Throne of Steam

The sound of gunshots reverberated, allowing people to hear them from the insides of the city. The ordinary citizens quickly dismissed it as a training exercise and continued with their lives.

As the mass of flesh and skin absorbed the shots, Captain Dante stood his ground and unhurriedly lifted his arm, pulling the trigger.

BANG

The shot fired wasn't a normal one, as it left a trail of faint mist on its path. The chunks of flesh burned after being hit, eliciting an enraged cry from the mutant creature.

"Mother!" It bellowed as the flesh of its members divided in chunks akin to tentacles, the edges hardening until they became as sharp as razors!

"Hold it down for me!" Dante ordered as he took a few steps back, his hands quickly forming a few signals, which lit in the air before vanishing into smoke.

"Got it, cap'n! But you better do your thing fast, as I don't know how long we can hold it down." Burdren's rough voice sounded amidst the chaos, and when one looked at him, one would notice the surrounding mist entering his body through the pores!

Every single one of them is a Ritual holder? Their powers seem all to be related to the domain of mists... Garett felt the situation wasn't so bad as it looked, maybe they could win safely!

Hilren didn't stand still either, grasping the symbol of the Lord in his hands, he then started praying! Strength then started to consolidate in his palms, radiating and brightening the area!

"Let 'Him' judge this evil!" A fiery ray of light left the symbol, slicing the air with increasing momentum! Upon contact, the hardy flesh started to burn its surface and slowing the mutant's movements!

Garett distanced himself from the fight, slowly building up the courage to fight! He wasn't totally helpless in a fight, as he had powers as well!

When his thoughts reached that point, he slowly started to build up enough courage to assist the Hunters during battle!

"May the mists strengthen my flesh, and I'll be the thunder to smite down all evil!" As surrounding's mist stopped churning, one could notice that Burdren covered his body with a layer of fog! Whenever the sharp flesh tentacles tried to pierce through that fog, they'd be slowed by it to a stop!

"Take this!" His voice thundered as he pulled the trigger, a multitude of runes lit all over the rifle's body, converging on its muzzle!

BANG!

A flash of light left the barrel of the gun as if it had shot a laser! The high amount of heat instantly made the moisture in the surrounding air vanish! A gigantic hole appeared on the creature's flesh!

"Mommy!" After the initial barrage of attacks, the creature became enraged! It's tentacles quickly swiped at the hunters, one of them even aiming for Garett and Hilren!

Hilren used the energy amassed in his church's symbol to block, creating a thin shield of light just strong enough to deflect the blow!

But with the speed of the tentacle almost surpassing the speed of sound, Garett wasn't fast enough to dodge it! The razor-sharp tentacle sliced the air, leaving an illusion of sword light on its wake!

"Aaah!" Garett screamed, his short life passing like a film through his eyes! He had a lot of regrets in this life, and he wasn't rich yet!

It was then that a gauntlet surrounded by thick mists clashed with the tentacle, creating a tidal wave of sound and raw energy from the point of collision.

"You okay, boyo?" A beautiful red-haired woman stood in front of him, her short hair slightly swinging with the breeze. On her hands, she wore two enormous steel gauntlets, both of them continuously surrounded by mist!

"T-Thank you..." Garett stammered, his legs softening after the initial scare.

"This is no place for recruits, Dante!" She complained to her captain; apparently, both of them had a pretty lax relationship

"And how the hell would I know a B-level mutant would suddenly pop-up?" Dante retorted, not bothering to keep up appearances, his hands continuously forming all the more different kinds of seals.

"Tsc." She snorted as she crossed the gauntlets in front of her body. "Let me speed things up then."

Like a cloud during a storm, the mist surrounding her gauntlets blackened! Streaks of lightning started to form before merging into a crystallized ball of lightning that she fired at the abomination!

"Mommy!" The creature grew enraged, with a bellow it thrust one of its tentacles toward the ground! Even if Garett couldn't directly see underneath the earth, his Perception could feel it rapidly multiplying into a hundred other tentacles!

"Careful! The tentacle It's attacking from beneath!" Garett yelled, warning the Hunters of the impending surprise attack!

A multitude of impaling strikes started to ascend from the ground! Commencing with those nearer to the monstrosity, it slowly approached their back-line!

The impact of dozens of tentacles slamming sent Burdren flying, even if his armor of mists could protect him from being impaled, it didn't stop the concussive blow!

"Blurgh" Vomiting a mouthful of blood, he crashed on the closed gates, his sorry figure gradually collapsing to the ground.

"Burdren!" One of the other hunters cried, his frail figure being subsequently slashed in half by an abrupt swipe of the mutant, his blood splattering all over the place, dyeing the setting sun a crimson red.

Shit! I knew I shouldn't be here! They can barely hold on! The gates are closed, I need to do something, or else we're all going to die here... Steeling his resolve, he calmed his trembling legs before running towards Captain Dante! A trail of impaling strikes ascending behind him!

"Captain!" Using every ounce of strength in his body, he only focused on running, not exactly sure of what he wanted to accomplish! He approached Dante while the ground bellow the captain's feet already showed cracks made by the ascending flesh spikes!

"F**k" He could hear the captain cursing as he realized the situation he was in.

Before he could react, he felt himself being pushed by a strong force! Like an enraged bull, Burdren used the last of his strength to resist his injuries and rammed into the captain,

pushing him out of the way! He didn't have the protection of the mists anymore!

"Old man!" Dante's knees dropped as he watched his old friend being impaled by a dozen of flesh spikes to save him, the smoke he amassed in his surroundings slowly being tinged red with fury.

As the monster slowly recalled his flesh, the frightful sight of a body riddled with holes came into view, and even in death, the brute refused to kneel.

...

"There's a commotion happening on the main gates." A pair of figures said while sitting atop the Cathedral of Mists, one dressed in red while the other dressed white. Both of their attires proclaiming them as high-hanking members of their respective churches.

"It seems so; the aura resembles that of an A-rank mutant. Who's the deacon on duty today?" The one dressed in red asked, not bothering to hide his bored expression.

"My church's deacon on duty...? From what I can remember, Algreen is the one on duty today." The other answered, his eyes closed in self-meditation.

"Huh, Lurmon is the one on my side. Are they already aware?"

"They should be, Dante is there as well, even if his abilities are not suited to killing, he should be able to hold the fort."

"You sure are cold, old man. Didn't you raise him like a son? Now you don't even blink while you let him fight a grade A-mutant." The red figure scoffed, looking at the other incredulously.

"All things are ordained by the Goddess. There's no need to worry." The other one retorted, his face placid as a lake.

"Heh, I'll be leaving then. Should I pay a visit and help them on passing?" The figure in red said as he got up, his eyes never leaving the other man.

"Are you sure you have that much free time? It's almost night, we need to strengthen the barriers." The other reminded, finally opening his eyes from meditation. Both of them stood there, one staring at the other.

"Hah! All that we got is time, old man. Even without me, you can strengthen the barriers by yourself, am I wrong?" He retorted lightly, his figure slowly merging with the shadows, only leaving his voice behind. "It's been a long while since I exercised, my old bones need a little action."

"You're a weird old man, leave the heavy lifting to the young. We're already past the time of fighting in the frontlines..." Realizing he was left alone, the figure gently sighed as he closed his eyes again, returning to meditation.

...

F**k, now we're doomed... Garett complained, half-accepting his impending fate.

After Burdren's death, the red smoke surrounding Dante started to churn, transforming in a dozen of chains that entwined and trapped the monstrosity.

But it wasn't enough, the sound of snapping chains reverberated through the air not long after, eventually, they all would snap!

"Open fire." Dante's cold voice sounded, appearing very indifferent to all that happened. His hands continuously formed symbols that turning the surrounding mists into more chains.

Every single one of the Hunters did as they were told, not an ounce of grief was evident in their faces, they all stood their ground, not looking at the bodies of their companions.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A barrage of gunshots echoed, every single one imbued with the power of mists as they burned through the flesh of the mutant, slowing the creature's attempt at escaping.

"Are you okay, Garett?" Hilren approached him, as both of them didn't have a way of helping Dante's team. "You should hide. Those chains will not hold the beast for long."

"You knew him, right?" Garett asked, his voice sounding conformed. "The mutant."

"Yes, his name was Vellen. It's not unheard of cases where a team leaves, only to return as mutants. We still don't understand why it happens though." The young knight answered, bitterness permeating his voice.

"May the Goddess bless him," Garett muttered while slowly.

"What are we going to do, Captain? Our firepower is not enough to kill it! The flesh wounds keep regenerating!" One of the remaining Hunters asked while reloading his gun. "And the night is almost here, we're dead if we stay locked outside the gates."

"They should be almost here, do not worry." The captain voiced, his eyes half closed. The continuous usage of his powers as taking a toll on him, he wouldn't be able to endure for long.

"You really are a joke, Dante. Were you expecting me?" A grave voice sounded from atop the walls, a voice even Garett was familiar with.

"Heh, I thought it was a B-rank, but it turned out to be an A-rank mutant. Why don't you finish him while he is restrained, Lurmon? We all want to go home." Dante answered, not a sparkle of pride could be found in his voice.

"Tsc, you're no fun," Lurmon said while scanning the battlefield, the road was damaged beyond recognition, and two corpsed could be seen on the Hunters side. Only then he realized the presence of Garett and Hilren on the edges of the battlefield. "And what the hell are the two of you doing here? Do both of you have a death wish?"

He jumped from atop the wall, alighting near the pair...

"Let me end this and we'll talk kiddo." Said Lurmon as he looked at Hilren's sorry figure.