Chapter 11: Deal With The Devil?

Beta read by Shigiya and Paragon of Awesomeness

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-???-

To walk into the lion's den. That's what it had felt like for Diodora when he had first entered the halls of this palace. Grandiose in the eyes of many Devils, decorated with pillars of marble, and lavish paintings from bygone eras of the former Satans.

But he had long since learned the truth.

"Nothing more than a dilapidated hideout of a few descendants of failed Satans." No matter what Shalba Beelzebub liked to claim, the man was but a figure — a loser at that — appearing in history books, one that most people had either stopped fearing or had completely forgotten. It didn't help that the organization he and his fellows belonged to preferred to stay in the shadows for the time being. "Tch, but they are my only hope right now."

The incident with his recent attempt to summon a Heroic Spirit of his own had raised unwanted attention. Despite having chosen a manor far away from any crowded areas, the explosion that engulfed said manor could not be hidden for long, and soon his brother found out about the destruction. Thankfully, the fool believed his words, and Diodora managed to pin all the blame on the Old Satan Faction as nothing more than a failed assassination attempt.

The summoning circle had been buried beneath the rubble and incinerated. He made sure that no trace of the array would remain for anyone to accidentally discover it.

Thinking about the whole incident, the heir to the Astaroth clan couldn't help but clench his jaws with fury. "Fucking five of my maidens died! I spent so much time collecting them, poured so much resources and effort into gathering them, yet five of them vanished before my eyes! Fuck! This is not fair!"

He escaped, no, survived that day with a few wounds and burns to his arms. Hands shaking with terror as they held the charred corpse of his once-peerage maiden he'd used to shield himself. Diodora nearly fainted at that moment, but his anger and fear kept his mind running at a thousand miles a second.

What went wrong?

The preparations should have been perfect!

Despite all of his efforts, the summoning failed, and he lost far too much, gaining nothing in return for his troubles — let alone a pure maiden Heroic Spirit as his Servant. Maybe there was an error in the notes or something he had missed. He did not think for a second that this ritual might be a hoax, as his brother — the genius that he was — would have realized it in an instant. Too focused on his inner thoughts, Diodora failed to notice a shadow emerging from the darkness that quickly solidified into the form of a curvaceous woman standing right in front of him.

"Ah!" A wall of demonic power hit him face first, making the Astaroth heir stumble back to the floor and fall on his behind. The sudden impact forced a sharp cry from his mouth while the person before him smirked at his lack of grace.

"Ara, if it isn't the heir to the esteemed House of Astaroth. How wonderful for you to finally visit." The woman spoke haughtily, exuding an air of arrogance that drowned anything Diodora was capable of. He looked at her with barely suppressed anger, clenching his hands and gritting his teeth at her audacity.

The woman suddenly lost much of her haughty playfulness and narrowed her eyes. "Humph, how rude of you to not pay respect to me or to even announce your arrival. And even now, when standing before one such as me, you fail to so much as to bow to your superiors. You have stepped inside the halls of the true Satans, and yet you, being nothing but a mere High-class Devil, have the gall to waltz inside as if you owned the place."

Never in his life had Diodora ever been disrespected like he was just a lowly human. Not only for his position as an heir but also the fact a Super Devil like Ajuka was his big brother made many of the Devil population bow their heads before him. Yet he couldn't make this person grovel before him for obvious reasons.

First was her identity.

Katerea Leviathan, a tall, bespectacled woman with a figure that made him, even with his particular taste in women, salivate in desire. Flawless mocha tan skin with long chocolate brown hair tied into a neat bun with a headset that held it in place, with several long braids reaching past her shoulders and amethyst eyes that held a mocking glint in them. He tried his best to not look at the extremely low-cut purple dress with high slits, which exposed a large portion of her even larger breasts and long smooth legs, or else she might actually kick him in the face before killing him.

Next was the immense amount of Demonic power held behind those amused eyes of hers. She was right to see him as nothing but a worm. After all, the woman before him was an Ultimate class being — a Satan.

Suppressing his rage for the humiliation, Diodora hastily got on his knees and bowed his head.

"Lady Katerea, I have brought an important piece of information from my brother's research and need your assistance in order to make full use of it." He spoke respectfully, not wanting to accidentally offend her in any way, shape, or form. "Please forgive me for intruding without prior notice. It's just an urgent mat—urgh!" He was cut off from his speech as a suffocating sensation descended upon him.

"Enough, just hearing your voice irritates me more than that fake act you put up."

She certainly wasn't in a good mood. That much was obvious. His heart started beating like a hammer inside his chest, making every second feel like an hour.

"Hah, fine." She sighed, disappointed at not being able to kill this little worm, at least at the moment. "Shalba is waiting for you. Let's go." With that said, she started to walk back further inside the palace, leaving Diodora at the back, who unhesitatingly stared at her pert behind with clear lust on his face.

'You act like a bitch now, but just you wait… with enough time, I'll garner Ophis' favor and be granted the power I deserve. You'll come crawling to me, begging for forgiveness, and I'll use your body to amuse myself as I humiliate you in front of the entire Underworld! And by the time I'm done, I'll have you thanking me for it and begging for more!'

Despite having a clear preference for pure maidens, Diodora realized that he wouldn't mind having a woman of Katerea's calibur as a part of the group as it meant he could have his way with her. There was certainly a lot of appeal in the idea of having a pureblooded Satan as part of his collection.

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"A Servant summoning ritual, you say…" Within the confines of the palace, inside a luxurious office, Shalba carefully rereads the information that was just sold to him by an ally of theirs. "Interesting."

"You actually believe this?" Said a man garbed in dark clothing, his long dark hair held in a ponytail and a noble aura that accompanied him just like Shalba and Katerea. "The concept in itself is absurd, calling forth the spirits of heroes from another world — humans no less — to fight in our stead? Leaving the fact how weak their kind is aside, can we really trust the words of one related to that fake Satan?"

Creuserey Asmodeus, just like every leader of the Old Satan Faction, abhorred the current reign of the Devil Faction. Better to say he hated them with every fiber of his being for having stolen what was rightfully his. He longed to see the likes of Sirzechs and his allies die by his hands in the near future, though he couldn't help but have his doubts manifest in regards to this… unheard concept of so-called 'Heroic Spirits.'

He gazed at the brown-haired man before him, Shalba Beelzebub, hoping that his fellow True Satan wouldn't fall for this predictable trap.

"A trap, you say?" Shalba mused at those words, passively gazing at the documents Diodora Astaroth had provided. From the summoning circles, chants, and a basic rundown of the entire ritual. "That boy, for all his talent as a High-class Devil, does not possess the means to come up with such a highly complex trap just to fool us. Besides, if he wanted to betray our faction, then it would have been in the form of Ajuka knocking at our door. For all his boasts, that trash is nothing but an incompetent pawn whose only goal is his obsession of collecting pure maidens for that little peerage of his for him to tarnish and torment as he pleases. In short, you're giving him too much credit, Creuserey."

"I agree," said Katerea. "He's a spineless little leech. I could feel his unhidden gaze whenever we met. That boy can't hide his emotions behind that smile of his from people like us. From what I understand with this ritual, it shouldn't be hard to guess that he just wants us to correct his mistakes and summon a maiden Heroic Spirit for him to play with. Hasn't he taken advantage of our resources to recently infiltrate a church in Italy to corrupt a human nun?"

The more the descendant of Asmodeus listened to Katerea, the more riled up he got. That bitch even now talked down to him like he was an inferior being. Just because she believed the Leviathan clan stood above him, who was a descendant of Asmodeus.

'Calm down. This is not the moment to fall for her bait again.' Shaking his head, he picked up another document that Shalba had thrown aside — deeming it useless… disregarding Ajuka's work. He couldn't blame him. Even now, carefully analyzing these documents brought a great sense of disgust within his stomach whenever his eyes trailed down to the 'official' Satan's seal at the bottom.

Almost as if put there to mock him and everyone in this room. Ajuka Beelzebub's name was written boldly with a demonic spell to engrave it permanently onto the material.

He compared the notes to what Diodora had reportedly created during his first attempt at his own summoning. Though, before he could look into the details, a red tendril burst from the shadows and snatched the papers from his hands.

"Katerea!" Creuserey shouted, red demonic energy cascading around the room from his body. Cracks appeared, while the other two Satans barely reacted to his outrage, continuing to focus on Diodora's documents.

"Hush now, I'm busy." She responded with a smirk, further antagonizing her fellow. Ignoring the raging ball of fire below, the Leviathan descendant flipped through the pages one by one, using all of her experience in magic to comprehend the subject as fast as her eyes could perceive it.

'The brat managed to set up everything as instructed. Ajuka, of all people, would never keep a spell that doesn't work, so the failure must have been on Diodora's end. Something isn't right here…' Just the sheer number of formulas and equations used in a singular magic circle would take her hours to verify. And given there were so many circles, Katerea already felt a headache coming.

Woosh!

With a wave of her hands, she summoned a large luxurious table no smaller than Shalba's inside the office.

Creuserey sighed, deciding to settle this small dispute another time. "Let's say this goes well and we make it work. Which among us will be the 'Master' to summon one of these Servants?"

That was one of the main points that worried him.

If these Heroic Spirits were anywhere near as powerful as mentioned, then they might just prove a valuable asset for anyone, even if they were human by their origin.

"You worry too much," Shalba waved his question away. "At the end of the day, we are summoning nothing more than the dead soul of a petty human of all things. A simple spell, and they'll follow our every command like an obedient dog. The Command Seals are just going to be an extra tool to use and nothing else. They are an inferior race to us Devils, don't forget that."

As both continued to converse, Katerea had all of her attention to the details within the records. Struggling to go through each circle in time without feeling mentally drained and suppressing the urge to ask for aid from others. But still, so far, everything looked perfectly accurate as she read through the notes of Ajuka.

'So then just what went wrong? What was he missing?' She asked herself but couldn't come up with an answer.

There was more work to be done before any of them would arrive at a satisfactory explanation.

She flipped through the pages of Diodora's own work and noticed something.

"Eh? Where's the other half of the layout?"

{Break}

(Romania, Tepes Faction Castle)

Inside the confines of the Tepes Castle, within its walls hundreds of meters below ground, lay a young girl with short blonde hair and red horror-stricken eyes. Having stumbled upon a small hole within the walls, a fleeing Valerie Tepes squeezed through the tunnel in search of freedom, or even a light of hope. A possible means to escape, or even a hole that would showcase the night sky on full display for a girl who'd been locked inside for years.

Yet as she reached the end of the hole, what she found on the other side was not a passage or even a crack in the wall — rather, the girl ended up in another room, much bigger than her personal chambers where she spent the vast majority of her captivity. An shaped area of an underground cave of sorts, unnatural and obviously created by someone. Having no doors or halls in the castle leading to this place, she did wonder how and why it was created in the first place.

It would be better to call it a ruin that somehow managed to stay unnoticed by everyone inside the castle. Was it something her father or one of her ancestors built years ago and the family had forgotten about?

She didn't know.

"Nobody knows about this place… it's quite big."

If only she found this place sooner, then perhaps bringing Gasper here to have some peace of mind from the cold and harsh world outside would have been possible. This place would have been perfect for them to play around in together.

"I hope he's safe…." It'd been a while since he escaped, and now left all by herself, Valerie found it harder to live through every passing day. "Ah!" A pang of exhaustion hit Valerie's body, making her lose all strength to stand up and leading to the girl falling further down the ruins. The constant use of her Sacred Gear had made these instances occur more often with each passing day, leaving her body unable to keep up with the strain brought by using the Sephiroth Graal so much.

Marius Tepes — her half-brother and fifth in line for the throne — never allowed Valerie any time to rest. Always forcing her to keep on using her ability on both his ever-increasing number of soldiers and himself. Sometimes, she felt her consciousness slip away bit by bit, bringing her closer to never-ending darkness where only an eternal slumber awaited her.

Crash!

Air escaped her lungs as her back impacted and nearly drove all the air from her lungs, her fall fortunately cushioned by old rotten vines and roots. Still, it momentarily caused her to be unable to breathe. Only after a few seconds did she find the strength to get back on her feet.

"Where… where am I?" The Dhamphir wondered, looking around the dark room with no source of light. Her eyes glowed dimly as she limped through the rubble. Minutes turned into hours, the despair within her heart growing as she couldn't find the exit or even use her wings to fly away. "So cold…"

Valerie didn't know whether it was the cave or her body feeling the drop in temperature. The fall must have caused more damage than she expected, "Ouch!" The girl flinched, having stepped on sharp objects that cut through her flesh.

"Uuuuh… it hurts…" holding her foot, Valerie cursed herself for having ventured somewhere so dangerous on her own. Her vision started to grow more hazy and she grew nauseous, and the pain from the wound just made every sensation that much worse. "Hic…*sniff* I want to see Gasper again." She said in between her sobs. At least with him around, life had been more bearable. She could endure the daily torture at the hands of her half-brother, who barely even considered her a living person, all of it with her father's blessing.

A drop of blood trailed down her hands as they continued to hold the wound closed. Growing all the way down, it shook for a second before dropping like a droplet of water on the ground.

Bzt!

The space within the cave changed.

"Ah!" Once again, Valerie experienced another sensation of pain coming from the back of her hand this time. "W-What's this?"

It burned, as if someone pressed a heated branding iron on her skin. And to her shock, a glowing crimson symbol started to form before her eyes.

"I-I-It's not coming off!" She tried everything, scratching her skin to wipe it with her clothes, but it wouldn't come off.

Her shock did not stop there, as a few seconds later, the entire area lit up with dozens, if not hundreds of intertwined magic circles and countless other spells. "E-Eh!?" All of them sucking up every drop of mana within the cave and even her body. "No! No no no! Stop! Argh!"

She couldn't get away in time or even try if she wanted to, as Valerie found herself right in the middle of this… ritual. Having barely any magic power remaining in her from the beginning, she couldn't stay conscious with these magic circles taking away everything she had.

But while she had little magical energy left inside of her, the Sephiroth Graal made what was available quite potent.

A bright light illuminated the cave, like a miniature sun being brought into existence. There was no heat, for she was fine physically, but could barely care as her mind had grown numb from the pain.

Crash!

It transformed into a pillar of white light crashing right into the ceiling and beyond, bringing a powerful earthquake that affected the entire castle. Every single living being sensed the profound change in the atmosphere, feeling an unimaginable amount of mana all glowing within the castle. They scrambled outside, with weapons and spells, thinking that an enemy had grown delirious enough to attack them in their own territory — but found nothing outside.

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"What is going on!?" A young man whose face was fair to the point it could be mistaken for that of a doll shouted at his soldiers. Many bowed to his presence as he was none other than the fifth in line for the throne and the fourth King of Tepes' second son.

"L-Lord Marius, we believe the anomaly to be originating from beneath the castle!" One of his pale-faced subordinates answered. "We also couldn't find Lady Valerie within the castle. She's nowhere to be found!"

"She escaped!?" That was the only possibility he could come up with, given she tried to pull a similar stunt not that long ago.

The other vampire aristocrats gathered in the room scoffed when they heard the news. "Let that half-breed run as she pleases. The werewolves will be sure to teach her a painful lesson for her foolishness."

"Humph, she might as well just die there. At least then her existence will no longer tarnish the purity of our name."

"She's still useful. Losing a limb or two will be a sufficient lesson for one of her kind. Lady Valerie had been slacking off on her duties lately." None of them bothered to hide the scorn and mockery from their tones when talking about the girl. Unbothered with whether she lived or died, for a Dhamphir was a tainted individual in their eyes. A half-breed, one carrying the blood of a human to live amongst the royal family of vampires? How utterly disgraceful.

While various people continued to joke about her doomed fate, Marius grew increasingly stressed and worried.

'If that stupid girl dies, then we'll lose possession over the Sephiroth Graal. That cannot happen no matter what!' He muttered inside his head. She couldn't have gone outside without setting up the alarms his guards had put in place all around the area. That meant she must still be hiding inside the castle somewhere and could have even been the direct cause of this anomaly!

"All of you, come with me! We will not rest until Valerie is found and detained!" With his order given, the vampires present had no other choice but to follow his lead deeper into the castle.

"Heads will roll if she isn't found alive. Keep that in mind." Marius threatened everyone behind him. The guards shook with fear as their lives were now on the line. With newfound vigor, they rushed all together towards the castle depths, begging for the half-breed to still be inside.

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Inside, Valerie was now fearing for her life.

Was this thing going to explode on her and fill the cave with a fiery storm of fire? Or would it just collapse the cavern and bury her under a mountain of rocks? If she was in a more optimal condition, then maybe escaping would have been possible. But now, she didn't know what to do aside from stumbling away bit by bit — leaving a small trail of blood bleeding from her wound as it took most of her concentration to just lean against the stone wall and avoid collapsing.

"Gasper…" Once, just once, she wanted to meet her dearest friend again and tell him she was sorry. Sorry that she failed to escape with him, and sorry for all the hardship he must have experienced from being left all by himself. With no strength left to continue any further, Valerie's body was just about ready to give up.

Just before her head touched the ground, the pillar of light shattered into millions of tiny motes as a figure appeared before her with incomprehensible speed. A firm yet gentle hand caught her head just in time and held her body.

Before her eyes closed, she saw a glimpse of soft waves of long, pale golden hair dancing in the wind and an enchanting pair of eyes that shined with the same color. Accompanying this was the gruff voice of a man whose tone carried a sense of majesty and command that would befit any king, yet with enough tenderness that she didn't feel the slightest bit afraid of this stranger.

"This King has heard your call and answered your summons. I ask of you, are you worthy to be my Master?"

Those were the last words she heard before the darkness took her.

{Break}

-Kuoh, Kuoh Academy-

"Hah!"

"Too predictable. You're telegraphing your moves well in advance, which completely gives away when and where you'll strike."

Behind the abandoned school building, two swordsmen clashed swords again and again, with sparks flying whenever the blades met. One combatant was haggard and breathing heavily, his clothes covered with cuts with bruises across his face. The other one merely stood still with a straight posture that showed no sign of fatigue or any flaws.

Yuuto clenched his hold on the sword and advanced with a large shout, holding his sword up to deliver a vertical slash from shoulder to hip.

Clang!

Once again, his attack was easily blocked. No matter how much strength he used to push downwards, the man before him didn't seem all that bothered. Rather his blade tilted, making the Knight's blade slide downwards along his body. He didn't have enough time to react before his face got viciously struck by Archer's elbow.

Like a broken kite, Kiba Yuuto flew in a perfect arc before falling inside a bundle of leaves and sticks.

"You don't have any recovery skills or any control over how you'll fall to minimize the impact. or even the ability to spring back into the fight as fast as possible." Just to prove his point, Archer ran straight toward him before casually kicking the boy in the middle of his stomach right as he was getting up. "The level of speed I've demonstrated thus far is within the realm of ordinary humans as well."

"Urgh… I think you broke a rib." Yuuto groaned, pushing himself against a tree and slowly getting back up.

"No, it's just bruised. I made sure of that. Come on, attack me again. We don't have all day." He ordered, which the Knight complied with instantly, rushing to him just like before. But this time he showed no signs of throwing an attack. His sword was still pointed away and held with one hand.

"Take this!"

The sword slashed the ground in a forward motion, creating a large cloud of dust that hit Archer's face and obscured his vision. "Interesting," he said, approving of Yuuto's use of so-called dirty tactics, all too often scorned as unchivalrous by those who put stock in such concepts. But in a life-or-death battle, such pride and ideals were best thrown out of the window. Only those who held monstrous strength and talent could afford to continue fighting fairly. "But still not enough."

He swept the air with his foot, the speed and force alone generating enough wind to clear the area fast enough to spot Yuuto hunched low to the ground, going for a piercing attack this time. Though just when he was about to move, Archer's leg came back and struck the opposite side, this time hitting the sword and disarming him.

"You hesitated and failed to capitalize on the opening you created, in turn giving me one. Against a mortal enemy, this is no different than a death sentence, let alone a Servant." Archer said dismissively, taken moderately by surprise by the previous action, but overall still disappointed in Yuuto. He honestly expected far more from a Devil Knight, apparently renowned for their speed. It seemed that fighting against Grayfia really screwed up his perspective.

Yuuto growled in frustration, light flashing within his palms as he now held two longswords this time. Dual-wielding both blades, he rushed forward once again to trade blows with Archer. Despite his opponent only using a single blade, he still managed to easily keep up with him and deflect any and all attacks.

"Using two swords against me… bad idea."

"Kargh!" Spit flew out of Yuuto's mouth as the bowman buried a knee in his sternum, momentarily causing his mind to blackout. This was followed by a few other strikes that quickly disarmed the blonde and rendered him defenseless.

In the end, Archer didn't have to do much as Yuuto fell to the ground again due to exhaustion, his hair a mess, and his face covered with dirt. He was out of breath, his bones and muscles aching more than anything he'd felt in the last few years. "I seriously think you broke at least one of my ribs… even breathing hurts."

"Hn, were you a human, I'd say a few days of rest would be enough to heal you back up. But given your supernatural constitution as a Devil, a good night's sleep is probably all you'll need." The Servant said, dismissing the blade he held before stretching his neck. "Anyways, in general, you did better than I had assumed you would. Your moves are certainly capable of successfully hitting your opponent and putting them out of commission before they've even realized what happened. But against an enemy that can react in time, they're far too telegraphed."

"But I couldn't even hit you once, not even grazing your clothes."

Archer rolled his eyes, "I don't think you understand what it means to face a Servant. We are not just powerful beings with superhuman strength, speed, and reactions. Decades worth of combat experience, sometimes centuries or beyond, and our own unique abilities put us at a level you can't even begin to hope to fight against yet — bringing into account a Noble Phantasm just makes the gap that much bigger. You're not Grayfia or anywhere close to her level, so focus on getting better for now. On top of that, while I'm certainly not counting myself to be among the true masters of swordsmanship within the Throne, I'm not a slouch either. Give me some credit here."

"…How much were you holding back?" Yuuto asked, a part of him afraid to hear the truth. But it was a truth he needed to know.

"Let me put it this way: even if the one who fought you today was my younger self who was still alive… that version of me wouldn't necessarily need to use all of his prowess with the blade to take you down as you are now. Never mind his magic."

"Oh," Yuuto felt disheartened, honestly. Even his enhancement as a Devil and a Knight could not equal Archer's younger, human self. "I didn't think the difference would be that big." It made him realize how monstrous both Grayfia and his teacher were, given the Servant himself praised the maid's power, and Okita Souji was known to be part of Sirzechs' peerage.

"Your problem is not that you lack power or a powerful sword. If a swordsman only relies on the abilities of their weapon and nothing else, then they are doomed to fail. Again, your attacks are passable, but against someone who can keep up with your speed, they become far too predictable and telegraphed. You've grown far too used to using your speed as a Knight to overwhelm slower and, frankly, weaker opponents. Quite honestly, it's made your swordsmanship sloppy in my eyes. Though I can't entirely blame it on you, not everyday you get to fight enemies on even your own level here in Kuoh."

Yuuto digested his words, forced to agree with everything the Servant had to say. Stray Devils weren't a true danger that pushed him to his limits. In most cases, a single blast from his King was all it took to kill them instantly.

"So what you're saying is that I need a training partner that can keep up with me?"

"I didn't insinuate that," Archer said, knowing what the Knight wanted to do. "But it wouldn't be a bad idea. You just need to find one."

Suddenly, Archer turned his attention to the other side of the field. "Wait here. I'll be back."

"Ah?" The Knight didn't get the opportunity to say anything before Archer disappeared from his spot as if teleporting away. He stared at that spot for a few seconds and his surroundings, fully knowing that the man couldn't use teleportation. He sighed. "He was really holding back a lot…."

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"Where did he go?" At the far corner of the field, hidden behind dense vegetation, Sona's Queen — Shinra Tsubaki — quietly hid away and peeked at the duel between both swordsmen.

Why was she here?

Honestly, by pure accident. With her Kaichou now absent from the Student Council room — having ventured down to the Underworld to pay a visit to her sister with the objective of obtaining a particular item in Serafall's possession — Tsubaki had to take over her duties and paperwork for the day. From familiarizing their newest peerage member to the supernatural world and going over her own school work… This led her to finishing off the day's duties much later than usual.

On her way to the gates, she saw Kiba Yuuto along with the individual that had occupied the mind of her King lately at least as much as her attempts to summon her own Servant: Archer. Both of them went to the back of the abandoned school building and baited her curiosity. Having spent hours trying to figure out that white-haired man's origin at her King's request and coming up empty handed, it was safe to say that Tsubaki was desperate for any sort of clues.

'Ah, it's been a while since I've seen Yuuto-Kun.' Though she also had a second, hidden motive.

Unable to hold in her impulse, she sneaked behind them to the area and watched as they started to duel. This was a perfect opportunity to get more information on the style of swordsmanship Archer used and possibly his magic. The girl saw how he had the ability to dismiss his shroud before the fight started. Whether he put it away somewhere else or had the ability to create such a thing from scratch was still unknown.

When both started trading blows, Tsubaki had silently rooted for Yuuto to win, knowing that not only was he an accomplished swordsman but a powerful Knight as well. Plus she doubted that swordsmanship would be something that an archer would be particularly skilled at. But her hopes were instantly crushed by how easily Archer had dominated the fight from beginning to end, pushing his younger opponent to his limits with each movement, dismantling his defense as if it were child's play, and kicking him hard enough for her to wince.

'I can't make out the sword style he's using.'

At first, he used a basic European sword style, but the very fundamentals of his style seemed to change from one second to the next. Even then, it was not so clear as, unlike Yuuto, who delivered dozens of different strikes with various techniques, Archer just barely deflected the slashes by lightly raising his sword one way and basically using as little movement as possible. Though he did tend to use his legs for combat as well; often whenever Yuuto left himself too open when trying to press an attack.

After a few more rounds, Yuuto was down and could no longer continue. She was saddened by his loss, but just being able to see him perform so intensely was a treat in itself.

Then Archer disappeared from sight.

"Where did he go?" She asked herself the same question again.

Unbeknownst to her, that answer came from someone she didn't expect.

"Behind you."

"—!" Her instincts took over. Given they were still in school, her first reaction was to bring out the Naginata or her Mirror Alice. Tsubaki twirled around, raising her leg for a clean sweep only to have a firm hand grab onto her ankle and stop any movement. "Kya!"

She lost her balance and fell to the ground,

"Spying on us this entire time and then attacking me out of the blue when I come to investigate. Should I consider this as a declaration of war from the Sitri heir against my Master?" She looked over to see Archer with his arms crossed, standing above her when she didn't even notice his presence until he'd announced it.

Before she could come up with an excuse, his words registered in her mind, and the once stoic expression broke into one of panic.

"N-No! K-Kaichou had nothing to do with this! I was just… passing by and got curious!" She frantically waved her hands around, not wanting to cause such a misunderstanding between both parties for her reckless actions.

She froze when Archer started to let out an ominous chuckle.

"Don't take my words too seriously, girl. I realized you were just a curious peeping tom after you came from the front gates all the way here. Also, it doesn't help that your rather long hair makes it easy for you to be spotted with even a light breeze." He said while smirking, making Tsubaki blush out of embarrassment and experience the desire to dig a hole and bury herself forever. "I also noticed you were especially focused on the boy the vast majority of the time, weren't you?" His grin got bigger as the blush on her face spread everywhere.

Try as she might to keep an expressionless face. She was failing terribly.

"An admirer, a crush, or a rival are the only explanations. And I may be a dead spirit who hasn't lived anything resembling a regular life per se, but even I can recognize a maiden in love when I see one." That and Rias just happened to mention how Yuuto had many admirers among the school's female population, and a certain glasses wearing vice-president happened to be one of them during dinner a few days ago. "That or you came here on reconnaissance to gather Intel about my Master's Knight and me to find our weaknesses and plan a secret attack?"

Tsubaki was speechless. Both options were equally bad to admit to, in her eyes, not to mention embarrassing! If she agreed to the first one, then Archer might tell it to Yuuto! And the second option would sow discord between her King and Rias Gremory.

Then she saw his face again and came to realize…

"Y-You're messing with me… aren't you." A statement more than a question, the man before her was intentionally making things difficult for her just for simple amusement. "I'm starting to understand why Kaichou was so frustrated the last time she spoke to you. At least in class, you act more normal."

"Making fun of a Devil, it's not something I get to do often." He extended his hand, which she hesitantly grabbed before getting pulled up by the man. "Also, I don't want to attract too much attention while in class. So forgive me if I act a bit cold to everyone, including your King. Though that actually reminds me, please tell Genshirou Saji to hand over his essay by tomorrow. If he's as late with it again as he was last time, then I'll give him a zero."

She gave him a weird stare, "Acting as a teacher now of all times? It's a bit weird. Though I will pass on the message, so rest assured, Tojou-sens — ah." She nearly called him sensei out of habit, despite knowing that it wasn't his real title.

"It's fine. I'd rather you accidentally call me that than Archer when in class or anywhere else in public."

The conversation managed to cool down the tension from before and calm Tsubaki from her chaotic emotions. She returned to her stoic expression and spoke normally again. It was clear to her that Archer was just about ready to wrap up the conversation and return to either Yuuto or his Master.

A single question stormed in her head as she wondered if this was the right opportunity for it.

But having nothing to lose, she spoke again. "Um, Archer-san, you are Yuuto's mentor now, yes?"

"Mentor? I would hardly say that. I'm just giving him some advice here and there in exchange for a little something he agreed to do for me. Nothing so involved as to make me his mentor. The boy wanted some help to improve his technique with a sword, so he offered me a good deal which I accepted."

Right, well, if that was the case, then her plan probably wouldn't work. It was crazy from the beginning, honestly, but… if it came to fruition, then not only would it help her King gain opportunities to learn more about Archer… but for her to get closer to Yuuto as well!

Gathering enough courage, she decided to just wing it as such chances didn't come often, if ever.

"A-Archer-san… I have a favor to ask of you… If you don't mind, that is."

{Break}

-Kuoh Academy, Old School Building, Occult Research Club-

Going back to where Yuuto was still regaining his breath and nursing his battered ribs, Archer instructed the boy to return to the club and rest for now. His Master was still occupied with her paperwork for the day last he checked, but it shouldn't be for much longer if was being diligent about it, and he was due to return to his place by her side.

"Did something happen for you to disappear like that?" Yuuto asked while both were on their way back.

"Oh, it was just a curious little squirrel," answered another voice. Both men looked over to find Akeno at the entrance of the club with a cold glass of lemonade. "You worked up quite the sweat out there, Yuuto-kun. I made you some lemonade to help you cool down." She handed over the glass to the Knight, who happily accepted. The training was intense, and he did sweat a lot, so this refreshing treat was very welcome.

"…"

"Oh, Buchou is calling you. We have a special guest, so be sure to give her a warm welcome."

"Ah, got it." Yuuto nodded and entered the room, with Archer following close behind. But before he could get inside, Akeno stepped in front of the Servant and blocked his way. A second later, the door closed, leaving both of them alone inside the quiet corridor.

"No lemonade for me?" Archer asked.

"Follow me." Rather than answering him, she spoke with a rather monotone voice before heading straight for walking to another area of the building. Her smile had dimmed considerably as the tension started to settle in between them.

"Hah," he sighed, having an idea of what was going on. Then again, it was kind of his fault it happened to begin with, so he followed the girl without any discussion. Their footsteps echoed inside the halls, with Akeno not uttering a single word the entire time. They passed by a room, the door sealed with long strips of yellow tape and 'keep out' signs. The bowman stared at the door for a few seconds, his eyes narrowing, but he didn't dwell on it for long. Soon, both reached a separate room entirely on the opposite side of the building. Inside, an empty bed frame with furniture draped in white sheets, with the only source of light being the sunshine coming from the outside. "Nice place for some privacy."

"I know," she snapped her fingers, the doors behind him closing with a small spell acting as a soundproof seal encompassing the room. Without wasting any time, Akeno spoke again. "You saw what happened."

The day she tortured Kalawarna for information on Raynare's whereabouts. He remembered the entire scene as clearly as day, mostly because it happened not that long ago and how intense the emotions in the room had been. Still, he learned a sensitive piece of information that day about Akeno, which obviously distressed the girl a great deal.

"The fact that you're a Fallen Angel?"

Crackle!

He moved his head just in time to dodge a lightning attack. The spell hit the wall and destroyed a small chunk of it. Sparks surrounded her fingers as she showed him a rather forced smile on her face.

"Touchy subject, I see."

"You… you weren't supposed to hear that." She said, unable to meet his eyes and lowering her hand. "And she wasn't supposed to say or even know it."

"You know, I'm new to this world, given that mine does not have Devils, Fallen Angels, or other mythical or biblical creatures roaming around town and going to schools. I lived in a time when the Age of Gods had long since come to an end, so my opinion on anything really is quite neutral — aside from a few initial judgments I had on Devils in the beginning. I fail to see what worries you about me knowing about your origin or how it will change anything." He said genuinely, having little to no concern or opinion about what species anyone of Rias's peerage was. He was more taken aback by this world's reality and how different these beings were from his own.

Akeno scoffed, "Was that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Not really, I'm just stating the obvious." Archer rubbed his temple, wondering why she was making such a big deal about it. "Just so you know, I'm traversing through this issue completely blind and clueless about the general context. I wouldn't like a bit more clarification if you don't mind."

She gripped her forearm, silent for the next few moments and contemplating whether to tell him or not.

"…I was born to a human mother." She whispered. "She was a shrine priestess from a well-known shrine under the Himejima Clan, one of the Five Principal Clans. One day, she met a wounded man inside the woods, barely hanging onto life, and a Fallen Angel on top of that."

Archer could already see where this story was heading. It didn't take a genius to guess what happened afterward. But he stayed quiet and let her continue the story, as this was clearly a highly inappropriate moment for one of his sarcastic jabs.

"The Himejima clan are very much against factions like the Grigori and the Devils, seeing them as nothing but evil beings. Just think about how the church sees us, and that's basically the same mentality with them. Having any of their members be associated or acquainted with a Fallen is a taboo of the highest order. But despite knowing all of that, my mother still brought him in, saw to his care, and tended his wounds. With time, love blossomed between them, and they got together. From their union is how I came into the world."

A clan highly hostile towards Fallen Angels, to have one of their members not only fall in love with one but also have a child together was probably one of the biggest sins imaginable in their eyes. Archer had seen such cases countless times, and rarely did it come with a happy ending.

"Of course, after the main clan found out, my mother was instantly exiled — they claimed she got brainwashed. She, on the other hand, didn't care one bit, living a happy life with my father and myself." She scornfully said 'father', her face cringing saying that word. "Not all happy moments last forever, though. That life which I cherished came to an abrupt end the moment the shrine was attacked by those who came to burn away this… 'abominable family'. Though we kept to ourselves and stayed away from anything having to do with the clan, they couldn't stomach knowing that something like me or my mother would continue existing, and come to kill us."

"…"

In the end, her voice started to break down, the past still having a strong effect on her current self.

"She protected me the entire time, kept me hidden, and had to face those who were after us on her own… and he wasn't there!" She exclaimed with pure anger seeping through her voice. "My mother she… she died, all because of him! Those people weren't primarily after her, they wanted to kill the Fallen Angel, and he left us to die!"

It finally became clear to him. The reason behind her hatred for her father's race and her father himself all became evident to his eyes.

'If I act too unconcerned she might take it the wrong way. I can't have her behavior cause discord between the peerage and my Master. Hugh, how tedious.' He was having a hard time to truly empathize with the girl at all. Archer couldn't deny the misfortune of her life, but compared to the countless tragedies of millions of people he'd witnessed — many of which he was the cause of — Akeno's situation just didn't have that much weight to it.

He wasn't unfeeling or devoid of emotions, but his experience as a Counter Guardian and his past life just made him very numb at times.

But given Akeno played a major role in his Master's peerage, he couldn't afford to completely turn a blind eye to her situation.

"I'm sorry," was all he could say. What happened could not be changed. No amount of effort or sympathy was going to heal the wounds of the past. It was something that only her father could heal as he was indirectly the main cause of it.

"Don't be, humph. I just lost my cool there for a second." Facing away from him, he could still hear her crying and guessed she wasn't willing to face him out of shame of her own origin. "I don't even need to tell you how repulsive Fallen Angels are. After all, you've seen it with your own eyes back at the abandoned church. How that bitch tried to manipulate Issei-kun, to get him to turn his back to us and force him into becoming a Stray Devil so she could get away. How she planned to kill innocents if it benefitted her in even the slightest way."

"…"

She turned around, showing a self-deprecating face. "You must feel disgusted, standing so close to a creature like me, right? I remember how you were wary of the Fallens before, you don't trust their kind, and you're right not to. You were willing to kill the entire group back then if there was no need to find Raynare or any of that political play between the Grigoris and us."

The Servant stood there still with his arms crossed, tilting his head sideways with visible confusion. "Forgive me, but I still don't see your point." His response caught her by surprise. "While it's true that I did find it safer and more convenient to kill Raynare and her group before they could cause more damage, I'm still happy with the outcome. I don't like killing as much as you or Master might suspect. Quite the opposite, in fact. And those Fallen Angels were purposefully trying to sow chaos and were a threat to the local population and my Master, so it's obvious why I was so active in taking care of the situation as a Servant, given it's my duty to keep your King safe. It had nothing to do with them being Fallen Angels or anything like that."

"Hn, you expect me to believe that? You don't need to hide it from me, Archer. You can be honest with me."

This woman was getting annoying. He had better things to do than try to convince her not to hate or care about a specific faction or race.

"Hah, look, I'm not going to judge an entire race of supernatural beings just because of the actions of a few. They could have been Devils, Youkai, Fae, or even a group of talking cats, and I wouldn't have cared in the least. The same applies to you. Whether you're a hybrid of Devil, Fallen, Angel, Human, Elf, Dragon, Dog, Cat, or whatever other weird humanoid species may exist in this world, you'll still be the same in my eyes." Though Archer did accept the fact that in the beginning, he did doubt Rias and everyone else due to their nature as Devils. But that was because of the entities he faced in his world for eons which went beyond the point of a 'handful' of groups.

The raven-haired girl gritted her teeth at his response, convinced that he wasn't being truthful. So pushing her discomfort to the side, she brought out her wings.

Black appendages extended from her back, but they couldn't have been more different. One as dark as the night sky, covered with soft feathers and a glossy exterior. The other was almost leathery, vaguely similar to that of a bat with multiple sharp ends. Akeno felt a surge of discomfort and unease from bringing out her true wings on display. Having grown used to showing only her Devil wings for years and nothing else. Not even Rias got to see her other side since she first turned her into a Devil years ago.

This would show him what kind of abomination she truly was. Faced with the ugly truth, he would no longer be able to hi—

"Huh, neat. So does the type of wings affect your speed in any way? And is it a common feature among all Fallens to constantly shed feathers? Seems like a pain to clean up. Do you lose any magical energy from constantly growing new ones?" He pondered while rubbing his chin, curiously looking over the single feathered wing and picking up one of the black feathers on the ground. "Or perhaps the fallen feathers disappear when you dismiss the wings… guess we'll find out soon."

At a loss for words at his casual behavior, she shouted, "That's your reaction!? Don't you find the sight of two things that shouldn't be mixed utterly repulsive!? This is not something that should exist! This is an abomination!"

Archer was starting to lose his patience. Having had enough, he walked up to the girl and tapped his finger on her forehead. "Let me put it in a way that will make it through your dense head. To me, you're just Himejima Akeno. Rias Gremory's Queen and a mediocre cook with a tendency to indulge in your masochistic side a bit too much. I'll say it again, to me, you're still just a bratty little girl, nothing more and nothing less."

"W-Why you! I'm eighteen years old! I'm not a little girl in any sense of the phrase!" Out of everything, the last thing Akeno expected to lose her cool over was her age, yet when brought up in this way she found herself rather vexed. "And stop trying to change the subject!"

"I'm not. It is what it is. Go find someone else to hate you for being a Fallen and Devil hybrid or whatever — I'm sure the Church faction will be more than happy to decry your existence if that's what you're into. I, on the other hand, have neither the time or patience for such nonsense. So stop moping around like a child about something that's an inherent part of you, and let's go finally join the others. Also, if you want me to stop treating you like a kid, then you'll just have to act more mature. Your age and your body have nothing to do with it. Regardless of whether you are a Devil or a Fallen, or a hybrid of the two, you're still the same annoying brat in my eyes. Keep that in mind, Akeno."

Seriously, he had expected this conversation to be about something far more serious and potentially problematic. Not that this matter didn't hold some serious issues, but it was also not one that required all that much attention from him. "Also, don't forget about your homework tomorrow. I'm not going to give you a free pass just because of some unresolved self-acceptance and daddy issues."

He was certain that with time and proper care from Rias and the rest of her friends, Akeno would get over her hate. Though it would be much faster if her father came forth and talked things out. He, of all people, understood how important that last part was given the mess Kiritsugu inadvertently created with Emiya Shirou and the many problems that plagued the boy in the earlier stages of his life, let alone the impacts those had down the line.

His body disappeared from his spot after entering his spiritual form, leaving Akeno all by herself in the room. Her lips quivered as the tears she held back before now openly streamed down her face.

She sniffed, "…That jerk." But for some reason, it felt like a weight had been taken off her shoulders. He saw the ugliest side of her in its entirety… and he didn't care. He saw and treated her just the same regardless. She wiped her tears, frustratingly staring at the spot where he stood before. "Calling me a brat… I'll show you."

Her emotions were in such a mess that she giggled for a few seconds. Finding the whole scenario absurd, along with his ridiculous reaction now that she thought about it. Then she remembered how he also called her a mediocre cook, another arrow that struck her pride.

"Stupid bastard," sniff… "I'll prove you wrong in every way… just you wait."

He didn't look at her with disgust even when she showed her mismatched wings, keeping that stern, analytical frown on his face like always. It reassured her more than she thought it would, giving her a strange sense of comfort.

Her wings retracted back as Akeno decided to stay inside the room for a few more moments until her emotions calmed down enough to return back inside the club.

She found herself looking forward to her next class with Toujou-sensei now.

.

.

.

Archer reappeared inside the club near Rias, the latter in the middle of an arduous pile of paperwork that Sona dropped on her head along with other school assignments she had to complete for the following days.

But he noticed something unusual. His Master was worried.

"Master?"

"…"

She was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't even react to his voice, continuing to bite her nails as her pen scribbled. This was more than worrying. To him, it was clear that she was also very much stressed. Looking around the room, he spotted Koneko staring at the tray of sweets before her with less life within her eyes than usual, and an exhausted Yuuto sleeping on the sofa.

The atmosphere in itself was quite heavy.

"What happened?" Having no other choice, he asked the only other member present in the club who either wasn't lost in their thoughts or sleeping. "Did someone come over, Hyoudou?" He asked the boy sitting on the sofa nervously, snacking on some sweets.

"A-Ah! You wouldn't believe this, but a smoking hot maid with giant boobs came over and asked for Buchou's attention for an important matter of some kind! Uooooh, she was so sexy!"

Was Grayfia here? To think she now came prepared by somehow managing to hide all of her demonic powers. He didn't feel her presence once, though it could have been due to the seal he'd sensed in the other room and how it aided to further hide her actual presence. "What did they talk about?"

The boy scratched his cheeks awkwardly.

"I'm not sure. I didn't get to hear much, to begin with." Something told Archer that Issei got too distracted staring at Grayfia's chest to follow the conversation properly. "I don't know if it's correct, but I'm pretty sure they said something about some number of days that have been shortened with a few changes in plans. Oh! Then I heard 'Possible Rating Game' or something like that."

That all but confirmed it for him. This must have been about the engagement with Riser Phenex.

"Alright, I'll just ask Rias for more details once she's— hm?" He was cut short by someone gently pulling his shroud from behind, something that no Devil should be able to do without any pain. Turning around, the bowman found a new addition to the group he hadn't seen before. A small girl with blonde hair and nun clothes touched his shroud, with stars filling her eyes.

"S-Sei davvero un santo!" She said with great shock.

"Huh?"

'…Oh no,' Archer nearly lost it when he saw the girl go down on her knees and start praying out of nowhere.

"Argh!"

My head!"

"Hn!"

Every Devil inside the room flinched with a sudden terrible headache, the girl's prayers being more than enough to bring them back to reality and hold their throbbing heads. All the while, Archer questioned just what had happened the entire time he wasn't in the club and the identity of this new weirdo.

Then again, he already had a pretty good guess, given the nun outfit she wore, which only made him more nervous as to why she started praying to him. What possible reason could she have to do that?!

"Eurgh, what happened?" Rias said, holding her throbbing head with one hand. "Archer?"

"Finally awake I see, Master. Care to tell me who this girl praying at my feet is and why she just called me a saint?"

"Ah, this is Asia Argento, our special guest and I'm… uh, it might be because of your shroud that she's calling you a saint. I think?"

The doors to the clubroom opened, Akeno walked inside sporting her usual smile. Not a single trace of her previous outburst showed and it impressed Archer how she could hide it so flawlessly.

"Ara ara~ Our dear nun finally got to meet Saint-sama~!"

Great… At least now he knew who the culprit was. This day just kept getting weirder and weirder.

----------

So, despite what many fans suspected (or no doubt hoped, in some instances) Diodora did not summon Jeanne Alter. Or anyone, for that matter. He attempted the summoning ritual before doing the one to obtain his own set of Command Seals, and on top of that, despite his insistence that he followed all the instructions, he got impatient and cut corners, which you NEVER do when it comes to Type Moon Magecraft. So the end result of his rushed, half-assed efforts was the ritual literally blowing up in his face with no Servant showing up, and several of his peerage members being burnt to a crisp.

The next 5 chapters of Snafu, Harry Potter and my 3 other Fate fics (Fate Coiling Sword with 3 chapters, A Fake Familiar Reborn with 3 chapters 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 monthly commissioned arts on each story, already posted a few on an Archer's Promise, Broly and Snafu.