Life 7-4

A red sport motorcycle roared down the roads of Kuoh despite the late hour of the night. Atop it was a figure in a particular red jacket, the black helmet obscuring the rather annoyed expression of the rider as the bike tore down the streets.

"The hell kind of Devil has to answer a request like this?!" Noé screamed over the wind and the engine of his transport as he continued on. In most cases he only ever rode it to get around town on his days off and other situations. It had taken a good deal of saving his pay from contracts with his father, not to mention convincing to even be allowed to get a license for it, to even get.

So needless to say, Noé didn't ever consider the idea he'd be using it to drive his way to a summoning request. For whatever reason, when the summoning had started, the circle had suddenly shorted out before Noé could be transported. And since it was basically courtesy to do so, now Noé had to take the long way to meet his would-be client, if mainly to ensure there was no issues on their end with the summoning attempt.

"Gagh, if they snap at me, I'm blaming Rias for it!" Noé decided, keeping his gaze forward as he sped through the neighborhood. As it settled in, he was also nearing one of the more wealthy-looking areas, he had to wonder just what kind of person living in this part of the city had to be to want to call in a Devil. I better not be getting called in to do goddamn housework…

After about another minute of riding, Noé arrived at the home his GPS was locked to. It was simple enough, one story-tall but decently spread out. He could assume the owner lived alone, since otherwise it'd make keeping summoning a Devil quiet. Shutting off the bike and removing his helmet, Noé approached the door and rang the doorbell… only to find the ring was a bit too loud.

"Huh?" Looking down, Noé spotted that the door was ever so slightly ajar, enough to allow the interior sound to carry out. "That's not safe at this time of night. The hell?"

As Noé pushed the door open, he froze the moment his foot passed the threshold. Hairs stood on end as his senses flared to immediate alert. Something was around, and whatever it was, it wasn't pleasant.

"Ddraig, what do ya' think?" Noé asked, peering in through the door. The hallways were dark, but he could see a very faint light coming from further down, likely the living room.

"Tread lightly… no idea what we may be walking into. But… this reeks of a trap."

"My thoughts exactly."

Entering slowly, Noé kept his back to the wall as he neared the faint light source. As he neared the archway, he stopped when he heard a slight splish under his shoe. He at first thought water, but that thought was proven wrong when a metallic smell hit his nose… the smell of blood. Bending down, Noé put two fingers to the dark puddle, pulling it back to find that familiar shade of dark red coating his fingertips.

"The hell…? Something happened here…"

Moving into the room itself, Noé froze as he saw the definite source. The far wall of the living room had a body nailed to it in an upside down, crucified position. The body had been completely eviscerated, blood and viscera oozing from numerous, messy gashes along the flayed body, with the stakes pinning the corpse in place being driven in through the head, hands, chest, and legs. Noé had grown accustomed to the messy sights left behind by Stray Devils, but this brought a different kind of sick feeling to him.

This wasn't something done out of pure violence by a creature gone-near mad… this was an act of utter sadism meant to inflict as much pain as possible. He knew for a fact by the look of it, the victim had not been given a quick death. It had been slow, drawn out, meant to be as painful as humanly possible.

And on one wall, scrawled in the victim's own blood was a statement: Punishment of the Wicked.

"Ah fuck…" A realization set in for just what kind of person would leave that kind of message in Noé. And then he heard a cackle from behind him.

"Ahhh, I'm surprised you were able to read that. I just happened to borrow that phrase from the Holy Scripture you know?"

Shooting around, Noé came face to face with a young man sitting on the nearby couch. He had silvery white hair and red eyes, seeming to not be much older than Noé himself. And then there was the priest's attire he wore, attire that at once clashed against the evil smile he gave once hie and Noé's eyes met. His immediate air was that wicked kind of happiness. The one a murderous psychopath has once they spot their next victim.

"If it isn't a Devil! My name is Freed Selzan!" The young man stood up and took a bow… then to Noé's clear confusion began dancing in place as he spoke again in sing-song, "A young priest who's part of a certain exorcism organization! I cut off the heads of filthy devils that come and then get my meals!"

What the hell kind of nutjob did I just run into? Noé thought, already balling his right hand into a fist.

"Now, just because I introduced myself doesn't mean you have to, Devil! I don't need to remember your name, because you're going to die soon, just like that filthy man who was trying to call you here! And don't worry, I'll try not to make your death hurt too much! Soon enough you'll feel so good you'll want to cry! So, let's open a new door why don't we-AGH!"

Noé didn't bother to let the priest finish before smashing his fist right into his nose. The priest yelped as he went flying across the room, blood spewing from his freshly broken nose as he crumpled across the floor. To Noé's surprise again, he got up quite quickly, howling in pain as he clutched his nose.

"Geez, how sturdy are you? I threw that punch full force," Noé muttered, shaking his right hand as the priest stood up.

"Owowowowow! What the hell kind of rude Devil are you, interrupting a man and then breaking his beautiful nose?!" The priest shouted, Noé scoffing.

"I'm a Devil. Why the hell do I need to listen to some psycho priest who killed my client?!"

"You're mad about that?! That's just plain odd! Humans who summon Devils are scum. Scum indeed! Can't you understand that? Well, you're a scummy Devil, so of course you don't!"

"Uh… what," Noé couldn't think of a clear way to even respond to that. This priest just came off as increasingly deranged by the moment with each word out of his mouth. "Whatever. Though I didn't think Exorcists were in the business of killing humans who only engage in Summoning! I figured it was policy you only go after Strays and leave Devils to their business!"

"Haaaaa?! What the fuck is with that? Some Devil is lecturing me?" The priest crowed, then letting out an amused scoff, "Hah! That's hilarious! I bet your master gives you rewards for being funny! Okay then, shitty Devil, listen to me! Devils use human's greed to survive. Relying on Devils proves that you are no longer human! That's it, the end! Bzzz! So, I killed him! I make a living by killing Devils and those they contract with! That's my job!"

"So, in short, you're just batshit crazy," Noé's dry remark earned him a deranged glare from the priest.

"Haa~~?! What are you talking about? Devils are trash! Don't you know they're a shitty existence? Seriously did nobody teach you common sense? Go start your life back over from a toddler why don'tcha? Wait, it's useless to tell that to a Devil like you! More like I should kill you! Hahahaha! Isn't that just the greatest?! It's just the-"

BAM! Once again, the priest went tumbling across the floor and into the wall as Noé's fist connected to his face in a straight jab.

"BUZEEEAHHH! You punched me in the nose again!"

"Will you shut up!? You're seriously pissin' me off now!"

Noé's now bloodied fist stood in the air as the priest(?) flopped to the ground writhing as he held his nose. A growl came from the young man as he stood back up, a very angry chuckle coming from him.

"Oh, now you've done it! Whatever! Killing you is gonna be so much more fun!" He then reached under his large coat, whipping out a large revolver and an item akin to a sword's hilt. With the flick of a switch oh the item, the air hummed as a white blade shot from the top of the item, illuminating the room as the priest(?) swung it around. "You're irritating me, so which do you prefer? Should I shoot you, or should I cut you? Oh, here's what I'll do! I'll stab your heart out with this shiny blade, then blow your brains out with this fancy gun! How sweet will that be?!"

"Heh… I needed to blow off some steam."

The priest took a swing with his sword, Noé stepping to the side as the Boosted Gear took form. As the Gear roared out the first Boost, Noé's left hand flew forward, slamming into the priest's gut and sending him skidding across the floor. The priest took a shot with his gun as he hit the wall, Noé blocking with the same gauntlet, the air ringing as Noé blocked several more shots.

"Ohohohooo~, what's this?" The priest cackled, "You've got some fancy toy hahhh? And here I thought you were just some shit reincarnated Devil! You ain't normal, are you Devil?!"

"Not at all," Noé snickered, falling into his usual stance as he raised his fists, "Let's keep this quick."

The priest cackled as he raised his gun, firing wildly as Noé charged. He weaved past the bullets and closed the gap, and as his right fist rose, the priest swung his light-sword, the fist and blade colliding. The air whipped around as Noé's flurry was met by rapid slashes from the priest. Noé's left hand shot forward, grabbing the blade of light and wrenching it down. As the priest looked confused for a moment, Noé's fist slammed into his face for the third time now. And as the priest bent backwards from the blow, Noé followed up with a left hook to the side of his head, smashing the priest to the side and into the floor with a slam that audibly cracked some bones.

Yet rather than be left limp, on the ground, the priest started cackling, standing up and looking back to Noé with a wild glint in his eyes made more intense by his bloodied face.

"Oh yes!" The priest howled, laughing as he reloaded his gun and took aim. "This must be Heaven smiling down on me tonight! It just wouldn't be satisfying if I killed you easily! Oh, what joy, what mad fortune this is! I so rarely get to play with Devils who can actually put up a fight! Let's go all night then why don't we?! I don't want this fun to end now, Devil!"

"Hahaha, the hell are they making you exorcists out of these days?" Noé chuckled, a smirk splitting his face, "I thought I'd have to hold back since you're just a human… but looks like you're actually worth taking seriously."

"Ohhhh? That was you not being serious? Hahahaha! Oh, to be insulted so by a trash Devil! Now I have even more reason to cut you to ribbons!" the priest lunged forward, raising his sword up, "I'll just leave a few extra cuts on that annoying face to pay you back for the nose!"

"Try me!"

Noé dodged as the sword came down, realizing in that moment the priest was swinging faster despite his injuries. Dodging and parrying the sudden flurry of swings, Noé dropped down when the priest's gun flew up, narrowly avoiding a point-blank shot. As he rose up, Noé swung his right leg up, kicking the gun from the priest's hand, twirling away when he tried to slash his leg with the sword. As Noé flipped back to his feet, he angled his head as the light sword thrust towards him, wincing as he felt the blade cut across his cheek. He had to be thankful for his light resistance, or else that would have been worse.

"Hah?!" The priest looked confused as Noé pulled back, clearly befuddled by only having cut him with the blade. "The fuck?! You Devils are weak to light! Why the hell did I only cut your face instead?!"

"Surprise, there's one who's resistant to the stuff!" Noé scoffed, the priest growling at the smug grin Noé gave him in return. And that was when the priest noticed Noé had picked his gun up from off the floor. "So, how about we…"

"W-Wait, please stop!"