Asia: I Can't Do It Right Now

A hopeful light shone in her eyes.

"You two, enough already."

Veins bulged on Donaseek's forehead. "Are you pretending I don't exist?"

Boom!

The air exploded.

A pair of jet-black wings spread behind Donaseek, and he shot into the sky.

"A mere demon dares to ignore me?"

"You're asking to die."

Light shone in his hand as a Light Spear took shape, and he hurled it viciously at Lind.

Whoosh!

The air shrieked in the Light Spear's wake, leaving a ripple visible to the naked eye.

"Watch out!"

Asia's face paled, but all she could do was watch as the Light Spear drew closer and closer to Lind.

But the next moment...

Her eyes widened.

Thud!

A dull sound rang out.

A single finger casually stopped the Light Spear.

Chapter 40: Asia: I Can't Do It Right Now

"How is that possible?"

Donaseek cried out in horror, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.

His brain seemed to stop working.

Crack!

The Light Spear shattered, and dazzling magical power bloomed on the finger.

A brilliant beam of magical power tore effortlessly through the air and struck Donaseek.

Terrifying force erupted, destroying Donaseek's light-powered defenses in a single blow.

Like a high-explosive shell detonating in midair, a thunderous boom shook the sky.

Visible waves of air rolled outward in every direction.

Standing beside Lind, Asia turned pale. Her ears rang, and her brain felt as though it had turned to mush.

Thud!

Donaseek fell helplessly from the sky and slammed into the ground.

Blood kept pouring from his mouth, and not an inch of his body remained unscathed.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Footsteps approached.

Donaseek looked up and saw a pair of cold black eyes.

"S-spare me..."

He struggled to speak, desperately trying to stand. "If you kill me, you'll definitely bring trouble on yourself."

"Enough nonsense."

Lind asked flatly, "Do you know how to extract a Sacred Gear?"

The street was utterly silent.

Only Lind's voice echoed through the air.

Asia stared blankly at it all, still unable to process what had happened.

It was over already?

The demon had crushed the fallen angel just like that?

If this fallen angel hadn't been hunting her all this time...

She would have thought he was an impostor.

"I-I don't."

Donaseek caught his breath and hurriedly added, "But I know Raynare can do it."

He's being pretty cooperative.

Lind raised an eyebrow and asked calmly, "Where is she?"

"I can tell you how to find her, but you have to promise to let me go."

Donaseek began bargaining.

"No problem."

Lind nodded indifferently.

That easily?

Donaseek hesitated. "How can I trust—"

"You're in no position to bargain."

Lind cut him off. "Talk or die."

An icy killing intent spread, terrifying Donaseek out of his wits. "I-I'll talk! Raynare and the others arranged a time and place to meet me. It's at..."

"All right!"

Lind nodded, then vanished in a flash of light.

He really left?

Joy spread across Donaseek's face.

But the next moment...

Lind appeared again and stomped down.

Crack!

Bones shattered with an audible crunch.

Donaseek's eyes widened, filled with resentment and fear.

"D-didn't you say you'd let him go?"

Asia trembled.

"Sure. I already let him go."

Lind shrugged. "But then I happened to run into him again."

"He can only blame his bad luck."

"..."

Asia stared at Lind in disbelief.

You could do that?

But...

It did sort of make sense.

Seeing people gradually appearing around them, Lind cleaned up the scene and said,

"The Repelling Barrier has worn off. Let's leave first."

Hum!

Light flashed from a magic circle.

Lind and Asia vanished.

Lind's villa.

In the living room.

Lind took two cans of cold cola out of the fridge.

"What's this?"

"Cola. You've never had it?"

"I grew up in the church. I've only ever had plain water."

Lind said, "..."

What kind of life had this girl been living?

"Here, have some."

Lind opened a can and handed it to Asia.

"Thank you."

Asia took the cola and sipped it.

"It's good. It's so good!"

Her eyes lit up. She gulped down the entire can, then let out a satisfied burp.

That felt so nice.

I'd love to get some sleep.

So much had happened today.

She was utterly exhausted.

As she began to drift off, she caught sight of a smiling face and froze for a moment.

Right.

Mr. Demon was still here.

Asia curled her toes in embarrassment.

That was so rude of me.

"You can get some sleep, you know."

"N-no, that's all right. Thank you."

Asia gave Lind a conflicted look.

This Mr. Demon...

He was surprisingly considerate.

He was probably a really nice person.

"In that case, let's get down to business."

Lind asked, "Are you ready?"

"Ready for what?"

Asia looked bewildered.

"Have you forgotten what you promised me?"

Lind gave her an exasperated look.

Asia blinked, then blushed again.