Ch. 4: Psycho Priest Freed Sellzen

Under the night sky, Izuku was riding his bike to a client's house. It was normally one of Koneko's clients, but because she was too booked with other summons, he had been asked to take it instead.

Eventually, Izuku arrived at the client's house which was a relatively simple one. He set his bike to the side and rang the doorbell, waiting for someone to answer. When he got no answer for a few minutes, he tried the doorknob, and to his surprise, it wasn't locked.

"It's unlocked. That doesn't seem very safe," he muttered as he decided to look inside. "Hello! I'm the Devil sent here by Lady Gremory! Is anybody home?!"

When he took a few steps inside, he suddenly felt the very same chill he had when he showed Asia to the church. 'Uh-oh. I had those chills again.' "If you're home, please say something!" He noticed a light in one of the rooms, but he still got no response at all.

Then, against his better judgment, Izuku decided to enter the house, closing the door behind him. "Pardon the intrusion. I'm coming inside!"

As Izuku made his way to the room, he tried looking for someone, only to step onto something wet. "Floor's wet," he commented as he tried to wipe his feet dry with his hands. However, the liquid that soaked his feet wasn't thin clear water, but rather, thick red blood. 'Is this blood?'

Izuku looked down to see a puddle of blood on the floor, coming from a mutilated corpse of a man. Or at least he thought it was a man. It was kinda hard to make out their gender with all the skin stripped off.

Izuku quickly brought his hand to his mouth to prevent himself from vomiting. Written above on the wall in red was a message: "DIVINE PUNISHMENT FOR SHITTY SINNERS WHO HAVE GIVEN UP ON HUMANITY!"

"What the hell?!" Izuku blurted out in shock.

"'Punish the wicked.' Words to live by." Another man in the room, who was not a corpse, said. "Wise advice to heed from a holy man." Despite his preachings, the maniacal look with his tongue sticking out made it clear that he was anything but a holy man. He had short white hair, red eyes, and was dressed in the coat and outfit of a priest. "Well, well. You just walked into the wrong house, my friend… Freed Sellzen here, at your service." He introduced himself with a bow. "And you must be the scared little pussy whose Devil ass this holy priest is gonna exorcise!"

"A priest?!" Izuku gasped.

"Yep. I work for a certain Devil-purging organization you may have heard of," Freed confirmed.

"So you're the one who did this?!" Izuku asked, pointing to the dead person.

"Summoning you was proof that he's done being human," Freed said before turning toward the corpse. "End of the line, sinner!" Then he turned back to Izuku. "So I had to chop him up into little bitty pieces! Putting down degenerate Devils, and the lost souls that would cry out to them is my job. And no one is better at it than me!" Freed then took out a silver gun. "With my righteous gun, I'm gonna blow a hole in your wicked demon face. How does that sound, Devil?!"

"You would kill a man just because he was talking to Devils?!" Izuku shouted in anger. "Aren't you a servant of God, how could you just take a man's life so easily?!"

"Oh, what's this? Does the rotten-ass Devil want to be a lecturer now? Like I'm just gonna stay put and let some scummy shit Devil tell me what to do! I say 'Fuck that!'" Freed said. "Let me remind you. Devils feed on human desire. The humans who give you substances can't be considered human anymore. That's why I killed him, to save his soul from being tainted further. Harsh, but that's God's mercy for ya! Amen~!" He kicked the head into the wall, causing it to splatter and cause more gore.

"Don't give me that crap! You're just using God as an excuse to commit heinous murder!" Izuku growled.

"Y'know, I don't know why we're even still talking here instead of me making Swiss cheese out of ya. So let's get my priorities straight!" Freed then laughed as he aimed his pistol at Izuku, but luckily, he managed to race to the side, dodging the shot.

However, he was not as lucky the second time as Freed's next shot went through his leg, making him collapse in pain.

"These bullets have been blessed by an exorcist… Hope they taste good, scumbag?!"

Izuku let out a cry of pain before summoning his Sacred Gear. "Damn you!"

"Ooh… is the Devil angry?" Freed mocked. "Maybe it's time for Freed Sellzen to send you back to the abyss from whence you came!"

Izuku fought with the pain to try and hit Freed, but he didn't have to make too much effort as he casually dodged Izuku. "Too slow!" Freed then put another hole in Izuku through his stomach. "Get a guy worked up and leave him half-cocked? That's no way for a lady to treat a gentleman like myself!"

Freed was about to put another hole in Izuku when he was interrupted by a girl screaming. It was Asia.

"What the hell? Asia, what are you doing here? Are you done creating the barrier already?" Freed asked.

Izuku recognized the name and turned to see the familiar blonde snake girl, who stared horrified at the mangled corpse.

"Don't… don't do this…" Asia begged.

"Right, a newbie! Well then, I guess it's time you learned! This is what the job is, my dear… We dispose of unfortunate people who have been bewitched by the evil Devils," Freed said in a sadistic tone.

Asia then turned to see Izuku on the ground. "No. It can't be."

"Argento, I-"

"What's going on? Do you two know each other?" Freed asked.

"Izuku, why are you here?"

Izuku, unable to keep the truth from her, decided to confess. "I'm here… because… I'm a Devil, Argento."

"No… That can't be true," Asia said in denial.

"I didn't want to lie to you… I swear that I didn't… That's why I decided it was best not to see you again… Please forgive me."

"Oh heavens," Asia said with her hand over her mouth.

"Not that this isn't heartwarming…" Freed suddenly barged into the conversation. "But you and your friend here have no business being together. The Fallen Angels have expressly forbidden all forms of contact between our kind and theirs. Have you forgotten that already?

'Fallen Angels?' Izuku thought.

"Now then, shall we go ahead and do what we came here to do?!" Freed pointed his pistol at Izuku with a sinister grin. "Not that it matters much, but I hope you said your prayers!"

But then, Asia slithered in front of Izuku, spreading her arms to defend him.

"Argento?"

"You've got to be kidding me with this," Freed said in annoyance.

"Please don't, I beg you for mercy… Forgive this man for his sins, Father…! Couldn't we just let him go?" Asia pleaded with tears in her eyes.

"That thing isn't a man. It's a Devil. You made a pledge to our enemies!" Freed reminded.

"It doesn't matter to me what he is. There's goodness in him, I know it!" Asia declared. "You can't just kill him, how can you actually believe the Father would approve?!"

"Enough of this bullshit!"

The next thing that happened caused Izuku's blood to boil.

That asshole backhanded Asia in the face!

"BASTARD!" Izuku shouted, his vision turning red. He didn't get far as his wounds forced him back down, "Ah! Damn it!" Unbeknown to Izuku, the green jewel on his Sacred Gear began to glow green.

"You've lost your fucking mind! What? Are there maggots growing inside that stupid head of yours?!" Freed pinned Asia down by the throat as he reached down and tore open her dress, leaving only her bra left.

"Let her go!" Izuku demanded.

"Our Fallen Angel friend says I'm not supposed to hurt you, but I don't give a damn about that now… You know what happens to naughty girls, don't you?!" Freed smirked, squeezing Asia's breasts. The poor girl flinched and gasped from the squeezing, "Why shouldn't an upstanding priest do what he wants with a filthy tramp like you? That's not so wrong, is it?!"

"Don't hurt me!" Asia begged.

"Stop it! SACRED GEAR!"

"Nani?" Freed turned to see Izuku charging up a green ball of energy in his left hand. Then the shot fired and hit Freed in the chest, knocking him through the wall and away from Asia.

Izuku panted heavily as the gem in his Sacred Gear stopped glowing, "Looks like I'm finally getting the hang of this thing," he said, tiredly.

Asia quickly got up and turned toward Izuku. "You're hurt…" she said softly, observing his wounds.

"Pain's… nothing new for me," Izuku joked despite the pain. "Ow…"

"Here, let me…" Asia then put her hands over Izuku's wounds and when they were basked in the green light of healing, they started to fade, along with the pain.

"Holy whoa… I feel better!" Izuku said, tapping the area for good measure. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Asia smiled. "It's the least I can do to repay you from before."

Izuku then noticed the large bruise on Asia's cheek, where Freed had struck her. "Does it hurt?"

"It's okay," she said. "You had it worse."

The two had a quick laugh, but the heartwarming moment was suddenly interrupted by a noise coming from the wall. It was Freed, who had recovered from Izuku's attack. "Oh, right. Forgot to kill ya," he huffed.

Asia then placed herself in front of Izuku again. "I won't let you hurt him anymore."

"Oh yeah? And what are you gonna do about i-" Freed said, but then, without any warning, Asia's blonde hair rose up and turned into green, thorny vines that shot out toward Freed, ensnaring him. "DAFUQ?!"

"Forgive me, Father Freed, but I couldn't just stand by and do nothing while you commit such horrible sins," Asia said.

[Asia Argento. Her Quirk: Hair Vines. She can transform her hair into green vines that she can grow and control at will. Plus, they're detachable. As long as she gets plenty of water and sunlight, they can grow instantly.]

Seeing this, Izuku was amazed by Asia's Quirk, from how quickly she was able to turn her hair into vines to how she quickly managed to catch Freed.

"Think these weeds can hold me? Think again!" Freed shouted as he revealed a sword of light and cut through Asia's vines with it, to her surprise. "Lucky for me, I had my trusty lightsaber! Never leave home without one!"

Izuku stood up and got in front of Asia to defend her if needed.

"I'll admit. I'm impressed…" Freed said. "Whaddya say we go for a new world record, Devil scum?! Let's see how many pieces of meat I can chop you into!"

Then, Freed jumped into the air, ready to lunge at Izuku, but before Freed could do any harm to Izuku, the red magic circle of the Gremory appeared, and Yumi leaped out, blocking Freed's blade with her own.

"Kiba!"

"Hey, Izuku. Thought you could use a hand," Yumi said.

Then, Akeno peeked in through the portal. "Oh, this is gross. Talk about a nasty mess."

"An exorcist," Koneko growled as she came through.

"You guys came…" Izuku said in relief.

"Hell yeah! Now we've got ourselves a good ole' fashioned gang bang!" Freed cheered, wielding both his sword and gun.

"You're done here. Sorry to disappoint you, but he's one of us," Yumi said.

"Oh, I'm far from disappointed, trust me!" Freed retorted. "Ooh, and aren't you a lovely one, Gorgeous? Tell me, mind if I fuck you up, too?!"

Yumi sweat-dropped. "For a priest, that's quite a mouth you've got there…" she said in a cold tone that was out of character.

"What are you, the impiety police? Get off your high horse, Princess! Hunting your kind is my only concern!" Freed said. "So stop preaching and let's get to it!"

"My my, this guy certainly is a piece of work," Akeno commented.

"And you, my dear, are a hot piece of ass!" Freed said while holding the sword's hilt near his crotch for some reason. "Oh, those eyes are killing me. Blondie might be a real cutie, but the one I really like to lust after is a sexy Devil bitch!"

"If you want it, then come and get some…" Rias's voice said, to Freed's surprise at the arrival of the new voice. He then had to leap to the side to avoid a destructive energy blast from Rias. "But I really don't think you could handle it. Nobody hurts one of my servants."

"Rias!" Izuku said.

"Well… look who finally showed their tits?" Freed said, realizing Rias was the leader. "Don't get ahead of yourself though, 'cause I'm pretty sure I just hurt him."

"It's alright… I'm here," Rias reassured him.

"Thanks a lot. I'm sorry you had to come to bail me out again," Izuku apologized.

"No. I'm the one who's sorry, Izuku," Rias stroked Izuku's cheek. "I sent you into the hands of an exorcist, and I had no idea. There was a barrier here until a moment ago, so we didn't even realize."

"You little bitch! You didn't do a proper job with the barrier and now it's gone!" Freed shouted at Asia. He then blazed across the room with his sword swinging. Eyes narrowing, Yumi bent her legs before she suddenly blurred out of sight.

"She disappeared?!" Asia gasped.

Yumi reappeared before Freed, this time armed with a sword cloaked in darkness. The two blades clashed against each other as both young sword users tried to overpower the other. "Attacking just like that out of the blue," Yumi mocked. "You have no class."

"Hah? I'm supposed to give shits about that?" Freed laughed.

But then, the dark aura coming from Yumi's sword spread out, enveloping Freed's sword of light and making the blade start to flicker. Freed quickly realized that his blade was losing power, so he took the smart route and jumped back from Yumi's oncoming slash. "The fuck?!"

"Sorry, but this sword is special," Yumi told him, gripping the hilt with two hands. "It can devour the light."

"So you're another Sacred Gear wielder huh? Should've guessed," Freed sighed.

"That's right. And it's called Sword Birth," Yumi said.

[Yumi Kiba. Her Sacred Gear: Sword Birth. She can create any Demonic Sword she can imagine and imbue them with all sorts of different attributes.]

"Kiba has a Sacred Gear, too?!" Izuku asked.

Then he was suddenly struck with pain in his leg.

"Try not to move too much, Izuku," said Asia. "Your leg hasn't fully healed yet."

"'Hasn't fully healed yet?'" Rias repeated. "What did that madman do to you, Izuku?"

"Freed shot me in the leg and stomach, but Argento healed me," Izuku replied.

Slowly, Rias turned toward the vulgar priest. "Is that right?"

"Yep!" Freed giggled. "Truth is, I was planning to carve up every inch of his body after I filled him with holes, but then that shitty nun had to screw everything up-!"

*BOOM!*

"Huh?" Freed was suddenly cut off from his rant when a gigantic hole appeared in the wall just centimeters from his head. He took a peek at the hole before turning back to Rias, whose entire body was now glowing a crimson red.

"I never forgive people who try to do harm to one of my servants… And I especially don't tolerate insidious wretches like you…" Rias growled, her voice both calm yet dripping with rage at the same time.

Both Izuku and Asia trembled at the display. 'She's scary!'

"Your terrible evil has no place in this world. That's why I'm here: to purge it!"

"Well shit. Big Red over there could be a problem… I may need some backup," Freed said as he pulled something out of his robes. "I'm getting the fuck out of Dodge before they arrive to reinforce the ambush."

"'They'?" Rias questioned.

Koneko then sniffed the air. "Fallen Angels are coming."

"Just in the nick of time too! Hope you're hungry; 'cause light spears are on the menu for you!" Freed then smashed the thing on the ground, releasing an intense flash of light that blinded the youths, allowing him to make a smooth getaway.

"Agh!" Izuku rubbed his eyes, trying to get rid of the spots coloring his vision before it returned to normal. Freed was gone. "A flashbang?!"

"So what's the plan?" Akeno asked.

"Right now, we just need to get Izuku out of here," Rias said. "Akeno, prepare to jump."

"Right," Akeno started preparing a portal.

"Rias, wait! What about Argento?!" Izuku asked. "We should take her with us!"

"I'm afraid only members of my household can jump with this magic circle. Sorry, but it wouldn't work," Rias apologized.

"I'm not gonna leave her behind!"

"But there's no way she'll survive the magic."

"Then I'll just bring her on my bike!"

"But she's aligned with the church," Yumi said. "By default, that makes us enemies."

"Even so, she still healed me without prejudice. I'm not abandoning her for petty reasons like that!" Izuku declared. He then grabbed Asia's hand and led her toward the front entrance. "See you back at the club room!"

"I hope you know what you're doing," Rias prayed as she, Akeno, Koneko, and Yumi vanished into the portal.

It didn't take long for the news of the murder to spread. Not long after Izuku had left with Asia, the police arrived, but by then, the only person left was the corpse. From the messy way it had been chopped up, it would be difficult to identify who the body originally was. One piece of evidence that had been left behind was the message written in blood, making out to be the work of some religious fanatic. But that also meant the murderer had fled the scene and was still at large.

Izuku called his mom to let her know that he was safe and unharmed and that he was currently planning on staying with Rias until the heat dies down. Right now, he was in the clubroom, using bleach to clean out the blood from his shoes while sitting on a couch. Meanwhile, Asia was using the shower room, washing off the sweat and blood from her body, especially her tail which had been in direct contact with the gore. Honestly, Izuku couldn't help but feel sorry for her considering what she had to go through.

"You shouldn't have brought her here," Rias said, handing Izuku a bucket of water.

"Why? Was it really that wrong of me for wanting to help someone affiliated with the church?" Izuku asked, taking the water bucket to wash the bleach off his sneakers. "Are you being resistant because the ones who are on the side of God are dangerous to us?"

"There's more to it than that," Rias sighed. "That girl… is a heretic. In other words, she's in cahoots with the Fallen Angels."

"She's a heretic?" Izuku repeated, confused.

"For several reasons, there are often times when the servants of God who were once faithful end up going rogue. As they can no longer rely on God for protection, they tend to lend their services to Fallen Angels, who were cast out from Heaven." Rias explained. "That girl must have some reasons for why she is working with the Fallen Angels."

"Oh…" Izuku sighed, looking down.

"Izuku, I get how you feel and I want to help her too, really…" Rias said. "But we could cause an unwanted incident if we continue to involve ourselves in the affairs of the Fallen Angels. I'm afraid all I can do is give her a place to stay for the night. After that, she's on her own."

"I understand…" Izuku and Rias turned and saw Asia slithering out of the shower room. She had a towel wrapped around her hair and wore some spare clothes that were lent to her by Rias. Her original torn clothing was on a tray table, folded neatly. "I appreciate you letting me clean myself in the shower," Asia bowed. "It was gracious of you."

"Argento, please tell me…" Izuku began, "Why were you around that nutjob?"

"Father Freed?" Asia questioned.

"Yeah, that's what I want to know," Izuku replied. "You're the complete opposite of that bloodthirsty psychopath, and I feel like there's more to the story."

"You're right. I didn't have much choice…" Asia admitted with a sad look in her eyes. "It all happened when I was excommunicated from the church three weeks ago for healing a Devil out of my own free will, and I had nowhere else I could turn to."

"You actually healed a Devil even though you were still with the church?" Rias blinked, surprise evident on her face. "Why?"

"I couldn't just ignore someone who was injured very badly, even if he was a Devil," Asia replied. "Then I was caught by a local priest while I was in the midst of healing him. Because of this, I was labeled as a witch and cast out."

"That healing power you have, it comes from a Sacred Gear, right?" Izuku asked.

"Yes, it does," Asia nodded, sitting down on the sofa across from Izuku. "It's called Twilight Healing. You see, I was abandoned by my real parents. They left me in front of a church in a small town in Europe. I was told when they found me, I wouldn't stop crying. The sweet nuns there brought me up. One day, when I was about eight, a sad little puppy who was hurt real bad found its way into the church where I lived. I prayed as hard as I could that God would spare him… And when I did, a miracle happened. Because of my power, I was immediately taken to a larger church. Men and women from all over the world would visit when they were injured and I was told to heal all of them. The idea that I possessed this thing that could actually help other people made me so happy. I finally felt like I had a purpose. Soon after, the church regarded me as a Saint and I was given the title of Holy Maiden. Ever since then, I've heard that many people were able to live longer thanks to my healing and I'm grateful to the Lord for giving me this power."

Her face suddenly took on a somber look. "But because of my status and Sacred Gear, I was guarded heavily and treated well, and was seen as a higher being. No children would play with me and I became lonely. After healing that Devil, my Holy Maiden title was revoked and I was called a witch by those who once worshiped me.…"

She could still remember the hate-filled words of the people who were formerly her worshippers.

"This girl has the power to heal Devils!"

"Demon!"

"She's a witch!"

"Burn her!"

"They said that anyone who had my kind of power was a heretic, so I had no choice but to run away." Asia finished her story.

"So you came to Japan to start over," Izuku said, frowning sadly. Her life, in a way, reminded him of his own. "And that is when you decided to join with the Fallen Ones?"

"Yes…" Asia replied.

"I see," Rias nodded slowly. "I'm sorry to hear that."

The door opened and the rest of Rias's Peerage stepped in, "I managed to finish the search as soon as the police arrived. It seems that the Fallen Angels have retreated for now," Yumi reported.

"Good," Rias nodded. "Seems our troubles are over for the time being."

Nothing more was said that night.

About Asia's Quirk, yes, it's pretty much the same as Ibara Shiozaki's Quirk, except she turns her hair into vines rather than her hair being vines to begin with. And I also did the whole "merge Asia and Ibara" thing.

Also, I am painfully aware that the story isn't all that different from the work I was inspired by, Hero Academia DxD so far. I admit that this story originally began as a plot bunny that became too big to contain, but I'm hoping that once I get to the later arcs, I can get more original.

See you next time. Go beyond! Plus Ultra!