Issei remained silent.
Beelzebub had been sitting in the chair across from him for several minutes now, devouring what appeared to have been the same food that the others had eaten. Each bite, each swallow, and each sound he made when chewing was off-setting. It was disturbing and terrifying.
This man had the power to flick Issei into a million different pieces and he knew that.
"You haven't said a word. You haven't even asked why I wanted to talk to you," Beelzebub said.
He methodically sliced his ham before eating it.
Issei took a deep breath and tried to reach inside himself.
Ddraig? Mastema?
"If you're trying to contact the Red Dragon telepathically, you know that won't work," Beelzebub said. "It was the first thing you did when you got into town after all."
"You've been watching us this whole time?" Issei asked.
"Of course. This is a test run. If you want to make sure something works, you have to put it through different tests. I'm surprised though," Beelzebub said.
"Despite all that training Blacklight gave you, you're still that child who rushes headlong into situations without analyzing. If your King was someone else aside from Sirzechs's sister, you'd be a rotting corpse by now," he added.
Issei said nothing, letting the Prime Demon continue.
"I'm also surprised you all haven't died yet. The others would have been dead by nightfall. It was a damn shame too. Some of them were kids. Haha, they all believed that if they killed each other, they'd be able to run free. Imagine the look on their faces when they realized that they murdered a 7-year-old boy all for the notion of false freedom.
"Though, that's what happens when you don't put someone in the military, a smart girl, and the pawn of Rias Gremory in the same group. Level-headed. Analytical. And those survival skills that the half-blood daughter of Dantalion and Tannin taught you must have really helped. This might be the most competent batch out of all of you," Beelzebub said.
Issei didn't respond but his face said everything. The disgust and anger could be easily read on Issei's face as if he were advertising his emotions. The way Beelzebub spoke so casually and callously about the death of innocent people. It was sickening.
It made Issei want to empty his stomach onto the table.
"Oh, you're not ignoring me. You're purposely not saying anything. I'd say, Blacklight has made you rather guarded. This is merely a gesture of goodwill. Play along and all of you might survive," Beelzebub said, waving his fork around.
"Play along? You… those others. You let them all die! Why should I believe a word you say?" Issei asked.
"Because, unlike the others, this group has three experienced members," the Lord of the Flies answered. "It would be a damn shame if all of you died."
Issei clenched his fists, glaring fiercely at the Demon Lord. After all, what else could he do at the moment? Mitsuki had taught him to restrain himself and analyze the situation. At least, if all he did was glare, he could possibly figure out why they were all here.
"Why did you bring us all here?" Issei asked.
"Ah yes. The big "why?" Everyone always asks that question. There is this notion that when humans die, they can ask the Gods of their religion what it's all for but… whatever, I'm getting off-topic. I believe I told you, did I not? This is a test run," Beelzebub said.
"You did say that but why? Why even test us?" Issei said.
"Hmph, allow me to tell you a story. Once upon a time, there was a little girl. That little girl and her siblings lived happily until a great war took away everything they loved. Their friends, their homes, and even their own mother. Even the little girl who fought for the sake of her family drowned herself in oceans of blood and suffocated underneath a mountain of corpses. So the little girl got it into her head that no one should have to suffer the cruelty that she and her sibling suffered and she left on a journey.
"During that journey, that little girl witnessed horror after horror. Each good she performed was replaced with a hundred more malicious acts. For the first time, the girl realized that no matter how much she tried to change the world, she would only see how pitiable her own strength was. And so, she decided that if the world could not be changed, then it had to be rebuilt," Beelzebub said, before taking a sip of his wine.
"To wash the slate clean. A world free from suffering. A world where the word 'God' or 'Human' hold no meaning. A world where everyone can truly live together as one," he finished.
"And you, Issei. You and so many of the children here are key to that. It's a shame most of you didn't make it to actual product placement. Imagine the amount of resources we spent on you. The amount of research we had to do. Cross-referencing the Evil Pieces of Ajuka Beelzebub and seeing the flaws in its design.
"But I digress. Your purpose. The purpose of the other kids here. You will all help to usher in a new world. You will be the instruments through which the world will be washed clean of its old ways and replaced with a newer, better world," Beelzebub said.
"Washed clean?" Issei asked.
He was beginning to lose Beelzebub. None of what he was saying made any sense. Wash away? Old world? New world?
"To think that Big Sister's blood didn't even do a thing to make you smarter," he said.
Issei bristled at his statement. "Oi…" Issei ground out.
"Haha, but to put it simply, Issei. You. That little girl. The others in this house. You're all nothing but soldiers. Soldiers to fight a war for us. Soldiers to lead our forces against the Gods and the World," Beelzebub said.
"There's just one thing I don't understand. How… How did you even get this blood in us?" Issei said.
Beelzebub raised an eyebrow before waving his hand.
The scenery changed almost instantly. The colors and surroundings warped so nauseatingly that Issei almost threw up. The spinning, twisting, and stretching all contributed to increasing nausea in Issei's gut. In a mere moment, the surroundings stopped twisting and reconstituted themselves into a familiar scene. A scene that he had not witnessed since his house was renovated without his consent or knowledge.
"This is… my room?" Issei said.
"Yes, it is," Beelzebub replied, standing next to Issei.
His old room was still the same as it ever was minus the scattered piles of eroge and tissue boxes. Even still, Issei instantly recognized it. The pastel white and the layout were all etched into his brain, having lived in the space for the better portion of his life.
He took a step forward and noticed the crib sitting in the middle. There was a mobile hanging freely over the bed, spinning lazily.
Issei looked over the bed and saw a much younger version of himself, sleeping soundly.
A small smile appeared on his face. Despite the circumstances behind his birth, Issei was happy in knowing that his parents would go so far as to make a deal with a Demon in order to have him. And because of that, Issei vowed to love his parents even more than he did now.
"Ah, I remember this night. You were a rather cute child. It would be a shame to have let you die in the womb like that," Beelzebub said, shattering Issei's peace.
"Why… Why are we here? How are we here?" Issei asked.
"Well, if you didn't notice already, you're asleep and this is a dream," he said.
So that's why… that's why the house was empty. There's no one here because I'm inside my own head, Issei thought.
"But enough about that. You wanted to know how you and all the others were created. Let's stand off a bit to the side while our guest of honor comes in," he said.
Beelzebub gestured to the shadowed figure that had come into their room
Issei squinted, trying to adjust to see the figure in a much clearer light. But even in the darkness, Issei could very clearly tell that this person was a woman. Only when the light of the moon illuminated their entire body in full did Issei realize that he was looking at his mother.
His mother could not have been in her late twenties at this point. She and his father married young, having submitted their registration when they were in college and held a proper ceremony after they graduated.
Issei watched as his mother walked over to the crib and gently picked the infant version of him up, rocking him gently, and whispered sweet words of comfort.
His younger self cooed and happily reached out to touch his mother's face.
Miki smiled gently before setting Issei down on the crib.
She said something that Issei could not make out before the atmosphere around her changed.
It was so instantaneous that Issei almost missed it. The kind, warm aura his mother usually radiated was replaced with that of utter glee and malice. When the moonlight shined on his mother, Issei noticed that her eyes were no longer those caring, motherly eyes.
Her eyes were the same as the man standing next to him. Cold. Dark. Devoid of any empathy and on top of everything, the poisonous yellow eyes his mother now possessed were the very embodiments of malice themselves.
She slipped a vial out from the shadows. Her hand reached down to gently stroke his face. Upon seeing that his infant self smiled and reached for her, his mother smiled and opened the vial.
Miki, or whatever Miki had become, began to slowly feed the infantile Issei the entire vial of blood until there was nothing left.
"You know this is far more nutritious than mother's milk," Beelzebub said, watching Miki wipe the blood from Issei's lips.
Issei stood there, taking all of this information in with shock and horror. His own mother had just fed him blood.
"M- Mom?" Issei stuttered.
"Ah, that's not Mommy," the Demon Lord corrected.
"Then who…?"
"You know. We didn't even know if you were going to survive… heh. But in the end, your father took a gamble on it and willingly allowed me to commandeer his wife as my own personal Gundam," Beelzebub continued speaking, "Every precaution was taken that night. Your friends' parents were all away. All because I memorized their daily schedules and found where it would overlap."
He gave Issei an infuriating smirk.
"Humans are truly interesting creatures. It is said that humans are the worst monsters. When driven by greed and ambition and fueled by malice, humanity can be worse demons than even us devils," he added.
"My parents are not monsters!" Issei said.
He rushed at Beelzebub and threw a powerful haymaker. However, Issei's eyes widened when his arm flew through Beelzebub's body harmlessly as though he were made of air.
"Ah. I forgot to tell you. All of this. This is all a dream. You can't touch me in here because I'm not even part of your mind," he said, smiling at Issei's attempts at trying to punch him.
Each blow had passed through him.
Upon the seventh blow, Issei jumped back, panting slightly.
"I'm dreaming?" Issei asked.
"Though," Beelzebub continued, completely ignoring Issei's outburst. "It's interesting to see how you turned out. Inheriting a boundary. Of all the blood vials she gave me, you somehow turned into an Ascendant."
Ascendant? Issei thought.
"Now that you know what you know," Beelzebub said, waving his hand.
The scenery around them transformed once more, turning into a shimmering gray void.
"I have a favor to ask of you. Rather than a favor, it's more like a deal," he said, turning to Issei.
"Whatever deal it is, I'll never go through with it!" Issei roared.
"Oh? Even with the little girl's life at stake?" Beelzebub said.
"What… Don't you dare touch her! If you so much as lay a finger on a single strand of hair on her head, I will rip you to shreds you hear me!" Issei snarled.
Despite Beelzebub's earlier statements, Issei rushed at him once more, hitting nothing. It was like striking the reflection of the moon. No matter how many times the water's surface was struck, the moon's reflection still remained.
"You…" Issei held his fist back, seeing Beelzebub staring at him with a faint look of amusement on his face.
"Here's the deal, Issei. Since this is a test, I will need a measure of everyone's combat abilities. I can't send test products out to war without measuring them. Without measurement, there can be no data," Beelzebub explained. "So… I want you to kill them."
"K- Kill… them?"
"We'll make a game out of it too. Kill the others and Lily lives. If they can fight you off, then that's just swell. The product is working… but if they die, then oh well. Defective products can't be put to use anyway," he said.
"You sick… you sick motherfucker!" Issei said.
"Aw, don't be like that. I offered you an out and as a promise, that little girl of yours will be off bounds. If any of the others try to go after her, then well… you saw what happened to Shalba through the Juggernaut Drive," Beelzebub said, snickering at the memory.
Issei balled his fists and began to shake.
"You can do whatever you want with the deal. Hell, you can tell all of them. If that motivates all of you into doing something, then that's good too. Though, I can't guarantee that girl's protection," he said.
"Why… Why do you want us to fight?" Issei said, giving Beelzebub a tired look.
"Did I not tell you?"
"That story? You didn't tell me shit," Issei said.
"To bring about a new world. A true paradise. A new Eden. In order to do that, the old world and all its sins must be washed away. And you… and all the others here are the key to that world," he answered.
"I still don't get it," Issei replied.
"That's not something I expect you to get. All you need to do is to do your part and you and Lily get to live to see the remaining sunrises your life has," Beelzebub said.
Issei said nothing and chose to stare at Beelzebub with a tired, yet defiant look on his face.
"Well, I guess there's nothing more to talk about. Take the deal. Don't take the deal. It doesn't matter really. In the end, all I'm looking for is results and I'm sure that you and the others will give me what I want," he said.
"What makes you so sure?" Issei asked.
"Call it a hunch," the Lord of the Flies said.
Black mist began to waft upward, spiraling into a miasmic vortex. From the smoke, Issei could hear the buzzing of thousands of flies. The noise they produced became oddly deafening.
"I do hope you enjoyed the food," Beelzebub said.
"The food?"
A cruel, malicious smile spread across his face.
"Your senpais put a lot of work into making it. That high-quality meat was originally theirs but in the end, they decided to give it to you. Not that they had much of a choice."
With those words, the flies closed in on Beelzebub and he vanished along with the dream world.
Issei woke with a start, panting heavily. Sweat dripped down his forehead, trailing down his cheek and off his chin. His throat was dry as he heaved. Despite having slept, Issei felt more tired than ever, having felt as if he sprinted several miles without taking a rest.
He looked down next to him and saw Lily sleeping peacefully. The little girl was curled up next to him, nestling into his side for security and warmth.
"Oh, you're awake," Lance said, closing a book he was reading.
"Yeah, I'm… sorry. I overslept," Issei said.
"Not a problem. No one's staking out anyway. They all fell asleep in the rooms. The soldier is downstairs passed out on the remaining couch and that other girl you were with stepped out to tinkle. Or maybe use the shitter? Either way, you're good," Lance said.
"You're the only one taking watch?" Issei asked.
"Well, no. I heard a couple of howls here and there but nothing too alarming. They all sounded far away," Lance said.
"You should sleep. I'll keep watch," Issei said, patting him on the shoulder.
"I…"
"Dude, seriously. You need to rest. You've been doing the most out of all of us," Issei said.
"Fine. Wake me up in two hours though."
Issei nodded and switched places with Lance.
The Scottish boy occupied the other bed in the room, lying down and turning to his side.
"Hey, Issei," Lance said.
"What is it?" Issei asked.
"Your sisters… how far would you go for them?" Lance asked.
That question. First, Miyo. Then Kuroka. And now Lance. Issei tried not to sigh and instead, looked out at the full moon, which illuminated the sky above them.
"It doesn't matter how far," Issei said. "If it's for them, I'll do anything…"
Lance said nothing and Issei took his silence as a form of contemplation.
Mitsuki… come on. Where are you? Issei thought as he looked up at the full moon.
Beelzebub sat in the bell tower of Centralia's last remaining church. The church was one of the last refuges this town had when the coal fire had erupted. It was only due to a stroke of luck that it had avoided incineration and it was all due to a difference in the foundation. Beelzebub scoffed.
"And on this rock, I will build my church."
The irony of that statement.
The town had been abandoned and the US government had been on the verge of demolishing it had it not been for his machinations. He dangled his legs over the tower, observing the small house in the distance.
He needed to move them along.
He needed to have this finished in time.
After all, they couldn't progress with the current phase without the results.
As Beelzebub observed his products resting from their meal, he felt a presence behind him.
"Elder Sister."
"Things are progressing smoothly," she said.
Beelzebub glanced over his shoulder and saw his older sister's warm golden eyes looking at him.
Lilith walked up to the edge of the bell tower and stood next to her seated brother.
"They are moving much slower than the others," Lilith said.
"Mm, they have… that kid, Issei, and a soldier. They're much more suspicious than the others. They've even taken shelter rather than trying to wander out of the town," Beelzebub said.
"I know. I'm watching from my end carefully. Though, it is nice to see just how much Issei-chan has grown," Lilith said.
"Mmm? Are you reminiscing about the days when you used to babysit him and his childhood friends?" her brother asked.
Lilith smiled and nodded her head. She crossed her arms before turning her gaze to meet her younger brother's. "By the way, are you sure the Sacred Gear Sealing Barrier is on?"
"Mmm? I do. Why?" Beelzebub asked.
"Nothing in particular. I was just making sure things were in working order," Lilith said.
"Uhuh. By the way, Elder Sister. Why did you have us make more than one? We only need one of them right? Why make a whole flock of sheep just to find one Lamb?" Beelzebub asked. "We don't need all of these children yet we made hundreds of them."
"Do you remember what kind we need? We need a person who is willing to taint themselves for the sake of others. That type of person who willingly taints themselves for both purely selfish and selfless reasons is the only type of person who can be a Lamb," Lilith explained.
"Then we already have one. Can we not just terminate the others?" Beelzebub asked.
Lilith said nothing, directing her poisonous gaze toward a certain house.
"Certainly yet he cannot be the only one. There are four more candidates to test so we cannot rule out the possibility of a more suitable Lamb. Not yet. There's still time. Just because they survived the other games does not mean they're the one," she said.
"But that boy. He is doing this for the reasons you have stated," he protested.
"Do not question my intentions, Beelzebub. I have my reasons for allowing this to continue on," she replied.
"Are you hoping that it's the Red Dragon Emperor?" Beelzebub asked.
Lilith said nothing. Her silence confirmed what Beelzebub was thinking. Sighing at his older sister's intentions, Beelzebub returned his gaze to the town.
"Are you ever going to tell him?" Beelzebub asked.
"No. Not that he needs to know who his babysitter actually was. He'll know once we meet again," Lilith said. "And remember what I told you."
"Yeah, yeah. Nothing will happen to the Red Dragon Emperor during the games. Did you know that I even held back when I possessed that girl? I'm already limited in a vessel and I limited myself even more," he complained.
"But you still managed to capture him, did you not?" Lilith said, smiling at her brother's childlike attitude.
"Whatever…"
"I need to get back. I've been gone for too long," she said.
"Don't get too attached to the Red Dragon, Elder Sister. Do you remember what will happen to him if it does turn out to be him?" Beelzebub said.
"I'm already attached to him and to Rin and Mii. This is why I'm doing this. For them and for him. I'm sure you understand what I mean. After all, the whole reason you're here and not wasting away in some hole in the ruins of Ekron is because of her," Lilith said.
"Don't bring Zebul into this," Beelzebub said.
"I'm not. I'm merely reminding you of your priorities," Lilith said.
The Demon Lord of Gluttony clenched his fists before sighing. His body slackened and he turned his back on his older sister.
"I'll have one ready by the end of tomorrow. Most likely. The group is planning to move out after all," Beelzebub said.
"Mm. I look forward to it," Lilith said.
Without saying another word, she took a few steps before vanishing in a cloud of pitch-black mist, leaving Beelzebub alone on his perch.
The night had passed without anything eventful happening. Issei had woken Lance up at the crack of dawn and the two descended down the stairs with Lily.
"You three are awake?" Yozora looked up from the chair to see the three.
"Yozora-senpai. You've been here all night?" he asked.
"Yeah, I couldn't get much sleep. I guess it's not easy, you know since I'm not in a safe place," Yozora said.
"Where are the others?" Lance asked.
"Eating the rest of the meat," Yozora said, glancing towards the dining room.
"Your senpais put a lot of work into making it. That high-quality meat was originally theirs but in the end, they decided to give it to you. Not that they had much of a choice."
The more Issei watched them devour the meat, the more Beelzebub's words replayed in his head. And he grew sicker with each second. Issei turned away, not wanting to believe whatever Beelzebub had insinuated with his words.
"So what now?" Lance asked.
"We need to find a way out of here and probably somewhere with people. With any luck, we can contact our families and go home," Yozora said.
"But where is the closest place with people?" he asked.
"Why are you looking at me? I don't live in America," Yozora said.
"I can… I can contact Mitsuki when we get out. When we get out of this dead zone, we can use our phones to call our families," Issei said.
"Yeah, but we don't know for how long. I say we get moving in a few hours. We don't know if those things are still out there," Lance said.
"Yeah," Issei agreed.
Issei watched as Yozora and Lance went to round up the other three. He stayed with Lily, who clung to his pants.
I wonder… was I the only one who got that dream? If Beelzebub put us all here, then the others probably got the dream and…
Issei stiffened. If Beelzebub had visited them in their dreams, then there was a chance that they were also asked to kill the others. And that meant that he and Lily would be in danger. Issei kept Lily close to him when he saw the others returning.
Mark noticed his guarded posture and gave him a reassuring smile.
Issei relaxed slightly and subtly turned his gaze to Jennifer and Ijin.
The two were now guarded more than ever. Their supposedly discreet gazes were obvious to everyone who was paying attention. Mark and Yozora had noticed their wandering eyes but decided to pay them no heed. But to Issei, they were suspiciously calm.
No, I'm just imagining things, he thought.
"Look. Before we go out there, there are those dog things still running around. I heard a couple of them outside last night so it's best we stick together," Lance said.
"I'll take point," Mark said.
"I'll get the rear then," Yozora said. "Issei, you stick with Lily. Ijin and Jennifer will take the middle. If anyone sees anything, they have to let the others know."
They all nodded and Mark opened the door slightly, scanning the outside before signaling the others to follow him out.
The group began to make their way onto the street, sticking together.
Mastema?
"Yeah?" Mastema manifested above him.
Oh, thank fuck. I haven't heard from you all morning. I was beginning to think that whatever happened to Ddraig happened to you too, Issei said.
"Yeah, no. I'm not bound to a Sacred Gear so whatever is here in this town can't affect me. Which reminds me. I thought about it and it's weird no? So, I began to do a little investigating while you were asleep. There's a barrier around this town. A powerful one at that. It's… locked the entire place down," Mastema said.
What are you saying, Issei asked.
He glanced out of the corner of his eye, keeping pace with his surroundings.
"You'll see when you get there. At the rate you guys are going, you'll make it to one of the town's exits within a few hours. I don't sense anything near you so you guys are good," Mastema said.
Issei nodded and continued following the group.
Despite Mastem's warnings, Issei kept Lily close to him and warily eyed the back of the person in front of him while maintaining full awareness of the person behind him.
After a few hours, the group reached the sign with the words "Now leaving Centralia, Pennsylvania" written onto it. The sign was old and faded due to a lack of maintenance. The people who used to live here had all but gone and maintaining a dead patch of land was no longer the concern of the government.
"This is it," Mark said.
"And nothing came out to attack us. It seems too good to be true," Jennifer said.
"You're right. This was too easy," Ijin said.
"In any case, we made it out alive. We should at least be grateful for that," Lance said, taking a step forward.
Mark nodded. "Well? Let's keep going."
The group moved, walking past the sign. They kept walking down the road. The seven came around the bend of the road and found themselves standing at a sign that confused and terrified all of them.
"Welcome to Centralia, Pennsylvania" the old faded letters read.
"What…?" Jennifer said.
"What the hell?" Yozora mumbled, narrowing her eyes.
Mastema, is this what you meant? Issei asked.
Mastema nodded.
"This entire town is under a lockdown. No one's getting in and out. Not you. Not a God. Not even a Devil. The way this town's been altered… it's been made so that wherever you exit, you always end up back at the entrance," Mastema said.
This is… well shit, Issei replied.
"What do we do now?" Lance asked.
"I… I don't know," Yozora said.
Mastema?
"A barrier like this. It's not something that's a single cast and it sticks. It needs an anchor. A medium to keep the barrier up."
That could literally be anything. Where would we even begin to look? Issei asked.
"Well, that's why you have me~! Aren't you glad, Ise-chan~? That a girl as beautiful as a flower and radiant as the sun is helping you out?" she said.
I'm gonna tell them, Issei said.
"Hey, guys. I think we should-"
Issei's words were cut off by the sound of howling. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end and he immediately summoned Opposition to his right hand. Seeing this, the others began to power up.
"Is that those…?" Yozora trailed off.
"Yeah, it's them. We need to get out of here and fast," Mark said.
The sound of growling to the left alerted them.
Out of the shadows, a massive black wolf-like creature stepped out. Its paws left burning footprints in its wake. Black smoke wafted off its pitch-black fur and its beady red eyes stared into their very souls. It opened its mouth, revealing a jaw filled with razor-sharp teeth designed to tear the flesh of its victims.
And behind it, more wolves came creeping out.
"Well… shit," Issei said.
Mitsuki… I think you're going to need to find us before we find you, Issei thought as the wolves began to charge at them.
"So let me get this straight. There's a shadow organization that keeps the human world and the supernatural world separate and is keeping an eye on all the Gods and Monsters that sneak around the planet?" Irina asked, leaning back on the chair.
After they had been dismissed, Mitsuki had Ingvild teleport them to Hatch Potch. And by them, Mitsuki had only brought Irina with them. She figured that Vali Team didn't need to know the nitty gritty.
And speaking of, Vali Team had been called out by Azazel when she and Ingvild returned to the Gremory Manor so there was no calling them in the first place.
"Yup," Mitsuki said, popping the P in a similar way as Issei did.
She swiped through the map on her AS screen before sliding it aside. She slammed her fist down, sending splinters everywhere. The sudden action made Irina jump in her chair and caused Ingvild to look over to her.
"This is fucking hopeless! Not even the AKASHA can find Issei's location!" Mitsuki said.
"AKASHA?" Irina asked.
"It's a computer. But… Mii-chan, we're not going to find him like this," Ingvild said.
"I know… I know… it's just…" she trailed off.
Irina sighed and placed a hand on Mitsuki's shoulder. Her violet eyes caught sight of the frustrated, distraught expression on Mitsuki's face.
She sighed. Mitsuki and Issei had always been close. Not in the sense that they were lovers but they were closer than friends. Their bond was like that of siblings and the two often labeled the other as their closest person. And her being gone hadn't changed that.
"Mii-chan, you need to calm down. Freaking out isn't going to find him," Irina said.
"Shidou-san is right, Mitsuki. Breaking the bar table won't find Issei. Don't worry, I've sent an APB out to the other branches to see if they find anything," Ingvild said.
"Did you tell Grandpa?" Mitsuki looked up at Ingvild.
"I did. He said to expect a call in a couple of minutes," she replied.
"A call? What's a call going to-"
As if on cue, the screen of her AS began to flash.
Mitsuki looked at Ingvild before reading the caller ID.
Twilight Corvidae
"Mom?" Mitsuki said.
A video screen popped on her AS, showing a woman with dark silver hair and red eyes. She wore dark clothing.
"Mii, even if it is me, at least answer with your codename," her mother said in an exasperated voice.
"Sorry, Mom," Mitsuki said.
She heard her mother sigh over the call.
"Auntie Elaina! How are you?" Irina moved close to Mitsuki and greeted the person on the call.
"Oh? Irina? You're here too? So they told you?" Elaina said.
"Yeah, they did!" Irina chirped.
"Ahem, Irina. You and Mom can talk later. We need to get back to the problem at hand," Mitsuki said.
"Right," she said, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.
"Mmm. Mitsuki is right. I don't know how I can face Gorou and Miki if I let Issei go missing for this long. Anyway, we contacted the other branches within our chapter and we got nothing on our end. All demonic activity save for the ones around Kuoh and the few cities with peerages have disappeared," Elaina said.
"What about the other chapters?" Ingvild asked.
"Mom contacted them as soon as you called. None of them said anything was going on except for one. Do you remember that your father has been in America for some time now?" Elaina said.
"Mmm," Mitsuki nodded.
"The American Chapter's Intelligence Department has been investigating some anomalies in Pennsylvania for some time now. Your father is part of the team gathering data before they can go in and see what's going on. They've sent me the data that was gathered and I had some time to analyze it but it looks like we all came to the same conclusion," Elaina said.
"What conclusion?" Ingvild said.
"Let me send you the data."
A ping sounded from Mitsuki's AS and a notification popped up on the screen.
She clicked the icon and opened the file.
"Space… Time Barrier?" Mitsuki said.
"That entire place has been displaced from normal space. No one can access it right now at the moment," Elaina said.
"What does this have to do with what happened to Issei?" Irina asked.
"I'm getting there. A few hours ago, we detected multiple demonic energy signatures. Seven of them were small and one of them we crossmatched to Issei," she said.
"Crossmatched?" Irina asked.
"When Issei went to get his AS, a fragment of his soul was taken in order to bond it to Issei. But this fragment allows us to recognize different people in case we need to search for them," Ingvild said.
"In hindsight, we could have found Issei much faster using his signature but… the barrier makes it hard to find them. We only found them because of the massive power surge that was detected," Elaina said.
"And where is it?" Mitsuki asked.
"Your father sent me a rough location of the area. You're going to have to search on foot though. There's no way we can get you there via the Gate. The space-time there is too distorted for any form of teleportation," her mother said.
"How close can you get us to the distortion, Miss Elaina?" Ingvild asked. "Oh, and can you send me the data so I can analyze it while we're there?"
"I can get you to your father's base camp. It's about 3 klicks north of the edge of the barrier distortion. Your father will tell you more there," she said, "And don't worry about the data Ingvild. Katsuki already has the data with him so just ask him for it."
Ingvild nodded.
"When can you get us there?" Mitsuki asked.
"In about 15 minutes. Azazel informed me of your choices so I'm giving you 15 minutes to get them before we send you over to your father," her mother said.
"Right. We'll get ready and contact Azazel on our end. I'll give you a call when we're ready, Mom," Mitsuki said.
Elaina nodded. "And… Mitsuki. Be careful. The other two power signatures we detected are equivalent to that of God-Class beings," she said.
Mitsuki nodded and ended the call.
She got up from her seat and took a deep breath.
"Mitsuki?" Irina said.
"Ingvild, go contact Azazel and tell him we're going to move out now. Irina and I will be waiting for you outside," Mitsuki said.
Ingvild nodded and got up to head down to the basement.
"Eh? Mii-chan, now?" Irina said.
"Yeah," Mitsuki said. "Let's go save Aniki and Lily."
Blacklight File #163829
File Name: Black Dog
The Hounds of Hell.
Different from Cerberus who are the guardians of the Grecian and Roman Underworlds.
These hounds reside deep within Gehenna's spheres in the closed-off spaces of the Abrahamic Underworlds. Vicious and ravenous.
Take caution when dealing with these creatures. They radiate a hallucinogenic aura that induces copious amounts of fear in their intended target and possesses a jaw strength capable of crushing diamond in one bite with teeth powerful enough to penetrate the hide of a Behemoth.
And we are finished with this chapter. This chapter came out kind of late huh? I apologize for that. I was taking a license class for ACLS, ahaha. As we are nearing the end of the arc, this story will go on break for a short bit so I can work out the kinks of the next two arcs. Anyone knowing what will happen in the next few chapters from the old versions, please don't say anything. Let the first-timers get there fill... if there are any first-timers. And with that, I will sign off. Please leave a like, a follow, and a review if you like cannibalism.