Chapter 112 - Chapped

The Tezguniuth in front of Galgredol is like a stranger to her. She knows his name, and his history, but the fellow Knight no longer resembles the one she knows in the past.

"What do you really want…" She subconsciously utters in confoundment at his words.

"To live among humans until hell comes back. To be a spectator of the 'Final Battle'. To see how heaven and hell fare against the power of mankind." Tezguniuth declares.

"Shouldn't it be the other way around?" Galgredol says in contempt.

"…" Vaskumus's face twitches, and Galgredol notices.

"You don't agree with me?" Galgredol asks, displeased.

"I agree, Ser." Vaskumus replies quickly out of panic.

"Hn." Galgredol grunts, planning on talking to the Soldier about the reaction later.

"If you want to live long enough to see that day, Tezguniuth, isn't it better for you if you join us?" She proceeds to persuade Tezguniuth instead.

"Hm…" Tezguniuth softly exclaims, reminded of something.

"I noticed these past few days that many demon traps throughout Nerima were all sabotaged. Was it your group's doing?" He asks.

"Yes." Galgredol confirms.

"So your group is based in this city." Tezguniuth nods, hiding his annoyance.

"And pretty recently too. That means your group was forced to move. Were you chased out of your previous nest?" He asks the two.

"…"

"…" Galgredol and Vaskumus are speechless by the accuracy of Tezguniuth's guess.

"And Vaskumus here told me that you recently awoke. It seems like you, Galgredol, were the cause of your group's nest being discovered." Tezguniuth adds, and while stating his guess, he sees Galgredol's face slowly crumple, making him feel pleasantly surprised that his guess is more accurate than he expected.

"I've lived in this city for a few years undetected …" Het gets the nerve to lie . "…and you moving to this city, nay, even talking to you, risks my peaceful life here, getting destroyed." He steps away from Galgredol.

"How can you assure my safety if you can't even properly take care of yourself?" He concludes his rant.

"I've learned from my mistakes, Tezguniuth…" Galgredol can only bitterly admit.

She is not about to give up however.

"But if you don't need our help, then we definitely need yours. You claim you've stayed undetected for years. No matter how much I try to think about how you managed to do that, and by yourself, just does not seem possible to me.

"Unless, you can walk in and out of demon traps yourself, which is not possible, there is only one way you can do that; you have a human, no, humans working for you, informing you of demon traps' locations, rescuing you when you get trapped in one."

Tezguniuth sighs. He already expected this outcome the moment Galgredol showed herself, but he was still hoping that she will not make that connection. Even though Galgredol's conclusion is not true, denying it will be hard and useless. Furthermore, Galgredol simply believing her conclusion makes his job much more complicated.

"Looks like I'm right. That girl back there at your table, is she one of yours?" Galgredol asks.

"If you want to threaten me, then just do it honestly." Tezguniuth scoffs.

"Give me a few days." He can only try to stall or weasel his way out. In his heart, he does not care about Sayuri's safety. He would even eliminate her himself to erase a burden. But Sayuri is Fumio's sister, and Fumio is his master's disciple.

"A few days, huh? Can you lend your human to us?" Galgredol asks, barely suppressing her gloating as she wordlessly orders Vaskumus to prepare for action.

"No." Tezguniuth refuses.

"Oh… If you dare take her, then I'll just disappear to my back-up identities. I'll even report you to the Iwamoto Clan just to be petty."

At each precaution he cites, Galgredol's smug face slowly disappears.

"You dare do that to your fellow demon?" Galgredol asks, barely suppressing her anger.

"You threaten my peace, my man, and you don't expect me to fight back? Do you think you can just roll over me?" Tezguniuth growls.

"…" Galgredol is stumped.

"You are still as arrogant as ever and because of that, my considerations in joining you, are gone." Tezguniuth says in finality.

"You Vaskumus, I have not seen how you have lived since you woke up. But I know Galgredol. If you want to live longer, and enjoy the identity of your host's body, then leave her leadership." He gives Vaskumus advice, knowing that Vaskumus is only staying under Galgredol because of her strength.

"You… bastard." Galgredol glares at Tezguniuth.

She would have jumped on him by now if they are not in a public place.

"And a traitor…" She can only weakly add.

"Traitor? To what? To who? Have I ever been TRULY loyal? Or was I simply forced to?" Tezguniuth asks.

He then raises his hands to the side and snaps his fingers making a *CRACK* loud crisp sound.

Galgredol and Vaskumus are caught off-guard, and even if they were not, they are not faster than sound.

The sound wave produced by Tezguniuth's snap enters their ears, making them freeze. Even though their brains are still alert, their bodies are paralyzed, so they can only look at Tezguniuth in defiance.

"A piece of advice. I can easily start a new life. You two cannot. So keep your heads down and learn to live like humans. Don't try to do something as stupid as raising hell on earth." Tezguniuth says, before activating his invisibly seal.

Tezguniuth disappearing into thin air shocks the two demons greatly.

"Next time we see each other, I hope we can all act like strangers."

They then hear his voice one last time before they are sure that he has left.

A minute later, the effect of Tezguniuth's ability wears off of Galgredol. Galgredol can only shake Vaskumus, freeing her subordinate from his state.

"What do we do now, Ser?" Vaskumus asks, trying not to laugh at what just happened to Galgredol.

"Lets… just count our losses." Galgredol bitterly grumbles but swears inside to get back at Tezguniuth.

<>

9PM.

"Nana-san. Are all of them in bed?" Yoshiko asks one of the demon baby sitters as she sees the demon exit the children's house.

Even though it is no longer her job to be the children's caretaker, she still feels worried about the amount of sleep that they are getting.

"Yes, Yoshiko-san. Kichirou-sama's drink did their wonders." Nana reports as she does a polite bow.

"…T-that's good…" Yoshiko still cannot believe that Nana in front of her is acting so politely to her. That is the same with Red's other demon servants.

"If there's nothing else, I bid you a good night." Nana excuses herself before leaving.

"*Phew…*" Yoshiko sighs in relief.

"Good job, Yoshiko… Good job." She pats herself on the shoulder.

"Demons…" She then shakes her head.

She wants them to stay away from the children and herself as far as possible. But the demons being under Red's employ, she can only wish.

"Yoshiko-san." She is startled by a female voice from behind her and turns around in panic.

"R-roku-s-san…" She greets the demon maid awkwardly.

"We've noticed your behavior since last night. Did Kotone-san finally tell you?" Roku asks.

"E-er… yes." Yoshiko gets embarrassed that she did not act as normal as she thought.

"Even though Kotone-san assured you, it seems that it was not enough. Your hatred for us after all, seems personal and deep." Roku says.

"I don't-…" Yoshiko wants to deny, but her heart cannot.

"It's understandable." Roku nods.

"I will not make excuses for my kind. I will also not tell you to trust any demon that you meet."

"I-I see…" Yoshiko frowns, confused at Roku's words.

"But the ones in this hill; me and the other demons living here, I ask that you give us the benefit of the doubt. Kichirou-sama handpicked us for a reason, and even trusted us to take care of the children. Whoever that demon is, that one who made you hate our kind so deeply, we are not like them." Roku attempts to assure Yoshiko.

Yoshiko feels the demon's sincerity but she does not want to promise anything to her.

"I will try." Is the best she can do.

"This might be rude to ask, but… Do you still remember that demon?" Roku asks.

"What abilities did they have, or what they look like? I might have known them." She adds.

Yoshiko's eyes widen for a moment, realizing the benefit of Roku's help.

"Yes." She nods.

"He had a long shiny knife which …"

She takes a deep breath to stabilize her emotions.

"…he used to slash my mother's chest. He also had this shiny bowl, which looked to have been made with the same material as the knife, which he used to collect… some glowing liquid flowing from my mother's wounded chest, which I figure was her soul. Then… then he moved on to my father." She recounts with difficulty.

"I'm sorry, I asked." Roku apologizes.

"N-no… no. You will do me an immense favor if you identify him for me." Yoshiko waves the apology off.

She knows that she now has the strength to take revenge, and recounting what happened will help her.

"Okay." Roku nods, but she finds something strange with Yoshiko's story.

"Can you describe the man's knife in more detail?" She asks.

"It's… A knife that does not look like anything I've ever seen. I haven't even seen one like it since. It's uhh…" Yoshiko cannot find the words to describe it.

"By any chance, did it look more like a spike than a long knife? Very elongated, very pointy? Shiny and uniform in color?" Roku asks.

"Yes! Yes!" Yoshiko cannot help but exclaim. "It really was a spike. I thought I saw wrong because of how the demon used it… but…"

"How about the bowl? You said it looked like it was made of the same material as the knife right? How big was it?" Roku asks.

"I… I'm not sure. It was pretty small. The man's hand easily cupped it." Yoshiko recounts vaguely.

"I see…" Roku san shakes her head.

"Roku-san. Do you know this demon? Was his weapon rare?" Yoshiko asks in anticipation, finding Roku's knowledge of the man's weapon accurate.

"T-that…" Roku is not sure whether or not she is the right person to break the news to Yoshiko.

"Please, tell me." Yoshiko holds Roku tightly by the shoulders.

"He was no demon, Yoshiko-san." Roku helplessly says, Yoshiko's raw strength overwhelming her.

"What?! If it was not a demon, then what was he?" Yoshiko almost snarls.

"An angel." Roku answers straight.

Yoshiko is stunned, and her hold on Roku loosens.

"The man's knife is an Angel's blade. A common weapon used by the lowest class of angels; the seraphim. And that bowl is a tool used by them to collect souls." Roku explains.

"You said your mother was wounded, but was there blood? Or was it just a wound glowing white?" She asks.

"G-Glowing white…" Yoshiko utters.

"Yes. Angel blades do not physically harm humans, just the human life." Roku explains further.

"What happened to your parents, that was an angel having a feast. I'm sorry." She concludes.

"A-angel…" Roku's revelation is a huge blow to Yoshiko.

"Yes. I didn't think they'd be living among humans. I heard that they were either killed, or were forced back to heaven when the gates of heaven were closed." Roku too, is surprised by Yoshiko's story.

"But… I thought angels had wings? I didn't see on one him." Yoshiko asks.

"They do. But I'm guessing that that angel you… met… took over a human body." Roku explains.

"There are angel possessions?" Yoshiko is surprised.

"Angels find humans disgusting and they are too proud to possess a human body. But even if they want to, they cannot simply possess a human body without the owner of that body's permission. So, yes. Angel possessions happen, but very rare." Roku confirms.

"But…" She takes a deep breath.

"The considering that heaven is closed, angels that must have escaped from their original bodies for survival, are desperate.. Angel possessions might be more common than I think, especially these days."