I shot my gun.

And would you look at that? The bullet went wide as the Lamia slithered a short distance away.

The demon gave a fierce glare, "I should have gotten rid of you earlier when you had no allies."

Oh? It seems to me that this is the correct Lamia, "Too bad your laziness stopped you then," the Lamia hissed at my response, "Now are you going to tell me where you kept that other person you had mentioned before?"

She stayed still for a moment before I received my answer.

Specifically an answer that I heard and felt through the thwack and violent crunch caused by a snake tail to the face. I really should have predicted something like that could have happened.

The painful throb of my nose suddenly became a distant memory when the blow had pushed my back towards a tree at high speeds where I collided, probably causing me more bruising.

"I'll eat you!"

The demon lunged at me with her mouth unnaturally wide. She had gotten close enough for me to see the sharp teeth before she was abruptly blasted back from a Zan, landing on her back.

That was uncomfortably close to me having my throat torn out.

She's still somewhat close to me, "Dogpile on her!" This Lamia isn't going to be getting any breathing room from us.

Jack Frost jumped in with his fists covered in ice and Harpy flew in with her claws out. The attacks landed on the Lamia as I scrambled to get up before replacing my gun for my sword. The blade was pulled back before thrusting downward. A spout of blood erupted from the tail of the Lamia as the sword in my hand pierced through scales, flesh, and the ground. My weapon kept her in place for my next attack.

"Aghhh!"

My sword held her down so I drew my handgun towards Lamia's face. Panic crossed her face momentarily before being replaced with anger as a glowing symbol appeared upon her forehead.

"What the–," a sudden force pushed me back, "Gah!"

I was sent flying in the air, a sense of weightlessness descended upon me. This feels kinda weird. I feel like I should have landed by–, "Ack", air blew out of my lungs as I landed harshly on my back. Temporarily breathless as I could barely comprehend what I was seeing in front of me. Some sort of mass had surrounded Lamia and pushed me and my demons off. The appearance was glitchy, as if it was from a game that was made with a budget of a thousand yen and no care for the actual quality. If I squint at it, it sort of looks like rocks? Don't quote me on that.

"Impossible…"

"You know what's going on Harpy?"

"Maybe, but it isn't supposed to look like that or be used by such a weak demon."

I could feel my face scowling at that, "Certainly doesn't feel like she's weak."

"Hee ho! There are definitely demons who are much stronger ho! When I tried to enact justice on them I ne-hee-ly died ho!"

Harpy interjected when Jack Frost began telling about his 'daring' escape from their 'evil clutches', "Nonetheless be careful about your surroundings, she has control over them now. Although there's something different about it compared to natural users."

Natural eh? A glitchy appearance that reminds me of technology certainly doesn't seem natural, "Got it," a pause before I realized something, "Shit, I dropped my weapons earlier."

Maybe she didn't notice?

Lamia stared at us from a distance warily as she pulled my sword out of her tail before tossing it behind her back, the symbol on her head still glowing. My hope for my gun going unnoticed was clearly too optimistic as she swiped it away with her tail sending it further away. This just reinforces my cynical worldview, damn you! I'll curse the next person I see who has the luck to get an oblivious enemy!

Forget it, I can still fight without weapons. "Jack Frost, heal us," before it decides to attack and abandon caution.

"Hee Ho!"

Or Lamia could just notice us trying to heal and do something based on that. Considering the goddamn trees that seemingly started glitching out of nowhere and moving towards us, "Scatter!"

As we attempted to jump back the trees ended up catching Jack Frost as he was in the middle of trying to heal us. I did feel some partial relief from my injuries so the Dia was somewhat successful but the twinge of pain from the two needles in my shoulder is a reminder that I'm still hurt.

The tree branches surrounded the small rotund snowman and held him together to prevent him from moving.

For Harpy the situation wasn't much better, she flew high up to escape the branches but that only ended with her surrounded by their leaves. Blocking her view as they caught her in her blindspot. Capturing her just like they did Jack Frost.

Complete control over her surroundings to this degree is OP! I demand a nerf! She doesn't even have to do anything while we're stuck with fighting inanimate objects. While I'm at it, I demand that Lamia is also erased from existence so I never have to deal with her again.

I raise my hand out towards the trees and their branches, "Agi!" Just as fire began to materialize my hand was slapped by a tail into a different direction causing it to miss wildly.

Lamia was practically right on top of me and I had no weapons to defend myself. My hand that had the gauntlet that could let me use magic was just pushed out of the way by her attack. I was defenseless.

Her hand clenched my throat, my only remaining hysterical thought was: I really wish I had more weapons, and slammed me down.

Air flow started to become restricted and breathing wasn't looking like an option. And clearly she thought her plan through since Lamia had also used her other hand to force my gauntleted hand down onto the ground where I couldn't aim my magic at her.

My only free hand grabbed onto the arm that's choking me.

"Ghhk…."

Trying to pull her off. She's too strong, no use.

Her face, filled with sadistic ecstasy.

What. Can. I. Do.

Symbol… It's appearance…

Seven Sides, heptagon.

Multiple symbols within.

Stephen– What he said before.

Carefully… Observe…

Thin lines attached to Lamia's forehead. Reaching outward.

Connected to her symbol…

Weapon. Need.

Hand grabs needle in shoulder. Wretches it out.

Pain. Burning, bloody, pain.

Vision blurs further. Black spots. Head woozy.

Needle rushes forward.

To the symbol.

"Ahhhhhh!"

Air, fresh air flows into me as I take heavy breaths. I coughed and choked on my spit. Barely seeing the Lamia clutch her head as she bled from the symbol, which itself is seemingly glitching in appearance as the environment was earlier.

My vision began to clear as I stared at her. She was squirming around and cursing. She didn't even seem to be paying attention to her surroundings anymore.

Her hubris became her undoing. She wanted to slowly deprive me of oxygen, the sadistic bitch, despite having the means to kill me sooner as she had me pinned down with no back up from my demons. Her teeth are extremely sharp and could have ended me easily if she wasn't practically orgasming from seeing me slowly die while choking.

She got too close and allowed me to see the origin of the attacks from our surroundings. Those lines that slightly shined became all the more obvious in this darkness as they connected to the various objects in the environment. Those very same lines began to blink and fizzle out as the source of their power got disrupted from my attack upon the symbol on her forehead.

While she was distracted I rushed off the ground towards an upward position and threw the needle at her. It pierced into her body as she screamed even louder. She thrashed around before shooting out fire in a panic.

"Bufu!"

Lamia was struck with ice and knocked her down to the ground in a daze, stopping her fiery rampage. Seems like ice is her weakness, makes sense considering snakes are cold blooded and are unsuited for lower temperatures. It's also nice to have solid confirmation that my hypothesis regarding her territory manipulation is true. My demons are free now and the trees are back to normal now.

Still don't have a weapon, better grit my teeth. I grab on to the second and last needle that was still stuck in my shoulder and pull it out, pain exploded and vision blurred for a moment. The needle has been freed and now I have another makeshift weapon.

"Shiii–," a breath out before I say, "Jack Frost heal me! And Harpy, hit her with magic!" As each demon followed their respective orders I raised my fist, "Critical Wave," and slammed downward.

As the Zan hit her straight in the face, Lamia also immediately afterward faced the full force of Critical Wave. A wave of energy completely engulfed her entire body as she screamed. It's an attack targeting low on the ground and previously had only hit my legs, but if the opponent were low to the ground then this would be the result. Fitting for a snake to be crawling.

The pain from my wounds was partially relieved as Dia flowed into me. The tables have turned and it's time to keep it that way, permanently. I could feel grim satisfaction at the thought.

She was getting back up as my attack dissipated, "Jack Frost!"

I didn't even need to follow up with an order as he immediately fired a Bufu when I called his name. The blast of ice had barely missed before Lamia stretched out her tail and struck toward me, the long appendage struck my face causing the taste of blood to flow into my mouth. In almost the same exact moment I grabbed her tail with my free hand before it could retract and pulled her toward me, right into the pathway of the needle in my other hand.

It stabbed into her, blood spurting outward as I let go of the needle. It didn't stop her, her mouth opened as sharp teeth came at me. In a split decision I moved forward even more to make her misjudge the distance. I slammed my head forward to headbutt her before she could sink her fangs anywhere.

That had probably hurt me more than it had hurt Lamia but she was visibly surprised as she blinked. I'll give her an even bigger surprise. I grabbed an object out of my pocket.

Time for some mutual pain, "I suggest you grit your teeth," because I'm going to freeze your mouth closed!

I slammed my palm into her face, breaking the Bufu Stone I had held. A small explosion of ice shot out in an enclosed space between my hand and her face. She screamed as a look of pure agony was on Lamia's face as frost, cuts, lacerations, and blood covered her features.

The pain for myself on the other hand was closer to that of a frozen throb across my hand to some part of my arm, which slowly transitioned to a burning pain. I ignored it best I could in order to use both of my hands to grab onto the two needles I stabbed into her. I pushed them further into flesh and then pulled them from an angle. The feeling of flesh being parted and bones of her ribs being scraped by the needles.

Blood spilt out and Lamia gasped out a deep breath. Bloody needles now back within my grasp. The wounds from my makeshift weapons are a complete mess as chunks of meat are partially pulled out of her body as red liquid flowed down her human skin then transitioned to scales from a snake.

The needles did not make a clean exit.

Lamia was nearly completely still as she slumped downward with her shoulders rising up and down from breathing.

I raised one of the needles towards her face. The battle is almost over so I'll only ask one more time, "Where is the human you have taken?"

She raised her head and glared, "Hah, you expect me to cooperate with a human like you?" She coughed out blood, "An inferior species like you! You'll end up just like that crybaby. In the stomach of your superior–ghh."

I moved my arms.

A brief look of surprise crossed Lamia's face as I interrupted her, "As much fun as being eaten would be, that isn't happening. Your execution time has been accelerated ahead of schedule," and unlike death row criminals, you won't get a final meal.

The light in her eyes faded away as her face was now stuck unchanging. No longer able to fluctuate her expression as needles pierced through her.

I let go of the needles that I had stuck in her head, one going through the side of her skull and the other through her neck to the bottom of her head. She fell down as her corpse dissipated into red particles and absorbed into my gauntlet.

≪The 'Charm Bite' skill has been assimilated.≫

Tch, all those attempted bites would have been more troublesome than I thought if they had hit me. Attacks boosted with skills in combination with her being Lvl 18 which is a vastly higher level compared to the other demons I've hunted makes for a situation that I was lucky that I wasn't hit by any of them. I only got slapped around by her pure strength instead of powered up bites or fire magic.

And charm? What is she supposed to be? A seductress? I guess her mythology influenced her skill pool to have something like this since she has absolutely zero charm normally with that murderous attitude.

Let's see what charm even does… What a disgusting skill, just what I expected out of that demon. Charm Bite is a physical attack that can temporarily brainwash those attacked depending on the difference in strength and willpower between the user and target.

The idea that I could have been temporarily under her control raised my already large amount of disgust towards Lamia to raise even higher. And if it actually brainwashed me by making me be 'charmed' by her as the name suggests… Then it's lucky for her that it didn't happen or else her death wouldn't have been so quick.

The fact that I could also use this skill now doesn't exactly make me happy. The only consolation is that I'm going to use it against demons rather than humans.

Harpy flew down toward me and said, "I didn't expect you to be so cold hearted."

I scoffed, "Please, I've killed demons before. Don't see how this is different."

"I'm not criticizing, that would be hypocritical of me. It's just an observation."

Jack Frost waddled over to us, seemingly to give his own two cents, "There's a hee difference between killing in the middle of a battle ho and finishing off someone when they can barely move and in a middle of an hee-impassioned speech ho."

Yeah yeah, whatever, "It doesn't really matter since I would have killed her regardless. And I have a feeling she wouldn't have answered my question even if I asked nicely. It would have been a waste of time."

Jack Frost nodded, "I may not hee-gree as a hero of justice, but you didn't take it that far ho. And you are still on the side of justice hee ho," the snowman paused as he seemed to be thinking before looking me directly in the eyes, "Just don't take it too far ho, I've heard humanity-hee is important to you humans. With no hee-wareness you may become one of the demons you kill ho."

Now it's my turn to pause as I think of his words. I think I have plenty of awareness, in fact it's one of my 108 skills! If it's anyone that doesn't have awareness, it's those who are narcissistic riajuu. Go die!

But going through my own actions and thoughts during the fight… When did I become someone who can so easily kill others? Is it because they're demons and not humans? Thinking about it for a moment it's almost certainly the case, if I had to kill a human I wouldn't be able to do it unless I'm forced to. The very thought of doing so makes me sick. Demons on the other hand… I feel no such feeling or resistance towards the thought of killing demons. They can still talk and reason just like humans but it seems like my feelings barely care for that reasoning.

Hm. Do I not consider them sentient creatures? Something equivalent to rabid animals to put down… That kind of feels right. My internal fury leftover from the Kobold fights most likely contributed towards these thoughts and my willingness to kill demons. Terrible first impressions tend to stick with people, it's easier for them to not change their opinion if their feelings regarding the first impression were strong enough. And mine certainly was.

I should be careful about these feelings, they can spiral out of control and get me into even more trouble if I go all 'kill all demons' while confronted with a horde and fight them instead of running. It could also ruin future demon negotiations.

And besides, this feels vaguely racist. Or speciesist? Also Jack Frost had saved my life. Well at least I do actually have feelings of fondness towards the little guy and don't want to actually kill him, so clearly these thoughts don't extend to all demons.

"I'll keep it in mind. I'm surprised that you said something that sounded kind of wise."

Jack Frost puffed out his chest as he said, "Hee Ho! Of course, hee-roes need to be wise in order to lead their underlings ho… And I may have hee borrowed the quote from a TV s-ho-w."

…Where did you even watch TV from?

The ground started shaking and the sound of rumbling occurred throughout the forest.

"Hey! What's going on now!?"

Harpy answered as she flew unaffected by the sudden earthquake, "Don't worry, it's only reverting back the changes Lamia made."

Trees spread farther apart which made it easier to see further out, the ground became more uneven, in the distance a large rock came out of the ground, and probably other changes I can't even see in this darkness. Wait, I think that rock is actually a cave instead. I can barely tell with no light source.

I gestured for the others to follow me towards the cave. It's fairly clear that Lamia was trying to hide it from outsiders. And the reasoning for doing so is pretty clear to me. She didn't want others to bother her when she was at that location. Whether it be her home or just a place for her to rest, it doesn't particularly matter much as both possibilities can lead to the victim being in there.

I picked up my weapons along the way, which may or may not have taken much longer then I would like to admit. I was stalled because it's dark dammit! Also the terrain changed! I couldn't even find it at first so I just went ahead and grabbed my phone because it was still shining light from its flashlight and used that to help me find it.

We reached the entrance of the cave as I had my phone's flashlight in one hand and pistol in the other, "Get ready just in case."

There may still be additional unpleasant ambush based surprises in store.

The three of us slowly shuffled our way inside the cave, the darkness enveloping us as my phone was the only source of illumination. Uneven and rocky ground making our slow pace even more necessary if we didn't want to end up tripping onto a sharp rock. The sound of water dripping downward echoed slightly being the only indication of anything inside the cave.

Light illuminated upon our path until we reached near a dead end… and upon a bloody body.

"You two, watch my back," I settled down next to the body as I holstered my gun and checked for their pulse, "Still alive."

Now that I actually look at this person's condition I start to feel nauseous at what I see. The dripping I had heard earlier was actually from this person's blood, from a bloody stump of torn and mauled flesh of his left arm. A burnt stump of his left leg that has been cauterized to stop the bleeding. There was dried matted blood on his hair to indicate a head injury. Lastly his left eye, it-it seems hollowed out, as if it was plucked out.

Looking at his face gives me the confirmation I need, this is Yamato. Although all of the blood, injuries, and sunken cheeks make it hard to be absolutely sure considering I hardly know the guy. I don't even know if Yamato is his first or last name!

"Jack Frost! Can Dia recover lost limbs?"

"No hee-ho, Dia is too weak to do that. Strong spells may be able to ho, but I haven't seen it before."

"We'll just have to settle for healing him," sorry Yamato, it seems like you're going to be crippled in multiple ways going forward, "I'll help with Life Stones for your stamina and to heal him faster."

The Life Stones and Dia's green light interwoven with itself into the wounds healing them. It wasn't perfect as he was clearly still injured but if I can't give him back his limbs then it's best if I don't have him fully recover as that would be impossible for lost limbs to heal within the amount of time he's been missing. But I can't have him dying from his injuries so some healing is inevitable. Besides, I don't think I would be able to fully heal him with how much Jack Frost has used magic tonight and my last remaining Life Stone.

Yamato stirred and groaned as he seemed to slowly gain consciousness. I'm guessing from the relief felt from partially recovering and the lessened pain jump started his mind, waking him.

Good thing that it's too dark for him to see properly, the only light I have is shining on him and not on me or my demons. I don't want him asking questions about me specifically and to spill information about me towards others. Him seeing my demon allies would likely just panic him unnecessarily considering his recent near death experience and kidnapping with Lamia, even ignoring that, their inhuman features certainly would not help him trust me.

Considering all of that, I gesture my demons to back up.

Yamato opened his eyes and started breathing faster, actually he might be hyperventilating, "Oh god, oh god, oh god, please don't, not anymore. Just let me go. Please, I'll do anything, I-," he just sobbed as he tried to get more words out.

Shit, I am not equipped to deal with panicking victims after a traumatic experience, "Oi, calm down. You're safe, no one is going to hurt you," and the fact that my inspiring words did not get the desired response justified my lack of confidence at this front. He's still crying as he barely paid attention to me anymore.

"I don't want to d-die. Please. Please, don't eat any more of me. The pain, I-I can't handle any more of it." That was the last few sentences I understood as Yamato got quieter and mumbled incoherent words. My additional attempts at calming words being completely ignored very clearly told me that I needed another approach.

He's delirious. Completely unable to recognize anyone or anything in his surroundings at his current state. I need something to ground him in the present, to not have him dwell upon what was done or what may happen to him if Lamia was still here.

One of the most common and effective ways to get someone's attention who's ignoring you is to shout their name. It also works as a separation from Lamia as that demon wouldn't know his name in the first place. Humans and pets have been practically trained to pay attention to that basically all of their life. There is the issue, however, of him trusting a random stranger who apparently knows his name…

Screw it, "YAMATO!" He jolted at his name, "It's okay, I'm here to save you." I shined my flashlight at my face to illuminate my features.

If I'm going to get him out of here he's going to see my face anyway. It lets him see a familiar face that he doesn't associate with danger or his recent traumatic experience. He knows who I am, just a harmless high schooler that's a creepy loner. Wait a second, why did I just automatically assume that's how he saw me? Curse you, school reputation!

"Hikitani-kun… Is-," Yamato hiccuped and gasped as he struggled to control his tears and speak, "Is that actually you? This isn't some sort of new trick by… by that monster? Am I losing my mind imagining someone else?"

"Well, I assure you that I have enough awareness of my own being to know that I am the one who you're referring to. After all that monster would never be able to capture my essence in any sort of trick that she would have, " I touched his shoulder to let him know that I'm actually there and not a figment of his imagination and then paused, "Also my name is Hikigaya and not Hikitani."

"Th-thank god. Hi-hikitani– I mean, Hikigaya-kun, I thought… I thought I was a goner."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure you get back alive," I lifted him up so he could use his singular arm to help himself to stand on his only leg using my shoulder as I held him up with my own arm.

Seeing him struggle to move with his only two limbs made the situation all the more real to me as the ramifications of what the Lamia did was clearly outlined to me. He's going to struggle like this all his life and constantly require the help of others or a wheelchair to move around.

If only… If only I got to him faster… His life will never be the same.

"Well, isn't this heartwarming? A show of camaraderie to help their fellow human!"

An unfamiliar voice echoed within the cave as I turned and saw a smirking man with a goatee and parted hair that partially covered their face wearing a purple suit. He was holding up an orb of fire with a single finger as it began to light up the majority of the cave.

Both arms are occupied with Yamato and my phone with its flashlight, so I dropped my phone and drew my pistol in a surprisingly smooth fashion compared to previous times. My phone tumbled upon the rocky floor as I stopped myself from cringing, I ignored the instinctual urge to check on the device as I raised my gun towards the stranger.

However, almost immediately after doing that, my gun was knocked out of my hand by what seemed like a small Zan spell thrown by the stranger's free hand in a barely perceived motion.

"You–"

"Hee-h—"

Both Harpy and Jack Frost were interrupted in both speech and movement as they were immediately hit with his free hand while they started their attack. His hand a blur as he caused the demise of my two allies, both of them dissipating into red particles.

He seriously one shot them with essentially a backhand? Are you kidding me?

The threat of this one is significantly higher than anything I encountered before.

"You… What do you want?"

"What do I want? You're asking me that after you attempted to threaten me?" The man huffed with a smirk, "Shouldn't you be more polite?"

"Well I'm sorry if I don't trust a random stranger in a demon filled area who snuck up on me in a dark cave," I glared at him, "Especially one that can disarm me and kill my demons with absolute ease."

"Come on, ease up. If I wanted you dead you would already be dead so stop worrying about it. I was just curious about the commotion around here," he scratched his goatee humming, "I've got to say though, I'm surprised you did so well despite being a complete novice."

"Excuse me if I'm not jumping for joy over your compliment," it also doesn't sound very convincing coming from someone that strong, "But I would appreciate it if you could leave me the hell alone."

That statement about killing me already if he wanted to doesn't exactly make me want to 'ease up' just because he said so. There could be plenty of reasons for why someone wouldn't want to kill another person right away, such as information gathering or stalling for something. So that comment holds no water.

And how did he even come to the conclusion that I was a novice, I could have just been someone who wasn't very talented in fighting so I seemed like a beginner. If anything that points to him watching me for longer than he lets on, he could have even possibly been watching from when I was first attacked by a demon.

The man just shrugged, "Well you wouldn't understand what a fine specimen I am anyway. I'm sure there are some ladies out there that would appreciate my company. I'll indulge your request if you answer a question of mine: What's your name?"

My name? What does he want with my name? Some sort of fraud? That just seems pedestrian for someone who can easily murder me… It's not like I have many other options. I'm disarmed, my demons are dead, he's blocking the way towards the cave entrance, and his few shows of force makes him clearly extremely strong.

I glance to my left where I'm helping Yamato stand, he's pale and clearly unsure of what's happening. I can't take risky options while Yamato is here either. It's one thing to push myself into dangerous situations, it's another thing entirely if I risked someone else's life just because I was impatient to wait for an opening or didn't want to talk things out.

Tch, this bastard. He's pissing me off, just for that I'm calling him a gigolo in my head because of his comment regarding ladies. It's not really accurate but who cares if it is or not considering he's cornering me and no one else will know my nickname for the guy anyway.

Man this is such bullshit. I'll tell this guy my name, not like there's any other option.

"Hikigaya Hachiman."

The gigolo raised his eyebrow, "Hachiman? Seriously? Named after the god known for war and archery? Written like eight banners?"

I just silently glared at him harder.

"Ha! Okay, okay. Chill with the look. Man I can't wait till I see that guy again so I can tell him someone has his namesake."

Is he actually going to tell the god that someone was named after him? Please don't. I don't want more attention, especially from that of old men who can smite in unjustified rage for the smallest slight! That might be unlikely considering the god's history and legend of being a protector of Japan but I don't want to risk it on something I can't even verify myself.

"I would prefer it if you don't do that. I like my life peaceful and free of random strangers who bother me. Now that you have my name, could you please leave me alone."

The gigolo's smile only grew larger, "Heh, don't worry I'll leave you alone for now. But I didn't say I would do nothing before leaving," the man snapped his fingers and energy flared around him.

An overwhelming gravity of force. The sinister grin that dawned upon us.

The blood in my veins felt like they froze over.

He's not human.

That power, energy, whatever it is! It's too much! He feels like a Demon!

Yamato began shaking as his single leg gave out while I tried to prevent him from falling. His mouth opened and closed as he tried to make sense of everything as he could barely let out his thoughts, "W-w-what's Happening?"

"Hachiman, I sincerely doubt you can have a peaceful life ever again. But you can try if you want, just know that I wouldn't be particularly fond of that idea." Wind began to swirl around the gigolo, "For now I just want to see how you react regarding something special I've cooked up. I think it would be interesting to see how you get out of this."

The gigolo disappeared within the swirling of the wind, the power that emanated from his very being along with his light source had gone with him as the cave was once again plunged into darkness.

I felt like I could actually stand and breathe properly for once. The blood pumping in my veins stood as direct contrast to what I felt before.

I stood there for a moment in order to let myself calm down from such overwhelming pressure.

Now that I can think clearly without his power constantly getting in my face, it really does resemble something other demons more subtly release when in combat. An energy that emits from them that I've seemingly unconsciously ignored. In the end is the gigolo just a human that has gained enough strength that he feels like a demon? Or is he actually a powerful demon in disguise? It's impossible for me to know currently, not that it particularly matters. Such implications may have further consequences down the line but it's not important right now. Human or demon, in the end both species would just end up using such power to get what they want without a care in the world.

And what was the gigolo even talking about? First off, what the hell does he mean about my desire for a peaceful life? Is he constantly going to be observing and pushing me towards trouble? Does he consider himself a prankster or a troll? If so, mess with someone else! I guarantee there are other people that could be considered significantly more interesting than me! If he's instead implying he'll attack if I try to live my normal life then he should have just tried to kill me earlier when he had the chance! The bastard.

And secondly, react to what? His strength? Any sort of reaction to that would be short lived and not very interesting to observe so that's unlikely. It's possible that something is going to happen shortly, either that or what he did was invisible to me. If that's the case, it's best to get going sooner rather than later. Don't want to get caught up in a situation cooked up by some narcissistically powerful being.

"Sorry about this Yamato."

"Huh? Wha- whoa!"

He clearly was still out of it as he was just staring ahead of where the gigolo had stood as he absentmindedly responded to me before I started moving him. He barely resisted as I raised him up.

I lifted Yamato over my shoulder in a fireman's carry to speed up our exit. But man, I barely even feel any weight while carrying him. This really does highlight how much stronger I've gotten in such a short timeframe.

I grabbed my phone and gun that were laying on the ground. Just as I holstered my gun and began using my phone as a flashlight again, the ground shook as I heard the sound of rocks grinding and rumbling.

…Is that an earthquake?

Rocks crumbled as the walls of the cave broke apart, the very ground where the gigolo once stood was obliterated as a wall of scales crushed all in its path. Water began to flood throughout the area.

It came upon the two of us like a tidal wave, water enveloped my senses as I held onto Yamato.

We were swept away by the currents as I struggled to reorient myself.

The unexpected nature of the crash of water didn't allow for me to have much air, I imagine it would the same case for Yamato. That thought and the burning feeling that began to build up within my chest sparked an extra powerful sense of panic and anxiety for my current situation.

The darkness of the night didn't allow me to see which way was the surface and where the ground was. No way to know the correct direction to swim.

In a stroke of luck, the currents somehow flung me up towards the surface as my body broke the surface tension of the water. My legs struggled to keep me and Yamato afloat while the both of us began gasping and wheezing while greedily breathing in gulps of air.

Holding an additional person up out of the water while trying to float steady in constantly moving waves is not easy.

A sudden storm and downpour of water began as heavy rain dropped upon my head. We were outside of the cave, washed out by the waves. The water covered some trees and others were high enough to not fully be enveloped.

I felt more than anything, a presence to my right.

So I turned my head towards that direction despite the alarm bells that began to ring.

I was met with red eyes. Giant red eyes. Eyes that dwarfed the size of a person.

Ah, it was no stroke of luck that I didn't drown. It was because this creature didn't allow me to drown until it gets what it wants.

A giant serpentine-like body with scales like armor. Only a portion of its body showing from above the water.

As it stared down at me, I could feel the danger that radiates from it. A danger that my inner being, my very soul cannot possibly survive.

I can feel the contempt and resentment that pours out of it's very being towards me. Perhaps not even really towards myself but rather everyone but itself. In a way, it mirrors a sense of dissatisfaction towards itself.

For what reason would a seemingly invincible monster like that feel like that towards humans like me?

Its strength is already evident, and I would imagine few would ever be able to match it.

Through contempt and resentment, one may breed hatred for others. However, such a conclusion does not seem right.

The enormous creature came for the show of power created by the gigolo, it flooded the area to create a home field advantage and so that none may escape. Its very first attack was where the gigolo was standing.

I see now, it hates others for what it does not have. It's jealousy towards the strength of others and resentment for what others have that it does not currently have.

The feeling that its presence gives off makes more sense now.

This is the demon that represents one of the seven deadly sins.

The sin of Envy.

Based on its appearance, all the water surrounding me, and the media I've consumed, I'm guessing this is the Leviathan.

Now I wonder, what could a creature like this be envious of me for? The fact that I can walk on land? My above average looks? It is a rather ugly looking fish thing. If I were to compare the Leviathan's eyes to my dead fish eyes I would say my eyes come up on top! So yes! That is something to be envious about you oversized eel!

Ha, I think I'm going to die…

A/N

Word Count: 6674

Date Posted: April 6, 2024

It's been a while, 2 years now. I don't really have a reason for not updating till now. You could call it a lack of motivation but that isn't really right, considering that I arguably always lack motivation to do anything. That also includes doing things like my hobbies and anything that isn't passive. Eh, whatever.

Well there actually was something that gave me actual motivation to write some more: I wanted to write about guns and weapons more. Yeah that sounds weird but I've always had a fascination and love for weapons (especially the older ones), and it's only been growing stronger the older I get. I've recently finally bought a firearm and my god, the dopamine that hits me when I hold onto it, rack the slide, and load/unload the magazine. I typically don't feel very strongly towards anything but this is a rare exception.

I got a 1911, my favorite gun. Now that I own one, I already want to buy more to fulfill a collection of different 1911's, such as Custom built, 2011's, commander sized, the Stealth Arms Platypus for its glock mags, etc. But I won't because that costs way too much money.

Well, expect an info dump regarding weapons and a merchant in a future chapter. That would also include swords, I love me a polish saber. Well saying that, Hachiman is likely still going to use a Katana.

And despite my impassioned speech regarding the 1911, Hachiman is not currently using one. I originally envisioned him using a Beretta M9 or 92FS, but I felt like Hachiman should have mentioned the exposed barrel since it would seem unusual and make for less gun to grab in order to rack the slide. Since I forgot to add that kind of detail when he first used the gun, I changed the firearm to be a HK USP.

Now onto comments regarding the actual chapter, I originally was going to have this end similarly to the previous victim rescue but I had an epiphany when I had nothing to do and was just brainstorming ideas, that would be freaking predictable and boring! So I added the gigolo and the Leviathan. Although I felt that I may have added too much at once, but I have the justification that it makes it more exciting so it's probably fine.

The gigolo is an actual SMT character, he was a guy that helped the main cast of Devil Survivor and never said his name so the game just titled him as gigolo. If you don't care about potential spoilers, look him up.

I also have a more solid idea of how some parts of the later story are gonna go now. That came to the seeming importance towards the seven deadly sins. Also, I know I used him but why is the Leviathan the demon that embodies Envy? From what I researched, it really seems the weakest in terms of association compared to other demons and their deadly sins. I felt like I could barely cobble together some sort of reasoning but I really had to stretch it. I could have used another demon from a different interpretation of the deadly sins but I really wanted to have Hachiman be in a fight against the Leviathan with how different of an opponent it would be, as well as potential scenarios I could involve a creature like that.

I feel like the Lamia fight was short for something like a boss fight but I'm also satisfied with how I wrote the fight in the first place so I'm keeping it like this.

There was a part of this chapter I was the most unsure about, specifically the introspection Hachiman had regarding killing demons and his callousness. The demons questioning Hachiman and his own personal thoughts about the subject felt like it may have happened too soon for something seemingly so mild but I wanted to address it. This partially came from how I felt like I rushed how Hachiman was already ready to kill demons, so I wanted to point it out since it's unusual for someone who's never known combat to be so willing. I'm probably going to develop that plot point some more in the future.

I would like to talk about Persona 3 Reload and SMT V Vengeance but this A/N is already too long. Part of the reason for that is because I don't have anyone to talk about guns with. My family either doesn't like guns or actively dislikes them so I tend to not want to talk to them about it, I just wanted to talk about something I love somewhere.

I'm not sure about update schedule but I will likely update more.