Chapitre 2: •§• 2. Scarlet Vertigo
2. Scarlet Vertigo
Rias felt lost. Tonight she had plans to resurrect a new member for her peerage and kill the fallen angel that unjustly took his life.
Now she was on the verge of falling to her knees before a most unexpected arrival. Gripping tightly onto her pawn pieces as if they were her life support. Oh the deep rooted irony. It would have made her laugh right then and there if her body allowed it.
"Did you not hear my request?" She heard him speak. His voice was rather soft as if genuine. Was it? She couldn't face him properly anymore so reading him was out of the question.
His presence felt oppressive and otherworldly.
But she had dealt with similar experiences. Rias had fought and killed strays, fallen angels, exorcists and even other devils. She was no slouch and she was no coward. She could— no, would, face the man before her.
Finding that her confidence slowly returned to her little by little— while squashing down the fear and shock; Rias straightened. Flaring her famed Power of Destruction, her unique ability tethered and primed for absolute domination. She manifested an aura; thick and dense. Her hands start to glow in power and her body takes a natural defensive stance. Ready to make her move.
The man before her would have no choice but to—
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
Laugh in her face. He took the full force of her aura and audibly laughed in her face.
"I think you may have been mistaken when I said to make your move. I meant the boy. You were going to resurrect him. Were you not?" Anos spoke, after letting the tickle at the back of his throat out. Hand waving the young devil's pitiful show for intimidation.
It seemed that all the magical creatures of this world were fond of comedic theatrics. The very least he could say was that her instincts were decent.
"How did—"
"We're wasting time. Are you going to bring him back or should I?" Anos now points to the boy who was, by all definitions, a reeking corpse.
In Anos' words did Rias' senses come back to her in a rush. His overwhelming and suffocating presence had dimmed considerably. Hesitant and awkwardly, Rias moved to her target. She placed a few Pawns upon his chest. Anos was right beside her all the while, simply observing. She would talk to him after this was done.
Rias chanted the ancient incantations, instructing Issei to rise from the dead and serve as her precious Pawn. The pieces glowed, and a circle formed before disappearing. A smile threatened to overcome her face at the first failed attempt. Placing all eight Pawns upon his chest, her body tingles when the process completes. Freedom was within arms length.
A breath that she didn't know she was holding had finally let itself out. Her chest feels lighter. But... she turns back to Anos. His gaze was laser-focused on Issei's body. It was like he was uncovering all its secrets and Rias thinks that assumption was anything but.
"He's no longer human," Anos comments after some time. He was casual with no hint of carelessness.
"Reincarnation tends to do that to you," Rias spoke when the atmosphere had finally settled. Though she was still tense. A complete contrast to the man that was next to her.
Rias was trying, and failing, to figure out what to do with him. He was a human but he carried a presence that overshadowed and made her devil heritage submit. Not to mention, he had bypassed all her anti-magic protections.
"I'm familiar with the concept," He said. She had no idea how true his statement was.
"Look, Voldigoad—"
"Calling me Anos is fine, thank you," Anos cut through her words. Here in Japan, it was formal and respectful to address others by their surname. However, he had given the girl quite the fright so he might as well come off less imposing.
Besides, Anos wouldn't be who he was if he quietly conformed to such things.
Rias had her eyes widen a little at his request. She turned to look at him fully this time since she couldn't moments ago. He was really easy on the eyes. Very pleasant to look at. She asked her question.
"You're not going to ask me why I'm doing this?"
"Truthfully, it isn't my concern. I just so happen to be in the area but apart from that, should I?"
Rias eyed Anos for a long minute, not a hint of a lie in his speech. She'd remembered him from school. They shared a class in which when he spoke, all his words sounded self-assured and undeniable; every time. He was being honest back then and even now.
Taking a small step away from him, two pitch bat-like wings unfurled from her back. Anos could feel her magic rise somewhat. "Because I'm a devil."
Anos' face didn't hold a lick of surprise.
This made sense to Rias, she figured— since Anos had already seen her use magic and the fact that he was aware of it— meant he was clearly involved with the supernatural. Did he have a Sacred Gear? Or perhaps he was one of the rare few human mages of this era? Rias could only wonder.
"Did you really think simply hiding your magic would make you untraceable from my eyes?" Anos put a pause to his next sentence, "Presence's skin to yours are all throughout Kuoh, like you were all begging to be noticed."
Rias looked baffled. She hadn't expected him to say that at all. Did this mean he knew about her peerage? Sona and her own peerage? This night was not going how she expected. "Anos, who are you really?"
Anos gave a slightly wider grin. It... honestly fit him in Rias' opinion. As if it was supposed to be there. It almost brought her a foreign comfort.
"We share the same morning class, so come early tomorrow, we'll talk then." Anos turns to walk away. He didn't mean to be so dismissive about the topic but it was getting late; his restaurant wasn't going to restock itself.
Rias watched him go, "Wait," He stopped, "how will I know if you'll keep your word?"
"I can always cast Zecht if you'd like."
"Zecht?" Rias looked lost at his words.
"It's a magical contract. It binds two parties to their promises, and if that promise isn't fulfilled then the caster perishes." Anos explained fully.
He'd partially figured that all magic, regardless of the world he was in, would stay the same. Luckily for him, all magic from world to world did remain the same. Down to its fundamentals. Though, a little modification from his end would have his and her magic on the same wavelength.
His demonic origins were still of a much greater quality compared to the young she-devil's heritage.
As for Rias, she had never heard of such a magical application before, but when Anos held out his hand, she felt inclined to accept. A magical link was set and Anos had been bound to their unspoken agreement.
"One last thing, Anos. Before I let you go. What happened to the fallen angel? The one that killed Issei." Rias hoped to send a message to the fallen for messing around in her town. Either that or figure out their reason for seeking a business venture in her territory.
Anos knew she was talking about the crow lady who failed to realize her place before him. "She was taken care of."
He made sure of it. In his own way of course.
—————
How could she have known?
How could she even have the slightest clue? The tiniest hint? The smallest chance to realize it?
Raynare was many things. Prideful for one. It had been her original sin. It had been what turned her once beautiful, pure-white angelic wings to what it was now— ugly night-black feathers fit for a crow. As if she were a poor devil's imitation. It was a permanent reminder of how she fell.
The internal rage she had at that reminder was something she thought subsided overtime. Choosing to turn her misfortune around and begin anew as Raynare the Fallen. Evidently it meant nothing in front of the human she had faced today.
Human? No, she meant Demon.
That thing that she had fought wasn't a simple human. She had fought humans and none could replicate even a fraction of what he had done to her. Even among the most skilled.
Raynare could recall it all in near perfect detail: From the moment he snapped her light spear in half after catching it so effortlessly.
Next was the way he had gently but firmly grasped her face, she could only whimper when she felt his experienced hand trail her body. Barely being able to make sense of the promise he had made to her.
Starting at her jaw, he traced her smooth skin with a single finger until he stopped at her exposed tummy. His touch was polished, he had done this before. What Raynare didn't know at the time was that all the close contact was to lace her in his magic. Finally pressing his whole palm and leaning forward did he speak in a haunting voice.
"Jio Graze."
His palm heated and the next moment, a miniature jet-black sun was summoned within her body. Melting and tearing apart her insides, violating her thoroughly with no regard for her anti-magic defenses. Black light filters from her body and then— she burst.
A piece of Raynare here, a piece of Raynare there. Her entire body splattered, coating the area in a fresh crimson hue.
"Ingall."
She was dead. She should be dead, but within seconds, a shining light washes over the area and Raynare finds herself in the park once more.
She was resurrected in an unharmed state. Regrettably so. Looking up at the Demon disguised human whose smirk edged its way into her very mind. She nearly prayed those obsidian flames had completely killed her off.
"It seems you aren't as tough as you thought," He spoke, "Does this apply to you or are all the fallen this fragile?"
The man before her actually thought the trade off for such weak magical power would be for greater physicality, but no, both were equally bad. It was a shame for him but even more so for her.
"I told you to hold your tongue. To think about what you were getting into. This could have been avoided if you had held your pride and listened."
"Shut... up..." Raynare would not be who she was if she wasn't defiant till the end. A trait that stuck with her even when he harshly steps on her head, his boot pressing her face against the same grass of the park where dogs went to piss.
"Good grief, how haughty." The demon was no longer smiling. Perhaps he was thinking of killing her permanently this time? Save her the humiliation.
Instead he moved his boot to her neck, to her throat. Crushing it in a single step. Blood pooled in her mouth and she began to spurt the crimson liquid in awful, distasteful coughs. It was a fine tune for the demon in plain sight.
Raynare grasped at her neck as she struggles to look up. She was the first to hold her head up high but this time it came with many difficulties. As she expected, the man looks down on her. The shadows of darkened clouds and the dimness of the moon played shadow and light on his face. One thing remained constant, his deep, powerful, red eyes.
"Truly pitiful." He mused, wanting her to know how truly pathetic she looked before him and Raynare said nothing; it's not like she could anyway.
Slowly, he started to raise her by the edge of her wing. Her limp body rose in his unbreakable grasp until she was at eye level with him.
Leaning down to talk to her was not something he would do. He would never lower himself to such a disgraceful girl.
"Raynare," He said in a way that sent her body into a frenzy, "you are quite lucky. Detestable, but lucky. Your aptitude also isn't half bad. Tend to your wounds and think about this night. Commit it to memory. Burn it into your consciousness until you've learned from it. If not, you'll incur my wrath and I won't be so merciful a second time. Do we have an understanding?"
Raynare nodded amidst the stinging humiliation, his words made her quiver and squirm but she would be a fool if she didn't listen well and heed them after the first time.
"Good," He dropped her onto her back where she lay almost motionless, "run along then."
Those parting words were the last thing he left her with. And when the demon finally leaves the area without a sound, the struggling fallen wraps her body in her own arms. Her wings further wrapped around herself as a chilling breeze passed her by. This night felt colder than most.
Not long after did she involuntarily lower her head. Blood left her mouth in spades and fresh tears pricked at her eyes until she audibly sobbed into the night.
Raynare was crying. A foreign thing for her. A fickle action she thought was beneath her. How wrong she was.
And when she hears her own cry. She laments it. She hates it. It is an ugly sound. Unbefitting of someone so beautiful, of an aged existence. Yet, it is the only thing she can do.
She was humiliated. She was crushed. She was broken.
—————
Rias noted the intentional vagueness of the answer. The implications weren't lost on her, not at all. Rias liked to think she was smart enough, and his tone made it very obvious that whatever he did, well, it was enough to guess that he didn't have ties to the fallen angels.
Her thoughts were promptly set aside when Anos spoke for the final time that night, his quiet footfalls following suit, "I'll be seeing you soon, Gremory."
He says it as if already promised. She could tell he was smirking as well. Rias was beginning to grow more interested in the man by the second.
"You can just call me..." The Crimson-Haired Ruin Princess trails her eyes to the direction of his voice, he was gone. The swift disappearance of a magic circle on the ground was the only fleeting confirmation of his involvement tonight, "Rias..."
She'd see him tomorrow. That much, she was certain.
A sudden groan reaches her ears and Rias very nearly forgets the original purpose of her visit in this park. Looking down at Issei, who's wound was already closing up, her turquoise eyes looks on with a comforting relief.
She had a new peerage member to attend to, and with this, she could confidently say that her soon-to-be-freedom was all but secure.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone