44 Chapter 44-A Fallen Angel In The Dark

Disclaimer: I don't own Highschool DxD.

A Fallen Angel In The Dark

'Things are getting complicated,' Joshua thought with a frown as he read through the report he was given. Absently, he would occasionally look around to the other magicians sitting around the table. Everyone currently working on the youkai's defenses had been called and given a file on recent events. It spoke of the attack to Joshua's house by the initial Khaos Brigade group. Not in great detail though, it didn't even really say who had been attacked, only a vague idea of what had happened.

Then, it went on to say that several other magicians had started to receive "visits" by Khaos Brigade. Evidently, the intruders Joshua had picked up hadn't been the last. What was worse, they were getting better at infiltrating the defenses, from what he was reading. After all, the last attack had been rather serious.

Mainly because it was an attack instead of someone just checking on their wards and such. The magician, from the House of Water association, hadn't been heard of after the attack. That was serious, and thus guaranteed the reaction it had gotten.

Now it wasn't a matter of defending only the youkai anymore. They had to defend themselves. Admittedly, that was something they all knew, but since one of their own had been taken out already, it became even more concerning. 'Especially,' Joshua thought to himself. 'Because it seems that the magicians are getting scared.' Two of them had already left after the threat had become known, actually.

Several magicians around him looked pale and their hands trembled as they considered the information in the files. Some looked ready to bolt as soon as they'd started reading, honestly. Those, Joshua guessed, were the ones that had already been "approached" as it were.

It didn't help that they apparently had moved from having to deal with one Longinus Sacred Gear to another. Annihilation Maker had come to tell them that no, things hadn't gotten easier after Georg was dealt with, apparently. It'd started almost as nothing, with a common creature that had done practically nothing.

From there, whoever was the holder had started getting better. The creations were now able to pass through most wards, go unnoticed by detection, shrug off spells and so on. And with their capabilities, so grew the danger of whoever it was that they were sent to hunt down.

Dimension Lost had already been a major pain to deal with, but this was equally as bad, in Joshua's opinion. While one could shrug off any and all barriers with their power over reality itself, this new threat could adapt their way through any kind of wall they put in front of it. It was a different but still very annoying adversary, that was for sure.

'These things might adapt against illusions,' Joshua considered, already going over his defense ideas. 'The Switch defense should hold… I might have to add a few things to it, just in case, but in theory, that shouldn't be affected by this,' He mused, pulling out a card from which he took a notebook and something to take notes with.

He liked to write down whatever came to mind, just in case he forgot something if he left it for later. He dutifully ignored the looks he was given by the other magicians. Nobody was saying anything, so he could just go over the new information and work. He wouldn't be leaving, that was for sure.

He'd also note down anyone that left, just in case.

"Joshua Davis?" Someone called, and since it wasn't Yasaka, he didn't look up.

"Yeah?" He called distractedly as he continued writing in his notebook. Maybe there was a way he could make illusions work slightly differently every time? Maybe he could apply that concept to all his spells? That way nothing could just adapt to it. Actually, that would stop anyone from getting a read on his spells at all.

It was a nice idea, but it sounded like a nightmare to work out. It would also probably need a ton more power, which would mean starting off even weaker and working the way up a lot slower. That was a pretty big downside if one wanted quick results. For permanent defenses though, that would be pretty neat.

'Ok, I'm definitely seeing if that's possible,' Joshua nodded to himself as he noted that down.

"Your presence is required," The person from before said and Joshua sighed.

"Can it wait? I'm kind of in the middle of something here," He asked, still not looking up. He had a few approaches to this new idea that he definitely wanted to note down before they vanished from his head. It would probably need a lot of trial and error, but if he could get it to work.

"Yasaka sounded like it was pretty urgent," The person insisted and Joshua sighed again, cracking his neck and pushing the notebook and pencil back into the card. Looking up, he found a man with black and blond hair. "I'm sorry for interrupting," He apologized, although it didn't look very sincere considering the amused tone and the grin on his face.

"Let's get this over with. I had an idea to improve the defenses here and I want to work on that quickly," He grumbled as he started walking. "Are you new here? I don't think I've seen you around," Joshua asked then, looking around at the other youkai servants, who were looking a little pale, for some reason. Same with some of the other magicians.

"You could say that," The man replied with a chuckle before extending a hand and introducing himself. "I'm Azazel, nice to meet you."

'Azazel,' Joshua picked up, frowning. 'As in…' Then his eyes widened.

"Oh."

"That's one way to react to that, I guess," The Fallen Angel Governor commented, clearly amused by the whole thing.

Joshua, meanwhile, frowned heavily. Mainly because he was feeling a headache coming again, stronger than other times. Actually, kind of like what had happened with Sairaorg, Rias, Sona-

[Mind Resistance has gone up a level.]

'What in the…?' He shook his head. 'It's probably nothing,' He dismissed, shaking his head and making the screen disappear.

'And thus, my life keeps getting weirder and weirder, it seems,' Joshua lamented as he followed yet another faction leader he'd somehow managed to meet.

[}-o-{]

[Yasaka]

Of all ways she expected Joshua to react to Azazel approaching him personally, annoyance wasn't what she'd thought of. Then again, the man wasn't one to react normally to things, she'd learned. At least it was a nice change of pace, if nothing else. Serafall might have just gotten a rather good ally accidentally.

And Yasaka herself, she supposed. After all, after years upon years of being alive, most faction leaders were rather tired of people being afraid or groveling or such similar reactions. Most would take Joshua's… approach as a breath of fresh air. She knew she had, at least.

"So, why was I, in particular, called here? If you don't mind me asking," Joshua asked and Yasaka was surprised by the annoyance bleeding into his tone too. He was usually a much calmer person, so, something must have happened.

"I get it, you want to go back to your thing. I'm much the same with my own projects," Azazel commented with a chuckle. So, was this what happened when one interrupted Joshua's wardcrafting? Or was it more of a specific case? "So, as a fellow tinkerer, I'll go straight to the point. I was told your wards picked up on information regarding the Sacred Gear construct of Annihilation Maker."

"They did," Joshua replied flatly. "There are several wards that pick up Sacred Gear information."

"There are several that pick up Sacred Gears period," Azazel corrected, making the human frown. "But there are next to none that pick up on the stuff that I was told yours did. I'd like to have access to the information."

"Not the wards themselves?" Joshua asked, raising an eyebrow.

"If you'd give them to me," The Fallen Angel replied instantly, but it was obvious to Yasaka that he didn't believe Joshua would. She also knew that the man was perceptive enough to pick that up. "But the information would be enough for me."

"I can give you that, yes," Joshua said slowly with a nod. "Can I ask why you need that?"

"You can," Azazel answered with a grin. "Much like you seem rather fond of wards and spells, I like Sacred Gears. Every bit of information would be appreciated."

Yasaka almost wanted to smack the man. The Governor had said he could help them protect themselves against Annihilation Maker with more information. Certainly not that it was just for his own research.

"So… this is not to help with the current issue?" Joshua asked.

"I'll assign people to help defend this place until this issue is resolved. Also, there's a chance that new information might help us deal with it," Azazel explained, which didn't really make the situation much better. "Of course, I can add a part for you, that's just for Yasaka since she told me about you and offered to "mediate" between the two of us."

There was silence afterwards as Joshua stared at the Fallen Angel Governor. Considering what to ask for, she supposed. She'd certainly heard nightmare tales from Serafall about trying to get a good price from the man. She couldn't understand why though. Joshua didn't strike her as the type of person to ask for much at all. Then again, maybe she still had to see that part of him?

"How good of a help are we talking about here?" Joshua asked then, narrowing his eyes. "For the youkai, I mean."

There was another pause then, as Azazel blinked.

"Oho?" The Fallen considered, a grin widening on his face that made Yasaka feel more than a little concerned for Joshua. "I can have another Longinus guarding this area if your information is good enough, adding on top-"

"And if I give you the wards?"

Was… Was Joshua for real? Even Azazel's eyes widened and Yasaka could confidently say that she'd never seen the Fallen look surprised like that. Then his eyes narrowed, before he started looking between her and Joshua. Surely he wasn't thinking-

"If you give me the wards, I'll stay here myself to help," Azazel said then, and Yasaka wasn't sure how good that would be. On one hand, that'd be a great help and a lot of reassurance that things would go well. On the other, it'd meant putting up with Azazel through that time.

"How's that sound?" Joshua asked, this time turning towards Yasaka herself, his face turning to a more relaxed expression that she was more used to. "Because I sure don't know if that's a good deal or not."

Yasaka simply stared at him while Azazel barked out a laugh.

"It's a good deal, yes, but you could probably get a lot for yourself. Having a Longinus holder would be plenty of defense added here. No need to give so much for-"

"Sure, I'll take that deal," Joshua agreed then, interrupting her and giving her an amused smile, as if he'd made her lose or something. Did he realize the kind of favor he was giving her? "You said you were a tinker, right? You know anything about wards?"

"Last time I actually got into that was a while ago, honestly. Magic has changed quite a bit since then," Azazel explained, considering the question seriously, which was something Yasaka knew didn't happen often. "Not sure how much I could help you with that."

"That's actually good," Joshua replied with a nod and she could see the gears turning inside his head. "I might not get to use those wards, but the knowledge of how things were done before could come in handy, I think."

"Then I can help you tinker, my new friend. As long as we start talking about that information soon."

"Sure. Say, I could use some help making some more Sacred Gear oriented wards, really," Joshua offered and the gleam in Azazel's eyes was one that Yasaka didn't like, at all.

"Oh, I think I'll like you, Joshua Davis."

'What have I done?' Yasaka couldn't help but ask herself.

[}-o-{]

[Joshua Davis]

"This is… amazing," Azazel mumbled as he read through the report Joshua had written for him with all the little pieces of data he'd gathered through his modified wards. Most of them regarded Jeanne, since she was the one that had been scanned by the spells the most. However, there were also bits and pieces from Sairaorg's peerage, some even from Sona and Rias. Although, Joshua hadn't written where those had come from, just the general information. Khaos Brigade hadn't been under his wards for too long, but they'd also been there after he'd had time to work on his wards a lot, so there was a decent amount of information about theirs too.

Azazel seemed especially pleased with those and Jeanne's. The Fallen Angel Governor seemed interested in knowing how being a Hero Descendant influenced Sacred Gears. It was an interesting thing to research, Joshua would admit. Did that combination usually mess with wards? He wouldn't know. He'd built his circles around Jeanne, so he might have unknowingly both shot himself in the foot and pushed himself past a hard problem just by sheer ignorance. It was a funny thought, if nothing else.

"He's weird," Kunou mumbled next to him.

"Be nice, Kunou," Yasaka chastised. "He's a faction leader."

"He is weird though, you are not wrong," Joshua agreed with a nod, resolutely ignoring the youkai leader's disapproving gaze and focusing on the little girl's giggle. "Speaking of weird though," He added then, turning to the illusion that was floating over Kunou's card, then he turned towards the girl.

"I'm trying, ok?" She mumbled, drawing into herself.

"Maybe focus on what you are doing instead of criticizing others?" Joshua asked with a raised eyebrow.

"He's distracting though," She added, not looking at him.

"Think of it as extra training. Not always will you have a quiet place to cast magic in," He explained patiently. "Hm, how about we change cards? Or maybe take a little break and come back to it later?"

"Can I try for a bit longer? I'll pick up another card," Kunou asked hesitantly, bringing up the small deck of cards he'd made specifically for her. Many of them they had worked on together, mostly with Joshua explaining what each part he drew did and usually having her be the one to suggest what the illusion would actually do. Kunou liked using those a lot more, he'd noticed.

"Sure you can," He nodded. "If you are struggling too much, just take a break, ok?"

"Ok," She mumbled, frowning at the card in her hands.

"I don't know how you do it," Yasaka commented with a smile. "My daughter has never been this hardworking in any of her classes, even the ones she liked." At that, said little girl let out a sound that very much belied her wish to protest those accusations. Instead though, she glared even harder at the card.

"Maybe she's just got that magician spirit in her," Joshua commented with a grin. "I could certainly use someone to talk spells with. Jeanne indulges me, but I know everything I say flies over her head."

"Is that so?" Yasaka asked with a tilt of her head. "So it was for your own benefit that you are teaching Kunou."

"Oh no, I've been found out," He said flatly, getting a suppressed snort from the girl sitting between them.

"What are these marked parts here?" Azazel asked, his eyes still glued to the pages in front of him.

"Hm, oh, those," Joshua mumbled as he turned and took a look. "Those are readings I've taken from Jeanne. I'm not very sure, but those are from one specific sword that she can make that's much stronger than her average. I can't confirm anything, but my guess is that those are the readings of the "desire" part of the Sacred Gear mechanism."

"Truly? Can you tell me more about that?" Azazel asked this time, a new intensity growing in his gaze as he read and re-read those parts.

"She named it Healing Gratitude," Joshua explained. "It's, as you can guess, a sword that heals those it touches. It's blunted, but much more resistant than most of her swords when it comes to taking damage. The effect is also a lot stronger than it should be. As for how it came to be… I can't tell you much more than you can guess, sorry."

"I see," The Fallen Angel mumbled, a slight grin forming in his face. "I see," He repeated, for the first time stopping reading and placing the book down on the table. "You'll make more Sacred Gear oriented wards, won't you?" The man asked Joshua, sounding more like he was stating a fact than voicing a question, really.

"I will, yeah," He replied easily. He was going to add a "probably" there, but the chances were almost completely in favor of the idea. There were never enough approaches to ward targeting, really. Joshua was intent on covering as many of his bases as he could manage, even if there were an infinite number of them when it came to wards.

"Oh, I'll have to find a way to pay you more for them when the time comes," Azazel said, grinning from ear to ear. "My people have developed some very good spells to pick up information, but this is an approach that we've never stumbled across, or at least never managed to make work. I'm very interested in hiring you to place the wards too, if you don't want to outright give them to me- us." The man corrected.

"Honestly? I'm already struggling to find stuff for others to pay me with. If you think you can find something, be my guest," Joshua replied with a helpless smile and a shrug.

"Ha! I'll just take that as a challenge," Azazel chuckled.

"Also, please always send word in advance if you'll come around for a visit at my place and leave me out of political trouble if you can. I hate it," Joshua added quickly once it occurred to him that he could.

"Huh, you get more and more odd the more I learn of you, Joshua Davis, truly," The Fallen Angel commented, like he was the strange one in this whole situation.

"You have no idea, Azazel."

"Wha- Yasaka?" Joshua exclaimed. "What do you-?"

"Jo-tan~" A voice exclaimed, entering the room. "Oh, looks like someone's popular these days," Serafall added, looking at the table they were sitting at and he could only give her a shrug. Maybe it was a good thing that Yasaka had provided them with a separate room.

Joshua was also grateful for that, since he didn't know how he would take it if it became known that he was apparently helping the Fallen Angel Governor with Sacred Gear research. Then again, teaching Kunou might have already put him in some people's sights… 'I have the feeling I'm never gonna enjoy a quiet life again… It was good while it lasted, I guess,' He lamented.

At least he didn't have to worry about boring days anymore, he supposed.

"Yasaka, Jo-tan is ignoring me," The Satan grumbled, pouting at the youkai leader. The woman in question, however, simply raised an eyebrow at her.

"He has a lot in his mind. I wouldn't take it personally," Yasaka reassured. Meanwhile, Joshua closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath in. Then he sighed, deflating and pushing his notes away.

"Well, time for me to take a break from work, it seems," He muttered, giving a side-eyed look at Kunou's progress. She was doing a little better now that she wasn't letting herself get distracted… too much. "You are doing well," He commented, giving the girl a small smile that he hoped didn't look as tired as he felt.

"Thanks," The girl mumbled, suddenly smiling.

"Yasaka, Ku-tan is being adorable again!" Serafall whined then, earning herself Joshua's attention once more.

"I know, right?" Was the youkai leader's response, clearly pleased with her daughter's adorableness. "Finally back from your little world, Joshua? I swear, it's like it gets easier and easier for you to get lost in your thoughts."

"It's something that's always happened. Get used to it," He replied with a shrug. "So, considering that… uh, greeting, I'm guessing you came for me, Serafall?"

"... Still won't call me Levia-tan, will you?" She all but hissed, narrowing her eyes at him. Joshua, for his part, gave her an amused smile. If she could call most people whatever she wanted, he could do so too… Also because he was pretty sure he could get away with it, which was all kinds of surprising, really. "Meanie."

"Thank you," He said, his grin widening.

"Huh, you separated the Longinus's information, that's good," Azazel mumbled next to him and Joshua looked over, wondering if that's what he looked like when working with spells. "Nothing stood out in that?"

"Seemed to be normal readings, really. Just… stronger than usual. But nothing special about the whole thing, which surprised me," Joshua answered, considering that for a moment. "I expected more, honestly."

"Same," Azazel nodded, narrowing his eyes at the pages. "Say, how would you like to get a read on a Longinus's Balance Breaker?" He asked out of nowhere, grinning widely when Joshua's eyes all but popped out.

"Are you talking about the Longinus you said you'd bring?"

"Indeed," The Governor confirmed. "My people are gonna be researching the wards you gave us for a while, just to be able to read the information they get. I honestly can't wait to get that data though, so-"

"Tell me more about this, I want to get that data too," Joshua interrupted, matching the man's eager smile with one of his own. "Balance Breaker…"

The things he could do with that information, let alone from a Longinus. What if he could make a ward to block that specific function of a Sacred Gear? What if he could get it to work for people that hadn't unlocked it? And that wasn't even considering all the other information he could get from the Gear itself. Longinus were few, but all Sacred Gears had things in common between them, especially if the effects were somewhat similar. A Longinus could go a long way into filling some holes in the information he'd gathered so far.

"Joshua!" Kunou called, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Yeah, sorry, did I miss something?" He asked, blinking and focusing back in the present.

"Serafall wanted to talk to you," The girl told him, pointing at the woman, who was giving him her best pout. That was saying something, considering how much she seemed to do that with him.

"What can I do for you, Serafall?" He asked, hoping he hadn't insulted the woman… too much. Regardless, he thought it wasn't really his fault. This was supposed to be his work time and he was fully intent on doing just that. What was it with people not wanting to let him spellcraft?

"I can't come just to visit?"

"No," Yasaka replied flatly.

"Ha! That's a good one," Azazel barked out with a chuckle.

"What they said," Joshua added with a shrug.

"Meanies, the lot of you," Serafall grumbled as she sat down in front of them, crossing her arms and turning her head to the side. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm working on your payment, Jo-tan," She added after a slightly awkward moment of silence. Although, it seemed like he was the only one that felt that way. "I'll get those soon… ish. They are a stubborn bunch."

Joshua noticed that she never said what it was she was getting him or even who it was from. It was a rather blatant "hiding" but neither of the other faction leaders seemed to care. So, he went with his usual strategy, rolling with it.

"That's nice to hear, thank you," Joshua replied with a smile. That was reassuring. The sooner he could get those Phoenix Tears, the sooner he'd be able to worry a little less.

"With that out of the way, I got work to do," The woman said then, sounding positively miserable. "Ya-tan-"

"Yasaka," The youkai leader corrected, sounding as unimpressed as someone could be.

"Meanie," Serafall said once more, deflating where she sat.

[} Chapter End {]

(AN:Please remember that this story is not mine and will never be mine. Make sure to give thanks to the original author on fanfiction.net https://m.fanfiction.net/u/11459794/)