BLOODY LOVE'S
Episode 240's

O, ALPHA AND OMEGA

They entered the first circle. Jose listened carefully to the sound of the footsteps behind him. Stably. There is no doubt. Sir William was unsuspecting. They walked down the wide passageway leading to the vacant land opening beside the tax office, in front of the river.

"I don't want to cross." The sound of footsteps behind him stopped.

You can't, not won't, Jose commented inwardly. He twisted his body slightly as he spoke, "We don't cross over. Just standing in front of the river."

Sir William followed him. Jose quickly turned around again so as not to let go showing a relieved face.

The wind swept coldly as they walked down the dirt road beside the tax office. From a distance only faintly visible lights from a collection of narrow houses in the South. The caravan has been moved from the grass field. Jose is grateful that Rolan has moved so fast.

"Have you ever touched Maria?" Jose knew he should be quiet, but the question jumped up without being filtered.

Sir William chuckled. "That's what you're worried about?"

"Yes" said Jose. He could hear his voice rising. Calmness wanes. "Anything that makes Mary unsettled also bothers me."

"Why not calm? He seems to enjoy it."

Jose stopped and turned his legs back. He looked at the man carefully. Sir William stared back at him in the same challenge, a mocking smile scratched on those lips.

"That was a confession, sir?" ask Jose.

"Picture it that way. What difference?"

"Of course it makes a difference. I'll know how far you've loved Arabella. It'll let me know if you'll stay silent in the ritual later," Jose concocted curiously. His temples were throbbing due to the raging anger within him. He would not care too much if the problem as trivial as Maria had sex with other men before. But what happened was different, Maria admitted to being abused. Jose can't forgive the culprit. "I don't want to bet lives are for nothing."

The man advanced step by step with the anger growing clearer and clearer. His blue eyes were shining coldly. "Don't say much" he whispered. "I can kill you right here right now, Argent."

"Just do it, you're gonna waste the chance to meet Arabella sooner and easier."

Scales are equal. Jose knew he had managed to get their position within the same bargaining level. No one is stronger enough to intimidate others. It seemed that Sir William also knew his position, the man pulled away and snorted.

"I didn't touch Mary physically" she admitted. The blue iris turned darker. "As long as she's not Bella yet, I can't touch her."

Not physically? So it's just an illusion? Jose did not continue. Before losing even more time, he again walked towards the next circle, a transparent circle unseen by Sir William. A sacred water circle that combines two Bjork into one with a sacred river in the middle.

TETRAGRAMMATONS

Sir William stopped again. "What did you need? My necklace and my demons?"

Jose nodded without looking. His heart beat so fast that he was afraid Sir William could hear it. They are in the core circle. He should be careful. "I'll use your demonic powers to pull Arabella out of the waiting area."

"Can you use the power of demons?"

"Energy is neutral, sir. There is nothing good and nothing evil as long as it does not manifest in a form that has an ego." Jose got to the river. The sound of the gurgling currents filled the night. He turned to look directly at the blue eyes waiting for him. "It makes no difference whether I use demonic or angelic powers, all I need is energy."

"What are the people around us for?" Sir William asked amusedly.

Caught? Jose gulped, could feel the uneasiness of his people waiting in the dark in the South. "They are my assurances" he said slowly, trying not to sound alarmed. "If you don't get out of town as soon as Arabella gets back, they'll make sure no one gets anything out of our deal. You have to remember, even if I can give it back, Arabella's just a human."

The cold weather was blowing from the north towards them. The leaves in the forest touched, making a terrible whispering sound.

"You're threatening me, Argent?" sir William's voice sounded like it was coming from the crust of hell.

"I'm just reminding. I won't be here later anyway to make an appointment. Someone else has to do it for me. My offer is to give you Arabella as long as you want to leave and not touch this city again, or even this country. Accept it or not?"

Sir William nodded.

"Stand here, beside me." Jose pointed a few steps at his side, right at the riverbank. His fingertips trembled slightly, so he immediately clenched them again. The night was so cold and dark, but the stars and moon gave enough illumination. He could see Sir William's face clearly, saw the light of hope in his eyes, saw his golden-bright blond hair overwritten by the moonlight.

"Your necklace?" Jose held out a hand. Mimik menguka.

"Why do you need that necklace you shot?"

He was still angry, Jose thought. "It's not an ordinary necklace. It was the ring of King Solomon. You diluted it with another gold and made it into a necklace, but even if it was destroyed, its essence did not change. The necklace is still the right tool for evocation intermediaries. I shot him just to distract you" he said apologetically. Even so, Jose would not say an apology. He has no regrets at all.

Sir William closed his eyes and took a breath. Blackish particles that were like flakes of ash slithered out of his body, from his pores. Then the particles gathered in clumps of black clouds behind Sir William's back. The smell of blood coagulated in the air. Temperatures dropped well below zero degrees.

Jose has great goosebumps. His skull was like a giant centipede so he needed to wipe his neck to make sure there were no insects there. Am I caught? He's gonna attack me?

The scent of blood slowly mingled with the scent of charred fat, like the smell of a candle extinguished. Along with the smell, the deep darkness behind Sir William split in two in a sharp line, then from the gap appeared the terrible monster that Jose had seen before. But the shape is somewhat different.

The creature was four-headed now, each head facing towards four different wind eyes. The head of a horned goat, the head of an old snake, the head of a lion and the head of a horse. Although his head was an animal, his body was like a human. Fine white feathers grew adorning the creature's chest and arms.

The asmodeus? Jose boughtak saw that shape. Asmodeus is a demon who represents one of the seven great sins of man, lust. It is the devil who in Tobit's book is said to have killed seven of Sarah's husbands and was later exorcised by the angel Raphael. The shape is described as having many heads in some ancient manuscripts.

Should I burn a trout's heart? Jose racked his brain, regretting not preparing any antidote to the devil better. But this is a bad plan that was drafted suddenly, there is always a gap.

The demon heads were all wearing golden crowns. The burrows that flowed from the crevices of their mouths were black, the drops forming miserable-looking bald human heads, entangling wails of pain.

Waves of sickening energy pressed down on Jose, forcing him to turn his eyes away but at the same time also making his gaze sticky towards the demon, he said, towards the hundreds of small and large voices that denounced and shouted all his sins.

Sir William raised his hand toward the devil. The head of the snake swerved down and opened its mouth, spewing out a golden medallion into its palm. Sir William cleaned the dusky blackness there with his coat sleeve and gave it to Jose, who was still stunned to see the shape of the devil.

That form was so ancient, so primitive, staring at those striking yellow eyes made Jose feel like his soul was being pulled out. He even held his breath for a long time. I think they knew each other before. Something inside the creature felt familiar to him.

"Argent, I know this demon is very pretty, but we have other business to do, right?" Sir William flicked his finger in front of Jose's face.

Jose quickly regained consciousness. He turned his eyes quickly and received the gold necklace from Sir William's hand. Solomon's Ring Necklace. The necklace is in his hands now. He glanced back at the demon, whose inner half was still within a wisp of black particle fog. "You can ask him to come out? I need to see the full form."

"For what?"

"If he's still clinging to hell, it'll be hard to borrow his energy" Jose explained between his teeth.

Sir William looked suspicious, but it seemed that the man felt that nothing could hurt him even if the worst possibility appeared. He shook, making his demons come out of the smoke.

When the creature came out, its steps were accompanied by gruesome storms and squeals from where it came from. Jose covered his ears with both hands so as not to be deaf. Her hair was messed with by the wind. Wave after wave of horror hit him several times, making him almost fall to his knees.

The demon stood on two legs of a goat that had the soles of a tiger. His height almost equaled that of Sir William.

Jose lowered his hand slowly. His breath was hunting due to tension. He pointed the necklace at the creature then took a breath to calm down. His whisper was somewhat trembling at the beginning, "In the name of God who rules over beginning and end, heaven and earth and the rest of the world, I command you to. His eyes were staring around anxiously. He felt the air as thin. "To speak my language, to give me honest answers, and to answer all the questions I ask: what is your name?"

𝕋𝔼𝕋ℝ𝔸𝔾ℝ𝔸𝕄𝕄𝔸𝕋𝕆ℕ

The whisper echoed loudly as soon as Jose finished speaking. The echo of the voice just filled Bjork, leaving a cold impression on the nape. Sir William even looked back and forth, looking for the origin of a sound that sounded like a tree whisper.

𝔹𝔼𝕃𝕃𝔸𝕋𝕆ℝ

Jose smiled faintly, understanding that Bjork's mountain had helped him translate the prayer and relay it to the demon who was now staring fixedly at him. The demon finally stopped waving or let out a shriek of condemnation.

ℍ𝔸𝕃𝕃𝕀. ℍℝ𝔸!

Along with the disappearance of the last echo of the spell, the creature opened its four mouths and spoke simultaneously, "We are Shakranim, another form of Shakran."

Not Asmodeus, Jose was grateful he wasn't in a hurry. Using the wrong name can be dangerous. His eyes glanced at Sir William, finding the man buying in shock staring at his demon.

"He can talk?!"

"You never asked him to talk?" reply Jose wonder.

"Of course I asked him to talk, but he never answered!"

"You never commanded it in the name of God?" Jose guess.

Sir William looked at him for a long time with the eyes of the outcast, then shook his head. "Never."

As soon as the last sentence slid from his lips, a loud rumbling sound boomed in the sky and Sir William's entire body seemed to shatter into bits of titan. Jose boughtak shocked. "What a—" He stopped when he realized that Sir William had not broken apart. Black particles that looked like sand were slipping out from his body, moving noisily soaring up into the sky.

"What's going on?" Sir William screamed in shock at the murmuring of the black particles. He took a few steps back. "What are you doing?!"

"I didn't do anything!" exclaimed Jose horrified. The black sand was terrifying, it was like seeing hundreds of micro eyeballs. "Is this what happens when your demons come out of hell?"

"Of course not!" Sir William exclaimed furiously from amidst the crowd of black spots surrounding him like carrion flies. He swore, cursed and swore. "This happened too!"

Jose was glued to his place. Even the existence of Shakranim did not bother him now compared to this raging black fog. The black color soared into the sky Bjork. Something fell from the sky right beside Jose, making the man leap back in alarm.

Something like a skull wrapped in thin skin reminded Jose of the corpses of Krip and Higgins. The creature dragged and stretched its body, opened its jaws wide and shrieked loudly at Jose, sounding like a monkey.

The creature bends its head and leaps to attack. Jose kicked him into the river, which immediately washed him downstream. The creature also fell like rain all over Bjork, screeching and screaming like a monkey.

"Shakrani!" exclaim Jose. "What is this creature? What happened to Sir William?"

"They are sheledbolis" replied the demon with hundreds of voices piled up. "The skull of hell, the slave of Shakran the Great, protector to the chosen Solomonari. They're protecting Solomonari from harm."

Sir William stopped shaking his hands. His blue eyes looked at Jose sharply with piercing eyes when he realized the meaning of the black particle's grinding. "You ... tricked me, Argent?"

***

¬place of waiting: in Catholic doctrine there is such a thing as a place of waiting/limbo/api of purification/place of transition between the living and the uninhabited in hell or heaven.

¬shedbolis: combination of sheled: skull. Bolis: meteors.

¬In the book of Tobit, the angel Raphael disguised as Azariah the son of Ananias had Tobias burn the heart and heart of the trout to drive out Asmodeus who was haunting Sarah.