Falling Down (2)

"Are you two sure about this, Kiba, Koneko?"

""Yes, Buchou.""

"I see..." Rias murmured in thought.

A few hours ago, there was an explosion at the outskirts of Kuoh town, a few blocks away from an abandoned church. It was loud enough to be heard this far into town. Rias had sent Koneko and Kiba along with some members of the Student Council to investigate, but all they found was a destroyed park and corpses of Stray Exorcists.

"Rias…" Sona who was standing beside her trailed off and she understood what she implied.

"It could be them," Fallen Angels. Considering there was one spotted about a week ago, the obvious culprit was them, but she had to reserve her judgment due to one thing…

"Koneko, are you sure you smell Hyoudou-kun's scent in there?" Rias asked her Rook who nodded.

"Yes, Buchou. He was right in the middle of what looks like the ground zero of the explosion." Kiba relayed on Koneko's behalf.

"You also said he left or ran away from the park. Did you find where he went?" Koneko shook her head.

"lost track somewhere in the south. There's a stronger scent with him." the white haired Rook answered.

"Stronger scent?" the Rook nodded.

"Hm. a devil, but different." Koneko frowned, looking unsure, "smell of gunpowder and… something else."

Rias raised a brow, "something else? Can you elaborate?"

"...I'm not sure. Hard to explain." Koneko answered with a shake of her head. "Sorry."

"It's okay, Koneko. You've done enough. You too, Kiba." Rias answered with a sigh. "You may rest now."

"Yes, Buchou." With that, the Knight and Rook left the room.

When it was only her, Sona, and their Queen, Rias placed a hand on her forehead and sighed again.

"As if today can't be worse…" Rias groaned. First the message from Underworld that her fiancé, Riser was pushing the marriage forward and now this. It simply wasn't her day.

"What should we do, Rias?" Sona Asked, "we have to write a report for this incident and no doubt our siblings will know what happened. They will likely force us to return if they hear the scope of the damage from this incident."

"40 dead Stray Exorcists, burned beyond recognition." Rias murmured the details of the report, "I can't help but think it's connected to the Fallen Angel sighting a week ago, but why do they need so much manpower for? Are they…"

Sona shook her head, "It's not out of the realm of possibility, but it can also be a separate accident. For all we know they were just Stray Exorcists chasing their prey and bites more than what they can chew. Not to mention the Fallen Angel has not been spotted again after that time."

"You're right. It could be a separate accident… but why would Hyoudou-kun was there?" Rias asked before turning to her Queen, "Akeno, does the matter I said to you bear any fruit?"

Akeno shook her head, "the Hyoudou family does not have any connection to the supernatural whatsoever. I traced back to both Hyoudou Gorou and Hyoudou Miki, nobody in their immediate family has ties with our side of the world."

"Do you think Hyoudou Issei is somehow a magician in hiding?" Rias asked Sona

"No, I don't think so." the student council president denied almost immediately, "He didn't bear the same presence every magician had nor the mentality."

"But there's still something amiss with him, coupled with Koneko's words about him a few days ago…" Rias trailed off.

The Student Council president nodded, "it is safe to assume that Hyoudou Issei has a connection to the supernatural and, according to Kiba-kun's report, he is also the culprit behind the explosion."

"What about the devil, Sona-Kaichou?" Tsubaki, Sona's Queen asked.

"A possible accomplice" the Sitri heiress answered, "whether they're a bystander that has been monitoring Hyoudou-san without us knowing to recruit him, or assisting him against the Stray Exorcists remains to be seen."

She turned to Rias and asked, "I suggest we do some investigation on Hyoudou-san's activity as of late."

"...you're right." Rias agreed. She turned to her Queen, "Akeno, I want you to discover what Hyoudou-kun has been up to since that report from Koneko until today. Depending on how this turned out, we need to search his residence."

"Yes, Buchou."

"Tsubaki, I want you and the rest to fix the damage and search the perimeter, see if we miss anything." Sona ordered her Queen who bowed. The two Queen then left the room, leaving the two heiresses alone.

The two devils of Kuoh then began discussing important news as of late as they waited for further reports from their peerage members.

~~~~

Penny finished telling her and Issei's encounter with the fallen angels. She was rubbing her left hand, eyes casted to the table. I glanced at the change on her hand.

Three fingers; pointer, middle, and thumb were now gone, replaced by a barrel of a gun and its hammer. The steel black color of it contrasted greatly with her skin.

Sense of unease was palpable from her, no doubt it was the thought of leaving Asia in the hands of the fallen that made her feel that way. She treasured her friends that much, huh?

"Fallen angels… Yoga, do you know anything about them?" Rio asked me. She had returned the moment Miss Satin issued an emergency meeting. She was now seated beside Penny.

"Not much. I know they're angels who sinned and fell, they can use holy powers like angels. Essentially, they're the worsts of angels; arrogant, conceited, petty. They got an organization called Grigori, led by someone called Azazel." I explained briefly.

I frowned and then muttered. "So, it finally happened, huh?"

Issei looked up at me and said, "yeah… I bet you know that, don't you? That Asia is going to be sacrificed?"

I sighed, "even if I know, I can't tell you about it. And how should I know that you would meet Asia today?"

"...Yeah, you're right… sorry." Issei apologized, "but now that it already happened, what can you tell us?"

"...there's three other Fallen Angels beside Mittlet; Dohnaseek, Kalawarner, and Raynare herself."

"So that's why her level is so high. Damn it!" Issei cursed.

Having Meta-knowledge on future events was useless to me with my skill, [Nega-Future]. The skill made me into a blind spot of any type of Clairvoyance, but also cursed me that if I ever said anything about future events, that path and outcome will be 'dead.' I tested it once when we went to Penny's world, saying that 'Roman Torchwick will rob the Dust till Dawn,' when we saw the thief and his goon on their way to said shop. the result was their transport got hit by a speeding truck out of nowhere. Thankfully, they survived, but Roman was in a coma last I heard.

That was why I told them to research on their own, because me spouting some minor spoiler could potentially make things worse.

I like gambling, but I'm not brave enough to gamble with fate.

Each one of us had unique skills, but why was mine a double edged one? Is this a flag from God?

Rio was thinking for a while. She then asked our boss, "Satin-san, what should we do?"

Miss Satin looked at us and sighed. She shook her head and said, "I'm sorry, but I can't help you with this one."

"Why not? Aren't you the supervisor of this sector?" Issei asked

"Overseer, but it is also precisely the reason." Miss Satin said before explaining. "As an Overseer, we are under oath to not meddle with the worlds we manage. We can't intrude on the worlds' problems that are not alien in origin. Our job are to observe and report on the events happening on every worlds inside our sector, nothing more, nothing less."

"...so, we need to deal with the Fallen Angles on our own?" I asked and she nodded.

"Unfortunately, yes. even making a café like this was already pushing the limit of my involvement. Sorry, kids."

"It's okay, Satin-san, we… sort of understand it." Rio said on our behalf, "but, do you have any suggestions on what we should do?"

"Obvious one? Don't engage with them, let the world take its course." Obviously Miss Satin's answer wasn't well received. Issei stood up and was about to protest, but she cut him off, "But I'm sure you don't want to hear that. I can see it in your eyes, even if I banned you all from helping, you'll go anyway."

Issei sat down again, "well yeah! Asia is our friend!" He declared, his words oozing determination. Penny who sat beside him nodded resolutely.

"Hmm… " our boss went silent, she wore a thoughtful face. "You said the Fallen Angel is level 40'ish, right? Since giving up isn't an option, I can only give one piece of advice; get stronger."

"But how? We're in a time constraint. We can't just leave Asia there, what about the ritual?" Penny asked pensively, but Miss Satin assured her. She paused before she said something that surprised us.

"...Raynare will perform the ritual at Saturday night, you all have a day and a half to prepare"

"""!!!"""

We were stunned by the casual reveal of foreknowledge. Miss Satin smiled at us.

"Remember, this help is not free, you owe me for this one. Now, the rest is up to you guys." our boss said before leaving.

We were still processing that piece of information, even if it was just a few words it helped us tremendously.

You might ask, Yoga, you don't have a horse in this race, why care?

Well, because I wasn't a heartless bastard. My coworker's friend needed help, they asked for help, so I helped. Not to mention, we could get a free healer for our team, that would definitely be a boon.

I look around before focusing on our leader, "so, what's the move, leader?"

"...let's finish those hunting quests." Rio declared after some thought. We nodded in agreement. Issei and Penny's resolve shone in their eyes.

We opened our [Quest] tab and picked a hunting quest slightly above our level.

After some preparation, research on Issei's world, and some rest for our devil-android hybrid and fire man, we departed to our first mission.

~~~~

—the outskirt of Mistral, Remnant—

Fire engulfed the surrounding area in a blast, turning the sand into glass. In the middle of this glassy desert was Issei Hyoudou with nothing but his pants. He was breathing heavily, eyeing the creatures of darkness around him evaporating to black dust.

[LEVEL UP!]

A notification blared in his mind.

He glanced at the corner of his vision, eyeing the Level 6 turning to 7. Opening his menu quickly, he dumped his stats points in [END], [STR], and [DEX].

He needed to build his [Dexterity] so he could react faster and had a better grasp of his Logia reflex. This was why he was left in this desert alone, fending off Grimm… well, not truly alone.

"Yo!" Yoga called from behind and the brunette turned around. He was wearing a hood that covered his skin. It was a Mystic Code Rio made to lessen the heat of the desert. The raven haired boy threw a water bottle to Issei who caught it and thanked him. He gulped down the water and breathed out in relief.

"Wow, you can still be thirsty eh, matchstick?" Yoga said as he approached, his every step made crunching sounds.

"Yeah, I thought, now that I'm made of fire, I didn't need water anymore to survive. Clearly I'm still as human as before." he paused, squinting up to the sun. "...though, I can't be hurt by heat anymore, I guess."

"Nope, you still can. I think anything above 1500 Celsius can hurt you. You know, magma… the surface of the sun…"

"Really?… hmm, now that I think about it, I can feel the heat from light based weapons. Do you think they're slightly hotter than my fire? Are they nearly as hot as magma?" Yoga shrugged at his question.

"Nah, it's probably a normal reaction to a sinner like you."

"Screw you!"

They decided to take a break under a shade of a stone and talked about mundane things. The two then opened their menu which had notified them of a completed quest.

They weren't in the desert for just training, there was a village nearby, which had posted a request for Grimm extermination. The request was originally sent for Huntsmen Association in the Kingdom of Mistral, but no huntsmen answered their call of needs.

Someone had posted this request as a quest in their System, and they had no reason to refuse.

While Issei was training his fire control and Logia reflex, Yoga was practicing his Mystic Eye while building his [INT], [DEX], and [WIS]. he now can [Mark] 3 objects and switch them non-stop for 2 minutes.

After receiving their Gacha Tickets and some XP that leveled them up to Level 8, Issei turned to Yoga and suddenly asked.

"Boobs or Ass?"

Yoga smiled and answered, "Thighs."

"While I respect your taste, That's not an option. Choose: Boobs or Ass?"

Yoga cupped his chin, "hmm… I'm not much of a hiker, but if I have to choose something that isn't thighs, I guess I go with Ass."

"Heeeeh… not that far from thighs, huh… well, I'm sure you might already know, seeing I'm a character in your world, but I'm a boobs kind of guy."

"...Actually, Issei, I'm not that familiar with your story. My siblings often play with my PC, you see, I can't even hide any porn in it. they're smart kids, they would find them in no time." Yoga confessed, surprising Issei.

"Well… I guess so. Seeing leader's reaction, I'm not sure it's a thing for children to see." he then clicked his tongue, "But damn it, why can't I see it too? I want to see Rias-senpai's bountiful treasures and other heavenly mountains! It's not fair!" Issei cursed his luck as he pound the sand.

Earlier, when they had researched everything about Issei's world in Yoga's world. They had found a light novel that told the 'plot' of Issei's world. It was focused on Issei who still had his Boosted Gear, where he was killed by Raynare and turned into a Devil by Rias Gremory.

But for some reason, Issei couldn't see what was written in the book, for him they were all blank pages. When the Wiki bore the same result, they tried a clip from the anime, Issei saw only white screen. Yoga kept teasing him by showing a blank image and said it was 'a spicy panels in the novel' from time to time much to Issei's irritation.

When they asked their boss about it, her answer was "you can't normally see the threads of the future. Same reason for the book, even though Issei's fate had changed, because the fates of many are bound by the thread laid in the book, no one from Issei's world can see it unless they possessed some kind of clairvoyance."

Issei was peeved by this, not because he couldn't see where he ended up, but because he couldn't see the topless scenes shown in the novel and anime. he made it his goal to obtain a Clairvoyance skill so he could see them.

The boys continued their perverted talk and at some point, their leader's voice cut off through the discussion, "can't you two not talk about perverted things every time we came? It's like you two know when we'll step in."

The hooded form of Rio was approaching them, her hands covering Penny's ears, who was walking in front of her with a bright smile.

"Yo, leader, how's Atlas?" Yoga greeted. when Rio near them, he asked, "So, what's the result?"

While Yoga and Issei handling Grimm infestation in Mistral, Penny and Rio had gone to Atlas to finish a quest while also talking to Penny's father, professor Polendina, who knows about her outworld's activities. As t turns out, long before Penny's father where he was now, he met and befriended Satin at some point in his youth. He even trusted her about Penny's android nature.

"It was surprising to say the least." Penny answered Issei's question, "I now have biological nerves and organs alongside my mechanical parts. These organs appear to be replacing my broken parts. I also have a beating heart now, fusing with my Core."

"...so Penny's a cyborg now?" Yoga asked but Penny shook her head.

"I am still an android, but based on data we gathered on Devil hybrid, my father hypothesized that my mechanical parts will be replaced by organic ones every time they become damaged. Strangely though, my organic parts are 100% human."

Issei scratched his head, "well that's good news, I guess." he said unsurely and Rio agreed.

"At the very least, there aren't any complications. But professor Polendina warned us that General Ironwood one day will notice Penny's change.." Rio stated.

It wasn't a possibility, it was a certainty. Seeing that Penny's creation was General Ironwood's idea, one day he would realize that something amiss to Penny if she heavily damaged. It was unsure how he would react to this fact, but knowing that he was a Military man who was very patriotic to Atlas, the part-timers can only pray that he would at least listen to their case.

The group agreed to shelf the matter for another time. for now they needed to focus on getting stronger and save Asia.

~~~~

After finishing some missions, we went to Issei's world.

"Thank you for letting us stay the night, Hyoudou-san." Rio said on our behalf as we bowed our heads. We were now at Issei's house, having dinner with his family.

After the incident this afternoon, it was no brainer to think our enemies might think to attack Issei's parents, they knew of his name, after all.

The chance was quite low since it would garner the attention of the devils overseeing this town, but better safe than sorry.

"No, no, it's alright. In truth, I'm glad that my son is finally doing something other than watching porn in his room and making some friends. I guess having him work at Satin-san's cafe was a good idea." Issei's mother, Miki Hyoudou, said with a chuckle.

"Yes. Now all he needs to do now is learn to bake pastries and he will become a popular kid in school in no time. I'm glad that my son finally has a chance in his love life!" Issei's father, Gorou Hyoudou agreed.

"Dad, I'm not that hopeless! I'm just enjoying my youth doing what I like. I'm sure when I get into college I will find someone." Issei retorted from his seat near his parents.

"*cough* Delusion *cough*" I faux cough.

"Bro, shut up! No one is asking you!"

Seeing our antics, his parents laughed. "It hasn't been a week and you're already so close. Maybe in a month you'll finally get a girlfriend." Issei's father teased. Issei puffed his cheeks in embarrassment.

Penny tilted her head in confusion, she asked our leader, "are we not his girl friends?"

"You're confusing girl friend and girlfriend, Pen-chan. Don't worry, you'll know when you're older." Rio said while patting her head like she was a child

Penny pouted, "but I'm as old as you guys!"

On paper, yes, but in reality she was 9.

Penny was administered as a student in Atlas Academy even though she never attended class once, nor was she a member of any team. It was all so she could go to the Vytal festival this year. this information reminded me that her status as devil-hybrid would be exposed during a certain event that day.

Man, having foreknowledge but couldn't say a word was a torture to one's soul.

At the very least, I still can take action, and hopefully Issei and Rio learned about it by then.

After dinner, Issei's mother showed us photo albums of Issei's childhood. Issei was still reeling from the fact that his childhood friend, Irina Shidou, was a girl all along. Somehow it was more surprising to him than learning that he had encountered a fragment of Excalibur of this world.

After that, we gathered at the guest room because Rio absolutely refused bringing Penny to Issei's room.

We were now sitting on a floor, in front of us was a low table that our leader conjured. On it was a map of Kuoh town and a copy of the church's blueprint Rio got from her visit to the mayor of the town, now it kind of make sense how Kiba was able to get the same thing in canon storyline. This action no doubt would alert the devils in town, but Rio had actually made it a part of her plan, because they would be our backup when we stormed the church, Not that we contacted them. after reviewing the situation, it was unlikely that the devils would help us attack the Fallen Angels. even though they were trespassing Rias' territory, her unfamiliarity to Governor Azazel made her hesitate to even warn the Fallen Angels off Kuoh. She also had nothing against them and Raynare's group never did anything to hers, they would only act when the Fallen Angels began to attack civilians.

After setting up a Bounded Field, we began our strategy meeting. Since our target would be underground during the ritual, the composition of the assault would be as follows; I will go with Rio, storming the basement. She would be the spearhead while I provided support; Issei and Penny will deal with the Fallen Angels since unlike us, they had a good chance against them with their pseudo-immortality.

The plan was; Secure Asia, defeat the Fallen Angels, and flee the scene while letting the devils deal with the aftermath. of course, contingencies were made because no plan survived enemy contact. These plans could change depending on what we got from our Gacha Tickets.

After an hour or so of strategizing, we took a break and used our Gacha Tickets.

Issei got [Minor Healing potion x3] we piled them into our stock in our emergency kit. Penny got 4 volumes of manga, useless but Issei bought them for 100 Credits. I got [Tyson in a bottle - single use]... whatever this was, I got the feeling it would be useful. Rio was the luckiest of all of us, she got a skill [Monitor].

It allows her to target 4 enemies around her, slows them down, and decreases their defense. It also reveals invisible enemies and grants us the buff [Minor Aim-Assist]. The skill effect had 5 minutes duration and 4 minutes cooldown.

This would definitely help us in our assault.

We went to sleep late in the night after Rio made another Bounded Field surrounding the house.

The next day, we went to do some more hunting quests. level up, get stronger, plot as we waited for D-day.

~

The day of reckoning had arrived.

We marched to the church after sunset, dressed in our full body uniform, my heart drumming at our every step. This would be our first rescue mission and battle against intelligent enemies. I was both excited and anxious.

We had spent dozens or so missions slaying Grimm, but those creatures of darkness lack the brain to be much of a challenge, especially after we reached Level 25. It was the highest we could get during the last one and a half days.

Issei's proficiency in his flame control had increased, he was now able to use Entei four times before collapsing. Penny had learned more of her hybrid form with some help from professor Polendina. Rio had created another workshop under Issei's house and deepened her learning of Reality Marble. And finally, I could [Mark] 5 things and switched them around for 4 minutes before succumbing to [Mana Exhaustion]

The tickets we got from our quests weren't worth much, only giving us trinkets, proficiencies, and some more potions for emergencies. Nothing that would help us big time in this attack.

"Someone is following us. Devils." Penny said from the side, eyes still focused forward. After examining the flier they got from, Penny now could detect this world's demonic signature on her radar in case we ever fight devils of this world.

"The guest has arrived. Let's put on a good show." we nodded at Rio's order.

We stopped just outside of the church's wall. From this distance, Rio confirmed that there was some sort of boundary around the building. Its purpose was for the mundane to ignore the church and prevent sounds from coming out, at least that was our theory.

"Link… Trace!"

Well, whatever, not that it matters the moment she pulled THAT out.

"Rule Breaker!" Rio intoned as she stabbed the wall surrounding the church with a purple jagged dagger. The barrier that surrounded the place visibly blinked out of existence.

"Presence detected! 4 dots; one ground level, three approaching, airborne." Penny relayed. Rio nodded at the report before turning to me.

She grabbed my hand and said, "Let's go."

"Roger!" I glanced at our two fighters, "go wild. be careful." I said to them before [switching] away.

In an instant, I was now near the church's door with Rio. The moment we arrived, Rio conjured six Black Keys which she wields like the Wolverine. She gestured up and I took a peek inside from the window above us.

Inside the church was dark, but my Mystic Eye was able to pick up some things. Like the stray exorcist near the door that definitely wasn't Freed Sellzen. It seems fate still has use for him.

I [Marked] them and saw the hooded guy shiver, but before they could do anything I [switched] him with a rock nearby. The moment they appeared, Rio quickly made the guy unconscious.

After that, we leapt inside and proceeded to the altar. We pushed it, revealing the secret passage underground.

I casted my [Phantom in the Mirror], creating a clone of me in a wisp of black smoke. My clone nodded at me and went to Rio's side. Just like me, he had a [Silver Dagger] on his hip.

Before the two went down, she said to me, "stay out of view, be careful."

I nodded firmly before hiding behind the pews, in the dark.

I closed my eyes and with a mental command my clone shared his vision. Beyond the stair were a gathering of stray exorcists, Raynare in her fallen angel form, and Asia who was strapped on a Sacred Gear extractor with nothing but her underwear.

While Rio distracted Raynare, I [Marked] Asia, who was quietly sobbing with a trail of tears on her cheeks. The moment I did that, Asia shuddered and raised her head.

I disconnected my view and quickly swapped Asia with the unconscious exorcist. Unlike my previous [Switch], I marked Asia separately from her clothing, I did the same with the exorcist.

In a blink, Asia appeared beside me, wearing the hooded robe of the exorcist. at that moment, I also heard sounds of fighting from the basement.

"huh—" Asia was startled by the sudden change of scenery and I covered her mouth with my hand. She looked at me, fear in her eyes.

I gestured for her to stay silent, when she nodded slowly, I released my hand.

She flinched to the sounds of gunshots and explosions from the outside, but otherwise she stayed silent.

"I'm here to get you out. Issei and Penny are fighting the other fallen outside. come on, before someone spotted us."

Asia was stunned, eyes wide at my revelation. She sobbed, "T-thank you!"

I just nodded and gestured to her to follow me. We jumped out the window and silently made our way out.

But of course, nothing was easy.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?!"

I heard from behind and instantly [Switched] Asia away to safety. I jumped away, dodging a stab from above.

"Wuh— where's that bitch!? You! Who the hell are you?!" Freed Sellzen shouted at me.

"Your mom." I replied while drawing out my weapon.

"Tch, you think you're funny, huh?! Alright, funny guy, why don't you spill out before I spill your innards!" the mad priest threatened as he pointed his sword at me. It seems that he had reattached most of his fingers.

"I'm nobody, just your ordinary Siegfried clone reject." I smirked when his scowled turned murderous. The priest roared and charged at me.

I released most of my [Mark] and prepared myself for my first solo battle.