Chapter 57

The rest of Henry’s shift went, for all intents and purposes, off without a hitch. Considering the massive power boost his Blade Drake and Harbinger Volture brought to his party, not a single D.E.D. that came through a rift could stand against him. Frustratingly though, while Henry didn’t quite have an issue slaying the D.E.D. for experience, none of the ones he encountered the rest of the day was willing to form a pact with him. They all, to their last breath, seemed especially defiant. As if they’d been emboldened by something. Or, perhaps, scared into defiance?

Whatever it was, all that meant was Henry got to test out the new passive that came with his Harbinger Volture. JJ hadn’t been too forthcoming on the aspects of it. Only that kills the Volture participated in would permanently increase its HP and MP. As the day went on, Henry was able to figure out a little more regarding that skill.

From, practice and observation, meaning the slaying of D.E.D., Henry was able to notice a pretty basic pattern for the skill. If they defeated a common rarity D.E.D., his Volture would increase its HP and MP by a single point each. Uncommon D.E.D. granted a boost of 2 HP and MP, and he figured Rare would increase it by 3, though they hadn’t encountered any Rare D.E.D. the rest of the day.

Regardless, the long day of work saw them taking out perhaps a dozen or so D.E.D., and he was surprised to see just how potent that Death Charge skill was. With just, say, half a day worth of killing D.E.D. since the evolution, his Voltrue had increased its HP and MP by a total of 15 points. Meaning its maximum HP was now up from 144 to 159, and its already large MP pool was up to 321 from 306. At this rate, the Volture would easily outpace his other D.E.D. in its power growth.

The only other thing of note, during his shift, was that Jewel seemed to be MIA. He’d sent her a text after Varkoth was slain, congratulating the Away Team on its victory, and asking her when she’d return. While he was still torn on if he would mention the passives to her or not, he was excited to show her his new evolutions. However, all he’d received from her end was radio silence. Not a single message back. Which meant he couldn’t help but worry about her his whole shift. He knew she was extremely powerful, but he also remembered what JJ had said about the last time the Exorcists had fought off Varkoth. Henry would be lying if he wasn’t a little bit concerned that something, may have happened to Jewel. After all, even though she was known as Reaper, she was still human…mostly.

You’re thinking about her again, Awakened One. The Evil Eye pulled him from his thoughts as he drove them home. The Volture was flying high above his car, and the Blade Drake was running alongside it. Both of those D.E.D. were now far too large to fit inside of his car. The Evil Eye, meanwhile, was floating, strangely as always, in the passenger seat, its massive eye watching him intently.

“You’re not wrong.” Henry said. “She may come off as cold hearted, but I don’t think she’s the type that would just leave me on read.”

Perhaps she was given another assignment? The Evil Eye postulated. Or, she has been given the rest of the day off following the encounter with Varkoth. Merely being in the presence of such a powerful entity can be a draining experience.

“Maybe.” Henry responded. Still, Jewel was powerful. There was no way he could imagine her being so worn out she wouldn’t reply to a simple text message. Maybe she’d gone to the Dub House? Henry took a quick side street, detouring away from the direction of his house to head towards the bar that sat on the corner of Academy and Dublin. The same bar that Jewel often had him drop her off at.

If she fell in battle, it was because she was weak. The Blade Drake’s voice growled into Henry’s mind. The massive D.E.D. was easily keeping pace with the car, its eye looking in through his window. It was, unsettling, to say the least, watching the massive dragon like creature pass easily through cars as if they weren’t there, while still being very real and solid to Henry. He did his best to not try and comprehend the physics that went into such things.

“You know she could still easily crush you.” Henry said back to the D.E.D. firmly. Sure, his Blade Drake was powerful. Sure, his Harbinger Volture was powerful. However, Jewel had been an exorcist for years, and she had earned the title Reaper for a very, very good reason. Henry had no doubt in his mind her D.E.D. had to at least be higher than level 50, and maybe even into the 70s? It was hard to gauge, considering the essence required for each level continued to increase, and from what he knew, up until recently, most D.E.D. coming to Earth were very, very low level.

For now. The D.E.D. responded dryly. But I’ve no intention to merely stop at this stage. I will become a creature that not only rivals but surpasses Varkoth. That is my new goal.

“Well, we will definitely need that type of strength, considering what we are going to be up against.” Henry still didn’t know the timeline on the Old Ones coming through. All he knew was stronger D.E.D. were going to start coming to Earth in larger quantities, and he and his team needed to be prepared for it. That meant, more power leveling, and definitely abusing his Volture’s passive as much as they could. There was also still the matter of taming the Chimera and figuring out when and what D.E.D. he should fuse with, in order to empower himself as well.

As he thought about that, another thought came to mind. He was supposed to let JJ know when he got off shift, so that he could tell the Demon Hunter about everything that he knew was really going on, and the impending assault from the D.E.D. While the Demon Hunters and the Exorcists had a bloody history, Henry had no doubt in his mind, the Demon Hunters would be invaluable assets in helping keep the planet safe.

He parked his car at the bar, noticing it seemed fairly quiet tonight, and prepared to head inside. He could call JJ after he checked for Jewel, and then still grab a quick bite from Burger King or something on his way home. Hell, depending on where JJ was, he might even be able to get the hookah going and ready, and they could hang out like they used to, before all of this started.

Henry’s phone started vibrating and buzzing in his pocket as he got out of the car, and he reached in, wondering if it was finally Jewel responding to him. However, one quick look at the screen told him that was not the case, and at the same time, it made his heart sink.

Incoming Transmission from Branch Director Bower

He held his thumb to the screen, answering the call, and Emelia’s face once again appeared on the screen.

“Good Evening Henry,” she said, offering him a small, polite smile. “I know you just got off shift, but I’m going to need you to come in right away.” Emelia spoke quickly, formally. Which, for her, seemed a bit off. “There is a matter of importance we must discuss, right away.” And with that, the transmission ended.

“Well,” he glanced at the bar, then got back into the car “Guess our night isn’t over yet.” Whatever was going on, he figured it was best not to keep the Branch Director waiting. Furthermore, given where he was, he knew his closest entrance to the hidden Exorcist facility was the entrance Loki had first taken him to.

He shot JJ a quick message, telling him ‘he’d gotten caught up in work, and would be late,’ and gave the Demon Hunter the go ahead to let himself into Henry’s house and get comfortable. After all, Henry had no idea how long this would take. And, as he headed back onto Academy, making his way towards the interstate to rush to the facility, he couldn’t help but feel his worry increasing. Something was off. Something had happened.