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.

29. MessiahXDragon: Moving Pieces

MessiahXDragon: Chapter 19

Thus, the pieces moved

Masaomi looked over the church that meant so much to him and to others, seeing it in it's current state was like a dagger to the heart and a kick to the wallet as he looked over everything that was going to need repairs and replacement.

He pushed those thoughts aside, making sure to make a mental list of the things needed to be done, and turned his attention to the current situation. Mainly trying to find something decent to eat, Masaomi looked over the funds Minato left him to get something to eat if there was nothing left behind by the former rogue exorcists that were squatting in his church.

They had left food behind, problem was the food was all trash. Instant cup noodles, candy, alcohol, what little fruit there was had rotten to the point of being little more than fertilizer and the only trace amount of vegetables were in the instant noodles.

"I completely understand having a high calorie diet, especially given the daily physical activity of combat exorcists, but you would think they would at least have an apple somewhere around here" Masaomi said as he closed one cabinet and opened another to where a half bag of sugar rested with a mouse trap complete with one dead fat mouse, using a tissue Masaomi threw the mouse and sugar into a bin with cleaning supplies being bumped up the list of necessities.

"Well, it looks like we're going out to eat" Masaomi said, he looked over the funds he had on hand and saw he should have enough for a meal for two if they were careful. Unless inflation was out of control they should be fine, though even with his limited and niche knowledge of economics Masaomi knew prices will have risen regardless if the economy hadn't experience major changes.

Cleria's spirit took shape over Masaomi's shoulder, once she learnt of the degree of control she had over her new ghostly appearance she started experimenting with it. Right now she was a few inches tall chibi with a cartoonish expression, she sat cross legged before giving her lover a blank look "Won't you be the only one eating, considering my situation" with a curious and worried look she asked "Wait, would I taste what you taste?"

"For your sake, I hope not" Masaomi turned to the love of his first and second life with a grin "This Father is feeling like pork buns"

Cleria puffed out her cheeks "I never liked those, they went straight to my thighs" Cleria's eyes widened as she looked down at her ghostly lower body berated of legs "Wait a minute, it's be your thighs taking the hit" her worry returned tenfold "My love, please, eat in moderation. Do not deny the world your wonderful buns, again" Cleria said as she got to eye level with Masaomi's 'buns of steel'.

Sadly, her view was obscured as Masaomi put on a coat and borrowed one of the shockingly plentiful fedoras that had been neatly organized by colour and style.

'Did these come back in fashion? I could never keep up with these trends even without being dead for ten years'

With that idle thought Masaomi left the church grounds and headed straight for a little family run restaurant he visited frequently years prior, it was also the location of his second date with Cleria. One of the rare times they could be a normal couple and not a warrior of God and Devil Noble, Masaomi remembered having a little scare when he saw the Hyoudous looking at them but that quickly passed when it became obvious they didn't recognize him.

Walking through Kuoh Town was a surreal experience for both Masaomi and Cleria, at first glance everything seemed no different than what they remembered from a decade ago but the more they looked the more striking the changes became.

Both did a double take when they saw one of Kuoh Academy's male students, on his way home from cram school, as it was an all girl's school when they were alive before remembering that Minato mentioned he was attending that Academy and he was in his final year with Kiyome.

After almost getting lost several times Masaomi arrived at the spot he remembered his favour restaurant was located, and what he saw made his heart sink as a KFC stood in it's place.

Slumping his shoulders Masaomi made his way to yet another place he frequented, though it was for just as much as work as it was for leisure. It was another restaurant but one better known for it's drinks than food, it was one of the places Masaomi went to meet with Abe regarding whatever business he needed to do with the Tamers. Usually trading information or getting some specialist training for himself or those under Abe's care.

'Abe could be a stubborn mule at times, but I did consider him a friend' Masaomi thought to himself as he sat down to eat.

He learnt two things there, one being that Cleria didn't taste anything Masaomi ate or drank and the other being what happened to the family restaurant that was turned into a KFC thanks to a talkative grandmother.

Seemed the owners sold their business to help their children attend university in America and Europe, both children now scientists working for large companies with one being on the board of directors.

The parents retired and moved to live with their youngest child in America, though they do visit Kuoh Town whenever they get a chance to return to Japan for vacations. The couple were gushing over their grandchildren the last time they visited Kuoh Town, seemingly taking delight in rubbing their success into the faces of others according to the talkative grandmother.

Before either Cleria or Masaomi realized it, it had already grown very late. While both wanted to learn more about what has happened in the last ten years both were all too familiar of the things that went bump in the night, not wanting to draw any supernatural attention to themselves they made their way back to the church for the night.

As they got back Masaomi tensed for a moment as he spotted something on the ground, meanwhile Cleria made her spirit form as tiny as possible as she searched for any traces of magic, making a show of looking confused and concerned at a footprint in the grass before looking around the interior of the church the warrior exorcist called out.

"Hey, this place is already taken! I don't mind sharing but if your squatting here too than show yourself" Masaomi called out, suppressing his finely tuned skills ingrained into his being over decades of training to give off the look of a normal person. He looked around before going to check out the bed, not expecting to find anyone but to help give off the illusion of looking for a fellow homeless person.

Meanwhile Cleria looked for any other signs of magic energy, the more she looked the more clear things became as a knot formed in her spiritual stomach at these developments.

'Masaomi, a powerful Fallen Angel was here. Very Powerful' Cleria said, transmitting her thoughts to her love so as to keep their conversation private 'It was only one, and it seems whoever it was they looking around here for something'

Masaomi took off the hat and coat before laying spread out on one of the beds in the church, there were fours beds with mattresses with around fifty cots put away 'Question is, why would they be here?' Masaomi frowned as he got up grabbed a wooden pole, he held it like a weapon while he made a mental map of where the Light Guns and Swords were 'Could it be one of Kokabiel's agents?'

Cleria was silent for a long moment before she answered '...No, I don't believe so. Whoever was here was too powerful to be a minion of Kokabiel, a collaborator perhaps' Cleria spirit got closer to a particular spot on a pew were the magical signature was the most apparent 'It looks like whoever was here stayed only for a little while, likely only scouting out the area due to the mix of holy and nature magic here' her spirit moved over to where the entrance to the underground was closed 'it looks like they didn't go underground, the work that chimera did above ground must have helped hid the ritual that was used on us'

'Still, we can't stay here now. We barely missed running into a powerful Fallen Angel and I rather not face off against it alone' Masaomi closed his eyes, listening for any movements around them 'Do you think whoever this was noticed the trail they left behind?'

Cleria grimaced, her expression being more than enough to answer Masaomi's question. Even if the Fallen Angel that was here didn't notice the evidence of their presence they left behind and deemed the church and it's grounds unimportant, the latter being more unlikely due to how rare the mixing of holy a nature magic was, the area was still compromised.

Both Masaomi and Cleria agreed to get in contact with Minato and rendezvous with the others working to counteract Kokabiel's plans, in the meantime they will have to wait. After some convincing Cleria managed to make Masaomi agree to get some sleep while she kept watch, watching over him like a guardian Devil and wake him if anything came up.

As she kept watch Cleria hummed a nursery song she knew as her fingers moved through Masaomi's hair, the song and act being just as much a comfort for her as it was for her love.

It was just before dawn that Masaomi woke up and began gathering up everything he thought they would need, mostly gathering up spare clothes and weapons as there was not much else. However, as he was searching Masaomi remembered one thing he hid away shortly before his death.

Going to the office of the church they found it surprisingly tidy, however a particular odour that hung in the air told Masaomi that many a certain 'sinful activities' took place in this room. 'Likely with the Fallen and rogue exorcists that were here previously' he thought to himself as he knelt down to examine a portion of the floor and the nearby wall, seeing that aside from some dirt it was untouched.

As he was in the middle of moving a filing cabinet Cleria's curiosity got the better of her "What exactly are you looking for?"

"I hid away something here roughly a week before the assassins came for us, and if we're lucky enough for at least this-" as the cabinet was moved aside, far easier than any time before Masaomi tried moving it, he knelt down and spotted a little hole at the bottom of the wall.

From a distance it looked like a hole made by some pest but if one were to look closer they would see the hole's edge's were far too smooth to be made by an animal, this hole was man made using tools.

Taking out a Light Sword Masaomi opened up the casting to fiddle with it's inner workings, while not knowing all the steps needed on how to make a Light Sword Masaomi knew enough of it's inner workings to make modifications like most other Combat Exorcists. It was no different than a soldier knowing how to maintain and repair their weapons, however unlike most weapons Light Swords could be used as other things besides weapons.

Such as a cleaning tool, tinkering with the containment field of the Light Sword turned it into a cleaning tool that sucked up small items and held them inside the light for easy disposal. Good for getting the hair and blood out of robes, cleaning any spilt drinks that fell on the floor or in this case cleaning out a small opening in the wall.

Slowing Masaomi inserted the Light Sword into the hole, he watched with a keen eye with Cleria as the greater girth of the sword squeezed into the hole to fill it completely, inserting it up to the hilt he began twisting the sword around as well as doing an in and out motion to collect as much dirt as possible.

Once he was done Masaomi removed the sword, the blade now having visible shadows in the light of the sword, and went over to the window to throw the gathered dirt outside by just holding the blade out and turning it off.

As soon as that was done he began fiddling with the inner workings of the Light Sword again, this time he began by changing the blade settings causing the straight sword to curve and become a hook sword that grew thinner until it looked like a straightened out wire of a hanger.

Cleria looked surprised at the different forms the Light Sword could take "I didn't know those Light Swords could do that?" she said as Masaomi knelt down and put the Light Sword back in the hole.

"To be fair, I wouldn't be surprise if half the people who used them know themselves" Masaomi answered, remembering all the muscle head trainees that became Combat Exorcists due to how more often than not a group of the 'all brawn, barely brain' exorcists rarely had two brain cells between them "Having a single weapon able to take on different forms was cheaper than making different Light Weapons for different fighting styles, though it it's restricted to bladed weapons" he paused for a moment as he remembered an old memory from early in his training "I think I saw someone able to turn their Light Sword into a Light Mace, but I don't know if that was a custom made weapon or a modified one"

Feeling the hook slot in Masaomi pulled, pulling hard as the wood had been left untouched for a decade, a floorboard moved to reveal a hidden compartment beneath the floor.

There wasn't much inside it, a note book and a shoe box were all that were inside. Lifting up the notebook first he flipped through the pages to see some discolouration on the pages due to age and where it was stored, Cleria was able to sneak a peak at the pages to see several lists of names and items, putting down the notebook to the side Masaomi picked up the shoe box and opened it up.

In it were a random assortment of items that at first glance held no connection to one another, it almost looked like trash at a first glance, but if someone knew what to look for than the connection the items all shared would become clear. It took Cleria a moment before she realized what the items were, mementos of her and Masaomi's time together.

A receipt from their first date, that one they did it in plain sight by pretending it was for business reasons and not the personal one it really was, tickets from the time they saw two movies based on supernatural events that actually happened but were marketed as 'fantasy' for the public and she spotted a little toy ring she jokingly got him when they went to a fair.

Beside the toy ring was another box, one that told her what was inside it. Despite being just a spirit Cleria could feel her heart pounding.

"I kept these, couldn't have the heart to throw them away" Masaomi lifted on the small box and looked at it, lost in thoughts of what could have been "And I'll never forgive myself not for building up the nerve to do this when I had the chance" he turned to Cleria and opened the small box to reveal a ring, it was a simple thing with a thin gold band a tiny diamond adoring it.

It was far from the most eye catching or extravagant thing Cleria had seen, Devil Nobles usually did everything they could to outdo one another in whatever they could with Cleria herself having a piece jewellery that could have fed a large family for months if not years or decades.

And yet, the ring the love of her life held out to her was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

"I know this really doesn't mean much now, but" Masaomi, knelt before Cleria, presented the ring to her "Cleria Belial, would you do the honour of being my bride?"

"Yes, yes" Cleria said as she reach out to the ring, even if she couldn't touch it she still wanted to accept it "I dreamt of you asking, but I never thought you would" as her finger touched the ring it seemed to disappear for a moment as a ghostly version of it appeared on her ring finger. The two were caught off guard by the transformation of the ring from solid matter into a spiritual object, the two looked at each other confused before Cleria took the ghost ring off to inspect it.

As she held the ring in hand the two saw it change colour a little as it began to take on physical form once more, handing it to Masaomi caused the ring to take physical form completely and when Cleria wore it again it became completely spiritual.

"Masaomi, where did you find a ring that could do this?" Cleria asked, still over joyed at being asked by the love of her life to marry her but also, curious about the odd ring she was presented.

The priest could only scratch his head "No idea, it was my grandmother's and as far as I know she was not involved with the supernatural in anyway" he looked at one of his palms as he considered other possible answers to the ring "So either there's something in my family history I don't know about, or this could be an effect of that ritual that Arisato-"

The sound of the main doors opening stopped any further conversation between the two in it's tracks, the two shared a look before they quietly made their way to see who it was. As soon as they were close enough they saw a familiar mop of blue hair, it was Minato with a bag in hand.

"Speak of the Devil and he shall appear" Masaomi muttered before coming out of hiding with Cleria "Hey, what brings you out here so early?"

Minato held up the bag he was carrying, getting the chance at a closer look Masaomi and Cleria saw it was filled with food "I stopped by to drop off something home cooked, something other than a take away with what little money I had on me yesterday" Minato's expression became one of concern as he looked at the two "Are you both alright, any overlapping memories or body dimorphism?"

The two souls in one body looked to one another before turning to Minato "No, but we have good and bad news" Masaomi said moments before Cleria held up her ring with delight "We're finally engaged, better late than never"

Minato's expression was blank for a moment as he processed the sudden news before he smiled "Congratulations, though to be honest with how you both acted I figured you were already engaged" his expression faltered for a moment as their earlier words came to mind "And not wanting to cut the celebration short, but what's the bad news?"

"A Fallen Angel was here, a very powerful one" Cleria answered, both hers and Masaomi expression's became tense while Minato's shifted into a cool blank look "They would have have several pairs of wings at minimal, though I have no idea who they could be as we were out during their visit"

"Did they leave anything behind?" Minato asked as he looked over the building with a keen eye as he spread out his senses to pick up on anything weird.

Cleria pointed to a line of pews "Whoever it was sat down there for a significant length of time, but by the time we came back they were already gone"

Making his way over to where Cleria was pointing at Minato focused on the churches until he found the spot they were talking about, moving his hand closer to the spot with the most condensed energy to get a better look Minato focused to get some clue on whoever could have been here.

His eyes snapped opened as he recognized the energy, it matched one of his Personas. One of considerable power.

"We need to leave, gather what you can and follow me" Minato said as he approached them, it didn't take more than a second for Masaomi to collect a bag filled with various items as the two had already planned to leave "We need to be stealthy as we move, Azazel is not one that can be easily fooled"

Noticing the pair were not moving Minato turned around and saw Masaomi and Cleria starring at him wide eyed.

"Wait, do you mean the Fallen Angel Leader was here!?" Cleria exclaimed as she hid behind Masaomi as they both looked around for any traces of the leader of Grigori.

It took a while to get the two to the base the rest of the team was staying at, partially due to needing to be careful as there was a chance Azazel could still be around and due Cleria and Masaomi debating if they should run away while they still can.

But eventually, they reached their destination and as they stood at the main entrance the sound of metal hitting something could be heard.

"Is that a… frying pan?" Cleria asked with a puzzled expression.

Opening the door they were greeted with the sight of the combat exorcist Minato met the other day, Nero, pressed on his back onto a table as he used a crying pan to hit Mittelt over the head as she had her hands wrapped around Nero's throat.

Going by Nero's condition Minato was pretty sure Mittelt wasn't applying enough force to cut off Nero's air ways completely, clearing his throat got both of their attentions which led to the two freezing at the sight of Minato and Masaomi.

"Father Nero, Mittelt. While I'm happy to see your relationship has improved can you please kept these activities reserved in the bedroom" Minato said, while he understood that Fallen Angels could be a bit anarchist in nature they still needed some ground rules for them to succeed.

Just as Angels had their Duties and Devils their Vices, Fallen Angel had their Indulgences to fill the hole left behind after they fell.

He had nothing against them getting together if both wished to be together, just that they did the more intimate things in private no matter how strange they seemed to him.

The human and Fallen Angel blinked as both their minds took time to process the words spoken to them, once it sunk in Nero tossed Mittelt overhead as he approached Minato with a look of desperation on his face with Mittelt close behind as she brought out her wings to fly over to them.

""That's not what's happening at all!""

"This granny attacked me unprovoked, she may have no strength in those noodle arms now but her grip kept her latched onto me. I had to defend myself with this" Nero held up the now dented frying pan so that the others could see.

Mittelt glared at the combat exorcist "Unprovoked!? You insulted the food of my people!"

"All I said is that pizza is not a breakfast meal, and I'M from Italy you old crone! If anyone gets to claim pizza as part of 'the food of my people' than it's me" Nero pointed to himself as he stared down Mittelt.

"I was born in Italy during the Renaissance!" Mittelt exclaimed in response.

Masaomi and Cleria, currently out of sight in spirit form, watch the bickering match continue on with one thought going through their minds.

'This lot are suppose to help us save the world?'

With no sign of their conversation ending naturally anytime soon Minato stepped in and stopped it, most everyone was gathered together so that Masaomi could be introduced to the others. His cover story being that of a modern day Ronin who travelled Japan to aid those in need, the son of a Shinto Priest and Christian Missionary he found comfort in the gossips spoken to him by his mother yet still paid respect to the gods of Shinto and his ancestors.

Masaomi only got around two sentences in before half of the audience dozed off.

Introductions done Minato had to run off as he still had school to attend, leaving Masaomi physically alone with several dozen Rogue Exorcists. Feeling their gazes on him he tried to think of an ice breaker.

"So, I hear a lot of Exorcists go rogue due to loosing themselves to battle lust. Is that true or are there other reasons?"

One of the gathered Exorcists stepped forward "Partially; I was kicked out because I simply love taking revenge on shitty Devils, though I was mainly kicked out due to starring in a few… adult movies" he said as he gazed upwards with a for-longed look in his eyes "It started out as an undercover mission, and things went downhill from there"

"I killed a corrupt politician for his sins against God" another said with a deep frown on his face "Got caught and they cut all ties with me afterwards, and in the end all I got was a ten day head start to run"

"I punched the wrong people"

"Uncovered and exposed a Mafia plot someone high ranking in the church wanted to keep under wraps, strangled the bitch after they tried to put the blame on me"

"Just a little arson committed on some bullies"

"You use ONE fake baby as bait and no one hears your side of the story"

"I uncovered human experimentation being done by the church with research based off of work done by the Nazis and Soviets along with those who worked with them, I went on a rage fuelled rampage that only ended when the Archangel Phanuel appeared"

"Gambling"

"Drinking"

"Drugs"

"Kleptomania"

"Lost my memories for a good week, ended up working for a cartel and by the time I realized what I'd done I was too far gone to be reasoned with at the time"

"Debt"

"Got pulled into a UFO cult couple months back and never went back to the church out of shame of being fooled by those tinfoil hats"

"Apparently my hatred for company mascots is 'irrational' and 'borders on literally insanity'" one exorcist said making air quotes with his hands.

"Falling out of my old team, became a rogue exorcist out of spite"

"I wanted to travel the world"

"This was my back up plan for not passing the Tamer exam"

"I'm, I'm not supposed to be here. I was a regular priest before this in Philadelphia not a combat exorcist. I'm a scholar not a warrior!" one man in particular said with a shaky voice "I left the priesthood because the love of my life said she wanted to be with me, course the harlot was lying just so she could get me to bless a water stain for some scam they had going on-"

"We know, that's why you handle the food Matty Ma" another exorcist said, cutting off the now named Matty Ma before he could continue. The interrupting exorcist pointed to himself "I went rogue out of shame for failing in my duties"

Masaomi nodded, looking over the group he tried to keep the conversation "So what do you do around here?"

"Other than training, we got a strip poker tournament going on in the basement along with refurbished pinball machines that were laying down there"

Masaomi rolled his shoulders "I could go a few rounds, I'm a bit out of practice"

"With Strip Poker?" Matty Ma asked,

"No, training" Masaomi answered with a bit of exasperation in his voice before he was led to the area they were using for training.

For now Masaomi can use his time to gauge the skill level of the rogue exorcists while Minato is at school, while he enjoys high school life Masaomi can see first hand how effective his new teammates will be.

-=-][-=-

"Asia, will you please go with Koneko outside. I believe after this" Minato said, his monotone voice dripping with disdain "The poor girl needs some fresh air to clear her head"

Rias could only watch as he newest Bishop took her Rook out of the clubroom without a moment's hesitation, she only stopped for a moment to look into the clubroom where only Minato and Rias stood before quickly closing the door behind her.

The Minato that stood before Rias was one she hadn't met before, were before there was an aloof but caring person now stood someone distant with eyes of steely resolve with such strength it felt like they held a power to overthrow the very nature of the world itself.

It didn't help that her flight or fight response was gently telling her to run.

"Sit"

Normally Rias wouldn't accept that tone of voice from anyone, but the look in Minato's eyes told her that fighting him on this issue will only make things worse so reluctantly she took a seat on one of the couches with Minato moving to sit opposite her after he picked up a tea cup that had fallen onto the ground with a tissue and held it up to Rias.

"Explain. Now"

[1] "That wasn't meant for Koneko, I planned to give it to Issei" Rias said, the hard look Minato gave her in response told her he didn't like her answer "Look, we all know how bad Issei's perversion is so I decided to remedy it. I used a personality reformation spell to cure him of his perversion but Koneko drank it on accident and her serious way of thinking reversed into-" Rias paused for a moment as she blushed at the memory Koneko groping both her and Asia, Minato walked in during the confrontation and surprised them all.

She wasn't sure what Koneko had planned to do when she leapt towards Minato, all she knew is that Minato closed the distance while she was still in the air and placed his open palm against her forehead and whatever he did undid the personality reformation spell.

"You planned this" Minato said, his voice tense as the fury behind his eyes seemed to doubled in intensity "You were going to alter Issei's personality because you don't want to deal with his perversion"

'Okay, so he thought someone else was behind the spell. And I just outed myself as the one behind it' Rias thought to herself "You've seen for yourself how he acts, as his King it's my responsibility to address the issue"

"And your answer to that was unpersoning him, to drug Issei until he acted in a way more to your liking" Minato's words were a knife that cut deep into Rias, so much so she recoiled and needed a moment before responding as Minato's words weren't untrue.

"I, wouldn't put it like that" Rias responded weakly.

Her answer earned her a narrowed look "I'm sorry, than how would you have rephrased it. This isn't some morally grey area, while deplorable Issei's actions do not justify you medicating him to sweep the whole issue under the rug by altering his personality" he leaned forward for a moment as he looked Rias in the eyes "Tell me, were you going to tell anyone about you 'medicating' Issei? Were you going to tell him at all, because you do realize the literal dragon in his arm would have found out almost instantly"

'Damn, I forgot about Ddraig' Rias thought to herself with a wince "I assumed the Red Dragon Emperor would prefer his current wielder being such a perverted-"

"Ddraig would prefer a free steward of his power and title over one enslaved to another, or do you not know anything about dragons despite having one in your circle of friends" Minato cut Rias off and put her on the back foot.

Rias was running out of things to say faster than she thought as she couldn't think of anything else that could justify her actions, what at first seemed a perfect answer to an issue was quickly becoming clear to be a horrible idea "People use medication to deal with these types of things"

"Except, those medicines are given by trained professionals. Not a highschooler" Minato replied, closing his eyes for a moment to centre his thoughts and drew on memories he hadn't thought of in a long time "Properly used such medicines are life savers to many. However, they can be seen as an easy fix to a much more complicated issue and may only make things worse"

As he said those words, old memories he hadn't thought of in years returned to Minato.

It was the year after his parent's death that one of his relatives took Minato to the doctor to get medication subscribed to him to help him 'fit in' at school, the foul things did nothing to help him due to the specifics of his situation and only made him sick. He stopped taking them a week later and only managed to get others to believe he didn't need them anymore when he could convincingly smile normally, looking back his smile back then was obviously fake but he wouldn't stand out in a crowd so it was good enough for his relative.

Opening his eyes again Minato stood up as his eyes never left Rias's own "You sought a short cut, an easy way with dealing with an issue that you would have to work hard for and in the end almost crossed a line you can't comeback from" he made his way to the door of the clubroom "Count yourself lucky this whole mess blew up in your face before it could go any further, I'm going to check on Koneko and Asia before going to speak with Gasper"

He didn't look back as he left the clubroom, partially aware Rias reached out to him before he closed the door in her face.

'If it wasn't for the fact I have to help protect these lot to prevent World War Three I would be long gone' Minato thought to himself as he searched for Koneko and Asia, the idea of reversing their Evil Piece conversion and destroying the pieces being considered in his mind, it didn't take long to find the pair underneath a tree outside the Occult Research Clubhouse. Koneko was rubbing her head with a pained expression as Asia tried using Twilight Healing to help the smaller girl.

"Hey, do you need anything? Food, drink?" Minato asked in a gentle voice, not wanting to add to any discomfort.

Koneko only groaned in response.

Asia looked to Minato with a concerned look "She mentions that she doesn't want to eat or drink anything, I've never seen Koneko without her appetite and it's making me really worried"

Placing a hand over Koneko's forehead Minato made eye contact with her for a moment "The foreign agent has completely left her system, physically she's fine but it's going to take a little longer for the mind to catch up" he tilted his head for a moment as an idea came to him "In fact, I know something that can help that along"

Kneeling on the ground Minato felt around the nature energy surrounding them, how it flowed and thrashed about like a living river behaving like a wild animal. As he felt the energy Minato focused on the more violent aspect-

"Senpai, Stop-"

And pushed.

Both Asia and Koneko reacted to what he just did, Koneko showing the bigger reaction of the two as he frightful expression turned into confusion as she looked around.

Asia felt the grass beside and noticed something was different, she wasn't sure what had changed with the closest comparison she could think of was that it seemed more peaceful. She turned to Minato who noticed the look in her eyes.

Minato shrugged "I removed the negative energy from this area, technically making it an area of Pure Land, it'll go back to normal in an hour or so with all the pollution in the area but it should help Koneko recover faster"

"That, that was Senjutsu" Koneko said, her usually unfazed demeanour gone completely with any discomfort forgotten "I thought I sense you using Touki when you were fighting that stray exorcist in that house, I was hoping that you were one of the few who had Touki but not Senjutsu"

"Koneko, what exactly is Senjutsu?" Asia asked as she had never heard the term before.

"It's, dangerous" Koneko answered with what she felt was all Asia needed to know, her eyes never leaving Minato "Senpai, you need to stop using Senjutsu. It's too dangerous"

Minato was silent for a moment, the fear in her eyes making him aware of the delicate nature of the situation.

"Technically; all power is dangerous when improperly handled, whether that power comes in using the power of the Earth to strengthen oneself, leading others or even as something mundane as a fork" Outstretching his hand away from the girls Minato summoned a magic circle that spun on the ground to reshape the ground beneath it into two statues of dancers in the middle of a routine "But, when used correctly that same power that brought destruction can be used to create something. All dependant on the will and skill of the person behind that power"

"And if that power corrupts the person, drives them insane?" Koneko fired back, memories of her sister's crime and the Hell Koneko went through because of that playing in her mind.

"Give someone power and there is a chance it will change them, but if the person has a strong grasp of who they are than they can wield the power without being changed by it" Minato paused for a moment as he gestured to the Pure Land around them "But, some training on how to handle that power always helps. Especially when dealing with the wild power of the Earth"

Koneko's expression held a conflicted, pained, look. She knew she was coming close to hitting her limit soon and that she could be of more use to Rias if she was able to overcome her fear of Senjutsu to at least learn Touki, but the fear of being driven mad because of Senjutsu like her sister kept holding her back. Fear that she would hurt her friends like how her sister killed her King.

She needed a safe place to train and someone to teach her, and it was only now she realized what was before her.

"Can you, teach me how to handle Senjutsu?" Koneko asked, a part of herself hoping he would say no and that she wouldn't have to face the demons of her past this day.

Minato nodded, earning a quick 'damn' from Koneko mentally.

"Some basic stuff for now should be good enough, see how long you'll need to be in the shallow end of the kiddie pool" Minato outstretched his hands for Koneko to take, hesitantly she moved to put her hands in his before her hands came to a complete stop mere centimetres from his "It's okay, I won't let you fall under or drift away"

With those words of encouragement, Koneko grabbed Minato's hands and opened herself up to the energy of the world. It felt as though she was standing in still water that reached her knees. A worrying thing, but something she knew she needed for a long time now.

As Minato acted as the life preserver for Koneko's Senjutsu reclamation training he turned to Asia as she watched them "Did you still want to learn more about Senjutsu?"

"Uh, I do. But shouldn't you focus on Koneko?" Asia asked as she looked at the look of concentration Koneko was making.

"I wasn't joking when I said she's in the shallow end of the kiddie pool" Minato replied, smiling as Koneko made little progress again and again as the fear she held began loosing it's grip more and more "And some academic knowledge would go a long way in helping"

Asia nodded, her focus on Minato and Koneko.

"For starters, you may have come across Senjutsu and Touki before but under different names. Think of it like regional dishes, Druidic magic is based around drawing on power from the Earth and Nature like Senjutsu just expressed in a different way and the Greek's had-"

The lesson on Senjustsu and Touki went on for a couple of minutes before it ended, with Koneko feeling better she offered to led Minato to Gasper as he didn't know where the younger boy was.

Leading them to a far end of the clubhouse Koneko opened a door to a room with a computer sitting on a desk and a coffin in the middle of the room.

"Time to get up Gaspy, it's time for your training" Koneko called out as she stood over the coffin.

"Wait, Koneko! I'm still tired from you and Kiba chasing me around yesterday, my legs are still sore!" from the coffin Gasper cried out.

Asia stepped forward to stand beside Koneko as the Rook grasped the lid of the coffin "No worries Gasper, I can use Twilight Healing to get you back in shape for your training with Minato"

"Arisato senpai dropped off his training plan for me?" Gasper asked.

Minato stepped forward to stand at the side of the coffin as Koneko lifted up the lid with a sudden force, she held it overhead as Gasper looked at them in shock with his eyes glinting for a moment.

"No, I'm here to train you personally" Minato answered as he bent his knees to be at closer eye level with Gasper "My, personal business, got wrapped up faster than I expected so I suddenly had some free time to train you properly" he gave the little Devil Dhampir a comforting look "Let's take things slow for today, I don't want to overwhelm you too soon"

[2] Gasper looked at Minato confused, his gaze drifting over to Koneko and Asia for a moment before looking back at Minato with confusion mixed with a tinge of fear.

The look in the eyes of the Devil Dhemapir told Minato the first few classes were looking to be a little difficult, he couldn't stay all night as he was to meet up with Ophis before checking in on the rogue exorcists.

Minato managed to coax Gasper out, though his legs were still a little weak as they kept shaking so, he decided to give his junior a piggy back ride outside for their training session.

"Senpai, you smell really good" Gasper said absent-mindedly as his not so subtly sniffed Minato as he carried the Dhampir, Asia and Koneko came to a complete halt at what Gasper just said as even Gasper was shocked at what he just uttered.

Minato's expression became more than a little strained "Thanks, I've been trying this new body wash. Thanks for the positive reinforcement on my hygiene routine" he said, trying to defuse the awkward situation.

'It would appear the little one has taken a liking to the blood in you my boy" the Persona of Dracula said within Minato's mind.

'We'll prepare the anti blood sucker stuff' Abraham Van Hellsing, famed Vampire Hunter, mentions before working with other hunters of the creatures of the night including Kresnik.

Minato internally sighed, at the new turn of events 'I wonder what Ophis is doing now'

-=-][-=-

Ophis had spent a considerable amount of time wittingly down the ranks of Sacred Gear users to those that would be suited for the task she needed them for, the Khaos Brigade kept detailed information of the Sacred Gears they had in their possession but nothing as extensive on their wielders or how they wielded them.

She gain considerable help from Team Vali in finding the right team for the job and getting them to understand what they were being asked for, though only on a need to know basis.

"So this is going to be a stealth operation then" the one who wielded the Sacred Gear Flame Shake said, an eager smile growing on his face.

Arthur nodded "Precisely, stealth is imperative for this. As such you mustn't contact anyone from the Khaos Brigade or anyone else about this mission, secrecy is a must" he glanced to Ophis for a moment to gauge her reaction, not being able to pick up on anything he continued with the debrief of the mission along the outlines they discussed earlier "You will be working with a group of unaffiliated rogue exorcists and cooperating with them in protecting a certain target, you will learn the finer details when you group up with them"

The wielders of Flame Shake, Staring Blue and Staring Green looked between one another with barely contained excitement. They had been working their butts off to prove themselves and now they're being recognized, granted they prefer that recognition came from a fellow human but the Infinite Dragon God was nothing to sneeze at.

However, one member of the team of Sacred Gear wielders summoned wasn't as thrilled as the others.

"And why exactly were we chosen? I imagine there would be better choices in the other Factions of the Khaos Brigade for this guard duty" a young man dressed in all black asked, his team shooting him looks of 'don't ruin this for us' while he stared down Arthur.

"Useful. Subtle"

The quiet voice of Ophis silence the others in the room, those were the only words she had spoken since the meeting began.

Seeing how the words of the Black Dragon of Infinite had put the boy in black on the back foot Arthur took the initiative "It's as Ophis says, Connla, for added context this is a mission that needs those taking part being humans with Sacred Gears. But, nothing too extraordinary"

The wielder of Staring Green raised an eyebrow "Wait, so this is a mission that need what seem like normal Sacred Gear wielders. Is this all for some plausibly deniability or something else?"

"Of sorts, we need what happens to seem like an isolated incident and not risk things escalating much beyond it. It's part of the reason why you will be radio silent during this" Arthur said.

The Staring Blue wielder expression harden "What are the chances we'll survive this, what happens if we die during this going up against something stronger than us?"

Before another word could be said, four of Ophis's snakes appeared before the team of Sacred Gear wielders with each one of the snakes staring at one of them.

"Useless, dead" Ophis answered.

The wielders of Flame Shake, Staring Blue and Green tentatively reached out to accept the power while Connla was adamant in his refusal of that same power. As soon as they accepted Ophis's snakes they could feel her power coursing through as what once seemed like impossible power was now at their finger tips, the wielder of Flame Shake felt the power of his Sacred Gear growing more and more powerful as it nearly achieved-

And suddenly, the snakes of Ophis's power poked their heads out of the bodies of the three as the divine power they felt left them as Ophis gave them an annoyed look.

"Useless, dead" Ophis repeated herself, being sure to put emphasis on the word dead "Too much, you'll break"

As the snakes returned to the three along with the power they took Ophis's warning to heart, over use of her power will kill them. Connla looked down at the fourth snake that was meant for him and for a moment reconsidered taking it, Ophis did want them to survive this mission if for nothing else it benefit the Dragon God in some way, but in the end he shook his head as the fourth snake returned to Ophis.

Whether it was out of pride or paranoia, Connla didn't want to take a cheap hand out power up even if it was for one mission as he wanted to know what his limits were and break them. He looked to the Dragon God and the descendant of King Arthur, his attitude a bit more at ease "When do begin?"

"You'll be departing in a day's time, that's to give you a chance to prepare yourselves and collect what you need beforehand, once that's done the snakes will transport you to where the mission will take place with further details being given there by the one leading the mission" Arthur said as they neared the end of the mission debrief, everything seemed to be wrapping up nicely until the Wielder of Staring Green raised their hand.

He fidgeted under the look of everyone around him "Um, just to check. If this is a stealth mission can we wear disguises or costumes?"

Ophis tilted her head (?) slightly at the question, not seeing much reason either way she gave a simple answer "If, you wish"

The look of sheer joy on the wielder of Staring Green's face told Ophis she answered correctly, they quickly left with Connla following after his team.

As soon as they were gone Ophis sagged a little in relief "Good, that's over"

Arthur nodded "It went much better than I anticipated, your words held a great deal of sway over them"

Ophis let out an affirmative hum but did not say a word. The two teleported away to one of Team Vali's safe houses, a little house in an almost abandoned mountain town in Japan.

"So, am I right in assuming Minato will be leading this mission?" Arthur asked, he has a suspicion that the mysterious Minato would be involved given Ophis interest in this mission.

"Yes" Ophis answered, seeing little reason to hide everything while keeping some facts vague "People, dragged him into this" she frowned as she thought about how the wider world was going to have their eyes on Minato because of some random Fallen Angel and exiled priest "He couldn't turn them away, when they came for his help"

Arthur paused for a moment as he looked to Ophis "If you don't mind me asking, did he come to you looking for help or did you offer it?"

Ophis considered the question an odd one but answered anyway "I offered him help, all he said that any help mustn't draw too much attention"

"Meaning picking out Sacred Gear users was your idea, I see" Arthur said, a picture of the situation becoming more and more clear.

"What, are you thinking?"

"In truth, I am only realizing now how much you have changed"

"?" Ophis looked puzzled, not aware of any major changes she had experienced.

Arthur held up a finger "For starters, you're more comfortable talking than before. Not just with others such as that team of Sacred Gear Wielders but also with the amount, mainly from the late night meeting regarding the 'Banana Incident'"

Ophis blushed at the memory of that night, the blush only grew deeper when she thought about what happened after she went back and made up with Minato.

"And your being more proactive from what I know" Arthur raised a second finger "Though this knowledge is second hand, so forgive me for working under false assumptions if that knowledge is wrong"

"From what I've heard, you used to wander with no purpose other than the vague goal of defeating Great Red. Letting the winds carry you as it were, or a lack of initiative may be a better way of putting it" Arthur said, considering using the word listless but deciding against it "Now though, now you seem to be taking the initiative. Being more proactive rather than reacting"

Ophis was silent for a moment as she thought over Arthur's words "You, aren't wholly wrong" while she thought of herself of being proactive in the past, Ophis would admit to be more active than previous times but she knew the source of any changes lay elsewhere "The bonds we make, between one another can make us better. That was a lesson, Minato learnt and told me"

Arthur gave a mildly puzzled look, Ophis's words sounded like she was repeating the words of another "Would I be right in saying Minato would be the cause of these changes?"

"Yes, but also you and the others" Ophis answered "Thank you again for you help, Arthur"

Arthur smiled "Any time Ophis, though I'll admit that we're all looking forward to meeting this Minato next we meet" he glanced at his watch with a slight frown "Speaking of which, I need to head back. Vali is hunting powerful monsters due to being impatient in meeting his destined rival, seems Azazel is insistent that he wait a bit longer until Azazel finishes a 'business trip' of his"

Ophis and Arthur parted ways, as soon as he was gone Ophis frowned at that piece of information regarding the Fallen Angel Leader. She had met him before, both before and after meeting Vali, and while she knew very little about the Fallen Leader she knew about his obsession with Sacred Gears. Like the Boosted Gear of the Red Dragon Emperor.

'Annoying' Ophis thought about this recent development, she had thought that the current wielder being a Devil already would have bought her a little more time but, than again patience was rarely a virtue of a Fallen Angel.

However, Ophis had prepared for this sort of circumstance.

-=-][-=-

Back at the Arisato Residence Ophis found Minato with stern frown as he laid back into the couch with his headphones on with Bridget in his lap as one hand rubbed the chimera Hellhound's stomach while the other rubbed his forehead.

Bridget got up and went over to Ophis to give the Infinite Dragon God and affectionate lick on the cheek, to which Ophis responded by rubbing the canine's head. Minato and Ophis shared a look between them, a full conversation taking place with a word being spoken, they sat down together as they talked about their day.

"No offence to them, but I rather fight Kokabiel one on one than deal with whatever the Occult Research Club is doing" Minato said with a sigh. Saying that Rias planning to drug Issei had put Minato in a foul mood would be an understatement, the fact he had to put on a friendly face while interacting with the others didn't help matters in the slightest.

Seeing her chance Ophis brought out the item to change the subject to help get Minato's mind away from the group of Devils he took upon himself to protect "About that, here"

Taking the offered item he looked it over "A helmet?"

[3] The helmet was covered in reflective chrome that acted as a mirror, the faceplate had no markings to resemble a face leaving it a smooth surface that better reflected what it was pointed at. Looking at the inside revealed that the interior was well padded with little in the way of blocking the vision of anyone wearing it with the entire faceplate being transparent.

"It'll protect you, from attacks and information gathering" Ophis explained as she watched Minato look over the helmet.

"Cool" Minato said, he paused for a moment as he stood up quickly "Hold on, I'll be back in a moment"

Minato left for a minute and when he came back he was wearing the standard uniform of a combat exorcist, once he was in Ophis's field of view he spun around once to let her get a full body look "I planned on dressing up like one of the exorcists as a disguise, but with this" he put the helmet, adjusting it slightly as he got used to it, reaching into the back of the coat Minato pulled up the detachable hood and pulled it up over the helmet "I'd say the look is complete"

Minato moved his head to get a feel for the helmet, it was more comfortable than he was expecting and the magic in it allow him full 360 degree view of his surroundings among other things. However, the most notable thing was the feeling of a very familiar source of power in the back of the helmet.

Putting those thoughts aside for the moment he turned to Ophis for her opinion "Well, how do I look?" Minato asked, noticing that his voice was being altered while he wore the helmet.

"Mysterious" Ophis said as she looked to Minato, while the helmet did make it so Minato stood out in a line-up of combat exorcists it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume it was just a Sacred Gear or some random item a random Exorcist found and chose to use.

[4] Besides, this way she could help while mostly not being present. Mostly.

"Perfect" Glancing at himself in a mirror Minato was momentarily distracted by the infinite reflection before he noticed something "Hmm? I sort of look like a character from a manga or anime with this on" he turned to Ophis, his expression hidden by the helmet "Thank you, this is really going to come in handy. I hope you didn't go through much trouble in getting this"

Ophis shook her head "No, it was just gathering dust in my hoard"

Sitting back down beside her Minato removed the helmet as he faced Ophis with a worried look "Hey, be honest with me. Do you wish I wasn't doing this?"

The eyes of the Infinite Dragon God didn't waver as they look into Minato's own "I rather, you didn't. But, this is who you are. Someone who would think of others before themselves, if you won't look after yourself I will" she nodded as she made her decision.

Minato was her Wild Card, her first friend, she wasn't going to let others take him away from her so easily.

"I promise, I'll take better care of myself. And I'll have this one thing finished off in no time" Minato said, a pang of guilt over being a burden to someone he cared about "They'll be no need for worry"

Ophis leaned closer to Minato, as she need he wrapped an arm around her and brought her in for a hug "Just, come back to me"

Minato let out an affirmative hum as the two stayed like that for several long moments, looking over to the helmet on the table before them Ophis saw the reflection of herself and Minato in it with a blush visible on her cheeks. The Black Dragon of Infinite had never seen herself blush before, in any form she had taken, so it took her by surprise.

However, that surprise was short lived as she realized something important that they overlooked.

"You need, a name" Ophis said, craning her head to look up at Minato "You can't use your name, while wearing that"

Minato frowned as he forgot that detail himself "Right, still need a code name. Any ideas?" Ophis shook her head instantly "Okay, a little brainstorming on what to call myself. It can't sound too strange or out of place, had to sound like a real name"

"Like when, dealing with Fairies" Ophis mentioned, having becoming very aware of the Fae Folk due to their power being similar to Great Red in a number of ways if only to a much lesser extent.

"Fairies, yeah. That's perfect, that's the name I'll use" Minato picked up the helmet again as he stared at the reflection in it "That which means 'My Own Self', Mi Ainsel. Now, I just need the others to go along with the name" he looked at the helmet with a questioning gaze as he thought of something "Hope I won't have to explain the meaning of the name too often, it's obscure so I don't imagine many would understand it's meaning besides Azazel and-"

Ophis stared at Minato.

"Oh, I forgot to mention that Azazel was at the old church. He just missed running into Masaomi and Cleria, I believe he was there because I had Bridget reinforce the area with both holy and nature magic" Minato explained.

Instead of answering with words Ophis put the helmet back on his head "Keep on"

-=-][-=-

Meanwhile, in the Underworld [Devil Territory]

Katina took in deep breaths as she took in the sight before her.

A proud and pompous Devil that once saw Reincarnated Devils as little more than playthings now laid beaten and bloodied on the floor, most of their teeth laid on the floor with them with all the others having been swallowed by the 'Pure Blood' Devil during their battle.

The desire to kill was powerful, but she held herself back for the time being.

"What have we said about cutting into our spoils, Oh Queen of Burning Liberation"

Looking over to where a door once stood Katina saw Goetia enter with a Grimoire in hand, the fusion of Demons had spent most of their time during these raids taking all manner of books that were present in the mansion. Calling the hoarding and locking away of knowledge an unforgivable act even for Devils, collecting all research with focus being placed on that made by contracted Magicians, though Katina was convinced those words were coming from the four human personalities that were rending in the Demon god.

"If you helped out more, than you can complain about you spoils being ruined" Katina retorted back as she popped a shoulder back into place "That being said, I don't see anything valuable being ruined"

"That's because you don't know what to seek, those bedsheets are made from the webbing of a particular breed of spider. One that can be used for powerful alchemic creations" Goetia said as they approached the bedsheets in question, lifting them up to see them coated in blood and mostly on fire "Though, I can't blame you for not knowing this. I doubt this creature knew of what it's bedding was made of, if it did it would have made better use of it"

Katina looked down at the Devil Noble that laid in their own blood "Fair point, this one doesn't come off as the brightest. Though, you can never be sure with Devils and excess"

"This isn't excess, it's stupidity. Plain and simple" Goetia dropped the sheet as flames began to consume what remained "There are more awaiting emancipation, seems the reincarnated Devils here too were mistreated. I shall keep watch over this one while you attend to them in that backroom"

Katina nodded as she made her way to leave, as she set foot on the boundary of the room Goetia spoke to her while it stared at the Devil on the floor.

"Do not play with your targets, lest your excess cost us down the line as he has them"

She stopped for a moment to let the fused Demon to know she heard it before leaving, the fear regarding that monster still present in her heart but restrained knowing Minato held it's reigns.

'You'd think I'd feel more fear knowing that the guy I considered killing once had a Demon god under his control, though I wonder if living with the Ouroboros Dragon changed my perception of things' Katina thought to herself as she walked through the war zone that had come about during their raid.

Barely an hour had passed when they arrived in the Underworld before they were set upon by bandits, or as they called themselves in the developed cities of Devil territory 'alternative merchants and enforcers', looking to rob them blind.

The delight in Goetia's eyes as it dispatch the bandits was frightening, though nowhere as near as frightening as Goetia effortlessly recruited the bandits as it's minions. The dark charisma of the Demon letting it control the Devils like well trained animals, the looks of purpose in their eyes made a shiver crawl up her spin.

As Goetia recruited more and more Devils from the outskirts and underbelly of Devil society with the same ease as the original bandits any doubt of Devils being made to serve Demons was squashed.

And yet, the strangest thing was that Goetia seemed disappointed no one fought back.

'The strong rule, the weak serve and die. That is the primeval nature, a universal truth surpassing any Law. The way of Chaos, were all could be yours if you had the power and will to claim it through your own effort. But these, THESE so call Devils bend and break at the slightest push back and grovel' the fused demon snarled at the turn of events 'Not one chooses to stand for themselves, to oppose, to rebel, not even the so-called 'Ultimate level' Devils. Knock one down and they beg for their lives the next second'

Law. Chaos.

The way Goetia spoke of those things, they held a power to them that drew people in. Something to rally behind, she wasn't sure what that meant only that the Demons of Ars Goetia stood with Chaos and logical reasoning would make Law Heaven.

As she reached the room Katina pushed those thoughts aside and entered, inside were Gabriel in a bulky suit of armour stood with Tanya who used a musket as a flying broom and the Devils Goetia recruited with a group of injured Devils looking at her with hopeful looks.

Katina looked over to Gabriel and Tanya to see how they were doing, they looked fine all things considered but her gut instinct told her that neither Gabriel nor Tanya could continue using their Persona power for much longer. The armour that surrounded Gabriel had already began to shrink and Tanya flew closer to the ground than she normally would, Persona powers were exhausting to use in the beginning and those two were reaching their limit.

Katina gave a respectful nod to the Devils recruited to their little group before turning to the one's she came to meet "Let's cut to the chase, I hear you are in need of my special skill"

"You can free us, right. Make it so we don't have to serve our, kings?" a muscular man asked, his entire body was covered in scars and coat in body oil that smelt awful.

"Don't be stupid, chances are whatever she does will just make us go Full Stray. We'd be trading one slaver for another" one of the group seeking emancipation said.

"I can severe the connection between your pieces to your kings, without you mutating" Katina looked to the one who said that, they kept their head low as they slouched forward "If you think that, than why are you here?"

"Either your on the up and up and I'm freed, or I experience at least one form of death" they raised their head to reveal bloodshot eyes "It's win win for me"

Katina kept eye contact with those bloodshot eyes, she had seen that same look in many others including herself "The way this works is that these flames" she summoned her shield with a flame dancing on it's face, the reincarnated Devils before here didn't even flinch when they saw the flames "will do the work, all you have to do is let in their power and heat to free you from the influence of the Evil Pieces to be truly free Devils"

"C-Can you turn us back?" a little girl that looked like a doll asked, she hugged her knees to her chest as she sat close to one of the Ultimate level Devils Goetia recruited "Can your power make it so, we're not Devils anymore?"

Katina winced, she approached and knelt down so she was more at eye level with the little girl "I'm sorry sweetie, my power can't go that far. Your going to have to go to someone else for that kind of power" slowly, she patted the little girl's head to console her when Katina saw her eyes getting watery. It seemed to do the trick as the little rubbed her eyes, Katina led the little girl closer to the main group, the little girl looked to the Ultimate Devil she was standing beside who gave her an encouraging look.

Once everyone was together Katina focused on the flames that danced on her shield, grasping it with her free hand as the power the slept within the flames rang out like a heartbeat as it sought to free all from the chains they carried.

Letting the flame loose it soared towards the group of Devils and spun around them, becoming faster and faster until it looked like a solid ring of fire that hung above, the power of the flames drifted down as it washed over the Devils who looked at it and themselves in wonder.

The fire disappeared, having fulfilled it's mission, and while nothing visible seemed to have changed the looks on the faces of the now Freed Reincarnated Devils.

"There you go, anything keeping you all tied to your kings are severed completely. Your all still Devils so you could blend with the normal Devil population without issue, though I'd personally recommend you keep you heads low for a couple of years to make sure no one can track you down" Katina said as she looked at how they all held looks of disbelief at their new freedom with a number of them outright cheering, the Ultimate Devils that had more or less come under their employ still held a look of amazement at what she did.

Checking her watch Katina saw they were getting close to the one hour mark and the cut off time of their raid, one more check in with the others and they'd be heading out.

However, a pulse of Demonic power caused everyone to stumble halted those plans.

"Everyone check in, Queen with group C" Katina was instantly on their communication network to check on the others.

"Group A reporting in; perimeter secured with no signs of magic being used to teleport"

"Group B reporting in, securing the last of the valuables and covering our tracks. We're ready to move at a moments notice"

"Group D reporting in, we've searched the dungeons top to bottom. Nothing alive down here, heading up now"

"Group E here, the escape routes are still secure"

"F here, used G's power to mind-wipe the one's we're leaving alive and scattering across the entire Underworld"

"Group G, do you read me?" Katina called out to Goetia through the network 'Group G, come in!"

"...We are here, little sister" Goetia voice came through, though Katina almost wished it didn't. The barely contained rage with in the monster's voice made her and all others that heard it fear for their lives "We came across a hidden room this Devil Noble made extensive use of. What they did it has angered the humans hearts within us, to an extent we thought not possible and caused us to let this power leak out. Our apologize for the lost of control, it seems we'll need to make a hasty retreat now"

Katina let out a relieved sigh "So long as your alright, everyone hear that? We're moving out now"

A series of affirmative rang out before they all leapt into action, securing the spoils of their operation and scattering the party guests to the four corners of the Underworld with not even the clothes on their backs going with them. Goetia was the last to regroup as it had to prepare one last special thing before leaving, but once they were all together they left what was once a lavish palace and now all that remained were ruins.

The now Freed Devils were dropped off at one of the remote Devil villages with new clothes and money to last them a year, more than enough for them to make a life for themselves according to Goetia.

However, not all of the Freed Devils left.

Arriving at their base of operations, an ancient Devil Castle that had been long since abandoned and forgotten about during the early days of the Great War, Goetia noticed something off regarding one of the Devil minions.

"Why does thou have a child?" Goetia asked as it looked to a little girl sitting on the shoulder of one of the Ultimate Devils.

"I adopted her"

"Hmm" Goetia said before rubbing the child's head "Be sure to grow up big and strong, little one. And find what is your strength"

"I will Mr Goetia!" the little girl cheered as her new parent took her to where other children were playing.

Giving a polite nod Goetia walked to the meeting room where the former peerage of nuns gathered "Seemed we acquired even more personnel than before"

"At this point we have enough to start up a large village of our own, heck this could even be the foundation of a city" Davina said as she looked over the list of items they 'liberated' from the previous raid.

"If they wish to make this place their home they are free to do so, we won't be here for much longer. Especially not after what we uncovered" Goetia smiled as he addressed the others "The next King Piece has been located, seems that buffoon was a boot licker that over heard something they weren't suppose to"

The excitement in the air grew as many smiled at the prospect of taking another King Piece, they already have one in their possession leaving only eleven more to collect.

"Our target will be Roygun Belphegor, head of house Belphegor, ranked second in the Rating Game leaderboards and a confirmed possessor of a King Piece" Goetia smiled "Now ladies, I'm sure we're all in agreement that having such a fraud as an idol for the children is just wrong. No?"

Katina narrowed her eyes, Roygun was the one who made her lose her bet in the past and now she had a chance at pay "Are you sure about this, even if this goes off without a hitch we'd be bring down a lot of attention on ourselves so soon"

"That is the purpose of this mission, you all enacting your vengeance and the gathering of the King Pieces are merely a means to that end" Goetia's eyes seemed to glow before continuing "Let us show this child, the difference between power given and power earned"

As they planned their next move the ruins left behind in their raid wouldn't have been found until two days later.

-=-][-=-

"Issei, I wanted to take this opportunity to talk to you. One on one" Minato said as they sat in the Occult Research Club's clubroom while the others were out performing training exercises with Bridget overseeing them.

However, playing with them may have been a better word to describe what the Chimera Hellhound was doing with the Occult Research Club.

The second year nodded as he sat across from Minato in the clubroom "No problem, but what is this about anyway?"

"To put it simply, I want to get a grasp of you psyche and generally a better understand of you" Minato said as he leaned back into his chair "This way I can better tailor any training to better benefit you"

Issei looked a bit confused "Okay, I don't follow how this is suppose to help me with training but I'll take your word for it"

"The mind and body are connected and both need one another, it's like the hardware and software with technology" Minato explained as he took out his phone to show Issei "For example, while physical the phone needs the software in it to work as well as radio waves to make and receive calls and without the physical body that software and radio waves can't really do anything"

"Oh! Like how-"

"Please don't try and make the same analogy but somehow involving breasts"

Issei thought about it for a moment before nodding and keeping his mouth shut.

Minato held back a sigh as he looked over the general outline of a plan of action to take "Okay, first let me ask if there is anything you want to talk about. Any issues on your mind that wish to address, something for whatever reason you feel you can't share with the others?"

"Nothing comes to mind"

Making a small note Minato looked up to Issei "Okay then, how long have you been aware of the supernatural? Have you known about it for years or did you only learn about it from Rias making you her sole pawn?"

Issei went unnaturally quiet, so much so Minato worried he may have stumbled upon a fresh trauma.

"I, I had no idea any of this" Issei said as he summoned his bat wings for a moment "Was even remotely real until this year, I only learnt about this after Rias saved me after Yuuma tried to kill me"

Minato frowned as he focused all his attention of Issei "Do you need a minute?"

Issei shook his head "No, I can go on. I went on a date with Yuuma and as soon as it was over she shoved a light spear into m gut, she only went out with me to kill me because I had a Sacred Gear"

"Yuuma was a Fallen Angel?" Minato asked.

"Yeah, her real name was Raynare apparently. Asia told me" Issei raised his head as he looked Minato in the eyes "Be honest with me, what happened to her?" with Minato not answering fast enough Issei pressed him for more information "Long black hair, violet eyes and a thing for bondage gear. Asia kept quiet about what happened at the church, so"

Issei bowed his head with his eyes closed "Please, tell me what happened to her"

"Raynare, won't be able to hurt anyone else" Minato answered honestly, the mark placed on them by Phanuel would see to that, though he wasn't sure what he would say if Issei pushed for details.

Issei didn't push for more information, instead seemingly coming to his own conclusion.

"If it's alright with you, do you want to talk about what happened? What you went through, it would leave a scar even with the strongest person" Minato asked gently, he wanted to help Issei but he couldn't force the issue. If he didn't open himself a little for others to help him than Issei's issues would follow him and likely grow worse.

With a shake of his head Issei denied Minato's help, it was too early for Issei to face his demons yet.

"Okay, we'll put that away for the time being" Minato made a small short hand note, as he did a he considered what could cheer Issei up "Regardless, I'd say Raynare really shot herself in the foot in this"

"Because she didn't get her hands on Boosted Gear"

"No, she lost her chance with you Issei Hyoudou" Minato looked up to see Issei giving him a confused look "Granted, your perversion can be a deal breaker for many. But that doesn't mean your own good points should be forgotten, Kuoh Academy wouldn't let just anyone in"

"I guess? We worked our butts off applying to here as soon as we learnt it was going co ed, being the first in the door and more chances to get harems of our own" Issei reminisced to the long hours he, Matsuda and Motohama studying instead of the other thing they did for hours on end "We barely got in, and I still think it was due to the standards being lowered to get more guys in and that educational adult game Motohama managed to track down"

Minato shook his head "I don't believe the academy would have lowered it's standards, mainly due to keep it's reputation" he frowned for a moment as something Issei said stuck out to him "How would an adult education game even work-"

"The teachers undress the more answers you get right" Issei said with a grin "You could even program in what order they come off at, Matsuda made it so I could only see their breasts when I got a near perfect score" Issei began daydreaming with a perverted look "And when you get perfect scores you unlock the-"

"Stop, please, I get the idea" Minato interrupted Issei as he didn't want to hear anymore of what the reincarnated Devil was going to say "You know, you could get a real girlfriend if you stopped yelling about their breasts so much"

Issei's face scrunched up "Like, talking about their butts?" he shook his head "Sorry senpai, I'm a breast man till the day I die"

"I mean, complimenting them on the aspects of themselves they can control and not on the thing determined by genetics and diet" Minato pushed down the urge to hit Issei over the head with a paper fan "When did you even develop this… fixation on women's breasts?"

"Oh, I meet an old guy at the park about ten years ago" Issei answered, not seeing anything wrong with what he just said "My best friend moved away around that time and I went to the park feeling lonely, came across an old guy talking about the greatness of breasts and what he said struck a cord with me" he sighed "Then the police took him away, I went looking for him to learn more from that wise sage but never found him"

Minato looked to Issei wide eyed as his concern grew 'Okay, that's wrong on several levels and sounds like the first stage of cult indoctrination' Minato thought to himself as he thought back to the course Mitsuru had SEES take to identify those sorts of things when Strega went public with their cult of [NYX].

'Okay, Issei may have almost recruited to some weird breast cult when he was younger before the police arrested the one trying to recruit him. Hopefully the rest of this club don't have odd or tragic backstories' Minato thought as he reworked his plan for this session with Issei. 'Maybe, being more direct and to the point is better' Minato thought to himself as he tried this other method.

After a while Asia went to check up on Minato and Issei, what she found was a teary eyed Issei hugging Minato as the third year rubbed small circles on his back.

"There there, let it all out. And never forget, your ARE deserving of love" Minato said gently before the two parted.

Asia blushed heavily at the scene, not sure what to make of what was happening. When both men turned to look at her Asia's blush intensified, she pointed the way she came as she answered "Sorry to interrupt, but Rias is looking for you Issei"

"Oh, right. Sorry, this went longer than I thought" Issei said as he looked away as he fried his eyes, not wanting Asia to see him crying.

"I'll admit our session went on a bit longer than expected, but it was better for it" Minato gave his junior an encouraging look "I'll catch up, you go on ahead. And if you ever need to talk about something serious, I'm here for you"

Issei nodded as he ran off, Asia got ready to follow when Minato whispered to her.

"If you want to get closer to Issei, confessing your feelings will go a long way. Upfront and honest with genuine love, that will allow you to claim victory for Issei's heart"

Asia blush grew even brighter as Minato, who in her mind was actually an Archangel, just gave her relationship advice regarding a Devil he was just hugging moments ago.

'If, if Issei could get harem. Could I?' Asia was starting to feel light headed with the image of her sandwiched between Minato and Issei.

-=-][-=-

"What is this?"

When he went to meet with the exorcists and explain to them his reasons for wearing a mask and working under a code name he had expected many things, being led to a makeshift throne at the end of a large table was not one of them.

"One of the exorcists here got bored and decided to make a throne for fun, turned out way better than expected and felt like giving it to you to use during meetings" Masaomi said "He would be here himself, but he just got back from taking down a drug dealer"

"And by taken down you mean?"

"In police custody"

"Ah, in that case I should really thank him for a job well done. Where is he-"

"High, really high"

"...Do you mean the bell tower or-"

"No, not the bell tower"

"I see, well let me know when he comes back down" Minato answered as he put on the helmet, becoming Mi Ainsel, just as he could feel Ophis's power begin to the process teleport in their support.

One thing the helmet allowed him to do was designating the spot their support would be teleported in at, with that in mind Minato moved to the underground section of the church alone to teleport them in.

No light, no sound. In an instant four figures appeared with suitcases with them, as soon as they saw them three of them took on a pose with only one not making a pose.

"Flame Shake Youta, fired up and ready to go!" a young man wearing mostly red said with a toothy smile.

"Staring Blue Takumi, prepared to sweep away the enemy!" a young man wearing mostly blue said, trying to look aloof.

"Staring Green Asuka, ready to take aim at evil!" a young man wearing mostly green said as he tried to look reserved, but the volume of his voice ruined his chances at it.

"Connla, and the only one not a super sentai fan on this team" a young man in all black as he was the only in the group not doing a superhero pose.

Not missing a beat Minato returned the greeting with a hand on his chest "Welcome gentlemen. I am Mi Ainsel, currently acting head of this little group of ours"

"Mi Ainsel? As in that fairy tale" Connla asked, raising an eyebrow at the name. Fairy Tales were his original source of information regarding the Fae and Mi Ainsel, or Mi Fhín in Gaelic.

Minato nodded, pleasantly surprised at someone knowing the meaning behind the name.

When he looked at the one calling himself Connla Minato could feel the Personas of Lugh, Cu Chulainn and his son Connla reacting to him like Siegfried had done before with Freed, only this time it was much more noticeable.

If he had to guess as to why, Minato would assume that the Connla before had a direct connection to the grandson of Lugh. Or, at least a stronger connection than Freed had with Siegfried.

"If I may, Mi-Fhín" Connla began, using the Gaelic for Mi Ainsel "What exactly is our mission?"

"Prevent an assassination to stop a warmonger from starting a world war" Minato explained, feeling conflicted as he saw the excited look in their eyes "We're waiting on intel in regards to enemy movements, till we hear word you are to be on standby. Try and get to know the others a little and get some training in as well"

The determination in the eyes of the team of Sacred Gear Wielders grew more intense as even Connla was getting pumped up, a mission to save the world from disaster was before them and they won't mess it up, though their excitement was short lived as it seemed to have been snuffed out as soon as Minato mentioned they would be protecting Devils.

---

Author's Notes:

Right, all the pieces are in place and the dominoes are ready to fall. Next chapter is going to involve different points of view with other characters, bit on how the Underworld is reacting to Goetia's team gaining infamy before the first battle with Kokabiel's forces takes place. Admittedly there will be a bit of a time skip but nothing too bad as it will just be a few days.

[1] Just to let you all now, this actually happened in canon or at least was in an official release of the DxD anime. The title "Koneko goes a little over the top meow" and is the third short special included with the DxD dvd/Blu-Ray release.

Even if it's anime only, sharing the same status as the anime original ending that the author of DxD hated so much he made fanfiction to spite it i.e. that's why EX exists at all [This is my headcanon of what happened] and the anime changed studios (in case anyone wonders why the animation changed in the fourth season, Hero), in official DxD media Rias used tactics you'd expect Diodora to use on his peerage on Issei even though she's suppose to love him.

Take what you will from that. Personally, either the anime was REALLY trying to make Rias more villainous than in the Light Novels or character assassination / OOC behaviour is a price people are willingly to pay for ecchi scenes.

[2] Gasper used Balor's time stop accidentally and while it worked on Asia and Koneko it didn't work on Minato, who didn't even notice it happen due to the space time manipulation properties Personas have.

[3] Basically a no face chrome mirror mask that covers the entire head, think like Cobra Commander from G.I. Joe reflective face mask.

[4] In case anyone needs clarification, the magic in the helmet is being powered by a bit of Ophis's own power.