The Chaos that consumes the world

IX

Romani was never one for doing stupid things.

At least not in the past.

He's been in Kuoh for a little over a year by this point, approaching maybe a year and a half? He can't remember all that well when it comes down to it, and he's sure it doesn't matter all that much. All he really, truly, knows is that ever since he came here its just been one thing after another.

Like a snowball that started with some incidents at the school and a group of teenage boys who went through way too many medical supplies, from there it has grown more and more until he now finds himself stalking through the smashed up doors to a hotel with a small penlight in his hand, shining it around the interior of an empty lobby.

His sole companion on this expedition being a teenager with a magic arm, who is also a Devil, and nothing else. The two of them are on a mission to try and warn a bunch of exorcists that they are going to be killed by a swarm of crazy zoo animals and what looked like some sort of giant multi-headed snake.

Romani wasn't sure when things spiralled out of control.

"You just carry that around with you?"

He paused at the comment, briefly furrowing his brow and pulling his gaze away from the empty lobby towards Issei, the brunette teen standing in the doorframe with a crunch of broken glass underneath their shoes, their eyes aimed solely onto the little white penlight that he held in his grasp.

Unsure of what he was supposed to reply aside from the obvious, he offered a little shrug of the shoulders and a small noise in the back of his throat. The look he received from Issei was still one of bemusement, but it seemed as though they no longer appeared all that fascinated with the tiny torch.

He was glad they asked though, it took his mind off the room for only a little while.

"I only carried it around in case I needed it, concussions and all that." He answers back slowly, the torch isn't great by any means, he isn't sure why the lights around out in the first place. Or at least he wasn't sure until he aimed the penlight to the ceiling and saw that all the bulbs had been ripped apart, metal bent and folded as though something large had pushed its way up through the ceiling.

He felt himself gulp, taking a single step back and directly out from beneath the ominous hole that not even his small torch can reveal, not that he was expecting it to. No matter how much he really wanted it, at any rate.

There hasn't been a single sign of anything since they first entered the lobby, the light were smashed and it was only the faint scattering of stray rubble and some broken glass from where the women had entered that really made it seem as though something was amiss.

Or rather, it was the lack of evidence that was amiss.

"Wouldn't that still be at school though, or did you forget to take it out of your pocket?" He wasn't sure if Issei knew their voice was shaking a little, he was sure that his voice certainly was as they spoke.

"Pretty much." He muttered, feeling his lips turn up into a faint smile as he did so. "Good thing I forgot, right? Otherwise we'd be in serious trouble, wouldn't we?"

It's a terrible joke.

Issei laughs at it all the same, a small little bark that sounded a little desperate, like they were draining it of all the humour it was worth. Shooting a look towards them, he watched as they wheezed a little, rubbing a hand over their temples and nodding their head up and down.

Pulling the hand away, Issei let out a short breath and snorted once again. "Yeah, no kidding. Thank hell for the trusty little penlight, eh? Maybe I should get myself one of those, for every occasion."

He shook his head from side to side at the antics, turning his attention back to the room, the humour he built up melted away inside him, leaving him cold and nervous once again. A frown slips comfortably over his face as he washed the room in the small ray of light from the torch, unveiling very little beyond his earlier observations.

Pausing for a moment as he stares at some of the chairs at the side of the room, some having been flipped over while others had been shoved far out of position. He gulps once again, taking a few steps closer to them and dropping down into a crouch, his light hanging above the spot near the bottom of the nearest chair, faint drag marks across the floor.

He's not really a detective, but he's sure the chair doesn't weigh nearly enough to make a mark like that. Which means that there was something in the chair when it was pushed, yet there isn't anything around here.

The room feels ominous and he's no longer sure it's just the lack of people.

"Issei-kun?" He called out, there's a moment of silence before he gets a hum of response from somewhere on the other side of the room. "Do you…feel anything off about the room?"

Another silence.

"Off?" Issei's voice came back, sounding a touch worried. "I'm not sure what…well…" their tone shifted, sounding more tense than before, as though straining against something. He turned towards their direction and brought the torch up, the brunette was leaning against the wall, hand flat against it from where he was near a large crack like something struck the surface and bent it inwards. "...Feels a little weird, I guess? Like walking through water…I think?"

Confusion moved across his features, bringing a hand up once again and rubbing at his features before he sighed. "I think it's one of those bound fields, that's what Buchou calls them anyway. She said they're really common if you're trying to keep things secret." beat, then Issei made a half nod of the head. "It would make sense for this Kokabiel guy to have one, wouldn't it?"

It would.

Then again.

"...Where is everyone?"

"...I don't know?" Issei shrugged, then shot him a weird look. "Wouldn't it have been the Fallen guy? If he's here then wouldn't he get rid of everyone?"

Romani blinked, then frowned, it sounded a bit odd to write it all off like that. "I thought he was trying to keep a low profile or something? It would be pretty hard to do that if all the people in the hotel go missing and it would have shown up in the news if one guy bought out all the rooms."

Standing back up, he dusted down his knees with his free hand and rolled his jaw. "Also I think either Rias-san or Sitri-san would have noticed, wouldn't they? Aren't they sort of…in charge?"

Saying something like that feels weird to him, he has to remind himself that they're not just teenagers in charge of an afterschool club and a small council. Even though that is exactly what they have been to him for a long while.

A frown emerged on the face of Issei, the teen reached up and scratched the underside of his chin with a flicker of understanding. "I guess that makes sense…I don't think the exorcists would have done all this either, we didn't see anyone leave and…" they froze up, unease washed across their face before they continued on. "They wouldn't just…get rid of people in here, would they? You know…n-no witnesses, right?"

He gave a single blink, then his expression soured as though he'd bitten down on something hard. "I…would like to think they wouldn't."

He was sure that they would both rather think that.

"So…where are we supposed to go anyway?" Issei asked rather abruptly, they paused to catch their breath before carrying on in a shaky tone. "This place is giving me the creeps and the less time we spend here the better…I don't suppose you know where we'd have to go, right?"

That, unfortunately, hadn't been revealed to him.

His silence was clearly enough of an answer, given that Issei let out a muffled groan as they planted their hand onto the front of their face, throwing their head back and dragging their fingers down their features, Romani watched him with a guilty wince. It wasn't like he was all that pleased with the vagary either.

"I'd probably guess we have to go up?" He ventured after a few seconds, pointing towards the conveniently placed sign which showed the stairs. Issei lowered his head, then glanced between his pointing finger and him, their hesitation plain across their face as they opened up their mouth to speak. "I'd rather take the stairs, just in case the lift breaks or something that means we can get down faster…also I'd rather not be trapped in a lift as well."

Issei paused, looked as though he mulled the suggestion over in his head, paled just a little and then gave a single haunted nod of the head. "You know what? That sounds like a pretty good idea. In fact, it is such a good idea that I think we should take it immediately."

They were already marching across the room before he could get another word out, he would have said they were enthusiastic were it not for the fact they were visibly shuddering and looking as though they were having to force themselves to move. They were probably like himself, wanting to get in and out before they stayed for too long-

A shudder rumbled across the room.

They both froze instantly, Romani felt his heart leap into his throat.

A groan accompanied the noise, one that he desperately hoped was just that of the metal in the building protesting something.

Otherwise it sounded as though a whale had just let out a bellowing call in the middle of the hotel, despite the fact it sounded so very distant from them and came from above, that didn't make it sound any smaller. Rather, it was precisely because of the distance and power of the call that he found his feet rooted to the floor, unwilling to move.

"...You heard that too, ri–right?" Issei's voice cracked a little, still staring with wide eyes in the direction of the stairs and wholly unwilling to part from that direction. Gulping loudly, they glanced at him and wet their lips. "Right?"

"...Yeah." It was a pathetic croak of an answer, but he knew Issei heard it all the same.

Issei's only response was to let out another nervous groan and bringing his hands up, furiously rubbing at the side of his head and running his fingers through his messy brown hair, the boy sounded close to whimpering before eventually peeling his hands from his forehead, "This is so stupid, this is so stupid…they better be fucking thankful for this. I'm being serious here, I'm demanding a fucking apology to Asia because of all of this shit!"

Their voice cracked as they marched right past him towards the stairs, he only knew they stopped when he heard the sharp crack of their heels sliding across the floor, his head turned to follow them and found them waiting by the door, shuddering for a moment before they turned around to face him, visibly clenching their jaw. "You coming?"

Taking in a deep breath, he slowly exhaled and then gave a single shaky nod. "Yeah."

Because if he was in for a penny, he was in for a pound.

He followed after the teen a not a moment later, marching through the doorway and pausing at the sight of the stairs. The pair of them said nothing, instead he shined his torch up the length of the steps and kept himself perfectly still, not at all wanting to address the chips dug out of the floor as though something with sharp claws had marched up the stairs.

"G-guess that guy re-really did own some zoo animals, eh?" Issei let out a muttered joke, Romani could only mutely nod his head. "...Lets hope it's not too far."

He was hoping it wasn't too late either.

And just like that, the only sound that filled the stairwell was their footsteps rising up higher and higher. All of which managed to make him feel even more on edge, it was probably nothing shy of a miracle that he hadn't already broken down and turned tail to sprint right out of the hotel and all the way home.

But he couldn't do that.

Once again, his eyes slid over to the brunette walking beside him, the expression of forced calm had him grimace. Closing his eyes only briefly, he shook his head from side to side before bringing it around to the front, tearing his gaze from the youth.

Instead he turned his gaze upwards, squinting his eyes as he looked at the stairwell which seemed to rise up into a black void. Halting his steps and leaning over the barrier, the frown formed on him easily before he swallowed the lump in his throat, finding his words rather easily. "The…uhm…power seems to be out all the way up to the top. I can't really see anything at all."

He leaned back onto the stairwell, facing Issei who was now wearing a similarly apprehensive expression to him. "And I can't hear anything, literally nothing…" the boy rubbed the side of his neck, glancing left and right as he did so. "No footsteps, no distant fights, not that weird roar again it's…it's like the entire place is deserted but this place is open. Ghost town here."

All he could do was nod his head in agreement.

Air blew out of them from between their lips. "Not sure what we're supposed to do now aside from-"

Issei paused rather suddenly, their expression shifted into one of confusion before his head snapped up. Romani wasn't able to ask anything before they threw themselves forwards and looked up into the darkness of the gap between the stairs, furrowing their brows for a moment and bringing a hand up to stop him from speaking, likely seeing him opening his mouth from the corner of their gaze.

"Thought I heard a hiss for a moment and then-"

He wasn't able to hear the rest of it, the building let out a rather violently growl before it shook, spinning around as though the entire thing was going to come down on their heads. Before he knew it, he'd grabbed Issei by his shoulder and yanked him hard to the side and into the wall, not a second later as a blur sped right past them through the gap and down towards the bottom floor with a wet splat.

"What the-!?" Issei let out a sharp curse, pulling free of his grasp and then rushing towards the steps, staring down towards the floor. Romani followed behind him, leaning over and bringing his pen light up.

It was an utterly pathetic thing but it illuminated the arrow shaped slab, barely catching sight of the growling puddle of reflective oily liquid seeping out from it before the air changed.

Then the smell hit him, one that was so foul that he instantly brought a hand up to cover his mouth. Issei's reaction was much worse, a hacking sound escaped their throat, throwing themselves backwards and slamming their hands over their face to block out the pungent odour.

"O-oh-" Issei pulled his hands from his face, gagging loudly and falling to the wall for support, coughing and sputtering as though he was going to vomit any moment, Romani could have sworn he briefly saw tears welling up in the eyes of the teen. "T-tha-that's-"

They brought a fist up to cover their mouth, snapping their jaw shut and closing their eyes.

Seconds ticked past.

Romani turned his head up, squinting as he heard another hiss and then the unmistakable sounds of something being broken and what sounded like shouts, either of alarm or pain, he couldn't quite make them out.

Another shudder ran through the building, he fell to the wall for support.

He knew that noise, that sound.

His breath burned as he sprinted right past Issei, he knew what was going to happen next.

He nearly stumbled up the next step, catching himself on the guard rail and managing to keep himself upright, he was moving in a half crawl before he remembered to use his limbs once again, flying up as the sounds got louder and more chaotic.

Vaguely aware of Issei stamping up behind him, only through a mixture of rushing footsteps and hacking coughs, his eyes darted to the stairwells for any sign of a distinguishing feature beyond listening for noises. Biting his lower lip rather hard when he found nothing that helped, except for the voices which had gotten louder and louder.

"Shouldn't I be going first?" Issei shouted out from behind him, he fought back the urge to tell him that sounded like a terrible idea to him, nearly biting his tongue in the process.

While Issei might have been a Devil, Romani was the only one who actually knew what was ahead of them.

Another rumble from up ahead, he fell forwards and caught himself on the steps, snapping his eyes up and blinking as he found himself staring down at a layer of dust and debris around the floor in front of him, pulling his hands up to reveal them coated in light grey plaster.

Batting them down on his trousers, he flung himself forwards and up the final steps, not even registering that it was a hole and not a door he was running through until he'd already passed through it.

"Gah!" With a cry of alarm, he stepped in something and found his balance falling out from beneath him, like stepping on a patch of ice. His back slammed into something, an oof noise behind him as a pair of hands gripped him by the shoulders and stopped him falling over.

Shooting a glance over his shoulder, he found himself staring at Issei who raised a single eyebrow before giving him a light shove forwards and following him through the hole in the wall, making a grimace as he stared down. Romani pointed the light down and blanched, pulling up his shoes and staring at the thick puddle of deep red oil like liquid by his feet.

"...Smells like metal."

Issei muttered under his breath, not so low that Romani couldn't hear him.

His words were drowned out by an explosion, as though the entire building around them decided to bellow out. A rumble followed by a sudden rush of air sent both of them tumbling back through the hole and onto their backsides, a second later a flood of dust went shooting right through them, blocking out his vision and leaving him coughing and sputtering.

Through it all, the sound of a scream - possibly a shout - overshadowed everything else above even the decimation of the building.

With a heavy cough, he ejected the remaining dust clouds from his lungs, clambering back up and stumbling forwards, the ringing in his ears and the dazed vision kept him from moving straight, staggering around and into the hallway, blearily turning his eyes towards the direction the cloud had rushed from and squinting hard.

Vaguely, he could see a moving blur in the darkness, but with his torch knocked from his hand he couldn't actually make out anything about it.

Then the blur growled.

His eyes shot wide and he slipped backwards, the blur lunged as a shape intercepted it in the air, taking him a moment to realise that it was Issei who had jumped the blur and a moment later to realise they'd just tackled a wolf to the ground and were now wrestling with it.

"Boost!" The shout of the gauntlet echoed around the cramped space like an air horn, the pounding in his head made worse as he clasped his hands over his ears. Issei continued his wrestling match before finally hoisting the beast up and then body slamming it into the ground.

The teen pummelled away at the wolf until his hands came back slick with blood and the creature no longer looked alive.

Then it softened into sludge and squelched away.

"These things again?!" Issei growled out between breaths, stumbling up to his feet and shaking his head from side to side, then turning to him and reaching a hand out. "You alright, Roman-sensei?"

"Not at all." He shot back hurriedly, clasping the extended hand and letting them pull him up to his feet once more. "You alright?"

Issei grinned.

"Not in the least!" And with that, they turned and started to move ahead of him, pausing only briefly and looking around the room, a click of the tongue and they darted forwards once more and slid to a halt. "Looks like a hurricane came through here, everything is a damn mess."

Romani blinked twice, then squinted at the room, his sight hadn't had the chance to adjust yet so he'd have to take their word for it. Though he did believe them, especially as he found himself walking across uneven terrain, accompanied with the walls he could see having large gouges torn from them.

"It's up ahead!" Issei called out, moving forwards and then rounding a corner. "I hear them now!"

So could he, and it sounded as though he was stood next to a car accident that just never stopped, barely even able to hear the comments of Issei were it not for them shouting them aloud.

He knew this sight.

He knew what was coming.

He really hoped he wasn't too late.

"Boost!" Another cry of the gauntlet and a flash of green light from the polished gem, Romani blinked from the sudden assault which lit up the hallway, the details burned into his mind.

Chunks ripped from the walls, rooms pulled open and the contents tossed across the corridor, debris hanging down from the sections of missing ceiling.

With a shake of the head, he carried himself forwards, occasionally stumbling where he missed a step but at this point he could at least make out where the worst of the debris was. Though his steps were hurried by the sounds of battle drawing closer and closer-

The wall at the end of the hallway vanished in a tsunami of dust and debris, shadows blurred right the way through it and darted out into the hallway. He could make out two of them, maybe three but he couldn't tell for certain, not when they were rushing towards them only to slip.

He couldn't make out which was which, all he could see was the bundle of bodies fall onto the ground and wriggle around for a moment, then he saw something else.

A large pitch black shape, a trunk almost were it not for the fangs jutting from the open maw, rushing towards the trio with its jaws wide. He could vaguely see the glisten of the reflective liquid on the tips of the jaw as time seemed to slow for him, his mouth opened up, he could see the outcome that was about to occur.

He stumbled forwards, hand outstretched-

"Dragon-!" Issei cocked his left arm back, the ends of his knuckles glowing with brilliant vermillion light. "-Shot!"

He swung forwards like going for a punch.

A ball of pure green rocketed down the hallway, the power of the blow had him stagger backwards.

He didn't see the impact, but he heard the sound of it, the high pitched whistle and then the thunderous boom, the shockwave slammed into him like a car, he was knocked onto his back and curled up as the dust washed over him once more, the sound of the screech from whatever had been struck echoed across the hallway, drowning out all other noises.

It felt as though it reverberated through his very bones.

Muffled noises rippled around him, he couldn't place where they were from.

Shapes darted through his line of sight, some hovered for longer than others.

He didn't know what-

"Roman!" A shout in his face, his eyes snapped wide, the blur directly in front of him transitioned into the face of Issei hovered before him, a tight grip on his shoulder shook him rather violently, almost dragging him back into awareness. "We've got to get the hell out of here!"

The grip pulled, he was dragged onto his feet, barely even aware of the panic in the voice of the teen as they stumbled forwards, he heard the dragging sound behind him, the crunch of stone and a low hiss which was far from friendly.

He didn't turn around.

He didn't think he'd have kept running if he had.

"The fuck is that thing!? I know that wasn't my best shot but-fuck!"

They threw themselves into the hole they had emerged from before, he went a bit too far.

Next thing he knew was that his body was in pain all over and he was staring up from the bottom of the flight of stairs, a pained groan rushed past his lips. Rolling onto his side and fighting through the exhaustion to drag himself to his feet, he turned and then blinked, then blinked again.

Next to him was not Issei, rather it was the navy haired woman.

Clutching at her side as blood leaked between her fingers, her expression flooded with pure agony as all she could do was groan, breathing staggered and erratic.

He didn't even think.

Throwing himself forwards, he slung his arms beneath the woman and pulled her upwards into a carry, clutching her close to himself. She didn't weigh anything, or it was adrenaline carrying him onwards, his head snapped to the other blurs and found himself staring at Issei in an awkward slump with the two teens from before.

"W-what ha…Issei!?" The twin-tailed girl let out a shout of alarm, shooting up into a sitting position. "What are you doing-?"

"Saving your ass!" Issei snapped back at her, not even looking as he threw himself off them and onto his feet, "Run the fu-!" his head whirled upwards, Romani followed his gaze.

Something large pressed against the wall, it held for only a minute before it split open and ruptured, the smooth head pushed through without much issue and twin glowing eyes of pure crimson locked onto them, another hiss rippled out from the maw and he felt himself lock up, for only an instant.

Then he was running before he even realised what he was doing, with the woman held in his hands he shot down the stairs as quickly as he could manage, going two or even three at a time.

He didn't think about what slipping now would do.

He couldn't even hear if Issei was behind him or not, only the sound of whatever had followed them tearing its way through the stairwell.

It was both the shortest and the longest run of his life, right until he darted right into the lobby and then slid to a halt, staring dead ahead at the entrance, or where the entrance would have been. His eyes were firmly fixed upon the pick-up truck sized bull which was prowling around the entrance, giving a single snort as it locked onto him with glowing eyes.

"Don't stop Ro-oh shit!" Issei slipped onto the ground next to him, falling flat on his face as he tried to stop only to get slammed into from the others.

His eyes parted from the pull and onto the teen, catching himself before he dropped the woman to check on him, all he could hear was how quiet her breathing was getting now, coupled with a bubbling noise coming from her mouth.

The two exorcists pulled their swords forth, but the fact even he could see their trembling limbs was proof enough that something was wrong with them, their laboured breaths and inability to actually raise their swords off the ground, only now with the trace amount of light filtering through the room could he see how clad in sweat they were.

They also smelled rather strongly of it as well.

A hiss from behind him.

A cold sensation crept down his spine as he took two steps forwards and then turned around.

It was there.

Just sitting there in the crook of the doorway, staring at them.

The crimson slitted eyes stared at him in what almost felt like amusement, as though it knew how bad things were and was just playing with them.

He gulped down the knot in his throat, pulling the woman a little closer to him in a vain effort to shield her.

A hot snort from the bull, he could see the gust shoot out from the nostrils as it paced forwards and then stood wide, ready to charge.

"Shitshitshitshitshitshitshit." Issei's muttered curses under his breath were coupled with him shooting to his feet, bringing his arms up in a rather clumsy stance and looking between the bull and the head of the giant snake. He could see the panic in their eyes, one that he felt shoot through him as well.

"Dying…beside a…Devil…of all things…" The blue haired teen spat, quite literally, as with a grunt she hoisted up the large axe handled sword in her hand and visibly stumbled as she did so, she turned and glared down at the bull. "I can only hope that God will forgive this sin."

"Fuck, ouch!" Issei cursed, clasping at his forehead from the words and shooting a dirty look at the teen for a moment before turning away. "Yeah, dying beside you ain't great either. Especially considering we wouldn't be here if you guys were trash! H-hahaha!"

He didn't find it all that funny, and the chuckles of Issei devolved into a small whimper. "...I'm gonna die again."

Romani froze for a moment, then his expression worsened, his eyes drifted down to the woman and then towards the teenager, he couldn't see their expression and, for what it was worth, it was probably a mercy for him. The shaking of their shoulders was more than enough for him to fell like the worst type of garbage on the planet.

"Sorry…Issei…I'm…" The words choked up in his throat, finding himself unable to say anything else, his expression scrunched up.

"...Nah, I decided to come along in the first place…shit, man…" Issei let out a half scoff half croak, shaking their head from side to side. "What a terrible idea…"

Something shifted, their heads as one snapped onto the direction of the large snake thing, it let out a guttural hiss before it abruptly stopped moving. Slowly closing its eyes and then slipping back into the darkness, becoming one with the shadow with only the sound of sloshing to be heard in the wake of the disappearance.

Giving a slow blink, he turned his eyes onto the bull and found there was no such luck as it was still glaring them down.

"What the hell is-?"

Issei's question was cut off by a sharp echo, directly from where the snake had retreated. Despite it all, he found that single sound to be much more intimidating than the bull. Especially as it was followed by another echo, then another and another. Each one louder than the last.

Their consistent beat and tone, it became clear what they were.

Footsteps.

It was as though something changed in the air, he felt his heart throw itself right up into his throat, unable to tear his eyes away from the direction of the doorway, unable to see anything even as the owner of the footsteps drew closer and closer, not even a blur in the darkness.

Nothing.

It was irrational, a giant bull in the room and he'd just been chased by a snake and yet the thing that terrified him the most were the sound of footsteps.

He froze.

They didn't fade in from the darkness, it was as though they were a cutout that just appeared.

The man stood in the doorway, body blending into the shadows around him, all except for his head and his hands, a deathly pale colouration to his ashen white skin, short ruffled grey hair, the eyes of the man swept across them all before they took a single step forwards and further into the lobby, only a single step.

It was a footstep like a gunshot.

A long black coat which stretched all the way down to his ankles, for a second it looked like their undershirt was a full body suit, right until he could have sworn he saw their chest bubble and ripple like the surface of water, a low growl seemingly came from the body of the man, their face remaining perfectly still like a porcelain mask.

Then their head turned, focus drifting onto Issei and their brows raising just a little.

"How unexpected." A deep voice spoke out in perfect English, surprise clear in their tone. "It had been my intention to seek you out next, but to think you would have saved me the effort and come of your own volition…" then their eyes moved onto him, or rather, the woman held in his grasp. Confusion emerged next. "Though…to think that you would have come to act as rescuers. Not what I had expected."

A moment passed, then whatever interest the topic had seemingly vanished from them entirely.

"Not that it matters. I am not one to pass up this opportunity…to think that a Devil and a human would be foolish enough to arrive without support, unless…" Their eyes narrowed just a little, taking another booming step forwards which had him flinch and step back. "...No. Not that support will alter the outcome."

The announcement was coupled with a gurgling sound, the chest of the man started to hiss and spit as the matte black skin bubbled away like steaming water, shapes pushing out from beneath the surface of it.

"I will take this feast for what it is-"

Romani blinked.

When did Vlov get here-?

The sound of thunder ruptured the air, soon followed by the decapitated head of the bull blurring right past him and slamming into the desk with a crunch, the lobby furniture crumpled under the impact and was carried away into the wall, punching clean through it and into the room behind with a cacophony of destruction.

A wet splat followed, the body of the bull having flown through the air and striking the adjacent wall and sliding down onto its side.

It took him only a moment to see the long curved cleaver in the hands of Vlov, slick with obsidian coloured goo.

Then the world turned cold, a pillar of ice thrust from the ground at the base of the mans feet and rushed straight across the room so swiftly that the time between it appearing and charging the man practically didn't exist at all

"Ah, there it is."

The ice shattered like cheap class, chunks of frozen debris hurtled back across the room and slammed into the walls and ceiling, dust rained down from where they had struck, the man remained unmoved from the display, his arms still held almost casually behind his back, not in the least looking bothered by the attempt on his life.

As they took a single step forwards, Vlov vanished and then reappeared behind them, swinging down towards their neck, Romani caught the since instance in which the normally stoic mans face twitched and shot wide with alarm, only for him to disappear at the same time the space behind the man turned into a mess of tentacles.

Ripping it's way from his coat, the monster easily took up enough space to full the entire room, a low groan escaped it as it flopped around and pulled upwards, sickly wet and a pungent odour filled the room, it took Romani a second to realise what it was that he was seeing, when he realised it he felt his heart stop.

It was an octopus.

An impossibly large octopus.

The pale skinned man, still unconcerned, kept his eyes solely fixed upon Issei, his brows pinched just a touch before his expression loosened, the same level of indifference returned as he made only a single sound.

Vlov skirted around to the floor between them and swung upwards, his cleaver hit the underside of a tentacle launched right towards them, sending it upwards at the same time the ground beneath the feet of the devil cratered down from the strike, a gasp escaped the man before he snarled and twisted himself around.

In the next moment, the devil vanished into a blur as spears of ice launched themselves across the room from different points, all of them striking at the giant octopus and shattering its hide. In response, it let out a deep bellowing roar which shook his very bones, then lashed out in fury, sweeping the tentacles across the room and tearing through everything.

The world shifted into nothing more than a haze of sound and noise.

White flashed in his eyes and he stepped backwards, head snapping around as he found himself surrounded by the thick colour on all fronts, a rough front covered him in a vague dome shape, the temperature dropped in an instant, his breath escaped him in large puffs of mist.

Vlov stood before him, arms swung either side and palms open.

With a snarl, the hands of the man clenched.

The dome around them shattered into thin shards, then surged forwards.

He caught the moment the octopus retreated from them, being shunted backwards into the wall before it charged with renewed aggression.

The ice rushed around and then extended wide like a sheet of paper.

The thrusting tentacles were sliced apart in an instant, a black smear travelled along the length of the sheet of ice as Vlov twisted his body, spinning the ice around like a propellor and guiding it above their heads before stamping his foot down and swinging it forwards, the blade cleaved right through the head of the octopus and forced the body backwards and further into the building.

Blood splattered as the floors above rained down onto the monster, concealing it's twitching form from the world.

Then Vlov turned, bringing his arms up in a block as a pair of jaws clamped down on either side of him, or it would be more accurate to call it a pair of swords for the length of them. Jagged and spiked, the twin blades closed in from either side and drew a hiss of pain from the devil.

Romani choked as he stared at an ant the size of a horse-

Vlov thrust his arms wide, the jaws were torn from the head of the ant, in the same moment the man slammed his shin into the underside of it's head, cleaving a trench straight through the armour and sending it spinning right into the ceiling-

The high kick slammed right down, crunching something under foot, with him vaguely catching sight of a deer under the foot of the man before he dragged the foot across - along with what remained of the head - the floor and then swung his other leg into the side of the corpse, banishing it from sight.

Vlov thrust an arm forwards, ice ejected from his hand and slammed into the front of the man, in that second they vanished from sight and were replaced with a thick mist of frozen debris, the torrent of magic continued for several seconds before cutting off.

Then Vlov swung upwards, a pillar of ice jutted from the ground right in front of them-

A fist punched right through it, stopping just shy of touching the front of Vlov's face.

It swung out, cleaving the top half of the pillar away and revealing the stone faced pale man, eyes once more fixed on Issei.

His chest split open.

A claw, like that of a crab, surged outwards and clenched down against the guard of Vlov before swinging upwards, sending the man through the ceiling and out of sight, leaving behind only the fading crashing sounds of him being sent skywards through the rooms above.

The man strode forwards without even hesitating, walking through the metre thick pillar of ice like it wasn't even there and reaching towards them, utterly ignoring the screaming blue haired teen who was swinging a sword out towards his outstretched arm.

Around his palm, the skin bubbled as a shape started to emerge from it-

He paused, for only a second, then snapped his head towards the entrance and looked upwards, twisting his body around and bringing up his other arm as a guard-

The ceiling punched downwards, a blur of dust and debris slammed right into him and Romani felt his world turn upside down, vaguely aware of the thundering impact before he was spinning through the air, still holding the woman in his arms, and sent hurtling down into the ground.

The person in his arms was shunted from his grasp, flying away and rolling from him the second he landed, a cough ripped itself free of his throat as he stared up, swearing he could see some flakes of red as well, but it lasted barely an instant before he shot up, rolling onto his side and scrambling away on all fours, whirling his head around in an effort to find anyone else.

Something slammed down into the space before him, he froze on the spot as he stared at the shape, an armoured head crunched inwards as a heel pressed right through the plated skin and into the flesh beneath, ripping itself and dragging a sticky liquid with it.

His eyes remained on the beetle for a moment - at least it looked like a beetle, but larger than any he had ever seen - before his shock gave way to movement, he dragged his eyes upwards to the person in question.

Blinking twice, he turned and then found himself gaping at the person standing in front of him.

"Penny!?"

It was an impossible sight.

The purple haired woman stared down at him, seemingly looking as baffled as he felt, though it quickly vanished and was replaced with a flash of relief and then irritation, she spun around and revealed a series of ten pitch black wings jutting from the back of her suit.

"Later!" The woman shouted, then swung her wings forwards, a crack like a slap and then something was flung from the wings across the room, he couldn't see anything beyond the blurs but they quickly turned the opposite side of the room into swiss cheese, or what could have passed for it with all the holes.

Nothing should have survived that-

"Another Fallen Angel?"

The voice echoed out.

It didn't even sound winded.

From the dust, the shadow of the man stepped forwards and into the open once more, this time he was flicking his arm as though he was trying to shake something off him.

Their head lingered on the arm, then moved itself towards the direction of Penny, the brows of the man furrowed a little bit before their lips curled down, looking as though they had been pleasantly surprised by something. "Not that I am one to complain about such a state of affairs, but this is becoming rather bewildering for me. First Exorcists, then Devils and now a Grigori."

A pause, then the man tilted their head.

"Unless you're here for the other Grigori?"

Penny stayed silent.

Then a single word slipped from her, almost like a shocked gasp.

"...Fabro?"

A blink from the man, then an almost cordial smile fell upon him. "I did not think that there would be many who would still remember me after all these years, though I cannot say I recall meeting you…perhaps one familiar with my work? No, no matter." a wave of the hand, the tone of the man shifted.

Turning harder.

"Your fate will be the same as the other."

That seemed to have an effect on Penny, though he couldn't see her face, her shock was palpable as she stood a step backwards. "The other-wait-you…where's Kokabiel?"

Silence.

Then a simple reply.

"I ate him."

The man didn't even blink as he replied.

A snarl rips free of her throat, the twin spears burn in her hands as she charges down the man in a split second - faster than any human could react - and swings for the head of the man.

But they are not human.

The spear strikes home and shatters like cheap glass.

A second later, a head bursts from the chest of the man. It's long and eel-like, the same smooth serpent from earlier.

With a roar, it clamps its jaws down into the waist of the woman.

Her screams of agony shatter the glass-

His eyes burned, his head snapped onto Penny as he watched her shoulders shudder.

"Don't!" He watches the skin of the man bubble, then his leg sweeps out and he strikes a shin into the side of Penny, a wince split upon his face as it felt like it was more like he had just kicked a brick wall. It was, however, enough for the woman to stumble backwards with a faint gasp of surprise and fall down.

The skin of the man tore open, he threw himself to the side as the snake monster rocketed forwards and snapped down into empty space, mere inches above Penny and across from him, he froze as the slitted eyes made contact with him for a brief instant, the single overwhelming feeling of death surged right through his-

The head of the snake snapped upwards and fell back, the jaw snapped shut, he looked down as Penny pushed off the ground and slammed her heeled shoes right into the lower jaw, completing the kick and flipping over and her expression shifted, horror flooded over her face and she stumbled away from the monster, then threw herself back into the fray, seemingly taking all the attention onto herself as she did so.

He didn't let the chance go, his eyes snapped onto the limp form of the blue haired woman, he threw himself into a crawl, swiftly charging across the room towards them and throwing himself down into a slide, taking him right to them. With deft movement, he flipped them face up and looked down, he could still see their expression twitching.

Sweat dripped across their brow.

His relief that they were still alive didn't last long, not when a howl ripped through the air and was followed by a snarling noise, a crack like a hammer striking metal, he turned about face and blanched instantly.

An armoured tail - like that of a scorpion - surged out the back of the man and thrust forwards, slamming into the ground where Penny had been stood moments ago, the woman jumped backwards into the air, her wings carrying her higher-

Black fires rippled out from the palm of the man, striking her dead on and carrying her further upwards and into the ceiling-

The man staggered backwards, a hiss escaped him as the tail pulled back with the point missing off the end, the blur which cleaved it free slowed to a halt, revealing Vlov once more, keeping still for all of a second before he charged once again, reappearing as his blade skated off the surface of a thick diamond shaped plate, like metal but more course.

The shape flung itself free, revealing some manner of insect-

Vlov struck the bug into the ground, then jumped back as the head of an alligator ripped itself free of the chest of the man and snapped down in the space where they had been, the flames swung downwards and into the space where Vlov was, a sharp gasp escaped the man as he darted out of the inferno.

Parts of his cloth still aflame and with a look of concern upon him now.

The coat rippled once again, a new shape started to emerge, larger than the others by far.

Great glowing eyes of scarlet light flooded the room, teeth like blades hung down from a massive set of jaws.

It felt like the air had been stolen right from his lungs-

Penny dropped down in front of him, Issei tucked under one arm and the exorcists bundled under the other, a genuine look of panic on her face. Her head whipped around and towards Vlov "I'm teleporting, get in!"

A second later, Vlov was standing right beside them, covered in cuts and bruises with his face awash with blood.

Then the man swung his arms either side of him.

The world turned white, every inch of the lobby was encased in ice-

It shattered, the humongous shape burst forth and threw itself right towards them he was vaguely aware of the shape tearing its way through the building, the ceiling above their heads caved inwards as the shape moved on them, a flash of brilliant orange build up from the maw as it opened up-

Then his world became nothing but light.

If there was one thing that she could have prided herself on, it was her ability to maintain a poker face.

But even this was stretching the limits of what she could actually endure before she cracked, hands resting on her hips and head facing down towards the ground, she'd heard their footsteps before they were even within speaking range of her, though she was rather curious as to why they would be here in the first place.

"I do not suppose that Roman-sensei has spoken with you recently?"

The almost affectionate way the redhead spoke the name of her husband was something of a surprise, it brought her head up and turned towards the young devil, cocking a single brow but otherwise shaking her head from side to side. "Not since he insisted on going off to find your missing peerage members."

Something ugly coiled away in her chest as she realised that she was about to get news from Rias from her husband rather than the man himself. It must have shown on her face because the brows of the redhead shot up, a slight look of panic, and a hand was waved down.

"No, no, Issei contacted me not too long ago to tell me some rather…troubling news." A flash of something passed across the face of the devil, a curl of her lips and the clenching of their fists told Leona that there was definitely something displeasing about said news. "Suffice to say that he and my other…wayward peerage are currently on their way back now."

A moment passed, then Rias's shoulders dropped. "But even still, if Roman-sensei has not contacted you then…" the devil cupped her chin, a thoughtful look flashing across her face. "...No, I'm sure it is fine, Issei didn't say anything was amiss, but I was having to hold myself back from teleporting right towards him."

Leona brought her arms up, removing her hands from her hips, and folded them across her chest. Narrowing her eyes ever so slightly at the teenager, the way in which they hadn't actually brought up the news was noted and was starting to make her worried. Apparently the pawn was able to speak with her but her own husband was too occupied. "...What happened?"

"...Vlov is on his way there now, he's really very reliable." A flash of pride crossed over the face of the girl, one that Leona found herself unable to take any comfort in.

Namely because she had just told her that the Knight of Lucifer was currently on his way towards the same location as her husband, for whatever reason that might have been.

Her throat felt tight, eyes remaining fixed on the redhead as the words of Penemue bounced back through her mind louder than before. She had said she was on her way but that could have meant she would instantly be in Kuoh, and if the knight of Lucifer had been dispatched then that could only mean…

"...What happened?"

"...It's only related to my peerage, your husband is perfectly fine." The girl replied slowly but Leona could see the signs in her eye, those bright blue orbs darting away in a split second to avoid looking her in the eye. The slight tension in their shoulders and the twitching of their lips. "Really, they're all going to be fine, which is…which is good, that's fine, that's wonderful even! The sort of news that I should be thrilled with, especially after-"

The Devil cut herself off and closed her eyes, jaw snapping shut with an audible click.

Leona creased her brows a little and kept a rather puzzled gaze on the Devil, something unpleasant clicked within her. "Did they…encounter someone?"

A sharp intake of breath, then the eyes of Rias opened up and something rather scared flashed through them. It was a second or two later that the devil slowly nodded her head up and down. "They…apparently encountered the Burial Agent, it seemed as though my peerage had discovered the hideout of Kokabiel and they had made a hasty retreat from that location."

The teen blurted out the words before Leona's panic could fully materialise.

A Burial Agent…

Romani walked right into a Burial Agent?!

She'd sent him out with Devils.

She'd sent him out with devils and a reincarnated heretic nun.

And he immediately walked right into a Burial Agent…in the middle of the night.

She felt sick.

Her left hand pressed itself against her mouth, eyes wide and breathing erratic.

They said he was fine.

Rias said he was fine.

Everything was fine.

Everything was-

"What the-?"

A shocked gasp from the direction of Rias, but she'd felt it as well.

A sudden influx of magical energy as such close range to them, she whirled around with wide eyes, staring at the circle which suddenly sprang to life right in front of them, growing in size until it was easily three metres across.

But it was worse.

She recognised the violet colouration of the spell and the pattern used inside it.

Leona didn't even have time to panic before nearly half a dozen figures came tumbling out of the circle and landing on a heap on the ground, some falling over one another and striking the floor, but the standing ones were what caught her eye.

There was Vlov.

Knight of Lucifer.

The right side of his face was covered in rather nasty burns and his one immaculate clothes were riddled with scorch marks.

Then there was the other figure, impossible to mistake for anyone else with the ten midnight black feathered wings jutting out her back, tears across her office suit and her hair in a frazzled mess, breathing in and out with a wide and almost panicked look in her eyes, those strong orbs swirling around before the landed on her.

The final standing figure was hardly alone, and it took her a few moments to come to terms with the sight that was all but impossible for her.

Romani stood upright, a distant gaze in his wide eyes as though a million miles away and then cradled in his arms, looking so small and weak, was the unmistakable body of the Burial Agent from earlier.

"...Oh shit…" A slurred voice, that of Issei, the brown haired teen slumped over on his hands and knees with his head facing the ground, a second later he vomited onto the street.