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!
Pushing the dark times both had gone through recently away, both Issie and Asia proceeded to have the day they promised each other to have, having the best time of their lives. They first went to a fast food place where the duo grabbed their first meal of the day. Asia, who had never tasted a burger before, despite living in the Western world for most of her life, immensely enjoyed the burger. Its texture, with a slight Japanese twist, made the burger almost heaven-like for her. However, more than the burger, she enjoyed her friend's company. Despite Issie being a Devil, Asia couldn't come to hate or despise Issie who was a Devil, it was something the church had done its best to instill in her.
After eating at the fast food restaurant, Issie gave Asia a quick tour of the Kuoh city. Showing her around the significant historical monuments littered around the city and taking her to the city's only mall. Issie, who had promised himself to make sure Asia had the time of her life, did his best to shake the uneasiness he felt himself having. It grew to such that even Asia noticed his slight paranoia.
Issie obviously waved off her concern as if it was nothing. He dragged Asia into the gaming arcade, where the duo lost themselves in having fun with each other. To Issie's surprise and then sadness, Asia meekly told him that she had never been outside the church and had never had the pleasure of going to a gaming arcade. That, however, didn't stop Issie from showing her the ropes. Thankfully for them, Issie was a notorious visitor of the gaming arcade and knew practically all the cheat codes to get all the rewards.
To Asia's delight, Issie had won her a stuffed animal from the notorious stuffed toy machine in the arcade. Asia thanked Issie greatly and promised herself to cherish Issie's gift till her very last days.
'My first gift from a friend,' Asia almost cried out of happiness. She always hoped to find a friendship with someone. Her life at church had been very plain. She was asked to heal servants of her Lord and its faithful devotees. But other than that, no one truly cared for her. Everyone respected her because of her status in the church, but no one truly appreciated her or tried to engage in a friendship with her. Now she found herself in a foreign country among strangers and her first two friends, who turned out to be Devils, not only put their lives on the line to protect her but also truly appreciated her company as a friend. She couldn't help but feel more blessed, now more than ever. Maybe it was a reward from her Lord for enduring so many hardships during her life.
Asia thanked her Lord silently before losing herself in the fun she and Issie were having.
The duo found themselves having fun through morning and into the afternoon, coincidentally coming back to the same park, they had met earlier today.
Unfortunately, it was the same park where Issie was attacked by the Fallen Angels on two separate occasions. If he made the connection at the time, he didn't give it any mind. Right now, he had to talk to Asia about her future. After all, she was in grave danger from the Fallen Angels at the current time. And if his experience with the Fallen Angels told him anything, they were a sneaky bunch who were prepared to do anything to get the desired result.
"I haven't had this much fun ever in my life. Thank you so much for showing me around your beautiful city," Asia spoke brightly before giving Issie a slight bow. Issie, who didn't know how to respond, could barely utter, "It's okay."
The duo then fell into a comfortable silence, which was appreciated by both Issie and Asia. The silence lasted until Issie voiced his concern for Asia, bringing her out of the dream-like state she had found herself in.
"What are you going to do now, Asia?" Issie asked with a concerned tone. He didn't want to see his friend get hurt by those Fallen.
"What do you mean, Issie-san?" Asia asked her friend curiously.
"What are you going to do now? If you were working with Fallen Angels, then that would mean the church won't take you back," Issie asked worriedly.
"Don't worry about me, Issie-san. I would be fine on my own. I will start my life again far from this city," Asia replied with the most innocent smile Issie had ever seen. Asia did her best to placate Issie's worries, but her fidgeting didn't fool Issie that she needed help. Whether that help was directed to getting her on her feet somewhere far away from the church or whether it was help that granted her safe haven somewhere.
At that moment, Issie steeled himself to do something for which he knew he would get in a lot of trouble, "How about you stay with me, Asia?" Issie asked the former Nun, much to her shock.
"I know with me being a Devil you being a former nun, it would be difficult to make it work. But if you stay with me, you will have a place to call home and people you could call family," Issie spoke honestly, much to Asia's growing shock. Asia had stiffened in shock at what her friend had offered her… a safe haven. Even the exorcist, who she had worked with during her time with the church, had never offered something like this to her. Sure, they respected her for her status, but never had someone offered her something like the Devil in front of her had done.
Soon, Asia broke down in tears, much to Issie's concern. She hugged him and started to weep like she had never wept before. Despite never being in this situation, Issie kept calm, hugged Asia back, and did his best to comfort her. But nothing could calm Asia down as she broke down in the arms of one of her only friends.
After crying for several moments, she glanced towards Issie, who was looking at her with concerned eyes, "Are you ok, Asia?" he couldn't help but ask.
"I am more than fine, Issie-san," Asia spoke softly as she did her best to get her emotions back under control.
"Then why are you crying so much?" Issie voiced his concern again.
"It… it's just that no one has ever given me such an offer." Asia sobbed a little at that.
"It is given for me to help you out. After all, we are friends and friends help each other out," Issie replied warmly.
After hearing Issie's response, Asia couldn't help but view her friend with adoring eyes.
"Issie-san, I would like…" however, before Asia could complete her sentence, their surroundings changed.
"What's happening?" Issie asked with apprehension as he went on high alert.
"Someone casted a barrier around us," Asia worriedly replied. After she was the only one among them with any magical knowledge.
"Well, isn't it adorable to watch? A Devil and a former nun finding themselves in a entanglement of a unholy relationship" A sinister feminine voice chuckled from behind the duo.
Both Issie and Asia hurriedly turned around. Both of them stiffened, shocked at what they saw.
"Yumma-chan"
"Raynare-sama"
Issie and Asia spoke in unison as they recognized the Fallen before them. The Fallen wore extremely revealing clothes, showcasing a body that would have made adult movie stars blush.
"Aren't you the little brat I killed while on that boring date? So, the Devils made you one of them, huh? What a shame! You should have gone to the afterlife the moment I killed you with your dignity entact" Raynare laughed evilly.
"Why you?!?" Issie almost shouted at his former date who had killed him coldly.
"Issie-san, you know Raynare-sama?" Asia asked, a little confused as to how Issie would know the Fallen Angel in front of them.
"Why don't you tell her how we first met Issie-kun?" Raynare spoke sadistically. Her voice gained the hint of cuteness he had seen during his date with her. However, now Issie couldn't see her as anything other than a cold-blooded monster.
"Issie-san?" Asia looked at her friend with a confused expression. An expression that soon turned from confusion to concern when she saw the look of pure rage on Issie's face. To her further worry, Issie had started to tear up a little bit and his hands had started to bleed due to his nails digging into his skin, eventually breaking it, resulting in the bleeding.
"You have some nerve to show your face to me after what you did, you monster," Issie screamed in pure rage at the Fallen, which took her by surprise.
Recovering quickly, the Fallen snapped back at Issie just as furiously, "How dare you scream at me!! A low-class Devil is beneath me!" Raynare snapped at Issie before creating a light spear in her hand. "I killed you once. I will kill you again," Raynare spoke with absolute disgust before hurtling the light spear towards Issie.
"Issie-san!" Asia screamed as she saw the light spear heading straight for Issie. Her scream brought Issie out of his rageful haze.
Issie seeing the light spear heading his way, pushed Asia away, and prepped himself to take the hit.
Unfortunately for him, the light spear hit its mark and went straight through his abdomen.
"Ahh," Issie groaned in absolute pain as he spat out a glob of blood. The pain was so intense that he started to go in and out of consciousness, resulting in him losing his footing and dropping on his knees.
"You see, you are nothing to us, Fallen Angels!" Raynare boasted aloud, much to Issie's growing anger.
"However, I will give you credit where credit is due. For a low-class Devil, you are highly resilient," Raynare complimented Issie in the most roundabout way. That, however, didn't stop Issie from widening his eyes in pure shock at being complimented by his killer.
"When you get to have 6 attacks on your life in just as many days, you learn a thing or two about pain management and resilience." Issie shrugged as he stood back up to confront the Fallen, much to her growing frown.
Her frown grew when she saw the Nun using twilight healing to heal her prey. Soon, Issie was fully healed up and was filled with determination to give back the pain the Fallen had caused him.
"I will beat you to a pulp for that attack, Raynare," Issie spoke confidently, feeling like he had a new body. He even summoned his sacred gear to combat the Fallen. The boosted energy he received from his sacred gear only increased his confidence.
Despite him feeling the best he had ever felt… Physically… the Fallen was still not impressed.
"So you have a twice critical." Raynare started to laugh, much to Asia and Issie's confusion.
"That's cute, but even with that, you won't be able to beat me. A simple twice critical isn't going to do anything against a Fallen like me," Raynare giggled further after seeing the look of apprehension on the Devil's face. She then turned to Asia and regarded her condescendingly, "I will make a deal with you, Asia… If you come with me, then I won't kill him." Raynare softly offered Asia a choice. A choice to save her friend at the cost of her own freedom.
"Why you?" Before Issie could complete his sentence, Raynare chucked another light spear at him. Unlike the last one, this light spear was faster and more destructive than her previous one. To Issie's shock, this light spear didn't hit him on his body but landed right in front of him before exploding outwards, sending the Devil into a water fountain right behind him. His body was covered in burns and injuries.
"The choice is yours, Asia. I don't think you could heal him from here or fast enough before I kill him with my next spear," Raynare reoffered her the choice.
Despite Issie's grunts and refusal to accept the Fallen's choice, Asia couldn't see her friend get beat up for her own sake.
Ultimately, Asia sighed and accepted the Fallen's advice, "I will go with you Lady Raynare… Please don't kill Issie-san," Asia tearfully begged the Fallen to spare Issie, something the Fallen thoroughly enjoyed.
"Asia, you can't do that!" Issie screamed in horror after listening to what Asia was doing.
Raynare didn't even acknowledge Issie's outburst, "Good girl," Raynare smirked as she walked over to Asia before enveloping herself and the Nun in her wings like a cocoon.
"After tonight's ritual, you will be free from all hesitation and suffering," Raynare spoke softly while regarding the former Nun of the church.
"Farewell, Issie-san." Asia did her best to act strong for her friend, but the eerie feeling that began to creep into her heart couldn't stop her from leaking a few tears. Something Issie noticed but couldn't do anything to help her friend, much to his frustration.
"See you later, Issie-kun." Raynare cutely waved at a beatdown Issie, briefly taking her Yumma-chan persona all before teleporting herself and Asia out of the park, leaving a beaten down Issie all alone.
'Damn it all, why did all of this happen to me,' Issie thought furiously as he hit the concrete foundation of the pond with all of his strength. Much to his growing shock, the concrete cracked slightly under his punch. However, his surprise soon turned into a pained expression when his adrenaline lowered, and he felt the pain of the blast from Raynare.
'If I keep getting in this situation, I need to get used to getting hit with these light spells,' Issie groaned internally before looking around to see if anyone was around, maybe if someone was coming back to finish the job.
His new sensitive senses suddenly picked up a rustle from the trees behind him.
'How can things get worse?' Issie groaned again as he struggled to stand up from his spot on the ground.
To his confusion, something came out of the tree, what looked to be a small bird. As the bird got closer, Issie realized two things: first, the creature was ugly as hell, and second, that thing coming towards him was no bird.
This sinister avian creature was minuscule, resembling a distorted mockery of a typical bird. Its body was impossibly tiny, scarcely more significant than a human thumb. Yet, it was unnaturally robust, with its head, wings, and feet appearing disproportionately large compared to its diminutive torso. Furthermore, the colored feather of the creature had shifted their hue from ominous crimson to midnight black to sickly green. All the while, the creature had a violet color, a color he had seen on someone he knew very well.
"What a naughty boy we have over here," a teasing voice of the Gremory queen came out of the strange creature, much to the shock of Issie.
Throughout all the events that day, he had forgotten entirely about the orders his master had given him.
"Shit," Issie muttered in pure horror at realizing his mistake. Akeno, who saw the look of horror on her junior's face, couldn't help but stifle a giggle of amusement. The creature soon landed on the shoulders of a horrified Issie before creating a teleportation circle and taking Issie away at her master's command.
Later
*Slap* Sound of a stiff slap vertebrated throughout the Occult research room. The room was filled by both the Gremory Peerages, Sona Sitri, Marid Gremory, and a pissed-off Rias Gremory.
Due to the combined efforts of Akeno, Kenta, and Yumi, Issie's wounds had been healed properly. Apart from the soreness, he felt nothing else from Raynare's attack. Sure, he was a little shaken up being manhandled by Raynare again, and seeing her take Asia back with her, made him angry. If all the Fallen were like Raynare and the others he had faced until now, he was genuinely fearful for Asia. He wasn't the only one with those thoughts, as Kenta had difficulty reigning in his own emotions, thinking the same thing.
After Kenta heard of what had happened with Asia and Issie, he wanted to storm the abandoned Church, where he was sure the Fallen would be hiding. However, strong words from both Marid and Yumi had stayed in his hands…. For now.
"How often have I told you a Devil and a nun cannot be friends?" Rias spoke furiously to her only pawn. She was so pissed off that her pawn would do something foolish. When Akeno had informed her of the attack on Issie by the Fallen Angel Raynare, she had been so afraid she had lost her only pawn.
"But why? Asia is such a kind person! She wouldn't harm us if we became friends with her," Issie desperately asked his master. It wasn't the first time Issie had recommended his master to become friends with Asia and take care of her because she was such a kind person. Unfortunately for him, like every time, Rias had denied his request due to fear of starting another Biblical war.
"I believe you, Issie when you tell me that Asia is a kind and sweet person, but I can't ignore that Asia was a former high priestess in the Vatican. If the word got out that a Devil had recruited the former high priestess, it would cause a huge uproar from the Church, potentially leading to a war. This does not count the fact that Asia is affiliated with the Fallen, our sworn enemies. Any relationship with her would be considered treachery by the Devil faction, and whoever is caught with this will be prosecuted to the highest degree of the law by the Satan themselves. I won't be able to save you from that, Issie," Rias sighed as she pleaded with her pawn to act sensibly.
Much to her disappointment, her pawn just shook his head, "If I can't help people I care about, please let me go off from your peerage. Plus, I am barely a pawn, just a throwaway piece! Surely you will get someone much more useable than someone like me," Issie replied dejectedly, leaving most Devils in the room rather offended by his comment.
*Slap* Much to everyone's surprise, Rias slapped Issie again. This time, the slap was way harder than before. If Issie's red face and Rias's extended right hand were anything to go by.
Issie lost his footing and landed on his butt on the floor. He looked up to a furious and, to his shock, a tearful Rias Gremory.
"How dare you think I would think of you as a throwaway piece just because you are my pawn? How dare you think I would think to abandon you at your lowest just because you are my servant? Go on, Issie, answer me?" Rias asked with such intensity that it scared Issie to his very core. He shuffled away from his master in pure fear. Now, under the belief he had stepped on a landmine, he wasn't supposed to.
Akeno, seeing her junior's reaction, cautiously walked and placed a comforting hand on her King's shoulder. Sending her a pleading look that her master understood.
Rias then took a deep breath, composing herself before regarding her scared pawn again. She knelt to his height and gave him an apologetic yet firm look, "Always remember Issie… no one in my peerage is a throwaway piece. Even you! I cherish everyone in my peerage like my family and would never treat them as a sacrificial piece" Rias lovingly held Issie's face in her hands before hugging Issie's head with her voluptuous breast.
Kenta, who had witnessed and now was accurately aware of the events that had just occurred early that morning, was quietly seething. His first-ever friend was held captive by the Fallen and would get experimented on. Kenta was damn sure if it had not been for the venting and calming sessions under Marid and Yumi's tutelage, he would have turned into his beast form by now and would have been raising havoc throughout the city.
"So what are we going to do now? Do nothing and see helpless Asia die at the hands of the Fallen just because she was born with a useful sacred gear," Kenta finally snapped as he regarded the three Kings of Kuoh.
"Kenta!" Yumi interrupted Kenta sharply before he made any rude comments towards the three young Kings.
Marid, expecting such a response from his Rook for some time, raised his hands to stop his Bishop from scolding Kenta, "Kenta, as you well know, attacking an active church is considered an act of war." Marid gave both of his pieces a meaningful look before continuing, "Any actions from either me, Rias, or Sona could be considered as an act of war. The higher-ups to heaven might understand our reasoning for attacking, but the Church is a whole different case," Marid sighed as he leaned against one of the clubroom windows.
"You say as if you have some experience on the matter?" Kenta snapped back at his master. Clearly, he did not like the answer he got. While the others in the clubroom were shocked by Kenta's behavior towards his own master, Yumi, on the other hand, had gained a thoughtful look on her face as she closely regarded the words uttered by her master.
Marid, barely affected by his Rooks words, just smiled, "Actually, I do have some experience in the matter. A few years ago, the word was slipped by the higher-ups of heaven or hell that the son of Lucifer was in Europe for some reason. The Church, like always, assumed the worst and sent in their best exorcist to deal with the son of Lucifer. Obviously, they confused me with him. Needless to say, it was a whole big Drama that could have kickstarted the new Great War. Thankfully, me and Seraph Gaberial came to an understanding on how to move past the misunderstanding, and that was it," Marid replied calmly, much to the shock of people in the room, while also purposely missing the fact that people sent in by the Church were actually their best Excalibur wielders rather than some jumped up exorcist. While he knew Yumi was more or less past her hate towards the Church and the Excalibur, he couldn't say the same thing about Kiba since he barely knew the guy. Plus, given how stressful the last few days had been for them, he decided it would be best not to mention that little detail.
"You were confronted by the best exorcist of the Church!!! Why didn't you tell us about this??!!?" the ever-stoic student council president grabbed Marid by the collar before demanding an answer from a shocked Marid. Marid was surprised by her outburst and then amused by the fact that Sona was looking all over his body, inspecting for injuries, even though the event happened a few years ago.
"Because this isn't something that usually comes in a normal conversation! Hey, did you know that I was once 'accidentally' attacked by the Church because they confused me with the actual son of Lucifer?" Marid replied sarcastically to a fuming Sona.
"Also, this was discussed at the last pillar meeting." Marid raised an eyebrow after remembering his confrontation with the oldies of the Great Satan Faction and his grandfather.
Marid's face wore a mischievous grin before continuing, "You would have known that if you had attended the meeting…. Or perhaps you were too embarrassed to attend the meeting because of my innocent prank," Marid asked with a teasing grin. His reply earned him a groan of displeasure from Sona, who gave him a stink eye. It was indeed fortunate for him that they were currently in a meeting with other Devils of Kuoh; otherwise, he would have taken Sona's infamous punch to the face. Something he had grown quite familiar with after his second prank on Sona after the Pillar meeting.
Rias, who was watching the scene on fold, had to force herself to conceal her giggles at Sona's reaction to her nephew's teasing. After all, there were far more serious matters that needed to be addressed first, "Coming back to the matter at hand," Rias spoke seriously before directing her gaze towards Marid's only Rook.
"As you would know, Kenta… Me, Marid, and Sona are high-class Devils related to the current Leaders of the underworld. Which is why we can't personally get involved in the mess at the Church without getting approval from the higher-ups," Rias responded to a fuming Kenta.
"And as you wouldn't probably know this, all three of us will be attending a meeting with the Satan's regarding the recent events in Kuoh," Marid announced to the group, much to their shock.
"You all will be meeting the Satan's?" Yumi muttered in astonishment.
"That we will be doing alongside our Queens," Sona spoke seriously. Her attention was diverted for a brief moment when she saw a frown briefly appear on Marid and Yumi's faces. She had wanted to ask him about it, but this wasn't the time or the place to ask such personal questions.
"Would you be needing my presence Marid-sama?" Yumi questioned Marid, to which he dismissively waved off her concerns about accompanying him to the meeting with the Satan's.
"I wouldn't want to disturb you with the meeting with the Satans. They will most likely be pissed about how the events have played out recently. Plus, I believe your presence would be more beneficial here than with me," Marid replied dismissively before eyeing the Sitri queen, who had just entered the clubroom with a polite knock.
Tsubaki Shinra beelined straight to her King before whispering something in her ears. Sona nodded before giving Rias and Marid a look, which they both understood. With a sigh, both Gremory Kings stood up from their seats before heading to the exit.
"B-Buchou, we haven't finished talking," Issie asked his King. However, before he could complete his sentence, Rias turned around and put her index finger on his lips, cutting him off from what he was going to say.
"Ise, I need to tell you a couple of things. Firstly, you may think that a Pawn might be the weakest piece, but in reality couldn't be further from the truth," Rias spoke gently. Her sentence earned her an adorable, yet confused look from her precious pawn.
Rias slightly giggled before continuing, "The biggest misunderstanding for the pawn piece is that they are just throwaway pieces, but in reality, Pawns have an incredible special ability like no other piece. That ability is called the 'Promotion'"
"Promotion like in the chess?" Kenta asked with a confused head tilt, something Akeno found extremely cute.
"Just like in the actual game of chess, a pawn can promote and change into another piece once they reach the enemy territory," Marid replied to his Rooks question before continuing, "Pawns can promote into any other piece besides the King piece once they enter a territory their King identifies as an Enemy territory."
"Since it hasn't been a long time since you become a Devil, there are some restrictions, so it's a chance you won't be able to promote yourself into the ultimate piece, the Queen piece," Rias continued on with the explanation with a severe look in her eyes. A look meant for her Issie.
"But that potential restriction doesn't mean you won't be able to promote into another piece. All you need to secure a promotion is to wish it strongly within your heart. That would be enough to secure you a promotion." Rias gave Issie's shoulder a comforting squeeze before briefly regarding the rest of her servants before walking back to her fellow Kings.
"Also, remember your sacred gears work the same way!" Marid continued, bringing Issie out of his confused expression. "Most of the sacred gears are driven by desire and the will of their wielders. The more they desire, the higher the power output of the sacred gear. You all will do well to remember that." Marid gave all the sacred gear wielders a pointed look before walking out of the room alongside Rias, Sona, Tsubaki, and Akeno. Leaving a somewhat confused Issie and Kenta behind.
"What the hell was all that all about?" Issie asked with a stupefied expression imprinted on his face. Kenta wasn't far behind in his confusion.
"That, I believe, was them giving us their blessing to attack the Church," Kiba replied with a small smile, the irony wasn't lost on either him or Yumi. His words grabbed the attention of both Kenta and Issie.
"huh?" both Issie and Kenta blustered out in unison.
"Didn't our President say you could promote yourself once you enter enemy territory?" Kiba asked Issie, who dumbly nodded.
"She also recognized the Church as enemy lines. Didn't she?" Kiba led Issie and Kenta to understand the underlying meaning of Marid and Rias's talk with them.
"But didn't they say we couldn't attack the church since that would start another war?" Kenta asked the group, cursing a little for not seeing his master's underlying message.
Before Kiba could respond to Kenta, Yumi beat him to the punch, "As I remember Kenta-san… Lord Marid told us we couldn't attack an active church since that would kickstart a war." Kenta's eyes widened at that.
Knowing Kenta and Issie followed her train of thought, Yumi continued, "As I remember correctly, the Church has been abandoned for a good few years. Which, fortunately for us, pushes the Church into a bit of a grey area," Yumi replied with a small smile.
"That would mean…" Issie's eyes widened in understanding.
"That we could attack the Fallen in the church and take back your friend, dumb dumb," Koneko teased Issie and Kenta with a smart-ass reply.
"Oyeee!" Kenta and Issie shouted at the petite Devil before rushing to the Church with their backup. Both of them hoped for the safety of their friend.
Elsewhere
The three kings of Kuoh walked towards the student council room while conversing about the recent happenings in Kuoh. All the while, Akeno and Tsubaki followed them silently.
"Do you think it was wise of us to let them go to the Church independently? Knowing what could be waiting for them?" Sona asked the Gremory duo.
Both Marid and Rias sighed at the well-reasoned question from Sona. Marid ended up speaking for himself and Rias in the end, "You are right about your caution Sona but there was no way we would have been able to hold back Issie and Kenta from not rushing the Church. Both of them would have escaped our attention one way or another and ended up in the Church without proper backup, which would have surely led to their downfall. On the off chance they would have survived whatever the defenses the Fallen might have placed for them, they wouldn't have forgiven themselves or us if anything had happened to that Nun. Someone who has imprinted quite an impression on both of them," Marid replied with a sigh. Both Rias and Sona could only nod in agreement. While the situation could get very dangerous for infiltrating Devils, Sona couldn't deny Marid's sound reasoning…sentimental it may have been.
"Wouldn't it have been better if we had accompanied others to the Church to ensure their safety?" Akeno asked her master worriedly, knowing the potential dangers waiting for the infiltrating party at the Church.
"They should be fine, Akeno… for now." Marid shrugged off her concern, much to her surprise.
It was Rias who ended up completing her nephew's cold reply, "What Marid means to say is that the church is most likely not as defended as well as you might think," Rias informed the two queens with a smile, much to their astonishment.
"What do you mean? Yours and Lord Marid's peerage members will interrupt the Fallen's ritual. Wouldn't they be facing great opposition from the Fallen Angels?" Tsubaki asked in confusion.
"That would only be possible if this was an isolated incident. With the appearance of the Kuroshishi, the rouge exorcist, and the Fallen, it is most likely that someone higher in the Fallen leadership is behind these attacks. If Zills's teleportation circles are anything to go by," Sona replied to her queen's question.
"Meaning, if there is an extremely high defense around the church, then it would implicate that the Fallen Angel faction was behind the attacks in Kuoh?" Akeno muttered in understanding.
"Exactly." Rias smiled as she saw the two queens following the same train of thought as the three of the strongest youth Devils of the current generation.
"Furthermore, letting the others go and infiltrate the church would also give them a lesson of choices and their consequences." Marid shrugged as he continued walking towards the student council office.
"How does that work since you practically gave them permission to atta…" Akeno couldn't complete the sentence since she was interrupted by Marid, who turned around with a slightly sadistic look. Something that sent shivers down her own spine.
"Correction Akeno… Me and Rias never gave them the order to attack the Church! We just told them the facts about the situation," Marid replied smugly before continuing his path to the student council office.
Akeno, who understood what Marid meant, giggled into her hands before following Tsubaki and the three kings into the student council room. Much to their shock they were met by a furious redhead who had been waiting for them.
"You all have exactly five minutes to explain why I shouldn't rescind ownership of Kuoh from you three before taking you back to the underworld" Lord of the underworld demanded an answer from the three young Kings before him.
Elsewhere
A Gremory sigil appears in the middle of the forest on the outskirts of Kuoh. Out of the shiny crimson circle came a squad of five Devils, ready to engage anyone or anything between them and their goal.
"I transported us to the outskirts of the forest surrounding the Church. We should have a moment to collect ourselves before we barge into the Church," Kiba informed the group as he summoned his sword, courtesy of his sacred gear, sword birth.
"That's good; I don't sense any traps near us," Yumi spoke seriously as she cautiously looked around.
"No, but the Fallen are closing in," Koneko spoke in a monotone voice as she readied her small fighting gloves.
As if on cue, three magic circles appeared on the floor, and out came the three Fallen the group had faced the previous night.
"Look what we have here,, some Devil kids who lost their way into the woods," Dohnaseek spoke sadistically as he eyed the Devil in front of himself. Soon two teleportation circles appeared around the Devils. From the teleportation circles out came two female Fallen angels the group had encountered yesterday.
"Rich words coming from someone who had their ass handed to them the last time we met," Kenta snapped in the direction of the sole male Fallen.
Dohnaseek glared at Kenta with a murderous look before summoning his light spear in both hands, "The only reason you all won last time was because of your masters. If they hadn't been there, we would have killed you in a single attack, you domesticated house cat" Dohnaseek spoke murderously as he gave off a chilling killing intent that sent shivers up and down Issie's spine.
"Your arrogance would be your downfall, Fallen." Kenta sighed as he saw the pure arrogance of the Fallen in question. However, someone laid a comforting hand on his shoulder before he could release his fighting form. When he turned around, he found himself facing a very serious Yumi.
"We will take this battle Kenta-san. You and Issie-san should head to the Church." Yumi gave both Issie and Kenta a serious nod.
"Not if we had something to say about it," Millet spoke angrily before summoning various elemental magic circles to attack the retreating duo. However, before she could cast her spells, she was punched in the face by a fellow petite who had sent her into the nearby trees.
"We are your opponents" Koneko spoke seriously before leaping after the petite Fallen.
Following suit, Kiba and Yumi engaged their opponents, with Kiba facing Dohnaseek and Yumi facing Kalawarner. Meanwhile, Kenta and Issie rushed to the Church to save Asia to whatever ritual Raynare spoke of.
'Just hold on a little longer, Asia. We are coming to get you.' Both Issie and Kenta thought the same thing as they leaped past the gates of the Church and sprinted to the main building.
Not wasting any time, Kenta rang the doorbell loudly as he kicked the door open, only to find about fifty exorcists waiting for him and Issie.
"Whatever happens hold these Devils until Raynare-sama's ritual is completed." An exorcist who looked to be the leader of the group commanded his troops earnestly.
"As if you could stop us," Kenta snapped harshly toward the group of exorcists. His tone resulted in a few exorcists recoiling in surprise and somewhat in fear. Their fear further increased as Kenta summoned his sacred gear in fire lance form before bringing out his tail and ears, his first Youkai form.
Issie couldn't have himself outdone by Kenta and summoned his own twice critical sacred gear before jumping onto the most basic fighting stance he had picked up from his favorite fighter in the Tekken series, Ling Xiaoyu.
'I hope Ling-san's fighting style helps me here,' Issie thought inwardly, as he didn't feel as confident as Kenta. After all, this would have been his first-ever proper fight. Sure, he had gotten into fights with his two human friends before, but those were, at most, schoolyard brawls and not fights to the death, which he was sure this one will be. Whatever happens tonight, he knew one thing for sure: he would come out a different man at the end of the night… If he walks out!
Meanwhile
The group of Devils received a shock when they found a furious red head waiting for them in the student council room.
"You all have exactly five minutes to explain why I shouldn't rescind ownership of Kuoh from you three before taking you back to the underworld" Lord of the underworld demanded an answer from the three young Kings before him.
"Dad… What are you doing here?" Marid was the first to recover from the shock and asked the obvious question. He and the others had thought they would be briefing the Satan's of the current mess in Kuoh through secured magical communication sigils… not brief the Lord of the underworld in person.
"I am here to understand why me and the rest of the Satan's weren't informed of the current happenings in Kuoh." Sirzech stood from his seat and regarded the three young Kings stoically.
"Lord Lucifer… We didn't want to trouble you and the rest of Satans with what we recently believed to be an isolated incident," Sona responded formally to Satan.
Her answer was met by a stern gaze from Sirzech Lucifer, "When you are attacked by multiple individual's part of different mythological groups, you need to inform the us. This is something that needs to be reported to the Satan's so that WE can conclude whether or not this was an isolated incident! Every Devil who is in charge of a territory outside the boundaries of the underworld knows about this!!" Sirzech regarded the Devils in front of him somewhat sternly. He would have carried on with his scolding had he not noticed the beat-down expressions on the faces of others.
Sirzech's stern expression bled away as he sighed before continuing to speak to three young Kings, "While I completely understand your desires of not disturbing us with things that may or may not lead to me and Sera-chan's overly attached personalities towards you all, but this shouldn't withdraw you from the duty as a Devil responsible of a territory in these foreign lands" Sirzech sighed.
"We didn't want to disturb you from your other duties as the Lucifer of the underworld Oni-sama," Rias apologized as she gave her older brother and Lucifer a bow. Others followed her in bowing apologetically to him.
"Rise everyone," Sirzech sighed again before continuing, "I will have the incident reported to Sera-chan so that she can get in contact with the Grigori leadership regarding the presence of these Fallen, while I will personally contact Lady Yasaka of Kyoto to ask her about the Kuroshishi and what are their tendencies towards different races" Sirzech gave a not so subtle look towards Marid which was caught by everyone.
"If you are talking about my Rook, then I will have you know that I trust Kenta with my life. He is not a threat to me or any other Devils over here," Marid confidently spoke in his Rooks defense.
"Even so, there is no harm in exercising caution," Sirzech sighed again before conjuring a teleportation circle, signifying his leave.
"As far as the Fallen Angels housing in the abandoned church is concerned… You can go ahead and attack them since they have violated the non-aggression pact between the three Biblical factions. Since their intentions are clearly hostile, you will face no repercussions for defending this territory." Sirzech spoke his final words before teleporting himself from the Student Council office, leaving five Devils silent.
"So," Rias started to speak but couldn't find the words to complete her thoughts.
"I guess we are attacking the Church since we officially got the go-ahead." Sona eyed her fellow Kings curiously.
"I guess we are." Marid nodded.
Chapter End
I know this chapter was shorter than most of my chapters but I wanted to dedicate the whole Raynare/church incident a whole chapter. Maybe even two chapters considering what I have planned for the future. But I hoped you like this chapter! I didn't get to spend as much time as I would have liked but my schedule just changed at my job plus my studies are really cutting in on my time to write. However, I would do my best to write the next chapter as soon as I can.
Also please look at my profile page if you want to know when I will be uploading the next chapter. Also, to know whether or not if I am dead lol!
Additionally, I have fixed the errors in my story regarding the Bishop/Rook mishap. For those who don't know, in one of the recent rereads of the story, I found out that I have written Marid having another Rook. It was meant to be a Bishop actually. This was something I messed up on since my notes on Marids peerage weren't completed at the time. Now that they are I am rectifying my mistake.
As of right now, Marid has a queen (out of commission), Rook (Kenta), and two Bishops (Yumi and the other one is on a mission/duty). That is all. Marid currently doesn't have a second Rook or any of his pawns filled out!
Furthermore, before I end this chapter, I just wanted to urge you all to please COMMENT on the chapters and let me know what you all think. Please write constructive criticism so I know where I am lacking or if my story has some plot holes. These help me greatly improve the quality of my chapters.
Until then stay safe and have fun!
DGZalama out!
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