11 Chapter 11

-[Liam]-

Sitting at the counter in his kitchen, he sipped a cup of coffee as he held a book in his other hand, reading it quietly.

A sigh could be heard from the door as a black haired bespectacled female walked in. "If you can wake up on time to study, why do you insist on being late to school?" Tsubaki asked.

Whereas she was dressed in the school uniform, Liam was only wearing pajama pants with his torso bare.

The benefits of his physical stats were visible as despite being a mage, he still held a very fit physique.

"I don't really see the appeal in going to the same place to repeat the same thing over and over five times a week." He answered, not looking up from the book. "Annoying Sona is just a side benefit."

Interestingly enough, it was a weekend so the thought of school barely crossed his mind. He didn't understand why Sona and Rias along with their peerages always wore the uniforms outside school days.

Another sigh was heard. "Sona won't be pleased with that." She said.

Liam raised a brow at her, finally looking up. "She won't be pleased to find out you spent the night here either, would she?"

A red blush spread across Tsubaki's face as she looked away. She muttered something incoherently as a magic circle formed below her, teleporting herself away.

As soon as she left, he didn't linger much, returning to his book. He had spent a large part of the night pondering on whether or not to learn another branch of offensive magic to add to his skill set.

Spatial Magic was his ace in the hole, meaning that it shouldn't be used too commonly lest someone figure out a counter for it quickly.

He needed something else to increase his advantage. Already having ice magic in his repertoire, he thought about adding another element when he realized that he was going about it the wrong way.

Studying each element individually would take time and while he was mostly a patient person, the world wouldn't give him the luxury of time to grow stronger. With that in mind, he picked a branch that satisfied his needs.

•••

[Nature Magic Mastery: Novice]

Through training, you can use magic to cast spells that draw upon the physical forces of the natural world. You can create/control elemental creatures, cast spells and harness nature's magical energies.

•••

Dropping the now empty cup, he raised the empty palm upwards as a tiny harmless tornado spun to life above it.

Nature magic was a broad branch of magic, including not only air but the other three basic elements as well as control over plants and weather seeing as how it was part of nature.

'There's no such thing as too much knowledge.' He thought with a small smile.

Dispersing the wind, he waved his hand as a plain black shirt flew into his hand. He wasted no time on wearing it, adjusting the glasses on his face as he stood to his feet.

Hearing his phone ring, he ignored it for the moment. The space around him shook briefly as he teleported out of his kitchen to his destination.

-[Rias]-

Frowning at her phone, she tried to reach Liam but the boy didn't answer. Sighing at that, she looked at the bleeding body of the brown haired student lying on the floor.

She idly recognized him as the student that the fallen angel had been following around recently. She couldn't pretend to understand what went on in the mind of the fallen but she was intrigued.

This seemingly normal, albeit perverted, boy was able to summon her through one of their fliers. Anyone of her peerage members could have been called but she was the one who was called.

Whether or it was sheer luck or something else, she was curious.

Liam wasn't answering his phone so she couldn't count on him coming to heal this boy for her to get answers.

There was a moment of deliberation for the dangerous gamble that she considered taking. With a thought, a glowing chess piece appeared in her palm.

On one hand, she could take a gamble on reincarnating him as a part of her peerage on the chance that he possessed something special or useful…perhaps a sacred gear.

On the other hand, there was Liam who could not only fight but was proficient in different kinds of magic. Not to mention the fact that he could heal.

She needed everything she could to reincarnate Liam into her peerage. Being able to get close to him, she had felt the well of magic he had within him. It was larger than any mage she had come across, even larger than some devils.

Unbelievable as it sounded, by devil standards, his magic reserves were at the peak of high class devils…larger than hers and it still seemed to be rising.

She currently had eight pawn pieces, one bishop piece, one knight piece and one rook piece.

Liam was a mage, making him unsuitable for a knight or rook piece. A bishop piece was equivalent to three pawn pieces and there was a chance that a single bishop piece wouldn't be enough to take him into her peerage.

Her bishop, knight and rook pieces were also too important to be used on a gamble.

Letting out a sigh, the chess piece disappeared as a teleportation circle appeared below her feet.

'I can't risk it.' She thought, teleporting away.

-[Liam]-

Appearing at the front of the town church, he set his eyes on the building as he walked towards the entrance.

Pushing the doors open, he made his way into the seemingly abandoned church. The large stone cross which was supposed to be at the stage was broken in half as were the other statues around it.

'It makes sense that they would despise anything reminding them of heaven. Though, the irony of picking a church as their hideout is still baffling.' He thought as he walked down the aisle, waving his hand as the pieces of stone rubble around shook before flying back into place, mending the statues and the cross like they were never damaged.

Taking a deliberate breath, he took a seat on one of the middle rows. "You're not very good at sneaking around, are you?" He asked out loud to seemingly no one.

There was silence in the church as his voice seemed to echo a bit.

Little by little, footsteps could be heard as a gathering of people in black garbs that resembled the clothes of Raynare's group of stray exorcists walked out of the corners around him.

His goal wasn't to be stealthy. He needed essence and so he came here to get it.

"Who are you?" One of the males asked, stepping forward from the gathering to be the spokesman.

"That's a bit complicated." Liam said, stretching his limbs.

The exorcists were not subtle in the slightest as they surrounded him, blocking off the exit, not that he was going to run.

They obviously saw him repair the statues so they knew he was a mage.

"What are you doing here, magician?" The man asked once again.

This time, instead of answering, Liam closed his eyes as the temperature around him dropped. The stray exorcists were immediately on guard, pulling out their guns and light swords.

"Kill him before he makes a move!" One of them ordered as they began firing at him.

Unfortunately, they were too late as a wall of ice formed around him to block them. A thin sheet of ice spread from the floor, freezing their legs to the ground.

"What?!"

"Don't let it stop you! Keep firing!"

Wind picked up around them, violently ruffling their clothes and throwing anything not rooted to the ground around.

As they attempted to shield themselves from the howling wind, Liam lowered the ice wall, spreading his arms as wisps of fire emitted from his hands.

In the presence of fire, the whirlwind combined with the fire to burn everything around him. Fortunately for the stray exorcists, the fire melted the ice but unfortunately for them, they were caught by the fire before they could retaliate.

"Aaahhhhhh!!!"

"Ughh!"

There were screams of pain and death but Liam ignored it all as the whirling flames picked up heat, quickening their death.

By the time he allowed it to die down, everything around him besides the chair he sat on was burnt to ashes or still burning.

Getting to his feet, he walked to the altar which was on fire, blasting it away with a way of his hand to reveal a staircase underneath.

Calmly walking down, his footsteps reverberated in the silence as he soon found himself in an underground chamber with a decent number of stray exorcists as well.

Undoubtedly hearing the commotion he had caused, they already had their weapons out and pointed towards where he stood.

"Hello everyone." He greeted, briefly surveying them.

What caught his eye was the blonde haired girl who was tied up near a large cross with magical circuitry visible on it.

"Who the fuck are you?" One of the more vocal exorcists asked. "Where are our comrades?"

Liam chuckled a bit, disappearing and appearing in front of the blonde girl. "If I'm right, they should be in hell right about now. You'll be joining them soon."

The shock at his sudden movement was followed by gunshots aimed at him.

A wave of his hand cast a shielding spell to protect him and the girl he recognized to be Asia.

"Keep shooting!" One man screamed only for him to get hit in the face with an explosion charm.

"The light magic your weapons use is much more inferior than I thought. I almost feel like a fool for being cautious." Liam muttered, waving his hand as ice immediately covered the ground, spikes forming and killing them all.

Their deaths were quick as they were violently skewered.

Turning to Asia, he saw the girl's eyes widened in shock and fear as she mumbled through bindings over her mouth.

"Don't be afraid. I don't bite." He said, flicking his wrist as the mouth gag vanished into nothingness.

"G-get away from me!" Asia screamed as she tried to shuffle away from him.

"That's not exactly a polite response." Liam muttered with a shake of his head.

His eyes immediately narrowed as he tilted away from a light spear that just barely grazed his cheek.

"Tch! I missed." A haughty female voice said from the entrance.

Turning around, he saw Raynare standing there, another light spear in her grasp.

"You!" She exclaimed in recognition. "What are you doing here, magician?!"

"I was wondering where you scurried off to, Raynare." Liam said in a casual manner, causing her face to twist in rage.

"Don't call my name so lightly!" She screamed, taking aim and firing it at him.

*Boom!*

The light spear hit nothing as he vanished, appearing a few meters away, holding a crying Asia by her head.

"I understand that you need her for your little ritual." He said, shocking Raynare as she looked between him and where her attack struck.

She quickly created another light spear in her hand as she turned to face him. Liam's casual expression wiped off his face as a frown showed.

"Try that again and I'll kill her." He said, causing Asia's crying to increase.

Raynare narrowed her eyes but didn't attack. "You're bluffing."

Without answering, Liam twisted Asia's head back, a loud and violent crack ringing through the chamber as Asia's crying came to a halt.

Letting her go, Asia's lifeless body fell to the floor, leaving Raynare in shock.