23 - My Night with Two Girls... well, almost

With all of my companions arriving and Kalawarner lying at his feet, Freed took a step back while gritting his teeth.

However, he quickly regained his composure, and a look of wicked excitement took over his face.

"Oooh~! It looks like the whole group of little devils is finally together!" he said, laughing sinisterly. "This is going to be fun! So much fun!"

I raised my head, breathing despite the pain caused by the silver bullets. "You're... really more stupid than... I thought." I said, struggling to get the words out. "You didn't even defeat me, a novice devil, and look, I can still stand."

Although I could barely stay awake, I gave it my all to remain standing. I wanted to wipe that worried look off Asia's face and erase that smug look off Freed Sellzen's.

My words hit the priest like a punch, and I saw momentary fear in his eyes.

The exorcist waved a hand. "How?! How can you be okay after all those shots?!"

Rias smiled at the corner of her mouth. "Leonard-kun is a devil who is on the same level as me. It's no wonder that a mere exorcist like you can't kill him."

"And who do you think you are? Aren't you being a little too arrogant for a mere devil?" Freed asked, but he couldn't help but glance at the Fallen Angel that the red-haired girl had thrown at his feet.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Rias Gremory, heir to the Gremory family." Rias said, placing her right hand on the left side of her chest.

"Gre-Gremory...?" Freed began to take a few steps back.

When the priest realized who was standing before him, he began to despair.

"No, no, no! This can't be happening! You shouldn't have come now!" Freed turned his back on us and started running toward the altar, but halfway there he tripped over a piece of the bench he had cut in half.

Face down on the floor, he began to crawl up the few steps of the church altar.

"Please, Mittelt, Dohnaseek, someone!"

However, no matter how loudly he pleaded, no one came to his rescue. When he finally realized this, Freed turned and glared at us with hatred!

"Damn you all! If I'm going to die, at least I'll take one of you with me!"

Freed raised his weapon and pointed it directly at me, but before Freed could fire, a blue flash tore through the air, and a powerful thunderclap echoed throughout the room.

"ARGHHHHHH!!!" Freed screamed in pain, his eyes wide.

I looked to the side and saw Akeno with a sadistic smile on her lips. There was still some residual electricity in her hands.

"Ara~! I love it when they scream like that; too bad it was so quick!"

When the thunder dissipated, smoke began to pour out of Freed's body. He had been completely pulverized by Akeno's attack, unrecognizable — his skin black as coal, his eyes blown out by the thunder, and his exorcist clothes also burned.

I blinked, still trying to process what had just happened. A single attack from Akeno was enough to finish him off... It was impossible not to feel that there was still a huge power gap between me and these talented devils. I would need to work hard to keep up with them.

Anyway, in the end everything turned out fine, and luckily, Asia was saved.

Rias walked toward me with a serious look on her face.

"Hello, what's your name?" She bent her knees to get a little lower and asked, but I realized it wasn't meant for me.

"Asia Argento," the skinny, petite girl with blonde hair who was cowering behind me replied.

"It's okay now, Asia," Rias said, smiling gently. "You don't need to be afraid anymore. We're here for you."

Asia looked at Rias, still trembling, but slowly began to calm down. Rias' kind words seemed to have a quick effect, perhaps because Asia was naive and trusted in the goodness of people.

"Thank you... thank you so much," Asia murmured.

Trying to ignore the pain that still throbbed in my body, I placed a comforting hand on Asia's shoulder. "Everything will be okay. Trust me when I say that."

Despite all the pain I was feeling, the innocent smile Asia offered me at that moment was like finding an oasis in the middle of the desert.

"I know, you're a good person, Leonard-kun." She smiled in relief and said.

Curiously, after Asia told me I was a good person, my conscience faltered once again, and this time I couldn't take it. I can't tell if the reason for this was the exhausting sequence of Boosts I received or if it was because of the silver bullets lodged in my body, but it didn't matter in the end.

[You gained +1 Heart with Rias Gremory.]

[You gained +2 Hearts with Asia Argento.]

When I woke up, rays of sunlight timidly entered through the half-open curtain. I opened my eyes slowly, bothered by the light kissing my face. It felt like I hadn't slept this well in ages.

In the first few moments of waking up, I realized that somehow I was back in my room.

"How did I get here?"

However, when I tried to move, I felt that my bed was much tighter than usual and I could feel soft "things" wrapped around my arms.

Sleepily, I turned my head to my left and saw the beautiful Rias Gremory. Her red hair was spread across the pillow like a fan of fire, and her naked body was partially covered by a white sheet, the same sheet that was over my body. My left arm was squeezed between her breasts.

I wasn't surprised, because this had also happened on my first day as a devil.

'Wait a second... If the soft feeling I have on this arm is her breasts, what am I feeling on my other arm?'

I slowly turned my head and saw that there was also a girl on my right. With her blonde hair and gentle expression, it was undoubtedly Asia Argento!

Unlike Rias, Asia was dressed in simple cyan pajamas that were a little larger than normal on her body.

The way they held my arms and were dressed completely differently was... it was like having an angel and, literally, a devil tempting me at the same time!