Minato x Ophis snippets

by Angel of light darkness

wrote a couple omakes/snippets that shipped Minato from Persona 3 with Ophis from DxD. Figure I'd repost them from DaD Forum Omake section. MessiahXDragon snippet series: ongoing.

28. MessiahXDragon: Changing Tides

Author Note: And now we begin a new arc.

---

Changing tides.

"So, care to explain what happened back there?" Minato asked the exorcist and Fallen Angel looking at him, the breeze he felt on his legs as he still wore the maid outfit from work did little to distract him.

"I apologize for my outburst, Lord Phanuel" the exorcist said, about to bow his head before Minato's words telling them to stop bowing or kneeling came to the forefront of his mind "I was, just shocked to find you" his eyes glanced to the back door of the café "In here of all places" his eyes trailed over to Minato, looking at his legs first before looking p to meet his gaze "Or, wearing that"

"I'll be honest, I didn't expect to see any of you again after what happened" Minato said as he placed one of his hands in his apron pocket and let it rest there, looking over the two he considered his next words "So, who are you and what have you been up to?"

The two weren't expecting that question so it took a moment for one of them to answer, the exorcist placed a hand over his chest as he introduced himself.

"I am Nero, former priest of the church and currently a rogue exorcist. I've mainly been keeping an eye on-" Nero paused for a moment, rubbing his shaven head "-one of my fellows in another town outside of Kuoh, I intended to leave and return to Europe once things here were settled. But, as they say, if you wish to make God laugh then tell him your plans"

Minato turned to Fallen Angel, who stiffened once his eyes were on her.

[1] "I-I am Mittelt, I have flown through this world for little over five centuries" She stuttered out.

'Five centuries? Young for an Angel, even for one that has Fallen. Unless' Minato paused for a moment as he looked directly into Mittelt eyes, and through his own his Angelic Personas gazed into her soul, and found what he was looking for. Or rather, the lack of something.

'Both her parents are Fallen Angels, she was made through the union of Man and Woman rather than through God directly' Minato titled his head as he looked at Mittelt, the opinion of several Angelic Personas regarding the Fallen before them changing. For Mittelt had not turn her back to the Lord but rather her parents had and she had inherited their nature as one Fallen from Grace.

She pulled up the sleeve of her dress to show a faint symbol on her right lower bicep, looking directly at the same will cause it to glow in the person's eyes with a message telling that the one banded this mark was on a pilgrimage of repentance.

"I've mostly kept my head down, we've all had" Mittelt winced as she looked conflicted before steeling herself "After what happened we four Fallen went our separate ways, I have no idea what became of either Raynare or Kalawarner as they went on their own leaving me and Dohnaseek behind. We were talking about what to do next, until other Fallen Angels tracked us down"

Minato said nothing, merely nodding to let Mittelt know he was listening.

"We managed to keep the fact we didn't have access to our magic hidden, barely" She lowered her sleeve "Me and Dohnaseek gave in a fake report saying the Peerages of Gremory and Sitri forced us out of Kuoh Town, we thought it best not to mention your involvement" Mittelt looked to Minato with an uncertain look "Unless, did you want others to know?"

Minato shook his head "No, I don't. Thank you for keeping my involvement hidden as it simplifies things greatly"

Mittelt let out a sigh of relief "That's good, and it actually works to our advantage with what's going to happen"

A slight narrowing of his eyes was Minato's only response to Mittelt's words, he could tell already that they had bad news for him. Seeing his expression the two began to explain why they were back in Kuoh Town.

[2] "A rogue splinter group of Fallen Angels are planning to attack Kuoh Town in a few short weeks" Nero said, his voice cold with far less emotion in it than there was before, like a soldier giving in a report from the battlefield "The primary objective is the assassination of both the Gremory heiress and Sitri heiress to reignite tensions between the Factions, after using the distraction the Gremory and Phenex Rating Game provided to set things into action, the reason for this madness is to continue the Great War proper instead of the current state of proxy battles and tendinous treaties"

The hand in Minato's pocket clenched into a fist as he heard those words "In other words, this plan is essentially turning this supernatural Cold War into World War Three"

"Effectively, yes" Nero said, his eyes glancing around them for a moment in case anyone was watching them before continuing "The splinter group is being led by one of the leading Fallen Angels of the Grigori, one who happens to be warmonger"

"And this Fallen is?"

"Kokabiel" Mittelt said with a tinge of fear and respect in her voice.

"Angel of the stars, the star of God who taught astrology" Minato said mostly to himself before leaning against a wall "He wouldn't have been my first guess" he closed his eyes for a moment, already having an idea of why they were here "Just so there's no misunderstanding, what do you want me to do"

Mittelt mouth closed shut as did Nero's, both looking to the other for guidance only to find they were both experiencing the same problem. Nero turned back to Minato with his head held high.

"We didn't come here with specific ideas, merely that you help stop this from happening" Nero said, meeting Minato gaze "This is an extremely perilous situation that if it goes on for too long it risks restarting the war between the Factions and dragging the entire world into it, even the mundane world will not be spared as conflict will spill over"

"Okay" Minato said with a nod as he moved away from the wall.

"I, I don't know who or what you really are" Mittelt said, a shaking in her voice that quickly faded as it became steady "Phanuel was said to have died early on in the Great War, no one is sure who killed them as Phanuel was trying to make peace between groups of Angels and Fallen, and it's more of a feeling that told me what I was seeing" she took a deep breath before continuing "Whether your Archangel Phanuel reborn as a human, a human who got a Sacred Gear with Phanuel's power or something else entirely all I know for sure is that we need your help to stop this madness!"

"...I already agreed to help, I said okay" Minato said, giving the two a comforting smile that eased their nerves as the two let out the breathes they were holding. The smile became a thin line quickly as he looked between the two "What do you know?"

Nero looked away before pointing at Mittelt with his thumb "She knows more than me, even as weak as she is now the little grandma is still a Fallen"

Mittelt got an annoyed look and seemed ready to fire back with a retort of her own before both of them felt a heavy presence fall on their shoulders. Both Fallen Angel and Stray Exorcist turned to see Minato giving them a cold look that told them to stop fooling around and act professionally, something the two did without a second thought.

Another mad man was trying to destroy the world and Minato needed to know how long they had.

Unbeknownst to them, someone was listening in. Satou was forced to turn away as two different conversations were overlapping each other, just listening to it gave her a headache. However, through the jumble of words she was able to hear one clearly and Satou asked herself what Kokabiel meant.

-=-][-=-

Two weeks.

That was how long they had to prepare, Kokabiel sent agents to collect specific items for this plan of his and it would be some time before they would return. In the meantime Mittelt and Nero along with other stray exorcists that had previously made Kuoh Town their base of operations settled in a new place to squat, this time an abandoned museum that used to be someone's house since the church was already known by the local Devils.

Their mission was to monitor things and to secure routes into Kuoh Town but no routes out, Kokabiel had every intention of letting everyone know who was responsible for the murder of two heiresses and had no intentions of running.

Speaking of whom, Minato wasn't sure how to handle them. He needed to talk with someone and right now there was only one person he could really talk to.

"Restarting the war?" Ophis asked to make sure she was hearing Minato right, to which he nodded much to the dragon god's displeasure. She remembered the near constant noise she had to suffer due to the war between the various Factions, she only tolerated it due the possibility it would help her find those capable of helping her defeat Great Red.

And while she did find such individuals they were too wrapped up in their war to offer her any aid, at least Heaven's leader gave her a snack when she went to him. That was one of the first things Ophis learnt of the world they were in, war is a very costly endeavour and it would kick out from under her much of her recently gain resources.

There was no guarantee Minato would come out of it unscathed either, from what she has seen, he has more than enough power to survive if the war restarted but possible injuries and enemies he would gain was a sure thing.

And, if they were able to hurt him bad enough to-

Ophis cut off that line of thought, not wanting to continue down it, and instead refocused on the current conversation "What, are you going to do?"

Minato was silent for a moment as he considered his options "Their not strong enough to go up against this, this is an enemy they have no knowledge of who outstrips them in experience, power and likely planning given they certainly saw the Rating Game they had" letting out a sigh he rubbed his temples as he could already feel a headache coming "I'll need to speak with them tomorrow before I decide on a course of action"

"Your going to tell them of the assassination" Ophis said to make sure she understood what Minato was planning.

Minato shook his head "No, at least not until after I'm sure what they will do after I tell them The situation can get out of hand depending on how they act" he already planned to speak to Sona about his payment for training her team and given how needy the Occult Research Club has been with him Minato doubted he would have to wait long before one of them walked up to him.

"All I want is the chance to live a normal life, not having to deal with the End of the World" Minato said under his breath, his internal thoughts leaking out.

Hearing this and seeing Minato as stressed as he was Ophis thought about what she could do to help her friend, remembering something she saw she got an idea of how to help Minato right this moment "Hey, I want to try something?"

Minato gave Ophis a puzzled look but nodded anyway, wanting a momentary distraction from the possible disaster fast approaching them.

Moments later both Minato and Ophis were on the couch with Minato's head on Ophis's lap, the migraine from earlier disappearing entirely.

"Better?" the dragon god asked, already having an idea to what the answer might be from Minato's expression but she wanted to hear it from him.

"Yes, much better. Thank you" Minato said, a smile on his lips.

A smile Ophis returned as she put a hand on Minato's head "I'm glad" the two laid like that for a long while with Ophis lightly tussling Minato's hair, the experience being just as comforting for Ophis as it was for Minato "If you need any help with this, don't hesitate to ask"

"Thanks, I'll really need it" Minato considered Ophis's offer before tentatively turning to look at her "Hey, if it's not too much trouble to be specific. Could you avoid anything that's holy or demonic, something like those would more likely escalate things"

Ophis nodded "So, whatever I give, it must be neither divine or demonic. What about trained humans with Sacred Gears?"

Minato nodded, feeling himself starting to drift off "That sounds perfect"

Ophis considered the limitations on what aid she could offer, her thoughts turn to acquiring allies from the Hero Faction to help. She'll have to avoid those with Longinus Sacred Gears or the Hero Faction's leadership, they would draw too much attention, even so there was no shortage of humans with Sacred Gears in that Faction.

She just needs to make sure they keep quiet about the mission she'll give them.

Elsewhere, a small team of Hero Faction members shivered as they felt some level of misfortune awaited them in the near future.

-=-][-=-

"I'm sorry, you want what?" Sona asked in wide eyed surprise.

In the Kuoh Academy Student Council Room, Minato and Sona sat across from one another with a chess board between them. Sona was intending to play a game with Minato to help get a better grasp of his character, however after what he just said a part of her wasn't sure if they had time for it.

"I want ownership of the abandoned church the small group of Fallen were using, the building and the grounds surrounding it" Minato said, reiterating what he wanted as payment and making sure to mention he wanted the grounds surrounding the buildings as well. He knew gaining ownership wouldn't be easy, but he wasn't sure how hard it was going to be "Is there a problem?"

"I'm, not sure. I think there was a clause regarding that church and the area around it" Sona answered as she furrowed her brow and lowered her as she searched her memories for a specific clause involved in the Kuoh Town contracts "Despite being in Devil Territory that church isn't a part of it, same with Shinto Shrines, all religiously significant areas belong to the pantheons connected to them"

Minato frowned at Sona's words, seeing this she quickly brought up the clause she mentioned moments ago.

"But, while we can't give you it directly I can get into talks with those who can push the transfer through" Sona added, already not looking forward to speaking with the Shinto Faction or anyone connected to the Church "Although, I will need to know what you plan to do with it because they will ask questions on it?"

"I'm planning to convert it into a home for people to live in" Minato answered as he brought out some rough sketches he had on the changes needed for the conversion "I plan to make as little changes as possible and to preserve much of the iconography as possible, even repairing or replacing anything damaged due to previous… occupants"

Sona looked over the designs with a careful eye, while she had no experience in architecture in any form she could see the amount of detail used in the blueprints "If your looking for property, we could get you something nicer than the abandoned church" she put the plans down as she looked into Minato's eyes, despite her best efforts she still had trouble reading him "Unless, there's a special reason you want the church"

"Be honest with me, what are the chances of that church being left to rot?" Sona winced at Minato's question, her reaction being enough of an answer for him "I see, considering the state of the outside I guessed it had been abandoned for a number of years. And given the damage done to the interior by the Fallen it's unlikely for it to be used for weddings or photo shoots, I don't doubt people may even begin to think of it as a hangout for gangs"

He let his words sink in for a moment before continuing with a shrug "This way, the grounds and building can be maintained and offer a cute little place for tourists to stay for a few days"

"Well, if that's your intent I see no issue with this" Sona replied with a tiny smile, happy to have something to work with "In fact, I suspect the church would even be happy with this turn of events especially consider how it has been abandoned for years after what happened"

Minato looked to Sona surprised, though he kept his reaction mild "You know why it was abandoned?"

"Of course, I and Rias were told of what happened due to it involving the previous overseer of Kuoh Town" Sona answered calmly, looking up she smirked as she knew she had the Tamer's interest.

Sona told Minato of what happened during a game of chess, she was still insistent in having one, she told him of a Devil and her exorcist lover. Cleria Belial, the previous overseer of Kuoh Town, fell in love with an exorcist that lived in Kuoh Town with the exorcist, Masaomi Yaegaki, reciprocating her feelings.

The two did their best to keep their love hidden as it would upset the status quo but in the end they were found out and killed, Kuoh Town was left without an Overseer for years as no Devil wanted to touch it after Cleria's death and Masaomi's teammate left Kuoh Town for Europe. Pretty much everyone expected Kuoh Town to fall back under the sole ownership of the Shinto Faction after a few years had, until two specific Devil Heiress came looking to take over the only Devil Territory in Japan little over half a decade later.

"And that's pretty much why the church had been abandoned for so long, there's rumours they both died there but I can't be certain on that" Sona looked over to Minato to see him staring at her intently "It's your move"

Minato looked down at the board for a minute before moving his rook to cut off the advance of Sona's Knight 'That doesn't make sense' he thought to himself as he watched Sona move one of her few remaining Pawns "I'm guessing you and Rias had a special reason for picking Kuoh Town, considering the reputation the area had gained"

"Truth is, I was a bit hesitate about coming here. But Rias was insistent about living in Japan" Sona gained a far off look in her eyes, memories of a younger Rias throwing a temper tantrum as she wanted to go to Japan for High School and College "But now, I couldn't picture of going anywhere, this town feels like home for me"

Minato gave Sona a smile while he internally winced "I'm happy to hear it. So, when do you think I can hear back on this matter?"

"I'll have an answer by tomorrow, leave the blueprints as chances are they will want copies to look over" Sona said, the Sitri heiress frowning as she lost the last of her pawns in the match.

"Thank you, and I'm really sorry" Minato got up from his seat to Sona's confusion "I'm really busy lately so I can't stay much longer, we can continue this game later"

Sona got to her feet quickly "Wait, there's something you need to know" she looked over to Tsubaki who locked the door to the Student Council room and placed a magic field over the room, one designed to hide any conversations taking place inside.

Minato looked to Tsubaki before turning his attention to Sona, he wasn't feeling any malicious intent from them so he assumed whatever they wanted to talk to him about was a very sensitive matter.

"Minato, do you know anyone by the name Haruto Suzuki?" seeing Minato shake his head the Sitri heiress explained the situation "Recently, a member of my peerage was summoned to fulfil a contract. The contractee is Haruto Suzuki, and while he was nervous with this being his first contract he eventually mention what he wanted"

She waited a moment to gauge his reaction, still not being able to pick up on anything Sona continued "He said you stole his girlfriend, saying you mentally broke her, and he wanted us to help him 'fix' her" Sona said, the quotation marks being made very clear "And making it so you would never bother them again, when asked for clarification he admitted that he wanted you dead" she leaned closer to Minato "I felt like I needed to tell you"

Minato sat back down into his chair, his mind a storm of thoughts as he was processing what he was just told. Wondering who 'Haruto' really was, his mind going straight to this being connected to Kokabiel's forces or perhaps the two unaccounted for Fallen were involved.

"Did he say anything else, like who is he talking about?" Minato asked, hoping that this whole thing was just a massive misunderstanding.

Sona adjusted her glasses "He mentioned that his girlfriend was called Satou, a first year in South Kuoh High School"

[3] Minato turned to Sona surprised "Wait, Satou? As in Satou Matsuzaka?"

"We didn't get a family name from him" Sona replied, her eyes narrowing slightly "Do you know this girl?"

"She's a friend, we work together at the same place" Minato answer, relieved that this didn't involve Fallen as far as he was aware but still worried for Satou's safety "Her ex thought we were seeing each other, he was convinced they were still together while Satou says they broke up. She talked to him about it and cleared things up, but I guess the guy didn't take the hint"

Sona nodded as she took in the information "Did you and he have any previous contact with one another, I just want to make sure I understand the whole situation"

"He waited for me outside the academy's gates and got in my face saying to stay away from his girlfriend, a number of other students saw him and when security came over he ran away" Minato said as he recounted the events of that particular day, no one heard what was said and most forgot about it in no time. They were more concerned with the famous and infamous members of their fellow students.

"I'll look over the security recordings from the front gate, see if I can spot Haruto" Tsubaki said, wanting to confirm for herself Minato's story.

"Minato, before you go there's one more detail you need to know" Sona said with a worried look "We had some familiars look over his home to see if we could find anything to help get a better picture of his mental state, we found caged animals with a reprinted spell book used to summon members of the Pillar clans with blood magic" she winced slightly, looking a little sick at the mention of blood magic but carried on "That doesn't point to anything good, be careful"

Minato nodded as he thanked Sona for the warning, once he left Sona looked at the chess board and saw how close Minato was to beating her. She put those thoughts aside as she turned her attention to what she needed to do, like calling up her sister to help her get in contact with the people needed for Minato's payment.

She also made a note about getting extra mundane security, something discreet so the students or any troublemakers wouldn't notice.

-=-][-=-

It didn't take long for Minato to run into a member of the Occult Research Club, which turned out to be Issei, and it took even less time for them to invite him to their clubroom, as he entered the clubroom Minato's eye noticed something in the corner of the room where Koneko stood.

After a moment of his eyes adjusting to the low light he could make it out to be a cardboard box, a rather big one with enough room for someone to fit inside. Minato wondered what could be in the box, jokingly suggesting it could have been a person.

Although, considering his time with the Occult Research Club Minato realize there was a better chance of a person actually being in the box than not.

"Hey, Gasper. Come on out and meet Minato here" Issei said, putting his hand on Minato's shoulder as he did so. At Issei's words the box shook but nothing else happened.

Koneko stepped forward and reached out towards the box "Sorry Gaspy, time to come out of your box"

"Wait! I don't want to come-" before the person inside the box could finish what they wanted to say the tiny Youkai turned Devil reached into the box and pulled the person out of it, holding them over her head for a moment before putting them back down a few feet away from the box with her staying behind the person.

Looking over the person literally placed in front of him Minato saw the standard Kuoh Academy girl's uniform with a pair of pink eyes staring at him with how nervous they were being as clear as day, from what little light there actually was in the room he could see the person had light hair but there wasn't enough to tell the actual colour.

Minato gave the unknown student a calm expression, giving them time to make the first move.

"H-hello, I'm Gasper Vladi, Bishop of Rias Gremory" The now named Gasper bowed his head, he didn't raise it afterwards.

Minato bowed his head "It's nice to meet you, Gasper. I hope Issei and Kiba have been treating you well, not giving the new guy too much trouble I hope"

Gasper's head snapped up to look at Minato with surprise clear on his face, from what he could see Koneko had a similar expression.

"WAIT, YOU CAN TELL GASPER IS A GUY!?" Issei's loud exclamation told Minato that he was also surprised, and that his yelling almost deafened Minato in one ear. Minato made sure to cover the ear closest to Issei and giving his junior hard look, he didn't look away even as the doors to the clubroom opened again as the rest walked in.

Once the club members had gather most sat down, Rias sitting at her desk with Akeno at her side while Minato sat on one couch with Issei and Asia while on the opposite sat Gasper, Koneko and Kiba.

They went over why they asked Minato to come over, this time it was to help train Gasper who happened to be in Rias's peerage longer than either Issei or Asia but due to his uncontrollable Sacred Gear he had to be sealed away until Rias's brother gave permission to undo the seal.

"So rather than you being the latest member of the Occult Research Club, you needed to be sealed away due to your power, and that's why you weren't around for the training camp or Rating Game" Minato frowned before looking to Gasper "If it's not too personal, what did you do in there?"

Gasper fidgeted a little at the question "Well, I was mainly on my computer. I attend classes online and performed contracts online"

"Little Gasper is actually the most successful out of everyone else in the peerage regarding contracts" Akeno added causing said bishop to blush at the praise.

Minato kept his eyes trained on Gasper, feeling bad for him as he was essentially imprisoned through no fault of his own because of a power he held "And, what exactly is your power Gasper?"

"It's my Sacred Gear, Forbidden Balor View" Gasper lower his head, keeping his eyes locked on the floor "I can freeze time for those I see, but I don't have a lot of control with it so I keep freeing people"

"Balor of the Evil Eye, king of the Fomorians, that's whose power resides in your Sacred Gear" Minato said with a wince, while he didn't want to admit it he could understand why they had to seal Gasper away. Though that beg the question of how long was Gasper sealed for and how much effort Rias put into proving herself to get the poor boy out "Did you inherit any vampiric abilities from one of you parents, if your Sacred Gear could function through your bats as well it could make for potent battlefield control"

Gasper's eyes widen in shock "Oh, I haven't actually thought of that. I didn't really try experimenting with my Sacred Gear due to-" he paused for a moment as he realized something "You, know I'm a Dhampir" at Minato's nod he continued "How could you tell!?"

"That or a human turned Vampire, Sacred Gears were designed for humans to wield and your eyes, ears, complexion and even fangs point to your vampiric origins" Minato listed the things that pointed to Gasper being a Dhampir, not mentioning how his various Personas pointed it out as soon as they saw Gasper.

Dracula and Camilia had very different reactions to the crossdressing hybrid, one of general confusion as the practice of boys wearing dresses ended after they were no longer children and amusement as she called Gasper a little doll she wanted to play with.

"Whoa, Tamers are kind of scary" Gasper whispered to himself.

Issei turned to Minato with a suspicious look "Senpai, you don't have some time of information gathering power do you?" Issei's eyes widen "Wait, is that how you knew Gasper was a boy!?"

"No, I just happen to be familiar with the traits of various species and worked with guys who crossdressed before" Minato replied, making sure to stop any perverted thoughts going through the minds of the Devils present "It's not some power, it's experience" he forced himself not to wince at Akeno's perverted giggling.

"Experience I'm hoping you could put to use once again" Rias said, finally weighing in on the conversation "I want to hire you again, officially this time, to help train us again. Mainly it's for Gasper's sake but we all agree that some proper training can do us a world of good"

Minato gave Rias a blank look "Is this because Sona and her Peerage kicked your butts" Rias expression didn't change, her smile unfaltering, but Minato had a feeling he hit the mark with that one.

He could feel all of them looking at him with expectations, in their minds he has already agreed to help them train again with Gasper in particular looking at him with a hint of desperation in his eyes. Out of everyone present he was someone that genuinely needed help to get his powers under control lest he runs the risk of being sealed away again, and that made what he had to do all the more harder.

"I'm sorry, I can't take you on at the moment" Minato bowed his head towards Gasper, the one who needed his help "I can offer suggestions and ideas to help with training at no cost, but nothing beyond that as I have other personal matters to deal with"

Looking over Minato saw how Gasper crestfallen he was, likely reassured by the others at him being able to help him get his power under control and built up the confidence to face him only to be denied.

It wasn't much later that everyone present save Minato and Rias stepped out of the clubroom, the Gremory heiress wanting to speak to her only Tamer in private.

"I'm guessing you've already spoken to Sona?" Rias said as the two were alone.

Minato nodded "You know about it too" he let out a sigh before continuing "Truth is, that's partially why I can't personally train Gasper, I have other stuff going on and that contract just added on to it"

"Out of curiosity, would you have agreed to help us train if not for the bad timing?" Rias asked suddenly, not knowing why she was asking at Minato answered her honestly.

"Of course" Rias smiled at his answer, a smile that hid further meaning that Minato couldn't place partially due to the darkened room. Seeing this as a good a time as any Minato steered the conversation away from Tamer business "Although, speaking of training when I went to Sona to discuss payment for me training her and her peerage she mentioned what became of Kuoh Town's previous Devil overseer"

The Gremory Heiress was caught completely flat footed, no one brought up the previous overseer without good reason not to mention what happen took place a decade ago, after regaining her bearings "Really, that's a very specific topic to land on"

"I stumbled my way into it, I was surprised Kuoh Town had such a tragic love story" Minato made sure to keep the conversation sounding causal "I'm surprised your parents let you settle here, though Sona assured me you were quite insistent about coming to Japan"

Even in the dim light Minato could pick up what he thought was a blush "Well, I was raised on stories from Japan and I wanted to spend my school years here" Rias replied, her answering making Minato think back to his friend from France Bebe before he refocused on the present "And, I'm happy to say it feels like home. Although; our families checked on us regularly for our first year and made us do these evacuation drills, and if we didn't do them than there was a risk of us being taken home"

"I'm guessing you and Sona don't do those drills anymore?" Minato said, a part of him curious of what their evacuation drills looked like as having teleportation magic would suggest it being easy but there was the chance of someone being able to intercept the process.

"...We only stopped this year" the heiress said with embarrassment clear in her voice, she cleared her throat "Regardless, if you need any help with 'that' issue"

Minato shook his head "Thanks, but I can handle this. Too many people getting involved could complicate things, you know the saying of a kitchen with too many cook. I'll be sure to call if anything comes up"

Their conversation ended there, the two leaving the room to find the members of the Occult Research Club waiting for them in the hall. Issei looked to them with a hopeful look before Rias's shake of the head caused it to disappear, they slumped a little at the news except for Kiba who seemed to be lost in thought as he stared out the window.

Normally Minato would have preferred to leave in another direction to make the situation a little less awkward but considering the only way out was down the hall that the Devils were standing in the middle of left him with no other options, except jumping out the window.

He was sure jumping out the window would have only made things worse, that and he would have to break them to get out.

As he made his way down the hall Minato stopped for a moment to look to Gasper to see the little Dhampir looking at the floor, not wanting to leave him empty handed after the others likely built up this meeting in their heads, he turned his head to Gasper with a smile "I'll send over some ideas to help you train, but one piece of advice I can give you now is to be a bit more confident in yourself"

"Huh?" Gasper raised his head to see Minato had his hand out for a fist bump, nervously he returned the fist bump. Smiling a bit after he did.

Minato made sure to keep his expression neutral as he left, he had his work cut out for him.

-=-][-=-

As he made his way to the abandoned church Minato had Lilith meet him there, the situation with the previous overseer of Kuoh Town was rubbing him the wrong way as he felt like something more was behind the deaths of Cleria Belial and Masaomi Yaegaki. His gut instinct telling him something off, and after what happened with Shuji Ikutsuki he learnt it was better to be safe than sorry.

However, as Lilith was on her way over she picked up two tag-a-longs as well. Thankfully, he planned on speaking to them later anyway so this was a big time saver.

He waited outside the gates to the church grounds until Lilith arrived with Katina walking Bridget on a leash, as soon as the chimera saw Minato she ran over and jumped up on him.

"Not to sound rude, but is there a reason you two are meeting here?" Katina asked, genuinely curious as there wasn't much to the location they were at "No one comes around here, from what I can tell"

"I know, that's why I'm trying to get ownership of it" Minato answered as he took the leash off Bridget to let her walk around freely, running around the grass soon after running through it.

"Wait what?" Katina asked, not sure if she heard him right. As she wondered who would buy a church she remembered a magazine she saw laying around the Arisato residence, one about turning abandoned churches into a home.

"Converting the building into a home seems like a better use, and so long certain core elements are kept it can even be converted back" Minato explained, before he called over Bridget "Hey. Alexa, Elda, I need you two to work together to fortify the area with holy and nature magic. Try and evenly spread it so that one isn't overpowering the other" Minato rubbed Dealla's head as soon as he saw her head frowning at him "And I need you to supervise them, making sure that it's done properly"

The chimera Hellhound bark before Alexa and Elda pointed their mouths to the ground and back glowing out different coloured smoke onto the ground as Dealla guided the body, laying the ground work for blessing the area.

By connecting the holy and environment of the church together they would start working to more efficiently benefit one another, the holy power making the area more full of life to counter pollution and the life force of the earth would strengthen the holy power of the area. While not too remarkable it would help recover the magical protection that had faded from the area and allow it to continue even without active worshippers, though taking care of the environment and active worshippers would greatly increase the power in play.

"So the reason your here, is to plan how your going to redecorate it" Katina said as she look up at the building, a conflicted look on her face. She had seen more than her fair share of churches that had been left abandoned and were left as literal skeletons of what they were, buildings that all that remained were the stone walls. It was a better alternative, but not one she was sure about.

She remembered the church she used to work out of before becoming a Devil and prayed that it was still standing in one form or another, though given the war she wouldn't be surprised if it was no longer there.

"Maybe, but right now I'm investigating a possible murder of a pair of star crossed lovers made up of a Devil and an exorcist" Minato said nonchalantly before turning to Lilith "Let's go, if we're lucky we can summon at least one of their spirits"

When people meet tragic or violent ends their spirits tended to linger on after death, the greater the event the harder it is to pass on, if the information Sona told him about about the two were even half true and there was more behind their deaths than there should be something.

Walking down the hidden staircase Minato, Lilith and Katina found themselves in the underground chamber were a raised platform and the remains of an unknown device was on display for all to see once the torches were lit.

Minato and Lilith got to work creating a pentagram on the floor with a barrier circle surrounding it while Katina stood to the side as she watched the two set things up for the ritual.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Katina asked as she took a cautious step back towards the only exit.

"Even if their not haunting this particular area we can use this to point us in the right direction" The five pointed started began to glow as the ritual took place "So long as their bond is true, and neither have passed on, we only need to contact one"

Katina was about to say something but stopped herself, while other races had some form of afterlife to go to Devils didn't have such a thing. There were fringe beliefs that they did have some form of afterlife but they were all vague with not one version matching up with another, the general consensus was that Devils didn't have an afterlife and either met oblivion, wandered unknown realms with some convinced they would reincarnate due to the lack of an afterlife.

This life were all Devils had, it was all Katina and the others had while under the thumb of Diodora, it encouraged them to make the most of this one life to take pleasure of all worldly possessions and live as long as possible even if it wasn't a good life.

If Minato succeeded and summoned forth a dead Devil, it could answer so many questions, those were Katina's thoughts as she looked at the circle as energy crackled outward and lash out. Inside the circle two vaguely humanoid forms began to take shape, after a few moments it became apparent one was male and the other female.

As the two figures took form Minato was able to sense one was human with trace amount of holy power and the other was a Devil with faint traces of Belial's power, as they finished forming they were able to get a good look at the star crossed lovers.

The man's black hair was short with a slight curl to them, his brown eyes looking downward with a vacant look in them, while the woman's grey hair was long and dishevelled with the same look in her grey eyes as her lover.

For a brief moment, as Minato looked at the two, he saw three other people standing in their place. A tall silver haired male teen his age, a similarly aged curly black haired teen with glasses and behind them a girl wearing the Gekkoukan High's girl's uniform who Minato wasn't able to see the face of. Just as quickly as it came it vanished, Minato rubbed his eyes.

Lilith gave Minato a worried look as did his other Personas, he waved off their concerns and focused on their current task.

Looking at the two lovers, holding each other's hand, it was obvious they needed a little extra energy to regain consciousness. Drawing on the power of nature Minato direct a tiny spark of light energy to flow into the circle, the effect was immediate as the two jumped at the jolt of life.

"Wha, where?" The man muttered in confusion as he looked around his surroundings, eyes that were unfocused quickly sharpened as a trained soldier took in his surroundings after awakening in an unknown location.

"Masaomi?" Masaomi's head snapped towards Cleria, the woman's confused expression turning into relief and joy as the two embraced one another as soon as they recognized each other "My love, I feared I would never see you again"

"Cleria, I thank whatever brought us together again" Masaomi's looked around the area as he hugged his Devil lover, he spotted Katina first standing in front of the stairway before spotting Minato and Lilith on the opposite side.

Cleria could feel Masaomi tense up and looked over to see what he was staring at, as her eyes landed on Minato and Lilith she frowned as she looked at the two.

"Cleria Belial, I presume" Lilith said before her gaze shifted to the exorcist embracing the Devil heiress "Meaning this warrior of the clothe is Father Yaegaki" Lilith allowed herself a small smile once she saw how the two tensed again at her words "Good, we got it right on the first try"

Cleria got behind Masaomi, putting him between her and the two people near what looked like a destroyed alter. Sensing a presence behind her Cleria stood back to back with her lover to keep an eye on Katina, who tensed slightly at the look Cleria was giving her. If a fight broke out between them, if the two spirits were able to breakthrough the warding circle, than they would need to take out Cleria first due to her family's power of Worthlessness.

The longer they fought the more time she had to understand any supernatural ability they wielded, while Katina was proud of the progress she made in regards to her flame sword she knew it wouldn't take long for the Devil Heiress to render her hard work useless because of a stupid bloodline power she inherited.

Katina let the frustration go, if a fight need break out they could take them easily so long as it was quick. Katina felt something within her giving her comfort, the power of Persona reminding her the power she now wielded was something Cleria could not know unless told nor could she understand it.

"Evening to you both, Father Masaomi Yaegaki and Lady Cleria Belial" Minato said as he bowed his head with a hand place over his chest "I am Minato, a Tamer currently based In Kuoh Town. While I wish our meeting was under better circumstances I have some questions I need to ask you"

Masaomi looked to Minato as he tried to figure out what the young man's ultimate intentions were "A Tamer, eh. Tell me, are you an apprentice of Abe? Didn't think the man would take on anymore besides his own daughter"

Minato smiled a little "Actually, I'm his daughter's apprentice. I helped some Hellhound pops she was taking care of and that led me to meeting her" seeing the confused look in the priest's eyes he continued "Kiyome has been a great mentor and I'm really thankfully she took me on as an apprentice"

"Kiyome, but she's just a-" Father Yaegaki's words died in his throat as his eyes slowly widened in realization, when he spoke again it was to ask a question for a dreaded answer "What year is it?"

"2011, Kiyome and myself are in our final year of High School" Minato answer as he saw the different reactions the priest and heiress had to his answer, both shocked at the amount of time that has passed but for different reasons as a decade was a long time for a human but a rather short one for a devil due to differing lifespans.

"Excuse me, but who is the current overseer of Kuoh Town" Cleria said as she squeezed her lover's hand to offer him some support "I was responsible for it before… this" she gestured to her translucent body.

Minato's expression shifted into a more neutral one "Currently the overseer position is being split between the current heirs of the Gremory and Sitri Pillars" he stopped when he saw that his answer caused Cleria's eyes to widen in alarm.

"Please, tell me your joking" her alarm grew as she took a single step forward "Kuoh Town is ultimately Shinto Territory, please tell me that the overseer position with a high risk of inter-factional politics wasn't handed to children not even two decades old"

Katina, Lilith and Minato shared a look between as they thought about the situation "I mean, I never cared to think about but now that I am it is an…" Minato paused as he considered what word to use "Odd choice"

"Odd is an understatement, it's nepotism. One where the main thing keeping them safe is not themselves but the powers wielded by the Three Factions and who their related to" Cleria responded, doing nothing to hide how she felt about the whole thing "Young Noble Devils gaining a territory to oversee is a part of them growing up, that's perfectly fine. What ISN'T fine is giving them territories outside of Devil territory in the Underworld to administrate!"

Masaomi squeezed her hand to offer her support like she did for him earlier, the two looked to one another as they realized there really wasn't much they could do anymore. Both were dead and without physical bodies remaining it would take more power than anyone present could produce together to be brought back.

"Sorry, what do you need to know?" Cleria asked their apparent summoner.

"While a personal question, you the only ones who could answer this" Minato said before locking eyes with the ghostly lovers "The reason behind your deaths" seeing the two tense and becoming tight lipped Minato narrowed his eyes and pushed on "The excuse being used is that you were both killed due to the taboo love you shared and how it risked the status quo, I don't buy that so I decided to get to the truth of the matter myself"

The two shared a look between them before turning back to Minato "And what makes you doubt the narrative they're spreading?" Masaomi asked, wanting to know exactly what Minato's thought process was.

He pointed to Cleria "For starters, she's far more valuable alive than dead. A noble with a powerful bloodline power, in most cases they would have dragged you back into the Underworld kicking and screaming if need be with Masaomi here" Minato pointed to the priest in question "Either being outright killed or letting the two of you to live out the rest of his life in secret with him either being reincarnated at a later date or simply passing away for one reason or another"

Minato turned to Masaomi "Just looking at you I can tell your a well trained warrior, a man with genuine faith in God and want to do good in the world, while I wouldn't be surprised of some jumping the gun to order your death I very much doubt there weren't a few that saw the advantage of your situation"

"Half Devil children raised to believe in God and Humanity, such a thing doesn't happen often especially with the possibility of gaining one of the abilities of the seventy two pillars" he stopped for a moment before adding on to what he said "Even then, knowing the latest gossip among High Society of Devilkind is a valuable source in itself"

The lovers winced as if they had been struck, Cleria's eyes shaking a little as it seemed like she was close to crying before pulling herself back.

"I love, I loved listening to gossip and spreading it. That's why we died" Cleria said, her voice shaking "I learned a dark secret in regards to the Rating Games and because of that we were both killed, an assassin from the Old Satan Faction killed me. The last thing I heard was muttering of a tip off leading to Masaomi's death"

Masaomi frowned as his expression darkened for a moment "So, that's where the 'tip off' came from. I was wondering how exorcists from the Catholic Faction learned of our relationship, all I know is that they got their orders from a Cardinal but nothing beyond that before" he shut his eyes tight, in his mind the tear stricken face of the man who was like a brother to him as he plunged a sword of light through his chest and beheaded him with a katana.

He didn't hate Touji Shidou nor blame the man for what happened, he had a wife and child to think about and if he refused they would have likely died together. Even if they did beat the other exorcists he would have died due to the Devils forces, at least this way little Irina had a chance to grow up with her parents being alive.

"What dark secret, are they rigged?" Minato asked.

Cleria nodded "Yes, the Great King Faction has been manipulating the Rating Game to make a fortune by bestowing the nine King Piece they possess to Devils from the Seventy Two pillars. The Twelve King Pieces-"

[4] Minato's expression instantly soured "Did you say, there's twelve of them?"

"Yes?" Cleria replied, her answer sounding like a question.

Minato shook his head "Never mind, please continue"

Seeing Masaomi and Cleria looking at each other confused Lilith stepped in "We have a, personal, history with the numbers twelve and thirteen. Makes him a little superstitious, please go on"

"The King pieces are powerful artefacts from the early creation of the Evil Pieces, able to increase a Devil's power anywhere between ten to a hundred times their original power"

"And" Minato said, prompting Cleria to continue when a lull in her in explanation caused her to stop.

"Huh?" the Devil heiress reacted, not sure what he meant.

"What else are they doing with the King Pieces, are they using them as weapons in a planned take over of the government or in a war" Minato laid out the ideas out there, seeing Cleria shake her head Minato frowned "Their only using it to rig Rating Games and get rich off it"

The former heiress of Belial looked to her Lover a little uncertain of how to act before looking back to Minato "I mean, they could use them for that but that would tip of the Satans and those involved don't want that especially since they have three King Pieces themselves"

Minato let out a sigh of relief, the tension in his body lessening "I was worried it was something serious there for a minute" he looked up to the two with a grateful expression "Thank you both for your time, is there anything-"

"Wait, what do you mean this isn't serious?" Cleria looked at Minato shocked "I just revealed a centuries old conspiracy that has been influencing Devil Society and your response is 'I was worried it was something serious' before side stepping the whole topic?!"

"Pretty much" Minato answered nonchalantly causing the two ghost lovers and Katina to look at him agape "I mean, I was worried it was some immediate threat or something with wide reaching consequences. But if some old money folks are rigging what is basically a national sport matches than I don't see much of a reason to intervene, at least not now"

Katina stepped forward, walking around the warding circle to stand closer to Minato "It does have wider reaching consequences, the Rating Games are more connected than you think. Social, Economical, Political" Katina listed off her fingers before giving Minato a serious look "I could go on all day about this, the Rating Games are a corner stone of Devil society and is arguable the biggest export due to the merchandising and licensing" Katina's expression soured as an unpleasant memory resurfaced in her mind "Now that I think about, I think I lost a bet because of these assholes"

Katina remembered it clear as day, a new Peerage was one match away from being recognized as one of the top ten with millions of dollars riding on it. Her team lost hard when the assholes she was fighting had a sudden and unexplained jump in power, the way Diodora smiled before the match making Katina think he knew about it ahead of time.

"Language" Minato reprimanded Katina before turning back to the two lovers "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to come off as cold. It's just I built up this image in the back of my head of some other world ending threat on top of the other one, the most relevant difference being how urgent the first one is"

"World ending threat?" Masaomi focused on Minato's words, as did Katina and Cleria.

Minato explained the situation with Kokabiel and his splinter group to them, about his plan to restart the Great War by killing the currently living Devil Heiresses living in Kuoh Town and the splinter group within the splinter group that were trying to stop it.

If Cleria wasn't a ghost she would have paled at the information, Masaomi expression became stoic and Katina-

"Why am I only hearing about this now?" her expression held grim determination.

Minato turned to face Katina fully "I only learnt of this yesterday, I needed to check on the Devil Heiresses at the academy to get an idea for what they would do. Would they flee on their own for safety due to grander scale of it all or would they stay and try to fight a foe that wants to kill them to start a war"

The air grew heavy at Minato's words, the three before him waiting on what he was going to say next.

"Kuoh Town is more than a territory to them, it's home" Minato said, information that should be happy tainted by the looming spectre approaching them "Even IF they evacuated Kokabiel could effectively hold Kuoh Town hostage to force them out, and that's not including any special forces he has being sent to assassinate the two while he and his main group takes part in what will be the prelude to escalating tension between the Factions. ALL Factions"

Cleria fell to her knees, her eyes wide and shaking as the town that was under her protection and became a home filled with so many happy memories was close to becoming a war zone.

Masaomi knelt down besides his love, looking at her with a caring expression that melted away when he faced Minato "What do you intend to do with us, seeing as we cannot be much help with the coming battle?"

"I was going to help you pass on-"

"Actually, there is a way you can help us" Lilith said, a sparkle in her eyes as a plan brewed beneath the Sea of Souls. She gestured for Minato to follow her to a corner of the chamber before placing her hand over Minato's and leaned in for a whisper.

An action mostly for show as numerous Personas went over the idea, weighting the pros and cons of the situation before ultimately leaving the final say to Minato. Walking back over, his footsteps echoing in the stone chamber, Minato stood between the alter and the spirit circle.

"There is a way you can help, if you agree to it" sitting down on the stone steps of the raised platform, Minato kept eye contact with the spirits even as Katina gave him and Lilith a puzzled look "You can help us defend Kuoh Town, and by extension the world, but there is a chance the process involved will be made irreversible"

"And what is this process?" Masaomi asked cautiously, he and Cleria sharing an uncertain look between them.

"Father Masaomi Yaegaki, as a son of Adam you will be granted a new body to join our fight" Lilith said before turning her focus to Cleria "While the heiress of Belial here will be sharing the same body, to an extent" she waited a moment before continuing "Like how the moon orbits the Earth, or the Earth orbits the sun, your souls will orbit one another in this new body. While Father Yaegaki will handle all physical and any holy elements, including exposure to it, little Cleria here will be providing magic support along with her own power of Worthlessness"

Cleria looked at Lilith with an uncertain expression, even as she felt she should trust and follow this unknown woman that for whatever reason made her think of her mother "That's, no small feat. Even with Evil Pieces they need a physical body, what your suggesting is building a new body for two souls to inhabit"

"I don't know how much my word weights here" Katina said directing a sympathetic look to the two spirits "But I can vouch for him on this, he's surprised me so many times I've lost count and their both good people"

Masaomi narrowed his eyes at Minato and Lilith "This process, do you mean to tell me you plan to turn my wife into a Sacred Gear?"

"She will have much more freedom than those prisons made by HIM" Lilith said "She can deny you her power if she so chooses, you'll need to work together to get the most out of this situation"

"...We don't have any other options, I don't think" Cleria admitted as she locked eyes with Masaomi "Besides, I could never rest knowing I ran away from a threat to Kuoh Town when I could have helped defend it"

[5] The two lovers shared a deep kiss, a long deep kiss that started to make the others present a little awkward as they looked away from the couple to anything else.

"So, what's up with that destroyed cross thing?" Katina asked, trying to make conversation as the two lovers kept going at it.

Minato shrugged "No idea, some kind of extractor thing. Overheard Fallen talking about it and thought it was better to be safe than sorry by destroying the thing"

With a popping sound the two lovers stopped their tongue wrestling and gave the go ahead, taking a deep breath to focus his thoughts and to draw on a certain Persona, Minato outstretch both his hands so that the palms were facing the two spirits.

The pentagram beneath them began to glow with a blinding light before beginning to spin in place, faster and faster it spun before all within the warding circle was overtaken by pure energy that ever so slowly condensed into a humanoid form.

In the centre stood Father Masaomi Yaegaki in flesh and blood once more, wearing a white suit with a black dress shirt. His appearance was mostly the same with the only difference being the streaks of silver on either side of his head, likely due to Cleria being connected to his soul now.

With a jolt Masaomi's eyes snapped open as he took in a deep breath, his new lungs being put to use for the first time. Behind him Cleria appeared putting a hand on his shoulder, he placed a hand over hers.

After a while Minato, Lilith and Katina left the church, giving Masaomi time to get familiar with his new body in a place his was familiar with while Cleria was getting used to the role of guardian 'angel' for her lover.

"Be honest with me, which Persona had a hand in that back there?" Katina asked as she walked beside Minato with Bridget in the middle of them, stopping for a moment to look back at the church where a man was resurrected with the soul of his wife bonded to him.

"Do you really want to know?"

Katina thought over the question before shaking her head "On second thought, no. Chances are I'm going to lose sleep over it" The two started walking again with Katina glancing to Minato "Although, couldn't you have given them both bodies instead of making them share one?"

"Could have, easily. But for their long term happiness this little trial is needed so that they can be together" Minato met Katina's eyes as he explained his reasoning "Cleria is practically a saint, by Devil standards I mean, having her help save Kuoh Town despite the risks and without promises of rewards will be enough to open the gates of Heaven for her so long as she strives to be a better person"

"Salvation for a literal Devil, huh?" Katina said with a complicated expression "I can't really see that happening. Why would Angels let in their ancient enemy?"

Minato raised a finger as he answered "They have to turn away from their evil ways and be better than their base desires, effectively turning away from the classic version of Devil kind. Not to mention redemption is a big thing Heaven is about, salvation being a thing all can achieve" seeing Katina expression unchanged Minato raised a second finger "Or, if you want a more pessimistic reasoning, accepting Devils into Heaven as redeemed souls and having them become angelic beings would be a massive middle finger to Lucifer and those that follow him"

Katina snorted, covering her mouth at Minato's second answer "Okay, point" she paused for a moment as she noticed something "That being said, how do you know those things about the two? About Masaomi genuinely believing in God or that heiress being a saint by Devil standards"

"You can learn a lot about a soul, if you know where to look" Minato answered, spotting that look in Katina's eyes he frowned "It isn't a perverted thing, it was like looking at a brain scan and I was only able to do it because they were just spirits"

Katina rolled her eyes "Whatever you say"

-=-][-=-

Katina and Lilith went back ahead of Minato as he still needed to check up on Satou, wanting to make sure she was alright, she seemed a little distant lately and while he didn't want to pry too much into her personal life with what her ex wanted to make a contract for it was better to be safe than sorry.

Knowing she was working today he went to Gentle Etiquette a couple of minutes before her shift started, however she wasn't there. Asking around he learnt she swapped shifts with another waitress due to a personal reason, Minato began thinking of where to search for Satou before deciding to check the market first with Bridget sniffing around for her scent.

As he was searching for Satou, the sun was already setting with it disappearing behind the horizon within an hour at most, he caught sight of someone that looked vaguely familiar but he couldn't quite place from how far away they were.

As they got closer Minato recognized who the person was, Haruto Suzuki. He looked a lot healthier than he had before, he no longer had bags under his eyes with a bounce in his step. Once Minato saw Haruto's eyes it was painfully obvious that his smile didn't reach his eyes, looking closer Minato could see Satou's ex seemed to be wearing a lot of jewellery although there was something off about that Minato couldn't pin down.

"Oh! Minato senpai, it's been too long"

Deciding to play along for the time being Minato greeted in kind "How have things been, Suzuki?"

Haruto's expression darkened for half a second before plastering on his fake smile again, he looked down to Bridget to see her looking around at the crowd with her tongue hanging. She was making sure not to meet Haruto's eyes, Bridget wanted to lure him into a false sense of safety and having him see the death glare in her eyes would give the game away.

Toying with prey before sinking her teeth in.

"Senpai, could we talk somewhere a little quieter. There's something I need to talk to you about" Haruto pointed to an alleyway near them where the crowd around them seemed the thinnest, most people were heading home already and those that were still out were less likely to pay attention to them given the time, answering with a nod Minato followed with Bridget keeping to his side.

As soon as they entered the alleyway a barrier appeared around them, looking at it Minato could tell it was extremely weak only being good for blocking visual and sounds of those within it, looking down to Bridget he was about to command her to sniff out for any unexpected guests when he noticed her eyes were locked onto Haruto with a glare.

Looking over Minato saw Haruto's bracelet was shining with magical power, it was the source of the barrier around them, given how weak it was it was either running off it's own internal power or drawing on Haruto's own. If it was the latter it meant it was designed to take the minimal amount of power to work, for user safety, or Haruto himself had weak reserves of power.

"You know, I really despise you stuck up Academy pricks" Haruto said, any form of politeness leaving his voice entirely as he continued to talk with his back to Minato. Utterly unafraid of the older male "Looking down on everyone else just because our school building isn't as fancy, ignoring the fact our schools are tied with achievements and thinking your so superior" Haruto turned around with vindictive eyes "Did you know, before that Academy of yours was made co-ed the leading case of couples breaking up in Kuoh Town was because they would go to different schools"

Minato wanted to say that sounded like an exaggeration but kept silent, his silence seeming to agitate the South Kuoh high schooler who turned to face Minato fully.

"Here's the facts, me and Satou are back together. I don't how you got my sweet Satou to act like that in the park" Minato raised an eyebrow, not knowing what he was talking about "But, it doesn't matter anymore. You don't matter anymore, so I'm going to give you the chance to apologize and walk away with your tail between your legs"

"Apologize for what?" Minato asked.

Haruto seemed to start getting red in the face "For trying to steal my girlfriend, you academy snub. We're back together now so you can get lost"

Minato looked Haruto in the eyes as he answered "I'd rather hear those words from Satou, if what you say is true than I'll leave things be"

"You don't need to talk to her, you talk to me" one of the rings Haruto wore began to faintly glow with magic, just as weak as the bracelet, meaning that all the accessories he was wearing were all magical in one form or another "Satou is mind, I'm not going to let you or anyone else so much as touch-"

The barrier rippled slowly as someone entered, looking over his shoulder Minato saw Satou standing at the edge of the barrier with a bag in one hand and her school bag over her shoulder.

This was the first time Minato ever saw Satou look so startled, the normally friendly mask used to hide a detachment from most everyone was gone completely as she looked around her surroundings with a keen eye as she felt the change in the air.

Minato didn't miss the slight glow in Satou's eyes either, the power of potential ready to break to the surface with only a little push needed. When her eyes landed on them her mask came back up before she addressed them "Senpai, what are you-"

"He was just leaving" Haruto said, another one of the rings he had glowing with power "Isn't that right, senpai"

Minato gave Haruto a bemused look, the power trying to make him rage filled not working, before turning back to Satou "Haruto here said you two got back together, I wanted to hear your side of the story" as he was speaking Haruto took a step forward to Minato intent on grabbing him when Bridget got between them.

Satou stood in place as she tried to think of how to deal with this situation, she had planned to dispose of Haruto Suzuki and be done with the thorn in her side but with Minato here it complicated things.

As she was thinking of what words to say and how to phrase them without alienating Minato or having Haruto figure something was a miss, Haruto grew more and more frustrated.

Until finally, he snapped.

Pointing at Satou without lifting his arm another ring glowed with power causing Satou to stiffen and her eyes losing their focus, if one were to look close enough they could see the faint outline of a heart symbol in Satou's pupil.

"Senpai, I love- I love-ack!" Satou gripped her head in pain, she clenched her teeth as two different thoughts fought for control of her mind.

'She's been charmed!' As he thought that Minato used Charmdi to dispel the magic gripping her before turning to the most likely source, seeing the confused expression on Haruto confirmed what Minato feared. Going over to her Minato helped Satou get steady on her feet "Satou, can you hear me?"

"I, it felt like something went into my head. Making me, think thoughts not mine. Trying to control me" Satou said, any form of composure broken due to the mental intrusion. She looked to Minato, something inside Satou telling her he was responsible for getting the foreign thoughts out of her mind "Senpai, what is happening?"

"I'll explain everything to you in a little while, I swear to you" Minato said before turning to Haruto who was shaking with either rage or fear "After we deal with this one"

"Magic, of course you have magic too" Haruto said grinding his teeth together "That's how you stole my Satou, you used your magic on her- And made her do those other things as well with her friend!" he said as his eyes widened with renewed determination "You sick freak, your done!"

Swinging his arm out a fire ball manifested and was launched towards Minato and Satou, Haruto cursing as he didn't want to actually fire the thing but just to scare Minato, the ball of flames was barely halfway across when Haruto called after realizing his mistake "Get down Satou!"

However his warning was not needed, with a stream of flames from Bridget the fire ball broke apart leaving barely noticeable scorch marks on the ground and walls. Bridget tossed the facade of a normal dog away, a third green eye appeared between eyes of red and blue, flames danced around her mouth as she growled at the prey that dared to challenge her and her master.

"Haruto Suzuki" Minato said calmly as he slowly approached him with his palms facing Haruto "Let's calm down and talk about this" he hesitates at Minato's words, still shaken from firing the magic spell "I don't know how you got those magical items, but considering what just happened you don't have the best handle on them. If it wasn't for my Hellhound you could have seriously injured Satou"

"I- I love her and-"

"If you loved her, you wouldn't try to take away her free will and force her to love you back"

With those words Haruto lost the will to fight and fell to his knees, the magic items he held losing their glow.

Little over half an hour later Haruto was arrested and taken in by Kiyome along with the confiscated magical items, acting like police wasn't the main responsibility of being a Tamer but it had become something they picked up especially with poachers and smugglers of flora and fauna.

[6] "Sorry to drag you into this, I never had to do anything like this before" Minato said as he placed the last of the magical items in a sealed box, making sure to pay close attention to the various crests engraved on them and making notes on it.

Kiyome shook her head as she looked away from the arrested Haruto being read his rights by a detective connected to the Tamers "No worries, you have to learn how to do these things yourself eventually. Though I was going to ease you into it" she glanced over to Satou, who kept her eyes on Kiyome and Minato "Hey. How about you take Satou back to her place, I can handle the rest here and the paperwork can wait till tomorrow"

"Tamer Arisato, he wants to have a word with you" the detective said as he brought over Haruto.

The South Kuoh first year fidgeted as the detective stood behind and towered over him, he pulled out his flip phone and looked over to Satou for a moment before looking back to Minato "You and her, you weren't together?" he asked, just looking at Minato's expression gave him the answer "Right, can I just show you one thing?"

The detective gripped Haruto's shoulder, letting him know if he tried anything he would regret it. A look from Minato told the detective to ease their grip to give Haruto a chance to show what he wanted, looking through his phone he showed Minato photos of Haruto and Sato together.

He wasn't sure what Haruto wanted by showing him the photos, maybe wanting to prove he and she were happy together once upon a time or to guilt trip him, regardless he looked over the photos.

He was through half of the photos before he closed the flip phone and handed it to the detective, the sheer amount too much for Minato to look through at the moment, Haruto attempted to struggle but quickly found his efforts to escape were wasted "Wait, you didn't see all of them! I know you didn't!" He gritted his teeth in frustration as he tried to hold his ground "She isn't pure, you aren't even-"

He didn't have a chance to raise his voice and gain the attention of either Kiyome or Satou. A sharp tug from the detective shut Haruto up, any attempt to fight back being stopped with a harsh glare behind directed to the back of his head.

"Come on, we can stroll down memory lane later. I'll get us both a drink" the detective said as they began leading Haruto away for further questioning.

[7] With that dealt with Minato went over to talk to Kiyome to go over everything and ensure both were in the loop, she gained a suspicious look in her eye and made a mental note to have Haruto's phone checked to make sure there weren't any illegal pictures in it. If there were illegal pictures than he could get charged for trying to distribute them or even just having them depending on what they showed, even if he got off with a slap on the wrist for the magical items he would face some form of punishment due to the photos.

Kiyome told Minato she let him handle Satou while she dealt with what paperwork needed to be done, he knew Satou better than her so it made more sense for him to handle that part of the job. She saw the two off before turning to the task at hand, dreading the paperwork all of this needed.

Meanwhile, Minato was walking Satou back home and as he did explaining what happened to her and the basis of the Supernatural side to give context for what she's been through.

It had started raining as they made their way back, Minato ordered Bridget to go on ahead of him as he would head back after dropping off Satou, luckily they were near a store that sold umbrellas and were able to get a pair of inexpensive ones.

"Senpai, how long have you and Abe been doing this… Tamer thing?" Satou asked, stopping as she did so. What she once thought was a dream seeming to be more, she hoped it was all a dream "Did you fight a tree monster?"

Minato looked at Satou shocked for a moment "You remembered" he said, mostly to himself, before continuing "Kiyome was born into a Tamer family, so she's been doing this all her life, meanwhile I only started the job this year" after waiting a moment for Satou to digest the information he moved onto explaining what happened to earlier with Mu and the details surrounding that.

It was the first time Minato had saw Satou with such an incredulous expression with a blush being thrown in for good measure, he couldn't really blame her considering what happened.

Satou didn't say much else the rest of the way, mostly confirming that she understood the her current situation with the choice of her joining the supernatural side or returning to her normal life.

Minato handed her a powerful protection charm that doubled as an SOS beacon, it was design to not stand out too much and blend in.

As they reached the door to Satou's apartment she stopped "Senpai, did he mention something earlier about being pure?"

"Your heard that?" Minato asked, when Satou didn't respond or even turn to face him he could guess the answer "He mentioned something like that, though I have no idea what he was talking about"

Satou gripped the door handle tightly.

"Pure or not, it doesn't change a person" Minato added on as more of an after thought.

Her breath caught in her throat at Minato's words, she status of not being 'pure' as a result of her attempts to find love was something she fretted over him learning about it. But hearing him saying he didn't care about such things…

"Does that mean, nothing would change if you learnt Aika wasn't pure?" Satou asked, using the perverted granddaughter of her bosses as an example.

Minato shook his head "No, because pure or not she would still be Aika. Even if it was a side she didn't like, it's part of who she is" he looked up to the sky as he continued "No one is really perfect and one's imperfections help make them who they are, the same can be said Aika, me and even you"

Satou slowly turned to face Minato with an uncertain look "And if I wasn't pure?"

"Wouldn't change how I care about you" Minato answered, he couldn't speak for others so all I could do was speak for himself.

"I'm, happy to hear that" Satou said, feeling as though an invisible spectre was growing fainter "Thank you for walking me home, Minato senpai"

Minato blinked with surprise before his lips tugged to a smile "I think that's the first time you've used my name in a long time" he looked down the apartments and saw his old one was still vacant "Do you want me to stay over for the night, considering everything that just happened?"

"No, I'll be fine" Satou opened the door to her apartment and took a step in before quickly spinning around to give Minato a hug "Thank you"

He didn't have a chance reply before Satou went inside her apartment and locked the door, he offered a wave goodbye that was visible through the peephole before heading back home. Marking the issue of Satou's jealous ex off the list of things he still needed to worry about, though it barely made a dent in the list of things he needs to be worried about.

-=-][-=-

Back at the Arisato Residence.

"Your sure no living members of these clans remain, not one?" Minato asked as he looked over the list of names on the table, the names being the names of the Pillars Haruto had on his magic items.

Katina nodded, the former peerage spread out around the living room as they took part in what was happening "We're pretty certain, you hear a lot in backroom deals when those involve believe you won't hear anything or not understand what is being said"

"Meaning half of those knock off magical items were made with the sigils of extinct Devil families" Minato could feel how the Demons whose crests were forged wanted vengeance for this insult but pushed it down.

Amainmon, Dontalion, Furfur, Zaebos / Sallos, Zepar, Vual / Uvall, Bune, Paimon and Furcas wanted to directly address their respected Pillars to learn of what they were doing with such blatant insults. Even if it was done by their Devils the low quality of the items were insults in of themselves.

Those whose lines were already extinct, Botis, Eligor, Gaap, Amy / Avnas, Andras, Flauros, Focalor, Ipos, Marchosias and Raum / Raim, wanted to track down whoever was behind this production of cheap magic items with their crests on them.

However, one point remained clear. Minato didn't have to get involved in this situation, other more experienced people would likely investigate the case and may already be, besides he already had more pressing issues to worry about.

"So, are you going to do anything about it?" Katina asked, not sure what Minato was going to do.

"No. Better let the professionals handle it, I have enough of a headache with Kokabiel trying to start a supernatural world war. And I have no idea how to go about this" Minato admitted, he never had to handle a situation like this before and even though his Personas had suggestions he wasn't sure of what was the best route to take

The only thing stopping Minato from possibly pacing around as he considered the situation was that Ophis sitting on his lap, she originally did it as the other chairs were already taken but she quickly grew to like it and Minato found it calming.

"For now all we can do is wait for the splinter group to get an update on the enemy movement and protect Gremory and Sitri since their the main targets, they can't be here when it all starts" Minato frowned as he considered his options "Question is, how to go about it without telling them?"

"You could, force them into the Underworld and protection them there" Ophis said, suggesting what seemed like a simple solution "You have Personas that could pull it off, right" Ophis said as she looked up to Minato.

"Easily, the question is how to do it. Can't make it too obvious or it risks endangering the others if Kokabiel suspects there were leaks in his operation, we need some level of cover like-" Minato's eyes widen as an idea came to him "We kidnap them first"

"Are you suggesting a False Flag Operation, you do realize if this goes sideways it could make things worst" Chloe said, mostly remembering the term from books and one time during confession an ex soldier had a mental breakdown.

Minato nodded "I know, so I'm going to send what will stop it from getting worst" getting up to collect his Evoker Minato took a moment to centre his thoughts as he prepared for what he was about to do, turning back to the others he gave them a concerned look "This could get really intense, so if anyone doesn't feel comfortable being close to something with dense demonic power feel free to step out for a few minutes"

The former peerage remembers looked at each other for a moment before firming their resolve to stay and see what Minato was about to do, with Ophis seemingly more curious than anything else.

"Per-So-Na" with the sound of a gunshot, they came forth. Hellish royalty that had been absent from this world for far too long, emerged into reality before diving into a mass of light shaped like a human body that bent and twisted at each new addition.

Kings. Dukes. Princes. Marquises. Earls. Knights. Presidents.

72 Demons converged together into a single form for the task given to them, what once looked vaguely humanoid expanded and twisted mass of multiple limbs and faces for a brief instance before taking human shape once more.

"Ah, we thank you for this vessel. Master" dozens of voices spoke as one, some more human than others. A body began to solidify as the light faded to reveal a young man with a dark complexion and grey hair, he wore a simple with a long coat drape over his shoulders almost like a cape "We are prepared to carry out you will, all we ask is for you to give the word"

Minato didn't say anything, rather he let out a soft groan as he grabbed onto a chair to keep him steady on his feet as he raised the hand holding his Evoker to his head to try and ease the spike of pain headache he was experience.

Ophis looked to Minato to see what was wrong and what she saw made her eyes widen in worry, Minato had a heavy nose bleed and looked a little pale. She went to his side and handed him a tissue that he readily took with a smile as he sat down to clean up the blood, the others looked at him with concern with the exception of what he recently summoned.

"I'm fine, I've just haven't summon that many in a while" Minato said as he removed the tissue to show his nose had stopped bleeding and the blood was cleaned up.

Katina looked over to the man Minato had just summoned "You don't look very concerned for your supposed master"

"Please, he has experienced far worse than this. He's honestly doing better than what some of us were expecting, we really didn't want a three day coma again" The man said in a nonchalant tone before smiling to the others "Pleasure to meet you, little nun. We are…" The man paused for a moment as his smile widened to show his teeth "Ars Goetia"

Feeling everyone glancing at him Minato explained what he just did "Everyone, this is Ars Goetia. The combination of all seventy two pillars, or as you call them Progenitor Demons, fused into one being"

"...Do you even realize how insane and terrifying what you just said is" Katina said, unconsciously taking a step back from the monster before her "Do you really need something like, him" Katina said, be careful with her words to make sure not to say anything to offend the fused Demon before her "I mean, he's easily Satan or God Class, isn't this a bit over kill?"

"We're sorry, we are what" Goetia said with a puzzled and unamused expression "What are you talking about child?"

Katina, suddenly finding herself flat footed, stumbled with her words before explaining herself "You know, the ranks that denote power among the various supernatural. Low, Mid, High, Ultimate, Satan and God Class"

"Those silly rankings mean nothing to us" Ars Goetia said, point to Minato with his thumb just as the saviour of another world got back on his feet "And we aren't just speaking for ourselves, pretty sure our master feels the same"

Minato nodded at Goetia before turning to Katina "Yeah, I'm going to be honest those rankings literally mean nothing to me"

Katina opened her mouth to say something but stopped herself, there were more urgent matters than pouting and mentioning how those rankings may mean nothing to the guy who casually fused 72 beings that could easily sit in the top 100 hundred strongest beings into one being but to everyone else it was a matter of life and death.

No, what was important now was learning what Minato wanted this monster to do.

"Goetia is going into the Underworld to cause a little chaos, nothing major as he will mostly be working to gain a reputation" Minato explained, giving the fused Demon a half hearted glare "They won't doing anything more severe than stealing, and to make sure I added four extra to help make sure of that" the looks of curiosity prompted Minato to continue "Those four being King Solomon, the Queen of Sheba Makeda, Merlin and Aleister Crowley"

One of the peerage members raised a finger before quickly lowering, deciding not to question the things Minato does that breaks their understanding of the world as he is literally from another world.

Katina's eyes sparkle as an idea comes to her "Say, are you open to suggestions on things to do in the Underworld. Because I'm pretty sure we all have some ideas on what to do"

"Child" Goetia said with a blank expression "Are you trying to use us as a means of revenge against those that have wronged you, sounds fun" the inhuman smile returned in full force "I wouldn't mind having some company on this little walk, get a better view of what Devil territory is truly like in this world beyond the shallow glamour they paint themselves with"

Katina looked to the others of the former peerage, looking to see who among them wanted to come with her to the Underworld. It wasn't a small thing she was asking of them as their time in the Underworld was Hell, even now a part of Katina feared that if she returned to the Underworld she would never return.

They'd either be killed or be trapped in the Underworld and she didn't know which would be worst.

Still, this was something she felt she needed to do. Partially for payback for those like Diodora but also to ensure this plan actually worked, they had a better grasp of how the Underworld worked due to having lived their for the past century as part of it's 'high society'. There was a real chance of this 'Goetia' making a misstep due to outdated information, and if this failed than they would all lose.

This whole thing was dangerous, she couldn't force anyone to follow her with a literal Demon leading the way and she could understand why anyone wouldn't wish to come. But, to her surprise, everyone in the former peerage wanted to come as well.

"We shall heed the advice of these nuns and ensure their safety, master" Goetia said, saying aloud his reply to Minato's unspoken intentions "We shall do our best to ensure no, permanent, harm comes to them and that no harm shall come to them due to action or inaction on our part"

They left first thing the next day, Goetia and the nuns headed to the Underworld to start gaining a reputation. With the nuns gone Maria and Joseph returned to the Sea of Souls for the time being, lessening the strain on Minato with having multiple Personas summoned at the same time, as their main duty was helping to ensure the mental and physical well being of the former peerage of nuns while Adam, Eve and Lilith remained manifested due to jobs they were working.

As for things Minato needed to do himself during the next two weeks, he had to introduce Masaomi to the splinter group, check up on Satou regularly to ensure she was alright, keep an eye on the movements of the Occult Research Club and Student Council, following through his responsibilities of his jobs and get around to installing that hot spring he planned for recently.

With how stressful things are set up to be he may very well need it, especially if he needs to regularly hang out with the Student Council and Occult Research. Hanging out with them is draining for him at times.

Meanwhile Ophis watches on, curious at how Minato will handle this situation as this would be his first large scale mission. She was excited to see what he would do, or what else he would reveal of his own abilities.

Author's Notes:

New chapter and that gives some idea to how different the Stolen Excalibur Arc is going to be from canon.

[1] Canonically, we don't know anything about Mittelt, her being a second generation Fallen Angel while Fanon doesn't change anything setting wise. She was born at the tail end of the Great War, either after it was over or just mere days before it was.

[2] To be extra clear, Kokabiel used the time Rias and Sona were distracted by Rias's Rating Game to set into motion the Kuoh Town part of his preparations. This way the two events are actually linked together and the excalibur assassination isn't entirely out of left field. Had Rias lost this preparations would still be enough to kill Sona with extra work needed to target Rias.

[3] Yep, Satou's joining centre stage with this arc.

[4] Persona 3 reference

[5] Lovers + no need for oxygen = LONG lip action

[6] Haruto chose his items for one of two reasons, Love and Wealth / Power, and as for which was which along with the clans that are extinct:

Love

Amainmon

Botis extinct

Dontalion

Eligor extinct

Furfur

Gaap extinct

Zaebos / Sallos

Zepar

Vual / Uvall

Wealth and Power

Amy / Avnas extinct

Andras extinct

Bune

Flauros extinct

Focalor extinct

Ipos extinct

Marchosias extinct

Paimon

Raum / Raim extinct

Furcas

[7] Illegal Photos, as in photos of times Haruto and Satou were 'together' personally *Wink, wink, nudge nudge* that Haruto took without Satou's knowledge. Keep in mind the ages of the characters involved, Satou is her canon age.

---

Omake: Gamer!Issei: Finale

"Mr Phenex, first let me say you have my respect for coming here to take responsibility for something you believe you caused. Not many people would do such a thing, and much fewer Devils as well" Minato said as he sat with Riser Phenex in a restaurant "However, let me be clear in that you had no part in what Rias did"

Riser pushed aside his finished Mt. Fuji Ice Cream Sunday as he talked "I have to disagree on that, while I was not physically present at the time there's no doubt in my mind Rias thoughts were plagued about potentially losing our match due to my… exaggerated actions to try and force her to end our engagement"

"I can't say whether or not Rias's actions were spurred on by your actions, but she was the one who made the decision to break the spirit of our contract to force me into her service" Minato said, his patience with this whole mess running thinner by the day. Minato got up from his seat and made his way to leave "You are not responsible for her actions Riser, and when we meet next I hope it's under better circumstances"

Riser got up ready to continue this discussion, however the sharp glare in Minato's eyes being directed at him muted any further arguments "I, hope so as well. Look, I came here on my own volition. Neither Rias or anyone connected to her asked me to come here, I just want to state that so there's no misunderstandings"

Minato nodded "Understood, this won't add to the noose around her neck" as he walked away he just managed to stop himself from voice the rest of his sentence 'she and her club are adding to it well enough on their own'

It had been a week since the incident at the music room and the Occult Research Club was still at their attempts to try and force things to go the way they wanted, it would have been admirable had their attempts not been annoyingly pathetic. Not only that but their reputation around town had been steadily getting worse since Minato leapt out a multi-story window to get away from them, what started out as a rumour about a massive falling out had grown into the Occult Research Club severely bullying Minato with some thinking they planned to use him in some ritual.

Everyone had started keeping their distance from them, the various fan clubs still loyal but clearly more cautious around them as if one wrong move will lead to them being targeted next. Sona and the student council has been running damage control non-stop but they can't be everywhere all the time and their was a limit to their ability.

It's gotten to the point Minato has been talking to Sona to help streamline his transfer to another school, the only questions on that to be decided if he was going to stay in Kuoh Town and when would he leave. Transferring in the middle of his last year is not a pleasing option but with the harassment he's been experiencing due to the Occult Research Club he was running out of options that didn't involve brainwashing or murder. Both of those involved death with the difference being either a death of the body or death of personality

As he was walking home Minato was approached again but yet another Devil, rude as it was he cut off the Devil mid sentence and continued walking. Not wanting to waste any more effort trying to get these various Devils to leave him along.

And than he felt a rather malicious mind control spell try to affect him but the effect was closer to a gentle breeze trying to cut him, Minato stopped for a moment to count to ten before turning to the Devil who was about to end up in the hospital.

Minato only got to five before the unnamed Devil teleported him away to some place else and reached seven just as he spotted the waiting 'peerage' of the Devil that tried to mind control him, by the time Minato reached ten his mind was made up.

In this instance, peace was not an option.

Thus ended the life of Diodora Astartoth and the liberation of his enslaved nuns.

Two Days later…

Saying Minato was irritated by the red head and black haired Devils across from him at his dinner table would be an understatement, the tone of the encountering being set when asked 'isn't it proper to have something out for guests?' and the answer being 'that implies you two are guests'

"Minato Arisato, I've come to ask you to retract from the record of my sister's… transgression" Sirzechs said, being careful with his words. It was a very delicate situation which is why he asked Serafall to come along to help smooth things over.

"Why?" Minato asked, his expression controlled so as to not reveal any tells.

Sirzechs opened his mouth to speak but Serafall beat him to it "Look, getting a black mark with a Tamer Organization is far more reaching than one likes to think. It affects not only how they're perceived by their own Faction but also by other Factions as well, I've seen more than a few deals falling through due to a black mark being on someone's record with the Tamer Organization" Serafall said clearly, doing her best to convey the weight of the situation "This will dog Rias and her peerage for the rest of their lives, centuries from now it could be the thing that breaks an important contract between her-"

"If an isolated incident from centuries in the past, with no repeat transgressions of that same incident, is enough to under cut a deal than the contract you speak of is the definition of flimsy" Minato said, sick and tired of all these Devils trying to cover up for what Rias and her Peerage did to him even when he made his intentions clear from the very beginning "Let me be clear, there is nothing you can say or give me that will lead me to retracting what happened. I believe we're done here"

Sirzechs shoulders slumped "Yes, I suppose we are"

A pulse of magic washed over Minato, one that he recognized very well.

"Zechs! What the-!?" Serafall said, she looked to her fellow ruler appalled hurt "Why did you use memory alteration?! We barely got started!"

Sirzechs turned to his friend, a grimace on his face "I'm sorry, we're running out of time and from my experience-"

Serafall interrupted him "YOUR experience is exclusively with Devils, your Domestic Affairs while I'm Foreign Affairs! Not everyone holds a grudge for the slightest slight during drunken stupors from decades ago, isn't that why you brought me along to begin with, this is literally my job" she said as she gestured to Minato, neither Devil Ruler realizing Sirzechs magic hadn't affected him.

Serafall sighs once she sees the look on Sirzechs face "What do we do now, have him set for life with a pension that pays him a literal fortune monthly?"

"Forcing the problem to go away, whether through mind control, money or a mix of both" Minato said with a steady voice, causing the two Devil Rulers to stiffen and slowly turn to the Tamer across from them "I would have preferred it if you tried to kill me to be honest, if anything it would mean you put in more effort than whatever this mess is"

Sirzechs narrowed his eyes, the hairs on the back of his neck were standing up "You heard all of that"

Minato stood up, not bothering to even acknowledge how tense the Devils across from him were acting "You know, I didn't want to fight any of you over this. It didn't seem worth it, but now" Minato opened his eyes, glowing blue as for a moment a spiral galaxy could be seen in the glow of his eyes "You just made yourselves worth the effort"

-=-][-=-

The doors to the Occult Research Club flew off their hinges, the doors themselves breaking apart before what little rumble remaining of them fell on those in the room. Minato walked through the now ruined doorway and took a moment to see who was present, the first thing he noticed were the large boards of photos of him with obvious plans in the middle of construction.

As for those present, all members of the Occult Research Club were in the room either taking cover or preparing for a fight. Sona was present as well, her face red, with Tsubaki and Saji standing in front to guard her. A notable rise in magical power announced the presence of a maid who appeared to specialize in ice, nothing compared to King Frost but admirable.

Minato tossed the dead weights he was carrying, both falling onto the coffee table that smashed to piece as soon as they made contact. Those who looked froze in terror at the sight of the beaten bodies of Sirzechs and Serafall, heavily injured but not anything life threatening.

He planned to send them to the hospital, not the morgue.

"Sirzechs!" the controlled exterior of the maid shattered completely, her glare directed at whoever tossed the bodies of her beloved husband and friend into the room. Before the dust had a chance to clear she fired a powerful blast of ice magic at whoever was responsible, intent on either killing or trapping whoever it was.

Her magic fizzled out before it could get close, ceasing to exist entirely, what little remained of it was a small gust of wind that blew just enough dust away to reveal Minato standing with an expression none had seen him with before. He was pissed and it was directed Rias in particular causing her to lock in place out of fear.

"You-!"

"DON'T!" Sirzechs croaked out, his arm outstretch to his wife to stop her before she could attack again. He tried to push himself up but fell back down to the floor hard as the arm prompting him up turned in a mass of the Power of Destruction for a moment destroying what it touched "Don't, fight him. We used everything we had, and we still lost" he groaned as he just barely got his arm to convert back to normal "It feels like I lost a lung back there"

A wet sound could be heard as a bit of blood landed on Sirzechs face, looking down he saw something meaty and red "You did, had to grow you a new one to make sure you didn't die"

"Considering how my fellow Satan Lucifer here acted" Minato narrowed his eyes, causing the magical girl cosplayer to wince as she tried to be diplomatic "I can understand the need of a little force, but isn't this-"

"I have literally tried everything else with you lot, apparently might makes right is the only thing you seem to understand" Minato turned his attention to Sona, who had already got to her sister's side with a horrified look on her face "Sona, how long till my transfer to Tokyo will be done?"

Sona gave him a fearful glare but whatever she was going to say was cut off from a look from Serafall, instead she answered his question "If we use our connections, you can start attending by the end of the week"

"Good, the sooner I'm out of this school and town the better" Minato turned to leave, he had some packing to do and people to inform of his move.

"Wait! Why are you leaving?!" Issei asked, desperation clear in his voice as his looked to Minato wild eyed.

"Why" Minato repeated in a monotone before turning to address Issei with a glare "It's because all I want is to finish my last year of high school without a bunch of pushy pricks who can't take no for an answer. You are making this school and town utterly unlivable for me, so I'm moving to Tokyo where farces like 'Devil Territory' doesn't mean anything"

"C-Can you-" Rias stuttered, her legs shaking as her heart hammered in her ears "Can you tell us, why you agreed to train us in the first place?" She asked, hoping there was something there she could use to salvage the situation. At this point she was desperate to try anything.

After a long moment, Minato sighed as he turned to look to one person in particular "I did it, for her sake"

"Me" Asia said, put her hands against her chest.

Rias's eyes meet Minato's as he explained things further "I needed to know if Asia was safe and happy, that was the entire reason I agreed to train you in the first place. I wanted to know if the girl kicked of the only home she ever knew, taken in by those who planned to kill her in a foreign land she could neither read nor speak the language and never having a choice given to her" Minato glanced to Asia "And if given the chance to go back in time, I would help her all the same"

Kiba felt a ball of dread beginning to form in his stomach as he prepared to voice his question "If, if Rias and us were like the Fallen who planned to kill Asia, what would you have done?"

"Do you really want to know?" Minato asked the knight of Gremory, who winced in response "Going by your reaction, you have an idea of what I would have done"

As Minato walked out he debated on where to start with his whole moving situation, or how he was going to explain things to the others.

He was one step away from exiting the club room when Asia cried out.

"It's Issei! Issei's power is the reason why we have been so insistent on trying to make amends the way we have!"

The Occult Research Club directed looks at betrayal to the Italian girl that spoke up while everyone else looked to her confused. Minato's shoulders slumped as he turned to face Asia, more out of curiosity at this point "And how is the power of the Red Dragon-"

"I'm not talking about- hmph!"

Asia's words were cut off as Issei put a hand over her mouth "Yeah, Ddraig's dragon thinking-" Issei began to say only to be interrupted himself by the Red Dragon inside him.

"Oi! Don't throw me under the bus for that stuck up prick pudding, not worth a sheep's fart, you've been dancing to the tune to!" Ddraig said, making sure every present could hear him clearly and understood how pissed he was.

Issei looked confused for a moment as he began floating before crashing into the ceiling, his personal experience with gravity being inverted, he tried to regain his wits as a magical circle formed beneath/above him to keep him pinned to the ceiling as dust gathered and condensed into a stone mask to stop him from talking.

"You, be quiet" Minato said with a glare, whatever resistance was in bound Issei died before Minato turned back to Asia to continue what she was going to say.

Asia went into over what she knew of Issei's other power, the Gamer Ability, it's general capabilities and what she knew of Issei's time with it with Ddraig explaining things further as he has been able to peak over Issei's shoulder when using the system.

And how one aspect of the Gamer Ability was the root cause of the Occult Research Club's issues, the reputation Perk System and the debuffs Issei has been dealing with after their 'misstep' in the mountains.

The more Ddraig went on about the Gamer's Reputation system the more alarmed everyone got, Sirzechs looked to Rias worried as he began to fear the worst.

"Ddraig, the way your talking about this… 'system'" Rias said the word as if it was cursed "It sounds like brainwashing, a rather insidious one at that"

The Welsh Dragon let out a sigh "It is. The more someone interacts with the user, in this instance Issei, or if the one using this person does something someone else likes it gives the system an opening to affect them. I've seen how it has already began changes things about not only this peerage but also the school" Ddraig was silent for a moment, Sona tensing slight as if something far larger than her was looking her way "After all, the Kendo Club has been surprisingly friendly with Issei lately, despite him not changing any of his actions"

"Red Dragon, pride of the Welsh people, what's Koneko Toujou's current Reputation score at?" Minato asked, his eyes on the glowing green hand that Issei was shaking. However the partially glazed over look in Issei's eyes hinted that it wasn't wholly him trying to stop Ddraig from talking.

"Currently in the 80's, got a lot of numbers with food and after the 50 point mark it became much easier to influence her and other cat related beings" Ddraig answered, not caring he outed Koneko as a cat Youkai.

She didn't have time to respond to that before Minato had his eyes on her "Toujou, what do you think about Mr Hyoudou currently pinned above us? Don't think, just speak"

"He's a pervert, a reliable, caring, wonderful, breed-able" Koneko paled as her mouth snapped shut, she looked terrified as she gripped the sides of her head as she final noticed how her thoughts had been altered. Her words the final nail in the coffin.

Sirzechs was on his feet in an instant, pushing through his injuries as he directed his attention to his sister's pawn that has been brainwashing her for who knows how long.

It was only the hand of the person that reminded Sirzechs of his own mortality that stopped him from using the Power of Destruction, and it was that same hand healing him that Sirzechs turned to Minato healing him and Serafall.

"I understand your rage, but if we're not careful than who knows what the backlash could have on those affected by this power" Minato looked up to Issei, the magic circle lower him down to ground level with them as gravity returned to normal for him "For all we know, it could have changed him as well"

"...Now that you mention it, some of those 'Quests' the prick pudding gave the kid seemed more like grooming in retrospect" Ddraig added in, whether as a means to save himself and Issei or just realizing it himself "Encouraged certain aspects of the kid and taught him some really questionable stuff"

"Question is, what do we now?" Sona asked with Tsubaki and Saji at her side, she had to tell Saji not to materialize his Sacred Gear unless needed, she locked eyes onto Issei "We can't let Issei stay on school grounds, much less this town"

Minato walked closer to Issei "The problem is this Gamer Ability, we can try removing it first. If not we may need to isolate Issei for the time being until we can learn more about this power"

"It won't be easy, this thing makes the kid more slippery than you think. You can't keep him imprisoned for long" Ddraig said, a part of him taking in delight at the squirming parasite that took root in his current host.

"Than let's hope this works then" Minato said, a moment later his right arm had transformed into a mass of prismatic light that spread up his shoulder and onto the right side of his head.

Faster than any could have perceived Minato's arm plunged into Issei's chest, diving into his very being towards what shouldn't / couldn't / never / been there. Grasping it the thing tried to fight back and firm it's grip on Issei's being, however it's efforts to stay were fought off by Boosted Gear that directed concentrated bursts of draconic power to fend it off.

When Minato pulled his arm out he held the mysterious ability Issei had that was the cause of the brainwashing, as soon as it was out Issei's unconscious body fell forward to Minato's waiting arms to catch him before placing him on one of the couches while everyone else let out soft groans like they all woke up with headaches.

While everyone else was affected it was clear to see who were most effected, the entire Occult Research Club looked like they were ready to keel over at a moments notice. Sirzechs and his wife were by Rias side and helped her to her chair before Grayfia went to help the others.

A burst of malicious intent from the Gamer Ability warned Minato what it was trying to do, it began glowing with a hideous darkness unravelled all that it touched as the forces that bound molecules together were rendered inert.

"I won't go down alone, THIS WORLD WILL DIE WITH ME!"

"No"

The Gamer Ability was condensed as it was placed inside a tiny black ball, a dead universe with no life to destroy other than whatever the Gamer Ability could be called. Completely isolated with no way in or out.

"Go. Alone"

The black ball rumbled slightly as the closest thing to life in it's dead universe took it's own life with it's plan to take the lives of countless others, after being sure it's spite fuelled destruction was over Minato crushed the black ball between his hands reduce it to dust and than nothing "Well, that was an unpleasant prick pudding"

"Try living with the bitch" Ddraig said, a strange tone in his voice "So, now what do we do?"

Minato frowned as he considered the question, he looked at Issei for a moment before turning to Sona "Sorry to do this, any chance to delay the transfer for a week? If the whole issue was because of that power, than with it gone I may not need to change schools and move to a different city" he let out a sigh "I really don't want to transfer in my final year if I can avoid it"

Instead of saying anything Sona just nodded rapidly, her mouth clenched shut as the knocked out body of Saji laid at her feet.

"Um, can you do that thing you mentioned in the music room?" Asia asked, stepping closer to Minato while doing her best not to look or get near Issei.

Going by her actions Minato could get an idea of why, Asia joined Rias because of Issei but now that it's been revealed he had brainwashing powers constantly active she is can no longer say if her choice to become a Devil was her own or not.

The decision was instant, even Devils wanted to see humans fall through their own failings. Asia was made human once more and an inert Bishop Evil Piece was tossed over to Rias, had Minato looked back he would have saw it land and stay on top of Rias's breasts.

Seeing Asia fully conscious but physically weak he picked her up and carried her out, each saying their goodbyes as they left.

As he made his way back home Minato wondered if it was going to become a habit of him taking nuns away from Devils.

Author's Notes:

And here's the finale of the Gamer!Issei trilogy of Omakes, I had some little titbits of everyone thinking Minato and Asia are technically married and Asia plus the other nuns greeting Minato like a wife after getting home from work. Issei / ORC believing they NTR'd Minato and being guilt ridden / terrified of him going forward. But that's about it.

There was also a scene I cut out due to it not really serving the rest of the scene during the confrontation in the ORC room. It basically boiled down to this:

Minato wanting to know something from Issei places a powerful magic circle that forces people to tell the truth. Rias and tests it out by asking their siblings why they act so overprotective of them.

Serafall says it's because Sona is her sister and she loves her, her wanting to connect with her little sister is what got her into magical girl stuff because Sona loved it not so long ago as well. It's partially why Serafall fell in love with the Magical Girl genre and also because it gave her a hobby to experience some form of childhood after her own was stolen due to the Devil Civil War and being forced into a job she was not qualified for but had to take on and learn as she went as she was the best out of the Four Satans [Falbium is too lazy, Ajuka's understanding of people is tendinous at best and having Sirzechs do it would be like having a nuke as an ambassador that WILL go off if the wrong thing is said]

Sirzechs says it's because he loves her and he can't be the idea of losing someone close to him after his entire class of students were murdered during the Devil Civil War and him vowing to not let something like that happen again.

After getting proof of the truth circles power Minato asks Issei a question.

Minato "Did you work to make it up to me for your betrayal out of realizing you hurt me or because you just wanted the debuffs gone?"

Issei "I just want the debuffs gone, I can accept it if I never see you again. I'm cool with one less pretty boy in my life"

Minato "...feelings mutual" rips out Gamer ability.

While this offered a little more of an idea of Sirzechs and Serafall's personalities, it also leans a bit into Issei bashing and I rather avoid character bashing when I can.