Here's the next chapter! The penultimate one of the second original arc. I hope you all enjoy!
Luke arrived home after having tracked down Emery and left her with her old friend.
That guy Conrad said something about 'still living a mercenary life'… Luke thought to himself. Does that mean Emery was a mercenary before meeting Seth? Or maybe Seth hired her to become his servant? I have so many questions that I hope she can answer later…
"Welcome back, Luke." Pyra came up to greet him. "Hm? Did you lose Emery?"
"No, I found her and she's fine." Luke replied. "She'll be back later."
"Kayoko said she wanted to talk to you. She's in the bath right now."
"Shouldn't I wait for her to finish?" Luke raised one of his eyebrows.
"She said to just let her know when you're in the changing room."
"A-all right…" A light blush appeared on Luke's cheeks.
Luke made his way to the bathroom and entered the changing room. Thankfully for him, the sliding door leading to the bath was closed, but he could still hear the sound of running water coming from inside.
"K-Kayoko?" Luke called out as he felt nervous knowing that the naked body of a very beautiful young woman was on the other side of the door. "You wanted to speak to me?"
"Oh, Luke-san." Kyoko's voice echoed off of the walls inside the bath. "You've returned. Yes, I wanted to speak with you. Do you mind listening to me from the changing room while I'm bathing?"
I do kind of mind, but whatever… "I'll hear you out." Luke sat down on the floor, facing away from the bathroom door.
"You have my thanks, Luke-san. What I wanted to discuss with you was the matter of the Aegis."
"Pyra?"
"Yes. When Pyra introduced herself to me and said how if we hadn't met, she would still be asleep. Noticing my confusion, she clarified that she herself is the Aegis."
"Yeah, even I was surprised to find out that the Aegis was a living person like us."
"From the way she spoke of you, you must be treating her very well, Luke-san."
"Well, she may be a weapon, but she still has a heart and emotions just like us."
"I'm glad to hear that. I was right to trust you with the key to her seal." Kayoko's voice had a hint of relief in it. "That is all I wanted to speak with you about."
"Can I ask you something in return before I leave?"
"Oh? It would be fair to you that I answer any questions you may have for me."
"Can you tell me a bit about yourself?"
There was a long silence hanging in the air.
"I'm sorry if that's private or classified information!" Luke panicked.
"No, you're fine." Kayoko assured him. "You might be a Devil, but… I know I can trust you. I was born as the second child of the current head of the Kita Clan."
"You don't have to start all the way from the beginning."
"The Kita Clan is one of the few remaining ninja families in Japan. All children born to these families are to be trained in the art of ninjutsu as soon as they are able to walk. Although, I must admit that my life has been pretty easy up until this point. In my village, the children of the Kita clan are treated like royalty but are never spoiled."
"You said you're the second child. Does that mean you have an older brother or sister?"
"Yes, my older brother, Hideki-niisama, is the current heir to the Kita clan. Once he takes a wife, he will inherit the position of head of our clan from our father."
"And what about you?"
"Should my brother die, as next in line I will inherit his position after finding a husband."
"Do you have a say in who you marry?"
"I do, but…"
"But?"
"… I have concerns…" Kayoko held her hand to her chest and clenched it tightly. "Do you remember how I mentioned that I was raised to be beautiful?"
"… You're concerned that your husband will only love you for your beauty, and not for who you are."
"… Yes. I have met many potential suitors… and I could tell that their love wasn't genuine or sincere."
"I think you and President would get along swimmingly… Er, more than she already does with you."
"Rias Gremory-dono has an arranged marriage, too?"
"She had one. The guy only wanted President for her looks and status. She even told me that she wants someone who loves her for her and not her status. Thankfully, I was able to put a stop to that marriage and President's been a lot happier since then."
"You… ended her arranged marriage?"
"Yeah. Well, if it weren't for me, President would currently be married to a complete jerk. You seem like a really kind woman, Kayoko. You deserve a man who loves you for who you are just as much as President does."
Luke could hear the running water stop, followed by the sound of wet footsteps approaching the bathroom door. Suddenly, the door opened up with a soaking wet Kayako with a towel wrapped around her standing at the edge.
"Do you really mean that, Luke-san?" Kayoko looked down at Luke.
"Of course, I do." Luke answered while blushing. "One of my dreams is to make women happy. Even if it's in the smallest of ways."
Kayoko looked directly into Luke's eyes and could tell despite his blushing he was being one hundred percent sincere. To which she started to have a slight bit of pink on her cheeks.
"Rias-dono is very lucky to have you as her servant, Luke-san. I hope you find a bride who loves you in the same way. Actually, I heard that it is common for Devils to have multiple spouses, so I should probably say 'brides'."
Luke internally sighed. Just because I'm a Devil doesn't necessarily mean I'll have a harem…
"Thank you very much for the talk, Luke-san."
With nothing else to say, Kayoko went back into the bathroom and closed the door, followed by Luke putting his pink face in his hands.
Why do my eyes always have to wander to women's cleavage?
After getting some training in, Emery had finally returned to the Sigmund residence and she requested that she and Luke go to her and Hana's room alone.
"Everything I'm about to tell you, Seth already knows." Emery said. "Just so you know I'm not keeping any secrets from him."
"Okay."
"The Belmont family has passed down a form of martial arts using Senjutsu for centuries… but we were never a noble or wealthy family… Actually, most of us lived in poverty. It might not have been anything fancy, but it was peaceful…" Emery then looked at the floor in sorrow. "Until our town was caught in the middle of a war… And bombs were dropped on our house… I was the only survivor…"
"I'm… really sorry that your parents were killed… I know all too well what that's like…"
"Luckily, a few mercenaries passed by after the attack. They offered me a home, a job, and some food. It turns out all of us had unusual abilities, although everyone but me had a Sacred Gear. David… He was our leader and was like a father to us. Conrad was usually quiet, but we could always rely on him in a pinch. And Braedon… he was aloof, but he always looked out for his family… Honestly… I was in love with him."
I can already tell that something terrible happened to them…
"A couple of years ago… while we were on a job… we had to separate to complete our objectives… When I met up with them at the rendezvous…" Emery bit into her own teeth. "That's when I saw them… The men I'm sure attacked Kayoko the other day… Braedon and David… their dead bodies… If I wasn't so weak back then, they'd be-!"
Emery slammed her fist against the dresser and smashed it apart.
"… I managed to get away, but I was all alone…" Emery sat down on the edge of one of the beds. "Actually, it was around that time I started drinking."
So, that's why Emery drinks so much? She's been trying to drown her sorrows, but it was never enough…
"I was homeless for a month, and that's when I met Seth. He caught me sleeping in an alley and once he realized I had the power of Senjutsu, he decided to make me his servant. In exchange, I would get a bed, food, and a steady job."
"I can't even begin to imagine how hard your life has been before meeting us." Luke took a seat next to Emery.
"I owe your brother so much… I haven't been this happy since… since…"
When Luke saw Emery's face, he could see tears leaking through her eyes and trickling down her face.
"Am I cursed?" Emery started sobbing. "Everyone I've ever loved is gone… I… I don't want anyone living in this house to suffer the same fate…"
Emery… Luke looked down at his own hands and he found himself tightening his grip before standing up. "Emery?"
Emery did her best to wipe her tears and looked straight at Luke.
"I promise you…" Luke held up his clenched right fist and looked right into Emery's face with a sense of absolute resolution. "I won't let you lose anyone you love ever again! No matter what, I'll make sure you live out the rest of your life in happiness!"
Emery was taken aback by Luke's proclamation and looking right into his eyes, she could see a fire that was almost hypnotizing. She then closed her eyes as her mouth curled into a small smile.
"You know? This whole time, I thought you were just some socially awkward pervert… but you really are a nice guy. I'm holding you to that promise, okay?"
"If those guys dare attack us, we'll show them why it's a big mistake and come home alive."
Luke and Emery heartily shook hands.
"Luke, can you help me with something?" Rias's voice called out to him from the living room.
"I'll be right there, President!" Luke called back to her.
Luke left the bedroom with Emery resting her chin on her hand with a pleasant smile on her face.
In the early evening, Emery was about to head out to meet Conrad for dinner.
"Going out, Emery?" Luke asked as he approached her.
"Yeah." Emery replied. "Conrad wanted us to meet for dinner. I'll be back in a few hours."
"Have fun."
Upon leaving the house and hearing Luke's farewell, Emery couldn't help but feel warm on the inside.
"It sounds like you and Emery-san are getting along a lot better than before, Luke-kun." Hana approached him.
"Yeah, I'm glad she's not so tense around me anymore." Luke said. "By the way, Hana. How have you been making progress on your Sacred Gear training?"
"I already feel a lot stronger, thank you. Seth-san and the others have been a real help in honing my skills. Although, I am curious as to what my Balance Breaker might be… Each one is so different from another. Yuuto-kun's is like an improvement over his base Sacred Gear, while Fumiko-chan's is almost like a completely different ability."
"Karlel might know. Maybe we can ask her the next time we see her."
Ding-dong!
Luke and Hana were slightly perplexed when they heard the doorbell ring as neither of them were expecting guests.
"Luke, can you get the door?" Rias called out to him from the kitchen. "That should be Akeno and Xenovia."
Did President invite them here?
Luke opened the front door and saw Akeno and Xenovia with luggage at their sides.
"Hello, Luke-kun." Akeno greeted him with a gentle smile.
"Thanks for letting us stay here." Xenovia said.
Ah, right… President did mention that Sirzechs insisted that we all live in the same place.
Suddenly, Luke found himself being embraced by Akeno, who was looking at him with glistening eyes.
"I can finally be at your side now, Luke-kun."
Luke felt his heart skip a beat and gulped at Akeno's affections.
"Shall I sleep with you tonight, Luke-kun?" Akeno teased. "I want to do many things with you in bed."
Akeno's words caused Luke's face to become red and steam rose from his head.
At the table, everyone currently there gathered around the table and finished eating dinner.
"Rias Gremory-dono, Pyra-san, thank you for the food." Kayoko expressed her gratitude. "It's the best meal I've had in years."
"You're welcome, Kayoko." Pyra seemed happy at the kunoichi's praise. "Rias and I were worried that there wouldn't be enough food for everyone."
"Yeah, this house became pretty crowded over the last few months." Luke said. "It's hard to believe that it started out with just me, my brother, Anna, and Alastair. In retrospect, it was eerily quiet."
"I'm thinking about having the house remodeled over summer break to accommodate everyone." Rias stated. "I'll see what my brother can do. I also heard that Melody has similar plans for Issei's house, too."
"Oh, by the way, Kayoko, how long do you plan on staying with us?" Luke inquired. "Don't you have to return home?"
"I finished my training mission ahead of time. Besides, I don't know when we'll meet again, so I thought we could get to know each other better." Kayoko smiled brightly.
SO BEAUTIFUL!
CRASH!
The wall suddenly collapsed, kicking up a cloud of dust and debris and putting everyone on high alert.
"I hope you enjoyed your meal."
"It's the last one you'll ever have."
Walking in from the hole leading outside were three figures, a large, bulky man with a bandage over his left eye, a smaller man, and a silver haired young woman with catlike ears.
"Those two men are the ones who attacked me yesterday!" Kayoko said.
Luke, leering back at the trio of intruders, materialized his Falchion in his left hand while he caught the Aegis sword Pyra tossed him with his right.
"Whoever the hell you guys are, I won't let you lay a finger on Kayoko!" Luke shouted.
"We're not here for the ninja, you idiot." The smaller man sneered. "We only attacked her so she could lead us directly to our real target." He raised his arm at Luke as an unusual looking spider crawled on top of it. "… You."
The spider shot out a web heading straight for Luke, but Xenovia cut it away with her Durandal with ease.
"I won't let you lay a finger on Luke!" Xenovia declared.
"That boy might be our target, but I'm not gonna let you get away after what you did to my eye!" The bulky man charged at Kayoko, a transparent armor appearing around his body.
Xenovia tried to intervene by cutting him down with Durandal, but the Holy Sword simply passed through his body like it was made of mist. Grinning, the bulky man countered with a powerful punch to Xenovia's face and launched her out of the glass window, although she managed to land on her feet.
"He's using that strange ability again." Kayoko said.
"It's a Sacred Gear, isn't it?" Luke guessed.
"Yeah." The bulky man answered. "It's called Ethereal Protection. Your attacks will pass right through me while I have it active."
"But it doesn't make you immune to all attacks, does it?" Kayoko asked. "One of my ninjutsu techniques was able to damage your eye."
"This is just my base Sacred Gear. It can't protect me against elemental or magic attacks and certain parts of my body aren't protected, either."
Xenovia vaulted her way back into the house. "Let's see if the rest of your head can withstand my next attack."
"Xenovia-san, focus on one of the other enemies." Kayoko told her. "I have a better matchup against this man."
"I shall aid you." Setsuna walked up to Kayoko's side with her hand on her sheathed katana.
"You saw Xenovia-san's Holy Sword pass through him." Kayoko stated.
"And you said that elemental attacks can harm him." Setsuna then unsheathed her Fujinto and wind started swirling around its blade.
"Ah, I see. I'm sure the two of us can defeat him without issue."
"Since Setsuna and Kayoko are busy with the big guy…" Xenovia turned her head toward the skinny man with the spider. "That spider of yours is a Sacred Gear, too, isn't it?"
"Dammit, you figured mine out, too?" The man spat. "Yes, this is Arachne Web. It creates a variety of different webs for whatever I need. Try slicing this one."
The spider shot another web at Xenovia, although there was something off about it compared to the one it shot before. She swung Durandal toward it again, but the moment the blade touched the web, she was engulfed in a small explosion.
"That was a web that explodes upon contact." The man stated. "I have even more types of webs at my disposal. Let's try this one."
Another web was shot from the spider's mouth and headed straight toward Xenovia, but it altered its trajectory mid flight and was now heading toward Luke.
"Luke, look out!"
Pyra threw a fireball at the web and reduced it to ash before it could make contact with Luke. While the man was agitated, a flurry of cherry blossom petals swirled around him.
"The fuck is this?" He clicked his tongue.
The cherry blossom petals turned into a whirlwind that trapped him inside.
"You two aren't the only ones with a Sacred Gear!" Hana said as she came forward.
Suddenly, the petals erupted into flames and disappeared.
"You stupid bitches! You dare stand against our God, Roman?!" The skinny man growled.
"I've never heard of this god!" Rias replied as a crimson aura appeared around her body. "And even if I had, making an enemy of Luke means making an enemy of me!"
"Hey, kid!"
Luke's attention was drawn by the silver haired young woman who accompanied the two assailants.
"I won't let you take Luke-kun from me!" Akeno shouted as she got between the woman and Luke with electricity crackling throughout her body.
"I-I just want to ask him a question." The woman looked at Luke. "What did you do to Roman?"
"'Roman'?" Luke parroted in confusion.
"That's God Roman!" The skinny man angrily shouted at the woman.
"You… don't know who he is?" The woman called Nia questioned. "Because he seems to know you."
"I've never even met anyone named Roman and I definitely don't recall doing wrong against anyone… except Raynare, Riser Phenex, Kokabiel… Is he connected to one of them?"
"Nia, stop talking with the enemy and kill the brat!" The bulky man shouted.
"Just shut up, will ya?!" Nia snapped back. "There's no point in taking this boy's life!"
Luke, Rias, and Pyra were surprised at Nia's behavior.
"He clearly didn't do anything wrong to Roman, and even if he did, it wasn't intentional." Nia protested. "Can't we just call it quits and go home?"
"God Roman declared this boy a threat." The man with the spider glared at Nia. "That alone justifies his death."
"Bollocks! This kid is going to live and that's that!"
"Then you're better off dead, you traitor!"
Both of the men shifted their focus onto Nia and were about to attack her, but the bulky man was suddenly slashed across the back and blood gushed from his wound. The one responsible for the gash on the man's back was Kayoko, who was holding a kunai surrounded in water that took the form of a long blade.
"You should never turn your back on a ninja!" Kayoko said as she stylishly landed on the floor.
"NO!" The man with the spider yelled out.
"I can take you down myself!" Nia held out her hand and a mysterious energy flowed in her palm.
The energy started to take the form of water and she fired it at the skinny man, reversing his midair momentum and completely soaking him. Taking this opportunity, Akeno shot a bolt of lightning at him, electrocuting him and his fried, unconscious body fell onto the floor. After restraining the defeated men, Hana looked at the destroyed wall with worry.
"Seth-san's not going to like this…" Hana murmured.
"The assailants have been apprehended and everyone is safe." Setsuna stated with a smile. "I'm sure Seth-dono will be glad about those."
In the middle of the living room, Nia looked at her former comrades with a complicated expression as Luke approached her.
"Thank you for your help, Nia." Luke said. "I don't understand why a good person like you would be working with assassins."
"Well, we're not exactly assassins." Nia replied. "Until today, I mostly just handled odd jobs. I had no idea they were… murderers."
"Well, I called my brother and he's sending someone to apprehend these two as soon as possible." Rias came up to them and then looked at Nia. "Nia, you won't be arrested, but you will be brought in for questioning."
"I'm sure Emery is going to be happy knowing that her friends' killers will be behind bars soon." Luke said.
"Did you say 'Emery'?" Nia asked.
"I… did. Why do you ask?"
"Our boss, of our unit, I mean, said something about a woman named Emery. Said that she's someone very important to him and wanted to be sure she was away from here when the attack started."
"… Kh!" Luke suddenly realized something. "Can you tell me more about your boss?"
It was late at night in the middle of the town's park, with nobody else around and Emery and Conrad walking together.
"Thank you for the meal, Conrad." Emery smiled at him. "You have good taste in restaurants."
"Only the best for you, Emery." Conrad smiled back at her. "… Emery?"
"Hm?"
"There's something I want to tell you. Something I've been keeping bottled up since the day we met."
They both stopped walking and Emery turned to face Conrad.
"Emery… The truth is… I love you."
What?! Emery's eyes widened at the sudden confession. This is the first time a man has ever said that to me!
"I've always loved you." Conrad continued. "Even after all these years apart, you're the only woman I've ever had eyes for. More than that, I want you to marry me."
Are you serious?! This can't be real! A man is throwing himself at me! This could be my chance at continuing my family line!
"What do you say, Emery? Will you make me your husband?"
This could be my only chance!
Before even a breath of air could reach Emery's mouth, various memories ran through her mind.
("Emery Belmont." Emery held her hand out to Luke.
The first thought was when she and Luke first met. The next thought that came to her was one of the first healing sessions she did with Luke.
"I know you're enjoying this." Emery's voice clearly conveyed her annoyance. "I guess it can't be helped. Just don't going around expending your life energy just to keep this going. I'm only doing this because Seth asked me to. I'd like to get this over with as soon as possible.")
Come on, don't go chickening out, now! Accept his proposal! Why are you thinking about him now?!
(Emery?"
Emery did her best to wipe her tears and looked straight at Luke.
"I promise you…" Luke held up his clenched right fist and looked right into Emery's face with a sense of absolute resolution. "I won't let you lose anyone you love ever again! No matter what, I'll make sure you live out the rest of your life in happiness!"
One final thought appeared in her mind.
"Have fun."
Upon leaving the house and hearing Luke's farewell, Emery couldn't help but feel warm on the inside.)
"…"
"… Emery?"
"… Conrad… I'm sorry… I can't accept your proposal."
Conrad was taken aback by Emery's answer and his face looked toward the ground with his eyes hidden in the shadows.
"… You have feelings for someone else, don't you?" Conrad guessed.
What is this feeling? When I thought of Luke, I rejected Conrad immediately.
"Tell me… who is it?" Conrad spoke in a voice that felt off.
"Huh?"
"Is it your client? Or is it that boy from earlier? I didn't think you were the type to go for younger men."
"Conrad, that's…" Emery tried to answer, but hesitation kept her from finishing her response.
"No matter… he doesn't have long for this world, anyway…"
Overhearing his grumbling, Emery's eyes widened in shock.
"… Shit. My tongue slipped."
Suddenly, Conrad suddenly found himself being lifted off the ground by Emery, who was grabbing him by the throat with one hand, only loose enough for him to breath and speak.
"What did you do to Luke?!" Emery growled with seething fury in her eyes.
"I haven't done anything, but my comrades should be ensuring that he's breathed his last by now. You're familiar with at least two of them."
Emery instantly knew who Conrad was referring to. "Those… those two men who killed Braedon and David?!"
In a fit of rage, she slammed Conrad's back against a nearby tree while still clinging onto his throat.
"How could you? How could you team up with the people who killed our family?!" Emery nearly screamed, but she knew there could be regular people nearby, so she kept her volume as low as possible while still clearly conveying her anger and disgust.
"Emery, you were so happy to see me that you didn't even suspect why only I survived."
Conrad's words perplexed Emery for a moment, but she quickly realized something horrifying.
"… You… you're the one who had Braedon and David killed?" Emery was mortified at first, but her anger returned, even more potent than before, and now had both hands clutching Conrad's neck. "YOU BASTARD! WHY?! THEY GAVE YOU A HOME! WHY DID YOU KILL THEM?!"
"On my way back from one of my solo missions, I happened upon an unusual temple. That's where I met those men… as well as someone who offered to make my wishes come true. His power… I had never seen anything like it. He doesn't come from any of our mythologies, and yet he easily ranks among the 10 strongest beings in the world. In exchange for becoming one of his loyal followers, he offered me the services of those two. He provided the light I was searching for these last several years… Roman."
Emery slammed Conrad against the tree harder.
"I don't give a fuck about this Roman! Get to the goddamn point!"
"That last mission we went on together? Roman set that up. I intended for you and David to be separated from Braedon, so we could get him out of the way without any unnecessary casualties. After all, you were in love with him… right?"
"You killed Braedon because you were jealous?! You should've just moved on for found another woman!"
"I told you before, you're the only woman I have eyes for. It almost went perfectly… until David showed up. He saw that Braedon was shot by my Sacred Gear, so I was forced to kill him, too."
Each word coming from Conrad's mouth was causing Emery to clench her teeth to keep herself from going berserk on him.
"I had to destroy a nearby tank to create a wall of fire to keep you from getting close and realizing what exactly happened."
Kew!
Suddenly, Emery felt a sharp pain in her stomach and coughed up blood, causing her to let go of Conrad. She noticed that Conrad was now holding a pitch black sniper rifle with a pink needle protruding from the muzzle and there was a small wound in her abdomen, her white shirt being stained red.
"That wound looks pretty bad, Emery." Conrad stood up with a raspy voice after nearly having his windpipe crushed. "God Roman can heal you right up. He can do anything. All you have to do is become my wife. You can't go dying until you've given birth to a child, if I'm not mistaken."
This bastard! Emery gritted her teeth as she fell on her hands and knees from her injury. He's right that I can't die now, but I can't let him have his way, either!
"You don't have long. Better answer quick."
As Emery glared at Conrad, a fireball flew directly into his face and he started screaming in agony while trying to pat out the flames burning his face.
"Thyrsus!"
A glowing, light green aura appeared around Emery's body and her wound closed up, although there was still some pain.
"Emery, are you okay?"
Surprised at the sound of a familiar voice, she looked in its direction and saw Luke holding his right hand out to her while his left hand was holding what looked like a scepter made of sapphire dragon scales.
"Luke!" Emery exclaimed.
Emery grasped Luke's hand and as he helped her stand up, he suddenly found himself being embraced by her, catching him off guard and causing him to blush.
"I'm so glad you're okay…" Emery whispered under her breath.
This is sudden. Luke thought to himself. Did Emery find out what happened at the house?
"Luke, we can't let him get away!"
Both Luke and Emery snapped out of their respective trances as Pyra came up to them and saw that Conrad had run off with his face still on fire.
"He's probably heading to the fountain to put out the flames." Luke surmised before he turned back to Emery. "Shall we chase him down, Emery?"
When Emery looked at Luke again, there was a strange, but warm feeling rising from her heart again and she couldn't resist smiling.
"Yeah! Conrad's going to pay for what he did!"
Luke, Pyra, and Emery dashed off in the direction they saw Conrad run toward and stopped upon arriving at the park's fountain with nobody else nearby. However, Conrad was nowhere in sight.
"I thought I saw him come this way." Emery said.
"Where could he have gone?" Even though Luke said that like he was genuinely confused, he pointed directly at the fountain to hint that Conrad might have hidden himself inside the fountain.
A pink needle shot out of the fountain water and redirected itself toward Luke, but Pyra handed him the Aegis sword and he deflected the needle with ease. Conrad climbed out of the fountain, the flames completely doused, and ran off while taking a small, round object out of his pocket. He then threw that object at the ground and a spatial rift appeared on the ground. Noticing that Conrad was trying to jump into the rift, Luke put as much strength into his legs to catch up to him, but he managed to jump in and disappear along with the rift before he could so much as touch him.
"Dammit! He got away!" Luke looked around in case he would reappear nearby.
"Luke, look out!"
Pyra tackled him to the ground and they barely dodged a pink needle that could have pierced through his head.
"Thanks, Pyra." Luke said. "Ladies, gather near me."
Pyra and Emery followed Luke's directions and he used his Svallin ability to form a barrier around them that blocked the needles being shot at him from various angles.
"Emery, is that a special weapon he's using or a Sacred Gear?" Luke inquired.
"It's a Sacred Gear called Hawkeye Sting." Emery explained. "Think of it as a sniper rifle that shoots needles. He can also change their trajectory in midair. However, he has far less control of the needles the farther he is from them."
"Meaning he must have only teleported to someplace close by." Luke said.
"If he wants to avoid drawing too much attention to himself, he should still be in the park."
Emery looked around and paid close attention to the movement of the needles until she seemed to have noticed something.
"I have an idea where he is." Emery said. "Luke, I'm heading out of the barrier."
"He's not going to just let you just walk up to him and beat the crap out of him." Luke remarked. "… I'm going to Bless you with Svallin."
"What? But you won't be able to protect yourself."
"I've got Pyra with me." Luke then turned to Pyra. "I'll try to dodge as much as I can and you can knock away any I can't."
"Are you sure about this, Luke?" Pyra asked.
"It's the only thing I can think of right now. Besides…" Luke then turned to Emery. "I trust Emery on this."
Emery could feel her heartbeat for a second, but she nodded to Luke and they prepared to enact their plan.
"Let's go!"
Bless!
On Emery's cue, Luke cast his Svallin ability on Emery and she charged in the direction she saw the needles coming from. Luke then started jumping around to dodge the needles coming his way and any he couldn't avoid were knocked away by Pyra with her Aegis sword. Eventually, Pyra missed one of the needles and it struck Luke right in the arm.
"Luke!" Pyra exclaimed.
"Keep blocking, Pyra!" Luke bit down and continued dodging. "This isn't over until the needles stop!"
Hidden in the shadow of trees, Conrad was watching as he saw that Luke was struck by one of his needles.
"Just one or two more hits should be enough to put him down." Conrad muttered under his breath.
Just as he was preparing another shot, a fist punched straight through the tree he was hiding behind struck him in the back of the head. Emery, who had delivered that punch, then circled around the stumbling Conrad, brought down her fist against his back, and slammed his body against the ground. Breathing heavily, Emery looked at Conrad's unconscious body and let out a sigh of relief.
"… It's finally over… Braedon… David… You can finally rest in peace…"
After restraining the incapacitated Conrad, Emery brought him back to Luke and Pyra near the fountain.
"Luke, you're injured!" Emery exclaimed with worry.
"Once Fumiko gets here, I'll be right as rain." Luke assured her. "I'll contact President and she'll come with someone to take Conrad away."
Luke in touch with Rias and telling her what happened, she told Luke and Emery to stay put until she and Fumiko could get there. While waiting for their arrival, Luke told Emery how he knew she was in trouble because Nia informed him how Conrad was her team's boss. Subsequently, Emery told Luke how Conrad admitted that he was responsible for the deaths of Emery's late friends.
"Man, Conrad ended up being a real piece of human garbage." Luke said. "At least he'll be put somewhere where he won't be able to hurt anyone else ever again."
"Luke… I'm sorry I hugged you so suddenly when I saw you…" Emery bashfully apologized. "I… I thought you suffered the same fate as Braedon and David…"
"I made a promise, didn't I?" Luke gave Emery a reassuring smile. "That I wouldn't allow anyone you care about to die? That includes me, too."
The more Emery looked at Luke, the more she could feel an overwhelming warmth welling up inside of her.
There's that feeling again… Emery thought. I've… never felt like this in years… It's… just like how I've felt whenever I saw Braedon… I can't believe this is happening, but… I think I've actually fallen for Luke…
Watching Luke and Emery talk, a warm smile crept onto Pyra's face.
"… Gh!" Pyra suddenly felt something coming towards them.
Before Pyra could warn them, a massive cloud of dust suddenly burst forth from the ground in front of them as if something had landed. Luke and Emery stood up and readied themselves for another fight. All three of them focused on the dust cloud as they could see the shadow of a figure from within it. As the dust faded, it revealed a beautiful young woman that looked nearly identical to the one Pyra saw in her nightmare the other night, except instead of blonde hair and a white dress, this woman had black hair with a black and red dress and tiara. Pyra's eyes widened in horror at the sight of this woman.
"It can't be!" Pyra's voice shook.
"I finally found you… Aegis." The black-haired mystery woman looked directly at Pyra.
A/N: I actually managed to get this chapter done sooner than I anticipated.
I hope you all enjoyed the scene with Kayoko, as she's a character I'm really excited about because she's inspired by one of my favorite female characters of all time. As you may have guessed from the battle earlier, she uses Water-Style Ninjutsu and she's got a lot more tricks up her sleeve than that.
It seems that Emery has finally fallen for Luke and will be joining his harem. Some of you may have already guessed that would be the case when they first met, but now it is official and undeniable.
It was pretty obvious that Conrad was a villain, so I didn't spend too long trying to hide it. As for this Roman individual that he and his lackies seemed to think very highly of… Well, that will have to be revealed later.
As for the woman that appeared at the end, it is both Mythra and not Mythra, which will be explained in the next chapter. And her design is based on the dark alternate color she has in Smash Bros. Oh, and if you're curious if I main Pyra and Mythra in Smash… NEVER TALK TO ME ABOUT SMASH!
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Stay tuned for next time!
Luke Harem: Rias Gremory, Karlel, Annabelle Wright, Akeno Himejima, Fumiko Kazuya, Melody Morag, Setsuna Kazama, Kayoko Kita, Xenovia Quarta, Emery Belmont
Issei Harem: Misaki Shirayuki, Asia Argento, Hikaru Ueda, Akira Kazuya, Kiyome Abe
Rias Gremory Peerage: Rias Gremory (King), Akeno Himejima (Queen), Yuuto Kiba (Knight), Xenovia Quarta (Knight), Koneko Toujo (Rook), Fumiko Kazuya (Bishop), Gasper Vladi (Bishop), Luke Sigmund (8 Pawns)
Seth Sigmund Peerage: Seth Sigmund (King), Annabelle Wright (Queen), Alastair Wright (Rook), Emery Belmont (Rook), Hana Sakuya (2 Bishops), Setsuna Kazama (Knight)
Melody Morag Peerage: Melody Morag (King), Misaki Shirayuki (Queen), Katherine Petrova (Knight), Spiral Hirano (Knight), Azusa Hirano (Rook), Akira Kazuya (Rook), Hikaru Ueda (Bishop), Asia Argento (Bishop), Issei Hyoudou (8 Pawns)