The following is a non-profit, fan-based AU story. [High School DxD] is owned by Ishibumi Ichiei, Miyama-Zero, Fujimi Shobo, TNK and Funimation. Please support the official release. This was meant to be released at the end of February, but I wasn't happy with what I had so I stalled it so that I could release it when it was completed for you all.
. . . So sorry for the wait.
"_" = Speaking.
( _ ) = Translation/Other Meaning
[ _ ] = Personal Title.
{ _ } = Item/Ability/Sacred Gear.
["_"] = Speaking via Alternate Means.
["_"] = Speaking through Sacred Gears.
[{"_"}] = Sacred Gear Command.
Name = Point of View/Narration Change (Permanent Addition)
"Italic" = Flashback Discussions
Along the shipping yard front where a forest of red, blue and white containers made their stations, the peerage of Sona Sitri did battle with a stray devil from the House of Moloch. And I, Hyoudou Issei, was aiding in its extermination.
["The [Baron of Moloch] has issued a personal request to my peerage to hunt one his servant's gone rogue on the eastern docks."]
"And, may I ask as to why in particular have you decided to inform me of this?"
["I have been granted permission for you to accompany us on a stray hunt."]
"Under whose authority?"
["The [Marquis of Phenex] himself asked personally as part of your agreement to study here."]
". . . I'll be there within the minute."
And so, here we are; the five members of the Sitri Peerage, and myself.
The stray in question was simply the A class stray that had abandoned his master. And that was all we needed to know about tonight's hunted.
This was the Sitri peerages first time hunting a stray in the A ranks, according to Sona, so every action taken here was not only made to be perfectly coordinated and kept within contact at all times, but also an experiment to test the waters as it were.
Given that water was the primary magic element of the Sitri clan, this harbour was the perfect first battle ground for the heiress.
In terms of strength, the A-class was no stronger than what most would consider lower Middle-class devils on average as a whole, with the stronger of the classes belonging to either AA or AAA strays. With that settled into my mind, I was confident that I could defeat and kill it alone had I been permitted to use my Sacred Gear during the hunt. However, it would be a while before Ddraig could see action again, so I had to put my faith in following temporarily under Sona and her tactics.
["Tsubasa, Tomoe. Keep the pressure on him. Do not allow him to hide or escape. Force him to retreat to Point A at all costs."]
["Got it."]
["Hai, Souna"]
["Tsubaki, keep them protected. If need be, I need you to hinder him, but don't immobilise him altogether. If he finds himself at the disadvantage, he will run and the plan will fall apart. Hold off on using your Sacred Gear for now."]
["As you wish, Sona."]
["Momo, remain on standby and wait till target reached Point G. When he reaches destination, paralyse him with everything. We cannot allow him to move once he has been captured."]
["I'll do as I can."]
I will grant credit when it is due, considering that this was the Sitri's peerage's first serious stray devil hunt. And with an A-class to start it off, this was very well organised;
Using her Rook (Tsubasa), who specialised in attacking and defending, and her Knight (Tomoe), who specialised in speed and flanking, she was using them to keep the stray preoccupied by continuously adding on the pressure and aiming to push the devil to a point more favourable to destroy it.
And using her Queen (Tsubaki) who was all-rounder, speaking in general of course, she was using her to cover any loose holes that may happen whilst her Rook and Knight continued to cause distraction to the stray.
Her Bishop (Momo), who had her focus set to magical spells, was being used to stun the stray once he reached the pier at Point G in order to prevent him from moving around any further.
Point G served as the execution point more than halfway across the pier, which would provide a great deal of isolation in which a lot of heavy attacks could then be dealt upon it without attracting unwarranted attention this time of evening, and the infinite amount of water favoured the water magic specialised Sitri clan highly.
As for me, the Pawn serving as the 'dogs-of-war' in this fight so to speak . . .
["Hyoudou, do read me?"]
Reaching to my left ear at the sound of the vice president's voice speaking, I responded immediately from my crouched position with an opportune view of the intended spot dubbed as Point A.
"Loud and clear on my end."
["Have you reached point B yet?"]
In other words; 'was I behind the green shipping container that was parallel to both Point A on the opposite side of said container and also to Point G which was on the far side of the pier?' Believe me when I had to affirm with green shipping container she was referring to before I started searching around for it.
"Yes, I have. Next orders?"
["Await confirmation. When target reaches Point A, we'll proceed with the second stage. I need a strong fixture from you to push him towards Point G without room for him to evade or escape. Until then, promote to Rook and standby."]
"Understood. {Promotion: Rook!}"
Ending transmission, I activated the {Promotion} ability afforded to me as a Pawn, whilst I waited for my ideal time to strike. Outside of Rating Games, the {Promotion} ability had very few limitations; while a King's permission was usually required, so long as the order for promotion was validated, one was able to promote to a piece of their choice for as long as the piece could recognise a state of danger.
Its counterpart, {Demotion} was a rarely manually-used ability. It automatically activated once the threat was neutralised in such a way that the Pawn wouldn't notice the decline is abilities over the transition of an hour or so. Activating it manually was a dangerous play; for an example, a Pawn that {promotes} to Queen to then sudden forcefully {demote} themselves risks hit with sudden phantom fatigue over the sudden depletion of physical and magical drain, with some weaker devils who foolishly attempt this falling into comas as a result.
While not a general rule, it is a given that using {Demotion} is not a move to be used unless a change in conditions requires it as such. While it becomes largely a useless skill for the many Pawns who {promote} straight into Queen when given the opportunity, it is by no means obsolete as I managed on the off chance to demonstrate this very evening.
On a side note for why we had three points lettered A, B, and G rather than C was an obvious one considering that the third letter in Azaberkna was 'Geuua' (after 'Aza' and 'Berkna' obviously). And, despite how it should be pronounced in Deftodiz, it actually favours sounds from where its name originates from. So it is pronounced as 'gyoo-A' instead of 'geh-OO-a'. I'll leave it at that.
All the while, as I waited for the stray devil in question to arrive on the scene, I could hear the voices of the battle unfolding growing ever louder.
*Slash*
"Thwack*Dosh*Dosh*
"Kuh!"
"KoOO-oAARaaH!"
*Swoosh*Swoosh*
*Do . . . Do-Do-Do-Do-Do—Dosh*
As both Tsubasa and I, Meguri Tomoe, continued to attack the stray devil from every angle we possibly could to force him to reach Point A, I nearly lost my arm after getting my sword caught in his gullet. Had it not been for Tsubasa, I probably would have been amputated on the spot with my right arm still gripping its handle.
After a series of close-quarter punches delivered by her, I was able to yank my sword free before anything bad could have happened. I am so thankful that I didn't have to choose between losing my arm or losing my family sword, Kahorinsatsujin (哥布林杀人, Goblin Slayer), especially when this blade was meant to be seriously strong against creatures like these stray devils.
Plus, I didn't think it was good for a Knight to lose her sword in the middle of an important battle like this.
Despite the claims my family had attested to for many generations about how proficient this sword was meant to be, the blade didn't do all that much extra damage to him. The only sizable contribution it did was that it was better at cutting him than a Western or Sub-continental sword would have like all well-made katanas. But unlike the effects of Holy Swords, there appeared to be no apparent effect on him or anything.
We continued to attack just as we did, with my speed and swordswoman skills dashing to and from to keep him preoccupied whilst Tsubasa would hit him hard on the occasions to make sure he was heading in the right direction. Throwing stuff or taking a good punch against him before safely pulling back was her strategy. It was what she was good at, just like how my sword skills were my strength.
We were positive that after managing to push him back to within a range of 50ms to where Souna had designated Point A to be, that this first incursion of ours was going to be a straight up success. Just a few more slashes from my part, and more punches from Tsubasa, and he would be there in no time.
That was what we thought until we made the mistake of underestimating him.
"One more strike, and here it comes!"
I am embarrassed to say that I was still inexperienced enough to think that announcing my attacks was cool and couldn't be heard by the enemy.
I dropped the guard I had at the beginning of this fight and even a little after I nearly had my limbs severed. Attacking straight towards his right side where he was still mostly flesh that would have been a better target for my blade to pierce through over his boney and exposed open left where Tsubasa's blunt attacks could break them with ease.
But, I was unable to reach the stray in time, because he knew that I was coming in for the attack this time.
"{atTraCTiOn stEP!}"
Despite the warnings that this devil was a former Bishop, none of us had even thought that this now disgusting looking being was still able to wield magic as effectively as it had done when it was still serving his master.
Needless to say, that once he knew I was coming, his magic circle fired where I was running towards and I was then suddenly trapped. My feet felt so heavy all of a sudden that I could no longer lift them.
My Knight's speed was gone in an instant and I was now a sitting duck, without any way of breaking free. Unlike Souna or Tsubaki, or even Momo, I was unable to break this magic circle with magic because I wasn't strong enough to do so.
"{pROpETUal MOtiOn sPot!}"
While I was busy with my own situation, the stray fired a second magic circle, but aimed this time for Tsubasa, who tried to attack from the opposite direction.
As a Rook, her weakness was her slower speed, so a spell like this where she was caught moving on one spot continuously must have been torture for her. Stuck moving forward, but never being able to land a solid hit because she never reaches her target.
As the two of us became trapped from moving any further, we could only stand there as he started laughing and boasting in between our views.
"BoTH You litTlE gIRls ARe FOolS tO thINk yOu caN JUsT wAlK oVer mE! I aM aN exPErieNceD DevIl, onCe pRiZEd foR My sKIlLS iN stRAteGy. It wAs EaSy tO deDUCe yoUr iNEXperIEncE aFteR lEttINg yoU BoTh tO StriKe mE sEVerAl TiMe. A TRuE DeVil woULd havE kILLed mE WHeRE wE meT aND Not tRy tO puSh mE aLl ThiS waY acROsS tHe CoaSt fOR nO rEaSOn exCePt tO aMbUSH mE."
No one said another word. We were all in too much shock once we realised that this stray knew what we were planning. All our efforts were just an act, and he was simply baiting us.
["Tsubaki. Stop him!"]
"Got it, Sona."
Over our communications line, Souna ordered Tsubaki to back us up. Appearing from behind a red container, she leaped on to its roof and began prepping a magic circle aimed for the stray with both hands reaching outwards in its direction.
"{Half-Height Ensnare!}"
But, she wasn't quick enough to react to her real target, who always seemed to have some sort of plan in place before we could do anything;
"{hENkYo!} (変虚, Switch Deception)
Quick as light, both the figures of Tsubaki and the stray vanished and reappeared in where each other had been standing previously. The worse of it was that Tsubaki's spell hadn't had a chance to fire before she swapped where she was aiming, only to now see the person within her line of sight was now Tsubasa.
"Oh no!"
Unable to properly move, let alone enough time to think about reacting to the new situation, Tsubasa suddenly found her body being forcefully dragged below into to the concrete by just over two and a half feet.
"Kuhh!"
While she had better defence towards physical injuries, having her entire lower body being forcibly dragged through solid stone must have really hurt.
"{fREezE FrAMe!}"
Before Tsubaki could turn her head, her body was suddenly caught by another magic circle, in an odd shade of dark grey. I'm not sure what happened, but her body was suddenly no longer moving, nor was her expressions. The weirdest thing was that her appearances seemed to had inversed in colour as well.
"tHE VetErAN oF mANy rATinG GAmES will nOt bE dEFEaTed sO eASily!"
As I turned to look up at the Stray, now on top of the container Tsubaki previously stood, he then raised his hand and the remainder of my fight with the stray was at its end.
"{reVeRSE FOrcE!}"
The magic circle below me changed from a deep piercing red, to a sudden alerting yellow-orange, and my frozen feet became weightless as my whole body was thrown backwards.
"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" *Thwomp*S~Slam*
If we devils didn't have such durable bodies, that impact into the shipping container would have broken my spine if it didn't kill me after breaking through its side as I did. The force of my collision was enough to flip it so my immediate landing against what would have been the back was now the floor.
I even dirtied my school uniform with blood once I managed to adjust my eyes to the sudden lack of light. Luckily, it wasn't from my chest, nor had I been deeply cut in any place on me.
["Tomoe! Do you read me?" Come in, Tomoe!"]
I heard Souna's voice over the open communications line she set up to all of us present. Speaking into my right ear, I started to move before I could tell her that I was still able to fight.
But, as I tried to stand, I realised that I had badly sprained my right leg. It gave way and I fell to my knees, only to then collapse to my left side when I realised how sore it was. I was now a Knight with heavily reduced mobility. And, I couldn't even get up and out of this metal box I was in.
"I'm sorry, Souna. *tsss* I can't stand, but I'm alright. Continue without me."
Far away at the pier where we had previously arranged would be our designation Point G, I, Sona Sitri, felt so irked by the sound of my Knight's inability to continue in this battle. It was never her fault for getting injured so badly. It was mine for underestimating out opponent.
"It's ok, Tomoe. Standby until this battle is finished. Do not attempt to engage any further."
["Hai, Souna."]
The stray devil formerly the Bishop of Lord Aryoi Moloch, was an experienced devil and had a long history of utilising his abilities to conjure magic circles of large varieties for over a century now. It wasn't a surprise that he managed to earn A-rank level.
["Sona! He's curving. He's off course and running amok!"]
Though far from the real battle I may have been, the view from the pier cranes far sufficed as a base from which looking out across the bay was to our advantage. Better vision during lunar hours, and also highly responsive senses means that spotting enemies from afar at night is something of a specialty.
Through Tsubasa's clearer observation, it appeared that our target was now deciding to move back in land rather than towards this direction. With her trapped in the ground, it would be a while before she can dig herself out. I needed to take that into consideration, alongside Tomoe's injury.
I contemplated moving Hyoudou out of hiding as back-up, but then we would have no way of forcing him to the pier, where I could utilise my best strengths in defeating it. With only these six pieces including myself, I have to make the best of my smaller numbers and not waste them fruitfully.
As I saw the spell over Tsubaki fade out after it's time had exceeded, I needed to get her back into action immediately despite the stunned state she will be having been stuck in ten seconds of frozen time.
"Tsubaki, switch to third plan. Intercept and reset course!"
["Huh? . . . R-Right away!"]
"Tsubasa, are you able make chase?"
["Guh- I'm still trapped here. I can't even *urgh* get further away from him, let alone follow."]
Tch. This was all starting to fall apart too quickly. This may have been our first time dealing with an A-rank stray, but to think that it was going to be this difficult. I underestimated the traitor still having enough of its mind intact to formulate contingencies against our efforts.
I cannot leave the force I have left in the frontline to themselves any longer, and I need Tsubasa to get back in their quickly. So I turned to my reserved piece to my right.
". . . Momo, free Tsubasa as soon as you can. Abandon your post and intercept."
"I'm on it!"
She teleported from my side straight to Tsubasa's side and started to work on freeing her from the trap that was misfired upon her. This was turning into one of the worst evenings of my life. So much that could have gone wrong did go wrong within the span of an hour.
B-rank strays were easier pickings because they were relatively weak and lacked any sort of power or strategy. I remember the times where I would have a single servant practise training on those who had signed their own death warrants. It was usually enough, but there and been a few times where having multiple peerage members as back-up for the one gaining experience in those few dire times.
But now just looking at what has unfolded with this A-rank and the differences in not just its strengths, but how it used it was a large jump from what my peerage had been used to up till last year.
I was too inexperienced for this kind of fight. As the strategic command, I should have continued monitoring the movements of those fighting on my behalf. But having paid too much attention to my injured peerage members either trapped or incapable of continuing tonight, I lost sight of the stray in question, as well as my Queen.
"Tsubaki, please state you-"
["No way! He brok-"]
What broke? I couldn't find her position in view. Was this that stray's idea? Did it maybe realise that I was scouting from this pier?
"Tsubaki?!"
["{Mirror Alice!}"]
She's using her Sacred Gear? Is she really that desperate? Surely, this stray devil
["Kyaaah!"]
I couldn't believed what I was hearing. Not even {Mirror Alice} could stop it? Just what was going on? Why was this not going according to plan?
"Tsubaki!"
[""Tsubaki!""]
". . ."
["Guhh. I can't stop him. He's breaking away! I'm sorry, Sona."]
["What do we do now? Souna?"]
For what was probably the first time in my life, my thoughts just froze.
I didn't know. I didn't know what to do next. This wasn't like me at all, but that was the truth of this situation;
Tomoe was no longer able to run, so using her to round the stray back on course was a no go even if she was able to. Tsubasa was still partially trapped and it was taking Momo too long to free her for her to catch up to where Tsubaki had attempted to intercept it. I had no call for Tsubaki's condition either, but with {Mirror Alice} no longer of use for the rest of the day, her trump card was already played and she had nothing else to utilise.
Just what did it do that could prevent {Mirror Alice} from being ineffective? Did it know what she was capable of before hand. No, that was impossible. No stray could have scouted that much information without alerting us before our confrontation.
Should I have called Rias? I couldn't. She and her Queen were having a discussion with her family. Something related to her imposing engagement that I decided not to pry my nose into any further. Without her leave, I couldn't ask to call in either Kiba or Toujou. Though if I was honest, had this stray left the district, they may have come into contact with it eventually.
The less I say of inquiring the aid of Vladi is probably for the best of reasons.
Perhaps . . . I might need to call in my sister? No. No, I can't do that. Absolutely not. Not only will the consequences be dire, but it would take too long before she would even be prepared. Not to mention if she came herself, she would most likely destroy this entire dockyard with a wave of her . . . wand.
At this rate . . . he will escape. We will fail here.
["Souna?"]
["Hey, Souna!?"]
["Sona!"]
I was becoming deaf even to the cries of my peerage as I stood here atop of the crane. I was even blind to the view before my eyes. I was stuck in my own cold world.
This situation is best summarised by the third and fourth lines of the seventh and penultimate verse of "To a Mouse" by Robert Burn; "The best-laid schemes o' Mice an' Men / Gang aft angley (go often askew)" meaning that even the best of plans will go wrong. Just as it has now.
I most disgusted with myself to admit that I would have considered giving in and packing up this operation then and there in my moment of self-pitying. With my own schemes now nothing by broken pieces on a scattered board, I was absent-minded and unable to think forward to then next possible step, had it not been for the sudden wake-up call.
["I've got this!"]
Our ears pricked up in surprise when a male voice announced his intentions over our communications line. Though unfamiliar from our usual relay, there was only a single person it could have been.
"Hyoudou-san?"
["I can't stop him. He's breaking away! I'm sorry, Sona."]
["What do we do now? Souna?"]
The best-laid plan of her had gone wrong right beneath her feet, while I, Hyoudou Issei, was still standing by at Point B this entire time.
["Souna?"]
["Hey, Souna!?"]
["Sona!"]
No answer. After all the things that could have gone wrong suddenly going wrong as according to Murphy's Law, freezing up at this point is reasonable, but it shouldn't be an option at any point in this venture of ours.
If my devil physiology allowed me to openly blaspheme verbally without enduring consequential pain, I could think of quite a few words that could accompany my exclamations for this situation.
I caught a short glimpse of the stray as he ran past my vision, and it was the most disgusting creature I had ever borne witness to; to one side it was like a sea slug, a mound of slime covered blubber that drips and rolled over itself continuously, with a pungent odour that could be caught from within a mile of its location. On it's opposing side, the contrast; a drowned skeletal corpse with seaweed, gravel and other such undesirable things caught in its joints and the gaps in its rib cage.
To think that such a revolting mesh of seaman's nightmares was a master of trickery magic. After listening the failed attempts of Meguri, Yura and Shinra, it was safe to assume that it was a tough opponent.
I cursed silently under my breath at the thought that I could have just gone into my {Balance Breaker} and beaten it till it was black and blue and threw it back through the earth to its former master's home in the Underworld. A very arrogant thought, but at the very least one where I was assured that I could easily win without suffering at all in this fight.
But I couldn't use my {Boosted Gear}, and thus nothing that followed after it. Not when both Sona and Rias Gremory were within range to detect him. Even with this new charm around my neck that I received this evening, I wasn't willing to test its limits just on the chance that I might not get discovered my first day.
I needed to stop it, was what I was thinking. If I left it be, it would head into the more populated districts of Kuoh and either disappear into the night, or it would start causing death among any who may cross it's path this evening. Either option would lead to a failure, and that I couldn't accept.
Clutching tightly to the omamori Ravel gave to me, I readied myself for something completely crazy, but of the absolute necessity for this situation.
"I've got this!"
["Hyoudou?"]
Dashing from my vantage point, I gave immediate chase, following in the oath of the stray on the run. However, I soon realised that at my current speed, I was never going to catch it, as it used the shipping containers as springboards from which it continued to leap across the empty dockyard and closer towards the main urban areas.
I knew that as a Rook, I would never be able to catch it at this speed. I needed to be able to run faster. I had but one option.
"{Demotion!} . . . *gasp!*"
With the sudden decrease in physical strength, the energy in my arms went dead for a moment before I could recover my sense to continue my chase. The {demotion} was completed within the second, and then I was in need to catch up with the stray before he could escape.
Technically speaking, Sona had designated this entire dockyard as the enemy's territory, so promoting again without needing to be within five metres of it was not an issue.
"{Promotion: Queen!}"
The {promotion} to Knight would have been a quicker way to catch up to it, but then I would be opening myself up to the same sort of situation Meguri had gotten herself in because her physical defence and attack were too weak by comparison.
In addition, {demoting} in order to retain the Rook's strength would not be a wise option given that it was clear that this stray was too intelligent to allow for chances like those when my power is being altered.
No. The Queen was definitely the wiser choice for this situation, with a boost to all my physical and magical capabilities that do not favour anything to drastic that I wouldn't be used to handling.
"hOMe fReE!"
"I beg to differ!"
"UWaaHTt!- *GoOOohHh!"
As the devil made his ridiculous declaration of victory in retreat by carelessly jumping into the air, I jumped after him. Striking him in mid-air, my shoulder and right arm slammed into his stomach as he turned around to my vocal response.
With his guts now wounded, I sprouted my wings and swung my left arm around his back before locking both arms together into a ring of steel across his body. I noticed a few trails of blood leak from its half deformed face, and few teeth that were beyond rotten shatter from the left side of its jaw.
"lET gO oF mE! rELEASE mE tHIS iNSTANT!"
I didn't comply, and it seemed that it couldn't deal with me this close in proximity, which worked to my favour. With my wings now holding me suspended in the air, as well as the devil caught in my grip, I prepared a move especially for him. I dubbed it 'Bova's Third Revenge Move: Aerial Back Arch Throw'. With my grip firmly tightened around it. I dived backwards with its head now facing the ground as we both plummeted straight into the solid concrete below.
*SLAM!*
I let go and rolled away immediately. I was certain that I had at least buried it to its neck at the speed I was dropping at, or at least hoped the boney half was a broken mesh of white powder. It was the least I had expected after having to endure getting its mucus coating down my uniform.
Sona was not going to like that I messed my school attire, but so had most of her peerage so I was not alone on this boat.
"w-WHaT tHe fUCK iS ThiS?"
Its horrific cries rumbled through the rising dust, and it lifted its ugly head from the broken rubble where it's face had collided with it. When he turned, most of his bones were visibly cracked, and a few teeth were now gone, but its blubbered half was relatively unscathed except for the single cut where the fat had been squeezed into and out of the dent in the ground.
A gory crimson stream started slowly trickling down his slippery face.
"How CAn-*SPiToOh!* . . . a PawN lIKe tHIs BeAT mE?"
"So, you're with enough of a brain to recognise a Pawn, are you?"
Taunting. One aspect that Tannin-ojiisama said was the key to forcing your opponent to give up reason and attack violently. For an opponent who relied on its brains to fight and win, making it think with irrationality was my best option of dragging it back to where the main battlefield had been set up.
Though I did not doubt I could eliminate it with Ddraig at my hand, I wasn't allowed to unleash him. And this was also not my fight to finish. The fight was assigned to Sona, and my pride compelled me to see it fulfilled.
My taunt following a humiliating attack was already beginning to rile it up.
"i FuCKinG hATe pAwnS. tHEy SHoULd oF jUSt ROlLed oVer AnD dIEd LikE tHE diSPoSAble tOOLs thEY ARe. STeALINg pOWer thAt tHey dID nOt iniTIaLLy poSsESSed. I hAtE THeM!"
"That's fine with me. But I'm sending you to Point G."
I ducked down low and drove my shoulder into its guts before I started pushing it backwards through the maze of shipping containers. Raising my head, I began to steer him towards the crane where the pier below would be his final resting place.
It clawed and scratched at my exposed back with both its sharp claw-like hand, and also flailing with its slug-of-a-blob that was his other hand. But this kind of physical pain was nothing to what I endured while under Tannin-ojiisama's tutelage. Nothing but flesh wounds by comparison alone. Bova broke my back with the move I duplicated in the stray tonight, and that wasn't the only serious injury I received in those years.
This stray was nothing but a struggling child faffing about with its preformed arms trying to escape from my clutches. But, I was determined not to let go until I had it in the designated kill zone.
However, it had few more tricks up its sleeves.
"{pOIsOn aRRowS!}"
As my head was down low next to my driving shoulder, I was unable to react to the attack until I felt a hundred needles striking my back all at the same time. My eyes shot open in pain, but it continued to throb until I could feel it stinging through my veins and around my body. I even coughed a little blood in response.
But I was not giving in so easily to this pain. I bit down on my teeth and continued to push onward. Despite the horrid, almost sickening feeling that was building up through my brain and in my guts, I struggled onward to get the stray to Point G with all my might.
"{pArAlySIs lEEch!}"
A second sting struck my back, but this time it was more than just pain that bolted through my body. It was a sudden stiffness I was not used to. I found my muscles grow heavy and immovable and then I was stuck and was no longer able to move any of my limbs how I wished them to.
"cAN'T take aNYmOrE, Can YoU?"
The stray would have started laughing had he not been interrupted.
"Incoming!"
"hUH?- *DoSH!*"
Without any warning, a flying Rook came speeding along and into the stray's stomach. The blue haired blur landed a blow was so concentrated that the stray Bishop was thrown from his feet and unto the pier.
Smashing through two layers of shipping containers along the way. The crunching it made upon both impacts sounded like two walnuts breaking the shells of each other. Neither the shipping containers survived the impacts, as they ripped in half don the middle and sent it flying across the harbour till it was near the water.
"How you feeling, Hyoudou?"
I looked up to Yu- Tsubasa, who was a little worse for wear from her lower half down after having been dug out of solid concrete from friendly fire, and she offered me a hand to stand up. I shook my head and opened the gap beneath my arm, while gesturing to the puncture wounds to my back.
"Intense poisoning through my body, so I have limited mobility at the moment."
She smiled simply and then grabbed me by the arm and slung it behind her neck. That was about the time Momo finally caught up from behind. Though I couldn't see it was her, she immediately began applying magic to my back.
"I'll have you fixed up in a moment so stay still for me please."
From behind, I could feel an intense radiance spread throughout my back, and the scratches and the deep grazes began to close over like they had never been inflicted in the first place. However, I could still feel a slight heat and stiffness running across my blood stream even when she stopped at last.
"I can't remove the poison entirely, but your body should be able to naturally exhume it in a few days."
"Thank you" I replied, while trying to turn my head in proper gratitude.
As my wounds were finally closed and I was starting to feel the tips of my fingers again, the battle with the stray was already reaching its conclusion.
After Tsubasa had sent the stray flying across the pier, Tsubaki had been waiting to pin it down in Momo's absence when she came to treat my injuries. As of when I started moving again, the Queen called out to her King to deal the last blow to this stray.
["Lady Sona! Do it now! Hit him with everything you've got! End This!"]
["{Clasping Riptide!}"]
The world fell to a silence as the wind stopped blowing, and the waves stopped crashing against the docks. Then, all at once, the sea itself arose from the bay and continued to rise like two large walls on either side of the quay.
I will abridge my description by mentioning how the wall shifted in shape until it became two separate wall of primed and sharpened knives on either side that swiftly closed over the wounded stray like an iron maiden.
Through the thickness of the water, there was no sign that there had been anything inside of there, until one looked for long enough to see the water was being dyed a disgustingly dark shade of red.
Sona jumped down from the crane just as she released the waters that had entrapped her prey. The rest of us, including the injured Knight Tomoe who was still showing signs of hobbling on her damaged leg, approached the spot where the stray lay wounded, cut, broken and beaten at last, just as Sona was to issue her verdict.
"In the name of the Four Great Devil Kings; Lucifer, Leviathan, Beelzebub and Asmodeus, and to the mother of all devils, Lilith. I, Sona of the House of Sitri, sentence you to death. You, who have betrayed and abandoned your master and sought to trespass on the territory of which I govern. Such disregard for you actions deserve no such mercies. On behalf of the [Baron of Moloch], your former master, and of the [Prince of Sitri], my father, I carry out this sentence upon you. Speak now, or forever hold to your peace."
Through its chipped teeth and ripping, slime infested blubber, it stuttered through its final words as it looked her in the eyes with sheer defeat and hatred.
". . . f-F-F-f-fUCk-K-K . . . y-Y-Y-yoU."
Without another word from his charming and broken mouth, Sona disposed of his life with a simple decapitation via water magic. The attack came so finely that it looked like nothing happened till his head started falling backwards without its neck dragging the rest of the now wound riddled corpse.
"Pass from this existence; {Faux Cocytus!}"
A magic circle opened beneath the ground where both head and body lay still like stone, until an icy grip erupted over their bodies, and then shattered as soon as both lumps of dead flesh had been fully encased. A shower or glass fell like sand in an hourglass and then melted and slipped into the ocean like there had never been a sentient being standing on that spot. No trace was left behind save for the rampage he left in the dockyard.
After such a long and strenuous night, I think I could sympathise with how the vice president was feeling as of then. She just finally had enough.
The stray was dead. The mission was complete, but none of us present here felt like celebrating this evening. It was a long hard fought battle, but it was too close to be anything relateable to 'good sport' that deserved cheers or applause.
No, the accompanying rain that started to shower was more appropriate to end this hunt.
"I know that you've been struck with two different types of poisoning, Hyoudou. But, I do still expect you to attend school tomorrow."
"Of course, fukukaichou."
"It would not look good your to be absent on your second day at school, even if it's from poisoning."
I almost laughed at the last comment. True the poison would be gone after a few days, but I had no doubt that I would be feeling groggy for a few days
I unhooked my arm from Tsubasa's shoulder, now feeling a little more able to move on my own, and begun to make my preparations to go home. With the stray gone, there was no longer any need for me to stay. Especially, when the Sitri peerage will be the ones to fix the damage done to the dockyards of the Yabou district this evening.
"Before you leave" Sona then added in while I was beginning to craft a magic circle to home, "may I ask a personal question, Hyoudou-san?"
I stopped mid-way from its completion to answer her.
"As long as it is a reasonable request, I shall not mind."
"How many pawns did you need to induct the reincarnation process for yourself?"
I stopped for a minute and went about to complete the circle. It was probably rude of me to ignore her for a while like this, but I needed to weigh up the options in my head while I had the excuse to not answer straight away.
Yes, while just simply saying the answer would have been a easy thing and would bring little harm to me, why was she so interested in knowing like this now? Was it because I could handle {Demotion} easier than most Pawns could, or was she noticing something different that was only catching her curiosity even more?
A bright golden yellow light started forming in the ground and I stepped into it. I then turned around to face Sona Sitri one last time this evening and replied to her;
"It was Eight. Good night, Miss Sitri. Ladies."
And without looking behind, I returned back to my apartment for a complimentary meal of cold fish and what I presumed would be soggy rice.
Yay. Not even soy sauce could fix that. Perhaps reheating it into rice porridge would be more appropriate given the new situation I was feeling.
"Eight pawns?"
Not so long after Hyoudou Issei had departed from our group for the night, we, including I Yura Tsubasa, we still left quite speechless by what he had confided with us about the number of pawns he had consumed.
Though it had not been quite two years since I first became a devil myself, I had been made to memorise a few of the basics in devilry, so I was aware of the multiple pieces cases in some reincarnations. But to hear that eight pieces were consumed by a single person was something even unheard of by Souna, so that was quite a shock to us all.
"It basically means his base power is just short of a Queen by one level. Although . . ."
"What is it Sona?"
After being asked to speak on about what she was thinking, our King had to rub her eyelids behind her glasses with a sigh before she would answer.
"It might just be speculation, however I do now believe that the secret he is keeping hidden is a Sacred Gear."
"Is that all, seriously?" I replied.
"To think that his serving clan would go to so much effort to conceal it. It seems like a waste" Momo continued.
While we all knew what a Scared Gear was, being that Tsubaki herself was in possession of one, it was a little underwhelming to hear that that was the only reason that seemed like it would fit. Sacred Gears were a rare item, granted to like 1 in 10,000 people, maybe even more than that. But hiding something that was becoming quite common for devils to pick up, something wasn't quite right about the situation.
We were also getting our butts kicked out here this night, and he still didn't bother revealing it, which only made me a little angry at the thought that we could have used it had we known it existed. That also begged the question as to why it was so important that even in a life or death situation like this that he couldn't even reveal it now.
"That is what makes this speculation all the more intriguing;" Souna explained. "Choosing humans with Sacred Gears isn't uncommon. In fact, many high-class devils would go as far as abducting a human if they knew they had a Sacred Gear merged with their souls. But to hide it like this, and that spell was not something crafted recently either, nor did it show evidence that it was made to be a permanent seal, so it's not something uncontrollable."
"Do you suspect a Longinus?"
Souna nodded to Tsubaki's response, which shocked the other three of us. Longinus. We were all told enough about that name to know that it belonged to the first wielder to ever successfully slay a god, that being St. Longinus, who gave both his name to the series, and to the very weapon he wielded.
"Either that, or an artifact with enough potential to qualify as such. However, I believe that our curiosities have been effectively derailed."
"A new spell?"
"Whether it was intentional intervention or mere coincidence cannot be made conclusive, unlike our attempts. There is most likely very little difference between the previous spell to its successor, but it is definitely more complicated than the last. Too formulaic for a devil to have made."
"Hmm. A magician, perhaps?"
After a short pause, Souna replied lastly with both a responded to the question, and a final order for the evening.
"Indeed. Anyways, before this night turns to day, we need to fix up the damage we've done to this place. After that, it's straight to bed and calling an end to this dreary evening."
"""Hai, Souna."""
The spring terms rolled by quicker than I could have expected them to have. For I, Hyoudou Issei, there wasn't too much excitement to be had, but school life wasn't as bad as I had thought it could have been at its worst.
In fact, the only consistent liveliness through this school year thus far were the antics of two student is class 1-E, Matsuda Shiboru (松田 絞流), and Motohama Nozoku (元浜 覗具), but I can wholeheartedly say that none of it was for good fun. There is a reason they are scorned as the "perverted duo". I do wish to entail their 'ventures' any more than I have already. The only worthwhile contribution those lewd-mongers have made to this academy thus far has been the formation of a pseudo-disciplinary committee.
By that, I am of course referring to the student council's decision to enact a new rule allowing the girls' sports clubs to inflict strict punishment against particular students until either a member of the student council or member of the staff could be brought unto the scene to enact a more conventional form punishment.
I'm unsure how inflicting direct harm unto them was meant to correct their behaviour, but it did end up deterring any of the other few boys in the school from making such desperate attempts. Well, except the two who ended up being the driving force behind the new enactment, who only became more skillful in their efforts and perseverance.
Those two ended up on a hit list of every girl in the academy by the end of the second week following the new rule for their continuous 'exploits' as the few boys chose to dub them.
I ended up making my seventh attempt of a contract with the pair of them, when it appeared that one of them had gotten a hold of one of the contracts I had been delivering, even when I was assured that no one from our school supposedly lived on the route Sona had designated for me.
Either way, it was definitely one of the worst experiences of my time in Kuoh;
"What do you want? We don't want any of your mail-order boy's love in this house."
"Yeah, we called for a super-hot devil chick to come and make our night complete. You owe us a refund!"
*Urghhhhhuhuhuhuh*
I ended up having to wipe their memories of that encounter that night. I also made a mental note to never acknowledge their existences for as long as they lived. That single encounter was enough to make me feel just as repulsed as any girl in the school.
If I could do so without killing them, I think I would have wanted to crack them over the head with a wooden shinai just as much as any of the kendo team. Though judging from the series of handmade paper maps of the schools layout with red writing littered all across their changing room, I don't think I need to worry about missing out on seeing their heads being split like watermelons.
Especially when I handed it over to the student council after my less than pleasant summons. Sometimes, being the devil has its benefits when doing the necessary evil to destroy even greater evil's hopes and dreams. Ehehe.
As for the rest of my contracts, I have say it went reasonably well; sure a lot of them were weirdos, but seeing as they are desperate enough to turn to a devil for help, they were pretty desperate to begin with.
I managed to organise a route with Miss Sona the day after I helped her catch that stray devil, which was a lot smoother than I had initially anticipated;
"In order not to ensue competitiveness between myself and Rias, I had originally drafted a simple division of the town based on halving the population and splitting the populace between to the two of us. However, as the New Year has come about, and new homes being built up and families leaving has jeopardised the previous agreement between the two of us, I must try to rectify this by redrawing it once again."
"I see."
"I've already divided up the nine districts between Rias and I, with a small alteration here and there to adjust for residential areas, places able to cover, etc. As you are currently alone, you understand that this route I am giving you is going to be a smaller one, given that you are still listed as a guest rather than a permanent resident for the time being."
"That sounds reasonable."
"While it would have been so much easier to just allow you the use of the apartments you currently reside around, the past has shown that it is better that spread out rather than stay put when the population reaches a certain extent."
"Very well."
"There's a road that follows the seafront to the south from the Kasarin district to the boundary with the Irori-no-Tochi district, that I think may be to your satisfaction. Since it is one of the straighter roads there's no need to diverge from it, and in addition it shouldn't take you too long to complete it."
"Thank you, fukukaichou."
In truth, Karuka was still not fully grown, nor was he capable of carrying all those papers. The result being that I needed to invest into a bicycle for a while so that I could help him while he was still too young to do it himself.
It was uncommon for devils to be training their familiars like this, but then again most familiars weren't hatchlings when they are first contracted, so I believe my situation was different.
The bicycle was a good investment in the end, since I could use it to ride to the academy and back much easier, but I do see some problems for when I need to do some shopping. Especially when I have bags full that I cannot properly balance on the handle bars when the baskets are overcrowded.
Karuka got used to the weight of half the needed papers in a months' worth of runs, but unfortunately he's become a little to dependent on my riding alongside him to do it himself. Such a pain sometimes, but I can't seem to say no to him.
From my first full month on the job which included the remaining two weeks of April, I was able to gain in seven successful contracts, with five of those on a permanent lease for assistance, and one absolute failure. Do not remind me to whom I am referring to. I was lucky to find some reasonable people who only requested simple things of me, like help with some work or just wanted someone to watch some movies with. The little things that count.
Although, I must say that the large adult male who wanted to become a magic girl was most . . . nightmarish. A nice enough person, but I think the image has been scarred upon my retina like a permanent tattoo.
Seven may not seem like a large number, but when you're the third party in a town with two major competing 'corporations' already taking most of the market, I think I can say with confidence that I was doing the best of my situation.
Apart from all that, and a couple more times where I was asked to assist with hunting strays (though I can say right now that Sona had improved as a coordinator after that first skirmish), I would say that the rest of those four months was relatively quiet.
Well, expect when around came the summer assignments on the last week of term.
"I managed to gain a total of thirty-nine permanent contracts this month alone altogether. How was your pickings for this month, Sona?"
"I managed to get fifty-four. However, I will say that I did do a little expanding into the neighbouring villages of Inato and Ryuu'un, so my real numbers are fourty-two for Kuoh alone."
"Always thinking ahead and at the big picture as always."
In the office of the student council after school had long since finished, I, Himejima Akeno, stood by Rias as she handed in her reports for this month to Sona.
I must say that it's always a breath of fresh air seeing the two of them get all competitive like this. Reminds me of when we were all still children. At least they aren't willing to pull at each other's hair if they didn't like losing to the other. Nor do they have their doting elder siblings hovering over them to fight on their behalf. Ufufu.
The two of them like to make it a small competition between them, so these end of term meetings have become such a thing that only Rias, Sona, Tsubaki and I share since those two get a little immature when their competitive sides take over.
"How many strays have you managed to eliminate this term, Rias?"
"Six" she declared triumphantly, "which is a new record on my part. With Kiba's speed, Koneko's strength, and Akeno's magic, there's nothing too difficult for us to handle."
"I'm glad to hear that one of us is confident" Sona replied, readjusting the angle of glasses as she sampled through the papers.
"Is there something wrong?"
She shook her head. "No. I'm still lingering onto the mental scars from our first real hunt. We have succeeded in three since then, so you still come out on top for this term also."
We heard about the first A-rank devil incident Sona and her peerage suffered against. The Bishop of Moloch really gave them a run for their money from what was described. Though Rias didn't enjoy hearing it, Sona complimented that Issei had been the one that saved the day for them. It seems there more than meets the eyes from our new kouhai.
Though Rias would never admit to it, she was a lot more careful when she was given her first A-rank hunt after hearing Sona's story.
After the two had had enough of their friendly show of rivalry, they moved on to a more serious agenda, and that was potential recruitments for future peerage members. Though the change in the school's acceptance laws was made in order to allow Kiba to enroll in the same school as the rest of us, the addition of boys did allow for some new potentials also.
Sadly, it would seem that on our end we didn't find such luck. Rias was such a picky King, and she only wanted those with the potential for great power; Sacred Gears, interesting heritages, etc. She had a way of picking them, and she only wanted the strong in her peerage.
Arara, sorry, I'm doing it again where I'm making her sound power hungry. I do apologise.
The case was not like that however for Sona, who had actually got a little greedy this term from what she had prepared for this meeting. That was evident when two folders were placed unto her desk instead of the usual one.
"I have found two students that I would like to potentially recruit."
"Someone's being greedy this year. I remember a time where you only chose one a month so that you could allow me the opportunity to find one for myself."
It was true. Sona usually chose only one student each term, and that had been the same last year; in the spring term of 2006, she first recruited her Bishop, Momo. Then in the autumn it was her Rook Tsubasa, and then after her was Tomoe to be her Knight after the New Year.
Though they were all in the last years of middle school when Sona reincarnated them, she had her eyes on them and she was lucky to have them all accept her when she offered, but then again she was quite hard to argue against, which was why she usually waited and made her claims in advance rather than rush through and ask them without really knowing what would sway them.
Ufufu, she could be considered a real devil with the way she operates.
"I'm sorry Rias" she said, "but we established that it was first come first serve, and I have now claimed them both for the future duration of my stay here. If, by chance I don't make a move to recruit them, then by all means you can take them after we've both graduated."
"Well, spill it. Which two are you referring to?"
"The first I want to recruit immediately is Kusaka Reya, Class 1-A. I feel that she has the most potential to be a great Bishop."
"You did have an eye for these kinds of people."
Sona lightly hummed in amusement to Rias' comment. "Says the girl with two scared gear users, one youkai and one . . . with high magic efficiency."
I knew where she was going with the description, but she chose not to for my sake. I appreciated that she decided not to delve into my past, even on accident or by stating fact.
"The second?"
This time, instead of her usual demeanour, she seemed conflicted with displaying her next potential servant.
"I'm unsure at this time, so I may wait until next year, but my second choice is Saji Genshiro, Class 1-D."
That came as a surprise to the both of us.
"A boy? And from a low achieving grade too. This is quite unlike you Sona; you usually pick the bright sparks, but . . . oh, you must know something I don't."
"Indeed. My sources have led me to believe he may possess a Sacred Gear, what it is though is still not to my knowledge however."
Oh, so that was what it was. You could suddenly see Rias' ears prick up till she realised she missed her chance until maybe four years down the line.
"Really?"
"Yes, so until I have complied all the details I need to know after some more investigating and observation, I want to wait until I know all the details before I can decide whether I wish assign him a place in my peerage."
"I see."
"Have you found anyone you have taken a liking too?"
Rias puffed her chest and folded her arms beneath her assets.
"Unfortunately, no. That has not been the case this time either."
Sona pressed no further. She didn't need to be reminded why we were still in the desperation peerage for recruitment because of a certain engagement slowly approaching. She then moved on to a topic more at home to Rias' heart.
"Let's move on to the last matter. This concerns what happens after the summer, when we go to Kyoto."
At the call of the ancient capital of my home country, the otaku inside Rias started to melt with anticipation. Although she didn't like to admit it, her obsession with japan was beyond that of any health fan. There were easily many room occupied in the main Gremory home that were stuffed to their brims with souvenirs she had collected and bought over the course of our stay here alone, let alone all the stuff she begun collecting since she was a child in love the with the idea of Japan.
Ever since she found out in our first year that this was a regular occurrence, this had been the only time she had wished for time to move quicker so that this trip would come faster. It was like having seeing a child wishing for Christmas in July.
I wish I could have anticipated what Rias would have said, weighing it between a tsundere response that she wanted to hide after her façade was seen through, or complete deredere where the side of mouth started drooling and her eyes turned to stars. Ufufu.
However, Sona was not in the cheering mood when she brought the topic, for other reasons that discerned what happened to our kouhais left behind. She shook her head, like she knew what Rias was thinking to say, and denied it before she could say.
"No. Not that at all, Rias. I mean, what shall we do about the Church and the fallen that have both remained quiet in this town?"
"I still don't see what you-."
"What do you think they will do, when they realise that neither us nor our Queens will be present here for that single weekend in September, Rias? Will they continue to stay quiet, or do you think they will see this as their opportunity to strike at our servants we left behind?"
Her questions struck hard. It was not something that either of us had even discussed when the thought of the trip came to mind. Our thoughts went to ourselves enjoying the old capital, but never to the rest of the club left behind at home.
If it was true that the Church and/or the fallen could make a move on our precious underclassmen while we were gone, then this was serious and needed to be decided now while we were still able to discuss the procedures and contingencies necessary for this type of situation.
We were lucky to have Sona, who was always at least two steps ahead when it came to pre-planning.
"I have an idea, but I feel that we need to discuss it here before we leave for home when the summer officially starts."
Pressing her hands on the desk, and seating herself opposite, Rias instigated her approval to continue.
"I'm all ears to your suggestion, Sona. Let's hear it."
In the basement owned by the Father assigned to this town, I, the [Christibefürworten] sat upon the benches, contemplating on how I did not enjoy my first term at this academy.
It was bad enough that the Japanese start their school years in April rather than September unlike most countries do. But, they even had the gall to assign work to be completed over the summer. For the lord's sake, why do they believe that work for school should be done over holidays and breaks? I mean, we're still only high school students, in our first year as well. It seems they don't know the notion of 'cutting some slack.'
Plus, there was just so much one who serves the church can take having to hide from devils lurking in every corridor for the sake of maintain peace and sanity. But, the whole situation was in itself an insane jest.
Back in my hometown of Nuremburg, I served in the Lord's name from the day I could walk. I cut down and brought his wrath upon those that defiled his holy name and that in his son's, the Lord Jesus Christ our saviour. Sinners, pagans, and especially demons. They all knew what it meant to cower in fear for turning a blind eye to the words of the Lord and his followers.
I never held sympathy for those who begged for forgiveness on their last breaths. It disgusts me to think that they now choose to repent when they are close to death and that by apologising before the sword that they will be granted salvation.
It is unlike here, however, where I fear that my skills are becoming blunt without anything to keep the steel tempered. Though I do spar with the Father every day, he holds back and I feel like I am losing my efficiency when I clash swords with him. But, I will refuse adamantly to thank those devils occupying this land for efficiently taking care of their own kind that trespass here to cause chaos to their own accord.
Even if it may be God's will that I suffer this, surely this is the work of those devil's also that I'm am being lumped with such a work load. I barely had a decent grasp on writing the oriental language and its three different character systems let alone how I managed to learn to speak it close to fluently as I could. They expect me, a foreign student to write an essay on the subject of this town's history which requires me to not only be able to read correctly, but also to write and reproduce it in my own handwriting correctly also.
Perhaps I should thank the Lord's mercy also for placing me in the lowest group so that I may have the smallest expectancy in work for my year. I am also most grateful that he allowed my pair to attach to neither of the 'perverted duo' who constantly leer in my direction like hounds in heat.
"Are you feeling well, my child?"
To the sound of the Father's concern for my well being, I snapped from my daze. He had been standing behind me the entire time apparently and looking down at me from the aisle. I stood immediately and responded positively to mask my earlier thoughts.
"Yes. I am in excellent condition, Father Mertens."
Though he continued to smile, he shook his head as if he was saying that my answer was wrong. To which his response confirmed that it was.
"I meant to your state of mind, not of your body. For a mind plagued with disasters is one which is blind the disasters before their very eyes."
When said that word, I knew that he must be withholding something from me to be giving such an encrypted meaning in his words."
"What disasters do you speak of?
He gave a small nod, but then walked off with his back turned to me while he tended to the small shrine at the front. Small things like dusting the crucifix and the statue of the Virgin Mary and her child kept this dark place blessed with God's presence. As he did so, he continued to tell me of what he was referring to.
"When the Devil Kings of Gremory and Sitri leave this place on their own volition with their Queens, I see there will be a power vacuum. The devils that remain become our serpents without their heads, and cannot strike nor entangle when they are blind. That, is when those who have lost the Lord's graces will strike."
I was more shocked to hear about this. Though I had heard from some of the girls in my class that it was true that the academy organised a trip to Kyoto for the second years every single year, it never clicked that this would include the heiresses of Gremory and Sitri also.
As I heard that, I realised that his words made sense; sure it was beneficial on our part not to skulk around under the gazes of those two, it wasn't only us who stood to gain from them leaving in that span of a week. While we couldn't do anything legally against them, they would be vulnerable none the less without their masters guiding them. That would be easier targets to the fallen ones lurking in our church upon the slopes.
"And how do you know of this?" I asked, despite having already deduced the answers from him based on my own observations. ". . . Then, if that's the case, whose side do w-"
He raised his hand, and I stopped mid-sentence.
"It matters not a side, because we are still not at war. Whoever wins doesn't grant us any gain. I only fear for those unfortunate innocents who may get caught up in their struggle."
I allowed for his words to sink deep into my soul, as I turned to look to the window that allowed the moon to shine into our place of worship, and prayed that God would find it in his kindness to save those inevitably caught up in our struggles when it comes to pass.
Gremory. Sitri. Maybe even Phenex. Perhaps at least one of them will know what to do for this situation when it comes to pass.
"So that's how you got your name."
"I definitely wouldn't lie to you about that."
In Apartment Block 8, Room 10 in New Kuoh district, I Hyoudou Issei, was currently trying to finish my summer homework with Yuuto before the school break even started.
The reason for this was not that we didn't have time to do it during the summer, but that we were not necessarily going to be able to see each other to complete it during that time. We were on our fifth straight day, but it had been a difficult time since we both had our own separate duties to our respective families and all that unlucky mess that meant that while we both got a long, it was a complicated situation to be in.
Not to mention that during school hours, the girls seemed to flock to Yuuto like bees to pollen. Their continuous presence buzzing around didn't allow for us to get too much done in either breaks.
Somehow, we managed to find the appropriate amount of time during these last days to get it completed before the weekend inevitably arrived, but all those nights putting work into it was not the nicest of experiences I wish to endure again.
And, if i'm honest, I was actually happy to be paired with him on this assignment and not one of the 'normal' students; I don't think they would have been quite so understanding if I had to tell them that my hours needed to work on this were extremely flexible. I would have thought they would have gotten infuriated if I said I was unable to work on it with them during the summer and wanted to finish it in a single week while school was still on.
I had half a thought that pairing myself with Kiba could have been a fixed by someone who had more authority in this school. Possibly vice president Shitori.
Not that I believed Rias Gremory would have given a damn about this sort of thing, especially for my case.
"You are definitely not lying to me, are you?"
"I swear by the Four Great Satan, Issei. Buchou literally named me after Gokuhoshi."
For our summer project, each group of two were assigned to complete a written presentation on a period of history of Kuoh and the island of Oyashi. While Kiba and I would probably have excelled in the mythological side of the island's origin, we were given instead the founding of the Oyashi clan who ruled the province from neighbouring Shoibu during the Sengoku period.
The first daimyou of the Oyashi clan was Oyashi Gokuhoshi (親知 玉星, 1436-1471) who founded the clan in 1465 supposedly after receiving the blessing of Byakko, the White Tiger of the West, who gave him the sword necessary to conquer the ruling lords of his neighbours, including Shuiro Tsugutsuki (朱色 継月), the ruler of Kuoh at the time. What was most interesting was that he changed his name after the conquest of the Oyashi Province to Gokuhoshi, and that his name before that was Oyashi Kibahoshi (親知 牙星), and Kiba claimed that Rias gave him his surname from him.
I of course was skeptical of this claim since the daimyou's 'Kiba' (牙) was different to his 'Kiba' (木場), and that was clearly apparent, but Yuuto wasn't willing to let this one slip by when he pointed this out.
Though he wouldn't tell me what his original name was, so I never pressed him to forcing himself to expose his previous name. Though I have said I had my suspicions that he wasn't quite Japanese since he looked like he at least had some European descent in him, so his name might be Western.
After a while I realise that this was getting us nowhere, so I opted to just to end it here.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to distract us like this. We both need this done."
"Of course" he said, and so we left it for a while before he then asked me a question of his own. "So, what are you doing this summer? Something fun?"
"Well, I'm going home essentially. I have a month without duties as far as I'm aware of-. I-I-it's not that I didn't think we could have done this work during that time. I-it's just that . . . w-well . . ."
I hesitated because I mentioned that the first month of summer was basically free for me. But it was for good reason;
I was a little embarrassed to say this to him, the reincarnation of Giacomo Casanova himself who was surrounded by close to every girl in school of an entire quarter of every single day, but I was hoping to be able to spend my time with Ravel if at all possible. While I was unsure why it was at the time, and it wasn't just the homesickness of being away from the home I grew up in for the last six years, it had been a bigger adjustment since unlike in my many months at a time in the Valley of Dragons with Tannin-ojiisama, I hadn't had that much communication with Ravel since the present she sent me for my birthday back in April. It was now July.
I wasn't sure if she was going to be busy during that time as I had before we finished it tonight, but I had hoped that we could spend at least a week of that doing something . . . I'm sure how to say this, but just something for the two of us.
But that wasn't the only reason however.
While I did consider the option that there may have been time to do our work during that month, It was just that I didn't think it would be to either of our benefits to . . . well, considering the tensions as of recently between his master and my mistresses' brother, it was probably better that we didn't try to make it worse.
It sounds ridiculous, but the emotional tension in this easily outweighs the logical means. I think I'm just rambling on excuses at this point to my explanation.
I was lucky that Yuuto seemed to understand what I was trying to insinuate and caught on to it before I said anything potentially bad.
"It's not your fault. It's just that-"
"Forget I said anything" I insisted, waving my hand in accordance. "Let's just get this done so that discussion such as these don't need to be brought up again."
"I'll drink to that, Issei-san."
Just as we went to buckle down the last pages of our work, a blazing red light erupted from behind Yuuto's kitchen counter and then the door to his fridge opened up. From our angle on the living room floor crouched in front of the table, it had appeared that it was all done by magic.
"I didn't know that getting a drink from the fridge was as easy as that."
"T-that wasn't my doing, unfortunately."
As I pressed the joke, Yuuto rebuke it with a smile that looked like it should have sweat dropped alongside it. He then turned his attention to the kitchen and shot his voice over to where the fridge door was being closed following several rummaging clatters of glass and packets.
"Don't you have snacks at your place, Koneko?"
As the fridge door close, a figure only just shorter than the counter emerged from the kitchen with a glass of diet cola and two packets of what I assumed were crisps that she must have taken from the cupboards close by. She was wearing the black and white sailor inspired school uniform of Kuoh Academy's middle school division, but had at some point taken her shoes and socks off, because her feet were bare. White hair that was slightly a mess cut short to her between her chin and collarbone, with two distinctive black cat faces round hair clips fixed to either side. She also had the brightest amber eyes I had ever seen, like those cat's eyes you find on the roads at night.
I knew who this was after spotting the red mark of Gremory around her left hand; Toujou Koneko, Rias' Rook. Though this had been the first time I had seen her properly, I was aware through Kiba that she frequented their club room often during their breaks to each a large variety of sweets and other foods.
How such a small body could possible consume those two packets of crisps to herself and still retain such a small figure was beyond my understanding. But, then again I wouldn't want to say that out loud. A Rook with a concentrated punch from a smaller area can be quite deadly upon contact.
Before even choosing to answer Yuuto, she opened a packet and dug her hand into it.
"I ran out."
"Is that so? But you didn't need to sneak into my fridge to get a snack or two, you know?"
She didn't answer that one. She then proceeded to walk towards the sofas behind us while munching on her handful.
We just ended up staring at her while she finished her mouthful monotonously.
"*gulp* . . . I'll watch."
"You know you don't have to. We're just finishing our work before the summer starts. You can take the sweets with you if you like. I can always buy some more another day."
"I'll eat them here. And, I'll watch."
After realising that she wasn't going to leave no matter what he said, Yuuto resided himself to sitting back down and continue with our work. However, and for whatever reason it was, after three hours had passed since we first started this work, I thought it would be amusing to insinuate something.
"Is she the type of girl you're into?"
He stopped work immediately and looked at me.
"I'm sorry, Issei-san. Could you repeat that please?"
I too put down my pen before I repeated what I said to him.
"I asked if Toujou-san the kind of girl that interests you?"
"Excuse me?"
Despite Yuuto clearly showing some slight protests to the idea, our kouhai sitting on the sofa on the other hand appeared to be largely unaffected by the statement. The sound of her crunching and chewing continued to fill the room until she was finished with her mouthful, which then brought the room to silence. I waited till she started to take a sip of her drink before I pressed on with my earlier observations.
"Well, just from sitting next to you for six hours every weekday for three months, I have noticed that the way you talked to all those girls that continue to swoon to your side and the how you talk to Toujou-san are two entirely different tones."
I can't recall exactly why this would have been a funny thing to bring up, but it was all true what I was saying; despite being completely engrossed in girls daily, he never once went along with it. His most common response was to make a polite reply, a comforting smile, sometimes a formal excuse that was still friendly and opening, but he would never appear to accept any of them. There was a particular reason why they were starting to call him a Prince. He was just so civil, so polite, and all the girls fawned over his attention.
Having been sitting next to him, I knew first-hand what it looked like from up close. But I was always curious as to why he would never try to make a real connection with any of them. At first I thought he could have been weighing it all since the girls were obviously going to start tearing apart whoever supposedly won his favour. But, as time went on, it seemed that he didn't have any favourite. No, he continued to talk to them all in the same manner like there was no special person among them.
I questioned to myself whether it was because he was aware he was now a devil and a long-term relationship with a human girl was not something to be considered since the lifespan difference was too great. But, that was over complicating the situation.
Yuuto response seemed reasonable, but I was having too much fun to let it up.
"We're in the same club, and we're also in the same peerage too" he replied with his usual smile. "It's only natural that we would talk a little more informally around each other than I would to our fellow classmates."
"That maybe so" I stated, "but you don't talk that way towards Himejima-senpai either. This is actually the only time I have ever seen you speak to anyone this loosely other than me."
There was a short pause where nothing but Koneko's bags rustling made any noise, until he made his counterattack.
"And what would you have to say if I said that it now sounds like you're insinuating that I might be into you more than into those girls."
"Huh?"
I was not prepared for a retaliation like that. Suddenly caught off guard by his statement, I could have choked on my own drink had it not been that I had been inches from sampling a sip.
"Wait, where did that come from?"
Yuuto did nothing for a while except hold his expression as if he was enjoying my reaction. As I sat back up and recomposed myself he made his reply.
"I'm only bouncing off of what you're saying. It's in your words, not mine."
All that time, I couldn't help but wonder how he was able to keep such a straight face through that entire time. I was nearly falling over by this sort of topic, so I tried to avoid it completely.
"C-can we just get back to work now before we end up losing track of time. Please?"
"Right. I need to use my bathroom for a moment, so I'll be back soon."
After my almost pathetic response, Yuuto decided that it was now the right time to drop the subject and leave the room. After working on this for straight hours, the most we'd had in a row this week, a break was probably well deserved at this point.
But with him now absent from the room. That only left me alone with-
"Jii~ii~ii~ii~ii~ii~ii~ii~ii~ii~ii~ii~ii~ii~ii~ii."
. . . the small white haired Rook with crumbs on her lips staring at me. I'm not looking, but I can feel those large yellow eyes burning into the back of my head.
"Jii~ii~ii~ii~ii~ii~ii~ii~ii~ii~ii~ii~ii~ii~ii~ii."
"Please, stop staring" I tried protesting. But I failed.
"Jii~ii~ii~ii~ii~ii~ii~ii~ii~ii~ii~ii~ii~ii~ii~ii."
?
"Your first assignment has finally been brought through. You should feel grateful that the higher ups acknowledged your presence."
"Like I need you to tell me of my self-worth. I could kill devils twenty times easier than you can."
"Strays don't count. Especially when you've been picking off the C-ranks that skulk all over this island. You're nothing more than an upstart who's getting too big for his boots."
"Just tell me what they say."
"Well, well. Your time has come. You get to start slaughtering real devils very soon."
"Alone? When?"
"After summer. When the two heiresses and their Queen go to Kyoto."
"Right. I see, so I get to pick off the legs while the heads are out of town."
"Just do as you're told, Sa-ku-ya-ma-kun."
"Don't you spit that hideous human name at me, Caraviel! That, disgusting thing you forced me to assume. And, just what do you think you'll be doing while I'm taking on six devils on my own?"
"I've been given bigger fish to fry; Lord Cimalon has allowed me the honours of disposing the priest and his underling."
"Well, how's that fair?"
"You dislike hunting devils?"
"No, it's just-"
"Our light spears may work on devils, but to normal humans, it doesn't quite have the same effect as watching their heads shoot from their necks if you hit the lungs just right. Plus, I have to deal with killing them before they can start calling in more exorcists."
"Well, I still don't like it. You'll get the easier job-"
"And you get to kill six devils in one strike without having to fear that their masters will retaliate quickly enough before the jobs done."
"Yes, I see now. I get to leave a nice pile of corpses for the younger sisters of Lucifer and Leviathan to find. Ooh, this is making me tingle thinking about it."
The end of Spring came,
The gap becomes wider still
For my wanted jewel.
Doves, Crows and the Bats.
All sides stand to lose this fight,
but who lights this fuse?
The future remains
a precarious thing, lurking
behind the shadows.
Bonus Content: Worldbuilding the Town of Kuoh and its surroundings
Hello, Everyone. It's Alek in case you didn't know.
I was originally going to incorporate this into the main story by Issei and Kiba's school project, but then it became too overly complicated that I decided to take it all and move it here so that it could be viewed without obstructing the story.
I came up with the idea of mapping Kuoh when I realised that I needed to visualise it better when I was explaining where and how Issei was getting places. I had no idea where it could go since there is no pre-existing Kuoh that I could base it on, nor was there any space that would allow for it to fit anywhere in these times.
I was rereading the DX.1 Life 6: Let's go to the Onsen, where Ishibumi had actually put in a journey from his fictional town to the real onsens at Izu, which when tallying the time he writes down it apparently took was around three and a half hours according to Issei's POV.
I then used Google Maps to calculate the rough area it would take with modern Japanese driving to form a rough radius of anywhere between three and a half to four hours could place Kuoh. I then settled on somewhere in the Chiba Prefecture since it was closer to Tokyo rather than Kyoto so the school trips long journey wouldn't be messed with, and also because it's Ishibumi's home prefecture.
I still couldn't find a good place anywhere, so I ended up taking a leap out of the Rev. Awdry's book and created a fictional island just off the coast where I could place it all without it obstructing what already existed. It is fiction after all, so adding in something fake shouldn't be a big deal.
After a while I managed to compile a small history and geography based on what I thought would be interesting, and this is the result.
I just want to say that if anyone in the future wants to borrow this as an idea for their own visions of Kuoh, then they may. Just at least acknowledge that I put quite a bit of work into this is all I ask.
Enjoy.
Location and History: Kuoh, Oyashi Isl. Chiba Prefecture, Japan (N. 34.97, W. 139.71)
The town Kuoh is on the Southside of the island of Oyashi (親知, 96.189km2), part of the Chiba Prefecture, off the coast from Mt. Haisen, nr. Tateyama at the mouth of Tokyo Bay. There was a single active volcano known as Mt. Kuoh (駒王山, Kuō-san) which in ancient times stood atop of a small island of ± 9.8 km2 of the same name, surrounded by an archipelago of five smaller islands, Kadoshu (門州, ± 1900m2), Inushu (犬州, ± 200m2), Usushu (臼州, ± 250m2), Isarashu (小州, ± 500 m2), and Chishu (乳州, ± 800m2).
Local Mythology states that the island was created after Izanagi beheaded Kagu-tsuchi after his birth resulted the death of his wife Izanami. From his wisdom teeth that were still attached to the brain arose the volcano of Kuoh and his teeth became the five islands surrounding it, with only Chishu being made from his pre-dentures or milk teeth falling into a single pile.
From Mt. Kuoh came the local goddess of hearth and fertility, Irori-no-Kokoro (囲炉裏心, Hearth of the Heart), the second of six deities that arose from the islands; the destruction goddess of criminals, Oborofuji (朧富士), the evening star Yamyoujou (夜明星), goddess of flowers Kusahana (草花), god of thunder Raiten (雷天), and goddess of fireflys, Hotaru (火垂). It is up for debate whether Oborofuji and Irori were once the same goddess by two different aspects since both have been labelled as the goddess of the volcano, but now it is generally assumed they are two separate beings. Irori continues to be celebrated as the most important goddess to the locals.
Though they are believed to be the children of the deceased Kagu-tsuchi, local legends entail five myths about the gods of Oyashi;
The creation of the kami, with each kami rising from their respective tooth. Oborofuji is in pain due to the nature of wisdom teeth, explaining the active nature of the volcano, Irori from the incisors, Yamyoujou the canines, Kusahana the bicuspids, Raiten the molars and Hotaru the milk-teeth.
Rokuasa (六朝, Morning of the Sixth) also called The Festival of Three Sisters celebrates the transition of the seasons during the summer when in myth Irori, Yamyoujou and Kusahana all meet again, and bring celebrations during the warmest time of the year. The date for this festival is always the 15th of June starting from the morning and lasting traditionally till sundown, but recent years have pushed it till midnight for the sake of entertainment in the evening.
Yakou (夜光, Night of Light) also known as The Festival of Fireflies is another local festival, but if it is raining on the night, then it is said that Raiten is looking for his sister Hotaru who is supposedly lost trying to make it to the festival alone, which is why everyone must carry a small light with them in the hopes to helping her find her way home. If it doesn't rain, then they enjoy the festival together while the two gods walk among the crowds with them. The date for this festival is set on the first new moon of October, but has been altered to fit weekends in recent years.
A story of Yamyoujou attempting to elope with Raiten, which he resoundingly rejected, started a contest to see who could control the seas, only to end with Yamyoujou losing most of her island to the ocean as a result. This became the origin as to why the island was prone to easy flooding, so locals would often write 'Ai' (愛, love) unto little plaques of wood and leave them floating in the water in the hopes that Raiten would cease his fury and force the waters to retreat.
And a final myth about Oborofuji destroying their island chain to create a single island, seemingly killing herself in the process. Raiten called the storm to put the fire out. Yamyoujou cleared the sky of the smoke and clouds later. Hotaru brought light back to the island while Kusahana brought the flowers back, which begun to repopulate the land in flora and fauna. But ultimately, it was Irori who made it habitable again, and allowed for humans to reoccupy the land.
The volcano collapsed in on itself becoming a caldera, so the name Kuoh was later used for the main settlement to the south that arose years later. The rain made a lake in the basin, which then created five rives flowing from its peak into the Toyko Bay; the Rivers Kasaguchi (笠淵小川, Kasaguchi-ogawa), Rinko (隣戸小川, Rinko-ogawa), Shiromizu (白水小川, Shiromizu-ogawa), Okanoma (丘間小川, Oka-no-Ma-ogawa), and Kouharu (広緬小川, Kōharu-ogawa).
Irori later brought their sister back to life, but put her to sleep beneath an island in the lake, where she could be in peace and without pain. Her slumber heats the water, and her slumber becomes disturbed occasionally due to earthquakes, so lava sometimes leaks out from time to time.
The kami soon lost favour in the years when the country started uniting, with especially Raiten sometimes being compared to or even merged into the more popular deity Suzanoo, etc. But it is Irori who remains enshrined on the island, with a small (now abandoned) temple in the Old Kuoh district to the north, and a larger shrine erected on the island where she and all her siblings remain dedicated to by a small community of monks.
During the Sengoku period, the Island was part of the territory of the Oyashi Clan (親知氏, Oyashi-shi), where they set up a small castle in modern day Shoibu that has now been destroyed. The island was renamed Oyashi after them, and became the Oyashi Province during the wartimes. The Oyashi later became subservient to the Awa Satomi Clan who ruled the Kozuke and Awa Provinces that make up most of the modern Chiba Prefecture in 1501 after the Battle of Yabou in which the daimyou Oyashi Gokumaru (親知 玉丸) was defeated in battle, leaving his son Oyashi Gokubochi (親知 玉點) to surrender to Satomi Shigeru (里見 成義) and became his and his families subordinates, even when they started following Oda Nobunaga and later Tokugawa Ieyasu.
The symbol of the Oyashi clan was the character 'Gyoku' (玉, jewelled general) in black upon white with accompanying symbols that resemble an archaic tiger's head. The supposed origin coming from Byakko (White Tiger of the West) who appeared to the first ancestor of the Oyashi clan, Oyashi Kibahoshi (親知 牙星), who later changed his name to Oyashi Gokuhoshi (親知 玉星) in honour of its divine appearance.
The volcanic activity of swallowing the islands allowed for the settlement of Kuoh among others to be built up upon more flatlands than most of the lands in Japan, and was also fertile from the volcanic soil, but was prone to flooding as it was close to sea-level, which didn't get resolved until late into the 19th century. The Town of Kuoh (駒王町, Kuō-chō) emerged from the south side of the volcano and gradually absorbed into the smaller villages south of it until it reached the sea.
There are three other villages on the island that have survived to this day; Inato (否途村, Inato-mura) to the northeast via a small road where a port connects the straits between it and the rest of Chiba at Sunosaki. Shoibu (塩部村, Shoibu-mura) to the northwest relies on fishing, and performs a semi-regular boat journey across to Jokoji in the Kanagawa Prefecture. And lastly, Ryuu'un (流雲村, Ryūun-mura) to the west which is mostly rural, but is slowly getting absorbed gradually by his larger neighbour. The districts of Kyuuin (休院, Kyūin) and Yabou (矢暴, Yabō) to the south and east are the remnants of two former villages that have become integrated into Kuoh over the last half a century.
There is an old fort in what is now Shoibu where the Oyashi daimyous of the Sengoku period originally placed a castle on the island in order to stand guard of the Tokyo Bay. It was briefly reoccupied and rebuilt partially out of concrete by the Japanese military during WWII, but was later left to its own devices in the last years of the war. The Allied occupation forces also chose not to reoccupy it as a base due to better strategic points in Kanto.
Kuoh is by far the largest settlement on the island (± 25.950km2 as last recorded in 2005), as mentioned previously, owning nine districts encompassing it;
1. Old Kuoh (駒王先, Kuō-saki) to the north on the side of the volcano, and full of the most surviving architecture from the Tokugawa Shogunate period. The early and now abandoned shrine to Irori is located here in the centre, as are most of the earlier families to its east, including the burial site of the Daimyou Oyashi Gokuyotsu (親知 玉四), and of his younger brother Oyashi Gokuhichi (親知 玉七) who both were mortally wounded at the First Battle of Kounodai in 1538, but couldn't be brought all the way home to modern day Shoibu before dying of their wounds.
2. New Kuoh (駒王今次, Kuō-konji) at the base of the volcano and the largest district. The town hall and most of its governmental buildings are located here. Most of the more recent family graves have been placed in this area since the 1950's. The Jesuit church is located here to the northwest atop the slope, but has been abandoned since the late 1990's.
3. Central Kuoh (駒王中央, Kuō-chūō) at the centre where the Oyashi train line runs to the western side of the island. There is one railway station in this district simply labelled as "Kuoh Central" (駒王・セントラル) here built in the very heart of the town after the old station in New Kuoh was closed down when the uphill climb was deemed to unsafe for the rail following a minor landslide in the 1960's. Commerce and modern technology are sold in shops in this district.
4. Kyuuin (休院) to the direct south by the sea where most of the fishing goods are bought and sold daily. Originally a separate village to itself until the local governor incorporated the land into a district of the larger Kuoh in the 1980's. Today the shopping markets are frequented here on a daily basis along the main high street.
5. Kasarin (笠隣, formerly Kasaguchi-Rinko) to the south east located at the mouth of the small Rivers Kasaguchi and Rinko. There are small farms alongside the banks, but it had started to begin urbanising in recent years. There is a single concrete and brick bridge built over the mouth of the rivers along the sea road in 1972 that connects the two halves together, along with some smaller more natural looking bridges from the 1920's-50's further upstream.
6. Yabou (矢暴) to the West where most of the dockyard and shipping of commercial goods is met and either sent north to Inato or directly into Tokyo. Like Kyuuin, it too was originally an independent village till it became a district of Kuoh in the 1980's. Most of it's coastline is now a mesh of concrete and steel filled with piers, shipping containers and cranes used to unload the large ships that make port here.
7. East Kuoh (駒王東, Kuō-azuma) in the North East occupies the smallest territory having been halted by the more ragged terrain and contours. A single road is all that connects Kuoh and the rest of the island to the port at Inato and thus to the rest of the Chiba Prefecture.
8. West Kuoh (駒王西, Kuō-nishi) is still expanding, almost rivaling in size with New Kuoh, and is close to bordering the outskirts of the village of Ryuu'un. The Oyashi train line running from Kuoh is currently in the process of opening a station here shortly before reaching Ryuu'un, which as of right now is nothing more than a small stop for select times of the day only. Kuoh Academy and its surrounding lands are built to its most easterly boundary.
9. Irori-no-Tochi (囲炉裏土地, lit. Irori's Land) is the newest addition, encompassing the land between the District of Kyuuin to its east, West Kuoh to its north, and the boundaries of Ryuu'un to its west. It take its name from the geyser up its slope where Irori was supposedly born from, and where the warm waters deep below the surface continue to heat the surrounding slopes. It remains a small tourist site, but is frequented more by the locals than by travelers. There have been little development in the area except for small enclaves forming to its boundaries.
Omake X: No More Time
Alek: (writing and working) . . . and how about here, we add in the conclusion for the second arc to begin around the time this happens. I think going passed that point would drag it out.
Rose: (typing every note down and organising the events) Slow down! I can't manage with all these changes you keep making so drastically.
Alek: (looking up briefly) Hey, I've been doing my work from University like you wanted. The least you can do is not complain when we're doing this because you wanted to. (spots her with her cookies) At least User:bk42bk42 said you could eat those. (shudder at the remembrance of his distaste for their flavour) He even burst into here personally just to say that you could eat them. (puzzled) I still have no idea how he managed to get in here though.
Rose: (eating) . . . But, *gulp* it was your idea to do this, not mine. I only agreed because I was feeling depressed. (reminiscing) Speaking of which, you weren't always doing work for University. You disappeared for a whole day without sitting at your desk. What were you doing?
Alek: (presenting the ray gun he also got from bk42bk42) I was using this very generous gift I got last week. I mean, when you have both the ability to gender-swap and cat-girl transformation abilities (crying) *sniff* it's too beautiful not to use on other people.
Rose: (realising what he has said) W-w-w-what did you do?
Alek: (smiling wickedly) Let's just say that while I definitely got my albums fill of pictures, Izumi was by far the most worthwhile vict- I mean targ-, . . . I mean . . . participant to it's effects, ~nyan~. (laughs maniacally)
Rose: (startled) . . . (snaps out of it when a bang goes off) What was that noise?!
Alek: (stops laughing and becomes curious) hmm . . . P-Party poppers?
Rose: Huh? (asking) Why would they suddenly go off like that?
Alek: Hmm, well I did set them up for when we hit 300 favourites and 350 follows. But that can't be right, it's only been . . . (looks at his calendar) . . . Oh Shit! (get's up and runs away out of sight)
Rose: (shocked) Huh? Wait! Author-san! (looks around to realise no one else is around) And, i'm alone again. (ponders) I wonder where Issei, Ravel, Asia and Xenovia are? You'd think we'd run into them at some point. (reminiscing about the earlier conversation, then sweatdrops) Then again, Alek is pretty cruel when he gets a new toy, or so it appears to be so. (notices a piece of paper on the ground) Huh? What's this;
『To User:Dragon_Rider_66: Sorry if you were disappointed. I have also sent you the link to where you can find Volume 22.
To User:RangerElk76: False Alarm! I repeat: False Alarm! Only two of the three members are here. Cancel the Drill! Repeat: Cancel the Drill!
To User:NinjaFang1331: Thank you.
To User:RedSS: Don't worry, she wasn't may favourite kettle of fish when she first appeared for me either. I have also sent you some pictures of her after a couple of zaps from the ray gun bk42bk42 gave me. You're welcome.
To User:ferodile: Freed is not canonically from Denmark, but his surname has the "-sen" suffix at the end which is the Scandinavian equivalent to the English "-son" like in "Wilson", "Robinson", etc. I also chose Denmark because of his first name, which could be shortened from "Friedrich" (free-DRIK, German form of "Frederick").
To User:AcclaimingTR: Thank you, I will consider that.
To User:bk42bk42: Don't worry, I'll eventually get round to Rias. I will personally send you a picture I made earlier. And please teleport in anytime.
To User:Dr4cul: I think we just became best friends. Nightcore, I don't know what it is, but some songs just sound better being sped up. Oh, and I will keep on top of my University work, don't you worry. But, I will also not leave all of you hanging.
To Guest (1): Thank you. I just tried to think of 'what kind of familiar would Issei get since he was a devil earlier than in canon. Since a cockatrice is a bird-like dragon, I thought it would be an appropriate touch and it was also something different.
To User:HelpfulNudge: Thank you, but I prefer writing it how I have been doing thus far because I find it easier. Besides, most light novels write speech this way, so I don't see that as a problem if I mimic it to an extent.
To User:CaptainToast321: Sorry you didn't like it, but I can't redo it because that would mean pretending my previous mistakes and improvement didn't exist.
To User:ahsoei: Thank you and sorry at the same time.
To User:SSJ3_Kyuubi_Gohan: Sorry that you were disappointed.
To User:JLOC: Thank you.
and To User:StillReflections: Read Volume 12, Life -1, Part 4. Balor (not Gasper) curb stomps a Longinus wielder whose powers were stronger than Boosted Gear or even Issei at this point in the series.』
Rose: Hmm? (reads the small print on the bottom) Look. Behind. You? (turns around, only to be met with a beam of light) Gahh! Wh-wh-what was tha- (another light separate from the first flashes) What happnyaned-? (looks up and realises she now has cat ears, then goes bright red) W-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-what happenyaned. Y-you promised you wouldn't use that thing on me, Alek-sanyan. (miserable) I can't even make the right forms of speech while incorporating cat noises in. I'm so embarassed.
Ravel: (angrily appears with flames protruding from her palms, with cat ears) Where The Hell Is He!?
Asia: (covering the top of her head, looking slightly flushed) Please. I don't want to have these ears anymore, Alek-san. Their itching me, and then I feel . . . f-f-funny when I scratch them.
Xenovia: Do you want me to scratch them for you, Asia?"
Asia: (Doesn't get enough time to reply) N-no that's alright Xeno- NYAAAAAN!
Xenovia: Izumi-san, will you stroke my ears for me?
"Izumi": (flustered while also confused as to what to do with his new "assets") Stop calling me that. It's still me, Issei in here, even if I look like a girl now. C-C-Can we just end it here please so the readers don't have to see us like this anymore!
Rose: (using books to cover her head) Yes, I perfectly agree with him. Let's just end it here. (to the audience) Thank you for reading, but be wary that Alek-sama will be still be too busy since he has more work to do.
Ravel: (smiling) And, when we see you next time, we'll be sure to get back at Alek for what he did to us, so look forward till then.
Everyone: Bye-Bye!
Xenovia: (asking) May I stroke your ears now, Izumi-san?
"Izumi": (flustered) Stop calling me that!
Thank you for reading, and review at your nearest convenience.
Special thanks to 'Dragon Rider 66', 'RangerElk76', 'NinjaFang1331', 'RedSS', 'bk42bk42', 'ferodile', 'AcclaimingTR', 'Dr4cul', 'Guest' (1), 'HelpfulNudge', 'CaptainToast321', 'ahsoei', 'SSJ3 Kyuubi Gohan', 'JLOC', and 'StillReflections' for their reviews, I really do appreciate it.
Only Two-Three more chapters till we reach the canon timeline, but it will still be a long journey so thanks for sticking it out. In addition, don't expect it to go back to weekly releases until after the second semester finishes around Easter. I do apologise in advance for making you wait further.
Well, until next time everyone. Bye!