Cultivator in a World of Angels, Demons, and Super Heroes

"Hm?" Yoshiko, while leading the kata training with the kids, sees in the corner of her vision, something zooming past in the distance.

She looks at that direction and finds Kotone and Fumio at Gin's front yard, figuring they just arrived.

She sees Fumio leave a sleeping little girl in his arms to the care of Gin before he and Kotone jump over the bamboo wall.

"Kids. Let's take a break." Yoshiko tells the kids before leaving them to their own devices.

"Yoshiko-san." Gin greets Yoshiko awkwardly, with a helpless look on his face, not knowing what to do with the little girl in his arms.

"Am I looking at a kidnap victim?" Yoshiko asks, her heart almost breaking looking at the little girl's dirty face and greasy hair.

"Yeah. Kotone said they rescued her from somewhere." Gin reports.

"I see." Yoshiko nods, feeling glad for the little girl.

Then, the two see one of the babysitters under Red's employ, exit the employees' house where her quarters is located.

"Hachiyo-san!" Gin calls out to the babysitter.

Hachiyo hurriedly attends to the two, seeing the new child.

"I'll take care of her." She takes the child from Gin's arms and leaves without asking any questions.

"T-thanks Hachiyo-san."

"T-thank you…"

Gin and Yoshiko are caught off-guard by the babysitter acting as if the situation is normal.

"Okay…" Gin sighs, shrugging off the confusion.

"Yeah." Yoshiko sighs.

The two have already gotten used to the strange things happening around Red and the hill.

"It's finally nice to call them by their names. We just used to call them by their jobs." Yoshiko smiles.

"HUH?" Gin looks at Yoshiko weirdly.

"What's wrong?" Yoshiko asks, somehow feeling offended by Gin's tone and stare.

"Say, Yoshiko-chan. It's really weird. Is Hachiyo really her name?" Gin asks.

"What do you mean?" Yoshiko asks, confused.

"I mean. She… and her colleagues. They're perfect at their jobs, but something's weird about them." Gin starts.

"Starting with their names. The chef-san calls himself Ichiki. The three babysitters, call themselves Yoneko, Nana, and Hachiyo. Then, maid-san calls herself Roku, which is usually a guy's name."

"What's wrong with their names?" Yoshiko frowns.

"Can't you see it? I don't know if it's just me, but they sound like numbers to me. Ichi (1), Yon (4), Nana (7), Hachi (8), and Roku (6). I wouldn't be surprised if boss' farmhands that live in the garden with Kotone are based on Ni (2), San (3) and Go (5)." Gin explains.

Yoshiko is stunned for a second before, "Ehhh?!" gasping in realization.

"H-how could…" She cannot even express what she is feeling.

"Yikes…" Gin cringes, heavily regretting what he said, seeing the look of betrayal on Yoshiko's face.

"Hey. Maybe it's just coincidence?" He compensates awkwardly.

"N-no. It is just exactly like how you said." Yoshiko takes a deep breath.

"There must be a reason why they're using fake names." She sighs.

"Yeah. That's why I didn't bring it up to Kichirou-san. Maybe it's him who gave them the names." Gin is relieved, seeing Yoshiko being understanding.

"No wonder. They seem like strong superiori, but they're here, working simple jobs." Yoshiko further realizes.

"Well. Whatever it is, Kichoru-san is very powerful. Of course, his servants will not be ordinary too." Gin shrugs.

He then sees a huge vulture made of yellow flames approaching fast in the horizon.

Soon the flame vulture slows down as it approaches the hill.

"Oh… They're here too?" Yoshiko gets interested as she spots three familiar men standing on top of the fire bird.

She and Gin has seen this scene twice already and they know that the men riding on the bird, are the most powerful of Red's new servants.

"Huh. Kotone, Fumio, and now these three. They've been out for quite a while and they all suddenly come back. Looks like the big guys are having a meeting." Gin figures.

<>

"So, that's what happened, boss." Fumio recounts everything that happened in Oonishi Clan's demon prison.

Him, Kotone, and Red are seated at the lawn in the backyard.

"I heard that Oonishi Gentarou is a high-tier A-Class. How'd you get away?"

While Red is interested in what he is sensing from Fumio's pocket, he wants to hear Fumio and Kotone's adventure first.

"I-uhh… I got him with a sneak attack. He might be a powerful earth-type manipulator, but his physical body does not match his Class. If he covered himself in his mud ability, I might not have even scratched him."

While Fumio feels proud beating an A-Class Superioris, he attributes that achievement more to luck and a perfect circumstance.

"And he's old too." Kotone adds, the sight of the unconscious old man on the floor, with blood leaking of out his nose and mouth is something she will not forget in a long time.

"Might be old, but he looks young enough to pass as a fifty-year-old. And even fifty-year-old non-superiori can still handle themselves in a gunfight." Fumio might have felt lucky, but he does not want to entirely disregard his contribution.

"And that thing in your pocket is the thing that ensl*ves demons?" Red asks.

"O-oh yes…" Fumio hurriedly takes the piece of wood out from his pocket and hands it to Red.

"Can't put it in your storage ring?" Red asks as he receives it.

"It won't go in boss. That's when I knew that it might be more valuable than at least five of your special peaches combined." Fumio says, confirming Red's suspicion.

"B-boss… Uhh… That thing might be evil." He warns.

"Interesting…" Red pays the warning no mind as he studies the piece of wood in his hands.

Seeing the keen interest in the usually disinterested Red, the two disciples perk up.

"You know something about it, Kichirou-san?" Kotone asks.

"I might have an idea." Red nods as he looks closer.

The three suddenly feel the air become warmer. They look up and they see Xoz'gekal's, the formerly imprisoned General-ranked demon, flame vulture descend.

Before his flame vulture can do damage to the grass, Xoz'gekal cancels it and him and his companions land before the cultivators.

"Sir." Xoz'gekal greets first.

"You've called?" Tezguniuth, the knight-ranked sloth demon asks.

"Mind your tone." Rezanod, the other knight-ranked demon that Red rescued, rebukes the sloth demon before, "Good day, sir.", giving his own greeting to Red.

The three demons received a signal from Red, making them rush over.

"Okay. You three sit with us." Red orders them and they are quick to comply.

"Okay. You folks know what this is?" He tosses the piece of wood to Xoz'gekal.

Fumio and Kotone are surprised at Red's consultation to the three.

"Hmmm… No idea." Xoz'gekal shakes his head.

"Same." Rezanod too do not know.

"Hmmm…" Tezguniuth meanwhile, cannot help his brows from jumping.

"I've seen this before… It's used by humans to summon demons, if I recall correctly." He takes the piece of wood from Xoz'gekal. This surprises the group.

He then takes the piece of wood and takes a closer look.

"Maybe angels too." He adds, making the group's jaws drop.

"How?" Kotone asks.

"Magic." Tezguniuth scoffs.

"I don't know who figured it out but humans used to use magic to summon demons."

"So, they use spells, right?" Fumio asks, connecting the dots.

"That's right." Tezguniuth confirms.

"Okay. Does it sound like this?" Fumio clears his throat, "O, k*ner**kah… M****'hr***k ***la*un… KR*****LE TAY*****E!", and recites a poor imitation of Gentarou's spell.

Due to Minoru's taunting that made Gentarou repeat the spell three times, Fumio picked up some parts of the incantation he can pronounce.

The group meanwhile, frown in confusion at the gibberish.

"What was that?" Xoz'gekal chuckles, embarrassing Fumio.

"I tried. That's what I heard." Fumio shrugs.

"You recognize it?" Kotone meanwhile, sees Tezguniuth's pondering face.

This takes the attention off of Fumio to the only person in the group who has knowledge of it.

"Do that again?" Tezguniuth asks, and Fumio does.

"Okay. The rhythm, the pattern of pronunciation, it sounds a bit like the oldest human language I have ever heard." Tezguniuth guesses.

"Sumerian? Egyptian?" The well-red Fumio asks in interest.

"No. Older than that." Tezguniuth shakes his head.

"I don't even know what it's called. It was spoken around eight thousand years ago by people that lived in the fertile crescent. That was two or three thousand years earlier than Sumerian, or Egyptian, or Tamil."

The two other demons, Red, and Kotone nod at the information, finding it interesting, but Fumio realize something strange.

"Wait… You've HEARD? How could you have heard languages that died thousands of years ago?" Fumio chuckles, feeling smug that he is the only one who fell for Tezguniuth's joke.

"Huh… I didn't know you lived that long." Red is pleased to find out something new about Tezguniuth.

"Meh. I lived longer." Xoz'gekal scoffs.

"But you don't know shit now, do you?" Tezguniuth scoffs in return.

"And how'd you get to know shit in the first place? Maybe you were probably a Scamp back then. Weak enough to actually fit in the gate that was very, very slightly ajar." Xoz'gekal sneers.

"And? I was a child. A CHILD, you geezer." Tezguniuth scoffs.

"Geezer..." Had Red not put restrictions on Xoz'gekal, he would have blasted Tezguniuth with at least a tiny flame vulture.

"When I was a scamp, I was summoned once in Hittite." Rezonad cuts in.

"You guys are joking, right?" Fumio's mind is spinning, unsure whether the demons are serious, are having a shared paranoia, or are simply riffing off of each other.

"Hey. I think I have a good guess at the incantation you heard." Tezguniuth brings the group back in topic.

"Yeah?" Fumio looks at him funny.

"Boss. Here. Who knows, I might actually trigger a real spell." Tezguniuth tosses back the piece of wood to Red.

"Alright." He clears his throat.

"O, kanerakkah Muvachip'hramak aiklakun ~~~ KRUITTALE TAYA'UNNE!" He successfully incants.

Fumio and Kotone's eyes widen in surprise.

"T-THAT WAS IT!" Fumio almost stands up.

"It sounds more beautiful than how Gentarou said it." Kotone comments.

"What does it mean?" Red asks.

"It roughly translates to 'Demon, submit yourself unto my bidding.'" Tezguniuth says.

"Ah…" The group is enlightened.

"So yeah. I thought that little thing was just for summoning, who knew it can ensl*ve demons too." Tezguniuth sighs heavily, just thinking about how harmful the piece of wood is to demons.

"WAIT!" Kotone suddenly calls for a break.

"Yes. Let's take a break, please." Fumio too, wants to adjust to the conversation.

"Kichirou-san… and you gentlemen… I'm not going crazy, am I?" Kotone asks.

Fumio too anxiously awaits.

"Yes. These three are demons." Red confirms casually.

Fumio immediately jumps back, prompting Kotone to do the same. The two looks at Red and the demons with apprehension. 

"Oh, come on..." Rezonad encases Kotone and Fumio in a sphere of ice, intending to drag them back.

Before he can drag the ball of ice however, *Crash* it is broken by Fumio.

"Don't you f*ckin touch me!" Fumio half yelps, and half roars, spooked by the demon's actions.

"Ooh… strong." Rezonad stands up in surprise at how easy his ice was broken.

"Oh, sit your asses back down." Red sends them a compulsion attack with his spirit sense.

The three immediately calm down and they get back to their previous places.

"We'll talk about this later." Red tells his two students. 

"Anyway." Tezguniuth shrugs at the short drama, and continues.

"During my time in the fertile crescent nine thousand years ago, I witnessed quite a few demon summoning rituals performed with human sacrifices. Usually, a ritual to summon one Scamp level demon will take three human sacrifices. But that little thing in your hand, it felt powerful. The shamans simply used goat blood to summon Scamps." He explains to Red.

"If it's so powerful… then why do the Oonishi clan need thousands of people to ensl*ve demons?" Kotone asks.

"They don't need it. The actual subjugation might not need any soul at all. But those souls… They're feeding them to demons… to make them stronger." Tezguniuth explains.

"I-I see…" Fumio and Kotone get goosebumps.

"How strong was the host?" Tezguniuth asks.

"B-Class, Mid-tier." Kotone answers.

"Okay. The Oonishi, right? They won't waste a B-Class Superioris to be the host of a scrub demon. They must have been trying to subjugate a demon that is just as strong as that poor sap, and after they're successful, that's when the feeding starts.

"Demons of that level will require 1 to 2 souls from B-Class Superiori, OR 5 to 6 souls belonging to C-Class Superiori, OR 30 something souls from D-Class Superiori, OR 150 to 160 souls from E-Class, OR 320 something souls from F-Class Superiori, OR at least 600 Non-superiori souls. You follow?" Tezguniuth allows Fumio and Kotone to process.

It does not take the two cultivators long to feel disgusted.

"And A-Class level demons like me..." Xoz'gekal cuts in.

"Unless someone supplies me a soul of an A-Class Superioris my level, I will need at least three thousand non-superiori souls to get back to my peak power." He explains.

"Y-you… You t-three…" Kotone's mind is blown, and just thinking about how the demons in front of her got their powers back, terrifies her.

"Hey, it's free." Rezonad shrugs, making Fumio furious.

"To be fair, my host was willing. He was suicidal. I didn't have to eat." Tezguniuth has a more acceptable excuse to Fumio and Kotone.

"I was fed supervillains, so my body count is just under ten." Xoz'gekal says, but it does not make Fumio and Kotone feel any better.

"You two." Red takes his students' attention. 

"Get over it. I know this sounds cold coming from your fellow human, but how many animals have you two eaten in your life?" He asks.

"Still…"

"T-hat…"

Fumio and Kotone cannot swallow the logic.