Chapter 12 - Argus' Story

"What did I miss?"

"Ah, Onii-chan you're home!"

"I'm back."

"Brother, I told them about our story."

"That's why I heard Itsuki say 'I'll beat them up!' "

"Onii-chan, how is the Abyss Crack like?" Abyss Crack? Oh the place where demons reside.

"Lots and lots of demons. They're practically swarming that place."

"Any special ones?"

"Hmm... Let's see, there's Dyrroth, Thamuz, Terizla, Helcurt and Alice."

"Alice?"

"She's a blood demon or a succubus. We hate her though. Shes's manipulative."

"O–Okay..."

"Are there any other Angels?"

"There are but Rafaela is more famous than them."

"Wow..."

"I saved a lot of people and yet I wasn't able to save the person close to me..."

"...uhm, what's the appearance of, you in your past life like?"

"It will be easier if I just show you." I haven't transformed to Argus for a while now.

Rie, activate Argus Mode.

[Got it, Kazumi-sama]

Then a dark ominous green light surrounded me as my body change.

My body is now the same as my past life. My head has a helmet with horns then a shoulder plate on my left shoulder which both has a green highlights. I also have gauntlets on each arm with their fingertips sharp and green in color. My feather wings' color became dark blue.

In my left hand, my green-bladed sword appeared.

"Wow!"

"Ara..."

"Woah, so cool!"

Yuuma acting like this is her first time seeing my Argus Form. Which I appreciate for, because I don't want to talk about what happened back then.

"This is when I fell and became a Fallen Angel."

Rie, change to Angel Form.

[Understood!]

This time, a pure white light surrounded me, not too bright that it blinds them.

The color of my helmet, shoulder plates, gauntlet changed from green and gray to the color gold and light gray, replacing them respectively. My sword also changed in color as well as the appearance. It looked similar to a katana back then but now it looks more like a long sword with its blades in the color gold.

My wings also became white, just like an angel's.

"Brother... This is..." Rafaela reacted first.

"That's right, this is before I fell. This is when I was a pure angel."

"Then you aren't a fallen angel anymore?"

"No. I'm still a fallen angel. I can change my appearance and be a fallen or not."

"But how?"

"This world is different from ours. I'm sure you have noticed that Yuuma and Akeno are both fallen angels too."

Rafaela nodded.

"Well, there was a story about angels who fell and became fallen angels but later became angels again. I guess that also applies to me." It's actually because I have Rie

"But doesn't that make you an angel again?"

"Let's just say I became a fallen angel again."

Then Akeno slowly approached me.

"What are you doing?"

"I was wondering if, you an angel, has an effect on me, a devil."

"Are there any?" I said with worry. Of course I would.

"There aren't." Akeno replied as she's hugging me right now.

"Are you sure you're testing something or you just want to hug me?"

"Both."

"O–Okay..."

"Kazumi-kun, how did you fall? Because fallen angels in this world fell because of sins. But how did you?"

"It was because of this." I showed them my sword.

"An evil god resides in this sword. It also gave me immortality." I continued.

"Immortality? Like the phenex?" Akeno asked.

"Phenex?" Of course I have to act that I don't know.

"Phenex family. You know the Phoenix bird right? They have similar characteristics such as immortality. Their immortality lets them regenerate their body parts in flames. Which is why I asked you if you have the same immortality."

"Different. I'm basically immune to death. But I do have regeneration to heal me up if I get wounded, got my limbs cut off and many others." I replied though they looked confused.

"Huh?"

"What I mean is even if my head gets cut off or I got stabbed in my heart, I won't die yet. But I have regeneration to heal up my wounds. So I have immortality not because I have regeneration but I can't die."

"Ah, I get it now. Why do you think you have a different immortality than the Phenex?"

"I don't know why but it's very useful in scaring my enemies. I like seeing their face in despair after seeing that their attacks didn't do anything." I remember when my enemies started to run away. It was extremely fun. Because no matter how fast they run, I catch up to them.

Oops! Calm down, Kazumi. Don't show them your unsightly behavior.

"Ehem, s–sorry about that." I am wearing a helmet right? Hopefully they didn't see my face. It'd be weird if they saw me grinning like a crazy person.

"N–No worries."

"Y–Yeah..."

"Fufu..."

"A–Anyways, Rafaela, how is Asia?"

"Physically she's fine but she still needs rest. Everything took a toll to her mental health. Just let her rest for as much as she needs."

"Alright. Are you staying?"

"No, I need rest as well. I'm traveling the whole world and helping people. In fact, I'm heading south-east of the Moniyan Empire. The place is called Azyra Woodlands. I'll be visiting to learn the Elves' art of healing."

"Okay. Take care of yourself."

"...Thank you, brother."

"See you later, sister."

"Bye bye, Rafaela-Onee-san!"

"Goodbye, Rafaela-san."

"Goodbye as well, Rafaela."

Rafaela, in Asia's body smiled at us. Then Rafaela was gone. I laid Asia's body on my bed and let her rest as Rafaela advised.

"Oh uh, here's your ice cream, Itsuki."

"Thank you, Onii-chan!"

"What about us, Kazumi-kun?"

"Yeah?"

"I'll be right back." Gotta buy more ice cream. I left my room.

"Hey Itsuki, let me take a small bite."

"What?! I shared ny brother with you and now I need to share my ice cream too?!"

"Don't be like that. We're sisters aren't we?"

"Ahh! Onii-chan hurry up!"

~°~°~°~

Itsuki POV

It's been a few days since Rafaela-Onee-san visited us.

Ever since then, Onii-chan has been training Akeno and her friends and strengthening them up.

Today, I looked for Onii-chan everywhere but haven't found him. So the only place where he could be is...

*KNOCK KNOCK!*

*KACHAK!*

"Umm, is Onii-chan here?"

"He was." Akeno led me inside.

"Did he?.."

"Yes, he argued with Rias."

"Again? It's the third time this week! Is it about training again?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"That stupid Onii-chan– *Sigh* Is there a reason why this happens?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing. But to answer your question, I don't know... But I think that this is good thing."

"Why?"

"Well, Buchou has been staring into the distance and it just seems like she's out of it? But ever since Kazumi started to annoy her, she's been spending time on training and arguing rather than idling."

"I see. So how's your training going?"

"I'm trying to be more efficient when it comes to casting spells. Kazumi said and I quote, 'Since you're a Mage and uses Mana– I mean Demonic Power, try to lessen your Demonic Power usage while maximizing the power output of your spells.' "

"Any luck in doing so?"

"It's difficult. But I know this will be beneficial for me. If I can cast more spells with my current demonic power, then what about when I have more than what I have now? Though Kazumi said that if it's impossible, I don't have to do it and he'll instead give me something."

"And you still tried to do it even if it's difficult?"

"Yes. We have received so much from him. Of course I repay him when we're together but the items he gave us are similar to sacred gears and you know how powerful those are."

"I guess that's true. But why did Onii-chan offer you another item? You know that since the items are stored in our souls, it can only hold a certain number of items and any more of that amount may cause damage to the soul."

"I did ask him. He said that it's different from the items we received which are Tier 3 and it's the highest tier but the item he would give me is a Tier 2 item and it costs less than the tier 3s. He also said that it has been a while since we got the items and our souls are already used to the items and we may get a 3rd or 4th one."

"We'll get even stronger huh?"

"Yes. But it's not fun to be spoon-fed all the time."

"And that's why you're training to be more efficient than taking what Onii-chan is giving you, right?"

"That's right. So shall we go to Kazumi?"

"Sure."

~°~°~°~

Back to Kazumi POV.

Hmmm...

Is Demonic Power same as Mana?

I was thinking of giving Akeno Demon Boots–

[Demon Shoes]

That's the real name? So all this time I was calling it by the wrong name?

Anyways.

Demon Shoes regenerate Mana and if Demonic Power is the same as mana, then Akeno can spam spells as much as she wants.

Enchanted Talisman is more suitable but because Akeno can't handle three items yet so she'll settle with Demon Shoes for now.

Enchanted Talisman has two passives. Mana Spring and Magic Mastery.

Mana Spring regenerates 15% of max mana every 10 seconds.

And Magic Mastery increases max CD reduction by 5%.

But what is more important about this Item is Mana Spring and 20% CD reduction. You can really spam spells with this item.

And then there's Koneko. Since she's a Tank/Fighter, should I change her Items?

The next enemy they'll fight is a Phenex whom are known for their regeneration, it'll make more sense of I change it into Dominance Ice and Sea Halberd.

Dominance Ice has two passives. Arctic Cold and Life Bane.

Arctic Cold reduces their speed, well attack speed but they're the same, by 80%. So the faster you are, the more you'll slow down.

Life Bane reduces their shield and hp regen or regeneration capabilities by 50%. I don't know how it works because I never tried against enemies with instant regeneration.

Attributes are important as well. Dominance Ice gives the owner 55 physical defense and 5% movement speed.

[Kazumi-sama.]

Yeah?

[How about just keep the Radiant Armor? Since their next enemy uses magic, it will be better to have an Item that reduces the enemy's damage to the owner everytime the attacker deals damage.]

That's... Not a bad idea. I was so focused on countering the healing abilities of Riser that I forgot about his attacks. Thanks Rie.

[You're welcome, Kazumi-sama.]

It's settled. Koneko will keep Radiant Armor. Kind of funny actually, Koneko is a Devil but the Radiant Armor's passive is called Holy Blessing.

Back to work.

Then there's Sea Halberd. It has the same passive as the Dominance Ice which is Lifebane and a new passive which is Punish.

Punish increases the owner's damage by 8% against heroes or enemies with high extra hp. Well, people here don't have extra hp so of course it'll be changed. How about increase by 8% to enemies with regenerative powers?

Yup. Seems fine. Is it doable Rie?

[Yes. It wouldn't be a problem since we're swapping the items, not adding. Their souls are already used to the items so it wouldn't be a problem if the item costed a bit more]

Alright. Time to get to work.

~°~°~°~

And done. Didn't really take much because Rie does most of the work. I'm surprised that this even works because the items are overpowered. I mean where can you get something that reduces the time needed for a Boost?

First I was surprised that the Items were compatible with sacred gears. I didn't think that they're skills. But I realized that the sacred gears are connected with the soul and since they are used by the wielder, they are an extension to the person using them.

Just like my sword, which is connected to my soul, has its own skills.

I can inflict a curse that slowly drains their life by walking or moving and slows their movement speed making it easier for me to catch up and end their pathetic life...

Oof, my Argus side is showing...

I should get going. I need to swap these items with Koneko's before the fried chicken arrives.

"Kazumi?"

"Onii-chan, are you here?"

"Hmm? Oh I'm here!"

"What are you doing?"

"Just creating and doing some minor changes to two new Items."

"New items?! Is someone receiving their 3rd item or maybe my 4th?"

"No. I was planning to change one of Koneko's items."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because– First, let's find Koneko, I don't want to explain again."

"Okay."

"Kazumi?"

"Yeah?"

"You once said something about an item you'll give me if I can't lessen my demonic power usage. Can I ask what it is?"

"Oh I never told you what it's name. It's called Demon Shoes."

"...Is it an Item that reduces my Demonic Power usage?"

"Nope."

"Then what does it do?"

"If I tell you then you must accept it."

"I... Nevermind."

"If you change your mind, you always tell me."

"Okay, thank you."

"You're welcome. Alright, let's go to where Koneko is."

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2227 Words

Author's Words :

Sorry for not posting any chapters lately.

I've been busy with real life problems. Of course I had some free time but I can't do all of the things I want so I slowly wrote the chapter.

Why was I busy and what kept me busy?

Because I had to prepare for school and some family problems.

That should be all for now.

Oh the side chapter oh yeah. It's a work in progress. I'm trying to do everything to fit in the lore but I realized that It's a side story. A side story that won't be canon... Unless...

I have a lot to talk about but I forgot so...

Bye for now.