Governor of Fallen Angels, SS-Class Stray Devil

"So, who are you?"

Zero heard the man ask with a solemn voice.

'Hey Gaia, it couldn't have been a coincidence right? I just finished my two-year training and suddenly a guy from the supernatural world shows up in front of me…"

He mentally whispered to the System Fairy. He only wanted to relax, why did trouble have to come his way?

[Hehe, maybe it's just Master's bad luck.]

Gaia's eyes turned into crescents as she chuckled at her Master's misfortune.

Zero rolled his eyes internally at the fairy's guess. Why did he even bother to ask the question in the first place if such an answer was all he got?

The saiyan then hesitated as to whether he should act like he didn't know what the guy was talking about or not, before sighing and ended up deciding against it.

There was no use covering up the fact that he was part of the supernatural or someone of the ultimate class being since the little aura that had accidentally leaked out of him earlier wasn't something that could be faked.

The aura had indeed originated from him and there was no way he could escape from the man's experienced senses after finding out his (the man's) identity.

"Getting straight to the point already, huh? Worthy of the one who sits on the Governor position of the Fallen Angels race, though don't you know that it's rather rude to ask someone for their identity before introducing yourself first?"

Zero answered calmly. He had already secretly identified the guy with his system scan ability before the conversation started.

<Azazel>

[Title]: Governor-General of Fallen Angels

[Race]: Fallen Angel

[Affiliation]: Grigori

[Power Level]: 70,000,000

[Description]: Originally an Angel from Heaven. He later became a Fallen Angel due to having intercourse with a human woman and as punishment from God, his creator and father, Azazel lost his place in Heaven. The twelve-winged fallen angel then proceeded to create Grigori, the Fallen Angels' organization, becoming its Governor-General. Azazel was a survivor of the Faction Great War between the Angels, Devils and Fallen Angels, and the one who had ordered his faction to retreat due to losing many of his subordinates, also making Grigori the first faction to withdraw from the war.

That's right, the sudden guest was Azazel, a twelve-winged fallen angel and also the creator plus leader of Grigori, the Fallen Angel faction.

"Well? You know of me?"

Azazel raised his eyebrows in surprise as Zero pointed out his status. The fallen angel ignored the cheeky remark from the opposite figure and asked a question of his own instead.

"Of course I do, and no, we haven't met before. This should be our first time meeting, Azazel."

The saiyan spoke up before the Grigori leader could ask; his expression didn't change and remained calm throughout the conversation.

Looking at the young man in front of him, Azazel couldn't help but become curious.

After all, it's not every day that he got to see an ultimate-class being, aside from those of his own faction that is.

Most ultimate-class beings he knew are either leaders of a faction, for example Yasaka of the Yokai Faction, or the head of an ancient clan, for example Zeoticus Gremory from the Devil Faction's Gremory Clan.

Some of them were even servants of the current Satans, like Okita Souji, who was Sirzechs Lucifer's [Knight] while others lived in seclusion most of the time.

But this; this was the first time the twelve-winged fallen angel had met an ultimate-class being who runs a… well, a ramen store. A being who had the strength of such caliber was the owner of a ramen store; Just the thought of it was ridiculous.

Azazel being Azazel though simply found the matter amusing and considering all the strange habits and practices that some of the other unique supernaturals in this world have, being the owner of a ramen store would be deemed quite normal.

Still, after the sudden discovery of a mysterious ultimate class existence who's race that even he, who was known to have knowledge of all time, wasn't aware of, the fallen angel needed to find out whether the guy posed a threat to Grigori.

Azazel was, after all, a leader of a faction so he had to properly do his job.

The fallen angel couldn't help but become suspicious and wondered why the young man in front of him was in the territory of his enemy's faction.

Was the guy related to them in any way? And if so, why hadn't he ever gotten any news of this person from his faction's spies?

That was in the angel's mind as he continued his inquiries.

"Since we've never met, was there a chance that you have seen me somewhere before? I don't see how you would recognize me otherwise. Also, you still haven't answered my initial question; I asked who you were. Oh, and since you already know who I am, I don't think that there will be any need to introduce myself any further, right?"

"No, there's no need to trouble yourself."

The saiyan denied the proposal before giving his own introduction.

"My name is Zero, Zero Akatsuki, but you can call me Zero for short. As for who I am, isn't that already obvious? I am clearly the owner of this ramen store."

The fallen angel rolled his eyes as he listened to the introduction. Did this guy think he was an idiot? He was clearly asking about his background and if the young man didn't want to tell him, he could've just said so straightforwardly instead of giving a stupid response in return.

Well, Azazel didn't really mind either way. Whatever race this Zero Akatsuki may be, all the angel wanted to know at the moment was if the guy was an enemy or not and mainly if he was affiliated with any faction. Other details could be known later.

As for the option of elimination, Azazel threw that thought to the back of his mind.

The fallen angel was actually someone who desired peace, and attacking or even killing an ultimate-class being with an unknown affiliation might lead to serious consequences, with the most severe being a war.

After all, to any faction, an ultimate-class existence was considered a precious resource.

"And no, I've never seen you before; I only guessed it was you based on the aura you were giving off."

Zero shook his head slightly and paused to catch his breath before continuing.

"I could feel the sacred energy present inside you, but it's a bit tainted so that's how I figured you were a fallen angel. Then, judging from how powerful you are, all I needed to do was eliminate the ones who didn't fit the criteria until you were the only one remaining."

The saiyan lied. He didn't need to do all that nonsense at all. Just one System Scan and he would be able to obtain all those details instantly, but hey, he needed to at least make it sound believable, right?

"Hoh, you can even tell how powerful I am. Interesting."

Azazel said with a smirk though inside he was genuinely surprised.

You have to realize that he was an expert in stealth and hiding his presence. This also meant that he was also able to conceal his aura to a very proficient degree, but the man in front of him was able to get past his concealment and detect his race while at it.

Even more shocking was the fact that just from sensing his holy energy alone, Zero was able to judge his overall strength and connect it to his identity.

Not to mention, the boy in front of him appeared way too calm, like his presence here didn't even warrant the guy's attention.

'Strange, this Zero Akatsuki guy… even after knowing the strength I possess his countenance remains unchanged. It's almost like he doesn't view me as a threat. Wonder what gives him the confidence...'

Azazel gave a deep glance at Zero while in thought. It was the first time he was unable to see through someone and the Grigori leader had to admit that the saiyan's unwavering eyes sort of unnerved even him; it was like Zero's whole person was shrouded in mystery.

Just when he was about to speak up once more, the fallen angel's attention shifted as he noticed a black cat in the corner of his eyes, staring at him with extreme caution.

The black cat who was sleeping leisurely on the sofa had already woken up when it realized the arrival of Azazel and upon hearing the fallen angel's identity from Zero's mouth, alarms had rung off inside the cat's head.

From then on, it focused its gaze full of wariness on Azazel while trying to back away silently, concealing itself as best as it could so that it wouldn't be noticed.

At the same time, mighty waves were present in the cat's golden slitted eyes, replacing the usual playfulness as it also observed the familiar, yet unfamiliar figure standing opposite the fallen angel.

It was shocked. All this time, the cat had been following Zero around as he was it's savior and because it didn't really have a place to stay after getting rescued.

The saiyan had found the feline severely injured and unconscious within a deserted alleyway and brought her to his home for recovery.

When it woke up, the black cat was surprised to find that all it's wounds had disappeared and it's injuries recovered, but how it all happened still remained a mystery even to this day.

In the end, it decided to connect this mystery to Zero.

To the cat, Zero only appeared to be an ordinary human with little strength, but it's keen intuition and the reality of it's wounds having healed without it knowing, told the feline that it definitely wasn't the case.

And while this assumption was correct, the black cat had still heavily underestimated it's savior.

Who would've known that it's savior wasn't a human whatsoever and was in fact, just hiding his power all this time without it's knowledge.

The black cat felt wronged after hearing the Grigori leader's appraisal of Zero's strength and race, especially when it found out about his strength.

Over the past year of staying together, the cat grew sort of attached to Zero as he was the one who gave it shelter and took care of it without any complaints.

What made it feel sad and at the same time foolish though, was the fact that Zero acted like he didn't know anything after all this time. With the saiyan's strength and ability to discover Azazel's identity, the feline doubted that it would be able to hide it's identity from him either.

Looking at Zero's figure, the black cat became lost in thought until it suddenly felt a piercing gaze locked onto it's form, making its body stiffen as it noticed Azazel's staring in it's direction.

"Eh? A nekoshou?"

The fallen angel's eyes flashed upon realizing the cat had two tails, signifying the trait of the almost extinct Nekoshou race.

From what he knew, there were only two left in this world and since the other one became a servant of the Gremory's princess, then that means that the one at present is…

"You are… "

Azazel was about to question the nekoshou, but was abruptly interrupted by a figure who had suddenly appeared in between the two.

"Excuse me, but do you happen to have a problem with my family cat?"

The figure asked, facing directly at Azazel's direction with his back towards the nekoshou.

'Fast!' Azazel's pupils contracted slightly as he didn't notice how the figure got there. They shrunk even further upon realizing who the figure actually was.

Looking back at the spot where Zero had just stood, the fallen angel found that the guy had long since vanished from his previous location and became utterly speechless.

Yes, it was Zero who had used <Teleportation> to arrive in front of the nekoshou upon noticing that Azazel's attention had shifted after realizing the black cat's identity.

The Grigori leader was silent for a while at the saiyan's display of speed but the fallen angel was, after all, one that has experienced the wind and rain, so he quickly regained his composure, though only he knew how shocked he was on the inside.

Azazel realized that he had greatly underestimated the person in front of him and began to take Zero seriously as he responded to the saiyan's question.

"No, there's no problem at all. Just a little surprised that I would find the recently classified SS-Class Stray Devil present in your abode."

The twelve-winged fallen angel stated after giving the young man a deep, meaningful look.

"I see."

Zero nodded. He didn't change his expression when he heard the cat's identity as he already found out a year ago when he found her in that alleyway.

"Judging from your response and lack of reaction, it seems that you already knew her identity?"

Azazel raised an eyebrow.

"Who knows." Zero shrugged.

"Anyways, would you mind giving me a moment?"

He asked after giving a dull response.

Zero then turned around and proceeded to walk towards the nekoshou as the fallen angel leader casually waved his hand at him, indicating that the saiyan could take his time. After all, judging from the contemplative expression on his face, the fallen angel definitely had his own thoughts to tend to at the moment.

Arriving in front of the black cat on the sofa and crouching down so that their eyes could meet, Zero sighed as he noticed her staring at him with vigilance, but he wasn't surprised as the nekoshou had every reason to in this situation.

With the speed Zero was just travelling at, there was no way she could escape after having her identity blown just now.

The nekoshou was proficient in space magic so she noticed some signs that made someone like her, who has experienced a lot for her age, shocked. This guy had teleported without the use of magic circles.

Fortunately, Zero didn't seem to be turning her in, nor was he someone who would do that in the first place.

The black cat suddenly turned stiff as Zero placed a hand on her, though soon relaxed as his gentle eyes collided with her golden-slitted ones.

"Sorry for not revealing myself to you sooner. I promise to make it up to you later so if it's not too much to ask, could you please place your trust in me just this once?"

He apologized with a smile as he caressed her head softly, earning a little purr from the cat from how comfortable it felt.

The nekoshou didn't know why, but seeing Zero's apologetic eyes which only conveyed kindness, and the sensation of his touch which was full of gentleness, it gave her the feeling of wanting to rely on him, which was a feeling she had never felt in her life before; it was strange and unfamiliar, yet warmed her heart at the same time.

"I'll deal with Azazel for you, so you don't have to worry about anything. All you have to do is sit still and watch the show. Just leave everything to me, alright?"

Zero smiled as the cat nodded adorably after rubbing her head against his palm a few times. He was glad that the nekoshou had calmed down somewhat as she had seemed really anxious before.

Having made a decision, Zero turned around to face Azazel who had been waiting on the side. He then spoke up with a calm voice, loud enough to break the fallen angel out of his thoughts.

"Thank you for your patience, Azazel. Now, I would like to ask you for a favor if you don't mind."

"A favor? Is it for the cat?"

Although Azazel found it quite weird to be asked a favor from a stranger he had just met, he still inquired what it was as curiosity got the better of him. He could also only assume what the favor was all about as the saiyan had previously utilized his space magic to place an invisible sound barrier around the two, leaving him clueless as to what the guy had discussed with the nekoshou.

"You could say so."

Zero nodded in response.

"It's like this, I hope that you can keep silent about my family cat's whereabouts whenever you decide to leave from here. Although I'm not afraid of anyone, but saving myself from unnecessary trouble is something more or less desirable in my opinion."

The saiyan referred to the 'trouble' that'd come should Azazel leak the news of the nekoshou's location and made sure the fallen angel understood who 'they' were before continuing.

"On the other hand, if you aren't able to do this..."

Zero's lips bent into a smirk, locking his gaze with the twelve-winged angel as he continued.

"... I can't exactly guarantee that you'll make it out of this place in one piece."

Whoosh-! All of a sudden, Azazel felt a gust of imaginary wind flowing through him as a chill crept up his back.

For a split second after finishing his sentence, Zero's eyes flashed a bright greenish-blue, giving the fallen angel a feeling of being enclosed in ice due to how cold it was. The same went for the saiyan's aura, which spiked to the point of being on par with a super-class existence and shocking Azazel so much that he remained stiff on the spot for a while.

Zero even thought that it wasn't enough and added in his <Gravity Magic> and <Spirit Pressure> to the mix, which ended up surrounding the Grigori leader in a rather controlled manner, just enough so the angel could feel the oppression and prevent the guy from collapsing onto the ground. After all, the saiyan only wanted to send a message across instead of creating an enemy.

Regaining his composure, Azazel, whose mind and body bore the brunt of a split second of super-class aura combined with the heavy oppression of <Gravity Magic> and <Spirit Pressure> at the same time, only ended up giving a wry smile as he slowly raised both his arms in surrender.

'What bullshit favor, this was clearly a threat!'