Disclaimer: Neither High School DXD nor Elder Scrolls belongs to me, all rights to their respective owners.

Chapter 60

— Emotions are part of every being, girl. However, there is no worse enemy for a warrior than being dominated by his emotions. So, this is my advice to you, encapsulate them, as much as you want to scream, kick, cry, keep them at bay until the end of the fight, after that, let them out. —

Valerica Volkihar to Asia during her training in the middle of the second Great War.

Marie was sitting, waiting for the moment when that voice told her that she could escape. However, no matter how much a voice told her that she should stay still and calm, Edzard and Asia's daughter was not someone who stayed calm and did nothing for long. Therefore, the little girl was using all the self-control she had to not start walking through the room that was her cell.

Fortunately, before Marie did anything, her sensitive ears picked up on something. Their voices were too low, so she had to get up and walk over to where they were talking. When she got to a place where she could hear the conversation better, Asia's daughter realized that it was a group of exorcists who were talking.

"Damn. Why do we have to bring these people here?" asked one of the exorcists, sounding a bit annoyed.

"Don't know. But the truth is that I don't like what we're doing at all."

"Yes, I understand you. I don't like it either, but we don't have the power to say no."

"I get it, but ever since we brought that thing here, I feel like something is breathing down the back of my neck."

"You too?" asked the other exorcist.

"Yeah…. Wait… you too?"

"Yeah, it's kind of weird. I feel like the air is getting colder with each passing second. Besides, I have a feeling that right now the whole damn Kuoh pact is looking for the brat non-stop all over the Earth."

"It's true, that damn pact must be raking the entire human world looking for us, but we shouldn't worry. Remember that this base is one, no, it is the most secure of all the bases that our organization has, so if they attack us, it will not be easy for them to enter. Also, we're not near any towns which really helps keep the base out of prying eyes."

"Yeah. We should thank those magicians with whom the bosses have made a deal. Its teleportation circles allow us to move almost freely around the world without the need for us to know how to use magic."

The voices of the two exorcists became more and more distant, thus escaping the range of Marie's hearing, which remained stopped, thinking about what she had heard.

'They have a place to teleport… Good! Goal number one to escape from this place, get to that place where they teleport! Goal number two, get home in time to eat today's dinner, since today there's going to be cabbage and apple casserole, along with venison Orsimer!' thought Marie happily, for of all the dishes that they originated in Nirmnian cuisine, this was one of her favorites. Realizing that she now had knowledge of a place where her exit ticket was, the little dragon placed a hand to her chin and tried to think of how to get out of there, only to realize something... Where was the place with teleport circles?'

Marie had realized that she didn't know where that room was, which brought her back to the starting point of her escape plan, since she didn't know how to get out of here. So, feeling a bit dejected by that, the little dragon walked over and ended up arriving at where she had been before. When she was there, she sat down and closing her eyes, she began to think about how to escape from there.

Shock was plastered across Edzard's face, as his gaze remained locked on the two people who should have been dead for several years.

'As? How are they alive?' Those were the thoughts that were running through the Dovahkiin's mind, as he looked at those who were supposed to be his in-laws.

"I understand how you feel, brat. I felt the same way when I found out." Zakir said as he looked at the tubes filled with green liquid where Asia's two parents were.

"I-I don't get it. According to Asia's assumptions, they should be dead." Edzard pointed, who couldn't understand how Asia's parents were alive. After those words, the young dragon realized something else, something that had to do with his old family friend. Although he was still surprised and somewhat confused by what he was seeing, he remembered something. "Furball, answer me something… How? How in Akatosh's name did you know they were here?"

Edzard's question was asked in a simple, serious and above all demanding tone of voice, a tone of voice that indicated that its owner would not accept a stupid excuse.

Hearing Edzard's demand, the last Lilmothiit looked at his friend's son and sighed, realizing it was time to tell him everything. However, a part of him was a little worried, since he didn't know how the boy would take the answer he was about to receive.

"Okay, I'll tell you. But I want you to listen to the end before you even do or say anything. Understood?"

Hearing Zakir's question, the last Dovahkiin nodded.

When Zakir saw the answer, he nodded, and opening his mouth he prepared to speak. "Okay, I guess I should-"

Zakir's words were interrupted when a golden glow appeared out of nowhere and temporarily blinded the two heroes, who were forced to swing an arm each to cover their eyes while the glow lasted.

"Damn, that was annoying." Zakir pointed out as he removed the arm that he had used to cover his eyes. The moment he did, he saw a being in front of him, a being that he easily recognized.

Beside the Lilmothiit, the eyes of the son of Akatosh were fixed on a creature that seemed to be made of golden light, whose only physical form was golden armor heavily decorated with gold reliefs. This being was not a human, for he had four arms and a blade in each arm, along with a very unnatural presence, a presence that Edzard had come to know very well. In addition, that being gave off a magical sensation that he had felt years ago, so he was able to discern who it served.

'Shit! What is a daedra in the service of Meridia doing here?!' Edzard thought with a bit of concern, who quickly turned his body and brought his hand to his sword, preparing to fight with this daedra, but the moment he looked at him fixedly, he was surprised again, because the daedra spoke and the voice with which he did it was a voice that Edzard had heard in the past.

"My, I knew that even mortals who gain immortality don't stop being what they are… mere beasts with a bit of intelligence." The daedra said in a feminine voice, insulting the way Edzard had reacted.

"Th-that voice… Meridia?" Edzard asked, despite the insult, he wasn't irritated, he was surprised, which made him take his hand away from his sword, since he didn't expect a fucking Daedric prince to appear in front of him. In fact, hearing Meridia speak began to raise many alarms in his head, some of them being… How was it possible that she could speak so fluently and calmly in this world? Could Daedric princes easily manifest in this world? Those questions began to eat away at Edzard's mind, while worry and panic settled in his being, because if the Daedric princes could enter this world without restrictions, well, that was very worrying. Unfortunately, he could not continue thinking about it, because the Daedric prince of life spoke to him.

"That's right, Dovahkiin…. It's been... How many? Five mortal years?"

"I think it was four." Edzard replied after coming back to reality and counting the years that had passed since he went to Mount Kilkreath to kill Malkoran.

"Yes, you're right there were four."

"Why have you come all the way here?" asked Edzard, who kept looking at the Daedric prince, analyzing his movements to avoid some kind of surprise attack.

"Heh, heh, heh… that's easy…. Tell me, didn't you want answers about those mortals?" Meridia asked as she waved one of her arms and pointed at Asia's parents.

"Well yes, but... Wait!" Edzard said, understanding what the Daedric prince meant. After those words, he turned his head and looked at Zakir, who was looking away. "Do not tell me that…. Are you a champion of Meridia?"

The first response Alduin's brother got was silence, but after a few moments of this, the last Lilmothiit spoke.

"Yeah, brat. I am a champion of Meridia."

"But... why?" Edzard asked.

"That is easy." Meridia replied, getting Edzard's attention. "Do you remember who the Vestige fought?"

"Umm…. If I remember correctly, it was with Bal…. Ah…. I understand now…"

"That's right. I helped you all to defeat your enemies, especially that idiot Bal."

"I see... but what does that have to do with what's happening now?" Edzard asked.

"That's easy, brat. You asked me how I knew how your wife's parents were here, right?"

Edzard's response to that was a nod.

"The answer you were looking for is that Lady Meridia is the one who gave me this information." Zakir said, as he looked at the Daedric prince.

The Lilmothiit's response surprised Edzard, who quickly turned his head and looked at Meridia, confused as to how she knew this. So, wanting to know, he spoke. "Lady Merida…. How could you have known about this?"

"That's easy, little dragon. You see, the power of Nirm's mortals is something easy for us to detect, so one day I was bored with what I normally do, and I started to see what special things there were in the world of these beings they call devils. And to my great surprise I came across a familiar power source. That caused me some curiosity and I began to send my consciousness as close to that place. And you can't imagine my surprise to see a descendant of that Breton king's brother around here. Knowing that my champion is very attached to that family, I decided to tell him what was going on. After all, a dog always deserves a bone every once in a while, to keep it loyal."

When Meridia finished speaking, Edzard turned his head and looked at Zakir, seeing that he hadn't flinched at being called a dog.

'I guess hearing that for several centuries tends to make you not care what they call you,' Edzard thought as he continued to look at Zakir, only this time with a little pity, since, although Meridia was not one of the "eviler" Daedric princes, it was not exactly a sweet bun. This was because this prince had the fucking habit of turning some of his followers, enemies, and detractors into beings without free will. Fortunately, for Zakir, he wasn't one of those, otherwise he couldn't even speak like he normally does.

"Well, leaving that aside. I want to tell you why I have not turned you into a smoking piece of meat on the ground, son of Akatosh." Meridia said, thus drawing Edzard's attention.

Hearing her, Edzard just stood there, not moving, hardly even breathing. The reaction of the son of Akatosh was something natural for him, since he was not an idiot, since he knew that he was not strong enough to face a Daedric prince and his fight with the son of Molag Bal had confirmed it, his power was not yet high enough to defeat the son of a Daedric prince. Therefore, facing a prince was suicide.

"I have a small request for you… I want you to destroy all the armies that moron Molag Bal raises to attack this world."

When he heard the prince's request, Edzard was silent and confused for a good amount of time until he realized what was being asked of him. After that, he released an internal sigh, since he had not been asked to destroy a town in the name of Meridia, nor to do anything that goes against his principles.

'It seems that sometimes if I'm an idiot... how could I forget Meridia's unbridled hatred for the undead?' Edzard thought with an ironic smile in his mind because this was a unique opportunity, an opportunity to forge a kind of alliance with her. Although, the term alliance would be very ambiguous, since they tend to be very fickle, which makes alliances with them very difficult topics to deal with. Even so, he would not miss this opportunity, so, nodding his head, Edzard answered her. "Don't worry, I'll destroy any army that Bal sends into this world."

"Good. I'll be watching you in those battles. If you manage to do a good job, I might support you if you decide to attack Bal in his Oblivion plane." Meridia said, with some joy, because if there was something she enjoyed, it was destroying the undead that served Molag Bal and seeing how his plans were ruined.

Meridia's words caused Edzard to smile, since hearing that Kuoh's pact could possibly have Meridia as an ally was something hopeful for whatever happened in the future.

"Well, I'm leaving. I feel that some presences are approaching, and I do not want them to know of my existence, so I will leave here before they discover me. Until we meet again, Champion, son of Akatosh." Meridia said as the body with which she had appeared vanished from the place, leaving both heroes alone.

The Daedric prince's departure made the place fill with silence again, only this time it wasn't a tense silence, but a calmer one, which was broken by Edzard.

"So... what's it like to be a champion of a Daedric prince like Meridia?" Edzard asked as he looked at Zakir with some curiosity.

"Umm…. I do not know how to explain it." Zakir answered honestly as he put a hand to his chin. "The truth is, as long as she destroys the undead and necromancers, she lets me go free."

"Wow... that's... refreshing?" Edzard said with a roll of his eyes, for he hadn't expected a daedra to be so…lax about the freedom its champions had.

"Yeah...it's kind of weird, but even though she has a reputation for taking away free will, her way of dealing with mortals is a lot like Nocturnal's."

"I see... it's all about business." Edzard said, understanding what he meant.

"Yeah. Everything is a business. She provides me with valuable information and allows me to have a place to go if I want to disappear for a few years, while I in return destroy almost every undead, I come across."

After those words, the duo of heroes fell silent again, which did not last long, as they both smelled two scents, which grew stronger every second, something that indicated that they were getting closer to them.

When both scents became very strong, a voice spoke from behind them.

"Wow, I didn't think you guys could defeat Pluto, but it seems I was wrong." Said Thanatos, whose voice caused the two heroes to turn their heads and see that he had arrived along with another grim reaper.

"So, this is what Hades was hiding here." Said the other grim reaper, which, like Thanatos, had a very dark colored robe, something Edzard matched to a pattern to show which grim reapers were stronger.

"It seems that you did not know that your boss had this down here." Zakir pointed out with mockery in his voice.

"That's right. I guess Pluto did know about this, after all he was Hades' most loyal dog." Thanatos commented as he approached the tubes. "That would explain why he got so hysterical when he heard that there were intruders heading to this place."

As Thanatos walked towards the tubes, Edzard and Zakir subtly took their hands to their respective weapons, since they did not trust the grim reaper at all, so they wanted to be in a position that allows them to react quickly to any event.

"Ummm, this is weird… Hey, Orcus!" Thanatos yelled, causing the other grim reaper to look at him. "Come here a minute."

The grim reaper named Orcus began to float towards where Thanatos was and when he got to his side, he began to examine the tubes for a good amount of time. During that amount of time, both Edzard and Zakir were ready to attack at any moment. After a few minutes that felt like hours, Orcus finally spoke.

"Ummm… this is amazing… from the physical shape these two are in, it's possible they've been inside these pods for over fifteen years. Still, despite that long amount of time, it's amazing that they haven't died. Although, it's more than obvious that the man is in better condition than the woman, still, it's amazing." Orcus commented as he looked at the two humans asleep in the tubes. When he stopped seeing them, the grim reaper began to float around the place, ignoring everyone, until he finally reached a wall, where with a quick blow, a hole was present.

'Wow...' Edzard thought as he saw the precision Orcus had in making the hole.

"Typical Hades..." Orcus said as he reached into the hole and pulled out a folder full of papers. "Let's see…ummm…. I see…. So, it was this… Okay…"

"What did you discover?" Thanatos asked as he approached Orcus.

"A lot of things, but I'm afraid we'll have to talk about it somewhere else." Orcus replied, as he approached Edzard and Zakir. "I know that I have not presented myself as it should be. A pleasure, my name is Orcus, and I am an ultimate class Grim Reaper just like Pluto and Thanatos; Furthermore, I am also the leader of one of the three Grim Reaper factions currently in existence, the Moderates faction."

Orcus's words cleared up several of the two heroes' doubts about Orcus's identity, but also caused Edzard to have one more doubt, which was directed at the issue of grim reaper factions.

"My pleasure, Orcus. My name is Qahnaarin and the man next to me is called Sivaas." Edzard said, introducing himself as Zakir under false names, both names coming from the dragon language.

"I see, it's nice to meet you." Orcus said, then turned away from them and looked towards the tubes. "Before we leave, it would be best to take them out of those two capsules and take them with us."

"You're sure?" Edzard asked with some skepticism since he didn't know Orcus and still didn't know if he was trustworthy.

"Yes, that liquid is a compound that directly oxygenates the lungs of the two that are there, at the same time that it serves as a sedative, which keeps them asleep."

"That is a strong drug." Zakir commented, earning a look from Edzard who made a gesture that said something like: Really?

"Yes, it is a very powerful drug, so after they are released from those capsules, they will not wake up for a long time, so it would be convenient for them to be put in a hospital room." Orcus said as he approached the tubes. "For now, it will be best to go to my palace, so that we can chat there, while my most loyal servants check these two, to rule out any problems. What do you think?"

Orcus's question caused Edzard and Zakir to look at each other, then speak to each other using the language of Tamriel.

"Do you think they are trustworthy?" Edzard asked, glancing sideways at the two Grim reapers.

"I don't know, but we don't know much about whatever has been going on with Marcoryan and his wife." Zakir replied, frowning under his mask. "I think we should let them check them... if things get ugly, we should use all our power to eliminate them quickly..."

"Okay…" Edzard said as he clenched and unclenched his fist for a few seconds before approaching the tubes. When he was in front of them, Akatosh's son spoke, but without looking at anyone. "We must get them out of there, right?"

"That's how it is." Orcus replied.

"Good."

Crack!

A loud crack was present as Edzard moved his hand towards the tube and dug the fingers of his hand into it, creating a large crack which ran through the object from head to toe. With a light squeeze of that hand, the glass ended up shattering in an instant, releasing several liters of the liquid it contained. Asia's father's body did not touch the ground, because while he was breaking the glass, Edzard had conjured a golden ball, which kept Marcoryan's body suspended in the air.

Edzard's action caused the two grim reapers to look at the young dragon in astonishment, for what he had done was something they did not think was possible.

'Those crystals had a very powerful barrier as the first layer of protection, in addition, said barrier was also on the inside of the crystal, which made these crystals almost unbreakable objects.' Orcus thought with a little fear when he saw what just happened.

'How could he destroy a barrier that has been created by a god? Even I would have to make use of a great deal of power and my scythe to even break it.' Thanatos thought as he looked at Edzard analytically. 'He didn't show that ability in our short battle…'

'Not bad, brat.' Zakir thought with amusement as he saw how the two grim reapers reacted to seeing what Edzard had done. 'Using a highly overloaded form of «dispel magic» to corrode part of the barrier protecting those tubes and then quickly putting strong pressure on the glass to cause it to crack, thus creating a weakness in that barrier…. A good idea, because you are just non-verbally told those two that if they piss you off, they might end up dying…'

After that movement, Edzard repeated it, only this time he did it with the tube that held Asia's mother captive, freeing her, and making her float next to her husband. When the two were together, Akatosh's son conjured two cloaks and wrapped them in them, thus covering their modesty. After walking a few steps, Zakir approached him and approaching Marcoryan, he signaled to Edzard, who understood what he meant. So, walking to where his mother-in-law was, he canceled the spell. That caused the bodies of Asia's parents to fall, but they never touched the ground, as Zakir and Edzard caught them.

"That's it." Edzard said as he approached the grim reapers along with Zakir.

"W-well…" Orcus said with some discomfort from what he had witnessed not long ago. When Edzard, Zakir, and Thanatos reached his side, he waved his hand and cast a magic circle at the feet of those present.

The magic circle began to glow purple and slowly began to rise, swallowing those above it slowly. When the circle reached Edzard's waist, he moved a hand quickly, thereby snapping his fingers at him.

That action caused the whole place to be filled with small magical runes, which went unnoticed by the grim reapers. When the magic circle finished engulfing them all, they were teleported out of that place, which was quickly consumed by hundreds of explosions, which came from the explosive runes that Edzard had previously conjured.

"Buchou… W-w-what did you say?" asked Issei, who was caught in surprise and shock at what he just heard. "M-my parents…?"

Rias's first response to the question had been silence, not wanting to confirm the news to Issei. However, a few seconds later, she finally answered him.

"That's right, Ise…" Rias replied with some fear and worry in her voice, as she was afraid how he would take it. "T-they have been kidnapped by some guys who were dressed as exorcists."

When those words finished coming out of Rias's mouth, panic took over Issei, who, in less than a second, shot towards the door, taking everyone by surprise.

"Ise!" Rias yelled, seeing her pawn run away.

"Buchou!" Kiba yelled, as he prepared to run after Issei.

"Yes, let's go!" Rias yelled as she and the rest, including Kunou, came out of that house and began to chase after Issei.

The current Sekiryuutei's steps were fast, much faster than they normally were. And that was thanks to the large amount of adrenaline running through his body at this moment. The young devil ran through the streets, jumped over various fences, and even jumped onto the roofs of houses, to move faster through the streets of Kuoh.

"Amazing, I never saw Issei-kun do that kind of thing." Kiba commented as he watched Issei move acrobatically across the rooftops.

"Y-yes..." Akeno added, who was looking at Issei with concern.

"Issei-senpai seems to move like he's a different person." Koneko pointed, who was watching as Issei jumped into an alley and as he fell, he did a deadly spin, then leaned on one of the walls and pushed himself to reach another of the roofs.

"He moves like Edzard, when he's training." Kunou said, drawing the attention of the ORC members.

"What?" Irina asked in surprise, causing her to trip and nearly fall to the ground. Fortunately, she managed to stabilize herself and keep running.

"Edzard has an obstacle course for training. All the members of his group practice there." Kunou replied, as she was reminded of the obstacle course, or the «Funny Turns Course» as Marie called it.

"How is that obstacle course?" Ravel asked curiously, as she wanted to know what the place was like that those monsters, called like that in her mind not because they were terrifying evil beings, but because they were very strong, used to train.

"Well, it's about a hundred kilometers long, and it's made up of four sections, all of which go through various terrains…. As I remember from when Ma-chan convinced me to play there for a while, there is a section on flat ground, another on a hill, another on a mountain and one in a swamp. But that's not all, that place is full of traps, such as dart throwers and hollows with spears that threaten to impale you and stuff. When I went there with Ma-chan, Edzard had removed those things and put foam-lined weapons so we wouldn't hurt each other.

"What-?" Rias asked upon learning the configuration of that obstacle course. However, after remembering everything that the little Kitsune had told her, she realized something. "You and little Marie ran through a track full of death traps?!"

Rias's scream caused everyone, from Kiba, to Issei himself, who managed to hear that, to stumble and fall to the ground in a spectacular way. That action, however improvised and foolish, was taken advantage of by Kiba, who managed to get back up quickly and using his speed, managed to get to where Issei was, who was taking a long time to get up thanks to the fact that he had fallen from the roof of a house.

"Let go of me, Kiba!" Issei yelled as he struggled, trying to break free from the grip of Rias Gremory's knight, who was fighting with everything he had to keep his friend in check.

"Ise, stop!" Rias yelled, who began to run to where Issei was, completely forgetting what Kunou had told her about the place where Edzard and his group trained. When she got to his side, she knelt and placing her hand on Issei's right cheek, she tried to calm him down. "Ise, I know it's hard to hear, but you won't achieve anything if you just run aimlessly."

"B-b-but…"

"Rias-sama is right, Issei-sama." Said Ravel, who had also approached Issei and with her were all the other girls. "You won't be able to do anything without a good plan."

"I know... but I can't sit still knowing that they have been kidnapped." Issei said as he clenched his fists in frustration.

"We understand you, but I don't understand why you think we'll stay put now that we know your parents have been kidnapped." Said Akeno moving closer to Issei.

"Akeno-senpai is right." Koneko said, patting Issei on his head, then putting on a smile. "We will help you, Issei-senpai."

"That's right." the rest of the girls said in unison, putting on the best smiles they could put on now.

"I-I-I…thank you." Said Issei, as he felt tears begin to form in his eyes.

After those words, Kiba released Issei and holding out a hand, helped him up.

'They really are very good friends…' Kunou thought with a smile upon seeing them. When she saw that they were separating, she walked over to them.

When the devils saw Kunou arrive, they quickly let Rias speak, since now that Issei was calmer, it was time for them to think about what to do to rescue Issei's parents.

"Now that Ise is calmer, what do we do?" Rias asked, looking at those who were accompanying her at this time.

"We must know everything about what is happening." Akeno responded quickly.

"Yes, we must know everything. Although Yasaka-sama's daughter has told us everything she has heard, it is necessary to be able to access more information. As well as the capacity to have resources for something as delicate as a rescue operation." Ravel commented, drawing Rias' attention.

"You are right, Ravel. I'll contact my brother to find out what's going on, I'm sure he will help us." Rias responded quickly, and a moment later conjured a magic circle into her ear and used it to call out to her brother. However, to her surprise, she did not hear any response from him.

"This is weird…" Rias said, drawing the attention of those next to her.

"What's wrong, Rias?" Akeno asked with concern.

"My brother doesn't answer my call." Rias replied, causing Akeno, Kiba, Koneko, and Gasper to be greatly astonished.

"A-a-a-are you sure about that?" asked Kiba, whose eyes were wide.

"Yes, I've been calling him, but he doesn't answer. And not only that, I can't communicate with Grayfia either." Rias replied, once again causing surprise to settle in them.

"This is unheard of…" Ravel said as her mind tried to process what was happening. "Sirzechs-sama is known as an extreme siscon, so it's impossible for him not to answer his sister's call…"

Ravel's words caused Rias to feel frustrated, as it was true. Whenever she called her brother, he didn't take a second to answer her…. But now…. Shaking her head, the Gremory heiress decided to make another call, to people she knew would respond immediately. So, wasting no time, she quickly called and to her relief, they answered.

"Dad, mom." Rias said, drawing the attention of her fellow devils, Irina and Kunou. "You can tell Onii-sama that I need to talk to him urgently."

The circle in Rias's ear flashed again, causing Rias to frown.

"How come he's not available to anyone for a few hours?" Rias asked as her frown became more noticeable. "Please tell him that I need him to contact me soon."

The circle glowed again, but unlike what she heard earlier, what she heard now made her angry.

"How come until further notice I'm not allowed to communicate with him?!" Rias screamed startling her companions, who looked on in astonishment as Sirzechs's sister raised a hand to her mouth and began biting her thumbnail anxiously.

After that scream, the magic circle in Rias's ear disappeared, causing everyone to look at Rias, who had a face that showed that she was downcast.

"Rias? What happened?" Akeno asked, moving closer to her king.

"Apparently my brother has ordered that I not be able to contact him until further notice." Rias answered, surprising those present, but not only that, but when she spoke again, her next words ended up confusing those who heard her even more. "Not only that, it seems that Sona won't be able to communicate with her sister either."

"What?!" All the devils present shouted because they did not expect that.

"Rias… A-a-are you sure about that?" Akeno asked worriedly, moving closer to her king.

"Yes, my mother told me that and it also seems to be confirmed by the fact that my brother doesn't answer me, despite the fact that I have called him more than once."

"That's bad... How will we find Issei-sama's parents without Lucifer-sama's help?" Ravel asked with some panic.

Ravel's question once again caused a silence among those present, since their first option had been to ask the maous for help, but it seemed that now that idea should be discarded. So, beginning to think of some way to find the place where Issei's parents should be, they all looked at Kunou, who reacted by looking at them with confusion.

"Kunou-chan…" Rias said, approaching the little kitsune. "Did you hear where the exorcists were?"

The little Kitsune stood still for a few seconds, as she put her hand to her chin. Closing her eyes, she began to think, trying to remember what she heard. As she waited, her tails flicked back and forth, finally coming to an abrupt stop at the very moment her eyes opened again.

"I already remembered!" Kunou yelled with a smile. "My Hahaue mentioned to Asia-san all the places where there are enemy bases."

Kunou's response caused those present to smile, because despite not having been able to get the support of Rias's brother, they now had a bit of information about the possible places where Issei's parents were. However, when they heard Kunou's words about the locations, all the joy of knowing the place where those rogue exorcists were hiding was gone, as the information given to them by the Yasaka heiress was very vague about the exact location of each of them.

"The locations are in very wide areas to be able to know where we should go." Xenovia pointed out after hearing Kunou's words.

"If, in addition, we do not have much time to rake all the places." Irina commented while she had a hand on her chin, thinking about how to solve this.

They all nodded, agreeing with Irina's words, because every second that passed increased the chances that Issei's parents would die. Before someone says anything though...

"What if we go to Edzard-sama's group and convince them to broadcast what happened to Issei-senpai's parents to get help?" Gasper asked, drawing everyone's attention. The way everyone started looking at him caused the Dhampir to get a little scared, but to the surprise of many, he didn't startle like before, instead he just stood there looking at them all with a bit of discomfort.

"That... is a good idea." Said Rias, who was watching with a smile as her bishop began to look more self-assured.

"Okay, we already have a plan. So, shall we go?" asked Issei, who had remained silent to allow his friends to come up with a plan, since he was not in the best state of mind for it.

"Yeah. We leave immediately." Rias replied as he looked at Akeno who responded with a nod. However, before anyone moved a single muscle, Kunou's voice stopped them.

"I also want to go."

The words that came out of Kunou's mouth surprised everyone, as they did not expect her to say something like that.

Coming out of her stupor, Rias started to approach her and when she was next to her, she knelt.

"Kunou-chan..., This is very dangerous, and we don't want you to get hurt, so-"

Rias's words were interrupted when the little Kitsune frowned and yelled, causing everyone to jump.

"No! I'm going too!" Kunou yelled with great conviction as she looked at Rias, daring her to say no. "Not only are Issei-san's parents there, but it's also possible that Ma-chan is there. I can't stay still while she's in danger."

The way the little girl yelled, along with the conviction in her eyes, made the devils and the reincarnated angel look at her in surprise.

"Are you sure, Kunou-chan?" asked Irina, approaching Yasaka's daughter.

"Yes. I want to go with you."

After those words, the devils and Irina began to talk among themselves, debating whether it was wise to take the heir of one of the pact leaders with them on a mission like this. However, they knew that she would not take no for an answer, so the talks were more focused to see who would protect her. In the end, they concluded that the ones defending her and serving as her bodyguard should be Koneko, Ravel, and Gasper.

Once Yasaka's daughter was informed of that decision, she smiled and approached the three who would act as her bodyguards. Giving them a curtsey, she vowed not to be a hindrance. After that, everyone gathered and creating a magic circle, Akeno placed the destination of the teleportation spell in the Italian Alps, hoping that they would end up in a place close to where the enemy base was.

"Everyone stands your ground-! AGHHH!" The words of one of the renegade exorcists were interrupted when his body was engulfed by lightning, which came from Asia's outstretched hand.

The poor exorcist's body tried in vain to resist the power of the lightning, but he couldn't do anything before the spell, which turned his body into a pile of ashes.

"Marick!" another exorcist yelled as he saw how his friend was turned to dust. After witnessing that, the exorcist glared at Asia and Edzard's group, which was destroying all the exorcists who approached them. "Damn whore!"

After that cry, the exorcist lunged at Asia and tried to impale her with his sword, but when he came within meters of the Dovahkiin's wife, she dodged the incoming attack, which was a thrust aimed at her heart. After seeing how his attack was dodged, the exorcist couldn't do anything else, because Asia caught him by the neck and quickly lifted him off the ground, threw him into the air and before he fell, decapitated him with just the movement of «Anseichim».

Blood splattered from the exorcist's neck, but it didn't dirty Asia, who after that, turned and watched as her companions efficiently killed all their enemies. Aika, Rossweisse, and Ingvild used elemental spells to quickly kill several exorcists, denying them the ability to counterattack with their weapons. For their part, Lint and Mittelt threw spears of light, impaling the exorcists who tried to leave the room trying to go to another place. Finally, Valerie was using shadow tentacles to pierce through the hearts of her enemies, killing them instantly.

"How many are we already killing?" Aika asked as she approaches Asia.

"We are already eliminating more than a hundred exorcists and they do not stop coming out." Replied Ingvild, who was looking at the entire place, which was full of corpses.

"How much of the enemy base do you think we've mapped?" asked Asia, who was looking at the corpses with a mixture of sorrow and pity. This was because, even though they had dared to kidnap her daughter, she couldn't completely hate them…. It was almost as if her very being refused to do it entirely. When she realized that, she quickly shook her head, trying to clear any trace of pity she might have now, since it was necessary for her to focus on what she had come here to do... rescue her daughter and she would do that regardless of the number of enemy dead that accumulate.

"Not much by the looks of it." Answered Rossweisse, who had a magic circle in her ear. "It seems that the other teams are in the same situation as us."

"I see…. It seems that these bases are larger than planned." Commented Mittelt, who was next to Lint.

"I guess it's because there are several underground floors." Lint pointed out, who was looking at the place, noting if there were any enemies in the shadows.

"Yes, in this place there are about seven floors down and then there is a kind of bridge." Valerie said, holding up a hand and letting a bat perch there. "The lower floors are full of exorcists, but there is nothing but both training and living rooms."

After the Dhampir's words, the bat turned into a shadow and entered Valerie's body, who only moved her shoulders before looking at her friends.

"Good. We have already scouted a part of the place and have a count of the enemy forces, so let's continue." Asia said as she started to run, heading towards one of the passageways in the place.

The other girls looked at Asia and without thinking twice, followed her.

The girls' steps were fast, because they couldn't waste time, so they began to go down the floors that made up this part of the enemy fortress. On each floor they went down they met with enemy resistance, which was presented by some exorcists.

"Keep shooting! Don't let them advance!"

"AGHHHH!"

"My leg!"

"Stefan!"

The screams of the exorcists rose above the sounds of their pistols, which fired round after round of light bullets. These bullets moved at great speed, but being constructions made of light magic, they were useless against the barriers that the women had erected to defend themselves. Fortunately, from time to time the exorcists had to stop shooting, something that was taken advantage of by the girls, who attacked them as soon as they had an opening to achieve direct attacks.

"Take this!" Aika yelled as she moved her left hand to create a magic circle, as her other hand was busy creating a barrier-type magic circle. The magic circle created by Lavinia's apprentice glowed for an instant, and then released a large wind scythe, which quickly went towards a group of exorcists, who, seeing the attack, quickly jumped to the side to dodge it. However, to their bad luck, the attack was very fast and only two managed to get out of there, while the other six were cut in half, spilling their entrails and blood on the ground.

"Damn, they are very strong." Said one of the two exorcists who had escaped.

"You're ri- Damian, move!" The other exorcist who had dodged Aika's attack interrupted what she was initially going to say thanks to the fact that she saw Valerie appearing above them.

The Dhampir dropped and with a quick movement caught both exorcists by the face, to then throw them against another group of exorcists, who were planning to attack Mittelt from behind. When both groups collided, she summoned her wings and moving them, she appeared above them and with a wave of her hand, created a sword of darkness. The Dhampir rammed that sword into the ground, causing spears of darkness to appear in a twenty-foot radius from her position, impaling any enemy standing there.

"Don't think I'll thank you for this." Mittelt said with a smile, then created a spear of pink light, which she threw towards an exorcist who was trying to flee to the lower floor, impaling his head and killing him instantly.

"Sure, when this is over… do you want to go to France for some pies?" Valerie asked with a smile, as she walked past the fallen angel.

"No problem." Mittelt answered putting on a smile as well, and then starting to move, since she had more exorcists to kill than in the previous floors.

While Valerie and Mittelt agreed to go out for a meal, Lint was dueling six exorcists at once. Her sword moved masterfully as she deflected all the enemy attacks, while every so often she had to move acrobatically to dodge one or the other attack.

Lint's sword swung in a perpendicular fashion, slashing one of the exorcists from hip to shoulder, killing him instantly. However, after finishing off that enemy, she did not stay still, but instead, taking advantage of the inertia of the attack, she turned on her own axis and taking out her pistol, she quickly fired several shots, which hit the exorcists who were surrounding her, killing them on the spot.

When she stopped, she was about to move, but stopped when she felt someone coming up behind her. Quickly turning her body around, Lint prepared to fight and glad she did, as she saw an exorcist desperately rushing at her, using his sword as if it were a spear.

The speed with which that exorcist moved was ridiculously slow for Lint, who was used to seeing Edzard move at high speed during their joint training, so as she watched him running, she saw that this man was completely scared, therefore, she decided to put him out of his misery, so, pointing her pistol at him, she quickly shot him in the head. Her shot caused the human's body to fall backwards, drawing the attention of other exorcists, who began to surround her, causing her to sigh before turning towards them again.

'This seems to never end... but hey, they asked for it.' Lint thought as she took her sword and after crossing it over her pistol, charged towards the exorcists. As she ran towards her enemies, she would fire her pistol and use her sword to deflect the bullets that were coming at her.

While Lint struck fear into the hearts of her enemies using her abilities, Rossweisse and Ingvild did their thing using their spells to kill all the exorcists they set their sights on.

"Take this!" Ingvild yelled as she conjured a water dragon, which moved towards a group of five exorcists, engulfing them all, then crashing into a wall, leaving them battered and drenched. "Rossweisse-sensei, now!"

The voice of the half-devil was heard by the Valkyrie, who moved her right hand and created a magic circle, from which came a powerful lightning bolt, which impacted the exorcists, who ended up dying and turning into ashes. However, the Valkyrie's attack did not end there, for from the corner of her eye she saw that several exorcists were moving around the place. So, she without thinking twice, created seven magic circles and launched a barrage of mid-level spells, thus killing all the exorcists who tried to move.

When the attack ended, the Valkyrie approached the half-devil, and together they saw how almost all the exorcists in this room were already dead.

"This is incredible…" said Ingvild, who watched as her companions finished killing the remaining exorcists. "I didn't think there would be so many exorcists around this place."

"I understand you, In. This place seems to have a huge number of exorcists. And we are already killing more than four hundred of them and we still have two more floors to go down."

"And don't forget that this fortress has two structures, so there are still more places to clear." Ingvild said, earning a nod from the Valkyrie, who was about to say something, but was interrupted when the last ten exorcists left alive were killed thanks to Asia's spell. Said spell was a golden sphere, which expelled hundreds of beams of golden light, which destroyed the bodies of the exorcists until they disappeared.

"…. Looks like this is over now…" Ingvild said as she watched as there were no exorcists left alive in the area.

After those words of the half-devil, she and Rossweisse began to go to where Asia was, an action that was imitated by the rest of the girls.

When they were all together, they started to chat a bit before leaving, since they had to go over the strategy, while exchanging information with the other groups. When the exchange of information ended, they began to move towards the other lower rooms, to reach the other building.

"This is impossible!" shouted one of the masked men leading the splinter group of exorcists as he watched on one of the security cameras as his subordinates were eliminated with chilling efficiency by members of Edzard's group.

"We were supposed to contact her to force her to join us! She shouldn't know the location of our base!" shouted another of the leaders of this group.

"Not only that." said another of the leaders, who was unusually very calm.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm afraid our other bases are also being attacked by various groups, which obviously belong to the Kuoh pact."

"T-this is impossible… yes… this is a lie…. A nightmare…. Ha…. Ha, ha, ha-"

The leader who had initially started to speak began to laugh desperately, something that began to scare his companions, as they saw that their ally had gone crazy, since he was in a very deep state of denial.

"Damn idiot, calm down!" yelled one of the leaders as he got up and grabbed his companion by the tunic, to proceed to slap him twice, which achieved his goal, as the leader began to stop laughing.

"What? What happened?" the leader asked as he regained his lucidity.

"You went crazy knowing what was happening." Answered the leader who best kept calm despite what was happening.

"How can you stay calm with what's going on?! Can't you see that everything we had planned is going to shit before we can start the plan?!"

"Yeah, I see it. But they forget something…" said the leader, leaving his words suspended as a way of forcing his companions to remember everything they had planned for this type of situation.

Silence reigned in the room, while the monitors continued to show how the subordinates of these guys kept dying like flies before the relentless assault of Asia and the rest of the girls. After several seconds, they finally managed to remember what they had planned for this moment.

"True…. We can do that…" said one of the leaders, remembering the panic protocol that had been installed for these moments.

"Yes, but... is it safe to do it?" asked another leader, who had been the one who had lost his head for a few seconds.

"There are risks, it is possible that half of the entire building we are in will be completely unusable."

"So, it seems like it's good that we're in a place that's completely safe." Said the last leader of the exorcists, who got up and looking at his companions nodded.

The rest of the leaders looked at each other one last time before nodding as well.

After that confirmation of intentions, the leaders stood up and extending their hands, they formed a kind of circle with them. When this circle was formed, a magic circle appeared below them, which began to shine brightly.

"I hope she can survive, as we will need her for the next parts of the plan." A leader said as he looked at his companions, who nodded.

"Yes, although seeing how powerful she is, it's very likely that she will."

"That's right, once this is over, send the squads of those who received that serum to capture them."

"You're sure?"

"Of course…. This is a golden opportunity." A leader responded. "Don't you see, they have sent the entire squad that is the vanguard against the daedras, if we capture them, we will have seven bitches that are between the High-class and Supreme-class devil power levels, which we can use as a lever of change to control the true monster that team has…"

The words of this leader left his companions completely perplexed, but they came to their senses not long after, and when they understood the meaning of their companion's words, they smiled, for they saw the opportunity that was being presented to them.

"Well then... shall we begin?"

The other leaders nodded, and all closed their hands, as they had been open. As their fists clenched, the magic circle glowed for the last time before it dissipated.

"Well, let's get comfortable while we watch the fireworks."

Marie was quietly sitting in the corner of her cell, waiting for the perfect moment to escape. However, it seemed that she had bad luck, because until now nothing had happened that would allow her to escape.

"Booo…. This is boring…" Marie said as she pouted, because she was very bored of sitting in the same place. "My butt is cold from sitting here."

After those words, the little dragon continued to look at the cold walls that made up her cell, which hadn't changed at all since she woke up. Sighing, Edzard's daughter was about to close her eyes and try to get some sleep, but to her surprise, her sensitive ears picked up something strange.

"Umm…. What is that... sounds like... How gears?" asked Marie, who got up and searched for the source of the sound. Unfortunately, she realized that the sound was coming from a faraway place.

Seeing that she couldn't see where that sound came from, the little dragon looked at the wall and sighed, for it seemed like she couldn't see if there was anything interesting around here. However, when she was about to head to where she had previously been, she stopped short, as she felt something vibrate.

'What is this?' the little dragon thought with curiosity and confusion, but it was something that did not last long, because a second later the whole place shook from one side to the other, causing her to fall to the ground.

Marie's vision began to blur a bit, because when she fell, she hit her head on the ground, causing a small wound to appear on her forehead. The small wound caused a small line of blood to fall from her head. However, as much as she wanted to pay attention to her wound, she couldn't, because the place began to shake very strongly, causing the little dragon's body to move across the floor from one side to the other. This made her look like a billiard ball, as she began to hit the walls on several occasions.

Despite the fact that her vision had become blurred, Marie could see that a kind of gray sand began to sprout from the intersections where the amalgam that joined the gray stone blocks was, something that indicated that the material used was not of very good quality; However, Marie could not think much about it, because from one moment to the next the movement of the cell stopped abruptly, but only to give way to a kind of sensation of being crushed to the ground by some kind of invisible force.

"Aghhh…" Marie growled as she felt her small body being crushed by an invisible force, which stopped abruptly a few seconds later.

When the little dragon felt that the place was no longer moving, she tried to get up, but as she did so, a thunderous sound caught her attention. That sound came from the ceiling, so she looked up at the ceiling, or at least that's what she tried to do, but after that sound, the place trembled again, making her must fight to keep her balance.

So intent was she on keeping her balance that she didn't notice the ceiling fragment and begin to fall.

"Argk-" was the only sound Marie could make as one of the debris hit her head, causing the blackness to take her mind, causing her to fall face-first to the ground.

The ceiling of the cell continued to fall, filling the cell with rubble that ended up completely covering the place.

Author's note:

To those who have made it this far, Thanks for reading. Because being honest, I don't know how to write much in English and I'm relying on Google translators and the dictionaries that come with office 2019.

And here is chapter 60!

First, an apology for taking so long, but as I said before, the university brought me the dates of exams and submission of work earlier and I didn't have much time, I was only free after July 30, the day I went on vacation. However, to my bad luck, I only had two weeks of vacation, so I already went back to university. Well, let's put that aside.

We see that Asia's parents are alive and that Zakir is Meridia's champion, along with an apparition of Meridia herself, which shows that Daedric Princes can easily go to Draconic Deus. The reason why Dagon and Bal don't enter the fight themselves, is more than anything, simple ego, and pride. For them, the resistance, and attacks of the Kuoh pact are only annoyances, slight setbacks, so they do not attack much, because for them the enemy to defeat is the other.

We also see that the battle in the exorcist base is progressing, and that Issei and the rest are going there. Although I wanted to reveal a lot of things in this chapter, I have decided to leave them for later chapters.

Well, I apologize for any misspelling. Do not forget to leave a review if you liked the chapter or if there is something that needs to be improved or if you have any questions about the story. Also, any constructive advice is welcome. With nothing more to say, until the next chapter.