Chapter 6: Unbreakable Ties

"I am Stephen, the messenger of the Great Will," the man in the wheelchair said.

"Stephen?" Nao asked in a confused tone, wondering why this man knew his identity as Nahobino. He was pretty sure that no one here even knew what a Nahobino was...

"Yes, I am the messenger of the Great Will.,"

"The Great Will?!" Nao replied, confusion in his voice. He didn't know anything about the 'Great Will' that the older man was talking about. It was at this moment when a memory from long ago struck him. Nao remembered Sophia once told him a little about this... Back then, he didn't pay her much attention because of his desire to fuse with a demon for the upcoming battle. A pang of regret struck his heart, but Nao steeled himself and convinced his mind that he couldn't turn back time even if he wanted to.

"The Great Will; it's an inconceivable force that no one knows, even me as its messenger, I admit. Yet, I know that you've taken the role of Nahobino and set the Great Will's plans in motion," he said calmly. He is the'messenger of the Great Will,' but just like what he said, no one truly understands the Great Will's plan or anything that it has done.

"I was right then; there would always be a higher power," Nao said with an exasperated tone. He somewhat knewit; he was only a pawn to someone's game, and Stephen had just confirmed it to him.

"A pretty apt description, actually. We are all just a pawn to His game, nothing more, nothing less. Even the gods and demons are just pieces on a chessboard. YHWH and the other gods are there to be created and rule the world by Him, yet they failed to understand that their eventual demises at the hands of others are also a part of His will."

Nao didn't say anything, but his face sported a clueless look. Stephen, meanwhile, understood where the young man was coming from.

"It's alright; I don't quite understand Him either, and here I am talking. Forgive an old man for rambling too much, won't you?" Stephen asked with an amused tone. Even he, the one who contacted the Great Will directly and has gotten immense power from Him, still fails to fully understand Him.

"What brings you here then? Don't you have some other big plans the Great Will has in store?" Nao replied scathingly, angry at the notion that there may be another disaster on the horizon.

Stephen - ignoring the bitterness that came from the young man's voice - continued nonchalantly.

"Hmmm? Oh yes, I meant to tell you, be careful out there, yes? Not everyone is welcoming you. Many of them are afraid that a new power might be a screw in the wrench for their plans. And do be careful about who you make friends with, too, because they might only use you for your powers, Nahobino.

"And do yourself a favor to get to know the world; not everything is what it seems…." Stephen added.

"Whatever, old man," Nao waved him off, having exhausted his mental health for the day.

"Just a precaution, from yours truly," The middle-aged man laughed heartily before turning around and left.

Sighing heavily, Nao massaged his temple, feeling the migraine coming. He didn't even bother checking if the older man actually left; instead, he just turned in the other direction and walked out of the park.

The setting sun dyed the sky in a dark orange hue, and the calm winds blowing on his nape made Nao shiver a little, feeling a hunch in his gut. Speaking of the devil…

His phone rang. It was from Rias.

"Hello, Kiyoyama here,"

"Yes, Kiyoyama-kun," Rias replied, surprisingly keeping a professional tone this time.

"What is it?" The teen asked clipped, feeling annoyance at things coming at him one after the other. Rias, however, didn't seem to notice, so she continued her explanation smoothly.

"You got another job; this time, it's from the Astaroth clan; they had a Stray Demon in my territory."

"On it," With that short reply, he hung up the call and pocketed his phone.

His peace of mind was ruined since he had to take the errand from her. This is not the first time that she has done this, and indeed, it won't be the last. Sighing, he walked towards the location of the stray.

…

The stray wasn't that hard to kill; well, all of them are easy to kill to him. Just summon a demon that was powerful to subdue them, like Decarabia, for example. He was not the strongest demon that he had, but it got the job done, and he didn't really have to do anything. It was a pretty run-of-the-mill thing for him, all things considered.

After a job well done, Nao decided to conclude the day early and head home. Stopping by a grocery on his way, the teen bought some simple pre-cooked meal for dinner.

It was a chilling night, and everyone had gone to sleep for the most part. Kuoh at night wasn't like Tokyo at all. In Tokyo, he knows that the city would still be alive and active at this time, but Kuoh isn't like that at all. The fast and busy metropolitan city is now replaced with the quietness of such a small town. Nao couldn't get used to it. This was not home; this was not where he was supposed to be. He wanted to go back, yet he couldn't.

That night, Nao fell asleep, assaulted by the feeling of helplessness and loneliness in his mind. His memories came back, the memories of his friends, and how he was helpless to save them.

…

The next day went pretty standard for Nao; nothing out of the ordinary happened. School went by pretty fast, and before he knew it, afternoon arrived, and it was his time to leave school as he had no club activities to do. Earlier, Rias told him that there were no job offers for him that day, and he was free to leave.

Issei, meanwhile, was not having an ordinary day at all; he was approached by the school's 'Prince' saying that Rias needed help with something and it was only Issei that could help her out. Deep down, he always hated the bishounen, with the exception of Nao himself. Bishounen were his biggest enemy - with their charming faces and attitude, every girl would want them. It was the reason why Issei hated them - they were a major threat to his goal of becoming a Harem King.

Deciding that it was best to follow Kiba as he didn't want to cause any more trouble, Issei gave a slight nod before getting up and walking out of the classroom behind the blonde. Onlookers, meanwhile, were not pleasant to Issei, saying mean words and how he would corrupt Kiba as he corrupted Nao. It wasn't fair for Issei; why did he always get the blame for things out of his control?

Entering it, he saw every member of the club except Nao, he asked where Nao went, but Akeno answered it, saying Nao was doing a 'Special Request' from Rias. The redhead couldn't contain her blush - it wasn't true at all as Rias only told Nao to go home, but the way Akeno said it made her flustered even more.

"So, Rias-senpai, why did you want me here? Is there anything I can do to help"

"Well, we decided at it's best to train your Sacred Gear, and the best way to do that is by joining us in a devil's job,"

"Haah?!" Issei gasped in surprise

'Rias-senpai wanted me to what now?!"

"The best way to train a Sacred Gear is to put it into actual combat! And the best way right now for you is helping us kill stray demons." Rias declared, seemingly feeling proud of herself at the decision.

"B-But isn't it dangerous? We're taking Nao with us, too, right?"

"No, Nao-kun won't be joining us. This will be a good opportunity for us to do some team training as well," Rias said. What they didn't know was Rias was berated by Sona earlier for not putting in the work and letting Nao clean up all of her messes (a.k.a Stray Devils).

"W-Well, it might be safer if Nao-senpai were to join us, right? I mean-" Issei didn't finish that sentence as two pairs of eyes stared at him with malicious intent.

"Ara Issei-kun, Nao-kun had just broken our buchou's heart, and you have the audacity to say his name?" it was Akeno this time - teasing the life out of Issei.

"What should we do with him now, Akeno?"

"I might have an idea…."

…

The idea was horrible! He was forced to pedal his way and spread the brochure that Rias had given him; why did he agree to this? Rias said that she would do things to him! And it wasn't a good thing either by the look of it. He was reluctant at best, yet the Onee-sama's eyes may have an impact on his decision-making.

He was currently assigned to a house that was on the farther end of the town. Sadly, Issei is still a human, and with his lower than mediocre physique, it didn't take any time at all before he tired himself out. His fatigue made him unable to pedal anymore, so he decided to rest for a while, catching a break in the meantime.

Sadly, the boy barely got a breather before his instinct warned him, making him roll out of the way of a light sword. It stabbed right through where his leg was moments ago, and Issei sweat bullets - imagining how it'd have felt if he hadn't dodged in time.

A mad cackle greeted him. Issei looked up, finding himself staring into the red eyes of a white-haired young man.

"My name is Freed Sellzen. I belong to a certain Exorcism organization. Ah, just because I introduced myself doesn't mean you have to. I don't want to remember your name in my memory, so please don't. It's okay since you are going to die soon. I will make sure of it. It might hurt at first, but later you will feel so good that you will cry,"

The fight, if it could even be called that, was short-lived. Issei was outclassed in every aspect, being kicked around like ragdolls by Freed's near-superhuman strength. He felt like at least one or two of his ribs cracked from the trauma, but despite the pain, Issei still managed to roll himself out of the attack from the light sword.

Yet, with his already dwindling stamina, Issei didn't even have the strength to pay attention to his surroundings, so he was taken by surprise when he realized he had been backed into a corner.

Laughing wildly, Freed raised his light sword as if it was some execution device, preparing to slash down at Issei, only to be stopped at the last moment by someone they both didn't expect. The signature blonde hair and the nun outfit made Issei realize instantly who it was.

"Wait, Father Freed,"

"Haaaa… What do you want?"

"Please don't kill him! He was the one who helped me get my way back to the church! I swear he's innocent!"

"No way, his sense is like a shitty devil's scent! They're trash, and they have to be put down, every last one of them. They are guilty of corrupting everything He had made,"

"B-But,"

"No buts! Or I'll swear you won't live to see another day! Or better yet, you'll pay with your body!"

With that moment of weakness, Issei ran as fast as he could, trying to get away from the crazed man as soon as possible. Thankfully, Freed was not as interested in catching Issei, but he could use the nun as bait to lure more devils to the church and prepare an ambushed against them.

"ALRIGHT, I'LL BE OFF THEN YOU SHITTY DEVIL EMPHATIZER," Freed shouted, taking the nun by her hair and walking towards the church.

Issei was now safe from the exorcist, but he needed to call Nao as soon as possible; he knew that the nun was in danger, and there was no doubt about it. Before he even dialed in the number, his phone rang - it was from Nao himself.

"Kiyoyama-senpai? What's wrong? Is this about-"

"Issei, look, something is going on at the church. Do you think you can meet me there?"

"Is this about the nun?"

"There's this man in a wheelchair; he said his name was Stephen or something. He said the nun was in danger. I didn't get the full detail since he's just gone - poof - just like thin air. Anyway, let's go, best not to keep her waiting, or she might be injured or worse: dying,"

"Kiyoyama-senpai, you knew that she is in danger?!"

"Yeah, as I said, a man in the wheelchair told me. It was from him that I heard she's now in the church, can I meet you there? I'll be there in twenty minutes." Nao asked in a hushed tone; the loud winds from the audio let Issei know that his senpai is traveling there as fast as he could.

"I-I can!"

"Good, no one's going to die on my watch!"

…

Nao had a lot of spare time today; he was told by Rias herself that there's no new sighting of Stray Devils just yet. It was good news for Nao, but it was awful for his wallet, the fusion that he'd done the other day had cost him dearly, it wasn't a deal-breaker as he'd done this several times when he was at Jouin High-School, but the difference was - he had more money now as a Stray Devil hunter. Hunting brought him more money than just counting on his parents for an allowance.

The time was right for grocery shopping; if he was to spend as little money as possible, then there was no other way than to cook for himself, yet fate decided to mess with him again as he saw the man in the wheelchair on his way to the grocery store. Deciding to play it cool, he pretended to never see him at all, but the man noticed it anyways.

"Nahobino,"

"Oh, it's you again; what do you want this time? Didn't we just talk yesterday? What do you want now" Nao said, the annoyance showing through his voice. His face made a dark scowl.

"Don't be like that now…."

"What do you want?"

"I thought you wanted a way to go back home, back to where your friends are, and maybe have a date with your precious Isonokami,"

"Don't bring her into this; if you want to say something, just say it straight to my face,"

"Hmmm… Well, I did ask you if you want to go back to your own world,"

"Wait, you mean, I can return home?"

"Not right now, you need to be stronger than what you currently are,"

"I am a Nahobino, aren't I supposed to be the strongest being,"

"Well, you haven't taken into consideration the predicament that you are in,"

Nao was confused; he didn't know what the older man said, so did he imply that he was not the strongest?

"Consider this Nahobino, the Messiah ended YHWH's reign, and he was punished for eternity for the thing he has done. The demi-fiend was a failed champion of Lucifer, the Mikado Samurai, with the help of the Godslayer, killed YHWH. But it is part of a Great Will; they are bound by it. And you're not bound by the Will anymore as your existence here proofed it,"

"It's all an elaborate joke?"

"No, what I mean was, you have to be stronger so you can break against the Will that He created. I believe in you; I know you have the potential to do it,"

Nao turned his back to Stephen, showing he didn't have any mind left for his advice anyways. What does he know? Nothing! He knows nothing. He was just a man in a wheelchair. What Nao didn't know was; Stephen was the one who made the devil summoning program back in his old world, and he gained all of the knowledge the Great Will allowed him to have.

"Oh and, you might want to check up on the nun you met yesterday; something might happen to her if you don't act. Or not, it's your choice. Just a warning, from yours truly,"

"The blonde nun?" Nao asked with a shocked look on his face.

When he turns his head again to face the man, he suddenly disappears, without a trace of just like before. He's just gone like that.

Deciding it's best not to worry about the bespectacled man, he called Issei using his phone. The phone wasn't something costly, but it served his needs - and that's what matters.

Issei picked up his call a few moments later; his tone was a surprised one.

"Kiyoyama-senpai? What's wrong? Is this about-"

"Issei, look, something is going on at the church. Do you think you can meet me there?"

…

Arriving at the church, Nao saw Issei standing there waiting for him. Coming close to him, Nao said, "Hey, Issei. Are you ready? Why don't you use the 'Sacred Gear' that Rias mentioned, eh? It might help you since we probably have an idea on where this is going,"

"Yeah, I'm ready! And should I use the Sacred Gear? I don't know how to use it yet, Kiyoyama-senpai…." Issei said with a disappointed look on his face. He only knew he had a Sacred Gear today, and he was nervous about using it, to say the least. But, helping the nun is more important for the perverted boy. If she were to die, he couldn't forgive himself.

Nao nodded his head.

"Well, here it is then,"

Issei then made the same motion that he did in the ORC club room. Then a red dragon gauntlet appeared on his right hand.

"Should we go in, Kiyoyama-senpai?" Issei said, trying to reassure himself that this was a good idea.

"Let's go,"

Nao turned to his blue Nahobino form, and readied his hand-blade - half-expecting an ambush or at least a fight will happen in the church. Issei, meanwhile, was still in awe at the transformation. It was a cool looking transformation if Issei was, to be honest with himself.

Before they entered the church, Nao summoned a trusted demon: Metatron. Metatron was a mighty angel he had defeated in the Labyrinth. He had chosen Metatron since he knew they were going to fight Fallen Angels, and Metatron himself wanted to be summoned the next time they were fighting against Fallens.

"OK, one, two, three!" Nao said as he kicked the church's door, revealing twenty or so Fallens.

"Look who got here, some puny humans and their companions. KILL THEM," it was the voice of Kalawarner, ordering other Fallen Angels to kill Nao and Issei.

"Metatron, NOW!" Nao ordered.

"I knew of you Fallen Angels; you have corrupted the humans with your knowledge. You spoiled the men, corrupted the women. I tried warning them of what was the come, but they didn't listen. Now, as a voice of God, retribution will be served! FIRE OF SINAI!" Metatron cried as his eyes spewed fire. The fire almost leveled the building- radiating an aura that was holier than anyone had expected - and disintegrated many of the Fallen Angels in the church except for a few of them that managed to survive the sheer attack of the Almighty attack.

"What? Lord Metatron?! It can't be! You're…" it was Kalawarner's voice. Her voice was faint, but Nao heard her quiet well. She then tried to kneel to Metatron, signaling a defeat. Metatron, however, was not too kind to her.

"Fallen Angels, what a disgusting sight. When you're cornered like this, you beg for forgiveness, and when you're free, you corrupt everything that He had made! I know of you, Kalawarner; you were one of Heaven's favorite Angels, but look at you now! Truly an unsightly view to behold! Nahobino, please bring her eternal suffering for which she had abandoned the words of God," Metatron said with hatred. Nao, meanwhile, was worried. His demons had been acting strange as if some of them went sentient, able to recall history he didn't know existed. There were no Fallen Angels in Da'at, so Metatron talking about their kind with familiarity and hatred confused him.

He then walked to the Fallen Angel in an attempt to put an end to the Kalawarner's life. This is what he wanted, for all demons to die in his hand. Issei was worried about his upperclassman; the display Nao showed was powerful – yet Issei knew it would bring him pain to no end. Killing demons was the thing that kept Nao sane after all.

"Wait! Nao senpai!"

"Issei? What do you want?"

"Nao-senpai, stop this. This is not you!" Issei tried to argue. A part of him was glad that Nao decided to kick the shit out of the Fallen, but killing one of them that had clearly.

"Issei, they're demons, they can't be reasoned, and they need to be put down. Or else many people would suffer the consequences of their actions. We can't let trash like her roam free after what they had done; the only way to cleanse this world of demons like her is for me to kill them. There is no other way, Issei!" Nao said in a bitter voice. His prior experience with demons made him the bitter man that he is. Even when demons were begging for their lives, most of them didn't fulfill their promise, so he had to personally kill everyone that stood across his way. He didn't know that this world is different, that the rules are different this time around.

"Kiyoyama-senpai, please! Look at her; she's bloodied and beaten up; she can't fight anymore!" Issei pleaded, his hands grabbed at and shook Nao's shoulder.

"I-…" Nao couldn't believe in what he wanted to do to the poor Fallen Angel as Issei did have a point. If he were to keep this up, he might not return to his old self anymore, just like what happened in Da'at. Killing demons was the only purpose in his life back then, and he actually took pleasure in killing them, even the ones that were begging for their lives. Now, it's different; they're different. He ordered Metatron to stand down. Guilt was what he was feeling. Stephen was right; there was more than meets the eye. He still held prejudice against supernatural creatures, and the one he met reinforced his ideology. In his mind, humans should be the one who decides their fate alone; they shouldn't be fodder for anyone.

"Nao-senpai?"

Issei's advice somewhat worked, as Nao told his demons to stand down and retracted his blade. But Nao wasn't happy at all; he needed them dead! There was no better Fallen than a dead Fallen. They had tried to kill Issei, and he assumed that the Fallen had already done things to the blonde nun. He tried catching his breath to calm himself down and think logically.

"Guess I went over the line, huh?" His eye gained a hollowed look as he gazed upon the bloodied and barely breathing form of the Fallen Angel.

"Yeah, you kind of did senpai,…." Issei said in a disbelieving tone at the apparent acceptance on his senpai's part. "What do we do to her then?"

"I-I don't know; you deal with her, Issei." Nao sighed; the train of guilt reared its ugly head in his mind.

"Nao-senpai are you okay?"

He didn't answer Issei. No, Nao wasn't okay; he felt lonely; he wanted his friends back. And the only way he could do that was to become stronger to subdue the Great Will.

…

After dealing with Kalawarner and her Fallen Angel lackeys, Nao and Issei decided to head down to the church's basement. What they found was the nun, she looked like she was beaten up, with baggy eyes, a tired look on her face, and she wasn't wearing any proper clothes either. She was being held up at some sort of a quasi-cross. Guarding her was a pack of Fallen Angels. Fortunately for the nun, the Fallen Angels didn't really know what they were doing, so there was no way of taking her Sacred Gear; unfortunately for her, though, they had been relentless in beating the living out of her.

Just like that, there was a man, he had a white hair, wearing a white coat that was reminiscent of what a priest would wear, a black undershirt, and a pair of jeans.

"Name's Freed, hey aren't you the human that I met earlier? So she was right! You are hanging with many filthy devils; I should have killed you! Those filthy devils,

"And you! You're that kid who defeated Raynare, right? And Dohnaseek too! Pretty powerful, if I say myself. And you're a devil too? It'll be fun playing with shitty devils," the white-haired man said while forming a smirk on his face.

"Issei, you know him?" Nao asked his underclassman.

"Yeah, I was doing an errand for Rias and saw him killing some innocent humans,"

"You know, she would be a great bang. She had a body of a pornstar man; if only I'd get a taste of it." he continued while licking his lips in lust. He wanted to have a go with the now-dead Fallen Angel, but the boy in front of him had taken his pleasure which is a bit unfortunate in his mind. It was no matter since the blonde nun is an excellent replacer.

"Yet another shitty devil ruined the fun! And what's with that getup? Some kind of loser tokusatsu shit right there," he continued.

"Now that Raynare is dead, I'm feeling a bit out there, BEFORE YOU RUINED MY FUN!" Freed yelled, pointing his blade at Issei and Nao.

"If you guys weren't here, I'd taste a sample of the nun, you know, just a little taste before all the good stuff," he snickered.

"What? You mean you would-" Issei tried to speak but was cut off by Freed.

"Yes, if you guys weren't here, I'd rape her. This bitch here made me spare you earlier, so she'll have to pay. I was about to kill you to lure out the devils so I could have a go at them and take their pitiful lives. I also hate filthy Devil sympathizers; they are as bad as the Devils themselves!"

"You enjoy killing devils?!" Issei asked, shocked out of his mind hearing the mad priest's exclamation.

"I DO! When I kill them, I enjoy looking at their stupid faces, begging for forgiveness to me; as you might know, devils and humans can't coexist; it's just impossible, only toddlers and people in denial disagree with me!"

Nao laughed, a small chuckle at first, but he couldn't contain himself. Freed was right; demons and humans can't coexist; just look at what happened to his world? Barren and dead, and who's fault was that? The demons, of course, if they didn't exist, then the world would've been so peaceful. The Gods were no different; they clamored over the thought of being a Nahobino – the fact that after God's death and the downfall of Bethel meant every Gods and Angels had the opportunity to become one. Gods like Khonsu took it farther and tried to turn his friend Miyazu into a God, much to her wants.

"Why are you laughing blue-hair? Is it something I said? Or have you accepted your death?"

"You are right; demons and humans can't coexist,"

(The part I'm struggling with)

"Finally, someone gets it! Now-now do be still as Father Freed here does his job~."

Before Freed had a chance to do anything, Nao leaped from where he was and slashed him, leaving a clean cut. The attack left Freed without a right arm, leaving him in terror. It was an error on Nao's part, he wanted a clean cut to his abdomen, but Freed's arm got in the way.

"Gyaaaah…." Freed screamed in pain.

Preparing to launch another attack, Nao felt a lingering pain inside his chest - paying it no mind, he leaped forward but then it hit him. The lingering pain inside his chest was now apparent as he fell to the ground - and didn't land his other attack.

"Nao-senpai!" Issei screamed

"I am fine; it's just,"

His heart was beating fast, and before he knew it, his soul felt like it was ripped. His head felt like it was stabbed a thousand times with a knife. Then there was a voice, the voice of Demeter. She somehow managed to summon herself in front of him. She patted Nao's head and said,

"I'm sorry that we have to part with you; you were one of the best people that I have met. You selflessly helped me with my harvest. Thank you, Nahobino. Now that doesn't mean we have to part ways, my eternal quest for the best harvest will always continue, and now there's someone who needed my harvest more than you,"

"Demeter… you-… you'll leave me?"

"No! Of course, not you, silly! You will help me in the quest for Eleusinian Harvest!"

"You said someone needed your help more than me,"

"Well, yes… but it's not the point!"

"What is it then?"

"The blonde girl, I've seen her life and abandoned by the God she dearly loved. Now, no time to gloat. It's finally here. Let the harvest begin!"

A part of Nao was glad Demeter had chosen to leave his side; she would be missed. It was not all doom and gloom as he knew what the goddess would do to the nun – become another Nahobino.

With that, Demeter confidently walked to Asia's general direction and fused with Asia, and she was now a Nahobino just like Nao. She regained her strength that had been lost when she was tortured by the Fallen Angels. Breaking the chain now felt easy; it was effortless - it was such a sight to behold. Her long blond hair shined gold, her body became pure white, and she was covered with armor similar to Nao. She was carrying a gold bow, and her eyes went from a beautiful emerald to the yellow demonic eyes every demon had.

Nao knew it wasn't going to end well. For the Fallen Angels and him. The rules are different, and he hoped that the death of God didn't happen here.

That' the end of Chapter Six. This was really hard to make since I didn't know what to do with Asia. But, Asia becoming something of a God herself would be poetic in a way. And updates will slow down as I'm in the middle of a big test. I'll see what I can do in the meantime. Cheers.

And to the people that commented about Beelzebub. No, the Angels don't have knowledge of Ba'al at all and no they weren't reincarnation of SMT Angels. It's just that as YHWH took the throne of Elohim, he would definitely erase some history and smear the name of the deity Ba'al. Because of that, people confuses Ba'al and Beelzebub, that's my theory anywas.