Welcome to the next chapter of DxD – The Last Amagiri, but before starting the story. Let's answer some reviews:
Altajir95: Thanks. Dealing with Freed alone is troublesome, but now there is someone else stronger than he is who wields a holy sword. Although, he did make the mistake of angering Kensei and Alice. Yep, the Demon Eater will be someone trouble dealing with.
Rider126: Yes, most exorcists and devils do whatever as long as it is apart of their personal beliefs and agendas. For Exorcists, most reject anything that does against their personal belief as shown when they got rid of Asia for healing an injured devil and one of their own instead of excommunicating him. And the angels have no choice but to get rid of dangerous elements that could influence their beliefs due to the system being unstable since God died.
For Devils do whatever due to their arrogance and belief that their status makes them above others and get away with it, the most notable being among the Bael Clan (aside from Sairaorg and Magdaran), several High Class, Higher Up, and Old Devils.
The Demon Eater I
Meanwhile, Kensei, Kunou, and the hooded man found themselves inside a similar location where there wasn't a single person despite there being multiple panicking people. It was one of the abilities of the youkai known as the experts in bewitching people known as Sunshower. Although, Kensei turned around to see that Kunou remained in the same spot and seemed to be struggling a bit as her youki seemed to
"I'm sorry, Ken-nii, but I can't maintain this space much for longer. Kunou is still learning how to do this."
Kunou apologized as she continued to focus on maintaining the sunshower barrier.
"That's alright, I'll finish this up as quickly as possible."
He spoke in a confident tone as he pulled out the katana that he borrowed from Amakuni, then pointed it towards him after unsheathing the hooded man. Kensei started taking several steps forward towards the hooded man so that their fight wouldn't end up dragging in Kunou who was maintaining the barrier.
"Hey, are the guy who has been eating people?"
Kensei questioned as he stood in a prepared stance.
The hooded man remained silent as he started to place his hand on his hand and started erratically scratching his head.
"…I didn't get to eat…. …he got away…. I haven't been satiated yet…. My hunger won't end no matter how many people I devour."
Kensei and Kunou just stared at the hooded man as he continued talking more and more incoherently as an odd aura started to radiate from him.
"I did what I was told when the pain began…. …I ate the devils that I was told to eat…to end the pain, but it didn't last and the pain continued on…. I tried different people…. I tried humans…. I tried youkai…."
"What is this guy talking about, Ken-nii?"
Kunou started feeling more unnerved as the hooded man continued talking about devouring different people that he ran into. Of course, she had met dangerous people in the past, but this person was completely different than a lot of them.
"I don't know, but I won't let him get to you."
Kunou felt her cheeks heat up as she heard those words.
"…wait… …you two have an odd scent… …if I eat either of you, then would the pain stop?"
As soon as that question left his mouth, Kensei became even more alert as the aura around him started to turn a lot more demonic. A chill started to ran down their spines as the hooded man's eyes started shining an ominous red causing two circles underneath the darkness of his hood. Without warning the hooded man rushed toward Kensei at a greater speed than what he was expecting, but not so fast to where he couldn't react.
The hooded man launched a fast jab towards Kensei who avoided it, but the attack did leave a little scrape on his cheek. It was due to the closeness that he realized that the wound that he dealt before had healed thus resulting in a look of shock from him. He recalled the wounds he dealt the hooded man beforehand and it appeared to be too deep to heal without at least some serious medical care.
"How did he heal that fast? That wasn't the kind of wound that could heal that fast."
Kensei took a step backward from the hooded man, but channeled touki into his katana and delivered several slashes on his chest without hesitation.
"Ugh."
The pain soon traveled across his body as he felt blood leaking out from his wound, despite this, the hooded man launched a counter-assault using a strong wide kick aimed at Kensei. He was able to block the kick using the sheath of his katana, but he was still blown backward a great distance. Despite being blown backward, Kensei started to focus ki to increase his vision and noticed that the wounds on his chest started healing on their own.
"This is guy is stronger than a normal person and he has regenerative abilities, but there is still something that is a little weird about him."
Kensei couldn't understand why, but there was an odd yet familiar presence about the man as he continued used to use more of his aura. But, before he could think of anything else, the hooded man rushed forward towards him with his fist pulled back and an ominous aura covering his entire fist. Based on the position, he was aiming for his center to cause immediate damage, which is something that someone who at least trained in basics would do. In response to that, Kensei stood in a prepared stance and met his aura-covered fist with an aura-covered katana.
As both their strikes met with one another, there was a great impact that caused a slight shock wave between the two of them. Kensei was the first to step back from the hooded man, then aimed a slash aim for his neck, but the man avoided it by moving his head toward the side causing a slight cut in his hood.
"Despite appearing to be mentally unstable, this guy appears to be well-trained. Huh?"
"…time…running…out of time…."
The hooded man started to act more erratically like before as he held out his hand and started to fire off an assortment of demonic bullets toward him. Neither of the power contained in each of them appeared weak at all, which was shown as when most of them exploded either on their own or on contact with the ground there was an impact that caused a crack in the space.
"Kunou-chan are you doing alright?"
"Ken-nii, Kunou can hold out as long as possible, but she is reaching her limit."
As Kunou said, more cracks started to appear in the space that the two of them were fighting in at the moment. Kensei nodded his head with the intent of finishing off the man before something else happened. In response to this, the man held out both his hands covering them in a stronger aura and he rushed toward him.
"Whatever this guy is, he can heal his injuries even against normal techniques then how about this," Kensei said as he stood in a prepared stance as flames started coating the entire blade. "Amagiri-ryuu…."
The moment that the hooded man appeared in front of him, he attacked him using both auras causing a powerful attack where Kensei was. Believing that he won, the hooded man waited for him to appear from the epicenter of the attack, but stopped as he felt heat coming behind him. He turned his head realizing that it was Kensei whose blade was coated in flames.
"…Enzan."
Kensei slashed the hooded man using his flame-coated sword causing a stood diagonal slash extending across his chest causing blood to escape from his mouth. To avoid being caught in the attack, he used the same footwork and maneuvers found in Hakkesho, which he learned.
"Even if this guy can heal from his injuries, he won't be able to heal if the wound continues burning."
That was the assumption that Kensei came up with which was an honest opinion as the hooded man realized his wounds weren't healing due to it continuing to burn.
"Oooooohh…. Oooooohh…. …Aaaaaah!"
The hooded man screamed in pain as his wound continued burning more and more by the moment, although his hoodie remained without burning away. It caused Kensei to believe that it must have been enhanced using magic or specially made using some materials. His injuries, however, didn't deter him as the hooded man still tried going towards both Kensei and Kunou.
"…starving. This pain is becoming unbearable! …stop getting intervening!"
The man rushed forward towards him opening his mouth wide revealing his sharpened teeth, which had shocked the two of them for a moment. His mouth opened wider than a normal person as he attempted to bite Kensei, but it was blocked as Kensei coated his sword in touki before he could bite down on him.
"What the hell are his teeth made of?"
Kensei grunted as he felt himself being pushed back as the hooded man bit down onto his sword despite it being enhanced using touki. A feat, which he felt odd since his teeth shouldn't be as hard as his sword until he was at least modified in some fashion. It was then that the hooded man reached his hand out and grasped both Kensei's shoulders using a tight grip.
"Ngh!"
"Raaaaah!"
The hooded man let out a wide growl as he pulled his head back releasing his grip on his sword, then moved his head forward. And—
"Aaaaaah!"
The hooded man bit into his shoulder causing a searing pain that spread across him as the man bit deeper in his shoulder, which caused Kunou to make a shocked look. At around the same time, the barrier that Kunou placed up broke apart sending them back to their original location.
In the same location, Claire and Alice managed to clear the area so that no one would end up getting involved if the hooded man reappeared. Due to the seriousness of the situation, the police were called and arrived on scene but Claire used her demonic powers to get them and everyone else to leave.
"I hope that the two of them are alright?"
"Claire, this is Kensei we're talking about. Of course, he's going to be…."
Just as the two of them were conversing with one another, three people soon appeared in front of their eyes, the first being Kunou who slumped on the ground exhausted.
"Kunou-san?"
"…help…Ken-nii."
After getting those words out, Kunou pointed toward Kensei who had just been bitten by the hooded man causing an immediate reaction from Alice and Claire. Both girls went straight into the attack with the oldest one bringing out one of her humanoid monsters and the youngest brought out her demonic power. Before either of them could take on an immediate stance to react, Kensei gritted his teeth and stood in a prepared stance using his free hand, which he removed from his sword.
"Fuuuu."
Kensei let a slight breath escape from his mouth as his fist was covered in a bluish-white aura, then he launched a quick and sharp punch in the abdomen of the hooded man causing an impact that the three girls could hear.
"Guah."
Blood escape from the mouth of the hooded man as he was forced from off Kensei causing him to put his hand in front of his mouth. Kensei placed his hand on the wound with an annoyed look after being bit. That last strike had senjutsu infused in it causing internal damage to the hooded man. After noticing the wound that was dealt him, Alice went to Kensei's side with one of her monsters on her side. Claire, on the other hand, remained on the side of Kunou who was exhausted from placing up that barrier and acted as her support.
Despite the internal injuries dealt to him, the hooded man started laughing irregularly as he savored the red substance that entered his mouth.
"What a unique taste. …this is different from the other humans that I devoured before. I can feel stronger from just tasting your blood."
"What the hell…?"
Kensei asked in a hushed tone as the hooded man spoke more coherently, but it couldn't be doubted that he did take some damage after bring hit using senjutsu. And at least Alice on his side, so he could deal more damage to the hooded man despite his wound. However, before anything else could occur, there was a raised voice that reached their ears.
"Hold it right there, Demon Eater?!"
Claire was shaken as she heard that voice since it was the exorcist who wounded her in the first place, David and Freed appeared out of nowhere at the 'Demon Eater' glanced in their direction.
"Tsk, so it was you who was sent after me? I'm not strong enough to withstand strikes from Galatine."
As soon as those words left his mouth, the Demon Eater started running away from the scene at high-speed with both David and Freed starting to follow after him. There was a slight moment in their chase of the Demon Eater where the oldest exorcist took a glance towards the four of them before running toward the Demon Eater.
"Well, I suppose that our fight, for now, is over."
She pointed out Kensei took a seat on a wooden bench placing his hand on the spot where the Demon Eater had bitten him, which caused Claire to approach him.
"Are you alright?"
"Yea, I didn't expect that bastard to bite me though."
"Did you find out anything about him during your fight?"
Alice questioned him this time as she took a seat next to him as a questioning expression appeared on his face.
"I could sense that hooded man or Demon Eater wasn't normal, but he didn't feel like he was a devil or some kind of demon. He wasn't a half-devil or any other kind of hybrid like Claire, but he had an aura that felt similar to that of a demon. Each time he attacked, the more human he felt and the more agitated he started to get. Jeez, the more I attempt to figure it out the more confused I get."
Kensei said as he placed his hand on his forehead.
"…Ken-nii, I think that it would be best if we returned to Urakyoto and talk to Hahaue."
Kunou said in an exhausted manner as Claire assisted her back to her feet and onto the bench.
"Nii-san, do we need to contact Zane and the others for help."
Hearing that question from Claire caused Kensei to think for a second about the situation, which soon resulted in him shaking his head.
"Nah, this isn't a large scale battle so we don't need to get Zane or anyone else in Kibou involved. All this is just a small fight against two exorcists and some weirdo, but if things worse than this then we might just need to rely on Yasaka-san. As long as Yasaka-san is here, then we don't have to concern ourselves with just these guys."
"What would make you think that?"
Alice questioned in a curious tone.
"A Kyuubi is an important and essential existence in Kyoto. It wouldn't be an understatement to think that her not being here or her death would result in things here being unstable. Well, we can talk more back at the mansion. I don't feel like dealing with those exorcists if they decide to come back."
Having said those words, Kensei stood in front of Kunou crouched down and his back facing her. Knowing what it meant, the young nine-tailed fox got onto his back and wrapped her arms around his front. She smiled happily as she was being given a piggyback ride by her "Ken-nii", which was further noted as she wrapped her arms around him a lot tighter than normal.
"Bleh."
In response to this, Claire's left brow and mouth began twitching out of nothing more than an annoyance. If not in an attempt to either lighten up the tense mood or at least stir up her rival, Kunou stuck out her tongue toward Claire as a superior look adorned her face. Or at least that was what Kensei wanted to believe.
"…damn fox."
Claire spoke in a hostile tone, Kunou picked up on it sparking another argument between the two of them.
Both the teen laughed at the childish confrontation between two girls who hailed from well-respected families but were acting their age. Neither Claire or Kunou stopped their back-and-forth with one another until returning to the main mansion inside Urakyoto.
"I see."
Yasaka said in a low tone.
After arriving there, Kensei stood in front of Yasaka shirtless as he was having his shoulder wrapped up by Alice using the medical supplies from the kitsune attendants. He did use senjutsu to heal a little, but the wound that he sustained was too deep to be healed completely using a single treatment. Although, it was noted that there was a noticeable scar located on his left side.
Inside of the room, there were also other people inside of the room who sat next to Yasaka, most notable among them being an old man with a long nose who was the Leader of the Tengu, which maintained a deep relationship with the Kyuubi since ancient times.
Claire, on the other hand, took taken Kunou to her bedroom to rest after extending her power making a Sunshowet Barrier. 'Don't think too much about it, I'm just repaying the favor after she helped me', Claire replied to them in that manner despite neither of them asking or saying anything. She became even more embarrassed as Kensei and Alice stared back at her wearing a grin on their faces.
"I didn't think that it would be this kind of situation. This 'Demon Eater' appears to be indeed a plausible threat for him to somehow attain strength through devouring other beings. If this continues then every person either normal or supernatural will end up becoming targeted by this individual."
"He appears to be somehow connected to the exorcists," Alice pointed out as she finished wrapping up Kensei's wound and closed up the medical kit. "It could be just an assumption, but this Demon Eater can be related to the Church in some way since he appeared to know him and the sword in his hand."
"We don't know what his connection if with either them or the Church," Kensei said as he put his shirt back on. "It could be that he is a former exorcist since he doesn't appear to be a supernatural being as this 'Demon Eater' did felt more human rather than a devil. It could be that he was modified or experimented on to be able to gain power from devouring people and those teeth were durable enough to withstand biting my sword."
After recalling the previous incident, Kensei placed his hand on the place where the Demon Eater bit him causing a slight stinging sensation showing just how much it injured him. Seeing that caused both Alice and Yasaka to be a little worried about him, but the latter was the first to speak up.
"Kensei-kun, there are no words that can express the gratitude for you protecting Kunou."
Yasaka said in a truly grateful tone as she bowed in front of Kensei without concern about the difference in position between them (not that she cared about it). It just showed how much she appreciated him rescuing her precious daughter, but Kensei found himself in an awkward position since he didn't want to see Yasaka bowing in front of him like this.
"Y-Yasaka-san, but you don't have to bow like this," Kensei said as he stood up a little. "It's natural that I'd fight to protect Kunou-chan. It was the promise that I made to her after becoming her…fiancé. Of course, I wouldn't let a weirdo like that near her."
Once those words left his mouth, Kensei felt a little embarrassed, which caused a smile to adorn the face of both Yasaka and Alice. Yasaka stood up straight after hearing those words, then smiled brightly.
"I see, but we should consider the danger of this situation. If the Demon Eater does gain strength as he continues to devour people including their blood, then there will end up being more and more victims. Based on your explanation it appears as if the strength that he gains don't last long the more he continues using it and in a weakened condition, his mental condition also worsens."
"It would also be smart to inform the youkai to be out on the lookout for the Demon Eater and to be careful since if he were to eat someone stronger, then he might end up being a bigger pain to deal with."
"I guess that it would be a bad idea to send out monsters to act as scouts."
Alice added after Kensei, realizing that her monsters made from her sacred gear might end up also getting eaten, then the Demon Eater might end up taking their characteristics if they did eat them. It was a situation that none of the people in the room have experienced before.
"I would suggest partnering with the exorcists sent after them," Yasaka pointed out before a grim expression also formed on her face. "Under normal circumstances, it'll be a good idea to find out more about this Demon Eater but I don't believe that those two would be keen on the idea of working together."
"There are various people who chose to fight supernatural beings as their sole purpose, Yasaka-hime," a tone of respect came from the Tengu Leader who crossed his arms. "There are those who defeat the evil ones following a righteous patch and there are those who view all supernatural beings as a threat, then seek to eliminate them without justification. Amagiri-dono, since you encountered these individuals on two occasions what would be your opinion be on them?"
Despite being older than him with a higher status, the Tengu Leader spoke to Kensei in a respectful tone, which could be attributed to him being Kunou's fiancé. Kensei thought about the question that was asked of him before he opened up his mouth to speak.
"I don't know either of them on a personal level nor would I," Kensei said with a slight bit of distaste. "But, I think that older exorcist named David would be a little of both when it comes to supernatural beings or at the very least when it comes to devils. He would be the kind of a fervent believer in his religion and God who would just eliminate a devil for the simple fact that they're a devil, then believes that their teachings will be all the justification that he needs to eliminate them even if it's a child. I don't think that he would be stubborn and inflexible when it comes to working alongside another faction unrelated to theirs, well the last one is just a personal guess."
"What about the teen following him?"
"I don't think he's either," Kensei said without hesitating. "I fought that person and he didn't seem to be someone who fights supernatural beings because he sees them as good or evil. He just seems to fight them for the purpose just to fight them without bias. If there is a personal connection with the Demon Eater and the Church, then either the two of them don't know or they wouldn't tell people from another faction."
All the higher-ups in the room took his honest opinions as a reasonable conclusion when concerning someone of a different faction who could even attack a child without reason. It was also the fact that David hadn't made even the slightest bit of contact to inform them about the situation with the 'Demon Eater', which meant that they didn't have the desire to make contact, to begin with.
"If it is correct that this Demon Eater can become more powerful if he devours supernatural beings, then Yasaka-hime, you might end up being targeted as well."
"A similar thought crossed my mind."
"Huh, why?"
Alice questioned Kensei who she remained next to but whispered in a low enough tone that she wouldn't disrupt the conversation that the adults were having.
"Do you recall what I said about the Kyuubi being an important and essential existence to Kyoto," Kensei asked in a similar low tone as Alice nodded her head. "All of Kyoto is a kind of device for various powers including spiritual power through the numerous powerful leylines that runs all across Kyoto, which extends to the famous sites and shrines that act as power sites themselves. As the Leader of Kyoto, Yasaka has access to all the spiritual power within Kyoto itself."
"W-Wow, you weren't kidding when you said that we didn't need to call Zane and the others."
"Yea, but a dangerous scene could occur if she were to die," he added with a grimmer look. "The Kyuubi acts as the center for the leylines in Kyoto, so what do you think would happen if the person who acts as the controller of all that power were to die?"
"…."
Alice didn't need to say anything as an idea had already entered her mind if that much power were to go out of control if the person keeping all of it stable were to die.
"If someone were to kill Yasaka-san, then everything will become unstable, the same thing could happen if she's not in Kyoto for a long time."
"I can see why that would bring great concern. If the Demon Eater were to devour Yasaka-san, even if he doesn't gain control over those leylines, everything will become unstable. And if he does gain control over them, then it'll be almost impossible to bring him down."
"Kensei-kun."
Kensei stopped talking with Alice for a moment as Yasaka called out for him in a gentle yet serious tone befitting a dignified leader. He turned in her direction as she gave him a generous look before speaking.
"Kensei-kun, if possible, I would like for you and the others to continue enjoying your trip to Kyoto with Kunou for the time. Although, due to the situation, I would also like the four of you to remain on alert. All of the youkai will all be on alert and positioned at different locations in case the Demon Eater arrives there. Kensei-kun if possible is it possible for you to create some shikigami that could act as surveillance?"
"Yea, I learned to create shikigami over a year ago to for surveillance purposes and to warn me if something less than friendly started attacking people in Kibou Town. Though not as effective as people like my grandfather who practically had eyes everywhere, but they're effective enough."
"Good, could you please create a few during your outing with the others to ensure that you all aren't attacked?"
Kensei could tell that Yasaka was looking out their best interests wanting them to relish in their trip around Kyoto without dealing with as little issues as possible. He couldn't help smiling at the level of concern that she has been showing to them and nodded his head in agreement not seeing a reason to dispute her.
"Well, why don't we all continue our conversation about dealing with this situation."
[Right.]
Every person inside the room agreed to the suggestion of Yasaka who smiled in response to that, seeing each of the people in the room as those who she could trust and their talk had proceeded as such.
After the meeting finished, Kensei and the others planned on entering the large baths located inside the mansion; which was traditional Japanese-styled much like other things in Urakyoto and made using wood. The baths were separated between men and women in addition to being spacious enough to fit fifty people. Kensei went inside of the male open bath, the girls, on the other hand, went inside of the female open bath.
Although, the initial thought process of the three girls was to join him, but couldn't since he wasn't alone as other men were using it. It meant that all of the three girls were together inside the female hot bath washing their bodies before entering the water.
"Ahhh, this is one of the best parts of Japan. I've always wanted to visit and onsen and just relax in the water."
Alice said as she let out a relaxed sigh.
"I know that Alice-nee since you love taking long hot baths back at home."
She settled into the hot bath as Claire and Kunou relaxed beside, both girls shared the same opinions as the older girl. All three of them felt the fatigue and stiffness caused by today's events slowly starting to be washed away as their bodies' felt the relaxing temperature of the bath.
"Ah, I love taking baths here after a long day."
"Well, that is something that we can agree on."
Kunou and Claire said without a hint of aggression between them.
"So, Kunou how are you doing?"
"Hmm, I'm doing alright, Alice-san," Kunou replied in her usual chipper tone. "I haven't used 'Sunshower Barrier' outside of practicing with Hahaue, but if it was for Ken-nii, then Kunou would have done it again even is she was exhausted."
"But, that does appear to take a lot of power to maintain."
"Uhhh, Kunou just isn't used to using it," Kunou said as she stretched her arms. "But, if she continues training, then Kunou will be able to maintain it for a lot longer than now. After all, it wouldn't be right for both a Kyuubi and future queen to be unable to master one of the powers of the kitsune known for bewitching people."
Kunou declared with a great deal of optimism, which most people would find cute and endearing.
"Well, I think that it is an interesting power to be able to create something like that."
Claire said as she stared forward, looking as the other female attendants were inside of the hot bath with them, as well as bathing their bodies while conversing with one another.
"Well, I do want to be helpful to Ken-nii. But, there is something that I want to know."
"What that?"
Alice questioned feeling curious about the question asked by the younger girl.
"What do you two like about Ken-nii?"
Kunou questioned as she turned toward both Alice and Claire who stared back at her.
"Huh? Where did this come from?"
"I was just curious since Kunou can think of a lot of things that she loves about Ken-nii. And so, Kunou was a bit curious about what the two of you like about Ken-nii."
Hearing that explanation from Kunou, Alice and Claire started thinking over the question Kunou asked the two of them. Before long, Alice was the first person to give her response.
"Well, there was a point where I was too afraid to fall asleep on Hagun Island," Alice replied causing Kunou to be confused while Claire understood what that meant. "It isn't all that interesting, but I lived in this small town in Italy with both my parents who ran this popular restaurant in our home downstairs that was almost always filled. When I was sick, my father would run the restaurant and my mother would keep me company and pain with me…all the love that I have toward art came from her. But, that peaceful life changed."
"What do you mean changed?"
Kunou questioned, which caused Claire to glanced down at the water.
"During classes, I fell asleep and had a nightmare about monsters attacking my hometown," Alice replied as she gripped her hands. "And when I woke up, it all came true and before I knew it there were monsters that attacked everywhere around our small town. I asked my classmates…my friends about what happened, but all of them avoided me without telling me why. I…I don't want to go into all the depressing details, but it didn't take long for me to realize that the incident was caused because of me."
"…oh."
Kunou said in a saddened tone not expecting to hear something so sad from Alice, but a soft smile soon adorned on the face of the blonde-haired teen as she placed her hand on Kunou's head in a comforting manner.
"You're so adorable," Alice said that last part in an Italian accent. "When I came to Hagun Island, I was too afraid of falling asleep thinking that the same thing that might happen. Several of the people with sacred gears tried to help me control it but I was too scared and avoided people altogether, but monsters continued to be born due to that fear. I didn't think that all of it would end after meeting some boy that I didn't know at the time…he fought to ensure that I would be able to sleep."
Having said those words Alice's cheeks started turning red after recalling some words that she said to her at that moment.
"'If your fear is what birth these monsters, then why not live with me and Claire since one of the causes of fear is due to being alone,'" Alice said as she smiled brightly. "I didn't think that someone could be nice to someone else who created monsters that attacked people around him…and even though, that scar on his side was caused due to one of them. You can't help but fall for someone like that."
"I share the same opinion as you Alice-nee. Despite going through his problems with his clan and mother, Nii-san still worried about the issues of two people that someone wouldn't want to associate with."
Kunou marveled after hearing the truly heartfelt reasons of Alice and the honest words from Claire, which caused a similar feeling of compassion to bubble up within herself.
"Ararara, what an interesting conversation between three girls in love with a single young teen."
All three of them heard a familiar voice coming behind them, which caused the three girls to turn toward the older woman who entered the bath next to them. Entering the bath was Yasaka who showed off her voluptuous figure to the three girls who stared at her large breasts.
""Could my/Kunou's breasts grow to be at least as close to Yasaka-san's/Hahaue's breasts?"
Claire and Kunou questioned as they touched their still growing chests.
"I hope that my breasts don't grow to be that big. It would be a pain walking around."
Alice thought with her opinion on the manner being a lot different from the two younger girls as she looked down at her breasts which were still in the process of growing.
"I was curious since I heard you three talking about your reasons for loving Kensei-kun."
"I was asking what Alice-san and Claire-san liked about Ken-nii."
"I see," Yasaka said letting a slight laugh escape from her mouth and placed her hand in front of her mouth. "But, due either of you know the one thing that Kensei-kun would refuse to eat?"
"Of course, Kunou knows," Kunou declared as she stuck out her chest in a proud manner. "As Ken-nii's fiancée, Kunou would need to know about what foods he likes the most."
"I, of course, know the one thing that Nii-san hates. And that…."
""Green peppers.""
Both Claire and Kunou said in unison, which Yasaka noted and laughed at.
"Hahahaha," Yasaka laughed as she looked toward them. "I didn't think that someone such as Kensei-kun would have such an aversion towards green peppers."
"It was kinda noticeable since he would scoot all the green peppers far from his food," Alice added almost close to laughing. "I make me wonder what would happen if he did eat green peppers."
"Ken-nii's face always crunches up whenever someone attempts to feed him anything with green peppers."
"Kunou, I don't think that you could say such things since you have an aversion to eating fish."
Yasaka stifled a bit in laughter as she recalled all the times that Kunou would refuse to eat fish whenever the two of them were having dinner. At the mention of that from her mother, Kunou's face turned bright red as she started groaning due to the situation of having that revealed.
"Ah, I see."
"Don't give Kunou that smug look, Claire-san!"
Kunou glared towards Claire with an agitated look on her face as the latter did send a smug look towards her direction.
"Hahaha, it sure does feel good to be in love with someone."
Yasaka thought as she continued to look at the three girls continue to interact with one another.
"Achoo!"
Meanwhile, inside of the male's bath, Kensei sneezed as he relaxed in the hot water as he scratched his nose.
"What's the matter, Amagiri-dono?"
The Tengu Leader questioned as he sat near him.
"I don't know. I think that someone's talking about me," Kensei replied as he crossed his hands behind his head as a chill ran across his spine. "I don't know why, but I feel a little agitated right now."
"Could it be that you're concerned about this Demon Eater."
"I'm more worried about the number of people that person is going to devour to gain enough power to a counter-attack against either us or those exorcists. But, I still think that it was odd that his power started running down as he continued fighting. I'm guessing that whoever modified on him either screwed up or screwed him over, but I'll just have to wait to see if he'll answer some questions. Until then, I'll just enjoy this."
Kensei said in a relaxed tone as leaned back into the bath as the Tengu Leader laughed a bit.
"I've encountered a lot of people among the Amagiri Clan in the past and each of them has been extraordinary in either kindness or prowess. I hope that you would be able to find whoever could commit such a heinous act."
"Same here."
Those were the last words that Kensei said as he glanced toward the night sky of Urakyoto above his head.
In another location, where no humans would enter, the man dubbed as the Demon Eater found himself inside of a forest against one of the trees. It was almost moments after running from Kensei and the others, where he had an encounter with his pursuers. All of the wounds that he received weren't from the youngest of the duo who used a basic light sword and gun, but all the wounds that he received came from David who wielded Galatine.
He was able to escape using a smokescreen, but the wounds dealt to him by Galatine were healing much slower than before. Even before clashing against the exorcist duo, he was already in a terrible situation from the internal damage caused in his fight against Kensei.
"…can't heal…. …not healing…as fast."
Although, he was able to speak more coherently after taking a minor bite out of Kensei, who was a lot different from all the humans that he ate before. However, he found himself in a severe state where all his mental functions were falling sending the Demon Eater into a more desperate situation. All the pain that he experienced before was not only rushing back at all once like an avalanche, but it was worse than ever before.
"…If I can bite…no if I can devour that kid…then the pain would cease…correct."
He questioned to himself placing both hands on his face clawing at his skin to where it seemed as if he'd end up peeling off his skin. The Demon Eater felt as if he were an addict going through serious withdrawal.
"Well, it seems as if I've come across something interesting."
The Demon Eater could hear a voice coming closer towards him, although, he couldn't recognize it. It wasn't just that he couldn't recognize the voice, but whoever was talking to him was altering their voice somehow. As soon as the unknown person came close enough to his position, their tone sounded far more fascinated after getting a closer look at the Demon Eater.
"After sitting inside of a single room for seemed to be months, I thought that a little walk would do the trick. But, I didn't think that I would come across someone like you."
Standing in front of him was someone dressed in what seemed to be a black cloak with a hood covering his face to where he couldn't make one single distinguishing feature about him. Based off of just height and build alone, this cloaked person can be in his older teens if not even a young adult. In most situations, the first thought that would come to him was to devour the person standing in front of him to regain and gain some more strength.
However, the person in front of him was giving off a presence that pushed aside all those instinctual thoughts. In this situation, it was almost a predator coming in contact with something superior.
"…."
Not a single word could leave his mouth as he was left speechless in front of this person.
"Based on your presence, I can at least tell that some busybodies had the idea of either enhancing people with the genetic material of supernatural beings. I'm guessing that you're more of a chimera who devours people in an attempt to add their characteristics onto your cells and increase your strength, however, you appear to be almost an unstable subject."
The Demon Eater couldn't utter a single word in the presence of this individual. The unknown man continued staring at him like an interesting subject, which stirred up some memories in his head.
"Are you sure that this will be alright?"
"Believe us, it won't cause much discomfort the modifications might sound irregular, but they are necessary if our dreams are to come true. You do want to be the strongest ever. All you have to do is undergo slight modifications, then do one simple task each time and everything will turn out for the best."
"Well, I'll put my trust in you."
"Trust us, after this process is completed there won't be a single monster who you won't be able to defeat."
Those words sounded sweet to his ears since it would result in his lifelong desires being realized, but things have turned out for nothing but the worse. Each time he doesn't devour people his body started undergoing a series of terrible pains and even then it doesn't last all that long in a fight.
"To me, it appears as if you're using more strength than your modified body can provide and even those cells that you absorbed don't appear to last that long before dying out. And even your other functions seem to be slowing down just to keep from shutting down. If I didn't know any better, it seems that whoever performed this procedure used you as a test subject for their real project. Even if you can regenerate and heal your wounds, you continue burning through power making a single battle impossible without gorging yourself on humans or supernatural beings beforehand."
"…lies….all of it were just lies."
The Demon Eater felt betrayed as he thought back to the people who said that they were trying to 'help' him and make him stronger than before, but he felt the cloaked man placing his hand on his shoulder. It wasn't the kind of sensation that felt threatening, but comforting.
"I can understand your feelings," the cloaked individual said. "It always seems to be the people that you should trust that ends up telling you down and tossing aside the people who serve no purpose as if they were an infection that needs to be erased. Should people like that be allowed to get away from it without at least a bit of resistance?"
The Demon Eater could feel anger even in his altered voice as the clocked individual seemed to let more of their emotions out in the open before calming down.
"Hah, I'm sorry, I got a little bit too emotional there. But, I might have something that could relieve you of your pain and make you feel better at least. I just want to know one thing before we get started."
"…what's that?"
"There's a certain residual nostalgic power that I sense from you and I just want to know one thing," the cloaked man said in a more hushed tone. "Did the person who wounded you happen to be a kid just in his teens by now with black hair and use an attack started with 'Amagiri-ryuu'?"
"…yes, why."
"I see," the cloaked man didn't appear either mad or happy. "Well, that little situation will have to wait a little longer. But, this process isn't that long or complicated due to your unique constitution. And I promise that it'll be a lot more filling than gorging yourself on regular humans."
"…what…is…it?"
In response to his question, the cloaked man snapped his fingers causing a magic circle, which the Demon Eater didn't recognize to appear. Appearing from the magic circle covered in bright light was a large creature that had an assortment of magic characters wrapped around it acting as a kind of binding.
"I stumbled across this demon that some clan managed to seal and then I unsealed it thinking that I could use it for a little experiment of mine. But, I later found some group who were working on something far more interesting and I decided to get whatever information I could from them. And since I don't need this demon anymore, I was planning on just releasing it somewhere else. However, I think that it would give you some use if you were to eat it, then add all its strength onto yours."
"…won't last…for a…fight…."
"You don't need to be concerned about that, this thing will make a greater difference compared to the others that you've eaten in the past. And who knows, it might be able to fix that little imbalance of yours," the cloaked male in a generous tone informed him before smirking and giving off a slightly different presence altogether. "But, just to make sure that it doesn't happen again. I think that there is someone else that you can devour."
The cloaked man leaned forward toward the Demon Eater's ear and whispered a name in his ear before standing back up. And with a single snap of his fingers, all the bindings that were wrapped around the demon vanished as the cloaked man started walking off somewhere.
"You're free to do whatever you want and if you decide not to eat it, I would probably leave in an hour or so since I heard that it was a little difficult to deal with in the past."
Those were the final words that the cloaked man left as he vanished as if melding into the darkness of the night leaving no trace that he was there aside from the demon. Once he departed, the Demon Eater could sense that it was stronger than anyone he's eaten before causing him to salivate and grinned revealing his sharpened teeth.
"I can eat this…then defeat those little brats and…even that exorcist."
The Demon Eater rushed toward the demon, then proceeded to devour it without leaving a single portion left as a sudden unknown change began. He could feel his heart beating faster and faster as he continued to devour all the demon as an unknown aura started wrapping around him giving off an ominous light, which caused several sounds that originated from inside of himself.
"Ouuuuuuuu!"
The Demon Eater let out a massive wail that traveled across the forest he was inside causing the nearby animals to escape from the area and some people could hear it as well but didn't know what the make of it. Despite him walking from the location, the unknown individual remained close enough to be able to both hear and sense the presence of the Demon Eater.
"Well, at least this will ensure that he can fight normally, but I didn't think that devouring that demon would result in this kind of effect. Though I'm curious about who modified and turned him into a chimera, I guess that'll all just have to wait," the unknown man said before starting at the moon and recalled what the Demon Eater said. "I guess that I can wait and see how the Last Amagiri will be able to defeat the Demon Eater."
A/N: And there goes the eighteenth chapter of DxD – The Last Amagiri, in this chapter there was a battle between Kensei and the Demon Eater with Kunou showing off one of her Kitsune powers. In their fight, it was shown that the Demon Eater could heal from his wounds and even gained some power after taking a small bite out of Kensei. There was also just a normal conversation between the three girls, as well as a lot of background about Alice's past, which will be explained in the future.
Near the end, there was an unknown figure who encountered the Demon Eater and handed over a demon to increase his strength. He also appears to know about Kensei. All of this will act as an introduction to a lot of conflicts that will occur soon.
So, until next time.
Kensei's Harem: Alice, Claire, Hisui, Kunou, Yasaka, Lu Lingqi, Mirana, Sarah, Minako, Koneko, Kuroka, Ravel, Amaterasu, Brynhildr.