Hi there folks, been a while hasn't it?

Quick update, I've gotten a new job which is good, but they're stricter with time than my old one so don't expect much updates for a while.

My parents are fine, just shaken up, and aside from some health issues i'm doing great.

Now, onto more serious matters. To all those sending my PM's offering to create artwork for my fics, while I appreciate the offer, i'm currently not in a financial position to afford commissions.

If this changes sometime in the future, i'd be more than happy to discuss terms, but for now, please accept my sincerest apologies, but i just isn't feasible for me right now.

And before we move on, a quick reminder to anyone interested in adopting any of my old stories: Please contact my via pm first and let me know your intentions so i can assure people you arent just stealing what i wrote.

With that said, let's move on.

Chapter 5: Ninja x Interrogation.

"Evening Tsuru." I called out as I descended the stairs to the basement, the figure at the bottom turning to face me, her pristine white Maid uniform and golden eyes a stark contrast to the dimly lit chamber she was standing in "That was some impressive shooting this evening."

"Your compliments are appreciated, but unnecessary, Fuuma-sama." Tsuru assured me, inclining her head with a respectful bow "As your personal maid, it is my pleasure to carry out my duties with maximum efficiency."

"Somehow I don't think sniping a Fallen Angel with an Anti-Material Rifle loaded with blessed depleted uranium shells falls under the standard duties of a Maid." I quipped, before turning my attention to the door at the far end of the basement "I trust our guest hasn't caused you too much trouble?"

"No trouble at all, Fuuma-sama." Tsuru assured me with an enigmatic smile that did not bode well for whoever was on the other side of that door "After all, it is the duty of a maid to accommodate my Master's guests...to do otherwise would bring shame upon your good name."

"There are those who'd argue there's nothing good about my name." I countered, recalling the countless whispers and threats levelled my way every time I dared walk the streets of Gosha, only to blink as Tsuru cupped my face with her hands, forcing me to look her in the eye.

"Do not allow the words of the ignorant to sully your ears, Fuuma-sama." she urged, her normally cool expression replaced with one of disapproval and understanding "If they are too ignorant to comprehend the sacrifices you have made, to see the hero you truly are, then they are not worthy of your time."

"I'm no hero." I scoffed, reaching up to take her hands in mine, covering up the flash of anger that arose within me at the feel of the cold, metallic limbs beneath her white gloves with a grateful smile "Still, thanks for the vote of confidence, Tsuru."

"It is the duty of a maid to support her Master in all ways, Fuuma-sama." Tsuru replied primly, though I didn't miss the suggestive glint in her eyes as she pulled away and moved to open the door for me, thus missing how my smile faded the moment she turned her back.

The final member of my Support team, Izumo Tsuru was a a bit of an outlier in that while she was a distant relative of the Fuuma Main Branch through her father, the two of us had never met prior to the now infamous 'Izumo Incident'.

For context, Izumo Tsuru was born Sago Tsuru, the only daughter of Sago Bungo, one of my old man's staunchest allies and a legendary Taimanin known as the Gosha Librarian, which was decidedly more intimidating when you took into account the significance of that title.

For you see, like all Shinobi, the one thing Taimanin value above all else is information, whether it be the history of the clans, folklore surrounding the various Gods and Youkai that plague the land or blackmail on corrupt politicians, all of it had to be recorded somewhere, and that place was The Gosha Library.

I won't go into specifics of The Library here as in all honesty I wouldn't even know where to begin describing the sheer enormity of that place. Just know for a fact that it deserved all the Capital Letters and Tsuru's old man, as The Librarian, was the only person who knew all of the secrets hidden within its walls.

Let me repeat that: Sago Bungo, one of my old man's staunchest allies, was the only man in Gosha Village who knew All The Secrets contained within The Gosha Library. The fact Danjo's rebellion failed with such a monster on his side spoke more of how terrifying the Igawa were than how incompetent my old man was.

That being said, despite his loyalty to Danjo, Bungo clearly didn't feel the need to involve his family in the rebellion as Tsuru wasn't even aware of what was happening until the night of the attack, a decision that would come back to haunt them down the line.

See, once Tsuru heard the sounds of conflict, she ignored her father's instructions and left the house to try and help whoever she could. Unfortunately for her, the first person she came across just so happened to be one of Igawa's lapdogs, a real piece of shit known as Saito Hanjiro.

Now as far as threats go, Hanjiro wasn't anything special, his skills as a Taimanin barely above those of a newly minted Academy Student, which made it all the more apparent that he was only assigned to the Academy as an Instructor due to his connections to the Igawa.

However, what the man lacked in combat ability, he more than made up for with his skills in torture and interrogation, skills that Tsuru would sadly become all-too-familiar with after he used the ensuing chaos of Danjo's Rebellion to spirit her away to his basement, where he proceeded to torture her for years.

This wasn't under orders either, or at least so the Igawa claimed when pressed on the matter after the fact, nor was it the first time he'd done something like this, Yamamoto's investigation following the incident revealing that Hanjiro was responsible for the deaths of at least twenty people over the past decade.

Now I'm sure some of you must be wondering, if Sago was so weak that even an Academy Student could outmatch him, how was he able to get away with murdering twenty people, some of them Taimanin, without leaving a trace?

The answer, as disturbing as it turned out, was that Hanjiro had an unwitting accomplice, namely his older brother, Saito Hanzo, a prodigal Wind-Arts user who specialised in creating invisible bombs of compressed Hydrogen and oxygen that could completely annihilate a target, leaving no trace whatsoever.

I say unwitting, of course, because Saito Hanzo was not a 'willing' participant in his brother's killings, having been essentially enslaved by his younger twin through the use of the latter's own personal Ninja Art for some time now.

There are some who claim that a Ninja Art reflects the user's personality in some way, and while I don't particularly prescribe to the idea, I can't deny it seemed tailor-made to explain how Hanjro's jealousy of his brother's talent and self-consciousness about his own lack thereof could manifest in such a fashion.

Put in the simplest way possible, Hanjiro's Ninja Art allowed him to hide other people inside his own body, allowing him to freely use their Ninja Arts or grow extra limbs as needed, provided his will overpowered theirs or they willingly allowed him to run rampant with them.

With that in mind, you could understandably be forgiven for believing his reason for kidnapping Tsuru was because he erroneously believed that, as the daughter of Sago Bungo, she was privy to the same information as her father. That was certainly the official reason submitted to Section 3 during the wrap-up.

Sadly, the truth of the matter was that Hanjiro never once enquired after any knowledge Tsuru may or may not have received from her father. As disgusting as it was to consider, at the end of the day Saito Hanjiro was nothing more than a depraved serial killer who liked to torture his victims because it tickled his pickle.

The fact that Tsuru managed to hold out as long as she did was a testament to her resolve more than anything else, the bastard even going so far as to amputate her limbs, leaving her suspended from a chain like some sort of twisted pinata after breaking her spirit with the knowledge the village believed her dead.

I don't even like to imagine what could have happened to Tsuru if I hadn't decided to test my ability on the bastard that day, driven by my curiosity as to how such a weakling could be appointed as an instructor at Gosha, only to be horrified by the sheer number of people trapped within him.

Long story short, the moment I realized what was going on, I went straight to Tokiko, who after taking a moment to confirm the identities of some of Hanjiro's prisoners, all of whom had likewise been listed as either MIA or KIA over the years, likewise informed Yamamoto.

Now whether or not the Igawa Elders knew of or even sanctioned Tsuru's imprisonment I couldn't answer you, though to be brutally honest I wouldn't put it past that old Hag running the show to pull a stunt like this just to rub salt in Sago's wounds, considering how many of their own he killed serving my old man.

Regardless of their connection, the fact remained that within less than an hour of Yamamoto raising the alarm, the Igawa were among the first to mobilize, their once loyal lapdog going from a mildly-hated instructor at Gosha Academy to facing off against a Task-Force led by Igawa Kageomi.

My feelings towards the Hound of Igawa aside, there was no denying how effective he was when it came to eliminating threats, as it didn't take long for word to reach me of Hanjiro's death, Hanzo having opted to put his younger brother out of his misery after finally managing to escape during the battle with Kageomi.

It was, put simply, the second-biggest Fuster-Cluck since Danjo's rebellion, made all the worse when Hanzo dropped the bomb that Tsuru was still alive as he was being escorted off to interrogation by Kageomi, leaving it up to Tokiko and I to rescue her from the fucker's basement.

I won't go into the details of what I saw down there. In all honestly the memory of what little I saw before Tokiko managed to free Tsuru from her restraints will likely haunt me until my dying day, and yet I know for a fact that wasn't even a fraction of the hell she must have suffered at Hanjiro's hands.

In the end, however, the aptly named 'Izumo-Incident' came to a close with only minor loss of life, though given the circumstances no-one was willing to mourn for a serial killer, Hanzo even being granted a full pardon once it became clear he was just as much a victim of his brother as Tsuru herself.

Sadly, my involvement in revealing the truth about Hanjiro and rescuing Tsuru was kept out of the official report, the Elders using their influence to ensure most of the accolades went to Kageomi and his Task-Force comprised entirely of Igawa Clan Taimanin and their supporters.

Not that I particularly cared, mind you. Don't get me wrong, it would've been nice to be acknowledged for bringing that piece of shit to justice, but given how his ties to the Igawa had damaged their reputation, I decided to err on the side of caution and let the matter slide, content to have indirectly blackened their eye.

Sadly, it turned out Tsuru cared little for my desire to slip under the radar, for no sooner had she recovered enough to be outfitted with prosthetic limbs did she abuse what little authority she had left to arrange a meeting with me in my capacity as clan Head to discuss the terms of my compensation for her rescue.

See, Tsuru's mother had been the old-fashioned sort, the kind that believed any deed, good or evil, should be repaid ten-fold at the very least, and she drilled that mindset into her daughter before passing away prior to the rebellion, only for Tsuru to take it to the next level.

What do I mean by that? Well in order to repay me for saving her from a life relegated to little more than Hanjiro's personal torture flesh-light, Tsuru demanded, not requested, DEMANDED, that I take her on as my personal maid, even going so far as threatening to commit Seppuku right in front of me if I refused.

Needless to say, I couldn't very well have the girl off herself on my property. Setting aside how hard it was to get bloodstains out of tatami, I could only imagine the shitstorm that would follow when word got out she died under my roof so soon after being rescued.

And besides, while most of the Clan's fortune and properties had been seized following the rebellion, the Fuuma complex was still far too large for just three people to comfortably call home, to say nothing of how much of a bitch it was to keep the place clean.

And so Sago Tsuru moved into my house under her mother's Maiden name of Izumo, where she found herself promptly taken under the wing of a surprisingly eager Tokiko, who spared no expense instructing the girl in the proper mannerisms and responsibilities expected of a true Maid.

'She always did enjoy teaching.' I mused as I followed Izumo through the door into a modified holding cell, the walls lined with various seals designed to prevent teleportation in or out, a table covered with several particularly nasty interrogation tools (and a few sex toys) placed nearby "Has she caused any trouble?"

"Not at all." Tsuru assured me as she walked into the room, where a naked figure hung from the ceiling like the world's sexiest pinata, her arms and legs bound behind her back in a way that exposed her chest for all to see "If anything, she's been rather compliant...almost eager really."

Inside the interrogation room...

"Is that right?" I mused, trying not to see the parallels with how Tsuru had restrained the brunette and how she herself had been restrained by Hanjiro, instead allowing my eyes to roam over the figure as she hung there, her breasts heaving with every breath "And just what has she been saying?"

"Nothing useful I'm afraid." Tsuru confessed, the brunette tilting her head at the sound of her voice, unable to see due to the blindfold covering her eyes, her teeth clenched around a ball-gag "Even after all my encouragement, she insists she has no idea how she arrived in the park...or even her own name."

"Amnesia?" I queried, eyeing the bound brunette with a quirked brow as she hung there, chest heaving tauntingly as she slowly swung in place, wondering just how deep this rabbit hole was going to go "Let me speak to her."

"As you wish, Fuuma-sama." Tsuru acknowledged, before proceeding to elicit a soft mewl from the restrained brunette by trailing one of her mechanical fingers along the underside of her belly and up her left breast, ending with a gentle flick to her exposed nipple.

"Did you hear that, child?" she demanded softly, leaning down to gently cup the brunette's chin, bringing her lips to her ear "Fuuma-sama, wishes to speak with you. Be a good girl and answer his questions, and I may reward you later."

'I have the strangest boner right now.' I chuckled nervously, admittedly more than a little unnerved by my maid's proclivities but willing to overlook them for now unless she tried using them on me, stepping into the brunette's line of sight as Tsuru removed the gag and blindfold "Do you know who I am?"

"You're...Fuuma-sama...?" the brunette croaked, her voice hoarse, which I suppose was to be expected considering the healing bruise on her neck, her dull brown eyes blinking up at me from a heart-shaped face framed by light brown locks "You're...Tsuru-sama's...master?"

"I am." I confessed as I allowed my eyes to roam over her body, or rather, the body that, up until a few hours ago, had belonged to the Fallen Angel Raynare. A body, it should be noted, that had been missing at least two limbs, though I wasn't able to tell if she'd regrown her missing wing like she had her arm.

And that wasn't the only change that I could make out, for aside from a slightly bigger pair of tits (don't judge me), the Fallen's iconic purple eyes and long black hair had shifted to a warm brown, the latter spiking out at the sides in an uncomfortably familiar fashion.

"I'm going to ask you some questions." I began, reaching down to cup the brunette's chin, wisely choosing not to comment on the shiver that raced through her body at my touch, making a mental note to have a word with Tsuru about what constituted 'interrogation' "If you're honest, I'll see about untying you."

"Ah...!" the brunette gasped, her eyes widening with a strange mixture of anticipation and excitement that actually gave me pause "Am I...going to be punished?" she rasped, her breath coming in sore gasps due to her bruised throat.

"So long as you answer my questions honestly, you won't be punished." I assured her, shivering slightly at the brief flash of disappointment in her eyes, making a mental note to seriously have a sit-down with Tsuru later, preferably with Tokiko in attendance "Let's start off easy. Can you tell me your name?"

"My...name..." the brunette repeated, blinking in confusion, her eyes going vacant for a few seconds, only to morph into a pained grimace "Ah...sorry..." she apologised after shaking her head to clear it "Can't think...head hurts..."

"Does the name Raynare of the Grigori mean anything to you?" I pressed, peering into her eyes, looking for the slightest reaction, only to relent when my only response was met with a vacant stare "What about Hyōdō Issei?" at her continued silence I scowled "Do you remember anything at all?"

"I'm sorry...!" she whimpered, and in that moment I realised I was still gripping her chin, "I really don't know anything..." she insisted, tears streaming down her cheeks as she found herself unable to avert her eyes from my intense glare "The last thing I remember was waking up here...please don't hurt me..."

"No one is going to hurt you." I assured her, releasing my grip on her chin to cup her cheek with one hand while the other came up to wipe her tears "Tsuru, let her down." I commanded, turning to face the Maid standing in the corner "I don't think she's going to be a threat."

"At once, Fuuma-sama." Tsuru acknowledged, the maid crossing over to where the chains were connected to a winch, lowering the trembling brunette to the floor where she could remove the shackles holding her limbs behind her back "Shall I prepare a hot bath for her?"

"And a change of clothes." I commanded, kneeling down to help the trembling brunette off the ground, barely managing to get her into a kneeling position as her legs didn't seem to want to respond just yet "But before you run off to do that, I need you to hold her still while I check something."

"But of course." Tsuru acknowledged, moving to kneel behind the confused brunette, pulling her back to sit on her lap and holding her in place, one hand cupped under her chin, the other wrapped around her waist, securing her arms in place "Now then, hold still and allow Fuuma-sama to examine you."

"It's nothing dangerous." I assured the brunette, whose eyes were flicking between us warily, torn between fear and, strangely, anticipation at whatever was about to occur "I'm just going to check that there's nothing wrong with your body. After that, Tsuru is going to take you to get cleaned up."

"Okay..." the brunette whispered, though I could tell from her gaze that she seemed almost disappointed by the revelation, her body tensing as I reached out to place my hand on her head, leaning into my palm as if to savour the feeling of my touch "You're warm..."

"I get that a lot." I confessed, smiling reassuringly at her to cover the fact I was literally stalling for time, torn between my terror from the encounter with Ddraig in Issei's soul to my desire to see if I could even replicate the experience to begin with.

You see, despite my detractors claims to the contrary, I considered myself to be fairly intelligent, which shouldn't come as a surprise considering you don't live to see puberty in a Ninja Village where everyone hates your guts by rushing dick-first into danger without a plan or bullshit levels of plot armour, Kishimoto.

The point of the matter is, before Tokiko and I made a move on Saji, I needed to see whether or not I'd be able to replicate whatever the hell I did to transfer the Boosted Gear to Raynare, which in all honesty was probably the only way Saji was going to live to see another day.

However, despite the importance of verifying whether or not I could replicate the feat or if it was just a one-time miracle made possible through the Welsh Dragon's bullshit 'Fuck You I'm a Dragon' powers, I wasn't too keen on replicating the experience if it mean pissing off Ddraig again.

That, and if I was being perfectly honest with myself, I was scared. Too scared after a lifetime of being 'powerless', of being looked down upon for my useless Jagan Ability, to suddenly dare to dream that I'd be able to replicate the miracle from the park.

'Just a quick glance and that's it.' I assured myself, taking a deep breath to steady my nerve before reaching out to grasp the brunette's left tit, ignoring her gasp of shock as I activated my Jagan, the familiar feeling of Vertigo as my senses joined with hers.

'Huh...her whole body seems to be an erogenous zone...' I marvelled, blocking out the waves of excitement coursing through her body at the feel of my hand on her breast or the growing heat in her loins as she 'subtly' ground her ass into Tsuru's pelvis 'No wonder Fallen are so susceptible to the Horni...'

Shoving such thoughts aside, I instead focussed on delving deeper into the sea of information that was her body, noting with interest that while it was visually similar to Raynare's corpse the flow of data was different, as if something had come along and altered it from the inside out.

'Must've been Ddraig's work.' I deduced, noting how the girl's heart was considerably more verbose than the Fallen's had been, and how her lungs were literally generating Mana with every breath, with the excess actually being stored in her tits 'Guess that adds credence to the Lartoria Theory...'

Pushing past the discomfort with the ease of long practice, I delved deeper into the sea of information until I came across what I was looking for, a brightly burning light having replaced the dying cinder, encircled by what appeared to be a shield in the shape of a Dragon's scale.

'Doesn't look like he's awake...' I noted, breathing a sigh of relief at the sight of the dull emerald gem set in the centre of the shield 'Must have taken most of his energy to revive her and make the modifications to her body...'

Wisely deciding to follow the Tao of Hogwarts and forgo rousing the sleeping Dragon Emperor, I instead turned my attention to the flame that embodied the soul of his current host, reaching out to examine it only to blink as several images flashed before my eyes.

'These are...memories...' I deduced, shivering as the contents of some of the events actually caused me to wince 'Not just Raynare's either...' I realised as I caught sight of a familiar set of White Scale Mail 'There's some of Ddraig's...possibly his past hosts too...'

The most prevalent memories were perhaps the most concerning, as they both involved me. The first was, unsurprisingly, Raynare's, exposing me to the Fallen's frustration that the humiliation of being forced to 'service' me in the park could be so arousing despite the pain in her missing limbs.

The latter set of memories took a moment for me to recognise, but in the end I realised I was watching the same scene through Issei's eyes, the poor guy forced to spend his final moments watching as the girl who murdered him was likewise murdered after being forced to suck off the school ghost.

Surprisingly, I felt no resentment from the teen, not even as I watched myself kneel down next to him to destroy Rias' summoning pamphlet. If anything, I sensed a hint of envy, may be even admiration as he watched me interact with Amane before his vision faded to black.

'You really weren't that bad a guy, Issei.' I mused, honestly feeling like shit at how things had turned out, only to blink as I sensed the soul respond, something hovering into view from behind it, orbiting just outside the reach of the flames like the slumbering boosted Gear 'What's that?'

Whatever it was, it was certainly bright as fuck, a perfect sphere of light that shone like a star and gave off a warm, soothing light that for some reason was triggering all of my danger senses despite the comforting feeling it inspired within me.

'Is this...Holy Element?' I marvelled, blinking as I gazed upon the innate ability all Fallen retained from their days in Heaven, the anti-thesis to the Devil's Demonic Energy and the source of Raynare's ability to wield those infamous Spears of Light despite having Fallen who knows how many centuries ago.

I'll confess that in that moment, despite everything I knew about the 'Heaven' of this world, I found myself unable to resist a feeling of wonderment at the sight of an actual fragment of God's Light, so much so that I found myself subconsciously reaching out for it, wanting to hold it in my hands...to make it MINE.

And in that moment I felt something 'click' within me, the sensation so sudden it snapped me out of my trance just as a wave of cold washed over me, followed by shadowy tendrils surging out from behind me to latch onto the glowing Star of Holy Element like some Eldritch abomination grasping at a sun.

Even as I tried to wrap my brain around what I was seeing, it quickly became apparent that whatever the hell those tendrils were, the Holy Element clearly didn't appreciate the attention, the once gentle Light growing in intensity until it felt like I was looking right at the sun.

In the end, however, it's resistance proved meaningless, as the brighter it glowed the more tendrils seemed to surge out of the darkness, wrapping over themselves until they completely smothered the light beneath them, my eyes widening as they suddenly retracted, slamming the mass of darkness into my chest.

"What the hell-?!" I yelped as I stumbled backwards onto my ass, blinking in confusion as I stared up at the ceiling of the basement only to tense as a pained gasp drew my attention back to Tsuru and the brunette, the maid having put the latter in a vice-grip.

"Are you unharmed, Fuuma-sama?" Tsuru enquired, her tone laced with concern even as she slowly tightened her grip on the struggling brunette, who was looking at me desperately for aid "Did she do something to attack you?"

"Let her go, Tsuru." I commanded, or tried to anyway, my voice coming out as a hoarse croak until I took a breath to steady myself "I'm fine, Tsuru, she didn't do anything to me." I assured the maid once I got my voice under control "I just saw something that startled me."

"As you command, Fuuma-sama." Tsuru conceded, releasing her grip on the relieved brunette before helping her to her feet "Then with your permission, I shall accompany her to the bathing facilities so that she may freshen up while I prepare some clothes for her."

"You don't need my permission for that." I assured her, picking myself off the floor with a grunt as the maid escorted the nervous brunette towards the staircase, waiting for the door to close behind them before glancing down at my hand in thought.

"I wonder..." I mused, closing my eye to focus on the strange warmth I felt In my chest, a warmth that hadn't been there moments ago but yet flowed easily down my arm as if it had always been there, a small smile forming on my face as I opened my eye to regard the spear of light in my hand "Now isn't that interesting?"

Abandoned Church...

"I'm back!" Mittelt chirped, the Goth-Loli fallen skipping into the abandoned church only to be met with a scowl from Dohnaseek and a sigh from Kalawarner "Sheesh, what crawled up your asses and died? Don't tell me you're all backed up?"

"Where the hell have you been?" Dohnaseek demanded, glaring at the younger Fallen in annoyance from beneath the brim of his Fedora while Kalawarner merely sighed in exasperation "And where the hell is Sellzen? You were supposed to be keeping an eye on him."

"Ugh, don't remind me." Mittelt cursed, shivering at the mere mention of the insane exorcist "The guy was getting way too into it for my tastes so I told him to make his way back here before sunrise." she scowled in the face of their disapproving glares "And why the hell am I answering to you anyway? Where's Raynare?"

"She hasn't reported in yet." Kalawarner supplied, earning a shocked look from the blonde Fallen while Dohnaseek mere grunted, refusing to show his concern "We tried getting into contact with her but she appears to have vanished off the grid, along with the boy she was tailing."

"Maybe she decided to ride his bone before she offed him?" Mittelt proposed, tilting her head to the side with a coy smirk "I mean, sure he was a total horn-dog but he wasn't that bad looking for a kid. If Raynare hadn't snapped the job up I probably would've taken him for a spin."

"He wouldn't have even given you the time of day." Kalawarner countered, earning a pointed glare from the younger Fallen as she sighed "You read the report from Azazel-sama, the kid is obsessed with breasts to the point I'm honestly surprised Raynare even bothered to disguise herself to get close to him."

"Humph, of course you'd use that excuse." Mittelt scoffed, tossing her head in disgust whilst sticking out what little chest she had "I'll have you know that not all men are attracted to those lumps of fat, I bet you anything I'd have had him eating out of my hand in minutes if it were me."

"More like you'd throw a temper tantrum within minutes of speaking to him after he mistook you for a sassy lost child." Dohnaseek scoffed, tilting his head back almost lazily to avoid the spear of light hurled his way by the incensed blonde "Point proven."

"Both of you calm down!" Kalawarner snapped, glaring between the pair in exasperation, wondering what on earth she'd done to deserve such an assignment "Fighting each other doesn't do any good, especially since we're going to have to contact headquarters if we don't hear from Raynare within the next few days."

"Shit..." Mittelt cursed while Dohnaseek grimaced, neither of them particularly wanting to be the one to explain to Azazel why Raynare went missing, as his standing order had been to observe the Sacred Gear User, not take them out "What do you propose we do?"

"For the time being, we stick to the plan and try to buy as much time as possible." Kalawarner reasoned, nodding her head to Dohnaseek "Assuming Raynare did off the kid, we can only hope she disposed of his body in a way that can't be tracked back to us, so that buys us at least a few days, a week at best."

"Assuming she didn't just toss the corpse in a landfill somewhere." Dohnaseek scoffed, his disdain towards their leader's bad habits apparent as he stepped away from the wall "I'm going out on patrol, if I spot Raynare I'll let you know."

"Be careful." Kalawarner urged, her expression neutral despite her words "Raynare noticed one of the Gremory girl's pieces lurking around the boy the other day." she narrowed her eyes at Dohnaseek "Don't let your battle-lust get the better of you. Remember, we're to avoid direct confrontation with them."

"Don't presume to lecture me, Kala." Dohnaseek scoffed, sneering over his shoulder at the woman as he strode out of the church "I'm not so stupid as to pick a fight with Lucifer's little sister. If I were you, I'd worry more about the idiot who thought it was a good idea to let Sellzen run around without a leash."

"Bite me!" Mittelt snarled, hurling another spear of light at her fedora-clad comrade which Dohnaseek dodged with the ease of long practice, having long since grown used to the Goth-loli's temper tantrums during his time spent on Raynare's cell.

'Though with any luck, that might change soon.' He mused, internally hopeful that Raynare's trademark arrogance had led to her coming out the loser in a confrontation with either the Gremory or Sitri Heiress...hell he wouldn't be surprised if the arrogant bitch somehow managed to piss of both.

'To think we need to skirt around the shadows like rats...' he cursed, scowling as he stepped out of the church into the evening air, watching the sun slowly set below the distant horizon 'As if we actually had anything to fear from those pampered princesses...'

Needless to say, the very fact that the Gremory and Sitri heiresses dared to lay claim to this entire city rubbed Dohnaseek the wrong way. Indeed, nothing would make the Fedora-aficionado happier than to knock those two brats down a peg or two, maybe even kill a few of their peerage members for emphasis.

Sadly, he knew better than to lay hands on either of them, not only because Azazel would have his head, but because he wasn't in a hurry to die just yet, which would almost certainly be the only fate to await him if he dared harm a hair on either Heiress' heads.

'Wonder if there are any decent bounties in the area?' he grumbled as he pulled out his phone, deciding to hunt a few Strays down to vent his frustrations, scowling as he trailed over the list of weaklings only to pause as he happened across one posting in particular.

"Well now..." he mused, a perverse smirk forming on his rugged face as he gazed down at the picture of two girls whose resemblance to the Gremory Heiress and her brother's Queen was so strong he'd eat his Fedora if it turned out they weren't related in some way "looks like someone's been naughty..."

And I'll just leave off there for now.

So yeah, Kuroto's Jagan has gotten a bit of a power boost courtesy of coming into contact with Ddraig. What this means for the future I couldn't tell you, but suffice to say he's going to be milking this for all it's worth.

And we finally get a backstory for our resident sniper-maid. and yes, all that stuff about her being tortured is canon from what i can see. This is the final member of Team Fuuma for the time being, since most of the clan either want nothing to do with Kuroto or are laying low.

Let's see what happens next eh?