Answers to reviewers statements or questions

Yukilumi: Thanks, I didn't know how people would react to a story mainly involving OCs but I'm glad you like it. As for Adrian? He honestly doesn't care. I wrote before that he was more of a soldier than an ambitious man. He just wants to get the job done and will gladly take advice from someone else if its a good idea. Adrian does find Pierce mildly frustrating though. He's a normal guy with common sense and Pierce's manners are off and weird to him. Adrian's relationship with Pierce is actually a mimic to my real life relationship with my cousin. He's a cool guy and I love spending time with him but man can he confuse the living crap out of me sometimes.

Utima88: I'll think about it but I think a good author give's his reader the freedom to imagine how a character looks. I gave the basic frame for every character but I mainly allowed everyone reading to picture the character in their heads.

The Crowned Reaper: He won't, Pierce will get plenty of action long before he reaches Zeth. I just didn't want Melissa and Pierce jumping into bed too fast. I know in DxD supernatural women are pretty horny with even someone like Asia ready to strip and shower with Issei to get an edge (and their relationship is one of my favorites). Still, I'm trying to give a realistic take on romance and time is needed to grow an actual bond.

Chapter 14: A Spider's Nest and A Weirdo's Quest

Disclaimer: I do not own Highschool DxD but I might as well since I pretty much know everything about it (don't quote me on that). I own the OCs and I know everything about them too (I have a lying problem, can you tell?)

Base of Mount Fuji

"…Big mountain." Vargas snorted.

"You sure have a way with words Pierce." I smiled confidently.

"I know right? I think I might pick up poetry after this. I even have my poet name picked out, Dr. Seuss. It'll be great!" I laughed at the thought of doing that. I felt someone hit me on the head and I turned around to see Samantha holding her Sacred Gear. "What was that for?"

"I…don't know." She actually looked as confused as me. "But I got the feeling that I couldn't let you do that. How odd…" Samantha held her chin in deep thought.

'…I really worry about what goes on in Samantha's head sometimes.' I blinked at that thought. 'And hypocrite of the year goes to…' Granted, everything I say or do has a purpose, no matter how strange it may be so I think I'm good. After Maven camouflaged us and used a levitation spell, we all flew to the mountain. We chose to rest at the base and wait for Melissa to go check Shiruku's traps. Sophia already showed us a picture of her brother, his name was Simon, and when we find him to call her. We are to incapacitate him and tie him up until we can kill Shiruku. Adrian asked her if she ever saw a Japanese woman with a katana. She had no idea who he was talking about.

'The odds that Shiruku killed her are pretty high at this point.' I felt bad for the Emissary and her party but there was nothing we could do if we can't find her. Melissa chose this moment to walk out of the shadows and join everyone.

"What did you find?"

"The mountain is full of Youjutsu spells and she's hidden them very well with her Senjutsu, I nearly tripped some myself. All the caves on the mountain are filled and at the top is a barrier protected by a ton of spiders."

"Can you get through it?" Melissa nodded

"Yes I can, but this won't be like Froid. Shiruku is definitely in the mountain and she won't be alone." Everyone (sans Sophia and Damian) turned to look at me.

"What?" I crossed my arms and raised a brow.

"You're the plan guy." I tilted my head at Adrian.

"When did that become my job?" He deadpanned

"The moment you started carrying around a chalkboard in that space ring."

"…Fair enough." We walked to the nearby trees and I asked Samantha to put up a protection barrier to hide us. I actually did have an idea but no one likes to be called out on it. There's a process to things you know! Grumbling under my breath, I took out the chalkboard and started writing. I wrote the title at the top.

"Alright, ladies and- nope can't do it. Adrian ruined the mood." I sighed and just pointed at the title. "This is operation Spider Hole. Yes, that's an innuendo. You're welcome." There was silence before Sophia spoke up.

"Is he serious?" Melissa nodded.

"Just roll with it, you'll get it eventually." The Devil looked skeptical but chose to pay attention.

"Alright, now Melissa how many Youjutsu spells up the mountain are for capture and how many are meant for actual defense?" Melissa thought for second before speaking.

"Most of them are for capture really. Besides the strong one at the peak, the rest are mainly there to either keep you in place or to knock you out. They also have a side spell that tells the user when someone triggers them." I nodded to that information.

"Makes sense, with Shiruku's nature as the Jorogumo she would want to capture and enslave any "flies" that get caught in her "web" so to speak."

"We're going to use that against her aren't we?" I smiled at Maven's comment

"Yes we are." I wrote down team 1 and 2. "There will be 2 teams for this operation. Shiruku won't come out and fight us head on, that's just not her way of doing things. She'll most likely send in her brainwashed victims like Simon and possibly the Emissary if she was enslaved too." They all nodded. "Of course, she won't send out all of her strong fighters since that leaves no one to protect her. So this is how it's going to play out, Team 1 will contain Melissa, Vargas, Maven, and I." I looked at them all in silence. They didn't get it at first but they quickly figured it out and shuffled around into 2 groups. I nodded in satisfaction. "Very good. We will have Melissa take us all up to the top of the mountain unseen. Team 2 involves everyone else triggering the traps on the mountain, Shiruku will send in her army of spider and when she see's they are not enough, she will then send in her stronger slaves. Hopefully, she sends Simon so you guys can capture him and get that out the way. Melissa, get a piece of paper and pin point all the traps on the mountain." Maven got out a scroll and pointed it at the mountain; it shone and an aerial view of Mt. Fuji drew itself. Melissa then put markers on different points on the map. She handed it to Adrian. "When she sends them you're way, you are to immediately say so and we'll get to work on that barrier. If this goes perfectly we'll break through the barrier, find Shiruku, and kill her. Any questions?"

"Umm." Sophia spoke up. "Shiruku was able to seduce and control my big brother, who's far stronger than me. What's stopping her from seducing us?"

"She can't, not in the middle of a fight." Adrian shook his head. "For Shiruku to seduce someone they need to be unaware and relaxed." Melissa and I were important counters to Shiruku but that's when we're in town where she can sneak up on us. In the battlefield where you're constantly alert, Shiruku's powers won't work as well.

"How do you know all this?" I quirked a brow at her question

"Do you really have no idea who we are?" Sophia shook her head. We only told her our names and that we're after Shiruku but not that Adrian's an Emissary.

"Well I guess now is a good time as any." I put both hands on our leader's shoulders. "Have you heard about the war between the God of Monsters, Zeth and the Greek Gods?"

"…Yes I have. Why?" Sophia was confused why I was bringing it up.

"Well Shiruku is one of Zeth's Generals and Adrian here is an Emissary of the Gods sent to kill him." Sophia's and Damian's eyes widened, than they started to sweat.

"W-we attacked an Emissary and his party!?" Sophia was freaking out and really started regretting her choices the last couple of weeks. First going after Yeqon and getting revenge, only to end up half dead because her brother was mind controlled. Then she chose to come back to save him, only to attack a group backed by a pantheon. Yeah, she's had a shitty couple of weeks.

"Oh relax." I patted the she Devil on the back, bringing her back to reality. "We won't tell if you don't. For now, let's go save your brother, kill a spider lady, and get on with our lives. Deal?" Sophia looked confused by my nonchalance.

"A-are you not mad that w-we attacked you?" I deadpanned

"You tried to claw and burn me to death, what do you think?" Sophia had the decency to look ashamed but I just shrugged. "Still you did all that because you wanted to save your brother, I can respect that. So forget about it and let's do this." The silence when I finished was deafening as they all looked at me with weird looks. "What?"

"…You are the most confusing man I've ever met." Adrian really couldn't understand how someone can go from childish to mature so seamlessly. "Let's begin." I walked over to my group and nodded back at the others.

"Good luck, don't go too nuts. Looking at you spear crazy." The Demigod just gave me the middle finger. Smiling, Maven put up a camouflage spell and we followed Melissa to the top.

40 Minutes Later, Summit of Mount Fuji

What usually took hours of climbing by normal people, took everyone less than an hour as Melissa led us through the path that she used to reach the top and we all had superhuman physical capabilities. All except Maven, who I had to carry and who's very gifted assets were pressing on my back.

'I have a girlfriend, I have a girlfriend, I have…' I chanted that like a mantra as every step I took pressed Maven into my back. I looked ahead at Melissa. "Remind me again why we couldn't just have Maven fly us up there?"

"Shiruku has Youjutsu spells to watch the airspace; it's kind of like the Locked Space back on Olympus but just far weaker." I grumbled at Melissa's explanation. Don't get me wrong, as a hot blooded man I was enjoying the soft sensation of my back but I was already taken. 'Though she doesn't seem to have a problem with that…' I peeked over to Melissa who just smiled at me and continued to walk. Regardless, I got my head in the game and we reached the peak of Fuji. I whistled.

"Nice." The view was amazing as the horizon could be seen clearly from here and we were above the white clouds. We were on the edge of a cliff; there was a drop as the top was in a cone shape. "Is that the entrance?" I activated Chi Vision and a high level illusion blocked it.

Melissa drew a Youjutsu symbol and sent it forward, it hit an invisible wall. Like a veil disappearing, the terrain changed to show hundreds of spiders sleeping around a large dome of Chi in the center. A bunch of Youjutsu seals were covering it. We were still camouflaged so when a spider looked up to where we were, it didn't see anything and went back to sleep. I had to ask.

"Umm, this is probably a stupid question but their base is inside Mt Fuji right?"

"Yeah…"

"So why don't we just dig down or just have Maven teleport us inside?" Just like I can't have Chi Vision activated all the time, Shiruku can't have an eye on us 24/7. It didn't make sense for us to use the front door when we could get in another way. She shook her head.

"Maven can't teleport us inside because Shiruku has seals to keep her front doing that. She also has spells to track anyone digging into her base that isn't one of her spiders."

"She's covered this huge mountain with that many spells?" It was absurd to think about and it didn't make sense. That was until Maven spoke up.

"Don't underestimate an Ultimate-Class Pierce." I looked back to see Maven's serious face. "We may have killed Froid and in terms of power Shiruku is weaker but she has been here far longer. She's had the time to set so many defenses and she's older than Froid. Any being that's reached the Ultimate-Class of their race is dangerous and can take on a mortal army alone. We have to be careful." I went silent at Maven's warning.

I forgot what world I was in was for a second. A world where beings can cause untold levels of destruction if left unchecked. Any one of the Four Great Satans can wipe out modern Japan and many Ultimate-Class Devils can reach their level of power (though Sirzechs and Ajuka are different types of beasts). Hell, drop me into a human battlefield and with Touki alone I could rip apart a legion. Arrogant? Very. True? Unfortunately. With this time periods weaponry, I wouldn't be in danger of dying as long as I paid attention.

'Maybe Cao Cao was on to something…' I snorted at that supernatural Nazi's aspirations and nodded. "I'm sorry. I got compliant and I shouldn't have. I'll be more careful." Maven smiled proudly at my attitude. "…You can get off me now." Before I stated the obvious and her face got bright red.

"S-sorry." Maven got off my back and we all crouched to wait. Team 2 will start tripping Shiruku's traps and draw them out soon.

"Did you enjoy the ride?" Melissa took it upon herself to pass the time by teasing Maven.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about…" She denied it with a red face.

"Oh?" Melissa raised a brow before smirking. "So you weren't feeling up my boyfriend as he carried you?" Maven looked shocked before peeking at me. I shrugged.

"I wasn't going to say anything…" She rapidly shook her head.

"No! No, that wasn't what I was doing! I-I was just trying to get comfortable! That's all!" We all looked at her with weird looks and she realized what she said.

"No wait- That wasn't what I meant!" Maven shook her head again. "I-I was just trying to get a better grip- God damn it!" She couldn't find the words and we tried to calm her down before she passed out from how red her face was.

'The more she tries to explain, the less we believe her…' I shook my head with a fond smile as Melissa apologized for the teasing. 'She's taking it oddly well…' I watched my Yokai girlfriend as she laughed with Maven over what she did, who was still denying it. None of my girlfriends in my past life were what you would call the jealous type but they still didn't like it when other women showed interest in me (not that it happened often but you get the idea). Yet Melissa doesn't seem to mind when I spent time with other woman, it honestly confused the hell out of me.

'...Why do I feel like I'm forgetting something really obvious and important?' I idly thought as we waited for the fireworks.

Down the Mountain

"Is this the first one?" Aindrea stood in front of an ordinary looking plot of land. There was nothing here beside rock and snow.

"Should be." Adrian held the map and looked around. "Nothing seems out of order but we know that won't last. Be careful." The Demigod snorted.

"Like a Yokai's trap can ever-" He didn't get to finish as he sprung the trap and jumped back, missing the golden webs that tried to ensnare him. He jumped too far back though as he triggered another trap and 8 giant spider limbs made out of earth shot out of the ground around him. They interlocked like a cage, trapping the Demigod inside. The silence was deafening as Samantha tilted her head at the caged Aindrea.

"You're not very good at being arrogant." Aindrea's face heated up at the healer's blunt statement and swung his spear in anger, destroying the cage. That was enough though, as a rumbling was felt shortly after and huge spiders dug out of the ground. They encircled the group and everyone got their weapons out. Then Adrian noticed something.

"…Samantha?"

"Hm?"

"…What are you holding?" The healer had a cage that was engraved in magical symbols. She smiled cryptically.

"Just in case I get a chance."

"…I'm not even going to ask." The Emissary than rushed towards the giant arachnids' with Aindrea close behind. They rammed through the spiders, every swing destroying one spider. Sophia and Damian also joined in, the she Devil clawing every spider to cinders and her retainer freezing the ones she missed. The first wave lasted 2 minutes but more kept coming out the ground and some even came down from the peak.

"Spartiatikí Poreía!" Aindrea used his magic to sweep through the spiders that arrived and had to jump back as a green spider shot acid. Adrian cut the green spider's head off but 10 more arrived. They lined up and started shooting acid balls in waves at them.

"Praesidio muros." Samantha blocked them with a yellow barrier and Damian shot a giant pike of ice, freezing and shattering the group of spiders. Different variety of spiders kept coming. Some shot acid, others moved like blurs, and some even had incredibly hard exoskeletons. Aindrea had extra fun against the last group if the smile he had when ripping one in half was any indicator. They never stayed in one place and moved throughout the mountain side, tripping every trap they came across. The spider army seemed endless as literal piles were left everywhere they went. Still, the group never stopped fighting and waited for the stronger opponents to show up.

"Get back!" Sophia gave a warning as she stood in front of the ocean of spiders. Her stomach bloated and her throat enlarged just like that time against Pierce. She then breathed out a massive surge of red flames, burning nearly 1,000 spiders to ash. The mountain shook from the attack and a scorched crater remained.

"…Pierce took that to the face?" Adrian was shocked at the Devil's attack.

"I still say he's lying about being human." Aindrea moved to finish off the spiders that the attack missed. Sophia was breathing heavily and her hands were on her knee, stopping herself from falling. Samantha came over and took out some water from her space ring.

"Thanks." Sophia's voice sounded rough, probably a side effect from the fire attack. The healer smiled before facing Adrian.

"Where to now-" Samantha stopped and took out the blood rune. She was the last one to hold it and they forgot about it since they were attacking Shiruku's base. It was pulsing. "She's here. The woman that attacked me and Pierce." They looked around and a chuckle could be heard from a tall rock. They looked over to see the black haired woman smiling, looking down on them.

"And what is that? Some sort of tracker? If you wanted to see me then all you had to do was ask." The woman back flipped off the rock as Sophia landed right where she was, burning the rock to ash.

"Where's my brother?!" The Devil was livid as this woman was the one who led her and Simon to Shiruku. The woman only smiled before pointing behind her.

"Sophia!" She turned to Adrian's yell but couldn't dodge the punch to her face. Her nose bled as she was punched way. Adrian pointed his sword at the attacker and shot a beam of sunlight but they just flew up with their draconic wings. They watched as Simon landed next to the woman. Simon was a tall, handsome man with short brown hair and he was wearing a slim coat over a black shirt and pants. He had slit amber eyes. Sadly, those eyes were currently hazy and his face was expressionless. Sophia quickly came back holding her nose and gritted her teeth at what she saw.

"Let my brother go you bitch!" Sophia's tail came out and wings like Simon's grew out her back. 2 horns shot out of her head and her eyes became a blood red. Adrian spoke into his communication ring.

"They're here, go in."

"Roger."

Adrian never took his eyes off the duo and he noticed the way the woman smiled when he said that. Frowning, Adrian felt something was wrong but couldn't figure out why till the woman started laughing.

"It's so cute when fledglings think they're so smart. Don't you agree Simon?"

"Yes, Mistress Yua." Simon robotically answered. This enraged Sophia even more as her demonic energy rose. Adrian stepped forward.

"You sure talk big but there are only two of you. You're outnumbered." Yua tilted her head in amusement.

"Two? Whoever taught you to count would be ashamed." The group heard someone walking up behind them and they turned around. A young man stood there. He had long blond hair, blue eyes, and a very handsome face. He was wearing a toga with leather armor over it.

"Jason..." Adrian softly spoke the name of the young man. A party member of Sara, the missing Emissary. The spirit inheritor of the Greek Hero Jason and a master swordsman. There was just one problem. Jason's eyes weren't hazy and he even gave a vibrant smile.

"It's nice to know my reputation precedes me." He stood a distance away and quirked a brow at Aindrea. "I thought Lady Shiruku wanted him."

"They left him behind but hey, at least that human and Yokai she wants are going straight to her. Now we just need to deal with the leftovers." No one can say Adrian was slow on the uptake.

'She knows their coming.' Adrian hurriedly brought his communication ring up. "Pierce! Pierce, it's a trap get out!" There was no answer. Jason held up an orb.

"Signal Disruptor. You got to love magic right?" Jason smiled before saying faintly. "Skotoména Térata." Two golden pillars appeared on either side of him. The pillars dimmed to show a large chimera and Cyclops. This was one of Jason's Odes and it allowed him to summon monsters slain by the original Jason to fight for him.

"You betrayed your Emissary?" Anger boiled inside Adrian as he pointed his sword towards Jason. "She trusted you to have her back!"

"And now she'll learn from this and grow as a person." Jason blinked, than tilted his head innocently. "Oh wait." He dodged the beam of sunlight Adrian shot and laughed.

"Why!?"

"Zeth offered more. I didn't hate her or anything; I just found a better deal." Sophia's patience finally ran dry as she lunged at Yua only for Simon to block her attack. She was grabbed by the throat and slammed on the ground, a crater formed from the impact. Damian ran forward to help but Simon threw Sophia at him. Aindrea blocked the Cyclops's swing and punched it in the stomach, sending it stumbling back. He sidestepped the chimera's lunge and slashed it on the side. The snake tail sprayed poison at Aindrea and it hit his arm.

"Arghhh!" The poison burned his skin and he cut off the snake's head. Screaming in pain, the chimera breathed fire and Aindrea blocked it with his illusory Spartan shield. Jason slashed at Adrian with his sword and he parried it. Everyone quickly got into their fights with Yua disappearing. More spiders started gathering.

'This couldn't possibly get any worse!' Adrian pushed Jason back and was about to follow up but stopped as a large rumble began. A massive spider 8 meters in height burrowed out of the ground. It was the first of three.

"…God damn it." Then Jason was on him again.

Inside Mount Fuji

'…Something's wrong…' I frowned as we made our way down the tunnels of Shiruku's base. The moment Adrian gave us the go; we snuck past all the spiders and got to work breaking through the barrier. When it came down all we saw was a huge hole in the ground. The entrance to Shiruku's base is an actual spider hole. I'm a freaking genius. I told Adrian we broke through and that we were going in. He didn't respond. That was red flag number 1. I figured he was focusing on his fight and I chose to contact him after finding Shiruku. Red flag number 2 was that the walk through the tunnel was too peaceful. Melissa said that we avoided the detection spell on the barrier and Maven was hiding us with her magic. Shiruku shouldn't have discovered us but the spiders seemed to be avoiding this path and we haven't hit a dead end.

"Adrian, can you hear me?" He still didn't answer. "That's not a good sign…"

"Do you think he's too busy because Simon's really strong?" Maven remembered Sophia saying how powerful her brother was.

"Should we go back?" I shook my head.

"We're already this far, it'll take more time for us to walk out the way we came. Let's just keep going." I didn't like it but when I activated Chi Vision I saw a large aura bursting with Chi at the end of the path. I took a guess of who that was. 'But how can I sense her? That other woman can hide her aura completely yet Shiruku isn't doing that.' It was an invitation.

"Shirukus up ahead. She seems to be alone." Vargas snorted. "Yeah, so before we go in I want you guys to stay back. I'll go talk with the General, back me up when things go south." They gave hesitant nods and we walked to the entrance of a large cave. In the middle of the cave was a platform, Shiruku was sitting on a throne and seemed to be having tea. She looked exactly like the image from the rune hologram, a beautiful Japanese princess with a hime-hair style but she was wearing a red and black kimono now. She also had normal human legs. Shiruku smiled as she relaxed and looked completely out of place in the dark cave…especially with the mountain of skeletons around her. Most of them belonged to animals but some humans skeletons were there too.

'Well, that's cliché.' I turned to Melissa. "Do you sense anyone hiding?" I couldn't find anyone else and she observed the space but it truly seemed like Shiruku was alone. None of us believed that. Melissa was good enough to find her traps around the mountain but if Shiruku wanted to hide someone in her general vicinity, then we wouldn't be able to find them. I took a deep breath and walked forward. I walked over to the bones and stopped a couple of meters from Shiruku. She smiled at my arrival.

"Why hello." Her voice was very soothing. "Welcome to my home. Sorry for the mess, dinner with my children could be…difficult to clean up." Her words and smile did not match at all.

'Psychotic…' I pushed down the revulsion I felt and looked around. "That's alright. I was the one that came uninvited, if anything it makes the place seem homey." Shiruku chuckled at my sarcastic tone.

"Ah a man that can banter without fear, you are a rare breed. The majority of men that I've invited are never so responsive." She sighed.

'Probably because they're too busy being terrified out of their minds.' I thought this as I walked around, trying to locate anyone hiding.

"You are quite the interesting man Pierce." I stopped to look at her.

"How do you know my name?" Shiruku lifted her arm and played with a small spider on her wrist.

"Every being in a kingdom has its role, even the smallest ones." The small spider crawled back into her sleeve.

"Okay…" That's one answer solved. "…but why are you telling me that?"

"Cause I want you Pierce." I deadpanned.

"…Sorry, I'm taken but if we break up I'll heavily consider it, okay?" Shiruku smiled before standing up.

"You're something special." I snorted.

"Funny, my mom said something similar before." She walked towards me and I stood still, my brain becoming foggy. I frowned, knowing what she was doing. She saw my frown but kept talking.

"I've been with many human men Pierce, but none like you." Shiruku stopped right in front of me. "The moment I first laid eyes on your Chi…it was like nothing I felt before." She placed a hand on my cheek. "I saw what you did against my children and Yua. I saw your fight against the Devil woman. I've seen your power." Her eyes shone with greed and lust. She smiled victoriously once she saw my glazed over eyes. "Join me Pierce, and once Zeth takes over Olympus then I'll make you my King."

"I…can't…" Shiruku was amused by my strained response.

"And why not? What's stopping you?" She leaned in to kiss me.

"Be…cause…" She was inches away from my lips.

"You're not my type."

Shiruku stopped completely. She leaned her head back to stare at me and looked confused.

"W-what do you I'm not-aaaaahhhhhhhh!" Shiruku screamed as I plunged my Chi coated sword into her gut. She grabbed my arm and tried to crush it but I already activated Touki. I punched her in the face and sent her flying right through her stone throne. Her nose was broken and the hole in her stomach was bleeding heavily. I didn't hesitate as I created 6 Chi Swords and sent them flying towards her. But before they could reach her, a blur appeared and sliced my Chi Swords to pieces. The blur stopped in front of Shiruku and I saw it was the black haired Japanese Emissary, Sara. She was a beautiful woman with a modest figure, a pointy tail and was a wearing hakama. Her brown eyes were hazy.

"Well that answers tha-" I didn't get to finish as I jumped back and avoided the man sized spear of light. My eyes widened when I saw the attack and looked up to the sound of flapping. A man in black armor hovered; he didn't have a helmet on so I could see his long black hair, charcoal eyes, and handsome features. The man had 8 black wings. "…and you must be Yeqon." Shiruku got to her feet with her nose already healed. The hole on her stomach however was still in the process of healing. She looked pissed.

"Kill him…" She looked really pissed. "Kill him! Make him suffer, break his bones, rend his flesh, I don't care! I'll take his seed from his rotting corpse!" Spider limbs shot out of her torso and an entire spider body replaced her legs. She roared and hundreds of spiders came out from every direction. Sara and Yeqon stood on both sides at the ready.

"…You don't take rejection well do you?" Yeqon flew at me.

"Spiritus Custos!" Vargas' Templar smashed right into the Fallen Angel, sending him flying into the cave walls.

"Flammis acribus malestrom!" Maven's fire spell incinerated a large portion of the surrounding spiders. The fight was on.

"Vargas take Yeqon. Maven and Melissa you guys fight Shiruku. I'll-" I blocked Sara's katana from slicing my head off. I tried to punch her stomach but she just blocked it with her second katana. 'She had 2? When!?' Sara swung both swords at me dozens of times and I parried every single one. I jumped over her low kick and tried kicking her in the face but she rolled to the side in time. I was on her again and I quickly found out something.

'I'm pretty alright at swordsmanship.' Why did that pop in my mind? Because while I'm alright, Sara is a text book genius. Every swing I did, she parried it and counter attacked perfectly. Dylan wasn't some sword grandmaster but he knew his stuff. I was taught to properly cut, guard, and center myself with a sword. Sara? She quickly figured out my form and I was put on the defense. After dodging a fist to the face Sara got in my guard and cut my side.

"Shit!" I jumped away but Sara wasn't going to let me go that easily. We kept clashing blades and the numbers of cuts on my body increased. With Touki the cuts were shallow but my Chi was having some difficulty stopping the bleeding. I didn't have time to think why as a spider lunged at me and I punched it to pieces. But that second it took left me open to Sara and she gave me a deep cut on my leg. I yelled in pain and stopped holding back, kicking her hard in the chest.

"Vijara Ka Sanrakshan." I heard Sara say this really fast before my kick connected and her skin became like diamonds. A shock wave rang out as the kick flung her back into a group of spider and crushed them to pieces. She got back up without a single injury.

"…Of course you know magic." I blocked a light sword and saw the injured form of Yeqon. I punched him in the face and he flew back. I saw Vargas' avatar was in pieces and Vargas himself was in bad shape. He was slowly being overrun by spiders.

"Pierce!" Sara tried to skewer me and I caught her arm, flinging her over my shoulder. I blocked 2 more light swords from Yeqon and looked over to the girls. They weren't doing so good as Shiruku kept shooting Youjutsu spells at them and they could only defend. Maven fell down, covering her arm from a spider attack. We needed to retreat.

I kicked Yeqon away and tried to turn but I couldn't make it in time. Sara cut me on the back and it nearly cut my spine into two.

"Aaaahhhhhh! Fucking- you know what, screw saving you!" I grabbed Sara by the neck and threw her at Yeqon. When they were distracted, I channeled a large amount of Chi and used Sword Fury. Exhaustion filled my body as the Chi blade was nearly 15 meters and I hit them both with it. Yeqon put up a magic circle and Sara activated her diamond skin spell. They both shattered as a massive shock wave rang out and they flew into the cave wall. A huge crater appeared and the mountain shook violently.

"We're leaving now!" I saw that they were still alive so I ran to Vargas and killed every spider around him. Melissa grabbed Maven and they went into the Shadow Realm.

"And where exactly are you going to escape?!" Shiruku waved her hands and web like marks appeared all over the cave walls. The tunnel we came through sealed itself and spider webs formed over our heads. Shiruku in her true formed walked (crawled?) over to us.

"You're not going anywhere! This is my domain! You will be used as live stock for my children and your seeds will allow me to give birth to greater warriors! There is no-" She caught an arrow that I shot at her head and stared at it. She gave me a look that said "really?"

"Did you really thin-" The arrow in her hand exploded into a huge fiery blaze. Shiruku had Touki on so it didn't hurt her but it did its job. Melissa and Maven shot out of the shadows with a magic circle appearing under us. Shiruku's spells can keep Maven out but not in.

"No!" Then we were gone.

10 Miles from Mount Fuji

A magic circle appeared in the middle of the east forest and we all fell out. We looked like hell; Vargas was the worst as multiple burning holes covered his body. I quickly put my hands on his chest and started giving him my Chi.

"Thanks..." Vargas couldn't get up as the adrenaline wore off.

"Don't mention it." I turned to look at Maven who was telling Adrian they escaped. "Told you that exploding arrow would come in handy." She shook her head.

"It's still too expensive to mass produce." Maven leaned on a tree and put a seal on her arm; it had a nasty spider bite. "A magic spell would take a second longer to form and is more noticeable but it's far less expensive."

"Still worked…" I mumbled as Vargas' wounds stabilized.

"Adrian and the rest retreated, they couldn't bring back Sophia's brother. They'll meet us back at the hideout." We all nodded and Melissa walked over to me. She also had burns and cuts but they were mainly healed by her own Chi. She put a hand on my shoulder.

"How are you feeling?" She touched the cuts all over my body and flinched when she saw the cut on my back and leg.

"It's not as bad as it looks." That was the truth. The only real danger was the cut to my spine and my Chi was already holding that part of my body together. The majority of my injuries weren't life threatening but I was still having trouble healing them. 'Why?' Maven walked over as I wondered and she waved her hand. A magic circle appeared in front of me and black smoke was sucked from my cuts.

"What the…" My Chi had a far easier time now and my wounds were quickly closing.

"Sara must have put some curse magic on her swords. They made healing your wounds at least five times harder." My eyes widened and I paled.

"H-how long would it have taken for the curse to go away?" Maven tilted her head in thought.

"At most a week or 2, it typically says in your body until the magical energy runs out. That's what that black smoke was." I sighed in relief.

"So no crazy side effects like growing an extra limb or eye?" Maven smiled in amusement

"No, Pierce. You're not going to get any stranger than you already are."

"Well that's a relief-hey!" They laughed and I carried Vargas over my shoulder. Maven levitated us and we flew to the hideout. The flight over was mostly quiet. I tried my best to lighten the mood but the reality was still there. We lost. Maybe not miserably but it was our first real set back.

'This was the first time my plan failed.' Pasha may have kicked my ass back in Constantinople but the goal was to distract him not beat him. When we retreated back then it was because we got what we came for. Now? We got our asses kicked, Shiruku knows our strengths, and we have nothing to show for it. '…Well this has been a shitty day.' I sighed as we reached the hideout. I activated Chi Vision and saw none of Shiruku's spider minions. I did however see some ordinary house spiders on the porch; I squashed those as we went inside.

"You're back." Adrian stood up and walked towards us from the couch. His armor that was on the side had a couple of deep cuts. He also had a lot of bruises on his arms and neck. Aindrea and Damian didn't look any better with Samatha working on their severe burns. "How did it go?"

"Shiruku has Sara as one of her slaves." Adrian nodded.

"Yes I know. A person named Jason betrayed her and brought her to Shiruku." He clenched his fist remembering the scumbag.

"She also had a Fallen Angel with her. I think it was the Yeqon they were looking for." Damian stood up and walked over after hearing that.

"Really?! Was he tall with long black hair and a suit of armor?" He gritted his teeth at my nod. "So that trash still lives…" I brought Vargas over to Samantha and she started healing him.

"So what do we do now?" Adrian sat back down.

"We rest and re-plan. We did hurt Jason and Simon, the odds of Shiruku sending them after us so soon is low." I shrugged and went to sit down. Everyone went off to do their own things after healing, I also found out that Sophia was pretty hurt by her brother and was resting in bed. Melissa came over to kiss me good night; she was tired from her fight. I watched her go into her room and looked over to see Damian sitting by Sophia's door. I walked over and sat with the guy.

"Hey." I started the conversation

"Hello." That was all he said

"…"

"…"

"…So what did Yeqon do? You know, to make Sophia and Simon go after him?" I didn't ask Sophia earlier since we were on our way to Fuji.

"It's not for me to say." Damian didn't budge. "If you wish to know then you should ask Lady Sophia once she recovers."

"Alright…" I dropped it. "…So how come you were the only one she brought to save her brother? Not trying to be rude or anything but if they're from a noble house then I would assume they would bring some pretty powerful experts to save Simon."

"I'm glad we didn't." Damian sighed. "I can't tell you anything important but just know that Lady Sophia can't mobilize our forces because of political problems."

"Ah." I gave a knowing nod. "It always comes back to politics for Devil's doesn't it? But why are you glad you didn't give bring stronger allies?"

"Because if we had brought our stronger Devils and fought against Shiruku then that would pit our entire house against Zeth. The Bael Clan would have our house's head if we brought the Monster God's wrath to the Underworld. Especially with the current tensions."

"…Right." I was confused at Damian's words. "A-are you guys under the Bael Clan's protection?" Damian looked at me strangely.

"The Bael Clan governs the entire Underworld; they must do what's best for the entire Devil race."

"The Bael? What about the Four Satans?" Damian looked at me like I was crazy

"The 4 Satans died at the end of the Great War." I frowned.

"I know that. I was talking about the Four Great Satans." That confused the Devil even more.

"…What are you talking about?"

"What are you talking about?"

"…"

"…"

"…D-do you not have any idea what's the current status of the Underworld?" I opened my mouth to say yes but I stopped when I realized something.

I didn't.

I remembered asking Maven a long time ago if she was contracted with a Devil but she said she wasn't. Since she went to a powerful and knowledgeable magic school made by Merlin himself; the allure of forming a contract with a Devil was pretty non-existent. At the time I let it go and planned to learn what's going on in the Underworld later.

I never did.

"Actually, I've always been curious about the history of the Devil race and its current affairs." Damian seemed surprised by this.

"Really? I had no idea you were so inter-"

"I am."

"…What do you want to know?" I picked up my chair and placed it right where I can face the Devil.

"Tell me everything."

And done. I hope this shows my plan for this fic. This isn't a power trip and Pierce isn't going to beat every General he meets as easily as Froid. He will fail sometimes and will need to push the envelope to succeed. I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Beta: Fanfiction0000