Arrival of the Unexpected

"Issei Hyoudou" - Talking

'Issei Hyoudou'- Thought

"Issei Hyoudou" - Communication circle/phone

*Sounds*

[ Issei Hyoudou ] - Inanis

"Issei Hyoudou" - Draconic voice

Light peered into my eyes as I slowly awoke from my slumber. Rias was noticeably absent from my bed, while Akeno was still laying next to me asleep. Her naked form [ressed up against me. I moved my hand to brush her hair. Not like I could do much else with the side of my body, and it was pretty relaxing, to be honest.

It's been a couple of days since the party in the Gremory mansion. Shortly after my display of fireworks, the Peerage had to return to the human realm. Rias said it was because we need to catch up on our school work, even if it wasn't very hard. She was pretty strict about school work, saying that if we didn't do it, it would make the club look bad.

The scent of a well-made breakfast filled the air, and despite its delicious fragrance, I didn't have the will to leave the bed. Lying here with Akeno is just too comfortable, her soft body against my own. Her long silky black hair. Looking over, I could finely see her beautiful details closely.

"My my, Issei, didn't anyone tell you its rude to stare," Akeno whispered, her violet eyes slowly opening to look directly into mine.

"I-I didn't realize you were awake," I stuttered, slightly embarrassed that she caught me staring at her. Of course, with my luck, the only time I stare at her will also be the time I get caught.

"Well, I am. Please, don't take it the wrong way. I'm flattered really. You've never looked at me like that before, I was worried you might be losing interest," Akeno spoke, pressing herself even closer to me.

"Yeah, as if I would lose interest in you," I sighed. She was way too beautiful. I doubt anyone could lose interest in those two.

"You know, we still have some time before we have to get ready. Plus, I didn't get to have my fun removing that suit of yours," Akeno's sultry voice whispered in my ear.

"Y-yeah, your right. I guess we forgot didn't we." I spoke. Unsure of what to actually say in this situation.

"Well then, why don't we make up for that loss," Akeno whispered, moving over me and pressing her breasts into my chest.

Before I could respond, Akeno leaned down, locking her lips on mine. Her tongue quickly made it's way to my own, exploring my mouth without hesitation. She clearly knew what she was doing, much more so than I did. Then again, that isn't saying much.

My eyes widened at her actions, initially being surprised by her direct actions. After a few moments of surprise, I reciprocated the kiss, closing my eyes, allowing myself to move with the flow in desperate hopes that I was effectively doing this correctly.

She kept going, becoming more passionate as I reciprocated the kiss. After a long make-out session, she finally pulled away. She was left gasping for air, sounding as if she was about to pass out. Her eyes staring into my own, a deep carnal desire overcoming her.

Within the few moments separated from each other, I managed to pick up on Rias's emotions through our soul link. Seething anger, that's the most accurate term for how it felt. She must have felt the very, erotic, emotions surging through Akeno's soul link.

Akeno lowered back down, kissing me again, showing that she either didn't notice or just didn't care. She grabbed my wrist, pulling my hand until it reached her breast. This was now a terrible situation for Rias to walk in on, which she was about to do as I can hear her walking her way up.

The door flew open, Rias standing in the hallway with her destructive energy flowing around her. Akeno must have done this on purpose, seeing that she sat up with a mischevious grin on her face.

"Akeno, what are you doing," She menacingly spoke.

"My my, I'm just catching up with you is all. After all, you kissed him on the balcony at the party," She spoke, turning to Rias with an innocent appearance.

"Yes, we KISSED. I didn't try to seduce him in bed," Rias quickly retorted.

"Please, it's not my fault I wanted him to kiss a different pair of lips," Akeno boldly spoke, maintaining her innocent smile.

Rias let out a growl, her destructive aura increasing in its size. Akeno responded, raising her hand, lightning crackling around it. Their destructive energies quickly rose, enveloping their bodies in it.

"Please don't destroy my house..."

I am now in school, laying my head down on my desk trying to stay awake. Akeno and Rias threw a few words at each other, and thankfully, it stayed with words and not their magic.

The walk here was a little tense though, as they were both clinging to one of my arms. I get fighting for territory. I'm a dragon after all, but this is just absurd. Didn't I hear them say that they agreed to share at one point? Not to mention how they will handle it when Kuroka finishes her stuff and hangs around me more often.

I turned my gaze over to the clock hanging from the wall, and thankfully, it is almost time to get out of this hell hole. The teacher has been droning on about the mechanics of how biological creature could fly, and why limited them from flying.

Some kid asked if dragons from mythologies could fly. Inanis and I had a hard time trying to not laugh at his question, and an even harder time when the teacher explained that dragons couldn't fly. I had the urge to just start flying in front of them, yet I controlled it and maintained my calm.

Our mental laughter was interrupted from a surge of magic in my hand, a communication circle appearing. In a panic, I hastily shoved my hand into my pocket, concealing the communication circle so my peers could see it.

'Fuck fuck fuck, what do I do?' I mentally questioned, hoping Inanis would have any ideas.

[Like hell I'd know! I've never had to deal with a situation like this!] He responded to the question.

Thoughts began rushing through my head at rapid speeds as I tried to think of a way to answer it without being caught. Until one idea stopped in my head, as I decided to act on that one. It wasn't really a good idea, and it was a gamble to if it would even work, but it's the best I can do for now.

I raised my hand, waiting to grab the teachers attention after she finished speaking. When she turned around, it seemed to be successful, as her eyes locked directly onto me, waiting for my question.

"Yes, Issei?" She questioned looking at me with a surprised look, as I was usually the quietest student in the classroom.

"Do you mind if I leave early? I got an emergency call right now that I can't wait for," I explained, trying to sound as convincing as possible.

"You do have one of the highest grades of the class, so I suppose I can allow this for you this once," She sighed.

"Thanks a lot," I sincerely spoke, quickly grabbing my stuff and making my way out of the room.

Once I was out in the hallway, I made my way down it a small distance, stopping and confirming that there wasn't anyone watching me. After I was sure that no one could see me, I pried open a window and jumped out, landing behind the school.

I breathed out a sigh of relief now that I was entirely out of sight of anyone that could possibly spot me. Removing my hand from my pocket, I placed the communication circle next to my ear, allowing it to connect with whoever is trying to call me.

"Who is it?" I questioned, wiping the dust off my clothing that I gained from my landing.

"Who else? Nya" Kuroka's voice echoed through the circle.

"Ah, nice to hear from you again," I pleasantly responded. To be honest, I don't know who else it could've been. Few people actually call me through communication circles.

"I know, Nya," She purred.

"Well, you kinda got me a bad time. So I apologize for the rush, but what did you need? Normally you just come here if you want to visit and talk."

"How rude Issei, rushing a girl. Nya" She sighed. A giggle leaving her lips at her sexual joke.

"You know what I meant," I sighed.

"Well, I have some good news or some bad news, depending on how you look at it," Kuroka spoke. Her voice wielding a more pressing tone than before.

"Well, let's hear it." I quickly spoke, as she typically kept her laid back tone, so it must be quite crucial for her to adapt this serious one in its place.

"Kokabiel is making his move, so you'll have another chance to get him," Kuroka answered.

"Finally, bastard took long enough. With my role in the Peerage my time to look for him as been quite limited. Do you have any idea what he's doing? The more I know, the better chance I'll have to find him." I questioned.

"We have an idea, all thanks to this little group having someone directly linked to the Fallen Angel faction, he's a higher up as well, so he hears a good deal of what goes on in there." Kuroka slyly spoke.

"Sounds useful, so what is he doing?" I asked, trying to rush through the needless small talk quickly.

"From what we know Kokabiel's gathering the holy swords Excaliber, but we don't have a clue why," Kuroka spoke.

"He stole the Excalibers? Wonder what he's going to do with those. Does he even realize that seizing the Excalibers and then moving into devil's territory is practically asking to start another great war, or is that what he wants?" I questioned, speaking to myself aloud.

"What makes you think he wants to start another war? He's insane, but do you think he'd really do that?" Kuroka questioned, shaking me from my thoughts.

"It's possible, what else would he gain from bringing them to such a powder keg of a town," I responded to her, beginning to make my way to the ORC room.

"Think about it. Sona and Rias are both related to two of the current Maous. If he stole the Excalibers, then that would drag the Church here, whether they wanted to get involved or not. This town is a time bomb at this point,"

"My God, if that's the case then we need to stop Kokabiel as quickly as possible," Kuroka spoke, now realizing the gravity of the situation.

"Don't worry, I'll start searching for him much more frequently again, regardless of the peerage," I spoke.

"I'll gather as much info on him as I can, but promise me you'll be careful ok," Kuroka spoke.

"Don't worry about me, you know I can take care of myself," I spoke, looking up to see the old school building in front of me. "Look, I gotta go for now, but I'll call you later," I spoke, the school bell ringing in the background.

"All right, good luck, my Issei," Kuroka meaningfully said.

"Thanks, you too," I warmly spoke, hanging up the call as I approached the old school building.

I continued down the path, only to find that the old school building was locked, preventing me from entering the school building. Confusion spread through my mind as to why the building was locked.

I backed away from the door, checking my surroundings for anybody that could see me. It was unlikely as not many people came through this area, but the bell did just ring, so it's better to be safe.

Once I confirmed that my surroundings were clear, I released my wings proceeding to fly up to the window of the ORC room. Peering through the cracks of the windows revealed that the building was empty, or at least that room was.

'Hey Inanis, you feel anything in there? I sure as hell don't.' I questioned

[A few humans, but none that we know] He answered.

'Huh, weird. Guess I'll just head home, the girls live with me anyway so I'll see them today,' I thought to myself, gliding back down to the grown.

I began walking down the path away from the old school building. My thoughts began focusing on the current situation with Kokabiel. If he really did steal the holy swords of Excalibur, then that puts the others at a significant disadvantage.

I'm pretty sure I can resist the holy effect of them, but there's no way my fellow peerage members could. Devils of their caliber will be incapacitated if they came into contact with that much concentrated holy energy.

"Oh Issei, what are you doing out here? I figured you'd be home already. You normally try to leave this place as soon possible when we aren't in the club room." A voice in front of me spoke, shaking me from my thoughts.

Looking back up, I spotted Rias, along with the other peerage members behind her, all of them holding their bags as they were about to leave the school grounds.

"Oh, nothing. Question, are we not going to the club room today? You and Akeno are typically there before the rest of us," I asked Rias.

"I thought I told you that the old school building is in the process of being cleaned, so it's being held at our house. Didn't I mention this to you this morning?" She spoke, adapting a curious expression.

"No, you and Akeno were busy with your fight," I rolled my eyes as I remember the tedious process of keeping my house intact from those two.

"Akeno and Rias fought each other?" Asia innocently questioned, worried that her friends were mad at each other.

"Not that kind of fight," I quickly reassured the innocent bishop, patting her head lightly.

"Well, I apologize for neglecting to ask you first. I hope you don't mind if we host it there today," Rias sincerely spoke.

"I don't really mind. I can't promise that we will have enough room though, it's already a little cramped with us three," I answered proceeding to make my way home with the Peerage.

We were all now congregating into my house, making our way to the living room. The others who haven't already visited my house looked around, observing the surroundings.

"So this is what Issei's home looks like," Koneko muttered to herself, just barely audible enough for the others to hear hear.

"Quite a humble lair for a dragon." Kiba teased as he looked around. "I thought your kind liked big caves filled with treasures,"

"Very funny." I deadpanned. "In a perhaps ironic twist, I did live in a cave until I met you guys, it was modernized of course, but it was still a cave,"

"Oh that's right, you said you were a secret to the devil's community so you couldn't actually be in the towns or anything," Akeno spoke, remembering that I told them about my past as we all met together, or re-met in her case.

"Yeah, that is correct," I responded, confirming her words.

I made my way over to the side of the room, opting to stand and lean against the wall, leaving the others plenty of room to sit. As we all took to our spots, a thought popped in my head.

"Rias, surely you must've noticed that your Pawn pieces were missing, so how did you not saying anything to reveal Sirzechs actions to the rest of the devil's society?" I questioned.

"Oh, yes, I did notice that my pieces were missing." She spoke. "Sirzechs told me that it was a secret and that if I told anyone he could get in big trouble, so I never told anyone... well, except for one person."

"Who might that be?" I questioned.

"My cousin, his name is Sairaorg." She answered. "As time went on, I grew curious about what was so bad about his secret, so I asked my cousin for his opinion because I trusted his judgment and that he wouldn't tell anyone,"

"Your cousin, huh?" I spoke, thinking to myself as who this man was. It's quite likely that I saw him during the coordination of our party, as he was probably in there to see his cousin's new love interest.

"Well, I'm sure I'll meet him eventually, I haven't officially met any of your family outside of Sirzechs, and a few brief looks at your parents," I spoke, shrugging off the minor thoughts.

"That will most likely come to past sooner then you think, I am technically a princess after all, and I'm sure my parents would like to meet you properly," Rias spoke, pulling a notebook out from her bag. "But we can come to that later, for now, let's get this meeting on track,"

Rias began flipping through the pages on the book, searching for the notes she must have written for today's meeting. I, along with the rest of the peerage members, silenced ourselves as we listened closely for her next words.

"All right, since we've been busy catching up on our school work, and our recovery from the Rating Game with Riser, I can't hold you against our lack of contracts completed," Rias spoke, her words filled with consideration for her Peerage members.

"However, we will need to catch up on them in the upcoming weeks in order for us to get back on schedule," Rias sternly spoke to us.

As Rias continued with her evaluation of our recent activities, maintaining her concern and understanding of our current strain and work to catch up on other activities. I was in the midst of a mental conversation with myself.

'I could inform them of Kokabiel, but that could complicate my search for him. Plus it's not even confirmed if he is taking such actions, it's only theorized as of now,' I thought to myself, debating whether or not they should know.

'Yet then again, if he is gathering the holy swords of Excaliber, then that could pose a substantial threat to the others," I continued my mental debate, Inanis deciding to interject himself into the conversation.

[I would suggest you tell them, in the worst scenario you'll have to lie about where you're going, and they could possibly find out what you're doing, which will result in a harsh lecture.] Inanis interjected.

[If you don't tell them they could get hurt, or worse. You already know that devils of their strength could be permanently hurt with ease by the Excalibers.] He continued before I could respond to his words.

As much as I didn't want to admit it, I knew he was entirely correct. If I don't tell them I risk them getting dragged into this without knowledge of the danger, but if I do tell them, I risk my chance to find that bastard Kokabiel.

I took a step forward, moving my body off the wall as I clear my throat to grab the attention of the room. "Rias, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I have some important information to share, if you don't mind of course,"

"Please, be my guest," She spoke, giving me the center of attention. "It isn't very often you have something to say, normally you just sit through them while half asleep,"

"Huh, I'm surprised you noticed that," I mentioned. "I figured you'd wake me up if you noticed,"

"Oh trust me, we all notice," Akeno chuckled. "We'd be more inclined to wake you if you weren't so good at completing your assignments,"

"Yeah well, that doesn't matter right now," I spoke, attempting to get things back on track. "I have some potential information on Kokabiel, and you won't like it,"

The room went silent, not that it was deafening before, but now the attention of everyone was now wholly on me with just that one phrase. Rias and Akeno shared a quick glance before turning their attention back to me.

"All right, what is it?" Rias questioned, both her and Akeno knowing that this could be a severe and sensitive subject that could end up affecting all of them.

"Kokabiel is supposedly gathering the Excaliber swords, right here in this town," I spoke, light gasps filled the room, such news was shocking to hear even if an insane person like Kokabiel was doing it.

The room was silent for a few moments, allowing me to detect something more than just shock. It isn't surprising, stealing the holy swords would be an insane feat to attempt, even for Kokabiel. While the shock filled the air, I was able to detect something much more negative than that of shock. Wynter looked towards me for confirmation that she wasn't the only one who noticed.

With a small nod, I confirmed her question. Kiba was emitting a negative aura, that which is best described as unbridled hatred. He did a well enough job holding his facade to the others but failed at sneaking his feelings past Wynter's and my superior senses.

Giving Wynter a secretive shake of the head, signaling her to keep quiet about it. We have no clue what specifically upset him, so we have no way to help, and would likely only make it worse than it is currently.

"What would someone like him do with the holy swords?" Akeno questioned, apparent disdain in her voice.

"Who knows. Does someone as insane as him need a real reason, aside from doing it because he can?" Koneko mentioned.

"How reliable is this source of yours?" Rias questioned. "I trust you, but this is a big thing to claim, even if it is Kokabiel,"

"I should be clear that this is only thought to be happening, it isn't confirmed," I clarified, alleviating them from some of the shock. "But this was obtained by a direct link to one of the higher-ups in the Fallen Angel's organization, so it's pretty reliable,"

"Well.. if this is true, it definitely complicates things," Rias spoke, mostly to herself.

"More importantly, what will you do?" Akeno questioned, tilting her head along with Rias.

"For now nothing, not much I can do," I lied to them, not revealing to them that I was planning to hunt him down.

Silence filled the room once again. Rias stared at me with their squinted eyes, probably suspicious of my words. To my surprise, Akeno didn't seem to be suspicious at all. Maybe the soul link is weaker for her than Rias, but I wouldn't know why though.

The soul link between us three, unfortunately, makes it to where there isn't any guaranteed way that I can lie to them. I'll just have to hope that it's weak enough on their side so they can't pick up on it.

Just by looking at them, I could tell that they didn't fully trust my words, but I'm not aware if they know that I'm lying yet. Yet, even more interestingly, Wynter stared at me for a few seconds in confusion, almost as if she knew I was lying, but she didn't say anything. Thankfully the others didn't notice.

"All right, it would probably be better for you to wait anyway," Rias sighed. Any other words she had to say was interrupted by a communication circle appearing next to her ear.

"Issei, it appears we have a contract the requests you specifically," Rias spoke, making eye contact with me. "I apologize for the inconvenient timing, but I would like you to take it if you could,"

"Yeah, it's no problem," I spoke as I moved to the center of the room. "Akeno, if you don't mind, could you please set up a transportation circle to the summoning location."

"Of course my dear," She spoke, lifting herself from the seat of the couch to make her way to the center of the living room.

"Be safe, late-night contracts can be weird. I should know," Koneko spoke, maintaining her same monotone voice, yet still showing concern for me in a sweet way.

"Yeah, I don't want to imagine some of the people you get requested by Koneko," I chuckled, making my way to the circle.

"Oh Issei, this is only minor, but Sona's Pawn has unlocked his Sacred Gear, I figured you'd just like to know that," Rias spoke before I left.

"Ah, that's good news. My fellow Pawn is finally starting to make progress. I'll definitely have to visit him sometime," I happily spoke, glad to see that my advice is paying off.

"All right, I'll see you all back here," I spoke, giving them a slight wave before the slowly growing crimson red light consumed me, teleporting me to the summoning spot.

After giving a few moments of time to allow the light to die down, I slowly began opening my eyes, revealing that of a more luxurious Japanese style hotel.

Looking around, I wasn't able to find anyone who could have summoned me, yet I definitely felt a familiar presence that caused my eyes to roll. Letting out a sigh, I made my way to the kitchen of the room, only to turn the corner to see Azazel grabbing some glasses for drinks.

"So, you do remember that we aren't supposed to contact each other, with my relations with the Devils community and all," I sighed, rubbing the bridge of my nose.

"Ah Issei, glad to see you've arrived," Azazel spoke, turning to me with his typical devious smile spread on his face. "I thought that with all our time training, you should know that following rules isn't exactly my strong suit,"

"Yeah, that's the understatement of a century," I rolled my eyes, fully walking into his kitchen."So, I assume you didn't want to summon me for nothing, what's this for?" I questioned.

"Aww, can a teacher not talk to his student once in a while? Since when has that been against the rules?" He spoke, turning back to look for something in his fridge.

"Since I was announced to the devil's society during the Rating Game with Riser," I deadpanned.

"Speaking of which, I heard you gave that birdy a good ass-kicking. Nice job with that by the way, but the Balance Breaker was a bit overkill, don't ya think?" Azazel spoke, turning around with two glasses of ice and a large bottle of alcohol balanced on a black tray.

"And how, might I ask, do you know about that?" I questioned, following him backing his living room.

"Please, you should give me more credit. Hacking into the devils Rating Game channel wasn't that hard after all," Azazel laughed, pouring the whiskey into the glasses.

"Ah, why am I not surprised," I sighed, flopping down onto the large couch. Azazel held the other glass out to me, his own was firmly within the grasp of his other hand.

"What? It isn't going to drink itself if you just stare at it you know," He teased me.

"Yeah I know, I've just never actually drank before, nothing heavy at least," I spoke, slowly and reluctantly taking the glass from his hand. Normally, I wouldn't do this, but in reality, I know he just means well. Besides, I'm a dragon, so it shouldn't affect me like it would normal people, I should be fine.

"Ah, new are you? It's fine, just throw it back with me on the count of three ok," Azazel spoke, giving me a small amount of time to ready myself. "1... 2... 3!"

Azazel and I both threw back the glasses, proceeding to drink the entire glasses worth of alcohol. Both of us placed our glasses onto the tray after finishing.

"Ah, that's the good stuff, still doesn't beat Sake though," Azazel spoke, a sigh of content leaving his mouth. His expression sharped slightly after looking over to see my more or less unphased expression.

"You sure you haven't drank before? This stuff is on the stronger side, and not many people would've handled it as calmly as you did kid," Azazel spoke, his eyebrow flaring slightly.

"No, I haven't drank anything before. The burn of a liquid just doesn't compare to that of breathing flames, that's all," I shrugged.

"Well, I'm going to assume your curious as to why I, of all people, summoned you here," Azazel spoke, leaning forward from his previous comfortable position.

"Yeah... pretty sure that's one of the first things I asked when I got here," I spoke, muttering the last part to myself.

"Well, I got some information you might be interested in, but, knowing you, I'm going to assume you already know about it," Azazel slyly spoke, his sharp gaze sent daggers through the now quickly tensioning atmosphere at me.

"And what makes you think that?" I questioned, feigning ignorance as best as I possibly could. Unfortunately, Azazel wasn't someone to be easily fooled.

"Please, I know not to underestimate you," Azazel laughed. I only sat in complete silence, unable to think of a response to his words.

"I don't know how you get your information, but you managed to hunt down quite a bit of Fallen Angels in your day, don't think I wouldn't have noticed that they mysteriously died," Azazel spoke, I maintaining my silent poker face.

"Some of those scenes was pretty damn gruesome you know, but I can't really fault you for any of those things. In reality, most of your targets were going off the deep end like Raynare, so I really should be thanking you for tying up loose ends, so thank you," Azazel spoke, giving me a slight nod of appreciation.

"Yeah well, you're welcome... I guess," I spoke in a low tone, hoping the topic would change to something else.

"Well, I'm just going to assume you know about Kokabiels current actions, it would be off for you not to, due to your predicament and all," Azazel spoke, his voice carrying much more weight than before.

"Perhaps, but I'm more curious as to why you're telling me this. He is a higher-up within the Grigori is he not?" I questioned, giving Azazel a harsh glare in return.

"Yes well, I along with several other members of the Grigori have agreed that he has gone too far and needs to be dealt with, and I couldn't think of anyone better to deal with some such as him but you," Azazel spoke.

I looked down to the grown, a few moments of silence passed as I thought about what Azazel spoke. If I do this, I can avenge my parents and Akeno's mother. However, working with the Grigori could cause some severe issues with the Elder Council; they already don't trust my allegiance, not to think of how this would affect Rias or the others.

"What would you have me do?" I hesitantly questioned, looking back up to Azazel with a serious expression.

"Simple, I provide you with some information here and now, and you track down Kokabiel for me. Even if your good at getting information, you must keep in mind that your still just a single person, and I have a whole faction worth of intelligence gathering possibilities," Azazel spoke. A few more moments of silence passed before I gave my response.

"Fine... I'll hear what you have to say," I hesitantly spoke.

"Good, so as you know, Kokabiel is gathering the holy swords of Excaliber, correct? I need to know how much you know before I start anywhere," Azazel eagerly spoke, pleased with my cooperation.

"I had an idea that he was doing that, but I had no guaranteed proof," I answered his question.

"Ok, well, we are pretty sure that he is, and he already has a decent number according to our reports. It's thought that he has the swords Excalibre Rapidly, Transparency, and Nightmare," Azazel explained, much to my surprise.

"That's... well that's more than I expected. Stealing one would be hard enough, but three?" I spoke, slightly shocked that he managed to steal three items that the Church guardedly strictly.

"Indeed, and, of course, the Church will respond to this act of aggression. I'm not entier sure what they will do, but I expect it to be happening quite soon, so be sure to watch out for them," Azazel spoke.

"Yeah, makes sense, I'd do something if someone stole something from me," I responded, clutching my fist from the ironic statement, as I am, in a way, already doing something like that by hunting Kokabiel.

"Well, aside from that, we know he is here in Kuoh, not exactly sure where, but I'd begin checking the remotely populated areas for either him or some of his associates, it would be the best start we have," Azazel spoke.

Before Azazel or I could speak, my phone buzzed, notifying me that I received a message from someone important, as the only people I have on my phone are from the Peerage. Pulling the phone from my pocket revealed that I received a message from Rias.

It read:

"Issei, we have received an immediate order to eliminate a stray devil that has been causing havoc, please finish up there and meet us at the abandoned warehouse. You can follow our energy or the link I sent, just please be quick. Love Rias.

354 blah blah road."

"Who was that from? Last I remember, you weren't the most sociable of people," Azazel questioned, looking over at my phone screen from an angle.

"It's just Rias. We got an order to eliminate a stray devil as soon as possible," I responded, closing my phone and stashing it back within my pocket.

"So I assume you're going to have to cut this short then. Such a shame, and here we were having so much fun together," Azazel chuckled.

"Well this works out, I was pretty much done giving you the info about Kokabiel anyway," Azazel spoke again, leaning back onto the couch in a relaxed manner.

"Yeah, yeah. Mind if I take a short cut?" I asked.

"And by short cut... your going to jump out the window aren't ya?" Azazel rolled his eyes. "Sure whatever, most people should be asleep by now anyway,"

I didn't vocally respond, simply lifting myself from his couch and making my way over to the windows. It was dark out already, and it is pretty late, so the likely hood of anyone seeing me is slim to none. Even if they do, it will either be spun off as an edited video or a hox like most sightings of the supernatural to humans.

"Oh, before you go. I want to request that you don't kill Kokabiel," Azazel mentioned, stopping me just before I leaped out the window.

"We'd like to interrogate him to find out why he's taking such extreme actions," Azazel explained, only to be met with a long pause of silence.

"You realize what your asking?" I broke the tense silence, glaring at him from over my shoulder.

Silence filled the air once again, Azazel not having any proper response to my words. Only after a few moments passed, I decided to break the silence in the room.

"I'm leaving," I solemnly spoke, proceeding to jump from the window. I spread my wing, allowing me to soar through the night sky in the direction of the others.

"I should've known that wouldn't have worked," Azazel sighed, pulling a phone out from his pocket. As he scrolled through his contacts, he stopped on one specific name, proceeding to call that person.

"Hey, looks like you were right about this one... Yeah, I'll have to ask you to take care of this one, Vali,"

While soaring through the air, I stared into the stary night sky, thoughts clouding my mind as I flew threw the air. Asia and Koneko both suffered in their earlier lives, and yet, neither of them wants revenge, but why?

Sure Koneko saw her sister as the worst person in the world and wanted nothing to do with her at the time, but she is at least on speaking terms with Kuroka now, despite everything she thought about her sister.

Asia was kicked out of the only home she ever had, by her only family at the time. Yet, she doesn't hold any ill feelings to them, and all she wants is peace and friends. How can they both just give up hatred like that?

'I don't understand,' I thought to myself, letting out a sigh. Allowing the thoughts to leave my mind as I continued to my destination.

Looking forward, I could see the peerage members standing on the sidewalk, positioned directly in front of a lot holding an abandoned warehouse.

"Issei! Over here!" I heard Rias call out to me, signaling where they are by waving her arms in the air to get my attention.

"Hey, so I'm guessing this is the place," I spoke, looking over the abandoned warehouse. "I can smell the damn thing from all the way out here,"

"No one can miss the scent of a rogue devil," Koneko spoke.

"No kidding," Akeno spoke, slight disgust filling her voice.

"Judging from what I can sense, this one is on the more powerful scale of strays, so we shouldn't underestimate it. Asia, Akeno and I will stay out here, and I want Koneko, Kiba, Wynter, and Issei to go in a draw the creature outside so we can eliminate it," Rias informed us of her quickly thought up stratagem.

"Sounds fine with me, what about you, master?" Wynter spoke, stretching her body.

"Yeah, killing a stray doesn't sound too bad right now," I exciting spoke, having a lack of action since the Rating Game has been terribly boring.

"Sorry Issei, but I'd like you to let them three handle it on their own, and only get involved when you're needed. I'm sure your strong enough to wipe this thing out without breaking a sweat, and if that were to happen, no one else would be able to get practice in," Rias instructed.

"That's boring, and here I was thinking I was going to get to play with a new toy," I sighed.

"Oh, don't worry, you can have the next one all to yourself," Rias reassured, restoring slight happiness to me.

"All right, are we all ready?" Rias asked us, the entier peerage nodding in agreement, except for one person.

"Kiba?" Rias questioned, looking over to her Knight who seemed to be in his own world right now, his eyes locked staring down at the pavement.

"Uh, yeah right, got it," He quickly responded after being shaken from his thoughts.

"Well, if you're finally ready then let's get this thing going, give me a good show now," I teased, making my way towards the large steels doors of the building. The others quickly catching up to me.

Instead of wasting our time attempting to slide the rusted metal doors, Koneko opted to quickly kick the doors down, sending them flying through the poorly lit building. Dust spreading across the room from the impact point of the heavy doors.

"Let's go," Koenko spoke, her and the others slowly walking in the room.

Upon first inspection, it appeared to be empty. The moonlight was lighting the room through holes in the ceiling as well as the light peering in from the door, giving us an easier time seeing through the dark.

"There," Wynter called out, pointing to the very back of the room.

Upon inspection, there could be seen a woman hiding behind some metal pipes left by the previous owners. She was staring at us from behind the structure, her greyish hair covering her eyes.

To no one's surprise, she jumped out from behind the cover, her face contorting and twisting to that of an evil creature with sharp fangs. Her body growing in size, as well as sprouting that of a spider-ish abdomen, accompanied by multiple legs.

With a loud screech erupting from her maw, she leaped up to the ceiling proceeding to crawl along it with ease as a spider would. The other peerage members quickly readied themselves for battle against the creature, except for one person.

"Kiba focus!" Koneko shouted to the Knight, who was once again dazing off into the ground.

"KIBA! What are you doing? FOCUS!" I shouted, my voice much louder than that of Koneko's, breaking the Knight out of his daze. My voice easily echoing through and out of the building.

"Oh, uh...Right," He quickly responded, gripping onto the handle of his blade, refocused on the task ahead of him.

The stray stopped on the ceiling spraying what appeared to be an acidic liquid at Koneko from its abdomen. Thankfully Wynter managed to react in time, using her shadow claws to deflect the attack away from Koneko.

Kiba dashed forward with his sword, slashing through the narrow section between the strays abdomen and torso, severing it completely. The lower half of the creature landed on the ground next to Kiba, blood spewing from the wound. However, upon his landing, Kiba tripped on a metal piping falling to the ground, leaving himself completely exposed.

I wasn't the only one to notice this, as the stray quickly spun itself in the air to face Kiba, preparing to strike him as it fell to the ground from his attack.

Koneko and Wynter were too far to reach him in time, so I had to step in, raising my hand as it shot black shadow chains around the stray devil. I yanked on the chains, causing the stray to fly across the room, shattering the metal wall that it hit, causing it to fly outside.

As soon as Akeno saw the stray fly through the wall, a large lightning bolt left the tips of her fingers and coursing through the stray, causing the foul creature to erupt in pained screams. After a few moments, Akeno halted her assault, allowing the severely stray to fall to the ground.

The stray was immobilized entirely, now charred black from Akeno's attack, it's lower half wholly severed, and multiple cuts spread across its body from the metal shards from the wall I sent through it. Rias made her slow approach as it laid defenseless on the ground, preparing to declare her iconic speech loudly.

"Wanton Devil, you who ran wild from your master to fulfill your own selfish desires. For such a crime you deserve to die a thousand times over, and now, in the name of the Marquis of Gremory, you shall pay with your life!" Rias's arms spread to her side, Destruction orbs in both of her palms.

"TIME TO DIE!" She shouted, releasing her powerful attack, completely vaporizing every part of the stray devil.

Once the dust settled down outside, the four of us exited through the front entrance of the abandoned building, Akeno landing right next to the door, next to us.

"Are any of you hurt?" Asia quickly asked, lightly running her way over to us just in case she needed to heal anyone.

"No, we all made it unscathed this time, thanks for the concern though," I spoke, giving her a warm smile and patting her head.

"I gotta say. I don't wanna end up like that thing," I spoke, slight disgust in my voice. My gaze shifting to the bleeding abdomen laying in the building.

"Indeed, that poor creature's heart was completely lost at this point. You could barely call her a devil anymore," Akeno sympathetically spoke.

*Smack*

The air filled with the sound of a harsh smack. Surprised, I and the others looked to see what happened, and to our shock, Rias was standing in front of Kiba with her hand risen, and Kiba's right cheek was now tinged with a red mark in the shape of a hand.

"You think you're focused now?" She harshly questioned her Knight. The air filled with tense silence, no one willing to break it.

"With the stunt you just pulled you managed to put the rest of your peers in serious danger. If Issei didn't intervene, you could have been seriously hurt, or worse," Rias continued to scorn.

"I apologize, I just lost concentration, it won't happen again," Kiba spoke up.

"What's the matter with you? You're never so absent-minded during fights," Rias concerningly asked, clearly worried about her friend and Knight.

"I'm fine. I'm just having an off day, nothing more. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get some sleep," Kiba spoke in a cold tone, turning to walk away from Rias. Before he could walk away, I quickly caught up to him, lightly grabbing his shoulder to stop him in his tracks.

"What's up with you? You've never acted like this before," I asked worriedly.

"It's none of your concern," He spoke, using the same cold tone that he used to Rias.

"What do you mean by that? It's my concern when you start worrying everyone in the peerage,"

"Worried? Isn't it in a devils nature to live by their desires, no regard for others?" Kiba sarcastically questioned. "If your upset with my tone to Rias, I apologize. I do think I am at fault for not listen-"

"Cut the shit Kiba! This isn't like you... why don't you tell us what's bothering you!"

"Why do you even care!" Kiba shouted, trying to pull himself out of my grasp.

"Because we're comrades, friends, even family... aren't we?" I questioned. Kiba stopped his attempts at escape upon hearing the last remark leave my lips, his eyes looking down to the ground.

"Family...?" He muttered.

"Of course, this peerage has given me more than I could ever hope to receive. I consider this group as my family, and you're all very important to me," I spoke, releasing my grip from his shoulder.

"Heh... I can't even bring myself to be mad at you," Kiba chuckled, turning to look at me. "I've begun remembering something very important to me,"

"Important?" I questioned.

"Yeah, the reason why I fight," He spoke, his eyes covered with his hair, and a cold smile spread on his face.

"Isn't it for Rias, our master?" I questioned.

"No... no that's not it," He spoke, shaking his head.

"I live for revenge... much like you, Issei. I want revenge on the Holy-Sword Excaliber... destroying that is my purpose and the reason I fight," He solemnly spoke, his fists clenching as he mentioned Excaliber.

I could only stand there in shock and surprise at his words. As I stood there stunned, Kiba turned away, walking into the night away on his own.

Rias, Akeno, Asia, Wynter and I all returned to our house, Koneko returning to her own place that the Gremorys are providing for her. The five off us were all very awake, the little drama from earlier had the others shaken up to where they couldn't sleep.

The five of us are currently sitting in the living room, the TV filling the rooms silent air. None of us knew what to say, with Kiba's actions earlier, its been a little bit surprising, to say the least. Rias was the most worried with her Knight leaving randomly.

"Hey, any idea as to why Kiba holds such animosity towards the Excaliburs? He's a devil, so it makes sense he doesn't like them, but he seems to have a much deeper reason for hating them," I questioned, looking towards Rias, as she would know if anyone did.

"It's... complicated," She spoke, a few moments of silence passed as she appeared deep in thought. "Are you aware of the problem with Holy Swords?"

"Problem? You mean that not many people can actually wield them, right?" I questioned.

"That's correct. If that problem didn't exist, they would be the perfect weapon for annihilating devils. Which is why the Church created the Holy Sword Project," Rias spoke. The attention of Wynter and I quickly captivated, Akeno less so as I assume she already knows about this.

"The Holy Sword Project?" I muttered to myself.

"That must have been a strict secret, I never even heard of something like that when I was there," Asia spoke.

"What was its goal?" Wynter asked.

"The idea was to artificially create people who could wield the Holy Swords, if they could solve that, then they would have a significant advantage over devils in the event of a possible war," Rias spoke.

"I assume it didn't work, considering I haven't heard of devils being eradicated by large numbers of Holy Sword wielders," I assumed.

"I would hope so," Wynter joined in.

"Kiba... he barely survived the project," Rias grimly spoke.

"Poor Kiba," Asia sympathetically spoke. Wynter and I both glanced at each other, both coming to the same conclusion.

"If that's the case, then that would explain a few things," I muttered to myself, just audible enough for Rias to barely hear.

"Explain what?" She asked.

"Earlier, when I mentioned Kokabiel gathering the Exaclibers, Wynter and I both felt a deep hatred emanate from him. He did a pretty good job hiding it, but since Wynter and I both have superior sense, we picked up on his aura but decided not to say anything," I explained.

"We both assumed that if we brought it up, he would only get worse, but I guess leaving it be didn't exactly go too well either," Wynter spoke.

"I appreciate your efforts, but I wish you guys told me earlier," Rias sighed.

"Hey uh Rias, what do you mean by he survived it?" I questioned.

"I'm not exactly sure what happened inside the project itself, but Kiba was the only one to make it outside, he was practically dead when I found him and would have died to the cold if it was not for me," Rias responded, clearly upset with the memory of her servant in such a state.

"That's horrible," Asia gasped in disbelief that the church would do something so horrendous.

I didn't know what to say, as I'm not good with handling situations that require sympathy. I opted to stay quiet, as I had nothing to say, as I am also in slight shock that the Church would allow something like that, maybe there was more going on than I know, it's hard to believe that it would be allowed.

"Well, we should all probably go to bed. It's been a busy day today, and I want my servants to be well-rested," Rias suggested clasping her hands together as she rose from the couch.

"Actually, I think I'm going to head to one of those twenty-four-hour stores, were low on food anyway and I'm not really tired yet," I spoke making my way to the front door. I technically didn't lie, I did plan on going to the store, but I didn't plan on telling them everything either.

"Mou, why do you do that tomorrow Issei," Rias whined, putting on a pouting face.

"Yeah, if you leave now we won't have a warm pillow to sleep with," Akeno chimed in with Rias, her own pouting face making its way on her face.

"If I don't do it tonight, we won't be able to have breakfast tomorrow, so I need to go now," I mentioned. The two continued pouting for a little while more, eventually giving in to my reason.

"P-Please be careful, it's dark out," Asia worryingly spoke to me.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," I reassured her, patting the top of her. Asia giving the cutest of smiles upon the head pats.

Rias and Akeno made their way up to their room, and Asia made her way to hers. Once they were both out of sight, I let out a sigh of relief, as they didn't seem to catch onto my ulterior motives, good thing the soul link is weaker on their end.

After I was sure the others went to sleep I quickly made my way to the laundry room, dressing myself in my combat attire, leaving my tank top and cargo shorts on the roof of the dryer for when I return home.

Sneaking back out of the laundry room, I peered into the living room, checking to see if it was devoid of anyone. Wynter was curled up on the couch, a blanket completely covering her.

I slowly made my way through the room while being as quiet as I possibly could. A long process of tip-toeing through the living room made it possible for me to sneak through the room without her waking up.

I covered my head with my hood as I made it outside my house, as rain was falling from the sky. Water wasn't going to stop me though. I spread my wings, and with a powerful thrust, I launched myself into the sky.

Thankfully the rain wouldn't slow me down, as my wings are made by a leathery substance, the rain merely rolling off upon impacting them. Even so, I'd have to be quick and thorough, as a trip to the store would only take around thirty minutes, tops.

With that in mind, I quickly picked up the speed, moving through the town as I searched the area for any form of energy. Kokabiel has a more abundant source of energy than those I previously hunted, but he is also more experienced, so he may know how to conceal it much more efficiently than those I killed prior to this.

I wish I could tell Rias and the others about this, I'm sure they would help if they could, but I don't have a choice but lying to them. If Rias, Akeno, or any of them got hurt because of my selfish actions, I couldn't forgive myself. Not to mention that they would most likely be labeled as traitors if they got caught working with the Grigori.

Before I could think about anything else, a sudden wave of energy washed over my senses, intense holy energy.

[You feel that?] Inains mentally questioned

'Yeah, what do you think it is?'

[That was the energy of a holy sword, a powerful one at that.]

'Then that's the first place we look,' I simply responded, dashing to the neighboorhood that the burst of energy eradiated from.

The room was dark and cold, the two girls laid awake facing away from each other, the space that was typically filled by the one that they loved was empty and cold. Time seemed to pass slower in these moments, mere minutes feeling like hours.

"Hey Akeno," Rias spoke.

"Yeah?" Akeno rolled over to face her master from across the bed.

"Did you feel that? When Issei said he was going to the store, and when he said he was just going to wait for the Kokabiel thing, it happened then too," Rias rolled over as well to look at her Queen.

Akeno didn't respond with words, just giving her master a slight nod.

"What do you think that was?" Rias asked once again.

"It's hard to say. Our soul link isn't as strong as his, so it's hard to say what he was feeling then," Akeno responded.

"It kinda felt like, guilt, didn't it?" Rias worryingly spoke.

"Maybe... do you think he lied?" Akeno questioned, now in much more thought than before due to her master's words.

"I... don't know," Rias spoke, her voice filled with worry for the one she loved.

Silence filled the darkroom. Rias looking up to the ceiling as thoughts rushed through her head about what Issei could be doing that would warrant him to lie to Akeno and her, if he even did in the first place.

"I wouldn't worry," Akeno's voice broke the silence. A warm smile spread across her face.

"Why do you say that?" Rias questioned.

"I know you and Issei are close, so don't take this the wrong way Rias, but I've known him a lot longer than you. Issei isn't the type of person to lie to the ones he cares about unless he feels that he doesn't have a choice. Even if he is, he'll tell us eventually, he wouldn't leave us like that," Akeno reassured.

"You sure?" Rias asks. "I trust him, but I just can't help but worry,"

"I'm sure," Akeno confidently spoke. "Even if he has to finish it before he can tell us, he will tell us everything afterward. I'm sure he'll feel pretty guilty about it too," Akeno chuckled slightly.

The room went silent once again. Rias laying on her back as she stared up at the ceiling. A small smile formed on her face as Akeno's words rang through her head.

I slowly allowed myself to glide down, landing on the pavement as softly as possible in hopes to not disturb anything in the scene. Just from glancing there was already a few red flags that signaled that something big went down here.

In the center of the road laid the body of a church member, thankfully no one would be able to smell the blood as the rain was diluting the scent by mixing with it. The rain did, however, fail to mask the scent of freshly forged metal completely.

The only person who carried that scent was Kiba, but his energy is currently positioned where he lives, so he must have been here recently, but must be fine considering he is at his house. With his safety confirmed, I began examining the scene to a closer detail.

'What do you think?' I mentally spoke as I looked around the scene, leaning over to find a few slashes in the sidewalk.

[It's hard to say. The sword didn't leave a trail after it was used here, so we can't be sure where it was taken after the events that took place here] Inanis spoke.

'That's fine. Even if it takes longer, Kokabiel is getting bolder by the day, so he'll reveal himself eventually,' I mentally spoke as I made my way to the corpse of the church member.

'This slash wound has a significant amount of holy energy radiating from it. You think he was killed by whoever used the Excaliber?' I mentally asked Inanis.

[I have to agree, which means that whoever was wielding it wasn't with the church] Inanis spoke.

'It couldn't have been Kokabiel either. It must have been one of his lackeys,' I thought to myself, fully aware that if Kiba managed to find Kokabiel with a holy sword, he wouldn't be alive right now.

My thoughts were interrupted as I felt two more holy energies approaching this position, and they were close. I quickly leaped to a nearby roof, laying down and masking my aura as to cover my presence. Even if their energy was on the weaker side, I should get a grasp of them before I confront them.

As they walked into sight, I lifted my head slightly in hopes to get a look at them. The two were covered by a white cloak, gold lining running across the hood. One of them had an object wrapped up and holstered over her back.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get a good look at their face, and the rain prevented me from being able to pick up their scent, keeping me from having anything to recognize them later. They both stopped in front of the scene that I just preciously inspected.

*BA-BUMP*

Upon looking at the one without the object on their back, my heartbeat filled my ears, and a tingling sensation washed over my body. I froze for just a few moments, completely stunned by the sudden feeling that came over my body.

'Hey, want to explain what the hell that was?' I mentally spoke to Inanis.

[Be wary Issei, there's a familiar aura within that girl] Inanis warned me.

'You don't mean...' I asked in shock, looking back to the girl as they made their way to the scene.

[With that familiar aura, there's no doubt about it]

[The Red Dragon Emperor, Ddraig, has awoken]

I finally put out another chapter, it has been a while since I did one.

I want to apologize for the long wait, as I have school started back again, and I wanted to take a break to do things for myself, but I plan on starting to work on the story once again.

It will still be a decent pause between the releases as of course, I have school and other things I have to do, but I am starting to work on it again, so yay.

Thanks for the read, I hope you all enjoy :D