Gloomy and desolate, accompanied by the thick fishy smell of blood that was nauseating, continuously filled the surroundings.
This made Kaguya, Shirayuki Hime, Asuna... even Rias, who was a pure-blooded Devil, furrow their brows.
It wasn't just because of the fishy smell of blood that was hard to tolerate, but more because of the aura similar to the Underworld within it, which was thicker and purer. As they approached, the level of concentration of the aura became stronger.
A feeling of unclear premonition also continuously sounded alarms in their hearts.
"Everyone, please be very careful."
Rias very seriously warned Kaguya and the others.
She could now be one hundred percent certain that this anomaly in the depths of this forest was clearly not the work of Onmyōji, Exorcists... among humans.
"Rias, look!"
Asuna's footsteps stopped, and she pointed ahead with a shocked expression.
Following the direction Asuna pointed, what caught Kaguya and the others' attention was a corpse, a Stray Devil corpse, with a human head and snake body, and four arms growing from its belly, a very ugly existence. The upper and lower parts of its body seemed to have been cut exactly in two from the belly by a very sharp weapon like a scythe.
"Judging from its appearance, it shouldn't have died long ago."
Rias bent down and looked at the Stray Devil corpse on the ground. Apart from the fatal wound on its belly, no other wounds were found on its body, not even wounds from a fight.
It was very clear that this Stray Devil that possessed high-class Devil strength was killed in one strike, and the enemy it faced didn't give it any chance to resist at all. It was killed very quickly and cleanly.
What caught Rias's attention most was the familiar aura similar to the Underworld that still clung to the Stray Devil's fatal wound.
"Being able to annihilate a Stray Devil that possesses high-class Devil strength so easily, the other party at least has ultimate-class Devil strength."
At this moment, Rias was somewhat hesitant whether to continue. After all, she alone would be fine, but now there were Kaguya and the others beside her. If she suddenly brought them into an unknown dangerous situation, that was negligence as a 'teacher'.
Seeing the hesitation on Rias's face, Kaguya, who was skilled at reading expressions, immediately understood the worry in her heart, and said frankly, "Rias, since we've already walked this far, of course it's impossible to give up halfway."
"Sooner or later we must step into that mysterious supernatural realm. It's impossible for us to just retreat because of certain dangers."
Seeing Kaguya and the others' such determined attitude, Rias said nothing more. After all, she still had several trump cards to escape in her hands.
"Well then, let's continue."
A few moments later.
As Rias led Kaguya, Asuna, Shirayuki Hime... and the others to continue deeper into the forest, the scene presented before them became increasingly shocking and terrifying.
Corpses.
Stray Devil corpses lying everywhere.
In this distance of less than one hundred to two hundred meters, they had already seen no less than twenty Stray Devil corpses. What made Rias more vigilant was, these twenty Stray Devils, when still alive, were all high-class Devils, and there were even three that faintly still had the aura of ultimate-class Devils remaining.
Moreover, whether high-class Devil or ultimate-class Devil corpses had one thing in common, namely they were still killed in one strike, all cut in two by a weapon similar to a scythe.
"Who exactly gathered so many Stray Devils, this is truly like a bloody massacre!" Rias muttered in disbelief.
The bloodthirsty and chaotic nature of Stray Devils, plus being continuously hunted by the Underworld, naturally caused them not to live in groups or cooperate. Twenty Stray Devils gathered, clearly someone deliberately did it.
As Rias and Kaguya and the others were shocked by the scene before them.
*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*
*PU-CHI!* *PU-CHI!* *PU-CHI!*
Sounds of continuous fighting came from not far away covered by trees, accompanied by a series of heart-piercing pleas and screams.
"No, forgive me."
"...Devil, you're truly a Devil..."
"Damn, run quickly."
"This is a trap deliberately set by this monster..."
"..."
However, these screams and pleas only lasted for a few minutes and slowly stopped. Rias and the others understood, it wasn't because the slaughterer showed mercy and let those Stray Devils live, but the Stray Devils had been completely annihilated this time.
*TING-TING-TING!*
A clear bell sound came from the depths of the forest, its sound like the final echo resonating from the turbid world from afar. As the bell sound drew closer, everyone, including Rias, tensed up, the vigilance in their hearts rising to its limit.
A beautiful girl in kimono uniform, holding a Death God's scythe, with a blue butterfly flying beside her, appeared before Rias and the others.
Her expression was very cold, as if without any emotion whatsoever. The black Death God's scythe in her hand was still dripping blood, as if telling others that the Stray Devil corpses here were all her doing. And, on this scythe hung a glowing purple bell, the sound earlier came from it.
"...Hell Girl, Enma Ai!!!"
Rias opened her mouth, speaking the newcomer's name with a blank stare, clearly not expecting the mastermind of all this was the Hell Girl Enma Ai!!!
A girl who was strange yet familiar to them.