45- Underestimating

As the name Annihilation Maker grew in popularity, so did the interest of the leaders and leading figures of each faction, but in the end, they decided to do... nothing, because they don't see 'Dusk' as a real threat.

But who can blame them? Because Ahm is a singularity, ordinary logic does not apply to him...

Yes, they will try to recruit me and pay more attention to the next Longinus successor, but... that's it, and it doesn't take much to figure out why after listening to the backstory they fabricated for me.

According to their findings, I am a normal human who awakened the Annihilation at a young age and, by chance, managed to create a monster that helped me stay hidden or, more likely, to escape and hide, and then spent years learning and improving my mastery over it.

This means I'm at least twenty or thirty years old after staying in the shadows and accumulating power, and it's only now that I'm confident enough to confront my opponents.

They take the fact that I do things in the shadows as proof that I lack the strength to confront them directly.

And then, for whatever reason, whether it was reaching the limit of my own strength or for other reasons, I decided to begin acquiring manpower by retrieving for humans.

My 'discoveries' during those years include Kei, Jeanne, Jalter, and Scáthach with Mordred, Arthur and Le Fay being the most recent ones.

It appears that they didn't even consider that I'm doing it to help people, which is understandable.

Now, this information is very important to the factions, particularly my age and race, because for them humans are akin to... babies or children, at best

They see us as 'kids' who can develop into 'teenagers' if they are geniuses or truly gifted, and then into proper 'adults' with the help of holy swords or Sacred Gears.

This basically means our strength, how much danger a human can bring them, which is ultimately none because they recruit them when they become... old.

This is the truth, and it is the reason for them to not take  drastic measures against me.

Lifespan.

It doesn't matter how much of an 'adult' I am; for those long-lived races, I would be dead or weak in fifty to a hundred years as nature takes its course.

This theory is heavily supported by a single factor: my dealings with the Yokais, or more precisely, my "great efforts to obtain a way to prolong my life span," which technically I did because I asked for information on how to train Senjutsu.

They believe I spent years researching in order to create the 'Ki purifier.'

This means a lot of different things.

First.

I'm human, and I'm getting old, so I'm reducing the threat to something that will go away on its own in a few years.

And, secondly.

This means that when I'm old and out of luck, they could extend a 'helping' hand and reincarnate me as a Devil, or they could give me something to extend my lifepawn.

This is why most factions have taken a wait-and-see approach towards our group, knowing that in the best-case scenario, the Annihilation Maker will come knocking on their doors without them doing anything, combined with the fact that fighting me is a waste of time, manpower, and resources given how inexhaustible this Longinus can be.

Now, my question to my adorable informant is...

"Why are you telling me this, Sera-chan?" Is she up to something? No, she is not the type to do so; if she wants me to be a member of her peerage, she will simply ask me.

"Why not, Dusk-chan? I'm sure you'll come across this information sooner or later, I want  to know how accurate this is " She asked me directly, with great interest in her voice, as if she were asking a friend if he had really returned with his ex.

Wait…

"So... All you want to do is talk about it? Do… you have any other friends, Sera-chan? Aside from me," I inquired, as I couldn't think of anyone, not even in the anime.

"That hurts! Dusk-chan. Of course, I have friends. How can I not have friends when I'm a young and beautiful devil? " She says this while going on the defensive and trying to sound secure of herself…

"Of course... Name a few, I'm waiting. " Could she be a loner? Or maybe one of those people who is married to their... Work.

"Sou-tan is my friend!" Sera responded quite fast since it was an obvious choice for her, She said it with such joy that I felt sorry for her.

"Sona is your sister; she isn't important." I counter-attacked, much to the Devil's frustration.

She pondered for a moment before finding her answer and shouting it with a joy

"Eh... Ahm-chan!He's my friend! He definitely counts, right? " I felt terrible hearing her optimistic tone, as if she had found her savior, and all I wanted to say in retort was...

Girl! I said aside for me!

Sadly I can't say that...

"He is a kid and you only see him at best four or five times in a Month, and I say that because I don't want you to feel bad " I went towards the logic in order to not expose myself and… it seems to work well.

Being hit by the realization made Serafall become a little depressed.

"Moo! How unfair! I do everything in my power to prevent the devils from digging their own graves! And what do I get in exchange? I became a loner! My only friends are my sister, a 'enemy' of my race, and a kid I really like, but he doesn't even count because I can't see him very often! " She grumbled, and I sat patiently listening to her cries.

Of course she has some... acquaintances… but that's about it, they mostly want favors, benefits, her hand or her sister's, how can any of them be compared to someone like Ahm or Dusk who she can talk freely and without care and they would listen back and respond without hidden meanings, schemes, or trying to gain anything out of it. Talk.... just talk and respond even if it's dumb or

… silly things

Remembering those fools saying that she made the right choice, how smart she was for choosing such a great ally and that it is only a matter of time for the devil race to gain such a great 'asset'.

Fools!

They even went as far as subtly ordering her to convince him to join her peerage.

Sera-chan, how would she react if she discovered that two of her closest friends are the same person...

I never imagined myself pitying a pillar of the Devil race...

I will try to help her a little because it's kind of my fault for upsetting the entire supernatural world, giving her more work

"Don't you have any free time right now? Why don't you take some time to go see your sister or Ahm?" I gave her some suggestions, and I wouldn't mind spending some time with this adorable and cheerful Magical girl Devil...

I have principles, and if I do something wrong, something evil or hurtful, I will at least compensate for it with something else...

"Yes! I'll do it as soon as I have some free time. Thank you, Dusk-chan! I've found the ideal solution." She wanted to hang up the phone and hurry to clear her schedule! It should be easy as long as nothing big happens!

For some reason, Ahm detected trouble emanating from her...

And It wouldn't be the first time either...

"Sure go and cl- 'Ahm! ' " He wanted to wish her good luck but before he could do so he heard a pleading cry from a familiar voice in his head

"Dusk-Chan? What happened? "Dusk!" Serafall became concerned because Dusk would not leave her hanging without a reason, and all of her instincts were screaming…

…Trouble!

You're the one who suggested I should take some time off? Why do I have the impression that you're going to give me more work?

Serafall went to prepare herself to find out what happened, this can't be a coincidence.

'Ahm!' Hearing Jeanne's call, Ahm didn't hesitate for a second before sprinting to her location, using their connection and [Ink]

Before his body could even arrive, Ahm's mind was already there, and what he saw caused him to erupt in rage.

Jeanne was wounded, she was ambushed on her way home, and she was accompanied by a green-eyed Devil.

The church, the corrupted priestess, and what he would do to her came rushing back into his mind like a flood!

How could he have forgotten about this piece of shit!! How could he have missed it!!!

Not only did he replay the past hints about her Devil 'Admirer' in his mind, but he also considered what could happen to her as a result of his carelessness, overwhelming him with various emotions.

Following after his mind, his body appeared not even a second later and he immediately attacked the green-eyed Devil with a Lariat, slamming his entire arm right into his chest and sending the Devil flying away from Jeanne with enough strength to break the idiot's ribs if it wasn't for him instinctively guarding his body with mana.

Ahm was enraged; anger was not the only emotion he was experiencing right now; he was also experiencing guilt, shame, relief, love, hate, fear and many more.

To avoid holding back, Ahm unconsciously decided to keep his two bodies separate, his mind controlling his body as if it were a puppet, making him appear as an emotionless machine out for vengeance!

There's no getting around it, Ahm wouldn't risk him escaping by some miracle, so using his mind like this is the only way to be certain he won't survive past this day.

The [Boxes] that were designed to control his emotions broke in this moment, and by using his Mind to move around in the real world, this last was being affected! everything around him was being twisted and turned by the raw strength of his ragging emotions, all of them mixing and changing with each passing second.

But Ahm couldn't care about that.

After sending Jeanne back home, Ahm had only one goal in mind.

To make sure that this idiot was dead by the end of the day!

Good thing, because Ahm needed someone to test his mental powers with...

A good and durable test subject.