Paradox Masquerade [Blue Exorcist x Male Reader]

Malicious Moths and Baneful Baal

Rin sprinted through the woods at breakneck speeds while running alongside Flor as he pulled the ridiculously heavy cart behind him. Bon continued his chant to keep the Peg Lantern immobilised while Shiemi kept pumping fuel into it. Koneko and Shima both intercepted and defeated any demons who got close to the cart while [Y/n] kept a lookout from atop Flor's back and shot down any demons that started getting close. The strategy was working perfectly. As they neared a cleaning, a faint whistle quickly grabbed [Y/n]'s attention. Following the sound with his eyes, he looked up and saw that someone had set off their anti-demon flare. His eyebrows furrowed in concern as he wondered if it was Takara or Kamiki. And if they were okay.

"Who do you think tha-?" He was cut off and was quickly pulled from his concern as the cart came to an abrupt stop, sending him tumbling off the top of Flor's back. He hissed in pain as hit the ground with a 'thud', awkwardly shifting his weight to avoid landing on Sema and hitting himself. Grunting in annoyance, he rubbed his head, muttering out a string of curses toward the demon that suddenly stopped his run. From the corner of his eye, he could see that Bon was holding his face and glaring at Flor. It seemed like the sudden stop caused him to go face-first into the stone lantern.

"What happened? Why did we stop?" Koneko asked, stepping toward the group from behind.

"What are we gonna do about this?" Rin asked, pulling [Y/n]'s attention toward the river in front of him. Pushing himself to his feet with a huff, he grabbed Sema and made his way over toward Rin and Shima, who were looking down into the river.

"Oh holy hell!" Shima panicked, paling as he looked down into the river below him. [Y/n] raised an eyebrow in confusion before stepping up beside him. "Look down! There's tonnes of them!" Shima squeaked, his face turning pale as a ghost. [Y/n]'s gaze shifted as it moved toward the source of Shima's fear and, when he saw it, he grimaced. The river below was completely filled with small centipede-like demons that were crawling and twisting all over each other. [Y/n] would admit that the sight disgusted him but he still thought that Shima was overreacting a bit. They seemed harmless from where they were standing anyway. "Oh. My. God. I think I'm gonna piss myself." Shima forced out, shaking on the spot as his knuckles turned white from the intense grip he had on his staff.

"Maybe you'd feel better if you did. You never know." Rin suggested, earning a small chuckle from [Y/n]. That was, of course, because he thought that Rin was joking. But he wasn't. He was seriously suggesting that Shima should piss himself to relieve the stress. [Y/n] deadpanned.

"Don't suggest that." [Y/n] ordered, gently hitting the top of Rin's head with the underside of his fist, causing Rin to let out an embarrassed breath while scratching the back of his head.

"He's right, Okumura. Once someone pees their pants, that's it. Game over." Konekomaru added, sounding way too serious for [Y/n]'s liking. The Dragoon sweatdropped as he awkwardly glanced between Koneko and Rin.

"I'm slightly concerned that you have such a strong opinion about this."

"Bon?" Shima questioned, pulling everyone's attention to the male who just stepped toward the group, still muttering his Aria verses as he walked. [Y/n] raised an eyebrow in confusion as he watched Bon take Shima's staff from his hands and step closer to the river. As he crouched down, Bon began awkwardly and ineffectively stabbing into the mass of crawling bugs with the staff, causing Shima to shriek in horror. "What the hell are you doing?!" [Y/n] shook his head with a shallow sigh as he watched the stupidity unfold before turning to his right, suddenly noticing the old and rickety bridge that connected their side of the centipede-infested river to the camp's side. Taking a step toward the wooden structure, [Y/n] noticed that it was covered in pieces of paper with a particularly complex seal on them. His eyebrows furrowed curiously as he studied them, not recognising the incantation at all. So he had no idea what else was being sealed here. But he knew that something certainly was. And it was strong.