Beta'd by XXXalter. Special thanks to NimtheWriter

Chapter 7: True Self(?)

"What the hell?" exclaimed Issei in shock

He banked on his senior to take control of the situation like always.

But things did not go as planned.

He stood prepared for an easy attack, one that he could keep track of without getting caught by surprise—yet what occurred was out of his expectations. The boy stood there, swallowing thickly with goosebumps all over.

He was scared.

Terrified even.

The nun was somehow back on her feet.

'How!?' he thought to himself.

Her holy radiance shined brightly with a warm sensation washing over the surrounding area, it became an alluring sight to him. Her body is now a pure white silhouette with hints of gold—taking the appearance of an ancient goddess who descended from the heavens.

It was all because of the loli that suddenly came out of his body, apologized to him and then proceeded to fuse with the nun. Across all the countless media he had ever consumed; this had to be one of the weirdest one yet. The nun's power level seemed to have gone up exponentially, seeing how she broke those chains without much problem. No ordinary human have shown the capability to do that, so Issei assumed the blonde nun was now something like Nao.

Woosh!

What could only be described like a scene taken straight out of a shounen action manga, the girl decimated all of the Fallen Angels with ease. Her recently gained powers helped her punch clean through the Fallen Angels one after another.

"Nao-senpai? Are you okay?" he said as he reached the blue haired upperclassman, trying to discern if his situation.

"I…I am fine, it just hurts…" Nao replied, wincing as he touched his chest.

"Moreover, what happened to the nun? How did she—" Issei, his mind in disarray, tried to ask.

"She became a Nahobino, just like me. If my assumptions are correct, she will be a powerful one. I didn't even know how this could happen but here we are nonetheless…" Nao tried to explain as much as he could while focusing on himself and the battle going on in front of them.

"She's like you now? So that means-?"

"I don't know to what extent her powers might be, but to the ones on the receiving end; it's not going well for them."

True, the nun easily outclassed the Fallen Angels present as far as Issei could see. As a Nahobino, her powers had the potential to reach a level far beyond anything humanely possible—the realm of gods!

It was hilarious for Nao, he initially suspected that she was working for the church this entire time.

'Technically she did work with the church as she was a nun of all things'. He found it ironic how these people served and prayed to a god for protection and to guide them, yet here she was turning into a god herself.

How ironic indeed!

As the number of Fallens dwindled, the blonde nun thought she had finally done it. She had broken free from her chained life. She was feeling guilty and every time she struck a Fallen, she apologized to God in her mind. What kind of person would apologize to God when they killed someone? Nao doesn't know, but he found it amusing to say the least.

The Fallen Angels and Stray Exorcists were now done for, except for Freed, who had taken the opportunity to escape from the fight and took off - leaving his comrade behind to clean up the mess.

Clearly he didn't want to stay behind, lest risking himself getting killed by the nun.

When all the enemies were decimated, the blonde transformed back to her original self. Somehow, Demeter didn't split off from the her body like how Aogami went missing after Da'at.

"Ow… My head," the nun said while massaging her temple.

His doubts were now proved, it was there for his eyes to see. The demon had permanently fused with the human now.

Nao steadily got up from where he was clutching his chest in pain - the phantom pain had not disappeared just yet. And walked over to the blond haired nun.

"Hey, are you feeling okay now?" Nao asked, worried that the Nahobino fusion might have done done something to her.

"Oh? Me? I am fine! Thank you for asking about me." she said as she formed a smile.

"Nao-senpai, is she okay?" issei asked.

Somehow, the nun understood what Issei was talking about, so she replied to the perverted teen instead.

"Is that his name? Nao-senpai? I thought it was Nao Kiyoyama" it was her turn to ask now.

Issei was mind-boggled, he wasn't expecting this at all. The nun understood him? It would be easier to hold a conversation now as she now understood what he was saying.

"W-Well, actually senpai is what we use when addressing our senior." he said, trying to explain it as best as he could to the girl.

The girl nodded enthusiastically, as it was interesting for her to know about this piece of information. Her limited time at the abandoned church didn't help her at all, making her oblivious to a lot of basic knowledge of the culture and language. The girl was now glad as she was now able to talk to the brown haired boy.

"Is that how Japanese work? I am beginning to understand it now, thank you signor Issei."

"Issei-san, call me Issei-san" he said while trying to not form a blush. This girl was way too cute for him and he was worried her first impression of him was not a good one. Well, her first impression when she actually understood him.

Yesterday didn't count, right?!

"Thank you, Issei-san. Oh… how rude of me, I haven't given you my name yet…" she said, embarrassed at herself.

Issei's mouth twitched as the blonde continued to be a lovable cute angel. She reminded him of a puppy which needed a lot of love and care.

"It's fine, my name is Hyoudou Issei, nice to meet you!" he grinned and gave his right hand to her.

The nun graciously took his arm and shook it. She was glad when he understood her. Even going as far as crying a little as she had been confined to this church for quiet a long time. With her being free, she felt the weights on her heart lifted as she would no longer go through such a torturous experience ever again.

"Hey-Hey, are you okay there?" asked a concerned Issei.

"Yes? Oh I am fine, it's just…" she couldn't contain her tears, not from sadness – they were tears of happiness.

"Nao-senpai, what should we do now?" Issei asked.

"I'd say… as much as I dislike her, we may have to ask Rias."

"Ask me about what?!"

A voice broke their conversation. Nao know whose voice it was.

"Speak of the devil, and she shall appear."

Nao wondered why he wasn't surprised with her presence here… bah! He was too lazy and tired to care.

"Oh my, you don't seem to enjoy our presence here. I told you buchou, our little Nao-kun is too busy with Issei-kun." Akeno teased.

Rias cheeks went red, before she trying to compose herself again.

"Ehem, Well you seem to have made a mess here, what in Lucifer's name have you done to this? This place reeks of holy energy." Rias said.

Nao wasn't going to answer because he was too tired, but Issei's enthusiasm was shown as he spilled all of the details to the Red-haired devils's group

"Y-You summoned Metatron?" she stuttered

"Too hard to explain, bye!"

"You are not getting away that easily!" she said angrily while grabbing his shirt's collar.

"Nao-kun, you have some explaining to do. Breaking and entering an abandoned church was bad enough, you used your power to level the whole church - killing all of the fallen that resided here. And worst of yet, we might have thrown heaven into a fit of rage as there were holy powers that can only be matched by a Great Seraph."

'Well, Metatron is a Great Seraph' Nao thought to himself.

"Gremory-senpai, Nao-senpai shouldn't be the one to blame here. It was my fault! I was the one who got him involved. If it wasn't for me, Nao-senpai wouldn't be in this mess." Issei tried to apologize.

Rias was not impressed. She gave him an assignment, to kill a Stray to help him grow, yet here he was with his beloved Nao-senpai. Her face showed it as she wore a scowl.

"Excuse me…" it was the voice of the gentle nun, trying to make sense of this situation.

"Yes?" Rias replied.

"I should be the one to blame. If it weren't for me, Issei-san and Nao-san wouldn't risk their life. So please it was not their fault - but of my own fault."

The room went silent. Nobody knew how to respond to that. Rias herself felt guilty too - she wouldn't know herself. She felt glad that both of them were safe - especially Issei since he was not in control of his Sacred Gear yet. But she was worried about what was going to happen between the three biblical factions. As if tensions were not enough, one wrong move could set the war aflame and Nao might be in the center of it. If the war somehow resumed, the devil race might be wiped out for good.

"I have to go now." It was Nao - breaking their train of thoughts.

"Nao-senpai, what should we do with her then?"

Nao hasn't gotten a clue about what he should do with Asia, he can't bring her to his apartment - it was cramped enough with one person.

"Asia-chan, why don't you stay with me?" Issei asked

"Do you mean I can stay here with you?" Asia asked.

"Yeah, mom and dad wouldn't mind if I bring someone like you, they always wanted a daughter after all" Issei chuckled

"Really? You'd do that for me? Even after all I'd done?" Asia was starting to cry again. She had not expected this, she had expected to be cast aside like a used toy after they'd saved her but it couldn't be far from the truth.

—

After the whole fiasco with Rias, Nao had expected to have smooth sailing. He had dealt with the devils and Asia was saved from the Fallen Angels clutches, what he wanted was going back home without any drama, what he had gotten was a man in a goatee, outside his apartment complex, leaning against the door of his apartment.

"Ah, so you were the one who killed all of my subordinates in one minute?" he asked without shock written on his face. Nao hesitantly nodded while trying to discern if the man in front of him was hostile.

"Yes, and I would appreciate it if you don't stand outside of my house in the middle of the night," Nao said irritated. He had an awful day, he didn't want some stranger standing outside his door and taking his precious rest time after what had happened.

"It's impressive to take down a group of Fallen like that, reports said that the whole church has been flattened to the ground, by none other than 'A powerful angel'. Kalawarner had said it was Metatron who had done it. From my knowledge, the Metatron I knew didn't have a metallic body and face - sure he had the blond hair, but as far as I'm concerned it was nothing like in the reports."

"…"

"As a matter of fact, the real Metatron was gravely wounded during The Great War so he's less likely to go out of his way and murder my underlings. He wouldn't use something as extravagant as 'Fire of Sinai' like the Metatron Kalawarner mentioned. He's not a fighter, he's a protector." Azazel explained with a slight smile, trying to break the tension between the both of them.

"And how do you know all of this?" Nao asked, trying his best to remain in his poker face while subtly gathering his energies in case this encounter turned violent.

"Calm down kid, I'm not trying to bite you or anything," Azazel chuckled. "To answer your question, it was Metatron, Enoch himself, who protected the humans from our kind. I know him before he became Metatron, an Angel that serves for the Throne of God." Azazel stopped, and there was an awkward silence between the two of them. Before Azazel spoke up again.

"Now, imagine my shock when a high-schooler who summon Gods and Demons alike called for the one who had defeated me in battle many eons ago. If I were you, I'd be scared. Michael is on to you."

"Michael?" Nao asked.

"Yes… you know, the Archangel who's in charge of Heaven, God's second in command? That Michael."

As far as Nao remembered, Michael had either died or was sealed when he accepted the quest given by the angel at Ueno, and now a new Michael had been on the search for him.

"What does he want?"

"Well, for starters, you summoned Baal, a Canaanite god of lightning, if memory serves correct, then he was the one who was killed by Father himself when he took over heaven. I was not up to detail but after that he created angels like Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel."

"Wait… How did you know this? Are you a-"

"Name's Azazel, the first one who fell and one of God's first sons." Azazel? Nao was somewhat familiar with Azazel, there was his slot in the new compendium, and yet…

"So you're one of those Fallen Angels?"

"Yep, we Fallen Angels or 'Watchers' are the first one who fell, back then God didn't have heaven, it was only us Watchers and Him. It was until a few centuries later when he took the Council of Elohim and made it 'Heaven'. And Michael himself wasn't even around back then, so the book that you humans wrote was a bit wrong. It was Father Himself who defeated us."

"Okay, and why are you in front of my apartment?" Azazel chuckled and walked infront of Nao and said, "Well, the thing is, I know you've been taking jobs for the Gremory heiress, and I was wondering if you can do the same for us the Fallen Angels?"

"What type of job?"

"It's real simple, you need to steal a blade called 'Ame no Murakumo' for me."

'Murakumo'. A blade that was used by Aogami to finish Lucifer. Azazel needs it for some unknown reason. He needed to know why Azazel need it.

"Why do you need the blade?"

"That's for us to know," Azazel answered with a wink, though Nao could clearly see the steel in the older man's eyes.

'Tch, he's not answering Nao grimaced. He might not know for what purpose the Fallen Angels need the blade, but he needed to know his side of the bargain.

"Okay, so what do I get for helping you get this 'Murakumo' blade?"

Azazel was smirking, he got Nao's interest. He knew the young boy wasn't that naive like the perverted Hyoudou Issei, but he knew what might interest him.

"I'll vouch for you," Azazel replied calmly.

"Huh?"

"I'll vouch for you!" Azazel said with confidence

Wandering what the Fallen Angel can offer him, Nao turned to ask, "And how are you planning to do that?"

Azazel smirked and said, "You won't get hunted down by one of the most powerful beings in the world. Whaddaya say?"

Sorry for not posting at all in the past few months, life has been pretty hectic and I was really demotivated to write this story. This chapter, is not as long as i would like it to be, but because I have less time for doing things that I like. Furthermore, after the announcement of SH2, I was waaaay disinterested in Megaten. Thanks to NimtheWriter for pushing me to post this chapter

As always, thanks for reading. Please R&R