Sorry for the late update. I can't believe my file got erased and I had to write all over again… Yeah, stuffs happened too, and I was too pissed to write for a while. But, I got over that, for good. Fun fact, the first semester of university really sucked. I didn't even have time to sleep, much less write. Well, at least I've got a little break now.

Highschool DxD is not mine.


Hiiro POV

We, I meant Tamamo and me, were called by the bob-haired student council, or should I say Sona Sitri, the heiress of Sitri clan. Either my schools problems, for example, destroying the infirmary, sleeping in class… Or matters concerning the supernatural side.

I personally preferred the school stuffs.

" Good afternoon, Goddess Tamamo, and Bloodreaver-san…"

Awkward, right?

" Call me Hiiro, Sitri heiress. Using my family name is too much, and feels a little weird."

" Please cut the Goddess part. I'm not here as representative of Shinto now."

She just coughed at our reaction and reworded her greetings. She seemed a little too tense for school-related problems. She couldn't be getting cold feet about giving a cold-blooded mercenary some detention, could she?

Wait, somehow that sounded oddly possible.

No, that's stupid… Right? Besides, she's a successor for a freaking Devil clan.

" So, what did you call us here for, kaichou? Is it because I ruined the infirmary?"

" Nope, but—"

" Because I slept in almost all classes this week?"

" It is a problem, but—"

" Then, because I—"

*SMACK*

" Listen to her first, Hiiro."

Lesson of the day : Getting punched by a Goddess hurt. A lot.

Sona Sitri cleared her throat after suppressing a laugh. She put back her serious face, although the serious air around us had waned a lot compared to before.

" This is about our friend Kokabiel. If possible, I want both of you to help us to repel his assault and prevent whatever plan he has."

Her tone showed that she was practically pleading Tamamo and me to help them with Kokabiel and his goons. She even lowered her head down a little, begging earnestly.

" Sorry. I want to, but I might not be able to."

" I see…"

The one answering was not the STC president, but the redhead from ORC. Behind her were Roy Halphas and her peerage.

" If you're wondering, it's not because of I don't want trouble or anything. I just have another enemy here in Kuoh, and I'll be busy keeping them off my back."

" Oohh… And by them, who do you mean?"

My eyes sharpened and unconsciously, I gritted my teeth.

" The holy crusaders."

All of their eyes widened. Of course, how could they not? All devils who received proper tutoring must know, especially two heiresses from distinguished clans.

They were taught to fear that name.

Holy crusaders, considered as one of the strongest platoon squads from church's massive number of military strength. They were the arch-nemesis for everything under the banner of darkness and demonic beasts.

Each and every one of them had the power to slay Ultimate-class devils with relative ease, and the leader was said to be able to give Devil kings trouble.

" Yeah. This city… is going to be an arena for one all-out war of three HUGE factions if we're not careful. That's why I can't help you."

Both Rias and Sona slumped to the work chair and sofa respectively. Man, sometimes I envied them for being able to do that.

" But, what if they're working together?"

Roy Halphas, sometimes, you said the most outrageous things.

" What? It's weird, isn't it? Their coming was too in line with Kokabiel's agenda. I have a feeling there's a bigger plan than what we see here."

Sona, too, assumed a thinking position.

" As horrifying as that idea is, it's not impossible."

" Crusaders AND a fallen angel cadre… That's what I call messed up combo."

Only Sona and Saji commented on that idea because the others were too busy shivering from that image alone.

If that really happened, we'd get flattened for sure.

" L-Let's end it here for today…"

And so, we ended our war council there to stomach what horror awaited us in near future. None of us spoke of anything at all, until we heard an explosion from a park nearby.

Dude, couldn't you at least let us take a breath?

" I'm checking the house, Hiiro."

Tamamo went on separate way to check our place. It wasn't impossible for the crusaders to lose patience and launched an assault there. If possible, we'd rather not cause a panic inside Shinto pantheon's territory.

Her big boss might get mad, too.

I rushed to the lush forest near the park where the smoke was coming from. The others followed behind me, and were already prepared for possible battle. Of course, it meant deploying sacred gear and setting up barriers to avoid any unfortunate casualties from humans.

What we saw there was quite horrific to say the least. The self-proclaimed exorcist who claimed to know me laid there like a broken doll with her blood sprayed all over her body, painting her tight battle gear red. Luckily, she had none of her limbs removed, otherwise this scene would've been too much for teenagers, devil or not.

" This is…"

" Tsubaki, tend to her immediately, and take her to my mansion."

The vice-president of student council quickly grabbed her body and started applying first aid treatment to her before she could bite the dust. After that battle nun recovered enough to survive teleportation, she carried her away and disappeared on a magic circle.

" Aa~aah… I really enjoyed ravishing that nun's body~"

A maniacal voice took our attention instantly. Leaning to a tree was Freed, one of the rogue priests that actually attained high rank back in the days. He was too immersed at killing magical beasts and devils, he actually loved the feeling of cutting them down to size. Eventually, he was exiled for slaughtering his own comrades trying to hold him back.

Some priest, huh?

" What do you want, damned exorcist? Just so you know, I have no qualms in cleaving someone like you in half."

" Ooh, scary, scary~ I just wanna let y'all know…"

A burst of wind blasted the whole forest, and a figure with ten black wings descended. With each flap of his wings, blasts of wind blew the leaves away.

" Hmph… That filthy crimson hair of yours reminds me of your brother, Rias Gremory… And Sitri woman, you're like the opposite of your sister."

" Fallen angel Kokabiel. For what do we owe this honor?"

Nice sarcasm, Gremory princess. He'd definitely feel that one. The fallen cadre chose to ignore her and look at me instead. His eyes scanned me from head to toe, as if judging what I actually had to offer.

" And that boy over there… I hear he's a royalty from demon clan? Rare indeed, but I have no interest on you. I imagine those stuck-up bastards of church would be, though."

" Stick your nose where it belongs, schmuck."

He raised one eyebrow in interest and grinned widely, showing rows of aligned white sharp canines. And here I thought fallen angel wasn't cannibal.

" Well, I've sent a surprise to your house, boy. I'm sure you'd like it."

His smirk grew even wider as he turned back to the devil heiresses and stretched out his arms.

" Tomorrow, the fallen angels will finally prove their superiority! That coward Azazel may have halted that in the previous Great War before, but once I restart it, with you both as the trigger, my dream will finally come true!"

And with that, he teleported away, along with Freed.


I returned home after having an emergency war council with both princesses. We just spun our already stressed out brains, and tested out stuffs we needed for our plan. Honestly, all of us needed rest for tomorrow.

If worst came to worst…. The last night of rest we'd have.

When I reached home, I saw the living room completely wrecked. Frowning, I checked for whatever clue of whatever caused my place to be thrashed. There was a trail of dark red liquid from below the sofa, up to Tamamo's bedroom. Just when I got inside, I saw a wisp of flame floating above her bed.

" What's this?"

I let the wisp fly to my open palm, and watched as it shone and formed words on thin air.

" I, Tamamo no Mae, hereby…"

The next words made me unable to change my expression, as they froze my heart and mind alike.

" …Release everything that binds me to you. From this moment on, I am naught but divine beast from the land of rising sun."

The flame got crushed to nothingness in my grip, and I made haste to the trap door on my room's ceiling.

" Ferris, what happened here?"

My acquaintance from my days in orphanage wriggled and sat up. She opened her eyes and looked at me intently.

" Around 2 hours ago, intrusion of a squad of armed men have been confirmed. Visual data is unavailable, however, audio recording has been committed to memory."

" Proceed. Tell me in details."

" Affirmative. After the intrusion, a brawl has happened. This brawl lasted for 30 minutes, until it was silent. Proceed to data analysis?"

" Permitted."

" Permission acquired. Abnormal magic readings detected when intruders barged in. Divine sealing being invoked is highly suspected."

I punched a crack on the concrete wall. Those good-for-nothing arrogant goons actually dared to use anti-divine magic on Tamamo? On HER?!

That's it. They're dead. I'd rip their bodies and send their pitiful souls to hell personally.

" Please let me help you retrieve miss Tamamo, so I request."

" Why? I remember her trapping you here last time."

" True. However, Miss Tamamo has given me more than adequate hospitality despite my status as a prisoner. As such, I am disturbed by the fact she is in danger."

" Huh… Is that so?"

" Affirmative. Just yesterday, she was producing red candies, and had me taste them. It was a great delicacy, truly wasted on a prisoner like me. She also never let me have insufficient rations to lower my bodily functions. I find her behavior admirable."

" You mean red bean paste. Well, Tamamo does love cooking. She loves having others enjoy her food, no matter who or what they are."

" I assume your lack of cooking skills to be quite a trouble for her."

" Yeah… I guess so…"

She must've noticed my change in tone, and looked away. At first, I thought she felt bad and didn't want to look me in the face, but then, I noticed her attention was set on the window beside her cage.

Just with a glance, I could see a clear dark blue sky filled with stars, and the moon shining proudly between them.

" Recollecting data from previous conversation with subject Tamamo… She mentioned that she favors this clear night sky because of you."

" Well, she does love strolling at night to ease her mood."

" Affirmative. I couldn't, and still cannot comprehend why Miss Tamamo places so much affection in you."

" Ouch."

" However, she does, and that's final. Even though you're just a demon brute."

" Oi, elf… What have I done wrong to you? Except for beating you black and blue because you tried to murder me, that is."

She didn't even reply, and just stared at me like I was some kind of exhibition item.

" Question denied. It is not my interest to provide you answers."

" Hey, you little…"

I just sighed and refrained from being a child for once. As expected, I was instinctively unable to feel completely safe and secured now. I opened the trap door and returned to my room to rest and prepare for the next day.

Now, time to meet my bed and pillow.

However, I just couldn't fall asleep like usual. I kept on thinking what would actually work in our favor tomorrow. To think a Fallen angel cadre would appear along with platoons or Crusaders… Even I couldn't joke about that.

" Well, let's just leave tomorrow's problems at it and sleep…"

I finally gave in to my heavy eyes and drifted to the land of dreams.


The weather didn't really match what we were facing. To think it was nice and sunny despite our gloomy mood… Perhaps the rumor about people's emotions affected weather was a fluke, after all.

But, good mood was one of the least things I needed today. What were really vital today were cool head, luck, and hopefully, a miracle. Just as I reached the school, it was already devoid from any kind of activities. Those devils didn't exactly hold back in using their authority. The whole area 1 km from Kuoh academy was closed and empty.

" Ah, Hiiro-san, you've come."

Sona Sitri was supervising the virtual circle to create a barrier. Like placing charms on spots, or even putting her familiar to assist. Since the Gremory house would act as spearhead, it was only natural that Sitri house became the support, since most of them were adept as supporting attackers from the rear.

She glanced behind me and fixed her glasses.

" By the way, Hiiro-san, where is Tamamo-sama?"

I swallowed a bitter pill and tried to hide my expression, but the Sitri's heiress' eyes were too sharp for me.

" She… can't be here."

Her eyes softened, and she let out a brief sigh. Then, she turned around.

" I see. Could you greet her for me when you meet her again?"

She walked away to proceed with her task, and to end the discussion right there. Honestly, I was quite thankful for that. Not long after that, I went to the ORC room and met the rest of the team.

" Intruder sighted. Requesting immediate back-up."

"Oi. Both the cage AND the trap door were destroyed, so I thought what the hell was going on, and you're here?"

It was the truth. I woke up and went to the bathroom for a wash, but Tamamo's fire magic cage had been dispelled somehow. Even if she were to exert every ounce of her power, she wouldn't even be able to dent the barrier, especially with the chains.

" I rebooted in the morning to find its condition just as you described."

" Seriously?"

The only explanation was the nature of divine magic. The magic immortals and divine beings used were based on their influence. The less their influence on the magic, the weaker they'd become. It was a power centered on belief and mass, and created to be practically indestructible, as long as they had power.

Just how the hell did they deplete her strength so much that she had none left to spend on the barrier?

" Umm… Sorry to interrupt, but the plans…"

Rias tried to butt in our conversation, and was met by two pairs of cold orbs. She gasped, yet steeled her resolve to speak her mind.

" *cough* So, as we discussed yesterday…"

" Dude, your eyes are scary."

I responded to the Halphas clan's son's retort by pulling out my phone and turned on the 360 camera. Oh look, my eyes looked like donuts. Both my eyes had dark hue around them, making me almost look like an emo.

" Rather than my raccoon eyes, this takes priority, Roy. So, Gremory heiress, what is it that you were about to say?"

I shrugged his comment and simply turned my attention back to the Gremory heiress. She gasped once, then coughed a few times to get everyone's attention again. Was I really that scary for her to actually gasp?

" Let's review the plan from the beginning. Sona and I will hold the fort and try to keep Kokabiel contained here, in Kuoh academy. Meanwhile, you and some of us will pick on the church's army one by one, to cut off Kokabiel's means of reinforcements. And we'll somehow try to weaken Kokabiel as much as possible, or somehow take him down if that's even possible."

The situation looked grim, for all of us. Defeat Kokabiel? They'd be lucky if they could even survive! However, it seemed the Gremory devil was painfully aware of how miniscule their chances actually were.

" Look, um, not to offend you two, but you both will have better shot at somehow fleeing from here back to the demon world."

Honestly, I had thought this over and over again. They were devil princesses from distinguished families, with devil leaders backing them. If they felt so inclined, running away from here would certainly be more possible mission that facing Kokabiel, church, and their goons, AND protecting the city while they were at it.

They frowned for a while, sighed, and looked at me with serious look.

" It is possible for Kokabiel to see through that kind of breach and take it upon himself to guard the barrier himself. His target has been us from the beginning, so I doubt he'd let us move an inch from his eyes."

Sona fixed her glasses, and Rias followed her explanation.

" Besides, this territory is entrusted to us, by our siblings, to be nurtured. We have a duty to make this place prosper, and protect it, should we need be. How can we tuck tails and flee back to the Underworld, bringing shame to our families and devil society as a whole?"

I laughed at their reason, part of it because of their naivety. Even so, I just couldn't discard their naïve thinking as stupidity. I couldn't exactly call it honorable too, though.

" Well, they say pride is one of the deadly sins… And you ARE devils…"

They just giggled at my response. Cheeky.


Kuoh wasn't exactly a big town. However, it had a lot of abandoned buildings here and there, claimed by people to be 'haunted'. As expected from a town filled with supernaturals. All it took was some people getting eaten inside a factory by stray devils, and the building would turn into a dangerous place everyone avoided.

And places like that were exactly the ones I needed right now.

" Should it be like this?"

" Perfect, be sure to memorize it too, though. We don't wanna get hanged by our own traps."

" True… Even with devil standards, these kinds of traps are nasty."

We all placed traps on the buildings, and very crazy ones to boot. Stuff like land mines, pitfall with kitchen knives below, the hanging rope thing that ensnared the neck instead off foot. I mean, why hesitate to make killing stuffs when the other side wouldn't think twice to snuff the life out of all of us.

So, we spared no effort and went full throttle, and I had to say, a devil and elf assassin had a bunch of interesting ideas.

Did I mention living spiky vines hidden behind the curtains that would choke the guy touching it to death? That was her idea. For Roy, he stuffed a heavy chair above the ceiling that would crush bones when someone walked below it.

" These will make nice makeshift weapons. Stuff one in your pockets."

Roy threw several kitchen knives and a box cutter to us, and pocketed some himself. Perhaps even devils wouldn't be given weapons right off the bat, huh? But honestly, I had more knives and weapons inside Alduin's storage. All dragons had treasuries somewhere, but his was literally littered with spoils from war and expeditions. When war ended, he was the one that took care of most left-out weapons in the battlefield.

Stuffs which I had access to, if only he weren't as stingy as Donald duck's uncle.

I just took them and stored them away in my pocket dimension. I didn't really feel like pocketing weapons now.

" Ten people sighted. All of them are wearing holy armaments… Permission to engage?"

" Lure them in."

" Affirmative."

She drew her bow, and literally jumped off from the balcony while shooting arrows at those priests. Now, that might sound badass and all, but with the priests unsheathing all kinds of weapons from their robes, it was obvious they were expecting us.

Her arrows nailed the big shield, turning it to a pin cushion.

" What the hell?"

Even for bystanders, that was some weird sight. It was obvious that Ferris had launched a volley of arrows at all of them, yet everything she fired was nailed to that one shield. Well, to be fair, that was a huge tower shield with a red crucifix emblem in the middle, but still weird.

It was like her arrows were drawn to that shield.

" Enough, lure them in!"

She received my command via telepathy, and circled around the complex before entering the house again from the back door.

Her nimble movements should've left them in the dust, but look at them, keeping up with her just like that. If their base agility were on par with hers, it might be difficult to actually fool them into the traps. I suspected their reflexes were at least good enough to pluck a buzzing fly from the air easily.

" What's next?"

" Let's see…"

Both of us males waited, and I walked to the back door. I glanced at the pitfall trap right in front of the door, covered by small mat.

5…

4…

3…

*BOOMM!*

Now that's what I'd call dramatic entrance. Geez, rude guys didn't even let ME do dramatic stuffs for a change. Now, Ferris successfully jumped over the mat and… the guy, out of reflex, tried as well.

Keyword, tried.

I clotheslined one in the front door, effectively dumping him down to the pit beneath the mat. He fell down there screaming, but surprisingly, didn't die. He skidded down with his limbs on the sides to prevent the objects below to impale him.

" Great. Now what?"

" We drop the boot."

Taking advantage of the stunned warriors, Roy kicked the wall a few times. Suddenly, a freaking sofa fell from the second floor, straight into the hole. Well, the hole was big, and the sofa got in smoothly, smashing the man's face in.

"…Or sofa, whichever works, really."

" And we run."

" Of course."

He answered casually and turned tails quickly. I, too, followed his lead and ran away. Honestly, the rest of the squad was too stunned to take action. How in the world could a highly trained squad get stunned like this? Hadn't they ever gotten trapped like this, at least once before?

It was strange. It was too easy.

Even the last guy I fought before was FAR stronger than this, and I was pretty sure he didn't go full-throttle yet. Were they grunts dispatched due to lack of numbers? Or maybe the church actually didn't send anyone but that one guy?

" Dude, snap out of it!"

" Heh?"

" You almost slammed to pole twice! Either you've gotta start wearing contacts or you should get your head checked, I don't know. But pay attention when we're being chased!"

Both Ferris and Roy were running near me, as we free-ran across the city to somehow shake off our pursuers. Actually, we spent the morning making several safe-houses with traps and safety measures for resting. All of them were booby trapped, and only us knew what and where the traps were.

Heck, if they wanted all their members come out unscathed, they'd better take the long road outside than running inside the house like we did.

….

By the way, they didn't take the long road. They just bolted in and tried following our route, but the traps laid beforehand captured about 3 or 4 of them, reducing their numbers to nearly half.

This squad, at least. I had no idea how many people after my head today.

" Oh, man, they're persistent. Run like the wi—"

As Roy blurted out lines from anime, I already left him behind by exerting more power to my legs. Ferris also didn't hesitate to ignore him and just pick up her pace. He threw his arms in frustration and ran faster.

With run, I meant free-running in complicated routes and uneven ground like gymnastics. I jumped over a small wall, and kept on running. We stopped at the entrance of a park near the academy.

I noticed another batch of people coming, and I shoved my companions to bushes nearby.

" Hey, they're just normal people! Relax—"

" The Gremory princess had evacuated every single humans from this area. They're not supposed to be here."

I cut Roy's ramblings short. His carefree attitude turned serious instantly, and he eyed those newcomers with calculating eyes. Heck, his arms even started growing scales as signs of his metamorphosis magic.

I turned my attention to the bunch of guys that smelled human. Wait, there's something wrong with that guy with brown hair… Something about him felt… different. There was something in him, but I wasn't sure what.

" Alduin, he smells different. What is he?"

{I'd say he has a beast sealed inside his body, most likely as sacred gear. As for which, I was locked long enough to not catch up trends.}

" So you're saying you're an outdated old geezer?"

{ My age far surpasses most living species, but I'd say I'm not that old, just outdated. Better yet, how about observing those humans there?}

I mentally agreed and simply went back to scouting. They hadn't made any move besides gathering up and talking freely for now…

Wait, what's with this chill on my back...

Out of reflex, my hands reached whichever part of their body and forced them to roll aside. And I was right. A crater replaced the ground we were on just now.

" Tch! He dodged that?! Seriously?!"

" Hey, your cloaking is down!"

Behind me were two men, one with a silver coronet on his head, another with a freaking bazooka, smoking from that shot earlier. I wasted no time and stabbed one knife to the bazooka guy's leg, and punched his chin. Then, in one swift move, I slammed my palm to the other goon's neck, and sent out a jolt strong enough to make him unconscious.

So they noticed us from the start, and left the assassination to these two!

" Ferris!"

" Affirmative."

She sent out a barrage of arrows to the sky that rained upon the rest of the squad. One of them brought out a yo-yo that had some sort of force field around it and spun it to deflect every single one of Ferris' arrows.

However, it wasn't like they came out completely woundless.

{ Partner, now's not the time to hesitate! Use your blood magic and end this here and now!}

My sidekick literally commanded me to use my treasured magic a.k.a blood magic to deal with humans.

" But, Alduin, blood magic is—"

{You're hesitating here, but they won't think twice of taking your head. So you'd better shove thinking down the sewer and start fighting!}

As hesitant as I was to killing humans, but Alduin was right. There was no time for hesitation. But, from their bearing, I'd imagine they weren't exactly church's goons. Most likely… They were also like the Gremory knight, and acted as impromptu force just in case. It was hard to believe… To think an experimental lab existed so near…

And with so many subjects to boot.

It was stupid, but I found myself unable to just kill them off as unlucky fodders that stood in my way. After years of slaughtering people that came to attack me, this sudden hurdle was thrown right at the worst timing ever.

" Alduin… Can I face them without blood magic?"

{You can. But, it risks of those pesky soldiers finding you here, and eventually overwhelming you.}

" Well, I'll use magic, at least."

My body started releasing sparks of lightning. Ferris already nocked an arrow, and Roy's body had green scales all over. The tension was high, as the two sides were alert, and ready to go.

Including the ones that tried to blast me before, ten enemies. One with yoyo capable of erecting force field, an explosive-type sacred gear, while the others were unknown.

" Ferris, you provide support. Roy…"

I suddenly released a bolt of lightning to the enemies, which the yo-yo wielding guy deflected with a simple swing.

" Be sure to keep up!"

The scaled devil's forehead had veins popping all over, and he went on a berserk. Heh, dude's too hot-blooded for his own good.

His heavy scale-clad fist landed on the yoyo that just deflected my lightning, and was used to defend against the punch. But, the sheer force of that literally blew away him aside. With their shield temporarily out of the way, we could finish off what's behind.

The bazooka was aimed from about 4 meters away, and shot to me. Just before I zapped it to explode, the projectile was shot down by 10 arrows instantly. Its explosion didn't even harm my clothes. I once again felt a chill on my nape and coated my whole body with lightning. A knife scraped my side, but the electric counter was too much for the assailant to handle.

He fell down, already golden fried perfectly.

Meanwhile, Roy fought a hard battle of 3 vs 1. He was up against one person with blades jutting out of his limbs, someone with hands that could change to claws, and another one with sacred gear I couldn't identify.

It was weird how she could dodge all of Roy's blows with movements that sloppy, though.

" Blow away, freak!"

Again, the guy with bazooka shot explosive rounds at me. This time, he didn't hold back and activated something a bazooka shouldn't have.

Rapid fire.

And my escape routes were blocked by the rest of them. They were already assuming battle stances, and the yo-yo guy had gotten up already.

When I was about to activate blut vene, a barrage of arrows mowed down those missiles and made the explode mid-air. Then, a power shot through broke the enemies' formation, letting me break through.

Just for a while, I was able to regain my composure, but the enemies didn't hesitate to strike me down on spot. My instincts urged me to dodge two missiles again, and more.

" What's going on with you?! Fight, goddamnit!"

There was no such thing in this world as beautiful as ideals.

I knew that, and I'd been acting for so long in that. Killing assassins and hunters that came to smite me, or those schmucks with overgrown heads was daily thing for me. Why the hell was I hesitating now?!

I gritted my teeth and summoned my usual broad gun-sword.

" DIEE!"

Someone with two blazing knuckles screamed that near my ear, and swung his fist down in a flaming arc. Damn, that flame would definitely hurt if it hit.

Not that it would, though.

" Shut up."

I tilted a little, and smashed my fist to his solar plexus, earning a wonderful crack from him. He spat a blob of blood, and fell down unconscious.

Stepping over his body, my hand reached for the sword I put down to punch that bastard to oblivion. Then, I went straight to the one with bladed protrusions, and shattered all blades on his arm with a single slash. Roy took his shock as a chance, and landed a solid punch amidst the confusion. The enemy flew off a couple meters, but even Roy's heavy fist wasn't quite enough to incapacitate him. He actually armored his head with blades, fashioning a spiky make-shift helmet.

" Damn!"

Even his scaly arm bled profusely when he purposely punched a spiked helmet made of steel. He closed his eyes for a second, losing to the pain on his knuckles. In that instant, a huge claw swooped in and smashed to his torso. And I, once again, had a bunch of missiles ready to blast me to pieces.

Looks like Ferris was too busy fending off her attackers to provide backup… They did outnumber us, and to be honest, these sacred gears were a lot of drag. Those things responded to its user's wishes and acted accordingly. Depending on the wielder and its compatibility, it could reach terrifying level of power.

Especially, those Longinus endowed with legendary beasts and broken power… I didn't even want to imagine something like that.

My left arm moved to block the claw that just sent Roy flying, while my right swung the heavy sword on a wide arc, sending out rapid shots of magic bullets from the blade's muzzle tip to deflect the incoming missiles. Then, I ducked and slammed the pommel of my sword to the guy's stomach. When he curled down holding his stomach, I elbowed his head down to the ground.

In that pace, I took down the enemies one by one. Those holding down Ferris, those who tried to finish off Roy, or those that tried charging me head on, they were either baked, or planted like radishes. Hey, at least I just broke 10 or 20 bones, not ALL of them.

" You're… next."

I pointed at the last batch of humans that weren't foolish enough to charge blindly like their pals. Some of them flinched, but some still kept their calm. Honestly, I'd though they'd be losing heads in panic, but it looked like this batch was the senior here.

Instead of attacking blindly like their comrades, they chose to arm themselves with their respective weapons.

However, the brown boy really answered my expectations.

{Boost!}

Holy shit, here comes the Longinus, [Boosted Gear]. What the hell was a freaking God-slaying weapon doing in a backwater town like this? In the hand of a human that had practically got under the devils' noses AND my network, no less.

And… He'd already started boosting. I had my focus on him, because of that I noticed long blond hair flowing from someone behind him. Wait, shouldn't that be Rias' healer bishop, Asia Argento? How in the world?

She was healing several people nearby the safe zone, behind the red dragon.

" Asia! What the heck are you doing helping Kokabiel?!"

I shouted from this side. Well, that was a given. While her master was away fighting Kokabiel, she was here, giving a hand to enemy's reinforcements. I was already pissed off, and honestly, giving the enemies a universal healer was the last thing I'd do.

The brown haired young man glanced at her, and Asia spoke to him. I could only catch him speaking, "what is he talking about?" or something like that, I guess.

Try listening to whispers while getting attacked by senior sacred gear users, all assaulting me at once. Okay, 5 people, one with sensory-type sacred gears, since she practically dodged nearly all my strikes as if she knew what I'd do next. One with flaming bow that shot phoenix-shaped projectiles, one with strings coming out from various parts of his body, and one with some kind of jar, and finally, one with the exact same gear with the guy I just punched to dreamland.

" Attack!"

They all struck fast with their respective powers. Projectiles flew from all directions, like they materialized from thin air. While I was busy avoiding all those dangerous looking projectiles, the close ranged ones closing the distance fast with long steps. I side-stepped to dodge one close stab from a blade protrusion, and ducked a bundle of almost invisible strings that sliced a boulder behind me to ribbons.

Oh, damn. Since when did bows have rapid fire feature?

I propelled my body back to lengthen the distance instantly. I stumbled upon the stones that got cut by the strings earlier. Damn, what's with that purple smoke coming out from it? And looking closer, that stone freaking melted. The purple liquid was one thing I didn't want touching my skin.

Then, I had electricity run inside my nerve system to accelerate myself and dashed straight to in front of them. My speed far surpassed their perception, but somehow only one of them was too late to escape my taser grasp. Well, one cooked, four to go. At least I'd disabled their ranged shooter.

" Damn!"

At least, I was lucky enough that the boosted gear user hadn't joined the fray yet. He was still conflicted about what Asia told him, perhaps. I was in a close ranged fight with the girl with the string weaver, and honestly, wasn't doing very well with it. This wasn't exactly a slugfest, instead, more of her dodging my fists like a ballerina while trying to slice me up with those wicked strings of hers.

Kinda reminded you of the evil pirate warlord from O*e P***e, right?

" Kuh!"

Even Roy, who tried sneaking behind her was injured the moment he stepped into the fray. Ferris quickly stopped him from getting injured further by others, but that attempt cost her a few shallow cuts and bruises. She landed a couple meters away, her genetically modified body already mending itself without break.

I'd always thought so, but her body was lithe and slim. It was built for anything but raw physical strength. One punch or slash, and she'd get fatal injury. To be honest, with this kind of lightweight body, I wondered how she'd survived the experiments and remodeling done on her body.

Well, her closing wounds answered my question.

Meanwhile, the blade guy dipped his steel in the jar. He pulled it out, fully coated by the same slimy purple goo that melted the stone before. Poison-type sacred gear, huh?

I dodged just in time when a steel claw nearly separated me from my head. This time, he went all wolverine style, and pounced at me. Funny dude got stomped in the process. Not wanting to drag this fight too long, I moved to chop the back of his neck.

Taking a page from his fallen comrade's book, blades jutted out from all over his body, ready to skewer me. I was one second too late deploying my blut vene, and those steel constructs stabbed into my flesh. Not too deep, but not that shallow either.

" Got you."

He was smirking when I downed the arms shielding my face.

What a coincidence.

I was smirking too.

" No, I got you."

Fun fact, people don't poke an iron cord to electric sockets. Especially with the electricity was on full throttle.

" Damn…. You…"

He fell down with a bland thud, and me bleeding over a few places. Luckily, the assault had stopped, with only the Red dragon Emperor, Asia, and the poison guy left. Technically, the Doflamingo impostor was still going strong, but Roy and Ferris could take care of her by themselves.

" Healer, your King's in the Academy, and she needs your help quick. I don't know about your deal with the Red Dragon Emperor, but solve it fast."

Just as I said that, the claw person had stirred awake and looked at Asia with accusing eyes.

" Heal me, you useless heretic witch! Be fast!"

" Y-Yes! Be right there!"

The brown boy grabbed Asia's shoulder, effectively stopping her from taking a step further. He looked at me in the eyes, and asked.

" Is she safe there?"

" What?"

" Will she be safe with Gregory devils?"

Pfft…

I had to use my all to stop my sudden urge to laugh.

" Hehe— If you say being with them is safe, then safer than you think."

I nudged at the fallen schmucks that just got p*wned. The claw guy kept on screaming at Asia, me, and the brown boy, but finally, he made a choice.

The gauntlet smashed against his face, busting him to the lala-land once again.

" I'll bring her there myself."

He took Gremory's bishop's hand, still boosting.

" What was that all about?"

Roy popped his sore joints from all the fighting, and Ferris with some drops of blood on her clothes. Man, good thing Gremory princess shut this area down yesterday. I had a feeling what was going on here would definitely traumatize most pedestrians.

Cue the muffled moans from a tied up female Doflamingo, with an arrow nailing the strings to nearby hydrant.

" Well, let's move before those priests get a lucky shot and find us here."

I was just about to turn around and exit from the park when I heard screams from several battle priests running over.

" You just HAD to jinx it, eh, Roy?"

" Roy Halphas has been inserted in the list, codename 'Idiot'."

" Floor it, guys!"

We all didn't waste time to turn tails and escaped the park. I was honestly tempted to leave a note with evil smiley, read '25 Minutes Too Late', just like from the lyrics from this awesome band.

Alas, I didn't bring pen and paper with me.

Once again, we were back on the streets, our pursuers right behind our backs. Now, we couldn't exactly be called slow, and we all had our share of physical training, and body manipulation, especially those dragon legs Roy conjured. But, those priests had completed training regiments more insane than the army's, or so I was told. Moreover, there were a lot of ways to increase one's physical capabilities far beyond the limits.

There's living proof right beside me.

Holy crap, that one with golden robe had a really nasty pack on his back. I could feel its hostility on my skin, feeling the kind of tingle when a roller coaster dived down after a long ascend, without the thrill.

It seemed both of them also understood the item that practically shrieked 'DANGER!' on his back and quickened their pace. We had to go to our next safe house and trap them again. Oh man, why couldn't I get some peace and quiet?


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