Chương 94: Chapter 93: Clashes
Beta read by Shigiya.
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-Kuoh Academy-
"I've heard plenty about you in the last few days, extraordinary tales passed down from mouth to mouth, even reaching my elder brother, who was particularly impressed. Can't say I'm jealous; after all, it's only fitting for the one who defeated Riser Phenex himself to possess such a reputation. I wouldn't settle for anything less. Reminds me of the time when I fought the Glasya-Labolas heir in a Rating and emerged victorious, the fame that followed did not die down for weeks!"
I wished the guy would shut up; he'd been rambling for the past two hours without showing any signs of stopping. An ever-present grin etched on his face made me wonder how he hadn't experienced any cramp from straining his face for that long. Even I couldn't do it. Who was I kidding? The mere act of smiling like that was already a chore and a half, but this person just pushed it to a very uncomfortable extreme.
It made me miss his usual snarl.
"What the hell are you talking about? I don't know if you recall, but I'm not the one who defeated you; it was Rias during your Rating Game, remember? I wasn't even in the game the entirety of the match. All I did was give Rias a pep-talk…" I hoped this guy hadn't grown so delusional that he altered his very own memories of a rather recent event. Forgetting how he got obliterated with multiple waves of pure Destruction, slowly but surely getting his energy chipped away till he reached a point of no longer being able to regenerate, surely such an outcome would be a rather difficult memory to suppress.
He waved his hands dismissively, "Details, details. You overlook the fact that if it weren't for you, Rias wouldn't have won in the first place, you gave her that fire at the end. Even if your presence wasn't within the Rating Game, your voice still traveled through and acted as a major factor contributing to her boost. So technically, I was defeated because of you and not Rias."
"Talk about denial," being defeated by the red-headed devil couldn't be that bad for him, right? To completely deny her own victory and put me on the pedestal was odd. "Why don't you just admit it was Rias' action? I thought you looked down upon humans, and having another Devil from a noble family defeat you would be much more acceptable than a random nobody like me."
"A random nobody? Where? Be assured, being blind is not an aliment we Phenex suffer from due to our abilities."
Touché…
Also, does that mean tha Phenex tears can cure blindness? Should keep that in mind for another time.
"And, I do not see such a person with a matching description. Before me stands the great Black Dragon King, who has shown the potential to rival the very Satans themselves. It's a tragedy that I wasn't able to be present during the Kokabiel attack, the one and only Angel of the Stars."
Was it rude of me to contemplate murder? Hmm, I should have invested in an inventory of earplugs, extremely useful I'd say.
"But alas! My father forbade me to approach the three-faction meeting, and my dearest mother was worried about such an attack in the first place. Though it was merely a worry if I had known there would indeed be such an assault, then I would have stormed into the battlefield to protect the honor of us Devils! Not even a Cadre nor a measly White Dragon Emperor are capable of holding me back!"
I looked at my phone, this close to calling Vali and making him hear all of this. Strangely enough, his number still worked, making it rather weird that I could still make a phone call to a traitor turned terrorist. Though I doubted the man would actually answer my call… or he could, just to ask me for a fight. That unpredictable bastard.
"Furthermore! I would let everyone know the true fear of the fires of the Phoenix! The very fire that can scorch the land and sky! Of course, a dragon and a phoenix fighting side by side would be a perfect way to harmonize our power and recreate the legends themselves. You should feel honored Riser contemplated such a strategy with you in mind."
"..."
My eyes started to twitch, and my patience was running dry, making it very easy for irritation to take its place. His words and praise, despite being positive, sounded so disgusting to me that I wanted to vomit, along with his need to talk in the third person is aggravating. Being showered with so many compliments did not feel natural, and I rejected that. The last thing I wanted was for word to spread within the supernatural world, and for me to end up like some sort of celebrity. I couldn't bear the thought of that.
"All right, all right, enough of your fake praises. Tell me seriously, what's been going on with you lately?"
I observed the man hesitate; interesting. "That's the thing, Hikigaya Hachiman. Nothing has been going on for Riser lately, and this is unacceptable. That is why I have been dedicating my time every day to attending this school and socializing with some of the more beautiful women, but even that soon lost its luster." He explained, holding a strange amount of passion over such a matter. "You see, it all started when I was invited into a wonderful activity of admiring a woman's body by two gentlemen, Matilda and Mateo Gama or something. For some reason, the Kendo girls did not appreciate our actions."
Oh God, I was already massaging my temples as I heard him start the speech. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the two people referred to here were none other than Matsuda and Motohama.
'This is the worst thing that could have happened in this school, for Riser to become part of the Perverted Trio and turn them into the Perverted Quartet. Any more members, and they would have their own little club of sexual harassers.The man was getting too comfortable as the speech went on, starting to recount his life's biography at every given opportunity, and I rolled my eyes at many parts, wondering why I kept torturing myself by listening! Hah, I was too tired from having heard it hundreds of times already.
"Enough of that," I said, smacking my hand on the table, getting his full attention and hoping he would stop playing around. "The first thing I hear about you after the Rating Game is that you were secluded in your room for a couple of days. Next, you come to the school and then disappear from the Underworld public view this entire time. And now when you appear again, I suddenly have to deal with a group of girls who want to castrate you. Why is it impossible for you to just live a normal life? Isn't that what you wanted? This is not a normal life!"
Granted, I couldn't call my own life normal by any means either, but at least I acknowledged that fact and tried to work towards such a goal. But this man seemed to do the opposite, just inviting more trouble with his every action.
"I do wish to experience your way of living, Hachiman, but you misunderstand. I am still a Devil with dreams and aspirations. While I do want to experience what you have told me about, I will not throw away my identity as the heir of the Phoenix family. So rather than talking about these silly details which are of no importance to our current situation, let's first try to find a way to solve my problem. You're part of the service club after all, right?"
"I am the president of this club, you blonde moron," I said with a dry voice, feeling a headache coming on and wanting to take a long nap. Not even a nap, I just wanted to go to sleep and close my eyes with nothing on my mind but the sound of the wind outside and my own heartbeat. Who would have imagined that such a simple desire would become so unobtainable? I really envied my past self. "Just let them vent their frustration on you. Aren't you a phoenix? They can beat you up and cut your genitals, but it'll all heal in a matter of seconds anyway. There, problem solved."
When I said that, I could see the absolute look of pure horror on his face. But I really couldn't care about his opinion on the matter; he brought this upon himself and would suffer the consequences one way or the other. "How could you say such mean things to your rival and a fellow man?! I cannot just tarnish my reputation with such a thing and suffer such a horrible punishment. Granted it will grow back and they would have a lot to cut through, but it would still hurt! We need to come up with a better solution! Something that doesn't involve cutting my pride and joy or sullying my family's name."
"By 'we,' I guess you mean me while you stay behind and relax," I said, considering changing the services provided by the club to something that could only be done through monetary compensation. Given everything we did so far was for free, I was seriously starting to consider such an option to make dealing with this man's problem worth it. Or else, he would come back again in less than three days with the same problem.
"So, my rival, what do you propose?"
"First of all, I'm not your rival nor will I ever be. Second, answer me this," I said, getting curious about the reason behind his actions once again. "Why even try to flirt with the humans in this school? Last I remember, you had an entire harem of beautiful women who all loved you and pretty sure that you said that humans smell bad to you. And not to be rude to those studying here, but they aren't exactly up to par looks-wise compared to the girls around you. So why even try it in the first place?" Of course, there were exceptions to what I said; some girls, who were not associated with the Supernatural world, possessed great beauty akin to that of Rias and Akeno in my opinion. But they were fewer and far between, probably less than a handful for all I knew unless I was missing someone.
"Riser was bored," he said so casually as if it were an obvious answer that I should have known. "The scion from a prestigious noble family does not need complicated reasons to explain his actions. If there are beautiful flowers around me, I'll always be attracted to them and pick them up one by one. You can never have too many, my friend."
"Yes, you absolutely can have too many. Even your harem of fifteen is far too much for basically anyone to feasibly handle without making half of them feel left out and less important. Already, I am having a headache with just two people. How the hell do you expect anyone, or even yourself, to feasibly manage more than that?" Somehow, this concept worked in this world. I just couldn't see it happening in the world I came from; just imagining someone attempting to do so in Sobu High made me quiver in disgust, knowing they would get beaten by the girls before getting heavily judged and reprimanded by society itself. But for some reason, in this world, they were jealous and did not care to punish the boy in any way.
Once again, what a strange world this turned out to be.
"All right, since you are stubborn and won't leave my office anytime soon, I'll offer you this solution, though it's a long shot, so keep that in mind. First, and this is a major part, stop trying to flirt with any girl with a pulse!"
"—!?" The man physically quivered at my words, as if it was one of the most vile and insulting things I had ever said to him before. My eyes continued to twitch at his reactions, trying to not just throw him out of the window and pray that he wouldn't come to pester me again and again.
"You can't be serious. Do you seriously expect the heir of the Phoenix to not appreciate the beautiful flowers at the school and not pursue them? You know, I could always just alter their memories and try again."
Now that was crossing a line.
"Yes, I do, and I also hope that you'll behave a bit more responsibly in the future." This time I stared at the man right in the eyes, "Also, don't you dare go for altering people's memories for such a small thing — they are not your toys to play with. While I may turn a blind eye to what Rias did in the past to my parents once, I still despise that action and will hold you accountable if you do it. Don't use petty magic tricks like these to escape your problems. I thought you were a better person than this."
The best solution for such a scenario wasn't something grand like going on a mission, trying to change people's perspectives with magic, or embarking on a months-long campaign to reverse the outcome.
Riser seemed to half-heartedly agree with my words, not continuing the argument but silently going along with it, waiting for me to continue.
"And my plan isn't even that hard," I said, "just spend a couple of months focusing on your studies and other things. Try to find a hobby that doesn't involve flirting with other people. It could be something as simple as bird-watching, exercising, or playing games. Something to keep you distracted from your boredom and from trying to create another unnecessary harem. By doing this, the rumors and perceptions of the girls about you will change with time, you'll return to your normal everyday life, and I can continue living mine. As for those girls hunting you down, I'll handle it, just please don't approach them… ever."
"Is there truly no other way?" Riser asked, sounding like a man about to head to the gallows.
I scratched my chin, willing to at least try and come up with an answer. "I guess there is a way, but I honestly am not sure how to achieve it."
"I'm all ears, Hikigaya Hachiman," he said eagerly.
"Well, we just need someone to do something much worse and attract everyone's ire," I explained. "Basically, have the girls get furious at someone else and hate them much more than they hate you. Overshadow every one of your wrongdoings with something much… much worse that you look like a saint in comparison."
And oh boy it worried me how I already had so many ideas popping into my mind to create such an outcome.
"That's genius!" Riser shouted with an ominous glint in his eyes, which I did not like at all. Mimicking my prior actions he scratched his chin, "I have plenty of ideas about how we could achieve this. I could teach you my ways, how to reel in the women in a much more efficient way, you can do so with half of the girls and then reject all of them then I'll come in and swoop them from their feet with my gallant words and handsome face! It's the ultimate plan… "
He started spewing more of his nonsense, but I had had enough. Without even attempting to continue the conversation and wanting to let this man suffer the consequences of his actions for today and tomorrow at least, I got up from my chair while he didn't notice me leaving, still lost in his own little world. With my hands in my pockets, I walked straight out of the room. The guy once again failed to notice my departure, so I slowly closed the door behind me, surprised to find Aika, Xenovia, and Asia standing there, looking at me and waiting for an answer.
"What?" I asked, looking at them with a raised eyebrow.
Aika spoke up quickly, her words cutting through the tension. "Well, what do you mean by 'what'? We're curious about what you're planning to do with that guy in there! It's strange you didn't let us in on the conversation… do you perhaps swing the other way as well?"
"No! I just know the guy from some small things I dealt with in the past. Spoke to him privately because he tends to exaggerate his words and stories whenever there are girls around. So to get a clear cut picture, I needed all of the females away from him." Despite the way I explained the situation with a partial lie calmly, even Asia was able to figure out that this wasn't my best attempt at it.
I couldn't involve Aika with the Supernatural world because Riser was unable to keep his mouth shut — I didn't want to accidentally expose her to it, just like with Katase and Murayama. The girl had proven herself to be very perceptive, so I couldn't afford to take the risk.
"Is everything alright? You look tired," Asia said calmly, her voice tinged with concern as she pressed the back of her hand against my forehead to check my temperature. This sweet girl always prioritized others' well-being over her own. I sighed and appreciated the warmth of her care.
"It's not that I'm physically sick or anything like that. It's just that guy is a major headache to deal with… more so than last time. He's not worth our time, and any assistance we provide would likely be futile. So, I gave him some advice, and we'll see if he follows through. If he does, it means he's genuinely trying to seek help, and we'll be there to support him," I explained, receiving a nod from Asia and a smile in return.
"And if he doesn't?" asked Xenovia.
"Then we abandon ship and watch him face the consequences of his actions. Or get his little sister to set him straight. Either one."
"That's fine with me. Truth be told, it's quite amusing to see all those girls chasing him down like that. Even if they tried to castrate him, there wouldn't be much to work with, unlike you big guy." Aika added with a mischievous grin while making a camera lens with her fingers at me. I rolled my eyes and chuckled, realizing I had forgotten about her power and her habit of sizing up men's private areas in such a blunt manner.
"Well, I have to go for today. We still have some things to discuss with Rias, don't we?" My attention turned to both Asia and Xenovia. The fact that Gabriel hadn't returned to Heaven raised many questions, making me wonder if she came here for reasons beyond facing off against Kokabiel's armies. "If this idiot tries to stir up more trouble, let me know, Aika,"
"You got it, boss!" she replied cheerfully.
{Break}
After parting ways with the bespectacled girl, the former non-turned-angel and I made our way toward the abandoned club room in silence. Surprisingly, the lack of conversation didn't create any awkward atmosphere; instead, the blonde smiled the entire time, appearing genuinely happy to be there. As for me, I felt a sense of comfort with her presence, almost like old times when Akeno was around, stirring up nostalgia for the past.
Xenovia on the other hand was naturally a quiet person on certain occasions, so it also did not feel out of place for her to stay quiet like this.
"..."
"Partner," Vritra muttered.
"Yeah, I see it," I murmured, my steps slowing as I gestured for Asia to halt alongside me. She glanced at me, her expression a mix of curiosity and concern, but I didn't divert my gaze from the figure standing by the abandoned building's door. As I advanced cautiously, an inexplicable sensation tingled at the edges of my consciousness, an unsettling feeling that pricked my skin and sent a shiver down my spine. Vritra, attuned to such nuances, must have felt it too, his presence resonating with an aura of unease.
"Hachi Kun?" Asia's voice broke through my thoughts, her tone laced with uncertainty.
I tore my gaze away from the figure, my mind racing with a myriad of questions.
"We have guests from the looks of it… strange ones at that." I remarked, my voice hushed with a tinge of warryness. A figure stood before us, draped in a billowing white cloak that obscured their features, the cloth that tightly hugged her body and further exemplifying her curves being the only indication that it was a woman. The general image of this person made everything a bit too weird for me and Xenovia also became vigilant.
"A Devil," I observed, the words tinged with certainty. The figure emanated the same aura as Kiba, Koneko, and Akeno to a certain extent. Faint but there, enough to indicate she wasn't a Fallen or even an Angel.
With a cautious step forward, I approached the mysterious figure, my movements deliberate as I sought to discern their intentions. Beside me, Asia remained silent while Xenovia made sure to keep pace, staying right next to me in case something happened.
As we drew closer, the figure remained motionless, their form shrouded in the ghostly glow of their cloak. Despite my proximity, I couldn't discern any facial features or glimpse their gaze.
"Oi, you're blocking our path. Could you please move aside?" I stated calmly, hoping to resolve the situation normally. However, the individual remained unresponsive, neither acknowledging my request nor making any attempt to step aside. As I approached closer, I couldn't shake the feeling of unease that enveloped me. 'Do you feel anything?' I spoke to Vritra, noting nothing peculiar with either the aura or intentions emanating from the figure before us.
'Aye, She's definitely a reincarnated devil, in my opinion, perhaps a peerage member of the person in Rias Gremory's office. Yet this is the first time I sensed something so… hollow? Perhaps that is one way to describe this feeling coming from this individual. It almost feels like there's no one there but a statue.'
Her lack of response did not help with such a comparison.
"You may not enter. Diodora-sama is in an important meeting with Rias-sama," the figure stated firmly, blocking our path with determination.
"Oh, so you can speak after all," I remarked, though in comparison to a certain someone… my reaction turned out to be quite a lot more pale in comparison.
"Are you an enemy?" Xenovia demanded, a sealed blade in hand, its great size held effortlessly by the blue-haired woman. "You have ten seconds to answer before I—ah!"
Her dry tone came to a halt as Asia next to her gave the former exorcist a soft punch with a cute frown on her face before she turned towards the woman with a blooming smile.
"Sorry about that. She just had a bad day. We're friends of Rias-san. I'm Asia Argento, this is Xenovia Quarta and this is Hikigaya Hachiman. There's no need to be wary of us, we always come over every day and Rias-san is expecting us." Asia introduced us, and I couldn't help but wonder if her communication skills had improved. In the past, she used to be somewhat shy and timid, but now she seemed more confident and stuttered less since her arrival from heaven.
Gabriel did a good job taking care of her.
Unfortunately, the woman remained stubborn and did not budge. "You may not enter. Diodora-sama is having an important meeting with Rias-sama," she repeated like a broken record, her tone devoid of emotion or fluctuation. While I didn't consider myself an expert, these small signs started to raise some alarms in my head about who this person could possibly be, making me even more wary about the individual inside the club room.
One of us even had enough of this person.
"Enough of this, I don't know who you think you are blocking our path or disrespecting him like that, but I'll show you the error of your ways even if I have to sma—oof!" I panicked, seeing the tape around the blade become loose showing the blue steel underneath, not willing to possibly cause a political mess. I grabbed the wannabe knight's collar and pulled her back as she let out a small yelp.
"Fine, we'll leave," I responded, surprising both Asia and Xenovia, who expected me to put up a more stubborn front. Without letting them ask any more questions, I pulled her along, leading us out of sight behind a tree trunk a few dozen meters away. "Strange indeed," I mused.
"There was no need to walk away from such a person. With enough show of force, she would have consented to passage!" Xenovia exclaimed, ready to use force if necessary by bringing out her sealed holy sword. I shook my head.
"You're too hot-headed, idiot. Sometimes it's better to just take a step back and think about the situation carefully."
"So you're just going to walk away?" She questioned, still very much displeased by my decision to drag her away.
Not that I care what she thought of it.
"No," I answered, making a small detour and continuing our walk until we reached the back of the school building. I pointed to the window upstairs where Rias's office was. "Taking a step back and retreating does not mean giving up. You just need to find a more creative way in." Without further explanation, my draconic wings emerged, and I lifted Xenovia with my hands like a sack of potatoes, not giving her time to complain.
"Are you not coming? You should be able to use your wings, it's a clear spot, and no one will see you flying." I asked Asia, who remained on the ground, pouting. She shook her head and raised both of her arms, throwing glances at Xenovia on my shoulders and back at me. It took me a second to comprehend what she was trying to say before giving the girl a look of disbelief. "What are you, a kid?"
Refusing to budge, Asia's actions made me realize that perhaps staying with Gabriel had not made her completely mature, but had also reinforced some of her more childish traits. Sighing inwardly, I gave in to her request, lifting her onto my shoulders and carefully rising towards the second floor. "Seriously, just flying up a couple of meters isn't that hard. Xenovia has a reason she's still human."
"Hehehehe, I know. It just feels nice to be carried around. The last time you did so was a long time ago that I don't even remember. Gabrielle-san would also fly me around like this, she liked it very much and said it made her feel nice," Asia chuckled, reminiscing about the past along with me. "I think the last time you carried me was when we first met."
"Really? That long ago? Time sure does fly by."
Most likely that woman chose to insist on doing so because she most likely loved to cuddle and hug her. Not that I could fault her for that, it suited her personality. I just sighed, reaching all the way to the window and getting a better look inside.
The sight I saw made my smile falter.
"I said I refuse! She's not even part of my peerage, and you're trying to do such a thing? Have you no shame?!"
Oh, sounded like something serious alright, it was rare to see Rias get angered like that and the cold look in Akeno's eyes was another bad indicator.
There in the room stood Rias, facing another man—a young boy who looked rather familiar to me, but I couldn't put my finger on where I had exactly met him. His docile appearance did not help in making my opinion of him any better given the reaction we had. Without wasting any time, I casually kicked the windows with enough restraint to not outright break them and arrived inside the room. "Alright, I could have just teleported here..." That thought crossed my mind as I found one of my symbols etched onto the corner of the floor. The strange interaction with that woman outside made me completely forget about this little detail.
"Hachi-kun!?" Safe to say, Rias was surprised by my arrival and jerked upwards like a cat, the boy in front of her also getting caught off guard by my appearance, but he did not show any change other than a minute flinch that was easily missable if I wasn't paying any attention.
'That smile of his reminds me of Kiba and…'
"Yo, Rias," I began, cutting straight to the chase. "I was going to use the front door, but someone—whom I can't even name—blocked the path and wouldn't let us enter. So, I opted for the window, though it wasn't the wisest choice considering I could have just teleported inside. Anyway, I see you have a guest. Have we met?"
"Ah, you must be Hachiman," the man spoke up. "I believe we did not necessarily meet in the past, you have most likely seen my big brother Ajuka Beelzebub. I'm his younger brother, Diodora Astaroth, heir to the Astaroth family, and a fan of yours you can say. It's a pleasure to meet you, and you as well, Asia Argento."
A cold chill spread across my skin, the sense of familiarity growing stronger along with my distaste for this person — everything that came out of his mouth sounded like a lie. Overly sweetened words made to fool someone but ended up making me sick, the similarities between him, Kiba, and Hayama Hayato growing by the second. Calling himself a fan or admirer did not feel genuine whatsoever, simple wordplay that I had experienced in the past.
Another detail that caught my attention was his focus. While he spoke to me, his attention was mostly on Asia next to me, and he didn't even bat an eye towards Xenovia nor even bother to greet her.
But I kept my composure.
"Ajuka? Ah right, I remember he had a brother. Nice to meet you too, I guess," I responded. Seeing him walk forward, intending to shake hands but obviously going for Asia first, I stepped forward and got in between them. Our hands met in a tight grasp, followed by his body freezing up for a second. The smile on his face died down while his eyes turned sharp for a moment—a telltale sign of his true feelings about both me and Xenovia.
This guy wasn't exactly good at disguising his emotions, wasn't he? Kiba was far better, fooling even me at times.
"What's this about peerage I heard just now?" I asked, sensing the man forcefully pull his hands away while making it look normal. My attention was on Rias and Akeno as both looked at each other with an uncomfortable expression. Seriously, what the hell was going on here?
Funnily enough, Diodora ended up answering in their stead. "It is but a small matter. For you see, I came here to meet a single person who captured my heart the moment I laid my eyes on her. I believe she deserves a place within my peerage where she'll grow into a magnificent figure one day, and I came today to ask Rias Gremory if she's willing to perform an exchange between our pieces."
At that moment, all of the joyful embers vanished in an instant. Despite having mentioned to Rias how I trusted her and came to accept certain aspects of the Devil world, the exchange of Evil Pieces who were already bonded to people like mere items felt very wrong to me. Trading slaves, that was what my past self called it and I still couldn't refute that statement.
"Koneko is not someone that can be handed over like this. She's not an item for… Satan's sake." I exclaimed, getting an energetic nod from Xenovia next to me as she glared back at Diodora. Even Riser never tried to make such a deal—
"I'm not after the Nekoushou." Diodora cut me off, an audible strain in his voice that resembled anger.
I tilted my head, then crossed my hands before huffing. "So what? Irina is on the same boat and you better not be talking about Akeno."
The man's eyes twitched, his smile growing dimmer as his ire towards me visibly grew. "I'm not talking about them you… you are mistaken." He was about to throw an insult at the end, wasn't he? Predictable indeed.
I noticed a weird change in Asia's face, her eyes widening as she seemed to recognize something.
The boy turned his head towards Asia, surprising both Xenovia and myself as he bowed his head down and extended a hand towards the stupefied blonde. "Dear Asia Argento, you are the star that has captured my heart. I came to the human world to take you into my peerage and I hope you can accept my love for you. From the day you saved my life, I couldn't stop thinking about you."
"..."
"..."
"E-Excuse-m-e?" Her stutter returned with a vengeance, the former nun not knowing how to react to such a sudden statement, distancing herself from the creepy man and hiding behind Xenovia.
"Hah?" I was speechless, completely thrown out of the loop and throwing Rias a stare that demanded an explanation.
The latter rolled her eyes, rubbing her temples. "Yes, as I was about to mention to Diodora here before you came through the window, Asia is actually not part of my Peerage… so even IF I accepted your deal it would have been impossible to make the trade."
"Ara Ara, looks like you've wasted your time in the human world after all," Akeno added while she was smiling her eyes were anything but calm, no different to a raging storm. I wondered if in her anger she didn't 'accidentally' end up poisoning the tea or something.
Diodora's eyes widened before a large grin etched on his face. "Ah, then you must still be a human! That is wonderful news! I still have one of my precious Bishop saved up just for you—"
"Asia, wings now." Upon my command, she shut the boy up instantly as pearly white wings of the finest feathers sprang from her back, an ethereal glow forming around her body as she turned into a figure one would see in a dream. The golden halo perfectly complemented her overall image.
For a moment, I thought Asia looked beautiful.
I looked back at the man with a dry expression, "Akeno was right, you wasted your time coming over here. Asia is part of the Angel Faction and has no plan of becoming a Devil any time soon. And something tells me you shouldn't try to go after Gabriel's only Brave saint, she might genuinely start a war."
It seemed that this revelation served as the final nail in the coffin for the boy to drop his act, the prior look completely vanishing and now showing pure hate directed at no one else in the room but me.
"You!" He pointed his fingers at my face, while I started to feel my eyes dry out from my lack of sleep catching up. "You did this! She wasn't supposed to be an Angel!!!!"
I resisted the urge to scoff at the creepy man raging like a brat who didn't get what he wanted, "Guilty as charged, I planned all of this from the beginning and purposefully created several elaborate plans that even your brother can't hope to achieve just to turn Asia into an angel." Sarcasm bled from my tone, only serving to worsen Diodora's mood.
'You missed something about his prior words, partner. Think carefully.' Vritra added.
Wait, now that his confession sunk in, I focused on one particular detail. "Saved you?" Wasn't the reason she was excommunicated in the first place because…
"YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!" Having dropped his polite act, Diodora's face turned progressively ugly with Rias shouting at him in the background to calm down. "YOU! I challenge you and this human into a fight! He who wins will take Asia!"
His words did not reach my ears, and the fact that he once again forgot that Asia was part of Gabriel's group and not mine did not show up in my thoughts.
I only focused on one fact.
This fucking bastard was the Devil who had Asia get excommunicated.
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The next 5 chapters of Snafu, and my other Fate fics (Fate Coiling Sword with 3 chapters, A Fake Familiar Reborn with 3 chapters, Steel Eyed Faker soon to be 3 chapters, Hound having 3 and To love a sword having 4 chapters) are already available on my P@treon. With 4 more Broly chapters at /NimtheWriter. Also, I post commissioned arts on each story, already posted a few on an Archer's Promise, Broly and Snafu.
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