Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!
Episode 3: I'll Destroy the Holy Sword!-Part 3
The three left the cafe to look for Xenos and Irving. Saji didn't seem to be enjoying this, however. "Do I have to come along...?" she mumbled. "The invincible Rook is participating already..."
Issei looked at her with an annoyed face. "Hey, the stronger we are, the better we are," she replied.
"It'll just be hard for us to find them."
"Well, firstly, to find two guys wearing white robes on Main Street..."
Just as she was about to say it, she stopped, making the two stop as she saw Xenos and Irving robed on the street, a few people looking at them curiously. A sign that said, "Help the hand of love!" was up and Irving carrying a bowl for change. "Uh...blessings on the wandering sheep..." Xenos began, sounding...hungry.
"We are pitiful compared to you, O Lord, have mercy on us..." Irving added, also sounding hungry.
Issei sweat-dropped at the sight. "Wow, right in the open," she muttered.
"Yep," added Kabu, who was also sweat-dropping at the sight.
After meeting up with the two of them, they all went to a restaurant and ordered food for Xenos and Irving. Both ate their food like hungry animals. "This all tastes so delicious~!" the blue-haired exorcist said happily as he kept switching food. "Irving...the food...in this country...is so delicious!"
"I know!" he replied as he drank down the broth of his bowl and wiped his mouth with a napkin. "The standard fare at a diner is my kind of soul food!" He then continued eating more of the food.
Kabu drank lemon-lime soda from a cup, Issei drank cherry soda, and Saji, looking at the two guys eating in awe, was drinking green tea. "It's amazing how they eat this much," she stated.
A waiter came to the table with a tray of food and said, "Here's your hamburger steak, gentlemen."
...
Later, the guys filled themselves with lots of food, but Xenos looked down in despair. "What's happening?" he muttered to himself. "The world must be ending to be saved by a devil, even if it meant building faith."
Irving also looked despaired and had his hands in prayer. "We have sold our souls to the devil..." he murmured in a sad tone, imaginary light shining on his face.
"You guys thank me like that when I paid for the food?!" Issei exclaimed in disbelief, pouting so much.
Kabu looked at her in disbelief. "Issei-senpai," he said to her sternly.
She sighed, knowing what she did. "Yeah, I made them mad too, so it's a lose-lose situation..."
"Oh Lord, please forgive these kind devils," the chestnut-haired male continued as he moved his hands in a cross motion. That made the girls scream and the little boy grunt as they both got splitting headaches from him doing that.
"We don't need God's blessing!" yelled the brown-haired girl.
Irving looked shocked and nervously laughed a little. "Oh, sorry. You know what they say, old habits die hard?" Issei could only look at him disapprovingly.
Xenos decided to get serious and looked at the devils with a serious expression on his face. "Now with that done, why did you contact us?" he asked them.
With the pain gone away, Issei looked serious as well, looking at him and answering, "We want to help you destroy Excalibur."
He looked slightly puzzled. "I'm sorry?"
...
After the female pervert explained herself, Xenos nodded. "I see," he stated. "I don't mind if you guys take care of one sword."
Irving looked shocked at what he said and turned to him. "Xenos?! What?!" he exclaimed.
At the same time, Issei's face lit up. "Really?!" she also exclaimed.
Saji gritted her teeth and looked away from them. "I thought you guys would reject us instantly!" she whisper-shouted.
Xenos kept his serious expression with Irving. "The other side even has the leader of the fallen angels, Kokabiel, with them," he whispered to him. "If I were to be honest, it will be difficult for us to recover the swords on our own."
The violet-eyed guy let out a deep sigh. "I understand that, but-"
"Our chances of going home unharmed is a mere 30 percent."
"Even so, we came knowing about that."
"That's correct. We were sent by the higher-ups fully prepared to sacrifice ourselves from the very beginning."
"It's a believer's dream, isn't that right?"
After leaving the restaurant, it was evening and the group managed to find Yumi at the fountain, sitting on the edge as she listened to what Issei and the others say. "I understand," she said in a solemn voice with a face matching her tone. "But in all honesty, it's regrettable that a user of Excalibur would approve of its destruction."
"Like you're the one to talk," the blue-haired male retorted. "Didn't you leave the House of Gremory?" She scoffed and crossed her arms. "We would consider you a stray and execute you, right here, right now." He gripped his sword in case she decided to attack him.
"There's that way of thinking as well." She then extended her hand out, a magic circle appearing to summon a sword.
Scared of the outcome of this, Issei walked between the two of them and extended her arms out. "Wait, don't fight!" she told the two of them. "We didn't even come up with a cooperative strategy yet!"
Ignoring her, Xenos stated, "I understand your resentment against the Holy Sword Project." She closed her hand and made the magic circle disappear, deciding to hear what he had to say. "The incident is viewed as great repugnance amongst us. That's why the woman responsible was branded as a heretic and was excommunicated."
Irving nodded and said, "Valerie Galilei, who is also called the Archbishop of Annihilation."
Yumi gripped on the edges of the fountain hard. "Valerie...that woman...is responsible for..."
"I have told you that among her tools was a stray nun, correct?" asked Xenos.
Issei looked back at him. "Frieda, right?" she asked him.
"It is not uncommon for those banned from the Church to be amongst themselves. There's a high possibility that this time, Valerie is also involved in the events."
Yumi looked down and closed her eyes, thinking about cooperation. After hearing what he and Irving said, why wouldn't she cooperate with them? She wanted her dead as much as they did. She opened her eyes and looked up at them. "After hearing all of that, I don't think there's a reason to refuse cooperation."
The chestnut-haired male smiled. "Then that's decided," he said.
The blue-haired male turned and said to the female pervert, "We'll pay you back for the food someday, Red Dragon Empress Hyoudou Issei." Irving waved as the two left.
The perverted girl sighed in relief. Finally, something will be done and there wouldn't be a fight to get the cooperation. "That solves that!" she said happily as she put her hand on Saji's shoulder. "Right?"
She turned to her with an angered look and shouted, "OF COURSE NOT!" Issei shot back and removed her hand from her shoulder. "Not only could we have been killed, but we could've started a war against the Church!"
"Issei-chan," Yumi said as she stood up, getting the female pervert's attention.
She smiled at her reassuringly. "You've saved us so many times, Kiba," she stated. "So-"
"Can you and the rest stay out of this?" The trio gasped and looked shocked at what she just asked. "This is something personal, so I don't want you guys to-"
As the light-brown-haired girl nodded, Issei gritted her teeth and shouted, "Aren't we family? Friends, even?!" Saji tensed up.
Yumi looked away from her. "Yes, but-" Issei then suddenly put her hands on her shoulders, interrupting her and making her get eye contact.
"How can I let a friend like you become a stray? Not just me, but the President will be dreadful about that! Is that alright with you?!"
She took her words into consideration, looking away again. "President Richard...yeah...I...I met him because of the Holy Sword Project."
Remembering back to the days she was human, a younger Yumi was sitting with many others around her age in a dark room lit by the large windows. All of them were wearing either dresses or suits that were white and teal, all of them having cross necklaces.
"Day after day, I was involved in the experiments with others," she began. "Our freedoms were taken away and...we weren't treated as human beings..." Her voice began cracking in sorrow. "Even so, we all believed that we were chosen by God and bore it so desperately with the hope that, one day, we would all become special. However, not one of us were able to wield an Excalibur sword. That experiment became a failure."
As days went by, one-by-one, children were disappearing, the group that was left, including Yumi, looking down in sadness and despair. Then suddenly, the door was kicked open and holy preachers, nuns and priests alike, were seen wearing gas masks.
Her voice then went from cracking to shaky. "We were all then...disposed of soon after to conceal what happened."
One of the holy preachers sprayed the room with a toxic gas, everyone inside coughing and gasping for air, some even coughing out blood.
"Even when vomiting blood or...writhing on the floor...we still believed in God, hoping he would help any of us. And then..."
"Save yourself!" shouted one of the kids.
"Please run!" yelled another.
Yumi was standing in utter shock and horror, seeing those she was close to dying before her very own eyes. They had told her to escape...
...
And so, she did. She ran through the snow at night as the priests and nuns chased after her, shouting:
"Where did that girl go?!"
"We have to catch her!"
She suddenly felt a burning pain inside her body, making her stop and sink her knees into the ground, covering her coughing with her hand, though some of the blood escaped and stained the snow. As she coughed out more blood, she fell to the ground, burying her face in the blood-stained snow. She felt weak, she was near death, she couldn't make it. She whimpered weakly, "I...need to...avenge...everybody..." She tried moving her arm, but stopped and grasped on the snow. She began crying. "Until I get revenge for everybody..." She began sobbing as she tried to stand up. "I can't...die...here..." She grasped on the snow with her other hand to help her stand up. "I...got to live...for them..." A few tears hit the ground before her eyes lost the shine in them and her body collapse on the ground. She had stopped crying and kept thinking why she couldn't live, why she couldn't avenge them.
As some time went by, some snow covered her body. In a mere second, flowing red was seen in the moonlight. It was Richard's hair, the man dressed in white and looking down at her. He said, "If you're going to die, I'll take you in." She looked up at him, seeing the kind and reassuring smile on his face.
She sniffled, tears running down her face. "I thank the President from the bottom of my heart for taking me in as part of his house," she added. "Despite that, I was able to run away because of my comrades." She then looked angry and vengeful, wiping her tears with her sleeve. "That's why...I have to destroy Excalibur with a devil sword that is filled with their feelings. That is my atonement...and my duty, as the only survivor." She then looked straight at the girls, seeing that Saji was crying as much as she did. Issei, who looked terrible before, now looked at her with worry on her face.
"Kiba, I had no clue you had such a tragic and painful past!" Saji stated. "Now I don't care about President's punishments!" She then turned to Issei and shook her shoulders. "Hyoudou! I'll help you all I can!"
The female pervert was beginning to feel dizzy from her shaking her like that, saying, "Reaaaaallly? Thaaaaanks..."
The blonde-haired female giggled, getting rid of the sorrow she had before. She felt Kabu tug her sleeve, which made her look down at him. He looked at her with a friendly expression, a rare sight to see from him. "I'll help as well," he said.
"Kabu-kun...?" she questioned.
His smile turned into a frown. "I will be sad if you aren't here, Yumi-senpai."
She looked away from him, smiling and giggling again. "I guess I lost. If you say so, Kabu-kun, there's no way I could do anything so rash on my own."
The girls looked at Kiba, Issei moving back and forth due to her dizziness. "That means-!" the two exclaimed.
The busty girl nodded at them. "We all know who the real enemy is. So please, let me accept your help." The girls smiled at her and instantly hugged her, Kabu joining in and smiling a little.
"Thank you so much, Kiba!" they both said to her in glee. She only replied with a laugh. They were silly, especially Issei and Kabu, but they were her friends, after all.
Back in the steamy room the guys were in before, Richard and Sora were sitting together, all wet and naked. The guy with the glasses used a leafy scrubber on his shoulder. "Really? Kiba did?" he asked his friend.
"Did I do something wrong, somehow?" Richard asked him, his pecs and abs exposed with the glistening water.
"She is part of your House, correct?"
"Of course she is. It doesn't matter what she says, there is no way I'd let Yumi go." The water glistened on the red-haired man's thighs and his butt.
Sora laughed. "Isn't the Gremory household famous for the strong bond between its family members?" The water also glistened on his chest and thighs as well.
He nodded. "Correct."
"It seems that her feelings got the best of her for now. However..." He smiled. "She is also a member of your household, Richard." He looked at him with a slightly puzzled look. "Kiba will return, I'm sure of it."
He was right. The strong bonds formed in his household was too precious to break. He smiled at his friend and said, "Thank you, Sora."
Suddenly, magic circles appeared before them as holograms of Akihiko and Tsutomu appeared out of them. "Excuse me," the dark-haired man said.
Richard kept his smile and said, "Thank you two for all the hard work."
"Isn't it a little late, Tsutomu?" Sora asked his right-hand man. "Well?"
"The situation became graver," he stated, making the two concerned.
Meanwhile, Issei was leaving the house. Asher stayed inside, having a serious look on his face. "We work really hard this late, Issei-san," Asher said.
"Well, I got an emergency summon, so I have to," she replied. "Tell the President I said hi when he comes homes, alright?"
He nodded. "Okay! I'm just glad you got a regular client." She turned to him and blushed. That was one of the nicest compliments he said to her.
She giggled and said, "Yeah, thanks. Bye." She then finally left to go to her regular client. Or so he thought...
Outside of the abandoned church, Issei was talking to her client by phone as she joined up with Yumi, Kabu, Saji, Xenos, and Irving. "Um, good evening, it's Issei. Sorry, but I won't be able to make it to tonight's summoning."
Walking from a clothing store with a couple of bags, the woman replied, "Oh, it's alright. If it's an emergency, no problem...I understand. I'll summon you again sometime...later." She then hung up and let out a deep sigh. "That girl cancelled last-minute, huh?" She sensed a presence walking with her, making her look at the person. "Oh, hi." The person that was walking with her was female a bit shorter than her with an hourglass shape, complete with double D's and shapely hips. She wore dark-colored sleeveless leather jacket, exposing her cleavage, tight black latex pants, and dark high-heeled boots that reached just below her knee. "Have you come give little ol' me some company?"
The female scoffed and looked at her. "You don't seem the type to get lonely easily," she answered. Her eyes were icy-blue and her hair was long, silver, and messy. The woman looked back at her with a smile.
Done! What do you think? Any mistakes in any of the chapters?
Just to note, keep the warning I said in the lower author's notes in The Holy Sword Is Here!-Part 3, since school is right around the corner for me.
Otherwise, follow, favorite, review, and I'll see you in the next episode!