"...Uhm... G-Gremory-san, why are you here?"
Gasper's voice trembled with a mix of shock and confusion as he stared at the crimson-haired girl who had effectively brought him back to life.
Rias Gremory stood in the hallway of a certain five-star hotel in Bucharest, her expression shifting from relief to a playful pout that made the small boy even more nervous.
"Mou~, didn't I tell you to just call me Rias?" she said, crossing her arms.
"And why wouldn't I be here to find you? You are my Bishop, Gasper. I was worried sick."
She took a step into the room, her eyes scanning the space.
"So, tell me. Where have you been going? Running off without a word is not like you."
"Uhmm... it is just, I had to meet my dearest friend because she was in danger. That is why," Gasper said. He straightened his back, trying to appear firm, a gesture of independence that caught Rias by surprise.
"Then, did you meet that friend?" Rias asked, her voice softening.
Gasper nodded.
"Uhm... s-she is here. But her condition right now is not good, so I cannot come with you just yet."
"I told you that I would do everything for my family, right?" Rias said, her expression becoming warm and motherly. Gasper gave a small nod.
"You are my family, Gasper. Therefore, your friends are my friends too."
She turned to the silver-haired maid standing stoically behind her.
"Grayfia, can we bring Gasper's friend with us as well?"
The silver-haired maid, Grayfia Lucifuge nodded diligently, her professional mask never slipping.
"Of course, Ojou-sama."
A bright smile lit up Rias's face. "Hear that, Gasper? Let's go to the Underworld and bring your friend too. Your friend will receive the best treatment available in the Underworld, I promise you that."
Rias reached out, excitedly grabbing Gasper's tiny hands as if the matter were already settled.
"B-but, Illya-san and Lavinia-san. No, I am going to wait for-"
Before Gasper could finish his sentence, a magic circle erupted in the center of the room.
From the swirling bluish light, two figures emerged. Jay stood at the center, his black hair slightly tousled and his dark hazel eyes fixed in a cold stare. His left eye, with its glowing golden X, pulsed with a predatory light.
He wore a simple grey sweater and black trousers, yet the aura he projected was anything but simple especially in Grayfia eyes.
Beside him was Lavinia, her purple magician's robes fluttering and her staff held firmly in her hand.
The moment Jay's gaze fell upon them, Grayfia's instincts screamed. She acted instantly, grabbing Rias by the shoulder, earning a surprised yelp from the girl, before pulling both her and Akeno behind her protective form.
"G-Grayfia?"
The sudden change in her demeanor confused Rias.
"Stay behind me, Ojou-sama. That man is dangerous," Grayfia whispered.
Rias frowned in confusion, because in her eyes, the black-haired man was just a human, albeit a very good-looking one.
"Hmm. Didn't I tell you not to open the door to anyone, Gasper?" Jay asked, his voice low.
Gasper's fear vanished instantly at the sight of them. "Illya-san! Lavinia-san!"
Jay looked at the three devils standing at the threshold.
His eyes lingered on the silver-haired maid. Her beauty and that specific shade of silver hair reminded him of a certain silver-haired bastard he had recently fought.
Even more concerning was her power, through his Dragon Eye, he could see she was just as strong as Euclid Lucifuge, perhaps even slightly more stronger.
Then he looked at the young girls behind her. They were shorter than him, but clearly around his age. However, the one who caught his attention the most was the girl radiating a dark crimson aura.
He recognized that same aura within Gasper as well. That confirmed it for him. This was the so-called Peerage System.
"So, these are the ones who reincarnated you into devils, Gasper?"
"Yes! Thanks to Gremory-san and Himejima-san," Gasper nodded enthusiastically.
"Himejima?" Jay raised an eyebrow at the familiar name. He looked at the black-haired girl, Akeno.
Akeno felt the weight of that dark hazel gaze, particularly the terrifying left eye that glowing in the dim hotel room. It felt as if her entire existence was being stripped naked and all her secrets laid bare before his scrutiny.
'Now that I look carefully, she resembles that girl, Suzaku Himejima. But anyway...' Jay thought.
Jay took a step forward.
Grayfia tensed, her hand dropping to her side. She recognized the energy. It was the same draconic pressure and that inexplicable, void-like sensation she had sensed during the massive energy blasts that rocked the region hours ago.
"I am sorry, but Gasper is with his friend here. Please get out," Jay said.
His expression remained static, but the killing intent seeping from him was like a geyser. The only things holding Jay back from an immediate strike were his exhausted body and the fact that these individuals had, in their own way, saved Gasper.
"No!" Rias countered, stepping out from behind Grayfia.
"Gasper is my family too. I will accompany him no matter what, even if he cannot come with me right now."
Jay ignored her and moved to close the door, but Rias was quick.
She reached out and held the door open, staring into Jay's eyes with sheer determination. Jay looked at the crimson-haired girl for a second before his hand moved with blinding speed toward her neck.
Grayfia's eyes widened.
"Ojou-sama!"
The maid instantly began to manifest a silver-bluish magic circle to intercept him. However, Jay's hand shifted mid-air.
Using the analytical power of Avesta, he identified the structural weakness of her spell in a microsecond. He sent a tiny, calculated disruption of mana into the center of her formation.
The magic circle shattered like glass.
"What!" Grayfia gasped. He cancelled my magic? How?
But the one most surprised was Jay himself, since even he had not expected it to work. He had already been preparing to use Phantasmagoria to evade the incoming attack, treating the attempt as nothing more than a test of his hypothesis.
He was trying to understand how Azi Dahaka performed anti-magic through this eye, reminiscing how it feels during the moment where the three-headed dragon cancelled his Phantasmagoria, which is a structural breakdown.
To achieve this anti-magic effect, Jay followed the same concept as antimatter, the interaction between positrons and electrons. In this case, Grayfia's magic circle was disrupted by his own thread of mana, which carried information completely opposite to the runes inscribed within her spell.
For example, Grayfia's spell, in devil power is turned into a more structured form by the Dragon eye, and it could be translated as, By elemental law and structural order, let cold take form and ice manifest as truth.
In that split second, Jay would do the same thing but inversed, By structural negation and inverse law, let form dissolve and ice return to null.
This was only possible because Avesta could read and translate every single inscription within a magic spell. Even so, if the spell contained more complex structures and a greater number of runes, this form of anti-magic, or magic cancellation, would become far more difficult to perform.
'That was… surprisingly simple for such a weak spell,' he thought, glancing toward Grayfia. 'Might as well try a few more things.'
Realizing the threat was far greater than anticipated, Grayfia rushed forward through the narrow alleyway of the hotel suite. she threw an enhanced fist aimed directly at Jay's head.
BOOM
The impact was thunderous, but her fist passed through his head as if he were made of mist.
Phantasmagoria.
The resulting shockwave of displaced air alone created a violent gust that flipped the table inside the room and cracked the surrounding walls. Jay's body flickered and re-solidified to the side.
He calmly flicked his wrist.
Rupture.
A jagged tear in space sliced through the air toward Grayfia.
Sensing the spatial distortion, the maid grabbed Rias and leaped backward. The tear missed her flesh but caught the hem of her maid outfit, shredding the fabric and revealing the white lingerie beneath.
'As expected, Rupture is manifesting faster than before,' Jay thought, looking at his hand.
By slightly altering the magical structure based on what Avesta saw, he could decrease the activation time of his spell, leaving the enemy almost no window to react.
'This eye truly was a cheat. It was no wonder Azi Dahaka could slaughter hundreds of Zoroatrianism gods in his prime just by using his magic.'
Jay stood his ground at the door, ready to continue, but then his eyes widened.
As suddenly, a terrifying tremendous aura washed over the room, an energy that exceeded even both Rizevim and the Evil Dragon.
A new figure emerged from a crimson teleportation circle in the hallway.
He was handsome, seemingly in his early twenties, with shoulder-length crimson hair and piercing blue eyes. But his left eyed did not see a man. It saw something else entirely. A form of pure destruction hidden beneath the fragile fabric of flesh.
'Who is this? Only Ophis possesses more raw power than this man.' He thought.
Jay felt like everything could go wrong with the sudden appearance of the man.
Even Lavinia, who had been observing quietly until then, hurried to Jay's side, her eyes narrowing. She had seen a photograph of the man before. Anyone who had spent enough time in the supernatural world would recognize the man.
It was none other than…
"Sirzechs Lucifer," she whispered.
'Ah, one of the Four Satans of the Underworld. The strongest Devil of this era. From his appearance and his hair, he must be related to that girl, Rias Gremory.'
Jay thought, recalling the contents of the books about current devil's hierarchy in Glenda's library as he looked at Sirzechs and then back at Rias.
Sirzechs wore a worried expression as he checked on Rias, then Grayfia and Akeno.
"Are you guys okay?"
Rias nodded slowly, while Grayfia simply closed her eyes.
Sirzechs smiled to them, before his expression change as he looked at the two humans in front of him. However, his gaze lingered on Jay in particular, sensing that the aura he emanated was far from normal for a human.
And with his vast intelligence network across the supernatural world, the Lucifer already knew exactly who both of them were.
"I never thought my sister's peerage would run into two hotshots," Sirzechs said. "The Ice Princess from Grauzauberer, and also... the Scorch Magician. The Godslayer."
"I also never thought that the devils failed to teach manners to their young," Jay replied, shooting a glance at Rias that made her flinch.
"Forcefully entering someone else's room… I guess you can do anything when you possess that much power, right, Maou Lucifer?" Jay said, his words heavy with sarcasm.
But to his surprise, Sirzechs did not take offense. Instead, the Great Satan offered a slight bow.
"I am deeply sorry for my sister's actions. I am certain she did not mean any harm. She is a very kind and compassionate girl, and she was simply trying to meet her precious friend."
The sight of the strongest devil in existence bowing to him made Jay feel strangely irritated.
The silence was broken by Gasper, who reached out and grabbed Jay's hand.
"P-please stop, Illya-san," Gasper pleaded.
Jay paused, looking down at the boy.
"Gremory-san and Himejima-san are the ones who revived me. They saved me. They are not evil people by any means. I will go with them."
Rias's face brightened at the statement. "Gasper..."
Jay looked into the dhampir's pink eyes. "Are you sure, Gasper? They might have revived you only for their own ambition. They will likely use you as a weapon later."
"That is not true!" Rias retorted. "I treat all my peerage like family!"
Jay ignored her completely.
"If you want, I can try to turn you back from the devil you are right now." Jay said, his expression didn't change.
"Illya-san, it is okay," Gasper said with a serene smile.
"After all, Gremory-san and Himejima-san are the ones who gave me the chance to meet Valerie. Because of them, I was able to meet you and Lavinia-san. I am very grateful to them. What is important right now is that Valerie is safe. That is more than enough for me."
Gasper took a breath, his gaze hardening with a new purpose.
"Besides, as I am right now... I cannot protect Valerie the way you do. I want to be like you were when you were killing those bad guys by yourself. I will become as strong as you, and then I will be able to protect Valerie on my own."
Lavinia watched Gasper with a proud smile.
Jay sensed the firm determination in those pink eyes, even as they trembled slightly.
"Alright. Who am I to stop you from pursuing your ambitions?" Jay gently patted Gasper's head, even though he was probably only a year older than him.
He turned back to the group of devils.
"Gasper will meet you after Valerie is fully conscious. Come back tomorrow."
His eyes remained cold.
He knew he couldn't handle Sirzechs in his current state. Even if he were fully recovered, he wasn't confident he could defeat the crimson-haired man.
If his goal was to eventually eliminate the threats of the supernatural world, Sirzechs Lucifer was the ultimate obstacle.
Of course, aside from that freak Rizevim, whose whereabouts were currently unknown. For now, his primary target was that man.
After all, with the Grail in his possession, his level of threat was unimaginably high. If he could revive other beings as powerful as Azi Dahaka, and do so simultaneously, the consequences would be catastrophic.
It could very well lead to the end of the world.
"Very well," Grayfia answered, her voice regaining its composure. "I will be the one to pick up Gasper Vladi-sama tomorrow."
"Okay. Now, get out of my room."
CLICK
Jay shut the door firmly, leaving the devils standing in the hallway. Sirzechs looked at Grayfia, pointing at himself with a dry, awkward laugh.
"Does he hate me by any chance? I feel like he was staring at me as if he were going to kill me."
"Maybe that is just your feeling," Grayfia replied. But as they prepared to leave, her mind drifted back to Jay's gaze.
'It wasn't just hatred. It was something far more cynical...'
Then, the devils disappeared in a silver magical circle, leaving the hallway empty.