Zeno stood silently on the roof as he observed the devil woman in a black cloak with a hood covering her head, whom he found sitting on the roof of random people's houses while hugging both of her knees, looking all depressed by herself.
Usually he will not miss the chance to take her out quickly, but fortunately for her, Zeno is already calmed down after brutalizing his previous 19 victims. Now he is just curious about what is wrong with the woman in front of him.
"Hah~ I want to go back..."
She mumbles listlessly as she looks up at the moonless sky. She ended up frowning with displeasure shortly after, as she felt the dark sky represented her life perfectly. She sighed and decided to continue searching for a clue to Katerea's whereabouts. Then the devil woman stood up as she adjusted her cloak to cover her body properly.
"Ah..."
She let out a surprise sound as suddenly a strong gush of the wind blew the hood off her head and the cloak to flutter in the wind, revealing a beautiful woman with pale skin, short dark purple hair, haunting red eyes, plump lips applied with purple lipstick, pointy ears like an elf, and silver star-shaped earrings.
Seeing the devil woman's beauty, Zeno immediately became even more interested in her and felt lucky that he was not straight-up devouring her like he did to her comrades. She is worthy of cloning, he thought.
"Tch..."
The woman clicked her tongue, mildly annoyed, as she turned around while reaching back to pull her hood back on before freezing stiffly with her red eyes bulging in shock. In front of her stood a very tall and muscular man in a black-purplish bodysuit that accentuated his defined muscles. He was also wearing a metallic golden helmet with two horns, golden pauldrons, golden bracers, and a red cloak. He is currently standing with his arms crossed on his chest, staring at her with his glowing white eyes behind his helmet.
Zeno, on the other hand, was also a little surprised by the devil woman's skimpy attire that she was wearing under the cloak. She was dressed in a low-cut black leotard that accentuated her generous cleavage and curves. She was also wearing a pair of black fingerless gloves as well as thigh-high boots.
As expected of DXD, Zeno thought with a smirk beneath his suit as he admired the woman's alluring charm. Zeno then decided to play with her for a bit, and then he would decide what to do with her later after he cloned her.
"Well, well, welcome to Kuoh Town. Do you have a visa, Visitor-san?"
Zeno asked the devil woman playfully with his deep and distorted voice, which startled the woman and caused her to recover from her shock instantly. She immediately started to back away slowly, with a serious expression, as she prepared herself for battle. She can't believe that someone has been standing behind her all this time, and she has no clue about who this man is or how strong he is either.
Seeing her slowly back away, Zeno couldn't help but smirk underneath his suit as he uncrossed his arms. He expected her to demand who he was or just outright attack, but it seems she was quite smart.
"Look like you don't...? Oh, that's bad... That's pretty bad, Visitor-san."
He said it in an even deeper voice as he took a step forward in her direction while activating his touki. The black-purplish aura immediately exploded outward from his body like a huge pillar as the space around him became distorted. He even concentrated his malicious intent on her as an act of intimidation.
The devil woman froze again as she felt an extreme threat and heavy pressure from the man in front of her. The power difference is so obvious that she was cursing her luck in her mind for meeting a foe that was so out of her league suddenly. She started to sweat and tremble from fear as she doubted that she would manage to escape from him with her mid-class devil strength.
"P-Please wait, sir, I am... I... I...!"
She stammered as she tried to find the word to save herself as Zeno came closer and closer to her with every passing second while she stepped back until she reached the edge of the roof and could not step back any more.
Then Zeno finally arrived in front of her, with barely any distance between them. She feels like a child as she looks up at him, who towers over her. She feels a mix of apprehension and discomfort about him cornering her on the edge of the rooftop and how close they are to one another. She fears that her fate is now in his hands.
"Do you want to get a visa, Visitor-san?"
Zeno asked her gently, which did not help reassure her much with his deep and distorted voice as he placed his right hand on her trembling shoulder while looking down on her with his strange white eyes. The devil woman felt his big hand on her shoulder and his gaze on her with an apprehensive expression before she looked down in resignation.
"Y-Yes...?"
The devil woman can only answered him with a bit of confusion and uncertainty in her voice. She wonders what this visa thing he speaks of is.
"That's good."
Zeno nodded his head, seemingly satisfied with her answer and how obedient she was. It looks like he will not have to use violence this time. He then deactivated his Touki as his aura faded away and he also stopped intimidating her with his intent, which reduced the pressure on her a lot. The devil woman breathed a sigh of relief as the heavy pressure on her was mostly gone, and only the psychological pressure of facing a strong being remained.
"Firstly, what is your name?"
Zeno asked for her name as he squeezed her shoulder a little, which made her a bit uncomfortable. The devil woman swallowed her saliva before answering him obediently; she could only compile since, if not, she was afraid he would suddenly do something not very nice to her.
"My name is Ruth... I have no family name."
"I see, I see..."
Zeno nodded, pleased with how cooperative she was. This woman was smart enough to know that her life is more precious than pride, he thought before continuing to ask her another question.
"And why were you so depressed when you were sitting here earlier?"
The devil woman, or Ruth, now feels puzzled by his unexpected question, but she still answers him meekly.
"I am not really satisfied with my life... I had been a servant of House Asmodeus since I was born, and I had been treated no differently than a slave, so..."
"I see, I see, no wonder you became so depressed..."
Zeno nodded his head, understanding that most people wouldn't want to be slaves after all. Suddenly, he had an idea—maybe he could recruit her to his faction since she is so discontent with her life as a slave of Asmodeus House.
"Say... do you want to become my subordinate?"
"Eh...?"
Zeno asked her as he grabbed both of her shoulders with his hands while Ruth looked up to him with a surprise expression. Did he try to recruit her? But why? She was so bewildered by the man in front of her.
"Why?"
She asked him with curiosity; she was not strong by the supernatural world standard, and she also did not have any special bloodlines or anything.
"Is it obvious? That is because you are pretty! Is it enough?"
"Are you stupid...?"
Ruth now has a sudden urge to hit him.
÷×÷×÷
The next morning, inside the living room of Zeno's apartment, Zeno and Ruth, who dressed in a white blouse, black mini skirt, and black stockings with garter belts that Zeno prepared for her, were currently standing in the center of the room, with all of the girls watching them curiously.
"This is Ruth, a new member of our faction that I recruited last night."
"Nice to meet you. My name is Ruth..."
Zeno introduces her to the other girls as she bows her head respectfully. Ruth feels a bit nervous standing among the people she doesn't know as she introduces herself, but she also feels a bit novel about this since she has never experienced something like this before.
Last night, after being half forced and half coaxed, Ruth finally decided to join Zeno's faction. Of course, Zeno will not just let her in like an idiot. He already used Godblood to scan her body for any hidden gimmicks and remove them. What Godblood discovered is that she has two spells put on her body that will tell her location to her superior and the kill switch that will explode her head.
Fortunately, he has Godblood to remove them, as the two spells were rigged to activate the kill switch the moment someone was tinkering with them. Ruth was very relieved when Zeno got rid of them for her.
Then Zeno proceeded to crush her hope and dream as he installed Godblood in her bloodstream for insurance. Despite giving him a pitiful look, Ruth didn't manage to make him reconsider, and her brief freedom was ruthlessly crushed with another collar. Zeno felt a bit sorry for her as she started emitting a depressed aura and ended up promising her that he would remove it after a year, which reassured her quite a bit.
After that, he brought the still-dejected Ruth back to his underground base for her to take a rest before he would bring her to introduce herself to the other girls in the morning.
Ruth was a bit surprised when Zeno finally came to get her in the morning without wearing his suit that he wore last night and introduced himself as a mysterious mercenary who was currently hired to guard Kuoh Town. He was also the one who fought with Lady Leviathan at the peace conference. She was dumbfounded when he revealed to her that Katerea Leviathan was already dead by his hand. No wonder that no one managed to find her, she thought.
Ruth still feels surreal about everything, as she never thought that one day she would escape from being a servant to the Asmodeus House but end up as another servant again. She glanced at the man who granted her freedom, only to immediately take it away after that with complicated feelings.
Zeno, who was dressed in a black tank top and black jeans, felt her gaze and turned to look at her with a smile before he patted her back in a reassuring manner while mouthing the word "good job" to her.
Ruth gave him a deadpan look before she ignored him and glanced around as she observed the other girls in the living room. There's only women, Ruth noted while ruthlessly labeling Zeno as a womanizer in her mind.
"Hello~! I'm Charmie~!"
Charmie, who is dressed in a goth-style maid uniform, is the first to greet Ruth from the couch she was sitting on while waving her hand. Ruth nodded her head at the diminutive girl in acknowledgement.
"Hello, nice to meet you; my name is Asia Argento."
Asia, who is dressed in a creamy sweater and long white skirt, greets Ruth shyly from beside Charmie as she bows her head a little. Ruth nodded her head in Asia's direction before she noticed Asia's pregnant belly and immediately looked at Zeno, who was walking to the kitchen to get some juice, with an amazed expression. He really is a womanizer, she thought.
Now she was a bit worried that Zeno would push her down and impregnate her in the near future. If he really wants to force himself on her, she doesn't think she can refuse him. Her thoughts started to wander as she imagined the lewd scenarios in the dubious novels that she had read before that might actually happen to her.
"Hi, my name is Ezrah, and this girl next to me is Zestia. Nice to meet you, Ruth-san."
When Ruth was subconsciously imaging Zeno having his way with her body with a small blush on her cheeks, Ezrah, who was dressed in a casual white t-shirt and hot pants, introduced herself with a smile, which caused Ruth to awaken from her fantasies with an embarrassed blush, and then Ezrah introduced Zestia, who was dressed in a white tank top over a black sport bra and blue yoga pants, to her.
"Hello."
Zestia just nodded her head, greeting the new member. The two of them, Ezrah and Zestia, are sitting on the couch next to the one where Charmie and Asia were sitting.
"Hey there, newbie, I'm Noa."
Noa, who is sitting on the backrest of the couch where Asia and Charmie are sitting as she dresses in a traditional black and white maid uniform, greets Ruth with a smirk. She wonders how long the new member will last before she gets pushed down by Zeno.
"And I am Leila. Nice to meet you, Ruth-san."
Leila, who was dressed in the same traditional maid uniform as Noa, walked closer to Ruth with a small smile on her red lips and gentle eyes before she reached out her hand for a handshake.
"Ah... yes, likewise."
Ruth and Leila shook hands as Leila looked at her up and down. The new girl was quite pretty and had a good figure; she will be a formidable rival. Leila thought with annoyance.
Ruth feels a bit weirded out by Leila's gaze as they separate their hands. Then Ruth turned to the last one, Klara, who was dressed in the usual white smock blouse and pinstripe mini skirt with pantyhose as she sat on the armchair next to the couch that Ezrah and Zestia occupied.
"Hello, my name is Klara, and I look forward to working with you."
Klara said with a smile as she looked at Ruth with HMT in her hands.
"Y-Yes, likewise..."
Ruth replied, a bit nervous, as to how similar Klara and Katerea are. Zeno already told her about the clone thing, so she will not freak out when meeting Klara, but she can't help but be nervous around her since Katerea's temper is no better than Creuserey's and she has suffered some abuse from her before.
Ruth then spent time getting to know Zeno's girls as they talked about each other, and she has to admit that Klara is a far more pleasant person than Katerea ever was.
At the entrance of the living room, Zeno watched them with a smile as he drank orange juice from a bottle. He was glad that no one started hazing the new girl right off the bat.