"I said... show your face," Jay repeated, his voice cold and steady. He didn't blink as he stared directly into the black cat's hazel-gold eyes, his gaze piercing through the feline facade.
The small animal didn't move for a heartbeat, before a sudden surge of dark purple light enveloped its body.
The light pulsed with a demonic hum as the animalistic figure shifted and expanded into a human form.
From the fading glow, a beautiful young woman appeared. She possessed a voluptuous, hourglass figure that was impossible to ignore, and long black hair with split bangs that framed a face retaining those same sharp, hazel-gold eyes with slit, cat-like pupils.
Her attire was a striking black kimono with a vibrant red interior, cinched at the waist by a yellow obi and a set of golden beads. The garment featured an ornately detailed headband and was designed to be open at her shoulders, providing a clear view of her large breasts, a bust that could easily rival Lavinia's own.
Swaying behind her were two distinct, velvet-black tails, and atop her head, a pair of matching cat ears twitched nervously.
"W-wait... I didn't intend to spy on you-nya!" The woman stammered, gesturing in a sudden panic. The moment she fully manifested, she felt the sheer weight of Jay's gaze, a cold pressure that made her fur stand on end.
"I-I'm actually a wanderer! I was planning to go to the Grigori territory. On the way there, I sensed some massive magic activations, and curiosity just got the better of me-nya."
Jay remained motionless, his eyes narrowed as he analyzed the woman.
Through Avesta, he could see past her physical beauty and her animal traits. Embedded deep within her soul was the unmistakable signature of an Evil Piece.
A Reincarnated Devil, huh, Jay thought, his mind categorizing her as a potential threat.
"Don't lie to me," Jay said, his voice low.
"Where is your master?"
The cat-woman's eyes widened. She opened her mouth to say something, but Jay's gaze was too much for her to handle.
It felt as if he would eat her alive if she did not tell him the truth.
"I... there is no master-nya. I-I killed him." Kuroka said, a little bit hesitant.
Hearing her answer, Jay's eyes softened ever so slightly, the murderous intent receding by a fraction.
"So, you are a stray devil."
The woman nodded frantically.
Jay stood there for a moment in the silence of the forest, his dark hazel eyes locked with her cat-like ones.
"I see. So, you didn't see or hear anything?"
The cat-woman began hurriedly shaking her head, her tails swishing behind her in a blurred motion.
"Nothing at all-nya! I just got here!"
But the words had barely left her lips when Jay's figure vanished into thin air.
Kuroka gasped, her feline senses failing to track his movement. In an instant, he appeared directly behind her.
Before she could leap away, Jay reached into his pocket dimension and pulled out a set of specially enhanced chains. The same ones Rizevim had used to bind Glenda during the Holy Grail War.
With a series of swift, practiced movements, he wrapped the cold metal around her torso and arms, pinning her limbs to her sides.
"-Nya!" the surprised cat-woman yelped as the chains tightened. She stumbled, realizing her body was already bound tight.
"What are you doing-nya!"
"You think I'd believe you just like that?" Jay asked, his voice devoid of emotion.
Kuroka growled, her muscles tensing as she tried to flex her strength against the links. The chains began to groan and crackle under her demonic power, but before she could shatter them, Jay reached down and hoisted her body up.
He slung her over his shoulder like a sack of grain, jumped down from the branch to the forest floor, and began walking toward Lavinia.
"Um... why did you tie her up, Illya-kun?" Lavinia asked, tilting her head as she watched him.
"She can run away easily with her teleportation," Jay explained.
"Besides..."
He locked eyes with Lavinia, and a silent understanding passed between them.
They had just killed a high-ranking noble. They couldn't afford to leave any witnesses, no matter how harmless they appeared.
"Hey! Don't carry me like a stray cat-nya! Untie me right now!" Kuroka protested, wiggling ineffectually on Jay's shoulder.
Jay ignored her cries. A white teleportation circle manifested beneath the trio, and in a flash of light, they vanished from the mountainside.
***
"Hey! I told you, I didn't hear or see anything-nya! Why won't you trust me?"
The setting had shifted to the interior of a damp, old, and mossy building. The air smelled of stone and ancient dust. Kuroka sat on the floor, her beautiful figure still bound in the enchanted chains.
In front of her, seated in a sturdy wooden chair, was Jay.
He had changed into a simple grey sweatshirt and black trousers. He was currently focused on a set of documents in his hand, completely ignoring the cat-woman's pleading.
Jay hadn't inspected the King Piece yet.
Lavinia had insisted that the artifact could wait until after a late dinner, noting that it was already 10 pm Underworld time.
Currently, the sounds of bubbling water and the scent of herbs drifted from the nearby kitchen where Lavinia was cooking.
This location was an abandoned castle near the outskirts of the Abaddon region. It was a crumbling ruin that looked as if it hadn't housed a soul in decades, making it the perfect hideout for Jay and Lavinia during their time in the Underworld.
"Hey! Don't ignore me-nya!"
Jay finally looked up, his expression unreadable.
"Kuroka the Nekomata. SS-Rank Criminal. Accused of killing her own master and losing her mind after becoming obsessed with power," Jay read from the document he had confiscated from her earlier.
He looked from the paper back to her face.
"You seem relatively normal in the head to me."
"Of course I am-nya! That last part is just a straight-up lie-nya!" Kuroka snapped, her tails twitching in irritation.
"Why did you kill your master?" Jay asked bluntly.
Kuroka flinched, her eyes clouding over. She frowned, her gaze dropping to the floor as she remained hesitant to answer. The silence stretched between them, heavy with the weight of her past.
"Never mind. Don't answer if you don't want to," Jay said, turning his attention back to his papers.
A moment later, Lavinia emerged from the kitchen carrying three steaming bowls of soup and a basket of fresh bread.
"Dinner is ready~"
"Thank you, Lavi," Jay said, his tone softening instantly.
Lavinia placed one bowl on the table for Jay and then, with a sympathetic look, placed another on the floor in front of Kuroka. The black-haired cat-woman stared at the bowl with a mixture of confusion and hunger.
Jay stood up and approached her.
With a quick motion, he released the catch on the enchanted chains, allowing them to slide off her body and clatter to the stone floor.
"Yeah. Just eat, and then you can go," Jay said.
Kuroka remained still, confused with Jay's sudden change of attitude.
Sensing the freedom she had been given, Kuroka hesitated. She could break the chain herself at any time, but she did not want the man who triggered her feline sense of danger to suddenly change his mind and kill her on the spot.
Somehow, the black-haired young man in front of her gave her a strange feeling, one that made both of her tails tense every time he met her gaze. It was like looking into the eyes of a dragon.
Jay gathered the chains and returned them to his pocket dimension before sitting down next to Lavinia to begin his meal.
"Is it good?" Lavinia asked, watching him expectantly.
"It's perfect," Jay replied.
He had never been a picky eater, well life hadn't allowed him that luxury. So naturally, it didn't take much to satisfy him.
However, Lavinia's cooking, even at its simplest, was genuinely the best food he had ever tasted.
Kuroka watched the two of them for a long moment, her stomach growling. She eventually reached out and picked up the bowl of soup.
"What are you doing? Sit at the table," Jay ordered without looking up.
Kuroka's eyes narrowed. She wondered why he felt he could order her around, but the smell of the soup was too enticing to resist. She stood up and took a seat across from them.
"So, you're Kuroka-chan, right?" Lavinia asked kindly.
"Yes-nya... and you are?"
"Lavinia Reni. It's nice to meet you. I'm sorry if Illya-kun was mean to you, he's actually a sweetheart deep down," Lavinia said with a warm smile.
"It's okay-nya. It was my fault for being curious after sensing such a massive magical activation in the middle of nowhere," Kuroka admitted. She had learned tonight that curiosity could indeed kill a cat.
"So, you said you were headed to the Grigori territory?" Jay asked, his spoon pausing mid-air.
"Why are you visiting this place at all? You're a wanted criminal here."
Kuroka nodded, her expression turning somber.
"I actually wanted to check on my sister... but then that terrorist attack happened at the stadium. Security went into a frenzy, and I couldn't get near her-nya."
Jay and Lavinia shared a brief, meaningful look.
"And so, I'm on my way to the Grigori-nya," Kuroka concluded.
"What do you want with the Fallen Angels?" Jay asked.
"Are you planning to join them?"
"Well, not really. But I've heard there is a White Dragon Emperor residing there-nya..."
At the mention of that name, Jay and Lavinia looked at each other again.
"I heard he's incredibly strong, so I was thinking of following him? I don't really know, i'm just following the flow type of person-nya," Kuroka shrugged, her lack of a concrete plan becoming painfully obvious.
'I take back what I said earlier,' Jay thought.
'This woman isn't right in the head.'
"So... Kuroka-chan," Lavinia said bluntly, her voice tilting with pity. "You don't actually know what you're doing, do you?"
Kuroka froze, the spoon halfway to her mouth. She went quiet, unable to find an answer to the simple question Lavinia asked.
"No?"
Lavinia laughed lightly, a soft sound that echoed through the damp stone walls of the castle.
Jay merely shook his head in disbelief.
The silence that followed was no longer tense, but rather a warm one.
"M-may I ask something-nya?" Kuroka spoke up hesitantly. Her bowl was already empty, and her posture had relaxed.
"Sure," Lavinia answered, resting her chin on her hand.
"Why are you two, a half-devil and a human together in this remote place-nya?" Kuroka asked, her eyes darting between them.
"Half-devil? Ah…" Jay paused, realizing he was still maintaining the souls of the devils the Grail had absorbed inside his body. Then the devil energy disappeared instantly, making Kuroka's cat-like eyes widen until they were perfectly round.
"W-what!? Y-you are a human-nya?"
"And what if I am?" Jay replied.
"I mean... nothing, but how are you even able to do that-nya?"
"Let's just say I have my ways," Jay said, offering no further elaboration.
Sensing his lack of interest in explaining his secrets, Kuroka didn't pry further.
They finished their meal in a strange, peaceful silence. Once the bowls were set aside, the Nekomata stood up, her ears twitching as she looked toward the exit.
"So... I can really go, right-nya?" Kuroka asked, her voice tinged with a lingering disbelief.
"Yeah... Why are you hesitating now?" Jay replied. He stood up and gathered the empty bowls, preparing to do the dishes.
I mean, you looked like you wanted to kill me-nya… and now you're just letting me go? That's cruel, you know-nya. A woman's heart isn't something you toy with like that," Kuroka purred, her natural playfulness slipping into a soft, flirtatious tone.
Jay raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.
"Nobody is playing with your heart. Now go, before I change my mind."
Lavinia let out another giggle at Jay's bluntness.
Hearing the confirmation, Kuroka turned and jumped toward the large, arched castle window.
The moonlight poured in, illuminating her silhouette against the darkness of the forest outside. But just as she crouched on the ledge, ready to leap, Jay's voice stopped her.
"Oh, and there is one more thing."
Kuroka froze, her body tensed on the window frame. She turned her head, looking back at the black-haired man standing in the center of the room.
"If you want to remove those Evil Pieces within you, come here tomorrow at this same time. I'll remove them from you."
The playful glint in Kuroka's eyes vanished instantly.
Her expression became unreadable, a mixture of shock, suspicion, and a sudden, deep-seated longing. Without giving a verbal answer, she pivoted and vanished into the night. Seconds later, the faint ripple of a teleportation circle signaled her departure from the immediate area.
Seeing the cat-woman vanish into the trees, Lavinia stood up and walked over to Jay, sliding her hand into his.
"She's just like us, isn't she?"
"Yeah..." Jay murmured.
When he had asked her why she killed her master, he had seen that look in her eyes.
It was a look they knew very well.
The look of someone who felt completely alone in this world.
Though he and Lavinia were no longer alone, they still remembered how that felt.
"Anyway, it's time for sleep!" Lavinia declared, stretching her arms above her head.
"Wait, we haven't even had a chance to inspect the King Piece yet," Jay reminded her.
"It can wait until tomorrow, can't it?"
"You know, you really need to fix that procrastination side of yours, Lavi," Jay said, though there was no real bite in his words.
"Nope~ I told you, there are many things you can enjoy in life, right Illya-kun? And a good night's sleep is one of them."
"How can you even enjoy sleeping in this haunted castle?"
"Wuuu, is Illya-kun afraid of ghosts...?"
"That's ridiculous."
Despite the banter, both of them decided to sleep for the night.
***
The next morning, the sun struggled to pierce through the perpetual grey clouds of the Underworld.
Jay was seated on the highest point of the old castle's roof. His eyes were closed, his breathing slow and rhythmic as he worked to stabilize his soul and energy, diligent morning routine he never missed since the fight against Azi Dahaka.
"Illya-kun, breakfast is ready!"
Lavinia's voice drifted up from below. Jay didn't bother with the stairs as he simply vanished in a flicker of purple flame, reappearing in the kitchen where a plate of bacon, eggs, and toast awaited him.
"So the Underworld has bacon too... I haven't seen any pigs here. Is it from some other kind of pig?" Jay muttered, poking at the meat with a fork.
Lavinia sat down next to him, a slight smile on her face.
"Oh, and also..." she reached for a folded newspaper and slid it across the table.
"It seems they've already put a bounty on your head, Illya-kun."
Jay wasn't surprised.
He had not intended to kill anyone, as he had expected the Four Satans to block his attack. But Ruval Phenex and his peerage failed to survive.
And he was from a very influential family on top of that. The political fallout is inevitable.
He opened the paper. On the front page was a sketch of his hooded figure.
The hooded man. Wanted. SSS-rank criminal.
"They're really pissed, aren't they?" Jay muttered before tossing the paper aside.
"It doesn't matter. This incident has already made some of them paranoid, it seems. Hence, depending on the location of the Ars Goetia, it could actually benefit us."
The devils were mostly self-centered creature.
'Except for a few exceptions,' Jay thought, his mind drifting to Ravel and Sirzechs.
They would definitely focus on strengthening their own territories instead of searching for him.
Still, he could confirm it soon enough.
Jay reached out, and the crimson-glowing King Piece manifested in his palm.
"Let's just find out for ourselves," he said.
Jay hesitated for a fleeting second. There was a chance the King Piece had no connection to the books of Solomon, which would mean all of this had been for nothing.
But he shook off the doubt. As he focused his mind on the crimson piece, a sudden flood of information rushed into his mind. His eyes widened with light.
Though there is no smile, it definitely is a good news.
"It works... the King Piece... no, it's more than that."
Lavinia leaned in, her eyes bright with anticipation.
"All of the original Evil Pieces created by Ajuka Beelzebub... and the rest of the King Pieces... they were all created using the principles and formulas from the Ars Goetia."
Lavinia stood up, a wide, triumphant smile breaking across her face.
"So the Ars Goetia is actually here? In the Underworld?"
"Yes. It's located in a city called Agreas," Jay said.
Lavinia's smile grew even wider.
"Then let's go there right now!"
"But..." Jay paused, his expression unreadable.
"But?"
Jay looked back at the King Piece, the information he had just extracted painting a difficult picture.
"The place where it's stored is... a little complicated."