He Who Hunts Demons Chapter 29: 29-One Of Us Is Dead

Read chapter 29 of He Who Hunts Demons by A_Random_Turtle on NovelPedia.

Shock painted the faces of everyone, including Pollie. They all stared at me, frozen in their thoughts, and I was not surprised by that reaction. “Should I take that as the ramblings of a mad man?” Abel broke the silence with a not so subtle dig at my sanity. I turned to him and said with a placid mien. “You shouldn’t.” His brows pulled in. “Is it that you have no clue what a beyonder demon is? No. Don’t answer that. I’ll assume you don’t and just tell you. They are demons above the sequence. Even Transcendents of the Upper Echelon shiver at the thought of hunting them, and you want to?” I hadn’t realized that advancing to the Upper Echelon didn’t just magically rid you of all the fear hunting demons brought. I had thought any Transcendent in that rank would be quite confident in their abilities, but it seemed that was not the case. Skills and zeal still mattered to a very great degree, and that meant I couldn’t just think that once I got to the Upper Echelon I would be able to exert my revenge without any worries. Yes, I had underestimated the strength of a Vol. Never again. “Why would you ever want to hunt a beyonder demon?” Pollie asked, her eyes holding me hostage. I was surprised, to be honest. I hadn’t expected her pompous lips to be able to part ways to ask me a question that didn’t involve ridiculing me. But I appreciated that she was finally even a bit curious about her teammate. Hopefully this meant that she would spare me the benefit of the doubt and open up to me as well so that our time together would be filled with little of hard staring but fruitfulness instead. But that started from me telling her—all of my teammates—the truth about myself. “My parents were killed by one.” Everyone jerked back subtly like they were too afraid to show a greater reaction as their expressions turned a tad solemn. “Don’t worry about it,” I said. “It’s been eight years and I’ve come to terms with what happened that night. There’s no need for any of you to be walking on egg shells around me. And besides, it isn’t uncommon to meet victims of a demon attack. I’m not special.” That last bit was true, but the first was a blatant lie. I wasn’t over it. Even now as I was engaging in a conversation concerning my experience, prompting me to relive it in my mind over and over again, I was getting angrier by the second. “Yes, victims aren’t rare,” said Sammie. “But that does not make it any better. You have every right to be angry and furious. There’s no need for you to pretend.” My heart skipped a beat and my expression loosened. I had no idea why Sammie thought I was pretending and my words weren’t how I truly felt. Maybe it was his social skills that made him great at interpreting other’s emotions by simply staring at them, or maybe there was something else, but I appreciated him. Regardless, I had to pretend, or I would just be a vile person to be around. “Thank you,” I said. “But I’m not pretending.” Then I turned back to Pollie. “So, there you have it, my lady. I don’t know why you’re so hostile towards me, but I am nothing like whatever picture you have painted in your head. I have a reason for hunting demons, and I am not going to stop until I fulfill my goals. I only agreed to join the Iron Eagles because it was either that or I was arrested. And besides, no one has better resources to find my parents’ killer than the church. Of course, like I said, the money is a good bonus, but that’s not why I do what I do.” Pollie’s expression showed no signs of changing, but I could smell the subtle changes in her emotions as a result of the keen senses my Primal Trait had bestowed upon me. As the carriage fell into silence, she turned away, not saying a word. Maria, however, placed a hand on my shoulder. As I turned to her, she whispered with a solemn expression, “ I’m sorry .” “Where did this happen?” Abel asked, once again taking it upon himself to break the silence, and before I could grant Maria a reply, I was drawn to him. He raised a brow