"Thanks for helping me with this," Ingvild said.
"No problem. It's not like we have anything to do. There's a gap between the matches of Rias and Diodora so there's really no big deal," Mitsuki said, walking down the sidewalk.
"So this is America, huh?" Issei asked.
He had to admit that compared to Japan, everything here was different. From the quality of the air down to the people. Issei had never seen so many people of different backgrounds before. Diversity was not something that Japan was known for considering how they viewed foreigners. So for Issei, seeing a place as diverse as this one town was a culture shock.
"Though, why are we here?" Issei asked. "And do we have to wear these?"
Issei tugged on his necktie and collar. He was in a black suit and tie. His hair was combed neatly and he had a badge that said "FBI" hanging on his breast pocket.
"Don't ruin your collar. I spent all morning getting you ready," Mitsuki said.
She was dressed in the same suit with a badge reel hanging on her breast pocket.
"There's a disturbance that our Branch picked up from local law enforcement so we're being sent there to investigate it. We have an eyewitness now from the family," Ingvild said.
"Wait… you don't mean that?"
Ingvild's next words affirmed what Issei was thinking of.
"Yeah, thai is related to the cases of the missing people. The one we believe that is tied to Serpent's Seed," she replied.
Issei clenched his jaw and took a deep breath.
Mitsuki walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry. This is the first lead anyone's got in a while. The trail went cold after we couldn't find anything to link these families," Mitsuki said.
"Yeah, yeah. Let's keep going," Issei said.
Their destination was the county hospital. It was a quaint three-story hospital that was typically seen in an averaged sized town such as this. Ambulances were parked by the docking bay and people filed in and out of the hospital entrance. Issei noticed several police cars parked outside of the medical facility.
"Listen, you two. Well… not you, Mitsuki. Issei, I want you to just stay quiet. Mitsuki and I are introducing ourselves as the investigators and you're our junior," Ingvild said, stopping outside of their destination.
"Wait, I can't say anything?" Issei asked.
"Do you know what to ask for?" Ingvild replied.
"Er…"
"Let's just let Ingvild handle this, Aniki. She's better at interrogating people than I am," Mitsuki said.
Issei nodded.
"Are you still sad that you got eliminated?" Mastema asked, manifesting on his right.
No, and you know that was because Hanakai reversed Asia's abilities. Besides… I invented that…
[You've once again added another derogatory nickname to my growing repertoire of degenerate titles.] Ddraig said.
Look, I'm sorry, okay! It was a heat-of-the-moment thing! Issei protested.
"Aww, Ddraig. Don't be so sad. Ise-chan's being creative at least. You have to give him points for that-"
[Stop coddling the boy! Look at me! I used to be known as the Heavenly Dragon of Domination! Now I'm just some perverted dragon who uses breasts as a power-up! It's humiliating!] Ddraig wailed.
"Ahaha… there, there," Mastema patted Issei's hand.
You make me feel so bad for coming up with a reconnaissance tactic, Issei said.
[YOU CALL THAT A RECONNAISSANCE TACTIC! I CAN GIVE YOU A MIGRAINE!] Ddraig said.
"Enough."
Issei's eyes widened in fear and Ddraig instantly went quiet. The sheer pressure Mastema was generating on Issei's skull was immense.
Mastema placed her hands on her hips and looked down at them sternly.
"You two are supposed to be good friends and partners. So what if Ise-chan created a… special technique. At least it helped Rias Gremory win, right?"
[I guess…]
Look, Ddraig. I'll try not to use it as much, Issei said.
[Look, Partner. I'm sorry for snapping at you.] Ddraig said.
Look, man. I get it. If someone was dragging my name through the mud like that, I'd be mad too, Issei said.
"Aniki." Mitsuki snapped her fingers in front of his face.
Issei blinked and looked at her.
"We're here," Mitsuki said.
"Ready?" Ingvild asked, holding her hand up.
Issei nodded.
Ingvild knocked on the door before going inside.
The man in the bed was covered in several bandages, most of which covered burn wounds on his arms and some on his face. He was African-American and had a downcast, haunted expression on his face. He was staring at his hospital food, not even bothering to take a bite. The sitter present sat there, looking at them with disinterested eyes before returning to focusing on her phone.
"Hello, Mister Parker. We're here to talk to you about the incident that happened two nights ago. I am Agent Levy, this is Agent Diana. And this is our junior Agent, Agent Aki. We're just here to get a statement from you about what happened on that night your brother was taken?" Ingvild said.
Mr. Parker moved his head mechanically to look at Ingvild.
"The FBI? Look… I already told the cops what happened and they didn't believe me. You're just going to laugh at me too," he said before turning his gaze back to his food.
"Is he normally supposed to be like that?" Issei asked.
"He's drugged up," Mitsuki noted.
"Mmm. They probably had to chemically restrain him just to keep him calm," Ingvild said.
She walked closer and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I promise you that whatever you say, we'll take into consideration. Because your brother isn't the only one that got taken the way he did," Ingvild said.
"What?" Parker turned his head once more, his eyes wide with some measure of hope.
"We're hoping that if you could tell us everything you remembered and answered our questions, then we can be one step closer to getting to the bottom of this," she added.
"Alright… Alright, I'll tell you what happened. But you got to promise me that you'll find my brother. Promise me that," he said, begging her for an answer.
Ingvild said nothing, feeling uncomfortable about having to make a promise to the victim's family.
She looked to Mitsuki, who didn't know how to respond to something like this.
"We will."
Ingvild's gaze darted to Issei, who took a step forward. He grabbed his hand and clasped it in his own. With a determined gaze and a reassuring smile, Issei looked the man in the eye.
"I promise you. We will find your brother," he said.
"Ise-" she stopped when she felt Mitsuki's hand on her shoulder.
She glanced over and saw her shaking her head. Ingvild sighed and took a step back.
"He's all yours," Issei said.
Ingvild nodded appreciatively before stepping forward.
"Now, Mister Parker. Can you recall the events of that night as best you can?" she asked.
"W- Well… I was coming home from college. I had evening classes for Chem 256 and I decided to get some food to bring home. It was just my parents at home with my brother. I remember coming up to the neighborhood and just seeing a massive plume of smoke and thinking to myself 'Oh, one of the neighbor's houses must be on fire'. So I rushed over there to see if the fire spread but when I made the turn on my street, our house was on fire and…" he clenched his fists and took a deep breath to calm himself.
Parker looked at them.
"My brother ran outside, screaming for help. And all of a sudden, just as I came to a stop and got out of my car, this masked figure just appeared out of nowhere," Parker said.
"Masked… figure?" Ingvild raised an eyebrow. "Could you see their eyes?"
"Yeah, yeah. I remember them because they were so… odd looking. You know those Youtube videos where you see people doing weird shit like tattooing their eyes?" he asked.
"Yeah?"
"Well, I swore it could have just been the light but that person's eyes were glowing blue and they had stars carved into their eyes," he said.
Stars? Wait… he said blue not yellow. Maybe they're not demons? Issei thought.
"Stars? And their eyes were blue, not yellow?" Mitsuki asked.
"Look, I'm just telling you what I saw. Their eyes were blue, not yellow. And then they…"
"They what?" Ingvild asked.
"The masked person grabbed my brother and then the air started swirling up and the two just… vanished. Like smoke appeared around them but they just vanished into thin air. I thought I was going crazy or it was just some sort of mirage but… I know what I saw," Parker said.
"And your parents?" Ingvild asked. "Did they…?"
"Yeah. It's how I got these burns to begin with. I rushed inside to see if Mom and Dad were still alive but… I think that masked fucker killed them and set the house on fire," he said.
"I see," Ingvild noted. "Now, I have a few questions. Did you notice anything strange leading up to that night?"
"No… wait… yeah, I did. Now, hear me out because this sounds crazy but I swear I thought I saw Brian shooting fire from his fingers," Parker said.
Ingvild looked over at Mitsuki.
"Isn't that…?" Issei asked.
"Yeah, it is," Mitsuki whispered.
"Did your parents have any enemies that might want to get back at them? Perhaps someone they knew or someone at work?" Ingvild asked.
"No, no. Dad was a high school teacher and Mom was the ICU charge nurse. There's no way someone would want to target them," he said.
"Okay, weird question, but do your parents own anything strange? Perhaps a black box that you can't unlock? Some weird incense? Possibly some bones?"
"What? No. My parents are strict Baptists. They don't own stuff like that because they think it invites the Devil," Parker said. "Why?"
"It's just a working theory but we believe that your brother is linked to several other disappearances with the same MO. You're just lucky to get out alive," Ingvild said.
"Those are all the questions we have for you. We'll give you a call if we have any updates," Ingvild said, shooting Issei a look.
Parker nodded and the three left the room. As soon as they exited the hospital, Ingvild whirled around and poked Issei's chest.
"What the hell? Why did you promise him?" she asked.
"What… huh?" Issei was confused.
"Aniki, you never promise the victim's family anything. You'll run the risk of emotionally involving yourself in the case," Mitsuki said.
"E- Eh? Cop shows do it all the time," Issei said.
"Cop shows aren't too accurate. Don't tell me you based that response off Law and Order," Ingvild said.
"Um…"
"Whatever. What's done is done. Even if you broke protocol, thank you for that," she added. "If you didn't say what you said, he would've never talked."
"So what now?" Issei asked.
"Now, we go to the local precinct. Chances are that they grabbed everything in the house related to the case since this was so random. We'll find everything we need in the evidence room," Mitsuki said.
"You guys updated your AS on the RAT right?" Ingvild asked. "I know you did because I helped you access the AKASHA Network on the RAT to do it."
"What do those mean again?" Issei asked, rubbing the back of his head.
"AKASHA stands for All Knowledge About Supernatural and Humans Access and RAT means Remote Access Terminal, Aniki," Mitsuki responded.
"Mii-chan, did you?" Ingvild asked.
"Yah. I got it with me just in case we need to take any photos or analyze anything," she replied.
"The thing I don't get is… he said blue eyes and not yellow. And he said the eyes had a star pattern on it," Issei said.
"Well, there's a couple of things as to what it could be but I'm 100% sure we're dealing with a Devil but we're not dealing with a Progenitor Devil. We're dealing with a run-of-the-mill Devil," Mitsuki said.
"Lily, come on. Let's get you ready for bed," Irina said, scoping the little girl up in her arms.
The small red-headed child nodded tiredly and pressed her head against Irina's collarbone.
The older girl smiled softly and began to carry her to her room. As she walked down the hallway, she stopped when she saw Xenovia standing in the middle, brushing her teeth. Xenovia quickly ran back inside and spit into the sink.
After a few seconds, she came back out and looked at Irina awkwardly.
"How's things?" Irina asked.
"Fine. Just fine. Um… how are you?" Xenovia asked.
"Everything's great. Just peachy," she replied.
The two stared at each other for a few seconds before Irina began walking forward. As soon as she passed Xenovia, the girl opened her mouth.
"So that's how it's going to be? Are you going to let years of friendship be wasted by this?" Xenovia asked.
Irina stopped in her tracks and looked over her shoulder.
"I'm not. It's just… very very awkward considering how we left off last time," she replied. She gave Xenovia an apologetic smile.
"Then let's not make it awkward. After you put that girl to bed, come meet me in the basement. Yuuto and the others should still be there finishing up some last minute training! Let's spar like usual!" Xenovia said.
Irina raised an eyebrow before nodding. "Ready to lose?" she asked.
"Lose? If I recall correctly, I have more wins than you," Xenovia said.
Irina smiled challengingly. "You. Me. Basement. Kiba-san can be our referee."
"I can't believe they let us in that easily," Issei said, closing the door behind him.
"This is everything they retrieved from the house that could be used as evidence. The cops said that they practically removed everything from the basement," Ingvild said, patting the box.
"Everything?" Mitsuki asked.
"Everything that didn't burn. Since Detective Santiago said that none of the witness's statements were reliable, they had to resort to using whatever they found," she replied.
"So everything we need to know is in that box?" Issei pointed at the box.
"I hope so. Or else we'll be stuck here for a while," Ingvild said.
She summoned her AS above her palm.
"Initiate Interference Mode. Modify Environment. Alter Live Audiovisual Feed."
The orb glowed and let out a small blue pulse.
"There. We're good. No one can record our conversation now and if we see anything, it'll just look like us examining evidence," Ingvild said.
She opened the box and pulled several items out.
"Diary. Diary. Black lockbox. Another diary. Album," Mitsuki read the manifest aloud.
Issei grabbed the black box and tried to open it. "It's locked. Does it say there's a key?"
"Key?" Mitsuki asked.
Ingvild reached into the box and pulled out a small silver key.
"Why do you two need a key? You know magic," she said.
"Ehehe. I'm not that good," Issei admitted.
"I…" Mitsuki felt a bit stupid at not realizing that earlier.
Ingvild rolled her eyes and handed Issei the key.
Mitsuki put the clipboard down and peeked over Issei's shoulder as he unlocked it.
"Eh?" Issei's eyebrows scrunched up when he saw the contents inside.
"What is it, Aniki?" Mitsuki asked.
"This lady's either a witch or weird," Issei said.
"What's inside?" Ingvild asked, quirking an eyebrow at Issei's unique choice of words.
"An ID. some dirt, a bone, and I think… I think this is dried blood inside of a vial," Issei said.
Mitsuki and Ingvild exchanged glances.
"That's…" Mitsuki began.
"What is it?" Issei asked.
"Those are the ingredients needed to summon Devils the old way. Before they started handing out items with summoning seals on them. People used to believe that going to a crossroads during a new moon and burying a box with those effects at the center was a way to summon Devils," Ingvild said.
"It… worked though," Mitsuki said.
"Yeah, but Mom said that was just a few clans deciding to humor humans. It never worked with big wig clans," Ingvild noted.
"But… why?" Issei asked.
"That… is the million dollar question, isn't it? Crack open those diaries. Maybe she has something inside that will tell us why the hell she's summoning devils," Mitsuki said.
"She has 10 diaries. Dear Lucifer Below, how the hell?" Ingvild said, sifting through them.
"Let's split up and read them. There are three of us. Three to three and I can take one more. I can read and memorize faster anyway with Scan," Mitsuki said.
"Cheat learning power," Ingvild said.
"Yeah, like her teleportation," Issei added.
"Right?"
"Shut up, you two. Just read."
And so, the three of them began carefully reading each page of the woman's diary. Each and every entry spanned ten years of her life. The woman, Mrs. Parker, was extremely detailed with her entries. All of them vividly described what she did that day or how she felt. No detail was spared on the narration of her life.
Issei closed one diary and began sifting through the next one. He did not need to know about that woman's fetishes and her extremely descriptive statements about the things she did in bed with her fiance.
"Ara, you really are innocent~. I wonder how you'll do when you actually have to do the deed with Rias-chan," Mastema teased.
Issei ignored her and flipped the page.
[He is my host. Of course, he will perform very well] Ddraig said.
Can you two not right now? Issei's face was beginning to grow red.
"Mmm?" Issei's eyes widened before he blinked several times in order to see if what he was reading was real.
December 27th, 2011
I… I lost another one. I don't know what to do anymore. I've prayed and prayed and prayed. I went to different churches. I devoted myself to reading and preaching the word of God but I never ever made it to term. Is this some sort of sign? Is God telling me not to have another child? No… no. God would never…
Anyway, I've decided that if prayer won't work. I have to resort to other ways. I have a friend who's into occult who said that there are ways for me to get my wish granted but it has a price to pay. But, I don't care. I've always wanted to have a big family. At least one more child would do. No amount of suffering would stop me from bringing another life into this world.
"I think I found something," Issei said.
"Mmm?"
Ingvild and Mitsuki put their diaries down and walked over to Issei.
"Hmm," Mitsuki said, after reading the entry. "Flip to the next entry."
Issei nodded and turned the page.
January 3rd, 2012
"She skipped a date?" Issei raised an eyebrow.
"She must have been doing whatever it was she was doing," Ingvild said.
I'm going to do it. I'm doing it tonight. I had to hide all of this from Mark. I can't let him know what I'm doing but if he found out, would he understand that I'm doing this for us? We both want another kid and I feel like God is against me. That's why… That's why I have to do this! All I need is the last ingredient. A drop of my blood. That's how Sally said it would work. A picture of the wish maker, the bone of a black cat, some graveyard dirt, and my blood. Then head to a crossroads on a new moon and bury the contents.
Oh God, I wonder if it will work. How will it even work? If I do this, do I ruin my chances at Eternal Paradise? You know what. I don't care. As long as I can have my bundle of joy with me, I can do this. I can do this.
"So… she miscarried multiple times and decided to make a deal to have a child?" Mitsuki said.
"Yeah… wait, does this mean that?" Issei came to realize the horrific implications behind what he just read.
Mitsuki remained silent and continued reading the diary.
"She said she's pregnant in the next entry and from what I can see," she continued flipping pages. "She made it to term this time."
Mitsuki glanced over her shoulder to a shell-shocked Issei.
"I'm sorry," she said.
"Mom made… no, not Mom. Dad? Or Mom made a deal with a Devil?" Issei asked. "And not just any devil… the ones that murdered Lily's family?"
Ingvild remained silent through all this.
"We don't know if that's what happened. Maybe it wasn't you that they made a deal over," Mitsuki said.
"I…" Issei took a deep breath to calm his beating heart. "Yeah, yeah. You're right. I can't jump to conclusions. But still, that would mean my parents knew this whole time. They knew you and your parents weren't normal. And… that Rias was a Devil along with the entire Occult Research Club."
"That's a very big possibility," Mitsuki said.
"What's weird about this is that I don't see any mention of the word soul," Ingvild said.
"Soul?" Issei asked.
"In the olden days, before Christ and before it was outlawed by Lucifer, Devils made bargains with humans and granted them whatever wish they wanted. Resurrecting the dead was impossible prior to Evil Pieces and magic had limits. But souls have power. With a human soul, a devil can take a certain portion of the person's lifespan that they offer and use it in ways that can rewrite reality to the person's desire," she explained.
"Money. Deal. Love? Deal. A marriage that makes it to term? Easy," she said.
"But as Magic developed within the Underworld and people gained better understandings of medicine, the art of using the lifespans of mortals fell out of practice, and eventually, Lucifer outlawed it," Ingvild finished.
"But magic is still limited. There are things magic cannot do," Mitsuki said. "Resurrecting the dead in prime condition after years of decay, heal terminal illnesses like Sleep Disease, granting luck. Magic can do a lot of things but there are things they still can't do with magic no matter how much they try."
"But Serpent's Seed isn't asking for souls. They want something else and it's connected to all those people going missing. And the attack on Aniki and Lily," Mitsuki said.
Ingvild closed the book. "Whatever it is, we have yet to figure it out. My AS finished scanning all the diaries. I'll run this through the RAT and run a full analysis."
Issei remained silent through the whole situation.
"Aniki? Are you okay?" Mitsuki asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah, I'm fine. If they don't need souls, do you think my parents are like Miyo-sensei?" Issei asked.
Mitsuki said nothing for a few seconds. "That's a possibility I can't rule out but… I can't say it's true either. Sorry, Aniki."
"It's fine," Issei said. "It's just a lot to think about, you know."
"At least, you're finally thinking," she joked.
"Shut up." Issei punched her in the arm.
Irina stood on the other side of the field with her eyes closed. She opened them and stared at her sparring partner across the field.
Xenovia was her friend. One of her closest friends. The two had been fighting back to back for years on end. The girl eyed her carefully. Her sword, Durandal, was stabbed into the ground in front of her.
Speed vs strength huh? Mii-chan, if you could see this fight. I know you'd jump in and try to fight me without a heartbeat, Irina thought.
She held her hand out, summoning crimson flames that coalesced into Malkuth.
Rias stood between them. Yuuto was next to her, eyeing each combatant closely. Rias sighed.
Why did this have to happen while Ise was gone? She thought.
"Okay, the winner will be decided when one of the fighter's backs touches the ground or is disarmed," Yuuto said. He raised his hand into the air.
"Ready?"
Irina spread her feet apart and held her blade to her side. She took a deep breath and exhaled.
Xenovia picked up Durandal and held the blade in front of her.
"Go!"
Irina's eyes widened when Xenovia crossed the distance between them in a split second.
She avoided her swipe, leaving behind an afterimage in her wake as she jumped back to gain some distance.
She's gotten faster. And her control over Durandal has grown. Has she been training by herself? Irina thought.
She landed on the ground and gripped her blade tightly.
Irina's eyes locked onto Xenovia's form, keeping her within her field of vision.
Her animal brain suddenly screamed at her to dodge and she moved her head out of the way. A flash of blue and gold sailed past her head, narrowly missing by a few millimeters.
Irina spun on her heel and kicked Xenovia in the side, sending the girl skidding across the field.
"What…?" Xenovia raised her blade at the last second, blocking the red arcing blade of Malkuth.
Irina clenched her jaw and pushed, forcing Xenovia to her knee. However, her victory was short-lived.
Xenovia roared and channeled demonic power to her arms and legs, throwing Irina off.
As Irina soared through the air, she sheathed her blade and focused her breathing.
"Her fighting style is like Mitsuki's," Yuuto said, crossing his arms.
"Like? Like exactly the same?" Rias asked.
"Not exactly. However, the breathing and heart rate control is similar in nature," Yuuto said.
"Hanami."
Irina kicked off the air towards Xenovia. Heat was expelled from her body and she drew Malkuth and performed a vertical spinning slash.
Xenovia raised Durandal, blocking it but the ferocity behind her attack was immense. In the end, she was forced to avoid the final slash of the cycle.
As soon as Malkuth hit the ground, a shallow rift was carved across the room.
Irina pulled Malkuth out from the floor and rushed towards Xenovia.
Xenovia grinned and swung Durandal, using its weight to enhance the force of her swing.
But Irina saw this coming. She always did. Xenovia was an expert but her swings were often times predictable.
Shiragiku!
Her feet moved in a way that she danced out of Durandal's range before darting in and performing two slashes.
Xenovia felt the searing cuts on her flesh. She looked down and felt immense pain in her torso.
The force of Irina thrusting her sheath into Xenovia's ribs sent the Devil Knight skidding across the field.
"Haaah!" Xenovia let out a battle cry before charging at Irina.
She would outspeed her. She would overpower her.
Irina gripped her blade tightly as Xenovia approached.
She swung Durandal at Irina.
As Irina made to block her sword, she switched her actions and twisted her body, kicking Irina in the side.
Irina let out a soundless gasp as she slid across the field.
Her eyes widened when Durandal's blade filled her vision.
The blade passed through her head, slicing her afterimage's skull in half.
Irina gritted her teeth and jumped back.
But Xenovia kept up her pursuit.
Their routine was a deadly waltz of blades. Wherever Irina dodged to, Xenovia was waiting for her with Durandal poised to strike.
Their speed had increased to a level only Akeno, Rias, and Yuuto could see. To Asia and Koneko, it would appear as if Irina and Xenovia had appeared in four different locations simultaneously before disappearing.
Xenovia thrust Durandal towards Irina, forcing her to block.
The force of the thrust nearly broke Irina's arms and sent her flying into the wall.
"Crap sacks, Xenovia. Don't you know how to hold back?" Irina asked, limping towards her.
"I've gotten stronger, right, Irina?" Xenovia asked.
"Yeah, no kidding," she replied.
But now I have to end this, Irina thought.
Taiyou-Keiji Ryu is a style derived from the Dawn. We draw our power from the Sun as opposed to the Adashino Clan, who draws their power from the Moon. Remember, Irina. The Sun is always on your side…
That's right, Dad. Time to warm up, Irina thought.
Irina inhaled deeply before letting out a powerful exhale. Small amounts of steam left her mouth.
Xenovia's instincts triggered and she instantly dropped into a defensive stance.
The heat in the room began to rise.
Irina's eyes opened and her pupils dilated. A faint orange aura began to radiate from her body.
Taiyou-Keiji Ryu: Suisen.
Channeling her Divine Power and Touki into her legs, Irina closed the gap between her and Xenovia in an instant, thrusting Malkuth at her.
Xenovia used the flat of Durandal's blade as a shield, however, Irina's speed added to the force at which she delivered the blow.
Xenovia was pushed back, barely being able to hold her back.
But, even with all that, Xenovia's strength was slightly greater than hers. She pushed back and swiped Durandal upward, throwing Irina back.
She planted her foot on the ground and was about to perform a powerful downward slash.
Taiyou-Keiji Ryu: Renge.
Irina twisted her body and performed a powerful diagonal slash, slicing Xenovia's gym clothes open.
She followed up with a horizontal swipe, then an upward diagonal slash, and then a downward diagonal slash.
Small cuts began to appear on Xenovia's body.
But still, she didn't break. Durandal came down faster than ever.
Irina's senses felt the air pressure of Durandal's weight.
She took a step back and swiped upward, directly at Xenovia's hand and knocked Durandal from her grip, sending it flying into the air and landing behind her.
Irina planted her heel on the ground, moving her other leg in a semi circle before sheathing Malkuth and darting forward past Xenovia.
She sheathed her blade and Xenovia's bloomers were sliced in half.
Xenovia turned around and saw Malkuth's blade in her face.
Irina had drawn it once more at rapid speeds.
"I guess we're tied now," Irina said.
"Yeah, I guess we are," she replied.
"Are we good?" Irina asked.
Xenovia closed her eyes and chuckled. "I was worried for a second that we weren't but… I guess that was just us being weird, huh?"
"I'm sorry if I made you feel like I had something against you turning into a Devil. I mean… I did at first but when I heard about why you were kicked out. I can't really blame you. I just wish you told me about your decision first before you did it," Irina said, dismissing Malkuth.
"Is that why you were uncomfortable with me being a Devil?" she asked.
"Yeah… if you told me the reason why, I would've stayed and supported you instead of going back to the Church," Irina said, smiling.
"Irina…"
"Xenovia…"
The two hugged each other tightly.
"You might want to get some pants," Irina said while she hugged Xenovia.
"You ruined my bloomers," Xenovia replied.
Issei walked down the street next to Mitsuki and Irina. The girl was smiling happily and hummed a song Issei hadn't heard her hum in years. He smiled and just enjoyed her company. Ahead of them, Asia and Koneko walked side by side. The events of yesterday bothered him still but he pushed it to the back of his mind.
"I heard you and Xenovia made up," Issei said.
"We didn't make up. We just got over the awkwardness," Irina corrected.
"At least, Lily looks happy," Irina said, seeing the girl ahead of them.
Rias was walking with Lily. The younger girl held the older girl's hand tightly. Akeno walked next to Rias.
She was doing much better than she was before. Lily had grown accustomed to Rias's presence and had made the first step. She was able to hold Rias's hand without panicking, resulting in their current relationship. Granted, Lily still couldn't handle complete body contact as seen when Rias tried to hug her.
"I feel like Lord Sirzechs's son helped in that," Mitsuki said.
"Millicas?" Issei asked.
"Mmm. He was hellbent on becoming Lily's best friend. I just hope that enrolling her in Kuoh can help her come out of her shell," Mitsuki replied.
"Mii-chan, she'll be fine. Besides, we're there with her," Issei said.
"Hey, guys," Irina said.
The two looked at her with such practiced synchronization that only those who had a sibling bond could achieve.
"Who's that?" Irina asked, pointing up ahead.
Issei and Mitsuki turned their heads to see Koneko standing protectively in front of Asia.
There was a boy that was about the same age as they were. He had dark bluish-green hair and an angular face. He had a gentle expression on his face and he wore dark expensive clothing. The boy had a white cloak with fur around the collar. His smile was overall harmless but something within Issei triggered whenever he looked at the boy.
"That power…"Mastema muttered.
"Oi…" Issei walked forward, getting in between the boy and the two girls.
Irina and Mitsuki came running after him and stood next to them protectively.
"Who the hell are you?" Issei asked.
"Mmm? Asia Argento, we meet again," he said, completely ignoring Issei's remarks.
"Um…" Asia shifted uncomfortably as he took a step towards them.
"Do you not remember me, perchance?" he asked.
"Oi, watch it," Issei said, balling his fist.
The boy paid Issei no mind and took off his cloak. He unbuttoned his shirt and revealed his chest. There was a large x-shaped scar on his body and the sight of it made Asia's eyes go wide.
"That wound. Are you perhaps…?" Asia asked.
"That's right. I'm the Devil you saved back at the Church with your Sacred Gear," he said, buttoning up his shirt.
"My name is Diodora Astaroth," Diodora said, introducing himself. "I tried to talk to you back in the Underworld but the commotion with the Great Evil made it hard, right?"
Asia nodded numbly, remembering the events that led up to her ex-communication and banishment.
"That's why I've come to pick you up," Diodora said.
"P- Pick her up?" Mitsuki asked.
"That's right, Lady Dantalion. I've come for her." Diodora stepped forward and dropped to one knee. He grasped Asia's hand and kissed it softly.
"Asia, I believe that our meeting and reunion were ordained by destiny and fate themselves. And that is why I came to ask you this. Asia Argento, my one true love, will you marry me?" he asked.
The words floated in the air for a while for a few seconds before the reality of his question set in with them.
"Eh? EHHHHHHH!?"
Diodora Astaroth
The scion of the Astaroth Clan and the relative of the current Demon Lord, Beelzebub.
His gentle and affectionate demeanor belies a hidden side that one would not attribute to a person of his personality.
He holds an odd affection towards Asia Argento and his affections could be better described as an obsession.
To : Why thank you. It took me two tries to realize that the betrayal plot wasn't working. I very much like this rendition better as well and I feel proud of it, to be honest. Yes, it might be hypocritical of me because... I wrote one but I do think that the betrayal plot is most often exploited because it's kind of easy to write, not to mention that it lets you be as edgy as possible. Yeah, I figured that speeding it along a little would be helpful to Issei's mental health which will take a major beating in this story. Irina and Rias will be the two biggest supports he has after Mitsuki and I'll continue to try and show that. I have a lot of things planned for this story. As you can see, the trajectory of volume I is almost the same as the previous two with glaring differences between the three.
To Megar007: That's actually a good question. So far, the tentative answer is maybe. So far, I haven't found a good place to insert them into the fic.
To TyrantLordKillidia: Sorry, but skipping that. The Rating Game overall contributes nothing to the plot of this fic so I decided not to include it.
Yeah, so as I said before, the Gremory-Sitri Rating Game is useless to the overall progression of the plot of this fic. Oh but Crimson, you included the fight with Kuroka, why not Sona? Because Kuroka actually has a role to play as Issei's mirror whereas Vali serves as Issei's foil. So yeah, Sona and Rias's Rating Game has no general prevalence to the overall plot other than just existing. If you're going to argue that I could use it to show that Beelzebub is inside Akeno, I already did in their spar against Kali. Akeno's eyes flashed yellow and in the following chapter, Asmodeus sent Ingvild and Mitsuki to investigate the hall because she sensed a dark presence.
I'm not going to jump into the Astaroth-Gremory Rating Game just yet. I need to establish a little bit of lore and more insight into the situation around them regarding the events taking place that Blacklight is investigating.
So, remember to review. I'll try to answer your question if I have the answer. Remember to follow if you liked the story enough to get notifications. And don't forget to read these stories: Cat Got Your Tongue by NecroGodYami (Comes in One-Shot Form and Story Form), DxD: Alternate by AnotherJojo, Worthless Exorcist by Hakai Suu, Empyrean Reality and Devil X Darklight by Seiker Hikaru!