The screeching sound of a bicycle broke the silence of the dark night.
Issei, on his way to meet a new contractor, felt rather dejected. Lately, nothing seemed to go right. The exciting life he had imagined after being reincarnated as a devil wasn't what he expected at all.
Although Rias had paid attention to him at first, now she only seemed concerned with Daniel, the other reincarnated one.
Akeno had also stopped teasing him and, like Rias, now focused on tormenting that "kouhai."
And as for the white-haired loli—she hadn't even spoken a single word to him yet, and she was always glued to Daniel like his shadow.
Issei felt like no one in the club cared about him anymore. Sure, Kiba talked to him sometimes, but what was the point? Issei didn't want to chat with a handsome, popular guy—he wanted to hang out with cute girls.
Depressed, he focused on the only thing Daniel hadn't surpassed him at: forming contracts.
If he managed to seal this one tonight, it would make five in a row—a new record.
Issei sighed, but his gloomy expression brightened as he remembered the beautiful girl he had met that afternoon.
"Asia-chan~," he murmured happily, thinking of the sweet, gentle blonde.
Their encounter had been accidental—she had lost her veil, and he helped her retrieve it.
"Thank you… you're such a kind person," Asia had said with a radiant smile.
That simple gesture was enough to make him fall for her.
Issei had done everything he could to make a good impression, even inviting her for a walk. Unfortunately, she seemed busy and had to leave, though not before they exchanged names.
"I want to see her again," Issei whispered dreamily as he parked his bike in front of the contractor's house.
"Hello, I'm the devil sent by Gremory. Hello?" he said as he knocked on the door. "Is anyone home?"
Hearing no answer, he hesitated. Should he go in or not?
Clenching his teeth, he decided to enter. If something weird or dangerous happened, he could always just run away.
He carefully opened the door and stepped inside. The house was pitch black. Though his devil's eyes allowed him to see in the dark, he couldn't shake off an uneasy feeling.
Upon reaching the living room, he felt even more uncomfortable—the smell was strange, heavy.
"Hello? Anyone? Maybe… I should just come back tomorrow," he muttered, starting to turn around.
A sudden sense of danger jolted through his mind.
Issei reacted instantly, diving behind a sofa. A small hole appeared exactly where he had been standing moments before.
"Huh? You dodged it? That's unexpected! Really unexpected," exclaimed a man dressed as a priest, scratching his head with the pistol he held in hand.
Issei stared at him nervously. Had he just been shot at for no reason? Still, he prepared himself—either to fight or to flee.
As he rose to his feet, he felt something sticky beneath his shoes. Looking down, his face twisted in horror—there was a body pinned to the floor, surrounded by a pool of blood. He had just stepped in it.
His eyes widened in terror. Swallowing hard, he asked,
"Was it you? Did you kill this person?"
The man looked at him like he was an idiot.
"Yeah, yeah. I killed him. Because~, he was a habitual criminal who kept summoning devils, so I had to kill him."
Issei stared in disbelief at such a ridiculous excuse.
"Surprised? Humans who make pacts with devils are trash. Trash, indeed," the gray-haired man said, pulling out a sword hilt with no blade. "You can't understand that? No? Is that so? Well, you're a piece of devil trash yourself, after all."
With that, the air shimmered—and a blade of light emerged from the hilt. The man lunged at Issei, swinging to cut him down.
Issei tried to dodge, but a sharp pain tore through his side. Dazed, he noticed the priest's gun was smoking.
"He… shot me. Damn it," he thought, desperately looking for a way to escape.
"How is it!? The special bullet made for Exorcists—the Light Bullet! And it doesn't make a sound, because it's made of light! This situation gets both of us excited, right?!"
Issei gritted his teeth, ignoring the mad priest while enduring the burning pain in his wound.
"Boring! Boring! Die, devil! Die, devil! Turn to dust and disappear! All of this is for my entertainment!"
The priest swung his blade, trying to slice him in two.
"Please, stop!"
A female voice rang out from the other side of the room.
Issei recognized it instantly—it was the nun he'd met earlier that day, Asia.
"Oh, if it isn't my assistant, Asia-chan. What's wrong? You finished putting up the barrier?"
Asia didn't answer. Her eyes were fixed on the corpse on the floor.
"N–Noooooooo!" she screamed, stumbling backward. "Why… why?"
"Oh, it's the first time you've seen a corpse like that, right, Asia-chan? Then take a good look. Humans who fall into the trance of devils end up like this."
"…Father Freed… that person…" Asia's trembling voice barely left her lips as she looked toward Issei.
"'Person'? No, no, no. This shit here is a devil. Hahaha. Do you know him?" Freed's face twisted into an ugly grin. "Ahahaha! Humans and devils can never coexist! Especially humans of the Church and devils—they're the greatest enemies! We're heretics abandoned by God, Asia-tan. We can't survive without the support of the Fallen Angels-sama. Now move aside, I've got to get rid of this trash."
Asia clasped her hands tightly over her chest. Her eyes remained fixed on the body, her whole body trembling.
Even so, she bit her lip and stepped between Freed and Issei.
"…Hey, hey. Seriously? Asia-tan, do you even know what the hell you're doing?" His tone had shifted—less theatrical, colder.
"…I know, Father Freed. Please forgive this person. I know kind devils can exist," she pleaded softly, extending her arms.
Issei looked at her, deeply moved. He never would've imagined she'd say something like that—about him.
"I can't take it anymore… You can't just kill people because they're connected to a devil—and you can't kill devils either! It's wrong!" the blonde shouted, her voice shaking.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAH!? Don't talk shit, bitch! What the fuck?! Didn't they teach you anything at Church?! Devils are trash! Is there something wrong with your head?!" Freed exploded, pressing his gun against Asia's head. "Fuck! You're pissing me off—get the hell out of my way!"
PLAP!
The priest struck Asia across the face with his gun, sending her tumbling aside.
She struggled to get up, a thin line of blood running down her split lip.
"…The Fallen Angel lady told me I can't kill you. But I'm getting pissed. Since I can't kill you… maybe I can just fuck you instead? Otherwise, I won't be able to heal my heart. But before that, I need to kill this piece of shit."
With a twisted face, he raised his weapon.
Two smoking, bloodied holes appeared in Issei's thighs. He grunted in pain but tried to stay on his feet.
"Eh? Eh? Really? Really? You're gonna face me? You're gonna die, you know that? You're gonna die painfully! Hehehehehe!"
Freed charged, sword raised high, ready to finish him off.
But just as the strike came down, a red light filled the room.
Massive black wings spread out, covering Issei and blocking the sword with a metallic clang.
---
Freed stepped back, eyes narrowing at the newcomers.
"Oh? Your boyfriend came to save you, trash? Though he looks good, gray suits me better! Hahahaha!" he laughed, opening fire on Daniel.
The light bullets struck the wings, but the gray energy coating them made them ricochet off with a metallic flash. Seeing this, the priest's laughter faded.
"…Not fun. Not fun at all," he muttered with a frown.
Still, he didn't stop. With sword in hand, he rushed forward again.
As he got close, the wings folded back—and from between them emerged a small white-haired girl, her fist drawn back.
Freed dodged quickly, and her punch slammed into the wall, causing a small explosion and leaving a sizable hole.
"Where the hell did this midget come from?!" he shouted, opening fire on Koneko.
She didn't dodge. The bullets hit her body, but aside from a bit of smoke, they did no harm.
"I'm… not a midget," she said, her voice heavy with anger.
Grabbing a sofa with one hand, she hurled it at him, already searching for another object to throw with the other.
The priest twisted and dodged with surprising agility, sometimes striking bizarre, almost comical poses as he laughed.
Meanwhile, Rias and Akeno knelt beside Issei.
"Buchou… Asia… she defended me. She got hurt because of me," Issei said, his trembling voice full of guilt.
Rias looked toward the blonde girl, then at Daniel, who was approaching with a dark expression.
"Asia… does it hurt?" he asked softly, bringing his hand to her face as he examined the cut on her lip. "Was it that weird guy? Which arm was it?"
As he spoke, a dangerous glint crossed his eyes.
For Daniel, killing was no longer unfamiliar. He had already dealt with several stray devils. Adding one insane priest to the list wouldn't be a problem.
Asia didn't answer. She simply looked at him for a few seconds before burying her face in his chest. Soon, her body began to tremble, her muffled sobs echoing softly in the room.