The Esper Devil ( Esper OC X Highschool DxD )

by Esper-from-beyond

The era of heroes is over, with the hero association almost extinct and espers now living in secrecy, the talented son of a legendary esper couple starts attending a school which is under the control of devils. Raised with the mentality that all demons and evil spirits are enemies and carrying an enormous power that is still unknown to most devils, how will he fit in this new life?

69. Dangerous Blessing

Part 1

"THE CARETAKER USED HIS BLISS ON YOU?!"

I yelled in surprise

Issei put his hands over the ears

"Y-yeah... is it that bad?"

"That bad? THAT BAD?!"

I rub the sides of my head, not believing what I just heard

"Issei... I have no idea how you haven't gone insane yet!"

He jumps back

"H-how?"

Ayumu shakes her head in disbelieve

"The Caretaker... he's one of the 5.5's"

I nod, gripping my fist

(This is very concerning...) - Liliana, attending our meeting from a magic projection, answers

"He and Kuriko are always together, I should have warned about him as well, DAMNIT!"

I exclamate

"C-calm down, Tachan, it's not like you could have predicted it... I mean we weren't even sure Kuriko was involved"

(Ayumu is right, you couldn't have predicted something like this)

I hang my head low

"But I warned Azazel about Kuriko... it would only make sense to warn about that guy too. And now Issei has... whatever the hell they put inside of him."

"He told me they did something to my potential... what is this bliss he was talking about anyway?"

I shake my head

"No one really understands what it exactly is, the researchers at the Community have a few theories, everyone else has a ton of them. Some say it mixes your senses and makes your brain feel things it could never feel normally and drives you crazy, others that it degenerates your mind, there's some that say it shows you another universe or even the face of God..."

"Guess we can rule that one out" - Issei laughs

I raise my fist

"That's not the time for jokes! Do you realize the danger you're in? Issei, no one, be them a demon, dragon or even another esper, has been exposed to the Caretaker's bliss and walked out without getting completely messed up or dead"

He scratches his head, a bit nervous

"W-well, I'm feeling fine, really, Ddraig is also alright."

[Indeed, I do not feel any different from before, however, there is no doubt that the boy has done something to partner's potential]

The Sekiryuutei answers and I frown

"Can you tell what it is? At least something about it?"

A few seconds pass before the red dragon answers

[Hmm... I can't tell with precision. I know something has been done because I can feel a presence that does not belong to me, but it seems to be dormant, inactive]

His choice of words only makes me more nervous

"You mean it souds like something Kuriko is waiting to activate? Great... that's just fantastic..."

I place a hand against my forehead

"Is there anything that could help with it?" - Azazel asks

[Well, maybe if partner tries to dig into the Sacred Gear as he did before when his potential escaped, though I'm not sure it will help]

I nod

"It's a good idea, you go do this Issei. Any clue at all will help"

Azazel scratches his goatee with a suspicious expression

"Is there no danger that whatever this thing is could be activated if Issei tries to mess with it?"

I shoot down his suggestion immediately

"This is Kuriko we are talking about, if she placed some sort of trap or whatever in Issei there's no way she wouldn't be triple sure that it'll only go off when she wants it too. She definitely knows that we're gonna try to find out what it is, and I doubt she's careless enough to leave what it seems to be a key part of her plan to chance"

"H-hold up! What do you mean trap?! Is there a chance she's going to blow me up?!"

I shake my head

"Trust me Issei, if Kuriko and the Caretaker wanted you dead none of you would have left that bridge alive. Whatever they have planned for you is far more cunning than that."

Azazel nods

"Then it's best if you go meditate right now Issei, we better find out what it is before tonight when you're all going to Nijo Castle"

I look back at Azazel with wide eyes

"You all? You cannot possibly be suggesting that Issei is still going on this mission with us"

"I very much am, in fact it's a necessity for you two to be there"

I shake my head, incredulous

"What?! You realize that whatever they did to Issei is connected to Kuriko, right? They want Issei to be there when their plan begins, this is what they are counting on, we can't just deliver him on a platter to them"

Azazel shakes his head

"There's no way Issei cannot be there, have you forgot Tatseyo? She has the Kyuubi and the heads of the East faction, if we do something to upset her, there's no way to tell what Kuriko would do to her."

I fall into silence after Azazel says this

(I'm afraid he is right, Tatseyo. The Caretaker said they are expecting you, Issei and Cao Cao, any changes we make to their plans could mean something terrible for everyone they captured)

Azazel finally crosses his arms and states

"Do you really wanna risk the life of Kunou's mother?"

He puts an emphasis on that last part

Asshole, he knows that if he puts it like that I have no choice...

"...Of course not"

I say, bitting my lip, Liliana is looking at me with a confused expression. I'm yet to tell her what have I done to Kunou's father.

"But we need to be prepared, whatever Kuriko is planning might be much worse than anything we imagine"

"You tell us, you, Ayumu and Liliana are the experts here"

I notice Kiba glancing at us with a suspicious expression on his face

"Tatseyo... why have you only told Azazel-sensei about this?"

He asks and the rest of the ORC also looks at me with confused faces

"Oh... yeah, I didn't even thought of that" - Issei says

"Was there a reason you only told Azazel-sensei?" - Xenovia asks

My eyes widen

Azazel and Ayumu look in my direction, they try to disguise it, but it's obvious they are nervous about how I'll answer it

Of course, I have a very good reason for not telling

But right now... it's not the time to talk about this, not after we confirmed that Kuriko is involved

I sigh

"I didn't want to alarm you, without hard evidence, telling that someone on Kuriko's level was behind it all would just worry you."

"Ah, I know how it is, I was hesitant to tell things to Buchou and the others back home because I also didn't want to worry them"

Irina places a hand on her chin

"If I thought someone like that boy was after us I'd definitely lose sleep"

Kiba nods, a comprehensive expression on his face

"I understand, raising alarm could be a real problem in situations like this"

I mentally give out a sigh of relief, they believed my half-truth. I can also sense the tension from Ayumu and Azazel easing, but Liliana hasn't said a word, I think she suspects something.

I'll eventually have to take responsability for what I did... but not now

Once Yasaka is safe, once the Hero Faction is defeated.

"But now that they decided to spare us the trouble of finding out for ourselves all we can do now is prepare..."

I point to the Gremory group

"Issei, I don't have a lot of hope that you and Ddraig will be able to find out whatever Kuriko did, but we have to try. From now untill it's time for the invasion, you need to search into your Sacred Gear as much as you can, if there's even a chance that we can get a clue of what Kuriko wants with you it'll be a great help"

He nods with a concerned expression

"L-leave it us, right, Ddraig?"

[Right, me and partner will sink into the depths of the Sacred Gear, if that disheveled kid left anything behind we'll definitely find it]

"Good, as to Rossweisse..."

I look around, only realizing now that the silver haired valkyrie was not in the room

"Where the hell is she?"

Azazel places a hand on his forehead

"A-ah, that woman..."

For a moment I was worried, had the Caretaker done something to her?

"She tried to drink along with me, but she's an incredible lightweight. I think she's still vomiting her guts out in the washroom"

...

"WHAT?!" - I shout

"She is drunk?!" - Ayumu exclaims

That disgrace of a valkyrie got drunk out of her ass in a situation like this?!

I can hear Liliana laughing through the transmission, that's not funny! We're in an emergency!

Azazel puts his hands forward

"N-now, she started drinking before the Hero Faction showed up, I also did provoke her a little, so it's not really her fault"

I sigh and place a hand on my forehead

"Whatever, but I need her to be in shape to help us with magic."

He nods

"Don't worry, she's sobering up with a medicine she made, she'll be well soon enough"

I scrath my forehead

"Honestly..."

"And what should we do right now, Tatseyo-san?"

Asia asked and I look back at Azazel

"If you don't have anything for them to do I think they should warn the Sitri group, they'll be taking part in this as well, right?"

The fallen angel scratched his goatee

"Don't worry, Sona-chan and her servants have already been briefed, everything is ready to go~" - The cute Maou sitting by Azazel's sice answered with a gesture

"Right now you kids should prepare, the other factions are standing by, awaiting for the invasion, me and Serafall will lead two of the groups to face your parents"

Azazel turned to me and Ayumu

"Of course, we are trying to keep a low profile as to not alert them, if they found out we were prepared for an invasion they could become suspicious of a mole."

I nod in return

"That's good, when Rossweisse is feeling better tell her to come to my room, Ayumu and I will be waiting there"

(Also, Tatseyo, I hope you don't mind but I'll be sending Mayumi to back you guys up)

I looked back at her puzzled

"I appreciate, but won't you need her?"

Liliana nodded

(I believe her teleportation abilities will be more necessary on your side since you will be facing Kuriko. In case something happens, she's the one best suited to help you escape danger if an emergency comes to happen)

"I see, thank you"

I doubt that Mayumi will be to do much of anything against Kuriko and The Caretaker, but against them, any help is welcome.

"Y-yeah, thanks..." - Ayumu says, is she still acting this way towards Liliana?

(I hope everything goes well, please, all of you, come back safe)

Everyone replies with a 'yes', some with more enthusiasm than others but no one is planning to die.

Our goal is to rescue Yasaka and the three Eastern leaders, any thoughts we had of defeating Cao Cao were throw out of the window right when we learned that Kuriko was aiding him. If she or the Caretaker were to interfere, we wouldn't stand a chance.

Therefore Cao Cao's punishment would be delayed, the rescue is the priority of our group.

Part 2

After the meeting was over we turned to leave towards my room, all the way my head was too full to say anything

After we enter and Ayumu closes the door behind us, I finally sit down

"So in the end... I was right"

I say, using both hands to cover my face

"Tachan, are you okay?" - Ayumu says, with deep concern in her voice

I shake my head, letting my hands slide down and looking up to gaze at the ceiling

"Out of all the all things I wanted to be right about, this definitely wasn't one of them"

Ayumu sat down by my side on the futon

"It's going to be alright... we can do it"

I laugh

"Rescuing them is not the problem, my greatest concern is what Kuriko has planned. What does she want with all of this?"

She looks down, a bit of nervousness coming across her face

"Well, I have no idea, but it's like you said, if Kuriko wanted to fight us she could have done it a long time ago. I think she's likely... planning something taht we just can't see yet"

I sigh

"Likely... something worse."

I can feel Ayumu's unease with my skin

"But still... you don't want to turn back do you?"

I shake my head

"No, even if I'm scared, terrified, I know this is the right thing to do and even if I wanted, I can't, not now. With Kuriko involved, this will definitely turn into something huge I'm determined to get in her way..."

I sigh

"Moreso now that I know she's not beyond murder and manipulation"

Despite having no evidence, I know Kuriko was the one behind Kunou's father's death, she somehow manipulated the whole situation to make this happen, not to mention killing the Nurarihyon.

I alway knew Kuriko was weird, narcicistic and even a little machiavelic, but I never thought she would do something like this... not to this level...

"If someone like Kuriko is doing something wrong... I can't ignore that, even if I'm afraid"

Ayumu snickers

"Heh, figures..."

She smiles and looks up

"Ya know... I'm scared as hell too, but when I think we are doing this together, I feel like I can keep going"

Ayumu smiles and a feeling of warmth washes over me

"Yeah... me too"

I say, feeling a bit embarassed

With this current situation the realization started to sink on me

The feeling of going against someone like Kuriko without knowing what she wants filled me with anxiety.

"Ayumu... are you really okay with this?"

My friend looks back at me with a confused expression

"With what?"

"You weren't exactly in love with the idea of helping the supernatural forces and... well, now we know that one of our own is behind this and it's Kuriko of all people."

I sigh

"Ayumu, I... really need you to do this, but I would never want you to-"

"Stop"

Ayumu puts a palm of her hand in front of my face

"Tachan, do you have really that little faith in me?"

I'm startled for a moment, the look on her eyes seeing actually offended

"N-no, I... just..."

And she suddenly starts laughing

"I told you from the start, I'm not doing this for them, I'm doing it for you"

She looked down, her face a bit red

"You were there for me when I needed you and now I'm here for you"

She raises a fist and playfully hits my shoulder

"So you're not getting rid of me that easy, Kuriko or not"

I smile, embarased, my face likely even redder than her's

While in the silence of the room, I remember what my friends said

(How does Ayumu feel?)

My hand reaches for hers

"T-t-tachan?"

She asks with a shaky voice

If this could be our last battle together, then I don't want to have any doubts

"Ayumu I..."

I'm not sure about how I feel... but if Ayumu has feelings she's been hiding, then at least I wanna listen to her.

I squeeze her hand and her face turns red as if all her blood had rushed to her face

"W-w-what?"

I bring my other hand to her face

"I've been thinking if you-"

KNOCK KNOCK

A sound comes from the door and Ayumu jumps up like a deer caught in the headlights

"A-ah, who is it?!"

She asks, a bit panicked

I stand up, nervous and more than a little annoyed at the sudden disturbance, but trying to compose myself

"It-it must be Rossweisse, I asked her to come help us with the magic thing"

Ayumu nods repeteadely, as if remembering that we had invited Rossweisse

"A-a-ah, r-right, yeah..."

An uncomfortable silence follows and then another knock on the door

"Tatseyo? Ayumu? Are you there?"

I hear a female voice, so it really is Rossweisse. Goddamnit! What a time for this drunk valkyrie to recover from her hangover!

Ayumu brushes her hair with her fingers, trying to not look at my face

"Y-you should probably open..."

I nod

"Ah, yeah, right, of course"

I walk towards the door and open it, the silver-haired valkyrie holding a stack of thick books greets me with a smile on her face

"Hi, Tatseyo, Ayumu! Are you ready for your magical lesson?"

She asks us while positively beaming, this woman seems to become incredibly excited when the subject is magic.

"Y-yeah... c'mon in"

I answer, still trying to hide my embarassment

She places the books on the room's desk and claps her hands

"Alright!~ So, do you know the difference between magic and demonic power, right?"

We both nod and I speak up

"The difference between imagination and calculation, right?"

"Yeah, we got told that a lot in anti-magic classes, it was like, the basics and stuff"

Ayumu agrees with me and Rossweisse nods

"That's right! So in order to revert magic you have to use a different type of formula that counters it, of course it'll only work if you have enough magic power as well, by the way, what's your guys magical ability?"

The silver haired valkyrie looks at us with stars in her eyes, waiting for an answer

But me and Ayumu just look to each other

"Err... none?"

Rossweisse's expression drops a little at my answer

"A-ah, of course! Your academy was against magic, right? Of course, they probably didn't train you in any way to use magic, you likely don't even know what talent you have, right?"

I raise an eyebrow at Rossweisse's statement and both Ayumu and I looked at her

"N-no, we do know... it's none"

Rossweisse waves her hand

"Now, now, don't sell yourselves so short, you must have some talent. Even Issei, who's utterly helpless has a little magical ability... even if he only uses for perverted things..."

She says with a troubled expression

I shake my head and press on

"Rossweisse-sensei."

She looks at me

"Yes?"

I put my hands together and explain as best as I can

"The reason me and Ayumu have no magical ability isn't because we never trained. It's because magic backfires when an esper uses it. You see..."

Ayumu finishes the sentence for me

"Espers are incompatible with magic"

I nod

"That's right, we only have classes to learn about magic and counter it because we can't, well, more like we shouldn't, do any of that. Espers are existence that clash with magic. Uh? Rossweisse?"

After me and Ayumu delivered these words, Rossweisse seemed to have freezed up

Ayumu tilts her head

"Rossweisse-sensei?"

I wave my hands in front of her face

"Hello? Someone there?" - Ayumu asks, poking her head

"N-n-n-n-no magic?"

The silver haired teacher finally answers to us

"Well... kinda"

Suddenly, Rossweisse swings her arms in the air, catching us both off guard

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?!"

Her unexpected reaction causes Ayumu and I to jump back in surprsise

"W-what's up with that? We just told you, espers shouldn't do magic, the seals just don't answer to us properly"

Rossweisse strongly shakes her head from side to side, as if unable to accept what I said

"That's not possible! Everyone can do magic! Every human, for as little talent as they may have, can do it! There's no way you can't do magic!"

"That's not exactly what I'm saying..." - I reply, thinking about how I can make her understand

"Yeah, I was a bit disappointed when they told us that... I really wish we could do just a little magic..."

I nodded

"Don't you think we would have used it a long time ago if we could?"

Rossweisse smacks her hand down

"I thought you didn't do it because it was a taboo! There's no way you can't do magic! What do you mean the magic calculations just don't answer to you?"

I shrug

"Well, magic is about reading the flow and controling equations to create the desired reactions. In theory an esper's ability to literally manipulate the flow of energy should give us a natural talent, but in real life..."

"The equations seem to dislike us..."

Ayumu says, dejected

"Wanna see it?" - I ask

Rossweisse looked at me with a confused frown

"See what?"

I start drawing a magic circle on the floor

"Tachan? Are you sure?"

Ayumu asks, her voice nervous

I nod

"Don't worry, it's just a minor spell, it won't be so bad"

I try to ease her, but I still raise my guard, this can turn ugly...

"Is that an... air magic seal?"

"That's right, now watch it..."

I place my hand on the seal and then

BOOOOOOSHHHHHHHHHH

The seal vanishes and the spell fails catastrophically, sending a gust of wind that hits everything and everyone in the room, including me

"Uwaaaah!" - Rossweisse yells out

"See? Happens all the time, magic just backfires on us"

"Th-there's no way..."

Rossweisse stutters, turning to her pile of books

"Where is it? It's gotta be here somewhere..."

The silver haired valkyrie starts going through each page of a thick book she brought untill her finger finally lays in one of them

"Aha! Here!"

She shows the page to us

"Rossweisse... how the hell am I supposed to read this?"

Upon realizing her mistake, she quickly pulls the book back

"A-ah, right... anyway!"

She puts the book back into the desk and points at us

"This is an enchantment used to measure the current magical talent of someone"

She starts casting symbols in the air with her magic

"It's not 100% accurate obviously and it can't measure future developments, but it can get a good current estimate, now, let's see what you guys magical talent is..."

She points the seal created with the sigils in front of me

"Wanna go first, Tatseyo?"

I shrug

"Okay, it's not like it's gonna make a difference anyway. Both of us have no magic"

Rossweisse shakes her head

"That's not possible, now let's see what you really have..."

She places the seal in front of me and it glows for a moment as the symbols within the runes start to change

As the symbols change, the expression on Rossweisse's expression starts to drop

"So... what does it say?" - I ask, already expecting the answer

"T-that's not possible!"

The valkyrie answers with a shaky voice, little drops of sweat starting to gather on her forehead

"According to this you have as much magical talent as the furniture in this room, no, it'sactually less!"

Her eyes look like they'll pop out of her skull

"It's almost like your magical talent is in the negatives, how can this even happen?!"

"Told you so"

I answer, shrugging

Not accepting defeat, Rossweisse turns to Ayumu

"Y-you! Ayumu, let me try it on you!"

Ayumu points to herself

"Eh? But I'm an esper too, it'll be the same"

Rossweisse shakes her head and immediately brings the magic equation to Ayumu and for a few moments she keeps looking at it, her expression even more agravated

"N-n-no way..."

She then turns to me, almost in tears and swinging her arms

I pull back at her outburst

"I-I told you we didn't had any magical talent, we espers just don't have it, what's the big deal?"

She keeps lifting her hands up and down

"B-because everyone has some magical talent! With this much you wouldn't be able to even control basic spells!"

"Yeah, it's like our souls clash with it, we don't really know why"

"B-but during our fight didn't you manage to use our magic against us?"

I nod

"We are able to manipulate already existing magic and mana from other sources, but we can't really cast them on our own"

Rossweisse frowns, her expression a little more serious

"T-this is very strange, I've never seem magic have such an effect with someone before... Tatseyo, are you sure espers are humans?"

"What do you even mean?!"

I blurt out

"Take our blood, saliva, whatever you want, we are 100% human espers. We are just built different I guess"

Rossweisse scratched her head nervously, guess finding out someone who had no magic at all must have really taken her surprise

"W-w-well, this will make my lesson a lot different, b-but I can manage! Yes! I'm a teacher now! If a hurdle like a untalented student get in the way then what kind of teacher am I?"

"Well, sorry for how we were born!" - Ayumu exclaims

"S-sorry!" - Rossweisse apologizes

And thus the lesson began...

It was honestly harder than I expected, there are a lot of brainwashing spells out there and Georg being a talented wizard didn't exactly help Rossweisse to rule some of them out, so in the end she showed us almost every single one she knew.

Thankfully, however, most of them can be broken in very similar ways, so it won't be a problem if we just break her out like I did when the Nurarihyon tried to mind control Ayumu

"So in the end that's what I'm gonna do..."

I said and Rossweisse puffed her chest out, showing her proud of the lesson she just gave

"That covers it! If that boy tries to use a magic to bind and brainwash the Kyuubi and the Kanto youkais, it's definitely going to be one of those. So even if he tries complicating things, you should be able to break through"

I nod

"I hope he doesn't, I won't have much time to break them off"

Rossweisse lifts a finger

"I heard Azazel talking about sending reinforcements from other factions with you guys, so I think even if it gets complicated, you can handle it"

"Wouldn't reinforcements be more necessary in the frontlines? I mean, Cao Cao's lieutnants will send a swarm to Kyoto and other cities. I think you're gonna need as much people as you can on your side."

I say, concerned about Ayumu's well being. After all, she'll be the one that will try to stop my parents.

The valkyrie puts a hand on her chin

"About that, you and Ayumu don't have to worry. Since Cao Cao and his god killing spear will be busy confronting your team, Leviathan-dono said that she herself will be leading one of the fronts with Azazel on the other"

"That's good..."

I reply, I didn't paid much attention to it since it's user wasn't that strong, but the spear that Cao Cao carries around really is a game changer to the point where Maou class beings will try to avoid the battlefield directly if it's involved. After all, one lucky hit from the Holy spear can reduce even an ultimate class to ash.

Ayumu tugs on my sleeve and speaks out

"Tachan, do you think you could survive a hit from that thing?"

I shake my head

"That thing is called an ultimate weapon for a reason, but don't worry"

I smile at her

"He won't be getting near me in the first place."

I place a hand on her shoulder

"So you better succeed on getting my parents on your side as well."

She smiles back to me, the warm feeling from before begins go rise again

"Leave it to me!"

She states, giving me a thumbs up

I nod and smile, but it quickly turns into a frown when I look outside and see that the sun had already began to set

"What time is it?"

I ask and Rossweisse looks at her watch

Her expression turns serious

"We should head to Issei's room, everyone should be meeting there already"

Ayumu and I nod

Thankfully, there were no students or teachers around at this time, so no one questioned why the three of us were heading to Hyoudou's room.

We knock on the door and hear Azazel's voice from the other side

"C'mon in"

Rossweisse opens the door to the cramped room, Azazel and all the second year members of the ORC and Student Council are squeezing themselves into a room that's barely eight tatami mats in size, Irina and Xenovia are even sitting inside the closet.

"Sorry we are late" - I said, but Azazel waved his hand

"Don't worry, you guys didn't lose much, we were just getting started."

I turn to look at Issei

"Any luck?"

He shook his head

"S-sorry, me and Ddraig tried going deeper into the sacred gear, but we couldn't find out what was going on in there"

I nodded

"That's expected, I didn't think we'd be able to figure it out even if we had more time. It's Kuriko after all..."

Raising a hand to my forehead, I sigh

"We'll have to take the risk to find out what it is when we are there... not that I like this idea"

The mood in the room becomes more serious when I say this

"D-do you think it could be something this bad? What could happen to Hyoudou?"

Saji asks, I shake my head

"I don't know, but the way Kuriko is I doubt she wants to do something as simple as killing Issei. It's likely worse than that."

"W-what could be worse than that?!"

Asia answers, teary eyed and grabbing on his arm.

He tries to calm her down, patting her head

"Don't worry, Asia. I promise I'll be here, no matter what they do to me."

The little blonde girl shakes her head, not letting go off him

"Unnaceptable!"

I feel a bit touched and saddened, after all I'm also afraid for Issei, not to mention Ayumu, who's going to face my parents

"We don't have much option, since they kinda demanded all of you to be there, otherwise..."

He rubs his forehead

"The Kyuubi's life is still in their hands, so we're not exactly in position to deny their demands"

I sigh

"Kuriko probably knew this would happen..."

I answer, my voice filled with my aprehension

Azazel nods

"Well, there are good news, though..."

I turn to him and raise an eyebrow

"I'd like to hear it"

Azazel nods and lets out a laugh

"Well, we managed to get a really big heavy hitter to help you guys out on the battle. That guy's very strong, whatever happens, I think he can help you with it."

I scratch my head

"Really? Who?"

Azazel laughs

"Just think of him as an exceptional being with a beef with the Hero Faction for now. This is good news and there's more"

He shows us a map with the Kyoto area on it

"The area centred around Nijou Castle and Kyoto station is now in a state of high alert. All devils, fallen angels and angels stationed in Kyoto have been mobilized to search for suspicious characters. The youkais from Kyoto and even a delegation of youkais from Kanto are also providing us with assistance. Though we still haven't confirmed the movements of the Heroes Faction, we were able to narrow the area and we know what to look for thanks to the information you and Ayumu gathered, good job."

"Also..." - Azazel taps in a certain area of the map.

"We were able to dected an ominous shift in the energy of Kyoto with Nijo castle as the centre, which means..."

I nod, a bit more optimistic with what he said

"They did not lie to us, the Hero Faction really is carrying on with the plan they told us."

With the Caretaker's intervention, I was begining to become skeptical whether the Hero Faction was really ignorant of our betrayal, but it seems that he did not lie. Kuriko is also playing them.

Azazel nods satisfied

"Exactly! That is good, even though we don't know what that weird boy and crazy girl are planing, we can at least say that Cao Cao and his goons are none the wiser."

I don't know if I should be happy or even angrier at Kuriko for betraying even those at her side.

He then turns to the Sitri servants in the room

"Serafall and I will lead the troops against the invasion, but we want you guys to stay here and protect the hotel. With the barrier we put up it's unlikely they'll be able to reach it, but it's just in case they have some sort of nasty surprise in store for us. In that case, you'll be responsible for it's protection."

"Understood!"

The entire Sitri group replied, but Azazel specifically pointed at Saji

"Except you Saji, you'll go with Tatseyo's group"

"M-me?"

Saji pointed at himself, confused, but quickly seemed to understand the situation

"I-it's because I'm a dragon king, right?"

Azazel nodded

Indeed, I only fought against Saji once, but I can tell that he's strong, he managed to hold his own against my 100%, at least for a while, that's something praiseworthy.

"Yes, that is correct. Your Vritra - Dragon King state will be very useful. The black flames can seal the movements of enemies as well as absorb their power. Just like the fight against Loki last time, you will support the Gremory group."

"That, that's not a problem. But I can still easily lose my consciousness and go out of control in that state."

Azazel waved his hand

"No problem. Ise will help you regain control like the last time against Loki. Ise, just think of some words to say during that time - since you are the Heavenly Dragon, show me how to control the Dragon Kings."

"U-understood!"

Issei answered, stiff

I tilted my head

"So Issei can use his powers to help Saji recover his consciousness? Like some dragon telepathy?"

Ayumu also looks confused at Azazel, who nods back

"Yeah, I experienced it once while using Fafnir's balance breaker, it's a strange sensation if you aren't a dragon yourself, but if it can help Saji control his powers, we'll gladly use it."

I turn to Issei, my interest having been picked

"Can you do it with other people too?"

If this can be used to control the ? ? ?, then it would be really useful

"W-well, not exactly. There was one time that I managed to get inside Akeno-san's memories... b-but it wasn't because of my dragon powers, it was because of... ah, how do I explain it?"

Issei scratches his head and I frown

What the hell does that even mean?

"Caham, anyway, I still have some bad news for you guys"

Azazel says, placing his hands on the table

"This time, we only obtained three portions of Phoenix Tears."

"Only three portions!? That is totally not enough!? And our enemies are terrorists!"

Saji yelled out

"Yes, I understand. But due to the Khaos Brigade's terrorist activities all over the world, tears have been in great demand. All the strategic strongholds of the various factions have less than ideal supplies. From the very beginning, tears were never something that could be mass produced easily. The Phenex family has been extremely busy. What was originally a valuable commodity has become even more precious with jacked up prices. Amongst devils, it has even been suggested that the Rating Game should amend its rules about the usage of tears. You should know this as it may affect your future Rating Games."

I look at the vials placed on the table by Azazel

Ayumu pokes my arm

"Tachan... those are..."

I nod

"Phoenix tears..."

Azazel looks back at us, surprised

"Ah, so you know these?"

We both reply positively

"Once in a blue moon we managed to capture a demon that holded one of these things. The Community is crazy about them, they pay a huge reward to anyone who can bring one to them intact. There's a whole research team dedicated to reproducing their properties, but so far we have only gotten close results."

Ayumu agrees with me

"There was once a demon that told us the guys that produced them was a group of devils called the Phenex family, friends of you guys?" - She asks

Issei rubs the back of his head

"Our relationship is... complicated"

He answers with a troubled expression, others in the room nod their heads a this statement

I shrug

"Ever since there's been a huge reward for anyone who can capture them, even though we never saw a member of this demon clan on earth"

Kiba placed a hand on his chin

"Well, the Phenex clan is a very conservative family, they almost never come to earth personally."

Issei turns to us

"Wait, so there is a reward for the Phenex family in the Esper Community?"

I nod

"Yeah, it's more about the methods to produce these Phoenix tears."

I kneel at the table by Azazel's side and pick one of them up, extremely carefully, I don't want to be the one to drop this miraculous medicine.

"A small fortune to anyone who can bring a member of the family alive or sucessfully reproduce their formula."

I look at the Phoenix tear with amazement

Something that was so alien to us is now sitting right in front of me, readily available to help our side.

Azazel's looking at me, downright concerned

"Tatseyo... you alright?"

"S-sorry, my head was somewhere else"

I shake my head, placing the tears back on the table

"You were saying something about the plan?"

He nods, still a bit concerned

"Yes... as you are aware our priority is to rescue the Kyuubi and Kanto's leaders. I'd love if we could capture them, but since we don't know what their 'secret weapon' is, nor what that weird kid did to Issei, staying around after we are done rescuing them could open us up to a bad surprise."

I nod in silence, he's right, even if we want to dismantle the Hero Faction, with Kuriko's involvement things have changed entirely. Without knowing what she's planing we are better off keeping our distance untill we figure out what it is.

"Rossweisse, was your lesson useful? Did it help Tatseyo understand brainwashing magic?"

The valkyrie puffs her chest

"Of course! As a teacher and bodyguard of Odin it'd be a hit to my pride if I couldn't!"

Azazel looks back at her and nods

"Even though you lack a lot as a woman you are great as a magic user..."

Rossweisse pouts and shouts

"What do you mean by that?!"

I try to ignore the outburst and nod

"As expected, learning from a real magician was way different than learning from someone who specializes in countering it. That won't be a problem, my issue is..."

I turn to look at Ayumu and understanding my worries, Azazel nodded

"Don't worry, me and Serafall will make sure to watch Ayumu's back"

He then scratches his goatee

"Though I hope you'll be convince them to join our side quickly. I don't think either of us could hold a fight against the people that defeated Arjuna and Sun Wukong"

Ayumu looks a little nervous, but nods nonetheless

"Y-yes! I know Lady Tatsumaki and Kageyama-san, I'll do my best"

Despite her confidence, I still feel unsure

I don't think mom and dad will hurt Ayumu, but that doesn't mean they will believe her

"By the way, you are going to start with my father, won't you?"

My redheaded friend nodded

"Yes, Kageyama-san's ability will be the ace in the hole I need"

I agreed

"Then Serafall-dono, you should be careful, there is no telling how long it will take to convince dad to come to our side. After that's done, I believe it won't be hard to convince mom, but by the time that happens who knows how much damage she and Napoleon might cause."

The delicate looking woman made a comical strong pose showing off her biceps

"Don't worry, I'll hold them back, I just can't promise I won't hurt your mother too much"

I give a quick awkward laughter, she's obviously trying to ease the mood, but it does little to ease my worries about this situation

"Also, I have contacted Sona at Kuou Academy. They are willing to provide whatever support they can offer."

Of course, the Hero Faction intends to ally with the Maou Faction so that the rebel demons will cause riots in their territories and split the Alliance's forces.

"Sensei, what about our Buchou and the rest?"

Issei asked and Azazel furrowed his brow at my question.

"Yes, I wanted to tell them... but it looks like I got too late. They are currently back in Gremory territory."

I furrowed my eyebrows at his response

"What happened?!" - Issei shouted before I could ask

"There are reports of riots in some town located within Gremory territory. They have most likely gone to handle that."

My expression turned into a frown as I heard this

"They are moving earlier than we antecipated, that's not good..."

Ayumu joined in

"Maybe something happened?"

The fallen angel governor gave a wry smile

"Something did happen, bad luck. It seems that this incident in particular was caused by some Old Maou supporters without direct communications with Khaos Brigade."

A small 'oh' escaped my mouth and I felt somewhat relieved

"So it's an independent group..."

If it's a group without direct connection to the Khaos Brigade then Cao Cao would have no idea about their attack, but it must also mean they are not a big threat

"Any heavy-hitters on this riot?"

He shook his head with a smirk

"So far not even a high-class devil has showed up. Even so, their causing trouble is an undeniable truth, so the girls have taken action. After all, it will be their territory in the future. -Also, I have received news that Grayfia-san was participating as well as Venelana Gremory. The Maou's wife and his mother, what a fearsome team"

I raise an eyebrow, so these women are related to Rias and the other Maou, I wonder what kind of women they are for Azazel to be so trustful of their abilities

"Since they taking action, those rioters can kiss their asses goodbye -Once infuriated, the Gremory ladies are quite a force to be reckoned with."

Azazel seemed to pretend to be shivering as he spoke

I look back at Ayumu and she shrugs

"Ara, 'The Flaxen-haired Madame of Extinction', the 'Crimson-haired Ruin Princess', and the 'Silver-haired Queen of Annihilation' have gathered in one spot Hmph, that will teach those rioters a good lesson."

Leviathan-sama listed out those ominous nicknames in a cutesy manner, well, if even a Maou herself considers them strong enough to hold the rioters back I think we can't object

"I don't really know who these two women are, but I'm assuming they can handle it on their own?"

Azazel nods with confidence

"You don't have to worry about that, in fact, even if a High class devil shows up, they won't be a match to them."

I nod to myself in silence and Azazel taps Issei's shoulder with a sympathetic expression

"...You too, will have a worrisome future."

He then cleared his throat, and turned to everyone once more:

"So these are the plans I proposed. I will also search for those terrorists directly from the skies. So everyone will be taking their positions in one hour. If you find anything suspicious, report to one another immediately. -And try not to die. Until the moment you get home, a school trip is still a school trip. -We will protect Kyoto with our lives. Understood?"

"Affirmative!" - All the non-humans of the group shouted in unison

The strategy meeting ended with everyone's response.

Part 3

It was agreed that we would all meet at the lobby in order to depart towards our mission after preparations were done

Ayumu and I were waiting in the rooftops, where the Gremory group trained in the mornings

The setting sun colored the sky in a beautiful orange shade and the cool air blew in our hairs, it's a very pleasant weather, but it still does little to put me at ease knowing what will happen in less than an hour from now

"Are you nervous?" - I ask, trying to make small talk to try and lessen the tension

Ayumu snirks

"It's impossible not to be, after all I'm about to try and convince Lady Tatsumaki and Kageyama-san to join forces with demons"

"You know, you still haven't told me what you're going to say to my dad"

After all this time, Ayumu has not told me what she intends to tell them to bring them to our side. I trust her to make the right decision and my father to listen to her, but I can't say this hasn't made me feel uneasy

Ayumu smiled, a tint of red coloring her face

"I-it's a little embarassing..."

She brushes her hair with one hand

"If I tried to put into words... I don't think I'm ready for it yet, that's why I want Kageyama-san to read my feelings with his skill..."

Placing a hand over her chest, Ayumu answers with a smile

"If he can see what's in my heart, I know he'll understand me"

I freeze up when Ayumu smiles

The reddish light of the sunset fits her perfectly

"What's up? You're making a weird face"

I shake my head when Ayumu brought me back from my trance, I must have been looking at her pretty intently

I try to focus my attention on the view, the buildings and the beautiful sunset of Kyoto

But it's fruitless...

My head just can't stop thinking about how Ayumu feels about me

I take a deep breath, trying to focus on the scenery in front of us

There's a lot of things at stake, if I don't do this now, I'm afraid I'll regret it later

Steeling myself more than ever before, I ask

"Ayumu, do you like me?"

I say it at once, without looking at Ayumu, if I try to look at her face I'll probably be too embarassed to say it outloud.

A moment passes without her saying a thing, as if she was thinking about it

"W-what do you mean? Of course I like you, I'm doing all of this for you after-"

I shake my head

"Not like that! I mean as a man!"

I lose my patience and turn to look at her

Ayumu was staring at me, her face a deep shade of red, her eyes wide like two plates and her mouth slightly ajar

"I-I..."

I feel as if I can't breath while waiting for answer, Ayumu stutters through her words.

"I made a promise to tell you after the mission was over!"

"Eh?"

She yells, turning around and heading for the door

"B-but wait!"

She opens the door, but before heading inside she points at me

"When this is done, when we have saved everyone, then I'll give you the answer! Okay?"

I look at her confused for a moment but eventually smile

"Alright, then you definitely can't fail"

Ayumu smiles back, her face still as red as the sunset falling upon us

"Same thing to you!"

She says and we both set out

To the battle for Kyoto!

Afterword: Thanks for reading! I really hope you enjoyed, next chapter there will be a surprise meeting between two characters before the grand battle, look forward to it!