Devil. That was the term to call the shadowy beings that appeared from the crack when the first countdown appeared in Fantasia.
Usually, the name was accompanied by fear and destruction. However, these Devils were different from those in the book. These ones symbolized power.
Those shadows were the source of power. They would give someone a power hidden in their core to someone who got them.
The powers depended on the shadows and the number of their horns. A shadow with a horn only had one ability, while a shadow with 3 horns had 3 different abilities.
Assimilating with their core also gave someone a longer lifespan, making them age slower after reaching a certain level of power. He was 27 years old when he reached Sixth Stage and stopped aging.
People in Fantasia sought the remaining Devils that went into hiding after a frenzied hunt. They did that after realizing that those Devils gave them the power to clear the next trials and increase their survival capability.
That was why Atsuku didn't even question Gaia's words and immediately called Yamada and Rio to meet him when he heard about the first countdown being in an hour. He wanted to get the best Devil that suited him best to deal with the future situation before they hid.
"The town's citizens have been reduced to panic!" Rio commented as she ran beside Yamada, following Atsuku's lead to find the best Devil. They ran through the city and tried to reach the biggest crack that was located around 1 KM away from their previous location.
The shadows had spread all over the world, but there should be similar Devils within every 10 KM radius. That was how it worked. Once the similar Devil was taken inside one's body, then the other replicas would disappear, so no one would get a similar Devil and power source.
And there were only limited numbers of them, around a million or two. As for the exact numbers, Atsuku wasn't sure himself.
"Of course, they will! Look at the sky. It's cracking! There is a big hole with shadow monsters pouring out!" Yamada retorted, but there was a big smile on his face.
"We almost arrived." Atsuku raised his voice, getting the attention of the two in the middle of the chaos.
Some people tried to run away from the small Devil with one horn that looked like an imp, only to fall and get laughed at by the shadow.
Atsuku didn't really care about that kind of Devil. They only had one ability that got stronger slowly as the user climbed through the stage.
His target was a Devil that he assimilated with back in Fantasia. It suited him best, and he was already used to its power.
While for his friends, he already had some idea about which Devil would suit them. Yamada wanted to be robust and get his physical strength enhanced, and Rio wanted to shoot Magic related stuff.
'It should be those Devils. The negative effect of assimilating with the Devil chosen for Rio would be troublesome, but we can fix it slowly over time.' Atsuku thought as he stopped on his track.
"Here it is." He said as he looked at the tall tower in front of him.
The biggest crack in the sky around Minato Ward was concentrated around Tokyo Tower. A lot of shadows latched themselves to the tower. A Devil that looked like a horse with three horns was running in the sky.
The one with a well-endowed body with seven horns was sitting on the fence of the entrance to the Tokyo Tower. But, there was no sight of other humans except for them. They had already run away from the center of the crack.
'This is good.' Atsuku thought. 'I don't need to worry about getting our prey stolen by other bastards.'
"There are a lot of them. They won't bite, right?" Yamada laughed jokingly as he looked around the surrounding area.
"Huh? They are biting?" Taking Yamada's word seriously, Rio hid from the Devils behind Atsuku's back. "I don't want my body to have a scar yet. At least not until my first night."
"Don't worry. They will not attack you. They only play pranks, but…" Atsuku said, explaining what he knew about Devils before his words trailed away.
His lips curled up into a wry smile, thinking about why he wrote the Devils to have such a nasty personality. Some of them were harmless, but a minority of them had caused a lot of trouble for him back then.
"Yeah. Their prank is a bit…" Even Yamada's cheek was cramped. He knew what they did from reading Atsuku's new novel.
"What? Don't leave me hanging like this! I haven't read Atsuku's novel yet because I need to prepare myself! You guys know about that!" Rio raised her voice. It rang through the area, rousing the attention of the Devil that sat on the fence.
"Ah…" Atsuku let out a voice. "You managed to get the attention of one Devil. Congratulations, Rio." He said, smiling at Rio.
"Huh?" Rio was confused.
Yamada approached Rio and patted her on the shoulder, "Well… Do your best." He smiled reassuringly and walked away. That didn't help to ease Rio's confusion.
"Hah?! What are you talking about, shitty brother?! Explain it to me!"
Ignoring Rio's outburst, Yamada only laughed and went to Atsuku's side.
The girl was still confused. She pouted her cheek cutely while looking back and forth between the Devil, which was now smiling, and Atsuku. She wanted to find an answer to her confusion.
"That's for Rio, no? The female Devil, the only one that had a human-like appearance." Yamada asked, gesturing at the Devil.
"Yeah. Now, Rio, let me explain." Atsuku said as he looked at Rio.
As expected of Rio, when Atsuku was the one who spoke to her, she immediately beamed into a smile and became energetic again.
"Sure! I am still confused, but I will do my best!"
"Good." He nodded.
"That shadow is called Devil. It will be the source of your power, and they have different abilities depending on their type. This one here…"
He pointed at the shadow with a well-endowed body.
"...Is a succubus called Asmodeus. This Devil is the best among those with Magical abilities, as you requested. You have managed to gain its attention, so you now approach her and make a contract with her. Do you understand?"
"I see! So we make a contract with the Devil to get power?"
Because Atsuku didn't want to explain it in detail, he nodded and said, "Something like that. Just put your hand on the middle middle of its head, right in front of the third horn."
There were some negative effects, and calling it a contract wasn't entirely correct. Because the Devil would be assimilated with the host, giving them their power entirely instead of a portion of it.
Of course, the host still needed to train themselves to harness and use their power, so some of it would be locked for a while.
"Watch me. I will do my best!"
Saying so, Rio approached the Devil with a steady step. She gulped in nervousness, but she didn't appear to be afraid.
"Lucky her, that Devil is the easiest one, but also the trickiest one. I don't know the exact requirement to get Asmodeus' attention, but… it must be that, no?" Yamada spoke as he chuckled.
His understanding of his sister allowed him to guess the requirement needed to get Asmodeus' attention, even when he didn't know anything about it.
"Yeah. It is strong lust and love." Atsuku answered as if it was not his problem. He also knew that Rio was lusting after him every now and then. He knew best the train of thoughts of a girl like Rio.
"Hahaha, well. If it's you, then I don't mind being your brother-in-law." Yamada laughed, patting Atsuku's shoulder. He then turned to Rio and said, "She has arrived in front of the Devil."
As Yamada had said, Rio stood in front of the fence where the Devil sat.
The Devil looked at Rio curiously for a while before it jumped down, flapping its bat wings or something that looked like that. Its body was entirely made from a shadow, so even its wing had no distinctive shape.
It circled around Rio a few times with its hands behind its back, looking at her as if she was an object and sniffing her. Finally, it stopped in front of Rio and leaned its head closer.
"Rio, now!" Atsuku shouted, and Rio nodded with resolution.
She extended her hand toward the Devil's head. When her hand touched the shadow, the shadow immediately moved around and seeped into Rio's body like a cloud of smoke. Before long, the shadow entered her body entirely.
"Eh? W-What happened?!" Rio shouted, confused. She looked at Atsuku with widened eyes. "Atsuku! What happened?"
She was in a panic, but Atsuku only smiled softly.
"Congratulations, you have successfully assimilated with a Devil."
"Congratulations, Rio!" Yamada clapped his hands on the side, congratulating his sister.
"It's that easy?!" Rio replied rather hysterically, covering her mouth with her hand as she approached the two boys.
"Yes. That's it." Atsuku nodded.
To be honest, it was only this easy because of Rio's obsession with Atsuku, but he kept it a secret from the girl.
'I won't dig my hole this fast.'
"The power will only appear after your body is used to it. It will take a while for you, so let's continue and find Yamada's Devil. We will leave mine for the last." He continued.
"Ah, finally?! What kind of Devil will suit me best?" Yamada asked.
Grinning, Atsuku looked at the blonde boy, "That giant mantis has high survival ability and will give you a sturdy body with a regeneration ability, just as you requested before."
"Are you crazy?! You want me to get that Devil?"
Knowing the Devil that Atsuku tried to get, Yamada had cold sweat dripped on his back. He looked at Atsuku as if he was a crazy person.
"I am indeed crazy. That's necessary to survive." Atsuku answered calmly. "Well, let's not waste any time. Yamada, I hope you're ready. Your Devil is also a bit troublesome."
"Ooh? What Devil is it? Does this one have a name?" Rio asked excitedly.
"Yes." Atsuku nodded. "I think Abaddon will suit Yamada well." He smirked, daring his friend to try.
Seeing Atsuku's smirk, Yamada got rather fired up. "As expected!" He shouted, "But I guess that's the only choice for me if I want to survive for a long time."
His body trembled, both in fear and excitement. He knew about Abaddon. It was a Devil that was described in Atsuku's first novel. He knew its danger and the requirement to get its attention.
"Don't die, Yamada," Atsuku said.
"Yeah. I am the one who asked you to choose a Devil with a defensive ability, so I am prepared for this much."