Kisuke sent the girls to his hideout after a few more adjustments. He already knew that the hideout was compromised, but after checking the logs and traces left, it turned out that only Serafall, Akeno, Irina, and Ophis had been there, so he figured that his place was still safe.
Thanks to his Vasto Lorde Form's increased regeneration, most of his wounds were already healed. However, he chose not to leave this form yet, because he was waiting until he'd be completely healed.
Once he was done checking everything, including Benihime's state, Kisuke went beside Ophis who was still munching away, and asked, "Can you please tell me what happened?"
Although her snack time was interrupted, Ophis still told the previous events to Kisuke from her point of view. Although her accounts were broken, Kisuke was able to understand the gist of what she went through, "So this Cao Cao guy stole your powers through using this Samael that Hades lent him? And a crazy Devil summoned a bunch of monsters before capturing you? And in response, Akeno and Irina followed him to save you, but were hit by this Samael's curse?"
Ophis nodded.
"Well, I still don't really get it, but I can understand that things are getting hectic. But one thing is for sure, since Hades is involved, it's only natural for me to make a mess of his plans." Kisuke then stood up and looked towards Ophis, "Wanna come with me?"
"...Where?"
"To the place where we can kick some ass."
Ophis stayed silent for a minute before replying, "But I need to defeat Great Red so that I can go home."
After hearing those words, Kisuke finally understood what Ophis really wanted. It was never about Great Red, but it was about the place where she could return to. He already had some inkling that this might be the case, but Kisuke kept pushing that possibility out of his mind because Ophis was a being of a different caliber from the rest. His complicated thinking made a biased decision, that it wasn't just that what Ophis wanted, but something bigger, 'So she's really just a little kid... I realized it too late.'
Patting her head, Kisuke said, "Don't you think that this place is such a dreary and empty home? Why don't you come with me? My place is also your home, and most importantly, we have cookies and doughnuts!"
Ophis's eyes widened as she muttered, "...Can I?"
"Of course! I already consider you as a resident of the Urahara Shop. Aside from that, you're a precious friend. If you don't have a home to return to, it's fine to consider my place as your home~."
Visible excitement emerged from Ophis's eyes as she said, "Let's go!"
'I should have done this before.' While thinking that, Kisuke replied, "But before that, let's go kick some ass!"
Ophis nodded in agreement. But when her vision passed by Kisuke's horns, a certain idea emerged from her immature mind. She went behind Kisuke and started climbing up his back. Kisuke didn't really know what she wanted to do, but he assisted her. Ophis then sat down on his shoulders and grabbed his horns before cheering, "Go, go!"
Chuckling, Kisuke took out his blade, the artificial Sacred Gear, where Benihime would be residing in the future, "Alright~! Let's go with a bang~!"
Confirming his mother's location, Kisuke created a hole to the area where she was at. But before he left, Kisuke faced Great Red and said, "Great Red-sama! Thanks for the ride and the help~! Until next time~!"
Then, he jumped without hesitation through the hole he'd created as Great Red roared in farewell. In it, was also his gratitude for giving the 'snake' a home. Although only Ophis understood this and didn't say anything.
Emerging from the sky, what came into Kisuke and Ophis's view was a partially destroyed Devil City and a 200-meter tall humanoid monster, "Whew~. That's one big fella and it doesn't look like it'll be easy to deal with."
Kisuke also saw Grayfia along with some other powerful Devils fighting it. However, no matter what kind of damage they dealt to it, it would regenerate to full health in a blink of an eye. What was worse was the fact that, as it walked, it left hundreds of smaller monsters who attacked everyone around it.
Since it was not really his job to deal with this creature, Kisuke ignored it and looked around again, confirming his mother's location, who was currently fighting some Devils. She was wearing a robe at this moment, combined with a mask that blocked her aura. A giant marionette's arm was currently emerging from her shadow, and that arm belonged to the ever so familiar Benihime.
Beside Sakura was a similarly robed and masked figure, Kisuke guessed that this was Cleria. Since they were safe for now, he looked around again and found another familiar group that was entangled with another unknown group.
If it was a normal situation, Kisuke would have ignored them, and instead, he would rush straight towards his mother. However, the unknown group seemed to be using some kids, who were staying on a bus, as hostages to deal with his friend over there.
Kisuke knew that casualties were normal in the battlefield, and that one should consider doing everything possible to gain an advantage over their opponents. However, involving innocent kids in an adults' fight was stepping over the line in Kisuke's opinion.
Kisuke might not be a good person, but he still had a line that he didn't cross. With that in mind, he redirected his falling body towards them, landing beside the kids with a loud bang.
"W-what!?" Everyone exclaimed at the sudden intruder.
Of course, the first one they noticed was Ophis, who was riding his shoulders while seemingly having fun. "O-Ophis!?", exclaimed Issei and Rias simultaneously.
"What the hell? Who are you and where did you come from? And why is Ophis with you?", asked Hercules of the Hero Faction after he landed behind him. Although Kisuke had already regenerated from his serious wounds, from the outside, he still looked like a tattered white humanoid being with a strange hole and purple gem in his chest.
Since Kisuke wasn't releasing any of his Reiatsu-Ki right now, no one could feel any threat from him.
"Wait...! That sword!", shouted Issei and the rest looked down, towards Kisuke's blade. And sure enough, some people from Issei's group were able to identify it. After all, it was the sword that slew Kokabiel.
When Kisuke looked around once more, he got a closer look at every one. Sona's Peerage members were injured and Asia was taking care of them. Issei was in his Balance Breaker mode, but he and the rest couldn't make any rash movements due to the kids beside Kisuke.
As for their opponents, all of them were looking at him with puzzlement. Kisuke then confirmed the appearance of the man named Cao Cao. 'Whew~. What a dangerous spear~.', thought he, as he caught a glimpse of the True Longinus.
"K-Kisuke?", stuttered Issei.
Kisuke ignored him for now and checked on the situation with the kids. When he looked at them, there was visible fear and confusion on their faces. Of course, that would be the case, as Kisuke's appearance right now wasn't very child-friendly.
Ophis noticed this and thought of something, before suddenly manifesting the green and white bucket hat in her hands using her powers. Without any regard to Kisuke's horns, she placed the hat on his head and said, "Mr. Hat."
Kisuke saw that the kids' expressions instantly changed, and one of them even asked, "You're Mr. Hat?"
Kisuke didn't know what was going on, but it seemed that these kids knew his favorite hat, so he just nodded.
The next moment, the kids started cheering in happiness, "Yay!!! Mr. Hat is also here!!! With Oppai Dragon and Mr. Hat working together, there's no way they would lose!!!"
The 'lovable' shopkeeper was taken aback when the kids suddenly started cheering for him, and what confused him even more were the nicknames, 'Oppai Dragon? Mr. Hat? What the hell?'
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Editors:
28th00: MR. HAT~! Ah, Phis-chama, she truly knows how to raise morale properly, especially among children. Mr. Hat went and saved Ophis, this is going to feed to so heavily into his reputation, especially when he came to save children first. On a side note, this is an absolutely WILD scene for everyone else involved. Hero Faction is going "WTF!? HOW IS SHE HERE!? HOW IS HE HERE!?" and the Gremory group is probably like "Kisuke's here!? Oh thank Satan, we're saved! He saved Ophis, so he probably saved Irina and Akeno too! He's the leading soul expert in the world, if anyone could've saved them, he could!" Serafall's marketing has set Kisuke up perfectly to play the hero, good job Maou Shoujo! Now, it is time for Phis-chama's noble steed, Mr. Hat, to save the day! She has a home now, and that's with Kisuke. She's adorable...
Alexander: I'm not too sure, but I think that there was a side story about a crossover between Serafall's and Issei's show. So I do wonder if there is a chance in the future for one or two chapters about a crossover with Mr. Hat. I can somehow imagine how he would deliver a for-adult-use tool to power up the Switch Princess, with a straight face at that.
While Kisuke was busy thinking about what was going on with the kids, Hercules approached him and took a stance, "I don't know what's going on, but it seems like you're here to save them? Then I'll just have to beat you up like the rest of them!"
Hercules threw a punch towards Kisuke, with the intention to crush him under his fist. However, Kisuke didn't even turn to dodge the attack. Instead, he just caught his wrist before returning the force behind his punch, "What!?"
The next thing Hercules knew, was that he was already spinning in midair and landed at least a hundred feet from his original position, crushing rocks and knocking debris up on his way.
Although there wasn't much damage done to Hercules, the onlookers, especially Issei's group, were shocked at how easily Kisuke was able to deal with the opponent whom they'd been struggling to defeat, without much effort.
Cao Cao, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes and started observing the strange white monster they called Kisuke in greater detail and scrutiny.
"One annoying thing after another..." Siegfried stepped out, "I've been in a bad mood since Ajuka rejected my offer. And since you're with Ophis, I'll gladly turn you into a pincushion to relieve my stress." Siegfried then activated his Balance Breaker, 'Chaos Edge Asura Ravage' which gave him four more additional arms and pulled out his five Demonic Swords and a Light Sword.
With a speed comparable to the Gremory Team's Knight, Siegfried instantly reached in front of Kisuke and swung down one of his swords.
"Watch out! That's the Demonic Sword Gram!", shouted Yuuto to warn Kisuke of the impending danger.
However, Siegfried aimed his swing in a way that if Kisuke were to dodge, the child behind him would be cut in half. Although Kisuke already had his Hollow form under full control, there were still things that would pull out its malevolence from the depths of his consciousness, and this was one of them.
As the Demonic Sword Gram approached Kisuke, Siegfried's smile became wide as he thought, 'This idiot really didn't dodge.'
But the next moment made him blank out, because the strange white being reached out for his sword with his bare hand, and caught it mid-swing, "...What?"
Siegfried was able to recover immediately and tried to pull back, however, his sword was stuck in this strange being's monstrous grip. It was then that they felt a dense killing intent covering the area, which made everyone draw in a cold breath.
The one on the receiving end of the killing intent, Siegfried, immediately panicked and saw Kisuke slowly raising his other hand which was holding a sword. It was so slow in his perspective, that Siegfried could have done so many things within that time frame. Even so, he couldn't move properly due to the dense killing intent assaulting his consciousness.
All he could do was to raise up four of his swords in anticipation of Kisuke's attack. However, despite doing his best to defend against Kisuke's attack, the moment Kisuke's blade touched his first sword, it was instantly cut. Like a hot knife through butter, Kisuke's blade went through all four of his swords without much resistance, before entering his left shoulder and leaving his right flank.
Before Siegfried could even process what just happened, he was teleported out by Kisuke, leaving the Demonic Sword Gram still caught in his hand. But even then, he didn't have that much time to think of anything before his upper body separated from his lower body.
'As expected. I just can't show these kids a grisly murder,' thought Kisuke before the Demonic Sword Gram suddenly released a blood-red light towards him, signifying that it was acknowledging him as its master.
Kisuke looked at it for a few seconds, before tossing it away without a care, 'Demonic and Dragon-Slayer attribute? I've already got too many samples of the first one, while the second one is way too weak compared to what I already have on hand.'
A strange silence engulfed the area. Despite the roaring sound of the monsters and thunderous sounds of magic attacks in the distance, nothing could penetrate the strange silence that Kisuke created.
Too many shocking things had happened all at once that everyone felt left behind. From the fact that he caught the Demonic Sword Gram with his bare hand, to cutting Siegfried in half, along with his strong and legendary Demonic Swords, and finally tossing away the strongest Demonic Sword that had acknowledged him as its master. It all happened in the span of a few seconds.
Everyone was quiet, well... Except for one. Ophis started cheering from Kisuke's shoulders, "Go, go, Mr. Hat." As an avid fan of 'Magical Girl: Levia-tan', she felt compelled to cheer after 'Mr. Hat' defeated one of the bad guys.
Hence, the silence was broken as the children in the bus followed suit, "Go! Go! Mr. Hat!" "Yay!!! Mr. Hat did it!!!"
Contrary to his terrifying appearance, Kisuke was now getting a little embarrassed.
"...What the fuck?", muttered the blonde-haired Hero, Jeanne. She shouted, "What the heck happened!?", and activated the Balance Breaker of her Blade Blacksmith, 'Stake Victim Dragon', which summoned a Dragon made out of Holy Swords.
Hercules also stood up from the rubble and activated the Balance Breaker of his Variant Detonation, 'Detonation - Mighty Comet', which covered him in spikes and gave him gigantic pike-like fists.
Cao Cao also became serious. He had horrifically misjudged Kisuke, due to him not releasing any sort of powerful aura, 'Is that a Balance Breaker armor? What sort of Sacred Gear is that?'
The Gremory Team also got ready to fight, but an engagement didn't come into fruition as two robed and masked people entered the area.
The two groups became cautious when they approached, but one of them ignored them both and muttered, "Kisuke?"
Kisuke looked at that robed person and instantly figured who it was. Since he didn't really want to keep this form in front of her, Kisuke deactivated his Hollowfication. The white pigment of his skin receded to the hole in his chest before it closed with the purple gem still inside it. His long swaying hair also receded back to its normal length, before the Hollow mask and horns finally disintegrated.
Ophis, however, was disappointed with him transforming back to normal as her 'handles' had disappeared.
Kisuke then fixed the appearance of his Shihakusho and the holes in his hat with magic, before greeting the robed person with a big smile, "It's been a while, mom~."
After removing her mask, Sakura ran towards Kisuke and gave him a big hug, "Kisuke!!! Thank goodness... You're safe..."
Kisuke also happily returned the hug, "You too, mom. I'm glad you're doing alright... Aside from the fact that you look older."
Sakura momentarily separated her right arm from the hug and gave Kisuke a strong jab to the stomach.
"Guhoo!" Although he wasn't really affected, Kisuke acted like he was.
Sakura snarled at him. "And whose fault do you think that is!? I never heard from you again after you sent a message from the time when you and Yoruichi hid! On top of that, stupid people started accusing my son of heavy crimes, and suddenly he went missing along with other people! And who knows how many people you messed with and frustrated in the duration of that time!?"
But immediately after, Sakura hugged him again and whispered, "I'm glad you're back... Welcome back."
Kisuke smiled gently and replied, "I'm back. Sorry for the wait."
"Yeah... You should be... You made me too worried."
Editors:
28th00: Welp, I expected that to happen with the kids being there. Phis-chama's cheer squad was glorious though! She's gonna be a bit down now that her handles are gone, but she's still having fun! She's an avid anime fan (of Serafall), especially of 'Mr. Hat'. This is probably the most fun she's ever had, mainly because she just learnt how to have fun recently, and that her favourite person is back. He even gave her a home (mainly since she couldn't make the connection that it already was her home till he explicitly stated it was)!
Alexander: I nearly went down to the floor from laughing, when I imagined Kisuke as a Vasto Lorde, blushing and wriggling from embarrassment. Also, Sakura really knows her son, seeing that one of her biggest worries was the number of victims to Kisuke's teasing.
So, right now one of my most anticipated parts of the story has begun: The trashing of the heroes. Go, my man. Show them who's da boss.