MIDNIGHT PRINCE: Empire of Sin

What exactly were devils?

Devils were one of the greatest curses of the supernatural world. They were generally referred to as Fallen Celestial beings who were sent to the deepest part of hell after the failed Rebellion of the Light Bringer-- Lucifer Morningstar.

In Hell, 72 devils stood tall as the great pillars that sustained the realm, and out of them all, 7 reigned above everyone else, holding power comparable to gods in the respective circle of hells they held dominion over. [1]

King Asmoday-- Asmodeus the Prince of Lust and Lechery. A being that was not inferior to any god from the myths and the absolute ruler of the Second Circle of Hell. The place where those who committed fornications were generally sent to.

The moment the Vampire started the ritual to call and summon one of the Seven Princes inside a mortal's flesh...

The world itself seemed to react and reject the entry of this unholy being. Godly entities were forbidden from descending into this world with their true bodies, after all. It was one of the most fundamental rules that were holding this world in place.

------

[Los Angeles -- LAPPD]

The moment the crimson-red circle flashed in the sky, sirens resounded in the underground headquarters of the LAPPD task force.

As the governmental force that was protecting Los Angeles, the paranormal had a special city-wide city detector that would react whenever a spike of Prana surpassed a certain level inside the city.

For the guards on shift today, it should have been a normal day of boring and tedious work. But, looking at the alert, they couldn't help but shudder in their spots.

"Shit! What the hell is going on!?"

"A Calamity class? No, not yet. We need to move fast and intercept this!"

"Call the director fast and inform the church."

"But... The church might not cooperate with us."

"Fuck! Tell those holier than thou bastards that if they don't move their ass we might have a repeat of what happened in London."

The guard who had received the order to call the church gulped and began to perforate cold sweat from all over.

Nearly three decades ago, a Demon King class calamitous being, Surtr, was summoned to the city of London. Even though the summoning was only partial, it still brought the opening of the gate of Muspelheim, resulting in a great fire that cost the lives of more than twenty thousand people. It is still recorded in the history of the Supernatural as one of the most unholy phenomena of all time.

A Zodiac was sent to quell the chaos and despite the resulting tens of thousands of deaths, the operation was considered a great success by the majority.

This was what a Calamity class event represented to the people of the Supernatural. It was a dark and gruesome event where even hundreds of thousands or even millions of people might die worthlessly if the correct measurements haven't been taken at the right time.

Since then, the paranormal department had the right to forcibly constrict all hunters and any supernatural beings that were allied with them or were even registered in their network if it was to prevent a Calamity class event from taking place.

"If we have any witches or warlocks from the Academy, make sure they help in keeping people out of the Park. We will bring the full force of--"

"--Captain!"

"What!?"

The captain growled out loud. He was really about to lose his mind due to this chaos, so he didn't have the mentality to deal with insubordination. However, the subordinate that rushed inside the room, screaming at the top of his lungs, with his sweat-covered face was too shocked to care about his misdeeds.

"We just received reports. The four families are simultaneously being attacked by the Cultists and the Vampire Thralls. They will be unable to send reinforcements any time soon. In fact, they are unable to both fight with them and protect the civilians so we might need to send help if we want to tone down the casualties."

The captain groaned visibly at hearing this unbelievable news. But thinking about it, he could understand their plight.

The four families were, in the end, criminal organizations. They did not receive systematic training in how to assure the security of civilians during a crisis situation and would thus be unable to assure their safety.

'Shit! why the hell are those crazy bastards acting up right now!?'

Even though Cultists were crazy to their very last member, they generally avoided attacking big cities with a Director and the accompanying organized Supernatural society that kept crimes and disorder in check.

But now... It was clear that this was a calculated strike aimed at the thought of using the divide and conquer principle.

'Fuck! Just what the hell is going on today!?'

"Send the message to the Director. The final decision will be hers."

He did not have absolute confidence in this new Director of theirs since she was quite young and might have gotten her position thanks to her ties with the Kaminari family...

Now though, he had no choice but to believe in her to get them out of this predicament.

------

On the other side of the city of Los Angeles, in the neighborhood of Adam's home, Cecilia suddenly frowned as she looked up at the ceiling and scanned the skies far into the horizon.

She was currently in the basement of her home, working on a training regimen for herself and Adam while speaking with Makarov. But all of a sudden, she got a bad premonition. A feeling that something was wrong. Something dangerous was about to befall someone she loved and cared for.

Acting on her instincts, she dialed Adam's phone number but frowned when she saw that the number was not going through. Her doubts heightened with that result.

She was now surer than ever that something bad was happening to Adam. It reminded her of an event of the past that she wished to forget but was never able to as it was imprinted on her mind. The one that allowed her to become renowned as the Vermillion Knight. The event that plagued her to this day.

'Adam is in danger.'

The problem now was... Just where was he?

'He said that he would be going to Little Tokyo with Sae and Viktor. Let's start from there.'

"All right, let's go out then."

She stood up and went ahead to rummage through a few long staffs that were held together in a corner of the room until she took out an ebony-hued Staff of unique design and aesthetics.

'This is it....'

Makarov showed a face of consternation as he looked at the Black Staff, one of his greatest creations, being treated as mere trash to be stored in the basement of all things.

He sighed and asked in a serious voice, "I don't know what happened but I believe in your beastly instincts. What is the matter exactly?"

It only took a few moments for him to discern that something was wrong from seeing Cecelia's change of expression and her subsequent actions.

In the end, he sighed, "This is why I don't like walking out. So, what shall we do?"

"You stay here while I go and see what the hell is happening with my son. The house is protected by a barrier that repels evil beings and masks the presence of the Supernatural. So there will be no problem on your end."

Makarov did not insist on coming with her. He was but only a blacksmith. He knew how to fight and fend for himself but it would obviously be far inferior to what Cecilia could do and deal with. By following her, he would only become an additional hindrance. He wasn't willing to become dead weight.

'Viktor, my grandson, I hope you are alright...'

He would never forgive himself if anything happened to his grandson.

"You seem eerily calm despite knowing your son might be in danger."

Cecilia smiled thinly, "Had it been a few weeks ago, I would have been worried sick right about now. But the current Adam is strong. I have faith that he can keep himself alive, at the very least."

He was also immortal. But this was something she couldn't exactly say now, could she?

Cecilia tightened her grip on her trusty staff, the sleeping form of her strongest weapon to date.

Her blood boiled as the situation once again reminded her of the events of the distant past. One of her darkest memories after the loss of her family. What most considered to be her origin was something that she desperately wished to forget but could never part with. The smell of charred flesh and agonizing soul-wrenching voices of the people being burned alive still haunted her in her sleep.

In her current situation, it was impossible to reproduce the feat she accomplished all those years ago. But...

'My heart is still strong.'

She could still do it. She had been training and increasing her reserves of Prana since her heart was not suppressing Adam's curse anymore.

The damages could not be healed and she had to be careful with her output.

Even then, it should be more than enough to handle anything the Supernatural could throw at her...

"Take this."

"Hmm?"

Makarov walked away and came back with a phone and a briefcase. An odd combination to give to someone who was about to go out to battle. So, Cecilia couldn't help but tilt her head and look at him with a quizzical expression.

"This phone has the coordinates of Viktor at all times. If he is still with Adam, it will be easy to find them and track them down."

Makarov went through too much shit to not have a way to locate his family in case of emergencies and this experience proved him to be right for thinking up such countermeasures.

"As for this..."

He looked down at the suitcase with a complicated expression.

"It's a state of the art [~S.K~] battlesuit."

------

While Cecilia was preparing herself for battle after a long long time...

Theresa was riding her bike at life-threatening levels of speed as she cruised through the LA traffic with Makoto standing on the helms of the bike behind her while holding a sword drenched in blood with cold unfeeling eyes.

"Makoto, are they all dead?"

"Yes. Please, stay on alert, master. We have a bunch of bastards to kill on the way."

"Understood, my protege..."

Theresa grinned visibly. The engine of the superbike growled before the vehicle accelerated further with blazing speeds that could kill normal people with the wind pressure alone as they zoomed toward the location of the Pacific Park.

The situation may be dangerous but as a hunter who swore to protect humanity and a survivor from the Cultists' rampages. It was her duty to fight.

And she would never shirk away from that...

------

[1]: One thing to note is that... In Christianity, the 'Circles of Hell' don't exist as there is only one true Hell. Now a funny Trivia is that-- Everyone knows the game Devil May Cry and the iconic characters Dante and Vergil. Well, the one who introduced the Idea of the Circles of Hell was an Italian poet called Dante Alighieri and his Poem tell of the tale of a man named Dante (Author self inserted) and his friend Virgil as they adventure through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven to find the dead lover of Dante (Protagonist of the story. Not Author). Devil May Cry took inspiration from the poem and we all can say that they did a very good job.