Answers to reviewers statements or questions

Sakra95: Maybe, I'll think on it but the Old Satan Faction are too proud of their Devil lineage to take help even from a God. I have an idea on how Pierce will get a really cool mythical weapon and I think it's pretty original.

DahakStaz: Thank you for the passionate review and I actually thought about that before you mentioned it. It was a bit different but our ideas are pretty much the same. There are a couple of races I plan to have run certain parts of the Mercenary Association, I hope you like them.

Chapter 16: A Snake, a Spider, and a Crow walk into a Shrine

Disclaimer: I do not own Highschool DxD but if I ever do I'll get a publisher that will allow Echi. I own the OCs and I won't let my SI get blue balled, I got your back brother!

Speech - "Hey, I'm Pierce."

Thoughts - 'I'm dead.'

Spells - "Jumon"

Hakone

"This is taking bug squashing to new levels!" I yelled as I punched one spider to pieces and slicing another in half. I Chi Burst throughout the crowd, killing spiders in waves. "Though I am curious!"

"What about!?" Aindrea asked as he pierced through an armored spider and crushed a green one under his foot. He sent out illusion spears that pierced trough dozens of spiders at a time.

"Are these really Shiruku's children or does she call them that just because they're also spiders!?" I jumped high in the air, kneeing two spiders in the process, and created 6 Chi Swords. They flew around slicing and cutting up every spider that was in their path.

"Hell if I know!" Aindrea yelled as he picked up one spider and threw it towards a group. The poisonous spider exploded and sprayed its poison all over its brethren. "Though what you think about in moments like this is really weird Pierce!"

"Thank you! It's a gift!" I smiled as I landed back on the ground and cut every spider around me to pieces. Aindrea and I have been fighting for the past 20 minutes but the spiders seemed to be endless. Thankfully, for a stamina freak like me and a battle crazy Demigod like Aindrea this was our kind of work.

"Equus Belli!" Illusionary war horses with soldiers on them appeared on the battlefield. They charged forward and trampled on the spiders as they ran. I scoffed.

"Show off." Aindrea looked smug.

I would create a Chi Animal to ride but my control wasn't good enough to make one that could take on these spiders. 'One day I'm riding a Chi Tyrant into battle, no question!' I idly thought this as I Chi Burst from my position, a ball of fire landing and exploded there. I looked over to see a huge spider with literal flames for fur.

"…Okay, I'll admit it, that's pretty cool." The fire spider kept shooting large balls of fire and I zigzagged, dodging all of them. The ones that missed actually hit the other spiders and spread fire that was killing even more. After running a bit more to spread the chaos, I stopped and Chi Burst right next to the flaming spider. I jumped on its head and looked it right in its multiple flaming eyes. "I have no idea how you work but see ya!" I slammed down on the head and destroyed its brain with Seismic Fist. I jumped off and the large spider came crashing down, picking up a bit of dust on impact. I cut the surrounding spiders that seemed shocked from my kill and body checked an armored spider into what I believe is old man Samisen's house. I'll admit it; I had an evil smirk on my face.

"Hey Aindrea-" I quickly put my sword up and blocked a black spider limb. The spider limb was attached to the back of the spider maiden, Yua.

"Hi." Yua smiled before jumping back and avoiding a Chi Sword that tried to skewer her side. I clicked my tongue. "Aww, don't tell me you're still holding a grudge? Ladies don't like petty men you kn-"

"Lady, you are no lady!" I swung down on her but she just dodged to the side. I kicked aside her clawed hand and punched her right in the face, sending her flying into a house. She didn't get up.

'That was too easy…' I frowned and walked up to the destroyed house. The body of Yua was there, face beyond recognition, but it was hollow like a shed exoskeleton.

"Hasn't your mother told it's rude to interrupt a lady?" I looked up and saw Yua smiling down from the top of a house.

"Not if that lady is a homicidal spider woman that wants to rape and kill me." Yua laughed at my comeback.

"Well, you're not wrong about that." Yua said this as black spider limbs popped out of her torso, her skin blackened and a symbol appeared on her forehead. It was a double red diamond, like a black widow. I put the pieces together.

"…Man, I pity the dudes that got into bed with her." I heard some chuckling behind me and turned around to see another Yua but this one had bright red spider limbs.

"Please, it was the best night of their lives…then again; they didn't live long enough for it to be topped but whatever." Yua number 2 said as another came out and this one had blue spider limbs.

"And we'll make it your best night ever as well…" They said this all at the same time with the same crazy smile.

"…I'm going to kill you all now." I Chi Burst to Red Yua (let's just call them by their color) and tried to pierce her with my sword but a large ice barrier got in the way. I pulled my sword out and crouched, dodging the stream of flames Red Yua shot at me. I turned around and blocked Black Yua's fist with my forearm. That was a mistake.

"Arghhh!" I was flung back by the unexpected strength and skidded across the ground. My Chi healed the large bruise on my arm (her punch actually got through my Touki) and I sliced the large ice pike shot at me into two. I dodged to the right as Black Yua landed where I was standing and a crater appeared where she landed. I hit her with a Seismic Fist to the shoulder but she soldiered through and punched me in the gut, knocking the wind out of me. I was kicked in the head and flew right through a nearby wall. I quickly got up and dodged the spider limb that tried to skewer my head. I grabbed it and sliced it right off, Black Yua screamed in pain.

"Aahhhh! You little shi-" I sliced at her face and she dodged back, barely avoiding my blade. A faint cut appeared over her nose and I tried to cut her again. She kept dodging all my swipes and I parried her 3 remaining spider limbs when they tried to pierce me. I cut off another spider limb and kicked her to the ground. I moved to finish her but I had to jump back to avoid a fire ball.

"Mind if we join in?" Blue Yua spoke in a sultry voice and shot a large ice spear at me. I met it with my own Chi Spear and they clashed, exploding in a flurry of white and blue. Red Yua sent a volley of mini flames and I Chi Burst through all of them. I closed in on her but Black Yua got her second wind and sent a flying kick to my head. I grabbed the leg and swung her hard on the ground. I kicked her away and sliced the large fire snake that tried to bite me. Sadly, I couldn't block the ice wave that froze my leg solid. Ignoring the biting frost, I smashed the ice to pieces and sent Chi Swords toward Blue Yua but she blocked them with an ice barrier.

"Getting tired?" Red Yua smiled as flame hounds encircled me and I was breathing a little hard. I blinked before smiling. "And what's that face for?" Red Yua frowned.

"Nothing just…" I looked at her feet. "…I'm surprised you can be stealthy."

"What the hell are you-aahhhhhhh!" A spear pierced Red Yua's heart and she was lifted into the air. The other 2 Yua's looked shocked as the air behind her warped and a confused Aindrea appeared.

"How did you know it was me?"

"You're stepping in a puddle." I pointed at the puddle his foot was in. Aindrea hide himself with illusion magic so I couldn't sense him but I could still see his steps. What else is going to happen when someone steps behind you in a fight?

"You fucker!" Black Yua lunged at Aindrea but the Demigod just smacked her with his spear and sent her flying. Blue Yua formed hundreds of ice daggers and sent them hurdling towards us. Aindrea waved his hand and a huge Spartan shield appeared in front of us, blocking all the daggers.

"Where were you?" I asked as my Chi worked on healing my frosted nerves. 'Times like this makes me regret not learning Healing Magic.' Chi could take care of any injury, but sometimes magic based wounds heal faster with magic based healing.

"I was doing my job." Aindrea snorted.

"…You were riding around on your illusionary horse weren't you?" I deadpanned and Aindrea stuttered.

"S-so what!? I took out a lot of the spiders that way!" I shook my head at the Demigod's defense and stood up. My leg was mostly fine.

"Arghhh!" Black Yua punched the Spartan shield and it shattered. I quickly charged at her and kicked her right in the face. A shockwave rang out as she flew back and left a long dirt trail. I Chi Burst to her and swung down; she caught my blade between her palms and struggled to hold it back. Blue Yua tried to send another ice wave at me but Aindrea blocked it with his Spartan shield.

"I'll kill you for this!" She snarled at me in hatred

"Oh yeah? Well I don't give a shit!" I activated Sword Fury and pushed down. I sliced the spider maiden right down the middle, the huge blade of Chi cutting into the ground leaving a deep scar. Black Yua was cleanly cut in two and I looked up only for a large ice wall to appear. Aindrea charged forward and smashed the blue wall to pieces but Blue Yua was nowhere in sight. I activated Chi Vision but I couldn't find her anywhere.

"Of fucking course." I sighed and looked at Aindrea. "We better go." He nodded and followed after me.

We walked through the destroyed town center and we were quickly swarmed with more giant spiders. We got back to work mowing them down, stopping what we could from getting close to the shrine. The battle in the sky was getting more and more intense, especially Adrian's fight since multiple house sized light spears landed on the ground. After piercing my sword in the face of another elemental spider (this one shot lightning at me), the rumbling started.

"What the hell is that!?" I yelled as I held a giant spider in place before cutting its head off. I tossed the spider's corpse aside and looked around.

"Looks like the cavalry arrived…" Aindrea said this and a massive spider dug out the ground. It was easily 10 meters tall and had armored skin just like the smaller ones. It hissed and hundreds of spiders came through the hole it made, they got into formation like a regular human army.

"Oh wonderful…" I groaned and stood next to Aindrea. "You got any advice?"

"Don't get surrounded and try to separate them, they make up for their individual weakness by moving together."

"Got it." I nodded and the spider's charged. The 10 meter tall spider smashed down on us and we dived to opposite sides. The smaller spiders swarmed me and I cut the 3 in a row. I jumped back when the Behemoth Spider (let's call just him that) smashed down on me. I cut at the massive spider limb but all I got was a faint ting.

"I'm really starting to hate that sound!" I groaned and Chi Burst to the side, slicing up another 4 spiders before jumping back again. The battle kept going like this as even Aindrea's magic couldn't pierce the Behemoth Spider's thick hide. I cut the last spider and looked up at the raging leader. We couldn't land a fatal blow because the armor covered everyth-

'Wait a minute…' I dodged another hit and looked at the Behemoth's joints. They weren't covered. "Aindrea, the joint's!" The Demigod looked at the spider's limbs before nodding. We both charged and that must have pissed it off by the way it opened its mouth and a magic circle appeared. Golden webs shot out the magic circle and covered us, holding us in place.

"Really!? Even this thing knows magic!?" I ripped off a section of the webs but that wasn't enough as the Behemoth Spider winded back a limb. "Oh shi-" The massive appendage hit the left side of my body and a boom rang out. "Argghhhhh!" I screamed in pain as my ribs cracked a little and my shoulder blade gave a faint pop. I was sent flying through multiple houses and ended up somewhere near the edge of town. I spit out some blood and gritted my teeth before popping my shoulder back in place; my Chi started healing the torn muscle. 'Fuck this! I'm so learning magic after this shitshow!' I laid there for a minute, allowing the pain to subside before getting up and running back to the battlefield. I saw Aindrea had already pierced a joint and the Behemoth was having trouble keeping its balance. I jumped over another web spell and cut another joint of the spider. It hissed in pain and winded back to swipe but I didn't let it. I made multiple Chi Swords and sent them right into its eyes. It roared in pain and I used the moment to completely cut off its limb. Aindrea did the same on the other side and the Behemoth couldn't stand with the lost of two limbs so it fell down. I stood next to the head and lifted my sword. I stabbed down on the spider's eye and I sent my Chi inside through the sword. It ripped apart the inside and the Behemoth spasmed before it stopped moving all together.

"Finally." I sighed as I pulled out my sword. I looked around and saw there were no more spiders. "I guess we should head to the shrine no-" The ground rumbled once more. "Oh fuck me…" Another Behemoth Spider dug out the ground and brought along even more spiders. "Please tell me that's the last one…"

"Actually, there was one more when we escaped." Aindrea summoned more illusionary spears.

"Great…" I sighed and rubbed my face. "Well, it's not like it can worse-"A massive boom was heard and a cloud of dust picked up in front of us. Once it cleared, Aindrea and I watched as the Dragonified Simon got up from the massive crater, the Behemoth Spider and its legion completely crushed. He shook his head and looked over to us. He looked pissed.

"…Pierce."

"…Yeah?"

"Shut up." Then Simon breathed fire in our direction.

Hakone Gongen

"Heads up!" Vargas tossed a green spider over Melissa and it exploded on the group she was fighting.

"Thanks!" Melissa said before she waved her hand and shadow tendrils wrapped around the spiders, squeezing them flat. Leopard ears appeared on her head and a tail popped out of her tailbone. She sank into her shadow and appeared under an armored spider. She stabbed the soft under belly before retreating back into the shadow. Melissa moved from shadow to shadow, swiftly killing many spiders and even sent her shadow hounds out to cause havoc. The reason she didn't use this form against Froid was because vampires had an inherent ability to control shadows and in her Yokai form, Froid could have easily countered her.

"Praesidio Muros." Samantha chanted and a yellow barrier stopped the new wave of spiders. Vargas summoned his holy knights and they got to work cutting up all the spiders. Pierce and Aindrea had the majority of the spiders focused on them but some still got through the net and attacked the shrine. Vargas cut up another flame spider before he felt the ground rumble and he looked at the entrance. A Behemoth Spider entered the shrine and smashed right through the yellow barrier. Samantha put smaller barriers to slow down the tide but the spider hoards were quickly gaining ground.

"Spiritus Cu-" Vargas tried to summon his Templar avatar but he stopped as the Komainu on the entrance of the shrine moved. They grew in size, becoming 5 meters tall, and leaped on the massive spider. They bit into its steel like hide and grappled with it, not allowing it to go any further. "What the?"

"Vargas-san!?" A voice rang out and Vargas turned to see Yukan in ceremonial priest robes.

"Yukan? What are you doing here?" Vargas was confused as to why the young priest was here.

"Priest Sangan told me that the Jorogumo will attack the shrine and that I needed to protect it." Yukan explained as he took a Taoist Talisman and tossed it in the air. The Talisman exploded and white flames incinerated dozens of spiders.

"Wait, you know about Shiruku? Then why did you act like you didn't?" Vargas went back to fighting and asked as he punched spider.

"I didn't know you were part of the supernatural world. I just thought you and Pierce-san were regular men following some rumor." Yukan took out more Taoist Talisman's and tossed them, these became lightning hounds that blitzed through the spiders.

"Ha! That's actually funny because we thought the same about you!" Vargas picked up a large rock and threw it at the spiders, clearing a path. His sword glowed in yellow light and he ran forward plunging it right into the mouth of the Behemoth Spider who was held down by the 2 Komainu.

"Where is Priest Sangan?" Samantha asked as she healed a spider bite on Melissa.

"He's-" Yukan didn't get to finish as he jumped to the side, avoiding a purple mist. They looked at the entrance of the shrine. Lady Shiruku in her normal form walked up and looked around at the party. She sighed.

"Pests. They truly are everywhere." Vargas pointed his sword at her and glared.

"I wonder if you'll say that once I cut off that head."

"Is that the best you got?" Shiruku laughed and waved her hand. Dozens of large Youjutsu spells appeared in the air. Countless spiders fell out and poison mist filled the air.

"I would appreciate it if you didn't pollute my shrine with that filth." Sanga's voice rang out and a large Taoist symbol appeared in the air. A golden wave spread out and the mist was pushed back. A bolt of golden lightning shot at Shiruku but Jason appeared in front of her, the bolt hitting his shoulder. A Golden Fleece covered his shoulder and the golden bolt was absorbed by it. "Oh? The Golden Fleece from legends?" Sangan floated in the sky, he was wearing ceremonial Priest robes with light armor over it.

"…Am I the only one that thinks he waited for dramatic effect?" Melissa whispered to the others and they all nodded along.

"I can hear you." Sangan deadpanned and lowered to the ground next to everyone else. Shiruku's spiders surrounded them and she walked up with Jason.

"I'm going to make this real simple." Shiruku outstretched her hand. "Give me the key to the brooch of Kush-nada-hime and you all get live." Susanoo was many things (some good, most stupid), but even he knew to cover all his bases. Just like he sealed the Evil Dragon's corpse, he also put protection on the key. The seals on the key weren't as strong but Shiruku would still have her fair share of headaches getting through them. Sangan shook his head.

"Over my dead body."

"If you insist." Shiruku shrugged and morphed into her half spider form. "Leave the Priest alive, the rest…try not to break them too much."

"No promises." Jason took out his sword and looked lustfully at the Yokai and healer.

"…Oh I'm killing him first." Vargas summoned his Templar Avatar and even more holy knights.

Everyone stood still, waiting for someone to start off the fight. A roar rang out in the distance and the spider's charged. Shiruku drew a large Youjutsu spell that shot green flames and Sangan threw another Talisman at it. The Talisman exploded into red flames and a huge explosion was created. Jason lunged at Samantha but Vargas Templar got in his way, swinging down on the hero's descendant. He dodged to the right and was met with Samantha's barrier.

"Donec Inlaqueaverunt." Samantha's magic circle appeared on her hand and a yellow see-through box entrapped Jason. Vargas' Templar lifted its sword.

"That's cute." Jason snorted and the Golden Fleece shined. Sangan's golden bolt shot out and destroyed the barrier, along with sending the Templar back. Vargas swung at Jason and they clashed blades. Jason parried dozen of Vargas swings and his fleece shone again. A black whirlwind hit Vargas dead on and sent him back. Jason turned around and parried Melissa's dagger. She ducked under his punch and cut him in the ribs. Jason groaned in pain and tried to slash at her but Melissa already retreated into the shadows. Shadow tendrils tried to skewer him and he jumped back, dodging every single one. Vargas charged at him again but a golden light stopped him. An Orthrus jumped out of the golden light and the two dog heads bit at Vargas.

"Sanctus Vincula." Vargas activated another Ode and white chains wrapped around the beast's necks. They struggled and Vargas cut at their tough hide, grappling with them. 2 more golden lights appeared and 2 Chimeras joined the fight. "God damn it! Samantha!"

"On it!" The healer put the Orthrus in the same yellow box from earlier and Vargas went to deal with the 2 new beasts.

"Guess it's just you and me sweetheart." Jason walked to Samantha and gave a vibrant smile. The healer smiled back.

"I wouldn't touch you even if we were the last humans on Earth, Heaven, Hell, and every mythological world out there." Jason blinked at the completely honest look on Samantha's face.

"…Now that's just mea-" Jason blocked Melissa's daggers and jumped back when Samantha tried to trap him again. "Can't we just talk about this over some coffee?"

"Sure!" Samantha said happily. "I'll do that if you go drown in Lake Ashi and die, deal?" Melissa snorted and Jason looked shocked.

"Samantha, you okay?" Melissa didn't like Jason either (for obvious reasons) but man was the healer really giving it to the hero's descendant.

"Evil handsome men." Samantha said this with conviction.

"…What?"

"Pierce was right." Samantha waved her hand and magic circles appeared around her. "The world must be saved from evil handsome men!"

"…"

"…"

'…Pierce meeting Samantha must have been the weirdest thing to ever happen.'

Same Time, Underworld

"!" A tall man with black hair and a goatee looked up. The man faced a random direction and said faintly. "Challenge accepted…" The man blinked and rubbed his chin. 'Why did I just say that?' The tall man didn't get much time to think on it as he was pulled by the ear.

"Azazel, stop stalling and come on! The meeting is about to start!" His silver haired companion scolded the Grigori leader and led him to the meeting room.

"No wait Shemhazai, you don't understand! Something's happening and I have to find out wh-" Azazel whined but was interrupted by the glare Shemhazai gave him.

"Bullshit! You just want to go back to your lab and mess around! Kokabiel wants to use the Devil's current political scene to cause another war, we've got to stop him!" Shemhazai explained as he dragged the Governor.

"Urghhhh…What else is new?" Azazel grumbled and looked back in the direction the feeling came from. 'One day. One day I'll understand and it will be great! I can feel it! Hahahahahahha!' Azazel laughed manically and Shemhazai looked at him in exhaustion.

'Why did I fall with this idiot again?' Cause he was a closet pervert. '…Eh, still worth it.' Then they walked into the meeting hall.

Hakone Gongen

'…Why do I feel like I just made a horrible mistake?' Melissa shivered and looked around but found nothing (beside the chaotic battle happening). Jason chose this moment to sigh and spoke up.

"It's truly a shame, I was hoping to avoid injuring both of you but it seems like I have no choice."

"That's quite the confidence you have there." Melissa narrowed her eyes when Jason snorted.

"Against two maidens? I just didn't want to appear boorish."

"…There are so many things wrong with what you just said but I don't feel like getting into to it." Melissa activated Touki and closed her eyes. All the shadows in the area surged towards her and covered her daggers. The shadows morphed into large blades and Melissa said faintly. "Kamaitachi" Jason wasn't impressed. "Let me show you how a "maiden" fights."

"Shadow blades? That's not quite origin-" Jason quickly lifted his sword to block Melissa's blade and a loud clang was heard as he was pushed far back. He looked in shock as his sword had a large cut in it. "You little bit-" Jason didn't get to finish as he puked blood and looked down. There was a deep cut on his chest but he couldn't feel a thing. "How?"

"Praesidium Caelesti Mundi." Samantha chanted and multiple barriers appeared around Jason, the barriers had thick layers and limited his movement. Melissa walked forward along with her shadow hounds.

"…I make really good coffee." Melissa's hound lunged at Jason retort.

Back to Pierce

"Hot! Hot! Hot! God damn it why are you going after me!?" I ran through the destroyed Hakone and Dragon Simon flew after me, breathing bursts of flames at me. Aindrea was close behind, sending his illusionary spears at the Dragon to his attention and failing miserably. I zigzagged as the searing flames brushed by me; they melted the ground they landed on. "If this is about what happened with your sister then…Nope! She started it, I finished it! I regret nothing!" I jumped to the side, Simon landing where I was and shattering the ground as he slid across. I Chi Burst to his face and slashed multiple times, leaving nothing but white marks. I dodged Simon's claw and Aindrea speared the Dragon's snot. Simon roared in pain as little blood spilled from the wound and he hit Aindrea with his tail, a shockwave rang out.

"Arghhh!" Aindrea yelled in pain as he was sent flying and I jumped up, catching him before the Demigod went too far. I send an extra large Chi Spear at the Dragon but he bit it and crushed it to pieces. I charged and slid under Simon's belly, sending a Seismic Fist up. My attack cracked a couple of scales and Simon roared in pain. I moved before the giant claw crushed me and backed up to Aindrea.

"This is going well." I said sarcastically as the broken scales slowly healed. Neither Aindrea or I had the firepower to knock Simon out; not without grievously injuring the guy (I really hate being the good guy sometimes).

"I'm open to ideas." Aindrea kneeled on the ground as the side the tail hit him was slowly healing.

"Custodiae Terrae!" Maven's voice rang out and the earth around Simon shot up, trapping him in a rock box. She levitated down with Sophia, they both had burns with Sophia's arm was all scratched up.

"Where's Damian?" I looked around for the other Devil.

"He took a direct hit from Simon's fire; he'll need a minute to heal before getting back in the fight." Sophia sighed in regret. "I really wish we took those phoenix tears when we had the chance." We heard Simon trying to break out of his containment.

"So, does anyone have a good ide-" Maven was interrupted as a scaly claw ripped through the rock.

"Maven." I looked over at the mage and nodded. "Operation Pierce is a go." Maven deadpanned.

"I'm not calling it that." She lifted her hand nevertheless and 3 magic circles appeared under me. "Ferro Corpus! Ventus Ambulate! Plena Potestate!" Maven hit me with 3 strengthening spells and I immediately felt the difference. My feet felt lighter, my skin felt denser, and when I clenched my fist I could feel the improved power. My Touki also changed from the ever same soothing white to a bright, shiny silver. After what happened in Shiruku's lair, I realized that I needed a new edge against our growing enemies. Maven couldn't teach me magic because we were always on alert and needed to be ready to face Shiruku's attack. So we made a plan for her to hit me with the strengthening spells she knew when there was a tough opponent (she may be a genius but she was more focused on elemental magic then strengthening). Here's the thing about strengthening magic, with it you could give a regular person superhuman strength or speed but doing so will put a strain on their body if they're not trained and their stamina will be used up fast. That's why Sara didn't use that diamond skin all the time and only used it when she really needed it. For a man like me with my enormous Chi reserves and trained body however…

"Banzai!" I yelled as I leaped forward, leaving a crater where I jumped, and I decked Simon right in his scaly cheek when he escaped. A large shockwave rang out and the Dragonifed Simon was sent flying through multiple houses (at this point, I'm doing more damage to the small town then the spiders). Simon roared in pain and was excessively bleeding from his shattered cheek. He got up and glared at my new silver form. Like I said, Maven wasn't well versed in strengthening magic and the spells will only stay for 8 minutes until she does them again. "This will be a fun 8 minutes though." I smiled as Simon punched at me and I took out my sword, coating it with my new silver Chi. Having faster speed now, I dodged the massive blows and my sword cut cleanly into the Dragon hide. I gave multiple deep cuts to Simon which pissed him off even more and a huge magic circle appeared in the air. Huge meteors came out of the magic circle and fell in our direction.

"Not this time!" Sophia flew up and breathed fire at the meteors, incinerating them in a massive blaze. The she Devil dived bombed her brother and clawed at his wings, hurting him further. She dodged his swipe and Maven conjured lightning chains that wrapped around Simon. Taking this chance, Aindrea and I kept attacking the chained down Simon. Aindrea was also hit with strengthening magic and we were slowly wearing Simon down. I dodged a bite and held down his head, plunging my sword into his horn. He screamed in pain and struggled violently, I held on as Maven put even more lightning chains on Simon.

"Any day now Aindrea!" I screamed as my grip was loosening and Aindrea took out multiple Taoist Talisman's . He plastered them all over Simon and after putting the last one down they all glowed, interconnecting like veins. Simon's slowly stopped struggling and his Dragon form got smaller and smaller until he back to normal.

"Did it work?" I gave a cautious look at the prone (and naked) form of Simon lying there. Sangan had Talisman's that can calm and clear one's mind, expelling Shiruku's influence on them. Though he warned that the subject needs to be weakened before the Talisman's effect could work. "Aindrea, go check if it worked."

"W-why me!?" The Demigod looked shocked at my order.

"Because I don't want to." I said with a shrug.

"…Damn you…" Aindrea grumbled and slowly walked up. For a guy who's full of himself, He's surprisingly weak to honest answers. He stood over Simon and kicked him lightly. He kicked him a little harder. He winded his foot back farth-

"Oi! Get your own joke, don't steal mine!" I yelled at Aindrea and he looked back at me in annoyance.

"I wasn't stealing your stupid joke…" He grumbled and nodded at Simon. "He's back to normal." We all walked up and looked down as Simon opened his eyes. They were no longer hazy.

"Sophia?" His voice was rough and he groaned as he sat up. He looked horrified. "I-I'm so sorry. I-I wasn't myself, I didn't mean to-" Sophia pulled her brother into a deep hug and he slowly hugged her back.

"I'm sorry." Sophia softly spoke. "You told me we should have waited, I didn't listen and you ended up like this." She squeezed a little harder. "I'm sorry."

"I can't say I tried all that hard." Simon shook his head bitterly. "I wanted revenge too, I should have been smarter than that." The brother and sister duo sat there hugging, glad they were both okay (besides their obvious injuries).

'Heh and they say Devils don't have hearts…Actually, is that a saying in DxD?' I idly thought this as Aindrea sat down looking mildly exhausted. "You okay?"

"The strengthening spell wore off." The Demigod huffed and gave me a weird look. "Aren't you tired?"

'Oh? It's been 8 minutes already?' I looked down and clenched my fist; the feeling of extra strength wasn't there anymore. 'Time sure flies when you're fighting for your life.' I snorted and rolled my shoulder. "I do feel a little sluggish but it's going away."

"…Chi users and their bullshit stamina." Aindrea grumbled and took out a bottle of water. Maven walked over and told us that she just spoke with Samantha, Shiruku arrived at the shrine. "We better get over there."

"We'll join you as well." Simon spoke up and he had a hard look in his eyes. "Shiruku will pay for what she's done to me."

"Yeah well, you're going to have to give me a minute." Aindrea sighed and stretched his muscles. "Damn it, what spells did you use on me? Everything's sore."

"If you can't handle it then don't try to act tough next time." Maven teased and Aindrea scoffed.

"Like I'll let a human outdo me."

'…Says the guy still on his ass.' I shook my head good naturedly and looked at Maven. "I'll go on ahead. Hit me again."

"Are you sure?" Maven looked at me in worry. "Maybe you should wait a minute." I waved my hand.

"Its fine, they may need help and I'm good to go. Hit me." Maven gave me one more worried look before strengthening me again. I was being truthful when I said that, my Chi already healed my taxed muscles and we couldn't waste time. I activated Touki and it was once again bright silver. I admired my new color and found it very cool. What can I say? I appreciate the small things in life.

'It's been awhile since I've felt such a spike in strength, it feels great!' When I first used Touki all those years ago I felt incredible, being able to do all those things (jumping large distances, crushing rock, and being able to meet a charging boar head on) filled me with immense joy. While the strengthening spell wasn't as impactful as that moment, every large increase in strength was welcome. I nodded to the others. "I'll go on ahead." I then turned and booked it to the shrine.

'Holy shit!' I was shocked as every step I took left a foot indent on the ground and after 1 minute, I could already see the shrine. With my regular Touki I could done the same but I would need to sprint. My current speed could be considered jogging at best and I wasn't even that tired! 'Oh hell yeah am I learning magic after this!' I looked ahead and saw the battlefield; it was oddly quiet as no one moved. A burned and bruised Shiruku was saying something to Priest Sangan while Sara was holding someone. It was a bloody Yukan, the Emissary held up her katana up to his neck. I put the pieces together.

'Well the hero's always fashionable late anyway….except Adrian is fighting Yeqon so he probably won't make it.' I snorted and jumped up on a tree. I crouched on the branch, poured a lot of Chi into my legs, and leaped. A boom rang out as the tree was completely shattered, I streaked across the grounds with my ears popping (did I just break the sound barrier?), and instantly reached Sara. My foot was outstretched.

"Coming in hot!" Then it connected.

15 Minutes Earlier, Hakone Gongen

"Just…die…already!" Vargas held down the Chimera with his foot and plunged his blade into its head, ending its life. He breathed heavily and looked around. Shiruku was facing Sangan, Samantha and Melissa were fighting Jason, and Yukan was crushing the hoard of spiders with the Komainus. 'But where's Sara?' The spirit inheritor long ago noticed the Emissary wasn't here but he didn't get the chance to wonder as Jason smashed through the protection barrier. The hero's descendent looked like hell as multiple deep cuts covered his body and they never stopped bleeding. Melissa's hounds charged at him and his fleece shined, purple flames shot that caused the hounds to back away. Vargas took the chance to cut Jason when his back was turned.

"Arghhhh!" Jason yelled in pain and turned to Vargas in rage. The Golden Fleece shone once more but Vargas sent his holy chains to lock it. "D-damn you!" Jason clashed blades with Vargas and they quickly into sword play. Jason was the better swordsmen but the loss of blood and cuts (even if they gave no pain) hindered his movements. "Aaahhhhh!" Melissa joined the fight and stabbed her daggers into Jason's thighs. He kneeled down and Vargas kicked away his sword.

"You should have stayed with your Emissary." Vargas lifted his sword and rested it on Jason's neck.

"Heh, right and die with the rest like a noble man? Yeah, I took my chances." Jason chuckled before coughing and gave a bloody smile. "If you were looking for an apology then…no. I don't regret it."

"…Fine." Vargas slashed with his sword, cutting Jason's neck and they watched as the hero's descendant slowly died, the smile never leaving his face. Vargas gave a short prayer.

"He doesn't deserve that." Melissa spoke up and Vargas looked at her.

"Every dead enemy is someone that no longer deserves your hate. Let him go in peace." Vargas continued his prayer and Melissa shook her head.

"If you say so…" Melissa said as she watched Samantha walk up. The healer looked down on Jason before reaching down and closing his eyes. "You both are better people then me." Melissa gave a wry smile at her teammate's actions.

"It's not about being better." Samantha shook her head. "We just have more empathy to give, no one can judge how you treat him. That's up to you." She looked to Priest Sangan and Shiruku fighting. "We should help." They all nodded and joined the fray. Samantha used barriers to trap Shiruku, Melissa attacked with her shadow tendrils, and Vargas called back his Templar that was fighting the spiders. Shiruku was more than a little annoyed.

"Arghh! Back off you little pests!" Shiruku yelled in rage as one of Sangan's light spells hit her in the confusion. An extra large Youjutsu spell behind her and large golden spider limbs shot out. They ripped through grounds, destroying everything they came across. Melissa was in the way and she was smacked right into the offering hall. The spiders swarmed her downed form.

"I'll get her!" Vargas dodged the attacking limbs and shot to Melissa. Vargas summoned holy knights to hold off the spiders and picked up Melissa. He ran back to Samantha.

"Thanks…" Melissa heaved as her torso bleed and Samantha got to work healing it. The golden limbs moved to attack again but the Komainu bit one, ripping it apart. Vargas commanded his Templar to hold down the other limbs. Sangan didn't waste this chance.

"Aku o Tsuihō Suru!" Taoist symbols appeared around Shiruku and white flames shot at her, burning right through her Youjutsu. Shiruku screamed in pain as Vargas charged at her and slashed at her torso. She caught his blade but she couldn't stop his Templar from kicking her away. She rolled on the ground and Melissa's shadow's ensnared her, stopping her from moving. Shiruku breathed heavily as they all walked up and Sangan took out a Talisman.

"Let's end this." Sangan took a step forward but stopped when Shiruku started smiling. "And why are you smiling? You lost."

"Did I? You human's really don't pay attention do you." Sangan frowned and moved to finish her but she spoke up again. "I wouldn't do that if you want your little apprentice to live." Sangan's widened as he turned around and saw a bloody Yukan being held by Sara.

"I-I'm s-sorry master-" Yukan stopped as Sara pushed her katana a little harder on his neck. Everyone stopped and Shiruku stood up once more, dusting herself off (though that more probably more for theatrics since she had injuries everywhere).

"It's always the same thing with you humans, morality." Shiruku spit out some blood in disgust. "Oh well, it works out for me quite nicely. Now, I'd like that key pleas-" A boom was heard in the distance and shortly after a shockwave. A blur zoomed past the battlefield, heading right for Yukan and Sara.

"Coming in hot!" A yell rang out and foot connected with Sara's side. The impact was so tremendous she was sent flying across the entire shrine and out into the forest. A dust cloud picked up and everyone stood in shock as it slowly cleared, showing the new arrival.

"Yukan? Hey man what's up?! How are things?"

Back to the Present

I looked down at Yukan as he looked back in wonder. He was bleeding pretty bad so I gave him some of my Chi and helped him up.

"P-Pierce-san?"

"Yep, how's it hanging? You look like hell!" I smiled and patted the young priest on the back. He got flustered.

"Y-yeah, it's been a tough battle. But thank you for saving me!"

"Don't mention it." I waved away his thanks. "Still, I had no idea you actually knew about the supernatural world. Hey, can you do cool Taoist slips and stuff like that? "

"A bit." Yukan nodded.

"Cool! Is it possible if I can buy some? You're teacher didn't want to sell me any since he thinks I'll be responsible with-"

"Pierce." I turned to Vargas. He pointed at a very pissed off Shiruku. "Forgetting something?"

"…You couldn't let me mess with the mood a little longer." I sighed and patted Yukan. "Rest up, this'll be over soon." I walked up to the others and my comment must have pissed off Shiruku even more, her face was purple at this point.

"Soon!? There won't be a soon for any of you!" Shiruku got paler and she drew a blood red Youjutsu spell that shot into the sky. A black mist flowed out and everything it touched corroded, even her own spiders.

"It's a forbidden spell! Get back!" Melissa said and we all jumped back, Sangan and Samantha put up many protection barriers but they were corroding fast.

"What is this!?"

"It's a forbidden Youjutsu spell! Everything it touches corrodes really fast and even your soul can be melted!" Melissa explained as she drew Youjutsu spells to strengthen the barriers.

"What can we do?" Vargas asked as the barriers slowly came down. Shiruku laughed on the other side.

"There's nothing you can do! Just die in there like the rats you are-"

"Yeah, hold on to that thought!" I stepped forward and took out my sword. I activated Sword Fury and a 10 meter blade of silver light shot out. I lifted it over my head and screamed out. "Lower the barrier!" They hesitated before doing so and the black mist flowed in. I slashed down and the mist was cleanly cut in half, even reaching Shiruku and cutting her shoulder.

"Arghhh!" She held her arm and we ran along the cleared path, Vargas kicking her right in the face as she flew back. The mist cleared with Shiruku's concentration gone and she was livid. "Vermin! You're all vermin! You're nothing but the slaves of your petty Gods!"

"And you're a sore loser." I lifted my sword. "But we still win! So see ya!" Shiruku lunged at us but I plunged my sword into her heart, stopping her dead. She puked blood and struggled as her breathe got slower. She eventually stopped and her eyes went dead, I pulled my sword out. Shiruku fell back and her blood slowly flowed on the ground.

"Is she…" Samantha asked and I activated Chi Vision. Shiurku's aura slowly got smaller and smaller until there was nothing left. I nodded and Sangan tossed a Talisman on her body. The Talisman combusted and slowly burned her body, until there was nothing but ashes.

"And that's another down…" I sighed as I fell on the ground, the strengthening spells finally wore off and my body was sore all over. 'I guess 2 power ups is my limit.' I wryly smiled as Samantha came over and took out her Sacred Gear but I waved my hand. "I'm fine, my muscles are just overtaxed."

"What was that silver aura? Is that what strained you're body?" Melissa came over and kneeled down next to me, she started poking at me body. I grabbed her hand.

"Please, don't do that. Everything hurts." I groaned when the adrenaline went away.

"Sorry." Melissa looked sheepish.

A boom was heard and we all looked over to see Yeqon lying in a crater. His wings were torn up, his arm was gone, and he had scorch marks all over. Adrian floated down, also beaten up, and looked down at Shiruku's burned ashes.

"Is it over?" Adrian sighed in relief at our nods. He landed and nodded. "Good job everyone, I know this was a hard fight-" Another boom interrupted him and he looked over to see Simon in his Dragon form land. Everyone else was on his back.

"Where's Shiruku!? I'm here to get my-" Simon stopped and blinked his reptilian eyes. He pointed at the pile of ashes. "Is that…"

"Yep." We all said.

"…Well damn it." Simon huffed and shrunk once more, his clothes were on him this time.

'How does that work?' I watched the Devil siblings walk over to Yeqon and glared down at him. Maven walked over and crouched with Melissa.

"How you feeling big man?" I snorted at Maven's teasing tone.

"Please. I'm still as strong as ev-Oi! I said to stop poking me!" I yelled at the two as they continued poking at my sore body. Sangan walked over with Yukan and they both bowed.

"Thank you for protecting the shrine and this town."

"Umm, it's not much of a town now. Sorry about that." I gave an apologetic smile. Sangan shook his head.

"I would have never been able to get all of the people out of town before the fight picked up. That's what's important and I thank you for that."

"It was no problem, I'm just glad everyone's alright." Adrian spoke as Samantha healed him. I scoffed.

"Yeah, this still would have been much easier if that idiot storm God wasn't so-alright! Alright! I'll stop talking! Put that away!" I yelled as Sangan took out another Mute Talisman. Everyone laughed when Sangan got closer and I crawled away. We eventually got our bearings together and dealt with the remaining spiders in town. With Shiruku dead, Sara was back to normal and she only had some fractures in her left side since she used her diamond spell before my kick connected (What can I say? It was either Yukan who I knew or Sara someone who I didn't know, at least she's alive). Aindrea and I looked everywhere but we never did find Blue Yua.

"That's going to come back and bite me in the ass." I sighed and sat on the shrine steps, looking at a flying Maven as she used her time spells on the town. 'What doesn't she know?' I felt Melissa come by and she sat next to me.

"Hey." She leaned on my arm

"Hey, how you feeling?" I looked down and saw her stomach was fine now.

"We beat Shiruku." I quirked a brow at her tone.

"You sound surprised." She shrugged.

"I just thought killing a Great Yokai would be harder." I deadpanned.

"Melissa…what part of any of that was easy?" We faced an army of giant killer spiders, crazy widow triplets, a Devil Dragon, an 8 winged Fallen Angel, a hero's descendent, an Emissary (barely), AND a Great Yokai. Melissa lightly hit my arm.

"You know what I mean." She looked me in the eyes. "If you weren't there, then that black mist would have killed someone. Maybe all of us…" She got quiet and I placed my hand on her head.

"Then good thing I was there." She tilted her head in confusion. "At the end of the day, all I care about is if we're alive. Anything else like "what could have happened" doesn't enter my mind, I just keep moving. Is that healthy? Probably not. But I joined this quest and I'm not half-assing it, I'm staying till the end."

"…Even if it kills you?" Melissa gave me an intense stare. I shrugged.

"I don't plan to die but yeah, even then." Even Dragons with their power and immortal lifespan die; I might as well go out doing what I want. Melissa stared at me before sighing.

"I just can't understand you." Then she smiled and gave me a kiss. We sat there kissing for a long time before separating. "But I don't think I care." She grabbed my hand and led me to the house we were staying (a Behemoth Spider found the hideout and destroyed it). We walked to her room and I stopped. She looked back at me.

"Are you sure about this?" I asked as Melissa wrapped her arms around my neck.

"I don't know." She shook her head and looked me in the eyes. "But I'd like to find out with you."

"…I-is this your first time?" I was shocked when she blushed and timidly nodded her head. '…She's on a mission to kill a God and she's still a virgin?' Probably not the most important problem but that's what I'm focusing on.

"A-are you not?" She hesitatingly asked.

"…No, I'm still a virgin." This body is at least. You don't really find girls you're age attractive when you have the mental capacity of a 22 year old (at least I didn't).

"Then we'll figure it out together." Melissa gave relieved smile and opened the door. She walked in and I stood outside feeling a little guilty.

'…Maybe I should tell the truth.' Actually the truth will confuse her even more. Let's just lie about this body having experience. "Hey Melissa-" I walked in and froze as Melissa was already under the covers…completely naked and her leopard features were out (ears and tail). She tried sticking a sexy pose but my long silence made her uncomfortable which let to embarrassment. She held the sheets up self-consciously.

"W-what? I-is….is it no good?" Her face got redder which led to her curling up…and her gorgeous body being defined in a very appealing way. I had only one thing to say.

"…Amen Ichiei." I slammed the door close, ripped off my clothes, and jumped into bed (getting a very cute "eep" from Melissa).

It was a very long night.

And done. Another General goes down and Pierce gets his first taste of magic. I hope you enjoyed.

Beta: Fanfiction0000