Author's Notes: I'm back with another chapter, sorry for the long wait a lot of stuff has happened. I normally wouldn't explain why but I think I owe it to the people that has read my chapters since they've been waiting for so long. For those that read my chapters in the past the reason why my posting schedule has been so inconsistent is because at the time I had to act as a caretaker for my mother, until she went into the hospital and I had to take over her responsibilities. Until very recently my mother passed away. I'm still mourning for her death and due to that and to the stress that comes with everything else I couldn't upload new chapters. If I wasn't busy, I had a mental block due to stress. This is the main reason why I haven't posted in a long time. Now on to the reviews.

EternalKing: Yeah, but I'd rather keep at as implied rather than writing it. That one time I did write a lemon in a previous chapter was an experiment and I can say I'm more comfortable with keeping it implied.

NERO TOVACK: They won't destroy the manor, they're not that bold. A bedroom however is not so safe.

zero zigma: I'll think it over but I don't really see the relationship going that far to be honest.

xNaruhina: No, unfortunately. However there will be interactions between them. It can make for some fun moments.

Guest: An unintentional one.

DJDrake: Will do and thanks man.

ZeroSaga: Yes, the story will continue.

Draxxe12: Thanks.

Blitzenf'n: Thanks and don't worry my feelings are hurt. While I understand crying is a bit typical Vince crying was understandable in the context of this is him when he was younger, he's having a hard time dealing with Chloe being in a coma at the time, he has to go travel to Kuoh town to go to school and Rena just broke up with him just so that he would go and get a better start. All of that builds up and it's a natural reaction to break down like that. But I will say that Vince crying is a very rare moment and won't happen very often and I did want to show that he can show more emotions then what he already does. I hope this clears up why it happened last chapter.

desdelor97: Thank you.

StormMaster567: Thanks, glad it was good.

zeldawolffang: Same.

renextronex: I do agree with you that my writing style especially at the start is crude and I've done quite a bit of mistakes trying to get more experience writing in general. I am trying to improve and I'm very rusty after being out for a long time. As for why Vince has all of these connections despite being poor is simple, he was born into a poor family and just recently started getting his connections so it's not like he's had them all his life. As for Vince not killing Jeanne and Siegfried the answer to that is simple really. Vince only had enough energy to beat one of them with the other waiting. Vince was losing to the other until his unstable draconic energy took control and all hell broke loose forcing Jeanne and Siegfried to retreat.

kynan99: You're welcome.

Disclaimer: I do not own Highschool DxD or any other references or elements I may put in the story. They all belong to their respective owners I only own my OCs.

xXxXxXxXxX

Both Vince and Rena blushed in embarrassment as Rias looked at them jealously while Akeno smiled that easily showed her jealously underneath it.

Claudia herself smiled in amusement the entire way through as she fumigated Vince's bedroom in the Valefor manor with Rena and Vince helping her fumigate.

Rias glared at the two while pouting. "Seriously Vince. I thought this entire time you were immune to seduction and yet... Rena was able to seduce you?!"

Vince held back laughing at her tone of voice and instead opted to shrug. "I couldn't exactly help myself. Besides, I can only take so much seduction and teasing before I give up."

Akeno however giggled and turned to Rena. "Perhaps you can give me a few tips later Rena? I would defintely like to learn what makes Vince hot and bothered."

Before Rena could reply to her, Rias turned to Akeno with annoyed glare to which she smiled. "Wouldn't you like to know as well Buchou? It would come in handy."

"Now that I think about it, yeah it would come in handy..." She trailed off, thinking about the idea which caused her lips to curl up into a smirk.

"Yeah, I'm going to have to say no to that. I'd rather avoid splashing myself with ice cold water each time either one of you decides to tease me." He replied scrubbing down the walls that were currently stained.

Akeno noticed several cracks on the wall on the other side of the room and gained a look of curiosity. "Ara ara, what happened to the wall?"

Rena blushed a little recalling the memory as she Claudia smiled. "Ah, that must have been when Vince and Rena were rough housing and pinned each other into the wall."

Akeno gained a blush and licked her lips while looking at Vince, however he himself promptly inched away while wiping off the last stain on the wall after noticing a predatory gleam in her eyes.

"You and Rena were pretty loud last night. With all of the noises I've heard a person would wonder if you two were making a porngraphic video. I must say Vince, I am surprised you took Rena with such lust and vigor, it made me wonder if you were really the same person. You two even broke the bed springs in the bed as a result. Well, not that it matters since it has to be burned regardless along with the sheets." Claudia teased with an amused expression.

Despite Rias' eye twitching she did blush brightly at the description while Akeno giggled while blushing. Vince and Rena on the other hand froze for a moment and blushed in embarrassment before continuing to clean the rest of the room.

Rias however huffed and pinched his cheek. "We are going to have our own time for this, you know that right?"

Vince lightly swatted her hand away and rubbed his cheek a little, however just as he did that Akeno smiled and leaned against his chest while tracing a finger on his chest. "But before that we should have our own time together right, Vince?"

"I'll think about it. Anyway, thanks for coming over here to bring me lunch, you two." He said, as he gently moved Akeno to the side and went back to cleaning.

Rias paused for a moment and him in disbelief while Rena looked amused and Akeno looked surprised. Claudia herself giggled a bit before going back to cleaning. Causing him to raise an eyebrow. "What?"

"Are you feeling sick Vince?" Rias asked, touching his forehead with her hand.

"Perhaps you need more rest?" Akeno commented, placing a hand on his cheek.

Vince's eye twitched as he moved to the side. "Very funny, you two."

"Vince is fine you two. He just needed to get laid since he was so grouchy." Rena replied, laughing a bit at Vince's unamused expression as Rias and Akeno giggled a bit.

"Vince, Rena I have already finished you two can leave now." Claudia answered as she walked in the room.

"Thanks, but are you sure?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

"Of course, thanks to you and Rena we finished much earlier than I thought. All I have to do is wait for the new mattress to be avaliable at the store to pick up." She replied with a small smile.

"Alright thanks." Vince quickly left the room as Rena raised an eyebrow.

"Say Claudia why aren't you using any honorifics on Vince? You were adamant about it before." Rena stated with Rias and Akeno turning their attention towards her.

Claudia however sighed a little before pouting. "We had a bet to see who could best each other in a racing game and per the agreement, I have to refer to Vince without honorifics at all times. If I won, I would have referred to him as "Vince-sama" or "Lord Vince" at all times."

Rena chuckled a little as she shook her head as did Rias while Akeno giggled a little. The head maid smiled and picked up the cleaning materials in the room. "To be perfectly honest, it's very unusual. I always expected the wielder of Angel/Devil to act like akin to the other clan heirs and leaders."

"But... I'm glad that Vince is the exact opposite of what I expected. He treats me as an equal." She finished as she left the room with cleaning materials in tow.

xXxXxXxXxX

Vince sighed a bit as he stopped walking until he reached a large waterfall, right near a forest and summoned Arondight in a burst of holy demonic energy. (Let's see. From what Yume told me after I asked her. Arondight's Mimic responds to my desire like a Sacred Gear so I'll save that for later. I already have a good grasp thanks to my Sacred Gear. For now, I'm going to find out what else it can do. As the parallel to the real Excalibur it should have similar abilities.)

[Need some help Vince?] Yume asked suddenly getting his attention.

"You're awake? Huh. And here I thought restraining Ddraig and Albion's powers would put you to sleep again." He commented as he planted Arondight into the ground and leaned against it.

Yume sweatdropped at his treatment of the blade as she shook her head. [I decided to restrain their power, instead of everything else so the strain is considerably less. Also, please don't treat Arondight like that.]

"Thanks. So, can you analyze this thing to see what it can do? My Sacred Gear is linked to the sword so it should be easy." Vince asked jabbing a thumb at the holy demonic blade.

[Sure, just give me a few minutes. Arondight is a lot stronger so, I'll have to take my time analyzing it especially since it's a holy demonic sword and I've never examined one before.] She answered with a smile.

"You didn't analyze it when I first got it?" He questioned with a raised eyebrow.

[Between the training you did in your subconscious and restraining those dragons. I didn't have the chance to.] Yume answered simply.

"Oh. That reminds me, how exactly can you analyze my sword's abilities or both of my Sacred Gear for that matter?" Vince asked, crossing his arms.

Yume paused for a few moments before sighing a little. [I'll explain more in detail later on but to give a short answer, I was given this ability by my lord.]

"Lord...?" A frown appeared on his face, deep in thought until a look of realization appeared on his face. "You. You're an angel."

[Yes, I am an angel Vince. I'm sorry for not telling you this earlier.] Yume said sadly.

His frown deepened as he rubbed his temples with his index and middle finger. "If I told you, I plan on remaining neutral to the church and that I don't have a high opinion of your lord and his religion would you consider me an enemy or would you try to convert me instead?" Vince questioned, staring at Angel/Devil.

[Of course not! Vince, while I understand your unease and distrust over the Three Factions due to their past mistakes please don't think for a moment that I would consider those things! Well, not anymore at least...] Yume admitted with a sigh.

"Anymore...?"

[Originally my Lord sent me to govern over Angel/Devil to make sure it's instability wouldn't kill the chosen user and to make sure he followed aligned himself with Heaven, but during the times I was awake I looked over you and after seeing what happened for the most part. I decided to abandon that last order and to let you choose your own path and to help guide you to the best of my abilities.] She answered seriously.

After a few moments of silence he then shook his head and sighed. "That explains a bit. Mind answering something? Why would your God try to choose a user if he banned the Sacred Gear in the first place?"

[My Lord originally detested Angel/Devil and saw it nothing more as an insult and a counterfeit Sacred Gear. He believed it would break the balance of the world and cause a mass panic for those that believe in him. But as the Great War raged on and the casualties continued to rise with no end in sight. My lord eventually saw the benefits and the potential of Angel/Devil. His idea at the time was to have a chosen wielder fight for Heaven and with the abilities of both an Angel and a Devil within their grasp, help bring an end to the Great War. However, just as the modifications were completed by my Lord, he died soon afterwards.] Yume explained.

His eyes widened a bit before a frown appeared on his face. "Wait, what killed the guy? And better yet what modifications? Also, why are you even in Angel/Devil to begin with?"

Yume blinked twice at the bombardment of questions before she sighed a little. [P-Please Vince let me answer a question on at a time. As for what killed my Lord, I don't know. I was already sealed in Angel/Devil and the last thing I remember is waking up to see you when you were younger. I was certainly shocked to find out he was killed, I only really found out about it because I got curious and manifested myself as a pair of chains to travel and overheard a conversation between Lady Gabriel and Shura-san back then when they were training you. However, that wasted all of my energy and I went back to sleep but I was able to get enough information piece what happened later on.]

"Well, I shouldn't be surprised considering you used those chains to keep Jeanne away from me until the others arrived. But what are modifications he made to Angel/Devil?" Vince questioned, looking at it.

[My Lord placed my mind in Angel/Devil and fully implemented the Angel DNA inside while making Angel/Devil an authentic Sacred Gear. He also gave me the ability to do structural analysis with Angel/Devil to determine any problems or changes and deal with it accordingly. That also includes anything linked to it. Like Element Brand at the beginning when I linked it to Angel/devil to absorb it's excess power to so your Sacred Gears wouldn't be unstable.] She stated simply.

"So that explains it... I always thought it was weird that you had that much of an influence over my Sacred Gears. But the people that originally created Angel/Devil, how did they get Lailah's DNA?" He asked frowning.

[Samples of Lailah, the Angel of Night's DNA was taken which was easy to do during the war due to the battles she fought. Blood, hair and skin samples went a long way for them. However it was implemented rather hastily. My Lord caught wind of this and sent a squad to retrieve it before they could finish, unlike the Devil's DNA the last head of the Valefor clan who volunteered.] Yume explained with a small sigh.

Vince nodded before looking up at the sky. "If that's the case then why wasn't his mind placed inside too?"

[To my knowledge their magic wasn't advanced enough to do that. So they had to settle with just the DNA and his soul, which was emptied to avoid any influence.] She said simply.

A frown appeared on his face as he slowly turned to his Sacred Gear. "Then the remaining modifications your God did, implemented Lailah's soul in their to complete it. Or rather, I should say, your soul. Yume."

Yume nodded sadly. [Yes. However, My Lord separated my mind before emptying my soul and cleansed my DNA just to be sure, to follow with the current pattern to avoid any complications down the line. However, my Lord thankfully gave me the ability to retain my emotions despite me just being a mind.]

Vince stared at the bracelet with a neutral expression, however one could easily tell his mood was not neutral due to the amount of killing intent that was leaking from his body. "Without any context I'm inclined to believe that your God basically dissected you. Used your DNA and soul to complete Angel/Devil after it was wiped clean. While using your mind like some kind of computer AI to just to fix Angel/Devil and to influence the wielder to fight for him."

Yume's eyes widened at the implication as she shook her head. [N-No! You have it wrong Vince! My Lord didn't force me to do this. I choose this of my own free will.]

"Why?"

[It was my duty. My DNA was originally used for this Sacred Gear and I was in the team that was tasked to retrieve Angel/Devil. It's only fitting that I would be the one to do this. Besides, I couldn't bear the thought of someone else having to do this. And, I had a request that my Lord granted to which I will always be grateful for.] She said smiling.

(She doesn't seem to regret her decision, I would like to ask what that request is but that's probably something personal. I'm sure she'll tell me some other time.) Vince thought to himself as he glanced at Arondight.

[...And done, my analysis of Arondight is finished. While Arondight itself has gotten more powerful, it's not at full power and just as we suspected it's abilities parallel the real Excalibur. However, I can see that it only has access to two abilities.] Yume stated.

"One of them is broken into pieces and it's counterpart isn't up to snuff. Why am I not surprised...?" Vince asked more to himself in a dry tone.

She then cleared her throat gaining his attention. [Moving on, while weakened Arondight itself isn't a slouch when it comes to out putting power. It still packs a punch and it still retains it's dragon slaying trait in addition to the other abilities it shares with Excalibur.]

"That's a relief to hear. I'll have more of a chance against those two dragons with two dragon slaying swords. So, what abilities can I use for Arondight as of now? Aside from Mimic." He asked, remembering Arondight's transformation into a cannon from yesterday.

[Destruction, unfortunately.] However to her surprise, his lips curled up into a smirk.

Vince crossed his arms for a few moments before letting go and nodded."At least I know what to do for now. Yeah, having Destruction can defintely help with what I have in mind."

[How so, Vince?] Yume asked sounding a little confused.

"I'll explain as I go along but for now, I'll be focusing half of my time training with Arondight while the remaining half will be with the Totsuka-no-Tsurugi. Right now, I'll focus a quarter of my time with Mimic and then Destruction." Vince stated as he grabbed Arondight and concentrated for a few moments.

Within a moment the holy demonic blade turned into a scythe. Twirling it in his hands, he swung the weapon, slicing a nearby tree in half. A small chuckle escaped Vince's throat as he looked at the scythe. "I miss using scythes."

[Oh right, I almost forgot the staff Chloe made for you turned into a scythe. Raging Heart, right?] Chloe asked.

"Yeah." Vince brought his left hand back while holding scythe in front of him with his right hand. "Let's see if this works then."

[Vince, what are you going to?-]

Without a moment's notice he began sprinting towards the forest while aiming the pole end of the staff at the ground and slammed it into the ground. "Destruction!"

At that moment a large explosion occured at the end of the pole end and Vince used the momentum of the blast to launch himself several feet into the air. His eyes widened greatly as he realized that he was shot up in the air further than he realized. "Oh shit..."

Shaking his head to get rid of his initial surprise Vince channeled lightning into his legs to reinforce it. "Focus..."

He then quickly adjusted his body's position to go dive downwards. Landing on the ground while he moved his right leg to the side, leaving a small line mark on the ground and channeled all of the momentum into his swing. "Haaaah!"

Within an instant the force of the swing not only sliced the trees in half but the force of the attack sent a massive shockwave that cleaved a good amount of trees in the area in half. Vince took a deep breath before falling down and breathing heavily while staring at his shaking hands.

Yume sighed and shook her head. [Please don't try something that reckless again Vince. You know as well as I do that getting hurt seriously won't help later on.]

"I know. But, I wasn't expecting to go that high in the air. If I didn't reinforce my legs with lightning than I would have broken them. Even though you enhanced my body to be almost as sturdy as a devil's when I was a baby... My body's shaking from both the adrenaline and from the surprise of being launched that high. Anyway, aas enhancing my body your idea?" He asked curiously.

[No, it was my Lord's idea but I also agreed. A human's durability wouldn't have been able to put up with the stress from Angel/Devil. Not only that but you were born with Element Brand which further confirmed my belief that your body should be enhanced to endure the stress of both Sacred Gears.] Yume stated with him nodding.

"I'm okay with that. I'm still human after all." Vince commented with a small sigh as Arondight reverted back to it's original form.

[Vince can you explain your plan? You didn't really tell me anything.] She said.

Vince blinked twice before nodding. "Oh right... Kinda forgot about that, after that whole ordeal. Remember when you told me my Balance Breaker for Element Brand is unstable and I'm close to losing that ability?"

[Yes...]

"My plan is to take out Albion's amalgamation and take the power for myself. Then use it on my Balance Breaker to pretty much it give an upgrade. After that, I'll take on Ddraig's amalgamation while using the divide ability as a safety net to prevent it from getting more powerful. With this I'll be taking care of three birds with one stone." He explained.

[Poor birds. But why aren't you going after Ddraig-san's malice instead?] Yume asked raising an eyebrow.

"Albion is easier to deal with. It can only divide my power so many times and while it can take half of my power everytime. That half will gradually be reduced into hardly anything. It's easier to deal with that in comparison to the boosting ability Ddraig's amalgamation has. It's also why I'm training myself to fight with next to no stamina. So I can fight with little energy." Vince replied.

[I see. You thought this out well, but you do know that with no stamina you won't be able to use Element Brand. Have you thought about what will you do? Or how you'll deal with Ddraig-san's malice in your weakened state?] Yume asked raising an eyebrow.

Vince sighed a little while stretching his arms. "Well... In that state, I'll rely on Arondight and the Totsuka-no-Tsurugi even more. They'll be able to do more damage than I would in that state. Both are powerful dragon slayers Arondight is a holy demonic sword now. Not to mention, the Totsuka-no-Tsurugi has a god slaying trait which comes with the territory of being extremely powerful. They're my trump cards when I'm low on energy. As for after the battle, I'll just patch up my fatigue by halving it and recover most of my stamina by halving Ddraig's amalgamation. After I add in Albion's power to my incomplete Balance Breaker."

[That's really impressive. Using those abilities in tandem like that.] Yume praised with a smile.

However a chuckle escaped his throat as his lips curled up into a smirk. "And people say video games are bad for a kid. It's actually saving my life. That and studying their abilities in the Valefor library but that's besides the point."

Yume laughed sheepishly but smiled nonetheless. [Let me guess. Video games with tactical elements?]

"Sorta. I try not to pick them out but I see game a like and I get suckered into getting it, regardless of the gameplay. I mean yeah, I like the genre but I get burned out from playing those types of games as often as I do. Including the varients from time to time." Vince said, sighing a little.

[You do know with that type of knowledge you can play Sona or Rias in a game of chess after reading a bit on the rules and the pieces, right?] She said more than asked.

He brought his arms behind his back and yawned a little. "I could. But as far as everyone else knows, I'm just an uncultured idiot with no real knowledge on chess. It makes it easier if everyone else saw me as that."

[Rena doesn't and neither does Kasumi or Akari. Not only that but Rias and Akeno are already aware that you like to play dumb so you can't be bothered. And I certainly know you for a fact that you know a lot more than what you lead others to believe.] Yume said giggling a little.

"Unfortunately. But not everything goes according to plan but hey, I gotta go by my motto. That's how I go by everyday." He replied chuckling a little at the banter.

[Work smarter, not harder?] She asked, shaking her head a little.

"Exactly."

Vince got up from the ground, breathing heavily and somewhat ragged but took a deep breath. "Back to training."

[Right!]

(Three Days Later)

Several arrows made up of water and lightning fired at Vince as he ducked underneath them. Despite his heavy breathing and clothes partially torn, he swiftly dodged the incoming elemental arrows towards him. However an arrow of fire shot at his blind spot, piercing middle of his back.

"Urgh!" Vince ripped out the flaming arrow from his back, despite his hand being burned from the arrow and crushed it out of pure anger and adrenaline. Despite this and his back bleeding from the arrow's injury he had no moment to breath as the magicians changed their attack and now fired several lightning bullets, headed for his direction. He jumped back quickly to avoid them and quickly clapped his hands together to create a scythe made of water as now numerous magic bullets made up of water were fired right towards him.

He brought his scythe up and twirled the weapon fast enough to deflect the incoming bullets, however a whole salvo of fire bullets came right from behind, not falling for the same trick again he tossed the water scythe at the bullets and jumped back as far as he could. The water that made up the scythe immediately formed a wall of water big enough to block the bullets and as a result of the clashing elements made the whole area covered in steam.

Nodding to himself he quickly hid behind a boulder as a massive amount of elemental bullets fired the area where he was at. With enough force to make the ground shake slightly, making him sigh in relief from leaving the area quickly. Wincing a bit at the wound in his back, Vince extended his hand to create a marble sized water sphere in his hand. He placed it in his back and held back opening his mouth as the sphere sucked in all of the debris and dirtied blood both near and inside the wound.

Finishing, he saw the once clear sphere of water completely filled with blood, dirt and debris and he dropped on the floor, making sure it didn't make a noise. He then created another water sphere and placed it on his wound. This time the water sphere helped by repairing the damaged cells in his body where the wound is at.

Sighing silently in relief as he felt his body recover, Vince then softly clasped his hands together for a moment to generate and channel lightning in his left hand, to avoid making any noises. Not waiting a moment later Vince placed his left hand on his back and began channeling that lightning into his back.

Within a few moments later the tissue in Vince's back started to regenerate quickly, the flesh itself moving in a somewhat disturbing manner as the tissue formed and knitted itself together. He stood there wincing a bit as sweat dripped from his face until the process finished.

Vince then leaned against the boulder and gasped a bit for air, obviously tired from the swift medical treatment he gave himself. (Damn. The one time I decide to leave the Underworld and go back to into the human world to get a bite to eat and this happens right after I just finished training too. I'll have to let Claudia know and sort out the details later. And Azazel too, I suppose.)

Seeing the steam cleared up he checked over the boulder and noticed no magicians in sight, frowning a little he created a small ball of lightning and rolled it into the middle of the forest where he was at. The ball discharged a burst of electricity gaining their attention, almost immediately the area was bombarded with a whole salvo of magic bullets. He looked around and noticed a few magicians nearby.

Sighing a little he got up and started crouching his way to them, he slowly but surely made his way near to the magicians in the area. With a look that showed no mercy he lied down to take cover and charged his hand with lightning and sent a small pulse of electricity on the ground they stood on, making sure to not alert them of it. Getting up he summoned the Totsuka-no-Tsurugi in a burst of light as he sent a pulse of lightning shocking the magician. "You're finished..."

The magician's eyes widened as the shock from his body stunned him, preventing the magician from moving. With his blade Vince lunged at the magician and launched him into the air with an upwards rising slash, slashing his outfit and leaving a deep gash on his torso in the process. Vince channeled lightning into his legs and leaped up into the air without any hesitation he slammed the heel of his foot into the magician's face and slammed him into the ground with an axe kick with enough force to make the magician scream out in pain getting the attention of the others.

The other magicians in the other area turned around as their eyes widened greatly seeing their fellow magician in the ground.

Gotcha!" They saw Vince up in the air and before they could react he brought his holy sword down doing a downward stab and plunged right into the downed magician's chest, killing him instantly.

Seeing the brutal action as Vince landed on the ground he turned towards the other magicians and pointed the bloodied holy sword to them with a scowl on his face, a small portion of his face having a bit of blood on it. "So... Who's next?"

The magicians glared hatefully at him as they immediately responded by creating a magic circle to fire magic bullets however Vince plunged his holy sword on the ground while releasing a small pulse of lightning from the sword. The resulting action caused several lightning chains to erupt from the ground underneath them. The lightning chains tightly bound the bodies of the magicians preventing any movement from them which as a result caused the magician's recently made magic circles to disappear.

A smirk appeared on his face as he started casually walk away from them. However a magician stopped him by shouting at him. "Y-You tricked us!"

"Really? What was your first clue?" Vince asked sarcastically as he wiped the blood from his face.

"Damn. To think we got tricked by a brat with a Sacred Gear just as useless as Twice Critical! Tch, I don't understand why the Hero Faction wants you alive. It would be better if you were dead." Another magician snapped back, making Vince narrow his eyes.

Despite the comment, he shrugged it off and rolled his eyes. "And yet I was able to take care of all of you pretty quickly. I guess the Khaos Brigade are low on competent magicians nowadays."

"You smug little bastard..." The third magician said seething as he glared at him.

Vince casually dismissed the Totsuka-no-Tsurugi as he started walked up to the chained up magicians and searched them a small smirk appeared on his face as he grabbed their wallets and opened it.

"Give that back!" A magician shouted as he shook the chains violently in an attempt to escape.

"You thief! Give us our yen back!" Another magician yelled out.

"Oh that's rich and coming from a bunch of would-be kidnappers. Your yen isn't going to matter within the next few minutes." Vince spoke as he took all of the yen from their wallets. "Not bad, looks like it was pay day today."

"What do you mean?" Another magician asked in a confused tone.

He calmly took out his own wallet and stuffed all the yen in before putting it in his pocket. "In a few seconds. All of you are going to be violently electrocuted to death. I'll be putting your yen to use and besides... I don't recall dead people needing yen in the afterlife."

The magicians' eyes widened in horror as he extended his hand and blasted the magician's bodies with a stream of scalding hot water, making them scream in pain. "The scalding water is to make it easier to electrocute all of you and payback for that fire arrow that I had to remove."

"W-Wait!"

"Goodbye." Vince left the area of the forest as the chains electrocuted the magicians with enough power to make the electrical discharge visible to the human eye from a noticeable distance. Not wanting to see their bodies he continued walking while taking a deep breath, while covering his ears to avoid his eardrums from getting injured from their ear-splitting screaming that easily was heard throughout the entire forest.

[That was brutal, but unfortunately it was needed to make sure they don't escape. But why did you steal from them?] Yume asked raising an eyebrow.

"I needed something to do while I regain some of my stamina for the next batch of magicians. And it's not like they're not going to be using that yen anytime soon. And they are trying to kidnap me." Vince replied as he hid behind several trees.

[Two wrongs doesn't make a right Vince.] She commented with a sigh.

"I know. But at least I didn't steal from them after they died or anything like that. Besides, didn't you and the other angels steal Angel/Devil during the Great War to prevent it from being completely made? Besides, I have the DNA of the Valefor Clan's leader in my Sacred Gear and I inherited his clan and resources. Thieving comes with the territory." He replied simply.

Yume frowned as she shook her head. [I know, I know. I can't say that I liked that order very much but I had to make an exception for my Lord at the time. And I'm well aware about the Valefor clan's reputation... Just please don't go overboard.]

"...That's all? Just don't go overboard? No lecture or anything like that?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

[Not at all. Despite Miss Elena being rough around the edges at times, I know she raised a good son with a great moral compass at such a young age too.] Yume said with a smile.

"Miss?"

[Yes. I'm merely using the correct honorific for Miss Elena because she is not of Japanese descent. Have you finished everything?] Yume questioned.

"Yes. I also gained enough stamina to take them out in one fell swoop." He stated to her.

Vince them promptly remained silent as several magicians ran into the forest area where the recently deceased magicians remained. Their eyes widened in shock as they saw the remains of their fallen allies. Despite stench of the fried bodies in the area, the magicians investigated the area and noted small sparks of electricity remained on the ground around the while small parts of lightning made chains were made. However the chains themselves broke apart and made a small jolt of electricity before completely disappearing.

Sensing the malice from them Vince held back shrugging and instead opted to summon Arondight in a flash of holy demonic energy. The blade changed into a shotgun after muttering the word mimic. Taking aim he then whispered to himself. "Destruction."

A bang resonated with in the area alerting the magicians as the holy demonic bullet headed right towards them. Vince muttered a curse to himself as they were immediately on guard. However a look of realization appeared on his face as he quickly ran away from where he shot at. (This should work. The destruction trait of Arondight made that bullet highly explosive. Also guns are louder than I thought.)

He then changed Arondight into the form of a scythe and sent a wave of holy demonic energy from the scythe with a swing, the attack gaining the attention of them. The magician quickly saw this and immediately created a barrier. However a smirk appeared on Vince's face as he ran while aiming the scythe's snath towards the ground before stopping for a moment and placing the bottom part of the snath on the ground. "Destruction!"

A large explosion erupted from the scythe's bottom portion of the handle as he launched himself into the air at the same time the holy demonic bullet made contact with not only the wave of holy demonic energy but also the barrier of the magicians which caused an enormous explosion to happen which quickly enveloped a large area of the forest as the magicians screamed in agony as their barriers along with their bodies were evaporated.

Fortunately for Vince the amount of air gained from pole vaulting off of Arondight was more than enough to gain enough height and distance away from the massive explosion. He noticed a large tree nearby and unlike last time, Vince used the blade of the scythe and hooked it on to the tree trunk as his body and used the momentum from the blast along with the scythe to swing his body down safely. "Damn... I probably just ruined any potential fun I could have with a rollercoaster doing something like that."

He stumbled a bit trying to move but fell on his ass instead. Vince breathed heavily as he summoned Arondight back into his hand in it's original form and sighed a bit. (The barrier is still up. Looks like my fight still isn't over yet.)

[Vince, the barrier...] Yume trailed off.

"I know. But I'm not wasting my energy looking for the person responsible for the barrier. I don't mind waiting all day." Vince spoke as he closed his eye while leaving his left eye slightly open.

The rest was short lived as a shadow approached him from behind at a startling speed. But before the shadow could make contact several dark chains shot out of Vince's Sacred Gear and impaled the shadow.

Seeing what was happening due to his left eye slightly open Vince channeled water into his hand formed into a sphere quickly absorbing a portion of the shadow into the sphere at the last second before it split off and retreated back into the forest. "First for Jeanne and now this thing thanks Yume. Mind doing a structural analysis on this thing? It's currently connected to my Sacred Gear via my water."

[Your welcome and great idea. I'll get started, just give me a few minutes.] Yume stated as the tattoo on Vince's arm started glowing.

"I'll see what I can do, but a few seconds might be cutting it close Yume." Vince replied as he opened his eyes completely while struggling to keep the shadow substance in the water sphere. The shadow repeatedly ram itself into the water sphere trying to escape.

Within the next few seconds several shadows moving at the same speed as the previous one headed right towards Vince as a frown appeared on his face. "I so don't have time for this."

With one hand he grabbed Arondight and planted into the floor. "Mimic."

The blade quickly formed into a protective dome covering Vince and the ground entirely. Despite the pounding the shadows from the outside gave to the dome Arondight still held up strong. He sighed and focused his attention on the water sphere, reinforcing it after noticing that the shadow nearly escaped after it transformed into a mini bladed weapon.

He frowned a bit as he had the water sphere create several chains from within to restrain it. "Almost done Yume? Arondight is able to hold on just fine but I can't say much for the oxygen in this small space."

[I'm almost done Vince, just a little bit more!] Yume exclaimed as the Element Brand's glow brightened even more.

Vince sighed a little while holding on to the sphere as he waited patiently. (It's really hot in here, I'm not going to last long at this rate.)

As the minutes passed Vince's body began to sweat profusely as his breathing became erratic. He gripped his chest as the heat inside the dome continued to increase.

[I'm finished the analysis Vince. I'm sorry it took so long, since that shadow is foreign substance and the only thing allowing me to do the analysis on it is you forcing a connection by holding it in place using Element Brand, it takes longer to do an analysis as a result.] Yume apologized with a sigh.

"Y-Yume, what the hell is this thing...?" He spoke in a raspy voice.

[R-Right! That foreign substance is actually from a Sacred Gear called Night Reflection. This Sacred Gear has the ability to absorb attacks using shadows and redirect them in whatever direction the wielder wishes from any shadow within the Night Reflection's area of influence. It also can change the forms of the shadows into bladed spears to attack enemies, make walls or shields for defense and can capture or restrict movements by entangling them.] She explained with a sigh.

"Who's the wielder?" Vince whispered as he coughed a bit as the temperature in the dome increased.

[I'm sorry Vince but that's as far as the structural analysis goes. I can only examine the contents of the material you want me to analysis, not the origin.] Yume said sadly.

He nodded and noticed the shadows from the outside stop attacking as did the shadow in the water sphere. (Tch. I better think fast then. Let's see... The shadows stopped moving as did the one I have here so that means the user of Night Reflection is waiting for me to pass out from the lack of oxygen. This thing is versatile can be used for offense, defense and restriction of movement in addition to reflecting attacks...)

[Vince?]

Unfortunately for Yume, Vince unintentionally ignored her deep in thought as a frown appeared on his face. (Normal attacks won't work for this type of thing so my only option is to go all out and hit user as hard as I can with power that the user can't handle. So basically use either the Totsuka-no-Tsurugi or Arondight and augment them with my magic. Another option would be to electrocute him by using his shadows as a conductor after wetting it...)

[Uh, Vince...]

His frown deepened as he coughed a bit, feeling a bit dizzy. (But something like that something that would only work once, unless he's that stupid to which I doubt that's the case. The final option would be to rely on the power of Ddraig and Albion that corrupt my arm and turn it into that dragon arm appendage but that's too risky. And Yume may over exhaust her self and get placed into a deep sleep again, so that's only a last resort. Dammit. This is one hell of a jam I'm in.)

[Vince!]

"What?"

[Geez, finally! I just wanted to let you know that you have a minute left of oxygen before you pass out. Please hurry.] Yume pleaded.

Vince's eyes widened as he quickly placed his hands on Arondight as he frantically tried to change it back into a sword. "Shit, shit, shit, shit..."

To his relief Arondight changed back into a sword. Vince gasped for air and sighed in relief, which turned to be short lived as the shadows from Night Reflection came after him. However Vince clasped his hands together and created a pillar of lightning that not only shocked the shadows but repelled them back a good distance. (If I keep using Element Brand like this I won't be able to use any more magic. At this point, I'd rather use Angel/Devil but that Sacred Gear is going to reflect my attacks back at me.)

He got on his other knee and gasped for air. Noticing a figure nearby he looked up and saw a man wearing a black coat that appeared from the shadows that Vince captured earlier. The man smirked at him."Huh. I guess the boss has a good eye for talent, not bad for a non-hero."

(I need to talk to him and try to regain some stamina while thinking up a plan. There's one of them and unfortunately for him, I'm not Issei, Rias or any of the others. I don't need overwhelming power to win my battles.) Vince took a deep breath and sighed a bit. "Uhuh. Who are you? And mind explaining how you got a group of magicians to come after me? I thought that the Hero Faction was a different branch of the Khaos Brigade."

The man looked annoyed at the tone he spoke but decided to answer with a cocky smirk. "The name's Connla, the descendant of the Connla, son of the Irish hero Cu Chulainn. How we got the magicians well... don't much about it myself expect for the part about the making a deal with boss from the magician branch. Gotta say, they were pretty helpful softening you up even if they were meat shields at the end of the day."

(So that's how the Hero Faction was able to get those magicians, whatever the deal was isn't important, knowing how is the most important thing.) Vince thought to himself.

"Let's not waste any more time you're coming with me. Conscious or not." Connla said with the smirk still on his face.

He got up staggering a bit and sighed. "Really... Is this how everyone from the Hero Faction acts like? Then I'd rather be an anti-hero if that's the case. Having people like your faction lurking around and calling themselves a "hero" makes the title look pretty degrading."

Connla's smirk then turned to scowl as he glared at Vince for the insult. "You brat! I'll make you regret those words!"

Several humanoid shadows came out from him as the shadows and lunged at Vince. "To talk down to us like that! I'll drag you back to the Hero's Faction as painfully as possible!"

"Take this!" A large torrent of water shot out of Vince's hands as he blasted all of the shadows.

"Idiot! Take your attack back!" Connla shouted as he had his humanoid shadows reflected out Vince's attack back at him.

"As if I'd let you."

Vince redirected the water to instead fall into the soil underneath Connla, completely soaking it. Thinking quick on his feet he summoned the Totsuka-no-Tsurugi while dismissing Arondight. With in an instant, he brought the holy sword back and held it in a reversed grip as the blade started charging up a good amount of holy energy. He then swung the holy sword several times sending out several shockwaves imbued with the sword's energy. "Go to hell!"

The shadows from Night Reflection quickly formed into a shield and reflected the attack back at him. He ducked underneath the attack only for his legs and arms to be quickly snatched by the shadows that came from his Sacred Gear. (Not good. I wasn't able to keep track of these shadows. But, I can use this to my advantage, I just have to play the part.)

"Dammit!" Vince shouted as he struggled to escape the shadows binding him.

Connla smirked as he went towards him. "Not so high and mighty now are you brat?!"

He punched him square in the face. Despite coughing up a little blood Vince chuckled a bit his lips curled up into a small smile. "You hit like a bitch."

"You bastard!" Connla aimed or another punch, but Vince expelled a large amount of lightning from his body violently shocking Connla.

Ignoring his shouts of pain, he slightly outstretched his hand as the holy sword disappeared in a burst of holy energy before reappearing in his hand, Vince quickly slashed the shadows that restricted him as Connla stood there paralyzed, his body shaking considerably.

Vince planted the sword into the ground or a moment before cracking his knuckles. "I'll return you the favor... With interest."

He clenched his hand into a fist and delivered and punched Connla's temple as hard as he could, which resulted in knocking him face first into the ground.

Connla yelled in pain as he struggled to get up, staggering and nearly falling down in the process. "W-Why the hell didn't my shadows block that?!"

"Take a good look." Vince replied pointing down at the ground.

Connla looked down and his eyes widened when he saw his shadows being completely covered over a layer of water. "What the-!?"

Seeing him distracted by the predicament Vince grabbed his holy sword from the ground and sent a small shockwave at him slashing the side of his ribs.

"Guaaagh!" Connla held his ribs as blood poured out from the side out from the wound.

Vince dismissed his holy sword and as he extended his hand blasted Connla with a large torrent of water with enough force to slam him into a tree. (I should really thank mom later for telling me that tip about punching people in the temples for a quick knockout. I gotta give him credit though. He's more durable than I thought.)

Connla shouted in pain as he breathed heavily. Vince on the other hand got on his knee and panted as the water restraining the shadow was quickly over powered and dispersed.

A smirk appeared on his face as he gripped his sides in pain. "Looks like you're completely out of energy kid. Too bad, I'm taking you back with me while making you pay very painfully."

Several humanoid shadows appeared and headed towards Vince with the latter scoffing.

"Is that what you think?" He asked, flicking his fingers.

Several muddied chains shot up from the ground and restricted the humanoid shadows from moving. "I suggest you stop moving or else."

Connla's eyes widened before a frown appeared on his face. "So that's why you let the water be overtaken. It's not like that'll be enough, I can still control my- Guuaaaagh!"

Vince flicked his fingers again making the man scream in pain again as a noticeable amount of blood pour out his mouth. "Shut it and check your arms while you're at it. Better yet why don't you check your whole body."

Connla looked down and his eyes widened in horror as he saw his body swell up a considerable amount to which his surprise and horror increased further upon seeing several veins in his arms becoming visible, violently pulsating. "What the hell did you do to me?!"

"I used the cuts I gave you earlier to and when I got the chance I transferred some of my water magic in your body. Because of that I can do whatever I want with your organs. Rupture them, shred them to bits by having them turn into blades and having the water travel in various places in your body. This also includes places like your heart, or your brain." Vince explained nonchalantly as he got up and summoned the Totsuka-no-Tsurugi to use a crutch to help him stand.

Connla's eyes widened even further as Vince cleared his throat, gaining his attention. "Here are my demands. Remove the barrier, get the hell out my sight and tell your leader Cao-Cao, to go to hell. If you refuse... Then things won't end well for you."

"Y-Yeah right. You wouldn't dare do something like that to me. I bet you're just bluffin- Ugaaagh!" Connla felt a sharp pain in his arm, looking at it his eyes widened in horror as his arm suddenly went limp after seeing the once pulsating vein gone without a trace.

"I just ruptured one your left arm's blood vessels. I ran out of mercy the moment you bastards tried kidnapping me with an ambush. Think about your next words "hero" or I'll cut off the blood vessels in your testicles stop them from getting any blood. Doing that will mostly likely cause irreversible damage. That's assuming you get the proper medical treatment in time. Or if you'll even be able to move after the vessels are sliced off completely." Vince warned with a cold look in his eyes.

All of the color drained from his face quickly from the threat as he hastily nodded in agreement. "Okay, okay! I'll undo the barrier and give my boss the message just let me leave!"

"Fine. But first you have to get rid of your shadow creations. After that, remove the barrier and I want you to walk backwards and don't try anything funny. I'm giving you the freedom to recall your shadows and to retreat. Nothing more." Vince said as he raised his middle and index fingers at the same time.

Within a few seconds, a portion of the water in Connla's body escaped via his cuts while the muddied water chains shattered and dispersed, freeing the humanoid shadows and Connla while the water layer that restrained another portion of his shadows dispersed. He looked at him in surprise as Vince crossed his arms. "I removed the chains and a portion of the water for you to move faster and yes I can still slice off the vessels in your testicles. Now get moving."

Connla nodded and quickly took out a piece of paper with a magic circle and ordered one of his humanoid shadows to rip apart. Upon doing so the barrier disappeared and he removed the humanoid shadows from the forest and back into his Sacred Gear. "I'm done."

"You're only halfway finished. Walk backwards towards the tree behind you and keep your working hand visible where I can see it. After that use whatever teleportation spell you have to leave. Now go." He ordered as he closely examined Connla's movements.

Connla did just that until he lightly bumped his back against the tree and just then he disappeared via a magic circle.

Vince then looked around for any traps or signs of Connla after a few moments he sighed in relief and lied on the ground, breathing heavily as he dismissed the Totsuka-no-Tsurugi. "G-Goddamn that was brutal."

[You did a great job Vince, thanks to your tactics you were able to win despite your worn out condition from training.] Yume complemented with a smile.

"That's not really accurate though. I wouldn't have gotten this far without you analyzing Connla's Sacred Gear, thanks Yume." He said with a small smile.

[Your welcome.]

The sound of someone clapping got both Vince and Yume's attention. "Not bad Vince Reinhart. Dealing with an ambush in addition to outsmarting and terrifying the descendant of Connla in such a manner. You're becoming more of an interesting person each time I hear about your actions."

Yume's eyes widened as she saw the figure approaching them. [-! It's the Hakuryuukou!]

(Oh great. It's this dickhead.) Vince thought as he rolled his eyes. "What do you want Vali? I'm a bit busy here. You mind bugging Issei instead?"

However to Vince's surprise he heard a woman giggle. "Wow, I don't think I've heard someone talk like that to you, Vali. Nya."

Vali sighed a little and rubbed his temples with his index finger and thumb. "That's not really important right now."

"Of course." The woman stepped in view and to Vince's surprise an attractive young woman with a voluptuous figure, long black hair with split bangs, and hazel gold eyes with cat-like pupils, wearing a black kimono that showed a noticeable view of her large cleavage, a yellow obi, a set of golden beads and an ornately headband that appeared to be expertly crafted, wearing to what appeared to be geta sandals from Vince's perspective and to further add to his surprise the woman had black cat ears and two black tails.

(...Why does she remind me of Koneko?) Vince wondered as he looked at her face.

"Oh? Do you like what you see? Nya." She asked, getting closer to him.

However Vince slowly got up, struggling along the way while holding on to a tree trunk for support. Breathing heavily, he walked a step forward, only for him to fall face first into the ground. He tried forcing his body to move however the only response he got what his body shaking slightly. (My body won't respond! Dammit!)

"It's futile to leave on your own Vince Reinhart. Reinforcements of the Hero Faction will arrive shortly. You've attracted the attention of the Hero Faction with this battle. Even more so once Connla's descendant reports what happened." Vali said.

"Tch. I already know that." He replied as he took a deep breath and stretched out his arm to grab the tree trunk. Grabbing on to it, Vince slowly got up and leaned against it as his body started shaking.

"So you're able to stand even after that battle in your state? Interesting. Kuroka, take Vince Reinhart and let's leave." Vali stated as he walked away.

"Of course, nya." Kuroka quickly closed the distance between her self and Vince and grabbed him.

"That feeling...? You're a senjutsu user too!" Vince exclaimed looking surprise.

"You found out that fast? And you're not even a youkai. Vali is right you are interesting. Any last words before I take you, nya?" Kuroka asked holding on to him firmly.

Vince glanced her ears and tails to which she picked up. "Crossing my path with you isn't going to give me bad luck, is it?"

Kuroka blinked twice for a few moments before laughing. "I'm not one of those cats, nya."

[W-Wait! Where are you taking us?] Yume asked, worried.

"Hmm... We'll tell you later. Don't struggle or the Hero Faction might hear us, nya." Kuroka responded as she used her senjutsu to hide her and Vince's presence.

Vince sighed and slumped in defeat. "Ah, screw it. I'm taking a nap. Yume, you should do the same to get back some energy. Unless you have an idea how to escape while avoiding detection from the Hero Faction."

[I don't have any ideas unfortunately good night Vince...] Yume said, as she closed her eyes and fell asleep within a matter of seconds.

He yawned a bit and to Kuroka's slight surprise and amusement he fell asleep, using her large chest as a pillow. (At least she's warm.)

xXxXxXxXxX

Vince's eyes suddenly shot open and to his surprise he saw his arm was already turned into a draconic arm apendage. He muttered a curse to himself at the surprise and noticed himself in a small room with the door closed, seeing a small mirror on a small dresser in the room he extended his draconic arm to reach out and grab it.

Unfortunately Vali opened the door at the same and nearly got hit by the arm as a result. A small frown appeared on his face as he saw the arm retract, giving Vince the mirror.

Vince checked himself and immediately frowned upon seeing his features changed. His hair white and his eye color currently a crimson red with slits as pupils, showing draconic traits.

"Vince Reinhart. You're finally awake." Vali said getting his attention.

"How long have Yume and I've been out?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

"Two days. During that time period, the power you've absorbed from my Balance Breaker and the Sekiryuutei's Balance Breaker has gotten unstable and nearly gave our position away. I had to halve the energy that was leaking from your body. At least until your Sacred Gear spirit was able to restrain that unstable power and put it in check." Vali answered, sounding somewhat annoyed at that event.

"Let me guess... Right afterwards she said a few last words before falling into a deep sleep, correct?" He guessed, with Vali nodding.

"Figures." Vince sighed as he created a needle made of lightning which not even a second later he plunge the needle in his back upon contact it discharged a considerable amount of electricity into his back, making him grit his teeth in pain.

Seeing him raise an eyebrow Vince removed the needle from his back once it finished discharging and crushed it. "I'm staunching the flow of energy and surpressing it until Yume, my Sacred Gear spirit can wake up and deal with it accordingly."

"Interesting..."

"Now... Let's get started." Vince adjusted his position with some difficulty but sat up straight as his draconic features disappeared and returned back to normal. "What do you gain from keeping me away from the Hero Faction?"

"Straight to the point, huh?" Vali looked somewhat amused as he leaned against the wall of the room. "It would be troublesome if you were to fall into the hands of the Hero Faction."

"I wouldn't work for them willingly-" He paused for a moment as his eyes narrowed. "They have something in mind, don't they?"

"Brainwashing. Normally you could resist it but in your weakened state that would be impossible." Vali said simply.

(I can see why that would be a problem outside of my perspective. With what I can do that would have been a messy problem. That's not counting the fact that they'll have Arondight and the Totsuka-no-Tsurugi under their control by proxy. ) Vince thought to himself.

He sighed a little before looking at Vali. "Since you're in a branch of the Khaos Brigade, how has things been in the Hero Faction since I fell off the map? Considering you know this much I'm pretty sure you have some information on them."

"To my knowledge, they're in disarray. The descendant of Jeanne D'Arc is currently relegated simple missions until she's completely recovered while the descendant of Siegfried is still bedridden from the wounds you've inflicted on him. And from the reports of Connla's descendant seemed to have gotten Cao-Cao's personal attention. He's also dealing with the backlash from the magician branch of the Khaos Brigade. Because of the amount of Magicians they've lost from their failed attempts to abduct you. All the while Cao-Cao is using quite a bit of his resources searching for you. It's amusing that you've put the Hero Faction into this state." Vali commented with a smirk.

"Yeah, glad you got your jollies for the week." Vince replied in a deadpan tone.

Vali then turned his attention to Vince's Sacred Gear. "What do you intend to do with that unstable power in your body? At the rate it's proceeding, you'll be suffering the same fate as the predecessors of Hakuryuukou and the Sekiryuutei did."

"I know. I also know about the Juggernaut Drive problem your predecessors dealt with." Vince stated with a small frown.

"You still haven't answered my question Vince Reinhart." He pointed out.

"I'll take them both down and take their powers for myself." Vince answered bluntly.

"Oh? That's an interesting answer. I suppose shouldn't expect less from you." Vali commented with a small smirk.

[The thought of a human overcoming the power of both the Hakuryuukou and the Sekiryuutei let alone in our enraged states... It sounds like a pipe dream and yet it doesn't seem as impossible as it used to be.] Albion spoke up.

Vince then raised an eyebrow, in a mix of confusion and slight surprise. "You're commenting on this? Wasn't expecting that."

[And why would that be?] He questioned.

"Given your disposition you came off as a being that only cared about your wielder's state of health and your rivalry with Ddraig." Vince said simply.

Albion snorted in response. [You're not wrong. However this is an interesting development.]

Vince however crossed his arms. "Don't be too disappointed then. That unstable power is still weaker than both yours and your rival's Juggernaut Drive. I know that since I only took a portion of power at that time."

[Be that as it may, with the rate of it's growth I would say it would take about a day before it reaches our level of strength.] Albion stated.

(Damn those bastards. I have even less time than I thought, I better get started. But most importantly I have to wait for Yume to wake up.) Vince thought, scowling a bit.

"I look forward to see what you will do in this situation, Vince Reinhart." Vali commented with a small smirk.

He ignored the comment and slowly got up. Only for him to stumble a bit and fall back on the futon he slept on. "Damn..."

"Your body is still recovering. At it's current state leaving is not an option the Hero Faction is currently hunting for you." Vali pointed out.

"...Who said I was leaving this place?" Vince spoke, making Vali and Albion to some extent raise an eyebrow.

(My body has a lot of inflammation... So it's still trying to heal itself if what I remember about Shura's medical book is right. I wouldn't be surprised if most of the bones and tissues in my body are either bruised or worn out from being pushed that far. I need to accelerate my body's recovery and get a bite to eat right afterwards before that turns into a mess.) Vince placed a hand on his chest and sent a pulse of lightning throughout his entire body.

"What do you intend to do then, Vince Reinhart?" Vali questioned looking at him.

Within a few moments Vince slowly stretched his body as he got up. He dug into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He took out a large wad of yen bills and placed it on Vali's hand, confusing him. Even more so when Vince spoke up. "Start working."

Vince shoved his wallet back into his pocket and stuffed his hands in his pockets as he left the room.

Vali counted the wad of bills, his eyes slightly widened as he finished counting. "Five hundred thousand yen...?"

xXxXxXxXxX

Vince checked the kitchen for various foods available to eat. Opening the pantry, his eye slightly twitched, seeing a whole section of the pantry stuffed to the brim with instant ramen noodles. Examining the cup's contents via the nutrition label he gained a look of slight disgust. (That much salt? I'm definitely not eating that. I'd rather not pass a kidney stone, even if I can control my body fluids to shove it out of my system.)

Looking up in the pantry he saw a various assortments of food stocked and nodded. "Perfect."

Grabbing the foods in the pantry and in addition to the food in the refrigerator and the freezer. Vince created several hands made up of water and solidify them enough to grab objects. Within a few minutes after grabbing a few pots and pans started cooking.

Vali followed Vince to the kitchen and his eye slightly twitched when he saw him cooking a large amount of food. "This explains why he gave me five hundred thousand yen in bills."

[And what will you do Vali?] Albion asked with a hint of slight curiosity.

"I won't interfere. That and the five hundred thousand yen is more than enough to make up for the loss of food and cover up the groceries for the next few months." Vail replied.

[Will he even able to eat this much?] Albion wondered more to himself.

"Who knows?" He said watching Vince cook, noticing that the solid water arms dissipated after forming into two spheres of water that landed in the kitchen sink.

"That smells good, did Le Fay come back, nya?" Kuroka asked walking into the kitchen's entrance while sniffing the air.

"No. Our "guest" is cooking for himself." Vali commented as Kuroka blinked twice.

"I see... So this is the infamous Vince Reinhart. Wielder of the holy sword Totsuka-no-Tsurugi, and the demonic blade Arondight, thought to have been forever lost and counterpart of the original Excalibur. In addition to wielding that Sacred Gear that was once forbidden by God, interesting." A blonde haired aristocratic young man spoke as Kuroka winced slightly at the mention of God.

"So is Vince really going to eat all of that?" Kuroka asked as he carried a few drinks in his hands while the water hands carried the few large plates of food from behind.

Upon sitting down on a chair the water hands dispersed on to his palm in the form of a sphere. Vince after directing the sphere into the sink in the kitchen, he started scarfing down the plates of food he cooked for himself at a startling speed.

"That would be a yes, Kuroka." Vali spoke shaking his head a little in disbelief.

"Nya, I hope he hasn't taken the instant cup noodles." Kuroka spoke as she looked in the pantry in the kitchen.

Vince finished off another plate stuffed with food as he gulped down a few bottles of water and a large glass of juice as he went in and dug into the other large plate of food. His pace increased to even faster however as a result of this more of Vince's strength came back. Finishing the last plate of food and chugging the remaining water and glass of juice he sighed in relief. "Not bad."

"I see. So your lightning magic accelerated your body's natural healing to point where it's regeneration. But as a payoff you require large amounts of food to replace the loss in energy. Interesting." Vali spoke, gaining his attention.

Vince however raised an eyebrow. "You were watching? Did you run out of things to do or something?"

Vali's eye slightly twitched as the blond man cleared his throat, gaining his attention. "It is nice to meet you, Vince Reinhart. I've heard many things about you. I am Arthur Pendragon."

Vince paused for a moment, staring at Arthur with a look surprised before sighing. "You don't have a grudge on me because of you family's history with Arondight or because of the Hero Faction, do you?"

"I do not. It is an issue from the past, not for the present. As for the Hero Faction, I am more aligned to Vali. However I find it impressive and amusing that you've managed to outmaneuver Cao-Cao to such a degree." Arthur replied chuckling a little.

He stared at Arthur for a moment as he wiped his hands and face with two separate napkins before nodding. "Right. Nice to meet you, Arthur."

"Likewise. Would you care for a spar, Vince? I'm curious to see your skill in swordsmanship." Arthur asked.

Vince however shrugged. "You sure? Contrary to the popular belief I'm not a swordsman."

Arthur then raised an eyebrow. "And what of Shura Kirigakure? Surely she has taught you some form of swordplay."

A snort escaped his throat. "Unless you count running around a large field, avoiding attacks from her demonic sword, swordsmanship then no."

"I see... Regardless of this method you mentioned, I am quite curious." He responded.

Vince nodded in response. "Fine by me. As long as it doesn't wear me out for tommorow. I have to deal with Ddraig and Albion's unstable power."

"Fair enough."

A young man with brown hair wearing Chinese styled armor than walked in. "Whoa, what's with the crowd and the stack of plates?"

The man than noticed Vince and grinned. "Up already Vince? You sure heal fast with a big appetite too."

"Uh, thanks...?" He said somewhat confused.

"So, do ya remember me?" The young man asked.

Vince paused for a few moments before nodding. "Yeah. You're the guy that bailed Vali out during the treaty fiasco... Bikou, right?"

"You got it." Bikou than noticed kitchen wiped clean minus the instant noodle cups along with the stacked dishes and blinked owlishly. "Uh... Who's doing that and where's the food?"

"I'll be doing the dishes. I already paid Vali for the food." Vince spoke as he got up, grabbing the stack of plates and the drinks.

Bikou then turned to Vali. "How much did we get?"

"Five hundred thousand yen." Vali stated, showing him the wad of yen bills.

Bikou's eyes widened as he stared at the thick wad of bills. "Didn't see that one coming..."

"Arthur. We'll have a spar after I finish the dishes." Vince stated, walking into the kitchen to which Arthur nodded.

Walking in the kitchen and placing the dishes in the sink, his eyes slightly widened when he felt a pair of large breasts press against him. (Wouldn't be a weekday without this happening. And I'm not sure anymore if that's a good thing or a bad thing anymore.)

"Nya, you're really good with your hands, you're also really strong Vince." Kuroka teased as she hugged him from behind.

Vince however sighed, already used to being hugged from behind. "Thanks. So what do you need, Kuroka?"

"Already to the point and you know my name? How forward, nya." Kuroka spoke with a teasing smile.

"I still remember Vali saying your name when you decided to grab me two days ago." He replied deadpanning.

"Right. So Vince... How is Shirone- I mean how is Koneko doing in Kuoh? I heard you two are in the same club together, nya." Kuroka asked curiously.

"I'm not telling you." Vince said as he turned on the faucet in the sink.

"Aww.. Don't be mean, Vince you can tell me, nya." She said rubbing her breasts against his back.

(Soft and pretty big. But I'm already used to this. I'm not sure whether to thank Rena, Kasumi, Akari, Rias and Akeno for doing this to me everyday.) Vince thought as he sighed a little.

"No."

"Why, nya?" Kuroka asked with a pout.

"I don't know who you are to Koneko. For all I know you could be a stalker. Out of context I'm being asked how a young high school girl is doing by a late twenty-nine or something adult. That just screams stalker with bad touch or stranger danger." He said, giving a ballpark figure about her age.

A tickmark appeared on Kuroka as she nearly bonked his head, however he tilted his head to the left to avoid it at the last second. "You're not the first Senjutsu user that tried doing that to me."

"Mou! I'm not even close to being twenty-nine yet. I'm not even that old! And I'm not a stalker and I'm not that type of person, nya!" Kuroka shouted with a frown.

"Mind giving me some context on who you are to Koneko then? Until I get some then you're pretty much coming off as that type of person." Vince asked calmly as he cleaned the dishes.

Kuroka grumbled a little but nodded after a few moments of silence. "Nya. You sure are blunt, I'm Shirone's older sister."

"Shirone...?" Vince paused for a few moments before nodding. "So... Koneko is an alias for Shirone?"

"Something like that, nya." Kuroka said to him.

"Good grief... Stay still for a second then." He said sighing a little.

"What for, nya?" She questioned.

Vince suddenly turned around and to her slight surprise, he cupped her cheeks and looked at her face with a fixated gaze. (Let's see... She has a similar eye color to Koneko, has a small scent of seafood on her.)

A teasing smile appeared on her face as she brought her hands to the top of her kimono and slowly brought it down to reveal more of her cleavage. "Nya, you're pretty bold Vince. Do you want to see more of me?"

Vince responded by poking her forehead with his index and middle finger. "Pass."

Kuroka pouted and rubbed her forehead, however as a result of letting go of the top of her kimono he saw her nipples exposed and promptly blushed. She noticed and giggled. "I'll show you more if you tell me about Shirone, nya..."

He sighed and grabbed her kimono to her slight surprise, even more so when he raised her kimono to cover her nipples. "No. I don't think you're lying so, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt."

Kuroka blinked twice before hugging him with a smile. "Nya, thanks Vince."

Vince rolled his eyes a little but gently patted her back before letting go and going back to doing the dishes. "Well, Koneko is doing well from my point of view. She has real friends, is popular among the students she also works hard, despite being quiet for the most part."

"That's nice to hear, anything else, nya?" Kuroka asked.

"Not really, that's all I know." He spoke with a shrug.

Kuroka looked slightly confuse at his response. "But aren't you Shirone's friend?"

"Eh... I'd like to say no. I'm more of an acquaintance rather than her friend." Vince responded as he washed a dish.

"But you're in the same club as Shirone, nya." Kuroka pointed out.

"I only joined and remained their under circumstances. Besides, I did quit going to the club recently." Vince responded, making her blink twice.

"Why, nya?"

Vince moved on to the last pair of dishes and shrugged. "Like I said a second ago, circumstances had me join and I forgot to quit until recently... And I'm already a part of another club."

Sensing her silence as her waiting for his answer he shrugged. "I'm a part of the going home club."

"Nya, I wasn't expecting that answer." Kuroka spoke, hugging him with a slightly confused expression.

"Why are you still hugging me? I already gave you all the information I know." He asked as he now went to drying the dishes.

"Because I want to and you really have a muscular back, maybe we do something later, nya." Kuroka spoke with a teasing smile as she rubbed her breasts against his back.

"If I give you the carcass of a rat, will you be satisfied? Or maybe some sort of ball of yarn with some catnip on it?" Vince questioned curiously.

"Nya! I'm not that type of cat!" Kuroka yelled with a tickmark on her forehead as she tried bonking him only for him to tilt his head to the side.

Kuroka's eye then twitched as she heard Bikou laughing from outside the kitchen, having heard everything. "This is gold. I'm writing this down!"

A smile appeared on her face as she went towards Bikou with her nails noticeably sharper than before. "I think I need to have a talk Bikou, nya..."

Vince finished drying the dishes and sighed a little. (Finally done. I should really avoid making that many dishes dirty.)

Sighing a little he grabbed his cellphone out of his pocket and checked it. (Lucky me. My cellphone is working... Unfortunately the battery is close to dying. I better call Claudia quickly and explain to her the situation.)

He then dialed her cellphone number and waited for a few minutes after which Claudia's voice was heard through the other side. "Vince-sama! Are you okay?!"

Vince winced a bit from the loudness of her voice and promptly removed the cellphone from his ear for a few moments while rubbing his ear. "Yes, it's me Claudia. You mind lowering your voice? You're pretty damn loud."

Claudia heard this and cleared her throat. "My apologies. But I would like to know what has happened. You haven't been seen in two days and everyone is looking for you."

A sigh escaped from his throat as he begun to explain what happened in the past two days. "And after I finished the dishes I called you up."

"Oh my. To think that something that absurd happened. So shall I go over there to pick you up?" Claudia spoke sounding completely surprised at the turn of events.

"No. Not right now at least, the Hero Faction is currently out hunting for me after what happened. I want to avoid fighting until I dealt with Ddraig and Albion's unstable power. There's a strong chance those amalgamations can break loose if there's a serious fight like last time." Vince replied with a noticable frown on his face.

"I understand where you're coming from. What would you have me do Vince-sama?" Claudia questioned.

Vince leaned against the wall with a contemplative look. "Well first off, drop the -Sama honorific and just call me Vince. Second, I need you to explain what happened to Azazel and the others, so they can be updated but most importantly make sure nobody does anything reckless or stupid. Besides, we don't have the leeway to do that and it could put Vali's team into danger if the Khaos Brigade spots me near them."

"Wow, I'm surprised you're taking them into consideration." She replied sounding a little surprised.

"I owe them for rescuing me. Even if they have their own reasons for doing it." He said simply.

"Understandable. Don't worry Vince. I'll go gather everyone together that is aware and explain to them the situation." Claudia spoke in a reassuring tone.

Vince sighed in relief and nodded. "Thanks. I know Rena and the others are most likely going to ignore my suggestion. When I start dealing with my dragon problem. So just incase that happens be sure to prepare an escape route and tell Rena about it.

"You're referring to the Hero Faction interfering again, correct?." Claudia questioned.

"Yeah. When I start, I'm pretty sure everyone is going to be able to sense that power leaking from my body and I know they're going to be waiting for the right time to strike. Rena... She's good enough to deal with them but she can't deal with them and protect me at the same time." He said with a small frown.

"Agreed. While Rena is very powerful for age she won't be able to deal with their underhanded tactics. Not only that, they may be interested in her abilities since she is also half human." She commented, sighing a little.

His hand clenched into a fist thinking about the thought, however he stuffed his hand in his pocket. "Thanks for the disturbing thought."

"My apologies Vince, but you can't discredit that possibility since they're intent on recruiting you." Claudia pointed out.

"I know. Regardless, be sure to tell Akari and Kasumi this as well if they don't plan on backing down from going." He said simply.

"Oh? It's almost as if you're expecting them to come to your aid. And what of the others? I'm quite positive Rias-sama and the others would come to your aid as well." She stated.

"Rias will be restricted by her family and Azazel from doing something risky. Rena, Kasumi and Akari on the other hand are full grown adults with no restrictions. Even if they had one they wouldn't care and would help. I'm actually hoping Rias and the others won't come actually. It wouldn't sit well with me to interrupt their training schedules for my sake." Vince explained, shaking his head a little.

"Of course." A giggle escaped her throat as she smiled. "An amusing description of them but accurate. Why, I'm also certain this type of description is only possible after knowing a person for so long. One could call it a term of endearment, something only lovers would do. And you're even showing concern over Rias' and her peerage's as well. I wonder how overjoyed Rias will be to hear that..."

(I can't believe she teased me about that.) Vince's eye twitched as he felt his face redden considerably. "I'm hanging up Claudia. My battery is about to die so I won't be able to contact you until I get my charger. And I don't want to risk frying my cellphone trying to charge it in my condition."

"Of course and do take care Vince. Goodbye." Claudia said as she ended the phone call as did Vince, all the while giggling much to his ire.

He pocketed his cellphone and left the kitchen, ignoring the fact that Vali was listening in, just outside the kitchen.

xXxXxXxXxX

Vince grunted a bit as he skid back a few centimeters from parrying a powerful strike from Arthur's sword. (Damn. He's stronger than Kiba and Xenovia.)

"Not bad for a self taught swordsman. You're lasting longer than I thought." Arthur commented.

Vince sighed a bit, looking worse for wear as he wiped off the blood from a small cut on his cheek, while glancing at the several gashes throughout his body. Noting that the blood from each cut already dried up and remembering his holy sword's scabbard on his back, due to summoning the blade in it's scabbard. "I don't consider myself a swordsman."

"Regardless my point still stands." Arthur said as he thrust his sword at him.

He narrowly avoided the strike by moving the side and slashed Arthur horizontally, only for him to evade. (Sparing with Shura is definitely paying off, otherwise I would have lost by now.)

Arthur quickly closed the distance and slashed Vince. However he brought up his holy-sword at the last second to parry the attack.

The two holy swords clashed violently as both sword radiated a powerful holy aura. The two wielders struggled back and forth, trying to gain the upper hand. Suddenly to Arthur's slight surprise, Vince stopped applying force and moved to the side making him stumble slightly.

Seeing the side slash Arthur brought up Excalibur Ruler to block the attack. Despite being slightly surprised, Vince took advantage and did an uppercut slash making the other holy sword user wince a little from the force of the attack. However Vince wasn't finished and brought his foot down and did a brutal downwards kick on the blade.

Arthur jumped back as Vince landed on the ground and held his arm a little. "Unexpected. You're using the impact of those attacks to weaken my arm."

"Your blade is hard to break but making your arm lose it's strength is easier in comparison." Vince admitted as he sprinted towards him.

Arthur in tow did the same thing and aimed a horizontal slash at Vince. However his eyes widened when Arthur feinted his attack and instead did a sideways slash aimed for his sides.

Vince brought the Totsuka-no-Tsurugi up to his side to block his attack and before Arthur could capitalize, Vince kicked Excalibur Ruler with enough force to push the blade back. He then jumped to the side following up immediately by doing a sideways roll, to his back and immediately followed up with a jumping slash, not only surprising but slashing Arthur in the back with enough force to send him face first into the ground.

"Gaaah!"

Vince panted a little as he rubbed his shoulder. (Sheesh... Well, at least I got a good hit on him. And here I thought fighting one of the sword wielders from the Hero Faction or sparing with Shura would be this difficult.)

Arthur got up from the ground bleeding a bit as he frowned a little. "I certainly wasn't expecting that. I can see why you've been giving the other members of the Hero Faction quite a bit of trouble."

"I made sure attack was shallow enough not to cause any permanent damage or scaring." Vince stated.

"Yes. However that gash is deep enough for me to bleed a considerable amount and I can't exactly see the injury on my back." He replied getting up, while wincing a little.

"Yeah. Which doesn't as mean as much considering you gave me a lot of gashes over a good portion of my body." Vince said deadpanning.

"...I suppose you have a point." Arthur relented as he got back up.

Vince twirled the Totsuka-no-Tsurugi twice before sheathing the blade into the scabbard. (And here I thought sparring with Shura was hell on Earth...)

"You're not continuing?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

"Hell no. I don't have the energy to keep going and I have to treat these cuts before they get infected. You win." Vince spoke as he walked away with a limp.

Arthur blinked twice at his response before chuckling a little. "You certainly are interesting Vince Reinhart."

xXxXxXxXxX

Vince sighed a bit as he limped slightly to the room provided for him, upon walking in he closed the door and took off his shirt, putting it next to him and sitting down on the floor. He grabbed an empty trash can and flicked his fingers. His hands became enveloped in water before sighing. (Use the water to moisten the dried blood enough to manipulate it into my hands, then drop it in the trash can and refresh.)

He placed his hands on the gashes along with the dried blood, Vince winced a bit as he felt a stinging sensation from his injuries and ignored it. Seeing his water turned completely red he dumped it in the trash can and enveloped his hands in water again. (Place my hands on the wound and manipulate the water on my hands to suck in any debris or potential bacteria. Dump in the trash can and refresh.)

Vince placed his hands on his wounds and manipulated the water to suck in any potential bacteria constantly. He gritted his teeth in pain as he felt a tugging sensation in his body. Noting the water turned into a crimson color he stopped and examined the water only for him to immediately drop the water in the trash can and envelop his hands yet again and repeated the entire process until he finished. (Disgusting. I'd rather not have that type of crap in my body. The water was very murky time for one last thing. This should help my body heal a bit without eating drastically like before. Instead of forcing my body to recover quickly, I'll take my time.)

He extended his hands together as he closed his eyes. Water began to surge from his hands as the amount of water continued to increase greatly. The water itself began to form into large sphere, large enough to fit his body in. The sphere began to solidify as Vince opened his eyes. He checked the floor and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the sphere solid. (Good the sphere is solid enough. It won't drip on the floor or fall apart upon contact.)

Vince moved the sphere into the corner of the room and entered in it. He closed his eyes as his head floated to the top of the sphere and surfaced through to breath while his body floated inside the sphere, unintentionally wetting the floor with his wet hair. (Nice, this is no different from floating in a pool. The outer portion of the sphere is solid enough to be like a water balloon while the inside is just regular water.)

(Oh wait, the water is wet from my hair... I'll deal with everything else later I just wanna sleep...) He sighed a bit before closing his eyes and dozing off.

A few hours turned into several as Vince slept peacefully within the sphere, his body noticeably more healed up than before. As the water itself tiredlessly continued to repair and regenerate the skin and tissues in his body at a moderate pace.

Yume yawned a bit as she got up and stretched a little. [Vince? What happened...?]

Her eyes widened as the Sacred Gear spirit noted the condition he was in. Immediately snapping her out of her drowsiness. [Oh dear God, what happened this time?]

Vince grumbled a little before floating in the water to the other side. Yume noted the water sphere's regeneration process with his body and raised an eyebrow. [That explains this sphere. Vince was in some sort of fight again and he created this sphere to help him recover. Well, at least Vince is almost fully recovered. I'll just wait.]

Yume waited patiently as she watched the water sphere regenerate the tissues and skin in his body, she noticed the trash can in the room filled with bloodied water and frown a little before turning her attention back to Vince's recovery.

Vince turned in his sleep and yawned loudly before opening his eyes. "Ugh..."

[Vince, you're up. How are you doing?] Yume asked worriedly.

"Fine... Just sore and groggy. It's nice to see you had a good nap. Ya slept for about two and a half days." Vince spoke groggily.

Yume blushed in embarrassment as looked the other way. [Sorry Vince.]

"It's fine. I'd rather not have you sleep depraved." He replied.

[Thank you. Umm, I don't mean to be rude but what exactly happened?] She questioned.

"Oh right. Better explain right away." Vince commented as he began to explain what happened ever since he got up.

Yume sighed a bit as she palmed her face. [So we're on an even shorter time limit and you got injured considerably in a spar with Arthur-san. The descendant of Arthur Pendragon, wielder of the original Excalibur which is why you're recovering right now. And right before that spar you emptied out the kitchen pantry, found out that the Nekoshou that grabbed you is actually Koneko-san's sister who's name could really be Shirone.]

"Yup."

[I really wish I had the ability to drink a cup of tea or some coffee right about now...] Yume spoke with a look of disbelief on her face.

"Hmm... Didn't your God give you that privilage or something? Even you are Lailah's mind, you also have what makes a soul, an actual soul." He asked raising an eyebrow.

[Yes, but unfortunately I don't have the luxury yet. If I let my guard down the power of Ddraig-san and Albion-san will break loose. I was able to get away with it earlier because of the Hakuryuukou halving the excess energy from them on the outside while I focused on the inside. And previously it was because they were much weaker than how they are now.] She admitted regrettably.

"All the more reason to beat them down within an inch of their existance." Vince spoke as he moved parts of his body, which resulted in a cracking sound.

Yume smiled at his concern for her before raising an eyebrow. [What are you going to do Vince? Are we still going to continue with the plan?]

Vince stopped moving and nodded. "Yeah, we're going to continue as planned tomorrow. Restraining Ddraig's amalgamation should be easier this time around with Albion's amalgamation in the way."

[While that is true, I can only hold it for so long. Ddraig's power may have formed a mindless amalgamation but it also grows stronger every passing minute and there's still it's inherent ability to boost it's power.] Yume pointed out.

"I know. I'll be sure to end it as soon as possible." He reassured her as he got out of the sphere of water.

[Thank you, Vince.]

"Yeah." Looking down he saw his clothes with the exception of his shirt dripping wet. Sighing a bit, he gathered all of the water from his dripping wet clothes, the floor, the trash can and the water sphere, forming into one massive ball of water. Seeing no other option he opened the window and condensed the water to make it fit through the window and chucked the ball of water as hard as he could.

[I hope that doesn't hurt anyone.] Yume spoke with a sigh.

"I'm not sure it would-" Vince immediately interrupted as a loud yell echoed through the streets gaining his attention. Cautiously looking out from the window he from a distance a man yelling in agony as his car was crushed by the massive ball of water that broke open and flooded the car.

Despite not being able to see Yume's look he could easily feel her staring at him to which he scratched his cheek a little. "I was right, it didn't hurt anyone. Maybe his wallet but I'm sure he has insurance."

"Nooooo! My insurance and registration was in there!" The man shouted, loud enough for the two to hear.

[You were saying Vince...?] Yume said as more as a statement rather than a question.

"It was the will of your Lord. That would be Michael, I think..." He replied trailing off with a nonchalant tone.

[Please don't use my Lord or Sir Michael to justify that mistake you've just made... Regardless! Let's both have a good night's sleep so we can tackle this problem tomorrow!] Yume exclaimed in a cheerful tone after frowning at him for his earlier comment.

"Right."

Just as Vince was about to put his shirt on but a knock was heard on the door preventing him from doing so as a slim young girl with blonde shoulder-length hair and blue eyes, wearing an unusual dress with a huge blue hat with a black bow and yellow stars and matching cape with pink flowers walked into the room. "Hello...?"

The young girl's eyes widened seeing Vince's muscular back as he put on his shirt. The young girl blushed in embarrassment at the situation. "E-Excuse me, Vince-sama?"

A look of disbelief appeared on his face as he palmed his face. "Seriously, you too?"

"My apologies for interuding, but I came here to ask you if you wanted dinner. I just finished cooking." The young girl stated.

Vince raised an eyebrow before shaking his head. "I'm not upset over that. I'm not a fan of honorifics."

"Oh."

However to her slight surprise he extended his hand. "I'm Vince Reinhart. What's your name?"

The young girl smiled as she shook his hand. "My name is Le Fay Pendragon. It's nice to meet you, Vince-sama."

Vince's eye twitched hearing that, but he decided to ignore it. "Pendragon? Are you related to Arthur?"

Le Fay smiled and nodded. "Yes, he is my older brother. Will you be joining us for dinner, Vince-sama?"

"Yes, I will. By the way, who's cooking?" He said sighing a bit as he left the room with her and closed the door.

"I am, why do you ask?" She questioned curiously.

Vince blinked twice before sighing more. "Oh. Sorry about clearing the kitchen like that."

Le Fay however shook her head. "It's okay Vince-sama. Vali-sama told me what happened, along with the large amount of yen you gave to him. Actually you gave us more than what we usually have for our budget."

"Ah. You should lay off on buying instant ramen though. That's really unhealthy." He commented, remembering the amount of salt stated on the nutrition label.

Le Fay smiled sheepishly in response. "I'm not the one that buys the instant ramen. You see, I'm the only one that cooks so the others eat instant ramen whenever I'm not around."

"Ouch."

(Well, I guess I can't judge. I eat instant yakisoba, then again it's less saltier than instant ramen.) Vince thought to himself.

(The Next Day)

Vince's eyes suddenly snapped open, he silently got up from the futon he slept on. He examined himself and raised an eyebrow. (I feel like I'm overflowing with energy but I feel my heart pounding really fast.)

He walked into the bathroom near him and did his morning necessities. Several minutes he walked out of the bathroom looking refreshed. (I'll go wait for Yume to wake up. In the meantime, I should go get some breakfast and coffee.)

Walking into the kitchen Vince saw the other members of Vali's team eating breakfast together. (Kinda funny, this reminds me of the ORC's club meetings in Kuoh.)

Le Fay noticed Vince and walked to him. "Good morning Vince-sama, did you sleep well?"

Vince sweatdropped as he nodded. "I did. Just call me Vince."

"Umm, I'll try my best but unfortunately I'm not used to that." Le Fay stated, prompting him to raise an eyebrow.

"It is a mannerism of my sister from our upbringing." Arthur answered for her.

A sigh escaped Vince's throat, before shrugging. "In that case never mind."

"Would you like some breakfast, Vince-sama?" Le Fay asked smiling.

"No. I'm going now." Vince said, grabbing everyone's attention.

"To where?" Vali asked raising an eyebrow.

"I have business to take care of." Vince explained while stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"You're not gonna ask our help or something?" Bikou asked curiously.

"No. I'm returning the favor for helping me besides, I don't like being a burden to anyone." He replied simply.

"I see... Even if you succeed in quelling the power of the two Heavenly Dragons, you would still have to deal with members from the Hero Faction. You're very likely to get captured after your battle with the power of the two Heavenly Dragons." Arthur said, taking a sip of his tea.

Vince leaned against the wall. "I have an escape route ready."

"That explains the phone call from yesterday." Vali commented.

He stopped leaning against the wall and walked towards the door. "If there's nothing else to talk about, I'm leaving."

"Nya, be sure to tell Shirone I said hello, Vince." Kuroka said hugging him from behind him.

He instinctively dodged the hug by moving to the side and patted her on the back. "I will. No promises if she'll react positively though."

Kuroka pouted a little which then turned into slight irritation when Bikou grinned a bit. "Rejected."

Vali sighed a little while Le Fay giggled at their antics as Arthur calmly took a sip of his tea. "I look forward to seeing how you fare against the powers of the Heavenly Dragons, Vince Reinhart. Even if their power is not quite on par with the originals."

"If you expect me to defeat them by brute force or with a flashy attack then I'm positive you'll be disappointed." Vince said bluntly.

"I'm well aware you do not have the power to win most of your fights through brute force and even if you did, you wouldn't do that. It's what makes your fights interesting." Vali spoke with a smirk.

Vince however gained a deadpan look. "Nice to see you that you're amused by how I fight. Then again, I find it amusing that you're all more decent people than a majority of the high-class devils I saw in the Underworld."

To his surprise and the others, upon opening the door, the hinges of the door snapped open while the door knob itself was completely crushed in the process, leaving it in pieces. He tried placing the door back in place, which caused the door to itself to snap in half. "What the hell?"

Vali raised an eyebrow. "It appears Ddraig and Albion's energy is overflowing from your body. You can't even control your own strength anymore."

"That much is obvious." Vince spoke as he grabbed the pieces of door and sorted them into a small pile.

Feeling a surge of energy inside his body Vince grunted in pain as his body was enveloped in a red and white aura, representing Ddraig and Albion's power respectively.

Le Fay was about to go towards Vince but was stopped by Arthur who shook his head. Kuroka and Bikou watched with a wince as they felt the two potent auras as Vali watched intently.

The two auras violently clashed with each other with Vince gripping his chest with a pained expression. The others watched as Vince closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Hraaaaah..."

Several sparks of electricity discharged from his body as the others noticed an azure aura envelop his body that slowly but surely drove back Ddraig and Albion's powers. "...Better."

"Maybe you should leave Vince. It looks like things are gonna get worse if you don't solve that problem as soon as possible." Bikou suggested as he stared at the door slightly surprised.

"That door was refined to be extremely durable with Le Fay's magic." Arthur spoke as he examined the pieces of the door.

"So, you were able to overpower Ddraig and Albion's power with your own? Not bad." Vali commented with an amused look.

"Right... Here's for the door." He pulled his wallet out of his pocket and pulled out a small wad of yen bills. He then walked to Vali and put the bills into his hand.

Unfortunately for Vali, the strength behind Vince's arm was enough to knock him face first into the floor with the yen bills in his hand while shocking him in the process.

"Urgh!" Vali got up and winced slightly as he placed the yen bills on the table despite appearing to be okay, his hand noticeably twitched.

Bikou snorted at this while Kuroka giggled and Arthur calmly sipped his tea watching what just happened. Le Fay on the other hand looked surprised at this.

Vince quickly turned around while he held back a smirk and took a step outside of the house. He took a step forward and within a moment, disappeared from everyone's sights with just his speed alone, leaving behind a gust of wind and several sparks of lightning in his trail.

xXxXxXxXxX

Yume yawned cutely as she rubbed her eyes. [Morning Vince...]

"Morning, Yume." Vince spoke as he ate large breakfast, leaning against a tree several miles away from the town Vali's team stayed at.

[What happened when I was asleep?] She asked curiously.

Vince sighed a little and explained what happened as he took a sip of his coffee.

[I see... Judging by what happened then today is the last day to deal with Ddraig and Albion's malice before their powers completely take over you.] Yume spoke with a grimace.

"Pretty much. I'll meditate so I can meet up with you in my subconscious after I finish." He finished as he took a large bite out of a breakfast burrito.

[Right. Let's do our best.] She said with him nodding in agreement.

Vince took a sip of a large bottle of orange juice to swallow the burrito and sighed. "Yume, a question."

[Yes?]

"Do you think I'll really able to win against them? Be honest with me." He said, taking another sip of his drink.

[Why do you ask that Vince?] Yume questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Vince frowned a little as he drank more of his orange juice. "I've noticed that the others don't really believe that I'll be able to win. They've been respectful by not voicing their opinions but I can tell by their expressions."

[I see... You're referring more so to Azazel, Gabriel and the other grown-up adult figures in the Three Factions, correct?] She asked, trying to confirm her thoughts.

"Yeah. While Rias, Kasumi and the others are just completely concerned. The others, even Yasaka are having a hard time believing I'll be able to come through. It's noticeable to tell with Yasaka's tone that she's pretty much worried and having a hard believing that." He replied simply.

[It's not a surprise though. Back then when Ddraig-san and Albion-san were loose it took everyone from the Three Factions working together just to seal them in Sacred Gears and here we are wanting to outright defeat their malice. While their malice may not be on quite on par with them in their prime they are pretty close to their strength as of right now. You can understand their doubts, right?] Yume asked him.

"I do. Not to mention I'm just a human. Even with what I've been doing I must look pretty underwhelming to everyone else. Even more so since my Sacred Gears aren't even a longinus type Sacred Gear. I'm pretty sure if I said that I would defeat them to anyone else, they would either laugh at my face or look at me like I'm crazy." Vince admitted with a sigh.

[Vince...]

"That's fine by me, I'll prove everyone wrong. Even if it was for survival, it was my fault for absorbing their powers without thinking of the consequences and repercussions that came with it. As much as I hate doing it, I need to clean up my own mess." He said simply.

[But you're not alone Vince, I'll help through this. I must admit I'm not very confident that we'll win by ourselves but I won't let that stop me from helping you to the best of my abilities.] Yume said with a smile.

"Thanks, Yume." Vince continued with eating his breakfast, however a genuine smile appeared on his face for a few moments as he finished his meal.

[I am however worried about their Outrage mode.] Yume commented with a sigh.

"Outrage?"

[It's an empowered state that seemingly all dragons can enter if they're angered enough. Their physical abilities increase significantly and in this state dragons will relentlessly pursue their enemies. It was one of the reasons why the leaders of the Three Factions had so much trouble with Ddraig-san and Albion-san back then. I remember seeing how they were from afar.] She spoke with a grimace, remembering the incident.

"And since this is a portion of Ddraig and Albion's malice with the remaining malice coming from their Juggernaut Drive via the previous possessors of the Boosted Gear and Divine Dividing, they're always in that state. But they're weaker than Ddraig and Albion in their prime." Vince stated.

[Yes but not by much. Remember Vince, they may have started out weaker than we expected but their power quickly rose. Defeating them will be no easy feat, just using Juggernaut Drive causes the user to lose their sanity along with their life and you will be dealing with the heart of the problem. Not only that but their power has already corrupted your body with that dragon limb.] Yume pointed out.

"I'm well aware of that. There's also the draconic aura that comes with my arm turning into that limb. I'm not making light of the situation I know how dire it is but, I'm not going to back down from this. Dragons really are spiteful bastards, aren't they?" He asked rhetorically while chuckling somewhat bitterly at the end.

Yume sighed while nodding slightly. [Nevertheless, you must be careful Vince. At this point their powers are close if not already on par with other deities and the four great Satans. Their immense power is so potent that upon activation, its aura can easily destroy any nearby local areas. You have to be ready for that when I release Albion-san's malice from it's bindings and later on Ddraig-san's malice.]

"You have a point there. Not to mention this is all happening in my subconscious. That reminds me. Why do you refer to them as Ddraig and Albion's malice? They're the collective negative emotions of the previous possessors of the Boosted Gear and Divide Dividing along with Ddraig and Albion's negative emotions." He asked placing his empty bottle of orange juice and the container of his breakfast in a bag, tying it up in a knot and throwing into a nearby trash can.

[It's easier to classify them as that. Not only that but all of their malice merged together into a collective form of negative emotions. It's also a bit of a mouthful to keep saying that.] She answered simply.

"Good point. Now let's get to work before this clusterfuck gets any worse." Vince lied down on the grass, closed his eyes and took a deep breath to relax.

xXxXxXxXxX

A few minutes later, he opened his eyes and looked around. He raised an eyebrow upon seeing a dimly lit tunnel. (Why am I in a underpass?)

Looking at the walls noticed it covered in graffiti and stared reading it aloud. "Pain, sadness, vengeance, regret, power, freedom, future and believe..."

[Vince?] Yume asked looking curiously as she appeared behind him.

"...What is this place? I've never been here when I was training with you." He asked her.

[This place is the only safe part of your psyche. It's also why I told you not to come in here to train with me like we used to. It could have affected your body and psyche negatively and I did not want to take the risk.] Yume replied.

"Right... And as a result, everything changed completely, what happened to this place?" Vince questioned as he started at the wall's graffiti.

[This is the aftermath of your negative experiences which distorted your psyche. Not only that but the excess power and negative emotions from Ddraig-san's and Albion-san's malice also affected your psyche greatly. In a ironic twist, your already distorted psyche protected your sanity from their influence long enough for me to strengthen the seal I've placed on them.] She explained with a sigh.

Vince gained deadpan look as he walked towards the end of the tunnel. "Perfect. Anything else?"

[Yes, don't go near the end of the exit of the underpass! Yet...] Yume sighed and trailed off as she saw him near the exit.

A large gust of wind suddenly blew through the exit, Vince not expecting this was caught off guard and flung all the way back. Yume quickly reacted and caught him, skidding a bit just a few centimeters before hitting the wall. [Are you okay, Vince?]

"Y-Yeah. I wasn't expecting that, not to mention the wind is filled with so much negative emotions from three different sources. I take it that the gust of wind is from them?" Vince asked as he got up.

[Yes and they're the source of the other two negative emotions you just felt. The last one is from you. Aside from that and the wind that's their only influence on you for now... It's only a matter of time before it gets worse.] Yume explained.

"Tch."

"Ah yes. I found you!" A voice spoke getting their attention.

A figure walked into the underpass as a gust of wind came in from behind the figure, the wind filled with malice.

Upon getting within view the two saw a male identical to Vince from the same appearance, down to the same clothing. The only difference being that the figure's eye color were red and blue as opposed to Vince's brown eye color.

Yume's expression saddened greatly as Vince looked at the figure completely surprised. "What the hell...?"

xXxXxXxXxX

Author's Notes: This sure was a very long chapter to write, I think it might be my longest one to date. But at the very least I can say that next chapter will feature Vince's Balance Breaker. I apologize if my writing is not good but I am very rusty at this.

I decided to go further into the backstory of Angel/Devil and it's unique circumstances with Yume or rather Laliah. I wanted to explain this when I had the chance to. There's still a little more to her but hopefully I explained enough to give enough context.

As for Arondight. To my knowledge it's a counterpart if not very closely related to Excalibur hence why Arondight's abilities are pretty much one for one the same as Excalibur's. If I am wrong on this please correct me. While Arondight is still weaker in comparison to the original Excalibur and it doesn't have complete access to all of it's abilties, the blade still packs a punch since it was recently turned into a Holy-Demonic Sword.

For the ambush Vince had to deal with, well, I wanted to show Vince in a dire situation where he's frantic and struggling to win. Not to mention given how the Hero Faction doesn't take no for answer to recruitments, I figure this would be perfect. As for Connla, who appeared in the Light Novels I thought he'd be a good addition to the fight. I tried my best to flesh out the fight with him but I hardly have any information to go by, so I did what I can.

Also for the whole situation with Vali and his team, Vince is neutral and wouldn't mind interacting and putting hostilities aside for the time being. I wanted to further show that and his interactions with them. Also, while Vince is strong he does not stand a chance against Arthur in pure swordsmanship, also wanted to show that.

As for how Vince is going to tackle draconic power taken the form of Ddraig and Albion, while it is impossible to fight them head-on, Vince is planning ahead and working with everything accordlingly for the highest possible chance to win. The only thing I can say is that Vince will not have an easy time.

And the scene near the end with that figure, well people have already guessed what it is. I won't say much, but I will say that things won't be as predictable as it seems. I do plan on having a thing or two different.

That's all I have to say for now, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter and have a nice day.