Chapter 3: Tragedy

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The ever-so-familiar blue screen was, like always, the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes. By this time, Frau wasn't surprised that the total changed anymore.

In fact, he would be more surprised if it didn't.

It started from 1, then 2, then 4, then 8, and so on until the current number he saw before his eyes.

"Thousand, hundred thousand, million...four million?" Frau muttered with interest, "The jump is greater than ever, huh?"

"I see you're up."

Hearing a voice by his door, Frau turned over to see Castor holding a tray of food.

"Good morning, Castor-sama."

"It's already afternoon, though?" Castor retorted as he placed down the tray on the table stand, "Sigh, you're such a pain in the ass, you know?"

"It's all thanks to my teachers for bringing me up that way."

"I don't think I ever did."

"Me too," Ilyusha spoke from the door, and behind him was Frau's legal guardian/parent, Yaegaki.

"So that must be because of Yaegaki's influence, huh?" Castor commented, his glasses shining.

"Oi! Don't go pinning my child's craziness on me! It's definitely both of your actions that caused it!" Yaegaki riposted to that unreasonable statement.

Seeing the three adult men banter with each other definitely improved Frau's mood.

As for killing the ex-devil? It was forever remembered in his heart as the first person to kill using his ability and the "sacrifice" for his rite of passage to formally enter the supernatural world.

"How do you feel, Frau?"

"Honestly? Not much. The devil passed peacefully in the end."

Castor and Ilyusha looked at each other and sighed before whispering to Frau, "I don't think you even recognize the dangers of your own ability. Remember, never tell anyone the true powers of what your ability can do. It would forever be 'healing' only until you become strong enough to protect yourself, alright? Not even to your parent."

"Yes. I understand." Frau replied, which caused Yaegaki to be curious about what they were talking about, but he didn't ask as he didn't want to invade their privacy.

"Now that you've finished your rite of ritual, I, Bishop Castor."

"And I, Bishop Ilyusha."

"Formally welcome Frau Yaegaki into the supernatural world. May the light of God forever shines upon you, giving you hope, faith, and the strength to overcome any obstacles that may come in your way."

The two bishops stood together and raised a hand each above Frau's head as they glowed.

"In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen."

Yaegaki had mixed feelings about his child finally stepping into the supernatural world. On the one hand, his child would finally be able to look forward to exciting things. On the other, his child would also be exposed to countless dangers from every angles possible.

He would, of course, try his best to protect his child. And if that was his only concern, then there wouldn't be any problem. He would be able to sacrifice his own life for his child anytime it needs to be done.

But it wasn't his only concern. Unknown to everyone else, he had another problem in his hands, and things were getting riskier by the day.

"Sigh..."

"Yaegaki-san?" Frau noticed Yaegaki's troubled expression and asked worriedly, "Do you not want me to enter the supernatural world?"

"To be honest, no. But since you've already done it, I can only give you my support. Don't worry about my approval too much. As long as it doesn't go against mine or your morals, I'll always fully support you no matter what you do, alright?"

Hearing Yaegaki's blessing, Frau's face broke into a wide smile.

"Un! Hehehe..."

∞

The weeks passed, and soon, the time for departure came.

Ilyusha and Castor were finally going to leave today after almost three years of training Frau. They couldn't delay it any further, and the Vatican was calling them back desperately to shoulder their rightful responsibilities.

"It was a nice three years with you, Frau. Never a single day where I was bored."

"Of course not! You've been listening to my screams and howlings for the past three years! Why would you ever get bored of that, you damn sadist?!"

"Oh my, I have no idea what you're talking about." Castor raised his glasses and let out an innocent smile.

Both Ilyusha and Castor had innocent smiles, but one would be gravely mistaken if they judged them with that smile. He was still new to the supernatural world, but he knew that those smiles were anything but innocent.

"It's fine, Castor. Frau is just expressing his sadness at the news of our departure." Ilyusha added with his own smile.

"I'm not!" Frau yelled, though his hands were desperately wiping off the never-stopping flow of tears. What contradictory actions and words were spoken. It definitely wouldn't look as cute as an almost-nine-year-old boy if an adult tried to do it.

"How cute~" Castor rubbed Frau's head and got down on one knee to face him at eye-level, "It's not like we'll be seeing each other for the last time. Become strong enough, and you'll eventually be called to the Vatican like us. And even if you don't want to, we can always come back here to check the progress of our cute disciple."

"Yes." Ilyusha did the same, though he had to face Frau, who was slightly taller due to Ilyusha's shorter height, "It isn't the end of the world. They say a farewell does not mark the end of relationships, and we'll always be your master."

Both bishops leaned in to give the crying boy a hug, to which Frau returned wholeheartedly.

"On a more serious note, remember what we told you. Never tell anyone your powers. It's powerful enough to cause a war to start, so until you're strong enough..."

"Never let anyone find out. Yes, you've already repeated that billions of times throughout the years..."

"It's just to remind you of the severity of your actions."

Standing up once more, Ilyusha and Castor looked at the rest of the people present. Touji and his subordinates, the two priests, and Yaegaki.

"Thank you for taking care of us for the past three years." Ilyusha and Castor bowed and thanked them.

"Haha, it's no biggie. It's an honor for us to serve the bishops of the Vatican."

"Plus, you've been taking care of our Frau, even if your methods are a bit...questionable."

"It's the least we could do to repay the favor."

Castor smiled upon hearing those words and clasped his hands together, "May the Lord bless all of you now and forever."

Everyone else followed his actions and repeated his words, "May the Lord bless the both of you now and forever."

After they all spoke more pleasantries, the two bishops left to be on their way.

∞

Exactly eight days later, in a three-story building...

Clashes of metal rang out, and angry voices were heard.

Seven figures were present and judging from the commotion, they were not on good terms. Six of the seven figures were human, yet not all faced their swords towards the lone female figure.

An injured devil and human man pair were surrounded by five other figures, each pointing a blade towards the female and completely ignoring the male.

Yet, the human man was intentionally blocking the swords with his body facing towards the woman. He was protecting the critically injured woman from the five even though he was critically injured himself.

"Yaegaki! Leave the devil woman alone! We have our orders!" Touji shouted at his ex-subordinate, who was stubbornly protecting his woman, "Of anyone you could fall in love with, why did it have to be her?!"

Hearing this, the woman, who was already half unconscious and bloodied all over because of the battle with the other devils before they encountered the exorcists, opened her mouth, "Dear, just leave...me alone. At least that way...one of us can still survive."

"Cleria, you know that isn't gonna happen. Even if I died with you today, I'm never going to regret my choices because you're the woman I love." Yaegaki looked at her with his face full of cuts and blood. Despite that, the gentle and loving gaze he had for Cleria couldn't be masked.

"Masaomi..." Cleria can only cry after hearing his words. The warmth that she felt superseded the pain of her wounds, allowing her to gain the power to stand up straight, albeit temporarily. She wanted to, at least, face death with her lover standing strong.

"Yaegaki! I'll give you one more chance to change your mind! Surrender now!" Touji shouted vehemently.

"Never!"

"Why are you so stubborn! Why don't you just think of your child for once?! Imagine what would Frau feel?!"

Yaegaki slightly paused as Touji mentioned Frau. The time he knew Frau was around the same time he met Cleria. No one was more important than the other in his heart, and he would never be able to choose between the two. Cleria knew about this as well, which was why she didn't want to drag Yaegaki down with her; she was the primary target, after all, not Yaegaki.

"Then let us go! We'll disappear from here, never to appear before your eyes once again!" He argued back.

"You know I can't do that...since you don't want to surrender, you leave us no choice. Men..." Everyone, including Touji, grimaced at Touji's own words, "Kill them."

It was tough for him to give the order for his subordinate's death. He will regret this moment for his whole life.

To kill his own friend.

To kill Frau's father figure.

To hurt his daughter's playmate.

How would he be able to live with himself in the future? He wouldn't even be able to look straight into the child's eyes from now onwards.

"Yaegaki-san!"

But before everyone could rush in, a childish voice was heard, and almost immediately, everyone pointed their weapons towards their new intruder.

'Frau?! What is he doing here?!' Everyone in the room thought in a panic.

"Men! Quickly knock Frau out!"

Two men immediately dashed towards Frau attempting to knock him back to sleep, but Frau immediately understood what was happening here.

"NOOOO!" Frau screamed loudly, and the two men who dashed towards Frau were knocked back.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no..." Frau grabbed his head and started mumbling, "...no...this cannot be happening! THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING!"

"Yaegaki-san!!"Seeing his only child for his lifetime, Yaegaki couldn't help but break into a smile, "Frau, leave. You won't be able to change their minds. I've fallen in love with a devil, and by the church teachings, it will never be accepted."

"I DON"T CARE!" Another wave of power exuded from the boy, and this time, even the building shook horrendously.

"You're a kind boy, Frau...but this is the cruel world of the supernaturals. Even falling in love has its risk..."

"BUT WHY?!" Frau cried out, "DIDN'T GOD SAY THAT LOVE TRANSCENDS EVERYTHING?!" A single barrier shielded Frau from all external harm, resulting in all the exorcists being unable to do a single thing to the boy.

Yaegaki had no answer to the boy's naive question. God was God; he had his own set of rules. But those rules could only work if everybody was like him, selfless, greedless, and kind.

Unfortunately, humans weren't made like that.

"Touji-san! Please!" Frau turned towards the familiar man he had gotten close to after playing with his daughters almost every day, "Spare Yaegaki-san!"

Touji hesitated so briefly that no one noticed it. In the end, he still shook his head, "Ignore Frau and aim the devil now!"

Yaegaki and Cleria had no more strength to resist any further, and a serene smile appeared on their faces.

"I'm sorry it had to be this way, but it was nice to meet you, however brief it was, Frau."

"And for one last time, I would like to hear you call me 'Dad'."

If it was just protecting himself, there would be no problem. Frau would be able to use his powers freely.

But everyone in this room was somebody Frau highly cared about, and he couldn't bear to kill everyone. He tried his best to stop the exorcists from attacking Yaegaki-san, but it was futile when he was held back by his own feelings.

"DAD! MUM!"

Just before the blades sliced off their heads, Yaegaki and Cleria both heard the screams from the powerless Frau and were surprised, Cleria more than Yaegaki.

She never thought she would be so readily accepted by the child her lover constantly talked about. It was the happiest day of her life, second only to the day where Yaegaki became her lover.

"Thank you..."

"And I'm sorry that I couldn't be with you any longer..."

The last words were spoken as two heads flew off their respective necks, never breathing again.

∞

Actually, the Church had already gave them an ultimatum, and that was to kill both of them tonight, regardless of the situation.

The Church was already vaguely aware of Yaegaki's relationship with Cleria, but they decided to let it go since it was beneficial for them as this town was technically under the devil's ruling.

But an order from the higher-ups suddenly came this afternoon, and that was to hunt down the criminals that threatened the balance between Heaven and Underworld. The five exorcists who lived in Kuoh town and were also a friend of one of the criminals seemed to be the best way to solve the matter.

Ordinarily, just five of them wouldn't be a match to fight a high-class devil head-on. But orders were orders, and they had to follow them.

But to Touji's surprise, when they found the two, the devil, Cleria, was already critically injured and couldn't even stand up straight. Yaegaki, while having cuts that were not very serious, was already beyond exhausted from fighting off an enemy.

Touji intended to defy the Church's ultimatum and not kill Yaegaki. He just wanted to separate him from Cleria and capture him to bring him to trial. That way, he would at least be able to live and have a chance to redeem himself even if Yaegaki was to hate him due to him killing his lover.

Touji wasn't stupid. He knew that the Church was hiding something, especially after the devil's "great" timing. He presumed that this wasn't just about the status quo of Heaven and Underworld, but something more...personal.

Perhaps one of the higher-ups had a deal with the devil?

But Touji didn't care about that now.

He had severely underestimated Yaegaki's and Cleria's feelings for each other. Even his trump card of guilt-tripping Yaegaki with Frau failed, and he ultimately decided to go down together with Cleria.

Touji had no other choice but to give the final order before Frau, who had just arrived, did anything else that would mess up their mission.

"NOOOOO!" A tragic yell came from Frau, who watched as the necks of Yaegaki and Cleria get separated from their bodies.

Pulse after pulse of power was unleashed from Frau as he could not control his own mana output.

Ever since he could remember, Yaegaki was always with him. Taking care of him, showering him with a love that no one else could replace, teaching and educating him, Yaegaki did all that for an orphaned child.

He had no responsibilities for Frau, yet he still decided to do so anyway. Even amongst everything else he had experienced, he still counted being picked up as Yaegaki's child to be the most blissful moment of his life.

And now, watching as Yaegaki's tear-stricken yet smiling face on his flying head, Frau could no longer endure.

Without anyone left in the world who would love him as Yaegaki would, his feelings exploded.

He only had two choices he could take currently. Number one, to endure everything, or two, to release all his feelings and not keep them bottled up within himself.

He would have had a third option if not for the fact that the culprit who took away his father were his uncles, who were following someone's orders.

Frau had lost all his reasoning by this time, and thus, his body chose the option which would prove to be the "healthier" choice - number two.

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His mana was rapidly drained as each oscillation, though very much weaker than the first, vibrated throughout the building. Preventing anyone from going close to him, Frau slowly walked towards the headless corpses.

Touji wanted to reach Frau but realized that he couldn't no matter what he tried to do.

"Boss! We can't do anything about his mana wave!"

Touji looked at his subordinates, who were all trying to get close to Frau before eventually sighing.

"Never mind him. He is in no state of mind to listen to any of us anyway. Let's just wait patiently until his mana dries up or his mind clea-"

But Touji never managed to finish his words as an overbearing pressure descended on everyone in the building.

"How interesting~. Who are you, kid?" From the shadow of the building, a middle-aged man appeared. He looked to be in his forties with long dark silver hair and hazel eyes wearing an extravagant robe with silver linings.

The newcomer slowly walked in the direction of Frau with an arrogant smirk on his face, not caring to hide his creepy aura and ill intent.

Perhaps he wasn't in his right frame of mind, or he was just plainly ignoring the middle-aged man, but Frau did no give a single reply.

The pressure that the middle-aged man was giving out was no joke; even the five exorcists weren't able to move a single inch. Yet, Frau seems to be doing just fine. He continued making his way towards the two dead bodies, albeit slower.

The middle-aged man frowned at Frau's lack of reply, and he increased the pressure even further. This time, the five exorcists had trouble breathing, while Frau was continued stopped in his tracks.

"Leave..." A hoarse voice came from Frau, his expression unseeable and unreadable.

"What did you just say to me? Do you even have any idea who I am?" Rather than getting mad at the insolent child, the middle-aged man slightly smirked as he increased the pressure even more. This time, however, he only focused all his pressure on Frau alone.

"Reject."

One simple word came out of Frau's mouth as all the pressure in the air disappeared into nothingness. The five exorcists, who were trapped within the pressure of the middle-aged man, were also released. However, they had already long lost their consciousness.

This time, the middle-aged man couldn't keep his smirk anymore. Without rhyme or reason, his pressure disappeared without him being able to control it at all.

He once again tried to exert his pressure on the child, but the same thing happened once more.

The middle-aged man frowned at this, but he didn't act rashly. Instead, he thought through everything that had happened, but he couldn't come up with any reasonable conclusion.

The boy was a prodigy in the ways of healing. His previous research had proven it, and he had complete trust in the information he had gathered.

But not one piece of information told him Frau was capable of anything like this.

Feeling the pressure gone, Frau continued making his way towards the couple. Suddenly, he found himself impaled by a spear made of pure demonic power.

"Reject," Frau said almost too calmly. Despite the large hole in his stomach, people who see this would have thought that Frau didn't seem to even notice it at all if not for the word he spoke.

Instantly, the wound disappeared, along with the spear and the hole.

Frau knelt down facing the two corpses and raised his hands towards them.

"Reject."

The two corpses immediately disappeared, leaving behind no traces.

After which, he saw the number on the blue screen and frowned a little.

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'That wound was more serious than I expected it to be...'

"Tch, if you're not going to reply, then I'm just going to have to force a confession out of you." The middle-aged man spoke lightly, as though he was just talking about the weather.

Three spears made of pure demonic power immediately found it's way into Frau's legs and left arm, but Frau seemed to have lost all his pain receptors in his body.

"Reject."

The three spears disappeared along with the holes they caused.

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Frau wasn't screaming anymore, nor was he wailing his eyes out. Instead, a small smile appeared as all the tears and snot seemed to disappear as though they had never appeared.

The middle-aged man noticed it, and stopped attacking him. Instead, he looked at Frau with greater interest; he had already noticed what was going on.

"Very interesting...you are much smarter than you look." He spoke as he noticed two people in the shadows, hidden from everyone's eyes. Or, at the very least, everyone but his.

"Frau, was it? I assume you know what's going on behind the scenes?" He walked closer to Frau, but Frau did not back off.

He merely nodded and smiled, "Not everything, but enough for me."

It was a very vague answer, but the middle-aged man seemed to like it.

"So, who are you really?"

"Cleria, no, mum was different, being the ruler of Kuoh and all. Dad was just your everyday exorcist. Two seemingly different people with completely different race and purpose managed to get together with true love. And I, Frau, am merely a product of their love."

"Biological? Doesn't seem like it..."

Frau gave the man a deadpan stare, "My hair color should tell you all you need to know, no?"

The middle-aged man chuckled, "Feisty one, aren't you?"

"I get mum, but since when do people as strong as you come and go as you please in this town? The first time I heard that the town was ruled by a devil, I was shocked. But then I started seeing more, understanding more. It was only at this time where everything I know finally started shaping my life."

It was as though they had just met for the first time for some friendly conversation. The only thing out of place was the fact that they were currently in an abandoned building full of holes.

"You're really interesting. You speak like you have gone through a few lifetimes, despite being merely nine. But something that attracts me more, is that I haven't seen powers like yours before." The middle-aged man replied, "It's not a sacred gear, yet it doesn't seem like magic as well. Neither is it some bloodline inheritance...so where does you power come from? Healing, memory altering, disintegrating...seems very versatile."

"Well, thank you. For someone who had tried to kill me for no reason at all, you're pretty polite." Frau spoke with a smile, "But I don't have an interest in middle-aged men. I did, however, recently picked up a not-very-suitable book just outside the church, and I think that interested me more. Perhaps you would be, too?"

He looked rather speechless at the young boy's reply, before shaking his head, "I merely came to see what the Old Satan faction was doing, but I managed to spot something interesting."

Hearing nothing that was particularly informative except for "Old Satan faction", Frau replied, "So, what now? Do we just continue standing around and chatting, or do we start trying to kill each other?"

"You actually think you can kill me?"

"Well," Frau looked at his number and shrugged, "It's worth a shot."

The middle-aged man looked amused at the mysterious young boy in front of him. Usually, not many people could easily shrug off his attacks. More often than not, they would have died before even managing to catch a glimpse of his face. Of course, the fact that he only attacked once played a great part in it, but not everyone could have a hole in their body and continue to talk with him about life.

Yet, this boy managed to shrug off a world of pain without even a grunt or a scream, instantly healing any wounds he had gotten, and even managed to stop the middle-aged man's mana pressure by some unknown method.

"Actually, I have a better proposal for you. Why don't you work for me?"

∞

Frau was slightly surprised by the middle-aged man's words. Out of all the possibilities he had thought of, the middle-aged man asking Frau to work for him was not one of them.

Frau didn't immediately reply to the middle-aged man's words but instead asked two questions back at him.

"Could you at least tell me your name first? Plus, I don't know anything about you, so why should I join?"

"Good Point. Rizevim Livan Lucifer. You'd do well to remember my name, Frau, for I'm the strongest devil in the Underworld. If you want to know more, get stronger and find it for yourself."

Strongest devil in the Underworld? Frau doubted that, but what could he say? He didn't know much about the power scaling, and he was far too weak to be able to judge beings far stronger than him.

"A devil? Aren't you afraid that I will report it to the Church? I may not look like it, but I am still a priest-in-training, you know?"

"I know. But rules are somethings only the weak follow? Didn't you see?" The middle-aged man smirked as he pointed towards the seven people around them, "The Church they follow orders from have already worked with the devils. While they might or might not know it, they still have to obey, even if it meant working with devils. So, make your decision now."

"In the end, all you revealed was your race and the fact that the Church works with devils. How amazingly detailed." Frau couldn't decide until he clarified two things, "What is your final goal?"

"To travel to a certain place."

Being a devil, especially one as powerful as the man before Frau, enabled him to wantonly travel practically anywhere in the world except for the dimensional gap, where two of the strongest beings resided.

Yet, his goal was to travel to a particular place? What a seemingly small purpose for a strong person. But Frau knew that there were plenty more that Rizevim was hiding from him.

"What will you do if I refuse?"

"You die." It was just two mere words, yet the middle-aged man's very being seemed to have changed. His lazy eyes narrowed, and his aura flared dangerously, but his light-hearted smile remained.

"Tch..."

Frau softly clicked his tongue in annoyance before looking at the blue screen.

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He had almost spent three million units of mana just healing all his injuries to perfect health, leaving a mere five million units.

It wasn't a lot. The middle-aged man was strong - from his arrogance, sky-high pride, and insane demonic powers that he wielded - it was easy enough to tell.

He was confident he could defend himself for some time, but what then? After his mana was fully spent, he would faint, leaving him completely defenseless against the "strongest devil in the underworld". 

He also wasn't nearly fast nor strong enough to land any damage on the middle-aged man. And all it takes for Frau to die is to kill him instantly, something that Frau didn't know whether or not the middle-aged man could do, nor was it something he was willing to risk in normal times. However...

"Sigh...let us continue fighting first then. I want to see if you are truly as strong as you say you are."

Frau suggested as he took the sword from Touji. He had his own reasons for this.

He wanted to truly gauge out the extent of the middle-aged man's power and see whether or not he was strong. If he wasn't, and this was all just a hoax, Frau would just kill him, though this was highly unlikely. Mana pressure was not something one could just do without sufficient strength.

In the end, Frau is a priest, and the Church's rule forbids all, no, most cooperation between the devils or fallen angels. As for why not all? Well, it seemed clear that the Church had ordered Touji to kill his own subordinate. After this incident, Frau's doubt about the Church only deepened.

"Arrogance is only going to get you killed. Testing me?" The middle-aged man spoke as two blood-red spears appeared in both his hands. He was also accompanied by fifty or so more spears of similar shape and color floating around him, all faced in one direction.

"Shouldn't it be me testing whether or not you are worthy of joining my cause?"

"Let's just agree to disagree." Frau kicked off the ground and dashed towards the middle-aged man. The middle-aged man did not seem remotely impressed and easily reacted by teleporting back a few meters and throwing ten spears where Frau stopped.

Castor and Ilyusha's training was no joke. Frau might have really died several times if not for their timely interference. It was dangerous, but it also allowed Frau to keep a cool head under hazardous situations and react accordingly.

All fifty spears were aimed accurately at Frau, but he managed to dodge all of them except for one who pierced his arm.

But it was no big deal. The wound closed as quickly as it opened.

"As expected, now that I look at it myself, it isn't 'healing'." The middle-aged man muttered, continuously dodging all the slashes from Frau's swords while occasionally tossing some balls made of pure demonic power towards Frau.

The middle-aged man wasn't even sweating; it was simply too easy for him. Yes, Frau was fast, strong, and have a good reaction time, but almost everybody in the supernatural world has it as well.

Compared to other humans, Frau could be considered "strong", but in the actual supernatural world, the world where the middle-aged man lived in? Frau was no big deal.

"Tch..." Frau looked at the easy-going man who was merely playing around with him and felt irritated. It has been a long time since he couldn't even land a single hit on someone, and it pissed him off.

"I've never tried this before, but...reject."

Immediately after, a wave of coolness swept past his body, making him feel refreshed and light.

"So it works?" But turning towards the blue screen, his expression turned into a pained one.

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About one million units of mana were used. And worse, the effects weren't permanent, though it would last for about a minute or so.

"Now then, round 2 starts now."

Instantly, Frau disappeared and reappeared in front of the middle-aged man. This time, however, Frau was so fast that the man couldn't react at all.

"Wh-" His surprise couldn't be fully expressed as he ricocheted across the building, through the wall, and out of the building.

"Phew, this is really nice~." Frau observed his own body and smiled. It was not in a very good condition despite only moving and punching once, but it was nothing training could not help.

"Perhaps I should use this more often."

If it was anybody else receiving the blow, they probably wouldn't be able to get up for the next three months or so. Unfortunately, the man Frau was currently facing was no ordinary man.

"Ho...I managed to feel that blow." The middle-aged man clapped, and Frau groaned. While Frau didn't expect the man to be brought down by that alone, he hoped that the man would be injured at least, no matter how slightly.

"What did you do?"

"What kind of magician would reveal their tricks before the end of the show?" Frau smiled and replied. Disappearing once more, he tried to land a blow on the man.

But this time, the man had already predicted that and managed to use his hand to deflect the blow. The man was originally going to just block the impact, but he realized that he couldn't stop it at all. His split-second instinct immediately forced him to deflect the blow instead.

But that wasn't the end. Out of nowhere, the entire place was filled with fog.

The man immediately used a type of magic that blew away all the fog, but he had already lost sight of Frau during that split second.

"Ooh, so you can use normal magic, after all."

The sound of slicing wind was suddenly heard, and instinctively, he turned around, only to be face to face with a blade.

"Nice timing!"

The middle-aged man's smile never disappeared as his face almost got cut by the blade. It wasn't a holy blade by any means, but it was still a sword blessed by the Church, meaning it had holy properties which are deadly to devils such as the man.

"Ooh, close one. Almost being injured by an nine-year-old human...kid, you can definitely brag about that in the future."

"You better start trying now. Otherwise, you'll definitely regret it if you continue looking down on me." Frau said as he positioned his sword.

"Perhaps." The close call acted as a brief reminder as to why he should start trying now, "Just don't die, alright?"

"Just-" This time, it was Frau's turn to be surprised. A hole suddenly appeared in his stomach, but Frau quickly healed up and jumped back before he could take any more damage.

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If the hole was just an inch higher, his heart would have disappeared in a flash, and you wouldn't even realize until it was too late.

"Holy Mother of Christ." As a good child, Frau doesn't outright swear. Instead, he camouflages his swears behind blessings.

"Now I'm truly impressed. Who on Satan's name trained you?"

"Some bishop who had too much time on his hand and felt bored."

"Bishop?" The man was curious, but he didn't dwell on that. More importantly, the fight in front of him wasn't just finished yet. "Let's see how you would survive this instead."

Six pairs of wings emerged from the man's back, and Frau stared in shock.

A superclass devil.

'No wonder he's so damn strong!' Frau thought, but his battle intent didn't lower in any way.

The middle-aged man didn't make any move, but Frau felt a sense of danger everywhere.

He had no time to react before all four of his limbs evaporated as an ominous-looking ten-meter bullet appeared and shot at him at the same time.

"Well, shit..."

Still, despite walking on the thin line between the realm of life and death, Frau didn't panic at all. Instead, he smiled as the entire building lit up in a brilliant light, "Reject."

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Frau had a massive drop in mana, but the effects made it all worth it. His limbs were restored, the bullet which would have destroyed half the town disappeared, and the place looked as though no one had fought here before. The latter effect was not something he intended to do. It was merely a lost in control over mana; something he needed more training for.

The calm breeze blew across both of them as they stared at each other. There was nothing left as evidence that the man and Frau did once fight against each other. Not even a scratch, a hole, or blood on their bodies or in their environment.

"Hahaha...I truly didn't see you wrong. The power of causality, huh?" The man spoke, but Frau immediately tensed before relaxing once more. There are no stupid superclass devils. All the stupid ones never managed to grow up.

There was no difference whether or not the man knew. Frau had already decided to work with him after the final blow, and sooner or later, the man would eventually find out about his powers. It was just that he had exposed his powers a tad too early than he predicted.

After everything the two bishops warned him about, he did not expect he would only break his promise a few days after they left.

"Good, now I want you even further. I would use another way to reach that place, but that wasn't guaranteed, only having about a 50% chance to succeed. But now that you're here, the plan would surely succeed. I don't even feel like killing you now. So, what do you say?" The man smiled; he now looked like a child who had gotten a new toy, "What is your decision?"

"I can stop all your attacks, but I wouldn't be able to kill you. You're strong."

"Of course. I'm a superclass devil, after all. And just to let you know, I was still holding back."

"Of course..." Frau didn't doubt it at all. He barely had 0.001% of his mana left, while he could sense the overwhelming demonic energy emitting from the man's body, "Sigh, I accept. What do I have to do?"

"Great! What you have to do is simple. Get stronger, and follow my orders."

"I won't target innocents, though." Frau countered.

"I don't care. I have plenty of other subordinates for that. If you don't want to, then don't. But there will be one thing you must do, no matter what, but I'll tell you later when you become stronger. The fact that you can't even revive your parents and have to resort to this sort of petty scheme shows how weak you truly are." The man spoke neutrally, not caring about the humans scattered everywhere within the building at all.

"Done. And even if you didn't say anything, I would have tried to get stronger myself anyway."

"I'll have some occasional jobs for you as well. They would probably help you to get stronger, so you can't reject them as well."

"Once again-"

"I know, no innocents. I don't care about humans. I will only kill them if they get in the way of my goal. If there is nothing else, I'm leaving now."

As the man turned to leave, Frau stopped him.

"Hey, how do I contact you?"

"It's Rizevim Livan Lucifer to you, not 'hey'. You'd do well to remember my name, Frau. I'll contact you in the future."

∞

A few minutes after the blinding light that Frau's power caused, the whole town was alarmed. After all, a blinding light in the middle of the night would naturally cause a lot of attention. Multiple authority figures moved towards the light source, while most civilians did not even realize and just went back to sleep.

While short, the aura emitted by the two while fighting was felt. Frau didn't hold back in the slightest, trying his very best to land a severe injury on Rizevim but failing to do so even till the end.

Various factions who were sneaking around in Kuoh Town were alerted and started an investigation. They found out that the blinding light was caused by some powers and not some human technology.

News of Cleria and her lover's "death" also started spreading, leading to many factions dispatching more personnel.

Of course, the bodies of Cleria and Yaegaki were never found, and all the exorcists found themselves at home in bed the following day.

While picking up the five unconscious bodies, Frau had certain dark thoughts about them.

And no, it wasn't related to his dick. He internally debated whether or not to kill them all as revenge for his parents, because while none of them actually fought Yaegaki and Cleria, the intention was enough. But in the end, he just sighed and tossed them into their respective houses.

Touji, being the leader of the group, was naturally his main target, but he then thought of Irina, who was his friend. Irina was still a child, and a child naturally shouldn't carry the burden of their parents' mistakes.

He was already going to be alone, and he couldn't change that until he became stronger. He didn't need to make Irina suffer the same fate as him.

"Wake up." Frau muttered as he returned to his parent's bodies. Immediately, they started to stir.

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"F-Frau? What are you doing here?"

"Came to say goodbye, Dad."

"Huh?"

"It's time for you to leave town with mum and never come back." Frau had a smile on his face as he spoke lightheartedly to his parents, but all three knew it was forced.

"Frau..."

"I already know everything, mum. I had planned everything ever since I found out about it. The stage, the curtain, the lights. One could say everything went smoothly." Frau responded. Of course, Rizevim was not part of his plan, but he did not feel the need to tell his parents about it.

He was trying to get them away from here, away from all the mess in this town. And now was the perfect time. Anything that would keep them here. Frau would erase them all.

Himself, if necessary.

The two fell silent for a moment before Yaegaki pulled Frau in for a hug. Frau could not hold it in any longer. It had been a long night, and the fact that his parents were going to leave him alone for a long period of time was not helping with his mental state.

A mature kid is still a kid.

A supernatural kid is still a kid.

Having watched Frau grow up, Yaegaki knew exactly what his kid was going to do if he refused, but he was powerless to stop it.

"I'm sorry, Frau. I've been a terrible father."

"Yeah."

"I've put a lot of pressure on you."

"Yeah."

"I even fell in love with a devil."

"Yeah."

"Will you forgive me?"

This time, Frau remained silent. Should he blame his devil mother for taking Yaegaki away from him? Or perhaps blame his own father for falling in love with Cleria? Or maybe the world is just unfair in general.

Cleria remained silent as she stared at Frau.

"Ask me again in ten years...so leave now," Frau muttered so softly that if they were not supernatural denizens, they would not be able to hear him, "Leave before I am unable to bear it again."

Pulling out of the hug, Frau turned his back against them and started leaving the place. The couple looked at each other before nodding.

There was no more goodbyes, no more tears.

No more sobbing, no more reminiscing. 

The couple took one final good look at their child returning to the Church before turning to the darkness of the night. No one will ever find them again.

Not until the correct time.

∞

The next day, the Church was not opened by him. There were a variety of reasons, but Frau just did not have the motivation to do so. It was already 9am, but the familiar feeling of being dumped into ice-cold water just did not come. Only the old priest came to check on him before opening the gates to the Church.

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Overnight, his mana had regenerated back to about one quarter.

Till now, the sadness from his parents' departure wasn't satisfied with just the fight with Rizevim. And so, his goal for today was in the forest near the Church, where there were plenty of preys who weren't nearly as innocent as Irina.

There were overgrown snakes that shouldn't be placed in public eyes, poisonous bugs that shouldn't have existed in Japan, holes so deep one couldn't climb out of it without a ten-meter rope, and many other dangers.

How did they all come about? Strays.

Stray Yokais, devils, and fallen angels. Angels couldn't be "stray" as to be considered "stray", one had to have committed a sin, which in turn would have made them fallen angels.

While Frau had been training in this very same forest for the last three years, some strays had managed to sneak in for a night or two. Even the two bishops were not able to keep everyone out, but Frau did not mind.

Throughout the entire morning, from 9am to 12pm, Frau stayed in the forest and wholly scoured through the whole forest floor, removing every single danger. He even killed some devils and fallen angels who were resting, injured, or just experimenting on the animals present.

Good or bad, Frau did not know. He was not a heartless person, but seeing their non-human appearances and sufferings, Frau opted to free them from their misfortune of being turned into an experimental products.

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"1 million units of mana left to spend, huh?"

Frau checked his blue screen and muttered. Returning to the edge of the forest, he thought about the ways he used his powers to fight against Rizevim and took down some notes. They were beneficial as the fight told Frau everything he needed to learn, from his weakness to his strength to where he currently stood in the supernatural world.

It was essential for him to not misestimate his own powers and fall into trouble. After all, not every superclass devil would have the same temper as Rizevim. When attacked, he might very well just vanish into thin air instead of just a hole in his stomach.

His recovery was pretty good, his offense was lacking severely, and he had zero defenses. Any attack could severely injure him if not for his fast reactions.

His swordplay was only good against weaker opponents. His swordplay was useless against stronger opponents who had tons of mana to spare and attack from a range. In fact, he did not even manage to hit Rizevim with his sword at all.

So, he needed his attacks and defense to be stronger as well.

He picked up his sword and tried to imagine his mana coating his blade like some gel or protective layer.

To Frau's surprise, he managed to do so quite easily, and a faint blue-like flame appeared.

"Oh..." Appreciating the color, Frau wondered why he never ever thought of this before.

He sliced a nearby tree with the blade, but instead of just ending up embedding it in the tree, the entire trunk was cut through.

"Oh shit!" Frau hurriedly got out of the way as the tree toppled down towards him.

Watching the tree smashed against the earth, Frau's mouth was widened with shock.

But...

"Is that all mana can do? Sharpen a sword?" Frau wondered.

Ilyusha and Castor had never taught him anything related to a sword; neither of them was sword users, anyway.

Mana is the spiritual life force energy or healing power that permeates the universe. Everyone could theoretically utilize mana, but most don't get a chance to even until their death. Yokais have a much higher alignment with Ki than mana. Thus while they can utilize mana, they prefer using Ki more.

Devils and angels can use demonic power and holy power, respectively, which are subtypes of mana.

Most monsters use mana or ki, depending on their species.

Mana is a relatively neutral form of energy, thus being able to shape and manipulate mana meant being able to cast various types of magic which some exceptions.

Frau's mana is slightly unique compared to others. His powers, Reject, were mixed within his mana, causing his mana to mutate into something like demonic or holy power.

However, while his mana was able to cast his own powers efficiently and effectively, this also caused him to not release other elements of magic effectively. On the flip side, similar types of magic, like healing magic, were also buffed, thus making Frau a pretty good healer even without his powers of Reject.

But if he cast healing mana on his sword, wouldn't that defeat the purpose of cutting someone?

Anyway, he still had 1 million units of mana to spend, and he wanted to spend the rest to increase his maximum mana. He didn't know whether or not this growth rate had a limit, but he sure hoped not.

If 8 million was his limit, his parents...Frau didn't want to think about it.

It was very simple to train his power of Reject. Unlike a typical human mage where one had to "calculate" everything before casting it, devils and angels could instantly form it using the power of imagination.

Of course, calculating had it's own pros and cons. It would make the magic casted typically stronger than what imagination had to offer. But then again, most of the supernatural denizens had their bloodline powers or innate abilities, thus making the advantages of "calculations" of human mages rather useless. 

Therefore, if given a choice, most would pick the latter option. That is also the reason why most people try not to drag normal beings into the supernatural world. It was a place where talent mattered the most, not hard work. Hard work only works if talent was there, not vice-versa.

And Frau was given the choice. All he had to do was imagine his powers flowing through his body and into his target, and viola! It works!

Honestly, it was a cheat. While many people struggled to calculate and cast even the simplest spells at his age, Frau could already cast some mid-level spells with ease, albeit with weaker effects since his mana wasn't genuinely neutral.

Reject the air around Frau. It was dangerous since it produced a vacuum for a moment, almost causing Frau to die. He wasn't some insane being who could survive the vacuum of outer space.

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Reject the life around him. It was cruel and unnecessary, but at this point, Frau couldn't care less anymore. His priority was gaining enough mana to protect anyone around him. A diameter of ten meters around Frau turned the lush green forest into a withered brown scenery. At this point, Frau once again realized how little life costs, seeing the mana decrease the same as removing air.

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Reject the momentum around Frau. Well, that was a mistake as now, he couldn't move a single inch. Any momentum he had was instantly dispelled. Walking, talking, and even breathing all require momentum.

Reject his rejection of momentum.

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Well...at least Frau managed to discover a new possible attack on his enemies. Removing their ability to use their lungs as all contraction and expansion would be canceled out, ultimately killing them in the end if not canceled by Frau.

The only downside was its cost. 330 thousand was a lot, even if it might seem minor when compared to his maximum.

Left with slightly above 28 thousand units of mana, Frau returned home, leaving the area behind in a desolated, withered mess. He tried returning life back to the forest, but his mana did not even budge. It had failed; life was too expensive to be given back after taking it.

He took a shower and spent the rest of his mana rejecting random stuff while training his control. After all, the amount of mana spent wasn't fixed; it depended on variables such as the difference in strength and his own control. Since he couldn't change the difference in strength, he could only change his control, which would allow him to remain in battle for a longer time.

And as expected, as soon as the number reached zero, his body was sapped of strength, and Frau lost consciousness.

∞

"NOO!" Touji yelled as he awakened suddenly, his back drenched with sweat and his entire body uncomfortable.

His body trembled as he remembered the presence of the devil. The devil was just too strong; just the mere aura of it made all of his subordinates lost consciousness. Even he himself couldn't last long before following in their footsteps.

He also remembered what they had done before the devil arrived. And he regretted it so badly.

There will always be a hundred different ways to go about things, but he picked the most horrible choice in the end. And now, he had lost a friend, lost a nephew, and lost his conscience the moment he decided to kill his friend.

His family didn't know about this, and he didn't plan to tell them just yet. His daughter was too young, and he felt too guilty in front of his wife.

Suddenly, he remembered that Frau was also present when he executed his father. But more importantly, he didn't even know whether or not Frau was safe amid the devil when even the exorcists fainted.

"Dear, you're awake!" A female voice rang out, and he turned to look at her, "I was wondering why you didn't return all night. It turns out you started enjoying the couch now, huh?"

Grace was wearing an apron and was about to enter the kitchen to make breakfast when she realized that her husband had just woken up on the couch.

"It's a misunderstanding. I don't even know how I ended up on the couch." Touji wryly smiled as he got up.

"Go take a bath, dear. I can smell you from here." Grace only pinched her nose as she made her way to the kitchen, "Well, I hope you will be able to tell me about last night during breakfast."

How Touji wished he could tell her as well, but unfortunately...

"I'm sorry, but I can't."

"Work thing?"

"Work thing." Touji nodded, and Grace sighed.

"Fine. Just go wash up and wake our daughter up. School is starting soon."

Touji nodded and followed his wife's instructions.

After breakfast and fetching his daughter to school, he noted that Frau wasn't present in school.

He then drove towards the Church, where he saw only the old priest present.

"Good morning! Have you seen Frau?"

He was the only one who did not participate in the activity last night, but he knew exactly what had happened. He could not judge anybody; each had their own reasons for their behavior and as someone who backed off, nor was he qualified to do so.

"Good morning. Frau looked unwell, so I just left him in bed."

"Can I visit at him?"

"Perhaps another day." The priest shook his head, "He said that he wanted to spend the time to recover alone."

Touji only sighed regretfully. He knew that Frau wasn't sick, physically, at least. And truth to be told, he didn't know how to face the young boy even if he was allowed to see him anyway.

"If that is the case, I'll swing by later and give him something to recover. For now, let's just pray."

The priest nodded as both of them closed their eyes, praying for the future that would come.

∞

"Frau! Wake up! It's late!" A voice of an old man resounded throughout the room.

"Ojii-san...I don't feel like getting out of bed for the rest of the day, no, the week." Frau replied back to the voice, clutching his blanket over his head.

"Sigh, I know that you're upset about Yaegaki-san's death, but no one would have expected it to happen." An old man opened the door and drew the curtains, allowing sunlight to finally enter the dark place.

Unlike the two priests that trained him earlier in his life, this particular old man wasn't a priest. He was a mere worker here in charge of the cleanliness of the Church, which was why he didn't know anything about the supernatural world.

"It's not about that..."

"Yes, yes, I believe you," He replied, clearly not believing Frau's words, "It's been two weeks since you left your room. If not for your occasional snores, we would have all thought you were dead."

Well, that wasn't Frau's fault. As his mana capacity grew, the time he took to awaken grew longer as well. Thankfully, it wasn't exponential.

From 8,388,608 to 268,435,456 there was a 32 times increase. He had constantly depleted his mana, fainted, and woke up 5 times, each time "sleeping" for 12 hours over the last two weeks. Finally, he had managed to give life to a blade of grass, costing him 130 million mana, causing him to deplete his mana the fastest compared to the last 3 years.

He refused all visits, and the only person who he would see was this old man, a regular citizen unaware of the supernatural side of the world, and the priest who did not participate in the attack against his parents.

Frau just didn't want to see anyone related to the supernatural side for a while.

The old man arrived at his bedside and nudged Frau a little bit before saying, "Get up. It's already 10 am. I didn't stop you before today because you were depressed. But now that two weeks have passed, I cannot let this continue any longer."

"Ojii-san..."

"Nope. Plus, your friends are worried about you. Two of them were even visiting the Church every day, hoping you would come out."

At his words, Frau sat upright, revealing a curious eye, "Friends? Who?"

"Touji-san's daughter and a brown-haired boy."

"Irina and Issei?" Frau groaned a little before nodding, "Fine. I'll meet them later."

"You better. And go take a bath. You stink so much you would put a fat neet bathed in alcohol who hasn't taken a show in forever to shame."

"That's a lot of stereotypes in your words, Ojii-san. Not all neets are like that." Frau retorted with a yawn, "And that's fat-shaming, alcohol-shaming, and smell-shaming."

Frau went out of his room to take a shower, leaving behind a puzzled old man, who didn't understand a single word Frau had just said.

Coming down from the bath, he saw the two familiar children he was friends with since elementary school and greeted them.

"Yo! You two are here, huh? I understand Iri-ahem...Shidou, but I didn't think you're a religious person, Issei."

Frau usually calls Irina by her given name, but just to ensure that the funny misunderstanding can continue, he calls Irina "Shidou" in front of Issei.

"Because I'm not. I was just worried about you, and Shidou was bugging me to visit you together every day." Issei responded dryly, though he was clearly happy to see Frau.

"Yeah! We were worried that you didn't come to school for two weeks!"

"I had to prepare for my parents' private 'funeral'. Sorry for worrying all of you." Frau apologized while Irina and Issei just stepped forward and hugged him silently.

Frau understood that they were trying to cheer him up in their own way, and it made Frau smile.

"I'm fine now, but thank you for your hug. I needed it." Frau released the both of them and asked, "So, what's the plan today?"

"We didn't expect you to actually come out, so we didn't really make any plans. Besides that, are you still sad about your parents...?"

Should that even be a question? Of course, he was, but not for the reason they think it is.

"I'm fine now. Why don't we go out and play?"

"Well, Shidou found an abandoned factory the other day and wants to play there," Issei answered.

"Since you want to play, why don't we go there and find some ghosts then kick their asses!" While saying that, Irina shadowboxed on the spot, kicking the empty air around them. She was excited at the thought of exorcising ghosts because of her family's influence as a devote believer in Christianity.

It incited some peals of laughter from the present Church-goers who thought she was being cute, and it made Irina blush from embarrassment.

"Well, that's fine with me. Shall we go now?"

Issei was the first one to walk out of the Church, and Irina commented as she followed him, "Looks like Issei is excited to see a ghost."

"Ghosts don't exist! So I'm not afraid of a ghost!" That was what he said, but Frau clearly noticed that Issei wasn't looking forward to their trip.