Welcome to the next chapter of The Twin Dragons, but before starting. Let us answer some reviews:
Streetlife34: Thanks. I thought about doing something different with this considering the time. I'll ensure it is an ending that everyone will enjoy. Yea, it does sound like a coincidence.
Altair95: Thanks. I thought that it would be a change of pace for them. Yep, all of them got attacked by an immortal familiar and someone had the gall to kidnap Asia. But, he is going to be in for a rude awakening when a certain Longinus user hunts him down.
Familiar Forest Trouble Part 2
Kazuki was kneeling in front of Raynare checking on her current condition since she was attacked pretty hard by the unknown assailant. He noted there weren't any serious wounds on her, so he assisted her back to her feet as Raynare required his assistance to stand.
"I-I'm sorry, Kazuki-kun…I couldn't…."
Raynare started to sound more and more despondent as she failed to protect Asia.
"It's fine. It was an unknown foe and there wasn't anything that I can complain about."
Kazuki tried to comfort her, but there wasn't a single thing that he could tell Raynare to make her feel better.
"Asia-san," Kazuki started feeling more worried as he couldn't see the unknown devil anymore. "I'm headed after her. I can't leave Asia alone with whoever that is."
"I understand. We'll handle this Hydra as best as we can."
Rias responded as she released another demonic blast aimed at the Hydra's body, while Kazuki nodded opening his light wings before turning to Raynare.
"You can handle…."
"I'll be fine. Go after Asia-san before whoever that it take her!"
Raynare replied before he could finish, but they're still seemed to be some pain behind her voice.
"Alright."
Kazuki stated as he took to flight as fast as possible.
As soon as he appeared in the air, he noticed the unknown devil was still flying using his bat-like wings, however, Kazuki knew that he could catch up to him in no time.
"There's no chance that I'll lose to him in flight speed."
Those were his final words on the topic as he took off at high-speed toward the assailant using Divine Dividing at the highest speed he was capable of.
"It won't take more than a minute for me to…."
Before Kazuki could even move another foot, there was a slight flash in front of him, which caused him to stop for a moment. His eyes widened as the light started growing larger as he felt goosebumps starting to manifest along his entire body.
Burst! Explosion!
"Kazuki?!"
Issei called out after noticing there was another explosion in the skies where Kazuki was heading before avoiding a tail sweep from the empowered Hydra.
Kazuki fell from the smoke cloud that was produced from the explosion, but he managed to keep himself afloat in a more unstable manner at first.
"*Cough* *Cough* Did whoever kidnaps her set up bombs across the entire skies," Kazuki questioned coughing in his fist. "Someone planned this out knowing that I could catch up to them using Divine Dividing, but could know I had Divine Dividing…more so who even knew that Asia-san was with me."
Kazuki started feeling more and more frustrated as he was tempted to continue flying straight no caring it there are several hundred mines planned in the entire sky around him. But, before he could even move, sounds were coming from all around him. Arriving from the various areas and trees were several magic birds of origins that were still unknown to him, but all of them seemed to have the same ominous glow in their eyes as the Hydra.
"…."
Kazuki stopped as he noticed all of the birds large or not all flapped their wings toward him all releasing powerful whirlwinds aimed solely at him. Because of all the wind pressure around him, Kazuki was unable to main flight in a safe manner as he felt himself being overwhelmed by the various birds' wind attacks aimed squarely at him.
"Dammit!"
Kazuki cursed as he was forced to land near the others.
But, at the same time, he noticed the wind attacks all stopping as soon as he landed on the ground and released Divine Dividing.
"Are all these different creatures under his control. He laid out various mines in the air so I couldn't catch up and planned several mythical birds around in the skies to keep me afloat. He planned out every single detail as if he realized how I flew using Divine Dividing. Who the hell is this guy?"
Kazuki felt himself becoming more and more frustrated as he thought about all the traps that he laid out in front of him in an attempt to keep him from chasing over them using Divine Dividing. The more he thought about it the more it felt his heart beating faster as his eyes seemed to change too.
'I promise that I'd protect you from anyone no matter who it was.'
Kazuki recalled the promise that he made to Asia months ago against the fallen angels and stray exorcists, but at this moment he couldn't even do that. Against an unknown opponent who thought of multiple things that deterred him from keeping that promise and he couldn't….
"Kazuki-kun, look out!"
Raynare called out as one of the Hydra heads aimed at him directing his fangs at him after realizing that Kazuki's still too caught up in thought to notice it. However….
Slash!
Kazuki slashed the Hydra using the light sword he received from Azazel, however, the light blade seemed to be a lot stronger than usual. An additional attribute allowed him to channel elemental magic to let him produce various blades using them, but he simply produced a greater light that augmented the light blade. The Hydra retreated as he felt the wound that left a deep wound in its mouth as Kazuki stood back to his feet wearing a more determined expression on his face.
"No," Kazuki started feeling himself returning to his usual mindset. "Beating down on yourself won't help anything aside from wasting more time, which could be spent rescuing Asia-san. I'll handle this as fast as possible."
"Kazuki-kun didn't you mention that there might be a way to stop the Hydra?!"
Rias called out as she was forced into blasting apart one of the Hydra's heads, which was prepared to bight into her. But, the result was something neither of them was hoping for as from the head that was blasted apart, two more heads grew from the damaged section.
"Yea, but it requires both Rias-senpai and Akeno-senpai."
Kazuki stated as he caught the attention of both of them as blocking an attack from the regrown Hydra heads.
"What can we do?"
"Look, we can't kill it because the Hydra is immortal. But, all we need to do is stop it from moving," Kazuki replied causing them to stare in his direction. "So, is it possible that both of you can freeze it using ice?"
Rias and Akeno could understand his suggestion, but there was one issue that both of them brought up.
"Akeno is more skilled in ice magic, but not to the level where we can freeze the entire Hydra if it continued going berserk like this. It may be possible if she pooled her together power and freeze it whole, but if this fails then she won't be able to use magic for some time."
Kazuki could understand Rias' explanation, but there wasn't enough time for them to make another attempt if this plan failed them.
"It might be possible of Nii-san continued doubling his powers for a time," Kazuki started thinking about several different ideas that he could come up with going back to the previous battle. "Yuuto-kun could even create ice demonic swords that could assist in it."
After thinking about something else, Kazuki looked in the direction of Satooji and thought about what he talked to them about beforehand.
"Water Seirei. Water. Ice," Kazuki realized that the plan that he had in mind might assist in stopping the Hydra for a time. "Nii-san, I need for you to build up your power as much as possible! Yuuto-kun, I need to you prepare ice demonic swords the moment that I return."
"Alright, Boosted Gear go!"
[Boost!]
Issei took his advice and started building up power from his Boosted Gear.
"That's something that I can manage!"
Kiba agreed as he prepared himself for his task when the time came for it.
"Koneko! Raynare-san! Can both of you protect Nii-san so he won't need to do anything that resets the timer?"
Hearing his request, Koneko nodded her head and Raynare who was formerly depressed started becoming more confident that she could succeed this time.
"I won't fail this time."
Raynare declared as she stood beside Issei and Koneko creating a light sword in her hands.
Seeing that they were already preparing for things on their end, then he started heading over toward the direction where Satooji was hiding to avoid the entire battle.
"Satooji."
"W-What?"
Kazuki could hear the fear in his voice as this was supposed to be a simple request for familiars, then it turned to a life and death battle against an immortal monster.
"You were going to take us to see the Undine, right?"
"Y-Yes, what about it? This isn't the right time to be seeing the Undine at the moment."
"This is the perfect time since I plan on using their power to assist in stopping that Hydra," Kazuki could see that he was still frightened about the entire thing. "You're planning on becoming a Familiar Master, right? Then learn to get used to something like this since you'll be dealing with creatures like this."
Hearing that tone from Kazuki caused Satooji to return to the original confidence that he has initially displayed in front of all of them.
"R-Right, I plan on becoming the greatest Familiar Master in the world," Kazuki almost cringed since that line was too familiar to the Pokemon. "Right, I'll lead you to the Undine!"
Satooji declared standing back up to his feet, then resolved himself to fulfill the request given to him and decided to show Kazuki to the Undine.
"Hold on a little longer, Asia-san. I'll rescue you."
Kazuki steeled himself as Satooji lead him toward where the Undine resided.
Meanwhile, in another location, there was a baby dragon with blue scales resting one of the trees in peace until it was disturbed by a sudden noise. It looked down to notice the unknown devil landed on the ground as Asia was still struggling to free herself from the man, but it was almost impossible for her.
"L-Let me go. You're hurting me!"
Asia demanded as she tried prying the man's hand off her wrist.
"Stop struggling!"
"Kyaaa!"
Using a single hand, the man lifted Asia from off the ground and tightened his grip on her wrist causing a stinging pain to travel across her body. His grip, which was supplemented by his superior strength continued growing far tighter as Asia squealed in pain to where tears seemed to drop from her eyes.
"Stop complaining. I heard that your sacred gear allows you to heal injuries, so you can fix yourself up after going to meet my client," the unknown devil said as his grip continued until his grip threatened to break her wrist as it lightened a little bit. "Right, by the way, my employer wanted to know whether or not you and that Dragon Host did anything."
"Wh-What does that mean?"
Asia who was still struggling to escape questioned back.
"I mean, did you and that Hakuryuukou sleep together?"
"W-We only recently started sharing the same room and bed."
Hearing those words caused the unknown devil to become annoyed about the response, then exploded.
"I meant, did you to have sex?!"
"W-We h-haven't done anything like that, but why are you asking me that?"
Asia replied flustered about the suggestion that she and Kazuki slept with one another in the manner that he was suggesting.
"I could care less, but my client was insisting about making sure that you were still a virgin before I brought you to him. He said something about not wanting some filthy dragon's sloppy seconds."
Asia shuttered after hearing those words, which intensified after seeing him activate a magic circle meant for the caster to be teleported somewhere. She saw there were traps in place if Kazuki attempted to chase after them, which impeded his attempts at reaching them. But, she believed that Kazuki was still trying to rescue her, but she knew that if she was teleported somewhere, then it would be almost impossible to find where they went.
"…I apologize."
"The hell are you apologizing…?"
Confused by the sudden apology, the unknown devil turned his head toward her, where he immediately noticed a magic circle was formed in front of his face.
"Sh-Shit, he didn't tell me she knew…."
Asia released a fireball in front of the unknown devil's face causing a close-range explosion, which forced him to let go of her wrist. He was also forced to step backward as he landed on the ground screaming in pain as he felt the complete force behind that last attack. Not letting this chance slip, Asia started running forward inside of the forest as the unknown devil removed the cloak, which had caught fire in pain.
"That fucking blonde bitch!"
He screamed in pain as he tossed his cloak on the ground angered about the fact he was attacked like that.
Due to the loss of his robe, he was revealed to be a young man in his later teens if not already an adult with dark blue hair and now fierce eyes aimed at the forest.
"Right, she has a healing sacred gear. So, as long as I don't kill her, she'll be able to heal her wounds, right?"
The unknown devil now angered let a sadistic smile formed his face as he started to venture inside of the forest.
Sitting in the tree unaffected by the killing intent that the man was leaking, the baby dragon appeared attracted to Asia who ran inside of the forest. He then got off of the tree, then started following behind the man who chose to hunt down Asia and do unspeakable things to her.
Elsewhere, Satooji led Kazuki to the location of the Undine, which was where a spacious sparkling lake that gave off a sacred sensation that couldn't be denied. As instructed, both he and Kazuki remained hidden in the shadow behind the bushes.
"Why are we hidden?"
Kazuki questioned.
"Under normal circumstances, the Undine will appear if they sense the presence of someone near the lake, but it would make things complex if you recklessly appeared in front of the lake. It could even lead to them attacking in a sense of feeling disgraced by the gesture."
"Alright."
Kazuki had no other choice, but to wait in the bushes as the lake started sparkling as a figure appeared from the water. What appeared from the water was an Undine, but it wasn't what he initially thought it would be, instead the Undine appeared to be a muscular build wearing a dress with light blue hair.
"It that the Undine?"
Kazuki questioned ensuring that he was correct.
"This is the Undine you mentioned. I believe that it would make an excellent familiar for a devil, but most leaves before even attempting to form a contract with them."
"Well, Nii-san would probably cry tears after seeing an Undine like this."
Kazuki stated after noting his brother's particular tastes.
"Oh, another one has appeared."
As Satooji mentioned there was another Undine of similar stature that appeared in front of the first Undine, which stirred the initial Undine to bang on their chest in a challenging fashion. Then the second Undine one started to accept the challenge, then begun fighting one another with their attacks shaking the surface of the lake with an aura of some kind emitting from their bodies.
"Oh, it's a fight for their territory. And both of them appear to be warriors with a lot of experience."
Satooji explained.
"Though, this would be an interesting experience," Kazuki said as he stood up from the ground, then walked outside of the bushes. "But, I don't have time to waste."
"Wait, it could be bad if…."
Kazuki ignored Satooji's warnings as nothing that could happen to him from fighting against the two Undine even mattered when it came to protecting Asia.
"Excuse me!"
Kazuki called out catching their attention, causing the two Undine to face him their bodies still emitting aura.
"Huh, what is a human doing here!"
"You dare interfere in our battle!"
Both of the Undine feelings dishonored that their battle was stopped by Kazuki aimed an intense pressure towards him, but he remained undeterred about it.
"I apologize for sounding rude, but I require the help of the Undine for something and I'm running out of time. So, I was wondering whether or not it would be appropriate to form a provisional contract with the Undine."
Kazuki was never planning on making a contract with a familiar coming here since it was planned that Asia would receive one to act as a bodyguard when he wasn't around. Although the idea of having a seirei assist him does sound a little interesting to him, any kind of plant would have to wait.
"Huh, it's arrogance to believe that a seirei would agree to a provisional contract!"
"What makes you worthy enough to declare such a thing?!"
Hearing their comments, Kazuki sighed walking forward towards the lake without stopping near the end, then his light wings unfolded and floated in the direction of the Undine who seemed shocked about this.
"I see, his aura does seem different from a normal human."
"A sacred gear. More so, one of the Longinus."
The Undine seemed to know about the Longinus such as the Divine Dividing.
"Is this enough to convince you?"
Kazuki questioned feeling a little anxious considering the time-sensitive situation.
"Not yet!"
"Since you interrupted our battle! We'll face you to test your true worth!"
Kazuki sighed as the Undine were still thinking about facing him, but before a single word could leave his mouth, the first Undine launched a strong punch toward his face. He avoided the strike but the pressure behind the fist couldn't be denied.
"I don't have time for this."
Kazuki stated as he strengthened his physical abilities using magic as high as possible, then he grabbed onto the Undine's well-developed wrist. He then performed a move he learned in Judo to throw the Undine into the water beside him using as little physical force as possible. The second Undine launched a punch toward him, however, in response to this, he aimed that redirected the force of the punch in another direction, while not letting go of the first Undine's wrist.
"H-Huh, my mighty fist was redirected by a kick."
The second Undine seemed surprised but later realized that Kazuki grabbed onto her wrist, then placed her arm in an arm lock.
"Y-You're not even using Divine Dividing's famed 'Divide' to hold us back."
The first Undine was shocked about that.
"I learned Judo because I kept getting picked on other kids who were either stronger or bigger than I was and the person who taught me was nice enough to give me actual lessons," Kazuki replied as he was holding back both of the Undine. "Of course, until recently, I couldn't actually show how much I learned. Also considering that I still do need your help, I didn't want to halve your powers using Divine Dividing."
"Wh-What would do accomplish in forming a provisional contract with us?"
"My friends and I were fighting against a Hydra and I have a plan to defeat it, but neither of the people on our side as the level of use of ice magic needing to stop it," Kazuki replied deciding to let go of the Undine. "But, that isn't the main reason that I decided to come here. Some Stray Devil ended up kidnapping a friend of mine, and now, I don't know where she was taken."
Kazuki seemed to speak more emotionally about the situation involving Asia, which both Undine was able to tell and listened more intently.
"I promised her that I'd protect her from anyone and that she'd be able to live with me to experience all the things that she was unable to experience in her previous life. She was used by people who were supposed to help her despite being kinder than anyone among the Church and did so without question. And in the end, neither of them hesitated to throw her away when she wasn't their ideal saint. Even if I end up making the Church my enemy, I'll never let anyone make Asia-san unhappy again. So…."
Kazuki bowed his head in front of the Undine who looked surprised that the current Hakuryuukou even bowed to seirei, but both of them could tell the emotions behind his voice. And….
""Uaaah!""
Both the Undine seemed to have started crying after hearing that tale from Kazuki, which surprised him.
"I never thought that I would hear such heartfelt words from a human…more so one with a dragon!"
"What a wonderful soul you are!"
Both the Undine seemed to keep crying.
"Uh, so does that mean…?"
Kazuki started as the Undine stood in front of him kneeling in front of him.
"Well, be happy to form a provisional contract."
"There isn't anything that'll make our life worthwhile."
Kazuki said recalling during a lesson he learned from Kuroka and Le Fay about forming familiar contracts, but a temporary one shouldn't be that difficult.
"Then," Kazuki said as he held out his hand forming a magic circle underneath both the Undine. "In the name of Kazuki Hyoudou, I hereby order the Undine of the Familiar Forest to form a provisional contract and become my familiar for the set time."
Once the magic circle released a bright light and vanished, at around the same time there was a change as both the Undine shifted into a different form. The Undine in front of Kazuki went from being the bodybuilders to women with a normal feminine build and blue hair as a different aura appeared around them.
"Uh, what just happened?"
{W-Well, you see…?}
The first Undine said nervously poking her fingers together shyly.
{In the past, the Undine were used by magicians properly to act as support using our powers, which we loved as we met different kinds of people. But, as time passed, more or less…perverse people started looking for our kind as a means to fulfill their fantasies about Undine and well familiars are contracted to follow. So, since Undine are beings of water, we can also alter our shapes as we desire. So….}
"You don't need to explain further," Kazuki said holding out his hand understanding the entire situation that those familiars such as the Undine. "To ensure that people wouldn't come after you for your body, you took one form a perverted person wouldn't approach."
{That's right. Master sure is smart. We seirei tend to go for those who have purer hearts without ill intent. So, if a person can see past our current forms, then we would make a contract with them.}
"Alright, then we'll get this plan started."
{We'll await your summon at the lake.}
Both the Undine declared standing at a solute position.
Once Kazuki was finished with forming the provisional contract with the Undine, he headed back to Satooji who looked surprised about what happened.
"Well, I'm finished forming a contract with the Undine. I didn't think that it would end up like…."
Kazuki said before noticing Satooji staring at him with starstruck eyes.
"What?"
"Y-You're incredible," Satooji stated smiling at Kazuki standing in front of him. "You managed to make a pact with two Undine and made them reveal their true form. Alright, I've decided! You're my rival!"
"No."
Kazuki blatantly replied staring directly at Satooji wearing a blank expression on his face causing him to become shocked about the sudden refusal.
"I have no intentions of becoming a Poke…no, Familiar Master. Besides, I already have one rival."
Kazuki replied as he started heading back towards the battlefield where Issei and the others were fighting against the Hydra without waiting for Satooji who started following behind him.
"Accept me as your rival!"
"No."
"I'll never stop asking!"
"I'll never come back."
Kazuki said before continued to speed forward not wasting any time.
"Ahhh!"
Kiba slashed one of his demonic swords on the Hydra's body, causing some blood to spill from it, but as before it still healed. He turned to see that a Hydra was aiming for Rias and Akeno, then landed on the ground placing his hand on the ground.
"Sword Birth!"
Kiba released his sacred gear, springing swords that stabbed into its body, stopping its head from reaching either Rias or Akeno. Feeling the blades piercing it didn't deter the Hydra for some reason likely because of whatever it was affected with by the unknown devil. But, the Hydra forced its way through the blades and all the wounds that were caused as a result healed as well.
"This will be getting a little difficult more so than fighting against Riser because of its immortal body," Kiba replied as he avoided another head aiming their fangs at him. "And even cutting off any of its heads would lead to making things more complicated than before."
"All we need to do is go along with Kazuki's plan and wait for him to return."
Rias said as she blasted another head pushing it backward, but one passed her, aiming for Issei being guarded by both Koneko and Raynare.
"…you're not killing the pervert."
Koneko stated.
"I was asked to defend the one by Kazuki!"
Raynare declared pooling more light together in her hands.
"That's mean, Koneko-chan! And I feel complicated hearing that I'm the one being protected."
""Well, deal with it.""
Both Koneko and Raynare said as both of them prepared to attack.
Raynare released several blasts of light aimed at the eyes of the Hydra, which charged forward toward them and blinded it by damaging its eyes. Koneko followed up stepping forward pulling her fist back and clenching it as tightly as possible, then aimed a strong straightforward punch aimed at the Hydra's head. The first behind that punch was enough to push the Hydra's head backward.
[Boost!]
"Come on, Kazuki, I'm starting to get anxious here!"
Issei started getting a little concerned about the situation at hand and the battle against the Hydra seeming to go against them since it couldn't be killed.
"What are you getting anxious about?"
Kazuki questioned as he landed in front of them.
"Kazuki-kun, did things go well on your end?"
Kiba questioned him as he appeared near him using his God-Speed, which caused Kazuki to nod his head.
"Everything went well. So, get things prepared on your end. I'll do things on my end."
Kazuki requested as Kiba nodded his head, then moved back towards the Hydra, which was aimed squarely for him who reappeared on the battlefield.
"Respond to our contract, Water Spirit."
Kazuki chatted out, creating two magic circles right beside him, then two of the Undine appeared from them who emitted a sanctified presence.
{{Do you need anything master?}}
Both of the Undine questioned after turning toward him wearing smiles.
"Huh, who are those beauties?"
Issei questioned.
"Ignoring that. Could the two of you seal it inside of a water dome?"
{{Of course, anything for master?}}
"This 'Master' thing is making me feel complicated."
Kazuki wondered staring on wearing an equally complicated expression.
As requested, the Undine started swirling around the Hydra, which seemed to react to their presence, then attempted to attack them. As soon as their heads touched them, the Undine was unaffected as their bodies turn to water to avoid them all. After getting into position, the Undine amassed a large amount of water all around the Hydra's body, then locked the monster inside of a water dome. But, the Hydra still tried breaking free from inside of it, but the Undine did was promised and maintained the water dome.
"Yuuto-kun! Rias-senpai and Akeno-senpai!"
[Right!]
Kiba did as previously instructed, then started to creating ice demonic blades around the Hydra, which was put in the water dome. All of them released an icy mist that started freezing the water dome, but it still wasn't enough to cover the entire thing. But, Rias and Akeno appeared near Issei who was standing beside him after receiving one more announcement.
[Boost!]
"Alright, here goes nothing!"
[Transfer!]
Issei shouted out loud as he transferred all the built-up power to Akeno who felt her powers rising to an incredible level, causing her to almost shiver from the pressure.
"Ufufufufu, I can feel Ise-kun's power coursing through me! Now, let's punish this naughty snake!"
Akeno said in a suggestive tone causing Issei to blush, then witnessed her fly into the air above the Hydra, which was still attempted to escape from inside of the water dome created by the Undine.
"Now, Freeze."
Akeno declared releasing a powerful blast of ice onto the top of the water dome, which was linked to and empowered all the ice demonic swords that surrounded it. The Hydra continued struggling until it started slowing down due to it being slowed down by the ice that was creeping around it until it was finally frozen motionless in the ice. Seeing it was trapped inside of the ice, all of them cheered after seeing the Hydra stopped.
"Yes, it worked!"
Issei declared still feeling energized despite the long battle against the Hydra.
Rias, Akeno, Kiba, Koneko, and Raynare allowed a light breath to escape from their mouths after noticing that it was finally defeated. Although, Kazuki couldn't do that as there was still just one more thing that he needed to do before he could still accomplish.
"Now, I'm going after Asia-san."
Kazuki declared bringing out Divine Dividing again.
"But, those birds are still stationed around the area and it should be possible for you to find out where they went."
Rias pointed out as the others noticed the birds were looking down to see what Kazuki, in particular, would do. It didn't deter him, however, as he was still determined to fight through all of them if he needed to.
"I have an idea to get through all of them, but I still need to find out where they went."
"But, how are you planning to do that?"
Issei questioned.
{I believe we might be of assistance in that regard.}
Kazuki and the others turned to the Undine who held up her hand before continuing to speak.
{We, Undine as seirei have connections to the other spirits residing around in the Familiar Forest. If the girl that Master is looking for passed around one of them, then we might be able to pin down her location. But, to do that I'll need to return to the lake and use it as a medium.}
{I'll assist in that regard. Although, we were fighting over areas such as these. I believe that following Master's orders will be a lot more enjoyable~}
Both of the Undine suggested while speaking in a tone that did sound more like servants to him.
"I'd like to thank you for your support. I'll be heading off then."
"We'll be following behind you on the ground since neither of us can keep up with you using our wings. But, if a battle starts, then we'll head off in that direction."
Rias suggested and the others around her agreed.
Kazuki nodded his head in agreement, then flew forward into the skies where all the birds reacted and went on to attack him from all angles using wind again. However, this time, he produced a light orb in his hand, then threw it into the air, while covering his eyes.
Burst! Shine!
The light orb exploded releasing a bright explosion of light that covered the area around him, where all the birds were watching him. In response to seeing the light, all the birds let out a screech from their mouths being blinded by the bright light.
"As nocturnal creatures whose eyes became adjusted to the darkness, it wouldn't be odd for them to be blinded if a bright light was released."
After saying those words, Kazuki pulled out a light sword from his pocket, then propelled himself forward slicing at the wings of the largest birds in front of him before charging forward. Since their wings were cut off, the largest birds started laughing on the ground. Seeing all this, neither of them could say a single word since the event and solution were still sinking in.
"Well, it looks as if our Kouhai saved us this time."
Akeno pointed out laughing lightly.
"Yes, in a situation without him. I don't think that I would have come up with a plan like that," Rias added. "It looks as if we owe Kazuki-kun this time to saving us."
"It looks like that," Yuuto started laughing lightly after noticing the aftermath of the plan that Kazuki came up with for them to defeat the Hydra. "I never thought have thought about using my demonic swords like that alongside Akeno-san's ice magic. Ise-kun, what did you think…?"
Kiba turned his question towards Issei who was still scratching his head after staring at all the things that Kazuki managed to do in front of all of them without failing a single thing.
"Ise-kun?"
Kiba questioned again feeling as if he didn't hear him, but Issei couldn't help dryly laughing lightly.
"Hahahaha, after seeing all this, I still can't believe it."
Issei replied scratching his hair.
"Believe what?"
Rias questioned this time wondering what was on his mind.
"I almost can't believe that he was the same crybaby who never left neither our mom's or dad's side," Issei said in a light laugh. "If anyone ever told me that he would be doing all this in the future, then I wouldn't have believed it. But, even after all that training, I did, defeating some of Riser's peerage, then managing to defeat him, I still don't think that it could do half the things that Kazuki can do. But, as his rival and older brother, there's no way I'm not not going to catch up."
Hearing those words caused the people to feel the determination behind his words, which were to catch up to his younger brother who was further ahead of him.
"Well, I believe that you'll be able to do such that, Ise," Rias said smiling at her pawn's determination. "Besides, I won't allow my pawn to fall behind the Hakuryuukou even if they're his brother."
"Ufufufufu, Ise-kun has been saying a lot of manly things since the Rating Game."
Akeno laughed lightly placing her hand in front of her mouth.
Elsewhere, in another location, Asia found herself hiding behind one of the larger trees after placing up a barrier, which concealed herself. She was breathing lightly as she had been running so long until she finally found herself a place to hide.
"I-I don't if he's still following me," Asia said before feeling the stinging sensation that came from her wrist, which bruised from the devil tightening his grip around her wrist as hard as possible. She placed her hand in front of the wound as her Twilight Healing manifested releasing a warm green light around the wound, which started fading as if it didn't exist in the first place. "I know that Kazuki-san is out there looking for me right now. I need to protect myself until he gets here."
Asia resolved herself as she felt the stinging pain from her wrist fading away, but she still didn't know where she was at the moment. She placed her hands together as she formed another magic circle in her hands, instead of a sad or frightened expression, Asia managed to maintain her composure.
"I'll need to be strong until Kazuki-san finds me. I learned magic from Le Fay-san and Kuroka-san, so I believe I can defend myself until then. I'm scared, but if I keep the barrier up, then it may make it difficult for Kazuki-san to find me too."
Resolving herself further, Asia stood up to her feet, then looked beside the tree that she was hiding behind in an attempt to locate the unknown devil who should be hunting her. She then removed the barrier that she set up to hide with the intention that it would make it easier for Kazuki to find her. Seeing there was nothing around the area, Asia stepped from behind the tree then started looking at the area around her.
Because of the situation, she was hesitant to move around as she wasn't familiar with the area around her and the odd plants that seemed to grow around her. Just then, Asia heard the flapping of wings, which caused her to flinch lightly. There was also the slightest thud that caught her attention and seemed to come from behind her.
"W-What was that?"
Asia hesitantly turned around to see a fruit, which seemed like an apple coming toward her.
"An apple, but where did it…?"
Alongside the apple, there was another small figure that landed in front of it and Asia realized that it looked to be a small blue dragon.
"Did you bring this for me?"
At Asia's question, the small blue dragon started knocking the apple forward using its small head, a gesture that she found adorable in itself. Asia knelt in front of the small dragon and apple, then picked up the red apple before taking a bite into it.
"This is delicious."
Asia smiled brightly as she felt the sweetness from the fresh apple in her hands, which satiated her appetite, and went to pet the small dragon on the head. Instead of refusing, the small dragon instead accepted it and started nuzzling against her hand as she petted him. Moments later, there was a rumbling on the ground that caught the attention of both of them as Asia dropped the apple onto the ground.
"Wh-What is that?"
Asia asked before turning around to see a shadow approaching them, but it wasn't small instead it larger as what came closer and close seemed to get larger and larger.
"Aah…."
Asia allows a faint cry to escape from her mouth as she stared at the creature in front of her unable to comprehend what was in front of her. It was a gelatinous creature with tentacles that seemed to be creeping from its being and it appeared to be aiming slowly toward her.
"…."
Although Asia wanted to run, the small dragon beside her might end up being hurt instead, and protectively stood in front of it. As the tentacles aimed toward her, Asia held out her hand forming a barrier in front of her blocking the tentacles approaching them. But, it didn't take long to realize that the tentacles weren't even focused on the small dragon and her instead.
"P-Please leave here. I don't want for you to get hurt!"
Asia begged as the dragon seemed to listen to what she said although a little reluctantly, then flew at a distance from the area around them.
"P-Please hold on until Kazuki…kyaaah!"
Asia believed that she could hold off until Kazuki arrived, but some of the tentacles managed to move around the barrier that she created, then grabbed onto her legs. She was then yanked up into the air by the tentacles by her legs and suspended in the air. Asia looked noticing that the creature was a large slime that started sprouting several tentacles from its gelatinous body.
"Hah, that was a good magic blast. You hurt me quite a lot you blonde bitch."
The unknown devil appeared from the shadow beside the slime as Asia was suspended upside down and could see that her previous close-range magic attack did damage his face.
"Why won't you leave me alone?"
Asia questioned in an attempt to sound strong while holding up her skirt using her hands.
"Didn't you hear me the first time? Until that previous magic attack, I didn't have any kind of emotions toward you aside from getting my payment," the unknown devil said as he starred up toward her wearing a cold look. "But, I'll have to torment you a little bit before handing you off. Anything is fine as long as I don't kill you or break you too much. Don't worry compared to me, my client will break you more than anything I could do."
"W-Who is this client?"
Asia asked again, not recalling that there could be anyone in her life who would do such a thing.
"You'll find out as soon as I bring you to him, but first," the unknown devil said snapping his fingers causing the Slime to react. "I think that I'll allow the personal creation of mine to have a little meal and personal payback."
"Hwah!"
Asia panicked as she felt the feeling of tentacles starting to wrap around her entire body as the slime produced from them started spreading on her clothing, then they started melting off. After noticing this, her face started turning a bright red color as her clothes were being melted.
"Kyaa, what is this?"
"This is one of the special slime created by combining both the slime and tentacles who have more of a symbiotic relationship. It's not that difficult to feed since it mainly feeds on woman's secretion ranging from sweat and other things, it far easier by melting their clothing," the unknown devil said before forming a sadistic smile. "Of it'll go deeper to get the special secretion that woman has."
After saying those words, the tentacles went in more around her but were burned as blue lightning blasted them while causing the others to loosen their grip. Asia who lost most of her uniform revealing her underwear looked to see that it was the blue dragon from before.
"H-Huh, are you helping me?"
Asia questioned as she noticed the blue dragon was shooting more blue lightning at the tentacles not scrapping her skin in the slightest, then started gnawing at the tentacles wrapped around her waist.
"A sprite dragon? Well, that's quite rare, why don't I make that one…."
Asia after freeing one of her hands released a magic attack toward the unknown devil, who this time managed to block it using a barrier.
"Hah, the same trick won't work…."
He spoke but realized that Asia managed to free herself with the help of the small blue dragon and managed to soften her landing using wind magic. After seeing her land on the ground, the small blue dragon landed inside of Asia's arms and started snuggling into her chest.
"Hehehe, that tickles."
Asia said as the dragon seemed to have great affection toward her.
But, the unknown devil looked irritated about what was happening in front of him, then turned to the slime which stood beside him.
"I thought that it would be an easy mission. All I needed to do was deter some human with a Longinus, then steal his blonde nun for some weirdo fanatic. But, the same blonde nun ended up escaping, I found her and she ended up escaping because of some baby dragon," the unknown devil continued getting more and more irritated as he relived all that happened before revealing pure anger on his face. "I was just going to have this slime toy around with you. Now, I think that I'll use it to break you a little! Go, my creation."
Silently, the slime started approaching Asia as all the tentacles started squirming around in various directions as Asia felt she wouldn't be able to avoid all of them. Seeing it would also end up hurting the baby dragon inside of her arms, Asia attempted to shield him using herself.
It was then that a figure appeared in front of them, slicing apart the various tentacles that had started to approach Asia and the baby dragon. Asia opened her eyes to see Kazuki standing there holding one of the light swords in his hands, causing her expression to exponentially brighter.
"Kazuki-san!"
Asia called out his hand as Kazuki stood in front of her.
"Hey, Asia-san. Are you alright?"
Kazuki questioned as he knelt in front of Asia to notice that most of her clothing was melted away to the point of not being called clothing anymore. He also noted the small blue dragon in Asia's arms, then also noticed that for some reason it was glaring at him. Not wasting any more time, Kazuki took off his blazer then draped it over Asia who used it to cover herself.
"Put yourself and that dragon in a barrier," Kazuki said pulling out a second light sword. "I'll finish this up."
"Okay."
Asia agreed as she formed a barrier around herself and the small dragon, who was still cradled in her arms.
Kazuki then turned around to see the unknown devil staring in his direction wearing a sadistic smirk on his face in response to seeing him standing there.
"Well, looks who finally arrived here. You know, if it wasn't for that little blonde over there being uncooperative it would have been impossible for you to find her in time. But, since you did find her in time, then let's play a…."
Before the unknown devil could even finish, there was a single moment both of the light swords in his hands created a blade of flames. Then at a speed that he almost couldn't follow, Kazuki blitz the slime in moments using Divine Dividing and released an X-shaped slash at close-range. In most situations, he knew that fire would be the most effective against slime and decided to test out that theory. It was proven correct as the slime started felt it and began to retreat from the battle against Kazuki.
"You're not getting away."
Kazuki said in a more intense tone realizing that this slime was responsible for melting away Asia's clothes, then proceeded on with his attack using his swords. He still enhanced himself using reinforcement magic while being led here by the Undine, then proceeded to launch a barrage of flame slashes at the slime from various angles. At the end of it all, the special slime created by the unknown devil was reduced to nothing but ashes.
"A-Are you kidding me?! Do you know how hard it was to create that slime? I only managed to create…?!"
Before the unknown devil could utter another word, Kazuki once again used Divine Dividing to appear in front of him in a matter of seconds. Before he could even react, he directed a sharp kick into his abdomen causing him to spit up bile as he was sent backward into a tree.
"*Cough* Y-You bastard, who do you think you…?!"
Again before he could utter another word, Kazuki appeared in front of him slashing his flame blade at him, but he managed to avoid it by moving his body aside cutting down the tree in the process. Rolling around the ground for a couple of seconds, he stopped to find Kazuki leaping into the air, aiming a downward stomp, but he moved out of the way hearing the loud noise produced by him stomping on the ground.
Kazuki wasn't giving him a single chance to speak or make a single move, because for two different reasons. One of them being since he didn't want to deal with more creatures residing in the forest or who were contracted to the unknown devil. And second, was because he spent a portion of the time attempting to torment Asia. Seeing that there wasn't a chance to use his flute, the unknown devil gathered demonic power in his hands then released it at Kazuki, but he blocked them using his light wings.
"This guy isn't even flinching no matter what I launch at him," the unknown devil thought, feeling more terrified the more he noticed Kazuki walking toward him. "I-If anything, I need to at least use my flute. But, he's been focusing on me the entire time, so there's no way that he'll let me pull it out."
It was then that the devil glanced in the same direction as Asia who was gathered in a barrier without him turning his head to face her. An idea popped into his head, then he started amassing more demonic powers in his hand, which was reaching about the same level of a High-Class Devils.
"Even if I cannot beat you, I can still kill that blonde bitch!"
The unknown devil stated as he released the demonic blast toward Asia and the baby dragon in her arms.
"Undine."
Kazuki calmly called out as the second Undine appeared right behind Asia, then created a water barrier, blocking most of the demonic blast. But, Asia and the small dragon remained unharmed.
{I'll protect her from here, Master.}
The Undine gently said.
"Thank you."
Kazuki replied turning to see the unknown devil holding the flute in front of his mouth smilingly widely, then began playing a tune on it.
"Albion, is that a magic item of some kind?"
{It isn't a kind of item that I recognize, but it does appear to be an enchanted flute, which produces a tune that is capable of attracting or control various creatures.}
"Would it work on Undine and the dragon in Asia-san's arms?"
{I don't feel anything that could affect a dragon, but it might be possible since that Sprite Dragon is still basically a baby dragon. The Undine could have a resistance since it is different from the other familiars in this forest.}
Hearing Albion's explanation caused him some relief in Kazuki, but he later noticed the unnamed devil activated a magic circle behind him. Coming from the magic circle was a creature that seemed to be a mixture between an insect and a dragon.
"Hahaha, another one of my creatures, although there's still some tinkering that I still need to do, this one should be enough to kill you. Now, attack, my Chimera!"
The unknown devils announced blowing into his flute again.
In response to this, the Chimera reacted to the sound being produced as its eyes shined a bright red, moving into a prepared crouching stance. It prepared its wings and claws before propelling forward toward Kazuki. Following its path, he moved to the side by leaping in that direction, avoiding the slash from its claws, which shredded apart the tree in front of it and slashing parts of his button-down shirt.
After landing on the ground, the Chimera turned around, then started to launch a relentless barrage of slashes by using its claws. Several clashes appeared on his cheek and body, but he managed to block a lot of the slashes using both light swords, which he skillfully wielded using both hands. After playing another note on the flute in his hands, the Chimera reacted again, then aimed a kick focused on his side using flexibility that a normal person or most devils wouldn't be capable of.
"Gah!"
Kazuki was unable to either dodge or block, causing him to be sent flying crashing into another tree cracking it on impact. It charged for him again, in response to this, Kazuki flew into the sky after bringing out his Divine Dividing and it continued following after him. He turned around crossing his light swords in front of him, blocking the claws and it tried forcing him back into the air.
"This thing is strong and fast, but…I'm not giving up!"
Kazuki deflected the claws in another direction, then aimed a sharp kick directed at the Chimera's neck causing it to be sent in another direction. He then thrust his light sword forward after infusing wind into it, producing a wind blade that managed to damage the Chimera's exoskeleton.
"Kreeeeee!"
The Chimera screeched after being pierced using the wind blade, then grabbed onto his wrist in an attempt to pry out the blade. Despite this, Kazuki didn't remove the blade from inside of it, instead, he pushed the blade deeper inside of the Chimera without being deterred. Taking the last light blade in his hands, he attempted to stab it into the Chimera's chest, but it reached out its hand grabbed onto the light sword before it could even reach it.
"Nice try, but I won't be stopped that easy!"
Kazuki declared as he started pushing himself and the Chimera towards the ground using his light wings, then he continued forcing the blade into the Chimera's chest. He proceeded to push the Chimera towards the ground as fast as possible until both of them charged into the ground causing a notable impact on the ground, as Kazuki started forcing the light sword into the Chimera's chest, which appeared to be the densest who grabbed onto his neck in an attempt to break it.
"…."
Kazuki continued persevering without being deterred by the Chimera tightening its grip.
As Kazuki continued pushing the light blade into the Chimera, his eyes seemed to turn into slits and his teeth started turning sharper. He focused more power on the light blade producing a stronger blade that penetrated its body, which caused the Chimera to become motionless. Seeing that the Chimera was taken care of, the unknown devil appeared as if he were on the brink of a mental breakdown.
"W-What the fuck?! That was one of the strongest familiars that I created and it lost to a human," the devil wailed feeling his entire world shattering apart. "That bastard didn't tell me that it would be this difficult to steal one nun."
"Who gave you that assignment? Who asked you to kidnap Asia-san?"
Kazuki questioned as he started moving closer to the devil who seemed to have become frightened of Kazuki in their encounter with one another.
"I-I'm a mercenary. I-I won't be intimated by…."
As the devil went to blow his flute again, it was shot out of his hands by Kazuki who quickly brought his light gun from his dimensional storage. For added effect, he charged the next shot using light produced using magic, then fired a shot aimed at the unknown devil's knees.
"Graaah! You shit!"
The unknown devil wailed in pain as he felt the light burning his skin as Kazuki continued walking toward him.
"This is the last time I'm going to ask you," Kazuki said again this time aiming the light gun at his head. "Who was it that hired you to kidnap Asia-san?"
"I-I…."
The devil stammered in his speech as Kazuki stared at him with serious eyes, which seemed to be without doubt.
"…!"
Kazuki suddenly became altered by something as a demonic blast from another direction was sent sailing toward him at high-speed. He realized that it didn't come from the devil in front of him and it seemed too powered to be a blast produced using his demonic powers. Not wasting him, Kazuki produced a barrier in front of him, then noted that the first layer seemed to crack. But, it did give him enough time to move out of the way as the demonic blast sailed past him breaking through several trees.
Kazuki turned to see that the unknown devil either teleported himself or someone teleported him outside the area as he couldn't see him anywhere.
{He was teleported outside of the Familiar Forest by someone else's power, not his own.}
The Undine explained as she remained behind Asia.
"I see, then whoever was working for him or whoever hired him thought he might either fail or reveal his identity."
Kazuki surmised as he started heading towards the one piece of evidence that remained, which was the flute that was left behind. He examined the flute in his hands, noticing there was writing written in devil alphabet meaning it either belonged to him or was stolen.
"Well, as long as everything is over. I guess that…."
"Kazuki-san!"
Asia called out after jumping to wrap her arms around his waist.
Kazuki smiled accepting Asia's hug as he wrapped his arms around her in return as she snuggled into his chest, but as he looked up he was confused as the blue dragon glared at him again more intensely.
"Uh, what is wrong with this…whoa?!"
Kazuki moved his head out of the way after realizing the blue dragon released a blue lightning blast toward him.
"What was that for?!"
Kazuki asked as the blue dragon seemed to be glaring at him more and more as he remained near Asia.
{Well, Master, Sprite Dragons are among the high-level dragons who often release blue lightning at whoever they perceive as enemies. Sprite Dragons are hard to tame as adults, but easier at this age, however, their race tends to go for those with pure hearts.} The Undine explained before laughing lightly. {Also, male dragons tend to love women from other races but tend to hate males. I believe he's a little jealous after seeing her hugging you~}
Kazuki believed the Undine was the Sprite Dragon was still glaring at Kazuki who felt odd about being threatened by a baby dragon as lightning formed around it. But, Asia stood in front of the Sprite Dragon wagging her fingers in a manner that Kazuki may see from a mother disciplining their child.
"That's a no-no Raikou."
Asia said as Raikou seemed to understand her words, but it didn't stop him from glaring at him.
"Raikou?"
"Oh, since he uses lightning attacks that would be 'Raigeki' and Kazuki-san taught me that the kanji 'kou' means emperor," Asia explained recalling the lessons she received from Kazuki. "I thought that it would be good to use what Kazuki-san taught me and I want to raise Raikou into a wonderful dragon."
"That sounds good. So, raising him means that you decided to make him your familiar."
Hearing those words, Asia hugged Raikou into her bosom, then nodded her head while giving a saintly smile.
"Yes, I would like to make Raikou my familiar."
Asia said as she placed Raikou on the ground in front of her, then breathed lightly as she tried recalling how the ritual, which she learned was correct.
"In the name of A-Asia Argento, I order you! Y-You shall become my familiar and respond to my contract!"
Although it bit nervous since it was her first time, Kazuki could see Asia was trying her hardest as she activated a green magic circle underneath Raikou. But, the magic circle let a light faded as the small dragon was covered in the same light as the magic circle vanished signifying that the pact was completed. Once it was completed, her newly contracted dragon flew into her arms and started playing with her.
"Well, it seems that we did end up completing what we came here to do even if things ended up chaotic."
Kazuki said before he noticed the other Undine appeared in front of him, then bowed their heads respectfully.
"I really want to thank both of you for assisting me throughout all this even though we simply formed a provisional contract and not a genuine one. If it wasn't for you two, we wouldn't have defeated the Hydra that quickly or found Asia-san either."
{No, it was our pleasure since it was the first time in a long time that we met someone with a truly kind heart.}
The first Undine said placing a hand on her chest.
{Our master ended up also being quite the character himself. I never thought that we would get the chance to run into one of the Hakuryuukou like this.}
The second added smiling lightly.
{But, it doesn't have to be the end. I know that it wasn't your intention to receive a familiar, but we can still make a contract with one another. There have been spirits that assisted those who were viewed as being worthy to them in the past. Besides, it could be to your advantage to remain in contact with seirei such as ourselves.}
The first Undine said genuinely, which got Kazuki thinking about the situation that happened today.
"Well, it could assist in the future if something serious happens," Kazuki said before smiling at them. "Yes, I think that sounds like a great idea."
{Good. The process is simple just raise your hand.}
Kazuki did as such, then the Undine placed her hand on top of his causing a faint blue light to cover the back of his as a mark appeared before fading. After she removed her hand, Kazuki started at his hand curious about the mark that appeared on the back of his hand.
{Well, if you ever need anything all you need to do is use that mark to summon us.}
The Undine informed as both of them vanished as water before smilingly genuinely.
"Well, let's join the others, Asia-san."
Kazuki said reaching out his hand while ignoring the glare that Raikou was aiming at him.
"Yes."
Asia smiled taking his hand, then both of them started leaving to meet the others.
Having managed to find them, Kazuki and Asia found themselves looking at an odd scene, which he wasn't able to describe in words. Standing in front of him were Raynare, Akeno, Koneko, and Rias all with their clothes all but dissolved like Asia's clothes. Kiba was attempting to remove what seemed to be a small slime, which was wrapped around his hand and waving around his sword blind.
Issei, on the other hand, seemed to be standing in front of a slime creature similar to the one that attacked Asia, while doing what he opened wasn't begging.
"Please don't kill Slime-taro, Buchou!"
Issei begged as he was kneeling in front of her appearing to have already named it.
Rias seemed to be miffed as all their clothes were dissolved by the creature Issei was defending.
"Please don't tell me that he wants those things solely because it dissolves clothes," Kazuki sighed before realizing that was exactly the reason that he wanted that familiar. "Well, that's not happening."
"Look, Ise, choosing a familiar is an important thing for devils. And it would be shameful for all of us if you were to pick a slime that does nothing but…."
Just before Rias could finish saying her final words, Kazuki silently walked up and released a fireball big enough to turn the slime to ashes. At the same time, Kiba managed to remove the slime from his face and slashed it with his demonic sword. Issei looked on devastated after seeing his potential familiar being turned to ashes by Kazuki who didn't even seem fazed about it.
"W-Why did you do that?!"
"I'm not letting you take a familiar that melts clothes," Kazuki replied. "More so, is there some kind of screw loose in that head of yours or something? You already have a technique that commits sexual harassment. How immoral are you planning on becoming before you're satisfied?"
"At least, I'm not hiding my particular perverse tastes and fantasies, unlike the person who's into clothing."
"I'm not into clothing," Kazuki started speaking in an embarrassed hushed tone. "It's the entire aesthetic."
"The hell does that mean?"
"It means if you keep bringing it up, I'm going to tell Kaa-chan where you hide all your porn stash including all the hidden ones."
Kazuki replied silently, but in a dangerous tone, wearing an equally dangerous smile on his face, causing Issei to become scared about the smile and remained silent.
"What happened to that devil?"
Rias asked after seeing that both Kazuki and Issei were finished with whatever their conversation was about, she came up to bring up that question.
"Someone teleported him out of the Familiar Forest. It was probably whoever hired him to kidnap Asia-san. But, I found this on the ground."
Kazuki replied, showing Rias the flute that the unknown devil left behind and seemed to recall something.
"I believe that I might know who that stray devil was. In the past, a servant devil named Kojirou attempted to commit a serious act against his master before managing to escape. There have been people who've tried hunting him down after hearing that he started taking on assignments from people underground. But, it concerns me that someone would go out of the way of hiring him to kidnap Asia. I'll be informing both Onii-sama and the Archduke about this situation."
Rias replied as she turned to nob her head toward Akeno who started activating a magic circle so that they could all return home.
Inside of the Hyoudou Residence, Kazuki was finished taking a bath and was dressed in a sleeveless shirt and a pair of shorts was sitting on his bed thinking about the events of today. Asia was already finished showing before him and was downstairs talking to his mother and Rias. After recalling the conversation where Rias would inform her brother about the situation, he thought about an idea of his own as he opened his dimensional storage, then brought up the slip of paper he received from Ravel.
"I don't want to have to rely on Rias-senpai all the time. And besides, Ravel-san was kind enough to give me this to contact her. But, to contact her like this."
Kazuki said holding the paper slip in his hands before activating the magic circle, then waited a moment for Ravel to respond to it. He thought she was asleep until the hologram of Ravel appeared from the magic circle, but if he didn't know any better, then he would have thought she was fixing her hair and face. He didn't know what time it was in the Underworld, but she seemed to be dressed in a nightgown.
[A-Ahem, good afternoon, Hakuryuukou.]
Ravel said sounding a little nervous.
"Come on, you don't have to call me Hakuryuukou. You can just call me Kazuki. I know a close friend of mine in the past even called me Kazu. And since we're talking like this, then doesn't that make us friends, too?"
Kazuki replied seeing no reason that he should be referred to as the Hakuryuukou instead of his actual name. In response to this, Ravel looked to have become a little bashful about the suggestion could be seen glancing to the side and poking her fingers together.
[Th-Then I believe that I'll call you Kazu-sama without reservation.]
Ravel said smiling lightly as she was still looking to the side almost flushed.
"Alright, although, -sama is a bit much," Kazuki said before asking an opening question. "So, how has Riser been since the Rating Game?"
In response to that, Ravel became a little more serious as she replied.
[Well, Onii-sama hasn't been the same since the battle your brother had with him during the engagement party. I haven't seen him much as he remains in his room without seeing either of his servants. Well, since Onii-sama had always relied on his talent and got cocky because of it, it should have been a good lesson for him.]
Despite the harsh comment, Kazuki could see that she did, in fact, care about her older brother based on the expression she was making now and before.
"Well, I'm sure he'll bounce back with some support," Kazuki said before going onto the subject. "Hey, Ravel-san, I was wondering have you heard about a stray devil named Kojirou?"
[Huh, of course. I heard he showed promise as a reincarnated devil and practiced with taming and researching a number of the familiars or creatures he managed to tame.] Ravel explained before her expression turned sour. [I also heard he was a pervert who ended up creating a new slime using a normal slime and tentacles, then tried to use it to harass his King. He failed in the end and was registered as a stray devil after managing to escape using a flute he created. I don't know the full details, but since then he has been committing different acts.]
Kazuki listened to the detailed and articulate explanation from Ravel, but she soon made a confused look.
[But, what does he have to do with Kazu-sama?]
"Well…."
Kazuki then started explaining about the events that happened in the Familiar Forest involving the unknown devil and the various creatures he fought. Ravel seemed to be intently listening to the tale as she was hearing the tale from a great individual.
[W-Wow, I didn't think that something like that would occur. But, it was impressive nonetheless hearing that you managed to earn the favor of two Undine. And even managing to best Kojirou and defeat one of his best creations. There was also someone who hired him and seemed interested in that nun, Asia-sama who healed my Onii-sama and Yubelluna.]
Ravel seemed more interested in the conversation as the two of them seemed to talk to one another.
"Well, I couldn't get a clear view of the person who fired that demonic blast at me or Kojirou escaping so I'd call it a loss on my part," Kazuki said as he summoned the flute that was left behind. "But, I did manage to retrieve this flute that he used for control and influence the familiars around him."
[Hmmm.] Ravel stared at the flute in Kazuki's hands as she was examining it. [Is it be possible for you to send it over to me? I believe that it could be integral in locating him or at least finding out his base.]
"Alright. I'd like to thank you for doing this me for, Ravel-san."
[I-I'm not doing this for you.] Ravel despite her denial, sounded happy. [I'm merely doing this because I have nothing better to do since Onii-sama isn't an active King at the moment. And the situation does sound interesting at the moment.]
"Ravel-san have you ever heard of a tsundere?"
Kazuki teased while grinning lightly causing Ravel's blush to become more apparent as she looked to hide from his direct gaze. He then activated a magic circle meant to teleport the flute over to Ravel in the Underworld, then looked and noticed that she did, in fact, receive it.
[I'll inform if I find anything else out.]
"Thanks again, Ravel-san. If there's anything that I can do to repay you, then I'll do it."
[W-Well, if we could continue talking like this. Or perhaps, I could visit you at your home or you visit me in ours at some point, then I would love that. I-I mean if you aren't busy or anything.]
"I wouldn't mind that. I enjoy talking to you."
[T-Then I'll be waiting for that time. I'll talk to you again, Kazu-sama.]
Kazuki could hear that Ravel sounded excited near the end of the conversation as the magic circle vanished with her hologram. Once their conversation was finished, he stretched his arms and leaned back into his bed letting a long yawn escape from his mouth.
"Well, I guess that I'll need to wait until I see what Ravel-san finds out."
[I guess you're taking acting as a leader seriously. You're starting to become more serious about the situation and using your own connections instead of being reliant on the Gremory or Sitri heiress.]
"I'm sure neither of them would mind, but I can't rely on them for everything," Kazuki said sitting back up from off of his bed. "Besides, I'm more or less free to do whatever at the moment without worrying about backlashes."
[Speaking of, I believe that you should start considering having that Sitri girl absorb the dragon power building up inside of your body. I can tell from the previous situation that the dragon blood has started to make your eyes and teeth more dragon-like. It's a little too early, but it won't progress into the development of scales at least.]
"Yea, I had to use magic to ensure that neither Kaa-chan nor Tou-san noticed that. I might ask Sona-senpai to do it, but I'm not sure based on her reaction after I asked what it was. Or will you tell me what it entails?"
[….]
As Albion remained silent, Kazuki allowed a light laugh to escape from his mouth.
"I thought so."
"Kazuki-san, are you still up? I brought some juice."
Asia walked into the room holding two glasses in her hands filled with juice.
"Ah, thanks Asia-san."
Kazuki thanked her as she held the juice in front of them, but then tripped, causing her to fall over and launch the glasses into the air. Reacting to this, he caught the glasses in his hands after getting out of bed as Asia landed on top of him, then she wrapped her arms around his neck so that she wouldn't end up falling off him. Both their reddened faces were close to one another as the heat could be felt on their cheeks.
"I-I'll put these down."
"R-Right."
As Kazuki said, he placed the two glasses on top of his dresser as Asia settled on the ground beside him.
"After all that, it still looks as if I'm clumsy."
"Don't say that, you managed to take care of yourself fine without me being there while running from that devil," Kazuki said as he placed his hand on top of her head. "And you did manage to find yourself a rare dragon. Even if Raikou doesn't like me."
Kazuki nervously laughed recalling all the glares that the small dragon was giving him.
"Well, I'm sure that Raikou will soon come around to liking Kazuki-san as I do," Asia said before realizing what she said causing her to blush. "I-I mean, I like Kazuki-san, but I'm not sure that Kazuki-san likes me in that way."
"W-Well, I do care about Asia-san a lot and she has become an important part of my life."
Kazuki replied showing a faint smile, not knowing how to explain the feelings that were welling up inside of him at the moment. But, he did know that the feelings that he had for Asia were the same feelings that he had for the one he first fell for. However, he didn't know what to do about those feelings since it would almost like betraying that person he first fell in love with.
[You could form a harem. I don't know about your beliefs, but it's natural for dragons and those who possess their souls or powers to form harems with women.]
"Do you just come out whenever the situation seems amusing or interesting to you?"
Kazuki asked thinking back to all the times that Albion came out and recalled all the times he talked just to leave out of the conversation moments later.
"Kazuki-san," Asia called out his name sounding nervous before continuing. "Could I sleep closer to you…just for tonight? Since…."
After hearing her request, Kazuki understood that Asia might be a little shaken up about the situation involving all that happened in the Familiar Forest.
"Sure, I wouldn't mind."
Kazuki replied but felt his heartbeat a little faster after agreeing to it.
Once both of them talked for a little longer and drank their juice, Kazuki and Asia prepared themselves for bed as the lights were turned off. As promised, he let Asia sleep closer to him and it didn't take long for her to fall asleep, letting a peaceful sound escape from her mouth. The same as before, Kazuki noticed that Asia was getting much closer to them to the point of finding herself sleeping on his arm. He couldn't help smiling at the peaceful look on her face.
A/N: And there goes chapter fourteen of The Twin Dragons, well it was the battle between both them and the Hydra with Kazuki managing to enlist to assist the Undine. I thought that since the Undine were all water spirits it meant they could alter their appearance, it might be interesting to see. Asia did show that she can fend for herself in certain situations and did find herself a Sprite Dragon.
Near the end, Kazuki did end up fighting against the devil named Kojirou, in addition to the slime and the Chimera that he created. He also talked to Ravel about what happened and she seemed to want to offer her assistance after Kojirou ended up escaping, but that'll come back in the future. Next, we'll be heading off into the Excalibur Arc.
Issei's Harem: Rias, Akeno, Koneko, Xenovia, Lucia, Tsubasa, Kiyome, Aika, Elmenhilde, Yasaka, Kunou, Bennia, Roygun, Ingvild.
Kazuki's Harem: Sona, Raynare, Asia, Irina, Lucina, Mariah, Kuroka, Ophis, Rossweisse, Ravel, Le Fay, Gabriel, Jeanne, Lint, Tiamat, Lilith.