Resolve

[Afternoon — Abandoned Church, Kuoh]

{Freed Sellzen}

"W-Why are you doing this, P-Priest Freed—"

"Shut up, cunt!"

This bitch was as annoying as any other.

"Blame yourself for being excommunicated," I said as I had her strapped to the cross. "If you were still with the church, you would have lived."

Those bitches, Raynare, Kalawarner, and the other two...

What were their names?

Mittelt and Dohnaseek?

They either got caught or killed, and because of them, my entire plan also went down the drain.

"P-Please let me go—"

So fucking annoying!

"I will let you go."

I could see her eyes flickering with hope as I said that.

"R-Really?" she asked, shuddering. The metallic cross against her bare skin had left cut marks all around.

"Yes," I said, grinning at her hopeful expression. "Once I rip the Sacred Gear off your dead body, I will let you go."

Within seconds, her hopeful expression turned to one of horror.

"P-Please…" she cried, "Let me go…"

Too bad for her.

"W-Why are you doing this?"

Thankfully, that bitch left the machine in working condition. I just had to figure out how it activated and how I could extract her Sacred Gear.

"You should ask God why he gave you the Gear," I said. "You'll die here, so you can meet him soon."

I could feel her fear; I could taste it.

And it felt sweet.

"I just need to—oh?"

It turned on!

"Consider yourself lucky, little nun!" The machine roared with energy. "You can die now rather than later!"

"P-Please let me go…"

"Soon, soon you'll go to heaven!"

And I wouldn't have to force myself to blabber in Italian!

"Yes, the machine is ready!"

It was beaming with power!

"Congratulations! You will soon go to God!"

I jumped back and aimed the machine directly at her—ready to fire it and extract the Sacred Gear.

"So sing your prayers~"

Three.

"P-Please—"

Two.

"Here we fucking go, baby!"

One!

I slammed the button the moment I saw the device was fully charged.

However…

Instead of firing, the machine short-circuited and caught fire.

"WHO THE FUCK!"

As I turned around, I saw who was responsible for the machine malfunctioning.

"You…"

A boy stood with his palm pointed at the machine—his hands smoking.

And a bunch of little fucking girls.

"Devils."

…

…

That fucker…

"Reo, be careful."

I could feel my blood boiling.

"Which fucking son of a bitch did that!" the scoundrel yelled. "Come forward."

"Don't fall for his words," Sona warned. "We will handle this. Just back us up."

"You are in Devil territory, exorcist." Sona took the lead. "And you will answer to us."

Her peerage stood vigilant next to her, weapons out and magic flaring.

But me?

I?

I wanted to handle this man.

I knew the girl who was strapped to that metallic cross. I knew the girl who was tied up naked to satisfy his twisted fantasies.

I knew her…

"Asia."

Sona glanced at me for a second. "You know her?"

Seeing me nod, she walked forward.

"Free her, and we might let you live," she said, raising her hand.

"Hah? You letting me live?" The crazy man in priest attire laughed maniacally at Sona's words. "No, no, no. You have it all wrong."

His face looked increasingly disgusting as he laughed.

"Who said you will be able to leave here alive?" His face changed, appearing feral. "Oh, no. All you whores and dogs will die here."

As Sona and the rest had their magic out on display, the man took out his weapons as well.

A silver gun and a sword whose blade shone with light—seemingly made entirely of light.

"Then you leave us with no choice." Sona sighed and looked at me, whispering, "Stay safe, and back us up from a distance."

Against this man? I wanted to be on the front lines.

{Name: Freed Sellzen}

{Class: Middle Class}

{Threat: Mid-Low Level}

{Type: Artificially Blessed Human}

It didn't matter what his threat level was. He was going down.

"Once I fucking kill you, I will have fun fucking your bodies!" He laughed like a madman. "The best feeling is fucking dead devils!"

What was he talking about?

However, before I could process his words, I saw him pointing his gun at Sona and, without wasting a second, he shot.

"Tsubaki."

Sona wasn't fazed and called for her Queen.

And for the first time, I saw a Sacred Gear used in battle.

"What!"

A massive mirror, almost the same size as Sona, appeared before her and instantly reflected the bullet—purely made of light—back towards the man.

"You fucking devils!" he yelled and defended himself from the bullet by cutting it in half, deflecting it to the sides.

"You are fucking dead!" he shouted and shot at random members of Sona's team, making it impossible for the mirror to protect everyone.

But they were fast.

"Dodge."

Amazingly, they all managed to dodge the bullets.

The priest expected them to dodge, so seeing them scattered, he rushed at Sona with his sword.

"Tsubasa, Tomoe."

What impressed me was her command over her team and their perfect synergy.

The moment the priest's sword neared her, her two knights jumped forward with their swords, forming a cross and stopping his sword by trapping it.

She sighed, not amused by his actions. "This will be a little annoying with Saji being absent, but we can still kill you."

She said this right to the man's face.

"Surrender now, and I might still let you live." Her tone turned grim. "And this is your last chance."

"Fuck you, cunt!"

He didn't surrender; instead, he tried to shoot her by quickly pulling out his gun.

It was impossible for that mirror to spawn again with such a small distance between him and Sona.

I was prepared to strike him with a gust or fireball.

But I didn't need to.

"It's futile," Sona whispered as she moved her hand towards the gun.

To my surprise, I saw the bullet leave the gun—but never reach her.

"You—" The man gritted his teeth, but it was useless.

The bullet got caught in an orb of water, similar to my water prison, but her control seemed far superior to mine.

"Looks like you have made your choice." For the first time, I saw her smile in front of him.

And it was not a comforting smile.

It was sadistic, like the one he wore.

But I didn't have time to focus on them.

I knew they had it all under control.

So, I did what was necessary and jumped to the side, running towards Asia.

I had to make sure she was safe.

Seeing how much of a lunatic the priest was, if he realized he was losing, he might try to harm Asia.

Thankfully, the machine was fully destroyed by my lightning, so it wouldn't be turning on anytime soon.

The issue at hand was getting Asia out of that cross.

"Asia." I finally reached the girl. "I will help you."

"R-Reo?" she called my name, speaking words I didn't understand.

"Don't worry, I will save you." I reassured her, even though I knew she wouldn't understand me.

The sick fuck had her tied up entirely naked. But I couldn't feel ashamed at the moment.

Her life was worth more than pride and respect.

"Let me untie you."

The straps were extremely tight. But the rush of adrenaline I felt also gave me a boost in strength.

And my passive was already active.

<>

My strength was far greater than any normal human, so I was able to tear off the straps that had her tied.

"Ah!"

She nearly fell, but thankfully, she was light enough for me to catch before she could hit the ground.

"Are you… are you alright?" I asked, looking straight into her eyes.

She couldn't understand my words, but she got the gist of it. So she nodded, reassuring me.

I managed to take her to a safe corner and let her sit down.

I saw her trying to cover her body, embarrassed that I had seen her naked.

This broke my heart.

She was a sweet girl, believing in God and always smiling—believing in everyone.

"Just a second."

I quickly took off my peacoat and handed it to her.

"Take it."

She looked at me and then, with shaky hands, took it from me, bringing it close to her chest.

I closed my eyes, assuring her that I wouldn't look. After a few seconds, I heard the fabric being pulled.

"R-Reo." She called my name, and I slowly opened my eyes.

She was covered, the peacoat long enough to reach her thighs.

"I will get you out of here." I promised her.

She deserved none of this.

This Fallen, crazy priest, devil madness.

None of it.

She looked at me hopefully.

"Reo!"

I couldn't even focus on her.

"Duck!"

I didn't know how…

I didn't know why…

"Fucking die, you son of a bitch!"

But the madman had escaped from Sona's grasp and was inches away from slicing off my face.

"Reo!" Even Asia gasped.

But.

I had had enough of this crazed fucker.

<>

Knowing better than to target his head or his entire body, I cast the spell with his arm in mind.

"Aghhhhhhhhh!"

This time, the lightning that shot out didn't kill him or melt his entire body—but it did rip off his entire right arm, making him cry out in pain.

"Handle him." I muttered, barely holding onto my anger. "Sona."

"Everyone!" Sona yelled, "Get him!"

In that instant, I saw her entire team jumping at him with all their powers and weapons.

They had him pinned to the ground, his head pointed at me—shouting and hurling curses.

"You fucking plague!" he cried out, the pain from having his arm blown off was overwhelming. "You filthy rabid dogs!"

His mind was broken from the pain; he was unable to move because he was pinned down.

"I will fucking gut you! I will skin you like I skinned those fucking kids!"

What… is he talking about?

"I will rape you like I raped those shitty nuns!"

"I will murder your fucking family! I will burn your fucking father alive and rape your mother in front of his burning body!"

"You see, Reo," Sona said as her team held onto the madman. "Sometimes, some people are better off dead than alive."

She wasn't wrong.

"Some people should not be kept alive."

He deserved to die.

"Some people are like diseases that harm the innocent, make them suffer, and eat them alive."

This guy…

He must not be allowed into society ever again.

"This man has raped, tortured, and killed more innocents than you can imagine."

"Let me go, you fuckers!" His yell filled my ears. "I will murder all of you."

"So don't feel pain when you have to kill," Sona said. "I will kill this one, but remember that sometimes, letting monsters like him live is not the answer."

However, my response was not what she was expecting.

"No." I said, "You should not kill him."

She looked confused. "What do you—"

"Let me." I said, "Let me do it."

She was beyond surprised.

"You mean…"

"Yes." I said, "This is the only way I can understand your words. This is the only way to get used to this life."

Because now, whether I wanted it or not, I was part of this messed-up world of supernaturals. To survive and save other innocent people, I would need to kill in the future.

I had finally realized this.

"You…" She stared at me. "Are you sure?"

My answer was my raised hand, pointed at his face.

"You son of a—"

<>

The face… that was no more.

{Congratulations!}

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