The Bestial Teacher (3/3)

Devils were extremely good at sensing each other, more specifically they could pinpoint their kind of tainted mana pretty easily. That was why strays without much strength were quickly eliminated. The whole deal of the peerage set was shady, evil and slavery no matter what, so it was quite fitting of devils. I always wondered why the whole race wasn't eliminated when the news of Ajuka creating such a chaotic item went around the world. Although most gods had no sympathy to humans, seeing them as slaves, servants or food in the worst case, the idea of devils stealing humans in my mind should have come across as dangerous and insulting.

Even though I couldn't care less if humans were enslaved by devils, the whole thing still perturbed me. Humans had no choice to join some devil's peerages, and if they were to escape, they would turn in monsters that fed on human's flesh. Beautiful human women were a prime choice for devils, with lust being one of the most spread sin within the devil community. I even heard rumours of there being human farms in the Underworld, to obtain bodies to experiment upon and subservient slaves, taught how to serve devils right off the womb.

Unfortunately, I did not doubt that these weren't rumours, but the truth. Considering the nekoshou sisters' situation, if they had the gall to capture youkai protected by a Pantheon, then capturing and breeding humans were nothing compared to it in terms of danger. Alas, all of this was well-protected by the Council and the Maous. Even if people knew about it, they were either silenced or they simply couldn't do anything about it. I guessed that Sirzechs and Ajuka, being in the top 10, were used as deterrents against Pantheons and other mythological races.

I wasn't a hero, nor an anti-hero, I didn't fit those cases. Still, I'll be damned if I don't slaughter at least half the devil population after I win the Ancient Game. Such activities were past my tolerance limit.

Ever since this game started, my pile of objectives increased. Now that I had some sort of power, I could afford to act upon my desires, or I would be able to in the future. Obviously, I would have to enter the political sphere to make things clean, but I wanted to be at a point where I could seriously threaten anyone in this world in the very least.

I stopped thinking about what I would do in the future when I realized I was in front of my destination. The stray devil was occupying abandoned buildings dated from the Second World War if my memories about the history of this city were correct. After all, Kuoh town was a central exchange point between towns designed to produce military equipment and the towns equipped to allow Japan to invade the surrounding countries during WW2 by the sea. Because of Japan's surrender and American occupation, all of these relay buildings were vacated and abandoned. Kuoh was littered with places to hide due to this.

My senses were as heightened as possible, and I couldn't help but smile and be excited at the prospect of a decent fight. Being closer than before from the stray, I could sense that he was far stronger than anything I've faced before. I decided to only use my body and life force to fight him, as it would be too easy otherwise and I wouldn't progress. I kicked the sealed metal door open and was greeted by a large empty warehouse. Dust was everywhere and only if it weren't for the night vision that every devil possesses, I would have been greeted by darkness as well.

The moment the metal door smashed onto the ground, raising dust in the air, and producing a loud sound that resonated across the building, I heard some sort of whisper. Then the stray appeared in the middle of the empty warehouse.

I wasn't shocked when I took in his appearance as previous strays I've slain have been in worse states. He was abnormally long, as in malnourished and tall, probably coming close to my height. His back seemed stuck in an arched state, and his eyes were bloodshot. His face was simply falling off, as his corrupted flesh could be seen on the top of his head. He had injuries all over his body, as if someone tried to remove his skin, but failed to do so. Then I noticed the elongated nails present on his right hand and realized he tried to skin himself alive. His other hand wasn't even there, instead, what looked like a tentacle was growing from his left forearm.

I instantly dodged the growing tentacle, that tried to pierce me at a remarkable speed, which only made me smile even more fiercely. The moment the tentacle retreated, crawling on the floor, I discerned the fact that the tentacle was corrosive. The ground which was protected by a layer of iron melted. My body was probably as resistant as iron, but I wasn't going to take any chance.

He dashed towards me and tried to swipe his tentacle at me, but failed to do so since I crouched down and delivered a low kick, destroying his femur and putting him off balance. Utilizing this opportunity, I coated my arm with my life force, and when the purple aura spread on my arm, I landed a liver shot. Considering his weak femur, I expected to destroy part of his torso with this hit, but I was surprised when all the damage I did was a good bruise. Nonetheless, the internal damage was done, and after the stray used his tentacle to throw himself backwards, he coughed and held his side in pain.

As I ran towards him, an oppressive dark and blueish aura oozed from his tentacle and covered his whole body, confirming my earlier examination of the power of this stray devil. Even if I would not be able to easily break through whatever was defending him, the only change in my expression was that my smile widened. The facade of the man was gone, and now only the bloodthirsty monster far above humanity was left.

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As the conversation about the training was going on in the main room of the Occult Research Club, suddenly Koneko jolted. The talk was interrupted as Koneko rarely had such displays of emotion, Rias looked at her rook and asked, " What is wrong Koneko? " The affectionate tone in their King's voice was soothing to the Gremory peerage. They, after all, had been saved by her from certain death, although they didn't know how she was able to appear when they were in danger, they wouldn't search any further due to their respect towards their saviour. " A stray, President. "

Koneko always used concise sentences to express herself and despite her best effort, Rias could not make her cute rook expose more of herself to them. It pained her every time as it reminded her that she didn't seem to have the qualities of a good King, but she ignored the slightly painful sensation she felt when her rook answered her and probed for more information, " Can you get his location? "

Koneko nodded, stood up and told them the surprisingly precise coordinates. It meant usually that the stray was quite strong as Koneko depended on the strength of their demonic energy to sense them.

Akeno simply created, with an ease that would make Deo envious, the teleportation circle and with a flash of red light, the Gremory group disappeared from the room.

When they arrived at the abandoned warehouses, even the rest of the group could easily sense the potency of the stray that was supposed to have taken residence here. Although it wasn't the most powerful energy she felt, the honour was reserved to her brother, Rias knew fully well that whatever was inside of these buildings was above the usual strays that wandered inside Kuoh.

As the group tensed, Koneko sniffed the air a couple of time, not realizing the rest of her family was waiting for her judgement, being the one with the keener senses here. After a while, Koneko said " Stray left, residual mana. " At her words, the shoulders of the group relaxed a bit, although their vigilance was not necessarily lowered since they already had been ambushed by strays that were expert at hiding their energy.

Determined to check the situation, Rias began giving her orders, " Akeno, surround the area with the usual barriers, and check the building from the air, we might need your aerial support. Koneko, you sneak inside and do a discreet scan of the building. Kiba, with me we'll enter by the front door. "

The servants didn't need any further words, they immediately spread and obeyed the orders. As Kiba and Rias approached the building where the residual energy was supposed to be, they noticed that the metal door has been kicked open from the outside, meaning that a battle could have taken place in here.

Koneko mentally talked with Rias as she entered the building by an open window and was on high ground with a view of nearly the whole warehouse, < President, no one inside. >

Rias nodded, and walked inside the empty warehouse. The energy signature was becoming increasingly stronger, but also she noticed a dichotomy in the energies, confirming her earlier theory of a fight. She contacted her rook by telepathy, < Koneko, what can you tell me of the two auras present in here. > As she was talking to Koneko, Kiba signalled her a corpse laying down on the ground, somewhat hidden. < Also, we've found a body, come down. You too Akeno. >

Kiba was studying the corpse while Rias was looking at the multiple bumps present on the ground and the walls near the dead devil, a fact confirmed by her knight. Koneko jumped down from her platform and told Rias something that took her whole attention, " First scent, sea and devil, second one, incomplete. Beast, and... devil? No.... not devil? " Rias looked at her incredulously, as she had never been unsure about what she picked up with her nose. Only one person elicited such a reaction from Koneko, and that was... " Mr Aellias? " Both Rias and Koneko spoke the same words at the same time and looked at each other before narrowing their eyes.

Rias exited the warehouse as her servants continued the inspection, and turned her gaze towards the full moon in the sky, " For how long will you continue to be a mystery that captivates me so much Mr Aellias, no... Deo? "

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I entered my house after having slain the stray hiding in the empty warehouse. It wasn't necessarily a long fight, nor a truly hard one, as I came out unscathed and I was holding back, but I improve quite a bit in how to use my body correctly to kill. I was using more and more of the incredible prison of flesh I chose and realized I was not even starting to uncover its full potential.

I pulled my status open, figuring out I must have finally got to level 100.

Name: Deo Aellias

Race: Nordic Devilish Hanma

Age: 22 years old

Title: None

Job: Martial Artist (100)

Job Available: Apprentice Devil Slayer, Pyromancer, Great Mage, Apprentice Soul Warrior, Great Martial Artist

Level: 3

Job History: Jobless, Apprentice Devilish Mage, Mage

Passive skills:

- Hanma Body: Level 1

- Devil Mana Manipulation: Level 4

- Aura Manipulation: Level 2

- Frost Immunity: Level 5

- Ki Manipulation: Level 6

- Longevity: Level 10

- Fire Manipulation: Level 1

- Enlarged Mana Pool: Level 1

- Devil's Charm: Level 2

Active skills:

- Battle Cry: Level 1

- Devil Apparition: Level 1

- Ki Reinforcement: Level 3 (NEW!)

- Aura Concealment: Level 6

- Concealment Barrier: Level 3

- Superior Martial Arts: Level 8 (NEW!)

- Yvherd Aeos: Level 1

- Svkeryh Aeos: Level 1

- School of Destruction: Level 1

- Teleportation: Level 4

I mentally selected my next job, Apprentice Soul Warrior.

[ Warning: Increase Soul Strength, Increased Soul Aura Manipulation, Soul Aura Reinforcement Gained. ]

I felt something wash over me, and I quickly realized that my soul grew once again. The ball of light was as bright as always. I felt as if I just got the result of a good night of sleep in an instant, but that was just a fleeting illusion, as my fatigue, or lack of, in this case, didn't change. I decided to go to sleep, as it was becoming late and I had classes to teach tomorrow.

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Among the decrepit corpses buried in dirt and forgotten from the world, a soul stirred. A soul so evil the bones and rotten flesh of the dead bodies near the now woke soul shivered in disgust and fear.

Soon, the surrounding earth was shaken by the great evil that was once again aware, despite what fate had decided for the corpse littered with the scent of death that housed such a black spirit. The sudden arrival of the one carrying Hanma blood rippled across the waves of fate and finally created a change.

For Malekh rose from the dead, and where Malekh went, death would follow.