So… How's about them Sonic Frontiers trailers, huh guys?… huh?… HUH?!…
I'm gonna be honest, I'm VERY concerned. Sonic's speed looks capped, the animation seems very barebones (both the trick system and that cyclone finisher), and the IGN player couldn't even get that basic puzzle right… you know which one I'm taking about. Looks like the person playing has no experience with a 3D Sonic and must have only played Sonic on mobile. Either that, or Sonic turns like a truck again…
Never mind… that's an insult to trucks.
The wall climbing up the tower was also interesting for about two seconds, then Sonic just started running up again which appeared scripted. The popping in stuff, while yeah looks bad, I actually don't have a problem with it. Its the fact they are littered all over the place. The rail grinding was also a disappointment.
The Forces model isn't even an issue anymore. I honestly don't and never cared, though I get why. It's not what the model was, but rather what it represents. In SEGA's defense I get why they did it, why give yourself extra work? And yes, his idle animations have returned… I'm more worried on how Sonic CONTROLS. Even when he was going down ramps, his wasn't gaining any speed, which is funny cause it looked like he had more trouble going UP ramps.
It's almost like SEGA and Sonic Team don't trust the players enough to give them full control of a Hedgehog that can outrun a fighter jet, and place random dash panels and springs everywhere not for the player to explore, but how the developers WANT you to explore.
This could be only for the Open Word, and perhaps the Cyberspace levels are more fleshed out, but we don't know that because we are still in the dark about it. Leaks are no substitute because they are not 100% accurate 100% of the time.
I will give SOME credit. The combat looks like it'll be fun, the Spin Cycle looks like drawing in Pictochat from old DS consoles but still looks cool like a more manually controlled tornado move, that one multi-kick attack that seemed to utilize the wind DID impress me, and that one mid-air zigzagging boost move reminds me of the Sonic Boom special attack from Sonic Rivals.
It looks like SEGA and Sonic Team focused more on combat, which is fine, but its very inconsistent. At points, the game looks competent and fun, but at others it appears we have enough time to put down the controller and order a pizza.
All in all, it looks and seems very generic, like nothing that's a fresh take on Open World games. And honestly, it feels like the ONLY reason they're doing Open World or Zone or whatnot, is only to follow the trend… Ironic, as Sonic was one of the earliest games to have Open World aspects.
The story better be good at the very least. I'm praying SEGA is still working on this game even as we speak, or pull a Sonic Movie 1 and postpone the game to touch it up, cause we know they can do so much better than that… at least they used too…
Such a shame. They have so many more eyeballs on their games now thanks to both movies, and THAT'S the first impression they want to give to all these new and/or returning fans? I've had talks with people that saw the movie, played the older games like the Adventure titles and even ones with bad reception and loved them. With all the powerful tech we have, this is a horrible first impression.
I hate to say this, but it feels like we got another Sonic 06 situation, where the music is pretty good… that's it. It then gets rushed out for the sake of profit.
If THAT'S what 10+ more years of Sonic is gonna look like… I'm done, bro. Not sure me or the fanbase can handle another disappointment on such a large scale, considering the success of the movies as well.
So sorry about the rant, I… had to get that out, you know? After watching Sonic deteriorate for the past decade and to be put back in the spotlight… it's just rather frustrating. I'm gonna try to remain optimistic about it, but it's honestly not looking that great. Thanks for listening to me if you didn't just skip down.
In any case, no review responses this time. The reason is because some of you guys already predicted the context of what happens in this chapter, but I highly doubt any of you could predict HOW it happens… and what it means for the future of this story…
Enough chit-chat. Lets get back to Sonic DxD, the real reason you came here. Enjoy the chapter, and I'll be looking forward to any reviews you leave.
Chapter 25: Chaos in the Familiar Forest
We pan through a deep, dark forest full of thick trees; sometimes apart or so close together it was impossible to see through, or even walk through for that matter. Some small animals the exact same size or slightly bigger than a Chao scattered all throughout this forest.
This was the very forest Sonic and the ORC planned to visit: the Familiar Forest.
Little furry creatures akin to or were actually cat-like ran on the forest floor, others that looked to be squirrels or rodent-like climbed and jumped along trees. A few were water-based like fish in small lakes, and there were even some imps and birds that flew around; though 1 imp and 1 bird sniffled each other, curious of the other… then a larger Familiar that was sort of lizard-like swooped by and clamped its jaws at them, but it missed its targets whom were too nimble for the larger one. Said larger one growled before chasing after them.
We finally stop at a more open area, and the large Gremory glyph had appeared on the forest floor, and up rose the ORC and their alien Hedgehog ally. "So, this is the Familiar Forest?" Asked Issei; he, Asia and Sonic taking in their new surroundings. Issei's and Asia's vision adapted accordingly and quickly due to their Devil traits, though it took Sonic's eyes a minute to adjust to the sudden darkness.
"Sure is. The magical forest where all the familiars live." Akeno said.
"When I thought of a magical forest, I was thinking… ya know, unicorns and hot elven chicks," Issei said.
"It is a little creepy…" Asia said, staying close to Issei and Sonic while watching her self on one of Issei's arms as he was closer. All of this most likely as a form of protection and to make herself feel safe.
Sonic looked around some more. "Eh; I've been to more mystical forests," he said. "Some with oversized frogs, large temples, deep underground labyrinths, and complicated traps and puzzles." He continued.
"Didn't you blow one up or something?" Koneko asked in her usual dry tone, recalling one story Sonic had told them about a certain forest.
"That wasn't even my fault!" Sonic exclaimed. At that point, what appeared to be a butterfly landed on Sonic's nose, which he went cross-eyed over. It was actually a very small fairy-like creature. It did have a humanoid appearance, not an Imp like Akeno's Familiar, but a Pixie or a Sprite (he wasn't sure which it was). It then glowed gently with a white color.
"Awwww, she's so pretty!" Asia said, enthralled by the small Familiars bright light and appearance.
"It's been said Pixies tend to glow when they approach someone they like or trust," Rias said, smirking at Sonic. "Perhaps you want one?"
By the time the camera went back to Sonic; his face and head were covered with more Sprites, each glowing in different colors like Sonic was a Christmas tree. All you could see from him was his green eyes, which showed him deadpanning. He then shook his head violently, each fairy getting spooked by the quick movements and fluttered away from him, akin to a school of butterflies. In addition to that, sparkly dust also left his person.
"I'm good." Sonic said, ruffling his quills which got leftover dust to come off. "More of a genie in a ring kinda guy."
"Good evening! Whose come to see me?" Called out an energetic voice seemingly out of nowhere. This made the ORC turn in the direction of the sound; though Sonic, Issei and Asia did so quickly out of shock. In the trees was a middle aged man, looking to be in his 30's or 40's maximum. He was wearing a white T-Shirt and hiking shorts, also wearing a backpack and a hat on backwards. "I am the Familiar Master: the one and only Zatouji!" Said the man, introducing himself.
He also rhymed his sentence… coincidence?
"Been a while, hasn't it, Zatouji?" Rias called up to the man, apparently already well acquainted with him. He did just call himself the Familiar Master, so perhaps the ORC had to also deal with him when getting their own Familiars.
"Been a while? That's one way to say. But as you know, once a month, the Familiars come out and play!" Said Zatouji, rhyming again.
"If you guys can't tell, he has a habit of making things rhyme." Akeno whispered to the members of the group that did not know this.
"Wait…" Sonic said. "… that's the Familiar Master?" He questioned, pointing at the 'master' in question.
"Same one who gave us our Familiars." Kiba said, with Koneko nodding.
"Why? What were you expecting?" Rias asked Sonic with a chuckle.
Sonic didn't even know anymore. If he was being perfectly honest; he expected a guy with a large book, maybe someone with a magical staff, an iron queen with rings of power, hell even a buffed-out person wielding an oversized sword. Hearing this man was in charge of supposedly important supernatural beings, Sonic was expecting someone or some thing morrrrrrrre… ya know… intimidating.
Then again after all the things he's experienced in this world… he shouldn't even be surprised anymore.
"Obviously you've come back for familiars galore; and you came at the right time, that's for sure!" Zatouji said. "Just be sure to stay by my side, for I'll be the one to act as your guide!"
"I think he's read 10 too many Doctor Seuss novels…" Issei commented in a whisper, him and Sonic both sweatdropping at the Familiar Experts antics. He certainly was… interesting… at least Asia seemed impressed though.
"So how can I help the Gremorys today; what are your desires? Would you like a Strong Familiar; a fast one; or one that likes to set fires?" Asked Zatouji, rhyming a third time.
"Yeah, we got a fast one already; and one of us has fire down pat…" Issei said, obviously mentioning Sonic and Rias. "How about any hot Familiars? Preferably ones with big tigos?… And have a thing for nerds?" He asked while sounding hopeful, getting a flush on his face thinking about it from what he's seen in M-rated fantasy anime.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk…" said Zatouji with a finger wiggle. "This is why Low-Ranked Devils always annoy. If your seeking a Familiar just as a toy, then consider using your other head my boy." He added, pretty much shutting Issei down. It also appeared Rias was right and that Familiars were taken very seriously. "To find a Familiar that'll be your best fit, try their personality, not the size of their tit!"
Issei's mouth hung open, not expecting to be denied so harshly. "I like this guy." Sonic grinned, changing his opinion, mainly after seeing Issei's reaction.
"Oh... well, do you have any that are kind, pretty and fun?" Asked Asia.
"Kind, pretty and fun? That's easy! Done and done!" said Zatouji, smiling at Asia.
"Oh, thank you, sir!" Said Asia, cheerfully.
"Hey, no fair! I asked first!" Issei complained after recovering.
XXX
Time had passed and the group walked through the forest while Zatouji guided them. As requested, they looked for one for Asia first and while there were many different kinds of Familiars like she asked for, there were so many choices to select from. And she was only allowed one per visit. They eventually came to a large lake that was in a rather thick part of the Familiar Forest, so thick that only a single beam of light broke through to the lake itself from the trees.
"One other place for a cute Familiar is at this sight; full of Mermaids, Water Nymphs, and other Magical Sprites." The Familiair Master ryhmed.
Issei, who was still bumed about him being skipped for Asia, now perked up. "Yeah! Nymphs and Sprites are cute and pretty! We hit the Familiar Jackpot!" He said, though was also excited for his own reasons. 'Not to mention sexy,' He thought up a mentally perverted chuckle. 'I can see it now… one will slowly emerge from the water, dripping wet with her clothes tightly glued to her. In fact, so close, it'll be practically see-through! And once I get one, we'll embrace and make sweet, soggy looooove~…'
He of course imagined how those creatures were portrayed in media, being very pretty and sometimes having his preferred bodily attributes.
Sonic and Koneko noted Issei's breathing pattern, well-aware of what he was thinking. Both the white haired Devil and Hedgehog shared a glance, silently communicating with the other. As Issei was pretty close to the lake, Sonic walked over and began to slowly pull his foot back…
The water then began to ripple in that same lit up location, catching everyone's attention. "Look there, feel that energy surge? It seems like one is about to ermerge!" Zatouji said, but Issei didn't care. This was it… a new supernatural waifu was about to take the stage!
One finally appeared above the surface of the water with its back facing the group… her ass was on the bit of the big side, but Issei could deal with that.
When she turned around to face her visitors however, she gave them a powerful roar that would even scare the Hulk. Her body type was even strikingly similar to the Hulk. Issei mouth gaped again, some sounds coming out, but for a COMPLETELY different reason.
"Well… she's pretty alright." Sonic grinned again, seeing another one of Issei's fantasies fall flat.
"Yeah! Pretty fucking BUFF!" Issei yelled. "The hell is that?!"
"That is a Undine, this one with megamorph power! Bond with her, and your ememies will cower!" Said Zatouji. His word choice also suggested this power level for a Familiar of her class was very rare.
"I think she's your type, Issei," said Rias with a smirk. She wasn't wrong, as this Familiar's body type matched hers except the huge muscle mass. She then turned to the Familiar Master. "Actually speaking of power, you did say you had at least one 9-Headed Hydra here… would it still be available?" She asked, sounding interested at the prosperity of Issei making a bond with it. In fact, she thought up what it looked like and Issei riding on top of one of its heads.
"You want me to die again, don't you?!" Issei shouted at Rias. The King just shut her eyes and giggled cutely.
A second Undine emerged from the water, but both of them roared at each other. They began fighting at that point, locking arms and kicking and punching each other. This of course caused water to splash around but they were able to stand on it.
"Think they're fighting over you, big guy." Sonic quipped, his grin having not disappeared.
"Uuuuugh… why me?" Issei sulked to the ground.
The group, seeing this visit to this location wasn't going to amount to anything of value, left the two Familiars to fight out whatever differences they had. They had gotten pretty far away from them, so far they couldn't even hear the roaring of their battle anymore.
"Asia."
Asia froze from the sudden voice, which continued to echo out the last syllable of her name as it faded away… that voice… who was that? What was that? And where did it just come from? It sounded like a girl, and close by, but also inside her head except it wasn't her own voice. She turned to look behind her, then more around her… but saw nothing. Unless those two Undines had telepathy, which wasn't likely (or if they did she didn't know), she didn't know who or what just called her name.
…
…
… Maybe she was just hearing things, so she decided to ignore it and walk on ahead, doing so quickly as to not lose the group she was with and probably get lost in this massive forest.
As the Devil Nun left, from behind her from within the trees, we see a small orb of red light darting past more trees, almost as if watching and/or stalking the group…
XXX
Some time later, they continued to trek through the magical woods. Leading the group through the forest, the old man suddenly stopped. "Oh my... look! Up high!" He said, pointing upwards to a small creature that was perched on a branch. It appeared to be a blue baby dragon of some kind.
"Isn't that the Baby Dragon from a card game based on Egyptians?" Issei asked.
"It's so cute!" Asia said, finding this dragon to be quite impressive. As far as she knew, dragons were a myth or just creatures in stories… course she then discovered her healing power, then met the Fallen Angels, and finally rescued by Sonic and Issei who also had a dragon inside of himself apparently.
"Huh, dragons are pretty rare in the Familiar Forest." Kiba said, impressed like Asia to see such a creature.
"I believe that's a Sprite Dragon, but this is the first time I've ever seen one in person." Said Rias, also impressed by the sight of the small dragon. "In fact, its considered to be one of the highest rank of Familiars."
Sonic looked up at the new Familiar like everyone else. Now he's learned to never judge a book (or storybooks for that matter) by its cover, but comparing this one to other dragons he's fought when wielding a talking sword… "I mean, it IS cute. But its no Mist Dragon or Earth Dragon…" he said.
The Sprite Dragon, who was just looking out into the distance and not concerning itself with its admirers' below, then glanced in the direction of the Hedgehog with its eyes, then turned its head to look more directly at the Hedgehog. Opening its mouth just a crack…
ZAP!
"YIPE!" Sonic quickly darted in a blur out of the line of fire, barely missing getting shocked by the attack. Not only that, the ground Sonic was standing on beforehand now looked charred. For a little guy, that Sprite Dragon had both accuracy and power. It was no wonder it was such a high class of Familiar.
"Cute, and dangerous too. When angry or insulted, they shoot lightning in the color of blue." Zatouji revealed, which made Sonic scratch his quills with a nervous grin and chuckle. "If this is the one you want, better act now and claim; for once Sprite Dragons mature, they can no longer be tamed." He added, saying if this insanely rare Familiar was the one one of then wanted, they'd better do so now.
"Hey, Issei? Since you already possess a dragon's power, this one sounds like the perfect fit for you." Akeno suggested.
"Ya think so?" Issei asked, then looking up at the baby dragon. It did make sense, since he already had a dragon of immense power in his arm, it wouldn't hurt to have another. "Alright! Let's go for it, the Familiar I want is…!"
Asia: EEEEEEEEEEEK!
Asia's screaming suddenly snapped Issei out of it. He and Sonic looked in her direction to see what was the matter, only for a foreign substance to fall on Sonic's face. He yanked it off with a bit of effort, showing it was a green goo. "What the heck's this stu…?" He asked.
Then was met by a sight he'll never forget...
More goo, ambushing the whole group from the trees above, fell onto everyone but for some reason, not Issei. That wasn't the biggest issue however, for as this goo covered the Devil girls… it began to eat at their clothes. Sonic, having never seen something like this before, froze, which only caused more of the goo to fall on him again.
"Haaaaaa… my skirt!" Asia said, seeing her clothes burn away and feeling funny because of it.
"What is this stuff?" Asked Rias, mainly out of shock.
"Oh my! Its burning my clothes! How naughty! It's making me slimy and wet." Said Akeno, though part of her did not seem to mind this.
Kiba took out a sword and began slicing some of the goo, which was successful to a degree. "It's some kind of sli- GA-MUMPH!" He said, but some got caught on his face and forced him to try and yank it off. Unlike with Sonic however, he seemed to struggle. This Familiar was a Slime, and it was beginning to wrap around its victims tighter, causing them to grunt (Sonic and Kiba) and moan at varying volumes (Koneko, Akeno, Asia and Rias).
Like Sonic before, Issei was in shock… then he covered his nose with a hand, it having begun to bleed. "Dude, this is the best day ever!" He said. Up until this point, he's been using he is overactive imagination and porno mags… now he was getting an in-person experience.
"Someone get this thing off me! I can't even use my magic!" Said Rias, as the Slime was somehow blocking her ability to use her magic.
"Me neither!" Akeno said with a moan, her own magic locked out too, though she appeared to be enjoying herself a little bit more than everyone else.
"I'll help you guys, don't worry!" Issei said in a serious tone, then it shifted to his more perverted one. "Once I upload this to my Spank Bank…"
"Issei! This is NOT the time!" Sonic yelled at him in annoyance, struggling to get free of the Slime himself, also pulling as hard as he could on that parts of the Slime he could grab. This felt like all the times he fell into sandpits and had to constantly mash the jump button to get out of them.
"Absorbing secretions of females and their clothes is the only power of this Slime, which is fine. Fun for awhile, but in the end, an absolute waste of time." Said Zatouji, who had his eyes covered by the slime but didn't seem to care.
"No shit, that's all it does?!" Asked Issei. He then excitedly raised his hand. "I found mine! I want Slime-kun to be my Familiar!"
"Issei!… Wait!" Rias tried to reason with him despite her current predicament, also trying to control herself from moaning like Akeno was. "Picking a Familiar is one of the most important decisions of your life…"
"AAAAAAAH! The pain hurts so good, I may have to fight him for it!" Said Akeno with a deeper moan, going into S&M mode as the Slime continued to squeeze her.
"SEE?! Akeno gets it!" Issei said, overjoyed.
"Stop encouraging him, Akenoooooooo!" Rias told Akeno, indirectly releasing a moan. "Issei, please! Really think this over!" Rias begged him, and when she did, a piece of the Slime went in-between her legs, mostly to try to eat the rest of her panties. She really tried holding it back, but another moan escaped her lips with her head automatically throwing itself back a bit.
"I'VE THOUGHT ABOUT THIS MY ENTIRE LIFE! THIS IS THE FAMILIAR I WANT!" Issei said adamantly, letting her know this was the hill he wanted to die on.
Sonic was still struggling and growling with the Slime, but at this point, he had enough. "Oh, THAT'S IT!"
ZWHEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Sonic went into a Spin Dash, which effectively tore up the Slime on his body. He then dashed off past the group, but in doing so, he also grazed behind Rias. Whether or not this was intentional was unclear, but it finally got Rias' hands free, and by extension, her magic. With a frown on her face, she flared her Power of Destruction on herself to burn away the Slime on her own body. Then she summoned a glyph on her fingertips, and with a battle cry, unleashed her Power of Destruction on any Slime on the ground.
Issei screamed in shock.
Sonic was still Spin Dashing some distance away, until he stopped in place and aimed himself in a new direction, this time going past Akeno and freeing her hands as well. Again, it was unknown if that was on purpose.
"That was fun, Slime, now its my turn!" Akeno used her lightning magic to fry the Slime both on herself and around her.
Koneko, being the strongest in terms of physical strength, had no issues ripping the Slime off of her. Kiba eventually managed to extend the Slime long enough so he could slice it with his sword, doing this continuously until it was destroyed. Issei of course, screaming louder because of all this.
There was still some Slime left on Asia, but it was no longer eating her clothes, or at least not as fast as it was to the others. Seeing this, Issei began hugging the former nun, but mainly as a humanoid shield to save whatever of the Slime was left.
"Back away from that thing, Issei." Rias ordered, a new glyph of her power fresh in her hand. She was using her free hand to cover her exposed breasts for modesty's sake. Akeno was also very exposed in this regard and was using both hands. Koneko however had all her undergarments intact funnily enough. More magic could fix this, but the main priority was getting rid of the pest that would probably end up eating their clothes again if they tried. "The only thing to do with such a monster is burn it." She continued, sounding very serious.
Sonic could joke about how this sort of contradicted what Rias said about Familiars earlier, but he held himself back. That probably wasn't the best idea right now, especially since the Devil in question had her signature magic primed and ready to fire.
Still… was gonna take a bit of time to burn the images he saw out of his head… if that was even possible…
"You can't! I won't let you!" Issei cried. "I won't have to undress girls with my eyes anymore! You know how much work that takes?" He continued. "Meeting this thing was my destiny! Like a 10-year-old finding a watch in an astroid! Don't take that away from meeeeeeeeee!"
Asia was happy, but only because Issei was hugging her… if for the wrong reasons. As for Sonic, he was deadpanning from the sight, then gently grabbed Rias' wrist, aiming her magic at his forehead. "Just make it quick." He said.
Rias dispelled her magic, however tempting the Hedgehog's proposition was.
"OOOOOOOOOH, YUCKYYY SLIIIIIIIIIIIME! WE WERE MEANT TO BEEEEEEEEE!" Issei sang.
"This kids hopeless, coming to the Forest for nothing but its biggest pests. I don't he sees anything more than life than huge breasts." Zatouji said. Frankly, no one could argue that.
"He's usually a good boy… but I guess his perversion finally took over…" Rias said. To think this was the same boy who spent an entire night making team headbands for them, protected her from a demon while he was still human, went out of his way to help someone of an opposing power when a friend and his alien pet were kidnapped, and even openly denied the reward she promised him if he got a successful pact.
Issei was a good guy once you got past his perversion… but he was still a perv at heart.
"Come on! Think of the bigger picture here!" Issei said, attempting to justify his actions. "Do you really blame me for wanting something that makes hot chicks naked? How can I deny pure, adulterated…?"
ZAP!
"GAAAAAAAAAH!" Blue electricity suddenly surrounded Issei's body, which in turn also chained to the remainder of the slime around Asia, charring what was left of it. The perverted high schooler then dropped to the floor. Asia looked worried about him.
"Aw look, Sparky used his blue lightning again." Sonic pointed out, as it was shown the original Familiar they were going for before they were interrupted had left its perch to circle above the group, probably looking for an opening to attack and did so when it was clear.
Issei recovered rather quickly, maybe because the lightning was not used at a high level. "Slime-kun!… Slime-kun, talk to me!" He gasped, then begged the now charred remains to respond. He then got mad at the still circling Sprite Dragon. "Grrrrr! This is your…!"
ZAP!
"GAAAAAAAAAH!" For the second time, Issei was electrified by the tiny dragon. The damage appeared more severe this time, as now Issei's body twitched as he laid on the floor, not even mentioning the smoke coming off him.
"Issei? Are you…?" Asia was trying to ask Issei if he was okay, but then the Sprite Dragon landed on Asia's shoulder, which surprised not only her but everyone else. For whatever reason, instead of going back to its original perch, the little dragon landed on the blonde.
"Dope." Koneko said.
"Sprite Dragon's don't usually attack unless they believe they or their loves ones are in trouble," Rhymed Zatouji. "Which means it and that lovely lady should be bound together on the double!"
"So Asia and that Dragon have a bond already?" Kiba said in a surprised tone. As he said this, Asia held out her hands, which the Sprite Dragon jumped into once it noticed. Asia began petting the dragons head, to which the dragon gave a purring a sound at, liking the attention it was receiving from its new master.
"Well, this is sweet; but if your done, you need too…" Zatouji was saying, but then he stopped himself before looking in a direction behind Asia… "GET BACK!" He shouted, for once not rhyming his sentences.
"ROOOOOOOOOOAR!" From behind Asia, a very large snake-like being had appeared, bursting out of trees behind her. She noticed this just in time, but screamed as it opened its jaws and quickly whipped its head down in an attempt to bite her.
ZAP!
Asia's new Sprite Dragon however, fired a shot of lightning at it, sending electricity coursing throughout its coils and making it hiss in pain. Even while smaller, the little guy had more than enough firepower to stun a bigger foe.
ZOOM!
Sonic quickly dashed and grabbed Asia before the giant snake could recover and feast on her, though the snake did attempt to eat all 3 of them but missed due to Sonic's speed. It raised its head back up slowly, dirt coming out of its mouth. Seeing this Familiar, for whatever reason, posed a threat; the Devils (including ones that lost clothes and regained them back with magic) took defensive stances.
However, it wasn't just 1 snake they had to deal with… 8 more came out of the woods, each one looking exactly identical to the one that just attacked. These snakes were actually connected to one body, each head looking both menacing and pissed off.
"What the hell is that thing?!" Sonic asked, putting Asia down and getting in front of her protectively.
"Remember that Hydra I mentioned before?" Rias asked, which yes everyone did remember. "Well, this is it." She got out some Destruction magic on both hands, ready to defend herself and others if necessary.
"You wanted me to control THAT THING?!" Asked Issei, very scared.
The Hydra, now known at the 9-Headed one Rias asked about before, looked around at each member of the group, appearing to study its prey. In its POV, an image of a much larger snakes head quickly flashed in its mind, though this one had a green eye. This appeared to trigger an aggressive reaction, and 4 more of its heads roared and attempted to take a bite out of 4 more members of the group. Its targets this time were Kiba, Issei, Koneko and Akeno.
Kiba evaded easily enough with his speed, caused the head to continuously try and take a bite out of him numerous times. Akeno didn't have to do much aside from generate lightning off her body and the serpent backed off. Koneko almost got bit, but she did avoid the attack and gave the head that attempted to do so a nice hard kick… something definitely snapped in there…
Issei's Devil instincts took over and he evaded by a jump to the side, though rather clumsily. However the same head tried again, seeing Issei was vulnerable…
KLANG!
Kiba arrived to his defense just in time, blocking the Hydra's fangs with his sword which it was currently biting into. "Don't even let its fangs graze you… its poison can kill a Devil in a matter of seconds." Kiba warned as the head he was dealing with previously came other and tried to attack him again.
KLANG!
He held both heads off with a sword he manifested in each hand, but he was struggling.
FLOOOOOSH!
Rias used her Destruction magic against all those heads trying to feed on her Knight and Pawn, and while it did appear to damage the Hydra as its other heads screeched in pain… those burned off heads grew back a moment later. Rias gritted her teeth at that, and Sonic and Issei were shocked to see it, as normally anything Rias touches with her power always gets burned. This was because of its immortal body, complete with highly regenerative properties.
Getting even more angry, the 9-Headed Hydra focused all its heads on her now, each of them roaring at her before trying to strike her. Rias immediately put up a defensive barrier, but she was clearly struggling with this Hydra's strength.
ZWHEEE-POW!
Sonic jumped in now, Homing Attacking each head in a rapid session, making each head grunt as they were all impacted at almost the same time. "Hey! Over here, Scaly!" Sonic taunted it to get its attention, which he had gotten. The 9 heads hissed at him, then made moves to attack Sonic…
FLASH!
Before it could do so, it was surrounded by green colored magic. This was courtesy of Zatouji, using his magic on the monster. "Please don't harm or kill this beast. I would like to have one fully intact at least." He said, continuing to use magic to hold the beast back. This type of magic appeared to be a sedative, as the large thrashing Familiar began to slowly calm down.
Then another image flashed in the Hydras POV, this time of an altar starting to float in the sky for some reason…
"ROOOOOOOOOOAR!" All 9 heads and its long body began thrashing about again, which did make the Familiar Master grimace but he held on. He poured more power into the magic until eventually, the ferocious Hydra calmed down, appearing to go to sleep right then and there. With the threat now snoozing, Zatouji used some more magic to teleport the monster away. Where? As long as it was far away from them, the ORC didn't care.
"Please forgive me, that Hydra has been going on rampages across the forest for weeks." Zatouji apologized. "I've been trying keep the peace by keeping him asleep!"
"So you keep a killing machine in your backyard?" Sonic asked. "And what about the other Familiars? How could they deal with that?"
"Hydra's are very territorial, but its home is on the other side. Since that's the case, it wouldn't leave its own pride." The Rhyming Familiar Master said. "All I can do is sigh, for I'm still trying to understand why." His next answer of course told them despite the Hydra's savage behavior, he didn't know why his only one would go off randomly.
XXX
A little later after the short battle with the Hydra, Asia was in the middle of binding her Familiar-to-be with a green magical square as said Familiar sat calmly on the floor.
"In the name of Asia Argento and Devils everywhere, I ask you to accept this pact and be my Familiar forever." She said, using the proper spell to bond them. It was successful, and the dragon flew up to its new master to engage in another hug. Apparently Sprite Dragons (or at least this one) liked to cuddle. "H-Hey! That tickles, Rassei!" Asia added, the dragon nuzzling its new owner.
"Rassei?" Issei asked.
"That's the name I picked out for him," Asia said, then a red flush appeared on her face and she glanced down. "It's the first name that popped into my head…"
While Issei was a bit clueless at what that context meant, Sonic immediately understood it. It was kind of cute to be honest, and it definitely sounded like some thing Asia would do.
"Ya know, they say any dragons only allow themselves to be bonded to those they deem worthy. Sprite Dragons especially; and would normally never give themselves to a Devil." Rias said aloud.
"Who knows. We could say the same for Boosty, but Sparky chose her." Sonic said.
"Asia used to be a Holy Sister… perhaps that had some sway in the little guy." Akeno suggested, but even she wasn't sure herself.
"Neat! Glad to met ya, Mister Rassei." Issei greeted the newly-named dragon, who turned to face the person who used his new name…
ZAP!
"GAAAAAAAAAH!" Once again, Issei was zapped, falling to the ground while sparking.
"Awwwww, he likes you." Sonic said, walking up next to the fallen Devil.
ZAP!
"GAAAAAAAAAH!" For some reason, Sonic was also zapped, him also falling down and sparking in a similar fashion to Issei.
"Aww. He likes you too." Rias jabbed at Sonic with a smile, who under these conditions could not make a comeback at her.
"Oh yes, something I forgot to mention about these types of creatures," Zatouji finally jumped in. "All Sprite Dragons dislike being around other males, that's just one of their features!"
Sonic slowly lifted his head up while still sparking, looking directly at the Familiar Master with a cold stare. "… thanks… for the tip…" he croaked before his head fell back down.
"Well, seeing as Asia's a little busy… Akeno? Patch up the boys, will you? I'll get the jump started." Rias said, obviously referring to Sonic and Issei. And as Asia was currently cuddling her new pet, she had Akeno use her healing magic instead. Akeno did so as Rias began preparing a portal back home while Asia just watched…
"Asia."
Asia flinched, Rassei also reacting to her flinch and looking up at his master in worry… there it was again… that same voice from earlier. Now she knows she wasn't hearing things, as now everyone was around her and none of them moved their lips. Not to mention they were far from that lake with the Undines.
But then… where was it coming from?
"Asia." The voice repeated again, a little louder this time. No longer able to ignore it, she looked around. Up. Down. The left. The right…
She readjusted her line of sight… there. It was kind of hard to see at first, but within the thick trees some distance away, there was a red ball of light. Asia squinted her eyes at it, trying to get a better look. Even Rassei seemed to notice it, and jumped out of Asia's arms to growl at it.
THAT'S… when it darted off. The ball of light began retreating deeper into the trees.
Asia didn't know why… but she felt inclined to follow it. She ran off… off into the trees after the mysterious ball of red light. Not getting why it's new master was doing this but wanted to protect her anyway, Rassei also flew after her.
The Gremory family circle was prepared and ready to head back to the human world. At the same time, both Issei and Sonic were fully recovered thanks to Akeno's healing. "There. All better!" Akeno said like a mom cheering at their child after kissing a wound or bandaging it.
Sonic shook his arms a little, testing his bodies moments. Sure enough, he was good as new. "Your the best, Lightning Queen." Sonic thanked her.
"It would have been faster if we tried Rias' way." Akeno added.
"Rias' wa…?" Sonic then paused, really taking into account with what she just said. According to herself when Issei needed to be healed that one time, Rias' magic worked better with close contact, and considering the pervious scene still fresh in his mind…
"Ara, Ara. Your blushing." Akeno said, seeing Sonic's cheeks turn red. Of course, Akeno was only joking.
"Just when you thought blue boy was a positive influence…" Koneko said, also seeing Sonic's red blush when it was pointed out. To be fair, Kiba probably would have too if his face was not slimed over at the time. And while Koneko did call him out, at least Sonic did assist them when he was able.
Sonic had no comebacks… What can he say? He's never seen that before, and he couldn't deny the girls weren't cute and pretty to look at. Then to see them somewhat or fully exposed, if only for a few minutes, really shocked him.
"Alright, that's enough," Rias said, telling Akeno to stop, mainly because she'd rather not hear anymore about that. "We're going back. Bus is… huh?" She continued with a human phrase she had heard a few times, but then blinked and noticed the amount of people in their group: Issei, Sonic, Akeno, Zatouji, Kiba, Koneko and herself…
Where's Asia? And her new friend, Rassei?
"Asia?… Asia! Where is she?" Rias dispelled the way home, looking around frantically for the missing Sister. At this point, everyone else looked around, and saw the same problem: no Asia.
"Where'd she go?" Asked Akeno, also getting a bit concerned.
"She was here a second ago." Said Issei.
"Asia?… Hey, Twilight! We're set to leave!" Said Sonic, calling out to Asia, but there was no response. From there, this triggered the entire group calling the Bishops name at varying times, some at the same time as they continued to look around for her.
XXX
Asia was running through the Forest in hot pursuit of the red dot she saw, breathing in and out of her mouth as she continued to run. Rassei was also flying after her as well, wanting to protect the curious Holy Sister in case something else happens. In Asia's pov, the red dot was seen at certain intervals, appearing behind a tree before it disappeared, then reappeared and disappeared again. Rinse and repeat.
It was almost as if this ball of light was leading her somewhere…
Asia finally got out of the trees, making her way to an open clearing that lacked any trees at all. Rassei landed on her shoulder, both Familiar and its owner looking around. Asia kept breathing in and out as she glanced around the area, using her head and eyes… but saw nothing of interest. It's like that light vanished into thin air.
Asia sighed, having given up. Whatever it was, she missed her chance to see it, so she turned back around to head back the way she came…
Asia: Ah!
The Nun almost jumped out of her skin. Directly in front of her, or behind her a second ago before she turned around, was that very same ball of light… how did it do that? Now that Asia was closer to it, she could hear it give off some kind of sparkle or glitter-like sound… Asia's mouth hung open a little. This light… it was so pretty.
The orb of light flew halfway around Asia's left, the Bishop and her new friend keeping a close eye on it, then it circled around to the right before stopping behind Asia.
"What kind of Familiar are you? Are you one of those Pixies from before?" Asia asked, even though none of those Pixies glowed this brightly, nor did it appear to have a humanoid form but that was probably because it's light was very bright… maybe this one was shy?
Rassei began growling at this "Pixie". As a member of this forest, he has seen plenty of Pixies before, but this one felt… foreign. It didn't make sense to him.
"Rassei. Be nice." Asia told her Familiar, then she got an idea, with her expression brightening to symbolize this. "Issei needed a Familiar too! Would you like to come with us?" She asked the orb.
…
…
…
No answer. Maybe it WAS shy. "It's okay… I won't hurt you…" Asia told the orb, slowly reaching a hand out as to not spook it. Her hand got insanely close to the orb, Asia could feel warmth coming from it.
The orb then zoomed right into her and Rassei's face before either of them could react!
"Aaaah!" The next thing she knew, Asia's world went white!
…
…
…
…
…
…
Asia vision slowly cleared, but she had to blink a few times in confusion. Even Rassei gave a small growl of confusion. "Huh?… W-Where's this?" She asked herself. It was also dark out, but thankfully her Devil Vision made things much easier to see.
All around her, the terrain and environment completely changed! Instead of trees and dirt, Asia found herself on a road or walkway of some kind, though there were some trees still around for aesthetics sake. Around her were small buildings and huts that appeared to be small houses. Some torches laid along the pathways, but instead of fire it was just light… magic maybe?
But the BIGGEST thing, was when she turned around; was a tall stairway leading to a HUGE temple behind her that clearly wasn't there before. In front of it were 2 large stone statues of some kind of animals, and at the top was a large serpentine head. The sight of it made her recoil until she realized it was fake, though the darkness of the night made it a bit scary… which was probably the point of the design choice.
This appeared to be an old city, surrounded by old architecture and ruins. "What is this place?" Asia asked, though mainly to herself.
SHINE!
Behind her, towards the north of this city behind a large structure that had weird symbols on a door and was built into the mountain, shot a thick beam of multi-colored lights that went skyward. Not only that, but even from this distance, Asia could feel a surge of power so potent, it made a chill go up her spine.
She then heard a sound… a sound of rushing water… which got louder with each passing second…
…
…
FLOOOOSH!
From that same door, water began leaking out before rushing through at incredible speed! Asia panicked at first, her and her Familiar's eyes widening in shock, but she then instinctively took out her wings; and with a single flap, she was in the air with Rassei, both avoiding the incoming stream. At this point, the ancient cities inhabitants begin exiting the huts and tiny houses, some old and some young… a few even innocent babies held by adults or children.
The odd thing Asia noticed; is that they had similar body proportions to Sonic. The only difference was these animals had dreadlocks instead of quills for hair.
*Rumble, rumble* BOOM! BOOM!
Suddenly out of nowhere, more water began pouring into this village from the sides of the ruins and walls surrounding it, looking like a bunch of waterfalls had popped out of the rocky terrain, rapidly filling the city like it was a giant bathtub. The people had to get to higher ground… but most weren't fast enough and were swept away by the running water due its it's unnaturally strong current.
That's not even the worst part… sections of the water appeared to come to life!
Long tentacles, some with claws on them, grabbed whatever living creature of this tribe that did escape and was just shy or a few feet of the waters edge, yanking them down into it. Large typhoons and water tornadoes formed seemingly out of nowhere and sucked some things in, or whatever these twisters went through were completely obliterated and torn up in an instant such as trees and huts.
Asia, and even Rassei, could not believe what they were seeing… this scale of destruction… all this suffering… It honestly looked like mother nature was having a tantrum.
Asia and Rassei then heard cries. Looking down in the direction, they saw 2 young humanoid animals on some stairs, most likely using them to get a higher ground. However, one of the kids got caught by the rushing water, while the other kid was trying to hold on to the others hand to pull the other to safety… but it wasn't working.
"I… I can't hold it…!"
"Don't!… Don't let goooooo!"
The kid on dry land was holding onto the stairs railings (which were made of stone) for support, but his/her grip was starting to falter. Eventually, while refusing to let go of their friend, they both got pulled into the drink and were wildly splashing with their arms to stay afloat, also crying out still.
SWOOP! GRAB!
Asia, the shock finally leaving her, reacted by grabbing the arms of both kids, one arm in each one of her own, which held them in place against the sudden rushing river. Both kids looked shocked, scared, but also relief filled their eyes once they saw their Savior.
Using all her strength, grunting as she did so, Asia got both kids out of the water and onto the top of the staircase they were originally trying to climb. It was a bit of a struggle due to the extra weight, and even Rassei attempted to help by grabbing a mouthful of Asia's hair and pulled it back, but she managed to do so with some difficulty as she was not the strongest Devil right now and the current of the water was very tough.
"Are you okay?" Asia asked the children after landing to safety and recalling her wings. Both children hugged each other, though they did hesitate in the presence of Asia for some reason despite her saving them.
"W-We're fine…" said one child.
"But… why would one of you save us?" Asked the other.
*thump… thump…*
Before Asia could even ask WHY the children would ask such a question, they all heard a thumping sound coming from the structure the water originally rushed in from.
THUMP!… THUMP!
The thumping became louder and harder, some water even dripping or even flowing through the damaging piece of architecture. It sounded like some thing was trying to break out… or in…
BOOM!… BOOM!
More and more water was breaking through, like a dam made from beavers that was struggling to keep the water in place…
KA-BOOOOOOOOOOM!
Water finally burst through like punching a hole through paper, the structure around 90% destroyed and the massive amounts of liquid coming through looked like a large waterfall…
For about 2 seconds, before it stopped… no, not stop as in it stopped coming through… It paused. Asia, Rassei and the 2 children with them just stared at the sight, trying to process what they were seeing. The water literally stopped flowing as if gravity was just turned off. Not only that, it was taking on a giant blob-like formation.
Until it changed shape… into what could only be described as a giant head of a monster-sized serpent…
"RRRRRRRRROOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!" The serpent roared with its mouth wide-open, water dropping down from its large jaws. The small group on that staircase had basically a front row seat to this creature, none of them ever having seen ANYTHING like this before and were frozen with fear from such a menacing appearance.
This giant Kaju of a water monster was of course composed of mostly water, the only things resembling actual skin were these darker blue scale-like patches near and around its head that also went down its back and sides as if to hold the creature together, all were very reptilian in appearance. Anything else below that was pure water. Speaking of its back, it had pointy liquid spikes protruding from it. When it opened it mouth, you could see its razor-sharp teeth that looked strong enough to bite a concrete building or a skyscraper in two, along with a green tongue. Behind its eyes (which were closed for some reason) were some green horns, with more of those same horns around its nose.
And that fin-like bulge in its head… was that its brain?! It seemed to be so, as veins and arteries connected to it ran straight down inside the watery beast.
"Take it down!" A voice shouted from the opposing side of the area where Asia, her new Familiar, and the children they rescued; which was shown to be a small squad of the same animals holding spears and pulling them back. They appeared to be soldiers. With all their might, they threw them at the giant water snake…
The attacks didn't do anything of value. The spears were simply absorbed by the water monsters watery body, swirling around inside until they were torn apart and/or pieces were flung put. Any spears that DID made contact with the darker blue skin didn't seem to affect it either, not even sticking to the creatures hide and fell off, some immediately or some stuck for a few seconds.
Large water tentacles began to appear around the immediate area of the water reptile… a LOT of them…
WHIP!
"ARGH!"
Some of those soldiers were either whacked into the drink with a splash and fought in vain against its current, smacked into a wall or object before getting knocked unconscious and falling into the water anyway (most likely drowning at that point), or grabbed by these watery tentacles and chucked away never to be seen or heard from again.
"RRRRRRRRROOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!" The gargantuan water serpent roared again, only this time it had more of a crying sound at the end for some reason. Just then, some spikes around its body began glowing red, green or purple, before a second later they flung off in random directions and began falling like a meteors with a whistling sound.
CRASH! CRUMBLE! BOOM!
More of the ruins and architectures were destroyed, large craters formed from those "meteors", whatever small buildings were left exploded when a "meteor" made contact with them… and the large temple in the center of this place… large chucks of it were blown off, and one of the 2 statues in front was blown to bits!
One of the "meteors" ended up hitting above Asia's group, but luckily all that came down was tiny rocks and dirt particles.
"RRRRRRRRROOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!" The watery entity roared again, also crying at the end like before but more higher pitched. The group of 4 were scared and confused… what was going on here, what was that creature, where the hell did it come from?! More importantly, why was it attacking this small village?
Rassei flew towards this monster, probably because as the Familiar Master said before, he won't retaliate unless insulted or he or his loved one was under attack. "No, Rassei!" Asia warned it, but it was too late. The brave little Sprite Dragon flew past all the water tornadoes and tentacles, and even past more stray meteor attacks to get up to the face of this new adversary. And once he got to the top, Rassei built up power in his mouth…
ZAP!
Rassei's spark attack hit its target, the water conducting the sudden electricity and jolted all around the top of the creature…
…
…
…
Nothing. Rasei's attack, despite science saying otherwise, had virtually no effect on this creature. It was able to stun a dangerous 9-Headed Hydra, but not damage this thing at all.
If anything… he got the creatures full attention. The water serpents massive head turned so its mouth was looking directly at the smaller dragon (which also splashed Rassei with some water in the process) showing teeth and snarling at the tiny flying lizard. Rassei was frozen, his tiny body started to shake… his eyes widened with both fear and further confusion.
A tentacle of water took aim at Rassei, and moved…
WHIP!
Rassei: WHINE!
CRASH!
Remember when Sonic was knocked so hard by Infinite, the impact of the Hedgehog's body into a building caused pieces of rubble to break off like a Dragonball Z fight?… That's the most accurate description of what just happened to the poor little Sprite Dragon, only at a much higher rate of speed backed up by a larger amount of power. The fact the Sprite Dragon didn't go through the ruins or had his body break in pieces was nothing short of a miracle.
Doesn't mean the impact hurt any less though.
He then fell from those ruins, where he was launched right above Asia luckily enough. "Rassei!" Asia said in worry, holding out both her hands to catch the falling dragon. She was successful, but the dragon was knocked out cold. Still alive, but will probably be in pain when he wakes up.
That's when the serpent turned its massive head again, a side of its head now looking directly at Asia. An eye opens at her in a reptilian manner, which was green and was slit-like. It looked around bit before focusing solely on the Bishop herself, Asia feeling its gaze piercing into her very soul… where the eye dilated upon noticing her… and snarled at her in an even more fierce fashion than Rassei moments ago, and a bit longer as if speaking to her.
Even though it growled, due to Asia's Devil gift of understanding all languages, she heard a single word uttered from this monster spoken in a way that sounded like gargling:
Water Monster: Deeeeeeeeeeevillllllllllll…
"RRRRRRRRROOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!"
The beast roared again, but it sounded angry this time, and in Asia's direction more specifically. In fact, it even turned to look in her direction completely with both of its eyes before roaring, showing off its jaws and green tongue. Even from the distance it was at, Asia could feel its breathe blowing a strong breeze in her direction as if a giant fan was making her hair blow, and see all the way into the back of the monster's throat. This of course made the kids she saved run away, but Asia remained frozen.
Then… sparks of energy built up in its mouth… crackling as it got stronger and stronger with each passing second, at an even stronger level than Rassei could reach. Asia could feel the energy's immense power before it even fired… not even Rias' and Akeno's power combined could match it.
The beast then ducked its head down…
BLAAAAAAAAAAAAST!
And fired a MASSIVE beam of RAW power in a straight line while using its head to guide the attack. Anything that beam came into contact with was completely disintegrated, INCLUDING the water before it was replaced by more rushing into its place. It began to hit the staircase, it too getting practically erased from existence as it traveled upwards toward the shellshocked Nun. Her eyes shook along with her body, but her body didn't move from being completely paralyzed with fear. She even whimpered a few times as the beam of instantaneous death edged ever closer to her location…
Then her world slowly went white…
…
…
…
…
…
…
"… sa… Asia…" A voice echoed. "Wake up… ake up, Asia!… ASIA!" Asia felt her body being shaken, the voice echoing less and became much clearer. It was actually Rias' voice. And even though she was standing up before, Asia was now laying on the ground.
"AH!" Asia suddenly jumped up with a start, her eyes super wide and her breathing sporadic, which caused concern in everyone watching her. Her eyes and head darted around, taking in all of her surroundings. She even began to pat herself… she was okay… she was alive…
"W… Where's Rassei?" She asking looking around to see her dragon was missing and immediately panicked, remembering what she just saw happened to him seconds ago.
However, a yawn next to her answered that; Rassei began stretching himself as if waking up from a nap… then he too panicked, probably remembering the same thing Asia did, and released lightning in multiple directions as a reflex without actually aiming. Some of the group had to duck away.
Sonic, Kiba and Issei: GAAAAAAAAAH!
All males present were zapped by Rassei, though completely by accident this time, and fell down smoking and sparking. While Zatouji was also zapped, he didn't appear to notice it much and was still standing. Perhaps it wasn't the first time he felt the blast of a Sprite Dragon.
"Rassei, Rassei! It's okay!" Asia said, though even she was confused herself, she hugging the frantic dragon before someone else got jolted. The dragon still squirmed around, but slowly began to calm down once it realized it was safe though still whimpered, nuzzling into Asia like a scared baby… but this was so strange to Asia. Don't get her wrong, she was glad her new servant and herself were okay; but wasn't he knocked out a second ago by a large and savage watery beast?
And all those people… those ruins… the flood…
"Asia, what were you doing all the way out here?" Asked Rias, with Asia looking back at the Crimson Devil who addressed her.
"Your master was opening a circle to get you out of this place. But when we all turned around, you had already made haste!" Zatouji rhymed.
Asia was about to answer… but even SHE didn't know! What was she supposed to say?! The last thing she saw was her life flashing for her eyes a second time since the Raynare incident, then she was back in this forest… what was all that about anyway?
"… Well, there was another Pixie following us from before…" Asia began to explain, picking her words carefully. "Then me and Rassei found ourselves at a village and…"
"Village?" Akeno asked, then looked around. "… Sweetie, there's nothing around here."
"For reeeeeal?" Issei asked, having recovered from Rassei's attack, and got close to Asia by putting his hands on his shoulders. Rassei would have attacked Issei at this point, but he was currently experiencing a severe case of trauma. "You found a secret village full of Pubescent Pixie babes, and didn't even take me?!"
POW!
Issei was punched in the face by Koneko, getting him off the Bishop. "Suck it, Perv-Pants." She told him, having enough of his antics today, especially after the Slime situation. He was still conscious from the punch, but lied there in pain because of it.
"A village of Pixies?" Kiba wondered, not out of perversion like Issei, but out of genuine curiosity.
"No!" Asia corrected. "There was an ancient village, a-a-an-an-and people, f-f-full of so many…"
"Asia. What are you talking about?" Rias cut her off, not rudely, but out of concern. Keep in mind, she just found one of her servants laying down in the dirt as a makeshift bed. "Nobody lives in the Familiar Forest. Not even him." She continued, pointing behind her with her thumb to the Familiar groundskeeper. "With so many creatures, some of them fearsome predators like Hydras, it's almost completely inhospitable for anyone. Including Devils." Rias further explained.
Asia thought to herself, glancing away from Rias… was all that stuff that happened just a dream then? She knows what she saw, what she heard, what she felt… but Rassei wasn't shown to be injured, except maybe heavily mentally disturbed by those images. Did they share the same dream?… Well, they were bond by magic, so maybe that was the reason; but it still didn't explain what those visions were.
And that ball of light… where did it go?… Did it even exist?
"Maybe… I was just seeing things." Asia rationalized. "It's been a long, stressful day." She added an excuse, which was technically not untrue considering everything that happened. Maybe the Hydra fight shook her up more than she thought, and she got overstressed and passed out. The same for poor Rassei.
That had to be the reason why. It made the most logical sense.
The ORC began to try leaving again, though Akeno helped with the portal this time to speed up the process. Once the new gateway was opened, each Devil and Hedgehog standing on it teleported away, back to the human world where they belonged.
"… nice kids. They've got a powerful bond," Zatouji observed about that group that came in. "They'll be going places, from here to anywhere beyond." He added before walking off and leaving the site, leaving the part of the forest quiet.
As the camera zooms out away from this scene, it stops on a red orb floating atop a tree, appearing to watch them all go. The camera holds this position until it fades out, ending the episode.