Five minutes later they arrived at a building right in the middle of the street, the biggest one of the bunch and not a tower like the majority around town. "You were saying?" Sairaorg remarked without any bitterness.
Shirou still felt a little bad. "Sorry I opened my mouth."
"A furniture store?" Xenovia asked as Hrunting touched the wall and was kicked back by a boundary field which made the devils look at it with interest. "Isn't this a bit too ballsy even for criminals?"
"Not really. A furniture store is actually a great disguise." Shirou commented while scratching his chin. "Furniture certainly makes it easier to explain bigger boxes and gives them a lot of extra space to store their illegal goods." He turned to the devils of Bael with a raised eyebrow. "Any thoughts?"
"Hrunting should have touched the wall." The King of Bael said bluntly.
It was his Queen who elaborated. "What my lord means to say is that most boundary fields work inside the stores to protect the place while not being invasive." She touched the wall and felt a small shell of mana blocking her hand from really reaching it. It was almost unnoticeable and she could only tell it was there thanks to Hrunting. "See? I can't touch it either."
"An unusual boundary field isn't cause for alarm but…" Sairaorg watched Hrunting, noticing how it was starting to fight Xenovia again. "I think I will trust the Noble Phantasm on this. What is the plan?"
The blue haired woman let some of her Ki escape and the sword stopped pulling. "What are you talking about? We go in and kick their asses."
The trio looked at each other with wonder and mirth.
…
Macabro had a huge smile on his face, one showing all his teeth. "I love my work." Mostly he loved the money as he and some of his more loyal men sorted the gold for bribes and their allies. "Gosh how I love it." The others laughed at their boss' attitude.
Compared with every devil present Macabro was two or more heads taller even if he didn't have much muscle. He was lean but not athletic, the build of a true office worker that took care of himself without time to do much. But that was just appearances, for him to look non threatening.
Many of his business partners knew the man was as ruthless as they come and had no trouble getting his hands dirty. Macabro enjoyed it even, especially when it was killing someone who was damaging the business or trying to ruin things for him.
Born and raised on Runeas he was someone who saw the fortune of the city and once dreamed about ruling it, even proclaiming in his youth he would marry a Gremory. Those dreams were long gone as his hundreds of years tempered his ambition as the man realized he was too weak to be a player on the big arenas.
So the black haired man did some jobs and got the opportunity to join a little but lucrative operation. The work? Killing some devils who were bothering a big shot devil at the time.
The first kill can be the hardest to many, including devils. It wasn't strange for someone to hesitate or try to find another solution.
Macabro didn't just kill the person, he developed a taste for the thing and a bloodthirst that could be compared to any tyrant or killer that ever walked on Earth. Left and right he piled bodies until he managed to build a nest of his own, a profitable business that could give him the life he wanted.
By far he wasn't the biggest fish but he had connections good enough that he could operate in the center of the Gremory capital with impunity, average devil none the wiser he was right under their nose.
"Looks like we have another profitable day folks!" Macabro announced as they crunched the numbers. His men smiled as the new swords had sold well. "To the suckers!" He declared with a glass held high.
"""""To the suckers!"""""
Inside their office they celebrated a little before his men began to leave, opening the door and breaking the boundary field to let the loud noise of their factory in.
For their base was a steel factory that worked around the clock on the production of the material; plenty of minerals were acquired from Gremory's lands through bribes and theft but to be refined they needed their own place.
All around the area devils worked with their magic to process more metal at an accelerated rate. It would still lose against modern technology but in the Underworld that was fast enough. Their smith's workshop was already receiving a new batch and Macabro approached the man guarding the door to make sure his 'golden goose' wouldn't be interrupted.
"Did the bastard eat?" The younger devil, not even a century old, jumped in surprise.
"No boss. He has been hammering that work of his away the whole day. Said it was almost done." The man sounded excited. "More money for us but he is going to croak no doubt."
"No, that isn't for sale." Macabro revealed while scratching his growing beard. It wasn't a proper one yet but it was getting there. "That is his payment."
"Huh? What do you mean boss?"
"You a newbie?" Macabro laughed as the man suddenly began to shake. His reputation always gave him the most amusing sights. "Bastard doesn't like making the Mage's swords, and wants to work on his own. For some metal he made us a lot of blades." He pointed to a box where dozens of swords are ready for transport. "A lot of lucertes, hehehe."
Sure that contract wasn't the only source of their income as they had been selling weapons even before that but Fiton's skills boosted their profits by a huge margin. Just the idea of having one of the Mage of Sword's works had people jumping to buy them and he was happy to deliver.
Of course Fiton couldn't just produce everything by himself so Macabro had other smiths making replicas of the swords with some instructions but none of the real skill or technique necessary to make perfect copies.
The fact that most weapons that the average devil would buy had flaws that would have the swords breaking sooner than their superior counterparts, even the legal ones. Not on purpose, it was always a matter of the metal and skill as smithing wasn't a work that many devils had and the Gremory snatched the best ones.
Macabro planned to use it to his advantage by selling more swords even when his clients showed up to complain as Fiton didn't work on all of them. Only in the best for their best clients and they all knew it. The average punk couldn't buy the real works so they would have no choice but come back to buy more or have to explain their swords were fakes.
Not like they could ask the official Gremory's smiths to fix it for them, which meant a steady source of profit from those Macabro dubbed 'the suckers'.
There was just no choice for them, once they announced they had a sword like that, there was no going back without losing face or worse. And of course if they just lost a blade made by the 'Mage of Swords' people would ask questions or demand an explanation. That was how tight the control of the official ones were.
Just the thought of people begging for him for more swords made the man salivate. "Such a profitable business."
"Boss?" The smaller devil called for Macabro which snapped him off his fantasy, running his mood.
"Don't interrupt when I'm thinking, newbie." An orange magic circle appeared on his hands, its potency considerable and soon a bright flame shoved on the devil's face. All watched as the man stopped short from frying the younger one's face. "This is your only warning."
Macabro retracted his magic and began to walk away as the devil's back hit the wall and he began to slide to the ground close to have a panic attack.
Every other devil in the area saw their boss smile as a shiver ran down their spines, exactly what the career criminal wanted. Reminding his subordinates the trail of bodies he piled up to reach his position was his third favorite pastime, a close winner to his killing of upstarts. He didn't like killing his subordinates either, considering it a waste of money.
But the faces of fear and uncertainty were his drug and one Macabro learned he couldn't live without.
Suddenly everybody stopped working as a loud noise was heard on the top floor.
That should be impossible with their boundary field but then the devils in charge of it revealed themselves. As their boundary field was an illegal one they couldn't use the Goetia Road so they ran it during all the hours the 'official' store was closed.
Still their faces were of panic and not exhaustion. "Somebody found us!"
Certainly an event never happened in their operation, pretty much every criminal knew what that meant. "Any leads from the attackers?" Macabro demanded to know, suspecting one of his men betrayed him. "How many?"
"We don't know! It already-" Before the devil could finish the rooftop of their factory began to shake as loud sounds similar to explosions kept ringing above everyone's heads.
For the moment all activity seemed to cease as everyone looked up, some nervous and others fearful as the noise kept growing louder and louder. Some noticed how the area around them began to shake and began to fear a spell of some sort. Others already had magic circles ready as the event put everyone on some sort of edge.
Tremors weren't something common in Runeas, never had been, so even if not everyone heard about the breach nobody would doubt they were being invaded by the occurrence alone.
The roof began to crack as the noise grew even louder, getting closer to their position. "We are over 30 kilometers below the ground. Whoever is doing this is a monster." Someone said in fear as he realized something terrible for them.
Someone was digging a tunnel straight to their factory and they would soon arrive faster than anyone should be capable of. Such a level of power was intimidating to say the least and everybody either prepared a magic circle, grabbed a sword or both as they got ready to fight for their lives.
Because the list of people capable of that was really short. "It is a Maou!"
"A Maou?!" "It can't be!" "Lucifer is coming?" "Lucifer?!" "He comes to demand the Gremory due!"
Panic had already spread to the point people were trying to push each other to escape but not all.
Plenty of them were career criminals and had had a stake or another in the business, enough to die for it. Macabro was the ringleader of their operation and ordered his lieutenants to control everyone as the roof began to crack.
It finally gave away and dozens of devils tried to hold back the rocks and protect their investment.
A desperate attempt that could be only called useless as the hole wasn't created by excavation but from a person punching solid rock until they reached the factory underground.
So there was a lot of stone falling on those men and while some were able to see the danger and dodge most of them ended up crushed. "Maybe we should have tried to find a proper entrance." Shirou pointed out as he noticed the puddles of blood spreading and the limbs trying to escape the rocks.
"What are you talking about, Nero? This was the best way to get here and get our point across." Sairaorg commented as he began to clean his hands. "Building a factory beneath the ground is obviously unsafe and against the law. They were just punished for their recklessness."
"I wholeheartedly agree." Xenovia held Hrunting firmer than before, feeling how the blade was trying to escape almost desperately. "These are just scum who kill children. They should be grateful we didn't just blow them up."
"But-"
Before Shirou could finish his protest, Xenovia gave him a pensive look. "Aren't you still upset about what they did with the swords? Why care about them?"
Sairaorg spoke next with a calm expression. "They still can surrender. I think just a few didn't run when the roof came down."
Instead of replying the magus began to massage the bridge of his nose when he felt someone place their hand on his back. Kuisha offered him a gentle smile to show he understood his struggle as more than once her King had ignored normal convention and just did as he pleased.
It was something they usually found endearing about the people they cared about and Shirou instantly sympathized with the devil as she was in the subordinate role so the heir's rampages were more uncontrollable while he could usually hold his knight back.
"FIRE!" Macabro didn't hesitate to order, not bothering or caring by who the invaders were. He just knew they had to die.
Almost a hundred devils acted as a unit and poured their power in just as many magic circles. None hesitated, all going for the kill.
With so many attacks coming from all sides both Shirou and Xenovia prepared their swords for a hasty defense while Sairaorg just folded his arms, not showing the slightest concern. That was because his Queen had begun to move the moment they arrived, her mana flowing from body.
A black magic circle appeared from a single instant, lasting less than a wave of Kuisha's hand. In its place several dozen Holes, distortions of Space, were formed and absorbed every single shot flying in their direction. Those Holes had a gravitational pull of their own and even the attacks that tried going up or down fell prey to them.
Soon every attack had been neutralized before the woman snapped her fingers and those same Holes, each still carrying the attacks they had captured, appeared all around the factory.
Explosions followed next, some fatal and others not as the spells of the criminals had been completely turned against them. Even if some realized what was going on it was too late as the attack was pretty much instantaneous.
Shirou and Xenovia watched the event with some wonder as the fight had begun and ended in less than a second. "Good work, Kuisha. Your aim was perfect." Praised Sairaorg with a thumbs up. "Pity there are so few." He noticed his new friends' shock and smiled. "That is the Power of Abbadon. If the Luciferge are those who control Space for movement, Kuisha controls Space distort, shaping it into traps for the enemy, the Power of Hole. And I am happy to say Kuisha was extremely good with it. Perhaps a bit too good as she left almost nobody for us."
"Don't be upset my lord, I kept the energy mostly away from them." The blonde said with a small grin. "Those who died did so because they couldn't block their own power."
"That ability… It is Abbadon's Hole!" One of the devils who managed to block his own attack shouted in fear.
Another devil who lost his arm cried "What is an Abbadon doing here? This is Gremory territory. No fair!" He desperately tried to close the wound but nobody moved to help him.
Until Sairaorg snapped. "Listen closely! You all stand accused of committing crimes against the Gremory! Against the Pillars!" Besides whimpers and moans of pain, everyone stayed silently. "Surrender now and you shall be judged fairly! Every life is precious to us devils and you can recover! Join society again after paying your debt!" With that he was making clear killing wasn't his intention.
Which wasn't a good thing for Macabro and his cabal. "Don't listen to this brat! He is lying! Do you believe after all we did the Gremory will just forgive us?!" He was nursing a small wound to his forearm but that was the only damage he took.
His words had an effect though, at least for a second until another devil spoke. "A black haired man with a noble disposition… followed by an Abbadon Queen…" Dropping to his knees the man who had a wound on his leg lowered his head and asked, "Are you Sairaorg Bael?!"
The rejected Heir of Bael who fought to recover his crow was known in pretty much every level of the Underworld, especially on Gremory territory. Many of the men there were also present during his run on the Underground Arena even if they never met him in person.
During the days he lived in Runeas, Sairaorg built a reputation of being just but also of being strong. Suddenly the belief that someone could break over several kilometers of rock with their bare hands was believable. Suddenly the person invading their illegal factory was one of the Heirs of the Pillars.
And if that was true there was no victory.
"Correct." The admission had pretty much every criminal stuck in a state of shock. Looking around the heir knew that wouldn't do. "Help the wounded and be patient. If you do so all of you will get your fair hearing. While you broke the laws of the Underworld, none of you deserve the death penalty. Therefore it isn't too late." He tried to look disarming and welcoming, succeeding in reassuring many of the most desperate. Just a young man speaking honestly, even if it was a lie. "So please, lower your weapons, focus your magic in staying alive and everything is going to be fine."
At least for most of them, those who did as ordered and began to help themselves almost immediately after hearing such a guarantee. That was the best way of separating the small criminals from the bigger ones for the latter had nothing to gain by surrendering.
Those who committed atrocities and knew exactly what the government could do to extract a confession, just the signing of a contract listening to the most horrible crimes with a line where it said they didn't do it, and would be dead the moment they were captured.
Some already had sheets and sheets of crimes that would earn them death nonetheless and Macabro knew he was one of them. A reputation like his reached the high up's ears and he needed to escape.
Even with most of his men surrendering, he still had plays to make. "HE IS LYING!" The accusation echoed the mostly silent factory, the younger devils looking at him in fear. "He is lying! The Gremory are only good to their subordinates and ruthless with everyone else! Didn't you hear what the heiress did to the Phenex?! They are going to eat us alive!"
Exaggerations for the sake of his survival but since the man played his hand, Shirou played his. "Xenovia, let Hrunting go."
Immediately the woman did as ordered and the sword let out a pulse before moving around her body and flying towards its target.
It was slow compared to when he was an arrow but still fast enough that when Macabro noted the blade it was too late. It had sunk in his shoulder just above the chest, almost taking his heart.
Many were terrified as they didn't know what happened as it was like suddenly a sword had stabbed their leader even if the woman holding it barely moved. The man himself glared at the weapon which had stopped shaking before pulling it out. It disappeared in his hands before he spoke up again.
"See! They want to kill us-"
"Just you!" Shirou declared loudly, jumping from the pile of rocks to land in some blood. "Macabro, right? No family name?" His hand went for the sword on his back and Red Burst was revealed once again. "Doesn't matter. Nobody is going to mourn a child killer anyway."
Even if Shirou wasn't letting any power out his demeanor was of someone who shouldn't be messed with and Macabro knew that the man came from his head. Quickly he took an EM he had on his person, making the hooded eyes glow in rage as he used the scalpel to fix his wounds and prepare to fight for his life.
"Did your smith make that too or did you actually buy it?" Shirou asked without a care as his voice showed only apathy. The fury was behind a wall to not get in the way during the fight. "Either way, I suppose this makes things fair." Slowly he marched, ready to deliver his judgment.
"Kill him!" Nobody obeyed. "What are you waiting for?! Abbadon can't protect him at that distance!" But those were criminals and most of them didn't kill unless necessary.
They also knew they could be forgiven for past offenses, maybe forced to build a city on unexplored territory if things came to that, not having committed any crime the Underworld would see as taboo.
Not like Macabro who was starting to feel the rope on his neck as even his lieutenants stepped away from him. Sure they killed unarmed men and women alike and stole plenty which they shouldn't but risking their lives on the frontier after a harsh rehabilitation was better than certain death.
It didn't matter who Shirou was or his rage, Sairaorg Bael promised them their lives if they surrendered and so they would.
"Neh, Nero. Can I have this one?" Shirou suddenly stopped as the Heir of Bael made his request. "You got to fight in the arena early, let me have this guy." Contrary from his jovial tone, his eyes looked murderous. "I promise to leave him alive for you later if you want."
"Wait, I barely got to fight in the arena. The second I joined, everyone just ran away." Xenovai complained.
"But you fought and my lord hadn't done so yet today." Seeing how defeated their enemies were, Kuisha didn't look concerned in the slightest. Not with her ability and the fact that none of those devils could be classified above Middle Class, none of them came even close to being able to challenge her Power. "I must extend my lord's request, Nero."
"Huh, maybe there was a misunderstanding. I am not planning to kill him." By his tone, most devils believed him. It was utterly apathetic. "What I am going to do is make him suffer until the time of his death comes after whatever the Underworld has as due process." He wanted the man to suffer until the last moment.
Death would be too fast.
If the law said Macabro would be punished Shirou would be sure to deliver him to the proper authorities after he vented a little. Sure the man could make things to himself easier or harder if he surrendered.
But everybody knew Macabro wouldn't do it and Sairaorg realized Shirou needed this. "Very well. Get out of the way for the fighters!" The criminals didn't hesitate in obeying the noble.
Macabro glared at the hooded magus, planning to kill him but not knowing what came after. "Haha! I get nothing by killing a brat like you." His eyes turned to Sairaorg. "On the other hand if I kill the most promising Bael's heir in History, my name will at least be remembered."
"I am the one who found your base." Everything went quiet as black eyes full of malice turned to Shirou with an ominous glow. "Is that reason enough for you to kill me?" Because he wanted a struggle.
By the expression of murderous rage written all over Macabro's face he would get one as a huge magic circle appeared in front of him and the man threw his arms on it. "DIE!"
A huge blast of mana was unleashed but Shirou wasn't impressed. His grip on Red Buster grew firmer as he took a swing and cut the blast in two.
It kept going until it hit some barrels behind the Mage as his eyes remained on the devil who attacked him. Shirou's eyes were their natural color and all the devil saw were two golden flames watching him, judging him. With how the hood was covering his face the magus looked more like a devil than any devil Macabro had ever met.
The man couldn't stop himself from taking a step back which actually made Shirou more angry. "That was it?" His tone was something between apathetic and disappointed. "After all you did, all the lives you took, that is the best you can do?" There was no longer any hatred in his heart nor joy or pity. "Pathetic."
Instead of growing angry or replying at the insult, Macabro gathered mana and created another magic circle, a gray one that looked a little unstable. Red Buster was ready to cut through anything except what actually came from it. Because something nobody expected to happen was the circle to explode in Macabro's face.
Or that a cloud of smoke would be formed from it.
"Nobody moves!" Sairaorg saw the plot quickly as some devils were already standing up to try to run. "Damned!" He raced left as Kuisha created a Hole to get rid of the smoke.
"I got this side!" Xenovia drew Durandal and her Light intimidated many of the devills into submission. Some even thought she was an angel and tried to attack but her blade cut their circles and with a spin she sent them all to the walls. "They are escaping through the hole." From the corner of her eye she saw some devils flying.
But Sairaorg had already returned from his first attack, holding a devil by their jacket as he focused his Ki on his fist. With a single punch every devil in the air was blown away from their entrance as a mighty wind followed the Heir of Bael's attack. Some tried to resist but he threw his capture before kicking another down.
Macabro was also flying but in another direction, getting on the second floor he rushed on a hallway where the cargo lift would be. He was sure most of his men tried to run to the elevator so most of the invaders' focus had to be there.
The devil was almost right but committed a single mistake; he was someone's prey and the hunter never lost his scent.
When Macabro arrived at the lift he quickly created a magic circle to open the door. His hand was just about to touch the door when a dagger pinned his hand on the wall. Macabro screamed in pain and rage as Shirou revealed himself, face still hidden but eyes still glowing.
"So all you can do is run? What is wrong? Harder when somebody actually can fight back?" With Red Buster by his side the Mage marched slowly through the huge hallway as the screams echoed around the area.
The devil's fear grew but so did his fury at the callousness of the man before him. "You motherfucker-" Ripping his hand from the wall with the dagger still in it, he took it off to use the blood on his hand and blade to create dozens of magic circles. Blood red magic began to flow as the dagger helped him conduct it. "Die!"
A rain of red blacks began to hit Shirou, all of them exploding on impact as more followed their trail and generating more explosions. Soon the Mage's form was hidden but that didn't matter to Macabro who kept a hand steady to keep the magic circles going and used the other to unlock the door.
When it finally opened Macabro grinned in triumph just before Shirou's shadow came from above with his sword above his head.
The man didn't even notice the Mage, only really understanding how close he was from dying when Red Buster cut part of the lift and he turned to see the blazing eyes close to his face.
Plenty of things scared Macabro at that point like the fact that Shirou didn't have a single scratch on him after the barrage or his sudden appearance when the criminal was certain he had the swordsman pinned back.
All of that had the man jumping away in fear, only a second later noticing that he went up farther away from his escape route. Gripping the dagger he pointed out that the magus as the doors of the lift closed down but didn't attack. Instead his hand went for his EM again which only made the Mage more mad.
"Weak." The word stopped the man for a moment but he quickly healed himself as the dagger created another magic circle for him. Not that Shirou cared as the door tried to close in his weapon and opened again. "Red Buster!" An explosion of flames left the sword and started to consume the lift.
Macabro watched as his escape route began to melt away and break apart as the fire from the sword spread almost uncontrollably. His eyes didn't leave the lift even as the flaming sword allowed the doors to finally close and the fire to spread freely inside of it. Clearly it was unusable but that was the least of his problems.
"I can beat you with a kitchen knife." Shirou joked somewhat maliciously as his disdain for the man made itself clear. "Is that all you have to show after killing so many? Was that because none of them could lift a finger? Or maybe because you can only have the guts to fight when the other person is already beaten to an inch of their life?"
"Shut up!" Regardless of his words Macabro stepped back in fear, wondering how he knew so much about his past.
The Mage followed him with a step forward and no further, the flames dancing on his blade. "What is wrong? That is how you did it, wasn't it? Had those who could fight beaten, then tested the edge of your blades because 'quality control'? Am I wrong?" The devil retreated and the magus chased, always keeping the same distance. "You never gave them a chance and just did so for your sick amusement. You disgust me."
That was the center of Shirou's emotions for the man; an utter loathing and disgust that couldn't be called hatred. He couldn't muster any hatred for Macabro because the man's actions only made him sick and revolted. It was like he wasn't looking at a person but at a grotesque thing.
A thing which forced a disgust so great it went beyond hatred. Some of it was born from the fact the creature used his creations to inflict harm.
But that was irrelevant because the creature would do so with any other weapon anyway and, considering the kind of monster that he was, Macabro certainly did much worse things in his life even before he started selling copies of Shirou's work.
"You are just trash, the worst kind of trash." Taking a swing with Red Buster, Shirou watched some of the wall burn before the flames left the blade. "And I will make sure that you pay for everything you did."
There would be no negotiations or mercy, Macabro would live in pain and die in pain for all of it he inflicted on the innocent.
But Macabro didn't reach where he was in life by just giving up. "Fuck you!" His magic circle changed to gray and he broke it with the dagger, creating another smokescreen.
…
His work was the only thing he had left in his life.
"My swords are better. I am going to surpass him. My swords are better. I am going to surpass him."
Already he had given up on friends, on loved ones or his future. The strikes of his hammer were all the man had left as his creation was almost complete.
"My swords are better. I am going to surpass him. My swords are better. I am going to surpass him."
It had been almost complete for days now, weeks, months. In reality the man had been working on the same blade again and again but never finishing it no matter how much metal he threw on it.
"My swords are better. I am going to surpass him. My swords are better. I am going to surpass him."
Already that sword had broken hundreds of times and reforged hundreds of times, the idea of his ultimate creation consuming the man as he only paused to eat once in a while or to make others swords he didn't want to make.
"My swords are better. I am going to surpass him. My swords are better. I am going to surpass him."
For the works his employers wanted were from the man the devil learned to hate, a smith that the Gremory Clan found and suddenly he saw all his work grow irrelevant. He wasn't working on his weapons anymore, only the man's.
"My swords are better. I am going to surpass him. My swords are better. I am going to surpass him."
So blind was on his pursuit that the blade in his hand had already broken and been rebuilt again as he kept hyper focused on making it the ultimate blade. Failure stopped existing, the sword just wasn't done.
"My swords are better. I am going to surpass him. My swords are better. I am going to surpass him."
The mantra repeated with each strike of the hammer as the noise from the factory behind his door was ignored. He heard it, he could hear everything after the screams subsided and the silence began to reign. Someone was shouting orders like usual and he would keep working until more steel or requests arrived like aways.
"My swords are better. I am going to surpass him. My swords are better. I am going to surpass-" Then he heard something different, a sound every swordsmith was extremely familiar with; a blade cutting something.
So hyper aware he was that instantly the man knew it couldn't be one of his words.
Standing up he dragged his sword and hammer, his naked feet bleeding from the metal all around his mess of a workshop. From time to time the organization he worked for sent someone to clean it up but the man didn't care. His focus was on the strange sword on his territory.
Slowly he opened the door and gazed at Macabro falling from a wall that had been cut into pieces, the psychopath's back falling on a pile of steel and he slowly started to get up. From the wall's opening its obvious creator jumped off with a huge weapon that was unlike any other the man had seen.
Except it was like some of the works he knew, works that he was forced to study and replicated a thousand times over.
His eyes filled with hatred as he recognized the work of the Mage of Swords and he slammed the door in fury, nobody noticing he had ever opened it. "Another one?" His voice was breaking from thirst, almost a croak. "Another one?!" But it began to grow harsher with rage. "Another one!"
Were it not for the criminals' fear outside they would have already revealed who was behind the door to the Heir of Bael. Were it not for the constant sounds of violence and pain, someone else would have noticed the strikes of a hammer of the blind fury which consumed the man.
But nobody did and his rage grew. "ANOTHER ONE!" He was lost in his mind as the idea that his hated enemy had finished another masterpiece while he couldn't finish one was too much.
If he wasn't already insane, madness would have consumed him at that moment.
However every semblance of the man he once was had already been discarded with the goal of surpassing his hated enemy, an enemy who didn't even know he existed but the emotion stayed and the man's soul began to channel it on the weapon on his hand.
The man realized what was missing and a grin of mania grew in his lips. "Finally."
This time his sword would be completed.
…
Shirou watched Macabro slowly get up as everyone else gave them some space. "You couldn't even fight back."
"Shut up!" Escaping was futile.
"What? Are you going to try the smokescreen again? Do you have anywhere else to run? Perhaps the elevator in that direction?"
"Shut the fuck up!" Nobody was going to help him, nobody was going to save him.
"How does it feel to be the one under someone's boot now? Ah, my mistake. I haven't beaten you to an inch of your life before the fight started." A snarky grin revealed itself. "If we can call this a 'fight'. How did you call that to your victims? Just a 'fun time' was it?"
His men had abandoned him and even the noble present made no move to restrain the swordsman whose fury burned hotter than his own flames. They were something that made Macabro worry even if the sword showed no indication it could create such fire. The memory of the lift burning was forever engraved in his mind.
But the weapon itself could also be useful if it was that powerful. The weapons dealer hoped he could use it to kill the Heir and his Queen, a hope born from seeing such a powerful weapon. Then the man looked around and came to his senses as Durandal's bright aura couldn't be ignored.
No, Macabro finally realized he was a dead man and no sword could save him.
However his hunter insisted on doing the job alone and the devil would take that opportunity. "I will gouge your eyes out." He said with a grin as he licked his lips, his killer's instinct taking hold.
Finally there would be no running anymore, exactly what Shirou wanted. "If you can get close, that is."
"Hah! Don't think just because you know a thing or two that you have me pegged." Mana began to flow around Macabro and Kuisha's eyes grew wide.
'That power is above the Middle Class. He is at the bottom of the High Class at least.'
Macabro began to channel mana on the dagger that Shirou so generously donated. "I have been surviving on Runeas for centuries. There were many who thought they could take me but none could!" He stated proudly. "I survived the Civil War, the new government and I am always on top."
Shirou chuckled. "Just because nobody paid attention to a rat running around the sewers." He offered a casual shrug. "But now you have mine."
A wordless scream left Macabro's lips as he threw his blood around while moving the dagger in a circular pattern. A huge magic circle began to be formed but the blood began to evaporate and join it, the color of the circle changing between red and orange as it pulsed brightly.
"Get ready to die you brat! After this, nobody is going to ever forget the name Macabro ever AGAIN!" His power pulsed and pulsed as the devil used more of his blood as fuel.
Those behind Shirou dragged themselves away from the blast zone as they hoped against hope to avoid whatever their leader had planned.
What they didn't realize was that Macabro wasn't letting anyone escape. "You think you're some hot shit, don't you? Probably another noble brat who thinks he is better than everyone!" There was no reply as Shirou allowed the man to send more and more blood into the magic circle. If things keep going he would die of blood loss. "Fuck that and fuck you! I am the boss here! You suckers belong to me! Your lives are mine!"
A moment passed and then Shirou let out a scoff. "You own nothing. Not even your life."
That just made the man madder but that was fine with him, his sanity left the building a long time ago. "YOU ALL CAN GO TO HELL!"
Stabbing the dagger in the magic circle generated a chain reaction of blood and mana to unleash whatever its creator was doing in every direction. Previously Macabro used smoke but this time he built his spell with fire.
Consequently the magic circle exploded in a huge fireball that threatened to consume everyone.
Macabro was willing to kill himself and everyone else.
The flames never got far as the moment the blade made contact, Shirou was already acting. "Red Buster!" Mana activated the sword as its center, one of his first creations, lended its ability.
The fire knives Shirou once made for the kitchen had in themselves a spell to generate fire and heat but the reason why the blade was the only thing affected was by how it was forged with the intent of controlling the flame and protecting the user's hand.
It was a small thing that was multiplied dozens of times by Red Buster, the prototype of a new type of sacred gear that pushed the ability of its Core to a whole new level. All of its abilities.
Truly it could create fire, that was its main and most basic feature, but protecting its owner was both the Mage and the Cadre's priority resulting in a greater control over flames even when the handle was made small.
So when Macabro used the dagger to spark the flame, Shirou reacted faster than the devil expected, raising his weapon and taking control of the fire about to be unleashed.
Instead of a ball of fire that would consume everyone, Red Buster took it all and became lit like a supernova, all those flames channeled in the body of the sword.
Shirou couldn't contain it forever and neither would try as he slammed the blazing sword in front of him with all his strength. Fire didn't bother him even as it spread around on the floor and burned the man just a few steps away from the magus as he kept pushing the flames down and heating up the room.
Plenty of the devils who could take flight but others that couldn't escape ended up with minor burns as the flames grew exhausted. When everything was done Macabro sported some severe burns on his legs as Shirou was just sweating a little. Ki and Reinforcement kept the worst back even as he was in the epicenter of the fire.
But just in front of him there was a huge hole with melted stone that nobody would dare to get close to even as the temperature began to normalize.
Yet the fire remained but only on the blade as the single edged sword was still involved in flames. The fire was still bright and waiting, completely under the Mage's control. While everywhere else it seemed to cool down, just looking at the weapon made many devils feel a lot of heat.
"As I said, 'not even your life'." Shirou commented as Macabro glared. Rising to his feet the devil summoned another magic circle but Shirou had leaped over the hole he created and cut the man's arm off with his blazing sword. "Now you lost a hand too."
The man screamed and fell to his knees as his other hand came to hold the cauterized wounds. The flames in the sword were so hot that Macabro felt the burn more like the cut as he began to whimper and hold the arm tightly. Took him a second to look for his hand, still holding the dagger, before he began to crawl towards it.
Shirou wasn't having any of it as he took his dagger back and looked at the lone appendage with the same disgust he had for the man. "This hand doesn't deserve to exist." A swing of his weapon and it began to burn away before the Mage's eyes returned to the criminal who jumped to attack.
Hatred pushed back the pain as instead of just whimpering and crawling Macabro was positioning himself, getting close to Shirou with his remaining hand hidden and a magic circle prepared.
Fire came back as his palm approached the magus but before he could even touch the object of his hatred the sword came faster than it should.
It was a huge sword, so big that most people needed two hands to even lift it a few centimeters and yet it suddenly was there cutting off a man's arm.
The career criminal looked to the other burning arm he suddenly had as Shirou destroyed it. "And now you can't even attack. Or are you skilled enough to use magic without a hand?" He looked at Macabro who glared in fury and jumped in his direction to bite him. The hooded magus punched him in the face and the man fell on it. "Looks like you are not."
Macabro began to curse and complain coherently as he tried and failed to gather mana to do anything. Despite his age he wasn't skilled enough to create magic circles without his hands and so was powerless.
Still Shirou wasn't satisfied, the monster wasn't broken. "How does it feel?" Words would have to do as he had no stomach for torture. "To be there, on the ground with only pain and nothing else. Do you like it?" When there was no reply Shirou saw hope the man was understanding the predicament he was in. "Not so tough now, are you?" When Macabro began to shake the magus stopped, pondering on knocking him out. But after all the lives he took, Shirou wanted the devil to understand why he was on the ground. "Compared to the pain you inflicted on others this is nothing…"
Everyone watched as Macabro laid there and barely moved without saying a word of protest. The owner of the factory and once the biggest arms dealer of Runeas was defeated or at least that was what everyone thought.
However the shaking continued until all noticed the laughter, a laugh full of malice. "Did I kill someone you cared about? Who was it? Hope I made them scream." He looked at Shirou with insane glee and his face was so unhinged that nobody could believe how mad the man really was. "Was your father? Maybe your mother? A sister or a lover? Who was it? Did I have fun with them?"
Instead of replying immediately Shirou stabbed his sword on the ground and crouched to get closer to the man. "It was a kid."
His next words made every devil and Xenovia shiver. "Which one?"
Not the Mage of Swords who took a deep breath and stood up. "By principle I don't like killing unarmed people. Quite literally in your case." Macabro blinked as the madness retreated back in surprise by the statement. "Then again, apparently killing children is taboo here… and you just admitted to killing more than one before plenty of witnesses."
It was then that everybody understood the lack of reaction from the magus: he wasn't surprised. Just by seeing the glee on Macabro's face on just a few recent victims convinced Shirou there had to be more. Now he knew that for a fact but still he wouldn't kill the man.
However he would make sure the man lived to regret it. "What is going to be his punishment besides death?"
"There isn't one, he is going to just be judged and killed on the spot." Sairaorg looked around. "With this many witnesses to a confession there will be no resource." His eyes landed on Shirou. "You can kill him if you want. As Heir of Bael, I authorize it."
"No thanks. He isn't worth it." Getting Red Buster on his back the magus started walking away.
"Get back here, you pussy! Don't you have the guts to finish the job?!" Macabro tried to get up but his almost carbonized skin wouldn't allow it. Considering his burns he shouldn't be feeling pain but he was. "Aren't you here for vengeance?! Come here so I can kill you!"
"Master…" Xenovia approached as the man kept shouting. "Do you want me to-"
"No, let him scream until his throat bleeds." Shirou kept walking, ignoring the monster and letting it roar in pain and despair. "He will die as late as possible and only when it is convenient. Just to make sure his last thoughts are that he isn't worth it."
Sairaorg could respect the attitude and even the reason behind it. "He is too loud." Doesn't stop him from getting annoying at the curses the man was throwing around. Measures needed to be taken. "Can we at least shut him up?"
"Sure, is there a spell for that?" Asked the Mage with no interest. The whole exercise left him completely unsatisfied.
Still Bael's Heir was happy for the approval. "Kuisha, if you could be so kind…"
"Of course, milord." With a wave of a magic circle was formed and a spell was launched on the man's mouth. For a moment he was confused as nothing seemed to happen, only to try to open his mouth and fail. "A pity you never learned to use magic without your hands. Maybe then you could break something so simple."
It was like there was pink duct tape on his lips and no matter how much he raged Macabro couldn't open his mouth for anything. Losing his last tool of torment the man slammed his head on the ground and tried to use a rock to peel the mana away. He looked like a worm who couldn't move from its place and he would be like that until the Queen let the spell go.
"Excellent work as always, I doubt anyone else can have a better Queen. But I have another task for you."
Beaming at the gentle praise, the woman bowed a little. "I listen and obey, milord."
"Go to the closest station and get some men for transportation." The heir pointed to the hole they got in with his thumb. "I destroyed the elevator so they couldn't escape so this is the only exit. We will stay here until you bring reinforcements."
It was the last nail in the coffin of the criminals' morale as the other route was the lift and Shirou came from there with a flaming sword after destroying a lot of the walls, nobody believed it was intact.
All the criminals could do was wait for their fate as the Queen bowed. "I shall return as quickly as possible." Kuisha opened her wings and departed swiftly.
"Good. She will be back in a while." Sairaorg said confidently, pointing to their prisoners. None of them was tied up. "We just need to keep an eye on these guys until then." With his glare, none of them would dare to try to run away anymore.
"How long do you think it is going to take for her to get back?" Shirou asked on a whim, his voice lacking any motivation.
Still the King did his best to reply. "With her speed she will arrive at the closest office in a few seconds. Thanks to Bael's authority she is going to be taken seriously and have a squad formed in… half an hour at most."
"Paperwork?" Xenovia asked, which surprised Shirou a little but it shouldn't have. She saw Rias, Azazel and her superiors in the Church fighting to get things going since little.
And in the Underworld the thing was no different. "Hah, pretty much. Is that common in the Human Realm as well?" Both of his new friends nodded slowly. "Heheh, we really aren't that different." He then looked around ominously, daring anyone to try and fly away. That thought was very much dead in their prisoners. "Then again we have at least 40 and some prisoners here who need an escort. Maybe Kuisha will take a little longer to request a special teleportation permite?" He only had that idea now but trusted his Queen. "Anyway, we just have to wait. Good job all around if I can say so myself."
A small chuckle left the magus. "Yeah, a good job." He tried to say as sincerely as possible. Sitting on a stack of rocks almost like an improvised chair. "Good job…"
Sairaorg believed him, Xenovia didn't. "Mas- Nero… Is everything alright?" She asked, crouching in front of him. "Because if it isn't-"
"No, it is fine. We did good today." Shirou took a deep breath, just wishing to get rid of his clothes and take a shower. The magus was more exhausted than he should be and he knew it. "It was good enough."
Xenovia knew something was wrong but didn't know what. It was written all over the Mage's eyes and his tone of voice felt heavier than a mountain.
Getting closer she sheathed Durandal and rested it by her side. "You can tell me. Is this not enough? Did we miss something?"
Looking at his knight Shirou wondered. 'Why are you so loyal?' Instead of speaking his thoughts, he replied with. "I feel like we didn't help anyone with this."
"We took irregulated and dangerous weapons from the market and arrested a ring so deep nobody knew about. That is a lot."
"But something is missing…"
The Heir of Bael felt he was intruding on something he shouldn't but said his piece. "Know what? If there is someone else above it, they lost their golden goose… Speaking of which, aren't we missing something?" His eyes grew wide. "Or someone?"
"Fiton, their smith." Shirou was about to get up but the taller man raised his hand to stop him. We need to find him or someone else could start this whole thing all over again.
"Whoa, hold your griffins. Maybe one of these guys knows something." The devil's thumb was pointing to the others nervously waiting to be escorted to rehabilitation. "Let me ask a couple of questions. If I offer them a deal they probably will give the guy up."
"Then I will-"
"Nero, I feel tired. Can you make sure they don't attack us?" Xenovia was lying, Shirou knew she was lying and Sairaorg had a pretty good guess she could fight the whole day if necessary. Yet the blue haired girl made her best innocent face and laid in the rocks with her eyes closed. "Maybe it is my internal clock but I think it is time to go to bed."
The Bael Lion pounced on the opening as any good warrior would "Yeah, watch over her." He turned, not giving his new friend a chance to reply. "Not like you are the Heir of a Pillar who can cut those devils a deal for better rehabilitation that won't send them to the ends of the Underworld. Take a nap if you need."
"Will do." Xenovia commented as Shirou turned to her, his mouth hanging in disbelief. She even opened one eye to make sure he was there. "Maybe I am hurt? Can you check my back." Slowly she turned but with her clothes and cape intact the answer was obvious.
"Xenovia, I can't see anything."
"Just touch it. Maybe I have a bruise?" She wasn't going to point out she was laying on rocks or anything of the sort.
Sairaorg took the opportunity to approach the worst dressed group of devils he could find, judging them to be grunts. If his guess was right then those would be the ones who win the most with a deal.
Maybe he was wrong but it was a place to start. "Gentlemen, as Heir of Bael, I am here to offer you all a once on a lifetime opportunity." Noticing the attention he smiled. 'Good. This will be easy.' From the side he could hear some older devils demanding to talk first. 'Very good.' But he didn't like tricks and spoke bluntly. "We are still missing an important prisoner here; Fiton, the man who gave you the designs for your swords. Pretty much made most of them too."
The older devils, better dressed and obviously more trenched in the crime life, tried to get Sairaorg's attention quickly. Some shouted and called while others made offers for more information that went in one ear and left by the other.
Those were the ones that Sairaorg wanted punished and exiled to cripple crime in Runeas. To them there would be no deals.
But the younger ones, who were a great majority mostly identifiable by their humble clothing with second hand suits or overalls suited for factory life, were the ones he could help the most.