webnovel

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[OBSERVATION: I TRIED TO WRITE THE CHAPTER IN 1st PERSON. PLEASE SAY IF IT LOOKS BETTER LIKE THIS OR IN 3rd PERSON AS BEFORE.]

[OBSERVATION 2: I TRIED TO ALSO PUT SOME PARTS REFERRING TO NERO IN 3rd PERSON TO GIVE YOU THE IDEA OF HOW IT WAS AND USED THE BIGGER FOCUS ON 1ST PERSON TO SHOW THE OPTION.]

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Meanwhile, outside the dojo, there were two young people, a teenager close to adulthood and a child yet to enter adolescence.

"Leonardo, why do you keep following me?"

"I have nowhere to go." Leonardo watch me expectantly.

"Where are your parents? Weren't they with the kidnapped people?" Nero initially gets confused, but the expression changes to a serious one after realizing the problem.

I start to feel a little guilty for not having sought out the condition of the boy or his family in the entire time. I treated him as an independent adult just because he owns one of the 13 Longinus, but he is just a normal child who has recently awakened a power capable of killing gods.

"I don't know." He looks sadly at the floor. "I just remember seeing an accident in front of me and I ended up here somehow."

I kneel down to be on the same level as the boy keeping a comfortable environment for him.

"Leonardo, can't you remember anything else?"

The human boy is thoughtful trying to remember what happened until he suddenly puts both hands on his head.

"Ahhhh" He falls to his knees while screaming in pain for a few minutes.

When he stops screaming I approach trying to comfort him. I pat him on the back to make him feel my support and presence.

"What happened?" I ask afraid of another incident.

"I-I remembered a little bit of what happened, the accident was a little scary. When the car crashed a strange person approached the window and dragged me out while I was losing consciousness." Leonardo hugs himself as he sits in a retracted position.

'A strange person dragged him out of the car. It could well have been the stray devil that was creating problems in this region. But he didn't say anything about his parents, are they still... alive?' Nero analyzes, but keep his initial conclusions to themselves.

"Leonardo, can you tell me where you were going?" I give a kind smile to comfort him.

"To a nearby city. My father recently received a business proposal there, so we made a vacation trip in family. The way to the city needed to go through the city we are in." The young boy remembers his father celebrating with his mom about big deal. When he think about his missing family he start to cry again, not in physical pain but sadness.

"Hey, no need to cry, your favorite devil is here." Nero notes the geographical incongruity between this region of small cities they are now from any big bussiness, but he is busy consoling the boy who has the power to create monsters capable of destroying nations if his emotions get too unstable and the situation is not favorable.

This is very strange. I think there is something odd about this proposal.

"Leonardo, do you know what your father's business was?"

"My father works at a cell phone company. I think he came to make a deal with a factory to produce some parts for his company."

"Oh, I see." Nero forces a smile seeing that the situation is more suspicious.

Damn, I know cell phones are very useful, but currently they are not widespread as I learned from the short time I spend here in human world. How the hell would a city in the middle of nowhere in China produce these pieces in the middle of 2003.

"Hey Leonardo, as for your power to create monsters. When was the first time you used it?"

"Ahhh, I think a few months ago. I must have created one of them by accident, but at the time I was scared of him thinking he was coming after me." Leonardo tries to remember and blushes a little remembering the embarrassing incident.

"Well I don't know how to say this, but your parents..." Nero was reluctant to continue seeing the boy's hopeful expression.

"Are they okay?" Leonardo looked at the devil in front of him.

"This bussiness of your father's is probably related to the awakening of your sacred gear. Somehow the stray devil that was hiding in this region discovered your existence and lured you here using your father's work. As he was capable of possessing people he certainly planned to possess you since you have one of the most powerful Longinus among the 13 known."

"It's my fault... it's all my fault. I killed my parents." Leonardo starts screaming and crying falling to his knees.

I close the distance between us and reach out my hand, but the sight of a panicked child reminds me of my younger brother Vali pleading for help in childhood with no one to help him. I gather my courage and hug the boy to comfort him as he cries.

"It's okay Leonardo, it's not your fault." I pat him on the back as I hug him and he cries into my shoulder.

After a few minutes the little boy calmed down, seeing that he was stable and wanted to say something by the expression on his face, Nero gestured for him to proceed.

"Can I go with you or not?" Leonardo asks after calming down.

"I'm a devil and you want to travel with me? Leonardo, I didn't expect you to want to come to hell so much." Nero smiles mischievously as he teases the boy. "Hell is not a nice place for humans, shouldn't little boys your age want to go to the realm of angels?"

"But I only know you. How am I supposed to ask angels for help if I only know one devil." Leonardo speaks frustrated with Nero and scared with the idea of going to hell.

"I recommend praying people say it's very useful to communicate with them." Nero's smile gets even bigger teasing the boy. The most surprising thing is that the boy actually knelt down on the ground and began to pray.

"... .Please my lord allow one of your angels to help me and get rid of this evil devil. Amen." Leonardo speaks the last part out loud which results in Nero get a little uncomfortable in the amen.

"By the way, your way of thinking about devils based on books is preconception and racism, the bad guys in my race are usually the stray devils or my grandfather's allies. Who said I had to be evil to be a member of my race. There are also angels who sinned, where do you think the current fallen angels came from?"

"But didn't the angels who sinned become devils?" Leonardo asks confused. "Wait your grandfather is evil, who is he?"

"Nah, only the first angel turned into a devil when trying to rebel against his father, he was accompanied by Lilith and created the race of devils. The rest of angels who sinned became fallen angels, so the becoming devil punishment was exclusive. By the way I'm a descendant of Lucifer, my grandfather is the son of the biblic Lucifer. Tell me little boy still want to come to hell?" Nero smirks.

What Nero didn't expect was to receive a kick in his leg from an angry young man. The kick wasn't hard enough to break anything, but it certainly made him uncomfortable.

"Stop kidding, if an idiot like you is a devil I doubt hell is really as bad as described in books."

"Hey, there was no need to attack my body and my dignity." Nero's mocks feigning pain in the chest.

"I am sorry." Leonardo quickly apologizes confused and ashamed of his impulsivity in hurting his only option. However, Nero's next reaction surprises him, instead of calming down upon receiving the apology, he simply completely changes his reaction from his serious face to a happy smile.

"No need to worry Leo, I'm not hurt at all. It was just a joke." He gives a thumbs up.

"Leo?" Leonardo is surprised by the sudden change in the devil's demeanor.

"Your name is Leonardo, so calling you Leo makes things quicker. Ahh, I forgot to ask, can I call you Leo?" Nero scratches the back of his head.

"It's okay." Leonardo sighs in relief. "So, where do I go now?"

"Hey Leo. I have an idea, how about coming with me?" Nero shamelessly suggests that the boy accompany him as if it were his idea.

"Good idea, I have nothing better to do so why not. It's not like the idea was suggested by someone else. " The boy roll his eyes and is listless as he follows Nero. "Where exactly are we going?"

"We're going to meet my pal Siddhartha, a really nice guy among gods." Nero speak with a smile.

"Are you talking about Siddhartha as in Siddhartha Gautama the Buddha?" Leonardo is shocked at how casually Nero introduced one of the main gods of Buddhism.

"Yep. The first, but not only after all there are many Buddhas. But Siddhartha is the only one that is well know by the tittle instead of having another designation."

"How do you know Buddha? Shouldn't he eliminate you since you're a devil?"

"By no means, he's one of the one cool people I've ever met, he does what he wants when he wants." Nero's smile does not give any confidence to Leonardo who hears the devil's final murmur "Even if he's hiding something about someone who looks like me."

I fall silent, which makes our trip fall into an uncomfortable silence that is soon broken by the boy.

"Hey Nero, can you help me find my parents after this?"

"Sure, but remember that they are probably dead. Don't create too many expectations, at least they won't be frustrated regardless of the result." Nero stops walking and puts a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"I also believe they are dead, but I want to confirm it by myself." Leonardo stands firm.

"When we arrive I will ask Buddha to help you with this." Then the devil guides the child towards the buddhist god location.

"Are we going to walk the whole way?" Leonardo asks panting already tired of walking.

"I forgot you have the stamina of a normal human."

"You're a devil, can't you teleport us directly to the location? How did you get here?"

"Oh, yes I can teleport us, but I need to learn teleportation magic first. I came here being teleported by Buddha directly to the surroundings of this area." I smiled embarrassed by the situation.

"Are you serious?" Leonardo looks incredulous.

"Then I decided that we're going to take a bus to the place, it's going to be a few days before we get there." Nero scratches his neck as he guides Leonardo to where they will pick up the vehicle to the location.

"But what about the money?" Leonardo asks.

"Buddha gave me some money for this kind of situation." Nero looks in his pocket and sees some notes that according to his brief experience are not worth much. "It seems that he really follows his own teachings. Not getting attached to material goods sucks."

"So how are we going to get there with this?" Leonardo take the money I was counting seeing that it is worth almost nothing because it is an old currency completely in disuse.

"Don't worry my dear Leo, I have a plan."

"Does it involve not paying for our travel tickets?"

"Yes, remember the trick I did to erase the memories of the village people? It should work with the bus workers, at least I hope it does."

"Me too."

So the two of us continued on our journey.