The Hero Faction.
Naturally, Finn knew exactly who they were: a militant terrorist group comprised of the descendants of legendary heroes and rogue Sacred Gear users. They gathered under the self-righteous banner of fighting "evil" to become true heroes like their ancestors.
But was that their true purpose?
Hardly. Their true origin was much more pathetic. Because they possessed freakish, unique powers, they were treated as monsters by normal human society. They had no place in the mundane world. Outcasts and orphans, they eventually flocked to the charismatic leadership of Cao Cao, who gave them a manufactured sense of purpose.
Yet, Cao Cao merely saw them as disposable tools—pawns he could happily sacrifice to achieve his ultimate goal.
What was Cao Cao's grand ambition? To elevate humanity to the absolute apex of the supernatural hierarchy, ensuring they would never again be at the mercy of Devils, Angels, or Gods.
Despite the sheer scale of Cao Cao's ambition, it was deeply unfortunate that he had crossed paths with Finn instead of someone like Issei Hyoudou.
If he had confronted Issei, Cao Cao might have found someone willing to talk. With his boundless empathy, Issei might have eventually understood Cao Cao's twisted human pride. But Finn?
Finn understood Cao Cao perfectly well. However, the fact remained: Cao Cao had come to murder him for a bounty. And in Finn's pragmatic mind, if you pointed a weapon at someone with the intent to kill, you couldn't complain when you were killed in return.
Finn slowly clenched his hands, a dense, darkish aura beginning to exude from his palms.
He had a brand-new ability, and he was incredibly eager to test it out.
Unlike the other Suzukis across the multiverse—who had to meticulously adapt and reverse-engineer foreign skills to fit their respective worlds' physics—the magic system in the world of High School DxD was wonderfully versatile. Because his core energy was Demonic Power, which responded directly to willpower and imagination, he was able to perfectly integrate the Improvised Armament skill from the Tensura universe.
What did this ability do?
Originally, it was designed to infuse demonic energy into an ordinary, useless object, temporarily elevating it to the level of a deadly, legendary weapon. But Finn had taken the concept a step further. He could use it to forcefully dominate and hijack the magical signatures of existing weapons. If he had to put it bluntly, it was the absolute perfect skill for robbing an enemy mid-battle.
The best comparison would be Lancelot from the Fate series, wielding his Noble Phantasm, Knight of Owner.
So, what would happen if he applied that absolute domination to a Sacred Gear?
"Is something funny?" Cao Cao frowned, his sharp eyes narrowing as he noticed Finn smiling softly despite being vastly outnumbered.
"Nothing at all."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Do you genuinely believe you can win against all of us just because you're a high-ranking Devil?" Cao Cao asked, a polite, condescending smile returning to his face.
"No, I am the one who should be asking you that," Finn replied smoothly, his golden eyes cold. "Do you really think you mere humans can win against me? Unlike the naive Devils of the current generation, I am not a kind person."
"Thank you for worrying about us," Cao Cao chuckled. "But rest assured, we are all fully prepared to fight evil. We are even prepared to give our lives for our ambitions."
As Cao Cao spoke, the young men and women behind him drew their weapons one after another. The alleyway filled with the hum of holy energy and the sharp glint of steel. They were entirely ready for battle.
"I'm being completely serious," Finn warned, staring them down with dead, emotionless eyes. "Scram right now, or I will slaughter every single one of you."
"...."
The Hero Faction paused, momentarily caught off guard by the sheer, freezing absolute zero of his tone. They were all young, incredibly talented prodigies who had only ever known victory.
But Finn was different. He had seen the absolute ugliest sides of both the corporate world and the supernatural underground. He had been killing ever since that rainy night he saved Akeno. He didn't show mercy. It sounded cruel, but what else could he do? The beings in this world were fundamentally deranged, especially when the main protagonist literally powered up by sucking on nipples. Reality here was far more brutal than it appeared.
"You Devils are so arrogant. It's actually funny."
The one who spoke wasn't Cao Cao, but a fit, handsome young man with an unnatural, sickly whiteness to both his hair and skin.
"You think you can look down on humanity, but I have personally butchered dozens of your kind. You aren't special."
Finn completely ignored the young man, looking past him as if he were nothing but a minor speck of dust.
Blitz!
Enraged by the blatant disrespect, the white-haired youth vanished, moving with terrifying speed! He raised his legendary demonic sword, ready to split Finn in half.
"You might be a High-Class Devil and the heir to a Pillar, but once my blade cuts you, you all bleed the same! You're going to scream, cry, and beg for mercy—"
He brought the heavy blade down with crushing force.
Finn casually raised his hand and caught the young man's wrist mid-swing.
"Eh?"
CRACK!
Without a change in expression, Finn ruthlessly squeezed. The young man's wrist bones pulverized instantly under Finn's monstrous, innate Demonic Strength.
"ARRGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"
As the boy screamed in agony, his grip failed, and he dropped the legendary sword.
"Good sword. I'll be taking this," Finn said calmly, snatching the falling hilt out of the air. The dark aura from his palm instantly surged into the weapon, forcefully rewriting its loyalty.
[Notice. The user has successfully dominated and acquired Balmung.]
Oh?
Finn raised an eyebrow in genuine surprise. He hadn't expected to casually acquire the legendary Dragon Slayer sword of the German hero, Sigurd.
"SIEGFRIED!"
Watching their elite vanguard get crippled so effortlessly—and his legendary blade stolen in the blink of an eye—the Hero Faction completely lost their composure!
Suddenly, an elegant, blonde young man rushed forward, swinging a glowing holy sword with breathtaking, deadly precision.
Finn didn't even blink. He casually raised Balmung.
"Eh?"
Instead of meeting the strike with brute force, Finn caught the holy sword on Balmung's edge. Using the Manager's flawless kinetic calculations, Finn applied a microscopic rotational force. The holy sword slid harmlessly off his guard and plunged violently into the concrete street, throwing the elegant swordsman completely off balance.
In that same fraction of a second, the blonde youth looked up, his eyes widening in horror as the razor-sharp edge of Balmung swept directly toward his exposed neck.
"ONII-CHAN!" a young girl shrieked in absolute terror.
Hearing the scream, Cao Cao instantly made his move. He dashed forward with the blinding speed of a god, thrusting his legendary spear—the True Longinus—forward to impale Finn before he could execute the swordsman.
Yet, facing the ultimate God-killing spear, Finn's expression remained bored.
Instead of dodging, Finn simply grabbed the crippled Siegfried by the collar and casually hurled him directly into the path of Cao Cao's spear thrust!
"YOU DEVIL!" Cao Cao roared in sheer frustration. He was forced to violently halt his momentum and wrench his spear aside to avoid skewering his own comrade.
By the time Cao Cao stabilized himself, he looked up, only to realize with dawning horror that Finn had completely vanished.
"EVERYONE, WATCH OUT!" Cao Cao screamed at the top of his lungs.
But it was already too late.
"It's a shame the specific guy I was looking for isn't here," Finn's cold whisper suddenly echoed from the back of the formation. "But you have an interesting toy. Sorry for your bad luck."
"Eh?"
Finn materialized directly behind one of the support members of the Hero Faction. Without a single ounce of hesitation, he brutally drove Balmung through the young man's spine, piercing his heart and killing him instantly.
As the boy's corpse slumped forward, Finn reached out, his dark aura grabbing hold of the dying boy's soul and violently ripping the Sacred Gear directly out of his body.
[Notice. Sacred Gear 'Night Reflection' has been successfully extracted and acquired.]
[Would you like the Manager to analyze and optimize its functionality?]
"...."
Gulp.
As the bloody corpse of their teammate hit the pavement, absolute, suffocating terror crashed down upon the Hero Faction. For the first time in their arrogant lives, they realized just how colossally they had fucked up by targeting this young Devil.
---
Let's just go all out!