Chronicle 10: The Three Factions Team Up
Main girls involved: None
I don't own DxD; I just use its characters and techniques. All credit goes to its creator. Any references I may use belong to their creators also
(Issei P.O.V)
As I sat in homeroom, I was curious how Irina's conversation with Sona was going since I knew she was already on campus. Admittedly I would've liked to walk up there with the two of them .but Irina was liable to do something reckless like expose our relationship and I didn't need that headache at the moment. Sneaking a glance at Raynare, I noticed that she was worried about something and I had a fairly good idea of what. No doubt, Azazel told her what happened when she came home yesterday and I doubt she took it well. Then of course there was Murayama. Now that she knows about the supernatural world, she was liable to complicate things if met by the wrong person. The way she kept staring at me during homeroom made me even more nervous that she would do something. Annoyingly enough, Murayama walked over to me with a serious glare on her face and I knew that my headache was just beginning. "Can we talk during lunch ALONE" Murayama said sternly making it obvious that she didn't want anybody following her; though that was mostly a message towards my old perverted buddies and Katase who no doubt wondered what she wanted with me.
"Sure" I said calmly knowing that she wanted answers and I would have to provide them. Gotta love the supernatural.
(Scene Skip)
When lunch came, Murayama and I went to the rooftop and much as she hoped nobody followed us. However, I snapped my fingers to create a special privacy barrier that would send anybody that's not in the supernatural world away just in case, "We won't be interrupted so what's bothering you" I said sternly as I looked at Murayama.
"You'll be surprised to know that I saw Irina and a blue haired girl walking with the student council president and vice president this morning. Do you know anything about that" Murayama questioned.
'Oh lovely' I groaned internally. I could make something up, but I decided to just tell the truth because it was only a matter of time till she got involved anyway. "Irina was talking about supernatural business with the council."
Murayama frowned for some reason but I would soon learn why, "Clearly something bad happened. I doubt she flew all the way from England just to see you, no offense." Murayama said bluntly.
I winced a bit at her words but kept my cool, "Yep something bad happened and it means that you could be in danger if you're not careful." I admitted. With the fallen angels in town and her recently awakened supernatural powers she could attract a lot of unwanted attention.
"I see." Murayama said nervously
I would've said more but somebody opened the door and I was pleasantly surprised when Momo Hanakai opened the door. 'This can't be good' I thought to myself since. For Momo to come visit meant that Sona and Irina were finished talking, or she was screwing with me and interrupted us for kicks.
"Oh good, you have all your clothes on. This makes what I have to tell you much easier" Momo said with a cheeky smile. Clearly she was aware that I had sex on the rooftop.
"I thought you said we wouldn't be interrupted Issei." Murayama scowled clearly not expecting the company.
"I did because the barrier was only designed to prevent normal people from interrupting us. I was pretty sure that anybody in the supernatural world would understand the need for privacy but clearly like I was wrong." I said with a frown as I turned towards Momo.
"Don't be like that Issei. I have a message for you from Sona. Otherwise I'd leave you alone" Momo said with a sheepish smile.
"What's the message?" I wondered.
"Your two friends have a meeting with Rias tomorrow after class and we were hoping that you'll attend. Raynare will get a similar message from Sona shortly"
"Sounds about right?" I said nonchalantly
"Of course seeing Murayama here, I believe you should invite her also. It might be 'beneficial' for her to learn what's going on behind the scenes" Momo suggested. Just great, Momo could tell Murayama had supernatural powers. Then again, I'm pretty sure Murayama was considered anyway.
"That'll be up to Murayama." I said calmly. I couldn't decide for her and I wouldn't feel right doing so.
"Okay I'll come too. I wanna know what's going on" Murayama quickly answered. Damn, and here I was hoping she'd refuse.
"Alrighty then" Momo said with a smile before leaving. It seems that my life just got even more complicated.
(Scene Skip)
The next day arrived without too much drama and Irina Xenovia Murayama and even Raynare joined me at the Occult Research Club to meet with Rias and her peerage. Much to my amusement, Sona and the council wasn't there but I assumed Rias would fill her in later "Alright Rias we're here so what's going on." I said impatiently.
"Honestly, Sona told me that you two wanted to meet with me but didn't say what about. So I'm curious why two exorcists are here in my territory." Rias said with a challenging tone. Just great, Sona is clearly screwing with me as payback for hiding all of this from her.
"Since when has Kuoh been YOUR territory Ms Gremory" Irina replied clearly annoyed by Rias's arrogance.
"For quite some time now. The fact I wasn't informed of your arrival is a pretty big deal." Rias said with a smirk. Rias was getting arrogant, oh goodie.
"Is that so" Irina growled back unconsciously reaching for her sword. Okay that's enough, I'm nipping this in the bud NOW.
"That's enough Rias and same goes for you Irina" I growled as I flared my energy. I wasn't about to deal with a pissing match with everything at stake.
"But-" Irina started to say before I glared at her.
"We're not here to discuss whose town this is or anything else. We're here to discuss a massive problem that affects all of the factions. Now can you ladies get focused" I growled. Luckily for me Irina and Rias both seemed to calm down.
"Sorry Issei" Irina pouted.
"I've got nothing to say" Rias said angrily. It was amazing that she was acting this foolish.
"Hard to believe that one of Kuoh's Great ladies is such a brat" Raynare added. And now Raynare was involved, goodie goodie.
"How dare you!" Rias said angrily. This was about to get ridiculous and it meant I had to really up the ante.
"ENOUGH!" I yelled out flaring a massive amount of killing intent stopping everybody in the room. Once again it was lecture time and it drove me nuts, "Irina I thought you were better than that. You're here on business." I then turned to Yuuma with an equal amount of annoyance. "Raynare you should be ashamed of yourself for being this petty since your father is the leader of the fallen angels" Finally it was Rias's turn, "As for you Rias, you're the sister of one of the Devil Kings, stop acting like a petulant child. Now if you don't mind, can we get down to business?" I growled at the girls. Clearly my actions had worked because all three girls calmed down.
"Uhh I think that Murayama girl fainted" Xenovia said out loud. Looking to my side Murayama had collapsed.
"Asia would you mind" I groaned in annoyance. This was just what I needed.
"Okay" Asia replied quickly before using her sacred gear.
"What happened" Murayama moaned as she got slowly up. Luckily for me, she fell in such a way that she didn't hit her head.
"Sorry about that Mury I got a little emotional." I said softly before kissing her on the head hoping to calm her down.
"It's okay" Murayama said with a slight blush.
I turned towards the group deciding to handle the explanation, "Irina is because a group connected to the fallen angel Kokabiel stole 3 fragments of the Holy Sword Excalibur and made their way to Kuoh." I explained. The shock on the faces of most of Rias's peerage was obvious. Though Kiba wasn't as shocked which amused me.
"You can't be serious." Rias said looking towards the two exorcists but also Raynare.
"I wish he was. My dad sensed his energy briefly and the minute he did he had me go see Issei." Raynare revealed.
Rias turned to me and seemed pretty angry "So why didn't you tell us sooner." Rias growled.
"First off Azazel only told me that Kokabiel was in town and that he didn't know why. It was only when Irina showed up that I connected the dots." I didn't bother to point out that it was her job to pay attention to this stuff because it was already a headache.
"What else do you guys know" Rias wondered.
I was amused by Rias's response but continued, "We don't know anything else really. However, I have a feeling Kiba knows something we don't or a least I don't." I said with a smirk. Ever since the girls arrived, Kiba's had a look of twisted rage on his face.
"What makes you say that" Rias asked me angrily as though I was accusing him of something.
"Ever since they've arrived, Kiba's been staring pretty fiercely at Xenovia and Irina; I mean Irina's pretty hot and Xenovia's no slouch either but that type of staring ain't normal. So care to fill us in pretty boy." I smirked putting the attention on Kiba.
"Geez Issei will you cut it out" Irina said with a slight blush. Xenovia was embarrassed also.
Kiba smiled back at me clearly understanding what I was after, "You're right Issei I do know something. The other day I was attacked by an old friend of ours. A certain silver haired priest that we fought back at the church" Kiba said with a smirk. The cool calm Kiba I was looking at was way better than the secret prince he acted like at school but that was another story.
"You gotta be freaking kidding me. What the hell is Freed doing here?" Raynare cursed. I face palmed also since I forgot to kill him after I saved Raynare. I
"That's right and he attacked me with a fragment of the Excalibur." Kiba explained much to the shock of Irina and Xenovia.
"Hold on. How would a devil know what the Excalibur blades look like?" Irina asked nervously. I knew she hated Freed but Irina was reacting to something else that he said.
"Because I'm a survivor of a little something called the Holy Sword project. Sound familiar" Kiba said with a hint of fury in his voice.
"What did you say!?" Irina exclaimed in shock.
"You heard me." Kiba growled.
"Irina, what is the Holy Sword Project" Xenovia wondered. I admit I was curious about it also.
Irina got a solemn expression on her face, "Most of what I know, I was told after it was shut down but here's what I have. The Holy Sword Project is one of the greatest stains in the church's history. A man named Valper Galiel started the experiment in order to find a way for exorcists to use the Holy Sword Excalibur. After all Holy swords typically chose their owner and if you could discover a way to get around that the church would have an excellent weapon." Irina said solemnly
"Makes sense, but why was it shut down" I spoke up. The project seemed incredibly legit.
"The project itself was actually pretty legitimate, Valper experimented on the kids in the project in order to figure out if there was a way but ultimately he failed." Irina shuddered before I held her closely stopping her.
"I get it now. Valper must've realized that there was no way to get the result he wanted. Then he did what most scientists would do." I frowned. Kiba's rage and Irina's nerves meant only one thing.
"What's that" Murayama wondered nervously. I was actually impressed that she hadn't said anything until now.
"He destroyed all the data." Issei said with a growl.
"You don't mean" Murayama exclaimed figuring out the truth. From the lack of reaction from her peerage, Rias already knew that.
"That's right" Kiba growled. "They gathered us all together and set the building we were staying in on fire. Anybody who tried to escape was killed and outside of me nobody survived. Rias found me as I ran through the cold woods and the rest is history. I became a devil and vowed to destroy the blade that ruined my life" Kiba said angrily.
"I can understand why you hate the church and Excalibur after something like that" Irina said with an odd nervousness. She was hiding something and I had no clue what.
"Thank you but let's get back to business." Kiba said coldly.
I agreed with Kiba and admittedly I wanted to kill the archbishop myself, "Sounds good and we already know where to start."
"Yea, we need to find that bastard Freed." Raynare cursed.
"Uh-huh. If we capture him then we can interrogate him about Kokabiel" I said with a smile.
"The problem is it's not that simple. By now Kokabiel is aware of us and he'll be ready for anything. There's a reason that he's the number two of the Grigori" Raynare warned.
"Well there's no sense in us worrying about it now. Let's go home and get some rest" Rias suggested.
"Meet back here tonight" I wondered.
"Yea, we have a lot to figure out." Rias replied.
All in all it made sense. Rias no doubt needed time to tell Sona and to decide how to act. After all this was going to be complicated and they needed to get this one right. "Let's go Irina Xenovia" I said sternly preparing to leave.
"Hmm don't tell me you two are staying with Issei?" Akeno teased. I knew that this was only gonna end badly.
"We are. He's my childhood friend and my boyfriend after all" Irina said smugly. The news shocked Rias and intrigued Akeno but the rest of the room was silent.
"Some boyfriend you have. He's slept with quite a few girls at Kuoh including me." Rias replied haughtily. Oh she shouldn't have done that.
Irina wasn't bothered by this since she knew but she had the perfect response, "Well yea. I told him that he could sleep with whoever he wanted as long as he didn't become a devil." Irina retorted making sure to emphasize the fact that her only problem was if I became a devil. It was rather brutal really.
"Ouch" Raynare said with a smile.
"Agreed" Murayama winced. Rias could only look on in shock as we left the room. This was just the beginning on multiple accounts.
(Scene Skip)
As we walked back I could tell that Irina at the very least was worried about something. "What's wrong Irina? There's more to the Holy Sword Project then you mentioned isn't there" I asked nervously. Even for Irina something was off and I felt the need to ask.
"Can we go back and have sex first? I need a little time to unwind after that story." Irina admitted.
Oh yeah, definitely more. "Sure" I said with a smile as I kissed her head. I was a little angry also and I needed to blow off some stream.
"Can I join also" Xenovia wondered surprising both me and Irina.
"Sure Xenovia. I guess I can add you to the girls sharing my Issei," Irina said without much of a fight. The fact she didn't complain when Xenovia made that request surprised me but then again Irina was a strange one when it came to me and other women.
(Scene Skip)
When we got home we went straight up to my room and had yet another threesome. As we relaxed in the afterglow I found myself curious at how Murayama took the news. However I put that to the side in order to figure out what was bugging Irina, "Hey Irina, when Kiba mentioned the Holy Sword Project you tensed up pretty bad. Care to explain?"
"I tensed up because I was one of the people that he tried to recruit for that project." Irina revealed much to my shock.
"What!" I exclaimed in shock. Even Xenovia was caught off guard by the revelation.
"So why didn't you join" Xenovia wondered.
"When I mentioned the idea to my dad he said that there was no need for me to do it since a sword was prepared for me already."
"You mean Hauteclere right?" I questioned knowing all about her power.
Irina sighed a bit before continuing, "That's right. It turns out that was the sword my dad had in the house when we were kids and the one we played with so much. He had been preparing it for me for years. That sword is also the reason Xenovia was named my partner even though we're such an odd team."
"So you're upset because one of those kids could've been you." I said solemnly. Man I would've been furious if that happened and now I could see why Irina was so stunned.
"Yes and that's not all." Irina frowned before reaching for the bracelet she wore. I felt Irina focus some of her energy and it transformed into Excalibur Mimic. "I knew Freed back when I was training in the church so I know that there's no way he could naturally wield a Holy blade let alone one as powerful as the Excalibur. I mean me and Xenovia can only use Excalibur because we're used to our own blades." Irina scowled.
Ignoring the fact that Irina knew Freed from school, her point was indeed a strange one. "So that means that Valper's project was a success?"
"No, his project was clearly a failure. However, his 'cleanup' produced the real success" Irina said angrily.
"That means!" Xenovia exclaimed clearly figuring out what was going on.
"If I'm right, and I pray that I'm not, Freed is able to use the blade because of the failed experiment and we'll learn the dark truth soon enough" Irina said coldly.
We were going to continue the conversation but a magic circle appeared in the room. Much to my surprise an annoyance it was the blue one of the Sitri clan instead of Rias's symbol and once again Momo Hanakai appeared in front of me. "Hello everyone am I interrupting" Momo said with a smile.
"Yes you are. I was trying to have some quality time with my boyfriend" Irina said sarcastically.
"I can't blame you, your boyfriend is pretty popular as of late." Momo teased back. She might've had a point if Irina and I were alone but Xenovia was there also.
I didn't need another catfight starting over this so I decided to get involved, "My popularity aside, what are you doing here Momo?"
"I came because Rias wanted everyone to meet up in about 30 minutes and somebody needed to tell you guys."
"So why didn't Rias tell us herself? You're not even one of her peerage members" Irina growled.
I had to step in at this point because Irina was losing it and I knew this was going to end badly if I stayed put , "Rias probably wanted to avoid a fight with you; Akeno probably would've tried to join our little naked cuddle party, and Sona's embarrassed about how her last two visits have played out. That pretty much leaves Momo who's the only other member of the council to have met Irina already" I explained.
Momo shrugged and said, "That's about right actually. You've had your way with a number of Kuoh academy's women; Supernatural or otherwise. It makes it tough to approach you"
"Tell me something I don't know" Issei retorted. In the few months since Raynare failed to kill me I'd enjoyed quite the sex life.
"Murayama is considering joining Rias's peerage…" Momo said with a grin on her face.
I couldn't help but facepalm at the new revelation, "That's a rhetorical question Momo and I really wish you had kept it that way" I retorted. For Murayama to act that way already was a shocker. Whose idea it was for Murayama to join her, I didn't know and I probably didn't want to.
Irina was annoyed also but we had work to do "Don't we have a meeting to go to?" Irina reminded me.
"Yeah yeah. I'll shower first and you girls can go afterwards" I replied before getting up and walking to the shower completely ignoring the fact I was naked. Momo going beet red was a nice reward for all the headaches that she had given me.
"Couldn't you have just used a magic circle to go straight to the shower?" Irina groaned.
"Yea I could but this is my house." I teased as I closed the door.
(Scene Skip)
When we arrived at the clubroom everyone from the earlier meeting was already there including Murayama. My guess is Rias wanted her used to what she would experience if she joined her. Even Sona had arrived for a little bit which caught me off guard. "Hello everyone" I said with a smile.
"Hello to you too" Rias replied with a smile that hid her obvious irritation.
"Okay okay enough of this patronizing nonsense. Let's go find that bastard Freed and after we kick his teeth in figure out more of Kokabiel's plan" Raynare said hastily.
Rias frowned at the fact that Raynare caught onto her game and continued "Agreed and the teams will be as followed. Issei will join me Sona and Akeno. Irina you and Xenovia will be with Kiba and Murayama; Raynare will be with Koneko Asia and Momo."
"Hold on a minute. You just want that team because you want to steal MY Issei from me. Heck your queen seems to be the type who wants to be a mistress."
"Not at all" Rias protested. Nobody bought it, so I had to step in and fix this mess.
"Putting aside the reason why, these teams are foolish and stupid. Kokabiel's targets are two groups. You and Sona for the devil king connection and Irina and Xenovia for the swords they hold. Right now the best people to send out would be Me Koneko Raynare and Asia. The rest of you can stay here.
"Why you four only" Rias protested.
"Koneko knows Freed's scent and as a nekomata she can track him very easily. Raynare knows his personality so she would know the best way to trap him once we get close. Asia is obviously for healing purposes and I'm the muscle. We can't have Irina and Xenovia out in the open because if Kokabiel has other forces and ambushes them that side gets two more Holy swords. Murayama can't go for obvious reasons and Kiba should wait until later. As for you and Sona, if he realizes you two are out Kokabiel might get greedy and go after you. Our goal is to track Freed and with Raynare and me we can take him out.
"Sounds good" Sona admitted.
"Yes I agree" Rias groaned. She was slightly annoyed that I knew about Koneko being a nekomata but dealt with it.
"Well then let's go Asia Raynare Koneko" I said with a smile. As we left, I could tell Irina wasn't happy about the suggestions that I made for some reason.
(Rias P.O.V)
As Issei left with Koneko and the fallen angel Raynare, I was slightly displeased because Issei was away from me yet again; though it seemed like somebody else was just as mad as me. "Is something wrong Irina?" I asked innocently. Something about her seemed off and I wanted to know.
"Issei's hiding something." Irina said with venom her voice.
"What makes you say that?" Sona wondered.
"Because of the lineup he chose."
"I mean Freed seems dangerous so I don't see the problem" Sona continued.
"If I remember correctly didn't you guys have him take out Freed alone when you saved Asia and that was before you knew how strong he was? Freed is no match for Issei and he knows it. Plus Issei's ability to sense people rivals that of any nekomata and he knows as much. He brought that group for a reason and it wasn't what he told you." Irina explained.
Sona's eyes widened since it meant that Issei knew something they didn't, "So what's he after." Sona wondered.
"I don't know but I guess we'll just wait." Irina groaned clearly not liking his plan.
"Hey Irina I'm curious about something" Akeno wondered. I could tell from the look on her face that she was up to something.
"What is it?" Irina asked nervously, seemingly getting the same feeling.
"You know that at the very least Rias has slept with Issei, is the reason you were arguing earlier because of that?" Akeno teased. I was a little embarrassed that she brought it up but I was curious about that also."
"That's not why I was angry with her. I told him I could sleep with anybody he wanted to as long as he didn't become a devil and I stand by that. I got angry because I find her haughty actions annoying"
"Wait a minute. You admit he's your boyfriend but yet he can sleep with anybody he wanted as long as he doesn't become a devil" Sona said in shock. Clearly her visit with Issei the other day ended in a little fun.
"Irina has a bad habit of saying God when they have sex and Irina didn't want to give him the headache that comes with it if he became a devil." Xenovia explained.
"Geez Xenovia, how the hell do you know that?" Irina moaned with a blush on her face. There was clearly a story behind that.
"Why would you say his name during sex. That seems a bit odd for a church girl" I wondered.
"Don't worry about it Rias" Irina said angrily. Yep, there was definitely something more to it but I wasn't interested in pressing things further. Let's just hope Issei is able to find Freed.
(Issei P.O.V)
"Okay Issei spill it. Why'd you bring this combination?" Raynare asked me as we started walking into town. We had just left Kuoh and Raynare was confident we weren't being followed by Rias or anybody else. That suited me fine since that was part of the reason I took Koneko with me.
"What do you mean by that Lady Raynare" Asia wondered. I was a little amused that Asia called her lady Raynare.
"I mean that Issei here only took me you and kitty here." Raynare replied with a sense of pride. She clearly she enjoyed the fact that Asia still called her lady Raynare and took pleasure in insulting Koneko. My moment of amusement was short lived when she turned towards me again. "As I was saying, what are you hiding from Rias and the others?"
I couldn't help but smile at Raynare's perceptiveness but nonetheless replied, "I'm not hiding anything actually. I just thought this was the best lineup considering the circumstances" At that time my phone rang and I got a real surprise. 'What is he calling me for' I thought as I picked up the phone. "Hey… really… sounds good… alrighty then let's have some fun." I said before hanging up.
"Who was that?" Raynare wondered.
"Somebody who's apparently found Freed for us." I said as I unfurled my dragon wings.
"What are you talking about and where did those wings come from" Raynare exclaimed.
"Explain later. Raynare you grab Asia and Koneko hold onto me" I said calmly.
"Okay" Asia said as she hastily grabbed Raynare who unfurled her own wings.
"This better not be some attempt to get pervy" Koneko groaned as she grabbed my sides.
"It's not" I deadpanned before putting my arm around her sides and taking to the sky. It seems as though Vali's team had hunted for Kokabiel's allies and since Raynare told them about Freed it made life easy. All I needed to do was watch from the skies and wait to see what happened. After a few minutes we arrived at the town amphitheater where Freed and Arthur were facing off "Who is he" Koneko asked curiously as we hid in the bushes on the other side of the area. We were far enough away that we could watch what was happening without anybody sensing us.
"His name is Arthur and he's one of the associates of a very powerful devil that I know." I said cryptically.
"Think of Arthur as this devils' version of Kiba a pretty boy swordsman. The difference is Arthur is way stronger." Raynare said amusingly. I keep forgetting that as Azazel's daughter, she knew about Vali.
"That's an amusing way of looking at it Raynare" Vali said as he appeared next to us catching Koneko and Asia off guard.
"Yo Vali, So what's going on" I said with a smirk.
"We found Freed and I called you so you could watch the battle." Vali said happily.
"Who is this guy? He's really strong" Koneko said nervously. I was worried that Koneko could smell Kuroka on him and if that was the case we'd have problems.
"His name is Vali Lucifer. He's a half devil and the White Dragon Emperor." Raynare explained with an almost bored tone.
"Aren't you guys" Koneko started to say before I interrupted.
"Rivals in the traditional sense yes; Rivals in a practical sense no." I said with a smirk.
"He's right. I'm far stronger than him and if I wanted him dead it would be way too easy. So instead we compete other ways." Vali smirked.
"True but that doesn't matter. I'm impressed by Arthur's blade." I smirked as I noticed his sword. The unusual design was unlike anything I had seen.
"It's Caliburn the legendary blade of King Arthur." Vali remarked.
"Well he's got Freed dead to right so why are we watching instead of finishing him off?" I wondered.
"Arthur is hoping that Freed spills more about Kokabiel's plan. Freed may not realize it yet, but Arthur has something he wants."
Vali's statement was odd until I connected some dots, "You don't mean?"
"Yes he has one, but he won't use it now." Vali said with amusement.
'So Arthur has an Excalibur huh' I thought to myself. As we continued to watch the battle something was bothering me, "Hey Raynare you notice something off about our buddy Freed"
"If you mean that he's WAY faster than he used to be yes."
"According to Arthur one of the Excalibur's is known as Rapidly. Perhaps he's using that blade to even the odds" Vali suggested.
"I see" I replied as I continued to watch. A few minutes in we noticed a new presence appear.
"Seems Freed did have some backup after all" Raynare said with a smirk.
"Yes and it's quite the backup" Vali smirked. We could've gone after the person but we decided to watch the battle. Koneko and Asia were both unnerved by how calm Vali Raynare and I were but the power gap is such that if by some minor miracle Arthur lost, we could both step in.
"Shouldn't we do something" Asia said nervously as the battle continued. I had to admit that Freed was much stronger than I thought. However I also could tell Arthur was holding back.
"If Arthur was taking this seriously you'd have a point." Vali revealed. I could tell Arthur was holding back too and things were getting very boring. A few minutes later, Arthur finally beat Freed and was about to kill him when the new presence finally intervened.
"What in the world are you doing Freed. How could you lose so easily" the new presence said as they appeared on the top of the amphitheater. I was amused by the person's tone but figured that it was part of the game.
"A little help here" Freed cursed. The guy was a sore loser.
"Who are you" Arthur scowled.
"Valper Galiel at your service. Now if you don't mind can you release my friend there? I sort of need him." Valper sneered.
"Why in the world would I do that" Arthur scowled as he pushed the blade even tighter.
"Because if he dies my master will be most displeased and he'll activate his plan sooner than expected."
"Oh and what pray tell is your master planning" Arthur asked with a hint of amusement.
"Wouldn't you like to know" Valper replied with a smirk.
"Hey I'm kinda losing blood here so if you don't mind boss, GET ME OUTTA HERE!" Freed groaned.
"Oh good grief your pathetic Freed" Valper smirked before grabbing a flash bomb and tossing it towards Arthur.
"Well there goes that" Vali smirked as he watched from the side.
"Shouldn't we go after him" Koneko said nervously. As a nekomata she could easily track Freed even with the flash bombs in the way because of his blood.
"No because we confirmed two important details from tonight." Vali said with a smile. It seems Vali realized the same things that I did.
"Two" Raynare wondered in confusion.
"The first is that Freed is working with Valper on the Excalibur plot and the second is that Kokabiel is not doing so at least not directly" Vali explained.
"What do you mean by that" Raynare wondered.
Vali was about to speak but I decided to do so for him, "When your dad told us that Kokabiel was in town I was surprised by that but also curious what he was up to."
"Explain?" Raynare wondered.
"Kokabiel is the second strongest cadre in all of the Grigori. If he really wanted to kill Rias and Sona he wouldn't need all of this smoke and mirrors." Vali explained dryly.
Raynare paused for a second and gasped, "In other words Kokabiel is more or less Valper's bodyguard. The real plot is Valper using the Excalibur fragments to lure the church to Kuoh."
"Exactly" Vali said with a smile. "Kokabiel had his people steal the Excalibur fragments for valper and come as a bodyguard because it would lure everybody he wants into one place."
"I don't get it" Asia said innocently.
"If Kokabiel attacks and kills Rias and Sona the devils alone would go crazy. However Heaven wouldn't do a thing. In fact Heaven would let us destroy each other and then they lose one of their foes. This way it's a three way war because Heaven is affected."
"He's still as shrewd as ever." Raynare said with a combination grown and smile. I should be more worried about that but I was.
"Of course the next question is will Kokabiel make his move. There's no doubt he knows about your group Vali." I smirked.
"Yes and for now we wait. You should get back to the others also" Vali replied.
"So are we going to tell Rias about what happened?" Asia wondered yet again.
"No we'll tell her that we encountered Freed but he managed to escape me."
"But we're lying to Rias" Asia said innocently.
"Yes but we're doing so for her own good." I said with a smile.
"What's in it for me" Koneko said shrewdly. If she was going to lie to Rias she clearly wanted something out of it.
"How about if you keep us a secret I'll tell you the truth about your older sister Shirone" Vali said with a smirk. That devious bastard had that card ready.
Koneko paused for a moment and considered everything that was at stake, "Fine with me" Koneko replied.
"Excellent. I'll arrange a meeting later." Vali said with a smile as he went to Arthur leaving us alone.
"Shall we go ladies" I said with a smile as we made our way back to the ORC. Things were about to get really interesting and I was curious what Kokabiel's next move would be.
Next Chapter: Kokabiel Ascends