P.S this story starts a few years before the start of our favorite DXD verse!
AND I DON'T OWN ANY DXD MATERIAL, ALL CREDIT TO THE ORIGINAL WRITERS!
"Talking out aloud"
'Thinking with ones mind'
"Spirits inside the sacred gears talking"
Without further delay, lets start the chapter!
Battle with the Fallen Angels
"Surrender or you will die" Koneko spoke in her usual monotone voice as one of her punches landed plush on the Fallen's abdomen.
"Ugggh" Dohnaseek groaned before grabbing Koneko's extended arm tightly, much to her surprise.
"You truly are naïve if you think that's all it will take to defeat me" Dohnaseek said with an evil smile appearing on his face before using a greater part of his strength to punch Koneko on her cheek, sending her into the outer walls of the Church. Without waiting, Dohnaseek mustered all his strength to conjure the greatest number of light spears he could summon before throwing them at a stunned Koneko.
"Koneko-san"
"Koneko-chan"
Yumi and Kiba screamed in panic as they tried to assist their stunned ally. Kiba used every fiber in his body and blindly rushed to get Koneko out of the way. At the same time, Yumi began summoning powerful barriers and shields around Koneko, trying to protect her from the dozen light spears coming her way.
*BBOOOOOMMMM!!!!!!!*
An immense explosion shook the battlefield courtesy of an impressive barrier conjured in front of a stunned Koneko. The aftershocks of the explosion were so violent that it sent all the remaining fighters on the battlefield on their asses. Some of them could not withstand the aftershock of the explosion, while others succumbed to the injuries.
"Did I get her?" Dohnaseek groaned out in a painful haze. Between his injuries and exhaustion of his entire magical arsenal, he was using everything he could to not go out of consciousness.
"Thank you for saving me again, Yumi-san" Koneko muttered out in a depressed tone. She had almost become a liability in a battle twice in the past week. First against Zill when he first appeared and now against the Fallen. She might not be weakest in the Gremory peerages, but she did, in fact mess up far more than even Issie, and he was barely a week into his supernatural life.
"Damn You!" Dohnaseek cursed as he saw Koneko untouched by his attack.
"It wasn't me who conjured the barriers, Koneko-san. The barriers I conjured weren't powerful enough to absorb Dohnaseek's last attack," Yumi replied in confusion. Koneko and Kiba felt their eyes widen at Yumi's statement. Yumi's words were found true when the Devil trio saw Yumi's colorless barrier behind the crimson barrier that was still glowing brightly after tanking such a devastating attack.
"Then who was it?" Kiba asked in confusion.
"It was us," A masculine voice calmly stated from behind the group. When Dohnaseek and the remaining Devils turned around, they found themselves staring at furious Rias Gremory, her Queen and a rather stoic Marid. Even though Marid kept on his emotionless mask, something he rarely wore, Yumi knew him enough to see the rage that burned behind those lightning-blue eyes.
"Rias-sama, Akeno-senpai, Lord Marid." Koneko's eyes widened when she realized who had saved her from the death's grasp.
"You will pay for daring to hurt my beloved servants," Rias spoke in an intense yet frightening voice.
"A Bitch like you couldn't harm a strand of hair on my head," Dohnaseek boasted arrogantly.
"Idiot," Marid muttered, witnessing the Fallen Angel's arrogant attitude. He truly was oblivious to what kind of fate awaited him.
"Akeno" Rias muttered the name of her Queen.
As if knowing what her master had commanded her, Akeno transformed into her Miko outfit before unleashing the most terrifying demonic lightning the Devils below had seen.
"Come Forth!!" Akeno commanded seriously as the clouds around darkened considerably before raging and unleashing terrific demonic lightning bolts at Dohnaseek.
"AAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!" Dohnaseek screamed in pure agony as he experienced the most terrifying forms of pain. His screams even made Kiba, Yumi and Koneko cringe in pain all the while Akeno kept on her attack. To the surprise of many, Akeno didn't show any signs of happiness or entertainment, but her eyes only bled vengeance for the harm the Fallen had caused.
"BEGONE!" Rias screamed at last, joining her Queen in the attack by unleashing a ball of destruction at the heavily electrocuted Fallen Angel.
The ball of destruction acted more as a mercy and less as an execution since the last few minutes of his life were spent in pain only a few unfortunate souls could withstand.
"It's done," Marid said calmly as he laid a comforting hand on Akeno and Ria's shoulders. He knew they were still angry at Dohnaseek for trying to kill Koneko. Honestly, he himself was furious at him and the other Fallen for hurting his Bishop. However, there were other things that took importance right now.
"What about others?" Akeno asked her master while sending a cold glare at the knocked out Fallen.
"We will secure them and question them later," Marid cut in before Rias could respond to her Queen. His reply took everyone by surprise since they were certain he would want to kill them in retribution of attacking his peerage.
"After all they have done, you want to spare them?" Rias asked angrily off her nephew.
Marid just shook his head, "I didn't say we spare them. I just said we should interrogate them. Or are you saying you don't want to know who the person who is behind all of this is?" Marid replied back with a rhetorical question.
Rias quietly fumed at her nephew's rhetorical question, but she couldn't deny the merit of gaining valuable knowledge against someone who is behind all of the recent attacks on her city.
"Fine! We will interrogate them once we capture other remaining Fallen and exorcist" Rias huffed before heading towards Kiba and Koneko, trying to assess their injuries.
"What happened here?" Marid asked Yumi seriously before starting to heal her, despite her own objections.
"When we arrived here at the Church. We were confronted by these three Fallen Angels. To ensure the nun's safety, we sent Issie-san and Kenta-san ahead into the Church," Yumi dutifully responded to her King.
"I am sorry for not being able to help more in the attack," Koneko apologized to her King while being healed by the Queen of the peerage. Her reply was met by a loving yet powerful hug from Rias, much to Koneko's surprise. Her surprise only grew once she felt the hug was more out of fear rather than a loving hug she was accustomed to getting from her King.
"No… I am sorry. I am such a bad King, leaving you all to face the Fallen and exorcists on your own. It is my fault for all your injuries. Please forgive me!" Rias tearfully apologized to her Rook and knight, both of whom were left stunned by their king's attitude.
Kiba, reacting first, quickly fended off his King's worries and apologized, saying that saving Issie and Kenta remains a top priority.
"He is not wrong, Rias! We need to get into that Church now and start helping Kenta and Issie," Marid agreed with Kiba.
"Akeno, please properly restrain the other two Fallen before coming to the church," Rias ordered Queen before heading into the Church to help out the newest members of the Gremory Family.
Once inside the Church, the Devils were left stunned with what they saw. Scores of Exorcists lying defeated onto the floor. Some of them looked dead, while others were knocked out and secured by a rope made out of fire.
Seeing the room in front of him, Marid felt his stomach jump into his throat at the fear his Rook might have killed someone. His worries were left for naught when he saw his Rook securing the last of the Fallen with ropes made out of fire. To his relief, he didn't see any signs of him giving into the beast of the Kuroshishi.
"Thank the Satan," Marid breathed out aloud in relief. His words gained the attention of Kenta, who was done securing the last of the exorcist.
"You guys took your time," Kenta chuckled as he turned around to face the group.
"We had an errand to run beforehand" Marid chuckled as well before inspecting his Rook for any injuries.
"What happened here?" Rias asked curiously as she took in the sight.
"After me and Issie got inside the church, we were confronted by about 50 exorcists who were instructed to hold us off at whatever cost." Kenta began informing the newcomers of the events that had transpired in their absence. "During the battle, Issie was somehow able to convince some exorcists to help him save Asia. As a result, it created a division between the exorcists, some siding with Issie in trying to save Asia, the former high priestess of the Vatican, while others wanted to defeat us at all cost," Kenta explained to the group, much to their growing surprise.
Seeing he got no questions from the group in front of him, Kenta continued, "With the division of the group, everyone turned on each other. I just stuck to the outside trying to arrest some of the rouge exorcists while they killed each other." Kenta shrugged at the end.
"How in the nine layers of hell was Issie was able to convince people. People who are raised to hate the Devils on sheer principle! How was he was able to convince them into helping him out in saving a former Nun who had been exiled by the Church?" Marid asked his Rook in pure amazement.
"Issie has a weird way to convey his feelings" Kenta titled his head as he started to wonder the same thing as his master did.
"That he does" Kiba couldn't help but agree with Kenta's conclusion about Issie.
"Where is Issie now?" Rias couldn't help but ask about the whereabouts of her pawn.
"He went into the basement with the other exorcist," Kenta pointed at the door leading down into the basement.
"You let him go into the basement on his own with a rouge exorcist?" Rias questioned Kenta's intelligence at that point.
"I knew he was telling the truth, so I saw no reason in stopping Issie to go and save Asia with that exorcist" Kenta replied seriously before heading towards the stairs leading down to the basement.
"No point in arguing now Rias. Lets go and see what kind of trouble we are dealing with here" Marid interrupted Rias before she could say something, before following Kenta down the stairs. The rest of the Devils follow suit and go down to the basement.
At the end of the stairs, the group of Devils arrived in an open room, which was clearly the armory of the exorcist, if the swords and exorcist guns on various stands and shelves was anything to go by.
"These guys were ready to go to war." Marid couldn't help but chuckle at the over-preparedness of the exorcist. Shame it all went to waste since most of them turned on each other on the words of a Devil.
"Do you hear that?" Kiba questioned the group as he picked sounds of battle.
"Through that door" Koneko pointed at the door where the noise originated from.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Rias said in a hurry as the group rushed through the door to the inner sanctum of the Church.
A few minutes ago
'Hmm, I can't sense either the exorcist or the other Fallen Angels. The chances are they were defeated by the other Devils. That's a shame, but they were always a means to an end. With the task completed granted to me by the higher-ups, I should just leave. There is nothing here that is worth my attention,' Raynare huffed in disgust before turning towards the exit in an attempt to leave.
"You aren't leaving this basement," a voice from her behind caught her off guard. Her surprise grew further when she felt someone grabbing her arm. It was Issie who had grabbed her by her arm.
"There is only one person out of the two of us that is going to leave this place alive, and unfortunately for you, I have no desire to die today." Raynare turned around only to find Issie with katana in his hand mid-swing, his eyes glowing with determination, vengeance and domination.
For a moment, dread seeped in her heart as fear crawled in her brain, only asking one question of her… Who did she just piss off?!?!?
"Let go of me!" Raynare spoke angrily before conjuring a light spear to block Issie's katana.
Issie, who had been unprepared for the last-second block by Raynare, found himself losing his footing and tripping past his opponent.
"That's what you get when you don't respect your superiors," Raynare replied with anger as she used her light spear and slashed at Issie's unprotected back.
"Ahhh" Issie groaned in pain at being slashed by light spear. To his surprise, the slash didn't feel as painful as other light spells he had been struck with.
'Is it just me or her attack wasn't as painful as the other light attacks I have been struck with! Maybe I am developing a resistance to light magic, considering the number of light-based attacks I have recently been struck with. Don't know if it's a good thing or not!' Issie thought inwardly before quickly turning around to re-engage with Raynare.
Raynare, who was surprised by Issie's resilience, had to dodge the incoming wild katana slash coming at her.
'Who the hell is this Kid?' Raynare was forced to dodge another one of Issie's strikes. With each passing second, his speed and power increased, making it that much harder for Raynare to deal with this threat. Thankfully, Issie's inexperience and lack of battle IQ made it easier for Raynare to dodge and counter Issie's attack.
"Take this!" Issie shouted as he lunged at Raynare again with the plan of taking her head off.
"Shit" Raynare muttered under breath as she was forced to block the incoming katana strike with her light spear. She pushed him back, but Issie only gave ground slowly. Gritting her teeth in frustration, Raynare continued, "No low-class Devil should be able to match me in strength or dodge my spears! Even with the help of a mere twice critical, you shouldn't be able to hold a candle to me!"
"I don't know how I am able to match you in terms of strength, but I know one thing… I am not losing this time, Raynare," Issie shouted in rage at the last second before launching a kick at Raynare's knee.
Issie grunted slightly as his foot managed to impact his opponent's knees. It felt like he did just try to kick one of those old leather soccer balls they'd used in the fifties! Despite that, Raynare clearly felt the attack, which seemed to surprise her even more. She stumbled back, as her face gained a furious look.
The successful attack gave Issie confidence as he grinned like an idiot while facing someone who had taken away his humanity.
'He is going strong the longer this battle goes,' Raynare came to the correct assumption in the heat of the battle. Now understanding she would have to end the battle quickly, she used her battle experience to her advantage by baiting the overconfident Issie into coming for another strike. She used Issie's overconfidence by disarming his katana and then following up with a knee to his abdomen, which brought him down to his knees.
"Don't get cocky, you little shit!" Raynare roared as she continued her attack by proceeding to kick Issie across the inner sanctum of the church.
"Ugghh!" Issie screamed in pain as his body hurtled across the room, regardless of his will. He eventually crashed into one of the pillars, which took a good chunk of his energy. He was almost sure he had suffered a concussion and had suffered a broken bone or two by that strike.
"Sacred gear or not! You will die here!" Raynare promised Issie as she sent two light spears to Issie.
"Ahhhhhhh!" Issie's injuries worsened as the light spears jammed into his thighs, making him feel like he was getting burned from inside out.
"You are good. I will give you that," Raynare complimented her opponent once she saw his painful expression and his supposed inability to stand back up.
"Light and holy magic is said to be rather effective against the Devils. Even touching light magic is said to scorch Devils. It is said to be the worst kind of pain a Devil can endure. You not only survived by getting hit by multiple light-based attacks but also continued fighting. You have my praise for your will to continue fighting," Raynare complimented her downed opponent, who looked down for the count.
"Who cares about your praise?" Issie blurted out before using every ounce of his energy in standing back up.
"What?" Raynare blustered out in pure shock. No low-class Devil should be able to continue fighting after the injuries they had sustained.
"Who cares about your praise?" Issie repeated as he finally stood up. "All of this pain is nothing in front of the pain Asia went felt when she was thrown out of the church! All of this pain means nothing in front of the pain you made Asia go through!!!" Issie screamed at the end. His will to continue fighting and enact revenge against Raynare broke something within him. Something he didn't understand, but for some reason he felt whole again. Like a part of him had reunited with him after so long.
A moment after he felt this weird feeling within him, he felt his power grow again as his left arm got enveloped in green energy. He felt a powerful burst of aura emitting from his sacred gear while it's shape started to change. The gauntlet in Issie's hand grew as its color turned crimson all the while two golden spike manifested out of it with a green jade like jewel decorating the middle of the gauntlet. Furthermore, the gauntlet also gained dragon-like aesthetics while the sacred gear grew to the point of covering Issie's entire forearm.
*EXPLOSION*
Issie felt his power grew exponentially while the surrounding debris around him blew away at the power that emitted from his sacred gear.
*BOOST*
"What the Hell??!?" Raynare exclaimed in shock. Having never seen such a reaction from an sacred gear before. She obviously was told about the fact that the sacred gears were known to respond to their wielders' will, but this was something her father hadn't taught her.
'Maybe I should have been more focused in Father's lessons about sacred gears,' Raynare thought inwardly with a frown. Her desire for not learning about God's 'greatest gift to humanity' may end up costing her life her in this church at the hands of a low class Devil like Issie.
"I don't know how I got this power! But I will use it to defeat you." Issie used every ounce of energy in his muscles to rush toward a shell-shocked Raynare. Her lapse of concentration gave Issie enough time to make it across the room and get within Raynare's guard.
"NO!! I WONT BE DEFEATED BY A LOW CLASS DEVIL LIKE YOU!" Raynare screamed as she aimlessly tried to get away from a charging Issie.
"GO TO HELL!!!" Issie screamed with righteous fury as he grabbed Raynare by her arm before landing a hard haymaker on her cheek.
As a result, Raynare found herself flying across the basement against her will before she crashed into one of the remaining pillars, destroying it in the process. The impact of punch and the pillar effectively knocked her out cold.
"That was for Asia!" Issie huffed before he felt lightheaded. Fortunately for him, he was saved by Kiba before he had a chance to hit the ground.
"You took your time, pretty boy," Issie commented off-handedly as he heavily leaned on his fellow Devil for support.
"I would have gotten involved earlier, but the others instructed me to stay back," Kiba explained to Issie.
"Others?" Issie turned around to find an amused Marid, a prideful Rias, and smiling Yumi, Kenta, and Koneko. Each of them gives him a thumbs on a job well done.
"Looks like you were able to take revenge against someone who had given you so much grief," Marid congratulated Issie before looking intensely at his sacred gear. Something Issie avoided for the time being.
"How long have you been here?" Issie asked the group in shock.
"We came here just as your sacred gear transformed into its current state," Rias replied with a proud smile. She was happy that not only her adorable pawn was able to defeat a Fallen Angel on his own but also was able to unlock the true form of his sacred gear.
"That was a good fight, Issie." Kenta sent him thumbs while Yumi just smiled at his success.
"Thanks, everyone," Issie thanked everyone with a slight blush. It was nice to get appreciated by people.
Issie's good mood changed when he saw Akeno bringing in the remaining Fallen Angels with a disturbing smile on her face.
"What are they doing here?" Issie asked in confusion as to why Akeno was bringing other remaining Fallen in the church.
"They are prisoners of war," Marid chuckled before motioning to Yumi to tie up Raynare.
"Huh?" Issie tilted his head in confusion.
"We are going to interrogate them to find out who ordered them to come to Kuoh and attack us" Kenta sighed as he explained their plan for the Fallen to Issie.
"With that out of the way, Let's wake them up, Akeno," Rias told her queen with a smile on her face.
"Right away," Akeno smiled as she raised her hands to summon a magic circle. From the magic circle, out came water, dropping onto the knocked-out Fallen Angels.
"What a wakeup call," Marid sniggered at seeing the horrified expressions of the Fallen Angels and Kenta.
"It did the job, I guess." Kenta shivered at the thought of being woken up by being poured cold water.
The three female Fallen shivered and coughed out water from their lungs. Their eyes soon focused up and took in their surroundings. All three of them didn't utter a word for a moment, all of them pinching themselves in an effort to wake themselves up from their worst nightmare.
"Good evening to all three of you. As you may know, my name is Rias Gremory, and I am the heiress to the house of Gremory. How do you all do?" Rias asked the fallen with an air of superiority around her.
"How did a low-class Devil like him defeat me!?!" Raynare uttered in disbelief, surrendering her faith in the hands of the Devils in front of him.
"That's because he is the most special pawn in the entire world," Rias almost cooed as she sent Issie a cute smile. Issie was sure that his heart skipped a beat after receiving that smile.
"Special pawn?" Millet asked in confusion. Like Raynare, she also had surrendered her faith to the Devils. She knew there was no way she was going to survive whatever is to come. Might as well get some answers before she kicked the bucket.
"Because he has a sacred gear, dumb dumb," Marid smugly replied.
"A simple twice critical still shouldn't be able to defeat me!" Raynare snapped angrily after hearing Marid's smug reply.
"That's where you are wrong, Fallen Angel Raynare," Yumi calmly informed an agitated Raynare.
Before Raynare could ask a follow-up question, Rias continued, "This boy, Hyoudou Issie, doesn't have a regular sacred gear. He has one of the thirteen Longinus as a sacred gear. Boosted Gear, you must have heard of that name before right?" Rias calmly informed the trio of Fallen Angels, who had suddenly gotten stiff in pure shock and fear.
"B-Boosted gear… One of the Longinus… Even though it's temporary, they have the power to surpass the Satans and God himself. You are telling me that this child has the Boosted gear as a sacred gear?" Raynare asked in complete shock and fear.
"It's just like the legend is told, the ability of the [Boosted Gear] can double the power of the possessor every ten seconds. Even if his power starts from 1, it doubles his power every ten seconds, and it can reach the power of a leader class being within minutes. By mastering the power of Boosted Gear, they can even kill a God," Rias explained, much to the growing shock of the Fallen present… and those who weren't aware of the legend of the Boosted gear.
'That's some serious firepower,' Kenta whistled within his mind. Suitably impressed at what kind of power Issie will be able to wield if he masters his sacred gear.
'Yes, but it's a slow starter,' Adara replied to Kenta's inner thought.
"I wish I could have that power," Kenta jokingly replied to his sacred gear host.
'That's a low blow,' Adara pouted.
'Kidding, your fire is plenty for me,' Kenta replied with an amused expression.
'Just wait for my balance breaker. That will literally blow your mind,' Adara replied with a full-blown grin across her face.
'Can't wait,' Kenta replied before focusing his attention on the scene in front of him. As the others began talking about how to interrogate the captured Fallen Angels, something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. When he turned to look at it, he felt his blood run cold. The silence was like a thousand blades piercing my heart, but that was nothing compared to the pain of each step he took towards the altar. Each step felt like days, but in reality, he knew it was just seconds, but the dread made it feel so much longer. His actions brought a halt in the conversation across the room as everyone eyed him walking towards the altar.
Kenta's breaths were shallow, his heart was racing. He could feel every sensation in his body and every one of the feeling was screaming "NO!" His eyes finally saw what he was dreading. Lying on the altar, dressed in a thin night gown was Asia, her skin pain, her eyes closed with dried tears on her face.
Kenta's eyes began to water, his tears stinging like red-hot needles as he dropped to his knees with a thud, completely in disbelief at the reality in front of him. His first ever friend, the person who ever showed him kindness, was dead. His fist's tightened to the point of almost breaking his skin. He knew what was in front of him, but he didn't want to believe it. He used his senses searching for a heartbeat, an aura, any sign of movement, anything to tell him what he was seeing wasn't real, but to his horror he was indeed in a nightmare with his first friend dead.
Tears streamed down his cheeks as he took her hand. S-she was so cold.
"Asia," he whispered, barely audible; the tears continued to stream in rivers down his face.
'Partner…. I'm sorry' Adara tried to comfort her host but to nothing reduced the guilt and pain he felt.
He felt two hands on his shoulder, gripping him to give him some comfort. When he looked up, he found Marid and Yumi, both sporting solemn expressions while doing their best to comfort him.
Issei came up behind them slowly, "Kenta I'm, I'm sorry I couldn't save her, w-we were too late" Issie apologized as he too felt guilty for not being able to save Asia. It was his responsibility, but he failed himself, Asia, and everyone around him.
Marid put her hand on both of their shoulders, "I think we may have a way for you to see her again" he replied calmly.
"The evil piece system! You will revive as one of your servants!" Kenta exclaimed in realization of what his master was hinting at. A slight hope seeped into his heart at the thought of seeing Asia alive again.
"Unfortunately, I can't revive her as a servant of mine since none of my available pieces will be a good fit for her," Marid replied with a slight shake of nod.
However, before his pawn had a chance to go back into the depression of losing Asia, Marid smiled and gave a reply which brought back the hope in his heart, "But I do know someone who can revive her and the appropriate piece into doing so!" Marid pointed at Rias.
Rias smiled at the idea of what Marid was hinting at, but her smile turned into a frown when she remembered something about the ritual, "As much as I would love to revive her as my Bishop, the resurrection won't work! Her sacred gear has been removed, which means we can't bring her back," Rias replied with a frown.
That's right, Kenta remembered that much from when he was learning Senjutsu. A sacred gear is tied to a specific person's life energy. When it's removed, that's what kills them. Without it, they can't be revived, not by any method. The sacred gear is a part of them. Well, there was just one option left then. "…but what if her sacred gear could be returned?" he questioned in a dark voice.
Everyone looked at him with a confused expression. All the while, Kenta focused hard on finding a twilight feeling. He could feel it around him, it was still whole, it was….inside Raynare.
At realizing what had happened, his fist coated itself in a silver and blue aura in rage. He saw Koneko flinch and slide away at the sight of it as he stood up and made his way to Raynare, his fist pulsing with silver and blue aura, her eyes widening as she saw Kenta coming.
"N-No, please don't kill me," Raynare screamed as she tried to push back and flee. But Kenta grabbed her arm and, in a swing, plunged his fist into her chest. She screamed as she saw his fist enter her body, but she soon fell silent by fainting. He pulled his fist back, and she collapsed on the ground.
Everyone looked at him in silence as two rings floated in his hand, pulsing a green aura. Rias stepped forward. "I thought you said we weren't going to kill them."
Kenta raised an eyebrow, looking at her, "I didn't kill her." He raised his hand as more Ki covered it. "I used Senjutsu to remove something that wasn't meant to be inside of her. She was the one who was a chicken and fainted at the sight of my hand in her chest."
Everyone sweated dropped at that.
"Well, to be fair, who wouldn't?" Marid replied with a smirk.
Kenta ignored his king's comment and walked over to Rias and handed her the twilight healing. "Please do it quickly," he asked with a pleading tone. He didn't care about keeping his dignity in this case. This was Asia he was talking about. He would have begged on his knees if it meant saving her. Considering what she had done for him in a time when no one considered him more than garbage at the bottom of their sole, he owed everything to her.
Rias nodded and took both the sacred gear and bishop piece and went over to Asia.
"It will be alright, Kenta-san," Yumi said to Kenta in a reassuring manner.
He looked to Koneko, and a small smile came on his lips before turning back to watch the resurrection.
Asia was placed on the floor. As Rias stood over her. A crimson demonic-power surrounds Rias as she holds her hand out over Asia. "I order, in my name Rias Gremory. You, Asia Argento. To resurrect you back to this soil as my servant, and have you reborn as a Devil. You, my Bishop, be delighted with your new life!"
The crimson chess piece glows and goes inside Asia's body. At the same time, Asia's Sacred Gear goes back inside her body. Rias stops her demonic-power after confirming that the chess piece and the Sacred Gear went inside Asia's body. She sigh while Kenta and Issie kept their gazes on Asia. They could feel her aura growing, it wasn't human any more it was demonic. Both of them could feel tears coming out of their eyes again, but at this point, they didn't care.
After a short while, Asia opens her eyes.
"Huh?" Asia's moved her head around in confusion. Around so many people she didn't know previously.
Before anyone could respond to her unasked question, Kenta rushed in and hugged Asia.
"Asia" Kenta cried tears of joy. Not caring in the slightest as to who was watching him.
"Kenta-san!" she said confused. She could tell he was upset but didn't know why, but she hugged him back trying to comfort them. Not because she understood what had happened in the last few minutes, but this is how she was. She couldn't stop herself helping people. No matter who they were.
'Always the same Asia, you never change, always caring about other people, always passionate I have no idea why you were involved with the fallen, but this time I swear I will never leave you again' Kenta thanked the Satans for saving Asia.
'….'
'Are you crying again, Adara?'
'Yes, and I'm not ashamed to admit it, this scene is bringing a tear to even my eye. It's so touching,' Adara commented tearfully before wiping off tears in Kenta's mindscape.
"Asia, I've missed you so much," Kenta said as he held her close.
"Kenta-san, I've missed you ,too," she said, leaning into him gently.
During his reunion, Kenta could feel another set of eyes on him and Asia. Knowing who it was, Kenta pulled away from Asia to turn around at the sight of a tearful Issie.
"Ise-san," Asia spoke in shock at her second friend crying.
Kenta moved to the side as Issei hugged Asia, he could only smile seeing those two.
'I'm glad she's alright,' Kenta breathed a sigh of relief.
'Yea, but I pity that boy should he ever hurt her, the things you would do to him'
'It would be enough to make even a Maou cringe in pain,' Kenta mentally growled.
Kenta stood up, wiping his tears away. As Marid gave his shoulder a comforting squeeze, mentally reassuring him that it was all over.
"Right, now with this matter settled…. I suppose it's about time we come to an agreement with what we will be doing with you three," Marid commented aloud while regarding the two awoke Fallen Angels.
"Please let us go. We will never bother you or anyone from your peerage," Kalawarner begged for her life. Millet joined her in doing the same thing.
"Unfortunately for you have not only attacked me and my peerage on multiple occasions but also killed two humans, which ended up costing them their humanity" Rias spoke in a stern tone, a tone befitting a ruler putting the rebelled to their blade.
"While I would support your decision in any other scenario, this time, I would ask you to stop Ria-chan." A cute voice flew across the basement of the church, taking everybody off guard.
Were there more enemies they didn't know about?!?
Rias and Marid quickly turned around towards the only exit while preparing to retaliate on a moment's notice.
To their shock, Serafall Leviathan stood in the doorway alongside two Fallen Angels. One of them most of them recognize.
"You!!" Akeno muttered in rage as her eyes grew feral. Her eyes also started to water cause of the pure rage she felt for one of the Fallen standing in front of her.
The Fallen in question was a rather old and gruff looking man with signs of aging appearing on his face. Furthermore, the Fallen Angel had black hair with matching beard with streaks of silver appearing on his hair. His face held a battle scar from one of his previous battles while he wore a prestigious looking robe, a robe matching his rank among the Fallen Angels. A rank of Cadre.
"Akeno" The older fallen muttered in shock at seeing his only daughter alive. He was overjoyed and relieved that his daughter had survived all these years. Even if she had become a Devil now, he was grateful beyond everything to see his daughter alive.
However, he was here on a serious mission, and his relief and talk with his daughter would have to wait. That, along with his apology, would have to wait. He steeled himself for what conversation would lie ahead in front of the two family members of the current Lucifer.
"You know him Akeno?" Kenta asked the Gremory queen as he raised an eyebrow at her reaction to the Cadre.
"He i-is… was someone I used to know," Akeno replied coldly while looking at her father with a murderous look in her eyes. Something which made the Fallen Cadre's heart ache.
"Everyone, I would like to introduce you to Baraqiel, one of the Cadre's of the Grigori, and Raziel, son of the Governor of the Grigori, Azazel," Serafall introduced the Fallen Angels beside her to the group of Devils in front of her.
That announcement surprised all the Devils as their gazes sharply turned towards the younger Fallen. Raziel was a fairly handsome-looking Devil with smooth skin, black hair, and same-colored eyes. He wore an all-black suit, which greatly complimented his skin. However, unknown to an untrained eye, his suit had different protective runes sewed in it in an eagle-like design. While most people would consider it a fabulous pattern, it was a protective suit he had worn, which he only wore during important events. The runes on his suits were something only Marid and Yumi had noticed due to their knowledge about the ruins.
On the other hand, although Rias felt something about the patterns of design on Raziel's suits, she wasn't knowledgeable enough to catch the underlying meaning of the design. Since she had hated the subject of ruins with a strong passion, she found the subject quite dull. All the while, Raziel currently had four of his dark feathered wings out in the open.
Meanwhile, the two conscious Fallen Angels could look at their Lord with hope in their eyes.
"Azazel has a son?" Rias muttered in shock. Throughout her childhood, she was informed about the Three Biblical factions, their leaders and their families. It was part of the Social training most of the Noble class Devils had gone through in their childhood. However, nowhere in that training stated Azazel, the evilest of the Fallen Angels, Governor General of the Grigori, had a son.
"That is correct Rias Gremory. My name is Raziel, and I am here on behalf of my father to ask you all to spare these three Fallen Angels," Raziel spoke in a formal tone while giving the Devils in front of him a slight bow.
"These Fallen Angels attacked the Devils of this city while also killing two humans, which had cost them their lives," Rias spoke angrily after hearing his ask for sparing the Fallen.
"We have heard the actions committed by these Fallen Angels. They will be facing punishments from my father himself for following treasonous orders before verifying their validity," Raziel further explained to the group.
"You truly are naïve if you think they will be spared what they have done here," Kenta replied angrily, his brain recalling all the heinous actions done by these Fallen. In his state of anger, he unknowingly summoned a fire spear in his hand as if preparing for combat.
"Kenta!" Marid interrupted his Rook sharply, bringing him out of his haze. It was true that the Fallen had to pay for they did, but for Serafall Leviathan, one of the Satan's to be brokering a deal with a Fallen Angel Leader was very telling.
"What I want to know why Serafall Leviathan is brokering a meeting between us and a Cadre and the son of the leader of the Fallen Angels" Rias asked the question Marid had been wondering all along.
Serafall who had been expecting such a question just smiled at the two young Devils in front of her, "This is because during the meeting with the Azazel, we found out that Azazel had never given any orders for a group of Fallen Angels to infiltrate Kuoh and target sacred gear wielders or to associate themselves with the Lion Youkai" her eyes briefly went over Kenta. If someone noticed it, they didn't call her out on it.
"That still doesn't explain why a Cadre and son of Azazel is here! Since no peace treaty was signed with Fallen, any infiltrating Fallen Angels are considered hostile and could be killed" Marid questioned the Mao seriously.
However, before Serafall could reply, Baraqiel broke his silence, "This is because among the Fallen who had unlawfully infiltrated your city is also Azazel's daughter" Baraqiel replied much to the shock of young Devils present.
A pin-drop silence covered the entirety of the church as the young Devils started to understand the politics behind this whole mess. The silence was eventually broken by Marid.
"Looks like rumors about Azazel being a lady's man were accurate," Marid snorted out a reply in utter disbelief. His retort wasn't taken kindly by Raziel, who grew angry at Marid's implication about his father.
"While I understand my father's notorious personality and fondness to the female form, particularly more since the reason behind his fall from heaven was him having sex with a human, but even then, my father only married and had children with only one woman. The woman he loved more than life itself. Despite the fact how many harems he had during his life, he only married once and had children with his wife," Raziel replied sternly at Marid's disrespectful comments regarding his father.
Marid, who was taken aback by Raziel's response, couldn't help but raise his eyebrow. However, before he could reply to Raziel's response, he was cut off by Serafall Leviathan herself.
"Perhaps it would be best if we returned to the topic at hand, Mar-kun," Serafall Leviathan cutely interrupted his reply. Her demand of him was quite obvious. Not wanting to refute the Satan's command in a public manner, Marid gave Serafall a understanding nod.
"Coming back to the topic at hand, who is the daughter of Azazel and your sister who was manipulated into attacking Devils who had familial connection with the current Satan's" despite her best efforts, Rias wasn't able to keep the sharpness out of her voice. It was clear to her now that she would have to let these Fallen go alive, despite their actions.
"That person would be Raynare" Raziel spoke calmly, also recovering from the slight state of anger he felt.
Raziel's reply got Kenta and Issie's attention, both of whom got rightfully pissed.
"You want to save her, after all she has done to us?!?" Issie exclaimed aloud all of a sudden. His proclamation got the Fallen emissary and the Satan Leviathan off guard.
"After what she has done?" Raziel titled his head in confusion. Having no idea what his idiotic baby sister has done now. Both Raziel and Baraqiel couldn't help but feel some kind of dread seeping into their hearts.
"The one you call Raynare led Issie on, under the guise of taking him on his first date. Following the date, Raynare proceeded to mercilessly kill him. After that, she forcefully extracted Asia's sacred gear out of her in the name of following your fathers order. An act thar costed Asia her human life as well," Kenta spoke angrily as he pointed towards an angry Issie and a solemn-looking Asia, who finally understood what had happened to her and how she was still alive. She had become a Devil, something that broke her heart since she wouldn't be able to enter heaven now, but she was thankful that her trial was finally over. She would now be able to begin a new phase in her life with people she could call friends.
Raziel, Baraqiel and Serafall, who heard Kenta's report on Raynare's movements stiffened in shock as their eyes widened. A solemn expression came across the Fallen Angels faces while Serafall's attitude took a drastic turn as her eyes gained a sharp gaze that regarded the Fallen Angels in front of her. She now understood the source of the anger of the Devils in front of her, and to be honest, she was angry as well since the actions of Azazel's daughter almost started the Great War and took humanity away from humans in the most brutal way possible.
"W-we didn't know," Baraqiel muttered in shock at what kind of terrible actions his goddaughter had performed.
"Not the first time you neglected your duty as a watcher of the Fallen, Cadre!" Akeno spoke venomously. Her sharp reply made Baraqiel stiff as a board as guilt ran over his heart. It truly hurt him that his daughter thought of him so poorly, but he couldn't deny that she was right. It was his job to look after his family, and he failed, resulting in members of the Himejima clan assassinating his wife and almost killing his daughter, Akeno, too. He failed his duty again when he failed to protect his goddaughter from blindly following a disastrous track that not only could have resulted in her own death but also could have restarted another war. That is to say nothing of her stealing away Issie and Asia's humanity.
Both Baraqiel and Raziel bowed towards the Devil apologetically, much to their surprise.
"Issie-san, Asia-san, and the Devils who have been harmed by my sister and her team's actions… we ask for your forgiveness. We, as the high-ranking Fallen of the Grigori, should have been more cautious about what our teams had been up to and what kind of fabrications had been made in the spirit of doing things in spite of the natural rivalry of Fallen and the Devils." Both Baraqiel and Raziel apologized to the group of Devil. Something that startled not only the Devils but the captured Fallen Angels, but no one dared spoke a word.
Both Rias and Marid briefly glanced towards Serafall leviathan who subtly nodded at them.
"As long as the incident isn't repeated in our or any other Devil territory, it should be fine. But please be mindful, a repeat of this attack would be considered an act of war," Serafall Leviathan answered for the young Devils.
After hearing the Satan's reply, the two Fallen Angels sighed and nodded at her words.
"Very well! We will also ensure this kind of actions aren't repeated ever again by any agent of the Grigori" Baraqiel nodded at the Satan's words.
With that, Raziel, with Marid and Rias permission, hesitatingly it may have been given, proceeded to heal and then wake his sister Raynare from her slumber. Once she woke, she was surprised and then fearful after seeing the murderous looks given to her by her older brother and Godfather.
Both of them proceeded to harshly scold the group of infiltrating Fallen Angels. When Raynare, brought the topic of the orders given to her by him, her brother proceeded to inform that the orders were fake and their father hadn't given him any direction to have you or any other Fallen to infiltrate Kuoh. In short, she and everyone in her team were in a lot of trouble for following such dangerous orders without verifying their validity.
"Because of your insolence and stupidity, you all had almost started another war! You all should be thankful that the Devil leadership contacted us about you all; otherwise, you all would have been killed, and the Devil's would have every right to do so. None of your ranks would have saved you all over here," Baraqiel bellowed at the three Fallen Angels, all of whom looked down towards the floor in embarrassment. After all, they were getting a dressing down in front of the Devils, arch-rivals to their species. If the word of this got back to the Grigori, they would never be able to make it up for the embarrassment.
"You are right, my Lord. We should have verified the orders with you or Father before proceeding forward." Raynare, as the leader of the group, took responsibility and apologized for her and her team's actions.
"As much as I like seeing the uncomfortable expression on these Fallen, perhaps it would be best to talk about more important topics, like who issued such orders for Raynare and her team to follow. After all, whoever fabricated those orders definitely wants us dead," Marid spoke seriously.
Baraqiel only sighed at hearing Marid's perfectly reasonable question, "While you are right, I am afraid I am not at liberty in disclosing who was the person that had manipulated them in following such orders"
"Excuse me?" Marid replied with a little anger. His tone suddenly got colder as his gaze sharpened as he regarded the Fallen emissaries in front of him.
Before Baraqiel had to explain, he was thankfully saved by Serafall Leviathan, "Considering this matter, the Grigori is currently conducting an internal investigation so that the mastermind of this entire mess could be properly prosecuted. A report of the investigation would be sent to us Satan's who would handle this affair personally. As of right now, everything regarding the Fallen Angels in Kuoh is now considered a classified matter, and everyone knowing of the facts is now sworn to secrecy," Serafall Leviathan informed the Devils cutely, much to their shock.
"You can't be serious, Ser-Lady Leviathan." Marid caught himself as he tried to convince Satan to reconsider the decision.
"You really want us to let these Fallen Angels go without knowing who made them attack us?" Rias replied indecorously as she joined Marid in protesting the Satan's decision.
"This is a decision made by the Satan's Marid-kun and Ria-chan. I am sorry, but I can't help you both in this case." Serafall sighed as she responded to the two young kings in front of them. She knew that both of them were right but as one of the Leaders of the Devil factions, she understood the implications should the word got out on the identity of the mastermind behind these attacks. It would almost be impossible for all the current Satans to stop their people in going to war with Fallen Angels. That is saying something since the current Satan's were far more powerful and respected than the original Satan's.
"However, the Grigori would be paying the underworld and the Gremory and Sitri families for the damages and killings committed by the Fallen Angels and their associates," Serafall informed the Devils, who just nodded in frustration.
Not only they were being strong armed in letting the Fallen go but they were also deprived of the Fallen Angel who masterminded these attacks. All of them were beyond pissed at this point.
"We are going to take our leave now! We are going to be in contact with you soon! Hopefully with some good information" Baraqiel nodded towards the Satan before motioning the other Fallen Angels into a transportation circle he had just created.
"You three want to say something to them before we leave?" Raziel sent a meaningful look towards the three female Fallen Angels. All of whom cringed at the sight but acquiesced to their seniors unsaid demand.
"We are sorry for our conduct in your territory" The three spoke out meekly before following the Cadre and his attendee into the magic circle.
With that, all of the Fallen teleported out of the church, with the Cadre guiltily glancing towards his only daughter, who matched his gaze with a murderous look. With a heavy heart, he teleported out along with his charges.
"I will head back and inform the Mao's of the events that transpired today," Serafall responded calmly before inspecting the mood of the group. As expected, most of them were outraged at the events that had just transpired. She could sympathize with them, but at the end of the day, any actions regarding Raynare, no matter how deserving, could have resulted in the start of another war. Something none of the three Biblical factions wanted.
However, before the current Satan Leviathan teleported away, she cheerfully turned around to face the group one last time, "Before I go, I would loooovvvveeee to congratulate you Ria-chan and Dragon-kun for unlocking the true form of your sacred gear. You would be a wonderful addition to the underworld, and we are happy to have you among us." Serafall danced around cheerfully before shooting her special Milky Spiral Girl pose.
"… Thanks?" Issie weakly replied. Not sure what else to say to the weird magical girl in front of him who was also one of the rulers of the Devil kind.
"If anything else goes wrong… be sure to call your favorite magical girl Ria-chan! Mar-kun!" Serafall exclaimed before teleporting out of the church while striking one of her cuter poses.
"Yea, I am definitely not getting her involved anything short of Armageddon" Marid replied sarcastically.
"That makes the two of us," Rias replied with an equal amount of frustration dripping out of her voice.
While the two young kings understood why the Satan had done something like this, but that didn't made it any less frustrating.
"Are all Satan's like this?" Kenta asked aloud. Clearly frustrated at the outcome of the events that proceeded tonight.
"More or less yea" Marid sighed before continuing, "While the current four Satans didn't take part in the Great War between the three Biblical factions, they in fact fought a Civil war to ensure that the Devils didn't continue the war after the deaths of the original Satan's"
"Due to fighting in the Devil Civil war, the current Satan's are more than aware of the horrors of war and don't want the next generation to go through what they had to go through to ensure peace" Rias ended up taking over for nephew and explained to the group.
Most Devils who had learned about the Devil Civil War, everyone except Issie and Asia at this point, as Marid had told Kenta about the Great War and the Civil War after their first confrontation with the Fallen Angels, nodded in understanding. All of them, while haven't fought in a large-scale conflict, were more than aware of the consequences of killings. Rias group especially understood it since every once in a while, they came across a stray Devil who had gone on a rampage of killing humans before they could get to them. Handling the families of the deceased and altering their memories were no easy task for them, even if they were Devils.
"Ano, Why did the Devils have a Civil war?" An innocent Asia raised her hands at the back of the group as she questioned the group in a manner everyone found adorable. Unknowingly, she had cut off the tense environment around the group with her innocence.
"That perhaps is a lesson for another day" Rias smiled at her newest Bishop.
"But first introductions are in order… I am Rias Gremory, the heir of the House of Gremory and one of the Governors of Kuoh. Let me be the first to welcome you to the House of Gremory and the world of the Devils." Rias smiled as she hugged her newest bishop into her chest. With that, everyone started to welcome Asia into the world of Devils.
Despite now being a Devil, whom she was trained to hate by the church, Asia couldn't help but shed tears of happiness. Finally feeling accepted by people!
"Alright lets dry those tears. We first need to find a place for you to live." Rias smiled as she wiped Asia's tears before proceeding to create a magic circle for her and Marid's teams. Soon, the two Kings and their peerages teleported away from the Church. Feeling rather relieved at the thought of the drama with the Fallen Angels was behind them… for now
Chapter End
With the end of this chapter, we have concluded the first arc of the story!!!!!
Great achievement since it took a bloody long time to complete the first arc of the story. Almost 150K words in fact!!!!!!
However, I wanted to assure you that the story from now on will progresses much faster than how the story is progressed in the previous chapters.
Also, the downtime for the next chapter would be a little longer for the next chapter, since I need to start focusing up on my studies.
Refer to my profile page to find out when I will be uploading my next chapter!
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Until then stay safe and have fun!
DGZalama out!
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