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The following is a fan-based

FICTION

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Chapter 20: New Buddy, New Mission

"I still don't understand… why do we have to wait there?"

My words fell deaf as I tried to start a conversation with the other occupant of the room.

Sougyoku was silent, just as usual, but this time I really couldn't bear the quietness of the whole situation. Things just didn't feel… alright.

Baraqiel had sounded slightly worried when he mentioned how there was something happening… that required our immediate attention. Which was troublesome considering how he was a big shot in Grigori, and to get him this much unnerved there had to be quite the horrible ordeal currently happening.

Which is why, despite my minor annoyance at being forced to skip school without much time except for a quick call to Sona to alert her about my forced skipping, I swiftly prepared for what was going to be a dangerous operation that needed my utmost seriousness and attention.

Surprisingly enough, we weren't supposed to meet up with Vali right to where the issue was brewing, but we made a quick stop by one of the safe headquarters within Kanto. The mission wasn't going to just see the Lucifer and I doing this rescue mission alone. No, we were parried with a new member to our little fun group.

It took about twenty minutes of talking for Baraqiel to finally show up with who was going to join us in the derpy posse. Standing slightly shorter than me and Vali, the girl looked to be… the same as us.

She was already donning the cloak, a red mask, dark shirt, and a pair of red baggy pants just defined her as the third member of our team. How could I tell that she was a girl? Her shirt hardly held back the extra mass by her upper section. Plus she spoke shortly after she left the room she had been waiting by with our boss.

The young woman bowed as she introduced herself.

"I'm Kurenai, I will be under your care for the time being, Hekishoku-san, Sougyoku-san."

I blinked at the strangely familiar voice, but I couldn't truly match it to anyone I knew from the way it was filled with so much politeness. It was odd but… I decided to trust in Baraqiel that whoever I was now going to trust wasn't going to stab me in the back.

I nodded. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Kurenai-san. I hope we can all be a happy, big family."

She nodded, her tense posture slightly easing at my words, but she seemed to keep quiet as she expected a response from Vali. And instead of letting her suffer through the classic indifference from the young Devil, I spoke again.

"And I'm sure Sougyoku is fine with your presence too. He isn't much for social situations, so I would ask from you to not expect much from him in terms of conversations," I added with a smooth tone, drawing the attention from the blue-masked douche.

He didn't reply at my indirect but blatant attempt to call him out as a shy guy, but his muffled glare did its job in warranting a simple shrug out of me. The girl seemed to appreciate the warning, and she walked up to stand on my unoccupied side as Baraqiel decided to speak about our newest mission.

"Six hours ago, one of our largest bases near Tokyo went dark," The Fallen Angel explained. "At first we thought it was a sudden blackout, but then communications via magical means were interrupted too. We've sent two teams to check on the premises, and none has returned yet."

"Third time's the charm," I muttered, before shaking my head at this development. So something was aloof with that big base… but what and why? "Still, can I ask why this is labeled a rescue mission?"

Baraqiel gave me a long look, and I had to restrain myself from shivering at the strange glint in his eyes. I really didn't like it, nor I felt that I was going to digest well what he was planning to say.

"The base was housing two important individuals as the blackout happened. We've reason to believe that the perpetrator of the attack is planning to capture both because of their respective powers," The bulky man answered quietly. "Which is why, despite the low-rank that was given to the mission, I've to warn you three to be wary of any issues happening there. Whoever managed to completely take over a base as big as that one, it had to be incredibly dangerous."

Vali snorted, but nobody gave too much weight to that arrogant gesture. It was just too easy to butt heads with him this early in the morning and I really, really didn't want to do that. Especially not in front of the rookie.

Thus I decided to press on over the identity of those VIPs, feeling like this was going to be consequential since Baraqiel looked fairly uneasy at mentioning these two.

"Sensei, please- can you give us more details? You know, the whole gist of 'Knowledge is power' and we kind of need that if the situation is that bad-"

"I know what you're trying to do, Hekishoku-kun," The man interrupted. "But I can't offer any names to either you and Sougyoku for classified reasons. Kurenai-chan was given orders to keep the identity of the VIPs a secret from you both, and she was enlisted to guide you both to find the targets of your mission."

I huffed, glaring hardly at the man as I was so certain that he knew that I wouldn't have gone as far as to bully the new girl into giving out answers. And I could already see Vali giving zero interest over that topic.

So I was stuck in the ignorance for the time being… even though I was tempted to press my luck further to see if I could force the Fallen Angel to slip out one of the two names. But I restrained myself at the tense seriousness displayed on his face.

I huffed. "I guess I will have to wait and see."

Baraqiel nodded at my comment.

"The Magic Circle will be ready in ten minutes. Use this time to talk with Kurenai-chan, she will probably need some proper words considering how quick her reinstatement was."

The girl tensed at the mention of this 'reinstatement', suddenly feeling my confusion increasing over the odd lady that was now part of our mad group…

Still, I nodded, knowing to not make any pointless arguments without having some solid proof supporting any investigations. I wasn't going to antagonize the young woman without having a certainty that something was wrong with her.

And while I was skeptical over this whole 'reinstatement' thing, I knew that Grigori was incredibly severe with punishments. Whatever had led them to remove the girl from the active force, it had to have been minor to see her swiftly returned to action.

So, once the man was gone back to the briefing room to continue with other businesses, I decided to make some efforts for a discussion with the new recruit.

"I suppose it's quite tough. To be… assigned to a new team."

She sighed, her shoulders sagging a little. "It's frustrating. But I think I shouldn't have punished more considering the issue I've caused."

"That can't be that bad."

"Try 'high treason', then couple it with some other problems I've caused during my last role and… yes, shit hit the fan," Kurenai mumbled with a tired sigh.

"'High Treason'?" Now that sounded like a hefty crime to commit within Grigori. Especially with the stance Azazel had over betrayals.

"I wasn't the instigator," The girl quickly answered. "But I got myself embroiled in quite the mess with some dangerous elements within the organization."

"And this is kind of community service?" I inquired. "I mean, if things had been that bad, then you should be still inactive-"

"I would… call it otherwise. I think it's better," She interjected quickly. "In fact, I wish to make it clear that I respect both you and Sougyoku-san for the work you've done up until now."

...What?

"The Kyoto Incident, and the Dresden Case- Armaros-sama offered praises about your performance."

...Oh boy, does this mean that Armaros was forcing a Fan Club to form? I really don't need that.

And I really hoped that the girl in front of me wasn't actually a fangirl in disguise. I really hoped so.

"That's… interesting to know," I replied calmly, tilting my head to the side as I pondered over this awkward detail.

"B-But I can promise that I will not try to distract you with any comments over this subject," The young woman added. "I understand that during missions it's best to keep an eye on the objective rather than being a moron."

I snorted at the final comment. "I can already say that you're far from becoming a 'moron', Kurenai-san," I rebuked kindly. "In fact, I would like to know what's your specialization."

She nodded. "I'm a close-range weapon-specialist. I use magic to create Lances and boost my physical capacities."

"That's good to know. I'm a magic-specialist, while Sougyoku is pretty much a wild card. I would say he's more a tank, so see him like that during a fight."

Once again, a muffled glare was shot right at my back, but I barely cared for that reaction as I kept my attention on the young woman.

Kurenai nodded at the new information, and her posture looked to have eased down to a calm stance. "That's good to know, and… I suppose the little dragon on your shoulder is your familiar."

I froze up at the last comment, glancing down to see Kimiko's head popping out from within my shirt. The Sprite Dragon looked incredibly calm, yet her red-eyed stare was fixed on the rookie.

No intense reaction to an unknown female, I guess that was an improvement considering precedent situations.

"Yep," I muttered calmly, reaching with my fingers to scratch the tiny dragon's chin. The happy noises coming from the pretty girl lessening the intensity of the stare until it was fully gone. "This is Kimiko. You can say that I care a world for this little bundle of fierceness."

But just as I finished saying this, I noticed that the next subject of fascination for the familiar was… Vali. I blinked as she tilted her head to the side and… hummed.

"Papa, why does he smells like a grumpy old man?"

I held back a snort, and this time the Lucifer tensed up at the sudden 'insult' directed at him. It was that reaction that reminded me that Vali could understand Dragons because of his Sacred Gear, and I was half-tempted to genuinely exploit this little knowledge to my advantage.

I settled for something tiny, but incredibly amusing.

"Is something wrong, Sougyoku-san?" I asked innocently, driving the attention back at the fellow guy. He seemed slightly uneasy at the sudden development. He managed to recover shortly after, staring away and huffing.

"Just… keep that weak thing away from me."

…He didn't say that. He-

"Bah, why would I be around someone so grumpy and boring? I like Grandpa Red better."

Now, that was quite the reminder that the little dragon had the chance of chatting with Ddraig. The two seemed at odds at first, mostly because of the Red Emperor's sassy remarks and Kimiko's own dry tone. Then they bonded in what one could describe an old man babysitting a grandchild.

Nothing too strange, except for the familiar to be constantly visiting both Asia and Issei to keep contacts with her 'Grandpa Red'.

But while that comment was enough to make me crack a smile, I strongly suspected that Albion was either shocked or pissed at this revelation by the way Vali looked even more tense at her cutting words.

I patted her back. "That's enough, sweetie."

She complied, delving deeper in my lovely caresses while I returned to look back at Kurenai.

"She can be quite… a fiery gal. Really sassy when she has the chance of commenting about people she doesn't like."

"I hope I am not… among those she dislikes."

A legitimate concern, but I shook my head. "The staring was more of a reaction to the fact you're was female. Sprite Dragons are rather defensive over those of the opposite gender, harboring some unpleasant thoughts for those of the same gender."

"So… she doesn't?"

I didn't reply at her, having a better idea as I merely pulled the tiny girl out of her warm nest and right onto my palms. Kimiko was surprised by the sudden shift in heat, but seemed to understand perfectly my intentions as I brought her close to the masked girl.

Kurenai looked surprised but… she slowly moved to try and emulate what I had done up until now. Her fingers stopped as the Sprite Dragon started to sniff at those, trying to understand if this was a 'good' or 'bad' scent.

The quick lick that ensued seemed to confirm that she was fine with the new member of the team and… she started to purr as her chin was scratched once again by her new friend.

Kurenai seemed to twitch happily at the positive outcome of this attempt, spending a few minutes patting the giddy dragon's head while also giving her belly some loving too.

More time passed as we continued to talk about mutual abilities, with me bringing up some of the stuff I knew about Vali to her attention. It was mostly superficial stuff considering how little the Lucifer showed off during official mission.

I was glad that he wasn't flaunting around his strength with his unique abilities, having a clear perception of what kind of person and ally he would've been if he had been 100% arrogant.

But just as I almost forgot what we were waiting for, Baraqiel returned to the hallway and offered us the working seal that was meant to take us to the closest spot to the settings of our mission.

Vali was the first one to pass through, his pace showing some leftover of his recent irritation. After I had quickly put Kimiko back by my shirt, I proceeded to follow him as the second one to pass. Finally, it was Kurenai's turn and the portal closed down as we were there…

In a burning forest. With numerous corpses littering the entire path.

...What the heck is going on here?

The building was visible in the distance, and we were quick to learn that the flames had originated from that very place.

A large chunk of a wall had collapsed entirely, leaving a large gash that showed the damaged innards of the large base. Everything looked quite messy from afar, and as we swiftly approached the premises of the building, things just get uglier to our sights.

The area wasn't abandoned. There were a couple of Orcs, Onis and other Yokais that were gathered by the proximity of the former Grigori Headquarter.

Two of the green-skinned brutes spotted us and make a run for it to try and kill us. Slow, big, and incredibly dumb.

A couple of Light Spears easily tore through the first attackers, but the use of magic and the following noisy thuds coming from the two Orcs falling was enough to gain the interest of the rest of the horde.

They rushed at us en masse, but none was prepared to withstand long-range magic. The massacre dented on the assault, but the large numbers ended up seeing us engage in what was an intense but messy melee.

Vali looked almost bored as he scurried around with his impressive speed, cutting through various of his opponents while exploding the others. I was following a similar strategy, but I also employed the Silver Linings to force groups together and into half-active Light Bombs.

The gore was just pitch-perfect, and the presence of the third member of our fun group was finalized when she singlehandedly decimated her own share of monsters with her now blood-stained Light Lance.

Differently from a Light Spear, the Light Lance had a larger, curvier blade that was meant to be used in close encounters. A good choice for the large quantity of enemies in the areas.

The onslaught lasted for a while, but soon we were faced with a shortage of foes to slay. Many of the Yokais were rushing back inside the building, forcing the three of us to give quick pursuit to end the perpetrators of this assault.

…

Or so we thought.

Just as we slammed onto the few defenders trying to guard the main entrance, the entire place started to shake as an explosion happened… right above our heads. Several floors up- the roof.

"Seems like someone is having fun too," I commented calmly, keeping up with the chaotic pace by bisecting some Goblins. "We shouldn't let them wait too much."

The inner wording was perfectly clear, and I saw a nod coming from Kurenai as she slashed onto one of the orcs that had entered the building, but failed to crouch properly to avoid the 'short ceiling'. Quite the ungraceful death, one that was followed by many more to the girl's growing spree.

The Host of the Vanishing Dragon didn't relent in his own attacks, still managing to show little concern over the various monsters trying to land hits on him. He shrugged those off by dodging and retaliating with his own strikes.

Rather brutal since he was using some Wind magic to make his punches and kicks capable of cutting onto his opponents. Still, I wasn't certainly holding back with how creative I was with the indoor space we were in.

Light Bombs wouldn't do well for us considering how damaged the room already looked to be in that moment.

There were plenty of corpses from Fallen Angels and Magicians, all fallen by the first assault the base had received, and the pillars had taken quite the hits from the magical outbursts from the past skirmishes.

My lightsaber soared mercilessly as I scorched around my opponents. The blade cut through them like a hot knife would with butter. I wasn't lamenting the blood that was being shed, but I was building up a deep hatred for the smell of burning flesh.

The sizzling, the waving, the swiftness of the killing. I was too distracted in my butchering to notice that Kurenai had spared me a nervous and uneasy glance from the very moment I had deployed the Light-powered blade.

Delving deeper in the ranks of the grunts keeping us from the only way to reach the upper floors, I really felt the strain after five solid minutes of brutal fighting continued. It was a war of attrition waged from the desperate Yokais responsible for this attack, but none managed to land any injury on us.

We were too careful of our surroundings to let anything go unanswered with twice the brutality they were mustering. The Goblins turned into true pests in that claustrophobic situation, but by following Orcbolg's wise words, I started to spread my eternal hatred for those little bastards.

Still, the slaying wasn't as repetitive as I expected as part of the mob was doing its best to actively avoid direct fighting. We weren't merciful, nor we were disgusted by this mere fact.

These monsters had warranted all of this. For whatever reason they had decided to kill so many people here, they still had blood in their hands and souls. I wasn't going to be impolite and let them go unpunished for the atrocities they had committed.

With the group making its way through the staircase, the noises that were coming from the rooftop seemed to grew more intense. The fight was intensified as we were moving, and we didn't stop by any other floors for that very reason.

I felt winded, but my Core was still producing plenty of energy to keep up for some big battle, especially for one that seemed to be waiting for us right at the final floor of this place.

And then… we were there.

A gust of wind greeted our arrival, and our eyes were quickly fixed at the ongoing brawl. My eyes widened for two specific reasons.

The first issue was that I now had sight over the two VIPs we were meant to rescue from the current assault. The blue-haired woman that was now recoiling from the last punch thrown by her opponent was almost too difficult to recognize at first sight, but then I saw whom the lady was defending and got a full understanding of the situation.

Ingvild looked positively worried as she tried to sing and boost Tiamat, yet the human form of the dragon wasn't capable of withstanding the attacks coming from her attacker.

Panic swelled at the sight of the cackling old bastard, and my brain visualized the only character that perfectly matched with the degree of pure madness and deviousness displayed before my eyes.

Silver hair, hazel eyes, an evil goatee and… a sadistic smile plastered on his malicious expression.

Rizevim Livan Lucifer, son of the Original Lucifer, looked to be having a blast in winning that one-sided fight, the Super-Devil having an easy time dealing with someone the caliber of Tiamat and…

"Shit has hit the fan," I muttered quickly, glancing to Vali and hoping that he wasn't planning to rush at his creepy grandfather. "We need to contact Baraqiel, we need the big boss here. Now."

Kurenai nodded, bringing up a communication seal and preparing to contact the man but… the spell didn't work. We were still magically cut off from contacting back to the headquarters.

I tensed up at this remembrance, but nothing matched the fright growing behind my chest at a certain individual landing in front of us.

His hair was similar to Rizevim, but his eyes were a dark tint of red. Just like blood.

The former head of the Lucifuge Clan, Euclid Lucifuge offered a cold but curious look at us, taking two steps to approach.

"Grigori dispatched a new team? I'm impressed by Azazel's foolish efforts to stop my Lord from achieving his goals and-"

"Boo-oring~!"

I blinked in surprise, my attention quickly directed at Rizevim as the jerk gave us an amused look.

"Come on, Euclid," He continued with a faux irked tone. "You promised me you wouldn't have been a pompous bastard just for once. Do the world a favor, would you?!"

There was an embarrassed look on the younger man's face.

"My apologies… Lord Rizevim," The Lucifuge muttered quietly, turning back once more on us. "But now, I shall take care of you all."

I almost snorted in a moment of nervous amusement. "I really see why your sister hates you."

Rizevim chuckled at the comment.

But it soon proved to be a terrible mistake from my part, especially when the receiver of such an insult is a closet siscon. I realized it when he rushed at me with his right fist cocked and ready to slam my head away from my body.

Ducking and letting the hit pass over my mask, I tried to punch back the now-close Super-Devil, only for my fist to be caught by his other hand and forcefully squeezed and half-crushed.

I gritted my teeth as I felt some of my bones creaking at the pressure, but I quickly retaliated by pulling his hand towards me. He looked surprised and confused by the gesture, yet he soon realized what was going on when Kurenai brought her lance down, cleaving his arm down from his elbow up to his hand.

Removing the severed limb, I saw Vali jumping at the opportunity by driving a Wind-based spell onto the unprotected opening that led to the man's chest. It seemed like a smart move, but one that wasn't taking under consideration how magically versed the Lucifuge Clan was.

A barrier appeared between Euclid and the enchanted punch, stopping it from doing any damage on the pompous jerk. Still, the silver-haired minion was forced to back away from the close encounters, just enough to re-evaluate the situation and let his arm regenerate.

"Now, this is quite a surprise. I hadn't expected for a group to be able of giving such a… coherent response to my first strike," He commented with a hint of awe, only for his face to harden up in irritation as more chuckles came from his Lord's direction. "But I will see to reward you with quick deaths."

"You're just angry 'cause your sister likes redheads," I blurted out just as he said that. Kurenai facepalmed.

"Hekishoku-san, don't enable the siscon," She dryly rebuked, getting a nod from Vali.

"Stop enraging the pervert, fool," The young Devil added.

"I-It's not my fault that there's plenty of material to use to insult him," I justified in a moment of panic. Seriously, was I getting ganged on the fact I was 'bullying' Euclid? "Plus, he's our enemy and I've all the rights to piss him off."

The commentary had the dual effects of intensifying the laughs coming from Rizevim, and further aggravating our current opponent.

"H-He's not wrong," The leader of Qlippoth quipped mirthfully as he recovered from the bout of cackling, making his minion turn to look in irritation at him. "It's not much of a secret that you stalked your own sister… and then raged at the fact she preferred someone like Sirzechs to you."

"She was just tricked! I know that she is still loyal to-"

"Grayfia has been married to Sirzechs for centuries now, and she has a kid."

Her left eye twitched at my interjection.

"Y-You don't have any right to-"

"Stop paying attention at the insults and just fight," Rizevim interrupted exasperated. "I swear, you're making me appear like a demanding boss, but then you start getting fussy over some clear attempts to irk you."

"I'm not-"

"He's kind of right. As his right hand, you should technically give his orders some weight instead of dilly-dallying like this," I joined the fun interruption game.

"You- How dare you-"

"And you're also having trouble excusing yourself of something as difficult to prove that is having romantic feelings for your own biological sister," Kurenai added with a nod. "That's quite disgusting, and the way you just bow your head at it makes it clear it's true."

"But-"

"Just admit it to yourself. You need to go away and think about your perverted mind."

I was surprised at the fact that Vali had joined the happy wagon, but still, the effects of this combo were undeniable as the man was trembling and shaking in a mix of anger, confusion, and outright depression.

"L-Lord Rizevim- I need to-"

"Just leave. I guess I can't have my fun without hurting your silly feelings," The Lucifer stated with a bored sigh.

A magical seal appeared below Euclid and made the Super-Devil disappear from the rooftops… leaving us to face only Rizevim in that specific moment.

I stared at the grinning bastard, then I thought back about what had just happened and… frowned.

"Hold up, why did you 'help' us about it?" I had to inquire much to the chagrin of those beside me. "I know for a thing that the amusement isn't the main priority for you."

"Oh but it is- just not in this specific case," The silver-haired man replied with a shrug. "I would've let Euclid have some fun with you, then easily trash you around until you were dead and gone… but then I realized who you three… two are."

Oh no. I think- there's no way that-

"We got Greenie, Bluey, and Reddy," He continued without any restraints to himself. "If you had been Yellow, then it would've been the funniest reference to the Super Sentai, but then again, that would ruin the show for me with what's going to happen rather soon."

"What is he talking about?" The red-masked girl asked, but I was silent as… I could already feel her nearby.

It was faint at first, but that black ink that was just approaching us was enough to confirm that we were incredibly screwed. I tensed up as I heard someone land behind us and… I didn't turn back. Vali followed my example, but Kurenai looked and… she looked back in front with an incredibly tense posture.

"We're so fucked." She whispered dryly, her own mind starting to experience full shock at the fact we were between a Devil… and the Infinity Dragon herself.

Ophis looked mostly calm, but I could feel her emotions as if those were tangible elements I could see being projected on me. Only me. I was her target.

And I knew why.

"I guess 'sorry' is off the table, isn't it?"

Just as I asked this, I felt a gust of wind and, as I blinked, I saw her appear before my eyes and… she stared up at me with an impassive look.

"Yes."

Cold, unforgiving. It was almost like getting hit by a massive iceberg.

I gulped nervously, but there was silence. There was quiet. She was standing still as I kept my body prepared for the onslaught waiting around the corner.

Ophis was merely staring at me and I continued to stare back.

Please, continue to stare back at me until I'm out of there!

But just as I made my own prayers, someone else had decided to capitalize our shared dreads and turn it in his own entertainment.

Sitting by a chair he had materialized through Magic, Rizevim took a seat there while he conjured a bucket filled with popcorn.

"'Phis, sweetie. Show 'em your angry face."

I was confused at first, but then the goth girl tensed up and… showed a pouty face. I frowned at the reaction, but then I realized that she wasn't staring at me. No, she was looking at the small blue head now glaring furiously at the Infinity Dragon.

Kimiko was now here and… I was starting to sweat at what might be happen from this very point.

AN

GASP! The legendary fight! Kimiko vs Ophis.

Yes, Rizevim will be the glorious memester… and monster. A man with a flawed mind and… lots of interesting questions.

Like… why is Euclid such a siscon?

P.S. Yes, Kurenai is who you think she is. I wonder how much it will take for both MC and the girl to realize each other's identities.

Current Milestone: 630 Followers.

Next Milestone: 690 Followers.

P a treon . com (slash) socialistbukharin

REVIEW Q&A!

DarklordUA1323: I can say for certain that it is under Azazel's control (and probably getting used around as a fun stick to terrorize half of Grigori).

Blaze1992: Correction: It was covered in mad cackles and chaos. Rizevim was here!

Wacko12: Cao Cao isn't dead, just weakened; The IF Memories aren't Canon, but this story will have Canon Lemons too; Maybe, maybe not.

Isaac LB: Senpai is trying his best, but the best isn't enough to satisfy Murphy.

BaronDOTjeelly: Not truly. No. Ravel's role will be… funnier.