__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The moment the teleportation finished, Jack's nerves went taut—every instinct screamed danger.
A demon's instincts never lied.
Whoosh!
Black, batlike wings snapped open behind him. Almost reflexively, Jack stepped sideways, his body gliding a meter to the left.
A sharp whoosh split the air where he'd been standing.
"Huh?"
A surprised voice echoed in the dim room.
The stench of blood hit him like a wall, making his enhanced senses twitch in disgust.
Outside, the sky was already dark. No lights were on inside, but that didn't matter—Jack could see perfectly.
He scanned the room.
A sofa, coffee table, TV… looked like a normal living room.
Except for the blood.
It was everywhere—pooling on the floor, spattered across the walls. Among the gore were bits of flesh, one chunk looking disturbingly like a human liver.
And on the far wall… a corpse.
A woman's body had been nailed there upside down, her head rolling lifelessly on the ground below. From the faint traces of a summoning circle nearby, it wasn't hard to tell—she was the summoner who'd called forth a demon.
Thick iron spikes had pinned her hands, feet, and torso to the wall. Her body had been mutilated—slashed and butchered until her insides spilled out.
The sight was beyond horrific.
Anyone would've thought she'd died hated by someone to the core.
On the wall beside her, someone had scrawled large words in blood:
"The wicked shall be punished."
Jack read it once and felt a sharp sting in his mind.
He frowned. A holy scripture, he realized—words meant to curse demons.
"That's a quote from a Saint, y'know!!"
A mocking, manic voice rang from the shadows. From the darkness stepped a young man—seventeen, maybe eighteen. Not much older than Jack.
He had short white hair, and annoyingly, a rather handsome face.
But what really stood out was his outfit—the black cassock of a church priest.
"Oh? Ohhh? Well, well, well… isn't this a little demon boy?"
He grinned wide, voice loud and theatrical. "Ahaha, makes sense though! You did just crawl out of a summoning circle, didn't you?"
Jack didn't respond, but his eyes stayed sharp. The guy in front of him wasn't ordinary. He radiated danger.
Meanwhile, the priest started singing—yes, singing—with wild glee:
"I'm a priest~ a handsome young priest~Hunting demons is my duty~Cold and cruel, I laugh~Chop off your heads so I can eat~!"
Completely unhinged.
Jack's voice came out cold. "Did you kill her?"
"Yep! Sure did! Who else was gonna do it?" The priest's expression twisted into an exaggerated, almost gleeful sneer. "She summoned demons every damn day. Someone had to put her down!"
"Name's Freed Sellzen," he continued, puffing out his chest. "Just a humble member of a certain exorcist group. Oh, and don't bother telling me your name—I won't remember it. You're gonna die soon anyway! Totally fine though, I'll make sure it's quick!"
Hopeless case, Jack thought. Completely insane.
Without another word, he silently activated the familiar sigil in his palm, sending a signal to Rias and the others.
Freed noticed and burst out laughing. "Ohhh, calling for help? Useless, useless, useless! I've got a barrier set up here, you know! By the time they track you, you'll already be dead!"
"Big talk," Jack said evenly. "A priest who tortures humans like this… disgusting. You should die."
"Ha? Did a demon just try to lecture me?" Freed's grin stretched wider. "That's rich! Hey, hey, listen up, you piece of trash—don't you demons feed on human desire? Anyone who turns to a demon is already done for! Beyond saving!"
His tone sharpened, unhinged passion twisting his face.
"I killed her for her own good! That's my job! I make my living off slaying demons and the scum tied to them!"
He drew a sword hilt—without a blade—and a pistol.
Bzzz—
The air vibrated as a glowing blade of light extended from the hilt, humming with power.
"Preaching at me like you're some kind of saint… you make me sick. So can I cut you now? Can I? Great, thanks! All demons are filth anyway!"
Rambling like a lunatic, Freed lunged, swinging his light blade in a wide slash.
Jack's King's Sword materialized instantly, clashing with the glowing weapon. Sparks flared at the impact.
Then—a streak of gold light shot toward him. A bullet infused with divine power.
It stopped midair, rippled, and dissolved against an invisible barrier around Jack.
An exorcist's Holy Light round. Yet no gunshot had been fired.
A silver shield appeared, spinning slowly around Jack—his Shield of Divine Weeping.
He'd been forced to use it already. If the shield hadn't activated on its own, that shot might've pierced him.
For a human, Freed was terrifyingly strong.
If not for the faith contract Jack had formed—greatly boosting his power—he wouldn't have been fast enough to react.
"Wha—? You blocked my holy bullet? Damn it, I underestimated you!"
Freed snarled and charged again, his movements absurdly fast for a mere human.
But Jack wasn't slow either—not with two Knights' blessings enhancing him. His speed exploded, and in a blur, he countered.
A flash of steel—his sword darted straight for Freed's forehead.
The priest's eyes widened. He jerked aside, abandoning his own strike.
Shhk!
The blade bit deep into his shoulder.
"Gah! That hurts! You bastard, you stabbed me?! I'll kill you!"
Freed lost it completely, slashing and firing wildly.
Jack blocked, dodged, and countered, their blades sparking as they clashed around the wrecked living room.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Furniture shattered, walls splintered—the place was a warzone.
Slash!
The corpse nailed to the wall got caught in the chaos, sliced apart by the stray blows. Freed kicked a severed leg toward Jack with a mad grin.
Jack's sword shifted mid-swing, catching the limb and hurling it aside. With a burst of power, he smashed his shield into the wall, collapsing it in a thunderous crash and burying the mangled body beneath the rubble.
Freed burst into hysterical laughter.
"Hahaha! Oh man, did I see that right? You didn't wanna hurt the corpse? What, you got a thing for dead girls or something? Gross! Totally gross! Demons really are garbage!"
The grin on his face twisted, all trace of his earlier charm gone—only madness remained.
"..."
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________