Nightmare System - Volume 1 Chapter 56 After The Battle

“Shit,” said the man in his early 30s with a chiselled face and sharp features. He boasted a large, muscular body and wore a tight-fitting suit. Magnus Reid was the top field agent and the leverage of the Anti-Monster Department. In emergencies, he was called forth. “Everyone’s dead!”

Magnus then took a look behind the dangerous figure in the middle and saw another three bodies. One was badly battered and hurt which seemed to be Jack. Another was beheaded and the last one seemed to be unconscious, he figured the last one was definitely Devlin, the infamous prince.

“Hey, did you do this all by yourself?” Magnus asked while everyone else from the Department had their mouths agape at the scene. “Damn it! You killed Raul, too? Well, he was a boring old goat anyway.”

“Sir, should we engage from a distance?” said another man with a suit. The Department had surrounded the men and was waiting for orders at stand-by.

“Be ready to shoot,” Magnus commanded them. Contrary to the attire of The Blessed, the Anti-Monster Department didn’t shy from using firearms to engage their enemies with powerful bullets. The Blessed mostly prepared spells and close-quarters fighting while the Department has always been a tad more scientific.

The men surrounding Hell c.o.c.ked their guns and as soon as they displayed an intention to shoot, the armour around Hell started spiking out, as if going haywire as the lone king in the battlefield got defensive, ready to engage any enemy.

“Stop!” Jack yelled with a battered body. He looked around and saw that not only Devlin seemed to be in good condition, but the forces under Raul and Alia were completely annihilated. He first thought of calling out to Hell. However, he didn’t seem stable.

The fury burning inside Hell was almost hot enough to burn the air around him. Seeing Magnus Reid, the Unstoppable Beast in the field, even he was cautious and didn’t want Hell to take any rash actions. He yelled everyone to keep their distance as to not agitate his king further.

“Oh, hey Jack,” Magnus said as he got closer with calm steps. He had a nonchalant attitude as he approached Hell who seemed ready to strike at any moment.

“Magnus, stop! He isn’t himself!”

Magnus walked until he was standing before Hell. He towered over him like a giant with a grin on his face.

“Ah, it’s fine,” he said as he went to pat Hell on the head. “This nice lad isn’t going to hurt me.”

Before Magnus could make contact with Hell, he struck with a sword blow of incredible speed. It was his ability, Instant Slash again. The Beast flew forward with the blow until he crashed a pile of bodies.

“Sir!” one of the men yelled again and got ready to fire, only to be stopped this time by Magnus himself.

The Unstoppable Monster was not an empty title, after all, he had earned it after becoming one of the absolute powerhouses in the country. He got up with a large slash on his chest which carried from one side to other. It wasn’t too deep, and it healed fast.

“I’ll play with you, lad,” Magnus grinned.

Jack, fearing the worst, got in between Hell and Magnus and called out to Magnus, urging him to stop.

“There is no need for this, we can resolve this peacefully!”

“Peacefully?” Magnus cackled. “It seems to be too late for that. You have annihilated the main attack force of one of the powerhouses in Kuport.”

“The Blessed made the first move, we had to” Jack tried to explain as a spine-chilling sensation arose from his back. He figured it was the same fear felt by anyone facing Hell.

“You how dare you?” Hell muttered again with a hoarse voice.

Even though he was also able to move fast, it seemed hard to move in that armour still, his movements felt sluggish while he reached his hand out slowly toward Jack. He gripped Jack’s throat and started tightening his grip.

“He was hurt”

“Hell, I swear- I did all I could!” Jack got the words out while trying to release himself from the death grip.

Everyone in the scene watched as Jack gasped for air and tried to apologise profusely. He may not have been too respectful before, but he had learnt to respect Hell’s power. Even legendary figures who underestimated it would be swiftly killed before it.

Jack started veins in his head about to burst and that he would lose consciousness when he saw Magnus approaching with an explosive burst In his peripheral vision. He was before Hell before he could react properly and punched him.

Even though his head was also covered by the armour and seemed impervious to all attacks in his fight against The Blessed, a punch from Magnus was strong enough to momentarily destroy his helmet. The punch also caused Hell to bounce on the ground quite literally and when he rose at Magnus’ level, he sent him flying into the prison building with a back kick.

“Now,” Magnus said. “Let’s have you explain to us what has been going on here-” Magnus was saying in a calm manner when he was interrupted as he realised the man he had sent flying stood right behind him with the sword almost touching his hair.

The only thing stopping him was the previously unconscious Devlin, standing between Hell and himself. The armour covering Hell from head to toe started unfurling itself back into a beast, and then it withdrew inside Hell. It was created from Hell’s rage, after all.

“Brother,” Devlin could only force one word out as he looked at his big brother with longing. It had been five years since he had last seen the only family he has in this world.

Hell dropped the Sword of Blood and hugged Devlin, taking care as to not break his bones with his newfound strength. Hell saw Devlin as a 5-year-old cute kid brother still, even though the fact was that Devlin was currently older.

“I was so worried, brother, no one knew where you have been all this time!”

Magnus didn’t dare ruin the mood this time as he broke a cold sweat running down his back. He was very proud of his senses, but the fact that the other got so close without him realising caused him to feel fear for the first time. This was a dangerous figure, indeed.

Just before Magnus could raise his voice, he noticed Hell collapsing in the arms of Devlin. The stress on his nerves must have tired him out. To think the thing to bring down this demon would be the hug of a younger brother. Magnus guffawed and turned back, walking back to his car.

“Devlin, I hope that you will allow us to welcome you as guests in the Department.”

“Of course, I wanted to give a statement,” Devlin whispered as he held his brother’s body.

Magnus instructed his men to accompany Devlin, his brother and his subordinates as guests, not as prisoners. They lowered their weapons and escorted them carefully to the car. No one dared actually touch Hell, so Jack and Devlin supported him.

The men in the scene had experienced one shock after another. First, the Unstoppable Beast was hurt. Second, he was almost caught unaware by a sneak attack. If anyone asked if these things were possible, each one would swear that perhaps if some bigshots sacrificed their lives trying it that it may then be possible.

They also carried Miur’s body upon their request and got into the cars. There were very few people around, taking photos of the battlefield from afar with their phones. This day would be remembered very clearly in the future.

Devlin was beyond elated to have seen his brother again, but he was horrified to realise it was his brother who murdered hundreds of men and women as if nothing. They had left the scene afterwards without looking back a second time. The Anti-Monster Department started surveying the area for any survivors, but the hope seemed bleak.

After they were escorted to the Department, it was shocking to see they received truly the VIP treatment. Truly, power was everything in this world. Unbeknownst to them, Magnus had made the risky decision to decide to befriend Hell through Devlin.

Magnus had considered striking Hell down as soon as he collapsed, but he couldn’t take such a risk. It wasn’t that he was afraid for his life, but all his men would be slaughtered right after if he were to die. And the destruction of two large factions already caused pandemonium in the city with some smaller factions taking the initiative to fill the void left by them.

It wasn’t easy to fight on the frontlines. But someone had to do it, nonetheless. After a short debriefing, Magnus realised that Devlin was kidnapped by The Blessed. Kidnapping the leader of a faction, it was understandable a war would ensue. Magnus visited Hell’s room, looking at his sleeping body as he contemplated.

The fact remained that a large portion of The Blessed had risked everything just for that bit of information, that they wanted to learn who or what this hell” was. He was certainly one hell of an opponent, Magnus thought as he snickered to himself.

A quick examination had shown that he didn’t have any damage on his body, it seemed that he had collapsed due to extreme stress and the following utter relaxation when he saw his brother was well.

He had been sleeping for almost 24 hours now with Devlin visiting him every now and then. Magnus thought of finishing him off once more, he seemed, so defenceless in this state. It would take him a mere second to finish this “hell” off.

As he entertained the idea, however, Hell woke up again and stared at Magnus again.

“And they call me a beast!” Magnus thought to himself. But to his surprise, Hell wasn’t hostile.

“Right, mate, call Devlin here,” Hell said in a casual tone.

“Does he think of me a damn butler?!” Magnus nigh-frothed at the mouth but then sent a guard at the door to find Devlin Reeveman.

“Do you not remember yesterday?” Magnus asked with a cautious tone. This person he was talking to didn’t act like someone who tried to kill him just a day ago. It was better to ask.

Reminding Hell of yesterday had almost turned a switch inside Hell, causing him to lose his nonchalance.

“What if I do? Do you want to continue where we left off?” Hell’s serene eyes were ruthless like an ocean, piercing into Magnus. But Magnus wasn’t one to be easily intimidated, either.

Moments after both heard the sounds of footsteps coming ever-closer toward the room.

“Hell, are you all right?” Devlin barged in and asked.

“Hell? What? There’s no respect here anymore? Listen, kid, I’m your big brother,” Hell said in a bone-chilling tone.

Devlin responded by hugging his big brother. “I really missed you, man.”

It was a long-standing game the brothers played between one another. Talking to one another in a serious and accusatory tone was how they expressed their love for one another.

“I was here with a business proposal, actually,” Magnus interrupted the loving union of the brothers.

“I am not interested, piss off.”

“We can at least hear him out, can’t we?” Devlin then asked. He had lost his usual confidence and noble demeanour. He was currently not the leader of an almost wiped out faction, but Hell’s little brother.

“Anything you want,” Hell said as he patted Devlin’s head, realising that Devlin was not slightly taller than himself. Hell then turned to Magnus and spoke: “We are listening.”

“As far as I can see, all the bigshots of Knightdom are alive and well. Re-establish your faction and work with the Anti-Monster Department to protect the city, as well as the country.”

Hell, instead of answering, looked at Devlin to see what he thought of this. He didn’t mind either, way, he eventually had to return to that jungle world and finish what he started. Cheating the system had already caused him to lose five years.

“I and Jack protected Kuport with Knightdom. I heard most of our men were killed during the battle with The Blessed. I hope we can continue to help people.”

“What are you protecting the city from? The place looked pretty secure to me.”

“Let me explain,” Magnus said and told Hell about the monstrous factions rivalling that of theirs, invading and capturing cities. They were many in number and each one was multiple times stronger than a regular human.

“Why don’t you solve the problem where it lies?” Hell asked. “Why not kill them all?”

“It’s not that easy, their leaders are as strong as you or I. We have non-aggression agreements with some, but they aren’t really iron-clad.”

“Listen, I want to spend some time with my brother,” Hell said and created a copy. Even though he was nearly spent in the battle yesterday, 24 hours was more than enough to recover all his MP.

“Wow, what is this?” Devlin asked in wonder as he looked at Hell’s copy, or as he calls them, Pseudo Hell.

“Am I that incredible?” asked Pseudo Hell and turned to Magnus: “Let’s go.”

After a brief silence, Magnus spoke again: “Holy shit!”