Chapter 4 - Part 1 - The Star of Destruction and The Ice Princess - Winds of Change (DxD)

Jin Skyward

Waking up from my slumber, I see two things. Akeno for some reason has her head near my crotch, happily sleeping away, and Kuroka drooling on my neck while letting out a few 'nyas' every now and again.

I need a bigger bed… If my harem was expected to grow even larger, then this bed won't cut it. It's big, but not quite enough. I'll probably need to make a schedule as well… And have them in some sort of rotation. Having a harem is a lot more work than I would have thought.

Cúntóir: Answer: Would you like me to create you a schedule?

Not yet, I mean it's only two for now. I slowly pull myself away from both of them. I cast a small spell on Akeno, so she wouldn't wake up. How did she end up down there? Also using magic to clean the drool off my neck. Never would have thought that Kuroka would drool in her sleep.

I slip away from the bed and down to the kitchen. What time is it?

Cúntóir: Answer: 8:30 a.m.

"It's been a while, so I might as well cook normally. A good old full Irish breakfast should keep us energized for the day."

I set about getting the necessary ingredients, Cúntóir offered to just make them appear, but I declined, if I was missing something then, maybe.

"Bacon slices, sausages, eggs, baked beans, mushrooms, tomatoes, hash brown and… Damn, well, magic is it then."

Using magic, I create the missing part of the breakfast

"Black pudding."

I turn around and turn on the oven, preheating it to 400F/200C. Using magic, I speed up the process. I then place the sausages, hash browns, and black pudding slices onto a baking tray lined with baking parchment for an easier cleanup. I leave them to bake. Cúntóir, remind me in 10 minutes when they're done.

Cúntóir: Answer: Setting timer: 10 minutes.

…

Cúntóir: Answer: 10 minutes are up.

In response, I opened the oven and turned them around for an even cooking. I left them for another 10 minutes. The usual again.

Cúntóir: Answer: Setting timer: 10 minutes.

I added butter to my frying pan and waited for it to melt before adding the bacon slices. I also add mushrooms and tomatoes to speed up the process. As the butter was running out, I added a little more.

Seeing as I still had time since Cúntóir hadn't said anything. I put the cooked food onto some plates on the side, I use magic to clean the pan and add new butter to it. Moving onto the fried eggs, I crack them and wait for them to cook.

While they cooked, I opened the canned baked beans. I heated them up using fire magic, not hot enough to melt the metal, but enough so that the beans cooked again and stayed warm. Cúntóir told me 10 minutes had passed, and I took the tray out. In addition, I noticed that the eggs were done and took them out as well.

I take out three plates and arrange the food on them the same way through. Once I was done, it was nearing 9 a.m. and I heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Smells delicious."

Comments Akeno as she looks at the table filled with a hearty breakfast.

"Fooood nyaa…"

Kuroka still half-awake rubbed her eyes and let out a yawn.

"Good morning, and yeah, I made a full Irish breakfast, I have a busy day today. Well, a busy day later on."

They sat down after I gestured for them to do so.

"Busy day? Do you have plans?"

She asks as she starts to eat her breakfast happily.

"Delicious! But I feel like my status as a future wife is slipping."

Akeno felt as if she needed to prepare dinner at least tonight and prove her worth in the kitchen.

"I'm fine with whatever nya…"

Kuroka lazily replies as she slowly eats through her food.

"Yeah, I have a feeling like I'm going to get a request today. Oh, make sure you clear your schedules in two days from now at noon onwards."

I informed them, that I plan to help them get stronger by using I.D Create, or whatever I call it now.

"Why nya?"

The sleepiness that Kuroka had was dissipating now, and she started to eat more quickly.

"While both of you are strong. I want to help you guys get stronger; I'll also bring someone else tomorrow too. So, the three of you are going to be going through a bit of a challenge."

Akeno has never fully utilized her queen piece early on in the story, only later on once she got more comfortable with herself. I plan on breaking that before Canon starts.

Also, if Sirzechs asks me to help Rias and her peerage, I can have Akeno solo win the Rating Game when she uses her Holy Lightning. If she's dedicated, she can unlock her [Fallen Angel Mode] much sooner and use it in the game, making it easier for them. But that should be a last resort. At the very least, I want her base stats to be of Ultimate to Satan-class.

Kuroka is already Ultimate Class, so she's a lot stronger than Akeno right now. I will try to get her to Super Devil Class, as ironic as it sounds, with her biological father's experiments and all. My current goal for all of them is to reach Dragon God Class, the same with my future harem. But reaching Ultimate or Satan Class for Akeno and Super Devil for Kuroka is a little bit more realistic.

"A challenge? I really don't mind nya, and I should be free… Unless Vali calls nya."

Kuroka said, as she was nearly done with her food and was eyeing mine. I don't really need to eat anymore, but it's still enjoyable to do so.

"I'll try and get my contracts done before then; Rias usually lets us do what we want after that."

"Yeah, I'd appreciate it, that reminds me Akeno. Rias is engaged to Riser Phenex, isn't she?"

I ask, fully knowing the answer.

"That asshole? Eww, nya."

Kuroka recoils back at the thought of being engaged with that weirdo.

"Yeah, she is… Do… Do you plan on helping her out of it?"

She was surprised that I knew about it.

"If and when Sirzechs requests it, then I'll do it. That sis-con cares for his sister a bit too much, but he'll definitely give me favors if I do."

Akeno just chuckles.

"So, you're doing it to gain a favor from Satan Lucifer himself? Pretty bold of you."

"Yeah nya, he's considered to be the strongest devil, even stronger than the original Lucifer. How are you so confident, nya?"

"Because I'm the strongest. It's that simple. I could have just brute force my way to the top, used mind control and the like, but that's way too cheap and not my style."

I fully believed that before I evolved. If it weren't true, I could have just grind and get even stronger. However, I don't even need to do that anymore because of what happened. They both stared at me, stunned by the statement.

"What?"

Am I being arrogant? Probably. Can I substantiate that statement? Also, yes. I see no need to flaunt my strength excessively. I said it before, and I'll say it again. All I want is a harem, while also living a fulfilling life. If that includes a fight every now and then, I welcome it. Cúntóir, is there anyone in this universe who can defeat or kill me?

Cúntóir: Answer: Negative.

"How can you be so sure?"

Kuroka was still suspicious about my statement.

"You'll see in the future."

I look at their plates and see they're both done.

"Anyway, I'll go wash the dishes."

I get up and gather them up.

"I believe you, Jin."

I turn back and see Akeno smiling.

"I'll always will."

"Tch, look at you trying to earn brownie points, nya."

Crossing her arms, Kuroka stares at Akeno, the devil fallen hybrid not backing down. I quickly clean the dishes with magic and karate chop their heads.

"Alright, no fighting."

Sighing at their antics.

"Get your asses in gear, Akeno don't you need to report back to Rias? Also, Kuroka you should head over and check with your team just in case."

"Oh right, Akeno sorry about yesterday. We'll have a proper date later in the week."

What I did was necessary, but I still need to make up for the fact that I canceled it.

"What about me, nya?"

"Yours will be next week. So, no more complaining."

As I answer Nekoshou's question, Kuroka pumps her fist in excitement. They kiss me on the cheek and teleport out.

Cúntóir: Notice: Nano flies are still attached to the devils, proceed with retrieval?

Yes, I was about to do that. I was planning to retrieve them last night, but decided not to. Cúntóir would have notified me if any of them got too close to my neighborhood. She would have done that regardless of the nano flies, but this just made it easier.

Cúntóir: Answer: Retrieval started.

I crack open a window and wait for them to arrive, but it only took them a few seconds to get back to me once I opened the window. Efficiency makes the world go round.

Cúntóir: Answer: Retrieval complete.

A brief flash of light appears beside me and a magic communication circle appears.

"Yo! I got a request coming your way."

It was Azazel who had called me.

"Go ahead and teleport now."

"Looks like my intuition was right. Hopefully, it's nothing tedious."

I use magic to lock my house and reinforce those locks, can't have normal humans trying to steal from me now.

…

Grigori

I had teleported directly to Azazel's office, but someone else was there.

"Hmm? Oh, hi Jin!"

It was none other than Penemue she greets me while holding onto some documents. I gave her a little wave.

"Hey there, where's Ash Crow at?"

"Azazel? He's in the conference room, why? Oh! Are you here for a request?"

She asks me with quite a bit more energy than I'd imagine she would have.

"Yeah, the conference room, huh? Alright, thank you."

I begin to walk away but was stopped by her.

"I'm heading there myself, so let's go together."

She proceeds to take the lead and I follow her.

"So, how's the harem coming along? Did you do it yet?"

This woman… I just gave her a poker face, to which she laughed at.

"Haah… It's going fine. Two officially joined, if that's what you're wondering about."

"Hmm, so? Who else do you have in mind? As far as I can tell, it's the three human females in the Slash/Dog team for our faction."

She starts thinking about who else I would be trying to add to my harem, even though said lady is right in front of me.

Cúntóir: Answer: I suggest you give her a taste of her own medicine.

Sure, time for anime cliché number 47. The all-famous kabedon. An act where I make a girl go against a wall and slam my hand against it. I always wanted to try it at least once.

"Yeah, there's one more I have in mind."

Luckily, Penemue is closer to the wall, so this'll work out easily.

"Hmmm… Who would tha—"

Interrupting her, I approach and force her to back up

"Ehh??"

Penemue flustered, started to back up until she was against the wall.

Slam!

I slam my hand against the wall a bit too hard, and it shakes. Her eyes were wide now staring at straight ahead, I take this opportunity and grab her chin, forcing her to look at me. We stare at each other directly in the eyes

"I'm looking at her."

I inch our lips closer

"How about I start here with you?"

"Wha— Wai— Ehhh—??"

A panicked look engulfed Penemue. She turned red, not believing that I, a young male human, would be interested in her. She closed her eyes, waiting for it to happen.

"Pfft—"

I couldn't help but laugh as I stepped away from her. Feeling the presence in front of her move back, she finally opens her eyes. Only to see me grinning at her.

"You're not the only one that can tease people, Penemue-san."

I turn my back on her and start walking toward the conference room.

{[Smooth.]}

Both dragons comment.

{[Aye!]}

I hear them high five… Tail five?

"!!!!!!! You can't just do that, to a grown woman!!!"

She finally snaps and runs up to me, she catches up and started lightly smacking me with the documents she had. This continues on even when we walk into the conference room.

As the heads turn towards the door that I opened, they are greeted by the sight of me being smacked on the head with Penemue's documents.

"What happened?"

Azazel, a bit stunned, breaks the silence by asking the question that was on everyone's mind.

"Azazel! Do you see how cheeky this brat is?! HE! HE! TEASED ME BACK!"

Penemue started flailing her arms around, thankfully her grip was strong enough that the documents didn't start flying around.

"Okay?"

Azazel still confused looked towards me looking for answers since Penemue was still having a giant fit.

"She teased me as soon as I teleported to your office."

I shrug.

"I decided to tease her back with the famous kabedon technique."

I smirk as I remember the recent events.

"Pff— Hahahahaha seriously? An old hag like y—"

Smack!

Penemue instantly smacked Azazel hard with the documents she had when he called her the word hag, and the Leader of the Fallen smashed into the wall.

Holy crap, she must have used quite a bit of strength there. I was surprised by the force she used to hit Azazel, who was slightly imbued into the wall.

"I'M A MAIDEN AT HEART!"

She throws the documents at him and storms out the room.

Everyone just stared at the Fallen Angel as he awkwardly removed himself from the wall and picked up the paper on the ground.

"Ahem, let's uh, start this meeting then."

I walked over to the wall and repaired it using time magic. I had eyes on me, but Azazel decided it wasn't time for more questions. I made my way back to where I was standing, which was beside the Slash/Dog team.

"Alright, thank you for joining us today, Jin. Around a few months ago, we started getting reports of a mysterious creature showing up in a small town in Spain. A few of the human population started calling it a Críptica or Monstruo, which can be translated to Cryptid or Monster."

He scans the room to see a reaction, but no one did.

"Normally this would be dealt with quickly and quietly. We, the Fallen Angels, aren't the only ones who noticed this; Devils also saw the same reports being sent to them. We started sending our own to investigate, but none of ours ever came back, same with the devils."

He re-adjusts the papers and changes pages.

"So right now, we and the devils have a temporary truce and have requested the help of Jin, but I wanted to send you guys, Slash/Dog to provide backup."

He smirks at me.

"The devils will pay you handsomely, while we'll give you the usual."

He summons a projector and shows a drawing.

"This is what that cryptid apparently looks like, we had a few locals describe it. It has a body of a lion, wings like a griffon, tentacles of a squid coming out of its sides and as well as its backside, and finally has a face of an arachnid."

"So, we can assume that it can fly, have more ways to catch us thanks to its tentacles, and can produce webs. It probably possesses some kind of magic or power."

Tobio concludes.

"Right, I don't think it came to be naturally, maybe a human managed to create it through sheer dumb luck? Maybe even a human mage summoned it from God knows where."

Azazel begins to list the ways in which the Cryptid came into being.

"Or maybe the supernatural was responsible for it. Think about it, the number of fallen angels going rogue over the years has increased. Don't forget about stray devils too. If for some reason they decided to team up, then it could become a problem."

I tell them my thoughts.

"If they roped in human mages as well, then I don't know where this'll go to."

"Why do you think human mages would help them?"

Natsume fires a question at me.

"Rogue Fallen and Stray Devils will usually act on their emotions most of the time, using logic later. Especially with low-ranking ones, but human mages are the crafty type. I mean, human history already proved that with the number of asshats that came to be."

I shook my head.

"It's better to get this done as fast as possible to avoid any more lost lives. So, when do we leave?"

"Oh? You're worried about human lives?"

Azazel asks curiously.

"No, more so on the fact that if that thing feeds on human energy or mana then it'll just grow stronger over time. The ordinary human cannot defend against it, and those who are inexperienced with magic or who are killed by it will feed it even more. Let's not even include the supernatural because that'll just be giving it roided up energy."

I just looked at Azazel. Shouldn't this be his first thought? Maybe he's still out of it after being smacked so hard?

"Yeah, yeah, don't look at me like that, I already came to that conclusion a few weeks ago. Yeah, it'll be a problem in more ways than one. So go already."

He started to shoo us away, but before we could reply, he just left the room.

I turn to the Slash/Dog team.

"So, how do you guys go about getting to places?"

"Normally we get someone to teleport us, or we go by plane, but Azazel just left so…"

Tobio answers and then looks at Lavinia.

"I can't really teleport us anywhere if I don't know where the mission is supposed to be ~"

The female magician replies with a smile.

"Oh, right… I'll ask Azazel."

Tobio quickly left after the guy. He soon returns.

"It's in Molinaseca, Leon."

"Hmmm ~ that will take a little bit to prepare ~"

Lavinia answers her leader.

"Don't worry about it, I'll do it. Gather around me."

They stare at me for a moment. Not really wanting to argue they just follow what I say, Lavinia decided it was a prime opportunity to latch onto my arm. I glance at her for a second before snapping my fingers.

One moment we were in the meeting room in Grigori, the next, in Spain, Molinaseca, Leon.

"Damn, it's bright and hot here."

I comment, maybe it's just Lavinia? Maybe I'm just saying that on reflex?

Cúntóir: Answer: It is impos—

Thank you, Cúntóir, but you don't need to point that out. I retort.

Cúntóir: Answer: Hmph

Did she just 'Hmph' me?

"Wow ~ you're pretty fast with teleportation magic, huh? ~"

Lavinia was impressed, I also could see the rest staring wide-eyed at me.

"Not really the time to be amazed guys, we have to start. Let's split up."

I suggest to them and they agreed.

"I'll go alone and you guys—"

"No. I'm coming with you. More power in numbers."

Lavinia answers without her usual relaxed tone. That definitely put me through the loop just now.

"Yeah, I'll go with the both of you."

Natsume readily agrees.

"That'll leave Kouki and Shigune in my team then. Alright, let's go with that then."

Tobio points in a direction

"We'll check things out that way, and you guys go the opposite. Meet up in the town before the end of the day."

Everyone agreed and we split.

…

With Jin's Team

Jin Skyward

"We haven't seen each other lately, Jin, what have you been up to?"

Natsume asks as we start walking in our direction of exploration. She makes her way to my right side and walks beside me; Lavinia hasn't let go of my right arm since we teleported, so she's comfortable just hanging onto me.

"Oh, you know, the usual. Take requests, laze around at home, mess with magic a bit."

I answer her while teasingly pretending to intertwine my fingers with Lavinia's. When I glance at her, she starts pouting every time I do, which was amusing.

"Hmmm."

"Right, since we're going to be teammates, how about telling me a bit about your powers then? I'll start. I can do anything, alright, next."

I speed through my explanation, which causes the two ladies to give me weird looks.

"Anything? Well, you're definitely powerful, so I'll just take your word for it…"

Natsume trails off and summons something that lands on her shoulder.

"This is my Scared Gear… I don't know the name for it, but I named him Griffon. He's a hawk in this form, though."

The Sacred Gear starts nodding its head.

"That's quite rare, you have an independent avatar type Scared Gear… Could it be one of the 'Four Fiends' Sacred Gears? Your hawk looks awfully similar to a Qiongqi (Kyuuki)."

Now that I think about it, didn't Tobio name his Scared Gear Jin as well? That's a bit awkward.

"You're pretty knowledgeable, but yeah, he is, there are three of us on the team with the exception of Lavinia and Tobio. Shigune and Kouki both possess one of the Four Fiends. Hyousuke Koga is the last person to have the Four Fiends Sacred Gear. He's allied with Grigori, but we haven't seen him in a while."

Natsume fiddles with something, but eventually pulls out a gun.

"A gun?"

I ask, a bit surprised.

"A light gun actually, the guys at Grigori made it. It shoots out bullets made out of light. It's the same type that's used by the Exorcist of the church."

She twirls the gun around her fingers before putting it back.

"I'm next ~ I mainly use magic alongside my Scared Gear [Absolute Demise], it's also an independent type Sacred Gear, they look like ice dolls that are three meters in height. It's one of the Longinus just like Tobio's ~"

Hmmm, is she in love with Tobio? I can't really get a read on her…

[Feeling anxious Partner?]

{Someone's jealous.}

It feels like they switched roles just now. Maybe. I mean if she is I might as well give up… But… I glance at the girl again; her actions aren't really helping with that. Why is this stupidly complicated?

Cúntóir: Answer: Would you like to use—

No, I'm fine. I'll find out eventually. I decided not to use any abilities that would give me the answer immediately, for my own sanity. If she is, then fuck. If not, then great. But knowing my luck it'll be the former, ugh.

[What's with this defeatist attitude, Partner? You are the strongest being in this universe, heck maybe even the entire multiverse. Chin up.]

{Ddraig's right, you won't know the answer until it's out. So, assume the latter instead.}

I— Thanks, guys.

Cúntóir: Answer: You're welcome.

{[You didn't even help.]}

Both dragons deadpan. I was brought out of my thoughts and self-loathing when I feel Lavinia hug my arm tighter and intertwined our fingers together. She looks up at me and smiles.

"How about elaborating about being able to do 'anything' hmm? ~"

"Yeah, I'd like to know as well."

I sigh.

"Alright, keep this a secret from Vali for now, because he'll get even more annoying."

They both nod to my request and I summon the [Boosted Gear].

"T-That's!"

Natsume exclaims in surprise.

"The [Boosted Gear] ~ so you're the Red Dragon Emperor Vaa-kun's been looking for."

"Well, I already kicked his ass even without it. Ddraig also doesn't care for the rivalry anymore."

I look at the gauntlet and ask the Red Dragon. His mark appears on my right hand.

"Right?"

[Yeah, couldn't give a dragon's ass about it. Next time I meet with Albion I'll tell him he wins, take the W, I don't care.]

Ddraig half-heartedly dismisses his previous rivalry with Albion, to which the latter snorted too.

"Ara? I wonder what happened between the two of you for the famous Red Dragon of Domination to just throw away his very long rivalry ~"

Her head tilts, very intrigued by the sudden change in the dragon.

Ddraig snorts and the [Boosted Gear] disappears. He couldn't exactly tell them that he got a world-ending wake-up call just a few weeks ago.

Would they even believe that their world was once just fiction? Yeah, just imagine that and try not to have an existential crisis. The same could be said for his former rival, who also was wielded by Jin.

"Yeah… That was surprising. You have an even more powerful version of [Divide] while also possessing the [Boosted Gear], that's a powerful combo."

Natsume shakes her head in disbelief.

"Also, I don't believe what you said earlier, you probably did get a request from at least the devils or even the angels, right?"

Natsume resumes the previous conversation.

"Request? Well, I did get a request from heaven not too long ago."

A weird one, but I got to spend some time with Gabriel, so that's a win in my book.

"What was it? ~"

Even Lavinia was curious about it.

"A date with Gabriel."

I deadpan, which caused the two of them to stop and freeze.

"A d-date?"

Natsume repeats, still shell-shocked.

"Where did you take her?"

I felt Lavinia tighten her grip on me.

"Did she fall?"

I could almost see her smile after she said that. Woah, woah… Why the weird yandere vibes all of a sudden…?

"Yeah, a date, no she didn't fall, and I took her to Hawaii. It's a gorgeous place, same with the food and tourist spots."

We've been walking for quite a bit now, but I haven't sensed anything out of the ordinary, maybe it's further out? Cúntóir scan the area ahead of us.

Cúntóir: Answer: Scanning… Abnormal energies found, North-west 12 km.

Alright, I'll finish these conversations, and we'll pick up the pace.

"I gave her a dress and necklace as presents, fun day. But Michael was just a ball of anxiety because the only thing running through his head was her falling from grace."

I inform them of a shortened version of the whole thing. Both girls responded with 'hmms' and left it at that.

"I found some abnormal energy fluctuations North-west from here, it's around 12 kilometers away, let's pick up the pace."

I inform them, and we start a slow run which turned into a full-blown sprint. Lavinia took this time to force me to carry her bridal style. I didn't have any complaints about it, Natsume seemed annoyed though.

"How'd you find them so far away?"

Natsume breaks the silence as we near the area.

"I have a large range for one of my abilities."

She took what I said at face value and didn't ask any more questions.

It was a gruesome scene when we arrived at the site. Body parts, blood, organs, and bones were scattered everywhere. Both women had grim expressions on their faces.

A few trees were also knocked down, some missing three-quarters of themselves, and craters also littered the ground with small pools of blood and body parts in them.

Cúntóir.

Cúntóir: Answer: Scanning…15 total casualties, 9 normal humans, 2 human magicians, 2 devils, and 2 fallen angels.

"This is horrible."

Natsume puts her hand over her mouth and nose. The stench is also pretty disgusting.

I let Lavinia down, and she looks at the scene with a complicated expression

"Who would do such a thing?"

I walk towards the mess and look around.

"15 dead bodies in total. 6 of those involved were a part of the supernatural, while 9 of them were normal humans. 2 devils, 2 fallen, and 2 magicians."

I see two body parts that appear younger than the others.

"Looks like a baby was a victim, and probably a kid around the ages of 6 to 10. This feels like the work of the Cryptid mentioned by Azazel."

"The Cryptid? How are you sure?"

Natsume asks, still holding her hand over her mouth. I point towards a tree and a few body parts were dangling from strings of silky blood-soaked webs. One of them was the body of a child I had previously mentioned.

They both turned to where I was pointing, both became shocked, and Natsume finally lost her lunch. She proceeded to turn around and projectile vomit. Lavinia walked over to her friend and tried to comfort her by rubbing her back.

"More lives will be lost if that thing is left alive. Let's go."

I turn and put my hand out and stored EVERYTHING in my [Inventory]. They need proper burials and these can be used as evidence of whoever was responsible.

Once I put them all in my inventory, I put out my hand again to cleanse the place as well as clean it up. The blood that was once everywhere, including the tree trunks and leaves, disappeared. The trees became whole again, and the ground was restored.

Cúntóir: Answer: Living energies are located 3 km north.

Thank you.

"Looks like we might find out who's responsible for this sooner than I thought. Let's go, they're just north of here and only 3 kilometers away. I flash step to Natsume and give her a pill and towel. "This should help with your stomach and towel to get rid of that sweat."

Unknown to her, she had started to sweat not too soon after we arrived.

"Thank you."

She swallows the pill without the need for water and wiped herself down.

Glancing at Lavinia, she just gave me a thankful smile, and I replied with a nod.

"Let's go."

Together with Natsume and me, she now takes the mission seriously. Not that she didn't, but you know what I mean, she's a lot less relaxed.

It didn't take us long till we reach another empty clearing. We were greeted by 3 humanoids.

"Devils?"

Natsume glared at them, which caused them to look back at us and snarl.

"What the fuck are humans doing here?"

Devil 1 asks his fellow accomplices.

"Who gives a shit, they need to die. They probably saw the bloody mess that thing made from earlier."

Devil 2 answers his comrade.

"Sorry to say you humans won't live longer than today."

Devil 3 stops and stares at the two females.

"Well, we can always have a bit of fun before killing these two."

He licks his lips, the other two agreed, and they all started exuding killing intent and lust. I glare at the three.

"They're probably Stray devils. So, they won't be missed."

I cast enchantment magic on Natsume and Lavinia, they looked surprised for a moment but then smiled. I gave them a barrier, to which only High tier God Class and up beings can break, a buff to their attack power, speed, and some passive healing.

Devil 1 proceeded to attack Lavinia, Devil 2 pursued after Natsume, and Devil 3 and I had a stand-off. Quickly looking at all three Stray Devils' ranks… They're weak, absurdly weak. Middle to High-class in power. Those two won't have any problems then.

Natsume summons Griffon, and the hawk starts diving bombing the devil, but when he tries to block Griffon, it slices off his hand with its wings. He was only Middle-class in terms of power, both Griffon and Natsume are at the peak of Ultimate-class right now, and the gap was too large.

"SHIT! WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT BIRD?!"

He hisses as blood started gushing out of his hand, he tries running away, but Griffon sends out a strong wind attack and cuts both of his legs off. He couldn't even react on time.

Natsume orders Griffon to also cut off his arms, making said devil even more useless. She pulls out her light gun.

"This is what you get for looking down on me… And as well as for those innocent people."

She shoots the Stray Devil in the head with cold dead eyes before adding the last part.

The Devil with Lavinia didn't fare too well either, as soon as he launched himself at her, she immediately encased the devil in ice and watched him struggle.

"Who made the Cryptid?"

She asks him, no smile on her face anymore, just a cold and dead look.

Lavinia as she was that day was quite a sight. Her kind and caring nature was absent, and only a serious field agent was present.

"FUCK YOU SLUT! FUCK YOU!!!"

The devil roared, but the more he struggled, the more his bones started to break, and his flesh started to rip itself apart. Using magic was out of the question since he was much weaker than her.

"…I guess you won't be needing that then."

Lavinia muttered coldly while manipulating the ice the devil was trapped in. She made the ice near the devil's crotch into a large pointed object, the devil's eyes widen, but before he could say anything else it punctured— No, it literally blew a hole through where his genitals once were.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

The devil bellowed in utter pain. He kept on screaming louder and louder until, he also puked midway through, eventually passing out from blood loss. Quite jarring to see a hole where something of importance for men is supposed to be at.

[HOLY CRAP!]

{She's quite brutal.}

Both dragons comment suddenly. I also admit that was one brutal way of beating someone.

The devil who was in front of me just saw how both his comrades were basically manhandled and looked quite afraid now but tried not to show it too much

"Useless weak shits…"

He mumbled.

"Now for you—"

I cut him off by instantly appearing in front of him, grabbing him by the neck, and lifting him off the ground. He started to struggle and tried to claw my hand and arm, but he never once touched me.

Infinity, much like Gojo's ability, but works a lot differently. My infinity is quite a literal infinite space between myself and the devil. It stops whatever attack that comes my way, unlike Gojo's infinity that just slows things down, this wall of infinite is both an unstoppable force and an immovable object combined into one, it will never break nor bend to anything, except for one thing: be stronger than me, which is highly unlikely.

"Who made the Cryptid?"

I ask him and tighten my grip.

"F... Fuck you!!..."

He weakly replies.

"Are both Rogue Fallen and Stray Devils working together?"

The devil said nothing but tried his best to glare at me. Suddenly, a wicked smile formed on his mouth.

"I… Enjoyed… Seeing… Those kids get slau—"

Snap!

I snap the devil's neck. I don't need to hear that shit; I toss the dead corpse of the devil aside.

"These guys were useless. Let's hope Tobio and his team had more luck than us."

I walk over to the other two and look at Lavinia and the passed-out devil.

"That was... An impressive performance."

I comment, Natsume joined us and agreed with me.

"You were also brutal, you know."

"Ahahaha…"

Natsume tried to play it off as nothing, I didn't push for it, so I left it at that.

"They did threaten to r—pe us, after all, ~"

Lavinia latched back onto my arm again. She looks back to the devil

"What do we do with him?" she asks me.

"He's slowly dying, but let's keep him alive to bring back to Grigori, Ash Crow probably wants to interrogate him, as well as the devils."

I point to the devil and encase it in even stronger ice.

"That should keep him alive for a week."

We start walking away from the devil. Cúntóir mark this area and alert me if anyone approaches it.

Cúntóir: Answer: Understood.

Cúntóir Answer: Activating illusion magic. Concealing area.

Thanks.

"Let's go back to the town and wait for Tobio. But let's not rush back, we may find something else."

They readily agreed to my plan, and we start our trek back.

…

Third Person Point of View

With Tobio's group

Shigune Nanaderu has sighed for the 12th time today. This one being her 13th.

"Quit your whining! Nothing is going to change the fact that you're stuck with us!"

Kouki was irritated by the constant whining his teammate was expressing.

"Alright, alright, cool it Kouki."

Tobio tells his teammate, and Kouki just gives him a 'tch' in response.

'I should have responded more quickly to him. Now I'm stuck with these two.'

Shigune sighed again, but to herself.

"We've been walking for a while now, and nothing's out of the ordinary."

Tobio comments.

"HEY! CHICKENSHIT COME OUT!"

Kouki finally loses his temper and starts shouting.

"Kouki! Stop shouting or you'll attract unwanted visitors."

Tobio tried to reprimand his teammate, but he ignores him.

"Heh, your leader is right, boy."

An unknown voice speaks out. Alerted by this, all three of them jump back to one another and get into battle stances.

"At least you three will make this more interesting."

The assailant finally emerges from where they were hiding.

"Acacius?!"

Tobio exclaims in shock.

"Been a while, hasn't it, Tobio?"

The Fallen Angel Acacius greets the young man.

"You've certainly grown."

He eyes the boy up and down. Tobio grits his teeth, Acacius a former Fallen Angel that was close to Cadre in power, a few years ago he mysteriously disappeared along with a few not so notable fallen.

Tobio and the fallen had some history, he as well as other fallen taught Tobio many things about the supernatural when he was still new. Tobio was grateful to the man.

"Why? Why did you go rogue?!"

He asks with a hint of anger.

"War, I want to restart the war! It was so boring! How could Azazel be so content with peace? With how we pulled out first in the Great War, it was humiliating. I took up a certain someone on their proposal, and we're making steps towards it."

"So many liv—"

"I don't care, hell, I wanted to invite you to my side Tobio, I'm quite fond of you, so you get a choice."

He cuts Tobio off and makes him an offer.

"Join me now, and we can rule the world."

Tobio said nothing and brought out Gin, his Sacred Gear, [Canis Lykaon] an independent type Sacred Gear, and one of the 13 Longinus.

Gin appears to grow in size, turning from a small black dog to almost a large-sized wolf. Jin also summoned a sword onto its mouth and glared at the fallen. Tobio himself summoned a scythe and was ready to engage in combat.

Kouki and Shigune did the same, summoning both their independent type Sacred Gears. Kouki's Sacred Gear was that of a white cat named Byakusa, much like Natsume he didn't know its name, so he took the liberty of naming it. Byakusa hopped onto Kouki's shoulder and using its tail formed a spear around its Master's arm.

Shigune had summoned her Sacred Gear who was also an independent type, however, it was one of the most powerful out of the Four Fiends and hardest to control and master. But she has somehow managed to get control over it… Somewhat. She didn't know the name much like the rest and named the Poh, it was a small four-horned beast that wore a mask.

This Sacred Gear was powerful, as it was the incarnation of the Fiend of Gluttony, with this Poh possess a limitless appetite. This Scared Gear had the ability to devour anything in the world, including, demonic power, magical techniques, and the abilities of other Sacred Gears and Longinus. It even had the capabilities of eating concepts.

"Hmmph, this isn't the time yet Tobio. Let's meet again another time."

Acacius snapped his fingers and a swarm of Rogue Fallen descended upon them.

"Both of you engage! Don't let any of them go alive!"

Tobio ordered his teammates, instead of joining them he and his Sacred Gear dashed towards Acacius

"You're not getting away that easily, Acacius!!!"

Tobio roared. Gin joined his wielder and launched an attack at the fallen. But they both hit nothing.

"You can't let your emotions get to Tobio."

Acacius had dodged the attack and backed away, smirking at the two.

"As I said, it's not time yet."

This time the fallen had teleported away and Tobio couldn't sense him anymore.

"Fuck!"

Tobio cursed out of frustration. He and Gin quickly went back to his team and fought their way through the multitude of fallen angels.

Kouki was going wild, throwing out lighting attacks and piercing his enemies.

"OUT OF THE WAY YOU ROGUE FREAKS!!"

Kouki cackled as he enjoyed tearing through his enemies.

"M-Monst—"

The fallen couldn't finish his sentence as he was pierced through the head. Shigune was doing alright as she used and ordered Poh to devour the fallen and anything they threw at them.

However, Shigune had still a long way to go to fully master the Sacred Gear, as Poh seemingly only heard the orders 'Devour', 'Fallen Angel', and 'Attacks.' So, Poh did just that. It ate fallen angels, be it dead or alive, and any magical attacks sent their way.

The event didn't last too long once Tobio joined the fray with Gin. It only lasted a few more seconds, and it ended. Dead bodies of Fallen angels were everywhere, once the slaughter was done, Tobio devoured said bodies with darkness, and the battlefield was empty like nothing ever happened there.

"Tch, so weak."

Kouki commented, rubbed his Sacred Gear on the head, and de-summoned it.

Poh had stopped devouring things around it and Shigune picked it up

"Thank you, Poh."

She also de-summoned her Sacred Gear.

'I still need more time to train with him.'

Shigune thought as she looked at the devastation Poh created.

Tobio quickly de-summoned his Scythes, pet Gin for a bit, and did the same thing to him. He sighed and looked around.

"Let's just go back to town, it's getting late."

Frustrated but out of options, Tobio hopped that Jin's team had better luck with finding evidence on this whole thing.

…

A few hours later

Spain

Molinaseca, Leon

Jin Skyward

When we arrived in Molinaseca the little town was quite lively and welcomed us with open arms, well as tourists but still, it was a welcomed change. We noticed Tobio and his group hadn't arrived yet, so we took the liberty of checking the town out. We visited shops and ate some local foods, Cúntóir had already analyzed and saved the recipe for me, which I was thankful for.

We were waiting by the hotel a few hours later and Tobio and his group showed up.

"You guys seemed like you had it rough."

I comment as I looked at their disheveled clothing.

"Ugh, shut up and leave it."

Kouki said completely exhausted.

I shrugged and motioned them to follow me inside the hotel. We get to the reception

"Room for three, please. One for the two guys, three girls, and myself."

I point behind me as the receptionist smiled.

"Cash or credit?"

I hand her my credit card, and she swipes it. She gave me all three keys and gave brief instructions on where our rooms were. I turn around and hand the key to Tobio and the other to Natsume. We walk away from the receptionist to have a bit of privacy.

"Why three rooms?"

Tobio asked.

"I mean, it's better than being all crammed up together, right?"

I shrug and give them a reasonable enough answer.

"Aghhh, I don't care!"

Kouki grabs Tobio's arm. He didn't wait for Tobio to answer, and dragged the poor guy away.

"C'mon, I want to take a bath, eat and fall asleep!"

The girls and including the receptionist giggled at the scene.

"We'll get going then."

Natsume announces, and the girls leave.

I better look for my room too. I leave the reception and made my way through the building, I was just right behind the girls and funnily enough, their room was just across from mine. Tobio and Kouki's were at the end of the hallway, 6 doors down. How do I know this? Because I could still hear the guy half-heartedly arguing with Tobio about something.

I enter my room, and it had a giant bed, a giant window, and a few tables and a small TV. Well, it's in the countryside of Spain after all, can't expect them to shell out giant flat screens.

I hear Kouki drag Tobio out again, saying something about eating out, we also join them since we only had a few snacks here and there while we waited for them. We reached a restaurant and I paid for all of our meals, this for some reason made Kouki like me more. It really is true, a way into a man's heart is through his stomach.

He jokingly started referring to me as bro. I didn't really mind, so I let him be.

Eventually, the time slowly ticked to 9 p.mm at night, and we all agreed to just relax for the rest of the night. Tobio told my group he'd explain what happened tomorrow instead of tonight.

…

9:30 p.m.

Nighttime, Hotel

Jin Skyward

I made my way to the reception just to take a look at the streets at night, my window didn't give a clearer picture, so I decided to go down. To my surprise I see Tobio by the patio, he also spotted me and beckoned me to him. I did so, not wanting to be rude.

"What's up Tobio? Didn't think you'd be out here at this time of night."

I ask him as I lean against the railing.

"Just thinking about stuff. Especially with who my group met today."

He had a solemn look as he stares at the moon.

"But we can talk about that tomorrow."

He adds

"But first."

He takes a step back and bows.

"Woah, what's up with the bowing man?"

Why is Mr. Tobio bowing to me all of a sudden? He finally finishes bowing and straightens up.

"Thank you for reviving my Aunt Shuri. It was quite a shock to see her alive and well."

"Ahhhh, that, yeah, no worries, man. I did do it for Akeno so don't mind it."

I wave him off.

…

Flashback

Grigori

Third Person Point of View

Team Slash/Dog had come back from a relatively easy mission, they were all chatting it up and entering the conference room. But Tobio froze when he saw his supposed dead aunt alive and well. His team looked at their leader, puzzled as to why he froze.

"A-Aunt Shuri?!"

Tobio finally coming out of shock suddenly blurts out her name.

Shuri, Baraqiel, and Azazel turn their heads and see the group of field agents.

"Oh, hey, you're back. Did it work out okay?"

Azazel asks the team while flicking through documentation.

"Yeah, no problems, it was pretty easy."

Natsume replies for her leader.

"Good, good. Anyway, Tobio Ikuse, meet your recently revived Auntie."

Azazel makes a weird motion with his hands, only for Baraqiel to slap them away.

"Tch, spoilsport."

Azazel huffed like a child.

"Huh?! But how?!"

Tobio awkwardly stumbles towards her.

"You can thank Jin for that. That brat can apparently revive the dead without repercussions."

Azazel exasperatedly says while throwing his arms up into the air. The rest of the Slash/Dog team looked at the woman and Governor in shock.

"Another mysterious power from the middleman."

Comments Kouki. Shuri walks towards Tobio and hugs him

"You've really grown up, haven't you?"

She said, smiling at him. She looks at his team

"We have some catching up to do, you better introduce me to your friends!"

"I— Uh— Yesh, sure thing, Auntie."

"Pfft, yesh he says."

Kouki mocks Tobio with his slip-up, which earned giggles from the girls.

Flashback End

…

Jin Skyward

"No, reviving the dead is no joke, so thank you again."

Tobio is many things, stubborn being one of them. So, I just decided to accept his thanks and be done with it.

"That also ties into the next thing I want to say."

He pauses and breathes out again.

"The current head of the Himejima clan wants to meet up with you and personally thank you herself. Her name is Suzaku Himejima."

"Akeno did briefly mention her, she used to look after her for a short amount of time when she was younger. She's the head now, huh? I don't mind, I'm guessing she's not like the previous heads?"

"Yeah, she isn't."

Tobio stops talking again and looks back up at the moon, he looks like he's thinking about something.

"I've been with my teammates for a long time, we have a tight familial bond because of the things we've been through, the same thing can be said for Suzaku."

He sighs.

"Take care of all four of them, alright?"

"Four?"

Now it was my turn to be confused.

"I know Natsume, Shigune and Lavinia have romantic feelings for you, it's obvious from the way they're acting, I can also see you're not the type that's dense around women. I'm just saying to take care of them when the time comes."

He explains his thoughts.

"No, I mean I get what you mean, but I meant by four? There are only three females in your group, and I'm certainly not gay nor bi for Kouki."

I start backing up. He just gives me a blank stare

"I mean my cousin Suzaku. Stop acting like you didn't know what I meant!"

His mouth begins to twitch, and I laugh at him.

"I'm just messing with you man, yeah, leave them to me."

This time, both of us stare back at the moon

"So? How about yourself? Got someone you like?"

At least, I know now that Tobio doesn't have those feelings towards Lavinia or Suzaku. A sad smile appears on Tobios face.

"Yeah, I do, I love her. She's not here right now, though. Azazel has to do some tests on her, but I do visit her daily… Well, unfortunately with missions like this, I can't do that."

"Did you confess to her yet?"

I asked him bluntly; his type would take forever to do that.

"W-What?! Of course not! I don't even know if she feels the same way!"

He almost shouts at me, completely flustered.

"Alright Romeo, lay it out for me, tell me everything between you and her and I can probably give you an answer on that."

He gives me a weird look, still hesitant, but finally relents. He explains that they were childhood friends that have done almost everything together, the incident that happened to his school and classmates, and everything else revolving around that. He doesn't go into detail, but I more or less understand.

"Are you fucking kidding me?! That girl is head over heels for you man! Go confess to each other already!"

He looked shocked at my sudden outburst.

"B-But—"

"No buts, she clearly likes you, and you outright told me you like her. GO CONFESS YOUR FEELINGS WHEN WE GET BACK."

I lean in real close as I said those last words, the guy just stared at me shocked, but finally pushes me away.

"Fine… Fucking hell, dude, way too close."

He shook his head at how pushy their temporary teammate was.

"Good, now what the hell is Kouki doing?"

I ask him, suddenly changing topics.

"H-Huh? I— Well, he's just in our room playing games on his phone."

Tobio can't keep up with me, suddenly changing topics again.

Like that, a half an hour passes, but once it reached 10 p.m. he said he was going to go sleep and bid me farewell. I also bid him farewell and waited a minute before going back to my own room.

When I entered my room, I'm met with the three females of Slash/Dog just sitting on my bed chatting away. They turn to look at the entrance when I opened the door.

"Girls?"

Lavinia gets up off my bed and grabs my hand and leads me towards them, she forces me to sit down and snuggles close to me. This caused the other two to look at her unamused.

"So, what's up with the late-night rendezvous?"

"We just wanted to relax and talk with you for an hour before we go to sleep."

Natsume replies as she slowly rolls over to the other side and awkwardly tries copying Lavinia.

I couldn't help but chuckle at her attempts at… Seduction? Did that even qualify at this point? On reflex, I put my hand on her head and started petting her. Can't wait to see more of her attempts at this in the future. Unlike Akeno and Kuroka these girls wore a lot more modest pajamas to bed and not just underwear, well for now anyway.

"So, anything, in particular, you guys want to talk about?"

I feel a tug from Lavinia

"Your current harem? ~"

She asks which got the other two's attention.

"Yeah, actually, from earlier it sounds like you're getting yourself a harem."

I had stopped petting Natsume at this point, and she comes out of her stupor.

"Gabriel is part of it, from the sound of things."

"Er, well, only two of them have officially joined, I only went out with Gabriel due to a request. She's basically an airhead, you know."

I turn to Lavinia who also looks up at me, still unaware of her own charm.

"Like a certain someone I know."

I couldn't help but chuckle as she pouts after being called an airhead.

"Right, so, the ones who actually joined are Akeno Himejima and Kuroka."

"Himejima? Like Tobi's relatives? ~"

Lavinia asks upon recognizing the family name.

"Yeah, I did revive her mother and as well as help repair her relationship with her father. I guess… She fell for me after that."

"Oh yeah, you revived Shuri-san, didn't you? Tobio spoke with her for a few hours a few days back."

"Yeah, she's an interesting woman. She tried to turn Akeno against me when she found out Kuroka stays with me from time to time, it didn't work though and Akeno was a lot more accepting about the harem. The same thing can be said for Kuroka."

"W-What happened to her anyway?"

Shigune finally joins the conversation. I decided to tell them her entire story from start to finish. They all sported sad looks after hearing her story.

"Poor girl… Wait, can't you revive her mother? I don't think she'd like her dad being revived, though."

All three had an 'oh yeah' moment after Shigune suggested to me reviving Kuroka's mother.

"There are two drawbacks to my resurrection ability, one, I self-imposed on myself and the other, is the actual drawback."

I glance at each of them to check they're listening. I hold out one finger.

"Number one is the self-imposed drawback. If the soul or dead person does not want to be revived, even if said family members want them back, I will respect the dead one's wishes and not go through with it."

I add another finger.

"Number two, the actual drawback, reincarnation is a completely random process, it can take you a few seconds, days, months, years, or even more, before that process is complete. So, if that person's soul has already completed the cycle of reincarnation, then I can't bring them back."

"Since they would have already reincarnated, hell, I was lucky enough that Shuri hadn't completed her yet. Otherwise, it would be a different story right now."

I won't tell them that I kind of forced Shuri back to life without her input. However, she was more than happy to be resurrected, so it worked out for me. They all had a hopeful look on them. They definitely wanted to know if I could revive others. However, they chose not to say anything else about it.

After my explanation, the room fell into a brief silence. Soon, however, we start talking about mundane topics as well as Natsume and Shigune's awkward attempts at flirting. I would say we made some progress in all our relationships.

…

11:03 p.m.

Natsume takes her phone out and checks the time.

"Oh, we should go to bed, it's already 11 p.m."

She announces to the group, I do the same and agree.

"We still have a mission to complete tomorrow after all."

"Sounds like a good idea."

I try getting up to only find Lavinia sound asleep, still hugging me.

"I'll bring her back to your room."

I wryly smiled at this woman's carefree attitude.

"Thank you, we'd appreciate it."

Natsume shook her head as she couldn't believe her teammate could just fall asleep like that. Now that she thought about it, Lavinia had fallen silent for a few minutes before eleven had come.

Natsume and Shigune got up first, Shigune went out first and opened their door, Natsume stayed and held the door open for me. I picked Lavinia up and brought her to their room while thanking the both of them for helping with the doors.

"That's her bed."

Shigune points to the one in the corner by the door and I put Lavinia down onto it, I decided to tuck her in as well.

"Alright, well, good night to the both of you."

I tap Shigune on the shoulder and leave through the door, the door closes as no one was holding it. Natsume was still by my door, holding it.

"Thank you as well, Natsume."

I pat her on the head again, she blushed and finally left to go to their room.

[It's growing… I can feel the power!]

{Shut the fuck up and go to sleep.}

Cúntóir: Answer: Yes, shut up.

Ignoring the three, I shut the lights off and crawl into bed to get my own night of sleep.

…

????

"… Nnnn…"

Silent shuffling could be heard before they settled, and it became quiet again.

"… Hehe…"

…

Next morning

Jin Skyward

"…"

I could feel something or someone latched back on me. I turn back my head to see a familiar face, it's Lavinia

"She crawled back into my bed last night, huh?"

Cúntóir: Answer: Around 2:13 a.m. she opened your door and crawled into your bed. She was not perceived as a threat, so no action was needed.

I appreciate it then. What time is it? I didn't think Cúntóir could be that considerate.

Cúntóir: Answer: 5:22 a.m.

I still have time for more sleep then. Turning to the side where Lavinia was cuddling up to me, I took my other hand and placed it around her. I brought her closer to me as I kissed her on top of her head and fell back to sleep.

…

A few hours later.

Hotel, 8:30 a.m.

Third Person Point of View

Natsume and Shigune had woken up around 8:20 a.m. and had started to get ready for the day. They both noticed that Lavinia wasn't in her bed and concluded that she had just gotten up earlier than them, so they didn't think too deeply about it.

When they went to get breakfast, they didn't see her anywhere, so they doubled back and checked Jin's room.

When they tried his room's door, it was unlocked. Natsume definitely heard him lock it the night before, so her gut feeling about where her friend was right.

When they entered the room, they were greeted with a sight of the two of them cuddled up to one another sleeping soundly. Jin had wrapped his arms and body around Lavinia, sort of like protecting her. To add insult to injury, the woman had the audacity to wear only a shirt and underwear, meaning she was well aware of her actions!

"RENI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Natsume roared, most likely waking everyone up in the hotel, probably the entire street. Her sudden scream woke the two from their slumber.

…

Jin Skyward

"RENI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

A voice screamed; my eyes slowly opened only to be greeted by a very pissed off Natsume.

"Natsume? What's the matter?"

I called out to the girl who still hadn't taken her eyes off me… Me? No, she was looking beside me. Ah— She wasn't looking at me, but at Lavinia.

Now that it was morning, I could see what she was dressed in. A white shirt, that was unbuttoned, and what looked like frilly white panties. She certainly looked erotic.

"Mmm… Natsu? What's wrong?"

Lavinia asked, still drowsy from sleep. After asking the question and getting no reply, she looks around the room.

"Oh? I'm in Jin's room! ~ hehehe ~"

"Just get back to our room and get dressed!!"

Natsume stomped out the room, followed by a Shigune who had a conflicted smile on her.

"?"

Lavinia tilted her head to the side, not fully understanding the situation we were in.

I could hear Tobio talking to Natsume outside, but she shut it down and waited back in her room. Shigune apologized to their leader and went back with Natsume.

Lavinia deciding to ignore everything lays her head on my chest momentarily before looking up at me, closing her eyes while bringing our faces closer together and poking our noses against each other

"Good morning ~"

"..."

{[…]}

I've got to marry her. Yeah, that's my resolve as of now.

No, she's teasing me, isn't she? This woman knows her own charms! That's it, I'm not letting her have her way.

While I was speaking to myself, Lavinia had pulled away and was just staring at me, waiting for my reply. I look back at her and smile, I pull her back and give her a kiss on the forehead.

"Good morning."

"…"

Lavinia stared back at me in shock, she slowly covers her forehead with her hands and blushed.

I— I may have been wrong about my assumptions.

"Er— Lavi—"

Before I could finish my sentence, she slowly but quickly left the room, still covering her forehead.

"Did I fuck up?"

Now unsure of my actions, I began to change clothes, almost in a daze.

Cúntóir: Answer: Lavinia Reni's heart rate increased once she was kissed.

[NICE GOING PARTNER, YOU CASANOVA YO—]

{SHUT UP ALREADY, WE GET IT.}

…

Breakfast

Jin Skyward

I sat with the rest of the Slash/Dog team as we ate breakfast together. Lavinia hasn't made eye contact with me since the incident, and the other two have been whispering to each other and giving me side glances.

"Ahem, so I'd like to talk about what happened yesterday to my team. I'd also like an explanation on your part."

He announces to the table.

"Yesterday we met a fallen angel name Acacius, he was a former Fallen Angel who had a high enough rank in Grigori but completely disappeared a few years ago and was officially recognized as a rogue."

He pauses to gauge our reaction, not much of one…

"He's plotting with someone to restart the Great War between the three factions. I believe he's responsible for the creation of the Cryptid that's been spotted around this town."

"That fucker's strong, he avoided Tobi and Gin's attacks easily."

Kouki adds.

"Gin? Who's Gin?"

I had never heard of the name Gin before, so I asked the group.

"Oh, I didn't tell you, but he's my Sacred Gear, [Canis Lykaon], it's an independent type Sacred Gear and one of the 13 Longinus."

He explains to me and proceeds to bring out Gin and start petting him.

"Ah, I see."

Looks like I won't need to worry about our names being mistaken then.

"Anyway, his power is close to or is above the power of a Cadre Class Fallen Angel. If you come across him, exercise caution."

He warns us, and the team nods.

"He didn't explain anything, but that's all we got. How about your end?"

I look over to Natsume and the girls, who still have the same reaction, so I decide to speak up about it.

"We saw a pretty gruesome scene, 15 dead, 9 normal human and the rest part of the supernatural, 2 mages, 2 devils and 2 fallen. I believe it was the work of the Cryptid."

I also tell him that the description Azazel mentioned may be accurate because of the webs we saw.

"We also came across Devils, but they didn't give relevant information, except that one of them might have alluded to them having a hand at making the Cryptid."

"Two were killed by Natsume and I. Lavinia's devil is alive, and I encased him in ice, so he wouldn't die as he bled out."

"We'll bring him back to Grigori then, get Azazel and someone from the devils to deal with him."

Tobio adds, and I nod.

"Since we know they're definitely here, we should start looking for the Cryptid and their base. Whoever finds who, deal with them with caution, alright?"

Everyone agreed and we set off for the day. We split up in the same groups as yesterday.

…

With Jin's group

Jin Skyward

"Alright, let's teleport to where we last left off yesterday, gather around."

I order both Natsume and Lavinia, and they co-operate, but Lavinia stood beside Natsume still avoiding me. I'll leave her alone for now and focus on the mission.

Cúntóir scan the area for the Cryptid. I want to get this done today and go home.

Cúntóir: Answer: Scanning area, abnormal energy spotted, North-west 20 km away.

"Let's head North-west, I felt abnormal amounts of energy from that direction. It's about 20 kilometers away."

I glance at them before taking off.

"Wait, wha— Wait up, Jin!"

Natsume shouted, a bit stunned at my sudden shift in tone.

"Ahhh geez, c'mon Reni we need to catch up."

Natsume told her teammate and proceeded to play catch up with me. Lavinia was also a bit stunned at the sudden change in tone, but pushed that aside to complete this mission first.

"Jin! Jin! Slow down!"

Natsume shouted. Finally heeding to her request, I slow down.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

She panted heavily while glaring at me.

"Sorry, I want to get this done today."

I look at them, I could see that they were annoyed but didn't push it.

"By the way Lavinia I was wondering if you were free tomorrow? I have something plan—"

"I'll go!"

She answers before I could finish my sentence. Natsume just gave her friend a blank stare.

"Alright, well, we still have a way to go so"

I pick them both up as Lavinia squeals and Natsume looked stunned.

"Eep!!!"

"Wha—"

"We have to get this done double time."

With that, I increased my speed, and we blitz through the forest and reached a small lake, the area was surrounded by trees, this place was well concealed and only those who ventured out would really find this spot. It almost feels like an Oasis of sorts.

But we can fully see the Cryptid now, I put both women down and they both get ready. Checking it out, it was in the middle of Ultimate-class.

"Both of you be careful, that thing's at least Ultimate Class in power."

I warned the two and they both gave me a curt nod.

"This is a good opportunity, I'll provide support, you guys can deal with it."

They look back at me questioningly, and I explain myself.

"While I do want to get this done fast, this will provide good training for the both of you. Real-life experience from a battle that you can lose in your life can help individuals grow stronger faster."

They both glanced at each other and nod, deciding not to argue with their teammate. I cast the same buff I did as yesterday, but slightly weaker and without the shield. I'll step in if I see the situation going bad for them. I cast a barrier around the area as the Cryptid roared. It charged at all of us.

…

Third Person Point of View

With Jin's Group

Jin jumped away from the group, Lavinia flickered to the left and Natsume jumped to the right.

The pair could feel a boost in their overall physical power and felt a little more confident.

"Here we go, Griffon!"

Natsume called out to her Sacred Gear, and the hawk appeared out of thin air and started to send wind attacks towards the Cryptid. The beast stopped them with its tentacles, it made small cuts, but they were deep enough, and they started to heal.

Lavinia activated her Sacred Gear Absolute Demise and the ice doll materialized beside the female magician; it also took the form of a woman in a dress. Without her input, the ice doll begins sending out large chunks of ice towards the Cryptid, damaging and piercing its body.

Lavinia and the doll both use ice to completely freeze the ground, making it unable to move. Regardless, the creature started to struggle, taking this as a chance, Natsume brings out her Light gun and starts to shoot light bullets towards the creature's face. She hits her mark and blinds one of its eyes, but to her horror the eye she shot instantly healed.

This enraged the monster, and it starts lashing out without a care as to who it hit. It also started spitting out venom from its mouth and webs from its backside, while the tentacles on its side starts to flail around widely. It almost seemed like a cornered animal lashing out in a last-ditch effort to survive.

"Let's do it, Griffon!"

Natsume announces, I could feel her feed Griffon more of her mana, as she did Griffon was suddenly enveloped in a bright light. Once that died down the small hawk had transformed into its True Form, with its upper body now that of a falcon and lower bottom a lion, its wings also increased in size, and the Sacred Gear also increased in size considerably. Much like the legendary Griffons of legend. Griffon let out a shriek.

Natsume hoped on Griffon's back, and they took flight. Griffon immediately starts sending out blades made of wind towards the Cryptid that was still trapped, with its new form and power it was easily able to slice off the tentacles that the monster had

Jin decided to help, slowing down the creature's regeneration by a large margin. Instead of all tentacles almost instantly regenerating, it could only slowly regenerate one tentacle at a time. Both females noticing this concludes it was thanks to Jin, and they proceeded to attack it even more.

Natsume starts aiming at the creatures' eyes once more, followed up by more wind blades from Griffon, this combo completely blinds the Cryptid. Since it was busy regenerating its lost tentacles, it can't regenerate its eyes, so it had to choose. Sight or its slimy limbs?

Neither woman gave it time to choose, though, Lavinia with her Ice doll kept relentlessly attacking it with ice attacks. The Cryptid started to shoot its webs in the direction of Griffon and Natsume, Lavinia switching elements destroys those webs with fire before it reaches her teammates.

The relentless attacks started to show that it was affecting the Cryptid, as it had slowed down significantly with its movement and flailing.

"I suggest you finish it with a combo"

Jin quips in.

"A combo?"

Both women look at each other and nod. Natsume lands near Lavinia with Griffon.

Jin decided to help again and restrains the Cryptid with a binding ability, chains appear from the ground and pierce the underside of the Cryptid and seal it in place.

Griffon started channeling its wielders' mana, Natsume also aimed at it with the Light gun, she also fed a bit more mana to the gun, so it would fire a slightly stronger light bullet. Lavinia ordered the Ice doll to create a large ice attack, and she herself condensed some fire magic into a ball, slowly making it bigger.

Once they were all done charging their attacks, they heard Jin walk beside them

"You guys ready?"

Griffon grunted and the two girls nodded.

"Alright, let it have it!"

The attacks left each of them and traveled towards the Cryptid, before all attacks hit the monster Jin manipulated them to combine it into one single attack, this caused the attack to become much larger and stronger. Wind, Fire, Light, and Ice combined into a single point, and a huge explosion occurred once it made contact with the beast.

Booooom!!!!!

…

Jin Skyward

The explosion was quite large as it threatened to break through the barrier I had placed.

I watch as the combined attack blew apart the Cryptid, blood, guts, and body parts flew everywhere, safe to say that the attack was successful.

I notice that Lavinia quickly dismissed her Sacred Gear. I raised a brow, and she sees me, she just gave me an uneasy smile and looked away. 'Is she afraid of her Sacred Gear?' it does seem like it.

"Well done guys."

I congratulate them, I turn to Griffon

"Looking good there bud."

To which the Sacred Gear snorted and shrieked before transforming back into its smaller hawk form and disappearing.

Cúntóir put every part of the Cryptid into my [Inventory].

Cúntóir: Answer: Processing… Storing all the body parts of the Cryptid into your [Inventory].

Cúntóir: Answer: Complete.

"Well then, I guess we're done here."

I stare at the area of the battle… Yeah, it's a mess. I should fix that, I also decide to fix the area before we leave, otherwise whoever finds this place would have a heart attack.

"Okay, now we're done here."

That earned a chuckle from both girls.

"Ahhh, I wanna go home…"

Natsume complained. I put a hand on her head and start patting her.

"You did well out there."

I praised her, and she just turned around and blushed, I couldn't quite hear what she mumbled. Natsume also started to walk faster to get away from my hand. That reaction from a simple head pat, it'll take a while to get to other bases…

I turn my attention to Lavinia.

"If you have anything you want to share, feel free to talk to me."

She doesn't answer me and just looks down at the ground. I take this opportunity to hold her hand and intertwine our fingers. I also lean in closer to her.

"Anything at all, alright?"

She nods and blushes while tightening her hold on my hand.

I wonder how Tobio's group is handling it on their end.

…

Third Person Point of View

With Tobio's Group

"This is it, huh?"

Kouki asks the group.

"Looks like it."

Shigune answers him.

Tobio's group had found what looked like a base of operations inside a mountain. It was around 40 kilometers away from where they had confronted Acacius with his merry men of rogue fallen. They've had to go through rogue fallen to get down this far into the mountain.

"How long is this going to bloody take?"

Kouki was getting irate, but no one could really blame the guy, they'd been going down this cave for an hour straight.

Finally, their trek ended. The three hear a sigh.

"I told you Tobio that it was too early for this."

The voice had belonged to the same fallen they encountered yesterday.

"Acacius!"

Tobio called out the fallen's name like a broken record.

"Yes, yes, it is I, Acacius. Did you miss me?"

He asked the three humans sarcastically while looking at them bored.

"Stand done, and we'll bring you back to Grigori peacefully."

Tobio told the fallen.

"HAHAHAHA! You learned to tell jokes, Tobi? You really did grow up after I left."

The Fallen had started cackling to himself, thinking Tobio had gone insane.

"But you're still too green."

He snapped his fingers and more rogue fallen and some stray devils, as well as human magicians, appeared out of nowhere.

"I'll take on Acacius, you two engage the rest, got it?"

Tobio informed his team calmly, and they both nodded.

"Okay, good, go!"

All three of them disappeared from where they were standing.

Tobio and Gin arrived in front of Acacius again

"Round two, Acacius."

Gin didn't waste time and transformed into its larger form with a sword in its mouth. Tobio summoned his Scythe.

"I told you Tobio, you're still too green."

As Acacius launched a barrage of light spears at Tobio and Gin, both of them jumped away from the initial attack and started dodging them.

"What's the matter? Can't get to—"

Slash!

"Arghhhhhh!!"

Acacius howled in pain after his right arm was cut into pieces. Tobio and Gin disappeared from their spot and appeared behind Acacius the next second.

"No, Acacius, you're the one who's still green."

Tobio stared down at his former friend and mentor as shadows danced and crawled along Tobio's body.

"During your absence I and along with my team grew stronger, did you know I'm one of the few who can force Vali to enter his [Juggernaut drive] state?"

When Acacius heard Tobio announce that he couldn't believe it!

"You're bluffing! No one is sane enough to push the White Dragon Emperor into that state and live to tell the tale!"

Tobio said nothing and stared down emotionlessly at the fallen angel.

"DON'T FUCK WITH ME, HUMAN! DON'T GET COCKY JUST BECAUSE YOU SLICED MY ARM!"

Acacius summoned a black snake and let it bite him.

Boom!

A sudden burst of power came out of Acacius and the fallen stood up and started laughing. "Hahahaha… With this power, I can do anything!"

He announces maniacally. Acacius burst forward and summon a light sword, he started hacking and slashing at Tobio and Gin, but both easily deflected and parried his attacks.

Sensing his attacks weren't doing anything, Acacius summon thousands of light spears and rained them down on the two, and he also continued to attack them with his light sword.

Tobio looked at Gin, and they nod at each other. What happened next stunned Acacius, Gin the Sacred Gear shrunk down in size and started deflecting the light spears that were going to hit Tobio, while Tobio himself concentrated on fighting Acacius.

'Could he always do this?! Impossible!'

He couldn't believe the trust and teamwork the both of them showed. This distracted Acacius enough that Tobio cut off his other arm as well.

"FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Acacius roared as he started to bleed even more.

"Even with whatever that was that boosted your power, you're still weaker than I. How does that make you feel?"

"Heheheh… HAHAHAHAHAHA! Even if you kill me now, my comrade can still proceed with restarting the Great War without me!"

Seeing that he couldn't win, Acacius resigned to his fate.

"No, I won't kill you. Azazel needs to squeeze out the info from you, after all."

"Yeah, I guessed as much… But that's not happening."

He said with a final grin and bit into something.

Booooom!!!

The entire mountain range shook and everything started to collapse around them.

"Hahahahahah, in the end, I WIN, TOBIO!!!"

Acacius announced as the rocks and bits of debris above the fallen started to slowly crush him to death. Tobio was about to run towards the man but was stopped by a hand, and it belongs to Kouki.

"We need to leave, now!"

With his Sacred Gear on his shoulder and it was producing a spear with its tail, Kouki started running towards the hole they came from.

"Poh devour the rocks and anything that's following above us."

Shigune told her Sacred Gear, and with that Poh started eating EVERYTHING that fell towards them

'Not what I meant, but good enough!'

Tobio looked back and grit his teeth, he failed. He couldn't even grab a single piece of paper or anything for evidence. He couldn't go back and just kept on running forward out the tunnel, Gin also helped by slashing at anything that came Tobio's way.

Tobio and his group eventually got out of the cave as it finally completely collapses in of itself.

…

"Shit! I couldn't even grab a single piece of paper, what the hell do we give to Azazel and the Devils as evidence?!"

Frustrated, Tobio punches a tree they pass by, and it falls over.

"C'mon, Captain, calm down."

Kouki told him while looking at him in concern.

"How can I—"

When Tobio looked up, he saw two of his teammates holding up a piece of paper each.

"It may not be much, but it should be enough, I looked through it and there's some convincing evidence that it wasn't the fallen or devils, but just a bunch of strays with magicians that went rogue too."

Shigune adds as Kouki nods along. The anger Tobio felt started to subside.

"You guys…"

"Alright, no mushy shit, let's go! Jin and his group should have had found some shit too."

Kouki says, hoping to brighten up the angry leader.

…

With Jin's Group

Third Person Point of View

"Yeah, they should be done soo—"

Jin was interrupted as a large explosion happened in the distance.

Boooooom!!!

"Did the mountain range just explode?!"

Natsume shouts in surprise as she sees explosions go across the mountains.

"We can ask them directly, let's move it."

Not waiting for an answer, Jin grabs Natsume's hand and starts teleporting short distances to shorten their time even more.

…

Jin Skyward

I finally feel the three of their energies and teleport directly in front of them.

"WHAT HAPPENED?!"

Natsume screams as soon as she sees them.

"WOAH!"

Tobio jumps back, surprised. He regains his composure and begins to speak, but I stop him.

"Save it for when we get back, we'll be repeating ourselves if we start talking now."

Tobio nods in understanding.

"Alright gather around."

They quickly did so, and I teleport us back to Grigori.

…

Grigori

When we teleported back, the Governor-General was already there waiting with Ajuka Beelzebub.

"At least we didn't need to call you."

I remark and he just smirks back at me.

"I figured you guys would show up today. So, I had us waiting here just in case."

Azazel waves off my remark and sits there ready.

"We meet again, Jin."

Ajuka greets me.

"Uh, yeah, hi there."

I nudge Tobio's group and so Shigune and Kouki walk over and place both papers in front of Azazel.

Azazel looks over one of the pieces of paper while he handed Ajuka the other, after a bit they swapped. They eventually look up and the fallen was the first to break the silence

"Was that all? Did you get any actual evidence like I don't know a tooth?"

He asked, a bit disappointed.

"Now wait, Azazel, you haven't heard their personal statements yet."

Ajuka reprimands him.

Tobio starts to recount their version of events, from the 1st day to just a few minutes ago. Apparently, a rogue fallen named Acacius orchestrated the whole thing.

"Acacius, huh? I never thought he'd stoop that low. I thought he was all in for peace, you know?"

Azazel shook his head, a bit disappointed with his former comrade.

"Did he mention any names or species on who his partner is?"

Tobio and his group shook their heads.

"Unfortunately, no he didn't, he was quite tight-lipped about the name."

Tobio answers him

That's definitely Kokabiel. But I never heard of Acacius, perhaps it's because of it being an alternate universe? It most likely is. More unknowns for me, that isn't comforting.

"It's fine, we still got time for them."

Azazel looks at me and beckons me to start my report.

Before I teleported us, I let go of both of Lavinia and Natsume's hands, so it wouldn't make it awkward for everyone.

"Well, to answer your previous question, I have the evidence of the Cryptid, but let's give you our statements first."

Once we were done, everyone had a grim look on them.

"Even the supernatural thinks killing kids is still fucked up, you know?"

Ash Crow showed a complicated expression and kept looking at the table in front of him.

"But from the sounds of it, it was mostly working on animal instincts and no intelligence from it.

"It seems like it. Please show us the beast's remains."

Ajuka adds, while looking disturbed, I never thought I'd see that man have that kind of face.

We'll need a bigger space… You know what? Fuck it. Do it Cúntóir.

Cúntóir: Answer: Placing all remains of the Cryptid.

Suddenly, all parts of the cryptid started to appear in the room. Tentacles, head, limbs, eyeballs, and the like.

"What the actual fuck?!"

Kouki jumped back at the gruesome crap being summoned around him.

"I won't get used to seeing this thing."

Natsume looks at the thing she killed earlier.

"Woah that's cool."

Azazel walks over to the head and picks it up.

"I also have the remains of the dead. Would you like the fallen angel bones?"

I ask him, and he just nodded, and I grabbed them from my Inventory. I turn to Ajuka "Same applies to the devils you know."

He also nodded, and I hand him the bones over to him.

"Alright, you guys can leave. I can call you in a few minutes, Jin."

Azazel dismisses us and we leave the Conference room.

"That's always so anticlimactic."

Natsume complains.

"I'm going to shower and sleep."

"Same, fuck this day."

Kouki agreed and dragged himself away.

"I'm going to train a bit."

Tobio announced and left while summoning Gin. That just left Lavinia, Shigune, and I. I feel a tug on my sleeve and see it's Shigune

"What are you going to do with the bones of the normal humans? What about the magicians?"

"I'm going to bury them, the mages seemed like they were new and just got fed to the Cryptid, so they were just made into mages as a sacrifice. You guys fought magicians, right? Did they say anything?"

I tell her my plan and ask a question. Shigune shook her head.

"No… They were willing to die for whatever cause they were fighting for."

"I see."

I didn't have anything else to say.

"Can I come with you when you decide to bury them?"

Shigune asks another question.

"Sure, I'll text or call you when I'm about to do it."

She smiled and nodded, she looked over at Lavinia and quietly left.

"Ji—"

"Jin, can we come here? We're done and Ajuka needs to tal— Am I interrupting something?"

Azazel pops his head out and calls for me, but notices that he just made an awkward atmosphere.

"No, it's nothing. I'll talk to you about it later, Jin, bye!"

Lavinia quickly leaves.

"Yeah, nice going, Ash Crow."

I deadpan and he scratched his cheek. I just walk back into the room. Ajuka looks at me and sees that I'm irritated, he looks back at Azazel

"You're just terrible at timing things."

The green Satan just shakes his head.

"I'm the one who called for you Jin, well actually it was Sirzechs, he has a request for you."

"The sis-con finally strikes."

Both of them look at me surprised.

"How do you know?"

"Akeno."

I told them.

"Anyway, where?"

"It's in the Gremory Estate, just teleport in front of the gate."

Ajuka hands over something to me

"This should help with entrance. But if not, Grayfia should be there to greet you."

"Alright, see ya round."

I waved bye to the two as I blink out of existence.

...

=========================

Fun fact: Acacius Origin and Meaning

The name Acacius is a boy's name of Greek, Latin, Ancient Languages/Civilizations origin meaning "thorny; or, innocent, not evil".

Acacius is a Latinized form of the Ancient Greek Akakios and can be interpreted to relate to the same root as the name Acacia, for the thorn bush, or Akakios which means "not evil." With the modern taste for ancient names that end in "us," this obscure but attractive choice may have a chance of new life. Acacius is the name of three early saints.

Chương 4: Chapter 4 - Part 1 - The Star of Destruction and The Ice Princess

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