The train ride to the Gremory Territory was uneventful. And for once, Issei didn't mind a boring trip. Of course, the ride wasn't without its quirks and perks. Akeno had suckled his fingers and he got a face full of her chest. Gremory Territory was massive. According to Yuuto, the place was about the size of Honshu. He glanced over at Mitsuki.
She was engrossed in her own world, scrolling through her phone. Mitsuki had digitized their mission files a few hours before they had left for the Underworld.
He looked back ahead. The Gremory Estate was a massive place, bigger than even the Buckingham Palace that Issei had heard so much about. The white marble walls and the golden gates gave way to a long pathway that had rows upon rows of servants, all dressed in different uniforms.
The discipline each of them displayed was nothing short of impeccable.
"Welcome home, Lady Rias!" they all said with practiced elegance. The place oozed manners and it reminded Issei of an otome game.
Issei gulped and stood ramrod straight behind Rias along with the others. He wished he had Mitsuki's cool and collected attitude at times. The girl barely seemed to be fazed by all of this.
He felt someone clutch his leg and saw Lily hugging him tightly. The sound of fireworks and ceremonial gunfire had scared her. Issei sighed and picked her up, holding her close.
"Thank you, everyone. I am truly glad to be home amongst all of you," Rias greeted warmly. Her warm and friendly attitude brought smiles to all of her servants' faces. It seemed that the Gremory's tendency of showing affection to their servants didn't just end with the Peerage but extended to their entire staff.
"Mii-chan, I'm surprised you're not shocked by all of this," Issei whispered.
"Huh? What was that?" Mitsuki blinked and looked up at him, taking her eyes off her screen for the first time.
"Oh right… you're reading something," Issei said.
"Sorry if I'm a little out of it. I'm trying to go through all of her reports and the new data Ingvild mentioned," Mitsuki said, scrolling through the files.
"Lady Rias. Welcome home."
Issei tore his gaze away from the myriad of photos and graphs to see Grayfia walking toward them. The silver-haired Queen of Lucifer's imperious gaze fell upon him and he shrank in his spot.
"Grayfia, tell the coachmen that I will board with my servants. This is their first time being here after all and I want them to feel comfortable," Rias said.
"While I do not object… I have a small issue with you being in the same carriage as…" Grayfia trailed off when she locked eyes with Mitsuki. Her red eyes then traveled to the girl in Issei's arms. Her eyes widened slightly before she masked her expression thanks to years of controlling her emotions.
Lucifuge? But… our family is dead… Grayfia filed the thought away for later and decided to listen to what Rias was saying.
"I can ride in the same car as Yuuto-san and Gasper. I'll take Lily with me too," Mitsuki said.
"Eh? Are you sure?" Rias asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, besides, it looks like Aniki really wants to ride with you and Akeno," she replied.
"Oh, um. Right. Anyway, Grayfia, she and the girl will be riding with the other two," Rias said.
Mitsuki placed her head in her hand and looked out the window of the carriage with a bored look on her face. She could feel Yuuto eyeing her intensely while Gasper continuously played video games while sitting inside a cardboard box. Koneko looked absentmindedly out the window, ignoring everyone's existence. The awkward air between the two was something even Gasper noticed, even if he didn't want to comment on it. Lily leaned against Mitsuki's arm.
The defeat they had suffered mere days before at the hands of the progenitor of the Morax Clan was not something Yuuto had forgotten. And this girl had displayed sword skills that he firmly believed were above his and Xenovia's.
"Are you just going to keep staring?" Mitsuki asked, pocketing her phone.
"Do you even have signal here?" Yuuto asked.
"I don't need signal to read downloaded files," she replied.
And just like that, the conversation had died down. Mitsuki returned to ignoring him and Yuuto tried to craft a way to keep the whole talk alive. He was extremely interested in her sword and the way she fought with it. All of the swordsmen he had encountered so far out in the field did not have such a high-speed style of fighting. Xenovia was a brute who relied on strength to force her way through attacks, Irina was speedy but her movements were more akin to water, and Kokabiel's skill and moves were unreadable due to their sheer difference in skill.
"Where did you get a sword like that?" Yuuto asked.
"Like… oh, you mean Yorihime?" Mitsuki asked, turning to face him.
"Yeah."
"She's been with me for a whole year. My family has a tradition of making swords and being swordsmen. Yorihime is just a specialized sword blessed with the ability to harm supernatural beings and stream magic through it. The sheath has a special triggering mechanism that allows me to fire the blade from it to enhance my quick draws." Mitsuki nodded with pride. Even though her mother had forged it, she had spent all night designing it in a manner she liked. "I modified the scabbard by the way. It took me all night."
Yuuto nodded. He wondered if he should launch his swords somehow. It seems to work for her.
"To be honest, I've been fighting with a sword since I was a kid. I was part of the kendo club back in middle school and joined the kendo club at my new school and went to Nationals," Mitsuki said.
"Are you planning on joining Kuoh's Kendo Club?" Yuuto asked.
"No. Not really. I'm done with that part. I just want to finish high school and head off to college," she replied, rubbing the back of her head.
"Senpai is lucky."
Yuuto and Mitsuki blinked and turned to see Koneko staring at them out of the corner of her eye. Her yellow eyes had a melancholy look within them.
As Mitsuki was about to ask what she meant by that, the carriage came to a stop. They had arrived at their destination. Lily tugged on Mitsuki's sleeve and she scooped the girl up in her arms and stepped off after the others.
They had literally rolled out the red carpet for all of them. She spotted her brother ahead of them, standing with Rias who was conversing with a short, red-haired boy.
"Mii-chan! Come here! This is Rias's nephew!" Issei said, waving over to her.
"Coming! Now, Lily. Just stay close to me okay? There are a lot of people with red hair here, okay?" Mitsuki asked.
The girl nodded and buried her face in Mitsuki's shoulder. She frowned a little. The trauma she suffered made her virtually mute. Whoever did this to a child, she'll make sure they burned.
Rias's nephew was named Millicas Gremory. Mitsuki blinked when she saw how much shorter he was up close.
"Aniki, isn't he a little short?" she asked.
"He'll get taller, won't you, Milly?" Rias said, scooping her nephew up in her arms and rubbing her cheeks against his.
"A- Auntie Rias! You're embarrassing me!" Millicas complained, finally dropping his polite mask.
Rias smiled and turned to Mitsuki. "Milly, this is Issei's best friend, Mitsuki. Say hi to her."
"H- Hello, Big Sister Mitsuki. N- Nice to meet you."
Mitsuki felt something shoot through her heart and she nearly stumbled back.
T- This boy's smile is fatal! She thought.
While Mitsuki was stun-locked, Millicas spotted the red-haired girl in Mitsuki's arms.
"H- Hello," Millicas said.
Mitsuki and Rias exchanged glances. Mitsuki coaxed Lily into turning her head to greet their host and the girl complied.
She slowly turned her head before freezing up and trembling in Mitsuki's arms. Her eyes looked fearfully at Rias and Millicas, both of whom had the same shade of red as that woman who slaughtered her entire family like cattle.
"Sorry, she's…"
"No, it's fine. Poor baby," Rias said, looking at Lily sadly.
Millicas looked between his aunt and her friend, wondering what was happening.
Lily quickly buried her face in Mitsuki's chest once more, hiding from the red-haired people.
"Come on, I'll show you all to your rooms. Dinner is in a couple of hours so there's some free time in between for everyone to freshen up and get ready," Rias said, beckoning for them all to follow. "Mitsuki, I hope you don't mind but Issei is bunking with me." Rias shot her a smile.
She raised an eyebrow. "I really don't. I'm going to stay with Lily."
"That's fine."
Their shared room was large. It was as large as her entire downstairs portion of the house. It had enough room to fit two living rooms and a bedroom and they had their own private bathroom. Mitsuki placed her stuff down and quickly plopped down on the bed. Lily clambered after her, trying to get on top of the mattress. Mitsuki smiled and hoisted the girl up before sitting her down.
"Haaah, that girl," Mitsuki said. "I have to finish reading all the new reports Ingvild gave me and commit them to memory."
Lily tilted her head and stared at Mitsuki in a confused manner. The older girl smiled and petted her head. "Want to read top secret documents with me?" she asked.
Lily nodded and scooted closer to her, leaning on the bigger girl's arm. Mitsuki smiled and pulled out her AS. She projected a holographic screen in front of her and began scrolling through the files.
The data files she had were very organized and detailed. As expected of Ingvild, Mitsuki thought, reading over the footnotes Ingvild had left by data points she thought were important. She tapped one of the images and scanned it over. Multiple X's dotted the screenshot of a satellite image of a map. All of them were clustered with Kuoh being the eye of the storm.
"Hmmm, these are recent. Are there any from a few days before?" she said to no one in particular. She swiped the screen to see if Ingvild had any comparisons.
And she did. The amount of Xs was far less than the one taken a few days ago. The date she had used was a random date in between the time that Phenex and Morax were confirmed to have left and the time before Ingvild's arrival.
"Though…" She read Ingvild's footnote.
These Xs do not account for the presence of myself, Operative Moon Halo, and the Gremory and Sitri Peerages nor do they account for the Governor General of the Grigori.
"Huh." Mitsuki leaned back. "So these are caused by something else then? What else does she have." She swiped her finger and looked at a newspaper clipping.
"Missing Persons reports. Timeline of June 15th, 2022 to June 23rd, 2022… 4 dead, 1 missing in the United States, 20 dead, 1 missing in India. 2 dead and 1 missing in UK? That must be Lily's family," Mitsuki muttered. "All of these started happening on the 15th which is a day after Aniki had his attack. So if I guess from that and the information from Yatogami, I can say without a doubt that Aniki was the first to awaken the blood of the Origin Demon." She touched her temples and rubbed them. Her eyes flashed red as she began scanning and processing the information.
A knock interrupted her thoughts. "Come in!"
Issei pushed the door open and noticed Lily looking at a holographic screen alongside Mitsuki.
"Mii-chan, what are you doing?" Issei asked as he walked in and closed the door behind him.
"Eh? Aniki? Aren't you supposed to be with Rias's Mother?" Mitsuki asked.
Issei grimaced as he thought back to the woman. Venelana Gremory was the mother of his King. A woman who honestly looked like Rias's older sister rather than her mother. With long flaxen hair, bewitching violet eyes, and very large breasts, the woman had captured all of Issei's attention including that of Issei Jr. Though, he did well to hide his attraction to avoid the stares he was getting from Rias, Asia, and Xenovia. And his attraction to the woman quickly died the moment she mentioned something about learning proper manners and ballroom dancing.
"Well, I snuck away from the others," Issei said, walking over and sitting next to Lily. "Hey, Lils. Is Big Sister Mitsuki making you do boring data analysis with her?" Issei tickled Lily's sides, causing the girl to erupt in a fit of silent laughter.
"She is my assistant in analyzing the data for our case. Take a look." She swiped the screen over to him.
"Missing Persons Cases? India… US… Mexico… Canada… Ghana… Wait? These go back only a week?" Issei asked.
"Yeah, the first one is from the UK. It's…" she trailed off and her eyes darted to Lily, who was busy playing with her hair.
"Oh. Ohhhh. Do you know how?" Issei asked.
"The official newspaper report says Murder and Arson and Kidnapping. The autopsies for the mother and brother show that the Mom had been gutted open like a Thanksgiving Turkey and missing several internal organs, namely her heart, liver, and the duodenum of her small intestine. The brother had numerous lacerations all over his body and both of his jugular veins and carotid arteries were… his throat was slit." She saw that she was losing Issei.
"Oh. And they were set on fire?" Issei asked.
"Yup." she popped the P for extra emphasis. "No fingerprints and no Lily."
"Damn," Issei said softly, reading through the article. His eyes hardened when he saw a picture of Lily's old family. Lily looked so happy in this photo and now… Issei looked out of the corner of his eye to see the dim lifeless eyes of the little redhead. "Damn these bastards." Issei clenched his fists.
"Yeah, well, according to Yatogami and our present data, these bad guys are also after you. They just haven't made any moves because you're being watched 24/7 by the Gremory Peerage and Azazel is by your side," Mitsuki said. "Nothing like a Fallen Archangel and a Devil King's Little Sister to act as enemy deterrent."
"Yeah, lucky me." Issei swiped through the files before stopping.
Mitsuki noticed her brother pausing and saw the stiff posture of his body. She reached over and squeezed his bicep.
Issei snapped out of his reverie and looked over at her.
"Don't worry. We'll get them. We'll get back at them for you and for Lily." She gave him a warm and comforting smile.
"That's my line. I'm supposed to be protecting you," Issei said.
"What? That's my job right now!" Mitsuki retorted.
"3 minutes." Issei gave her a smug look of superiority.
"Jerk," Mitsuki mumbled.
"Bitch," Issei fired back.
The two burst out in a fit of laughter before calming down.
"Ahh, but seriously Aniki. There is absolutely nothing to worry about. Ingvild is here to help us out and she'll be here in a few days once she's finished setting everything back up in Kuoh!" Mitsuki said.
"Can't wait to meet the girl who managed to make Mii-chan come out of her own shadow," Issei said.
"Haha, very funny," she replied. "Don't you have a dinner to attend?" she asked.
"You're not coming?" Issei tilted his head at her question.
"Lily can't eat with them, remember? She's afraid of people with crimson hair. I'll slowly ease her into exposure… probably with Millicas, Rias's Nephew," Mitsuki replied.
"I guess, I'll see you after dinner then?" he said.
"Only if Rias lets you out early," Mitsuki said, grinning at the look of apprehension on his face.
"Why? Why God- Ow! Whyyyy!?" Issei asked.
"It's good to see you again, Ddraig. My oh my, dare I say that I am excited for this. I have never been granted the opportunity to train a Dragon Emperor much less the Red One," it said.
In front of them stood a two-story tall bipedal dragon. His violet eyes looked down on them with some amusement, though his gaze was fixated solely on the budding Red Dragon Emperor. His golden curved horns glinted underneath the light of the "Sun" and he let out a puff of smoke as he crossed his powerful arms across his chest. The sound of his maroon scales hitting and shattering the pavement was heard as he lowered his large thick tail to the ground.
"You'll be fine, kid. Tannin here is the best person I know who can bring the Balance Breaker right out of that twig body of yours," Azazel said, punching Issei lightly in the gut.
However, Azazel failed to take into account that Issei was in fact a million times weaker than he was and the boy doubled over in pain.
"Whyyy?" Issei groaned.
"Azazel is right, Ise. If anyone has the capability to bring out your Balance Breaker, it's Lord Tannin. Not to mention that Lord Tannin is one of the Dragon Kings with powers on par with the Four Satans. Legend has it that his breath has the force of a meteor strike behind it," Rias explained, holding the clipboard in her hands as she continued to go down the list.
"I'll be coming with you. Tannin might be able to push you to your limits but I know how to get you there faster. Not to mention that I'm actually stronger than you!" Mitsuki placed her hands on her hips and let out a huff of superiority.
"Oh yeah? Really? Then prove it right now!" Issei challenged.
"How?" she asked.
Without warning, Issei jumped up with a surprising amount of speed and launched a powerful right hook at Mitsuki's face.
However, she moved faster. She batted his fist out of the way and swept his legs out from under him. Mitsuki slammed her palm into Issei's solar plexus, sending him crashing into the ground, sending spiderweb cracks all over the stairs of the Gremory Mansion.
The others stared on with deadpan expressions, not even flinching at the fact that their antics just destroyed the stairs of their Host's house.
"See? Stronger," Mitsuki said, smiling smugly at her brother's groaning and pained expression.
"Case in point, you're a bitch," Issei said, shakily getting to his feet.
"I see that the girl is strong as well. With my strength and her personal knowledge of your physical limitations, we will forge you into a sword that cannot be broken by adversity," Tannin said with much gusto in his tone.
"Great. Just great," Issei said, dusting himself off.
"Let's see… Koneko. What do I even have for you? Hmm, you're the one in the group with the highest physical stats but you are… how should I word this? You're fucking slow," Azazel said bluntly.
Koneko bristled at his statement and was about to retort when Azazel handed her a thick folder.
"This has a training regimen that I planned out for you. You fit your role as a Rook but you lack speed and stamina. You'll tucker out lugging around that strength of yours eventually and then the enemy can pick you off. I want you to follow that guide step by step and I'll have someone come in and spar with you periodically to measure your improvement," Azazel said.
Koneko looked down at the folder and back at the Fallen Angel before nodding.
"Luckily, everything you need for this training can be found in the Gremory Family Gym so of the peerage members, you can stay here and train to your heart's content," Azazel said, reading the clipboard.
"Yuuto-kun, of everyone in our peerage, your skill and speed are unmatched, even by Akeno. Though you two vary in your skill sets, I wouldn't be hard-pressed to say that you're the strongest member of our peerage in skill alone," Rias said, scratching her cheek.
"I see. Thank you for your praise, Buchou-"
"However," Azazel picked up, "ever since you've gained your Balance Breaker, you've yet to even begin realizing its full potential. Simply put, you're treating it like another one of your created blades. Frankly, I think that's an overall waste of its potential and yours. Luckily, I got Sirzechs to get in touch with your old master but… that old tuberculosis-riddled asshole wouldn't tell me where he actually is." Azazel pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Right…" Yuuto gave an awkward smile at the jab Azazel had at his old master.
"So, I'm guessing you know? Because when I asked he said that you would know where." Azazel crossed his arms.
"Hmph. The fact that Sensei didn't tell you where to go means that my training has already begun. I will not make him wait any longer," Yuuto said, slinging a pack over his head.
"I see. Do you want me to arrange a ride for you?" Azazel asked.
"No, that would be disrespectful to Sensei's teaching methods." Yuuto flashed him a smile. He turned to Rias and bowed slightly. "Buchou, I will work hard to become a refined sword for your use."
"I have no doubt that you will, Yuuto-kun." Rias smiled at his words.
"I'll be off everyone. Ise-kun. Grow strong. The White Dragon isn't the only one looking to match you," he said, giving Issei a challenging smile. With that, Yuuto took off in a burst of speed, running off into the distance until he could no longer be seen.
"Let's see… okay Femboy. It's your turn. Of the peerage members aside from Rias Gremory, you have the most potent ability and that is to stop time but you're too afraid of people for you to be any help to your peerage-"
"Azazel, mind your words. They're still my precious servants and I won't allow you to besmirch them so readily in front of me," Rias said.
"Right, your training is simple. I need you to go talk to people down in the streets of Gremory Territory," Azazel said.
Gasper paled and immediately dove back into his cardboard box.
"And I can see that this will be a learning experience for you and Rias." Azazel chuckled and continued down the list.
"Let's see… yo, Adashino. Is your aunt available by any chance?" Azazel asked.
"Um… I'm afraid to ask but why?" Mitsuki asked, eyeing the Governor General suspiciously. "She might be single but-"
"You're jumping the gun a bit too much here. Your aunt is the wielder of the Ama-no-Habakiri. I've assigned her to be Xenovia's master," Azazel said.
"Wait… Ama-no-Habakiri… do you mean that…" Xenovia pointed shakily at Mitsuki. "Your aunt is the legendary Mikazuki, Sae Adashino!?"
"Y- Yeah…?" Mikazuki was a name she hadn't heard in a while. Her aunt was one of the Japanese Branch's two trump cards next to her own Father.
"Yes to her being available?" Azazel asked.
"Auntie Sae is away on business. Sorry," she said.
"Hmmm, damn. Well, I can work around this. I'll try to see when she'll be back so she can teach you how to wield Durandal because short of summoning Vasco to Hell, we're kind of short on options. For now, focus on taming Durandal. Durandal is one of the strongest holy swords and it is very fickle in choosing its wielder. While I wait for Sae to come back from whatever errand she's on, focus on your control," Azazel said.
"Next is Asia," Rias read.
"Right, Asia, since you've practically mastered the fundamentals of the Twilight Healing, all I have left for you is to master the advanced techniques of it. Focus on building off your base and eventually, you might be able to heal people from a distance," he said.
"R- Really?" Asia asked.
"Yes."
"I- I'll do my best! I won't let everyone down!" Asia said.
"And then there were two. Rias and Akeno. Rias, since you're the King, the entire peerage will rely on you, not just as the director but also as a pillar. As the leader you have to stand strong in front of them. Which means that aside from sharpening your decision-making skills and studying battle tactics, you will be developing as a combatant as well," Azazel said. "And before you protest, trust me when I say this. Your Power of Destruction may be powerful but in the end, the power is only as good as its wielder. Your fight with Kokabiel must have been a big eye-opener as to how useless your abilities are against someone who can actually fight."
Upon hearing his scathing review of her abilities, Rias clenched her fist tightly and averted her gaze.
"Your brother has volunteered to train you as has your father. I don't know how far you'll get in that aspect considering that neither you nor Sirzechs inherited Perception from your ancestor but… I'm hoping your training will go somewhere at least," Azazel said.
"Right. Wait…" Rias's eyes widened when she picked up on Azazel's words. "Brother is training me? How did… you know what. Never mind. I fully expected something like this," she said.
"And then we have one! Guess what? You're the lucky girl, Akeno!" Azazel chirped.
"Seeing your happy face when talking to me makes me want to vomit," Akeno replied coldly.
"Ouch. I can tell you inherited the S from your Mom. Well then, let's just get this show on the road then. Oi, Baraqiel! You can come out now!" Azazel said.
Akeno's body froze when she felt the familiar sensation of his aura.
"W- Why is he…" Akeno clenched her fists and glared furiously at Azazel. "Why is he here!?" she yelled.
"He's here because I asked him to. You need to accept the Fallen Angel blood that runs in your veins. That is what your training will be. Mastering the power of Fallen Angel Blood inside you," Azazel said.
"As if! I refuse to be anywhere near this bastard!" Akeno yelled.
"Akeno! Calm down!" Rias said. "I signed off on this. Azazel told me about this idea and… I have to say that I agree with him."
Akeno stared at her king with a look of shock and betrayal on her face.
"Azazel is right. If you accept your powers, then we can-"
"Is that all you care about?" Akeno asked.
"What?" Rias looked at her queen.
"Is the stupid Rating Game all you care about!?" Akeno snarled.
"Akeno! You know that's not true! This will also help you move on from your-"
"I don't need your help! Or your pity! And I certainly don't want your stupid training… especially if it's from him! I thought you knew that… Gremory."
Rias took a step back, feeling a sharp stab of pain in her chest when Akeno referred to her by her last name.
Akeno's eyes widened as her brain caught up with her body. However, the guilt only served to fuel her anger. She turned on her heel and ran off in another direction, using the enhanced speed trait of the Queen to gain distance.
Rias was about to go after her but was stopped by Azazel. "She'll be back. We can wait here. Everyone get to your respective training locations!" Azazel said.
Everyone nodded awkwardly and followed their trainers, leaving Rias, Azazel, and Baraqiel behind.
Akeno sat in a place far from the main manor. The Gremory Estate was vast and large, about the size of an entire city if she had to guess. There were places here where she could hide from the others and this is where she hid when she first was reincarnated. A place for her to expel her grief.
Akeno sat against a tree and brought her knees to her chest, crying softly. How could Rias do this to her? She knew what that man did to her. To her mother. How he ruined her entire family. So why?
"Why Rias?" Akeno asked to no one in particular.
"Oh, my dear child. Oh, how much have you suffered…"
That voice. It was a voice Akeno had longed for since she was a child. And hearing it made her feel like one again.
"M- Mom?" Akeno whispered.
Akeno looked up, wondering if what she heard was true. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw the wispy figure of her mother in front of her. She looked as if nothing had happened. Her mother was dressed in a shrine maiden outfit, similar to what she wore.
"M- Mommy? How are you? How are you here?" Akeno asked, shakily reaching out.
"Oh, my dear daughter… how the years have broken you."
As soon as Akeno drew near her mother, her mind snapped out of it and she realized that something was amiss. Her mother had never once called her "Dear Daughter". Shuri had always referred to Akeno as her little raven.
"Who are… you?" Akeno asked, taking a step back. Lightning arced around her fingers, daring this person to make a move.
"What do you mean, Akeno? It's me… Did you already forget about me?" the phantom asked.
"N- No, I didn't forget. Wait, no, you're not…" Akeno's resolve towards knowing that the being was not her mother wavered the more it spoke. It used the same soft, gentle tone her mother always had. "Mom is gone. She died protecting me…"
"Yes, I did. To think that my daughter would forget about me… perhaps, I made a mistake that day," Shuri said.
"W- What?" Akeno looked up at her in shock.
Shuri's face remained calm and serene but her words began to twist Akeno's heart.
"If I knew you were going to be this ungrateful… siding with your father, forgetting my existence even, I should have let them slaughter you like the half-born stain you were."
"No… stop. Mom… Mom would never think something like that! Mom loved me and Dad!" Akeno yelled, firing a blast of lightning at Shuri.
Shuri stepped out of the smoke cloud, unfazed by her daughter's attack.
"Even now Akeno…"
Akeno fell to her knees, gripping the sides of her head as the image of her mother continued to speak.
"You're turning on me too, Akeno?"
"I can't believe I raised a monster like you…"
"You're just like your Father."
"Stop it… Stop it! I'm not like him! I've changed…"
"Oh, my sweet precious Akeno," Shuri said, reaching out to touch her daughter's cheek softly. She brushed away the tears that were staining Akeno's face.
"Mom, I've changed. I help people. I've helped people who suffered like us. Don't cast me aside because I was born with these disgusting wings! Please! Please don't throw me away!" Akeno begged deliriously towards her mother.
"I won't throw you away dear. Mommy will always be here for you."
Akeno smiled and embraced her mother.
However, that was a fatal mistake. Shuri's violet eyes shifted to a toxic shade of yellow and her body disassembled into a cloud of smoke.
Akeno soon found herself standing inside a cloud of swirling smoke. Having realized her mistake too late, Akeno attempted to remedy the situation by dispersing it with a lightning blast. However, before she could fight back, the smoke forced itself into her mouth, funneling down her throat. Akeno's screams were drowned out as she levitated slightly into the air.
Her eyes were wide in terror before rolling back into her head as her mind did a hard reboot of its systems and she fell to the ground, seizing. Her eyes rolled back down, rapidly flickering between yellow and violet. After a few seconds, it settled on violet as Akeno returned to consciousness.
"Ughh." Akeno rubbed her head, trying to make the throbbing pain subside. "What happ-"
The memories of what happened back at the manor surfaced to the forefront of her mind and she remembered why she was here.
"Right…" Akeno got up and dusted herself off. She gritted her teeth upon remembering the sight of her father. However, she remembered Rias's hurt face even more and the guilt finally settled in.
"For her," Akeno muttered as she walked back to the manor. "I'll do this but only for her."
All the while, Akeno never noticed the shadows around her became more pronounced as she walked by them.
Blacklight File: Archive File #1273
File Name: Azazel
Information:
The Governor General of the Grigori and a God-Class Fallen Angel.
One of the Seven Archangels who governed the Fifth Heaven and is the twin brother of Azrael. Uses Light Weapons and Steel Feathers in combat in addition to a myriad of unknown abilities due to his taciturn fighting style. In addition, there is a lack of concrete abilities of the Archangels is scarce due to the deaths of all their opponents. Is known to wield an Artificial Sacred Gear containing the power of the Gigantis Dragon, Fafnir.
"Sensei is really strong." -Crimson Wyvern
"He's also a pervert. I think he's trying to hit on *Blooming Orchid because he asked if she was available." -Moon Halo
"*Moon Halo Did you give him my contact information?" -Blooming Orchid
To Jlio Jaeger: I don't know if this is accurate since I put your review through Google Translate. However, I won't be adding the Hyperbolic Time Chamber just to speed Issei along to post-Volume 21 level because that feels like a cheap copout for character development. I feel like it'll be much more satisfying for an underdog fight between Issei and Beelzebub with Issei relying on knowledge and tricks he'll learn leading up to the battle. Of course, he'll have the help of the others and his trusty spirit animals, Ddraig and you know who.
If you read the end card and saw the asterisks or some other weird symbol, just know that FFN doesn't let me use the At symbol for anything. Really frustrating. Kind of miffed about it. Anyway, this is the standard training arc from canon with a few twists. I'll leave those twists for the next chapter. Lily has... PTSD. It's something I never addressed in the original even though as a child watching her family get killed in front of her, you'd think she has some form of PTSD so I decided to double down on that with this. She's mute... mostly. Aaaaand, we finally get to the part where Akeno gets possessed by Beelzebub. As per canon, Akeno is being trained by her father, and this time, she reacts in the worst way possible and runs away. I hope you guys liked that. I deliberated that scene for a while and felt that using Shuri to manipulate and break Akeno would be the best way to go.
Anyway, remember to leave a review and I will try my best to answer it. Of course, basic questions like whose stronger will be something the story will answer and not something I say. Follow if you like it and want to know when it gets updated instead of scouring the archives for it like a scrub.