Far away from the old school building, Tohsaka Rin was sitting in her fancy living room.
She held a cup of expensive tea, but she was too annoyed to drink it.
She just stared at the wall, thinking about the boy in the library.
"Rude..."
Rin muttered to herself, her cheeks turning a little pink from embarrassment.
She felt completely humiliated. She was a proud mage of the Tohsaka family.
She had studied magic her whole life. But that boy, Elias, had snapped her spell like a dry twig.
Even worse, he had used her own family's magecraft against her. He trapped her feet without a single chant.
He didn't use any magic jewels to fuel the spell. It was impossible.
But beneath her anger, Rin felt something else. She was deeply intrigued.
She had sensed his energy very closely.
He wasn't a Devil, a Fallen Angel, or a spirit. He felt like a human. A living, breathing human boy.
But no normal human could do what he did. Rin pulled out her phone and made a call.
"Yes, Miss Rin?"
The polite voice of her butler answered the phone.
"I need you to investigate someone for me,"
Rin ordered smoothly.
"His name is Elias Thorne. He goes to the same university as mine. Find out everything about his family and his past."
"Right away, Miss,"
The butler replied.
Rin hung up and waited. She tapped her fingers on her teacup.
She expected to hear that Elias belonged to some secret, ancient magic clan that she had never heard of.
An hour later, her phone rang.
"What did you find?"
Rin asked quickly.
"Miss Rin, it is very strange,"
The butler said. He sounded confused.
"I found his birth certificate, his high school diploma, and his passport. They are all completely perfect. Every piece of paper is legal and registered."
"So, what is the problem?"
"The problem is that it is too clean,"
The butler explained.
"There are no old medical records. There are no childhood photos in old school yearbooks. No tax records for his parents. It is a ghost identity. Whoever made these documents for him was of the high position in government. They must have powerful connections."
Rin narrowed her blue eyes.
"Thank you. That will be all."
She hung up the phone. A forged identity made by experts. A human boy with massive, wild magic.
Rin was even more curious now.
She walked over to her laptop. She was very good at computers. She quickly logged into the university's student database and pulled up Elias's personal file.
She scrolled down to his address.
"He lives at the old shrine,"
Rin whispered, reading the screen.
"Near Kuoh town."
Rin closed her laptop and leaned back in her chair. Her mind was racing.
Kuoh was not just a normal, quiet town. As a high-level magus, Rin knew the secrets of the supernatural world. She knew exactly who controlled that area.
Kuoh was Devil territory.
It was governed by two young, very powerful Devil heiresses. Rias from the Gremory family, and Sona from the Sitri family. They ran the town and kept other supernatural creatures away.
"If he lives in Kuoh..."
Rin thought to herself.
"And his fake identity was made by powerful people... then Elias Thorne is heavily involved with the Devils."
Rin smiled. It was a sharp, confident smile.
She loved a good mystery, and Elias was the biggest mystery she had ever seen.
She was definitely going to pay Kuoh town a visit.
The wind blew softly behind the old school building.
Elias looked at Rias. His eyes were kind and serious.
"I promise I will help you,"
Elias said firmly.
"I will challenge Riser. You don't have to marry anyone you don't want to."
Rias let out a long breath of relief.
But as she looked at Elias, her blue eyes were full of deep curiosity.
He had just eaten ancient magic items, grown dragon scales, and shattered a boulder with a single tap.
"Elias..."
Rias started softly.
"Who exactly are you? You are Akeno's brother, but you are definitely not a normal human. No human can do what you just did. No, not even the devil or any being from the supernatural side has that kind of power."
Elias looked at Akeno, and then at Dee.
They both gave him a small nod.
Rias was Akeno's best friend. She also trusted him enough to give him so many precious treasures.
"I am not from this world,"
Elias explained simply.
"I and Dee come from a completely different universe."
Rias gasped.
She took a step back, her hands covering her mouth in shock.
"Another universe?"
Rias whispered.
Then, she slowly turned her head and looked at Dee.
She looked at Dee's pale skin, her black clothes, her top hat, and the silver ankh necklace resting on her chest.
Rias's eyes went as wide as saucers.
"Wait a minute..."
Rias muttered.
She quickly unzipped her school bag. Rias was a huge Otaku.
Everyone knew she loved Japanese anime and manga, but recently, she had started reading Western comic books, too.
She dug her hand into her bag and pulled out a brand-new, colorful comic book.
Elias and Dee looked at each other, confused.
"What is that?"
Elias asked.
Rias didn't answer right away. She flipped through the pages of the comic book quickly.
Then, she stopped and turned the book around to show them.
Elias's jaw dropped.
Right there, on the glossy paper, was a drawing of a pale girl in a black tank top, wearing a silver ankh necklace. The character looked exactly like Dee.
Above the drawing, bold letters read: DEATH OF THE ENDLESS.
"I just bought this today,"
Rias said, her voice shaking with excitement and awe.
"I haven't even read it yet! But the staff member at the comic store loves American comics. He talked my ear off about this story. He told me about this character."
Rias looked up from the comic book and stared right at Dee.
"He said she wasn't just a god,"
Rias whispered, completely amazed.
"He said she is a multiverse-level goddess. She is the literal concept of the end of all things. She is Death herself!"
Dee giggled and scratched her cheek, looking a little bit shy.
"Oops,"
Dee smiled playfully.
"I guess my secret identity is out."
Akeno giggled, covering her mouth.
She already knew how powerful Dee was, but it was funny seeing her confident Devil friend look so shocked.
Elias just sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.
He was starting to realize that living in a mixed world meant his life was basically a giant comic book convention.
But as he looked at Rias's amazed face and Dee's happy smile, he couldn't help but laugh.
"Yeah,"
Elias chuckled, wrapping an arm around Dee's waist.
"She is Death. And she is my girlfriend."
Read up to chapter 40 at [email protected]/jelopy_jelopy for $5