8 Chapter 8: Alibi

[Third Person's Point of View]

Today was Thursday, April 7th, 2016, making it the two days since Augustus acquired the system.

Over the past 48 hours, he has been honing his skills and becoming accustomed to the powers granted by the system.

Augustus had a preference for Devilson's Convenience store, which was a 15-minute walk from his house or a 2-minute flight, depending on his mood.

As a part of his daily workout routine, he prefers to walk from his house to the store instead of flying.

On that particular day, he intentionally went to Devilson's with a clear objective in mind.

Augustus stepped into the decently-sized store, its automatic doors sliding open to let him inside.

He strolled through the store for a while, browsing different aisles before making his way to the instant food section. He grabbed a couple packets of instant noodles, some condiments, and a few bottles of devi-juice before heading to the checkout counter.

Dave, the devil working behind the cash register was a face he knew all too well.

Dave's voice had a teasing edge to it as he commented, "You're going for instant food again?" His tone turned more serious as he added, "You should know better than to sustain yourself with that garbage."

Augustus and Dave had known each other since way back. They first met when Augustus was just a young boy, only twelve years old, who would frequent the newly opened Devilson convenience store to stock up on his weekly supply of chocolate.

Augustus had always been a huge fan of sweets, particularly chocolate, and he found that Devilson offered a wider selection of human-world chocolates compared to other local stores. This drew him to the store, and since then, a strong bond had formed between him and the manager. They had developed a good relationship with each other over time.

Lately, Dave had been worried about Augustus. After losing his parents, who were his only family in the underworld, Augustus seemed like a mere shadow of himself. He rarely left home now and he was neglecting his health.

Or that's how it was supposed to be. But Augustus had undergone some changes in the past four months. He began focusing on his health and Dave even caught glimpses of him jogging through the neighborhood and park in the early hours. However, he still spent most of his time holed up in his house.

Dave let out a heavy sigh. "It's too early for Augustus to move beyond the trauma of losing his parents," he thought as Augustus came over with an apologetic grin and lightly scratched the back of his head, a habit that was very typical of him.

Augustus placed the items on the billing counter and turned to Dave with an apologetic expression. "I'm sorry, but this will be the last time," 

Dave arched his eyebrow in a gesture of doubt towards the statement, yet he proceeded to pick up the item and add it to the bill.

"I apologize for causing you concern these past few months, Mr. Dave," Augustus said sincerely. This seemed to catch Dave off guard, and he continued, "Today is my father's birthday. Every year, we would go to Dover Hill to celebrate and spend the night camping. My mother always prepared a massive feast for us and we would..."

Augustus' voice tapered off, and his eyes began to glisten with a wistful gaze. Dave's face softened in response.

"I am really sorry about what happened to your par---", Dave tried to apologize, but was abruptly cut off by Augustus.

"Please don't apologize, Mr. Dave. It's time for me to move on. I just wanted to let you know that I'll be gone for a couple of days. Tonight, I'm heading to Dover Hill and will be camping there for the next two days as a tribute to them. They wouldn't want me to dwell on their deaths forever."

Augustus could see sympathy, fondness, and relief in Dave's expression as he looked at him. "I wish you a fulfilling trip and hope you find the closure you're seeking." Dave said as he put everything neatly into bags at the front desk.

Augustus produced his black leather wallet and was ready to pay the bill, but paused when he felt a strong grip on his shoulder.

"You don't have to pay for this. It's the least I can do for you.".

Augustus' eyes flickered with hesitation, but he ultimately took the bag of belongings with a grateful expression.

'Sorry Mr. Dave. And Thank You.'

A pang of guilt flashed through Augustus' mind. He was well aware that he was exploiting the kindness of a Devil, something rare in the underworld. But for his own ambitions, sacrificing his innocence was a small price to pay.

***

With his jet-black bat wings beating against the air, Augustus soared towards the entrance gate of the city. He carried a dark rucksack on his back. The Underworld was vast and unconnected by roads, so each city, regardless of size, had a teleportation circle that linked them to the rest of the Underworld.

Naturally, it wasn't a free service. The user was responsible for paying the allocated price for their chosen destination, which was determined by the distance they needed to travel.

Augustus made his way to the teleportation station and purchased a ticket for Ardin City, which was the station closest to Dover Hills.

He stepped into the teleportation circle and scanned his ticket on the scanner beside him.

The circle seemed to be alive, pulsing with a bluish-white light that danced across its surface like a myriad of fireflies. As Augustus stepped into its center, the world began to spin around him, a dizzying mixture of colors and shapes that seemed to hypnotize him.

As the spinning sensation faded, he found himself in a place that seemed both familiar and strange. He recognized it as Ardin Teleportation Station from his memory. 

'Welcome to Ardin City. Have a hellish stay over here!', the machine beside him chimed in with a cheerful tone as he moved from the teleportation circle towards the exit of the station.

As he emerged from the station, the usual purple hue of the sky welcomed him. With a swift motion, he spread his wings and lifted himself into the air.

After a 45-minute flight into the gorgeous purple sky dotted with fluffy white clouds, the landscape rushed by below as he spotted a faint outline of mountains in the distance.

As Augustus approached the mountain range, he noticed a solitary cone-shaped structure in the center of his view, surrounded by small foothills, the famous Dover Hill.

His gaze swept over the landscape as he descended from above, finally touching down on a rocky terrain with a sloping hillside to one side and boulders surrounding him on the other three sides.

The hillside where Augustus landed held a cave with an inverted U-shaped entrance leading into its depths.

Augustus stepped into the mouth of the cave and surveyed his surroundings, matching them up with the images he had stored in his memory.

This was not Augustus's first time in this area, or even in this cave. He had been here before, at the age of seven, when he got separated from his parents on a camping trip. By some stroke of luck, he stumbled upon this secluded spot and took refuge there for a few hours until his parents found him.

This has been his 'secret spot' ever since.

He removed the rucksack from his shoulder and retrieved an aged scroll from inside. Carefully untying the ribbon that held it rolled, he unfurled it to reveal its contents.

The scroll slowly unfurled, revealing intricate diagrams and structures that formed concentric circles. At first glance, it was obvious that this was a teleportation scroll, with a magic circle similar to those used in the Teleportation Stations. This scroll had been hidden away in the forbidden section of the library by his parents, along with many other mysterious objects.

What surprised him most was that his parents had a teleportation scroll with them at the time of their death. This was why he was so taken aback by the news of their passing.

While the scroll required a few seconds to prepare and the magic circle needed time to activate, experienced hunters like them could easily flee if they chose to do so...

Augustus shook his head to clear his mind of distractions and honed in on the critical task before him. He was determined to follow through with his chosen path, confident that it would reveal all the discrepancies surrounding their deaths.

He carefully laid out the scroll on the floor, making sure it was fully unfurled and flat. With his foot placed on the magic circle, he channeled his demonic energy to activate it.

Once again, he was enveloped in the familiar bluish-white light emanating from the floor below him and felt the all too familiar sensation of falling, the surroundings seemed to swirl with a mesmerizing display of countless shooting stars.

The scent of old parchments and tanned leather filled his nostrils, bringing back a sense of nostalgia. He blinked open his eyes to find himself in the comfort of a dimly lit room, with faint rays of orange light creeping in through the curtains over a small window on one wall.

His eyes glinted like shards of ice in the dim light, reflecting his calculated and cunning mind as a slow, knowing smirk played across his lips.

In the Underworld, teleportation circles were a rare sight, especially private ones. For Augustus, this was both a blessing and a curse. With his alibi in place, he could now achieve two goals in one fell swoop: revenge and moving forward in his plan.

'Paul, it looks like I can finally pay back all the kindness you've shown me', Augustus mused as he walked down the staircase, towards the wardrobe of his room.

His attire of choice, his self-crafted assassin ensemble, awaited him in his wardrobe. A sleek black leather top-bottom armor was paired with a form-fitting black body suit, all concealed by a hooded cloak designed for maximum stealth.

He dressed himself in the ensemble and observed his reflection in the mirror next to his expansive wardrobe. He knew he would draw attention dressed like this, but in low light or shadowy settings, particularly on covert assignments, this outfit was perfect.

Augustus grabbed the lone mask resting on the bedside table as he exited the room. The material was lightweight and molded to his face, covering everything below his nose except for his eyes.

The artificial Sun in the purple sky slowly disappeared into the horizon as darkness encroached in this part of the Underworld, devoid of natural light.

Just like their human counterparts in blue-collar jobs, the Devils also saw Monday as the most important and busiest day of the week. Even small-time criminals and hoodlums, such as Paul's gang, were hard at work on this particular day, carrying out their illicit activities without fail.

Augustus, often the target of bullies and vulnerable in their line of work, had enough knowledge about them to craft the perfect revenge plan.

Every Monday, Paul and his six henchmen would meet up at the 116B intersection on the outskirts of town. They would spend about an hour or two there before following Paul to the safehouse of a larger, more established gang that they were associated with.

The crossing and safehouse were both bustling with people or heavily guarded, making it nearly impossible to commit a clean murder.

But he remained unfazed. On the route to the secure hideout, the seven individuals had to traverse a desolate underground passage that linked the central slum road to the outer slum road.

The gang's operating location, situated close to the town's border, was already a neglected and unpleasant area for residents. It had been transformed into a slum-like state due to its proximity to the border.

The situation was made worse by the occurrence of strange disappearances near the nearby underground pass, which resulted in almost no visitors aside from those seven, who frequented it and the occasional presence of other gang members.

Augustus' heart raced as he perched atop the crumbling wall, hidden by the shadows of the night and the decaying buildings, watching the curly-brown-haired man with a menacing aura speak with his comrades.

The darkness of the kingdom was his ally, the cover of the building his refuge, and his sharp eyes took in every move of his seven-target with unwavering determination.

*****************************

Author-san here!

I said I'll update on Monday, but the support you guys have shown in the past few days has really overwhelmed me. So, here is the chapter, EARLY, just for you!!!!

As always, do comment and leave a review if you like the book so far. 

Let's get to 55 Powerstone mark for this chapter, yeah? 

Regardless, you lovelies will be getting a chapter tomorrow.

Oh and for those who didn't know, I was this story was supposed to be a DxDXLoTM Multicross story with a third major crossover. I was stuck between two equally fantastic worlds, but a particular one of those two, I felt was a better fit for the story and plot.

So the third world is: Jujutsu Kaisen.

(I have already added it to the chapter footnote of CH:1)

Don't worry, this wasn't an impromptu decision. It was in planning for a long time, and I have planned everything to perfection (atleast according to me). Look forward to it :)))