章 71: 71. Conspiracy in Kuoh Town Part 1.
Omniscient POV
"Touji-san, why are we suddenly being dispatched to the church town miles away? Wouldn't the exorcists in the neighboring town have sufficed if it were just an emergency?" questioned a young man in his early twenties.
"I know, Masaomi-kun. I'm also a bit skeptical about all this. It does seem fishy. The atmosphere in this town feels strange today. I sense something ominous. But we must follow orders from above," replied Touji, leading the other exorcists with him.
*sigh*
"Do you think they might be hiding something from us? Sending us away to do something behind our backs in this town?" contemplated Masaomi.
"The church's activities have been increasingly suspicious lately. May the Lord guide us. Let's hope for the best. We shouldn't dwell on these thoughts. Let's quickly finish our job and return," said Touji as he hastened towards the station.
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"Cleria, I think it's time to tell your brother about this. The longer you wait, the more dangerous it becomes," urged Rangiku, trying to reason with her.
"No. You know how seriously nii-sama takes the rating games. I can't break his heart without concrete proof," replied Cleria, looking pale.
They've been discussing this topic back and forth for the last few weeks. It all started when Cleria attended a banquet arranged by the Baels in the Underworld.
While admiring and exploring one of the oldest castles in the Underworld, which has retained its original design despite the modern era, she overheard two people discussing her brother in a side room. This place wasn't even somewhere she wasn't supposed to be.
So naturally, she was interested upon hearing her elder cousin's name. However, she wasn't really prepared to hear about something called King pieces. She had never heard of such items before.
Apparently, even some of the top players in the rating game use King pieces to control the law and economy of the Underworld under the leadership of the Great King Faction.
These two individuals were frustrated because, despite using the King piece, which significantly enhances the user's demonic power by 10 to 100 times, the users still couldn't surpass Diehauser Belial to claim the top spot.
Startled by what she heard, Cleria accidentally made a noise, alerting the room's occupants to her presence. Since then, Cleria had been trying to gather more information about King pieces.
However, it became apparent that the Great King Faction was aware of her activities and was now monitoring her closely.
As they discussed everything, they suddenly felt a barrier being erected around the area. The main door of the house was violently attacked and eventually broke down, allowing twelve strays of various mutilated appearances to enter. Three of them were high-class in power.
Without needing to say anything, Cleria and her peerage quickly got into position and began to attack the strays.
They were puzzled by how so many strays had suddenly entered the town undetected, let alone their own house, and were curious about the origin of the barrier.
"You are Cleria Belial, right?" asked one of the strays.
"Yes. But how did you all get here?" Cleria asked.
"Our ticket to freedom," replied one of the strays as they lunged to attack her, leaving Cleria and her peerage confused by the meaning behind the words.
Rangiku quickly used her weapon to create a cloud of ashes, obscuring the interior and the view of the enemies.
Meanwhile, Cleria, Juvia, and Maria began charging magic spells, while the others charged straight at the enemies in this momentary blindside.
Hiroshi targeted a high-class stray that resembled a mix between a cheetah and an eagle, aiming for its legs and wings with his sword to intercept it as it lunged toward Cleria.
His sword managed to sever only one of its wings, but the stray twisted its legs to dodge and leaped directly at Cleria. Hiroshi, however, was faster and slashed the stray on its back, halting its attack.
Meanwhile, Mark charged at a stray with a rhinoceros head to intercept its charge with his axe, while Navirose executed a beautiful arc of light with her sword, leaving multiple cuts on its body.
"Drip, drip, drop."
Almost instantly, blades of boiling water slashed at multiple strays while Rangiku leaped forward with her weapon to attack one of the high-class strays.
The bear-faced stray blocked her strikes with its claws, but suddenly, ashes as sharp as blades surrounded its limbs, cutting deeper into its flesh and causing it to growl in pain.
Cleria dispelled the magics of two strays—one high-class and one middle-class—using her clan trait, "Worthless," and then attacked them with her own magic.
Maria bombarded the strays with wind magic while defending herself from attacks using the "Whirlwind Shield" spell taught by Akatsuki. Juvia created a whirlpool of boiling water, scorching the flesh of many strays.
The fight didn't last long. Although it required effort, Cleria and her peerage managed to defeat all the strays.
They were surprised at their increased power over the past two years and the difference in the situation compared to their last encounter with a cluster.
And this one was even stronger than the last one. The reason it was comparatively easier was also because the strays lacked any cooperation among themselves and focused solely on attacking Cleria, which ended up even hindering each other with their own attacks.
However, they couldn't discern the reason for the attack or how the strays arrived. But the barrier remained, trapping them inside and preventing any messages from being sent outside.
They used Akatsuki's low-grade potions to fully restore their health, as they hadn't sustained any major injuries, and remained vigilant for any new enemies.
Inside the house, the damage was severe—the building was left in ruins.
Not long after, a man in a luxurious brown coat approached them, clapping his hands.
"Marvelous. You've done better than I expected. You've truly grown stronger since the last time we met, Lady Cleria," the man said jovially.
"You... You're Lord Greyrat. Why is Lord Bael's personal butler here?" Cleria asked, already suspecting the reason.
"Well, it seems you've come to know too much. Haven't you heard the proverb, 'Curiosity killed the cat'? You shouldn't have been snooping around like that," Greyrat replied, sounding disappointed.
"Are you behind all of this? Did the Great King put you up to it?" Cleria asked, fully understanding the hopeless situation before her as she attempted to contact her brother discreetly. However, due to the barrier, all her efforts were futile.
"You already know the answer. Now that you've discovered the existence of the King pieces, we have no choice but to silence you. And stop your futile attempts to contact your family. Any communication is blocked within this barrier. It would have been better if you had just died during the Cluster attack. But now I have to dirty my own hands," Greyrat said, looking at Cleria with pity but his eyes betrayed his excitement.
"Do you think my family will let you get away with this? Even if it's the Great King Faction, you won't escape punishment for killing me so brazenly," Cleria replied weakly, fearing the fate she had brought upon her peerage.
"You don't have to worry about that. To avoid trouble, we've already planned what to tell the Underworld. You all will be declared dead, having fought the Cluster here and mutually destroyed each other. The evidence is already here. These fools really thought they would gain freedom by killing you. Ha ha ha," Greyrat said as if explaining to naive children, pointing at the remains of the Cluster.
As he prepared to kill them all, he had no issue enlightening these few foolish children.
"You, stop talking nonsense," Mark said as he dashed forward with his axe to attack Greyrat.
"No, stop!" yelled the others alongside Cleria.
Greyrat effortlessly swatted Mark away, sending him flying and causing his bones to break before the impact against the debris-laden wall.
The power disparity between an intermediate Ultimate Class and a peak Middle Class was clearly evident.
"Mark!" Cleria yelled as she tried to reach him.
Before she could take a step towards him, Greyrat was already in front of her, smiling as he looked at her despair. He conjured an ice spear in his hand and pushed it toward Cleria's heart with minimal effort.
Just before it could reach her, two swords intercepted its advance. It was Hiroshi and Rangiku, barely managing to halt the ice spear with all their strength, while Navirose swiftly moved behind Greyrat to slash at him with her nodachi.
Greyrat's smirk deepened, fully aware of how futile their struggle was. He enjoyed killing his prey after plunging them into despair.
His barrier effortlessly blocked Navirose's attack, and he easily pushed back both Hiroshi and Rangiku with his ice spear.
Hiroshi used the momentum to slide off his sword and directed it at Greyrat's neck, while Rangiku conjured blades of ash from all sides and launched them at him.
However, his barrier smoothly repelled all of them. Meanwhile, Cleria had already rushed towards Mark and administered a potion to mend his broken hands.
"It's futile. It wouldn't be fun if you all died so soon. So at least entertain me a bit," Greyrat said, casting a condescending gaze upon them.
Cleria focused solely on deciphering Greyrat's barrier, utilizing her clan trait to deactivate it.
After several exchanges resulting in various injuries for them, as Greyrat continued to toy with them, Cleria successfully decoded his barrier and rendered it inactive.
Immediately, a pillar of steaming hot water engulfed him, accompanied by blades of sharp ash weapons and various magical attacks like wind bullets aimed at his location.
However, to everyone's horror, when the smoke cleared, he was no longer there; instead, he stood a few feet away from the center of the attack, his smirk unchanged as he looked at them.
"Did you think I wouldn't take your clan trait into account? But you are not your brother, so you cannot defeat me!" Greyrat replied haughtily, looking down on them.
By this point, everyone was close to exhaustion and riddled with injuries. Despite the absence of his barrier, Greyrat continued to playfully engage with them.
"I will kill your peerage members first. One by one, all of them in front of you. Then it will be your turn, Cleria Belial. Look closely. First, I will kill this rude Rook of yours," Greyrat threatened, glaring at Cleria while gripping Mark by his throat, tightening his hold by the second.
Just as he was about to snap Mark's neck, the sound of the barrier being broken was heard, along with a new voice.
"Stop. I would worry more about my hand if I were in your place," spoke out the voice of a man.
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"So you're telling me you actually forgot about me for two whole years while leaving me in that big dark place?" asked Ddraig, his voice filled with anger and disbelief, directed at the nonchalant Kousuke.
"Can't really say much as I was pretty busy for the past two years. So it kinda slipped my mind," Kousuke said casually as he checked the trinket's status.
"And what about you, Vritra?" asked Ddraig.
"No comments," replied Vritra.
"Why, you!" Ddraig sighed after a long silence. At least he could see the bright light again after so long. He would rather not go back to that place again.
"Now what? Are you going to inherit my sacred gear?" asked Ddraig curiously.
"Hell no!" replied Vritra, confirming Ddraig's suspicion.
Dragons are very possessive creatures by nature, and they would never willingly share something with other dragons.
"You're not mad that I stole you out of your host?" asked Kousuke, genuinely curious.
"And why would I be worried about that? You weren't the first to ever do this. And I'm rather happy to have dodged such a bullet. That pervert's thoughts are insane. If his brain is so rotten at such a young age, who knows what he might be like in the future," said Ddraig.
"Trust me, you wouldn't want to know," replied Kousuke mysteriously, sparking Ddraig's interest.
"What do you mean?" asked Ddraig.
"It's better left unsaid," replied Kousuke.
"So what is it that you desire, boy?" asked Ddraig, deciding to overlook that conversation.
"I want power and peace. To live my life unrestrained with my loved ones," Kousuke replied readily.
"Hmm. I guess yours isn't the worst of the bunch, quite modest even. Then I will lend you my powers," replied Ddraig.
"Didn't I already say no, on his behalf?" replied an angered Vritra.
*Sigh*
"Women... By the way, how are you even talking right now? Weren't your soul fragmented and scattered?" asked Ddraig.
Vritra stuck to their usual excuse. While Ddraig didn't fully believe them, he thought to bring up the more important question.
"So who's gonna be my host? If you do not want my power, I'm pretty sure you already have someone else in mind to inherit it for you. But remember, if I do not approve of that person, I will not help them at all," replied Ddraig firmly.
"Yeah. I already have someone in mind. She is an honest soul. A bit naive and timid but hardworking. She also has a healing-type sacred gear, Twilight Healing. Her name is Asia Argento. If trained well, she will be powerful with her boosted healing," said Kousuke.
"Hmm. I never had any wielders with such potent healing powers. Twilight Healing is the best healing-type sacred gear out there other than the Longinuses like Sephiroth Graal. Alright. Let's meet her first," replied Ddraig.
"I have already told her about this. Do not scare her or anything. She is still just a child," said Kousuke.
"Who do you think I am, kid? I have dealt with brats more than once," said Ddraig as he tried but couldn't recall any memories of kids other than beating the shit out of the annoying young Welsh Dragons around him.
"Umm... Is this the trinket you were talking about, Kousuke-san?" asked Asia, looking at the boosted gear.
"Yes. This is the one," replied Kousuke.
"Hey! Who are you calling a trinket?! I am one of the two Heavenly Dragons, The Red Dragon Emperor!" roared Ddraig in pride with his introduction. It would have been epic if not for the fact that the boosted gear just looked like a small trinket inside the circular bubble over Kousuke's hands.
Kousuke let the two of them talk for a while where Ddraig asked about Asia's ambitions and all. Ddraig wasn't really impressed with Asia's lack of ambition, but he knew better.
It would be better to slowly make the naive girl more ambitious and train her than be stuck in that place again. He has a score to settle with his eternal rival.
So Asia Argento officially became the Red Dragon Empress of this generation, but soon after Kousuke was nowhere to be seen.
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"Was it alright for us to return so suddenly, Shidou-san? We were told to stay in that town for at least one more day," said a worried-looking exorcist, their concern making Touji even more suspicious.
"There was nothing even close to an emergency in that town. They were clearly wasting our time. This is just straight-out fishy. Something is definitely going on behind our backs. We cannot just stay back like this," replied Masaomi instead, his frustration evident.
"Even so, we cannot just disobey the higher-ups' orders like this. What will you say to them if something happens in that town while we are here?" said another exorcist.
"You know we left enough exorcists there for protection. That's why I wanted to come back with only a few people. You guys wouldn't have to come with us even. We could have handled it," replied Touji, eyeing the exorcist and the others around him suspiciously.
These exorcists had been transferred here only a month ago. Touji had actually planned to return with only his trusted comrades while leaving some of them in that town.
However, these new exorcists adamantly refused to stay and followed, persistently trying to convince him to turn back throughout the journey, which made him even more suspicious.
He couldn't leave the town in this situation, especially with his family here. As he entered the town, he could feel a huge amount of magical energy emanating from the direction where the devil girl from the Belial clan resided.
"Can you also feel that Masaomi-kun?" asked Touji.
"Yes, it might be because of a huge battle. We should hurry. We need to know what's going on in the town. What if a powerful monster or stray snuck into this place? We need more information," said Masaomi.
"You're right. Let's go, everyone," said Touji.
But just as Touji and his comrades were marching towards that place, the other exorcists who had arrived a month ago blocked their way, wielding light swords and guns.
"What's the meaning of this?" demanded Touji angrily.
"I'm afraid we cannot let you go there for a while. It would be better for you guys to stay put. Don't you have families in this town too?" asked the leading exorcist, darkening Touji's expression further.
"Move! What are you trying to hide?" Touji demanded, readying for battle along with his comrades. And thus, an internal conflict among the exorcists of the Kuoh town began.
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