Chapter 38: The Last Goodbye to the Normal "Me"
Author's Note: For those interested, there are now three advanced chapters (we're on chapter 41) on P-atreon, which you can read for just $3.
And I just opened a couple of polls about what will happen in the future of this story.
Also, I published the sixth chapter of my new story: "Tales of Saiyans, Demons and Gods".
For now I'm prioritizing the multiversal chat story, so the TOSDAG updates won't be as frequent as this one, still, if you can, please go to my profile and check it out, and if you're interested you can see another 3 chapters on my P-atreon, it only costs $3.
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Third Person P.O.V
Diodora Astaroth was excited and in a radiant mood, and that was no surprise, every time she managed to add a brilliant jewel to his collection she felt nothing but joy.
But even comparing it to other times when he laid his hands on those innocent ladies, today's excitement was 100 times greater, after all, if the previous ones had been shiny pearls, this time, he would obtain what he was sure would be the jewel of the crown in his collection.
Asia Argento, a young nun excommunicated for healing him, rejected and belittled by everyone, fallen from grace and murdered by a group of fallen angels, only to be resurrected and saved by the same devil she saved in her infinite compassion and kindness, was there a better love story than that?
It was obvious not, but unfortunately, this was not a love story, no, Diodora himself had planned her expulsion from the church, and he would always be grateful to that pack of selfish hypocrites for collaborating with him.
In the same way that he would be grateful to the fallen angels for taking the Sacred Gear from the innocent girl, giving her even more traumas, traumas that would serve to make her yearn even more for the salvation she would obtain from him.
And only after letting her taste a little of it, it would be completely taken away from her.
Diodora could already imagine her face, flushed, moaning with pleasure and sadness, crying with the voice one would expect to hear only from a prostitute as he offered her both pain and pleasure.
He would enjoy breaking her both physically and mentally until she reached the point where he could play with her body in front of a church or religious image, and she could only beg for more.
How beautiful it would be when she-!
Diodora stopped his thoughts with a bit of annoyance as he placed a hand over his mouth to hide and stop his smile.
No, he couldn't let his imagination run wild like that, if he did then he couldn't stop smiling even in front of the wretched black feathered beings, and his pants would feel too tight for his liking.
Taking a few deep breaths he retrieved his mask and continued walking through the small forest, ready to claim his prize.
"They should be around here." He said, when in the distance, he saw something emitting a glow, similar to a small flare, so he quickly approached.
And a little more than a couple of minutes later, he saw her, lying on a blanket on the floor, with her hands clasped over her torso, with her eyes closed and with a peaceful expression, as if she were sleeping.
"Ah." Diodora couldn't help but let out a happy sound as his cheeks turned red from his joy, although this blush dissipated when he looked up and saw the fallen angel he had made the deal with.
"I assume you are Raynare, right?" He asked looking at the vulgarly dressed black-haired woman.
"The only one," she responded with a proud smile. "And here is what you ordered, a fresh and still warm nun." She introduced, pointing at the lifeless blonde.
"Marvelous." Diodora nodded. "My name is Diodora, and I assume there were no problems with the resident devils, were there?" He asked, after all, he wanted to know if something bad had happened to any heiress, that way he could go to their houses to offer his condolences after secretly laughing at their families.
"Nothing important," she replied, and Diodora felt a hint of disappointment. "But there was a minor problem with one of the exorcists who was watching her." She added, which caught the devil's attention.
Diodora's frown deepened. "What happened?" He asked with a dark tone.
"Wait here." Raynare said, turning around, walking towards a tree a dozen meters away, and taking a gagged human with his hands tied behind his back.
"This idiot," she said pushing him until he was kneeling on the ground. "He talked to her, and it seems that your prize convinced him to try to help her escape from us, obviously we captured them shortly after they left the room where she was locked up, I thought you would want to deal with him personally"
Diodora's gaze turned murderous, and in a single movement, his foot crashed into the human's face, who fell to the ground bleeding from a cut on his forehead.
"You miserable trash, do you know whose things you were trying to take? I am the heir of the Astaroth clan, a high-class devil! And you, filth, tried to put your hands on what is mine?!" Diodora screamed as saliva shot out of his mouth with each word, he had lost all composure, the thought that someone else, anyone, could touch Asia, made his blood boil.
"Why?" The human managed to say, with the kick received the cloth around his mouth moved enough to let him speak, so he was able to ask the question. "Why did you do this to Asia? She never hurt anyone, why?" He asked, looking directly into the devil's eyes.
"Did she never do anything to anyone?" Diodora asked mockingly, advancing and placing the sole of his shoe on the human's temple. "Of course I know, that's why he loved her so much." He said, letting out a short laugh, at that moment, a funny idea came to his mind, just killing this wretch would not please him, so he would kill him only after desperation enveloped him.
"Do you know why she was expelled from the church?" He asked laughing a little. "It was incredibly difficult, hurting myself and getting to her to heal me, bribing high officials to get her expelled from the church, making everything fit to the millimeter, it was a real hassle, but of course, my little Asia was worth it"
Diodora saw how the human's eyes widened in horror, making him even more excited, could it be that Asia would have that same devastated look on her face when he told her the truth? He had to push him more, just a little more, to make up for this cockroach's offense.
"And not only that, I contacted one of the leaders of the fallen rebel faction to have her Sacred Gear taken away from her, killing her in the process, it was so easy, now she has what she wanted." He said, pointing to Raynare who waved her hand greeting the human.
"And I will get a new favorite slave, because with this," he said, removing her foot from the human's face, taking a step back, and taking a chess piece out of his pocket. "Asia will be by my side, forever." Diodora's voice seemed almost melodic in the last part.
"So you, who cared so much about her, don't need to do it anymore, because in my hands little Asia will only be able to scream with happiness every night until she breaks or I get bored of her and then go for the nex-!" Diodora's rant stopped when the human moved, propelling himself from his lying position to the devil's height, catching the lower half of Diodora's face with his right hand.
Diodora's eyes widened in surprise and nervousness, his hands moved, trying to cast a spell, but the human's free hand was faster, throwing a punch at Diodora's stomach, knocking the air out of his lungs and disrupting any attempt to break free or fight back.
The devil felt his heartbeat in his ears, his entire body felt limp, and it was as if his throat was closing, preventing him from breathing.
The eyes of the human who still held him were colder than ice, redder than blood, and contained more hatred than Diodora had ever seen.
How had it gotten loose? He wasn't tied up? Why wasn't the fallen attacking him? Diodora's gaze moved to the fallen, but all he saw was how Raynare's form faded, leaving him to see a blonde girl shorter than the fallen he had seen before.
The new fallen looked at him as if he were a particularly unpleasant insect, but she didn't say anything or intervene in any way.
"Mgh!" He groaned, trying to say something, but the human's fist slammed into his face, sending him to the ground.
Diodora's hands covered his cheek as he writhed in pain, he felt the loose molars and the cut on the inside of his cheek, his resistance to blows was never his best feature, he was more of a ranged attacker type, using different spells, but the human had given him neither the time nor the opportunity to do anything, neutralizing him from the first second.
At that moment, he felt like a weight fell on his chest, only for another blow to come the next moment, this time it was his nose, broken without any resistance, he wanted to attack to get a chance to flee, but the pain did not let him concentrate enough to cast any spell.
"So this is how your kind prey on humanity." The human said before launching another blow, causing Diodora's head to move violently to the other side, and it was then that desperation began to take root deep in his soul.
"Hgn!" The devil made a pitiful sound at the same time that one of his hands took a handful of dirt and threw it at the human's face, preventing him from launching another blow and forcing him to cover his face with his forearm.
Although some of the dust still got into his eyes, bothering him, and unbalancing him enough for Diodora to crawl a little, gaining some distance.
But a few seconds later, Ryuichi managed to clear his vision, looking at the devil on the ground with dismay.
Diodora felt something he had never felt before in his entire life, helplessness and fear, he had never been in a situation like this before, so all his actions and feelings were practically instinctive, all seeking a single goal, to survive, he had forgotten about Asia, the only thing on his mind was to live to see another day.
"Get away! Don't come near me!" He screamed in panic, trying to stand up to flee, but before he could, Ryuichi once again launched a blow to his stomach, this time it was a kick with all his strength as a thin layer of ki covered him, causing Diodora to fall as some blood came out of his mouth, whether it was from the wound on his cheek or the kick to his stomach, no one knew.
"N-no, wait!" The devil gurgled. "Keep her! Keep Asia for you! I can revive her! I will do it, and you can take her! I will even use hypnosis to make her do what you want!"
Diodora's proposal seemed to enrage Ryuichi even more, not only because the devil had offered to play with the mind of an innocent girl to save his life, but because he was willing to give up what he wanted so much, proving that ruining her life and trying to murder her and then enslave her was nothing more than a whim.
"I-if it's not enough, keep this too! These are p-!" He screamed, trying to get something out of his coat, but before he could do so, a fist hit the devil in the mouth, silencing his promises, Diodora's head hit the ground again, and four small objects fell from his coat.
Blood fell from Diodora's mouth and nose, who now seemed incredibly disoriented, but he still crawled back, trying to put as much distance between himself and the beast that seemed to want to brutalize him.
His brow furrowed, and through all the fear, a hint of hatred shone through, why was something like this happening to him?
Suffering at the hands of a mere human as he was forced to crawl on the ground.
"Stop! I am the heir of the Astaroth clan! You think you can do this to me and nothing will happen to you?" He screamed as some tears fell down his face, mixing with the blood.
"If you don't care about the consequences of playing with human lives, why should I care about the consequences of ending yours?"
Diodora felt his blood run cold when he heard the human's response, so he played his last card.
"Human scum! Don't you know who my brother is?! He-!" He screamed clearly in desperation, but the answer he received before he finished his words was a punch to the face that made his consciousness sink into darkness.
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Third Person P.O.V
Mittelt looked at everything that had happened without much flinching on the outside, this wasn't the first time she had seen something like this nor was it the most brutal thing she had witnessed, but, still, inside her, there was something that made her think that a part of the human had changed.
And when she saw him get up, leaving the devil unconscious on the ground, she frowned. "He keeps breathing." She said, watching as Diodora's chest continued to rise and fall.
"…" Ryuichi didn't say anything or look up.
"You don't understand what you just did, do you?" She insisted, this time getting his attention. "This isn't your high school playground, where you can hit someone and hope they don't mess with you again because they're too scared," she said before pointing at Diodora. "Do you know who he is?"
Ryuichi finally looked at her, his expression was unreadable, but if anyone looked closely that person would notice a hint of sadness and grief.
He shook his head a few times to give her an answer.
"Everyone in the supernatural world would recognize the name of the clan he mentioned, Astaroth, if he really is the heir, then his latest threat carries a lot of weight, his brother is one of the 4 Maou of the underworld, Ajuka Beelzebub." She said, and Ryuichi's eyes widened in surprise, the memory of the conversation he had had with Rias came to his mind.
'Although Beelzebub-sama is not the most expressive nor the most sociable devil, he is still quite an acclaimed figure in the underworld'
"I don't even have to tell you what will happen if he goes back to hell and talks to his brother, right? Not a single day will pass, and you, me, and everyone you know will have disappeared no matter where we hide"
Ryuichi's hands clenched into fists, and his teeth clenched, but he didn't move from where he was standing, the drops of blood falling from his fists as a result of the beating of Diodora, and the small wounds on his knuckles were the only thing that could be heard.
Mittelt became frustrated, and only then did she understand that the human in front of her had never killed anyone before.
It was obvious in retrospect, he had avoided fighting with her, preferring to offer her a deal, and although his anger was evident now, his morals were stopping him from taking the step and finishing off the bastard who would destroy his life if he left this forest alive.
A sword of light materialized in her hands, and she took a step forward, drawing the human's attention, at that moment, she stretched out her hand with the handle of the weapon of light towards him as a sign that she did not want to attack him.
The last thing she wanted was for him to misunderstand the situation and believe she would try to hurt him.
Ryuichi looked at the light sword as if it were the strangest thing in the world, and when Mittelt saw in the corner of her vision how the devil began to move and make slight moans she knew that she didn't have much time.
So she took Ryuichi's hand, opened his palm, placed the handle of the weapon in his hands, and closed her hand over his.
"You were the one who wanted to stay, now you have to do what the situation requires, if you want to be killed that's your problem, but you dragged me into this, and I want to live." She said before walking towards the devil while pulling Ryuichi's hand making him follow in her footsteps.
"Now." She said, kneeling down and pulling Ryuichi to do the same, after all, she wouldn't kill this devil alone, because if she did it, and one day she was discovered, dying would be the best thing that could happen to her.
If she was captured alive, she surely would be tortured for an indeterminate amount of time for being the one who had taken the life of a clan heir and brother of a Maou.
But if she just gave the sword to the human in front of her and expected him to do all the work then there was a possibility that he would decide not to kill the devil and that he would find an opening to escape, this would lead to the same result as before, only in a much shorter time.
At that moment, Diodora's eyes seemed to regain some clarity, his body felt numb, the world seemed to spin around him, and he couldn't think properly, but even in that state, when he saw the human and the fallen, each kneeling at his side and with both holding a small sword of light over his chest, he understood what was going to happen to him.
"N-no." He sobbed as tears came from his eyes, Diodora did not want to die, like almost all living beings, the thought of dying terrified him.
He tried to move, use some spell, or beg for his life, but he could barely make almost unintelligible noises and squirm a little.
Mittelt pushed the sword down, meeting a little resistance from Ryuichi, as if a part of him still refused to do this, to cross the line, because he knew that when he did, he would never again be able to be classified as a "normal" person.
But Ryuichi himself silenced that tiny voice with facts and truths until it disappeared.
Then, the small sword finally came down, piercing through the fabric, skin, muscle, bones, and finally, the devil's heart.
Diodora's tears continued to flow as he continued to try to plead for his life, but like a match, the light of life was extinguished from his eyes in a few seconds, his body stopped shaking and remained completely still.
Diodora's body glowed slightly before beginning to disappear into particles of bright light, the process was not slow, but not too fast either, feet, legs, torso, fingers, hands, arms, shoulders, neck, and finally, the head, in just over 15 seconds, all that was left in the place where the devil was before, were a couple of chess pieces.
The sword of light vanished, and Mittelt let go of Ryuichi's hand, standing up as did the human, who now held the pieces in his hands.
And a few seconds later, the chess pieces began to break too, as if they were a pile of dust hit by a particularly strong breeze.
Ryuichi just stood there, watching as the bright dust of the pieces seemed to fade into the starry sky of Kuoh.
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Well, one more chapter closer to the end of this part of the story, and each time Ryuichi moves away a little bit more from his former status of an "ordinary teenager", let's hope he can handle what's coming in the future.
And remember that right now there are a couple of polls about what will happen in the future of this story, more specifically about the Side Stories or What If that we will have when we finish this volume and about whether or not there will be a harem for Ryuichi.
For the moment the following options are in the lead:
-The option of a Side Story about Touji during the events of this volume.
-And the harem route.
If you are interested in voting, you can go to my p-atreon and support me with a membership, it would be very helpful.
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Remember that if you like this story, you can leave a comment, review, and a power stone, that will inspire me to write more, see you in the next chapter.