Final Life

'I-I t-think she's still down in the tunnels!'

The moment he had heard those words, Issei had immediately turned around and made a mad dash down into the tunnel once more. Though he knew his master was powerful, every fiber of his being was telling him that something had happened. He ignored the callings of his Queen trying to stop him, his heart pounding harder than before as he began to envision whatever possible troubles that Rias and the other girls may have gotten themselves into.

'Shit, shit, shit!'

The word echoed within his mind over and over.

'Shit, shit, shit!'

Harder and harder he pushed himself, kicking up dust as his fully armored body sprinted down the opposite tunnel he had come out of at the fork.

'Shit, shit, shit!'

'Rias!'

Issei was forced to eventually slow to a stop. A massive wall of rock and debris blocked his way, the only way forward in the small tunnel that the other three had gone down. Just looking at the rocks, he knew deep down that all three had been buried underneath all of it, and were waiting for him to rescue them. He knew their strengths, he knew that they would not succumb. However, that being said, a tiny bit of fear in his heart was all it took for him to worry that the worst had happened.

"Rias!" He called out, hoping for her to call back for him through the mountain of rock. When no reply came, the fear inside of him began to grow.

"Asia…! Akeno…! Rias…!"

Once more, he heard nothing in return.

Trying again and again, he yelled in hopes of hearing something back. He waited a few brief moments, clinging on to that hope of hearing that reply. But it was all for naught.

Before the fear inside of him could grow any larger, Issei began to clear the rocks blocking his way, slowly clawing his way through the tunnel in hopes of finding the girls. The idea of the tunnel collapsing once more if he moved enough rubble never entered his mind. His thoughts were entirely driven on saving the girls before something horrible happened to them.

Rock after rock, Issei dug at an unprecedented speed. Had he been in an athletic challenge that required such efforts, he would have sure to gain high scores for his deeds. But, for obvious reasons, such thoughts never entered his mind. With his mind in such a tunneled fashion, he had only been focusing on one spot. The surrounding rocks began to shift and tremble as they threatened to create an avalanche of stone and collapse on top of his head.

"Master, watch out!"

With his title being called out, Issei was momentarily brought out from his frenzy, instinctively he began to look behind him, but stopped as he heard a crackling noise from above. Looking up, he saw a moderately-sized boulder beginning to fall down from the top of the mountainous pile and head straight for him. Though his helmet was definitely thick and hard enough to easily deflect such a rock without damage, Issei still followed his instincts in trying to protect himself and threw his arms in front of him. He wouldn't need to worry for long though, as a ball of light came from behind him and collided with the boulder, blowing it into tiny bits. Though Issei would thank his hero for their help at the current moment, he would never hear the end of their teasing several days later for cowering at such a small rock.

Having seen the boulder destroyed, Issei lowered his arms as he made sure no more boulders were rolling down the small hill, and looked behind him to see who had been the one to destroy the rock.

"Kuroka!"

Indeed, the black-haired Nekomata had one hand stretched out in front of her as the magical circle behind her and the other balls of light forming a ring between her and the magical circle showed that she had certainly been the one to help Issei. Seeing that he was in no more harm, Kuroka relaxed into a more casual stance as the orbs of light began to fade and dissipate. Though her stance told Issei that she did not believe any more danger existed, her normally alluring face was scrunched up in annoyance, and frustration. The dimly lit corridor only added to the gloomy atmosphere that seemed to radiate around her.

"A-Ah, thank you for that Kuroka. I suppose had you not called out like that, I could have gotten hurt." Issei quickly said, seeing the angered face on Kuroka, though for what he wasn't sure. "A-Anyways, we need to hurry! Rias and the others are somewhere in this tunnel, and if we don't find them- Well, I don't even want to imagine the outcome of something like that!" He yelled, turning back to the mountainous pile and working once more on clearing a path towards the girls.

Ignoring his requests for help, Kuroka began walking up to him, swatting away the rocks that were flung in her direction as she got closer. When she finally managed to get right behind him, a twinge of guilt shook Issei as he felt a presence of hatred where she stood. "K-Kuroka?" He meekly called out, turning around slowly.

Standing there, brooding, Kuroka held her hands to her sides, but not for long. Raising one hand, she brought the tip of her index up to the forehead of Issei's helmet, tapping it twice.

"Hmm?"

Assuming that she wanted to see his face, Issei's helmet pulled back, folding away to be used for another time. The moment his entire face was revealed though, a resounding slap echoed throughout the tunnel. A bright red handprint glowed on Issei's left cheek.

"K-Kuroka?"

"Idiot… Did you ever take the time to think a plan through? Or were you just going to come down here and bulldoze your way through this mountain of rubble?" She commented, chastising the poor boy for his mistakes. Ironically, if dogs could talk, then Fenrir himself would probably lend a few words about Kuroka's own mistakes for when she was with Vali's group, but that was a different story for a different time altogether.

The Nekomata walked around the stunned King towards the pile of rubble, and placed her left hand on it. She closed her eyes, focusing her powers on the rocks in front of her.

Though her powers were indeed apt for magic talent, and even being a master of Senjutsu and Youjutsu, she sadly did not have powers that were capable of seeing through walls. That being said, she could sense the flow of Ki within the area if she were to try hard enough to focus using said powers of Senjutsu, telling her all she would need to know. Doing just that, she could sense the flow of Ki in another person, even behind a wall. Or perhaps, even behind a giant pile of rocks.

After focusing her powers for several seconds, Kuroka finally opened her eyes and let her hand fall down to her side, turning back to Issei. "I sense three life forms only a couple meters away behind this rubble," she stated, and Issei's mood to change for the better dramatically. That didn't last for long, however, "but I don't know much more time that they have. Their spirits seemed fairly exhausted, as if something was constantly draining them. Two of them also appear severely wounded."

"T-Then we need to hurry!"

"But how?" Kuroka interjected, stopping Issei in his tracks before he could go back to frantically chucking rocks everywhere. "Charging in headfirst isn't going to fix the problem at hand this time. We need to think of a better way to reach them before time runs out."

Issei went quiet for a moment, taking Kuroka's advice and trying to think of a plan.

In the back of her mind, Kuroka thought of how different Issei was to other Kings. Was it because of how he was raised by the Rias girl? Or was it simply his own personality? Either way, she thought to herself that it bit of a miracle that despite giving Issei a hard time, and that he could have reprimanded her for questioning her King's orders even if it meant trying to help him become a better King, he was the complete opposite. Then again, having spent so much time with him so far, it really shouldn't have surprised her anymore. He was such a strange anomaly sometimes.

With a snap of fingers, Kuroka was brought out of her own thoughts as Issei seemed to have come up with a plan. "Both this tunnel and the other tunnel both should end up at the same place, right? What if I were to go Knight Mode in Crimson Cardinal and run around to the other side? Surely it should be easier to reach them from that side, yeah?"

Kuroka couldn't help herself but sigh. Honestly, she shouldn't have expected much, but she had to at least give him points for trying. "True, it could be easier to reach them from the other side," once again, Issei's spirits became lifted at the smallest amount of hope, only to be tragically crushed by Kuroka's realistic world views, "but is it guaranteed that it'll be easier? What if the rocks are piled up even more so on the other side? And what about the time needed to run around? Sure, you'll get there faster in your Crimson Cardinal mode, but how long will that take? There's too many unknowns, and having too many unknowns can get us killed… just like this mission…"

Kuroka trailed off into her own little world for but a few moments, but she looked back on Issei and the others seemingly happy to accept this mission from DxD despite the lacking intelligence. Sure, she could understand the need to quickly move to catch the enemy off-guard, but thinking back on her own experiences, this whole mission smelled dangerous. Too many unknowns, from who they were fighting to where they were fighting, and yet the Fallen Angel Commander Azazel deemed it okay to follow through with? Was there something else that she didn't know going on? Or was Azazel simply a fool?

Kuroka shook her head. No, as easy as it was to mop something up as being a conspiracy or even a lack of mental intelligence, she also knew Vali far too well as well. The man whom the White Dragon looked up as a father figure couldn't have been as stupid as she thought if he had gotten that amount of attention from Vali. Thinking of the stress that Azazel had accumulated might have impacted his decision-making on this mission as well, the more she thought about it.

However, what did this all have to do with the current situation? Well, if somebody was going to end up dead today, and her own King was going to into an absolute depression like she absolutely knew he was going to do at the loss of three of his closest lovers and allies, then it was best to know who to blame for what. And as it stood, perhaps it was best for her Master to learn of that reality quickly than to be blinded by fantasy.

"I hate to say it, Master, but perhaps it would be best to pull out since there doesn't seem to be an efficient way of retrieving those three without hurting them in some way." She stated, thinking of other ways to clear the rock other than chucking them, such as blasting them away with magic.

Of course, Issei was obviously not happy to hear such a suggestion. Rage spirited in his eyes as he looked at Kuroka with disgust. "Kuroka, I don't care if you're my Queen, or even Koneko's sister. But if you ever suggest that I abandon my comrades like that again, I-!" He didn't finish his sentence, not wanting to spell out what he would do to her, but Kuroka didn't blame him. She was expecting this type of reaction, and was more than willing to help her Master through the hard times ahead if it meant being berated right here and now.

Issei walked forward in defiance of Kuroka's wisdom, and began to once again clear the rocks using his hands. But with time as he cleared, the rocks he had managed to throw away were replaced by those falling from above, forcing him to move out of the way each time it happened. As time went on, Issei began to become more and more frustrated, Kuroka's words echoing in his ears.

Kuroka watched her master working in fruitless effort patiently. She placed her hand on one of the many rocks beside her, and pushed her weight into the pile as she leaned onto it. Issei noticed this, and stopped his work to look at her, anger apparent in his eyes. She only looked back with sorrow for the man who couldn't accept the truth. "I understand your frustration."

"Do you?!"

"… Yes, I do." She calmly stated. "If someone were to tell me that I would need to leave Shirone behind, dying and alone, I would likely have a very similar reaction to the one you have now. However, that doesn't mean that I shouldn't face reality because of it."

Hearing Kuroka's words made Issei want to wallop her for daring to say such things, but he couldn't. He knew she only spoke the truth, and it hurt him deeply. As much as he didn't want to admit it, as much as he wanted to push her out of the way and continue digging his way through to Rias and the others just like that, he knew she told the truth. Just how much time would it take? An hour? Two hours? What if he tried to blast the rocks away? Then they would get hit by his powers, wouldn't they? A piercing feeling struck him in the heart as tears welled up in his eyes. No matter how much he wanted to correct her and tell her that there was a way, perhaps she was right this time.

"… God… Fucking DAAAAAAAAMNIT!"

Screaming out in frustration, Issei backed away from the rock pile and slammed his fist into the floor with all the might that he had. Again and again he screamed and punched the floor as he cursed every single being out there that he could think of for forsaking him at this moment.

"DAMNIT! DAMNIT! DAMNIT! FUCKING DAMNIIIIIIIIIIIT!"

Kuroka watched in silence as her Master took out his frustration on the floor, wishing that she could sympathize with him. Ironically, not even she could have predicted that what was going to happen next was even feasible.

As Issei continued to curse and pound the floor over and over, a crack had begun to form in the ground. The more he punched it, the more this crack would break out into even more cracks, and eventually find its way over to the pile of rocks in front of them.

With one final punch, Issei screamed out the loudest scream he could muster, and brought down his fist like a hydraulic press. The resulting power from the punch caused a small tremor within that tiny tunnel, and the small cracks that had formed in the ground had miraculously opened up like the gaping maws of Hell.

"Nya?!"

Kuroka had been quick to move out of the way by pushing herself off the rocks next to her with more power than intended and jumped back next to Issei. The shift in the rock she had pressed herself off of had then proceeded to shift the other rocks around it, and with the earth below the mountain of rubble opening up, an avalanche of stone began. With these two events occurring at the same time, the stone and eventually dirt from above began to fill the ground that had begun to open up, and with that, a passage that seemed to be closed forever had suddenly been revealed.

The two devils stared at the motion of events happening before their eyes; one in absolute disbelief, and the other in a mixture of feelings ranging from confusion to possible happiness. For a few minutes the ground shook and then was immediately filled with stone and dirt, and when the dust finally settled, sunlight from outside began to peer down into the tunnel, as though it had come directly from the High Heavens itself as a bright ray of hope. Though the tunnel wasn't completely cleared of stone, the pile of rocks before them had considerably shrunk, and now, the very top of a small yellowish dome that Issei knew as Asia's powers could be seen from where they stood.

After several seconds of simply being stunned in sheer silence, Kuroka finally managed to break it by uttering a simple statement.

"… Well, that was a bit anti-climatic…"

~~*Oppai-Dragon*~~

The sun had been up for more than a few hours in the city of Canterbury, and yet in these early morning hours, sirens blared constantly in a state of emergency. The moans and screams of agony in the British city echoed throughout its streets as though it was a chorus. Such destruction in the modern day was always thought to be unimaginable.

Unknown numbers were dead, and hundreds more were injured. The earthquake that had erupted from the Canterbury Cathedral shook the very foundation of the city, such a thing thought wildly impossible before. Surviving members of the local police force were working harder than ever before as they did their best to find survivors amongst the rubble around town. Only police helicopters and those of rescue organizations roamed the skies as the airspace above became inaccessible to civilian traffic.

A lone middle-aged man dressed in a blazer and slacks watched the police force working as hard as they could clear debris from around where the legendary Canterbury Cathedral once stood gallantly in that shining city. But what was significant about this man, was that he did not report to those of the local Canterbury police force, or even to the greater Kent Police district.

Continuing to watch the cleanup effort, the man had the absentminded thoughts he was having interrupted as another member of his unit walked up to him, whispering within his ear. With new information being given to him, the man took a long breath in before sighing, thinking of all the paperwork he was going to fill out the moment he went back to his office in Greenwich.

"Those blasted Devils simply had to interfere with things outside their realm of profession, didn't they?" The detective muttered to himself as he pulled out a cigarette from a container he kept in the grey blazer he used to blend in with the everyday person. With a snap, a tiny flame erupted from his index finger, and brought it up to light the addictive drug. After taking a long puff of the cigarette, he turned to the man that had interrupted his thoughts. "Has there been any other sightings?"

"No, Chief Inspector. Only the three that I have reported. Local police said that there were others, but they all went into the Cathedral."

The Chief Inspector nodded. "Then there's a good chance that they're still in there if they're responsible for waking up that bloody witch… Have the three in custody escorted to Greenwich, Sergeant. And make sure that they're treated well. There'll be very unfortunate hell to pay if the Queen catches wind of us mistreating our guests."

"Of course, Chief Inspector. Praise the Witenagemot."

"Praise the Witenagemot, Sergeant, and god speed." The Chief Inspector responded, turning away from the other officer and looking back at the ruined cathedral. As the footsteps of his trusted subordinate faded away, the Chief Inspector threw the cigarette he had been smoking onto the ground and killed the remains with his foot. "Now… I suppose it's time for us to introduce ourselves to these uninvited guests."

~~*Oppai-Dragon*~~

Before Issei had ever come into his life, Gasper often hid himself away from the world. Unwanted from humans or vampires, the young Dhampir would always be forced to hide himself away in the shadows. Until Rias had come along, Gasper himself had felt that his life had little meaning.

That all changed though the moment Issei had arrived in his life, and even Gasper believed that the perverted troublemaker had made his life for the better.

'No,' Gasper thought to himself. 'Not just me, but everyone has become better off because of Issei-senpai!' And yet, Gasper felt as though his life had gone back to the days of when he had hidden himself away in hopes of no longer having to feel the throbbing pain of rejection.

Forced with the task of watching over his fellow Devils, along with the strange newcomer that Issei-senpai had brought him, Gasper had very little left to do other than to listen to the ensuing chaos that had been happening outside the cathedral since the moment the earth had moved. It would come to no surprise then when Gasper seemed to ignore the sound of feet hitting the scratched marble surface of the cathedral floor, thinking it to be one of the many investigators the humans were sure to have summoned to assess the damage. With a magical barrier set in place by Rossweisse when Issei and Rias had gone down into the tunnels, he wouldn't have to worry about any humans in general stumbling along and accidentally finding him in the lower levels.

When it became obvious though that the person walking was not going to stop at the barrier's edge, Gasper focused once more, thinking it was one of his precious companions. He threw caution to the wind as he jumped up in excitement, readying himself to greet his friends. "Kiba-senpai, is that you? Thank goodness, you're alright! I had been so worried that something may have happened to you! Issei-senpai and the others are… in… the…"

Gasper slowed his speech to a stop as the person whom he had become so excited to greet again was not the one standing before him. Though it was not the Dullahan he had met earlier, it was still a strange new man, and ready himself for battle if a fight was to break out.

But the man did not seem to come to him looking for a fight. Or at least he was confident enough that Gasper was too weak to even be considered an opponent. Gasper sincerely hoped it to be the former.

Looking up and down at the young Dhampir, the man seemed to be mentally analyzing him for every bit of information he could get.

"Who are you?!" Gasper demanded. Magic gathered in his eyes as they grew bright, readying himself for battle.

The man did not respond immediately, but thought to finish his analyzing first before ever answering any questions. "I do not know who this Kiba is, but if he is one of your friends, I can guarantee that they are in good hands."

"Where are they? What did you do to them?!"

The man looked around, looking for any other friends that may have been able to back Gasper up. When he seemed satisfied that Gasper was all alone, he spoke once more. "Tell me, do you know how old this cathedral was?"

"Wha? I don't-"

"It's origins date back to over millennia ago, and here you Devils are, managing to destroy it in a single swoop. If I wasn't so annoyed at the fact that I'm going to have to work overtime to make sure things are cleaned up properly, I might have been impressed… Tell me, where are your masters?"

"Why?! So you can capture them too?!"

The mysterious man sighed. It seemed that today was simply going to be one of those days, bringing a handkerchief out from his jacket's pocket, and wiping down the sweat that had begun to accumulate on his forehead. Deciding that he had calmed down enough, the man continued the conversation.

"I'm afraid you're mistaken little girl, for you see-"

"I'm not a girl! I'm a boy!"

"… Regardless," the man decided to ignore the questions now floating in his head about crossdressing in skirts, "trust me when I say I do not wish to make an enemy out of you or your masters, boy. At the same time, however, on the honor of the Queen herself, I can not look away from the laws that you and your master seemed to have broken this day."

Gasper was surprised. Laws? What laws? What did they break? Had he become a criminal now?! Wait, did that mean this person was a police officer?! In moments like these, Gasper would always crawl back to his box and hide away from the world, but with no box, and with no one there with him, he was forced to deal with the problems he had been given all by himself. Oh, why did he have to be given this type of trouble?!

"I simply ask for your cooperation, young man. The sooner you comply, the sooner both you and your masters will be able to be on your way home… That is, if we decide it's best to let you do that."

Gasper was unsure what to do. On the one hand, if this man was telling the truth and that there had been laws that they had broken, then it was only right to correct the wrongs they had done. On the other hand, if he wasn't actually who he said he was, then that would mean this was another enemy he would be forced to fight. But if he did that, and it turned out he was telling the truth, then he would be charged with assaulting an officer of the law, which would only bring more trouble to Rias and Issei that was unneeded.

The only thing he could think of was to stall for time.

"You never told me who you were. Do you really think I would fall for such a simple trick when I don't even know your name?!"

The mysterious man sighed once more. "Very well, I suppose if it gets you to cooperate with me, then there's no harm in telling you. My name is William Watts, Chief Inspector of Great Britain's magical investigatory branch, the Witenagemot, assigned directly from her highness the Queen. There, is that satisfactory for you?"

"How do I know you're not lying? I've never even heard of this 'Witena…-place'."

"Well if you had heard of it, then we'd be doing a pretty piss poor job, now wouldn't we? The entire point of our branch is to keep creatures like you," he pointed at Gasper, "fit into human society, and make sure the world of magic is not revealed to the mass public. Quite difficult to do when an unnatural disaster strikes an area never have been hit by an earthquake before, and a giant shadow monster emerges from the destroyed cathedral. It would be pretty bad if the world of humans were to learn such things, wouldn't it?"

Gasper scratched his cheek with his finger as he realized he couldn't really defend such things. "I-I suppose so… huh?"

"That was a rhetorical question. Of course it would be bad! Mass hysteria, massive riots, entire cities in flames! You're bloody well lucky we managed to get here in time to keep that damn internet thing from spreading information, but who truly knows how much time it will take to erase the memories of everyone involved, erase the data of all the damn CCTVs, and rebuild everything that's been destroyed! Honestly, you damn Devils and Fallen Angels, thinking you can skip channels simply because of a damn treaty. If you had managed to go through us first, none of this would have happened!"

Stress building up in him, the Chief Inspector began to rant on how much trouble Gasper and the others had truly brought him. Perhaps he was telling the truth after all?

As the Chief Inspector continued to rant, and Gasper being forced to listen, help had finally arrived in the form of Issei and Kuroka, as the King and Queen managed to finally reach the tunnel's end on the bottom floor. Issei, with Rias and Akeno ungraciously being carried over his shoulders, and Asia being carried princess-style by Kuroka, were all set down gently on the floor next to Ravel and the others. The entire time carrying the two girls, Issei was always afraid in the back of his mind that one of them would wake up and see themselves being carried in such a undignified way. He honestly loved them all, and with not wanting to leave any of them behind, he was forced to take such drastic measures. Obviously, the other big fear he had was the ammunition that he had given Kuroka to tease him later with by doing such a thing.

The moment he had placed the two girls down side-by-side, he turned to Kuroka and told her in a stern voice, emphasizing each word with a wag of his finger. "Not. A. Word."

Kuroka smirked wryly, "I have no clue what you're talking about, Master."

Annoyed that he had to accept that answer as he didn't want to push the subject further, he put down his arm and looked at everyone who had been knocked out. How in the world was he going to fix this? Phoenix tears? No, not enough on him. Magic? No, from the looks of things he and Kuroka were the only ones there, and neither of them knew any spells capable of waking people up, let alone from the brink of death.

Mulling over his options, the young King had been too busy mentally to immediately pick up the voices on the floor above him. It was his Queen who had poked his scale-covered arm to gain his attention, before pointing the floor above, signing to him to listen. Thinking it was just one of her tricks, he was about to ignore her before noticing the voices himself, ranting about something he couldn't quite understand, along with Gasper who seemed to be stressed.

"An enemy?"

"Maybe."

Not knowing what to expect, Issei readied himself to go and confront the unfamiliar voice. "Kuroka, I want you to stay back and protect the oth-" As he was giving his orders, Issei turned to look at his Queen when he noticed her pulling out a black-colored permanent marker from between her breasts. His right eye twitched to see his Queen being mischievous even when possible enemies still lurked nearby. Perhaps she trusted that everyone was going to be fine if she was goofing around at this late hour. "Kuroka…"

Noticing his irritated look at her, the Nekomata gave a great big smile, acting as if nothing was the matter. "Yes, Master?"

"Why do you have a black marker?"

"For drawing of course, nya."

The Nekomata crouched down in front the sleep maidens and began to doodle on their faces. Issei could only let out an exasperated sigh as he felt another headache coming on from the future scolding he was going to receive about disciplining and reining in his Queen. "Just… Just make sure they stay safe, okay?"

"Haaaai!"

The Nekomata obediently carried out her orders to a tee, making sure no harm would come to the girls. Harm coming to her later for various actions would come to surprise no one.

Leaving the mischievous cat to her playing, Issei jumped up onto the ground floor to see Gasper crouched down, hands covering his head as he said the words 'I'm sorry' over and over like some sort of mantra, and a man he had never met before walking back and forth ranting from what he could tell to be about work. Honestly, what was he supposed to learn from this? Nevertheless, he needed to confront this strange man and hope for the best.

"Hey guys, am I late to the party?"

Issei mentally congratulated himself for coming up with the cheesy one-liner as he revealed his face to the two other people, thinking of taking his promotion as King in a new direction for better branding and marketing value, an idea given to him by his future brother-in-law. It would quickly be denied by the entire female population of the Hyoudou household at a later date.

The cheesy one-liner seemed to do the trick though, as the man ranting stopped in his tracks and looked at Issei, an annoyed look on his face. Gasper reacted as well by standing up and looking at him with twinkles in his eyes and a great big grin on his face. "Issei-senpai!"

"Issei…? Are you telling me that this young lad is supposed to be the Red Dragon? I had heard he was a bit young, but seriously?! A millennia-old cathedral and half of Canterbury, all thanks to this man?!"

Issei, confused by the sudden outburst of the strange man, pointed at himself. "Sorry?"

"Sorry? Sorry?! Do you understand how much time-" The man was about to begin his rant on the damage that the Gremory clan had done to the city before catching himself and calming himself. "If you are here, then the others like Ms. Rias Gremory should be with you, yes?"

Issei narrowed his eyes. "That depends."

"He says he works for the government, Issei. He says he's a cop."

"Chief Inspector William Watts." The man introduced himself once more to Issei. "Forgive my little outburst but it's been a very rough day today, what with all the things that I'm going to be forced to clean up."

"So you're a cop, huh…? What's that got to do with us?" Issei asked.

"It has everything to do with me, actually. As I told the young man next to you, I and the department I'm in deal with everything involving the magical and supernatural. That includes Devils and whatever little parties your kind like to have. Either way, you and your friends here have made a very big mess today, and I would greatly appreciate it if you kindly let us take you to Greenwich where all of this can be sorted out. The sooner the better."

"What if I don't believe you?"

The man restrained himself from lashing out once more. "Fair point… Then let's put it this way. Three of you are already in our custody, and although we've been given orders directly from the Queen herself to waive off the crimes all of you have committed today, and simply sweep everything under the rug for whatever reason that could be, we can't do all of that unless all of you are processed and we're able to verify that all of you are who say you really are, and not some blasted terrorists in disguise. So in the end, it's beneficiary for all of us if you and your friend cooperate with us."

"You say all this, but we weren't the ones who did any-"

The Chief Inspector held up his hand to stop Issei from arguing any further. "Anything you have to say, I will gladly listen to it in Greenwich. Until then, on the honor of the Queen, I will do nothing to harm you or your friends. Is that good enough?"

Issei looked over at Gasper, then back at the Inspector. How did he know he could trust this guy? At the same time, he didn't seem strong enough to really be a threat.

"We have some people who are unconscious."

"We can make sure that they are taken very good care of and that their transport to Greenwich where we will have medical facilities waiting for them be quick."

"I want to ride with one of them."

The Chief Inspector finally let out a sigh of relief. "If I agree to that, will you finally agree to come to Greenwich with me?" Issei nodded. "Thank you. I will call for some paramedics now to come take any wounded and the unconscious, as you said."

For the next 25 minutes, Issei and the others hopped into specialized ambulances made to accommodate creatures of the supernatural. The fact that the paramedics were trying to get answers as to why there were strange drawings on the faces of the unconscious did not help very much and only delayed the entire process.

In the end, Issei rode with Rias, Gasper with Koneko, and Kuroka seemingly missing the moment the police showed up, though Issei would not end up realizing this until much later. The ride to Greenwich would be a somewhat silent one, where the actions of the last several hours replayed in Issei's mind as he relayed them to the Chief Inspector, constantly thinking of what he could have done differently to stop the people responsible for the cathedral's destruction.

~~*Oppai-Dragon*~~

Nearly an hour and a half later, Issei and the others arrived at an unmarked building in the maritime borough on the outskirts of London. Though its boorish brick and mortar look on the corner of a sleepy intersection looked nothing out of the ordinary, the building held an ancient secret to Britain's history.

Having gone by a different name until very recently thanks to a certain human popularizing the name 'Ministry of Magic', the Witenagemot was, as many in the supernatural realm would consider, the magical branch of the United Kingdom's MI5, even though it worked more like a normal police operation. Everything from curses and hexes down to ghouls and goblins, the Witenagemot took care of it all so long as the incident fell within domestic lands. Working out of the unmarked building, the men and women of this magical organization labored day and night in keeping the people of the British Isles safe from magical harm.

Thus, when news came that the historical cathedral in Canterbury had been destroyed in a freak earthquake caused by the unleashing of an ancient witch, the members of the Witenagemot weren't exactly pleased when the suspected terrorist was escorted through the back door not in handcuffs. Worse yet would of course be the fact that the suspected terrorist had somehow managed to manipulate the Queen herself into granting him immunity from the incident.

Being forced to follow the Chief Inspector, Issei was met with glares of frustration and downright hatred as he walked through the large building, possibly made bigger with the help of magic on the inside. With questions filling his head, he hadn't been allowed to know where Rias and the others were sent, nor where Kiba, Rossweisse, or Xenovia had been when he had learned of their capture on the way to Greenwich. Not even Kuroka had been allowed to be with him. Therefore, at that very moment, Issei was all alone.

Eventually, after walking through rows and rows of work desks busied by members of the organization, Issei and the Chief Inspector reached a corner office, complete with sound and magical proof glass. In big bold letters, the font on the door to the office read 'Chief Inspector William Watts', Issei had read before being ushered in by said Chief. The moment he stepped inside, the Chief closed the door behind the two of them, offering Issei a seat in front of the desk that he presumed the Chief worked at, topped with stacks of papers and folders. Issei took the Chief's generosity and sat down, watching the Chief the entire time.

Before the Chief himself sat down, he took off his coat and hung it up a nearby hanger, looking at Issei right after. If he hadn't been so stressed, perhaps what he was seeing would have had the tiniest bit of humor to it. "Are you absolutely sure that you're comfortable in that… getup, I suppose?"

The entire time Issei had ridden in the ambulance with Rias, he had not once ever deactivated Balance Breaker, and was still in his crimson-colored armor. The superhero looking armor looked a bit comical while he sat in a tiny brown chair meant for more normally shaped people. Though, it appeared that Issei had not at first understood what the Chief was getting at, as he looked down at himself. Having fought and learned to use the armor for such a long time, Issei felt as though it was a second skin to him, barely noticing it at all when he had it on. But now that he saw what he was in, Issei quickly understood the nervous feelings the Chief may have had if he was still wearing such a thing, and deactivated the armor.

With a flash, particles of the armor disappeared into thin air, and once more Issei looked like your average run-of-the-mill teenager. "Better?"

"Much appreciated, thank you." The Chief noted as he took his seat from across Issei, making room on his desk so that he could see the young man. From one of the piles, he took a folder labeled 'Top Secret' in red print, and opened it up in front of him. It looked like a tiny beige folder nearly breaking in half due to the hefty amount of paper inside. Making sure not to do so, the Chief Inspector began to read the contents inside. "Now, from the report I have been given beforehand," he tapped on the folder, "you are Issei Hyoudou of Kuoh, Japan. Correct?"

"Correct."

"Born April 16th, 199X to two normal human parents, living as a normal human for fifteen years before finally being killed by a fallen angel named Raynare last spring shortly after your sixteenth birthday, before being resurrected by one Ms. Rias Gremory. Is that all correct?"

Issei shifted in his chair uncomfortably. "Y-Yeah, that's correct… You guys really do your homework, huh…?"

"I would greatly appreciate it if you did not mock our intelligence gathering methods, Mr. Hyoudou."

"Sorry…" Issei hung his head.

Acknowledging the young man's apology, the Chief Inspector continued with the intelligence he had been given. "Proceeded to take down the third son of the famous Phenex family of the Underworld, helped take down the fallen angel commander known as Kokabiel, and helped serve witness to the signing of the treaty between the three great powers of the Abrahamic religions. Is this all correct?"

"Yes, sir."

As the Chief Inspector had just about to begin continuing the questioning, an office phone that had been blocked from Issei's sight thanks to the large quantity of folders and papers on the Inspector's desk began to ring. The Inspector picked it up immediately before the second ring could occur. "Chief Inspector William Watts speaking. Who is this?"

Issei sat quietly as the Inspector spoke calmly to whoever was on the other end of the phone.

"Your Majesty!" Immediately the Chief Inspector stood up, seemingly paying his respect to the being who hadn't been in the room physically with a salute of the other hand. "Y-Yes, of course… No, ma'am, we've yet to find out if… I-I understand, but… My hands are tied at the momen… Yes… Yes… Yes, of course, ma'am… I understand, of course… Yes, Praise the Witenagemot… Yes, of course, and the Empire as well… Glory to you, madam, glory to you."

The Chief Inspector hung up the phone, ending his call that hadn't even taken two minutes. He glanced at Issei, letting out a huff of air, before tapping his fingers on the hard metal desk. After what seemed to be thinking to himself for only a few moments, the Inspector turned to Issei completely and folded his hands together. "It seems that you're free to go, Mr. Hyoudou."

Issei, shocked by this revelation, took a moment to respond. "… Wha… What?"

Without clarifying what he meant, the Inspector pushed himself out of his chair, putting on his coat before telling Issei to follow him once more. "It seems that some new intel has surfaced back in Canterbury, and as you can probably guess from that phone call, the person on the other side is fairly important," he said sarcastically. "As great an honor as it is to speak to her majesty, her word is absolute when it comes to these kind of things…" He answered, taking his jacket from the nearby coat rack and heading for the door, motioning Issei to follow him.

"So… you believe me then?"

The Inspector stopped in his tracks, turning on heel towards Issei, very nearly giving him a scare. Though the hope that he would be off the hook soon enough was raised, the Chief Inspector simply looked at him with a disgruntled look. "Honestly? No. The damage you and your friends have afflicted on the city of Canterbury this day would allow me to give you more than just a few years behind bars. As it stands though, until we are able to get all of the evidence accounted for, the blame is incapable of being put on all of you."

"Meaning…?"

The Inspector huffed at Issei's blatant disrespect, but decided to let it go internally as he knew it wouldn't get him anywhere to complain to the young man about it. He opted to continue leading the man instead and get him and his friends out of his hair as soon as possible, for he knew that this group in particular was infamous for attracting all sorts of unreasonable trouble now that he truly did know it was Issei. Eventually the Chief Inspector led the young man to a seating area close to the entrance of the station and pointed to a nearby bench.

"Wait here."

"But what about-!"

The Inspector ignored Issei's calls for answers and proceeded to leave the area. Still not knowing what was going on, or what had happened to his friends, Issei began to fidget in his seat as he tried to occupy his thoughts with something else.

Looking around, he thought to himself that for a building filled with magicians and sorcerers and other magical-type beings, everything around him had seemed rather bland. Grey walls with a dark green lining at the bottom, a couple of hardwood benches to accommodate visiting guests, and a midsize desk where a receptionist was typing up documents on an old fashioned typewriter. Truly, an invigorating display of mundaneness surrounded Issei.

Minutes passed, and yet too shy to speak up due to his circumstances, Issei waited patiently. With a tick-tick-tick of a nearby clock, and a click-click-click-ding! of the nearby typewriter, Issei waited patiently. With the ringing of phones and the tapping of his hand on his knee, Issei waited patiently. Worrying about his friends, and not knowing if he was going to leave here, Issei waited patiently. So long, waiting patiently…

Issei nearly screamed in frustration as his nervousness rose to new heights. Just where in the heck was the Inspector?! Why was he told to wait here without being told about anything else?! What about his friends?! What about Rias, Asia, and Akeno?! What had happened to them?! And why was it, as he had just noticed, was he unable to connect through to his peerage members?! Some kind of magic was blocking his abilities it seemed, but in the end that didn't matter, because simply not knowing anything was driving him crazy enough.

Scratching his head with both hands and driving himself nearly bald with anxiousness, he hadn't paid attention to the sound of footsteps coming ever closer in the hallway near to him.

"- And I'd appreciate it if you could kindly contact us before ever doing something as insidious as this again, Fallen Angel." The first voice, obviously belonging to the Chief Inspector, seemed to scoff at the other person in a belligerent manner.

"I truly apologize for this mishap, Chief Inspector. Azazel and I have been in contact about this investigation with numerous other states and I can assure you that we have respected the wishes of others regarding diplomatic relations so far. This 'raid' as you so kindly put it wasn't an attempt at all to attack England or the Greater British areas, but rather, to catch the offenders that we seek off-guard. You can see how waiting for clearance from your sector or her majesty directly could have put that operation in jeopardy."

The second voice seemed to try to reason with the Chief Inspector, but the Chief Inspector simply scoffed once again at the individual, disregarding his others' negotiation skills at peace-making. By the time this all happened, the two rounded the corner where Issei had been sitting who stood to attention, stiffening his back and muscles the moment he caught glimpse of the man the Chief Inspector had been talking to.

"M-Master Shemhazal!"

The grey-haired leader of the Fallen Angel faction, Grigori, raised a hand greeting Issei and allowing him to relax. "It's nice to see you as well, Issei. I've come to pick you and the others up in place of Azazel, considering the circumstances and all of that. I hope you don't mind." The grey-haired Angel replied as the Chief Inspector left the two alone, attending to other business as the two caught up.

"O-Of course not! But... " Issei had answered enthusiastically at first but his voice lowered the moment he thought of Rias and the other girls were still in a deep sleep.

"If you're worried about Lady Rias and the other girls that were asleep, I'm happy to tell you that they're already awake and recovering in the hospital wing of this building with the others. The spell that they had fallen under was one set up by the Witenagemot, and so all we had to do was ask for the cure for it, and it seems even little Koneko is alright, having just woken up a few moments ago as well."

Suddenly knowing the truth, The tension that had been in Issei's body the moment he had found the girls like that melted from his consciousness, causing him to fall to his knees from exhaustion, tears of relief forming in his eyes. That being said, it was not all the news he was to receive. As Shemhazal's smile faded from his face, he continued.

"Sadly, if it is of the new face I had not seen before, I'm afraid that waking her up may end up being a far larger challenge than we had hoped for."

Issei looked up from crying on the tiled floor and looked into Shemhazal's lovely violet eyes, momentarily forgetting about the girl whom he had made into his servant before suddenly recalling of her existence. "So she's... "

Shemhazal shook his head. "In a comatose-like state, I'm afraid. Dead, yet alive, a body without a soul will not be able to hang on to threads of life for very long. If we are to keep her from withering away, then I'm afraid we may have to end up doing something drastic given the piece she is."

Issei knew what he meant. After all, he had made her into his Knight not only because he had become impressed with her skills and thought of her as another version of Xenovia or Irina, but he hadn't been talking about that. No, Issei knew full well what he meant, and the information locked inside that girl's brain was more valuable than possibly him at the moment. It was the very key to the enemy's heart. But…

"... Valerie…?" He asked weakly, and Shemhazal replied with a nod. "Shit…"

"I've received the reports from Azazel about the abuse she suffered under the hands of Rizevim Lucifer and Marius Tepes and the pain she had to endure because of it. I've heard as well that she's quite close with Rias Gremory's Bishop, and that doing something like that again without him knowing… Well, I'm sure you don't need to imagine the damage that would come of it."

"However?" Issei added, catching the caveat that Shemhazal had set up in his speech.

Shemhazal crouched down to Issei's eye level, staring directly at him. "That girl is one of the founding members of the Black Templars. To have not only captured her, but to have made her into your servant, I don't think I need to tell you just how important that is. Though it'll be hard to convince her to switch the moment she wakes, she would end up becoming an unbelievably valuable asset to the DxD team. We need this Issei, for the betterment of the entire world."

Issei couldn't help but smirk. "So why are you telling me all of this? Gasper is Rias' Bishop after all. You're going to have to talk to him about it before you could ever get close to Valerie."

Shemhazal returned Issei's smirk with a smile of his own, making the young man feel suddenly uncomfortable. "Why, that's because Azazel or I won't be the ones doing the talking to him. You will."

'Shit…'

~~*Oppai-Dragon*~~

'... So you basically mean she's become a vessel, waiting for a soul to occupy it?'

Issei sighed as he thought about how he was going to solve his current predicament. Mere hours ago, the young man and his friends had been in the middle of Greenwich, England, sitting in the headquarters for the magical branch of the MI5, and now, was over the Atlantic Ocean, sitting in a private jet from London to Los Angeles to refuel, then from there straight to Tokyo, all courtesy of Lord Shemhazal, all due to the fact that the magic circle they had taken to get to England had been a one-way trip. Everyone, including his mischievous missing Queen who just so happened to be waiting for them inside the private jet, was there.

The young man thought back on just a few hours ago when he talked to his own King in private, telling her the situation about the girl whom he had given his Knight piece to, and the events that had unfolded around it.

He glanced around the cabin of the plane, looking at all of the occupants. Most of them had fallen straight to sleep having been exhausted and staying up for nearly twenty-four hours. The only ones up were the ones who had been put forcibly to sleep by the MI5 magic in the Canterbury Cathedral's tunnels.

The lustful crimson madonna, the elegant older sister-type Yamato Nadeshiko, or the childish yet endearing blonde saint. All three sat closely to one another speaking of frivolous things, but with enough room in-between for one more person should he choose to, as the glances they gave him from time to time would surely indicate. To sit by one, however, would surely gain the ire of the other two. Yet, with a 20+ hour flight on his hands, and with the white kitten sitting on his lap fast asleep, it would surely be a boring flight if he had no one to even talk to.

Not wishing to wake Koneko, Issei carefully picked her up and placed her in the same seat as her sister who had been sitting next to him so far, as it was more than big enough for two people. As if sensing his heat fading away, the kitten searched for the closest source of warmth and began cuddling her sister, rubbing up against her and doing her best to crawl up into a ball to retain the heat. With the kitten pacified, Issei made his move and began to make his way to the three girls who had not yet noticed him heading their way.

For as big as the plane, it could easily fit thirty people or more, and so, it took some time for him to reach his destination having been in the back of the plane, and now heading to the front. Issei made his way slowly, his feet feeling unstable due to the constant forward moving of the plane. Eventually, creeping slowly, he managed to sit in the first seat that was next to the girls, plopping down between Rias and Akeno.

"Ara? My, my, this is unexpected. How daring of you to come sit here, Issei."

Rias' brow twitched in response to Akeno's cunning flirting, picking up on her true intentions the moment it had been obvious that Issei was coming over to sit with them. With a cough, she grabbed hold of Issei's head who was shocked at the sudden action, but gratefully allowed Rias to continue as she placed his head gently on her open lap.

"You've had a hard time this past day, haven't you, Issei? Perhaps you should get some rest. It'll be a long trip after all."

Before he could answer, Issei felt his arm be tugged on, bringing him back up and narrowly missing colliding his head with Rias' ashe felt a sensual and sensational feeling. As if devouring his arm, two lovely mounds shaped themselves around his arm, sucking him into a vortex that he was more than willing to be sucked into.

"You know Issei, before you came over here, we had just been talking about the dreams we had witnessed down in the tunnels when we were forced asleep."

"O-Oh yeah? Is that so?"

Akeno seductively agreed, nodding her head as she pulled harder on his arm, bringing him closer face to face. "In fact, it wouldn't be a lie if I were to tell you that, in my dream, I, thought, about, you."

With each word enunciated, Akeno was nearly in kissing range when she herself felt her body being flung backwards. The culprit was Asia, her arms wrapped around Akeno's shoulders and her cheeks puffed out in jealousy.

"N-No fair! You can't steal Issei like that, Akeno!"

As it was, the dreams shown to the girls were of their most cherished treasure, and for all three, it wouldn't be difficult to say that Issei was that treasure. So, having seen this dream, Asia had begun to feel as though she was falling farther and farther behind to the sexually-enticing devils she called older sisters.

"Neither of you should be stealing him in the first place! He's mine!" Rias argued, pulling on Issei's other arm as she tried to bring him closer to her. Obviously, this brought immense pain to the reincarnated devil as he felt his arms being ripped out of his sockets, but in another way, was strangely alluring as his arms brushed up against the girls and their relaxingly soft skin.

For several minutes, the girls argued back and forth on who deserved to be with Issei the most, pulling him in different directions numerous times until eventually a message from the captain over the intercom told them to stop it as it was dangerous, rocking the cabin back and forth. In the end, in an awkward compromise, all three girls sat up against one another as Issei himself laid down, occupying their laps. It felt silly to Issei, but apparently brought equilibrium to the girls, and in the end that's all that mattered to him.

For the first time since takeoff, the cabin had become quiet. All members of the Gremory and Hyoudou teams were either gracefully sleeping or lost in thoughts.

"... Issei."

Rias was the one to break the silence. It was obvious from her face that she had a lot on her mind. What it was though, the young man hadn't a clue.

"What is it?" He asked, looking up in an attempt to see her face, but all he had seen was a glimpse of her breasts as they sagged in the way. Not that he mind that at all, though.

Even with knowing, and perhaps even a little bit happy, that Issei was looking at her breasts as she felt his hot breath hit her chest, she spoke her mind. "Just why did you use your Knight piece on that girl?"

All three girls who were awake could hear the young man audibly gulp. He had briefly told the redhead about the girl in question and the situation around it, but he knew that this line of questioning was going to come up. Whether or not he was prepared for it was different.

"I-I felt like she would valuable information."

So he told the girl, but she didn't believe him a for a second. She squeezed his cheek and twisted it to punish him for lying to her. He moaned in pain as he felt his flesh distorted in an unnatural way.

"I-Ift's tfru! Ift's tfru!" He claimed through painful squeezes.

Rias sighed as she let go of the man's cheek. Perhaps what he was saying was indeed the truth, but knowing his lecherous side better than others, it wouldn't be hard to figure out if he had done it for perverted reasons down the line when the girl became older.

However, it wouldn't be a problem for the moment. The girl in question was still back in England, being looked after by the MI5 until the Grigori could pick her up. Apparently the Fallen Angel faction had wanted to secure her in a facility where she wouldn't be able to escape from the moment her soul was reconnected with her body, and knowing that it was a long way from home, Rias had no choice but to accept the situation as it was.

Issei rubbed his cheek, soothing the aching pain that still lingered when the nearby phone that had come with the jet started to ring. All four people seemed surprised at the sudden ringing, not knowing who it could have been. With the closest being Rias, she picked up the receiver and put it to her ear.

"... Hello? Who is this I'm speaking to?"

"Isn't it first polite to introduce yourself before asking someone else's name?"

Shocked by who was one the other line, Rias blurted out his name. "Azazel-sensei?!"

"The one and only. I heard you kids had quite the bad experience in England. Hope everything turned out right in the end."

Upon hearing his comment, Rias had a myriad of things she wanted to shout at the Fallen Angel, but held back her tongue due to the fact that she knew he was probably suffering in the inside for what had happened, and was simply goofing about to lighten the mood. In fact, her instinct was right on the point as the Fallen Angel sounded solemn seconds later over the phone.

"... Rias, I apologize about what happened there in England. I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you guys out or even to help bring you back here to Japan."

As she listened closely to the sensei who had invaded their lives several months ago, Rias began to pick up on the background noise. At first she thought it was her imagination, as she heard the sound of some place busy, and as she began to listen more closely…

"Azazel-sensei, are you… in an airport?" She asked, confused by the situation. Yes, they were all on a flight headed back home, but it would still take nearly twenty hours before arriving, thus giving him no reason to be waiting for them there in the first place. The other two girls and Issei also looked confused by her statement.

"Ah, so you picked up on that, huh? I guess I should tell you that this isn't a pleasure call or anything like that then."

"What do you mean?"

The other line was silent for a few seconds as Azazel didn't speak, perhaps trying to find his words. "... I suppose you didn't find it strange why you're taking the long way around the world then to head back home?"

"I did in fact, but I decided that it was for reasons that guaranteed our safety, with the Black Templars and their possible allies running around Europe."

"That's very good deducing, but sadly far from the truth. While you guys were in England waiting for your flight, I got a call from someone that… let's just say interesting. It's someone the Grigori had been keeping an eye on for a while due to the fact that he has a rare and extraordinary Sacred Gear called the Liber Scientiae."

"Liber Scientiae?" Rias repeated, never hearing of the Sacred Gear before.

"Yeah, and very rare like I said, and very dangerous in the wrong hands. Any chance to bring him to our side had always ended up in failure."

"I don't see why all that requires you to be at an airport."

"That's because, as I said before, not a pleasure call. I have Irina here with me, and the two of us will be meeting you in Los Angeles tomorrow. I'm afraid coming home will have to be put on hold for the moment. I'm sorry."

"You don't sound very sorry." Rias commented, huffing as she imagined what they were going to do once they landed in the city of Angels. Of all the up and downs they had gone through this trip so far, this had to be the one to take the cake. They hadn't even taken their passports, so how were they going to get out of the airport in the first place? Truly, this was already becoming a headache, and they hadn't even reached the continent the city was located on yet.

"You guys may have to wait a while, but I'm sure you'll end being able to do something while you wait."

Rias looked down at Issei, or what little she could see of him below her breasts, and smiled. So long as he was there with them, she supposed it couldn't have been all bad to be forced to wait.

"Yes, I suppose we will be able to find something…"

~~*Fin*~~

~~*Or is it...?*~~