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(MoD) Chapter 19: Stray Devil Alenth
🕑 Added 2025-03-08 17:12:58 +0000 UTCChapter 19: Stray Devil Alenth
Well, that’s definitely not a bad sign, Takauji breathed a bemused exhale, being greeted with the sensation of something wet splashing against the soles of his shoes the moment he stepped into the warehouse.
He used his Projection ability to create a flashlight, allowing him to survey his surroundings.
And upon doing so, he ended up illuminating a puddle of scarlet-colored liquid with a viscous consistency, which trailed off further into the building, staining the concrete flooring.
That’s quite a bit of blood. he kneeled, bringing his face closer to the substance. I doubt all of it came from a single person, and the fact that it was still bright red in color and showed no concurrent signs of drying up suggested one thing.
The blood was fresh.
But strangely enough, he didn’t feel so much as a hint of unease, even though he was knowingly putting himself in harm’s way for the sake of self-improvement.
Almost as if something were physically preventing him from feeling that emotion.
Here, he eventually came across one of the many storage rooms within the warehouse, where the pungent odour that had been lingering in the atmosphere since he entered the building grew stronger than ever.
An odour of rot and decay.
“How unfortunate,” he murmured, looking at the pile of corpses that lay in front of him.
Each of them had chunks of flesh removed from their torso and thighs, and holes burned into their faces that made it seem like acid had been poured onto their skin.
The fact that this “Alenth” uses Poison Magic might explain the burns, but I didn’t know she was the people-eating type.
He scratched his chin, holding back the curiosity that urged him to reach out and examine the bodies, just in case he ended up getting afflicted with whatever had melted them down through contact.
Maybe it’s just a normal thing for Devils? I wouldn’t be surprised if Sitri-san turned out to be a man-eater, he nodded to himself with a sense of certainty.
He continued to stare at the corpses for a moment, tilting his head to the right and observing them with a strange expression.
I’ve never seen a dead body before, and these certainly aren’t the circumstances I thought my first encounter would happen under.
As intrigued as he was, he only let himself get lost in contemplation for an instant, aware that he needed to remain attentive if he didn’t want to end up like the people in front of him.
Sorry, I don’t know who any of you are, so I can’t really bring myself to feel much on your behalf. He spared one last glance at the pile before leaving, noticing that one of the corpses belonged to a strikingly young individual. Except you, I suppose.
He continued to wander through the warehouse, finding a few more rooms with pretty much the same scenery as the one he had just ventured into—and still no sign of the Stray Devil he was looking for.
However, it was only a matter of time before the lack of success in his search came to an end. Sona had already confirmed the Devil’s presence within the structure and would definitely have informed him if she had left.
Once he entered the main, and most extensive section of the warehouse, he heard it.
Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap!
The sound of dozens, if not hundreds, of small objects tapping against the ceiling resounded throughout the room, like a fierce downpour of rain had occurred out of the blue.
But he didn’t panic, choosing to take a deep breath instead before slowly opening his mouth.
“Alenth, I believe your name was?” He said calmly, his Ki Sense making it abundantly clear that the Stray Devil lurking inside the warehouse had finally taken notice of him.
“Consider me intrigued,” a deep, mature womanly voice replied to him from above, the tone of which was somewhat alluring in nature, and exceptionally hollow. “You smell human for the most part, but there’s definitely something more to you. I can tell you’ve come here with some purpose, so I can only presume you knew I was here beforehand.”
“You’re quite observant,” he said with a genuine sense of praise.
“It comes with the territory,” she chuckled. “Now then, you might as well tell me who you are before I make my decision as to whether I’ll kill you or not.”
“If you’re as intrigued as you claim, why don’t you come down here and examine me yourself?” He smirked, carrying a strange air of confidence with him, his demeanor warranting a certain level of caution from Alenth.
Granted, it was highly possible that it was just a bluff that stemmed from his insatiable ego.
But she had no way of knowing that; you needed to be exposed to Takauji for at least five solid minutes before you learned about his insufferable mentality.
“Your reaction is definitely a first, I’ll give you that much.”
THUD!
The sound of a concerningly large object hitting the ground could be heard, a sound that somehow resonated from Alenth as it descended onto the floor.
The last time he checked, Devils were the same shape and size as a human.
“If you really are a human, then you’re either a Sacred Gear possessor,” she narrowed her eyes, choosing not to approach him just yet, “—or a Magician.”
“Aren’t Devils supposed to be able to figure that out at a glance?” He turned around, shining his flashlight onto her. “Or did you lose the ability once your powers went haywire?”
All things considered, the sight of Alenth was quite the thing to behold.
She had silky, long reddish-brown hair running down her back, similar to the color of clay, and a perfectly-structured face like that of a top-class model, coupled with sharp, piercing bright red eyes akin to a Vampire.
And for some unfathomable reason, she had chosen to remain entirely in the nude. Her perky breasts, which were folded under, were on full display alongside the rest of her slim figure and slender waist.
However, that was where her beauty ended. Once you looked past the waist, the reason for the ear-rupturing sound earlier became clear.
Like some creature from myth, the lower half of her body was that of a bona fide centipede.
A tough, dark red, flexible exoskeleton spanning down the entire length of her body, and a hundred pointy legs all shuffling in unison, the whole package.
“Ah, now that I’m closer, it all makes a lot more sense,” she chuckled darkly. “You have the scent of a Devil clinging to your body, your master sent you here to kill me, didn’t they?”
He frowned, wearing a look of genuine displeasure on his face.
“I have no master,” he insisted. “But I do happen to be employed, at the moment, if you will, and getting rid of you happens to be a part of my contract.”
“How pitiful,” she bit her index finger, raising her body ever so slightly so she could look down on him. “Your master was too much of a coward to face me on their own, so they sent you here to die in their place. Poor thing, I almost want to come over there and hug you.”
“Put some clothes on, and then maybe I’ll consider it.” He scoffed, appalled by the fact that she acted the part of an exhibitionist without so much as a morsel of shame, maybe becoming a Stray Devil also stripped her of her species’ well-known pride.
“Oh? Don’t you find the sight enjoyable?” She rubbed her hands down her boobs, causing them to jiggle in the open. Yet, much to her disappointment, he showed no reaction to the erotic gesture whatsoever. “How boring.”
“Don’t worry, you won’t be bored for long. At least not until you’re dead,” his posture started to change, signaling that he was ready for battle.
“Unless you actually are a Sacred Gear possessor, I highly doubt that.” She puffed up her chest, giving him the indication that she planned on making the first move.
Spit!
A dark-purple chunk of saliva shot out of her mouth, a creepy, ominous aura surrounding the substance, evidently being something he didn’t want to make any physical contact with.
It’s a relatively fast projectile. He dropped his flashlight, then put both hands together and channeled his Mana from his core to his fingertips.
Mana Shield.
A significant, circular barrier of Mana wide enough to cover the entirety of his frame manifested in front of him, blocking the blotch of venom Alenth had vomited out without too much trouble, the liquid dripping onto the floor and burning into the concrete beneath him.
“Huh, maybe you’re not as half-assed as I presumed.” Alenth’s eyes widened a little; it had been quite some time since she had immersed herself in a genuine fight.
Maybe the human before her would cure her boredom as he had proclaimed.
I should start by gauging her abilities while revealing as little of mine as possible. The fact that he had lost his flashlight wasn’t much of an issue; he had both his Ki Sense and Mana Sense to keep track of Alenth’s position.
“You don’t even know the half of it.” He smirked, deciding that he would begin by trying to dwindle her energy reserves.
Shadow Gun!
With a little extra juice in the spell compared to when he had used it on Sona earlier, he aimed it directly at Alenth’s exposed chest, allowing the dark projectile to jettison forth with all its might.
“I’m afraid you’re going to need to try a little harder than that.”
But much to his dismay, she rotated her lower body in what seemed like a split second, raising her exoskeleton up and effortlessly blocking his attempt to put a hole through her heart.
Her carapace is exceptionally tough; I’m not sure if I have enough firepower to overcome it.
He swiftly recomposed himself, using Shadow Step to reposition somewhere where he’d have a better line of sight on the more human-like part of her body, hoping to get a cleaner shot if possible.
“That’s not going to cut it either, you’re starting to disappoint me—servant-kun.”
Like clockwork, all one hundred of her legs moved in unison, darting her towards Takauji with terrifying speed, as if the weight of her frame meant absolutely nothing to the strength of her insectoid legs.
For reference, a centipede can move at around 16 inches per second, which, in human terms, is equivalent to running at 42 mph.
Adding that to the fact that Alenth had Devil-enforced strength, made her a terrifying opponent to face.
Moreover, since she was relying on her sense of smell, rather than her Demonic Power to locate Takauji’s position, Shadow Step’s ability to mask the user’s trajectory from an opponent with weaker Mana than them was rendered obsolete.
Shit! I can’t afford to hesitate!
He opened his palm, quickly making use of one of the skills he had been awarded for becoming a 2nd Circle Magician.
Repulsion!
A ball of highly compressed Mana began to form in front of his palm, the tightly packed energy building up within it quickly releasing itself to unleash a forceful shockwave in Alenth’s direction, staggering her long enough to allow him to reposition once more without being immediately chased.
“That… Kinda hurt.” Alenth exhaled, rubbing her jaw with a mildly irritated look on her face.
Unfortunately, Repulsion was a spell that required a longer charge-up time to invoke any severe damage, something that just wasn’t possible with the brief window of time he had been given to react.
Without thinking, he blanketed himself in Touki, just in case Alenth had a curveball or two up her sleeve he wanted to throw at her, one that would possibly demand a faster reaction time from him.
Come on, Takauji! Think! There’s definitely something I can do here!
His mind spun at full speed, demanding that he come up with some solution on how to defeat the monstrosity in front of him.
“I guess you’re not all talk after all, my mistake, I’ll make sure to come at you properly this time.” Alenth recomposed herself, about to launch her next attack at a moment’s notice.
And then it clicked for him, his evolved brain finding an answer for him before he could become centipede food.
Using your enemy’s strength against them.
“Then do it, you stick-legged freak.” He gestured with his hand in a taunting manner, unable to withhold the smirk on his face.
“I’m appalled you can be that arrogant with your feeble strength,” like before, she lunged at him at full speed, eager to turn him into yet another corpse rotting within the warehouse.
Unfortunately for her, she had encountered an opponent that was not only a bit too versatile but also crafty for her to handle.
All of a sudden, her world had been flipped upside down, her feet completely unable to stick to the ground, causing her to completely topple over and temporarily lose all control over her hulking frame.
Takauji had applied one of fthe irst spells he had obtained, Grease, to the ground, his rank-up to a 2nd Circle Magician making it possible for him to use it onto enough surface area to cover the entire reach of her lower body.
I have an opening! His eyes lit up, the increased perception using Touki allowing him to locate a weak spot in her upper body.
He promptly closed the distance between them with Shadow Step, tensing his right hand and tightening his fingers, his nails pointing upwards, and aimed directly at her heart, or at least where he hoped her heart would be.
First, he activated Mana Reinforcement—to bring his physical strength to its all-time peak.
And then he called upon another spell he had just received, one that would turn Alenth’s singular, literal slip-up into her demise.
Impale!
With her body completely disoriented, Alenth was utterly unable to defend herself.
His hand tensed up as much as it could, his muscles flexing up to his bicep, and veins bulging out of his fingers as his nails sharpened for a brief moment.
“You—!” And for a split second, her eyes happened to realize what was about to happen, only a moment too late to prevent it.
Splurt!
Like a hot knife through butter, his nails ruptured through her exposed fleshy skin, requiring no further effort to break through it, unlike the colossal amount of strength cracking open her exoskeleton would demand.
“Haha! This is exactly what I’m talking about!” His eyes glistened with childlike joy as blood splattered out of her back. “It doesn’t matter if a Devil has a superior body! They can still be killed if you make them lose their footing! Even for just a second! Hahahaha!”
And now the reason for his strangely calm demeanor started to reveal itself.
Naturally, it didn’t make any sense for someone without any real combat experience whatsoever to be not only completely unfazed by the presence of multiple live corpses, but also a life and death battle against a horrifying-looking Stray Devil on top of that.
Even if you were someone with as questionable a mentality as Ashikaga Takauji.
The truth was, the euphoria he felt from ascending to a 2nd Circle Magician hadn’t thoroughly worn off. It had only happened a few hours ago, after all, even though he wasn’t on cloud nine at the moment, he was feeling a lot better than he had any right to be.
“The battle was completely in your favour from the start! Yet that was turned on its head in an instant! All because my superior brain managed to create a single, small opening! Ah! Yes! This is it! This is the epitome of my genius, surpassing your biology!”
Put simply, Takauji was currently semi-high.
“Hey? Are you listening? Hello? Hi? I’m speaking right now, so it’d be nice if you replied.” He looked down, poking Alenth’s fallen body with his foot in an attempt to wake her up.
Of course, since he had pierced her heart of all places, her death happened before she could even let out a final, spiteful remark at him.
He just needed a moment to realize that.
“Oi! I’m talking! I’m talking to you, Stray Devil! Hello? Hello?”
Or maybe two.
━━━━
This is why you shouldn’t overdose on Mana children, it’s not good for your health.
Comments
Big Brizzz
Yes more high takauji
Cobalt
High takauji definitely needs to be a semi-permanent addition to this fic dude 🤣🤣
