This chapter was beta'd by eveakane and gaouw in QQ Forum.

Chapter 11

The six-years-old Hyoudou Issei slept peacefully on his bed.

He was a tremendous disappointment.

I mean, there isn't anything wrong with him, per se. He is just… average. A normal human kid in every aspect.

This was my own fault. I hyped myself with the idea of seeing the main character, but I expected at least something from him. Some indication that he was this generation's Sekiryuutei, but he had nothing. His athletic abilities are normal, his magical potential is so tiny that it's hard to know if he has any, his grades are average at best, and he sure as hell doesn't let out any supernatural feeling.

How the hell had the Fallen found out about his sacred gear in the anime again? I can't remember anything substantial. In the fanfics, and in some episodes after he was already a devil, it was said he had "the smell of a Dragon", whatever that meant. Well, I can't smell anything strange, or at least I don't have the context to recognize it – and now that I think about it; how the hell would people know what a dragon smell like? Was it from Tannin? I bet it was from Tannin; the image of a bunch of Devils sniffing Tannin's armpit is funny to me.

The sleeping boy mumbled something and turned to the side; I watched him move with an intensity worthy of a creepy stalker.

I'm not a specialist in Sacred Gears. Hell, I never even see one outside the pages of a book. I wouldn't know where to begin searching for the Boosted Gear, or even how the dragon inside would react. Just me being here is a small risk because I don't know if the Dragon was awake or not, he could very well be creepily watching me while I creepily watch the sleeping boy. I don't know how his senses work, after all, I only know he can generally sense what is happening outside Issei. But then again, it's a small risk, for even if he could see me; he wouldn't be able to tell anyone about my presence until at least ten years, and by then I should be ready to take him. If I can't, I would be very disappointed with myself.

Unless something messes with the canon and throws everything out of rail of course - But that's hopeless to consider by this point because the 'canon' thing is just an illusion, it was condemned in the moment that Elias Dantalion was born with memories and powers that didn't belong to this world. If I wanted canon intact, I would've done my best to isolate myself and not interact with the main devils' characters. But that's not an option anymore.

Still, I would like to keep things as close to 'canon' as possible, mostly because having some idea of what's going to happen is useful for long-term planning.

But that leaves a question of what to do with Issei? While I want to let him have an unbothered life, I simply can't. That would be stupid; Hyoudou Issei has one of the Longinus, and these are a big deal on the DxD universe. Like it or not, these humans always get involved with the supernatural one way or another, and they either become powerful, or die before while trying to become, because everybody and their mother want a piece of them.

Should I bind him?- Yes, Yes, of course, the answer to the question 'should I bind someone' will always be yes, even if I don't do anything to them afterward, it is still better than let them run free. But even if I bind him, what good would that make?

My Binder's Essence is stronger now, courtesy of my Blank Essence I reckon, it takes much longer for the binding to start to loosen, and my orders are much more precise and effective than before, I suspect that in the future I would only need to mark someone once, and they would be mine forever.

But I'm not in that point yet, the bind I placed on Issei will erase itself in a few months, and I can't get away with regular visits to the human world to replace it, maybe if I were a little older I could, but if I did it now, there would be questions.

My sigh echoed across the toy-filled room. Issei giggled in his sleep and turned to the other side with a smile on his face

Maybe I shouldn't be thinking about that right now, all of those are non-issues that would be easier to deal with if I sat down and waited a little before putting things into practice. The underworld will take issue with a very young pillar heir leaving the safety of his home to play in the very chaotic human world, but it won't take issue with a young, but not so much, heir with proven strength who wanted to test himself in an exotic place.

Well, my Mother did say I worry too much about things that I shouldn't, and there are many other things that are genuinely problematic, like scouting from spies in the Dantalions lands, and the whole Purson situation that still-

There was a quiet sound outside, not something actually threatening or even unusual, just one of the other members of this household leaving their room and carefully descending downstairs. By the direction the steps were heading I'd say they are going to have a glass of water or a midnight snack.

I guess there this is my turn to leave-

Wait a second!

I can't excuse frequent trips to the human world, because people would talk, and trying to go stealthily would require too much effort and too many risks. But if I could find another way to go to the human world without having to use the dimensional train, a way to which I could stay there for how long I needed and come back wherever I wanted.

A summon wouldn't do, of course, it wasn't strong enough to pierce through dimensions. The best it could do was having a worldwide range, and even then the paper would be spoiled in a few hours with the amount of magic it would have to hold.

But an Old Summon; the kind that happened to me yesterday, the kind that I had time to analyze thoroughly and had all the steps necessary to make it burned into my brain…

Oh; it would have the usual risks of course, but did they even matter when the summoner is completely bound to the will of the summon in the first place?

All right, calm down Elias, your smile is starting to hurt.

Now, who is it going to be? It can't be little Issei of course; I don't want to have direct contact with him if I can help it. I suppose it could be a random human, but… Well, that doesn't have much impact, even if it is the most pragmatic way to go around it. Maybe that's my Devil speaking…

A soft, excited moan sang from downstairs, it would be impossible to hear it with a human ear, but to a Devil like me; it was a beautiful symphony that drew my undivided attention.

There it goes, the smile again, I swear my immunity to pain lets me reach some limits that shouldn't be reached.

In a second, I was melting away in the shadow of Issei's room, and my consciousness was springing on the ones of his kitchen.

The biggest source of light was coming from the open fridge; ahead of it, was a thirty-something woman wearing a thin nightwear. She had a cup of something in one hand, and the other was bringing a spoon to her mouth. She let out a joyful dance when the substance hit her taste buds.

"Mmmnn~" She swallows it with a happy moan. "Sooo good~! I'm sorry Otou-san, I know we said we'd fight for it in the morning, but I couldn't resist! Pudding~!" She sang in a high-pitched, childish voice.

Hm, Issei's mother is not a bad looking woman. She was older than the rest of the moms with a child in his age group I had seen in town, and didn't have the fantastic proportions that the Devil women typically have, but that isn't to say she didn't have respectable curves, especially for a human woman of her age, and one with a child, no less… her nightwear wasn't normally see-through, but the light from the fridge was making a particularly enticing silhouette.

She took another bite and danced once again. I can say for sure that the pudding was hogging all her attention.

Made it easier for me then…

Entirely unbeknownst to the woman, the shadows on the wall began to move, creeping so slowly to the door and windows, cutting the room away from any sound or sight. Perhaps she would have noticed if she wasn't so close to the fridge, as its intense light obfuscated the darkness closing in.

Finally, when the fridge was gone from the biggest source of light on the room to be the only source of light, the woman noticed that something was wrong, she blinked confusedly and turned, spoon still clinging from her month.

It was hard to describe the expression her face made. Humans didn't have the best night vision; I knew that, so I wondered what she saw when she came face to face with pitch black moving shadows, the light coming from behind her barely illuminating the surface of the thick jungle of tendrils I made from it.

She, predictably, opened her mouth, but my shadows descend upon her before the scream could come.

My shadows quickly overpowered the frail woman; it was an almost trivial task. They coiled themselves tightly around her body, not to the point it brought pain of course; I didn't want to hurt her, I just want her to feel the pressure.

I let her tremble in my unmovable darkness for a long minute before slowly moving her. Her body was leaned back slightly, her limbs spread to the side. The shadows maneuvered her around to a sitting position. Then, the ones on her torso retreated, letting that part free while still gripping the limbs. The ones on her face also retracted, leaving only a shadow gag behind to muffle the sounds.

She was obviously terrified; her chest rose and fell in frenetic breaths, the wide, brown eyes dashed all around the room looking for something to focus, blinking away the tears that threatened to blur her vision, each second that passed more and more frightened little sounds came from the gag.

I savored this image for a little longer; now, at closer inspection, it was easier to see the natural imperfections the humans seem to have, and some marks on her face that give her age, some extra mass on her abdomen that told of early pregnancies, but weirdly enough, all it did is making her look more attractive. Sexy even... Sitting there, tied by my shadows, utterly helpless under my power, with more and more of her body being revealed by the increasingly sweaty nightwear.

Inside the shadows, I blinked. Why was this mere Human so attractive to me? Is it because she is connected to the main character? Is it because she is Issei's mom? Is it because she is a hot mom?

A hot. Tied up. Very Sexy mom...

Oh god, Mother corrupted me!

…Eh, it was bound to happen.

I appeared suddenly, shooting myself from the shadows with surprising speed, the effect made me appear in a literal blink of an eye. She let out a frightened gasp when that happened.

I tilted my head, tracing her form with my physical eyes this time. She keeps staring directly at me with confusing, pleading eyes. There wasn't much else she could do.

Should I go further? She was entirely on my metaphorical hand and wouldn't come out until I let her. It would take no effort whatsoever to have my shadow my shadow change into one particular shape, to give her an experience that my Mother adores.

…No.

Her fearful reactions are affecting me more than I'd have imagined, but a part of me, something very human, was keeping me from escalating.

It's fine; I'm not against that human part…

It's more fun when they are utterly crazy about me anyway.

My hand rose slowly. She whined noisily and tried to wiggle away at the approach, but my shadow held tight. Softly, my finger brushed her soft cleavage; swiping away the remains of the Pudding and leaving behind a Dantalion's mark on her lower back, tramp stamp styled style.

"It's okay," I said, bringing my finger to my mouth. Tasty. "You may calm down now, aunty."

I can't imagine her confusion when she noticed that she was indeed calmer now. She blinked some tears away, looking undeniably more focused.

I smiled. She blushed.

"Now, I have many things to talk to you about, aunty. Why don't you fall into a trance, so we can begin."

-0-0-0-

We are attracting a lot of attention, aren't we?

"Here, this one. Try it out! I think it goes perfectly with your eyes."

Yep, definitely, I could feel the eyes of pretty much everyone in the store.

"Look at what I found~ what do you guys think? Is it too much?"

I could actually feel killing intent from some of the women nearby, along with some shocked looks as the vision awoke awaken some hidden desires.

"Not fair Linda! You have to try it out too! Come on, clothes off!"

There are some guys here. I'm sure most of them thought being there was torture before. Now, I believe their spouses will have to pry them away with a crowbar. I even saw one relationship end, because the guy refused to leave the store.

But then again, who could blame them? Is it's not every day you see three supernaturally hot women doing an improvised fashion show in a clothing store.

"Hey hey, Ely~." Mother left everybody paralyzed when she came out of the fitting room, "What do you think?"

Legs, creamy white, juicy and toned, yummy.

"It's a bit…short," I said, trying to not pass out for having all my blood suddenly rising to my face.

"I know right!" She beamed. "Human fashion is so wonderful!"

Belinda coughed loudly from the side; her face showed that she was having the same problem I was. "You should keep from saying things like that in the open, considering where we are."

"Nah, it's fine." Cleria commented; she had bumped into us some time ago and hasn't left, nobody complained. Now, she is not even hiding her leering gaze on my Mother's behind. "I don't think anyone is paying attention to what she is saying right now."

"Alright! I'm taking this!" Mother said with a satisfied smile. "Now, who is next!?"

This may have begun as just three girlfriends trying out new clothes, but these three girlfriends were three devil women who appreciated the female form just as much as they appreciated the male one. It was only natural that everything rapidly devolved into a barely hidden excuse to see each other in skimpy outfits.

My eyes twitched when I saw Cleria come out wearing a red shirt that practically had a boob window for a neckline.

I swear they're going to kill someone if they keep this up.

I shook my head as Belinda was pushed inside the fitting room, and turned to the only other male presence on our small group.

The man sitting beside me was has turned his head in the exact opposite direction from the trio of drop-dead beautiful women playing dressing dress up, a wise move to preserve the small amount of blood he had left.

He was tall and thin, wearing casual clothes that hid the lean but powerful musculature beneath. His features were mostly androgynous, with only a hint of nobility in them; it was the kind of face that would send women into frenzy, especially together with his forest green eyes and long blonde hair, but the effect was somewhat spoiled by the addition of two rolls of bloody tissue inserted in his nostrils.

"I'm sorry to have pulled Cleria from her duties, mister Verde," I said politely to the Devil governor's knight. "I hope this interruption doesn't cause harm to her busy schedule."

"Maa, you are too polite little lord, there is no need to apologize at all." He almost sent a fond look back to his king but decided against it; the danger was too great. "Besides, we were the ones who invaded your shopping trip, if anything we should be the ones apologizing."

"None of us really mind." True, Cleria is nice company and her knight doesn't get in the way, "I'm just worried about her job. I mean; what if something important happens?"

"Then we'd deal with it later. For now, like I said, let her have her fun." He turned to me and gave a genuine smile. "It has been a while since I saw her having so much of it, you know. I thank you for that."

"Well, she is welcome to join us any time!" Which hopefully wouldn't happen that often, having the city governor hanging around us is bound to bring some attention, and that's the last thing I want right now.

Guilherme Verde chuckled in a way that told me he wanted to give me a brotherly head rub, but kept himself in check because that would be pushing his station, instead, he cheerfully tried for a conversation.

"So how are you liking the city so far?"

That was a legitimately good question. I don't appreciate cities like an average person does because I can inspect every inch of the place if I spread shadow around like a mega voyeur. Some aspects of the city deeply worried me, like the actual blind spots where I couldn't see through the shadows, it nearly sent me into a panic when I found it because until now, nothing short of dimensional barrier had stopped my shadow before. I only calmed down when I figured out that they were churches and sanctified places, it made sense that the faith wouldn't let my diabolical shadow inside, and as I didn't want to test my luck and draw the attention of the heavens, so I decided just to to just leave those alone.

The rest of the city though…

Thinking brought a smile to my face. "I love it." I said honestly. It didn't have the grand narratives that unfold in Hiemsfell, but; "There is always something interesting or weird happening all the time, and the people here somehow adapted to it. At every moment someone is being swept into an odd shenanigan while others just looked around unimpressed, an hour later the same people who looked unimpressed could be sweep into another completely different phenomenon. It's amazing!" Seriously, I am with my shadow spread a few miles around us right now; and there are seventeen crazy shits happening that wouldn't be out of place in a Yakuza game, "And the variety of unusual races living here…" I honestly hadn't thought that I'd find so many races in my first look here. It was an aspect that the anime didn't show. Initially, I had the impression that it was all devils around there, but no; there is a mermaid living in our neighborhood, a vampire hibernating beneath an office building, a group of pixies fighting a gang war downtown, a centaur under an illusion working as Latin teacher at a local high school, some yokais prowling around the park, and many, many more.

"M-Ma, you sure are attentive, aren't you little lord." Oh fuck, I forgot I was talking to him. He looked surprised by my unorthodox response.

"Sorry, I like this kind of thing," I said, a little embarrassed.

"Don't apologize, I think that's awesome." He smiled, his hand moving to his left earring, "In fact, you are interested in unusual races right?" There was a spike on his magic, and the illusion around him flashed for a second, making his ears change.

"Woah!" I barely managed to not curse in surprise; I knew there was something about him! "You're an Elf!"

"Yep! That's what I am." Guilherme the motherfucking Elf laughed. "You could say Cleria's also interested in unusual races; she went to great lengths to acquire me." His eyes gained a weird look, but he shook it away almost instantly.

"But how?" Now I was really interested. The world of DxD is a world where, quite literally, every creature of legend exists or had existed at some point. I gasped out loud when I read about the classical fantasy races, but according to the books; the Orcs are extinct since Roman times, the last Dwarf died in the turn of the century, nobody talks about what happened to the Hobbits, and the Elves are… "I thought you guys isolated yourselves in hidden cities?" because they lost a war against the Feys and almost went extinct, I completed in my mind. It wouldn't be polite to say it.

"And where do you think I came from?" He buffs his chest, clearly proud of his heritage. "Born and raised in El Dorado itself, left when I was fifty to see what the rest of the world has to offer. Met Cleira along the way, and now I'm a Devil." He finished, putting the illusion back in place.

I'll admit, that is genuinely awesome; you don't bump with something like him every day.

"Say, you're with the Devils now right? Is there any way you can tell us where your homecity is?" I tried, mostly as a joke.

"Not without being executed by ancient elven spirits, and I'm being quite literal there." He smiled, "Good try though. You would be amazed how few people actually tried to ask me first."

"Well that that's just rude- "At that moment a crazy shenanigan involved a cat, a rakugo artist and a young boy wearing heavy plate armor ended, and my shadow moved to other things. The thing it found made me pause; it definitely wasn't as funny as the early earlier situation, but it wasmuch more interesting.

"That's a little disturbing," I commented, seeing the image my shadow showed me.

"Hum? What do you mean little lord?"

"Mister Verde do me a favor, and begin protocol nº 03" I commanded, and the Elf instantly forgot my presence, the past and present on his perspective shifting to erase my existence from his world. Now, only another command would make him notice me again.

Binder Essence: the definition of bullshit.

"Hey mother, I'm going to check something out real quick." The mental message was most mostly to avoid the fallout of her coming out of the fitting room and seeing me gone; I don't believe she is ready for this kind of shock. "I'll be right back."

"Okay sweetie, have fun!" The lack of anxiety on her mind made me smile. Having friends is good for her.

I didn't need to move out of sight before diving in the shadows, all the shitty early two thousand cameras were already dealt with, and the majority of the attention was focused on the fashion show. I just needed to tilt sideways and fall into the nearest shadow.

Inside, my awareness fully encompassed all my surroundings, and I could've spread myself throughout the entire city if I wanted to. When I was outside, I could only focus my attention on three simultaneous perspectives, five if I pushed, but here; I could see all that my shadow showed me at the same time.

The alley that I was interested in was quite far from the mall. It was isolated from the main streets, the kind of place that few people pass through without notorious purposes; it would, no doubt, be quite popular at night.

If it wasn't for the body.

Now, the body itself has been the thing that first drew my attention, I'm not a specialist on crime scenes or nor do I have a dark fetish about corpses, but the sheer gruesomeness and perverseness of the death were enough to awaken my morbid curiosity. But now that I was in the shadows, and could feel things a lot better, I noticed something else about the scene that only increased my interest.

Demonic energy - dense, heavy traces of it - it permeated the air inside the alley. It was clearly left there intentionally, for while new or inexperienced devils do leave traces of their energy behind, the strong and experienced ones are good enough to not to. The sheer power left behind told me that the devil was definitively not weak; he or she wanted to leave traces of their energy.

The presence of a supernatural being explained the state of the body. I do believe a normal human… a group of normal humans could produce something like this, but certainly not without considerable effort.

The victim was a young man of collage age; his body was filled with ugly bruises and bloody wounds that could be seen through the torn up clothes, but they weren't the cause of death, no…

The grotesque, open state of his expose exposed colon, and the enormous amount of dried semen told me what the cause of death was. I didn't need to see an autopsy to know his insides are crushed to a pulp.

Honestly, if it wasn't for the semen drenching the body and the surrounding areas, I'd said say someone successfully impaled him to about half of the way and took the stake with them, but as things are; it was clear that something raped him to death with something that gave similar results to that of an impalement, or he was actually impaled, and a great number of people masturbated over his body.

Neither Either way; it was a gruesome death. It genuinely grossed me out and gave me a bit of inspiration for the future.

But I didn't come here to just look at dead body; I came here back of for the interesting stuff that was most likely about to happen, and the opportunity that it could give me.

Like the very shaken nun that stood guarding at the entrance of the alley, along with the group of church members rushing to her direction.

How could I not watch these events unfold?

"Sister!" The leather leader of the group called. Approaching the lone nun "Are you alright?"

"Y-Yes, father. I-I wasn't attacked or anything. I just found the body, t-the body-Oh God!"

She almost broke down right there, pushing her hand against her face to hold back the tears.

"Shhh, it's alright, you did fine sister." He pulled the crying woman into a hug, turning to one of his companions. "Take her back to the base. She has done enough."

The nun was quickly directed out by a consoling exorcist- or at least I think they were exorcists- and the rest moved to action; they close closed off the alley, secured all the routes in and out, two of them began to bless and purify the place, while the rest examined the body.

I watched their work with interest, the blessing put some pressure to expel me, but they were easy to shrug off, nothing compared to an actual church.

"So?" The leader asked, his trained eyes examining the body with professional efficiency.

"There is no doubt about it sir." One of the exorcists said, his companion still taking samples from the body. "It's the same culprit, even the energy matches."

The leader's face went red in anger; "This is the fourth causality just this month. Those devil scums!"

Oh?

"…Proceed normally, mark the place and try to follow the trail. Let's see if it leads us somewhere this time. The rest..." He singed, pushing his fury back, "Clean the body and bring it back to the church, it must be exorcised before we give him a proper the burial."

So the Devils are picking a fight with the church huh? - That would be childish to assume. While hostility and even open conflict still happened between the factions, no one is foolish enough to act that brazenly... and with actual demonic energy left behind in the crime scene! Really? That's a beginner level set up right there; Devilkind works better than that!

It was undeniable that someone in this city is trying to start a conflict between the two factions; they're either a member dissatisfied with the status quo or an interested third party.

Either way; it's clear that Kuoh's current state is a lot more interesting than I initially thought, I wonder what Cleria knows about this situation. I must get a full report from her soon; this could disturb my future plans.

"Father Toji."

WHERE THAT FUCK DID THESE FUCKERS CAME FROM?!

"S-Saint Shidou! Brother Yaegaki! What brings you here?"

Seriously, these two fuckers somehow avoid my all of my senses, even their shadows managed to slip past my radar, somehow!

"You did good work Father, but we'll take it from here." A tall, powerfully built man with brown hair and hazel eyes said kindly.

My bullshit Archmage Essence began working on them, that alone told me that they were using magic of some kind, the information started to pour in…Weird, it hurts my mind to know about this, quite a lot too, if I didn't have the Warlord Essence I don't think I'd be able to process it.

The leader suddenly tensed, "Of course, we will leave as soon as possible," Then he turned, and shouted orders to the rest.

Interesting, my eyes told me that they were using a relic of some kind- Well, the brown haired one was using it, but he was sharing the effect with his companion; a handsome Asian man with long black hair holding a katana. The relic was slowly erasing their presence too; only to rise again when they made a movement; the more they stayed still, the more difficult it got to focus on them.

Is this Faith? Or Holy Energy? I've never felt something like this before. Interesting, I wonder if the Holy Light feels like that too.

The rest of the church members were very quick to leave the area. The brown-haired man sighed as they did, then his whole posture suddenly changed, any trance trace of kindness melting away completely.

"Show yourself Devil, or I will drag you out."

…What?

What!?

Did he just…

He… H-He felt my presence, from inside of a shadow.

I didn't panic, because I was trained not to, as this kind of things can kill you in battle, but my thoughts became a lot sharper.

The acceleration of my thoughts gave me the time I needed to analyze the situation. The Holy Energy the two were exalting emanating no longer looked like a confusing mess to my senses, the more I looked, the more sense it made; the long-haired one carried a protection cross around his neck, along with a katana that radiated Holy Energy, but nothing aside from that, the brown-haired one seems unarmed at first, but he was carrying a virtual arsenal of holy relics.

There, in his finger, the golden ring was reacting to my presence somehow; it didn't tell him exactly where I was, or even that I was inside the shadows, but it told him I was close.

Okay, it's decided; I must study Holy Energy as soon as I can. I had never been detected before while I was in this state, even by high-class devils. Thank goodness I didn't try to spy on a Satan using this trick; this proves that I'm not completely undetectable, and if there are some Devils that could detect me, I bet it's them.

But anyway: the exorcists, what to do? I could leave right now; they don't know where I am, and I don't feel any trap around us, even using my new way to sense things. There is nothing they could do really do to stop me.

However…

If I leave now, the tensions between the factions will increase. Going by the words of the church members, these bodies have been showing up frequently, all with demonic energy flowing around, and now, in the newest crime sense, they actually detected a Devil before he left, this would be all the excuse they need to start a conflict.

In fact, the increase in tensions seems to be inevitable right now, even if I show myself. Things had simply escalated too much, at least that's the feeling I was having.

Luckily, I have a third option, something that could help with this growing conflict. Plus, I'm sure having an eye inside the church, even if temporarily, will be helpful.

The long-haired man did a double take when he saw me walking from the shadow of the walls, the brown-haired one didn't even blink. He just kept looking at me with a hateful calmness that I had seen on Gerhardt's eyes many times.

"This trick isn't going to work Devil; I've purged many of your filth who attempted to hide behind juvenile images." He said casually, making me wonder how many of them were actual children.

I ignored the comment. "Good afternoon!" I started cheerfully, "Now, I would like to make it clear that I'm not responsible for this incident. Believe me; if I wanted this man dead, I wouldn't leave his body in the open, or fill the air with incriminatory energy."

"Oh, I'm well aware of that." The Brown-haired exorcist smiled; it showed a lot more teeth than necessary, "But, in my personal opinion, why should we waste time and effort trying to find the specific Devils who did this, when we could just focus on eradicating this city's Devil infestation once and-"

"Sir!" The long-haired one interrupted. "Please."

The brown-haired man gave him a long stare, but in the end, he buffed a consent.

"Sorry about that." The man began, earning an annoyed look from his superior. "My name is Yaegaki Masaomi, may I have your name?"

"Hello, Yaegaki Masaomi, my name is Bell Cranel," I said blandly. "If we you are willing to talk, I guess I'll go directly to the point; are you willing to let me go?"

His next word died, his eyes showing his regret.

Good; because I was not willing to let them go.

My following smile was full of regret; it was so easy to fake it. "Then, there is no place for words at all." Not until you puppets have your proper springs.

"No, there isn't," The superior agreed with me with a satisfied tone.

Yaegaki sighed, his hand moving to his sword while he took a stance, "There is truly no other-,"

"Masaomi-kun," The superior cuts in. Oddly, he looked calmer now that the battle was about to start. "Don't let this monster fool you. He has no desire for peace." He pulled a leather book from his pocket, opening close to his face. "We must uphold the duty our Lord entrusted us. Amen."

Then, he began to pray.

He was speaking in a normal tone, but the words came surprisingly loud; they brought a distracting amount of pain in their wake.

I pushed the pain to the side, focusing on the esoteric aspects of the words-

Hoh?

...This is very, very, very interesting.

The words themselves aren't causing the effects; they were activation phrases for a Worldwide Mega Spell that seems to cover everything on this reality.

I can't believe I didn't notice this before. I will make sure to pay very close attention to this in the future.

"Yes Shidou-san," Yaegaki conceded. I noticed that the words were having the complete opposite effect on him, they had strengthened him past the human limit and were continuing still. "I'm sorry, child." He lamented and dashed towards me.

My wind spell met him midway, but it seemingly slipped past him without difficulties. Soon I was in his range, and his sword came bursting out of the sheath.

I kick the sword back inside, my finger flying toward his chest like a pistol-

*Shiiiiing*

I land a few feet's back, with a long cut on the arm I had used to block the blade. The injury burned with an unnatural intensity, not that it bothered me of course, but it was the most painful injury I received on my life.

"Interesting. Is that a Holy Sword?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"I'm afraid not." Yaegaki was quick to sheath the sword, the wind still spinning around him as result of his iaijutsu technique. "But it's enough for my duty."

"Pity, I really wanted to see one." There was a moment of silence, and then we both moved.

Yaegaki raised his speed and I matched him, and then raised it again in an attempt to catch me off guard. I found that adorable and kept our speed even as we slashed and punched around each other.

His technique was superb, and that's coming from a master of the sword. He always swung where it mattered the most and moved in a way to conserve his energy. I let him sneak a few wounds to encourage him to show me more. The blade used to burned burn my skin the first few times it touched, but as my Warlord Essence dictated: everything that didn't kill me, only made me stronger, so soon, I began to adapt to it. Even the praying words and Holy Energy didn't burn as it used to.

His next swing was coming from the left I- Huh?

A great weigh fell upon my shoulders, it made my movements more sluggish and cost me a long cut from chest to shoulder. I jumped back to create some distance and sent an annoyed glare to the Shidou guy; who had added a golden cross to his prayers.

Right, forgot that I can forget about him if he stay still, that's annoying.

"Give up." Yaegaki tried, seeing my bloody state in oppose opposed to his untouched one, "If you surrender now… we will… let you…what?"

Hah! I was right!

The strengthening effect of the praying was cool, and it would be formidable against a regular devil. The combination of a skilled warrior growing ever stronger, and weakening, pain-inducing prayers could be a nightmare for a Devil. However, the words just made him stronger, he still was was still very much human, with normal human weakness.

"Well, it was fun." I mocked while the exorcist fell to his knees as each breath failed to bring oxygen into his body.

I smiled, appearing before him with a burst of speed higher than anything I showed before, my hand already on gripping his head. "But you know who how it goes right? Another day, another death-"

I couldn't help it but smile as I was forced to jump back to avoid the freaking laser beam that was shot at me, but it made no difference. While I used to need five seconds to lay my claim before, two and a half is enough now.

I even released the wind spell that was suffocating the younger exorcist as a gesture of goodwill, but I don't think they realized that.

"Let this be a lesson to you, Masaomi-kun." The senior exorcist was standing in the place I was a second ago, his many holy relics thrumming with power. "The Devils can come in many forms and look like anything, but no matter their appearance…" Furious hazel eyes locked themselves on me, "Do not underestimate them."

"Yes, Shidou-san," Yaegaki said humbly, raising to stand behind his superior, he then pulled his own book from his pocket.

So, switch places huh?

"So, Devil child." The senior exorcist- Shidou, I believe- spoke with mockery on his voice, a scornful smile growing on his face "You said that you wanted to see a Holy Sword…"

Condensed light crystalizes around him, the Holy Energy from the relics synchronized with a growing hymn. The particles of light just now becoming visible seems to gather beneath his outstretched palms.

And just like that; it was here.

A long sword with the blade embedded on the ground, a simple golden crossguard with a jade colored handle; it didn't look to be anything other than a beautiful, decorative sword but it's mere presence deafened those of the other, inferior, holy relics.

Scarred hands raised the weapon with intimate familiarity; the tip pointing towards the sky while the swordsman entered a rigid, prideful stance. The fading sunlight reflected on the metal was magnified tenfold, the air around the blade seeming to resonate with supernatural sounds, almost like an orchestral choir.

"Behold hell spawn! The last sight you'll ever see; the sword of prayers Fidelacchius!"

...Well, it got style all right, the presence this thing has was undoubtedly striking. Perhaps I should invest in a Demon sword of my own; I knew how to use one after all.

I felt a feral smile curling on my lips. "Bold words holy slave. Why don't you try putting them to the test?"

The guy eagerly met my challenge. In a blink he was in front of me, sword raised high, and a war cry flying from his mouth. The blade was glowing so bright it looked as if it was made of pure light.

"Ely?"

The exorcist's fast movement violently crawled down to a halt. The rest of the world had frozen much earlier, leaving me alone with the words in my head.

"Yes mother, are you ok?"

I waited a few eternities for her to adjust the speed of her thoughts to the way-above-average speed I was using. Say what you will about the Shidou guy, but at the very least; the fucker was fast.

"Yes, I'm fine! We just got out of the store! I picked many pieces I want to show you later!" I could feel the happiness she was transmitting... along with the naughtiness.

What that the hell did they find in that store?

"I look forward to it." I sent, trying to keep the images I was conjuring from our metal mental bridge, with mixed results apparently; given her following giggles. "If there is anything more?"

"Yes, um, you see…" I could sense her embarrassment. It was cute. "We found this amazing human invention called 'photo booth', and they can take adorable pictures with little themes on it, so I was wondering-"

"Say no more. I'll be there in a few seconds."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I'm just finishing something, I'll be quick."

"Alright! I'll see you soon sweetie!"

I slow my thoughts to match the world again.

The sword struck down like thunder, leaving an almost solid trail of light and an orchestra of prayers on its wake.

The air trembled with the shock wave that followed; the intensity was so high that it shook the walls of the building forming the alley. Luckily, none came down.

"It's Shidou-san, right?" I asked calmly, looking at the exorcist's shocked eyes. "Thank you for the fight Shidou-san. I learned quite a lot from it. However,..."

He tried to move back, but the sword stayed on my unbreakable grip, the light squashed between my Haki-cloaked fingers. It was a weird vision given that my hand was barely big enough to envelop the width of the blade.

"Something more important than you came up." My shadow moved from the inside, it touched my eyes and voice, simulating what Abby does when she possesses my mother. "So, I have to make this quick."

-0-0-0-

[XXXXX's Pov]

My back slammed against the wall as the wave of sheer relief took away my balance.

After a day of wandering around asking people for information and suffering numerous flashes of recollections, my head finally put itself together, and I remembered everything.

It's true. I…I can't believe it.

I'm free!

"Oh God Thank you!- Ouch!"

I brought a hand to my head from the momentary pain, but it hardly matters. My relief relieved laughter still continued and the tears of joy still rolled.

After an eternity of soul-crushing pain, this one felt almost enjoyable.

I was eventually able to calm down and gather my thoughts for my next move.

I didn't know where I was- oh, the people in this town said that it's name was Kuoh, but I don't know exactly where that is in relation to Tokyo, but this was merely a setback, I can… I can finally go home.

Home… I never thought I would see it again, ever since I accepted that damned offer!

B-But I had no choice. Right! I would have died otherwise. I didn't want to leave them!

…No, that doesn't matter; it's in the past. That dying man is gone; now, I am better!

I felt the power rising in response to my emotions, the same amazing power that allowed me to annihilate them so easily. I didn't forget about it; it was always there; swirling inside my chest, but now it moved to my will, it seemed so…present, all-encompassing.

Yes, this will change everything. With this, I can take care of them; with this, I can give all they ever desired. Yes! I knew that I made the right choice! They will surely forgive me!

I pushed myself from the wall and began to make my way through the alley.

Now, I just have to find some way to get to Tokyo, and that will be easy.

The power spiked once again.

Very easy.

I felt like I could sing right now, but I chose to hum instead. Even here, wearing these homeless clothes that I had no clue where I got it, and with these annoying bangs of hair insisting on falling on my eyes; I felt happy, I felt like everything was finally taking a turn for the better.

The sound of wings echoed above my head, and I felt every nerve on my body flare.

I only realized that I had jumped behind a thrash compartment when I hit the ground. Waves of painful, clinical memories flooded my mind as my body curled on itself, trying to become as small as it possibly could.

For a while, I sensed nothing but the pounding of my heart against my ears, the terrified tears running down my face and no stop non-stop trembling of my bones.

Nothing happened.

After a time of nothing happening, I began to calm down.

W-What was that? W-Was that them? A-Are they searching for me!?

What should I do!? Should I run!? H-HIDE! YES! I have to hide!

The sound of wings came again, this time I heard something landing somewhere behind me.

OH, GOD-

…No

No!

I…I k-killed them before!

I have the power now!

E-Even if the power seemed so fair- NO! I CAN'T THINK LIKE THAT.

I'm a Devil now! I'm mighty! I can take them!

"Garhhh! This thing is so frustrating!"

The shout almost made me jump.

What?

"Come on! You blasted thing! You can't just show me an energy reading like that and suddenly go dark! It has been days! Give me something to work with!"

The words made me blink in confusion. Gathering my willpower, I peeked behind to see-

…What?

I-It can't be.

Why would she…

Kyoko?

"Wh-YES! There it is again!"

The same long blue hair flowing down to the back of her thighs like a waning river, the same sparkling gold eyes seriously inspecting the strange device in her hands, and the body- Oh God the body- The same amazing curves that she somehow preserved even after two childbirths.

I-It's her, there is no doubt about it; It's my Kyoko.

"What the hell is this thing... Oh crap."

Kyoko.

Oh~ Kyoko.

How I missed you, my love! I…I… there is so much I must make things right.

"Oh crap!"

She finally noticed me, her eyes widen widened by the shock of seeing me again.

I…I know my love, I know that I hurt you, with my word…with my fists… And then I left, I know it was unfair- but I did it for us! For our family- Oh god, I missed you so much!

And I can tell that she you missed me too.

"S-Stay there. Not one more step! I'm warning you!"

Oh! OH GOODNESS! How!? After everything, I've done! After all the things I did to you! How!? HOW!?

How could you still look at me with so much love?

Oh, my dear Kyoko, I'm so lucky to have you. I…I love you, everything about you; I love the way you nearly stumble when you step back, I love the way your radiance seems to manifest itself on your hands, I love the way your pair of beautiful midnight black wings appear on your back, I even love the odd way you seem to shrink as I get closer.

"I said- huh?!"

I…I want you.

I want to hug you.

I want to kiss you.

I want to touch you.

I want to smell you.

I want to taste you.

I want to make love with you

"OH, MY FUCK-"

"KYOKOOOOOOAARHHHHH!"