CHAPTER THREE - CRAZY RAIN ARC - S.S.S.S.

Blood splatters against the walls as a devil cries out from within the dungeon.

"Good. Again."

A young devil girl uses what little strength her tiny arms possess to lift a jagged horn above her head, a long unpolished blade sticking out of the other end. Blood pours from a hole in the side of her head.

She swings it down upon the whimpering devil curled up below her.

SPLAT!

The girl's face is smothered with the blood of her victim. She wears a long velvet cloak with a golden adornment wrapping around her neck, her long straight hair reaching to her knees. She looks behind her with a blank and empty stare.

"Well done, Lilith."

A tall serpentine devil stands watch behind a young Riru.

"And why was he tortured?"

Finally, Riru speaks.

"Trespasser."

"Indeed. Here. It's from your father."

The devil hands her a small pouch, jingling with the sound of loose coins.

"You are not to leave the ninth circle. Understood?"

Riru nods, wiping some blood off her face. She stabs the blade inside the gaping hole in her head, inserting her horn back in.

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Riru walks down the cobblestone roads of the ninth circle of Hell. Twisting spirals and colossal towers reach into the pitch black sky, with every corner of the street packed to the brim with venders selling a variety of strange and ghoulish goods. Bizarre music flows from many of the stalls, morphing into a cacophony of unintelligible sound mixed with the occasional screams of children and roars of powerful devils. A blood red moon shines from above.

The ninth and deepest layer of Hell, along with the eighth and seventh, are home to the Ars Goetia, a loose label comprising the hundreds of powerful devil clans considered to be something akin to royalty. The sixth, fifth, and fourth layers are home to the Named devils who have proven their strength to the Princes of Hell, and thus, obtained a personalized name. Finally, in the last three layers of Hell, dwell the Nameless. These demons, while making up the majority of the demon population, are often weak and considered to be of lower class, only referred to with descriptive words and titles.

But Riru doesn't care about any of that right now. She's starving.

She spots a busy stall wafting with the scent of freshly butchered flesh, immediately racing towards it.

Suddenly, her arm is grabbed from inside a dark alleyway.

"HEY! YOU!"

"Shh! Quit yelling, dumbass!"

"Uh sorry. Hey you."

She turns around.

In front of her stands a short and plump devil, with a large ax-like horn protruding from only one side of his head. He crosses his arms in a menacing pose. Behind him stands a tall and lanky devil, clearly embarrassed by his accomplice's lack of restraint.

"GIMME ALL- I mean uh gimme all your money."

"Y-yeah! Hand it over!"

Riru quietly looks at them both. They stand together awkwardly.

...

She hands over the sack of coins.

"W-Whaa?!"

"BWAHAHAHA! I told you my genius plan would work!"

"It's not genius, she's just stupid!"

The taller of the two performs a polite bow.

"Thank you for your generous donation."

The other confidently points towards Riru.

"Desolation Darkness Phantasmagoria, thief extraordinaire. You just got robbed, bitch!"

"Now you're giving away your identity?!"

Des confidently laughs, and Riru watches the two squabble with blank stare. Finally, she speaks.

"Trespasser."

"Huh?"

They look over to her as she drools with bloodlust.

"You're a Nameless."

Des's excited expression immediately drops.

"Huh? Uh, no! I said D... D-Desmond! Desmond Darkness Phantasma-"

His head is immediately flung off his neck, splatting into the wall and exploding into millions of tiny pieces. The taller devil watches from behind, horrified.

"H-Hey, this is all a misunderstanding! Honestly, I don't even know how we got here..."

Riru raises her arm, sharp claws extending from her fingers.

"Watch your back, dumbass."

Des's fist collides with Riru's face for a split second before she's blasted deep into the alleyway.

He lifts her up by her hair, and muscle tissue rapidly grows to fit around his newly reformed skull. Somehow, he survived. 

She coughs blood.

"What's wrong? Never taken a little beating before?"

"That felt..."

She speaks, her limbs wobbling as she slowly stands back up.

As she lifts her head, a repulsive smile twists across on her face.

"...GOOD!"

"Huh?!"

"Come on, Des, let's get out of here!", the taller devil begs.

"Heh. I like you."

Des grins and extends an arm towards Riru.

"I formally invite you to be part of S.S.S.S.! The Super Secret Stealer Squad!"

"Since when do we have a name?"

"Super Secret Stealer Squad Inc.!"

"What does the "Inc." even mean?!"

Riru gets up while rubbing blood off her mouth.

"Sure."

"BWAHAHAHAHA! All right!"

"But first... I still gotta kill you."

"Whaaaaat?!"

Riru grabs onto her horn before being quickly interrupted.

"Wait wait wait! Hold on! Here!"

"Hey, Raz! What're you doing!"

The taller devil, referred to as Raz, shuffles through the pouch of coins before grabbing a large handful and handing them to Riru.

"Okay, let's split it! Look, all we want is some food. I dunno if you're familiar with the lower circles, but we're starving down there!"

"Nah, I wasn't gonna buy food."

"I'm trying to help us here!"

Riru stares at them, rubbing her nose.

"He socked you, you... uh, blew his head off! You guys gotta be even now, right?"

"Supply and demand."

"That's not what that means."

At last, Riru speaks up.

"Okay."

"Really?!"

Riru nods.

"Food. I'm hungry too."

"All right! S.S.S.S., Super Secret Eating Squad, Move out!"

"The acronym doesn't make sense anymore..."

"Hit me! Hit me again!"

The three exit the alleyway, approaching the enticing smells waiting beyond.

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Riru, Des, and Raz sit on a bench behind a nearby food stall, chomping into large pieces of grotesque and unidentifiable flesh. 

"You're... strong," Riru mutters whilst chewing. 

"BWAHAHA! Of course I am!" Des grins.

He looks off to the side.

"But, uh, thanks. You are too. I thought I was dead."

"Your Curse is just too damn powerful,” mumbles Raz.

"Your Curse..." Riru whispers. "You can't die."

"Uh, yeah."

"Stop lying! You can still die!", Raz interjects. "...He just heals like a bitch."

"Damn right! I'm unstoppable!"

Riru watches Des as he proudly boasts.

"Uh... what's yours? Your Curse?" asks Raz.

"Sigils."

Riru stabs one of her long fingernails into the side of her arm, drawing blood. Using her bloodstained finger, she draws a circle with a satanic symbol within.

The sigil glows with a bright light, and a long scythe emerges from a burst of flame.

"Woah, is that... one of Mammon's weapons?! I never thought I'd get to see one up close!"

"I can probably do that too," remarks Des.

"It's a pact. I can use the Curses of other devils."

"A pact with a Prince of Hell?!" shouts Raz. "I guess you're an Ars Goetia and all... this is all I've got."

Circular sawblades erupt from the sides of Raz's arms.

"I'm not called Razorblade Killjoy for nothing, I guess," he sheepishly laughs.

Suddenly, Riru shouts.

"Watch out!"

She grabs ahold of the two others, forcefully pulling them under the bench as she peeks out and up towards the sky.

A small devil flies overhead, its body comprised of one giant eyeball with large wings and long dangling legs. The eye constantly darts in every direction, thoroughly scanning its surroundings.

"They watch for Nameless. They can sense your blood."

"Woah... close call," Raz emerges from under the bench with Des.

The three resume their feast in awkward silence.

Finally, Des speaks.

"You must fight a lot."

Riru has a blank expression.

"I don't fight. I kill."

...

"I want you to help me."

"Ugh, here he goes again..."

Res stands up on the bench, confidently posing.

"I wanna get a name."

"How?" Riru asks plainly.

"I just gotta show my strength, right? To Mammon, or Belphegor, or whoever! So I'm gonna fight. A whole hell of a lot!"  

Des has an entirely serious expression on his face.

"I'm gonna become a warlord!"

"And what's next? A Prince of Hell? Get a grip, man."

"Yes! That too!"

"I was being sarcastic, dumbass!"

Des looks at Riru.

"So you gonna help or what?"

"No."

"Whaaaaat! I totally thought I had you!"

"How was that supposed to convince her, exactly?!"

"I can't leave the ninth circle," Riru states plainly.

"But.... don't you wanna fight?"

Riru has a blank expression on her face as Des continues.

"How else are you gonna feel alive? Like you did back there?"

He briefly pauses.

"At least for me... fighting is all I've got."

Riru stares at him, a thoughtful expression on her face.

The three sit in silence. 

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In a damp and spacious cavern, long stalactites pierce through layers of cobwebs as loud explosions and the pained screams of devils echo across the walls.

"Super Slaughter Slayer Squad, advance!"

Des leads the charge, visibly older with pronounced muscles. His two axe shaped horns now fully grown. Behind him stands Raz, with the razorblades on his arms completely covered in blood.

A wild insectoid devil jumps at the two. Des forcefully lifts up a single arm, the face of the devil splattering into pieces upon the impact with his powerful fist.

The fight rages on in every direction surrounding them, with groups of the bug-like devils desperately scrambling to defend their territory. Des's meager forces barely withstand the onslaught, mercilessly slaughtering whoever stands in their way.

In front of them lies three dark tunnels in different directions, each leading deeper into the cave.

"Which way should we go?" asks Raz.

"RAAAAAAAUUUUGGGGHHHH!"

The ear-splitting roar of a monstrous devil interrupts all thoughts, the very sound piercing deep into the center of Raz's brain.

From a gaping chasm in the ceiling crawls a colossal beast, with eight long limbs and five distinct faces merged together in a shifting amalgamation of eyes and teeth. Webs drip from the ceiling as its thick thorax pulses with demonic energy. 

Des has a terrified expression on his face.

In a split second, a mass of black seems to jump up from behind him.

Grasping her severed horn like a blade in midair is a young devil girl, her wild unkempt hair obscuring most of her body. A white mask with a ferocious mouth haphazardly painted onto it is covering her face. 

"Bloodsplatter Moon!" Des excitedly shouts.

She swings her blade, instantly slicing through two legs of the creature. 

Letting out pained cry, the beast falls from the ceiling and the entire cave shakes with the impact.

It quickly stands back up, regaining its balance. 

Before it can react, Riru is already in the air again. She forcefully stabs her horn down into its thorax.

Strings of web and fountains of blood spray in every direction out from the wound.

The beast flings its thorax upwards, launching the girl. Before she can hit the ground, it thrusts one of its legs forward, stabbing straight through her torso and pinning her to the wall.

Blood explodes from her throat.

"Stop being so reckless! You wanna die or what?!" screams Raz.

With the last of her strength, she cuts through the leg, collapsing onto the ground. She quickly paints a sigil onto her chest, and the wounds slowly start to heal. 

Before she can even get up, another leg collides with her side, sending her flying. 

Her frail body slams into the hard stone floor of the cavern over and over again before finally coming to a halt. 

Raz desperately attempts to dodge the creature's attacks and saw through its legs as he waits for Riru to recover.

Riru lays motionless, her organs spilling out from the large chunk in her side completely missing. A small crack forms in her mask. 

Des rushes over to her, grabbing onto her hand and using it to paint a sigil on her body. In a second, she reawakens. 

The arachnid devil, now distracted with its other foes, is only able to shift its focus for a second before Riru's blade pierces straight into the center of its many faces. 

 She twists the blade, and the bloodcurdling scream becomes deafeningly loud. 

Finally, the beast collapses under its own weight. 

Riru's mask, unable to maintain its constitution any longer, crumbles into smaller fragments. Riru breathes heavily, her eyes wide with an indescribable emotion. 

"Are you fucking crazy?!"

Des forcefully grabs onto Riru's shoulders, a fiery glare in his eyes.

"You were almost dead! Maybe you DID die!"

His voice wavers. Riru takes a second to respond.

"Uh... yeah. I guess I was."

"This isn't some kind of joke," chimes in Raz.

Des cries out.

"You need to live!"

Riru looks at him blankly.

"Why?"

He blushes, turning his face to obscure it from view. 

"Uhh... I don't know! Trust me, you just do!" 

...

"I should've never let you use my Curse. And your mask! What if someone sees you, and, like, your family finds out?!"

"...Sorry."

The three stand in silence as the other allied fighters approach, brimming with joy from their hard-fought victory.

"GRAHHHHH! We did it!"

"You did great, Bloodsplatter Moon!"

Des smiles, keeping up appearances.

"You guys were awesome."

He looks at Raz, who takes a deep breath and begins to speak.

"Next lunar cycle, we'll be fighting it out with warlord Bael’s main force. If we manage to secure that win, all of his territory will be ours for the taking."

The small group of fighters cheers.

"We'll need all the help we can get," Raz smiles. 

"BWAHAHAHA! It's nearly time!" 

After gathering their bearings, the group begins their march out of the cave. Riru and Des quietly walk together.

"What's gonna happen after?" asks Riru.

"Huh?"

"After everyone gets a name."

Des smiles confidently.

"We'll have a feast! And a party! And then another feast!"

He pauses.

"And then, uh, I dunno. It'll be done, I guess. We'll say goodbye."

Riru is silent.

Des speaks again.

"But uh, I'd rather not. Say goodbye. To you."

Riru looks at him, surprised. He blushes.

"...And Raz too, obviously! What's gonna happen to S.S.S.S. if I do, huh?! The Stupid Loser Lonely Squad, or something?!"

Riru blushes and laughs softly.

"Shut up."

They continue walking.

Des grabs her hand.

"We'll need you in the next fight. But don't, uh, do that again."

Riru smiles, but this time differently than usual.

"Yeah. I won't."

She grasps his hand tightly.

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"Bloodsplatter Moon Lilith Ars Goetia."

Just a few days ago, Hell itself had given its decree and the Black Moon shined its oppressive light upon Riru. In one more lunar cycle, she would be departing on a temporary leave from Hell, tasked with the seemingly impossible duty of finding a human suitor. 

Now, she makes her way down a corridor of the ornate and decorative castle. Murals of incomprehensible beings are engraved onto the walls, and elaborate chandeliers illuminate the halls with an eerie glow. A tall serpentine devil approaches her.

"Lilith, I expect your preparations are going well?"

"Yes."

"Good. The date of departure isn't too far off, you know."

She nods, continuing down the hallway.

Entering her room, she jumps onto her bed and stuffs her face in her pillow.

The large pentagram drawn on the floor of her room wails with the sounds of countless tortured souls.

"...Decline," she says while muffled.

A ghastly visage of Des appears from the pentagram in a blast of dark flame.

"Hey, Bloodsplatter Moon. I dunno if you're hearing this, but, uh, you missed training today. You probably already knew that. Well, uh. The big day is tomorrow! We're finally gonna take down a warlord! You're totally gonna make it, right?! Come by today, and, uh, I'll help you practice my curse or something."

He pauses.

"Well, see ya then."

The dark flames disappear, and the pentagram no longer emits its glow.

Riru turns over to face the ceiling, pulling out her mouth-like mask from under her pillow.  It has been lovingly repaired with adhesive and spiderwebs acting as tape. She holds it up high above her face.

What a terrible devil she was.

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Finally, Riru awakens.

Rubbing her eyes, she sits up, lugging her body up from the cold alleyway street. After the fight between Des and the mysterious devil exterminator, Gabriel, she seemingly fell into a deep slumber. 

Exiting the alleyway, she watches a cleanup crew remove the blood splattered across the nearby buildings. A construction team attempts to replace the streetlights destroyed in the brawl.

Suddenly, Riru's eyes meet with another girl's.

She has short messy hair with unevenly cut bangs, wearing a school uniform and a variety of accessories with a jacket tied around her waist.

Her eyes widen.

"Hey! It's ketchup girl!"

...

Huh?