Chapter 81: Crashing
CRASH
"What!? How did they manage to slip past our barrier...!?" exclaimed one of the five Witches guarding what appeared to be a young girl with pointy ears, bobbed, platinum-blonde hair, and pink-violet eyes that currently had bright yellow, hexagonal-shaped pupils with lines flowing away from each corner. Their slim and petite body was garbed in a Kuoh Academy girl's uniform, and they were currently suspended in the air, crucified to a complex, distinctly coffin-shaped Magic Circle that produced chains of orange light that kept their wrists and ankles bound.
"B-Buchou! I'm so sorry! Th-these people came out of nowhere, and—" exclaimed the girlish-looking boy, their voice raspy and high-pitched but more boyish than feminine.
"Sh-shut your mouth...!" exclaimed the Witch closest to the bound boy, drawing a wavy shortsword as if she were preparing to slit his throat or hold it to his neck. Instead, she was sent crashing through the wall as Koneko, moving like a white blur in her Nekoshou form, tackled her with the force of a truck dispatching a Hero to another world.
"M-Miranda...!" shouted a separate Witch, but she had her own problems to deal with as, after crashing through the door, Vahn flung his Legendary Spear through one of her companions before shoulder-tackling another of her cover, crashing through her Magical Barrier as if it were a thin pane of candy glass. At the same time, Rias, flanked by Asia and a smiling Akeno, directed a menacing finger gun her way, tipped with a luminous sphere of crackling crimson Power of Destruction.
Turning to face the last unoccupied Witch in the group, Vahn's expression exuded intensity and coldness as he extended his right hand, summoning his Legendary Spear. The pressure exuded by his domain at that moment was far more than the average human could endure, so instead of holding her ground or attempting to fight back, the Witch dropped her knees and raised her hands, exclaiming, "I—Iyield! P-P-Please, have mercy!"
Though he exhaled a contemptuous snort, Vahn resisted the impulse to separate the woman's head from her shoulders and instead shouldered his spear, keeping his senses trained on the Witch but looking to Rias as he asserted, "You're in control."
"Thank you, Vahn," responded Rias, adopting a smile and nodding as she instructed the Witch she had at fingerpoint, "You will release my precious family member and consign yourself to be detained. Resist, and not even your soul will escape my Power of Destruction."
"Buchou..." muttered the crucified boy, tearing up and sniffling as he said, "It would be better if you just kill me...I'm tired of these eyes...I'm tired of being alone all the time..."
Exhaling faint from her nose, Rias retorted, "The next time you say such a foolish thing, I will spank your bottom until you find yourself unable to sit comfortably. You're my precious servant and family member, Gasper. And remember what we agreed to when you first reincarnated as a Devil? You would live for me, and I would do Everything within my power to create a place where you can smile and face people without fear."
"But it's just not possible..." sobbed the boy, Gasper Vladi, tears streaming from his eyes as he hung his head and muttered, "All I do is hurt everyone around me...there is no happiness for someone like me..."