Chapter 5: Devil Hunter

The sword locator was finally complete. Kiba equipped it, causing another black line to appear around his right wrist.

"I have their location. Follow me," Kiba said, turning invisible to everyone except Akeno.

He sprouted his wings and flew up. "Follow me," he repeated.

Akeno used her magic to turn invisible and flew up beside him.

"How do you have extra wings?" Akeno asked.

"I just unlocked my potential, that's all," Kiba replied.

A few minutes later, Akeno asked, "How do you know their location?"

"My sword," Kiba answered.

Akeno instantly understood.

As they arrived at the location, Kiba walked toward a house with many tenants, and Akeno followed. At the third house, Kiba knocked on the door. A woman answered.

"Yes, how can I help you?" the woman asked.

"I—" Kiba began, but then he saw a man inside who instantly looked shaken.

"Honey, these people want to meet me," the man said, quickly moving to stand in front of the woman.

"Husband and wife. Interesting. You already know this guy is a Devil, right?" Kiba asked the woman.

She grew wary, suspecting Kiba might be a priest or exorcist intent on killing her husband.

The man started gathering demonic energy behind his back, but a blue spectral sword appeared at his neck.

"Don't try anything stupid. I can sense your demonic energy," Kiba warned.

Turning to Akeno, Kiba asked, "Should we kill him or bring him back?"

"Well, his master wants him back," Akeno said.

"Please, no. Don't send me back. He will torture me, please," the man begged on the ground.

"Stand up. I don't like people begging," Kiba said.

The man stood up, still pleading. "Please."

"Akeno, if I make my own choice right now, will you stop me?" Kiba asked.

"It depends on what you do," Akeno replied.

Kiba smiled and began creating a sword that could extract Evil Pieces.

"I won't kill you, but I will take your Evil Pieces," Kiba said.

The man grew more terrified, knowing he might die if the pieces were taken by force.

"Calm down. My methods won't kill you," Kiba reassured him.

"Can I trust you?" the man asked.

"Yeah, but who else are you going to trust other than me?" Kiba said.

"Fine, take it," the man agreed.

"Wait a minute, the method isn't ready yet. While we wait, can we sit inside?" Kiba asked.

"...Sure," the man said.

Kiba and Akeno entered the house. She whispered to him, "You can take Evil Pieces?"

Kiba just smiled.

As they sat, the woman asked, "Isn't it dangerous inviting a Devil Hunter in?"

The man nodded. "But don't worry, I'll protect you with all my might," he said, making the woman feel safe.

Kiba and Akeno sat beside each other, with the couple opposite them.

"How long have you been together?" Kiba asked.

"Two months," the man replied.

"Congratulations on your newborn baby," Kiba said, sensing two lives in the woman's body.

"My wife is pregnant?" the man exclaimed, both shocked and happy.

"I'm pregnant?" the woman cried tears of joy.

They hugged each other. Kiba smiled, and Akeno smiled too, happy for the couple.

"You should celebrate this. Devils have a hard time having offspring. It's a blessing," Akeno said.

"You can celebrate later. The method is ready," Kiba said as his sword creation finished. He equipped himself.

He also created a sword to convert Evil Pieces into power.

"Okay, I'm ready," the man said.

Kiba placed his hand over the man's chest and activated the sword's ability. As he pulled it out, an Evil Piece Knight emerged from the man's body without causing injury.

"Am I free now?" the man asked.

"Yes, but stay low," Kiba advised.

"I know. Thank you so much," the man said.

"But if you start killing people in this town, I'll personally cut you down," Kiba warned, tapping Akeno on her lap.

"Let's go," he said to Akeno.

As they walked away, Akeno asked, "Are you going to give the Evil Piece Knight back to the owner?"

"Why should I? I'm going to fuse it with myself," Kiba said with a smile.

"How are you doing this?" Akeno asked, intrigued.

"Using my Sacred Gear. I lacked imagination before, but now I have more than enough," Kiba explained.

"So, you can create any ability with your Sacred Gear?" Akeno asked.

"Yes, but there are always limitations," Kiba said.

The sword finished dissolving the Evil Piece Knight into particles that entered Kiba's body.

"Good enough," Kiba said.

"You're crazy, Kiba-kun," Akeno said, worried the owner of the Evil Piece would find out.

"You say that while hiding your own sadistic tendencies. I know how much you love to beat people. Don't lie; I saw that smile from a mile away," Kiba said. "The Evil Pieces will act like the Stray Devil got killed. Don't worry too much."

"You already thought about it," Akeno said.

"Pretty much," Kiba replied with a smile.

"Are you Batman?" Akeno asked.

Kiba chuckled, then put on a serious face and deepened his voice. "I'm Batman."

"No, if I were him, I would've become a menace to the supernatural world. But I'm not there yet," Kiba said with a smile.

Akeno smiled, pleased to see him showing more of his true emotions. She preferred this over his usual fake smile.

"Where are we heading next?" Akeno asked.

"To the next Stray Devil," Kiba replied, already aware of its location. He sprouted his wings and took to the sky.

Akeno followed suit.

A few minutes later, they arrived at an empty, abandoned building.

"Looks like we're in for a fight today," Kiba said, summoning his claymore and resting it on his shoulder.

As they entered the building, Kiba sensed the Stray Devil hiding behind a pillar. With precise aim, he threw his claymore like a javelin, striking the Stray Devil and cutting it in half.

Kiba was disappointed at how quickly the Devil fell, but Akeno was amazed and surprised.

Panic set in as Kiba rushed toward the Stray Devil, extracting the Evil Piece before it could vanish forever. He sighed in relief, then absorbed the Pawn Evil Pieces.

Retrieving and unsummoning his claymore, Kiba walked back to Akeno. "Akeno, if you want to go home, go ahead. I still want to hunt these guys."

"No, I'd like to follow you," Akeno replied.