AN: Hey Guys and welcome to the sixth chapter of "Switching Sides"

I want to thank those who Followed, Favorited and Reviewed the story so far :)

The poll regarding the harem members will be closed down next chapter so make sure to vote for the two additions you want to see in the harem.

I also want to address something very important regarding my stories as it came to my attention that some readers are criticizing other readers for their opinions about my stories which I do not appreciate at all.

Everyone have a right to express their opinion regardless of if it's a bad one or a good one so please don't criticize people just because they like or don't like my stories or certain elements in it.

If anyone has a question regarding anything about my stories, then you can feel free to PM me and I will gladly answer your questions as long as you keep it civil.

Now, without further ado here is the next chapter. Enjoy!

"..." Talking

'...' Thoughts

*...* Actions i.e Yawning and Sighing

(...) Flashback and time skips

["..."] Talking through the Sacred Gear

['...'] Talking in the Host mind

[...] Sacred Gear Actions and modes

{..} Sacred Gear Mentions

(Three Weeks Later...)

It has been three weeks since Issei met his new team which consisted of Vali, Le Fay, Kuroka, Arthur, and Bikou. During those three weeks, Issei and his team went on several missions such as eliminating monsters who were a threat to the Hero Faction as well as retrievement and recruitment missions in order to retrieve Longinus or recruit their possessors to the Hero Faction.

They were currently waiting for Cao Cao who was supposed to meet them in the main hall to brief them about their upcoming mission which the latter exclaimed to be crucial for the Hero Faction.

While they waited, Issei thought about the missions he's been through with his team and how they were affecting their growing bond.

One of those missions was to steal one of the artificial Sacred Gears that Azazel made from the Grigori which was a very special mission for Issei because this mission allowed him to see one of his teammates in a whole new light.

(Flashback)

Issei and his team were currently infiltrating the Grigori headquarters in order to retrieve the artificial Sacred Gear Cao Cao asked them to steal.

Much to their dismay they barely had any information about the Sacred Gear other than how it's supposed to look which was described by Cao Cao as a sword with a mixture of light and darkness. Cao Cao did not tell them why exactly he required this sword, but they figured out that if he asked them to retrieve it, then it most have some high significance to the Hero Faction, so they decided not to question his motives further and just agreed to the mission.

They were about to enter the building when Le Fay suddenly stopped them.

"Wait! Before you enter, please let me cast a spell on you so you won't be easily discovered by any sort of surveillance Azazel-sama might have placed" Le Fay asked her team politely with a small smile on her face from being able to help her team avoid detection thus making them safer.

"Thanks, Le Fay," Issei weakly said as he matched the blonde's sincere smile with one of his own, making Le Fay to blush.

While it has been a week and a half since Issei joined the team he still did not talk to them a lot and resorted to staying quiet unless the situation required otherwise.

But Issei had an exception for his behavior. This exception was a certain blonde magician he promised never to let her be sad, so he did his very best despite his mental state and always tried to talk to Le Fay and praise her but despite praising her to make her happy he also found her abilities very intriguing and cool meaning his praises were sincere.

"Please refrain from moving while I cast the spell," Le Fay asked as she took her wand and started to chant a spell on the others.

"Okay I am done now" Le Fay said a few minutes after she started the spell, making everyone but Arthur who already knew this spell to raise an eyebrow in confusion as they did not feel any difference at all which was later changed as their mouths were agape when they looked at their hands and saw that their hands were almost completely transparent which meant that the spell was a success and they were now invisible.

"Let me explain how the spell works. You can see each other, but people who were not cast with the spell cannot see you" Le Fay explained.

"Good job Le Fay!" Vali had praised the blonde before her face retorted into a serious expression as she motioned for everyone else to come closer to her so she could start to detail their plan.

"Ok listen up! We are going to infiltrate the lab where Azazel creates his Sacred Gears. Stay behind me and under no circumstances break the formation since we do not know what kind of security Azazel has in this place since I know how much he values his creations you can expect an high-leveled security" Vali explained while everyone listened closely, making sure they did not miss a single detail the silver-haired girl told them because they knew that if they did then they could find themselves in a very dangerous position.

Instead of replying they all kept quiet and nodded instead when Vali finished explaining the plan.

"Ok then...Let's do this" Vali said before she and the others entered the building.

Vali and the others were roaming around the building to find the lab where the sword is stored, but so far they did not find anything except for some Sacred Gears which were described by Vali as "Abominations that shouldn't have been created," Making the others sweatdrop.

They were at the upper level of the building when they suddenly heard two people talk which made them all panic before they remembered that they cannot be seen thanks to Le Fay's spell.

"That's sounds delicious! I will definitely give it a try the next time I travel to France" One of the people said which made Vali tense up as he recognized the voice.

"Vali what's wrong?" Issei who was right behind Vali asked in worry after seeing the silver-haired girl tense up.

"I-I know this voice...That's Tobio. He grew up with me in the Grigori. We were like brother and sister back then" Vali explained as she started to sweat bullets upon remembering the boy who was like a brother to her.

Issei frowned upon hearing what Vali said as he started to feel pity for her when he realized that she might have to face against Tobio who she considered being like a brother to her.

Issei placed his hand on Vali's shoulder, surprising her from the sudden contact before he leaned on and spoke gently into her ear in order to assure the girl as well as not to be heard by Tobio and the other person.

"I know what you probably feel right now, but it's going to be ok...We are not going to hurt them unless we have too and even then we will only fight them in order to stall time until we retrieve the sword" Issei said which made Vali to visibly calm down after hearing the assuring words of the brunette she loved.

"Thank you Issei, I appreciate it," She said thankfully.

Issei did not reply and instead focused on Tobio and the other person who was still unknown to them which made them a bit afraid since his aura was one of sheer power.

"You should. I might tag along with you so I could find more cuisines" The unknown person replied to Tobio.

"I'm looking forward to that Dulio," Tobio said, and upon the mention of Dulio, The strongest Exorcist, Vali froze in horror.

"D-Dulio?! What the hell is he doing here?" Vali asked in bewilderment as dread started to fill her, making her team confused as to why she was so shocked by the appearance of Dulio.

"Vali what's wrong? Why are you so scared of this Dulio person?" Issei asked in confusion as he was not used to seeing Vali reacting that way to her opponents.

"Dulio is no one to joke about...He is the strongest Exorcist to ever exist as well as the possessor of the second most powerful Longinus, The Zenith Tempest, which from what Azazel told me can control the weather and the elemental attributes that exist in nature" Vali explained, making everyone match her shocked expression.

They were starting to wonder how they could face such strong opponent like Dulio if they were to be found out. No one uttered a single word, but one thought ran through everyone's mind at that moment.

'We have to find this sword as soon as possible, or we'll be dead.'

They were about to start moving when they suddenly saw Tobio looking at them intently which made them gulp nervously.

"Hey Dulio, I smell something weird over there," Tobio said as he pointed at the direction of Vali and the others who sweated bullets by now as the possibility of them being discovered became close to reality in every passing second.

"Now that you mention it, I do sense a weird aura in the air," Dulio said after realizing that something was indeed off.

Being the possessor of a Longinus that can control the weather and elements of the nature he knew exactly how those felt and this air was not the usual air he felt, this air was filled with new and unknown auras which made him curious as well as impressed that whoever possessed those auras managed to hide it from them until now.

He matched Tobio's gaze and looked straight at the transparent Vali and the rest of her team before he suddenly lifted his hand and pointed it towards them before a bolt of lightning erupted from his hand and towards Le Fay who stood idle in her place despite noticing the bolt of lightning that was heading her way.

She closed her eyes and prepared for her demise which never came as she noticed Issei looming over her with his left hand which was covered by his gauntlet stretched out towards the incoming lightning bolt.

"Issei..." Le Fay said as tears started to appear in her eyes when she realized that Issei just saved her from certain death.

Issei did not respond and instead just looked at Le Fay with a tender smile, thankful that he managed to save her.

"Well Well... Who might you all be?" Dulio asked in a carefree voice as he gazed at the now visible Team Vali when he suddenly heard Tobio gasp in astonishment.

"V-Vali?! What the hell are you doing here?" Tobio asked in astonishment as he saw his figurative sister standing right in front of him while looking at him intently which surprised him since he never saw Vali this serious before.

"We came here to retrieve something" Vali deadpanned vaguely, making both Dulio and Tobio's curiosity to increase.

"Oh? And what exactly do you wish to retrieve young lady?" Dulio asked as he examined the silver-haired girl who he now knew as Vali as well as the others who were standing beside her.

"You'll have to defeat us in order to find out," Vali said in a serious demeanor before a bright light suddenly erupted in the room. Making everyone temporary blind.

[Vanishing Dragon Balance Breaker] Albion's voice roared through the room as the light died down, revealing Vali in her white armor.

"The legendary Vanishing Dragon huh? I am looking forward to seeing if the legends about your strength were real" Dulio said with a smirk before another light erupted in the room.

[Welsh Dragon Balance Breaker] Ddraig's voice roared through the room as well, revealing Issei's in his armor which surprised both Dulio and Tobio who did not expect to see both Heavenly Dragons standing right in front of them as a team.

"Well Well... It seems that the two Heavenly Dragons finally kissed and made up? Let's see how strong you are now that you are working together" Dulio teased as he was unfazed from the appearance of both Dragons.

Vali and Issei both became flushed as they heard Dulio's teasing before they quickly composed themselves and started to prepare for battle.

"Don't worry you'll find out soon enough" Issei said before both he and Vali charged at Dulio.

"Tobio, please stay out of this, for now, I want to see how powerful they are" Dulio asked before he entered his battle stance, Tobio just nodded in agreement as he stepped aside to observe the fight.

Dulio stood in his battle stance ready for Vali and Issei to make the first move at him.

Dulio wasn't fazed by the Dragon duo although he was surprised to see the Welsh Dragon possessor there as he heard good things about him from Michael which apparently were not relevant anymore since he was now allied with the Hero Faction. He considered this fight as a mean to pass the time as well as getting a rough estimation of what he hoped will be their full powers which will help the three factions a lot during their fight against the Hero Faction.

His train of thoughts was cut off as he sensed two fists heading towards his face which he quickly avoided by grabbing them, surprising both Issei and Vali who did not expect this.

They both broke out of this hold by kicking his stomach which succeeds as they managed to escape his hold and push him back a few meters.

"I am quite surprised that you managed to push me back," Dulio said in sarcasm as he dusted off his clothes while Vali and Issei remained a safe distance from him, examining his every move.

"Now...Let me show you what I am capable off" Dulio had said before he stretched his hand towards the ceiling, making Issei and Vali perplexed as nothing happened, but their perplexion did not live for long when suddenly a thunder was heard before lightning came crashing down right onto's Dulio's hand, breaking the ceiling in the process.

Issei and Vali looked in awe as they saw Dulio taking the lightning without harm before it stopped and instead he was holding an orange ball in his hand.

"Now...Shall we begin?" Dulio asked while smirking at the Dragon duo before he threw the ball at them, making them panic as they saw the fast speed the ball traveled at which barely gave them a chance to dodge it so instead Vali decided to take the attack head on in order to protect Issei despite the heavy damage she may suffer, and so she quickly went in front of Issei and closed her eyes as she prepared herself for the upcoming pain she will feel only that it never came, so she opened her eyes and what she saw made her terrified.

She saw Issei standing in front of her with his back turned to her as he crossed his hands in front of him in order to defend against the lightning ball.

"Issei!" Vali shouted in horror and worry for her rival.

"I'm fine don't worry Vali, " Issei said in reassurance, but Vali knew otherwise, she could read him like an open book, and right now it said that he was lying, but she decided to confront him about his stupid action later.

"You are going to pay Dulio," Issei said before he dashed at Dulio once again with his fist stretched out as he tried to deliver a fatal punch at the Angel who dodged his fist once again.

[Boost x10] Ddraig voice was heard through the room, signaling Issei's power up which made Dulio smirk.

Issei who stood right behind Dulio after the latter dodged his fist vanished from his position before he quickly appeared in front of Dulio, delivering a fatal fist that connected with his jaw and sent him flying to the ceiling.

"That was awesome Issei!" Vali shouted with enthusiasm as she saw the fist Issei delivered.

Issei did not respond to Vali and instead just flushed underneath his helmet before he went towards Le Fay and the others who watched the fight with awe.

"Le Fay you should prepare to teleport us out of here while Kuroka and Arthur try and find the sword," Issei said to which everyone nodded before they split up.

"That's not nice to turn your back on your opponent" Dulio's voice was suddenly heard which made Issei turn around instantly as he saw Dulio who recovered from his fist standing there and looking at him with an expression he could not read.

"Don't worry this will be the last time" Issei said before they resumed fighting.

(Half An Hour Later...)

Issei was visibly struggling to keep up with Dulio's insane strength as he dodged yet another elemental attack. The brunette thought that after half an hour the Angel would give up, but he didn't instead he continued to attack in the same way he attacked when the fight just started.

Vali was focusing on providing backup to Issei when he needed it as well as keeping a close eye on Tobio who she feared would enter the fight or go after Kuroka and Arthur.

"You disappointed me Vali, I never thought you would betray Azazel and join the Hero Faction," Tobio said to his figurative sister who looked to be unaffected by his statement on the outside thanks to her helmet hiding the frown she had.

"Things happened Tobio, things that you do not need to know about."

Tobio did not answer her and instead continued to gaze at her like he was looking for something which irritated Vali who wanted to kick him for that but decided otherwise as she knew that it would be a terrible idea.

They both continued to look at each other when a loud explosion was heard, making both of them to avert their gazes at the source.

What they saw made both of their jaws to drop as they saw Issei's attack collide with Dulio's Angelic attack as both of the attacks struggled for dominance.

Issei's attack was his Dragon Shot which was heavily boosted thus making it much stronger than usual while Dulio's attack was a light spear covered in lightning which moved in insane speed thanks to Dulio's altering the air with his Longinus.

'Hurry up guys' Issei thought as he saw Dulio's attack start to overcome his own.

"I must say, you were a worthy opponent Red Dragon Emperor" Dulio complimented with a victorious smirk as his attack consumed Issei's

Issei looked ahead in dread as he realized that he could not dodge Dulio's attack and just stood still before an idea came to his mind.

"Ascalon!" Issei had shouted before a bright light erupted from Issei's left hand.

[Ascalon Blade] Ddraig voice roared in the room and once the light died down Issei had Ascalon coming out of his left hand's gauntlet.

'This better work' Issei thought as he hoped with every fiber of his being that the Holy sword will be able to deflect the light spear as he knew that this was his last resort.

The brunette brought his left hand backward before he punched the light spear with Ascalon, reflecting Dulio's attack much to his surprise as he looked with wide eyes at what happened.

There was utter silence in the room while everyone looked with awe at what happened when Issei and Vali heard something that made them both release the breath they were holding.

"I know how much you two enjoy fighting, but I think we should go now that we have the sword Nyaa" They heard Kuroka say while holding the sword they were looking for.

Both Issei and Vali quickly dashed towards the others who now stood beside Le Fay.

"I hope we'll meet again Red Dragon Emperor," Dulio said as he looked at the retreating duo with a content smile after a good fight.

"We will" Issei replied before he and the rest were teleported by Le Fay.

Once Le Fay finished teleporting them out of the Grigori labs, they found themselves in a middle of an unknown forest which confused them as to why they didn't get teleported back to the Hero Faction's HQ. They asked Le Fay if something went wrong which she responded by telling them that she didn't build up enough magical energy in order to teleport them back to HQ because it was far away so instead she teleported them as far as her magic allow her too.

"Well, we should spend the night here before we go back to HQ" Vali suggested as she looked at her teammates and saw how drained they were from what happened. She looked at the skies and saw that it was already dawn.

"Good idea. We should set up a fire and then talk about how are we going to keep guard during the night" Bikou suggested in a tired voice.

Issei and the others sat around the fire Le Fay made thanks to her magic as they waited for Arthur to come back from scanning the surrounding area for potential threats such as thieves or monsters.

As soon as Arthur came back a few minutes afterward, they started to discuss who will guard the camp and when. In the end, they decided that each will guard for two hours and that Kuroka will be the first and then Le Fay, Arthur, Bikou, Vali, and lastly Issei.

Shortly afterward everyone but Kuroka and Issei who continued to sit by the fire went to sleep.

"Kuroka what's wrong?" Issei asked in worry as he saw Kuroka staring at the fire, a sad expression could be seen on her face.

"Wha..? Oh, nothing's wrong Issei don't worry" Kuroka said sadly which surprised Issei who expected to be teased by the black Nekoshou.

"You can't fool me Kuroka so tell me what's wrong" Issei refuted which made Kuroka tense up visibly.

"I'm just thinking about Shirone and how she is doing right now" Kuroka replied sadly.

"I'm sure that she is doing fine Kuroka, so you don't have to worry," Issei said in reassured which seemed to make the black Nekoshou lighten up slightly.

"I guess...I just wish that I could be with her again. It pains me to know how much she hates me after what I did" Kuroka replied which made Issei to frown in response.

"What exactly did you do? Koneko told me that you killed your King because you were drunk with your own power but I think that there was another reason for that am I right?" Issei asked as he looked at Kuroka who had her eyes widen in response as she stared at the brunette in utter shock.

"Not all Devils treat their peerage like that Gremory girl...My master used to abuse me and the rest of the peerage so we would get stronger. He had no mercy on us as he was too obsessed with gaining powerful members of his peerage..." Kuroka started to explain as Issei listened closely as he will finally learn the truth about the black Nekoshou.

"I wanted to kill that bastard for what he did to my friends and me but I couldn't...I was scared that if I killed him, then it could endanger Shirone since I will become a stray Devil but this changed when one time he told me something that made me break..." Kuroka said, trailing off at the end as tears started to flow from her eyes. Those memories were painful for her to remember.

"What was it?" Issei asked in curiosity as he placed his hand on Kuroka's shoulder, encouraging her to continue. He felt pity and rage as he heard what Kuroka has been through and how ruthless her master was.

"He told me how he will reincarnate Shirone and how he will make sure she will become powerful and how exactly he planned to do it...At that moment I didn't care for becoming a stray Devil. I just snapped and killed him so Shirone would never experience what I've been through...After I had killed him, I realized that my biggest fear was now a reality, I was a stray Devil that killed her master which could put Shirone in danger so I had to escape while hoping with every fiber of my being that no harm will come to Shirone. As I was about to leave, I saw her looking at me with a face that I could never forget. A face of utter terror as she saw her bigger sister killing her master" Kuroka said before she completely broke down into sobbing.

After hearing Kuroka's past Issei couldn't help but feel enraged as he realized that the girl did nothing wrong and the ones to blame was the Devils who looked aside while that master abused his peerage. He felt sorry for Kuroka as he realized that she did what she did out of concern for her friends and her little sister.

"I'm so sorry that you went through all that Kuroka, but everything will be okay I assure you. I will not let anything bad happen to you ever again" Issei said as he enveloped Kuroka in a tight embrace.

He looked at Kuroka, and he saw a different person. Instead of the black Nekoshou who always used her beauty and sensuousness as a mean to tease people. He now saw a woman who he could partially relate to He saw a woman who has been through a lot of hardships in her life, a woman who is determined to fix her broken relationship with her sister who she cherished more than anything and after seeing Kuroka in this new light he couldn't help but start to feel affection towards her despite his broken heart but he knew that it would take him some time before he could act on this affection just like it would take with his affection towards Le Fay and Vali.

Kuroka did not respond as she was too shocked from what Issei told her so. Instead, she continued to sob into his clothes, but those weren't tears of pure pain anymore. Those were tears of happiness as she finally felt safe and happy after hearing Issei's resolve.

"Thank you..." Kuroka muttered silently between her sobs.

(End Flashback)

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