บท 77: Banana Republic VI
How do monsters travel internationally?
A question so readily answered by revealing both Silver and Kirthnaja's passport, stamped from places all over the world.
It was, however, made negligible by the fact that Silver was decapitated and Kirthnaja was in no shape to fly, seeing as his body was so broken that his regenerative ability could not possibly keep up.
While he was on the subject of the monsters, he had asked, quite forcefully, of Sibili to let him handle the disposal of Silver and Kirthnaja.
The demon was more than obliged to get rid of evidence without hassling it, but had been hesitant about killing the werewolf. Of course, its hesitation was defeated by its callous disregard for useless creatures, especially one that was on a rather large payroll.
Silver and her clan, adding in the escaped monsters, netted Irwin 242 credits. Most of which were thanks to their breed and Silver's origin.
Monstrosities were differentiated through the nature of their creation and their closeness to the mother of all monsters, Eve.
Unlike that of Type 2 monsters who were either born or infected by special means, thus, allowing them some leeway into transitioning between monster and human; Silver was created through a special curse and become what was known as a Strigoi, a breed of undead that gained the acknowledgement of Eve when their members arrived at Purgatory.
Their invisible nature and extreme lust for blood had been a strain in their relationship amongst the bloodsucking community, for much of their reputation stood on their assassination skills.
If not because they never intended to kill him, Irwin would have taken a serious injury before he could even defend himself from Silver.
Kirthnaja and his pack, meanwhile, had amounted to 118 credits, less than the Strigoi clan thanks to the fact that half of them were burned to cinders. In fact, Kirthnaja's skin was so scorched that the nerves underneath his skin were bare for all to see.
Seeing his Store Credits go from 3 to 363 credits delighted Irwin, feeling a sense of relief overcoming his body. He promised himself to waste no more credits by buying Consumables, only permanent items and ingredients from now on.
The demon, Sibili, had a passport, too, but, unfortunately, his vessel was so burnt that it had to find a new one. Of course, it had to be under the supervision of Irwin and Charlotte.
They took a trip to a Portland penitentiary and disguised themselves as federal agents to take out a heinous serial rapist, signing forged paperworks for state extradition. Although the prison warden had questioned the orders, all Irwin had to do was threaten to call the IRS about his lifestyle choices and the warden was more than glad to let the prisoner go.
Taking him back to the hotel, possessing his body, surreptitiously trading the burnt possessed vessel for seven credits, lying about trading the vessel, making fake ID's for the new possessed vessel, and driving down a private airfield west of Portland, took no more than sixteen hours.
They had already left the city before the local district attorney could even get ahold of the news and, even if she did, they were already astride a private jet plane, leaving the state and continental region.
Their destination? Hawaii.
In retrospect, Irwin didn't need to see their passports or anything, actually. Still, the fact that Sibili was more than willing to reveal their identification showed how confident it was in its organization and whomever it served.
Even If he could be tracked through whoever made the identification or through the addresses written within, Sibili didn't care.
In fact, he didn't even know who Sibili served and so he asked.
"What's that?" The muscular, dark-skinned bald man asked to repeat his question, chewing its cheeseburger with as much levity as one would expect of a pilgrim priest.
"Which Prince of Hell do you serve?" Irwin repeated his question, per the demon's request. "Also, would you like to share that burger with the class or you're just a selfish bitch?"
"I'm a selfish bitch." Sibili smirked, that looked devious in its muscular tattooed form, rather than mischievous in its previous vessel. "Well, as you migh'ta guessed, I serve Lord Dagon."
The name brought an undue relief to Irwin's heart, not out of complacency or safety, but out of sheer options for survivability. While it was true that she was a demon, one that preferred female vessels, and that her savage nature was second to none; her sadistic personality was not that grand, at least compared to her more perverted siblings.
According to what he knew from the television show and the information he gleaned from reading the ancient writings within the manor, Dagon preferred to dwell on her toys, boredom her own downfall; that and arrogance, one that came from being the very first of her master's creation.
Such arrogance allowed some maneuverability for Irwin as Dagon did neither hate nor love humans, merely regarding them as that of ants hidden in some corner of the room.
Although he knew it would be the most dangerous situation he could be in, a certain fire had lit up within Irwin's very essence. A weird emotion, one that he had deemed to be a by-product of his series of hunts.
He had, after all, always felt like he was a guest in this world; uninvited, gate-crashing, a guest whose sole purpose was to partake in the bounty of the feast with the host, absent both in spirit and in place, to be the only one who knew of his invitation.
It was not evident in the past, being that the only one who had a true inkling was Lady Anastasia, with the other people were only weirded out by his new persona.
He severed the thoughts, relaxing his head on the pillowy white thighs of Charlotte.
"You sure this isn't sexual harassment?" He asked. God knew how many of those he had seen when he was doing a corporate gig and how many were thrown off the court by settlements and intimidations.
Charlotte, hiding her blushing face from Irwin, nodded slowly. Her shaky breath came out indescribably sultry. "I-It's alright, sir. I w-would love it if you stayed like this for the entire flight."
Irwin smiled, inwardly sighing in exasperation. 'This damn spell is gonna make me sin!'
The flight thereafter went without a hitch, flying past the cloudy skies and migrating birds. The sun soon set as the moon came into view. So did a series of islands located in the middle of the Pacific ring of fire.
The sight of the tropical islands awed Irwin.
The blue ocean waves rushing against the rocky bluffs, sand crumbling under the feet of tourists and natives alike. The world seemed so far behind him that an aura of relaxation pervaded his form.
A series of red-hot volcanoes, seemingly mere moments away, spewing molten rocks, it's cindering cores, lay colorfully contrasting the vegetation around the island.
"That's it," Sibili pointed to the window on Irwin's side where a small nondescript island lay, east of the major set of islands. "The Isle of Corruption."
Rocky hills, a fairly large alcove bedecked with a couple of small yachts, a long yellow sand beach that extended into a sandbar which connects the main island to a secondary one, and a small runway on which the plane would be landing on.
"I don't see shi-oh, shit!"
It was as if the aircraft had hit some sort of invisible barrier, for the appearance of the island had changed so drastically that he doubted his eyes.
The rocky hills were replaced by a series of buildings forming a large compound made of fortified steel and enchanted rock, evident by the low purple glow and barely hidden sigil engraved on every wall in the compound.
The largest building in the compound was a seven story high pavilion that reminded him of a combination of east-Asian architecture, specially with the curved roof, bamboo roof tiles, and paper doors. He could even hear the faint echoes of wind chimes around the pavilion.
Following the hills, the alcove had been replaced, too, in its geography. The land had risen a few dozen feet up in the air, a bluff with a cliff-side so steep and smooth that he surmised it to be manmade.
Atop the bluff was a large stone structure, one that Irwin recognized to be a ritual stone circle. Used in large rituals that needed the cooperation of multiple witches with the rituals being, more often than not, to be summoning, teleportation, or sealing rituals.
The beach, once empty and serene, was now riddled with rather large tidepool hermit crabs and predatory native birds that seemed to co-exist within each other's geosphere, a curious sight to Irwin but not to his companion.
"Familiars." She said, noticing the questioning gaze on his face. "Witches can have multiple familiars, but can only control a handful of them at times. When they're not controlling the animals, they command them with a passive order before letting them roam around their abode. In this case, the entire island."
He whistled, impressed by the sheer versatility of some witch's spells. Before looking at her with a curious gaze. "Don't you have a familiar?"
"You… killed it, sir." She responded with a bashful smile.
"Oh!" He scratched the back of his head. "Well, I'll try to give you one again. They're pretty strong, after all."
The runway was just a perfectly normal yet small runway.
"Enough yack, let's go! Master ain't the type to wait." Sibili hurried them out of the plane as he exited the aircraft.
The moment he did, he came upon a retinue of demons awaiting him at the edge of the aircraft. Emitting sulphuric odor amidst a cast of jet-black eyes, the servants of Dagon watched as they disembarked their aerial vehicle.
"Welcome, Vulpine Witch." A demon walked forward, greeting him with a slight bowl as if to convey that it was inferior to Irwin. "And you're… companion, it seems. Welcome to Insula Corruptionis!"
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