The entire Reisenbach had been plunged into darkness. Lloyd moved through it like the Grim Reaper lurking within the shadows, silent and unseen as he searched for the traces of his prey.
Old Dunling was a maze of tangled streets and passages. If the demon hunters tried to flee, Lloyd had no way of hunting them all down. So he had made himself the bait, drawing them toward him. On this speeding airship, there was nowhere for them to run. Just as Lloyd had said, only one side would leave alive.
More importantly, the environment here perfectly restricted Moriarty's Authority.
Authority: Raphael required a prerequisite—the user had to make eye contact with the target. Outside, the storm had provided Moriarty with the perfect conditions to unleash his Authority. But things were different here.
The airship was enclosed and dark. The moment a demon hunter recklessly activated their Authority, those burning eyes would expose them in the darkness. They were simply too bright, giving Lloyd enough time to anticipate their movements and evade whatever danger followed.
Yet, as Lloyd had said before, he had originally intended to use the airship simply as a means of escape. He had even planned his route afterward. He would crash the airship somewhere along the coast, then follow the shoreline. If fortune favored him, he would hijack a few merchant ships—or any other vessel he could find—and, with the help of North Dero, make his way all the way to the Viking kingdoms.
Lloyd had not been joking with Gareth. He really had intended to go see the aurora.
But Moriarty's actions had changed everything.
He had successfully enraged Lloyd.
An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth.
The principle was simple enough.
A sharp gust of wind tore through the darkness. A moment later came the sound of bone and flesh being ripped apart. A chest was brutally split open, and the still-beating heart inside was crushed to pieces.
Blood sprayed from the wound in the throat. The victim did not even have time to scream before a muffled gunshot erupted from the grotesque wound in his chest, blowing his entire head apart.
"First…"
Lloyd whispered over the ruined corpse.
This was the perfect hunting ground.
The demon hunters could choose not to awaken their Secret Blood, but in that state, their physical abilities were only somewhat greater than an ordinary human's. A sufficiently swift attack could still kill them. But if they awakened their Secret Blood and strengthened their bodies, their incandescent-white eyes would expose them in the darkness.
Lloyd exhaled slowly.
It felt damn good.
Lloyd had always been bound by one strange thing after another. But that was only natural. The moment a person became connected to others, they became bound by those connections. Lloyd had done everything he could to avoid such entanglements, but his efforts had accomplished very little.
He hated to admit it, but he was always afraid that one day he might return home and find Madam Van Lud and Hig slaughtered inside.
They did not share some bond forged through blood and death. They were hardly even close friends. But, as Madam Van Lud had once said, if you kept even a dog long enough, you would inevitably grow attached to it.
That was why Lloyd had always been ruthless and efficient. He never brought trouble home with him.
But this time, he had failed.
He had begun worrying about strange things.
He was afraid that his battle with the New Gospel would hurt innocent people—those whom he could barely consider friends. After all, there were very few people in this world whom Lloyd could truly call friends.
A broken sword could be reforged. A damaged firearm could be replaced.
But when a person died, they were dead.
There was nothing left.
This time, however, things were different.
This time Lloyd would not allow himself to be restrained by anything. He could finally fight without holding back. Even if it meant dragging everyone into Hell with him, so be it. At least no unfortunate soul would die for no reason because of Lloyd.
He was ecstatic.
This was an airship sailing straight toward Hell. Every passenger aboard was a heinous criminal, and he was the righteous captain, sworn to deliver these devils back into the burning pits from which they had crawled.
"This is Captain Lloyd Holmes! Welcome aboard, everyone from the New Gospel!"
Lloyd's voice echoed through the dark cabins over the broadcast system.
The demon hunters creeping through the shadows stopped in their tracks. They had not expected to have been exposed so early.
But more than anything, they were confused.
This time there was no storm to conceal him. Surrounded by so many demon hunters, Lloyd should have had nowhere to escape. Yet from the tone of his voice, the man was not merely unafraid.
He sounded excited.
The smell of blood drifted through the darkness.
The heavy scent of blood made the demon hunters grow alert. This time they did not spread out. After the slaughter in the rain, they had already realized what kind of monster they were facing.
A monster that had survived the Night of Advent.
"Here I come!"
A carefree voice rang out from the end of the darkness.
Two blazing eyes appeared like lamps in the night.
White-hot flames erupted almost at the exact moment the voice sounded. The demon hunters' eyes sharpened as they tightened their grips on their Nail Swords.
But the light could not illuminate the depths of the darkness.
Something moved within the shadows.
Without hesitation, they charged forward with their Nail Swords raised.
The polished blades reflected layer upon layer of firelight. The flames vanished, revealing a terrified face impaled upon cold steel.
The demon hunters worked together. Their crossed Nail Swords instantly cut down the figure that had not even had time to attack.
But as they drew closer, horror spread across their faces.
What they had killed was a mutilated body.
Both arms had been severed, blood pouring from the ragged stumps. His throat had also been cut, leaving him capable of nothing more than a wet, strangled whimper.
Tears welled in the demon hunter's eyes. He wanted to say something, but there was no longer any chance.
The blades of the other demon hunters pierced his heart and spine at almost the same instant.
Like a puppet whose strings had been severed, his body collapsed limply.
This was not Lloyd.
It was another demon hunter he had ambushed and killed.
"He's here!"
The voice came from behind them.
But before they could even turn to inspect their surroundings, a violent surge of energy erupted from the ruined corpse.
The Nephrite embedded within it detonated under the impact of the swords. In the confined, narrow space, crimson flames exploded outward, shredding the corpse completely. The rising wave of heat swallowed all the surrounding demon hunters in an instant.
A pillar of fire erupted from the side of the Reisenbach, tearing through its reinforced outer hull. Before the flames could fully spread, the pressure differential unleashed a violent gale that seized the demon hunters and dragged them out through the breach, hurling them into the open sky.
The surviving demon hunters drove their sharp Nail Swords into the walls to steady themselves.
Cold rain and raging wind poured into the cabin. They did not even have time to worry about their wounds.
And then a Nail Sword pierced straight through a demon hunter's chest.
"I told you I was here. Why are you still being so careless?"
A voice like that of a demon came from behind.
Lloyd's eyes were calm. Beneath the gray-blue lenses of his glasses, the reflection of the demon hunter's face twisted with terror.
From the very beginning, Lloyd had never activated his Secret Blood.
That was why he had been able to hide perfectly within the darkness. From start to finish, the demon hunters had never detected his presence.
"Damn it!"
The demon hunter snarled and tried to strike back.
Lloyd cleanly pulled out the Nail Sword.
Before the man could react, Lloyd struck again.
Like a flash of lightning, the Nail Sword severed the arm holding the weapon.
The demon hunter froze for a fraction of a second. Then the gale seized him and dragged him backward. His hand still clung desperately to the Nail Sword embedded in the wall, but the arm connecting it to his body had already been severed.
He had no time to do anything else.
Lloyd kicked him through the breach.
The demon hunter vanished into the raging wind.
Lloyd glanced down at the storm clouds below.
After such a long journey, the Reisenbach had continued climbing higher and higher. At this altitude, the demon hunter would be smashed into a pulp upon impact. Even with Authority: Metatron, the violent collision would turn his internal organs into nothing more than a mass of bloody pulp.
Lloyd raised his head.
His gaze settled on the demon hunters beyond the breach.
The Nephrite hidden inside the corpse had blown apart the entire corridor, leaving Lloyd separated from the remaining demon hunters by the gaping hole.
For the moment, Lloyd did not rush to attack again.
He pulled out a cigarette, placed it between his lips, and smiled at the surviving demon hunters.
Then he turned around and calmly disappeared back into the darkness.
The Reisenbach was enormous.
As a civilian airship, its purpose was sightseeing and tourism. It possessed not only a large restaurant, but also a vast ballroom at the center of the vessel.
There was more than enough space for Lloyd and the demon hunters to play a game of hide-and-seek.
But as Lloyd advanced, the broadcast system crackled to life again.
"Mr. Lloyd Holmes!"
Lloyd's footsteps stopped.
He slowly raised his head and looked toward the loudspeaker mounted in the corner of the corridor.
"This is James Moriarty. I'm waiting for you in the ballroom."
The voice fell silent.
Nothing followed.
After a brief moment of surprise, Lloyd smiled.
Moriarty's move did not surprise him. This entire place had been carefully designed as his trap. Under Moriarty's scheme, the demon hunters had lost the advantage they had possessed before. If they scattered, Lloyd would simply dismantle them one by one.
Moriarty had chosen the ballroom as the battlefield.
That meant all the demon hunters were probably gathered there.
Lloyd would have no more opportunities to ambush them.
From here onward, it would be a brutal head-on battle.
Lloyd did not care.
He tightened his grip around his sword and hammer, but the direction he chose was not the ballroom.
The dim ballroom was filled with silent demon hunters. They stood motionless, all wearing hoods that concealed their faces.
And somewhere among them lurked the most dangerous man of all.
Moriarty.
This was the game between the two of them.
The final move on the chessboard.
Moriarty desperately wanted to know how Lloyd intended to strike back, and how he planned to break the situation that had been carefully constructed around him.
Lloyd was powerful.
There was no denying that.
In a one-on-one battle, none of the demon hunters were his equal. They would be crushed with ease. Find a weakness, strike once, and kill.
But as their numbers increased and their Authorities were activated, Lloyd's overwhelming advantage would gradually be restrained, eventually turning the battle into a prolonged war of attrition.
Now, every demon hunter was here.
Combined with Moriarty's bizarre and unpredictable powers, this was considerable pressure for Lloyd.
Moriarty knew nothing of swordsmanship, nor did he possess any particular combat technique.
But he excelled at madness.
Authority: Raphael suited him perfectly.
In his hands, that Authority could become the most terrifying nightmare imaginable.
Lloyd knew this better than anyone.
If he were caught by Authority: Raphael, his defeat would be inevitable.
But if he could evade it and kill Moriarty first, then everything that followed would no longer matter.
Both Moriarty and Lloyd understood exactly where the decisive point of this battle lay.
Now all that remained was to find a way to end it.
The demon hunters stood in the darkness, forming a wide circle.
Moriarty was hidden somewhere among them.
They waited.
A long silence stretched through the ballroom before footsteps finally sounded from the darkness at the far end.
"Welcome, Mr. Holmes!"
Moriarty's voice emerged from the black mass of figures, but there was no way to determine where he was.
No answer came from the darkness.
Lloyd seemed to be standing somewhere not far away, observing them.
Darkness was no obstacle to the demon hunters. With the power of their Secret Blood, they could see clearly through the gloom.
One pair of eyes after another began to burn.
They searched for Lloyd.
And then they heard it.
A gunshot.
Scorching dragonfire tore through the darkness, rolling and twisting as it obliterated everything in its path.
But it could not kill the demon hunters.
Dense iron armor covered their bodies.
The Metatron demon hunters stood at the front and endured the torrent of flame head-on. Their scales glowed red from the heat before falling away one by one, revealing the burning gazes beneath.
Swing his sword?
Open fire?
Or charge straight into the middle of them?
The Shaddai demon hunters scanned the darkness, trying to predict Lloyd's next move.
Then rain began to fall.
A fine drizzle descended from above.
The dragonfire round had triggered the Reisenbach's fire alarm. Cold water surged through the pipes, pouring down over the entire ballroom.
No…
Something was wrong.
The expression of the Shaddai demon hunter suddenly became one of terror.
He saw what came next.
An endless sea of fire.
He desperately shifted his vision, but no matter which direction he looked, he saw only a blazing Hell.
No…
No…
He saw it.
At the very end of that sea of flames stood a blurred figure.
A figure that looked like a demon.
"This… isn't water."
One of the demon hunters raised his hand and caught the falling liquid.
Under the glow of his incandescent eyes, the droplets became faintly illuminated.
But they were gray-black.
Slightly viscous.
As though some kind of liquid had been heavily diluted.
"Run!"
The Shaddai demon hunter roared.
An Authority could not lie.
The future could not lie.
He had seen it.
The burning Hell.
At the same time, the footsteps that had fallen silent began once more.
At the far end of the darkness, Lloyd finally arrived, a nearly extinguished cigarette hanging from his lips.
He looked completely at ease.
He lifted the burning cigarette and spoke casually.
"Not a bad tactic. Though it's a rather stupid one."
He tossed the glowing cigarette butt into the steady drizzle.
Lloyd stared coldly at every demon hunter in the room.
"This saves me the trouble of hunting you down one by one. Why don't I just wipe you all out right here, Moriarty?"
The tiny ember fell into the darkness.
In the next instant, raging flames erupted.
A scorching wave swept across the water pooled on the floor, consuming everything around it. The fire raced along the diluted crude oil, spreading without end, as though the entire ballroom had been transformed into the mouth of a volcano.
The crimson glow of sunset rose from the depths of Hell.
The air was heated to an unbearable temperature in an instant.
Then came the roar.
A massive wave of heat surged forward alongside the erupting flames, howling through the ballroom.
The demon hunters struggled and screamed within the sea of fire, like sinners being tortured in the depths of Hell.
And Lloyd split the flames and the scorching heat with his blade, striding forward without hesitation.
"I'm coming to kill you, Moriarty."
Lloyd was ecstatic.
He spun the Nail Sword through several dazzling arcs, severing the head of a burning demon hunter.
And he continued forward, unstoppable.