"Grigori is an organization created by Azazel and the fallen angels who fell with him; they are also called "The Watchers of the Sons of God", in other words, the holders of "Sacred Gear", and it could be said that it represents the "mainstream" Fallen Angel. Grigori's members include exiled Church members and holders of the Sacred Gear that Azazel and the other members kept as their respected members. Grigori invites or welcomes non-family Sacred Gear holders who are left alone, caring for these Sacred Gear holders while training them in the use of their powers, turning them into experienced holders to stay within the organization.
Grigori's leaders are Azazel, Shemhazai, Baraqiel, Kokabiel, Armaros, Sahariel, Penemue and Tamiel.
During the Great War, Grigori was the first to retreat after losing most of his forces, except for his leaders. Since then, Azazel has become more peaceful and tries to avoid battle as much as possible. However, there are still small fights between the fallen angels and other factions."
Kuroka and I are riding on the back of Tiamat, who is in her dragon form. She was explaining the basics of Grigori.
The sky is purple, which means we are in the underworld. But unlike last time, where we paid a special visit to the devils, we are travelling to the region ruled by the fallen angels.
"The fallen angels are the least numbered faction of the three biblical factions. That's why they take renegades from either of the other two factions and humans in possession of Sacred Gears under their protection."
I already know all this, but I'm not going to tell Tiamat. Quite a few of my secrets are known to Tiamat when she learned of the existence of one of the two systems. Kuroka and Shirone also know a little about the Fate System, but it's only superficial knowledge.
......…
"This is the meeting place."
We are in front of a common-looking building, with nothing special. It's a bit strange, as it's not common to find a random building in a desolate wasteland.
That's right.
There's a building in the middle of nowhere.
I've taken on my semi-human form, while Kuroka has transformed into a two-tailed black cat and she is currently lying on my head.
"Are you going to make us wait long, Azazel?"
"Hoho, don't be so cold to me, Tiamat."
The door of the building opened, and Azazel came out.
Azazel is a tall man who looks about twenty years old, medium build, black hair, golden fringe and a black goatee. Azazel was wearing a long maroon V-neck coat with a wide, open high collar that opens at the hem. The long coat also had two black belts around the waist and four black bands on each arm, two of the bands on the wrist and the other two near the elbow. He wore grey pants and brown shoes.
He is a fairly tall man, measuring about 188cm (6 feet 2 inches).
Azazel gave Tiamat a relaxed smile, which she didn't return. He ignored Tiamat's sneering look and focused on us.
"So these two little ones are the ones you told me about. I see... A little Dragon and a Nekomata, no, a Nekoshou turned into Devil. Two interesting youngsters, if I do say so myself."
"You have sharp vision, Azazel."
"Hehe, we researchers need to have a good eye to achieve our goals."
Kuroka digs her claws into my head when she hears the word investigators. I think it's best not to say anything about this.
"I have things to do, so I'll leave the children in your care for now."
.......
Tiamat left us with Azazel.
"Come on, I'll take you to the place where you'll live from now on."
Azazel said that and went into the building.
Following Azazel, who was waiting for us on the first floor of the building, we went to the elevator of the apartment building.
Before we entered the elevator, Azazel gave us something like black ID cards.
"These are exclusive ID cards for authorized personnel."
Since Kuroka was in his cat form, I took both cards. These cards didn't have any pictures on them, but they had cards that were unreadable to Kuroka and me.
As soon as we entered the elevator, the elevator door closed.
Without pressing any of the buttons inside, Azazel held the old ID cards in front of a certification device under the buttons.
Then, without delay, the elevator went down.
When we had gone up, we were on the first floor. So that we were going down even though that was the case...
"This building actually has a basement." I murmured.
It had been tens of seconds since we got on the elevator. The elevator was still going down. Even Kuroka realized this wasn't the level for a basement. The number that showed the floor had stopped working because we didn't know its exact position.
"Governor-General, what is this elevator?" I asked him.
Azazel looked at me and revealed a faint smile.
"It's one of my latest inventions, I call it the inter-dimensional elevator. It connects to numerous places, and one of them is the headquarters. But that's not where we're going right now, we're going to your residence for the next few months or years."
"I see."
The elevator opened again, and we found a hallway. Apparently, we're inside a house.
"This house has many rooms, choose one for each of you. There's also the possibility of sharing a room." Azazel shows a mischievous smile.
"We share a room!" Kuroka shouted at once.
I expected that reaction from the moment Azazel spoke.
"One last thing, the corner room is already occupied. My daughter lives there."
Last chapter!
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"Your daughter?"
Azazel had a daughter? Since when?
"She's not my blood daughter, she's adopted. She's a troubled child with a tragic past. I hope she doesn't cause you too much trouble. Besides, she has something in common with you."
You're not talking about Vali? But Vali is a man.
A boy/girl with a tragic past and something in common with me. Vali has a tragic past, and his Sacred Gear is a dragon, so obviously he's talking about him.
"Hey, hey! We're not in the underworld!"
Kuroka, who had already returned to her "human" form, was screaming as she looked out the window.
"No, this residence is not in the underworld. In fact, many of the fallen angels do not reside in the underworld. A very clear example is one of our leaders, Barakiel. He lives with his wife and daughter not far from this place."
Huh...
That's quite a revelation you've dropped on me.
So Shuri's still alive. I already have a new target for a couple of Fate Points.
"Where are we?" Kuroka asked.
"The place where the sun rises, Japan."
I assumed as much since you said that Barakiel and his family lived somewhere nearby here, but I understand that Kuroka didn't know where we are.
"Azazel."
I have a few things to clear up with him.
"Tell me, young dragon."
"I need a place to train."
"Some specifications? What exactly do you want to train?"
"Archery and Senjutsu."
Azazel raises his eyebrows slightly, I seem to have caught his attention.
"A dragon training archery and Senjutsu, you're an interesting guy. Well, leave your things, and I'll take you to a place where you can train.
….
We didn't have much to leave in the room, just Kuroka's clothes.
My clothes were unique. Apparently, they were made of magic threads. What these threads did was transform into a red scarf that I tied around my neck the moment I retook my dragon form.
This was very useful since I wouldn't want to be buying clothes every day.
The room we have chosen is none other than the room in front of Azazel's daughter. Actually, it was Kuroka who wanted that room.
This is what she answered when I asked her the reason for her choice.
"I have to show that so-called daughter that I have the upper hand in this race."
So cliché...
Right now we're back in the elevator. Looks like we're going somewhere different now.
Azazel is very quiet, and Kuroka is very tense. I understand since it's not every day you share an elevator with a being of Azazel's calibre.
Come to think of it, we've been doing everyday life with Tiamat, so it's not that strange. At least for us.
Azazel repeated the same process as before, and the elevator began to descend.
What was there when the door opened... was an open white space. The ceiling was high, it was long horizontally, and it was very deep. Later, the floor at the foot of Azazel opened up, and a kind of machine rose from below.
It resembled an automatic ticket machine.
Azazel spoke as he waved the card in his hand.
"This is one of the doors leading to 'Nephilim'. Watch closely. I'll go through first, you have to copy me."
As he spoke, Azazel held his card in front of the machine. A green lamp in the machine showed an arrow. Azazel passed in front of the ticket machine and disappeared while wrapped in dim light.
Azazel, who had been there until a moment ago, had completely disappeared! We immediately realized that it was a special power of the money machine...
"Hey, that's interesting."
I couldn't help but mutter.
This money machine does a job similar to teleportation circles. But, unlike a real teleportation circle, it has a predetermined destination. In this case, the target must be this 'Nephilim' that Azazel is talking about.
At least, that's what I assumed.
"Guess we just gotta go, huh."
...….
Passing the ticket machine, I was waiting to be wrapped in the light from before...
What appeared before my eyes were somewhere inside a building.
Unlike space before, what appeared to be the inside of the building had a glossy black interior design. In front of me was a long passage that led deep into the interior. As I looked to the side, there were ticket machines lined up on the left and right, and when I looked back, there was also a long corridor that extended further into the building. With a high ceiling, I could see that the interior of the building took up a huge space.
"Welcome to 'Nephilim'."
When we arrived, Azazel said these words welcoming us.
"What exactly is Nephilim, Azazel?" I asked him.
"Nephilim is a school run by us, the Fallen Angels, to train and educate our human members possessing Sacred Gear without combat experience. Each of Grigori's leaders has their own class. We used to have an elite group, but some internal problems have happened, and we don't have that group anymore."
I see. The fallen angels have smaller numbers than the other two mythological factions, and their birth rate seems to be as low as that of the devils. They can increase their numbers by tempting the angels, but even that has its limits, just like the strays of other factions.
Recruiting Sacred Gears users with no background is a good option for them. If I'm not mistaken, Raynare's goal with Issei was to see if he had a powerful Sacred Gear and determine if he could be an ally or an enemy. Too bad for Azazel that the girl had other plans, as she could have gotten a powerful ally instead of taking the devils' place.
"Azazel-sama! You called me?"
That girl! It can't be...
"Yes, Raynare. I have a new job for you."