The group entered the Tokyo Tower area after Rio joined them.

They spent no time resting because they were chased by time. They needed to get the Devils that suited them before other people took them. Some smaller Devils with one or two horns began to disappear one after another as they tried to find Abaddon.

There were still some shadows hiding between trees, but the rate of their disappearance wasn’t normal.

“They got captured too fast,” Yamada commented as he looked around the base area of Tokyo Tower.

“Yeah. A lot of people read my novel, that’s why.” Atsuku replied calmly. He was already expecting this to happen, and that was why he spent no time dealing with other people.

“But the ones that disappeared are just small ones. If they read your novel, why don’t they take the bigger one?” Rio asked curiously, putting her finger on her chin.

Her question made sense. If they knew what would happen to them, then why didn’t they try to get Devils with more horns? The answer was simple.

“Because they know they won’t be able to pass their attention test. It is quite difficult.”

“Indeed. I might even die tonight if Atsuku isn’t here.”

“What do you mean? Wasn’t I able to get a five-horned Devil easily?”

“Rio, let me tell you something.” Yamada said seriously as he put his hand on Rio’s shoulder. “You’re just that special.”

“Eh, what is that? You’re so gross, brother.” She retorted with a disgusted expression. Everyone would react like her if their brother, who never praised them, suddenly became like Yamada. Nothing was strange, indeed.

“Guh!”

Yamada took damage even though he was being nice to Rio.

“Haha…” Atsuku laughed slightly, averting his face to hide from his friend.

“Hey! You’re laughing, aren’t you?! Answer me, Atsuku!”

“Hahaha, my bad. Anyway, let’s find Abaddon fast. Even though getting its attention is difficult, it’s not as impossible as my choice.” Atsuku swatted away Yamada’s retort and got back to the main topic.

Rio chuckled a little and made Yamada click his tongue.

“Tsk! Let’s just find it. You know where it hides?”

“I know the rough location. Follow me.”

Atsuku went to the dense trees near the Tokyo Tower. He knew where Abaddon might be located because of the setting that he wrote in his novel.

‘Abaddon is like an insect. More specifically, it looks like a locust. That’s why he loves plants, especially old ones and flowers.’

Fortunately for him, there was a little park near the Tokyo Tower where almost all kinds of plants grew. There was also a flower bed near it, and currently, Atsuku took the group to that flower bed. It was located a bit away from the Tokyo Tower, but it was worth the trip.

There were a lot of insect-like shadows inside the forest of trees. Looking at them, Atsuku turned to Yamada and Rio, who walked behind him calmly.

“Yamada, before we find Abaddon, I think it’s best to prepare a gift to make you able to get its attention easier. So grab three small shadows that look like an insect with you. You know what I mean, right? I will wait for you in the flower bed around the park.”

“Oh! Right, there is that. I will join you in a minute.” With those words, Yamada jumped into the shadow of the trees to catch some small Devils. An excited grin was plastered on his face as Atsuku saw him running toward the nearest Devil.

With her brother gone, Rio fastened her pace and walked behind Atsuku; her hands were behind her back.

“Hey, Atsuku. Is there a reason why you asked my brother to catch some small Devils?”

Atsuku turned to his right, looking at Rio. “Yes. Abaddon is a ruler of an insect that personifies destruction. To get its attention, you need to bring a sacrifice. Three small ones are enough for the first sacrifice, but then, to assimilate with Abaddon needs more than that.”

“Hmm… So to get its attention and to get its recognition is different? That’s why the succubus, Asmodeus, was it? Anyway, that’s why Asmodeus was circling me earlier. It wanted to see whether I am worthy of its power.”

“Indeed. And Abaddon is troublesome in that regard. I hope Yamada will be able to bear it.”

“The way you say it makes me worry. But he will be fine, right?”

“Don’t worry. He will be fine. I am also here in case something happens.” Atsuku patted Rio’s head as he smiled gently at her.

Her face flushed a bit red as she cast her gaze down. It seemed like she was able to get embarrassed too. Nodding her head slightly, a small sound came out from her mouth. “Un.”

Both of them went silent. Atsuku lowered his hand and continued walking toward the park. After walking for a few seconds, they finally reached the flower bed that was located at the edge of the park, in the clearing without any path leading to it.

In the middle of the flower bed, a 3 meters shadow that looked like a combination of a man and an insect stood idly, looking at the flowers. It had 6 horns jutting out of its cicada-like head. The area around it was dyed in black smoke oozing out from its body.

Narrowing his eyes, Atsuku pointed at the shadow, “That’s Abaddon.”

“T-That’s Abaddon?!” Rio yelped in fear. It was natural. The Devil called Abaddon embodied destruction. No normal person would be able to stand near it.

Rio was fine because she had just assimilated with Asmodeus, 5 horned Devil. As for Atsuku, his mind was already on another level, so he wouldn’t tremble even if he stood in front of the most fearsome Devil.

Heck, his Devil in Fantasia was known as the most fearsome one, evaded by everyone. But he managed to assimilate with it just fine.

“Let’s wait here until Yamada arrives. It won’t go anywhere if this Abaddon is the same one with the one in Fantasia.” Atsuku said, putting his hand on Rio’s shoulder to calm her down.

“U-Un.” Rio nodded her head; her body was still trembling a little.

They didn’t need to wait for long. After a few seconds, the bushes behind them made a rustling noise, getting Atsuku and Rio’s attention.

Rustle rustle–

Both turned around at the same time, and a blonde boy appeared from between the bushes, holding three small insect-like shadows by their legs.

“Yo, I am here.” He greeted with a grin as he raised his hand that was holding the shadows. “And I got the sacrifice.”

“That’s fast.”

“Who do you think I am? These guys are nothing at all.” Yamada smirked and approached Atsuku. When he was midway, he suddenly stopped on his track, and his smile strained a little.

“Hey, hey. What the fuck is this? I got a shiver sent down my spine just by meeting the eye with that thing. Rio, don’t turn around no matter what you do.” He warned his sister.

“Why?” Rio asked, about to turn around. However, Atsuku immediately stopped her as he realized something was wrong with his friend’s action.

“Don’t do that, Rio. Keep silent for now.” He said seriously as he cast his gaze down. This feeling was familiar. He had felt this before. A black cloud of shadow filled the ground around them, he couldn’t see the dirt anymore.

It didn’t belong to Abaddon, no. He was fine even when he met Abaddon’s gaze head-on earlier. Yamada also didn’t act unusual even though he could see Abaddon. But his friend suddenly stopped and trembled in fear. Even the small Devils in its hands suddenly stopped moving around.

“Hey, Yamada. Is the thing standing behind me the one I think?” He asked, an excited smile plastered on his face.

“Y-Yeah. S-Sorry, it seems that I can’t help you with this one. It’s impossible for me.”

“I see.” Atsuku nodded. “Take Rio with you. We changed the plan. We will deal with Abaddon later. Don’t ever turn around, Rio. You will not be able to handle this yet. Walk away from this place as I handle this one.” He pushed Rio toward Yamada.

“I-If you say so.” Rio nodded obediently as she walked to Yamada. She didn’t know why Atsuku said that, but she believed in him.

“Sorry, Atsuku.” Yamada said so as he turned around. His back was facing Atsuku as he walked away with Rio.

“Don’t worry. I plan to take care of this one alone from the start.” He muttered to himself before taking a deep breath, calming himself down.

Slowly, he turned around, looked down, and faced the being behind him.

“Yo!” He greeted confidently with a big grin on his face.

‘I never thought it would show itself in front of me.’

The one that he wanted to get. His Devil of choice, which was avoided and became a taboo in Fantasia as it took a lot of lives with its prank and test.

A small shadow floated in front of him. Its main body was a sphere, looking like a girl’s head. However, it had a massive pair of wings that spanned over 5 meters with a lot of spikes on them. At first sight, there were at least 10 spikes in each wing.

It had no horns on its face, unlike the usual Devils. However, it was not a weak Devil. This creature was the strangest of all Devils, as its spikes represented its horns.

In Fantasia, this creature was feared, respected, and avoided. The Depraved Hero’s source of power. The Devil that fit the broken man the best.

That creature was called…

“It’s been a week, Iblis.”

… the worst Devil, Iblis. And it kept surprising Atsuku; this time was no exception. No matter how much Atsuku could guess the future, he had never expected the next one.

Because…

“Indeed it is. A week since I left your body, John.”

… Iblis spoke for the first time and called his name with a white shadow that appeared on its sphere face.