Devil of the Beginning

[The Devil System is currently idle]

[Waiting for conditions to fully activate...]

[Calculating...]

[...]

[Progress Towards Activation: 99%]

...

I couldn't calculate fast enough.

I needed more information if I wanted to make a null equation.

With no other choice, I raised my sword.

I could see a gust of air gathering in his fist. This punch was going to hurt. Watching his moves as precisely as I could, I tried to predict his attack. The slight bending of his elbow, the positioning of his feet, the movement in his wrist, I observed it all. Positioning my sword as well I as I could, I closed my eyes and braced for his strike.

There was a loud clang.

"Fuck! Fuck! You little bitch!"

I felt an impact on my blade. He suddenly dropped down, holding his right fist in his arms. Shaking it like a maniac, he yelled in pain. His face was contorted like he had just bit into a big, juicy lemon.

"That fucking hurt! I'm going to kill you... you worthless piece of shit."

Seeing the opening, I raised my blade and swung at his neck. Using air like a launchpad on his feet, he jumped backwards, avoiding my slash.

Suddenly, he began gathering air in his palm again.

Shit.

A moment before he launched his blast of air, I dived to the side. The shockwave smashed into the wall again, causing it to break down completely. Pieces of brick fell onto the ground as the entire side wall began tumbling to the ground. Dust filled the air, and I used the opportunity to get closer to him.

I was close to deciphering his calculations.

However, I noticed that there was a larger ball of air gathering at his palm. He was fuming. He was furious. He was using more power than he had been using before. Air was being sucked from the surroundings, concentrating in his palm. It began forming a miniature tornado, surrounding his hand in the shape of a demon.

Crap. Without much oxygen in my body, I wasn't going to be able to dodge this.

Looking at his previous attacks, this blast would kill me for sure.

I didn't have another choice. This was my one and only trump card.

!!

Come to me, Devil of the Beginning. Lend me your strength.

!!

I raised my sword above my head. A dark black aura began circling around the blade, slowly growing in ferocity. The fog only became thicker as it travelled to the tip of my sword.

"What the fuck are you doing?!"

A pitch-black, horrifying monster rose from the ground. It had no face, no features, only a pure black body. Reaching out toward the esper, it grabbed him by the neck. The devil's fingers wrapped around his neck, causing him to gasp in pain.

"W-w...what the... is this... Aaa!"

The esper scratched at the monster's arms. However, it was in vain. The monster was completely invulnerable to physical attacks. All of a sudden, a large wooden cross began rising from the ground. The boy kicked and struggled, but it was all to no effect. Suddenly, his hands and legs were pierced by impossibly-sharp nails.

"...Arghh! What is this thing?! Get... it away from me...!"

A moment later, blood poured out of every inch of his body. The red liquid exploded from his skin like a broken dam, splattering all over the ground. The girl standing behind him screamed in fear as he fell limp.

Then, it vanished.

The cross and the devil were both gone.

Like they were never here in the first place.

The boy's corpse hit the ground with a thump.

The air around me was released. I breathed it all in, filling my lungs with the air that it was deprived of just moments prior. I gasped and coughed as my body slowly began going back to its original condition.

Ah.

Now the aftereffects were kicking in.

I felt an immense pain all through my body.

It was like my entire body was being burnt in lava. The pain was excruciating. I couldn't even think straight. It was like having a thousand nails stabbed into my body at the same time. It was like someone was carving off my skin with a razer.

It was so painful I could die.

This was the condition for the ability I used.

Immense pain.

The EM-waves around me peaked. There was not a single d-waved within a few centimetres of my body. That was what was causing the pain. No human could sustain having such a high density of EM-waves around them. Even the strongest espers never produced 100% EM-waves. At most, they used 90% EM-waves, and most use less than 60%.

Without any d-waves to dilute the EM-waves, my body suffered immense trauma. There wasn't any actual physical damage, but the pain was definitely real.

All of a sudden, the pain subsided.

Huh?

What just happened?

I looked over at the girl who was huddled in the corner of the room, shaking in fear.

Ah, I get it now.

She was The Initializer, the source of power for Disrupters.

Her ability is to convert nearby EM-waves back into d-waves.

I wasn't sure where Aiko was, but now that I had dealt with this situation, there wasn't much need for me anymore. I could just wait for the NPO or Spectrum-Judgement, since I had The Initializer now.

Slowly, I pulled myself up from the ground. My body was still in shock after the pain, but aside from that, there wasn't any damage.

I made my way over to her.

"You're The Initializer, right."

"Y-yeah... please... d-don't kill me... I'm sorry..."

"Don't worry. I'm not going to kill you."

I stuck my hand out to her.

From what I observed earlier, it seemed that she wasn't really a part of the organisation. She didn't seem to have any trust in the boy, watching as if she was hoping that he'd die. I noticed that the moment the boy's corpse hit the ground, her eyes glimmered, if only for a second.

"Come with me. I've got someone who wants to see you."

With tears in her eyes, she looked up at me.

"Mm!"

A smile formed on her face.