Before he could even register a reaction, Diodora's arms and legs were severed.
The super-acceleration ended. The world in Rhode's eyes returned to its normal flow, and his "vanished" figure reappeared to the outside world.
"AAAAAHHHH! MY ARMS! MY LEGS!"
Sliced into a literal human torso, Diodora crashed heavily to the floor. The agonizing pain flooded his entire system the moment Rhode's Clock Up stopped. His face turned deathly pale, drenched in sweat, as his eyes turned bloodshot. Blood pooled beneath him, staining the floor a deep crimson.
Born into luxury and power, Diodora had never experienced such agony. He lay on the ground, shrieking in a high-pitched wail. A normal person would have passed out from the shock, but as a Devil, his tenacious vitality only served to prolong his suffering. He wasn't like a member of the Phoenix family who possessed high-speed regeneration; he couldn't just regrow limbs if his head was blown off. While his limbs could be reattached with proper medical care without affecting his future combat ability, he wasn't in the Underworld.
Since he had snuck out in secret, no one in the Astaroth family knew where he was.
"Stop screaming. You're hurting my ears." Rhode picked at his ear with a finger. This guy's voice was higher than a woman's. It wouldn't be long before people arrived.
"I... I'll kill you!!!" Diodora managed a momentary lapse of clarity, staring at Rhode with eyes filled with pure hatred and intense terror. If looks could kill, Rhode would have died a billion times over.
"Save the talk. Time is tight. I ask, you answer. If you answer well, I might just let you go."
The other black-robed girls in the room wanted to speak, but seeing Rhode's god-of-death demeanor, they were too terrified to make a sound.
Hearing a chance to survive, Diodora calmed down slightly, though his eyes remained fixed with a mixture of loathing and fear. He was a pureblood High-Class Devil—how had he been brought down by a measly exorcist?
"Where are the nuns you kidnapped?"
"They're all here."
"The Holy Maiden you're tricking tonight—what's her name? And did she use a Sacred Gear to heal you?"
Diodora's eyes lit up. Right! He could wait for this guy to release him, then find the Holy Maiden and have her use her Sacred Gear to heal him!
"Yes, her name is Asia Argento. Her Sacred Gear can actually heal Devils—it's the first time I've ever seen such a thing."
When Diodora was being treated, he could clearly feel that the energy was Holy Light. Usually, Holy Light was toxic to Devils, yet the wounds he had inflicted on himself were indeed healed by it. It was miraculous. However, Diodora hadn't overthought it at the time; he had simply fled the scene after being "discovered" by other Church members.
"Now, can you let me go? I am a High-Class pureblood Devil of the Underworld, the successor to the Astaroth family! If you release me, I will give you countless rewards!" Diodora gritted his teeth against the pain.
"Sure. But you need to answer one last question."
"What is it?" A glimmer of hope flickered in Diodora's eyes. He decided that the moment he got back to the Underworld, he would use every resource at his disposal to put a bounty on this bastard's head! But first, he had to live.
"It's simple. You just need to prove the Goldbach Conjecture."
"???"
What the hell is the Goldbach Conjecture? Diodora was utterly bewildered. He had no idea what that even meant.
"Sorry. If you can't answer, then you have to die." Rhode raised his Nichirin Sword.
While the sword's effect was specialized against dark-aligned creatures, the System-enhanced version was much more durable than the original. It was harder than almost any conventional weapon; otherwise, it wouldn't have been able to slice through the body of a High-Class Devil so easily.
"Wait! My kinsman is the current Beelzebub of the Underworld! Ajuka Astaroth is my uncle! You can't kill me! If you do, he will definitely avenge me!"
"Are you done?"
Rhode gave him a cold look. Before finishing him, he pulled out his handgun and emptied an entire magazine into Diodora's crotch. A scream that could easily be described as the most tragic sound on Earth pierced the air.
With that done, Rhode drove his blade straight through Diodora's forehead.
[Mission "The Fall of the Holy Maiden" Completed] [Rewards: Church Reputation +10, Holy Sword - Excalibur] [Holy Sword Excalibur: Also known as the Sword of Promised Victory. Forged by spirits in Avalon, it features a golden cross-guard and a hilt embedded with jewels. Its blade cuts through iron like butter and possesses the Noble Phantasm (Excalibur), which converts the user's mana into light to be released as a devastating strike.]
"Excalibur?"
Rhode's eyebrows shot up. Wasn't this the exclusive weapon of the King of Knights? How did it end up with him? It even came with its Noble Phantasm function, though it required mana to fire. He wondered how much it would drain him. If the cost was too high, it would have to remain a trump card.
Still, it was a perfect replacement for the Nichirin Sword. Using the Nichirin Sword against enemies above High-Class was starting to feel a bit forced. If Rhode's own stats hadn't been so high, he likely wouldn't have been able to break their defense.
He checked the System map. Seeing no new red dots appearing, Rhode stowed the new gear into his inventory. Then, he turned his gaze toward the girls in black robes.
By now, they had removed their veils and hoods, revealing faces of various exotic beauties. Even by the high standards of a 2D world, their looks were well above average. Combined with the classic anime "blonde bombshell" aesthetic mixed with soft features—and that inherent purity and elegance unique to nuns—it was no wonder a Devil like Diodora had developed such a fixation.
Devils, after all, weren't exactly known for their high moral compass.
"Thank you for saving us," one of the nuns said, her hands clasped in prayer.
Rhode half-expected them to follow up with the classic line: "We can never repay your kindness, so we offer our bodies in return." But reality, it seemed, wasn't going to take the "fan-service" route just yet.Having just escaped the lion's den, these girls naturally had only one thought in mind: returning to the Church as quickly as possible.
"Thank you. You must be affiliated with the Church as well, right? Looking at your clothes... are you an exorcist?"
"I am. What are your plans now?" Rhode asked casually.
"We... we plan to return to the Church first to report everything and recount our experiences. Perhaps... perhaps we can be welcomed back."
The nuns sounded hesitant as they spoke. After all, Diodora had only found the opportunity to seize them because they had "sinned" or made mistakes in the first place.
"Then I wish you the best of luck."
Rhode nodded. Seeing that there was nothing left for him to do, he turned and left.
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My : https://[email protected]/AuAuMon
High School DxD : Reincarnated into the Multiverse, but it's High School DxD (53 Chapters – Ongoing)
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