First Person POV – Shintaro Hyoudou
With These Strange Powers, I Will Save Asia!
SLAP!
Nothing quite like getting a slap around the face after having your leg wounds healed to put you in a bad mood. I hadn't shut up about saving Asia since I got back, despite Buchou telling me no every single time, and I was still going on about it. I guess I finally pushed a bit too hard; even our benevolent – for a Devil, anyway – master could only put up with so much backtalk.
"Buchou!" I was surprised to hear Ise-nii actually yell at her. "Don't hit my otouto!"
"If the amount of times I've repeated myself is any indication, it's the only way I'll get through to him," Buchou said, frustration clear in her voice. "No is no, Shintaro. I cannot allow you to save that nun."
I recovered from the slap surprisingly quickly considering it was the first one I ever received. Kaa-san never hit me, so I wasn't familiar with the sensation. "Then I'll go my damn self," I growled. "I refuse to let those bastards use her for whatever the hell they're doing. Believe me, they're doing something, and regardless of whether or not you think she's worth saving, that's bad news for all of us, isn't it?"
"Your actions will reflect on all of us. You are a Devil of the House of Gremory. You need to be aware of that."
"Let me out then, if it's that much of a fucking hassle for you! I'll go as me, Shintaro Hyoudou, solo, and it'll have precisely jack and shit to do with anyone else!"
"I can't do that! Why don't you understand, Shintaro!"
"Because I refuse to believe there is any way in which leaving her in the hands of those fucking sadists is right! You may not care, but damn it, I will not sit here and do nothing when an innocent girl is subjected to Satan only knows what at the hands of that utter bastard! Is this how it's done? Do we just leave shit like this alone to make things easier on ourselves? Let evil people do evil things just because 'we shouldn't get involved?' I'm grateful for the second chance at life, Buchou, I really am, but there is no fucking way I want to live like that. And you know what? Even apart from all that, there is one reason I refuse to back down on this point: Asia is my friend. I will never leave a friend in peril if there's even a smidgen of a chance that I can help them."
I could see from the others' expressions that my behaviour wasn't exactly well-received. Not that I was being disagreed with outright, I'd like to think, more the fact that my usual personality, the good humour with which I always presented myself, was completely absent. For the first time in what felt like my entire life I was in absolutely no mood for jokes. Not while Asia needed me. Buchou getting in the way of that was bringing forth anger I didn't know I had. Were scenarios like this why some Devils went Stray …?
"… I think it's wonderful that you can say that about her to my face," said Buchou. "But that doesn't affect this in the slightest. The relationship between Devils and Fallen Angels isn't as simple as you think. Our sides have been glaring at each other for hundreds of thousands of years, and if you show them a single gap of weakness, they will come and kill us."
"Good," I said. I summoned a bone sword, shorter than the last one, just to make my point. The adrenaline flooding me kept the pain from bothering me. "They'll run headstrong into the pointy end of this, then, won't they?"
She glared at me, and I glared back. There was a time, not too long ago, when I wouldn't have dreamed of arguing against her like this. Knowing that she brought me back when she really didn't need to had filled me with too much gratitude. But now I was too angry to care.
"That girl is originally from God's side," Buchou explained again, like I hadn't heard her the first hundred times. "She's someone we can't ever coexist with. Even if she isn't with the Fallen Angels willingly, it doesn't change the fact that she is an enemy of us Devils."
"She's not my enemy," I said simply.
"Even if she isn't, she can have nothing to do with us. You need to forget about her, Shintaro."
"With all due respect, Buchou, go fuck yourself."
Before the argument could continue, Akeno-san came over and whispered something in Buchou's ear. Whatever it was, it looked serious. When she was done whispering, Buchou nodded to her, then looked to the rest of us. "An urgent matter has come up," she said. "Akeno and I will have to go out for a while."
I felt my blood boiling.
"I'm not done—"
"Ise," Buchou said, completely cutting me off as she turned to speak to my brother. "There are a couple of things I need to tell you. First, you think a Pawn is a weak piece, right?"
"I did," Ise-nii confirmed. "But then Shin got me looking at things a little differently."
Buchou glanced at me, and for a moment I thought she looked impressed, though recalling our conversation up to now killed that idea. "Well, he was right. Pawns have a special ability called Promotion."
"In chess, right?"
"Yes. Just like in the game of chess, a Pawn can promote to any other piece, besides the King, when it reaches an enemy's base. Ise, when you step into a location I deem enemy territory, you can change to any other Evil Piece besides the King. Since you're a new Devil, you probably don't have the power to Promote to the most powerful piece, the Queen, but any of the other three should be within your reach. If you wish for a Promotion, there will be a change in your power. And one other thing, about your Sacred Gear. Remember this: Desire. Sacred Gears are driven by the power of the user's desire. The stronger your desire, the stronger your Sacred Gear will respond to you. Even a Pawn can take down a King, Ise. That simple rule from the game of chess applies to us Devils, as well. You can become stronger."
The blue and white light emanated from the magic circle.
"Buchou—" I started, but before I could continue making my point, she and Akeno-san had teleported away. I must have really pissed her off if she didn't even let me get another word in.
I took a deep breath and, still determined in my goal, started walking towards the door.
"Shintaro-kun," Kiba-kun said. I turned to look at him. "Are you going?"
"Does shit stink?" I asked rhetorically. "You think that after all that I'm just gonna sit down like a good dog? Hell no. I'm going to that church."
"You'll die," he said. "Even with the Rook's strength and durability, and that new power you've found out you have, if a newbie Devil like you takes on a group of Exorcists and Fallen Angels by yourself, you're screwed."
"I figured. But I need to try, Kiba-kun. Otherwise, I'm going against my own nature as well as my promise to Asia. I won't do either."
"I admire your determination, but it's still reckless."
"Then what the hell do you suggest I do, Kiba-kun, huh!?"
"Take us with you."
"… Huh …?" I was dumbfounded. Of all the things he could have said, that was one I wasn't expecting.
"I don't know much about this girl, but you're my comrade," he said with determination. "I'll help you. Even though Buchou was so against it, there's a big part of me that respects your decision. That and I really don't like Fallen Angels and priests. In fact … I hate them." The sheer venom in those words had me concerned, but it could wait. "Plus, didn't you pay attention to what Buchou said to Issei-kun? 'When you step into a location I deem enemy territory, you can change to any other Evil Piece besides the King.' She's said to you several times these last few days that the church is enemy territory. Don't you get it? She's saying that Issei-kun has permission to Promote in there because she knew he'd go with you."
"… Well holy shit, now I feel bad for telling her to fuck herself …" I said, stunned. The shame washed over me as it did whenever I found out I was in the wrong during an argument. I gathered that she couldn't officially tell me to go and attack the place because of the very reasons she stated, but just giving me the tools to do it without permission was fine. I figured that was it, anyway – I could have been wrong.
"You should," said Kiba-kun. "If she really wanted to stop you, she'd have just locked you up somewhere."
"I am going to grovel like a bitch after this," I decided out loud.
"I'm going, as well," said Koneko-chan. Hearing her say that sent my heart fluttering. "I wouldn't be very good at being your best girl if I let you run into trouble without me, would I? And …" She hesitated, as though really letting her feelings on the matter out was some sort of crime. "… I don't like it when you're upset, Shin-kun. It just looks … wrong."
"Koneko-chan …" I said. I walked over to her and wrapped my arms around her in a hug. "Thank you." I released her and turned to Ise-nii. "How about it, Ise-nii? Ready to run head-first into danger with me?"
"Danger?" Ise-nii laughed dramatically. "I laugh in the face of danger! … Then I hide until it goes away."
That got me snickering. "Hey, humour's my thing. You are the mega-pervert."
"True. But it got you smiling, didn't it, little bro?"
I grinned. "Yeah, I guess it did. Thanks, dickhead."
"Any time, little shit."
I took a few steps towards the door out of the clubroom. "Well then, people," I said. "If we're all agreed on this, then let's go kick these feathered fuckers all the way back to the eggs they hatched from!"
It was fully dark by the time we made it to the church. Not that the night made any particular difference to us, what with our night vision and all, but something about the darkness of the hour seemed significant somehow. "Inviting" isn't a word I would have associated with the church anyway, but now that I knew what was waiting for us in there, now that the sinister nature of its inhabitants was known to me … every instinct I had told me to run.
But I wouldn't.
Hell no.
"There are Fallen Angels in there, all right," Kiba-kun said, commenting on what we all felt. "But … what's that?"
Through the trees, I saw a few of those Flesh Golems wandering around the outskirts of the church, probably patrolling. We were expected, it would seem. I was incredibly surprised to notice, however, that not only Ise-nii, who I expected to be freaked out, but Koneko-chan and Kiba-kun were openly confused and disturbed by the things.
"What the hell are they?" Kiba-kun said again.
"They're these fleshy things that Fallen prick sprouted from his body," I said.
"Why didn't you mention it?"
"I just assumed it was normal. Give me a damn break, man, I'm still new to all this. They're easy enough to kill, if it's any consolation. Though there were only four when I fought him earlier … The increased numbers might make them more of a problem this time around."
"I was not ready for today," Ise-nii muttered, looking ill.
"I don't think any of us were," Koneko-chan concurred.
"Look at this map," Kiba-kun said, laying down a map of what looked like the church for all of us to gather around. "It's pretty common sense to be prepared for enemy terrain," he answered the unspoken question Ise-nii and I both had. "There's a dormitory and a sanctuary. The sanctuary is what we need to focus on, that's where Fallen Angels and Stray Exorcists usually concoct their plans."
"So we can ignore the dormitory?" asked Ise-nii.
"Most likely, yes. Not that the dormitory isn't used, but when it comes to rituals and such, Stray Exorcists will do it in the sanctuary. And I'd hazard a guess that whatever they're doing to Shintaro-kun's nun falls into that category."
"Any particular reason we can be sure they didn't use the dormitory this time?" I asked.
"The sanctuary is a place they used to respect as a holy place," Kiba explained. "By doing something that would insult their God there, they use these places so they can insult him for rejecting them. The sanctuary is right across from the entrance when we go through those front doors. I think we can go straight in. The only issues are finding the door to the basement, which they've almost definitely disguised, and dealing with any enemies that might be waiting for us past those doors."
It seemed like that brought the pre-raid discussions to a close, and our little group of raiders prepared to enter the previously holy building.
But there was one thing I wanted to get out of the way first.
"Hey, Koneko-chan," I whispered to her as I manoeuvred us a little away from the others, though not so much that we would get into trouble easily. "I was just thinking …" I took a deep breath and released it. Saying this seemed a lot easier now that there was a very real chance of me dying in that building. "… After all this is done with, would you … would you maybe wanna go out on a date with me?"
There. It was out there. No turning back now. Even with the threat of death motivating me into saying it easier than before, waiting for her response was honestly more harrowing than the prospect of being killed by a Fallen Angel in that church.
Koneko-chan's cheeks turned a faint pink colour. "… Yes," she said. The happiness in her usually stoic tone got the butterflies in my stomach moving. "I'd love to."
I smiled, my own cheeks going red. "Great," I said.
Then we started walking.
Dohnaseek, that son of a bitch, could sense our presence most likely, so what the hell? I kicked the door open viciously as we got up to it. If he knew we were coming, at the very least I could make an entrance. It looked like any other church on the inside, with that long stretch of stone leading to the altar, and rows and rows of benches on either side. I hadn't been to church in years, and I'd never been willingly – they used to make us go in elementary school every now and then – but I was pretty sure the statue of Jesus on the cross wasn't supposed to be decapitated like that.
Clapping filled the room as we entered. Someone stepped out from behind a pillar. It was Freed.
"Such an emotional reunion!" he said, looking at us, though focusing his eyes on me in particular. "You know, I've never met the same Devil twice before! I take pride in my ability to cut Devils to happy meal-sized pieces on the first date. Give the body, or what's left of it, a kiss goodbye, that sort of thing. But no more!" He pointed at me. "You have thrown off my groove! That's no good, no good at all. So! Now I'mma kill the fucking lot of you, you filthy pieces of Devil trash!"
"I'm just gonna guess that from here on out all your speeches are just gonna be slight variations on, 'Gah! I want to kill Devils but you don't want me to kill you! This makes me very angry!'" I mocked. "Now that that's been established, can we just get the hell on with this? I've got a cute blonde to rescue."
Freed took out his gun and sword hilt, which then lit up as he released his lightsabre (I know it's a sword of light, but come the hell on, it's a lightsabre). I wasn't afraid of it this time, though. This time it was 4 on 1, and Freed was looking very outnumbered right about now.
"So you guys came to rescue Asia-chan?" he asked, laughing. "You Devils really are big-hearted, coming to rescue a stupid bitch like that! Getting friendly with Devils … she really deserves to die like this!"
Die. The word vibrated through my body, tensing me up. "Where is she!?" I demanded.
"There are some stairs under the altar. They'll take you right down to her."
"… Thank you …?" I hadn't expected him to be some forthcoming with the information. I really didn't know what to do with that.
"Sacred Gear!" Ise-nii announced as he summoned the red gauntlet to his arm.
Kiba-kun drew his sword.
Koneko-chan lifted one of the pews.
I created a bone sword from my right wrist.
We were ready to get into this.
Koneko-chan threw the pew at Freed, who continued to treat this whole situation strangely by cutting it in half while doing a little dance.
Before the fractured wood could even hit the ground, Kiba-kun was over there, his sword locked with Freed's. It was interesting to note that, despite being composed of light, Freed's sword was still solid enough to actually clash with another blade. Sparks went off between the two swords until something – I don't know what or who – gave, and they started clashing swords. Seeing it, it was easy to believe that Freed really did have a lot of experience fighting Devils; keeping up with a Knight like that couldn't be easy.
As they clashed swords, Freed fired off silent bullets of light, all of which Kiba-kun dodged, and all of which left holes in different parts of the room. I took a moment to appreciate the fact that a weapon made to do "God's work" was destroying a place that used to belong to him.
Their swords met in the middle again and they glared at each other.
"Impressive," Kiba-kun admitted. "You're quite strong."
Freed cackled. "You, too!" he complimented, sound far less bothered by it than Kiba-kun. "A Knight, huh? Not a single blind spot! This is great! This is what I'm talking about! I haven't had an awesome fight like this in ages! I was nearly crying from my inability to get my fix! I'm gonna kill you!"
"Then maybe I should start taking this seriously," Kiba-kun said, his voice low and dangerous. "Eat this."
Something black came from the end of Kiba-kun's sword and rapidly covered the whole thing. It was darkness, pure darkness. The blackest black I've ever seen. But it looked almost solid, not unlike Freed's sword. As the blades clashed, the darkness began to spread, covering Freed's sword as it had just covered Kiba-kun's.
"What the hell is this!?" Freed growled.
"Holy Eraser," Kiba-kun said. "A sword made of darkness that devours the light."
"… fucking Sacred Gears," Freed hissed as realisation set in. He was starting to look genuinely angry for the first time in the fight.
So Kiba-kun has a Sacred Gear, too … I mused. I didn't think on it for long, though. The darkness produced by Holy Eraser had completely devoured Freed's sword of light, neutralising the main thing that was keeping the rest of us from directly attacking. I grinned a grin I hadn't grinned before – it was bloodthirsty, the kind of thing you'd expect to see on someone with a mountain of corpses behind him. I couldn't help it. I kept picturing him hurting Asia, thinking about what he might have done if I hadn't stopped him … and I wanted him dead. I've never wanted to kill anyone before …
Being the one producing killing intent was an exhilarating experience in and of itself.
[Boost!] an unfamiliar deep voice boomed. It was coming from the gauntlet on Ise-nii's hand, his Sacred Gear. Did he finally figure out what it does? It was unlikely, as he himself looked pretty absent about it.
I only barely registered it, anyway. I was too busy charging, the bone sword ready to swing at the shitty priest the second he was within range. Ise-nii was moving, too. I saw Freed, still trying to hold off Kiba-kun, pointing his gun between the two of us, unsure of which to fire at. Now that he was immobilised, it appeared he was having trouble figuring out what to do.
"Promotion!" Ise-nii declared. "Rook!"
Freed's eyes widened, focusing on Ise-nii. "Promotion …? A Pawn!?"
"Your focusing on the wrong brother, asshole!" I shouted. I had finished my run-up and was swinging my bone sword.
Schlick!
I hadn't quite judged the distance correctly, so the slash didn't go very deep, but it was still effective. It cut through Freed's clothes and shallowly into the flesh of his stomach, allowing blood and puss to spill out and stain the fabric he wore over it.
And just seconds later, Ise-nii punched him in the face, sending him flying across the room.
It looked like Freed was going to be having a bad night.
If I have any say in it, he really fucking won't be, I thought. "That was for Asia," I added out loud.
Freed got up from where he landed, cheek swollen from where Ise-nii had hit him, a hand on his stomach where I had slashed him. "You cut me up and punch me in the face … then start trying to fucking lecture me?" He laughed. "Don't fuck with me, trash." He let out a howl of anger. "Don't fuck with me! You pieces of shit! No Devils should act so cocky with me! I'll kill you! I'm definitely gonna kill you! I'll cut you to tiny little pieces, you sacks of shit!" He pulled out a second sword of light and lit up the lightsabre-like blade.
But the four of us had him surrounded.
He didn't have a hope in Hell.
Freed seemed to realise it, too. He looked back and forth between the four of us and a smirk grew on his face. "Well, well, this is what I'd call a crisis," he said. "I'm not overly thrilled with the idea of getting killed by a Devil, so I guess I'll be going on the retreat for now. It's a shame that I can't Exorcise you guys, but I don't want to die!"
He took something round out of his pocket, and before any of us could react, he threw it onto the floor and it smashed. Smoke filled the area instantly, blinding me. I had to cough some of it out that I breathed in upon the initial smash. It only lasted a few seconds. When the smoke cleared, Freed was gone.
"Hey," his voice came from somewhere in the room. I couldn't see him and it was echoing, so it was hard to pinpoint. "That Rook who damn near gutted me just then. Shin-kun, was it?"
"Shintaro to you, jackass!" I shouted. "Only my friends get to call me Shin!"
He laughed. "I don't really care, Shin-kun. To tell you the truth, I think I'm in love with you. So I'm definitely gonna kill you. Okay? Okay. Okay? Okay. I won't tolerate some shitty Devil cutting me open and giving me a lecture! Kill ya next time!"
"'I'll get you next time, Gadget!'" I mocked. "That's what you sound like, fuckface. Next time, this bone's going straight through your heart!"
It was pointless threatening him, though.
Freed was gone.
We didn't have any time to waste looking for him. The four of us nodded to each other and went through the door hidden in the altar. Something moved through the open doors of the church far behind us. Those dumbass Flesh Golem things must have finally noticed the commotion and come running. Not that it made a difference. We all went down the stairs and into the basement area.
There were electric lights lighting up the underside of the church, which was out of place for such an old building. Kiba-kun led the way, followed by Koneko-chan, with Ise-nii and me taking up the rear. I was getting antsy worrying about Asia and wished I was at the front of the line so I could hurry this along.
At the bottom of the stairs, there was a single corridor with doors on either side. We slowed as we passed each one, presumably so that the more experienced of us could see about sensing anything that might be inside. It wasn't until we neared the end of the corridor that any of us felt anything. It was Koneko-chan. "I can smell them," she said, pointing to the very end door. It was bigger than the others, evidently leading into a larger room.
"There are Exorcists inside and at least one Fallen Angel," Kiba-kun said as we got to it. "Are you ready?"
"Is Freed totally off his rocker?" I asked rhetorically. Ise-nii and Koneko-chan just nodded.
"Okay," said Kiba-kun, nodding back to us. "Then let's go—"
Before he could open the door, the door opened itself. Every single Stray Exorcist and Flesh Golem, of which there were a fair few, was looking in our direction. As was the only Fallen Angel in the room. Where are the others? I wondered. There had to be more … right? What about the one that killed me and Ise-nii? Something was fishy here.
"Welcome, Devils," said Dohnaseek. He was at the far end of the room standing next to a large cross.
On that cross was Asia.
"Asia!" I called.
She heard me and looked up, meeting my gaze. "Shin-san …?"
"Yeah, it's me!" I said. "We're here to rescue you!"
"I shouldn't be surprised you made your way down here," said Dohnaseek. "Useful though they are, my Golems lack brains, so they're not exactly the brightest. And while I was going to give Freed access to my little jailbirds in exchange for his best behaviour, his attempt to kill you the other night made me disallow that." He smirked. "It's so touching that you'd come all the way here for Asia, but I'm afraid you're too late. The ritual is already complete."
"Ritual?" I asked. "What ri—?"
Before I could ask, Asia's body started to glow a bright light, not unlike that of her Sacred Gear. What made this different was Asia's screaming. Hearing the agony in that scream, which tore through me like water through paper, froze the blood in my veins.
"Asia!" I shouted, moving to stop this, but the Stray Exorcists and Flesh Golems in the room got in my way.
"We won't let you interfere!" one of the Stray Exorcists said.
"Damn Devils!" another added. "We'll destroy you!"
Using my bone sword, which I still had out, I stabbed the one directly in front of me in the stomach with no hesitation whatsoever. It sunk into his flesh and a trickle of blood ran down the bone as well as his robes. When I yanked it out of him, the trickle turned into a river as his blood flooded out like a hideous waterfall, followed by what I'm just going to assume were his intestines. I knocked him aside and started to charge forward.
Koneko-chan punched one out of my way, though she quickly had to deal with the ones that were attacking her.
Kiba drew Holy Eraser again. "Looks like I'll be going full throttle from the start this time," he said. "I hate priests."
"Let her go, you feathery fucking handbag!" I shouted at Dohnaseek. "Or I swear to Satan, I'm going to rip out …"
"Did you just call me a 'feathery handbag?'" the Fallen Angel asked flatly.
"… and yank 'em out your nose holes so they rip out your bastard brain!" I finished. I continued to charge forward, taking out the Stray Exorcists and Flesh Golems, which were far easier to kill than the Stray Exorcists, that got in my way. All that mattered was Asia. I wouldn't let anything distract me from her.
I was still a good thirty or so feet away when Dohnaseek took the light out of her body.
"This is it!" he cackled madly. "This is the power I've hunted for, the one that will help my master! With this, I will become an important member of our group! I will be vital to the master!" He hugged it to his chest, and the light briefly engulfed the room …
… and when it stopped, there was a Fallen Angel emitting a glowing green light. One that I had previously seen coming from Asia.
"This is it …" he said in a self-satisfied tone, a smile crossing his features. "With this, I'll never have to deal with those fools in the Grigori again! I have the power to heal! To heal the master and all those other idiots who follow him! They called me mad! Me! Mad! They said it would be foolish to mess around in Devil territory given who was here, who's laughing now!?" He emphasised the point he was already hammering in with all the subtlety of a Michael Bay production.
By that point, I wasn't paying attention to him.
Koneko-chan, Kiba-kun, and even Ise-nii, who was using his Promotion and presumably whatever his Sacred Gear did to fight off the Stray Exorcists with surprising effectiveness, though his fighting was unrefined compared to theirs, kept the bastards off me as I ran. The Stray Exorcists' attentions were thoroughly drawn to them by that point, though I occasionally had to fuck up one of those Flesh Golems. I retracted the bone sword, something I found came surprisingly naturally to me, as I reached Asia.
"I'm here, Asia," I said as I began to untie her from the cross.
"… Sh-Shin-san …" she said, her voice weak.
"I came to get you out of here."
"You know it's pointless, right?" asked Dohnaseek, who was just watching all this unfold. From the look on his face, he was even enjoying it. "Did your master ever tell you what happens when a Sacred Gear is removed from its original possessor? Death, that's what. Asia Argento is going to die, and there's nothing you can do about it."
"If you gave it back, I could!" I said. Desperation took over and I wasn't thinking about what I was saying or who I was saying it to. I just wanted to save Asia. "You said you need me alive for some reason, right!? If you give it back, I'll … I'll do whatever you want! Anything! Just … Just please give it back … Please let Asia live …"
He seemed to find this particularly amusing and burst out laughing. "Oh, this is precious!" he observed. "The oh so special little boy my group is so fucking adamant about keeping out of harm's way, begging me!" He laughed again. "You think I'm gonna give this back!? Fat chance! Thanks to those three bitches I had to bring with me, I'm gonna have the fucking Grigori on my ass in no time! There's no way I'm leaving here empty-handed after all this! Don't worry, though. There's still time for you to do her if that's what you're worried about. She'll be warm for a couple of hours after death."
"You … you sick son of a—"
"Shintaro-kun!" Kiba-kun called, grabbing my attention. "We're at a disadvantage while we're protecting that girl! Get her upstairs! We'll make a path for you! We'll be able to fight better with you two out of here, so hurry!"
He's right, I realised, looking around. The Flesh Golems, despite the ease with which they died, were a lot more dangerous now that they had such a numbers advantage, and then the Stray Exorcists with their weapons of light … I had to get out of there with Asia so that the others could fight properly. No matter how confusing and rage-inducing Dohnaseek's words were, I couldn't let him get to me, not now.
I tossed him one last glare, turned around with Asia in my arms, and started running.
"Koneko-chan, Issei-kun!" Kiba-kun exclaimed when he saw that I was running. "We'll cut a path for Shintaro-kun! Issei-kun, you go up after him! If he's carrying her, he won't be able to fight if things go bad!"
"Affirmative," said Koneko-chan.
"Got it!" Ise-nii agreed.
I kept on running, only slightly aware of the fighting going on around me. My eyes were set on the entrance we had come through and that was my only goal. I kept on running, occasionally seeing one of the others jump into my path to take out an enemy that was coming at me. Thanks to their efforts, I reached it in no time at all.
I turned my head back, noting that Ise-nii was behind me, and yelled, "Kiba-kun!"
"Just go!"
"I know! I'm not an idiot! But call me Shin, okay!? My friends call me that!"
Then I started running again, up the corridor that brought us here and to the stairs. There was a Flesh Golem there, probably what had made the noise we heard before descending the stairs earlier, which Ise-nii made short work of. He jumped in front of me and, brandishing his gauntlet against its attacks, used the Rook strength gained from his Promotion to simply punch a hole in it. It was melting when I stepped through it and ascended the stairs rapidly.
I came out into the sanctuary, got to about halfway through the room, and laid Asia down on one of the pews gently. She was pale and her breathing was laboured. "It won't be long until you're free," I said, my voice cracking with the weight of the violent sadness racking my body. "Then we can do all that stuff we talked about. I still need to take you out again."
"… I was happy …" she said. Her voice was weak and quiet, barely there at all. Yet she was smiling. "… I had a friend … even if only for a short while … If I was born again, would you be my friend again …?"
"Well, duh!" I said, not quite crying yet but dangerously close to it. I could feel the tears building up behind my eyes. Yet I smiled back, trying to reassure her. "But what's this about being born again? Come on, Asia, we still need to hang out more. Buying flowers, books, talking, all that stuff, we still need to do all of it. And I need to teach you things. Making all those jokes isn't much fun if you don't understand the punchlines, you know. There are so many things I want us to do together."
My smiles aren't always real, but the one I had plastered on my face as I tried to cheer up this dying girl was the most fake ever. The muscles of my face tried to rebel, pull my mouth into a frown and let the tears loose, but I wouldn't let them, not while she was still alive. If this was going to happen, I wanted to make her as happy as she could possibly be under these circumstances. To let my true emotions show would have been selfish. "We're friends, right? We'll always be friends! I'll introduce you to other people and they'll be your friends, too! Everyone'll love you, Asia. You're so sweet, you'll have lots of friends in no time!"
"… If I lived here … and went to the same school as you …"
"You wanna go to school? Sure! You can come to our school."
She raised a shaking hand up to my cheek. "… It's okay to cry, Shin-san … I don't mind … Thank you, for everything …"
Her hand fell limply from my cheek as the light left her eyes.
Asia Argento died with a smile on her face.
Somehow, that made it worse. I was the guy who liked to make people smile, and here I was, succeeding in that, but in a situation I could find literally no joy in. She was happy in her final moments, which was good, but … I didn't want her to die at all. She was a good girl. She had the most good in her of anyone I've ever met in my life. That sort of purity was rare, and I just witnessed it fading out of this world, right in front of my eyes …
How did she never make any friends? I wondered. What kind of cruel fucking world do we live in that would allow someone this kindhearted to be so lonely for so long?
Giving her what happiness I had … it was an honour to provide her with the joy she was starved of for so long, but … it didn't feel like I'd done enough.
Kneeling next to the pew, cradling Asia's body, I began to weep. Hot tears spilled down my face.
"What a crybaby," said a voice that filled my every waking nerve with pure and utter rage. Dohnaseek had evidently made it past Kiba-kun and Koneko-chan. "You are the one so important to our master? Really? Such a pathetic creature doesn't so much deserve to breathe the same air as my glorious—"
"Shut up!" It was Ise-nii that shouted. I'd never heard him so angry before. I was too distraught to move from Asia's body, but I raised my head to see. He was facing down Dohnaseek without a hint of nervousness. "You shut your fucking mouth, bastard! Leave him be! 'Cause your fight is with me now, you hear!? Nobody makes my little brother cry and gets away with it! I don't give a shit how strong you think you are, I'm gonna knock you the fuck out!"
"Isn't this sweet?" Dohnaseek continued to mock. "Is that big brother instinct setting in, Hyoudou? Too bad your Sacred Gear is weak as piss."
"What are you talking about?"
"What you've got there is a Twice Critical. It doubles your power a single time. Worthless for a Devil as early on in his time as you, I'm afraid. Twice zero is still zero. Too bad, so sad."
"Oh, yeah? Well guess what! I'm a Pawn! I Promoted to Rook as soon as we started fighting that fucking priest! That means I'm twice as strong as a beginner Rook like my brother! So get down here so I can kick your ass! NOBODY HURTS MY LITTLE BROTHER LIKE THIS AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!"
[Dragon Booster!] I barely registered the voice coming from his Sacred Gear.
"… Very well, then. It's your funeral."
That's when the fight started.
I watched, but I couldn't bring myself to move. All I could bring myself to do was clutch Asia's slowly cooling hand and watch. I couldn't protect her, I thought. I failed … and now Ise-nii is protecting me … I don't deserve it, not after failing like this …
Ise-nii through a punch at Dohnaseek, who dodged it easily, though I could see a clear displacement in the air where Ise-nii's fist swung.
"Your insistence on continuing with this course of action despite our differences in power is pitiful," said Dohnaseek. Light began to gather in his hand. "This fight won't take long. Then I'll take out your two little friends in the basement. Then your master and any other Devils in this town, just to clean up any loose ends. My victory in the gaining of this Sacred Gear will be marked by the chaos of the fall of a piece of Gremory territory!"
[Boost!] the Sacred Gear on Ise-nii's arm spoke again. Something about that didn't seem right from what I knew, but my emotions were in too much of a storm for me to figure out what.
Ise-nii charged the spear-wielding Fallen Angel with reckless abandon, swinging his fist again. Once again, Dohnaseek dodged, though this time I saw him get pushed back by the disturbance in the air caused by Ise-nii's swing. That blow was stronger, even if it was no more accurate. He was getting more powerful.
Dohnaseek seemed to notice, too. "So you got a bit stronger," he commented. "Good for you. But it's still not enough!" As he swung his spear of light, globs of flesh dripped out of his coat, forming up and growing as they hit the ground and transforming into more of those Flesh Golems. "When they're concentrated like this, I have better control," he said as he successfully nailed Ise-nii in the thigh with his spear, causing him to cry out in pain. "While you're fighting them, you can listen to your friends dying!"
I finally managed to grasp one of the emotions storming through my head, and unfortunately for Dohnaseek, it was the one that would always prompt action: anger. I felt the rage overpower every other piece of devastation that was desperately grasping for my attention. I thought I knew what killing intent felt like when I was facing Freed, but that was the petty urge to punch a bully in the playground compared to what I felt now. I wanted to end a life, to snuff it out as though it had never existed.
But a more reasonable part of my mind, quiet in the hurricane of feelings but still present, reminded me that Ise-nii had already declared his intent to beat the Fallen Angel into a bloody pulp. In response, my rage focused on the new factor in the fight that left Ise-nii at a numbers disadvantage.
The Flesh Golems.
I stood up from beside Asia and things started to happen that I didn't notice or even think of until later. Bone swords emerged from both of my wrists, my flesh hardened into an armour-like density, blood burst out of my back in thin whip-like shapes, my hair moved around atop my head like dozens of tiny little black worms … My entire body reacted to my anger and became something else entirely, a living weapon of flesh, bone, and blood. And in my anger, I was completely blind to the fact that anything about me had changed.
I walked forward in long strides, completely ignoring Ise-nii and Dohnaseek by this point, and without any conscious prompting by myself the crimson blood whips protruding from my back shot forward and grabbed a Flesh Golem by its legs, yanking it down onto its back and pulling it over to me. The second it was laying at my feet, I stabbed down with a bone sword with no hesitation, pinning it to the ground, then slashed the other one sideways, decapitating the Flesh Golem cleanly and efficiently. It melted, as had all the others before it.
I looked around. Ise-nii was still fighting Dohnaseek. He was doing surprisingly well, considering what Dohnaseek had just done to his thighs. But my main point of concern were the Flesh Golems. Dohnaseek had just made plenty, but there were also others, probably leaking in from outside, finally joining the fun. Rather than be concerned, though, I grinned viciously. Plenty of cannon fodder for me to take my frustrations out on. For a man who usually abhors violence, I was really going to enjoy myself here.
I turned around and brutally slashed out with my bone sword, cutting down two of them where they stood. Spinning quickly, I raised my leg and delivered a spinning kick to the side of one's head, sending it careening off to the side and splitting open upon impact with one of the pews. I could feel the blood whips lash out behind me and grab a Flesh Golem by its legs, pulling it up and throwing it over me. It started to come down in front of me and I slashed upwards, cutting it right down the middle and allowing its two halves to fall down on either side of me.
I quickly moved forward and kicked one of the pews upwards and forwards, allowing it to smash a few Flesh Golems in the head and crushing them against the pew in front of the one I'd kicked.
I cut and I hit and I brutalised. I felt nothing but the blood lust pushing forth my every action.
In a fit of bloody rage I charged a Flesh Golem, lowing my head and pushing my shoulder out in front of me so that I rammed right into it and kept on running. We hit a wall that did nothing to deter me and we smashed right through. The dust and debris that landed on me felt irritating. I felt my hair cleaning itself of the tiny stone fragments that landed in it, unable to do anything combat-related due to its short length.
I went to town on the Flesh Golem I pushed into this chamber with. I slashed it several times on the floor and continued to do so even as it was turning to mush upon its death.
It was only then that I looked up and around the chamber I had broken into.
It had been modified into some sort of prison, as I doubted a church would always have had a room full of cell-like structures. The bars on the cells were all made of pure light. There were three Flesh Golems in here that were now slowly shambling their way towards me. But other than them … there was Amano-san, if that really was her name, and two others, each of them in a separate cell.
Jailbirds, I recalled Dohnaseek saying.
Three girls … presumably all Fallen Angels … in cells … He said he'd let Freed in … The pieces were coming together, getting through my haze of mad fury, and despite how much I should have hated at least one of these three, I felt more than a little pity for them all. How long have they been in here?
One of the Flesh Golems made for my arm as I was thinking, but the blood whips jutting from my back lashed at his head, taking it clean in half. The top half slid off in an almost comical fashion as the rest of the body just sort of melted away.
I immediately reacted, snapping back into action. I picked up one of the other two Flesh Golems by its throat and threw it into the other one. They collided and flew back, hitting the wall, one sandwiching the other between itself and the wall. I took advantage of that. I leapt forward and, before they had a chance to move from their position, stabbed forward with my bone sword, impaling both of them in one move.
A tiny bit of bone broke away as it hit the wall, which hurt, but nowhere near as much as when Dohnaseek snapped an entire sword off earlier.
I looked around at the cells. The occupants were now staring with rapt attention, especially Amano-san. Looking each of them in the eyes in turn – Amano-san looked away – I began to think about what to do …
I can't leave them in here, I decided, sighing. They're just more of Dohnaseek's victims.
I knew touching the light was a bad idea, but luckily, I'm a Rook. I punched out the walls between the cells and the whole structure just kind of collapsed. It looked like a rushed job, probably improvised on the fly, so it didn't surprise me that once the walls were gone, the bars of light made precious little difference to the escapees.
"Help or leave," I snapped at the three of them as they were freed. "I don't care which!"
Then I marched out through the hole I'd made in the wall and got back to what I was doing without taking so much as a second glance at the Fallen Angels I'd just freed.
I kicked a Flesh Golem that had been following me in the chest as I marched. It flew out into the main sanctuary and I knelt, driving my bone sword into it. I swing the other out behind me, bisecting the Flesh Golem that had been coming from behind me. I noticed another coming at me from behind, but before it could reach me, I saw a spear of light fly from the chamber I'd just left and impale it through the back. It completely vaporised it.
So, they decided to help, I thought, feeling an inkling of respect for the three of them. "If you're dead set on helping, go downstairs!" I called back to them. "Our friends are down there and outnumbered!" I thought Koneko-chan and Kiba-kun were probably fine, but things were pretty much dealt with up here, and … the thought of Koneko-chan potentially being in trouble gave me chills. I'd already lost Asia, I couldn't lose my best girl, too …
I didn't wait to see if they did as they were told. I kept moving forwards, but looking around, I saw that I had gotten rid of all the Flesh Golems. Evidently, there weren't as many as I'd thought.
"—just one hit," Ise-nii was saying, glaring at Dohnaseek. He was looking surprisingly sturdy, considering. "Please let me hit him."
He stepped forward. I could tell from the look on his face that he was in pain, but he kept going, his legs— No, his entire body shaking from the exertion this was taking. The sheer determination my brother was displaying in trying to get at Dohnaseek …
… He's doing this because I was crying …? I thought, baffled. I … I had no idea he'd get this intense over me …
"I-Impossible!" Dohnaseek exclaimed in shock and outrage. "You're not in any condition to move! The light—" He made eye contact with Ise-nii and started shaking, though for a whole other reason than Ise-nii. "… There's no way you should be able to stand! You're only a new Devil! A Low Class, Reincarnated Devil! The light should be burning you from the inside out! You don't even have the demonic power to ease off the stress of the light!"
"Yeah, it hurts," Ise-nii confirmed. "It really hurts. I can feel myself about to pass out. But the hate I feel for you right now far outdoes the pain." He glanced down at his gauntlet. "Hey, Sacred Gear. You still have the power to punch this bastard in front of me, right? Then let's finish it."
[Explosion!] the voice from his Sacred Gear bellowed. The jewel at the centre started emanating a bright green light (there seemed to be a lot of that going around today). As the light touched his body, Ise-nii's pained expression became one of serenity, like it numbed or undid all the damage the spears of light had done to him. Something about the power coming from his Sacred Gear … I was in awe of it.
Ise-nii took a step forwards. Blood dripped onto the floor from the holes in his thighs. He pulled his fist back like he was about to punch.
"… What is this?" Dohnaseek asked, no sounding genuinely scared. Hearing that tone brought me so much satisfaction. "Your Sacred Gear … Isn't it meant to be a Twice Critical? This isn't possible! Why is your power surpassing mine!? The power I'm feeling from you is like a Middle Class Devil … or even a High Class Devil …" He started to back away like he was staring down a monster. "This can't be happening! I defied the Grigori for this! I accepted the righteous path, serving my master, and gained the power of healing because of it! This shouldn't be happening! I won't lose to some jumped-up little shit like you!"
Dohnaseek hurled a spear of light at Ise-nii.
Ise-nii, with a single wave of his gauntlet-covered arm, batted it aside.
Dohnaseek's face went white as a sheet. His wings started flapping. "No!" he denied vehemently.
Ise-nii took what looked like a single step and appeared next to Dohnaseek, grabbing his arm. He was moving like a Knight despite having promoted to a Rook. Just what is that Sacred Gear doing to him …? I wondered in amazement.
"I won't let you get away," he said, looking to me like an absolute badass of a big bro.
"I won't be taken out by the likes of you!"
"Go to Hell, you shitty Angel!"
The light seemed to grow even brighter as Ise-nii reared his fist back and plunged it forward in what had to be the hardest punch I've ever seen. It nailed Dohnaseek right in the face, which I could have sworn practically caved in from the impact. Dohnaseek went flying back from the impact of Ise-nii's fist, colliding with a wall that did nothing to stop his path, and crashed outside the church somewhere, leaving a hole in the wall behind him. There was a scar in the ground outside from where he kept going after flying through the wall, and there the prick himself was at the end of it, slumped down and not moving. I didn't know if he was dead and, frankly, I didn't really care. He was dealt with, either way.
"Serves you right," Ise-nii said.
"You could work on your one-liners a little," I commented without any enthusiasm.
He looked at me. "You okay?"
"No, not really." I moved back over to where Asia was lying dead. "I'm … I'm not sure when I'll be okay, to be honest, Ise-nii." I sniffled as I knelt down beside her once again. The anger had drained out of me, the adrenaline that had been fuelling my actions dying down with it. I suddenly felt exhausted. "We won … but she's not coming back …" I started crying. "It's not fair … She never hurt anybody … She was the nicest person I've ever met … Why …?"
I felt Ise-nii's hand on my shoulder. Then I felt it slip off as he fell to his side.
"You did good, Issei-kun," Kiba-kun said as he caught my brother. "You actually managed to beat a Fallen Angel."
"It's Ise to you," said Ise-nii, panting. "To everyone now." I could hear a grin in his voice when he next spoke. "You're late, Casanova."
"Koneko-chan and I got a little caught up downstairs," Kiba-kun explained. "Those fleshy things weren't too difficult to deal with, but their numbers plus the Stray Exorcists … We'd still be down there fighting if it weren't for Shin-kun's new friends." He spat the word "friends" with venom. I gathered that meant the Fallen Angels I'd freed had gone downstairs like I'd said. "Even without all that, Buchou told me not to interfere with the Fallen Angel man."
"That's right," said Buchou. My attention really must have been fixed on Asia; I hadn't even heard her arrive. "Truth be told, I thought Shintaro would be the one to fight the Fallen Angel known as Dohnaseek, but given the circumstances, it isn't entirely surprising you fought him instead." She stepped closer. "The rather unfortunate manner of instigation aside, this fight has done wonders for your Sacred Gear, Ise."
"Buchou?" asked Ise-nii. "Where did you come from?"
"The basement," she revealed. "I finished my business, so I used the magic circle to come here. It was my first time teleporting to a church, so I was nervous." That explained why I didn't hear or see her coming. Her appearing down there must have made short work of the remaining enemies, so sending the Fallen Angels down hadn't been entirely necessary. "Looks like you won safely."
"'Safe' isn't exactly the word I would use to describe it," said Ise-nii. "'Alive' works, though."
"Just as expected from my servant."
"The church is a mess," Akeno-san commented. "Buchou, is it all right?"
"… Is something wrong?" asked Ise-nii.
"Churches belong to God and the religions that worship him," Buchou explained, "but there are cases like this where they are used by the Fallen Angels instead. If we Devils damage a church, there will be times where we are targetted by agents of Heaven for revenge." She left it silent for just enough time to be worrying. "But there's no need to worry about that this time. This church was abandoned for a long time before the Fallen Angels settled in it. As far as any officials are concerned, we just happened to have a confrontation here, no invasion on the Angels' territory. Nothing worth restarting a war over."
"Buchou, I've brought it." Koneko-chan's voice was the first thing that snapped me out of my grief over Asia enough to get me to look at everyone else. Everyone was here, even the Fallen Angel girls, though they were standing a little way away from us and everyone was taking distrustful glances at them every now and then. Koneko-chan was dragging Dohnaseek's unconscious body near us.
"Thank you, Koneko," said Buchou. "Now, let's wake him up. Akeno."
"Yes."
Akeno-san lifted her arm up and water formed in the air, which she then splashed all over Dohnaseek's face. He awoke with a start, coughing and sputtering on the water.
"How are you doing, Fallen Angel Dohnaseek?" Buchou asked.
Dohnaseek looked at her, dazed, for a few moments, then seemed to snap back to reality. "… Daughter of the Gremory Clan …" he said in what was little more than a mutter.
"Yes, I believe we've met before, the first time you attacked one of my adorable servants. It's nice to meet you again, even if it won't be for very long."
He scoffed at her. "You think you've got me? Ha! I'm not the only one, you know. I come from a group. They'll come for me! They'll have to! With the power I gained this day, they'll be clamouring to have me with them!"
"After the report we sent before you imprisoned us, the closest thing to a friendly face you'll be seeing anytime soon is from the Grigori," said the Fallen Angel I knew as Amano-san. "But regardless of what they want to know from you, I doubt they'll complain if we tell them you got yourself killed in a fight with the local Devils. It would be my genuine pleasure to be able to tell them that." The amount of hate in her voice made my not exactly stellar opinion of her raise. It occurred to me, not for the first time, that she was probably a simple pawn in all this.
"And you can bet your ass we'll corroborate her story!" said the short blonde one.
Dohnaseek looked at them and grew more pale by the second.
"We managed to get the whole plan out of one of your Stray Exorcists just a little while before we came here," said Buchou. "Akeno can be very … persuasive."
"I didn't just make them sing, I made them scream," Akeno-san said cheerfully.
"After that, it was just a case of obliterating all your followers. I'll admit I was surprised to discover that the other Fallen Angels were tricked into helping you." She glanced at the three in question. There was no trust there, but there was understanding. "Punishing you based on something you were tricked into would leave a bad taste in my mouth, even if you're Fallen Angels. I'll offer any help that I can in proving these events to your superiors."
"Thank you, Gremory-san," said the blue-haired one with the gigantic knockers, bowing.
"Onto the next thing," Buchou said, smiling. She moved over to Ise-nii and held the hand on which his Sacred Gear rested. "I figured out how he was able to beat a Fallen Angel so early on. This Sacred Gear isn't the ordinary Twice Critical you said it was, Fallen Angel Dohnaseek. It is the Boosted Gear, a Sacred Gear said to be among the rarest of the rare. The Red Dragon mark that's appeared on the gauntlet proves it. You've heard of it, haven't you?"
Dohnaseek looked between her and Ise-nii with an utterly dumbfounded look on his face … then promptly burst into hysterical laughter. "Are you actually shitting me!?" he asked as he cackled. "Y-You mean to tell me that I had a fucking Longinus within my grasp this entire time and I settled for this piece of shit healing power?" He laughed louder, like it was the funniest thing in the world to him. "Oh, that is fucking priceless!"
"Yes, you really missed a trick," said Buchou, clearly taking pleasure in his hysterics. "If it works as the legends tell, the Boosted Gear can double its user's power every ten seconds. He can start from the lowest of the low, but with enough boosts in power stand equal with High Class Devils and leaders of Heaven and the Grigori. With enough time, he could even kill God."
… Well holy shit, I thought as I let that sink in. God in the Bible was always presented as this divine, infallible being, almost more of a concept than an actual person. The fact that he was killable … It almost made me feel better about a few things, knowing that he wasn't quite as omnipotent as the mythology would imply, meaning he didn't have quite as infinite a reach as those zealots in the church liked to think. Any crack I could take at the Christians at this point was more than fine on me.
But all that couldn't change one thing.
"Buchou …" I spoke for the first time in the conversation, my voice barely coming out as a mutter. "… I failed … I got so heated over this … I was so disrespectful of you … and I still failed … I couldn't save Asia …"
Buchou moved to come over to me, presumably to offer comfort, but Koneko-chan beat her to it, leaning down next to where I was kneeling near Asia and hugging me softly. I melted into it. The warmth of affection began to flow through my body despite everything that had happened up to this point.
"You don't have to cry," Buchou said as Koneko-chan hugged me. "Seeing you now, there's no one who'll blame you. You just aren't experienced as a Devil yet, even with those strange powers of yours. Become strong. I'll be working you hard from now on. Both of you. Ise and Shin, the Hyoudou brothers, my Pawn and my Rook."
"Yes," Ise-nii said, nodding.
I just nodded. I was too emotionally exhausted.
"Now then," Buchou said, turning back to Dohnaseek. "I'll finish up here. I will have you disappear, Fallen Angel, and I'll take that stolen Sacred Gear back while I'm at it."
That was the first thing to really get a panicked rise out of him. "You can't!" he protested. "This healing power is for my master! It's for the good of my whole group!"
"As a Devil, I admire one's will to please their master," Buchou admitted but without a hint of mercy in her tone. "But you are too filthy a creature to allow to leave."
She aimed her hand at him.
"Me, here," came an unfortunately familiar voice. "Wow!" Freed exclaimed. "My superior is in serious danger! What ever shall we do!?"
"Save me!" Dohnaseek demanded. "If you save me, Freed, you'll be greatly rewarded!"
"I don't swing that way," Freed said casually. "And you lost my boner the second those three broke outta the birdcage. So I'mma just take off. That cool with you?"
"You lousy piece of shit! Aren't you a Stray Exorcist!? I'm a Fallen Angel, you should—!"
Freed yawned. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, Stray Exorcists serve Fallen Angels and all that shit. But I'm not really into the idea of working for someone who loses to trashy Devils. Just about the only thing you were good for was keeping those three hotties lined up for me, but you went and cut me off before I could even get to the pussy buffet, man! So you can just go ahead and die, okay, boss? I'd say have a nice afterlife, buuuut … Fallen Angels who were abandoned by God go into nothingness, don't they? Maybe you'll get something outta that? Though I guess that isn't possible … meh, whatever."
I thought he was going to get the hell out of here when he was finished talking to Dohnaseek, but I felt chills running down my spine as his eyes drifted over to me and a wide smile took over his face.
"Shin-kun, Shin-kun," he said. "Your bro has a decent power, but all that shit you were doing with your blood and bone … hardcore, man, hardcore. You are so worth killing! You are right up there in my top five Devils I want to kill. So be prepared, okay? Next time we meet, we'll be having a romantic fight to the death!" The killing intent rolled off of him as he stared at me. "See ya, then! Don't forget to brush your teeth!"
Just as suddenly as he appeared, he vanished.
Buchou didn't waste any time getting back to business. "Now, Fallen Angel Dohnaseek, you die," she said. "Any last words?"
Dohnaseek was silent for just long enough that I thought he was going to go out without saying anything, but just as Buchou gathered her destructive power in her hand, ready to blast him, he uttered three words, and if we knew nothing else, we knew the name of his master.
"All hail Jongruk."
And then he was gone, blasted into nothing by my own master.
All that was left was a single black feather.
And a floating green light.
Asia's Sacred Gear.
Buchou reached out a hand and grabbed Asia's Sacred Gear out of the air. "Now, let's return this to Asia Argento," she said.
I couldn't help the hope that flared in me. Don't do that, I thought to myself. "B-But she's dead …" I said.
"Shin, what do you think this is?" she asked, taking out a chess piece. It was a Bishop. It was the colour of blood.
"… It's an Evil Piece …" I said in realisation. That small flare of hope became a wildfire within me. "You're gonna bring her back, make her one of us."
"As my Bishop," Buchou confirmed. "I already have another Bishop, so this is my last one. I only get two. Each Peerage can have as many as fifteen servants, that's eight Pawns, two Knights, two Bishops, two Rooks, and one Queen." She placed the Bishop chess piece on Asia's non-breathing chest. "The Bishop's role is to support the other members of the team, so her Sacred Gear should work perfectly for that."
A crimson aura surrounded Buchou's body, as well as Asia's.
"In the name of Rias Gremory, you, Asia Argento, are to be resurrected as my Devil servant. My Bishop, rise and be delighted with your new life!"
The Bishop chess piece glowed and lowered into Asia's body. Knowing this had at one point happened to me made it feel kind of weird, and the mental image of this happening with my bleeding dead body popped into my head. At the same time, Asia's Sacred Gear was returned to her body, as well. Buchou stopped the flow of demonic power once both the chess piece and the Sacred Gear were in Asia's body.
…
…
…
Come on! I urged mentally, feeling all the sadness and grief float away from me. Come on, Asia … come on …
…
…
…
Asia Argento opened her eyes.
"Huh?" she said as she awakened.
"Asia!" I cried happily. Without even thinking about it, I dove forward and pulled her into a hug. "You're alive, Asia! I … I can't believe you're alive!"
"Shin-san?" Asia questioned. "What … what happened?"
"I resurrected her because I wanted her power to heal Devils," said Buchou, likely trying to explain this away as one of those acts of greed she was so adamant about Devils committing by nature. "Shin, from now on, you'll protect her. You'll be her senior Devil, after all. But for the time being, she'll be coming with me. I left you two to your own devices a while after I reincarnated you, which turned out to be a mistake. I'll take proper care this time." She looked at the Fallen Angels. "You three, come with us. Akeno will be there, too. There are some things we need to discuss."
The three Fallen Angels bowed their heads in agreement.
"You need to go with them for now, Asia," I said, still hugging her tightly. Despite my own words, I didn't want to let her go. It had been a long night. "We'll see each other again soon, okay? It's just that Buchou can explain all this to you way better than I can. We'll hang out later."
She looked unsure. "O-Okay," she said. "I trust you, Shin-san. I'll see you soon." She stood up. I helped her, unsure of whether she'd be able to stand on her own, but she did. She left with Buchou, Akeno-san, and the three Fallen Angels.
"Hell of a night, huh, little bro?" Ise-nii said as we started to walk out of the church.
"Yeah, you can say that again," I said, stretching. "What the hell was with my body ripping itself apart and ripping other shit to shreds? It's never done that before."
"We don't know," said Kiba-kun. "But I assure you, Buchou will be looking into it. I'll see you guys in school tomorrow."
We traded goodbyes, and Ise-nii and I were about to head home when I was stopped.
"Wait," said Koneko-chan. I stopped and turned to her. She surprised me by pulling me into an incredibly close hug. "I heard you crying from the basement. It didn't sound right. Shin-kun shouldn't cry." Then she released me and started walking away.
I blinked after her, red rising to my cheeks. I walked after Ise-nii with a dopey grin on my face.
The following morning, we were all told by Buchou to be at the clubroom early.
I was walking with Koneko-chan, feeling a lot more chipper than I had in the last few days. Thinking back on the night before, I didn't know when exactly my body stopped doing all that weird shit, but I was glad it had – could you imagine walking into school with blood jutting out of my back and my hair moving? Screw the memory wipes, I'd have had to go into fucking hiding!
"Ah, normalcy, who I've missed you," I said contentedly as we walked.
"You're not normal, though," Koneko-chan pointed out.
"Which is normal for me, so my point still stands," I said without missing a beat. "Not a care in the world, I can go back to admiring just how adorable you are all through the day." Seeing her cheeks go slightly pink, I grinned and added a little fuel to the fire. "And I'm really looking forward to our date, Koneko-chan."
The pink in her cheeks darkened to red. "… Me, too …" she said quietly.
It was a good day, I could feel it.
I did a little knock on the clubroom door before going in. "'Sup, homies?" I said. "Remind me to never say those two words in succession ever again." Paying attention to what was going on in the room, I saw it was only Ise-nii and Buchou in there at the moment, and Buchou had just kissed Ise-nii on the forehead. "Hey, some lip contact from something other than the hand you practice on! Good job, Ise-nii!"
"Up yours," Ise-nii said, sitting up from where he'd been laying on Buchou's lap.
"So, how's everybody doing?" I asked, sitting down. Koneko-chan sat down afterwards, but much to my surprise, she didn't take her usual spot on the sofa. Rather, she sat down on my lap. "Koneko-chan?"
"I'm asserting dominance," she said. "The new girl needs to know I'm ahead of her."
"Huh?"
"Sh-Shin-san …?" The voice came from the door. It was Asia. She must have been in one of the other rooms up until now, or else I would have at least heard her walking behind us. She was trying to smile but it wasn't quite working.
"Asia?" I said, starting to smile at her. Meanwhile, I was thinking, Could it be …? I know I've seen a situation like this before …
"I-It has to be …" she muttered to herself. "K-Koneko-san is really cute, so of course Shin-san would also like her … No, no, I can't think like that! Oh Lord, please forgive my sinful heart!" She gave a small yell and held her hands up to her head, pained. "I have a headache …"
"Of course," said Buchou. "If a Devil tries to pray to God, it's only natural they'll receive damage."
Asia looked troubled. "Oh, that's right, I'm a Devil now … I can't face God any more …" I wanted to comfort her, but all I could think to say was that God wasn't worthy of her praise, having abandoned her the way he did … but I knew it would just upset her further to hear me say that, so I kept it to myself.
"Do you regret it?" Buchou asked her.
Asia shook her head. "No, not at all. No matter what situation I'm in, I'm happy as long as I'm with Shin-san."
I felt my face go beat red when she said that. For a straight guy, hearing a girl say that about me … it really pleased some part of me, deep down.
"I see," said Buchou. "Then that's okay. From today you will also be my servant, and I will make you work along with Shin."
"Yes!" said Asia. "I'll do my best!"
I still wanted to cheer her up even though she seemed to be in a better mood. I recalled what she said about me finding Koneko-chan cute, so I looked at what she was wearing, which was different from the nun's habit I'd seen her in before today. She was wearing the Kuoh Academy girls' uniform, only instead of the shoulder cape worn by most of the girls in school, she was wearing a black sweater-vest over it. I don't know how intentional it was in Buchou's part, but the look gave her a more innocent version of the typical "sexy schoolgirl" vibe. I approved.
"You know, you're looking really cute in your new uniform, Asia," I said. I felt Koneko-chan tense against me a bit, so I wrapped an arm around her in a half-hug. I had to make sure my best girl felt loved, after all. "I like it."
Asia's face went red. A lot of that was happening this morning. "Th-Thank you," she said shyly. It was adorable.
"I decided to have Asia attend our school," Buchou explained. "Technically, she should be a second year, but given her relationship with you, Shin, as well as her lack of education outside the church, she'll be a first year student in class with you and Koneko. She's starting today, so make sure you look after her."
I gave her a mock salute. "Aye aye, Buchou," I said.
"I'll be in your care, Shin-san," Asia said, bowing politely.
"And I'll make sure you enjoy every single second of it," I promised. "Trust me, you'll be swimming in new friends in no time!"
"I'm looking forward to it."
Just then, Kiba-kun and Akeno-san came in through the door.
"Good morning, Buchou, Koneko-chan, Shin-kun, Ise-kun, Asia-san," said Kiba-kun.
"How are you all doing?" Akeno-san asked. She saw the position I was in, with Koneko-chan on my lap and now Asia-san, who had just sat down beside me, hugging onto my spare arm. "Someone looks like he's enjoying himself."
"It isn't the most unpleasant situation I've ever found myself in," I admitted. Then it hit me. Oh my God … I know where I've seen this before! Holy shit, I've got a harem growing! The thought excited me and made me nervous all at once. On one hand … I think just about every hormonal teenage boy of the heterosexual persuasion has dreamed about being popular with the ladies, but on the other … having a harem was Ise-nii's dream, and I didn't want to take that away from him. Still, who's to say we can't both have one …? I thought, more in an attempt to make it seem less bleak than anything else.
"Since everyone is here," Buchou started, "shall we start the party?" She clicked her fingers and a large cake appeared on the table in front of us. "I figured it'd be good to gather in the mornings sometimes to do stuff like this. S-Since we got new members, I m-made a cake, so let's eat it together." She actually started to sound shy when she was talking about making the cake. It was pretty cute. I could tell Ise-nii thought so, too. He was crushing on her pretty hard.
Koneko-chan got two plates of the cake, and so did Asia. At first, I couldn't tell why, but then Koneko-chan turned around with a piece on a fork. "Open up," she said.
"N-No!" Asia protested. "I wanted to feed Shin-san!"
"You can after me."
Asia pouted.
This … is the good life, I decided, opening my mouth to have the sugary goodness fed to me.
Third Person POV
Elsewhere …
A group of individuals gathered in a room. They were watching what was unfolding in the Occult Research Club's clubroom on some sort of screen.
"Dohnaseek's failure wasn't so big a loss, after all," said one.
"Agreed," said another. "The crazy bastard's hunt for Twilight Healing may have done us some good in the long run, but I think the results gave us something better."
"I still say we should have killed him ourselves," said a third. "If he'd done the job on Issei Hyoudou himself, that bitch he tricked wouldn't have stabbed Shintaro Hyoudou. His insistence on manipulating others to carry out his plan put Lord Jongruk's best hope needlessly at risk!"
"But look at the results!" the second spoke again. "Shintaro Hyoudou having the powers of a Devil may actually work to our advantage!"
"It certainly seems to have jump-started the process," said a fourth. "His powers over his own body have awakened. So far, he has achieved power over his bones, his blood, his flesh, and his hair. It shouldn't be long now until we're ready to begin."
"Agreed," said a fifth. "Shintaro Hyoudou should be kept under observation until such a time as he is strong enough for us to perform the ritual. All hail Jongruk."
"All hail Jongruk," everyone present repeated.
Then they all dispersed.
Wait, what!? Kokabiel wasn't the puppet master behind the opening arc!? What is this sorcery!? Kidding aside, I don't mind that most people who make Dohnaseek the main villain of the first arc, or go the whole manipulated Fallen Angels angle, make Kokabiel behind it. It ties him into the overall plot more and gives him more importance, I get it. That being said, I've thought out this story quite a bit, and while I will say that Kokabiel might know what's going on, he isn't the mastermind behind this. Rather, the mysterious "Jongruk" Dohnaseek mentioned is. Who is he? Heheheh, well, you'll have to wait and see, won't you? ;)
I know there wasn't very much interaction with the Fallen Angel girls, but don't worry, they'll be back. I promise.
Still no new harem members introduced at the current time. Just to keep things juicy, I will tell you that there are two characters who are going to be genderbent, and Issei and Shintaro both get one of them. Just to keep you guessing~
Shintaro: Koneko Toujou, Akeno Himejima, Kalawarner, Asia Argento,
Issei: Rias Gremory, Raynare, Mittelt,
Now, before we go, the reviews!
kuriboh1233: I quite agree, there can never be too many Hellsing Ultimate Abridged references. Not to worry, I won't go too Naruto on you, haha. As you can see from this chapter, Shintaro's abilities aren't just over bone.
weslyschraepen: Shintaro does not have a Sacred Gear.
Clarent excalibur: Oh, don't worry, there'll be plenty of references where those came from.
Derek 23: Will do, good sir.
Vizard Masky: Thank you. Don't worry, despite being a Rook, he's not exactly going to be lacking in magical talent, it's just that most of what he does with magic and demonic power will be of the up close and personal variety, mainly focusing on defence and powerful offence. His abilities, as mentioned in this chapter, are over his own flesh, blood, and bones, so a bit more than Kimimaro. No, while Kokabiel might have some inkling as to what's going on – though I won't spoil too much, lol – he is not behind this like he is in most other fics, rather the mysterious "Jongruk" is. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
MentalForge: Don't worry, the bone swords and other powers won't be unexplained, it's just part of the mystery of the plot and will be explained when the characters discover it in-story. Glad to hear you're enjoying it.
Reptil: As shown with this chapter, it's his whole body.
Jacksonion Democracy: He may well be an ass man.
MR2: I hope what I've shown of his powers didn't disappoint.
Gerden360: Because the angsty "I hate being a Devil servant!" storyline has been done to absolute death at this point. It's not a bad plotline by any means, but I feel it's been so overused that it's become cliché so I'm trying to avoid it.
Guest: He could well be.
Guest: Not quite, but there's some inspiration there, certainly.
That's all from me, folks! See you next time!