Life. 3: Fallen Angel of the Stars, Kokabiel
From the abandoned church, came a humming sound — more beautiful than the softest of singers. Her gentle humming engulfed the empty church in a good vibe as she brushed the stairs with a broom.
Asia looked over the chapel and smiled. Due to the Vice-Principal's helpful hand, the abandoned church didn't look exactly like the scene of a cheap horror movie. It was now beautiful. It struck her with nostalgia during her times during the Vatican.
While its structure couldn't match to the likes of the churches ubicated in the Vatican City — it was still part of her life and proof of their hard work.
A shame no one stopped by, despite the time and effort she and the Vice-Principal had to spend to make the place feel homely.
Issei rarely visited her, but whenever he did, he would scan their surroundings as if to make sure he wasn't pursued. Whenever she asked him about it, the brunet would play it off with a laugh and take her somewhere else to squander time — whether to the arcade machines or eat hamburgers with fries.
It only made her worried about him. Maybe his parents didn't want him to spend time with her? She wouldn't be too surprised if that was the case, some people were afraid of her because of her Sacred Gear; they were ignorant of the Supernatural World.
Her emerald eyes lightened up when the huge doors were pushed open.
She couldn't tone down the coy smile playing on her lips.
"A visitor!" Asia dropped the broom and rushed to greet the new figure, it wasn't the Vice-Principal nor Issei, it was a new face. She bowed in respect, "W-welcome! Welcome! Please come in!"
"Ah, good day to you!" the black-haired man said, his lips sporting a hyena-like grin, "You must be the Italian nun this town speaks about! They were right — you're a cutie indeed!"
She could feel the heat growing in her cheeks, "U-umm…"
The man laughed heartily and looked down on her once more, his red eyes towering her green ones, "I apologize for the inconvenience, but is the church still open? I need to confess something. Are you the only one working here?"
"Yes…" she looked away from his fiery eyes to her own shoes, playing with the hem of her dress, "… I'm still a bit inexperienced handling the confessional room, but I-I'll do my best!"
"Wonderful! I admire people who would challenge their flaws just for self-improvement!"
Before Asia could reply, her eyes accidentally caught the sight of a loose, black feather falling from his clothes to the floor.
"Before confessing my sin, am I worthy to know your name, priestess?"
"Y-yes!" the blonde broke from her stupor and gave a bow, "A-Asia Argento."
"My Lord, is the Church ready?" Asia saw a second man coming from the doors. He was a bespectacled elderly man with gray hair and priests clothes. He looked surprised to see her, "Oh my… the Holy Saint."
"Bishop Valper?" Asia shuffled nervously, throat dry, "W-what are you doing here?"
"I should introduce myself as well," her heart missed a beat when the man sprouted five pairs of black wings from his back and flapped them in sync, extinguishing the flickering candles in the chapel.
"I am Kokabiel — the Star of God," the Cadre greeted, "And my sin is to continue the Great War."
.
.
"So, it's true," Tobio said, placing the dark-brown drink in front of Danhauser in a cup — complete with a little glass coaster, "You really are part of the Old Satan Faction."
"Well yes, but actually no," Danhauser quipped, leaning against the wood stained bar-top before taking his coffee and blowing off the steam, "The Great King approached me with the request of becoming a double agent. I had no choice but accept it."
"Bael, boss? Don't you remember what they did four years ago?" Tobio was taken back when Danhauser nodded slightly, "You do? Well, alright, if you're so sure, then I trust you... Just don't drag me off into hell twice a day like before. But then again, you still will, so what the hell."
"Still… you being part of a terrorist group that could depose you once your usefulness has ceased could become dangerous," Valerie said after a moment, "… Let's hope it doesn't come back to haunt us."
"They won't kill me," Danhauser rubbed her back with comfort, "So, don't jinx me there, Little Missus."
Siegfried folded his arms, "The choice was yours to make and I'll respect that. Just watch yourself, master."
Lavinia squinted her eyes skeptically at Danhauser, "I can't be the only one who doesn't agree with this?"
"I don't," Roygun said after savoring her alcohol, "not even his family, but again… government."
Danhauser rubbed his eyes, "That's… basically the gist of my situation."
"On another note, you did a great job of capturing him," Jeanne lauded with a cold smile, "… I just wish one day I'll have the honors to talk with him. Privately."
Everyone felt the shiver crawling through their core.
"Yeah, you did a great job capturing Diodora, Bosshauser. But giving the Bael the credit was weak," Bova released a subtle snort afterward, "This 'man' of theirs, he hides. He was smart to hire you, but a real king takes actions with his own hands."
"If I were to get recognition, Shalba would find out and I'll get in a huge mess," Danhauser countered before taking a quick sip of his coffee, "Moving on. Since you guys are going to stay here in Kuoh, I'll need to process your permissions."
"We literally traveled from an airplane," Siegfried pointed out, "We do have passports, master."
"I know, I know," Danhauser sighed and summoned two passports, "But the one you have is for the Human World. You need another one for the Supernatural World or — rather — to not get in trouble with the Kyoto Youkai Faction."
Nurarihyon told him it was mostly because of the events that had transpired four years ago. From the Utsusemi Agency wreaking havoc in the streets Japan to Satanael and his Stray Magicians making their debut. The Youkai Faction had to make sure they were negotiating with legal visitors and not terrorists.
Bova huffed, "Man, politics are crap."
"Yeah," Jeanne nodded, finishing her juice, "Most of the time, they're the worst... but they're important for civilization to survive."
"Bah! You could learn one or two things from my race. All it takes is a headbutt to solve ninety percent of things."
"Unless your nationality is Japanese like Sae and I then don't sweat it," Tobio fished out his passport — it had the Grigori sigil on it, "Governor-General still made one for me — better safe than sorry."
"To get those, I need to book a meeting with the Youkai Faction or my brother could lend me a hand…" Danhauser muttered to himself and leaned on the bar, "Tobio, think I can use your bar for a meet up?"
Danhauser caught Tobio by surprise, his mug-cleaning hand going steady as an eyebrow arched upwards, questionably.
"I need a word with the High Priest of the Moon — Nurarihyon," rapping his fingers along the bartop, Danhauser trailed off, "Important matters and the Kyoto trip for the second-year students."
"Alright," Slash Dog didn't have to think it over very long, setting his glass and rag down to, instead, point upwards, "You can use the second floor to suit your needs. Just drop a date and I'll keep the room reserved for you."
Danhauser smiled, "That's great. Thank you."
Right on cue, a phone echoed throughout the bar.
"It's mine," Tobio shook his phone and unlocked what was supposed to be the wine cellar room, seeking for privacy and space, "I'll be back in a sec."
Valerie took the opportunity to snare her king's attention by tugging softly on his sleeve, "Hey… is Gasper alright? Nothing bad happened to him while I was absent, right?"
"He's doing great," of course, he couldn't tell her he'd failed to visit him back then, mostly because of prior occurrences, "He doesn't know you're here, either."
"Ehehehe… that is good news. It wouldn't be a nuisance if we could pay him a visit sometime?"
"Of course not, he'll cry rivers once he sees you," Danhauser cleared his throat, "Quick question, how's your control with Sephiroth Graal?"
Valerie's eyebrow went up, "… Why ask?"
…
"… I suppose you guys deserve to know," Danhauser commented after finishing his coffee in one, last gulp, "Shalba Beelzebub is lovey-dovey with a hybrid girl who's a descendant of the original Satans — Ingvild Leviathan."
Lavinia gasped behind a hand, "Va…"
"One Maou hybrid was already unbelievable," Siegfried whispered, eyes wide, "But two of them…?"
Bova stared, unimpressed, "… We're slowly turning into a traveling freak show."
"This is getting out of hand!" Jeanne bit back a groan, "now, there are two of them!"
Jin howled in agreement.
"This generation is abnormal," Roygun whispered under her breath, twirling strands of her pink hair, "… You brats are really scary."
"Actually, she's not from my generation — she's way older," Danhauser drawled, "Like, really old. She's in a comatose state for perhaps a hundred years and counting."
Roygun winced, "That's terrible."
"That's why you wanted to know my progress," Valerie already caught on, "My progress over the Sephiroth Graal. To see if it's possible to cure this girl's disease."
"Not only Ingvild," Danhauser rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "… I also want to see if it would work out with Sairaorg's mother."
Valerie's eyes went down to her palms. It wasn't an issue, she believed she could handle the task without suffering any consequence. But still, there was an issue that made the Dhampir bite her lip in hesitation.
Four years had passed and she still despised her Longinus.
Whenever she invoked the Holy Chalice in her hands, the grim memories of her family breaking her clouded her view — as if she was experiencing the event once again. It didn't help that she was in Romania once again — making the experience tenfold worse.
If she had the chance, she would expulse Sephiroth Graal from her body. No hesitation. No second thoughts. Just away.
How ironic. The woman who'd commented adaptability was the key of survival, couldn't get used to the holy chalice residing within her.
Yet, if it wasn't for this damned chalice, she wouldn't be able to leave her cell with the assistance of Malacoda Malebranche.
She wouldn't meet him.
"Of course, only if you're capable of doing it," Danhauser squeezed her shoulders, "If using the Sephiroth Graal still comes with an aftereffect… then don't. I don't want you to get hurt."
Of course. He had to say it with that tone of voice. Now it became quite difficult to refuse.
She placed a hand over her chest, confused. There was it once again — the fluttering feeling. Weird and warm. Her body reacted this way whenever her king soothed her. It wasn't a frightening sensation — on the contrary, it felt quite pleasant. Yet, she still failed to understand its purpose.
Why did only Danhauser make her feel this way?
She had to know, and Danhauser was the only one who would respond to her queries.
[He who does not fear the Longinus he possesses is not worthy of possessing a Longinus,] a drowsy whisper came from her mind — her Sacred Gear, [Yet, your dread is what opposes you from evolving. So disappointing.]
Valerie felt a knot tighten in her throat, "L-leave me alone."
[You waste your time, Jailer. You know you will yield. Some temptations can be resisted because they can be avoided, but some ... some are as inevitable as the air we breathe.]
"Make it quick. What do you want?"
[A reminder — a reminder of our agreement,] it said to her. [The meeting has finished, allies shoved aside. The date with your king must start, a pact you must abide.]
Its malevolent presence vanished soon after and Valerie felt the power to breathe easily once again.
"Valerie?" Her gaze darted back to the gray-haired youth, concern laced in his voice, "Are you okay? You'd been glaring into nothing."
She looked over the bar, everyone was looking at her with different levels of worry.
"I-I am well," Valerie massaged her aching temple, "… Yes. I can do it. I can heal them."
"Are you sure?"
Valerie narrowed her eyes, "You concern is appreciated, but I'm not a damsel in distress… not anymore at least. I can take care of myself."
Danhauser stared at her suspiciously, "Alright," he finally relented, "We still have to talk."
The Dhampir's eyes softened at that as she nodded, "… Yes, we have a lot to talk about."
Danhauser's real phone went off. He fished out the device out of his pocket to see who dared to shoot him a call, "Excuse me a sec," he said to everyone before answering, "Ahoy-hoy?"
[Err. Hey, Danhauser. What's up…]
"Hey cousin," Danhauser was surprised she called him by his name rather than his nickname, "What's going on? Too tired with the paperwork? I can go there right away."
[Paperwork is not the problem here you see…]
Danhauser could hear feel the desperation from the phone, despite her attempts to remain cool and collected, "What happened?" He demanded, voice serious.
If the Light Novel's canon was at least somewhat intact, then Danhauser knew what came next.
[… E-exorcists. Two of them. Here in Kuoh Academy.]
That answered all his suspicions. If Xenovia and Irina were already there, then it means Kokabiel had already made his move.
A Fallen Angel on par with a Satan-Class Devil and survivor of the Great War.
He paced a few steps away from the group before wheeling around and noticing everyone hanging quietly until he finished his conversation.
It could work, it would totally work.
It's time for True Form— he thought.
"Where are they right now?" he asked while keeping his eyes fixed on the group not so far away from him — mostly on Roygun who'd been staring at his phone intently, "They talked with you?"
[N-not, umm, not yet. They went first to speak with the Student Council and then with the Occult Research Club. I think I've got approx. five minutes before they knock on my office. What the hell are they doing here…? Y-You think they're here because what happened f-four years ago…? T-to finish what they had started?!]
"Calm down, Cleria," Danhauser said with the gentlest voice he could muster. The last thing he needed is her throw a huge drama because of her phobia against the exorcists, "… Listen, just take deep breaths and wait for us. We'll… we'll meet there, okay?" nothing else to add he hung up and faced everyone, "Exorcists in Kuoh."
It was clear that Jeanne's shock had been kindled, "… What?"
"What do they want?" Siegfried asked.
"I don't know," Danhauser lied behind his teeth, "And we won't know until we demand answers."
"I can teleport you there," Lavinia offered, "To save yourself the travel."
"That would be great. Thank you, Lavi."
"Hah… Cleria also kept me up to date," Roygun clicked her tongue once the message had popped on her screen's phone, "In that case, we should really hurry up then. We both know that Exorcists and Kuoh are a big no-no."
"Well, what are we waiting foe?" Bova flexed his wings, "I've been dying for a challenge. Siegtard came first into my mind, but that would be too boring and too easy."
The coldness could be felt from Siegfried's laugh, "The horns on your head aren't the only thing twisted it seems. Is your head working alright?"
"Yours won't once I pummel you into the ground!"
"Unbelievable. Four years and you two are still whining at small things," Valerie shook her head, "No matter how old you two are, you're still acting like brats."
"Bad news," all eyes dashed over Tobio stepping out of the wine cellar, "Governor-General told me one of Grigori's leaders has gone astray — Kokabiel."
…
"That's… not good," Roygun pointed out the obvious.
"That's not good? That's amazing!" Bova boasted a laugh, "No matter where and how hell is always coming after us. I like that."
Roygun rolled her eyes in return, "Did the Governor-General tell you his actual location or at least his final destination, Slash Dog?"
"Yeah, this is where shit hits the fan," Tobio pursed his lips, "Kuoh Town."
"Okay, we're leaving!" Roygun didn't wait for ifs ands or buts, she merely addressed Danhauser with a pleading look, "Everything went downhill… really fast. We have to move, now!"
Danhauser didn't react at her outburst, lured by his phone this whole time, "… You guys are ready to aim for the bigger leagues or should I call my brother?"
"Like shooting fish in a barrel," Tobio flashed a fearless smirk, "even in his Balance Breaker, Vali can't match mine. He needs to go full Juggernaut Drive to kick my ass. We got this."
It was a fact — Tobio was the strongest of his incomplete peerage and even if he finally completed his set of pieces — Slash Dog would still take the lead. He'd believed the King of Wolves could earn the title as the Strongest Knight without a hitch. Danhauser couldn't be prouder.
He really did a wise move recruiting the brunet four years back. Heck, following canon route by letting Tobio get his brutal training in Nephilim was something that lifted his overall combat experience was a good tactic on Danhauser's part. Sometimes, sticking to canon's rails was more rewarding than straying from it.
He was a combination of Napoleon and Alexander the Great — dangerous but short as fuck.
Where Danhauser believed Tobio improved the most was in his speed. Unfortunately, because of his Knight attribute, his defense was lower — making him vulnerable to powerful attacks if he wasn't careful. A weakness that Siegfried should treat lightly, too.
"You guys seem confident, maybe I shouldn't stress too much then…" Roygun felt her heartbeat went back to normal, "… still, need an extra hand? It's been years since I had a fight. A warm-up wouldn't hurt anybody…"
"Nope. I need you to stay with Cleria and keep her safe at all cost," Danhauser pocketed his phone and felt her stare, "What's with the pout? I don't need Kuoh Town in crumbles because of your mutated Clan Trait."
"Aw, killjoy," Roygun stuck her tongue out, "You know that, if Kokabiel goes after Cleria, I'll have to go all out on him, right?"
"… Fine. A risk that I'm willing to take," Danhauser conceded after a vacant silence, "As long as it keeps my cousin away from danger then fine — have no mercy on him."
"Even if the Town gets demolished too? It'll become more challenging to please the High Priestess of the Sun."
Danhauser winked at her, "I always loved difficult women — I'll handle her when the time comes."
"What's the plan?" Bova brought back the crucial point of this conversation, "As long as there's a fight, you won't hear any objections from me!"
"You can bet there will be a few fights," Danhauser turned to his mutated knight, "Tobio, while I keep the exorcists distracted, I need you to search for Kokabiel all over the town. Once you've located his hideout, drop a call or a message and wait for us. Take Bova with you, his nose could be useful for your hunt."
Tobio gave a two-finger salute, "Roger, roger."
"This is weird," Valerie brought a hand to her chin, deep in thought, "… Exorcists and a Cadre in Kuoh Town… this can't be catalogized as 'mere' occurrence. Something must have transpired in the past to make these two forces arrive at Kuoh Town of all places."
"You think they're connected in some way, don't you?" Siegfried saw her nod a little, "Hm. We're on the same boat, then."
"Save your theories for later, detectives," Danhauser said to them, "We'll find our answers in Kuoh."
"I want to see them," Jeanne suddenly requested to the gray-haired, "I…I want to see these exorcists."
Her petition alone made his mouth turn into a grim line, "… I don't think that's a good idea, Jeanne," he tried to persuade her, "… You know how the Church can be hard against those labeled as… 'heretics'."
Especially when this was Bitch!Xenovia who we were talking about. While the chosen of Durandal would prioritize her mission above anything else, she wouldn't shy at spitting venom all over the place if it left her message clear.
"Dan, please. I need to see with my own eyes who were sent here in Kuoh."
"… Don't say I didn't warn you," He reluctantly dropped the subject, they were wasting valuable time already. If Xenovia were to voice her thoughts out — which she would — then he would just trigger his Sub-Species Balance Break: Knight in Shining Armor.
He nodded at the blonde-haired magician, "Lavi."
Lavinia nodded back and invoked multiple spells underneath them, "Please, be save."
.
.
…
There was absolute stillness. No air stirred the curtains or their hairs. No clouds drifted in the sea of blue above the roof. Not a sound could be heard either close at hand or in the far-off distance. Even his own breath seemed to die as soon as it left his mouth. It was an eerie sort of tranquility, so instead of being soothed his senses became heightened. It was as if the world were encased in a cocoon, a bubble, and there was no way out.
Despite the tense silence hanging between them, Danhauser held his ground against the sharp stare of the blue-haired woman and the nervous one of the orange-haired woman. He couldn't deny it — they were both beautiful.
His peerage was behind him — save Bova and Tobio. If a scandal were to break out, Siegfried would be the first to draw his demonic sword — Gram.
Plus, Roygun was somewhere in the academy with Cleria — keeping an eye out of her.
Letting his eyes roam over the humongous, holy weapon wrapped in skewered bandages — he sunk his elbow over the armchair, "Sorry for the current state of my office, by the way. If I were to know the Church was about to send their forces in my cousin's territory, I would've reserved a room for you two to stay."
"We're not here for traveling pleasures," Xenovia dismissed his offerings, "We were sent here by orders of the Vatican Headquarters."
Danhauser leaned forward a little, "That harsh look… so you know," he shook his head with a low chuckle, "I believe introductions aren't necessary, are they?"
"I was skeptical at first," Xenovia confessed, her voice going considerably cold, "… but after meeting you face-to-face for the first time… no doubt… your characteristics coincide with the reports given by our higher-ups."
"Color me impressed. I didn't expect to be that famous in the Church. I bet they love me."
"On the contrary. You're despised — especially by the Vatican, " Xenovia bluntly said.
Unbeknown to everyone, Valerie's eyebrow twitched at that.
"He was being sarcastic, Xenovia," Irina murmured.
Unfortunately, her friend didn't listen.
"Danhauser Belial — next head of the Clan Belial and younger brother of Diehauser Belial," Xenovia evoked the words written in the confidential documents lent to her, "An abnormal Devil amongst High-Class Devils. Known by defeating the users of Hauteclere—"
Danhauser caught a wince coming from Xenovia's partner.
"—and Galatine by only releasing what Heaven described as 'Pseudo-True Form' four years ago — avoid confrontation at any cost," Xenovia then regarded the peerage with pity, "accused of seducing the former Holy Saint… Joan of Arc and, from what it appears, Chaos-Edge Sieg of the Orthodox Church as well…"
"I wasn't seduced by no one!" Jeanne rebutted, "neither was Siegfried. It was our choice to make!"
"Then you weren't manipulated at all," all signs of remorse were removed from Xenovia's face at this point, "This is worse than we anticipated. Have you forgotten our code, Joan of Arc?"
"A 'code' must be determined by the individual," Siegfried spoke up, becoming the voice of reason for the group, "This is the path we've chosen."
"Your choice was to sell your humanity and sainthood to the Devil? Like the former holy maiden, you two fell as low as possible."
Valerie smiled sardonically, "Yes, yes, in your head it's another cloudless day."
"And who you might be?"
"It is little business to you, little girl," Valerie hissed.
"You're here to speak with me, not with my peerage," Danhauser reminded Xenovia, his tone hardening without crossing the line, "Remember what your superiors ordered of you. Avoid any confrontation."
It was silence afterward.
"… I'm surprised. From the chaos it brought to both parties in the past, I expected the Catholic Church would zip their mouths," Danhauser said after everyone cooled down, "To make sure past mistakes didn't repeat themselves."
"My partner was there when everything occurred," it was surprising that Irina wasn't being her cheerful self like in the Light Novels, "… even so, it's impossible to hide any evidence of that… Irina by the way, and she's Xenovia."
Xenovia bit back a groan, "I believe we're getting off topic. Can we proceed with the crucial point of the meeting? Our time here is limited."
Danhauser leaned on his seat and granted her wish with a simple nod.
"Good. A few Excalibur fragments were stolen from their respective vault," Xenovia explained, "Luckily, the Church was able to track the thief's last destination."
"It's right here, Kuoh Town," Irina continued, "the Headquarters were quick to deport us here the moment they identified the location."
"I wonder if this person was here for a while…" Danhauser speculated and cleared his throat, "Who's the one behind all this mess?"
Of course, he knew. He just had to keep his knowledge over the future as a secret.
"Kokabiel of Grigori."
"I knew it!" Valerie muttered, putting a hand under her chin to formulate more theories, "the Exorcists and the Fallen Angel were intertwined in some way... what for?"
"And how do you know about this?" Xenovia frowned, clearly concluding that they're part of the crime, "are you two associated in any way?"
Valerie scoffed at her accusation, "A fool you are by jumping to that conclusion. I'll say it as many times as I need to say it. Do not dare to lump us with the Fallen Angel."
"The headquarters do not trust the Devils and Fallen Angels, it might be possible for you two come up with an accord of sorts."
"Then your headquarters are damn wrong. We have no reason to help out Kokabiel in the robbery," Danhauser brushed off her allegations, "However, you judging the Grigori by someone else's actions isn't fair either. The Governor-General couldn't care less about your broken toys; his passion is only in Sacred Gears and nothing else."
Danhauser's phone rang and he stood up to leave, "I have a call to answer. Don't kill each other."
…
…
…
Jeanne stepped forward, a troubled look painted all over her face, "Please answer me this. The Vatican only sent you two?"
"What about it?" Xenovia questioned, "Are you doubting our skills?"
"You two are nothing against Kokabiel," Siegfried dropped the unfortunate news, "Only Eminence Strada, Eminence Cristaldi and the Strongest Exorcist in his Balance Break could push his back over the wall."
"Father had a hilarious way of describing this," Valerie tapped her lips in 'thought' before smiling morbidly, "Ah yes, 'getting rid of the trash'."
"What a pessimistic perspective," Irina said, annoyed by her mockery, "Is that all you can see?"
"Ehehehe… I'm only pointing out facts, little girl."
"That's not pointing out facts, that's being a cynical," Irina then properly faced Siegfried, "Eminence Cristaldi and Eminence Strada are occupied by watching over the Vatican and the Pope. Lord Dulio isn't permitted to use his Balance Breaker in populated zones…"
"… Why?" Jeanne's halting voice reached the whole room, "… Why did headquarters not send someone like Dulio and Griselda…? Why would they send two initiates after a Cadre-Class?! Going to Kuoh Town while Kokabiel is here is considered a suicidal move!"
"Didn't you do the same thing?" Xenovia ignored her outburst, "You also came to Kuoh Town years ago which is still inhabited by Devils."
"It was a different matter!" Jeanne tightened her jaw at that, "I… I was doing everything to make the Three Biblical Faction become united!"
"And yet you failed," Xenovia retorted dismissively, "You were a saint back then. Your task was to guide orphans to a better light and you cowered from your role by striving for the impossible. It'd cost your sainthood and freedom in return. Or you thought that was a triumph, Joan of Arc?"
"Stop calling me like that already!" Jeanne fought her hardest to not lunge over the bluenette, "I'm not Joan of Arc and… and never will I be like her..."
"I agree. Joan of Arc had died in the bonfire. You are but her evil aspect — a witch," Xenovia sighed, "It must be so sad to look forward to slavery, to feel no liberty and seek no reward in the life to come."
"Yes, the anguish tears at me so much. You have seen through me to my sad, sad core."
Xenovia frowned at the Dhampir, "Now you're just mocking us."
"My. You notice?" Valerie feigned a gasp, "Aren't you perhaps the brightest crayon in the box…?"
"You still have a chance to leave," Siegfried quickly meddled before Valerie's snide added fuel to the fire, "… Even if you two have a trump card under your sleeve it won't be enough to make you the victor."
"If at least we destroy the Excalibur fragments then we're fine dying if it's for our religion," Xenovia replied without hesitation, her sharp eyes boring through theirs, "Unlike other people, we rather die on our feet than live on our knees."
Valerie scoffed at the flaws behind her bitter words, "And this from someone who kneels to pray?"
"… Forgive me anyone listening, but you, Xenovia, are a bitch," Jeanne glared at Xenovia and tightened her hands so much that her fingernails bit into her palms, "a cruel, cruel bitch, and you will get your comeuppance."
"Perhaps," Xenovia said after an abrupt silence, "But even so, you know in your tainted heart that I am right."
Xenovia left her seat, repeated by Irina, "Our demand is simple, Devils. We want you to not interfere with this incident — we'll take it from here."
"Also!" Irina quickly added, "… We'd heard that there's a Devil about to become an stray devil… the Knight of the Gremory Clan. Watch out for him!"
"The one we had a fight with," Xenovia muttered to herself, "I doubt our presence is welcomed here so we'll take our leave. While we're doing our mission, act as if nothing happened."
"Sorry, but there's a change of plans," all eyes darted over the gray-haired Devil joining them, "we're getting involved as well."
"Slash Dog found him?" Siegfried asked.
Danhauser tossed his phone to his knight, "The coordinates are right there. All of you, hop in — I'll teleport us there."
Unfortunately, Xenovia wasn't so thrilled by the idea, "Form an alliance with the Devils? That's absurd. It would worsen the balance of the Three Factions, especially if it's you."
Valerie's satirical smile faltered at that. At this point, she was doubting the intelligence of these girls. Or was it arrogance? Or distrust for being fed-up by the controversy of her master? How dare they to refuse the assistance of her master? To insult him when he was trying to lend some assistance?!
Those fucking—!
"If you think I'll put my faith over two fourth-rate exorcists to protect my cousin and this town then forget it," Danhauser was unfazed by her sharp gaze, "If you won't work with us, it's okay — just stay out of this. My peerage and I will take care of the case now. Last chance, are you in or out?"
The way Xenovia narrowed her eyes already answered his question, "We won't follow your orders."
"And you think I'll follow yours?" Danhauser fired back, "You have no power here, little girl. My cousin is the one in charge of Kuoh Town, but when she's absent, I'm the one who makes the calls. Either you follow my lead or fly back to the Vatican. Simple as that."
"The Vatican and Heaven won't—!"
"I don't care what Heaven or the Vatican has to say on this," Danhauser cut her off, "My priority is ensuring the well-being of my family over all things."
Her fingers over the cloaked, legendary weapon tightened. As predicted, the Devil was rebelling against the orders of her higher-ups. Speaking with this Devil was already trespassing to dangerous territory, if news of their temporal truce were to blown up… trouble would kindle against them and a fate similar to Joan of Arc would occur.
Plus she didn't trust this man's intentions. Not a bit.
No one from the Vatican did.
"Don't think I didn't hear how you mistreated my Rook while I was on the phone," Danhauser's warning growl snapped her out of her trance, "Because we're in a hurry, I'll let you off the hook this time or else I would make you eat those words. Are we clear?"
Xenovia understood she'd touched a nerve and backed a tad away with Irina copying her movements.
"There's a good girl," Danhauser sneered, "Now get out my office."
Xenovia looked dissatisfied by the end results of their meeting — she even looked ready to try her hand once again. But a hard stare was all it took to shut her mouth. There was no more room of discussion, let alone debate… they had no choice but to leave.
"That was harsh, master," Siegfried sighed.
"Ehehehe… Indeed," despite her giggles, Valerie was glaring daggers at the exit, "… Not that I mind seeing this new layer of yours."
"Well, she got me all triggered. Insulting my peerage and bossing me around…" he stopped once he saw his pawn trying to melt the door with only her gaze. He softly squeezed her shoulder, "Hey, keep staring the door that way and I might get jealous. What's wrong? Did they say something to bother you too?"
Valerie pulled out of her trance with a strained smile, "I am well."
He stared deep into his favorite red eyes for a while before silently dropping the subject. Knowing how stubborn Xenovia could be, she would continue her mission no matter what. Moreover, Yuuto could also become a thorn on this because of his traumatic past.
He gave Xenovia a chance to form an alliance and she shoved the offer to the side. Whether it was because of his infamy with the Heaven Faction or orders of her higher-ups didn't matter anymore, the decision had been chosen by her.
The last thing he needed was them to intervene now.
His train of thoughts stopped once Jeanne tugged on his sleeve to catch his attention, "Yes, cutie?"
"I-I know how to look after myself, you know?" Jeanne playfully shoved him before smiling shyly, "… not that I don't appreciate the help. Thank you for that, Dan."
Danhauser barked a laugh while ruffling her beautiful hair, "Let's get moving. Tobio and Bova are waiting for us already."
.
.
After teleporting to their destinated location, everyone quickly looked around for safety measures and to locate the two servants that Danhauser had sent ahead to gather information about their enemy's position, strength, or movements.
Danhauser heard a whistle coming from upstairs and perked up, spotting Tobio, Jin and Chibi Bova atop the branch of a tree.
"Good to see you guys," Tobio easily jumped off the tree, repeated by Bova, "we found them. They're inside the abandoned church."
Danhauser followed with his eyes were Tobio was pointing and scowled, "Aside from Kokabiel, is someone else in there?"
"A hostage is in there," to prove his statement, Tobio showed them a picture of a blonde-haired girl placed on a cross, " Asia Argento, if I'm not mistaken."
Danhauser's expression couldn't turn colder.
"I-I had seen her long ago!" Jeanne recalled, shifting closer to the mobile, "Vasco wanted to rescue her… the Holy Maiden… what she's doing here of all places?"
Siegfried snapped his fingers, "Ah, so that's why she seemed so familiar. To see her in a small town of Japan… what a small world we live on…"
"Why is she crucified?" Valerie frowned, "is this Fallen Angel torturing her?"
"You could say that," Tobio pocketed his phone away, "Grigori had devised a ceremony of sorts to extract a Sacred Gear from the original user. The process is painful from what I'd heard."
Valerie frown's sunk deeper, "That's a careless move," she pointed out, "A Sacred Gear — Longinus or not — is connected to the soul. If it's removed from the owner, they would die."
"He doesn't care about the Sacred Gear," Bova grunted, "he's using her as bait. To force you to come all the way here for a fight, Bosshauser."
Danhauser spared a glance at the distanced church, "Is that so…"
"Also, did I mention that his lackey is Valper Galilei?" Slash Dog just kept souring the mood, "He's trying to fuse the Excalibur Fragments — the ones you told me over the phone, boss."
Siegfried folded his arms, "Genocide Archbishop? The man behind the Holy Sword Project?"
"The one and only."
Jeanne's mouth clenched.
Danhauser spared a look over the silvery moon towering them. Only Valper was with Kokabiel? What about the carbon-copy of Siegfried — Freed Sellzen? Obviously, he was glad that Freed wasn't here — one less problem to worry about. He tried to pay no mind to it. After all, Danhauser had come this far and the last thing he needed was to have his mind distracted with something so insignificant.
"You're overthinking things, again," Danhauser thought self-critically, "What matters here is handling Kokabiel and rescuing Asia. Thinking about the future is a second priority. For now."
"Tobio. Azazel gave us the green lights to kill him?"
"He wants him alive," Tobio replied dryly, "Both of them, actually. He's looking forward to smacking them all the way to Cocytus."
"Is the Governor-General at least going to lend us some backup?" Valerie asked.
Tobio smirked slyly, "You're speaking with the backup."
Valerie hummed but said nothing.
"Understood. Orders are orders," their King drawled, "Kokabiel is no joke, though. I need my two caballeros here."
The fight may take longer without Vali, but Danhauser believed they had this wrapped wonderfully. Slash Dog was here and Angels and Fallen Angels shared something in common — they were weak against demonic swords just as how Devils were weak against holy swords.
"That would be us," Siegfried stepped forward, Tobio following suit, "What's the plan?"
"Make sure the nun is safe and then we're going all in on Kokabiel. No holding back."
Simple and straight to the point. Thus, Danhauser had to use what would become his primary battle form.
It was going to be painful, but it was the only way.
"You wanna go all out against him? That's a bit of an overkill, don't ya think?" Tobio said, not that he didn't mind, though, "Don't you want to listen to his evil speeches? Heard they were very … hey, are you alright?"
"Master," Siegfried called out worriedly once he noticed his king gripping tightly his stomach, "What's wrong?"
Bova even looked disturbed by this.
Jeanne and Valerie tried to reach out for him once he lurched forward and sunk to his knees, but froze once Danhauser flashed them a quivering thumbs-up. They noticed how one of his eyes was losing its greyish color by turning vast white. There was also black viscosity dripping down from the side of his head to the ground.
Danhauser peered down at his wrist, watching his veins bulging, trembling and changing to pitch black — even the ones located in his neck started to curve outward.
Nausea clawed in his throat, but he still managed to give them a reassuring, shaky nod, "J-just... give me some space," instinctively, his body tried to force down the bile, but it was too late. Spurns of black liquid spewed out of his coughing, choking mouth and rather than splashing over the grass, it completely enveloped his entire form — becoming shrouded in Pitch Resin.
Tobio covered his mouth in revulsion as he witnessed the Pitch Resin altering Danhauser's body. His muscles grew considerably, eldritch markings marred the entity's figure in the shape of bright lines that simply twined themselves around him. The eldritch abomination calmly picked himself up, his white eyes that lacked pupils shined bright in the shape of solid discs. An immensely dense, gray Touki enveloped around him — enhancing the menacing aura he already exuded.
"True Form…" Valerie answered everyone's doubts.
"AMAZING!" Bova had lost control of his own tail as it wagged violently behind him, "I can feel your aura! Damn strong!"
The Dhampir had to roll her eyes once her shock left, "A good way to reveal our location."
Jeanne curiously poked his arm and gasped when her finger sank deeper than she'd expected it would. She quickly withdrew with a string of resin connected between them, "Ewwww!"
Danhauser chuckled at her antics. Even his voice changed to a demonic tune that suited his actual appearance, "My bad, cutie. Had to warn you."
"Back then, you could only turn half your arm," Siegfried gestured to his whole body repeatedly, "… Look at you now, master. Your training totally bore fruits."
"Even so, is that the process you must go to trigger your True Form?" Valerie flinched once she recalled the transformation from beginning to end,"… It looked like it hurt."
"It's also fucking disgusting," Tobio dropped his two cents.
Danhauser gave a crooked smile, "First days were awful, but I slowly got used to it."
"Bullshit man, you were twisting in the ground seconds ago." Tobio said, "Quick question. Didn't you had the Worthlessness version of True Form?" he recalled and punched his shoulder playfully, immediately regretting his decision, "… o-or you have two True Forms now…?"
"… I guess so?" Danhauser replied hesitantly, ignoring his mutated knight trying to retrieve his fist back, "True Form is a damn mystery. There are more questions than answers about its existence."
Tobio cursed after seeing the state of his freed hand and wiped it off on the nearest tree.
Jin/Lycaon stared intently at the forehead of Danhauser. It appears no one could sense the well of energy specifically located in his temple — not even Danhauser. In fact, it was the same energy that he'd used against him four years ago. It was life-force. Senjutsu.
What made the Inugami wary was that, whatever was on his temple, it was staring back at him. But nothing was there.
It was difficult to put in words.
Danhauser clapped loudly to become the center of attention, "Enough chatting, let's get moving! I'd rather finish this ASAP."
"What about us?" Bova whined a little.
"You'll stay here with Jeanne and Valerie," Danhauser met the disappointing stare of the dragon, "Trust me. There's a huge chance that people will come here."
"Ah, yes those exorcists…" Valerie almost bared her fangs at the reminder, "yes, we'll keep them away from you."
"… Valerie," Danhauser called out softly, but his distorted voice made it quite difficult, "Please, don't do anything reckless."
The woman in question bit her lower lip and quickly averted her gaze to anything but her king. Even if she didn't reply, Danhauser knew she would comply.
"Is that a good idea, master?" Siegfried asked, worried, "Wouldn't fighting worsen your relationship with the Churches?"
"Wouldn't that cause a war, too?" Tobio quickly added.
"They despise me already, what gives?" Danhauser shrugged idly, "It won't trigger a war, thankfully. If it's possible, You don't go hard on them, just make sure they don't run pass you… You're in charge, Jeanne."
Jeanne pounded her chest twice and flashed a piece sign, "I got your back, my homie."
Siegfried clicked his tongue, "If we were to fail, Kokabiel would destroy the town, slay all of us and restart the Great War."
[If.] Lycaon spoke, startling everyone.
"You rarely talk, don't you?" even if he wasn't looking at him, Tobio could feel the fearless smirk of his king, "Start chanting, Slash Dog."
With a two-finger salute, Tobio dropped to his knees and the shadows from their surroundings shuddered at their master's will.
He bellowed.
[Behowlest the slaying of one thousand mortals!]
.
.
For the Exorcists to reach their destination wasn't difficult at all. With the immense demonic power that was released in the environment minutes ago, they had explicit guidance in the direction in which they should be moving. Still, even though they'd managed to make further progress, three, strong figures were impeding any passage.
"Ehehehe… what is this?" Valerie eyed them with a perturbating look, "Were you rats looking for cheese, but found us instead?"
The Exorcists narrowed their eyes perilously.
Jeanne shot the pawn a hard look, "Just for once, try to not insult them, please."
"And how would I manage that?"
"How about being nice!" Jeanne hissed back.
"Oh, fine…" Valerie cleared her throat and smiled 'sweetly'. She waved her arm at the exorcists in attempts to drive them away, "Shoo~! Run along and play~!… or whatever."
"You are very beautiful, but you always have this negative and judgmental look on your face," Jeanne sighed, "With the awful past you had, I think you'd be much better off smiling more."
"It's just who I am…" Valerie huffed vaguely and awkwardly toyed with her pigtail, "There's nothing I can do, it's the way I react to strangers. An instinct. I was, after all, a broken shell locked in a dungeon."
"But is it difficult to give a genuine smile? I've seen you do it in the bar, it really suits you."
"Of course, she won't give them a genuine smile," Bova grinned at the Dhampir. "None of them are Bosshauser."
"Shut your hole, overgrown lizard!"
"Heh-heh-heh!"
"We won't take our leave," Xenovia interrupted their conversation, "not until we finish our quest."
Regaining her cool, Valerie clicked her tongue at their unyielding attitude, "My master told you, didn't he? This is our case now. We won't let you come any nearer than this."
"Out of the way!"
Xenovia and Irina looked behind their shoulders to see a familiar face filled with nothing but rage.
"Oh, joy," Valerie rolled her eyes, "More unpleasant guests. How exciting..."
"It's you, the knight of Gremory," Xenovia regarded him with a scowl while unwrapping her Excalibur fragment, "… the one who's close to becoming a stray. Are you here for a rematch?"
"I'm not here for you two!" the frustration could be noted from the blond, and turned to the fellow, Reincarnated Devils, "… I don't know who you three are and I don't have time for introductions. Move out of my way, this is something I must do."
Bova stared a long second, "No."
Oh that does it! Yuuto grounded his teeth and invoked one of his swords, "You three are wasting precious time already! Get out of the way!"
"You're only shooting yourself in the foot, Knight of Gremory," Xenovia shook her head disapprovingly, "You diverted from your master for your own selfish desire… you truly loathe those holy swords, don't you?"
"You wouldn't understand…!" Yuuto gripped tightly his weapon, "I'll never forget it… I vowed to avenge those who died in the Holy Sword Project!"
Jeanne's breath hitched, "Don't tell me… you're… you're one of the two survivors?"
She heard from the unfortunate gossips from Vasco Strada. Orphans who were taken from the Church were chosen to partake in the Holy Sword Project which was supervised by Valper Galilei — the man Danhauser was about to hunt down.
Children who weren't capable of wielding a holy sword were targeted for extermination; they were gassed. From what Vasco had told her, a girl survived because of her Sacred Gear which created a barrier around her. To this day, researchers were trying to figure out methods to deactivate her Sacred Gear and grant her the normal life that she would cherish for the rest of her life.
Her name's Tosca.
The other survivor was reported as MIA — his body was missing during the investigation.
"Isaiah," she stared at the missing boy with wide eyes, "you were here this whole time…"
Yuuto's stance stiffened, "How… how do you know my real name?" he finally decided to look at the blonde dead in the eye. "How?"
By looking at her face alone, his mind was flooded by many memories.
Despite lacking the opportunity to meet her in person in the past — he had heard of her multiple tales of her.
A former saint known by her kind-hearted nature and who'd visited many church facilities to guide the orphans in the right way.
And her Sacred Gear.
Blade Blacksmith.
Forger of Holy Swords.
Holy swords.
From deep inside his chest came a great shaking motion and his face muscles grew tight. He chuckled dryly, "What a small world we live in…"
Jeanne's body tensed up, "What?"
"You're still going to fight, knight of Gremory?" the blue-haired exorcist laughed to herself, "Funny how we dug ourselves in a hole, too. Fine — it can't be helped. We'll help you out."
Yuuto just glared at her direction, "Don't get in my way."
"I refuse. We can't leave this town without at least retrieving an Excalibur fragment — our higher-ups made that clear. We don't mind if you want to destroy one or two, though."
Yuuto said nothing.
"Xenovia, wait!" Irina intervened and eyed Yuuto cautiously, "A-are we going to team up with an eventual stray devil of all things…?"
"We're not going to fight with a stray devil — we're going to fight with a fellow swordsman," Xenovia retorted.
"That doesn't even make sense!"
"Ah, why the Protestant Church has to always whine about everything?"
"Hey! Don't look down on my teachings, you idiot!"
"Then hurry up. We must swing our swords once again."
"Geez! Your beliefs are weird!" Nonetheless, Irina reluctantly turned the string tied in her arm into a katana. She had a distraught expression, "I-I can't believe we're doing this… w-we're disobeying orders, you know that?"
"It could be dangerous if the Excalibur fragments fell in the hands of the cadre or Danhauser Belial himself. Yet, our superiors warned us to avoid confrontation with the Devils... have we failed this mission from the beginning?" Xenovia observed the dragon keenly, weighing her options. She threateningly pointed the sharp end of her Excalibur, "… This must be a trial from the Lord. Maybe, once I had slain you, I'll become like Saint George."
To her surprise, the small dragon drastically increased his size, forcing her to take a step back — but not lower her holy sword. Truly, the biggest enemy she had ever encountered.
For Dulio, this would be another Tuesday.
Puffs of smoke fled from Bova's nostrils as he snorted, "Think you're a dragon slayer? Come here and try, bitch."
Things didn't go as Jeanne planned them to. She wanted to sort it out through talking instead of fighting to stall time for her master and the two knights... but everything went downhill.
"… You think my master has any interest in your broken toys? Don't make me laugh."
Jeanne felt the cold atmosphere radiating from Valerie's beauty, "My master offered kindly to work as a team and you two slapped his hand away…! Yet, here you two are, allying yourselves with a soon-to-be Stray Devil of all things — a traitor. Hey, Exorcist, why did you refuse? Why? Why did you refuse? Grasping straws or his previous deeds made you resentful of my master?"
Irina bit her lip and took a slow step back, katana in hand, "I—!"
"I should make you pay for delivering this insult," she gave Irina as venomous a look as she'd ever seen in her life as an exorcist, "For insulting him…! but he told me to not be reckless… I wouldn't forgive myself if I disobeyed him."
Irina gulped and took a fighting stance — a trail of sweat gliding from her temple.
"Your body… made out of pure steel — just like mine," Jeanne faced Yuuto, the blond locks covered the unstable glint emitting from his blue eyes, "but capable of creating thousands of holy blades..."
"Isaiah, please. I don't want to fight you!"
"I'm deeply sorry, but I have to do this!" Yuuto proclaimed and looked up with a new drive of determination, "I will not miss this chance!"
In an instant, he was surrounded by multiple, ugly swords that were thrumming with demonic energy — befitting for a reincarnated devil.
"Fate had us meet as foes — Joan of Arc," Yuuto swapped swords with a fresh one, "I will not fight as Kiba Yuuto, knight of Rias Gremory — but as Isaiah, survivor of the Holy Sword Project."
"… Rage and vengeance burned away all that was good in you, Isaiah," Jeanne's words, gaze, and facial expression suddenly turned sharp, no longer was she the kind girl of seconds ago, "If words won't make you listen, then I have no choice but to beat some sense into you."
She brought her hand up that emitted a warm light which slowly grew into a staff with a pointed end. The light died down to reveal a banner in her grasp.
The battle standard of the real Holy Saint back when she'd fought in the Hundred Years' War side by side with Gilles de Rais.
"This does it," Blade Blacksmith forged her a sword in her other hand, dual-wielding, "I won't pull back any punches! I will face you as if I am facing a Seraph!"
.
.
Kokabiel had felt it. The immense demonic energy that had exploded and meddled with the environment. It came somewhere from the endless forest. It was near. So, so near.
Faster than he'd expected in fact. That was good news, he was getting worried over nothing. He thought he had to wait for days before the Devils in this town were to take matters in their hands and try to defeat him. How boring would it be if that was the case.
This boy, 'Danhauser Belial' was pretty well-known by the cadres. Mostly because of his feats four years back, stopping the Utsusemi Agency led by Hanezu Himejima and the Wizards of Oz, aka Hexennacht, which was led by the Second Generation Witch of the East Augusta before dying in the hands of Danhauser and the White Dragon Emperor.
And how could he forget Danhauser was on the radar of his former co-worker, Satanael?
The cadre looked up and glared at the unconscious nun in the cross, fingers digging deep in his palms. How insulting. To work alongside a Devil whom were the ones behind of their massive losses in their main forces? Unforgivable.
Kokabiel wouldn't sit with his arms folded and watch the paint dry, he had to take action and fast.
Imagine the surprise he had written in his face the moment he'd found out the Governor-General sent some low-class Fallen Angels to Kuoh Town to transfer a former nun of the Vatican and recollect a document for Azazel — said document held confidential information of the Old Satan Faction.
Truly, this Ingvild Leviathan was something else. Grigori had someone like her in the ranks — a male version of a different Maou bloodline and empowered by a Dragon.
Typical low-class Fallen Angels, they'd rather sacrifice someone else to save their necks than die with honor for their faction. All it took was to tower of them and release a bit of his power to make them spill the beans — they'd stuttered each word they'd croaked out, much to his annoyance.
They were easy to convince — it made him wonder how they were still alive at this point.
One day they would be the extinction of Grigori organization as a whole.
"How are the Excaliburs holding up, Valper?"
…
…
…
"Valper?"
No reply.
Kokabiel chuckled knowingly, "So, they're already here? Quicker than I expected, but it doesn't —!"
His speech was cut off as a silver-colored blur shortened distances, in which Kokabiel had to create a sword of light to parry the swing. The Fallen Angel kept his foe's blade locked with his and stare at his adversary menacingly — the latter kindly returned the gaze.
"You almost got me," Kokabiel complimented and pushed against the clinch, trying to knock the other off balance, "Almost. You have potential, but you alone aren't enough to defeat me!"
Kokabiel was surprised when the swordsman laughed heartily despite his struggles to keep his ground, "Good thing I'm not alone."
From Siegfried's shadow, a werewolf jumped out with a scythe.
Kokabiel moved out of the way. While narrowly dodging the killing blow, his arm wasn't so fortunate as it flopped to the ground. The silver-haired swordsman rocketed forward, his opponent quickly unfurling his ten to fly and deflect the demonic sword before ducking in closer with his preferred sword of light.
The Fallen Angel never had the luck to avenge his missing arm when shadows from their surroundings began to rise, turning into bastardly swords and clashing with the cadre's golden radiance head-on. Kokabiel's wings brought out a bombardment of light spears and black feathers to the shadows — dispersing them.
Building some distance, Kokabiel held his fresh wound and shot a dirty look over his shoulder, "So it is true…! You answer for someone else aside from Azazel, Slash Dog?!"
The King of Wolves never replied to the snarl and readied his weapon, a dangerous glint honing those red eyes. He soon disappeared from sight by diving into the shadows.
Kokabiel never had the chance to question his motives when a pitch-black fist surrounded by light-blue flames came out flying from the entrance of the church to the center of his chest, crashing through an old pillar of the abandoned church. Kokabiel managed to stop his flight and brace himself for the next attack.
He was alone — even the nun wasn't in the cross!
He quickly tilted his head just in time to dodge another pitch-black of resin covered in those blue flames. Expecting to hear the impact on the wall behind him, the fist merely changed its trajectory and started to go after him again, only to be avoided once again.
And the cycle continued.
Up. Down. Left. Right. Up. Right. Left. Down. Whenever he evaded the clenched fist, it would sharply turn after him like a stubborn python, akin to a homing missile. Sometimes it would go around a pillar to track him down. It moved at impossible angles in order to reach its target. It became troublesome to follow with his eyes as it kept building up momentum.
As predicted, it struck Kokabiel at the back of his neck, piercing the wall of the ancient chapel and thrown straight to the forest. Even after being forcefully launched out of the shrine, Kokabiel managed to hold his own ground by stabbing his sword on the dirt to slow down his speed.
Not only his muscles felt the damage — but his spirit as well.
"That was a fist of resin," Kokabiel massaged his bruise on the chest after the halt, "No doubt about it. The only Devils I know that manipulates resin is the Malebranche Clan… could it be?"
He looked up when the noise of collapsing trees alarmed his long ears. He was surprised and excited to see that rapidly spinning toward him by tumbling nearby trees and crushing unfortunate bushes was his opponent in a wheel-like shape of pitch resin. After savoring the demonic power being released by his approaching foe, he surmised that this wasn't Malacoda Malebranche. While strong in his own right, he wasn't on par with Malacoda. The second-ranked exceed the Satan-class power in his True Form — if Azazel's experience was concrete.
In his cackle the mania could be heard quite well, already figuring out who he was fighting, "You finally show your face, brother of the Emperor?!" Kokabiel generated countless light spears and shoot them like arrows, "I accept your challenge!"
Still in the shape of a wheel, Danhauser leaped into the air to dodge the light spears and morphed back to his humanoid form and, abusing the speed from the spinning, slammed his overgrown pitch-resin forearm, covered in spikes and hardened by Touki into his opponent with tremendous force that even if Kokabiel had managed on blocking it with his ten wings, he was sent crashing into a row of trees — said trees had the gall to fall atop of him.
Even so, merely dodging the light attacks gave Danhauser an immense headache.
It hurt. So badly.
Danhauser didn't pause to massage his head, his shoulders bubbled until they created two cannons made of pure resin. He charged his cannons with Senjutsu, took aim over the laughing Fallen Angel and fired. From the tip of his shoulder cannons — rather than laser beams — bursts of beautiful flames of light-blue were released after his downed opponent — devouring him.
The power of Sage Arts pained the cadre greatly, but his tenacity and pride refused to show it. The trunks above him were flung away once Kokabiel blitzed after the Devil, easily ducking the flamethrower — he augmented his speed by flapping his ten wings. He changed his mind and quickly shot off to the skies when Danhauser's shadow distorted into sharp ends that lunged after him.
He showered the looming shadows with spears of light with no trouble. Everything went south when a surging wave of dark, red blood that came from the battlefield below swallowed him whole — followed by a familiar scent of powerful light-blue flames. He screamed in pain after being exposed to demonic power and Senjutsu. His fall was imminent, his crash into the ground had created a thick, cloud of dust — making it complicated to see the expected results.
Danhauser saw as the werewolf from before leaped out of his shadow, "About time you showed up," he grunted, dismissing his shoulder cannons, "What took you so long?"
"Sorry boss," the voice of Tobio and Lycaon responded in unison, they were one, "I'd rather prowl into shadows and end it with one hit than rushing into the fray, you know?"
"At least we weakened him," their heads spun when Siegfried joined them, Gram resting on his shoulder with red lightning flickering over its wicked blade, "We've dealt critical damage over him."
"How's Asia?" Danhauser promptly asked.
"The nun? She's unconscious, but alright," Siegfried assured him, "Valper Galilei is out of cold as well, tied up."
Their attention went back over the wounded cadre who'd dispersed the cloud of dust by a weak, single flap of his multiple wings. His clothes were ragged and he was bleeding profusely by being showered by Gram's demonic energy. Those were the least of his problems, one of his arms was gone, leaving a stump in exchange of one of his arms and his spirit was suffering after being drowned by Senjutsu.
With a snarl, Kokabiel shakily thundered his fingers, and nothing happened. He repeated the same motion over and over again to only feel jolts of pain in response. Not from his grievous muscles, but from his severed spirit.
Why.
How?
Impossible.
This shouldn't happen.
HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN?!
He stared at his hand with betrayal and then focused over his three opponents — mostly over the Pitch-Resin humanoid — the remaining blood in his system fired up. As if God of the Bible taking his grace wasn't enough already! That bastard had to steal the last thing he had — his great pride and joy.
"My light… is gone," Kokabiel swallowed the hard truth as he spat out, "… completely gone. This wasn't your Clan Trait that temporarily renders powers into 'worthless'… this is something much, much worse…. What have you done!?"
Danhauser merely enveloped his whole, viscous body in Touki, "Let's get this over with."
His knights in response readied their weapons.
Kokabiel clamped his fingers into white-knuckled vise-grips and bared his teeth at them, "You won't answer?! Fine then! Take that secret of yours to the grave!" He thrashed his pitch-black wings, pelting them with handful after handful of feathers to defeat his adversaries.
Only Siegfried moved out of the way while the feathers passed through Tobio and the rest sunk into Danhauser's body like it was quicksand — half-absorbed, half-pulled.
"You can have them back!" Danhauser turned his entire forearm into a Gatling-gun and shot back the feathers twice as fast — almost burning with the air of friction. The Fallen Angel growled and shielded his body with his ten wings. Most of the feathers bounced off, while a few either slashed or pierced his fatigued body.
Siegfried had leaped forward — red lightning chirping in his sword. Gram carved right through his wings, demonic energy disrupting the weakened muscles of the cadre, and cut a pair of them. Kokabiel just roared, but before he could counterattack, the ground beneath him transformed into Pitch Resin, stirred up and twisted around him, entangling him into a coffin-like of resin — only leaving his head exposed.
Kokabiel tried to break free from his sticky prison, only his head could react at his desperate behavior. A fist of resin empowered by Touki in the face was all it took to knock his lights out.
All the tension accumulated in his shoulders dissipated once he deactivated his True Form. He dropped on the grass afterward with a content sigh, "Holy crap. We did it."
"I told you didn't I?" Tobio had turned back to his human form and ruffled Jin's fur, "We got this easily."
"I was kind of nervous," Danhauser admitted, hand over his heart, "… It seems that when I'm in my True Form, light-based attacks are more effective on me."
"What? How do you know? Got hit by one?"
"I dodged them all, but just by being near them gave me all the damn headaches," Danhauser massaged his head once his mind repeated the scene.
"Well… True form is the physical manifestation of the spirit or the Clan Trait, right?" Tobio didn't know what he was saying at this point, he was babbling what he had in mind, "… it was a matter of fact the damage would be doubled because your spirit is exposed to the light and… I don't even know."
"Maybe you're right, who knows?" Whether Tobio was right or not, this fight would serve as a great lesson to be careful against anyone who had abilities with light or holy powers — such as Angels and Fallen Angels. Even wielders of Holy Swords were a big threat.
"What's next, Master?" Siegfried asked.
Danhauser collapsed and threw his hands behind his neck, "Send Azazel our coordinates and tell him to next time put a damn leash on Kokabiel."
"There's not going to be another next time after the stunt he dropped," Slash Dog chuckled half-heartedly, formulating a magic circle near his ear, "The son of a bitch won a free pass to the depths of Cocytus."
"Speaking of son of bitches, I should check on Valper," Siegfried adjusted his white gloves, "the last thing we need is a murderer like him making a run. As well as see if the nun has awakened yet and made sure the Excaliburs are intact. May I, master?"
Danhauser gave a thumbs up from his position and Siegfried vanished instantly from sight. He had planned to lay on the grass and watch the endless sky filled with stars until either Vali or someone else came to pick up the warmonger cadre.
But his other peerage members were most likely in the middle of a fight. He believed they had this under control, but still — it wouldn't hurt to take a quick peek.
He groaned a little and stood up, "Tobio, think you can watch over Kokabiel with Jin? I'll see what's up with the rest of our teammates."
"You do that, boss."
.
.
Yuuto always thought that the only reincarnated devil capable of surpassing his swordsmanship was his teacher — Souji Okita. A monster he swore one day he would defeat to make his master proud. It wasn't a bad goal. In fact, the thought alone had made Yuuto do better in his training in hopes to become the Souji Okita of this generation.
Joan of Arc was proof that there was always a bigger fish.
To say Yuuto was stunned to find out that he was being pushed back by Joan of Arc in his domain was an understatement.
Not only did she know how to handle a blade, but she could keep up with his speed.
His mind was clouded with wrath, but a part of his consciousness pondered. How come someone like her who was impressive with the sword managed to keep her skills in the dark? Away from society? Ewald Cristaldi and Vasco Strada were famous swordsmen whose names and skills reached other continents — even the Gods.
Not implying that she's on par with them, but… who taught her?
Scratch that, why was she a reincarnated devil of all things?! Wasn't she a saint of the Vatican? Nothing makes sense anymore!
She was a Rook now. That much he could guess. The fact that she could swing that large banner effortlessly and with a single arm was a nod to his statement. Adding the fact that some of her attacks could distort the wind with only sheer strength alone.
Even if she was reincarnated by a Rook piece, she could somehow match his speed — he, who was reincarnated with a Knight piece under the service of Clan Gremory.
Taking faltering breaths, Yuuto spared his companions a quick glance. They were also cornered.
The blue-haired Exorcist — Xenovia — had an arm wrapped over her stomach while stabilizing her posture by leaning in her Excalibur fragment. She was panting heavily too. Regardless of her fatal condition, the fire in her eyes never faded away.
The Dragon was unfazed, not a single gash in those purple scales, "Your toothpick won't hurt me. While I'm a Devil, I'm a Dragon, too. You should be in awe."
The orange-haired Exorcist was in deeper trouble to the point that she even lost the will of her body. Literally. Irina's foe had stretched her own shadow to merge it with Irina's shadow. The only movements Irina were able to make were those that the blonde-haired girl makes. Irina became her puppet. Or how that creepy girl preferred to call it — her plaything.
Tendrils of darkness emerged from Irina's shadows and wrapped around her limbs, forcing her to drop down.
"S-stop…!" Irina could only control the muscles of her mouth — but pleas weren't enough to make the cynical Dhampir change her mind, "… please…!"
"I'm afraid I can't do that," Valerie declined her pleas, using a tendril to pick up the dropped Excalibur and toss it close to her feet, "Not until my master is done."
She was fighting a Dhampir, no doubt about it. Vampires didn't have shadows — but Dhampirs did.
Yuuto shook his head and focused on his shorter adversary. The former saint hadn't moved an inch from her spot, a hand gripped her banner while the other carried a holy sword — waiting for him to make a move. He bared his teeth and pushed onward, and steel clashed with force enough to sever a limb. For each collision of their swords — a rain of sparks soon followed after.
Joan of Arc brought her banner upwards and slammed it down like a hammer headbutting an anvil. Yuuto dodged the attack, but the shockwave and winds generated by it pushed him away, breaking his posture. The blonde girl quickly shortened distances and thrust her banner forward. Forced to be on the defensive and lacking time to dodge, Yuuto had to generate another sword and cross both blades for the collide. And to be expected, his demonic swords shattered like glass after absorbing the impact.
He created another one.
It shattered.
He created another one.
It shattered, too.
Another.
Broken.
But her holy sword didn't. Not a single chip of holy steel on the ground.
If he couldn't break a fake Holy Sword, how could he break a fragment of Excalibur?!
"Why won't you break?!" Yuuto roared out and forged another weapon, one whose main attribute was great durability, and parried her upcoming swing — he could feel the power behind the attack quivering his legs. Their swords wrestled. Holy and Demonic grinding one another for dominance — even a visible glow could be seen on their respective blades.
She doubled the strength in her arm, forcing Yuuto to kneel, "You need to understand that the one at fault isn't the sword, but the hand that wields it. A holy sword wasn't even the cause that killed all those poor children, to begin with. They were all poisoned."
"I don't want to hear any words coming from you!"
The two fighters pushed against each other until the former saint forced Isaiah's sword aside and made an opening. She delivered a crushing riposte, thrusting with the sharp tip of her banner towards his leg. She delivered a devastating kick to his midriff — freeing her standard and watching as the knight impacted into a tree.
Yuuto rose unsteadily to his feet, it was against his legs' will to be moving now that he was deeply bruised and poisoned by holy energy, but a part of him was still prone to fight until his body dissolved away. Call it stubbornness, vengeance or adrenaline rush — Yuuto didn't care which was the main factor. All that mattered was making sure this lingering goal would linger no longer.
"You're passing through a sense of deep guilt that came from surviving," Jeanne kept her gaze trained over his shaky figure, "You blame yourself. You wish you could travel back in time and prevent all the havoc… I can relate to that."
Oh boy, he had the accurate words to retaliate on her — but what he'd lacked was the competence and stamina to do so. All unwisely spent on creating a disgusting sword and limping tediously in her direction. Shallow breaths, cold sweat, and blurry vision. The holy energy traveling in his veins was already making effects… and he still carried on.
They stood face to face, Yuuto shakily brought his sword upwards and Jeanne did nothing in return — following his actions fixedly. In the end, the leftover embers blazing within him burned out and his eyes rolled at the back of his skull. It didn't take a genius to figure out what happened next.
Jeanne heaved a sigh as her banner and sword vanished. The fight was one-sided and they both knew it. The end of this duel would end in her favor.
Her gaze settled over the defeated fighter — pity and remorse fluttering her stomach. This match didn't feel like an achievement worthy of a party — even less to remember. It was worthless. A waste of time. This wasn't the results she was anticipating.
"Valerie," Jeanne's heart skipped a beat once she felt a pair of hands softly rubbing her shoulders. She looked behind once she'd recognized the familiar voice of her king, "Heal the boy and let the girl go."
The Dhampir pursed her lips as she nodded, stretching her shadows over the unconscious boy while freeing her captive from her prison.
Irina sighed with relief and massaged her wrists, muttering prayers and gratitude — whether it was directed for the Biblical God or Danhauser remained a mystery.
Without breaking apart from Jeanne, Danhauser gestured Xenovia with his chin, "It's finished. Kokabiel has been taken care off and the Excalibur fragments are safe. Valper is in there, too, all tied-up."
Xenovia's eyes grew wide, "You… defeated the cadre?"
"We. My peerage, like always, helped me out," Danhauser retorted, "The Excaliburs are in the abandoned church. If you want them — you're free to retrieve them."
"… In exchange for what?"
"In exchange, I want you, your friend, and Gabriel to join my harem," Danhauser rolled his eyes at her wariness, "I said 'you're free to retrieve them' didn't I?"
Xenovia gave a slow nod.
"Then get moving," Danhauser brought pressure on them, "Unless I should keep them for myself? They would make a fine addition to my collection..."
Regardless of the serious tension, Jeanne had to giggle quietly at her master's choice of words. "That was awful, Dan."
He winked down at her, "At least I made you smile."
Xenovia and Irina were quick to obey, but before they could walk pass Danhauser and Jeanne, he stopped them by placing a firm hand on their shoulders, "Once done, you two will come with me, understood?"
Irina and Xenovia exchanged glances. Could they listen? Then they quickly looked over him and slowly nodded before their second thoughts got the better of them. They had already noted that he wasn't someone who would take a no as an answer.
He left them go after witnessing their reluctant responses, no bringing up any arguments. Once they were out of sight, he focused on his peerage members, "Are you three alright?"
"We're fine," Bova folded his arms and blew smoke from his nose, "… just bored. I wished they could keep up with us, keep my blood pumping."
Danhauser chuckled, "One day, big boy."
"What about you?" Valerie shifted closer and orbed around him like a shark, trying to spot the smallest wound on his body, "… no damage left in you I hope?"
"Just a little exhausted," Danhauser rolled the numbness of his shoulder away, "… and a headache. Other than that, I'm all good. No broken bones and no bleeding."
"What now?" Jeanne asked.
"Now we wait until Azazel sends someone to pick up Kokabiel," Danhauser's eyes roamed over the unconscious boy, "… then we'll have to deliver Rias' cute servant."
Valerie folded her arms, "What of the exorcists? Are you going to let them go like that? Without any punishment?"
Danhauser raised an eyebrow, "I think the fight they had with you three was a good punishment. "
"It wasn't enough. They… they deserved more for how the acted back in your office…"
He placed a hand on his hip, eyes narrowed, "So they did say something bad at you too."
"They did, but nothing that could offend me, but you…" she hugged herself, averting her gaze, "W-what frustrates me is seeing people blaming you with blatant lies… all you did was protect your family and nothing else."
…
"… It's more than that," Danhauser finally reached out for Yuuto and placed him on his shoulder, "Azazel may take his sweet time on retrieving Kokabiel for good… let's go to the abandoned church."
Jeanne pursed her lips, hesitant, "Isn't there where Xenovia and Irina are heading?"
"So what?" Bova scoffed, turning back into his Chibi Dragon, "We can take them out easily."
"Bova's right, they're not a threat anymore," Danhauser assured her, "Siegfried is keeping an eye on Asia Argento in the church, hence I want to go there… I want to take her and Yuuto to the school infirmary."
Jeanne nodded and hugged Bova close to her — the dragon didn't offer any resistance, "An idea I can get behind. I'll follow you, Dan."
"Once I have them both, you and Bova will follow Siegfried, he'll take you where Tobio is," Danhauser smiled at the grumpy Dhampir, "You and me will head back to Kuoh Academy, where you can pay Gasper a visit."
All bitterness wrinkled on her face was easily washed off by excitement.
Danhauser just knew which buttons he had to press.
.
.
The walk back to Kuoh Academy was awkward, mostly because Valerie hadn't faded her resentful glare over their companions, the Exorcist Duo. The tenseness had increased tenfold because the aura that emitted from the Excalibur fragments that were held by the warriors of the Vatican. Just as how Valerie felt threatened by the holy swords, Irina felt threatened by the hard gaze.
After entering the gates of Kuoh Academy, Danhauser first went to his office to give a report to the leaders of the Underworld via magic circles. The Ouroboros snake that the Old Satan Faction gave to him plus the invasion that Kokabiel had waged made each leader of the Biblical Faction put an end to this.
A peace treaty was coming. Danhauser was both relieved and happy to hear the relieving news from Ajuka.
With nothing else to add, he guided the girls to the infirmary room, once again submerged in cold silence. Xenovia wasn't affected by Valerie's stare, but Irina was a different story — especially when she was the one who had a taste of Valerie's capabilities and powers over shadows.
Of course, all that cold and hostile aura that encased around Valerie had dismissed once she'd spotted her childhood friend inside the infirmary room — Gasper. The two hybrids never had wasted any bated breath to embrace one another after being separated for years.
Gasper was wearing a paper bag, too.
Danhauser chuckled as he pictured the crocodile tears dripping inside Gasper's paper bag. The mutated Bishop sat on Valerie's legs, hugging her tightly and crying all his emotions out.
"Aww, right away you turned into such a baby," Valerie cooed, sitting on the infirmary bed while taking off his paper mask, "… but it suits you. You look cute when you're sad."
"I-I've missed you so muuuuuch….!"
"I've missed you too, you crybaby."
[Ah, so this is where a portion of my power and consciousness went,]Valerie heard its drowsy voice echoing in her head, [Hmm-hmm-hmm. Indeed, he is I and I am he.]
Valerie's instincts were set ablaze, "Leave Gasper out of this!"
[Of course, you defend him. But it's futile. We are one now, two minds sharing one body.]
Her teeth clenched once it finally left. Whenever it wanted, it stuck to her like glue. The only days she was spared from its unwelcomed presence was whenever she was asleep or nothing interesting developed during the day to pique the eldritch abomination's interest.
It was identical as being in a prison, and that thing being her warden when it should be the other way around. After all, she was the inheritor of the Sephiroth Graal — granting her governorship over the Secluded World and the spirits locked within the grail — who were waiting to be judge and being sent whether in hell or heaven.
That was the supposed responsibility whom anyone possessed the Sephiroth Graal. A duty she never wanted — but destiny couldn't care less for her wishes.
But rules changed now that it began taking an active role by devouring the crying souls dwelling within the Secluded World. At least she hadn't seen the dead from the other world.
From the other side, Rias, Koneko and Issei were keeping a sleeping Yuuto company. The white-haired Nekomata had her lower lip quivering at the sight of her friend. Issei, on the other hand, looked troubled, he didn't know if to keep company over the Casanova or the nun. Sure as hell, whenever his brown eyes locked with Yuuto, a wave of rage dwelled within his chest.
"To think that this is where the former Holy Maiden disappeared," Xenovia noted as she studied the sleepy blonde girl, "… Kuoh Town is a bizarre place."
Danhauser felt a tap on his shoulder and glanced over the owner, "Something wrong?"
Sona brushed a few strands of her behind her ear, "… So, it is true? A meeting with the leaders of Grigori and Heaven will happen?"
"Absolutely," Danhauser said before sparing a look at Asia who'd laid unconscious in one of the many beds, "… Maou Beelzebub told me a meeting is being organized as we speak."
"Those… are actually shocking news," it was a first time when Danhauser had seen Sona this shocked, "Maybe this senseless war will be over now."
"Until then, let's just keep our fingers."
Without breaking away for her knight, Rias took a breath, collecting her thoughts, "All this happened in a single day. Vice-Principal, you really are fast dealing with all possible threats within the vicinity."
"Getting in the territory of my cousin just to bring trouble is not something I'll tolerate."
"Putting that aside, you have my thanks for rescuing my servant, Vice-Principal," Rias finally faced him a small smile, "I was getting nervous after the scene he made."
"Yes," Koneko bowed her head a little, "… Thank you, Vice-Principal."
"O-oh, yeah!" Issei grinned as he nodded with gratitude at the gray-haired Devil, "He's a handsome bastard, but sure as hell can act like an idiot most of the time! Thank you for bringing the sleeping beauty back and keeping Asia safe, Vice-Principal!"
Now, this is where Danhauser was curious. Yuuto didn't have this time the chance to destroy any of the Excalibur Fragments nor reconcile with the spirits of his long lost friend that were subjects of the Holy Sword Project. He believed he didn't see Jeanne's fight as a lesson to move on with life. In fact, he could be on another spree once he had awakened.
Danhauser replied once he'd felt Rias' patient stare, "Glad I could help… just make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."
"What are Irina and I doing here, again?" Xenovia annexed herself in the conversation, "We have no reason to stay here."
"There's going to be a peace treaty," Danhauser kept them updated, " I was informed that the… Archangel will come up here to signing up the treaty between the Three Factions. You two will act as their bodyguards."
"I see."
"That's it?" Danhauser smirked daringly at the bluenette, "nothing against their decision?"
"… If they believe this is for the best for us then I'm fine with it," Xenovia gazed down at the floor, "I wonder why the Lord didn't come to the meeting rather than sending the Archangel?"
Danhauser remained silent.
"Don't be silly, Xenovia!" Irina playfully bonked her partner in the head, "He must be occupied spreading miracles and answering our prayers!"
"Ah, indeed," Xenovia glared at her partner's unwanted gesture, "His agenda must be quite full."
Sona once again gained his attention, "While it is impressive your peerage and you defeated a cadre, it would be wise to keep us informed. Next time, we'd love to help out in any way."
"No. You two will just get in the way."
Koneko frowned, somewhat offended.
Rias felt her fingers dug on her palms, "… Don't speak ill of our strength, please."
"Come on, Vice-Principal," Issei said, not wishing to disturb the man who'd saved both of his friends, "… President always makes us train each morning, you know? Maybe we're not as strong as you… but still… we can kick some ass, too…"
"I never spoke ill about your abilities," Danhauser retorted unbroken despite Rias' warning, "I just prefer keeping other people away from trouble and not carry any responsibility on my shoulders."
"Vice-Principal, we can take care of ourselves too. We're not damsels in distress," Sona pushed her glasses up, "You shouldn't overwork yourself, either. It sometimes makes us worry."
The disarming chuckle of Danhauser surprised them, "I expected Cleria saying this, but hearing this from you is hard to believe, Sona. I appreciate your concern, but you're not changing my mind."
Sona shook head in silent disagreement.
"Say, you two are ready for the Class Observation Day? You bet I am," Danhauser quickly tackled another topic, "… I bet you ladies are excited too."
The two heiresses paled in horror.
Issei's eyes widened out.
Danhauser laughed at their expected reactions, "What's with the faces? Aren't you two excited to see your family?"
"I can't believe you're not nervous," no matter how hard Sona tried to get inside his head, she'd found him impossible to relate with, "… are you not frightened that your family may embarrass you in front of so many people?"
"Obviously," Danhauser shrugged, "But they do it because they love me."
"I love my family as well but… I can't get in your shoes, Vice-Principal," Rias massaged her temple, "If I were to get publicly humiliated… I'd do anything for the ground to swallow me whole!"
"You girls are just overreacting."
[We're not!]
Xenovia blinked owlishly.
"Yes, you two are," Danhauser deadpanned at them, "Cleria literally teases me whenever the opportunity arises. Roygun, too. I'm still sane after living with them for years… I think."
"I almost forgot about it!" Issei finally escaped from his stupor, "Crap! I need to tell mom and dad! They'll get pissed if I don't!"
Danhauser smiled at his frightened state, "See? Even Hyoudou is looking forward to the event. You two could learn a page or two from him."
"Okay, fine," Rias licked her lips and folded her arms under her large breasts, "Can we at least be the ones leaving the message?"
"Yeah, nice try," Danhauser wasn't reincarnated yesterday to fall in the cheapest trick ever, "Sorry, but that won't happen. I'll report it myself."
Speaking of reports, he needed to make one for Shalba as well to reveal him about the confirmed Peace Treaty. He preferred if someone of the Old Satan Faction disappeared from the map like in the Light Novels — even better, the three of them. If there was one thing Danhauser refused to change was achieving peace for the Biblical Faction.
"This is where I'll take my leave. I'm going to speak up with someone," he brushed a few strands of golden hair away from Asia's face before nodding at Valerie, "Are you coming? Or you're going to spend more time with Gasper?"
Valerie blinded him with a shy smile, embracing the trap tightly, "I'd love to stay more with Gasper."
"Hey, don't sweat it — Little Missus. I'll pick you up later then. Have fun," He then turned to Issei, "Can I entrust you with Asia?"
The brunet had to point himself to make sure the Vice-Principal was speaking to him. He finally flickered a thumbs-up with a toothy grin, "I won't disappoint you, Vice-Principal!"
Once Danhauser left the room, the redhead 's shoulder slumped, "… He's terrible. He really knows how uncomfortable our family can make us all the time and he still will let them come."
"… Some Vice-Principals just want to watch the world burn," Koneko said.
"Even so, there's nothing much we can do, he's in charge and above us — second only to the Principal," Sona said while paling whenever her mind created possible future events that involved her eccentric sister in public, "… All we can do now is stay strong, endure the whole day and wait for the worst to finish."
Irina watched carefully as Valerie pulled the cheeks of Gasper before saying, "You weren't holding back with your shadows, you know?" her throat clasped at the flashback, "… You almost broke me."
"I was about to do it, but I contained myself," Valerie said with a macabre smile, "I always wanted to witness how much a spine could bend until it split apart."
"O-oh y-yeah!" Irina forced a hearty laugh, sweating profusely, "I-I… sometimes think about it too..."
"Ehehehe…"
Irina spotted Xenovia reaching out for the exit, "Where are you going? Shouldn't we stay here?"
"You heard him, didn't you? We have to stay in Kuoh, not necessarily here in this room," Xenovia stated while unlocking the door, "While we're on this town, I'd like to see where you grew up, Irina."
Irina's eyes were sparkling at this point, she was so sold already, "Oh! I wouldn't mind giving you a tour over Kuoh! Who knows? We may find new stuff as well!"
As the Exorcist duo opted to leave, Irina spun and winked at Issei, "We're lucky that a peace treaty is gonna happen, don't you think, Ise? We have to catch up one day, okay?"
"Yeah, sure," Issei mumbled, "Dad and mom would like to hear your tales, too."
"Then it's decided! See ya, Ise!"
Issei could only clumsily wave at her childhood friend, the one he'd believed was a boy. She even played and acted like a boy. Time surely changed people physically and mentally —her boobs were a nod to his statement.
"Aside from the Class Observation Day and the Peace Treaty, the Underworld is preparing the Young Devil Gathering," Rias eyed her childhood friend questioningly, "Do you have anything useful to counter Vice-Principal?"
"Is he admitted to the Youth Devil Gathering in the first place?" Sona questioned, "Clan Belial is a Lesser King if my memory serves me right. Lesser Housecarls can't be invited to the ceremony."
"Let's imagine he is. Do you have anything?"
Sona slowly shook her head, "I… don't have much," her pointed gaze darted over Valerie toying with Gasper in the background, "… I have cramped clues from the fight he had against Raiser four years ago… which, technically, is still useless as the Vice-Principal defeated most of Raiser's peerage by himself. I need to understand how each of them fights to plan effective tactics and counterattacks."
"Whaaaat?!" Issei's mouth hung open, "H-He defeated all of them by himself?! Is he really that strong?!"
Rias bit her lower lip, contemplating carefully her next answer, "… He left Raiser shell-shocked and traumatized after the time they'd fought. Right now, he's in the highest tier of High-class. I sometimes doubt he and Sairaorg are from our generation…"
"To give you a scale, his power equals or surpasses that of Rias' cousin, Sairaorg," Sona added afterward, "If the Strongest Youth is a 'battle maniac', then Vice-Principal is a 'training maniac'."
"Sairaorg…" Issei repeated the name a few times and did a double-take, "Sairaorg is the man that had visited you before we went to train for our first Rating Game… right?"
"Yes," Rias sighed before flashing a charming smile that made Issei blush a little, "but don't worry about the Vice-Principal. While he certainly deserves a spot on the gathering… he wasn't invited."
He peeked down at the back of his palm with mixed emotions. Even so, he couldn't help but be impressed by the limited information that both heiresses had distributed. To think it took them many sacrifices and time to defeat Raiser on their first Rating Game. It made him happy that they were victorious, but it wasn't a secured win, the risk of losing was lingering in their minds and they were almost imprisoned by such negative thoughts.
He wished he could have helped more during the match, especially when they had discovered that his Sacred Gear wasn't a mere Twice Critical, but one of the thirteen Longinus that housed one of the Heavenly Dragons. Gasper was the MVP throughout the bout.
His self-esteem decreased once he'd pictured the Vice-Principal defeating singlehandedly Raiser and his servants. He'd sell his soul just to be him for one day, to walk in those shoes instead of his own. To envision what's to be powerful and ensure victory without screw-ups. To keep President safe.
Issei finally looked up with determination, his strong gaze fixated over the asleep Yuuto, "Hey, Prince Charming, wake up fast, alright? President needs us more than ever. We gotta do our best in the Youth Gathering to represent the Gremory Clan!"
To his surprise, Koneko shared the same sentiment, "Yes… he's right. Please, wake up soon. We miss you."
The stoic girl couldn't help but smile lightly, "You have good servants, Rias."
Rias couldn't agree more.
.
.
"What do you want?"
"It's been a while and It'd be a joy to catch up with you but I'm here for different matters. My Lord is interested in forming an alliance with you."
"As if we would accept working with the cowards of Khaos Brigade, go back and scurry to your shadows like the filthy rats you each are. We got this from here."
"Is that so? You think any of you stand a chance against that poor imitation of Lucifer?"
"My agent already told us their next move and we formulated an efficient plan. The true Maous will reclaim the throne of the Underworld that was once unrightfully stolen by the Anti-Maou Faction, regardless if the citizens are against it."
"Get off your high horse already. Just because he prefers to solve everything peacefully, my… brother-in-law can be troublesome once he gets serious — even the snakes of Ouroboros won't change the outcome."
"Do not speak ill of our strength. We don't need the assistance of that pathetic excuse that you adore so much placing on a pedestal."
"I prefer if you stopped insulting my Lord and start showing him the respect he deserves."
"Respect? It was because of him our golden age crumbled to ashes! Thanks to him, we lost control of the Underworld millennia ago! He's hidden himself and did not participate in a battle that warped the Underworld!"
"My Lord wasn't in good health back then."
"Deceit! Pure lies! The pathetic excuse Rizevim came up with was being disinterested in governing the Underworld with the other Satan Houses! Shoving all the responsibility on the shoulders of my Housecarl!"
…
"… You don't like me. You don't like my Lord either. You have no reason to like us. Not at all. But you don't have to like us to achieve the results you desire."
"You're unbelievable. What the likes of you can offer us, the True Satan Faction, to change our minds?"
"What you are desperately striving for: a legion."
"Let me guess, your 'legion' are those Stray Magicians of the Nilrem Faction? Why would I recruit trash in my ranks? Those 'pitiful' magicians are nothing but expendable in the face of enemy fire — meat-shields."
"No. What I offer you are pure Devils. A lot of them. Obeying every command of yours without raising any arguments."
"… the Lucifuge Clan truly has a lying tongue, don't they? I should yank it out with my own hands!"
"I promise you. Accept my offer and be victorious or die and be forgotten."
…
…
…
"… I'm listening."
.
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I brought this fic upon this cursed land on May 9 2017, we're now on June 9 2019, you know what that means right?
I totally forgot the birthday of my ugly baby. I'm a good dad. If it wasn't by a PM that I received I would still be clueless, thank you (you know who I'm talking with.
But as well it's the 2-year late anniversary of my fic. To think that I would be on this website and still writing this fic surprised me, especially when I noticed how much favorite and follows I have. I rarely say it because I'm shy, but thank you for the great support that you guys gave me since 2017.
I'll continue writing this fic until we reach its end as a token of gratitude. Thankfully, I have everything planned for the future arcs, which, will be more with my plot telling rather than going with canon.
Also, I'd like to apologize if this chapter seemed a bit bashing. I just got in the shoes of the characters and imagine them to say that.
Moving on, next chapter is gonna be a calm before the storm and more lighthearted.
Serafall is going to show up, that's all you need to know.
BTW, for those who are curious, in my profile I have clues of Danhauser's future peerage members. All of them. Full peerage. As well as how many words I had written so far for the next chapter. If my profile, by no means, is not update for a long year. Then I'm ded.
Life.4: The Archangel, Michael
