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[Ddraig talking]
[Ddraig thinking]
{Albion talking}
{Albion thinking}
|Tiamat talking|
|Tiamat thinking|
(Mastema talking)
(Mastema thinking)
Mental Communication
"Regular Dialogue"
Attacks/Spells
Azazel Stadium, March 14, 2020, 11:55 AM; Current Time: 3 Minutes and 10 Seconds Til Midnight
Asmodeus's eyes widened as she shot up from her seat. Belphegor and Mammon narrowed their eyes as they saw Beelzebub appear on the field. The entire audience went silent at the sight of the newcomer and Naud was shocked.
"Umm, folks, it seems that we have a new visitor but I'm not sure that how he was able to get into the arena," Naud announced.
"Nee-sama," Mammon said.
"That… is that… Naamah?" Belphegor asked.
"How… she died? Kokabiel killed her!" Mammon said.
"...," Asmodeus bit her thumb as she eyed the two demons inside the arena. Her eyes drifted to the third who was restraining Rias. She didn't recognize her. She could see the red hair that came out from her hood and guessed that she was of Gremory descent but nothing else. She was a wild card that worked for them.
"We have to notify Sirzechs," Asmodeus said.
"I'm already on it," Mammon said, forming a CC.
"Sensei? Thank goodness! We need your help! It's-!"
"Sirzechs! Beelzebub is in the arena!" Mammon said.
"What? Wait? He's here!? How did he even get in?" Sirzechs yelled.
"Yes and… he was summoned. Oh right, Naamah is here as well," Mammon said. "They have your sister and Issei cornered."
"... Fuck they must have done it," Sirzechs said.
"Done what?" Asmodeus said. Mammon glanced over at her older sister and enlarged her CC, placing it on speaker.
"Lily. Issei's charge and one of the children that Beelzebub has been sending agents to kidnap. She was just taken from us," Sirzechs said.
"Killing two birds with one stone… He's here for the girl and Issei," Asmodeus said.
"I'm heading into the Arena. I'll make an announcement. Maybe Indra-sama will here it and intervene," Sirzechs said.
"Sirzechs," Belphegor said.
"What is it?"
"Be careful. Just because you're more powerful than Beelzebub doesn't mean that you can win outright. Our brother is crafty and cunning so you need to watch your step. We'll head to the VIP booth to meet up with the other leaders," Belphegor said.
"Understood! I'm heading in!" Sirzechs said.
Issei stared up at the man floating in the air next to Naamah. His eyes glinted with a look of victory as he floated down closer to Issei. He landed in front of him as he stared into the young man's eyes. He grinned.
"It's been what… a week?" Beelzebub asked.
Issei didn't respond and instead, opted to punch Beelzebub in the face. The sound of his nose breaking could be heard as the Prime Demon stumbled back. Beelzebub raised his hand to his broken nose and wiped off the blood. Issei and Rias watched in sick fascination as Beelzebub's nose snapped back into place. The Demon grinned and punched Issei in the solar plexus, shattering the armor plating around his torso.
"GAK!" Issei gasped and fell to his knees. He began to heave his breakfast alongside a good amount of blood.
"ISSEI!" Rias struggled against her captor. She turned and glared into her captor's eyes. Her form glowed as she unleashed a wave of destructive power. Her captor was surprised and released her, allowing Rias to fly towards Beelzebub.
"HAAAH!" Rias began to build up a massive coating of Power of Destruction and Null in her hand. She got within inches of Beelzebub and threw her hand forward. Her eyes widened in shock when he didn't even glance at her and grabbed her energy coated hand. The energy began to wane and weaken. Rias felt her power being sapped from her very body as Beelzebub continued to grip her hand. She summoned whatever power she had that wasn't stolen and fired it in Beelzebub's face.
The Demon released her and fell to the ground, his head having been blown off his body.
"Take *pant* that!" Rias said as her Ruin Goddess form faded away.
"Naamah," the masked demon said as she hovered right next to her.
"Hmmm," Naamah said, crossing her arms.
"Issei, are you alright?" Rias asked, kneeling next to him. She began to apply healing magic on his body when Issei grabbed her and shoved her out of the way.
Her eyes widened when Issei blocked Beelzebub's hand, which was centimeters away from her skull. Beelzebub glared at Issei as he began to form a swirling ball of power in his right hand.
"Deep Crimson Spiral!" Issei slammed the swirling sphere of destructive power into Beelzebub. Beelzebub was shot back, crashing through the trees. In the distance, a large explosion happened, as Rias felt the blast wave travel over to them.
"We just received word from Satan Lucifer. Everyone is to evacuate the stadium immediately. All participants are to be retired right now!" Naud said.
Naamah scoffed as she began to chant in a language that Issei was unfamiliar with.
"Ar om Iad!" Naamah raised her hand as a massive streak of golden energy shot into the sky and into the earth beneath them. Runes appeared all over the arena, forming a massive barrier that encompassed the entire rating game dimension.
Asmodeus, Mammon, and Belphegor burst into the VIP Box where the other important figures were. Ra and Shiva were watching the situation unfold with a calm face while Kali gripped her chair, the arm corroding underneath her destructive power.
"Auntie," Asmodeus said.
Kali turned around and sighed in relief.
"Asmodeus. You're alive… so the rumors were true. But that's not the case, that demon, Naamah, she…," Kali said.
"An Enochian Space-Time Barrier," Michael said. "We won't be able to pull them out."
"Won't this trap them in as well?" Grayfia asked.
"No," Azrael said.
"The barrier allows the caster and whoever it wants to enter and exit as they please," Azazel said.
"That means that Sirzechs can't get in," Ajuka said.
"No. He can't," Michael said.
"Damnit! That means Issei is trapped in there with that fiend! Why would Beelzebub even do this!? Ellie never taught him to be like this!" Kali said.
"We… don't know why he's doing what he's doing," Asmodeus said.
"Let's get back to more important matters. There are people here, including myself, that can unravel the barrier however, it will take time," Shiva said.
"How long?" Grayfia asked.
"Half an hour from the looks of it," Asmodeus said.
"Half an hour? We don't have that time!" Serafall said. "Issei and Ria-tan are trapped in there alongside everyone else!"
"We have no choice," Belphegor said.
"What's going on?" Vali said as he and Mitsuki paused their fight. The sky had turned dark for a couple of minutes which was followed by a shower of golden lights.
"Aniki," Mitsuki said.
"Mitsuki! What's happening?" Irina said as she and Akeno flew over to them. "What was that announcement just now?"
"They said there was an intruder in the…," Mitsuki's eyes widened.
"What?" Irina asked.
"You think it's him?" Mitsuki asked.
"Who?" Vali asked her with a confused look.
"It's him…," Akeno said. Her body began to shiver as she felt traces of the demon who spiritually violated her. Her skin paled as fear overtook her body.
"H- He's here," Akeno whimpered.
"Akeno… Tch! That bastard!" Irina said.
"Who's here? I don't understand what's going on! What's happening?" Vali asked.
"A demon. One of the Seven Prime Demons and one of the Four Original Satans is here. I think he's here for Issei," Mitsuki said.
Irina gritted her teeth and flew off in the direction that Issei and Rias had shot in during their battle.
"IRINA! Where are you going!?" Mitsuki yelled.
"To go save Issei!" she yelled, not even bothering to stop. Mitsuki sighed.
"Vali. Akeno. Get everyone and meet us over there!" Mitsuki said as she took off after Irina. The two nodded and went to go gather everyone.
Akeno and Vali landed in front of a group of confused competitors. Kuroka shifted back to her human form and walked up to Vali.
"What's going on?" Kuroka asked.
"Someone's here to kidnap Issei," Vali said. Everyone's eyes widened.
"N- Nii-san? But why would anyone want to…?" Asia asked.
"We don't know," Akeno said. "But we have to keep them from getting Issei."
"Where are they?" Rikka asked.
"Irina and Mitsuki are heading to them right now but we're wasting time! Let's go!" Vali said.
"Right!" everyone said, even Tatsuya, albeit more hesitantly.
Indra levitated in the air next to Typhon as Naud finished his announcement and the barrier spell was cast.
"Do you know what's going on?" Indra asked.
"No," the King of Monsters responded.
"Indra-sama," a voice called as a CC popped up next to Indra's ear.
"Maou Lucifer. What's going on? Why has the match been canceled?" Indra asked.
"There are intruders in the arena! I can't get in. Whatever they did is preventing me from entering to assist!" Sirzechs said.
"I assume that this call wasn't to check on me but more so to ask me to go check on your sister and her friends?" Indra asked.
"Yes. Please. Go save Issei and the others," Sirzechs said.
"A Maou begging? How quaint. Fine," Indra said.
"Thanks-!" Sirzechs was unable to finish his sentence as Indra severed the CC.
"What's going on?" Artemis asked.
"There are intruders in the arena. Sirzechs has asked me to take care of them. King of Monsters. We'll continue this fight some other time. I have something to do," Indra said as he closed his eyes.
"It's him, isn't it. That foul sinister power's ingrained itself into my brain after our encounter in Bathala's realm a week ago," Artemis said.
Indra remained silent, flying over there with such force that Artemis and Typhon were blown back. Artemis sighed and whistled. She waited and waited only to find nothing. Her chariot didn't appear.
"It seems that the barrier spatial locked us in here," she said. "We can't summon or teleport in or out of the arena."
"Damnit!" Issei said. Rias was sent crashing into a tree and slid down, bleeding from her forehead.
"YOU BASTARD!" Issei lunged at Beelzebub and delivered a devastating uppercut to the demon's head. Beelzebub was sent flying into the air. Issei grabbed his leg before he could get away and slammed Beelzebub on the ground.
[|Chaos Break: Satan Drive!|] Issei was clad in the same demonic scale mail he used to defeat Thor. At speeds Beelzebub couldn't perceive, Issei rammed his fist into his stomach, causing the demon to cough up blood.
"Good. Fan that fire in your belly Issei. You'll need IT!" Beelzebub headbutted Issei and kicked him away. He raised his hand and formed several green magic circles. A swarm of hornets came out from them and pointed their stingers at Issei.
[Lord of the Flies] Ddraig said. [Be careful]
"I know. I guess it's time to swat some bugs," Issei said as he summoned Ascalon.
"Tiamat. I need your help with this," Issei said.
|Right| Tiamat said. Issei pointed his finger at Beelzebub. The gem on the [Boosted Gear] turned blue.
Issei fired a blast of razor-sharp winds at the insects. Beelzebub narrowed his eyes and snapped his fingers. The insects glowed as the wind was absorbed into the swarm.
"Our powers are useless then if he can just continuously absorb them," Issei said.
"So you figured it out. The only way to truly fight me is to fight me head-on. No fancy magic spamming. No Shevirat Ha-Kelim. Just good old fisticuffs," Beelzebub said.
"Tch!" Issei disappeared in a burst of speed, slicing through the swarm. He appeared above Beelzebub, who looked at him with slight look of shock. Issei brought Ascalon down on him. Beelzebub smirked as several tendrils made of shadows blocked the blade.
"So Issei. You're going to keep struggling?" Beelzebub asked as he formed an energy blade. Issei glanced behind Beelzebub and saw a familiar sight darting towards them. He grinned and kicked off Beelzebub, using his face as a launchpad.
Beelzebub felt a massive surge of energy heading towards him. He turned and raised his hand, halting a bolt of lightning, barely midflight. Beelzebub slid back as he roared. As he struggled Naamah placed her hand on her forehead and sighed in annoyance.
"Beelzebub… just absorb it," Naamah said.
Issei's eyes widened as a mass of tendrils enveloped lightning. The lightning began to fizzle and warped until the lightning disappeared into Beelzebub.
"Wow! That was a bit spicy. But then again, any energy and magic attack with divine and holy properties always adds a bit of a spicy kick," Beelzebub said as he closed his fist. "Oh?" Beelzebub barely jumped back as something crashed into the ground.
Naamah and Apollyon erected a barrier around themselves, protecting themselves from the shockwave. Rias shielded herself as the winds died down and her eyes widened as the figure stood in the crater.
"I- Indra-sama!" Rias said.
Beelzebub narrowed his eyes.
"Indra, eh? Shit," Beelzebub said as he slowly backed off.
"This might be a problem," Naamah said.
"Would you like me to take care of him?" Apollyon asked.
"No. You'll lose," Naamah said. She glanced over Beelzebub, who stood there staring at Indra.
"Vedic God of Heaven," Beelzebub said, dusting himself off.
"Original Maou Beelzebub," Indra said. "Word was that you died facing the Archangel Raphael."
"Well then, as you can see, my death was greatly exaggerated. I've been recuperating. Biding my time for my big debut into this world again," Beelzebub said.
"I see," Indra said. He attempted to scan Beelzebub's mind only to find himself being forcefully ejected. "Your mind is well guarded and locked down."
"I know and did anyone ever tell you how rude it is to look into someone's thoughts like that," Beelzebub retorted.
Issei took advantage of the situation and made a beeline towards Rias to help her up. Naamah and Apollyon stood on the sidelines, watching Issei. Naamah glanced at Mammon and the demon nodded. Her eyes glowed red as her body began to distort, spaghettified as she was sucked into a swirling vortex that warped reality.
"Go Red Dragon. I'll take care of them," Indra said.
"I owe you one!" Issei said as he helped Rias to her feet and began carrying her. He took off into the air. Indra grinned and turned back to face Beelzebub. He summoned his weapon. An odd-looking golden club with two spherical heads on both ends. It was his weapon of choice. A weapon that commanded lightning more divine than the Cadre Class Fallen Angel, Baraqiel.
"Well then, Beelzebub," Indra said, leveling the Vajra at him. Beelzebub stiffened as Indra fired another bolt of lightning. Beelzebub desperately tried to dodge but one of the bolts slammed into him. Naamah watched passively as Beelzebub burst into a cloud of black smoke.
Indra stood there, his weapon was still drawn watching the cloud fall to the ground before splitting into several pieces. The pieces elongated and rushed past him into the air next to Naamah. The pieces reconstituted and coalesced into Beelzebub, who cracked his neck.
"Oww, fucking… you discorporated me you sick fuck!" Beelzebub said.
"You're alive after that hit? You Primes are more resilient than I originally thought," Indra said.
"Beelzebub. How do we deal with him? This is taking too long anyway and our target's getting away," Naamah said, crossing her arms.
"Don't worry. I knew that a bunch of Gods were here so I came prepared," Beelzebub said, pulling out a small violet crystal. The crystal had a symbol engraved into it in the ancient language of Heaven and Hell. He smiled as he tossed it into the air.
Indra, recognizing the symbol, blasted Beelzebub again. The demon reacted in time and absorbed Indra's lightning blast. The God of Heaven appeared in front of Beelzebub and punched him in the gut. Beelzebub doubled over in pain. Indra brought his leg up and kicked Beelzebub. Beelzebub's form shattered into black smoke that swirled around Indra.
Indra blasted it with energy, forcing Beelzebub's incorporeal form to weave around him dart into the shrubbery to avoid the blasts. He turned to Naamah, who stood their passively with her barrier active.
"Not attacking me. Wise choice, filthy devil," Indra said.
"I don't need to attack you," Naamah said.
Indra raised an eyebrow as she pointed to the sky. His eyes widened when he saw the crystal hovering. Naamah's right hand, which she used to point into the sky, closed into a fist as the crystal shattered.
"Divine Abolishment Sigil," Naamah whispered as golden light streamed from the broken crystal. Indra screamed as the surroundings were engulfed in light. When the light died down, Indra was gone without a trace.
"You couldn't have done it sooner?" Beelzebub said, walking out of the trees.
"I needed a distraction," Naamah said.
"Divine Abolishment Sigils," Kali said, "They're prepared for this."
"They knew that there were powerful deities here and brought Abolishment Sigils in the event that they needed to expel or banish one that got in their way," Azazel said.
"How much longer?" Grayfia asked.
"Give me five more minutes," Asmodeus said.
"You said that five minutes ago!" Azrael argued.
"WELL SORRY! Naamah is using magic she learned from our older sister and you know how good she is at that," Asmodeus snapped.
The others went silent as Asmodeus went back to unweaving her barrier.
"Ajuka! Can't you do something?" Grayfia asked.
"I'm trying but… the barrier is constantly adapting and evolving. It's like trying to hack into a supercomputer that knows you're inside," Ajuka said as several runic formulas spun around him.
"Issei," Azrael said, looking at the monitors.
Issei flew as fast as he could with Rias in his arms. In the distance, he spotted Irina and Akeno, flying at breakneck speeds towards them. The two stopped and waved as Irina and Akeno slowed down and hovered in front of them.
"Rias-sama!" Akeno flew over and gently took some of Rias's weight off from Issei.
"I can fly fine!" Rias said. "Just… get me some Phenex tears."
"Right here," Akeno said, pulling a vial out of her pocket and administering it to Rias.
"Issei, is it?" Irina asked.
"Y- Yeah. Indra's holding him off right now if that light was anything… kinda feel bad. Indra will slaughter him," Issei said.
"Well, we have to get out of here," Akeno said.
"I'll call Nii-san," Rias said.
"Yeah," Issei said as he glanced around them. Something didn't sit right with this situation.
"Aniki!"
Issei whirled around to see Vali, Mitsuki, and the others arriving at the scene. The group surrounded them as Vali flew over to Issei.
"Issei! What the hell is going on?" Vali asked.
"There's an intruder invading the games," Issei said. "It's…"
"It's him isn't it," Mitsuki said.
"He's fighting Indra right now," Issei said.
"Guys," Rias said, slashing the CC. She looked at them with a grim face.
"What? What happened?" Issei asked.
"We're trapped…," Rias said.
"Trapped?" Kiba asked.
"You mean. We can't get out of here?" Asia asked.
Rias nodded.
"We have a couple of minutes before Asmodeus-sama undoes the barrier. And… Nii-sama said something. Issei. Mitsuki. Asia," Rias said with a grave and somber tone.
Issei stiffened, not liking the sound of Rias's voice.
"Lily… she's missing," Rias said.
Issei, Mitsuki, and Asia's eyes widened. Irina's hands flew to her mouth in horror.
"You're lying," Issei said.
"No… one of them snuck in while the chaos was happening and took her from right under their noses," Rias said.
"GODDAMNIT!" Issei fired a [Dragon Shot] into the air, shaking the barrier. "GAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Everyone was pushed back as a red aura slammed into them. Issei's eyes became toxic pits of green light as he roared.
"ISSEI!" Irina yelled as she pushed through the winds.
"Irina!" Rossweisse called as she watched her friend try and get to Issei.
"Issei! Please calm down! We'll get her back!" Irina yelled. Her words seemed to have an effect on Issei as the aura and winds began to weaken. She smiled slightly as she got closer. The closer she got, the weaker the gales got to the point where they devolved into a gentle breeze.
"...," Issei looked at her with a hopeless gaze. Irina felt her heart crack. As she got closer, her eyes widened. A distortion appeared behind Issei, causing Irina to reach out to grab him.
"ISSEI! BEHIND YOU!" Irina yelled.
Issei turned around to see a gloved fist slammed into his face. The masked demon who went by the name Apollyon appeared from the distortion. She raised her arm and summoned two red magic circles that fired two bolts of scarlet electricity at Irina. She dodged her lightning blasts.
"GUYS! SHE'S AFTER ISSEI! STOP HER!" Irina called.
Vali and Mitsuki appeared next to her and threw their attacks. Their eyes widened when their attacks passed through Apollyon as if she wasn't even there.
Apollyon slammed her palms into Vali and Mitsuki's chests, knocking the air out of their bodies and sending them flying. Vali crashed into a river several hundred meters away while Mituski crashed into the forest.
Apollyon grabbed Issei's collar and brought him closer to her. He glared at her with a bloody snarl and tried to punch her. Unfortunately, his hand went through her face, passing through it as if she was made of air.
"Go to sleep," Apollyon said. He looked into her eyes, seeing the design embedded into them spinning slowly.
[ISSEI! FIGHT IT!]
|ISSEI!|
(ISS-!)
Issei felt his world spin as Ddraig, Tiamat, and Mastema's voices faded away. His world turned black as he passed out in Apollyon's grip.
Irina's eyes widened as Issei went limp.
"ISSEI!" she flew over to them and created a large flaming sphere in her left hand.
"LET HIM GO!" she screamed, throwing the sphere.
"Tch! HAAAH!" Rikka unleashed a swathe of fire using Agneyastra while Bova fired a massive ball of fire from his mouth.
Akeno unleashed a stream of Holy Lightning while Rias fired a massive sphere of Destruction. Risa fired a hail of light spears while Ingvild, Mica, and Tohka combined their techniques and fired a massive storm of lightning, shadows, and water at Apollyon. Le Fay, Rossweisse, and Kuroka unleashed a hail of spells while Gasper attempted to bind Apollyon with his Sacred Gear's time stop.
Apollyon merely stood there as she brought Issei close to her. Irina's eyes widened as Issei seemingly flickered out of reality, disappearing in a swirling distortion. All of their attacks hit, creating an explosion that ruptured the sky and shook the arena.
Irina flapped her wings, blowing away the smoke to reveal no one in the place where Apollyon was.
"Where did she go?" Irina asked, frantically looking around.
"I can't sense them or Issei," Rias said.
"WELL TRY HARDER!" Rossweisse said. Rias was taken aback. Rossweisse rarely snapped when she was sober so to her Rossweisse yelling at her with pure fury scared her a little.
"Hey! She's trying!" Akeno said.
"Well, she's not trying hard enough!" Kuroka said.
"I can't sense him either with senjutsu," Koneko said.
Kuroka growled and turned to Le Fay.
"Can you?" she asked. Le Fay's eyes widened as she looked away from the furious Nekoshou.
"N- No," Le Fay said.
"Kuroka-san. Rossweisse-sensei. Please calm down," Kiba said.
"He's right," Irina said. "Panicking won't get us to Issei. We need to tell the Maou."
Beelzebub and Naamah sat on a branch, waiting for Apollyon's return when a CC appeared next to their ears.
"I've captured the target," Apollyon said.
"Let's go," Beelzebub said, severing the link. Naamah nodded as they disappeared without a trace.
Asmodeus's eyes widened as the resistance she was facing suddenly vanished.
"It's gone?" she said.
"Yeah," Azrael said. "We're too late."
Asmodeus looked at her aunt in a confused manner and saw her gesture to the screen. Her eyes widened when there were no traces of Beelzebub, Naamah, the masked demon, or Issei on any of the monitors as Grayfia frantically switched from camera to camera.
"No, no, no, no!" Grayfia said.
"Grayfia," Ajuka said.
"NO! IT'S BECAUSE OF YOU THEY GOT HIM! YOU TWO DIDN'T TRY HARD ENOUGH!" Grayfia said in anger. Her aura began to grow as the temperature in the room dropped. As her power was about to reach the point where the entire city and the surrounding area would've been frozen, Azazel appeared behind Grayfia and chopped her neck, knocking her out.
"She needs to collect herself," Azazel said as he caught her. He lowered her gently to the floor and sighed.
"Is Sirzechs still trying to get in?" Michael asked.
"No, he's in," Belphegor said as he saw Sirzechs's magic circle appear in the arena monitor.
"Call him back," Azazel said. "We need to convene a meeting."
"Yeah," Ajuka said as he formed a CC.
Vali Team, Rias's peerage, and what was left of Team Midnight Dragon were sitting in the ballroom of the Ars Goetia. Risa and Vasco stood with Dulio next to Heaven's representing Archangels, Michael and Gabriel. The entire room was packed and chaotic as the gods all yelled at each other. The Four Maou and Grayfia attempted to maintain control over the Gods much to their failure.
"What happened to the security!?" one god yelled.
"Please. Everyone calm down-," Sirzechs said but was interrupted as a busty blonde woman spoke up.
"You assured us that all extremist cells were being taken care of yet the games were invaded but what I can only deduce as an extremist cell! Zeus was a fool to ally himself with the Biblical Pantheon and anyone who believed that they could handle this tournament and its fuck up of a security team!" the goddess yelled.
"Well, Aphrodite, if you so kindly remember. Your pantheon volunteered some of your finest demigods to be part of the security forces," Inanna said as she sipped her tea.
"What was that?" Aphrodite retorted.
"ENOUGH!" Sirzechs yelled as his aura washed over the room, sending them into silence.
The gods all looked and saw not the happy go lucky siscon Sirzechs. No, the man that stood before them was the Maou Lucifer and the strongest devil alive. Sirzechs glared them all down, forcing them under the pressure of his power. He sighed.
"Look, fighting will get us nowhere so let's begin with any questions before we start with what we're going to do," Sirzechs said.
Indra crossed his arms.
"Do you have something to ask?" Serafall said as she looked at the Hindu God of Heaven.
"Yes. I do. Did you know that he was alive? Was his death just a cover-up for him to move around like you covered up Yahweh's death?" Indra asked.
"No, it wasn't," Sirzechs said. "Our pantheon genuinely believed him to have died during the Great War. Heaven can attest to this as the Archangel Raphael was the one who slew him in battle."
"Though it seems," Michael said. "That somehow, he survived."
"But the amount of time it must have taken him to recover must have been fairly long if he only resurfaced now," Shiva said.
"Quite," Ra said.
"Do you know why Issei boy was targeted?" Odin asked, stroking his beard.
"The Shevirat Ha-Kelim," Kali said. The other gods stiffened at the name that left Kali's lips.
"You all saw it during our match and before that," she said as she sipped her tea. "They're after the Shevirah which is currently wielded by Issei Hyoudou."
"Not necessarily. He's not the only wielder," Mammon said, speaking up. "There's one other."
"One other?" Sirzechs looked at his teacher strangely. Asmodeus and Belphegor had pale, grim looks on their faces.
"The other two wielders are dead," Kali said.
"No," Belphegor said. "It was just paranoia on my part but when Mammon and Asmodeus said they felt it too, I began to think that it was… her."
"It was," Mammon said. "I saw her."
Asmodeus and Belphegor's eyes widened. They didn't know this bit of information. They were just purely speculating whether or not it was her.
"So you did," Kali said. "This is… surprising."
"Wait? I'm confused," Inanna said, "Who is the other wielder? Lilith and Lucifer have been dead for centuries."
"No, Nee-sama is alive," Mammon said. "She's been watching everything from the sidelines or at least she was until she disappeared for a couple of years and resurfaced just recently."
"Lilith's alive? How long have you known she was?" Indra said, slamming his fist on the table.
"We've known for centuries that she was still about," Belphegor said.
"However, when she disappeared twelve to thirteen years ago without contact, we got worried. We searched for her, tried summoning her, even did a seance but we got no answer. In the end, we concluded that she was dead and told Asmodeus only to find out that… she's still kicking," Mammon said.
"So if Lilith is still alive, why does Beelzebub need Issei? Lilith has that power. Why does he need Issei?" Grayfia asked.
"I don't know," Mammon said.
"Did she say anything?" Asmodeus asked.
"No. She just said she's on the sidelines watching Beezelbub's plan play out," Mammon said. "That's all she said I swear on my name and title as Prime Demon."
"So that's the missing piece of this puzzle," Azrael said, placing her glass down. "What the hell does Beelzebub need Issei for and Lily for that matter?"
"That's right. Issei wasn't the only one taken," Sirzechs said. "Lily was also kidnapped."
"Who's Lily?" Odin asked.
"Lily is the little girl that the Hyoudous adopted after Issei found her on the streets," Grayfia said.
"But why would Beelzebub need her?" Parvati asked.
"I'm sure you're all familiar with the bizarre string of murders and kidnappings happening in the human world. Where one child goes missing and the entire family ends up dead?" Ajuka said this time.
The gods nodded, wondering where this was going. "All of those children were taken by Beelzebub and his forces from what we deduced. For what purpose, that we have yet to figure out but one thing is clear. Azazel's been doing research on them ever since he encountered Lily and this is what he discovered," Ajuka said, stepping aside for Azazel.
Azazel stood before them and summoned a file from his dimensional storage. He coughed as he opened it.
"Based on my findings, I can conclude that each of the children, including Issei and Lily share one thing in common," Azazel said. He snapped his fingers and the room went dark as a large rotating circle appeared. Three holographic beings appeared in the middle of the circle.
"Now, pay attention because this might get confusing. On the far right is a normal human being. In the middle, is a Nephilim whose data is based on Akeno Himejima prior to her reincarnation as Rias Gremory's Queen. The left is what I'm currently coining as Phages," Azazel said.
"Phages?" Sirzechs asked.
"Yes, I'll explain why I call them that. As you can see, there is a clear distinction between a human and a Nephilim. You can see that the human does not have that blue area present within their body," Azazel said, using a thin stick of light to gesture to the torsos of the two models.
"The human doesn't have angelic grace while the Nephilim does. If you look at the figure on the left, you can see that it's like the human model… however," Azazel tapped on the figure and a large violet area appeared in their torso.
"What is that?" Kali asked, narrowing her eyes. Irina and the others looked at the figure with the violet center with shocked eyes.
"Issei has that inside his body?" Rikka asked. "I know that… you know we were tracking them but..", she whispered to Irina and Mitsuki.
"That is what I'm calling… Twisted Grace or TG," Azazel said. "It's not natural and you won't find it even in Fallen Angels. But as you can see," he tapped the middle figure and the left figure and a number came up.
"It is about sixty-six percent similar to angelic grace by comparison. In addition, I did some other tests, comparing them to devils and the number I got from how similar the two energies were that they were almost nearly identical with it being ninety percent identical to the miasma of Devils," Azazel said.
"So these kids… they are devils and also angels?" Grayfia asked.
"Not necessarily. They're more akin… more akin to the Prime Demons. If I remember correctly, Nee-sama fashioned the Seven straight from her own grace before she made the Seventy Two Pillars and the other demon clans," Azazel said. "The Primes are fundamentally different in the sense that they're more unholy angels than anything in terms of energy signature. However, you can tell they're devils due to their wings and weaknesses to holy artifacts and anything associated with my Father. But signature wise, you wouldn't be able to tell them apart."
"So why are they called Phages?" Sirzechs asked.
"Oh right. The term Phages was something I got from biology. There exists a class of virus known as a bacteriophage that attaches itself to bacterial cells and uses them to replicate. That's similar to these people. The power was never inherent within them but rather, it was transplanted into them via unknown means, presumably by Beelzebub himself," Azazel said.
"So what?" Rias spoke up. Everyone turned to listen to her. "He's building an army or something?"
"Hmm, that's a possibility considering how many children he's taken over the past several months," Azrael said.
"How powerful do you think these kids could get?" Indra asked.
"My estimate? Well, that girl Issei adopted, with the proper training, she can become as powerful as any of the deities, seraphs, and devil in this room with of course, the sole exception of the Top Ten," Azazel said.
"As powerful as a God?" Aphrodite said in shock.
"Yes, as powerful as a God. I'm presuming that if that is his plan, he would have an army of Deity class beings at his beck and call as well as Issei, who if he could train this power to its full potential and combine it with the [Boosted Gear], can probably fight a member on the lower end of the Top Ten or an equivalent being," Azazel said.
"This is bad. If this is what Beelzebub is truly going for, then we need to get Issei and those children back," Sirzechs said.
"But where?" Gabriel said. "Where would we even begin to look?"
"I don't know the answer to that," Sirzechs said.
"We should send DxD then," Shiva said. "Send them to scour the human world for them. Chances are, Beelzebub's operations are taking place there and not in Hell. After all, you would be able to detect it and the other gods that are here for the games would be able to detect it as well."
"My question is how did they even get in? We were all told that security was being tightened for the competitor's safety due to the high level of high profile beings here," Indra said.
"We've discovered how," Ajuka said.
"The Demon Naamah and her compatriot infiltrated the games by registering. They were able to fight their way to the finals where they summoned Beelzebub into the arena," Ajuka said.
"Look, we can argue all we want to all day but for now, Beelzebub is our top priority. We'll discuss things later at the Celestial Council Main Headquarters. For now, we'll deploy DxD to go scour the globe," Sirzechs said. His plan was met with a chorus of agreements. The gods were dismissed, leaving to return to their respective pantheons.
Rikka got up and walked out the door with Irina, Mitsuki, Ingvild, Bova, Mica, and Tohka hot on her heels. Vali Team and Gremory Peerage were following her.
"Rikka, where are you going?" Irina said, running up to her.
"I need to tell Oji what's going on. Maybe he can help us find Issei," Rikka said.
"Taki-sama…," Irina said. "Y- Yeah."
"Tohka? Mica?" Rikka glanced over at them and sent hand signals.
Go notify your chapter head!
Got it, Mica signed back.
"Where are you guys going?" Rias asked.
"I need to go talk to someone. Someone who I think can help," Rikka said.
"We'll go with you!" Rias said.
"No," Rikka stopped and turned to face them.
"No?" Vali said.
"I'm the only one who can get there so don't even try it. Besides, you're needed here. You're part of DxD right?" Rikka said.
"Y- Yeah," Rias said.
"Well, you have your place here and I have mine. But I promise you, I will find Issei," Rikka said. "I owe him and besides, it's my job."
"Your job?" Akeno asked.
"Mhm," Rikka turned around and activated her Instantaneous Acceleration and disappeared from their sight.
"Come on," Irina said, turning around. "We have work to do."
Unknown Location, March 15, 2020, 2:00 AM
Issei's eyes snapped open. He immediately got up and looked around. He was in an abandoned old classroom. The room looked like it could have been in better shape. The ceiling looked like it could cave at any minute, the wallpaper was peeling off exposing the drywall behind it. Parts of the drywall were removed allowing Issei to see the pipes and a couple of rats moving around. Issei walked out of the classroom and made his way around the hallway. Seeing the exit sign, Issei walked outside the building.
It was nighttime. The moon was out in full and cast an eerie glow across the abandoned school.
"Where the fuck?" Issei said. "Ddraig. Tiamat. Where are we?"
No response.
"Guys?"
Still no response. Issei tried to summon the [Boosted Gear] only to find… nothing had appeared on his left arm. He tried over and over again to summon the Sacred Gear only to fail over and over again.
"Damnit!" Issei said.
"Mastema?" Issei called.
(Yeah, I'm here) she said.
"Oh thank fuck! Where are we and why can't I summon my gear?" Issei said.
(I don't know. And I don't know the answer to that either) Mastema said.
"Well then," Issei walked into the neighborhood. The houses were all dilapidated and the area had seen better days. Issei's hope increased when he saw a car sitting in the driveway. He ran up to it and found it to be rusted to all Hell. The tires were rotted and he couldn't even begin to think of how the engine block would look.
"Goddamnit," Issei said.
(Have you tried teleporting away?) Mastema said. Issei blinked and rubbed the back of his head. As he was about to form a transportation circle, Issei heard whimpering and crying coming from inside the house.
"There's someone here," Issei said.
(So? Just go) Mastema said.
"What if they're hurt?" Issei asked.
(But what if you get hurt?) she retorted. Issei ignored her and ran up to the door. Using his enhanced strength, he broke the door down, practically blasting it to smithereens. Issei stepped inside the dark house and followed the sound of the crying. The house Issei was in was a quaint two story household. Faded photos of a family were lined up against the walls as the wallpaper peeled off, revealing the rat and cockroach infested walls.
Issei summoned a small red light in the palm of his hand as he crept quietly towards the noise.
There in the center of the living room was Lily. She was crying and whimpering in fetal position on the floor, mumbling "Nii, Nee, A-nee, save me…"
Issei immediately ran over and knelt next to her.
"Lil!" Issei said, tapping her. Lily jolted from her spot and backpedaled away. Her eyes widened when she saw Issei and threw herself into his arms. Issei smiled as he hugged the little girl back, rubbing soothing circles on her back.
"Nii!" Lily said.
"Lily, I'm so glad you're okay. I heard you got taken by," Issei was interrupted.
"The bad people came to take me," Lily said, her voice muffled by his shirt.
"I know… they got me too. Come on. Let's get out of here," Issei said, picking her up. He attempted to form a transportation circle underneath them. A circle appeared only to fizzle and fade away only mere seconds later.
"Huh?" Issei tried again only for the same result to occur.
(Looks like you're trapped. The entire town must be spatial locked) Mastema said. She manifested in her spirit form in front of Issei, visible only to him.
(You'll have to get out of here the old fashioned way) Mastema said. (But… it looks like you have company)
"Shit. Lily, I want you to stay behind me," Issei said, standing up. He placed her on the ground and went in front of her. "Stay on me okay?"
She nodded meekly as she held onto his pant leg. Issei formed a small sword out of the Power of Destruction and held it in front of him. The two walked out of the house to see a group of people standing outside. He saw four other people come out. A woman with black hair and grey eyes, a man with black hair and brown eyes, another man with brown hair and violet eyes, and a woman with blonde hair and blue eyes all walked out of the bushes. Most of them seemed to be around their age with the two in front being slightly older.
"Woah! Wait, buddy! We're harmless!" the brown-haired man said.
"Name. Now," Issei said, pointing his sword.
"L- Lance. Lance McCarthy!" he said. "The Asian guy is Keon Joon. He's from Korea I think. The girl is Mary Devereux, she's the daughter of some mayor in France. The blonde is Jennifer Smith from the US."
"Issei. Just Issei. And this is my little sister," Issei said, moving his leg a little to reveal Lily.
"A little girl," Mary said in a french accent.
"How'd you get here?" Keon asked.
Issei was taken aback at the question. What should he tell them? They were all a part of the supernatural now with whatever Beelzebub had planned so he might as well be truthful with them.
"I was uh taken by… some people," Issei said.
"The bad people," Lily added.
"Bad people? Like a terrorist organization?" Jennifer asked.
"Something like that," Issei said.
(In the end, you caved) Mastema said.
Issei suddenly went on guard as he looked up at a massive dark cloud in the sky. A voice was then heard in all their heads.
"Welcome! I see you've all met. My name is Beelzebub and I am the one who put you here. You are all here because you all have a special talent making you all very special children," the voice said.
Issei stiffened and put his arm protectively in front of Lily. The moon was blocked out by dark clouds as they moved across the sky and seemingly covered the entirety of the Earth's atmosphere.
"Beelzebub," Issei said.
"Hello there, Issei," Beelzebub's voice said.
"You sick fuck let us go!" Issei said.
"I will. I will. Don't worry," he said.
Issei narrowed his eyes. "I don't believe that for a second. What's the catch?" Issei asked.
"Hmm. Smart. The catch is… only one of you can get out. Which means, the rest of you must die. I call it… my own personal Hunger Games minus the districts," Beelzebub said.
Everyone's eyes widened at his declaration. The very idea of making them all kill each other for survival, especially since there was someone as young as Lily was absolutely horrendous. It made Issei sick to his stomach.
"Beelzebub, you sick bastard!" Issei said.
"Good. Fan that fire in your belly, Issei. You'll need it. Anyway, let's get it onto the rules," Beelzebub said.
"Rule 1: No Sacred Gears!
"Rule 2: No one may leave the town! Anyone caught trying to leave will be brutally killed.
"Rule 3: Only one person can live. In order to survive, everyone else must die! Any questions? None? Great! I do have one question. Are you all as excited as I am?" he asked.
They all remained silent, rooted to their spots in fear and horror. Issei hugged Lily protectively, shielding her from the sight of the others.
"Well then, let the games begin!" Beelzebub said. His voice faded and the clouds disappeared.
"This is just some sick joke right?" Jennifer asked. "Right?" she asked. Everyone seemed unsure. "I have to leave. I'm supposed to be headed to Cancun with my boyfriend!"
"Well, let's just leave then," Lance said.
"I'm pretty sure he just said we couldn't leave," Keon said. Jennifer ignored him.
"Whatever. I'm leaving," she said as she walked away.
"Should we stop her?" Mary asked them.
"No. If the lass wants ta leave then let her," Lance said, waving off her concern.
Jennifer walked away from the group with Issei looking at her retreating back. Issei held on to Lily as he began to walk down the street. Lance noticed that he was leaving and looked over.
"Where are you goin?" he asked.
"To look for supplies. This town may be abandoned but there has to be some animals or something we can hunt for food," Issei said. The others glanced at each other and followed him. They searched for a few hours and happened upon a store. Issei shattered the windows and walked inside. He was pleasantly surprised and instantly suspicious to find such a trove of fresh food.
"Food. And it looks fresh," Keon said.
"Wait… it might be a trap," Issei said.
"How would you know? In fact, how do you know that guy who took us anyway?" Keon asked.
"I've run into him before," Issei said.
"Whatever, I'm eating," Keon said.
"...," Issei stood by as Keon opened a bag of chips and began to eat. Lance was more hesitant and stood off next to Issei as Mary ran off to eat.
"Nii," Lily said, tugging on his pant leg.
"Hmm?" Issei looked down at her.
"Hungry," she said.
Issei sighed.
"Mastema. Will poison affect us?" Issei asked.
(No. Mundane poisons have no effect on supernatural beings. But be careful. Even if I don't sense any poisons, supernatural or mundane, I suggest tasting it yourself before giving some to Lily) Mastema said.
Issei nodded and led Lily into the store.
"So," Issei turned to see Lance standing behind him, inspecting an apple.
"What?" Issei asked.
"You seem to know this guy. Any idea why we're all here?" Lance asked.
"We all have… powers," Issei said. "Beelzebub is a demon. A well-known one in the Supernatural World. The world of Gods, Angels, Demons, and Monsters."
"Powers?" Lance asked.
"Yeah. This guy gave us all powers or something when we were all babies or probably while our moms were pregnant or something," Issei said as he sniffed an apple. He bit into it and deduced there was no poison. He handed the apple to Lily, who began to nibble on it.
As they all started to eat, an ear-shattering scream rang throughout the entire town. Issei and Lance looked at each other. Issei grabbed Lily as he and Lance ran towards the source of the screaming.
They made their way to the outer regions of town and found something horrifying. Jennifer's mutilated body was found on the ground. Her arm was hanging on a tree. Her torso was ripped open with her intestines splayed out all over the ground. Her head was hanging from one of an old windmill with her face frozen in horror.
"Lily, cover your eyes," Issei said. The little girl nodded and covered her eyes.
Issei walked over to her torso and put his hand over the torso.
"Looks like… dog bites?" Issei said.
"Look… prints," Lance said.
"Definitely a dog," Issei said.
Mary and Keon ran up to them. Mary placed her hands on her mouth as she saw Jennifer's mutilated corpse.
"What the fuck?" Keon said.
"She's being used as an example," Issei said.
"This shit… poor girl," Lance said.
"We have to find a way to get out of here," Issei said.
"But how?" Lance asked.
"I can teleport but something in this town is keeping me from doing it. We need to find it," Issei said.
"But what are we looking for?" Mary asked.
"I don't know but we need to find it fast or…," Issei said, looking at Jennifer's body. The others looked grim as Mary covered Lily's eyes.
To Beelzebub, this was all a game, however, they knew what it really was.
"This isn't a game," Lance said. The others turned to him and he looked at them with a blank expression.
"He's culling us."
Reviews:
Rhongomyniad: Yup. I can personally vouch that a lot of people in the Philippines loves Jollibee and I had Jollibee that day so it was a contributing factor. I was like "Hmmm, traditional Filipino food like Adobo, Dinuguan, Sisig, and Kare-Kare... nooo let's go with Jollibee!" It's sort of a national treasure only if that national treasure was chicken. And thank you. I know she's watching over me.
18Andrew: Well, Issei's not weak. It's just he didn't get a chance to get to his full power before their fight was interrupted. And don't forget, Rias trained for the games and attained a new form.
AnimeFan0216: Heh... I had a bucket of spicy Chickenjoy that day and decided to let the ORC try it. And you're spot on with your deduction of Lilith. She won't interfere unless Issei gets hurt.
First off, I really appreciate all the comments about my grandmother and her passing. That being said, thank you all again for your concern. But writing is my way of... coping I guess. Rest assured, I've had time to think about it and I feel like she wouldn't want me to be depressed. I know my grandmother will always be watching over me and I can only hope that she and my grandfather (they're together again at least) keep watching over me. Sorry if I went off on a tangent.
Anyhoozles, prepare thyself! You know what chapter comes next and I warn you now! Anyway, read! Stay safe, wash your damn hands, don't be an idiot, respect all people and races, don't be a Karen, and remember to have a great day/night or not, the choice is yours~!