Chapter 14
Tōjō Koneko was a petite girl who was called the 'Mascot of Kuō' because she was so adorably cute. Again, not much else was known about her and she was a member of the ORC.
"Is anyone here, Koneko-chan?" Rias asked her junior, who concentrated for a moment before pointing unerringly at Issei's current position.
"Someone's standing in that box, although it's very faint." The little girl replied in a monotone voice.
Issei had to chuckle self-depreciatingly at that. Typical. He had gotten his hands on something to conceal his presence from mundane and minor magic detection and the Mascot of Kuō found him without even trying.
"Could the person concealing themselves kindly show themselves, please?" the redhead called out politely. There was steel in her eyes as she spoke, however, indicating that the 'request' was little more than a demand.
He spoke without thinking, "Who are you to make demands of me?"
His voice, bland and inflectionless as the [Dissimulator Necklace] made it, was nevertheless clear and audible. Rias Gremory's eyebrows shot up and she held herself straighter.
"I am Rias Gremory, Heiress to the House of Gremory and ruler of this territory." She replied loftily.
"You say your name, especially that of your family, as if I should know it." Issei observed as he frantically searched for a way out. He spotted the row of leavers that the Grand Packmaster had used to summon the Rat Ogres. Three were pulled, with two still upright.
His words made the group below him exchange looks.
"You have no idea who I am, in the middle of my territory?" Rias asked sceptically, "You have no idea who the House of Gremory are?"
"No." Issei replied, "I've been too busy killing those abominations to worry about petty things like territory and who is the titular ruler of it."
Above the levers there were pictograms. The first had a crude diagram of what had to be a Rat Ogre, the second had bars, and the third had a picture of a broken bone…Boneripper, of course. The fourth had more bars and the fifth had a pictogram of what looked like Giant Rats.
A small smile crept across Issei's face. Now that he had a plan, he had to find information about exactly who, and more to the point what, Rias Gremory was. That could wait until later, however.
"Rias, he could have only gained knowledge of the supernatural recently." Akeno said softly.
Nodding, the redhead asked, "Is that true?"
"Correct." Issei answered, "I am afraid that further conversation will have to be postponed as I have a lunch engagement elsewhere."
"That isn't in the cards, I'm afraid." Rias said slowly, "I wish to know who you are, why you are rampaging through my territory and what these…ratmen are. I will have answers."
"All good and reasonable questions." Issei allowed, "But we will have to talk another time, in a place that does not reek of sewage. In the meantime, you can kill some of those rats that I have yet to get to."
With that, he pulled the fourth lever before moving on to pull the fifth lever.
Immediately, a large metal cage slammed down atop the arena, locking the group of teens in the arena and opening up dog-sized holes in the walls. Out of these holes, Giant Rats emerged, snarling and foaming at the mouth.
"Why you…!" Rias snarled, magic pooling in her hands.
"Fare thee well." Issei said, wincing inside. This had been a bad idea, but it had been the only way to run away from the situation. All of them were Level thirty-plus. No way could he, a lowly Level 7, fight them and expect to win.
He turned around and dashed away down the passage that led away from the arena, the stone door slamming down firmly behind him. Fortunately, the passage was lit by torches and so he travelled down the path until he came to a room similar to the one from the [Den of the Ratlord].
Like that one, it was sparsely lit, with a single table in the centre. It also had a single piece of paper on it, with familiar writing on it. Walking over, he picked it up and started reading.
"To Division Head, Project Rat King,
It has been noted by the Council that the species #456b has developed several sub-species, such as the so-called 'Clanrats,' 'Stormvermin,' 'Packmasters,' and 'Giant Rats.' We would like to remind you that while diversity is good, species 456b is primarily for human-wave tactics, with the emphasis on rapid replacement of expendable troops.
Some members of the Council, however, are interested to see exactly what further mutations and strains may result in future generations, so you are being allocated additional resources to make such experiments feasible without compromising the bulk of your current work. Be warned however that results are required and should you fail to live up to the expectations being put upon you, there will be consequences.
On a different note, you are to compile a list of recommendations for the location of full field testing of species 456b. The criteria for testing sites are that the location must have, at the very least, an active presence of Devils. Preferably there will be active presences of at least one of the other main target races as well. The Council suggests somewhere in the Orient, as the Churches hold far too much influence in America and Europe and are too close to rapid reinforcement from the Vatican and other religious centres.
For the Purity and Sanctity of our Species and Souls."
'Definitely the Purifiers.' Issei thought as he placed the paper in his inventory. The last line was practically a calling card.
Looking around, he couldn't see any sign of anything else of use or that drew his eye, other than the doors on the other side of the room, so he headed over that way and cautiously opened them, revealing a flight of stairs leading upwards.
Emerging in an abandoned warehouse, he quickly returned his battle gear to his inventory and set off home. He had a lot to think about.
With The Gremory Group
"Eat this!" Rias snarled, and blasted another dozen malformed rodents with her Power of Destruction, reducing them to a mere memory in a blink on an eye, while Akeno blasted the infernal things with her thunder.
Kiba was slicing them to pieces with his Demonic Sword, while Koneko punched and kicked them into paste with her [Rook] enhanced strength.
Once the walls stopped disgorging rats and the last was killed, Rias actually growled.
"How dare he attack me!" she snarled, "How dare he attack my servants!"
"Rias, you were acting very…pushy…with him." Akeno pointed out as she magically cleaned the assorted blood and guts from Koneko with her magic, "I think he must be a Sacred Gear user of some sort, awoken recently, and he was telling the truth when he said he hadn't a clue as to who you or the House of Gremory are."
"It wouldn't explain the fact he or she was all but inflectionless, transparent and set monsters on us!" Rias countered hotly.
"I couldn't make much out, but he knew that we were stronger than him." Kiba volunteered, "I think we were scaring the pants off of whomever it was just by standing there. You know how some [Kings] get humans into their Peerages, Buchou."
The Crimson-Haired Ruin Princess' mouth twisted in disgust as she thought of those few among the High-Class Devils who kidnapped and forced humans into their Peerages. Disgraceful and thoroughly fitting that those Peerages were the ones who had their [Kings] killed by Stray Devil aspirants more often than not.
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