When one is on the brink of death, they begin to think more deeply than they normally would. Many, in such situations, ask themselves "why," but Jonathan, caught in a life-or-death battle, never questioned anything.
Instead, he found that if he died, he would be fulfilling a noble purpose.
He had never before worked with such wholehearted devotion to serving others. It had always just been a job—something he needed to earn money and live his life.
But this job wasn't compensated by all the money in the world, and yet Jonathan kept doing it—and, truthfully, he was starting to feel good about it.
In life, some people die for money and often regret it in the end, but those who die for a just cause feel a will unlike any other, something that pushes them down a path illuminated by meaning and reason.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
In this moment, the feeling was so magical and unique that Jonathan wasn't thinking about making it out alive—he only cared about eliminating the threat. After all, that was the reason he was fighting, and he would see it through no matter the cost.
Lost in these thoughts, Jonathan—completely absorbed in battle—adjusted his stance. After taking a strong hit to the chest and right after cutting off the demon's hand, he threw another grenade, this time at much closer range.
The demon's healing was powerful, but right now, what mattered most was slowing it down.
Boom!
With a powerful force coursing through his body, the grenade that exploded at close range didn't affect Jonathan much.
But just as he expected, the demon didn't move—it simply stared at Jonathan's figure, now marked by visible wounds across his face.
"A truly diabolical creature…" Jonathan was surprised to see that the demon hadn't taken much damage.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Creating distance and using the moment of confusion, Jonathan fired three more shots, each one hitting the demon's heart.
But the explosion's fire erupted like a volcano, pushing a massive wave of air in all directions, destroying everything in its path.
Flames instantly filled Jonathan's field of vision, and he was a bit taken aback. "This definitely violates all safety codes…"
Feeling the shockwave carrying bits of debris, Jonathan shielded the most vulnerable parts of his body and stopped attacking for just a few seconds.
Although he worried the demon might strike before he could react, he had to protect himself—or he'd be gravely injured, especially if his eyes were damaged.
Crack!
But as expected, the damage wasn't serious—only because the impact wasn't directed at him. When the entire hallway shattered and the surroundings filled with smoke and dust, the furious roar of the demon echoed once again.
"Damn priest! Every breath you take makes me want to rip off your skin and sever every one of your limbs in the most painful way imaginable!"
Suddenly, a surge of powerful energy exploded outward, and the smoke and dust vanished instantly, revealing the demon floating in mid-air.
Its wounds were ablaze, and its inhuman form appeared before Jonathan, who, without hesitation, fired his special bullets again.
"I don't know who your creator is, but you're looking at the one who will be your destroyer." Jonathan had the courage to say those words—because to him, they were true.
As he fired again, he pulled out another grenade and placed a powerful blessing on it before throwing.
If physical damage only had a small effect, combining it with spiritual power might do more harm.
This time, Jonathan used one of his most powerful blessings. It would leave him mentally drained, but right now, it was his best weapon to stop the demon's healing.
But it was also an experiment—he had never used that much force against a demon. Still, his combat instincts, sharpened through battle, told him it would work.
"I'm going to kill you."
Following that voice, the demon suddenly appeared in front of Jonathan.
"So fast?" Before he could throw the grenade, Jonathan's pupils shrank at the sight of the demon's massive form materializing right before him.
Holding only his sword in his left hand, he attacked without hesitation, hoping to cut off another of the demon's limbs.
"I can't get too close…" Jonathan dodged several bones jutting out from the demon's body.
Then, using his physical strength—which far surpassed that of normal humans—he hurled the grenade at the demon with all his might.
The entire process took only seconds, and the grenade—infused with blood, divine energy, and specialized material to kill supernatural beings—shot toward the demon in a fraction of a second.
The demon's red, vertically-slit pupils showed no concern for the grenade.
But in that moment, the demon realized that Jonathan hadn't charged toward him like he usually did.
Boom!
Jonathan, who hadn't moved forward, shielded himself from the blast. Though stronger and more resistant than a normal human, he wasn't an idiot—he preferred not to take unnecessary damage.
A louder roar followed.
In that moment, everything became as blinding as hell itself, like a volcanic eruption within such a confined space.
Inexplicably, this explosion was stronger than the last.
Roaaarrrr!!!
The demon, usually calm, finally let out a roar of pain.
Dust and fire filled the entire space, and Jonathan could no longer see the demon clearly.
This attack had been stronger—and as the demon's figure reappeared before Jonathan, he saw that half its chest had been completely destroyed.
"Suffer, as you've made the innocent suffer…"
Crack!
But just then, a powerful shockwave struck his chest, sending him flying backward.
"Never fight a rabid dog…"
That thought passed through Jonathan's mind as he was hurled through the air, crashing through walls and slamming through several rooms.
His injuries were countless, his breathing ragged—but his eyes still burned with fury.
That determination to keep fighting belonged to his ancestors—the Belmonts—who had hunted powerful supernatural beings for generations.
They had been the only ones in history to nearly exterminate all vampires, giving humanity more peace than ever before.
The kind of strength Jonathan felt in that moment came from his bloodline—something he wouldn't have recognized if he hadn't discovered part of his identity.