The demon swiped at her as she leapt over it’s attack. It used it’s free arm to launch a punch at her, but she dodged and countered with a leaping blow to it’s chest. She could feel and hear several bones shatter with the blow as the thing stumbled backwards. The moment she landed on the ground, she immediately sprung back towards the creature, landing another blow right where she struck. The beast fell onto its back, and Joy hurried over to its head. In another violent scene, she stomped on its head repeatedly until its head was nothing more than a pulp of flesh and bone.

“Regenerate from that you piece of shit!”

She bent over a little, covered in bits of flesh, beginning to pant. Simon watched inquisitively.

“This isn’t going to go well for her if it keeps up…”

Joy’s break was cut short as she heard the ball of flesh behind her shuffling and re-forming.

“Are you shitting me?”

She turned around as the beast stood back up once more, the head still reforming. It swung at her again, this time barely grazing her skin with its nails as she dodged. She let out a primal yell as she roundhouse kicked the demon’s leg, shattering straight through the bone. It stumbled a bit at the wound as she smashed its knee with another kick. The demon fell over as she used every bit of her rage to barbarically smash every bone and possible organ the thing had, smashing its arms, chest, head once more, and stomach, causing a symphony of periodic cracks to echo throughout the arena. Covered in sweat, blood, bits of flesh, and along with being royally pissed, she stomped the demon’s head one last time to be sure. The beast and the bits of flesh that stuck to her dissolved away into nothing more than a dark red dust. At the sight, she slowly sat on the ground, watching the observation room elevator. Moments later, it opened up, revealing Simon carrying a strange looking rifle, looking more like some kind of bizarre tool than a weapon. The demon elevator closed, and began whirring and clanking. Joy wiped some of the blood off of her.

“So, did I pass?”

He loaded a large bullet into the rifle. “We aren’t looking for brutality here. You need to be much more efficient, especially for something as simple as a berserker.”

“Simple? What do you-” She was cut off by the demons’ elevator clanging, opening to reveal another one of the large demons. As it wandered out, Simon fired his rifle. The round crashed right into its stomach and exploded upon impact, leaving a messy hole. He loaded another round and fired again, decimating its head. The demon slowly collapse as its body dissolved.

“Berserkers are the cheapest yet most imposing demons available, simple enough for anyone with some rope, a knife, and the will to kidnap to summon. They focus mostly on causing property damage rather than killing humans unless threatened, so it’s important that they can be killed as soon as possible.” He stood up, slinging his rifle over his back. “You’d know all of this and how to quickly deal with one if you actually read your damn field guide, so I’m putting your training on hold until you finish reading. Understood?”

Her face was red with rage, eyes looking like they’d catch fire and a grimace that would terrify anyone who knew she was capable of. “Understood” she muttered.

Back at the Armory, Joy had been guided to a rather small room with nothing more than an uncomfortable cot and a desk barely wide enough to hold the guides she had to read through. One of the walls bore several fist-shaped indents, not too far from where Joy sat. She pounded down another cup of coffee as she flipped through the guide, thinking about how numerous demons actually were. She thought about what she read on the Flesh Abyss: a landmark left behind by demonic forces when they invaded Congeria long ago. A place festering with several different types of demons, and the only place where they can be birthed naturally. It’s far too dangerous for any crusaders to properly explore, not even for the elites.

“Hmph, that seems like a perfect place for me to make a difference…”

She continued reading through, learning about the history of Heaven’s Bastion, its post-war history, the numerous types of demons she would have the pleasure of killing, and most shockingly to her, reports and information on demonic cartels. She read even more closely, learning how below the surface of several gangs or loan sharks lied an even more dangerous threat: a group of men or women willing to sacrifice other people to demon lords, and re-sell what they gain. What could be a few petty criminals in a gang could secretly be kidnapping others for use in sacrifice. She wasn’t too unfamiliar to reading the news ever so often, but she had never once heard about any organization this horrifying in it. She thought to herself about literally kicking down the door to one of their facilities and cracking the skulls of men preparing a sacrifice. She smiled.

“Hopefully I can get this training done soon.”