Welcome to the next chapter of DxD – The Last Amagiri, but before starting the story. Let's answer some reviews:
Rider126: Yes, here is the arrival of Freed, our least favorite exorcist, and future psychopath.
Look2019: Thanks.
Altajir95: Thanks, I'm glad that you liked the chapter. It was a wonderful reunion with everyone's favorite adorable nine-tailed fox. Yea, I'm sure that no one was expecting that Freed of all people would be inside of Kyoto and this will lead to more trouble.
A/N: There is a slight spoiler warning if you haven't read the first and second volume of "The Fallen Dog God -SLASHDØG-", there is a character that appears in both those volumes.
A True Reunion I
"Here I come, Devil-chan."
The exorcist named Freed rushed toward Claire holding his light sword in his hand. He was a lot faster than she thought that he'd be as he appeared in front of her in moments, but she reacted quick enough to form a barrier to block the light sword. Though the light sword was able to cut through the barrier that she made and she stepped far from him without letting him get too close to her.
Claire used demonic power to create various miniature fireballs in her hand, and then launched each of them forward toward them. In response to the fireballs, Freed either started to laugh as danced around the fireballs launched in his direction or cutting through the ones that made it close enough to him. She used her demonic power to create wind blades that were aimed toward Freed, which like before he started avoiding albeit with more difficulties than before with the fireballs.
"Hahaha, you're awesome, Devil-chan! You're a lot better than the other devils that I've fought before."
Freed laughed in a jovial tone as he seemed to dance around.
"Ah, you're aggravating me!"
Claire was becoming annoyed by the jovial tone and actions of the person standing in front of him, but that didn't cause the situation to become less dangerous. She could tell that the exorcist in front of her was far more skilled than he seemed as he managed to avoid most of her attacks and get close enough at different times to cut her.
"There's no doubt that he's skilled in a fight, but this is nothing compared to Nii-san."
"Let's keep dancing, Devil-chan!"
Freed rushed toward Claire at high-speed, but she was anticipating the direction where he was going and noticed that his other hand was positioned somewhere else. As such, she got into a stance to react accordingly, several seconds passed as she reached another barrier to block the light sword. But, as the barrier and sword clashed with one another, Freed pulled out a light gun and pointed it toward her.
"Hahaha, let's see you avoid this Devil…huh."
In response to him pointing his light gun toward her, Freed realized that a gun as pointed toward his chest, but it wasn't a normal gun. Due to the distraction, he faltered for a moment and Claire instead pulled the trigger firing a light bullet toward Freed. He was pushed backward causing him to land on the ground causing a groan to escape from his mouth.
"…did I hit him?"
Claire said not leaving the position that she was one and still at her light gun prepared for another attack, later on, a laugh could be heard from the downed Freed.
"Hahaha, that was a surprise."
She was surprised as Freed jumped upward landing on his feet without a single wound on his chest caused by the light bullet that she fired. It was then that she realized that the pommel of the light sword didn't have the blade out and seemed broken, meaning that he must've used it to block the bullet.
"…that was quick reaction time."
Claire mumbled as she took a step from him, but before she could make another move, there was a sudden chill that ran across her.
[Claire move out of the way!]
In response to that chill and hearing Radueriel's warning, Claire felt a holy wave that was flying toward her direction at high speeds. She was able to react quick enough to avoid it, but the wave still slashed her side causing blood to spill and pain to transmit from her entire body.
"Gaaah!"
Claire fell to the ground as smoke raised from the wound, as she placed her hand on the wound causing her hand to be soaked in blood. She was too focused to see if someone enter the barrier and if she hasn't sensed the wave at the last second, the wound would've been worse.
"It hurts. It hurts. It hurts," Claire was on the brink of tears as she felt the wound on her waist, but wasn't deep to the point where it was fatal, though it was painful nonetheless. "There's no way that wave came from a light sword or gun!"
[Claire, you have to get out of here somewhere and find Kensei and Alice. The person who arrived isn't someone you can fight alone. He isn't a normal exorcist, that aura came from a genuine holy sword…a legendary one.]
In response to that, Claire turned towards the man who arrived next to Freed; he was in his mid-thirties with dark slicked-back hair, a growing beard, and mustache dressed in clothing for a priest. In his hand was an ancient long sword that was releasing a strong holy aura.
"What is going on here, Freed?"
"I found this Devil-chan around the area, Teach David."
Claire was getting a stronger presence from the man wielding that holy sword compared to the teen that she just fought against, but she didn't know if she could fight any long or run due to the wound.
[In his hand is a holy sword named Galatine, it is the sibling sword of Excalibur and has a blade that would never be nicked.]
"I thought that the holy aura would burn more, but that doesn't change the act that it's still painful."
[I could speculate that it is due to her half-breed status, but it could also be due to me being sealed within White Nemesis. It can be similar to those who have the Heavenly Dragons sealed within them; a dragon slayer would be an efficient tool when dealing with them. In the past, a demon sword or strong enough demonic power can be used to counter White Nemesis. Since you're a half-devil, the demonic power that would be used against would be more or less a normal attack. And having White Nemesis would mean that light or holy power won't have that much of an effect on you. But….]
"…but?"
[It can be due to your half-devil status or something else that you haven't yet synced with White Nemesis.]
Claire couldn't think of the reasons for that since she was in the middle of a fight against an even greater threat in the form of the holy sword user. David glanced toward the gun near her with a look of interest, realizing that it's a lot different than the usual light guns that exorcists uses.
"Hmm, is that a sacred gear? Would that make you a half-breed?"
David questioned Claire who started to struggle to stand back on her feet, but she didn't answer him.
"I recall reading about it in the records from the Vatican. I believe that it's named White Nemesis," David glanced in the direction of Galatine in his hand. "I believe that it would explain the reason why the slash from my Galatine didn't, but it's dangerous to leave that in the possession of a devil. Though it wasn't a part of our mission, I think it would be best that I ensure that you don't become a threat in the future."
Once those words left his mouth, a stronger aura started to wrap around Galatine as David declared his intention to eliminate Claire.
"Hahaha, does that mean we get to exorcise this Devil-chan, Teach David?"
"Yes."
As David and Freed started to approach her, Claire held out her hand gathering demonic power in her hand, but it wasn't for an attack.
"Hah!"
She fired the demonic power into the ground, creating a wide cloud of dust as a smokescreen and started to run from the exorcists.
"I can't fight both of them. As Radueriel said, I should find Nii-san and Alice-nee."
Claire surmised in her and, but her movements were impeded from the wound on her side lowering her speed to a significant extent. Her escape plan failed as a figure shot out from the smoke and Claire was kicked backward landing on the ground. She looked forward noticing that it was David who turned around and rushed towards her again. Before she could make her move, she noticed that Freed was coming from her in the opposite direction.
Claire timed the attack from both of them, causing the light gun to vanish and made a white shield as soon as the holy sword was brought down toward her; she held her hand toward Freed blocking his light sword with a barrier made from her demonic power.
"I can't escape from here," she said in a low tone. "I'll remain on the defense until Nii-san or Alice-nee notice their presence."
"Huh, did you say something?"
David had questioned in an impassive tone, then raised the aura of his sword damaging the shield and caused it to break apart causing a clicking sound using her tongue.
"Too weak, I can't create something strong enough to defend against that sword. But, this is the one chance that I have to protect myself instead of using demonic power to defend against a holy sword."
Claire said in her head as she moved away from David and Freed, then gathered demonic power again.
Soon enough, lightning came forth from her and directed it towards both of them in an attempt to electrocute both exorcists. Noticing the lightning springing forth towards them, David avoided it instead of fending it off and Freed move in the opposite direction. Claire started to run out of things to do to protect herself against both exorcists at the same time without backup.
"This is it."
David raised the aura of his sword with the intent of finishing her off, but as soon as the sword was going to stab her through the chest. There was a figure that rammed into David pushing him back from the unforeseen hit and a wolf-like creature charged toward Freed causing him to flee back.
"Huh? Where did that wolf come from?!"
Freed was shocked at the sudden arrival of the unknown monsters.
Claire realized where the monsters came from and that she knew one person who could create them, becoming a lot more apparent as someone stepped behind her.
"Y'know it's a natural rule that you don't stray from the group during a field trip."
Alice stood behind her crossing her arms as she glanced toward both the attackers of her younger sister.
"Alice-nee!"
Claire said as she stood up and wrapped her arms around the waist of Alice, which caused the blonde-haired girl to let out a gentle smile as she wrapped her arms around Claire.
"I'm glad that you're alright, but I didn't think that I would find you fighting against two exorcists," Alice stated, but her smile turned into a frown after noticing the wound on her side. "I also didn't expect to see you wounded."
The usual impassive Alice was more serious as she glared towards the oldest exorcist who managed to cut down both the wolves sent after them. A look of greater interest adorned the face of David as he realized the nature of Alice's power to create monsters.
"…'Demonic Beast Creation', Annihilation Maker and the 'Forge of Heaven', White Nemesis. Both of them are the black and white sacred gears that focus on creation. I didn't expect to come across one of the High-Tier Longinus and a sacred gear that has an angel within the foreign land. But, based on what I've seen if that half-breed girl is allowed to live, then she can end up become a threat in the future. So, I believe that I'll take care of her first."
Without another word leaving his mouth, David rushed towards Claire who was still near Alice, who made various monsters from her shadow and sent them towards David.
"You're Longinus may have the power to kill a god or destroy the world, but if you haven't properly trained it then it would be pointless using creatures like this against me."
David said raising the aura of Galatine and started cutting down all the monsters who stood in front of her, but there was no surprised or frightened expression on Alice's face even though her monsters were slain. He realized that the expression turned into a grin causing him to believe that he had walked into a trap, but….
A figure appeared in the path of David holding the hilt of their katana in an iai stance then unsheathes their sword and performed an upward slash. That strike had caused the path of Galatine to be redirected upwards breaking David's initial stance and following by a strong kick to the stomach causing him to be sent backward.
"Ugh."
David landed on the ground feeling the force of that kick, causing him to place his hand on his stomach after his feet touched the ground. He glanced toward the third person who arrived who was revealed to be Kensei with an angered expression on his face and intense presence.
"And who are you?"
"Kensei Amagiri," his tone even displayed the anger that he felt. "The older brother of the girl you just wounded."
Kensei answered David who stood back onto his feet and sensed the anger radiating from him.
"There's something different apart this child. There's no doubt that he belongs to the same faction as the pagan gods of this country. If we end up fighting him, then we could cause trouble for our Christian faction. I don't know the reason for him being around this half-breed girl, but he's not a normal child."
Amid his thought, Freed rushed towards Kensei without thinking about the consequences of the actions.
"Hahaha, one after another more and more fun people are arriving!"
"Freed, wait!"
David called out his name, but Freed had already slashed his light sword, which Kensei blocked using his katana causing sparks in their clash. Both Kensei and Freed started getting into a sword match with one another with the latter being more on the offensive, but each of his strikes was fended off by Kensei who didn't appear to have a troubled look on his face. As soon as their swords got into a sword lock, Freed reached into his pocket pulling out his light gun and pointed it toward Kensei.
After pulling the trigger at close-range hitting him in the middle of the head, but the bullet didn't have the slightest effect on him due to being covered in touki. Not skipping a single beat, Kensei pushed Freed backward causing him to skid off the ground toward David. Although he was overpowered, an excited smile appeared on his face.
"Hahaha, this one is stronger than the Devil-chan and Monster-chan. Let's continue to dance!"
For the second time, Freed rushed toward Kensei but stopped blue flames appeared in front of him blocking his path. Kunou stood in front of Kensei with a strong look on her face.
"I am Kunou, the Princess of Kyoto," Kunou declared in a strong voice and pointed toward the exorcists. "I don't know why you exorcists are in our region, but I won't tolerate anyone who attacks Ken-nii!"
"Hahaha, first a Devil-chan, second a Monster-chan, third a Samurai-kun, and now a Fox-chan."
"Freed, we're retreating for now," hearing that from his 'Teach David' caused Freed to falter into a sad expression since it meant that he couldn't fight anymore. "Though leaving those two alone could result in trouble for us, but a fight here could result in angering the Leader of Kyoto if her daughter were injured. The two of us came here just to complete our mission and not to anger the pagan gods or leaders here."
Without saying a single word afterward, David turned around to leave the area but Freed turned towards him as a frown appeared on his face.
"Huh, but I thought that we were going to exorcise this Devil-chan."
"I'd rather not allow such a potential threat go, but I'm sure that another chance will arise."
Either not knowing or caring about them listening to his words, then Freed chucked and threw a flash-bang which he pulled out of his pocket generating a bright flash. Before the blinding light blinded them, Kensei, Kunou, Alice, and Claire blocked their eyes using their hands. Though neither the three girls could see due to their eyes being blocked, Kensei could sense them using senjutsu and realized that they did leave.
As soon as the light faded, Kensei glanced toward the katana that he borrowed from Amakuni and realized that it was nicked a bit on the blade. It didn't come from his clash against Freed, but it came from him deflecting David's Galatine using an iai maneuver. Due to the quickness of the situation, he didn't have the chance to imbue touki in the blade causing damage to the blade.
He sighed after sheathing the blade, realizing his rash choice in not imbuing touki into the blade first, but ignored it and instead turned in the direction of Claire.
Claire removed herself from Alice, looking downward; she couldn't look him in the eyes and started to think over what she was going to say next. And just as she was preparing to open her mouth, she felt Kensei wrapping his arms being around her.
"…Nii-san?"
"I'm glad that you're alright."
Kensei didn't say anything else aside from those words as Claire felt nothing but comfort from him, which caused her to return the hug as she nuzzled into his chest. Kunou didn't speak a single word about it due to the situation and went towards them.
"Nii-san, I believe that it would be better if we were to head over to Hahaue."
"Yea, but first, Claire can you lift your shirt a bit?"
Despite knowing the reason for his sudden request, Claire still blushed after hearing it knowing that the slash on her ran diagonally nearing toward her bra. Noticing the seriousness of the situation, she reached her hand to the hem of her shirt then started lifting it revealing her white skin stopping just revealing the fabric of her bra. Due to her uplifted shirt blocking her face, no one could see her face, which turned bright red from the embarrassment of revealing her stomach in public like this.
Kensei leaned forward, his face a little red after noticing that he was starting at the unblemished skin of Claire in an attempt to see the severity of the wound. Though he pushed those thoughts aside and instead began to focus on the wound instead; starting from her side there was a slash that was extending towards her abdomen. Instead of just looking at it, he pressed his finger at the starting line of the wound leading to the endpoint.
"Nnnn."
Claire mewled as she felt his finger tracing along the wounded area.
For some reason, Alice and Kunou who was watching the situation seemed a little flushed after noticing just their light close interaction with one another.
"The wound doesn't seem deep to where it would leave a scar," Kensei said as he placed his hand onto her side causing a warm bluish-white aura to cover his hand on the wound causing another moan to escape from Claire's mouth. "I'm not the best at using healing-type senjutsu on someone like Hisui. I think that girls dislike the fact that scars appear on their skin, right?"
Once he removed his hand, Claire quickly moved her shirt back and turned away from him.
"Of course, girls aren't the type to take getting scarred lightly," she replied as she looked at the wound and blood that stained her shirt. "Boys, on the other hand, would think that a scar looks cool, right?"
"You're not wrong, but I think that I think that it depends on the person."
Kensei replied as he scratched the back of his head.
"I'm sorry, Nii-san," Claire apologized to him catching his attention. "I shouldn't have punched you out of nowhere like that promise to be the fiancé of this…person was long before we met." Kunou puffed up her cheeks in a pout after noticing that Claire had referred to her like that. "I should have waited to hear your explanation first that was a little childish of me."
"Ah, but I think that seeing the usual serious Claire acting childish is a little cute."
Kensei laughed as he patted her on top of her head, causing her body to shutter a bit after hearing that came out of his mouth.
"…there you go trying to butter me up."
Claire said in a hushed tone, which caused Kunou to pout even more before letting a breath escape out from her mouth.
"I believe that it would be best that we head out to meet Hahaue."
After Kunou urged them to follow her, Kensei, Alice, and Claire did as such as she led them towards the direction of the home of the Kyoto Youkai. Kensei already knew about this, but both Alice and Claire found themselves at an isolated area in the woods where no humans would dare enter, where there was a large red torii build in front of them. Both the newcomers found themselves following both the old comers, passing through the torii finding themselves inside of a different world altogether.
It was just midday in Kyoto with the sun out, but this location was at the moment a dim world and the newcomers of this location found themselves enamored with this world. All of the buildings seemed to be ones from the Edo Period of Japan with multiple youkai peeking out the windows and doors, there were also those standing on the streets looking towards the newcomers. All the youkai were the ones Claire had read about as a child, while Alice had started looking into Japanese stories; there were women with long necks dressed in kimonos, giant raccoon dogs, and one-legged umbrellas.
"Welcome to the World of Youkai," Kensei said as all three of them started to walk behind Kunou. "There are a lot of names that people refer to this place as the 'Backstreets' or 'Inner Capital'. I, on the other hand, prefer to call this place 'Urakyoto'. Kunou-chan can you explain it to them."
"Of course, Ken-nii," Kunou said causing Claire to roll her eyes. "Urakyoto is where most of the youkai of Kyoto live inside. I remember that the devils of the Underworld use a bounded field during their Rating Game, so all of you can consider this place as being similar. Don't be surprised if there are some youkai who will jump out and scare you, the youkai here loves pulling pranks…especially, on newcomers."
Kunou explained as Alice and Claire realized that the youkai around Urakyoto were bowing their heads to Kunou as she waved towards them. It was true respect for the one known as the Princess of Kyoto and the future Queen.
"Ah, I recall when one of them tried that with me."
"Hahaha, I remember that. There was a wanyudo that tried to scare Ken-nii who was new to Urakyoto, and then Ken-nii punched it in the face. Kunou laughed when that happened."
Kunou laughed recalling the incident as if it just happened yesterday, which caused her to latch onto Kensei from his right side. This caused him to glance toward Kunou who was affectionately nuzzling his arm as if she were afraid that he would end up going somewhere.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm just happy that Ken-nii has returned."
Kunou said as she pressed her head against his arm, which caused Kensei to laugh in a wry manner. He later felt a familiar sensation on his left side and noticed that it was Claire who latched onto his left arm.
"I don't plan on losing to a fox."
"And Kunou doesn't plan on losing to a devil."
"Technically, she's half-devil."
Alice pointed out not seeming to mind both the girls latching onto Kensei like that and seemed to be interested in the location that was around them.
"…Look Kensei-san has returned."
"It appears as if Kensei-sama has become stronger compared to before."
"It appears as if both his guests are humans."
"It seems like that, but that girl who appears the same age as Kunou-sama has also the presence of a devil."
"I wonder when Kunou-sama and Kensei-sama would get married."
"I would be an advantage for both sides."
All of them could hear the conversation from the nearby youkai as all of them, which caused Kensei to feel a little bit complicated about the 'marriage' topic until reaching a giant traditional mansion. Standing in front of them, there was a group of kitsune attendants who made a line for them leading inside of the mansion.
[Welcome home, Kunou-sama. And we're glad to see you're in good health Young Master!]
"Here they go again with the 'young master' thing."
Kensei smiled wryly about being referred to as 'Young Master', but all five of them walked down the line that all of the attendants made for them. Even after entering the mansion, even on the inside, it gave off a traditional feel.
"Kunou-sama, Yasaka-sama will be waiting for you in the assigned area. If you would…."
"Ah, before that," Kunou said recalling something and turned towards Claire. "Would you please follow me?"
"Huh, why?"
Claire was confused about the reason for her to go along with Kunou.
"Kunou thought that you would want to change your bloodstained clothes."
"Ah, I see. I guess that it would be inappropriate to meet the Queen of Kyoto like this."
She surmised understanding the reasoning behind Kunou's suggestion, though it caused Kensei and Alice to be confused about them suddenly agreeing with one another after being at one another's throat. Before the meeting with her mother, Kunou quickly took Claire to another room so that she could change her clothing.
Moments later, Kensei, Alice, and Claire found themselves inside a room that could be used for nothing else but meeting. Kunou remained sitting next to him sitting in the same respectful manner as the three of them, while she smiled after being able to sit next to Kensei much to the dismay of Claire. Although, Alice let Claire sit next to him instead to resolve things. However, there was something that attracted the attention and wonder of both the girls who were newcomers to Kyoto and Urakyoto.
Sitting in front of them was an undeniably beautiful woman with a voluptuous figure that most women would kill to have, her long blonde hair was tied into a ponytail reaching to her legs and golden eyes; her eyebrows seem to be cut in a round manner different from Kunou. She was dressed in traditional shrine maiden attire and a golden crown. Moreover, much like Kunou, she had fox ears and fluffy nine tails. She was, in fact, the current Queen of Kyoto, Yasaka and the mother of Kunou.
"Beautiful. There are no other words that I can think of aside from that."
"Her breasts are enormous. I don't if I could compete with her even in the future…. I can't believe that Nii-san has become associated with such a beautiful woman."
Alice and Claire thought something along the same lines as one another.
"I could always tell that Yasaka-san was powerful, but now that I learned senjutsu that has now become far more apparent," Kensei thought as he noticed Yasaka smiling in his direction and bowed his head. "I'm glad to see that you and Kunou-chan are alright, Yasaka-san."
"I believe I should be the one saying those words," Yasaka spoke up for the first time displaying gentleness in her tone. "At first, I doubted my ears for a moment after you had contacted me the other day. No one had heard from either you or your mother for almost over five years and so everyone including some from the Five Principal Clan feared the worst. Though, it would appear that Kunou and she appeared to be correct to believe that you were still alive somewhere."
"Yea, but it was a little difficult."
"So, what happened? You mentioned that you wanted to explain the situation to me…and you didn't mention the status of Sakura-san."
"Ah, I'll explain everything since it'll be better just in case something happened. But, it would be best that it would just remain between you and Kunou-chan."
Based on the tone that came from Kensei, Yasaka and Kunou believed that it was something serious, which had caused the Kyuubi to nod their heads in agreement. Kensei had let a slight sigh escape from his mouth knowing it would be a long tale to tell, and then started telling them….
Kensei told them all that happened with him and the others on Hagun Island starting from when he was abducted from the time that he had arrived on Hagun Island and to what happened to his mother. Alice and Claire hadn't at all spoken a word just letting Kensei inform them all about what happened, causing a sour expression to appear on Yasaka's face; Kunou, on the other hand….
"Waaaah, I can't believe that Ken-nii when through all that."
Kunou was in tears after hearing all that happened until to maintain her princess demeanor in front of either Alice or Claire, which progressed to her wrapping her arms around Kensei's next.
"I see, I can't believe that you had to go through all that," Yasaka herself felt almost like crying after hearing all of the things that he went through. "I also can't believe that Sakura-san lost her life in such a manner, as well as the others among the Amagiri Clan. There are a lot of people who owe your clan a great debt for all you've done."
"Excuse me," Claire questioned holding her hand out. "I don't mean to interrupt or rude, but I'm curious about the relationship between…Nii…I mean, the Amagiri Clan and Urakyoto."
Kensei noticed that she was close to asking about him and Kunou, but saved herself at the last moment. But, a teasing smile soon formed on Yasaka's face.
"Ah, and here I thought that you would be asking about Kensei-kun here and my darling daughter," Yasaka said in a knowing tone causing Claire to blush. "Well, the Amagiri Clan and Urakyoto have been maintained close ties for a long time since their side helped us a lot over the years. No one doubted that Kensei-kun who would end up being the next Head of the Amagiri Clan. And Kunou, the future Queen of Kyoto being close to his age, it wasn't too far-fetched to consider them being engaged. But, Kunou being the free-spirited child she is didn't want to be married to someone she didn't know."
"She should've just left it at that."
Claire mumbled under her breath, but it was enough for Kunou to hear her causing the nine-tailed fox to face her direction. In response to this, Claire turned in the other direction pretending not to have said anything, causing a frown to appear on Kunou's face.
"Fufufufu, it seems that Kunou has some competition," Yasaka said those words under her breath continuing with their conversation. "Although it did change after Kunou met Kensei-kun here for the first time, then she was pushing for the marriage. Hahaha, though Kensei-kun here didn't quite understand the concept of marriage at that age."
"…hey. No one needs to hear that."
Kensei said in a nearly defeated tone as he recalled that incident, which caused Alice to let out a slight laugh.
"I-I think that's an honest mistake."
"Alice, why don't you try looking at me and say that?"
He questioned Alice as she turned away from him and grinned widely, which was the same for Claire who found it hilarious.
"I believe that Kensei-kun was too focused on fighting to consider marriage. At first, he believed that it was just a longtime partnership between a man and a woman."
"…please stop."
"But, it was so adorable after you explained what marriage was and how you energetically proposed to Kunou in front of everyone."
As Yasaka continued to bring up more and more of his embarrassing thought about marriage in the past, Kensei started to feel his face heating up as he glanced toward the ground.
"Does everyone have something against me this month of something," Kensei questioned to himself then he felt a tap on his shoulder coming from Kunou. "Kunou-chan?"
"I don't care what anyone else thinks, that was the happiest moment of my life aside from being able to see Ken-nii again."
Kunou said latching onto his arms smiling in a childish manner which caused Kensei to place his hand on top of her head.
"Aw, Kunou-chan…ouch."
Kensei winced as he felt Claire on the other side of him pinching his arm, but when he turned toward her, Claire pouted and crossed her arms.
"Claire, you're starting to tsundere."
He pointed out causing her cheeks to turn bright red as she turned towards him.
"Well, it appears as if you've found some great people. But, I believe that it would be best to get onto the reason that you decided to return to Urakyoto."
"Yes," Kensei replied. "During our conversation, you did assure that my mother left the secrets and documents of the Amagiri Clan in your care."
"Due to the dangerous situation that the Amagiri Clan found themselves in after the children from your generation went missing without warning and after someone managed to kill all the others. Then after you went missing, we were visited by Sakura-san who left the documents and books inscribed with all their secrets in my care. Sakura-san feared that either whoever massacred the Amagiri Clan might destroy them or someone from the other clans might break into the main shrine and steal them for themselves."
"I wanted to thank you for keeping them safe all this time."
Kensei bowed his head showing his gratitude for Yasaka protecting the secrets that his clan had created over the years despite the danger it could pose them, but Yasaka waved her head.
"It's fine. After all that your clan has done, this is the least that I can do," Yasaka said smiling toward him. "There are a lot of things that I want to talk to you about since we haven't seen one another in a long time, but I believe it would be best if you all take a bath and have dinner first. We can all have a leisure conversation during our time during dinner, and then I believe that Kunou here can escort you all around Kyoto tomorrow."
"Yes! If it's for Ken-nii, then Kunou would do anything!"
Kunou energetically said.
"I know not dear," Yasaka said letting a slight laugh escape from her mouth before turning toward Kensei waving her hand toward him getting his attention. "Kensei-kun, could you come here for a moment?"
"Of course."
Kensei stood up from his seat, then started walking towards Yasaka who had called for him and he thought that it would be for something important. But, as soon as he reached her, Yasaka wrapped both of her arms around him and pulled him into a hug much to his surprise.
[Huh?!]
Alice, Claire, and Kunou questioned as they witnessed that the older woman hugging their important person.
"What's going on?!"
Kensei was in a state of panic unable to comprehend what was going on at the moment since it was the first time something like this had happened. Since he was this close to Yasaka he could feel her enormous breasts press against his chest causing his heart to be at a fast rate as his face turned bright red.
"Calm down! Calm down! Calm down! Calm down! Just think about something else! …That isn't working!"
His attempts at calming down failed as he was enveloped in the soft ravines that were Yasaka's breasts.
"Ah, it just seems like yesterday when you were just this adorable child, but now you've seemed to have developed a lot in terms of physique. Could this be due to that training with the Victorious Fighting Buddha? I wonder what kind of handsome young man you would grow into."
Kensei admitted that he could be sometimes oblivious when it came to women, but he could tell from the obvious tone from Yasaka that she was teasing him.
"Since it would be important that the Amagiri Clan be revived I wonder if I would make a wonderful candidate for marriage. I am the current Queen of Kyoto and Kunou has been talking about having either little brother or sister. I believe that it would be a fair agreement, right?"
Kensei felt as if his mind was starting to scramble and fall apart the more that his face was being pushed into her and as she continued to tease him like an expert.
"…H-Hahaue…."
"…Y-Yasaka-san…."
Both Kunou and Claire were reaching their boiling point as both of them approached the two, then pulled Kensei out from the grasps of Yasaka.
[Y-You can't have Ken-nii/Nii-san Hahaue/Yasaka-san! Kunou/I wouldn't stand a chance if you someone like you became serious now!]
Both Kunou and Claire said in unison as they both pulled Kensei (who was recovering from the sudden contact) into their grasps as Yasaka laughed.
"Ararara, I thought that you two were against one another, but you seem to agree on something at least."
Yasaka laughed after witnessing the reaction from her daughter and Claire who continued clinging to Kensei as if to keep him from being stolen from them. Soon after, their talk had concluded and as planned Kensei, Alice, and Claire (joined with Kunou) has first bathed in the bath inside of the mansion before eating the dinner prepared for all of them where they had a leisure conversation.
In another location in Kyoto, the exorcists who had attacked Claire found themselves inside of an alleyway where there were traces of blood lining the floor and walls. It was a scene that would cause a normal person to gag at just the sight, but both of the exorcists witnessed just the sight alone. Though the teacher and student just looked at it as if it was just another investigation.
"Ah, based on the looks alone. It seems that he had come across a normal human."
David knelt looking at the remains of the clothing from the person that whoever they were looking for had come across. It was just basic things that remained such as wallets and what seemed like a name tag belonging to whatever job the deceased individual had come from. Both of them had already set up a barrier meant to keep people from bothering them or stumbling across the scene.
"It seems that whoever this person was, they hadn't been devoured for that long ago since the blood hasn't dried at all. Let's clean up this place before someone comes across it."
"Argh, but this is the most boring part. Who cares if someone comes across this scene?"
Freed questioned in a bored manner.
"Wouldn't it be better to fight against the person who did this rather than clean up his mess or find that Devil-chan and Monster-chan again? You said that it would be best not to leave those sacred gears under the care of some dangerous unknown devil."
Those words were similar to what David had said to Freed before arriving at this location. David had believed that the Longinus should be under the control of the Church rather than random possessors who could end up siding with their enemies.
"I don't understand the situation for their encounter, but can assume that girl might've managed to find herself a home under the care of someone from this pagan faction using sweet words."
It was something that most if not all exorcists who viewed all devils and fallen angels as their enemies without the thought that it would be possible for either side to associate with humans.
"Either way it would be best to concern ourselves with the situation at hand," David said as he and Freed started to hide all the evidence that was left behind using a kind of magic. "We have to deal with the 'Demon Eater' first."
"Alright, Teach David."
Freed agreed in a jovial manner looking forward to the fight.
The next morning, Kensei found himself lying in the bed that was prepared for him, he later glanced in the same direction where the katana that Amakuni lent him. It caused him to think back to his initial counter with David and the nick in the blade caused due to their blades clashing against one another.
"That guy doesn't appear to be a slouch, possibly closer to Hayashi in terms of skills, but he could be higher than him due to their difference in age. I was able to make it in time before he managed to slash Claire, but I should've guessed that even Amakuni-san's sword wouldn't be able to endure a slash like that without touki being imbued into it. So, that was a holy sword."
Kensei said as he thought back as he recalled the presence from the Galatine that David had wielded before and if he hadn't step in at the last moment, then Claire might've been killed. This caused him to glance to the side and noticed that Claire had fallen asleep beside him nuzzling up to his left arm, he then glanced toward the other side and noticed Alice clinging onto his right arm.
"Not that I'm not used to being around them like this, but…."
It didn't surprise him all that much since it was a basic thing for them to sleep together like this, although both the girls clinging to him was more due to being somewhere they didn't know. What caught his attention the most was the two soft objects that were pressed up against his right arm from Alice, which caused his teenage hormones to be simulated.
"…I never thought that Alice would go through 'that' kind of growth now."
Kensei questioned himself as to why these thoughts were entering his head, but that thought was pushed aside for a moment as he noticed that there was motion underneath the sheets in front of him. He didn't need to guess who it could be or use senjutsu to sense them since there was only one person it would be. As if to answer his unasked question, coming up from the sheets was Kunou who smiled sweetly toward him.
"Good morning, Ken-nii."
"Morning, Kunou-chan."
After greeting one another, Kunou reached forward wrapping her arms around Kensei in a loving manner as she rubbed her cheek against his. It was due to this close contact that Kensei realized that Kunou was dressed in a fitting white yukata. Kensei could recall the last time that he had met the nine-tailed fox when she made it a habit to follow him around much like Claire after first meeting her. Although, Kunou was a little more adventurous much like someone else he knew.
"She acts like a princess most of the time, but she always has been a little troublemaker," he mused as he recalled all the times that he came to her rescue when she found her in a dangerous situation. He couldn't help but admit that all the girls who were rather close to him went through certain changes that caused a feeling to stir inside of him. "Kunou, I'm sorry."
"Hmm, why are you apologizing Ken-nii?"
"I didn't come and see you after we managed to free ourselves. I must suck to have a fiancé."
Kensei joked as he started to look a little terrible for not visiting Kunou and Yasaka to inform them about his fate, but in response to his apology, Kunou shook her head and smiled.
"Ken-nii doesn't have to apologize for anything at all. Kunou realizes that Ken-nii went through something terrible and he needed some time to himself to rest after everything that happened," Kunou said but her bright face soon turned into one of sadness. "When everyone said that Ken-nii went mission, Kunou felt like passing out, but I still held onto the hope that Ken-nii would survive and return. And so, I continued to wait for Kensei and continued to undergo bridal training with Hahaue."
Hearing the part of 'bridal training' caused a slight nervous smirk to appear on his face curious about what all that had to entail. Of course, he still wasn't as much as an expert about women as he was martial arts, but there was a certain intuition that made him feel like that.
"Kunou has followed the instruction of Hahaue on what to eat and drink lots of milk to grow into the perfect bride for Ken-nii. She has a long way to go, but Kunou will be a fiancée that beats even Minako-san."
Kunou seemed determined to defeat this "Minako-san" causing a nostalgic expression to appear on his face as it rang a memory in his head.
"Hey, come on. Kensei, I want to see the fireworks at the festival."
"I can get there in just a couple minutes by just running all the way there."
"Then could you believe carry me there?"
"Fine, but I don't want any complaints later on. I heard my mom once said that girls hate it when their clothing gets messed up."
"Deal."
A smile soon formed on his face as he recalled that memory, although, he looked up noticing that Kunou started to frown as if realizing what he had been thinking about.
"Muuu, even if she isn't here. Kunou still feels as if she's losing to her."
"Hey, Kunou-chan…."
Kensei said in an attempt to calm her down, but Kunou who seemed to have resolved herself and straddled him as she reached her hand out toward the opening of her yukata. This motion alone caused a slight red to dust his cheeks as Kunou started opening up the chest area of her clothing causing a sudden reaction from Kensei.
"H-Hey, Kunou-chan…?"
"Kunou won't lose to Ken-nii to anyone!"
"W-What're you thinking about doing?"
"Yes, what do you think you're doing?"
Kensei and Kunou were surprised for a moment as both turned their heads, then noticed that Claire stared at the two of them with a blank look on her face wearing a crooked smirk.
"You're interfering with Kunou and Ken-nii."
"And would I be interfering with?"
Claire said getting out from underneath her sheets revealing the simple pajamas that she had been wearing, then crossed her arms as she stared at Kunou. Under the stare of Claire, Kunou was unable to say anything causing the cheeks of the nine-tailed fox girl to turn bright red.
"Uh, I-I was going to let Ken-nii p-play with Kunou."
Kunou said as she pointed her fingers together struggling to find the correct words.
"And what could Nii-san 'play' with anyway? You're about has developed as a board?"
"Kunou is still growing on both height and chest area. And you aren't even a big as Kunou," Kunou said as she switching from defense to offense. "Hahaue told me that a girl's breast could grow after being played with by the person she loves. If that's true than Kunou will become a beautiful woman like Hahaue and the perfect bride for Ken-nii, so there!"
Kunou stuck out her tongue toward Claire who took that as a personal challenge, but instead of acting anymore aggressive toward the situation, Claire instead played her game.
"Is that so? Then wouldn't the same thing apply to me? Both Nii-san and I have been together for almost over five years."
Kensei could tell that Claire was attempting to get under Kunou's skin, which seemed to be working based on the expression that Kunou was making right now.
"I believe that I would end up being more beautiful since I come from a clan who has graceful looks and I am also of Japanese descent. And I also heard that even after maturing, female devils' bodies can still grow based on things such as our demonic power."
"Well, Kunou will go into a more beautiful woman and marry Ken-nii."
"I don't know about that since you seem more like a pet."
"This coming from the bat-girl."
Claire and Kunou continued bickering with one another as their eyes were locked on each other as sparks began flying between them. In response to the loud voices from both of them, Alice started rubbing her eyes as a yawn escaped from her mouth.
"Jeez, what's with the shouting? Take it somewhere else and let me sleep."
Alice asked and requested as she started moving close toward Kensei and wrapped her arms around him trying to get comfortable again and sleep with his head being pushed into her breasts. He found himself in the middle of three beautiful and cute girls who started spurring a reaction from him.
"I wonder if I will be able to get used to this in the future?"
Kensei who wasn't accustomed to these kinds of situations wasn't able to handle it yet had to asked that question in his head.
Once all four of them started to get dressed for the morning and had breakfast Kensei, Alice, and Claire all led by Kunou left Urakyoto for the tour she promised them. Claire even put her newly formed rivalry with Kunou aside to enjoy the trip that she had sought for so long. To head toward their first location, the four of them choose to take a bus that would lead them there.
"Here is Ginkaku-ji, the Temple of the Silver Pavilion."
The first place that all of them arrived at was Ginkaku-ji, which despite its name wasn't made from actual silver, it didn't take from the fact that the sight alone was beautiful. Alice looked forward to the scene with her sketch pad pulled out and started to draw out the building in front of her along with the forest around it.
"I read that Ginkaku-ji was build to emulate the Kinkaku-ji, which Ashikaga Yoshimasa stated as a retirement villa and garden in 1460. Through after his death, it was converted into a Zen temple as his last wish."
Claire said in an excitable tone displaying that she researched the famous locations within Kyoto before all of them had arrived there.
"That is correct Claire-san."
Kunou who had also forgotten about their rivalry for a while replied.
"Ah, this is just a completely beautiful place."
"I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying Kyoto, Claire-san."
Kensei was almost stumped thinking back to the fact that those were at one another's throats and were now both having a normal conversation about Kyoto. But, he also enjoyed the peace around them as they stared at the temple in front of them. Though during their tour, Kensei thought back to the conversation that he had with Yasaka before leaving.
"Kensei-kun, from what you said before about the exorcists that attacked Claire-san. I believe their arrival has a lot to do with the sudden deaths that have been occurring around Kyoto."
"Deaths?"
"Yes, almost all the victims were humans whose disappearances were reported in the news and there was also some speculation that their bodies' were taken somewhere else. But, I felt that the situation was a little odd. So, I send some youkai to investigate the situation and some believe that their bodies were taken, but instead, the victims were eaten by something."
"You're telling me something is going around eating humans?"
"It wasn't just humans. One of the kitsune who works under me said that they ran into a creature and said that it tried to bite them, but fled after the other kitsune arrived and intervened. Based on their description, it was said to feel almost like a devil yet a human."
"A devil yet a human. Wouldn't that make it a former human reincarnated into a devil? I guess it could be a Stray Devil," Kensei heard about Stray Devils and even witnessed some of them being slain as a child by his mother or the other Amagiri Clan members who confronted them. "I guess it explains the reason why we ran into those exorcists are even here in the first place. But, I find it kinda disrespectful that they hadn't met up with you before barging into Kyoto like this."
"Aw, are you getting mad on my behalf Kensei-kun?"
Yasaka questioned in a teasing tone as she placed a hand on her cheek, which caused a reaction from Kensei.
"I-I mean wouldn't that be proper to first meet the person-in-charge before barging into the place they run."
"My would this mature change in proper manners be the result of the lessons that you said you received from Xuanzang Sanzang-sama?"
"I-I mean it would be a waste if I didn't learn anything from him."
"Well, teasing aside. I believe that it would be best if you all remained on guard for now."
"Alright."
After recalling his conversation with Yasaka, Kensei found himself walking alongside Alice (who finished drawing the Ginkaku-ji Temple), Claire and Kunou who latched onto his arm. He didn't know whether or not they would all end up running into this individual, but chances are both of them would end up running into him. Though instead of worrying about it, he instead thought that it would be best to just relish the time that he had been spending with all three girls around him since it has been a long time since he's been in Kyoto. And thought that it'll be far more considerate if he felt with it the moment that the situation called for it.
The four continued going to different placed such as the Kinkaku-ji Temple, which the Ginkaku-ji had been based on in the first place. At each of the locations that all of them had gone, the four of them took photos to show Zane and the others back in Kibou Town.
Several minutes passed, the four of them stopped at an area where several people were and food stands where there were various snacks, foods, and drinks being sold. Once all of them received the drinks that Kensei purchased for all of them, then sat down to drink them.
"Hah, this was a fun day."
Kunou said as she drank the orange juice in her hand.
"This place is everything that I thought that it would be."
Claire added as she drank the juice in her hands.
"Well, how about we head over toward the Kiyomizu-dera Temple and Fushimi Inari-taisha," Kunou suggested as she glanced toward Claire. "Kiyomizu-dera is one of the most famous temples in Kyoto and it would be a shame if you don't visit it at least once. There is also the Fushimi Inari-taisha, the walk there might end up being a bit long a trip but there are thousands of vermilion torii gates build there and the hike in fun."
"I'm looking forward to both of them," Claire replied. "I was curious about if the three streams cause actual effects such as greater longevity, success at school, and fortunate love life. I know that normal people wouldn't believe in it but attempt it if might help them."
"Well, the streams do cause some effects like…."
Kunou and Claire started conversing more about the facts about the three streams in Kiyomizu-dera Template as the two of them even laughed.
"Well, it is great to see that they can be friends when they're not competing with one another," Kensei pointed out as he drank the soda in his hands. "Hah, this gives off such a nostalgic feeling. Alice, how did the sketches of the temples and locations all turn out?"
"Oh, here they are."
Alice reached inside the bag that she had been carrying around and pulled out the sketch pad that she had been carrying around. She opened up the sketchpad showing him the illustrations that she had drawn in the very same likeness as the actual places such as the Ginkaku-ji and Kinkaku-ji Temples. Kensei was once again astounded about the great care and dept that Alice had put into each of the things that she drew.
"Ah, I didn't think that I would see drawings this great before. Have you ever considered entering the Art Club in school?"
"My teacher said the same thing remember after he caught me sketching in class during our lunch period after all of us decided to eat in class. I thought about it a lot and I guess that it would be a good idea, but why haven't you ever entered Kendo Club or anything else."
"It wasn't like I didn't think about joining an athletic club before, but grandfather said that I couldn't at the time."
"At the time? Why not?"
Alice was confused about why Kensei couldn't join clubs at the age.
"As I said before, I was too strong for a normal kid. I made it a habit to get serious whenever the person that I'm fighting got serious. And against a person from the Amagiri Clan, it wasn't too bad, but even wielding a bokuto up against a normal kid wielding the same time. I might end up breaking it and end up injuring them."
"Though wasn't those questions risen after you challenged different dojos and schools."
"Yea, I got scolded for doing that by my grandfather," Kensei laughed recalling the incident. "Well, I had a reason for doing that in the first place. Some middle school students started picking on a childhood friend of mine for an idiotic reason and I got into a fight with him and his friends. After I finished with the first group of people it turned out that the leader's brother was in high school and came to fight the one who beat his brother. The one thing led to another and I ended up having to fight a lot of people. Well, it was a good experience since I got to fight a lot of people and my mom patted me on the back for that."
"…hahahaha."
Alice gave off a soft laugh as she heard that explanation from Kensei, which caused him to glance toward her.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing, I just knew that you were the kind of person who would even fight the entire world if someone you cared about were endangered or threatened. That is one of the things that I like about you."
As soon as those words left Alice's mouth and the smile adorned on her face, Kensei felt his heart skip a beat as a deep shade of red appeared on his cheeks. It was because of him hearing those sweet words and also seeing the bright angelic smile on her face.
"A-Ah, I mean of course I would do that for someone I care about."
Kensei stumbled with his words as he started drinking his soda at a quicker pace compared to what was normal. While hearing their conversation and enjoying the peace with them, an odd sensation had overcome him as he felt as if something had just arrived near them. After realizing the danger that this could pose, Kensei stood up from his seat, but neither Alice, Claire or Kunou registered the danger yet. All of them just thought that he was standing up to throw away his drink.
"What was that uncomfortable sensation?"
Kensei glanced around the area to see where the presence came from, he was even prepared to even pull out a katana just in case.
"Hey, Ken-nii. Where do you want to…?"
Kunou was about to question him, but all three girls soon registered the serious look on his face as he continued to look around and even focused activating senjutsu.
"There's nothing but normal humans in this area. I can't even sense another youkai like Kunou-chan, but there is something else here that feels different."
As Kensei continued looking around the area and found a presence that felt almost demonic, but it almost felt like a human at the same time. And he found the thing that he sensed. In the middle of the crowd, there was a single person dressed in a black hoodie with their hood large enough to cover their faces. Despite this, Kensei believed it was a man based on their build alone.
It was then that the three of them realized the danger and prepared to react, but neither of them could do a single thing since the unknown man was in the middle of several people. And using their powers out in the open would without a doubt cause a scene.
"Nii-san, what're we going to do?"
"I don't know. I don't want to act first and cause him to react, but it doesn't even seem like he's looking at us."
It was as Kensei said, the man wasn't looking toward them, but instead at the people who were around him as if he were looking for someone in particular. Kensei reached his hand behind him causing the space to be distorted and pulled out a bokuto that has some symbols engraved on it. He didn't want to cause a panic by pulling out a real sword and instead pulled out a normal looking wooden one.
"Ken-nii," Kunou walked on the side of him and whispered something out. "Kunou can use the thing she learned from Hahaue, but Kunou doesn't know how long it could laugh."
If it was 'that' thing then it could work and Kensei nodded his head glancing toward Kunou who stood beside him.
"It's fine, let's…."
"…gry…."
"Huh?"
It wasn't Kensei who replied, there was a married couple, a man and woman who walked passed the man who had walked passed the mysterious man for a second. As if on instinct to protect his loved one, the man stood in front of her in a protecting manner as the hooded man starting acting oddly.
"…Hun…gry…. I'm not…satisfied yet…."
As soon as those words left his mouth, Kensei started to take a couple of steps forward with the three girls following behind him. The hooded man placed his hand on his mouth and started shaking around as if he were cold, then he lunged toward the man who stood in front of his lover and….
"Ahhhhhh!"
A pain-filled scream covered the area as the hooded man bit down on the man's shoulder to the point where the shirt he was wearing was dyed red from his blood. This sparked and immediate reaction from the crowd who all started panicking at the stood man bit the man's shoulder harder and harder to where it seemed that he would be able to bite it off.
"Darling?! Somebody help!"
His girlfriend or wife screamed at the crowd as some people started running away in a panic, but there was some man who had rushed toward the hood man in an attempt to pry him off. But, all of them were struggling to pull off the man who didn't seem to budge in the slightest.
"What the hell?!"
"How strong is this guy?!"
"Is he on something?!"
"Somebody call the police!"
Everyone started panicking as the bitten man tried forcing the hooded man off him.
"Claire! Alice! Both of you remain here and calm things down as much as you can!"
Kensei called out Claire as he got into a stance, but both Claire and Alice were confused by what he meant when he told them to 'remain here', but they nodded either way. Soon enough a white light began to radiate from out of his bokuto as Kensei prepared a technique.
"Amagiri-ryuu – Zanmaken Niken."
(Heavenly Mist-Style: Evil-Cutting Sword, Second Sword)
Kensei released a slash used in a manner where no normal person should be able to see it and it sailed towards the hooded man and the people around him.
"Gaaah!"
But instead of hitting the people around him, it was just the hooded man who gained a deep gash on his shoulder forcing him to let go of the man. It was a modified version of the original "Zanmaken", which targets the demon or evil spirit that possessed or is behind a human without harming the latter. Though the people were all confused about what just happened, they were more worried about tending to the wounded man.
"You can't…escape. I'm…still not…satiated!"
The hooded man rushed toward the man again, but before he could do anything, Kensei rushed towards him with his bokuto held out and stood in front of him. It was then that the hooded man's teeth dug into the wooden sword in his hands as Kensei pushed him back.
"Jeez, this guy is stronger than he looks."
Kensei was forcing the man back using his genuine strength and realized if he hadn't infused ki into his bokuto, it would have been broken in half. He didn't know if the hooded man was using his actual strength, but he was still able to push him back nonetheless. Neither of the people behind him questioned anything anymore and every one of them just ran off carrying the injured man.
"Kunou-chan!"
Kensei called out noticing that the hooded man's gaze was following the direction of the man that he just a bit.
"Got it, Ken-nii."
Kunou had her hands out and formed a seal using them, as youki, a power that was exclusive to youkai began to pour outside of her. Soon enough, it started to rain despite it being daytime and before long Kensei, Kunou, and the hooded man all seemed to vanish from sight.
"What happened?"
Claire question.
"I don't know, but it must be a youkai power. Claire, can you modify the memories of the people around here."
"Yea, I just hope that Nii-san and Kunou-san don't get hurt."
Though, neither her nor Kunou got off on the right track and were rival, Claire didn't want harm to come to the girl at all. And she started going around to the people who remained and started to change their memories of all the people in the area. Claire didn't know what would end up happening or who that hooded man was, but things will end up getting more complicated if they had to deal with both him and the exorcists.
A/N: And there goes the seventeenth chapter of DxD – The Last Amagiri, this was the initial introduction of Freed Sellzen our resident sociopath before he went rogue. For those who don't know, the person with him is David Cerro, an exorcist who appears in The Fallen Dog God -SLASHDØG- and acts as the partner and instructor of Freed. If you were to guess, then this current timeline is at least before the incidents of the second volume of SLASHDØG.
Well, onto business, Claire met the first of a long time of exorcists who will be hostile toward her (though not knowing her parentage) but was saved due to the intervention of both Alice and Kensei. All of them soon arrived at Urakyoto and met the beautiful Yasaka who then teased Kensei. Claire and Kunou has all but established their rivalry with one another toward Kensei, but has shown that they can still get along with one another.
Freed and David also mentioned someone referred to as the Demon Eater, then Yasaka informed him of the incident that has been occurring before going out. Kensei and the others ran into a hooded man who took a bike out of someone before being taken away by Kensei and Kunou. The next chapter will be revealing their next fight against the Demon Eater.
Well, I hope that everyone had a Happy News Years. This chapter will mark the start of the new year.
So, until next time.
Kensei's Harem: Alice, Claire, Hisui, Kunou, Yasaka, Lu Lingqi, Mirana, Sarah, Minako, Koneko, Kuroka, Ravel, Amaterasu, Brynhildr.