"Regulus! Calm!" Sairaorg exclaimed as he rushed towards Regulus and pinned the beast to the ground, the man with the golden staff appearing behind Heracles and pinning his arms to the side as the butler appeared besides the growling Heracles with a beautiful silver blade held against his throat.
"Remember your orders, brute." The butler's cold voice managed to knock Heracles out of his battle mania as he took a shaky deep breath and nodded, the brown-haired man slowly letting go as the butler pulled his blade away.
"That's Caliburn! Xenovia, that's Caliburn, right?!" Irina exclaimed as she turned to Xenovia, who looked just as shocked and a bit pale as she gave a slow nod while tightly gripping the hilt of Durandal on her back.
"What is the heir to the Pendragon family doing with a terrorist organization?" Xenovia asked, having heard the stories of the reincarnation of King Arthur and his near-godlike skill with the Strongest Holy Sword.
"My family did not like it when I wished to wed a woman of lower birth. Thus, I left and found the Khaos Brigade to help my cause."
"So, you're doing this for love? Not to be that guy, but there might not be a girl to love if you guys win." Saji cut in with a shrug and Arthur simply raised an eyebrow as he put his blade back into its pocket dimension.
"If it means that my love & I will die in each other's arms, then it's a world I'm willing to lose."
"…Don't ever get to that level of love or else I'm going to kill you." Saji said with a sigh as he turned to Issei only to frown at how his best friend wasn't even taking a single second to look away from Vali, who in turn was staring back as a tense atmosphere hung in the air.
"So…what the fuck are you doing here, dickhead?"
"Same thing as you, dipshit. Trying to get an alliance to get rid of you fuckers."
"Who would want to join up with a guy that ran away the moment I took the fight serious?"
"I ran because I had to fight two devils, one of which is supposed to be my rival but turns out to be nothing more than a coward that can't face me on its own."
"Oh, then let's see if you can keep up with me, fucking white gecko!" Issei growled as the Boosted & Dividing Gears appeared on his hands, Vali grinning as the Divine Dividing spread out wide on his back.
"See, now we're talking my language, imbecilic red lizard!"
"Stop!" Ra's True Voice echoed throughout the halls of his temple, forcing the devils and humans to take a step back as Poseidon blinked while wiggling a finger in his ear.
"I will not have the fucking Heavenly Dragon Emperors using their Juggernaut Drives & tearing my home apart! Both of you power down, now!" The two Sacred Gear holders continued glaring at each other as they dismissed their weapons, Ra letting out a sigh before turning as Poseidon spoke.
"Uh, I think we should save this for later today when everyone has cooled down a bit."
"That sounds for the best. Make sure you all keep away from each other on different sides of the lands or everyone is getting sent back empty-handed, understood?"
"Yes, Lord Ra."
"You good now?" Sairaorg asked as he looked at Regulus, who had his head in his hands as their group were sitting on the ground outside of Ra's temple.
"Y-Yeah, sorry about that."
"I understand, but I have to admit I'm surprised. You're not usually one to lose your cool." Saji said, to which Regulus sighed as he shook his head and looked at him.
"How would you feel if you met the reincarnation of the man that killed you and allowed a foreign god to seal you into an object to be used & abused for over three millennia?"
"I…I see. Apologies for taking it lightly."
"Ah, it's fine. I thought I had gotten over it but I guess the anger is still there. It's just been…suppressed to the deepest depths of my mind."
"Well, as much as it pains me to say this, this meeting is far too important and I can't have you abruptly losing your mind like that. Do you think you can control yourself next time?"
"Truthfully, that's a toss-up." Regulus admitted and Sairaorg sighed as he nodded before standing up.
"Then until we're done here, I can't let you near the meeting hall. Issei, would you please stay with him and make sure he stays calm?"
"You got it. Ddraig and I can keep him company."
[And we'll make sure he doesn't go on a rampage] Ddraig chimed in, to which Sairaorg smiled as Regulus gave a thankful nod.
"Thank you."
"I'll stay as well. That way, I can make sure Issei doesn't irritate him." Irina said with a smile, though she blushed as Saji & Xenovia just snorted in unison.
"How much do you wanna bet she's staying just for Issei?"
"That is a fool's bet."
"I-I am not! Tell them it's not like that, Issei!"
"R-Right! W-We're just friends!" Issei agreed with Irina, though the blush & silly grin on his face just made Saji raise an eyebrow before shaking his head as he & Xenovia stood up.
"Buddy, no one is believing with that perverted grin on your face."
(I still can't get over the fact that he is Ddraig's wielder.) Vritra said out loud to Saji, to which Issei groaned as his best friend chuckled.
"Yeah, me neither, partner. So, what do we do now?" He asked as he turned to Sairaorg, who hummed as he looked around before shrugging while raising a hand to him.
"Want to pass the time with arm-wrestling?"
"Oh, but of course." Xenovia cut in with a challenging grin as she took off Durandal and placed in on the ground, Saji simply watching as Sairaorg tore a boulder from the ground to use as a platform before shaking his head as he saw the others too busy talking with each other to care.
'It's times like this I wish I was as batshit insane as the rest of them.'
"Glad to see that you decided to leave one of the causes of earlier out of the meeting hall." Ra said to Poseidon with a nod, to which the sea god smiled as he shook his head.
"That was the Bael boy's call and like I said earlier, a good one."
"Then my thanks to you, young Bael."
"I am honoured, Lord Ra." Sairaorg said with a slight bow, to which Ra smiled before turning with a raised eyebrow at Vali's group.
"However, I see you all didn't do as I asked and waited until I call for you."
"Apologies if our behaviour came off as rude, Lord Ra, but like Sir Vali said when we arrived, Lady Ophis put us on a tight schedule."
"'Lady'? Is that the form it's taking this time?" Poseidon asked with a raised eyebrow, smirking as none of the other group even looked at him to answer his question.
"Poseidon asked a good question. Answer." Ra spoke, to which the four men simply looked at each other before Vali sighed as he nodded for Arthur to answer.
"Yes, she has taken the form of a young girl dressed in gothic attire."
"Ah, right. That's the new trend if I'm not mistaken amongst humans, correct?" Poseidon said as he turned to the younger ones in his group for confirmation, smiling in thanks as Xenovia nodded in agreement at his question.
"Black leather & an obession with vampires, my lord."
"Dear us, those Dusk movies really made the lives of vampires a lot easier than it was before." Ra muttered, shaking his head before clearing his throat as he realized that he was dragging the meeting out.
"Ahem! Anyway, allow me to be quite honest from the start. I've already talked to Poseidon and he has given me some good incentives on why I should join his side, but I wish to know why I should yours. So, what benefits do you have to offer not only myself but also my pantheon?" Ra asked as he gestured to Vali's group, to which Vali didn't answer as Arthur stood up & cleared his throat.
"Firstly, Lord Ra, I would like to thank you for giving us the opportunity to-!"
"Spare me the ass kissing, boy. What am I going to get if I join you?" Ra swiftly interrupted Arthur with a bored tone, Arthur simply taking a deep breath & nodding before he continued.
"Of course, my lord. Firstly, Lady Ophis has given us permission to give you five hundred Ultimate Class warriors as an advance payment with another thousand ready to be deployed days later as protection."
"The average God-Class being can tear that many apart with one hand. What else?"
"Secondly, she has also given us permission to hand out Ophis snakes that will triple the power of anyone that ingests them."
"Oh? And how many of these do you have?"
"Sixty, my lord." Vali was the one who answered, smirking as Ra simply hummed while the devils & Xenovia glanced at each other.
"Okay, that's quite the tantalizing offer. I just have one question."
"Of course, my lord. We are here to answer any enquiries you may have."
"What made you all think that I was going to join up with the group that's trying to revive Apophis?" Ra asked as he rested his hands under his chin, raising an eyebrow as the group all looked at him while the Alliance group looked confused.
"What do you mean by revive, Ra?" Poseidon asked as his smirk was replaced by a serious frown, to which the Sun god answered without taking his eyes off of the Khaos group.
"A year ago, a few of the spies we had in the Brigade returned with grievous wounds and all of them died just a few days ago apart from each other. However, the few that were still able to talk before their deaths only said one simple phrase: 'They're reviving the Evil Dragons.' I then went to go look at where I killed Apophis & sealed away his soul only to find the cage destroyed & his soul gone. Conveniently, there was only one person that knew where he was and he has been missing for the past year, so let me ask you another question, boy. Is Set enjoying his new life as your master's lap dog?"
"It is a fun life if I have to say so myself, Ra." A voice echoed through the meeting hall and they all turned as the doors opened, Ra's eyes widening slightly before they burned with rage & hatred as a tall dark-skinned man dressed in a kilt embroidered with gold and his chest bare as the eyes of a donkey-like head glared back at the sun god.
Being dragged behind him was the bleeding forms of Ptah and a monkey-like man, the man smirking sadistically as he saw Ra standing up before he threw the bodies to the front just as Vali & the rest of the group appeared at his side.
"Saji!"
"Already got them!" Saji spoke as blueish-white vines shot out from his hands and caught both flying gods, the devil placing them gently on the meeting table before letting out a sigh of relief as both of them were still breathing."
"Set! You dare walk in here after the happenings of that day?!" Ra growled as his whip flew out from behind his throne & into his grasp, to which Set simply smirked as a pair of scarlet ankh appeared in his hands from thin air.
"So what if I killed a few people from our army and tried to kill you to become ruler? You're telling me that if you got the chance to kill me and become king, you wouldn't take the chance?"
"They were warriors sworn to protect us that had their souls erased from existence for your own pleasure!"
"Eh, more like I devoured them. They were delicious, but unfortunately not strong enough to make me stronger." Set said with a shake of his head before a rip in space blocked Ra's attack from cutting him in half, the sun god glaring at Arthur as the swordsman held Caliburn in his grasp.
"Apologies, Lord Ra, but I can't have you killing Lord Set."
"Then you will die with him."
"Nope! See ya!" The monkey yokai that was silent the whole time was the one who spoke as he spun his staff and slammed the butt of it into the ground, a golden cloud obscuring their group from view before it dissipated into thin air.
"What happened?!" As soon as the cloud was gone, Issei, Regulus and Irina burst through the door while on high alert, the trio blinking as Saji & Xenovia shook their heads while Ra, Poseidon and Sairaorg simply looked amused.
"So, I guess that means you're stuck with us, huh?" Poseidon said as he turned to Ra with a smirk and a hand held out to him, the sun god simply snorting as he nodded while reaching out and shaking the sea god's hands.
"I guess I have no choice."
A/N: This is a really short chapter, but mostly because I think I was trying to focus purely on this side of the arc and not the other.
That and I also believe I still had an erratic upload schedule so that might also be it.
Like always, you can go to my Pat-reon-.-com-/-KingCrimsonNova to read ahead on this as well as many other stories. If you want to, you are free to, but if you don't want, all's good as I will still be uploading here. This is just me trying to get some extra cash.
P.S. we have officially started our latest Pat-reon-exclusive for the next ten weeks and then it will come to here. For those that want to know and want to join, it is a OOC System Bleach Fanfic(both because I can't exactly find as many of those and because I've grown tired of self-inserts myself).
So, yeah, if you want, come on over to the Pat-reon and come read the one chapter that is out...like I said, it just started.
Also, I can't believe I haven't said this, but thank you all to the 1000 followers that this story has gotten. It's almost been two and a half years since the first chapter was posted(which is ridiculous to think about), but from the first followers that joined(Shivam Bansal, Stormbringer0, TheHikariRe, Tkilburn & writer0fdeath14 who joined on the first day) to the latest followers that are still joining, thank you all so much for this.
Truly, I wouldn't have continued, but that first few follows gave me a confidence boost and I never thought I could reach this level, but here I am.
Some would say that I'm just being sappy and emotional and I'll say they're damn right. This is something that I'll probably make a portrait of and hang above my PC as motivation.
Again, thank you.
Now, Ahem! Back to our regular scheduling...
As always, read, enjoy, review and until next week...
Ba-Bye~!
