– Ichiban –
Closing his apartment door, Ichiban sighed deeply, feeling especially terrible for what he did. Getting scolded by Mine wasn't very nice, and while it was Akane who went out exploring when she shouldn't have, Ichi was the one who pressured her to do it.
He did find it weird that she had relented so quickly, though, but he had probably pushed her buttons, even if unknowingly. In hindsight, it should've been obvious. She's always been so cocky and prideful, so of course something like that is going to bother her.
So Ichiban might've gotten a weapon out of this, and he was sure as hell going to be using it a lot. Probably. Unless she adapted and became significantly worse, which is probably what was going to happen. If so, he was only going to bring it up occasionally.
Ichiban paused and frowned thoughtfully as he changed into something more comfortable. How do you beat her in her own game? Was it even possible? He knew not playing in the first place gets him out of a lot of teasing, but how do you successfully tease someone so shameless and arrogant without being a complete asshole?
He shook the thought out of his head before plumping himself on his futon and checking his phone a second later. It was pretty late, 11 PM to be exact, and he had school to worry about tomorrow. The party was pretty fun, though.
It had been an experience, to say the least. He had never attended something so formal before, certainly not with so many important people. He thought the atmosphere would be more… well, suffocating, to say the least.
But no, it was the opposite. The vibe was strangely warm, but that was probably because of his friends. Sona, Rias, and the latter's peerage made the party a lot more bearable than he expected. Plus, it was always fun to talk about MMA with someone, and Koneko filled that role when Akane didn't.
Ichiban pursed his lips and frowned in thought.
Speaking of, his best friend felt kind of odd when he saw her in the sewers. Aside from how utterly pale she looked, something about her seemed off. She had been shaking and sweating like crazy. Even her breathing was kind of erratic.
She'd tried to hide it, and Ichiban quickly caught the lie about the demon roaches but didn't pressure her about it. Akane looked like she needed some space, and he obliged. Even after she calmed down, she was pretty out of it.
It worried him. What did she see in there? And why didn't she signal for him or anyone to help? Ichiban didn't know what was up with her. He should probably ask her when he saw her next.
What do you think, Ddraig?
Hm? About what?
About Akane.
Your friend? I think she'd be a better partner for me than you.
"The fuck?" Ichiban scowled. "You barely even know her!"
And I've grown to like her more. He snorted. I do not know if she's that charming or if you're that much of a failure
"You know what? Fuck you and fuck your stupid gauntlet." Ichiban said out loud, feeling a bit upset. "I don't need some lizard's help to be stronger. I can do that by myself."
Ddraig only chuckled at that surprisingly.
I am joking, partner. He said lazily, not one bit offended. I doubt I'd get along with her.
"Oh." His scowl dropped, however, Ichiban was quite intrigued by that. "How do you figure?"
I've had partners with a temper before. Ddraig revealed. They're quite… difficult to work with, if effective at handling Albion's fools.
Right. There was that rival thing with the White Dragon Emperor. Ichiban was kind of interested in the prospect of having some eternal rival but wasn't so much when he heard the 'battle to the death' part of it.
He really hoped he never came across the Divine Dividing wielder any time soon. Not out of fear of his own life – Ichiban was always ready to die anyway – but fighting to the death over some other dude's grudge sounded so stupid.
So wait, you never noticed anything off about her?
The girl? No, I was asleep the whole time.
Oh yeah, you can do that. Ichiban sighed, rubbing his neck. I'm still not sure how that works.
Well… he could always ask her? Maybe over some food or something. He was starving, and it wasn't like she had eaten anything other than the cake – which was absolutely delicious by the way – so she was probably hungry too.
Ichiban sat up, grimacing as he checked his wallet. He spent nearly all of his money on the suit, so he barely has anything anymore. A thousand Yen wasn't going to get him anything substantial, maybe a few items from the convenience store.
Though there was that cheap ramen place near her home, and it didn't close until 12 AM, so if he moved now he might be able to make it in time. Should he waste all his money on a beef bowl though, or save? He got his allowance tomorrow…
After a long pause, Ichiban dialed his best friend's number and waited for her to answer, but she didn't, making him click his tongue. Did she go to sleep? She did look tired, so probably. He wouldn't want to bother her if so.
Ichiban groaned and laid back down. It was getting pretty late anyway and he had school tomorrow, so he shouldn't go out at this hour.
…He really hoped Akane was okay. That haunted look on her face wasn't something easily forgotten.
As he laid on his side and closed his eyes, someone knocked on his door, prompting him to blink in confusion. He couldn't sense who it was very well, which made him on guard. Slowly, Ichiban stood up and walked toward the door, preparing himself for anything.
He didn't expect the person behind the door to be his soon-to-be patriarch.
"Came at a bad time, did I?" Masumi Arakawa smiled warmly at him.
For a time, he was frozen in shock. Ichiban stammered, not expecting to see his boss any time soon, before bowing deeply.
"Good to see you again, sir!" Ichiban said enthusiastically.
"Relax. You don't want to wake up the neighbors." The boss chuckled.
"Oh, yeah, my bad." Ichi apologized sheepishly. "But what are you doing here? I thought you were busy with other stuff in Kamurocho."
"I had some free time and thought I'd visit." He answered. "Mind if I come in?"
"Of course not." Ichiban opened the door fully and invited his boss in. "Please, make yourself at home."
Seeing his boss at this hour was certainly a surprise, but a welcome one for sure. Oh, Ichiban had so many things he wanted to talk about.
– Azazel –
"Any word on Kokabiel?" Azazel asked.
"I'm afraid not." Shemhazai shook his head, looking grim. "He's completely off the grid somehow."
"And I've found nothing incriminating in his office or quarters," Baraqiel added. "He's being very careful."
Azazel leaned on his chair and rubbed the bridge of his nose with a deep sigh. This was very worrying– A cadre going rogue was the last thing they needed. His ordering an assault on yakuza territory behind his back certainly induced a lot of headaches.
It was very odd, though. Yes, Kokabiel wasn't always the most stable of individuals, but he also wasn't dumb enough to pull something like this out of the blue. What had driven him to do it? There had always been tension between them, but to go balls-out like that?
His secret ops weren't enough to give him this much confidence. Were those allies of his that powerful? They had incredibly impressive technology, but that couldn't be it, could it? Regardless, he was off of their radar and it was getting increasingly concerning.
Azazel had to find him soon before he brought them catastrophe, but how could he do that? When Kokabiel had tech that completely hid his energy signature, they'd need a Senjutsu user, and fast.
Azazel chewed on his thumb as he thought deeply about this. But where can he find one of those? None of his Fallen Angels were capable of using Senjutsu, so he couldn't help himself there.
Even if he did have one, he wasn't completely confident that they would be able to find him. If there was tech good enough to completely mask a cadre's power, then he couldn't completely rule out it blocking the senses of even a senjutsu user, as unlikely as that is. Whoever had made said tech was probably smart enough to take that into account.
Was there nothing he can do to find that moron before he started a war? Denouncing him wouldn't help until he actually did something about it, but he couldn't do that because he couldn't even find Kokabiel.
What a pain in the ass.
The door of his office then swung open as his surrogate son walked in, stopping his train of thought.
"Oi, Azazel," Vali said, casually approaching him. "I'm going to Japan."
"What?" Azazel blinked. "Why?"
"My rival showed himself there apparently." He answered. "I'm gonna challenge him."
"No." He deadpanned, making Vali click his tongue.
"Why not?"
"Because I already have someone trying to start a war, and I don't need you doing the same." The governor replied.
"I'm not gonna start a war–"
"You are affiliated with the Grigori, and the Red Dragon Emperor is affiliated with the Tojo Clan." Shemhazai cut him off. "Attacking him unprovoked will start a war."
"I'm not gonna attack him 'unprovoked'." Vali rolled his eyes. "I'll challenge him to a duel and–"
"Kill him?" Baraqiel raised a brow. "That will also start a war."
"So what, I'm not allowed to fulfill my destiny?" Vali scoffed. "The Dragon Emperors are fated to fight eternally. I'll only be doing what any other White Dragon Emperor would do."
"Vali, I don't want to argue with you right now." Azazel groaned, getting mildly annoyed. "Leave."
Vali narrowed his eyes and clicked his tongue in frustration before walking out of the office.
"Vali." Azazel called out, stopping him. "Do not go behind my back."
"...Whatever."
Vali left, not even bothering to close the door behind him, prompting Azazel to groan tiredly.
Teenagers are a pain in the ass.
– Ichiban –
"How's life been treating you?" Arakawa asked as the two sat around the table opposite each other, a hot cup of tea in the older man's hand. "Adjusting well?"
"It's been nice so far, so I can't really complain," Ichiban answered.
"School giving you a hard time?"
"Eh, kind of. I mean, the entrance exam was one thing, but keeping up with the studies?" He replied honestly, scratching his cheek nervously. "Now I'm really regretting skipping most of middle school."
Arakawa chuckled quietly.
"You'll get the hang of it soon enough, as long as you take it seriously." His boss said, sipping tea from his cup. "Make sure you get a good grade, alright?"
"Yes sir." Ichi nodded seriously. "I'll do my best to be at the top of my class."
That, of course, was a lot easier said than done, because Akane was in his class, and she always got perfect marks without even trying. It was as impressive as it was unfair. How did she do that anyway? She clearly doesn't give a crap about studying.
"Relax, it's not that serious. As long as you pass, I'm satisfied." He waved it off. "Did you make any friends?"
"Oh yeah, you wouldn't believe who I saw there." Ichiban's face lit up. "Remember the girl I told you about some time ago? Akane Amamiya?"
"Oh?"
"Yup, she's attending Kuoh Academy too. We're even in the same class!" He revealed. "I almost couldn't believe it. What even are the odds of that happening?"
Arakawa remained oddly quiet, putting his cup on the table as Ichi continued talking.
"Though, she's changed a lot since then. She's nearly unrecognizable." He stated, crossing his arms. "But aside from her, I only made a few friends. Anyway, what about you? I don't see the Captain with you."
"Sawashiro is taking care of business in Kamurocho in my place," Arakawa replied after a moment before smiling. "What, glad he isn't here?"
"He'd kick my ass if he was here." Ichiban deadpanned. "So yeah, kind of."
"Hehe, fair, but you don't have to worry about that anymore." His boss waved it off. "Certainly not with the Boosted Gear in hand."
Ichiban paused and blinked in surprise.
"You know about that?"
"Of course I do," Arakawa said. "You made waves in the Tojo Clan, you know."
"What do you mean?"
"Errand boy of the Arakawa Family turns out to be the Red Dragon Emperor." He clarified with a chuckle. "I got a lot of jealous looks in my recent meeting, you know."
"Oh, uh, sorry?"
"Don't apologize for it, Ichi. I had a good laugh." Arakawa chuckled. "Be sure to train well, though. You've been blessed with great power, but that power–"
"–will always go to waste if you don't have the discipline to temper it." Ichiban finished the sentence. "I promise I'll hone it and become the best Red Dragon Emperor in history."
Oh? How interesting. Ddraig quipped in his head. I'll look forward to seeing you fulfill that promise, partner.
"Quite ambitious, Ichi."
"Well, I gotta be," Ichiban responded, feeling slightly sheepish. That was an ambitious promise for sure. "If I want to be worthy enough to join your family I mean."
For some reason, that made Arakawa's smile turn melancholic. Ichiban was about to ask what's wrong before his boss beat him to it.
"Say, Ichi." He started. "There's something I have to tell you."
"Boss?"
"I haven't always been truthful to you," Arakawa said. "I'm sorry."
Ichiban's heart skipped a beat as heard his boss apologize, getting very nervous.
"What do you mean?"
His boss paused for a moment before he continued.
"The reason I sent you here wasn't that I wanted you to experience a civilian life." He explained. "The Chairman wanted someone to keep a close eye on your friend and protect her. I… volunteered."
Ichiban waited for him to finish.
"When you told me that Akane was a friend of yours, I knew you were perfect for the job. You didn't know much about devils to recognize the heiresses in the academy, and you blended in with the other students well." He continued. "You were an ideal undercover agent, and I just couldn't ignore it."
Arakawa bowed his head, prompting the boy to flinch in genuine shock.
"I'm very sorry for not telling you, Ichi." He apologized again. "It's me who isn't worthy of your loyalty."
"Woah, woah, please raise your head, boss!" Ichi panicked, standing up. "This really isn't worth apologizing for. If anything, this makes me kind of happy."
His boss raised his head, looking at Ichiban with a confused look.
"But I lied to you."
Well, in hindsight, it was kind of obvious. He was fairly suspicious for a while anyway– it didn't make sense to him that his boss would send him to a place where devils pretty much ruled. While the Arakawa Family itself wasn't big, its patriarch was pretty up there.
He must've known about Akane, the daughter of Tatsu Amamiya, and he must've known that she was going to be attending the school. It'd be unrealistic for him to just not know about this. It was also pretty weird to send him to a relatively prestigious school.
Him, a former street rat with no talent. If anything, throwing him in a regular school would have been more cost-efficient. He'd have fewer chances of flunking his grades after all. More than that, The prick Sawashiro didn't bother to try and convince the boss that expecting something from Ichiban would only lead to disappointment, so he probably knew about this too.
Internally, Ichiban was filled with relief. He didn't know what he expected, but certainly not something as small as this.
"Are you kidding? I've been waiting for a moment like this for ages!" Ichiban said with a grin. "This is like, the first time I've ever been useful to you. Actually useful."
His boss didn't know how to respond to that.
"I might've not known what I was getting myself into, but even if I did, I would've jumped at the opportunity." He continued. "You saved my life, and I know you didn't do it because of what I have, otherwise you would've instantly accepted me into your family, but you didn't. Hell, you tried to push me away. You wanted to protect me, regardless of your obligations as a patriarch."
"Ichi…"
"The point is, I owe you everything, and I made an oath to serve you until my dying breath." Ichiban shook his head. "It doesn't matter if you lied or not. At the end of the day, I've decided to dedicate my whole life to you and the family, so if there's any way I can be useful to you, please don't hesitate for my sake.
"And hey, if it wasn't for you, I would've never met my best friend again," Ichi said, feeling a bit flustered as he thought about her. "So you know, it isn't all that bad."
Arakawa stared at him right in the eyes for a moment before he chuckled as a grateful, soft smile appearing on his face.
"I should've known you'd say something like this." He muttered. "Thank you, Ichiban."
"Don't mention it." Ichiban waved it off. "I hope I get to join your family soon, though. Officially I mean."
"Soon, Ichi," Arakawa said ominously before getting up. "Well, it's about time I head off. Don't stay up too late now. Wouldn't want to be late for school."
"Yessir."
"And here." His boss slapped a fat stack of cash on the table. "Your allowance for the month. Don't use it in one place."
"Thanks, sir!"
Ichi stood up and walked his boss to the door. Once his boss donned his coat and hat, he went out the door, patting the boy on the head before moving.
"Sleep well, Ichi."
With that, Arakawa left Ichiban alone and in a much better mood than before. He'd probably go back to Kamurocho, so it's somewhat of a bummer Ichiban couldn't introduce his boss to Akane.
Maybe next time.
– ? –
Walking through the ruined world, a sigh escaped him as he spotted hundreds of thousands of corpses– the city painted crimson with the blood of devils, angels, humans, gods, and every other race he knew of. The faction leaders all lay there, their bodies mangled and desecrated, almost becoming unrecognizable.
Cold sweat rolled down his cheek as he met his own lifeless eyes– his corpse sliced in half as his organs spilled out in a pool of his own blood. It never got easy no matter how many times he looked at it, and he'd been doing this for a very long time.
So nothing had changed, then? No matter what he did, he'd always see the same vision that plagued him for millennia. The extinction of all, caused by the Beast of Apocalypse. Every life was extinguished by its battle against the Great Dragon of Dreams.
After the Great War between the biblical factions and the death of the Devil God, this future was all he could see, and for so long, he had tried to do everything in his power to prevent this fate, yet nothing worked. Diplomacy and peace with other factions didn't change the outcome, nor did training his already tremendous power.
It was all for naught. The vision did not change a bit. He almost cursed Yahweh for giving him this gift.
The sight of his dead allies and friends prompted him to frown sorrowfully. Was there truly nothing they could do to stop this? Was there no champion capable of stopping these beasts from wrecking their world?
No life would remain, not a single creature. The battle between these two forces of nature would continue for an eternity until there was nothing left to stand on. Nothing could get in their way. No god or mortal would be able to stop them.
But he mustn't lose hope. Fate can be broken, and he would keep trying to prevent this outcome until his dying breath.
As he continued walking, he paused once he realized something. Strangely, he didn't see the two beasts anywhere nearby. In every vision, he'd witness their battle raging on, but this time, it was nothing but deafening silence.
There were no earth-shattering roars, no engulfing flames that could wipe out entire realms, and no world-bending magic that tore the fabric of space asunder. There was nothing. Only the aftermath– the lifeless corpses and whatever remained of their world.
He shook his head with a sigh. A small change like this wouldn't matter– he was still greeted by the depressing sight of death and destruction. He'd seen enough, he had to return to his duties soon.
As he was about to end this clairvoyance session, something froze him in place. A quiet, melodic humming of what sounded like a girl. It sounded pleasant, so much so that if not for his shock, he would've taken his time enjoying it. He focused deeply, looking around for this voice, and as the scenery changed, he saw it.
Atop the bodies of the two mighty beasts of the apocalypse was a girl, garbed in a large black cloak. She had her back to him so he couldn't quite see her face, but her short hair was white as snow, and from her stature, she seemed very young, perhaps in her early teen.
He didn't know what this was– what caused this change. He'd never seen this child before, but whatever it was, it unnerved him to no end. Her energy signature felt… off, like she did not belong in their world, but more than that…
He swallowed as his face contorted into one of genuine fear and shock. He had never felt so much evil in his life before, so much rage and hatred. Whoever this was– no, whatever this thing was, it shouldn't be here. It shouldn't exist.
She continued her quiet humming though, but as he approached to get a look at her face, she suddenly stopped. He halted when this being giggled slightly, slowly turning her head around to smile at him.
Her features were so soft, almost like she was a porcelain doll, but the soulless red eyes that bore right into his own were nothing short of terrifying.
"I see you~" She spoke, her voice sounding ethereal.
In an instant, the girl vanished and reappeared a few meters from him, the smile not changing a bit. This unsettled him greatly– this overbearing sense of danger put him on edge. This wasn't something he should be feeling, especially not in a mere vision like this.
How was she aware of his existence?
"Who are you?" He questioned coolly, not sure if he was going to get an answer.
The girl giggled and spread her arms, revealing her black outfit beneath the cloak, then responded.
"Salvation."
That was when hundreds of black tendrils sprouted from her back and shot toward him, somehow managing to grab him and pin him to a wall behind him. The girl then started laughing madly as she rushed toward him, her small body breaking down– cracks on her face appearing as her flesh melted and turned grotesque, mouths with razor-sharp teeth growing everywhere.
But more than that, what truly terrified him beyond anything this thing did, was the very recognizable black blade in her hand as she stabbed him in the heart with it. That was when he woke up to the real world with a gasp, his heart pounding in his chest.
He panted as he processed what he saw.
"It can't be…" He mumbled, getting his breathing under control. "Lucifer?"
That thing wasn't Lucifer– not even the Demon God held this much wickedness in his soul, but that blade was his. He could recognize Excelsis no matter what state it was in, and whatever that thing was, it had managed to awaken it.
Someone had freed him and taken the sword, but how? Who could be strong enough to break all the seals keeping the blade and Lucifer trapped? Not even the combined strength of the most powerful gods of the pantheons could take it out. Yahweh certainly made sure of that.
But more than that, that entity managed to slay both beasts, yet the outcome didn't change. Everyone was dead, life had been snuffed out, and that meant one thing.
Unlike the previous prophecy, where the world was brought to its destruction as collateral by the battle of two world-ending threats, this… this monster deliberately killed everything. It went out of its way to destroy the world with its own hands.
And somehow, it saw him. Where he was merely seeing the future, it attacked him. It dared to call itself 'salvation' when it is nothing but evil.
Slowly, Indra wiped his nose and grimaced at the blood staining his shaking hand. He must check Lucifer's prison and find this entity before it's too late.
Things were looking far more sinister than they had ever been.
Lucifer chapter next time, I promise.
I have a commissioned image of the white-haired child on my server. The link is in my profile.
And yeah, the commission was specifically for this chapter. I think all future comms I get will be chapter related. That'd be pretty cool.