Xenovia sighed as she walked into the 'conference room' in the Central Church of the True God, located just off the main mansion-estate of Phenix house and next to the lake whereupon the Dominion Authority of the True God was preaching.
The blue-haired ex-Exorcist sighed contently as she dug into a lunch that had been prepared into her office- Between having to work on the Church as well as handle reports from the Paladins that had been appointed by Xenovia, Irina and the Dominion Authority, Xenovia had little time to such luxuries as idle lunches and instead used the time to go over some of the reports and logistics figures while eating.
"Uwoooohh…" Irina looked like a mashed potato as she slumped to a couch, utterly devoid of energy while a wisp of steam rose from her head.
Xenovia waved an energy drink in front of Irina's face before her soul could leave her body, and the girl took the drink with shaky hands and slurped it down while frowning from the bitter taste of the stuff.
"Pwah… Haa… I'm spent…" Irina whined as she wobbled to the office table, took a seat opposite to Xenovia, and dug into the lunch.
"We didn't fight in the battle itself, what tires you?" Xenovia asked while wolfing down a bacon sandwich.
"Yeah, we just coordinated the attacks by the devils against that house… house… uh… I don't actually remember who those guys were…" Irina scrunched her face up a bit.
"Maybe it's better to not think too hard on who those were, other than that they were Momon-sama's enemies, and therefore our enemies." Xenovia nodded. "Is the burden of leadership getting to you?"
"Yeah… It's really tiring… The knowledge that every time you speak to some aspiring paladin and send them off, you might be sending them to a death-trap or an ambush, and the need to make sure you know as much as you can and are able make an informed decision on sending their guys out in turn…" Irina sighed. "And every time you don't notice some small detail or lack some piece of information, someone gets killed as a result… And that's death and suffering that I could have prevented… It's really hard… Not to mention I wasn't supposed to bring Asia-chan with us to heal the wounded."
"Rias-sama told us that while Asia would have been a very good asset for the frontline healing duties, her mental fortitude would suffer greatly from exposure to the frontline battle and the consequences of it. Besides, Dominion-sama has been resurrecting the dead and those who died from their wounds if medical care didn't get to them in time, so it's not a big issue… Well, outside those whose bodies we haven't been able to recover." Xenovia looked a bit sad at the admission of losing bodies of the fallen. "It seems the enemy devil houses have taken a habit of burning our dead… Well, it's not a problem as long as the ashes can be found."
"Well, we are burning their dead… I'm guessing they're just returning the favor. And also denying resurrections…" Irina was quite sad while Xenovia was more than a bit angry over the fact their enemies chose to be Momon's enemies, and denied his followers a just revival. "Then again, I can see why they'd do this… But I suppose the devils had it coming. Er, I mean… Uh, force of habit, sorry."
"Don't worry. I slip occasionally as well." Xenovia confessed as she finished her lunch by drinking tea while stamping a few approval sheets for expansion of the central church. "I'm glad that the angels of the fake God have seen the truth as well."
"I really wouldn't have wanted to fight Michael-sama and the angels either, I'm glad it worked out in the end…" Irina sighed. "Speaking of the old faith, I've meant to ask… But, um… Have you thought of contacting the guys back in the Exorcists and asking them to join us? They're still in the Human World, I think… Diodora-kun is apparently there recruiting new people into the church but I feel as if Griselda-sama or the others would just take him as a regular rank-and-file Devil and just filet him instantly instead of letting them speak their piece…"
"Hm… Griselda-sama would be a great asset for us, but I suspect she probably won't be coming quietly…" Xenovia noted while thinking calmly and tapping her cheek with a pen as she had stashed her leftovers to the side and started to look over the stack of reports from various civil-side affairs of the Church, as the Arch-angels had mostly taken over the strategic command of the paladins with Xenovia and Irina working to solve conflict flashpoints whenever the older and more powerful angels weren't around to do it. "I'm guessing she would need to be recruited via force like how we were recruited by Momon initially. I'll have to consider it."
"Xenovia-chan…" Irina looked quite sad as she walked around the table and hugged the blue-haired girl who froze on the spot from the touch. "It's alright. Griselda-sama's guidance is important for me as well, and even though she isn't your biological mother, I know you consider her one… You're worried about her. You don't have to hide it under a mask of detached coldness, you know?"
"...H-haa, fine, you saw through me, Irina-chan…" Xenovia relaxed slightly and allowed her tone of voice to waver just slightly. "I'd love to see her again at some point, but I can't allow it to distract me… Not to mention, I doubt she would approve of what we've become, or the True God's, Momon's, ways and guidelines. And I have a feeling she'd react not like a mother, but like an Exorcist finding someone who had lost to darkness and had been corrupted… Like how we reacted to Asia."
"Uh, yeah…" Irina sweatdropped as she recalled that she and Irina had more or less wanted for Asia to repent for her 'sins' by being purified via death by exorcism when they first met her. "Now that I think of it… It doesn't really feel that good to be on the receiving end of that whole thing."
"Well, we saw the light in His service in the end… Even if at the time I felt like I had been tricked." Xenovia sighed. "Then again, that was likely just my previous sensibilities trying to tell me that the miracle of angels he showed us was a trick to get us to vow ourselves to His service, but in reality it was just Him accepting us without ulterior motives…"
"Yeah I still feel that it was really cheap, though." Irina let out an uncertain 'mmuuh' sound while holding her chin and tapping her cheek. "Haa, then again, all of that is ancient history by now… Can't believe it's been only a few months or so since that happened. Feels like ages."
"Busy times are the longest times." Xenovia nodded. "Now, let's get back to work. I sent a word to Ravel-sama and she said that Momon was currently unavailable, he's touring the front lines, so we should probably take initiative and work on some of these suggestions regarding internal matters."
"...is it the proposal for integrated buttplug-seats for the church's pews? Again?"
"I think it would be a good idea." Xenovia looked completely serious.
"Uuuh…" Irina let out an uncertain whine, and then moved right into operation 'try to sanity-check Xenovia's ideas, again.' '...Then again, from what I heard from Rias-sama, that would probably be something Momon would like to see… Or Issei would have liked to see… Haa, I still feel somehow cheated that Issei-kun was actually Momon-sama… Or vice versa… Feels somehow like that's cheating… And even though I know Momon-sama is really busy all the time, it'd be nice if he stopped by and just said hi or something… Aren't gods supposed to be omnipresent anyway? Then again, it's kinda hard to tell what was church propaganda and what was actual reality…'
Irina sighed and tried to reason with Xenovia, with predictable results.
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"Ghyaah!"
"W-what is going on?!"
"Raynare! Mittelt! Are you alright?" Kalawarna called for the two other Gray Angels as the group recoiled after getting stunned and utterly blinded by a sudden smoke cloud that seemed to somehow resist attempts to wave it off.
Raynare emerged from the smoke, clutching Mittelt for dear life while the trash bag carrying Diodora's bodily remains was broken open and had spread all over the ground.
"We- We made it to the Underworld?! Right?!" Raynare looked quite panicked as she double-checked their location and the nearby landmarks, noting that they were in the inner courtyard of the Central Church of the True God, as Diodora had been granted access to it's wards and by carrying his remains, the group had managed to enter the place as well without needing to use the front gate.
Everything was seeming as it was supposed to be… only that the trio of Gray Angels were utterly terrified as something had exploded and let out a gout of smoke just as they were about to teleport out of the Human World after the disaster that had been a mission that they had been dragged along, with only Diodora knowing the full aim of the assignment.
"It's alright, as long as we get Diodora resurrected, we won't be punished… Right?" Raynare scooped as much of the gore from the lavishly decorated stone tiles as she could and pushed it back to the garbage bag. "Right! Let's go!"
"A-alright… But what was that just now… Normally teleportation doesn't explode and I swear I saw something with us just now…." Mittelt looked quite cowed and she looked around the on-the-surface tranquil yet accursed courtyard of the 'church' while clutching tightly to Raynare's outfit-straps, scanning the pillars and flower-bushes for signs of attackers of humanoid or equine varieties. "D-did something go wrong? I swear I saw movement! Did that nun from earlier do something?"
"Who cares about that! Let's go find one of the strange angels and get this over with- Fast!" Raynare grabbed the bag and with Kalawarna's help, the trio set off in a half-panic half-determined sprint. "I'll not have us punished by Xenovia, her blonde sidekick, or that bitch Rias again!"
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'Hm…' Griselda Quarta thought about her situation as she crouched behind a flower bush, having distracted the 'fake' Angels with a flashbang and a smoke grenade and used the confusion to slip out of sight once again when the teleportation was done. '...Curious. The sky looks like the stories of the Underworld, yet this architecture… Strange. However, more importantly, that fake angel, Raynare, mentioned something about Xenovia…'
The thought that her surrogate daughter was in the Underworld sent a cold shiver of fear and concern down Griselda's spine but she suppressed the worry with effort. 'Now then… Let's see if I can find someone who's weak enough that I can grab and interrogate them, perhaps find a map while I'm at it…'
The nun set off, and before long she hid herself behind a pillar once again as she heard something like speech ahead and advanced carefully as the source of the voice didn't come closer.
'...I see. Figures.' Griselda suppressed her anger as she saw a sight of what looked like a devil male having sex with a female angel with gray wings in hallway, against the wall in clear view. '...Or is she one of the fake angels? Either way… That outfit…'
The angel-looking woman was clad in what could be only described a 'lewd nun outfit', complete with the dress being cut so short it was basically a miniskirt.
Another girl who wore a similar lewd nun outfit seemed to walk by, spot the couple making out, and shared a few words before the couple making out turned to a trio making out.
The sight of it was making Griselda more worried than ever for Xenovia's fate, but she had gleaned something useful from the encounter she witnessed- Namely, that with some small alterations, she had already obtained a disguise.
And so she cut off most of the skirt of her nun dress without further ado. 'There's a place for adherence to tradition, and then there's a place for improvisation… I'll just have to avoid conversations or getting too close to anyone, outside grabbing someone and interrogating them anyway…'
The short skirt felt breezy and Griselda had to consciously stop herself from trying to pull the dress down more as the fact her thighs were visible to the outside observers was making her more than a bit self-conscious but after the initial shock passed, which for her took only a couple of seconds, she adopted a headstrong and resolved gait as she kept walking forwards, taking another route than the one where the devils were making out.
'It's no different to the outfit of an Exorcist, after all, just more skin and less cut-and-magic resistant latex and rubber…' Griselda thought as she walked past a wannabe-nun with what looked like stick-on cat-ears, and the fake-nun sent Griselda a slightly curious look.
As soon as the cat-nun had turned her eyes away from the actual nun and dismissed the curiosity, Griselda struck and whacked the fake nun in the side of her neck with the side of her palm, which when augmented by years of training Exorcists, and the off-guard nature of the fake nun, caused the impostor to crumble to the floor, unconscious. 'Now I'll just need to drag her to the side, tie her up with seals so she won't kill me instantly when she wakes up, and then interrogate her… Haa, holy water stopped working some time ago so that's out of the equation, I suppose I'll have to resort to more unsightly ways…'
Griselda dragged the unconscious fake to an alcove off to the side, and froze up as she heard someone talking nearby and heard footsteps approaching her hidey-hole, and promptly re-evaluated her cover. 'I see… in other words-!'
She propped the unconscious nun up against the wall of the alcove, fully aware that she couldn't just make a run for it as a devil would be faster than her in sprint and she couldn't sneak out of the alcove without anyone noticing, and Griselda promptly put her temple against the unconscious fake nun's while moving both her and the unconscious nun's arms around so that it looked as if the two of them were hugging passionately. 'I hope this is enough of a cover-up…'
The talking sounds approached… And stopped behind Griselda. 'Well, it was worth a shot.'
"A-" A voice came from behind the real nun and Griselda turned around with single, swift motion that threw the fake nun at the interloper while she pulled out a pair of daggers that she aimed at the throat of-
Xenovia and Irina were staring wide-eyed at Griselda with their mouths open for the quarter of a second that it took for the unconscious cat-nun projectile to fly off and knock the pair back and off their feet.
Griselda stumbled a bit as her swing that would have cut Xenovia's throat open missed due to her instinctively yanking the blade back upon seeing her ward.
"Wh- whahwa! Wa!" Irina blurted out something in panic as she and Xenovia jumped right up while causing the cat-nun to flop off like a sack of potatoes, and the duo drew their weapons in turn. "G-G-Griselda-samaa?!"
Griselda paused as Irina and Xenovia both wielded holy blades, assuring her slightly that the two of them hadn't been turned to devils… But on the other hand, with holy items being the way they are, she didn't take the sight as a definitive answer on the issue. "Xenovia. Irina. I'm glad to see you two are safe."
"L-likewise, but, uh…" Xenovia looked to be struggling to come up with words, holding Excalibur Destruction in loose grip while clad in her exorcist garb that had been altered somewhat- Towards the 'armored lewd' style, which definitely didn't help Griselda's worry over the current nature of her wards.
"I hadn't heard of you two, and heard rumors that you were in the Underworld. So I decided to visit." Griselda dismissed her own state as the duo in front of her had clearly a lot of questions, and she put her daggers into her sleeves to make it appear that she was not holding weapons- Xenovia and Irina would know that it was little more than empty gesture considering how easily the weapons could come out, and Griselda used it as a test to see if the duo in front of her were the pair of girls their appearance suggested to be. "You seem surprised to see me."
"I, we, ah… It, um, might be best if we talked in the office? We were on our way to talk with some people but I can send a message that we'll be delayed…" Xenovia looked to have trouble processing the situation and looked around before putting the tip of her blade down and holding it to the side while Irina slapped the flat of her katana-like blade against her upper arm, causing the blade to turn long and cord-like as it tied itself around the girl's upper arm and formed a cute accessory.
'Hm…' Griselda noted that neither of the girls had let their guard down and both had their weapons easily accessible. 'Promising, but the whole premise is worrying. I intended to find out more about this place before confronting anyone, just in case I'd get conflicting statements from interrogation, but this is quite optimal as well…'
Griselda kept her guard up and suppressed her relieved, motherly worry over the duo's state as she followed them while keeping her weapons close at hand…
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Momonga let a content sigh as he walked into Phenix castle-manor, or more specifically into the entrance of his quarters through a [Gate], after his sort-of date with Rossweisse that had been part going out, part having a lunch, and part skull-digging during which Momonga vented his frustration and stress onto Rossweisse, and Rossweisse vented her frustration, fear and worry for herself and her people to Momonga, more or less resulting in both bonding tighter over exposed mental trauma and stress.
"Uh…" Ddraig was clearly weirded out and was doing something with a clipboard inside Momonga's head, but Momonga ignored the big lizard's antics as he was in too good a mood to bother humoring it.
"Haa… I feel like taking a bath." Momonga rolled his shoulders a bit, feeling like a businessman who had come home from a long trip- And the sort-of date with Rossweisse while she had called him Suzuki Satoru the whole time had definitely put him into the mindset, specifically as the date hadn't involved big red dragons or little-girl looking infinite-health having monsters this time around.
"Haa, that sounds lovely…" Rossweisse sighed, sounding quite tired but happy as well… Before she blushed a bit and stammered something while looking away.
"Hm? What was that?" Momonga turned to give Rossweisse a worried glance as her grip on his hand had gone up a notch in strength.
"I, um… I- It's nothing, I was just, uh…" Rossweisse was blushing quite madly, making Momonga blink over the sudden change in her mood. So he took both of her hands into his and stepped in front of her.
"Tell me. I want to help you." Suzuki Satoru told the business-suit wearing white-haired woman who seemed to freeze up a bit while a blush started to run up her face.
"I- I was just wondering, um, w-would you like it if we took a bath t-together?" Rossweisse looked quite embarrassed. "Hehe, that feels so inappropriate and lewd when I put it like that, um, I mean… It's economically better since it conserves heat and water, so I figured it'd help with bills and…"
"I'd like that." Suzuki Satoru lifted Rossweisse's hands up a bit as if sealing a deal before leading now furiously-blushing Rossweisse towards the excessively sized bathroom. '...Sheesh, I keep feeling awkward every time I see my quarters, being reminded of Neo-Japan really brought old memories to the forefront… I'm glad things turned out the way they did, though… Well, the lewd cult notwithstanding, even though it has its uses…'
'Hm, come to think of it, I should probably check up on Xenovia and Irina at some point, they were out in the field this morning so I didn't see them when I checked up on my 'peerage'.' Momonga noted internally while Suzuki Satoru was blushing a bit as he was starting to remove his clothes, only for Rossweisse to interrupt him and shakily undress him while he undressed her in turn in the bathroom. 'It would not be good if, say, Xenovia gets some sort of bright idea once again and I nearly die from embarrassment as a result of her putting some lewd idea into motion in my name…'
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Griselda narrowed her eyes at Xenovia and Irina who looked quite shell-shocked as they stared in unison at their old mentor in what had been revealed to be Xenovia's office, even if the office had been bearing a golden nameplate with a… suspicious… title that felt more than a bit heretical to Griselda.
The trio had sat down so that Irina and Xenovia were on the other side of the table and Griselda was on the other, albeit where Xenovia and Irina had sat down and dragged the seats forward so they were seated properly, Griselda had instead pushed her seat a bit back so that she wouldn't hit the edge of the table and fall over if she needed to dodge or jump away in a hurry. '...I suspect Xenovia and Irina wouldn't attempt to strike me down if they were thinking straight, but considering this… place… I wouldn't bet on them being able to think straight…'
"So, um, ahem, I… M-mom, what are you doing here?" Xenovia started with a few awkward coughs followed by almost meek questions while Irina had grape-sized beads of sweat running down her temple, the rate of which only increased as Griselda narrowed her eyes a bit.
"I was wondering what my wards were doing, after all they had not reported back from their mission to reclaim the holy swords, so I figured I'd stop by to see what was going on out of concern." Griselda noted a bit dryly, causing Xenovia to blush slightly from embarrassment. "Beside that, I'd like it if you called occasionally, Xenovia. Same applies to you too, Irina. Women like me tend to worry when young girls head off to the unknown with bright eyes and blazing hearts, believing that only they possess the cure for all evils in the world."
"Sorry, um, well, we got the swords…" Xenovia reached for air and grabbed something, followed by a small rift opening in the air which allowed a small pile of weapons to fall to the desk. "And, uh…"
"...I see you've found alternate uses for Durandal's sealed dimension. I hope you're not using it to store snacks or anything like that." Griselda hid her surprise over the nonchalant way of presenting the pile of holy weapons of immense power to the table as if it was no big deal, and instead noted that Xenovia looked a bit awkward when by all accounts accomplishing such a task would have better benefited an expression of pride and joy.
"Well, not exactly snacks, but, uh, well…" Xenovia's squirming continued.
"Well? Out with it, young lady."
"...W-well, I might have used Durandal's seal to store a few butt-plugs, lubricant, tantric potions, aphrodi-" Xenovia stammered guiltily and stopped as a dreadful presence filled the room.
"My, my, it looks like my Xenovia has grown into a woman in my absence… And has been corrupted thoroughly by sin." Griselda's expression was carefully neutral but she had a vein throbbing on her forehead while shadows seemed to extend around her.
However, Xenovia's expression changed in a worrying fashion- Instead of submitting or showing an expression of shame, Xenovia's expression became one of stubborn determination and she leaned forwards on the table. "Incorrect! Such actions are not sins, but worship in the service of the True God!"
'...I should have expected this.' Griselda let her strict aura wane and she sighed internally. '...That devil and those fake angels spoke of such things as well… In other words…'
"Is that so…" Griselda turned to look at Irina, who paled to the complexity of a sheet of paper and started to slowly, shakily inch her fingers towards her upper arm- Or rather, towards the paracord around her arm that was the transformed shape of Excalibur Mimic while Xenovia was busy staring intensely at Griselda. "Irina, do you believe such things as well?"
"Wait, wait, I think there's been a miscommunication here somewhere! Let's just, um, all calm down and speak about things before things escalate!" Irina waved her hands up in the air in panic and grabbed Xenovia's waist to pull her back to the seat as she had stood up to lean forwards and was clearly preparing for an argument.
"Hm. I've heard of this supposed 'True God', as if a god needed to proclaim their legitimacy in such a manner." Griselda hid her hands into her sleeves, which camouflaged her grabbing her daggers- A motion that seemingly was missed by Xenovia in her 'righteous' fervor but caused Irina to freeze utterly still while looking more than a bit terrified. "You two were taken against your will by that evil creature, then?"
"Rich, mom, considering how we found you here… Wait, you aren't a convert? B-but, wait, how exactly did you get here?" Xenovia seemed to double-take something. "Anyway- yes, we were recruited against our will at the start, but once we realized what was going on we both embraced it as the Truth! Momon-sama is God! The God! True God! Even Michael-sama and Gabriel-sama have recognized it to be so! Anyway, Momon is the True God, and we as his devout followers follow His teachings, in which lewd acts are of centermost importance!"
'...That the Arch-Angels would have forsaken God in favor of some perverted wannabe-devil deity? Blasphemy. This corruption has sunk so deep they can't even see how deep they've fallen. Between that devil, those fake angels, and what I've seen… I'm certain that Xenovia and Irina are no longer anything but corrupted souls. I'm sorry, Xenovia, Irina… I wasn't able to protect you… But at least I'll be able to set you free.' Griselda resisted the urge to cry in despair, and managed to only look slightly disappointed as she sighed. "I see. In that case… I have seen enough. I congratulate you for succeeding in your mission… And apologize for not being able to save you in time."
"I-" Xenovia opened her mouth, but her words were cut mid-sentence as Griselda's daggers found their way into the girl's throat as she had been leaning forwards without care, clearly more concerned with arguing than defending herself- A large part of why Griselda struck so fast, as the opening Xenovia had provided had been too big to ignore.
"Grise- Ngh!" Irina was too late to stop Griselda's blows from landing on Xenovia, but fast enough in her draw of Excalibur Mimic to stop the daggers from hitting herself as Griselda withdrew them from Xenovia's throat and swung them at Irina. However, as soon as Irina blocked the swing, Griselda reached into her attire to draw a sawed-off shotgun, which she blasted towards Irina's midsection.
The girl materialized a pair of black wings and jumped with the aid of the appendages, causing the shot to barely miss and only graze her, confirming Griselda's earlier realization.
'So, since I know Xenovia would have exorcised Irina as soon as she was turned to a devil, I can only conclude both had been turned to devils…' Griselda aimed the second barrel at Irina as she crashed to a nearby bookshelf, seemingly overshooting her flight due to what looked like inexperience with flying with bat-like wings, and the shot landed squarely on Irina's back.
"Ghaaaai!" Irina bent backwards and flopped on the floor while reaching to hold her back and rolling on the floor. "Ow! Ow! Owie! G-Griselda-sama! Please stop! We can explain!"
'...Hm, as expected, regular issue ammunition is not too effective against devils, even if they are not invulnerable to it…' Griselda sighed internally at the fact holy weapons had lost the majority of their potency, as those weapons would have been quite effective at taking down devils under normal circumstances. She glanced at the pile of bladed holy weapons on the table and sighed again 'Not to mention, I can't actually use holy swords…'
"I am sorry. This will hurt, but I shall perform the rites needed to set your souls free. I am also sorry for allowing you two to take that accursed mission- I should have seen that you were not ready." Griselda had reloaded her shotgun during the brief moment and pointed it at Irina who had rolled to her hands and knees, and was reaching for Excalibur Mimic with shaky fingers.
"Grhlw!- M-gh-mooom-gh!" Xenovia let an awful-sounding gurgle from behind the table where she had fallen, and Griselda felt her heart bleed in pain from the suffering she was forced to inflict on her wards without tools to properly exorcise them with clean, painless hits.
Griselda aimed her shotgun at Irina's head.
Irina looked up at her, blood pooling on her lips as she said something that Griselda didn't hear as the first barrel spat fire, causing Irina to be blasted back and crash against the bookshelf again, bloody marks all over her face and both eyes popped.
Griselda's eyes hardened as did her heart, knowing that she was doing the right thing even if she felt like a monster… and realized that something had hit her in the back as she had hesitated to empty the second barrel near point-blank at Irina's temple.
Griselda looked down, and saw that there was a bloody hand coming out from between her breasts, and which had reached to pull her shotgun-hand down.
"My, my, we meet again, Griselda-sama. Fate is occasionally such a romantic, no?" A voice came from behind Griselda, and she turned her head on instinct while her body started to feel cold. "You were so cold when we last departed, but I see that you've come around… My, I normally go for the young and innocent, but you've definitely piqued my interest, Griselda-sama. I believe the term was 'tsundere', if memory serves? Regardless, I definitely preferred the elegance of your daggers than this loud and brutish gun, so let's get rid of it."
Griselda's eyes widened in shock.
Diodora was standing behind Griselda, somehow alive, and having stabbed one of his hands right through Griselda's back and out of her chest, while having reached around her to caress her cheek with the other hand, after having pulled the shotgun off her limp hand and thrown it away.
Griselda realized that she was done for and tried to pull the chain connecting to the pins of a belt of grenades she had tucked away in the skirt of her nun-dress… Only to realize halfway into the motion that she had been forced to discard the explosives when she had made her current mini-skirt 'attire'.
Diodora used the moment to lean forward and claim Griselda's lips into a hungry kiss as her life slipped away, clearly savoring the exorcist's last breath as if her suffering was wine.
…And Griselda used the chance to bite into a cyanide pill she had sunk into her back teeth, just in case she had been captured by the devils, and spit the contents into Diodora's mouth as he tried to slip his tongue into her mouth.
And so, Griselda died, feeling the crushing weight of her failure to save Xenovia and Irina on her shoulders, but with a vindictive feeling that she had at least gotten rid of one devil that had somehow escaped her wrath….
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There was an inflating feeling, as if something had been turned to a wrinkled plastic bag and then pumped full.
Griselda gasped for air as her whole body spasmed.
"...of course, as part of the mission." A voice came from somewhere and Griselda sat up instantly… Or at least tried to do so, as she realized that she had been tied to a rack of some sort.
And then she realized that she was naked.
And after that, she realized that she was not alone.
"Ah, you've woken up, mom." Xenovia spoke to Griselda, and Griselda felt somewhat strange as she saw her wayward 'daughter' in seeming perfect health.
On instinctive level she was glad to see that Xenovia was alright, but on intellectual level she had a bad feeling on two accounts- One, if both Griselda and Xenovia had died and had gone to heaven, she was fairly sure that Xenovia being in lewd-looking leotard exorcist-outfit and Griselda being in a strange rack that put her limbs into spread eagle wouldn't indicate anything good. And the second bad feeling was if in fact neither of the two had died, and Griselda had somehow been healed from the brink of death, then it meant that now she'd face whatever foul torture the devils could come up with to break the faithful.
"Mmgh." Griselda tried to say something but realized that she had been gagged, which she realized was there likely to prevent her from biting her own tongue off and killing herself that way. However, that didn't explain why she was naked… Until she recalled what she had seen in the hallways of the place she had found herself in, and what the fake angels had told her.
And so Griselda's struggling against the straps intensified, as did her internal horror. 'Xenovia, she wouldn't… Haa, who am I fooling, if Xenovia was turned into a devil and brainwashed into that foul smut religion those fake angels talked about, of course Xenovia would do that…'
Xenovia was tapping foul black liquid into her throat with a brush from a bottle that looked outright sinister and she was seemingly otherwise fine. Irina, meanwhile, was cradling her head with an ice-pack and had a similar bottle near her as well as the duo sat on comfortable-looking wooden chairs that had been placed on the grassy ground near a lakeside.
"My, you've regained consciousness, Griselda-sama. I am glad." A sly voice caused Griselda to shudder to her very core as she looked to the side to see Diodora standing beside her, looking no worse for wear despite her last-ditch poisoning effort. And behind him were the trio of fake angels, each looking somewhat nervous but with relaxed, almost submissive stances.
Moreover…
"Indeed, and as the Lord said- 'For a boon, a life', and eternal servitude is thy burden and joy, for the Lord guarantees thy life in now and forevermore, lest destruction and sin claim you whole." A booming voice came from somewhere behind Griselda as she lay on the rack, and she looked up as much as her binds allowed her…
And she saw an Angel.
A War-Angel, clad in armor and carrying a mace of judgment, with a halo of fire surrounding its head and bright, pure wings coming off its back. Terrible and pure, floating off the surface of a lake and looking at Griselda without eyes.
'...Ah.' Griselda's mind clicked empty as she was struggling to realize the situation at hand. '...A-am I the heretic?'
"Mom. Under normal circumstances a sinner who attempted to murder a paladin of the order for heretical reasons would be punished by being sentenced to be a 'town cumdump' until death, but Lord has chosen to alter this punishment." Xenovia spoke and Griselda's head snapped to the direction, and noted numbly that Xenovia's expression was… strange. It was as if she had realized that she had been rewarded somehow, while also struggling to get words out of her mouth as each word seemed to take a considerable effort from the girl- And Griselda had a feeling it wasn't just because of Xenovia's now-healed throat-wound.
"The Lord spoke to me some time ago. And thus Momon said 'This punishment is too harsh'. Instead He has chosen a path of forgiveness."
'...Ah?' Griselda's mind was empty and her body numb.
"…Mother, for your sins you are punished by prison, thus I degree as Mother of the Coming Age and the Herald of Momon, the True God." Xenovia decreed. "You've forced my hand, mom. But once you've repent for your sins, please come see me, mom. I wish for us to mend our relationship, and meet our lord together. Please."
"U-um, uh… S-sorry, Griselda-sama…" Irina looked away while she had a strange expression as well.
"Diodora-san. Kalawarna-san. Mittelt-san. Raynare-san. You've done well. Take her away. Keep in mind the limits of prison punishment, and all that it entails." Xenovia looked away as well, and Griselda realized why Diodora had been present.
Griselda was so numb she barely registered as the group of gray-winged Angels pushed the rack away from the spot by the lakeside, and after Diodora who was chuckling ominously.
.
.
"That… that was…" Irina let a small whimper as she looked at the path out of the lakeside 'resurrection zone' near the Church of the True God. "W-well… It went somewhat like I expected, if I'm honest…"
"...I didn't think mom would react that badly… But then again, we spoke of this…" Xenovia closed the bottle that Momon had given his 'peerage' prior to the short-lived assault on Beelzebub's ad-hoc fortress. "Thank you for administering first aid to me, Irina."
"You're welcome… I'm just glad Griselda-sama used regular ammunition." Irina finished dabbing her forehead with her healing potion-brush and closed her bottle as well. "This stuff works great but it looks really gross… I never asked what it was exactly, but somehow I don't want to find out either…"
"Ravel-san? Uh, sorry if I'm bothering, but… yeah, about that…" Xenovia had pulled out a phone and was calling Ravel while Irina was still coming to terms with what had just happened. "Irina-chan. Momon has returned to the castle. Let's go."
"Um, weren't we supposed to go and look over the paperwork?" Irina asked and Xenovia shook her head.
"I want to go and thank Momon-sama. He altered the punishment for sins, after all… I thought that it was just forgiveness and kindness, but Momon-sama must have foreseen that mom would be, well, like she'd be and would land herself in hot water, knowing that I couldn't sentence her to the old punishment…" Xenovia sighed while having a conflicted expression. "...Irina, am I a bad person?"
"W-whu- where's this coming from?" Irina double-took Xenovia's pose. "What?"
"When I was penciling in the punishment for sinners and heretics I wrote all sorts of things to punish them, but now that my mother, well, mother-figure would be subjected to the punishment… I suddenly regretted it all, wanting there to be an exception, a way for me to ignore the rules to save mom from that fate. But if I made an exception for someone close to me, I'd be a sinner as well." Xenovia looked a bit fragile for a moment and Irina hugged her out of instinct to support her.
"I… I don't think that would have been good, but such things were Momon's orders, right?" Irina noted and Xenovia looked conflicted. "After all, when things were about to go too far, Momon-san came to you and set things straight, right? That's why Griselda-sama was just sent to prison, er, well, 'prison', but at least she isn't put up to be that town-thing. I honestly feel conflicted even over the whole prison thing and how you wrote it, but it should be alright since Momon-sama hasn't done anything about it… Right?"
"I… guess so… After all, Momon-sama would have done something if I misinterpreted his intentions… Yeah. You're right, Irina-chan." Xenovia hugged Irina back, now looking a bit relieved. "Right, we should go and thank Momon-sama for his guidance."
"I… suppose so." Irina looked a bit worried about it, but sighed and steeled herself.
"What's wrong?" Xenovia noticed the reaction and pulled herself a bit off Irina so that the two could look into each other's eyes.
"It's just that, it feels weird to call Momon-sama god, when he looks like Issei… I still remember playing tag and 'flip the hot girl's skirt'-game with Issei when we were young, and now… It's strange!" Irina waved her hands. "I'm glad that Momon-sama bailed Griselda-sama out, if he foresaw it knowing that she'd strike at us and would need to be 'faith-checked' like how he fireball-checked us when he recruited us, but it's still strange!"
"Haa… I see now. I've been unfair. After all, I didn't know who Momon-sama was before he called himself Momon-sama, but you shouldn't think that way. After all, Rias-sama has said that the two are actually one but Momon just woke up to his real personality during a Rating Game some time ago, so you shouldn't feel bad!" Xenovia pat Irina's shoulders reassuringly. "Were you really hung up on that for so long?"
"Well, no, not really… But it's more that I feel awkward with all this sex everywhere…" Irina blushed and confessed the real reason for her hesitancy. "Moreover, the, er, first time we were with Momon-sama wasn't really romantic…"
"Ah." Xenovia patted her palm in realization. "You want Momon-sama to spend time with you and spoil you, right?"
Irina blushed to her eyebrows, cluing Xenovia that she had hit the bullseye.
"In that case- I shall suggest that you and Momon-sama go on a date! After all, we are Mothers of the Coming Age so I'm certain there's time for a date somewhere! Although I'm not sure how that's going to work with the civil war and all, I'm certain Momon-sama will listen if you just ask him!" Xenovia pat Irina's shoulders rapidly to reassure her. "Let's go ask him now!"
"N-Now?!" Irina squealed in sudden nervousness and looked from side to side, causing her twin-tails to swirl around. "I-is that a good idea?!"
"I shall send a Message to the Lord-" A booming voice entered the conversation, causing Irina's soul to almost jump out of her body as the two of the ex-exorcists had forgotten the Dominion Authority that had slowly glided over the lake to the two of them.
"N-No! It's alright! I'll go ask Momon-sama out myself!" Irina stammed and set off in a sprint, leaving Xenovia to stare a bit before she moved to chase after her as well…
…While hiding the feeling that she was deliberately distracting herself with something in order to not think of Griselda's punishment.