reaction. She fired again this time aiming for the part of the head not covered by the metal cyst. As the arrow punctured the frontal bone causing the creature to fall abruptly to the side. The others quickly turned their focus toward the girl. Their attention seemed to be one track at this moment. “I think it’s time to…” Just as she was about to say run the head of one of the creatures shifted into a scythe-like spear that flew from its head. It was like the entire head had stretched with the metal causing a misshaped head of bone and metal to make the blade. It stabbed into her shoulder causing her to scream out in pain. The attack was so sudden no one really had time to react. The large spear lifted her up as she cried out before flinging her off. Her body flew a good 10 to 15 yards before slamming against the ground. Her body gave a gruesome smack against the ground. She laid on the ground as if she was dead for a moment. Time seemed to have stopped till a flash of light gave light to her surroundings. There were more of the creatures surrounding her. Just as she started to move her body was quickly covered by the creatures. Her screams filled the air along with the sounds of flesh being ripped apart. The sound of something eating like ravenous hounds.

Riku ran to where she was firing rounds at the creatures causing their heads to jerk from the force of the desert eagle. some died others continued eating as if nothing was happening. Just as he was close enough he saw her hand clenching her bow on the ground. He bent down to try and pull her free when he realizes her arm had been ripped off and tossed aside in the chaos. He felt the bile build up in his throat but he was jerked aside by Desmond “Oi shit there is no time for fucking breaking down. She’s dead and these creatures are not happy we are here now run… Or maybe they are happy but not in the way we want” Desmond said dragging Riku by the arm avoiding the claws of some along with the spears of others. They used Desmond’s shield he formed to push their way through the small wall of creatures. Once on the other side, the two ran as fast as they could manage. It wasn’t long before the horde of creatures seemed to have lost their trail. Finally able to rest inside a building. Riku was slowly walking towards the window as the rain began to downpour on the small city of the dead. He finally felt the emotions well up as he stood there with tears falling down his face in silence.

Chapter end