At the black castle of the Old Satan faction, which is now filled with many Geborgs moving around as they search for any devil that might be hiding somewhere or any unique object that might interest their master, Zeno, who is currently chilling at the side of his God-Raider as he sits on the warbike's seat while he listens to the reports of various five-man teams' leaders.
"This is GU-13 of team 46; there is no sign of life inside the keep and the surroundings area."
"This is GU-89 of Team 66; we discovered a hidden path leading to an underground cave system, requesting more personal for the exploration."
"This is GU-55 of Team 11; we just discovered a hidden treasure room under the floor inside the storehouse near the back of the keep."
Various reports still keep coming as Zeno listened to the Geborgs' reports through the Comlink; he couldn't help but nod his head with satisfaction as he is very pleased with their overall performance in this raid.
The Geborgs have done everything that Zeno expected them to do without any problems, and their efficiency in combat situations is also very high against live targets as the Geborgs rarely make any unnecessary movement or meaningless action when engaging the enemy and mostly just go for critical strikes every time they find the opportunity to do so.
The devils of the Old Satan faction are learning firsthand how terrifying the Geborg is in combat, as the devils are very helpless when they can't rely on their magic against the Geborgs, and the physical means of attack are only going to make things worse for themselves as that actually empowers the Geborgs to become even stronger instead.
The devils of the Old Satan faction can only despair and cry about how unfair and obscene their enemy abilities are before being killed by the said enemy indifferently a second later.
"Ahhhhh!! I don't want to dieeee-!"
Suddenly, a desperate scream of a man draws Zeno and the Geborgs attention up to the sky as they see one devil who was recklessly trying to escape by flying away in the sky.
"Nooo-?!"
And not even five seconds later, he was shot down by so many white beams that only some small pieces of him were left as they dropped to the ground from the sky.
"Dumbass..."
Zeno shook his head and continued to listen to the Geborgs report like nothing had happened. This event has been repeated quite a few times in the past ten minutes, as the survivor devils were discovered by the Geborgs and then mercilessly executed by them.
"Should we spare those who surrender...?"
Himiko, back in the Intelligence Department room, said uncomfortably through the comlink as she saw the disturbing scenes of the Geborgs executing any devils that they found ruthlessly, even the one that was surrendering or begging for his life.
"Well, Himiko-chan, the thing is, almost all of these devils in the Old Satan faction can be considered the worst criminals by human world standards, so you don't have to feel sorry for them. It's like you have sympathy for rapists or pedophiles, basically."
Hearing the uncomfortable voice of Himiko, Zeno just chuckled before he informed her as to why he was so merciless towards them since before the raid, he was already learning anything about the devils associated with the Old Satan faction, and what he had learned made him lose the little compassion he had for them.
By the way, Zeno also knew that Ruth is not innocent either, as she killed quite a few innocent people who didn't deserve to die in her time serving under Asmodeus House; she doesn't enjoy doing it, of course, but she also does not have any remorse killing those people, as to her they were just a stranger.
Zeno doesn't really mind that Ruth was a ruthless killer either, because he knew that the place she grew up in was not a good place for a kind-hearted individual to survive, and that is probably what she has been taught since she was a child to be one of the many tools for their faction's leaders, so she really didn't kill people because she wanted to
"Ooh~ I guess that's okay then..."
After hearing his reason, Himiko immediately lost sympathy for the Old Satan faction's devils and thought that it's for the good of the world that they were gone.
Five minutes later, Noa and two Geborgs, who were following her out from the keep while carrying along the unconscious body of Creuserey by both of his arms, were walking towards Zeno at a quick pace as Zeno turned his head to see them approaching him with curiosity.
( AN: Noa is the clone of Raynare. )
"Master! We caught this guy sneaking around inside the castle's keep!"
Noa reported as she gestured for the Geborgs to present the last leader of the Old Satan faction to their master.
"Oh! Good job."
Zeno praised them after he took a glance at the unconscious body and immediately realized who it was. He feels lucky that another leader was also here when he raided the castle, so he won't have to waste time searching for him later.
"Drop him on the ground and step back a bit."
Zeno commanded as he moved away from the GR and walked towards Creuserey that was being carried by the two Geborgs before they obeyed him and dropped Creuserey on the ground as they stepped back.
Zeno smirked beneath his US suit as he watched the last leader of the Old Satan faction hitting the ground with his face and immediately regained consciousness with a groan.
÷×÷×÷
"Uughh...?!"
With a painful sensation of hitting the ground hard with his face and especially his torso, Creuserey immediately woke up as he crutched his broken rims and groaned painfully. He then slowly picked himself up from the ground and looked around to see where he was with some confusion from just waking up.
"Where am...?!"
He lost his voice as the first thing he sees in front of him is Zeno in the US suit with both hands behind his back, emanating an air of absolute authority and oppression. His white Symbiote eyes locked on to Creuserey's as the Satan descendant breathed hitch while he felt goosebumps all over his body as his heart skipped a beat.
"Ahh... ah... wa..."
Creuserey's mouth kept producing some unintelligible words while his body was frozen stiff with fear because of his survival instinct; he felt just like a tiny, powerless prey under the gaze of the biggest and most dangerous predator.
Then, just like an illusion, the feeling was gone a second later, as he could breathe and move his body again while his heart beat still beating violently in his chest.
"Creuserey Asmodeus, do you want to live?"
The deep and distorted voice of the being in front of him brought him back to his senses before Creuserey grinded his teeth in anger and humiliation as he just realized that he was intimidated by the sheer intent of this being.
"I will not beg! Kill me if you dare!"
He shouted with a distorted face, in both anger and pain, as he tried to regain his useless dignity and pride.
"Is that so?"
Zeno, with some amusement in his tone, tilted his head and muttered before walking up to Creuserey with his hands still staying behind his back.
"..."
Arrived in front of the Asmodeus' descendant, Zeno's tall and muscular body towering over him as Creuserey only glared back in defiance despite the fact that Zeno was close enough for him to attack; he subconsciously avoided such things as the intimation earlier had already made his survival instinct currently working at 120%, but unfortunately his brain is quite underdeveloped for his age.
"Heh, your devils are always suicidal for no reason... and I find that... amusing."
Zeno said with his deep and distorted voice as the helmet he was wearing suddenly separated into two sides, and then the smirking Symbiote faced with a maw full of long, sharp fangs, revealing itself for Creuserey to see.
"Wha- What the hell are you...?"
Taking a back by the unexpected face reveal and the unknown being's alien appearance, Creuserey was unnerved and about to step back, but his shoulders were gripped by the two Geborgs behind him to prevent him from moving backwards.
"I'm a man, mister Asmodeus—a man that just decided he was already bored playing with you, so..."
"What...?!"
Zeno said before grabbing on to the now-scared Creuserey's biceps and carrying him up from the ground easily as Creuserey tried to struggle uselessly from Zeno's powerful grip with fear and anxiety visible in his eyes as Zeno brought him close to his face slowly as Creusere's instincts screamed at him to escape, but he was powerless to actually put up any meaningful resistance, so he could only tremble in Zeno's hands. Creuserey doesn't know what this being wants to do to him, but he's sure that it's definitely not something nice.
"Wait! Wait! Wait-!"
Creuserey's defiance spirit evaporated instantly, with blood draining rapidly from his face as Zeno opened his maw while his long tongue stretched out like a slimy tentacle. He struggles more desperately as he now has some ideas about what Zeno wants to do to him, and any of them are not pleasant.
"Damn it...!"
Having no choice, Creuserey decided to commit suicide by detonating his demonic energy to escape the grim fate that awaited him, but then he suddenly made a dumbfounded expression as he discovered that he couldn't control his demonic energy anymore.
"Oh..."
Creuserey let out a despairing noise before he got his head shoved inside the maw along with the rest of his body.
And just like that, Creuserey Asmodeus is dead, and officially, the Old Satan faction is no more.
"That's even more freaky up close, not gonna lie. Master, can you fit anything in that mouth of your?"
Noa asked cheekily from Zeno side as she watched him devour the Asmoduchy guy.
"..."
Zeno gave her a side eye and decided to ignore his cheeky maid for now, but he will definitely punish her later.
÷×÷×÷
"Ugh... that was disgusting..."
Meanwhile, at the Intelligence Department, Himiko is holding her mouth as she averts her eyes from the gruesome sight on the screen. She wonders how Zeno can do such a thing so nonchalantly.
On the other hand, Ruth was also staring intently at the screen, watching the demise of the Asmodeus house and the Old Satan faction with a serene expression as she caressed her star-shaped earring with her fingers.
"I'm finally free..."
She muttered with some relief, ignoring the fact that she technically didn't and still had a new collar on her neck from her new master—a far better one from the previous master, at least.
"I wish you were here with me..."
Ruth whispered wishfully as she remembered the woman with wild red hair and a toothy grin, her only friend from the past, who had gone missing during the mission.
Ruth sighed and then continued to monitor the situation on the hologram screens silently.