Rudolf and his companion traveled a considerable distance following a river that was dry. According to the device the woman had been given, the Stray Devil they were hunting was hiding downstream in the barn of a 24-year-old abandoned farmhouse.
"I don't think we've been formally introduced," the woman said, holding out her hand and revealing that she had some tattoos. "As I told you, I'm Nara, supernatural monster hunter in New York for eleven years."
"Rudolf Wolfgang, bounty hunter since the age of ten."
"Hey, it's great to meet another person who started young in this business."
"Tell me Nara, what brought you from New York to California?"
She brought her left hand to her chin, as if thinking deeply about her reasons for being here. It wasn't like that at all, she was just acting.
"I wanted a little adventure," she replied with a shrug, only to have her gaze instantly turn serious. "Well, I was also asked to come. My mother belonged to the Cherokee people, who I'm more aware of what's going on with the Native American than other people."
"That makes sense, have you hunted Stray Devils before?"
"About five. It's becoming increasingly rare for a nobility or High Class Devil to hire hunters, mercenaries or bounty hunters to deal with reincarnated Devils who break their [Evil Piece]."
"You're not wrong, my group had to gain quite a bit of notoriety before at least one Devil commissioned us to chase a Stray Devil personally."
"Would you say they were good?"
Remembering those old days in the Nordic lands, Rudolf could afford a smug grin.
"The best."
The walk proceeded normally after that.
Nara and Rudolf shared a few interesting stories, experiences in fights, and how far getting involved with the supernatural side of the world had taken them.
While Nara was proud to be in the Top 10 of New York Hunters, and would defend her state tooth and nail, she recognized the latent ambition within her to want to see more, to reach far beyond the American frontiers.
Rudolf determined that this was why she was so fond of that work in Argentine Patagonia, which was as far as she had gone so far.
"And I guess I specialize in wind magic for combat. You know, strengthening my blows by using the wind as a piston or shaping it as a weapon."
"That's admirable, mastering magics with wind affinity is quite complicated."
"Yeaah, I've heard that it's one of the most difficult teachings in the order of mages led by Mephisto Pheles," Nara said with respect in her voice. "So, what can make you, friend? From what you tell me about your fights, you seem to rely on your fists, do you have one of those Sacred Gear?"
"Not at all," Rudolf dismissed his companion's question as if it were a bad joke. "I have something much better."
"Uhm?"
"My mother's inheritance."
Once again, Nara was oblivious as Rudolf's eyes flashed gold for the right and silver for the left.
Finally, after what seemed to be a long walk that actually took no more than 20 minutes, they were on the barren grounds of a farm that had seen its heyday during the 60's before beginning to go into decline until its inevitable closure.
The main house was nothing more than a pile of rubble that by mere luck retained traces of mint-colored paint, the text was practically non-existent and the remnants of it were upholstered by dry branches and leaves the results of birds making their nests and whatever the rains as well as strong winds washed in.
The plantation grounds now looked more like a miniature forest, covered with eucalyptus and salt pines towering up to 50 feet high. These same trees extended to where there had once been corrals, which were nothing more than a pile of rusted junk that underneath had an alarming amount of cattle skeletons, which to Rudolf and Nara's misfortune were not recent.
If they were recent, then there was the remote, minuscule possibility that the Stray Devil they were chasing did not attack humans to keep itself fed, but those were too isolated cases to the extent that only 8 were known publicly and according to rumors, they impacted Ajuka Beelzebub himself who used them as a basis to find a method to reverse the transformation of a reincarnated devil into a Stray Devil.
Needless to say, that research had not progressed very far.
"Sigh, I hope this isn't so cliché and that our target isn't hiding in that strangely well-preserved barn," Rudolf said pointing to the item that stood out like a sore thumb in that no-man's land.
Near a silo whose stainless steel was beginning to yield to time and neglect was a barn which had evidently been recently repaired to the extent that it had been repainted.
"Screw it, the sooner we finish the sooner I can get home and get as much sleep as my daughter will let me get before she gets hungry or soils her diaper."
"... You didn't mention you had a daughter," Nara commented with obvious surprise.
"You didn't ask."
Both of their enhanced senses were altered as a noise that sounded like a SCRECHT! began to echo from the location of the scrap metal and cattle bones.
Soon a cacophony of scrap metal being crushed and bones grinding echoed across the grounds of the abandoned farmhouse, giving way to the creature that emerged from the ground. Just by observing its silhouette in the barely visible moonlight, Nara and Rudolf realized that they were not facing just any Stray Devil.
The demonic chimera had a face replete with small eyes in the likeness of a deformed fly. Its body, once anatomically similar to that of a human being, had deformed thick strips of flesh that exposed the inside, giving it the appearance of a head held up by tentacles of flesh and bone.
"What the hell did he do to his [Evil Piece] to end up like this," Nara asked herself.
Both she and the new acquaintance of Serafall Leviathan exchanged a glance before nodding to then launch themselves at their foe.
The Stray Devil showed more physical endurance than its appearance suggested by withstanding a direct hit from the wind claws formed by Nara and Rudolf's hard fists, but that didn't stop the two from feeling attacking.
It wasn't hard for them to see that this was a game of endurance about how much damage the deformed Stray could take, and if things got tough, then it was a very good thing they weren't giving it their all. On the contrary, they were both attacking with the bare minimum.
"Call me crazy, but this doesn't make the slightest bit of sense," Nara commented, making Rudolf instantly realize what she was referring to.
"I see, didn't Serafall and Sirzechs say that these Stray were all extremely dangerous and quite intelligent?"
In their experience, they fully understood what was going on.
A distraction.
Which didn't make the slightest bit of sense because despite retaining most of their intelligence, a Stray Devil was no better than a predator guided by the most primitive of their intents, and even those were suppressed by the intense need they had to kill anything that moved.
"Do you want to end this in an exaggerated way?" asked Rudolf with a mischievous grin on his face.
A smile that was soon shared by Nara.
"Gladly."
A dull thud reverberated through the area as the air claws sliced through the Stray's 'chest', causing it to spill out what few vital organs it retained. To top it off, Rudolf directed a resounding punch that exploded its head at such a speed that the wreckage was a 300-weight distance from where the body lay.
With no time to take a breath, the various hunters jumped aside as a glowing neon green tinted sphere tried to hit them from behind.
"Hmm, what a shame. She was a good pet," declared a deep female voice that conveyed both sensuality and hostility.
They both looked the woman up and down; a smooth dark skin, flawless face accompanied by lilac eye shadow and intense pink lipstick which brought out her turquoise eyes and that long blue hair tied in a braid. The icing on the cake to determine why that woman was in that place was the fine but kinky clothing she wore, as well as the bat wings that adorned her back.
"Who knew..." the voice of Rudolf lost its sarcastic or friendly edge as he recognized the woman. "Kethra Decarabia herself graces us with her presence."
From the way the form's eyes widened and the words that obviously stuck in her throat, she didn't expect to be recognized.
With years in this line of work, Rudolf and Nara knew well that of the 72 Pillars of the Underworld, some were extinct, and such was the case with House Decarabia.
It is clear that even with the disappearance of all the members of House Decarabia, the memory of it would not disappear, something that proved to be true two years ago.
Across all factions, the appearance of a woman claiming the Decarabia legacy as its unacknowledged heir became known, claiming for her rights and how superior she was to the others, something the woman tried to prove by making multiple attacks on factions even beyond Heaven and the Grigori.
To prevent the outbreak of a new Great War, the Great Four Satans declared the woman an enemy of the Underworld and offered a bounty on her head.
Rudolf always thought that, if in two years the broad was not caught, it was because she had a mysterious benefactor who allowed her to hide, plan, attack and flee as if she had been nothing more than a collective illusion.
"So you're the one who was behind the appearance of so many Stray Devils," Nara said with obvious anger. "Why on earth would you do something so flashy that you knew, would attract the attention of the Great Satan?"
The stupor passed, leaving Kethra to regain some confidence. And said confidence soon morphed into a crooked, nauseating grimace that couldn't be called a smile.
"Because when I kill the nuisances in front of me, I can go back to the original plan - I'll be a [King] and no Devil, Angel or human can stand against me!"
The barn exploded, revealing the terrible truth.
Dozens of Stray Devils stood inside, all looking as deformed as the one they had already faced.
Nara still saw this as something she could win, but she had to be quick, precise, not make mistakes. Not only that, she also couldn't let the fake and deranged Decarabia intervene or a surprise attack she made would be the end of her.
"... Nara," that friendly tone in Rudolf's voice recovered once again. "Can you take care of the Stray while I get us some extra money hunting that bitch down?"
"... I just met you, but damn you if you die and your daughter has to grow up without a father."
"Don't worry, I've been through worse than a Devil with airs and graces."
Both hunters launched into their respective fights.
... ... ...
... ... ...
Sirzechs Lucifer and Ajuka Beelzebub listened with attention and concern to the explanation of a huntresses about the unexpected development of her mission.
That mission was successful, but with the unforeseen development that was the appearance of Low Class Devils claiming to serve [House Decarabia], which was complete nonsense.
If there was one thing the two Satans were grateful for, it was that so far only Low Class Devils were reported in these unforeseen developments, mostly because they were certain that this way there would not be any casualties on both their side and the human side, maximum coming to having to attend to some wounded, but they already had the team for that.
"You and your team did a job, young lady," Sirzechs said. "Payment has already been deposited into your respective accounts while medical expenses and weapons maintenance is on the [House Gremory]. You are dismissed."
"Thank you, Lord Sirzechs."
Ajuka watched the girl walk away, before being approached by her partner who was also a member of her team. Both girls continued on their course to rejoin the rest.
"Outside of these unforeseen events, everything is going well. Golden Hills and Los Angeles have been completely cleared out, leaving no Stray Devils on the run."
"What about the [Evil Pieces]?"
"No reports yet, which makes no sense at all. Reincarnating someone with an [Evil Piece] means binding it to their soul, to their being, that's why from day one we forbade its extraction."
"However..." Sirzechs knew that as always, his friend had a 'but'.
"... We were unaware of what Kethra Decarabia is capable of. The most logical thing I can think of right now is that the Stray Devils Plague is just a side effect of her real plan, which, if you ask me, would have to do with extracting and studying the [Evil Pieces] for a nefarious purpose."
The Satan Lucifer considered himself to be somewhat intelligent, but it was at the time so he remembered that Ajuka was on a whole different level.
While the two were still debating Kethra's possible reasons for extracting [Evil Pieces] as well as keeping the Devil the piece belonged to 'alive', Grayfia Lucifuge and Serafall Leviathan were on a very different task.
"Hmm... You really do have a soft spot for children."
"What can I tell you, Grayfia-chan? I am the magical girl Levi-tan, my duty is to fulfill the dreams of the little ones and spread the word of the Yuri throughout the wor- gkk!"
Serafall's outrage was interrupted by Grayfia as she hit her in the head in an attempt to shut her up. The Satan Leviathan turned angrily to look at the [Queen] of Sirzechs, only for her to angrily point at Louve who was shifting back and forth in the large stroller she slept in.
"Oh no!" Serafall exclaimed in a low voice that was meant to sound like a scream and then picked Louve up and cradled her in her arms in an attempt to get her back to sleep. "I'm so sorry little Lou, your Aunt Sera got too excited."
That statement on the Satan Leviathan's part made Grayfia look at her as if she had grown a second head on the woman.
" 'Aunt Sera'? Didn't you meet this man and his daughter just two days ago?"
"Yes. Why, is there something wrong?"
"... No..."
If the [Silver Queen of Annihilation] was asked her opinion on Serafall's recent acquaintance as well as being the bounty hunter who entered this operation at the last minute to deal with the Stray Devils' plague, she would say that she found it... somewhat disturbing.
The only reason was that her instincts, the gut feeling she had about other people, had not given her any negative signals regarding Rudolf Wolfgang, so either the man was hiding his nefarious intentions very well, or it really was all a coincidence.
Sadly, Grayfia could not accept the latter until the larger source of her unease became clear: the spell on Louve.
It took a deep breath and a good amount of her determination to make up her mind to tell Serafall about it.
"Lady Serafall, you haven't noticed anything strange regarding your new... friend?"
"Huh?"
Before she had a chance to answer, a voice accompanied by the sound of footsteps interrupted the former Sitri heiress and proud older sister of Sona Sitri.
"Grayfia, there's no need to be so formal," Sirzechs said with a relaxed smile plastered on his face. "You're not working at the moment."
"... An apology."
Sirzechs could only sigh with resignation, he found what he called his wife's 'fake stoicism' a bit amusing, a defense mechanism unique to Grayfia to not show when she felt embarrassed about something.
"Hmmm..." Ajuka Beelzebub looked with interest at the stroller Louve had been sleeping in. He wondered why there were such peculiar magical symbols carved on it: the constellation Ursa Minor, the constellation Lupus and, finally, a Wind Rose.
'What are they doing there?' he inevitably thought.
His thoughts were interrupted when she heard Grayfia clear her throat, puzzling when she could see the intense gaze the [Queen] of Sirzechs was giving little Louve.
"I wanted to be subtle, but I have no choice but to ask. Serafall, did you not notice the spell around that baby girl?"
The three satans looked at each other in confusion, with Serafall looking more quizzical than Sirzechs and Ajuka.
"... Honey," it was Sirzechs who dared to ask. "What are you talking about?"
Grayfia's unease grew like a mountain at that moment. Was that spell so powerful that the Satan could not detect it? No, to do such a thing it would have to be a spell given by those who surpassed both Super Devils in strength, which she didn't see as reasonable.
'What if... What if it's a spell designed to conceal the girl's presence?' was something he found much more reasonable.
That made more sense.
If so, the spell formula had to be absurdly complex for Grayfia, with great effort, to detect a glimmer of it. From what he had heard from Serafall, the said Rudolf had been retired from working as a bounty hunter for some time, even before his daughter was born he had established himself as an insurance salesman in San Francisco, and taking that into consideration, he doubted that the supernatural beings that inhabited the city would ever be able to detect the spell.
If that was the way things were...
"What is Ru-chan trying to hide?" asked Serafall to herself, hugging Louve protectively.
... ... ...
... ... ...
When Nara saw Rudolf pounce on Kethra with the grace of a soccer player and enough force for them both to disappear beyond the mini forest that lay in the abandoned farmland, she knew she was on her own against the Stray Devils.
It didn't seem like a fair fight... For them.
Landing, Nara spun quickly throwing gusts of wind that soon turned into blades and decapitated some of her foes while others managed to get out of the way and the lucky ones were pushed back by gusts that had already lost their edge.
Losing edge too quickly was a self-imposed disadvantage for Nara. As she told Rudolf, her combat style was always based on wind magic, reaching the point where the gusts she could throw in the form of blades reached a speed of 28,800,000 km/h, almost 10,000 times faster than the winds of the planet Neptune.
Simply put, her air blades could hit at 8,000 kilometers per second.
"I wonder what that broad was looking for with all of you..." she commented as she dodged and sliced in half one of the Stray that tried to attack her by surprise.
Willing herself to try and find something, her eyes glowed in a greenish vapor akin to thawing ice.
What she encountered made her very nervous.
The reddish aura, a very characteristic color when observing the soul of a Devil, was dulled into a bloody red, like clotted blood in the center of which was a void, a singularity capable of swallowing even light.
"Who knew, this is what happens when you take the [Evil Piece] from a reincarnated Devil and get it to survive," she said with obvious disgust. "That bitch was creating chimeras with yours."
Without any degree of finesse it was that she threw a punch at those who approached her, blowing them into a thousand pieces in the process.
It was then that her previous line of thought came back to her mind; they wanted her to fall into a trap created based on a false sense of security. What could Kethra Decarabia have created to have such a backup plan?
The irony of the world itself gave her the answer when she noticed how the now dead Stray Devils began to reanimate, with what was left of they body heading to a single point.
To the damn silo.
"... Then I must finish all of you in one attack."
The silo exploded in a cloud of dust, revealing why the corpses reanimated and headed for the spot as if they were part of whatever was there.
It was a tall figure, so thin that its ribs were exposed with the rest of its body glowing fluorescent red, the only feature it shared with the rest of the Stray Devils in the area was the exaggerated amount of eyes, only this creature's were disturbing.
It looked like something out of a macabre nightmare, as if a large number of hyper-realistic puppet eyes had been forcibly sewn into its body. Nara even noticed that, with each attempt of the creature to walk, some of those eyes were detached from its face.
Once again she made use of her special vision, and what she saw made her sweat nervously.
Scattered across the creature's stomach and chest were an alarming number of chess pieces, each and every one filled with so many breaks that the only thing that seemed to hold them together was an almost invisible thread, a bond they possessed with something external.
'What on earth is Decarabia thinking in connecting her with so many [Evil Pieces]? How could she pull something like that off to begin with?'
It was common knowledge that Stray Devils arose when a reincarnated Devil rebelled against his/her King to serve they own desires, an act that distorted they very core and consequently, they [Evil Piece]. However, the Underworld had well identified those Stray who had escaped to Earth, leaving their elimination to the Devils or factions in charge of the territory in which they appeared.
The gears in her mind began to turn at an overwhelming speed trying to find an answer to an unprecedented fact that had Satan Lucifer and Beelzebub themselves baffled.
An irrational amount of [Evil Pieces].
Several Stray Devils that, although they did not share the same appearance, they did share many traits, as if there was a common denominator in what made them end up like this. Added to that was the fact that the number of Strays on that farm was the equivalent of 6 Underworld nobility.
And the most important revelation: the infamous Kethra Decarabia was involved.
"... I think things just got complicated," she said in mild realization of what was going on, so she began to prepare to make an attack that would, in theory, allow her to wipe out all the Strays in one fell swoop.
As she prepared, she failed to notice that the [Evil Pieces] in the unusual Stray Devil core that had emerged from the silo, but remained motionless had disappeared in the blink of an eye, aimed at they true mistress.
"May the heart of the world pass sentence upon you, may Mother Nature guide me in an honored victory that will echo through yesterday, today and tomorrow," the huntress chanted as the air around her moved erratically while generating sparks of dark, intense blue as well as almost phosphorescent yellow.
The comparison might be absurd, but it was like watching the young woman turned into a Tesla Coil.
"The Twins will make the voice of the earth heard!"
With a scream, thousands of watts were released in all directions with an explosion that burned and even disintegrated the dozens of Stray in the place. Not even the unusual one, who was at a considerable distance, was unharmed.
They flesh was charred, they throat emitted the sound of a dying animal but distorted so that it sounded unnatural, the limbs moved erratically and with them non-existent eyes it searched for the attacker.
"Ghff!" with Herculean effort, the one remaining Stray forced themself to use whatever excuse they had for a nose, inhaling Nara's scent instantly.
Meanwhile, she looked at them in clear disgust as she contemplated the long, slimy, bloody strands running down they 'nose' without ever touching the ground. In itself, there was nothing about the creature that wasn't grotesque, it was like observing the work of an artist dedicated to body horror.
"I already knew you wouldn't go down so badly," she said, feeling more and more exhaustion resulting from the attack she performed. "Go ahead ugly, we both know only one of us get out of here alive," Nara raised her fists, determined to use them to end this.
To the beastly anger of the strange Stray, the woman's right fist wrapped itself in air while her left fist wrapped itself in electricity as blinding as lightning.
"KKKRRRRRRRRGGG!"
It was said that the roar of a beast was like hearing the reverberation of cold steel.
If true, then the Stray was something far worse. Its frightful scream was like hearing the tornado hurling objects with a metallic surface that it could not lift, it was as if a storm accompanied by dozens of lightning bolts had been unleashed.
Huntresess and Stray threw themselves into the heat of battle, with Nara narrowly dodging a nip from the creature and hitting it hard in the jaw, to which hundreds of dental pieces covered in that aforementioned reddish slime shot out.
Seething with animal fury, the Stray drove its left claw into the Huntresse's shoulder, swiftly bringing it down in a diagonal that cut from her shoulder to her left thigh. Unsatisfied, them rushed to strike her in the stomach with they right claw that was coated with a malicious aura of dark red.
Nara bit the inside of her mouth to endure the pain, surprised at her own toughness when she saw that the Stray's scratch was only superficial, something that would not leave a scar. Still, the blow to the stomach hurt like hell.
"You look like you're in a hurry to finish this."
The Stray's only response was those unnatural sounds.
"I don't blame you..."
The beast thought it had they prey.
It would rip her head off with a single bite.
It would pulverize her bones with the incredible power bestowed by them mistress.
"I'm hurry too!"
There was no elegance in Nara's strike, only brute force, the reason why she had emerged victorious so many times throughout her multiple hunts of supernatural monsters.
That right fist wrapped in air impacted the Stray, splitting it in half, but the force was so much that it ended up exploding in a reddish rain that sent Nara to the ground and drenched her completely.
"The bastard wasn't that tough..." she uttered with clear exhaustion.
She lay on the ground, watching the stars as she breathed a sigh of relief. She was always confident in her strength and her chances of making it out alive, but there was never lacking that dark part of her mind that told her that if she failed, she would never see the light of dawn again, that her name would fade into time with no one knowing who she was.
She pushed away those meaningless thoughts.
She was alive and victorious, that's what mattered.
With great effort she sat up, watching in disgust as the blood soaking her fell from her clothes to the floor.
"Ugh... I wonder how Rudolf is doing."
"I'd say it went well."
Her partner appeared at that moment, and Nara couldn't credit what she was seeing.
It was an image that would be burned into her memory for the rest of her life.
... ... ...
... ... ...
15 minutes before.
When Kethra tried to grab him by the torso and make him crash to the ground, Rudolf joined his hands together as if forming a mass and with tremendous force hit the Devil in the back.
Decarabia kissed the earth instantly, releasing Rudolf who crashed into several trees before he could regain his balance.
The Devil of sorts tried to get up stiffly, craning his neck in a way that was surely dangerous. It seemed that this blow on Rudolf's part had an intent beyond just sending her to the ground because when she got back upright, Kethra Decarabia realized that her nose and lips were bleeding.
"You son of a bitch, you're going to pay for this," she demanded in a cracked voice, as if at any moment she was going to burst into tears. It was a pitiful thing to hear for someone who had revealed his presence with such arrogance.
Noticing that only told Louve's father one thing, and that was that the supposed heiress of [House Decarabia] was not used to pain, she had no experience fighting enemies whose approach was brute force.
She relied only on her magical power, one that, if she had to guess, would be on the level of a High Class Devil.
"We'll see about that."
Rudolf ran so fast that Kethra couldn't see him until the bounty hunter's hand dug his nails into her stomach, it felt as if five razors had cut her at once. She wasted no time, she spread her Devil wings once more and extended her arms, exploding her devil aura to push her opponent away.
Once again Rudolf flew through trees, feeling the wood cut and stabbed into his back. Dryly he stopped, his back burning from the amount of scrapes, cuts and splinters of wood on it, at the same time, he noticed how a piece of wood pierced his leg.
Showing no pain, he pulled it out and tossed it aside, standing up once more to Kethra's surprise.
There were no sarcastic phrases, let alone any words shared between the opponents, they just threw themselves into the fray once more. Rudolf leapt at her again, dodging the Devil's magical attacks, which he noticed, always seemed to change as Kethra directed her power at one of the gemstones on her bracelets or the necklace that adorned her face.
From his studies he remembered that the [House Decarabia] was dedicated to the upbringing of birds native to the Underworld as well as botany and geology with a focus on gemstones, so it was obvious to him to assume that should she be a true Decarabian descendant, Kethra had only inherited an affinity for her family's talent regarding gemstones.
"What a disappointment!" exclaimed Rudolf in a harsh, raw voice, one that did not square with the type of person he had proven himself to be thus far.
He collided once again with Kethra, so Kethra moaned in pain when she stopped him by making an X with her arms. Rudolf saw this as his chance and without warning, his teeth sank into the Devil's left shoulder, but it didn't end there, because with terrifying ferocity, he moved his jaw in a way that tore her shoulder.
Kethra no more resisted and screamed in pain, and in that feeling, she coated her arm with something that seemed to be diamond and directed it at Rudolf's chest, piercing his chest and sending him against a natural wall made of stone that was part of one of the mountains in the area.
She held her shoulder as her face contorted between pain and rage.
"You damned monster, how could I be so foolish and not know you weren't human just by looking at you, you dirty lycanthrope, you should know your place serving to the vampires!" blinded by rage, Kethra grabbed her necklace and crushed the emerald it guarded. A magical pulse managed to escape, that's all it took for the Devil to see if what she worked for for years was worth it. "You know, everyone says that Ajuka Beelzebub is the savior of our race with his creation, the [Evil Pieces] system, but the truth is, he's a damn coward. Our race could rise above all other factions if only he wasn't so fearful of the power of a [King]! But that doesn't matter anymore, because I've accomplished what he hasn't."
Even being shocked from blood loss and beaten, Rudolf could understand what Kethra was saying. It was obvious that a piece of [King] did not exist in the [Evil Piece] system, why was something he didn't know or care to know, those were secrets of the Satan Beelzebub, but if he was understanding anything, it was Kethra Decarabia's intentions.
'... She took advantage of the Stray Devils to study the [Evil Pieces] and create a piece of [King]. In the worst scenario, the bitch was reincarnating humans into Devils and experimenting on them.'
Hatred began to boil in his gut, determining him to have no compassion, he didn't care if anyone else saw what he had tried so hard to hide, it was something he had already visualized.
Unnoticed by Rudolf himself, his frustration and anger were accompanied by a giant sadness, one that continued to eat away at his heart. That sadness, guilt and regret came from the devastating news that was Lana's death and how in just a few hours, he would have to head to the crematorium to say goodbye to her.
Meanwhile in the real world, shards of crimson-tinted glass floated above her hand, seeing from what she would call 'Cocoon', a Stray Devil in which to grow the [Evil Pieces] delivered by her mysterious benefactor in order to get them through the various phases of Mutation and up to the level of the [Queen] piece, pushing it to its limits to break through an invisible and impossible barrier.
Turning a [Pawn] into a [King], a move that did not exist in chess.
... ... ...
... ... ...
Kethra Decarabia's 'Mysterious Benefactor' watched with disappointment at what she had just done and without a second thought, squashed the contract they held, making sure she would not talk about her role in the reckless attacks the woman went on to make on multiple factions.
"It's a shame, but I should have seen it, dirty bats are never to be trusted."
From the start he knew she would fail to create this piece [King], the only thing that made him continue to support her was the fact that he sought a better understanding of the abomination created by Ajuka Beelzebub called [Evil Pieces].
"Mutation Pieces, so many fake bats and some of them have those damn Sacred Gears," his empty eye beads glittered as he let out his contempt. "You're just trying to doom the world, fake Beelzebub."
Before disconnecting the distant vision he held over Kethra, the 'man' looked with interest and suspicion at the man the Decarabian heiress was confronting.
It was... unnerving.
He couldn't tell what it was and that angered him, the only thing he could state with certainty was that whatever it was, it wasn't human, werewolf or lycanthrope.
"What a cursed human skin-clad wolf," he declared, looking up into the distant morning skies of the realm he was in.
The place was called Asphodelos.
... ... ...
... ... ...
Blood rushed up Kethra's throat the moment she tried to assimilate the piece of [King] into her body. She didn't even have a chance to keep trying before she collapsed from the pain, it was as if her strangers were melting.
"No... No! This can't fail!"
But he didn't try anything else.
She wished madly for the increase in power the piece implied, a multiplier ranging from 10 to 100 times the original power. But her conscience stopped her, warned her that if she tried to assimilate this piece created with a method far different from the one she was unaware of and with which the 12 pieces of [King] guarded by Ajuka were created, she would lose herself, the power and madness would tear her apart inside.
"No..."
Crkk!
The rock fragments that had all this time buried Rudolf Wolfgang began to move as an icy wind from the north began to blow.
"Grrr..."
Kethra Decarabia heard an animal growl and, stunned, saw it emerge from where Rudolf had fallen when it pierced his chest.
It was... the tallest damn werewolf she had ever seen.
He stood ten feet tall, his arms, legs and torso were wide and covered in thick fur that melted into the night, making his figure visible only by the little moonlight that touched him. His mouth was full of solid, razor-sharp canines, just as his fingers had dark, obsidian-tuned claws, but as hard as diamonds. His eyes glowed like sinister lanterns that portended something dire, golden for the right and silver for the left.
The werewolf glared at Kethra as if she were nothing, and glared even more hatefully at the chess piece she held in her hands.
"Get away from m-"
It was so fast.
Despite her height, the wolf had caught her in a split second, snatching the piece from her left hand and bringing it to her mouth. From the crunching sounds she barely and barely heard in her daze, the damn werewolf had chewed on a piece of [King] as if it were a piece of meat.
"You know..." his voice was guttural, ghastly and a lot of things Kethra preferred not to think about, she just wanted to cling to the belief that it was all a nightmare, that the Four Great Satans hadn't intervened in her plan, that she had managed to become [King], "... that was disgusting."
His footsteps shook the earth as he approached Kethra and lifted her up with one hand if no effort at all.
"I hope... this makes you think about what you done."
A horrible scream escaped the heiress of Decarabia as her left wing was torn off by Rudolf Wolfgang's claw.
She couldn't take it any longer and drifted into unconsciousness, hoping that, upon waking, she would either be dead or locked up, but anything seemed better to her than being near the werewolf again.
"... Weak."
Rudolf threw her over his shoulder and started walking towards where Nara was, hoping she was okay.
Along the way, his transformation began to fade.
... ... ...
... ... ...
The Talisman of the hunters sent to the abandoned farm in Ventura activated and what Ajuka saw made him drop the glass of water he was holding.
First, Nara was drenched in red and walking with support from her companion.
Second, Rudolf Wolfgang appeared to be unharmed, but his tattered, blood-soaked clothes told another story.
And finally, that which had surprised Ajuka; Wolfgang was carrying the cursed Kethra Decarabia as if she were a sack of potatoes!
Without bothering to show respect, Rudolf dropped the criminal Devil at the feet of the Satan Beelzebub.
"Wh-what...?"
"She'll explain everything," Rudolf pointed to Nara who looked tired, but willing to relate what happened. "Sorry, I have a daughter to take care of, a shower to take and things to do tomorrow."
Said and done, Rudolf turned around, ready to leave for good, but not before approaching Nara who turned to him with a smile.
"I guess everything went well."
"Yup, we won't have to worry about our income for quite some time."
"Hmm, I wouldn't sing victory if I are you," Nara's gaze wandered until she saw Serafall Leviathan, who was holding a baby girl in her arms, "raising a daughter is expensive, you know?"
"I know, I know."
"But I must say she's quite adorable, now I understand how you got Leviathan herself to take care of her while we were fighting a madwoman and her chimeras." Nara didn't hear Rudolf laugh, but she did see a smile reappear on the man's face. "I'll be a few more days in California, you can call me if you like," she said handing him a business card she keeps inside her jacket.
"But I live all the way to San Francisco."
"Then I know where I should go," she winked at him and turned around, ready to talk to - the still shocked - Satan Beelzebub.
As for Rudolf, he... he didn't know how to take that, just sighed wearily and tucked the card into the miraculously intact pockets of his pants.
Before going for Louve, he went to the bathroom where he washed his face and hands, as well as took one of his changes of clothes that he kept in an enchanted briefcase that was in his apartment and from which he could take things out as if it were a pocket dimension.
He looked at himself in the mirror, noticing there was a frowning frown that refused to go away.
"Sigh, maybe taking this job was a bad idea, but what's done is done."
Once he dried his face and made sure he could at least keep his face with a neutral expression, he saw that it was time to go get Louve and go home to try to get some rest.
What awaited him was quite the opposite.
As he came out of the bathroom he saw Serafall sitting at a table chatting with Grayfia Lucifuge who looked exaggeratedly tense. She could also see that Sirzechs was not far behind them. As he met the gaze of the 'otaku politician', he knew something was wrong.
And when he took a deep breath, he caught a scent that told him what happened.
'Looks like Lucifuge lives up to her reputation, she's talented enough with magic to mess with the cloaking spell on my daughter.'
Rudolf could only sigh with regret. As he placed the spell on Louve, he was aware of what the consequences would be if he was discovered, but he was willing to take them like the young adult he was.
"... To what is this ultratomb silence due?" was the best he could come up with in the uncomfortable atmosphere, but not before he approached Serafall and motioned for her to hand Louve over to him, which she did.
Watching his daughter sleep peacefully calmed Rudolf's unease.
"N-no, it's nothing Rudolf..." said Serafall sounding unsure, even hurt and that was as if someone was twisting an invisible knife in Rudolf's stomach.
There was no turning back now.
"You found the cloaking spell I put on Louve and now you're thinking a thousand and one reasons as to why I did it, aren't you?"
Grayfia and Serafall were speechless, they had no idea how to respond to that. Case contrary to Sirzechs Lucifer who hadn't stopped increasing his presence since Rudolf started approaching.
"Who are you, Rudolf Wolfgang, and what are your intentions?" questioned Satan Lucifer in a tone that was not non-peaceful, but not hostile either.
It was show time, time to step out of the shadows.
"Serafall, can you watch Louve just a little longer? I need Lord Lucifer to come with me to my car."
"What car?" asked Sirzechs in confusion, to which Rudolf snapped his fingers.
Behind him a magic circle formed whose symbols resembled the Wind Rose and from the same circle, a classic car painted black appeared to the Devils' surprise.
"I'm quite a box of surprises," he said without taking his eyes off Grayfia, who appeared to be the most hostile to his presence.
That concentration was broken when he heard Serafall's voice, only it sounded... muffled.
"Ru-chan..." in any other case, the older Wolfgang would have been uncomfortable at being called that again, but the sadness in Serafall's voice at saying something like that without her shrill, animated tone of voice made Rudolf feel guilty, "please tell me this all has an explanation... That it's nothing bad."
He looked regretfully at the Satan Leviathan, who was being taken by her treacherous mind to that horrible place that was past.
Serafall Leviathan was not always the cheerful sort of person she was today, and Rudolf was now seeing it.
"Sera," he spoke softly, placing his free hand on her shoulder. Grayfia looked at her husband as if she expected him to go straight at the man, but the Lucifer Satan only contemplated the event with interest and melancholy. Sirzechs hated to see one of his best friends like this, all because of a person she had met 2 days ago, but he would not be rash, he would listen to what he had to say. "When I met you in that park, I knew you were a trustworthy person, enough to trust you with my daughter while I joined this operation for the sole purpose of earning enough money to devote myself to her completely until she grows up. That spell, powerful enough to fool the leaders of the Underworld, I designed it knowing the consequences of being discovered because... this secret concerns not only me, but all my people."
Serafall raised her eyes, almost on the verge of tears, but clinging to the hope Rudolf's words brought her. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she cradled Louve in her arms again, only to the surprise of the three Devils, Rudolf took her arm and laid it across his chest.
"It is in the name of my mother, Juliette Wolfgang, of my ancestors and under my own self, that I declare my full confidence in you, Serafall Leviathan, an extraordinary woman who knows how to grow on people in such a short time."
'He made an unbreakable pact, but that is only possible when the intentions of the one making it are honest,' Sirzechs and Grayfia thought with surprise.
By this point, Serafall let her tears flow freely. With the big difference that her smile had returned.
"Would you follow me, Lord Lucifer?" asked Rudolf, pointing to his car.
Sirzechs nodded, following the bounty hunter. Only being able to see his back, he couldn't see the kind of expression he was making when he asked him something.
"Serafall gets attached quickly to people she empathizes with, doesn't she?"
"... You might say."
"Heh, explains it all then," Rudolf said to himself, "I guess that's why we understood each other so quickly."
Satan Lucifer didn't know how to respond and wouldn't have been able to because at that very moment, they reached the car.
Rudolf opened the pilot's door and pressed a lever that opened the trunk, without manipulating anything else.
He walked to the trunk and began to rummage through various things, Sirzechs curiosity got the better of him and he took a look, managing to see everything from a box of fishing bait, multiple travel magazines, bags full of clothes, canned food, a crossbow, a sword? And countless other things the older Wolfgang kept.
"Aha! I was already starting to get scared, if I had lost this I would have to pay for the next copy."
In Rudolf's hands was a huge book measuring 15x45cm, counting 10cm thick and whose cover was made of leather dyed blue, red, green and white. It looked like a handmade work.
It was entitled 'Encyclopedia to the occult'.
"This will give you an answer as soon as I return. I know, it's strange that I have to withdraw once again, but I must consult with one of the leaders of my people if I really have permission to carry out this first contact."
Something big was happening, Sirzechs was certain of that, but... Was it something big enough to be called 'first contact'?
"Why are you being so cooperative about it?" was the question from the Super Devil and former Gremory heir, one that was necessary to push away his own doubts and like Serafall, give the unusual bounty hunter the benefit of the doubt.
Of course, Rudolf didn't need to think long about his answer.
"There are many factors, but, if I must be honest with you? It's because my people have been trying to contact the Underworld since the Renaissance and while we never succeeded, it was the closest we ever came."
In a flash, a magic circle appeared above and below Rudolf, teleporting him directly to the home of one of their leaders.
In the distance, Ajuka, who had regained his calm once Nara explained what happened, as well as his own conjectures about Kethra Decarabia's plan, sipped a cup of coffee as he was a spectator to what was going on, sensing that it was a night full of interesting and some troubling developments.
"Hmmm..."
Ajuka wondered who the mumbling person was, and what a surprise it was for him to discover that it was Grayfia herself. The [Silver Queen of Annihilation] was looking at Serafall, who was playing with a semi-awake Louve, with... jealousy?
"I would like to have a child," said the [Queen] of Satan Lucifer.
Poor Ajuka started choking on his coffee at how out of place that sounded at such a time.
On the other hand, he could only pity his best friend, Sirzechs.
... ... ...
... ... ...
If in California it was 2:45 a.m., in New York the clock was about to strike 6 a.m., the time when Noelle Gwendolen was getting up for work.
With regret, the woman left her warm bed, observing how beautiful and peaceful her wife's sleeping face looked.
Ilta Alvan was the name of the woman with whom she shared almost 134 years of marriage.
And to think there was a time when they were something of enemies, those were days Noelle didn't miss, except for one reason.
Her beloved stepsister, Juliette Wolfgang.
Had it not been for her, Noelle and Ilta would never have overcome the antagonism they had for each other in those days or found love in each other's arms. For that and much more was that they would both be eternally grateful to Juliette, and would never fail to keep the promise they made to her the last time they saw her, a week before her passing.
Regardless of whether it was a child or an adult, they would always protect their son who was also Noelle's nephew, Rudolf.
"I must change the tone of my alarm..." said Noelle to herself.
Staggering she went to the bathroom where she let the warm water wake her up completely, it was a quick shower, but that alone was enough for the woman to be clean and ready for work.
Noelle was a clothing designer for an international company while Ilta was an economics teacher at Empire State University. If she hadn't woken up yet, it was because she was on maternity leave for the rest of the year.
"Sigh, the doctor said if she doesn't start dilating within a week, a C-section will be necessary," she murmured as she went to the living room, not waiting for someone to answer her question.
"I would scoff at your worries just as you scoffed at mine when Louve was about to be born, but I don't have a heart of ice as you... Literally."
"Ah!"
Noelle was startled to hear that voice and to see to whom it belonged. Soon the surprise turned to happiness for the designer at the sight of her nephew.
To the discomfort of the older Wolfgang, his aunt ran to hug him and he didn't have the courage to reject her. You'll never hear this coming out of his mouth, but it was also influenced by the fact that he liked her hugs.
"Rudolf! Oh dear boy, how have you been, how is little Louve?"
"We-we're fine aunt," seeing her face full of happiness, Rudolf decided not to allow himself to tell her what happened with Lana, at least not yet. "She's growing up fine, she's going to be a very strong little girl."
"That's no surprise," Noelle downplayed it by waving her hand, "after all, you are her father."
Rudolf's only response was a sincere smile as his aunt and he took a seat.
"As much as I'd like to catch up with you, if you came unannounced something happened, didn't it?"
He nodded.
"And may I know what it was?"
"There's a possibility of a first contact with one of the supernatural factions."
Noelle's face went blank.
"... What faction?"
"The Underworld, I have come into contact with three of the Great Four Satan's."
Noelle's naturally pale face gained color at that moment.
"After so many years..." her voice began to crack, Rudolf stood up and began patting her back. He understood well what this meant to his aunt. "Ilta, White, Beast and Sheherazade have waited for this for so long. Oh by Hans, they are going to explode with joy when I tell them," the tears that began to escape her eyes were not of sadness, but of absolute happiness.
Of these 'first contacts' as Rudolf called them, 156 had been attempted with various supernatural factions since before the end of the Bronze Age, to no avail.
97 years after the last failed attempt, Rudolf Wolfgang had succeeded. And if Noelle knew how it happened, she would smack him upside the head for taking the risk, laugh at the absurdity of it and be moved by how much he was willing to risk for his daughter.
"... I've always been curious, did you name yourself Noelle because White and Snow already had it the same person?"
"... What's that about, Rudolf?"
"Nothing, just my nerves getting the worst of me and the fact that I just remembered that I am indebted with Snow White."
"Dear nephew, do you think you did wrong in being willing to tell the leaders of the Underworld the truth about our people?"
That was not an easy question for Rudolf who only remained silent, thinking hard about what he wanted to answer.
"I... I don't think I did wrong, it's just something I find unusual. I was twelve when the other leaders and you gave me a free pass to try to reveal the existence of our people to other factions, I didn't understand why, and when I asked about it, I was only told that it was a permission my mother also had, so they saw it as logical to grant it to me."
Noelle lowered her head in shame.
"We... I decided it was your decision to make because I always knew that one way or another, you would influence the world. My affection for you is sincere Rudolf, but I'm not going to lie to you that at the time... I acted selfishly, believing that on you should fall the responsibility for our people. What kind of horrible person wants to give that responsibility to a child?"
He said nothing, only because his aunt had said nothing that he didn't know and would have forgiven many yesterdays ago.
He let her vent, let her get that remorse out of her chest before he knelt down and looked her in the eye.
"Aunt Noelle, this you say, it changes nothing. You are my beloved aunt, the woman who watched over me when mom died and the first to understand that I was a free spirit, reckless, that I had to learn about life through his hard knocks just as my mother did. I know how the rest of our people looked at me, they saw me as an idol, a god incarnate, a demon ready to destroy them, the one whose destiny was to devour everything in the world... But you were the first to see that I was nothing like that, just your sister's foolish son who for years mourned the breakup of his first girlfriend."
"Hehehe, you were a blubbering mess back then."
"And boy, was I," he was mentally laughing at himself for that pitiful time. "That I was the one who made the first contact is nothing special, it's just something that happened thanks to unusual circumstances and Serafall Leviathan's great fondness for Louve."
"Tell me about that, do you have any idea what that might be due to?"
Actually, Rudolf did have an idea.
"Would it surprise you to learn that she empathizes with me?"
"Not at all. I don't know Leviathan personally, but for all I know, it's something she would do. You know she is the star in a show about magical girls that airs on Underworld?"
"... I didn't know that."
Rudolf made his way to the kitchen with the intention of getting a glass of water, though he was never able to do so when he saw whoever it was that was standing there.
"Toto?"
Under the kitchen table, a gray-coated schnauzer dog slept peacefully. From his neck hung a bone-shaped collar with his name inscribed on it, this was 'Toto Gale.'
"... Dorothy is here?"
Noelle bit her right thumb, embarrassed to forget that troubled girl was here.
"Sigh, yeah. She and Glinda had another argument about the state of Munchkin Country."
"Can you blame Dorothy? Since Eloise earned her freedom, Glinda has only gotten more and more paranoid. She's getting worse and worse than Oscar, it doesn't help that Ozma has disappeared looking for the old bastard either."
"I know Rudolf, I know, but there's nothing we can do. If I intervene, they'll involve Itla, which means involving Avalon and you, well... you're banned from the Emerald City."
"And I have no regrets," he said with a smirk, instantly regaining his seriousness. "I know well that you don't want to involve Aunt Itla, and I would never ask such a thing of you. Ozland matters are theirs to settle and no one else's, but if Glinda continues to behave like a asshole..."
"You will keep the promise your mother made to Ozma," Noelle finished for him.
Rudolf nodded without a hint of hesitation, to which Noelle looked at her nephew sadly.
"It's not something I can stop you from doing, and honestly? I wouldn't, even if I could," saying that triggered something in Noelle's mind. "Oh, uhmmm..."
"Huh? What is it now?"
"W-well..."
If there was one thing about Rudolph that made Noelle uncomfortable, it was this.
When he was younger, he always refused to say what the reason was for his desperate search for the bearers of that Longinus.
"Sigh... Rudolf, a new bearer of [Canis Lykaon] has appeared."
His eyes widened in, horror, shock, anger? Noelle couldn't quite grasp what emotion her nephew was feeling, but he deserved to know everything that to his ears had come so without waiting for him to ask, she began to speak.
"A boy from Japan, a descendant of the Himejima Clan. His name is Tobio Ikuse. I heard he was born with a Balance Breaker activated, so someone seal the Longinus until he can control it."
"... How old is he?
"He just turned four years old."
"I see... thanks to the Sibyls. He's young and the Longinus was sealed, so nothing bad will happen this time."
Without giving Noelle time to question what he was talking about, Rudolf changed the subject to something that resonated among the Three Factions. As if the news that the Gremory and Sitri Houses now had new heiresses wasn't shocking, there was another birth that made an impression on the Grigori.
"You said Himejima Clan, isn't that where Baraqiel's wife and daughter come from?"
"Yes." Noelle snorted in annoyance. "The world keeps going crazy and we're left behind, huh? What's next, won't the Dragon Emperors try to kill each other?"
"Don't say things that might come true."
Giving a quick glance at his watch, Rudolf knew it was time to go back.
"It's time Aunt, soon the other leaders and you will be able to meet with the leaders of the Underworld. And the next time I come to visit you? It will be to meet my cousin."
Noelle smiled, with immense happiness in her heart. She and Rudolf embraced as the other activated his personal teleportation circle.
In the blink of an eye, he was gone, leaving Noelle alone with a lot of positive thoughts about how bright her people's future looked and how much she loved her family.
"Sacred Gears with Balance Breaker from birth, heirs for the noble Houses of the Underworld and factions recruiting the same Loginus bearers," those were her only worries, but neither her people nor her family were weak. "Not that there is anything to worry about either," Noelle smiled, only accompanied by the silence of her hall, "currently, there is no user of Longinus who can challenge you, Rudolf."
So declared Noelle Gwendolen.
Wife of the Evil Fairy of Sole, Luna e Talia, also called Sleeping Beauty.
Better known as The Snow Queen.
... ... ...
... ... ...
'The flame of our emergence was awakened through cautionary tales, cave paintings that narrated an event in a different way, and the very imagination of early homo sapiens.
We have roamed the face of the earth even before 3,200 BC, when the Sumerians developed their writing. We were, are and will always be the same in essence, no matter how many times our story is told, the first story that created us can never change, we will always be a Beauty woman and a Beast, a princess from far away China or a Djinn of the lamp.
Every living being called us in one way or another; fables, poem, fairy tales.
We are all of them.'
"Looks like they're almost done with the book," Rudolf said, appearing as quickly as he had left.
There was no awkward silence, just silence because none of the Devils knew what to say.
What was written in the book was something that sounded, absurd, irrational and many things to describe how unreal it was, but at the same time, it made so much sense that the human presence itself and its tales unrelated to mythological pantheons or religions gave rise to these individuals.
"Grimmborn..." was all Grayfia could say.
"Yeah, it's not the best name, but when the Brothers Grimm collected and wrote their own tales, their surname resonated quite a bit so our leaders thought it was a good choice to add it to our race name."
Serafall, her eyes sparkling with childlike wonder, approached Rudolf. By this time, Louve was awake once again, drinking a milk bottle.
"Are you a fairy tale, Rudolf?"
"The son of the antagonist of one rather," he told her friend. "And I suppose I should introduce myself once more," he said quietly, looking directly at Sirzechs, Ajuka and Grayfia.
It took only a deep breath for his resolve to solidify.
"I am Rudolf Wolfgang, the man who Lana loves, proud father of Louve, son of Juliette, Noelle and Itla's nephew, insurance salesman, bounty hunter returning from early retirement, and among the Grimmborn I am known as..."
The last of his hesitation disappeared.
"The Big Bad Wolf."