Before... well, before I end this story...

Thank you. To all my current readers, and all those who might happen upon this while looking for something to read in the future. Thank you for reading. Thank you for sticking with it so far. I mean, at it sits, this arc of Kodori's story will total just over 1 million words. If you discount my comments, like this one here, its still around 1 million, and here you are, dear readers, about to finish that trip. And that's not including her first story in Danmachi, sitting at just over a half million words.

There will be more. I plan on keeping the 'every fifth day' update plan. But for now, this chapter will be the end of Kodori's trip into DxD.

Now, a little bit of a warning. This probably won't end like you think. But, I suppose you'll have to get to the end of the chapter to see why. :)


Chapter 141

"Well, no matter." I looked back to Rizevim, "Because as soon as I take it from you, I'm going to leave."

He laughed, a jolly sound of true amusement. "Ah yes, I heard someone mention you were a little..." He long breath through his nose, giving him an excuse to look down at me even further, "Aggressive when it came to these things. What's the body count now, hmm?"

I shrugged, "Ask Hades. He'd know for certain. If you wanted, I could send you to him. I'm sure he'd forgive me for just one more transgression." He probably wouldn't, but I had a role to play, "Though, I suppose I shouldn't threaten your life, if I want to ask you where that last dungeon piece is."

He laughed again, "Why not? Let me see your aggression. Show me how far you'll go for what you want! I'll even make it simple for you!" He snapped his fingers.

Then my helmet (still under my arm) said, "Lady Kodori, Lord Ajuka has found one of your dungeon fragments." It was Greyfia, "Acknowledge?"

I touched the pip with my finger, turned the helmet upside down, and spoke into it, "I copy. We'll be there soon I think."

"Under-" Her voice turned to static then went dead.

"See?" Rizevim smiled, "But I wonder how you'll deal with this." He snapped his fingers again.

And the map appeared under his projection again, and went absolutely nuts. More red dots started to appear all over it, this was followed by a huge crash of multiple impacts against the shield dome overhead and across the table, Falbium held his head as if he suddenly had a mind shattering headache.

"How about that? These monsters aren't too bad at all!" He said looking at Falbium, "Annnnnd." Another snap.

And my phone went off.

"Go ahead." Rizevim motioned with his free hand before taking another sip from his goblet.

Teacher: Kuoh is being invaded. We have lost communication with the Underworld network, and the phones are the only thing that seems to work.

I looked up at the smug face hovering over the illusionary map, my eyes full of anger, my bleeding/boiling purple aura flaring around me, "Keep your hands off the mortal realm."

"Come make me." He grinned, "So tell me, Demon Fox. Just how much will you sacrifice to get home, hmm? You know where I'll be, at least for a little while. Who knows? Maybe I'll just move this nice shiny rock?"

And he vanished.

We looked across the table at Falbium, who was still holding his head. After a moment however, he stood up like nothing was wrong and said, "This is far more fun than paperwork. However, the attacks from outside the city have increased a great deal, so much so, that we really can't ignore it for much longer."

"Inside the city too." Shinkage motioned to the map.

"It seems that there was another layer of barrier space set up, with even more monsters." Falbium said, touching his ear, "But, we seem to have it mostly under control." Another pause, "Good, carry on." Then to us, "This room is free of infiltration."

"You put on a good show." Ryuu said, "But, we didn't..."

"No, you didn't include me directly, but Sirzechs told me all about your penchant for thinking around people. How did you know... he..." Yes, we had deliberately said Rizevim's name, three times, through three different people, and old charm to call upon a being of power. "Would have that kind of attitude?"

"His grandson is Vali, the White Dragon Emperor. They've similar attitudes, no matter how much Vali hates him." I smiled, "This does present a problem..."

"You're not worried about Kuoh?"

Ryuu, Shinkage and I chuckled a little darkly. "There might be a treaty with the Eastern Pantheon, giving the Devils a reason to ask for aid in the defence of one of their held towns." I put my helmet back on, "But I got their word personally on the matter that Kuoh would have their protection."

"Sona is also there, with her peerage. Along with all the Demons who serve Kunou." Shinkage added, "And if they really need help, Yasaka has offered aid as well."

"Wukong and Yu Long will be there too." Ryuu nodded, "This is not the first time someone has tried to go through the back door on my Sister."

Falbium's eyes widened a little, but he smiled, "I suppose I'll use my reserve forces for what's down here then." He paused, touched his ear again, then said, "Seems we have our next arrival for backup forces, Young Sairaorg is in the city."

A small white dot appeared in town, "Good, he didn't take too long to eat." I said, "Lord Falbium, do you need our help here?"

He shook his head, "No Lady Kodori, we do not. If you wish to help the cleanup crews deal with the monsters on the way back to the teleport circle, I would be thankful. But, if your time limit was too pressing, I wouldn't hold it against you."

"Since it's on the way then." Because yes, we had time, and not helping those right in front of us would disappoint people back home.


The way back to the teleport circle took about two hours. Fire, collapsed buildings, heaps of random monsters... Nothing we hadn't dealt with before, and with professional soldiers (the devils who were already dealing with things) who could use wide area attack magic and protective spells, it was really... kind of easy. Sure, if they weren't expecting something like this to happen, these monsters would have wrecked even more of the city, and killed a lot more people before the local authorities could have reacted. But in all honesty, I had forgotten that Devils had been fighting for a literal eternity, and it was only recently that they'd settled down...

We got to the portal and spotted a fresh group of soldiers marching towards it. They were probably going to suppress something outside the walls, like what ever was firing those huge flaming boulders at the city. "Lady Kodori!" The guardsman from before called out as we got there, "A message just came for you, hand delivered." He offered me a bit of rolled up paper.

Aha. A personally delivered message. I accepted the paper and took note of the wax holding it closed, Ajuka's seal. I undid the wax and unrolled it, "Perfect."

"Our next destination?" Ryuu asked.

"Hm, a portal key." Shinkage commented, looking at the paper.

"A portal key?" The guardsman said, "Huh, well give the portal ten more seconds or so to build up a little more of a charge. Portal keys usually teleport you to someplace without a return portal, so I hope you have a way back, or that it's not too far on foot."

"We'll be fine. Thanks for all your hard work." I said, counting to ten in my head, "Everyone on?" Shinkage and Ryuu nodded, "Let's go see what he's got for us." And I put a little of my energy into the paper, the portal under us glowing a bright blue.


I honestly wasn't expecting Rizevim to be there when we arrived. But, there he was, sitting on a perfectly round segment of the Dungeon. Like the largest piece of the collection, it looked almost like a perfect tube. Unlike that section, it had a rough top, almost like it had been taken off the peak of a hill or something.

The stone and Rizevim were in the middle of a large, and very familiar, crater. This was where Diodora had died, and where Issei had gone insane and used Juggernaut Drive. From his seat down in the middle of the crater (where the Oppai Dragon had glomped Rias on what amounted to public television) he raised his fancy goblet in our direction and waved us over. Since we all lacked the ability to take him out from where we were at the edge of the crater, we had no choice but to approach, but, we were cautious.

"So suspicious!" He laughed, slapping the top of the rock as if it were a grand joke, "Tell me? How are you finding my little going away present?"

"Tedious." Shinkage said.

"Pointless." Ryuu added.

"Irritating." I chimed in.

"Crunchy." Hagane-ni rumbled.

"Ha! But I went through all this trouble! I mean, I was going to use Cao Cao's minion... what was his name... Leonardo? Yes! I was going to use his Balance Breaker, or rather, that idiot Shalba was going to, and," Here he put his hand over his heart, "Valiantly sacrifice himself to further our goals. But not only did he fail, it seems Azazel broke Annihilation Maker somehow."

Normally, I, and Ryuu, and maybe even Shinkage, would have tried to kill him by now, but we'd planned for this too. Which was actually a good thing, since I wanted to know how the hell he managed to do this... "Seems you were keeping notes, or stealing them, from Loki and Georg."

"Of course! Why wouldn't I? Though," He smiled at me, "Your notes were the most interesting by far!" He laughed as my body language showed puzzlement, "That little booklet you handed out." He reached into that silly armour of his, and we started to reach for weapons and ready ourselves to fight, but he pulled out a slightly abused copy of my information booklet I'd made for Greyfia to distribute. "Lets see..." He used his thumb to open it, "If you find one of the dungeon segments... Nice drawing by the way, ever considered portrait painting? Anyhow, do not leave it near any high magic environments... Oh oh, or this one here, monsters that spawn from the dungeon are fully capable of breeding if left long enough. It's a pretty long list you have here."

I honestly hadn't thought of this. "Well, when I wrote it, I didn't know there was someone stupid enough to do it on purpose." And by the time I did, it was too late anyhow.

"Well, I did. And let me tell you! It was really educational! I learned SO MUCH about your world!" He grinned down at us, "Every single thing you and your meddling has taken from me, will be well worth it. You see, when I found out exactly what this rock was from, and learned about your world through your own stories and helpful little book here, I decided something!"

He jumped to his feet, standing on top of the roughly domed bit of dungeon like he was being painted for a portrait, one foot on the 'peak' of the rock, "I decided that your world is WEAK! It just SCREAMS for someone like me to take it over and rule it properly!" He laughed, looking down at us again, "Speaking of screams, did you know some of the monsters actually understand pain? And if you torture them long enough, they become nearly perfectly subservient?"

Inside my helmet, my eyes went wide. He had spawned Xenos? "Eternity must be truly boring if you need to resort to torturing animals for amusement." Ryuu said flatly, as close to anger as I'd ever heard her.

"No no! You see, it was part of an experiment. Adversity builds strength! It was even in your book!" He thumbed to another page, "The monsters will learn if left alone long enough. Be sure to leave no survivors." He laughed, tossing the book aside, "So, with my excess of free time, and my, if I do say so myself, incredible magic power, I created tons of monsters, and tossed them into a pit! For days! Weeks! I had all kinds of monsters fight to the death, and I noticed a few things not in your book. Those little stones, what were they? Magic stones? Boring name if you ask me, but anyhow! Monsters eat them! And when they do, they seem to gain a portion of the power the monster had permanently. Wonderful!"

He laughed while my mind whirled. It explained almost everything. The Goliath didn't need to start at that size... They might have spawned smaller, and been grown to that size using magic, and cannibalized magic stones. Add in an unhealthy amount of brutal training and torture, and you'd have an army of ravening half insane beasts waiting for a chance to attack something, anything... Like an innocent population.

The smug voice pulled me back from my thoughts, "Ah, seems they are finally done!" There was a rumble, and from the opposite side of the crater from where we started on, and suddenly a bright blue blast of energy cut through the hill, cutting a slice out of the crater's side almost half way down its roughly two hundred metre depth.

The from overhead, there was a crack of air, and a silver/white/green streak slammed into a barrier directly over Rizevim, "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Vali screamed into the shimmering barrier between him and Rizevim.

"Ah! Grandson! You're just in time to see my two greatest monsters from this little experiment of mine." He looked up at Vali, who even in full Balance break and hitting it at full speed, was stuck against the barrier circle over Rizevim's head, "Maybe if you can beat them, I'll consider you worth more than a contemptuous slap across the face."

"WHAT?!"

The barrier faded, and in that moment of 'weightlessness' Vali had, Rizevim gave Vali's armoured face a contemptuous slap, sending the armoured boy away at a perfect right angle, where he vanished into the dirt of the crater's wall. "And you Demon Fox, don't be late, or you might not get home before I destroy it. I heard you had family there."

"Sensei!" I heard Issei shout just as Rizevim vanished, and a massive barrier dome appeared over the top of the crater.

My communication bead crackled to life, "A jamming effect has just gone into effect over your position, we cannot get any more people to your location. Did anyone make it through?" It was Greyfia.

"Issei and Vali." I said as a massive shape appeared out of the hole in the crater wall, a wave of water bursting through as well, "Rizevim was here, my dungeon piece is here as well."

"Understood." She said, "We will try and break the jamming field as quickly as possible."

"Yeah... thank you..." It was another Black Goliath, its obsidian skin covered in horrible scars, its eyes darting this way and that, observing its surroundings, taking in detail. Behind it, as the water continued to flow into the crater, slid another monster. Twenty metres long at least, with a wide pearly scaled body, no legs, and two long necks, each with a dragon's head on the end... "Ryuu? Is that..."

"Amphisbeaena." She breathed, "Monster Rex from the bottom of the waterfall, the twenty seventh floor." We had been steadily backing up from the slowly raising water line inside the crater, away from my prize, the dungeon segment, "The blue eyed head breathes out a magic nullifying mist, the red one a fire that burns even underwater."


While Vali pulled himself out of the dirt, Issei, Ryuu and I looked at the two massive beasts on the other side of the still growing mass of water. "Sensei... These two seem different than what we've been fighting so far."

"They are." Ryuu and I said at the same time. I continued with, "I suspect they're both 'humanly' intelligent."

"If they work together, we will have a problem." Ryuu added.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Vali exploded out of the dirt, doing a 'power up pose' to clean off his armour, "Stay there if all you're going to do is talk!" He shouted, holding out a hand and firing a blast of dark energy at the Goliath.

Just before the two headed serpent slipped into the water, it let out a blast of thick blue mist in front of the Goliath, and with a crackle of static, the energy blast soaked into the cloud harmlessly. The cloud itself was somewhat smaller, but still more than enough to shroud the Goliath as it waded into the water with its partner.

"Crap." Issei said, "Dude, I'm the hot headed one, what's the deal?"

"Shut up! He's getting away!" Vali fired off more blasts, each getting refracted by the mist, "He's finally stuck his head out of hiding and I will NOT let him get away!"

"Hangane-ni? Can you get to the dungeon fragment?" I asked, wondering why the monsters hadn't attacked yet.

"Yes, but then what? The barrier is still up, and if you hadn't noticed, I lack hands to place the teleport marker."

"The device will be able to teleport you with it as well." I said, glancing over at Ryuu, "And you DO have that electricity spell card, right?"

"If I send Hagane-ni away..." Shinkage said, "I won't be much use in combat."

"Don't worry Shinkage." Issei said, "We'll pick up the slack."

Ryuu took a glowing stone out of one of her pouches, and placed it on Hagane-ni's chest. It simply stuck there like one of the communication beads. "Hmm, yes, I feel I can activate this through my 'skin'. Very well."

"Look for an opportunity to slip into the water." I said, "I think we're about to start."

Through all that, Vali had been firing more and more blasts of energy at the two beasts. Issei had thrown the odd shot as well, but instead of attacking back, they seemed to be waiting. Almost like they were letting their prey tire themselves out. Considering the Black Goliath was tough enough to not just have its head blown off and live, it could afford to wait. The serpent was actively helping it as well, coughing out bursts of blue smoke to weaken or disperse the magic blasts coming its way, and only doing so again when it needed to.

They were no simple monsters, I knew for sure now. They understood their abilities, and were testing them against us.

Then the Black Goliath looked at Vali, opened its mouth, and let out a beam of blue energy. Vali dodged it with a laugh, throwing more magic back at it, but then the Goliath turned its head down towards us!

"Scatter!" I called out, spreading my wings, grabbing Shinkage, and jumping into the air. Under me, Hagane-ni ran into the water, Ryuu jumped further back away from the water, and Issei joined me in the air as well.

Then the serpent let out a blast of purple gunk. It started as a stream of flaming fluid, but the Goliath scooped up a massive handful of water scattering the breath weapon into smaller and much harder to avoid globs.

"Don't let it touch you!" Ryuu called out, an emerald blast of wind erupting from her, pushing away the flaming gunk before it could touch her.

In the air, we weren't so lucky. I had enough time to push out my own version of 'touki', my misty fox armour making the bits of gunk slide off me harmlessly. Shinkage was wrapped up in my tails and quite firmly held behind me, so she was safe (if a little indignant). But Issei and Vali weren't so lucky.

"ARG! What is this crap?!" Issei shouted, a bit of it getting on his leg, "How hot is this stuff?!"

Vali however caught a bit of it over his face, and even with his helmet on, I could hear his skin cooking. "It will burn underwater!" Ryuu shouted as Vali dove down towards the water, "You have to scrape it off with something dry!"

"If you care Issei, go rub his face in the dirt." I said to him, trying to think of a way to deal with these two. And yes, I was closer to Vali, and sure, I would have enjoyed sticking his head into the ground, we needed to survive first.

"Try using that ice thing of yours." Shinkage said, "You have to bring me closer so I can give Hagane-ni more power."

"Ryuu! I'm getting closer!" And I started my dive.

Behind me, I heard Vali swearing at Issei for sticking his face in the dirt. But then I had to start weaving left and right as I got closer to the water to avoid a lashing serpent tail, an alarmingly large foot (who's big toe was almost as long as I was tall), then a much smaller blast of burning gunk. As I got within about ten metres of my targets, a burst of wind from behind me pushed some of the blue mist away. I hoped I could to the hand gestures in my armour, while flying... And it worked!

A long strip of water turned to ice almost instantly, covering part of the serpent, and one of the Golaith's legs. It didn't hold for long, but their attention was suddenly all on me. But, even as my admittedly feeble ice broke apart, a pair of magic blasts slammed into the now unprotected Goliath.

"Hit IT!" I yelled over my shoulder, ready to fly straight up.

Two things happened. First, Shinkage said, "Copper cartridge loaded." and the football stadium sized pool of muddy water turned BRIGHT WHITE. I pulled up and away from the water, feeling a bit of an electric sting over my leg, while the two monsters roared in pain. "Initiating teleport." She continued, "Oh no!"

The second thing, was that the two headed serpent vanished. "Oh no..." I said, "Did it..."

"I think it went with it." Shinkage huffed, "Sorry, but it was already starting when it touched the stone."

"They'll just have to deal with it..." I said, looping back around to focus on the Goliath.

Except it was... crying? It had already gotten back to its feet, the just over knee high water (for it at least) giving it no issue. But now it was looking around frantically, hands in the water as if searching for something under the muddy surface. Even amplified by its size, it wasn't hard to tell it was in distress.

Vali broke the moment however, "Not so tough without your friend huh?" Followed by a white and blue streak as he slammed into the size of the Goliath's head at super sonic speed, knocking it over, most of its body slipping into the water. "Hey Sensei?" He looked up at me mockingly, "Do these things drown?" He laughed.

On the one hand, I felt... kind of bad. It was obvious that this Goliath was a Xenos, but also that it had suffered, a lot. The Black Goliath we fought on the eighteenth was able to regenerate from almost any wound, its body recovering to the point where it looked like nothing happened. Even in death, the Goliath Skin robes we made Haruhime and Lilly needed special tools to work with so it wouldn't heal itself while we cut it to shape. But this one had scars. Its obsidian skin crossed with many lighter patches from burns and vicious cuts, and even bite marks.

On the other... It was in the way.

While I looked down at Vali, who was laughing up at me, I didn't bother replying to him or even warning him, as a massive hand rose out of the water and swatted him out of the air like an insect. "Eventually." I said as he once again impacted the side of the crater, "See Issei?"

"Rule of the dungeon number three. Never turn your back to an enemy unless it has given up or is dead." He quoted, "Still, that was kinda harsh." He hovered in place next to me as the Goliath got to its feet again, looking at us with real hatred in its eyes, "What should we do? I... kinda feel bad for it now. And what happened to the snake thing?"

"It's topside, a couple hundred metres from the fairy circle." I said, "Hopefully they can deal with it..." I looked up, and the shield dome was still in place over the crater, "That teleport device was a one time thing... So we need to either wait until someone breaks this one, or kill the power source."

"I hope they'll be okay..." Issei looked at the Goliath, "Plan?"

The monster decided for us, looking towards Vali as he once again stood up. "If you want to save him, you're welcome to." I said, "But I won't be sorry if you don't make it in time. I'm going to try the barrier."

Issei looked at me, and even through the armour, I could tell I'd... disappointed him a little. "I understand. Good luck Sensei. Make sure you win."

We tapped knuckles once, and the thrusters on his back opened up, speeding him off towards Vali as the Goliath took in a deep breath, its massive chest expanding as I felt the air move in its direction.

I myself turned and flew back down to Ryuu. "I'm sure they will manage somehow." Shinkage said, "Red and white will always fight each other in the end."

I didn't comment as I touched down next to Ryuu, "I'm going to try and break the barrier while those two distract it."

"Understood. You have a way?"

"I've gotten better at grounding out magic since I got here." Understatement of the year probably, but... "If I can do it, we can use the other portal key to get to Ajuka's lab."


(Issei)

I knew Seisei was angry with Vali... But this was the first time I'd seen her turn her back on someone. Even Kuroka, who nearly killed her still got cookies from her! "Ready partner?"

"Always." Ddraig replied, "It's charging up again!"

"BOOST! BOOST! ROOK! WALL OF MARIUS!" I shouted, my clawed feet digging into the ground in front of Vali as he strugged to get to his feet, my left arm solidifying into the Rook shield, then expanding into a full tower shield, with a rounded front just like Marius's from the card Sensei gave me.

The giant monster let out another one of those beams from its mouth, but I was ready! "I don't need your help!" Vali said from behind me, my eyes squinting to try and block out the brilliant white light that was splashing off my shield.

It felt like I was pushing against Sona-san's strongest water attack, except it was hot instead of cold. "Shut... up... and recover!" I grit my teeth, "Here!" Even as Vali hid in my shadow, the ground to either side of my shield dissolving, I managed to use my other hand to toss him one of my healing potions, "Sorry... its... grape..." Did this thing even need to breath? How long was this beam going to last?

The beam of light finally stopped, and I could feel my entire arm go almost numb with the sudden lack of pressure. Behind me, I heard a bit of glass breaking and Vali say, "We agree on something at least, that tasted terrible."

Then the magic of the dome above us broke, "We can't let this thing run free." I said, "Are you with me?"

"Let's finish this quickly." Vali said, "I'm not going to let her beat me to my grandfather."


My entire body felt like it was burning on the inside, but I'd managed to pull and ground out the energy of the barrier. I was on my knees recovering when I saw Issei and Vali stand side by side to face the Goliath. Then the communication bead crackled to life, "The barrier is down, what is your status?" It was Greyfia.

"Very... tired." I said, the day or so of high activity suddenly catching up with me, "Issei and Vali are fighting a Xenos Goliath, the dungeon segment is in Kuoh, and we are about to move to Ajuka's teleport site."

"Understood. I am diverting forces to your location, good luck Kodori-sama."

"Check in on them topside. A monster got through with the stone." I said, looking to Ryuu as she helped me to my feet.

"Sister, are you okay?" She reached into a pouch and took out a small round stone with what looked like circuitry carved all over its surface.

"They are under duress, but assure me the problem is contained." Greyfia said, "No casualties reported."

"Excellent." I nodded to Ryuu, though I reached under my breast plate to take out one of the small potion tubes I had under it. "Let's go."

She placed the stone down on the ground, while the three of us got as close to it as we could. My tails wrapped around Ryuu and Shinkage while the complicated lines on the stone seemed to 'bleed' off it and into the ground, creating a teleport circle around it. As it lit up, I could 'feel' Rias's peerage appear in the air behind us, while the Black Goliath roared in anger.


"Ah, you're here just in time!" Rizevim's voice was the first thing I heard as we arrived.

Not in time however to defend myself from getting hit by a blast of magic that threw me sideways and into a wall. I did manage to fling Ryuu and Shinkage away before impact, and I crashed to the floor, hoping they could give me a second to get back to my feet.

The transport site was basically a big flat space on top of a mountain top. Surrounding the site itself were claw-like pillars and cubes of stone, all marked and etched with fine runic drawings and magic circles. In the middle of it all, was Rizevim, sitting on the big section of dungeon as if nothing were wrong.

"Oh, right, I can't damage the walls too much, or it might not work!" As I got to my knees I spotted my two companions getting up as well, "Isn't that right Ajuka?"

I got my feet under me, and at one end of the room I spotted Ajuka, trapped inside a complex series of magic circles and barrier walls. It was by far the most complicated mess of magic that I'd seen since getting the three dungeon segments out of the hotel when Loki attacked. Ajuka himself seemed to be having trouble too, and every time he got a couple of the barriers holding him in place down, more would spring up to replace them. Like some kind of magic puzzle box.

"I am a little disappointed you're here so soon though. I mean, those monsters seemed to show so much promise!" He looked at me as I managed to stand, "Oh, you cheated didn't you! Feeling a little tired? Weak? What's that new term going around the medical wards? Mind Down?"

"I was in a hurry." I said, the mind pills I'd eaten just before transport working a little slower than I'd like, but working all the same. "And I assure you, they're well in hand."

He laughed, "You know, until you showed up, I was rather bored." He held out a hand and tried to hit Ryuu with a bolt of lightning, but she managed to roll to the side, if only just, the edge of her cloak smouldering slightly, "Oh not bad. Anyhow. I didn't have much interest in world domination, or ousting the current four," He air quoted, "Satans." He pointed his hand at Shinkage, but just as I jumped towards her, gathering her up to my chest and rolling, I heard Ryuu cry out, as the lightning curved towards her instead. "Ohhhh too slow that time."

"I'm fine." Shinkage whispered to me, her hand pushing at my mask to get me off her.

"What I do have a problem with, is all this talk of 'Reform'." He made a noise of disgust, "Devils? Peaceful? Doing 'good'? Being 'Kind'? WHY?" He stomped his foot like a child having a tantrum, but only once, before looking at us three again, "Devils are supposed to be evil. It is our purpose. It was in His plan. We are the representatives, the very symbol of evil and sin! Yet... we move towards peace, kindness, and doing good."

Ryuu was still on her feet, but she was holding her side and gritting her teeth. Behind her I could see a smoking spot on the wall, likely where the lightning had grounded itself out. I myself stepped a bit closer, getting a feel for the ground I was on, taking a deep breath, "Evil is a choice. Angels choose not to, the fallen chose to, and the devils are now choosing not to."

He looked at me like I was some kind of simpleton, but then shrugged, "A limited way of looking at it, but that, right there, is why I'm giving up on this place." A killer icicle appeared over his shoulder, then zipped towards me. I didn't move out of the way, but instead swayed a little to the side and let it glance off my forearm, "Not bad." He nodded, "You see, when you showed up, and started talking about 'another world', well, I just had to see if it were true." He tapped the dungeon segment under him with his heel, "These things, oh boy, I remember the dragon war. The Great Red and Ophis turning their backs on each other. Ddraig and Albion fighting, and then..."

"Legion." I offered.

"Oh? Ophis finally thought of a name?"

"It's fitting." I replied flatly. This guy was really good at seeming harmless. If it weren't for the huge magic power I felt from him, and the magic circles announcing his spells, I'd never have known he was an enemy if we'd just met.

"Well, The Almighty himself tells red and white to have a nap, while the Great Red 'dealt with' the until now, Nameless Black. I had no IDEA until you showed up, that he tossed Legion into another world altogether!" He laughed, taking his eyes off us, and I took a step to the side, narrowly avoiding a lightning bolt from above, "Aww missed." His eyes danced with amusement as I got into a ready stance, "Be patient! Let me monologue!" When I made no move, he continued, "When I got my hands on that rock of yours, I knew you weren't just some crazy demon high on poppy juice." He turned his back to us, shouting into the swirling clouds above us, "I HAD SOMETHING TO DO AGAIN!"

He turned around after a few seconds, and seemed disappointed we hadn't tried to attack him. "Anyhow..." He frowned, "When you started to send those stones back, I just had to find out how you were doing it. Very clever by the way."

I politely nodded at his compliment.

"Except when I did, I found it needed someone on the other end helping." He shook his head, "So, I started planning properly. Watching what all those other failures were doing. Helping them fail when I saw they had something useful for my own end goal." He grinned, "After so long, it felt good to betray people properly again." He looked at me, almost hungrily, "When my underground contact in Lucifaad told me about 'this'." He motioned to the area around him, "And knew this would be my one chance to cross over!" He looked to Ajuka, who was still struggling inside the random assortment of barriers and wards, "That Atlantian Puzzle Box was something I found in the Dimensional Gap. Took me years to fix by the way."

"So you decided to set all this up, so you could cross over instead of me?" I asked, noting that the clouds were getting a little lower. I wasn't sure how much time we had left, but without Delly, it could have been hours or minutes. I'd never know until I checked my phone.

"No no! Too boring!" He grinned at me, "You strike me as somewhat of a Champion. Maybe a local hero from where you're from. I figured, I'd make your life as difficult as I could, maybe kill a few of your friends while I was at it. Then when I arrived, I'd present your world with your corpse! Maybe find this 'Familia' of yours. You have a wife and kids right? Maybe I'd start there!"

I jumped at him then, not out of anger, since oddly, this was going about eighty or so percent to plan. Some of the monsters weren't to plan. The timing wasn't to plan. But otherwise, I and Rizevim were here at Ajuka's magical contraption, and no one I had grown to like over here had died. "STAY AWAY FROM THEM!" I shouted, my wings flapping once to give me a little extra push as I aimed punch his teeth down his throat.

Instead of slamming into a barrier, or getting hit by offensive magic, my armour just... vanished. It wasn't 'destroyed' either. It had fully returned into the control crystals on my wrists and necklace (since my nice fedora was already back in Orario, along with my matching coat). While this left me armoured in my Fenrir Fur armour, I had lost control of my jump, and with a simple sidestep, Rizevim dodged, and casually kicked me in the gut as I went by.

STRONG... This was no amateur kick. My breath was blasted out of me, and as I lifted into the air, he reached up grabbed my coat, and slammed me down into the stone of the dungeon segment. "Sister!" I heard from behind me, Ryuu springing into action...

I must have lost a second or two of consciousness, because I woke up on the ground next to the dungeon segment. "Here quickly!" Shinkage said, pushing the rounded edge of a bottle between my lips, "We have an hour before we lose our window, but we can leave any time before then." She got out of the way as I got to my feet, the little communication pip she'd taken off my helmet in her hand.

"Here." I handed her my phone, "When you see the right time, hit send." And I jumped back up onto the dungeon segment.

Ryuu looked a little worse for wear, but was lashing out with her magic and swinging her sword easily enough still. Rizevim was still talking however, "What an interesting style of magic!" He said as he wove through, or simply brushed aside razor sharp bits of wind, or summoned up small hand sized barriers to deflect Ryuu's sword, "It tastes a little like Fairy magic, with a hint of arcane. Are you really an elf from the other world?"

He must had noticed Ryuu glance behind him at me, and he hopped around easily to avoid my own attacks, "Those potions of yours seem really handy. Maybe if you hurt me, I'll try the one I bought off the black market!"

"How did you dispel my armour?" I asked, ducking a killer icicle, weaving around a blast of fire, then catching, containing, and grounding out a lightning bolt.

"Oh? That? You see, I was around when He created that silly Sacred Gear system. So out of boredom, I made my own! Except it works against them." He blocked my kick, then casually slapped Ryuu's sword away, suddenly pushing us both away with a blast of magic, throwing us both off the rock and into pillars that were opposite each other. "You should be proud you know! That armour of yours might be an imitation, but it was close enough to be effected by my Sacred Gear Canceller!"

I actually did feel a little pride at that, even as I pulled myself back to my feet. Blunt force was the weakness of my armour, and I think I caught a corner bit of that pillar to the ribs. It was almost time to go... But I had to time it just right... I jumped up onto the dungeon segment again, crouching and catching my breath as Ryuu did the same on the other end. Behind her, I saw that Ajuka was just waving his hands around casually, not even bothering to dispel parts of the series of barriers he was in anymore, focused instead on us.

"It was just so I didn't have to really think about resisting magic." I said, my tails lashing behind me, foxes appearing around my feet, my own bleeding/burning/boiling aura forming around me. "Let me show you what you're really dealing with, Rizevim."

Rizevim smile like I'd just given him a gift, glancing back for a moment and saying, "You stay there." And capturing Ryuu in a layered barrier circle similar to Ajuka's. He turned back to me, "There, no distractions, though, you might want to hurry." I saw that the barrier around Ryuu was shrinking slowly, "If you can reach her, maybe she won't be crushed to death, HAHAHA!"

From my left, and out of view, I heard my phone make a quiet 'beep'. "YOU MONSTER!" I shouted, pushing myself towards Rizevim at maximum power.

Only to stop half way, as Rizevim's stomach exploded in a shower of blood.

"NOW!" I shouted.


"You know, I'm going to miss that girl."

"Snort... whuffle."

"If she wasn't paying me, I'd have taken the job for free... This will be twice now that I'll outlive an enemy because of her."

Cime, looking down the barrel of his massive handgun, glanced down at the battle below, and then to the fancy smartphone watch on his wrist. "I had my doubts when she told me to 'deliver my handgun to Gabriel, wait for it to load, then sit here until further notice."

Then his wrist display lit up with 'Payme-' And he fired at the exposed back of Rizevim. The 'bullet', made with the same crystal that went into the Evil Piece system and charged with the holy power of the strongest angel in heaven (the brightest, yet not so bright) Gabriel, holder of Longinus, surged out of the barrel like a very tiny star. "Bon voyage Fox. Be seeing you."

"Snort..." The horse licked the side of his head as they both watched the bullet smash through Rizevim's defences and through his back.

"Or maybe not. Who knows?"


"H...ow?" Rizevim looked up at me, staggering.

I ignored him for a moment, looking up at the whirlwind as is descended on us. Ajuka, only pretending to be trapped, dispelled the puzzle box around him with a wave of his hand and powered up the teleport structure as soon as I said the word. Now, as I looked up into the clouds, it was as if I was looking into a GIANT lock. A tunnel of circular tumblers, spinning slowly and locking into place, as the ground vibrated under us. "Opening the sky with my broken keys..." I said, looking down at Rizevim as he held the massive hole in his gut, "Take a deep breath, if you can." I told him.

We started to rise into the sky, the massive lock 'CLUNKING' into place. Behind Rizevim, I saw Ryuu open her mouth and put a hand to her chest, even as the barrier around her vanished. Behind me, Shinkage was lifted off the ground by one of my tails, and wrapped up tight so I wouldn't lose her. "Loaner? Time to choose." I then opened my own mouth, and exhaled as much as I could.

I felt the horrible twisting, tumbling, vertigo inducing vacuum of the Dimensional Gap a moment later, a small white glow and a damp tongue touching my cheek. On the ground between Ryuu and I, Rizevim was flopping around on the ground, the air in his lungs being ripped out by the vacuum of the Gap before he could get any magical protection in place.

Off in the distance, I spotted the Great red, one huge eye open and watching us, before I felt my stomach flop...


(Vali)

"Your kindness will get you killed one day." I said, looking to that little nun girl as she healed me, "Thanks though." As weak as she was, she was saving me the time to heal it myself.

"Oh..." That one with the black hair, Akeno, pointed off in the distance, "I think... yes. I can feel the connection to her world starting to open."

"Think it will all work?" Issei asked, "She's really good at planning, but..."

"If she is following the letter of the promise she made, she's either leaving him behind, or waiting until they arrive." Kiba said.

As much as I hated that arrogant animal, they were right. But I wasn't going to let her take my prize, not after a lifetime of waiting. "Catch up if you care." I said, my wings spreading, "I'll let you deal with that."

I saw the descending tornado, and the rock formation it was falling on, and was almost there too. Then I saw what looked like a sun the size of a marble lance out from a nearby mountaintop, and saw HIM fall to his knees in front of that accursed fox.

And then they were gone. Sucked into the sky, and into the Dimensional Gap.

"NO!"


And we were suddenly on solid ground again. Blue skies, clean air, and apparently, the remains of the castle Haruhime and I had our honeymoon at... Around us I saw a similar structure to the one Ajuka had made, using the broken castle walls as support. As well, there were a few adventurers, easily marked by familiar Familia coloured clothing, or weapons. I even saw Ottar, looking at me from the one castle wall that was left intact after the war game so long ago (leaning on the wall right where Haruhime wondered if she could do it standing up.)

Rizevim wheezed in front of me, standing up slowly, bloody froth at the corner of his mouth, "You said... take a breath..."

"I lied." I shrugged, because yes, having air in your lungs when hitting a hard vacuum like outer space or in this case, the Dimensional Gap, just gets it ripped out of you by the pressure change, taking vital moisture from your lungs as well. Quite painful if the science papers had anything to say on it.

"Even like this..." And I could feel him try and pull magic to him, to power up his magic circles, to defend himself as I set Loaner (still a fluffy white fox with red swirls, though, feeling more... solid now...) and Shinkage (passed out, in my arms, but breathing and with a strong heartbeat) down, and walking over to him.

"There is no 'God' here." I said to him, in English, so those adventurers around me wouldn't know what I was saying, "Devils, angels, fallen, they never existed here." I reached out and while he tried to back up, he was too slow, and I got my hand firmly onto his armour's gorget (that metal throat protector that goes between a helmet and chest plate). "Your magic, the very system you use to make it work, simply doesn't work here."

"Im... no... You planned this from the start!" He looked at me in disbelief.

"Uvita really must not like you." I grinned, rearing back my fist, "She didn't tell you the last part of that sentence about my family."

"No..." He was strong, but getting his lungs ripped up by raw vacuum, and a bullet charged by the most powerful Angel on Earth through the back made him far weaker than her was a moment ago.

I let him struggle a little, my tails and grip keeping me balanced, before I said, "Thank you for helping me get home." I smiled.

Then killed him very VERY dead, my fist driving forward, obliterating his skull in a shower of blood and brain matter.


I stood there, looking up at the clear sky. My body hurt, I was hungry, my magic reserves were low, and my stomach was grumbling from drinking those double strength potions on an empty stomach. On the outside, I was covered in dirt, blood (both mine and others) sweat, a horrible smell from some monster or another, and as always, my tails needed grooming.

When I lowered my gaze, I saw that Ryuu was in much the same shape I was. The spider silk cloak I'd made her had held up well, but she too had many patches of 'wound evidence' and had the same tired smile I felt on my own face. Shinkage had a few marks as well, her little body sturdy, but still not used to long bursts of activity.

Rizevim. Well, he was very dead, and not getting any better. I suspected that Ryuu was only smiling at me because the arc of blood and bone had missed her. I handed Ryuu Shinkage's sleeping form, and did a quick search of the dead Devil's pockets. A couple of potion vials, grape flavour. A fancy vial common to Phoenix tears, probably useless now, a bit of money (both Sol and Sin)... And that was it.

"Sister." Ryuu called me back from 'routine', and I stood up again, "Your job is done." She said, "Let's go home?"

The adventurers around the castle were still silent, as if they still didn't believe what had happened. Not that I blamed them, this was far outside the usual 'dungeon did a weird thing' occurrence. So I said, "I am Kodori Haruhime of Hestia Familia. And I have returned home, bringing the stolen dungeon with me."

There were no cheers. It was more of an... 'awed whisper', as I stepped off the dungeon segment. Now at ground level, I saw that the stone under me was... similar to what Ajuka had. Except this one had no 'devil' magic, and instead had many of the weird arcane formula that Fels had taught me some of. That noted however, I very deliberately pressed my heel down with a sudden twitch, and sent a long crack through the stone that went under the dungeon fragment. I didn't want to risk even a one percent chance that it would get sent back somehow before it had been moved back into the dungeon.

I then started walking towards the broken wall, the same wall that faced Orario, and that Ryuu had shattered with the two magic sword Welf had made for the war game. Two steps later, as Ryuu joined me on the ground, I heard Ottar jump off the wall behind me with a grunt, and land in front of us with a thump I felt through my boots.

"You don't want to do this, Ottar of Freya Familia." I said quietly, "You have no idea what I've been through, and if I must, I will go through you too, to get home."

On his back were two swords. One looked to be made of stone, its edge jagged and rough. IT reminded me almost of Xenovia's silly plank of sword Durandal, but also of a stone weapon pulled up from the dungeon floor. The other was a more traditional blade, made of white metal, wide,sharp and pointy, made for someone of great strength. Both were a metre and a half long at least, and made to be used two handed, though, the King would have no trouble using both at once.

"Lady Freya demands your apology." He said, his serious face holding no anger. He was simply stating a fact.

"No matter who wins, she will lose." I said, "If you win, she will be seen as a bully, who sent you to beat up someone who just spent more than two seasons," Orario didn't have 'months' like Earth did, "bringing back the dungeon, and saving the city." I looked back to Ryuu, and she stepped away from me, looking worried, but knowing she wouldn't be allowed to help me. "And if I win..." I looked down at my feet, nodding my head to Loaner, who trotted over to Ryuu. "She will lose so much more."

"Her word is my command." He said, taking the huge stone blade off his back and holding it with both hands. "You will surrender and follow, or I will bring you to her."

"And then what?" I asked, taking a deep breath and feeling my formerly caged magic kind of... roll over and stand back up like a lazy fox, "I will not bend my knee to her. Ever. I will not let her near my children unless they themselves want to. Will you let me pass, or are you one more trial before I get to see my family again?"

He shook his head, then charged forward.


Even with his great strength backing him, he was not an arrogant fighter. With the control of a two handed grip, he tried a short heavy strike to my shoulder for an opening attack. He was fast too! Incredibly fast! The tip of that long heavy blade made whistled harshly in the air as it made a line for my shoulder.

But I had an 'answer' for incredibly fast things. Vali, Kiba, Xenovia, Tomoe, and even Issei... It was costly, but simple to do.

As he got close, a fox appeared from behind me, growing and enveloping me, then growing further, its body getting in the way of the swing, slowing it down and allowing me to hop backwards just a little to get out of the way. More importantly, to get the dungeon segment out of the line of fire. Even with this though, as I dodged another attack and rolled away from a kick that made the air vibrate with its passing, I could feel he was already adjusting his attacks to compensate for the sudden increase in resistance.

With one fox for 'armour' I grew four more, and triggered the small self hypnosis beginning for my spell, "Releasing control art restriction Begin parallel casting."

"I will not bend, I will not break..."

"I am the hand of my Goddess..."

"For Her a wall, for Her a Gate..."

"Her voice through the halls..."

Ottar's eyes widened slightly when he saw what I was doing, and I could feel my body warming up, my magic pushing through my system as my four spells happened at the same time. These spells were 'known' in Orario, but my ability to cast them all at once was new to him, and I could see, even as I avoided another swing of his blade, that he was not expecting that.

He was also not expecting me to dart towards him part way through his cross body swing, and punch him squarely in the jaw. The strike hurt my hand, the King's jaw feeling more like a block of steel than anything resembling flesh, but even as my glowing blue fist rattled his teeth, he caught me with the backswing of his blade.

It hurt. My coat, as tough as the legendary wolf himself, stopped the blade, but the force still made my ribs creak, and the weight of the strike sent me rolling along the grassy field along the road outside the castle. But that was it. I stood up, took another deep breath, and looked at Ottar as he rubbed his jaw.

"Very well then." He said, spitting out a tooth, his body starting to glow with an orange fire, "Silver moon's mercy, the golden wilderness." The glow increased, very much like mine would, "This body is destined for the wild boar of the war." The adventurers started gasping and pointing, the King becoming 'serious', as Ottar himself drew the second blade, "Run through, and carry the goddess's will!"

As he ran towards me, his metal blade glowing brightly as he made to bring it down in a huge overhand swing, I said, "I am the beloved Kitsune of Hestia." It wasn't a spell. It wasn't a prayer. It was a Fact. I felt my body break the magic/matter barrier, my muscles expanding much like the Oni's would when they became serious. My tails pulled back the foxes I had sent out, and then regrew them, the twisting snarling madness of claws and teeth weaving through my tails. "And I am the DEMON FOX!"

My newest tail led my charge, a fox the size of a bus, as wide a a car, with silver and black fur meeting Ottar with teeth of gold and a horn of silver.


Behind me, an hour's quick walk, but a three hour limp, was the castle and what was left of the battle field. Ryuu walked with her shoulder under mine, helping me keep steady as we made it through the gates of the city. Beside her walked Shinkage, her eyes taking in the sights of a new place. I myself was walking with a limp, the arm over Ryuu bleeding under my armour, limp and usable only as a way to keep me upright. My left leg as well, had been twisted badly, and I was leaving part of a bloody footprint with each step. Ryuu, exhausted from the fighting before our return, had used what power she had to at least keep me and Ottar from bleeding to death.

Speaking of, in my right hand, I held Ottar. I had dragged him the entire way, his bloody broken body feeling like lead. But even after what I'd done to him, he was still alive, and even more, he still held the his broken swords.

I'd only spoken once on the way back, and that was to tell the team of Ganesha Familia, who were riding on a massive horse drawn... contraption... with cranes and ropes and all manner of 'primitive hailing gear' for the massive dungeon fragment I left behind. And that was to say, "My job is done."

The city, as we passed through the gates, seemed to have a bit of a party in mind. People were out, banners were set up, and more of Ganesha's Familia had come out to greet me. But, even as they looked at me, then Ottar, I spoke for the second time. "Please move."

And they did.

Once the five (Loaner was in Shinkage's arms) of us got within sight of the fountain in the middle of the city, Ryuu broke the stone silence that the city around us had fallen into. "I'll see you at home."

She left me alone, as the people of Orario watched me drag their 'King' to the fountain. No one got close, no one said a word, no one even tried to make eye contact, as I leaned Ottar's bloody body against the white marble fountain. There were no sounds save the gurgling water, as I took out my best healing potion (made from real magic stone) and set it next to him.

Painfully, I stood up, and looked up at Babel as it loomed over the city like a giant silver spear planted into the ground. "You're welcome." I said, before turning my back to Ottar, and limping home.


Epilogue

"Are you sure, Lady Hestia?" Eina asked, "I don't want to bother her, but the guild..."

The best Guild employee ever sat across from Hestia at the big dining room table inside the Hearthstone Manor. The two of them had untouched teacups in front of them, brought to them by a smiling Wiene.

"I think..." Hestia sighed, "It would be faster if I just showed you."

The two stood up, and Eina followed Hestia. The Goddess was still wearing white and blue, her usual colours, but since her body hadn't quite finished returning to its previous 'size' she was still wearing the more maternal 'house robe' instead of her usual dress. "Her return had the entire city in shock... Not to mention the others she brought back. How is Miss Hatsu?"

"She's recovered enough to move about. And Takemikazuchi's Familia is helping her get up to speed with language. She's still a little distraught about losing a tail though."

"Good good. Has she...?"

"Not yet. But she's also learning from the others, so she'll be able to keep up in the dungeon." Hestia smiled, "She said 'learn the rules before I get off the bench'. What ever that means."

"And Shinkage? That metal monster is also quite the topic among the artisan quarter."

"She doesn't want it. But she gets along with everyone all the same."

"The two... coloured ones? Oni?"

"Followed Ganesha and Loki's team into the dungeon, and have only been here once to eat, before going back into the dungeon." Hestia shivered.

"And Delly?"

"She's kept mostly quiet, but has been keeping the birds company. Something is bothering her, but..." Hestia sighed, "I just wish I could help more... They've been through so much but I don't know what to do!"

Eina, usually quite respectful of people's personal space, gave Hestia a pat on the shoulder, "They spent a long time away. They'll come around."

"I know... Oh! Ha-chan." Hestia greeted Haruhime as she left the nursery room, "Is she..."

Haruhime had looked worn and worried ever since Kodori had vanished. It got a little better, as Kodori kept in contact, and started making progress on returning. But now... She had returned to the same look she had in the early months of her wife's disappearance.

"Not... no..." She stammered, turning around and opening the door again, "Ko-san? You've a visitor."

"Ara?" Kodori said from inside the room, "Who might it be I wonder?" There was a little giggle, "I'm sure they'd love to say hello too!"

Eina stepped into the room, and blinked in shock. It wasn't that Kodori was acting a little odd. Once she had returned, she seemed to have lost all interest in everything but her children. After months away, it would have surprised Eina if she didn't want to devote herself to her family. But it went further than that. Kodori herself seemed to be... 'absent'. Her mannerisms had changed. Her serious, down to earth and practical nature had been discarded. She had simply stopped being 'adventurer Kodori' and become 'Mother Kodori.

But Eina had seen this in adventurers before. Something would happen to them, usually an injury or death of a friend, and they would lose that 'edge' adventurers had.

However, what was shocking wasn't the outright change in personality, but the contents of the room itself.

All of her children had changed into foxes. There was no real 'outward sign', but deep down, Eina knew that these were the children of the 'Hime's. Even the fox in Kodori's arms, with pure white fur, two happy tails that were just starting to gain that 'poofy' nature of a fox tail, and the green/gold eyes.

"Now now." Kodori said as Eina froze in shock, "We mustn't scare our dearest friend." Kodori said, booping Kei's nose as they lay on their back in Kodori's arm. "Yes yes, that's better." Kodori encouraged as they all seemed to just... change. Right before her eyes, Kei flailing paws changed to little hands, trying to ward off the loving touch of Kodori's hand.

You see. It wasn't that Haruhime was worried, or stressed about the new situation. No not at all. "It was yesterday morning." Haruhime yawned, bending down and picking up the first child to crawl into the hallway and tug at her kimono, "When they all seemed to just... do that. It's taken since then to get them all into one room again..."

"o-ma." while Eina, Hestia and Haruhime shared a sigh, Kodori perked up at the word spoken by her foot.

Without hesitation, she bent down and picked up a golden haired child, "Yes? What can I do for you?" and rubbed noses with him. From the room, someone else mumbled 'o-ma' and another 'a-ma' and Kodori turned partially, "Ara? I suppose it has been a few hours." And with that, she leaned down, gave Haruhime a kiss on the cheek, collected the child she was holding with a tail, and went back into the room.

"I suppose... I'll have to come back later?" Eina said, "Let me know if she... um... comes back to herself?"

"We'll send word." Hestia said with a sigh.

Hestia and Haruhime waved to Eina as she left, then Haruhime said, "I suppose I'll get them back into their wraps before they make another mess..."


NOTES!

And so, this story comes to a close, with one last bit of 'weird' happening to Kodori. Though, it's more 'normal' for Kodori, and 'weird' for Hestia Familia. Poor Kodori however seems to have had a bit of a breakdown.

But don't worry. She's a resilient sort, and after a little catching up I'm sure she'll be doing something interesting in five days or so.

So please, dear readers, join me for my new story, and find out what sort of fallout happens after... well... all this just happened. :)

Now, I know this isn't the most... satisfying of endings. But is it really an ending? For those careful readers, and others familiar with DxD Lore, you might notice a few things got... left behind. So while Kodori has 'left' DxD, her actions have remained, and may yet return to haunt her at a later date.

Daeore on Ko-Fi, if you want to toss a coin to your writer.

Daeore on Inkkit, if you want to read my book 'Were too?'