With each successful hit, John could feel souls rushing into his body. Each one cried out in joyous anthem before being consumed by the endless waves of Fury that further decimated the city. Slowly the negativity in the land began to change into something else entirely. The negative emotions began to shift into something more positive. It was as if the land itself had begun to hope once again, and because of that the flames burned even hotter than they had before. Infernos raced across the cityscape, burning everything within their path, and much without. Whole buildings and blocks were reduced to molten slabs of metal and rock and the ground was turned into a dark, murky glass. From a distance an observer might see it as fire raining down upon the land in righteous anger. Heaven's literal Fury.
All good things must eventually come to an end though, and John's complete decimation of Legion was no exception. As he threw out barrage after barrage against the demon, which by this point had no chance of fighting back, something happened. It came quickly and without warning. A terrible pain filled John's chest as his heart skipped a beat. He instantly ceased his overwhelming attack and brought his right hand, still clenching the hilt of his white blade, to his heart. The beating inside him resumed as if nothing had happened. In the back of his mind something told him the truth that he already knew, but didn't wish to acknowledge. His body had already started to break down. Time was running out.
John had little time to waste. He closed his eyes and concentrated deeply. Hundreds of small waves pulsed out from his body in all directions. They flowed over each and every detail within the city, down into every single crack and crevice, and under every unturned rock. Once he had located where Legion was holed up, he moved. John suddenly appeared before Legion; the Demon had ducked in between the melted exteriors of two buildings to offer himself a brief moment to heal. He looked up in shock as John materialized before him and quickly turned his right side away and brought his left hand up, which held a light blade in defense.
In the still silence of the dead city, the soft patter of something dripping was nearly deafening. The sound came steadily from behind Legion, and once the demon realized John had noticed this, he began to slowly shuffle backwards deeper into the alley. A puddle of purple liquid pooled on the concrete at Legion’s feet and John’s eyes followed the droplets that fell toward their source. A steady stream of liquid oozed from the arm Legion concealed behind him. Suddenly, John realized what was happening; Legion hadn’t healed properly like he should. To confirm, John focused on the souls within Legion’s body, and to his surprise the count was relatively low compared to what it had been before. His chance had finally presented itself and he was determined to take it.
John's left foot slammed down into the ground before he pushed off with it, propelling himself toward his target at great speed. Legion quickly backpedaled through the busted alley as fast as he could. He blocked as many of John's rapid strikes with the light blade that he held in his left hand as he continued to keep the damaged one out of harm’s way. John’s swords tore through chunks of concrete, bits of metal, and whatever else used to be buildings. As their fight left the alley, a cloud of debris rained down.
Legion extended his newly repaired wings and took flight with one powerful beat. He lead John on a high speed chase around what few skyscrapers had yet to fall in Station's center. Legion was stalling for time as he waited for his arm to fully repair, time that John couldn't afford to give him. In a flash, John appeared just ahead of Legion, directly in his flight path. Before Legion could change directions, John had flipped in place and brought the heel of his boot down onto the demon's head. The impact was like that of a jet breaching the sound barrier and it sent Legion hurling toward the ground at breakneck speed. Before he impacted into the asphalt below, John appeared once again and changed his direction with another tremendously powerful kick. Legion's body flew into and through two large office buildings before coming to rest at the base of a third.
Before John could move in to finish the job, it happened again. His heart fluttered as it failed to correctly fire once more. The intense pain filling his body, coupled with the heavy doses of power filled adrenaline caused him to shake slightly as sweat poured down his face. He quickly drove both blades into the ground beside him and his hands darted to his chest. He gave himself a quick jab in an attempt to perform some kind of magically infused self CPR. His heart beat briefly before misfiring again. John's breathing was short and erratic from the panic that was welling up within him. With one final quick jab to the chest, his heart picked up the correct pace and his body functioned mostly normal again. He brought his right hand up and wiped the sweat from his forehead off onto this glove as he rested his weight on his black blade beside him. In the distance he could see Legion slowly staggering toward him a few hundred feet away.
"You... You're almost out of time." Legion shouted as he approached. "Aren't you?" He walked with a limp in both of his legs as he clutched his right arm tightly.
“How about we finish this, then?” John spoke as he took hold on his two blades. With a quick yank they came free from their temporary holds.
Legion seemed to agree with John's statement and he quickly summoned up both of his light blades. The two fatigued warriors rushed toward each other for one final confrontation. Their swords connected before reflecting away in a loud metallic clang that resonated throughout the dead city. Strike after strike, they clashed as one attempted to best the other. John could feel Legion slowing down; compared to his form earlier in their fight, now was no contest. However, John was a little worse for wear himself. Every time he swung his arms, he could feel them burning. Bit by bit, his muscles were losing their strength. There wasn’t much time left.
Legion brought both blades down in a slicing motion from up high in one last effort to crush John, but he wasn’t strong enough. John’s blades caught Legion’s in the hilt and sent the Demon reeling backwards, offering John a small window of attack. In one swift motion John moved forward and spun, his blades slicing through both of Legion’s arms like a saw. The dismembered limbs hit the ground in separate directions before turning to dust, leaving Legion with nothing but bloodied stumps that wouldn’t heal in time; but that wasn’t enough to put him down. The Demon charged at John as purple blood spewed from his mutilated arms. He leapt into the air and brought his legs down hard in a strong kick that John was forced to block with both of his swords. Legion’s tattered loafers slammed hard into the crossed hilts that protected John, pushing him down on one knee. Again and again, the Demon continued to kick against John, further pressing down on him, causing his shoulders to pop and crack in pain. Finally, John could take no more. He shunted against Legion, and with the assistance of gravity itself, managed to push the Demon back. As he fell, John made one last slice through the air and Legion’s legs fell to the ground beside him.
Cutting off the Demon's limbs didn't seem to be enough to shatter his resolve. Though his movements had been restricted to near non-existence, Legion still thrashed about in an attempt to reach John with what little strength that remained. On Legion’s chest, the same brand John had noticed earlier began to glow. It sizzled as the skin around it began to burn and Legion screamed out, holding what was left of his right arm towards John. In his bloodied, purple eyes John could see many emotions run through Legion's head. There was a deep hatred that seemed to be misplaced, a misguided anger against himself, and something unrecognizable. Among all of the emotions John could see in him, desperation was the most prevalent. The demon screamed and continued to writhe around on the ground and John felt the smallest amount of pity for the creature, but he still recognized what needed to be done. He cast aside any desire to understand the monster before him and replaced that with the need to kill. He drove the white blade into Legion's left arm stub before securing the black one into his right. With Legion effectively pinned to the ground, John flew high up into the air above the city.
The cold air of the night sky was still and it gave John a
brief moment to think before he finished things. All around him was a scene of post-apocalyptic destruction. The entire city of Station had been laid to waste, and much of it had been by his hand. Even if the population were to return, the city would never recover. Sadness filled John’s heart at the thought of the countless men, women, and children that had lost their lives. What had they died for? What purpose did it all serve? He didn’t know.
There was one thing he did know, however. He turned his gaze toward the outskirts of the city; Aerin was out there. She would be safe, and with one last option John would make sure it stayed that way. It was his duty as a Slayer, after all. Even though he had broken the pact between them, severing all ties from the Angel that was waiting for him out there, it was his obligation; he owed this much to her. That he knew for sure.
John's heartbeat faltered once more, signaling that he was nearly out of time. The skips had slowly become more frequent, as if they were the steady ticks from the hands on a clock. He could only imagine what would happen were his heart to fail altogether. Pushing the thought to the back of his mind, he quickly went to work. The belts holding his sheaths came loose easily. Once free, they fell down into the darkness of the city below. A few buttons were all that held his large duster in place. He pulled his arms free and tossed it behind him and it fluttered away into the wind. His armor slipped off over his head with little effort, but he stopped himself before dropping it. He examined the leather cuirass and thought back on all the adventures it had mostly kept him safe through. Before becoming too nostalgic, John released the leather armor and he bade it farewell as it vanished into the void below him. The last bit that needed to be removed was his gloves. They vanished into the night below him quickly, and John brought his hands to his bare chest.
It was time to create his own Soul Spell. He had the power, he had the upper hand, he just needed something; some technique that could destroy the monster before him. One last move that would save the only thing he had left. His skin felt cold to the touch and he could feel his erratic heartbeat beneath his fingertips. He fell into a trance like state as his hands seemed to move on their own. They pulled away from his chest and hovered just a few feet in front of him. John closed his eyes and prepared himself for what would come next. He knew exactly what he was about to do, and he knew that it was going to hurt like hell.
His fingers, strengthened and reinforced by what few Circuits were left in his body, suddenly plunged deep into his chest. The shock caused his eyes to fling open as he shouted in pain. Each finger found its way between the ribs in his chest. They wiggled about, causing even more pain as they inched deeper and deeper, feeling around for the source within him. He could feel it, somewhere deep down inside… there it was. His fingers tore out of his chest as eight geysers of blood surged forth from the holes he had created. Somehow, he managed to bring his hands together in a loud clap before him that caused the blood to pool together into a floating puddle that stayed suspended between each palm. Once the blood had ceased to flow, the puddle began to take on a more solid structure. It became a translucent sphere that slowly changed from red to a light glowing blue.
John brought the sphere closer to his face as he examined it. He recognized the thing he was holding. Every ridge, every scar, every little imperfection… He knew it well. This was his soul. Not one of the countless others he had come in contact with over the course of his journey, no this soul belonged to him and him alone. His life, what little was left, was literally in his own hands. While he still had enough strength left in his body, he pulled the soul away from his face. It was time.
He pressed his hands together and compressed the sphere between his palms. He could feel it, he could hear it, and he could see it. Each time he squeezed down on the soul in his hands it glowed brighter, it hummed louder, and it resonated deeper than it had ever before. This was it. One completely unchained soul, free from the inhibitors placed upon it. That’s what was needed. The soul of a man with no other options, a man who had given everything to protect the one he loved. One Final Effort; it was fitting.
John took his soul into his right hand. He took a deep breath and filled his lungs with cold air in an act to calm his mind and stall the ever spreading pain that ripped through his body. With his right arm drawn back, ready to throw, he scanned the ground below for his target. Legion was still where he had left him. The Demon screamed and thrashed about in an attempt to get free from the swords that bound him in place. His limbs had slowly begun to grow back, and in time he would surely be able to free himself. The nightmare needed to end.
John closed his eyes and thought for a moment. His mind took no time at all to drift to the one thing he cared about most now. He could see her long blonde hair dancing in the wind. She stared up at him with those deep golden eyes, surely by this point they would be filled to the brim with tears. John shook his head at the thought that hurt him the most; no matter what, he had to do this. The evil that had tainted Station needed to be destroyed before it was allowed to spread to the rest of the world. He did this for Aerin, for Meredith, Samuel, Gemini and all the other squads from HUNTER, the monks who had sacrificed everything to tell their Angel how proud they were of her, and for everyone that died that day.
John hurled his soul at Legion. It flew at sonic speeds that caused the air to ripple as it tore through the sound barrier. The tiny, glowing sphere slammed into Legion’s chest with the force of an atomic bomb. It exploded into a brilliant ball of light that spread out in all directions, devouring everything that it touched. There was no sound, no loud bang to herald the end, and to say that John wasn’t slightly disappointed would have been a lie. The glowing burst only produced a low rumble that vibrated John down to his very core, or lack thereof at this point.
All was quiet. For what seemed like a long awaited eternity, the city felt at peace. With this Final Effort, it was finished. John could no longer feel anything within the ever expanding explosion. The chorus of tortured souls no longer cried out for help. What needed to be done was done, and John’s time had run out. With no source of power within him, his flaming wings slowly lost their luster and burned out.
It was a long way to the ground and his descent seemed to go on for ages. Instead of feeling anxious of the end, or perhaps even scared of his coming death, John felt at peace. There was only one last regret that filled his heart: that he wouldn’t be the one to make Aerin happy. John closed his eyes and accepted his fate with a smile, even though it was forced.
His body was suddenly impacted hard and his velocity was changed into a horizontal motion. His eyes opened and all he could see was white. All around him, covering him like a blanket. And then there it was. The one thing he had selfishly hoped to avoid, blonde hair and golden yellow eyes. Before he could say anything, there was another collision. He felt his body tumbling end over end. Dirt, rocks, glass, anything and everything dug into his skin as he slid against the ground. He felt his head hit something hard as his vision went out. His mind went blank with one last, hard impact. The rest was silence.
Aerin flew as hard as she could through the burned out skyscrapers that once filled Station’s center. She had felt John’s spirit resonate within her one last time. It was the strongest she had ever felt it, and it had snapped her out of her daze. This time, she wouldn’t sit idly by as she lost another. This time, she was going to do something. At least, that’s what she had planned. She had felt his spirit ahead of her inside the city, but it had vanished once more. She wouldn’t accept it. He wasn’t gone just like that. The last memory of her Slayer wouldn’t be some bittersweet smile before he went off to fight an enemy they were no match for. She would fly in, pull him out, and save him. Whatever it took, that’s what she would do.
Suddenly, her vision went white. She blinked hard and covered her ears as a deafening roar bellowed out all around her. A massive glowing sphere appeared where the center of the city had once been. It grew larger and larger, devouring everything around it with a ra
w destructive force she’d never seen before. Aerin shielded her eyes and flapped her wings hard to keep herself aloft before she spotted something up ahead. A tiny silhouette against the terrible light of the explosion. It was him, she could feel it. She had her target.
Aerin slammed hard into John's side just before he hit the ground. Another shockwave from the explosion had knocked her off course and caused her to hit John much harder than she had intended. She had barely made it in time to catch him; nevertheless, she gripped him tightly as they flew down the ruins of a street. Another wave slammed into her from behind, sending her toward the ground out of control. Before the impact, she wrapped her wings around them both tightly. She closed her eyes and awaited the pain that would follow.
They hit the ground at insane speed and tumbled over and over. Aerin’s wings had absorbed most of the impact, which sent horribly painful spikes throughout her body. She did her best to keep them covered by the white feathers, but as they tumbled down her wings came unfurled. Eventually they simply disappeared entirely, as if they had taken enough abuse, leaving Aerin and John to fall over each other until finally coming to rest on a flat clearing somewhere within the ruined city.
Aerin lay there in a daze on top of John’s motionless form for a while before she finally managed to pull herself off of him. It took a moment to shake the shock of such a hard landing, but once she was fully aware, she went to work examining John’s body. He was in rough shape, the wounds on his chest had stopped bleeding but his body was pale from all he had lost. Aerin quickly slapped her hands together and placed them over his chest. She was never as good a healer as Meredith, but she was determined to give him everything she could. She dumped wave after wave of healing energy into his chest, to the point of nearly fainting from exhaustion. Slowly, color began to return to John’s skin. With little strength left in her, the Cyphers all over John’s body faded away and Aerin collapsed on top of him. She clung desperately to John as she prayed silently that he would be okay.
Slayer: A Demon Hunter's Tale Page 53