In a remote district of Japan, the midnight air was fresh and crisp. The fields simple roads basked nicely in the moonlight.
Everything was tranquil.
*FWOOSH*
*SKRRRRRRTT*
Bursting from a flaming portal, The Rider seemed to have arrived at his destination as his car came to a screeching stop. Flaming trails left on the road his vehicle stopped.
His opened the driver side door and slowly got out.
"Huuu..Haaa" He breathed it all in. Every bit of dread and malicious intent in the air. To normal people, this place seemed to be perfect for the slow life.
It's quiet, peaceful and everyone was living self sufficiently.
It was seemingly perfect.
However, The Rider saw something else. He saw everything that lived beyond the feeble human perception. The Dread, The Vermin, The Cursed & Cursed.
In his eyes this place was infested by evil and so he did what his existence was meant for. From his hip, he unholstered the instrument of vengeance. A reborn .50 Cal demonic hand cannon. All black in color with rivers of molten orange light.
The muzzle resembled a snarling demonic skull that opened further every pull of the trigger. It's slide was trailed with a ridged crest like a dragons' tail.
His signature weapon, The Soubringer. Previously a .50 cal handgun, it was reborn by The Spirit of Vengeance.
Equipped with his weapon he walked down the street. Every step he took was enough to disintegrate the curses that surrounded him.
Although it would be easy for him to cleanse the area, he had a target and it wasn't far.
"I hear the souls~ Of the damned~ and they wait to be slaughtered like lambs~ kekeke" He muttered a malicious tune as he made his way to the destination.
…
Elsewhere, there was a large, traditional estate that seemed to be far too lively compared to its surroundings. Two large trucks were in front of the gate of the estate and from those trucks, 4 men departed.
"Haaa, we've been at this for months. I wonder how many we've gathered in that time." A large man, bald and fat. He took out a cigarette and lit it as he sighed again exhaling the smoke.
His peer called him from behind the truck,"Well, it's not hard to calculate. 100 per week over the span of 9 months. Multiply 100 by how many weeks take up 9 months and you come out with a total of-"
"Man shut the hell up. I if I gave a fuck, don't you think I would be keeping count?!" The bald man huffed as he cut off his slit eyed friend.
"Well, I don't think you'd be able to keep count. Just come and help me unload. The others are already ahead of us."
With another huff, he tossed the cigarette and walked behind the truck. Pulling the doors opened, their eyes greeted the 100 people they had kidnapped this week.
100 people. 100 people were folded like clothes and stacked atop each other. Arms, legs and heads all folded in a grotesque neatness.
The slit eyed man smiled every time he saw the beauty of his technique in full effect.
Laundry Room. It was a technique that allowed him to fold objects and people within a certain range as if they were clothes. Interestingly enough, the use of this technique didn't kill its targets, but transformed their bodies into perfectly folded squares or cubes.
It was perfect for the operation at hand.
The other man's cursed technique was also already in affect.
Cargo. This technique allowed the user to mark people and objects as his own "property". Once marked, the targets are tethered to the user till its released or rather "exported".
With the technique already active, the pair walked away from the truck and headed inside the estate. With the victims left inside the truck it was only a few moments before they vanished.
At the same time, The Rider had arrived and inspected the vehicles, silently humming as he monitored both the victims and the fiends.
Entering the property, he walked through the metal gate with the bars melting as he drew closer. Aside from the 4 that went lower within the estate, he saw the blacked souls of roughly 24 stains on humanity.
He drew his weapon and raised it.
*BOOM*
*BOOM*
*BOOM*
*BOOM*
Billets of hellfire exploded from the gun as he shot through the estate's structure, perfectly hitting the souls inside. Bodies erupted into ash as the sorcerers inside had their very essence erased.
On high alert the sorcerers immediately looked outside from whatever vantage point they could find. Their eyes landed on a man with a flaming skull and a glowing hand cannon aimed at the building.
*THOOOM*
A huge flaming blast of fire burst forward, exploding as it made contact with the estate. Fire spread quickly and the damage was significant in the form of a gaming hole in the house.
Noticing the 4 men from below the estate rushing back to the ground floor, the rider advanced.
One met him at the door, but was greeted with a bullet in kind. Fire and flames flooded the estate as sorcerers poured down the hall in troves, freezing at the sight of the thing that caused this distruction.
"SHACKLES!!"
In an instant, The Rider was restrained by his ankles, wrists and spine. Just like that the wave of sorcerers were encouraged to attack as they drew their own weapons and surrounded The Rider.
They piled in on him as they unleashed a flurry of attacks using a different variety of weapons.
"That's close enough." Saying this, a burst of flames exploded from his body, setting everything around him ablaze while everything else was burned and blown away.
The 4 sorcerers from before were also caught in the aoe attack and the estate began to collapse as the damage on the lower floors was too severe to support it.
He had vanquished the damned souls that gathered in the estate, but his job wasn't finished. There were spirits that needed redemption rather than vengeance.
As he who Judges', it was up to him to deliver that redemption.
…
With his job finished he left the collapsed estate with the victims gathered behind him. Although they were safe now that the users of the techniques that bonded them were dead, it was up to them to do something about their current situation.
The Rider looked up into the sky as his hell ride drifting around the corner, stopping in front of him.
"Such filth plague these lands, but it's nothing some fire can't snuff out. Hahaha." He laughed to himself as he got into his car and rolled down the passenger window to convey one last message to the survivors.
"You all be sure to let people know The Rider has come to be judge, jury and executioner!"
He sped off with a loud laughter with flames trailing in his wake.
Next Stop — Shibuya
…
Veiled from the rest of the world, Shibuya was in a state of turmoil. Under attack by a group of sorcerers and cursed spirits the city and those defending it would soon perish.
The strongest amongst them had been sealed. Multiple slain and others grievously injured. Their fall seemed certain, but nothing was set in stone.
Nothing but vengeance to be served with a firey bullet.
…
"Well vengeance will have to wait ya know?" Adrian said as he took down a shot of tequila. "Can't even feel that by the way." He added.
The bartender looked at him strangely, silently thinking foreigners were always kinda weird. Speaking of demons and vengeance. Surely it was drunk talk.
"Anyways, there's also this guy that just won't shut uuuup. Just constantly talking in my head about making sinners repent, haaa. So annoying." He took down another shot and hit himself in the head.
"I'll be going now. Probably never see you again…well…you may see HIM, but not me. Ha!" Saying that, Adrian walked out of the bar and spoke out.
"Now that I'm still sober, let's go over this one more time." Adrian got in his car and pressed the start button.
"Your name is Zarathos and you're a demon god that just so happened to have fallen into the hands of the devil and by proxy of a contract you were tricked into being bonded with a host, me, to go out and claim souls to be sent back to hell?"
'Yes and you, Adrian , were toyed with and willingly accepted this on your own. You have no right to be such a defiant host.' The demons voice seemed more like a growl that anything and the tone was mocking.
He was clearly displeased with the deposition of his host, who was unwilling to do his part in their contract of judgment.
"Hey man, you already take control of my body at night. I think that's doing plenty. Unlike you I don't know the first thing of 'sin hunting'. I don't see why you can't handle the business yourself." Adrian shrugged.
'I've seen who you are. Just give up this charade and accept the fact you enjoy this. For the first time in your little life, everything is all planned out for you.'
"True, I like the idea of knowing what I have to do and not needing to think of much else, but you know what I don't like? Being controlled."
'So you rebel?'
"Yes."
'THEN I WILL LEAD YOU!'
With that proclamation, Adrian's body shot up in flames and screams of soul wrenching pain burst from his mouth!
*SKRRRTTT*
The car swerved and rolled along the streets as it combusted into flames. The area had descended into chaos as onlookers and other drivers called for emergency units.
Pictures and videos were taken as no one could step close to the inferno that overtook the car, but then they witnessed something truly terrifying.
The flames died down as the car had been completely transformed with a demonic look and it somehow flipped upright on its own.
Clearly still ablaze, everyone was left speechless as it's engine roared and the car took off leaving a flaming trail.