On the way home, Issei and Serafall were admiring all the pictures of Sona in a magical girl outfit. Sona, she seemed so natural in a magical girl outfit. It's such a shame that she refuses to wear it on her own. Sona has a certain Je Nais Se Quios about her.
When they arrived at Issei's house, Serafall was excited to meet Miki and Gorou. She found them fun to be around. But once they entered, they saw that there were other guests around. Four, to be exact.
Issei went to the living room, and he saw four people, two of which were in cloaks, but the other two he was familiar with. Kalawarna and Mittelt, who happens to be playing with a 'toy' dragon on her lap.
"Kalawarna, Mittelt? What are you girls doing here?" Issei asked. Of course, he knew they were friends with Raynare, but they don't seem to be here only for a visit. And he also couldn't believe they were playing Ddraig. "Raynare told me that you headed back to Grigori".
"We did. But Shemhazai had asked us to come here to Kuoh to search for Azazel and Kokabiel since we're familiar with the town," Kalawarna said. She sighed. Azazel was being his spontaneous self once again. "Our objective is to look for Azazel and ask him to return to the Grigori. And our second objective is to search for Kokabiel and report what he's up to. Shemhazai has told us that he has defected from Grigori and is planning something. However, he wasn't sure what it was".
"Hmm… that's not good," Issei said. He saw Raynare sitting beside her friends with a look of apprehension. So, he decided to ease her anxiety. "Hey, don't worry, I'll make sure he doesn't hurt you again. Besides, you're stronger than before".
"I know, but that's not what I'm worried about," Raynare said. She knew that Kokabiel didn't care about anyone. "I'm afraid Kokabiel would do something drastic to get what he wants".
"What he wants?" Issei said. From the sound of it, Raynare might have an inkling of what Kokabiel is up to. "Raynare, do you know what Kokabiel is up to?".
"I know a bit," Raynare said. "Kokabiel has always been angry at Azazel for entering a truce with the other two factions. He believes Fallen Angel could have won the great war. I think he plans to restart the war".
"That's insane!" Serafall said. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Is Kokabiel insane? Like Devils, Fallen Angels have one of the lowest numbers and haven't grown them in a long time. However, Devils have the reincarnation system using the Devil Pieces, but Fallen Angels don't have them and rely on natural birth. "Is he planning to end the Fallen Angel race?".
"Exactly. Azazel and Shemhazai knew that it would be suicide if the war restarted," Raynare said. She was glad that the leaders had no intention of restarting the war. "In fact, Azazel no longer desires war. He's more into researching Sacred Gear now".
"Hold on," Issei said. He then looked at Kalawarna and Mittelt. "You said that Azazel was here. What is he doing here?".
"He felt the power of the Red Dragon Emperor awaken or something," Kalawarna said. As with the White Dragon Emperor, Azazel is interested in the Red Dragon Emperor. "He wants to meet the wielder of the Boosted Gear".
Well, damn. Issei didn't know how to tell Kalawarna and Mittelt that there was no longer a Boosted Gear because he had already resurrected Ddraig, and they were playing with him.
"About that," Issei said. He looked at Ddraig, who was in the lap of Mittelt. Issei then looked at Raynare, who saw that Ddraig being pet by Mittelt. She was about to burst into laughter. "There is no longer a Boosted Gear wielder because Ddraig is on your lap, Mittelt".
"Hah?" Mittelt said. She then looked at her lap, and the 'toy' moved. Ddraig flew out of her lap and perched on Issei's shoulder. "I was playing with one of the Heavenly Dragons!".
Serafall wasn't as surprised as the others that the 'toy' Dragon wasn't a toy. She felt the power radiating from it when she saw him. But she was still surprised. What the hell happened while she wasn't around? Serafall didn't remember Ddraig being around back then.
"Ha-ha-ha!" Issei laughed. The reaction of Mittelt was hilarious. "You should have seen the look on your faces".
"Oh! I see. It was a joke," Mittelt said. She then sighed a breath of relief. "You had me there for a second".
"It's not a joke," Issei said. He then gestured to Ddraig. "This is Ddraig, the Heavenly Dragon of Domination".
"Ha-ha-ha-ha! You should be glad I let you pet me," Ddraig said. He doesn't allow anyone to pet him except for Issei and his family, but he is inside the Hyoudou residence. If he was to cause chaos, he would be punished, and he didn't want that! "You should be glad we were inside this house. Otherwise, you wouldn't be so lucky".
Ddraig then let out his Dragon Aura, and the four guests were afraid. Right. Issei looked at the other two guests and forgot that they were there.
"Who are you two?" Issei said. He then looked at the girl with chestnut coloured hair. She looked familiar. "You look familiar".
"Do you not remember her, Issei?" Miki asked. She wasn't sure why Issei would not recognise his childhood friends. They were as thick as thieves back in the day. She then took out an old picture. "See? She's right there. Shidou Irina".
Issei took a look at the picture, and he was surprised. Shidou? He then looked at the girl and picture back and forth.
"You're Shidou?!" Issei said. Shidou was a girl! He always thought that she was a guy! "Holy crap! You're a girl! I always thought you were a guy!".
"Ha-ha-ha! It can't be helped. I was a bit of a tomboy back then," Irina said. She then made a cutesy smack of her head. "But it seems a lot has happened to the both of us in the time we've spent apart. You really never know what will happen when you're reunited!".
Irina stared at Kalawarna, Mittelt, Raynare, Serafall, and Ddraig. She might be smiling on the outside, but on the inside, she was a bit afraid of Ddraig. Irina wasn't sure if the Dragon was really the Red Dragon of Domination, but that doesn't matter since it's still a freaking Dragon! As for Serafall, she didn't know who she was.
"Oh! By the way, Sera-chan, it's good to see you again," Miki said. It had been a while since she had been over. Miki knew that Serafall had responsibilities. "You should come by more often".
"Oh, I plan to!" Serafall said. She then looked at the room and saw Raynare. A gut feeling told her that she was the one she needed to speak with. "But for now, I have to speak with her".
Serafall pointed at Raynare. Said Fallen Angel was curious. What does a Devil with immense power want with her? However, she didn't mind speaking to Serafall since Issei was around. She was sure that he wouldn't let anything happen to her.
"Me? Why?" Raynare said. She was curious. "I don't think I've ever met you before".
"You haven't, but I still need to speak to you," Serafall said. She wanted to know if this girl was good enough for her Issei or if she was willing to share. "I have a few questions that need answering".
Serafall dragged Raynare into another room. Meanwhile, Issei was looking at Irina and the girl he was with. Until he had his eyes on the item wrapped in a cloth. He used Bo-Bup and took the item. Irina and Xenovia recoiled at what they saw. The sword of Xenovia was quickly stolen.
Issei then unwrapped the cloth and saw a sword. It was emitting a Holy Aura. From that, Issei can deduce that Irina and Xenovia were the church representative and were the duo that wanted to speak to Rias. He then put his hand on the sword's handle, and it hummed to life.
Irina and Xenovia were confused. Issei could wield one of the Excalibur fragments.
"I-Issei! Y-You can wield a Holy Sword?!" Irina said. She was shocked. Issei was a natural-born Holy sword wielder! "Amazing!".
"Impossible!" Xenovia said. She was the wielder of Excalibur Destruction, the sword in Issei's hand, but it was emitting more power with him than it was with her. "How?! How is this possible?!".
"Xenovia?" Irina said. She was surprised that Xenovia was rattled at what she saw. Sure, Irina was surprised that Issei could use the Holy Sword, but not to the extent of Xenovia. "What's got you so rattled?".
"Excalibur Destruction is my Holy Sword. I know its ins and outs," Xenovia said. She still couldn't believe the amount of power the sword was producing in Issei's hands. "But the amount of power that Excalibur Destruction is emitting now is nowhere near what it does with me".
"Well, duh!" Irina said. She knew that output would be different. "Of course, it would be weaker in his hands. This is the first time he's held it".
"Weaker? I wouldn't be this surprised if it was weaker," Xenovia said. Sometimes, Irina could be dense. "The power Excalibur Destruction is producing is five times more power with him than it is with me".
"Eh?" Irina was shocked. Five times more power? "W-What?!".
"See? Now you get it!" Xenovia said. She then looked at Issei, who wasn't even impressed with the power. In fact, she saw that he was disappointed. "Why do you look so disappointed?".
"I've heard of stories of this Holy Sword from Serafall and Ddraig," Issei said. He then sighed. The power of the sword was disappointing. "All the stories they told me, I thought it would be far more powerful than this. But I guess I was wrong. This Holy Sword isn't even on par with my Balmung".
Issei then bought out his Balmung. A wave of Aura hit Irina and Xenovia. The amount of power that Balmung was emitting was immense. Between Excalibur Destruction and Balmung, the latter was far more potent without competition.
Irina and Xenovia looked at the sword that Issei brought out. They felt that their weapons were definitely inferior. This feeling was more for Xenovia, as her swords were far weaker than Issei's Balmung.
Ddraig, who was in the room, became afraid of the sword. Why? Because this was the sword Issei used to beat him up. If Issei didn't have healing magic, he would be nothing more than dirt on the ground, unmoving. Why? Because Issei cut up his arms, legs, and wings during their fight. Ddraig made his way out of the room as he didn't want to be in the vicinity of Balmung.
Issei, on the other hand, thought of something interesting. Knight of Owner. If he was to activate it, it would catapult Excalibur Destruction's power from its initial rank to a D rank. Assuming it wasn't considered a D rank in the Fate System.
Issei activated his Knight of Owner, and it worked. The power of Excalibur Destruction grew, doubling its previous power. That would mean that Excalibur Destruction was only considered an E rank in the Fate System as it had a value of 10. And with Knight of Owner, it was raised to D rank with a value of 20.
"H-How did you make it stronger?!" Xenovia said. Whatever the Red and Green light that was enveloping Excalibur Destruction, it strengthened it. "And what's with that light?".
Issei ignored her. Though, he got to thinking. Xenovia said earlier that Excalibur Destruction was a lot weaker in her hands. That would mean it was less than an E rank earlier. He sighed. Truly a disappointing weapon.
Issei then tossed the sword back to Xenovia. He was capable of forging weapons with a rarity of Mythical Grade with the Gacha System's grading system. Excalibur Destruction doesn't even come close to his standards.