"In the embrace I cannot give to myself, I shall give it onto others who need it more than I do"
The moto which Marina had repeated to herself for much of her life.
In what little choice she had. Through every hardship.
In every aspect of her life, she found solace in that she could at least improve what little she could in the lives of those around her.
Thankfully, it also applied in this situation as well.
She carved, and carved. The symbols taking effect on their body as soon as they believed in them.
After all, only through belief could something come to life. As those that were forgotten might as well have been dead themselves.
Marina sighed, taking a long look at her handiwork.
Their chances of survival had grown exponentially.
She might not be with them in person, but at least she'd be there in spirit.
Both in life, and in death…
Although, she preferred if they stayed alive.
Eventually, they were able to exit the station, with more confidence in themselves than ever.
But, confidence wouldn't protect them from the monsters of the city.
In the distance, they could hear the loud bangs of gunshots in the air, echoing like death tolls.
With each shot, they knew one more life was shot. And each was another body closer to their own deaths.
The city's ambience haunted them like a phantom. Each turn providing no closure to the hopeless.
It gnawed at their minds, forcing them to keep their guards up. Even jumping at every shadow that crossed their path.
The bone deep chill of Prehevil bore into them, despite the warmth of the su- Moon above.
Where did it end? What was safe, and what wasn't?
The conditions were worse than Old Town ever was.
How could it be safer when every turn was like a whirlpool of violence!
The ground cratered, cars overturned. The sidewalk a mess of bricks and debris.
Traveling with Olivia grew harder with every street, and the disabled girl knew it in her bones. She was growing to be a liability for the group. Eyes staring at her from hidden corners, hoping she'd just disappear.
How much longer until they found a safe haven?
Screams, barks, and the distinct buzzing of a saw echoed in the distance. Far from sight, but confirming something the group did not want to encounter.
The train had made too much noise entering the city.
And they weren't the only group prowling the grounds.
Just a street away from the church, so close to Marina's destination, was a mess of senseless violence.
Standing over the body of a scorched figure, a heavily muscular man heaved. A mallet in his hands as he stomped on the body beneath him.
But he wasn't the only one there, as three others stood around him.
One bore a shotgun that seemed fused to his arms. The lines between gun and man blurring to a degree that seemed hard to process.
Meanwhile, another had a hunting rifle, a telescope lodged into its eye like the tool had belonged in its body. The man lumbered like a terrible beast, eye magnified as it caught sight of them.
"KII!" The banshee screeched, alerting the rest to the group's large presence.
One by one, the mob turned towards them. Bloodthirst evident in their eyes. Especially in those of their fourth and last member.
Whose apparent lack of eyes only made him more terrifying.
In place of a head, a growth appeared in its stead. Saw like teeth protruded from where its nose was supposed to be, roaring like a lion marking its territory.
They needed to run, fast!
But with the marksman of their mob…. did they really have a chance?
"KII!" The mutated rifleman repeated, its eyes rapidly cycling between different lenses, before coming to a stop.
Its eyes staring at Marina's soul.
"Kri."
Bang!
There was a flash.
And Abella dropped like puppet with its strings cut.
No matter the effort, no matter the skill. In front of the barrel of a firearm, everyone was equal.
There was nothing Marina could do. No spell in her repertoire could have stopped that bullet. No other than begging the Gods themselves to stop it in its tracks.
"Aberra!" Tanaka screamed, his voice cracking in that way only grief was able to capture.
"Equivalent exchange," Tears blinded her sight, but her aim would strike true.
The rifleman needed to go.
The rest… perhaps they could outrun them.
However, the marksman of their group would snipe them, slow the group, distract them when it mattered most.
Marina needed to stop him at all cost.
A fire surged in her chest, yelling for her to pour everything out. For Marina's rage to salt the earth, and burn what was left to the ground.
Unfortunately, doing so would only get everyone else killed.
She needed to keep the group cohesive. She needed them to survive.
Not because it helped her goal, but because they were people all the same.
And whatever killed Abella was not human. A human would empathize with a kill, feel the grief of the victim, flinch.
But, the rifleman did none of those things, already moving onto the next round, as its eyes darted for its next victim. "Rahhh!" It croaked, finding the grieving Tanaka an entertaining target.
It stared at the salaryman's quads. How running would be difficult when the entirety of his hip was turned to dust and shards with a single bullet.
How Mallet Man and Saw Man would enjoy the despair on his face.
The Rifle Man felt its pants getting tighter, savoring its joy as it aimed. "Gigigigi!-"
"A pound of flesh for the life of another is a small price," A tear burned Marina's cheek, her left hand sweeping through the Marksman's body. "Weakness, Truth, Twin Meteor…"
"Be the subject of my Hurting."
The Violent One took its toll.
Where in one moment, the rifleman was poised to pull the trigger. In the next, much of its upper body turned into mince meat. Chunks falling to the ground, as its titular rifle fell to the ground.
"Run!" Olivia yelled, knowing she herself could not do so.
The group had lost much already, they did not need another loss so soon.
However, the crazed band of lunatics did not have the same inhibitions.
In fact, they seemed more excited for violence now that one of their mob had fallen. Like it was the chance to make another one of their thrall!
They had ran, pushing their newly enhanced bodies to their limits. The group did their best, but the mob was always at their heel.
No matter where they went, they were like rats, cornered at each turn.
These things, they knew the streets like the back of their hand. After the first few turns, it was starting to become obvious they were leading them to a deadend. Only giving them the faintest glimmer of hope.
The group was being toyed with.
Tanaka huffed, heaving himself atop a car as his head swerved left and right.
Where?
Where would they go from here?
Abella had suggested somewhere safe, defensible.
But Abella was now dead. Gone to the world before she could have finished her business on this earth.
What was he going to do now!
"You could always run." A voice whispered at the back of his head. "It's always what you've been good at."
The whispers, they were getting louder!
"Embrace it. Aren't you upset your idol died? Aren't you upset that you weren't able to be the brave warrior your family expects of you? Aren't you just feeling fantastic that the long dynasty your family upheld is now crumbling because you couldn't joining the fucking army like a man."
The voice was calling to him.
His head was hurting.
Parts of the voice's words were true. He wanted to join the army, but the war… He did not want to die.
He was too cowardly to join his brothers. He was too cowardly, so he joined the ranks of a mid-tier company, far from combat. Just so he could escape.
Prehevil would have secured him a big contract. Large enough that the CEO himself would have promoted him personally.
Wealth, corporate power, they would have been within his grasps.
Then the nightmare began.
Fear crippled him in the first encounter.
However, Abella had been there, and that was enough.
He had latched onto the girl like she were his lord, and he the lowly samurai under her wing.
He was supposed to serve her till death.
She wasn't supposed to die first!
Tanaka saw them. The monsters were quickly closing in.
Marina had taken out their sniper from afar. Took revenge for Abella.
However, it wasn't enough.
He needed to embrace it.
He needed to escape.
"Maybe in another life, I could have led a different path," Tanaka whispered to himself, sinking into the caress of the moon's glow. "However, that isn't the path for me."
A firm resolve bloomed in his heart.
His reminiscence reminded him of the proper path ahead.
A sword fell into his grasp, long and thin. It wasn't one of his land. But he would understand it all the same. After all, it was the blade of his lord. With it, he would break past the ceiling that he held himself up to.
The blade ignited as it cut through the air. Announcing his change onto the world.
He was more than a salary man.
No ceiling under the heavens could keep him bound now!
"Abella-sama, thank you."
Moon scorching had a tendency to distort those under the moon's embrace into accepting their "true self".
Often enough, these desires would manifest as the horrid monstrosities found throughout the city of Prehevil.
However, should someone overcome the temptation to moon scorch, there existed the small chance for Rher to reward the blessed few.
No matter how petty, the Moon wanted to be, it had to acknowledge the few that were able to stand up against its machinations.
Tanaka was just lucky enough that no matter the despair, he stayed lucid enough to decline the offer of the Trickster to run away.
Instead, he'd make a path for them to escape.
And leave himself.
He would make his own thiefdom in the city. One where Abella would be proud to walk into.
One where it would truly be called a safe haven.
He struck the mallet wielding terror down, sizzling flesh in his wake.
A clean hole poked through the man's eye, as Tanaka lifted the body into the air.
He swept his hand, and the body toppled over the Shotgun weilding freak of nature, pinning him down under the weight of his companion.
All the while, the buzzsaw freak stared at him like he'd personally taken a shit in its gyudon.
Naturally, Tanaka took offense to that.
He pointed his sword at the creature, a singular wing manifesting from his back.
This would be its end.
The temperature around him increased, mirages forming in the air between him and the the moonscorched buzz saw.
Tanaka wound his blade back, point aimed precisely where he wanted it to go. And in one swift stroke, he dashed into his enemy's space, his singular wing glowing a bright orange as he pierced straight through the motor it had for a skull.
Abella spoke of how a buzz saw took the hand of a coworker.
He'd have to make sure an accident like that doesn't repeat itself.
And then there was one.
The shotgun of the group.
Who was swiftly dealt with by Marina of all people.
The frail little girl had placed a hand over the downed monstrosity. And in a cinder, sparks came to life around her palm.
And she burned the bodies to crisps.
While Tanaka could have done it on his own. It was nice to see that Marina would help where she could.
After all, everyone had been affected by Abella's death.
Some more than others.
The former salaryman grimaced, thinking back to the woman they had left a few streets back. He would need to return for her, bury the body in what would be his territory.
"Thank you, Marina-san." He whispered into the wind, before taking off into the skies.