Chương 69: A Moment of Reflection

"Azazel asked me to bring you back. You've caused more than enough trouble," said the white-armored figure, stepping on Kokabiel's chest and causing it to crunch audibly.

"Vali, you bastard! Get your foot off of me...!" growled Kokabiel, grabbing the white-armored figure's ankle.

"Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide...!" echoed a man's voice, ostensibly emanating from the blue crystals in the figure's armor as his translucent wings became more luminous, shedding motes of blue energy.

Appearing next to Vahn as if she had teleported, Grayfia, hands folded over her lap, dutifully revealed, "That is the White Dragon Emperor, the Red Dragon Emperor's counterpart. Rather than multiplying power like the Boosted Gear, the inheritor of the White Dragon Emperor's Sacred Gear is known as Divine Dividing. It allows the wielder to divide a target's power in half, adding it to their own."

"Sounds dangerous..." remarked Vahn, his expression and tone calm as a frigid sensation permeated his mind, courtesy of Will of the Emperor. The surprise attack from Kokabiel had triggered it in earnest, so his awareness and the range of his domain were on a different level than usual, providing what he could only describe as a feeling of omniscience.

"Hmm...?"

Directing his gaze to Vahn, the white-armored figure, Vali, narrowed his eyes behind his mask and remarked, "You must be Vahn Mason. Azazel greatly anticipates your meeting and apologizes for any inconveniences Kokabiel has caused you. This fool will be made to account for his actions, and you can rest assured that he will compensate you and the Houses of Gremory and Sitri at the earliest opportunity."

"You will be the one to pay for this treachery..." groaned Kokabiel, his power having decreased to the point he would struggle to defeat even an ordinary human.

"You talk too much," retorted Vali, making a finger gun with his right hand and unleashing a pulse of Demonic Power that shook Kokabiel's mind and knocked him unconscious. Then, picking the raven-haired Fallen up by his hair and tucking him under his left arm, Vali prepared to fly away before a deep, reverberating voice called out, "Are you ignoring me, White One...?"

Turning to face Issei or, more accurately, the crimson gauntlet on his left hand, a voice other than Vali's responded, "The time for our fated conflict has not yet arrived, Ddraig. Your possessor is too weak to offer mine even the semblance of a challenge."

"That may be," conceded Ddraig, causing Issei's brows to furrow before he added, "But you know well that the strength of a Red Dragon Emperor doesn't stem solely from themselves. When that fated day arrives, we will not be the only ones standing across from you."

"We look forward to it," responded Vali, his tone giving the impression he was smiling behind his faceplate as he glanced in Vahn's direction before turning away and ascending to the sky.

'I thought only humans could be born with Sacred Gears...' thought Vahn, narrowing his eyes before turning to Grayfia, compelling her to smile and ask, "Does Goshujin-sama require something of me?"

Following a contemplative pause, Vahn shook his head and responded, "We'll discuss it later. For now, we'll have everyone reconvene at the Old School Building. With Kokabiel out of the way, the Church should be able to handle the rest themselves..."

"A wise decision that allows the Church to save face without feeling too indebted to us..." affirmed Grayfia, nodding approvingly. Ordinarily, they would milk the situation as much as possible, but with a summit between the Three Factions on the horizon, permitting the Church some breathing room should help to ensure things remained peaceful.

"My thoughts exactly," confirmed Vahn, offering a slow nod of his own before turning his attention to Asia, rushing toward and nearly tackling him. Seeing him, Kiba, and Irina almost get nuked left her beside herself with worry, but it didn't take too long to reassure her that everything was okay, accompanied by the pervasive chill in his mind fading...

...

After informing their superiors of what had transpired, Xenovia and Irina turned over the severely injured Freed to a group of Priests but remained in Kuoh to continue their search for the remaining Excalibur fragments and prepare for the forthcoming summit. To facilitate this, they moved into the hotel room that once belonged to Vahn, treating it as a temporary base of operations as Kuoh's formerly Abandoned Church underwent repairs with approval from Sirzechs.

To thank the Occult Research Club for their help, Vahn, in particular, was offered the Excalibur recovered from Freed, but since he had chosen the path of the spear and thought the Excalibur, known as the Holy Sword of the Heavenly Flash, looked odd, he refused it. Instead, he requested that Asia be allowed to pray without suffering negative effects, surprising the Church representative who came to speak with them. In the end, all the Priest could do was promise to pass along the request, as it wasn't within the Church's power to influence such things.

Fortunately for Asia, it didn't even take a few hours before someone from the Church contacted them to confirm the request had been granted, not just for her but all Devils who wished to pray to God. News of this change sent ripples through the Three Factions, particularly the Underworld, but it would be a while longer before said ripples became a substantial wave. In the meantime, there was a more crucial matter to address: the fact that the White Dragon Emperor, Vali, was a descendent of the original Lucifer...

...

[June 15th, Saturday]

With a week passing in the blink of an eye, Vahn was relaxing in his room at the Old School Building with a faintly smoldering look, sitting backward atop a chair with his arms crossed as he watched Asia and Koneko play a game called Twister in animal-themed undergarments. The latter had the advantage of flexibility, but since her limbs were much shorter, Asia could reach places she couldn't.

kacha

Entering the room with a silver pushcart, Grayfia briefly glanced at the scantily clad duo before stopping near Vahn, presenting him a cup of tea as she playfully proposed, "Shall I join them...?"

"Mmm...maybe some other time..." responded Vahn, downing the cup's contents before returning it to Grayfia. Then, as she sat atop his left foot, transmitting heat, softness, and a hint of moisture through his sock, he let her have his left hand, her lips parting to suck his middle and ring fingers as she stared up at him with upturned silver eyes. This was her reward for saving him, Kiba, and Irina, so while it made a certain part of his body feel tight, Vahn bore the sensation of having his inexhaustible essence drained while focusing on Asia and Koneko, the duo staring at him intently as their bodies overlapped atop the Twister mat.

"Ara ara? Looks like I'm missing out on something fun~" hummed Akeno, entering Vahn's room with a droopy-eyed smile and her hands folded atop her lap, modeling her Kuoh Academy uniform.

"Oh, hey, Akeno," responded Vahn, adopting a broad, welcoming smile and causing Grayfia to narrow her eyes slightly as he asked, "Do you want to join them?"

"I'm more curious to know what you're just watching~" responded Akeno, making her way past Grayfia, grabbing Vahn's right hand, and guiding it to her left breast as she revealed, "Rias and Sona want to know if you would join them for lunch at the latter's villa."

"Of course. Please inform them that I would be happy to," affirmed Vahn, giving Akeno's breast a tentative squeeze and caressing it with his thumb.

"Then, off I go~" hummed Akeno, releasing Vahn's hand, winking at Asia and Koneko, and departing. Vahn felt like she could have stayed a while longer, but after following her with his gaze, he met Grayfia's, prompting her to resume draining his essence in earnest...

...

"We received a request from the Church to have Xenovia and Irina enroll in the Academy," revealed Sona, sitting straight and using a very specific fork and knife combo to cut a piece of steak.

"I'm surprised it took them a full week to make their move," appended Rias, sitting with her back just as straight as Sona's, compelling Vahn to exhibit proper posture and table manners himself.

"They likely wanted to make it appear as though they were taking their investigation into the missing Excalibur seriously, even though it's fairly obvious their priority is cementing their position in the city and forming amicable relations with Vahn..." contended Sona, directing her final few words at Vahn.

"Is getting along with the Church a bad thing...?" asked Vahn, raising his right brow.

"The Church isn't a particularly cohesive organization," explained Sona. "They have many conflicts of interest, and since humans are short-lived, their stance on various issues changes with the Pope. Reaching an accord with Heaven would be exceedingly beneficial, but the Church is a mess of geo and sociopolitical issues..."

"Not to mention that, due to their dogmatic teachings, they can't openly associate with Devils or Fallen without facing charges of corruption from their approximately two-billion faithful..." appended Rias.

"Two billion...that's a lot of people..." noted Vahn, feeling daunted as he tried to imagine such a large group within his mind.

"Fortunately, the Church of Necessarius that Executors Xenovia and Irina belong to has a long-standing history with both Devils and the Fallen due to their direct association with Heaven," stated Sona. "With that in mind, it is fairly safe to assume their enrollment was determined by the Archangel, Michael."

"I imagine Heaven is kicking themselves for allowing you to escape their influence so easily~" hummed Rias, finding the situation amusing and feeling a sense of appreciation toward Heaven as Vahn could have easily shifted the balance of power in their favor.

"Mmm...I'm not so sure about that..." remarked Vahn, raising his gaze to the high, hexagon-gridded ceiling as he contended, "If they had tried to force me to remain in Heaven, I would have resisted and probably come to resent them. Allowing me to descend to Earth, facilitating my meeting with all of you..."

Lowering his gaze, Vahn looked between Rias and Sona with the most sincere smile he could manage, asserting, "I feel more gratitude than I can express..."

Adopting a smile of her own, Sona nodded and confirmed, "It was a risky but ultimately wise decision on their part. Now, for the first time since the ceasefire, where everyone united to defeat the Heavenly Dragons, peace might finally be achieved between the Three Factions..."

"That said, what do you think of that Xenovia girl...?" asked Rias, pointing out, "From the information we obtained, she appears to be a rare, natural-born Holy Sword wielder. Now that the Church and Heaven know of your ability to emulate the traits of other species, including Angels, I anticipate she will be tasked to approach you."

"Mmm...she's definitely attractive..." conceded Vahn, staring at his food as he shook his head and asserted, "But I don't think our personalities match well. He might disagree vehemently, but once he settles down, I think she would make a better match for Kiba."

"She does exude a distinctly knightly aura..." remarked Rias, crossing her arms and closing her eyes.

"On the subject of children, I've been thinking about them a lot..." said Vahn, garnering the attention of the nearby Akeno and Tsubaki, not just Rias and Sona, as he inhaled deeply and explained, "I've come to realize there's a lot I still don't understand about myself and my own wants and needs. I still want to have kids, and I'm determined to solve the issue of the Underworld's population crisis, but I feel I need to understand myself better before becoming a father..."

"That's perfectly reasonable," affirmed Sona, nodding approvingly before meeting Rias's gaze with a smile and asking, "What do you think, Rias? I know you were pretty excited by the prospect of becoming a mother as soon as possible."

"You don't have to make me sound so desperate..." retorted Rias, adopting a faux, half-lidded pout. Then, as she had secretly been concerned that Vahn would have a veritable gaggle of children before it was her turn, she met his gaze, smiled sensually, and expressed, "Take as much time as you need, Vahn. Just know that when you're ready, I will be as well..."

"She's not the only one..." supplanted Sona, removing her glasses to clean them using Magic.

"You can count me in as well~" hummed Akeno, placing Tsubaki in quite a pickle as, while she was prepared to have Vahn's child, even the thought of admitting it was enough to make her stoic face flush crimson...

...