Part 1
The youkai woman dressed in a military uniform pointed her sword at me, a strong energy seems to be coming from it
"Unbelievable, are you really going to play dumb right now in front of the Western faction?"
She says, anger in her voice and disgust in her face
I narrow my eyes in concern as a gut wrenching feeling rises within me
She's from East faction and is talking about someone's murder
I don't want to believe it, but again, who else could it be?
Suppresing my apprehension, I finally ask
"Who are you talking about?"
My question seems to make her even angrier as her hands tighten on the handle of the sword and she glares at me with glowing eyes
"You, psychic! I know it was you who killed Nurarihyon-sama!"
When she says that the entire room reacts, some gasped, some jumped on their seats, but I stayed silent, closing my eyes for only a moment
So they got to him...
Whoever is the Hero Faction's contact in the Community, they got to him
And they killed him...
"The leader of the East was killed?!"
Kunou asks surprised
Azazel puts a hand in front of his mouth
"How in the world did this happened?"
Even the cheerful Serafall now wears a serious expression as she looks at the sword yielding youkai
"Do you care to explain how this happened, miss...?"
She inquires, requesting the dog youkai's name
Her eyes dart towards the Maou for a moment
"Inuyami, subordinate of Kumowatari-sama"
So she's a dog youkai, it makes sense that she serves under Kumowatari, since he's still a dog youkai even if he's a lightning beast.
The karasu-tengu leader by this point had stood up and addressed Inuyami
"Miss Inuyami, could you explain to us how, exactly, Nurarihyon-dono died? Are you sure that it even happened?
Her face twists with anger and she glares at the tengu chief
"Of course I am! Are you taking me for a liar when the liars themselves are the ones standing right here in front of us?"
She says, not lowering her sword throughout the entire conversation
"We did not kill him, we couldn't have"
I state, but she obviously does not believe me
"Silence! It's obvious that only you could have done such a thing!"
Azazel waves his hand and asks the woman
"Okay, first of all, how and where was he killed?"
The woman takes a deep breath
"He was found in Urakanto's inner temple, they ruled the cause of death as... heart attack"
Everybody in the room looks confused
What did she just say?
"H-heart attack?"
The tengu leader asks
The youkai woman gives a bitter laugh
"A FUCKING HEART ATTACK!? Really?!"
She swings the sword violently and the sheer pressure of the weapon causes the room to tremble
"How can you even say that it wasn't any of you?!"
She takes a step in my direction and I prepare to defend myself
"W-w-wait!? Didn't you just said it was a hear attack?"
Issei asks, clueless as ever
"T-then how could Tatseyo and Ayumu have done that?"
The youkai lady looks at him with disdain, even a bit offended
"What are you implying?"
Azazel looks at Issei and answers
"Ise, there is no way a youkai would ever die of something like a heart attack"
The woman nods
"Exactly! The Nurarihyon was a thousand year old Great youkai who was still at his prime! He wouldn't, he couldn't have died from something like that! There's no magic who could have done that, no demonic power that could have killed him like that, no youkai that could have done it, except-"
She lifts the tip of the blade towards me
"YOU!"
"Only your kind could have done that!" - She yells
"Hold it right there, girl! Tatseyo and Ayumu couldn't have done it."
Azazel calls out to her
"They let the Nurarihyon go and accompanied Retsuza, Magari and Kumowatari to the Hero Faction's prison where they planned an escape plan, he was never in the Kanto youkai's capital, they couldn't have done it"
Azazel explained, but the eyes of the youkai remained fixed and determined, not a hint of hesitation or doubt
"And how do you know that?"
She coldly asked and Azazel answered
"They..." - His voice suddenly froze and I knew very well what he was going to say next
"... Told us"
I close my eyes and hear Ayumu groam
I slap myself mentally
Only our word... that's it, the only prove we have...
The youkai woman clicks her tongue
"How can you just believe his word? As far as we know he could have already killed all of them and is luring us into a trap to kill us too!"
She says, holding her sword up
I shake my head
"What about you?! How can you be sure of all of that? You don't have any proof as well and you talk way too much about espers, how can you be so sure that only one of us could have done that?"
Despite there being no doubts in my head that it was indeed an esper that killed the Nurarihyon, it still bothers me how this youkai woman that I have never seem before can accuse us with so much certainty
A smile appears on her face
"Oh, I was just waiting for you to ask that"
The woman says with a sarcastic smile on her face and pulls the hem of her uniform
My eyes wide as I realize that this woman was not wearing gloves.
"An artificial arm..." - I say
Her arms clearly don't belong on her body, it's an entirely different shade and material from her skin
The woman nods with a smirk
"That's right, a little souvenir from my last encounter with your kind"
She says with a dangerous grin
"After killing my unit they came after me. My arms... in the blink of an eye my arms disappeared like smoke in the wind. When I told them no one believed me, they said the stress from the battle was messing with my memory, that I hadn't seem things the right way."
The dog woman laughs
"And worst of all... I believed!"
Her eyes focus on me, angered, unhiged
"I thought I couldn't trust my memory, I thought I was going crazy... but then Nurarihyon-sama appeared dead... and then... I knew it"
Her smile turns broader
"I knew the killer had to be someone like those who attacked me, I knew I wasn't crazy! It was one of you! Only your type could have done that!"
She tilts her sword
"Someone that came to the Inner Capital and just executed Nurarihyon-sama right there... not even caring to plunder or take anything, I knew it... I knew it could only be you"
Her grip tightens
"Everyone else was taking turns blaming each other, but then the West Faction told us about you... espers... uff, huhuHAHAHAHA"
Suddenly she starts laughing, an unhiged terrifying laughter that causes everyone in the room to look concerned at her
"That's when I learned what you are called and I just had to come and see for myself"
"So in other words, you don't have permission from your superiors to be here?"
Azazel asks and the youkai woman shakes her head with a smile
"No, but I'm sure they'll forgive me once I find out the truth"
She answers without taking her eyes from me
"Now... esper, you're going to tell me exactly how you killed Nurarihyon-sama!"
I take a deep breath
"You are right about one thing..."
The woman tilts her head, likely not expecting me to agree with her
"An esper definitely killed the Nurarihyon"
The woman frowns
"Ready to confess then?"
I shake my head
"Except it wasn't, nor it could have been me or Ayumu"
She narrows her eyes
"Any proof of that?"
"You're gonna have to take my word for it"
She clicks her tongue
"I don't know if you realized that, but your word doesn't mean much to me"
"What about their word?"
I point to the side, at Azazel and Serafall
"Two leaders of the underworld that can vow for us"
"And why should I take their word too? All I know for sure is that they are falling for your trap"
She adjusts her sword into my eye level
"Ah, that's so much bullshit!"
Ayumu exclaims
"Ayumu!"
I retort, the last thing I want is to piss this youkai even more and scale things into violence
"No! This isn't right! We are risking our necks for their kind and we still have to deal with this?!"
Everybody looks at Ayumu, some impressed, some concerned
Azazel nods, with a serious expression
"I apologize for her tone, but Ayumu is right. They both have been putting themselves in an incredible risk by acting not only behind the backs of their organization, but also of Tatseyo's parents. It just wouldn't make any sense for them to do what you are implying"
The youkai woman does not seem convinced and snickers at Azazel
"You are blind.. you are all blind!"
She pulls one of her hands from the hilt of the sword and taps her artificial arm
"These arms of mine, the bloodshed these people caused, it opened my eyes... and now!"
My hairs stand up
"I'll open yours too, by force if needed!"
The woman lashes out at us while leaping in the air
"Ayumu!"
I push Ayumu to the side, I know she won't hold back against this woman, I cannot risk Ayumu hurting her and making things even worse
I manage to avoid the sword by a few inches after pushing Ayumu from the way
"Stop!"
Raising a finger, I pin the youkai woman to the floor
As she falls on her knees the woman has a shocked expression
"W-what?!"
The tengu leader, angrily yells
"Inuyami-san! You are attacking guests of the West Faction in our territory! This is a direct aggression!"
She clicks her tongue
"I'll take full responsibility then, whatever it takes! It'll pay off when they're exposed."
"You have already caused enough trouble today"
Azazel speaks up, but I raise my hand
"No... let me deal with it"
I ask him and he blinks a few times before nodding his head
The youkai woman looks impressed for a moment
"Oh... so you're finally going to be a man and own up to what you did?"
I shake my head
"You don't seem like you can be convinced by words. I know that type... I know it very well..."
I say, embarassed
"So I know you won't be convinced by anything I say"
Raising my arms, I ask the woman
"So if you really won't settle down. I'll fight you untill you're satisfied, let's go"
She looks confused for a moment, but quickly her frown turns into a smile
"Alright, let's go th-"
"Sorry, but that won't do~"
I hear a sweet female voice as black feathers start to flutter in the air
Azazel?
I think for a moment that our fallen angel teacher has stopped the unhiged youkai, but instead of him, a dainty woman with ebony dark hair wearing a kimono is standing right behind the dog youkai
"U-ugh!" - Inuyami groaned as the woman with dark wings held a feather against her throat as if it was a knife
"You are VIPs invited by Kunou-sama herself, so I can't allow you to trouble yourselves with fighting an intruder. It'd ruin our guard's reputation"
Who is she? A fallen angel?
I turn my head to look at Azazel, expecting this woman to be working for him, however
"You sure took your time"
The tengu leader is the first one to address the woman, who replies with a smile on her face
"Sorry boss, I was hoping that they would manage to solve this without violence, but it seems that this rabbid dog here won't back down so easy"
She gets her face next to the dog youkais ear
"You bad, bad girl~"
Inuyami growled
So this woman is a tengu?
I frown, female tengus obviously exist, but I have never seem a tengu this human looking, male or female.
"You think you got me cornered, crow bitch?"
Inuyami curses, not looking like she'll drop her weapon anytime soon
Suddenly, the sword starts to emit a dangerous glow and the once strong energy it seemed to give off became downright immense.
"What the hell is this...?"
I ask, Inuyami's arms start to tremble and her angry expression twists into a terrifying smile
The tengu woman's calm smile disappears as her eyes go wide
"Hahahahaha! You didn't thought I came here only with a half assed sword and bravado, did you?"
Creck creck teck
Lightning and eletricity start to come out of the sword and fill the room
That sword... What even is that?!
"You three! Back out, now!"
The tengu chief shouts and his subordinate immediately jumps back, however it was too late
Inuyami spun her body around and unleashed an extremely powerful lightning attack that twisted the very air around at the female tengu
"Watch out!"
I jump in front of the lightning attack that had lashed out at the tengu woman, for a moment I believed I could stop the lightning but the force was too great
"ARGGHH!"
I scream in both pain and surprise as the attack is much stronger than I could have expected
"Tachan!"
"Tatseyo!"
I hear Ayumu and the others call my name as I fall to the ground, my arms feeling incredibly hot
The tengu woman jumps in front of me
"Are you alright?"
She asks and I stand up
"Yeah, I think I am. I couldn't disipate all of it's energy but I'm mostly fine"
I reassure her, despite the smoke coming out of the wounds on my arm
"But that sword... what the hell is that?"
Inuyami laughs while obsessively looking at her blade
"No... this is... it can't be?"
The tengu woman looks nervously to the sword and asks with a shaky voice
"Futsunomitama, the sword of the thunder god?"
She asks, I frown
"Takemizukachi's sword? Wasn't it sealed in Nara?"
My question is answered with a laughter from the dog youkai
"The moment I heard that you were here, I went to the temple and unsealed the sword, it took a ton of effort, but you are worth it"
"In other words you stole that sword from the Nara temple... without permission from your superiors at the East Faction I wager" - The tengu chief answers
Inuyami clicks her tongue
"I'll take responsability for it when this is over, but for now..."
She slashes the air and jolts of lighting charges towards me and the tengu woman
Both of us jump out of the way, entirely giving up on defending against it
BOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM
Our decision turns out to be the spot on as a huge portion of the mansion is entirely blown away by the single swing of the sword
"I'll treat myself with interrogating Nurarihyon-sama's killers"
Even outside of the cut's range, the thunder that ressonated through the room forced everyone to take cover, Issei covered the little youkai girl with his body while Azazel and Serafall created barriers around the room
I look at the burnt remains in front of me and gulp
So this is the sheer power of a divine weapon? It gives of an energy similar but fundamentally different to Xenovia's Durandal, not to mention much greater, to the point I wonder how a youkai can even wield it
"You have a lot of guts to do this in the presence of a Maou and me at the same time"
Azazel states, creating several spears of light in the room, ready to start fighting against the furious dog youkai
"You are not my targets, I have no time for you"
Probably aware that even a divine weapon wouldn't be enough to fight against all of us alone, Inuyami slashes once again and the lightning from the sword tears the roof down
I raise my hand to stop the roof from collapsing and she takes this opportunity to release a bolt of light that momentarily blinds everyone in the room
"Agh!"
I scream at the same time as I try to keep the roof fixed to the ceiling
Droooom
The sound of a wall being torn
"Where did she go?"
I look back and I see the youkai woman holding Ayumu with the sword on her throat!
"Ayumu!"
I shout, holding a hand out
"Hold right there, esper!"
The dog woman yells, pointing the lighting covered sword at Ayumu's neck
"One move! If I see you move or feel my own body being even lightly tugged at I'll lop her head off!"
I grit my teeth, that sword is incredibly powerful, we can't be sure any of us is fast enough to do something before she badly hurts Ayumu or something worse
Ayumu creates several red hot spears in the youkai's back
"Let. Me. Go!"
She exclaims as the spears threaten to pierce the youkai woman, but she shows no signs of being intimidated in the slightest, only tightening her grip on the sword
"No, you let the fire go! Or do you wanna see who can go faster?"
Ayumu stretches her neck slightly to keep the blade from touching it
I see she's hesitating for a moment, so I yell
"Ayumu! Undo it!"
She looks at me and I nod, I don't know what to do now, but there's no way Ayumu will be able to stop that sword from hitting if the dog youkai decides to strike her.
My friend swallows down and the flame spears disappear
"Good girl.."
The dog youkai provokes, causing Ayumu to groam
I nervously shift my gaze all over the place, trying to find an opening, something that would help me to pull her away from Ayumu withuout risking my friend's life and then I finally notice...
"A crack?"
I whisper, noticing the small cracks that had began forming on her artificial arms and I feel as if a light switch had been flipped on my head
Of course! It's obvious!
"Ayumu, is it getting hotter in there?" - I signal to her
She looks back at me, confused for a moment before noticing I was signalling to the youkai's arms
She nods and motions her hand slightly
"Hey! What are you doing! I'll cut your head off for real!"
She shouts, usually I wouldn't believe this threat, since Ayumu as hostage is her only leverage at the moment, but considering how crazy this dog youkai is, I don't doubt she'd really do it, so we gotta be as careful as possible
"Yeah... getting really warm in here..."
"Seriously, what the hell are you... huh?"
Taking advantage of the small opening, Ayumu uses her pirokinesis to heat Inuyami's artificial arm right into the area where it's connected with her real body.
"AGHHH!"
The white haired youkai screams in agony as she throws the sword down and removes her own prothesis, the stump from where it was attached now scarred by the heat
"YOU FUCKING ASSHOLES! - She screams and falls on her knees due to the pain
"How did you know?" - She asks and I shrug
"It honestly wasn't very hard, a sword with godly power could never be wielded by a youkai, there had to be something special about those arms of yours. Those cracks in your arms made it obvious they were breaking with the power of this blade, all I had to do was to find a way for you to take them off. "
I point to the arm she threw on the ground
"Ayumu's flames probably couldn't destroy them, but they could heat it in the right place just enough for you to want to take them off"
The youkai woman's eyes were bloodshot with rage
"You think this is over?!"
She reache out her other aarm to the sword and I pin her down
"I don't think it is, this is over!"
The youkai groams painfully between chattering teeth, her remaining arm reaching out, trying to pick the sword back
I want to avoid touching that thing even with my power, a divine weapon is not a toy I should be playing with
"You've been a very naughty dog~~"
Maou Leviathan says, casting a magic seal around the remaining arm, but before she can encase the woman's other arm in ice
The sword flies back into her remaining arm!
Enormous lightning covered the scenery and she pointed the sword right at me, but before I could even think of a reaction
"That's enough!" - I hear a female voice shout and
Suddenly the legendary sword stops emmiting light and loses it's glow
"W-wha-"
DOOOOOM
A shadow comes from above and kicks the dog youkai, pummeling her into a hole on the ground
On top of the white haired dog youkai was another woman, this one with long black hair who also seems to have dog ears on her head and wears a white military uniform
"You have caused enough trouble, Inuyami" - The other dog youkai says, checking if Inuyami was really out of it
"...And who are you?" - Ayumu asks
The black haired youkai turns to us and bows in our direction
"I deeply apologize, my name is Hitomi, sub-chief of the dog youkais from the East"
I can clearly see the surprised expression from the fox onee-sans
"Hitomi? Hellhound Hitomi?" - One of them asks between trembling lips
The dog youkai gives a gracious giggle and answers while picking her friend from the ground
"Let's leave that scary nickname aside for today, alright? I've come here to solve the... problems caused by my subordinate"
Azazel steps forward and asks
"Is it true what she said? Is the Nurarihyon dead?" - He asked nervously
The smile fadded from the black haired youkai's face
"Indeed, yes..."
She looked bitterly at the nightsky of artificial Kyoto
"Our dear leader was found dead and we heard the news that his three lieutnants have been captrued, including our captain Retsuza, so far things have been a-"
"Onee-saaaaan!"
Suddenly, a high pitched voice came our way, shouting through the forest untill coming within our sight
"Onee-san! Why you ran ahead of everyone?!"
Another youkai woman appeared, her hair is tied in a ponytail and she's also dressed in a white uniform similar to the one Hitomi is wearing
"Ara, Hanabi, sorry, but the situation was urgent, I couldn't just wait"
A group of dog youkais also bearing swords comes after the one with a ponytail, apparently named Hanabi
"Ara, it's getting lively here now"
Hitomi giggles and the tengu chief crosses his arms, his female bodyguard standing by his side
"How the hell did they get in here?"
One of the fox youkais lowers her head
"We are sorry, the soldiers from the Nurarihyon told us they could subdue the legendary sword, therefore we let them come in"
In cue, Hitomi picks up the legendary sword and envelops it in a thick cloth
"And this is going back to the temple"
Her sister sighs and rubs her head
"The monks are going to be furious, honestly... how did this even happened?"
Hitomi laughs and turns in our direction
"This is going to be a long conversation, so, Kyuubi-hime, I know we arrived without a proper invite, but could we go inside to discuss this situation?"
After Kunou and the Tengu-chief agreed the two dog sisters along with their guards sat at the meeting table
"So... get to talking, what the hell happened?" - Azazel questions their lieutnant
The woman closes her eyes with a troubled expression before looking at a tied Inuyami
"Well, according to what you have heard, Inuyami's description was accurate enough... though a little biased"
She tilts her head
"Indeed a group of our own was once attacked by an undentified assaillant a few years ago, we did not understand Inuyami's description because it did not match anything we currently knew, but she became obsessed with the idea, to the point where she even refused new arms in favor of those prothesis."
Hitomi glanced with contempt at the cracked artificial arms of her subordinate
"Now we know why she wanted them..."
She shook her head in disapproval
"So she stole the sword from the temple?"
The tengu woman asked
"True, she must have been planning this ever since she got those arms"
"But wasn't that years ago?!"
A bewildered voice asks
"She has been planning this for all this time?"
Hitomi placed a hand against her forehead
"In order to pull off such a stunt, I believe that she had to plan this far ahead..."
I shook my head in disbelieve
"What were those arms of her made of anyway?"
"A special alloy made from material capable of withstanding divine power, at least for a while, at the time we believed she wanted them because of the strength that they granted, if we knew she would try this..."
"A divine weapon..." - The tengu woman said with a concerned expression, if that was dangerous for me and Ayumu I can only imagine what a divine weapon would do to a youkai
I sigh, as irresponsible as her actions were, can I blame her?
As my anger subsides, I start thinking clearly
Because of us she lost many friends, her leader and even her arms.
I do not know what she could have done to deserve the wrath of the Esper Community, but even if the attack was justified, would that quell the anger of someone in her situation at all?
Would it calm me?
"So in short this was not ordered by anyone at the East Faction?"
Hitomi shook her head while waving her hand
"Dear me, no. In fact that wouldn't even be possible given the state of affairs in the East Faction right now"
Her sister nods with a worried expression
"Chain of command is a mess, everyone is accusing everyone while nothing is getting done"
Azazel raises an eyebrow
"Nothing? Shouldn't priority be trying to rescue your captured leaders right now?"
Hitomi looked down with a gloomy expression
"You are correct, but with the death of the Nurarihyon no one knows who to trust or where to go next, with all five leaders gone within a day no one is sure of what to do and with the possibility of a traitor within our ranks things have only gotten worse"
I nod
"Well, it might be a good think that we met then."
She looks at me with a smile and puts her cup of tea down
"Indeed I believe it was... so it seems like the so called psychics were not an exaggeration"
Hitomi then signs over to me
"Could you explain more about what you have been doing then?"
After a few minutes of conversation it seemed like things are finally to clear to the members of the East Faction, however, they look far from happy at what they heard
"Kidnapped by the Hero Faction... an assassin from the Esper Community..."
Her sister shook her head, almost dripping with nervous sweat from her forehead
"Esper Community... you mean an entire international organization dedicated to exterminating us?"
I tilt my head
"Well, not just youkais, but you get the gist."
"And one of them is working with the Khaos Brigade?"
I shake my head
"Unfortunately we can't tell if it's just one or more members of our community... or who they are"
Hanabi, the little sister, finally snaps, smashing her sword on the floor
"More importantly! Didn't they just said that the Khaos Brigade is planning an attack?! Shouldn't we prepare to defend as well?!"
Hitomi looks pensative for a moment, before turning to me once again
"By what they only plan to attack Kyoto and territories owned by devil families, isn't that correct?"
I nod
"They believe that without your four leaders the East faction has been completely crippled. I haven't heard anything about targeting Kanto"
She nods, still with a focused look
"Then I believe it's for our best interest to join the fight to protect Kyoto as well"
All eyes at the table turn to look at Hitomi
"W-what? Nee-san?!"
Her sister is quick to reprimand her
"You are saying that the East faction youkais will join our defence or Kyoto?" - The elder tengu asks and receives a giggle as a response
"Why not? This is the perfect opportunity to unite the East faction in the middle of this crisis, we have our common enemy, now all I have to do is to return to Urakanto and rally our troops together, believe me, the moment they hear our dear lieutnants have been captured it won't matter if we are helping the West faction, everyone will take on arms immediately"
The younger sister looks nervous at her sibling
"Nee-san... are you talking about recruiting the East Faction to defend the West youkais right in the middle of this chaos?"
Hitomi quickly agrees
"Of course, this is the perfect opportunity to solve the situation, Tatseyo and the leaders of the West faction will tell them what happened to help us calm the situation and in exchange they'll get our help to crush the Khaos Brigade's invasion. It's a win-win scenario, correct?"
I look around bewildered, the quickness in which this youkai woman turned this absurd situation into a political matter throwed me off the tracks completely
My young friends also seem confused at the situation, but the leaders seemed to have quickly picked up on the woman's conversation
"I like your idea, Hitomi, was it? You seem to have some sort of rank in the East faction, am I correct?"
At Azazel's question, the younger sister seemed insulted
"Some rank?! Onee-san is the sergeant of the East tribes of-"
The elder sister raised her hand, stopping her younger sibling
"Don't worry Hanabi, I'm sure an explanation of our position within the faction can be given later, but answering your question: Yes, my word has some influence if I may say so"
The tengu chief has a hand on his chin and he groams
"Even so this will not be an easy task, our factions have been on war for too long..."
"Indeed, but chief, the situation at hand could be a way to build bridges" - His bodyguard answered, causing him to nod
"What do you think, hime?"
Kunou's ears seem to jump as her eyes grow huge and she stutters a response
"M-me?! O-oh, right..."
As if reminded of her position, the little fox girl cleans her throat and stands up
"O-of course! If it'll help rescuing mother and to make peace with the East faction, then I give the go-ahead!"
The little fox girl trying to sound like a leader made some of us try to contain our laughter
Except for Hitomi, who promptly stood to pet Kunou's head
"Uhhh, such a cute little ojou-sama! I wouldn't mind if you were the leader of the West for a little longer, it would certainly boost help with negotiations having someone so cute around!"
"O-onee-san! You are being disrespecteful!" - Hanabi shouted at her sister
But Hitomi didn't seem to pay any mind to her sibling's protests, caressing Kunou's cheeks, who desperately tried to get out of the dog youkai's iron grip on her.
"Nonsense! I'm just trying to express my respect with a little skinship! Like dogs do!"
"We are not actual dogs!"
"Mou, let me go!"
The desperate and cute protests of the little princess eventually broke our attempts to keep a serious façade and the table errupted in laughter
The dog guards from the East faction carried Inuyami away from the West faction's castle and said she'd receive her due punishment
"Is it going to be harsh?" - I ask, still feeling a bit guilty over what we, one way or another, did to her.
Hitomi nods with a serious expression
"Indeed, she just stole a holy relic from Japan and violated our truce with the West youkais plus with the humans that guarded the sword. Even if she is one us there's only so much our influence can do to help after what she did"
I sigh, well, it's not like I expected her to get away with a slap on the wrist after that.
"Fufufufu, awfully strange of you to react like that"
I scratch my head, a troubled feeling that I can't quite explain stirring in my head
"After what she did it must be strange hearing me now, but in a way what we did to her... I can't help but feel..."
"Responsible?" - Hitomi cuts me off
I tilt my head
"I don't know, maybe? It's not like I know what happened that day or what she could have done for us to hunt her down, but in the end, no matter the reason, she's like that because of us, right?"
The dog youkai lady laughs and addresses her sister
"Seems like the espers aren't so bad after all, are they?"
I see that Hanabi's face has reddened at her sister's jab
"As you may imagine when we found out that espers were not Inuyami's paranoia, we also became rather... frightened at the possibility of what we were facing. But it seems there are good people among you after all" - Hitomi explains
I shake my head
"Don't take a sinner for a saint, there are still many of us hunting you down... in fact most of us are."
Ayumu waves her hand
"Actually only me and Tachan are on your side from the entire Community..."
A concerned expression appears again on Hitomi's face
"Oh my... that is concerning..."
But she turns to me and apologizes
"Unfortunately we'll have to discuss that later, the current situation seems to be more urgent"
I agree, nodding
"Indeed..."
I say, bitterly remembering that no matter how much we delay it, eventually the time will come when we'll have to fight our own friends and allies at the Esper Community
The rest of the reunion continued without much more interventio from us, simply explaining plans and trying to decide who from the West Faction would go with them to explain the situation
"After all, we're gonna need a representative from the West Faction if we are to firm this alliance..."
Hitomi stops for a moment before looking at me and Ayumu
"We would appreciate if you could come with us as well to explain the situation to the members of our faction"
I scratch my head
"I-I don't think that's doable, me and Ayumu need to stay here because of the school trip and also the Hero Faction intends to attack shortly, we need to be here in case anything happens... specially if my parents try to check up on us"
The final part seemed to hit the nail on Hitomi's head, causing her eyes to widen and her head to nod
"Indeed... that would be catastrophic"
Mom and dad seem to be content with waiting at Georg's artificial dimension, but there's no telling if they won't try to leave, knowing mom I wouldn't be surprised if she tried to talk to me in person before the invasion and if I'm not in Kyoto, things could go really bad.
"I'll go then, as a representative of the Alliance I believe my word must be as good as their presence. Tatseyo and Ayumu are also still kids after all, it wouldn't be good to drop all this responsibility on their shoulders"
Azazel replies while standing up, the elder tengu nods
"We'll also send an entourage of our representatives to Kanto"
The tengu woman bows down to her chief
"If you don't mind I would like to be among the group"
He stroke his beard and answered
"I'm sorry, but with the close prospect of an invasion, I want our strongest members here to secure Kyoto's safety, we'll send a group to protect our diplomats, but you and our personal guard will remain"
I look at her, she's a member of the tengu chief's security so she must be strong, though she wasn't very useful against Inuyami, but I guess it's unfair to match her against a divine weapon
"Wonderful then! If there is no further discussion we should start preparing to leave, Kanto is in disarray and the quicker we solve this situation the better"
Hitomi declares and we end the meeting
Outside, me and Ayumu are walking down the hallway when a voice calls out to us
"Espers!"
It's Hitomi's little sister
"Hanabi, right?"
She nods
"Indeed... there is something I'd like to discuss with both of you before leaving"
Me and Ayumu look to each other, confused
"W-what it is it?"
The black haired youkai woman looks around and her ears twitch, as if she's scouting the area to see if there's no one around
"By what you've said, it seems you plan to go to war against your own organization, do you not?"
I feel a lump on my throat as she says this
War
It is absolute to me that the moment the Esper Community hears of a scandal like this we'll become targeted for elimination
There is no way we'll be able to bring them down just by defeating their current leaders, that won't be enough, we'll have to take over
And to do that, we're gonna need an army
I nod, hesitantly
"True, we've been hanging low for a while untill this situation is finished, but it's clear that sometime soon, unfortunately, we'll go to war against our own."
The young youkai woman nods with a concerned expression
"What preparations have you been making?"
My eyes widen
"P-preparations?" - I ask
She tilts her head
"You have been making preparations for this conflict, right?"
Me and Ayumu look at each other once again and I feel my face going red
"W-well, we have been making contacts with the members of the Alliance so we'll have their support when it comes down to it"
Hanabi nods
"So the Alliance is backing you up? That's really good, how are you going to fight them?"
I stop for a moment
"H-how?"
She nods
"Yes, your battle plan, how do you plan to combat them?"
I feel my body freeze up and Ayumu at my side seems to be just as tensed up
"Well... we... err... we'll need the support of our other allies. After the battle I expect to get mom and dad on our side so we can work from there..."
Hanabi is currently looking at us with a more suspicious expression
"You don't have a plan for it, do you?"
The two of us sigh
"No... w-we don't"
We know we'll have to rally members of the Esper Community to our cause if we even want to stand a chance, but how we are going to do that beats me
"N-no plan? At all?!"
She asks, wide eyed
I rub the back of my head and I see that Ayumu has avoided eye contact all along with her
"W-well, we've had our hands full with the situation of the Khaos Brigade, we were thinking that when the dust settles-"
"When the dust settles?!"
She shouts, her dog ears standing up and causing the hairs on my body to stand up
"The hasn't settled in a hundred years! Everytime something is resolved, there's always something new to trouble us!"
We are scolded and she raises a finger, pointing at me
"You need to make alliances, recruit soldiers, collect information and make all necessary preparations as soon as you can, because if you wait for an opening, you'll never get to do it!"
I nod, I've been avoiding the thought with all the things that have been happening, but Hanabi is right, I can't give myself the luxury of planning things separately from each other
We can't exactly begin recruiting people right now, but there are things we can do.
"Thank you, Hanabi-san, I think I understand it a little better now"
She smiles and nods
"When it comes to thinks like this you cannot delay, meanwhile I'll discuss with sister if we can rally the troops of Kanto to help you as well when the time comes"
I feel my face lighten up when she says this
"Y-you'll really do this?"
Hanabi nods
"Consider this a small way to repay you for Inuyami's attack, but in reality we also have something to gain from it... after all it's one less enemy to worry about."
I place a hand on my chin, indeed, if me and Ayumu can gather allies and change the policies of the Esper Community of Japan, it would be very beneficial to the youkais, still I'm thankful to her
"But don't get complacent, you're gonna need a lot more help, try to gather as much strength and allies as you can. I don't know the kind of organization the Esper Community is... but I'm sure your fight will not be easy"
I nod with a troubled expression, indeed, not just the sheer size of the organization but all the power and tech it has will prove to be incredibly difficult
"Thank you, Hanabi-san, we'll do our best to turn the odds to our favour"
She looks happy with my answer
"Good, if you need to come in contact with us just ask the West youkais, but for now I have to go. Goodbye, Tatseyo, Ayumu, good luck on your fight, I believe we'll see each other again"
She quickly jumps away and disappears into the darkness Urakyoto's forest.
"Nice person, isn't she?"
Ayumu looks in the direction where Hanabi disappeared into
"Yeah... a bit too nice, don't you think?" - She says, suspiciously, but this time I nod, agreeing with her
"Yes, way too helpful for a first meeting, either she's deeply embarassed by what Inuyami did or... well, you remember what the Nurarihyon said the first time we met, right?"
Ayumu nods with a stern expression
"She wants our power?"
I nod
"More like she wants us to warm up to them more than we warmed up to the West Faction. Remember, they are still trying to negotiate peace, nothing has been decided yet. And even if they do agree on becoming part of the Alliance, it's not like all the rivalries will simply disappear"
I might not have been too involved in politics, but even I can see how this works
"She just found out that people with psychic powers strong enough to kill a Great Youkai are real, not just that but there is an entire organization of us, so I'd say she's probably trying to butter us up to get us on her side."
Ayumu rubs her head with a troubled face
"Uhhh, I hate these politics stuff, it's always so damn complicated"
I nod
"For the moment just keep in your head that we gotta watch out for them, but we'll also need their help. What she said was true after all, I've been planning this for about a month and aside from you I haven't really got anyone else on my side... or even told them what is going on..."
"Who are you gonna start with?"
She asks, causing me to put scratch my own head
"Well, probably mom and dad since the situation has already scalated like this, I mean, if there's anyone we should try to recruit first it's them."
Ayumu nods
"Yeah, I get that, but like... what about after? Any ideas?"
I sigh and shake my head
"We gotta start with the people closest to us, your unit, our teachers, then move to the people with same mindset..."
Ayumu nods
"The moderates and the ones in favor of cooperation..."
I nod, even in the Esper Community not everyone hates inhumans and the supernatural, we're gonna need to gather their support
But most of all...
I give out an even deeper sigh and Ayumu seems to have picked up on what I didn't want to say
"We're gonna have to gather as many level fives as possible on our side, won't we?"
I nod, frustratred
"Yes, we will"
Even if we can gather significant support from everyone else, without at least some support from level 5 espers we won't have the firepower we need for an almost certain civil war.
"Is your relationship with them still..."
I raise a finger
"Don't ask."
Ayumu closes her mouth immediately
Of course I get along with mom and dad and there's like, three people that I actually get along with, but aside from them, the rest of the level fives are...
"This is going to be a pain in the back, isn't it?"
Part 2
We were guided through the castle at the end of the meeting, Kunou was excitedly showing us around along with the kitsune servants
"Urakyoto also has a lot of art and treasures of us youkais! If you want to know more about our history you can just look at the walls!"
She says as we walk through a room whose walls are painted top to bottom in what seems to be a scene from a traditional book, untill we come across a painting that somehow seems familiar
It's a group of youkais that seem to be battling each other
"What's going on in here?"
I ask, pointing towards it and frowning
One of the creatures in the painting called my attention.
A handsome fox, a completely bare chest with long and silvery hair while he has nine tails branched from his back that look like flames, he was portrayed as being larger than the other youkais with him, so I assume he's a leader
I feel a lump in my throat when I look at this figure, without a doubt it seems familiar
One of the fox ladies steps in and says
"Ah, that was a war we had when a rebel group that called themselves Hyakki and decided to part from both factions and do their own thing..."
"Ohh, so this is the infamous Hyakki?" - I hear Serafall say, after Azazel left with the members of the East faction she stayed with us
"A rebel group?" - I hear Issei ask
"I heard about them before, lots of dangerous youkais that didn't agree with the Kyuubi and the Nurarihyon gathered beneath the rule of the Great Youkai King..." - The Maou lady says
Her eyes finally fall into one of the figures engraved on the wall, a grotesque being. Unlike most youkais this one was particularly nasty, eight arms that didn't match with each other, mouths sprouting from all over it's body, even on it's legs, and hair that looked like branches from a tree sprouting from it's head.
Just like the male fox, this one was also draw larger than the ones on his side, even taller than the Gashadokuro who are famously huge, so this creature was either gargantuan or it's also a leader like the fox.
"Great Youkai King... father once said something about him"
I say, something about this name also sparking something in my head
"Y-your father? Well, that was a long time ago, he declared himself King and tried to raise a riot against the Nurarihyon-dono and Kyuubi-sama"
She replies looking at me
"Did your dad met the Youkai King?" - Issei asks and I tilt my head
"Well, guess you can say that... he killed him actually"
Everyone in the room looks at me
"Y-your dad did what?" - She asks
"W-wait, Tatseyo, are you saying that your father killed him?"
I nod
"Yeah, dad said they had found a hideout in town, so he had to exorcise him"
The servants of the Kyuubi seem to become increasingly alarmed by what I was proclaiming
"W-wait, after the Youkai King was defeated he did ran away, b-but that was decades ago, isn't your father a human as well?"
I nod
"Oh yeah, that was a long time ago, dad said he exorcised him when he was in middle school. He was fifteen at the time I think"
Silence takes over the room
"W-well, he did managed to defeat Sun Wukong and the Jade dragon" - The fox lady says
"Y-your dad really is something else, Tatseyo-san" - Asia speaks
"More like your whole family..." - Issei answers
"I really want to try sparring with them!"
Xenovia declares, does she have a loose screw in that head of hers?
The fox ladies laugh a little
"Well, at least now we know why the Youkai King was never seem again..."
The one standing close to Kunou that seemed to be leading us through the area placed a hand over the mural
"It's actually a little funny you chose this mural out of all of them, because that was the last time that the East youkais and West youkais officially worked together"
"So in the end they were pretty much like the youkai version of the Khaos Brigade?"
I hear Xenovia ask and the fox lady seems to think for a moment with a finger under her chin
"Uhhh... when you put it that way I guess they were"
"And what happened that caused them to hide in human cities?" - Irina questions while looking at the mural with a glimmer on her eyes
"Huhuhu... allow me to answer!"
Kunou steps up with a proud expression
"The vile youkai king managed to rally a huge number of evil youkais and they were trying to invade Kyoto, our strong warriors were holding them back but it seemed like lines would soon break if the reinforcements didn't arrive... but just when all hope seemed lost, TADAM!"
She points to the painting of the fox man
"Papa came into battle and challenged the youkai king to a duel!"
Her ears twitch as she explains with a smug smile and taps the wall
"The youkai king was strong, but he was no match for papa's strength! Ultimately he was defeated and their organization had to hide!"
The lump in my throat goes straight to my stomach
"P-papa?"
I ask, horrified
Kunou turns to the wall
"Yes... papa was a very strong guy"
Her expression suddenly turns into one filled with sadness
"... Was?"
I hear Issei ask, but Kunou doesn't answer
"Our lord, the Kyuubi guardian, died in a battle a couple of years ago. When Kunou-sama was still but a small child."
"A couple of years ago...?" - This time it's Ayumu who asks, in a hushed, barely audible tone
I can only nod
"That is... horrible." - I hear Asia say, her eyes beggining to moist
"H-how did he... no, sorry, I shouldn't ask" - Issei says
But Kunou shakes her head, apparently holding back her sadness
"No, it's okay" - She says, eyes never darting from the wall
"I was too small to remember, but mom used to tell me stories about papa. How he fought for the Kyoto youkais, how he put the youkai king and his followers on the run. But one day... a group attacked one of our posts in the human world"
The fox lady nods and continues Kunou's story
"We don't know who they were, but it seems like our members advanced too much into human territory and happened to be seem, the locals probably called exorcists to deal with them, but those exorcists were just... too strong"
Me and Ayumu listen with attention, none of us saying a single word, my breathing barely making a sound.
"The Kyuubi's guardian didn't had to go there, his job was to defend our capital, not our outside positions, but he was... too kind for his own good"
Kunou nods
"Mother told me papa used to say his duty was to guard all youkais as if they were family, when he heard of the attack he got angry and personally went with an expedition group to see what happened... he managed to defeat some of the exorcists but..." - She stops, her voice had become embargoed, obviously holding back her tears
The fox lady continues
"An even stronger group appeared, two strong members leading them from what we were informed. A duo that overpowered the Kyuubi's guardian and ended his life along with all the youkais in the region then and there"
The eyes from everyone in the group go wide with this statement
"Two exorcists managed to defeat Kyuubi-sama's husband?!" - Irina shouted, echoing through the entire room
"Incredible, they must have been something else to do such a terrible attack..." - Xenovia also says, saddened, but also seemingly impressed. I guess as someone who was once an exorcist for the Vatican she can't help it, even if it's a sad moment.
"And you have no idea of who might have done it?" - Issei asks, but both Kunou and her entourage shake their heads
"At first we believed it might have been an attack from the five great families considering the level of power from the exorcists. But when we stablished contact with them none of the families took responsability for the attack and we couldn't find any evidence to make a connection"
"Such cowardice..." - Xenovia tightens her fist
"And also very suspicious..." - Serafall says, her usual cute demeanor changing with her eyes getting sharper, for a moment I felt her gaze turning to me and Ayumu
"Hey, Kunou, are you alright?"
Issei asks, approaching the little youkai girl who wipes off her tears
"Y-yes! I may not remember papa very well, but I know he wouldn't want me crying around when momma is in danger!"
She declares and I find myself impressed with the little girl's determination, she doesn't seem to be any older than a child in elementary school and if she can't remember her father then that really must be her age, yet she seems incredibly determined to get her mother back.
Even I, raised under the Esper Community, don't think I had this kind of mental fortitude when I was her age
And it seems I was not the only one impressed by it as the other members of the group smile at her as she takes Issei by the hand and guides the group to another room filled with Western youkai treasures
Me and Ayumu stay behind, just watching and catching our breaths as their backs get smaller and we make sure no one is around to listen to us
"Do you think that's...?" - She asks and I nod before she can even finish her sentence
"There's no way there's two of them"
I place a hand against my forehead, pinching my temple as I feel I'm gonna get a headache
"So Kageyama-san killed the youkai king..."
I nod and raise my hand, focusing on the small figure of Kunou that had become tiny as she distanced herself from us
"And me and Kuriko killed Kunou's father..."
Afterword: HAPPY NEW YEAR!
First of all I can't believe it's been three years since I've been writting this fic, it feels like it was yesterday. I am very sorry for the delay in this chapter, not just college but working on other projects (including my own original novel) has also got me really busy. However, like I said in another chapter, I have no plans to give up on this fic, I really want to see it through till the end and while it may take longer, so please bear with me and look forward to the next chapters.
Also, I dunno if you guys know about this, but Miyama Zero (official illustrator for DxD) made a +18 commision of Akeno and Issei that I can't show here because it's explicit and all. But I'm just really happy that Akeno of all girls got her official 18+ illustration, 2022 is already looking awesome!