Erebus picked up his gear, donning it all to the teeth. A metal glove was on one of his hands, two daggers at his waist, and hidden up his sleeve was a saber hilt that could fall into his hand if he ever needed it. His robe was pitch black, and his hood matched it, beneath that he wore his Shadowguile armor. Two stud earring, and a silver pendant was clasped around his neck. He was in full regalia, a comfortable but loose fit.

As he stepped out of his bedroom in the Spiral, Erebus walked towards the Elevator drop. And hit the button taking to the scorched bottom floor. The attack on Eternal Nightmare has not been far gone, so there were men repairing the downstairs when he got there.

Erebus moves to the board against the wall, and ripped the page off that was a casual re-run of the Church Exorcism. He kind of hated that one at this point but it paid good and it wasn’t so much a distance that he had to abandon his duties here. The next step was to get a partner so Erebus walked down the hallway behind Odin’s throne until the roster board was in front of him.

He read recent names and their Infamy levels until he came to one in particular. She had even more infamy than him. Impressive— Yumi Hashigami. Erebus quite liked that name, and began to read her file after going to the Lacrima computer program that detailed things equal to their reputation level. She was an Explosive Fire Mage. Potentially another mage quite unlike Caius, who Erebus quite enjoyed. Very well, Erebus would ring for her to come downstairs; and ask her if she’d like to go make some jewels today, there wasn’t much else to do. Work meant pay, pay meant power.

He sat perched, arms crossed against the wall by the elevator after he’d requested the Daemon’s presence for the S-rank Quest.

329/2500

A giant axe blade cut through the air cleaving deep through a wooden dummy of a large steel training room. In this giant room of steel countless wooden bodies could be seen strewn out within, each one cleaved in half, the culprit the giant black and purple bardiche. The weapon gleamed as it was swung down into the ground and buried deep into the steel. The owner of the giant weapon was unique in their own way, a tiny young girl no older than perhaps fifteen or sixteen years of age. The young girl was only four foot ten and was wielding a weapon over two metres in length, a stark comparison. The axe appeared heavy but was easily wielded in one hand despite the ravenette's thin petite frame. Long black hair cascaded down her back ascentiating her frail appearance accompanied by heart shaped facial features, button nose and thin lips. She was dressed in a long blue, gold and purple silk robes of Joya decent.

Crimson hues stared boredly at the remains of the wooden puppet as the owner ripped the axe out of the floor and hefted it onto her right shoulder. The owner of the brilliant crimson hues that shined like rubies was Yumi Hateshiginai. She had not long joined the Dark Guild Eternal Nightmare after meeting up with an old friend. To her surprise not only was the old run by an old friend of hers, but another acquantance of hers, Caius, was also part of the guild. What fortuitous circumstances to be able to once again be apart of the same guild as old friends. The daemon hummed to herself as she began leaving the training room, intending to return to her bedroom to rest. Every guild member seemed to be assigned a room which would receive calls from the lacrima computer stationed in each room when someone requested another guild members presence.

The lacrima computer lit up not long ago Yumi walked into the room with an S-rank request. Raising an eyebrow the petite daemon approached and opened the request. It seemed another guild member, by the name of Erebus, was requesting her presence for an S rank quest. Of course Yumi could always chose to deny the request, but she was most curious. Was this the same Erebus she knew? Or perhaps someone with the same name. Yumi could only shrug and leave her room descending to the main area of the tower to find this person. Approaching the elevator and opened it, walking on in she selected the bottom floor. The doors closed and the daemon descended. The lift landed and the doors opened, where Yumi would be greeted by a young man.

Crimson hues examined the man with curiosity, "Are you the one who requested my presence?" Inquired the daemon with a fierce gaze.

WC; 475 / 2250 (10% WCR)

Erebus heard the lift land, and the quick blades released the door and out stepped a girl perhaps sixteen inches or so shorter than him. She was a small thing, but the weapon she drug behind her was as tall as he was, Erebus on the other hand wielded the smallest of items with grace. Dagger blades.

The sight of the girl was first met with a questionable stare, before his lips came to smile and the words broke the subtle silence, seizing before her the moment to make introductions. Erebus stood straight and let his arms fall to his sides. “My name is Erebus Gresham, and yes that’s right. This was my way of saying hello, and welcome— I don’t think we’ve ever met before truthful, but I checked the roster and found that you’re a new addition to the cause, you’re another celebrity too from the looks of things, so it’s about time we became contacts under the same banner.” Erebus kept things light and casual, he placed his hood on his shoulders. Acknowledging her strength was the first sign of his respect, revealing his face to a daemon was the second. Though, Erebus was not a newcomer to her kind, he was already quite familiar with Caius and some others. So he was aware of what they were capable of, and commended them for their pursuit of power. Irregardless if they weren’t humans anymore at the end of it all.

He was a Warlocke himself after all. His patron just happened to be a God— while hers? A demon.

If Yumi inspected the Rogue, she’d find that he was donned in a cloak that covered the majority of his body hiding a second set of limbs underneath, as well as his armor itself. However, like an ominous reaper or temple executioner, the center was able to be pushed back over the shoulder’s and the armor underneath as well as his second appendages were free to move around. In the room, there was a pale difference in design between his human form and her Daemonic grace— but on the contrary, he was still a mortal and she was something different than that. In the last two years, most in the country had come to realize Erebus as a devastation, a master of weapons and battle tactics. Yumi was from a time before Erebus, and was a rebel mercenary witch for Grimoire Heart. That’s all Erebus knew about her, and the truth was that they were both excellent fighters. The rogue found it opportune for them to work together, because there could be a day when either of them was ambushed, and having that help readily available was what turns the tides of war. Something he’d recently embraced, the ode to dominate the enemy. Simply knowing her was an honor now in it’s own right.

Erebus motioned her with the nod of his head to follow towards the great door. The exit of the Spiral, once they were outside it was a decent hour walk, or a short fifteen minutes by mount to the Church in Town. Whichever way they took, Erebus was only one to chat if the moment deemed it necessary, after all he was trying to get paid; and since her magic style seemed to be vicious with flames, she was the perfect person to take to the catacombs.

The truth was that Erebus wasn’t meant for crowd control in general like Yumi probably was, as a physical fighter with multiple arms and magical gear— the Spymaster was more in line to be an assassination expert before anything else. This newly acquired blood coursing his veins simply begged him to take on any challenge open or blind behind shadow. Yumi was a whole different kind of war machine. Surely, there was no question as to whether she was better suited to this job, and Erebus knew that. His Nihlatak’s Courpsemourn gave him the power to see and speak to spirits, which in itself made him a better guide. Together, he was hoping to eradicate poltergeists by the hundreds this time.

Anything to give this damn job a few weeks of cooldown...

695
1024/2500

Yumi nodded her head at the younger male, almost everyone Yumi met was much younger than her. After all the daemon was pressing close to her hundredth birthday, despite her young apearance. The gift of eternal youth, or close to it anyway. Yumi's lifespan was over two hundred and fifty years now as a Daemon and she would age much slower than others. The Ravenette would still remain in her prime even long ago and only begin aging rapidly close to the end of her lifespan. One hand held the Tyrant's axe as a ring on her left index finger glistened, she wore a wizard hat that held keep the bangs out of her eyes and a crystal amulet. The porcelean like doll features of the daemon smiled as she began looking over the request details to see whether she would accept it or not, most likely she would. The daemon was a little short of funds and it had been over two years since her seclusion and she needed to get rid of the rust so to speak.

The quest itself was fairly simply, the job was to deal with some phantoms and spectres who were sealed beneath the Oakland Church but the Phantom Lord guild many years ago. The undead spirits were roaming the catacobs and stirring up mischief. It was fairly straight forward, some spirits were evil some were not, it really didn't matter to her as long as she could exercise the rust of. The quest was rolled up and tossed back to Erebus, "Very well, I'll agree to accompany you. Bit of advice, best to stand far away as possible from me when I begin my rampage." Remarked the petite girl as she began walking out of the tower, the sun illuminating her alabaster snow like skin. The daemons appearance was graceful and beautiful, like a doll that had become human.

Humming to herself Yumi headed in the direction of the Oakland church with erebus, neither spoke a word as they walked. The two travelled in silence, it would only take them around fifteen minutes by walking to arrive at their destination. The entire time Yumi was simply lost in her own thoughts deciding how she should take care of the spirits. It would also be a good way to test out the capabilities of her spells to see how damaging they could be when mixed in with her tyrannical axe. The weapon gleamed in the sun as a thick killer intent began to slowly release from the daemon's body. A murdeorus gaze flickered within those crimson hues as a dark aura surrounded her, a manifestion of her deep murderous intent. Yumi had killed so many over the years her intent for death had manifested itself.

Crimson hues glistened as the two soon not long arrived at their destination. A priest tried to greet them but Yumi directly kicked out landing a blow on the clergyman's stomach sending him flying into the pues, "Out of the way or die." The killer intent around the daemon erupted frightening the priest who scurried out allowing the two to pass to the catacombs without being accosted. Once Yumi's bloodlust began to boil anyone who got in her way who face the fiery wrath of the tiny daemon. The door to the catacombs was a thick wooden door with metal supports. Snorting Yumi landed a blow and kicked it open sending the door flying off its hinges and began making her way downwards the sound of eerie cries and horrorifying screams of the dead echoed off the stone walls.

"Oh so intimidating." Remarked the daemon sarcastically as she rolled her eyes in contempt.

WC: 621
TWC: 1,096/2,250

Erebus merely smiled without making contact or glancing back upon Yumi. Erebus enjoyed her spunk, and found Yumi to be a bit of an overkill when they approached the Church. Normally, if Erebus came here there was no one was around. However, today it appeared the priest was out and about, it came as a surprise really. Just before Erebus would make to greet the old fool, Yumi howled like a crazy warrioress, and spartan kicked his ass through the air.

Well— Erebus thought. She really was a fair bit different than what he was use too. “Ah, was that necessary Yumi? He’s the guy who pays us later.” Erebus peeped another grin, tucking his face into his hand as they neared the hole in the Churches floor behind the podium. Erebus clenched the rope handle and pulled the trap door open, empty black and depth that traveled far below was displayed. To which Yumi had begun her descent down the ladder, Erebus allowed her to climb about ten feet and then casually dropped, occasionally catching the sides of the ladder and hanging loosely so not to come down upon her as she took her footing 50m below and the haunts of death made themselves apparent.

Yumi proved that she couldn’t be bothered whereas Erebus dusted his cloak off, letting the dust cloud that fumes up from his drop calm itself. He coughed once and found the howling to discern themselves into warnings.

“They dislike intruders, as you can imagine.” He voiced without much passion. “They think they’re alive ya know, some kind of curse binds them to reality when the fact of the matter is that they’re suppose to goto hell... Or heaven. If you believe in that sort of thing... I guess.” Erebus had to admit, there was a point when he didn’t, but he was literally talking to a Half-Demon. Clearly, there was life beyond death, or at least damnation. “Should we press on?” Erebus said, a lightsaber falling from his sleeve. Upon clicking a red button, it extended into a red mana blade, 5m all around them was lit in a menacing red glow, showing them both the way ahead. Of course Yumi was an abyss gazer, but Erebus wasn’t, so having that added lighting really helped pave a way ahead for the mortal one.

389
1403/2500

Yumi did not particularly care for the priest even if he was the client. It wouldn't be the first time the murdeorus daemon had killed a quest client after being paid, or before had to. The daemon was murderous and end the life of anyone she wished despite the nature of the relationship with her. Yumi was vicious and cruel with a murderous streak, a reason why they called her the Witch of Carnage. Truly a being that brought nothing but carnage and destruction wherever she went. Countless lives had befallen her some she had killed simply because she felt like it. The town of oak had felt her wrath countless times, but now she had joined Eternal Nightmare the daemon was unable to massacre the town and had to act friendly. Being unable to cause a massacre when their was so many fresh new lives for the taking had caused the murderous intent within Yumi to be bottled up and it was about to explode. Given the chance to finely let out the bottle up murderous intent, Yumi could barely hold it in.

"Pfft heaven and hell. I have seen hell itself and even been there, it is nothing to fear." Yumi's Demon God was an ancient being that lived in what could be called hell itself. She had even trained their for over two years in the past but had not been back for some years now. Crimson hues glowed deeply as she could see the forms of the withering spirits in the distance over ten metres away. The corridors of the catacombs were surprisingly wide at least three people wide. "I suppose I should prepare myself for battle." Yumi remarked as she drew the Tyrant's Axe and slammed the blade of the axe into the ground with a loud resonating bang that echoed through the catacombs. The act was to draw the attention of the Phantoms and Spectre's within to draw them towards her.

Crimson hues shimmered as a powerful killer intent erupted from the petite girl's body. The murderous intent manifested as a black aura around the daemon, inside the faceless appearances of screaming spirits could be seen. Countless, thousands upon hundreds of thousands of spirits could be seen. The sheer amount of lives Yumi had claimed was unimaginable, the thick aura of death she had gathered stuck to her and the daemon's murderous gaze had taken on its own phantasmal form as the souls of the departed screamed.

Magical aura burst forth like water erupting from a broken dam as the tsunami exploded down the catacomb. A left foot stomped left fingers clicked and right wrist flicked the axe as three magical circles came to life. A magical circle appeared above Yumi's head, one at her back and below her feet. From the mark below her the image of a giant mountain  began to manifest itself that towered over the little lolita. The giant mountain was covered in thick black chains that were attached to Yumi's body and appeared as if the chains were trying to drag it into the daemon's body. The mountain unleashed an oppressive force with its appearance and resistance the dragging chains as Yumi's strength began to soar.

Two roars resonated out of Yumi's body that echoed through the catacombs. From the seal on her back a shadow grew and latched onto the mountain appearing on its peak. The form of a towering demon formed on the mountain top its flesh pure black with a horn growing from its forehead and wings sprouted from its back. The winged demon roared and took flight as it soared around the mountain image. From the circle above her head a second shadow latched onto the mountain taking the shape of a towering four armed demon with twin horns. The demon pounded its chest and released a bellowing roar. The three circles interlocked with one another as Yumi's muscles tensed and strength poured through them.

Crimson hues were died purple, the white of her eyes vanishing as nothing but the purple abyss formed within them. A darkness poured forth from Yumi's body that wrapped around her limbs cloaking them in shadows. A pair of pitch black bat-like leathery wings sprouted of her wings as horns grew from her forehead. The horns grew out into the air and curled back as a long heart-shaped tail sprouted from Yumi's tail bone. She had undergone her Daemon transformation. A powerful aura of death and fear burst forth that poured down the catacombs to greet the incoming spirits.

Yumi craned her neck and smiled viciously, speaking in a twisted voice that seemed out of place for the young lolita, "Ah time to work out the rust. I'll let you handle any that get past." Remarked the daemon as she cast her gaze back to Erebus. Yumi's right foot smashed into the floor of the catacombs as a new magical circle form. Mana exploded out from the heels of her feet as they dug in and she exploded forward with explosive speed. The ground broke and cracked beneath her single stomp as Yumi flew forth covering the distance of the spirits within but a second. The daemon laughed and attacked in the most brutal fashion. Yumi smashed directly into the spirits magical energy covering her body as she slammed into them. The explosive strength of Yumi's tiny body tore through the spirits as she headed right into the thick of it allowing Erebus to handle the strays. Using just the might of her body Yumi tore through the spirits with ease.

WC: 2,353/2,250

spells:

Hell was nothing to fear? Erebus paused. Had they seen the same Abyss? Because on Erebus’ venture it was a horrifying life changer, the aftershock made him what he was. There was no in between for him, he truly did wish not to see such a fate, but for a Daemon, such a place was home.  It made no difference to Erebus if Yumi knew he’d been there as well, but it definitely begged the question. If he weren’t sent there, would he have become so strong? Would he be the intimidating presence he was— without what Zagan had done? Erebus didn’t know, and truthfully the rogue couldn’t be bothered by the what if.

He was the Rogue of Nightmares now.

A loud crash after her statement woke Ere from his internal monologue. The reverberations caused the catacombs to shake with the force of an Earthquake moving the crust above them. Dust and soot fell to their hair and shoulders, leaving Erebus to tuck his head to his elbow, and lightly cough. The 10m pathway ahead of them was an empty pathway of darkness. His sword being the best light he had to see further as the insufferable wailing continued. It seemed Yumi was creating such a loud commotion to pull the attention of the monsters off Erebus and onto her; so he could pick the one’s apart she Let slip behind her.

Very well.

Huge chains thrusted from wall to wall, but Ere couldn’t understand what they were. His attention was more fully focused on defending himself Nd the money that was waiting back for them in Oak. He surely hoped that Priest didn’t hold some of their earnings for the way Yumi kicked him. Then again, Ere reckoned that they were scary enough for that not to be an issue.

Erebus swing the laser blade in an arc, burning and evaporating the ectoplasm inside the phantoms as they materialized on the spot. He then began to jog behind Yumi as she danced her ‘Chainsaw’ Dance against the spirits and undead. Erebus merely supported her, moving with blinding speed and a blurred read line holding the flank backwards as they penetrated an open cavern. Hundred of spirts in the air fell towards them, screaming of anguish and reject. Denial of death and prayer to be killed, but Ere had no time to send them off the easy way. No, on the contrary he simply had to murder them twice where they stood. Whatever happened before wasn’t his problem, but the penny they built? That was more than enough reason to take everything he had against these hellspawn.

“You call this rusty? How strong were you in the past?” Erebus finally emitted, about twenty five meters away. The truth was, his lightsabers was fun to fight with. But the fact that it only killed as one item meant he had to step the playing field up.

Two finger caught Death by the hilt and rotated into his gloved hand. The blade was green like Spellslasher, however it was coated in bandages and poison, The glow of energy that was within it made it a rotten monster to any foe. Erebus penetrated the life force of a Undead, and then flicked his wrist, as another hand grasped Spellslasher and went into unison with the Lightsaber.

The floating dagger took out foe after foe. Round for round. So did Erebus, dual wielding, and blocking with a side arm. Yumi was too far out into the black cavern to clearly make sight of anymore, so Erebus was forced to save wave after wave until she was satisfied or all enemies were deadrested. “Hm... They just keep coming.” He finally spoke aloud to himself, as he head bent and wove to the left, a flying knee digging into his opponent. Just then, a glow in the distance was noticed by Erebus, and the size was large and fascinating.

The roar of an incoming tsunami was on its way to his doorstep. Erebus kicked off the rocks with superhuman strength, grabbing ledge and contorting his abdomen to flip and reach high rise platforms with acrobatic ferocity. Erebus stayed at the peak of some rocky ledges, his arms holding him up and his kneel planted as he watched from his silent placeholder. Yumi had taken a whole different mode, a form that reminded Erebus of a real monstrous entity. He had to admit, she was certainly a step above his league, but perhaps he could train with her another day. Putting his weapon expertise to the test against her sheer power.

For now Erebus merely watched as she disposed of their foes by the hundreds, erasing souls and sending them to the Demon Pit. Erebus took this opportunity to turn back and retreat, he walked from the ledge back up to cave entrance and was taking it slow while she exorcised. Putting distance beyond the work was better off, since she clearly had the power to level a city down there, Erebus quite honestly wasn’t needed. Then again, he got completely comfortable letting her do her own thing.

A large earthshaking rumble is heard.

Erebus turns to see thousands of spirits rush by him, and head towards Oak.

They were going to cause more chaos. SHIT. Tilting the lightsaber our and swinging it over and over, Erebus turned around to face the hundreds of entities coming his way as the stand alone shield. Left, right, up down. Backflip. Left, left, right, left.

Every slash, diagonal or vertical was rapid and stop a great deal of spirits, but Ere’s oxygen was slipping fast. His stamina was immense, his cardio superhuman sure, but that didn’t mean what he was enduring was easy. He couldn’t get a breath in before his arms had to expel everything and he suffer damage from the volume of the stampeding ghosts, and something he just suddenly couldn’t. He began to back up and behind his striking, he looked for Yumi, who should be heading in his direction.

With her help they took back control of the situation. Erebus thanked her for the help, and they split a reward, each cashing in a whopping 60% extra due to the sheer size and body of the spirits they put down. Measuring somewhere around 23,000 from Erebus and even more from Yumi herself, Oak would be a little bit safer tomorrow. That’s all that could be done for the moment, after all. This was a S-tank quest, one that could never exactly end. Considering the threat they subsided, it was a win in its own right. Or his name wasn’t Erebus Gresham.

1106
2509/2500

-END-