Here is the penultimate chapter of the Aegis arc! I hope those who celebrated the holidays had a good time. I also had my birthday last weekend on top of my half-week vacation. Enjoy the chapter!
Rias had requested everyone in the Occult Research Club, as well as Melody, Seth, his servants, and Setsuna, to the old school building after classes had ended for the day. Once she knew everyone was accounted for, she stood up from behind her desk to draw everyone's attention.
"All right! Listen up, everyone!" Rias spoke. "Tonight, we'll be doing something a little different! Some time ago, Luke came across a key that unlocks the seal on the Aegis. And now, we know where to find it! It's in Seihei Station!"
"I-Isn't that the haunted train station?" Issei shivered in fear.
"It wouldn't be wise to bring all of us in at once, so we'll be forming a team of about ten of us entering the abandoned station." Rias continued. "Since we're all familiar with the Evil Piece system, I decided that the team should reflect that with one King, one Queen, two Rooks, two Bishops, two Knights, and the remaining two spots for the Pawns. Luke has the key to the seal, so he should absolutely go. As his master, I will be joining as well."
"I'm the only other Pawn here, so I guess I have to go." Issei sighed in exasperation.
"If Buchou is going, as her Queen, I should be by her side." Akeno stepped forward.
"That just leaves the Rooks, Bishops and Knights." Alastair stated.
"Melody, may I borrow Hikaru for this mission?" Rias requested. "Her Omniscient Oracle would be immensely helpful in keeping track of everyone and our surroundings."
"Of course." Melody nodded. "Hikaru, do you have any objections?"
"Nope." Hikaru replied before giving a strained wink to Issei.
You're not very good at winking, are you? Issei thought.
"B-Buchou?" Fumiko raised her hand. "I-I would l-like to join the mission, too."
"Are you sure?" Rias asked with a look of concern. "I know the last few days have been hard on you. Asia can always handle healing duties."
"I… I need to do this." Fumiko said with resolve. "If Luke-san is going, I want to be with him."
"In that case, I'm going, too." Akira stood up with her fists clenched.
"Akira?" Fumiko looked at her older sister.
"I failed to protect you from our parents… At the very least, I'll protect you here on out!"
"We now have two Bishops and one Rook… Let's see…" Rias looked over the room and settled her sight on Emery. "Seth, would you mind if Emery joined the team? Out of the other Rooks in the room, she is unquestionably one of the strongest."
"Sure, I could use the exercise." Emery groaned due to her stretching.
"Well, I have no reason to object, so by all means." Seth responded to Rias's request. "Take care of her."
Melody noticed that Katherine wanted to say something, but was too shy to speak up, so she smiled and patted her on the back.
"Katherine also volunteers!" Melody declared.
"Bah?!" Katherine exclaimed with flushed cheeks.
Melody then whispered something into Katherine's ear.
"… Yes! I volunteer!" Katherine saluted with a cheerful expression.
"Then we only need one more Knight." Rias said.
"As your Knight, I-" Yuuto was about to say.
"I wish to go."
Everyone was surprised to see that the person who stepped forward and spoke up was Setsuna.
"Setsuna, you don't have to do this." Seth told her.
"Thank you, but this is my chance to prove myself worthy of being your Knight." Setsuna replied.
"How can I deny a request from a samurai?" Rias giggled.
"Luke-kun, will you protect Buchou in my stead?" Yuuto requested.
"Of course." Luke answered without hesitation.
"It looks like we have our ten-person team! Everyone else will remain here on standby. If there are no questions, we will begin immediately!" Rias declared.
"Yeah!" Everyone rallied in unison.
Little did anyone know that there was a bug within the clubroom, with someone listening in on their conversation.
It was already evening, and the sun was already disappearing into the horizon when the ten-person team arrived at Seihai Station.
"Hikaru, you're up." Rias ordered. "Use your Sacred Gear to get a layout of the area."
Hikaru activated her Sacred Gear and a series of neon green lines extended through the entire area. After about a minute, it seemed like she found something.
"There's a large door on the station's lowest level, but there appears to be much more beyond that."
"That must be the door Grimm and his team found." Luke said.
"It won't be smooth sailing once we get past the door." Hikaru continued. "I've spotted a large golem in the deepest part of the ruins and… huh?"
"What is it, Hikaru-chan?" Issei asked.
"Hmph…" Hikaru blushed and tried to contain her excitement at Issei calling her by her given name. "A-a-anyway, just past that golem is a sword and… a girl, I think."
"Did somebody already get there before us?" Akeno guessed.
"… It's strange." Hikaru answered. "That door hasn't been opened at all in hundreds of years and something's off about the person in there. And whoever she is seems to be asleep, and have been like that for who knows how long."
"Wow! You're Sacred Gear can tell that much?" Fumiko asked in amazement.
"When it comes to reconnaissance, you can't beat Hikaru's Omniscient Oracle." Akira said.
"Hikaru's the best!" Katherine cheered.
"Perhaps this girl is a final trial of sorts." Setsuna surmised as she rested her left hand on the hilt of the sheathed katana tied to her hip.
"Well, we won't know for sure 'til we take down that golem." Emery cracked her knuckles.
At the old school building, everyone else was passing the time in their own way. Koneko and Azusa were playing a card game, Alastair was reading a book, Xenovia and Asia were having a friendly chat, Spiral was looking out the window at the night sky, and Annabelle and Misaki were preparing snacks and tea. Seth and Melody went into another room on the second floor, away from the ears of their comrades.
"You seem to be pushing Katherine to Luke quite a bit." Seth said.
"Katherine's got quite the crush on him." Melody stated. "At the very least I hope she can be in his harem."
"You think Luke's going to have a harem, too huh? I don't think he even realizes he wants that yet."
Melody cheerfully snickered. "Yep, that sounds like him."
"… Are you… hoping to be in his harem, too?"
As she was smiling, Melody's face froze.
"You think I haven't noticed the way you look at Luke? Or how badly you wanted to make him your servant? And I know that your dream of ridding Devil society of its prejudice against anyone who isn't pureblooded in part stems from your desire to marry him without being discriminated."
Melody's smile went away before she spoke up again. "… As heir to my household, I know I will have to find a Pureblood Devil husband to produce a pureblooded heir… but my heart belongs to Luke. It always has. You probably think it's gross, your sister being in love with your brother, wanting to marry him and have his children… but those are my honest feelings for him."
"I don't think it's gross. Yeah, Luke's my brother and you're my sister, but neither of you share even a drop of blood. As long as you and Luke make each other happy, you have my full support."
"Thanks, Seth. Mmh!" Melody suddenly heard a strange sound coming from outside of the building. "Seth, head outside now! I'll get the others!"
After Melody flung the door open, Seth left the room, went down the stairs and headed for the old school building's entrance. When he stepped outside, he saw a magic circle with the emblem of the House of Morag on it. After releasing a brilliant shine, two figures stepped out from the light. They were Kaidon's Queen and Knight, Delmi and Primoir.
"You're Kaidon's servants. What brings you here?" Seth questioned, feeling that whatever the young women were in front of the old school building for was nothing good.
Melody had brought everyone else outside.
"Delmi?! Primoir?!" Melody gasped.
"Who are they?" Yuuto asked.
"They are my oldest brother's Queen and Knight." Melody answered.
"We have a couple of scores to settle." Primoir pulled out her spear and pointed it toward them. "Where are Spiral Hirano and Misaki Shirayuki?"
"Our battle did end without a decisive victor." Spiral said as he stepped forward.
"I won't lose to you this time, Shirayuki!" Delmi made rainbow flames appear in her hands.
"Where's Grencin?" Melody inquired. "I would think she would want a rematch against Issei."
"She said she's still not ready yet." Primoir replied. "Undergoing some 'special training' to combat that disgusting technique your Pawn came up with."
"Sorry about that…" Melody nervously chuckled in response. Something's not right. I doubt they're here just for a rematch.
With Rias in the lead and Emery in the rearguard, the team entered the abandoned train station. Even though the entire station was devoid of light, everyone could see clearly due to being Devils. Thanks to Hikaru's Sacred Gear, everyone had a map of the place downloaded into their heads. The halls were damp and dusty from no one maintaining it in so many years.
"… did you let…"
Hearing a strange voice, Emery looked around and didn't see anyone besides her comrades.
"Why did… die?"
As Emery was about to continue walking, she stopped as she heard a voice again.
"Why did you let us die, Emery?"
Emery froze in place now that she heard the voice.
"You could have saved us."
"I… I didn't…" Emery's voice shook.
"You should have died with us."
"STOOOOP!" Emery shouted and winded up a punch.
"Emery, stop!"
Emery opened her eyes and realized that she had nearly punched Luke in the head.
"I… I'm sorry…" Emery pulled back her fist as her breathing was labored.
"Did you hear that voice?" Rias inquired.
Emery seemed rather hesitant to answer.
"…"
Everyone heard a warped voice coming from nearby and as they looked around, they saw an ethereal light in the shape of a woman that seemed to be staring right at them.
"I-Is th-th-that the g-g-g-g-ghost?" Fumiko quivered in fear.
After drawing their attention, the apparition walked deeper into the station.
"Does it want us to follow it?" Luke asked.
"Let's not!" Issei said. "Haven't you seen horror movies?"
"No, horror movies aren't my thing." Luke replied in a matter-of-fact tone.
"You're awfully calm…" Issei muttered.
"That ghost is heading in the same direction we are." Hikaru said. "It might be trying to give us an extra hand in trying to find our way there."
"It would be rude not to follow it. Let's go." Rias commanded everyone.
As everyone started following the spirit, Luke looked back and saw Emery still shaken.
"Emery, are you okay?" Luke asked in concern.
"… H-huh?" Emery seemed to have come out of a daze. "Oh, y-yeah… I just had one of those moments, you know?"
Something tells me that freak-out had a lot more to it than that ghost. Luke thought as he looked at Emery in worry. Maybe she's experiencing alcohol withdrawal?
Luke and Emery caught up with the rest of the group and they continued following the apparition to a deep area of the station. The ghost fazed through a pair of metal doors with a chain lock keeping anyone from entering.
"Akira, this one's all you." Rias ordered.
"Heh…" Akira stepped forward, cracked her neck and knuckles before breaking the chain lock and knocking the doors down to the floor in a single punch.
There was a large room behind the metal doors, with another large marble door inside with architecture that looked incredibly out of place from the rest of the station and a golden gem embedded in the center.
"These definitely look like Greek Ruins." Akeno said. "This must be the seal we need to unlock."
Luke took out the key to the Aegis's seal in his pocket and it shone like a diamond. After looking at Rias and her giving him a simple nod, he walked toward the door and the gems on both the door and the key reacted to each other. The door split and slowly began opening up, revealing another corridor that led to a staircase heading deeper underground.
"Hikaru, how much father until we reach the golem?" Rias asked.
"We'll have a bit of walking to do, but it shouldn't be too long." Hikaru answered. "Everyone should still be in great fighting shape… except me." She nervously giggled. "My… legs will be jelly by then."
"How out of shape are you?" Luke questioned.
"I can always carry you, Hikaru-chan." Issei suggested.
"Ohhhhhhhh…" Hikaru moaned as her face turned red.
Everyone started walking inside the ruins, with Issei carrying Hikaru on his back. Akira went up to Fumiko and walked side by side with her.
"Hey, Fumiko, how are you holding up?" Akira asked.
"I'm… feeling better now, thank you." Fumiko replied. "I… I had to hear from our parents what they really thought of us and… you were right. I'm so sorry for doubting you yesterday."
Fumiko looked ahead of her at Luke's back, and she had a light blush on her face. Akira took notice of how Fumiko was looking at him and smiled.
From the few times I've met Luke-kun, he always seems like a quiet, but nice person. Akira thought. I'm happy Fumiko found a good guy she likes. I hope it works out between them and their kids have it better than Fumiko and I did.
"Oh, there's something I don't understand, though…" Fumiko spoke up.
"What's that?"
"Why were you trying to avoid me before, Akira?"
"Well… I-"
Everybody stopped as they felt the ground shake and noticed they were approaching the end of the corridor. As soon as they exited the corridor, they found themselves in an expansive room where an eight-foot-tall humanoid machine made of bronze stood between them and a large set of double doors made of limestone.
"Is that… Talos?!" Rias exclaimed.
"What's a 'Talos'?" Issei asked.
"According to Greek mythology, Talos is an automaton made by Hephaestus." Hikaru explained. "It originally died, but it looks like that smithing god just made a new one."
"Maybe it's friendly!" Katherine cheerfully spoke.
(Play "Monster Surprised You" – Xenoblade Chronicles 2)
Talos raised its fist and winded up for a punch.
"Uh, something tells me otherwise." Emery retorted to Katherine's comment.
With Issei holding onto Hikaru and Akira grabbing onto Fumiko, everyone jumped out of the way before Talos's fist collided with the floor, creating a large crater.
"Luke, Issei, promote to Queen now!"
Luke and Issei did as Rias commanded and used Promotion to become Queens.
"Hikaru-chan, stay back!" Issei made his gauntlet appear.
Boost!
"I'll start analyzing it for any weak points." Hikaru told everyone. "In the meantime, don't get hit."
"If we're fighting a machine, my Senjutsu won't be of much use here." Emery stated.
"I don't think it'll be much of a challenge for you all." Rias smirked. "But if things get bad, I'll step in. Get ready, everyone!"
Katherine pulled out her rapier from another space and Luke manifested his Falchion. Setsuna placed her right hand on the grip of her katana and pulled it out of its sheath, winds starting to swirl around the blade.
"Finally! A real samurai in action!" Rias's face lit up from seeing Setsuna ready for battle.
President is going to geek out the whole time, isn't she? Luke thought with a wry smile before looking behind him at Fumiko. "Fumiko, if an attack comes toward you, I'll protect you."
"Oh, th-thank you, L-Luke-san." Fumiko blushed from Luke's proclamation.
"You don't have to protect Fumiko alone, ya know?" Akira placed her hand on Luke's shoulder and gave him an assuring smile.
Luke smiled back at Akira. "Thanks."
"Rooks and Knights, keep Talos busy until Hikaru is done analyzing!" Rias ordered. "We won't know its resistances and weaknesses until then, so Luke and Akeno, I want you to remain on standby! Issei, use this time to store power in your Sacred Gear! Bishops, support us from the back!"
Setsuna dashed forward at such a blistering speed that it looked like she had disappeared. Before Talos could comprehend what happened, it was sliced in half along the waist and its upper half fell onto the ground.
She's so fast! Luke was amazed at Setsuna's speed. I didn't think anyone could move that fast aside from Yuuto! She might be even faster than him!
"Luke, um…"
Luke looked to his side where Katherine had approached him.
"Can, uh…" Katherine was behaving very shyly. "Can I… can I please drink your blood?"
Luke blankly stared at Katherine with small, circular eyes. "… I'm sorry, what?"
"Vampires gain power by drinking the blood of other races." Katherine explained. "With your Sacred Gear, the Sapphire Dragon Emperor's power will have an effect on your blood."
I don't feel comfortable with the idea that I'm having my blood physically drained from my veins… But if it'll help us in battle, I'll have to bite the bullet. "… Okay, just give m-"
Before he could finish his sentence, Katherine was biting down on his neck and his body froze for a few seconds upon realizing it. Fumiko was also staring at them in shock while her face gradually turned pink.
I'm actually drinking Luke's blood! Katherine thought. I can't believe this is happening so soon! And this taste… It's overflowing with power!
Katherine pulled back and Luke immediately held onto his neck where he was bitten.
It's over already? Luke wondered as he saw a couple specks of blood on his hand. I barely felt anything. I never thought a vampire's touch would be so gentle.
Her red eyes glowing, Katherine felt an unbelievable surge in power welling up inside of her from drinking Luke's blood. While Emery was trying to push back Talos's large left arm from crushing her, she suddenly felt some pressure lighten and noticed that the arm was now separated. On closer inspection, the joint was cut clean through, and Katherine was now clear across the arena in a stance as if she had just performed a slash with her rapier.
"Whoa!" Emery slightly stumbled trying to balance Talos's arm over her head. "You can have this back."
Emery threw the arm back at Talos and struck it right in the face, the sound of bronze hitting bronze ringing throughout the battlefield. After its arm fell to the floor, Talos picked it up with its right arm and with a metallic click, its left arm reattached to its body. It did the same with its lower half and it was like there had been no damage dealt to it.
"You gotta be kidding me!" Akira shouted.
"Yeah, looks like it can use magic to reattach its severed parts." Hikaru stated. "That magic must have some kind of source. Once I find it, I'll let you all know. Oh, and unlike the original Talos from Greek mythology, it doesn't have any ichor, so it won't die from 'blood loss' like before."
If President didn't decide to have us handle this ourselves, she could easily wipe this thing out of existence. Luke thought. Then again, we wouldn't be getting any experience if we didn't fight.
"Akira! Emery-san! I'll give you a defense boost!" Fumiko made her Supreme Aid appear, pointed the needle in the direction of Akira and Emery, and shot a yellow beam at them.
As Akira and Emery were struck with the yellow beam, they could feel their bodies become sturdier. Talos swung its right hand to swat away Akira and Emery, but the Rooks stood their ground and stopped the hand with their bare hands. Even with Talos pushing as hard as it could, Akira and Emery wouldn't budge an inch. Eventually, it turned its attention to Katherine and Setsuna and threw its left arm downward to crush them. The Knights used their speed to evade the strike with ease. While it was distracted, Akira wrapped her arms coated in demonic power around Talos's right hand and with a loud roar of effort, she picked Talos up and slammed its body against the floor.
"How much longer, Ueda-chan?" Akira loudly asked.
"I just need a couple more minutes." Hikaru replied. "Just hold out until I can find its weak point."
In front of the old school building, everyone watched as Misaki and Spiral were battling Delmi and Primoir, respectively. Each combatant was evenly matched against their opponent to such a degree that it was impossible to tell who was closer to winning.
"I can tell you've been training, Delmi-san." Misaki said.
"It's not something I ever thought I'd do, but after seeing how hard Grencin and Primoir work to get stronger, I asked them for advice." Delmi responded. "I never realized training could be so… exhausting."
"Snrk!" Primoir tried to stifle her laughter as if recalling something humorous.
"Hey, it was my first push-up!" Delmi shouted at her comrade.
"I know I shouldn't be laughing-Heheheh-but I couldn't help myself!" Primoir then burst into laughter.
"Then stop it!"
Misaki and Spiral just stared at them, perplexed at their casual banter.
Neither of them is acting strange. Melody thought as she continued observing her eldest brother's servants. From what Misaki and Spiral told me, their actions don't even seem like that far of a stretch from how they behaved before. Then why do I still feel like something is incredibly off?
Melody suddenly heard a high-pitched noise ring in her ears that made her wince in pain.
"Did you hear something, Melody?" Seth whispered to her.
"So, I was the only one to hear that?" Melody asked. That noise… it came from… She leaned in toward Seth and whispered into his ear. "That noise came from the clubroom. I'm heading there to find the source of it."
Seth stood in front of Melody so she could head back inside the old school building without Delmi and Primoir noticing.
It had been a few minutes and the Rooks and Knights were still keeping the attention of Talos.
"… I found it!" Hikaru suddenly shouted. "The source of the magic powering it! There's a core in the center of its chest! And its body is still made of bronze, so Himejima-senpai's lightning attacks should be able to deal damage without issue! Unfortunately, the magic core has a barrier that will reflect any non-physical attack heading right for it and anyone who gets too close to it will get zapped with a ton of magic energy."
"… In that case, we'll need someone to use a weapon from a distance, right?" Luke asked Hikaru.
"Yeah, that should work without a hitch." Hikaru answered. "But you'll need to get through that bronze chest plate first."
Luke was deep in thought for a few seconds, but then it seemed like a lightbulb appeared over his head. "… I have an idea, but I'm not entirely sure it'll work." He turned to Fumiko. "Fumiko, can you give the Rooks and Knights a strength buff?"
"Oh, um, yes!" Fumiko replied as the liquid in her Sacred Gear changed color from yellow to red. "Akira, Katherine-san, Emery-san, Setsuna-san! I'm giving you a boost!"
All four of them stopped in place as Fumiko shot red beams at each of them. When they were struck by that beam, they could feel themselves becoming physically stronger.
"Emery, Akira, can you pin Talos's arms to the floor?" Luke asked.
Akira and Emery looked at Luke in confusion for a moment but were forced into action as Talos tried to swipe at them again. Talos attempted to smack both of them between its hands, but the Rooks took hold of its arms, hurled it to the floor and pushed down on them as best as they could.
"Make it quick!" Emery grunted as she and Akira were struggling to keep the automaton pinned down.
"Katherine, Setsuna, try to slice its chest plate open!" Luke ordered.
"Yes!" Katherine cheered with pink cheeks.
"Understood." Setsuna had no objections.
"Hyoudou, have you reached the limit of your boost?" Luke turned to Issei.
"Yeah, ready whenever you are!" Issei pumped his fist.
Luke then changed his Falchion into Gradivus. "Transfer your power to me. I'm going in for the decisive blow."
"You got to get the last hit when we fought Kokabiel." Issei stated. "When will it be my turn?"
Luke sighed. "Since I was 'chosen' by the seal, it's only fair I should deal the final blow against this thing. How about the next time we fight a strong foe together, the last hit is yours?"
"Mmm…" Issei seemed hesitant to take Luke up on his offer. "… Alright, but I'm gonna hold you to it!"
Issei placed his hand on Luke's shoulder.
Transfer!
Luke could feel his power elevate and jumped up so that he was right above Talos. He saw what appeared to be a mechanical heart with a rainbow-colored shine.
That must be it!
With a thrust and extension of Gradivus, the lance's tip pierced straight through the mechanical heart and the machine powered down until it was completely off.
(End Song)
As Luke landed on his feet, he saw that the Knights, Rooks and Bishops were exhausted as they were now either sitting or lying on the floor.
"Thanks, everyone." Luke said. "We couldn't have defeated this thing without you."
"I'm impressed you came up with that plan, Luke." Rias walked up to Luke and petted him on the head, eliciting a blush from the young man. "You'll make a fine King someday."
"Hm, th-thank you, President."
"Well, I guess it's time to finally see this Aegis." Rias announced to everyone.
"Can we… take a breather… for a few minutes?" Hikaru panted heavily as she lied on the floor.
"Of course, you've all earned it." Rias replied with a smile.
"I'll stay here and look after them." Issei stated.
"Then Luke, Akeno and I will go on ahead." Rias said.
"Oh." Luke suddenly remembered something. "Ueda, is that girl you sensed still sleeping in the final room?"
"Let me check…" Hikaru remained quite for a couple of seconds. "Yes, she's still sleeping."
"Maybe she won't wake up until we've entered the room?" Akeno wondered.
"We won't know for sure until we do so." Rias responded. "Luke, are you ready?"
"Yes." Luke nodded. "Akira, if something happens to Fumiko, let me know, okay?"
"Sure." Akira gave Luke a thumbs up.
"Let's go."
Luke, Rias and Akeno walked toward the limestone doors ahead of them.
Melody entered the clubroom and looked around the room, finding nothing out of the ordinary upon a cursory glance. She lightly stomped her foot against the wooden floor and could sense the vibrations reverberate throughout the entire building. Almost immediately, she felt the vibrations pick up something metallic hidden underneath the sofa. After lifting the sofa back, she saw that a bug had been placed on the underside.
"It looks like Giardas's… How long has this been here?" After a few seconds, Melody's eyes widened. "How much did he hear?! Hikaru, can you hear me?!"
Melody tried to use the connection Hikaru had set up with her Omniscient Oracle to communicate with her. However, there was no response and she finally noticed that the power in the room was out, which she didn't catch earlier due to her Devil's sight. She bolted back downstairs and outside, startling everyone.
"We're heading to Seihai Station! NOW!" Melody shouted.
"Melody, what's wrong?" Seth asked.
"I can't get in contact with Hikaru and the others! We've been had!"
In the corridor where Talos was fought, Issei sat down next to Akira, who was lying on the floor.
"You were pretty cool back there, Akira-san." Issei said.
"Don't try to butter me up like that." Akira retorted. "You may have gotten Shirayuki-senpai, Asia-chan and Ueda-chan into you, but I won't fall for a dumbass like you so easily."
"No, I mean it." Issei insisted.
"Akira?"
Akira sat up and saw Fumiko right in front of her.
"Fumiko?" Akira sat up.
"Now that the fighting is over, can you tell me why you've been avoiding me all this time?" Fumiko sat down on her knees. "Even after all these years apart, I can feel that you still love me. So… why?"
Akira looked down with a solemn expression. "Because… I felt you deserved a better big sister than me. I should have tried harder to convince you to leave with me. Yeah, that decision ended up with me dying, but… I couldn't shake off those feelings."
"That's a bullshit excuse!"
Akira was surprised to see Issei standing up and scolding her.
"Whether you feel you deserve it or not, you're Fumiko-chan's big sister and you still care for her!" Issei told Akira off.
"… Hyoudou-senpai is right." Fumiko spoke up.
Akira was equally surprised hearing Fumiko's words.
"There's only one person who can be my big sister and that's you, Akira."
"… Fumiko…" Akira looked at Fumiko with teary eyes and she suddenly found herself hugging her. "I… I want us to be sisters again! I want to spend time with you! I want to protect you! Can you forgive me?"
Fumiko hugged her back. "Of course, I forgive you. You're my Onee-san."
Upon hearing Fumiko call her 'Onee-san', Akira could no longer hold back her tears. Issei smiled at the heartwarming sight as well as witnessing a side of Akira he never expected when they first met.
"Uh oh."
The moment was broken when Hikaru spoke up, and they all looked toward her.
"What is it?" Issei asked Hikaru.
"I can't get in contact with Melody-sama."
"That doesn't make any sense." Akira said. "Maybe she's busy with something."
"Trust me, I would know if she was busy." Hikaru suddenly shot up from lying on the ground to standing up. "Huh?! No way! My Sacred Gear isn't working!"
"How can that be?!" Katherine questioned in a panic.
"I don't fully understand it myself, but somebody must be using some sort of signal jammer meant specifically for my Sacred Gear." Hikaru surmised.
"If that is true, we should reconvene with Rias-san and Luke-kun immediately." Setsuna suggested.
With Fumiko and Hikaru being carried on Akira and Issei's backs, respectively, everyone ran in the direction they saw Luke, Rias and Akeno leave to.
Luke, Rias and Akeno passed through one more door and they arrived in a dome-like room made of limestone. There was only one thing of note they could see in the room, a jagged red sword embedded in the floor.
"Where's the Aegis?" Luke thought aloud.
"I don't see anything but that sword." Akeno said. "Not even the girl Ueda-chan mentioned."
"Maybe the 'Shield of Zeus' title was metaphorical." Rias guessed. "That sword must be the Aegis."
"… Seriously?" Luke looked at the red blade again.
After swallowing his saliva, Luke stepped forward and up to the sword before him. As he got closer, he saw a green glow coming from the floor right behind the weapon. Standing in front of the sword, he saw what looked like a rectangular pool of a shimmering green liquid and a shadowy silhouette within it.
"Guys, we've got trouble!"
Before Luke could comprehend what was in front of him, he and the third-year women accompanying him looked back at the entrance to see their comrades running toward them.
"Hm, what's going on?" Rias inquired.
"Someone's jamming my Sacred Gear!" Hikaru replied. "We can't get in touch with Melody, and I can't keep track of anything around us!"
Luke, Rias and Akeno were in a state of shock after hearing Hikaru's report.
"Hikaru, do you know who is capable of doing this?" Rias asked.
"I thought about it on the way here. It has to be someone who has knowledge of our club activities and how my Sacred Gear functions. And they would have to be tech-savvy enough to create a device capable of countering it. Only one p-I'm sorry! Am I boring you?!"
"N-no…" Rias looked like she was drowsy.
"I… just feel…" Akeno appeared to be in the same situation as Rias.
Both Rias and Akeno were about to fall over until Luke caught both of them in his arms.
"President! Akeno!" Luke exclaimed and realized that they were unconscious. "They… fell asleep."
"'Asleep'… Don't tell me!" Issei seemed to have realized something.
"That takes care of the Crimson-Haired Princess of Ruin and the Priestess of Lightning!"
The voice was unfamiliar to Luke, Fumiko, Emery and Setsuna, but Issei, Akira, Katherine and Hikaru recognized it immediately. Standing at the entrance were seven individuals that the latter four were all too familiar with as they had a battle with them only a matter of weeks ago.
"Kaidon!" Issei growled.
The individuals confronting them were Kaidon, his Bishops, his Rooks, and his masked Knight.
A/N: Only one more chapter in the Aegis arc left! By the way, the crossover character's identity will finally be revealed in the next chapter and if you haven't figured out who it is at this point, I don't know what to tell you. For those of you who did figure it out, I will say that their backstory has been reworked to fit in the world of DxD.
I also decided to let the cat out of the bag and reveal that Melody has feelings for Luke. I know some DxD stories on this site have incest, and this is the closest I would get. I did drop some hints in the chapters she has appeared in. Makes you wonder how things would have gone if Luke was revived by Melody instead of Rias, which will be the basis for a later chapter.
It was brief, but some of Emery's backstory was hinted at in this chapter and more will be revealed in the next original arc.
An idea came up to me a while back. For those who want to lemons, I still don't have any intention of doing any in this story for narrative reasons, but I am considering doing a side story consisting of erotic fantasies from various characters in the main story. I would like to hear people's thoughts on this before I make any decision of going through with this.
I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Stay tuned for next time!
Luke Harem: Rias Gremory, Annabelle Wright, Fumiko Kazuya
Issei Harem: Misaki Shirayuki, Asia Argento, Hikaru Ueda
Rias Gremory Peerage: Rias Gremory (King), Akeno Himejima (Queen), Yuuto Kiba (Knight), Xenovia Quarta (Knight), Koneko Toujo (Rook), Fumiko Kazuya (Bishop), Gasper Vladi (Bishop), Luke Sigmund (8 Pawns)
Seth Sigmund Peerage: Seth Sigmund (King), Annabelle Wright (Queen), Alastair Wright (Rook), Emery Belmont (Rook), Hana Sakuya (2 Bishops)
Melody Morag Peerage: Melody Morag (King), Misaki Shirayuki (Queen), Katherine Petrova (Knight), Spiral Hirano (Knight), Azusa Hirano (Rook), Akira Kazuya (Rook), Hikaru Ueda (Bishop), Asia Argento (Bishop), Issei Hyoudou (8 Pawns)