The group of devils had not left the club room even after an hour since Ichigo and his peerage left.
"I was too shocked to ask any more questions." Sona said.
"She was King Arthur, King Arthur is a woman, She became a devil, She is the knight of Ichigo's peerage…." Sona said in disbelief.
Kiba didn't know what to think about the whole situation. He had a grudge against the blade, not the person.
Issei was probably the most shocked out of everyone. The whole moonlit world was new to him and he just found out that not only were there Shinigami in front of him, which he managed to anger, King Arthur was apparently back from the dead and had spoke to them.
It was several minutes later of silence when Rias started.
She started cackling like a man-mad.
"Riser is in for a surprise" Rias announced.
For a moment, everyone felt sorry for the phenex.
"Issei, you better be on your best behavior tomorrow" Rias said with a deathly glare.
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Shirou and Issei were currently walking towards their "clients". There was an awkward silence.
"If you want to ask questions then just ask them, I don't know what I can answer though" Shirou said with a smile.
"So….she's your fiancé?" He asked hesitantly.
"Yes" Shirou replied without a second thought.
"I don't know much about the rules over in England…but doesn't that make you the Queen ? Issei asked with a slight grin.
Shirou gave a small chuckle at his joke.
"Seems like you figured it out, though she pretty much spelled it out for everyone. " He said with a sigh.
"Just don't go spreading it around, I know there were some loopholes in the oath" He told the pervert.
They continued to walk for several minutes before Shirou abruptly stopped. Issei stopped as well with confusion.
"You can come out now, there are no humans around" Shirou said to the surroundings.
"Oh my, you could sense us, that's surprising for such a lowly devil" a female voice was heard.
She appeared in the open, a female fallen angel.
"Kalawarner, don't underestimate them. Remember what happened before." A new male voice added.
The figure also appeared near the one called Kalawarner.
"Dohnaseek" Issei said in anger.
"Oh you remember me, I'm honored." He said with sarcasm.
"Your little master isn't here to save you this time boy" He said, still peeved at the last encounter.
The fallen angels that were hiding out in the town lured Issei out to kill him before he could activate his sacred gear. After killing him, Rias resurrected him with all her pawns.
It was the next day when they figured out he was alive so Dohnaseek went after him, only to be beaten by Rias and barely escape.
Actually, Issei had encountered fallen angels almost every day since becoming a devil. When he made a friend by the name of Asia Argento, he found out about her story and wanted to help her, only for he to be taken away by his "girlfriend" that killed him previously.
"After I kill you and we finish up with that little witch, we can finally leave this shitty devil town." Dohnaseek said.
"WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH HER" Issei raged as he charged at the fallen angel.
Before Issei could get very far, Shirou grabbed him by the collar and threw him back.
"You are not their opponent Issei, let me handle it" He said to the boy.
Issei was angry and scared for his friend. He was incoherently muttering.
"Issei, if someone you know is in trouble, we'll go help her after I finish these two off." Shirou said, trying to settle Issei down.
"Thank you…" Issei muttered.
Shiruo focused on the Fallen angels before him He entered a battle state, his aura rose up a bit.
"Oh…I guess your not like this other trash" Kalawarner said.
"I don't recognize you, I know all the devils in this territory. Who are you boy?" Dohnaseek.
Shirou smiled.
"Shirou Emiya, Pawn of Kurosaki Ichigo." Shirou stated with a cold smile.
The two fallen angels hesitated for a moment. They were told, under no circumstances, to engaged with Kurosaki Ichigo or his peerage. They had heard what happened to the last group of fallen angels.
"Trace on" Shirou said.
He summoned his most trusted blades, Kanshou an Bakuya.
The fallen could feel the aura from the blades. These blades had reached the realm of the gods. They were vaguely familiar, all factions try to keep track of every powerful weapon in the world. There are thousands so sometimes its hard to recognize one specific one.
As they were lost in thoughts for a moment, Shirou threw the blades.
"Spirit and Technique, flawless and firm"
He started to recite as he charged at the angels.
The angels barely dodged in time as the blades flew by.
"Our strength rips apart mountains, Our Swords split the water."
He summoned another copy as he approached the duo. They were shocked to see him create another set like it was nothing.
"Our names reach the imperial villa"
The new ones began to change shape.
"The two of us cannot hold the heavens together"
They became longer and resembled a black and white wings.
The blades he threw previously were spinning back around, the fallen angels noticed too late, they tried to dodge but Shirou was approaching from the front. Each of them got stabbed in the back by a blade, they were distracted long enough for Shirou to swing down his blades unimpeded.
"Triple-Linked Crane Wings" He called out as he performed a series of slashes with his Wing-blades.
The angels fell without much resistance.
Issei watched the battle unfold, he had no experience to make any kind of judgment, but even he could tell, that combination of attacks was brutal.
"Lets go, we need to save your friend right?" Shirou said to Issei.
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Issei had led Shirou to the church. Apparently he had known beforehand where his friend was being kept, but Rias didn't want to barge in. Technically the church was not her territory.
Shirou had no qualms about bursting right throw the front door.
He was met with the surprise expression of an exorcist.
"And who the fuck are you two" He said.
"Some shitty devils think they can fucking barge into my place" He continued.
"We're here to rescue Asia, where is she?!" Issei roared at the man.
"That little whore? She'll bee meeting you two in hell soon enough" He said with a sadistic smile.
Before he could make a move, several blades shot at him. He barely needed to dodge for them to miss.
"Was that supposed to do something" He said with an amused expression.
He tried to move forward, but he was stuck.
"Black keys, when pierced into the targets shadow they become immobilized" Shirou explained before sending another one straight though his head.
"Lets keep going Issei" Shirou said.
They found a secret passage into the church's basement.
As they went down, they found a rather large open room. At the end was Asian, she was chained to a cross and surrounded by fallen angels. They were performing some sort of ritual.
The female performing the ritual turned around.
"well look who it is" She said.
"Raynare" He said with a hiss.
The girl who had pretend to be his girlfriend so she could get him alone and kill him.
"LET HER GO" he roared as he summoned his sacred gear.
Once again, Shirou throw him back.
"Your going to get yourself killed issei" Shirou said with a sigh.
Issei got the message, and held back from charging forward again.
"Did you get yourself some backup, issei?" Raynare smiled.
"You came just in time to watch me rip the scared gear right out of this Witch" She said sadistically.
Shirou had been briefed on Asia's story, he also felt sorry for the girl and vowed to save her. He also knew about sacred gears, they were fused to the person's soul. She would be ripping out a part of Asia's soul in the processes. Besides being extremely painful, it would kill her.
Shirou was angry.
"I am the bone of my sword." He said.
The surrounding Fallen angles felt the weight of the words spread out. They were magical and powerful. The feeling caused them to tense up. Even Raynare shuttered for a moment.
"Trace on" He said.
He summoned a familiar weapon. The Axe-Sword of Heracles.
The angels saw the weapon. It was ugly to say the least, but they couldn't voice their complaints. The weapon radiated divinity. It was the weapon of a being that had divinity inside them.
Shirou picked up the weapon that was larger than himself with ease. He channeled the strength of Berserker.
He walked towards the hesitating angels.
"Nine Lives Blade works: Shooting the Hundred Heads" He activated the Noble Phantasm.
His arms blurred. Space warped around him as he performed the swings with the weapon. In the blink of an eye, he swung 100 times. The Fallen angels minus Raynare were obliterated.
Raynare recognized the attack. It was the famous ability of Heracles, Nine Lives. He used it to defeat the Immortal Hydra.
She was scared. She didn't know how this boy was able to do it. He was using the abilities of a Demi-God.
She quickly reverted to her human shape and put on an innocent look.
"Issei…please don't let the bad man hurt me" She pleaded to the boy she killed.
"Shirou…..can I barrow a blade." He said with determination.
Shirou traced a nameless noble phantasm and handed it to Issei. He also flung several dark keys into Raynare's shadow so she couldn't escape.
Issei called forth all his courage and drove the blade into the fallen angel. It was the first time he had taken a life.
With the help of Shirou, he removed the chains and carried Asia out of the Church.
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Rias had felt the auras and power coming from the church. She cursed Issei as she ran to save the idiot again.
She did not expect to find the scene before her.
Issei was crying over his friends corpse with Shriou nearby.
The ritual had been stopped midway but the damage had already been done to her soul. She had died just moments prior.
Rias could see the expression he was making. And from what Issei told her, the girl did have a sacred gear that could heal.
She quickly made the decision and pushed the Bishop she had into the girl.
Issei, surprised by her actions, tightly hugged the nun that had just awoken after being reincarnated.
He explained the situation, half expecting the girl to be angry at them for turning her into a devil.
Instead she was grateful, she was happy that someone would come and save her, she welcomed her new place in Rias's peerage.
Shirou quickly slipped away, knowing they would probably ask him quite a few questions.
He finally made his way back home, and his family was angry. Not because of his actions, they actually praised him for trying to save the girl. They were angry that he had yet to cook dinner and it was late. Saber especially was giving him the evil eye, she demanded an extra serving.
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It had been a couple weeks since the incident. Things have quieted down quite a bit.
Orihime was starting to open up more, she made several new friends at school. Ichigo knew she needed this, she was the most out of place with this whole supernatural world and the battles they constantly fought. This small bit of normalcy was what she craved and he was more than happy to oblige.
He would spend time with her, just acting like a normal couple. He would hold her hand as they walked to school, their group would each lunch on the rooftop like the old days, and they would gossip and study like actual high schoolers.
Ichigo focused more on Orihime during school time than Rukia. Rukia knew why and conceded this time to Orihime. She was by far the youngest of Ichigo's lovers and her mental state had not been the best the past few months.
Though there was an open rivalry between the girls to an extent, they considered each other as sisters. Rukia was happy her "little sister" had genuine happiness in her eyes that didn't only revolve around Ichigo.
Of course she made sure Ichigo gave her plenty of attention in their alone time.
But the good times could not last.
At the end of class, Kiba arrived to deliver a note to Ichigo.
Rias needed him to be at the club room in a couple hours, Riser was going to be coming and he needed to be there to prove he was her replacement for the match.
Ichigo let out a sigh. He wad been informed of what he was supposed to do with regards to the contract that Zelretch made on his behalf.
"I won't give the troll the satisfaction" He told himself as he pushed back his annoyance a the situation.
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Rias and her peerage were in the in the club room.
Issei was on the ground, he had been easily overpowered by the newly arrived Riser and his peerage.
He had lost his cool when Riser stated he was going to marry Rias and add her to his harem. An argument ensued and Issei charged at him, the expected outcome occurred, he got his ass handed to him.
It was Grayfia Lucifuge who calmed everyone down. She was there on behalf of Sirzechs to act as a mediator between he groups.
"Rias, you deny the Marriage contract, and Riser you wish for it to be fulfilled."
"Since both groups have come to a disagreement, a rating game will be held to decide the outcome."
"Are there any objections?" She finished.
"I Agree" Rias said.
"I also agree" Riser said with Arrogance.
"Very well, I will now state the rules of the Rating game, first…."
Rias abruptly cut her off "I invoke my right to have a second party replace me in this rating game".
Riser started to laugh. The rule was not unheard of, it was just rarely used. No one wanted to help
their competition so it would have to be someone that owed her a favor and why would anyone strong owe her a favor?
"And who did you trick into helping you?" Riser said with a laugh.
Grayfia was also a bit confused. "According to the rules, it must be someone within your generation and have a peerage of their own. I need them to confirm their replacing you for the rating game. Who is your replacement Rias?" She asked.
"Yes Rias, tell us who you tricked into losing this rating game for you is." Riser said, barely containing his laughter.
The whole situation was comical to him, only a couple people in his generation could stand up to
him and they would never lower themselves to act on Rias's behalf.
The door to the club opened and he walked in.
"That would be me." He said.
All eyes turned to the newcomer. It took a moment before they recognized the man. There hadn't been any sightings of him in a very long time, the only feature they knew was his hair color.
"Allow me to introduce my replacement, Kurosaki Ichigo." Rias said with a sinister smile on her face.
So i wanted to hurry and get through the first few plot points, they were kinda boring but needed to set up the story a bit.
I won't be releasing a chapter in the morning but i will later that night. And i will also be writing all weekend.
Expect the conclusion of the rating game at the very least by the end of the weekend!