Helloooooo, ladies and gentlemen, we are back again! Here's the next part of the Kokabiel arc, comin' right at ya! We've got more in store for this one than last time. You guys might have trouble deciding what topic to mention in your reviews. But that's just how I like it! The more you have to talk about, the more I feel satisfied.
Now let's not waste any time and get to it, shall we?
DXD
"Good morning, Shitori-sama~!"
"Good morning."
Students greeted the two beauties who were walking together towards Kuoh academy. Tsubaki and Sona continued walking silently, only greeting students who greeted them first, with Sona being the one who kept her eyes down at the book she was reading.
However, upon reaching the academy, Sona came to a sudden stop.
"..Kaichou?"
Tsubaki questioned it from behind her before realizing that her master was looking at something. When Tsubaki followed Sona's gaze, she noticed that there were two unfamiliar figures dressed in white robes standing outside of the academy's entrance. There was also a large, sheathed object wrapped in cloth on one of the person's backs.
Sona then shut the book she held in her hand.
"...Holy-sword."
Part 1
It was the day of the annual "ball tournament" between the academy's various clubs.
In the early hours of the morning, Issei and his friends were heading to school together. It was their usual routine, talking and walking to school as a group. Considering that most of the club members didn't live far from Issei's home, especially Kiba and Koneko, it was inevitable that they would end up running into them on the way.
However, due to the current circumstances, Kiba wasn't with Issei's group like he usually would be right now. Issei's group only consisted of himself, Rias, Asia, Raynare, and Koneko, with Issei walking in the center of all of them. Soon enough, they'd even be reaching Akeno's home in order to pick her up along the way as well.
The girls themselves were having their usual, casual conversations.
But unlike them, Issei was unfocused, mindlessly keeping his eyes on the ground below him as he took every step.
"..."
Every once in a while, Issei caught a glimpse of the cross around his neck as it swung forward from his chest thanks to his movements.
...What's going on in his mind, only God could know.
At least, supposedly that was the case.
"Ah, Ise. Akeno's house should be right around the corner from her—"
"Shh."
Rias was cut off mid sentence by Issei's sudden halt and his seemingly random shush. Rias raised a brow in confusion, but then she noticed that Issei was only keeping his eyes forward, towards a stranger that was steadily approaching them.
"...Who is it?"
Rias asked suspiciously in a quiet voice
Despite not understanding Issei's reaction, Rias knew better than to question it. Was it an enemy? It certainly didn't seem like it to her. The man approaching them gave off no such impression. Maybe you could consider him a "suspicious figure" since his hoodie was pulled up over his head, but other than that, there was nothing. He didn't seem even inhuman either. In fact, even whilst looking directly at him, Rias felt as if there wasn't really a presence of any sort there. Almost as if she couldn't tell whether he was even there, aside from visually… It's a phenomenon that she's never experienced.
The group remained still and silent, waiting for the stranger to pass them. At some point, he did. However…
Step!
—To Issei, this moment seemed to happen in slow motion.
.
.
.
His instincts were then abruptly set off by the sound of a familiar phrase repeated by a familiar voice in his ear.
"Ah? A kid?"
[—?!]
Within a moment's notice, Issei's Boosted Gear appeared on his arm and he brought it up to defend his face. However, for the first time in what felt like decades to him, Issei's instincts somehow ended up leading him astray.
ZIN!
The attack that he expected to land on his left eye, his human eye, instead stopped just short of his right dragon's eye. Thanks to the perfect, crystal clear vision provided by his dragon's eye, he was able to make out the object hovering in front of his pupil, despite its close proximity. It was a spear. Not just any spear, but an elegant, three-tipped, Damascus-like spear covered in interesting (Greek?) designs. A weapon he didn't recognize at all. And yet, it was mere centimeters away from piercing his skull and taking away his eye all over again.
"Haha, ready to fight just like that? What're you, a battle freak like [Vali]? That's crazy, man."
Just a moment before, Issei thought he recognized that voice.
He was right.
"That voice… That's.."
When Issei lowered his gauntlet, his suspicions were confirmed. An unlikely visitor had met his gaze.
"Yo, kid."
(—?!)
"..Bal!"
The man pulled down his hood, revealing his pale face and even paler (messy) hair. It was indeed the Fallen-Angel that Issei had met once in his past, "Bal."
'Bal..? Ise knows this person by name? "Bal"... it sounds oddly familiar..'
Rias thought to herself while Issei and his "acquaintance" acknowledged one another.
"Ya finally noticed, ey? I thought you woulda' caught on from the beginning though!"
The Fallen-Angel, Bal, casually retracted his spear from Issei's face as if nothing had happened.
"Honestly, I really was sure that ya would've noticed it immediately. Gotta say kid, I'm a little disappointed, can't even lie."
Issei was somewhat relieved to realize that the suspicious figure ended up being someone he recognized. He lowered his guard a bit, not even realizing that just a moment before, he had unconsciously shielded Rias and his friends behind his body.
Above all else however, Issei was just confused as to why Bal was standing before him.
"Bal… You— What the hell are you doing here?"
"Me? Ah, well… Sight-seeing maybe? Heh, just messin' though."
Bal snickered right before having his eyes pop out of his head in an almost comical fashion.
"UGOH! Ray-chan?! Is that you?!"
The person that Bal's eyes had caught onto was Raynare, who was in a slight state of shock while instinctively protecting Asia.
"B...Bal-sama.."
"It IS Raynare! Shock! I really wasn't expecting you to be here! I was sure you'd been killed by this dude! The higher-ups at base had already given up on you. Wow, what a real shock! Looks like we were wrong, huh. Well, Azazel will be relieved to hear about that, I think. You were amongst the favorites of his subordinates, you know? Hmm, doesn't look like your "fan-club trio" is with you though… Guess they must've died then. Oh well. Leave it to Raynare to be the only survivor, you've really got a knack for it, huh?"
Raynare began shaking in her shoes the more that Bal spoke. For some reason, all of the things he was talking about started to give Raynare a panic. What was it? Was the mention of her former allies? Was the mention of her most admired superior?
...Or was it the final comment that he ended his speech with?
"Oy."
To Raynare's surprise— no, surprise wasn't even a good enough word to describe it— nevertheless, to the very last of Raynare's expectations, Issei stepped out in front of Raynare to cover her from Bal's gaze.
"You still haven't answered my question, Bal. What are you doing in my hometown?"
Bal, being the perceptive being that even Issei knew that he was, didn't fail to notice this subtle detail..
"Geez, what a rude welcome, eh? First, you're ready to attack me, then you're tryin' to interrogate me? Am I really that much of a suspicious guy? That why [Azazel] originally gave the Sekiryuutei surveillance mission to Raynare instead? Guess he thought that I woulda' been caught immediately, huh. Ah, whatever. I ended up runnin' into ya anyway so I guess it doesn't matter in the end."
Bal certainly loved to talk, Issei thought. Although, he doesn't recall the Fallen-Angel talking as much when he was a child. What he does recall, however, was Bal's strength…
This current version of Bal… it made the Bal he met ten years ago feel like a lowly worm.
"Hmm, what even is it that I can say here without Azazel gettin' mad at me? Can't be givin' away all our secrets, ya know? Hmm... I guess what I can tell ya is that I ain't here for you, or Raynare, if that's what you're wonderin'."
Bal's cryptic attitude caused Issei to raise a brow. Bal really seems like a suspicious man after all.
"Well, I certainly didn't expect to be running into someone from Grigori today. Good day to you, Fallen-Angel [Bal]."
Rias finally spoke up and introduced herself to Bal, to which Bal had a fairly uninterested reaction in comparison.
"Ho, if it isn't the Devil-king's little sister. So this Sekiryuutei-boy didn't slaughter ya after all, huh. If only ya'd seen firsthand how much this guy wanted ya dead, you'd know how lucky you really are to be alive right now."
Rias momentarily lost her confident smile.
"...I have seen it firsthand."
"Haha, in that case, I don't got anything to say. Just that you're a lucky gal to still be live and kickin', I guess, haha! —Anyway, Irima-kun! Wait, that is your name, right?"
"..It's Issei."
"Ah, my bad! Despite how smart I look, I'm actually pretty terrible with names, you know?"
Issei deadpanned at Bal's words.
'Who said anything about you looking smart, you skaterboy delinquent cosplayer.'
"In that case, Issei-boy! I've got a question for ya! It's an important question so open your ears, alright!?"
Bal then suddenly lost his smile and his expression went eerily blank. However, his eyes had a certain "unnerving" glean to them. That's right, Issei has seen that look before… The first time that Issei met Bal, he felt the same uncomfortable feeling.
The feeling that everything about him was being surgically extracted and analyzed closely… Like there was nothing he could hide from the Fallen-Angel.
It was also the same feeling that Bal's Cadre-class level "superior" gave him during his trip to Tokyo...
"—You haven't happened to see any sort of "crow" activity around here, have you, kid..?"
That was the question that Bal asked Issei. A bizarre question. It left Issei's mind to run off with a dissection of Bal's words.
'Crow activity? That's clearly in reference to Fallen-Angels… But why did he phrase it like that..? Earlier, he said that he wasn't here for Raynare. If that's the case, then that must mean there's some other form of Fallen-Angel activity occurring in this town that we don't know about… Who is it? Since they sent Bal here to investigate, does that mean it's someone directly from Grigori? Then, is it someone dangerous? A Fallen-Angel gone rogue..? If so, it's not just any Fallen-Angel. Even when I was a child, Bal's power was nothing to scoff at. But now, just from standing near him, I can tell… He's far more powerful than he used to be… Not only that, but now…'
Issei looked at the intricately designed spear that Bal was resting on his shoulders.
'...Now he's got that thing…'
The spear wasn't releasing any type of aura, but it didn't need to. Even without an aura, the spear gave Issei an ominous feeling. As if it was releasing a quiet, malicious, murmur of some sort…
"If you're asking us whether we've encountered any stragglers from your organization, we've seen nothing of the sort. I assure you that."
It was Rias who ended up answering Bal's question unhesitantly.
It's rare that Issei is stricken with the urge to hit a woman, but for a moment, he almost felt like he should have smacked Rias, for her own safety. Had Bal been a different enemy, he may have swiped her head off her shoulders already for stepping forward so recklessly. Her confident attitude is also misplaced. She speaks as if Bal is of no threat to them, but that's not the case.
She probably can't tell how strong he is. It's likely, considering how well he's concealing his nature. But Issei of all people knows… Concealing one's strength is easy, Issei can do it even in his sleep. But concealing one's nature, that's a different story… Especially if the person you're concealing it from is a strong enemy. Issei may not consider himself to be the strongest being, but he knows how powerful he is. And if Bal can somehow disguise himself as a human and hide his true nature as a Fallen-Angel from someone as powerful as Issei himself…. Then that means Bal is already leaps and bounds out of a High-class Devil's league, let alone Rias's league.
This is something Issei learned thanks to Bal's own master, the goatee bearded Fallen-Angel he encountered in Tokyo…
Luckily, Bal is the carefree type of persona that lets something like Rias's overconfidence off easily.
"Huh, that so, "Ruby Ruin Cinderella?" I was asking Issei-boy though."
"..Ruby Ruin Cinderella?"
Rias was irritated by Bal's bizarre contortion of her title "Crimson Ruin Princess", but she wasn't given the chance to voice her frustrations about it. Issei picked up where he left off talking to Bal.
"..Who is it that you've come looking for exactly, Bal?"
Issei asked that, but Bal held onto his cryptic attitude.
"Hmm. Who is it, I wonder… That's the sort of thing I'm not sure I can tell ya about yet~"
That attitude was starting to irritate Issei, since it wasn't letting him get any information. However, for some reason, Bal's expression turned into a smile. It was only a moment later that Issei noticed the reason.
"Oh, if it ain't that guy's daughter. So you really did become a servant of Gremory after all, huh. Tell me: Is it a happy life?"
Bal said it all without needing to turn around. He already knew that Akeno was standing around the corner behind him. After being acknowledged, Akeno revealed herself, her facial expression clearly displaying her anger.
"Don't refer to me so casually, Fallen-Angel. I do not know you."
"Oh yeah? Well, that's okay. Since you've got some spunk in ya, I'll just assume it's a carefree life after all. As long as I can report that back to your father, he should be satisfied."
After Bal said that, Akeno became more enraged, and Issei heard her shout for the first time.
"Don't… Don't ever relate me to that thing!"
There was a momentary silence after Akeno's yell. Even so, Bal never lost his smile. He sighed lightly.
"Aah~, yeah, that sounds about right. The boss suspected something like that would happen. Oh well. Can't blame ya, I guess. Too bad. If the boss heard somethin' like that, it would break his heart, ya know?"
Akeno's eyes only narrowed further in aggravation. Under the cover of his messy bunch of hair, Bal seemed to grow a bigger smile than before. This time, he said something exclusively to Issei.
"….Actually, now that I think about it… Hey, kid. You wanna know somethin'?"
For some reason, there was unsettling air about Bal as he began speaking.
"..There's actually a guy that I'm lookin' for right now. This guy, let's just say he's a "special" case. He's a little bit of something like a "VIP." A bit like that girl over there used to be. Remember when I had to bring her back a long time ago? Yeah, my mission is a little somethin' like that again. Difference is….this time, you can actually do somethin' about it… And once you find out what it is, I'm sure you'd want to."
Issei narrowed his eyes suspiciously, wondering exactly what in the hell Bal could be referring to.
"Basically, you know…. Even though I'm not technically supposed to be telling you this, I want you to know... If you happen to see the guy I'm lookin' around for, do me a personal solid, yeah..?"
Bal then gave Issei the very first genuinely sinister smile Issei had ever seen the Fallen-Angel make.
"—And take him out."
FOOM!
And suddenly, from out of Bal's back, five pairs of Fallen-Angel wings popped out.
[—?!]
"Well, that's all the time I've got today, folks! I'm gonna have to get goin' now! Anyway, good luck with whatever you've got goin' on right now, Sekiryuutei-boy! I hope you won't disappoint me in the future!"
With a single flap of his multitude of wings, Bal took off and somehow disappeared somewhere into the daylit sky.
"See yaaaa!"
Issei and his group were rendered speechless and stood frozen in time from their shock.
"Heh…"
Issei chuckled somewhat morbidly.
"...Fuck me."
Part 2
Later that day, it was time for the ball tournament. So many things had been happening all at once that Issei even forgot this was going to happen, this despite being dragged along to practice with Rias and her servants for sports he didn't care for. This, of course, all done to satisfy Asia who desperately craved the experience. In the end, Issei is powerless against Asia's desires. He even imagines that if Asia were just the slightest bit more assertive, like Marie was, then he might have already pushed her down and…
Smack!
Issei slapped his hand onto his face harshly in a facepalm-like manner.
"...Oy, what kind of things are you even thinking right now?"
"Ise-san? Is something wrong?"
Issei was brought back down to reality with the sound of Asia's voice and a loud whistle.
Fyeeeee!
What Issei was currently doing was watching the tennis match between Rias Gremory and Sona Sitri.
"Take this, Shitori spin-ball!"
"Weak! Have a taste of the Gremory counter!"
"15-30! Shitori!"
From the looks of it, Sona took the advantage over Rias.
"Uooooooh! Fight, Kaichooooou! Please wiiiiiiiin!"
Issei's eyes scrolled over to the right side of the fence he and his group were standing behind. There was Saji… sitting on a ladder and waving a flag that said "student council" on it back and forth with great enthusiasm.
[...So that's Vritra, huh. He at least has some spirit.]
'Where the hell did he even get a banner like that?'
Issei turned his attention back to the game with a bored face.
"Way to go, Sona. As expected of my rival. But if you're expecting me to acknowledge you as my love rival as well, you've got another thing coming."
"I'll ignore what you said last. More importantly, Rias. I hope you haven't forgotten our promise of the loser having to treat the winner to udon with all toppings at Konishiya."
"Of course. I will definitely win this! I have 108 different styles of Madoukyuu, you know?"
"I will accept it. Anything that comes into my "Shitori-zone" shall be returned to you in full."
Issei let out an unenthusiastic sigh. After having such an unexpected reunion with Bal in the morning, he can hardly get into what's happening on the tennis court in front of him. As if his life wasn't already troublesome enough at this point.
"Ud…"
Issei curiously moved his eyes down to his left, where he caught the sight of Asia's drooling face.
"Udon.."
She had stars in her eyes. Just by looking at her, it was easy to tell that she desperately wanted to taste udon. Has Issei even taken her to try udon yet? He doesn't believe so. If that's the case…
Issei lifted his eyes on a whim and happened to meet Raynare's gaze. For a moment, Raynare seemed to be wearing a similar expression to Issei's before she quickly averted her gaze. She seems less able to look Issei in the eye lately.
—Earlier in the week, Issei told Raynare that she was "exempt" from training for the ball tournament with the rest of the club, much to Rias's dismay. Raynare was initially going to take up the offer to slack off, but when she saw Asia's sad puppy-dog eyes saying "Raynare-san isn't going to play with us…?" ...Well, let's just say that Raynare was powerless against it.
Issei sighed deeply to himself.
"Haah… A shared weakness, huh."
[There's no helping it, partner. Your weakness is undoubtedly wome—]
"—No."
Issei groaned while rubbing his forehead.
"Argh… Fuck it, man."
Issei then did the unexpected and called out to Rias.
"Rias!"
Within the cacophony of various sounds, Rias heard Issei's voice and turned around.
"Ise?"
When she looked at Issei, she saw him tapping his head with his hand in what appeared to be an irritated manner. He seemed to go "whatever" and looked at Rias with a serious face.
"Don't you dare lose, princess!"
(—!)
….
Rias was frozen in place. But after a moment, she seemed to gain her composure.
Ooohhhmm!
Scratch that. Her body was enveloped in what was possibly the most powerful aura she's ever physically emitted and she wore a determined smile.
"Ufufu… Did you hear that, Sona? My Ise is cheering for me… Sorry, old friend. But for the sake of this maiden's heart and my womanhood, it looks like I'm going to have to take you down!"
"What is this power..?! I've never seen you emit such an aura, Rias."
"This is the power of love, Sona. And unfortunately for you, it's mine and Ise's alone. But if you so desperately want it, then I'll happily send some your way!"
Rias then served the tennis ball and it zipped by Sona with so much force that it broke the ground when it landed, giving Rias an instant ace point.
Fyee!
"30-30! Gremory!"
The point was delivered to Rias as Sona stood frozen in shock. Rias then waved towards Issei who was standing on the other side of the fence.
"Ise! I expect a savory reward after this! Although it doesn't necessarily have to be food!"
With that, the superheated battle between the two devil women continued.
"...Ugh.."
Issei could only facepalm.
'When the hell was it that my life became equal parts Shakespearean tragedy and equal parts gag manga..?'
[I'd say right around the "birth" part, partner.]
'...Yeah, you're probably right.'
—In the end, Rias quickly won the tennis match without much difficulty following Issei's "boost."
Part 3
"Here's what I wanted you to see. Boosted Gear."
Shin!
Issei spawned his gauntlet on his left arm.
—In the late dead of night, Issei and Raynare left the Hyoudou household and travelled out to a certain forest in Kuoh. While inside of this forest, Issei prepared to demonstrate something to Raynare with his Sacred Gear. In front of him was a large, but relatively normal looking tree. Relatively normal, but not entirely normal.. In the case of this tree, many of the roots which usually reside underground appeared to have erupted from underneath the dirt in an unusual manner at some point.
"So basically.."
Issei plunged his hands into the ground and grabbed onto some of the tree's roots that weren't already exposed and did something which seemed bizarre to Raynare.
Oohhhmm..
A quiet, unoppressive aura seeped off of Issei's body. Instead of the usual red color, this aura was green in appearance and didn't hold any sort of aggression within it. A rare thing for Issei. It had the same appearance as the "pure" aura of the Sekiryuutei, unsullied by darkness (specifically Issei's darkness).
After having felt that his hands made contact with the roots beneath the dirt, Issei finally began his demonstration. This was the display that Raynare found unusual.
[Transfer!]
Using the Boosted Gear's power, Issei focused his latent aura around his gauntlet and transferred it into the roots of the tree like a continuous stream of energy.
"..!"
Raynare was surprised to see the flow of aura transfer over from Issei to the tree, with the body of the tree itself leaking the Sekiryuutei's power as if it was its own. There was also a subtle rumble beneath the earth that Raynare stood on.
After a few minutes, Issei retracted his hands from the dirt and deactivated his gear.
"As I just demonstrated, thanks to the modifications I've made to the Boosted Gear, it's now possible for me to transfer my latent power into other living beings through the gauntlet's functions. This is what I use to manage the overflowing power within me."
That was Issei's concise explanation to Raynare. Raynare appeared somewhat confused so Issei inquired.
"If you have any questions about it, you can ask."
When Issei told Raynare that, she quickly realized something. The entire reason for her being out here must be this. She's being tested.
Raynare rubbed her chin thoughtfully before asking.
"So, essentially… As a result of the overflow of Sekiryuutei's power within you, it becomes necessary for you to transfer your power into something else. Because if you don't… what happens?"
To Raynare's question, Issei removed the contact lens in his right eye, revealing a sharp, beast-like serpentine eye.
"Remember this?"
Raynare nodded of course. She could never forget the eye of the dragon that haunted her dreams. Issei explained while replacing his contact lens.
"Well, I wear these contact lenses because it's difficult for me to conceal this eye on my own. I don't like taking chances so I prefer to wear these pretty much all the time, even when home alone. After I sacrificed this eye and some of my brain, I received a dramatic boost in my natural power, and the Sekiryuutei's aura became an even more constant presence. However, as a sort of side effect, my eye was basically stuck looking like this almost all the time. In fact, the more powerful I became, the more difficult it became to conceal it. The same goes for my scapula."
"Your scapula?"
"Yeah."
Issei turned around as his dragonic wings protruded from his back.
"Remember these?"
"Your wings you used during the fight with Raiser Phoenix."
"Yeah, I gave up my scapula for these puppies."
"Now I see... The medical term for shoulder blades."
"Yeah. It was the necessary piece of my body to sacrifice if I wanted to have these wings whenever I wanted instead of being limited to just when I'm wearing my armor. That's how I was able to use these bad boys out of Balance Breaker against the Yakitori bastard."
Issei retracted his wings and finally wiped his hands of the dirt he had previously gotten on them.
"When did you give those shoulder blades up?"
Raynare asked. Issei gave her a lengthy explanation in response.
" I'd say, a little over a year ago at this point. It wasn't long after the time that I first unlocked the Scale Mail. I just found it too inconvenient having them restricted to when I'm in my armor. It was technically a smaller sacrifice than my eyes and my brain, even though it makes a much bigger difference in terms of appearance. But as I said before, this had its drawbacks. The main thing being that it made it even more difficult for me to conceal everything about me. In truth, it's these wings that are the main reason why I have to do this "transfer of latent power" method. In the past, I could just use my contact lenses to conceal my dragonic qualities, since my eyes were the only visibly inhuman parts of me. However, after unlocking Balance Breaker, and gaining these wings on top of that, I received major boosts to my natural power, and the area around my eye started being affected too. At times, red scales would show up on my face around my eye socket and the whole sclera of my eye itself would be dyed green. I found it impossible to make them go away and just used makeup at first, acting as if I had bruised myself during dojo or something. But that wasn't an excuse I could use forever. That's when I developed this method. Thanks to this, it was possible for me to conceal the dragonic parts of me by giving any overflowing, latent power to something else. After that, my dragonic features would naturally disappear for a while. Good thing too. A little more time and according to Ddraig, my wings would've unconsciously popped out of my back at some point. By the way, back in Nagoya, I used a tree for this method as well."
In fact, the tree that Issei used back in Nagoya was the very same tree that somehow survived the destruction of the environment caused by Issei's original unlocking of his Balance Breaker. The very same tree that Marie died lying back against…
During his explanation, Issei also somehow failed to mention (or perhaps even failed to realize) that over time, that same tree in Nagoya has grown to an impressively unnatural size in comparison to the rest of the forest, leaving only confusion for the environmental conservationists in the area.
After Issei's explanation, Raynare became curious and inquired further.
"You said that this was a modification you made to the Gear… Is this power somehow different from the ability that the Sekiryuutei possesses to give strength directly to others?"
"Ah, you're thinking about [Gift.] And yeah, it's different. Functionally, it's the same process, but don't be fooled. What I'm using is a "deviation" from Gift. You see, [Gift] is the ability to [Transfer] boosted power accumulated by my Sacred Gear into someone or something else. [Transfer] is merely the process by which boosted power is transferred elsewhere. It might sound like the same thing, but it's not. A [Gift] is a [Transfer], but a [Transfer] is not a [Gift], understand? In the past, it wasn't possible for hosts of the Sekiryuutei to transfer their own latent power to anyone, only the power that was accumulated through the act of "boosting." However, I took that function of the Boosted Gear to [Transfer] power and ran further with it, modifying it ever so slightly, so that it can force the Boosted Gear to act as a "channel" for the [Transfer] of power inward and outward, no matter if that power was created directly as a result of the Gear or not. It's quite simple if you just think about it theoretically. I'm actually surprised that I'm the first host to ever have thought about it."
Towards the end of Issei's educational lesson, Raynare had a sudden realization.
"Wait… Transferring non-boosted power inward and outward… doesn't that mean..?"
An unexpected smile grew on Issei's face, as if he was greatly satisfied by Raynare's reaction.
"Exactly correct, Raynare. Good job. It's just like you think it is. —This modification of [Transfer] is precisely what led to me eventually creating the ability known as [Consume.] By abusing the ability to Transfer power that isn't accumulated by the Boosted Gear, I realized that I could probably do the same for power that wasn't mine as well. "If the Boosted Gear can be used as a channel to transfer my own power, a power that doesn't belong directly to the Sacred Gear itself, outward— then surely it can be used as a channel to bring power that doesn't belong to the Sacred Gear, mine or not, inward." That's what I thought back then. That's how the ability ["Consume"], was born. But you wanna know a secret? The truth is, I've never used [Consume] for anything outside of [Dragon Shot] or my own flames. I didn't have a training partner most of my life, and I certainly didn't have a training partner by the time I developed these abilities, so I could only ever test them by myself. As a result, the only things I know the Boosted Gear has the capability of "consuming" are flames, and pure masses of energy like the [Dragon Shot.] That's why I was confident in using it against the Yakitori bastard and not much else. And by the way, it goes without saying that I've never tested it against anything like Rias's "power of destruction" either. Ddraig says that trying something like that would probably just end up destroying me, and honestly, I believe him. Powers like that can't just be considered "balls of energy," they're far too unique in nature. Although, I would like to try it against one of your holy spears or some holy aura of some kind one of these days…"
Issei's voice stranded off as he began thinking to himself.
Meanwhile, Raynare was left in silence after Issei's clarification. No, it would be more accurate to say that she was left silent in "amazement."
'...What a fool I am..'
Raynare thought back to her past, to when she first made an attempt on Issei's life months ago, only for the attack she sent towards him to dissipate upon contact like it was a spray of water. A morbid smile grew on her lips.
'Heh… What a massive fool I must've been… for me to think that I ever even had an inkling of a chance to stand up against a monster like this… Haha, what a joke.'
If Raynare could only drag her old self out from the past and bring her in front of herself, she would do it only to point and laugh at herself as if she was some stupid looking party clown.
—But as she ran Issei's words back in her head, Raynare came to realize something.
"Issei-sama."
"Hm? What is it?"
Issei snapped out of his thoughts and saw Raynare's expression shift into one of slight suspicion.
"...Earlier you said that you didn't have anyone to test these powers out on in the past… Does that mean you have no idea what sort of effect they would have on an actual person?"
Issei answered straight-forwardly.
"Correct. I have no idea whether transferring latent power has any significant effects on sentient beings like us. Whether it gives some sort of permanent boost in power, or something temporary like the "Gift", I wouldn't know. Health effects are unknown as well."
"I see... So, since you've brought me out here... I guess that means you're asking me to become your guinea pig then, huh?"
Raynare's face regained her somewhat morbid smile, as if she was almost dreading Issei's response. Issei replied to her frankly.
"Yeah, that's right. I am."
Raynare chuckled under her breath and lowered her head with a hollow gaze.
'Yeah… Of course… If it was going to be anyone, it would be me. Because I'm expendable. There's too much risk in testing out powers like this on Asia, or even that Devil tramp and her mutts…. Unlike me, they're his allies... They're friends…. They can't be put at risk, no matter how little… That's right…. If it was gonna be anyone, then it was obvious who… It's only fitting. Someone like me….is expendable..'
"—So, will you do it for me?"
Raynare was pulled out of her contemplation abruptly by Issei's question.
"...What?"
"I'm asking if you'll do it for me? You can even think of it as doing it for Asia's sake, if that makes it easier. I'm just asking, will you do it, Raynare?"
When Raynare made eye contact with Issei, she saw that his eyes held no ill intent in them, only what appeared to be a keen expectancy.
She lost her odd smile and made a confused face for a moment. She was about to respond, but then she stopped herself and furrowed her brows.
'..."will you do it for me"?... What are you saying? If it's a guy like you, can't you just force me to do it anyway whether I want to or not? My consent isn't a factor for you…. Right?'
That was the question that Raynare was compelled to ask, but stopped herself just short of the first word. Why? She herself doesn't even fully know. But it must have something to do with…
"What...are you..?"
"Huh?"
Raynare uttered only those few words while looking at Issei, leaving him confused.
No, she wasn't looking directly at him. She was looking behind him. Because Raynare was seeing something that Issei could never see.
—Behind each of Issei's shoulders, there was a single face. A face that encompassed the entire surroundings behind Issei, split directly down the middle by Issei's own figure. Behind Issei's left shoulder, there was the left side of the face, which appeared to be nothing but a normal human with caring eyes. But behind Issei's right shoulder, there was the right side of the same face... A monstrous, sharp-toothed maw contorted into a wicked smile. These were both sides of the same face…. Two sides of the same coin. —Hyoudou Issei's face.
...Why, you wonder, was Raynare afraid to ask her question from before? It was obvious why. —Perception.
Right now, she could see what Issei could not. That these faces behind Issei, they were actually both sides of the same face. They were both one half of Issei's being. Hyoudou Issei is an existence that is constantly wavering between human - and monster. And depending on the situation he's in, he may become either version of himself, with just the flip of a switch. Just based on how he's feeling or how he views you, you can either be an indispensable ally, or a worthless existence marked for death.
But for Issei to say something like "will you do it for me?" to Raynare, as if she had the choice, it made her pause. Because when she does look directly into Issei's eyes and not at the face behind him, she sees only honesty. Issei's eyes communicated to her very clearly...that he was asking her in earnest. It wasn't a cover for a supposed "lack of choice." He was genuinely asking her. As if what he was asking was a favor, not a command…
This made Raynare hesitant— perhaps even afraid, to ask her initial question. Because if she asked her question now, she would surely receive a straightforward, honest reply.
—But what would that do to Raynare's perception of this person? When she looked at Issei from that point on, how would she see him? How should she look at him as? What should she look at him as? Hyoudou Issei? Or something else? If Issei is simply "a boy who cares for his comrades," then whence cometh the monster that torments Raynare in her nightmares? If the Sekiryuutei is a "benevolent" existence, then whence cometh his evil, his wrath..?
With hesitation, Raynare finally spoke again.
"...Why me? ...Why not test this out with..someone you trust?"
As soon as the words came out from Raynare's mouth, she regretted saying them. It might as well have been the same question as what she originally wanted to say..
And in the end, it brought the same result.
"Out of everyone I know, the one I can trust most with something like this is you, Raynare. There's no one else that I can think of that I trust more than you."
(—?!)
When Raynare lifted her eyes again, Issei appeared to be looking down at his left hand longingly, as if he was in the process of re-evaluating himself.
"It may seem unbelievable to you... But I trust you more than anyone in my life right now. Including Asia, and even my family. My family doesn't know even my secret of being the Sekiryuutei, my most defining trait as a single existence. So, to say that I trusted them completely…. How could I say that if they don't even know that about me? And although I care for Asia more than I care for this world, I know that she's the type of girl to heal an enemy out of compassion even against my will. This doesn't change how much I care for her or how I treat her, but it does mean that I can't trust her to listen to everything I say. That's fine. But…"
Issei looked up from his now softly clenched fist, straight into Raynare's eyes.
"—If there's anyone that I know I can trust, someone I know that can handle something for me or get done what I want done, that's you, Raynare. If it's you, then I know I can trust you wholeheartedly with this. After all, if I can trust you to be Asia's protector, then there isn't anything else I can't trust you with anymore at this point. I have to trust you. I have to believe that you won't let me down."
While looking back into Issei's firm eyes, Raynare felt a nervous hitch in her breath. She saw the same look of honesty in Issei's eyes, just as she was dreading she would.
"...Y… You're saying that because… you know I have to listen…. You know that I could never defy you….. You know that I could never betray you..."
Issei shook his head.
"No, it's because I know you wouldn't."
Raynare's eyes widened, momentarily becoming absorbed into Issei's earnest gaze.
"...W...Why…. How could you believe that?"
"Because we are the same, Raynare. In the end, I know we both want the same thing. Asia's safety, and her happiness. And to that end, I know you and I will both do anything. That's why I trust you. Because in this world, there's no one else besides you who holds that same goal as me. In that way, I could even go as far as saying that there's no one else who understands me like you do…. We are the same."
Raynare then felt a shiver down her spine and turned her back towards Issei.
"...A..Asia.."
While holding herself in an embrace using her arms, Raynare felt a phantom pain burning onto her back.
—It was just as she feared. Her mind was sent into disarray, and her perception of the Sekiryuutei was being distorted.
The image of the Sekiryuutei— Hyoudou Issei— in her mind, was shifting and swirling between two different visages. One dark and foul image of a beast, bleeding into the image of a boy enveloped by a green, comforting light.
Which image was truth, and which was a false perception? For whatever reason, it was too much to process and it shook Raynare with fear.
"...Raynare?"
Issei, not understanding what the Fallen-Angel was doing, questioned Raynare. The expression he had caught a brief glimpse of before she turned away was certainly not a pleasant one…
After a short while, Raynare's quivering ceased and she let out a low, monotone voice.
"...Yes, Sekiryuutei-sama. As you wish…."
Issei was unsettled slightly by her odd tone. If he could see her face, he'd know that her eyes also had an unnerving "deadness" to them.
"...Alright. That's enough for today. I might have left Asia with Rias, but it's best not to leave them alone long. Let's head back…"
"...Yes, Sekiryuutei-sama."
Issei paused for a moment after extending his wings, noting how long it had been since Raynare referred to him as "Sekiryuutei-sama"...
FOOM!
Issei then took Raynare by the waist and the two set off into the sky, flying in the direction of Issei's home.
"..."
Whilst flying, the two did not speak, and Issei was lost to his own thoughts, as had become the norm recently.
'...That's right… There's no one else in this world that I trust more…. There's no one else who understands me like Raynare does, not as I truly am…. That must be the case… I have to believe that... Because no one else in this world shares the same goal as me…. That's right. I have no one else who knows me… not anymore. She's the closest I get to being understood.. We are….the same.'
—Just as the thought crossed his mind, the image of a familiar person came and went in a flash before Issei's eyes.
Kiba Yuuto.
"Ngh.."
Issei shook his thoughts off with a groan. Or at least, he tried.
'...Of all times, why did you come up..?'
Part 4
Another day passes, and yet, Issei cannot rid his mind of the thoughts pervading his psyche.
He and a few others accompanying him were returning home from school, having just finished their after school club activities. Kiba Yuuto was not present for today's assembly either.
Asia, Raynare, and Koneko walked beside Issei as he lost himself in his thoughts, like usual. For whatever reason, Rias decided that it was necessary for her to stay behind with Akeno after Sona Sitri unexpectedly entered the clubroom. It certainly made Issei suspicious considering what had happened with Bal the day prior. Nevertheless, he agreed to leave with Asia and the rest of the girls. This didn't stop his mind from running off without him, of course.
"I wonder why Buchou-san had to stay back…"
Asia's sullen voice pulled Issei out of his thoughts.
"Could it have something to do with why Kiba-san has not been coming to the club lately?"
Asia appeared to be concerned, but compared to her, Raynare seemed unbothered.
"Don't worry about it, Asia. Something like that isn't our problem."
"That can't be true, Raynare-san. Kiba-san is a fellow club member, and he is our friend… I simply don't have it in me to look away."
From beside the two, Issei finally spoke up a bit to Raynare.
"Telling Asia not to worry about somebody? You and I know most of all that it's a lost cause, isn't it?"
Although Issei wasn't being confrontational about it, Raynare still averted her gaze from Issei's and responded in a monotonous voice.
"...Yes, Sekiryuutei-sama.."
Issei narrowed his eyes and pursed one side of his lips slightly. Raynare still has yet to look him in the eye since their talk from last night. She also seems to default into an odd, robotic state when interacting with him specifically. The behavior only changes when it's anyone else she's speaking to.
"I simply just can't ignore it. Don't you also want to help him, Ise-san?"
Asia asked Issei, who moved his eyes elsewhere.
At times like this, Issei's de facto response would usually be "I'll do whatever Asia wants me to" or perhaps "I don't care about Devil problems." Yet, for some reason, this time was different. Issei himself doesn't know why, but he gave Asia an uncharacteristically vague answer.
"...Who knows?"
Asia, feeling alone in her position, looked down to Koneko in hopes of getting a different answer than that of her two housemates.
"Then… What about Koneko-san? Don't you also want to help Kiba-san?"
At this point, the group had ended up at a crossroads. This was the point at which Koneko usually separated from the rest of them. The group stopped at this corner, waiting for the signal light to cross. As they waited quietly, Issei noticed the distant look in Koneko's eyes.
"...I do."
That was Koneko's response to Asia. Asia felt relieved that she wasn't alone in how she felt and smiled.
"I see. Yes, I feel the same after all. It's just not right to ignore a friend with troubles."
"...Not just a friend."
Koneko whispered that under breath, confusing Asia, and causing Issei who stood behind her to listen intently.
"Eh?"
—As the crosslight shifted colors from red to green, Koneko's mind was struck with a certain memory.
The memory of a time in her past, when she had just barely joined the Gremory peerage. The loneliest time in her life. At that time, Kiba Yuuto had already joined the Gremory peerage not too long before her.
At that time, Koneko had only just received her new name and new life… But she still had nothing. She was an empty shell with nothing of value left to her, not even her identity.
She remembers a day that she sat alone in the yard of the Gremory estate, watching as the "knight" named Kiba Yuuto trained with his sword-master. At some point during the training session, Kiba came and sat down beside Koneko, leaving some distance between the two as the knight seemingly ate his lunch.
Koneko was staring at Kiba's meal. Although there was an abundance of food to be had in the Gremory estate, she seemed to be holding back from eating her fill ever since she was taken in. Kiba must have noticed Koneko's staring, because he offered her his box of food.
("Um.. You can have some if you'd like.")
Koneko flinched and seemed to retreat subtly. But the expression on Kiba's face was a kind smile. A much kinder smile than she was used to seeing. It might have relaxed her nerves for a moment, allowing her the courage to respond meekly.
("...Is it okay?")
("Of course. Have as much as you want.")
Kiba held the food out, prompting Koneko to take it with great hesitation.
("You shouldn't hold back from eating properly. Otherwise, you'll end up worrying the rest of us in the Gremory family.")
Kiba said that, as if already aware of Koneko's troubling behavior. His smile remained ever kindly on his face. Koneko looked down at the food in her lap solemnly.
("...Family…")
—When Koneko raised her eyes to see that the crosslight had changed to a green color, her eyes appeared truly melancholic.
"...To me, Yuuto-senpai is... like my partner."
.
.
.
If Koneko had taken a glance behind her, she might have noticed Issei's widened eyes.
"...Until tomorrow."
Koneko gave her farewell for the day and walked across the street.
"A-Ah, see you tomorrow, Koneko-san..!"
Asia gave her goodbye as well, leaving the other three to watch Koneko walk across the street in silence.
"...Partners…"
Issei muttered under his breath as his gaze stood locked on Koneko's small figure. Gradually, the visage of Kiba Yuuto began walking beside Koneko.
And just as Issei might have expected and dreaded, the figures of Kiba and Koneko were slowly but surely replaced with the image of another pair of teenagers. One of those people being Issei himself, and the other being…
Of course.
"Tch!"
Issei clicked his tongue harshly and turned to quickly walk away, as if not being able to bear the sight of it any longer..
"Eh, Ise-san? W-Wait for us!"
Without waiting for his companions, Issei walked in the direction of his home with a quick pace.
How long had it been since his mind was sent into such a genuine disarray like this?
'Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck! Goddammit! Why..?! No matter where I go— no matter what I do— no matter where I look—! You're always there! Even now, it's the same shit! So then why… Why does it anger me so fucking much? What is it that's pissing me off about it? Is it you that's making me angry? ...Or is it myself?'
Issei finally stopped. The grip he held on his school bag tightened, creasing the leather greatly.
'...If it is myself that's pissing me off…. Then, why? Is it just because I keep feeling all of these feelings lately? …..Or is it because I'm not doing anything about it?'
Issei's pause allowed for Asia and Raynare to catch up with him. But Issei didn't pay them any attention. Instead, he lifted his hands up near his chest and looked down at them as if they weren't his own.
"...What...am I?"
'...And what do I want to do..?'
"Exorcists?"
Rias questioned her childhood friend, Sona, curiously.
"Yes. Those were the individuals that approached me yesterday morning."
Rias and her friend appeared to be conversing in the old school building while accompanied by their queens. The topic they were discussing were the two suspicious figures who suddenly appeared before the academy entrance a day prior. Church Exorcists.
Rias rubbed her chin curiously.
"What could agents of the Catholic church possibly want from us?"
"According to what they told me, they want an audience with you."
"Exorcists from the Catholic church want to speak with a Devil?"
"Yes."
"What sort of joke is that… Why would they request to speak with me?"
"That I do not know. They seemed adamant about not revealing that to anyone but you. Perhaps because you are the official overseer of this territory."
"I see... Well, what did you tell them?"
"I agreed to it, of course. If it's exorcists from the Catholic church here on official business, then it's best we at least grant an audience to become privy to their information. If they're planning an operation within this territory, then it is our responsibility to deduce what that is."
"You're right. I suppose we have no choice. When should I expect them?"
"Tomorrow, after school. They'll be visiting your club room then."
Rias lightly rubbed her head.
"Ugh… This sounds like it's going to become troublesome."
"Yes, I feel the same. However… what really bothered me about these two is that they were each carrying holy-swords."
Rias was surprised by the information Sona added at the end, causing her to start muttering to herself in contemplation.
"Holy-swords?! People from the church carrying holy-swords…. And for them to come into this town… People from this town who were involved with the church…?"
Rias was then reminded of something. When Kiba initially had his change in behavior, it was after visiting Issei's house. But more specifically, it was after going through his photo album. It was then that she recalled what Kiba did in that moment.
Kiba was pointing at a picture that had a holy-sword in the background as he whispered..
("—It's a holy-sword.")
"—?!"
Rias shot up from her seat abruptly with a shocked face.
"Oh no! Ise!"
"—Stop."
After splitting up with Koneko, it didn't take long for Issei and his housemates to reach the area in which his home was located. However, just as they turned the corner into Issei's block, Issei halted their stroll.
Raynare's eyes narrowed suspiciously as she immediately switched into battle mode without needing to be told.
"What's wrong?"
Issei's narrowed his eyes even further than Raynare did, holding a great amount of darkness in them.
"...A nostalgic feeling."
Issei said in an overtly repulsed tone. It was surely the presence of exorcists that he was sensing. Exorcists...and holy-swords.
"Stay here."
Issei ordered Raynare and Asia not to approach his home, leaving them behind to survey the area first.
"Yes, Issei-sama."
If Issei had not been so focused on the exorcists, perhaps he would've noticed Raynare refer to him normally again. It seems that whenever it involves Asia's safety, her internal issues were easily set aside.
Issei slowly but surely approached his home, feeling that he may very likely need to secretly dispose of two human bodies tonight.
When he made it to his front gate, he saw the two unwelcome guests knocking at his front door, as if expecting someone to answer. Two people that appeared to be women, dressed in nostalgic white robes.
Marie Bellerose owned similar robes as well. Issei still has those safely stored away somewhere in his home. However… Perhaps unfortunately for these two strangers, seeing these white robes didn't alleviate any of his malice.
After all, if those robes didn't belong to her, then they were nothing but a symbol of hatred for Issei.
Knock, knock.
One of the exorcists continued knocking, seemingly hoping for someone to answer the door, to no avail. Had either of the two looked behind them, they would've immediately noticed the dark, red-eyed, ominous figure looming past the front gate. But they were none the wiser.
..until it was already next to them, at least.
"Is there any point in knocking anymore? There's clearly no one here."
"No, there has to be! I'm sure they're just out somewhere right now… That has to be the case…"
"It's useless. You know what happened to this place after you left. It's more likely that they met the same fate as well. It's unfortunate but that's probably just how it is."
"No, that can't be... They couldn't have been.."
One of the exorcists finally turned around, seemingly having given up on anyone answering them, meanwhile her companion continued looking towards the door longingly.
It was only after having turned away from the entrance to the home that one of the exorcist girls noticed the dark, silent figure that was towering over them.
"...It stinks like Catholic blood."
[—?!]
The exorcist who noticed the dark being swiftly reached to grab at a large sheathed item that rested on her back. But she was frozen momentarily when the red, serpentine-like eyes of the unmoving, blackened silhouette eerily darted towards her.
"—You'll die."
"..?!"
And in one quick moment, the exorcist's world became a monochromatic image of red tones, and her head was somehow instantly turned into a dark paint that splashed across the house's exterior.
SPLAT!
.
.
.
.
Drip..
—A drop of sweat fell from the frozen exorcist's body. Never in her life had she imagined her death so vividly before. This was a feeling beyond killing intent. It was an intent which extended itself into premonition. It felt like the definitive outcome.
And so, the exorcist's hand never touched the sheathed item on her back, only stopping halfway before reaching it.
"...That voice… Could it be..?!"
The other exorcist, who had been facing the door up to this point, finally turned around. She seemed to have a hopeful expression as she flipped around.
"That has to be the grown-up voice of Ise-ku—"
That expression quickly disappeared after registering the appearance of an almost demonic figure only midway through her turn.
"You… How do you know my name?"
The tall, imposing figure spoke in a dark tone which suggested malice. At first glance, you wouldn't even be able to tell it was human.
After turning, it was clear to tell that one of the exorcists had chestnut colored hair, while the other wore a blue-green mesh on her head.
The chestnut haired girl once again uttered the beast's supposed name.
"...I...se-kun…..? Is that you..?"
The beast's tone of voice only seemed to grow darker.
"I said: How do you know my name?"
The chestnut haired exorcist flinched, sensing that the danger of this situation was only growing even greater. She spoke hesitantly while removing her hood.
"...I...Ise-kun? ...I-It's me, Ise-kun… It's me… Irina.."
"Irina?"
"Irina… Shidou.."
Then, suddenly, the pressure seemed to alleviate almost immediately after the exorcist stated her full name.
The darkness surrounding the tall figure faded away like it was some sort of illusion, revealing the face of a familiar young man.
"Shidou.. Irina… Don't tell me… Could you possibly be… [Rin]?!"
The exorcist girl who called herself "Shidou Irina" snapped out of her terrified daze and gradually returned to speaking normally.
"...That's right… T-That's right! It's me! It's me, Ise-kun! It's me, "Rin"!"
Irina Shidou finally grew a relieved smile after being recognized. Her companion also appeared to let out a sigh of relief as she retracted her hand away from her sheathed weapon.
Meanwhile, Issei was as confused as he was...happy.
"Rin... It's you.. It's really you, Rin! But.. how?! All this time, I thought..! I was convinced that you were a boy!"
Irina gained an embarrassed smile and petted one of her twin tails awkwardly.
"Ah.. Is that so? W-Well, I guess there's no helping that. I was very boyish back then after all.. It's unfortunate, but that's just how it is. As long as you remember me, that's all that matters."
To that, Issei finally smiled as well.
"Of course I remember… Heh, how could I forget? Rin.. It's been so long. I was sure I'd never see someone like you again.."
"Me too! I wasn't sure I'd ever get the chance to return to Japan! And after just moving away, I heard about what happened to this place..! I assumed the worst! But I'm so glad! Ise-kun made it out alright after all! Surely this must be a divine blessing! Praise be! Amen!"
—Irina shut her eyes and clasped her hands in prayer momentarily. It was only a brief moment, in fact it was so brief a moment that it could easily go unnoticed if one wasn't watching Issei's every move, but… the moment that Irina gave her joyful prayer, Issei's eyes darkened. Not only that, but his eyes clearly glared at the attire that the two were wearing as well. Just as quickly as Irina clasped and unclasped her hands, Issei's eyes returned to normal.
Irina's companion was the one to notice it, for she was indeed watching Issei's every move, unlike her partner.
"By the way, Ise-kun. I was knocking for a while but there was no answer. Are okaa-san and otou-san out right now?"
When Irina said that, Issei's expression appeared to fill to the brim with sorrow and his right eye closed itself shut.
"..."
"...Ise-kun?"
"No… It can't be.."
Irina dropped to her knees when she saw the shrine that was in front of her. It was labeled "Hyoudou" and held the photos of two people. They were undoubtedly Issei's parents.
"O' Lord… How can this be.."
She looked upon the shrine with despair as Issei and her companion stood behind her. Irina's companion kept her eyes on Issei, but Issei merely held his head down solemnly.
As tears rolled down her cheeks, Irina clasped her hands and began to pray.
"Our Father, who art in heaven… Hallowed be thy name…"
How many times had Issei heard this prayer recited on behalf of his parents? He couldn't tell you. At this point, he's already long lost his count.
But at this point, who was even listening to these prayers anymore..?
From beside Issei, Irina's companion watched as Irina prayed and Issei stood there silently, clearly ridden with sorrow. His appearance now was nothing compared to his initial appearance when he had approached the two exorcists. Now he simply seemed like a regular boy who had tragically lost his parents.
...Somehow, Irina's companion felt compelled to imitate her behavior and knelt down to pray beside her.
Beep!
While waiting at the street corner, Asia and Raynare had finally heard a notification from Asia's smartphone. When Asia pulled out the device to check it, the screen clearly indicated that the notification was from Issei. After minutes of total silence, he finally said something.
"What does it say, Asia?"
Raynare leaned in to look at the mail sent by Issei that Asia opened up.
The text read: [Come inside.]
Raynare and Asia gave each other one mutually curious glance before walking towards the house.
Part 5
Issei set some tea down on the table in front of Irina and her comrade.
"Here, have some."
"Thanks, Ise-kun."
"..Thank you."
Now with Raynare and Asia inside the house, Issei was attending to his guests with much less unease than when he'd first seen them. When Asia and Raynare entered the home, Issei introduced the two girls as being his roommates and friends, but without much else. He didn't even give their names. It was clear that, despite the lighthearted atmosphere, Issei was still being cautious. To Raynare, it was no surprise considering the type of person Issei was. And precisely because she understood this, Raynare made no attempt to mention their names either. Instead, she and Asia quietly remained seated on the couch opposite of the two exorcists, meanwhile Issei sat on his father's loveseat which was closer to them.
Raynare also didn't fail to notice the silent stare that she and Asia kept receiving from the blue haired exorcist.
"So, I obviously know who you are, Irina. But I still never caught your friend's name."
Irina was about to say her companion's name after taking a sip of her tea, but her comrade interrupted her.
"Ah, her name is—"
"—Xenovia. Nice to meet you."
Irina pouted at her friend, now revealed to be Xenovia.
"If you were going to talk then why didn't you say something earlier?"
"Irina is the one who loves to talk so why wouldn't I just leave it to her?"
"Hey, I feel like you insulted me just now by saying that."
"You're mistaken."
Xenovia took a sip of her tea as her partner began to puff up her cheeks in irritation even further. Issei chuckled at their bickering.
"Alright, alright. Let's just chill out, yea? No reason to glare at each other. You're partners, aren't you? — More importantly, we should hurry up and address the elephant in the room, shouldn't we."
Issei leaned forward, clasping his hands together and resting his elbows on his knees, giving him a suspicious posture. His expression was equally as suspicious.
"—When was it that you became an exorcist, Irina?"
The two girls showed surprised faces, clearly not expecting the issue to be confronted so directly. But they'll soon come to find, Issei is definitely a no nonsense type of guy.
Both of them gained serious expressions, and with the nonverbal consent of her partner, Irina was the one to head the interaction.
"So you are aware of existences such as exorcists after all, Ise-kun."
"Heh, like you wouldn't know… The only thing in this world I know better are fucking Devils."
The girls gained expressions of even greater surprise than before, with Xenovia also gaining a slight sense of suspicion.
"..So you even know about Devils.."
"What else do you know about?"
Xenovia questioned Issei in a more "enthusiastic" manner than Irina, but there was clearly a tinge of suspicion in her eyes. Issei shrugged and responded nonchalantly.
"Pretty much everything else that you need to know about. Devils, Fallen-Angels, Angels, werewolves, vampires, Santa Claus, all that good shit. I'm privy to pretty much all of it. Hell, I probably know more than you two."
While Xenovia appeared to take insult to Issei's comment judging by the furrow in her brow, Irina instead appeared concerned and questioned Issei in a hesitant tone.
"...Then, does that mean you know the truth about what happened to this town?"
To that, Issei stifled some creepy laughter before grinning morbidly.
"Hehe…. I lived it. How could I not?"
Xenovia questioned Issei's response immediately.
"I thought the Devils were supposed to have erased the memories of every survivor that lived in this town. How did you break their spell?"
"I didn't break their spell. They never put one on me in the first place. Dumbfucks never caught me."
Xenovia narrowed her eyes.
"...Are you trying to say that you hid from them?"
"Of course I am. What, that so hard to believe? Just ask your partner. I was always the best at hide and seek, wasn't I, Irina?"
Irina didn't reply verbally, she only thought to herself while holding an uneasy expression.
'...No, Ise-kun. You were the worst at hiding. You were always the first one caught…'
Xenovia must have read her partner's face accurately, because she only grew even more suspicious of Issei.
"Why is it that you know these things? ….Clearly you aren't a regular human. But you don't seem like a Devil to me either."
When Xenovia questioned Issei, he smirked. Issei stood up and raised his left hand. It was then that a bright, green flash of light blinded the two exorcists.
Shin!
After the light was gone, the girls uncovered their eyes...only to realize that there was the "Red Dragon Emperor's gauntlet", the [Boosted Gear], covering Issei's entire arm.
"I am the host of the Welsh Dragon Emperor. This generation's current Sekiryuutei."
[—?!]
The two exorcists were frozen in shock, speechless. Xenovia then understood why exactly she could so vividly picture her own death when first confronted by Issei.
His warning was entirely accurate. —If she had drawn her weapon back there, she would have been killed instantly.
Although they both shared similar reactions of shock, Irina appeared more optimistic than her counterpart.
"Ise-kun is the Sekiryuutei…. This is..amazing! I can't believe Ise-kun is the Sekiryuutei himself! Who would've thought that when I came back home, Ise-kun would not only be a devout Catholic, but also the host to one of the twin Heavenly Dragons! Although I would have preferred if you were Protestant.. Even so..! This! This surely must be a divine blessing after all! Aah~, praise be!"
Issei raised a brow at Irina's odd declaration.
"Huh? Whoa, whoa, wait a second. Catholic? The hell gave you that impression?"
Irina titled her head and pointed towards the item on Issei's chest.
"What do you mean, Ise-kun? That cross on your neck is obviously a religious artifact. Not to mention, it even appears to be a sacred relic given to those of special importance by the Catholic church. How else did you manage to obtain that? Gasp! Could it be..?! Is Ise-kun actually an undercover Japanese exorcist?! Ah, did I just blow your cover?!"
Xenovia, who appeared to have been taking longer to recover from her shock than her friend, seemingly snapped out of it when Irina mentioned Issei's cross. She squinted her eyes suspiciously at the artifact, as if recognizing it.
"...I've seen that cross somewhere.."
Xenovia's words made Issei's light up with such life that it almost seemed as if he might've been dead before. He asked while holding the cross in his hand.
"Y-You recognize this..?! You know who it belonged to?!"
Xenovia nodded her head hesitantly.
"...Yeah. That cross.. It belonged to an exceptional exorcist. The person who defeated the infamous cult, "Genesis." Her name was Marie Bellerose, [The Blade of Rouen]."
Irina's eyes lit up like stars, similarly to Issei's, save for the subtle hint of love that Issei's had.
"Isn't that the exorcist who was honored throughout all of France's Catholic division for single handedly defeating the foreign chapter of Genesis here in Japan?! The wielder of Excalibur Blessing!? She was the one who even had a task force named after her, "the Slayers of Rouen!" Aah~, how I dream to become an excellent exorcist like her! O' Lord, please guide me! Amen!"
For a moment, Issei smiled sweetly and there was a somber look in his eyes. Seeing this gave Xenovia pause, but not for long. Soon, her suspicion returned and to an even greater degree.
"...Yes. But from what I remember, the reports stated her as "killed in action" after the dismantling of Genesis here in the East… Her body was discovered on the grounds of a church school in Nagoya. But her body also happened to disappear soon after it was taken in…. So my question is.. why exactly would someone like you have it?"
Issei raised his eyes and saw the total suspicion in Xenovia's face.
"Hyoudou Issei…. Did you possibly scavenge that from her stolen corpse?"
—Time must have frozen at that moment. No, perhaps it was just the perception of time that was distorted for the girls in the room. Either way, everything came to a sudden halt as an overwhelming presence snuffed out the oxygen in the room. The house was blanketed in some sort of foul darkness that made all of the lights appear weaker, even to the point that they began flickering. Even the foundations of the house started to emit a low creaking sound, as if slowly being overcome by some sort of physical pressure.
A book sitting on the coffee table opened inexplicably, as if blown open by a sudden gust of wind. It was a copy of the bible that belonged to Asia.
And as if by coincidence, or some dark, twisted fate, the chapter in which the bible appeared to have landed on caught Xenovia's gaze. Specifically, one verse in Leviticus.
Leviticus 17:11.
[..For it is the blood that maketh the atonement of the soul.]
—And the voice of the Sekiryuutei came out in an eerie, bassy tone - as the unsettlingly hollow, glowing, red eyes of his host bore into their very beings.
"Be careful of what you say, exorcist… before I kill you."
.
.
.
.
.
When was it that the pressure had finally alleviated, the exorcist girls wondered. Perhaps it was a few seconds after, but they couldn't tell. To them, it seemed as if all of eternity had passed before the feeling was finally gone.
But when the feeling was finally gone, Issei had returned to a more normal, human-like appearance, albeit minus his eyes. Even with the pressure seemingly gone, Issei spoke with an eerie, beastly glow in his irises.
"...Stolen? You, blue exorcist…. You said that her body "disappeared"... What do you mean by that?"
Xenovia didn't answer for a good minute, still visibly in shock from the moment before. After shaking her head, she came to her senses and replied.
"Ah…. That was… I'm sorry, that was a lie.. I was actually bluffing you to gauge what reaction you'd have, since you clearly seemed to have some sort of connection to that person. My bad."
"...Is that so… In that case, what did happen to her body after all? Do you know..?"
"...According to the higher-ups, her body was taken back to Rouen, in France, where she was laid to rest amongst the archbishops on the church burial grounds."
Issei lowered his head to mask his expression, but Xenovia saw his lip quiver for a moment.
"...I see…"
Seeing that Issei's attitude returned to a less hostile one after Xenovia's response, it allowed her the confidence to ask him another question.
"Hyoudou Issei. What is your connection to Marie Bellerose anyway? Did you know her?"
Upon hearing Xenovia's question, Issei lifted his eyes to show that they were somber once again, perhaps even more so than when he was standing near his parents shrine…?
"She was….. a good friend."
Irina raised a brow towards Issei's attitude.
"Wait… Don't tell me… Ise-kun was even acquainted with the Blade of Rouen as well?! Amazing… Ise-kun is far more connected than I thought.. Who else do you know? Ah! You didn't ever run into Genesis, did you?!"
Irina asked with a shocked gasp, but this time, Issei replied almost immediately.
"No, I didn't. That girl defeated Genesis all on her own. I had no hand in it."
Irina let out a relieved sigh.
"Hah, I'm so glad. Yea, it's for the best that Ise-kun didn't run into them. According to the reports, they committed many heinous crimes. It would have been terrible if Ise-kun had to witness any of that."
Issei very subtly frowned his lips for a moment. Xenovia, who was eyeing him very suspiciously, happened to catch it from the corner of her vision.
'..No one asked if you "had a hand in it," she asked if you had seen them, didn't she..?'
Of course, at this point, it almost isn't worth mentioning Xenovia's suspicion anymore. It already goes without saying.
"Irina. At this point it feels like I'm late on asking you, but what exactly are you and your friend doing here in this town? I assume this isn't some sort of conjugal visit for me."
Irina blushed for a moment before clearing her throat. She and Xenovia glanced at each other before giving a simultaneous stare towards Issei's two housemates. Noticing this, Issei signaled the two upstairs.
"You girls can go to your rooms and do your homework. I'm gonna talk with these two a bit more."
Raynare nodded and took Asia by the hand. The two of them ascended the staircase wordlessly, leaving Issei behind with the two exorcists. Once the girls were out of sight, this time it was Irina who cautiously questioned Issei.
"..Ise-kun. That girl was a Fallen Angel, wasn't she?"
"Yeah."
"...You wouldn't happen to be associated with Grigori, would you, Ise-kun?"
"Nope. That one's a rogue."
Despite Irina's obviously concerned and somewhat confrontational tone, Issei answered nonchalantly. His curt responses clearly illustrated that he wasn't going to be giving out much information, if any, about his roommates.
"...In that case, can I, at the very least, ask you why she's here?"
"Cuz it's her home."
[—?!]
Irina asked with a sense of disbelief.
"What do you mean? Are you saying...she lives here?"
"Yeah. Goes to my school too. See the uniform?"
Again, the two girls glanced at each other nervously, wondering exactly what Issei's mysterious circumstances with the Fallen-Angel truly were.
"She's just a stray I picked up off the street. You have nothing to worry about."
Having no choice but to believe him, Irina nodded understandably.
"Okay. If Ise-kun says so then I'll believe him…. That being said, Ise-kun…. You really are well connected after all…. You wouldn't also happen to know the Devils who preside over this town, would you?"
Seeing no reason to lie, Issei nodded casually.
"Yeah, I do. Shitty Devils go to my school."
Although, lying and withholding information were two different things to Issei in this context.
"They have something to do with why you're here?"
Irina nodded.
"Actually, yes. We….can't give you the full details due to your lack of affiliation with the church. However, I can tell you that we are planning to meet with the Devils tomorrow evening in order to discuss something vital to our mission. Although, I can't tell you our mission either…"
"Well, that's okay. I'll find out soon enough anyway."
That comment made Xenovia feel suspicious and Irina felt uneasy.
"...What does that mean, Ise-kun?"
Issei simply shrugged.
"Nothing goes on in my town without me knowing. Don't let the Gremory doggies fool you. This is my territory."
Issei's reply greatly unsettled the two. Not only because he mentioned Gremory, making it clear that he knew far more than he led on, but also because of his possessive attitude towards his homeland. It was easy to tell that he didn't fear Gremory at all.
Although, to be fair, neither did Irina and Xenovia. It was just unsettling to hear Issei speaking as the Sekiryuutei, against the will of the Devils.
"By the way, does your mission involve "suspicious Fallen-Angel activity" of some sort?"
Xenovia and Irina's eyes both widened simultaneously.
"..Why do you know that?"
"I told ya, didn't I? Nuthin' happens on my turf without me knowing."
'Although that was technically thanks to Bal..'
It was clear by what Issei said that the two exorcists no longer felt comfortable being in his presence. His comments along with his earlier hostile behavior unsettled them too greatly.
"I think it's about time for us to take our leave."
Xenovia signaled her partner. Irina agreed, albeit with some hesitation.
"...Yes. I'm sorry, Ise-kun. But we have to get going now. We have an important mission to consider and we can't be spending our time catching up with old friends… unfortunately."
Issei met eyes with Xenovia, exchanging some suspicion from himself to her instead, for the first time in their interaction. He then simply closed his eyes and released a (fake?) sigh.
"Well, that's too bad. I guess there's no helping it. Okay, I'll walk you out."
—After leading the two girls out of the living room and bringing them near the house's entrance, Issei opened the door for them.
"Until next time, Ise-kun… I hope we can see each other again soon."
"Don't worry. We will."
Again, Irina and her comrade felt wary of Issei, but they left the house without hesitation.
"Bye-bye, Ise-kun.."
"See ya."
Dakun..
The door shut behind the two exorcist girls and they made their way off of Issei's property.
"..I think I've seen that blonde girl somewhere before."
"—Irina."
Xenovia interrupted her partner's train of thought. She was wearing an uneasy expression.
"What do you think his relationship with the Devils is?"
Irina answered with a great deal of uncertainty.
"...I don't know. If he knows the truth of what happened to this town, then it shouldn't be anything good… In fact, he should hate her.."
"Wrong. She should be dead."
"Eh?"
"He may be your childhood friend, Irina, but he is also the Sekiryuutei. And it's clear just from his behavior that he… is a more than "unfriendly" host. If Gremory is responsible for the tragedy that befell this place, and he knows, then he should have already killed her in retribution."
To that, Irina had nothing to say. If they were to consider the facts, then what Xenovia said was entirely true. Yet, judging by their investigation and Issei's words, the heiress of Gremory was still alive.
"Your friend is dangerous."
Xenovia said curtly.
Irina frowned a bit disappointedly.
"...Yeah. He is…"
"Ise! Asia!"
After arriving at Issei's house, Rias threw herself onto Issei and Asia, clinging onto the two for dear life.
"Nothing happened after all! I'm so glad! When I had heard that there were exorcists in the area, I had already prepared for the worst. But I'm so glad nothing came of it."
Issei pushed himself out of Rias's embrace with a struggle, surprised by how strong she was when it came to moments like these.
"Hah? The hell's up with you? What, did you actually think that those shitty little exorcists would be able to do something to us?"
Rias replied with the same worried face.
"No, I was thinking that I'd come home to see exorcist remains scattered all over the house."
Issei deadpanned.
"Well, at least you're honest… Wait, if that's the case then what's up with the scaredy-cat attitude?"
"Well obviously I needed an excuse to cling onto you. Issei doesn't just let me hug him under normal circumstances after all."
"Oy, oy, you're a Devil, aren't you? You're supposed to be dishonest about your intentions, not straightforward. That's the wrong approach."
"It's okay. If it's about Ise, then I know better than to beat around the bush. I'm smart enough to know that won't get me anywhere."
Rias said, inexplicably untying her neck ribbon and unbuttoning her shirt while speaking.
"Oy, oy, oy, what sort of movements are you making with such a casual attitude?"
"Hm? After experiencing such a terrible near death experience, it's obvious that the two of us would embrace each other in relief and make love until the morning comes."
"No, no, we've already established that you know those exorcists couldn't do shit to us, now you're just making shit up for your own convenience."
"Of course, Ise. I am a Devil after all—"
"—Button your fucking shirt back up, you Devil tramp."
Raynare said, having thrown a couch pillow directly at Rias's face. Issei sighed and thought to himself.
'Ugh… At least have some consistency in your behavior..'
Unfortunately for Issei, Asia also began mimicking Rias's behavior shortly after this. To which, both Issei and Raynare cried out in dismay.
"M-M-Me too! I don't want to be left out! I-I too shall get n-naked and e-e-e-e-embrace Ise-san until morning!"
" "ASIA, NO!" "
After calming down, the four of them went upstairs into Issei's room and quickly began discussing the current situation.
"A negotiation?"
Raynare questioned. Rias nodded in response.
"For those girls to make contact with Sona in broad daylight and have a conversation like that… Not to mention, with the Devils who run this town— In other words, their intentions are obvious. They want to negotiate with me. The only issue is what."
Raynare added further.
"I still caught some stuff they were saying from upstairs. From what I heard, they were worried about the "Fallen-Angel shenanigans" that Bal-sama mentioned might be happening in this town."
"You were eavesdropping?"
Issei asked with a raised brow, causing Raynare to look away with unease.
"...Yes. I'm sorry, Sekiryuutei-sama.."
"No, good job. You're my second pair of eyes and ears. I need you to know as much as I do."
Not knowing how to feel or what to think about that, Raynare went silent and let the conversation between Rias and Issei continue.
"So you were able to extract some information from them, Ise?"
"Mm, well, "extract" maybe, but not so much as "deduce." Just based on the timing of everything, it's reasonable to assume the issue with Bal is related to whatever the exorcists want. Especially if I considered how they reacted to Raynare being a Fallen-Angel."
"..! You told them?"
"Didn't have to, they already knew. Seems like they're advanced level exorcists. Not just any shit-for-brains zealot can tell supernatural beings apart from humans so easily. Though, it doesn't seem like they've ever been in the presence of a dragon since they couldn't tell what I was."
"What else did you find out?"
"From them, nothing. Even with my connection, they wouldn't let up. The most they said was that they planned to talk with you Devils tomorrow."
Rias raised a brow at Issei's curious choice of words.
"Connection?"
Asia was the one who mentioned it first.
"One of them was a friend of Ise-san's."
(—?!)
"Friend?! Ise… How many connections do you have to the church? Are you sure you weren't an exorcist yourself in the past and you just aren't telling me?"
Issei groaned in an irritated manner, clearly annoyed by Rias's assumption but also not able to blame her for coming to that conclusion.
"Ugh.. I've never had connections with the church. I just knew an exorcist in the past who did…. Or, I guess now I technically knew two of them."
Issei, understanding just by Rias's confused expression that she didn't follow, decided to elaborate. And he elaborated by going downstairs to retrieve a certain photo album and brought it back up to his room. When Issei opened the photo album, he went straight for the picture that contained his child self next to another young "boy."
"This guy. —As it turns out this boy, "Rin", was actually a girl all along. And the very same girl in this photo grew up to be an exorcist, one of the very same exorcists who showed up at my front door. Rin, or should I say: Irina Shidou."
After discovering this information, Rias gained a conflicted expression.
"...This certainly makes things even more complicated."
Just by looking at her, Issei could tell that Rias's mind was resolute before she knew this information. Now thanks to that, it seemed as if her determination was shaken, even if just a little bit.
Issei wonders why, but he felt compelled to harden her resolve once again.
"—Wrong, it doesn't. Childhood friend or not, the past is irrelevant. If these two end up making themselves our enemies, then they're enemies. That's all there is to it."
For some reason, Rias found it difficult to keep looking at Issei's manly face and instead directed her gaze downward to the photo album.
"..Y-Yes, I suppose you're right.."
Rias also had a blush on her cheeks that she was trying to conceal.
'.."Our" enemies…. In the past, Ise would never admit to being on the same side so easily. Now, to choose us over even his own childhood friend is… At this rate, we might end up becoming enemies with all of heaven. Ah~, but if it was Ise and I standing against the world then…. N-No, enough, Rias! What are you doing, getting all excited? This is a serious situation, you know?'
In an attempt to regain her composure, Rias shook her head and cleared her throat.
"Ahem— A-Anyway, Ise. About that "second" exorcist that you mentioned from your past?"
Issei's expression became grim and his hand naturally brought itself up to hold his chained cross.
"...The person who gifted me this."
"I see.."
Noticing his sudden change in attitude, Rias wondered if she could pry any further into the matter.
"...And who was that person?"
To that, Issei gave no answer and simply kept his gaze away from Rias's. Rias then smiled with a mixture of disappointment and hopefulness.
"...Well, maybe one day you can tell me that story... For now, we can just focus on these "unwelcome guests" of ours."
Issei brought his gaze back down to his desk, where the photo album sat. He stared at the photo of him and his childhood friend "Rin."
"...unwelcome guests.."
Part 6
"Ise-kun.."
Finally, the awaited time had come the next day. After school, in the occult research club room, the exorcists had arrived to initiate their "negotiations."
However, they were in for a massive shock when they entered the room. What they saw was not only the Devils of Gremory gathered behind the sofa that Rias Gremory sat on, but also Hyoudou Issei— Irina's childhood friend and the Sekiryuutei himself— sitting right there next to Gremory on the couch, with an almost sinisterly entertained grin on his face.
"What's wrong, exorcists? Have a seat.."
Inside, Irina felt betrayed, while her comrade felt foolish for not realizing it sooner.
.
.
.
After a short minute of adjusting themselves, Xenovia and Irina began their negotiations with the Devils. Irina started it off.
"The other day, three of the holy-swords, Excalibur, were stolen while they were in storage under the church's care."
From her place behind the sofa, Asia asked curiously.
"Excalibur, the holy-sword of legend? How many are there..?"
Rias answered Asia's question for her.
"The true Excalibur was broken in battle long ago. After being shattered, the church used alchemy to create seven different blades out of the broken pieces."
Xenovia continued from where Rias left off. She unsheathed the giant object that she kept at her side, revealing that it was a large sword with an interesting design and holy aura.
"This is Excalibur's current form. Or, one of them, at least. —[Excalibur Destruction.] This too is under Catholic supervision."
Irina then lifted her arm and pulled on a white string that was wrapped around her bicep. The string wiggled around as if it had a mind of its own and suddenly transformed into a katana-like blade.
"And this is my [Excalibur Mimic.] It's a really convenient blade that lets me freely transform its shape."
After unveiling and resheathing their Excaliburs, Rias asked the two exorcists the most important question of the day.
"So, what exactly is the business you have with us?"
This time, Xenovia explained it.
"Of the seven Excaliburs, two are held by the Catholic church, one by the protestant, and two by the orthodox church. The final remaining Excalibur was lost during the three-sided war."
Rias dubiously questioned the exorcist's math.
"Of the seven Excaliburs, you only mentioned six. Even including the one that was lost, that only makes six Excalibur in total."
When Rias said that, Irina peered over to Xenovia using her eyes, while Xenovia made an unfriendly expression.
"..That's right. The truth is that in the past, the Catholic church was actually in possession of three Excaliburs. That third Excalibur, which is still left unaccounted for to this day, was [Excalibur Blessing.]"
"Excalibur Blessing?"
"The Excalibur which could strengthen the power of the wielder and others the wielder directed its blessing towards. A very similar power to the Sekiryuutei…."
Xenovia's eyes drifted slowly over towards Issei.
"In fact, coincidentally enough, the final Excalibur that disappeared, Excalibur Blessing, was also the Excalibur which belonged to the esteemed exorcist known as the "Blade of Rouen." Marie Bellerose… An "old friend" of yours, as you proclaimed, correct? Hyoudou Issei."
—Issei's eyes darkened dramatically as he crossed his legs which were resting on the coffee table. Just by his attitude and his posture, it was easy for the exorcists to tell that Issei was more comfortable in this place. He must have been used to hanging out in this room. So much so that there was even a doily already set under the sole of Issei's shoes, as if it was usual for him to sit this way.
Issei's voice came out in a low, threatening tone.
"..I told you yesterday, didn't I… Watch what you say, exorcist, or else..."
In response to Issei's threat, Xenovia closed her eyes. Was she unfazed, or was it done out of an unconscious fear of meeting his eyes?
"I wasn't trying to insult you, I was only making an observation. I said it was a coincidence, did I not? In any case, that Excalibur is seemingly nowhere to be found, for whatever reason.. The church has no idea of its whereabouts."
Issei laid his head back and lifted his chin up in a condescending manner, indicating that he clearly felt justified in his behavior. The darkness in his eyes let up slightly, but he still didn't remove his gaze from Xenovia yet.
—Meanwhile, in her own mind, Rias was coming to a shocking realization.
She remembered the conversation from last night.
("Ahem— A-Anyway, Ise. That "second" exorcist that you mentioned from your past, who is that?")
("...The person who gifted me this.")
The little pieces of the puzzle provided to Rias started to connect to each other.
'Excalibur blessing…. That sword belonged to an exorcist which passed away… And Ise's "old friend" is…'
She then remembered the unseen holy-sword that Issei kept tucked away underneath his bed. The sword which gave her an icy chill like no other as she slept beside him. A prickly feeling which even a church itself couldn't compare to, only outdone by the pure, latent aura of the Sekiryuutei. A holy-sword which Rias had no idea where Issei procured it from.
That holy-sword…
(—?!)
'..It's Excalibur Blessing!'
Rias gasped, but quickly caught the sound in her throat as to not reveal that she knew. If these exorcists were looking for Excalibur, then she couldn't let them know that Issei had it under any circumstances.
'I see! I understand now…. That holy-sword in Ise's house, it's Excalibur Blessing. Excalibur Blessing belonged to his exorcist friend from his past, as did the rosario on his necklace…. Marie Bellerose, the Blade of Rouen…. I've never heard of such a person. But judging by the way these exorcists refer to her, she must've been an exceptional one…. To think that Ise was close with this person, to the point that he even received Excalibur from them… Who in the world was Marie Bellerose, and what exactly did she mean to Ise?'
Those were the thoughts running through Rias's head. Unfortunately for her, she didn't have much time to dwell on them, the exchange with the exorcists continued on.
Xenovia picked up from where she previously left off.
"Anyway. This discussion today is about how three of the total Excalibur were stolen and brought to this land. Two of them were stolen from the orthodox church and one from the Catholics. "
Rias snapped out of her stupor and asked them straight out.
"I see… For something like that to happen, how careless. So, who is the believed culprit? Who would do such a thing?"
Xenovia's answer was one that would shock practically every person in the room to their core.
"The one who stole them is a leader of the Fallen-Angels, "the ones who guard against the children of God", Grigori— the Cadre-class Fallen-Angel - [Kokabiel.]"
[—?!]
"The General of the Fallen-Angels, Kokabiel?!"
Rias exclaimed in shock, never expecting someone of the Cadre-class to be involved. From behind Rias's couch, Asia tilted her head curiously, recognizing the name from the bible, but not truly understanding the gravity of the situation.
"Ano… Raynare-san. "Kokabiel" is a name written in the scriptures of the bible as a Fallen-Angel, but… he is also from the same place that Raynare-san is from, right? That person… is he bad?"
Asia whispered to Raynare next to her, but she received no reply. It wasn't until she looked at the Fallen-Angel that she realized why.
"Rayna..re-san?"
Asia realized it midway through uttering Raynare's name.
—Raynare, pale as snow and with clammy skin unlike she'd ever had before, was shaking immensely. Her mouth seemed to jitter up and down non-stop, as if on the verge of uttering something. A name…
A name which she desperately wished that she didn't recognize.
"K….K-K-Ko...Kok-Ko...K-okabiel-sama…"
Issei peered back over the couch to see Raynare in that state, quickly understanding by everyone's reactions that Kokabiel was indeed a big shot.
"Kokabiel, huh. That's a new one. Before, I had only heard about these "Azazel" and "Shemhazai" guys. This guy on the same level?"
Rias answered Issei's question for him.
"Azazel is the founder of Grigori and governor of the Fallen-Angels. Shemhazai is vice-governor, and Kokabiel is their General. During the Great War, it was Kokabiel who led the forces of Grigori through most of their battles himself. He was said to be the most destructive and sadistic of the three…"
Issei scoffed sarcastically.
"Heh, sounds like my kinda guy."
Xenovia explained further.
"Kokabiel— He wiped out the exorcists that were covertly dispatched a few days ago, which brings us to our request… No, our demand for you, Rias Gremory."
Rias raised a brow at the usage of the word "demand", but Xenovia appeared resolute in what she was about to say.
"[The Devils are to keep out of this business between us and Grigori over the Excaliburs.] —In other words, we came to tell you to keep your noses out of this incident."
"Hmm.. You're full of yourself, aren't you? And what if we teamed up with the Fallen-Angels?"
"Headquarters is concerned with that possibility as well."
"On the name of Gremory, I will NOT ally with Fallen-Angels. I won't ever do anything that would besmirch the name of my clan. But you know this means that we will also not provide any assistance to you as well, correct?"
"Of course. We're not asking for your help. In fact, teaming up with the side of God, even temporarily, would have no small impact on the three-way standoff. As I said, we think you having no involvement is best."
"..So you're telling me that just the two of you are going to take them back from Kokabiel? How reckless… Do you intend to die?"
Irina and Xenovia responded staunchly, unfazed by the idea of death.
"That's right."
"It's been determined that if the Fallen-Angels make use of the Excaliburs, they won't care if everything gets destroyed. At least as far as our role goes, we will remove the Excaliburs from the hands of the Fallen-Angels."
"For that, we dedicate our body and souls. The only thing that can stand up against an Excalibur is another Excalibur."
Rias appeared to sigh tiredly at their devout declaration.
"Your faith is uncanny as always… I wonder if it's possible for just the two of you?"
Xenovia responded as she and her comrade stood up.
"Of course we don't intend on just throwing our lives away."
"Such self-confidence. Could you perhaps have a secret weapon of some sort?"
"I'll leave that up to your imagination."
Issei interjected as the two exorcists were seemingly preparing to leave.
"Huh~, "keep your noses out of it", ey? Funny talk comin' from the preachiest motherfuckers on planet earth. I wonder how many times I've opened a door and heard a guy start yappin' about a jewish bum who lived two-thousand fuckin' years ago."
Xenovia glared daggers at Issei while Irina looked appalled by his words. Issei, suffice to say, was not the least bit bothered.
"...Since now is the perfect time, I'll ask you a question, Hyoudou Issei…. Are you friends with these Devils?"
The air must have gotten heavier because the room went silent for a moment.
It was the question of a century.
Rias lowered her eyes to the side, not knowing what answer to expect from Issei, but still knowing that he would never outright admit it. Even if they had made it this far, with all of the perceived progress that they may have made in their relationship with Issei, Rias knew… Issei would never admit to tha—
"That's right."
Rias eyes widened as those words reached her ears. When she turned to look at Issei, she saw only honesty in his dead-serious gaze.
"They're my friends."
Rias's head went empty, as she could do nothing but sit there with her mouth agape.
"And what of it? That bothers you, little girl?"
Xenovia continued to glare at Issei as he merely stared at her coldly.
"...In that case, we'll have to ask you to keep your nose out of this too. Can you do that?"
"Hmm~, who knows? I'm a dragon so I'm pretty impulsive. I could always end up doing something on a whim if I get bored."
"Something like that could have drastic consequences. You might even end up becoming an enemy of the church."
"Heh, sounds like a dream come true to me. You really think I'm afraid of you overzealous fucks?"
Xenovia narrowed her eyes, to which Issei did the same in response.
"It could affect your Devil "buddies" too.."
"Is that a threat, miss bluebird?"
Xenovia chuckled sarcastically.
"Heh.. So the Sekiryuutei is an ally to the Devils side after all, huh?"
"—I'm an ally to my allies, fucking brat. I don't give a shit about anyone else besides that. The rest of Devil kind can burn with you, for all I care."
Xenovia scoffed and began walking forward.
"Hmph. Well, whatever. Our business is concluded here. Let's go, Irina."
Irina gave one last look to Issei before walking, a look that Issei did not reciprocate. However, as the two exorcists went forward, Xenovia noticed a familiar person from the corner of her eye. A blonde haired girl.
"Hey, you."
Xenovia called to Asia, who was still trying to snap Raynare out of her shocked stupor even now.
"Meeting you at the Sekiryuutei's home would've been the last thing I expected, but.. If I recall, aren't you the witch Asia Argento?"
Asia's face went pale at being called that name. From beside Asia, Raynare seemed to gradually regain her bearings the more the seconds went by.
"That's right. I thought I recognized you at Ise-kun's house after all… I heard that you had drifted off somewhere but to think that you would have aligned with the Devils…"
Irina said it in a disappointed tone. Asia, not capable of finding the right words to say, stuttered constantly.
"Ah… I-I… Um, I-I am…"
"It's okay. I won't let the higher-ups know that you're here. That will only cause problems for you.. It'd be a real shock for people who were around the "saint" Asia to hear of your current situation."
"But for someone who was called a saint, to have fallen so far as to align with Devils… Do you still believe in our God?"
"Come on, Xenovia, don't ask her a question like that. If it's someone who's come to terms with Devils, then it couldn't be that way, right?"
"No. People may commit treason and still feel guilt, so there are those who do not lose their faith… I get that same feeling from you."
Asia responded with her head down towards the ground. Tears dropped onto the floor below her feet.
"...I have always believed in God. Even in the presence of Devils, His archenemies… I just can't let it go.."
Witnessing this, something within Raynare seemed to activate.
Killing intent.
"I see.. In that case, it's best that we kill you here."
[—?!]
Xenovia suddenly unsheathed her large Exaclibur.
"I will behead you now, in the name of our Lord. If it is our God, then he will surely reach out with his benevolent hand even to the most sinful."
—And so, something within Raynare snapped, and two jagged looking spears of light spawned in each of her hands.
"—?! No, Raynare!"
Rias called out in futility as time slowed to a crawl, with Raynare only a moment away from attacking the exorcist girl.
But the Fallen-Angel was the least of the exorcists' worries.
"—?!"
For some reason unknown to her, Xenovia's world went pitch black with darkness. There was nothing she could see in her vision, almost as if she went unexpectedly blind. It almost felt like an illusion. But this feeling was familiar…
She realized it too late.
It was the same feeling she had when she had first envisioned her own death by the hands of the Sekiryuutei.
—And so, by the time she realized it, a grisly, inhuman-like hand stretched out from the darkness and latched itself to her throat, lifting her into the air.
GRIP!
"I WARNED YOU… YOU SHOULD'VE JUST HELD YOUR TONGUE."
As soon as Issei had lifted Xenovia into the air by her throat, Irina sprung into action and held her sword against Issei's neck.
"Ise-kun! Put her d—!"
At the same time that Irina came up to threaten Issei, Xenovia spared no hesitation in trying to bring the Excalibur that was hanging down from her right hand up to slash Issei's face. But the moment these two events occured, Issei immediately grabbed onto the tip of Irina's blade and pulled it strongly, causing Irina to unexpectedly be brought "up close and personal" to Issei. By pulling Irina's blade, Issei was able to deflect Xenovia's Excalibur using the back of his gauntlet and then immediately transition into punching Irina square in the face. He successfully fended off both of their attacks in one movement, using only one hand.
DIN!
BAM!
Irina went flying across the room. Issei effortlessly snatched the Excalibur in Xenovia's hand and tossed it away like it was an undeserved toy. His ironclad grip progressively choked more and more air out of Xenovia as she struggled pointlessly against him.
"It doesn't matter who it is— Devils, Angels, Fallen-Angels, gods, humans, or even childhood friends— if they are enemies of Asia, then they are nothing but charcoal to my fire."
Issei's baritone voice explained it darkly. His unnervingly hostile gaze shifted over to Irina, who was holding onto her profusely bleeding nose that was spilling blood all over the newly refurbished floor. She looked back at him with a horrified expression, as if making eye contact with some inhuman creature.
"Or since there's two of you… I guess that would make you the charcoal, and your friend the meat roasted over an open flame.."
Irina's eyes widened in terror as Issei's own pitch black bulbs stared into her very soul. If eyes really were the windows to the soul, then Irina's was quaking in fear, and Issei's was as black as an onyx.
"A—! GA—!"
Xenovia thrashed hopelessly about as Issei's grip only continued to tighten ever so slightly with each passing second, slowly draining the life out of her like a leech. As time went on, the pace at which she kicked her legs was also decreasing.
"Ise, you can't! If you do this, it could affect all of the Devil world! You could start a war with heaven!"
"Don't worry, Rias. The blame will fall on the head of the Fallen-Angels. These two were on a suicide mission from the beginning. The church will never have known the difference."
"Ise-sa—!"
Asia was about to intervene as well, but Raynare came up to her and pulled Asia's head into an embrace, effectively covering Asia's eyes and ears using her body.
"It's okay, Asia. You don't have to worry about anything. Just close your eyes and pray."
Raynare then turned her dark gaze towards Issei, almost mirroring his own.
"Kill them. As a Fallen-Angel, I have the ability to make it look as if it was Kokabiel who did it. Just get rid of them and I'll take care of the rest."
To which Issei only responded with..
"Understood."
..And greatly tightened his grip on Xenovia's throat.
"A…. G…."
Gradually, Xenovia's struggle was coming to a halt and her vision was finally darkening. Irina sat on the ground in horror, wondering if she was really going to watch her comrade die so easily. Yet, as much as she wanted to do something, her body refused to move. It was as if looking into Issei's eyes and realizing the monster that he was and the things that he was capable of completely broke her spirit.
And so, inevitably, Xenovia's body went limp as her eyes rolled to the back of her head. Finally, she was..
"ISE-SAN, PLEASE!"
—Somehow, Asia had gotten herself out of Raynare's hold and ended up beside him. With countless tears falling out of her eyes, she pleaded desperately.
"PLEASE DON'T DO SUCH CRUEL THINGS ON MY BEHALF! PLEASE, I BEG OF YOU, HAVE MERCY!"
Never in his life had he seen Asia plead for something so desperately and with so much pain in her voice.
And so, inevitably, Issei released his grip on the exorcist and her unconscious body dropped onto the floor.
Thud!
Asia quickly went to administer healing on the girls neck and head, hoping that it wasn't too late.
"Please… Sob… Please don't die.."
Asia desperately attempted to heal the unconscious exorcist as Issei stared down at his hands in shock. He recalls the time that he originally had spared the lives of the Fallen-Angels in Raynare's group. He remembers what Raynare said to him.
("I-If you kill us, then w-what will Asia think of you?!")
While looking at the desperately weeping Asia, Issei cursed his own foolishness. Little did he know that Raynare was doing the exact same.
"...Ka…"
Asia's face brightened up as the blue haired girl began making sounds again. Then, all of a sudden, the girl's eyes shot open with a sharp gasp.
"HAA!"
Oxygen passed through her airways and filled her lungs, as if the passageways in her throat were suddenly reshaped to their original form. The depressed imprint of Issei's hand also gradually faded away from her neck.
"Cough! Cough!"
Xenovia sat up, coughing profusely as the air unexpectedly entered her lungs, leaving a stinging pain in her chest.
"A-Are you alright?"
Asia asked the exorcist with a sniffle as the tears on her eyes came to an eventual stop. For a moment, Xenovia didn't understand what was happening.
"..Huh? What ha…"
When what occurred had finally registered to her, she hopped onto her feet and immediately took hold of the Excalibur which had been cast aside.
(—?!)
Xenovia took up her sword and held a defensive stance against every other person in the room.
"W-Wait, please calm down! You don't have to be afraid anymore!"
"That's right! What happened before was a mistake, you're no longer in any danger!"
Both Asia and Rias tried to appeal to the guarded Xenovia. The poor exorcist's blade was shaking heavily in her grip. Her sights were only set on the beast who stood behind Asia menacingly. No, there were two of them. An inhuman man and woman who shared the same shadowy expressions of malice.
"..H-How dare you.. Do you have any idea what you've done?"
Xenovia glared at the group of enemies with a sharp gaze, but there was clearly fear in her eyes and her voice had a shaky tone.
"It looks like I arrived at the perfect time after all.."
—Then, at the entrance of the club room, a person unfamiliar to the exorcists but familiar to the ORC appeared.
"Yuuto!"
Rias announced her knight's presence with shock. It was the last person she expected to appear at a time like this, and also the last person she wanted in this meeting. Besides Raynare and Issei, that is.
"Pointing your swords at these people is the last thing you should do. Especially because of the dragon... Although, if you want an enemy to face, I would be honored to do it… No, in fact, it couldn't be anyone else but myself."
With each sentence, Kiba's tone grew darker and more menacing. And though he wasn't an exceptionally powerful Devil, the aura that was exuded from his body certainly conveyed his bloodlust, if nothing else.
"...Who are you..?"
Xenovia asked as Kiba approached Xenovia, only stopping a meter in front of her, meanwhile Raynare loomed eerily closer to the vulnerable Irina. Each of the exorcists now faced what seemed like their inevitable opponents..
"...What are you saying, Excalibur?"
Kiba lifted his darkened eyes up at Xenovia and grew a malevolent smile, sending a chill down the exorcist's spine.
"I'm your senpai.."
END
Boom, there it is! Hope you guys are happy, I tried to upload this chapter with not too much time since the previous one. Believe it or not, but I did want this chapter to be longer, go fucking figure huh lol. Old habits die hard. But nah. As I said, I'm in no serious rush to complete this arc because it's my favorite. I want to savor it. Plus, the chapter is already 18k words, it really wasn't itching to be stretched out any longer.
Anyway, looks like our "good old buddy, old pal" Bal has returned, and even more powerful than before. Odd, isn't it? He pops up out of nowhere and says he's looking for somebody, asks Issei to "take this person out", and then leaves? And wait, isn't it someone else who's supposed to be looking for this "VIP"? Seems like the guy's up to something… He is suspicious after all, isn't he…
So how many of you had theories that came close to Issei's explanation of his modified "Transfer" and "Consume" abilities? Before you ask, no, "Consume" does not have the capabilities of "Divide." Issei cannot use the "Consume" to tap or hit somebody once and then steal their power like Divide, nor can he siphon it away like Saji can either. But if something like, I don't know, Phoenix flames were shot at him, that might be converted into magical energy and transferred (or "consumed") by the Boosted Gear. Well, it'll all become clear with time either way.
Lots of character stuff happening lately. As always, Raynare (and Issei) seem to be at the forefront of it, but the development is pretty well balanced all around, I'd say. Lots of parallels between Issei and Kiba too. Perhaps they are more alike than they realize. Or maybe they do realize it and just choose to ignore it…
So did Issei and Irina's reunion go as you thought it would? Looks like Irina came home to see a lot of things she wasn't expecting. Issei's parents being dead, Issei being a giant ass motherfucker, and Issei being the fucking Sekiryuutei. She seemed optimistic about it for a bit tho, unlike her friend. Although, that certainly didn't last long lol. Xenovia curses herself for not realizing that Issei was involved with the Devils. I bet she curses herself for not keeping her mouth shut too lmao. Kiba, on the other hand, seems overjoyed. It was a good idea to listen in from outside the club room entrance after all. As for Raynare… she's become a bonafide "Asian guardian." The unforgiving monster in Issei must be so proud~
So yeah. That's all for this one. Go ahead and let me know what you think: What part of this chapter shocked you the most? Did you expect Bal to show up so soon? What the hell is he up to? What is becoming of Issei and Raynare's perceptions of each other? Did the reunion with Irina go as you expected? Did the meeting with the Devils go as you expected? What's gonna happen to these exorcists in the next chapter? What will Kiba do? And what will Issei do about him, if anything at all?
Read, Rate, Review go crazy!
Stay frosty.
