Draconian Fate Works - Volume 1

by Kratos1989

Honestly, I should have expected it. After all, my line of work would always be screwing with me when I don't need to. What I did not expect was getting myself into a world where Gods are alive and around, Angels and Demons are real, and the residents are really weird. I blame Zelretch for this. Rated T for the time being. (Yes, the title has been changed / Sporadic Updates)

8. Meeting with Higher Powers - Part 1

Disclaimer:

High School DxD is a Japanese light novel series written by Ichiei Ishibumi and illustrated by Miyama-Zero. The Fate series is owned by Type-Moon. I do not own any of the characters mentioned from both series. The only things I own are the ideas that popped into my head for this story and whatever original characters I would create for the story.

My main muses come from Gabriel Blessing and Marcus Galen Sands, authors of great works themselves. This story is meant to be a work of pure fiction made solely for fun, constructive reviews will be welcomed, flames will be ignored. Any references to characters in real-life are purely coincidental and should not be taken seriously. If I could make money out of my ideas, it would be nice...

Root Damn It!

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Published: April 21st 2017

Edited: September 18th 2017

Chapter 8: Meeting with Higher Powers Part 1

Dialogue-heavy, you have been warned.

Part 1

I glared at the offending item that was in front of me, a part of me hoping that I would spontaneously obtain Mystic Eyes that would grant me the ability of combustion to destroy the item before me. This has been with me for some time now since I have arrived to this world, constantly holding me back like a leash. This has been a thorn in my side and I would love to be rid of it in no time at all.

No time like the present.

"All right then." I nodded while as I took a light breath, "I choose this."

"Nope, that cannot work." Sona's voice cut my hope down like a tree. "The people from the Literature Club will argue that they have more rights."

"Then what about this?" I tried to pick another option only to be shot down by another person.

"That would only make the Kendo Club and Archery Club go together in arms and ask how the Judo Team got to have you in their group." Rias replied as she shook her head.

"Then what of…" Desperation was in my voice as I tried once more only for Tsubaki to interrupt.

"The cultural clubs would go on a witch-hunt at that point."

"Then…"

"The sport clubs will be sending each other to the hospital until next week." Akeno shot down my final choice.

"AH! Come on!" I threw the paper down in front of me on the table and raised my arms in exasperation. "How the hell can I join a club if you are basically rejecting every one of my choices?!"

"Because other clubs will step up their complaints, and honestly we already have enough craziness as it is without you joining one." Sona said as she shared in my exasperation. "I have heard of requests for talent from sports clubs, but this is becoming ridiculous. Everyone wants you in their clubs."

"Particularly the clubs which have zero male members. Quite a lady-killer you are, Emiya-kun." Rias commented while giving off a teasing smile. I groaned while putting a palm on my face.

Here was my problem: ever since the club orientation drive, the Kendo and Archery Clubs have been sending out their requests to have me in their clubs. It started with those two, but when I helped out in other clubs, they quickly found out I had talent in all areas, ranging from physical to intellectual and even domestic talents. That was when the number of requests rose exponentially to the point almost every club wanted me and the student council were getting swarmed with requests. This only gotten worse after the academy got wrecked and the members had to sort through the paperwork regarding memberships. The leaders of the clubs each tried to send in a form with my name on it, thus resulting with this situation where Sona was trying to get me to choose a club that would not have any arguments from the rest.

Give me a hunt with a Dead Apostle any day over this nonsense.

"So on that note, we can't just give you any club to get into. We need to make sure that you are in a club that no one would kick a fuss up." Sona said that as her final explanation. Too bad I got a counter for that.

"That would be most persuasive if not for the fact that both you and Rias tried that same trick." My words got both girls to look away with a red face while some of the others around me chuckled at that knowledge.

"Hmph~ so it seems that the princesses of the two clans would stoop to such low levels to get Shirou Emiya to their side." The voice of a certain excommunicated exorcist drew our attention to the blue haired knight dressed in the same academy uniform as us. "How disgraceful."

"Coming from someone who basically bailed out on getting caught by the Vatican? That is not exactly convincing." Akeno used her hand to cover the smirk on her mouth when Xenovia directed her glare at her. I merely replaced the palm to my face and shook my head.

It has been at least two and a half months since the invasion on the academy, and so far repairs were going good thanks to a combination of modern engineering techniques and a side-helping of magecraft to speed the process up. It has gotten to the point of allowing students to resume some of the lessons that did not require the use of the laboratories or the club rooms. It was during the first month that Sona and the others found out about the exorcists staying at the apartment next to mine during one of their visits. Not much to my surprise, Rias started to try and recruit them into her group with no such luck, one of her latest attempts ended with Xenovia bringing out Durandal and nearly destroying the apartment in the process.

I could tell that Sona wanted them in her Peerage as well, but that seemed to have taken the back seat when she realized that the two exorcists had no proper education or school life prior to coming here. She gave them the offer to transfer to the academy to see if they could 'integrate back into society' as she put it, and extended the offer to Mitelt as well. Irina jumped on the offer immediately for the prospect of reconnecting with her childhood friend, but Xenovia and Mitelt took a fair amount of persuasion before they willingly jumped on the wagon. So the two exorcists were now in the same year as me and Ise while Mitelt was at Koneko's class.

It was during this time that I was told that Xenovia was apparently adopted by Griselda Quarta and trained under her for many years before Irina came along, thus explaining some traits that reminded me of the woman during our short meeting over the Excalibur Shards.

But I digress. Time to go back to the present.

"Why can't you just let me off on this? I mean there are others with jobs beside me, not to mention." I used my thumb to point at Ise. "Before he became a devil, Ise and the other two did not join any clubs."

"For the other students, they were not as heavily fought over as you, nor did they caused this much craziness. And as for the three boys." Sona looked at Ise for a moment before replying in a flat tone. "I think you can understand why no clubs wanted them."

"I think I can understand that bit." Xenovia nodded her head and looking at Ise with a critical eye.

"Ise-kun, you really have gotten to the dark side!" Irina placed her hands on her cheeks and looked at Ise with disappointed eyes.

"Hey!" Ise let out an indigent sound while Rias patted his head with a wry smile.

"Be that as it may, the only viable option I have left aside from joining your clubs will be to create a club of my own." I grumbled as I looked at the form.

"True, though you would need some members for that." Sona pointed that out. "And I am not sure if I want to know the fallout that would come when you send out fliers for recruitment."

"Indeed, I am predicting a mass number of resignation papers from a lot of clubs." Rias said with a smirk.

"Bother…" I sighed heavily while massaging my forehead. This was so messed up; I mean, even my time back in high school was not this bad. I was allowed to have a job after quitting the Archery Club.

Then again, my previous school did not have Devils running the show.

"Okay, putting that aside, how are things going on with the different factions?" I decided to change the subject before I found myself getting waylaid by the devils.

"Well, that is a bit more manageable, though it is still delicate work on that side of matters." Rias let out a tired sigh while Sona removed her spectacles and rubbed the bridge of her nose in agreement. "At least the Grigori is willing to admit their mistakes of letting Kokabiel out of their sights, but the Church seems to be stone-walling us from contacting the Higher Angels, and some of the old people seemed intent on playing the blame game on the other factions or the other churches not in their circles."

"Seems some things won't change even with our departure." Xenovia remarked with a troubled expression. "The council of the Vatican have been a bit of an issue, with the old always being too caught up with the old ways. Many of the young members can't go against them due to the lack of support."

"The old stay back to plan and procrastinate, while the young go forth to lose their lives." I let out a dry snort as I thought back to my previous jobs as a part-time Executor. "No matter the day and age, no matter the location or society, that would always happen."

"That's… a pretty cynic way of thinking, Emiya-kun." Tsubaki remarked as she bit her lip lightly, the others looking on with uneasy expressions at my words.

"I am saying it as it is." I replied back while shrugging. It was somewhat problematic trying to maintain the appearance of a young teenager when the mind is that of an adult who has experienced the harshness of reality, doubly so for me since I traveled to other dimensions.

Damn I was getting old.

"Cough~ Oh yes, I almost forgot!" Rias tried to dispel the mood by taking an envelope out of her bag. "Here's your pay from our last hunt."

"Thanks." I took the envelope and checked the amount inside. "With this, I can now pay off the hospital bills for good."

"Has it been that long?" Tsubaki blinked her eyes as she checked her calendar. "Whoa, it is. It took you at least eight months to get that money for your bill huh?" She turned back to me while looking up and down. "Seriously, how injured were you to have that much of a bill to pay?"

"Erm~ a lot." I looked away to the side while remembering all of my scars, both old and new. I remembered the look of the nurses who were dealing with my bandages; half of them actually passed out from the number of scars I had and at least a quarter went to puke their meals out. Even the doctor who was in charge paled at the sight.

Then again, how would one describe the sight of wounds made by Death Apostles, crazy magus, the occasional nightmarish creatures and one courtesy of Lancer?

"Hmm… Now I am really curious what's underneath that set of clothes." Akeno remarked as she looked, smiling knowingly at the double entendre she made as she watched the others blush a bright red at her words. I merely rolled my eyes, having been mostly annulled by her thinking patterns. After all, Rin was the queen of innuendoes.

Seriously, what was with teenagers these days?

"You know Shirou, not that I am questioning anything or following stereotypes, but wouldn't you be asking for items like potions or something?" Ise asked as he scratched his head. "I mean, the ones in the games tend to ask for jewels, potions and stuff."

"Come to think of it, he has a point there." Sona remarked as she looked at me. "Granted there are some who ask for money, but you are the first one I know who asks solely for monetary rewards. Are you sure you don't need anything else?"

"It is only due to my bills that I ask for cash, most of the time I don't even bother with much items." I replied as I made sure to secure my payment in one of the dimensional pockets.

"But isn't there anything else you would want?" Momo asked as she looked at the dimensional pocket, likely trying to decipher its workings to get her own. "Granted you will still get paid, but I doubt you need more cash for your bills anymore, or rent if I calculated properly."

I opened my mouth only to pause for a moment, then close it as I pondered on her words. It was true that I would now be able pay off my debt to the hospital and the police officers, and that I don't necessary need more cash. Granted I could use the cash to pay my rent, but that didn't really help my situation with getting back home. Not to mention with all the recent creatures I had to face, I needed an edge.

Maybe…

"Actually, there may be something else I could ask for." I maintained a neutral tone as I watched the others adopt curious expressions with the exception of Sona and Rias whom have the looks of one smelling a potential bargain in play. "As you probably know, I was not given proper education in the arts of magecraft, whatever I have is just a bunch of spells that I had to learn on the road to fight with. I would like to study more on the proper arts and perhaps get some materials to experiment but I don't have access, so…"

"You would like to attain some books regarding certain types of practices?" Sona surmised my idea. "If I recalled, your style is more instinctive as opposed to the more-known calculations. Unusual but perhaps suitable considering your brand of fighting."

"Right."

"That can be done, but what would you give in return?" That ever present glint in her Rias's eyes was really disturbing, then again she was a creature older than me, but coupled that with her current appearance of a beautiful teenage girl, and it was a rather disturbing look of interest and lust mixed together in a seductive package. My concern seemed to be shared with the ex-exorcists as they made to move by my sides and watch her intendedly, Xenovia looking for an excuse for [Durandal] to make an appearance.

… And now my mind suddenly created an image of me in some mafia clothing with dark glasses and smoking a cigar in a chair while Xenovia and Irina were on my legs wearing revealing cocktail dresses.

Damn my teenage hormones!

"Did you not ask about some charms before?" I made to change the target from my soul to something they had discussed beforehand. "Something along the lines of shield and detection charms?"

"Those and offensive type charms." Sona nodded her head. "I noted some of your charms and runes are quite detailed and some of which are something which could be helpful in a lot of things. That was proven after the Regeis incident."

I would agree, even if some of said charms were used in manners not intended for their purposes. I should know, because a certain Chicago magus decided to use a heat spell as a cooling item for his duster of all things.

"I believe I have the ideal deal for you, Emiya-kun." Sona declared while adjusting her glasses, now firmly in negotiation mode. "How would you like to be schooled in the proper art of magic? This will tie in with your request of tomes and items."

"Really?" I blinked at her question, but that got taken over by Rias.

"Sona, you dare to take such a valuable target away from me!" Rias rounded on Sona with an incredulous tone. "I have yet to make an offer!"

"I dare say he won't be taking your offer at all." Sona gave a smile that seemed ever so smug before turning back. "Aside from the proper teachings, you wanted materials correct?"

"Provided these can be found." Good thing I prepared one list of such items in the event I made a deal with Sona. Granted these should be the more common items in the use of alchemy, but I dared not put in the more esoteric items in the list in case someone found the list and tried to research on them. I pulled out my notebook and pulled out the slip to hand over to her.

"These are… rather specific items…" Sona hummed as she look through the list, with Rias, Tsubaki and Akeno looking over her shoulders to view.

"No kidding." Rias whistled as she looked at the names. "Some of this is pretty rare even amongst the magic circles and the higher devils. Furthermore these aren't items you would mess with in any sort of ritual." She turned to me, her curiosity now very evident on her face. "What are you planning to do with these?"

"My own work." I gave that simple reply. "So is it possible?"

"Hmm…" Sona looked at the list carefully before looking up. "Do you have a list of the books you wish to view?" With a flourish, I produced another slip of paper, this time a list of books I would not mind having while ensuring I keep the more important ones in my head. She took that and studied it too, before turning to her group. "Momo, Reya, I need your help."

"What do you need, Kaichou?" Momo asked as they got to her.

"I would need you two to hunt down some of these items on these lists." Sona handed them the lists and pointed out the ones I needed. "I believe these are ones you are more familiar compared to me."

"This is quite a range of items to be asking for." Momo commented as she looked through on her side.

"Indeed, this is going to be quite a quest to find, let alone pay." Reya nodded as she read the titles.

"If it is cost, I should be able to afford some of it." I said while thinking about the valuables in my dimensional pockets. Some would be valuable as ingredients for potions while others are rare enough to make Rin consider exchanging some of her work with me just to get them.

"I don't think it would be that much of an issue." Sona replied as she considered the offer. "And in some ways, this would also help to cover the training you are giving us."

"Right. When are we doing that exactly?" I smirked lightly as I watched some of the members blanched at the reminder while the Occult Club gave them sympathetic expressions.

"Soon." Sona coughed into her hand before looking at all of us. "Okay I think we have discussed long enough, you guys should head back to class now." We nodded and started to leave the room one by one, giving me time to consider my options. It was a risk to be asking from them, but so far my working relationship with them has been helpful and it was about time for me to start finding some of the materials to fix the Kaleidou-Amulet.

I should not be sticking around too long in one world. This was the warning given by Rin, Luvia and in a rare moment of seriousness, Zelretch. Something about 'interfering with the natural flow of events in that world'? It was like introducing a new species into an environment that had no natural enemies, it would flourish and if not kept in check, would destroy the environment.

I had to make sure to hold back on my spells.

"Erm, Emiya-kun?" My thoughts were stopped as I turned to find Reya calling out to me with a slightly uneasy expression. "Can I have a moment of your time?"

"Sure." I nodded while noting the manner she was fidgeting. "What is the problem?"

"Regarding some of the books in question…" Reya paused as she fiddled with her hands. "Which are the ones you need urgently?"

"Erm… I suppose the ones on Phantasm Astrology would be something I would need from the start." I gave that reply, figuring that I would need those for my return to my world. There were a couple of aspects for dimensional travel that I needed to understand astrology for some odd reason, half of which was for the purpose of dissuading those trying to abuse his abilities and to create better portals to other worlds that apparently needed celestials to access, and the other half was something Rin and Luvia insisted was his way of messing with us.

I was inclined to agree.

"I see…" She bit her lip before her expression shifted, as though she had made up her mind about it. "Then I might know a place where we can get them quickly. Would you like to meet up at Shibuya Station this Saturday?" Before I could answer that, someone else did that for me.

"EEHH!" Meguri's yell echoed across the corridor drawing the attention of the few people in the area. "You are going on a date with Emiya-kun?!"

"WHAT!" The sounds of girls' screams rocked the corridor as they turned to look at us. There was only one thing I could think of in this situation with the sounds of Ise and Saji snickering in the background.

'I am so screwed right now.'

Part 2

Come on, you can do this, Shirou Emiya.

It was going to be a regular outing, not necessarily a date.

Just an outing with a girl.

An outing with a very attractive girl.

An outing with a very attractive devil girl with a very nice personality.

An outing with a very attractive devil girl with a very nice personality and someone whom I admit to having a bit of an attraction to.

Yeah…

Oh who the hell would believe that?

I mentally sighed as I glanced at the nearby clock while waiting at the designated spot. It was a little weird to me to be thinking that, but considering I had nothing else to do, my thoughts went to that direction.

I was currently at the designated spot where I was to meet Reya. Not much had happened during the week, aside from meeting the apparently absent Bishop of the Gremory Group. Evidently he was placed under a house arrest of sorts due to his power that was uncontrollable and remained so until Rias gained a certain level of strength that suited her control over the servant. When I first heard about the servant being a vampire, I had my guard up almost immediately, thinking whether this was a possible Death Apostle equivalent of this world, but all my expectations literally shattered when I laid eyes on him.

A vampire cross-dressing trap with the ridiculous ability to stop time. God Almighty, the possible stories the otakus would write about in Japan.

Aside from that, there was evidently a sudden visit I did not know of made by both the Vanishing Dragon and the leading leader of Grigori that sent the others on a bit of a frenzy due to the suddenness, not to mention the host of the Vanishing Dragon called Vali making the claim that he and Ise were destined to fight one another.

Great.

Then moving to matters not deadly but possibly more detrimental to my mental health, that little bit of info regarding Reya going out with me to buy the books I needed had spread all over the academy and got exaggerated to the point of rampancy. Currently the most current rumor was me and Reya going to a love hotel to consummate our love before going for our marriage in the Bahamas where we would have our children.

Seriously, what was with teenagers these days?

"Emiya-kun!" My thoughts were cut off by the call out and I turned my head to greet the girl whom I was to meet, only for me to have the words died on my tongue as I took in the sight before me. During that brief moment, Reya caught up to me and smiled before pausing at my expression. "Emiya-kun, are you okay?"

I could not answer her immediately as my mind had embarrassingly shut down at the sight before me: Reya was wearing a light green sundress that had very thin shoulder straps to show off the shoulders and arms she had and was long enough to reach her knees. It was still very modest, but coupled with her figure it was enough to show a bit of skin and a hint of cleavage. She had remove the braid from her hair, letting it flow freely down her back and giving off the impression of someone who was ready to take on the day.

She was really looking different in a very good way…

Damn it hormones, you should be under control!

"I am sorry, I just…" I took a quick moment to still my emotions before answering her. "I don't often see you in casual clothes, so this is quite a change in perspective for me."

"Ah, I see." Reya blushed lightly at the comment I made. "Well it has been a while since I last went out so this is a little different for me too." She looked at me with an expression that reminded me a little of Sakura when she was shy and wanted an opinion. "Do I look weird?"

"Nope, you look good in that dress." I answered and got a response of Reya's blushing going further around her face.

"By the way." I motioned with my thumb with a wry smile. "Do you have issues with our fellow classmates?" Reya giggled and tilted her head in the direction where she came from, where I could see the few people who were following her with not so elaborate disguises.

"I have to walk a fair bit in order to lose a majority of our 'fans', but they are very persistent." Reya let out a rare teasing smile at her story. "How about you?"

"Mine started around the station." I remarked as I looked at a window to get the reflection of the group behind me, trying to hide behind some trees. "And it seems to be growing in numbers."

"Well, let's not disappoint them." Reya walked next to me and pointed in a general direction. "Shall we move to our objective, Mister Emiya?"

In a rare mood of mischief that Luvia insisted was proof of me getting influenced by Zelretch, I offered my arm to her with a smile. "By all means, Miss Kusaka. Let's commence with our date." As she looped her arm around mine and we started to move, I could almost hear the gasps and the sounds of wood breaking from our spies.

This was going to be a long day for me, having to deal with my currently uncertain emotions, teenage drama, female stalkers...

And someone who has been following me for the past few minutes.

=()=

It took the better part of the hour to move about, but we were finally able to get away from most of our pursuers with only one teleportation spell in use. It was quite amusing to see their confused expressions as they tried to relocate us, but it did get a bit tedious with some of the more determined individuals. They were the reason we had to use a teleportation spell as we had to move a fair distance from our objective before we could teleport out of their sight and to the intended area.

It was about an hour later that we got out of the secret shop that sold the tomes and books I needed on Phantasm Astrology along with a few others that caught my interest at quite a bargain. Apparently Reya was a regular at the shop so the owner gave her quite a discount. I also found out that she was someone the owner and some of the assistants cared for a lot as I got dragged off to a corner and introduced to some of their weaponry while they asked what were my intentions and the possible consequences if I were to hurt her.

Damn, if this was the reaction for the shopkeeper and his assistants, I dread the moment I would meet her family.

After that trip, there was a small awkward moment where we were unsure of what to do next. Considering the slightly despondent expression on Reya's face, I decided to wing it and suggest that we continue our outing considering it was the weekend. That certainly brought a smile to her face and we started to go to a few other places in the area.

And thus, our current location at an arcade.

"That was a fluke and you knew it!" I said after we exited the arcade where Reya showed her aptitude of dancing by completely demolishing me and a few others in Dancing Revolution.

"Whatever floats your boat Emiya-kun~" She replied with a sing-song voice and a notable skip in her step. Honestly the personality she had when she got to dancing was a stark difference from her usual appearance, but it was not a bad thing. It was quite refreshing.

"Well, at least we have all these tickets." I waved the slips of paper in my hand. "What say we treat ourselves to some of the food around here?"

"Sure." Reya pointed to the nearby food-court. "We can take a break over there for lunch." I agreed to her request and we made our way to the area, where I found yet another part of her that she would not show at the academy: her distinct love for burgers. Again it was a little jarring, yet it was still a good thing, and I had a bit of a laugh watching her try to clean off the juices and sauce from her mouth. This was a pretty good outing in spite of a few hiccups.

One of which happened to involve a few guys who tried to hit on Reya and could not take a damn hint about her not wanting to be near the both of us. I actually had to get a little physical with them in order to 'help' them understand that.

"Are you okay, Emiya-kun?" Reya asked worriedly as she used a wet napkin to dab at one of my bruises.

"I'm fine." I winced as the broken skin made contact with the wet napkin.

"But you could have avoided some if not all of the hits, so why didn't you?" Reya asked while giving me an expression that reminded me of Sakura.

"I could do so, but that would leave you or someone else to take the hit." I answered her query. "Besides, it gave me the excuse for self-defense and it made the security guards arrest them on grounds of assault."

"Still, you could have avoided this." Reya pushed her opinion as she tried to clean her napkin of blood from the tap we were seated next to.

"Indeed, he should have avoided this."

A familiar voice drew our attention to Sona who was standing a few meters from us, dressed in a light black shirt, blue jeans and wearing an expression that made me think of a mother wanting to scold a child. Behind her, Tsubaki, Meguri, Momo and Tsubasa dressed in plain clothes waved at us with either smiles of mischief or looking slightly guilty.

"Kaichou, why are you here?" Reya asked as she got up from her spot.

"We happened to be in the area shopping for supplies when we felt your energy spike. We figured you were in danger and came to investigate." Sona said while adjusting her glasses.

"We are totally not following you around to see what you two are up to on your date." Tsubasa said that in a tone that would be serious if not for the shit-eating grin on her face.

"In any case, the area is clear, so you can use your magic to heal your wounds." Momo looked around to show that the common people were avoiding the area without realizing it. Sometimes it was disturbing at how easy these devils were able to cast their mental spells so efficiently without anyone noticing.

I lightly shook my head and concentrated my Prana to the injuries, feeling them sting lightly before they started to turn smaller and paler in color. After a while, they vanished completely.

"You know, I have wondered about that glow you produce each time you use your abilities" Tsubaki noted as she looked at me. "Asia said that the glow was similar to the time she was being healed before being converted into a devil."

"Indeed, that reminds me of what Rias had told me, regarding a certain sheath that you used to prolong her life when [Twilight Healing] was removed from her." Sona threw in her remark as she watched me carefully. "Per chance that ability is related to that?"

"Maybe." I cracked my neck lightly to release the kink in my bones. "So I'm guessing you have gotten your supplies?"

"Most of them at least, they are for the school." Sona nodded her towards Momo. "But we are also trying to find some of the items you wanted on your list. It is quite an adventure to find them."

"I see." I nodded as I looked at the nearby food-court. "Tell you what: since you girls are here helping me out, why don't I get you something to eat? My treat for helping me out."

"Okay!" Meguri waved her hand enthusiastically.

"Great. Why don't you girls grab a spot?" I pointed with my thumb. "I just to grab some stuff before coming back to you."

"No problem." Tsubasa wrapped an arm around Reya and started to pull her away. "While we are at that, we can get some details regarding your little date~" I sighed as I watched my partner getting dragged away with a blush so red she could be spewing steam out of her ears. If there was one thing that would not change anywhere, it was the relentless gossips of girls.

Now to deal with the other problem.

I turned around the corner and immediately used my Prana to go at high speeds, dispensing a few charms along the way to attach themselves to the lampposts and walls around me, activating their passive abilities to ward people away from the place I was headed to. After a few seconds, I got to an empty lot that was near some abandoned buildings, perfect for what I had in mind.

"You can come out now, there is no one to interrupt our conversation."

For a while there was silence, then slowly a figure appeared behind a lamppost on my right side and walked to face me. The person before me was a young man with oddly dark pale hair and blue eyes that seemed to be watching into your soul. He wore a dark green V-neck shirt with a high-collared black leather jacket over it and a pair pf burgundy jeans with a silver chain drooping down the length of them, and black leather chaps with three bands encircling his right calf, and black shoes with black buckles. His stance was totally open, but there was an air of confidence around him that spoke highly of the situation.

And then there was the scent he had.

This scent, it was an odd mix of a human and a devil, but at the same time the scent of the fellow that appeared after my fight with Kokabiel.

The Vanishing Dragon, Albion.

"So what gave me away?" The guy asked as he continued to walk towards me.

"You have been following me since the camera shop I went to before going to the station. You did pretty well in covering a huge part of your energy and scent, but you have issues containing your excitement at times." I spoke while discreetly checking the area for anymore stragglers. "At first I thought you would go after Reya, but that would not be the case since you were watching over the fight I had with those troublemakers."

"I see." The man paused a few feet from me. "I think you know who I am, don't you?" The guy spoke again with a grin.

"The one who came for Kokabiel and the other rogue priests." I looked at him while preparing my mental trigger. "Also the supposed host of the dragon who is the rival of Draig."

"Hmm..." He merely shrugged in agreement as he circled around me, his eyes occasionally eyeing the miniature spear around my neck that was pulsing in response to his intent. "This will be our second meeting, but our first 'face-to-face' moment. Vali Lucifer at your service." He gave a mock bow while maintaining that smirk.

"Indeed." I looked around, thankful that I had prepared a few charms for repelling people from the area and a few charms for memory wiping. I could tell that this fellow was going to cause some trouble, but hopefully not too extreme. I would have to overlook the bit of him having the same last name as one of the Maous for the time being.

"So it is true, you are the one who took down Regeis and taken his Sacred Gear." Vali came back full circle in front of me and looked at me in the eye. "Not bad for a human."

"I doubt that is all you want to confirm?"

"No." Vali's smile became more predatory. "It isn't."

'DANGER!' My mind screamed at me just as my body moved to make some distance, just in time to avoid the dropkick Vali did in a blink of an eye. His leg barely missed my head and slammed into the ground, creating a huge crater from the impact. Without pausing for a moment, he pushed forward to aim a jab at my chest, making a small tear in the shirt when I went to dodge by the side.

"Not bad reflexes." Vali mused as he straightened his posture. "How about your footwork?"

This time I was ready for the sidekick he delivered and stopped it by trapping his leg between my elbow and my leg, though the amount of force he put in was enough to make me grit my teeth and strain my other leg to keep upright. Without pausing, I threw a straight jab to his leg, forcing him to buckle and giving me enough leverage to push him off and distance to bring out Kanshou and Bakuya. With a quick dash, I went to attack him with Kanshou only for him to raise an arm and block the blade without any armor. I had to make due with a small cut on his arm as I pushed harder before jumping back.

"Oh~" Vali mused as he looked at the cut before looking back at me. "Most weapons can't harm me so quickly, yet your blade is able to make a small but deep cut." The cut glowed before closing up to leave a small scar behind. "Now then, let's try something else."

With a leap that broke the ground, he let loose a series of punches and kicks that forced me into defense, each of his strikes feeling like I was getting hit by a truck, not helped that his movements were so fluid and random that a couple got past my defense. With a thought, [Hell's Trident] came into play and stabbed the ground between us to give me more breathing room. Grabbing one of the spears, I poured a bit of my aura to break it before throwing it right at his face.

Got him now!

[Divide! Divide! Divide!]

Before the spear could reach him, the speed of the spear dropped and the aura in it seem to plummet to a level barely enough to power a spell and that was proven when Vali merely knocked it out of his way, breaking it easily with a mere touch.

"That was a little dangerous." He smiled as metallic wings of blue light appeared behind him, the mere presence sending off waves of aura that made every alarm bell in my head go off. "Now then, let's try something else."

Ah come on!

The devil once again moved forward, this time a whole lot faster than earlier, forcing me to create several weapons to guard my sides. This was going nowhere for me!

"Ba~ Bump!"

This feeling… I wonder?

I jumped back to gain a bit more room before opening up one of the dimensional portals, and without a moment to pause, seven swords rushed out of the portal and struck Vali by the wings, causing him to stumble and giving me time to regroup.

"Oh~" Vali straightened himself and looked at the demonic swords that hovered around me, each one letting out a pulse of demonic energy that was sending out bloodless. "Looks like you have other trinkets it seems."

I let him talk while looking at the swords in question; I actually forgot about those swords I have procured from Kiba during the training camp, but it seemed they were eager to help me in my fight. I held out both of my hands, having the two swords come into my hand. "Sorry about this guys, I forgot about you for a while." I whispered softly and in response the swords seemed to pulse softly in my grasp, sending a comfortable warmth through the contact. I looked up at Vali and tightened my grip.

"Let's do this. [Sonic Flash] and [Tear's Descent]"

The swords in my hands pulsed in agreement as I rushed forward to meet Vali using the speed sword, then with a quick flick, slashed his body in seven places in quick succession before using [Tear's Descent] to call forth a column of water to push Vali away from me. Once the distance was made, I changed the water column into spears of ice to attack him. He did not seemed to put off by that and proceeded to break a few with his bare hands.

Big mistake.

"BOOM!"

The ice pieces glowed and blew up, setting off a cascading set of explosions to hit him point blank. I took that moment to project my bow and a sword to break into an arrow before firing it straight at him.

[Divide! Divide! Divide!]

Again?!

The power of the broken phantasm dropped dramatically before a hand came out of the smoke and grabbed the projectile by the tip and threw it aside, the movement disturbing the smoke and revealing an uninjured Vali.

"Now you are getting a bit more serious." Vali smirked as he used his arm to push away the remaining smoke. "But not enough. Use the Excalibur Shards, I want to see it in action."

No thank you, they do not want to meet you.

"Switch! [Siren's Claws]" I released my grip on [Tear's Descent] and in its place another one of Kiba's blades took over, this time a serrated blade with odd holes in the blade. With a swing, the sword let out a screech that reverberated in the area and caused some of the windows in the area to crack and break from the vibrations. As expected, Vali reacted very badly and covered his ears to stifle the noise. I rushed forward with [Sonic Flash] and used [Siren's Claws] to cut his arm before using the main ability of the blade which was to use the sound to increase the vibrations of the sword, thereby upping the damage to both bones and muscles.

"GAH!" Vali reacted to my attack too quickly and pushed me back, resulting in a bit of muscle tearing off his arm and getting stuck on the sword while disrupting my attack. Before I could push on, he vanished and reappeared on a nearby rooftop.

"Well, this is a problem." Vali looked at the gaping wound with a raised eyebrow. He lifted his hand and directed it at the wound which started to glow a light green before it started to close up and sealed itself, leaving behind a minor bruise.

"Quite an achievement. You are actually doing more damage as we go on." Vali looked at me with glowing eyes. "But it seems I need to get you more motivated so that you can bring out the Excalibur."

"[Aegis] Type 2!" I called out my own version of the Greek shield the moment he vanished and just in time to prevent a few punches and kicks that appeared at the same time all around me, the limbs hitting the hexagonal shields around me. I did not let this chance go away and proceeded to use [Sonic Flash] to get away from him before I projected a bunch of swords and spears and bombard the area to try and get him. It partially worked as his attacks stopped and he reappeared with at least one dagger in his back and leg.

"I forgot about that." Vali pulled out the weapons and threw them to the floor. "They are going to be a problem that needs to be rectified."

[Divide! Divide! Divide!]

The number of weapons around drastically reduced and I barely had time to register that when Vali conjured up some magic circles around me and fired out several bolts of lightning and fireballs at once. With a curse, I braced myself for the impact when without warning, several portals appeared around me, making the attacks pass through them before closing off.

What just happened?

"There is only one guy who does that." Vali let out an annoyed 'hum' as he turned his head to the right. "So it looks like your group is keeping tabs on him as well?"

"Indeed." A voice reverberated in the empty lot before a line of bright line appeared a few feet from my left side, extending from the ground to my height before it expanded to reveal a young man with black hair and wearing glasses, dressed in an odd outfit consisting of a school uniform and robes similar to those from the Clock Tower. "Though this is more of a side visit for me."

"You guys have a way of ruining my fun." Vali said with a dangerous light in his eyes. The teen ignored him and turned to face me with a light bow of his head.

"Apologies for the sudden intervention, but I felt that you would need some help." He greeted with a smile and a hand on his chest.

"… Thanks for the assist. So what is your name, or should I just call you Mister Potter?" I quipped as I positioned myself to have both in my view while preparing the weapons in my mind to deploy. I could tell that this guy has a Sacred Gear, but for some odd reason the 'flavor' reminded me of Zelretch.

"My name is Georg, descendent of Johann Georg Faust. I prefer not to be called that blasted name from that caricature of magic literature" The human introduced himself as he adjusted his glasses with a finger. "It is a pleasure to meet a fellow magician, Shirou Emiya."

"That name, the alchemist who made a contract with the devil called Mephistopheles?" I kept a keen eye on him while sparing an occasional glance for Vali who was merely standing and letting him talk.

"The very same." He smiled lightly at my words. "You are a hard man to keep track on."

"Indeed, since you are interrupting my fight." Vali commented as he stepped forward to continue only for to leap back when fire and lightning from where he was standing a moment ago.

"Forgive me, but I would rather you don't harm him for now." Georg stood a little closer to me as he looked at Vali with a steady eye. "After all Cao Cao has his eyes on him."

"Hmph~ looks like our mage is really popular." Vali cracked his neck lightly as he looked at us. "Then again, there is a lot of videos on him and his unusual fighting style."

"What?" My body stiffened at his words. What did he mean by that?

"It seems our friend has no clue regarding his rise in popularity as of late." Vali smirked as the both of them watched my reaction. "Allow me to illuminate you: your little fight with Kokabiel was broadcasted to a lot of people both inside and outside of the Three Factions, and there are quite a few groups who are wondering which cabal you are from. After all, there aren't that many magicians who fight close-combat or practice such unique spells, and certainly no one else who could combine the Excalibur Shards and take on a Higher Being from the Bible."

I could not respond to those words as my mind was now racing at a high rate to comprehend my situation. This was really bad for me; I should be laying low and out of sight, not broadcast my abilities to everyone who would be trying to kill me in this world. Not to mention the possibility of mages having the same mentality as the ones back at the Clock Tower.

Crud.

"Now that the confusion is out of the way..." Vali stepped forward with his wings glowing brightly. "Move Georg."

"I will have to decline." The magus slowly raised his arms as magic circles appeared around us and the space around my right started to distort. "As a fellow magician and as a Hero of our faction, I will not stand aside and watch a potential die."

Whatever reasons they have, just as long as they were distracted with one another, I would just make my way out then…

'CRASWQA!'

"Oh no you don't, Shirou Emiya." Vali looked at me with a smirk as the ground before me crumbled heavily. "You will not be getting away so easily."

Great.

"Mister Emiya, this is less than ideal for us to meet, but hopefully you are open to my idea of working together to push Vali back." Georg adjusted his spectacles again as he looked at me. "I have a proposition to make to you and I would prefer that you are alive for that."

"…" I looked at him with narrowed eyes before looking back at Vali. This was not in my favor but I would have no choice but to agree to this arrangement, at the very least I would see how these two would fight for future reference. I just need to keep mine to a bare minimum.

"I don't suppose you can limit the damage to the area?" I asked as I prepped both [Hell's Trident] and my mental trigger, remembering how this guy made Vali's attacks disappear.

"I think I can do something." Georg gave a confident smile as he raised his arms.

"Don't hold back too much on my account." Vali said as his wings started to expand and glow brightly. "This is going to be a good fight." With that, he flew forward to deliver several punches at me and Georg with a few magic circles appearing behind him. I barely blocked his attack with my swords while Georg seemed to teleport out of his reach before attacking Vali with his set of spells. I observed his fighting style while dealing with Vali's attacks and they were certainly interesting in my opinion. He used layers upon layers of defensive spells to deal with his physical attacks, and then he used that weird ability to open up portals to deal with those that got past his shields.

My thoughts got rudely interrupted as Vali vanished from his spot and reappeared behind me, forcing me to duck under the spinning kick he delivered and to make some distance away from him. I was hoping to limit my attacks, but this guy was not letting up.

"Bring into my hands, [Married Spear Custom]. " I called out multiple copies of the twin spears and started to stab the area around us, ensuring they alternated with one another. Not an easy task considering Vali was really doing his hardest to hit me.

"Break, [Claíomh Solais]!" I called out the Noble Phantasm and detonated it to temporarily blind Vali and hopefully alert the others of my position. Using the distraction I created [Thunder Custom] and threw in the center of the circle I made with the spears. "Move Georg!" The magus needed no more motivation and quickly teleported outside of the circle, leaving me to activate the spear and start charging the others around us.

"Let's do this." I threw several charms that attached themselves to some of the surrounding spears before jumping out and touching the nearest spear. "Rip the tongues from liars, the innards from the greedy and the souls from sinners. Take down the enemy and send him into Hell. Destructive Art Number 10: Thunder Palace!" The thunder spear immediately glowed and let loose a torrent of electricity that hit and surrounded the other spears, making glow brightly while increasing the voltage levels to new heights while creating a wall of lightning to stop Vali from leaving the cage. The white spear versions started to vibrate and dislodged themselves from the ground, levitating high into the air before they started rotating and spinning in the air, creating a ball of plasma in the center and send it crashing to the ground, creating a huge fireball that was barely held back by the wall.

Now let's see how his gear worked.

[Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide!]

Again, that weird announcement followed by the diminishing Prana levels that reduced the power of the attack from something that could destroy whole cities to one that would only power an electric kettle. The wall of fire and lightning diminished greatly to reveal Vali in slightly burnt clothes and now spotting several burns and broken skin.

"That was certainly new." Vali panted as he dusted off some of the soot off his clothes. "A little different from Kokabiel's but clearly an original spell."

"Indeed, and to use it together with [Hell's Trident] is certainly something to learn." Georg gave his opinion as he appeared from wherever he came from. "I now have some ideas for my own use."

Great, just what I needed. But at least I now got some idea as to what their abilities were firsthand. Vali's [Divine Dividing] worked along the lines of halving the powers and size of attacks, while Georg's Sacred Gear suggested the creation of the dimensions or at least opening a path to another dimension.

Seriously, what was the Christian God thinking, creating a gear that has the power of freaking Zelretch in it?! If word got out of this back in my world, the magus all over the world would tear everyone's limbs apart just to get it.

"Now then." Vali widened his wings even more. "I think we have enough of a warm-up. Bring out the Excalibur and let's get it on." I was about to try something when a pulse of energy made me look to the side a little, making me smile a little as I recognized the energy.

"That would be the idea I suppose." I paused as I let down my arms much to their confusion. "But it seems the bystanders have something else in mind." It only took them a moment to realize what I meant before several fireballs slammed into the ground before us, separating us from one another.

"Emiya-kun!" I turned to find Reya, Sona and the others rushing to my side, their eyes hardening at the sight of Vali and Georg. In no time they got in front of me and readied their spells and weapons.

"Why are you here Lord Vali? The meeting is not ready for a few more days." Sona asked with an authoritative tone. "And who are you?" She turned to Georg who merely bowed lightly at her.

"My name is Georg, a fellow magician who wished to extend an invitation to Mister Emiya." He said while extending an arm to me. "However, I found this rude fellow trying to attack him and so intervened otherwise."

"Very fluent with your words, Georg." Vali said without bothering to hide his intentions. "But I doubt that you were going to invite him in a civil manner?"

"At least it would be a more civilized manner compared to your approach." Georg spoke back without missing a beat. "But alas, it seems that my mission is being hindered by many 'unnecessary factors'." He said while looking at the girls with narrowed eyes before directing them at me. "I shall have to take my leave, but you may expect me in the near future with an invitation at hand." With that, a line of light appeared behind him and widened to reveal some dark portal to which he stepped inside and just as quickly it closed before we could stop him.

"Well, he is gone." Vali looked back to us. "Now what to do?"

"You do realize that if you wish to continue your aggressions, we would take it that you are invading our territory and attacking on of our allies." Sona said while the others gripped their weapons and their prana levels started to rise.

"Oh, I was just interested in our mutual friend here, after all he is becoming quite a celebrity to a lot of people, and I for one wanted to meet him in person." Vali replied with a shrug.

"Considering the amount of murder you attempted, I doubt that is your reason." I snorted loudly much to some of the other's amusement. "You just want to have a good fight don't you?"

"Oh~" The playful smirk was now back on his face. "You know me so well. Perhaps we can get to know each other better over a cup of coffee?"

"Thanks, but I don't swing that way pal." I could not help the flat tone in my voice nor could I help the raised eyebrow as Reya and Meguri stood a little closer to me with their eyes looking very deadly.

"Shame, but at least we get to have a little spar between us." Vali said as a magic circle appeared by his feet. "As much I would like to continue our fight, she is right. I can't continue being the aggressor. Until we meet again." With that, he disappeared in a bright flash of light, leaving us in the middle of the street and with one question in our minds.

What the hell was going to happen?

=()=

"Welcome back, oh fearless leader~" The monkey yokai called out as he watched Vali appear from the magic circle. "How was your trip downtown~ HOLY CRAP! What the heck happened to you?"

"It was okay, Bikou." Vali replied as he stepped out of the circle. "It was a little boring since the town is too peaceful for my taste, but it got better when I found myself meeting Shirou Emiya and we got into a fight."

"The guy who fought Kokabiel?" Bikou walked alongside Vali as they continued talking, subtly noting all the tears on his clothes and the number of wounds he has. "This guy has been appearing all over the area as of late. But how is he in person?"

"Someone who would most certainly be a challenge." Vali answered as he thought back to his fight. "He was holding back a lot since we were in a residential area, he is certainly resourceful to deal with that minor setback. Also the bit of him having [Hell's Trident] alone is false, he seemed to have acquired a few demonic swords created with a Sacred Gear elsewhere."

"Well, that is definitely going to be a question mark." Bikou remarked. "Does that mean he can get other Sacred Gears? That would mean yours could be a prime target."

"Indeed." Vali frowned internally as he recalled the odd sensations [Divine Dividing] gave off when he was close to Shirou Emiya at both the aftermath of Kokabiel's attacks and his earlier scuffle. The feeling made him think of a child who was able to meet his father again after so many years, one of joy and excitement, and briefly during his scuffle with Shirou Emiya, the Sacred Gear actually tried to fight against him, as though it did not want to hurt him and was angry at Vali.

In fact…

"Vali, your back?" Bikou pointed to his back with a slightly curious expression marred with a hint of worry. With a sigh, Valie removed his coat to reveal a shirt soaked with blood, the deepening color showing where the wings would appear and where the injuries inflicted by the gear were made.

"This was not done by Shirou Emiya. This was by [Divine Dividing]." Vali answered as he removed his shirt to reveal two deep lacerations in his back, showing both the nerves and a bit of bone underneath. Lightly hissing from the pain, he focused his energy to start healing the wounds.

"What?!" Bikou looked at him with an incredulous expression. "Albion did this to you?" Before Vali could reply, the dragon decided to answer.

["Nay, he said 'Divine Dividing', not me."] Albion answered with a notable tone of irritation. ["It would seem that Shirou Emiya has an unusual trait to Sacred Gears that made them feel a connection to him. When Vali was attacking the magician, the gear responded by hurting him instead."]

"Well, that is something new." Bikou scratched his chin as he watched the wounds close via his senses. "Still, it seems there is more to it than just a regular takeover of Sacred Gears. He has [Hell's Trident] and perhaps a demonic sword gear, and he has six of the Excalibur Shards." He shook his head in disbelief at the information he got. "At this rate, I think it is best to not tell Arthur about this. He is already getting excited about looking for this guy ever since he found out about him attaining the shards. He might actually go and challenge him to a fight for the other shards or something."

"Well, you have a point there." Vali nodded his head at both Bikou's comment and the condition of his body after he healed the wounds. "Let's keep this to ourselves for now."

After all, Vali wanted to have another round at Shirou Emiya.

=()=

Georg thought silently as he made his way back to the hideout through the dimension he created. Truthfully he could just teleport directly into the base or even use [Dimension Lost] to open a direct path to it, but he decided to take the scenic route and use the time to review what he learnt about the target of interest.

To say that Shirou Emiya was not whom he expected was a bit of an understatement. Everything about the fellow told him that he was an ordinary teenager growing up in a normal neighbourhood, albeit one with devils running the show. Aside from his hospital records, he seemed to be a normal person in every other aspects of life.

When it came to fighting, that was when the person seemed to change into someone completely different.

Shirou Emiya has shown the mentality to go against other fighters with the aim to kill, and the resourcefulness to do so. Granted he could not see the full extent of his abilities, but what little he could tell, the magic he performed was along the lines of concept creation, meaning almost anything that he could think of would become a possible weapon. The only caveat he could tell seemed to suggest that he could not create modern weaponry with those concepts, though whether it was honestly that or his personal preference to swords that he did not create guns of that level.

At the same time though, Shirou Emiya has shown the odd desire to limit the amount of exposure of the supernatural and damage to a minimum. Commendable, but it would certainly pose some problems for Cao Cao and their group in the future if they wish to recruit him. Most of the recruits they have were either willing to shed blood for their thirst of revenge, their desire to gain power or otherwise mind-controlled to do their work. And it was a bit of an open secret that they could care less about collateral damage.

Georg frowned as he exited out of the dimension and walked through the halls of their hideout. Yes, Shirou Emiya was an investment that would need special handling due to his unique skillsets and likely his personality. If he could persuaded properly, he would be a great asset against the other factions, specifically those of non-human races.

But if he was to become a threat…

"Hello Georg." The magician stopped at the voice and turned to find Joan and Hercules standing nearby with a curious smirk on their faces. "You went to visit the mysterious Shirou Emiya, I presume?"

"Guilty as charged." Georg shrugged not seeing the point of withholding the information. "I wanted to see if he went to his workshop or any location that we could use to spy on. Good thing as I saw him got into a short tussle with Vali."

"Vali?" Hercules tilted his head at the name. "Why the hell did he appear there?"

"For the same reason as us." The wizard replied back with a wave of his hand. "To spy on Shirou Emiya, though in his case, he decided to escalate to combat."

"Oh~ so Vali had a fight with him huh?" Jeanne put a finger on her chin while having that mischievous smile on her face. "So how does our mystery guest fight?"

"Brief, but enough to guess something about his magic." Georg leaned against the wall as he recalled whatever he could. "His magic-craft focuses on the creation of concepts, meaning anything that he thinks of could potentially become a weapon. That was apparent from his fight with Kokabiel where he seems to base his weaponry around legends and myths."

"Hmm~ so he can do this without a Sacred Gear?" Jeanne asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, however it seems to be limited to weapons like swords, spears and other type of weaponry, not guns." Georg answered back. "That said, that does not seem to faze him that much as he can deliver them at high speeds and over long distances. Add [Hell's Trident] into the equation, he can deliver huge damage in no time. Not to mention his originality in creating spells that make use of their magical properties for barriers and attacks."

"And?" Hercules asked now showing interest himself.

Georg smiled as he recalled the fights he had witnessed. "You will definitely have a good fight with him, Hercules. That man is someone who would most certainly get your blood pumping."

"HO! HAHAHAHAHA!" Hercules threw back his head and let out a hearty laugh that echoed in the corridor. After a while he calmed down and lowered his head back to reveal eyes glowing with determination and a hint of bloodlust. "Now that I can get behind. Next time you visit him, bring me along."

"Me too!" Jeanne raised her hand, her smile now showing teeth and her eyes also showing a hint of lust. "I want to meet him in person and see if he is really good with his swordsmanship!"

"Well…" Georg pushed himself off the wall and looked at them with a big smile. "That would be coming really soon."

Part 3

"Emiya-kun, how are you holding up?" I turned to find Tsubasa looking at me with a raised eyebrow. "You looked like you could use a hand around here."

"Ah, sorry about that." I used my hand to rub my eyes. "I haven't been getting enough rest for some time now, what with work, the occasional hunts, the fact that the supposed user of [Divine Dividing] is coming after my head and supposedly other factions having heard of our fight with Kokabiel and are trying to figure out who I am."

"Yeah, that would make anyone lose sleep." Tsubasa nodded her head lightly. "Honestly speaking, the bit about your fight being streamed to others suggests that someone is keeping an eye out on us, so we will have to step up our security measures for the next few months."

That was that, but considering the interest that Vali and Georg has shown and the manner they spoke of the surveillance, I got the feeling that it was not so much of the devils that was being monitored but more of the fight, specifically Kokabiel and I. Someone wanted to spy on us.

But why?

"That said." Tsubasa started smirking. "You will need your wits today, Mr 'Butler'. We have a lot of guests coming right now" I let out a resigned sigh as I pulled at my collar, feeling a little restricted by the bow-tie.

It had taken a while, but the academy was finally repaired enough to let all the students back for lessons, and since it was coinciding with a parent-teacher conference, Sona and the others decided to hold a celebration for the reopening of the academy by letting the students run a fair so as to generate revenue for the school while showing what they can accomplish to their parents. A 'win-win' situation as they would say.

And apparently my class decided to do a joint operation with Tsubasa's, Meguri's, Momo's and Reya's for a maid café theme, and I was the butler due to my job as cook/bartender and worryingly enough, the girls wanting to see me in a suit.

Joy.

"Yeah, I better get my head back in the present." I pulled the bow-tie a little looser to have a bit more breathing room. "So how are we doing on ingredients?"

"We are still going strong. The others went to get extras a few minutes ago, so we should be good for the next couple of hours." Tsubasa looked around us at the array of kitchen equipment and cooking ingredients. "But honestly you looked like you are about to get swarmed by all the orders. We could get some of the others to help out if you need."

"Hmm. That would be ideal, maybe you can get a couple of the others to help with the presentation at least." I pointed to a table with a few squeeze tubes and cream fillings. "If we get more volunteers that would be very helpful."

"Oh, I think we can definitely get more volunteers." Tsubasa gave a wry smile. "The girls really wanted to be here with you after tasting some of your creations. Kaichou actually had to draft out a restraining order to ensure you don't get mobbed."

For that I was really thankful. Some of the expressions on my fellow classmates after eating some of my food were enough to remind me of some of the females back at the Clock Tower, and that honestly scared me more than some of the Dead Apostles and monsters I had to face on my jobs.

What was with teenage girls these days?

"So~" Tsubasa twirled a little while lifting her skirt lightly and giving a teasing smile. "You never really commented on any of our costumes despite our praises on yours. So what do you think? Does this look good on me?" With a light roll of my eyes, I gave her a look-over.

To go with the theme, she was dressed in a western style maid outfit, complete with a head dress and cuffs on her sleeves. But considering this was my homeland with an entire culture devoted to cosplaying, there were aspects that one would definitely NOT see in proper outfits, such as the dangerously short black skirt that Tsubasa had right now that was displaying her long legs in plain view. The short leggings somehow add a certain appeal to them and I had to admit that the outfit really brought out her slim figure in an alluring manner.

"It looks good on you." I complimented her clothing while internally petting myself on the back for having a mind of steel to control my emotions, because it was rather distracting and I would prefer not to give her the satisfaction that she was getting to her.

But it seemed she was not done with me yet.

"Oh, is that so?" The teasing smile now resembled something that should be on Rin's face as she curtsied. "Thank you, Master~"

Damn it.

"Tsubasa-san, please don't do that." I put my hand to my face to hide the blush that was threatening to appear on my face. "People might misunderstand."

"Ara~ I am merely saying my thanks to my master." Tsubasa leaned forward to emphasize her figure while maintaining that smile. "After all, it is a maid's job to serve. Please accept it, Master~"

"Tsubasa Yura." My eye twitched as I was now struggling to keep my hormones in check. Not an easy feat to do considering the manner she spoke those words with such a sultry tone.

"Oh, I have been a bad maid. I am so sorry master." Then with an action that would make Rin laugh out in pleasant agony while gasping at the boldness of her moves, Tsubasa turned towards the table and bent down to have her rear facing me, her short skirt threatening to reveal the forbidden treasure underneath it while she peered over her shoulder with an expression that seemed more suitable on some adult video game. "Please punish me~"

'Root Damn It, Girl!' I was practically chanting every known prayer in all languages to rid my mind of evil thoughts and I was begging for the universe to not screw with me at this point.

So I was both totally thankful and scared shitless when Reya came into the room to check on us.

"… Yura-chan, what are you doing?" Reya asked while one of her eyes twitched at the sight before her.

"Ara~ I was just playing around with Emiya-kun." Tsubasa straightened her body and looked at Reya with her hands on her hips with a teasing smile. "I wanted to see his flustered expressions after he commented on my costume."

"We do not have time for this." Reya put on a look that I had come to dub "Kusaka Reya's Lecturing Expression" and placed one hand on her hip. "We are going behind schedule and the customers are pouring in, we need more manpower."

"Okay, I am coming out then." Tsubasa moved to the door only to stop by her side. "But next time I will have my turn with him." Turning to me with a wave and a wink, she said "I will be getting some of the others to help you out. See you later." With that, she left the room, leaving behind a slightly awkward atmosphere in the room.

"So…" I tried to dispel the mood by speaking first. "Everything all right out there?"

"Yes, nothing too drastic for now." Reya let out a tired sigh. "Although we do have some troublemakers trying to get frisky with the other girls again."

"Do I need to go out again to teach them some manners?" I cracked my knuckles while giving out one of my trademark smiles.

"Oh no~ you don't have to do that!" Reya raised her arms in a slight panic and waved her hands, likely remembering what I did to the previous group of grabbers. "Most of them got the idea after seeing you trash the other customers earlier, and the few that are still trying their luck are introduced to Xenovia."

Ah that was nice. Despite the suggestions from the girls (and downright begging from the guys), the former exorcist saw fit to assist in the security of the tour, and she was very good in dealing with troublemakers who tried to harass the girls around the area. I don't think I ever saw an arm bent in such a manner before, or ever heard a man scream in such high octaves after getting hit in the family jewels.

God, the screams.

"Emiya-kun…" My thoughts got interrupted by the sight of a blushing Reya who was twiddling her fingers. "You were commenting about Yura-chan's costume?"

"Yeah, she really wanted to know since I did not comment on the others at all." I said as I shook my head in disbelief at that girl. I shuddered at the thought of Tsubasa and Rin meeting and working together.

"Well…" Reya paused as she lightly twirled on the spot while maintaining that blush. "Can I ask for your opinion as well?"

Damn it, she had to ask with that blush and that cute voice! It was not fair darn it!

With that out of my mind, I decided to do that look-over for Reya if only to spare myself the craziness to come.

Compared to Tsubasa's western style costume that was modified to showcase her legs, Reya's modest costume was based on a Victorian Maid outfit that emphasized more of her figure, giving her an elegant look that did suit her gentle appearance and I had to confess, I was actually more drawn to hers than Tsubasa's appearance. The light gray theme with accents of white and black went well with her complexion and the headdress she had brought the color of her eyes.

"... You look beautiful in it." It took me a few seconds to realize that I said it out loud, and that her blush had completely covered her entire face to the point of me expecting steam coming out of her ears.

"AH~ I... UM!" Reya stammered as she tried to straighten herself, but it seemed that her body did not follow her mind as her legs got tangled with the dress and she fell forward with a light yelp. I rushed forward just in time to grab her by the shoulders and her head was cradled into my chest.

"Are you okay?" I asked as I held on to her while ensuring no sharp objects around us.

"I… I am okay!" Reya stammered as she looked up from her spot, and it was in that moment I could not help but have my breath taken away by her the beauty of her face that was just a few centimeters from mine, my mind unconsciously noting her eyes and the light make-up she had. Unbidden, my eyes slowly shifted to her lips, noting the nice shade of lipstick that she had. Reya noted my eyes and she seemed to stop breathing for a moment as we looked at each other in that embrace, time seemingly slowing down around us.

"Ahem~ Am I interrupting?" A voice broke the moment and we both turned to find, much to our horror, Momo in a costume similar to Tsubasa's and with a smirk that would not looked out of place on a cat. "Maybe I should come back later and give you two some privacy?"

"HRK!" I tightened my grip on Reya's shoulder and helped to get her back on her feet before turning to the side and coughing lightly into my hand, my face burning from earlier. "Right, I just remember I got to grab some stuff for the next shift!"

"Yes! I also need to go and prepare for the afternoon shift!" Reya answered quickly with a notable tone of nervousness in her voice.

"You sure you two don't need a moment to yourselves?" Momo continued her merciless teasing, that smirk of hers going even wider at the sight of our discomfort. "I will give you two sometime alone, with no one to interrupt you two as you ravage each other..."

"Okay~ I got to get moving! Those supplies won't move on their own!" I made my way out the back of the kitchen, barely catching Reya's attempts to stop Momo's teasing before the door closed. I let out a tired sigh and made my way to the area designated for food supplies.

It took a little more than 20 minutes to get what I needed, but at least I got the necessities I needed to make the next batch of items needed for the afternoon session. It took two trips with the trolley, but I was able to get the larger items back to the classroom and thankfully the corridor was empty enough to get through quickly. With a light grunt, I lifted the smaller items in my arms and made my way back to the classroom, the silence making my mind wander back to the earlier bit with Reya and making me ask the question.

How did I feel for Reya and the others?

I would admit that they were very attractive girls for their age group, and certainly their transformation to become devils may have played a part on it, but their personalities were also a key factor in our relationships. In some ways, I do feel attracted to them, especially Reya, and if I were an ordinary guy, I would want to have a long-term relationship with her.

But then… I was not an ordinary guy, both physical and mentally, and on a different issue, I was in a way taken.

I was devoted to Saber; that much Rin, Sakura and Luvia understood despite having gone on dates and outings with them, but they were willing to let that slide knowing the connection I had with her. Rin however had a word with me that I should consider having a relationship with someone at least because it was not healthy for me to be alone for so long. A part of me, however reluctant, agreed with that statement, but it was hard to do that with any other girl. It was not like I had a lot of choices on my side, and with my line of work, that meant people not in tune to the Moonlit World was out.

Oddly enough, it seemed I clicked unusually well with girls from the supernatural side, from the 'normal' consisting of Rin, Sakura and Luvia, to the more 'exotic', like some of the Servants I met in other worlds, Dead Apostles, one female deity and now devils.

Ha~ why did I have to relive my teenage phase?

Whatever thoughts I had we interrupted when my senses picked up an unusual being in the area, and it was sending chills down my spine. Appropriate as for whatever reason, the scent was that of freshly frozen ice. And for another odd reason, in my mind's eye, I was seeing an image of some creature in the hazy form of a woman wrapped in some dark clothing and eyes of ice cold blue.

And it was coming straight at me in the conveniently empty hallway!

I barely had time to adjust my Prana to reinforce my body and prepare a weapon in my mind when the creature slammed into me, causing me to drop the items in my arms. I quickly got my hands into position while preparing both my mental trigger and [Hell's Trident], as I turned around, ready to face whatever unearthly creature that came at me.

I half expected seeing some female devil looking at me at a height with a smirk that promised death instantaneously, with powers that could potentially crush me like an ant.

Seeing a little girl dressed in some magic girl costume currently on the floor and rubbing the sore spot of her butt was clearly not what I had expected.

"OWIEE~ that really hurt." The black twin-tailed girl pouted rather cutely as she looked up at me. "Don't you know you should not stand in the middle of the area with heavy items? You could get people to knock into you!"

'Like you did?' I thought mentally as the girl picked herself up from the floor and dusted her clothes. Now that she was standing upright, I was able to take stock of her full appearance and quite honestly, I was really not expecting this. The young girl who could not be any older than Sona was dressed in a pink magical girl costume that came in two parts, revealing her belly button in plain view while her short skirt revealed rather nice legs that were covered in pink leggings. The parts of my brain that had both my logic and Archer's snarky voice were thinking why a devil would be dressed in such an odd array of clothes.

Another part of me that was now being inhibited by my teenage hormones and oddly enough, with the voice of Hyoudou Issei, was noting how really developed the girl was despite her height, what with her abundant assets seemingly straining her shirt and she had really nice hips and legs to show.

GAH! I was being poisoned by Ise's thought patterns! NO! Mind of Steel! Mind of Steel!

"I am sorry, I hope you are not injured?" I apologised to her as she checked her body and nodded to herself.

"I am fine, but you really need to be careful." The twin-tailed girl raised a finger in an attempt to lecture me but the costume kind of ruined it and made her look cuter. "You could get yourself and others hurt if you are not watching."

"My apologies, miss." I bowed my head as I handed back her 'wand'. "I believe this belongs to you?"

"Ah! Thank you~" The girl took the wand and twirled it in her hand. "That would have been very bad if it broke."

"May I ask why you are in such a hurry?"

"I am looking for So-tan!" She spun on her heel as she started talking. "I was very angry that she did not tell me anything about this parent-teaching meeting going on, so I decided to come here and surprise her!"

… Okay, I do not know who was this 'So-tan', but something about this situation made me feel a little bad for that person. Hell, if Zelretch were involved, he would probably make the situation such that Sona would be the sister or something.

That would definitely be the weirdest thing ever. Sona being the sister of such a hyper-active kid. Bonus points if this girl was the older sister or something.

"Well, I am sure you can find her eventually." I bent down to pick up some of the items scattered all over the area. As I reached out for the next item, it got quickly snatched up and presented to me by the girl.

"Here you go!" The girl handed the item to me with a big smile. As I took the item from her, she set about trying to gather up the rest.

"Thanks for the help… GULP!" I tried to thank her only to sputter and looked away from her rear that was directed straight into my face. It did not helped at all that her skirt was lifted when she bent over, revealing the forbidden treasure beneath it.

Evil thoughts be gone, be gone!

"Okay, that is everything!" The girl cheered as she got up and handed me the items, pausing as she looked at me. "Are you okay? Your face is all red."

"I am fine." I answered while cursing my hormones more than ever. "Thank you for getting them for me."

"No problem!" She gave a cute salute before looking a little troubled. "Don't suppose you can direct me to the main hall? It was not too long since I came here, but considering the gas explosion destroyed a large portion of the academy, the place has changed too much."

"… Go down to the fourth level, take a right to the connecting bridge, then go to the first level." I gave the directions while maintaining my composure. I would see if she had any bad intentions by sending her to the paths that had my special charms added to the area.

"Thank you very much!" The girl gave another big smile and skipped her way to the end of the corridor before turning on the spot and calling out to me. "See you later, Emiya-tan!"

I whipped my head in time to see her figure disappearing around the corner, her fleeting words setting off the alarm I had for quite a while now. I was right, she was a devil who likely knew about me considering the manner she came straight at me in this corridor.

Question of the day though.

Was she my enemy?

=()=

It was such a surreal experience for the magus as he looked at the stands around him.

He had witnessed several such fairs at school academies on his travels before, but not once did he go to them, never really seeing the point for such events. Granted, that mentality was typical for traditional magus, forgoing simple pleasures for the continuation of his family art. Even after becoming a Dead Apostle, he had simply ignored such things.

So for a first time, it would be an understatement to say that the carnival was 'colourful'.

There were so many shades of colours that would make a person's eyes water in agony, so much sounds to disorientate him, and the smells coming from the food stalls were enough to make one's stomach growl in anticipation of the food. Indeed, he had partaken in some of the items since entering through the front gate a few minutes ago, many of which would probably make some of his old family clan recoil in disgust, denouncing what would be considered 'commoners' trash'.

Too bad for them then, this 'potato-twister' and 'corn-dog' tasted great.

Mildly chewing on the fried items while smiling at some girls who giggled and blushed as they waved back, he continued on to the main building, idly noting the placement of certain spells and charms in various areas. Most of it seemed to be used for early alerts of intruders with a few added for some deterrence. Only a few seemed to have enough power to deal damage should the intruders decide to get aggressive. Not bad considering their campus got wrecked by Kokabiel's attacks a few weeks ago.

'Yet they did not detect me.' The person in question mused mentally as he made his way towards the courtyard where he watched families walked about the stands without a single care in the world. Lightly prodding with his mage-craft, he could feel the presence of the devils spread all over the academy and interestingly enough, what seemed to be two of the Maous and at least one senior devil in the vicinity. But he ignored them all and focused on the presence of one human whose Prana Signature gave the feeling of blades grating against the skin.

'Ah, there you are.'

In a sense, it was a good thing the school was hosting this carnival where students were dressed up in costumes so at least he could get away with his clothes and a smirk that promised suffering, though it did scare off several younger children and sent them crying to their parents. With a slight increase in his pace, the magus made his way to a set of trees near the fencing, providing enough cover for those who wish to be out of the sun, and more importantly, to hide what he was about to do.

Taking a quick look-around, he made a small trench in the ground before pulling out a bottle that held white sand inside and removed the cork. Slowly, he tipped it to gradually release the contents, patiently holding his hand steady to ensure even spillage. Halfway in the pouring, an object resembling a dark marble with purple swirls fell out of the bottle and landed on the heap of sand, staying in position as the remainder of the sand covered it. Once all of the contents were out of the bottle, he covered the trench back with the soil, lightly patting it to look even before placing his palm over it.

"Hear my voice and heed my words. Take root in this spot and ready your strength. The time will come for your appearance, [Sammael], the Hound of Regeneration. For now, you will slumber until I call you out." The magus spoke while feeling the shell break and taking root in the ground. "This I promise you: for each time you fall, two shall take your place."

With a light nod he placed one more spell to hide the presence of the item before standing upright and looking back at the academy. Lifting a hand, the magus placed his fingers around the pendant that was on his wrist and lightly pressed it, pausing one more time to look at the general area where he sensed his most hated enemy.

'Right then, let's see if you recall who I am, Shirou Emiya.'

With that, the magus placed more pressure to break the pendant, releasing the Prana that was restricted to his body and outwards to the school.

=()=

"!"

I paused in taking the cake out of the oven and turned my head sharply to the window that faced the courtyard, all thoughts about the order vanishing from my mind and replaced with a sense of foreboding. This Prana Signature that sprung up without warning was immense; not at Servant Levels, but enough for anyone with a hint of magical ability or spiritual awareness to know that someone powerful just appeared in the academy grounds. That much was clear as I could see some of the customers and students unconsciously looked around with an uneasy expression before writing it off as a figment of their imagination.

But there was something more, the scent that came off it was something I would not expect to be smelling for a long time and that was setting off all sorts of alarm bells in my head.

The scent of a Dead Apostle.

"Emiya-kun, where are you going?!" One of my classmates looked at the cake I pushed into her hand before watching me go to the door.

"I got something to do for the Student Council. The cake is almost ready, just put the icing on it and serve with lemon slices!" I gave the answer and left the classroom before she could reply back, my mind preparing the trigger for some weapons and going through the different spells needed to wipe away the memories of the people around the area. This made no sense, why was the scent of a Dead Apostle here in this world?

Not to mention the secondary scent of someone who should not be alive at all…

"Shirou!" My thoughts were temporarily interrupted by Ise who came around the corner with Rias, followed shortly by Tsubasa and Sona. "I suppose you felt that?"

"Hard not to, the damn thing was broadcasting to everyone with a hint of awareness that he is here." I narrowed my eyes as I tried to push my way through the crowd, but the corridor was not making this easy and it was taking a bit of restraint on my part to not growl at everyone in my path. Every second wasted here meant more time for the possible Dead Apostle to run.

Well then, time for a shortcut.

I ignored the others as I made my way to the open window and proceeded to jump out, reinforcing my limbs enough for me to make a three-point landing, making a small crater with my fist while startling several passer-by who looked up to find where I dropped from. I stood up straight and looked around for the source. Unfortunately, it seemed I was too late as the scent was no longer potent, meaning whoever it was left the premises.

With that out of the way, I now had the issue of dealing with the witnesses who saw me jumped out from the window and hit the ground. I was contemplating several memory erasing spells when Tsubasa's voice broke my thoughts.

"Right then, hope you enjoyed our welcoming act! We are today's entertainment and if you wish for refreshments, you can come to our café that is on the fourth level, class 2B! Thank you for your time!" Tsubasa took a bow at the passers-by who looked slightly unconvinced but decided to leave it be and clapped their hands. Sona came to my side and beckoned me to come closer.

"Better not do that again." Sona said with a serious expression, but I merely gave a nod as I looked around me, expanding my senses as far as I could in this crowd.

It couldn't be that person.

Right?

=()=

"…"

The magus positioned himself a little more in the shadows as he watched his target look around with a cautionary glance, the sight of his movements reminding him of their bouts against one another, all the way to their final fight, where Shirou restrained him and destroy his body which drifted into a portal created by Zelretch. Unconsciously, the magus rubbed his arm as though there was a memory of an old wound.

Soon, very soon.

He would have his revenge.

Part 4

"Well that was a bust." Tsubasa grumbled as she dropped her costume onto the bench and sat next to it in a huff. "Too bad we can't find the one who came into the campus."

"Indeed." Sona frowned as she made sure no one was listening in our conversation. "I can't believe someone was able to bypass all of our security and walked out the same manner. I am deeply annoyed right now."

"Well, guess we should have expected it." Rias rubbed her forehead with a lot more strength than needed. "We have been somewhat lax in our security ever since we got the academy's structure back, and I admit that after the whole incident with Kokabiel, I had thought that we would be free from this crap for a while at least."

I merely listened to their words partially as I thought back to the situation. It was too sudden, having the presence of a possible Dead Apostle was bad enough, but the very idea that there was one here in this world meant I may not be the only one to have arrived to this world. If so, did that mean there were others?

Furthermore, that scent and Prana Signature, it resembled someone who should have been dead for a couple of years now.

Someone whom I have killed…

"Shirou, you okay man?" My inner thoughts were interrupted by Ise lightly nudging my shoulder. "You looked like you seen a ghost earlier."

"… I'm fine."

"Actually, no you are not." I turned to find both Rias and Sona looking at me with serious expressions. "I may not be privy to much of your secrets, but I think that was an expression of someone who found someone that should have been gone for a long time, or something equivalent."

I bit my cheek lightly as I considered what to tell them. It was a little difficult trying to relate information from my world to their world's understanding, and my travels to other worlds kept showing what happened when people knew too much about them.

I had to tread lightly.

"… The presence I felt earlier, it reminded me of something that came up in a mission a few years back." I mentally sorted the experience in my head before speaking the words out. "It reminded me of someone I had fought in that mission, the feeling was that familiar."

"So you think it might be that person?" Rias placed a finger on her chin.

"It can't be." I spoke a little too quickly and with a hint of heat, enough to make the others flinch back unconsciously. With a wince, I forced myself to calm down. "It cannot be that person, that magus is dead. I should know that very well."

"How are you so sure?" Tsubasa asked from her side. I looked at her in the eye as I spoke the words I knew was going to get me into trouble.

"Because in that mission, I was the one who executed the magus by carving his body into pieces."

=()=

Yup, this was going to be awkward for now.

I left the room shortly after the conversation with the excuse of getting more supplies, but I could tell that the information was too sudden. I had noted our interactions for a while and the one thing I could confirm was them still trying to wrap their head around me being some mercenary type magus who could take down Stray Devils and at least one Fallen Angel.

If they knew about my title of 'Second Magus Killer', now that would set things on fire.

In any case, all information about me and my type of work seemed to be hitting the Student Council the most, likely because most of the members were originally human to begin with and I interacted with them the most. I knew this would happen, but a part of me did not want to be around to see their expressions.

Darn it. I was getting too old for this.

All thoughts of my self-loathing were put on hold when I saw Saji come around the corner with a panicked expression.

"Saji, what is the matter?" I called out to him who turned to look at me with a relieved sigh.

"Man, am I glad to see you!" Saji came forward with his hands pulling his hair slightly. "There is some weird commotion going on at the hall, and it is driving me mad. And I can't get Kaichou or Fuku-Kaichou at all!"

"Why? Is there an intruder?" I asked while using my senses to feel the area, but to my disappointment I did not detect the signature of the possible Dead Apostle. What did peaked my interest was the signature I got from the oddly-dressed girl. It was not malevolent but it was oddly excited.

"I am not sure, all I know is there is some cosplayer going about there and the people are clogging up the hallways. I am getting swarmed by all the complaints and I can't get the others!" Saji let out a frustrated sigh.

"You can head to my classroom, Sona should still be there talking with Rias and Tsubasa about an incident earlier." I told him as I looked to where the hall was. "Why don't you get them? I will try to deal with the crowd and maybe tell this cosplayer to go elsewhere. I'm currently taking a break so that should be fine."

"Ah, you are a godsend~ OW!" Saji was thankful for a while before grabbing his head from the headache that came.

"Don't get yourself injured there." I lightly poked him in the head before walking off towards the hall, internally thankful for the interruption. The bit about a possible Dead Apostle would have to wait, but considering the timing and the Prana signatures I was getting, I could make a few guesses about whom I was approaching.

Guess Rin was right, trouble followed me like a plague.

As I got closer it became apparent that Saji may have understated the number of people in the hallways; I could barely see the end of the corridor as people were trying to through the doors and there was certainly something going on in the halls if the sounds of cheering and cameras were of any indication. With a grunt, I pushed through the crowd to the nearest door and popped my head around the corner.

The sight in front of me was enough to make me question this world again.

"Hello, everybody!" The twin-tailed girl whom I had bumped into earlier was posing in various positions to let those with the cameras take pictures of her, some of which I could tell was going to be troublesome if not downright blackmail if they were to circulate. With a small gesture with my finger, I drew a symbol to disable all the devices, ensuring no one had their devices working properly. Then I put my fingers to my mouth and let out a loud whistle to grab their attention.

"Okay everyone, I need you to please leave the hall and not gather around the area. We are experiencing a pile-up at the corridors so please do not loiter around here." I spoke loudly while mentally sighing at some of the 'otakus' who were glaring at me. With another gesture and a minor grimace, I activated a small mind charm and spoke with power in my words.

"Leave."

That did the trick as I watched their eyes getting glazed, then with a light nod, everyone left the hall, leaving me and the girl behind.

"AOO~ why are they leaving?" The girl whined as she turned to look at me. "Did you have to put a spell on them?"

"I figured we would need a quiet spot to talk since the others are on the way." I spoke while looking at her sternly. "Besides, your little performance was clogging up the corridor and we do need people to move. Not to mention I do not know or trust you enough to be alone with unsuspecting people."

"Oh, why is that?" She looked at me with a teasing smile of mischief.

"Because we had an intruder on the premise, and considering the amount of energy you have been giving off, I need to be sure." I narrowed my eyes while preparing my mental trigger and noting that we were now alone with no one nearby.

Good.

"Oh my~ Emiya-tan, I am not suspicious." The devil girl twirled her body while maintaining that mischievous smile, not bothering to hide the fact that she knew my name or what I said was true. "I am just here to see So-tan~"

"Which begs the question." I clenched my fists. "Are you really who you claim to be?"

'CHING!'

Several holy weapons surrounded her with the sharp end pointed straight at her, each one giving off their intent to kill if she were to show any form of ill-intent. For her credit, she did not even flinch at their presence and maintained her smile.

"You have three seconds to talk. Whether it is of your volition or other methods, start talking." I gave that ultimatum to her who merely straightened her posture while looking at me with that smile. "Three. Two. One…"

"WAIT!" My attempts at interrogation got interrupted when the doors opened violently and Sona came running through them with a much panicked expression. She was followed shortly by the Student Council who were looking either confused or tired, the exorcist duo who were looking serious, the Occult Club who looked a little disheveled, and finally Rias accompanying two males whom I could only assume were relatives of hers due to their strikingly red hair and scent that smelled similar to hers.

"Wait, Emiya-kun! There is no need to go that far!" Sona waved her hands frantically as she got between us. "She is not suspicious, she is my…"

"SO-TAN!" The girl did not get to finish her sentence when the magical girl pounced on her and started to snuggle her cheek against hers. "I finally found you!"

"Er…" I let out a sound as I watched the girl going on a tangent about her not knowing about the event and something about making Japan sparkle. "Do you guys know who she is?"

"She is Serafall Leviathan, one of the four Maous in charge of Hell." Akeno who was the closest explained while maintaining an expression that seemed torn between being amused and fighting a toothache. "She is also the elder sister of Sona-chan."

"Seriously?" I looked at the interaction between the two, with the supposed leader acting all cutesy with her body motions. "That's one of the leaders?"

"EI~ is that true Buchou?!" Ise turned to Rias with a flabbergasted expression, likely having a hard time associating a serious figure to a girl dressed in a magical girl costume. Rias merely nodded with a forced smile on her face, the corner of her mouth notably twitching at the sight before her.

"And the two beside Rias are…" I motioned to the men next to Rias.

"Oh these are her father and brother." Akeno said while still looking at the scene, the two in question waving in response while looking at the sisters with a look that spoke of them used to the interactions.

"And you!" My chance to reply got interrupted when the girl in question pointed her wand at me. "How come you never join So-Tan's Peerage? You keep refusing her offers to join her group and be part of the Miracle Levia-tan!"

"... Miracle what?" I blinked as I tried to process what she was talking about.

"What, you have not heard about my show! That is unacceptable, you will see all of my shows, and after that you will join Sona's Peerage!" The girl declared with a serious expression that was marred with her current set of clothes.

"…" I looked at her before directing my eyes at the others while raising a finger. "Let me get this straight. This young lady is one of the four Maous who dresses in a magical girl costume, is the older sister of Sona Sitri and is bummed that I did not join her sister's group or the fact that I have heard nothing about her show?" Sona sighed as she palmed her face and nodded while Rias, her brother and her father looked sheepish at the acknowledgment and the others were looking on with big expressions of confusion.

Great.

I was only joking in my brain about the girl being the elder sister of Sona. That does not count as testing fate! Heck, why did she end up being the leader of the devils as well?!

Damn you, Zelretch.

With a sigh, I dismissed all the weapons around her and turned to face her. "Right then, in that case let's start over." I used my full height to my advantage and loomed above her, a part of me thinking with Archer's voice that I was somewhat enjoying the manner she was looking at me from down below with that cute pout. "My name is Shirou Emiya, a wandering human magus, current custodian of Excalibur and currently a student of Kuoh Academy. A pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Miss Serafall Leviathan." I bowed my head lightly to her while extending a hand.

"Hmm~ Okay!" Serafall nodded and took the hand offered. "I am Serafall Leviathan, one of the Four Maous who is in charge of public relations. But you can call me Levi-tan!"

… Now what would the others back home do?

Rin and Luvia would probably scoff at the idea and continue addressing her by her title.

Sakura would politely refuse or at least use her nickname with honorifics.

Zelretch would probably go along with the flow and just call her that while pulling a prank on her.

Some of the exorcists with more 'colourful' vocabulary would call her that with additional words which would certainly earn them a few hits in areas that would hurt the most.

The magus from Chicago would probably do the same as Zelretch, in fact I could see those two getting along, especially if he were a teenager again.

… You know what? I was not in the mood to be too polite, let's just get this over with.

"Very well then, if you allow me to call you that during informal occasions only." I smiled at her as I shook her hand. "Nice to meet you, Levi-tan." With those words, her body suddenly stiffened, her eyes went wide, a blush appeared on her cheeks and her smile started getting wider.

And her body started to vibrate?

"Oh no! She is going to blow!" I turned to see Sona, Akeno, Rias, her brother and father scrambling for cover with panicked expressions while the others stared with flabbergasted expressions with a hint of fear. Before I could respond, Serafall decided to do the answering for me in a very loud voice.

"YEEAAAAHH! Finally someone called me Levi-tan! I am so happy!"

"Good Lord, My Ears!" Xenovia yelled while wincing and covering her ears. As for me who was right next to the excitable devil, my head was literally shaking from the volume and I was practically seeing double. Before I could recover, I felt arms around my neck and I started to spinning around the room with the girl in front of me.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" The twin-tailed girl kept thanking me while plastering her cheek to my face. "You are the first one to call me that in so long! No one has ever done that for me! Thank you so much!" I did not have time or the thought process to reply as my footing finally gave and I ended up hitting the ground on my back.

"Emiya-kun!" I barely heard Reya's and Meguri's concerned voices before I felt the arms around me tighten and my body being pulled by the head.

"Onee-sama, please let Emiya-kun go this instance!" Sona asked in a restrained manner as the student council girls attempted to make the 'Maou Shoujo' release her grip on me.

"No! I want to hang on to him more!" Serafall acted like a spoiled child and held on with a fair bit of strength in her arms, cutting off my air supply slightly and making me see stars for a while. Good Lord, this girl has a hell of a grip!

"The devils are trying to seduce Shirou Emiya to their side! We must save him!" My brain barely registered Xenovia's words when I felt my legs being pulled in the opposite position. And it was in that moment, I knew I was going to be dead in a manner of complete embarrassment.

"Let go of him, you heathens!" Xenovia and Irina pulled hard on my legs but the devils did not loosen their grip.

"Never!"

By the Root, somebody save me!

"What is going on here?!"

'PUK! PUA! PEK!"

"OWW!" All the girls involved in 'Tug-of-Emiya' released their hold on me and grabbed their heads. Taking a deep breath to relish the oxygen in my lungs, I blinked to find a calloused hand offered to me. Twisting my head lightly, I was surprised to find Kano looking back with a smirk.

"Need a hand, boy?" Grabbing my hand, he pulled me up and dusted my clothes. "Seriously, when I was told by some of the students that you are popular, I did not expect you to be the rope of some game between two groups of girls."

"In all fairness, this is not what I had in mind nor is it what I desired." I scratched the back of my head as I turned to find Kawako standing nearby with a famous ladle in her hand while lecturing the girls who were now in seiza position.

Where did she get that ladle from?

"Oh, then what is it you desired?" The smirk on Kano's face was so similar to Zelretch that I was tempted to check whether the Wizard Marshall was temporarily possessing the old man. My only response was to direct a flat expression at him, to which he chuckled rather loudly at the sight.

"Shirou Emiya, care to explain what is going on here?" Kawako interrupted our talking while pointing at the girls. "I do not believe these girls are in their right minds."

"Honestly, not a clue." I remarked as I winced from the pain in my neck. "I just called her by the nickname she wanted and the next thing I knew, I was about to see the Big Guy in a few seconds."

"I see, in that case." A glint appeared in her eyes as she directed them at the girls before her, their bodies trembling from the likely expression on her face. "One must give them proper lectures." At the sound of those words, me and the other males of the group turned to each other and nodded our heads as one.

Exit, Stage Left.

Before the others could react, all of us guys left the hall in time to avoid the doors somehow closing on us loudly and the petrified screams of the females rang through the quiet hallways.

By golly, that sounded like something for a psycho-killer flick.

"Right~ since my wife is going to be having a chat with them, let's get to know each other our own way." Kano dispelled the mood with a smile and a hand held out to the others. "My name is Takahashi Kano, boss of a small café downtown and this young man here. Please to meet your acquaintance."

"Likewise, my name is Sirzechs Gremory." The younger of the two crimson-haired males took the hand with a smile. "This is mine and Rias's father, Zeoticus."

"Saji Genshirou." The boy replied while looking at the doors with an uncertain expression.

"Kiba Yuuto." The knight bowed his head lightly while shaking his hand.

"Hyoudou Issei." The other boy introduced himself only to be treated with a curious expression from Kano who looked at him for a moment before pointing a thumb at him while asking me. "Isn't this the kid who apparently fell from the ceiling of the Kendo Club with panties worn over his head?"

...

I elected to ignore the glare that came from Ise and the incredulous and amused expressions from Saji and the crimson-haired duo as I nodded in reply. Kano looked back at the boy with a raised eyebrow. "You got guts kid, and stupidity to match."

"Hey!"

"Kano-san." I interrupted them for a moment as a question appeared in my head. "Why are you and Kawako-san here? Isn't there anyone running the store today?"

"Oh, we are taking a break for the day." Kano cleared my thoughts and concerns with a wave of his hand. "We barely had a chance to relax for the past few years, and considering how well our business went since you joined us, I think we could afford some down-time for a while."

"In that case you could have called me, I would have prepared a tour or something if needed."

"Oh don't worry, Shirou-kun." I turned to find Kawako exit the hall with the girls following her with a fair bit of distance between them and some sporting a twitching eye every time they glanced at the old woman. "We wanted to surprise you a little, though this was not what I had in mind for a tour." She added while glancing at the girls who paled at her expression.

"Surprise me?" I looked at them feeling a bit confused. "Why?"

"What's with that look?" Kano raised an eyebrow. "This is a family meeting day right? So we came along as a substitute for your parents if you don't mind us old folks."

…

I did not know how to feel at that statement. Ever since Dad died, everything related to parent-teacher meetings seemed blurred out. I did not feel too much during my years in school. I did remember the first year since Kiritsugu's death, when we had one session in the school and I looked at all the parents gathered in the area.

Soul-crushing sadness.

I did not remembered much after that, I only got the general idea when I found myself back home leaning on Fuji-nee's legs with tears down my face, while Raiga and a few of his men who associated with Dad were by the porch, smoking with somber expressions. After that, Raiga did attend at least two events needing parental substitutes before I told him he need not do so. At least the gesture was nice.

And this elderly couple wanted to do the same for me?

"Shirou?" My memories were interrupted by Kano who looked at me with a concerned expression. "You looked a little teary-eyed there."

"Ah, it's nothing." I blinked quickly to remove any tears from my eyes. "Thank you for coming, you should not have to do that though."

"No problem kid." Kano ruffled my hair a little with that big toothy smile before turning to the others. "So then, who should we ask for help in this tour?"

"Oh, me! Me!" Meguri raised her hand eagerly with excited eyes.

"Okay then, lead the way little lady." Kano chuckled as they started to move down the hallway. "In return, allow me to tell you some of the stories I have on Shirou here during the time he was working with us."

Oh no, I was now experiencing the normal proceedings of parent-teacher meetings.

Embarrassing stories of your past. Or in this case, the screw-ups of my job.

Crap.

"Er, Shirou Emiya?" My soul was saved from crushing regrets by, ironically enough, the young crimson-haired devil who was looking at me with a puzzled expression. "You look like you are experiencing the worst days of your life."

"That is one way of putting it." I shook my head a little. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Actually, I was hoping for a private talk with you." Sirzechs gestured with an arm to a nearby corridor. "May we go there for a moment?"

I was a little hesitant to his request, but a glance at the others told me that would be out of my hands, as Sona and Rias started to herd the others away, their expressions saying that they would not interfere with the leader's desire for a private chat. With a mental sigh, I gestured with a nod for him to start moving down the hallway.

"So, what do you think of the academy so far?" The devil started off with that type of question as he looked out of the window to view the proceedings.

"Fine, granted this is quite a different academy setting that I was used to." I said as I noted the lack of people around the area. Granted the rune I used to get people to stop crowding the corridors was effective, but something told me this was partially due to the devil next to me.

"Well, it must be quite a treat for you, being in a school that used to only admit girls only not too long ago." Sirzechs wiggled his eyebrows with a teasing smile. I merely shrugged as I continued to check the area if I needed to fight him.

"I am not really that interested in that type of thing. I am only attending due to the current system that needs me to be in the academy. And I need to repay the bill for the hospital." I gave that answer as we walked.

"But I would think you could just leave right?" The devil raised an eyebrow as he raised the point.

"I could, but that tends to leave a few trails that I don't need. Memory wipes, digital trails, hospital records. Those things could be done easily but someone who knows what to look for would be able to know what is hidden and more importantly who I am." I drew upon my experience to give a possible explanation.

"Well, you seemed to have thought it out."

"I try." I sighed a little before glancing at him. "So what's the real issue you want to get to?"

"Direct. I like that." Sirzechs nodded before continuing. "I received word from Rias and Sona that other groups around the country saw your fight with Kokabiel. It was apparently broadcasted to them by some unknown third party who was monitoring you guys. That was backed by Galilei who told us about the informant who mentioned the possibility of a compatible user for the Excalibur Shards."

My eyes narrowed at that bit of information. That actually answered some questions but raised a few more, like who was the one watching our fight at that time? Did this person wanted me to be there so that the shards would react? Would my presence invoke any plans?

Was the one involved related to the earlier intruder that smelled like a Dead Apostle?

"In any case, the fact of the matter is everyone knows about Kokabiel's death and more importantly, you. The magician who popped out of nowhere and went against one of the higher angels with a brand-new Excalibur." Sirzechs continued talking while waving a hand. "I don't think I have ever seen the information network flooded with so much requests in finding out who you are. Not even the match with Raizer was this intense."

"That bad huh?"

"Oh it can go both ways." He paused before saying a serious tone. "I won't lie, the situation is very volatile to say the least. There are people who goes against lower level devils and angels, and then we have people like you who somehow went against one of the first-born angels and completely eradicated him. This is unprecedented after all these years, and considering you did so in such a flashy manner, everyone wants to know who you are and more importantly, which side are you on?"

"Is that your concern as well?" I turned to him with a hard look. "Is that why your maid has been watching me all this time?"

"Whatever do you mean?" It was only through great training that I was able to tell that behind that almost genuine feeling of confusion, there was a hint of wariness and something else that gave him away. Time to give him a reminder.

"Your maid gave me a house-call after Raiser's match, and basically tried to turn me into a Popsicle." I said as I prepared a trigger in my mind in the event I needed it. "Then after the fight with Kokabiel, she has been keeping an eye on me from a distance, even more so when Rias is around."

"…"

I had been keeping the bit of Grayfia following me to myself for some time, and quite frankly I was surprised at the amount of patience I had. There had been the incident where she confronted me after my fight with Regeis, but that was on somewhat mutual terms. After the fight with Kokabiel and me claiming custody of Excalibur, I became aware of her presence around me. She was good in hiding her presence, but for someone like me whose senses were attuned to finding Dead Apostles and hidden traps on a daily basis, she could not do so for long. Coupled with help from [Hell's Trident] and occasionally Excalibur, I had at times waved back at her with a smile approved by Rin Tohsaka.

Rather entertaining to see the maid disappear with an expression that could be considered as a disgruntled frown.

"Even now, I can sense her presence at the far end of the building, watching us from the roof." I motioned with my thumb at the general direction. "So I would like you two to stop beating around the bush and start being straight with me."

The neutral expression that appeared on his face was telling enough.

"Ah, that. Well…" He seemed to gain a light twinkle in his eyes as he looked at me. "Guess you found us out."

"No doubt you already knew about the first meeting and from what little I know, you merely gave a slap on the wrist." I continued to test the waters between us. "Then again, anything is fine when it comes to your sister." For a while Sirzechs looked at me before letting out a chuckle. It was a quiet chuckle and it sounded innocent, but the Prana leaking out of him was clearly showing his agitation and to my slight discomfort, an odd excitement to my answer.

"Seems like you saw through our actions."

"Not much to go on, but so far, Rias and her crew had been pretty consistent when it comes to their group of people and how they do things. For her part, the phrase of the apple not falling far from the tree is a good thing." I said as I noted our positions and current location in the event of a fight. "But what little I have known, it seems the overprotective traits of the Gremory Clan are quite strong, and if there is ever a presence that proves harmful to Rias, you would most certainly do something. And now that I have the Excalibur Shards, it would not be that weird if your side wanted to make sure I don't go on an extermination run."

At that, the crimson devil let out a rather loud laughter as he clutched his head and his stomach. Through my senses, I could tell from the fluctuating Prana levels that Grayfia was not expecting this type of reaction and was a little unsure of what to do. After a few more seconds, Sirzechs seemed to have regained control by taking a few deep breaths and looked at me in the eye with a smile. "You are an interesting fellow. Sure you never dealt with any devils or anyone from the other factions before?"

"I tried, but they always believe I wanted a hair-cut, right through the neck." I replied as one hand was preparing to hold a weapon.

"Well then, how about this?" The smile became a little bit more mischievous as he spoke. "As someone who was involved with the fight and the current custodian of the Excalibur Shards, I would like to invite you to the meeting."

Oh I see, that was what he wanted… Wait.

"What?"

Part 5

"I will say this. You are perhaps the first human to have this many people interested in such a short time." Mitelt wiped the plates that I handed to her and placed them on the rack. "I mean, going to a meeting with the Big Shots from the three major factions within a few months of entering this town? That is an achievement most can hope to get after a few years. I don't think the current Pope has that honor at all."

"Perhaps, though I am uncertain about the situation." I tied up the waste bag and moved to throw the rubbish outside of the store. "This is quite a big thing to deal with."

"I will say that it is a good thing that you are getting invited." Xenovia put in her opinion as she came into view with a set of plates in each hand. "Most of the time they won't call any humans along unless it is something really important. There goes to show that you have garnered the interest of the higher factions if they are willing to include us for that matter."

"Yup, it also helps that you have obtained the Excalibur Shards and combine them into one form." Irina came along with a small tray of cups and bowls. "You are the first one to do so, so at the least, the Angels are certainly going to be wanting to meet you."

"Maybe." I decided to hold back on what I knew about higher beings to myself, not to mention the whole conversation I had with Sirzechs, and let them continue on with their misconceptions. Granted this was a different world, but if anything came out from the memories of the Noble Phantasms and my fights with near god-like creatures, no higher being would acknowledge a human from the get-go.

Ever.

"It seems that you are getting the hang of the job." I decided to put the matter on the back burner and commented on the exorcists, noting the current clothing they have in the form of a light brown shirt and a skirt that went just below the knees, with an apron to compliment the look. When it became clear that they would be staying for quite a while, I decided to ask Kawako and Kano if they could give them something to work with while paying off the rent. Kawako basically went all out in giving them the clothes, the tasks needed to be done and some ground rules, much of it involved them not getting me into trouble.

"I would say that would be the case." Xenovia pinched the material of her skirt with a raised eyebrow. "Though I question the need for such clothing." I could not really tell her that the uniforms they had on them were less for actual working environment and more of Kawako's maternal desire to dress girls up as though they were her own daughters. The light in the elderly lady's eyes were too bright for me to diminish.

"At the least you girls helped us maintain the shop, it has been getting a lot of business and well…." I tried to think of a way to describe the other assistants, but Mitelt came in with own comment.

"The other helpers of the shop are lazy bums who pushed all the work on us and just go smoking and drinking on hours." She rolled her eyes while drying her hands. Boy was she ruthless?

"Is that so?" Xenovia's eyes twitched while her hands were flexing the fingers. "Maybe we should have a word with them."

"Please don't." I massaged my temple while letting out a sigh. "Trust me, Kawako got that part covered." Through the gap between my fingers, I saw Xenovia and Irina shivered unconsciously, no doubt remembering what the elderly lady could do after getting scolded by her the first time they made a mistake in her presence.

"Well, at least you two are able to pull your load." I commented to distract them from their possible mental trauma.

"I lived in an orphanage before being taken to the church, while Irina had her father to deal with. Griselda basically manhandled us so that we can learn to survive." Xenovia replied with an even bigger shudder.

"Oh yeah, you learned under her tutelage longer than me." Irina put her fist in to a palm as she remembered their history. "That was also the time that she put you on that pony and…"

"NO!" I was treated to the sight of Xenovia kneeling on the ground with her hands on her head, an expression of pure horror on her face. "Anything but that! I will do the dishes, the sword training in a runaway train and training in the fire pit naked while surrounded by snakes, just not the pony training, the tutu and the candles again!"

"Err…" I exchanged baffled expressions with the fallen angel beside me before looking at Irina who looked unaffected from this scene. "Does this happen all the time?"

"Yup." Irina said as she looked on with her expression of cheerfulness, analytic and something that felt like mischief. "This is considered tame by our standards. When she hears the full story, now that will really be a scene." She said with a chuckle that sounded almost evil.

Note to self, Irina was a possible sadist for Xenovia's suffering.

Further thoughts were put on hold when one of the charms I placed on the shop got tripped, followed by the sound of a bell chiming and a Prana signature that flooded the area. By my side, Mitelt shuddered with an expression of fear plastered over her face.

"Are you two okay?" Irina looked at us with a concerned look, likely not feeling the same thing as us.

"We got company." I removed the apron and dried my hands before making my way to the front, preparing the mental trigger in my head. "Get ready."

"For what?" Xenovia asked having recovered from her brief episode of fear and now looking serious.

"Trouble." I gave that comment before walking out of the pantry and to the bar where there was only one man looking around the room.

"Ah, good afternoon. Is it open?" The man asked in a jovial tone as he came nearer, allowing me to take in his features. He was a man who looked to be in his twenties with his rather untidy black hair that ended with gold bangs at the front, almost covering his dark eyes. Combined that with a beard and his current attire of a dark suit, he looked rather roguish for his age while having an amicable attitude. But the scent coming off him was problematic.

Someone from Grigori it seemed.

"We are about to close." I moved to get him in my sights while ensuring he did not have a clear shot at the pantry. "But if you are here for a quick drink, we can allow one."

"Thanks, just give me some 'Scotch on the Rocks' with a bit of gin and mint." The man took a seat by the bar-top and looked at me. "So, you are the owner of this place?"

"The chef." I moved forward to grab the items needed for the drink. "Just part-time."

"And the bar?" The guy motioned with his hand.

"Occasionally when the boss is not around." I mixed the drinks and presented it to him. "Enjoy." The man took the cup in his hand and looked at it with a critical eye, before taking a sip. His eyes went wide as he looked at it again before taking a bigger sip of it.

"Here's a second." I pushed the prepared beverage to him and went about cleaning the utensils.

"Thanks!" The man grinned widely as he finished off the first cup quickly and went to savour the second slowly. "This is a very nice drink you made. So a talented bartender and supposed chef, huh?" His eyes wandered to me as he commented. "Quite a skill-set for a magician in hiding, if I may say so?"

"Magus, if you would." I replied without missing a beat as I replaced the items and placed my palms on the counter-top as I looked at him in the eye. "I thank you for the compliment, Mr Fallen Angel of Grigori."

"Ah~ so you are able to tell what I am huh?" The man said as he lowered the glass. "You are faster on the uptake than the Sekiryutei. He has been around me for a few weeks now and he hasn't even realized that until I tell him straight to his face. Question is, do you know who I am?"

"Lord Azazel!" The both of us turned to find Mitelt with such a pale face I expected her to faint at any moment.

"My apologies, Mr Emiya. She left our sights for a moment and went out." Xenovia apologies as she looked at our guest with a critical eye and maneuvered her body to act as a shield for the blond.

"Hey there Mitelt, long time no see!" The person now revealed as Azazel waved with a lazy hand and a mischievous smirk. "Looks like you have been taken care of very well."

"Why…"

"Ah, I am here to look around the area." He replied while taking another appreciative sip of the drink. "I have some time to kill before the big meeting and I wanted to see the special guest coming to it."

My eyes narrowed at his words as Azazel let out a pleased sigh at the taste of the drink. Granted, my knowledge on the Bible was minimal at best, but given my discussions with Rias and Sona, combined that with Mitelt's reaction and his words, this was a one of the big shots coming to the meeting.

And he decided to start it off by finding me.

"So you have found me. Guess this makes it easier." I spoke as I noted his slightly confused expression. "One of your buddies decided to pay me a visit in the open a couple of days ago, and he was not being very proactive in keeping up appearances."

"Ah, you are talking about Vali?" His eyes widen in recognition before he adopted a slightly sheepish look. "Well in my defence, he was not supposed to be out and about. He tends to leave the base as and when he wants."

"Please tighten the lease around him." I remarked tensely. "I really don't want to pull off multiple memory wipes in the open streets any time soon."

"No guarantees." Azazel shot my words down carelessly as he took another sip. "But enough about that, Steel Mage." His eyes went to my neck where [Hell's Trident] was reacting very badly towards to the point that I could feel its heat against my skin. "Looks like the rumours were true, you are someone who took a Sacred Gear from Regeis."

"Why does everyone keep harping on it?" I threw my arms up in mock exasperation. "I mean, didn't one of your crew try to forcefully take a person's Gear for themselves?"

"Well, there is the ritual, but that is problematic. The original user in question will always perish from the transfer." Azazel spoke without a care that he admitted to the bit of Raynare trying to steal a Sacred Gear. "You on the other hand are an enigma. In the entire history of Sacred Gears, there is only one gear that allows transfer to other users, and that is a Longinus. Three if I were to consider the more esoteric cases, but even then they are rare. You on the other hand are someone who managed to not only take it from a guy who is on the bounty list for a few years," his eyes narrowed and his expression became analytic. "You did something to it that made it more complete."

How did he know that from a glance?

"Lord Azazel is a Sacred Gear researcher." Mitelt started talking while keeping a nervous eye on the fallen angel. "He has been studying them since the first build and has been trying to recreate them on his own. He can more or less tell what the issue with a glance is."

That was slightly impressive and at the same time, rather terrifying to think of. All I have seen up to now was merely reconfirming my thoughts about God being a very powerful individual with somewhat unusual agendas to create these gears which could house souls like dragons inside and give the users abilities. For the time being, there was a limited amount and supposedly tied to the person based on personality and strengths. If someone else was trying to develop it, I don't even want to consider the crap that would come.

"Well that is that, but unfortunately my research has stalled for quite a while now, I can't replicate certain aspects of the gear properly." The male answered back while keeping an eye on me. "But somehow, you took an ordinary Sacred Gear and made it your own with extras added to it, and I don't just mean by ownership. It is now a compatible part of you, in more ways than one."

That was rather concerning.

"Not to mention the stories I have been hearing of you seemingly influencing other Sacred Gears and taking custody over six of the Excalibur Shards and somehow combining them into one form, well…" He showed a rather cocky smirk. "I think you can understand my interest in you, our mystery guest."

… Okay, this was both a good and bad thing. Bad being that a higher being was apparently interested in my exploits and [Hell's Trident] acting differently. But the good thing was possibly him being a liable source of information for a lot of things.

How should I go about?

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but as someone who is the founding leader of Grigori and one of the previous High Angels of Heaven, would you per chance know about the reason God made these Sacred Gears?" I asked the thought that was on my mind for quite some time. "Since you are a researcher, you should know a little something about their true purpose."

"True purpose?" Azazel looked at me with a steady eye. "What makes you think that?"

"If God really wanted to spread the faith among humans, he could have settled for [Twilight Healing] or any other Sacred Gears that would be more ideal to help out with the faith. Instead he has gears that have abilities akin to those of devils, Vikings and other creatures, items that poison others or those that are meant for war. Not to mention the ones that have the souls of dragons and other spirits sealed inside, and the whole deal with these [Longinus] that supposedly have the power to kill Gods? That is just screaming some other plan aside from spreading the faith."

"Oh~" The smile on his face screamed the whole 'I know something you don't' vibe as he listened to my words. "And what do you think?"

"One: he wants to declare war on other religions, or at the least protection from said religions." I started with my ideas while keeping an eye on his expression. "Two: he is preparing for some catastrophic event involving some monster that needs that many gears to deal with."

"Anything else?"

"... A seal."

There. It was for a brief moment, but it seemed that reply got a small reaction.

"Oh, now why would you think that?" The smirk on his face became the type that seemed to be testing my options.

"Why else would you have thirteen Longinus with spirits of dragons or some other being inside them that could take on Gods? Why would you need weapons that inherit powers from other religions or groups? Why have abilities that downright break every rule in physics?" I listed those points before clenching my fist. "In my experience, such items can serve a purpose aside from being glorified weaponry. The most common would be a seal for something that is so outrageous that it would need multiple items to seal it off."

"..." The air in the bar seemed to have gotten heavier as Azazel and I stared at each other, neither one of us giving ground to the other while the girls held back, Xenovia looking particularly trigger-happy for her sword.

Then Azazel started to chuckle loudly.

"Haha~ look at the both of us, it's like having a showdown from the old west films, only over drinks." He shook his head before looking back at me. "I'll be honest with you. I know a lot about Sacred Gears, but I have my own doubts regarding their true purpose. At least I am not the only one who had the same thoughts of them beings seals for something."

"Is that so?" I looked at him carefully, but I could detect no lies from him. Guess that meant it was the truth unless he had a better poker face than I thought. "Well that is a shame."

"Perhaps, but you have a good brain to consider that." Azazel took another sip of the drink to wet his throat before continuing. "But enough of that depressing talk we had." He looked to me with a keen eye. "How did you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Make a Sacred Gear change allegiance on a dime and somehow complete its structure." His eyes narrowed in a manner that reminded me uncomfortably of the magus back at the Clock Tower. "No matter how you slice it, that is something that even God has issues with, and you somehow filled the gaps."

"Would you believe me if I told you I have absolutely no idea how I did it?" I shrugged while telling the truth. "The only thing I know is that the gears tend to come after me once I touched them. That happened with Kiba's swords, and regarding [Hell's Trident], as you said, it was after fighting Regeis that I obtained it."

"Hmm…" He still looked at me before shrugging. "Fine, I guess I won't press you anymore." He drained his drink and placed the cash on the counter. "A little extra for the talk and the good drink."

"Thank you for your patronage." I nodded as he walked back to the door.

"See you at the meeting, boy." With that Azazel left the bar, leaving us in peace.

"Well that was a fruitful meeting, I suppose." I spoke after making sure he was gone from the area.

"Odd fellow, but I guess you are right." Xenovia answered as the others relaxed. "That said though, it seems there are some actively trying to understand where you stand in this area. I guess they don't like the idea of some unknown player coming in without any known agenda."

Well then, one way to find out.

Part 6

"So, are you set?" I turned to the girls behind me as we made our way to the academy.

"We are, my Lord." Xenovia and Irina walked by my sides while Mitelt brought up the rear. The two were back into their exorcism suits and donning their white capes while Mitelt got back into her dress made extra cleaned for the occasion.

As for me…

"Whoa, someone dressed up for the occasion." Tsubasa's voice ranged out in the courtyard the moment we stepped through the front gate, drawing everyone else's attention towards me. I mentally sighed as I waved back at them while walking, noting the vampire Bishop was not around.

I was currently wearing a combat suit that could pass as something formal while still practical enough for fighting. Consisting of a long sleeve jacket with light linings that could double as a tuxedo, a thin grey inner shirt that peeked out of the collar and dark pants, this was about as close to a formal suit as I could get. This of course came with its own sets of protection spells and attack features to deal with whatever situations I would encounter.

I just hope I won't need them at this place. We barely fixed the damn academy.

"I figured if we are having some big shots coming to a meeting of this level, it is best to do a bit of dressing up." I mentioned while looking at the rest, "But considering your attires, I might have been paranoid."

"Nope, you are doing just fine." Rias replied with a smile. "Considering we are about to have Michael of the Heaven Faction and the leaders from our faction, that was a prudent idea from your side."

"Indeed." Tsubasa came forward and looked at me with a hand on her chin. "And I may say so myself, you cut quite a dashing figure."

"You looked really good in the suit, Emiya-kun!" Meguri chimed in agreement. I merely raised my hand to scratch the back of my head with cheeks feeling a little heated. Seriously, how did I ever get past my previous years in high school without getting embarrassed on my looks?

That might explain the exasperation Archer kept displaying in the other dimensions I went to.

"It is time." Sona called out to us after looking at her watch. "Let's get moving."

With that, we made our way to the Occult Club Building, with some of the others trying to alleviate the mood by small talk. I spent the time looking around the area mentally going through every pathway and buildings to go over possible escape routes and hiding spots. Call it paranoia but when you have gone through your fifth meeting with people trying to attack you through different methods, you would want to have several escape routes to be on hand.

Wasn't it sad?

Thoughts about my sad life were put on hold when we got to the door. With a nod, Rias opened the door to let us walk through.

The first thing that came into my sights was the reduction of furniture in the room. All the huge cabinets and objects that could prove to be a distraction were removed to have more room for chairs and people to stand around the one lone table in the center of the room. The next bit I saw were the people who had arrived before us.

On the left side was whom I presume to be from the Heaven Faction, consisting of one male Archangel with Gold Wings, one female angel that had a beauty to match many of those back home and one human female who currently had a shroud covering her head, preventing me from seeing her face. Right in front of me was supposedly the Grigori Faction consisting of Azazel who was seated and waving at us with that smirk of his and Vali who was by the wall with his arms crossed and his eyes closed. Lastly on the right was the Devil Faction, mainly Sirzechs and Serafall who was waving at us eagerly in her office outfit, with Grayfia in the background.

"Ah, all the guests are here now!" Azazel nodded his head at us. "I don't believe you have met the angels before." He motioned with his hand at the people in question who stood up to face them.

"Good evening to you all." The male bowed deeply at us and gave a very gentle smile. "My name is Michael, one of the Seraphs of Heaven. This is Emilia, one of my representatives for the angels." He motioned to the female angel by his right before motioning to the left. "And I believe you have met the newest representative for the church." The human stepped forward as she raised her arms to remove the shroud and reveal a familiar face.

"Griselda, didn't expect to see you so soon." I spoke as I offered a hand to her.

"It is nice to meet you again, Shirou Emiya." The woman in question smiled warmly as she shook the hand. "I trust that my apprentices have not been too much of a trouble under your care?" She looked to the two who seemed to shrink under her gaze like children before a stern teacher.

"They are…" I paused to find a word. "Helpful, to say the least."

"Hmm…" I could almost hear the gears in her head as she seemingly loomed over them. "I hoped you did not give unnecessary issues for him?"

"Nope, Lady Griselda." Xenovia squeaked while Irina was shaking her head so fast she could accidentally lose it from the movements.

"They have been very assistive during their stay." I tried to alleviate her suspicions only for Mitelt to shoot that down.

"Except they have a broken a few plates, vases and a whole bunch of items that needed us to pay for their mistakes." Mitelt quipped without missing a beat. "Not to mention the occasional beating of a customer who got too touchy."

Crud.

"I see." For a moment, I thought I saw a demon mask appear behind her as she smiled rather scarily at her two disciples. "It seems the two of you need a reminder in proper handling of items."

"HIE~" The two girls hugged each other in fear, whatever semblance of their strong sides gone before us as the woman got closer to them with a presence that promised an excruciating punishment.

"Well, this is rather entertaining." Mitelt let out an evil crackle while some of the others were looking on with various degrees of amusement. I myself could not help the small smile tugging at the corner of my mouth. That short moment of amusement ended when Michael coughed lightly into his hand, though it seemed even he was slightly amused by the display before him, judging from the light smile he had on his face.

"Shall we commence with the meeting?"

=()=

So far, this was a pretty calm meeting.

Granted, there were a couple of hiccups, such as the part where Ise went on a small rant against Azazel about Asia's kidnapping and subsequent incapacitation that led to her conversion into a devil, and the rogue actions of Kokabiel. He then switched targets to Michael, asking why Asia was abandoned by the church for helping an injured person, even if he was a devil. I found myself listening in a lot closer than expected to hear the angel's side of the story. It was interesting to hear about some type of system that was made to regulate prayers and protect those under Christianity. This same system was apparently one that dealt with Sacred Gears as well, but was highly dependent on God to run its system properly. Without the Big G, the system did not perform as well, thus resulting in some like Asia to be left out.

Honestly, that sounded a little off to me. I was pretty certain a system like that should have some fail-safe, but then again this was not my world.

There was also the bit where Azazel actually stated that he wanted peace between the three factions since there should be no reason for them to go to war, what with their falling numbers and something that sounded suspiciously like something I had encountered in other worlds: the ending of the Age of Gods. Not sure how to feel about that.

One other bit that came up were the opinions made by Ise and Vali. For Ise, that choice went to a weird direction when Azazel explained it to him in the only manner that Ise could understand: no peace, no making out with Rias for hours-on-end.

Bummer.

Vali Lucifer's choice was simple as well but one that only served to enforce the image of him not caring for the choices of this meeting. He merely wished to fight strong opponents, and if my E-Rank Luck were an indicator, this guy was going to be trouble since this meeting would essentially prevent him from doing so. I would need to keep an eye on him.

So yeah, the meeting was pretty tame, at least by my standards. After all, the ones I have been to were those that had knives, poison and a few explosions as appetizers, followed shortly by decapitations, skewing and occasional property damage.

"Well then, it is nice hearing the words from the leaders of the groups and the two dragon emperors…" My thoughts were interrupted by Azazel who was now looking at me with a steady eye. "Perhaps it is time for the other participants to join in. How about the one who fought with Kokabiel? What do you say, Steel Mage?"

"Why do you keep calling me that?" I started off my words with that question. "Ever since that time at the bar, that nickname keeps getting used."

"Well, considering what Vali has told me" Azazel used his thumb to reference the youth next to him. "You are someone who has a taste for some old weaponry and the old school of fighting arts, not to mention what I hear of you materializing weaponry of divine nature, the nickname will suit you nicely."

"I am curious myself." The Archangel Michael turned to me with a gentle smile and curiosity evident in his eyes. "I was told a great deal from the report by Lady Griselda, and I find myself rather intrigued about you supposedly having a number of weapons contracted to you. Not to mention the shards being attracted to you."

"Perhaps a demonstration is in order?" Griselda spoke as she turned to me. "Would you be so kind as to show them the Excalibur Shards?"

"..." I turned my head briefly to glance at the devils by my side, noting their expressions of slight apprehension before letting out a tired sigh. I stood up and made my way to an empty spot, feeling their eyes on my back as I took a moment to gather my thoughts and find the dimensional portal I stored the Excalibur Shards in. With a light nod, I gestured with my hand to open the portal, and with a bit of dramatic flair, stuck my arm into it and made a show of trying to grab the handle before pulling the sword out of the portal slowly.

"Oh my." The female angel spoke for the first time in the entire meeting while Michael looked on with solemn eyes and Azazel seemed to straighten his back in the presence of the sword. I ignored them for the time being and focused on drawing the weapon out carefully. Once that was done, I placed the blade portion on my palm and presented to the Archangel.

"This is the form the shards have taken…" Michael seemed to have temporarily stopped breathing as he gently took the sword from my hands. His eyes widen as he momentarily fumbled with the sword. "It is a lot heavier than I thought."

"That might be due to the restrictions on it that came about during the creation." I spoke as I looked at the sword that glowed under my watch. "The weapons that form the infrastructure for the sword have their roots in Arthurian Mythology and are often associated with tests of worthiness. Those traits got past over to this, so now the only way to wield it properly is to fulfill certain conditions."

That was the truth, I just did not need to tell them that said weapons happened to be that of King Arthur of my world.

"Hmm…" The angel hummed as he tried to examine the runes on the guard. "Strange, these symbols are that of the Faes, yet there is something else mixed in it."

"A hidden message, huh?" Azazel peered from his side, his analytic eye scrutinizing every aspect of the sword. "Interesting, it seems you created weapons based on concepts that can be compatible with the shards. How intriguing…"

"Well, since those two are preoccupied, we will start asking instead." Sirzechs remarked while looking at them with a raised eyebrow. "What do you feel about this situation with the Three Factions? Do you desire peace as well?"

"Honestly speaking, I am fine as long as the secrets of the Moonlit World is kept under wraps from the normal folk. But I can also say that as much as I would like peace, it is something that would not come without a heavy price-tag."

"So you feel that peace is impossible?" Sirzechs tilted his head.

"What I feel is that the peace that the people in this room desire is likely to be very different from what I desire." I spoke that part out with definite certainty, the tone finally breaking the concentration of Michael and Azazel from their observations of Excalibur.

"Oh? What do you mean?" Azazel asked with that ever-present smirk.

"You want to have peace, but does that peace extend to the humans for that matter?" I asked as I looked at the Fallen Angel in the eye. "Can you honestly say that you will not involve any innocent humans during this transition? Normal humans who cannot defend themselves?"

"Well…" The fallen angel gave a shrug with that irritating smirk as an answer, knowing full well the impossibility of having proper peace among the different groups. That was when someone decided to make his opinion known to me.

"Why bother worrying about those weak humans?" All of us turned to Vali who was looking at me with a keen eye. "You should not concern yourself with them. They will only hold you back."

"You do realize that I am one of those 'weak' humans?" I narrowed my eyes while feeling both [Hell's Trident] and the Excalibur pulsing with supposed anger at the fellow. Michael on his part looked at the Excalibur with a slight hint of trepidation as it glowed brightly with a bit of heat.

"You are different." Vali gestured with his hand. "You have the strength to prove yourself, and no offense, the parts on 'normal' or 'weak' don't quite extend to you. You should not stick to saving, you should be using your strength in more… 'Recreational' ways." His eyes seemed to turn to slits as he maintained his gaze on me. "For that matter, I doubt the bit on 'human' would also apply to you."

"Vali." Azazel interrupted the tense moment with a single word, a notable tone present as he spoke and the distinct frown on his face. The person in question merely shrugged and leaned back into his chair, but his eyes were still trained on me, seemingly waiting for a reaction from that comment.

"Sorry about that." Azazel gave an apologetic smile at me. "What do you feel about our topic?"

"As I have said, I am convinced that the peace is not something that can be agreed on so easily. Considering your factions have been going at it for all these years, be it on or off the battlefield, it won't be simple to just tell your groups to put down arms." I spoke while maintaining an eye on Vali. "Kokabiel would be the primary example."

"True." Azazel nodded with a sheepish smile.

"That said, my words may not matter much to any of your kind…" I noted the slight shiftiness of the leaders and some of the devils by my side but soldered on. "But my part still stands. I am willingly to give this a shot as long as the normal folk don't get dragged along to our side of the world. No one is ready for this scale of the supernatural."

"Were you?" Sirzechs asked, likely using this opportunity to probe me.

"My teachings were… unorthodox. I knew about the supernatural when I was young, but it was a few years later I got a taste of what I was getting myself into." I replied while thinking back to the Holy Grail War. "Then again, no matter what type of preparation you have, one can never be truly ready, unless you are an entity that had no emotions at all or tortured from birth to do so."

"So…" Serafall put a finger to her chin as she looked at all of us. "Does that mean you are okay with the idea we have or not?"

"… For now I will follow." I paused before looking at them hard. "But make no mistake. If any of your kind were to attack the humans in any way, I will take them down. That is the role given to me and I will enforce it."

"Oh…" Azazel gave that ever so irritating smirk. "And how will you enforce it?" To that I gave a smirk of my own that seemed to scare my fellow classmates slightly given the manner they were backing from me.

"I was hoping you would ask that."

=()=

It would not be an understatement to say that Sona Sitri was feeling the urge to drop into a deep hole and crap her pants with all the tension that was going on.

Admittedly, there were some bits that went over her head in terms of the technical aspects of the meeting, but at least there was a lot of information that helped clued her in on the other factions. For one thing, she found out about the few splinter groups of Grigori that had similar ideas like Kokabiel regarding the current state of the world and hated the part where they were regulated to taking down Strays in the area. She found how the council from the church's side was giving more issues than she had anticipated due to the older sects' influence restricting too much control on the respective groups. Combined with their pride and lack of urgency, they ended up letting the Excalibur Shards get stolen and tried to shift the blame to one another.

Boy was she glad that she hadn't started on devil politics. Suddenly her Student Council work did not seem so bad.

But all of that took a back seat when it came to talking about what each faction wanted. It seemed all wanted peace which was good, but oddly enough it was Azazel who proposed the idea. Primary reason being the decline in numbers, but there was the issue of security and the spillage of blood that got them thinking to stop the cold war between them and move on.

After them, the two Longinus users were asked for their opinions regarding that choice. Much to their embarrassment, Issei did not understand the topic of the meeting well enough and it took the perverted mind of Azazel to tell him the issue, to which he agreed to peace so that he could bed Rias. That embarrassment then turned to worry when Vali gave his answer to the question. A battle maniac who wanted to only seek out strong opponents to fight was not someone who would thrive in the setting the leaders were proposing. She could not help the feeling that he could be a source of trouble in the future.

Again, that portion got placed on the back burner when Azazel decided to direct the question at Shirou who had been looking on the meeting with a poker face that could earn him a lot of cash in a casino if he tried. Sona and the others would admit they were a little curious to his reaction for this meeting, but the lack of expressions he had during the meeting was admittedly more worrisome than Vali's reply.

Then he gave his reply which was not out of Sona's expectations of his view on the normal folks' safety, but it did however prompt a comment by Vali that seemingly made the room go colder, and it certainly made her, her peerage and Rias's group bristled at the hint of Shirou being less than human. It was not to say that Shirou was normal, but the manner in which Vali had worded suggested that Shirou was a monster who should only seek strong fighters to go against. After all that had happened, something like that was enough to piss them off.

Especially Reya, Meguri and apparently Tsubasa now. When did that happen?

Her minor curiosity got pushed back when Azazel asked about Shirou's comments on enforcing his protection against those targeting the normal folk. For that brief moment, Shirou let loose a smirk that reminded her of the time he helped Rias and her group for their match with Raiser. A smirk so natural and scary, it made them remember the horrifying portions of the training and get sent into a whirlpool of despair, at least that was the case with Hyoudou Issei who kept going into some sort of shock each time he recalled the training.

"I was hoping you would ask that."

'CHING!'

Without warning, silver chains appeared out of nowhere and wrapped themselves around the different leaders, Grafyfia and Vali to their chairs, leaving them very little room to move.

"What the?!" The leaders look shocked at the suddenness of the move and Grayfia started to attempt moving her way out only for the chains to get tighter. Vali on the other hand was examining the chains with a curious eye, a glint in his eye that made Sona feel very wary of him as he looked on with a smile.

"Shirou Emiya, may I ask what you are doing?" For her part, Sona had to commend on Griselda's self-control; despite not being bound, she was still sitting with a neutral expression, though it was clear that she was restraining herself quite a fair bit.

"Azazel wanted an example, so I am illustrating it." Shirou gave that answer before turning back to the others, whom for their part were quite calm except for Grayfia who looked ready to burn his face off. "I suppose you have heard about Prometheus's punishment?"

"The Titan Prometheus who gave fire to mankind in Greek Mythology?" Michael asked as he leaned back no longer trying to resist his confinement. "He was turned into a human and chained to Caucasus for the eagle to consume his innards, but he would keep on resurrecting by midnight. A very cruel punishment made by Zeus at that time."

"That is true, but in this case." Shirou held up the chain that was encircling his arm. "This is the chain that was used in the punishment. This is [Prometheus Chains], an item used to bind the immortal Titan to his fate."

"This is the actual chains?!" Azazel looked down on the one around his body, his initial discomfort now forgotten and replaced with academic curiosity at the prospect of examining the chains. "Perhaps this is another conceptual weapon?"

"Short version, a bit of both." Shirou replied as he lifted the chains slightly, the lighting revealing runes along the links of the chains. "These chains were made from the metal used for Prometheus's imprisonment, and its powers are enforced from the legends and stories."

"Interesting…" Azazel looked at the chains very closely, his eyes dancing around the links to study the runes.

"That is interesting, but I doubt that this is all you have if you wish to reinforce our promises." Sirzechs spoke as he looked at Shirou. In response, Shirou projected a sword to hover by his right shoulder, the pulsing of power drawing Sona's attention to the weapon. It was a straight two-edged sword that was indented along the length of the blade, its handle simply adorned with a single green gem embedded in it and a small hole at the tip. Unlike the other weapons she had seen before, this gave off a rather weak presence but it was something oddly foreign to her.

"This is the [Sword of Shannara], otherwise called the Blade of Truth." Shirou gestured to the blade in question. "On the surface, it does what it is supposed to do, make both the user and the intended target tell the absolute truth. However, it does have an additional side-effect where it comes in the form of oaths. On its own, not much." He lightly tugged on the chains while moving the sword to link it by the handle. "But if accompanied with [Prometheus Chains], it actually enforces the power of that side effect, meaning…" Shirou paused for a moment before continuing.

"I just need to link the chains to the target in question and make them swear an oath that needs to be enforced, with the punishment ranging to any sort, the highest penalty being instant death."

'WHAT?!' Sona's thoughts ground to a halt at those words that came out of his mouth, further evidenced by the expressions on everyone else's faces besides the leaders who were looking at him with an intense stare, and Vali who had a disturbing expression of hunger.

"That is a pretty bold claim." Azazel remarked as he continued both his smirk and stare, while the feeling of pressure increased around him. "Care for a demonstration?"

'No you fool!' Sona screamed internally as she watched the smirk on Shirou's go even wider. If she had learned one thing from her working relationship with Shirou, if you try to force Shirou's hand, he would do so with a royal straight flush and a smile on his face as he bitch-slapped you all the way to Santa Monica.

"All right then." Gripping the handle so that the blade was pointing towards the ground, Shirou turned to the Fallen Angel and looked at him in the eye. "The witnesses are as stated: Sirzechs Lucifer and Serafall Leviathan of the Devil Faction, Michael of the Heaven Faction, The Dragon Emperors of White and Red, the heiresses of the Gremory and Sitri Clans and finally Griselda Quarta, Xenovia Quarta and Irina Shidou for the humans. The oath to be enforced: Truth regarding the recent thefts and attack with the Excalibur Shards. Upon failure to tell the truth, the person in question will suffer damage accordingly to the lies that is told. This oath is hereby active as of this moment." The moment the words left his mouth, the chains around Azazel glowed brightly and for a brief moment loosened before tightening and seemingly sunk into his flesh, making the fallen angel shudder from the transition.

"How about a little test?" Shirou stepped forward and looked at Azazel in the eye. "Tell me, did you know that he was going to steal the Excalibur Shards?"

Azazel looked at his own body as he flexed his fingers, lightly frowning as if to sense the chains before turning back to Shirou. "No."

"But you have suspected that he might pull something?" Shirou maintained the stare as he continued with his questioning.

"…Yes." The Fallen Angel answered now looking less uncomfortable.

"Then did you try to contact anyone about it?"

"I did." Azazel shrugged.

'SPLAT!'

Everyone turned to look at the blood that suddenly appeared on the ground. Upon closer examination, the blood originated from a deep gash that appeared on his arm. Sona felt her stomach clenched tightly at the sight of veins and muscles in plain view.

"You might want to answer truthfully, Azazel. Depending on the lies, the severity would increase." Shirou said without looking the least bit surprised at what just happened. "You did not try to warn them did you?"

"No, I did not." Azazel spoke the truth this time as his wound started to heal, leaving behind whole skin and a small tattoo of a chain link. Suddenly the atmosphere of the room seemed to have changed with everyone now understanding that Shirou Emiya had called their bluff and was now demonstrating it.

"Do you know the person who was acting as an informant for Galilei?" Shirou asked with his eyes momentarily changing color.

"Yes." Azazel answered now sporting a very serious expression.

"Then can you tell me details about him?"

"Sorry, he is dead~ AHG!" Azazel spoke only to yelp in pain as a bigger gash appeared on his other arm, before it closed up again with a bigger tattoo in its place.

"Azazel!" For the first time, Vali dropped his smile and started to struggle against the chains. With a great effort, he broke the chains and rushed forward with his hand extended like a spear to stab Shirou when…

"Stop!" Vali stopped just in time to have his hand almost pushing at Shirou's chest while a sword being held by Shirou was just barely touching Vali's neck and drawing a bit of blood. Trembling, Sona turned to find Azazel who had raised his hand to stop Vali with some weird energy glowing around it. With a gesture, Vali floated away from Shirou in the same position, his face showing the strain of him trying to break out of Azazel's control. With a glare to tell him to stop, Azazel removed his control over Vali, making him stumble lightly before straightening himself.

"Do you doubt my words now?" Shirou spoke out to everyone while holding up the sword. "This is a mere sample of what I can do to enforce my oaths onto anyone who tries to harm the innocent in this area or any other places. If I see a normal person or innocent get attacked by anyone from your factions, be they from your organizations or outside factions, I will do whatever it takes to drive the point home that no one under my watch will get hurt." His eyes hardened as he looked at the leaders. "Are we clear on that?"

For a moment, Sona blinked and she found herself seeing a hazy figure standing next to Shirou with his arms crossed across his chest. The figure was that of a man taller than Shirou with blond-gold hair that stood in spikes and clad in gold armor with ornate decorations and a red cloth that was attached to his waist and long enough to reach his ankles. The figure gave the presence of someone blessed by the gods who lived a luxurious life. But the thing that got to her was the expression of disdain and venom on the man's face as he looked at Azazel and the others, looking every bit of a man who hated the gods and looked down on them as he seemingly towered over the Fallen Angel.

"I may be human, but I make my living hunting any supernatural creatures that preyed on the innocent. I am just telling you 'nicely' what would happen if you do not uphold your bargain." Shirou tilted his head while maintaining that cold smile, the figure beside him doing the same motion. "Okay?"

A silence descended in the room as the leaders now looked at Shirou supposedly in a new light. Sona herself was shivering from the manner he delivered his speech and his method to prove that he would enforce his rule. Time and again, she had fallen prey to the age-old idea that humans could not do much against higher beings, even with Sacred Gears.

Shirou Emiya on the other hand was no ordinary human; his mentality was too extreme at the ends of the scale and the smooth motions he performed to demonstrate his spells was evidence that he had done this multiple times, making her shudder at the idea that he was used to interrogation and other methods to get information or to ensure the person got the point such as the time with Raynare.

The kind, gentlemanly teenager who always helped others at the expense of his own will.

The cold, calculating mercenary who had no qualms in dishing out huge amounts of pain and spilling lots of blood to get the objective done.

Which was the real Shirou Emiya?

Her thoughts were broken by Azazel who started to chuckle before throwing back his head and laughing out loud. He continued while ignoring everyone's stares of confusion while Shirou looked on impassively. After a while Azazel calmed down enough to lower his head, showing off a smile that was a mix of mischief, joyfulness and a hint of viciousness not seen before.

"Not bad Shirou Emiya! This is good!" He exclaimed as he leaned back and maintained his sight on the wizard. "This is what I want from the one taking possession of the Excalibur Shards!"

"Uh~ what?" Hyoudou Issei blinked as he looked at the Fallen Angel as though the leader had gained a concussion, something that Sona was inclined to believe.

"It is one thing to boast that you can do something, it is another thing entirely to prove that you can uphold that rule." Azazel started speaking with a jovial tone, as though the incident did not happen. "Especially for someone who is supposed to take custody of the shards, you need to be able to handle some situations where you cannot hesitate to draw blood no matter how much horror you need to handle." He turned to Shirou with eyes that spoke of long years.

"This was the trial that God created in the form of Excalibur and given to Arthur Pendragon when he took up the blade to rule the kingdom. There will be times where you would need to handle spilling of blood to uphold your vows. He was able to do so, and I think that is one of the reasons the shards got together and went to you. You share the same conviction as him." Azazel now displayed a smile that was melancholic in some ways. "Guess no matter the age, there will be those who have to shed blood at such young years of childhood."

Everyone hung on to his words as though they were in a trance. This was by far the most they have heard from him at all, even the leaders of the other factions looked shocked by what he had said. Michael for one had a contemplative expression alongside Griselda as they turned to look Shirou who looked at Azazel with a steady eye.

With a slow motion, Shirou raised the sword and lightly twisted the handle, making Azazel's body glowed lightly before chains appeared from his chest and linked back to the handle. With a gesture, Shirou dismissed all the chains that tied the intended targets and the sword.

"What, no more demonstrations?" Azazel asked while crossing a leg.

"That won't be necessary." Shirou let out a sigh that made him sound very old for some reason. "You also passed the test that I made. There is no need to continue."

"That was a test?" Issei nearly fell out of his chair as he looked at the both of them like they were mad, something Sona was inclined to agree again.

"Yup." Both Shirou and Azazel nodded their heads at the same time.

"I wanted to make sure that the leaders understood that just because I am a human magus, it does not mean I don't have the resources to deal with any higher beings." Shirou said as he sat back in his chair while looking at the others with a steady eye.

"I for one, needed to make sure that he could back it up properly. I have encountered several in my life, but our friend is the first one who can really back up his words with actions." Azazel replied as he waved a hand. "Excalibur has chosen a good user, Steel Mage. Quite a showing indeed."

"You are one tough bastard yourself, old crow." Shirou shot back with a wry smile. The atmosphere seemed to have dissolved to a level that was more cheerful with the leaders and representatives relaxing, although Sona could see Grayfia was just restraining herself greatly to not attack the both of them while Griselda was sporting a thoughtful expression with an odd blush on her cheeks.

Why was that?

"Well, that just leaves one thing left from our mutual test." Azazel raised a hand towards Shirou. "Would you like to join the Grigori?"

'WHAT?!' Sona's mind grounded to a halt at Azazel's offer, something which certainly took everyone by surprise if it could make both Grayfia and Vali shocked at his words.

"You are neutral, that much is clear. But you are also favoring the devils in some manner." Azazel started explaining while maintaining his eye on Shirou. "You are with them for the time being, but what little I have learned from your fights and our earlier demonstration, you actually have a lot more in common with the Grigori than either of us would think." Azazel then turned to look at Michael. "And something tells me that you are thinking the same thing, Michael."

"Truthfully, the young man here does remind me of you." Michael nodded his head while giving a sad smile that spoke of memories long past. "But he also reminds me of several of our other compatriots, both past and present. He has that sort of mannerisms and behavior that is also quite compatible with the Vatican, the Excalibur coming to him is the proof." The archangel turned to the magician with an expression that spoke of a huge decision made in his mind. "You have the same traits as many of my old acquaintances from so long ago when the Vatican was first formed and you have the light that reminded me of Father. The Excalibur Shards have proven that by reforming themselves."

"So I extend the same offer to you like Azazel. Do you wish to join the Church?"

Sona could not believe her ears. First they had the talk where everyone voiced their opinions, then Shirou pulled out some weird demonstration to test Azazel, then he gets propositions by both Grigori and the Heaven Faction! This was unbelievable. It was unreal.

And somehow, it also scared her slightly at the possibility of Shirou actually agreeing to them.

Sona did not understand the feelings she had regarding the magician as of late, but she did consider him to be a very close, if not weird, friend that a part of her could relate closely. Someone who was responsible, gentlemanly and kind to her, not as a prize or a species, but as a person. She did also enjoyed some of their interactions before and after he learned of their origins.

And he could be leaving…

"I thank you for the offers, but I would have to politely decline." Her thoughts were broken by Shirou who bowed his head at both of the leaders. "Someone still needs to watch over the humans and the occasional innocent beings within my reach and under my watch."

"Ah that is expected." Azazel shrugged and leaned back while Michael gave a resigned expression. "But the offer will remain open to you."

"As is mine." The archangel concurred with his head. Shirou bowed his head again before looking towards the teenage devils, his gaze lingering on her for a moment before continuing to the others. Sona did not really understood what was going on anymore, but somehow she felt relieved that he was not leaving.

She seriously needed to do a reevaluation of her feelings soon.

"Well." Sirzechs clapped his hands together with an apparent effort to dispel the serious atmosphere that kept invading the room. "I think we are all clear in our desires to have peace right?" Everyone nodded either through proper agreements or just to dispel the whole incident away. "Then I believe this meeting is adjoined." He pointed to the table where several parchments laid, each belonging to one of the factions. "All we need is to sign our agreements and we can make it official."

'Well, that was actually pretty tame, despite the crazy issue from earlier.' Sona thought as she watched the leaders signed the parchments before Issei, Vali and Shirou stepped forward to do the same. 'Maybe this could work.'

'BOOM!'

Of course, nothing could go well. What did she bother to tempt fate?

Part 7

"Oh my, looks like the terrorists are a little too eager to control themselves." The magus mused as he watched the group outside of the academy started their assault on the meeting place. He had contacted his partner after his little trip to the academy and relayed his idea to test Shirou Emiya. After which he had spent the time alternating his activities between his experiments and checking on his little seed to ensure that it was growing well without anyone noticing. When he heard about the meeting, he decided to wait it out on the nearby rooftops to see the proceedings.

He did not need to wait too long as he soon found himself in some dimensional barrier that separated the academy from the rest of the town, with the odd feeling that time was stopped in the area that would allow the intruders to attack unhindered. The magus mentally shrugged as he used the chance to see the type of people aiming for the talk.

Honestly speaking, he was sorely disappointed.

The magus had been in this world for a couple of centuries now, considered a 'young traveler' by those who had been here longer than him, but he had the opportunity to check on the different species and factions that lived in this world, and more importantly, the different magecraft systems that was being practiced here. And if he were being 'nice', the systems they have were rather lacking in some areas. Granted this was a different world and there were some individuals that gave proper impressions, but he was not captivated with the manner these people were using their abilities. They were so loose in their styles, and there have been times the magus was sorely tempted to tear out their internal organs and strangle them with their intestines as he watched them perform some of the simplest spells with such cringe-worthy movements. Even Shirou Emiya, a third-rate magus with barely any talent, had movements that were fluid and he had the will to make sure those movements were perfected.

Then again, this was a world where the gods were still around, it likely made them very complacent.

Shaking his head to rid of those thoughts, the magus watched the first wave of magicians going forth to attack the building where the leaders were having their meeting, going over their tactics in his mind. There was zero planning in this; these guys were just throwing spells at the building in the rare hope that they could damage it and get to the leaders.

Clearly the mages were grunts sent to the slaughterhouse to serve as distractions and to wear the enemy down. If so, then…

The magus smiled sinisterly as he looked to where he planted his trap, where he spied three of the mages standing near it. Just as he needed it to be, a source of protein for his project. He drew a symbol in the air at the direction of the trap, feeling the seed burst open from its shell.

Let the games begin.

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"Man, we are never going to get any action are we?" One of the reserved magicians scowled as he looked at the vanguard attacking the academy.

"I for one don't mind." His fellow magician said as he leaned against the tree. "At least we don't need to use our spells so early in the game. Let them tire themselves before we go in."

"Good point." The first one gave a grudging agreement. "But still this is boring. You would think that this plan would involve more action, Clive."

"We just need patience Clayton." The second shrugged carelessly. The first one was about to reply with some choice words when a pained yell called out from the bushes a few feet away from them. The both of them immediately brought out their staffs and pointed at the bushes.

"Where is Kelvin?" Clayton asked as they looked around.

"He was right there!" The one called Clive gestured at the area just as the bushes started to rustle again. Then without warning, a large object launched out of the bushes and landed on the ground in front of them with a loud and wet splat.

"URG! What the fuck!" Clayton paled as he recognized what remained of their reserve magician, the innards completely ripped out savagely and the head and limbs removed. Before the second could comment, something burrowed out of the bushes and rammed him into the ground and bit his shoulder hard.

"ARG! Get it off me!" The magician screamed as the creature savagely ripped his arm off and started to smack him with it. Clayton quickly activated a spell and aimed it at the monster. Within a few seconds a wind spell was conjured up and with a quick whoosh, the creature's head fell off its body in halves.

"God damn it! That fucking hurt!" Clive grabbed the stump and held back a yell from the pain.

"Hold on, I am going to seal the wound." His partner directed his staff at the wound and chanted a few words. Magic sigils appeared at the stump for a while before disappearing, revealing freshly healed skin and no more blood.

"Thanks." Clive stood up with a wince before looking at the dismembered body of the creature that attacked them. "What the hell type of creature is this?"

"I have no idea." Clayton looked at the remains warily, noting the odd tentacles and limbs of the creature. He shivered at the sight of the creature's eyes staring back at him. For a brief moment, he thought the eyes shifted slightly. "Maybe it is one of the devils' pets to deal with us if anyone tried to invade."

"Well at least that is over…"

That was the only thing Clive got to say before his head flew off, the neck squirting out blood at high pressures and splattering blood all over Clayton's face. Then after a moment, the headless corpse dropped to its knees and crashed to the ground.

"What the?!" Clayton stumbled backwards as his brain tried to compute what had happened when he heard a growl behind him. Before he could react, his leg got grabbed and he was pulled to the ground roughly. Struggling he turned to see the headless corpse of the creature using its arm to hold him, and much to his horror the neck started sprouting muscles and bones from the stump, roughly making the shape of its head. He tried to move the staff only to yell out loud as something bit his arm. Turning his head, he found the now healing head of the first creature chomping on his arm, muscle tendons and bones appearing from its neck to start forming the body. Then to his ever increasing horror, two more creatures appeared from the bushes and advanced on him, the closer one wasting no time to pin him to the ground and opened its mouth wide to reveal rows of teeth.

"AAAHHHH!" The magician screamed as the creature bit into his neck and ripped his head off without much effort. With a loud crunch, the creature swallowed his head while tossing the body back to the others to let them rip it apart and eat the remains. It slowly turned its head towards the academy where some of the magicians seemed to have realized its presence. It ignored them for a moment and smelt the air, catching the scent of the one it was supposed to hunt down.

The scent of the one it should feed upon its flesh.

With a shake of its head, it took a deep breath and let out a loud roar to both announce its presence and to call the others to its side.

"GROROROORO!"

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Current Chapter's Noble Phantasm(s):

Prometheus's Chains - The Binds of the Titan

Type: Anti-Divine

Rank: A / A++ (combined with Sword of Shannara)

Silver chains with ancient runes on each link of the chain, with a sharp pommel at the end of each chain.

The story goes about Prometheus delivering the fires of Olympus to mankind against the will of Zeus, thus resulting in his incarceration on the mountain, where he was changed into a man and made to have his body feasted by a great eagle set by Zeus, and forcefully revived at the stroke of midnight so that the process could be repeated. It was only 30 years later when Hercules was undergoing his Twelve Labours that he went to kill the eagle and broke the chains, thus setting Prometheus free.

Having been created by Zeus to incarcerate a powerful Titan, the chain is one of the few Anti-Divine weapons that can restrain any Gods or divine creatures, Titans being the most susceptible to its effects. When combined with the [Sword of Shannara], its strength becomes stronger due to the story where it was used to restrain an oath breaker.

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Sword of Shannara - The Blade of Truth

Type: Anti-Personnel

Rank: B / A (combined with Prometheus Chains)

A two-edge sword with a particularly thin blade and a rounded end, the hilt is conversely huge with a huge handle and pommel, with runes etched into them.

Unlike other weapons, this is a sword that has its base from the future and in stories. While the name originated from literature, the sword in question came from a parallel time-line where mankind has discovered the existence of the True Ancestors, Dead Apostles and the Moonlit World, and thus raged war against all the supernaturals, leading to a global near-extinction of mankind, magus and other supernatural creatures. The sword was one of the last few weapons created during that great war before it got lost to time, only to be found by Archer who encountered on one of his missions. Later that same blade would be found by Shirou during one of the dimensional travels.

On its own, the blade does what it was meant to do: to confront both the user and the targets with the truth of their lives. If used as a weapon, the sword will store the 'truth' of the person cut, and will release an attack equivalent to its strength. But if combined with [Prometheus Chains], the weapon has its nature altered slightly to resemble the [Sword of Damocles], whereby the person that is chained must tell the truth or suffer a punishment of the user's choice, be it small cuts to instant death based on the level of the lie being told.

=()=

Aegis - Shield of Athena

Type: Fortress (Athena) / Anti-Unit (Perseus) / Fortress (Shirou)

Rank: A (Normal) / A++ (Type 2)

A round shield with ornate designs around its edge and a simple symbol of a tree in the center. Perseus's version has the added design of the Gorgon's Head in the middle with snakes erupting from her head. When called out as a conceptual weapon, it takes the form of hexagonal blocks of light that surrounds the user and moves about to block attacks.

Hailing from Ancient Greece, this was the shield created by Hephaestus that was used by Athena and Zeus during their reign of Olympus. When Perseus was tasked to kill Medusa, Athena handed him her shield to help him look at her reflection to avoid the curse of the gorgon. After his completion of the quest, the head was added to the shield to utilize the power of the Gorgon.

As Rho Aias's Seven Petal Form is often associated with the Counter Guardian Emiya, Aegis Hexagonal Shields can be considered as Shirou's Emiya's personal shield. Shirou was able to understand the history and project it as a conceptual weapon that would aid him in heavy defense. This is particularly useful when he needs to be moving fast while avoiding attacks. The only drawback would be the consumption of his Prana; the longer the activity the faster the consumption would be.

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=====Author's Notes=====

Hello, I have returned with a new chapter for this story. Sorry for the long wait, I could only say that 2017 started very badly for me, and I had to deal with a lot of shit in my life. Still do right now, but I am trying to handle it. T.T

As you can tell this is a dialogue heavy chapter, not much on fighting, but I felt I needed to show the aftermath of Shiro's fight first before I get into the actual fighting which would be in part 2 (Be patient with me). In this part, we get to see some of the reactions by those involved with the fight, and those behind the scenes. Especially the Hero Faction and the workings of a certain fellow after Shirou.

I also wanted to insert a bit of humanity into Shirou in regards to the interactions with the elderly couple. I know that the novel and the other stories out there often mention him being somewhat numb to typical emotions, but I figured that he should be able to feel something especially if it is regarding Kiritsugu. So I thought that he would likely feel some form of sadness if his father was not around for an event that would require a parent or a guardian, then maybe he can feel a bit more attached to the elderly couple who sometimes see him as a surrogate son.

Now onto comments from users.

I am glad that my Excalibur Arc is well-received, you have no idea how hard it is to write all the ideas out and get it to flow properly, especially since this is quite a deviation from those using UBW. I must admit I am also pleasantly surprised at how popular my story is. I honestly thought that I would need to be mentioned on sites like TV Tropes to get the views. That was how stories like 'God Slaying Blade Works' and 'In Flight' are shown to everyone and how the authors (my favorites) are known to others. It is highly unlikely for me to get a page on my story. Heck, if my story actually gets a TV Tropes page, I would be damn happy, and maybe inspired enough to creating a new chapter for Freezing or maybe a new story based on the poll.

But that is highly unlikely and a little off the topic, so I will get back to the remarks.

I am also swamped by the comments and private messages regarding the future relationships of Xenovia, Irina and Griselda with Shirou. A lot want the harem route (we are talking about Emiya here) or at least Xenovia with Shirou, but there are also quite a few who expressed concerns about Shirou needing to be committed to Saber or Shirou 'stealing' from Issei, especially Irina. I would like to point out that when I created the poll in the beginning, it was meant to be related to working relationships, not necessarily romantic types. If it is the latter, these are my views on the possibilities:

Griselda - She has the highest chance to have a romantic relationship since she is technically only a few years older than him physically, while mentally they are closer. The both of them could relate to the trials of life and I can imagine them getting quite close if given the opportunity to be together for a while.

Xenovia - One of the girls who seems to be the favorite candidate of everyone to join Shirou after the Excalibur Arc. I am currently concentrating more on the working relationship with Shirou, and the general idea with Griselda being around to handle her, she would at least maintain her strong beliefs as a knight and a exorcist instead of going with the idea of getting a child. After all, it was basically at the point when she was faced with the knowledge of God's Death that she turned to Rias to become a knight. She could be a possible candidate for romance, but that remains to be seen.

Irina - Personally, this would be the hardest to deal with since she already has a huge interest in Issei and has been quite loyal in her feelings. It will be next to impossible to have her interested in Shirou romantically unless something drastic happens, like having a falling out with Issei which would have to be extreme. Hell, the only possible way that Irina could have a relationship with both of them (and appease everyone's opinions) at the same time would be having clones of her so that she can stay with Issei while the clone sticks with Shirou. Otherwise she would just maintain a working relationship with Shirou.

Clones, huh? (jolts down an idea for possible story arc)

Also on the topic of possible relationships is the bit of Sona's Peerage with Shirou. I am actually having a small shipping war going on in my private inbox, with Sona, Reya and Momo of all people leading. Goodness me, I did not expect this. Now I wonder if the rest of the girls in the peerage should come along? O.o

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Now onto something not related to the story per say, more on the current poll of possible stories I might do, be it a Fate crossover or standalone.

Firstly, I have never seen such diverse results that kept changing every odd day. As of this posting, the results for the top ranking choices are as such:

Campione - 38

RWBY - 33

Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - 30

Fate Grand Order - 27

Freezing (Pandora Fate Works) - 26

The poll is still open, but I never had seen the choices going up and down so many times before. Even one of the lower ranking choices, Queens Blade of all things, is actually getting some attention (guess people want Shirou to have a harem everywhere :p)

=()=

Secondly, in regards to RWBY option, I have a bit of a dilemma with it. Having read the fanfics and watched the show, I am drafting several ideas for it. But I am not sure how you guys would feel regarding some choices common in this site. So here is my list of options to you, it is optional for you guys to state but please specify in the following order.

Standalone - OC Main Character

OC to be a student? (Yes/No)

IF a student, OC to replace Jaune? (Yes/No)

Crossover (Shirou most likely)

Shirou to be a student or slightly older man?

If a student, replace Jaune? (Yes/No)

If older, make older women as his companions? (Yes/No)

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That's all I have to say. I should tell you that the next chapter could take a while, but I am trying to push for its completion. Hopefully I can get it out soon.

And I put my pen down for now.

Let's get ready to rumble for the next chapter.