Chapter 12 - Part 1 - Himejima Onslaught and Small Trouble

Third Person Point of View

…

"Theodora was captured and so was Yashina. We have two vacant slots in the Seekers of Truth. Shall we try to recruit more members?" asked Kecate.

"For now, we won't. It's unfortunate we couldn't use the artifact during it. Sona Sitri's group prevented us from getting to 'it'. So we must cut our losses, but if we do get an opportunity in the future, then we will go there," said Oz.

"Assuming they haven't found it and plan on sealing it, and putting more security on it or destroying it," said Augusta.

"Where is Promestein, Leviathan and Nyx?" asked Chernobog.

"They are making final preparations for the Battle Gods. They should be finished in around two weeks. Until then the Connected Harmony will need to do their own planning and preparations before they decide to destroy the Sacred Beasts. I doubt they can attack the clans any time soon. Reports say that some of the Shinto gods have visited the clans," Oz continued.

"Hmm. Even the Sacred Beasts even have increased protection from the Middleman. I believe this is already a failed operation," said Kyôka. "However, some members of the Monkai Association are going to help them. Our first 'Youkai God' will go with them as well as 'Monster God'."

Chernobog was skeptical and asked, "Are they strong?"

"They wouldn't be called 'Gods' if they weren't. Even most none-combative gods can defend themselves if a battle starts, of course, it has to be weaker than them," explained Kyôka. "However, they are comparable to High-class gods in terms of raw power."

"But they're mostly on their own, right? We're just helping them since we can experiment more on things we want. We know their faction will fall sooner or later, I mean, they're just humans after all," added Kecate.

"That is the case," Oz said.

"What about you? Your group didn't achieve anything though?" asked Kecate.

Oz smiled and shook her finger. "Oh, but we did. However, we did not think they would capture one of us. That is the only thing we didn't factor in, an oversight on our part. We, the Wizards of Oz will collaborate with Qlippoth in a few months. We aim to…attack something else entirely—something more direct to the Middleman," she said with a wicked grin. Oz glanced to her side. A small image of Shuri Himejima and Baraqiel lay there.

The original Leviathan suddenly walked in and threw something on the table. All members of the group looked at it and became surprised.

"It seems our beloved dragon friend caused more damage than we originally thought. Their own research has been pushed back months or even years. Their own armies were also wiped out. That pesky dragon has done a significant amount of damage to our organization with that one punch of his," she hissed.

"Fufufufu~! Should we call him 'One Punch Man?'" asked Kecate cheerfully.

The rest ignored her comment and she made a fuss. They kept on discussing their next plans and Kecate mopped the entire time.

…

"So, we're doing all of that? How are we even going to sneak into the Shinto Pantheon and the clans?" asked a member of the Connected Harmony.

Hanezu smirked and extended his hand. An ominous green and blue aura emanated from his arm. "With this, all we need is a weak-willed individual and I can control their mind…I've already done it to the Doumon clan—and it's the inheritor of the Black Tortoise. She didn't see through my disguise, so now we have a valuable pawn."

"…You're clearly aiming to hurt Vali Lucifer, aren't you?" asked another member.

"Is it that obvious?" he asked as his smirked grew wider. "I will aim to hurt them as much as I can—and if we can kill any of them, that would just be a bonus."

"So? Who else have you brainwashed?"

"Just some nobody's in the clans. They'll provide intel and weaken certain barriers and spells around their clans so we can attack them. The same goes for the Shinto pantheon. There are normal humans living there after all, and we can use that to our advantage. Sakata Kintoki will also help us with this operation."

Hanezu put three fingers up. "One will be in the human world—Kyoto, the other will be in the Shinto realm, and finally in the Chinese Pantheon to kill the Sacred Beast. All members will be split apart. The Monkai Association, Seekers of Truth and Vampire faction will be joining us. Nakagami Nakiri will be helping us too. He's finally finished with his preparations."

"W-wait you mean he finished his trials in the Phantasma's universe?" another asked in shock.

"That, he has. It was even harder than mine, but that man's will and tenacity are second to none. With him—previously named the strongest Ouryuu, we may be able to kill at least one Sacred Beast," Hanezu said with a grin.

"Who'll be responsible for the clans?"

"I will go there along with the Youkai and Monster God. The rest will be in the Shinto realm. We will mainly aim at destroying Takamagahara. If we receive more help in the coming days and week, then we will accept them…that is all."

Hanezu then dismissed them. "…It will be impossible to lure Sae Toujou and Tobio Ikuse out as they may be suspicious—no, anyone close to the Middleman will be cautious as they'll know our plans…but it won't matter. I won't stop here…I'll see this through," mumbled Hanezu Himejima.

…

Jin Skyward's Soliloquy

…

As soon as we arrived in Grigori, I was hounded by Penemue who was supposed to be doing her job, but she told us that she decided to slack off. 'Talk about being a responsible adult…' I thought and shook my head.

During the events of Halloween, the rest of Cao Cao's team also helped various pantheons and countries. I heard from Kouki that Jeanne was in Italy, Cao Cao and Heracles were in France, and the others spread throughout the world.

Apparently, there were rogue monsters that were summoned by the beast and Glenda in the USA, so some of the Brave Saints headed over there to help defend it. Dulio and the supernatural had teamed up there, according to reports. Griselda and Gabriel helped them too and also oversaw it all. Griselda was worried about Dulio and Gabriel wanted to assist him in her own way. She was upset since she couldn't come with me.

Speaking of the Seraph, she's…been very clingy to me after the Halloween event. I'm not entirely sure if it's anxiety on her part, or if she wants too—

My thoughts were interrupted when I felt someone's hand smack my face. I looked at the hand and saw it was Akeno.

"You're making that face again. Aaron, please relax…I don't think they'll attack us so soon after one of their biggest exploits ever," she told me and removed her hand.

"Akeno-chan is right, you know? Worrying about things won't be good for your health," added Penemue.

I expected Lavinia to add something in, but she simply hugged my arm silently. Since the Halloween operation ended, she and Suzaku have been like this—hell, even Velgrynd sent me a text asking how everything was going, which was unexpected.

She apparently stopped in a different universe, bought a smartphone, had Cúntóir do her magic and had it connect to mine and the girls. I've been a bit confused by their actions, but decided to let it slide since it wasn't anything too abnormal.

"Have you heard anything from Shuri lately, Akeno?" I asked her.

"Well, the alliance is being lenient since he told us everything he knew, so he's been put in Grigori. He's allowed out of his cell for one hour a day, so we better hurry if we want to catch him before he heads back," she explained.

I already heard what Atsutarou had to say, but it wasn't anything new. However, at the same time I've contacted the Shinto Pantheon again to have them on high alert. The same with the Chinese Pantheon, I plan on going there to form an alliance soon enough.

We eventually arrived at Shuri and Baraqiel's home after a few minutes of walking and chatting. According to Penemue, what I did spread even more after Halloween, so I'm even more famous than before. Though I both have people who respect me and are excited to see me, and many who fear me and my power—including some gods.

Before we arrived at their home, Penemue left saying she had to finish her work. However, she added that she'll join us when she's done—though I doubt it since from the sounds of things she'll be occupied after we leave in an hour.

Also, I didn't think what I did would cause such a commotion the days after. We eventually arrived in the front of the Himejima home's door and knocked on it. The one who came to greet us was Shuri. She grabbed my wrist and pulled me in without saying a word, confusing me.

"Um, mom?" I asked, but she just 'shh'd' me, so I shrugged and was pulled into the living room. Once there I saw some people I hadn't met before—well, I only briefly met them. They were Suzaku's parents. Atsutarou, Suzaku and dad were there with them.

A man with short black hair and hazel-gold eyes stood up with crossed arms. He wore a black and red professional business suit. Suzaku looked at him in confusion and uneasiness. "So you're the one dating my precious Suzaku?" he asked.

I nodded.

"I'm her father, Kaito Himejima and I disapprove!" he shouted.

Everyone stared at me a bit dumbstruck, until I spoke up. "…We're already engaged," I said and pointed to Suzaku's ring. He blinked at me a few times before he turned his attention to Suzaku, and she smiled at her father and showed them the ring.

"...Eh?" his head started to rapidly switch between me and Suzaku until his face turned red. "I don't accept this!! Aren't you meant to ask her parents for permission first?!"

"I may be a bit traditional in some things, but that's just old traditions and customs in certain cultures, right? In today's society we don't need to do it other than formalities," I replied.

His brows started to twitch, until he grabbed his tie and violently loosened it. "A match!"

A match? I brought out a single match and put it in front of him.

He slapped it out of my hand and shouted, "I meant a fight! Not an actual match to light things up with!"

"Ah, that's what you meant." I looked at Suzaku who sighed and gave me an apologetic smile.

"Now! Let's go!" he shouted and started dragging me to mom and dad's backyard which had gotten an upgrade and was much larger than the one back in the old Grigori. The rest of them followed us.

However, he told me to wait by the door as he stepped outside first. The woman who I presumed to be Suzaku's mother stood beside me and pulled my sleeve and I looked at her.

"Forgive my husband, he's quite doting on our daughter," she said. "I'm Kasumi Himejima, Suzaku's mother. Thank you for taking care of my daughter all this time," she added and bowed.

Kasumi Himejima had black hair in a ponytail and wine-red eyes. Basically, she looked like an older version of Suzaku which felt strange. Though apart from her eyes, and dressing differently (I don't know much about her personality yet), they're practically the same person.

"I'm Jin Skyward, or Aaron Toole. It's nice to meet you. I should be thanking you; Suzaku has supported me through a lot and I'm very grateful to her," I said to her and shook her hand—though, she did the same thing as Suzaku and grabbed my hand with both of hers.

I glanced at Suzaku who blushed. I guess this was where she got her habit, huh? I also didn't expect an immediate confrontation when we got here.

"Cooommeee ouuuut!" Kaito Himejima shouted and I left to join him. Once I stood on the opposite side of him, he pointed at me. "I know of your abilities, so I won't hold back, Dual Dragon! Let's start!"

He summoned flames from both his hands and threw them at me...…I leaned forward, opened my mouth and ate them. Kaito stood there in shock and confusion. He was trying to process what had just happened, all the while I heard some snickering from dad.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"…Let's continue!" he brushed me aside and decided to continue. For the next few minutes, Kaito Himejima performed various techniques with the Himejima clan's flame manipulation. I didn't want mom and dad's backyard to be damaged, so I ate and devoured most of his attacks. In the end, he became extremely exhausted.

Kaito lay on the ground breathing heavily. However, he hadn't given up and slowly struggled back up. "Until you defeat me, I won't—"

I took a step forward, and lightly punched his chin. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and he flopped back down. Don't get me wrong, I didn't put any power into that at all. He was just that tired that he literally passed out after a single touch.

[So we can confirm that Suzaku got her personality from her mother, right?] asked Elsha. The two Heavenly Dragons weren't with me today as they stayed behind to train Yoru and Haru.

{I wonder if there's a universe where Suzaku Himejima acts like her father?} asked Amaris.

'Please stop, Amaris. The thought of that is disturbing and horrifying…I don't want to break the image of Suzaku that I have,' I told her and she just snickered at me. I crouched down as everyone else joined us and popped a slime pill into his mouth.

Kaito immediately shot up and screamed, "It's not over yet!! …Huh?" he looked around himself and saw everyone else here.

"Dear, you lost…," said Kasumi. Once he heard that, it looked like Kaito lost a part of his soul and he slumped over.

"…Very well, I approve…reluctantly! But if you ever hurt my precious Suzaku, you'll have to face hell!!" he announced and pointed at me.

I awkwardly smiled at him and said, "I wouldn't dream of doing that, but I'll keep that in mind." I offered my hand to him, he accepted and I pulled him up with me. Glancing at Atsutarou who had been silent during the incident, he nodded at me.

"How—"

"You can ask in a few minutes, let's have some snacks," said mom as she clapped her hands.

"Fufu. Snacks made by Shuri? Don't mind if I do then~" said Kasumi as she and mom walked back to the kitchen with the rest of us following behind. Dad took Kaito with him as they started talking to each other.

I was about to walk towards them when I felt someone stop me, when I looked back it was Suzaku, just as I was about to speak, she kissed me, stopping me. I was a bit shocked, by her actions, but I kissed her back. "What's up?" I asked.

She shook her head. "It's nothing. I didn't think the official meeting with my parents would escalate that quickly," she said. I laughed and agreed.

"Yeah, though…I agree with what your dad said," I told her.

"Agree…? What do you mean, Aaron?" she asked confused.

I looked back at the house and then back at Suzaku. "…I won't give away my future children unless their potential lover can beat me in a fair fight," I declared.

Suzaku shook her head and added, "I worry for our future children then, they'll be single for life if that's the case…"

"Future children, huh? So you're already expecting that to happen?" I asked trying to tease her.

"…Yes. I would like children with you in the future," she said honestly. She looked rather cute when she did that and I turned away as I felt my heart race. She does things like that way too suddenly and unintentionally. It gets me every time.

"Is that so…? Well, let's go back then…" I said and walked away.

Suzaku came to my side, but looked confused by my reaction. I told her not to worry about it, so she didn't press me about it.

…

We were currently eating snacks made by Shuri and Kasumi. However, since lunch was quickly approaching, all the ladies headed to the kitchen and began cooking. I offered to help, but was quickly rejected and told to go spend time with dad, Kaito and Atsutarou.

There was a slight awkward atmosphere around us, but I decided to break the silence. "How have you been, Atsutarou?"

"…Well, better than I would have imagined. But I do spend most of my time in my cell. I should have around thirty-ish minutes left here before I head back," he replied.

"What do you do for most of the day?"

"I do have some luxuries. I can read books and Shuri visits daily, so I do have someone to talk to. The same with Baraqiel and a few others that I became acquainted with," he told me. "Your subordinate, I speak with Kishku quite often too. We enjoy the same genre of books. He's a sophisticated man."

"I see." I glanced at Kaito Himejima as he had been staring at Atsutarou quite intensely. It seemed like he wanted to say something.

"Atsutarou…" Kaito called out. Everyone looked at him and waited for him to continue. "…I forgot what I wanted to say…"

"Don't act so mysterious then!" snapped Atsutarou. He leaned back on the couch and sighed. Before we could continue, and due to the ladies using magic, lunch was quickly made and we made our way over there.

…

"I'm too full to get up…" said Kaito. He was leaning against his chair lazily with a full stomach.

"…I concur…" replied dad as he also patted his belly.

I decided to help with cleaning the dishes along with Atsutarou as the ladies had gone back over to the living room to chat. The two men at the dining table seemed to quickly dozed off after having lunch.

Will I be like that when I get older? I wasn't sure, but I'm hoping that I won't, because the thought of it was kind of horrifying. We cleaned the dishes silently until I spoke up again.

"Shuri trusts you, so I'll also put my trust in you. I'll check back in a month or two, after that…I may or may not have a present to you. It will depend on a few factors, but tell me, what was the name of your fiancé?" I asked.

"…Honami. That was her name," he said with gritted teeth.

"I see." I should have an idea on where he is thanks to Cúntóir overhearing their conversation during Halloween. Depending on a few factors, hopefully, I can…

A loud beep suddenly rang out, but it wasn't loud enough to wake up the two sleeping men at the dining table. I glanced at him and he sighed.

"It's time for me to leave now, so goodbye for now, Jin, and thank you," he said and left.

"Yeah, goodbye." This should also be our cue to go back since we're heading back to Queen Halloween's realm. I took my phone out and saw a text that was sent just a minute ago. I wonder why it didn't notify me? The text was from…Momo.

|Can we please postpone the meeting for another two hours? Something came up and I have to attend to it!|

|Did you tell Reya about it?|

|Yes, she was with me, actually and we're both going to deal with this.|

|I see. Alright, good luck. I was going to text you to postpone it for an hour since I wanted to speak to a few others here and get an update on their situation.|

|Good timing then? We'll see you in two hours then, thanks, Aaron!|

She added a heart emoji and I put my phone away. Well, I have two extra hours then, so I'll go speak with a few others then. Especially Azazel and Avezza. I want to see where those new Sacred Gears are at now. Check up on Shemhazai and his wife and…

I arrived at the front entrance and Shuri was seeing Atsutarou off with everyone else. Outside was Kishku, so he's probably tasked with bringing him back to his cell. Once their goodbyes were done the two of them left.

"Are we leaving?" asked Akeno.

"No. Something came up, so it's been postponed. We have two hours…I have a few things I want to do, so if you guys want to stay here, then feel free."

"Then I'm go—"

"Akeno, I need your help with something~" said mom and grabbed Akeno by the shoulder. Akeno looked at Shuri confused, and Suzaku was about to say something too, but…

"Suzaku, dear…we also need you here," said Kasumi Himejima. Suzaku looked at her mother for a moment confused, but agreed in the end.

Lavinia came to my side and hugged my arm. She looked rather triumphant at both Akeno and Suzaku who looked at her in shock. However, I could feel both of their silent jealousy.

"Noooo! I wanna spend time with Aaron!" cried out Akeno as she tried to jump towards me, but was stopped by mom.

"You. Will. Stay. Do I make myself clear young lady?" asked mom threateningly.

"…Yes mom…" replied Akeno. She had resigned herself and wouldn't fight back anymore.

"Good luck," I told them and left with Lavinia. We then heard Akeno's wails as we left. Once we got to a different part of the organization, we started seeing more fallen angels, devils, and angels here, as well as some magicians. There were a few of them that stared at us, but it didn't last long.

"Where are we going too first?" asked Lavinia.

"I want to check on Luneala and her baby. I'm sure my protections…well, protected her and the child, but I just want to make sure," I told her.

"Children…you definitely want some in the future, right?" she asked again.

"Hmm? Yeah, I do. First Suzaku and now you. I wonder if someone else will ask me about that today?" I mused and chuckled to myself.

"Mmm?! Suzaku asked you? When? Why?" she asked frantically and squeezed my arm.

"Ah, it was due to Kaito—her father saying stuff about not handing her over to me. I said I agreed with it about our future children and—" I told her about our conversation and she giggled.

"Overprotective Daddy Toole?" she mused. "I'd like to see that…mmm?! W-what if your own children, specifically daughters fall in love with you because of your overprotectiveness?!"

"…Lavinia, this isn't a manga or anime. I seriously doubt that would happen," I told her. Even though this world was once an anime/manga/light novel, I really doubt that would happen…right?

"I'd like to believe the same thing, but Kunou-chan is still real, you know?"

"I never adopted her as my own child. As far as Yasaka is concerned, I'm her fiancé for now and Kunou is just a kid from her previous marriage. I also doubt that Kunou would accept me being her father—her crush on me didn't waver over those 100 years."

She barely aged too, while her mental age has slightly changed since she started joining the older women about certain topics, she still needs to grow up here, and experience other things as she goes through the Middle School division next year then high school and maybe college.

We bantered back and forth like this, with Lavinia telling me that she'd like to try to have a child a few years after college, and when my business really takes off. We arrived in front of Shemhazai's home and when we knocked on it, Luneala was the one that answered.

"Jin-san! Um, Shemhazai isn't home right now…" she told us.

"I'm actually here to check up on you. I'm sorry for not doing it sooner. It had been a busy few days after all," I said and she welcomed us inside. We were brought to the dining room and she made us some tea.

"How have you been? Any changes to your body, health, or the baby's?" I asked and took a sip from the tea.

"I immediately rushed to our doctors after that day and everything was fine. Nothing happened to the baby or to me. It seems that your protections have worked, so thank you," she said and slightly bowed her head.

"Really? That's good. How long before…?"

"It should be in a few weeks if everything turns out well," she replied.

"I see. I'll try to come for it then, hopefully nothing happens during that time," I said and she smiled.

"Thank you again, Jin-san. We really don't know how to repay you…"

I waved her off. "Don't worry about it, I like Grigori you know? If I didn't come here, I wouldn't have met certain people," I said and glanced at Lavinia who immediately hugged my arm in response. Luneala giggled at us.

"Fufu. Young love is nice," she said and we chatted for a little bit with her before we left. Our next stop was Ezeri. I hadn't seen him since Halloween, but he was relieved when he retrieved his lover. Apparently Meruem was the one who healed her which surprised me at the time.

But I guess it makes sense. He's slowly learning empathy and other emotions. He's slowly growing by himself and being influenced by the (mostly) positive energy around him. Hell, even Mittelt has started to change too, as far as I could tell, she's less hostile towards me and is a blushing mess when with Meruem.

Lavinia and I arrived at the underground section or 'New Grigori', that's what the sign above the stairs said. We walked down there and I felt a few familiar auras here, but first we made our way to Ezeri and Sofiel.

As if like famous celebrities, we were greeted and asked for autographs in this section of Grigori as it had more than just fallen angels and its regulars. It's also a tourism area, so many people from the alliance come and visit here.

We were mostly recognized by children as Oppai Dragon and Witch Princess, and some others as the Middleman and apparently…Nia is known as my 'Ice Queen?' or if I specifically use her new moniker 'Dual Dragon Emperor's Ice Queen'. She blushed and was extremely happy when she heard that.

"Hehe~ I'm your queen~" she mumbled to herself. Well, as long as she's happy, I'm fine with it. We finally found Ezeri and Sofiel and it seemed like they were having lunch. Sofiel looked up and saw us, so I put my hand up to greet her.

She poked Ezeri who turned around, and his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. He got up and immediately kneeled. "J-Jin-sama! H-how can I help you?"

"Stand up, and relax. I'm just here to check on both of you," I told him and turned to Sofiel. "How are you doing now?" I asked the fallen angel.

"I'm fine, though Ezeri's also been very protective of me since then, but I don't hate it," she explained and blushed. Ezeri himself looked away while blushing. It felt like looking at two kids that were new to a relationship.

"I see. It seems like you were enjoying a date, and you both seem fine so we'll get going. Look after her, alright?" I patted him on the shoulder and left with Lavinia. I felt Ezeri's gaze on my back as we left and went to the final area where I felt some familiar auras.

When we took a few turns around the area, we arrived at a small stall. There manning the place were Jeanne and Heracles. Both had bandanas on their heads and were selling various fried foods. They saw us and we walked over to them.

"How are you two?" I asked and began helping them. Nia moved to the front and began attracting more customers.

"We're doing fine, Jin-san! Azazel-dono asked us to help with selling these since there was an excess amount and we didn't have any problems. Heracles did have to ask for a day off. He was supposed to go to the Underworld today and take care of some nursery's over there," explained Jeanne.

"Food or making kids smile…it's a tough decision!" exclaimed Heracles and clenched his fist before giving food to the customers.

"I see…by the way, where did the rest of your teammates go?"

"Cao Cao said he would continue his journey again, so he won't be back for a while, but he said he'll go train at your place when called. As for the rest…they're also training on their own—or are helping around Grigori or one of the alliances," explained Jeanne.

Suddenly, we felt a surge of energy and a bit of snow and ice form around us. We looked back at the culprit and it was Lavinia.

"I told you…to not touch me, didn't I? Also…please stay in line…" she said threateningly while squinting her eyes at the man in front of her. His legs had been frozen solid and he looked scared out of his mind.

I walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Nia, that's enough," I told her and she undid the snow and ice. The crowd around us sighed in relief before the man ran away screaming in terror. "What happened?" I asked her.

She crossed her arms and sighed. "I was just attracting customers like a normal person, until he started harassing me. At the start he acted like a fan from the Oppai Dragon show, asking to take a photo and get an autograph. But then he started to touch my shoulder and tried to move down and…"

"I get it, let's destroy him," I declared and turned my body in his direction. But I felt her grab my arm and squeeze it.

"Now you're the one overreacting…!" she said and pulled me away. "Go back and help, we'll leave shortly after!" she ordered and I reluctantly did so. Though it didn't look like they were going to harass her after that show.

"The Ice Princess-sama is terrifying! She can even control the Middleman!" said Heracles and Jeanne nodded along.

What the heck are you two talking about…? I shook my head and we spent a few more minutes helping them out and selling a bunch of food. Evidently, rumors spread that the food here was approved by the Oppai Dragon and Witch Princess, so they got a large influx of customers. I provided them with some Android fairies to help them before we left.

We finally made our way to Azazel and Avezza. They were in the research facilities along with many others. Once we arrived there we were greeted by various fallen angels, and to our surprise, Sae, Tobio, Kouki, Kalawarna, Raynare and Penemue were with them.

"Finally, were you planning to keep me waiting?" asked Azazel as he put something down. The rest of them turned to us with Penemue teleporting beside me.

"I never specifically said I'd come here," I replied.

"You weren't?" he asked.

"Well, I was, but that's irrelevant. So, what did you need from me?" I asked back and he looked like he wanted to punch me.

I don't think…I want this kind of relationship with Azazel to end, always taking jabs at each other, but in the end, having each other's backs. I find it comfortable.

"Here, the Artificial Longinus' we made a while back. Can you check for any abnormalities? I mean we're confident in it, but it wouldn't hurt having you check it, God 2.0-kun," he said and shoved a pair of boxing gloves and a gun towards me.

"What are they called?" I asked, but Azazel just shrugged his shoulders.

"Dunno, never thought about it, and Avezza here is also terrible at names. She suggested [Al-Pugil] and the gun [Blast Blast Pew]," he explained and I looked at Avezza who sported a blush but then punched Azazel on the side making him yell out in pain.

"Well, [Al-Pugil] is a bit more…I guess creative? But yeah…[Blast Blast Pew] is a bit…anyway, let's see what they do. Actually, before we do, do you have anyone in mind? You know, who will you give these two to?" I asked.

"No one, we want you to be the Guinea pig," he said and grinned. The room's temperature suddenly plummeted as Lavinia stared at Azazel while smiling.

"W-w-w-w-wait! Nothing bad is going to happen, Lavinia! R-relax! This guy is literally unkillable!" said Azazel as he slowly hid behind Avezza who sighed at him.

I sighed at him and handed the boxing gloves to Lavinia. I spun the gun around a few times before I muttered, "Balance Adjust." The gun briefly glowed before it started to transform. Both my arms were covered in light yellow and aqua armor. The gun had…turned into an AK-47 assault rifle.

"It…turned into another gun?" I asked myself in confusion. I then looked at Azazel and he grabbed it from me, but the assault rifle slapped him and teleported back to me. "Hmm. It automatically comes back to me if taken away and also attacks the one who took it away from me. Who came up with a gun for an Artificial Longinus?"

Azazel looked away from me after I asked that. I can guess who then…I shook my head and undid the Counter Balance and gave them gun back to Azazel who was still huffing. Lavinia gave me the boxing gloves and I did the same thing.

However, this time the boxing gloves turned metallic, and covered the rest of my arms and legs. It also had thrusters in the back and on each arm plus legs. I punched with my right arm and the thrusters automatically fired making it faster.

When I tested with my left arm and both legs, the thrusters activated automatically. When I tried moving around the thrusters on the back activated. I found this one a lot more interesting, but having a gun sacred gear is useful. I mean, [Star Buster Star Blaster] is both a gun and sword and is considered to be part of the [New Longinus].

I deactivated the Counter Balance and handed the boxing gloves to Avezza. "Did you decide to start with a range and close-quarters Artificial Longinus? I had meant to ask this a while back but didn't have a chance."

"Yes, that was our intention. Originally I proposed a deck of cards as an Artificial Longinus. However, coming up with abilities and a creature for a contract was a lot harder, so we shelved the idea for now," she explained and wrote something down.

She then looked back up at me and asked, "Ajuka told us you created two [New Longinus] types of Sacred Gears?"

"Yeah. [Abyss Extinction] and [Demon Armor: Incursio]. Well, [Abyss Extinction] was [Night Reflection] and I changed it. The latter is just like [Carnage Incarnate: Grand Chariot]," I told them and summoned both of the Sacred Gears.

I told them what they did, but didn't activate their Balance Breakers, we kept on talking for a short while until Azazel asked me something.

"Hey, can you recreate the original 13?" he asked me after staying quiet for the last few minutes.

"Yes, I can…I was originally going to show that to the Great Seraphs, but decided to show them that I could create necklaces that could stop them from falling. I think I made the correct choice at the time, but…"

"Do it, show us," he said excitedly. He was like a child in the middle of a store full of toys. Everyone else looked at me with anticipation.

"Sure," I replied. I looked at Tobio and said, "As you can see, Gin is with Tobio Ikuse. I'll recreate [Canis Lykaon] then." I stretched my right arm out and opened my palm, before started I covered the room in a barrier and then started.

It wasn't anything dramatic, it happened almost instantaneously. A small light emitted from my palm, and then…a jet-black puppy appeared. Its eyes opened, looked at me and ran up my arm and started licking my face.

"C-c-can you activate its Balance Breaker?" he asked with a stutter.

I nodded and smiled at Tobio who gave me an awkward one back. 'I'm glad that those two aren't here. I'll also feel bad about dismissing [Canis Lykaon] after this…'

[Ddraig would sulk if he knew, you know?] said Elsha.

{Albion too, though I doubt he would be too vocal about it,} added Amaris.

I wearily smiled and began to cite the forbidden incantation.

<< — Behowlest the slaying of one thousand mortals >>

Darkness enveloped my surroundings. The darkness of this world, the darkness of eternity, all that was dark wrapped itself around one man and one animal. My form being remade by the everlasting darkness.

<< — Besingest the slaying of ten thousand goblins >>

<< — Mine name, which tis immersed in deepest darkness, tis the Imitation God traversing the Polar Night >>

<< — O ye, perishest by mine own black blade >>

I called out the final verse of the incantation. My body, which was already enveloped by darkness, took the form of a beast with six tails.

<< — Fools ye art, deformed Creator Gods >>

After I finished citing it, I strangely felt more at home in this darkness I don't think I was THAT edgy as a person in my previous life, though I still can't remember all of it, so I may be wrong.

<<Well, I did it, what do you think?>> I asked Azazel.

He silently approached me and started to examine me. After around a minute, he turned to Tobio and asked, "What do you think? I have my own opinion, but I want to hear the original wielder's thoughts.

"As strange as it sounds, I feel like Jin is more in tune with 'darkness' than I am, even after perfecting and polishing my Balance Breaker to its limit and gaining the Abyss Side Balance Breaker," said Tobio. Gin, who was on his shoulder stared at us curiously.

"Yeah. I expected that answer, and I agree," said Azazel.

<<I dunno about that man, but I'll take your word for it,>> I told him and exited my Balance Breaker. My next move was to dismiss the newly created [Canis Lykaon].

"Did you…?"

"Yeah, I can always recreate it though, but I did feel guilty since the little guy got attached to me rather quickly," I replied. I felt bad, I really did…maybe in the far future, I'll let my children wield it.

I checked my watch and the two-hour mark was slowly approaching, and I told them we would have to leave. "By the way, why were they here?" I asked and pointed at Raynare, Penemue, Kouki and Kalawarna.

"We wanted them to test out the Artificial Longinus after you did—so we could record more thing about it and see what we can improve on," explained Avezza.

I looked at her, the arm that was wrapped around Azazel's arm, and then back at her. I smugly smirked at Azazel and said, "Ah, I see…well, we'll get moving then. I'll see you guys at home later." I decided not to point that out. I didn't know what their relationship was, but…I won't be a dick about it.

"Jin," Tobi called to me and I turned around. "How did you know about the incantation?" he asked.

"You should know by now, Tobio. I know a lot of things, this shouldn't come as a surprise," I told him and turned to leave with Lavinia.

I heard him laugh from behind and said, "I guess so."

…

We quickly moved back to the Himejima household, got Akeno and Suzaku and left for home. Once we were there both Momo, Reya and…Bennia was there.

"Can we come with you?" the three women with me asked. I didn't mind and looked at Momo and Reya who also agreed.

"Bennia was with you guys?" I asked.

"Yes, she apparently was blown away during one of the battles and somehow stumbled onto us. Rugal-san was with her and became worried but trusted in her abilities to get back to them," explained Momo.

"I see. Let's go then."

…

Thine Ifreann Réimse

…

"Aaaaahhhhhhhhh?!"

As soon as we arrived, a blonde woman fell over and screamed. However, she quickly stopped and stared at us.

"J-J-Jin-san?! E-everyone…" she muttered. It was Minerva.

I offered my hand to her and she accepted it and I pulled her up. Once up she asked why we were here and I explained to her our reason for visiting, and she nodded.

"I heard that the underground section isn't maintained that much, and only around once a year a general cleaning crew is sent down there. I mean, when compared to our town, this place is a lot cleaner," she explained.

"If you want, I can inform Queen Halloween about it and be your guide. I was a part of the cleaning crew for two years straight a few years back. I still remember the layout too, you three probably don't remember the way fully, right?" she asked Momo, Reya and Bennia.

"I only remember some of it partially, but it's not too long right?" asked Momo.

"It isn't, but there are some shortcuts to make the hour-long journey shorter. I didn't go past that door though, so I don't know what you guys saw," she said. "Anyway, I'll be back in a jiffy!" she shouted and ran away.

I turned to Momo and Reya and said, "I heard you guys stopped two people from abducting Alice Kyteler?"

"Yes. Saji-kun and Ruruko stopped Petronilla and Richard. They were apparently a servant and former husband of Alice. They're being interrogated by the Irish Pantheon, but there seems to be nothing coming from them," explained Reya.

Petronilla de Meath and Richard de Valle, huh? I didn't expect them to be alive or be resurrected, I wonder if they had anything useful for the Khaos Order? I mean, both Hitler and Genghis Khan are more useful, right? What would a former servant with a grudge and an angry husband have…?

[Sacred Gears?] suggested Elsha.

"Did they have Sacred Gears?" I asked, but both of them shook their heads. Before we could continue discussing, Minerva came back.

"Let's go!" she said and let us to a spot I hadn't been to before, it was rather inconspicuous as it was covered in vines and even illusion magic, she dispelled it and entered the through the opening.

"Did you two go through this?" I asked.

"Yes, Queen Maeve led us here and let us go down ourselves. But…why are we turning left? The main entrance is in front of us," asked Momo.

"Hehe~ there's actually a man-made hole here. Anyone that needs to go back down after climbing back up to get emergency supplies just needs to jump down through this. We made a small pool to land in, so…we'll get a bit wet, so watch your step!" she shouted and jumped through the hole.

A few seconds later we heard a plop and I followed after her, then Lavinia, Suzaku, Momo, Akeno, Reya and Bennia. The small pool of water we landed on was quite deep, and was fresh even though she said there were barely any people down here.

The underground section looked rather ominous, though I should have expected that since it's Maeve's realm. It was mostly glowed an ominous purple with cold winds constantly blowing at us. There were some stalactites and stalagmites that had green water dripping from them.

"We don't know where the green water came from, but we hypothesized that it came from the door that we didn't go through. Queen Halloween told us to never go through it after all," clarified Minerva. "Anyway, follow me! We reached the 4th floor. There are a total of 8! So we're halfway through!"

<<I did count eight floors the last time we were here, but to think we could make it to the fourth with just a hole in the ground, how vexing…>> muttered Bennia a bit frustrated.

I patted her head and said, "It can't be helped. You just didn't know, but you did your best, so don't be too hard on yourself."

<<…Y-yes, Oppai Dragon-san…>>

"Just call me Jin," I told her and laughed. We followed after Minerva as she rambled on about the supposed history of the place. However, she kept adding 'But that's what I personally heard, so it may be true or false information, so take it with a grain of salt!'.

There weren't any monsters or anything that blocked our path, thankfully, however, the further down we walked, I felt something…strange the closer we got. The purple illumination also became more prominent and darker.

"…Something feels strange," said Lavinia beside me.

"Mmm. I don't know how to describe it, but…it's not 'nice'," added Suzaku.

"Maybe another Outer?" asked Akeno nonchalantly and we stared at her like she had three heads. "I-it was just a suggestion…" she added.

Cúntóir: Answer: I would be able to know and detect them. As I said, Nyarlathotep was the most proficient at hiding herself from others. Any other Outer God, with the exception of Azathoth, I can detect.

I relayed what Cúntóir said to me back to the rest and Akeno sighed in relief. However, after that, we mostly stayed silent and eventually reached the final floor and…

"It's even stronger here," said Lavinia.

"Yes, but…it's not, evil, more like—"

"Chaotic?" asked Akeno and Suzaku nodded.

"Yes, chaotic, like a rebellious child wanting to do various things that their parents forbid them from doing," explained Suzaku. With that said, it sounded like she would be a kind, yet strict parent to our children in the future…

"What do you three think?" I asked the Sitri peerage members.

"I'm not sure, I don't really 'feel' it," said Momo and Reya agreed with her.

<<Maybe I'm closer to 'death', but I sort of get it—my skin's been tingling the entire time and the closer we got, I've been really tense,>> added Bennia.

"Well then, Jin-san. You can open it, but I'm way too nervous to do it!" said Minerva as she trembled slightly.

"Thank you for the help and I will," I told her and calmed her down after touching her on the shoulder. I then pushed the doors open and a warm gust of wind hit all of us. We stepped through.

Once we were in there, we were greeted to the immediate sight of…an enormous purple crystal that radiated powerful energy.

"Wha—t-that wasn't here the last time we were here; it was a giant skeleton thing!" shouted Momo.

"Yes…it was quite ominous-looking, but it was an unmoving skeleton," said Reya.

<<Perhaps it turned into this crystal?>> asked Bennia.

She tried to approach it, but I pulled her back. She became confused and I picked up a rock from the floor and chucked it towards the crystal. The rock was instantly vaporized and she let out a cute 'Eep!' After she saw that.

<<Don't approach it, got it boss!>> she said and saluted me.

'Cúntóir, any ideas about this thing…?' I asked her. She didn't answer me, but simply left my body and materialized into the world.

"Eh? W-who is that?" asked Minerva. I didn't answer her, but simply stared at Cúntóir who walked past the 'point' and absorbed the attacks that were aimed at her. As soon as she arrived in front of the crystal, she touched it and it stopped trying to attack her.

After a few seconds of silence, she finally turned to us and gestured for me to join her. Since three people were already attached to me, they also came along with me. The rest of them stayed on the spot.

"I don't know how, but this is the thing that the Khaos Order were looking for—do you remember the attacks a few months ago?" she asked.

"The attacks to the Russian, Irish, and Egyptian Pantheons?" asked Akeno and Cúntóir nodded.

"Yes. These things…were created by Nyarlathotep, they were not meant to exist in this universe. It was to attract both the False King and Death King to this place, perhaps that why they were desperate to get here, but I was confused why didn't try harder, but remembered that Lapis is out there looking for the False King," she explained.

She looked back at it and sighed. "I don't know how it was moved here though, it was meant to be on the island of Skellig Rocks," she said worriedly. "I will analyze it further, so I may not respond for a little while." Cúntóir then disappeared back into me.

Cúntóir: Answer: I suggest you increase the defenses here, Aaron.

'Already planned on it,' I replied and put my hand up. I covered the area in multiple barriers and defensive spells. Lastly, I'll assign a few shadow soldiers here, and… "Come out, Loa Erebus."

A large shadow soldier came out of my shadow and towered over the large crystal. Aurelia killed this thing back during the attacks on the Five Principal Clans. I hadn't used him that much, but he looked eager to do something.

"I'll leave you to defend this place along with a few others, alright?" I told him and he quickly agreed.

"Uwa…uwaaa! What is that?!" Minerva looked horrified at Loa Erebus.

"Just another shadow soldier of mine. I don't get many opportunities to use him since he's quite large, but you've already seen them before, right? Don't panic too much…" I replied and she calmed down.

"I-I see…" she said and stepped back. I guess she's still intimidated by it then. I explained what that was to the others and they frowned.

"We'll inform the alliance about this. Apparently there are four in total. We found one. So we can assume the rest have been moved from their spots, which makes things more complicated," I told them. 'I should also inform both Querehsha and Antares, though they seem fine with staying at the North and South Poles.'

Querehsha has been amassing an army herself for the past few months after all, I may just let her stay there, but maybe make a new subordinate for her so she can have a break? …I'll think about it, but first…

"Let's go back and inform Queen Halloween about our findings. This place should be secure now. I'll also seal it up if she allows it," I told them.

…

A few days have passed since then. The DxD Alliance has been informed about the crystals and what they may be used for, and each faction and pantheon has decided to start search parties for their own realm and country. Currently, there were hunts for the last remaining three crystals.

I also informed Querehsha and Antares about the new situation and they informed me that they would maintain their bases in each location, and stay there just in case.

In the case of Queen Maeve, she took it quite well and decided to have a look herself with a few others, so I teleported us back down there and she officially sealed off the area. Additionally, I sealed it off, so the only ones who could enter it were me, and a few others I chose, this also included Queen Maeve.

I was in Kuoh Academy. It was quite early and I was in the classroom with the rest of the devils. The fact that they came with me so early was strange to say the least. We had rearranged a few chairs around to accommodate…our positions.

Ingvild to my left, Rias to my right, and Akeno on my lap. We were listening to Ingvild's newest album that's set out to release in a few days, and as I suspected they were mostly 'Honeyworks' songs, though I didn't mind, hell, I missed them.

"I'll be going on a short tour in the Underworld during the Christmas break, so…"

"I'll assign plenty of protection to you, don't worry," I told her.

"T-that's not what I meant…what I meant to say was that I won't be able to help you during that time, jeez. I already knew that…" replied Ingvild as she lightly hit me on the shoulder.

"Onii-sama is sponsoring it along with Aaron, right?" asked Rias.

"Yes, Sirzechs Lucifer-san was quite insistent on doing it. But I suspect him to use it for more exposure for the Oppai Dragon show—they want to collab and have one of my songs play in future episodes," Ingvild said while chuckling.

Ahhh, it feels like Ingvild is slowly drifting away, though I'm proud of her and she's pursuing one of her passions. Now all that's left is the rest of us. Well, the devil heiresses and their [Queens] will have something ready themselves.

"Well, at least we'll have more time for ourselves after New Years, you know?" I asked them. Though it felt like I made the somber mood worse. It makes sense though, these guys, except Ingvild and I have been in this place for three years and they built it up.

"It's not like we'll be that far from the place, we're just a few minutes' walk away," I told them, but still got no answer.

"Aaron. How did you feel about graduating in Ireland? In your past life, I mean," asked Rias.

I nodded and exhaled. "From what I understand, most western students can't wait to leave school and start working—hell, most of them detest the idea of school. So most of them won't feel to sad or upset about graduating, from the things I've learned so far, I probably felt joy when I left school, so I could be away from the toxicity of the people there," I told them honestly.

As far as I can tell, not many people do reunions. As far as I can remember, I don't think my class did it. I wonder how they feel about it? "I guess it's pretty different compared to here, right? You guys try to live out your youth before you go into the working world," I said and looked up at the ceiling.

"And what do you think now, Harem King-sama?" asked Akeno.

"…I'm not sure, but I can definitely say I enjoyed my time in school this time around, so I'll definitely feel nostalgic when I see it in a few years." Akeno proceeded to rub her cheek against mine, seemingly approving of my answer.

We conversed like that until the classroom began to fill up. I got plenty of glares from the guys as usual, but…my two friends in the classroom looked stiff. I didn't have the opportunity to speak to them since the girls took up my time, but I planned on speaking to them during lunch.

…

Lunch finally arrived, and the devils left immediately. Ingvild went to hang out with her friends. I was left by myself and I approached my two friends whose moods were still bad.

"Hey, what's wrong with you two?" I asked. They slowly looked up at me, their previously dead eyes coming back to life.

"…Yeah…we can ask Skyward-sama for help…!" said Najima in a hopeful voice.

"…Right, right, the Invincible Skyward-sama…!" added Kouta as he straightened his body.

"I don't wanna hear cryptic shit right now, tell me what's going on," I told and crossed my arms.

They both nodded, looked at each other and gestured for me to come closer, so I did. "Do you know about the other town's local gang…?" Kouta asked in a serious tone.

"Which town?" I asked.

"The one that's two train stations away," said Najima.

Two train stations away, huh? It's not the town where Griselda and Irina volunteer at then…I did visit with Asia, Xenovia and Irina once. It was an eventful day…

"So? Why are you bringing up this gang up all of a sudden?" I asked again.

"…Sakura and Yua have been kidnapped by them. We found letters in our shoe cupboards this morning. It also said that if we called the authorities that they'd kill them…!" said Najima worriedly.

"You seriously don't believe that, right?" I asked skeptically, but the two of them shook their heads.

"No man, they'll seriously do it! Their leader already got arrested twice, but since his family is rich, he just gets out as soon as he can! He beat up an older couple and even stabbed someone before!" added Kouta.

"…So, you want my help? How exactly am I meant to do anything?"

"You're…you can do anything! C'mon Skyward-sama!" begged Najima. Kouta also slammed his head against his desk and begged me.

They're my friends, so I obviously want to help them, but this is a mostly human affair, so what should I do? If I inform the police then…

"…When do we go?" I asked.

"They said after school, and to bring money…around 500,000 yen…like we would have that much! Is he insane?!" complained Najima.

"…Leave it to me then. Let's go after school," I told them. I stood back up and walked away. Now then, how should I deal with this? It's a request from my two friends, but at the same time, I don't want to accidentally murder normal humans, though they did do terrible shit…

This is also outside Sona and Rias' jurisdiction. I looked up and grinned. "I'll just deal with it my way, but I'll try not to go overboard."

…

School ended around thirty minutes ago, I also informed the Gremory and Sitri peerages where and what I would be doing, I also briefly went home and told the rest what I was up to. They offered to help, but I declined. I already had everything prepared, all that was left was to execute it.

We were a few minutes away from our stop. Najima, Kouta and I were on the train to the aforementioned town.

"W-why do you have a briefcase?" asked Kouta.

"500k yen is in it," I told them and their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

"W-w-w-wha—you seriously managed to get that much…!?" asked Najima. I nodded, and opened it slightly, and they saw 500k Yen in it and both started to cough loudly.

"Wait, so we're just going to hand it over?" Najima asked after he stopped coughing.

"No. It's fake, we're going to beat the shit out of them," I said and their faces paled.

"Dude, I don't want to die!"

"Me either!"

"So you're fine with letting them have your first ever girlfriends? You do know if you do this…those two will see you two in a different light, right?" I said to them.

They stopped their panicking and looked at each other, then at the ground. They had begun to think about this seriously, but it's due to what I said which was a bit…dumb. Also, those two have already gotten in a lot of fights, why would they hesitate now? Is it because they're going up against someone rich?

If so, I can just make them lose all their money. I have infinite money—I'll just drag the court case out until they lose it all…

Our stop eventually came and we started walking towards a certain area. In the lead was Najima and Kouta, I stayed behind them since I felt some shadow soldiers here too as they watched us from their spots. We went through a few streets and eventually ended up at a cliché abandoned building.

"What is this, a manga?" I asked out loud, but the two with me were tense and didn't answer. So, I kicked both of them in the asses, drawing their attention.

"Ow! What the hell, Jin?!" they both shouted.

"Good, you're still with me. Well, we're far from school, so we can go crazy…anyway, I'll give you both advice, go berserk. When you two feel like passing out, I'll 'really help' when it comes, you hear me?"

They both looked at me confused, but in the end agreed even if they were reluctant. We finally walked into the building and we made our way to the second floor where there were numerous delinquents with various weapons like bats and long pips leaning against the walls.

"Well, well, these two pussies actually came!" said the supposed leader. He had messy black hair, green eyes, and an athletic build. His body have multiple scars all around it, even his face which had two.

'This guy definitely had a fair share of fights, so he's definitely experienced,' I thought and looked around. There were also a few other delinquents that had scars and other injuries…I guess I can't slack off then.

"So, you got the money, right?!" he shouted, and my two friends looked at me. I threw the brief case towards the boss and at the end, it opened. He grinned widely, and two other delinquents brought out the two girls.

"Higuro, run!"

"Kikijo! Leave us and call the police!"

They both screamed out to their boyfriends, but…they're already on a first name basis, huh? These two certainly work fast. The leader reached out and started counting the money, but then…the brief case suddenly exploded and covered him in white powder.

Everyone froze, and my two friends looked back at me in horror.

"W-what did you do…?!"

"…Well, I thought he'd like some cocaine with his money, so now he's covered in it," I said and laughed.

"How the hell did you get cocaine?!" Najima screamed at me.

"…Kill them," said the leader. "Kill them!!!!!!!!" he then screamed and started licking some of the white power off himself.

"Now or never, you two!" I shouted at them. 'That idiot is going down because he actually licked it…' I thought and internally laughed.

…

Third Person Point of View

…

"Shit! Dammit, here we go!" shouted Najima as he ran towards the leader of the delinquents but was blocked. Najima was faster and stronger than the two who blocked him, so after he dodged their attempts at hitting him with their weapons, he punched one in the stomach and the other in the face.

Once they were down, he kicked both of them in the head, knocking them out. Najima ran towards the leader and reached him, but he was suddenly thrown away. The boss of the delinquents, Haruto was quite abnormal.

He was born with what they assumed was super human strength and durability. He wasn't the smartest kid around, but he made up for it with his unnatural physique.

Najima landed on the ground and groaned in pain. Kouta was dealing with other delinquents, but was slowly getting overwhelmed by them as they beat on him with their weapons. Their two girlfriends cried and wailed in the distance.

Aaron on the other hand had been dodging and deflecting the delinquents' attacks. He simply pushed or tripped them up, but didn't fight back fully. He watched his friends in the distance and when they both went down, he finally retaliated.

Aaron dodged a bat that was swung down at him, he grabbed it and smiled. "No hard feelings, okay?" he said and crushed the bat and kicked the delinquent in the face, knocking him out. Aaron bobbed and weaved while also knocking out delinquents with a neck chop or singular punch to the chin.

He didn't use excessive force, but enough to knock them out and not hurt them too badly. The number of delinquents slowly dwindled, as Najima and Kouta had also gotten up and started fighting again. The trio slowly made their way towards the front again, Haruto watched in amusement.

"Your little boy toys can fight, eh?" he asked Yua and Sakura. Despite not saying anything, the girls remained hopeful about their boyfriends.

"You two, go to them, I'll deal with the rest," Aaron told them.

"B-but—"

"No but's, go!" he told them and they ran towards Haruto.

"Tag team?" asked Najima.

"Tag team!" shouted Kouta.

The two of them began to attack Haruto, but the leader of the delinquents easily dodged their punches and smugly smirked at them.

"Is that all? I didn't think the friends of Sky King Skyward would be so weak," said Haruto.

'Sky King Skyward…? What the hell are these nickname…?!' Aaron thought as he slapped a delinquent in the face. 'Let's just get this over with…I just felt those girls arrive in this town too…'

Both Najima and Kouta kept up their assault, but Haruto finally got bored and kicked Kouta in the stomach and punched Najima in the face. The two stumbled back, but they didn't fall.

"Heeeeh? You two are pretty sturdy, don't you think?" asked Haruto mockingly.

"I…won't go down, I wanna look cool in front of Yua…!" breathed out Najima.

"Me…too…! I need to save Sakura too!" coughed Kouta.

"Tch, gross. You weirdos are seriously doing this for some pussy? How fucking desperate," Haruto said with venom and disgust. "Here, go to sleep," he said and punched both of them full force in the face.

The two young men flew backwards, but when Haruto expected them to crash to the ground, Aaron caught both of them. He had finished fighting the other delinquents and had put them in a small pile towards the entrance.

"Hah! Sky King Skyward beat the shit out of the rest of my gang? So the rumors were true!"

"Rumors?" asked Aaron.

"That you rule over Kuoh Academy with an iron fist! You can stop buses with your fists alone and killed a dolphin!"

'A dolphin?! Where did the dolphin come from?! Also, I rule the academy with an iron fist? What the hell kind of world do you live in?! No, who the hell spread these rumor…?' he asked himself.

Cúntóir: Answer: 90% of the male student populace. The instigators were Motohama and Matsuda, 2nd years and classmates with Xenovia, Irina and Asia.

Aaron sighed and shook his head. 'I'll get those two idiots later…' he thought and looked back at Haruto who had ripped his shirt off.

"Let's do this, you bastard. King versus King, let's see who prevails!" he shouted in excitement.

"…Nah," replied Aaron. Unknown to them, he had his [Boosted Gear] out and had turned in invisible. It had boosted three times over already. Aaron woke up his two friends and they looked at him. "You two finish this, so go crazy," he said and grinned.

[Transfer!] the voice of Ddraig boomed, startling most of them in there. Both Najima and Kouta received 3 boosts. The two guys suddenly stood up and screamed!

"Power…I feel it surging through my boooodddddddddy!!!" screamed Kouta.

"Uwoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!" roared Najima as both of them charged back at Haruto.

"Heh, you think—"

Najima kicked him in the balls making him stop mid-sentence and Kouta followed it up by punching him in the face. Haruto fell down and clutched his balls, but the two didn't stop there. They kept on punching and kicking Haruto until he became unconscious.

Aaron finally stepped in and pulled both of his friends away from the unconscious Haruto. "Stop, he's already knocked out. Anymore and you'll have a lawsuit on your hands for murder or something else," he told them.

The two finally left their trance-like state and looked at Aaron.

"W-what the hell was that?" asked Najima.

"Oh, just a new pill I had. It just gave you two an adrenaline boost…maybe a bit of power too, but who knows?" he said dismissively. "Anyway…go get them and get out of here. I'll clean up the rest," he said and pointed at Yua and Sakura who were still tied up.

The two stumbled their way towards their girlfriends and managed to untie them. Aaron watched from a distance when he saw Haruto get up. 'Talk about having tenacity,' he thought as he watched Haruto walk behind the couples.

He then pulled out a knife and was about to stab one of them when Aaron appeared in front of him and caught the knight. "You shouldn't do that," he told Haruto.

"Fuck you! I own this city! My family has money and we're untouchable!" he roared and tried to push the knife but it wouldn't budge. He tried to pull it away, and that also didn't work.

"One, it's a town, two…don't try to kill my friends, got it?" Aaron then uppercut Haruto which made him crash into the ground a considerable distance away.

He turned to his friends and told them to leave and they finally left. Aaron turned back to Haruto as he didn't punch him hard enough to knock him out. Once he knew his friends were gone, he smiled.

Haruto panted and slowly got up. "I won't go down that easily, asshole. We finally get to—"

<<Shut up,>> said an ominous voice. Haruto froze as he saw horns growing out of Aaron's head. His hair changed color and so did his eyes.

"W-what the fuck?! W-what the hell are you?!" he screamed in horror.

<<I wonder?>> asked Aaron as he tilted his head. As he reached him, Aaron grabbed his head and squeezed it. <<Go near them again, and I promise you…>>

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Haruto screamed and Aaron let go of him. He noticed that the delinquent had peed on himself and then ran out of the building. Aaron put his hand out and forced Haruto to sleep.

He undid his transformation and rubbed the back of his head. "I just wanted to scare him a bit, jeez. I didn't think he'd pee himself and run away screaming like a little girl…"

…

Jin Skyward's Soliloquy

…

"So? Are you guys going to come out or not?" I asked and out came a few of the girls. Kanami, Lavinia, Suzaku, Natsume, Shigune and Raynare had followed us out here. Lavinia immediately ran over to me and embraced me.

"And you said to take it easy on humans…" mumbled Raynare.

"I did though? I just tapped their chins or slapped them, knocking them out. Well, I admit I took it a bit far with…" I stretched my arm out and pulled back the unconscious Haruto. "I may have taken it a bit far with him, though I didn't really do anything apart from squeeze his head a bit tighter."

"You're planning to wipe his memories, right?" asked Natsume as she peered at the sleeping delinquent.

"Partially, I'll leave a memory of a 'demon' haunting him though, maybe that'll straighten him out…"

Natsume shook her head at me and Suzaku pinched my cheek. "Um?" I asked, but Suzaku just pointed at the pile of passed out delinquents. "Ah, right, I'll deal with that too," I said and chuckled.

"Before you ask, it was my idea on following you. I wanted to see how you dealt with trouble like this!" exclaimed Kanami. "The rest…followed me! I think?"

"I followed you sis, but I was curious too," said Natsume.

"I wanted to make sure you didn't go too far…" Suzaku said as she let go of my cheek.

"I dragged Raynare and Shigune with me!" added Kanami. Shigune silently apologized to me and Raynare shook her head and looked at our surroundings.

"I think I used this place as a base once, though that was before we met," she casually remarked.

"I see," I replied. I wanted to ask more about her past, but that can be done another time. "I'll clean up and you guys wait for me outside," I told them and they did just that, though Lavinia stayed with me.

I moved the delinquents around and had them laid out in a line. This also included Haruto. After that, I called the police saying that there was a brawl and that there were 'some' injuries. I used a different voice so they wouldn't be able to identify me, and also removed any evidence of me, my friends, their girlfriends, and the girls from here.

We finally met up with the rest and went home. It was a strange yet quick request from my two friends, and I hoped they wouldn't make a big deal out of it when we see each other again.

…

A few weeks later, it was finally time to leave for the Chinese Pantheon. Initially only Lavinia, Suzaku, and Griselda were coming with me, but seeing as how we found out about the plans of the Khaos Order, a few other groups of Team [DxD] were going to be on standby in the Chinese Pantheon, and Kyoto for the Five Principal Clans.

If it involved the Sacred Beasts, then the clans would surely be attacked, right? That's why I had some of Team [DxD] in Kyoto, and the Valkyrie group led by Zelma and Rose were in the Shinto Pantheon, again—call it a hunch or gut feeling, but since the Five Principal Clans were also tied to the Shinto Gods, I thought I better add some there too.

Which is why Raiko also went back there. It will be the first operation the newly formed group [Yamaūjin] will participate in. I also increased my shadow soldiers in those areas, and three of the G.o.B were dispatched. One of them was coming with me to the Chinese Pantheon, while another went to Kyoto and the other to Takamagahara.

I looked at my own group. It was essentially the Slash/Dog Team, both new and old, minus Sae and Tobio. However, I requested for Le Fay to come with us too since she knew her way around the place. "You guys ready?" I asked.

"Let's get to it!" shouted Kouki, before he got smacked by Kalawarna.

"I'm coming too!" shouted Raynare followed by Gabriel.

"Heh, look who came running back to us," said Mittelt as she snickered at Raynare. Raynare ignored her and stood in front of me.

"Alright…let's get this started. We don't know when they'll strike, so we'll be fighting them on a few different fronts…probably. Let's go!" I shouted and got a few cheers.

…

"So this is where we walk through to get to…"

"Nanzendu, that's the realm's name, and Jiaochun, the new main capital for the Chinese Alliance," explained Le Fay.

We had arrived at a certain location in China, I let Le Fay teleport us here and we were in front of some kind of wooden door. I pushed it open and walked through it followed by everyone else.

…

Nanzendu – Realm – Chinese Alliance

Jiaochun – Main Capital City

…

Immediately after we entered the realm, we were greeted by an amazing sight, but…

"Hmm? …I see, the Middleman has finally graced our realm," said a red-haired woman.

She had scarlet hair tied in a low ponytail, and she had red eyes. She wore a Chinese battle outfit with crimson red ornaments.

"W-Wu Song-san, h-hello," greeted Le Fay nervously.

"Yes. Hello there female magician," she greeted Le Fay back. "Are you here to make an alliance with us?" Wu Song asked.

"Yes," I replied.

Beside Wu Song was another person. She had been staring at me quite intently since we got here, which wasn't long either…

She was a silver-haired woman with pale blue eyes in her early twenties wielding an ebon odachi decorated with red and silver designs. She wore a combat suit that appeared to be a mix of traditional Eastern styles and cutting-edge technology. It featured a long-sleeved white jacket over a sleeveless eastern style top and black leggings that opened at the thigh. A floral petal symbol is emblazoned on her top.

"Hello, I'm—"

I didn't get to finish my sentence when the silver-haired woman stepped in front of me and examined me all over. Both Lavinia and Suzaku became alerted to this as they stared at her back.

"Hey, will you marry me?" she asked.

"...…Huh?" I was dumbfounded by this strange situation—no, everyone was, including her own comrade, Wu Song.

"Ah, I'm Zhang Mei! Nice to meet you, Jin-kun!" she said happily and grinned at me.

…

Check the chapter comments to see images of certain characters.