Names

"What happened?!" Mike questioned his Gramps. Vasco explained that Asia got excommunicated for using her powers to heal a devil and that the devil killed a nearby exorcist and escaped after getting healed by Asia, making things worse for her. Vasco explained that he is on the way to Asia's church to find out where she went after getting excommunicated. Vasco asked Mike to come back to Italy as fast as he can.

"Raynare, we will talk on the phone! I am going to Italy. Just tell me everything you know in the call!" Mike said with a hurried tone.

"But you are in Japan! You need a lot of power to fly to Italy! Even if you have enough power, it will still take a lot of time!" Raynare found Mike's plan absurd.

"Don't worry, I can do it. Just tell me everything you know on the phone!" Mike started flying as fast as he can the next moment and also made a call to Raynare. Raynare took the call and started explaining.

(( Alright. A devil named Diodora Astaroth has a fetish for nuns and holy-maidens. So, the asshole would seduce the maidens with his passionate words to make them fall in love with him. After the nuns and maidens were cast out by their churches, which left them devastated, he would appear before to supposedly save them from the depths of their despair, only to eventually be taken advantage of; r@pe and mentally break them in both body and heart. Diodora would then reincarnate them as his servants who slavishly pledged their loyalty to him.

As for Asia's plot, Diodora would purposefully injure himself and appear before Asia, who would heal him. This would get Asia excommunicated but Asia would rely on stray exorcists and fallen angels. Ah, by the way, Asia relies on fallen angels led by Raynare in the fictional world but in this world, I am not with there! I don't know who's leading the fallen angels there! ))

Mike is enraged with the new information he got. "Raynare, I want you to give me the details about the fallen angel hideouts in Italy as fast as you can! Call me once you get them!"

He quickly cut the call with Raynare and called another person. (( Hey Mike! I never thought you would contact me during this time. It's a good surprise! )) The person who took the call is Ajuka Beelzebub. (( Anyway, about the topic we are researching... ))

"I am going to kill Diodora Astaroth! Are you okay with that?!" Mike didn't even let Ajuka finish the sentence. There was a moment of silence.

(( What did he do? )) Ajuka asked. Mike told him about how Diodora manipulates nuns and corrupts them.

(( Not enough reasoning, Mike. The church is at the fault for casting them out for silly reasons. You need a better reason to kill him. I understand your real reason for killing him but what is the excuse you prepared? ))

"He killed an exorcist in a church's premises. And it would be a disgrace for exorcists to let him go just like that." Mike told the excuse he would be using.

(( That idiot... Alright, kill him. I will take care of the things in the underworld. Now the clan has to look for other heirs, huh... This is gonna be a pain. Anyway, about our research... ))

"Thanks! I will call you later!" Mike ended the call without mercy.

Mike came to Kuoh. The reason is simple. He used the teleportation circle in Kuoh and transferred himself to heaven. He quickly put on his exorcist clothes and transferred to the Vatican. Mike is the only guy who uses heaven as a shortcut to travel between Japan and Italy. Mike was a little sad that he couldn't stay with Gabriel for a while but well, he's in a hurry.

Immediately after Mike transferred to the Vatican, Mike went through the documents of all the stray exorcists' hideouts in Italy that the church knew about. Asia can't directly get into contact with fallen angels. So, she must have taken the help of the stray exorcists first.

Mike decided to go to the church Asia used to work for. Mike thought that place would be a good starting point to search for her. The town that Asia lives in doesn't have any fallen angel hideouts due to Mike's influence. So, Asia should be in some of the nearby towns. Anyway, Mike reached the place and Vasco was already there. Vasco was relieved seeing Mike and made the people explain to Mike what happened in detail. Mike analyzed the dead body of the exorcist.

"She's been gone for a long time. We don't know where she went. What do we do now?" Vasco asked Mike.

"Let's start from the nearest stray exorcist hideout." Mike and Vasco took the vehicle that Vasco used to come there. Mike's phone rang and he found that it's Raynare.

(( Alright, I got the info! How should I send it to you?! ))

"Just tell me the latitudes and longitudes. I will take care of the rest!" Mike has a good memory power and a good sense of direction. Raynare gave him the details and Mike analyzed it with the information he got from the Vatican to guess where Asia is.

********************

Asia Argento is a holy maiden with a single friend. She is a kind child. Everyone around her looks at her as if she's a monster but she still helps them. Her only joy comes from the letters. Ever since she befriended Mike, they have been continuously exchanging letters. And she thought that this life would be enough for her. But one day, she found an injured devil. She doesn't like to see people in pain. So, she healed the devil and the devil tried to reach out to her as if saying thanks. At that moment, an exorcist found them and shouted at them. The devil suddenly killed the exorcist and ran away from the place.

Asia was shocked by the situation. She immediately went towards the fallen exorcist and tried to heal him but he was already dead. Asia started crying and the remaining people found her. She explained to them what happened and the people started blaming her. She was quickly excommunicated from the church after they showered her with a lot of insults.

Asia was still a child. So, she didn't understand what to do in the situation. The face of her only friend came into her mind. She has some money and also her belongings with her. She quickly left her town and went to a nearby town. After going to the nearby town, she thought of sending a letter to Mike for help. But she quickly decided against it. The things she did are considered as sins by the church. She didn't want Mike to get involved with a person who sinned. So, she ultimately wrote a farewell letter thanking him for being her friend and put it in the nearby post box.

After that, while she thought about what to do next, she was approached by some shady people. She tried to get away from there. But she was captured. When she asked them about it, they told her that the fallen angels keep track of stray exorcists and that her sacred gear is useful for their leader. In other words, they were going to kill her by removing her sacred gear. Asia just accepted her fate. She was glad that she was able to send one final letter to her only friend before she was captured. She doesn't have any regrets anymore. She wished that the letter would safely reach Mike.

Time passed by and Asia waited for her death. It seems that they are still preparing the ritual to take away her sacred gear. Suddenly there was a huge sound. It seems a few devils attacked this hideout. The devils killed everyone in there except Asia. Asia was a little shocked by all the dead bodies around her. She then looked at the devils. There were five girls and a guy. Asia recognized the guy. It was the same person who she healed. The gentle-looking devil with blond hair and squinty eyes.

"Forgive me for running away back then. I came back to repay my favor. I am Diodora Astaroth.", said the guy. He came near Asia and kneeled in front of her. He took her hand and kissed the back of the hand. "You must be really angry at me for becoming the reason for you being excommunicated from the church. I didn't intend to hurt that exorcist that badly when I was running away. I am sorry." The guy said with a smile.

"Ah, please don't apologize. I am not really angry with you. But all of this just to save me..." Asia looked at the dead bodies around her. Since she is a kind girl, she felt sorry for them even though they are about to kill her.

"So, Asia Argento, since you are excommunicated because of me, I would like to take responsibility. Will you become my bishop?", asked the guy with a gentle-looking face.

"Bishop? You mean, a devil?" Asia understood that he is asking her to become a devil. "I thank you for saving me but I humbly refuse." Of course, she refused in an instant. "I still believe in God and I still pray. I can't become a devil. I would rather die." Diodora's squinty eyes twitched for a second when Asia replied to him.

"Can't you see that God abandoned you?!", one of the girls behind Diodora shouted. The girl was calmed by the other girls.

"Forgive her. All of us were also once holy maidens like you. We were unreasonably cast away by the church. Diodora-sama is the one who took us into his care when even God abandoned us. Trust me, you will like being in his care." One of the girls explained to Asia.

Asia felt sorry for them but she still decided to believe in God. So, she was about to refuse once again but suddenly someone called her loudly. "ASIA!!!", She never thought she would hear his voice here. She quickly looked in the direction of the voice. And there stood a masked-child. "Mike-sama?" Asia couldn't contain her surprise.

"I am sorry I am late." The youth calmly said. He didn't care about the dead bodies, he didn't care about the devils. The devils attacked him but he simply dodged and blocked their attacks and calmly walked towards Asia and took her hand. "Let's go", Mike started taking her away from there with just those words.

"Please stop. May I know where she is being taken." The one who interrupted is Diodora Astaroth. Mike wanted to kill this guy instantly but he prioritized Asia and postponed this guy's death for a while.

"Back to the church" Mike calmly stated.

"But Mike-sama, I-I was..." Asia tried to say that she was excommunicated because she sinned.

"It's not your fault. Let's go." Mike cut her midway. The devils were completely stunned. They already understood they can't deal with Mike.

Just at that moment, another person entered the scenario, it was Vasco Strada. He came and looked at Asia and sighed with relief. "Haa... Thank goodness we found her."

"Vasco-sama too?" Asia was surprised that the two people she admires came looking for her. Vasco patted Asia. "We are here to take you back."

"Why?! Why did no one come when I was cast out?! Why did the two of you come for this little girl?!" one of the girls that stood behind Diodora shouted at the unfair situation.

"Were you girls also nuns and holy maidens once?" Mike asked. The girls glared at him. Well, Mike already knew the scenario but he has to act as if he didn't know anything. He wants to keep 'Raynare' a secret after all.

Mike sighed. "Gramps, I am taking down the guy. Take care of those five girls." Saying this, Mike instantly appeared before Diodora and punched him hardly such that Diodora was sent flying out of the building making a hole in the wall. Diodora was able to stop himself in the midair because Mike didn't really hit that hard. Mike left Vasco to deal with the girls in the building and flew towards Diodora.

"So, may I assume that you are the one that Asia healed?" Mike said.

"That was me. Michaelangelo Strada, I think there is no need for us to fight. You can just take Asia and go." Diodora knew that he stood no chance against this guy. So, he tried to negotiate.

"Nah, for the crime of framing Asia, I have to kill you." Mike didn't want to negotiate.

"What you might be talking about?" Diodora tried to bluff.

"Ah, just the fact that you injured yourself and made Asia heal you. And the exorcist was not initially in your plan but when he appeared, you killed him so that Asia would get more blame." Mike explained.

"You must be mistaken." Diodora was still acting with a calm smile.

"Oh really? Then why were you injured?"

"I was attacked by a fallen angel group" he bluffed again.

"There are no fallen angel groups nearby that church. I made sure that they are all cleared for Asia's safety. And you are not that weak. How about this? Tell me why you killed the exorcist." Mike basically told him that his first bluff is worthless and gave him a chance to bluff again.

"It was an accident. I didn't intend to kill him. I just ran away." Another bluff by Diodora.

"If you really wanted to escape, why would you injure the man's vitals too deeply? Even if we say, you accidentally went for the vitals while escaping, a person would deeply injure the vitals only if the person wants to kill. It's impossible to accidentally do that. Because that injury requires a certain amount of skill. As for why you did that, you injured him too deeply because you didn't want Asia to heal him. You had to make sure that guy is spot dead so that Asia won't be able to save him." Mike told that this bluff is useless too.

Diodora didn't say anything this time. Mike continued. "After I found out that all the others are holy maidens too, I understood the scenario. You have a fetish for nuns and holy maidens. You seduce them, the church casts them out, you appear as their savior and win over them. I can't let you continue. So, I will kill you."

"Hahahaha!!" Diodora started laughing at Mike's declaration. "Well, I have to praise you for your intelligence! You are exactly correct. All those five girls, I got them after breaking them! I enjoyed their pain, sadness, and despair. It's the ultimate enjoyment for me. And what crime did I commit according to church? The church is the one that unreasonably cast them out. I just took advantage of the church's stupid policy! I was about to add Asia to my collection too but unfortunately, you stopped me." Diodora confessed but he's not afraid of Mike. "You want to kill me for taking advantage of the church's stupidity? I am Diodora Astaroth, the heir of the Astaroth clan. Do you think the devils will be silent after you killed me? Do you think Ajuka Beelzebub-sama, whom I am related to with blood, will stay silent after my death? Haha! I would like to see you try!"

Diodora was confident that Mike would leave him. Mike sighed and took out the phone. "Thank you for being an idiot. I really wanted you to confess and you did. The call is connected to Gramps. All the girls must have listened to this. Now, I can kill you." Mike already told Vasco that Diodora might have framed Asia. So, Mike separated Diodora from the group so that he can get Diodora to confess while Vasco can make the others listen to the conversation.

"Normally I would torture the people I don't like before killing them but you disgust me so much that I don't even want to do that," Mike said with a disgusted expression and instantly killed Diodora.

Mike went back to the building to meet Vasco and the remaining people but he was a little shocked by what he found. "What happened?" Mike asked even though he could guess.

Vasco explained to Mike, "They killed themselves, Mike. The moment they realized the truth, they could no longer take it. Asia and I weren't able to stop them." The devils that served Diodora committed suicide. The five girls lost everything when they were cast out from the church. They thought God abandoned them. Diodora appeared as their new God but after knowing the truth, they couldn't take it anymore. They felt that the whole world betrayed them. They felt as if everything is a lie. The only way to escape it was death. So, they looked at Asia and smiled at her. They called her lucky before they ended their own lives.

"*hic* *hic* I tried to heal them but... but... Uwaahhhh!!" Asia couldn't stop crying. The toll was too much on her brain too. She found out that she was framed. Many people died and she couldn't save a single one of them. The only thing that's keeping her sane is the fact that Mike and Vasco are with her. Mike went and comforted her.

After Asia stopped crying, Mike looked at the dead bodies of the five girls. "Names..." he muttered. "We don't even know their names..."

Mike went outside and called Raynare. (( Yeah, Mike, did you find her? ))

"Yeah, I did. Leaving that aside, Raynare, can you tell me the names of the girls in Diodora Astaroth's peerage?" Mike asked.

(( Ah, I don't know. They are just cannon fodder. So, the author never had the necessity to name them. ))

Mike let out a dry laugh at Raynare's answer. "Haha... I want to give those girls a proper burial and I don't even know their names. These authors can be sometimes too cruel to their characters, don't you think? Making the characters go through so much suffering and yet, not even mentioning their names. You are saying that you are a fan of this kind of story, Raynare?" Raynare couldn't say anything against that statement. Mike just cut the call without waiting for her response.