Perhaps the Lance elders did what they thought was best for their people by making a deal with the Dark Pantheon. Yet ultimately, their decision to surrender wasn’t shared by most of their family members, especially the younger ones. Not long after the elders met their unfortunate end, vampires started joining the Alliance of the Old in the hundreds.

Cara quickly put these vampires to use and added them into the ranks of Alliance forces already going through the city of Los Angeles and taking out infiltrators. After all, expanding outward had to wait until the city itself had been made safe, and if the New Factions did launch their assault on the city, then their infiltrators could be a major source of problem.

For days, squads of Demons and Vampires made their way across the streets of Los Angeles, tracking down and executing any and all New Faction groups they could find. Once, a group of vampires jumped on a Section U safehouse and tore the garrison inside to pieces before they realized what happened. Another time, a squad of demon-possessed humans ran into a group of Dark Pantheon Predators. Neither side recognized each other for a long, long time before all hell broke loose.

Of course, there were also counter-ambushes by the New Factions. A squad of vampires were wiped out after chasing a piece of false intel from Section U. They were lured into an indoor killzone, where laser nets and explosives laid waste to the dozen vampires before they had a clue of what happened.

As usual, as the self-sacrificing person that she was, Katie volunteered to be sent after riskier targets. She claimed she just wanted to save ordinary Alliance troops from death, but when Cara pointed out that she just wanted a tougher fight, she didn't bother denying it.

While most vampires and demons preferred softer targets, Katie exclusively demanded tougher nuts to crack. Where was the fun in dealing with easy prey? She was fine with an occasional slaughter or two, but too much of that would get very boring very soon.

The sharing of intel and manpower between multiple Old Factions in Los Angeles made terminating infiltrators in the city a lot easier. Sometimes, even the Angels and the Witches would send suspicious locations to the Alliance for them to do the investigating, although it was much rarer for Angels to do that. They were stubborn bastards, prioritizing taking care of issues themselves rather than letting creatures of darkness do their dirty work.

One morning, Katie found herself sitting in the driver seat of her SUV in the parking lot of a particular restaurant. In the passenger’s seat beside her was a cute woman with dark hair in her twenties. Even as she sat there, her eyes were scanning across Katie’s body with an obvious and unhidden look of lust.

She was a Demon. A captain, in fact.

Katie sighed. She never thought she would be saying this, but… “Look...Nina, can we please act a bit more professional? We’re on a mission! I swear I will sue you for workplace harassment if you keep this up!” She put up the most annoyed look she could muster.

The Demon giggled, something that would be entertaining until one realized what horrifying monster lurked beneath the cute form of the young woman. Then again, with Katie being the other woman in the car, it was really difficult to tell which of them the statement applied more to.

“Really? The great Katie Lockwood...harassed? Somehow I don’t believe it.” Nina leaned so close to Katie that Katie could smell the traces of blood from the young woman. Unsurprising, considering Nina was quite a fighter, much like every other Demon that became a captain. “You like it?” She flirted as she noticed Katie sniffing.

Katie couldn’t help but grin at the seduction. Hell was an interesting place, and Demons were an interesting race. This was something Katie learned soon after she started working with the Demons on purging missions. Most demons were wicked individuals judging by today’s standards. They were impulsive and lustful to the bones. Pain and death only put them into frenzies. As agents of utter chaos, the Demons rarely cared about laws or rules unless the price of disobedience was death. Even then, obeying orders was still difficult for many of them.

Sounds familiar? Yep...many of the same descriptions applied to Katie. As a matter of fact, without using her powers, Katie could claim to be a Demon and no one would question it because of her characteristics and preferences.

“Oh I like it alright.” Katie licked her lips. She could no longer maintain the look of annoyance. In her defense, the demon was pretty, and it had been way too long since she touched a woman. Or a man, as a matter of fact. “My place? Tonight?” She asked.

She was already being assertive, but the demon was even more assertive.

“Why tonight?” Nina said sweetly as she took things a little further. “Why not now?” Before Katie could answer, she reached into her belt and pulled out a black dagger. It was a blade forged from Hellsteel, a magical weapon that could kill mortals and supernatural beings alike.

Slowly, she ran the blade across Katie’s exposed calf, opening skin and drawing blood.

Katie took a deep breath as her face blushed from excitement. Also...how did she become the conservative one in the pair? Not willing to accept defeat, Katie reached out with one hand, grabbed onto the demon’s blade, and pushed it deeper into her flesh. With her other hand, she reached into Nina’s t-shirt.

Just as the two were about to do more, they suddenly heard a knock on the car door. Nina growled in frustration and snapped to her side of the window, where another demon quickly lowered his head in fear.

Demons were never known for being easily embarrassed. Nina pondered the idea of finishing a quick one in the car before doing the mission, but on the other side, Katie had already pulled back her hands. Sex was good, but killing was even better!

Finally, Nina sighed and stared at the subordinate demon with cold eyes.

“This better be good.”

“Yes sir.” The demon nodded before pointing at the restaurant. “I just came out of the restaurant and confirmed it. It is definitely a front for the Sect of Ascension.”

“Are you sure?” Nina asked one more time. “If we get this wrong and purge an innocent restaurant...well, it would just be a waste of time.”

The demon returned the question with a confident grin. “I know what human flesh tastes like, sir. I happen to be an...expert in the field.”

“Fair enough.” Nina shrugged. Just as she was about to rally the other demons and move in, Katie suddenly came up with a brilliant idea.

“Actually, let me try something first.” She suggested while drawing two handguns from her belt. “You can position your demons around the building. If any of the flesh-eaters try to make a run for it, take them down, but as of now, I want to go in alone first.”

Nina raised her eyebrows. Now what was this maniac thinking? She could tell the two handguns she was holding were just ordinary weapons with no supernatural modifications. The Ascendants of the Sect of Ascension could be killed with conventional means, but they were still terrifyingly strong and fast. It would be much safer to deal with them via magic weapons.

“Fine.” She finally agreed. “But you’re coming to my place tonight.”

“Gladly.”

As she made the reply, Katie got out of the SUV and made her way to the front of the restaurant, checking her weapons as she moved. She waited at the door a few moments before feeling a strange sensation rushing across her body. She knew this was from the concealment spell the demon warlocks placed on the building. They could burn the entire restaurant to the ground and no one would notice it.

A few pedestrians in the parking lot saw the weapons in Katie’s hands. They opened their mouths to cry out in surprise, only for their memories to be altered almost instantly. Having forgotten all about what they saw, these pedestrians turned and left the premises, an action that saved their lives.

The brunette drew a deep breath before pushing the glass door open with her elbow.

“Ok boys!” Rushing past a surprised frontdesk, she suddenly called out at the top of her lungs. As soon as most of the people inside, both employees and diners alike, turned to her, she followed that up with another loud declaration. “Put your hands over your head! This is a robbery! Do everything I say, and you will definitely get hurt!”

Yep...someone was feeling nostalgic.

To show everyone that she meant business, she fired a round into the air. Yet as the gunshot echoed through the building, neither the employees nor the diners moved. Instead, they had a mocking look on their faces.

“Oh…” Katie raised her eyebrows, slightly caught off guard. “Ok, that’s somewhat surprising.” She expected the employees here to be Ascendants or Minions, but the common diners too?

A few employees slowly approached Katie with bloodthirsty grins. The frontdesk who was caught by surprise at first made her way out from behind the counter and cut off Katie’s retreat. A wicked smile was on her face.

Katie took a deep breath and closed her eyes, serving no particular reason aside from making her look and feel cool. That was what the badasses in movies did before they began blasting, right? That was when she suddenly heard the sound of clappers. She opened her eyes and found a man in a suit walking out from the back kitchen.

“Be careful, gentlemen.” The man said, warning the employees around Katie. “Don’t underestimate the woman before you. She is no ordinary robber. No...might I introduce to you Katie Lockwood, the slayer of, well...a lot of things.”

“Of course,” The man took a step forward, a confident smile on his face. “Recently, Ms. Lockwood has been working with the newly created alliance. What’s it called? The Alliance of the Old? Cool name. So if you’re here, then we’re likely surrounded, am I right?”

Katie shrugged.

“Well, in that case, we would like to make a deal.” The man continued. “Let me introduce myself first. I am Hassar, Ascendant of the Sect of Ascension…” He lowered his head politely as he introduced himself. Unfortunately, Katie had no intention of talking.

The moment his eyes weren’t on her, Katie moved as fast as a blur. Raise the handguns. Pull the trigger. The entire process happened in less than a second. By the time the Ascendant heard the gunshots, he was already shot in the face four times. His reflexes were quick, but they definitely weren’t quick enough for him to dodge bullets, and his lack of caution meant everything went wrong for him.

The fact that he wasn’t dead already was a testament to his physical endurance.

Even as his face was turned into a bloody mess and a scream left his mouth, Hassar was still deeply confused. He just wanted to talk! The Alliance had them surrounded with no way out! They weren’t taking any risk by listening to him and what he had to offer!

He was still wondering what the hell was going on when Katie pushed the attack. In an instant, she disappeared in a red mist and dashed behind Hassar. A few of the employees and diners called out in horror, but that didn't stop Katie from pressing the handguns on the back of Hassar’s head and pulling the trigger.

As the gunshots faded, Hassar’s bloody corpse hit the floor.

Katie never found out what rank Hassar was as an Ascendant, but operatives of the Sect of Ascension were inherently weaker than operatives of the Dark Pantheon. One drew strength from human flesh. The other gained power from what was essentially hell on steroids. The only advantage of the Sect of Ascension was its ease in terms of recruiting new members. Aside from that, well...

As for Hassar’s offer to surrender...ok, he made the offer, but she didn't have to accept it! In fact, why should she? The Ascendant probably didn't know about the location of their other bases in the city, and what other intel could he provide them? He was a foot soldier. A cannon fodder. Sure, Katie could’ve been more patient, but she was desperately in need of a slaughter!

Chaos quickly ensued across the restaurant. Some of the people went for the door, trying to flee the premises before it was too late. Katie didn't mind them, for she knew they wouldn’t get past the demons. Instead, she focused on the hostiles that came at her. The frontdesk was among them, raising his fists as he charged.

Just like that, after taking a deep breath, she started blasting.

Gunshots started echoing through the building as Katie began shooting. The frontdesk was the first to fall, with a single bullet going into his eye and engraving itself in his brain. A second man, a diner, moved past his body, only to be hit in the forehead.

A third man tried to jump on Katie from the side, but Katie saw him coming a long way away. She was faster, stronger, and she was the one holding the gun. Before the man reached her, she had already turned around and fired a single round at the man, hitting him right in the neck.

The hostiles kept on charging toward her, but Katie held her ground and opened fire with all the confidence in the world. After all, even in melee, these hostiles wouldn’t as much as threaten her.

Finally, the gunshots died down. The closest man got to two steps away from Katie before meeting his end.

As the last woman standing, Katie flipped her handguns around her fingers and snickered to herself. Well, that was fun. Even now, she could hear distinct sounds of screams and war cries from outside the restaurant, likely the result of the diners and employees running head on into a circle of demons. In other words, they were as good as dead.

Suddenly, just as she was about to leave the slaughterhouse, her enhanced senses heard something from behind. She immediately snapped around and fired all the bullets left in her handguns in that direction.

As the gunshots faded, the figure was still standing. Katie finally got a good look at her. The figure was an elderly-looking woman with long silver hair. She wore some sort of robe with strange markings as decorations. Markings that Katie didn't recognize.

“Hello, Ms. Lockwood.” She said quietly, glancing across the field of carnage without looking the slightest disturbed. “My name is Lady Sorcerer Katherine, and I need your help.”