15 Encounter with a 'Stray' Fallen Angel.
"Five minutes?! How am I supposed to find them in this massive world so fast?!"
Tanjiro was startled by the sudden quest, but he was dumbfounded by the unreasonably short time limit.
[You need not search all over the world. The system only issues quests when they can be completed in the close range of you, the host. The quest targets are within the Kuoh Town.]
"I see. So I just have to detect them." Tanjiro muttered under his breath.
Tanjiro flew over to the Kuoh Town and came to a stop.
Just with his basic senses, Tanjiro was unable to sense any conflicts between different magic powers. However, before he could utilize his mana sensing ability to its fullest to find his quest targets…
*Swish!*
A red light spear flew towards him at incredible speed.
Though, Tanjiro dodged it effortlessly by shifting his body in mid air with minimal movement.
"…"
Tanjiro looked at the direction from where the light spear came from.
What he saw was an attractive young woman with red eyes having a slender body. She had long silky violet hair down to her hips and possessed four black feathered wings.
Her attire consisted of a short black dress with a small, light red jacket on top.
"A fallen angel…" Tanjiro muttered in a low voice at the sight of the black-feathered winged beautiful woman.
"Heh! Today I found not only one, but two inferior creatures possessing sacred gears! I will send you to the same place I sent the other one! Why don't you start saying your prayers." The fallen angel woman sneered at the young human child who was in mid air.
From her perspective, the young boy was quite mysterious. He had a traditional japanese warding mask which hid his face completely. And the fact that he is flying in air without the use of any magic power convinced her that the boy is in possession of a flight-type Sacred Gear.
"This scent… human blood…" Tanjiro whispered in a low voice, as he picked up a scent that he was quite familiar with, from the fallen angel woman. The murderous intent from the fallen angel woman gave him a foreboding feeling, though, not for his own safety.
Tanjiro narrowed his eyes under the warding mask, as he used 'Transparent World' to view his surroundings.
As his 'Transparent World' ability had levelled up over the years, the scope of what this peculiar ocular ability is capable of, has changed drastically.
Below him in a house which he identified due to the dense scent of blood rafting from it, Tanjiro saw unmoving visages of three children, one teenager, two middle-aged man and woman and two elderly people… all lying on the floor, covered in their own blood. The breath of life had left them.
Tanjiro's eyes widened under his mask at witnessing this sight via his Transparent World's vision. He couldn't see the expressions on the faces of the now dead family, because he was observing them through the walls of the building, more like an X-ray point of view.
But just the thought of the misery the family went through because of this female fallen angel… made Tanjiro feel very heavy in his heart, clench his teeth hard out of frustration and anger.
This scene of tragedy reminded him of what happened to his family in his past life. That tragic and cruel event where only his sister Nezuko survived.
"Why?! Why did you kill those innocent people who were just living their normal lives without any involvement in the supernatural?!" Tanjiro growled in anger at the fallen angel woman.
Though, the fallen angel woman seemed to show joy in hearing the anger and rage in Tanjiro's voice.
"You inferior creatures should've just lived out your short lives. If you get involved with those accursed sacred gears, we Fallen Angels, the strongest race, can only put you inferior creatures back to your rightful place." The fallen angel said in a condescending tone.
"Sacred Gear…?" Tanjiro muttered under his breath, then looked back at the sight of the tragedy.
Among the now dead family, Tanjiro could see an energy leaving the body of teenager, to somewhere unknown.
"Why…? Isn't the Grigori recruiting the Sacred Gear possessors and offering them protection and training? Did Azazel-san lie to me?…. No… that's not possible. Azazel-san shouldn't be involved in this. There is no way Juki-jiisan would associate himself with someone who would casually harm innocents." Tanjiro thought as he looked at the fallen angel in front of him, while suppressing the rage within his heart.
A Sacred Gear, also known as God's Artifacts, are items with powerful abilities bestowed upon humans by God of the Bible. The original God of the Bible created the Sacred Gears as part of his system to enact miracles on Earth.
Sacred Gears were bestowed upon humans by God for their own protection. But now that Tanjiro saw a normal person and his family get killed just because of possessing a Sacred Gear, he didn't know how to feel about it.
Because of Tanjiro's young age, Katakiri Juki didn't go into detail as he informed the young Tanjiro about Sacred Gears and other supernatural aspects of this world.
"…. Are you a stray fallen angel?" Tanjiro asked.
"Stray?! How dare you refer to me with such a term?!"
The fallen angel woman was enraged by the term Tanjiro referred to her. She was under a person who is the most 'perfect' fallen angel in the world. How could she be something as lowly as a stray, when she is working for 'that' person.
"…."
Tanjiro was unfazed by the fallen angel's outburst. If anything, he felt more upset at this Fallen Angel who was showing anger and killing intent towards him for no justifiable reason.
The fallen angel stretched out both her hands to her side. Two red light Spears formed almost instantly in her hands.
"I think I've given you more than enough time to say your prayers! Time to die, inferior creature!!"
The fallen angel rushed at Tanjiro with a cruel smirk, pointing the light spears at him.
In Tanjiro's point of view, everything around him slowed down.
Looking at the fallen angel coming towards him with a sick smile, Tanjiro couldn't help but think as he dodged her attacks with minimal movement…
"I thought my prerequisites to live had changed in this new life. But… I was wrong. Even though there are no man-eating demons around anymore, there are plenty of supernatural species that target humans for their selfish purposes and ideals, while justifying their actions with self-serving reasons. In the end, the cruelty of these people make them no different from the demons I know. Are there more cases like this Fallen Angel out there? There is too much I don't know about this world."
"Stop moving around!" The fallen angel screamed in frustration of being unable to even touch Tanjiro.
The fallen angel's magic power surged as a red magic circle formed in front of her.
"…." Tanjiro silently looked at the fallen angel through the warding mask covering his face.
"Fire Magic: Roar of Fire!"
The fallen angel yelled the name of the spell she was casting.
*Shhh* *Boom!*
Hot red flames erupted from the magic circle of the fallen angel and blasted towards Tanjiro with a roaring sound and explosive momentum.
Tanjiro didn't even attempt to evade the magic attack and was struck by the fire blast.
A fairly loud explosion resounded in the high skies as a certain part of it was dyed in red.
Tanjiro was enveloped by the flames, causing him to disappear from the sight of the fallen angel woman momentarily.
"Hmph! Finally hit him!" The fallen angel cheered as she saw her attack making clean contact with her target.
Only…
With a sudden burst of wind, the red hot flames were blown away, revealing a young boy wearing a warding mask, totally unscathed.
"*Gulp* This.. can't.. be.." The fallen angel swallowed her saliva, and sweating profusely because of an unknown cause of anxiety. Uncertainty and dread filled her eyes as she looked at the masked child opposite to her, completely unscathed by her powerful spell.
By now, even someone as arrogant and ignorant as her was able to tell that, she was no match for the masked boy.
The fallen angel woman had bitten off more than she could chew. Or in this instance… she dug her own grave by purposely getting the attention of Tanjiro who originally didn't even sense her, nor aware of her evil deed against an innocent family.
Even with her fastest speed, she couldn't even touch the boy's clothes, much less land a hit on him. And her magic spell didn't even put a scratch on the masked boy.
*Ding!*
While Tanjiro was staring at the fallen angel, feeling conflicted about what he has decided to do to her… a familiar ringing sound appeared in his mind.
[System Reminder: Only two more minutes left before you reach the time limit of the currently active Main Quest.]
"…." Tanjiro stopped hesitating after the notification from the system. Lives of two people depended on him. He couldn't afford to waste anymore time here.
"… In the end, my 'occupation' hasn't changed at all." Tanjiro thought to himself as bright yellow energy gathered around his right hand.
"Light magic?! How?! How can a human wield the magic of angels?!" The fallen angel woman was shocked when she saw the bright yellow energy gathering at Tanjiro's right hand.
"Run! I have to run!!" Thought the fallen angel woman, as her black feathered wings flapped in an attempt to get away from Tanjiro.
Though, unfortunately for her…
Two bright yellow chains wrapped around her and forced her to stay put in that spot.
Turning her head back, as terror seized her heart and mind. The fallen angel woman saw where the chains came from.
Tanjiro's left palm.
When the woman observed closely, she realised that the chains were also made from light magic energy.
The fallen angel woman started to tremble in fear.
"I'll make sure to pray just like you asked, Miss fallen angel. Though, not for me." Tanjiro said to the fallen angel in a soft, yet, dull tone.
"Ah…!"
The bright yellow light energy started to condense into a Katana in Tanjiro's right hand. There was dense red flames shrouded on the blade of the katana.
Tanjiro looked at the fallen angel woman he was restraining with the light-magic chains. He had hoped to see that she'd atleast start to regret her cruelty against the innocents. But he was disappointed. All that she was showing right now was fear for her life. Her disdain for humans still remained. Even before death, she had no intention of changing.
It almost made Tanjiro think, if some fallen angels are just stubborn about exerting vain and pointless dominance over other races, like this particular fallen angel.
Tanjiro let out a stressed sigh and said to the fallen angel in a soft voice, "Farewell, Miss fallen angel. I'll pray for you to be reborn in good circumstances, so that you can be a better person in your next life."
"!!"
Before the fallen angel could react, Tanjiro disappeared from her sight.
The fallen angel didn't feel anything, but her vision seemed to change.
Before she realised it, her head slid off her neck and fell off the body. Her eyes widened as he saw her headless body turn to ashes rapidly. Soon, her head too turned to ashes, leaving nothing of her behind in this world.
