Chapter 12

Author Note: I had this in my draft so why not post it?

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-[Liam]-

Watching Raynare's shock at Asia's death, he couldn't help but shake his head. In the grand scheme of things, her death was somewhat essential.

While Azazel might possibly know a few people with the twilight healing sacred gear, they were still few in number.

Lessening the number of proper healers would only increase his value and make him more important in most communities.

"You bastard!" Raynare screamed in rage, firing a light spear at him which he dodged by teleporting out of the way.

"One would think that you actually cared about her and not her sacred gear." Liam taunted as he dodged another light spear that exploded upon hitting the wall.

"Shut up! Filthy human! Do you know what you've done?!" She demanded, flying straight at him as fast as she could.

"I do. I just don't care." He said sardonically as feathered wings grew out of his back, flapping powerfully as he shot into the air.

Her shock at seeing the sudden growth of the appendage allowed him the chance to draw on his spoils of the previous battles.

Magic circles appeared above him, swords shooting out of it and towards the fallen angel at high speed. She was barely able to avoid getting skewered through the shoulder but her relief turned to pain.

"Aaaaahhhhh!!!" She screamed in pain as she realized the swords' actual target; her wings.

Blood dripped to the floor as she too descended roughly due to her injured wing. "Holy swords?! W-what are you?" She questioned in shock and pain.

A humorless chuckle left Liam's lips. "Even I don't know the answer to that." He said.

"The hell does that mean?" Raynare muttered under her breath.

His eyes traced the jet black wings behind him that held a lustrous shine to them. "Since you're going to die, I'll enlighten you." He said, conjuring a holy sword in his hand.

"I was born with a flaw. From a young age, I found myself unable to quite understand the feelings of another. I neither felt joy nor sorrow at their despair." He said. "I had to create a mask to hide myself lest I be ostracized as a bad person."

He disappeared, casually appearing behind Raynare, causing her to freeze. "I understood that this lack of empathy was not normal, yet, that doesn't change how I feel."

Being forced to fall in line with the large multitude of people in life was neither exciting nor depressing. He felt no satisfaction from it but it was a necessity to blend in.

"Then I was granted a golden opportunity to attain an answer. Power." His abundant mana flared to life around him. "With this power, I will use these hands to grasp satisfaction. So you see,"

His mana settled around the room, an oppressive feeling pushing down on all but him. "Your life is but a mere piece for me to use."

-[Raynare]-

A monster…

That's what he was…a monster.

The amount of magic he was exuding was much more than a mere human should have, sacred gear or not.

As much as she hated it, she waited, listening patiently as he continued his speech. She searched for an opening or a distraction to exploit to launch an attack.

She got that chance as she felt him turn away from her.

Ignoring the pain that flared up, from her wounded wing, she lurched towards him, a light spear in her hand.

Before she could complete her attack, she felt a hand touch her neck before…nothing…

*SPLASH!*

-[Liam]-

It had only taken a single touch with transmutation magic to cause her upper body to explode in a shower of blood and gore.

Given how weak Kalawarner, Mittelt and Dohnaseek were, he didn't expect much from Raynare in terms of strength.

'Well this has been an eventful outing.' He thought, his eyes traveling to the dead bodies of the stray exorcists as well as Raynare's and Asia's.

He'd farmed a decent amount of essence from this hunt.

The space around him shook as he teleported back to his home. His eyes caught his phone that was currently ringing on his bed.

With a flick of his wrist, the phone flew into his waiting palm, answering it. "Hello."

"Liam, how are you settling down there?" The familiar voice of his father came from the other side of the phone.

"Hey dad. I'm doing alright. I'm surprised you called." Liam said, putting the phone on speaker and letting it levitate with a bit of magic.

"Sorry to interrupt whatever fun you're having over there. There's a gala event happening in a few days. My schedule is too tight so I'm going to need you to represent me there." The man said.

Liam hummed in thought for a moment, thinking it over before agreeing. They spent the next few minutes discussing different things before he had to go.

As the call ended, Liam raised a brow while looking at the phone. 'Rias called? I'll get to that later.'

-[Later]-

Sitting in his living room, the sound of the television played in the background as he read a book on Nature magic.

"Local high schooler Issei Hyoudou was found dead earlier this afternoon. The details of his death are being kept private…" he tuned out the rest of it.

'So he still died in the end. So Rias didn't revive him.' He thought, realizing that it was probably the reason Rias was calling him earlier.

A sinister idea came to his mind at that moment. Throwing the book into his pocket space, the space shook as he disappeared from his living room.

-[Motohama]-

Lying on the floor in his room with tears in his eyes, devastating sadness filled him.

'Issei is dead...' It was only a few hours ago that his fellow pervert was committing the glorious act of voyeurism with him and Matsuda.

As he cried, he clutched a perverted magazine in one hand. He couldn't imagine what Issei's parents were feeling at the moment.

At that moment, a voice spoke in his head. 'How about how you're feeling, Motohama?' The voice said.

"Who's there?!" He screamed immediately, looking around.

'Someone who can tell you the truth.' The voice said in an amused manner.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Motohama screamed, still looking around in fear and confusion.

'Do you really think his death is all there was to it?' The voice asked.

"The police said it was a mugging gone wrong!" Issei's parents had informed his and Matsuda's parents in tears.

'Do you really think that's true?' The voice asked again, confusing him even more as his surroundings changed.

He was suddenly on the street where Issei was said to be killed, the outline of a dead body on the floor.

"What are you talking about?" He asked, fear still present but confusion being the presiding emotion.

'Motohama, are you ready to learn the truth about this world?' The voice said, moments later a bright light engulfed him.

-[Liam]-

Standing in the corner of Motohama's room, a cruel smirk played on his lips as he prepared his new toy.

'Let's see how much fun this will be.' He thought.