Chapter XIV
"Ugggghhhhh. No more."
Life was pain.
Life was misery.
Life was a migraine, pounding Rias on the side of the head like a hammer driving a nail into a wall, spiking pain echoing in her skull as the redhead tried and failed to shake off the incessant buzz that had yet to fade after two whole days of bed rest and aspirin.
Unfortunately, human medicine could do little to help her when the issue came from getting blasted with a wave of divine power.
The equivalent of being caught by a flashbang to a Devil.
"Your tea." Tsubaki, the ever helpful queen of her friend's peerage, bowed her head as she placed a small cup in front of the redhead.
"Thank you." Rias managed an attempt at politeness and she watched as the schoolgirl walked to the side and stood beside an equally miserable-looking Akeno. Though she was a touch surprised when it was Sona's Queen who leaned to the other girl, whispering something in her ear, and receiving a thankful nod from Akeno in response. Soon after she stepped out, likely heading to wash her face and rest a moment.
Rias made a note to thank the girl personally, later, as she sipped from the cup and tried to forget the consequences of her actions.
"Does that help at all?"
By her side, the bespectacled heiress enquired with a quirked brow.
Rias sighed, setting down the steaming cup of Earl Grey, and braced herself.
"Not much I'm afraid."
The past few days had been… well… horrible. While the consequences of her harebrained suggestion for a training match against the resident Campione had yielded very interesting results and allowed Rias to watch the boy and learn more about him. But as a result of exposure to… whatever that Authority of his was made of, her life had become less than comfortable.
She could move.
She could use her powers and even pretend like everything was okay.
But the fact remained that she'd been experiencing the Devil equivalent of a strong cold. To which there was no cure other than going home and requesting a specialist to help draw out and purge the leftover divinity from her body.
With enough practice and control, it was possible to do by herself with her abilities… but she wasn't about to use the Power of Destruction while sick.
That way lay a lethal embarrassment.
Or, worse, she might well damage her own connection to her peerage, injure part of their souls should she attempt it on them, or any other number of possible complications.
"So." Sona's grace period ended. "I do need to know if you're ready for today, for this." Her eyes held a little judgment. "Because we can't afford to fail."
Went unsaid was the fact their siblings would rush in at the first sign of weakness. And from there they would be subjected to nonstop one sided spoiling and handholding while two of the most powerful Devils babysat them through their troubles.
Not a great look for either of them.
"I don't intend to embarrass myself or the House of Gremory, no. I'm… functional."
Miserable, but functional.
"Well, I certainly hope the humans have no plans to deal with a child's pout. It's a shame, if you were younger we could have tried the teary eyed look. Humans love cute things." Lips pursued, letting a little of the pain she was in show through, the heiress stared down her friend.
"I am not pouting."
"Yes, you are, because you rushed ahead and challenged a Campione to a sparring match."
"It was friendly, Issei was - is - friendly. And it gave me a chance to meet him without interference."
Sona nodded
And then blew up.
"All at the bargain cost of nearly sending you into a coma! I cannot believe you went through with something so… reckless! What was I meant to tell your parents, your brother, if something went wrong? What do you think they would do?!"
Chastened, she looked away, but did not yield to her friend.
"It was a risk… but it's not one those humans weren't willing to take. They would have gladly offered him a thousand victims if it was needed. They aren't any less cunning than we are… isn't that why we love here so much? So how could I hold back just because of danger?"
Sona was dissatisfied by such a textbook answer and her displeasure made itself known when her eyes sharpened to vicious slits, only avoiding a glare by the fact they were almost invisibly parted.
"We are not schoolchildren, Rias. Even if you don't care what it might cost you, at least think of me. How would I feel if I had to wipe the gym clean after that… thing was done smearing you across the building? Tell me, how do you think I would have taken it?"
And now the shame appeared, fresh and sour.
"Well enough. You were always the calmer of the two of us. You would have survived."
Sona's voice dipped in response.
"Perhaps. But I would have been heartbroken."
"... Sorry."
For what she was sorry went unspoken, Rias knew that such a thing would merely drive a wedge between them, but there was truth, too. She was genuinely miserable at the thought of harming her peerage, for leading them to suffer, and for putting her friend in such a situation, too. It was the height of arrogance.
"Rias." Sona reached over, squeezing her hand. " You are a sister to me in all ways that matter, so please… don't make Serafall the least impulsive of my siblings."
Cheeks nearly as red as her hair, the Gremory Heiress nodded, and was a little surprised, thought not terribly so, at the next revelation.
"If you wish to repay me, then the next time you challenge a Godslayer, wear these." Two small artifacts were placed on the table before her. "One is an emergency recall bracelet and the other is equipped with much higher resolution sensor spells."
Indignation, hilarity, and a sorta of sibling annoyance warred with one another.
In the end, the Gremory heiress knew what she wanted.
"Then I want 75% of whatever you got from all the combat data."
"35% and that's fair, because we both know you won't do a lick of work to analyze it."
"60% and I'll help you myself."
"40% because I'll have to teach you how it works for the first two months."
"55% because I'll be the one actually fighting the Godslayer."
"Done. If only because you are bold enough to admit you're already planning to do it again and I want you to survive through whatever harebrained scheme you came up with."
The two girls finished their drinks before they got any cooler and Akeno returned, looking somewhat refreshed, and allowed Tsubaki the same kindness. Though instead of tea she prepared crystal glasses with spring water, cutting and squeezing fresh lemon juice into them before serving several small sandwiches along with the finger food.
"Are they really already late?"
Glancing at a walk clock in the Student Council room, Rias frowned.
"It's fifteen after, I can't believe the humans would be this indiscreet."
Sona made a noise of displeasure.
"When does the Committee ever not play games? Surely they'll play it off as Issei having delayed them or them needing to worship at the altar of some local spirit for permission."
A frown.
"Are they really that desperate to scout him? I know that the House of Belial is pushing for reparations from the Youkai Faction, but I thought there was a clause in the lease agreement that covered Campione."
"Only the intervention of one." Sona corrected. "Not the appearance of a new Campione to whom the territory of Kuoh is apportioned by the human government of Japan."
"So they've double leased the town?"
"Something like that."
"Hmm. Then perhaps they have good reason to be late. That does sound rather difficult to sort out…."
But even so… something about this didn't feel right. There was a strange tension in the air, a sense of anticipation that she couldn't quite place her finger on. Was there something happening they weren't aware of or was this just a negotiation tactic?
Either way… she had a bad feeling about this.
'This drive is unpleasant.'
Normally she quite enjoyed the long ten or fifteen minutes she could get for herself. Kaoru respected the simple fact that, even as young as she was, her position was probably second only to the Prime Minister in influence.
'But does my day have to always end up going like this?'
It didn't help that her plans and the expectations behind them had been shattered in the worst way possible.
And the truth was that expectations were useful tools.
Some were innocuous.
Some were downright necessary.
To expect something was to hold trust that events would proceed as envisioned. Whether it be the sun rising in the morning, or tides rising in the evening. Humans had come to rely on and despise expectations for as long as they existed, precisely because their usefulness was only matched by their unreliability.
Whether it was by playing games of luck.
Or participating in a competition.
Or even when interacting with other humans, expectations were flimsy lifelines that could so easily fail an individual, generating in them a feeling of betrayal at the world which surrounded them, not understanding that it was their own flawed understanding of the world that led to their mistakes.
'It's also funny when it happens.'
Which is why Lady Kaoru enjoyed messing with others' expectations. Call her a prankster of sorts, but there was nothing she enjoyed more than to disseminate her own supposed reputation as a sheltered priestess, only to surprise others by arriving 'in costume'.
The amount of dumbfounded looks she got since taking over as head of the HCC was nothing short of cathartic.
Of course, what had once been something she did in order to gain an advantage in the political arena soon became a hobby she indulged in for her own enjoyment. There was nothing more amusing than leading a stranger or acquaintance into making an error of judgment just so she could correct them and reveal the truth.
Even now there were those amongst her classmates who still believed Kaoru Sayanomiya was a boy, and she wasn't about to correct them when it made the eventual reveal so much more fun.
"Lady Sayanomiya, we've arrived." Stepping out of the car with natural poise born from countless afternoons wasted on etiquette lessons, the director of the History Compilation Committee patiently went through the motions as her security detail did the job she hired them for, making sure nothing was amiss before following her into the building.
For an organization concerned with tracking and concealing the supernatural… there was hardly any sign of it in the building itself, or even amongst the staff. Most could be forgiven for taking a look at them and seeing nothing but another group of bureaucrats and civil servants.
And therein lay the beauty of the Committee.
Because that was in essence what they were, there was no need to betray expectations.
Unfortunately, not even she was immune to the ills of expectation.
When she received a call from the Minister of Security regarding a missing ship, the expectation originally had been that a supernatural phenomenon caused it to disappear into another plane of existence.
Tracking it and dragging it back wouldn't have been difficult.
Tiresome, but simple.
Her expectations, however, were wholly uprooted by the appearance of a Heretic God, and then by the birth of a new Campione. Really, she prayed that the Demon King happened to just be a tourist or a visitor and yet her expectations were thrown out the window yet again when, barely a month later, two other Heretics appeared only to be eliminated soon after.
'This is going to be troublesome.'
She could already tell, even now, outside the Committee's headquarters that there was a nervous energy in the air, as if it had been pulled taut. Tempers were fraying and even the office workers acted as if some great burden had been placed on their shoulders.
Kaoru sighed, understanding the feeling well. It was her job to make sure they would weather the coming storm now that the Campione had revealed himself.
Or, rather, the task had been dumped on her shoulders by upper management.
But she could deal with that. At least now the job was sure to be done well.
"Have the floor sealed once I am inside, nobody in or out." She informed her staff, striding deeper into the building, taking a simple elevator down into the underground levels, leaving behind the public face of their operation and stepping into the secret underneath it.
The sub-levels of the committee building were a simple series of rooms.
One for storage.
One for ceremonies and rituals.
And a third one for secure communications. Which was the one she would be using and Kaoru had a feeling that she wouldn't be coming out any time soon.
"At least we had it refurbished." Before her tenure, the room had been a simple mat placed before a rather complex spell formula meant to allow for simultaneous long distance travel. While nowadays one could reproduce those effects through technology, tradition had weight in the world of magic and the secrecy provided by this room was second only to the Emperor's own.
At least now she had a rather plush chair to sit on and a work desk to write down the directives passed.
Much better than kneeling and writing on a scroll.
"I wonder how many will show up this time."
Of the four families who made up the foundation of the Committee, only Kaoru would be taking place in the interest of presenting a unified front, as contradictory as their desires could be at times.
She might as well get the show on the road.
"Committee Director Sayanomiya, reporting."
There was no need for magic, the array merely reacted to the command and lit up in response to her words, a projection of soft green light overtaking the room itself as silhouettes formed where the other seats at her table would normally be placed.
Only these weren't people, but mere images.
Just as Kaoru appeared before them as an image.
"Warden of Kyoto, Yasaka… reporting."
"Warden of Kanto, Nurarihyon… reporting."
"Elder Himejima… reporting."
"Elder Kushihashi… reporting."
"Elder Doumon… reporting."
"Heir Nakiri… reporting."
"Elder Shinra… reporting."
Kaoru sighed, desperately wishing she'd ordered herself some coffee or perhaps aspirin. Because of course the whole set of five clans would be participating instead of doing the sensible thing and naming a representative.
No… it was because they were the Five Principal Clans that all of them were here.
Unlike the 'public face' that the Committee represented, the Clans were much more… proactive in how they chose to handle problems and in the past had produced many heroes from their ranks in defense of helpless innocents preyed upon by the likes of Oni and rogue sorcerers.
Even today, they still worked to provide safety from the shadows, but opportunities to amass their full might were few and far in-between. It was a bit of an overreaction, but Kaoru would be lying if she didn't say she was the logic in calling them.
A Demon King had come to roost.
Twice had their people been attacked by Heretics.
"The Observer has arrived." And of course, their council wouldn't be complete without the one who would report their decisions to the highest authority of the land… when it came to otherworldly affairs.
"Shall we start then?"
There were so many items on the agenda Kaoru wasn't even sure she'd be back home by dinner.
"Not yet. We are expecting one more to join us today." The observer spoke, clipped and toneless.
Another?
Were they missing someone? The Clans were all present, and she was sure none of the others from her side would be here. Perhaps a representative from the Ministry of Security? They didn't often request to participate in these meetings, and Kaoru was usually the one to pass along any information they needed.
So who did that leave?
Certainly not…
"The Divine Representative has arrived."
That.
"I apologize for the tardiness and hope all have gathered with due promptness." Across from Kaoru, sitting at the head of the table that usually would be reserved for the emperor's proxy now sat an otherworldly presence, one not borne there by magic but who appeared to be there just she was sure she was sitting across the rooms of the other representatives.
This was a mortal.
This was a god.
"The Four Clans of the Emperor's Household bids welcome to the most esteemed visitor."
Unlike the member of the emperor's household proper, the observer that actually reported to both him and the Diet, this being was a rather serious looking man. Middle aged, a little short, with broad shoulders and a long nose.
"Your welcome is received. You may begin now."
And wearing traditional armor, with a daisho belted to his side.
"Very well. Then it behooves me to begin quite plainly - the matter of the Godslayer and the Committee's actions have proven to be less than reassuring on that front."
The one speaking was Suou Himejima, and as expected the meeting started with her being put on the spot.
How very predictable.
"Then allow me to reassure you that according to my agents, we have managed to establish communications with the 7th Demon King, and have been able to confirm his identity."
And she obviously wouldn't be revealing it to these vultures.
Who knew what matter of tomfoolery they would get up. The knowledge she now had was a matter for Takamagahara and the Emperor to learn, not these hardline relics.
"That does not justify your actions, Director. Campione, as a matter of national security, fall within the jurisdiction of this council not of an individual entity." To her side, the blonde fox woman chimed.
The Yokai too had a vested interest in their security, and perhaps she would approach them after the meeting with an olive branch. If only in the interest of maintaining her own group in neutral standing between them and the exorcists.
Kaoru felt she'd done the woman a favor, really.
"At least it wasn't the devils your people gave that territory to that did it. Small mercies we don't need to deal with that mess." Suou bit back, shooting the fox woman a look that said how much his side appreciated that particular deal.
Had either side been the ones to contact the Campione first, the other would have most certainly overreacted when instead they could now just be annoyed at a neutral party they had an excuse not to make demands of.
"It was to prevent that exact outcome that we sent two of our best agents to Kuoh after being forewarned of the heretic gods' attack. We were fortunate one of our priestesses had a vision of the event."
Hime Miko were perhaps the Committee's greatest assets. The only reason they've managed to stay afloat this long. Their ability to channel the power of, as well as foresee the movements of gods were great boons.
Even if her own gift was less impressive than those of Mariya's and Seishuuin's, Kaoru understood the advantages they had and when to press them.
The Divine Overseer coughed politely, interrupting their conversation.
"The matter of the Director's actions will be shelved for now and addressed at a later time. The meeting should proceed to the next item."
And like that, all bickering stopped.
It was hard to argue against a god, after all.
"Even so, this much activity is concerning. Not only has o Campione appeared here in Japan, but two others began moving, one in the Caribbean, another in the Balkans, with the American having uprooted some kind of Devil cult. The fourth is, at this time, in Mecca, and the second remains secluded in China."
"The third has not been located at this time?"
"No, unfortunately, she has been out of contact with any and all agents for at least six years."
"So she could be anywhen."
"Most likely."
"And the Caliphate? How will they deal with the Black Prince in their holy city?"
"We have no stance on that either way, nor are our operatives, or any NATO or PTO operatives, except for the French Muslim Unit, permitted to assist. Still, we have reports of-"
The room suddenly exploded in noise.
Ringtones, hurried whispers, even an antique phone line ringing in the background. From the Yokai representatives, to the clans, to the Emperor's observer. All of them looked to their sides as their attention was demanded.
Including Kaoru.
"The Emergency line?" Looking down at her phone, the hime miko felt her stomach drop and her heart freeze over as she answered it.
"What's the situation?"
From the other side, one of her aids spoke hurriedly.
"Director, we've just received word from border patrol. We have a match from the List."
The list.
The list of 20 names she had compiled and sent to the government as signs of trouble. Any of which could prove to be disastrous at any given time.
"Who is it?"
This was bad, but still could be fixed. So long as it wasn't one of the people she was thinking of.
"Lu Yinghua, a cultivator from Hong Kong…"
And apprentice of Luo Hao, the Tyrant of China.
Life was full of interesting turnabouts.
When you were young, the world felt like such a vast place, full of wonders and mysteries. The call to adventure was intoxicating and most spent their youths chasing after that rush, that call that resonated deep within their spirits and turned children into troublemakers.
Yes, he'd remembered his youth here pretty well despite his age.
No… perhaps it was because he experienced it all that now in his old age he could recall every single detail.
Yes, he knew Mt. Huaguo like the palm of his hand.
It was where he was born. Where he was raised. Where he came to rule, only to be cast down for his hubris, and then redeemed through an epic journey that saw him plant the seeds for lifelong friendships and tales that even now were told all over the world through all sorts of ways by all sorts of people.
'Fame has its perks.'
Not that he cared for them now that he was retired.
Nowadays the world felt small and crusty. Boring like a puzzle one had solved a thousand times. Seldom there was something interesting enough to get the Victorious Fighting Buddha off his hairy butt, and most of those tended to be requests from the Heavenly Bureaucracy to reign in or punish one of his wayward students.
Which is why he'd come here.
'But to think that girl would have the audacity to come around my place.' He didn't know whether to laugh or grumble at the sheer lack of respect. The younger him might have gotten worked up at having someone intrude on his stomping grounds, but that young man was long gone.
Replaced by an older one.
Though not so much more wise. Age had done little to temper his mischievousness.
'Wujing and Bajie said she came in this direction.'
Mt. Huaguo was the same as ever, with the same beaten paths and the same verdant mountains, the same rich smell of fruit wafting from the peach trees Wukong had… ahem… borrowed once upon a time. Mouth watering things back when he'd been a brat.
These days they barely had any kick to them.
No, the actually important stuff was hidden underneath the peaches.
Anyone who came this far into his territory, daring to brave the wilds and the promise of retribution, would normally stop at the peaches, eat their fill and then leave, not knowing those weren't the real fruits of immortality, but a meanspirited practical joke he'd set up so whoever ate them would turn into monkey as payback for trespassing.
But if the culprits were brave enough, smart enough, or stupid enough, they might find the cave hidden just off to the side of the clearing, a small entrance leading to a secret room where the Monkey King kept many of his trinkets, spoils of war, and random knick knacks.
"Now what did you take, brat?"
Bumping the tip of his trusty staff against the side of the cave, the stone sunk into itself at the call of his touki, making way for him as he strode past the entrance, down a set of stairs that formed under his feet as the air solidified under his command.
Otherwise he would have plunged into the pool of magma he'd set up for any would-be thieves.
'A hot bath for a weary traveler.' He chuckled to himself, hopping and skipping to the otherside of the burning chasm.
Usually he'd need to open it like he had the entrance… only someone had punched through the door here.
'Got impatient didn't she? Never could appreciate a good adventure, always straight to the throat.'
Unfortunately that meant his hidden stash was a mess.
Scrolls had been knocked off their shelves, weapons laid strewn about, priceless treasures most cultivators would give their firstborn twice over just for a chance to glimpse, and they lay on the ground like garbage.
First he had to find out what had been taken.
Tapping his staff against the floor, a brief pulse of power washed over the room, objects taking flight as if untethered from the earth itself, floating idly like bubbles as they were moved and placed back on their proper places.
"Mastery of Touki is a path to abilities many would consider to be… unorthodox." He'd never been the type to clean up after himself, but he was sure Triptaka would have given him an earful even now at the waste of power.
He was old and his back hurt.
He wasn't about to bend down and pick up anything.
"Now let's see what we have here."
No elixirs were missing. None of the weapons were gone either. He doubted that musclehead would find any use for the forbidden literature he kept here either. She lacked the good taste for the raunchy novels too.
What she did have a taste for, was power.
Not the cheap, consumable form of power.
Luo Cuilian had been proud when she was young and even now, over a hundred years later, the girl was as muscle headed and stubborn as always. She was not someone who could just change, it wasn't in her nature as a Campione to allow something as flimsy as the world to move her.
No, she sought challenges, crushed them, and then moved onto the next.
'Which means…'
She took the only item in his collection that could challenge a Campione.
"That foolish brat."
He considered calling out to the Heavens, if only to warn their neighbors overseas, but that probably ran a risk of this being some kind of deniable attack. After the last century, relations between the mortals of both lands had been incredibly sour, but right now that wasn't what he was concerned with.
"No… I suppose I'll have to go give her a spanking." He sighed, cracking his old back. "Let's just hope I get there in time."