Chapter 6: How to kill a Stray Devil
Nagumo was walking around with Kiba and Koneko in an abandoned warehouse, following them to find a stray devil. Right now Rias had Nagumo follow both Kiba and Koneko to a part outside of town.
"This is a little weird" Nagumo thinks as he looks at both Kiba and Koneko weapons and outfits.
They're both wearing their school uniform with Kiba holding a sword and Koneko wearing gloves, they fight monsters with swords and gloves?
He himself has his two pistols or Freischütz for the two pistols and his electricity gauntlet on one hand called Overture. He was wearing his school uniform too but he was told to do this before he had time to change.
He will have to make a battle uniform or something to fight, his parents will kill him if he ruins his school uniform.
"So, you do this often?" Nagumo asked, trying to start up a conversation, he not much of a people's person. While he can hold a conversation fine, he just never bothers to initiate, but this is kinda boring walking around in silence.
Koneko herself doesn't seem to be bothered with this, but truth to be told Nagumo can't tell what she's thinking at all in her stoicism. Kiba on the other hand is smiling with his prince charming smiling.
"Not as often, stray devils are common around the world, but they keep themselves hidden, we get reports from the devil net which give us updates on any stay devil near our areas, peerages hunt stay devils all over the world" Kiba explains to me as Nagumo nod while Koneko looks around looking for the devil.
"So, what information do they say about this stray?" Nagumo asks, looking around as well, using Sense Presence to find the stay as well.
"Only that she poisoned her king and her peerage and was last seen heading to this area" Kiba said in disgust as did Koneko, Nagumo only raised his eyebrow at that.
"A little hard on the stray there" Nagumo can't help but say as Kiba takes hold of his sword.
"For a servant to kill their master and their fellow peerage in such a dishonourable way" Kiba said, a pure honour bound knight this one Nagumo thought.
"I called that thinking tactically," Nagumo said to Kiba look at him as well as Koneko.
"Would you approve of someone killing their family Nagumo-kun?" Kiba asked a light glare in his eye as Nagumo looked annoyed.
"I didn't say that, I only saying this guy was smart enough to use poison, beside you don't know this guy, maybe her master enslaved her and the peerage treat her like shit" Nagumo said, stray devil go crazy when escaping their master, if the strays rather go crazy then be a slave then Nagumo willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Fight the power; kill your abuser and all that shit.
"You know I hated devils when I first became one. I was taught to believe they were evil beings and it took Buchou and her family to show me I was wrong" Kiba spoke to Nagumo, getting real deep with him as Koneko looked at Kiba with a slight smile.
"I don't hate devils, I just think our master isn't taking shit seriously leaving me to die fighting a stray under her so-called protections" Nagumo said, not really hating devils but having a low opinion on Rias practically, Kiba looked at him surprised.
"And I'm sure they treated you very well mate, luckily they didn't treat you like shit or anything, I sure the other servants envy you," Nagumo said, of course you defend the people that treat you nicely, but Nagumo doubts everyone gets that treatment. Kiba gets a look of surprised
"We…" Kiba started only to be interrupted by Nagumo as he glared at him
"Don't say shit like 'We're your family now so trust us' or 'We'll help you' cause I wouldn't be a part of this shit if it wasn't for Gremory not making sure her territory was safe from threats and don't go onto saying 'Buchou saved you' cause she didn't, I died having to kill the thing she should have dealt with in the first place" Nagumo spoke angrily,
"We can't be everywhere at once, your alive now and are now getting protection from us now, Buchou protected you while you were adjusting" Kiba explained, hoping to make Nagumo understand.
"Oh and the fallen attacking her new servant while he was adjusting counts as protection, stop being an idiot for her Kiba" Nagumo retorted, looking around, and missing Kiba's and Koneko's surprised look at hearing he'd already been attacked again, Kiba frowns as he gets grabs his sword into his hand and getting into a ready stance. Surprising Koneko and annoying Nagumo.
"Buchou gave me a new reason to live and freed me from my old life. I won't let you disrespect her over her choices since you were brought back by her…" Nagumo cut that shit off.
"She didn't give me shit, Kiba, I don't need a new reason to live, I wasn't given a choose as it was her mistake that caused by death in the first place, I honestly don't like her when I was human so no I didn't want or have any reason to get closer to her. The only reason I'm here is because I killed a stray as a weak human and I'm not dying again" Nagumo explains in an angry tone glancing back to see Kiba lower his sword with an understanding look on his face.
"Then live for those around that you care about, Nagumo-Kun" the blonde spoke
"That is what I intend to do as long as Gremory doesn't get in my way. So make sure she knows that Kiba '' Nagumo muttered as he searched the area.
"Baby" Koneko said to Nagumo, looking annoyed at her, he just died little over a fortnight ago, and dying isn't something you just get over, especially when the person responsible for your death revives you out of guilt and greed.
"Did you get killed to be reincarnated?" Nagumo asked her, Koneko just looked away, not saying anything.
"What's with the sword and gloves?" Nagumo asked them, getting over the drama as he looked at their weapons.
"I'm a knight Nagumo-kun, I made his sword with my sacred gear, Sword Birth" Kiba shows the blade to Nagumo as he looks at him.
Sacred gear, original created by the God of the Bible as part of his system to enact miracles on Earth or so the fallen angel explained, apparently certain individuals with Sacred Gears have grown to become very powerful and influential and a large number of the people who've had their names etched into history, were most likely Sacred Gear possessors.
Which sounds like bullshit to Nagumo, as no way in hell would modern humans let their sacred gear be involved in the human world without someone noticing, but its supernatural shit.
Anyway Sacred Gears have varied from the common to the rare, which are all unique in their own way. If a Sacred Gear is removed from the owner, they would die. Humans or Human hybrids are the only species able to be born with Sacred Gears; however, they maintain them upon their reincarnation into Devils. Which explains the evil piece system of reincarnations in a way, take your enemy and turn them into one of your own kind, it works in a weird way. Changing their identity to only rely on those that turn you in the first place as everyone else would kill you for what you became.
The real prize is the Longinus Sacred gear, a unique top-tier Sacred Gears, with each having multiple abilities compared to a normal Sacred Gear which only has one, and has the power to slay Gods. There are only 13 Longinus in the world.
Nagumo would love to get a sacred gear but only few humans are born with it, even then they're hard to find. Like 1 out of 1000 humans or so get one sacred gear and they wouldn't even know it.
Before he could ask more Koneko looked around, even Nagumo heard something, Kiba got his sword ready and Koneko clenched her gloves, Nagumo took one pistol out as he held it with both hands.
The peerage scanned the area as they all looked around, trying to find the stray around them. They slowly walk though one of the rooms as Koneko opens the door to a large room. The peerage walks through to see the stay.
It looks like a normal human woman; with inhumanly long arms and legs with what looks like a wasp nest in their crouch. A very big wasp nest as she eats something while they walk behind her quietly.
Nagumo aims Freischütz at the stray, channelling electricity to the pistol, aiming to headshot it without it even knowing.
One shot, one kill.
But Kiba had other plans it seemed.
"Marguerite, for poisoning your master and your peerage your here by sentence to death" Kiba bolding said, getting Marguerite's attention as she turns to face them.
"Seriously, you couldn't just kill her without announcing ourselves," Nagumo said in annoyances at Kiba as Marguerite laughed.
"hahaha I agree, should have killed me, now you all die" Marguerite grins as she gets on her long legs in an insect-like fashion.
"I believe you should die knowing who killed you," Kiba said with determination as he disappeared at fast speed. Nagumo raised an eyebrow before aiming at the stray.
"Or just die and get it over with," Nagumo said.
The evil pieces get special traits based on which piece, knights get fast speed, Rooks get super strengths, bishops increase magic, queens get all of the above, while pawns get no special ability, but the promotion to any piece they want. So Kiba is the knight in this peerage.
Marguerite jumps up the ceiling avoiding the slash as she starts crawling all over the walls.
"Promotion: Queen" Nagumo promoted to queen as soon as he could, aiming his gun.
Now Promotion is an interesting gimmick evil piece system has, but you know what's more interesting? That there is no reason in hell anyone would use it to promote anything other than the queen.
Marguerite laughs as her stomach thing starts to open and flies come out, spreading everywhere, the peerage waves they hand swiping the flies.
Kiba swings his sword at fast speed cutting down the flies, Koneko uses her hands to kill and hit each flies as Nagumo uses his Lighting Field though his Overture to instantly kill the flies surrounding him.
Kiba jumps through the air and tries to slash the stray but she is really fast, running on the ceiling and the wall at surprising speed. Koneko grabs some rubbish and throws it at the stray with surprising strength but she misses the laughing stray.
Koneko the rook Nagumo guessed.
"hahahahaha no magic, no range, so stuipid diaries,hahaha" Marguerite laughs as Nagumo aims at the stray.
"Shut up already" Nagumo shoots at the stray.
BLOOOOOOOOOO
SPPPP AAAAAA
"AAAAAHHHHHHHH" Marguerite cries out as Nagumo shoots one of her arms off, causing her to fall back to the ground.
"Dam it" Marguerite screeches as she starts running around, Kiba using her speed to cut her legs off.
Marguerite cries in pain as she lets out more bugs in the air, Kiba and Nagumo use their way to kill the bugs but Koneko gets angry, jumping on the screeching stray and smashing the nest like crotch.
"I hate bugs," Koneko said, jumping on her crouch nest again crushing her hive as the stray groaned in pain as she let out her last breath before she stopped moving. Koneko is covered in dead bugs and blood.
"That was fun," Nagumo comments, wiping the blood and dead bugs off himself.
"I need a shower" Koneko said, smelling her as Kiba.
"Wasn't as clean as I'd thought" Kiba jokes as Nagumo looks at him.
"Did you seriously have to call out the bug lady; I could have shot her in the head and be done with it" Nagumo points at the fact he could have finished his.
"I'm sorry Nagumo-kun but I'm a knight of house Gremory, I will not dishonour her or her house" Kiba said with pride.
"dishonour? Knight? Are thoug retarded? thoug are living in the middle ages, friend, in modern days people kill each other with guns" Nagumo said in a knightly tone as he shows the gun. Koneko giggles as Kiba get annoyed
"It is about honor Nagumo-kun, proving my skills with my swords," Kiba said as Nagumo shrugs.
"That honor and shit don't work in the middle ages, oh white knight" Nagumo shelfs his guns as he walks away.
"Where are you going?" Koneko asked,
"I'm going home, before my parents kill me again" Nagumo said as Kiba and Koneko flinched before turning to the magic circle and leaving as well.
Marguerite's corpse stayed still for a few moments then it started to twitch, moving her arm as she started to blink, looking around to see no devils around she slowly moved her arm and crawled to her place.
"Stupid devils, always check the pulse, never could tell when someone dead" Marguerite laughs gleeful,
BLOOOOOOO
Another shot blows her arm off.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH" Marguerite screams in pain as more blood keeps leaking, turning to see Nagumo still there.
"To them you're already dust, but not to me" Nagumo said, Marguerite roared at him, teeth growing and sharpening ready to bite his head off.
"Transmute" Nagumo said, the ground surrounding Marguerite started to grab her and put her down, cementing her to the ground as she struggled to get out.
"Don't move, and listen" Nagumo stands over her body as cement covers her mouth, stopping her teeth from growing as she glares at Nagumo.
"I don't care that you kill your master, I don't know you or what you been through but I going to try something, either it will kill you or help you so try not to struggle, be better for both of us" Nagumo said as he place his hand on her chest, closing his eyes.
Nagumo remembered going into his own mind or something and found his own pawn piece, let's see if he can do the same with a stray.
Marguerite tries to growl at the devil, watching him reach her chest. She would have called him out on it but she's currently gagged.
Until she felt it, the devil reached into her body, her very soul.
"MMMmmmmmmMMMMM '' Marguerite tries to scream in agony but is muffed as Nagumo reaches further into her chest, causing more pain than before.
Nagumo digs his hand deeper into her chest as she struggles to break free, feeling something solid.
"Alllmost thereeeeeee…..got it" Nagumo said grabbing what he was looking for, pulling his hand out of the stray devil's chest as Nagumo pulls out a bloody pawn chess piece.
Nagumo looks down to see the stray devil dead for real this time.
"Going to have to work on that, at least she is human, I think?" Nagumo notes no longer see this stray as a monster as she now looks like a normal human, a dead human now.
Nagumo looks at the pawn piece, the evil chess piece of another high class devil. Nagumo remembers his other selves eating monsters and gaining their powers. Nagumo believes he could do the same.
Unfortunately this world is a little short on dungeon monsters, and Nagumo isn't eating any Fallen angel or stray unless he knows it won't kill him in any way.
But the evil pieces, the power to change a species into another species all together, giving them the strength and weakness of devils. Maybe Nagumo can make something out of that.
Although Nagumo is going to have to test it, no way is he doing it on himself. Nagumo looking over the pawn piece. Knowing these other selves in the dungeon only ate the monsters out of desperation and having nothing to lose at that point.
However Nagumo is smart enough to not try something before testing on something else.
Either on another stray devil or perhaps a normal devil Nagumo thinks about his current peerage as he starts to walk home with the new evil pawn piece in pocket.
LINE
"Then we went to this old ladies house where she told us about her grandmother haunting her with hornets or bees. I'm not sure" Nagumo explained to Nurse Shizuka. It was lunch time and Nagumo visited Shizuka for a talk.
"Amazing what people believe nowadays, surprise you join a club involved in stuff like that" Shizuka said, taking her coffee with Nagumo after hearing his joining the occult research club.
"Well I found out what they do and we had a chat, then they let me in the club" Nagumo explains to Shizuka.
"And you get to be in a club with Rias and Akeno, luckily dog you" Shizuka winked at Nagumo who groaned.
"Yeah yeah, personally I don't get what people say about them," Nagumo said to Shizuka, surprised.
"Really, nearly every student I treat always praises them or their beauty" Shizuka said, knowing the students and even the teachers talk about the great ladies, while they are pretty Shizuka admits it still a little off hearing everyone always talk about them.
To hear Nagumo not like them is a rare aspect.
"They are only seen at face value than anything, only join the club cause I thought it was interesting, didn't know they were there until the day" Nagumo said to her.
"Well I'm happy you joined the club Nagumo, are you still getting nightmares?" Shizuka asked him, hoping he would get a better night's sleep.
"Every now and then I decide to do something practical with it, going to do digital art or something." Nagumo said as Shizuka smiled.
"It will take time, hope you get a girlfriend sooner than later," Shizuka teased as Nagumo groaned.
"Please don't start that" Nagumo groans as Shizuka smiles, they enjoy the lunch with each other, but Nagumo feels bad about not telling her the truth.
One day, hopefully.
LINE
Nagumo teleported in the occult research club, after handing out fliers and doing a contract, something Nagumo hopes to get away from cause these contracts are getting annoying with his illusion.
The light dies down as he walks in the club room to get his bag, he forgot when he left, thanking whatever deity for magic.
"Oh, you're done already?" Nagumo looked to see Rias was still in the room, looking at some documents.
"Yeah, just a few flies and some pervert with rape fantasies, or I think it was" Nagumo said, this contract this time for a guy moaning in his sleep after meeting Nagumo and talking about the illusion.
"Ohh" Rias said, not sure what to do with that, as Nagumo looked around for his bag and grabbed it and was going to leave.
"Hey Nagu-kun, do you want to come with me?" Rias as uncertain as Nagumo stops to turn.
"Excuse me?" Nagumo asked, not sure what she was getting at.
"Well if you want, we are getting a new recruit soon and thought maybe you like to travel with me to get closer to your home" Rias asked him, wanting to get a new pawn and also wanting to connect with Nagumo.
Nagumo raises an eyebrow at her, normally he would have just walked out already, but the thought of transport half way does sound appealing even if he is going with his so-called king.
What the hell, he got nothing better to do.
"Sure why not" Nagumo shrugs as Rias smiles as she grabs one of her files to see it glowing. A red circle appears as both Rias and Nagumo disappear.
Who's the next victim to suffer the supranational bullshit Nagumo wonders as they teleported out of there.