The Esper Devil ( Esper OC X Highschool DxD )

by Esper-from-beyond

The era of heroes is over, with the hero association almost extinct and espers now living in secrecy, the talented son of a legendary esper couple starts attending a school which is under the control of devils. Raised with the mentality that all demons and evil spirits are enemies and carrying an enormous power that is still unknown to most devils, how will he fit in this new life?

75. What happened

Part 1

In this white room with barely any furnishing outside of a bed, a nightstand and five chairs, three of which where brought from another room, an old man with white hair and a thick beard sits besides a girl laying down on the bed, her breathing steady, but she neither moves nor wakes up.

"Quand il me prend dans ses bras

Qu'il me parle tout bas

Je vois la vie en rose

Il me dit des mots d'amour

Des mots de tous les jours

Et ça me fait quelque chose

Il est entré dans mon cœur

Une part de bonheur

Donc je connais la cause"

Galard sings, his voice has it's comfort but he's no bard that's for sure, I hope the soul of Édith Piaf isn't listening to this, but it is better than the sound of absolute oppresive silence that overwhelmed the room before he walked in.

After the fight was over she passed out and didn't come back even after Galard was done healing her.

"Does Liliana like this song?" - I ask, never having heard her listen to it

Galard chuckles and shakes his head

"Hates it, my hope is that she'll wake up to tell me to shut up"

He gives an obviously forced laugh, evident through his worried expression

They told me she almost killed herself trying to save everyone... from me

{The Crimson King}

I pinch the bridge of my nose, closing my eyes and taking a deep sigh of annoyance mixed with frustration

From what Issei and pretty much everyone else told us there is a god living inside of me, a god of espers

Issei told us that he went into my head to pull me out of the unknown percent and because of something that Kuriko and The Caretaker did he ended up waking this thing.

Everyone is shocked, we don't really know how to react to that.

Issei is the only source we have, well, Ddraig too since they're connected by their minds, but from his account the Crimson King is a god from another world, the same world from something he called a "Goddess of Tits".

I almost punched him when he said that, but according to Azazel this has happened before, it was too much information for my brain at the moment so I decided to not ask for him to dive into that.

But from Issei's visions he said this god has been in our world at least 'since the stone age' as Issei described and was the one who gave espers their powers

It seems that the connection Issei had with that plane allowed him to connect with the Crimson King and wake him up through whatever it was that Kuriko did

Kuriko...

I put my hand against my forehead

She planned all of this.

Kuriko wanted to awaken the Esper God, I'd go as far as to say she wanted it to possess me specifically

Why? I can only think of one reason

I look at my hand and frown

"A fucking curse? Really?" - I mutter under my breath

Now whether Liliana stopping me was part of the plan or if she really did managed to put a stop to Kuriko's plans remains to be seen

But regardless-

"Hey Tatseyo, you okay? Been looking at your hand for a while now, sumethin' wrong with it?"

Diz's voice brings me out of my trance and I look at her

All of Liliana's peerage was waiting for her to come back in the same room, Ayumu and I were the only ones they insisted in staying with them as well, but Ayumu said she wanted to go back.

I shake my head

"No, sorry, I was just thinking about... a lot of stuff"

I sigh, likely much deeper than I intended to, causing them to look at me worried

"Tatseyo, you know we do not blame you for what happened, correct?"

Mayumi stands up and walks towards where I'm sitting at, her graceful figure casting a shadow over me

"Of course, I... know it wasn't me, but... in a way, how can I not feel guilty about this? It was still my body in there, my power, my..."

I gulp down before finishing the sentence

"My curse..."

I close my eyes and hold them shut for a moment before looking at Mayumi again

"You did not choose this Tatseyo, there is no point in blaming yourself for something you had no control over"

I frown at her remark

"Would you tell yourself the same thing if it was you who had pushed Liliana to do this?"

Her eyes wide and her mouth makes an 'o' shape before closing

"Probably not..." - She admits

"But it doesn't mean people would be any less correct in saying that it wasn't."

She kneels in order to be in my eye level

"I know how it is to feel guilty over something you have no control over Tatseyo, but you must understand that Liliana-sama chose to do this out of her own volition, we don't blame you for what happened"

Mayumi looks over at Liliana's sleeping figure

"And I know Liliana-sama wouldn't blame you either"

I sigh and place a hand over my forehead

"I... I know, sorry Mayumi, I'm just really angry right now, sorry for talking like this"

She smiles at me and reaches out to touch my hand

"It's alright, I think I speak for everyone when I say we are all stressed out"

Diz stands up

"Ahh, this atmosphere is terrible, I'll go get a drink"

She says, rubbing the back of her head and walking out

I look once again to Liliana's peaceful face in the large bed

"Why did she never told me?"

Mayumi sighs

"Do not take it personally Tatseyo, Liliana-sama didn't do it because she did not trust you, but because she is scared of her power to the point of terror"

Galard nods along

"Liliana-sama's [skill] is immensely powerful but hard to control and unpredictable, it might save one's life but it might as well take a life without warning, she tried sealing it for years untill she finally managed to with the jewelry she wears"

"Made by an esper?"

I ask concerned and Mayumi responds

"Actually not, it was made by someone who also wants Liliana-sama to only uses this power as a last resort..."

I prepare to question her more but the sound of coughing makes everyone turn their heads

"Liliana-sama!"

Mayumi hurries to the side of the bed, I stand up as well, my hands clutching the bedframe as I stare at Liliana's contorting expression

The dark skinned girl slowly shows us her golden eyes as a groggy voice leaves her mouth

"Uhmm, Mayumi? Tatseyo? I..."

Her eyes grown like disks as if reality finally sunk in, she stands upwards on the bed and places a hand on her chest

"T-they managed to heal you Liliana, you are fine... we are all okay"

I raise a hand towards her and stop midway, not knowing what to do

"I-I'm sorry for-"

Before I can finish Liliana leaps on the bed and hugs me

"Tatseyo!"

"Uh-huh?!"

Her arms entangle around my shoulders and pull me close to her while mine hanging stupidly to her sides as I don't know how to react

"I'm so glad you are okay! I was so scared of what was going to happen!"

She says and despite her hug not allowing me to see her face I can guess that she's starting to cry by the sound of her voice

"H-hey, it's alright Liliana"

I hug her in return and pat her back

"I'm alright, we are all okay..."

I gently push her away by the shoulders so I can look at her face

Tears are strolling down her cheeks as she stares at me confused

"We are all alright because of you."

Feeling a strange pang in my heart I watch as Liliana wipes her tears

She looks around at the members of her peerage

"Sorry guys... I'm really a handful aren't I?"

She gives a laugh and musters a smile through her tears as the members of her peerage with the exception of Manaki chuckle

"Nothing we aren't used to by now, ojou-sama"

"Honestly, it's always an adventure to be with you fufufu" - Mayumi giggles

"You saved all of our lives, no need for apologies, I'm glad you are safe, Liliana-sama"

Manaki states, a small smile coming across her usual stoic face

But Liliana's face turns into a frown for a moment

"W-wait, where is Diz-chan? And Ayumu?!"

She turns to me

"Are they alright?!"

I nod fervently, trying to ease her mind

"Yes, yes, don't worry, Ayumu said she wasn't feeling well and Diz just went to get something to-"

Before I can finish I hear a thud at the door followed by a booming voice

"Ehhh?! Right when I was outside?!"

Diz shouts and comes rushing inside the room with a juice can in her hands

"Liliana-sama! I'm so glad!"

She hugs Liliana, who starts to laugh

"Okay Diz-chan, I'm glad you are okay too but I won't be so fine if you end breaking my back!"

At her remark, the woman of amazonian proportion eases her grip

"A-ah, sorry"

Diz lets Liliana down on the bed again, her face with a deep blush

Liliana holds back her laughter and looks towards at me again

"I assume everyone is fine? What about the Hero Faction?"

I nod, grunting a little

"The Hero Faction ran away in the chaos, everyone on our side is alive, but saying they are fine is... a little far reached"

"...After, you know, what I did to them" - I gulp down before adding this

Liliana frowns with a concerned expression

"The curse, right?"

I nod slightly, my head feeling like it's made of lead

"So that thing was saying the truth, the curse really is your [skill]?"

She asks and I sigh before nodding again

"Yes... there's only three ways to remove a curse and I let's just say I didn't need to exorcise them to remove it"

Liliana nods, her expression tense but not surprised, one of her hands lands on my shoulder

"You know this says nothing about you, right? You are not to blame, for any of this"

I scratch the back of my head, averting my gaze

"I know, but..."

"Hey."

Liliana swiftly but gently places her hand on my chin, making me look directly into her golden eyes

"No 'buts', no 'if's, this isn't your fault. Period. Anyone who blames you for this will have to go through me first"

It's my turn to feel my face turn red, as I can only nod at her decisive answer

"Y-yes" - I manage to muster, she then smiles, before flicking my forehead

"That includes you!"

Liliana laughs, I can't help but laugh as well

It doesn't feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders, but it somehow makes it feel lighter.

She slowly stops laughing and then looks at me with a gloomy expression

"Well, with that out of the way I guess you want to know about... you know..."

Liliana points to her jewelry, her peerage put them back after they finished healing her, apparently her [skill] is so powerful it works even when she's unconscious.

"About you being an esper? Yeah, I... kinda wanted to talk about it"

I say scratching the back of my head, I try not to sound angry but I am still concerned over her not telling me or Ayumu anything about it

"Kekeke, I think they should have this conversation in private, let's go"

Galard says as he starts ushering the other members outside of the room with his staff

"H-hey, stop pushing me old man!"

Diz complains as she retreats through the door

When it finally closes behind them, Liliana sighs

"I'm sorry, I just... I've been dealing with this my whole life and I was just so used to hiding it that... I don't know..."

She says as if completely lost for words, I place a hand on her shoulder

"Hey, it's fine, I get why you would do it... I was just confused, maybe a little disappointed because you didn't trust me with that"

Liliana frowns with a sad expression

"Sorry, it's just that my [skill] is really dangerous and I was... I don't know, maybe scared it would make you see me in a different way"

I slightly tilt my head

"Why would I do that?"

Liliana looks away, towards the window, glaring at the outside scenario

"When I was talking to the Crimson King... he said my family's name. He knew who my parents were"

I narrow my eyes

"W-what?"

She sighs

"When I was little, very little, before my powers came to be, my family used to be normal... well, as normal as any noble devil family could be..."

Liliana gives a clearly forced laugh

"My father used to treat me normally, he was... good, I guess. Untill the day we started to notice there was something different about me"

Liliana looks at the jewels in her wrist with a bitter expression

"When I first started showing signs of ESP, even before my [skill] manifested in any tangible way, father was already treating me differently. I always thought he was afraid of me, that he couldn't explain what I was and that's why he was constantly trying to hide it, but... now I don't think that's the case anymore"

I scratch my hair and shake my head

"Wait, is that what Issei meant when he talked about the flashback?"

Liliana tilts her own head this time and looks at me

"Flashback?"

I nod

"When Issei was in my head, he said that the {Crimson King} showed him flashes of the life he had when he was on earth, before he was sealed away. It seems that he took the appearance of several different gods in order to try and trick humans into becoming espers. Untill Issei saw the {Crimson King} talking to someone, he described him as a devil with dark skin dressed like a roman noble sitting at a table on a palace made of marble..."

Liliana's eyes widen like two disks and I hear a clashing sound, when I look at her hands I see Liliana has gripped the window frame with such force that the steel bent under her palm

"W-what... so i-it's really true?"

Liliana's voice starts to crack

"H-he knew it? A-all along a-and... h-he didn't tell me?"

"Liliana?!"

Her body starts shaking, violently so, Liliana squints her eyes furiously but futilely trying to supress the new stream of tears that starts flowing through her eyes

I reach my hand out towards hers

"H-hey, calm down Liliana, I'm right here-"

"He knew it! He knew what was wrong and just never told me!"

But it's no use as Liliana continues talking without pause

"He made me think I was a freak of nature! Over a decade trying to find out what was wrong and he knew all along!"

She pulls her hand and the window frame breaks under her palm

"Liliana! You are not a freak!"

"He knew it! It was all his fault!"

I put my arms around her, not in a hug, but in a desperate attempt of trying to make her stop

She continues to flail her hands around as I hold her

"He knew it was his fault! He knew it!"

She continues to declare over sobs and hiccups

"Why?! Why?!"

Gradually, she stops struggling and I feel her hands resting on my back, gripping my shirt tightly

"What did I do? Why did he do that to me?"

Not a word leaves my mouth, I simply hold Liliana in my arms as she slowly stops crying

I've never seem her like this, so out of control, so fragile, so... helpless

What the hell Liliana's father did? It's like she turned into another person in mere seconds

All that goes through my head is how can I possibly help her, comfort her, do anything to bring the Liliana I know back

But I don't know how... I never knew she ever felt like this.

All I can do is hold her

"You haven't done anything wrong Liliana, there's nothing wrong with you"

She sobs, tears running down her face

"My [skill, I've hurt people because of it, innocent people, I thought I was an aberration this entire time and he..."

"Hey..."

I speak up and Liliana looks at me, her big golden eyes still moist with tears

"I... don't know what happened between you and your dad or what troubles your powers caused you, but regardless of that, we're here right now aren't we?"

Liliana nods without saying a word

"You saved us, all of us. We're here right now because you were there. The past is the past, you're not a freak of nature, I know it, everyone knows it."

She acknowledges it with a slight nod, bringing a hand to her face to wipe away the tears

"Y-you're right, I was telling you to accept yourself and look at me, haha..."

She gives a half hearted laugh and I try to help in wiping away her tears, when a thought crosses my mind

"Remember that night when we dinned together and you said there was no way you'd never be afraid of me?"

I reach my hand down towards hers and hold it gently

"I guess it's my turn now... you'll never be an aberration to me Liliana. I'll never be scared of your power"

Her expression freezes for a moment after I say that and a genuine smile comes across her face

"Thank you Tatseyo..."

Tears flow once again across her face as she lays her head on my shoulder

"Thank you so much for everything"

I hug Liliana

"What are you saying? I'm the one who almost killed everyone, I should be thanking you"

She chuckles and moves her head, nuzzling her face on my neck

"My power is really scary you know?" - She says, trying to muster that impish smile I have grow so used to

I smile back and poke the side of her arm

"Who do you think you're talking to? Have you forgotten my [skill]?"

"Forgot? I was on it's aim the whole time"

We laugh together and a thought crosses my mind

"I guess we're two cursed people with dangerous [skills, huh?"

"I guess so" - I laugh trying to lighten the mood

We just stay still for a moment holding each other

I never thought of my powers as an issue, as long as I could control them it was fine, I could help people, I was strong and could make the world a better place and that was all that mattered

But this curse made everything change on an instant

Between having a curse or having no [skill] I'd rather not have any [skills]

But it's not a decision that's up for me to make.

And I just found this out today, Liliana has been dealing with this for what I assume it's her whole life and she just found out her father might have been the one responsible for both her powers and the {Crimson King's} influence on me.

I can't pretend that I understand what she must be going through right now or that I know how to make it better

But I can be here for her and I hope that'll be enough

"Hey, uh... you guys alright?"

I hear a hushed voice coming from the entrance and I look to see Diz and the others peeking their heads inside

"We heard shouting... oh my, fufufu~"

Mayumi starts giggling when she looks at us and I pull back from the embrace

"H-hey! This is not what it looks like!"

As I release Liliana from my grip she looks in their direction

"Mou! You guys! Didn't you see we were having a moment?"

"We were?!" - I stare back at her and she shakes her head

"A moment? We heard you shouting and rattling from the room and them there was silence, we got worried too, ya know?!" - Diz says and I realize that from the outside things must sounded very weird

"Honestly Tatseyo, you don't know what girls are like"

I squint my eyes and shake my head

"What does that have to do with this?!"

Liliana then starts laughing at my reaction and clears the lingering traces of tears from her eyes

"Ah, I feel much better"

She sits down at the bed and looks out of the window

"So, Liliana-sama, what are we going to do now?"

The dark skinned devil closes her eyes, a serious expression returning to her face

"Well, first we'll have to talk with the faction leaders and explain what the hell just happened and hopefully get a non-disclosure agreement about our skills. I know Azazel must be dying to know why I haven't told him about my powers but the last thing Tatseyo and I need is the entire world knowing that he can negate all forms of healing and I have the power to mess with a god"

We all nod, there was so much in my mind I didn't even thought about it, indeed it would be pretty terrible if people outside of our group knew about what we can do. We already have our hands full dealing with whatever Kuriko is trying to do, we certainly don't want a bunch of supernatural faction leaders trying to recruit us for our powers.

"And after that?" - I ask, Liliana gives a deep sigh

"I'll talk to that asshole I call father"

I nod at her determined statement, only to scratch my head awkwardly afterwards

"That's really good Liliana, but speaking of parents..."

She glances at me with a confused expression

"What about- oh!"

Her golden eyes widen in realization before I can explain

"I guess I do own yours an explanation right? Hehe~"

Liliana puts her tongue out in a goofy expression

Really, this girl...

She wraps an arm around mine

"Let's go! I wanna meet Kageyama-san and Lady Tatsumaki outside of a battlefield, c'mon!"

"W-wait!"

She drags me outside, our arms entangled in one another as her peerage follows after us

"Liliana, I'm telling you if my parents see us like this they'll get the wrong idea!"

The dark skinned devil looks at me with a confused expression

"Uhh? What are you talking about? I have no idea how they could get the wrong idea from this..."

She says, meanwhile strenghtening her grip on me

"You know exactly what I'm talking about don't play the-"

As I argue with Liliana I barelize that we already reached the living room

"Well, well, didn't little miss saviour make a full recovery?"

Part 2

"What was the meaning of all of this?!"

The holy spear hits the ground with a loud thud, cracking the floor beneath as Cao Cao screamed in a rage

[You'll have to be more specific Cao Cao, the meaning of what exactly?]

The leader of the Hero Faction and his fellow executives were in a rage and the nonchalant attitude of the pink haired girl in front of them was only more aggravating

"Stop playing the idiot! You know very well what I mean! I thought this was a mission to capture Great Red using the power of the Dragon Eater, why didn't you told us you were planning to awaken that... that thing?!"

He screamed, not knowing how to define the Crimson King

Kuriko's giggling could be heard from well inside their heads, making Cao Cao feel disgust at her voice

[Oh that, of course it had to be a surprise, if I told you I was going to use the Sekiryuutei's connection the other world and the dormant power of the Holy Spear to awaken the sealed god of all espers I doubt you'd have been so eager as you were]

Cao Cao gritted his teeth in frustration and tightened his fists around the spear

He knew he couldn't fight her, it wasn't even an option, but he would still press her for answers, he didn't cared if she could kill him for it

"Why though? Why did you need that thing? Why do you need a god?"

Kuriko giggled

[Why does an esper wants to awaken the god of espers? Is that really even a question?]

Cao Cao's fury only rose at Kuriko's nonchalant attitude towards the whole ordeal

"That's it? You just wanted to wake him? Because I have bad news then, Liliana Caim managed to tame that thing, whatever your plan was, it didn't work"

The Hero Faction's leader smirked a bit, thinking Kuriko's plan to screw them had gone wrong, only to a chill to run down his spine when her expression turned from playful to serious in a moment's notice

[You mean the Esper Devil that both my parents and my uncle are oh so familiar with? Yes, I did factor that she might interefere.]

He had never seem her with such an expression before, had Liliana Caim really caused that much trouble to her?

[I did not expect her to win of course, but I did figure she'd be a nuisance, regardless...]

Kuriko waves her hand in the air

[That is only a temporary setback which was well within my plans]

Cao Cao gritted his teeth and his spear tightened around True Longinus

"And I assume we are no longer necessary for your plan anymore?"

The other members of the Hero Faction tensed up, Kuriko glared at them for a moment

They knew they had no chance of victory, but perhaps escape was possible

Cao Cao started to formulate tactics in his mind only to freeze when he heard Kuriko's laughter inside his head

[Is that what has you so worried? Kukuku, well there's good news for you then]

Kuriko snapped her finger

[Your services are still very much necessary, even if they weren't, I wasn't planning on killing you. I wouldn't do something so terrible as to deprive the world of the True Longinu's user, also...]

A cheeky smile came across her face

[It's not like you could stop me anyway]

The members of the Hero Faction gulped, their tension not easing in the slightest

Kuriko might not be planning to kill them

But they feared whatever she was trying to accomplish would be far worse than a swift death.

"What is it that you want?"

Cao Cao asked

"If we are even entitled to that much information"

Kuriko's chuckle ressonated within their heads once again

[I wish nothing but peace and prosperity for my people]

Afterword: Hello there! Thanks for reading! Sorry for taking so long, this was supposed to be posted several days ago but I got caught up with some work for college and it got delayed, my bad.

Once again, if you wish to support me, please do so, any ammount is welcome: donate . stripe 9AQbKw4bv1jdago3cc

I hope to see you next chapter!