Chapter 26: Run Before You Walk (Part 13)

Training to resist interrogation had never been a fun or enjoyable part of Taimanin curriculum, albeit a necessary one. Especially when one considered the kind of work Natsume often found herself engaged in, where capture and no shortage of questions would be the end result of a compromised persona or assignment.

Retreating deep within the recesses of her own mind in a fugue state of awareness wasn't easy nor pleasant - it made everything seem as if it was a hazy fever dream - but it at least allowed her to work through the pain and agony of her torture with minimal effort, the damage done feeling as if it was happening to someone else.

So it came as something of a surprise when she found herself rising up from the feverish depths of her altered state of mind, some unknown trigger or development causing instinct to rouse the Taimanin from her 'slumber'.

And it was - to her complete lack of surprise but obvious resignation - the cue for her body to start screaming in pain and violation.

The Daemon-possessed corpse still stood off to the side, hungrily eyeing her as Natsume took regretful stock of her injuries.

Several needles of varying size had been surgically implanted into her flesh, all at the perfect depth to directly scrape against bone or nerve clusters should she attempt to move while patches of her skin looked to have been shaved away before being crudely sewn back together, the woman having a sinking feeling that there was something underneath those raw flaps that would have further accentuated her agony.

But she kept her cool, not bothering to hide the way her body broke out into a cold sweat or how she grimaced in pain…better to have those outlets than thrash about within her bindings and aggravate the needlework.

Instead the captive Taimanin focused on the pair of figures standing above her, staring down with curious gazes as the woman felt her heart clench for a moment in apprehension. For none other than their wayward comrade Shiranui Mizuki was present, meeting her gaze with an unfamiliar smile that spoke of depravity and distance.

It was the other figure - a tan skinned man that was almost unnaturally handsome - that raised alarm bells within the Taimanin's mind, however. For before her eyes was none other than Kuroi Ryuuji, supposed laze about and unremarkable student of one of Japan's foremost academies for the rich…a previous target for investigation as his name had sprouted a few times in less savory parts of the world, said inquiries ultimately leading nowhere but had nonetheless left the Taimanin suspicious of the man.

"Not quite the scenario I wished to have my suspicions confirmed in…and why is Shiranui with him? Are they the representatives from Nomad?"

Deciding to feign boldness the woman offered a tired smile, stating, "Well well. Imagine my surprise in meeting both the leaders of the Khaos Brigade and Nomad in a single day."

The man raised an eyebrow in amusement while her former comrade just tilted her head, Kuroi's smooth and culture tones gracing her ear as he stated, "Quite interesting that you would so freely admit to having knowledge that would all but ensure you won't walk out of this building alive."

"Oh, my mistake. I wasn't aware that I was to be leaving here at all, I suppose I should have kept my mouth shut."

Something alien and arrogant stirred to life within the man's eyes, voice contemplative as he mused, "Well you certainly can walk out of this whole mess, my dear…it will just be with bent legs and a slight limp."

Natsume resisted the urge to shiver, something about those words causing jolts of electricity to race down her spine…which was not a good thing. She was something of a professional when it came to matters of seduction and the instinctive desire his simple attention and aura brought sent several warning flags racing through her mind.

The man was no simple Human, that was for sure.

Forcing herself to focus on something else rather than the simmering heat within the Taimanin idly mused, "You know at one point I headed an investigation into your past and possible actions outside of the persona you showed at the academy. My sources discovered nothing and the matter was dropped but you obviously fooled everyone rather convincingly. I must ask, how did you do so?"

Another one of those smiles that simultaneously caused her insides to quiver with desire and brain to recoil in disgust graced her captor's features, the man replying, "Someone of my heritage can achieve a great many things as long as I can find the right person to…persuade. Have no fear, I'm well aware of your reputation, miss Amadare and I would very much like to have your services at my disposal."

Natsume almost released a surprised moan as Kuroi's finger ever so gently traced her chest, pleasure briefly overcoming pain as her body screamed in protest at the unbidden movement as he soothingly whispered, "Perhaps when I'm ensuring you understand just how much I value a brilliant and capable woman such as yourself you'll understand just how I operate and perform the feats I have. Nomad was just the first step and someone such as yourself will-"

"What in the Satan's name do you think you're doing?"

Creusery slammed open the door to her interrogation room, features wrapped in irritation and impatience as the magic was abruptly broken, Natsume recoiling at how easily she had found herself falling under the man's sway.

"Well obviously I was inspecting a possible new recruit. An incredibly useful one at that, if you wanted answers you should have merely had me ask them. I am rather good at having women tell me their secrets."

A sidelong glance was directed at the various needles and shaven bits of flesh adorning Natsume's skin.

"Without such crude methods."

"As if yours aren't just as blunt."

Shiranui joined the conversation for the first time as she released a sultry giggle, all but purring, "Are you suggesting that the King of the Incubi is but a brute? I can assure you, Lord Asmodeus, that his methods are anything but. In fact they are quite…"

The mind-broken Taimanin sent a seductive look Amadare's direction.

"Pleasurable."

The restrained woman didn't openly react, mind awhirl at the implications of what had just been revealed. Kuroi was the Incubus King? That…was bad news.

Incredibly bad news. If the Incubus King had both taken control of Nomad or at least a significant part of it and also entered in an agreement with this Khaos Brigade supported by a member of the Old Satan faction then it was practically guaranteed their designs held no positive for the rest of the realms. Neither factions were in the habit of toeing the line or letting the lives of others delay or dictate their ambitions.

"Anonymity is the key factor to our designs and you casually reveal such crucial information directly in front of one who would reveal it all? Or did you not hear of the part where she was spotted in the company of another Taimanin and an Enforcer? There is already the risk of our operation being discovered!"

A disgruntled breath left Kuroi, the man idly commenting, "Then perhaps you should not have designated this venue as our place of meeting, yes?"

"We had no reason to not believe it secure. No matter, we're departing within the hour."

"You worry too much, if we take her along I'll ensure she never so much as dream of betraying or disobeying us. Not to mention the dear lady will more than happily tell us all she knows of her previous comrades."

While Natsume wasn't exactly thrilled with the latest development - even with all her talent she doubted she'd be able to withstand a being like the Incubus King's advances for long - it was nonetheless the best option available amidst a bevy of bad options. A delay of any kind was a delay in which her allies might attempt a rescue…and they needed to know of what she had discovered, this had quickly spiraled into something far greater than they had originally imagined.

"Did she show any signs of giving in?"

The Daemon corpse shook its head, Creusery coldly stating, "A brain - no matter how rewired and reworked - can still have its memory gleaned if given to the right person. That's an unneeded risk and as I said, we're short on time."

The Devil raised a hand towards Natsume, chaotic energy swirling to life as the Taimanin realized with cold realization what he was going to do.

"Allow me to rectify that."

"You know, just once, I'd like to infiltrate a place that doesn't suck. That too much to ask?"

"Do you, erm…go into places like this very often?"

Grimacing at Rossweisse's hesitant question Cayman grumbled back, "Depressingly often. And that's not something I thought I'd be saying very often, let me tell you."

A snort of amusement left Kairi as Cayman gave the Enforcer a pointed glare, complaining, "I get that some of us are totally used to exploring and living within the bowels of the earth and using its refuse as their main means of a livelihood but us non-mole people feel way more comfortable in the sun."

Till seconded her partner's words with a decisive head bob, resignedly stating, "He's not joking, we've been below ground almost as much as we've been above."

"I'll get my small violin, I have it on good authority the acoustics down here are pretty good."

Rolling his eyes at the Enforcer's quip Cayman gave the underbelly of the building an annoyed glare. At first he'd been relieved that it wasn't going to be anything dangerous or nasty - just a little mildew and not much else - but moving deeper into the depths of the construct had revealed darkness and dankness that while obviously not as bad as the sewers was still nonetheless all kinds of lousy, the scent a tangible and wet thing that stuck into his nostrils and refused to leave.

But according to the ladies and buff dude of the group this was where the controlling node of the whole defense system was sent up, way beneath the nicer parts of the basement.

"Stop."

The group did just that as Lavinia held up a hand, the blonde losing much of her perpetual affability as she said, "We're at the first boundary of the various protections."

Hefting his spear and rolling his neck the gamer idly commented, "So this looks like the part where I ply my craft, huh? Where am I headed?"

Rossweisse glanced around the dimly lit corridors, worrying her lower lip before decisively stating, "Fifty paces to our right and then a hundred more left, that seems to be where the control is located."

"While I do not mean to disparage your talents are you certain that you can handle things? I doubt the protections in this location are anything simple…"

Confidently nodding at Lavinia's question he strode up right alongside the woman, stating, "Trust me on this one. Ready to go whenever you two are."

The pair of magicians seemed to take him at his words, Cayman beginning to slowly spin his spear like a metronome as he quietly murmured, "[Esoteric Parry,]" before beginning a brisk walk forward, 600 MP drained from his reserves as he took a step over the arbitrary line Lavinia had drawn-

-and his arm lashed outwards, tip of the spear glowing with some kind of unnatural light as it rammed into a collection of what looked like fancy cuneiform markings and dispelled them with a voltaic shriek, Rossweisse immediately slamming a palm onto the formation and narrowing her eyes in concentration as ethereal flashes of her own did away with the remainder of whatever his strike had started.

"Aw yeah, now that's something I can write home about."

He wasn't going to lie, it felt good to finally feel competent at something without having to bullshit about it.

"How curious…"

He didn't have time to dwell on his awesomeness or Lavinia's impressed murmur, Cayman feeling instinct and implanted knowledge guide his weapon forward as what might have been some lovecraftian nightmare fizzled out of existence like an old TV channel as steel punctured its form.

"And minus 200 MP for that. So the initial activation and use is 600 MP while keeping it going costs a 100 MP per second. Okay, better get moving then."

"Follow me, let's move!"

After all of that he had 3820 MP to play with, or roughly 38 seconds of energy. Not a whole lot considering the distance they were going to have to run.

But despite the ticking clock Rossweisse and Lavinia kept pace with him just fine as he ran at just shy of a dead sprint through the hallways, following up on his initial elegant slashes and stabs to the various wards or whatever that flared to life around them as they deactivated the protections with movements and magic techniques that he didn't have a prayer of understanding.

Sure, his instinctive knowledge allowed him to know where and when something was activating but not the mechanics behind it, he was basically doing the equivalent of shutting off an alarm by dropping the CPU in a tub of water while he figured Lavinia and Rossweisse were messing around with the source code as if it was second nature.

"Oh well. They look impressed and I'll take it."

While his eyes were mostly focused forward or wherever his spear lashed a few times he was able to glance backwards, both of his allies seeming perplexed or bewildered by his craft and boy it was a nice feeling. Had he mentioned how much he enjoyed the opportunity to be good at something?

"There, at the end of the hallway!"

Following the Valkyrie's shout Cayman broke out into a dead sprint, feeling fancy as he twirled his weapon about like a deadly conductor's baton and took out sixteen different wards or their equivalent in half as many seconds, ramming the business end of his spear into the controlling node as Lavinia skid to a stop beside him a moment later, hands yet again laying on the staticy and broken circle-

"Hmm, well if it's truly that simple…"

-and Cayman raised an eyebrow as the beauty manifested an icicle in her hand, ramming the pick into the magic circle before the entire thing simply shut off without any fanfare, the Longinus wielder breathing out a pleased sigh as the surprisingly inelegant solution worked like a charm.

"Good timing. I had two seconds of MP left."

Even as he thought that he watched his MP rise at a pretty impressive rate of two MP per second, briefly wondering if his contract to Till had anything to do with the pace before meeting Rossweisse and Lavinia's intrigued gazes, the blonde asking, "If you don't mind me asking where did you learn such a precise art? I don't think I've seen such deft nullification of such a varied set of protections outside of those that proclaim magic as their specific area of focus. Decades or centuries of focus, I might add."

"Would you believe me if I said it's mostly instinctual?"

He fell in with the duo as they quickly made their way back to the rest of their group, shrugging at the perplexed gazes.

"I don't look at all the pretty lights and go, 'oh, that one pulls a rabbit out of the hat, better prep the anti-hat spell'. I just see it, know how to stop it and follow through."

Instead of being disappointed by the cheat code like power or doubting his words both of them seemed even more interested than before, Lavinia musing, "You don't seem to hold a Sacred Gear, nor do I sense any kind of Demonic or Extranatural heritage…"

Rossweisse followed a different train of thought, staring at his spear with an unblinking gaze, the silverette posing, "Do you have some kind of intrinsic affinity for magic weapons? Lord Odin did deem you fit to wield Edelweiss."

Wordlessly passing over his weapon for her to examine - and noticing Lavinia perk at the mention of him receiving a gift from the Norse god - Cayman asked, "Any hints on how to get the thing to work? Still no luck on that front."

Distractedly shaking her head the woman replied, "It was personally forged by Lord Odin, whatever it may do or how to properly wield it is beyond my knowledge-what? This…"

Rossweisse dazedly handed Cayman back his weapon, disbelievingly stating, "It's just a normal metal spear."

"That it is."

Amused by the Valkyrie's confusion he turned back to Lavinia, asking, "So is what I did really that impressive? I mean I figured you and Rossweisse of all people would be capable of this kind of stuff."

"Believe it or not I tell no lie. While it's certainly possible that we or other magically inclined individuals could do as you did both the means and speed in which you accomplished it is extremely impressive. Everyone up above now has no idea we're coming."

Smirking at the little reveal Cayman idly commented, "Well in that case I'll be happy to have put on that little performance for my beautiful audience of two."

Lavinia merely sent him an amused glance while Rossweisse predictably blushed.

+5 REP with Rossweisse [45/100]

+5 REP with Lavinia [10/100]

"Well, not the worst of starts to a rescue op."

"Right. On three. One, two, three."

Holding tight onto the metal grate as he and Kairi popped it open the duo quickly scrambled through before checking to ensure they were alone, Vali and Mai helping a strained and concentrating Lavinia and Rossweisse respectively while Till zipped up to hover over Cayman's shoulder, both women breathing a sigh of relief as they cleared the entrance…and the bathroom drain they had performed some wack ass spatial warping of that allowed for them to travel through normally snapped back into its usual shape, Rossweisse wiping her sweating brow as she whispered, "That branch of magic…never gets any easier…"

Fanning herself Lavinia agreed with a murmur of, "It's much easier when you have a territory to work with but on the fly? Goodness, you forget just how taxing it can be."

"Not gonna lie, ladies, what you just did really detracts from my prior achievements."

Seriously, the pair had channeled some kind of spell, he and Kairi had popped the cap off the other end of the drain and they had just…walked into it, the metal corridor a little cramped but hardly anything to get upset about before arriving at where they were now in a little under four minutes.

He wasn't sure if they had been shrunk, the drainage had been enlarged or some other horrific twisting of reality but in all honesty he was just glad the pair seemed worn out by the act, it would have been WAY too overpowered an ability otherwise.

"I still haven't forgiven DxD for having Vali LITERALLY SHRINK THE WORLD. Like what the fuck, what is that and how does it work and why did the editor allow it to happen. There's rule of cool and then there's what the fuck."

Shaking his head to dispel the petulant thoughts the much younger and hopefully more grounded in reality - which was hilarious to even consider, considering the whacko world he now inhabited - Vali asked, "So where do we search? The layout of the base is completely unknown."

Before they could further discuss the matter the bathroom door swung open, a pair of women walking in-

-and fast as lightning Mai flicked a set of origami cranes at them, the paper binding across both eyes and mouth as wild snorts of air escaped their nostrils, Vali and Kairi quickly landing powerful blows to diaphragm or head that left them stunned, Mai forming a few more bits of paper restraints before they were unceremoniously shoved into a stall.

"We better get moving, if this is the lady's room we're not supposed to be here."

He received no shortage of eye rolls at that remark, Kairi and Mai taking the lead in searching for their missing comrade as tiny bone familiars and origami scouts rushed in every direction, the group moving swiftly and silently through the interior of the building, taking in the details of its architecture with keen eyes.

It was an odd mix of lavish yet bland, as if someone had wanted to quickly do a bit of construction but was too snobbish to let anything less than the highest quality of whatever was on hand be involved.

"Yeah. Definitely dealing with a holier than thou type."

They silently approached a series of elevators, carefully watching them in case they dinged to life-

-and instead whirled around as a set of doors opened outwards, the two groups coming face to face and pausing for an entire second of shocked indecision, neither able to believe what they were seeing.

Cayman in particular felt his mind hitting the panic button.

Creusery Asmodeus, the Incubus King in human form and Shiranui Mizuki, the trio no doubt the brains behind this little meeting and the ones who had captured Natsume. People who - while not exactly highest on the proverbial food chain - were still pretty damn strong and an assload more dangerous than he was.

Said panic button meant he was the first to act, raising his spear and shouting, "[Shock Bolt!]" as a corkscrew of lightning flew towards the genuinely surprised expression of one Kuroi Ryuuji.

Except Yukikaze's brainwashed mother was just as fast on the draw as he was, a shield of water swallowing the bolt whole with nothing to show for it as the air hummed for a split second with ethereal discharge…and all hell broke loose.

Creusery fired off some kind of demonic beam thingy, Rossweisse and Vali countered while Kuroi vanished in a flash of released power while the air around Lavinia turned to ice-

-and Cayman abruptly found himself tumbling through the air, an indecipherable roar of clashing powers and collapsing masonry filling both his ears and vision as he was battered by every kind of building material known to man before he landed hard on his back, grunting at the impact as a literal kitchen sink smashed into his forehead at what felt like terminal velocity a second later.

"Real funny, universe. Ha ha."

Although it was interesting how heavy porcelain impacting his face alongside the rough fall had only dropped his HP by 50, the gamer idly reflecting that by that logic he could go through twenty-two such beatings before he finally reached the coveted state of dead as shit.

Not too bad, all things considered. If he was still a regular old human that whole series of events would have left him a broken and bleeding mess on the floor. Right now he just hurt and was disoriented as hell.

"Oi, don't go dying on me here!"

Snapping back to awareness as something truly foul smelling caused his brain to howl in protest Cayman shot upright, a battered but fully functional Kairi crouched beside him as the gamer complained, "Good morning to you too, prince charming. What the fuck is that, ode to shit?"

"Believe it or not I've got worse things on me."

Giving the small vial a wary glance as the Enforcer tucked it away Cayman rose to his feet, trying to get his bearings and figure out where they were-

-and the duo were almost bowled over by a blast of heat and wind, Mai joining them a moment later as the Taimanin sported a bleeding gash across her eye but nothing more serious than that, Cayman about to ask if they had seen Till anywhere before the pale-haired girl threw up an origami shield, briefly diverting stray blasts of ravening energy before burning to ash as they dove behind cover, peeking out from behind what once was a bit of entryway like some goddamn scooby-doo skit.

The entire place was utterly fucked. What had once no doubt been a modestly nice bit of architecture was now blasted and smoking, adorned with embers and ash as a massive hole had been drilled through several floors to its bedrock, the area they were hiding in a fast-moving battlefield.

Till and Jesie were darting back and forth between Rossweisse and Vali as they dueled with Creusery, the younger man's features locked in a snarl as Divine Dividing constantly stole the older Devil's strength while Rossweisse provided support, magic leaving her body at an insane rate and interfering with Asmodeus' own as the man snarled with thwarted rage, what few assaults he did manage to launch deflected or blunted by the pair of Fairies.

A bit further in Lavinia was taking on both the Incubus King and Shiranui at the same time, the towering ice figurine that was her Longinus guarding her flanks as it froze or deflected the brainwashed Taimanin's water assaults or flailing tentacles from the eldritch monster that was Kuroi's true form. The woman herself seemed fully occupied with deflecting or shielding a wide variety of laser-like blasts that escaped the Incubus King, kept on the defensive as the two battles continued to cause massive destruction to the surrounding area.

Cayman quickly made use of his observation skill to see what they were up against-

Cresuery Asmodeus, LVL ?

Incubus King, LVL ?

Shiranui Mizuki, LVL 96

HP: 7500

MP: 12,000

STA: 5000

STR: 500

AGI: 900

DEF: 350

MAG DEF: 1000

-and had to resist the urge to curse at how continuously worthless the ability proved itself to be.

"For fuck's sake, shouldn't Lavinia be as strong - if not stronger - than these two? I could read HER stats just fine. It must not take into account the presence of a Longinus, sort of like Vali's situation."

Which meant the damn skill sucked even more than he already thought it did.

And things weren't looking that great either. Amsodeus was simply ramping up the pace of his attacks - no doubt making use of brute force levels of energy - beyond what his four opponents could do while Cayman noted that Lavinia's cheeks were tinged slightly pink, a layer of sweat dotting her brow as her jaw was clenched in concentration.

"Oh shit that's right. Fucking Incubus King has the coveted hentai aura that can screw with people's minds. Great."

Really not liking the idea of a lady as nice as Lavinia ending up like Shiranui he resolved himself to thinking of a plan, huffing out a breath as Kairi grumbled, "Not a great mindset for an Enforcer to have but I feel kinda bad for sitting this one out…"

Mai didn't verbally respond but her tightened fists and grinding jaw was answer enough, Cayman understanding her frustration as he said, "Yeah, we're definitely the little dogs in this kind of big dog death match."

"But that's no reason to just hide here and hope things work out in our favor. If our allies lose then the three of us are ultra fucked. Maybe literally since it's THIS kind of a world."

Straightening his back and taking a deep breath he stated, "Lady, gentleman? I have a really stupid plan and considering that we don't possess the same level of strength our friends over there do it's time to do as the Chihuaha does."

He hefted his spear, Kairi and Mai giving him perplexed looks.

"Froth at the mouth, look way more dangerous than we actually are and bite the shit out of the big dog's ankles."