#hellsing dude

From the cover art, I see that this new Hellsing-like dude isn't finished with the demon.

He(llsing) says something to Modri then shoots the demon again.

This demon tries to either attack or simply distract (?) by sending out a snake "appendage", which generally dodges the arrows. Practically ignoring Modri's presence, they are now talking directly to each other.

What's shown here first is perhaps an idea of what reapers might look like. Either that, or he's talking more about someone else, perhaps the leader of their little cult.

Hellsing-dude gets in a really well-aimed shot to the demon's chest area, and the demon, now shot to pieces, starts to fall to the floor.

Possibly seeping through the floor, and the whole time, it is still talking.

Whatever Hellsing-dude says, it's not something the demon wants to hear, and it has somehow regained some of its humanoid form. The demon looks angry now? Notice that the eyes have returned to his face, but now they have switched! Now it's one eye on his right side... and the stacked eyes on his left, which looks more like the cover art that combines elements of this demon with Sebastian's features. 🤔

Whatever words were exchanged, the demon decides to slip down through the floor. Modri tries to reach and grab it, but he misses it. Honestly, if Modri had grabbed at that goop, he probably wouldn't have been able to hold onto it.

Modri seems upset that the demon did not hear Modri's wish to fulfill it, so he's crying and screaming again. Perhaps it's due to something else, but I'll have to see the translation to find out for sure.

Here, Hellsing-dude might be talking about how to dispose of these bodies -- Anna, her family, and the young doctor.

This page might be a conversation about faith, but I'm not sure. There is definitely a panel focused on a small crucifix carried by Hellsing-dude.

The scene changes to where Modri had lived with the master and family he served. Specifically to the wheat fields. But now there's a row of fresh graves in the foreground.

Hellsing-dude finds Modri sitting down and staring out at the fields and the graves, apparently dug by the dude... or maybe Modri's eyes are closed and he's just thinking. He's turned away from us, so no telling.

Hellsing-dude puts a hand on his shoulder while perhaps trying to give Modri words of comfort.

...at all the dead, warning Modri that if the locals found this scene, they would stake their hearts and cremate them all instead of giving them regular burials. Modri is particularly upset at the idea of cremation, since it was a very uncommon practice in Europe at the time. If we are to believe the outfits and such, this is late 18th century. When Modri says he cannot allow the villagers to burn the bodies, the guy warns that Modri would be burned as well. This suggests that no matter what Modri said, they would not trust him... so, they would kill him (possibly a stake through his heart) and add him to the pile of burning corpses (or they would restrain him somehow and just add him, making him burn alive). Strigoi is a Romanian term, and there are dead strigoi as well as living ones. The corpses there could supposedly become the former, while Modri would potentially be labeled as one of the latter (which is why he would also be killed and burned by the locals). The folklore about them gave Bram Stoker a lot of material to work with, but stories of strigoi are still common in Eastern European cultures.

The guy talks about souls devoured by demons. What he says matches quite well with what Sebastian tells our earl. Those souls are removed from existence. There's no way into Heaven because they cannot even be judged. He believes in the idea of "from dust to dust" (but apparently not "from ashes to ashes"? 🤔) and thinks burial is the only proper way to honor them. Then he offers to help dig graves.

Back on the estate of his former master, Modri sits near the wheat fields (still full of ripened wheat thanks to the one wish properly granted by the demon). There's now a row of fresh graves between him and those fields. The guy stands behind him, still holding the handle of a shovel. He comes forward, places a hand on his left shoulder, and gives him a stern warning to never again yield to the devil's temptations.

Next, the guy is leaving the estate, by foot. Soon, a carriage catches up to him, and the driver offers him a ride. The guy gladly accepts, but he's surprised when he asks the destination and turns to see the driver.

Modri is in the driver's seat. His eyes are wide open as he says "Rome". The guy gives him an odd look, but that's all we see of them or their communication until they reach Italy.

Major edit: Now they are in Venice, on their way to Rome, though we don't know how long it takes for them to get there. Nor do we know what happened to the carriage or horse. It's quite possible they either sold the horse and carriage or just paid to keep them looked after at some local stables.

They've apparently just taken a gondola to a particular section of town. These are the traditional gondolas of Venice, and that is the famous Rialto Bridge, which connects two districts at the most narrow spot along the Grand Canal. Here are images of it showing roughly what it looked like back then.

From the waterway, they take some steps up to a walkway along a stone building. By the time we see them again, they are already in Rome.

There are some minor questions here; idk if it's really all that important how or what or why, but I'd personally like to know how Modri decides to go to Rome. Sure, we learn pretty soon what's in Rome, but how on earth does Modri know to go there? Is it something they talk about earlier that we are just simply not privy to? Of course, I'd also like to know if this location where they disembark is anywhere in particular within Rome. I'll see if I can find any info on it. (Edit: I give what should be the obvious answer to the first question in part 4, and the not as obvious answer to the second question is now just above ⬆️ in this post.)

I'm still confused as to why this guy sounds like he isn't just speaking with a different accent or dialect but possibly a different language, and yet... Modri has no trouble understanding and communicating with him. The speech bubbles don't suggest anything other than English is being spoken here, and that just doesn't make any sense. Perhaps it's all being shown as "English" simply because that's the language Modri is using to recount the tale. Ok... but I still have questions about that. Like: How well do they communicate with each other way back when this is actually taking place? And: How is Modri's English so fluent now; where even is his Austro-Hungarian accent? I haven't noticed it. 🧐 🤨

He says "fire and brimstone" as if that's what the arrows are made of... or simply the fact he believes these arrows can send demons back to Hell.

The demon is definitely being pierced by the arrows, but they don't stop its ability to shapeshift and attack. It sends out a snake-shaped "appendage", which dodges several arrows but finally gets hit with one. Meanwhile, the demon just accuses this guy of having no manners. The guy responds as if the souls of mankind are "greasy meals", whereas he himself is fine with cheap wine and stale bread. He even tells the demon it can "shove them greasy meals of yours where the sun don't shine". 😆 But I don't think he's quite thought that through, since, within the context of what's actually happening, he's telling the demon to shove souls up its ass.

But the demon's complaint isn't all that reasonable, either. Sure, no one really wants their meal to be interrupted, but it claims it's waited "so long for this dinner". This demon just started fooling Anna (and Modri) into believing its deception, as well as tricking wishes out of Anna, within the past few days. That's nothing compared to the wait Sebastian is perfectly willing to endure for just one more course (real Ciel being the appetizer and our earl being the planned main course).

Then the demon realizes the guy must be from a group of "buffoonish" humans who think they can destroy devils/demons. Then it recalls the name of that group: the Roman Curia Exorcists. (I'll talk about that name after the six chapter pages included here.) (edited)

I'm wondering if there's a slight mistranslation here, since the guy says it's impressive that devils in the "boonies" would know about their group after more than a century. Wouldn't it be more impressive if they'd heard of this group in less than a century? Perhaps he means "little more than a hundred years", which would make more sense. I suppose he's then talking about cardinals who founded the group... and who must have died long ago, unable to receive this news.

The demon, speaking from the head of a wolf or dog, sarcastically praises the guy and all the others in his group for believing anything a demon says. It's possible the guy doesn't actually know where the idea came from. The founding members might have truly believed some demon that silver is a weakness for demons (like it's supposed to be for werewolves). The impulsivity suggests whatever demon gave humans that false info did so without thinking of the possible outcomes or consequences. Is it sure that's what happened? Why not a demon deliberately lying about demonic weaknesses, instead of just blurting it out on the spot? Idk. Either this demon knows the specific source and reason for this false info... or it's just making an assumption.

Anyway, it says those crossbows with silver arrows are mere "toys".

Major edit: I must have skipped a page when I was reading the English translation of my copy, so I forgot to screenshot it, as well. Here's what got left out earlier. The demon taunts this guy by calling him the "red sauce" (colloquial term for tomato ketchup) for its dinner, as what appears to be a single arrow flies toward it. This arrow pierces the demon squarely in what could be called its chest. At first, it's just offended by the interruption. But while complaining about said interruption, its goop starts to drip. Then there is an audible sizzle, as it's forming a crow shape while some kind of smoke or fume starts to rise.

Major edit continues: In the previous chapter, we see an eyeball pop off from the demon, due to an attack from that weapon. Back then, the demon says nothing about a lack of ability to restore its form. This latest arrow must be different; maybe it is not simply made of silver, or perhaps the tip has been dipped in something potent. Either way, the result is significantly different from before, and the demon acknowledges (but is very confused) that it's unable to restore its body. We see it try to form another animal shape (octopus) while that smoke keeps rising.

I suspect the Roman Curia Exorcists have discovered some compound or chemical reaction that is way beyond anything the demon expects this group to be capable of producing/using. I wonder what sort of chemical this is, why it's actually somewhat effective, and how it causes this slightly delayed reaction. 🤔 🧐 🤔 (Major edit concluded.)

The guy asks this demon if it's excited/"thrilled" by such "toys" then claims he will teach the demon a lesson to respect mankind and "God". The demon emphasizes there's nothing divine about the weapon being used against it. However, it doesn't want to deal with two humans right now, especially since the souls it has already devoured are filling enough. It then threatens to return later for "dessert" (Modri's soul).

So, it slinks away, right through the floor, while crassly thanking them "for the meal".

Modri doesn't want the demon to leave just yet. He is just about to wish for something when the exorcist dude shows up. We don't know what he was about to ask for. He also hasn't taken revenge on the demon for what it has done to Anna and the other victims.

Hearing this story, either Sebastian or John Brown could be the one who reacts with remembrance, acknowledgement... and a renewed desire to finally have that dessert. If either one is the demon from Modri's past. It could be neither of them, but for his story to be pertinent to the main story, it really should be someone in the room. I would personally love it if Sebastian still has no recollection of Modri or these accusations against him... while John Brown shows signs of increased interest in Modri and/or his tale. I keep imagining John Brown's whole demeanor changing, and possibly even his appearance changing slightly, as he snickers and says something like it being "dessert time, at last."

Regarding the Roman Curia Exorcists, this is loosely based on historical data. The Roman Curia is basically the highest level group of administrative institutions that serve various functions for the Catholic Church.

From a FB page called "MY CATHOLIC FAITH (Knowledge of the Faith)", I found a detailed post about the Roman Curia. (I originally had five screenshots from the FB page here, but I needed to add in a missing page from the chapter. For more information on the Roman Curia, please see that FB page or some other source of information on the subject.)

At the end of their FB post on this topic, there's a link for the source they used.