All of Tokyo and beyond saw the Fiend's divine shot.
The light emanating from the few seconds of the attack's beam was bright enough to reach as far as Kuoh Town. In one of the multistory apartments in said town housed the governor general of the fallen angels, Azazel. A chill ran down his spine as he stared wide eyed at the beam of light.
"What is happening out there…" He hissed. "First, there was that incident with Kokabiel. Now, I'm seeing something that's impossible."
He might have been a fallen angel for more than a few centuries, but he could never have forgotten the feeling of being under his creator's light.
"Something impossible?" Another person in the same apartment as the fallen angel voiced. "I don't know what you're talking about. But whatever caused that beam of light is strong. It's actually making my blood boil…!"
"Vali—" Azazel warned. The warning was not just because of the White Dragon Emperor's bloodlust, but because he knew if the boy would fight whatever this divine energy originated, he would be killed.
Before the fallen angel could elaborate, the White Dragon Emperor was already in his Scale Mail. The boy flew out of the apartment and went towards the beam's source!
"Damn it, kid!" Azazel flicked his fingers and, as if my magic, his bathrobe transformed into a full tuxedo. The fallen angel couldn't do anything else but try and catch up to the unhinged dragon.
Back in Tokyo, Chiaki was riding a train when she saw the beam. She looked outside the window, a worried frown crossed her face. "Nao-kun, what have you gotten yourself into this time?"
Elsewhere in the same city Isamu was walking on the sidewalk, fresh from a night at the arcade, when he saw the beam from behind him.
"Shit, it's like the Vortex World all over again!" The young man threw his bag on the pavement. "Why can't you just let everything go, Naoki?!"
The young man uncharacteristically screamed in the direction of the beam; Isamu would have been given weird looks by the people around him but they were too busy seeing the incident themselves. He took a breath.
"That has nothing to do with me anymore…" He hissed; his voice slightly hoarse.
Isamu leaned his hat slightly forward and quickly picked up his bag. He gritted his teeth as he turned around walking away from the beam's light. "Shit."
In the Underworld, the four great Satan were in a meeting when a sudden wave of ominous dread hit followed by a feeling of familiar raw oppressive power. Each of them shuddered as they felt it. One of the four, Sirzechs Lucifer, stood up from his seat.
Not a second later the double doors in the room they were in burst open. A woman with silver hair in a maid outfit stepped inside. "Sirzechs-sama!"
"Grayfia?"
"Is it somewhere in the edge of our territories? It sounded like trouble." Another of the four, Ajuka Beelzebub, spoke.
"The surge of power came from the mortal plain." The woman said gravely. "From the city of Tokyo."
"All the way out there?"
The other three Satan looked at Sirzechs. They knew his sister was living in the town of Kuoh, just a shy away from the bustling metropolis. The devil in question was keeping his composure. Grayfia could not afford to sugarcoat the situation.
"This feeling…"
"I know what you're thinking, Sirzechs. How this pressure felt like the devils of the great war." Ajuka muttered. "But it could be something else entirely—"
"You are correct, Ajuka-sama." Grayfia hesitated. "It is something else…"
The room was filled with a pregnant pause.
"There was an attack in a café close to the Gremory Tokyo building." She continued. "Lady Rias took one of the perpetrators into our building's interrogation room and this was the footage I found. This happened a few hours ago."
The four waited in anticipation as Grayfia opened the large screen on one side of the room. A recording of a camera in one of the interrogation room's corners showed Rias' peerage, a young man in a torn jacket and another man in a suit. A large spider-like creature was in the middle of the room.
"Isn't that a yōkai?" Serafall Leviathan voiced.
They heard the creature from the video speak.
"I knew it, you're like me, aren't you? Why the hell are you associating with these parodies of our likeness?"
"Parodies…?" Ajuka took note.
They next saw the two unknowns talk with Rias' knight. They seemed to exchange greetings but was constantly interrupted by the creature, screaming at them. They saw the young man suddenly disappeared from his place and appeared beside the creature.
"The camera didn't pick up his movements, interesting." It wasn't something too surprising to Devils of their level. But Sirzechs having no idea who they were considered it a red flag. "Who are these people?"
"I could only get their names; the man is called Hikawa and the younger one is Kashima Naoki."
"Just 'Hikawa'? Nothing else?"
"I had our information network look up the two, for now that is all we have about them." Grayfia added. "Well, that and this…"
She gestured to the monitor. The young man called Naoki was very close to the creature, talking to it.
"I want to know. Are you from the Amala?"
"The Amala is everything, our greatest enemy. What you're asking is like a fish in the ocean trying to find a drop of water."
"But you know what I'm looking for, aren't you?"
"The Expanse, the demon world, the Abyss, Makai. Semantics! They refer to the same place. It's where all demons exist in relative peace in existence with one another."
"Is it this 'Underworld' these devils told me about?"
"Ha-ha-ha-ha! I've been there for reconnaissance a couple of times. Not too shabby place. But they're trying too hard to be human-like for my taste."
The five of them listened intently with the conversation of the young man and the creature. Each exchange of words made the room's atmosphere sink. After the two on the screen's exchange was over the four great Satan were again silent.
"They're Demons like the ones described in the Tome of Miroku." Ajuka, who broke the silence, leaned back in his seat in disbelief.
The highest-ranking devils would never dream to hearing that word again.
Demons.
They were a taboo topic amongst the devils who experienced the Great War. Serafall shuddered at the mere mention of the name.
"Whether or not this is a possibility is up for debate, you know?" The fourth of the Satan, Falbium Asmodeus, added. "It's been a good week after Kokabiel's rampage. It might be another fallen angel trying another angle at inciting mass panic."
"Whatever the source is, we can't ignore it!" Serafall smacked the conference table in front of them in finality. "Why don't we pay a quick visit in the human world, Sirzechs?"
"You two?" Ajuka's brow rose.
"I'd like to make sure my sister's alright," Serafall smiled. "And I'm sure he'd want to see Rias-chan too."
"If it doesn't concern the Underworld, I'll just stay here and manage things." Falbium muttered.
Ajuka sighed. "Very well, I will stay with Falbium."
Grayfia, listening to their conversation, nodded in affirmation. The high-class devils have decided, two of the Great Satan are coming to the human world.
Michael had been hit by the same feeling of divine energy emanating from the mortal realm a few times now. The first time it happened he and his sister went down to investigate the source but he couldn't afford to leave the system unguarded so, with a heavy heart, he had to come back. The second and third surge was in very close intervals. Michael was no Uriel, but his patience won out and he did not pay it any mind.
This was the fourth time now. And Michael's every being wanted to go down there to see if his father was the source, despite his hope being unfounded.
"Michael!" Uriel's voice echoed in the seventh heaven.
"What is it, Brother—?"
"Gabriel is not in her room!" The fellow Seraph said. "I think she went after that surge of power you two tried to investigate."
"I should have kept her close…" Michael said in resignation. "I knew she wanted to know just as badly as me, but…"
"I will go down there and—"
Michael held out his palm. "This is my mistake, brother. I will go down there and get her back."
"I will maintain a vigilant watch to the system." Uriel offered.
"Please," Michael hugged his brother tightly. "Thank you."
"Michael, I—" Before the Seraph could let go and be on his way, Uriel whispered to him. "Please find out if it's really father."
Michael couldn't help but smile warmly. The chief angel of Patience wasn't above desires and yearnful hope, it looked like! Uriel wanted to go down there and find out himself. Michael let his magnificent wings spread out as he set out for the mortal realm.
"T-that beam looked even bigger than that attack Kokabiel did to destroy the school gym…" Issei was wide eyed.
The rest of his peerage didn't answer. As they flew closer to the source, the devils could feel the beam's air-pressure opposite to the wind direction pushing them back. Whatever made that attack was disgustingly powerful. Rias suddenly felt an instinct to back away from it, but she fought against running knowing it might have something to do with Hikawa and Naoki.
By the time they were flying above the harbor the beam already dissipated. But the noise of battle was evident. Rias and her peerage saw Hikawa and Naoki fight who they could only guess as the summoner of the demon they had just interrogated. But the summoner wasn't alone, it was accompanied by a slew of different creatures.
"Demons?" Kiba tried to guess.
"Wait, you're saying that those hippo looking things are also demons?!" Issei was looking at a Behemoth.
But their banter was interrupted by Ice pillars the size of houses suddenly erupting in quick succession! The pillars were shielding Hikawa and Naoki between the summoner and the demons.
"Let's go!" Rias took the opportunity and flew down. Her peerage followed after her.
Hikawa was the first to notice them diving down. The man laughed at himself and looked at Naoki. "All that effort in trying to get them away? Gone, the moment you decided to use your divine shot."
Naoki was busy clutching his stomach, Rias noticed. The young man's markings were glowing red instead of green, as well.
He looked at them, his expression less than thrilled.
"Do not get in the way," He hissed. "These aren't the same level of demons we fought in the café!"
Naoki's voice rattled them, they never heard him scream up until now. Koneko tried to keep Naoki up by holding his shoulder. "We know, but we can help."
The young man huffed 'damn it' and leaned on her.
"Heal up," Hikawa suggested to Naoki. "I will try and buy some time."
The man didn't even let them respond before going around his ice pillars, baiting the Demons.
"Let me—!" Asia quickly stepped closer. A green glow shined from her palm as she held Naoki's chest. The young man's markings changed its glow back into its pulsing green again.
"What happened?"
"We got ambushed," Naoki grumbled. "I got ganged up before I could figure out what happened."
"That beam of light…" Kiba asked. "Was it the one that it you?"
"That was mine, I got hit by something cheap." Kashima huffed. "Are you done, Asia?"
"Almost…" She focused even more, the green light getting brighter.
"Seriously?!" Issei leaned in. "That was some serious fire power! I knew you were holding back but—"
A loud crash sounded and they saw Hikawa being thrown above them into the water. Akeno flew up quickly and caught the man. When the two flew down towards them the saw the man visibly roughed up.
"You look like hell," Naoki quipped.
"I look informed!" Hikawa retorted.
The rest of them was silent, eager to hear what the man had to say.
"They aren't attacking us because right beside the summoner is a Spinning Drum of Amala. He is cloaking it, but I managed to see it for a second. It was activated." He began. "I am guessing they are holding off till reinforcements arrive."
"We need to kill them quickly," Naoki said as a matter-of-factly.
"I can't summon demons," Hikawa bluntly stated. "And my damaging skills are mostly ice-based."
"What are the rest of your skills then?"
"The '-nda' ones, Debilitate and Shields." Hikawa answered. "I have high-level healing spells, but I feel like I would faint if I cast it now."
"Tarukaja it is then," Naoki ran a hand across his hair. "I can take them out faster—"
"…by myself!" With the last line he looked at Rias and her peerage. It wasn't a request.
"You lot can form up and defend me." Hikawa suggested, trying to keep them from wasting any more time arguing.
Rias hesitated at the unorthodox plan, yet, the two sounded experienced against Demons. She and her peerage might have bitten more than they could chew with this fight, but running away at this point was out of the question.
"Akeno, Kiba and I will take the front row." Rias ordered. "Asia, heal Hikawa-san. Koneko, guard our rear. Issei, boost Hikawa-san's magic."
"Yes, ma'am!" Her servants quickly formed up.
Naoki looked at her and nodded approvingly. The gesture flashed an image Rias' father congratulating her for a job well done. That gave a pause out of her.
"I'm going."
Rias got out of her stupor when she saw Naoki stand up and faced the direction of the summoner. There was an explosion and the ice pillar Hikawa conjured was destroyed. A very large Hippopotamus looking Demon was sitting in the debris of ice. Even with its ridiculous appearance, it looked dangerous. The only thing keeping them from being overwhelmed by the enemy demon's pressure was the familiar oppressive killing intent from Naoki.
It was oddly reassuring.
With a strong stomp forward, making the ground tremble, the Fiend then started the battle with a blood curdling War Cry.
Message:
Funny you noticed that, Cryocene. I based it on a random encounter that killed my end-game Demi-Fiend way back on my first playthrough.