'Now, little missy, may I ask who you are?'
On the streets, a man is stopped by Asahi. The man asks her with a carefree attitude.
'Me? Only an exorcist. It's more important who you are, Ria.'
The man's expression changed and his yellow eyes seemed to glow. The name, "Ria," seemed to have infuriated him. A black mark appeared on the face of his hand; it looked like fire around a dagger. The sign of a black exorcist–a stigma.
'A dagger, huh? So, you are him. Ria Hirabayashi, the one called Black Dagger. I see that the rumours about you becoming a black exorcist is true.'
'Ria? Don't call me that. My name is Greed now.'
Ria, the one who called himself Greed, smiled creepily at Asahi. They were currently within a public park, though, no one was around. Asahi chuckled slightly. She found something funny, however, her opponent, Greed, didn't find it so.
'What?'
Greed said, annoyed.
'Sorry, it's just that you think you're a Demon Lord.'
'That's because I am.'
Asahi's tone and facial expression became earnest.
'You're not. Someone like you could never be Greed, one of the Seven Deadly Sins.'
Greed raised his hand and the emblem on his hand expanded slightly.
'Let me show you. I'll skewer you, bitch.'
The girl stuck her hand out. Her eyes turned into the Eyes of Providence and the ring on her hand transformed into two revolvers. Their designs were similar to Schwerer Gustav. The revolvers were two times bigger compared to a normal revolver. They had six slots each.
The man's whole body started glowing, despite this, the mana he was channelling had a dark feeling to it. A black blade submerged from the surface of his hand. It was jagged as if it had been hit and chipped by a rock.
At this point, it was a stand-off. The first one who made the move would get the first hit in. The one at was Asahi. She had ranged weapons, but there wasn't any need to be hasty. Asahi was a novice at combat compared to Greed.
Asahi figured that Greed wouldn't make the first move, so she did. Aiming at Greed, she fired at him with one of her revolvers. Compact wind and holy magic bullets flew out–Greed countered them with his blade. There was black smoke coming off of the black blade.
«Shadow magic...»
While Holy magic may have an advantage against unholy beings, it doesn't apply in this fight. He has the advantage of Shadow magic over Holy magic. This time, the man charged headfirst. Asahi leapt backwards and fired off all of her shots, however, they were all parried by Greed.
She was wide open. She had exhausted her bullets and now she has to wait mere seconds for the guns to cool down. Though seconds is enough to get her severely injured or killed here. He didn't close in on Asahi, instead, he put his other hand out and tightly grasped the air.
Asahi looked around, feeling on edge. She didn't know what was to come. Albeit it seemed like he did nothing, Asahi could sense mana floating around in the air. Much more dense than the usual mana in the atmosphere. It was also because of the mana in the atmosphere that she couldn't pinpoint the location of whatever attack he would be launching.
Instinctively, she moved backwards. The front of her clothes was sliced near the abdomen.
'Invisible blades? They're made from Wind magic, aren't they?'
The girl appealed to her enemy. Greed didn't answer, he simply smiled. Abruptly, she felt slightly heavier than before.
«Wait, no! They're not made of wind, they're–»
Blood seeped from her head. Asahi had moved slightly downwards beforehand. There was a long and straight cut along the right side of her forehead. If she hadn't moved down, Asahi would be dead.
'You dodged that? Seemed like I underestimated you.'
'Same, I never would've expected you to use Gravity magic. Although, it's still all the same. You're not Greed of the Seven Deadly Sins.'
Greed dashed forward, while Asahi's guard was down, instead of slicing at her, he gave a strong blow to her gut. Saliva exploded out of her mouth, and she rolled across the park. Greed put his hand on the back of his neck and he massaged it.
'Man. It's times like these that I'm happy that I put up a barrier so that we're invisible to normal humans. I couldn't bear anyone to see me beating a girl like this.'
He slowly walked toward the body of Asahi, while loosening his tie slightly.
'You won't be able to move for a minute or so. I imbued that strike with some of my desire.'
'D–desire?'
Looking down on Asahi, his face looked the most normal ever since he first met with Asahi. It was a natural expression of surprise mixed with a hint of disappointment. Sighing, Greed figured he would explain it to her.
'Seems like the Divine Cathedral doesn't know, but I guess I can say it. It won't interfere with our plans. Black exorcists are all Demon Summoners who have fused with their demons, and that brings forth their innate abilities. The abilities are similar to Demon Hereditary. My Gravity magic is from my hereditary abilities.'
'Monster.'
Without hesitation, Greed kicked her face.
'Don't–get–us–wrong. We're–doing–this–for–the–future–of–the–world. The–Divine–Cathedral–are–the–ones–keeping–secrets.'
Between each pause, he would kick Asahi. Her face was bloody and dirty. She gained a black eye and lost a tooth. Greed aimed his black blade at the head of Asahi. She didn't look up anymore.
'Any last words? If so, say them now.'
Asahi coughed and breathed in. She did this three times before speaking. Once he heard her voice, his sneer appeared and his flaxen eyes turned upwards in a cruel way.
'The day is free. The night is locked.'
Her voice sounded slightly muffled. Rain slowly started to fall, and cover the land.
'The blue sky and the dark night. The clouds and the stars. All are within the world.'
'What are you saying? Some sort of poem or hymn?'
'I desire to be free. To be set free. Activate my Territory, Freedom's Day.'
Suddenly, Greed stumbled over himself and fell onto the ground. The landscape changed and it wasn't normal or urban. It was a grass plain. The grass was emerald and shining while the sky was a pure blue, with no clouds at all.
Opening his eyes, he noticed that he was somewhere completely different. It was unlike anything he had seen before. Standing up, Greed took a look at Asahi. She was smiling. Despite being bloody and badly beaten, she was still smiling.
'You... You bitch.'
Greed muttered under his breath. Spreading her arms out, Asahi breathed in the air and looked up at the clear cerulean sky.
'How do you like my Territory? Nice, isn't it?'
The blade that was submerged with Greed's hand retracted. He messed with his hands and even swung his arms out in an attempt to get the blade out. Nothing happened.
'What?! Why can't I use my hereditary ability?!'
She looked back at him.
«Good. Seemed like that blade was also a part of his desired ability. That'll make it easier.»
'Because the condition for this Territory being activated is that it "denies the power of desires." You get your power from your desire, right? Then it won't work here. Not when you have fused with your demon.'
This Territory is usually used to deal with rampant Demon Summoners, but, luckily, Asahi can use it against black exorcists, knowing it will work against them.
Territories are bestowed by God. They are given to the exorcist in hymn form, and once the exorcist has memorized it, they can perform the hymn, but, with the right amount of mana, of course. Territories are made from the imagination of the individual, once it has materialized in a certain form, it can never change. Creating a Territory takes up a lot of mana, that's why there are hymns. Hymns lessen the total intake of mana.
'I'll get you. For sure...'
Greed said, gritting his teeth. The smile of Asahi became larger.
'I'd like to see you try. You can't defeat me, not as long as I'm in Freedom's Day, my Territory.'
He held out his hand at Asahi and screamed "fire!" Nothing happened. What Greed was attempting to do was fire Shadow magic at her, however, his Shadow magic was also a gift from his hereditary abilities.
At this point, he was done. The fight was over.
'You can't even fire Shadow magic. Seems like you're not using Holy magic either. Meaning that you exchanged everything for your hereditary abilities.'
'N-no!'
The look on Asahi's face changed. Greed, the one who was acting high and mighty a little while ago, was now in fear. He was kneeling, with his head in his hands and tears dripped from his eyes. He looked like a completely different person.
'You don't have to do this! Please!'
Asahi wanted to say something, but she still couldn't understand the situation. Greed's eyes then converged onto Asahi. He looked like a worm as he wriggled his way toward her. Grabbing her trousers, he smiled pathetically at her.
'S-s-s-s-save me! Please!'
She simply stared at him with a nonchalant look. Soon enough, she replied.
'From who?'
'From Anarchy, of course! He's a devil! He won't let me go! Please! Just pl–'
[You shall die a horrible death, Ria Hiyabayashi. You are failed as an ephemeral Greed.]
A deep voice spoke. Asahi felt chills go down her spine. It was like she was facing death. She only heard the voice but she was shaking in fear of death. The body of Greed let out a small yelp before it decomposed in front of the eyes of Asahi. Along with Greed, vanished the Territory.
Asahi was back in the park. She was frozen in fear.
«It all happened too fast. That was... the Demon Lord of Destruction, Anarchy. Just hearing his face chilled me to the bone. He really is a monster.»
That day, Asahi learnt of black exorcists and how it was like to fear Anarchy. To her, she inferred that Anarchy was creating false Seven Deadly Sins. Though, it's only from her inference.