Jay stood amidst silence around the Kyoto hot summer breeze, his eyes locked on the man who had appeared as if from the very fabric of the shadows.
Jay was confused. He clearly didn't know about the man in front of him. He was laughing. It was a dry, melodic sound that didn't match the predatory aura radiating from his frame.
"Kuku of course you wouldn't remember me," the man said, wiping a mock tear from his eye. "You were quite dead the last time our paths crossed. Or, at least, you should have been. I don't usually make mistakes when it comes to life and death, yet here you are, breathing and glaring. I wonder what happened after i left... Care to explain it to me? If you don't mind of course."
Jay remained silent, his body is a statue of wary tension. But he swears that this man is talking too much.
"Oh yeah my apologies, my name is Azazel," the man said, offering a casual wave.
Jay's pupils contracted. The name hit him like a physical blow. He didn't flinch but his mind raced. He shifted his weight imperceptibly as he centering his gravity. He ready to make a move anytime.
"Governor of Grigori," Jay whispered, stared at the man in front him with indifferent look.
"Huu... I'm still famous even for the youth huh. That feels good."
He began a silent inspection.
Inside Domain of his own the world was laid bare. Who would have thought that the man who looked like a middle-aged salaryman with disheveled hair, a slight stubble, and a suit that had seen better days is the leader of one of Abrahamic factions.
But within the domain, that facade crumbled. No matter how much he trying to hide it, Azazel was a blazing sun of violet and black energy. The sheer density of his power was staggering.
'He is easily the strongest i've met so far from the sheer energy alone,' Jay thought, his heart hammering against his ribs. 'Stronger than Berjequel. He's easily somewhere around the Ultimate-class,'
But Jay couldn't help but find it funny and ironic at the same time. The beings of myth, the entities that had defined human religion and terror for millennia, looked like they were one bad day away from an office breakdown.
I don't think this supranatural world would stop surprising him anytime soon.
"Why don't you lower your tension a little bit?" Azazel asked, leaning back against the wall as he looking at Jay with funny look. "I can feel your gaze piercing right through me. It's a bit rude, don't you think? I'm an old man, my heart can't take the pressure. Oh i'm not swing that way too, so please stop looking at me like that."
'Yeah this guy talks too much.' He thought.
Jay ignored him outright. This couldn't be Azazel. Whoever this was, he was just a pathetic man armed with bad jokes and unearned familiarity.
His attention drifted back to the house. Something was unfolding there. He could feel it, two additional magical imprints pressing against the original one, their presence tense, confrontational.
Whatever was happening inside, it was no longer a simple encounter.
Silence stretched between them until Azazel snapped his fingers, his face brightening as if he'd just remembered where he left his keys.
"Ah, right! I almost forgot the most important part."
"Hm?" Jay grunted.
"Vali," Azazel said, his tone softening just a fraction. "The boy is under my care now. He's alive, Jay. Though, he's been a bit of a mess. He was convinced you were dead for real."
The world seemed to stop for a second. The icy wall Jay had built around his emotions cracked. A warmth, sudden and fierce flooded his chest. 'Vali was safe.' He thought, and he hadn't been recaptured by another of his father's troops. He was free.
A thin, genuine smile touched Jay's lips. It was a rare sight as a momentary lapse in his stoic mask.
"That's... good."
"You should meet him," Azazel pushed, watching Jay's reaction with keen calculating eyes. "He's been depressed you know, all he know is getting stronger and that's all he knew. A reunion would probably do wonders for him... And it also would help me away from his noisy requests." Azazel said the last part in whisper but Jay could hear it clearly.
Jay's smile vanished as quickly as it had appeared. The mask slid back into place, colder than before.
"There is no good that will come from our reunion. We walk different paths now."
Azazel sighed, shrugging. "Suit yourself. Tsk... Kids these days and their drama. So, speaking of paths, what brings you here to the Far East?"
"Isn't that what I should be asking you, Governor?" Jay countered. "What are your kind doing here?"
Azazel turned his gaze toward the house in the distance, his expression turning uncharacteristically somber. "If you're planning on jumping into that mess, I'd advise against it. As a wise man and definitely an older one, I can tell you the Shinto Factions don't take kindly to outsiders playing in their backyard. You step in there, and you're not just fighting monsters. You're starting a diplomatic nightmare."
"Talking about yourself?" Jay said.
"I am just an observant..." Azazel shrugged.
'So that's how it is. Azazel didn't technically involved but his people definitely did. That's also the reason why he asked for support from Grauzeberer. Especially considering the tension between Grauzeberer with The Wizard of Oz as Glenda said.' Jay thought, now he can slowly understand Azazel stance in this whole thing.
Jay's response was a simple shrug. "Are you going to stop me then?"
The air hummed. In an instant, a shimmering violet barrier erupted around them, cutting off the hot summer breeze of kyoto, and the atmosphere stopped as if it suspended. The space felt tighter, pressurized. Azazel hadn't even moved his hands.
'A barrier, huh?' Jay thought.
"You care that much about a bit of property damage in the human world?" Jay asked, genuinely curious.
"I don't like wasting my budget on repairs, i am a responsible noble man after all." Azazel quipped, though his eyes remained sharp. "Besides, you're Vali's friend. As his foster father, I suppose it's also my job to discipline his little naughty friend."
Jay didn't want to fight. He knew his limits. Without the True Cross, beating Azazel was a statistically near impossible right now if the rumours was true. But he couldn't just leave the chance to test his strength with one of if not the strongest Fallen Angels alive.
"Let's see it then," Jay whispered.
Azazel moved. He then fired multiple spears of light, brilliant and terrifying as each of them streaked towards Jay in incredible speed. But as they flew, Jay realized they weren't aimed at him, but around him, boxing him in.
'He testing me?' Jay realized.
He didn't dodge. He blinked.
One moment Azazel saw him in the center of the light spears but the next, he was behind Azazel, his leg swinging in a high-arc kick aimed at the Governor's neck.
Azazel's eyes widened in genuine surprise. But he didn't turn, he simply manifested a spear of light in his hand, parrying the kick with a casual flick of his wrist.
The impact sent a shockwave through the barrier. Jay landed and immediately surged forward, the runes on his arms glowing in a faint purple light. Using enchantment magic through the runes on his body allowing him to trade blows with a being in Azazel caliber.
They exchanged a flurry of hits, a blur of light and shadow. Jay was a scalpel, precise and fast purple light while Azazel was a mountain, immovable and effortless.
They broke apart, creating space once more. Azazel was panting slightly, but it looked more like theatricality than actual exhaustion.
'No magic circle,' Azazel thought, his mind racing. 'Vali said he was an ordinary human, right? What happen to him in just 4 months?'
"You're strong," Azazel said aloud, his voice gaining a hint of genuine respect. "How about joining Grigori? We specialize in 'special' cases. Humans with Sacred Gears, high-tier magicians... we help and give them a place to belong in this vast and unforgiving supranatural world."
"Help them? Or use them as lab rats for your research?" Jay asked, his voice dripping with skepticism.
Azazel chuckled. "It's a mutual relationship. Why can't it be both?"
In response, Jay narrowed his eyes. He reached out as he clasped his right hand. The space around Azazel began to warp and bending like a distorted lens. For a microsecond, a jagged tear appeared in the air where Azazel stood.
The Governor moved. He didn't just step, he vanished and reappeared three meters away, a small cut appearing on his cheek. He touched the blood, staring at his fingers in disbelief.
Jay just using Rupture on him.
'Space-Time magic? No... What the hell was that. If late for just split seconds, i would be teared into nothing.'
Azazel frowned. He had never seen space-time magic weaponized like that, not as a direct attack. It wasn't just displacement or distortion. It was annihilation.
For weaker beings, it would be an instant kill. Even for him… if that attack landed it would be troublesome to say the least.
"That is one hell of an attack," Azazel said, his tone dropping the humor. "But don't you think interrupting an older person is impolite?"
Jay ignored him as he felt a shift. His domain, which spanned the surrounding area, suddenly picked up a familiar resonance. It was cold biting magical imprints but familiar. It was the same energy resided within the Chromed Pendant.
'Lavinia!' He thought.
She was here all along. Jay looked at Azazel, his decision made. He couldn't stay here and play games with the governor of Fallen Angel anymore. But before he could teleport-
Azazel saw the shift in Jay's eyes. "Oh no you don't. We were just getting to the good part."
Azazel lunged. Twelve massive, pitch-black wings erupted from his back, blotting out the light within the barrier. He moved with the speed of a falling star as his hand reaching out to pin Jay to the ground.
But as his fingers were inches from Jay's neck, the sensation changed. Azazel didn't hit solid flesh. He passed right through.
Jay had become a ghost, a flickering image that occupied the same space but didn't interact with the physical plane.
Phantasmagoria.
"What?" Azazel gasped, his hand clutching at empty air.
Jay didn't give him a second chance. With a final, cold glance at the Governor he vanished. With almost instant activation of Teleportation, Jay simply ceased to be there.
Stunned the Governor.
Azazel stood alone in the center of his barrier, his wings slowly retracting. He looked at the spot where the boy had been, then at the blood on his fingertips.
"Well," the Governor muttered to the empty air. "That was... unexpected. Vali, you never told me that your little magician friend is a monster."
***
Couple of minutes before Jay confrontation with Azazel, inside the interior of the Toujou residence felt like a tomb.
Lavinia Reni stood in the center of the tatami room, her presence the only thing keeping the encroaching darkness at bay. She was a vision of European elegance misplaced in a traditional Japanese setting. A beautiful tall young woman, with a slim voluptuous figure and cascading blonde hair and blue sapphire eyes the color of a frozen lake. She wore her magician robe attire with a stoic grace that suggested the frills and ribbons were merely a container for a power that could freeze the sun.
Beside her, Tobio Ikuse was a portrait of repressed panic. His black hair was messy, his eyes darting toward the door. At his feet, the small puppy named Jin was no longer a cute pet. The shadows beneath the dog were roiling, whispering of the "Blade of the Shadows" that lay dormant within.
The atmosphere was suffocating. It smelled of old wood, incense, and the wet, metallic scent of the Utsusemi the artificial monsters that had been hunting them.
Kiii—
The sliding door groaned open.
Lavinia's grip on her wand tightened. From the shadows of the corridor, a young girl stepped forward. She looked ordinary, save for the hollow, glazed look in her eyes.
"Sae!" Tobio's voice cracked.
It was Toujou Sae, his childhood friend. But the girl who stood there didn't acknowledge him. A thin, ominous smile played on her lips. Around her left wrist, she wore a set of prayer beads, the very ones Tobio had given her for protection.
"As expected, slaying her is impossible for you, isn't it?"
A new voice cut through the tension. From behind Sae, a man in a crisp three-piece suit stepped into the light. He looked like a corporate executive, but his eyes were voids of cold ambition.
"I am Himejima Hanezu," the man said, adjusting his tie. "Leader of the Utsusemi Agency. And you, Tobio, are a very interesting branch of our family tree... Himejima Tobio."
Lavinia stepped forward, her voice a calm chilling melody. "Himejima Hanezu. The man behind the 'Four Fiends' project. Your reputation precedes you, even in the circles of the Grauzauberer."
Hanezu smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes. "The Grey Magicians. I didn't expect the 'Glacier Princess' to be babysitting our Himejima stray dogs. But no matter. Those who possess the Fiends will be retrieved. It is the natural order."
"...I am Ikuse. Himejima was nothing more than my grandmother's maiden name." Tobio snarled, Jin growling low in his throat.
"Blood tells a different story," Hanezu countered. "Your grandmother, Ageha, was one of us. But rather than the 'red' of the 'Suzaku (Vermillion Bird)' of Shintoism that the Himejima rule over, they've given birth to 'jet black'. Having acknowledged you since your face reminds me of the previous 'Himejima' clan chief, I guess I am sufficiently satisfied."
Lavinia observed the man. She could feel the malice radiating off him, it was a manufactured, clinical kind of evil. He wasn't a maniac... he was a bureaucrat of the supernatural, and that made him infinitely more dangerous.
"Draw that ominous blade of yours, boy," Hanezu commanded. "Let us see the responsibility you carry."
He gestured with a finger. Sae moved not like a human, but like a puppet pulled by wires. She slashed her hand through the air and the shadows at her feet erupted. They didn't just spread, they grew.
Within seconds, a massive beast filled the room. It was a lion of jet-black fur, its mane like shifting smoke. Its eyes were molten gold, filled with a primal, terrifying bloodlust.
"The Cowardly Leo," Hanezu introduced, his voice full of pride. "The nucleus of our project. And Toujou Sae is the only one who could adapt to it."
Lavinia's expression darkened. "A forced manifestation... how utterly unpleasant. You've turned a human soul into a battery for a nightmare."
She pointed her wand at the lion, her mana flaring. The temperature in the room plummeted. Frost began to creep across the walls, the air itself crystalizing into shards of lethal ice.
'Ikuse-kun! We're surrounded!' The voice of Natsume Minagawa crackled through Tobio's communication device. Outside, the garden was swarming with Utsusemi. The trap had been sprung.
Hanezu shrugged, completely unbothered by the freezing aura Lavinia was emitting. "You could fight us here. You might even win. But the house is surrounded, and your friends outside are already flagging. I have a better suggestion."
He held up a hand. "Come with us peacefully. We will show you our research facility. Your classmates, your relatives... they are all there, safe and waiting. Why fight a losing battle when you can simply... join the fold?"
Lavinia looked at Tobio. She saw the conflict in his eyes, the desperate need to save Sae and the paralyzing fear of walking into the lion's den.
"I entrust this decision to you, Tobi," Lavinia whispered.
Tobio looked at the massive lion, then at the empty, smiling shell of his best friend. He took a deep breath, his hand trembling as he reached for his communication device.
"Natsume... Samejima... get out of here!" he shouted into the mic. "Run! Don't look back! We'll find a way out from the inside!"
He was choosing to be the bait. If he and Lavinia went with Hanezu the others could escape.
Hanezu's smile widened. "A prudent choice. Self-sacrifice is such a noble Himejima trait."
The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a small wooden box adorned with talismans. He held it up, his eyes gleaming. "This belongs to your roots, Tobio. Everything you want to know is inside the belly of the whale."
Hanezu made a sign with his hand. The space in the center of the room began to ripple and tear. A traditional Japanese fusuma, a sliding screen manifested out of thin air, painted with the image of a scarlet divine bird.
As the screen slid open, it revealed not the hallway of the house, but a sterile, high-tech corridor of a hidden facility.
"After you," Hanezu said, gesturing toward the portal.
Tobio picked up Jin, his face set in a mask of grim determination. Lavinia walked beside him, her wand still at the ready, her presence a cold, comforting shield.
"Jin," Tobio whispered. "Accompany me to the end."
They stepped through the gateway, the scarlet bird on the screen appearing to weep as they vanished. The portal collapsed, the fusuma dissolving into motes of light.
Seconds later, the front door of the house was blown off its hinges.
Jay skidded into the room, his eyes scanning the area with predatory speed. He saw the frost on the walls. He smelled the ozone and the lingering scent of Lavinia's magic.
But the room was empty.
"Tsk, i was too late," he hissed, his eyes glowing with a cold terrifying light.
The chaos had only just begun.