Chpater 90

Even when I try and play tourist, I end up working. Like that one time I was with the Familia, to go on a causal trip to the eighteenth floor. Someone ended up cursing a bunch of my friends and it became a long fight to fix things.

Or that one time I went to Rakia, just before our children were born. Had all kinds of fun there... you know... after saving the place from a mad king and that jerk Hermes.

Then I went to this place, Kyoto. Great place, even for someone like me, with all those extra non-human features. Friendly people, friendly demons, lots of forests and a happy tingling feeling in the air itself. Except a group of misguided human supremacists were going to murder the local ruling Kitsune, so they could... I dunno... prove they could kill the biggest dragon to ever live? Prove that 'human ingenuity' or some such could overcome all?

"Why the big sigh boss?" Delly asked.

Once again, she was covering us in an illusion, so to the outside world I was just a lady dressed like a British gentleman.

"Everything I do, is to get back home. But I honestly just wanted a day off. You know... Chat with new people, maybe learn a few things about how to be a Kitsune... That kind of thing."

Even with the impending crisis, I was trying to play tourist. You know, use my phone to take pictures (and have every single one photo bombed by a local Youkai), read a few of the notable historic plaques that a lot of the shrines and temples had near by, and in general learn about things. You know, tourist things.

"As much as I want to enjoy the little free time we have before we set the plan in motion, it all tastes like soggy unsalted crackers." I looked at my phone, switched it to the local GPS map, "It's around here right?"

Delly looked down at my phone, then stood on my shoulder and sniffed the air, "Yeah. Oh hey! What's that place? Just south of here?"

I turned and looked to where she was pointing, then down at my phone. Zooming out a little, I noted the name, "Nijou Castle." I said, "We're here... Nakamura park."

And since we were at a park, with nice cut lawns and places for children, adults and pets alike to play (in a reserved Japanese fashion) I decided to find a bench and plunk myself (carefully) on it. "I wonder how the others are doing? I mean, it shouldn't be too hard for those two, but..."

"The little one is more than just a little girl." Shinkage said, this time drawing no looks from the nearby mother or child who were playing in a sandbox. "I worry more about that smug fallen. He's no doubt drinking while the students sight see."

"Well, lets hope he's at least keeping it to himself. He's a lazy paperwork dodging smug excuse for a leader, but, he has yet to fail at working towards this effort for peace. I can respect that." I replied, leaning back and stretching my arms up, "Hm..."

Something was off. As I lowered my arms, feeling that satisfying stretch between my shoulder blades, I noticed that many of the other park benches were now occupied. The ones on the grass fields or playing on the various apparatus were all normal civilians. Young children, mothers, fathers, the occasional dog... Normal people. But now... Each and every one of those benches not already occupied by another civilian, had a tall trench coat wearing man sitting on it. They even had a wide brimmed hat on. Not as stylish as my fedora, these were more a cowboy hat, that blocked the light from letting one see their faces clearly.

Through my eyes, and the sunglasses I was wearing however, I could make out their faces, and a faint wisp of purple fog coming off them, seeping from under their coats. Blank eyeless masks that kind of looked robotic in nature.

"Creepy... I didn't even see them show up." Delly admitted.

"And I don't even blink..."

"Lets find someplace less crowded." I said, standing up and watching them all stand up in perfect unison. Roughly twenty of them in total, they made no further move until I started walking away, "Hm, that forest patch north of here?"

"Oh by that bakery you didn't go into. Grr."

We turned and left, and unsurprising, they followed. Weirdly enough, they kept the same distance apart from each other, like they were pretending to be normal people, walking at random distances from the one in front. "Who wants to bet they involve civilians?" I asked.

"200 yen they don't."

"Ooo, big spender." Delly teased.

A short walk later, without even a single civilian batting an eye at the weird procession of dark trench coat wearing people, we passed the bakery (yes fine we'll go into it after sigh. Yay!) and stepped onto the simple paved trail that led to the other side of the small forest. And by small, I mean small. Like someone had bought the land for a sizable house, and simply never built the house. And to top it off, the middle of it had maybe a basketball court sized clear patch.

"Delly? How big of an illusion can you do? I really don't want people to bother us." I asked.

"If we can keep it on that paved patch there, I shouldn't have a problem." She said, "Looks like you lost that bet."

"I'll make change later."

"Yay." Because yes, he won the bet.

So, I stood in the middle of that clear patch, the roads just visible through the trees, and waited as the twenty two (yes they were nice enough to let me count) of them formed a semi circle in front of the three of us. "I'm going to need to concentrate for this one." Delly said, "Sight sound and keeping people away. I'll have to thank Azazel for showing me that last one."

So I stepped forward, one of them stepping ahead as well, "Anything to say?"

As one, their coats and hats vanished, leaving them dressed in some kind of weird cyborg ninja outfit. It reminded me of Deadpool, though the masks still had no eyes or mouths and their overall colour scheme was purple and black. A moment later, they all had weapons. Swords, spears, daggers, tonfa, it was like I was about to be challenged by 'The random weapon school of martial arts'.

"Want help?" Shinkage asked, "Or do you want me to help them to make it fair?"

"Keep Delly safe, I'll clean your teeth later if I have to." I replied, "Well?" I asked, clapping my hands together and summoning my gauntlets over my silk gloves. I certainly owed Azazel a drink for this one.

I wasn't sure what to expect when just one of them charged me. Using a spear (standard metal tipped pointy stick) his opening attack was simple and direct. Had I stood still, it would have gone right for centre mass and through my heart. Of course, I had better things to do than get stabbed, so I slipped the strike, took a long step forward and drove my fist into the middle of his chest.

If the situation wasn't already strange enough, instead of a 'thump' of my fist connecting, and the 'oof' of someone getting a solid punch to the chest...

He exploded.

Like... purple smoke and sparkles exploded. I hadn't even hit him that hard either, certainly nothing near a killing blow to a human.

His spear hit the ground with a rattle of metal and wood, and a moment later, the air cleared, leaving no trace of him behind. "Huh... Delly?"

"Yup, something weird there." She said, "If the rest are that easy, we'll be able to go to that bakery before the taiyaki sells out."

The next one was wielding a scimitar, and after two textbook diagonal slashes, which I handily dodged with a simple left/right weave, I tapped him with a right jab, then a solid left hook. And again, purple smoke and sparkles, with a side of weapon clattering to the ground. Next came one with a pair of tonfa. Sidestep to dodge the straight drive aimed at my gut, an outer forearm block to turn away a strike aimed at my jaw, and my return elbow to his chin.

And so it went. One of them would step forward, take one or two swings at me, then explode when I countered. They made no noise aside from the 'poof' and 'clatter' of exploding and dropping their weapons, and they were, in my opinion, just above 'rookie' level. Good form, but maybe still on the first page of learning from what ever book their training was from.

"And that's twenty tw-ouch!"

As the twenty second one met the fate of the others, I blinked, turned, and caught the butt of a spear to the gut. Shrugging off my surprise, I raised an arm to parry the overhand strike of the pointy end, and punch the offender in the face.

"I didn't even blink!" Delly said, "He just formed again and attacked!"

I didn't even have time to comment, because the one with the scimitar was there again, swinging for my throat then thrusting towards my chest when I swayed backwards. I caught the blade with my palms, twisted it out of his hands and kicked him in the groin.

And so it went again. Twenty two opponents, each a little better, a little more sure with their weapons, but still more annoying than challenging.

"What's keeping them going? I'm not seeing anything." I asked, once again facing the first man, his stance different, his attacks coming in quick short stabs to try and keep me away before I grabbed the shaft just behind the metal tip, pulled him forward and punched his head off.

"I'm not sure." Delly said, "It doesn't feel like an enchantment or summoning."

"They seem to be getting better too. Want help?"

"No, I'm, still, good!" I disarmed the next one and drove the point of my elbow into his throat.

Twenty minutes later, and maybe a couple hundred exploded opponents, I knew Shinkage was right, they were getting better. After every single one I beat, the next was faster and more adept with their weapon of choice. I still hadn't taken another hit, but this was just getting annoying.

As I got to the last one of the twenty two, "Pay close attention to that spear." And with a grab and twist, I pulled my opponent's head off.

"It's the weapon!" Delly said, "I saw it that time!"

"It's using more power I think, making them more solid, and what ever it spawning them more noticeable."

And then I was busy once again, going through this seemingly limitless supply of mooks. "Shinkage, catch!" I grabbed the shaft of the spear, applied a boot to his knee twisted the weapon out of his hands, then tossed it in Shinkage's direction.

A half second later, with a groaning hiss of magical hydraulics, the spear's metal point shattered like glass... And my opponent exploded again, without me actually hitting him hard enough to do it myself.

"Aha!" Delly said with a little spin in the air, "Oh no! Look out!"

As if there was some kind of signal, all the ones who hadn't respawned yet did so, and without hesitation attacked me all at once.

I'll skip the little details. An hour, uncounted exploded mooks and twenty one more weapons fed to the metal cat later, I was finally done. I'll admit, I was pretty tired, and bruised in more than a few places, but my skill, coat, some timely warnings and a couple of heavy metal claws for ones who got too close to Shinkage, had kept me free from serious harm. It wouldn't have taken so long, but once we realized they were learning from each of their failures, I made a point to keep this as close to 'normal' as possible, no magic, no summoning of foxes, no using my tails to do things... This was a test. And I was sure that someone was taking notes.

Because this time, I was the one who got away.

So after dusting off a little, making sure there were no more unbroken weapons around, then putting them all in a pile for Shinkage to (carefully) incinerate them, we finally went to that bakery.

"Boss..."

"Yeah?"

"I'm am SO going to zap who ever sent those." She growled.

The store was about to close, and they'd sold out of taiyaki.

"Good." I rolled my shoulders a little, "Well, if nothing else, it was quite the workout. Maybe we can find out how they did that, and have unlimited learning sparring partners."

"Trying to extend your vacation time?"

"Yes."

"If it pleases you." We turned away from the shop, only to see Arthur standing there, a little paper bag in hand, "I took the liberty of procuring the last of the taiyaki from that shop."

"Is everyone going to sneak up on me today?" I asked no one in particular, "Arthur." I greeted, lowering my still armoured fists.

"Lady Kodori." He replied, his sword arm holding out the paper bag, "I wish to speak with you, if you'll accept my offering."

"Yay!" Delly zipped off my shoulder and vanished into the paper bag with hardly a crinkle.

"Suppose I'll have to now." I shrugged, "I suppose that park is nice and clear now, and I could use another couple of minutes, Shinkage?"

"Seems to be only him around. I don't feel Vali, Bikou or Kuroka."

"Accepted." I said, crossing the street again. "So why the charity?"

"You've shown you are well versed in lore. You do know that it was a water elemental who gave my ancestor his blade, and the Fairy the sheath?" He remained standing while I sat, though he looked at the paper bag, "I do hope you are going to share, Miss Delly."

"Okay, I do recall something like that." I nodded.

Delly popped out of the bag, but grabbed the top of it and carried it over to me, "So tasty!" She shook off a few crumbs before depositing the bag in my hand then landing on my shoulder to lick her fingers clean, "Boss, I like this guy."

"My thanks." Arthur bowed slightly, "I'll ask the obvious, you are aware of the situation?"

"I am. Though, this doesn't seem like your style of terrorism." I replied, peeking into the bag and taking out a crumb covered (but still whole) taiyaki, "Since Shinkage doesn't eat, you can have the last one."

"I will save it for my sister." He accepted the bag back, "No. This is not our 'style' as it were. Vali, Bikou, myself, and even Kuroka, are only interested in combat. While yes, one of our goals is the Great Red, resorting to kidnapping and sacrifice is distasteful." He even said that last word like it tasted bad.

"You've already got a key to his home, so you wouldn't need to."

"And I'm sure you aren't sharing that key, because you want the first shot?"

"Indeed, Sir Shinkage." He smiled, "A trophy such as this, can only be claimed by one party."

"And your part in this conflict? I hardly expect you to be here, and not be involved." I asked before nibbling at my snack... I'd have to learn how to make these too.

"We were drawn in as an act of mild spite. Myself and my sister were both former members of the Hero Faction." I nodded, since that was easy to guess, "While the rest of 'the Vali faction' as people call it..."

"Are not humans, and thus on the watch list for the hero faction." I put two and two together.

"Just so." He smiled, "We, Vali's team, were being spied on by Cao Cao. While we ourselves gather information on the other facets of the Chaos Brigade as a whole, we do try and keep things from becoming invasive."

"Ah, broke the first commandment."

"Thou shalt not get caught." Arthur nodded, "So, I am here as escort for my dear sister and our latest team member. Though, I suppose its not quite the latest, but the most recently activated? Hm."

"Your sister I'm guessing, is Mor-"

"Le Fey Pendragon." He cut me off, though without any heat, "Yes. She is currently with the Red Dragon Emperor and his classmates, assisting them with Cao Cao."

"It would figure... I get distracted, they get in trouble..." I shook my head, "So, why come to me?"

He smiled, "As a fellow warrior, and one who abhors collateral damage like you do, I am here to tell you that the Vali team is not part of this distasteful display of kidnapping and artless sacrifice."

"Ah, keeping the target off your back." I nodded.

"Indeed. We have different views on many things, but this is not one of them." He nodded.

"So, aside from what ever your sister is doing, you won't interfere?" I wanted his word on this for sure.

"Actually." He reached into a pocket, "My dear sister saw what Azazel and the Leviathan were doing." He offered me a small dome shaped blue crystal, "And thought you might want a little help."

I accepted the crystal, and felt something familiar about the magic inside of it, "Vali?"

"Not quite. Just something she made in her spare time. But, it will have the effect you are looking for." He smiled, "The youkai are at the very least related to the fairy."

"I'd like to see proof of that Mister!" Delly grumbled.

"I'd gladly debate you another time, Miss Delly." He bowed, "My sister said that the instructions are inside the gem itself, and that someone like you would have no trouble figuring it out."

I reached into my coat and took out the slightly crushed bag of what few cookies I had left, "Sorry they're broken. But I'm sure your sister will enjoy them. None for Vali though."

"You had cookies left? Traitor!" Delly pouted.

"They were emergency rations in case we got stuck in that mist again." I gave her a tiny bop on the head, "Thank you Arthur."

"I will try and get her to share them. And you're welcome, Lady Kodori. Be careful, Cao Cao has exceptional talent among his peers, and he himself is the greatest among them."

"Already noted." I smiled, "I plan on talking with his second in command, soon."

And with that, he unsheathed his sword, created one of those eye bleeding slashes in reality, stepped inside and closed it behind him.

"Well, lets see what she has for me." I said, looking down at the little gem.

La Fey was... really cute. I won't lie and say otherwise. Blond hair, blue eyes, cheerful smile, a big, somehow not floppy blue witch hat and matching cape. Even as the small illusion of her, hovering over the gem that I'd been given, greeted me with a polite smile and a 'Lady Kodori', I was thinking about putting her and Serafall in the same room to pose at random people to see if their heads would explode. She even had a school uniform on! Though it was mostly white with a black skirt, not the Kuoh colours.

Ahem.

"Lady Kodori. I am Le Fay Pendragon, and what follows are the instructions for the magic device in your hand right now." A pause, a thoughtful look, "And if you aren't Lady Kodori, then you better give it back to her!" Adorable angry finger wagging.

"First, be sure you are in the right spot." I was, if the GPS and Delly's magical sense was anything to go by. "Put a little of your mana into the gem. Wait!"

I stopped myself from pushing my power into the gem.

"If you are the type of mage who invests mana into constructs or summonings, this is something similar. You won't be getting this mana back until the effect is used! So, be mindful of that."

"Wow, I thought she was just an airhead, but that's a good warning." Delly mumbled into my ear.

"I can only guess at how much power you hold, so just consider that a friendly warning." She bowed, "When you have invested the right amount of mana, oh! You'll know when the gem changes colour to match your mana. If I remember right, it was a really sinister bleeding purple flame with gold bits. So when it looks like that, bury the gem under something living. Hopefully there will be a tree near you, but honestly, even a blade of grass or some weeds will do."

I held the gem in my closed fist, "I suppose it does look a bit evil..." I mumbled, still paying attention to the recording.

"When ever you want to activate the gem, you'll have to use the code words, 'Sparkle Sparkle Kaboom'." She did a little dance and then struck a pose, "The pose is optional, but highly suggested."

"snrk"

We both looked at Shinkage.

"Good luck! Now, I'm gonna go deal with some peeping toms!"

Right before the recording ended, what I thought of as the background moved. It wasn't just a tan coloured wall that gave her recording a good backdrop, but the leg of something... big. I was just able to see what looked like a mechanical knee before the hologram blinked out.

"Wow... I wonder what that was, some kind of machine?" I was sad there wasn't a playback feature. "Anyhow..."

"Let's find a tree to put that under." Delly nodded, "Maybe we'll have time for a bath or something before we get started."

Magichand: Sensei! Please get to the hotel as soon as possible!

Fox2: I'm just drying my hair, busy day.

Magichand: We'll be in my room.

"Well, seems like a meeting." I said, closing my phone, "Oh hold on..." I sent a picture to Akeno, a selfie with me making googly eyes at the camera, with Delly on one shoulder, and one of those old man faces with arms for ears on the other, both making the same silly face. In the background was Kinkaku-ji temple. "There."

"Oh that was a funny one." Delly nodded.

Mikochu: So you can be silly. Never would have thought it possible until I saw it myself.

Fox2: Figured you'd like that.

Mikochu: Are you okay? Do you need help?

Fox2: Even without everyone here, we're pulling together well. About to have a meeting though.

Mikochu: If there's anything I can do, please ask?

I thought for a moment, sighed, then typed in...

Fox2: Go to the shrine, and maybe try and send a happy thought or two. Maybe give the foxes a pat.

She already knew, as much as we joked about it, that I didn't like the idea of being some kind of divinity. But here I was asking in a round about way for her to pray for me. To me? hm.

Mikochu: I'll be sure to sweep the stairs as best I can too.

Fox2: Thank you. Chat later.

"It's kind of crowded in here." I commented as we all started to get settled in.

And by 'all' I meant 'all'. Azazel, Rossweisse (who was looking a little pale), Serafall, Issei (who nodded to me in agreement), Irina, Xenovia, Asia (who were all sitting in the closet on top of Issei's stored futon), Kiba, Saji (who were leaning against a wall due to lack of floor space to sit), Shinkage, who was curled up in a corner while being sat on by Maki (who had Kunou in her lap in the most adorable way). I suspected the rest of Sona's peerage who were on the trip would have been in here too, but it was already rather crowded.

Then me and Delly, who was taking up the last of the floor space next to Azazel and poor Rossweisse. "Well, it wasn't really expected that we'd have such a big problem." Azazel shrugged.

Aside from the room being a little past capacity, the other thing I noticed was that everyone was showing a bit of battle damage. For the most part, it wasn't really noticeable, but their usually clean clothes had a bit of scuffing and staining, like they'd all gone to wrestle in a field someplace. With Asia on hand, no one was injured though.

"Who wants to go first?" I asked.

They all looked at me.

"Well, after I split off from you guys..."

"So," I wrapped up, "Kunou-sama. I have to ask formally, as you are the current land holder while your mother is otherwise unavailable. Do I have permission to exert authority over the land's magic for the sake of restoring your mother to her proper place?"

"Do you promise to return that authority once the mission is done, success or failure?" She asked.

"Yes." I replied.

"Then yes, you have my permission." She nodded.

"Why did that seem so formal?" Saji asked.

"You remember the little lesson earlier right?" Azazel asked, "Little Rias and Sona might take care of Kuoh, but that's nothing beside what Yasaka is responsible for. Kyoto is a big place, and the magic of the land here has been groomed for centuries to be as..." He sniffed the air like he had his nose to a fine cigar or something, "refined as it is. It's all ready then?" He asked me.

"Yes. Got a code word and everything." I nodded, feeling in a little corner of my soul that yes, there was a trigger there, holding back a massive wall of... something.

"Right, so let's explain what happened while you were facing the goon squad." Azazel pulled out his cell phone and poked it a couple times. "Someone kill the lights."

Kiba flicked a hand over the switch, and an image popped up on the biggest of the closet panels, projection style from his phone.

"While I was busy sparring with Cao Cao, I had some little drones taking pictures of the field. The sacred gear that produces the mist that we, and you Sensei, were trapped in is called Dimension Lost. It is offensively, the weakest of the Longinus class sacred gear, but is capable of creating a special kind of barrier space. Comparing it to what happened at the Kuoh Accord incident, he was no doubt responsible for breaking into our barrier space and delivering all those mages." He made sure everyone was paying attention, "He is able to use it defensively as well."

There was a picture of Issei, who was about to apply a Kodori styled punch to the face of Cao Cao, only to have it stopped by a thick purple mist.

"Next we have Leonardo." The image showed a young man, barely more than a boy. Dark skinned, possibly Arabic, though his hair was pure grey and his eyes were purple. He had no expression on his face too, as if he were sleeping with his eye open. "He is holder of the Longinus class sacred gear, Annihilation Maker." The next slide was again the boy, standing next to... well, it looked like a dragon, with a weird feather ruff and slimy skin. "He can create monsters out of his own shadow, that are apparently only limited by his imagination. However."

"I didn't even notice..." Kiba said as the picture changed to a somewhat pixelated image of Leonardo's hand which was holding a magic stone.

"It's possible he was also using those magic stones of yours to help him." Azazel said to me, "See?"

The next slide showed a weird mutated version of a harpy, with scales and wings that looked to be dripping acid or something. "I hope he doesn't read Lovecraft..." I mumbled.

The entire room looked at me in horror.

"Those shadows you fought were his." Azazel continued, "Like you guessed, he uses them to gather ideas on weaknesses and creates monsters who use weapons for the job. Cao Cao called them 'anti-monsters' and were used in dozens of assassination attempts in the underworld to refine their usefulness." The next slide was one of those muck dragons spitting a beam of light at someone. "Next, we have Siegfried." The picture this time showed a near albino young man, with the usual white hair and red eyes associated with albinism. He had a half dozen swords around his waist, almost like a skirt.

"He looks like..." I started.

Xenovia, sounding a little irritated, cut me off, "That's because he was also part of the holy sword project. He was like Irina and I at one point, part of the church." Irina gave Xenovia a pat on the arm to try and calm her a little.

"Indeed, we don't know much about him..." Azazel changed the slide, showing a slightly tilted view of combat between him, Kiba Xenovia and Irina. "As you can see, he is a capable swordsman, and that on his back is his sacred gear."

Growing from his back was a silver scaled third arm. It was also holding a sword, and the picture showed clearly that he wasn't feeling any pressure, even though he was holding off all three of them at once. "He called it 'twice critical'." Issei said, "... Ddraig was mistaken for that once."

"It is a rather common one. Though he said he had achieved balance break with his." Azazel explained, "Those swords are all top class weapons. That one is Gram, the strongest demonic sword. That one is Balmung a demon sword from Norse myth, and that one there seems like just a special exorcist blade. I don't know about the other three, since he never drew them." He changed the picture.

"This is Le Fay Pendragon." She was even riding a broomstick this time, "As Sensei said, she's Arthur's sister and part of Vali's team."

"She's pretty cute too." Issei said, "What?" As everyone looked at him, "Makes me think of Levia-tan too."

"They'd get along." I said, "She's a fan of yours. Has the pose down perfectly." I smiled at Serafall as she perked up.

"Ahem." Azazel got us focused again, "She's a very capable mage, and was trained by the Golden Dawn, one of the only magic schools left in this day and age. Though she had a knack for some forbidden magic, and was politely given the boot. But that's about all we know." He changed slides, "However, this next one interests me most."

This next picture was of a massive stone person. A golem by any definition of the word. The first picture of it was it apparently jumping out of a pond or something, the tiny body of Le Fay making me guess it was at least six or seven metres tall at least. The next slide was it firing lasers from its eyes along a path of anti-monsters. And the last was it laying on its back, a glowing spear through its shoulder.

"Le Fey called it 'Gogmagog', then said its nickname was Gogz." Azazel explained, "It apparently came from someplace in the dimensional gap and Vali recovered it."

"I wanna see how it works." I said leaning forward a bit.

"Me too!" Azazel replied, though he managed to 'ahem' again, "Then we have Cao Cao. The spear he is using is indeed the True Longinus, the spear that impaled Christ on the Cross. It is without doubt, the most powerful sacred gear, able to pierce the body of Gods and Devils alike with ease." He shook his head, "For a human, he gave even me a tough fight, even while I was wearing my armour. But, I'll admit, I haven't really improved on it since I fought with it back at the Kuoh Accord."

"I did fight another one." I said, "Delly? Were you watching?"

"Hm? Yeah. Um, only a little though, lemme..." An image overlaid itself over the one on the wall, and Azazel turned his phone off, "There."

"Sensei... Are you bullying girls?" Asia asked.

The picture seemed to be from my left eye. You could even see the curve of my nose, on the right side. I was looking down at the girl who attacked me. The sword she had was out of sight, and the look on her face made it look like I was indeed about to beat her up for spare change or something. "She tried to run me through the back with a rapier, but I told her to go away and remind Cao Cao what I said to him. She knew who I was talking about, but didn't try for her sword again when I let her go." I shrugged, "Aside from perfect form and proper armour, I don't know anything else about her, aside from the fact she doesn't mind stabbing someone in the back." I gave one of my tails a hug, "Best early warning system."

"Hm, that would be..." Azazel consulted his phone, "Jeanne." Another picture replaced Delly's illusion, a much nicer profile picture, "Possibly related to Joan of Arc. Well, suppose we have actual confirmation on her now."

"Anyone else?" I asked.

"We have one more." This time the picture showed Rossweisse. Her face was red, her expression looked like she was cussing someone out, and around her were at least forty different magic circles, "This one is of Miss Lightweight. As you can see, she can't hold her booze, getting drunk after one sip of sake. However, this doesn't diminish her magical ability at all."

"I hate you so much right now." Rossweisse pouted as everyone in the room laughed.

"Joking aside." Azazel said seriously, "Even after all this, Georg was able to defend against it. Keep that in mind if you find yourself up against him." He looked at me, "In his arrogance, Cao Cao invited is to his little 'experiment'. You were right, little Delly." He smiled, "One of the most likely places for his ritual was on your list, Nijou Castle."

"Ha! Who's the-"

"Snack."

"Grr! One day cat!"

"Cao Cao invited us, tonight, to Nijou Castle." Azazel finished.

"Will mother be there?" Kunou, quiet until now, asked.

"I assume so, since he'll need her on site to manipulate the mana she controls." Azazel nodded.

"Okay, so knowing what we know. Let's plan." I said, "But first, Delly? A little air conditioning or something."

"I'll get the windows." Serafall said.

After getting the room more comfortable, ordering a heap of refreshments, and settling in again, we got started on planning. We had only one outcome in mind, and that was to rescue Kunou's mother. All else was secondary. I would have to set aside my need to get what ever dungeon fragments they had until that was done. I was sure Haruhime would understand the delay.

"Serafall will be be here at the hotel with most of Sona's peerage, partially to make sure no one tries a back door play." Azazel started, "Issei, you were really smooth with your leadership this afternoon."

"I just kinda blurted out what seemed to make sense at the time." He said.

"Well, you still did well." Azazel chuckled at the Issei acting all humble, "That in mind, we may have more people on the field against us. But, so will we." He looked to Saji, "You'll be backup. You're still getting a hold on your new fragments, so save your strength until we need it."

"Aye sir." Saji nodded.

"One of the biggest problems we're going to face is Annihilation Maker. Limitless monsters that are specifically made to kill devils will quickly bog us down unless we can take care of him quickly."

"I owe him for making me late for taiyaki!" Delly grr'ed, "If I can get close enough, I'm sure I can drop him."

"We'll leave him to you. Sensei?"

"I don't know how much data he managed to get from me, but, those shadow clones pushed me pretty hard. Close to my limits without augmenting myself."

"Hm, well, if he summons some kind of ninja hit squad we'll know why." He sighed, "We lack wide area magic this time around too."

"I'll be better soon." Roseweisse said weakly.

"I have some of my all purpose remedy in my room." I offered.

"Speaking of." Azazel took over again, "Because of all the trouble we've been having, we only have three vials of phoenix tears on hand for this."

"Only three? Why so few?" Issei sounded a little panicked.

"They're not exactly easy to make, and cost a fair amount. Even with the discount we're getting." Azazel grinned, "However, what we do have is the Gremory Labs version of Sensei's healing potions."

"Are these the triple strength ones, or the 'may cause drowsiness' ones?" I asked.

"Triple strength ones. Peach flavoured too."

"Yes!" Xenovia cheered, "My favourite kind!"

"sigh, Well, we have enough to hand out two to each of you. They are not nearly as strong as the tears, but they'll stop you from bleeding to death long enough for Asia to get to you." Azazel nodded, "And yes, we've got mana potions too, though they're grape."

"Those taste terrible." Xenovia sighed, "Thankfully I'm not a mage."

"Issei, you choose who gets the tears, I'll hand out the potions before we go. We've also got emergency teleport tags. If we really need to pull some one out of the battle, these will do it." Azazel looked to Kunou, "I'm guessing you want to participate?"

"I won't hide while my mother is in danger, and kind strangers try and rescue her on my behalf." She said with as much dignity as she could while sitting on Maki's lap.

"That's fine. We've already set aside a share for you too." He smiled.

"Sensei." Issei started, looking at me when both Azazel and I looked at him, "Where do you want to be on the field?"

"I'll accept your orders." I nodded, figuring that he might be ready for real command. "I have all my tools with me, as well as Delly and Shinkage." I raised and eyebrow, "Don't look so nervous."

"Um, can I talk to you before we go then? Maki-san too?"

"Me? Sure." Maki shrugged.

"Okay, everyone, freshen up, maybe have a nap, we were told they'd be starting in two hours." Azazel looked to Kunou, "Can you get a message to your guardians?"

Kunou pointed to the window, where a three eyed raven with a red Magatama on its breast, "They already know everything that's been said here."

No one in the room, myself included, seemed to have noticed it there at all. "Well, um, right, You're invited too then."

The raven didn't caw, but it did spread its wings wide, lean down as if bowing to the room, then take off quietly. "They will be on the field with us." Kunou said confidently, "And all the youkai of Kyoto will be helping with our little trap."

"That will make clean up easier. Sensei? Were you going to call for more backup? I've already called for a little aid from our new allies. They didn't tell me who they were sending, just that they'd be sending who they could." Azazel shrugged, "Very politely too."

I didn't want to say their names, in case they'd feel obligated to show up anyhow, "The two sons of Shuten-doji don't feel welcome here in Kyoto. But if I really need to call them, I have a Loaner."

The white fox with red swirls seemed to blend itself out of my tails somehow, shaking off a little of my shed fur. "I want to hug him..." Serafall said.

"Alright, dismissed for now."

Everyone but Issei, Maki, Delly Shinkage and Loaner had left the room. Even though he had called on me, he looked like he was about to get in trouble or something. "Relax." I said, "What did you need?"

"Well, I want to know what you are bringing to the field. I'm supposed to know what the pieces do before placing them, right? Like Chess." He might have relaxed a tiny bit, "I mean, I know you're a great fighter, and you have your new armour now too... And that Shinkage is strong as well, and can keep up against all the magic Sona-san's peerage can throw at him. Delly is really handy and great at illusions..." He looked to Maki, "And you're pretty strong too, but also really sneaky."

"Hehe, I lived in that mall for a little while. I know everything about it." Maki grinned, "Well, I'm getting really good with 'youkai invisibility'. And I also brought my sidearm and mask." She held her hand out, palm up, and a little blue flame 'foofed' into existence, "Kunou-sama also taught me how to do this, finally..."

"Well, I'm jealous." I said.

"I spent a few hours getting to know her today, you'll get your turn." She gave one of my tails a pat. "Cool though, isn't it?"

"Wow, you make that look easy." Issei nodded, "Okay... Maki-san, can you try and be sneaky again? I don't want to explain why you got hurt to Sona-sempai, so if you could take on a sniper role?"

"Sure. Sister, can you charge my sidearm?"

"No problem." I nodded, "I'll have to get you some spare cartridges or something."

"Shinkage-san? I think you'll be the most helpful dealing with Annihilation Maker. You're really tough, and have ranged magic too."

"Very well. I will make sure I am at full charge and running hot before the battle."

"Sensei, help Delly-chan get in range of the Annihilation Maker, so she can stop them from spawning." He scratched his chin.

"And after?" I asked.

"Help where ever you're needed. When are you turning off the magic?" He asked, "It won't be right away, right?"

I nodded and smiled at his insight, "That's right."

"Please, don't do anything too reckless until you do. Kunou-chan's mother might be in danger if you act too soon." He nodded, "But aside from that... Once you've done that thing with the dragon veins, fight who ever you think you're the best match for."

I put a hand on his shoulder, "That was at least an eight out of ten. Well done. You'd almost fit in at my place."

"Almost?" He blushed, though smiled as well.

"Yeah, most of the girls at home would stab you for a second offence at trying to peep on them." I grinned, "Centre yourself, and find your inner chill before the fight. It's going to be big."

"You too." He nodded, looking away for a moment, then back to me, "Please Sensei, lend me your strength. We can't fail."

"You have it." I nodded, "Lil'sister?" Maki gave him a thumbs up.

And with that, we left Issei's room to do a final equipment check.

Well then!

Next episode? Well, I'm sure you can guess what's going to go down, and maybe even what's going to happen! I hope not though... I mean, sure, some of my writing is predictable, but hopefully a few surprises are left. I also hope I can do the fight justice. Large scale battles from a single pair of eyes don't make a lot of sense up front (its one of the big reasons I do 'after action' reports.)

Then maybe, Kodori will finally get a vacation...