The Hunter of Chaldea

Chapter 9

Ritsuka swung the Saw Cleaver down the beast's head, cleaving it from the head down in a vertical lines that sprout crimson geysers of tainted blood in the air. It was a silent swing that felled the beast before it can let out its guttural roar

Clutching the hilt, the Hunter ripped out his weapon from its tattered flesh. He watched as the bloody corpse fell down the pavement, and turned toward the church in the distance, where the toiling bell echoed across Yharnam with its resounding ring.

The Cathedral Ward's gothic beauty shone through the curtain of the setting sun, like a blood gem amidst a sea of solidarity. The silence permeated the area as he walked passed the rusted gate adorned with decorative pattern, its hinge creaking slightly in the desolate wind of Yharnam, as dead as the people inside them

Just an hour ago, Ritsuka Fujimaru had the weirdest encounter of his life

___________

Boom. The wood exploded , sending shattered splinters flying in the air

The bullet from his pistol bounced off the cobblestone inches from their target's head, unsuccessfully wiping the calm smile from his face

"Welcome to Oedon Chapel, good Hunter. How may I help you?"

"..."

Gratingly calm laughter reached his ears. Ritsuka lowered his firearm in silent wariness. The man in front of him didn't look fazed from the warning shot. Just who is he?

The priest only chuckled more to his lackluster response. His cassock swayed with the man's gentle laughter, yet in his eyes remain the spark of chilling interest. The Hunter's grip on his weapon tightened, eyes shining with a calculating look

"Who are you?" The Saw Cleaver gleamed under the moonlight as it neared his throat. His whisper naught as quiet as the movement of his blade, as the tiniest drop of blood trailed down the priest's neck

In spite of that, the man's gaze persist on his cerulean blue eyes

Ritsuka has never met this man before. Yet still, a strange sensation rose up inside as he gazed at the unassuming priest. It was as though his instinct is telling him to not trust this individual in front of him-- The same instinct that prevented him from believing a certain spider in his first cycle

"I'm just a mere priest of thus humble abode. You may call me Kotomine Kirei"

He rifled through his mind for the name. Finding nothing, the Hunter's eyes narrowed. With the presence of Yhanamites being replaced by people he know in Chaldea, where does this priest fit in?

He looked around for the Oedon Chapel Dweller. The shy pastor can be find sitting near the door where the incense congregate, but tonight there is only an empty patch where he used to lie, as if he has never been there

Of course she is not there. What is lost can never be found, but what is found is not something he has lost. Kirei Kotomine is a strange entity that exist independently of his own mind, wherea the Dweller has been a part of his journey since his first nigjt

"Are you a member of the Healing Church?"

"Sadly, no" Kirei mumbled "I am but a priest from a foreign land, worshipping a foreign god, tasked with the supervision of this run down abode by my superiors from above"

"If you are looking for the previous dweller, she has been sadly...indisposed. Fortunately I am here to do the work in her stead"

A short pause stretched out between them. Neither need to mention the Old Blood to know what kind of ailment had befallen her