Chapter 19
With Merlin’s help, it didn't take long to arrive in the city. I held up a rockie-talkie. "Venthra, this is Bran. We're in the city."
I held it for a moment, long enough that I was worried she wasn't going to respond, before it crackled to life.
"Oh, good," her voice came over, loud, clear, and a little annoyed. "I could use a hand. Do you know where in the city you are?"
"Not a clue," I told her. "Merlin teleported us high up. We're on top of one of the high-rises.” The city didn’t tower like Vein City nearly as much. The tallest building was only thirty or so stories.
There was a pregnant pause. "You know those things are death traps, right? They're not maintained."
"We're only standing on the top, honestly.
That's probably the safest place in them.
" It would be a pain, but if push came to shove, I could simply jump.
I was tough enough for quite the fall if need be, though I really didn't want to drop that many stories.
And I still had the dive sword if I needed to make a landing.
System abilities were a cheat against physics.
"All right," she said slowly. "Which one do I need to go stand by to catch you?"
"There are three in a row that look the same, but the middle one is collapsed," I said, glancing at Merlin, who put her hands on my shoulders and teleported us to the most distinctive building I could spot from our vantage point.
"I know it. I'll be there in ten." Venthra's rockie-talkie clicked off, and I found myself standing on the roof with Nyx, Almeria, and Merlin. The four of us stood in relative silence.
"So, Venthra," Merlin said quietly, and I found myself scowling at the implied suggestion.
"Is absolutely not ready," I said to her hopeful expression.
"But Simone—" she started, and I held up a finger.
"Isn't here," I told her.
She waffled her head, then paused, deciding that was going to have to be enough.
I glanced over the rest of the group to see if they had an opinion as well and found nothing in response. Nyx was pointedly looking anywhere but at me. I lifted an eyebrow at the Medusaic archer.
"Simone gets what Simone wants," she said softly.
"Yes, but she's half a world away," I said.
All of them nodded, though I could tell their hearts weren't quite in the response.
I shook my head. I supposed I should be proud of her, in a sense.
After all, she'd made a very loyal group around me, even if some of that loyalty resided with Simone as well.
Before we could say much more, a shock of red hair I could spot even from a distance waved from below. Shadows swallowed our group, and we reappeared on the ground next to Venthra, who stood with her hands in her pockets, watching all of us.
"Well, I'm glad you decided to visit,” she said. There was a touch of bitterness in her tone that she failed to hide.
“Miss me?" I asked.
Venthra grinned like I'd walked right into a trap. "No, but you're a useful man to have around." With that, she started walking, and we fell into step behind her. She moved with familiar strides, which spoke of her comfort in the city.
The city itself was still half-standing.
Buildings made of wood had seen better days, but those older buildings made of stone or manufacturing types made of concrete slabs held up well enough.
Humanity most likely thinned from the initial Rapture followed by the need for food.
Many of the buildings were abandoned, and instead, people clustered in smaller quarters of the city.
"Getting along well here?" I asked.
"Well enough," she answered quickly. She turned a corner, and before I realized it, we were in the middle of a growing camp right outside a church. The area around it had been cleared of rubble, creating a large space that was filled with temporary shelters.
"Ah, Venthra." A woman standing by the steps, still as a statue, greeted us.
I snapped my head in her direction. The nun had moved quietly.
"I see you've brought a few friends," the woman added.
"I have. Don't worry, they're good people," Venthra said, smiling at the nun who watched her carefully, her eyes full of suspicion.
"Do make sure they keep out of trouble," the nun said. "With the recent deaths, no one will like new faces."
"Deaths?" I asked, interested.
Venthra waved a hand. "I'll tell you on the way."
I hid a smirk, guessing what the deaths could be from, given Venthra came here to kill demons. I understood immediately why she didn't want to talk in front of the nun and risk her knowing more than she should.
"Come," Venthra said. "The churches mark the border for this faction's area.
" She stepped past the church we'd been positioned behind, and suddenly, we entered a plaza ringed with four churches that stood tall enough to see over the houses.
More than a few people were milling about, using the buildings as shelter from the Rapture.
"Is this place treating you well?" I asked, throwing a glance her way, trying to indicate I meant more than just good company.
"I've been able to get around and meet people during the day. Then at night, I can settle any disputes that may have arisen," she told me.
I nodded slowly, understanding her meaning. She identified demons during the day and killed them at night.
"Is your bounty plentiful?" I asked, with a slightly lifted brow.
"Not too much," she answered. "For the most part, this place seems marginally clean.
I think one of the leaders here… one of the nuns…
has a way to detect and get rid of them.
Or at the very least, they simply don't like being around her. She’s an old hard-ass and swings a ruler like she could exorcise you with a single whack. "
I paused, nodding in understanding. "Well, at least they have some protection without us. Do you know how she does it?"
Venthra shook her head. "I just know that demons avoid her like the plague. So in my book, anyone who's against demons is on my side.”
“But there are still ones you have to deal with here," I prodded.
"Yeah, they sneak in, but they stay far away. Once I realized that, it became pretty easy to spot them. I think I've cleaned up this place fairly well. Marco’s, however, is going to be a serious problem. Guadalupe's group, too, but for very different reasons."
I lifted an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue.
"Marco has a big demonic presence," she explained, "meanwhile, Guadalupe's is almost assuredly a breeding ground for more."
I winced. "That's not what I wanted to hear."
"I had some hope, but once they said she was really good with kids, I had a bad feeling. And lo and behold, the first time I went over there, I burned through half a stack of amulets," she told me. "Kids, Bran. Kids."
"At least we don't have evil nuns," I said, trying to lighten the mood.
"The nuns are good," she said, waving a hand. "If it had been priests, we would've been screwed."
"Nuns are tough women who've had to make hard choices in life," I said, nodding along, not necessarily having an opinion.
As for priests, too often giving anyone power over others was ultimately a recipe for it to go to their head.
A person could only be lifted up on a pedestal for so long before they began believing it as well.
It was part of what I consciously worked to fight as my Mul Branova adored me.
The last thing I needed was to become so high on their praises that I lost myself. There was still too much to be done.
"So do we fight them head-on?" I asked. "Or are your nightly trips still effective?"
"Effectiveness is down," Venthra said calmly, pausing at a stall that sold fruit and getting in line.
"So, I ended up focusing here rather than going on a killing spree at the other two and potentially taking my eyes off this place.
There are just too many demons in those groups.
They started banding together and finding safety in numbers. We're going to need a heavier hand."
I nodded in understanding. "My hand can be quite heavy," I said with a chuckle.
"If you could," she said seriously, "I would very much appreciate the help. I could definitely point things out and then blame you to take some of the eyes off myself."
Merlin glanced at her as if she'd said something outrageous.
"I'm trying to get away with murder." Venthra shrugged.
The words caused Merlin to blink, and I broke out into laughter. A few people in line gave us odd looks but focused forward, not bothering the very large man.
"I guess that is exactly what you were doing. But do you think it's safe?" I offered.
"Nope," she said plainly. "I doubt any of this is going to fall under what anyone would call safe. I can find some clusters of demons and let you do your whole schtick. You know, redecorate the floor red."
Nyx chuckled, and I turned to her with a raised brow.
"What?" she said. "It's a very clever way to phrase it."
I smirked. "It wasn't half-bad." Still, I hesitated, glancing at the group. "Do you have any concerns about your cover?"
"Not really. The nuns were upset about some of their own dying…
er, going missing," she corrected herself. "As for what happens in the other groups, I doubt they'd bat an eye. There's no love lost between them. Besides, the nuns and the others don’t get along. The only reason the groups aren’t actually ripping each other’s throats out is because that there’s enough space that they can avoid each other and their interests. "
I nodded in understanding. "Figure out who and where you want to hit, and then we'll get Merlin line of sight to it so she can teleport us in and out. We can give you a reasonable alibi that way, if you're even remotely concerned about your standing here."
Venthra waffled her head. "I suppose an alibi never hurts."
I smirked. "We'll make sure you have one."
“What would you like?” the woman at the stall asked as the group in front of us got out of our way.
I stared at a bunch of sliced fruits and smiled at the woman. “Two of these and maybe a tip on how to butter up some of the nuns?”
The woman gave me a strange look. “You must be new here. Just be sure to clean your room.” She handed me the fruits, and the others collected their things as we walked away.
“I got punished with manual labor on day two,” Venthra said, walking with us. “They made me go haul things at one of the farms outside the city because I wasn’t keeping the room up to their standards. Don’t fuck with the nuns.”