Ch.25 The Tyrant's Deals Part 2

Bold italics for names means counterparts, not the main cast themselves.

In the manor, Xenovia is lying next to Issei with his arm around her body while Koneko sleeps soundly on the other side of his body as he gently strokes Xenovia's hair with the sheets covering their bodies as he asks "Hey, you think that was a good idea?"

Her eyes looks a bit confused as she recalls "I don't know, I think Koneko was into me giving her a…"

Flustered, he puts his finger on her lips with a blush on, calmly stating "I can't believe what you ladies do to each other sometimes, damn." He takes a breath and reminds her "No, I mean sending Zen on that mission. Shin I'm not worried about, but Zen.. that boy really wants to get on the field….I mean he" but before he can say anymore, Xenovia presses her lips to her husband's lips and gives him another passionate kiss as she lies on top of him.

After pulling her lips from his, she passionately states "Irina and Asia can handle anything together. I don't have a single doubt that they'll keep our son in check." Then her eyes get a little malicious in feeling despite looking the same and reminds him "Besides, I don't care about parallel versions of us. I have you, our Irina, our Asia, and our children, and that's enough."

Issei feels a little offput, as he thinks about how loving Xenovia can be, but also how ruthless and cold-blooded she can be at times as well. He looks at her face now, and all he sees is a loving woman with whom he's shared many nights of passion with, and someone he feels completely comfortable around. He simply let's her lie down with him and she falls asleep.

Alternate World

After finishing a wonderful meal, Irina and Asia see that Shin seems rather tired and yawning. It is night here, and he seems to have a long day, but Zen seems anxious to fight. Still, Irina and Asia look to each other, and the later states "Okay, boys, I think we'll resume our mission tomorrow." In a sweet and loving tone.

Blushing a bit, Zen looks to the side and responds "Fine…." While he and Shin move to a bedroom upstairs that has three beds, a tv and bathroom for brushing teeth. Asia joins them to make sure they go to sleep before long while Irina waits for them to be completely inside the room and the door shut.

She moves to outside the room, opening the door and exiting the house as she finds herself outside the pouring rain and puts her mask back on and checks the doorknob as it fades into a normal knob as she quietly says "Seal" and her hand glows gold for a moment. She then holds her palm out and a sword materializes in her hand, the Orochi-no-Tsurugi, and it glows with a venomous green. She takes a stroll around the city, making sure avoid contact with anyone else.

After a while, she comes across a familiar scene as she sees a dead man on the ground dressed in priest attire as she inspects his body, thinking "Just like before. So this world isn't that much different besides Vali…"

"Did you do this?" she hears from a familiar voice and she looks to the side and spots two people dressed in robes, a parallel Xenovia and Irina who look serious, but don't seem to recognize her with the mask on, but her parallel self seems a little hesitant, and looks at her with a sense of familiarity.

She looks at her and Xenovia's counterparts and replies, in a pitched down tone "No, I just arrived here myself."

But the two holy sword users seem reserved and distrustful, as they look unwilling to trust this masked woman before them, but Irina doesn't blame them, and states "But if I were either of you two, I'd return to England at once."

But Irina catches it quick, and responds "How do you know where we came from?" and reaches for her Excalibur Mimic on her arm and Xenovia.

Realizing her mistake, she thinks "Damn, I got jumpy seeing them." But she quickly thinks of something and responds "I am associated with Dulio Gesualdo, and am here to conduct research on orphaned children in Japan. I recognize those robes anywhere."

They put their defenses down, seemingly buying her words, making her relieved, but Xenoviarebukes "Even so, we will not flee simply because a friend of Dulio's said so. We're here on a mission to retrieve stolen Excalibur fragments. If you would like, we would be willing to permit to accompany us."

Irina seems rather excited by it and even says "Yes, if we appeared before you, then surely it's a gift from God to help us on our mission, so we have even less reason to consider leaving."

Seeing this younger version of herself, Irina can't help but put on a sad face, thinking to herself "I can't let them go through what I did. Maybe if I" She grips her sword tightly, something that the two girls notice, but Irina suppresses the sword's evil aura as it fades quickly before being noticed. But she lightens the grip "No, I can't pick on the weak, it goes against what we believe." And simply remarks " Thanks, but I have my own duties to tend to. If I come across the fragments, I will attempt to retrieve them, and if I succeed, I'll make sure they're dealt with."

Without much words, the two seem to believe her, as she walks off, but her parallel counterpart seems to keep an eye on her, commenting "I can't believe how familiar she felt to me." To her partner's confusion.

As she walks away, Irina can't help but get memories of her time, thinking of fighting Issei and getting critically injured by him, her death by Freed Sellzen, being resurrected as a dragon, learning of God's death, and of course her exile.

But, she quickly regains her composure as she leaves back for the house, now knowing what to do about their mission. After returning, Irina finds Asia standing at the entranceway, tossing what appears to be crackers to the creatures living in the small pond.

Without even looking, Asia asks "So, do you have a plan for the mission?"

Kindly, Irina looks up towards the bedroom door where she presumes Shin and Zen are sleeping in, and happily replies "Yes, I have the perfect spot for us to make a move."

A littler later

The four wait until dusk as they leave the confides of their temporary home and mentions Irina mentions "I've seen this scenario played out because of our constant travels, and I know how to make a statement to the parallel us and our friends."

Zen and Shin wear their cloaks and make no sounds, but Zen seems to shake a bit with anticipation. With haste, the four enter a circle and teleport into the forest near the abandoned school building which hosts the Occult Research Club, and they immediately see a scene they've seen before, but didn't experience personally. They see the parallel Xenovia and Irina standing triumphantly over Kiba and Issei as they talk for a minute, but after a minute, the two holy sword users begin to leave.

Until Irina shouts "Hold It!" and then the club members as well as the holy sword users turn their attention to Irina, whom the sword users recognize immediately from last night. After gaining their attention, Irina wastes no time explaining "The only ones who will be dealing with Kokabiel will be us.

Xenovia nods in agreement, assuring "Indeed, this a church matter."

But Irina shakes her head, stating "No, I mean the four of us, not the church."

This seems to catch the younger counterparts off "Hold on, I thought you were a friend of Dulio's?" irina's counterpart asks with a bit of confusion.

But, she rebukes "Wrong, I just didn't want to start a conflict in the middle of city, without my friend (points to Asia), but I'm really here to destroy your Excaliburs."

Xenovia clenches her weapon, and takes off her cloak, wondering "If you want our weapons, then you're probably with Kokabiel, and if that's the case, you're going to tell us where he is." But she is quite mistaken, Irina and Asia both think. The two prepare for combat again, but Irina holds out her hand, and prominently states "Hold on! Before we start, I'd like for my friend to take some precautions.

Asia moves to her the younger versions of her friends, and, in a deeper tone, politely asks "Please, stand behind me." Kiba and Issei are still recovering from being cut with holy swords, but Rias seems to take these words seriously, ordering her peerage to do what the masked woman says, but Asia takes an interest in her.

Asia takes her palms and holds them apart as an orb forms in her palm and a barrier forms around her and the club members. Zen and Shin then remove their cloaks revealing them to be in identical uniforms that cover their whole bodies but with a torn cloth around their waist and black baggy combat pants like a military uniform with leather pauldrons on the shoulders and black fingerless gloves. The only difference is that Shin has a white dragon emblem on his back while Zen's is blue, and their cloths around their waists match this color scheme.

Irina calmly explains "These two boys will be your opponents. They are among the weakest members of our group, but they should be more than enough for you two." But the word "Weak" seems to make Zen angered as his lip moves a bit. But the two boys then draw their own weapons, which appear in their hands out of the air. Shin holds a pair of katanas with a knife grip and the blades are serrated, Zen materializes a black sword with a silver grip that resembles a slimer Durandal.

But Irina looks at it with worry, wondering "Did Xenovia really give him the prototype?"

Xenovia and Irina ready themselves for another fight without much worry due to them being unscathed from their recent fight and they pair off. Irina charges with her Excalibur Mimic in hand while Xenovia makes her move by jumping in the air with her Excalibur Destruction.

With Shin, he blocks her attack with one of his swords and confusingly asks "Hey, why don't you just give the sword, and we can have tea or something?" his voice and face innocently convey naivete as they clash, but the younger counterpart seems confused.

"No, this sword will help me achieve my mission, granted to me by God to destroy that evil fallen angel." She rebukes while holding her sword, but Shin quickly catches her off guard and lightly slices her face with his free sword, making her face bleed a little.

As she jumps back after getting sliced, Shin's face becomes saddened as he asks "But how do you know he's evil? Aren't all people capable of good or evil?"

Despite her slight injury, she continues her fighting, explaining further "All fall angels and Devils are evil creatures that I am meant to exorcise." And continues with another attack.

These words hit Shin and he looks depressed, answering in a disappointed tone "I can't believe you think that way." He continues to block her attacks, but she speeds up requiring him to use both blades to parry and block as sparks fly from their blades as he continues "Then there really is no salvation for you."

She gets a bit flustered by this, responding "How dare you say that word! I am a holy sword user, chosen by the church to assist in a sacred duty."

But Shin's eyes glow green for a moment and the world flashes bright for a moment, and he slashes swiftly as droplets of blood fly out of her body as various cuts form and she falls back, still conscious and drops her Excalibur Mimic on the ground. Shin simply walks over, puts his swords away, and claims the Excalibur. Irina turns over and reaches for her sword in Shin's hands, stating "How dare a heathen like you…" but before she can say anything else, she feels a shocking pain in her stomach as her eyes widen and she vomits violently on the ground as bile exudes from her mouth.

Shin lifts her up with his free arm and leans her on a nearby tree and a tear forms in his eye as he explains "I didn't want to poison you, but I had no choice. You won't choke here, but you'll be sick for the rest of the day. Make sure to drink plenty of water, and get a good night's rest." He then stands, bows, and calmly says "Please, may you return home safely." Before running towards the group.

Right next to them, Zen and his mother's counterpart are holding their stances with their swords clashed together, but he moves her back by just walking, mockingly saying "I thought that you'd be easy, but this is not something I wanted to do. I wanted to face a strong opponent."

She jumps to the side and slashes at him, but he uses his sword to block with one hand, furthering his mockery all the while "My mother could block this one handed."

Getting a little more desperate, she embeds her sword into the ground, but Zen smiles and taps his sword into the ground as well, causing a crater to form around his body, throwing her in and she lands on her back.

Zen puts holds his sword over his shoulder, stating in a cocky tone "I know how that sword works, and I think that the next time you swing, it'll be the end of our fight."

But she doesn't seem to notice and leaps back up and attempts a swing with her sword, but as she does, a loud shattering sound echoes through the air and with a shocked expression, she sees her blade shattered to the hilt as fragments of blade scatter around the area.

She looks at her broken sword in horror "That's not possible. How did you do that without swinging your sword?" she asks shocked as her sword simply broke from it being blocked by the side of Zen's sword.

He smiles maliciously and retorts "Like I'd tell someone like you that. My mom gave me this sword, and that's all I'll tell you." He then gets close to her, and asks "Okay, I'll take what's left of that Excalibur now."

But she stubbornly refuses, holding the broken blade's remnants and holds it in a stance, but Zen simply grabs her wrist and angrily states "I tried asking nice!" and squeezes her wrist with force that the sounds of her wrist being crunched can be heard, but she keeps a grip.

Irina and Asia watch in disgust, but he isn't going too overboard, but eventually, blood spurts from her wrist and then she lets out a scream of pain. Inside the barrier, Issei shouts "hey, cut that out! You're torturing her!"

Eventually, after squeezing some more, her grip loosens on the hilt and she drops it, and falls to her knees in pain, but Zen doesn't let go of her wrists. Seeing the fight officially over, Irina shouts "That's enough, Zen. She's let go of the sword."

But Zen doesn't listen and he starts chuckling a bit as the bones are crushed further and the cries of pain seem to amuse him as his eyes turn silver and like a dragon as he relishes the torture of this woman.

Her cries of pain and Zen's amusement sicked Rias and her friends, even Kiba who hates Excaliburs. Eventually, Irina rushes over and grabs Zen's wrist and throw him off of her and inspects the damage as her face has tears in it from the intense pain, but to her horror, she feels that wrist is in pieces, and the muscles are damaged along with the veins. It is like her wrist was run over several times by large vehicles.

Asia dispels the barrier and runs over to the utterly defeated Holy Sword Users while Issei runs at Zen with his Boosted Gear out, apparently recovered from his fight with Irina minutes ago thanks to his Asia's healing, but Shin intervenes and blocks with Excalibur Mimic, taking the form of a blunt object.

Issei yells "You didn't have to humiliate them like that!" he seems extremely upset with this outcome, stating "Sure, they pissed me off, but that doesn't me you can just torture them and make them suffer for being who they are!"

Asia tends to the wounded along with her younger counterpart, but they can't do much about the poison in Irina's body as she continues to feel nausea. After healing them within reason, Shin and Zen hand the Excaliburs to Asia, who places them on the ground. She then summons Umbra Fountain and then dowses the two swords with primordial water, completely dissolving them, down to the core.

Seeing the swords dissolve, Kiba feels a mix of emotions, but he does feels a slight bit of satisfaction at seeing those swords vanish from the world. Irina gathers the younger versions of herself and her friend and leans them on the trees together to recover.

Rias approaches them, her face showing disdain, stating "We won't interfere with your mission, especially by judging these two boy's abilities, but I can't say that I approve of your methods."

Issei looks at his old friend, who is barely conscious from her wounds, making sure she is alright, she looks at him with sadness, sadly saying "I've been reduced to help from a…." before losing consciousness completely. Issei picks her up and carries her on his back.

He calmly says "President, I'm going to take her to my place."

But, Rias calmly criticizes this decision, by reminding him "We agreed not to interfere with their work as well, and she did insult both my house and a dear friend of ours."

Issei, however, rebukes "Look, I know, but she's hurt and needs rest. She's my old friend, and I can't just abandon her like that."

Smiling, she assures him "Alright, but I will have to punish you later for defying me, Issei."

He nods without even complaining and leaves with Irinaon his back as he disappears, but while they aren't looking, Xenovia disappears without a word. The parallel group then looks to Irina, Asia, and the boys, and seem oddly entranced by them.

But it is Rias who asks "Who are you four exactly?"

But, Irina gathers her family and simply states "People who shouldn't be here right now." And makes them leave before telling Zen in a stern tone "and don't forget that you broke your word, Zen Hyoudou." Fully intending to punish him later for his actions. But she does feel comfort and hopes that without their Excaliburs and injuries that the parallel counterparts won't learn the truth.