Read my new story :
American Fast & Furious NSFW
America's #1 Scumbag NSFW
Athena rushed upstairs to question Roy.
"What happened? Did LA get hit by a flood or something?"
She'd come up in such a hurry that she hadn't even bothered to get dressed, wrapping herself in just a blanket to cover the essentials.
But for someone with Athena's figure, a regular blanket was barely more than a large towel, doing little to conceal her striking curves.
It was, well… quite the sight as she bounded up the stairs, practically bouncing with every step.
Roy stared at the lively display, his face betraying no hint of a reaction.
"The Nether Archmage showed up just now," he said calmly.
Athena's face twisted with anger. "Damn it! That creep showed up? No wonder Sangiviki's such a mess. That jerk!"
Roy raised an eyebrow, glancing at her… assets. "You've met him before?"
Athena nodded. "Back when I lived in Eastern Europe, that guy showed up at my castle once. Made the whole place reek so bad I had to move out for a month just to get it cleaned up."
Who would've thought Athena owned a castle in Eastern Europe? Talk about a rich lady.
"Athena, need any help cleaning up?" Roy offered.
The pile of guts in the bathroom was pretty gross, and soaking in water only made the smell worse.
Athena waved him off, biting her lip and giving Roy a sultry look. "I'll handle it myself. Roy, if you've got stuff to do, go ahead and take off."
Roy appreciated her no-cling attitude and nodded. "I'll swing by the bar more often."
"My daughters and I will be waiting for you anytime!" she replied with a grin.
Roy stepped out of Sangiviki Bar and tried calling Lydia to figure out why she'd bolted without a word.
But every call went straight to a busy signal, like Lydia was already on the phone with someone else.
After some thought, Roy decided to switch up his approach. He didn't need to stick by Lydia's side to protect her.
The Nether Archmage would definitely come for her again. The guy seemed unhinged but was actually pretty cunning.
If Roy openly guarded Lydia, the Archmage might not show himself at all, and Roy couldn't babysit her forever.
Instead, he could keep tabs on her from a distance and make a move when the Archmage appeared.
To pull that off, he needed to find Lydia first and, ideally, place a mark on her. That way, he wouldn't have to stay glued to her side and could locate her instantly through a psychic link.
With a plan in mind, Roy activated his Hound Ring. Lydia probably hadn't gotten too far yet.
Meanwhile, Lydia was sprinting like mad, covering several blocks. But after pulling an all-nighter with no food, her body was giving out, and she had to stop to catch her breath.
She reached for her phone to call Gerald, only to realize she'd left it in the bathroom at Sangiviki.
"Damn it! Guess I'll have to use a payphone," she muttered.
Back in those days, America still had plenty of payphone booths. Lydia quickly found one nearby, stepped inside, and fished a few coins from her pocket.
Just as she slotted the coins and dialed, she spotted a familiar, handsome man standing outside the booth.
Her eyes widened, her body froze, and the receiver slipped from her hand.
"Y-you, stay back!" she stammered.
She looked like a helpless girl about to be preyed upon, drawing curious glances from passersby.
It was midday, and the street was bustling. A few kind-hearted folks were already reaching for their phones to call the police.
Roy rolled his eyes, yanked open the booth's door, and pulled Lydia out.
"What the hell are you doing? Why'd you run off like that?"
"You—you demon! Let me go!" Lydia struggled, even kicking at Roy.
The crowd around them started to close in, ready to intervene.
Roy flashed his badge. "FEA business. This woman's a fugitive, and I'm taking her in."
With his good looks, authoritative tone, and Lydia's admittedly odd appearance, the would-be rescuers hesitated.
Taking advantage of the moment, Roy dragged Lydia into a nearby empty alley.
She looked at him with fear, clearly terrified.
"What's your deal? Why are you so scared of me?" Roy demanded.
"You—you're a demon!" she blurted.
Roy smacked his forehead, realizing Lydia must have seen his demon form.
To regular people, demons were the epitome of evil, so Roy avoided transforming in front of others unless they were trusted allies.
Clearly, Lydia had gotten the wrong idea.
"If I told you I'm a good demon, would you believe me?" he asked.
Lydia shook her head vigorously, obviously unconvinced.
Explaining this wasn't going to be easy, but it wasn't impossible either.
"Come on, I can prove it, but we need to go somewhere private."
Lydia's eyes widened further. "No way! You're just trying to lure me somewhere secluded to kill me and cover it up!"
Roy rolled his eyes again and pulled out his Smith & Wesson M500. "If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't need to go anywhere. I've got a gun right here."
With gun violence so common in America, the death of a middle-aged woman wouldn't raise any eyebrows.
Seeing the massive revolver, Lydia paled. Her combat skills were barely above average—she'd be no match for fists or bullets.
"W-what do you want from me? Please, just let me go!" she pleaded.
At that moment, Roy's phone rang. He glanced at the screen—it was Athena.
"Hey, Athena, what's up?"
"I found a phone in the bathroom. Think it's Lydia's. Is she with you?"
Roy looked at Lydia. "Yeah, she's right here. I'm bringing her back."
He hung up and dragged Lydia back to Sangiviki Bar.
She tried to resist, but with the M500 pressed against her back, she finally complied.
Back at the bar, a now-dressed Athena handed Lydia her phone. "It got soaked. Not sure if it still works. Good thing a call came through, or I wouldn't have noticed it."
Lydia took the phone nervously, eyeing Athena and Roy like a frightened quail. "Th-thanks."
Athena frowned at her reaction. "What's wrong with her?"
"This morning, she spied on our fight and saw my demon form," Roy explained.
Athena burst out laughing. "Lydia, you don't actually think Roy's a bad guy, do you? He's a hero who's sent multiple Hell Lords back to Hell!"
Roy shot Athena a surprised look. This vampire lady was surprisingly well-informed. Where had she heard about his battles with the Hell Lords?
The Mammon incident was somewhat public knowledge since it happened in LA, so it made sense Athena would know about it through her connections.
But the fights with Samael, Asmodeus, and Leviathan? Those were tightly under wraps.
Especially Asmodeus—only Drasa should know about that, and Roy trusted Drasa to keep quiet.
Lydia still wasn't convinced. People tend to believe what they see, and right now, she was convinced Athena was Roy's accomplice, plotting to destroy the world or something.
Roy rolled his eyes yet again. There was only one way to gain her trust: transform into an angel.
"Athena, step back a bit so you don't get hurt."
Athena obediently moved to the basement entrance, and Roy transformed into his eight-winged angel form.
Lydia's jaw dropped at the sight. "No way! How could you be an angel?!"
And a pure white one, no less!
Pure white angels were those who'd never broken Heaven's laws, which were strictly objective and idealistic.
If an angel violated those laws, they'd become a fallen angel, their wings turning black like Lucifer's.
"The proof's right in front of you, Lydia. Still not convinced?" Roy asked, standing on four glowing halos, radiating divine light like a god.
Lydia was speechless, stammering, "B-but I saw you turn into a demon…"
"I'm a hybrid—part angel, part demon. I can switch between forms, but I'm on humanity's side."
Roy made his stance clear, and Lydia fell silent.
"Okay… maybe I misjudged you," she admitted hesitantly, though she was clearly still wary.
Roy knew earning her full trust in such a short time would be tough, so he didn't push it.
"Let's talk about the plan to catch that guy."
Lydia looked at him, surprised. "I saw you tie him up earlier. He got away?"
Roy nodded ruefully. "His abilities are bizarre. I let my guard down, and he slipped away."
Roy had never encountered an enemy like the Nether Archmage before. His powers seemed absurd but always worked somehow.
It was like dealing with a character from a comedy cartoon—wildly inconsistent, defying physics, and doing whatever they pleased.
Without understanding their rules, fighting them was a nightmare.
It's worth noting that even comedy cartoon characters follow their own logic. Like in Tom and Jerry, they can fly as long as they don't look down, but the moment they do, they plummet.
"So, what's your plan?" Lydia asked.
"I don't think he can take me in a straight fight, so if I stick by you, he probably won't show up. To catch him quickly, I want to place a mark on you so I can protect you remotely."
"A mark? Like a demon mark?" Lydia's eyes widened.
As a medium, she knew what that meant. Those marked by demons were essentially their slaves, and she wasn't keen on that.
"Isn't there another way?"
"Lydia, I don't have time to babysit you 24/7. If you've got a better idea, I'm open to it, as long as it's feasible."
Lydia racked her brain but came up empty. If she'd had a good plan, the Nether Archmage wouldn't have driven her to the brink of a breakdown.
"Fine. But you have to remove the mark as soon as we catch him!" she insisted.
Roy rolled his eyes for the third time. "Can you stop being so full of yourself? You're a middle-aged woman—what do you think I'm after? I'll remove the mark the second we catch him. Not a minute longer."
Lydia bristled at first—she thought she still looked pretty good for her age, well-preserved, even.
But compared to Athena and her daughters? Yeah, maybe she wasn't in their league.
"Got it," she muttered.
Next, Roy placed the mark on Lydia's back, which required her cooperation to complete.
Once the mark was set and the contract formed, Roy could remotely monitor her surroundings.
"All done. You can go now. If anything happens, just call my name in your mind, got it?"
Lydia nodded.
At that moment, Athena, still lingering by the basement entrance, spoke up. "Lydia, aren't you going to check that missed call on your phone?"
Lydia suddenly remembered the call. As she checked, her phone rang again, but the water damage meant she couldn't hear anything through the receiver—probably a busted speaker.
She started to panic, seeing the call was from her daughter's boarding school.
Lydia's husband had died young, leaving her daughter, Astrae, to grow up without a father, which made her a bit rebellious.
To help correct her behavior and focus on her career in LA, Lydia had enrolled Astrae in a boarding church school in their hometown of Acton.
The school rarely called, so a call from them meant something was wrong with Astrae.
"Athena, can I use the bar's phone?" Lydia asked.
"Go ahead," Athena said, not minding. With things mostly sorted, she started cleaning up.
The Nether Archmage had trashed Sangiviki Bar, and Athena had her work cut out for her.
"Hello, Sister Merill? It's Lydia Foster. Did you just call me? My phone got waterlogged and isn't working properly… Yes… Yes… What?! I'll get to Acton as soon as I can!"
Hanging up, Lydia turned to Roy. "Mr. Black, I need to go to Acton."
"What's going on?"
After a moment's hesitation, Lydia explained. "My daughter, Astrae, has been getting into fights at school. They might expel her."
The Dimitrescu Family