With the arrival of all my companions, Freed took a step back, but quickly reobtained his composure. An expression of perverse excitement took over his face.
"Oooh! Looks like the entire group of devils is together!" He said with a dark laugh. "This is going to be fun!"
I lifted my head, breathing through the pain, and looked directly into Freed's eyes.
"Why are you so excited? Do you really think you can beat us? You haven't even beaten me, a weak, inexperienced devil. Look, I'm still standing and you haven't even hurt me."
My words hit the priest like a blow, and I saw the momentary fear in his eyes.
But I was out of luck. Suddenly, a strange portal began to form in the ceiling above Freed, slowly rotating as it grew in size.
Freed looked up at the portal and a smile appeared as drops of sweat trickled down. "Looks like my luck is changing! Let's see how you devils handle the fallen angels!"
'Damn, are the fallen angels coming sooner than I expected?'
I thought and looked back, searching for Rías' eyes. It wasn't hard to find them, because she was looking at me.
'Now Rias will tell me to leave Asia and she'll take me back by force.' I concluded.
I don't know what she saw at that moment, let alone what she thought as she looked at me with wide eyes as if to say "No". But the decision Rias made was different from what I had expected.
Rias smiled with the corner of her mouth, looked at Freed and said:
"Fallen angels?" She asked. "They won't be much of a problem for me. Let them come."
As she said these words, Freed's face turned pale. He looked Rias up and down and laughed briefly.
"And who do you think you are? Aren't you a bit haughty for a mere devil?"
"Pleased to meet you. I am Rías Gremory, heir to the Gremory family."
"The Gremory family of devils?"
"Yes, and this introduction is also for the fallen angels on the other side of the portal. I know you can hear me. I've learned of a plot by fallen angels in this town, but I've decided to ignore it as long as it doesn't cause any trouble. So be warned, this town is under the jurisdiction of the Gremory family and their activities will no longer be tolerated! Leave and don't come back!"
At that moment, the portal above Freed began to shrink, indicating that the fallen angels had decided to abandon their ally.
As the priest realized this, he began to despair. He stared at the shrinking portal with an expression of horror as drops of sweat ran down his face.
"No, no, no! This can't be happening!"
But no matter how loudly he pleaded, the portal soon disappeared forever. Freed then turned to me with a look of pure rage and despair.
"Damn devils! If I'm going to die, at least take one of you with me!"
Freed raised his gun and pointed it directly at me. But before Freed could fire, a blue flash tore through the air. Powerful thunder rumbled through the room;
I looked over and saw Akeno with an excited smile on her lips and a residual electricity in her hands.
"Ahh! I love it when they scream like that!"
Freed didn't even have time to react. Akeno's attack pulverized completely his body, leaving only a charred shadow on the ground.
I blinked, still trying to process what had just happened.
It was all over, and fortunately, Asia was unharmed.
Rias approached me with a serious look on her face.
"Hello, what's your name?" she asked, but I realized it wasn't for me.
"Asia Argento." The slim girl with blonde hair crouching behind me replied.
"It's all right, Asia," Rías said, holding out her right hand. "You don't have to be afraid anymore. We're here for you."
Asia looked at Rías, still trembling, but slowly beginning to calm down. Rías' kind words seemed to have a quick effect, perhaps because Asia was naive and trusted people's kindness.
"Thank you... thank you very much," Asia murmured.
Trying to ignore the pain that still throbbed in my body, I placed a comforting hand on Asia's shoulder. "It's going to be okay. Trust me when I say that."
Despite all the fear I had felt, Asia still managed to smile at me innocently. "I know, you're a good person, Leo."
*
Strangely, after Asia told me that I was a good person, my conscience wavered and I fainted.
I can't tell if it was because of the exhausting series of boosts I had received or because I had dug my claws deep into my own gut. In the end, it didn't matter, because everything worked out better than I expected.
[You obtained 1 heart with Rias Gremory.]
[You obtained 2 hearts with Asia Argento.]
When I woke up, sunlight came tentatively through the ajar window, illuminating what I quickly recognized as my bedroom.
However, my bed was much closer than usual, and I could feel fluffy 'things' wrapped around both of my arms.
*
*
*
Support me to write more and read chapters ahead of all regular readers!
P-atreon.com/palmer1998
(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)
In chapters R-18, there are original and exclusive images for the patreons!
NEXT CHAPTERS:
Chapter 21 - Women's Bathroom Cabin (R-18)
Chapter 20 - Women's Bathroom
Chapter 19 - Sona Sitri Finally Shows Up
Chapter 18 - Romance in the Park
Chapter 17 - System Features
Chapter 16.5 - Bonus Chapter
Chapter 16 - My Angel and My Demon