Warning: Lewd
Raynare walked forward boldly, giving a few devils a look of scorn as she walked past them in the Church of the True God.
She drew power from the feeling of looking down on the filthy devils as she had few other sources to draw confidence from, and could afford the scorn as she felt safe from the fact that there seemed to be quite a few other Fallen Angels, or rather 'gray angels' as it were, inside the church so in the worst case scenario she'd have backup. Potentially, of course, as Raynare wasn't sure that the fellow angels would actually help her if something happened.
The whole 'gray wings' thing was causing Raynare's head spin, not to mention that she felt particularly forgiving and free for some reason, but she figured that she'd have time to think about the whole thing once she escaped the madhouse that she had found herself in.
'...Should I dye my wings black, or…?' Raynare was wondering idly while she felt unnaturally 'pure', like when she had been an angel of Heavens, before she had Fallen. Yet not quite. '...I'm not sure I like this feeling… Feels like I'm an idiot…'
She shook her head to clear it as the tall maid who was leading Raynare and her two cohorts to somewhere came to a stop in front of a large double door.
The maid knocked on the door a few times and the group waited until the door opened and a brown-haired girl poked her head out of the doorway in a way that caused her twintail-tied hair to swing around wildly as she looked around for the knocker.
"Ah!" The girl spotted the maid. "Um, you were… Oh, ahem. Does Issei- erm… Momon-san need something?"
The numbered maid narrowed her eyes dangerously. "Master's wife wished to send the group behind me for an introduction to True God's cult. As it happens the Dominion Authorities are busy so could I offload these to you and Xenovia-sama?"
The brown-haired girl seemed to wilt under the maid's glacier-cold tone. "Ah… Yes, sure… I'll just… call Xenovia-chan…"
The brown-haired girl withdrew from the doorway, allowing the maid to enter with Raynare in tow.
'Gaudy…' Raynare huffed at the interior and at the tasteless decor. 'A skull-face for an idol? Talk about a lack of taste…'
A woman with short blue hair was sitting behind a desk of some kind, a coffee mug in hand and with the remains of a breakfast and lunch on the desk.
Raynare assumed that the woman was Xenovia based on the chatter between the woman and the maid, before the names were confirmed when she turned towards Raynare, Mittelt and Kalawarna and introduced herself.
"I see… So Rias-san would like to have these three run through the most difficult course available? That would be the 'expert plus plus' course devised by myself and Dominion Authority-sama based on research of human materials acquired from the Human World by devils?" Xenovia was nodding her head thoughtfully while Irina had buried her face in her hands and was blushing hard. "Hm, hm. Indeed. Well, if Rias-san believes that Raynare-san and the others can do it then it should be alright."
'That red-headed bitch spouted a bunch of nonsense when she was instructing us about 'the rules'… ugh…' Raynare was starting to get annoyed with others talking about her while she was in the same room. "Ahem. Indeed. Rias-sama… ugh… correctly deduced that we are being vetted to become members of Issei-sama's harem. But according to Rias-sama, we lack… urgh… humility before we are allowed to interact with Issei-sama directly, so we are to learn that through repentance for our actions in the Church of the True God."
'Let's just get this over with…' Raynare congratulated herself for not vomiting mid-sentence over the verbal garbage that she had forced out of her throat.
Xenovia seemed to get it, while Irina was beaming a bit over Raynare addressing 'God' as 'Issei', and the tall maid was scowling at Raynare before she managed to get her expression back to coldly neutral.
"Alright. In that case let's get to it." Xenovia nodded, downed the coffee in one go, and put the empty coffee mug to the side. "Follow me. Ahem… Irina, can you see to the administrative affairs? And you-"
"I was instructed by Rias-ojousama to ensure that Raynare-sama behaves." The maid curtsied a bit and Raynare cursed under her breath as it looked like Rias had correctly deduced that Raynare would bolt for it the moment she managed to find an opening.
'...Yeah, not going to fall for it… Dohnaseek got flattened in one blow, I'm not going to fall for the bait and try to run for it when I have a gun to my head…' Raynare sighed as she realized she'd need to play along for a bit, and dragged Mittlet and Kalawarna with her as she had no intention of letting her two 'comrades' or rather 'mobile distractions and meat shields' get away from her.
"Um…" Raynare's nose scrunched from the musky smell coming from a room in front of which the group had stopped. "What… uh…"
"I've never actually undergone an 'expert plus plus' course, as both Irina and myself are reserved for Momon-sama's exclusive use, but I hear that it can be difficult for even the most experienced members of the religion." Xenovia nodded thoughtfully as she opened the door and pushed Raynare, Mittelt and Kalawarna in while the maid paused to stand beside the door in guard. "That being said, I can tell from your outfits that you are quite experienced so I have faith in you being able to conquer this challenge."
The room had a thick musky scent and it's lights were out, causing Raynare to almost gag. "What? Are we supposed to clean this place or what?"
"Drain this place, yes." Xenovia nodded before retreating from the room. "Alright. Praise the True God, and remember that the True God loves you!"
Raynare turned to address the odd order, but before she could do so the door slammed shut and a thick lock seemed to rotate in place to lock the trio in.
"Well… Fuck." Mittelt's voice came from the pitch black darkness, and Raynare had to agree.
"We're so fucked." Raynare nodded her head, even though she knew the two others wouldn't be able to tell due to the darkness- Before a lightbulb seemed to blink and then turn on to illuminate the trio.
And the trio realized that they had been surrounded by a group of at least a couple of dozen men, each clad in only a burlap bag that covered only their head and had two eye holes in them.
Raynare lowered her eyes, and noted that all of the suspicious individuals had raging hard-ons, and many of them carried… suspicious items… in their hands.
'Rias you massive, colossal cunt-a-saurus, I'll get you for this, you just wa-' Raynare gulped. "Wait! Wait! Wait! Timeout!"
She had to pause her thinking to wave her hands at the group of suspicious individuals as they moved towards her in unison, grabbed her hands and legs, and promptly pushed her down on the floor which she realized was made of rubber for easy cleaning.
A protesting squeak let Raynare know that Mittelt was experiencing the same, while Kalawarna had already been bent over a nearby desk and her mini-skirt had been torn off.
Mittelt sent Raynare a desperate look as the lolita-dressing petite girl got her throat shoved full of sausage without so much as a preamble or consent, and Kalawarna looked like she didn't really understand the whole situation as she had been in shock ever since her resurrection. However, Kalawarna seemed to finally realize that she was alive as the man who had squirmed under her slammed her hips against his, another mounted her from behind, and third one stuffed his meat down the big-breasted business-lewd looking woman's throat.
Yet, at the same time as Raynare realized her fate, she also realized that if she struck out and killed all of the attackers she'd probably get killed by the maid outside the door, and all those that Raynare managed to kill in her rampage would likely get resurrected while she'd stay dead.
The sight of Dohnaseek getting turned into a red smear flashed in Raynare's head, as well as the memory of pain she had felt when Rias had turned her into dust.
Raynare's limbs lost strength.
'Well… Fuck.'
And so, that was what she did.
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Momonga sighed as he took in the sights of current-day Tokyo. 'The place's changed, but it's still the same in some ways… Well, kind of…'
The sky was quite dark as it was night in Japan, yet there was a thick layer of smoke and smog on the sky, not to mention that it was snowing despite it being the middle of summer in Japan.
Momonga guessed that the smoke was unusual, since there were fire trucks driving back and forth. Not to mention people were running for cover while the city shook occasionally as if it was experiencing a chain of earthquakes. Nonetheless most of the stores and places were open.
"Hmm- hm…" Rossweisse was humming happily as she walked lock-step with Momonga while holding his hand. "Where do you want to go first?"
"Umu… I didn't actually have a concrete plan. I used to mostly just play, er, enter YGGDRASIL when I was off work, back then…" Momonga felt incredibly paranoid over speaking about such things, but he had put on his anti-divination ring, cast a few anti-spying spells with use of his arsenal of class-imitation rings, and tossed a pile of anti-scrying scrolls in the air soon after entering the Human World. 'It should be alright… I'm fairly sure no-one can see or hear me, unless I speak to them first…'
"Ah… I see. In that case, um…" Rossweisse seemed to think for a moment before a lightbulb lit above her head. "I got it! I think there's one of those around here…"
"'Those'? What are 'those?" Momonga asked as Rossweisse was tugging him and leading him to somewhere.
"You'll see! I love those, and I bet you'll too!" Rossweisse finally came to a stop in front of a small and packed-looking store.
Momonga glanced up and saw that the plaque advertised the store as a 'Hundred Yen Shop'.
"Oooh! That's so pretty! And that's so cute! Ah, the ramen is so cheap here! Not to mention spices! I love spices, it makes plain gruel and water so much more palatable…" Rossweisse was gushing over the contents of the shop while Momonga was moving around idly. "Wait, is that a sword? No, it was- um…"
'I probably shouldn't judge a shop by it's appearance… After all, I found mana potions in that ero-shop, so I should keep an eye out for more stuff I can use…' Momonga suddenly realized that he actually had something to look for in the shop, and started to pay more attention to the items on the shelves while casting [Appraisal Magic Item] on a few that caught his eye. Although he was starting to get a bit disappointed when none of the items turned out to be magical in nature.
Momonga glanced over at furiously blushing Rossweisse who had seemingly pulled an excalibur from stone, or rather, a 'sword' that was a sword from guard down, but it's blade resembled a gaudy, purple male genitalia.
Rossweisse blushed to her shoulders and put the item back to it's 'holster'.
Momonga decided to not use [Appraisal Magic Item] on the 'blade', just in case.
"Right… Um, about the next place, erm…" Rossweisse stammered as it looked like she was somewhat awkward after the 'discovery'.
'Haa… Well, I didn't find anything but I guess Rossweisse had fun…' Momonga sighed. 'What did Touch Me say about going out… Hm…' "Want to go have a beer and some fried food?"
"Eh?!" Rossweisse squaked a bit. "Um… sure?"
"I think there's a restaurant or a food stand somewhere- Ah, there's one." Momonga grabbed Rossweisse's hand and led her off. 'Hm… Eating stuff… I guess it doesn't really appeal to the 'Overlord' part of me… But I'm really looking forward to eating tasty stuff now that I can… Not that Underworld's food is bad, and I got to eat Akeno's cooking a couple of times when I was training my Peerage before the peace council… Oh? Fried shrimp and rice?'
Rossweisse blushed a bit as a waiter delivered the two of them a single two-person bowl of food and a pair of ridiculously-sized beer mugs as Rossweisse had asked for two mugs. Momonga introduced himself to the waiter, causing the man to almost jump out of his skin as Momonga remembered too late that he had cast his anti-spying countermeasures that effectively erased his presence from view.
Momonga reached into his [Inventory] under the table to grab the credit card that Lady Phenix had given him for personal use, back when he had pretended to just be a newly-adopted son of the noble family and before the whole 'True God' debacle, and paid for the food.
Rossweisse practically drooled from the sight of the fried food, and the two of them turned to look into each other's eyes.
The sight of two starved businessmen drooling over food and beer looked so nostalgic that Momonga forgot for a moment that he was 'Momonga'.
Rossweisse and Suzuki Satoru cracked a pair of chopsticks apart, and dug right into the bowl of fried rice, shrimp, and meat.
'Ah… This is heaven…' Suzuki Satoru thought as he munched on the meat while Rossweisse was taking a hearty swig from her mug of beer, and a waiter came by again to deliver more side dishes to the main one.
He looked up at the night sky that was somehow more lit and 'blue' than before, likely due to the black hole sun causing odd light effects on the light. Not to mention that snow was starting to pile on the streets as the temperature was dropping.
Yet, at that moment, Momonga couldn't care less, as he had fully re-entered 'Suzuki Satoru' mode, and was currently on a vacation.
'I can feel my stress start to dissipate…' Suzuki thought as he lifted his beer mug to a cheer, Rossweisse cheered back to him, and the two of them downed their half-a-gallon mugs of beer in one go.
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"So. You managed to track something that somewhat matched the description and aura of the enemy?" A god in a white toga was stroking his curly white beard.
"Aye." A violent-looking man covered in scars and ancient brass armor answered. "If that devil's words hold true, it is him. I could feel an aura of death and destruction from him, if muted and carefully contained. There's no mistaking him."
The toga-wearing man leaned forward on his recliner. "And was the devil speaking the truth? Is this an Outer Being we're facing?"
"That, I could not tell." The violent-looking man scowled. "You instructed me to not intercept him. I did as you ordered. But I lost sight of him soon after he entered the world."
"Hm…" Zeus, the god of Olympus stroked his curly beard. "I see. Well, you've done well in tracking this 'True God' or 'Momon' to Japan. The criminal always returns to the site of the crime, but if he is truly this 'Supreme Being' and 'Outer Being', we must tread lightly. Aphrodite's death is a warning to all of us, about how fragile we truly are in face of the Outer Beings."
"Still-"
"Ares, I know that you yearn for war, but even a warrior-deity such as yourself must know that knowing thy foe is half the battle, and knowing when to strike a quarter." Zeus's tone caused Ares to growl but the god of war backed off. "Asmodeus came to deliver me a message from devils, and I suspect that he is going to the Hindu next. Hades?"
"Do not try to order me around, brother. I may be a guest of your realm, but do not presume us friends. " A dusty voice came from a skeletal form shrouded in a ragged black cloak yet covered in intricate and detailed masterwork jewelry and gold chain. And the entire getup was the God of the Greek Underworld's idea of 'casual clothing'.
"You are lucky that I decided to call you in peace, and not strike you down the moment you entered my realm without the presence of my daughter, who, I might remind you, you abducted against her will and married without her consent." Zeus growled back. "I should strike you down where you stand. You are in breach of our contract, she is only supposed to be in that accursed realm of yours for one third of a year!"
"We are equals in the eyes of Gaia, brother, and do not lecture me about the morality of taking wives without their consent. You of all beings have no ground to stand on in that battle." The skeletal form breathed out with amusement clear in it's tone. "Besides, I tried asking Persephone to come with me, but she looked at the snow on the ground during mid-summer and fainted the moment she saw it, so I returned her to my home."
"Enough. What can you tell me about that 'Supreme Being'? It's servant is a skeleton, so-"
"So you thought that two undead must surely be able to relate to each other or even perhaps know each other? Brother, does every fleshy being know one another?"
"So you claim you do not know about this 'Supreme Being', the hidden master of that skeletal monster which attacked the devil realm multiple times. Moreover from Hermes's report the undead is besieging the New Land to the West and is slaying the settlers." Zeus narrowed his white-glowing eyes.
Hades shrugged his bony shoulders. "And I presume that you thought I was this 'Supreme Being'?"
The silence was enough of an answer, and Hades sighed theatherically. "Oh brother, must you tear at my heart so… While I agree that such a title is befitting of me, I do not know who this undead creature that scourges the world is. And neither have I taken the mantle of the 'Supreme Being'."
"Hm. But you two have a common language, being undead, so you will go to it and make it explain who exactly it's real master is. I'll send Ares with you- The skeleton seeks to wage war, so if Hades feels… uncooperative, then the two of you would likely find common ground." Zeus turned towards Ares, and Hades sighed again.
"Brother, brother, such despair and desperation in your voice… Very well, I'll grant you this boon. I'll go." The skeletal creature turned around, and Ares followed him with barely-controlled violence in his steps.
Zeus leaned back on his recliner while rubbing his eyebrows, feeling a giga-headache starting to form after speaking with his brother. '...That being said… I need to find out if the devil's words are actually truthful. Only a fool would believe anything a devil says at face value, much less something coming from a Maou…'
Yet, Zeus had no illusions about his strength, and if 'Momon' was actually an Outer Being like the devil had suggested, then Zeus had zero intention to be anywhere near 'Momon'.
He'd rather go and squat in Hades's back yard than try his mettle with an Outer Being.
'Hm, so the 'other personality' that 'Momon' had apparently adopted was that of a 'True God'... Well then, Aphrodite would have been a perfect scout, but lacking that… ' Zeus thought while rubbing his temple. 'Hm… I'd really rather not bother one of those, but if worst comes to worst, at least they'd be able to give an Outer Being a fight or flee, although I seriously doubt she could take one out…'
"O Primordial, Nyx, I summon you to me. Mount Olympus beseeches for your aid, for we are all sieged by enemies far beyond our understanding..."
A tall black-haired, curvy 'woman' appeared on top of Zeus's head. Quite literally.
Zeus's headache was doubled as Nyx was standing on top of his head and was looking down at him with a cruel look on her child-like features, which utterly clashed with her outrageous body.
"What do you want, son-in-law?"
"Please don't call me that, Nyx."
"Limp dick."
"Nyx, please… That happened a long time ago…" Zeus groaned in despair.
"Gross old grandpa…"
"Please be serious…" Zeus felt his headache multiply a hundredfold, and the fact Nyx was grinding her heel against his forehead wasn't helping the matters.
"Make me."
"The world is ending." Zeus sighed.
"You said that when you ran out of pickled octopus."
"I'm serious."
"Hi Serious, I'm Nyx."
Zeus passed out from his headache.
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"Gyaah!" A feminine scream echoed in a damp, musky room.
Raynare turned her head to the side with great effort as her throat felt sore and she couldn't feel her hips.
She could have sworn that she had drained at least a dozen men before the going had gotten too intense for her, but the swarm of burlap-bag wearing men weren't slowing down and had only gotten more numerous by the time Raynare had collapsed on the floor.
Not that it gave her a moment of rest, as her butt had been lifted into air and someone had inserted himself into Raynare's exit port without so much as a warning.
'Just… kill me…' Raynare felt powerless and her eyes were glazed over, yet she looked in the direction of the screamer and saw that Mittelt was whimpering while she was in much the same position as Raynare- That was, face down on the floor with her butt up in the air.
Except that Mittelt wasn't getting mounted, but instead there was a burlap-bag wearing gross-looking man holding Mittelt's hips up and he had stuffed his hand up to the elbow down the petite girl's butt.
Kalawarna, on the other hand, looked like she was actually into it as she was upside-down on her back and two girls were double-fisting her in pumping motion, causing the business-lewd woman's breasts to jiggle all over the place while she was ejecting jets of white stuff from her lower lips thanks to the piston-like motion entering her rear entrance causing her womb to compress and push out everything that had been stuffed in there.
Mittelt looked like she was just about to pass out with her eyes rolled to the back of her head and white foam coming from her mouth, but the faint whimpering and muted cursing coming from her throat let Raynare know that she was still conscious, if barely. Kalawarna, on the other hand, was letting out muted moans that turned gagged when a man sat on her face and ordered her to lick him clean.
Raynare looked away from the gross sight, turning back towards Mittelt just in time to see a fist-shape in Mittelt's now-stretched stomach. She turned her head away again just to see Kalawarna's stomach being in even worse condition as the two girls fisting her had stuffed a horse-sized sex toy down the woman's butt, and Raynare felt cold shivers down her spine in sudden realization.
Indeed, she glanced up, and saw that a burlap-bagged, somewhat ugly-looking muscular man with an arm the girth of a tree trunk had come to a stop in front of Raynare.
The man was pouring oil on his forearm, clenched it into a fist, and looked down at Raynare.
Raynare realized that the man must have been one of the devils that she had walked past during her entry to the church, and who she had looked down upon with a look of scorn.
She could have sworn that one of the man's eyes was gleaming with baleful red light through the hole in the burlap bag as he looked down at Raynare.
The man mounting Raynare from behind withdrew, and the Hand descended into the now-vacant 'depths'.
"GYAAAH!"
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"I see. I understand." A man bowed deeply at a gray-winged man. "In that case may I indulge in your hospitality until the True God returns to the Underworld?"
"Of course. You and your comrades are welcome to stay under the True God's roof, as long as you hold no ill intent towards his flock and keep your soul pure from sin- ahem, as long as you keep your soul open to His teachings." Michael of Heavens coughed to his fist and corrected himself. "Do forgive me. This new dogma takes some practice to get used to."
"Of course. It is only to be expected. Ah, and please convey my thanks to the True God's Knight when he has completed his mission, as I would have been quite ill-prepared for meeting him without his Knight's advice." Sairaorg Bael bowed to Michael with a hand against his chest, and turned to leave the lord's office in Phenix estate in the Underworld.
"Sairaorg-sama…" Kuisha, Sairaorg's Queen, hesitated as she saw the look on Sairaorg's face as he exited the office.
"We'll get a meeting… When the 'True God' returns from his vacation." Sairaorg rubbed his neck and sighed. "I am trying to be patient, I really am, but… Grh…"
"RRRAGGH!" Sairaorg turned around and punched a stone mound that sprang from the ground, conjured forth by [Power of Imagination] to make something that he could vent his anger on.
"Sairaorg-sama!" Kuisha tied her hands around Sairaorg's shoulders. "Please! This… This isn't like you!"
"I know, I know…" Sairaorg calmed down with visible effort, just in time for a maid to pop out of somewhere, take a curious look around the hallway, and then sweep the stone debris to a dustpan that she seemed to pull out of nowhere.
Sairaorg turned towards the maid. "Excuse me. Could I ask that you direct us to guest quarters? I am Sairaorg Bael, and myself and my Peerage have been granted temporary lodging here until True God finds a chance to speak to us."
The maid with a number on her forehead tilted her head a bit. "I see. In that case, follow me."
The Peerage was led to a guest room, or rather, guest quarters as it was clearly made with the intention of housing an entire guest Peerage, and the group sat down on a pile of bean bag chairs in the 'living' part of the quarters.
"Sairaorg-sama…." Kuisha reached to rub Sairaorg's shoulders while the man was deep in his thoughts and had leaned his head against his hands, almost as if he was praying. "Everything will be alright… What True God has done to you, to all of us, is horrible… But we'll make it through, yes? The price he'll ask is despicable, but-"
"I'm sure there is some space for negotiation. A payment in money, perhaps." Sairaorg muttered. "Yuuto-san… I appreciate your sense of honor and decision to reveal the True God's true nature to me…"
The rest of the Peerage wiggled a bit uncomfortably as Sairaorg muttered to the Knight that was not present, each of them keenly aware of the content of the conversation between the Knight and the King as Sairaorg had explained the content to them as soon as Yuuto had left them to continue his mission.
'The True God is behind all of this… He is the Supreme Being in disguise, and poisoned my mother somehow… And now slew the Pillars in order to throw the Underworld into chaos, while expecting me to surrender to him so that he can use my family, my clan, as expendable foot soldiers against the other Pillars… And when he's done, he'll discard us as trash…' Sairaorg seethed internally, and congratulated himself for being so calm in front of Michael of all beings sitting in the True God's office. 'Not to mention that if the Heaven's leader is allowed to take the reins in the True God's absence, in the Underworld of all places, it pretty much proves Yuuto's words… That this isn't just an 'aggressive restructuring' of Underworld's leadership, but a hostile takeover by Heavens and Fallen who have united to a single 'Gray' faction…'
Moreover, the fact that Sairaorg's mother's plight was due to True God's interference was causing Sairaorg's blood to boil. 'And the price he expects me to pay for 'healing' mother… Grr…'
A hand slapped lightly against Sairaorg's cheek. "Sairaorg-sama."
"Kuisha-san." Sairaorg sighed. "You know the price the True God will ask for his 'boon'."
"I know. And I am willing to pay for it." Kuisha looked resolute, causing Sairaorg's anger to further grow- Towards the True God, for forcing Kuisha to make the decision she was making. "Please, you must let me go, my King. I love you, and I know how much you love your mother. She deserves to live once again, to wake from her Sleeping Sickness. My life, or rather, my body and soul is a small sacrifice to pay for your happiness, my King."
"Kuisha. You know that I won't be able to trade you away if you speak like that…" Sairaorg reached to hold Kuisha's hand. "Haa… That the True God of 'love and life' would likely ask for me to trade away someone I hold dear in exchange for him giving back a life he had taken away… This is too ironic for my liking."
"Sairaorg-sama…" The voices from the rest of Sairaorg's Peerage made the decision weigh even heavier on Sairaorg's shoulders. "We're here for you!" "We can do it together, we can pool money and try to buy Kuisha-chan back!" "I'm sure there's something we can trade instead of Kusiha-chan…" "I'm sure that it's a misunderstanding!"
"Thanks, guys…" Sairaorg sighed and reached to rub his Bishop's head, causing the woman to smile at him. And then he turned towards his Queen. "Kuisha. I have no right to ask, but-"
"Don't. You have every right to ask me, and even to order me." Kuisha put a finger on Sairaorg's lips. "But… There might be another problem. What if the True God asks for someone other than me in exchange?"
"What do you mean?" Sairaorg asked.
"I've seen how you look at Seekvaira Agares-sama…" Kuisha looked a bit sad but soldiered on, even though Sairaorg froze a bit from the words which effectively told her that she had touched a nerve. "What if the True God asks not for me… But for you to deliver her to him?"
"I…" Sairaorg's mouth was dry. "I… Then I…"
Kuisha wilted from the different reaction the man had on trading Kuisha away as opposed to kidnapping and delivering Seekvaira to the True God, and the woman withdrew her hands from Sairaorg's shoulders. "I see. I suppose I have my answer, and my place. I'm sorry for troubling you, my King."
"Kuisha!" Sairaorg reached for his Queen as she withdrew from his side and moved off.
"I'd like to go for a shower after the long trip, if you excuse me, my King…" Kuisha's voice was a bit muted as she practically fled from the living room, leaving a somewhat awkward mood between the King and the rest of the Peerage.
'Dammit… I'm not good with this…' Sairaorg sighed and let his hand fall to his lap. 'Dammit all… True God… There will be retribution, one day…'
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"Yoooo- shi!" Rossweisse threw a dart at a dartboard.
The dart flew straight and true… But roughly eight feet off it's mark.
An unfortunate yakuza-looking man stood up with a dart sticking out of his bald forehead, and a massive vein pulsing on the side of his temple.
"Sowwy!" Rossweisse giggled drunkenly and reached for another dart, causing most of the people in the bar to dive for cover.
The yakuza-looking man looked like he had taken exception to the rule, and was advancing directly at Rossweisse… Before a man stood in front of her, between her and the yakuza.
"Ooooi, that bint over there misplaced something. I'm about to give it back to her. What gives, big man?" The yakuza's eyes almost popped out of his head as he growled at Momon, and the tattooed Japanese mafia member pulled a knife on Momon instantly. Likely because from the man's perspective Momon had appeared out of thin air, as Rossweisse had a vague idea on the amount of anti-spying… stuff… Momon had cast on himself.
"I'm on a vacation, so can I ask you to go away with a nice and comforting sum of hundred thousand yen?" Momon bowed slightly while offering a sum of money to the yakuza. "I'd really like to avoid a scene, even if my date's a bit tipsy"
Rossweisse giggled at the sight of the yakuza eyeing Momon up and down, likely to size him up as he didn't know just how outmatched he'd be in a fight. 'Ahaha! This is fun! I wonder if this is what lord Loki felt like?'
It looked like Rossweisse's giggling was causing another vein to throb on the yakuza's forehead, and the man promptly stabbed Momon in the stomach. And then pulled the knife out, before stabbing him another ten or so times in a quick succession.
"Well, that's unfortunate. [Perfect Warrior]." Momon sighed, grabbed the yakuza's head and lifted him up in the air by it while the punk kept stabbing at his torso. "Could I pay you a sum of ten yen for you to fuck off?"
The Yakuza punk screamed that he accepted as the grip on his head tightened and caused cracking sounds.
Momon let the yakuza fall on his butt, and the punk looked at his knife just to see that the last few stabs had caused the blade to bend and break.
Momon wiped the front of his suit, which seemed to re-absorb the blood that the first stabs had splattered, and the businessman-suit returned to it's immaculate appearance.
The yakuza screamed something about demons and fled.
Rossweisse giggled drunkenly.
.
.
Raynare whimpered.
'...That's it. I'm going to kill Rias the moment I see her…' The BDSM-suit wearing 'gray' Angel fumed internally while she was barely twitching externally, after she had been bent over on top of a rack of some kind with Mittelt next to her, and Kalawarna on the other side, both in much the same state as Raynare.
The Hand had withdrawn, and had left Raynare's butt gaping open to the point where she felt that she could sit on a football and it'd slide right in. Assuming that her hips functioned anymore as her legs were dangling uselessly over the racks' edge as she lay on her stomach on it.
Mittelt looked like she had passed out entirely as her eyes were rolled up and she was completely limp, and Kalawarna…
Raynare double-checked her eyes as Kalawarna looked like she was looking forward to more. 'Uh? I knew you were a massive slut, Kals, but what the hell?'
That being thought, Raynare looked around to see that the group of burlap-gangbangers had withdrawn and had left the trio on the racks.
"Is it over?" Raynare tried to put strength to her voice, and failed. "Can we go… eh?"
A clip-clap sound came from somewhere behind her, and Raynare turned her head with herculean effort thanks to the dread that suddenly ran through her spine.
A horse let a neigh as a burlap-headbag wearing devil woman rode the animal into the room.
And she wasn't riding on top of the horse.
Raynare let out a whimper. 'I changed my mind, kill me, please..'
.
.
Momonga sighed as his vacation continued after a small conflict in a bar. 'Well, I didn't get much talking and soul-searching done, but sometimes it's good to just kick back and relax, and so on… Well, it's not like I can't do this again. Perhaps I should take another vacation after I get things in order in the Underworld…'
He was carrying Rossweisse on his back, and the passed-out ex-valkyrie was muttering something in a drunken manner while holding a bottle of red wine on one hand and had tied her other arm around Momonga's neck.
"Hehee… My kniggith in whiffe armuurrr…" Rossweisse giggled and smooched the side of Momoga's neck, before resuming her drunken snoring.
"Heh…" Momonga smirked a bit. 'I suppose this is like carrying a fellow businessman to a shelter after they had collapsed on the street… Eh, I suppose that's not a happy memory…'
He looked up at the sky, at least as far as he could see it through the smoke and light of the city. "I suppose this isn't too bad… Oof!"
Momonga paused as he had run into something during his skygazing, and promptly felt bad about himself as he realized he had walked into a small girl during his night-time daydreaming.
"Ah. Hi." Momonga knelt so he was on eye level with the girl who tilted her head at him. "Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going. Are you alright?"
"I… I'm not Alright?" The girl answered in a puzzled manner, causing Momonga's hear to sink.
"I see. Are you hurt?" Momonga felt a bit bad and cast [Detect Life] on the girl. 'Huh, eight health… That's not much… I suppose she is young and hurt… That was close, if I had run into her harder she'd have died…' "I'm Momon. Again, sorry for bumping into you."
"I… I'm unhurt."
Momonga sighed. 'She's hurt, but she pretends she isn't… Well, I suppose I wouldn't admit that I was on death's door to a stranger…'
"Are you lost? Where are your parents? I'd like to make up for bumping into you." Momonga continued as the girl looked quite desolate and emotionless in a way that somewhat reminded him of orphan children of Neo-Japan. At the time he hadn't cared about them, as no-one had, but he was not in Neo-Japan anymore. 'I suppose looking after the lost and desperate is what a good person does… 'Helping others in need is common sense', right, Touch Me-san?'
"I… I kind of lost… I lost to baka-red…" The girl muttered under her breath. "I… I don't have parents…"
Momonga sighed as he felt bad for the girl. "Umu… I see. Listen, can I take you home? Do you have a home?"
The girl perked up instantly. "You… You want to take me home?"
"Sure. If you let me. After all, I could be a scary person." Momonga was a bit troubled over how quickly the girl had changed her mood.
"I… I'd like it if you took me home Very much. But baka-red is in my home, and has made a mess of the place…" The girl was waving her hands from side to side in a way that both conveyed sadness and excitement, even if her face was stuck to an emotionless stare.
"I see… I'll take you home. And I'll talk to this 'Red' and get him off your home if he's there illegally." Momonga promised.
The girl froze for a moment during her 'dance'... And then put her arms to her side and flopped against Momonga in a way that could potentially be called a hug, if one was very generous. "I… I like you, true-guy."
"Thanks. I like you too." Momonga sighed and nudged Rossweisse with his head. "Hey. Rossweisse. Wake up. Can you walk for a while and I carry, er… Actually, I never asked your name."
"I… I'm…" The emotionless little girl lifted her hands while her expression was stuck to the same emotionless stare, but she was cut off as Rossweisse shrieked something.
"O-O-O-O-Ophis-shaaamaa?!" The ex-valkyrie screamed something and hugged Momonga from behind with both hands, forcing Momonga to rapidly adjust his pose in order to catch the bottle of red wine that had fallen from Rossweisse's hands.
Momonga scrunched his face as the name was vaguely familiar.
"I… I'm Ophis… Infinite Ouroboros Dragon…" Ophis was waving both of her hands from one side to the other in a way that somewhat reminded Momonga of an 'emote' dance.
Momonga suddenly realized that the 'eight' that he had seen with [Detect Life] was sideways.
'...Eh?'
Sairaorg sipped tea in a garden.
Kuisha had locked herself in 'Queen' room in the assigned guest quarters, and one of Sairaorg's Bishops, Coriana, had volunteered herself to go and talk with Kuisha while her expert opinion and advice for Sairaorg was for him to go for a walk or something, as he'd only make things worse if he tried to talk to Kuisha right then.
Sairaorg had agreed, and had asked a passing-by service staff member if there was a garden or some such where he could drink tea and relax outside.
Time passed in solace as Sairaorg thought about his situation- And that of his Peerage. '...I knew Kuisha had feelings for me, but… I am at fault as well. I should have seen it, taken her to the side, and let her know what I felt…'
He took a sip from his drink. '...Instead I allowed things to escalate by inaction. I was too focused on battle, on rating games and building strength, that I ignored the feelings of my Peerage… I should have talked to her… Perhaps tell her how I feel, before she could build courage to confess to me, make the finishing blow less painful by not allowing the wound to fester…''
Sairaorg sighed. "I messed up."
"...No, we messed up." A voice came from somewhere behind Sairaorg, and he turned to see Kuisha walk into the garden.
"Kuisha, are you-"
"Don't. Don't worry about that. I am alright. I was… just a bit too arrogant." Kuisha sat next to Sairaorg, but left a gap between the two. "I'm sorry for making a scene, my King."
"Sairaorg. You can call me Sairaorg, like you always have."
"As you wish, my King."
"...I see you're still mad."
"I do not know what you're talking about." Kuisha bristled a bit… Before sighing heavily. "I, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to lash out like that…"
Sairaorg leaned to the side in order to hug Kuisha, as she looked quite vulnerable and fragile for a moment, despite the fact that Sairaorg had seen her pull a head off a bear with her bare hands.
"Sairaorg-sama…. No. Not this." The woman pushed him away with both hands. "Don't… I… You don't know the impact of your kindness on wretched, houseless things like me. Do not give me more false hope."
"I didn't mean it like that, I was just-"
"I know now. I know now what you meant, I saw your kindness as something you reserved for me, I read too deeply into it... but, now I know…" Kuisha sighed. "...You're a weird devil, you know that, my King?"
"...I'd like to think that I am not a deviant, but-" Sairaorg sighed. "I've known I've been an odd one in the bunch since the day I was born. Without the [Power of-"
"Bullhead." Kuisha poked Sairaorg's head with her finger. "I mean your kindness. How easily you show it, how easily you open your heart… What if I wanted to break it? All I'd need to do was to reach out, mislead you… And then crush your heart."
"But I know you won't do that. That is why I can open my heart to you."
"Hrgh- Here you go again." Kuisha blushed to her eyebrows and looked away from Sairaorg. "You need to learn to stop talking like that! It's seriously dangerous!"
"It's alright." Sairaorg tied his arm around Kuisha's shoulders again, causing the woman to let a hiccup but not toss him off this time. "I know. I know why you're here."
"You… You don't know anything…" Kuisha looked away while the hiccup repeated, this time causing the woman's words to become a bit muted.
"I know that too. And why you're lashing out. It's because of my foolish words back then, and because this might be the last day you're my Queen." Sairaorg allowed Kuisha to look away, as the woman's pride wouldn't allow her to be seen crying. "I was cruel when I ordered you to do that, knowing that you might harbor feelings towards me."
"You- You knew?" Kuisha breathed out shakily. "What- do… Ah…"
"It's alright. I won't shun you for it. I didn't realize you were so serious about it, I didn't think too much about it… I should have confronted you about that earlier. All of this is my fault." Sairaorg explained. "Instead I didn't focus on it, allowed your feelings to flame from spark, until it turned to a fire that would have eaten the relationship we have already built. That of a King and his Queen."
"But… Not that of a man and a woman." Kuisha's voice was quiet.
"No." Sairaorg nodded his head, figuring that a moment of harshness would be better than a hour of false hope.
"...I see. I… I understand. I… I… H-hic I…"
"It's alright to be sad. I am sorry." Sairaorg hugged Kuisha as she cried, leaning her head against his chest. "I'll swear to be a better King for you… In the time we have left, and after that as friends. If you accept me as one. No matter what happens, you can count on my help."
"Of course I want to be your friend, even after I am traded away, dummy…" Kuisha blew her nose on Sairaorg's shirt, before freezing utterly still as she realized what she had done.
Sairaorg looked down at his snot-stained shirt… And reached to pat Kuisha on the head in a joking manner. "...Well, I did say that you can count on my help. I didn't expect you to take me up on the offer so soon though."
"Ah- Ahaha- ahahhaa!" Kuisha seemed to lose it and leaned against his shoulder while giggling uncontrollably. "I- I'm… ehehee- S-sorry… I didn't mean to…"
"I know. Now then…" Sairaorg used [Power of Imagination] to dry up his shirt, leaving it crumpled and a bit stained, but dry. "Let's return. We have a day to hang out with the others, so let's make this day a memorable one."
"What about your mother? And… If I'm not the one that needs to be traded?" Kuisha asked carefully.
"I've sent word to those loyal to me in the clan. They're retrieving mother from her abode in Bael family's countryside, where she resided, and are transporting her here. Michael said that he'd have someone escort the convoy outside the perimeter, and bring mother into the church by the lakeside for healing."
"I see… I must confess I'm not really comfortable with the idea of a church in the Underworld, nor this religion thing, but I'll trust your judgment, my Ki-"
"Sairaorg."
"...I trust you, Sairaorg. And what about the trade? What if I am not enough for Momon?"
"...That's a bridge that we'll cross when we get to it." Sairaorg sighed, and Kuisha put her hand on his shoulder.
"No matter what happens, I'm with you. As a Queen, or as a friend. I... I hope that you'll manage to trade me back, somehow... And that you'll not see me differently after that. That I was tainted."
"Thank you, Kuisha." Sairaorg nodded to Kuisha. "Of course I won't. Something like that would never darken my view of you, much less so when it was something I ordered you to do. You know me well enough to know I'm truthful with my words. And if I find that Momon is not treating you well, then..."
Kuisha smiled at Sairaorg, and leaned closer before Sairaorg could finish his sentence.
Sairaorg was a bit shocked as Kuisha kissed him on the cheek.
"I know. You need to stop speaking like that or you'll seduce every woman you'll meet, time and time again, and then there won't be enough of you left for Seekvaira-sama." Kuisha joked to Sairaorg.
"Hm?" A third voice entered the conversation, causing the two of them to turn around to see a pair of women.
"Ah. Ravel-san. Greetings." Sairaorg greeted the fellow Young Devil, and then bowed to the woman beside her. "Lady Phenix. Please accept my condolences for the recent tragedies that have struck your family. My heart goes out to you and yours."
The woman shook from head to toe while pale as a sheet, and she sent Ravel a frightened glance before answering Sairaorg in a shaky manner. "I… I accept your condolences, and I thank you for your compassion."
"Kukuku…" Ravel chuckled in a way that caused Sairaorg's neck-hairs to stand on ends.
'...What is going on here?' Sairaorg turned towards Ravel. "Ravel-san. I heard that you were engaged to Momon- ahem, True God. Please accept my late congratulations, as I was not invited to the engagement ceremony."
"Thank you." Ravel curtsied in a picture-perfect 'young lady' manner, although there was something off about her behavior- It lacked the arrogance and headstrong attitude that Sairaorg had come to expect from devils of Phenix clan.
The muted, scared behavior of her mother made the situation even more weird, as Sairaorg had seen the woman a few times and had spoken to her once, and during those occasions the woman had been warm and easy to approach, yet had hidden a underlying sharpness and cunning under the air of warm motherhood.
Yet, the woman in front of her was, simply put, a wreck.
'...She did lose her children apart from Ravel, her husband through divorce and now physically…' Sairaorg felt quite saddened by the woman's state. "I am saddened to see that your grief has affected you so. Please be reassured that the House of Bael offers you what aid we can during your hour of grief."
"Kukuku…" Ravel chuckled for some reason, making Sairaorg quite confused as he hadn't meant the words to be a joke. Meanwhile Lady Phenix's frightened shaking only intensified, and her eyes darted from Sairaorg to Ravel to seemingly random items as if she was a trapped or wounded animal.
"Ahem… Regardless, I feel that this is a bad time to speak about such things. But I feel that it is cruel to keep this from you, as I heard that my mother and you are friends." Sairaorg coughed to his fist and addressed his words to Lady Phenix while Kuisha was slowly edging between Sairaorg and Ravel. "She has, unfortunately, succumbed to Sleeping Sickness."
Lady Phenix's lower lip quivered.
Her legs seemed to lose strength but she managed to catch herself mid-stumble, and leaned against the wall in shock. It looked like she was in too much of a shock to think straight as she turned towards Ravel. "Is… Was this… His plan too?"
Sairaorg froze still, while Ravel's chuckling intensified.
"In other words, you're here to trade something to our Master in order to have your mother healed, no?" Ravel chuckled to the back of her hand. "Aha… haha… And what were you planning on trading to Him in order for him to grant you that boon?"
Sairaorg wasn't a fool. He had already put the pieces of floating evidence together, and had figured out what was happening. 'In other words, Lady Phenix is being held as a slave and is being tormented… Meanwhile 'Momon' has done something to Ravel… Or Ravel is no longer alive, and I am speaking to a puppet that wears Ravel's skin. Killing Phoenixes is nearly impossible, and Phenix clan of devils lives up to that legacy… But from what I've heard of this 'Supreme Being', he just might be able to do that easily.'
'...That slip by Lady Phenix… I see. I had doubts about Yuuto's words, but it seems that he was being truthful.' Sairaorg resisted the urge to vent his rising anger, and managed to swallow it. "Indeed, Ravel-san. You are correct."
"Kukuku… In that case… I'll let you get to it." Ravel chuckled and turned to leave, much to Sairaorg's confusion. Specifically as Ravel passed her mother and stroked her cheek briefly, and then walked off.
'Ah.' Sairaorg realized what Ravel had meant as Lady Phenix gulped and steeled herself.
"I… I hope that whatever you're trading for Misla-, ahem, Lady Bael is worth something to Momon-sama." Lady Phenix told Sairaorg, even though it was clear that the woman was barely capable of standing upright despite putting up a strong front.
"...I planned on pledging my house to Momon-sama's cause, and offering my Queen as a trade." Sairaorg spoke, knowing full well that lying or obfuscating things would not help his cause. "I hope that would be enough for Momon to revive my mother. There is no known cure to Sleeping Sickness, but with resurrections on the table, there is no limit to True God's power… Or should I say… The Supreme Being's power."
Sairaorg knew that he was pushing his luck, but Lady Phenix had slipped something crucial in her moment of weakness, letting Sairaorg know that she was likely privy to the information as well.
Lady Phenix's eyes glazed over. "So you know."
"Indeed."
"How did you come across this information?" Lady Phenix asked, sounding more curious than afraid, almost as if she was thinking that she was speaking to a corpse.
"I was told so by…" Sairaorg realized that if he spoke out Yuuto's name, he might potentially jeopardize the Knight's life as the man had chosen honor and truth over a lie, and by Sairaorg blurting out the truth, the Knight might pay for his honorable nature with his life. "...I deduced it on my own."
Lady Phenix snorted out, her eyes lifeless and body utterly still. "I said the same, you know. When he revealed himself to me, and I panicked, thinking that a lie would save the one who had first told me that. But it was a trap as well. Do you think that you can out-scheme the Supreme Being?"
"I…" Sairaorg was startled by the sudden change in the woman's body language, almost as if she had lost all hope.
Kuisha sent Sairaorg a frightened glance, but she stayed slightly in front of Sairaorg in a way that would allow her to intercept an attack if one was struck.
"...This is your Queen, then?" Lady Phenix sent a glance at the blonde woman. "I see… It seems that Momon-sama prefers blonde women… I should probably warn Yasaka-sama…"
Kuisha seemed quite intimidated by Lady Phenix's lifeless, evaluating glance, and took a step back.
"...What did you mean by that?" Sairaorg asked. 'It was almost as if Momon planned for-'
"Momon planned for your offering, of course." Lady Phenix sighed. "Likely from the start. Like how my fall from grace was premeditated, and intricately carried out. I offered myself out of my free will, in order to resurrect my husband… But it was not my free will. Momon-sama manipulated me to offer myself, and I… I…"
The woman's body shook in grief and anger. "And I was such a fool… Such a utter fool… I…"
"Lady Phenix!" Sairaorg took a step forwards as the woman fell to her knees and covered her face with her hands.
"I was such a idiot… I traded myself to Momon, but I resisted… I put it off, I didn't go to him… Instead I tried to ignore it, ignore that I had been traded, that I was no longer hubby's… In response Momon took my husband's warmth, took my children, and now had thralled my husband to a wretched death…" Lady Phenix cried out, thick streams of tears flowing down her face. "I… I can't… I'm such a fool…"
"Lady Phenix!" Sairaorg knelt in front of the woman, and sent Kuisha a desperate glance. 'I'm not good with crying noble ladies!'
Kuisha seemed to get it and knelt beside the woman. "Lady Phenix, if I can be of assistance…"
"No, there's no-one that can help me, no-one that can save me… Momon is a true Maou, a true demon king… He grants life with one hand, and takes away with the other… Our torment, our pain, our life and death, it is all a game for him…" Lady Phenix shook like a leaf. "Even my Ravel… My sweet, kind Ravel… Uwaaaaaah!"
The woman seemed to break down utterly and Kuisha tied her hands around the woman's shoulders while she cried bitterly and shook from head to toe.
"Pwease… Pwomise me… I don't want… I don't want this to happen to anyone else…" Lady Phenix spoke out between hiccups that racked her body while turning her eyes towards Kuisha. "If you're traded to Momon… For resurrecting Misla… Please promise me, for your sake, for Sairaorg Bael's sake, for Misla's sake, for your sake… Don't try to ignore him, when your time comes, when you are His… Momon is not one who comes asking for what he wants, he is the one that makes other people bring him what he wants, whether they realize it or not… And if they fail… The consequences are horrifying…"
Kuisha froze still.
"I made that mistake… And this is what I am now…" Lady Phenix shook from head to toe. "He won't take his anger out on the one who wrongs him, but rather destroys everything they hold dear, systemically, precisely, emotionlessly, until they realize that they have wronged Momon, and come begging for forgiveness… Only to be denied, and be forced to even more cruel fate. Please… I don't want… I don't want Misla to go through that too…"
"I… see. I understand." Kuisha gulped and sent Sairaorg a frightened glance. She seemed to find something in Sairaorg's face as her expression softened, she nodded, and then her look hardened to that of an iron-clad determination. "I understand, Lady Phenix. Thank you for telling me that. I understand now, what kind of person Momon is. And what I am to become."
Sairaorg's jaw let out a threatening crack as he grind his teeth, feeling like scum after hearing Kuisha's determination and contrasting it to Sairaorg trading her away for the sake his mother, for dispelling whatever Momon himself had cast upon her to have her fall ill of Sleeping Sickness.
'...It looks like Momon-san is someone truly despicable and dangerous… I should have guessed, when Diodora gave him such a gushing endorsement… Figures that those two are alike… Just my luck…'
.
.
Momonga sneezed as sat on a bench in a park in Tokyo. 'I guess it's getting colder…'
Ophis sat down on the bench next to Momonga and was kicking her legs over the edge in an excited manner even if her expression was stuck to disinterested blandness.
Rossweisse was hidinding behind Momonga on the other side from Ophis.
"So… Your home is in the Interdimensional Gap?" Momonga asked after a moment, during which Ophis's excitement seemed to only increase.
"I… I lived there. It was fun. Everything was quiet. I liked it. I want to go back." Ophis explained. "But I forgot something, and went looking for it, and when I came back, there was a big red idiot thing exploding stuff in my home. And it was no longer quiet."
"I get it." Momonga nodded. 'I don't get it.'
Ophis beamed in delight, even if only through her body language.
"O-Ophisisis- shshamaamam…" Rossweisse was quaking like pudding, and she seemed to be extremely afraid for some reason. And her drunken state likely didn't help things.
"Calm down, Rossweisse. I won't let anything happen to you. You're safe." Momonga reassured the woman while stroking her head, although mostly so that she wouldn't blurt out anything unnecessary to Ophis. 'Letting her get drunk might have been a bad idea… Haa…' "[Weaken]"
Rossweisse flopped down on Momonga's lap, and Momonga adjusted her position so she was more comfortable. 'Being drunk and [Weaken]ed should help her relax, or rather, knock her out with a minimal amount of force…'
"Hmm… Sorry, Rossweisse. I don't think you'll be much help right now. [Gate]." Momonga chucked the woman into the swirling portal which would lead to his bedchambers in Phenix estate.
Ophis tilted her head at the portal. "I… I've seen that before… Is that the same thing that skele-guy uses?"
"Skele-guy?"
"I… I think he's a skeleton, and a guy, so a skele-guy…" Ophis tilted her head on the other side. "Are you related to skele-guy?"
"Um…" Momonga sweated a bit. "I don't think so?"
"I believe you, true-guy." Ophis waved her hands from side to side in what Momonga hoped was a reassuring way. Which did not reassure him at all.
"Do you want to go for a cup of tea?" Momonga moved the conversation along as he had little interest or wanted to continue the previous subject as it had almost gone somewhere dangerous. '...Infinite health? Not good… I didn't realize that the Overlord General's boss-of-sorts in Khaos Brigade was that much of a monster… I need to tell it to stop eating Khaos Brigade and go somewhere to lie low, I'm lucky that Ophis didn't take that too personally…'
"Tea?"
"Like, the drink? Or is coffee more of your thing?" Momonga offered. 'I should probably ask for backup… Michael knows where I am, as do the Gatekeeper maids… But with infinite health, I think my best option is to avoid fighting at all costs…'
Ophis tilted her head and there was a question mark above her head.
Momonga shook his head to dispel the illusion. "Right, um, let's go to a parfait cafe… I think I saw one on my way back. Koneko and Asia seemed to like those…"
"Does it help you kick baka-red's snout?" Ophis looked puzzled.
"No, well, I mean…" Momonga was sweating under the young girl-looking monster's flat, puzzled stare. "Ahem, actually, I think I have some in my [inventory]..."
Momonga reached into his inventory, shuffling for some YGGDRASIL food items that were supposed to taste good. 'This feels like a massive waste, but I should think of it as cost of doing business…'
He offered Ophis a [Dragon cake]… Before he snatched it away as he realized what he was offering.
Ophis tilted her head while covering her nose. "That smells scary…"
"Right, um… Some macarons?" Momonga offered a plate of caramel-coloured meringue confectionary to the girl, who took one of them and just held onto it. "...You're supposed to eat it. With your mouth?"
Ophis seemed to get it, and stuffed the entire thing in her mouth, chewed a couple of times, and gulped.
She seemed to shake for a while… Before she let a 'pop' and a shower of sparkly confetti materialized around her to drift down.
'Uh… They did have some visual effects…' Momonga sweated as he offered the plate to Ophis again.
Ophis looked at the plate, opened her mouth a couple of times, and then took two of the sweets and stuffed them into her mouth.
"Does it taste good?" Momonga asked as Ophis was stuffing her face, causing a concerning amount of glitter to form around her as the visual effect went off in rapid fire. "I think I have something to drink too… Um…"
Momonga offered Ophis a pitcher of ostensibly low-'level' lemon water, which was supposed to help with stamina regeneration. 'I hope I'm not just pre-buffing her, if we have to fight…'
The girl seemed to blech a bit from the water, causing Momonga to come to a conclusion. 'She likes sweet things, got it…' "Ahem, there's more of those sweet things in a cafe… Want to come with me?"
The girl looked at Momonga, at the empty plate of macarons, and then nodded eagerly while her face was stuck to an emotionless stare.
She tossed the lemon water jug to the side, causing Momonga's hoarder instincts to cry a river of blood, but he soldiered on and took the infinite-health having monster dragon in the appearance of a young girl to a unplanned date-slash-sweets tour around the city.
Ophis seemed to enjoy herself, based off her body language, but Momonga's hoarder instincts were practically planning to commit self-die as he was forced to supplement some cafe's with food items from his personal inventory if Ophis ran into something that she didn't like.
'So she likes sweet, creamy, chocolatey and cold things…' Momonga noted that his bank balance was starting to slowly creep to concerning numbers as Ophis slurped down a four-person ice-cream bowl full of brownies, chocolate ice-cream and strawberries. '...I think Rias has somewhat the same taste… I hope she's not too angry that I went for a vacation at a time like this…'
Ophis seemed to be stuffed full as she wobbled after Momonga, before Momonga picked her up and put her up on his shoulders, akin to how he had seen someone carry their child in a playful way.
Momonga hoped that it would help Ophis think of him as a friend and ally, and it seemed that she wasn't offended by it even if she was a bit confused.
The tour of Tokoy's confectionary underworld ended where it had started, which was the park.
"I… I liked that…" Ophis jumped down from Momonga's shoulders and did a small pirouette, which Momonga translated as her being in high spirits. "That was fun."
"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself." Momonga commented, trying his best to sound warm and caring.
Ophis reached to pat his thighs. "I… I'd like to go home now? Can you help me get home now?"
"So… You're expecting me to kill the Great Red and bring you home?" Momonga asked Ophis, who nodded her head eagerly. "Right now?"
"I… I'd like that… I give you my snake, so be strong, like skele-guy…" Ophis waved her hands from one side to another in celebration, and then reached under her skirt.
"Wha- Ahem, thanks, I'm good. I don't swing that way." Momonga paused the 'girl' as he had enough of ero-world's shenanigans for one vacation, and he did not want to know what the child-looking girl had under her skirt. 'One Gasper-surprise is enough, thank you...'
The 'girl' dragon looked surprised, but then her face returned to its usual emotionless stare. "You're weird, true-guy. People usually want it…"
"You shouldn't just give it to anyone who asks." Momonga rubbed his temple. 'She's, er, he's is way too clueless and vulnerable…'
"Okay." Ophis continued 'her' celebratory dance. "Are you going to kick baka-red out now? Right now? Please? Right now?"
"What, do you expect me to just wave my hand and pull the Great Red away from the Interdimensional Gap?" Momonga waved his hand to illustrate while his words were delivered with the sigh of an overworked businessman…
.
.
The Great Red screamed in pain and fury as the avalanche of tentacles and bleating, hungry goat-maws swarmed around him, tearing at his scales and body, and in multiple places had managed to pierce through his armor and had begun to devour the softer flesh and organs.
The fight in the Interdimensional Gap had been furious, and the Great Red had destroyed a countless number of the Dark Young. But he knew that it wasn't enough- Even though the Dark Young were gradually being weakened and disintegrated by the energies of the Interdimensional Gap, the fact was that if they were allowed to rampage as they pleased, they would eventually break the seal the Great Red had placed to keep an unknown evil at bay.
And so, he had fought valiantly… And lost inevitably.
'Was that the reason these things were dumped here? Who did that? I saw that… strange, alien thing that reeked of death…' The Great Red thought in an attempt to distance himself from the pain, as he had realized that he had long since lost the battle.
The massive red dragon's guts were flailing in the gravityless void, and a few of the goat-trees had burrowed into his stomach and were greedily devouring his internals. Massive ribs were exposed, and had been gnawed to stumps. Car-sized scales had been broken, lashed and shattered, and were floating around the Great Red's body like a debris field.
The massive seal made by the Great Red still held strong, and the Great Red forced himself to stay in the Gap- Every moment the swarm of Dark Young spent devouring his body was a moment during which the Dark Young were not actively breaking the seal.
One of his wings let out a crack and was torn off, and the Dark Young responsible for it floated after the shredded wing before starting to gnaw on it. The Great Red couldn't do anything but watch… until the wing floated past his face with the Dark Young stuck to it like a devouring leech.
A gout of flame came from the Great Red's maw, catching the goat-tree and causing it's bark to smolder and crack, but the intensity of the flame had dwindled to mere embers.
The Great Red felt something breaking in his chest, and breathed out flame as his core had overheated from his last gout of fire and had vented it's heat to his lungs, causing them to burn. 'Ah… So this is the end…'
The Great Red, however, had one last plan.
It was a desperate plan. Even idiotic, if he had told himself the plan when he was still intact.
He felt his death approaching, and knew that he couldn't distract the Dark Young anymore.
But he knew someone who just might be able to finish what the Great Red had started.
A massive portal appeared in the Interdimensional Gap, slowly pulling the Great Red's body into it…
.
.
Momonga finished his handwave just in time for a massive, shimmering portal to appear in Tokyo's sky.
Almost immediately afterwards a broken, shattered, and partially devoured body of a massive red dragon lurched through the portal, accompanied by a shower of gore, broken scales, and flying organs.
The massive red dragon failed to fly as one of its wings was missing, not to mention it looked like the dragon was on death's door as it collided against a skyscraper, toppling it down, smashed against another in a way that effectively snapped the building two like a twig, and finally digging a massive trench on the streets with it's massive body like some sort of dragon-brand plow.
The red dragon came to a stop inthe park after digging a huge trench, and it let out a thick gout of black smoke from between it's massive jaws.
"Haa- Haaa… Haa… Ophiss…." The dragon's voice was seemingly echoing from all directions at once, which let Momonga know that it was likely projecting it through magical means.
Momonga realized that it was the same red dragon he had seen briefly when he had first come to the ero-world.
Ophis looked at the red dragon, then at Momonga, then at Momonga's hand which was frozen on the end of his handwave.
Then Ophis hopped up from the park bench and hugged Momonga.
The massive dying, broken and partially eaten red dragon seemed to recognize Momonga and opened it's mouth, causing more black smoke to come from it while something bright seemed to form in the depths of it's throat..
"[Boost]!" Momonga instantly recognized that the dragon was about to attack.
"Wha- whu?" Ddraig woke up from his nap as Momonga equipped [Boosted Gear] and activated [Scale Mail]. "Red?! What hape- Wait! Wait!"
"[BoostBoostBoostBoostBoost] - [Maximize Penetrate Magic: Grasp Heart]" Momonga extended his hand towards the massive red dragon.
A massive red-coloured, cracked orb materialized in Momonga's hand, causing him to almost fall on his face as his body didn't have high enough strength to hold it properly.
The massive red dragon stared at Momonga for a moment in shock… Before it's eyes rolled up and a massive gout of pitch-black smoke came through it's snout and it flopped against the ground, causing a small earthquake.
The red orb seemed to start to dim slowly, and then glowed blue as Momonga cast [Detect Life] and [All Appraisal Magic Item] on it.
"I… Is that baka-red's heart?" Ophis seemed to recognize the orb, voicing what Momonga had seen through his magic.
'So the dragon's heart is an item, technically… And it's alive.' Momonga noted, and then flinched as the dragon in his head screamed.
"Red-senpaiiiii! Noooooooooo!" Ddraig fell on his knees on the flat dust-scape of Momonga's internal world, and the massive dragon slammed his fist against the flat in a way that caused the red dust to crack. "Dammit! What did you do, Momonga?!"
'In my defense, he was about to attack…' Momonga felt suddenly nervous as it looked like killing the massive dragon was something that Ddraig had taken personally. 'Er, good morning, I suppose?'
"Not a good morning! Definitely not! What was that? What did you dooooooo?!" It looked like Ddraig had enough and was positively fuming.
'Erm… Right, timeout.' Momonga paused the situation by opening his [Inventory] wide and chucking the smoldering dragon-core in it. 'Normally living things can't enter [Inventory] but since the heart is an item, and Ddraig was there once already… Ah. It seems that it fits.'
The massive orb-like thing slid right in after a bit of expansion, and as soon as the item disappeared, the Great Red's body began to disintegrate.
Momonga checked his inventory and noted that a [Red Dragon Core] had been added in it. 'I suppose that's that… Hm… Is it like a crystal that holds a soul? Technically the Great Red isn't dead, just bodiless… I wonder if I could substitute it for a Data Crystal from YGGDRASIL and use it to craft something?'
"You are so not going to use Red-senpai's soul for your wicked experiments. I am putting my foot down." Ddraig fumed.
'Are you ready to lose that foot, Ddraig?' Momonga turned his thoughts on the dragon in his head, using bluffing to make up for his lacking strength as he was keenly aware that his recent victories were little more than a fluke and had very little to do with his actual strength.
Ddraig seemed to hesitate, so Momonga ignored the dragon which caused it to pout but this time in a cowed way.
Ophis, meanwhile, was doing a victory dance which involved hugging Momonga once every few seconds.
"Right, um… So that happened." Momonga's fleshy body's mouth was dry.
"I… I like you, true-guy. I'll go home now. I want to be in peace and quiet. I like you." Ophis seemed to be uncertain, almost as if she didn't know what to do now that the Great Red was no longer occupying her 'home'.
She slapped herself on the cheeks, which looked somewhat disturbing as her expression didn't change.
"I… I'll go home now. Thank you, true-guy, I'll… I'll… um…" Ophis seemed to fall into deep contemplation before she seemed to realize what she wanted to say. "I'll reward you somehow!"
"Thanks, I'd like that. Please be safe." Momonga hurried Ophis along, as he was feeling more than a bit spooked out by what had happened. "In that case I'll return to the Underworld. You can find me there if something happens."
Ophis nodded in a spirited way, and a void of sorts seemed for form behind her and she backed into it.
Momonga sighed and cast [Gate] back to the Underworld. 'Well, I suppose that my vacation went as well as I expected…'
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GOT IT