Enjoy reading, rejoice and...
See you all on next time again
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(...Continuing)
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[Friday, Old School Building, Occult Research Club Room, 5pm]
Inside the room, everyone was gathered as they prepared to leave.
Micael was sitting on the couch, leaning forward on his knees, waiting for Rias along with the others.
She soon appeared, stepping out from one of the doors.
"Well, I think that's it, folks. Time to go." Rias stopped near the desk with one hand on her hip.
"Where exactly is the location?" Micael asked Rias.
"From the information I received, he was last seen a bit outside Kuoh City, so it's a little far."
Nodding, Micael got up from the couch. "Then let's go."
The others followed his lead and moved to the corner of the room.
Stopping beside him, Rias immediately activated the magic circle.
Soon, all of them—Micael, Rias, Akeno, Kiba, Koneko, and Issei—vanished from the ORC room and reappeared in a forest.
The reason they'd come here was because Rias had received another request from a fellow noble to deal with a Stray Devil.
Apparently, this particular Stray Devil had already claimed several victims among humans in other countries. The noble hunting it had found its last trace near Kuoh City, and since that area was Rias's territory, he asked her and her peerage to locate and eliminate it.
The devil was supposedly strong, but nothing Rias and the others couldn't handle—at least, according to the noble. So, accepting the request, they were all now here.
Looking around, all Micael could see were trees—trees and more trees. The high canopies blocked out part of the sunlight, casting shadows across the ground.
"Looks like the perfect place for a murderous monster to hide," he commented as he took one hand out of his pocket. He also figured that if this devil stuck around long enough to start making victims here, he'd probably end up as some kind of urban legend.
"Yeah. Thankfully, he hasn't made many victims yet," Rias said while scanning the area as well.
Glancing over at her, Micael noticed she was wearing shorts under her skirt. And she wasn't the only one—Koneko and Akeno were, too.
While he himself wore casual clothes—a black T-shirt and black knee-length shorts—they were still in their school uniforms. The reason they wore those shorts? Him.
Since there was a high chance they'd be getting into a physical fight with the Stray Devil, it made more sense for them to wear something underneath rather than relying solely on that censorship magic. So he had suggested the shorts—well, he suggested it to Akeno and Koneko. With Rias, it wasn't exactly a suggestion.
When he brought it up to her, she just laughed and said he was being a possessive, controlling boyfriend. And he gave the most obvious answer to that.
Yes. That's exactly what he was being while telling her to wear the shorts.
Naturally, it was just a joke between the two of them. What Micael had said was something she would've done anyway, even without him mentioning it.
Shifting his gaze away, Micael activated the aura vision of the All-Seeing God Eyes, his eyes scanning the area for anything—but nothing. He couldn't see any unknown auras nearby.
"What's the plan, Rias?" he asked as his eyes returned to normal.
"It's actually simple. He was described as being completely feral. We just have to get close enough and he'll come to us." She was also trying to sense demonic presence nearby but was equally unsuccessful.
Rias then started walking in a random direction. "Let's go."
Naturally, they followed close behind.
Walking silently through the trees, the atmosphere was quiet. Step after step, they waited patiently.
But among them, Issei wasn't quite so calm. After walking in complete silence for a few short minutes, his initial tension slowly turned into boredom, which led him to strike up a conversation.
"So Buchou, what are we—"
"RAAAAAGGGGRRRHHH!!!"
A guttural scream mixed with an animalistic roar echoed in the distance, cutting off Issei and making them all stop.
Looking toward the direction the roar had come from, Rias spoke. "Get ready."
While the others moved into position, Micael reactivated his aura vision, looking toward the source. He saw a dark crimson, almost black aura approaching fast. Actually—way too fast.
Clang!
Reacting quickly, Kiba intercepted the devil with a drawn sword, blocking the swipe of its claws.
"RAAAHHHGGRRRHHH!!!"
The devil roared again in response, and Micael finally got a good look at it. It was pretty much the textbook definition of what most people imagined a devil to be—tall and skinny, with sickly pale skin and fur covering its neck and groin. Its hands and feet were pitch black, claws extending like long daggers.
It also had black horns curving from its forehead, long black hair, shark-like teeth, and sclera as dark as ink with blood-red irises.
A proper devil, so to speak. All that was missing was the arrow-tipped tail to complete the image.
Though the devil looked enraged at being intercepted by Kiba, it didn't have time to follow up with another strike—because using Kiba as a distraction, Koneko snuck in and punched it.
"Hey."
Thud!
With the hit landing from the side, the devil flew like a rag doll, crashing through several trees in the process.
Hitting a tree back-first, it quickly stood up, seemingly unfazed.
"GRAAGGHH—"
Then came a bolt of lightning from Akeno, cutting off its scream and slamming it back against the tree.
Micael watched it all unfold, his eyes now enhanced with Emperor Eye. So far, it looked like he wouldn't need to step in.
Calmly eyeing the dazed devil, Rias told Issei, "You won't be fighting this time, Issei. He's way too strong for you. Just observe."
Issei, who had already summoned his Sacred Gear, paused for a moment. Then he nodded, his expression unchanged—though internally, he was sighing in relief. That devil was clearly on another level.
Kiba and Koneko then launched into coordinated attacks against the devil, with Akeno occasionally firing bolts of lightning from above. Slowly but surely, the devil was getting beaten down, unable to properly retaliate or defend himself—he was basically getting stomped.
He let out growls of rage as injuries piled up. Eventually, his strength seemed to fade with each strike he took.
Until it didn't.
In a sudden burst of power and speed, he dodged one of Kiba's attacks and slashed him diagonally with his claws. Thankfully, Kiba managed to raise his sword just in time to block most of it, though his side was still partially cut.
Kiba was flung back with force. The devil then ignored Akeno's next lightning bolt—which didn't seem to affect him anymore—and went straight for Koneko. She raised a defensive cross-arm block, but still got slashed and thrown away with a backhand swipe.
Dodging a stronger lightning strike that nearly hit his head, the devil blurred out of sight, rushing straight at Rias.
"Rias!" Akeno only had time to shout a warning—she couldn't keep up with that speed.
Rias, who had been watching everything unfold in the span of two seconds, barely had time to blink before the devil was in front of her, claws extended to pierce her.
In her eyes, she saw the reflection of the devil—now with blood-red skin—as his claws inched closer to her chest.
Her pupils shrank as awareness kicked in, and she instinctively raised her arms to shield herself.
But that wasn't necessary.
Appearing in front of her in an instant, Micael—with Demon Back and Removal already active—raised his arm, preparing a punch.
With his skin a deep crimson, veins bulging and sclera dark, he also activated Tekkai. The veins around his eyes popped as he let himself be struck.
The claws hit him, but barely pierced the surface, stopping at his muscles. And he didn't waste any time.
His fist lit up with a purple aura laced with yellow sparks as he punched the devil in the chest—Offensive Shaori, combined with Ripple energy.
Thud!
A sound like a massive explosion rang out with a shockwave. Blood immediately gushed from the devil's mouth—but he ignored the wound and went for a counterattack.
He didn't get the chance.
Rias, swinging her leg just past Micael, kicked the devil hard, sending him flying again.
And right after the kick, with the devil still airborne, Rias raised her hand next to Micael. Dark red energy pulsed in her palm before erupting like a flamethrower.
The devil was engulfed in the blast and thrown even further away.
Lowering her hand with a furrowed brow, Rias looked toward where he'd landed. The ground had been torn up, trees blasted with holes—like someone had just erased entire chunks of the forest.
Koneko, Kiba, and Akeno quickly regrouped around her. Issei stood further back, tense. Micael remained by her side.
"...Is he dead?" Issei finally broke the silence.
And as if to answer him, a monstrous roar echoed.
"ROOOOOOAAARRRR!!!"
Issei winced. "Never mind."
From their view, the devil slowly emerged from the wreckage and dust. His body was partially evaporated, missing his right foot and arm, crouched down...
But the biggest difference? His body now emitted red energy. His skin turned into a glowing scarlet hue as his limbs began to regenerate.
And then came the pressure—not bloodlust, but raw demonic energy, growing rapidly.
Even Micael—who wasn't sensitive to demonic power—could tell.
He was getting stronger.
And fast.
"Holy shit…" Issei was sweating cold with the demonic energy saturating the air.
"Buchou, he's powering up really fast," Kiba muttered.
"Rias," Micael said, glancing sideways at her.
Rias, who was calmly watching the transformed devil, met his eyes as she replied. "Don't worry. I already called her."
And as if on cue, a silver magic circle appeared beneath them.
Grayfia emerged in the center, her calm gaze instantly locking onto the devil's location.
And at that exact moment, the devil roared again.
"ROOOOOAAAARRR!!!"
They watched as he stood up—completely healed, his crimson skin glowing, energy leaking from his body like steam, and from cracks in his skin.
Then—he vanished.
His claws stopped mere inches from Rias's face. The girl could only stare, stunned, at Grayfia's back as she held the claws calmly.
Her other hand moved—disappearing and reappearing against his chest. The resulting strike blew out his back, launching him once again.
The devil's arm still in Grayfia's grip froze in an instant, then exploded into crystalline dust. The woman vanished and reappeared behind him, hand pressed against his back.
The devil exploded into pieces—but it didn't stop there. The chunks froze mid-air before disintegrating into tiny, crystalline particles.
And with that, the Stray Devil was dead.
The others just stared, each with a different emotion. Rias, Akeno, Koneko, and Kiba had a rough idea of Grayfia's strength, so it didn't surprise them much.
But Issei was left completely stunned by that display of absolute power, while Micael was quietly impressed. The sheer casualness with which she handled the situation was… something.
'I couldn't see anything.' Even with Emperor Eye active, Micael hadn't been able to track a single movement—neither from the devil nor from Grayfia.
Grayfia then turned toward them, about to speak—when she paused.
A barrier had suddenly appeared around them.
Looking at the purple shield covered in magical circles and unknown runes, Grayfia raised her hand and fired a beam of silver energy.
The attack hit—but didn't do a thing. For the first time, Grayfia's calm expression faltered. Her brow furrowed slightly as she stared at the barrier.
'A trap?' Her experienced mind already piecing things together. She blinked, ran through possibilities, and focused on the barrier—and Micael's family's protections.
She felt… nothing. Unable to pinpoint what was going on. And she came to one immediate conclusion.
"Your family is being attacked," she announced calmly, looking straight at Micael.
What she didn't know was that Micael had already realized it—because the memories of his clone had suddenly returned, signaling it had been killed.
"I know already," Micael replied, eyes turning toward the city, his clone's final memories flashing in his mind.
"Can you break the barrier?" he asked calmly, eyes flicking back to Grayfia—his expression unreadable.
"Yes," she answered simply, raising her hand and resuming her attacks on the same point in the barrier.
With everyone now worried after the sudden reveal, Rias looked the most anxious as she glanced at Micael. She opened her mouth to say something but couldn't. In the end, she just held his hand in silent support.
Micael only squeezed her hand back, not looking at her, then walked up to Grayfia.
Her attacks kept striking the same spot, seemingly to no effect—until, after several long seconds, cracks began to appear.
The cracks slowly spread until, moments later, the barrier finally shattered—releasing them.
Now that they were close to Grayfia, they simply waited for her to teleport them.
But surprisingly, her brow furrowed again. She answered the unasked question immediately.
"I can't teleport. Something's blocking the magic—like a signal interference."
"Mi—" Rias began, still worried, but barely got his name out before his hand slipped from hers as Micael suddenly bolted.
Shooosh!
A blast of wind whipped their clothes as they all watched, stunned, as Micael vanished into the distance.
Micael ran with everything he had, pale blue sparks of electricity flashing from his eyes as he used Thunder Breathing, veins bulging wildly around his face from the strain.
The city appeared through the trees, and he reached it in the next instant—completely ignoring people and cars as his blurred form blitzed through everything.
All anyone saw was an unrecognizable blur followed by a wind blast that knocked people over, cars tipping, windows shattering everywhere.
Luckily, Micael still took care not to accidentally kill anyone—though many were seriously injured. As he ran, a sonic boom echoed above him—and an even faster blur soared overhead.
With her wings out, Grayfia sliced through the sky, creating back-to-back sonic booms as she pushed her limits.
Naturally, she understood Micael's intent the moment she couldn't teleport—so she took flight a second after he dashed off.
At her current speed, it would take at least thirty seconds for her to reach Micael's home.
And following behind, also flying at top speed, were Rias and the others—clearly much slower than the two ahead. Like Grayfia, they used magic to remain hidden from human eyes.
All of them moved as fast as possible toward Micael's house.
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(Continue...)