Brother Henry Sarathkumar was surprisingly appreciative of the police protection provided despite having made baseless accusations towards them in the past which he ended up having to retract and apologize for. However, he stubbornly refuses to cancel his public talk, something that was wearing away the patience of Father Sergei and a few members of the READ squad assigned to assist in the SRE.

“I will not allow myself to be cowed by a deranged madman who thinks murder is the right way to spread a message. It would be hypocritical of me to show fear after everything I’ve said and done,” the progressive church leader insisted.

“You have an audience of at least a thousand and two hundred, and this killer is planning to attack you publicly. None of us can predict what will happen in the ensuing chaos,” warned Father Sergei, who had insisted on coming along when he heard that his former choir boy was being targeted by the serial killer the Shades had been hunting for.

“The Shades are here, the FBI are here, even the Rapid Emergency Assault Division are here. What do I have to fear from this Arthur Bray?”

“Listen, I don’t think you realize what kind of fire you’re playing with, Mr Sarathkumar. I am not sacrificing my men for your selfishness,” Captain Andrew Narayanan, the older brother of Jason who leads a READ squad from D-Company, replied curtly as he took one step forward, forcing his younger brother to step in, for Jason knew how little tolerance Andrew had for people who actively ignore the danger they put themselves and others in.

“Look, let’s sort out a compromise first. I had one of my infiltrators survey the layout of the National Conference Centre earlier today, and we have a plan that can only work if Mr Sarathkumar agree to it. Frankly speaking, however, you don’t have much of a choice. You agree with the plan, you get to do the talk, but if you don’t, we of the Shades have the authority to forcibly cancel your event due to security reasons,” Jason said to the young priest.

“You cannot do such a thing! It is unconstitutional!”

“Yes, we can. Two years ago, the politician Tan Chai Aw refused to go into hiding when targeted by an assassin and instead made a public speech to his voters without proper protection. When he got killed by the assassin whom I should inform you is still at large, panic set in on the crowds, resulting in three trampled to death and seventeen injured. And that was an audience of six hundred. You have more than a thousand in your audience. What if the killer slip by us and shows himself in the middle of the hall you are speaking in? Are you ready to face the consequences?”

Realizing that there are limits to what he can demand for, Brother Sarathkumar sighed and relented.

“Fine, Inspector, what do you propose?”

“We’re not going in?” Roderick asked as he, Xiaoye and Hats waited in their vehicle in the underground parking lot of the National Conference Centre.

“Nope.”

“Feels weird waiting here.”

“Aye.”

“And why is Hats in our car?”

“Specialist Hats is an Exterminator like myself and Farhan. They don’t normally leave the station unless their skills are needed. By the way, any officer assigned to our Counter-magic Arm is automatically given the title of specialist.”

“I see.”

“Oh, and don’t ever call Hats the Invisible Man. The regular officers from other departments mocked him using that nickname because of his bandages, so he gets angry about it. And since he’s mute, he usually resorts to the middle finger or outright punching your lights out.”

“Yeah, I found out too late… Sorry, Hats.”

Apology accepted, Hats signed back to Roderick.

“So, about Father Sergei, I did not realize he hated you at first. He looked like the kind of person who gets along with anybody,” Roderick continued his conversation with Xiaoye.

“We cambions have a bad reputation with religious folks. It takes divine intervention like what Father Sergei had experienced to change their minds. Mind you, I still remember that night the girl got possessed by a lesser demon of Duke Dantalion’s legion. It was bad. That lesser demon was on its way to becoming a greater demon, but I sensed it too late.”

“What are the hierarchies of demons?”

“No hierarchies. I mean, there’s so many Hells in the world, and we have demons of various origins, some individuals and some an entire species. However, we do use terms to describe their strength. For example, archdemons are the most powerful, though they’re still way below the level of my pa and his fellow Goetic demons. This is followed by higher, greater and lesser.”

“And what about your pa’s boss?”

“Mate, you do not want to go there, seriously.”

“Right, bad idea… Look, I think you told me once that cambions get blasted away by some kind of force when they attempt to enter a place of worship, no matter the religion. So how did you get into Father Sergei’s church?”

“Oh, so you’ve heard the full story, eh? Well, normally, if a cambion can enter a place of worship, it means something sinful is happening inside. But for Father Sergei’s case, well, Rehael opened the door for me.”

“Rehael?”

“An angel, my pa’s, erm, frenemy, or is it fremesis? No wait, they’re not that spiteful of each other. Bronemy? Yes, bronemy. That should do. Technically, whenever my pa wants to cause trouble, Rehael’s job is to be there to meddle with him, but usually they end up trying to outdrink one another at the nearest juice bar.”

“Juice bar? Why a juice bar?”

“Rehael’s an angel, he can’t drink, and my pa thinks all mortal alcohol tastes like water, so, juice bar.”

“Huh, okay…”

“Anyways, once it was clear that the situation has gone south, Rehael saw to it that I could enter. Something like a temporary pass. He wasn’t expecting me to be carried out on a stretcher, though. Then he had to go pacify my pa, who was so furious when he found out I almost died helping to exorcise one of Dantalion’s underlings that he almost started a war with him.”

“All units, the plan is set. I repeat, the plan is set. Prepare to intercept at any moment,” Jason’s voice came through the radio.

“Roger that,” Xiaoye replied.

“So, what’s with the attire change?” Roderick asked all of a sudden.

“What? It’s an SRE, I’m supposed to be in my Exterminator uniform.”

“Yeah, I mean, your inner clothing?”

True enough, Xiaoye was no longer wearing that somewhat body-fitting cropped tank top underneath her leather jacket but a black, sleeveless band-collared that was actually more modestly covered, though her midriff was still exposed. Xiaoye sighed as she loaded her handgun.

“Bradley had a talk with me and two other female Exterminators earlier today…”

Two hours ago…

“I’ve been getting a lot of comments about your attire when we go for an extermination assignment. I know I give you all a lot of leeway when it comes to what you wear underneath the green jackets, but… Xiaoye, your tank top looks like a bra. Xueling, your collar’s too damn low. And Astrid, I know you’re a selkie and most of your assignment takes place underwater, but at least wear a one piece swimsuit underneath in case your jacket’s zip breaks,” an exasperated Bradley said to Xiaoye, a fox fairy officer who stood a good fifteen centimetres taller than her and a selkie with a sleepy look on her face as he showed all three of them the number of complaints (all from women) and compliments (all definitely from horny men) he had been receiving from the public…

“And you decide to cover up the top half and leave your navel as it is?” Roderick asked.

“Why not? It’s a tactic that works on men. Get them thinking with their wanker instead of their brains and then I reward them with a free haymaker to the side of their noggin.”

“Yeah, but it won’t work on women, though.”

“Ha, you really think those ultra left-winged feminists are as pious as they want you to think? A few years ago, we had a woke witch attacking a world conference event that she claimed was a sexist movement aimed at objectifying women. Weijin got half his uniform ripped to shreds by one of her windy spells, so he tore the rest off and walked up to her ready for a second rammy. I kid you not, she literally paused in the middle of trying to summon a tornado because, Hell’s bells, Weijin’s got a Greek god’s body so perfect that it was the only time I actually fantasized pouncing on him. Too bad for the witch though, Weijin took the opportunity to blast her unconscious with a thunderbolt spell.”

Behind them, Hats signed out that Weijin was no gentlemen and that he would not hesitate to punch a lady in the face if it means saving the world.

“Damn it, I need to re-learn sign language,” Roderick muttered, slightly embarrassed by the face that he could barely understand what Hats was saying to them.

“Don’t bother. Hats uses a mix of sign languages from various countries. There are times where even I had no idea what he’s talking about myself.”

“For real? Well- Oh, yeah, speaking of mix, I was looking through the three names Agent Millhart mentioned: Eli Krasthill, Joe Custin and Lance St.Geneva? They’re anagrams: Kill the liars, no justice and last vengeance.”

“No wonder they all sound so stupid. Kill the liars? That’s his mission: Most of the woke are liars and hypocrites, so they fit.”

“And no justice probably refers to how he was wrongly accused and driven to the point of no return.”

“And last vengeance… Is he on a suicide mission?”

“Now that you mentioned it, he was scouting this area out, as though he knew Henry Sarathkumar would be doing a talk here… Hats, the psychic imprint you created, does it say how long Arthur Bray has been scouting the area?”

Two weeks was the reply Xiaoye got from Hats.

“Two weeks? My God, did Arthur Bray plan this killing spree from the start?” Roderick asked as the possibility of such an action began to set in.

“Aye, that doesn’t bode well… If he’s planned this for a long time, he knows enough about the building to-”

The lights in the carpark suddenly began to flicker eerily, causing all three officers to look out the windscreen. Roderick thought for a moment that he may have caught a figure moving up the stairs, but the Xiaoye took the shotgun off the gun rack in their vehicle and passed it to him, making him realize that he wasn’t hallucinating.

“Sierra-3-10 to all, suspicious movement in the carpark, might be heading up to first floor,” Xiaoye whispered through the radio.

“Roger that, Sierra-3-10. Half the lights in this building suddenly went out,” Jason’s voice replied.

“I just lost contact with two of my men stationed at the elevator. Should I commence evacuation?” Andrew’s voice came in.

“Do it, we’re not taking any risk. All units, start the hunt. We need to flush Arthur Bray out before he gets to his target. Remember, he’s fused with his polong, so shoot him before he can react. Kill on sight if necessary,” Jason replied.

“Sounds like they’re evacuating. C’mon, let’s go,” Xiaoye said as she got out of the vehicle.

Roderick and Hats exited as well, but before they could take another step, Xiaoye suddenly held up one hand.

“Something’s here,” she said.

Roderick looked around, but saw nothing but cars. Hats, however, appeared to have sensed something wrong, for he was now holding a pair of meat hooks, one in each hand, and looking around like a predator seeking out prey.

As Roderick carefully moved to a pillar near him, he thought he heard cackling and strained his ears. Now he could hear the cackling clearer, and it appeared to be coming from the far end of the carpark. Hats, meanwhile, beckoned to him and Xiaoye, using hand sings to tell them to go on ahead while he stays here.

“Hats, are you sure?” Xiaoye asked.

Hats nodded before taking off his hat right before his limbs suddenly began contorting themselves as he dropped to the ground on all floors and began scuttling left and right like a crab at high speed. Roderick was stunned to see it, but then he felt a strange feeling come over him and turned around to see a woman clad in red standing near a pick-up, slowly emerging as fifteen-centimetre-long claws scratched the side of the pick-up, most like in an attempt to intimidate.

“Sierra-3-10 to all, we’ve got Arthur Bray in sight,” Xiaoye said on her earpiece.

“Impossible, Sierra-3-3 is currently engaging in pursuit of Arthur Bray on the fourth floor.”

“But, but Arthur Bray is standing at the lobby at the moment, right in front of us!” a READ soldier argued.

Xiaoye and Roderick looked at each other in confusion, but Hats suddenly dropped to all fours and began dashing towards the polong before them like a cockroach scurrying across the floor. The polong, as horrifying as she was, was now the one horrified as the revenant jumped on her and attempted to slice her throat open with his meat hooks right before she threw him off. Hats landed awkwardly, but then his entire torso twisted around in a way that was not possible for a normal human body and this time managed to slice one of the polong’s claws off.

“Hats can handle this, let’s go!” Xiaoye said to Roderick, who nodded and followed her dashing up the stairs as Hats continued engaging the polong.

As the two got up the stairs, they made a shocking discovery: There was indeed another polong in the lobby, and its already taken out one READ soldier while the other stabbed at her in an attempt to break her grip around his throat.

“Blast it!” Xiaoye ordered, and Roderick did not disappoint as his first shotgun shot knocks the polong down while freeing the grappled officer without injury who then rushed to attend to his fallen colleague.

The polong began squirming as it got up and tried to make an escape, and judging by its limp, it was clear Roderick had badly wounded it. But Xiaoye, whose Prayer Shackle had already been unsealed by Bradley prior to the SRE commencement, was not taking any chances.

“ꓘɔɒlꓭ ƧɈɿA: Tƨυꓷ - YɈɿiꓷ ƧǝlbǝǝИ”

Dust immediately formed into sharpened spikes around Xiaoye’s left fingers right before she swung her entire arm upwards, sending the dust spikes flying forward and embedding themselves deeply into the polong’s back, causing her to fall face-down on the ground right before the cambion and her partner finally caught up with her.

“We’re getting reports of polongs everywhere! What’s happening?” Jason yelled through the radio.

Xiaoye was about to reply when the polong she just took down suddenly jumped back on her feet, determined to survive, but a surprised Roderick involuntarily fired again, a 12-gauge buckshot filled with silver pellets striking the polong at point blank range with enough force to nearly tear it into two, resulting in Roderick and Xiaoye being covered with some of its blood but at the same time finally killing it, but that was not the spookiest part.

Xiaoye was about to radio back when the bisected body parts of the polong suddenly began melting away, much to the shock of the two Shades along with the READ soldier Roderick saved who had come over to take a look while carrying his buddy over his shoulders. Within seconds, all that was left of the slain polong was a dismembered left human arm with its wrist having been ripped apart, the entire hand remaining connected to the arm by some strips of flesh and a single bone. At the same time, a dreadful scream of pain echoed throughout the National Conference Hall.

“What the hell? The whole time, it was just someone’s arm?” the READ soldier exclaimed in terror and disgust.

“This is new… Shit, he can’t be using individual parts of his body as vessels? Jason, Jason, come in! I believe Arthur Bray’s got more than one polong under his command.”

“Are you sure?”

“I think so… We just killed the polong that showed up at the lobby, and it turned into an arm… Jason? Inspector, do you copy? Jason? Farhan? Captain Andrew?”

“Something’s gone wrong on their end,” Roderick suggested, hearing only static coming from his own ear-piece, to which Xiaoye nodded in agreement.

“We’ve underestimated the opponent… C’mon, let’s get over to where the inspector is.”