Chapter 36

“Don’t do anything reckless.” Jewel hissed as the countdown intensified on their app. Around them, the air was buzzing with energy. Like, literally energy. Sure, it was also filled with hundreds of people, and awash with their noises and activities. But this was different. The rift before them was crackling, and Henry could see tendrils of power striking out at all around them. Interestingly though, those tendrils didn’t actually destroy anything, at least, not yet. According to everything he’d been told, if a tiered demon made its way completely through the portal, there would be hell to pay.

“Do I really strike you as the kind?” Henry retorted in a slightly sarcastic manner. He’d done a whole lot of nothing to get that kind of statement from Jewel. He may have also been in a bit of a confused state. After all, a lot had happened in the past hour. Plus, he was pretty sure, strangely enough, he was reacting to the energy of the rift. His body felt…energized, in a strange way. Like every essence of his being was vibrating. And while not unpleasant, it also wasn’t a comfortable feeling.

“All things considered,” she glanced from him, to his Evil Eye, and then back in the crowd, where JJ was still slightly visible. He’d maneuvered himself closer to the duo, but seemed to be trying to stay partially hidden away. Which he was failing at. “Yeah, I’ve a feeling sooner or later you’re going to do something dumb.”

Henry opened his mouth to retort, but bit his tongue, seeing the look in her eyes. She was partially serious, but also was messing with him. Her mood was definitely elated as well, and he wondered if the portal was powering through her too. It was such a strange feeling, like and enhanced state of being. It was, strange.

“Any ways,” she continued, “when the countdown hits 0, it will be our time to shine. The Away Team will begin their battle in earnest, and it is up to us to target any manifestations that come through that rift. These tendrils of power, are simply harbingers of what’s to come. As soon as they start to condense in a single area, we have to send our D.E.D. to that area, to break them up.”

“Sounds easy enough.” The Away Team had the hard job, fighting the Larpen in its full, physical form. Henry still recalled vividly his experience with Loki and the Larpen, that giant gorilla lizard hybrid something that he doubted he would forget. Part of him wondered if Loki was there again, preparing to use his Legendary D.E.D. Fenrir to take it down, or if the organization had others capable of such feats.

“For the most part it is,” all around the greater rift, D.E.D. floated from the Home Team, waiting and watching patiently. “But you have to keep on your toes. Those tendrils of power, the essence that is the Larpen, will begin to defend itself when threatened. The reason we wait for the Away Team, is because at least then, the essence is torn, mentally in a sense, between two different defensive modes.” She chuckled, “otherwise, our D.E.D. out here would be in trouble.”

Henry looked down at the app, showcasing the information on the Tiered Demon. The level portion for it, was three ???, which Henry did not like. It made him rather uncomfortable, actually, involving his Evil Eye and Drakeling in the fight. Both had reached level 12 during their past hour of farming at the Greater Rift, courtesy of the level 10 and above D.E.D. flowing through, which Jewel had been murdering heartlessly. Henry had felt it was a little waste…watching them all drop before they could even completely form. Had he been able to make a pact with one or two, he could have greatly increased his power right then and there.

“Noted.” He tried his best to steel himself, but the energy just continued to coarse through him, as the Greater Rift before them seemed to further empower itself. The tendrils of essence began to swirl, their colors changing, and then Henry watched as they began to slowly come together, starting to solidify. At the same time, a loud alarm erupted, simultaneously, from every single phone in the area. Both those of actual Exorcists, and those playing the game, got the same alarm. It was time to begin the battle against the Tiered Demon. Granted, for Henry, it was a little more real, than for all of those who were here, mindlessly, obliviously, playing a game. Completely unaware of the demonic battle taking place before them.

“Do what you can, but don’t get your D.E.D. killed. I’ll be pissed if you waste my efforts here and now.” Jewel nodded towards him, and as she did, her creepy D.E.D. opened its mouth, letting out that silent wail. One of the massive tendrils of essence that was trying to solidify began to quiver, and then from it, smaller tendrils shot out, lashing towards her D.E.D. The Cyoeraeth smiled as its body began to waiver. A moment later, as the tendrils reached it, the Cyoeraeth become completely incorporeal…er, more incorporeal, given the existence of the D.E.D… and easily shifted its shape to avoid the tendrils.

Once the attack on it was complete, it materialized once again, and opened its mouth, sending out another attack. The tendrils shook, but they didn’t break apart. Glancing at the app on his phone, Henry could see targets had appeared all across the phone, denoting the tendrils of essence. Those that had solidified, had bolded names, with exclamation marks, indicating their priority. He could also see which D.E.D. had been assigned to those tendrils, and also their tentative life amounts. As far as he could tell, he was the only one who hadn’t begun attacking yet. And he looked around, trying to take in the battle.

To their left, another member of Strike Team Alpha, nicknamed Fro apparently, for his massive afro, was fighting a tendril by himself as well. His D.E.D. which appeared to be a female, humanoid cat like creature known as a Nekomata, was dancing too and fro, striking out with extremely long talons. It was doing good, before he saw one of the smaller tendrils smash against it. He winced, and saw a chunk of its health deplete on the app. At the same time, he saw a look of concern cross Fro’s face. That hit had hurt. A few more, and his D.E.D. would be gone.

The other thing Henry noticed though, watching that fight, was that all of the Exorcists in the area were relying solely on their own D.E.D. They were just utilizing powerful D.E.D. with strong capabilities, to attack the tendrils. Not a single one of them had any type of support. Like sure, each Exorcist needed to be strong enough to handle small rifts when they appeared, but given the circumstances of these Greater Rift battles…it just seemed like they were missing out.

So, he decided to rectify that. Selecting a few options on his app, he glanced over at Fro, before he solidified his choices. Given the situation, he wanted to make sure he was being the most beneficial he could. Also, with the chaos going on, Henry felt he could…just maybe, capitalize on some extra experience gain. Besides, as far as he was concerned, he didn’t really have any secrets, just yet. Because he highly doubted Jon would keep his mouth shut.

“We’re going to talk later.” Henry muttered as the essence flowed from him, solidifying into that of the Electrified Storm Crow. The level 5 D.E.D. was now his weakest, but it had a skill that he figured could help out in this situation. “I’ve upheld my end of the bargain, after all.”

The bird looked at him, its black eyes brimming with intelligence. It glanced at his other D.E.D. as it took in the situation, and then nodded. He’d already given it a command as well, and it wordlessly carried it out. The time for talk was later, the time for action was now. And with that, Henry’s D.E.D. went to work, not attacking the dangerous tendrils of essence, which he was sure would kill them in a single hit, but instead, buffing the D.E.D. of the other exorcists around him.

To the Nekomata, which had already taken damage, Henry instructed his Evil Eye to channel a continuously wind shield to it. Not a moment too soon too. As the winds began to swirl protectively around the Nekomata, gaining him a surprised glance from both Fro and the D.E.D., a tendril smashed into it. The winds lessened, but the shield absorbed the impact, and the Nekomata’s health didn’t drop.

Meanwhile, his Drakeling had channeled a new skill of its own into another tanky D.E.D. Henry had noticed. One of the exorcists in the area, he wasn’t sure who, was using what looked to be a cross between a turtle, and an ant eater. It’s already high defensive traits became bolstered as iron plating appeared alongside of it, and spikes grew over its claws, enhancing its attack power. The skill had unlocked for the Drakeling at level 10, and was called Iron Hide. It was an improved version of Rock Armor, that added not only greater defense, but amplified attacks. The hybrid creature quickly went to work on the tendril it was facing, worrying even less about defending, and more on attacking.

Finally, Henry’s Storm Crow offered its aid in the battle. Electricity surged from it, and the Cyoeraeth was covered with the electrical glow from its Lightning Surge skill. Henry was pretty sure the Cyoeraeth smiled even more than normal, as it opened its mouth. This time, the silent wail carried with it a massive amount of charged energy, and Henry saw an increased chunk of health disappear from the tendril of essence it was fighting. Henry may not have been able to do much alone, but he was damn capable, in this moment in time, of providing some form of support.

“Well then,” Jewel’s voice pulled him from his concentration, as he continued to assign his D.E.D. to support the others. “Consider me shocked.” He glanced at her in time to see the smirk on her face. For some reason, perhaps it was just the energy in the area, but that statement, and that look from her, sent his heart racing. And so, as he went back to work, trying his best to help with the Tiered Demon attack, he couldn’t stop but feel the excitement, the energy, rushing through him. For the first time, he truly, fully, felt enjoyment about being an Exorcist. Whether it was a true feeling, or he was simply caught in the moment, on an exhilarating energy high, he wasn’t sure. Either way, the feeling, and that look from Jewel, made it so he didn’t care.