Beta read by n1ch, Shigiya, Solitary heart and 8kagi
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Kuoh-
I wandered the streets of Kuoh, lost in my thoughts from my prior conversation with the Seraph, one that revealed so much from the previous Great War. I learned things that were never meant to be heard by the general masses and could cause complete chaos if it went public.
God was dead.
He fell after fighting the original Maous at the end of the war.
Yet somehow, the Seraph managed to hide his disappearance and kept their God's System working. And I say that with the heaviest of quotations as apparently Michael took his father's place and kept the Sacred Gear system and God's Bible system running the best he could despite not being able to run it at full capacity. Safe to say, this caused a steep drop in their faction's power and efficiency.
Prayers became less effective, holy energy did not carry the same amount of intensity as before, and the general appearance of 'bugs' in the system. This caused some of the Sacred Gears to react differently than their originally intended purposes, they could mutate to anomalies, summoning powers that shouldn't have been possible—my case being a prime example.
Vritra and I fusing was an impossibility, something that shouldn't have been possible to accomplish in the first place. It went against all rules and safety measures God had put in place when he was still alive. But now, with the Sacred Gears system being run by Gabriel's brother who could barely operate it, there were bound to be some errors who passed through.
This was one of the many issues that plagued my mind.
The other one was Asia's choice, whether she stayed or left was for her to decide. Becoming an Angel of all things would have made any followers of the church jump up in sheer joy, but the nun hesitated.
She asked for more time which Gabriel granted her without hesitation. Unfortunately, the latter needed to return to Heaven and assist her brother on other matters. I tried to ask for assistance with the Kokabiel situation, but again, she mentioned how Azazel assured her that he had everything under control and for her to not meddle unless things become completely out of hand.
I also mentioned that the leader of the Fallen Angels didn't want one of the Seraphs to be present in Kuoh where Serafall turned out to visit quite frequently in recent times. One of the most powerful and influential leaders of their respective factions gathered in a single area where a warmonger maniac roamed the streets whose dreams were obviously to start trouble. And a white-haired emo kid with daddy issues who would headbutt against any powerhouse just to get a fight out of them wasn't helping the situation either.
I considered Azazel to be a crazy person but he wasn't stupid. He knew what needed to be done to cause the least amount of casualties.
There wasn't even a peace treaty signed at this point for anyone to help!
"Man, why couldn't things be simple for once?" I said to myself, pinching the bridge of my nose.
There always had to be an issue somewhere, like a life-threatening danger lurking at every street corner waiting to pounce on anyone passing by. I felt like a new danger to the world came up every month at this point! I wouldn't be surprised if someone were to tell me that a brokenly powerful god lived in Kuoh without us knowing about their existence. If I compared it to the trends I would see in every anime, this powerful god would be minding their business and then suddenly… boom! They just pop out like a damn whack-a-mole!
A battle erupts near them and ruins their experience or makes them drop their ice cream. Next thing you know they walk up to the battlefield and one-shot the villain before going back to their daily life.
"I really should stop comparing life to anime."
It already began skewering my perspective and I was slowly, but surely, reverting back to my chuunibyou phase. Before I know it, I'll find myself wearing all black with hair covering my right eye and muttering some corny verses while walking on the streets.
'It doesn't help that I'm called the Black Dragon King or that a lot of events that have been happening feel like an anime…'
Honestly, I preferred someone calling me the Black Dragon King rather than the "Seducing Dragon", that just sounded wrong on so many levels.
How many people do they think I seduced in the first place!?
I noticed a small booth selling ice cream, feeling my pockets have some leftover money. I decided to grab myself a treat to clear my head. My taste buds have changed throughout the years, my craving for sweet things continued to diminish while things like steak and meat in general increased quite a bit—including my appetite.
"One chocolate glazed coffee ice cream and add some sprinkle on top as well." I placed my order and handed over the money before waiting for it to be done.
"Here you go, sir! Thanks for your patronage!"
"No problem."
As I was about to eat my ice cream, I noticed something unusual.
"Hm?"
In the corner of my eye, a small girl wearing full gothic style clothing along with a pink jacket which was a size too big for her frame, and a large hat that also looked like it belonged to an adult instead of a child. She was just standing there, a few metres away from me while giving me a black stare that lacked any emotions in them.
"..."
"..."
We both looked at each other without saying anything. I scratched my chin wondering if someone forgot their child by accident or something.
"Yo."
I saluted her, expecting a greeting in return but received nothing but her emotionless gaze.
Well wasn't this awkward.
"Are you lost, kid? Where are your parents?"
Maybe she got separated from them and couldn't find her way back. Kids tended to get distracted from simple things, or maybe her parents did not pay much attention and lost their daughter. Hmmm, there was a police station not far from here, I could walk her there and wait until someone comes to pick her up.
"..."
Again, she didn't utter a single word and kept staring blankly towards me. This felt weird, was she mute or deaf? Maybe too terrified to talk to a random stranger like me.
I noticed how she kept staring in particular at my ice cream I was holding and it all clicked in my head.
The girl was probably hungry!
"Here," I brought my hand down and offered her the ice cream. "I hope you like coffee and chocolate. Pretty sure that every kid likes chocolate though."
For a second there, I think I saw her eyes shine for the briefest moment. She took it from my hand and gave it a taste.
"Tasty."
"Oh, so you do speak!" I said out loud, ordering another one for myself. "What's your name?"
She ignored me and continued to eat.
"Hmm, I guess you won't tell me your name." Which kudos to her, this wasn't something she should reveal to a stranger unless it was a police officer.
The two of us sat in silence, eating our icy treats. It didn't take us long to finish our meals, before we stepped out of the store. The young girl continued to look at me with an emotionless expression, while I was starting to feel a little awkward.
"Come, follow me and I'll drop you off at a police station. They'll be able to find your parents and bring you back home. And since you won't tell me your name, then I'll just call you Kuro… you know, with all the black theme going on with you."
Despite my feelings on the matter, I couldn't leave such an adorable girl alone, and my big brother's instincts were demanding me to take her somewhere safe or at least get her some help.
The girl gave me a side glance before saying, "You can bring me back home?"
"Well, of course, I can't just leave you all alone like this."
"But I like being alone and Baka Red won't let me back in."
Baka Red? Was that the nickname of someone in her family? And to already like being alone at such a young age wasn't something a child should say. Sure I shared her sentiment and could recognise the formation of a soon-to-be loner, but even loners needed friends.
Humans were social creatures, and to live a happy healthy life one needed friends.
"Don't you have friends?" I said as we walked through the streets, Kuro kept pace with me as I helped her hand.
"I have subordinates."
Was she one of those bossy types? Or, one of those that liked to roleplay?
"That's impressive! Are you their queen or something?"
"..." she tilted her head and looked at me in confusion.
"Why would I be their queen?"
"Because a queen would naturally have subjects to rule over and command through her authority."
We stopped at a red light, some of the housewives making comments about how it was cute to have a brother take his little sister out to hang out.
I just ignored them, trying not to think too much about it.
"I give them snakes and they follow me," said the little girl. "Some ask for more so I give them anyway."
Snakes? Was she talking about those worm-like candies she would give to other kids so that they would play with her? I remember eating them regularly a decade ago, with tiny Akeno trying to steal some when I wasn't paying any attention.
I guessed they were still popular even now.
"You know Kuro, giving away so many candies will leave you with nothing for yourself."
"I have an infinite amount of snakes."
Damn, her parents must be loaded, or/and super spoiling her by giving her a ton of candy.
"You still shouldn't do that. People will take advantage of you and will take away all of your candy in the end. Only share your snakes with friends you trust, because they will always return the favour. But be careful of what I like to call, fake friends, they act like they know you and hang around you to only get something in return. Like how I gave you the ice cream, I'm not gonna ask you for anything in return or that you have to pay me back later."
Look at me, I was giving a child who I just met a few minutes ago some life lessons that would probably fly over her head. Not like she could understand half of what I just said.
"But, I don't have any friends."
Damn, I felt bad for the girl. I could understand her case, being in that situation before, and didn't want her to end up like I did.
She continued, "If I have friends, will they help me go back home?"
"Of course! Though considering they might not know where you live, it's the thought that counts. If they are genuinely willing to help you to get you home and hang out, then they should help you when you need them the most."
"And it's these types of friends that I should give my snakes to?"
"I would advise you to keep them to yourself and not build a relationship built around giving away pieces of candy for free, but sure—it's a start," I said, wondering if those candies are really that popular.
We reached a large open area with stores open all around us. This was the place where they built the newest Saizeriya, my personal hangout.
As we continued to walk and minding our own business, I suddenly heard a pair of familiar voices.
"Please give blessings to the lost lamb-"
"Please give charity to us on behalf of the Father in Heaven!"
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What. The. Heck.
I came across the last people I wanted to meet so soon after today!
And why were they begging for money!?
Two girls were wearing white robes, praying on the road. Standing out like a sore thumb in the middle of a somewhat crowded place. It looked like they were quite troubled, given how embarrassed and desperate, given how frustrated Xenovia looked. People walking past them were giving them odd glances and some even took them for cosplayers doing a play or something.
"How can this be? This is the reality of the developed country of Japan? That's why I don't like countries that don't have the smell of our beliefs." the blue-haired girl said with dissatisfaction.
"Don't say that, Xenovia. We lost all the money we had. So we have to rely on charity from these heretics or else we can't get food, you know? Aaah, we can't even buy a single loaf of bread! Mother Griselda will be so disappointed in us!"
"Us? Where does this 'us' come from!? It all happened because YOU bought that obvious fake-looking painting! That's why I should have listened to her when she gave me that money and not you!"
Xenovia pointed at a painting of a saint that was drawn really badly. What the heck was that? Did these idiots get cheated in a fake exhibition?
"Heh," I laughed, not feeling bad about it.
"What are you saying? This painting has the drawing of someone who looks like a saint! That's what the person in the exhibition said as well!"
I guessed I knew which of the idiots was the one who fell for it.
"Then do you know who the person in the drawing is? I certainly don't."
The person in the picture certainly looked like a foreigner and was wearing poor clothing and had something on his head. There was also a baby Angel in the background with a trumpet who was floating in the air. Sure looked quite fancy from where I stood, aside from a small detail that made me want to facepalm.
"...I think it's...Saint...Peter...?"
That was just the face of a famous Yourtuber who just happened to look like Jesus! And even if I knew who this Saint Peter was, I doubt that he would look like that? Couldn't you recognize your own holy figures?!
"Don't mess around. Saint Peter wouldn't look like this." Xenovia exclaimed, finally losing her patience with her partner.
"No, he must have looked like this! I'm sure about it!"
How were you sure of it? Was he your relative or something?
"Aaah, why did my partner have to be someone like you! God, is this also a trial?"
'He can't give you a trial since he's dead.' I thought to myself, wincing at that morbid thought.
"Hey don't hold your head down. You get depressed when you are down, don't you."
Well duh, should people dance when they were down? Oh wait, some people on the internet do so.
And I would have been depressed as well with a partner who wasted all of our money on a fake painting and kept defending it, despite it being a complete fake.
"Shut up! That's why the Protestants are called heretics! You guys have different beliefs than us Catholics! Show more respect to the saints!" Xenovia shouted.
'People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.'
"What! What's wrong, it's Catholicism where they still abide by the old law like a bunch of old fossils!"
Wasn't everything about their religion old?
"What did you say, heretic?"
"What did you say, heretic!?"
Those two started to argue by banging their heads against each other.
I swear that I was prepared to just turn around and leave those two as I didn't want a child to witness grown-ups embarrass themselves in public.
Grrrrrrrr
Then I heard the sound of what felt like the engine of a plane turning on, which was just their stomachs rumbling and I even managed to hear it a distance away from them—I was impressed.
The two of them dropped onto the ground with their stomachs rumbling.
"First of all, let's do something to fill our stomachs. Or else it's not a matter of retrieving the Excaliburs."
Couldn't go against a Cadre on an empty stomach after all.
But I admitted that missing common sense was not the main issue.
"You are right. Do you want to get money from the heretics by threatening them? I think God will forgive us if we ruff a couple of the heretics for some money."
Oi, these two went from exorcists to beggars and now potential muggers in a matter of minutes! I wondered if I could scream for some passing cop to come by and lock them up for a day or two.
At least then they would get a warm meal out of that.
"Do you plan to attack the shrine? Or do you plan to steal their offertory box? Don't do either. Let's use our swords to put on a performance. It's an international entertainment that works in every country."
I wished Kiba was here to see this, the mighty shards of Excalibur reduced to a tool used in street performance.
"They are weird," Kuro said, watching the girls in front of us with her emotionless stare.
"I couldn't agree more with you."
Then again, everyone related to the supernatural was weird to some degree.
Even me, sadly.
"That's an excellent idea! If we can cut fruits with our Excaliburs, then we can gather cash!" Irina proposed, excited to use her holy relic for some quick cash.
At least someone knew about the classic games like Fruit Samurai. I remembered in the picture Kiba showed me in the past with the younger Irina playing video games with Issei.
"Idiot! If we had fruits, we wouldn't be hungry in the first place!. It can't be helped. Let's cut that picture."
For the first time, I agreed with Xenovia.
"No! You can't cut it!"
"Don't worry, it's sacrifice will not be in vain."
'I think I should help them out right about now. Or else they may have enough property damage to have the place closed down for repairs and Gabriel or Griselda might get mad at me for not doing so.'
And I wasn't willing to have Saizeriya close down because of two hungry weirdos!
With a sigh and heavy heart, I approached the two with Kuro by my side.
"Oi, let me help you out."
{Break}
"Nooooooooo!! I'm going home!!"
Saji was screaming and trying to run away. Unfortunately for him, he was being held back by both Issei and Momo, both of his peerage members not letting him run away. They couldn't blame him, he was reacting out of pure fear when he witnessed one of the many dead Strays they kept finding that were killed by a holy sword.
The current creature being a young male with some slight facial similarities to the former host of Vritra's power. Didn't help that the Stray was the shade of blonde as Saji, which further freaked the latter out, as he imagined himself in that situation.
"If it helps, the person only attacked Strays so far. So you might not get a holy sword driven into your guts, maybe." Koneko said, making the situation worse for the man. "If you do get stabbed then I'll be sure to honour your sacrifice with some snacks."
"Koneko-chan!?"
Saji once again tried to turn around and tried to run with more effort.
"Both of you! Why are we getting involved with this matter!? It's Kiba's group's problem, right!? We belong to the House of Sitri! We shouldn't take part in this! Not at all!!" he argued while crying like a child.
"Don't say that, Saji." Momo tried to reason with him, but was starting to feel annoyed by the constant blubbering from her peerage member. "Both of the Sitri and Gremory share the same territory, so it's in our best interest to help out as well! Now stop being a fucking coward, and act like a man!"
Kiba chimed in, "Please help me, Saji-kun. You're one of the few people who I rely on for such an important task."
"Bullshit! There's no way that I will help youuuu! I'm going to get killed! I'm going to get killed by Kaichouuuuu!! She specifically told us to stay AWAY from this Stray matter until we are fully prepared, and I'm certainly NOT prepared for this!"
The fear he had towards Sona appeared on his face. She might have been his ultimate crush, but that didn't mean he didn't fear her to death when she got angry!
"Your master, Rias-senpai, might be strict and kind! But do you know what kind of woman Kaichou is!? She's strict AND ruthless!"
Kiba wanted to disagree.
Rias was also ruthless when she got angry enough.
Unfortunately for Saji, everyone just ignored his plight and continued the investigation of the killer. They made up their mind and started gathering every piece of information and tried to come up with a plan to catch this rogue Exorcist.
"Hey, Koneko-chan. You know that Kiba is a victim of the 'Holy-sword Project' and also harbours a grudge towards Excalibur, right?" Momo said.
The Nekoshou gave the Bishop a scrutinising glare.
"How did you know about this?" she asked, feeling her anger rise that the white hair Bishop knew such a sensitive topic.
Everyone in their club had their inner demons which they wished to keep hidden from the world. Sona was a trusted friend but that didn't mean she had the right to know their secrets. Aside from some special cases like Akeno and herself whose cases were too widely known in the Underworld for anyone to keep it a secret, Kiba was different.
"It's okay, I told them."
Koneko whipped her head around and looked at Kiba in shock. The last person she ever expected to reveal such information to others was Kiba himself!
"Why?"
Kiba smiled wryly, "No reason really, I'm fine with people knowing about my past. Especially when it comes to us Devils, I want those who've never interacted with the Church to have an idea on how cruel they can be. There is always a lesson one can learn from listening to someone else's life story, it's something Hachiman-kun mentioned to me. So I decided to follow his advice and not keep such a thing a secret… and it was bound to surface at some point during the investigation."
Issei looked around in confusion.
"Eh? But why haven't I heard of it?" he exclaimed, not wanting to be left out of the loop.
"Oh right, the day Kiba came to the clubroom, you were visiting one of your clients for a task, remember?"
Issei's face paled from recalling the event, gagging in disgust.
"Would you please not make me remember Mil-tan! I have enough nightmares about giant bodybuilders who could crush my skull with their biceps running around in magical girl costumes!" he cried, feeling physical pain at the memory of his now regular client.
Kiba continued his speech.
"Anyways, when Irina and Xenovia came to us, they said this—The Church decided that it would be better to eliminate all the Excaliburs rather than letting them be used by the Fallen Angels. Our minimum objective is to get the Excaliburs away from the rogue Fallen Angels—so it would be safe to assume that we can destroy the swords if we came across one."
"Will destroying the swords truly bring you peace? You must realise that the ones behind the death of your family are the people who were in charge of the Holy Swords Project and not the swords themselves." Momo said, feeling that her words sounded a bit too hurtful and direct—but as long as it could make Kiba see reason, she didn't care.
"I know, I realised this fault long ago. But the mere existence of these swords brings more misfortune to people rather than helping them. In most cases, they were used by the wrong hands who just wished to kill Devils without caring about the consequences. Unlike other legendary swords, these ones possess no real sentience and any rotten person with the slightest compatibility can end up using them to kill the innocents."
Kiba wanted to win against his inner hate of the swords without having his friends worry about him and accomplish both his and former comrades' revenge. Xenovia and Irina wanted to retrieve the Excaliburs from the Fallen Angels even if they had to destroy them. Both groups had the same aim then. What remained was to see if those two would listen to the words of the Devils—especially after the beating they got from him and Hachiman.
He thought about asking his King for permission to chase down the Exorcist. But knowing her, there was absolutely zero chance for Rias to accept his request, finding it to be too dangerous at the moment. Fortunately, the latter was too busy dealing with the Phenex siblings' enrollment to the school to realise his absence.
Since Kiba didn't want to go behind everyone's back, he revealed his plan to Akeno as well. He expected the latter to deny him his request, but to his surprise, not only did she accept it—Akeno even requested to help out.
He couldn't deny the help of the second strongest person inside the peerage. Akeno just had some minor affairs to take care of before joining him, he already sent her a text of their location.
"Why didn't you invite Hikigaya?" Saji said, now following the group once again. "Considering your past history and friendship with that guy, I expected him to be here as well."
"I did try to call him, but Kalawarna-san told me that he and Asia were busy with some sort of matter. So I'll call him again after our meeting with the Exorcists."
"Wait, when we go and talk to them, it might lead to a fight and the tension between us and them will get even worse." Momo said, biting her lip in nervousness. "Not that I want to sound rude, but the Exorcists don't have any beef with our group and I don't wish to paint a target on our backs without Kaichou knowing."
She cared about the Gremory group, even considering some of them as close as siblings. But she would put her group above all else when in danger and she didn't want to invite more trouble.
"That's why you can leave Hanakai-san, Saji, and Issei too. If things get a bit dangerous and rowdy, I'm more than happy for you to separate yourself from us."
Saji took these words as confirmation to leave but was once again stopped by Issei.
"Let me run nowwww!! That's the worst! I'd get killed by Kaichou if I do something like destroying the Excaliburs without her permission! She will definitely torture meeeeee!"
"Stop being such a coward!" Issei shouted, finally getting fed up with his fellow pawn. "Have some guts will ya! Our friend needs our help and is risking his life while all you care about is Kaichou!?"
"Don't mess with me, Hyoudou! You don't want to get on her bad side as well!"
"I don't, but I'm willing to do it if I get to help my friends from any deadly situation. And if we succeed, then imagine how impressed she will be! Heck, the negotiation might even be a success and we won't have to deal with half of the bullshit in the first place."
"Uwaaaaaa! That's so irresponsible! I'll die! I'd get killed!!"
"I won't run away. It's for our comrade." Koneko said it to me with eyes filled with determination.
Issei felt inspired by the lack of fear and strength behind the little girl's eyes, even Momo was impressed enough to relent and accept going along with whatever plan Kiba had.
"Hey, Kiba…" Momo called out to him.
"Yes?"
"Is that Hachiman-kun on a date with the two Exorcists and a cute loli?"
"Heh?"
"Senpai is having an affair."
"For real!? Where's that lucky bastard!?"
"That fucking playboy!'
All at once, everything reacted differently when they saw inside of Saizeriya, the view of Hachiman having lunch with two happy Exorcists and a little girl by his side, who was eating a waffle ice cream.
"Huh… that works out." Kiba said with a smile.
Truly, his friend never stopped surprising him.
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The next 5 chapters of Snafu, Harry Potter and my 2 Fate fics (Fate Coiling Sword having 3 chapters) are already available on my P@treon. With 4 more Broly chapters at /NimtheWriter. Also, I post monthly commissioned arts on each story, already posted a few on an Archer's Promise and Snafu.