Hello there any and all reading this. I would just like to state that this is the very first story I have ever made, so bear with any rookie mistakes I may make and feel free to give me criticism and any tips on how to improve.

I will try to replicate the canon characters' personalities to the best of my ability, but I can't promise that the characters will behave exactly like they do in the source material as I plan on tweaking some minor side characters a tad.

There are going to be numerous OC's in this story serving as both minor and major characters. So if you absolutely disdain OC stories, this is your warning. That aside, I hope I don't leave (too) much of a bad impression via this story.

To give a time frame for this story, it begins between Gasper's training and the Leaders' Summit.

I do not own High School DxD or its canonical characters. Those belong to Ichiei Ishibumi solely.

Corvias of the South.

The radiant fingers of dawn crawl over the horizon and grip the town with sunlight. The bright-yellow glow lights the sky up with an azure hue, pushing back the dreary night. Seeping through the windows of every home and striking the eyes of the slumbering, it beckons them to awaken. Only a few respond to the call; the Kuoh Devils and the derelict Ryuusuke, who venture from their homes to meet once again at the ORC Clubhouse. As they travel both by air and foot, they find the town still lies motionless, its residents remaining comatose even after a full cycle of the Sun and Moon. Five days remain before the Summit.

Kuoh Academy ORC Club House, 6:00 AM

The young Devils groan and stretch their muscles awake as they stand before the club house's entrance, all of them seeming worse for wear and groggy. Standing before the door itself was Sona and Rias, who looked as if they took no time to pretty themselves up before setting out; in fact, they seemed just as tired as their underlings did. The only exceptions to this were Grayfia and, of course, Ryuusuke, who seemed perpetually tired as a default.

"I see you all had a rough time sleepin' as well," Issei remarked, scratching the back of his head as he adjusted his school-issued blazer over his simple red shirt.

"You got any sleep?" Genshirou questioned with a gritty rumble in his voice. His blonde hair was all a mess and his ashen eyes seemed glazed over with fatigue. He coughed to clear his throat.

"I did have Prez to comfort me, so I guess that did help," Issei remarked with a light chuckle weakened by the tiring fingers of fatigue gripping his throat and being.

"Of course you did," Genshirou retorted, his voice now clear but tinted with slight envy. His half-closed gaze drew towards Sona. "I just wished she'd do the same for me," he thought.

"You're already lagging behind because of one day of poor sleep? I've come to assume you Devils are more resilient to torpor," Ryuusuke spoke blankly, brandishing a knife fashioned from a crooked tooth likely ripped from a Stray's maw. He pulled a two-toned, whetstone brick out of his pocket and grated the edges of the primitive karambit against its rough surface.

"We may be supernatural, but we aren't above fatigue. It doesn't help that we, just yesterday, learned that six people worse than the ones who abducted the Kasais basically had our lives in the palms of their hands the whole time, so I apologize if we couldn't get much sleep last night knowing this," Sona lashed indignantly towards Ryuusuke. With a snap of her fingers, multiple watery appendages wrapped around her completely. With gentle, cool currents, they slapped some wakefulness into Sona while wiping away the "morning look" from her. The water fell away, evaporating by the Sitri's will just as quickly as it appeared upon hitting the ground, leaving not even a drop of water on her person. "Though not a cure-all to this fault of the flesh, we have magic to help us stave off such trivial ailments."

Ryuusuke didn't bother refuting or even responding to her spiteful words. He held his new weapon up towards the sky and gauged the sharpness of the vicious fang-knife.

Sona's eyes narrowed with disdain upon witnessing this blatant display of disrespect.

"No, no. I heard you; I just don't have anything to say against it. You've made a fair point," Ryuusuke spoke, not even locking eyes with the Sitri yet knowing of her spiteful gaze bearing down upon him as he returned to gliding the new knife against the gray and blue stone.

Meanwhile, Rias was employing a red-hued magic to spruce up her look. Her disarrayed, crimson hair sorted out into its usual magnificence, and the wear of sleeplessness left her face. "If anyone needs a refresher, speak now. Once we get rolling, we might not get a moment of rest for quite a bit. As we were flying back, I remember seeing another Stray in an old factory plant, so there are likely many more Strays we need to take care of before we do anything else," Rias offered as she casually held a hand up, open palm facing the blue sky. Within a brief flash of red, she brought forth a crimson magic circle that hovered just above her gentle palm.

"There are no more abominations," Ryuusuke chimed, pocketing his whetstone and hanging his primitive knife on an equally primitive belt seemingly made of plant fibers and vines wrapped tightly around his waist.

"Pardon?" Rias asked with a raised brow. His word choice slightly disturbed her, and knowing of his cruelly indiscriminate method of murder only made her more concerned.

"He means the unpleasant Strays. We left the peaceable ones alone. He and I went around last night and finished up where you all left off. It also gave me time to explain the whole situation to him," Grayfia stepped in.

Rias let out a relieved sigh. "Cross that off of today's agenda. Thanks, Grayfia," she spoke with a gentle smile and positively beaming blue-eyes.

"I appreciate your gratitude, but don't thank me; thank Ryuusuke. He was the one who proposed the idea," Grayfia deflected with a gracious bow and a tender smile of her own.

"That's… uncharacteristically thoughtful of you," Xenovia remarked. Her blue hair, much like that of many there, was a silky havoc. The sole green streak in her hair was obfuscated by an overwhelming blue, and the aging look of sleeplessness gripped her eyes. She stepped towards Rias, ready for a pick-me-up.

Like a herd of sheep, the rest followed behind Xenovia with lethargic shambling.

"You all put in a great effort yesterday. I only thought it would be fair for me to carry my weight," Ryuusuke spoke, being the only one alongside Grayfia not lining up for treatment.

"Well, thanks to your efforts, we have significantly more time to get some work done with. I think we should start off by trying to solve the town's sleeping issue. I'm afraid if we wait too long, Kuoh's inhabitants will starve in their sleep. We can't quite have that happening," Rias explained, a torrent of red magic wrapping around her fellow Devil allies and whisking away the tiredness in their eyes whilst fixing their disheveled appearances to their typical looks.

"How do you suppose we're going to do that?" Ryuusuke asked.

"Lumbric told us about some friends of his. Maybe they'll have a solution for this," Genshirou suggested, running a hand through his hair and adjusting his blazer to fit comfortably over him. He approached the vagabond with a friendly feel to his presence and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Remind me that I owe you two a meal when the restaurants are operating again. You guys earned it."

"Have we not told Saji about Akahoshi yet? How did we forget about that?" Sona thought, disgusted seeing her Pawn cater to the man whilst unknowing of the suspect nature of the hobo's history. The only thing that revolted her more was having forgotten to inform him. "I'll need to fix that whenever we break from Akahoshi again."

"Which of Lumbric's friends are we going to speak with first?" Asia asked, running a dainty hand through her golden locks to make sure everything was right where she liked it.

"If we're going to be meeting with Lophii, can I stay in the club house?" Gasper asked timidly, yet clearly with a raised hand. He clutched his effeminate hands close to his chest, frightened by how the aquatic Stray may look. He ran various possible appearances through his mind, each one more frightening than the last.

"I don't think we can risk leaving anyone isolated at all. Who knows what else may be watching us," Yuuto refuted the platinum-blonde Dhampir, much to the latter's dismay.

"T-That's not helping," Gasper spoke, Yuuto's words having inadvertently spiked his fear and anxiety. His pink-irised eyes hopped from point to point, keeping a close eye out for anything that even remotely resembled a human. Eventually, they fell upon Ryuusuke. His gaze focused on him and his pupils constricted themselves. He managed to turn his gaze away with great effort, but just a little too late.

For the first time since the Dhampir's suspicion first developed, Ryuusuke caught a glimpse of Gasper's frightened glare towards the vagrant. "Dear Gasper, why do you look at me so fearfully?" he asked with his usual monotone and unemotive voice, taking note of the absolute terror in the feminine boy's eyes.

A meek yelp escaped from the Dhampir's mouth. His body gave way to trembling, and his posture became increasingly tense and self-protective.

Sona grit her teeth behind closed lips, and her amaranth eyes fell upon Gasper. "Vladi, we're so close. The last thing we need you to do is crack." she thought.

The rest of Sona's Peerage, save for Genshirou, tensed up internally. They all knew the moment Ryuusuke could read Gasper was the moment their whole espionage would fall apart.

"Y-You, you scare me," Gasper spoke, tripping over his words.

Sona and her underlings could feel the air stagnate in their lungs as their hearts thundered in their ears. Was Gasper's cowardice just about to blow the whole operation?

"W-What you did, w-when the boxer guy and t-the Werewolf got away. I-I'm scared of you being mad at me," Gasper lied with plentiful stuttering, the heavy stares of Sona and her Peerage having urged him to come up with something quickly. The feminine boy collapsed on the ground, his heart thumping hard and fast in his ears. A biting chill flooded his senses as he let Ryuusuke out of his sight. An urge to wail pushed itself harder and harder.

"Is that what this is about?" Ryuusuke questioned with indifference. "I'm not angry at you. If I was, you would know without a shadow of a doubt. If anything, I blame myself for taking too long to kill them."

"Huh?" Gasper sounded with a tear or two leaking from his eyes, alleviated that Ryuusuke bought his lie. The crushing pressure placed on him by Sona and her group faded away, allowing him to regain most of his composure.

Relief washed over Sona and her Peerage like a cool breeze, allowing them to breathe once more. Their hearts settled their frantic tantrums.

Ryuusuke's blank glare swept over to Rias, losing interest in Gasper just as quickly as he had gained it like a dog distracted by a rodent. "Which of The Worm's allies are we going to speak to first?"

"I feel we should start with Corvias. He seems to be the quickest and easiest to invoke, so I feel it would be best to gather what information we can from him before the others," Rias answered. She stretched her arms out to wring the last drops of exhaustion from her muscles, her clothes hugging her closely as she did so.

"And where exactly is he located?" Ryuusuke asked.

"Dude's a southern mountain hermit. We were told to climb to the highest peak we could find n' shout his name," Issei answered with renewed vigor.

"A mountain hike?" Ryuusuke spoke with a slightly inquisitive air. He crossed his lanky arms. "I'll go grab some MRE's from my hut behind my masters' home."

"We can just fly over there, ya know?" Issei added.

"Nonetheless, I imagine flying requires you to spend energy as you are still a biological creature, and I assume none of you have had breakfast yet. I would highly advise bringing some along in case hunger strikes," Ryuusuke explained.

"He does make a good point. You all got here in such a hurry, you didn't even spare time to properly groom yourselves," Grayfia spoke in favor of the hobo.

The moment the silver-haired maiden had finished her sentence, an involuntary, rumbling growl escaped from Sona's body.

Many eyes fell upon the Sitri as her stomach cried out.

Sona stood stoutly, arms crossed over her torso in defiance. Her violet eyes were honed to a sharp glare that cut from person to person as she tried to distract herself from her body's plea for sustenance. The churning emptiness slowly became more and more overwhelming as her stoic facade began to crack more and more.

Her eyes trained solely onto Ryuusuke with an inward hatred. "Damn you," she thought before dropping her arms to her sides. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath as she swallowed down her pride in favor of being able to swallow down some food, even if it was from someone as despicable as him.

"Those in favor of taking an intermediate break to eat best speak now. Thanks to Akahoshi's initiative, we have been afforded enough time to do so," Sona spoke, the words flooding from her leaving a repugnant taste in her mouth as she not only had to congratulate Ryuusuke once again but also advocate a suggestion of his.

With resounding unanimity, the Devils all sounded with a collective "I" and signaled with a raised hand. Some sounded reluctant or indifferent; some sounded positively enthused by the idea.

"Lucifuge, would you be so kind as to escort Akahoshi to the Kasai household to retrieve the rations?" Sona asked Grayfia with hidden disgust towards the hobo. The only thing that disgusted her more was how he had been able to string along everyone with such little effort. In her heart, she felt it was a slap to the face: a notion that she wasn't even a threat. The more she thought about it, the more volatile her inner feelings became. This mixture consisting of infernal hate, the bitter sting of humiliation, and the sprinkling of crushing woe for the love she had lost and may never find again, was simply overwhelming.

"Very well then," Grayfia answered with a gentle smile and a sophisticated bow. She approached the vagrant and wrapped her arms around him. Her leathery wings pushed out from her back, blowing away the air as well in their extraction. With a light hop, she took to the sky and headed towards the Kasais' home.

As the two flew off, Sona grit her teeth behind closed lips. Though she sorely wished to, she refrained from clenching her fists to keep her rage hidden from the more prying personalities amongst their ranks. Rage culminated in her heart and hastily climbed up her being. "Cocytus is too kind a punishment for you. The Beyond is much more fitting a place for your ilk," she growled quietly, unwavering aggression lining her words. Her restraint began fading, and she inched closer towards discharging a bullet of water to the largest source of her anguish.

Tsubaki approached her King from behind and laid a hand gently on Sona's shoulder as if knowing how close her King was to her breaking point. She leaned in close to Sona's ear. "Just hold on a little longer, President. He'll get what's coming to him soon enough. He'll have to show himself for what he truly is at the Summit; he's as good as dead when he does so long as we keep a level head and work a trap around him," the heterochromic Queen whispered.

What had first started as dislike and suspicion had turned into a burning hatred the likes of which the Sitri has never experienced before. With Tsubaki's words of rationality and encouragement, however, Sona was able to subside the tempest for now at least. She occupied her mind with thoughts of Ryuusuke's misfortune and, ultimately, his demise for a source of catharsis.

"Shinra, I will need you to lead the search for Corvias," Sona spoke hushedly.

"You're going to go speak with Lumbric, correct?" Tsubaki responded, already having a solid idea on what Sona desired to do.

Sona nodded in confirmation. "I'll speak with Rias to see if we can split our groups: hopefully taking Akahoshi with her, so he doesn't complicate things any further. Also, inform Saji of Akahoshi's danger discretely and away from the ears of Rias, her underlings, and Akahoshi himself if we have the misfortune of being stuck with him." Once finishing her thought, she turned and began making her way towards her crimson-haired friend sat upon the steps leading into the club house, preoccupied with socializing with her own Peerage and some of Sona's own following.

"President, I would recommend making yourself appear more hospitable. You know how well Gremory can read a person if she has the desire to do so," Tsubaki warned.

"Of course. Thank you, Shinra," Sona responded before taking in a deep sigh and ridding herself of her spitefully sharpened glare and contemptuously curved frown, replacing both with her typical analytical visage and a straightened mouth emanating indifference. With small cinders of rage still settled in her heart, she walked her way towards Rias with hands held behind her back like a proud general.

As she got close, Sona's eyes locked onto Rias with unwavering conviction. "I apologize for the interruption, but I need to speak with Rias in private," Sona's voice rang amidst the babble of idle chatter, ceasing it abruptly.

"Certainly. I have something I need to say to you myself anyway," Rias obliged, waving at her friends and kindly apologizing, herself, for having to cut things short with them. She stood up from the stairs as Sona closer approached her.

Sona passed the Gremory, making her way inside with the assumption that Rias would follow her in.

Rias followed behind her friend, but not without one last thing to say to the crowd behind them as she half-way turned back towards them mid-stride. "If Ryuu and Grayfia come back before we're out, tell them we're just discussing something amongst ourselves."

The two disappeared into the building behind polished wood double-doors.

Treading through the halls, Sona leading the way, the two went deep enough into the building to where their voices would neither seep out into the outside world nor be picked up by the ears of their Devil comrades.

"You first," Rias offered with genial words.

"As we have two primary concerns for today—waking the town before everyone starves away and interview Lumbric's allies—I feel we would be more efficient if we were to split ourselves into two groups, each group taking care of one task," Sona explained with authority.

"I'm not too sure dividing ourselves is such a good idea given the whole 'being watched' situation. Yes, Lumbric said the High Prophet's forces had already left, and we saw the hooded group escape firsthand; but who's to say either won't come back or doesn't already have others lingering around as sentries?" Rias refuted in spite of her friend's adamancy.

Sona crossed her arms with the energy of a stern autarch. "While that is a good point, I feel the risk is unavoidable. Though we have some time today, we won't have much time in total unless we split up," she spoke. Her amethystine eyes wandered off to the side as she placed a hand to her chin, filling her well-learned head with equations and calculations.

It took her only moments to snap herself from her mathematical interlude, her eyes returning to Rias with persistent austerity. Her arms both dropped to her sides. "In fact, I can say with roughly 89.7% certainty and a ±10.3% margin of error accounting for the variable amount of time to do what needs to be done that this will be the only break we'll have until the Summit if we all fly as a single group—and that's factoring in at most four hours of sleep each night, which would arguably make us more vulnerable to ambush than if we were to be in two groups due to heavy fatigue that even magic won't be able to stave off."

Though her calculations were, for the most part, truthful, she had to blow the numbers up just a little to ensure Rias would accept her method. Though it wounded her greatly to betray Rias's near boundless trust in her friends, she deeply felt that this was all necessary to get to the root of Ryuusuke's intentions.

Rias closed her eyes and sighed in exasperation. "If there is one thing I've never been able to disprove, it's your calculations," she spoke before opening them once again. "That, and your specificity shows me just how much you've been thinking everything through." Rias placed one hand gently on her own hip. "Just how much do you think we need to have done?"

"We have just five days to wake the town—probably much less for that specific task as the humans are withering away blissfully unaware as we speak—talk to the three other Strays Lumbric told us of, ascertain and utilize the information given to us by said Strays, comb the whole town and its surroundings for any remaining wreckage from the fight, fix any found wreckage, and make the necessary preparations for what is basically a guaranteed conflict at the Summit given how many parties intend on being present. This, of course, is excluding potential events borne of misfortune and universal randomness that may impede our efforts," Sona listed thoroughly.

"Alright then, we'll split up into groups—my Peerage and your Peerage. I feel we should tackle the town's sleeping dilemma and the task of speaking with Lumbric's allies first. Which do you wish to take on?" Rias spoke.

"I would prefer taking on the latter," Sona answered with superficial indifference, being absolutely thrilled on the inside for all was coming along smoothly for her. "If possible, we would appreciate Lucifuge's aid as Akahoshi is limited with his human capabilities."

"I don't think he's too heavy for Tsubasa to carry. I'm sure you guys will be fine with him," Rias dissented.

"I am aware of this, but my group is exploring a riskier territory. If there are any spies left around here, they'll likely see us heading to the mountain peaks before they see your group down in the town. I feel it is only logical we get Lucifuge's aid instead of someone who must rely on ballistic weaponry as his most lethal skill," Sona refuted, trying to not pin the task of managing the unhinged man too forcefully on her most kind friend by supplying some legitimate form of logic, even if it were to mask her true reasonings, to her two-faced proposition.

Rias put a hand to her chin and let out a ponderous hum. She raised herself from her pensive state shortly after. "I'm not sure if she'll even let me out of her sight, but I'll try what I can to convince her to go with you."

"With that out of the way, what is it you wished to speak with me about?" Sona asked, largely triumphant yet increasingly disgusted with herself for having to manipulate her close friend the way she was. This all was inside her, as her exterior only relayed signals of cold professionalism.

"Oh, yes. I'm not sure if you noticed, but Lumbric seemed awfully terrified of Ryuu in a way that just didn't seem right to me," Rias answered, a tone of intrigue in her voice.

A twinge of choking worry mixed with an equally rousing spark of jubilation stirred with Sona as Rias spoke. It was to her relief that she might not have to hold her tongue about Ryuusuke with Rias for much longer, but with Issei as unfettered as he is, issues can and will arise if he hears of the conspiracy. "What do you mean by that?" she asked with superficial ignorance.

"Before Ryuu shot at Lumbric, he looked up at where we found Ryuu perched at. The terror on his face was like nothing I've ever seen before. It was… It's something I can't quite explain in words," Rias spoke with pity in regards to The Worm.

"So, you're getting suspicious of Akahoshi?" Sona asked, hoping for a yes but knowing that kindly Rias would steer away from such accusations.

"Actually, I am a little uncertain. Looking back at some of the things he has done… and said… and taking into context how Lumbric, who was a survivor of the hooded group's purging, reacted to him has made me really start to think. He's also not necessarily that human in appearance, if you get what I mean," Rias spoke dodgily, shifting her posture often as she went on. Though kind-hearted at the core, she felt grimy having to think of a friend so dubiously—even if the friend in question is as amiable as a rabid badger.

"You mean pale, emaciated, and almost corpse-like?" Sona questioned, knowing exactly what she meant but wanting to know if the two were on the same road in this conversation. Zest burned in her heart, knowing that maybe she could finally explain it all to Rias after having to keep it locked-down for so long.

"Yes, exactly. I don't want to think bad of him, though. He's shown that, despite his unfeeling personality, he still cares for those around him… in his own twisted and violent way, of course," Rias spoke, her azure eyes shuttered with shame. She shook her head with discontent, and a stern look burrowed into her eyes. "Just forget about it; I'm barking up the wrong tree pinning things on Ryuu. Let's not let a word of this leave this room," she spoke, promptly passing by Sona, making her way to the door leading back into the hallways of the club house. The forceful steps she made caused resonating clips and clops to echo from her shoes.

"I know exactly what you mean," Sona said with dire words, but with an alleviated sound in her voice.

The clanking of Rias's shoes against the polished wooden floors ceased with a squeak. She turned to face her Sitri friend. "And what is that?"

Sona kept her back turned towards Rias and held a hand up to her mouth. An unsettling grin charged with an indomitable exhilaration crawled across her face. "I can tell you, but you must keep it a secret from Hyoudou. You can tell anyone else to your heart's content, but you must not let this reach Hyoudou's ears under any circumstances."

The way Sona spoke chilled Rias's blood and made the hairs on the back of her neck stand high like cornstalks. Nonetheless, she obliged, led on by an intoxicating curiosity. "I, on my name as a Gremory, promise to keep Issei from hearing about this."

"Good," Sona retorted, keeping in a chuckle that could only be described as malicious and vindictive had it been let out. "You might find this hard to believe, but I honestly believe Akahoshi is a spy sent by Archmage to watch us while we think they've left us to our own devices."

Her claim stuck Rias as brazen, too much so for it to be taken as an absolute. Though her hesitance made her quick to disbelief, she wanted to hear out Sona's reasons. "And what evidence do you have of this?" she asked.

"The night we fought Archmage and the others, I made an incriminating discovery pertaining to Akahoshi's origins. The angelic Doppelgänger had cornered me in a mausoleum-like structure. In the brief amount of time I had to examine my surroundings before the enemy was upon me again, I saw a plaque with Akahoshi's name engraved on it. It stated that he had died and that his body was never recovered," Sona explained, lowering her hand from her mouth and ridding herself of her unsavory grin. She turned to face her friend.

"You say his body wasn't recovered, but I assume you already have an explanation for that," Rias retorted with a rumble of skepticism in her voice. In spite of this, her own skepticism toward Ryuusuke only made her more interested in Sona's viewpoint.

"That I do. I feel Akahoshi is a Revenant," Sona spoke with brevity.

"And what does being a Revenant have anything to do with him being a spy?" Rias questioned, careful to not blindly follow a theory that could ruin someone's life if wrong even though Sona has a record of being right more often than not.

"I've already spoken amongst my Peerage about the very same concern, yet we all came to the conclusion that we should, at the least, watch over him with diligence. Akahoshi has always been a distant individual in the social sense. He's acted coldly even with the Kasais, who he was allegedly supposed to 'live and die for,' according to what he has told us. They even accepted him into their family in a way, yet he never shook off his apathy. You'd think someone that dedicated to protecting someone would be much more emotive when losing them," Sona explained, feeling she was losing Rias's trust by the second. She tapped her shoe against the ground in a slow sequence, trying to not make her worry visible on her face.

"That is an understandable point, but I have noticed Ryuu has taken a turn in personality. He actually seems to have become more considerate of others as of lately," Rias spoke, hanging her head in contemplation.

"What do you mean by that?" Sona asked.

"Well, the fact that he took it upon himself to clean up the rest of the Strays is a good start. Though he is still quick to violence, he also seems to have become a little more cooperative than when we had first met him. To wrap it all up, I can't read him well, and whenever I could, he never came off as an enemy," Rias spoke.

Sona perched her hands on her hips. Her violet eyes seemed to narrow as they locked with Rias's. "His change in temperament may well be a cover for him to make himself seem innocent," she spoke. A defeated sigh escaped her. "You're too good a person, Rias; you really are. I understand I can't convince you no matter how many speculations I present to you. You've always been averse to following uncertainties when it came to people. That said, I know you're growing wary of him too, so I want you to come with me to speak with Lumbric and hopefully get some answers. I'll call for you when I head out to meet him," she spoke before holding out a hand. A tiny, bright orb of blue light hovered just before the tip of her index finger. It lingered as if waiting for Rias's approval.

Rias stood in reluctant stillness for a solid ten-to-fifteen seconds. After having thought it through, she took the orb by hand and placed it behind her ear, the orb merging into her head seamlessly.

"Just make sure neither Hyoudou nor Akahoshi learns of this under any circumstance. Hyoudou will, without a doubt in my mind, question Akahoshi and, if Akahoshi is indeed a spy—which I strongly believe he is—he will know we are onto him. We want to corner him to minimize the possible damage he can do to us, and so he, when the time comes, will be forced to tell us everything. Until then, I encourage you to treat him as friendlily as you want. It'll only make him more comfortable with his position, making it more likely he'll slip up if he is acting," Sona warned.

"And I hope you keep a level head about this. Accusations can quickly turn into a witch hunt if led by emotions, and you've been running on emotions quiet often lately," Rias spoke, her blue gaze perturbed and apprehensive and her posture uncertain and rigid.

Those words rang in Sona's ears on repeat. Had she been notably emotive in her suspicions this entire time? Though not showing it, she fell into worried contemplation. She thought of how emotional she had been this whole time and how those emotions may have very well been picked up by Ryuusuke. "Does he already know?" she thought, her breath becoming still. "No, he shouldn't. Rias just knows me better. She's much better at reading me because of it," her panicked thoughts continued.

Rias turned to face the door leading out, rubbing her face thoroughly with her hands to wipe away those unpleasant feelings tainting it. "I'll refrain from informing Issei, as promised. That said, I will also refrain from telling anyone in my Peerage. While he is suspect to me, I don't want any of them harboring ill will towards him until I feel certain he can't be trusted just in case he is an innocent man." Like so, she left, leaving Sona alone in the room as she headed back outside.

Sona kept herself in thought, running through every moment Ryuusuke was near her in her mind to make sure she wasn't translating her disdain for him in any visible way. The more she thought, the more she worried. "Did I already fail? Does he already know?" she repeated quietly. Her thoughts then led to every interaction she had with the man, and that was where her heart raced. She remembered every harsh tone she spoke in—every dire word she said to him—and fell on her knees. "He does know; he has to. That would best explain his unusual charitability. Damn it," she lamented softly, her voice reeking with defeat as she gazed down at the floor.

"Miss Sitri, we're back with Ryuusuke's generous gifts of food," Grayfia's voice spoke nearby, sounding as if she stood right before the doorway into the room.

Sona looked up from her despaired state to see Grayfia standing in the open doorway. Her voluminous maid dress and her elegantly braided silver hair covered up the entirety of the doorway, not allowing Sona to see past her.

"Is there an issue, Sona? It's rather unlike you to grovel, much less so pitifully," Grayfia spoke in a motherly tone with sympathy in her crimson eyes.

Sona took in a breath as if about to speak, but before she could do so, she caught a glance at something that quickly pulled her back into silence. Down by Grayfia's feet where her dress failed to reach the ground, Sona could see a bare foot paired with a foot wearing a ragged shoe. Ryuusuke was behind the silver-haired maid as if listening for Sona's soul to break, but she would not give him the satisfaction. "Bastard's here just to rub it in more," she thought before rising up from the ground. "I'm just… grieving over Daisuke. You don't need to worry much about me."

"Dear, you don't need to be so caught up in that. The Satans will wrap it up in due time, and I'll make a personal effort in doing so as well. Their safety is no little of assured," Grayfia spoke with honeyed words, hoping to get Sona back up on her feet in a metaphorical sense, as she was already standing.

"I appreciate your attempts at soothing me, Lucifuge; I really do. Just don't feel the need to lie to me like this. I understand the gravity of the situation and the uncertainty of it, so telling me everything will be fine is more of an insult to my intelligence than a way to calm me," Sona refuted, assertive yet trying what she could to retain an air of reverence for the mighty woman.

"Ah, yes. I should've known you wouldn't take such a statement well. My apologies," Grayfia spoke, giving a sophisticated bow as she did so. "If I may speak brazenly, why are you so fixated on Daisuke? A woman of your prestige is more fitted to nobility than a common man."

"The last time I was arranged with nobility, I was treated more like a trophy than an individual. Daisuke knew how to make me feel like a person instead of an object to be paraded in front of a paparazzi. There was more that attracted me to him, but how he treated me was essentially my main reason," Sona refuted, her spiteful words signaling to Grayfia that she had tread on some personal grounds.

Grayfia's hand rose up to her mouth, a less than pleased look sweeping across her face. "I dearly apologize, Sona. Had I known, I wouldn't have suggested," she spoke with shame in her voice, accompanied by another, deeper bow. "When you're ready, head outside and eat your fill. We'll wait if you need some time to clear your mind."

"I'll be out in just a second; you just go ahead and have yourself your meal. I'll be fine," Sona dismissed.

"As you wish," Grayfia spoke before turning herself to face the exit. Her dress and hair filling the space in the doorway still blocked Sona's sight, preventing her from seeing Ryuusuke's figure behind her.

Sona glanced down around where she had seen Ryuusuke's feet. They turned around just as she had done so. It was only until Ryuusuke started making his leave Grayfia began advancing towards the exit. They promptly left Sona on her own in the club house.

As Sona pulled herself from the ground, her conversation with Grayfia stuck around in her mind; something just felt off to her about the entire series of events. She found it odd that Grayfia didn't at least note Ryuusuke's presence even after having turned around. It was as if she already knew he was there. Not to mention how she had been constantly blocking Sona's line of sight with the hobo, almost looking like she was trying to take up even more visible space as she left the doorway. A flooring thought struck her mind.

"Is… Is Lucifuge working with Akahoshi?" she thought. The idea was absurd, thinking the wife of Sirzechs Lucifer was aiding what Sona believed to be an enemy. "If she's working with him, does that mean Akahoshi is allied with the Satans? Or is Lucifuge following some agenda of her own? Just how deep does this rabbit-hole go?" she pondered. Though knowing she had minimal evidence in favor of the proposition, the possibility made its home in her head and lingered.

"I may need to keep an eye on her as well. This time, however, I need to keep myself calm and not let my suspicion show through the way it did with Akahoshi. He most likely already knows I am aware of his deceit, but Lucifuge is a clean slate as far as I know," she thought, plotting out a course of action in her head. "I'll have to refrain from telling my Peerage about this, or they'll think I've actually lost my mind to grief. I don't know who I can trust outside my and Rias's Peerage if Lucifuge herself is working against us."

After having sorted her thoughts out and having calmed herself down, Sona made her way to the club house's exit to rejoin with her allies, now as uncertain of Grayfia's loyalties as she was Ryuusuke's.

The Devils all gathered around and dined on reserve MREs given generously by the hobo. Though not as savory in appearance as a home-cooked meal, the taste was passable enough for the presentation to not be an issue. Once everyone ate their fill, Rias and Sona split their groups. Grayfia agreed to stick with Sona's group with minimal resistance, putting trust in Ryuusuke to keep watch of Rias. After debriefing the plan for today, the two groups set out with Rias's division heading into the town and Sona's division heading towards the mountains due south, towards Corvias.

Kuoh Southern Mountains, 7:35 AM

Sona's division flew over the town, the golden rays of sunlight leaving them to stick out amongst the vivid, blue hue of the sky. The clouds seemed to have parted since yesterday, leaving not even a speckling of fluffy white in the sky. The day was a beautiful one but went on unwitnessed by the town below that only witnessed the backs of their eyelids. As the Devils soared through the sky, they approached the craggy, rigid horizons of a range of mountains. Their peaks varied from high to low, from round to pointed, from symmetrical to asymmetrical, some of them even varying a bit in color. With a brief glance into the range, the Devils made out a peak capped with an icy-white glaze. The peak itself seemed untraversable, so they set their eyes on a lone, small plateau hanging off the side of the mountain. That would be their destination.

The Devils touched down upon the glimmering white surface of the mountain, their feet sinking in with a muffled crunch beneath. The snow had reached up to about thigh depth when their bodies stopped descending into the white dunes. Though their Devil blood did well in keeping them warm, the snow felt as frigid as a glacier.

Grayfia, being the only person there wearing an elaborate dress, encountered an issue immediately as the skirt of her clothing had decided to rest, all sprawled out, upon the wall of snow surrounding her legs. Though nothing was really shown or exposed to anyone or anything, this nonetheless caused the maid discomfort as the arctic snow engulfed her bare legs as a trade for keeping them hidden. Even she was victim to the bitter cold of the mountaintop that almost felt comparable to skinny-dipping in the iced-over northern oceans.

"Why is this mountain so fuckin' cold? None of the other ones are like this, and that's including the other ice-capped ones," Ruruko spoke with displeasure being the key sound in her voice. She tried to elevate her legs out of the snow by making light steps upwards only to slink back into it again, blasting her legs with yet another cruel chill.

"Yeah, this mountain has always been colder than the others. Doesn't make much sense either since there are taller mountains in the northern range that aren't even half as cold as this one," Tsubasa spoke, her arms crossed over her chest for additional warmth. Though brief flickers of that toasty feeling surged through her body, the wind's vicious frost wouldn't allow that for long.

"Ya think this might be the work of magic?" Ruruko asked, shivering in the cold and feebly hugging herself for warmth. Her experience went much like Tsubasa's: an all too brief relief from the cold's icy grip followed by a hellish cold wave through her body.

"Maybe, but I've never picked up any supernatural activity around here, nor have I ever really seen any living thing up here. You'd expect some kind of fox or something to be prancing along, but there's just nothing but snow," Tsubasa answered, glancing off to the left and right and seeing only the vast expanses of a shimmering white terrain.

"Fuck this; I'm flyin'," Ruruko spoke with a displeased grunt, the discomfort of the snow quickly becoming near unbearable.

"No, Nimura. We don't want Corvias to view us as threats. If we show that we are Devils, he'll likely flee without giving us a chance to explain ourselves. Try to endure it at least until we can get him to talk with us," Sona refuted with a stern voice. "Besides, the air is hardly any warmer than the snow."

Ruruko groaned with a weak discomfort and a profound irritation swamping her being. "Sure thing, President," she spoke with a less than enthused tone of voice. She bent over and adjusted her thigh-high socks to better cover her legs. These articles, being as thin as they were, only provided a brief warm respite but held minimal difference in the long run.

"So, Lumbric told us to head to the tallest peak we could find?" Genshirou questioned, hugging himself for warmth much the same as Tsubasa, as if waiting for confirmation that this, indeed, was where they were supposed to be.

"That is correct, and this is the tallest peak in this range if I recall correctly," Grayfia spoke, her dress more like a quilt strewn out along the ground. She squirmed slightly in the snow, only succeeding in sending a chill through her that threatened to get worse the more she moved.

"Perfect," Genshirou said airily, feeling all feeling leave his legs as he spoke. A sharp exhalation of dejected exasperation escaping through his nose. "I hope this ends quickly."

"Alright, everyone start shouting out the Stray's name. The sooner we draw him out, the sooner we can get off this mountain," Sona ordered before stepping forth, dragging her legs through the dense blanket of frost. A borderline agonizing cold surged through her legs, feeling more like a burn from thousands of tiny, sharp blades than a chill. She held her hand up to her mouth, making a funnel shape before shouting. "Corvias!"

"I actually kind of enjoy it up here, but I guess it can't be helped," Momo spoke, not even bunching her body up to stave off the cold like everyone else was. Not even a slight jitter of a shiver struck her body as the snow-white haired Bishop stepped forth and formed a funnel with her hands before her mouth. Before she could shout along with Sona, Genshirou spoke.

"How are you finding this enjoyable? I can actually feel the frostbite forming in my legs, yet you're enjoying this kind of weather?" Genshirou questioned; the dreadful irritation of the frigid elements almost making his words sound hostile as they escaped his throat.

Momo cupped her mouth with both hands and let out an amused giggle. "I've always liked the cold a bit more than the heat. That: and I know Devil physiology protects me from the weather of the mortal world. That frostbite you think you're feeling is actually just remnants of your humanity. Your body thinks it's in danger but hasn't adapted to its new capabilities completely," Momo rebutted with a gentle smile.

"That said, don't go about thinking you'll be used to the feeling like Ice Nymph Hanakai here after you've adjusted," Tsubasa spoke, finally giving into shivering in spite of her great grit and willpower.

"Can we please focus on the objective?" Sona chimed in with an annoyed rumble in her voice. Much like many of her underlings, she wasn't quite enjoying the experience of a constant, bone-deep chill.

"Sorry, President!" Genshirou exclaimed, followed by a series of bows. He formed a funnel with his hands and placed it before his mouth. "Corvia-" he began before a voice of unknown origin interrupted.

"I already heard your call," a shrill, raspy voice spoke from somewhere above the Devils.

The Devils all looked up towards the source of the voice to see a black-shrouded figure with pitch-black eyes beset within the skull resting on a rocky ridge. Its hair seemed to be a pitch-black hood encompassing a face as white as the surrounding snow. Upon first instinct, they all got into a combat stance seeing the figure's all too familiar attire.

"A bit trigger happy there? It's okay; everyone is when they see me," the figure spoke, its strained voice not serving to alleviate their start.

"I assume you're Corvias?" Sona questioned.

"Correct. Do you need escort off the mountain, or did you perhaps come here for other matters? I assume the latter, considering you came to my mountain," Corvias spoke, his voice accompanied by an interlude of wheezing-like exhalations. The audible difficulty of each breath almost sounded like the dying caw of a weak crow. "Judging by how you know my name, I suppose you lot are Magicians?"

"Lumbric told us to refer to you for information about the hooded group that came through town," Sona answered, heeding The Worm's advice from yesterday. Her arms quickly returned to hugging her body for warmth, seeing as she had no more purpose in using them to amplify her voice.

"Ah, so you must be Sona Sitri then. You lot look exactly as he detailed. For a guy who spends a lot of time underground, he sure has an eye for description," Corvias spoke, his words drawn out and airy. His figure rose upwards as if standing up from a squatting position before he turned to look up towards the absolute precipice of the mountain. "Let's take this to my hut. Most humans only last three minutes in this peak's elements, so it is safe for me to assume this weather must be rather uncomfortable for Devils unaccustomed to the cold as well."

The Devils looked over to where Corvias was looking. Their eyes met with a cave opening burrowed into the side of the mountain. A faint light of a golden-orange hue that could only be described as warm and inviting could be seen creeping out of the entryway, beckoning them towards it.

Without thinking, Ruruko sprouted her wings and began flying up to the cave's mouth.

Following her lead, the rest of the Kuoh Devils flew straight into the cave like moths to a flame.

Upon entering the cave, the delicate smell of exotic flora graced their noses: a stark comparison to Lumbric's foul stench. The source of the blissful light revealed itself to be a cobblestone oven of sorts. A rack stood with various plants hung by their roots to roast over the open flame. A few animal pelts were strewn across the room, serving as rugs of some kind. Their skin held large scratches as if having been attacked by some large bird. On the topic of birds, the entire cave had pitch-black feathers strewn about in a disorganized mess. On a plate of stone placed before a bowl-like structure of branches, fur, bramble, and feathers as umbral as the night sky was a half-eaten chunk of meat. By the ramshackle structure, partially obscured behind the stray branches and loose fur, lay a stack of odd books.

The sight wasn't the most pleasing, but the presence of civility, even if minor, in its arrangement swept the Devils up in a wave of security.

"I apologize if my home isn't up to your standards. Had I known I would have guests a little sooner, I would've worked towards having a more hospitable set-up," Corvias's voice crawled from behind the Devils, his raspy voice almost being mistaken for the wind.

The Devils turned to look at the Stray, the light accentuating some features that were not as obvious amidst the cold, hazy air. His face, save for his eyes and the pale skin, appeared to be that of a normal young-adult man. The cloak seemed to be made entirely of plumage from a black-feathered bird. His proximity also displayed his height more accurately, being roughly thrice the height of Grayfia.

His body seemed to hunch over as he entered the cave as if his own home wasn't big enough for him. The excess of the feathered cloak dragged against the ground, black plumage falling off as it grazed against the uneven, rocky ground and leaving a scattered trail. He made his way over to the amalgamated bowl and seemed to shorten himself even more as he sat in it. The crumpling of plant matter accompanied his following adjustments. He took a brief glance at his food, his void-like eyes almost seeming nervous about something.

"You can go ahead and eat. We're not going to stop you," Tomoe spoke, making herself at home by the oven. The radiating flame filled her body with a much needed warmth.

"No, it's fine. I can hold my hunger for a while. Besides, those who dine and discuss tend to be more enamored by the food than the conversation itself," Corvias rejected, a weak wheeze of a laugh escaping his throat. His hair seemed a long, chaotic mess of unkempt shadow contoured around his head.

The other young Devils sat themselves down by the oven while Grayfia chose to stand off to the side, all finding comfort in the flame's rapturous glow nonetheless.

"So tell me, is old Lumbric still afraid of that Nagasri bitch?" Corvias asked. "He hardly ever tells us about his woes but oddly feels more comfortable talking to strangers about them. He's always been a little self-conscious around us, so I think it's the lack of camaraderie with strangers that makes their judgments sting less than ours."

"Yes, what of it?" Sona answered with a sharp gaze, her pity of The Worm not taking kindly to what she perceived as a slight at him.

A weak sigh sounding more like the blowing of a cracked flute escaped the Stray's nose. "That man's sort of an opportunistic goliath. He's got immense strength but never really uses it until he's certain he will win in a confrontation. Could've crushed the bitch with his own two hands but overestimated her too much to try," Corvias answered, an amused smile stretching across his face and wheezing chuckles slipping from his lips. Protrusions of what could be assumed to be knees made their shape known behind his cloak as his body undulated with each grating laugh. "Ah, it hardly matters now, though. He can get all the analysis he wants nowadays. As a worm, he can see everything from the comfort of his dirt through sound waves. Though it came at the cost of his actual eyesight, becoming a Stray has been nothing but an upgrade for him."

Sona's eyes failed to waver in their judgmental intensity. She stared the Stray down. "Can we get onto business?"

Corvias's gaze turned to Sona, himself seeming displeased. "Ah yes, I forgot you're the no-nonsense Sitri sibling; I always think Leviathan's the serious one given her status as a Satan," he retorted. "What business do you have with me?"

Tsubaki cleared her throat, pulling the Stray's attention towards her. She placed her hands on her lap, clasped together with a sophisticated air. "Lumbric had informed us that you and his other two allies may have more information on a figure known as the High Prophet and that you specifically may some information concerning the Anzû that appeared some time ago."

"That damn thing. Yes, I have a few things I want to say about that thing," Corvias spoke, his raspy voice donning a weak rumble of aggression and contempt. He shifted his body slightly, his cloak failing to let even a glimpse at his body show through. "First off: the pheasant took my dinner the day it showed up and decided to perch itself on my mountain for a day or two. Quite a prick of a roommate, to be honest."

"Was there anything about the beast that seemed odd to you? I'm assuming it hadn't acted aggressively given that you're still alive," Tsubasa questioned.

"That is sort of correct. For the most part, it just sat on the mountaintop and watched the town for who-knows-how-long," Corvias answered.

Grayfia's crimson eyes narrowed. "For the most part?" she questioned with uncertainty in her voice.

"There were a few times it would attack me for leaving my cave. Each time, however, I could detect someone else on the mountain. I'm not sure if it was trying to protect me from whatever the other being was or if I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time," Corvias answered the Annihilation Queen.

"Lumbric said you witnessed us fight the Ogre hoard, so you must've seen the Anzû swoop in as well," Reya spoke with frail words and a flimsy voice.

"Huh?" Corvias sounded. "You may need to speak up, missy. My ears aren't the sharpest."

"Then how the Hell were you able to hear us shout your name?" Genshirou questioned with crossed arms and a lighthearted grin.

"Well, when you're shouting on top of a mountain, you tend to make an echo. I hear the echo, and I start searching for the source," Corvias answered, a cheery grin of his own stretching across his face. "Usually, it takes a few echoes before I pick up on someone calling for help, but you guys started shouting right by my hut here. My hearing may be lacking, but I'm not deaf, dammit," she spoke before letting out a wheezing cackle.

Genshirou reciprocated by chuckling along with the Stray. "That's a fair point."

"Lumbric said you saw our fight with the Ogres, so I'm assuming you saw the Anzû intervene as well," Reya repeated, her voice still frail despite her attempts to speak louder.

"Alright, heard you that time," Corvias acknowledged. "Both are true."

"Was the Anzû on your mountain before or after that battle?" Reya spoke, her voice dipping between quiet and just barely below what would be a standard voice level. Nonetheless, she still held enough volume in her voice for Corvias to hear, given his acknowledging nods.

Corvias turned his head up towards the roof of his cave, not even extending a limb from his feathery cloak. "Both, actually. It first perched on my mountain peacefully a few days before the battle but got hostile from time to time after the conflict, which was also when the second being started making its presence known on my mountain, before eventually leaving completely with a Humbaba in its talons."

"A few days before the Ogre's attacked. It was as if it knew they would be coming," Tsubaki postulated quietly.

Grayfia turned to face Corvias, her high-society heels audibly grating against the stone ground. Her crimson eyes were fixed sternly on Corvias.

This act drew Sona's attention, this time Sona being able to keep her suspicion undetectable by even those sitting next to her. The silver-haired Lucifuge's sudden and uncharacteristic intervention, along with the look in her eyes, got Sona thinking. "Lucifuge, for once, I hope I'm wrong… but I swear if you're in tandem with Akahoshi…" she thought, not being able to complete it knowing that ultimately she could do nothing to the mighty Ultimate-Class Devil if her assumptions were correct.

"Were you able to get any information on the second figure? Any notable details about their presence, perhaps?" Grayfia questioned.

"If it feeling as weak as a human is considered notable, then yes," Corvias answered with an amused curl to his lips.

"I don't find your attempts at humor entertaining," Grayfia spoke sternly. "It is ill-fitted for a serious conversation."

Corvias sighed in exasperation, this time sounding more like the mountain breeze. "Well, excuse me for trying to be a hospitable host," he muttered.

"As weak as a human?" Sona repeated in her head. In her pondering, everything seemed to lead back to Ryuusuke: the only human of note she was aware of. "No, how in the world would Akahoshi have ties with an Anzû? The only person to have ever employed the aid of such a creature is the Son of the Sun," she rejected in her mind. The more she thought about it, the more blanks she drew.

"Anyway, that's about all I got on the Anzû. Lumbric told me that he already told you about the Ogres and whatnot, so there isn't really much of a reason to rehash that. I did get a pretty good look at the High Prophet guy, though," Corvias spoke.

Sona pushed herself forward, her eyes locking onto the Stray's and all thought being blocked out as she delegated her full attention. "What did it look like?"

The other Devils did the same, looking intently at Corvias. Tsubaki, being wont to take notes over key information, got her pen and pad out.

Grayfia seemed keenly interested herself in what Corvias had to say, getting closer to the Stray to hear his words better. She stopped just a few feet before the Stray.

"Well, that got you all eagered up," Corvias remarked with a laughing wheeze. "The High Prophet guy had a head of sleek black hair, rather pretty-boy face, and sharp facial features. He also wore what looked like a colonial, black-themed get-up. Honestly, he just looked goofy to me, but who am I to judge fashion looking the way I do?"

An alarming amount of those traits co-aligned with another human Sona had come to know, even coming to love—Daisuke Kasai. She felt her heart crash into the darkest depths of her soul, finding it difficult to create a coherent thought. Her purple eyes ripe with regality fell terrified and desperate.

Her Peerage turned to look at the Sitri heiress, being on a similar line of thought as she, thinking that Daisuke was the High Prophet all along. They all seemed equally distressed, Genshirou going the extra mile by developing a burning anger on the spot.

"What color were his eyes?" Sona asked with spotty breath, terrified of what the answer may be.

"I don't see why that means anything, but okay," Corvias retorted, looking up to the roof of his cave in thought. "Let's see…" he began, going silent for a minute. "Nah, I can't tell you. I couldn't get a good look at his eyes. He was looking away from me, so I couldn't make out much of anything. Why are you asking?"

Despite not hearing a yes from the Stray, his indirect and inconclusive answer served to only amplify Sona's anxiety. "No… no… no… no…" she repeated in her head, feeling all she had known falling apart.

Grayfia seemed to grit her teeth in light of Corvias's explanation. She looked down at Sona sternly, yet a glimmer of sympathy shone through her gaze. Her eyes turned back to Corvias, her rigidity now having faltered in the face of Sona's own despair. "Are you sure you recalled everything correctly?" she asked.

"If I can spot a brown deer with a gray patch of fur on its forehead bounding along the base of my mountain, I'm sure I can make out a person's details accurately from the distance I was at," Corvias confirmed, all but ensuring Sona's fears.

Then, something he said provided some relief to the Sitri's plight. "Another thing I noted about him, he carried himself in a very domineering way when dealing with his subordinates. He seemed extra aggressive with Nagasri. Bitch deserves it."

If there was anything Daisuke wasn't, it was domineering. Sona knew this well and knew how meek he was when around a woman at that time. She knew there was no way one could fake the fear Daisuke displayed when Akeno pressed herself upon him; it was far too consistent for it to be an act and far too authentic for it to be a farce. To a degree, he still retained that trait even after toughing up a bit. Sona's racing mind and heart both began to level out.

Sona's underlings, both knowing what Sona knew about Daisuke and picking up on her return to calm, returned their gazes to Corvias. They all settled down as well.

Grayfia's rising and falling shoulders indicated a sort of silent sigh from her as if relieved having heard Corvias's addition.

"That's about all I have right now. If you guys want to hear more, you know who else to talk to, or at least you should," Corvias remarked, shifting his body a little in his little nest of sorts. The rustling of branch grating against branch heralded his rise, his body reaching the heights of which required him to slouch in his cave once again. "Lumbric did tell you of Naja and Lophii, right?"

"Yes," Tsubaki answered, putting up her note-taking supplies while responding.

"Good. If that's all you need to know, then I say we're done here. Be sure to reach out for me or my allies if you need anymore help," Corvias spoke, tilting his head towards the mouth of the cave as if trying to guide them out without the use of hands.

"There is something we might need your help with, actually," Genshirou added.

"And what is that?" Corvias answered, raising a brow as his raspy voice breathed weak words. His cloak of black feathers encompassed his entire body still, having not faltered in hiding his body the entire time he had spoken with the Devils.

"The town seems to be kind of comatose. The hooded guys that came by had their Lich put everyone to sleep. Now we can't wake them up. You have anything for that?" Genshirou followed up.

"So, that's why I wasn't seeing anyone during my patrols the past couple of nights," Corvias muttered, his raspy voice being barely comprehensible at lower volumes. "Well, lucky for you, I'm a bit of an expert on sleep and dream magic. In fact, there's a coven of Magicians who regularly visit me for such knowledge somewhere in this mountain range."

"Do you think you can recruit them to help with the town's plight?" Sona asked.

"I can, but I'll first need to get a look at the situation. These kinds of magicks can be difficult to break: especially if cast by a Lich, of all things," Corvias answered. He began walking back towards his little nest area. "You guys can go on ahead; I'll catch up. Just need to get a few things here."

"We can wait for you if you need us to," Momo offered.

"Don't worry about it. You guys are probably too busy to deal with any delays anyway," Corvias refuted, almost seeming concerned, given a brief sputter in his voice.

Despite his suggestion, the young Devils remained. They continued to watch him as he stood before his nest, not really doing much of anything. An air of awkwardness descended heavily upon the cave.

"Well, while you all sort everything out, I have to meet with Rias for an important discussion," Sona spoke, saying the truth with an ambiguous spin on her true intentions.

"What for, Sona?" Grayfia questioned, striking Sona's suspicions once again with how quick she was to question the Sitri.

"She contacted me just recently about a plan of action she wishes to get a second opinion on," Sona lied through her teeth. Her stoicism kept her voice from faltering and her words from falling weak.

"Do you wish for me to come along with you?" Grayfia offered, seeming applied to the Sitri's safety.

"I'll be fine. I just need you to keep an eye on my Peerage while I'm gone," Sona spoke, hoping to weave herself around Grayfia in a way that didn't rouse suspicion. "Here," she said, holding out her hand. A blue orb manifested from an aqua-blue magic circle that hovered just above the palm of her hand. With a slight push of her hand, the orb was sent to slowly drift towards Grayfia.

Grayfia took the orb in hand, putting trust into the Sitri's words.

"I'll contact you if I need any aid or when Rias and I are done conversing," Sona spoke. Though partially a lie, she did send a communication hijack spell disguised as a communication link to both keep an eye on the silver-haired maiden and to contact her when finished with what she had to do. "Now, let's see if you are really on our side, Lucifuge," she thought.

Grayfia put the orb up to her head, allowing its vivid blue light to fade as it sank into her head seamlessly. She fell for the ploy.

With that done, Sona walked towards the mouth of the cave and sprouted her leathery wings. Once at the entrance, she flew off.

Eastern Kuoh Woods Burrow, 7:55 AM

Having quite a distance to go between Corvias's hut and Lumbric's burrow, Sona took the opportunity to call Rias and instruct her to head towards The Worm's home as they had planned earlier. It didn't take them too long to reunite at their unlikely friend's home, the pungent yet familiar smell of rot and feces serving as a distinct waypoint amidst the dense woods for the two. Whether or not they will find the answers they seek is not guaranteed.

The two Devil heiresses touch down upon the soil, the rancid smell of The Worm's den assaulting their noses just as it had done so yesterday. Knowing they were in the good graces of the denizen, they walked towards the burrow's mouth without even a hint of worry. Their steps, they assumed, would alert Lumbric of their presence. After some walking, they arrived at the den's maw.

The ground beneath them writhed as if heralding The Worm's arrival. The writhing lead up to the cavernous, umbral opening where the smell of rot and waste radiated. The mud on the inside of the den fell from the burrow's walls in large globules as The Worm got closer.

Then, the head of the massive Stray's outer-body poked out into the light of day, the sun's rays giving a glisten to the mud covering its body. With a shake, the mud flung itself off and revealed the Stray's black-stone armored skin. The massive, chitinous hooks adorning the tubular body flung off trapped dust and debris as well as additional mud. The ring of eyes around its quad-parted maw opened before the maw did the same, once again revealing the imposing conglomeration of pike-like teeth covering almost every inch of the Stray's mouth.

"It's a pleasure to see you have returned. I do apologize for the last meeting being cut short," Lumbric spoke from his inner-body as he pried himself from the roof of his outer-body's mouth. His raw meat-colored flesh still looked as sickening as it did yesterday. "I trust you had a few more things to speak with me about before your ally mistook me for a threat."

"He's actually what we're here to talk to you about," Rias remarked, of course referring to Ryuusuke.

"Ah, yes. Go ahead," Lumbric spoke, its ashen eyes focusing on Rias.

"When you saw our ally yesterday, you seemed almost deathly afraid of him. Why was that?" Rias asked.

"I saw something in that man's eyes that reminded me of one of those monsters. The both of them had an empty look in their eyes, much like that of corpses. I would've mistaken them as so had they not walked the same ground as the living and breathed the same air as the living," Lumbric spoke, both his inner-body and outer-body shuddering as he remembered their eyes. "I'm certain it was mere coincidence, however."

"I don't think it was a coincidence," Sona interjected boldly. She crossed her arms with an authoritative aura. "I noticed you live close to a cemetery during my flight over here."

"I protect those grounds from grave robbers and those who would deface the memorials of the deceased. There was a fight between supernatural entities there quite some time ago. However, I hid from the battle as I felt the presence of two of those monsters there, so I'm not all too sure if anything otherworldly was born from the conflict," Lumbric spoke. "Why do you bring this up?"

"I and a couple of my allies were indeed battling two of the hooded individuals. We managed to fend them off, and I wound up finding something of interest," Sona answered candidly.

"And what would that be?" Lumbric questioned.

"Do you happen to know a man by the name of Ryuusuke Akahoshi?" Sona answered with a question of her own. Intoxicating anticipation rose in her as she awaited for the Stray's response. Though she heavily expected a "no," the possibility of a "yes" filled her with a potent hope.

"Yes, I do. I use to be in the same squad as him in a bloody conflict serving as the field medic, going by a human name that I have long since forgotten. He died like all of Squad 7th, but I have yet to find his remains in the graveyard nor anyhere else. I can't search the battlefield either, for I have long since forgotten the zone of conflict. Did you find his body, perchance?" Lumbric spoke, a joy welling in his voice, hopeful that he'd get the chance to properly bury an old friend well-deserving of the rest.

"That man you saw yesterday was Ryuu," Rias added.

Lumbric's gray eyes shot wide open in surprise, and his mouth fell agape in disbelief. Then, a gust of wind from the vents of his outer-body accompanied a dismissive scoff. "Surely you jest. That is not possible. He's far too youthful to be him."

"This is not a joke. He's been with us for quite some time," Sona argued with stern words.

"This then must be an act of stolen valor. That rodent… taking the name of a soldier—no, a dear friend—who died almost a century ago… in my own arms no less…" he began, his voice accompanied by a rolling growl before going off on a rant.

Rias's azure eyes pried themselves wide open, becoming more white than blue. While Lumbric ranted about without linearity, her mind raced back and forth.

She was cautious with her considerations at first, with how Ryuusuke's eyes reminded Lumbric of a member of the hooded group. That data, alone, would've been tangential at best. Then the time-frame of roughly a century set itself in, meaning that Ryuusuke shouldn't be as young and spry as he has fully displayed himself to be if he were a human. With graduality, she now began to understand Sona's perspective of the situation.

Rias's awestruck eyes turned towards Sona, who held a stern glare towards the Gremory heiress.

"Do you see now?" Sona questioned her friend, almost sounding spiteful for Rias not believing her.

Rias's view of the man warped around the revelation. Now knowing that he is no longer even human, she tried to recall everything that even hinted at Ryuusuke being an imposter. She remembered all those times Ryuusuke snuck up on everyone without making so much as a noise in spite of the heightened senses of Devils, how he single-handedly fended off Akeno and an unarmored Issei with just his gun and combat prowess, how he never once showed any signs of pain even after having been socked by Issei. Everything began to fall into place.

A bitter, burning feeling of betrayal flared up in Rias's heart. Despite this, she didn't want to believe what she was hearing. "There has to be an explanation for this," she spoke airily. She put a hand to the side of her crimson-haired head and pondered. She then turned to look towards Lumbric. "You said the two had a dead look in their eyes, right?"

"As dead as those in the grave. Their gazes looked exactly the same," Lumbric answered, not exactly catching onto what the Devils were laying out. Then, curiosity struck him. "Why do you seem high-strung all of a sudden?"

"Akahoshi is a spy for the hooded group," Sona answered with a deathly serious tone, not even sparing air for words of uncertainty.

"That is just as impossible as Ryuusuke being alive. He was never reincarnated to my knowledge; otherwise, I'd be hearing much more of his valor. Their eyes may have had the same feel, but their bodies did not appear to be the same. It could just be mere coincidence. I've seen many people come and go from the cemetery, both alive and deceased, who shared the eyes of the dead," Lumbric dissented.

"There is a multitude of supernatural beings that can control their appearance to look however they want: beings such as Pure Stray Devils; Liches; Angels; Fallen Angels; and Gods. It isn't as unlikely as you think," Rias retorted with a shaky voice.

Lumbric's eyes widened, seeming frightened with undertones of woe. "Even if what you are saying is true, Ryuusuke would never act as cruelly or even associate with things as cruel as those monsters," he uttered in disbelief. "Even against the tides of war, he never looked as dead inside as that thing did. The Ryuusuke you know has to be an imposter."

"I've come up with three theories over the course of the past few days. Either some powerful being took Akahoshi's name and disguised itself as something vaguely human, Akahoshi died and became a Revenant who wound up serving the hooded group, or Akahoshi made a deal with a higher being for a new life and now is forced to fulfill his end of the bargain. Those are the only three ideas I have come up with thus far," Sona listed off.

"The first and third seem to be the most probable. Ryuusuke was a hard-hearted man, but he was never to the point where he would condone a borderline genocide. He would never do such a thing of his own volition," Lumbric spoke, hoping to add to the young Devils' repertoire of information with his knowledge of the man.

"You think he might be the High Prophet?" Rias proposed.

"It could be likely if he has the capability to shapeshift," Sona agreed with a nod.

"We should inform Grayfia," Rias urged, not making any adamant motion towards her suggestion, only waiting to get some confirmation from her friend.

"No, Lucifuge won't believe us. Even if she did, the resulting fight would likely destroy the town," Sona rejected, speaking her mind honestly but with guiled words. Her suspicions of the maiden left Sona uncertain of her loyalty, so the last thing she wanted was for her to catch wind of the conspiracy. "Instead, we need to keep watch over Akahoshi and take note of any abnormal characteristics. If we can get a feel of what he is capable of, then we can better work around him. We can't throw ourselves at this problem; it's just too risky."

"Do you think Grayfia would be so reckless?" Rias questioned, high faith in her older sister-in-law.

"She has gotten abnormally aggressive over the past couple of days. I'm sure you've noticed her acting so at least once, which is already too many times to risk riling her up any further. She's bound to go off the moment a threat shows itself. We don't have Lucifer here to settle her down if she does explode, so it is a risk we can't afford to take," Sona argued.

"The thing is, she kept her calm during her fight with the Captain. I'm certain if she was going to go off, she would've done so against it," Rias counterargued.

"Yes, but she got so see an immediate measure of the Captain's power. We have no clue just how powerful the High Prophet is, and Grayfia likely doesn't either," Sona retorted, crossing her arms sternly as she took in a deep breath. "All we know is that it has the ability to enter Cocytus and can assert dominance over some of the Underworld's most infamous criminals. If she were to turn herself towards anyone even suggested to be the High Prophet, which in this case would be Akahoshi, she probably wouldn't take a chance of him getting away and obliterate him right where he stood. Considering the stakes, it wouldn't be too far-fetched to believe she'd hold little regard for the surroundings with such a threat in her immediate presence."

"Fair enough. But if things start getting out of hand, I will have to inform her," Rias agreed, putting forth her own terms and holding a hand out towards her friend.

Sona, uncertain on whether to trust the Lucifuge, was reluctant to consider the option. With Rias's unyielding conviction, however, Sona knew the only way for her to agree would be to cave into her demands. She swallowed the bitter pill, put on a superficial smile, and reached out to shake Rias's hand. "Using her as a last resort is fine enough, but she must only be used as a last resort."

The two Devils shook each other's hand, finalizing their little pseudo-pact.

"She hasn't triggered my spell. I would imagine she'd try to relay my absence if she were against us. Maybe I am acting a little too cautiously," Sona thought, letting up with her suspicions of the Lucifuge until the moment further evidence against the maid reared its head, and instead delegating her attention towards the one she most distrusted. As her hand fell away from Rias's and back to her side, she continued her pondering. "If anything, Akahoshi is probably trying to deflect my suspicions onto someone else to cover his tracks. He does already know I'm onto him, so it would make sense that he'd try and muddy the waters by exploiting my own skepticism. That said, I'll probably keep it on her for another day or two just in case. As the old adage goes, stick with your first answer," she thought.

"I'll keep an ear out around the graveyard and will inform my comrades to be wary of any suspicious activity regarding the pale creature. Come visit any of us if you feel you need more information, and we'll see what we can give you," Lumbric chimed in, snapping Sona from her lapse of contemplation.

"Thank you, Lumbric," Rias spoke with an appreciating nod.

Sona nodded just the same. "Make sure you take care of yourself. You and your accomplices are doing this town a great service; it would be a shame to lose you."

"And the same to you, little Sitri," Lumbric responded.

With that said, the two Devil heiresses took off to return to their own groups, carrying new knowledge that they felt would prove vital in unraveling what was going on.

Lumbric waved them off until they vanished into the horizon. With his meeting concluded, his body began the motions of slinking back into his little hole in the ground.

The crunching of leaves and twigs were heard within the nearby woods.

"More visitors?" Lumbric questioned, feeling their appearances through the ground they walked on.

Out from the underbrush stepped three figures: one man bearing a head of long-crimson hair and a regal armored cape, one man bearing vivid blue eyes and an excessively long scarf that trailed down to his calves, and one woman bearing beautiful amber eyes and two hairpins fashioned in the shape of white horns.

The crimson-haired man stepped forth and spoke. "Lumbric, Kuoh's own Worm of the East. We need to have a little chat."

Kuoh Southern Mountains, 7:55 AM

Cutting back to Sona's Peerage and Grayfia, who wait for Corvias to get in gear and head down to the town. There lies an issue, however. Corvias does not seem in all too much of a hurry to go, appearing reluctant even. Why is the Stray free from urgency despite the whole town needing assistance?

A full minute had passed since Sona left the mountainside cave, and in that minute, Corvias did nothing but shuffle around in his cave. The lackadaisical way he went about it signaled he wasn't even looking despite his attempts at hiding it. It was as if he was stalling for some reason.

The patience of the Devils ran low quickly, but the one who spoke first was to be Ruruko.

"What's with the holdup?" she asked, trying not to come off as rude right off the bat.

"I can't seem to remember where I put my books at," Corvias answered, hunching over a pile of miscellaneous animal bones and pelts with his back turned to the Devils. With hands unseen, he moved the items around with not even an iota of haste.

"You mean those books?" Ruruko asked with a disapproving scowl, pointing towards the tomes that lay stacked by his nest-like structure. Barely anything blocked line of sight, so there was little reason for Corvias to not see them.

Corvias turned to look at where Ruruko was pointing. "O-Oh, those. Those aren't the ones I'm looking for. Those are just storybooks," Corvias responded with an initial stutter.

"I don't recall storybooks having ancient runes scrawled across the cover and spine," Tsubaki retorted, crossing her arms and bearing the same displeased expression as Ruruko.

"Runes aren't exclusive, you know? Some books that have them are magical in nature while some can be mere pieces occult or horror fiction," Corvias defended, his raspy voice sounding airier than normal.

Tsubaki walked over to the stack and knelt down. With an exasperated sigh, she lifted up the topmost book on the pile. "This is the 'Encyclopedia of Somnicraft Volume XXIV,'" she spoke before picking up the next in the pile. "This is the 'Sleep Ritual Guide: Advanced Somnicraft,'" she said before picking up yet another. "This is 'Somnia and Incubi,'" she said, halting her grasping for a moment. "Need I go on?" Her hand hovered over the pile, which had been cut down to three remaining books.

Corvias's gaze shirked to the side but could not escape the glares of the other Devils who looked on with judgmental eyes.

"Let's stop wasting time and just go," Tsubasa urged.

"You all get going; I'll catch up with you," Corvias spoke, urging them on ahead.

"And do what, sit around with our thumbs up our asses?" Ruruko asked with biting sarcasm. "We won't be able to do anything until you get there."

Corvias turned his eyes towards Ruruko, sharp with defiant hostility for a brief moment before closing in defeat. He let out a long sigh that sounded like the whistle of the wind.

With little warning, Corvias's cloak flew open in a torrent of black feathers.

The sudden movement startled the Devils, making all but Grayfia flinch in reflex.

As it turns out, Corvias's cloak wasn't a cloak at all. It instead was four pairs of black-feathered wings jutting out from his back and shoulders like extra pairs of arms—two of which seemed to replace what would've been his actual arms. At the end of each wing lay a single, hook-like claw of the same hue as the feathers.

"Oh…" Ruruko sounded, eyes wide with surprised revolt.

What those feathers hid was nothing short of appalling. The Stray's skin, which stretched over his body in a way that made it seem it would tear with one wrong motion, was just as pale as his face. His skeletal structure from the rib cage up could be easily seen, his narrow stomach region being the only thing with notable volume. With each breath, the upper body expanded with heavy, harrowing strain.

"I see why you wanted us to go first now," Momo muttered with prominent concern in her voice.

"Are you eating alright?" Genshirou asked, gawking at the Stray. "No, seriously. Are you?"

Further on down lay an emaciated pelvic region bare of any sexual characteristics. Going further down, misshapen legs most akin to those of a bird held the Stray's scrawny body up and comprised more than half of its total height even from a bent position. Each leg ended in a four-toed foot with each toe ending in a massive, blade-like talon the same ebony hue as the wings.

"I guess that explains the nest," Grayfia remarked, largely unfazed by the sight of Corvias's deformed body.

"Happy now?" Corvias spoke bitterly, his raspy voice sounding forced. He walked over towards Tsubaki, his avian legs bending backwards at what would've been his knees as he stepped.

The display was alarming for the bespectacled Queen, who dropped the books as the chimeric being walked over to her with an uncanny stride.

Corvias clutched the books with his taloned feet, cupping them in a way that signalled great dexterity. He shuffled and rattled the books around in their clawed cage until they lined back up closed and proper. "Well, let's go then," he said before heading his way over to the mouth of his cave, walking on the knuckles of his book-bearing foot, which caused a noticeable hobble.

Once at the cave's mouth, he turned to look back around to see that the Devils had not moved from their spots whatsoever, sort of reversing the roles from earlier with Corvias being the one to urge everyone on. "What? You've seen Lumbric's deformations, yet this is what unsettles you?"

"I think it has something to do with the disfigurement of the human frame," Grayfia chimed in, herself walking over to the mouth of the cave as she spoke. "Monstrous Corrupted Strays like Lumbric are so common the shock factor wears out after the first few. There aren't too many Corrupted Strays that take on a chimeric appearance that tips more towards humanoid than beast."

"When you put it that way, I guess it does make sense," Corvias reluctantly agreed. With one sharp inhale, he proceeded to question the Lucifuge. "Might I ask, who are you exactly? Lumbric never informed me about a maid."

"Don't worry about who I am. It's not of your concern right now," the maid spoke candidly. Had she been brazen and said her name flat out, Corvias would likely be as perturbed having spoken to her so flippantly as the younger Devils were in response to his mangled appearance. Aware of her effect on those below her, she wisely avoided this scenario.

"Fine then," Corvias conceded, turning his attention towards Sona's Peerage and ceasing his questioning of Grayfia. "Come on," he spoke with a calmer tone, gesturing them onward with a wave of a singular wing.

Sona's underlings snapped themselves from their unnerved dazes. With eyes set back on the task at hand, they overlooked the Stray's sickening appearance and headed out of the cave.

Grayfia put a hand up to her ear. "Sona, I'm calling to inform you that we're heading on down to Kuoh. Whenever you and Rias are done with whatever it is you're doing, be sure to head there."

"Affirmative. I'll keep an eye out for you mid-transit," Sona's voice sounded in the Lucifuge's ear. The sound of strong winds on the other side of her communication link signalled to the Annihilation Queen that Sona had concluded her meeting and was already on her way.

With this, the Stray and the Devils took off towards the town resting north of the rocky range of crags and cliffs. During their transit, they met back up with both the Gremory heiress and the Sitri heiress, who accompanied them on the way after getting over the initial shock of witnessing Corvias's grotesque body.

Kuoh Skies, 8:20 AM

As the Devils flew their ways over to the town, they engaged in banter to pass the time.

The wings of the Stray flapped in a series of mighty whooshing sounds as they swam through the sky. Many a feather fell from his appendages like a snow of black quills. With each flap of his wings, strained breath escaped his mouth as if struggling to keep himself airborne.

These sounds perturbed Rias, causing her to look back at the Stray mid-flight. "Are you doing alright?"

"Yes," Corvias answered with a wheezing voice, obviously not doing alright.

Momo and Reya guided themselves underneath the Stray, making themselves a sort of safety net ready to catch the Stray if he were to falter and plummet.

"Don't push yourself too hard," Reya said with a meek yet compassionate tone.

"I'm fine," Corvias said in defiance, still wheezing with each word. "I do this all the time. My deformations just make it a little hard to breathe."

"Interesting. I was led to believe that all corruptions benefitted Strays in some way," Tsubaki chimed with inquisition.

"Well, your beliefs were dead wrong," Corvias spoke with hard breath. "Every Corrupt Stray I've met has some kind of defect. Lumbric can barely see ten feet in front of him, my lungs don't have much space to expand, Naja can't warm herself, and Lophii can't stay out of water for prolonged periods of time." The more he spoke with labored breath, the more he descended out of fatigue until he was just a little more than a foot above Momo and Reya. His wingspan easily blotted out the sun for the Devils below him, casting a large shadow over the land below like that of a passing plane.

"If you're gonna talk, just let them carry you. Ya can't be that heavy anyway," Ruruko said to the Stray, herself having become concerned for his health and safety.

Defiant, puttering exhales escaped Corvias as he slowly ascended. The flapping of his wings created mighty gusts that inadvertently pushed the Devils below him down a bit. "I. Am. Fine," he said once more with hard breath.

"My, you're a stubborn one," Grayfia noted jestfully.

"I'm more of a helper than a helpee, if that makes any sense," Corvias spoke laboriously, losing a slight bit of latitude as he did so. He flapped his wings with breathy effort to regain his height.

"And why is that?" Momo asked with sincerity. "There's nothing wrong with accepting a little help from time to time."

"I'm more accustomed to people looking up to me than me looking up to others," Corvias answered, repeating his sequence of lagging a bit before regaining his height with heavy breaths and mighty flaps of his wings.

"Sounds like a sly vanity rather than a generous humility when you word it like that," Sona remarked with a pin-point observation.

"As a human, I didn't really have anyone to look up to besides myself. I see what you're getting at, though," Corvias answered, dipping and rising in altitude accordingly after he spoke.

"Safe to say you were a self-made individual then?" Tsubasa chimed in.

"Well, I was a talented singer when I was alive, believe it or not," Corvias answered, his dismal voice directly conflicting with his claim. He began dipping in altitude before laboriously pulling himself back up. "People always said I had a very pleasant and soft voice. Now I just sound like a heavy smoker."

"What kinds of songs did you sing?" Tsubasa asked, having hoped the Stray would answer with an occupation grittier than a singer but intrigued nonetheless.

"Well, if you can't tell from my fixation on Somnicraft, I was versed in writing and singing lullabies, melodies, and other soothing pieces," Corvias answered.

This answer piqued the interest of Genshirou, who flew up closer to the Stray so he could hear the blonde Devil better.

"Did you happen to have 'Phantasmic Nightingale' as a stage name?" Genshirou asked.

"Indeed," Corvias answered with a semblance of a self-indulgent grin on his face. "I was certain people would have forgotten about me after a while, but its nice to hear someone still remembers me despite my niche content." He undertook his motions of dipping down due to fatigue before hoisting himself back up with a laborious gathering of his strength.

"When I was a kid, my mother would put your songs on the radio to help me sleep. I still go back to them whenever I find myself having trouble sleeping, then I'm out like a light," Genshirou spoke with joy in his voice and rampant nostalgia in his being.

"I'm flattered to hear such a thing," Corvias spoke, that self-indulgent look turning solemn. "I must apologize, though, for my current state and appearance. I hope it doesn't taint your fond perception of my works."

"Nah, man. Don't worry about it; it's just great to meet you, Stray or not," Genshirou responded with a kind grin.

"Well, how did you die?" Tsubasa redirected the conversation, greatly disinterested by its more artsy aspects. Nonetheless, she found learning about the Stray more intriguing than just flying about in silence until the group had reached their destination.

"Coincidentally enough, I died in my sleep," Corvias answered with an onerous chuckle. "An Angel tried to recruit me into some kind of Brave Saint thing, but the bitch Nagasri got to me first and made me her Bishop."

"I was about to say you sound like someone who should've become a Reincarnated Angel," Grayfia noted.

The eyes of several members of Sona's Peerage shot wide open with surprise and astonishment. They turned towards Grayfia whilst those unaffected—being Tsubaki, Momo, and Reya—instead turned their attention to Genshirou.

"Wait, Angels can reincarnate people too?" Tomoe questioned.

"Why yes, I assumed Sona would've told you about this," Grayfia answered with a lighthearted chuckle. "They reincarnate via a system mirroring human playing cards, much like how we reincarnate through a system mirroring a human board game."

Tsubaki flew up closer to Genshirou. Momo and Reya promptly followed her.

"Saji, I need to speak with you," the heterochromic Queen spoke to the Pawn.

"Yes, Shinra," Genshirou responded with formality.

Tsubaki drew herself back, causing both Momo and Reya to do the same after having her pass by and behind them unexpectedly.

"I'm needed for a moment," Genshirou relayed to Corvias with a slight tang of reluctance.

"Well, don't let me keep you," Corvias said with joviality behind his strained and airy words.

Genshirou obliged and followed Tsubaki to the back of the flock, parting with the former singer Stray.

"Saji, what I need to speak with you about is confidential information. Before I go about informing you, you have to be sure not to let anyone outside our Peerage know what I'm about to tell you," Tsubaki notified with preliminary cautions.

"I will keep it within our group and none else," Genshirou conceded to his superior without much, if not any, hesitation.

"Good. I will hold you to your words," Tsubaki warned before clearing her throat. "It'd be best to summarize since we are nearing the town as we speak. After some discoveries in the graveyard during the fight with the hooded group, President found evidence pertaining to Akahoshi being dead from the beginning. What you must take away from this is to be cautious around Akahoshi and to take note of any uncharacteristic or abnormal actions made by him. I trust President has gathered additional information from Lumbric, so we'll converse with her at her leisure to keep ourselves up to date. We'll go into a further discussion then and hopefully catch you up," Tsubaki informed with brevity.

"That evidence being?" Genshirou questioned with uncertainty in his voice. Though not quick to believe his superiors, he could see some semblance of the logic in their claim.

"A grave marker of sorts," Reya answered on behalf of Tsubaki.

"Though his corpse was never found, we have tied him into being said corpse due to several characteristics that fall in line with a dead body," Momo added.

"But how does that correlate to him being a spy?" Genshirou asked.

The three Devils informing Genshirou sighed in exasperation. Once again, they had to commit to the tiresome act of explaining the conspiracy.

With this inevitable stream of questionnaires and confirmations typical of one presented with absurd claims, Tsubaki, Momo, and Reya went on to connect Ryuusuke's behavior with the loss of the Kasais and how, no matter how apathetic he may, the man's psyche should've been affected by the trauma of losing loved ones. They went on to describe the man's uncanny abilities and how irregular it was for a human to have them. They went into detail with the various actions and predicaments the vagrant had found himself in—such as him taking on two of the hooded individuals and surviving without so much as a scratch on his person. The whole question game went much like how it did with Sona and Rias just prior.

By the time it was all said and done, Genshirou's views of the man warped to distrust much like everyone else, even feeling repulsed having offered him a meal just a couple of hours ago. All the generosities and kindnesses he and the others had previously afforded the man turned bitter in his eyes, as did the generosities the man gave towards Genshirou and his allies. A roaring flame welled inside his being as he tied all of his dear President's grief to Ryuusuke's actions and continued manipulations. He almost failed to remind himself that the man's status as a traitor wasn't a confirmed claim, instead merely being the product of mounting suspicion and directed logic. Even then, the horrid possibilities continued to taint his thoughts and mood. He would not act now, but he would enact a frightful vengeance upon the hobo if he must.

Before his vitriol could reach a boiling point, Tsubaki warned him of how it was imperative for him to not relay said feelings of distrust through any means as they descended upon the town, especially around Issei. Unlike him, who could rationalize fairly well even when under the vices of stress, Issei would jump at the first sign and dog Ryuusuke indefinitely. That was something they could not well afford if Ryuusuke had an additional trick up his ragged sleeves, even with the aid of Grayfia.

Sona, however, held information that was all but damning for the hobo. Once alone with her Peerage, she planned to disclose what The Worm had metaphorically unearthed for her and Rias.

As for Rias, who took an oath with Sona to speak not a word of this with Issei nor Grayfia, found it best to stick with her initial plan of refraining from informing anyone of her circle about The Worm's knowledge just for a measure of precaution despite the nagging desire to do so pecking at her heart to sway her decision.

It would seem my incompetence has no bounds. I couldn't even keep up with a set date of the 10th of every month. I would like to apologize for this delay, as college decided to cram seven plus assignments down my throat over what should've been a break for me. I've been working tirelessly to keep up with my college work, neglecting this chapter a considerable amount.

A genuine question to all who read this, would you consider the characters shallow? I feel they are. I've been doing some research over writing in general and have began redressing my possible shortcomings. I took a moment to breathe, whenever I could that is with the mountain of work I had to keep up with, and realized that some of the characters seem to be lacking something in my opinion. Am I just worrying myself too much, or are the characters just simply cardboard cut-outs of tropes and amalgams of pointless character traits?

That question over with, I'm still in the hole when it comes to work as of the time of writing this (10/13/2020), but am currently at a point where I have some time of reprieve.

As always, thank you all for reading this far. Keep yourselves safe out there.