Welcome to the next chapter of DxD – The Last Amagiri, but before starting the story. Let's answer some reviews:
Altajir95: Thanks for that. There will end up being an eventual confrontation between both of them and also Demon Eater with some surprises. That person will be revealed in the future and I thought that just small talk between the girls would be a great addition.
Highdxdfan: I started to create Original Characters unrelated to the usual devil groups to make it original, but I did think about making one where Sona reincarnates someone into her group since she's one of my favorite characters with a noble goal. If I did do that, then I guess that I would have to replace Saji giving the character his sacred gear.
Nahariyanash: That's what I had planned since becoming more introduced to Vasco Strada. More so as a lot of stories have their characters being either devils or some other supernatural being. I know that a lot of girls among his harem are supernatural, but that was the reason that I had thought about him learning senjutsu from Sun Wukong.
The Demon Eater II
The next morning, Kensei found himself standing inside the forest, where the entrance leading into Urakyoto was located. After standing in position, he created multiple creatures shaped like Asian dragons whose size was similar to Yu-Long in his miniature state. These were shikigami, spiritual creatures that could take form as either animals or beasts which onmyoji can create from their spiritual power. All of the shikigami circled Kensei in an orderly manner almost like soldiers awaiting orders.
"Alright, all of you know your orders. Go and locate the Demon Eater, then inform me when you do."
Kensei ordered their creator, all of the shikigami started flying off into various directions to locate their target, the bonus of using shikigami was that their presence remained noticed by everyone aside from their creator. It wasn't his forte, but even at a basic level, shikigami was still effective as scouts. After seeing all of them dispersing in different directions, Alice approached him with a question in mind.
"Are you certain that I shouldn't send out monsters using my sacred gear?"
"I don't know. If the Demon Eater eats them, then…."
"I thought about it last night. But, what if I made it so that neither of them would be registered as being odd?"
"How?"
Kensei asked curious to see what Alice would end up coming up with, soon enough, her shadow started moving around and from them were several normal-looking birds. All of the birds started fluttering around until they were perched on the branches around them.
"Alright, I think that they'll work out if the Demon Eater doesn't notice them."
He expressed himself with an impressed look on his face, which placing his hand on top of her head resulting in a small smile gracing her face.
"Alright. Go along now."
Alice said waving her hand, causing the normal-looking birds to flutter about in various directions.
"Ken-nii, Hahaue said that the kitsune should be positioned at all the possible locations that the Demon Eater will arrive and the others should be performing recon around the area."
"That's good. But, let's hope that neither of them gets injured or killed in the process."
"Nii-san, what should we do if we run into this Demon Eater aside from fighting him?"
Claire questioned as the four of them started walking towards the civilization of Kyoto, but Kensei started to think about that question.
"That was unstable enough to attack someone out in the open. If that happens, then you would need to use your demonic power to erase the memories of those nearby. But, if things get more complex, then we might need to attempt to detain him if possible or lead him in clear sight of others. But, the question is if he arrives."
"What does that mean?"
"Well, he didn't seem to in such good shape the last time we encountered one another. And if he needs to devour a lot of people just to be able to fight for a couple of minutes. I just hope that we find him soon before he decides to gorge himself on several other people."
That thought alone caused the four of them to feel fear about the damage that the Demon Eater could cause in a small period. It seemed almost like needless sacrifices since the strength gained from eating just a handful of people wouldn't last all that long and might end up killing a good portion of the people in Kyoto if he continued to roam around free.
"We'll either capture him or kill him. But, I'm kinda interested in the connection that he has with those exorcists."
"…right?"
Claire seemed dejected after thinking about those two exorcists who attacked her out of nowhere and the oldest one would have killed her if it wasn't for Alice and Kensei arriving on time. As her thoughts become more nervous as she continued thinking about them, Claire felt a hand on top of her head.
"You don't have to be worried about those two, Claire. If they arrive, I'll just kick their asses especially that holier-than-thou old man wielding that sword."
"But, Nii-san that isn't a normal sword you know that."
"Yea, I kinda got that feeling after clashing with him for the first time. I can tell that exorcist is better than Hayashi and including that sword makes things a little more complicated," Kensei thought about to the incident. "It was the first time that I saw a holy sword and I even nicked the katana that I borrowed from Amakuni-san."
"Ah, Amakuni-sama," Kunou said in a respectful tone recalling hearing that he met 'that' Amakuni. "Ken-nii, didn't you mention that Amakuni-sama was supposed to forging a katana for you."
"Yea, but I haven't heard anything from him yet," Kensei replied. "I do recall that he was also working on another project when he was asked to make it. I don't have the right to complain about not receiving news on whether or not it'll be finished. But, I can't wait to swing it after it reaches my hands."
The three girls stared at Kensei oddly as stars sparkled in his eyes at the just the sheer thought about wielding a sword that the Immortal Swordsmith would forge for him.
"Nii-san has that look in his eye again."
"He looks almost like a little kid again."
Both Claire and Alice pointed out tilting their heads to the side with their odd glances being similar to each other.
"Ken-nii, please don't perform Tsujigiri on the gang members of Kyoto again."
Kunou said as she seemed serious about that accusation, Tsujigiri, was an old term when some samurai would test either a new katana and/or fighting style on random defenseless bystanders during nighttime. After hearing that from Kunou, both Claire and Alice stared at him with a shocked look as Kensei stared back at them.
"They were the ones who started the fight," he admitted not hiding anything about fighting against gangs. "I was just trying to take Kunou-chan back home and minding my own business, then some newbie I guess got all mad since I supposedly bumped into him. One thing led to another, then I got into a fight with a gang."
"Nii-san, why is it when you go anywhere, you somehow get into a fight with someone."
"I don't know. I guess that I just attract trouble from all the wrong people. But, I kinda did test some new nonlethal techniques on them that I just learned. …don't give me that look."
Kensei looked towards his three companions noticing that Claire, Alice, and Kunou were giving him a blank look. After finishing their little banter, the four continued with their tour around Kyoto with the Princess herself acting as their guide.
Meanwhile, in another location, there both David and Freed were walking around in the forest, the younger white-haired exorcist was kicking around a rock out of sheer boredom. There were times during their path here, that the white-haired exorcist just started slashing at the air using his light sword or leaving a scratch on one of the trees; it was as if he was attempting to alleviate the deeper desires within himself.
David continued to scan the area without concerning himself with the actions of his pupil, he noticed beforehand some youkai looking around this specific area and decided to examine it for himself.
"Teach David when do we get to fight against this Demon Eater, again?"
"That's if we can locate him before he becomes more trouble. I didn't believe that he would be able to escape from us using such a tactic last night, but next time we will convict him in the name of our Lord."
David replied in a seriously before looking forward, realizing that there seemed to be a group of kitsune still within the same area that he had planned on examining. Around the said area, there seemed to have been a fight if nothing else since several trees were knocked down using either brute strength or even cut down using a sharp blade. It wasn't his intention to get found out and so he and Freed remained hidden.
"It seems there was a conflict here."
"I can still feel the lingering presence belonging to an evil being, but it doesn't appear recent at all. I believe that it left this is after dawn or even later during the night."
"We should report this to Yasaka-sama and inform Kensei-sama."
A lot of the male and female kitsune who had been talking with one another about the situation as all of the other youkai were still examining the area to find a hint to where the Demon Eater could be. Amid their scan all around the area, one of the female kitsune sighed and looked toward the direction of David and Freed.
"I can understand that you lot don't take kindly to the supernatural like devils, but please keep in mind that we do have a keen sense of smell and hearing."
David realized that the woman was referring to them alone, which meant that their presence was figured out from the beginning. This caused him and Freed to exit from their hiding spot as the youkai around the area glanced in the direction of the exorcist.
"Based on the description that Kensei-sama had given us, you're the exorcists he clashed against."
"I wasn't our intention to act impolitely against the beings of this capital," David had stated. "But, this mission was given by the Vatican and dealing with the Demon Eater is our responsibility."
"Well, you acted rudely against Yasaka-sama by not requesting a formal meeting with her to explain the situation, which resulted in the deaths of Kyoto's innocent civilians and injuries dealt with several youkai."
"Hey, who does this Fox-neesan think she's talking to?"
"Silence, Freed," David sighed silencing Freed to not cause trouble. "We'll track down the Demon Eater and deal with it as quickly as possible. And if you happen to come across him and defeat him, then that's fine as well. Now come along, Freed."
"Fine, Teach David."
As David turned around after giving that last message to the female kitsune, but she gained their attention before the two of them left.
"Yasaka-sama thought that we might run into you during our survey of the area looking for the Demon Eater and wanted us to leave a message."
"And that would be?"
David was genuinely curious about the message that the Queen of the Kyoto Youkai would leave for them, but it instead caused him confusion.
"Her message was," the female kitsune breathed out for a second she before spoke. "Claire Belial, the devil who arrived with Kensei-sama and Alice-san is a guest and is noted to be attacked by any means. That is all."
"…what?"
David was confused about the reason that someone from another faction would protect a girl that was supposed to be part of the Three Factions, which he belonged to. So, to him, it would be preposterous for someone of such a stature to protect a devil child unless they made some deal.
"Yasaka-sama believes that there's no reason that a child the same age as Kunou-sama to be targeted for death just because of what she is. And that you have not just for attacking her."
Hearing those words didn't alleviate the confusion that builds up within him, to him Claire could pose a danger due to her being a devil and due to the powerful sacred gear she possessed.
"Oi, we're just doing our jobs as an exorcist and that's killing devils and monsters!"
Freed seemed more upset than David seeing that he couldn't fight against Claire, but neither of them budged on the decision made by their Leader, which they agreed with.
"Freed, we're leaving."
"Huh, but…."
"Our mission is to go after the Demon Eater, not some devil girl. And as I said before, starting a battle against this faction is something that I don't desire. We'll deal with the Demon Eater first, then talk about this 'situation'."
David said with Freed walking next to him as he turned around and continued walking forward with his pupil also following behind him.
"Huh, but what about that Devil-chan?"
"Well, it was limited to Kyoto, but I doubt that the Kyuubi Queen reach extends outside of Kyoto. But, the name Belial sounds almost familiar."
David thought in his head, knowing that due to their enhanced senses that the kitsune behind them had.
After the two departed, the kitsune continued with examining the area while also informing Yasaka about their encounter with the exorcists.
Meanwhile, Kensei, Claire, Alice, and Kunou continued their tour in peace without hearing a word from either the shikigami or monsters that the older two sent out. All four of them arrived at Kiyomizu-dera, which was located in the Eastern Higashiyama area and one of the most famous temples in Kyoto.
"Kiyomizu-dera was founded in 778 AD containing buildings from the seventeenth century and the main hall has been designated as a National Treasure made without using a single nail," Kunou started as the four of them started walking around inside the temple, where the two actual tourists looked around amazed by the interior design. "What Kiyomizu-dera is most famous for is its wooden stage, which has an amazingly broad view of the maple and sakura trees."
"Ah, this is an amazing building."
Claire started admiring the interior structure of the Kiyomizu-dera, but then Kunou directed them towards the three separate streams of pure water where there were several cups attached to a long pole.
"The Otowa Waterfall, which Kiyomizu-dera was built on and located in the main hall," she explained. "All three of these steams leading to the waterfall are said to provide three different benefits ranging from longevity, success in school, and fortunate love life respectively. But, it's considered to be greedy if you were to drink from all of them."
"Does it work?"
Alice wondered considering the number of things that the four of them could do just using their respective powers alone. Instead of answering Alice, Kunou instead smiled cutely and winked.
"Why don't you find out?"
"Fine."
Both Claire and Alice taking that as a challenge picked up one of the poles as the people in front of them were all finishing first. Kunou and Claire went to the stream, which would provide fortunate love life; Alice went to the one, which would provide longevity; and Kensei went to the one that would provide success in school. After drinking from the spring water, both Claire and Alice noted that it was refreshing, but they didn't notice notable changes in them.
"I don't feel any different."
"Me neither."
"Well, who knows you might notice the change in life. I heard that some people were able to earn better grades in school and did succeed in their love life."
Kunou replied to Claire and Alice who had drunk from the water.
"There are some places including this one where the water is blessed and wields some unique qualities, which can improve the traits of those who drink them. But, I don't want to know what happens if a pure-blood devil or half-devil ends up drinking from blessed water."
"But, isn't Claire-san a half-devil?"
"I think that it doesn't affect her due to her sacred gear. But, why'd both you and Claire choose from the one that provides fortune in your love life?"
"W-Well, Hahaue said that Kunou is already doing fine in her studies and youkai lives longer than humans so."
"I'm already doing fine in school and as I devil I'll live longer than most."
Both Kunou and Claire replied confidently before saying their next words.
""Not that I need help to make Ken-nii/Nii-san fall in love with Kunou/me.""
Kunou and Claire said in unison with confidence, although their cheeks were reddened from admitted to that.
"I just chose longevity since I just want to live a long life with Kensei and Claire."
Alice replied honestly with Kensei glancing towards her but then smiled.
"I just chose benefits in school since I could use some help in some of my classes," Kensei started turning toward the blonde-haired girl. "Well, since I did learn senjutsu, I think that I could make that dream come true. The previous sennin was able to become immortal through increasing their lifespan and I did think that it might be possible to do that for someone else. There are other methods to increasing ones' lifespan in various other mythologies inside and outside of Japan."
"Doesn't that mean extra traveling?"
"Is there a problem with that?"
"As long as it's with you two, not at all."
Alice and Kensei continued their conversation with a smile on their face, looking forward to all the things that were ahead of them in the future. All four of them continued touring around Kiyomizu-dera just enjoying the peace that was around them.
"Well, this place is as full of life as I remembered."
Kensei stated as he looked around the area and much like the other places in Kyoto, he felt the spiritual power all around him even without sensing it using senjutsu. It must be due to this that a lot of people felt comfortable here despite normal humans being unable to sense spiritual power. And Kensei smiled as Claire looked all around the interior with interest, even conversing with Kunou about the past behind this location and Alice standing near the two of them to listen in.
There were a lot of places that he had been around together with Kunou, but he never wanted to go everywhere since he wanted the save the fun that they could have. But, he never thought that he would meet a half-devil with a sacred gear and a Longinus user at the same place, then walk around Kyoto enjoying the sites. Just thinking all about the things from his friends among the Amagiri Clan vanishing to being stuck, then freed from a hell on earth named Hagun Island.
"All this makes me wonder what's going to happen next."
"You sound like an old man, Nii-san?"
As Kensei was thinking about what might end up happening next, Claire who stood next to him and stared at him with a cute smile gracing her face.
"Well, the Nii-san that I knew was the kind of person who would focus on the present and not the past."
Claire rebutted recalling all the times that Kensei never worried about the future and instead worried about what's happening in front of him.
"Well, us going through all this trouble makes you wonder what might end up happening in the future."
"I'm not sure either, but I'm sure that we can all handle it if we continue acting together, right?"
Claire stated back thinking back to all the times that her, Kensei, Alice, Zane, and the others always worked as a team to come out of their previous situation. It wasn't a feat that adults would expect a bunch of children no older than ten would be able to accomplish without adult support, but they were able to do that because all of them had worked together.
"But, I believe that there was someone who made a larger impact on everyone else."
Claire mumbled out under her breath, but it was loud enough for Kensei to hear her say something yet not to the point where he could hear what was said.
"What was that?"
"Nothing~"
Claire cheerily said, but Kensei noticed that Kunou was posing, while on the famous wooden stage of Kiyomizu-dera with the picturesque view filled with several trees that appeared to be a wide sea behind them acting as the background. Alice attentively stood before Kunou drawing out the images before her in great detail, even drawing a crowd around her who seemed interested in the scene, which caused Kensei and Claire to smile.
"I'm surprised each time Alice-nee can attract people like this using her talents."
"If she continues going at this point, then she might end up becoming famous in the future."
Claire and Kensei continued to watch as Alice sketch out Kunou and the background behind her as several more people continued to gather around her. Either Alice hadn't noticed them around her or her focus was to the point where she could continue drawing undisturbed. Both of them started to head toward the wooden stage without at all getting in the way of either Alice or Kunou, then watched the wide sea of maple and sakura trees, which seem almost too picturesque to put into words.
Just then, Kensei started to sense something from one of the shikigami that he posted around them just in case someone was sneaking upon him.
"Huh, what happened," he thought as he contacted the shikigami. "Huh, someone is coming…"
"This seems to be an interesting place."
There was an unknown male's voice coming next to him, which caused Kensei to turn toward the source of their voice and found a male dressed in a familiar hoodie, but seemed to have been repaired.
"It would be a shame to break this place."
It didn't take Kensei and Claire even a second to realize who this person was, which resulted in them getting into a prepared stance. He could tell that it was the Demon Eater, but he seemed different from the last time where all of them first met and fought. There didn't seem the same kind of instability and he just seemed to be clearer than before. Despite his presence, Kensei couldn't bring out his sword in front of all these people since it might cause a panic and needed to get far away from here.
"Well, why don't we take this somewhere else?"
"Huh?"
Before Kensei could figure out what he meant until the Demon Eater stepped back and in a single yet fast motion aimed a strong forward kick toward Kensei.
"…he's faster than before."
Kensei could barely perceive the kick but managed to cross his arms in front of him and blocked it. however, the kick held enough force behind it to send him backward off the wooden stage and above the sea of trees. And in a single instant, there was an immediate commotion from the people in the Kiyomizu-dera starting with the screams of one of the women who witnessed him falling toward the ground.
"Iyaaaah!"
"Call the police! Someone just kicked a kid off the wooden stage!"
"Nii-san!"
Claire shouted worried catching the attention of Kunou and Alice who reacted after noticing the loud commotion as the people screamed.
"Alice, Claire, Kunou-chan, do what we talked about before! I'll hold this guy off!"
Kensei shouted out loud as he was sent falling somewhere inside the sea of trees as the Demon Eater jumped in the forest in pursuit of the teen without hesitating.
As both soon faded into the trees, the people inside the Kiyomizu-dera continued to panic due to having seen the hooded man kicking Kensei off the wooden stage. Despite Alice, Claire and Kunou being worried about him, they already knew that they had to quell these people before something else happened.
"Claire, use your demonic powers on the people here and Kunou can you use your on them as well," Alice said in a strong tone following the plan they devised before leaving. "We have to calm these people before something else happens."
"I'm concerned about Ken-nii," Kunou seemed almost prepared to run after Kensei instead. "But, I have to do this first before going to assist Ken-nii."
After agreeing to that the three women started quelling the crowd of panicking people.
Inside the sea of trees, Kensei landed on the ground first staring at his bruised arm caused due to being kicked off the wooden stage by the Demon Eater. It didn't seem all that bad, but he hadn't been kicked with that kind of force for a long time aside from the monsters he fought before when he was younger.
"Dammit, I didn't think that it would be that bad."
Kensei said before reaching his hand onto his pockets and pulled out several talismans, then threw all of them all around the perimeter on the trees giving off a bright light, which soon formed a barrier around them large enough for them to fight in undisturbed. He realized that if he fought against the Demon Eater, then it would cause a commotion of people who witnessed their attacking flying around and placed up a barrier so that their fight wouldn't attract attention.
"Alright, bring it."
Kensei said as he pulled his katana from his dimensional storage, then started to control his ki to heal the bruises on his arms as the Demon Eater arrived a distance away from him. He was able to tell that the Demon Eater was a lot stronger and stable compared to before when he was going berserk, which wouldn't make things easier for him compared to before.
"Well, you seem better than ever."
"Yes, now I can show you just how strong I am."
"Just how many innocent people did you have to gorge yourself on?"
Kensei questioned as he pointed his katana towards him in a prepared stance and he felt that the pressure around him was far more potent than before, but the Demon Eater laughed.
"No, I didn't have to gorge myself on humans. I was given a free meal from a nice benefactor and if I find just one last person, then I won't be starving anymore."
Hearing that from the Demon Eater, Kensei wondered who this "Benefactor", but was more or less curious about who this last person that the Demon Eater was talking about.
"He can't be talking about Yasaka-san. He shouldn't know about her connection to Kyoto's leylines."
Kensei surmised in his head but started to focus more on the fight in front of him instead of who he might end up going after. This time, he covered himself in touki and infused it into his katana after realizing that his strikes might end up becoming too much for him to handle using his natural strength.
Not caring whether or not Kensei was prepared to fight, the Demon Eater had rushed toward him aiming a strong straight punch at him. Kensei blocked the punch using his touki-imbued katana, but could still feel the force that was behind it pushing him back a little. He noticed that there wasn't a single wound on the Demon Eater's fist, as a result of it coming into contact with the edge.
After noticing that Kensei started slashing at the Demon Eater hitting his most vulnerable spots and there was some blood spilled after hitting them, but most of them soon healed on their own quicker than before. The Demon Eater aimed a strong kick aimed at the teen's side, but Kensei jumped over it through rotating himself over the kick, then at the same time aimed a slash toward his neck, which was blocked using his arm and received a slash. Kensei was able to tell that kick held a great deal of force behind it based on the wind pressure formed from it.
Once Kensei landed on the ground, the Demon Eater started rushing toward him letting out a barrage of both powerful punches and kicks at him. A lot of the strikes were avoided by Kensei using free-flowing motions he learned in training with Sun Wukong to avoid and maneuver around them, but for the strikes that he was unable to avoid, he blocked them using his katana.
"Zanmaken."
Kensei changed the ki within his katana to purification and slashed the Demon Eater injuring him far more compared to before and even his wounds seemed to heal a lot slower than before. But, as the purification effects of the attack were affecting him, the Demon Eater rose his aura to counterattack the effects. A notable clicking sound escaped from his mouth after noticing that the Demon Eater was not only enduring his attacks but countering their purifying effects by raising his aura.
"Seriously using the aura he gained from eating a demon to counteract the purification effects in my attacks, but even then some random benefactor gave him a demon able to let him withstand the Amagiri-ryuu. Just who is this benefactor?"
As the Demon Eater swung his arm at him, Kensei moved backward to avoid it, but the moment that he believed that it was going to miss him. He had witnessed something that he wasn't expecting in the slightest as the Demon Eater's arm and muscles started moving around and changing into something else entirely.
"…a sword?!"
Kensei exclaimed in his head after seeing the Demon Eater's hand turning into something akin to a broadsword that has a single-edge; his entire arm leading to his shoulder turned thicker than before. It was close enough for it to cut off his head and even if he tried moving backward, it would still cut off his head.
"I don't want to take the chance of using touki to block the blade since. So, instead…."
Instead of stepping back to avoid the slash, Kensei jumped backward at the same time he threw his head back, which caused himself to flip back avoiding the blade as he sliced the air where his neck was supposed to be. A slight whistle escaped from the mouth of the Demon Eater as Kensei landed on the ground in a prepared stance; with the hooded man rushing toward him slashing his sword arm at him.
The Demon Eater unleashed a barrage of strong strikes at Kensei who countered, blocked, or avoided them as a single strike could result in him either being cut or losing a limb. At the same time, focusing his touki that neither of them potentially occurred if he were to miss a beat.
"He's faster and stronger than before. Since his rational mind has returned, he can even focus all those strengths in this fight and even alter his body into a weapon," Kensei surmised. "This guy was well-trained before being modified and he's using that to his advantage. But, what did this 'Benefactor' make him eat to become this strong in such a short amount of time? Well, I'm cross that road if it ever appears until then. Amagiri-ryuu…!"
At around the same time that his and the Demon Eater's blades clashed against each other, Kensei's katana was covered in flames, but it was noted to be stronger than before compared to their previous confrontation.
"Enzan!"
After finding a clear opening in the Demon Eater, Kensei had executed a diagonal slash across his chest causing a flaming wound, which caused a pained wail from the Demon Eater as his upper clothing started burning. At the same time, he noticed three people arriving on the scene.
""Nii-san/Ken-nii!""
Both Claire and Kunou called out as they arrived on the scene with Alice following behind them. Once all three of the girls arrived, they stood prepared for what the Demon Eater would do next. As the Demon Eater wailed in pain as the flames covered him, his upper hoodie was burned away fulled as he released an aura to get rid of the flames.
However, the next thing that they witnessed caused Kensei, Alice, and Claire to stare at him with a shocked look on their face. It wasn't the fact that the Demon Eater was able to get rid of the flames, but it was who he reminded them of.
"What the hell?"
"Why does he look like her?"
Kensei and Alice spoke up their minds, while Claire just seemed confused as to why he looked like 'her'.
The man known as the 'Demon Eater' looked like a young man at least seventeen-year-old if not nineteen-years-old with white hair and red eyes. He seemed almost like Freed and Iris, both of which even looked a lot like each other, but Kensei realized that the two of them weren't related by blood.
"I might not be as good as Hisui whenever it comes to sensing the particulars of ki, but at least I can tell whether or not someone's related. Their ki may not be completely the same, but they're at the very least closer enough to where you could tell," he felt as if his mind was jumbled up with different thoughts. "Where did Iris come from?"
Since their time leaving Hagun Island, Iris hadn't talked about her past at all and it was just Maria and Layla, but Hisui and he after learning senjutsu could tell that Iris wasn't a normal human. Her presence was even similar to someone he never thought he'd meet before.
"…why do you look like Iris?"
Claire questioned the Demon Eater who managed to get rid of the flames and glanced at her with an odd look on his face at the question.
"Iris? That name doesn't sound all too familiar, but I don't recall all the people that I've met in the past. Even those born in 'that' place among the Church."
"Iris did say that she came from the Church once."
Alice said under her breath, but the Demon Eater seemed almost impassive about it.
"Well, it seems that you know someone who came from the same place as me, but I could care less about all the people who came from the Sigurd Institution."
"Sigurd Institution?"
Claire's question when unanswered not recalling hearing that phrase before once as a child from her parents and even afterward.
"Well, I hate recalling the past," the Demon Eater said getting into a crouching position. "I'd rather focus on killing the four brats in front of me!"
"Claire! Alice! Kunou-chan!"
Kensei called out as the three of them jumped from him as the Demon Eater slashed his sword arm downward in his direction, causing him to block it using his sword. After the attack, Claire created a white bow in her hands with light manifesting as an arrow and Kunou made foxfire in the palms of her hands. Both released their attacks at the same time that the Demon Eater moved from Kensei, hitting him from both sides. Neither of them ceased all their attacks and continued piling up damage on the Demon Eater who tried defending both of them.
"Tch, annoying girls."
The Demon Eater was annoyed after receiving attacks as his wounds started healing a lot slower than before. It was due to the flames that continued burning his wounds and his demonic physiology making him more susceptible to all manner of light-based attacks, which hindered his regeneration even more.
"Amagiri-ryuu Hiken: Raimeiken."
After hearing that, the Demon Eater had turned toward Kensei who released a blast of lightning from his blade, which covered his entire body causing damage across his body. Before long, the Demon Eater later felt a sharp impact from behind, which sent him staggering forward a great distance and soon regained his footing. He soon turned around, noticing the large humanoid that was behind him, which was birthed by Alice.
"Ugh, a sacred gear that creates monsters. Isn't that…?"
Before the Demon Eater could finish, the monster came toward him again and started launching different attacks at him, which caused him to be put on the defensive. Each of the attacks was either blocked using his forearms, sword arm or even avoided at a hairsbreadth, which caused him to smirk.
"Hahaha, Annihilation Maker. Who'd think that I'd ever encounter another Longinus outside the Church? But…"
The Demon Eater pierced the humanoid using his sword arm but didn't spark a reaction from the monster, but a change occurred in his other arm. Both his arm and muscles became four times bigger than before, then aimed a strong punch aimed at the monsters head blowing it away using an aura-coated punch.
"I doubt that a droopy looking girl posses the kind of mastery of a Longinus with the potential to destroy the world and god," the Demon Eater had declared causing Alice to feel insulted about the previous droopy comment from him. "And besides, the main weakness of a sacred gear like this…it is own wielder!"
After switching his sword arm into the same kind as he pumped up with, the Demon Eater rushed towards Alice at a speed that she couldn't track using her eyes.
"Now, you're not! You're not targeting a friend of Ken-nii!"
Kunou released a wave of foxfire in the path of the Demon Eater, but he released a strong swipe of his arm releasing wind pressure strong enough to brush aside the flames and blow several leaves into the air. He had continued aiming at Alice with the intent of killing her as aura covered his fist, but Claire appeared in front of her switching her bow to a shield with several other barriers created alongside it.
Once his fist came into contact with the shield and barrier, the barriers began breaking, while the shield remained firm without even cracking. Despite the pressure behind the first, Claire's will remained firm knowing that if her focus dims slightly, then shield might end up breaking. But, the pressure was too much for her to endure as both herself and Alice were pushed back; with Alice falling first and catching Claire.
"This is it! I wonder I can steal sacred gears too," the Demon Eater said as he covered his fist in aura again. "Let us find out after smashing you both into the ground!"
He aimed his enlarged aura-coated fist toward both of them, but before it could even reach them, Kensei arrived in front of them holding his sword out in a defensive position with touki covering the blade. Both their aura-coated fist and sword came in contact with one another, with the pressure being enough to make the younger teen being forced to bend his knees.
"His strength isn't dwindling as fast it did the other day," Kensei realized Claire and Alice moved so that they wouldn't get in the way. "I'll have to figure out a way to…."
Kensei realized that the Demon Eater covered his other fist in an aura with the intent of striking him while being busy defending against his initial attack. It didn't take long for him to come to a decision, knowing that one way or another, he was going to get attacked. As the Demon Eater threw his second attack, Kensei removed the touki from his katana causing immediate cracks on the blade, which soon broke. Not being worried about that at the moment, he covered his entire body in touki as he was punched in the stomach by the Demon Eater's aura-covered punch.
"…gah."
A trail of blood escaped from Kensei's mouth as he was blown backward crashing through several trees before he came in contact with the barrier that he created.
[Kensei/Nii-san/Ken-nii!]
Alice, Claire, and Kunou shouted going toward him as blood trailed down his mouth, but he remained conscious.
"…I think that a rib or two got cracked. If I hadn't used touki, then that would have ended up with more than a couple of broken ribs."
Kensei moaned standing to his feet holding a single hand to his stomach as pain traveled across his body as the girls came to his side.
"Y-You insane bastard!"
The Demon Eater had roared causing the girls to glance toward him, then recalled that Kensei wasn't holding the katana that broke. Instead, the two broken blades were stabbed into the next of the Demon Eater on both sides as flames covered them causing him pain as the flames continued to burn him. The girls were all confused about how those blades made it there for a second before realizing that Kensei must've stabbed him before being sent flying. And the Demon Eater felt shaken about that fact alone for various reasons.
"That insane little bastard," the Demon Eater shouted in his head. "During my time in the Sigurd Institution, I was always told that humans were weaker than supernatural beings and trained our skills to combat them. I've seen a lot of swordsmen be more concerned about protecting their bodies above all else and then avoid attacks perform a counter. Before receiving these modifications and regenerative abilities, I never would've dreamed of taking a hit that could've killed me if I messed up a single thing. But, this kid who's younger than me didn't even hesitate to take a hit from me and form a counterattack at the same time. What kind of training or combat instincts does this kid have to pull off something like that, while minimizing the damage as much as possible."
The Demon Eater recalled all the moments that occurred a couple of moments ago, as soon as Kensei took a direct hit from him in the stomach; he picked up the second broken blade and infused flames into them before stabbing them into his neck. But, ignoring that, he removed both blades from his neck and stopped them on the ground as the wounds started healing at a slower pace due to the flames.
"Dammit, I can't even concentrate anymore."
Based on his understanding, Kensei shouldn't be able to continue fighting due to the impact done to his ribs, but the younger teen continued staring at him without his fighting spirit dimming in the slightest. He was a lot stronger than before due to devouring the demon that man had given to him, but the Demon Eater couldn't think straight. It was then that several presences could be felt around them coming toward him.
"Great, these brats must've called for help. Dammit, I'll retreat for now."
The Demon Eater activated a magic circle under his feet and teleported from their location. After noticing that he had left, Kensei fell to the ground letting a slight breath escape from his mouth and wiped away the blood located on the corners of his mouth from that punch.
"Geez, I didn't want to break the katana that Amakuni-san lent me."
""Nii-san/Ken-nii, you probably have broken bones and you're worried about a stupid katana!""
Both Claire and Kunou shouted at him while being concerned about his injuries, which caused Kensei to back up a bit after feeling the intensity from their conjoined voices.
"Is this that the 'sword is the soul of a samurai' thing I've read about before?"
Alice questioned tilting her head to the side and spoke seemingly in a lighthearted manner while being worried about Kensei. After he realized just how much he worried them, Kensei began scratching the side of his cheek as a slightly nervous laugh escaped his mouth.
"I'm sorry for worrying you girls," Kensei apologized before getting back to the subject at hand. "But, I didn't think that he'd be this strong after just a couple hours. It wasn't like I was holding back after hitting him with Enzan and Raimeiken, but he seems durable enough to handle strikes from the Amagiri-ryuu techniques that I know right now with the attacks that Claire and Kunou-chan released."
"He mentioned something a 'benefactor'. Do you think that it could be someone who has it against you?'
"That's a likely idea, Claire. I've only ever seen really powerful high-ranked demons tanking attacks from the Amagiri-ryuu. But, that could be just due to my inexperience compared to people like my mom and the others or not having learned anything else, which is why I need to get those documents back if I can't beat this guy now as is."
"But, Ken-nii isn't weak at all. Isn't the problem just that person's regeneration."
"Yea, both his durability and regeneration is the main problem aside from his increased strength."
Kensei said thinking about the fight that he just had against the Demon Eater, as he could see the youkai coming towards them all concerned.
"Hmm, if it was just him in his messed up state of mind, then it wouldn't be too difficult fighting against him. But, if it's him now, then it'll be a lot more difficult than I had previously thought. I can wound him using other techniques that I learned, but it doesn't matter if he continues regenerating. If we continued wearing him down until he reaches his limit, but it'll end up with us potentially getting downed too and unable to land the finishing blow. If that happens, then he might just end up escaping again and we'll just return to square one in hunting him down."
"But, Ken-nii fire seemed to work against him."
"Yea, if his wounds continued burning then that halt his regeneration speed. I currently don't know a fire-based spell or technique strong enough to do lasting damage against him. And it'll end up being a waste of time if I just keep hitting him. But, I recall seeing one technique that the previous Clan Leader used against a demon and showed all the other children."
"What was it?"'
Claire seemed almost worried about hearing that 'But' from Kensei, which Alice and Kunou felt the same about.
"Aside from being a difficult move that even I would normally learn without training for at least another three to four years," Kensei explained. "I need a new sword better or as good as the one that Amakuni-san lent to me and if I used some random katana it won't be able to endure it and melt. But, we'll talk about more about that after returning to Urakyoto to talk with Yasaka-san."
At the same time that Kensei concluded his conversation with them, the youkai arrived to check upon them.
Meanwhile, in Kibou Town, the setting sun painting brilliant red and orange colors all across the skies, the people most of which were students heading home from school. Among all the students, younger and older, there was a single individual that people wound dress odd for the current period, however, neither of the normal students were able to notice the presence of their person.
The nameless man was dressed in a traditional black kimono that has a unique pattern near his chest, blue haori worn over it, and a kasa (a rice straw hat) on his head. He carried a long rectangular object on his strapped onto his back within what seemed to be a white cloth, which seemed to be a furoshiki cloth. The man walked through the crowd of people without bumping into either of them and focused on heading toward his destination.
It didn't take long for him to arrive in front of a four-storied residence with a second building in the back and also a gate that was locked. It was the Amagiri Residence where Kensei lived with along with Alice and Claire, but the three of them, of course, wasn't inside of the house.
"Huh, it appears as if Amagiri-dono isn't home at the moment."
He spoke in a calm almost impassive tone.
The man glanced upward revealing his face to be that of a young man in his early twenties, but there wasn't even the slightest hint of discomfort, anger, or disappointment on his face. He instead took the object wrapped in cloth, then placed it on the ground and took a seat next to it in a traditional seiza position.
"I'll just wait for his return. Amakuni-sama did want to ensure that his message and present reached his hands no matter what."
A/N: And there goes the nineteenth chapter of DxD – The Last Amagiri, in this chapter it had shown just how strong the Demon Eater has become after his benefactor let him devour an entrapped demon taking hits from the Kensei, Alice, Claire, and Kunou while regenerating and Kensei even lost his katana. But, he has something in mind to deal with him but requires a stronger katana and there's someone with a gift in front of his home. Well, the big fight will be in the next chapter so look forward do it. Before that, it showed both David and Freed conversing with like most exorcists he can't comprehend the idea of letting one go even if they did nothing wrong.
So, until next time.
Kensei's Harem: Alice, Claire, Hisui, Kunou, Yasaka, Lu Lingqi, Mirana, Sarah, Minako, Koneko, Kuroka, Ravel, Amaterasu, Brynhildr.