Volume 2, Life 4

The room had become quiet as the news sank in.

As he looked around the room, Azazel could see the various faces of his students, all looking as though they had been punched in the gut. He could sympathize with them, really, as there had been times when he himself had wanted to end the fighting. After all, the alliance between the three great powers had been his idea in the first place. These kids before him, however, had probably seen more than enough battles for one lifetime. They probably thought that despite being so young, they were finally done after the Rizevim incident, but now they were being told to go out and fight once again, not even six months later.

Issei, looking down at the ground, wondered what this meant for him. Was it the strength of the dragon inside him that did this? After all, power was supposed to be attracted to him, so was it his fault that this was happening? It was really a silly question to ask, but a something in the pit of his stomach told him that it may have been true.

"Sensei."

Issei looked up to see his friend and comrade, Kiba Yuuto, speak out first. Looking at him, Issei saw on his face that the news hadn't even phased him, and yet, he knew that his friend was probably worrying just as much as the others.

"When you say that these, 'Templars', as they like to call themselves, are making an army entirely of nothing but humans, does that mean those who are affiliated with the world of the supernatural? Or does that mean…"

Azazel shook his head. "I understand your concern, Kiba, but I'm afraid it's not that simple. I don't know how they did it, but it seems they've been recruiting from normal humans. Whether it's because they've somehow shown actual evidence of the supernatural with the limited resources they have, or because the leaders of the organization have played to their interests somehow, they've managed to recruit at least a few thousand from across Europe and North America each. Sadly, those statements seem to only grow, as we've gotten reports recently of fresh recruits in Africa and South America, and some even in remote pockets of the Middle East."

"Wait, normal humans… you mean, like, people who go to school here? People who simply live day by day, doing their own thing?" Issei asked, his face showing that he was afraid of the answer he was about to receive.

His teacher nodded grimly. "Yeah, I'm afraid so, Issei."

The fallen angel could hear his student curse under his breath upon being told the response, and could recognize where he was coming from. The young man probably thought that he would never have to fight against people who were like his friends and family, back before everything that had ever happened to him, happened.

"But how is that possible? How could they obtain so many weapons and people in such a short time?" Rias asked, but was interrupted by Rossweisse before she could even get an answer.

"I believe the most important question here, if you don't mind me saying, is why should we be worrying? You said it yourself, Azazel. These are normal humans. Humans incapable of using magic or wielding weapons of light. How could they ever pose a threat large enough to get onto the radar of the supernatural?"

"Because that 'Templar' name isn't just for show."

At the mention of this, Rias, Irina, Xenovia, and Rossweisse all seemed to tense up. Seeing Rias out of the corner of his eye and noticing it, Issei raised his hand, hoping to gain the room's attention.

"Is… Is that something bad?" He asked with a stiff but innocent voice.

Seeing his troubled face, Rias smiled softly, hoping to ease his worries. But the smile did not last, as she knew the truth would have to come out. Thankfully she was not the one who had to explain.

"To make a long story short, the Knights Templar were an organization that existed nearly a thousand years ago, and had been officially recognized as an army of God by the church. Something like that doesn't come easy either." Azazel explained. He did not give time for Issei to ask more questions though as he continued on. "However, the backstory doesn't really matter. What you need to know is that even though they had ranked in the thousands at the height of their power, there were very few who could actually call themselves the 'Knights' of the Templar organization. They were on an entirely different playing field than their squire brothers."

"How so?" Issei asked again.

Azazel didn't answer the young man immediately, but stood there, leaning against the clubroom desk as memories flashed through his head. "… The 'Knights'… The 'Knights' were ultimate soldiers… After years upon years of training and fighting, they would become the epitome of the God's perfect warrior. Whether it was through the blade, the bow, or even the arts of magic, they devoted everything to the big man upstairs. As to why they were so dangerous though, well, let's just say that even their weakest, given enough time and power, could fight on equal footing to you guys."

"…Then…"

Azazel nodded. "Yeah… While I don't think they could take on Sirzechs, Michael, or myself, if we let these guys continue rampaging around and gather up numbers and strength, chances are they could end up doing some real damage to the various factions across the globe."

"And because the fact that this new group is priding themselves to be the reincarnation of the Knights Templar, it could also affect at how other factions view them. If they truly are connected to the alliance in some way, it could possibly create an end to bring peace across the world." Rias chimed in, and Azazel nodded again.

"Precisely. That's why our boys are working around the clock, to hopefully dispel any despairing news that may unfortunately connect us in some way. All we need now though is for you guys to accept this fight. Either or, someone is going to have to go and fight these guys."

Issei, upon hearing such news, felt troubled. Understandably so, of course. He had fought fallen angels, other devils, even a mythical beast or two. The only time he had even fought any humans were against crazy exorcists or mages from the Khaos Brigade, besides that of Cao Cao, the wielder of the 'True Longinus', but even then he was an exception . It did not matter though. He knew that in the end, he would have to fight. It was his duty as the Crimson Dragon Emperor, as well as being part of DxD.

Alas, it was not his choice to make however. A King he was, worthy of his actions, and free to do as he willed with his title. He was still the Pawn of Rias Gremory, and if she were to accept the challenge, then forward he would go with her.

The crimson-haired girl sat in her formerly-owned President's chair. One leg rested upon the other, eyes closed as she thought in quiet contemplation. Minutes ticked by, and the group inside the room grew anxious to know their master's orders. Were they free to do what they wanted, to ignore the troubles that plagued the world? Or were they going to answer the call to fight for righteousness once again?

With a small cough, Rias stood up from her seat. As she looked at all her pieces, she gave a little nod, telling them her answer. "Alright. I'll inform my brother and the other Maous of my decision. The Gremory group will prepare for this new threat."

~~*Oppai-Dragon*~~

Over the course of the entire week, Issei and the others had begun to train for the upcoming conflict. At the end of that time, the British city of Canterbury was rudely awakened to the unknown, the drums of war beating for the supernatural world.

On the eighth night, the few with the knowledge of magic within the Black Templars snuck through the sleepy city. As they walked by, the streetlights and electronics flickered off, only to flicker back on once they were well away from the area. The hooded figures roamed the city, ensuring that they would not be caught underneath the twilight sky. They followed the paths that they had engraved in their minds throughout the week when they had snuck out at night, twisting and turning through the area that had been inhabited since ancient times, ending it into a tiny side road where they crept away from peering eyes.

The moment they found themselves to be safe from suspicion in the pitch black night, the nameless figures began to chant the spell that would connect their brethren back at the mansion, to a portal that would ensure a quick escape once the item they sought was obtained. The magical construct slowly took form, as a massive greyish and semi-translucent doorway slowly made itself revealed, a mage on each side to keep the portal stabilized, with the others there to help keep lookout or switch places with the stabilizers.

Once the portal was complete, only a few seconds went by as the steel-clad boot of Ferdinand stepped out from the other side, still wearing the same armor as he always did. The moment he got all the way through, the Templar knight took a few steps forward, taking in the sights of the massive Cathedral just around the corner, peering over the other buildings around it with its size. With the target confirmed, he raised the massive two-handed blade he had taken for this mission off his back, and pointed it down the alleyway that they were positioned in.

Without even needing to say a single word, the command had been given. The sounds of dozens of boots, armored and leathered, stormed through the portal. Those carrying swords, shields, bows, and even the few with their rifles, rushed towards church, prepared to meet little to no resistance.

The new Holy War had just begun.

~~*Oppai-Dragon*~~

It had just struck eight in the morning in the Land of the Rising Sun, as the Occult Research Club had once again gone to their classrooms, ready to start another day of school.

Beginning just like any other day, Issei was slowly starting to drift off after improperly sleeping the night before, nearly choking to death numerous times as the girls in his house climbed into his bed, hugging him closely to feel secure. The history teacher in front of him gradually turned into a grey blob as his eyelids felt heavy, and the sound of the lecturer's voice turned into audible mush as it went from one ear and out the other.

His bed had gotten a bigger upgrade so that he would not fall out anymore, as it hadn't helped now that Kuroka had begun to join in on the sleeping actions of the other girls, a result of him becoming her new master. To make matters worse, the Nekomata was shortly followed by Le Fay, who had been beginning to feel lonely with the cat leaving in the middle of the night, despite having Fenrir by her side. She too would climb into his bed, getting herself cuddled between the other girls as the godly beast who followed her (begrudgingly) laid down at the bed's side.

Oh how Issei knew he was going to be killed if word of such actions ever reached the ears of her older brother.

"… Catholics were persecuted under the Tokugawa Shogunate, seeing it as a direct opposition of Shinto beliefs, and usually ended with executions of the Christian believers. The most famous case of… Mr. Hyoudou? Mr. Hyoudou!"

The teacher in question had a taken a lesson in discipline from Rossweisse, as they nailed Issei in-between the eyes with the chalk that they had been holding. The young man immediately woke up from his drowsy behavior, snorting a bit as his eyes widened and began to argue that he was awake. After being laughed at by his peers and scolded for sleeping in class, Issei was forced to continue listening to the dribble of his teacher, going on and on about subjects that he could have cared less about.

For three hours, Issei was forced to stay awake, slowly waiting for the moment when he could take his lunch up to the rooftop, and possibly get some shuteye in-between classes. After all, there was absolutely no chance that he was going to fake an illness and pretend to go to nurse's office, if only so that he didn't need to put up with the scrutiny he got from his fellow classmates of knowing the hot new school nurse.

A few minutes before the bell was about to ring for the precious lunch break Issei had been looking forward to, a buzzing sound entered his ears. Though it was invisible to those without supernatural abilities, the members of the Occult Research Club and of the Student Council had received a message from their devil masters via magic circle that they had created in the occasion of an emergency, telling them to meet in the Student Council room immediately.

'Son of a- Are you frieken serious?! Just before lunch-?!'

The young man began to grumble under his breath, but instantly jumped out of his seat and ran for the door, ignoring the outcry from the teacher as the other members who were in the classroom with him followed suit, apologizing for the sudden disruption.

~~*Oppai-Dragon*~~

"What's the situation at hand?"

That had been the question that was asked the moment Issei and the other burst into the Student Council room. Among them were Kiba, Rias, Akeno, Azazel, Rossweisse, and Kuroka. Ravel, Koneko, Kiba, and Gasper all soon entered the already-packed room shortly afterwards.

"We have an attack in process. Apparently Michael and his subordinates lost contact with a large church in England an hour ago, and shortly afterwards, all messages in and around that place went dark." Azazel had explained, showing and pointing to Rias and Akeno the place that he believed was under siege using a holographic map of the human world that his fellow fallen angels had created within the Grigori institute.

"How are we certain that this place is under attack?" Questioned Rias. She hadn't been all that skeptical of Azazel's claims, but at the same time, she did not want to risk going in on a false alarm.

"Because of the technique used to make the place go dark." He explained, zooming in to the city that was currently under attack. "It isn't human technology that's blocking out all communication, but rather, magic similar to the kind that we had been identifying for the past few weeks now. Not to mention, the devil who had been supposed to be controlling that area went dark about a week ago. Not him nor any of his servants had been seen or heard in that entire time."

"So you think that they're dead, and this group of terrorists had taken over their place in the meantime?" Rias questioned, and Azazel nodded. "I see… Is there anyone near the target zone that we could possibly get in touch with? See if they have any clue as to what's going on? What we're possibly up against?"

Sadly, Azazel shook his head. "Of the Rookies Four, you're the only one who's currently available due to the fact that the others are busy with other missions or personal issues." He said, finally zooming in on the Canterbury Cathedral. "All we know right now is that despite all technology being cut off, the human police has managed to be called in, and are containing their grunts."

"Wait, why are we going in if the police are already handling it?" Issei asked, and was immediately answered.

"Because the grunts I told you about are all wielding guns, but those are only meant to keep the humans at bay. Most likely their real soldiers; swordsman, pikemen, magicians, and the like; have gone down underneath the church. Apparently the church had some secret catacombs that we had been ignorant of until now thanks to the information we received just moments ago from Heaven due to their interference."

Zooming in on the church, it showed a three-dimensional blueprint of the cathedral, along with a passage leading underneath from the very back of the church. The long and winding tunnel grew for what looked to be at least a few kilometers down into the earth, along with two main tunnels that seemed to branch out at the very beginning and that seemed to be the main core of the tunnel.

"Apparently the Church of England had kept this secret to themselves for all this time, with the only ones with knowledge of it being the Archbishop of the area, and the ruler of England. Not even the Pope of the Catholics, or even Michael for that matter, had any clue that this existed. Now that it's being assaulted though, it seems their ruler knew something was going on, and finally believed it was time to cough the truth up, if only to keep something protected that their knights won't be able to handle protecting in time."

Rias crossed her arms, wary about what Azazel had just told them as she narrowed her eyes, looking at the tunnels. After a brief moment of studying the underground structure, she spoke. "… By creating these dungeons, they either don't want something to be found-"

"-Or don't want something to escape."

With Akeno finishing her sentence, Rias nodded to her Queen. "But what would be of such importance that the terrorists would want it? Not only that, but how could these people know about these tunnels if only two people in the entire world know about it?"

"I'm not too sure about that, but-"

Before Azazel could fully answer the question, Issei raised his hand, wanting to get everyone's attention. "Um, not to really interrupt, but could we back up a bit here? I mean, did you say that these grunts had… guns? As in, 'pew-pew, bang-bang, you're dead' type of guns?"

Upon hearing Issei's question, Azazel raised a brow. "… Yes? What about it?"

"What the hell!" Issei immediately screamed. He was about to rant and rave about the dangers that they were going to face just by going in, but Azazel instantly cut him off.

"Issei." He said with a stern voice. "You are a devil. A being of the supernatural. Human weapons such as guns are unable to harm you unless specifically designed to do so, like being enchanted with holy power. Something like that would be ineffective though, since the gun itself would only be enchanted, and the bullets that come with it would not. You will be in no harm, this I can assure you."

"Oh sure, that's what you say now! But what if they do have these guns then? I remember that Freed freak having such a thing all the way back when we first met him!"

Issei tried to continue to argue his logic, but was shot down by even Rias as she tried to console him and tell him that everything was going to be alright. She told him that the enemy would not have the resources nor the capability to wield such weapons, as they were simply a small terrorist organization, and would not have the connections needed to create the guns.

Eventually Issei managed to be convinced that they would not be in harm's way, but Kuroka had ignored her master's rant as she began to dwell on what the fallen angel had told Issei. She remembered the feeling of looking down the barrel of the rifle the villagers once held, and remembered the burning feeling of scratches that had appeared on her skin when she had narrowly avoided some of the bullets shot at her. Was it possible that Azazel had been lying? Or had those villagers managed to find a way to do exactly what the fallen angel said was impossible?

The Nekomata shook the feeling off, putting the thought to the back to her mind as she looked over toward her master. She did not need to concern herself with the past any longer, besides the fact that she was unlikely to ever cross the paths of those villagers ever again. All she needed to do now was look to the future, and smile.

The conversation on the other side of the room continued, as Azazel and Rias managed to settle Issei down. Calming him down, the rest of the team learned and understood what they had to do. To capture and contain the enemy at all costs.

~~*Oppai-Dragon*~~

Seconds later, a magical circle bearing the Gremory crest formed on top the rooftops of Canterbury homes. Issei and the others (Azazel and Irina stayed back due to not being compatible with devil magic) materialized out of thin air on the other side of the world, their position still hidden from any potential wandering eyes in the night. The change of scenery was evident, the cultural difference of the buildings they stood on striking to the eye, even awe-aspiring if one were to take the time.

The shadowed outline of the cathedral nearby stuck out like a sore thumb to the group, the sound of yelling and gunfire echoing in the night sky. They immediately began to move, meeting the local police on the way who, surprisingly, had been expecting them. It had turned out that the British Crown itself sent down orders for the police to stand down, and to let what they only called 'unusual figures who looked out of place', to go on through.

Understandably, the police were skeptical at first, but going off to the side with the police chief who had been at the scene itself, Rias managed to convince them that they were to take over with her devil magic, though the chances of him or the other police members ever remembering this were fairly low. Now, with Gasper, Koneko, and Rossweisse staying back as support if things were to go south, the Gremory team went forward. Though it would mean three of their heavy hitters would sit out, the team agreed that they had more than enough firepower to deal with the opponents ahead.

~~*Oppai-Dragon*~~

Within the church itself, the humans were still unaware of their newly-arrived rivals. Having shot out some of the stain-glass windows of the building, there were those wielding guns, keeping any police they saw away. It was difficult for them, numerous attempts by the police nearly succeeding before finally being stomped by the more fiercely-trained warriors, as the only light source that the humans had was the moon itself, barely glowing threw the overcast that was typical English weather.

Amongst the humans on the church surface, seated at the far end of the Chapel was Emanuel, wearing his usual chainmail getup and wielding his giant mace on his shoulders. The entire time they had broken into the cathedral, he had been barking orders towards those who were underneath him, making sure that no being could possibly get in or out.

"Make sure those Brit bastards aren't sneaking into the Cloisters section! They'll easily flank us if they can make it pass the Library! Just wait out until the others get back up from the Catacombs, and then we'll just march our way out of here!" He yelled, his voice carrying itself throughout the building as it echoed off the walls.

"The hell is taking them so long?! It's been over an hour!"

Emanuel's head snapped and eyes squinted through the darkness towards the direction of which the comment had been made, looking at the group of subordinates watching the hallway to the Library. He managed to catch a quick glimpse of one of them ducking their head down, presumably to hide from his vision. He was tempted to snap at them, to discipline them for their insubordination, but even he knew that morale was beginning to drop. The group responsible for fetching the Freybug's ear had gone into the catacombs nearly right as they entered the cathedral, thinking it to be a quick and easy job. Turned out, the group had yet to return, or even make contact with them in any way.

"How is the portal team doing?" He opted to ask instead. It had been his call to move it the moment the police had come and began trying to surround them. Though it wasn't that difficult to change the portal's position to the top of the cathedral's main tower where it would most likely be better protected, it was always good to make sure nothing went wrong. After a few moments of waiting, a scout came running down the main chambers from the tower, breathing heavily from exhaustion of all the steps he had to run down.

"The portal team has no disturbances to report, and should be good for us to go through once Team B manages to come back up." The scout reported to him, saluting shortly afterwards before turning back around and going back to the tower. He was already grunting about there being no electricity to simply exchange the information.

As the scout left, Emanuel continued to wait. He had begun to get antsy as time went by, recognizing that for whatever reason, the police had begun to slow their attack. It meant that either they were planning to regroup and try something unexpected such as damaging the church itself simply to get at them, or were waiting for something more powerful to come help them, mainly their military.

"Any signs of the enemy?!" He yelled out across the foyer, hoping for his voice to reach to the other side where his soldiers were positioned.

"No signs of enemy movement, sir!" He heard call back.

"Well, keep on the lookout! We don't know when-"

Just as he was yelling, the sound of glass breaking echoed throughout the chapel, followed shortly by the sound of gunfire and his men screaming of the enemy suddenly falling on top of them. It wasn't long that the screaming had settled down, silencing the air once more and adding an eerie feeling to it.

The few men surrounding Emanuel and those protecting the hallway to the Library began to shake, quickly moving to the small amount of visible light inside the church showing through the windows as they began to fear that their very first battle ever would soon become their last.

"Just my fucking luck…" Emanuel muttered under his breath, swinging his mace off his shoulders, and having the head of it smash into the ground with a loud thud, cracking the marblework of the floor. The sound of footsteps echoed in the chapel, his men raised their weapons in anticipation. It was not one, nor many, but few did he hear beat his troops, by the sound of those footsteps, all walking calmly towards their position. But, just as the sound had just begun, it abruptly stopped.

At the edge of the light inside the chapel, the enemy remained silent, not willing to give away their position. Emanuel knew that they were there though, that the would-be destroyers of their plans would begin their main attack at any moment. Though the limited eyesight he had, he was still capable of making out seven figures in the darkness thanks to his magical abilities. But they just waited, talking in a low tone to one another, as they bided their time.

"To what do we owe the honor of you disrupting our business?" Emanuel addressed the strangers, his voice snide. He knew his men were weak from the beginning, but he also knew that until he knew what he was facing against, he would not move from his position. Whatever it was, he knew that they were magical in ways, given the aura that the strangers were giving off. An aura that he was beginning to feel uneasy about.

"You attack the church." One of the strangers replied, a young female in tone. "We have been dispatched to put an end to your deeds. In your best interests, I believe that you should surrender now, so that this won't have to become worse for you than it already has."

"Surrender?" Emanuel repeated, laughing once at the very idea. "Ha! Little girl, though I do not know who you are to think you can address your elders in such a way, it's often considered rude to push others around. Now, I believe it would be in your best interest to turn around and leave," He said, picking up his mace and wielding it with both his hands, positioning himself into a battle stance, "before things become much worse for you."

Without even another word being muttered, twenty total men of his, ten to each side of him, quickly collapsed. One after another, only a second between each other, shadows moved behind them with lightning speed. Each one, struck in the back of the neck to the sound of metal hitting flesh with the hilt of their swords.

Emanuel's eyes widened as his men fell, before he quickly reacted to the enemy's attack. Like second-nature to him, he swung his mace forward, catching a glimpse of blonde hair as the enemy jumped back from his attack. Right after, he moved his mace right across his chest horizontally to parry another attack by the other assailant. The sound of metal hitting metal echoed throughout, the only color he could catch was that of blue.

Taking a few steps back, Emanuel repositioned himself, readying himself once more for what was surely to be an onslaught. As he did so, the other strangers who had been staying back decided to move, going forward and entering the opening for the Catacombs below.

"You…!" He wanted to scream for them to stop, but was forced to block once again as the blonde one tried to cut him from the side using his sword.

"Don't worry, Issei! We will catch up once we defeat this fool!"

Emanuel looked to his side where the voice came from, and saw another woman, different sounding than the one he had heard first. She was dressed in the typical exorcist uniform that he recognized that only the most prestigious warriors of the Catholic Church wore. Immediately, that blue-haired girl who stood in his way had suddenly become more than another reason for why he would fight them.

~~*Oppai-Dragon*~~

Issei and the others continued their way down into the Catacombs, remembering and running through the route that they had learned back in the Student Council room, leaving Kiba and Xenovia to fight the seemingly more-experienced Templar.

"Do you think they'll be alright?" Issei said aloud, asking no one particular.

"Of course they will." Asia remarked, smiling as she made the young man more at ease with her optimism.

"Xenovia and Kiba are strong in their own right." Rias commented. "Besides, there's a reason why we left the other three back with the police."

"I suppose… I just can't keep from worrying, you know?"

Rias smiled gently, knowing the way he felt exactly, while wondering at the same time if these new emotions in him had anything to do with becoming his own King and being responsible for his own pieces. Still, worrying would not get the job done, this much she knew.

It wasn't long until the group came across their first fork in the road. Already prepared for something like it, Rias split the group into two, in case the enemy had done the same thing. Remembering the three-dimensional blueprint back at the school, she knew that the two forks each led to the same area after a while, with one path being completely straight hallway with no rooms between it, and the other being the complete opposite, with a new room every few yards. It struck her as a bit odd, but she also knew that there was no worry for them of getting lost. Understanding their orders, Issei nodded once to his own King, before taking Kuroka and Ravel with them down the other tunnel, leaving Asia behind with Akeno and Rias.

Looking in front of her, the group continued to run their way through the cavernous depths. Dirt and stone surrounded them everywhere, a cobweb here and there, but no monsters or humans did they come across. It was strange, to say the least, to not even come across a corpse. The entire group, with Rias included, had thought that the Catacombs would have at the very least been infested with beasts to protect the treasures that laid beneath. But there was… nothing…

Strangely enough though, the farther that they had gone, a thick mist began to form inside the tunnels, surrounding the three girls. Asia spoke up to her companions. "It's so strange… Wouldn't we normally run into something by now?" She asked, looking around her as the mist began to grow thicker and thicker, all three of them not noticing it form at all.

"Don't try to jinx us now. We wouldn't want to end up running into something that would slow us down." Akeno teased, looking back at the bishop behind her.

"As much as I hate to say it, I have to agree with Asia." Rias said, still running at the front of the group. 'I feel no presences within this passage. Either they really didn't expect people to find these tunnels, or…'

~~*Oppai-Dragon*~~

Issei and the two others believed that they could run. Run, and just breeze through the rooms that they had been tasked with. Unfortunately, it seemed that the Black Templars had either not come the way they chose, or they somehow missed them. Whatever the fate, the rooms they had expected to be filled to the brim with monsters, had been severely lacking in that department.

Entering the first room, all three were met with perpetual darkness. Uninterrupted, never changing, the darkness surrounded them, no light to be shone in that room. With their devil eyes, they did not mind though, as they were capable of seeing clearly.

"Why do you think it's so quiet?" Ravel inquired. "Isn't the first room usually the hardest? I mean, besides the last one, of course."

Issei shrugged his shoulders, summoning his Balance Breaker armor to assist him, simply so he could be ready for anything should it come his way. He moved forward, noticing how truly empty that room made of dirt and stone was. Not even signs of the Black Templars were there.

Moving forward, he missed the stone step he had just landed on beginning to sink into the ground, and within a second of it happening, the ground before him opened up.

Doors swinging open, Issei narrowly missed falling into a deathtrap by falling back onto his haunches, before getting on his hands and knees and peering over the edge, into the pit. Spikes of various sizes, all sticking upwards, ready to pierce any victim that would be foolish enough to fall in. It was then that he realized that at least some Black Templars had come this way, as their bodies had been the most recent addition to the collection below, all ready to fade away with time.

Ravel, seeing her master in danger, sprinted towards him, hoping to stop him from accidentally falling in. Upon doing so though, she too had activated a trap, as holes insides the walls had opened up. Kuroka, immediately noticing these holes, ran towards the Bishop, tackling her to the ground, narrowly missing the poisoned arrows that began to fly over their heads. Realizing that she had been nearly killed by such a cliché trap, Ravel thanked her savior, only to get ridiculed by Kuroka in a jest manner for having to be saved in the first place. That, and the fact that the arrows probably wouldn't have harmed her in the first place. It did not amuse her to say the least.

As they all got back up from the ground, all three quickly realized that the room they had thought to be so easy, was quickly changing to be incredibly dangerous. So what did they do to avoid getting themselves killed in this situation? Well, it was rather simple really. They used their devil abilities to go above and beyond the fake plates in the ground, and quickly surpassed the first of five rooms.

Over the next half hour, all three continued to narrowly avoid death, as each of the next four rooms ahead of them had been filled with traps of various kinds, and even some with challenges that required Issei to actually think. One room containing a jumping puzzle; another, giant whirling blades that were set between second intervals of each other, to which Issei simply ignored and walked right through using his dragon armor, clearing the way for the other two. No matter the trap though, with each room they came across, they saw the remains of their enemies, all having failed the requirements to survive.

When they finally did manage to reach the final and fifth room, they were pleasantly surprised to find that no traps or challenges awaited them. In fact, unlike the other rooms, there were no tiles in this one, or pits, or spikes, or anything.

White. Endless whiteness, as though a sanctum of untainted snow.

It was a room made entirely of marble, and unlike the other rooms, it seemed to go on forever, as if the room itself existed on a separate plane of existence. The only structures in it besides the marble were four pillars, made of marble as well, standing perfectly in the middle in a symmetrical manner. Two on the right and two on the left. No light source to speak of either, yet bright as bright could be, illuminated by some unknown source. However, all of that did not gain their attention of the trio.

A great beast just beyond the four pillars. It looked like it was something conceived out of a fairy tale, something crossed between a bull and a wolf; jet black fur with two horns on its head, razor sharp teeth, but most notably, it was covered in numerous cuts. That, of course, was because of the human girl standing on top of it, presumably killed by her hand and staring back at them with no emotion. She did not move from her position though. No, she waited for them to come to her.

Issei, being the leader, walked forward.

The person in question blocking their way, from what he could tell, wore the same surcoat as the Black Templars seemed to wear. Their blond hair, tied back into a ponytail, as her green eyes looked forward at the devil in front of her. The girl in question did not wear the usual outfit that the other soldiers seemed to wear though, but rather, had been wearing light, leathery armor that one could easily move around in across her entire body. The only metal on her, were the seemingly out-of-place ice skates that she wore on her feet, and the outer-rim of the wooden buckler that she had on her left hand. Other than all that, was the sword that she held in front of her, the glow emitting from it nearly blinding those who would look upon it.

As he got closer, the girl spoke out. She raised her blade to face Issei, showing no fear or hesitation to fight him. "Are you here to stop us as well, devil?" She asked, her voice echoing the lack of feeling that showed on her face.

Issei had been taken back for a small moment as she revealed to him that she knew he was a devil, but decided to signal for Ravel and Kuroka to stand back, before choosing to answer the girl's question. "Ehh, do I have to answer that?" He asked, scratching the back of his helmet with his hand. "I mean, do you really need to do this?" He began to smile widely (even though she couldn't see it due to this helmet being on), hoping to dissuade her from making a large mistake of taking on three with just one.

Without answering, the girl took a step forward before jumping off the might beast, flawlessly landing on her feet as the metal blades cracked the marble floor below her. Taking Issei's answer as a means of war, she stared back up at him, as the devil himself took a step backwards in surprise.

The young girl put up her arms, ready to fight, but it was her left eye that had caught Issei off-guard. Light being tainted black, the whiteness within it was slowly swallowed up by something dark, and yet, the girl paid no mind to it, as if she was far more than just used to it.

The moment all the light from her eye had vanished, the girl said one simple word to Issei, before pushing her feet off the ground and launching herself head first into him.

"… Die."

~~*Oppai-Dragon*~~

And that's the end of Life 4. See you next time!