Ren was walking down to the shop district, spending his free time and looking for activities. Unfortunately he was bored during the whole week. Not only was the cafe temporarily shut down without any reason, there's no sign of Natsumi or demons either. He was planning to hook up with his roommate but he's kinda a busy man. Best not to interrupt him.
"Man, I'm bored. No sign of demons. I mean, it's a good thing. But still…" he self-talked on the street until he heard a noise below him. His stomach signaled him it's lunch time. Initially he can settle it at Shadow cafe. Sadly, the shop was closed for some reason.
He randomly picked a ramen shop. He walked in and noticed a familiar face sat behind the shop. It was Nero. Yes, his roommate started yesterday. He would like to pick another shop but he was warmly welcomed by the passionate steward.
"Welcome! How many?" He could reject the offer but it will be rude to do that. Also, can't say he's alone since it will be awkward if Nero noticed him. He has no choice but leaving him an only option.
"Well, actually I was with him." He pointed at Nero who was still deciding his meal.
"..." Nero read through the menu. It has many types of flavor for ramen, side dishes and beverages. He had a hard time to decide which one to pick because most of the food looked promising. Even these dishes are named in Japanese but thanks to Karen, she provided him with a pair of contact lenses which can help him to understand the language without learning. But it does not help him to speak.
" Which one to pick..." the devil hunter annoyed. Before he tried to ask the waiter for recommendations, a boy was calling him. He saw Ren was walking towards him.
"Ren?" He raised his eyebrows, wondering why he was here. At this time, he should be at school..
"Why are you here? Aren't you going to school today?"
"Nah, I skipped it. Lots of things happened recently.." Ren took a seat. He looked at the menu where Nero was holding. He then understands what makes the devil hunter confused.
"Let me guess. Having difficulty picking?"
"Yeah… " Nero nodded.
"Well, I'm not coming here often. But I heard this and this was highly recommended. Do you want to try it?"
"Sure." Nero nodded again.
Ren snapped his finger to get a waiter's attention.
"Two of this please."
After meals
"Woo… I'm full." Ren leaned back while drinking a glass of water.
"Not bad." Nero was satisfied after the meal. Not good as Kyrie's meal, but this one sure satisfied his appetite.
"So, are you coming to this city for the first time?" Ren asked.
"Yeah. Really far from home for a business trip."
"I see." The white hair boy raised up and about to leave the shop.
"Alright. I will see you soon."
"Wait up." Nero stopped him. He picked up the guitar case, walking towards Ren who's about to leave.
"Yes?" Ren questioned.
"I'm not familiar with this city. I'm asking if you can…" Before Nero could finish, Ren interrupted the rest of his word.
"Sorry, pick someone else." Ren rejected causally, intending to leave the shop. But Nero did not give up and ran to his front.
"Come on, no need to be so hushed. We're roommates, remember?"
"So?"
"Helping out each other. You know? Getting close."
"So you wanted me to introduce this place?"
"Yeap.." Nero nodded happily but a little awkward inside.
Ren was having a deep thought. He could just ask Shido to guide but the school hasn't finished. Asking that tired woman, doubt she got that free time to do it. Leaving him the only one could be Nero's personal tourist guide.
"Fine." Ren answered reluctantly.
"Thank you." Nero thanked him. Following Ren who continued leaving the shop.
Well, it worked. For Nero, those hang out stuff he talked about are nothing but an excuse. He has no intention to hang out with anyone. He feels more comfortable exploring this city alone. Why? Let's revert time back to yesterday.
Night after departure at Tengu City
After Nero finished unpacking his luggage, he observed the shared room. Not too fancy, but at least it got one bed for each person. The rest of the furniture will be handled by the organization here tomorrow.
He started yawning, feeling tired and his eyes became heavy. A 16 hours trip straight from home to here, the jet lag surely affected him much. Before he decided to call it a day, the door was knocked. Nero walked towards it and opened. A woman with a tired-looking face and glasses appeared at the front of the door. She wore a long white coat and pink shirt inside the coat. A small blue teddy fitted in her right pocket.
"You are…"
"My name is Reine, Analysis Officer from Ratatoskr. We would like to discuss the job." She spoke calmly.
"Alright, where to..."
Before Nero could finish, blue lights surrounded him and Reine. Without wasting any seconds, they were already transferred to the mothership.
"What the hell!?" Nero was surprised by the instant teleport. Before he could ask more, Reine walked past him and guided him.
"Follow me."
Guess there's no pointing asking questions now. Nero thought. He has a lot of questions in his mind. But for now, let's save it till he meets the person in charge here. Just as he turned around, the tired woman fell on the ground and her face straight knocked on the ground.
"Are you alright!?" Nero quickly helped her fall caused her to have a small nose bleeding. She wiped it away using tissue and looked at worried devil hunter.
"Just lack of sleep. I think 30 years?"
"That's… an interesting number." Nero startled. 3 days without sleep he Can a normal person achieve that? Well, surely Nero caught up more weirdos. Including himself.
Reine took out a bottle and opened. She poured all the medicine into her mouth and gulped. Nero widened her eyes and left speechless after watching her stunning move.
"Shall we?" She continued guiding Nero like nothing happened.
Is this going to be okay? Nero really wanted to get some sleep. As soon as he gets the intel of his job, he can go back and jump into the soft bed.
They went into a command central. Screens and monitors surrounded the front of the room. Five operators are currently working on their individual station.
The man with blonde hair who was standing near at the chair. He noticed their arrival and approached him ,intending to make a warm greeting.
"You must be Nero. My name is Kyouhei Kannazuki. I'm the vice commander of Fraxinus."
"Nice to meet you." After the handshaking, he looked around the room. Judged by those high technology equipment in the room, he sure can't underestimate the people who hired him. But there's one thing he felt that it was missing.
"If you are the vice commander, where's the commander?" Nero asked curiously. Yes, a ship should have the main leader to command. The handsome man said he was the vice commander. They should be the leader here.
"Our commander has slightly on her own. I will temporarily replace her position with honour."
"Is that so?"
"So, let's start our little introduction." Reine and Kannazuki started to give Nero a simplified introduction about Fraxinus, Spirts and their objective.
After a long talk with Fraxinus, Nero can conclude that they are into war against DEM industry, the origin of creatures from another world - Spirit, how they talked with them instead of killing them bla bla di bla. Nero couldn't care less about the wars of their own. All he needs is to do his job and get paid.
"So, what did I need to do?"
"Simple. We would like to act as a bodyguard for Shin."
"Shin?" Nero questioned.
"Shido Itsuka. I believe you met?" Kannazuki cut in.
"Oh… I remembered him." Nero recalled the boy who welcomed him when he arrived. But what's so special about that boy?
"He's our important key to save the Spirits. Due to the last incident we encountered at DEM, we would like to prioritize Shido Itsuka's safety." Reine continued after Kannazuki talked. "Plus, we have another intelligence. But yet to confirm."
"That is…" Nero asked. Reine adjusted her glasses and spoke, "DEM was into some kind of rituals about demons."
When Nero heard word about demons, he widened his eyes and quickly asked. "Demons!?"
"We are unable to confirm it. But our intelligence team picked up the info where they were seen in Redgrave city. I believe you don't feel strange about that place."
"..." Nero remained silent, thinking about people involved in the demon's ritual. It's like the Order of the Sword again. Foolish people believed devils can bring them goods. Well, he can't complain about that since his body was part of them.
"Alright. I'll see what I can do. You have my word to protect that kid. As long as the cut was neat." Nero chuckled.
Before Nero left the room, the tired woman called him.
"Before you left, there's another thing we would like to ask…"
Nero looked back and watched Reine was full of doubt. She wanted to speak out but was uncertain of it. She then decided to talk after the consideration.
"Starting tomorrow, could you keep an eye on your roommate, Ren Yato?"
Present
"Nero? Are you coming?" Ren waved at the daydreaming devil hunter, trying to get his attention. Nero quickly got his attention back to Ren.
"I'm fine." He responded plainly.
"Come on. I'm not always free."
A ringtone can be heard from Ren's pocket. He picked up his phone and the name on the screen shows Itsuka Shido.
"Itsuka?" Ren answered, hearing Shido's heavy breath from the other side.
"We found her!"
"Her?" Ren was confused for a second until he full understood what Shido meant.
"Where!?" He asked in a serious tone.
"At the park."
After getting the location, he hung up and looked at Nero.
"Sorry Nero. Looks like your exploration has to delay." Before Nero could react, Ren ran towards his opposite direction, leaving Nero confused on the spot.
"Hey, wait up!" Nero didn't know what was happening. But it might be something urgent after that phone call. He continued chasing after Ren.
They ran and reached at the front of the coffee shop. Nero leaned behind the wall and watched the white-haired boy keep knocking on the door.
"Hey! Old man! I know you are in here!" The shop seems to remain closed. When Nero tried to approach Ren, a cold chill crawled through his skin. That chill he could not speak of.
"What the hell, kid? You try to tear my door apart?" Chief carried full of ingredients on his hands, walking towards the front door.
"About the damn time. Where have you been?"
"You could say I was taking a break." Chief smirked and unlocked the door calmy. Nero remained hidden behind the wall, observing them walk into the shop.
"What is this feeling?" The chilling feeling still stuck onto his body. It was very familiar. Back when he encountered someone, something dangerous.
"Come on, I need that right now!" Ren shouted at Chief who was slowly putting down his ingredients and started the jukebox.
"Settle down, kid." He walked towards the kitchen. Ren was standing, knocking the table impatiently. Not much time passed, the shop owner returned to the front with a silver long briefcase.
"Here you go, your totally new dancing partner." He threw the briefcase to Ren. Ren was almost felt down by its weight.
"You know, it took me some time to craft this babe, so you better make sure…" When Chief looked at Ren after preparing a coffee, Ren had already left the shop.
"And I'm talking to the air…" Chief sighed, had a sip of coffee and continued to arrange the ingredients he bought.
Nero spied behind the wall, watching Ren leaving with a long briefcase on his hand.
What is he carrying? Wasting no time, Nero continued following him. Before he left the area, that chill feeling came through again. This time, it is more intense, feels like his heart was penetrated by a spike.. But he looked back and found nothing but citizens walking on the street.
What is that? That feeling… almost killed me? Nero thought and tried to find where the source of it. But he still needs to catch up with Ren first.
"Interesting..." Chief looked outside where Nero ran towards where Ren was going.
At the park
A group of girls surrounded a girl in halloween costume. Her belly was bleeding and fell on the ground. Her face and emotion can tell how painful her wound was. Girls who surrounded the fallen girl are wearing black and white semi-transparent combat suit. Everyone has their common suit except a woman stood in their middle. She wore an unique type of combat suit like the others. She had blonde hair and purple eyes, holding a laser sword and pointed at the fallen girl.
"Don't worry. I will be all over soon." She raised her sword, aiming at her right legs.
"Try not to pass out." The fallen witch closed her eyes and tightened her teeth to endure the incoming pain.
Why? Why? Why? Why am I the only one who has to suffer? Why does everyone hate me so much? Why do people like to judge others by looking? Why?
She had many thoughts in her mind. Several voices appeared that contained her inner world. Guess this is what they called rewind time before people died. Among all those negative thoughts beside his voice, scolding, screaming, yelling, complaints. But, there is one that was an energy but soft voice getting her attention.
Are you alright?
She opened her eyes and watched an unexpected someone appear in front of her. Ren parried Ellen's attack with the silver briefcase. The briefcase was almost cut into half but was stucked at the center of it.
"You are…!" Ellen widened her eyes while watching a young boy could block her incoming attack by that briefcase on his hand.
She immediately falls back to the team. It's not like she was afraid of him. In order to defeat an enemy like a perfectionist, she needs to fully prepare before making the next attack.
"Hey. Ain't that kind of rude assaulting an injured lady."
"Who are you?"
"Not important. I'm here for her."
"You.. trying to save her?"
"Nope." Ren immediately denied. Ellen was even more confused. If it's not saving her, why parry the block? Is he not who he is facing and what kind of creature laid behind him.
"This maniac pretended to be my classmate, defamed him, kidnapped me and his friends. All of this just for fun, and I almost died by her hands."
"Then why bother... blocking the attack... for me?" Natsumi stared at the white-haired boy angrily. Despite being injured, she still has the strength to talk back.
"Nah. Killing you was too easy. I promised Itsuka to keep you alive. But before that..." Ren stared at Natsumi with malicious intent all over his face.
"I'm gonna re-educate you how to treat a person nicely." His voice of speech and expression on his face quickly gave the others an uncomfortable feeling. Ren could feel girls were staring at him like looking at a disgusting animal.
"Why are you all looking at me like that?" Ren was unaware of his talk and wondered the reason behind those staring at him, leaving the fallen witch speechless and tired of roasting about it.
"Enough talk." Ellen shouted at Ren, raising her sword at the side.
"Stay out of this. We can grant you forgiveness and pretend this never happened."
"Or what.." Ren taunted.
Is he really not aware what he was into? Ellen thought inside. Not sure which kind of instinct told him to stay. Bravery or stupidity, or both. She once again made her final declaration.
"Final warning…" Before she could finish the sentences. Ren cut into it, copying her voice and finished the rest of her sentence.
"Stay out of this or suffer the consequences bla bla di bla… I heard this hundred times already. Be creative, Blondie."
"!" All girls are into shock after hearing "that" word coming out from Ren's big mouth. They started whispering but were immediately scared by their leader's aura. Ellen currently was not into a good mod, not a single bit.
"Alright then, I will personally teach you to learn some manners, you arrogant kid!" She shouted and made a strike. Ren watched her speed incredibly fast and dodged the attack.
Looks like I pissed her off. Ren thought while dodging those sword attacks. The others are watching their leader and unknown young boy fighting. The boy kept dodging that kind speed of attacks bringing curiosity to them.
"That boy… did you see that?"
"Yeah. To think of he could dodge Ellen's attacks."
Ren noticed the attacks become faster, his shirt started cutting by that laser blade. If that thing cut through the skin, can't imagine the damage done to his body… and also the hospital fee.
Damn… this blondie ain't joking. Still trying to make his move. He can't dodge this all day. Ren rolled to the side and ran towards an empty area. It should at least give him some space to set up his gear.
"You fool. There's no running away." Ellen quickly activated her Territory, trying to slow down his movement. No surprise, Ren felt his body was heavy, unable to stand properly but to kneel.
Ellen walked towards him and raised her blade, aiming at his head. Ren tried to resist but those 'gravity' stuff are stronger than he expected.
"This is what happened if you tried to be arrogant." Before cutting down Ren's head, she heard gunshots firing at her, quickly forming a barrier around her and blocking incoming bullets.
"Who's there!?" She shouted at the man who was coming out of the bushes. A young man carried a double-barrier revolver and guitar case equipped at his back.
"Nero?" Ren looked at Nero who just saved him. Nero also looked at the kid to see he's fine.
"You okay, kid?" Nero asked while pointing his gun at Ellen.
Another complice. The strongest wizard stared at Nero, identifying his look. She then quickly remembered what Isaac said before.
Looks like they were hiring some bodyguards to protect Itsuka Shido.
"..." Without saying a word, Nero fired another around. But the bullets cannot penetrate the transparent energy barrier.
"It's pointless, your puny weapon has no effect on it."
Ellen declared with confidence.
"It's that so…" Nero rushed towards Ellen and pulled out his favorite weapon out of a guitar case. Red Queen hit the barrier and stopped it.
"I told you it's…." Ellen quickly noticed fire came out from the sword. Nero revved up Red Queen and performed an EX High Roller.
The barrier started cracking, letting Ellen in shock. She immediately disabled the barrier, dashed backwards to dodge the flammable attacks. Nero held back Red Queen at his back and made an eavesdropping taunt.
"What you say? My weapon has no effect?" Nero's taunt clearly affected Ellen's pride. Her emotion was shaken, she cannot let anyone overwhelm her pride.
Without saying a word, Ellen charged in front and so did Nero. He fired a few shots at her. Ellen observed every bullet and parried them. After managing to get enough distance, she leaped forward and performed a straight hit. Nero picked up his Red Queen and blocked her incoming attack. After the clash between their swords, each of them performed a continuous attack. Their attacks were incredibly fast, each time of their attacks could cut any object in pieces if getting into the attack range . None of it had landed on each other and no showing any open gap or tiredness. In the final swing, their swords clashed again and contacted together. Both of them stared at each other with smiles on their faces.
"Hmm…you got some skills." Ellen was slightly impressed by Nero's skill. Normally, a human could not withstand his continuous attack. But the man in front of him, not only managed to break her high dense barrier but also able to keep track her speed and parried them.
"Likewise." Nero agreed with her point. Besides fighting demons, this is the first time he faces a strong opponent beside Dante and Vergil. But she does not look like a demon disguised in human looks and yet she had the equal strength like him. Something tells him this is not her full strength.
The confrontation stayed until a loud screaming interrupted. A massive creature jumped out of nowhere and stomped nearby them, causing them to distance each other. It was 7-8 feets tall and had a brown grey theme on the body. The horn and nail at its hand are sharp like scimitars. Its arm was equipped with some sort of bracelet with armor protection.
It opened its arm widely and unleashed tentacles with spikes from its belly. Each of them are trying to track down the people nearby. The girls are trying to escape those. Most of them escaped, but one of them was unlucky. One of the tentacles rolled over her right leg and the sharp edge penetrated into her. She tried to resist but an electrical shock paralyzed her body. She screamed painfully until she passed out.
The tentacle started glowing dark red, sucking the blood from the victim. The blood sucking caused the penetrated wizard started losing her skin color and slowly became pale. Before her blood was totally sucked out, Ellen chopped the tentacle and catched the injured wizard.
She slowly returned to the team, passing her fallen teammate to the others. One of them started to examine her condition. She then looked at Ellen and reported," Luckily she didn't lose much blood. But she needed medical attention immediately."
"Alright, retreat." Ellen ordered.
"What should we do to that 'thing'?"
"Leave it." She replied plainly, flying away with wizards while watching Nero alone facing that creature.
"BLOOD BLOOD! GIVE ME MORE BLOOD!" The creature screamed while using its tentacles to attack Nero. Nero used Blue Rose to fire every incoming tentacles. But it is too much for a medium creature, he was unable to parry some of them but to dodge them.
"What is this demon?" Nero said inside. This is indeed a demon. But those tentacles from its belly were ultimately disgusting, regardless of the attack speed and appearance.
While he jumped and did a backflip to dodge the attack, the devil hunter's eyes widened as he saw another incoming attack towards him. He was in a bad position.
Fu… Nero cursed and braced for the incoming attack. But tentacles were slashed before reaching him.
What is happening? Nero looked at the demon screaming for its injured tentacles. A boy held a silver sword with transparent lining at the center of the blade and a scabbard with matte grey. The blood was attached to the sword by the cutting just now. Nero looked at the boy who saved him with a surprising look.
"Ren?"
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah."
"We are even." Ren smirked and looked at the demon. Ren focused on its face. To be honest, this is definitely in the list of the worst makeup. But that face, somehow looked familiar.
"HOW DARE YOU HURT MY BELOVED TENTACLES!" The demon looked at Nero and Ren with rage. It was even angrier after looking at Ren stood beside Nero.
"YOU!" It pointed at Ren who was still processing where he saw it from. Nero just looked at Ren with curiosity and full of doubts. Who is this boy? Is he a devil hunter too? Why saving that fallen lady? What's the connection between him and that demon?
"Errr… do I know you?" Ren raised his hand like a student asking a teacher. But this action only pissed the demon even more and shouted loudly.
"DO NOT THINK OF ME AS A FOOL! AFTER KILLING MY FRIENDS, YOU WILL NOT GET AWAY EASILY." The demon's word and the familiar voice started to complete his memory puzzle. It was that demon responsible for missing people back then.
"Wait. I know you. You are that cocky demon. Switching a new body huh?" Ren continued.
"You know what? I like your old one more. But this… this is just the whole next level ugliness. You should take a lesson about beauty and fashion." Ren kept taunting the demon and stretching his back.
A full speed punch came towards Ren and stomped the ground. The demon was annoyed by the talky boy until he heard that annoying talk again. This time, he appeared at its shoulder.
"But your skin is kinda soft. Must be good to make a great sofa." Ren sat on the shoulder like a normal seat.
… Nero was speechless, watching that boy pull that impressive stunt. He could dodged the attack without issue and quickly appeared at its shoulder. He could see one other guy's shadow will on Ren.
"SILENCE!" The rage demon forcely slapped at the shoulder. Ren jumped down and landed on the ground, facing at the massive demon.
"I WILL NOT GO EASY LIKE THE LAST TIME. THIS TIME, I WILL CRUSH YOU ALL LIKE A TINY BUG!"
Ren held his blade back to scabbard and Nero revved up his sword, preparing to fight against the demon filled with rage.