Chapter 36: The Fairy Thief

“A bundle of joy, don’t you think?” Contrary to my confused and annoyed expression as I witness our target’s ridiculous display of bravado, the newly-reincarnated Demon beside me can’t help but let out a chuckle himself. “Whoever of my kin that is, they sure picked an interesting one.”

“I’d say I’m not getting any more peace and quiet if that guy joins,” letting out a sigh, I take a step forward, ready to arm myself at any moment. “But we still have to help him. Come on.”

However, before I can take another step forward, Benkei has already raised his arm against me, blocking me from advancing any further. As our eyes meet, he puts a finger on his mouth and answer, knowing what I’m about to ask before I could even utter a word:

“If there’s anyone that needs helping, it’s certainly not our new friend here. Just sit back and enjoy the show.”

As soon as the words leave his mouth, the young man on the mast also makes his move, with an action that sends all of his pursuers to disarray. Plunging himself straight into the swarm of angels, the young man raises his hands with style and confidence, and, in a split second when the surprise is still too much for his enemies to react, the young man goes on with another unbelievable action. Of all the options he could choose, he instead just lightly brushes his fingers over the angels’ clothes, so light that it’s almost undetectable without a keen eye that notices every little detail in a fraction of time like that. As the individual perfectly lands on the ground without so much of a scratch, even posing with an arm pointing towards the sky, only now do the angels can completely digest the sequence of events that have transpired.

“I don’t know what you just did, or why you did that, but…”

“Ah, but you will see in just a moment!” The young man snaps his fingers towards his pursuers and makes a playful wink, along with a smile brimming with spunk. And, before our eyes, the truth of his words soon comes to light.

From the tiny spot where he touched the angels just a second ago, there is a small, barely noticeable flicker of gold light. That light, however, doesn’t remain small for long, as it soon expands and spreads out of the angels’ robes in a blink of an eye. Before we realize it, all of the angels’ robes have turned from white into a solid gold color, and the way it gleams in the sun suggests that it’s not just the color that has changed, but the robes themselves. And the angels soon approve of my guess, as they are soon forced to descend with a pained and tired expression; their wings flapping as hard as they can to keep them airborne to no avail:

“Our robes… Fiend! What did you do?” One of the pursuers shouts out in rage, charging towards the young man like a mad bull seeing all in red.

“Oh? You don’t like it?” With a cheeky grin on his face, the self-proclaimed thief retaliates with ease, as with only a slight step, he has already disappeared completely from the raging angel’s tracks, causing the latter to plunge into nothing and fall over to the roadside, clawing his face onto the rough and ragged cobblestones.

“Well, in my opinion, a bit of black and red would certainly suit the look better anyway. So, you’re welcome.” The young man, upon successfully avoiding the strike, takes an elaborated bow in an attempt to provoke his adversaries even more, as the angel emerges again with a bloodied nose and various bruises on his face. The act seems to be working just fine, as not only he but also all of his remaining partners have veins popping out of their eyes in the process:

“You’ll pay for your insolence!”

However, the angels’ attempt of attack seems to be no more than a trifle joke in the eyes of the young man, as he, still with a smirk on his face, disappears and reappears directly in front of the angels faster than the eyes could see. Before his opponents can even show a shred of surprise on their faces, the young man has already sounded:

“Alright, jokes over. You guys should all go to sleep.”

With each step he makes, the young man elegantly moves about in the small gaps between the angels’ positioning, and, as he makes a turn, an angel falls like a tree just freshly cut down, knocked unconscious by a swift and precise chop to the back of the neck. However, he doesn’t seem to be satisfied with his victory just yet, as his eyes continue to scan the area, as if searching for something that has been on his mind from the start of his fight. It only takes a minute for the individual to find what he was looking for, and his eyes soon lock on his target… us.

Appearing in front of us in less than a second, the young man, revealing himself to be donning a verdant attire from head to toe, takes off his small cap with an orange feather to the side to make a bow, and asks:

“You’ve been watching me for far too long to be considered curious passersby, my dear friends. Are you perhaps fans of mine who have heard of my reputation across the ocean, or are you my punishers sent out by whoever’s in charge of that crew over there?”

“Friends, foes… We are neither,” before I could come up with a reasonable answer, the one beside me has already let out an amused chuckle. “Contrary to what you think, we are indeed just some curious passersby, but we’re the kind of passersby that itches for a challenge to brighten up our dull lives.”

As Benkei finishes his sentence, from behind us appears a small swirl of wind with a dark hole at its center, sticking out like a sore thumb in the middle of the day. In a single instant, a bullet made of compressed air is fired from the black hole, with a force enough to blast open a skull if it hits its target. However, the one that it’s aimed at, with not a single excess movement, cleanly tilts his head to the side just enough to avoid the otherwise lethal shot, and still, his smile doesn’t leave his face.

“Well, looks like we have some rather… enthusiastic fans around here.” The young man answers in a gentle voice, but I know behind that soft-spoken manner is a storm brewing. And to make it worse, the one beside me doesn’t feel like backing down at any moment:

“Nice moves, kid… makes me want to go all out even more now,” Benkei answers with a grin of his own, itching for a showdown. However, he’s forgetting something very important. I’m not about to handle another fight a mere day after that stressful turn of events.

“Enough!” Raising a wall of fire between the two, I shout in annoyance and anger. “Can we not jump into a fight against everyone in our way?”

“Alright, alright,” raising his hands and backing away, Benkei answers, even if his cheeky grin is still present. “I was just joking around a bit.”

“A feisty one you got there, huh?” Meanwhile, the self-proclaimed thief does the same, but not before rubbing his chin, as if trying to judge something. “A real looker she is, but her temper…”

“One more word and you’ll be crisp,” in a flash, a round of spears surrounds the young man, with the one in my hand pointing straight at his neck.

“Okay, okay, got it. No more jokes.” With a cold sweat, the man slowly raises his hands to surrender.

“Now, let’s get back to the introductions, shall we?” After settling for a corner with no people coming by, the three of us can finally start our conversation properly, with the strange individual being the first to speak up, offering out his hand for a shake, but not directing towards any of us. “The name’s Peter. Peter Peng.”

“Yeah, we’ve heard.” I let out a nod, deciding to be the one to take the handshake first. “Petra Romée.”

“Doesn’t sound like a Japanese name. Are you from Europe, perhaps?”

“France. I’ve been staying here for two years, though.”

“Well, I’m not going to bother you. So, who’s the guy? Your boyfriend or something?” The young man, now officially introduced as Peter Peng, asks with a cheeky grin.

“Haha, very funny,” I roll my eyes out at the attempt at a joke by the childish individual. “He’s… ugh, how do I even explain this…”

“Long story short, we’ve just met yesterday, but not really.” Benkei decides to join in as well and answers. “I go by Benkei now.”

“What, no last name?” Peng seems to be surprised by the introduction. “I thought everyone has one?”

“I was only born yesterday, after all. And I named myself, so no.” With a smile on his face, Benkei answers. However, such an answer, to no surprise, is not something that a regular person can understand in a short amount of time.

“Uh… Is there something that I’m missing here?” With a confused look, Peng turns to me and asks.

“… I have to tell him from the start, huh?”

“Looks like it.” Benkei doesn’t help me with easing my work.

“Ugh… fine. Sit down. We’re gonna be here for a while…”

 

“*Sniff* I can’t believe you two have such a sad story…” After hearing our circumstances, the young man before me, to my surprise, bawls his eyes out like a baby. How much of his tears are real though, I’m having some doubts myself. I know I once said that I’d find the good in people more, but something tells me the guy isn’t exactly what you would call an honest individual. At least, that’s to his character, since he calls himself a thief after all.

“Well, nothing we can do about it now.” Benkei, meanwhile, lets out a sigh and pats him on the shoulder. “Anyway, that’s all for us, so how about you do a little storytelling of your own? Based on what you said earlier about ‘across the ocean’, you’re from America, aren’t you?”

“Indeed.” Peng nods to confirm with a smile on his face. “I hail from the other side of the globe, the sole land to the west, America.”

“How surprising. That land still has people alive?” Benkei raises his eyebrows and asks, but it’s his question in itself that gives me the most confusion.

“What do you mean? Does that place have unfertile lands or suffer from horrid weather or something?” I ask.

“No, the place is…”

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“I’ll stop you right there.” Peng, in a sudden move, raises his hand forward. “Because it relates to my reason for being here anyway.”

“Do go on, then.” Benkei lets out a light smile and nods towards the thief.

“I’ll keep it short: I was forced to run away from my home, to here.” Letting out a deep breath, Peng answers. “I was injured in a fight before I escaped to this place. Took me two whole weeks to recover, and now I plan to return home. I was trying to steal a ship here, but then the angels watching over the place found me.”

“You were injured?” Both Benkei and I sound at the same time, although the latter seems more curious than anything. “I’ve just seen the way you fought. Even without your cross’ power, you should be more than capable of holding yourself in a brawl, weapon or not.”

“You mean that cheap footwork?” Peng answers with a bitter laugh. “Yeah, it’s effective alright… Unless I’m up against the very person that taught me those moves.”

“So, you were fighting your master?” I ask, realizing the meaning behind those words.

“Sure, call him that way if you want. But the name that you guys might be more familiar with would be… Raphael of the West.”

“Raphael? An archangel?” My arms reflexively tense up as I tighten the grip on my spear. I’ve encountered two archangels on my journey so far: the mad but powerful, Uriel, as well as the calm but twisted, Michael. Raphael of the West… what kind of enemy is he?

My partner, however, doesn’t seem to be taking the news as lightly as I do when my eyes glance at him. Opening his eyes wide and breaking a cold sweat, I can visibly see the tension on Benkei’s face as he asks once more, trying his best to look as calm as possible:

“Did you say… Raphael?”

“So, you know him.”

“Of course. I have Byleth’s memories. But…”

“What’s wrong?” Feeling like the only one left outside the conversation, I ask.

“If it’s Raphael, then… we have trouble. A lot of trouble.”

“Is he that powerful?” Feeling the weight of Benkei’s words, my grip unconsciously tighter by the second.

“Powerful is an understatement.” This time, it’s Peng who answers. “He’s broken past the limits of humans and angels altogether. That guy… is in a league of his own.”

“Broken past the limits humans and angels together?”

“Look.” Instead of giving me an explanation, Peng simply lifts his shirt and points to his stomach.

What we see on his body sends a shiver down our spines.

On his stomach is a giant scar, and from his words, I assume that’s from his battle with the archangel. However, the scar isn’t in a long line like a normal slash or stab wound. Instead, the scar is in a giant, almost round shape, with little cracks forming around it. I might be crazy for thinking this, but looking at the now healed wound, this looks almost as if…

“Is that… a fist?” Benkei asks before I could voice my question, and it looks like we have the same idea. Meanwhile, the one in question answers with a simple nod.

“The bastard quite literally punched my gut out.” Peng continues. “In just one hit, too.”

“How did you survive, then?” I ask.

“The Demons all have limited healing, remember? Combined with the fact that Raphael also treated me for a bit before I escaped, the wound was luckily not fatal.”

“But why would he treat you? Wasn’t he the one who caused that injury in the first place?”

As I sound my question, from behind where we stand, far up in the sky, a booming, yet stoic voice sounds. “Because I always carry out my judgment fairly.”

The angel stands still in mid-air. His wings, almost twice as large as any other angels I’ve seen, only flap occasionally, but with each movement, even when standing almost a hundred meters away from us, I could already feel the immense wind pressure that they let out. From afar, I can’t get a good look at his face, but his body is like an immaculate statue of unparalleled strength, shown by the perfectly toned muscles showing themselves through his robe. Before I can react, however, the angel has already shown himself right in front of us, in what could only be described as a speed beyond human understanding.

“I’ve let you roamed free for long enough, Peter. Let’s go home.” The man utters, his eyes fixed on the young man I’ve just met.

“Speak for yourself, old man.” The one in question, meanwhile, snickers at the proposition, but even an idiot could easily tell the fear within his shivering laughter. “First you beat me to near death, then you treated me, then you let me escape, and now you’re bringing me back? Piss off.”

“You overestimate me, Peter,” the archangel, still towering before us, answers. “You got out of that cell with your own wits, much to my anger and embarrassment. That’s why I’m now just fixing my mistake. You’re coming with me.”

“And what if I said no?” The young man asks with a grin, but his feet slowly back away from the sheer pressure exuding from the monster in front of us.

“Then, I guess you still need a bit of… reeducating.”

As the words leave the angel’s mouth, a sudden gust of wind howls and bursts from where he stands, so sudden and powerful that it knocks even Benkei and me over, causing us to lose our balance and fall onto the ground. Peng and Raphael, meanwhile, have already disappeared from our sights. Before we could even question their location, a deafening explosion blasts from the warehouse that’s dangerously close to town, far away from where we’re at.

“You’ve got to be kidding me… That’s almost a kilometer away…” Benkei stutters in absolute shock, before quickly turning to me with a panicked look on his face. “We have to hurry! Over there!”

As we finally make our way to the sight of the wreckage, what occurs before our eyes is almost unbelievable even if we’re witnessing it ourselves. Not only the warehouse but almost a dozen more houses in the streets are all smashed to dust, leaving a flock of panicked civilians running for their lives and a trail of fresh blood on the road, like a crimson stream flowing through town. From atop a large pile of rubble, Raphael stands tall, his hand grabbing onto Peng’s neck, whose head is dyed red while his clothes turn into a dusty white.

“Don’t resist, Peter. I do not wish to kill you here.” The angel speaks, his voice still unchanging ever since we first met him.

“Heh… save the act, old man,” Peng, on the other hand, sounds like he could die at any moment. However, even in his last minutes, the young man still has enough spite left in him to spit out a drop of blood onto Raphael’s face, who doesn’t seem to be amused by the act. “Killing me here, or killing me when we’re back home… Is there really a difference?”

“There’s a fundamental difference, Peter.” Raphael is still emotionless even after the attempt of provocation. “If I end you here, I’m just a murderer. But if I bring you home for your just desserts, I’ll be fulfilling justice.”

“Justice… my ass,” Peng answers; his breathing turns quicker and shorter for each second that passes. “In the end, it’s all the same. Your hands are already dirtied.”

“Think of it how you see fit. For now, this will do.”

As soon as the words leave the archangel’s mouth, a lightning-fast punch lands straight at Peng’s stomach. The young man didn’t even see it coming: in only a fraction of a second, his eyes soon turn white, and his mouth foams with saliva. An instant knockout.

“That ought to quiet you down for a while.” Raphael lets out a sigh, before changing his hand to grab onto Peng’s collar instead of his neck. “Now, to bring you…”

Another explosion occurs, but this time, it’s an air bullet shredding through the wind from behind me, making its way towards Raphael’s head. To my surprise, however, the angel doesn’t even need to turn around and look. With a simple tilt of the head, he successfully and completely dodges the bullet from its path, not losing so much as even a single hair in the process. Not loosening his grip over Peng, the angel finally turns, but only to speak to the perpetrator:

“I do not wish to fight you people right now. I’m only here for this rebellious son of mine.”

“Yeah? Well, I’m not much of a fan of that.” Behind me, Benkei, somehow already having guns in both hands, replies with a smirk on his face.

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