RSE CH 42 (Patreon)

“What did I do?”

Sitting on the table while slowly munching on the breakfast Lucy had prepared for her, Asa couldn't help but groan in mortification when she remembered what had happened the previous day.

“What if Leo thinks I am a shameless slut? Wh-what will I do if he looks at me with disgust? Wh-what if… what if he ignores me?” she wailed.

Asa couldn't believe how bold she had been in the bath. At the end…

Asa’s fair face was dyed in a dark shade of crimson when she remembered the mind-blowing all-encompassing pleasure she’d felt while rubbing her hard, pointed nipples across his sturdy, masculine back.

And then he’d turned around and… touched her. It was a sensation she’d never felt even once in her life. She didn’t know how she could face Leo after what had happened.

“Stop whining and finish your breakfast. What’s done is done.” The flat expression on the beautiful maid’s face never changed. “It wasn’t so bad, was it?”

Asa grumbled indignantly at Lucy’s flat-tone, but couldn't find it in herself to argue with the devil. Not only had it feel incredibly good, but she sensed she’d managed to grow closer somehow to Leo with that intimate touch—though their connection transcended physical intimacy.

Regardless, her experience with members of the opposite sex had been close to nil. Moreover, she knew nothing about the subtleties of pleasure—her own or what a man might enjoy. She was quite naive when it came to such matters.

Until yesterday, ecstasy had only been a word in the dictionary. This was all brand new. Her chest went all warm and fuzzy every time she thought about Leo. And now, that warmth had spread to between her thighs. 

How could Lucy expect her to calm down and think things through in a level-headed manner?

Watching the petite blonde fidget like a lost soul, a rare smile twitched the corners on Lucy’s lips upwards. The guilt and fear in Asa’s heart brought on by her inclusion in Barlowe’s despicable deeds had finally calmed.

Succubae were quite the psychiatrists. 

Thanks to their ability to unrestrainedly enter and manipulate others’ dreams, it wasn’t rare for them to help people with mental complications.  Of course, Lucy was no miracle worker. She couldn’t make such a deep-rooted trauma simply vanish.

What she could do, though, was focus the young woman on similarly strong emotions instead—like love, and the awakening of… lust. 

Beyond that, she could make the people slightly more functional and relieve some of their psychological burden by manipulating their dreams. At a minimum, she could lead them to a calmer state of mind, ensuring they received a peaceful night’s sleep. The human mind was surprisingly resilient, if it had a chance to rest and reset.

That was what she had been primarily doing these past few weeks, relieving Leo of the burden of the recurring nightmares that had plagued him since… that day.

It was one of the many reasons Saphire and Lane had asked her to serve Leo. She could do more than simply take care of his everyday needs. As long as his trauma held him in check, Leo would never realize his true potential or achieve his true powers.

Strong as her Master was, he had yet to reach the level of power he’d achieved in his youth—nor was that the full extent of his powers. Leo’s potential was a true mystery. Not even his parents knew just how far he would go. 

And they wanted him to reach his peak potential so that he could defend himself— and eventually protect those he came to care for.

With Leo’s current psychological state—largely thanks to Lucy restraining his recurring nightmares—she was sure Leo could access those powers he’d sealed as a means of coping with his trauma.

In Asa’s case, it was even easier. Her trauma was not only recent, it was relatively shallow when compared to Leo’s. 

Yesterday, after Asa fainted in the bath and while her brain had been flushed with dopamine because of the much-needed release at Leo’s touch—when she’d orgasmed for the first time—Lucy had worked on her subconscious mind. 

It had presented the perfect collection of strong emotions to lower the woman’s fear and guilt revolving around the events surrounding her rescue. It had the added benefit of filling the gouges in her psyche with love for her Master. 

Love… and lust.

She was about to tease the mortified Asa some more when she sensed them. Lucy stopped in her tracks, the ghost of a smile on her normally stony expression sliding off her face as her eyes narrowed.

“I wonder what those rotten birds could possibly want,” she muttered to herself.

With a snort, she left the kitchen with a bewildered Asa in tow. It was past time they cleaned up some of the trash that had wandered into town.

***

Things weren’t looking good.

‘How in the hells!?’

Regina crashed to the ground, her body crushed by a towering weight of unknown thaumaturgic origin. The Fallen cursed as she lost control of her body.

When Leo used his gravity power on them, they had been completely powerless to resist him. What happened next was completely beyond her understanding. How had this happened?

The situation should have been hers to control. She should have been playing with the puny human. He should have been hers to slowly torture to her heart’s content. Dealing with the pitiful human should have been easy. And it would have gotten her back in Abaddon’s good graces.

Then… why? Why was she the one kneeling on the ground like an insignificant bug in front of a higher power?

“You…!”

Looking at Leo through bloodshot eyes full of maddening wrath, Regina slowly stood despite the pressure that threatened to grind her to dust. Her skin was slick with large beads of sweat and she felt like her inner organs would explode at any moment. Her bones could barely hold her upright. 

The pressure was bearable, if only just, if she cycled her Powers at full throttle to resist it. Her thoughts clearing, Regina had come to an inevitable conclusion; one she couldn't misread.

“You…really… surprised… me. Who’d ever have thought…” she managed to gasp out, “that you were… a devil!”

The power being used on her was without a doubt demonic in nature. 

Ignoring the pain, she focused on creating more than ten spears of light. Dark-pink constructs of solidified light hovered in the air around her as she prepared to skewer Leo. Behind her, the Nephilim wasn’t idle as he did the same—though with only two dim spears. 

They were experienced fighters who had survived their fair share of life and death situations.

While the power Leo had demonstrated surprised—even shocked—them, simply cursing at their opponent wouldn’t change the current situation. They would have to fight back if they had any hope of not ceasing to exist.

“Hahaha~! Take that, filthy devil! Burn by the power of our holy light!”

Regina may have cackled hysterically, but she wasn’t too worried. Devils were at an innate disadvantaged when facing Angels or Fallen Angels because they were weak against sacred light-based powers. 

There was simply no chance they would lose. There was no way that…

Leo sighed.

His sigh of annoyance and disgust echoed in the park. The Fallen and Nephilim’s laughter died as they witnessed something seemingly beyond the bounds of common sense. Then again, they weren’t sure what they witnessed. 

Everything happened too fast for them to react.

The nearly twenty spears that they’d thrown at him with all their might vanished in thin air as if they’d never existed.

‘That’s not…!”

Of course, that wasn’t the only thing that shocked them.

On Leo’s right arm, a black gauntlet with a glowing green jewel materialized from nowhere. Tightly gripped in his gauntleted hand was a silver greatsword.

Each of them sensed the holy power radiating from the massive blade, but that wasn’t what shocked them. Something else held their wide gaze such that they couldn’t give the holy abnormality the attention it deserved.

“Is that Divine Gear?” Regina muttered in shock and incredulity. 

That Divine Gear was why they had been sent here. More specifically, their mission was to find the wielder of this incredibly powerful Divine Gear. 

‘What are they doing here?’

Ignoring his enemies’ confused looks, Leo’s brows furrowed as he glanced behind him. Those spears of light had absolutely no way of hurting him. He’d initially planned simply to avoid them, but when he’d sensed the presences behind him, he’d had no choice but to use the accursed power that was the source of his recurring nightmares. 

<<Omega Erasure>>

It didn’t take him long to realize that Mimi and Maria must have followed him to the park. He’d been so focused on the Fallen and her minion that he hadn’t paid attention when their presence had made itself evident.

He’d subconsciously ignored them, since their auras evinced no ill intent.

‘I’ve gotten sloppy.’ 

Shaking his head at his rusty instincts, Leo focused once again on the Fallen and her minion.

He briefly wondered if grunts like these two would know anything useful. It was a question worth pondering. Whatever Abaddon was planning, any additional information would come in handy.

‘Lucy will take care of the poor fools they sent to kidnap Asa. That means these two are of no more use to me.’

As an exorcist, the first lesson Leo had been taught was that it was better to kill his enemies. Dead foes couldn’t come back to seek vengeance for his kicking their asses. If there was no further utility in letting them live, enemies should be disposed of as cleanly and as quickly as possible.

The moment Leo decided to kill them, a chill went down the spines of the Fallen and Nephilim.

That Divine Gear was unfamiliar… though it looked like something from the Dragon Emperors. At their current power level, they were completely helpless.

“Wait–!”

They tried to plead for their lives, begging him to spare them. Unfortunately for them, Leo was too decisive and too fast to get out more than one word. Before Regina could do more than start to beg, her head and Duane’s were sent flying, sheared from their shoulders.

For Leo, there was no difference between men and women when it came to a life and death fight. He would never hesitate because of his enemy’s gender.

‘May your soul rest in… Ah, wait… sorry.’

Leo stopped his short prayer when he recalled what happened to the souls of those he killed with his holy-demonic sword. He could already feel a foreign power quietly growing inside him.

This was the first time Leo had killed something other than humans or low-level Devils, and only now did he understand the true power of his sword. He had no doubt that once it finished devouring the souls of the Fallen and her Nephilim minion, that he would be able to wield their power.

He would be able to wield Holy power as he wished.

This was without a doubt a very frightening skill. It was one of the reasons the one who’d been the cause of his tragedy all those years ago had stolen Tyrfing. Sinking to his knees, Leo closed his eyes as he did his best to chase away the memories that threatened to overwhelm him.

‘I want to go home.’

He fought down the nausea and bile that rose in the back of his throat.

Instead, with a groan, he called out, “How long do you plan to spy on me?”

Silence greeted his words before two shadows walked out from behind a tree. Maria wore a sheepish grin on her face while Mimi’s face looked a little green.

Unlike Rayne, who had been trained as the heiress and had a somewhat functional circle, Mimi had rarely been exposed to conflict. Of course, she had witnessed Rayne hunting lower-level stray devils. But thanks to the power of destruction, not even ashes remained of her sister’s victims. 

She’d never had to kill—not even once in her life.

That had been so much less graphic than the scene before her. Her wide-eyed gaze shied away from the rolling heads and flowing blood before Leo.

“Mimi…”

“I…” 

Hurk! 

She covered her mouth with one hand and took several deep breaths with her eyes squeezed shut. “I’m… I am alright…” Keeping herself from heaving, she frowned.

“What happened?” she asked.

This zone was under the control of the Mephisto clan. No matter what, a fight between two supernatural beings wasn’t something she could ignore—especially since one side was from the Fallen Angel faction.

“I…” Leo started to explain, then stopped and sighed.

“Allow me to explain.” 

The voice that stopped him came from a spatial portal that flashed into existence between Leo and the two women. The one who emerged from the portal was none other than his succubus maid.

“Sister! What are you doing here?”

Leo was about to call out to her but was astonished by Maria’s shout.

‘What the hell is going on?’

This day kept getting weirder and weirder