Chapter 58: Chapter 58 : Devil was heavily punishable
want to read ahead or want to support you can join my patr-eon and u will be able to read ahead by 15 chapters
patreon.com/Elsapataky
-----------
Griselda looked at everyone before her, "You have all trained non-stop for moments like these. You've grown, sweat, and bled alongside each other. So, I have full-confidence when I say that I believe you can take this on without any guidance. Get ready to gear up, and make sure to meet with Mr. Harcreutz on mission control by eleven. I trust you all, now go out there and make me proud."
As Vin cast a sweeping glance around the room, he saw the same steely, determined gaze twinkling in everyone's eyes. Just like the others, Vin realized a vital truth, this wasn't just a mission, this was an opportunity; an opportunity to prove that they weren't just some fledgling students, that he wasn't just some dead-weight to everyone around him, a damsel in need of saving every five minutes.
Sure, he still had hang-ups about killing those things… But at the same time, it was never a problem with it being done, just when it was done by his own hands. He didn't want that weighing on his conscience… Still, would that hesitancy to go for the fatal blow even matter when he was in a team like this? Surely, he could just knock them out, or restrain them with his Sacred Gear, and get his allies to finish them off… Yeah, that would work. He could find his balance of ethics and obligation as an exorcist.
Vin clenched his fist, Midas' Rings appearing on them in resonance with his mounting drive. As Vin's tongue tasted phantom flavors of all the dirt it ate over these past nine months, he only grew more and more ready… Ready to kick some ass.
Something that was a long-time coming.
"It's truly wonderful to see you all again!" Mr. Hercreutz called, as he approached the group of teens who had just emerged from the elevator, "I heard from Griselda before her dispatch this morning that you all will be operating without supervision on this trip. That's good to hear, all exorcists need to step out of their shells eventually."
Harcreutz then turned his attention to Vin, walking towards him, and opening his hand for a handshake, "And I want to extend a congratulations to you, son: it's not everyday when we get to bask in the direct company of a powerful angel. Just like I said in our first encounter, I've been looking forward to how you've grown over this last year, and I can say, you're making us all proud, son."
Vin flushed, gingerly accepting the handshake, "A-Ah, thanks for the compliment, sir."
"Haha!" Harcreutz barked a deep, bellowing laugh, "You need not thank me, boy! Just keep up the great work!"
Soon after handing over the mission report and keys to one of the vehicles to Jafar, the only licensed driver in the group, the workers of the Vatican wheeled out the four sealed Excalibur Fragments Nightmare, Destruction, Transparency, and Rapidly.
Wasting no time, the group got themselves ready, walking over to their transport vehicle for the mission, which instead of a city bus, was a standard, if slightly longer moving van. Rolling up the cargo door however, revealed that instead of a large empty space in the back, each side of the cabin walls were equipped with seats, not too dissimilar from those seen inside of troop transport planes from war movies.
Everyone hoisted themselves in, with Jafar taking the driver's seat, Ethan opting to sit next to him with the exuberant cry of 'Shotgun!'
After everyone was secured, and Jafar called in confirmation on the radio, the platform they were parked on began to rise into the ceiling, and not a moment later, the group pulled out of the hidden dispatch gate, and merged into the city streets effortlessly.
Honestly, the entire process of being dispatched reminded Vin a lot about the Batcave… Hm, maybe someone on the design team for the Vatican was a big Batman fan?
Once Jafar had maneuvered the van into a comfortable lane on the road, the GPS systems steering him towards the objective a few hours away, he quickly called off to the ginger beside him.
"Ethan, can you brief us on mission details?"
"Huh?" Ethan perked up, "Oh, yeah, sure. Alright everyone, listen up!"
"Our mission this time is another simple stray extermination mission. They seem to have held themselves up in…" Ethan looked at one of the provided polaroid pictures, "Oh shit, is that the old abandoned mall? Dude, I used to love going there when it was still open! I wonder if they still have anything left of the stores there?"
Patiently, Jafar scolded Ethan, "Focus."
"Right, right," Ethan caught himself, before continuing, "There seems to be a group of about fourteen strays, most seem to be weak, but there are two here that the Vatican has been able to match up to the stray directory, so we have identities for these ones."
Ah yes, the stray directory. One of the only bits of cross-species communication that the Devils and Church had with each other. Essentially, it was a database that would be updated with the names of devil criminals and run-aways, it's existence being shared with the church was mainly to quell any potential conflicts by giving exorcists a way to tell if a devil was alright to slay or not.
According to Griselda, supposedly violating the stray directory, and killing an innocent devil was heavily punishable, mainly by excommunication and revocation of a person's exorcist title, but there were so many loopholes that it pretty much seemed like exorcists could indiscriminately murder devils all they wanted.
For instance, if a devil stepped foot onto any form of holy ground, then they could be killed with no punishment whatsoever. And since the Vatican was a very holy spot, the radius around it stretched out for at least an hour by vehicle in any direction, hence why the few devils foolish enough to live in Italy chose to hide out a good few hours away from the Vatican.
-----------
want to read ahead or want to support you can join my patr-eon and u will be able to read ahead by 15 chapters
patreon.com/Elsapataky
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone