"Humph, cheater..." A miniature golem with a smiley face pouted while Alex smiled wryly and Endou writhed with shame nearby. He then smirked and asked,
"What cheating? I only flicked a few marbles for fun while watching an interesting match." The mini golem turned at him as if it was glaring and stated irritably
"Normal marbles don't shatter stone blocks bigger than houses, or stop a giant metal sword while its in mid swing!!!" Alex shrugged and said,
"Ok, they were azantium marbles so what? He still passed the trial." The mini golem went "humph" one last time before grabbing the still cringing Endou and dragging him over to the magic circle that granted the age of gods magic. After the process was complete Miledi ignored him once more and turned back towards Alex before demanding,
"So what do you want, I'm sure you didn't come here just to chat." Alex nodded and said plainly,
"We're about to move on Ehito, and I came to make due on my promise to restore your body." The golems body shuddered as realization of what Alex just said ran through it, before asking,
"And what if I don't want to get my body back?" Alex frowned and replied,
"Then the only options for you would be to stay down here as a golem until the end of time, or to commit suicide to rejoin your former comrades, both things I doubt they'd like for you." Miledi was silent before she then asked,
"And what is the process for restoring my body? I want to know before just jumping into leaving my future in your hands." Alex nodded since it was only a fair question, and answered,
"In the world we are from there is a powerful artifact known as the holy Grail, capable of healing any injury, granting immortality, or even resurrecting the dead. I happen to know the person who currently possesses it and they said they'll be willing to help you." This time the moment Alex stopped speaking she immediately and excitedly demanded,
"Can it really bring back the dead?!" Alex cocked an eyebrow at her sudden enthusiasm, before sighing and saying while knowing what she wanted to ask,
"No we won't bring back your friends, but yes it can bring back the dead." Miledi was silent for several moments before asking dryly,
"Won't, not can't?" Alex sighed once more before explaining,
"Because in order to do so the holy grail connects the user with the root of all life, something that no mortal should ever go near. Though using it to recreate a body while we already have the soul is one thing, repeatedly connecting with the root of all life to bring back several souls that already departed will drive the user to insanity. The girl that can use it is called Valerie, and before she came into our protection she was forced to undergo various experiments using the grail, and to use it repeatedly to bring back several of the worlds most dangerous beings. Though she is relatively ok now, I refuse to risk her repeating that unless it is absolutely necessary." Miledi was silent for several minutes as she thought about what Alex told her, and the comrades that she'd never see again. Finally she said,
"Alright I'll come with you and get a new body. I'm sure that if they were here my comrades will also want me to continue having adventures in new places in their stead." Alex smiled at Miledi's answer and said while holding out a hand,
"Ok then, let's go since we have a war council to kill a god to get to."
When she heard this Miledi's atmosphere sharpened as she recalled it was now time to kill her life-long enemy. Seeing her change Alex didn't say anything, and simply wordlessly picked up Endou by the scruff of his neck and led her through a wall of mist into Asora.
It was late afternoon when they arrived outside a building the likes of which Miledi had never seen before, where a seemingly normal girl and freakish looking man with a feminine face were waiting for them. Alex nodded at the couple before casually tossing Endou at the guy and saying,
"This is one of the new members of Rias's peerage Gasper, why don't you take him to the manor where you and Kiba can get to know him before he goes to our meeting?" Though Gasper looked as if he was going to argue to stay and support Valerie, a glance from her told him she'd be alright. After they left mini Miledi stepped forward and said,
"So you're the girl that talks to dead people? I'm the wonderful and amazingly beautiful Miledi~tan!" Valerie chuckled at Miledi's introduction before saying,
"I am indeed, but I prefer to go by Valerie if you don't mind. I have heard so much about you Miledi, it's nice to finally meet you." At this point Valerie reached out a hand, which mini Miledi stared at for a second before taking it and energetically shaking it up and down. With introductions out of the way, Valerie then led them inside the building towards the place she had set up for the process to recreate Miledi's body. As she followed her, Miledi's gaze was shooting everywhere as she drank in all the new sights and machines surrounding her, several of which she didn't doubt that O-kun(Oscar) would obsess over trying to figure out how it worked. There was also something else she noticed too, which she muttered quietly,
"It's even cleaner in here than it was in my family's mansion..." Valerie laughed lightly at Miledi's observation before explaining,
"This is a place called a hospital, it's where we treat the sick or injured people so of course it has to be as clean as possible to prevent diseases from spreading, though we haven't used it that much since there are a few people who can use magic to heal here." After that Valerie launched into an in depth explanation of the purpose and use of each machine a place they passed, all of which Miledi silently listened to intently, a sure sign she was being serious as she needed to learn more about this strange world she was now a part of. Soon enough they arrived at Valerie's personal treatment room since she herself was a prominent figure in the hospital alongside Asia, and more than likely Anne and Kaori in the near future, where she locked the door once they were inside to prevent interruptions and drew the curtains back to prevent prying eyes. Valerie then prepared an examination table/bed and stated,
"This is where your new body will be made, I'll be doing the creating while Alex will be the one using Spirit magic to transplant your soul from the golem into the body once it's finished, any questions?" Miledi immediately raised her hand into the air before saying,
"Yes! Can you make by breasts bigger?!" Valerie smiled wryly and answered,
"No I can't do that, I can recreate your body at any point throughout your life that you were alive, but I can't make changes to it." Miledi pouted slightly while Alex laughed lightly before saying,
"Don't worry, as far as I'm concerned all boobs should be appreciated regardless of size." Both girls pointedly ignored his remark as Valerie summoned the grail and started working.
***
Meanwhile quite a large group of people had gathered in the meeting hall as they awaited for Alex to arrive. None of them were bored though as everyone was busy visiting with those they hadn't seen in a while, or were meeting the new faces such as Endou and Ryutarou, though Suzu was excused from the meeting to go find Eri. If this wasn't enough to occupy them though, there was also two large tables laden with various snacks and even meal items for anyone who hadn't had dinner yet.
"Pardon me, ufufufufufu." Akeno said as she pushed a small cart through the gathered people that had a delicious looking cake on it, while Asia and Xenovia were keeping step behind her with plates and other utensils. The three of them were acting as attendants during the meeting since they were technically "servants", plus they were taking this chance to properly meet the new members their master briefly told them about. After cutting a few pieces from the cake and leaving them on the table on plates, Akeno went to return the rest of it to the kitchen, only to find herself face to face with Shizuku.
"Ara ara." Akeno muttered as both girls looked each other up and down, gathering several people's attention at the same time. Both were examples of an ideal Japanese beauty, raised in traditional houses with a secret a heritage behind their families(A.N. Akeno's mother was from a family of exorcists if anyone forgot), both were "cool beauties" outwardly when they were secretly very girly, and they both had their hair up in a ponytail. As the two girls looked at each other Rias muttered,
"For some reason I almost feel like I'm looking at Shizuku when she had her shadow clone out..." Those who knew what she was talking about nodded their heads in agreement as the only real differences they could see was bust size, and the fact that Akeno was openly a perverted sadist while Shizuku was more like a shy maiden. The cross examination was suddenly cut short however, when someone cried out,
"MISTRESS!!! This lowly mutt has missed thee!" Tio then came flying out of nowhere and suddenly clung to Akeno's leg as a sadistic gleam entered her eyes, making Shizuku, Ryutarou, and Endou all shudder as she calmly said,
"Hello mutt, I would say it's nice to see you but it doesn't seem like you intend to properly greet me." Tio shuddered at the cool sadistic voice that was directed at her, before she immediately got down on her hands and knees and started to slowly lick Akeno's shoes. After several awkward moments Tio finally rose to her feet while Akeno continued into the kitchen, and Shizuku who was forgotten at the side muttered,
"I can't believe I'm not more shocked at what just happened." She felt somewhat sad that such a scene was now somewhat normal for her, and her days of not being corrupted were behind her, while everyone else similarly resumed whatever it was they were doing before as if nothing happened. The chatter continued to slowly grow louder as more people started showing up, so that those present included Anne, Grayfia, Kuroka, Yue, Shia, Serafall, Sona, Barakiel, Yasaka, Ingvild, Ravel, Roygun, Sairaorg, Vali and his team, Liliana, Aiko along with her bodyguards, Seekvaira, and Hajime along with Kaori. Finally the only ones they were missing was Gabriel and Alex, who arrived last with her on one arm, and another blonde-haired blue-eyed beauty on the other. The moment they walked through the doors everyone's eyes were immediately on the second girl with Alex, who instantly took a pose and declared,
"HELLLLLOOOOOOO EVERYONE, IT'S THE NEW AND IMPROVED MILEDI-TAN HERE!" After her grand introduction, it was dead silent as everyone stared at her dead panned.
"Oh god she's back..." Vali muttered as he was made to recall the hell of a final fight against Miledi in the Raisen labyrinth, along with everyone else who had done it. Like this the silence stretched awkwardly until suddenly a thunderous growl broke it. Accompanying it Miledi's face turned Crimson, but before she could say anything she immediately smelled and honed in on the food that was prepared.
"Food... GIVE ME!!!!" She shouted before diving at the tables and loading up a plate as high as she could. Everyone turned and looked at Alex incredulously, to which he shrugged and asked,
"Are you saying you would be any different after not eating anything for more than two thousand years?" Everyone looked awkward in response to his question, and decided not to point out Miledi's horrible manners for the moment. In fact the reason they took so long to arrive was because Alex personally walked Miledi around the city before going to the manor to pick up Gabriel, and then teleporting to the meeting to ensure that she could readjust to having a flesh and blood body. The first things were of course having her recall basic motor functions as well as the overwhelming scents she could suddenly take in. As a golem she had been able to see and hear, but her other senses were impossible to replicate as well, leaving her unable to smell, taste, and touch for over two thousand years. Then as they entered the meeting hall Miledi's new nose alerted her to the food nearby, which reminded her that she hadn't had anything to eat or drink yet, and her new body was desperately craving both. As Alex quietly explained this to everyone they couldn't help looking at Miledi with expressions of pity and respect for making such a self sacrifice, up until she let out a massive burp before giggling her apologies. Shaking his head with a wry smile, Alex helped Gabriel to her seat before planting a kiss on her lips, and then making his rounds greeting everyone with varying degrees of intimacy before finally taking his seat at the head of the large table. As the majority of those gathered also sat while other stood behind them, Alex adopted a serious look as he said,
"Now that we're all here, let's begin our meeting regarding how we're going to move ahead with killing Ehito." Everyone became serious immediately while a few other like Ingvild and Ravel were wondering why they were present as well. After opening the meeting Alex turned towards Vali and nodded his head slightly, prompting Vali to stand and say,
"Regarding the situation with the demon race, we've removed the minor God controlling them as well as the champion of their race that was further empowered by Ehito, and the army of mass produced dragons they created." Vali then gave a brief account of what happened in the demon race Capitol, with Liliana and Aiko adding little bits here and there. Once he finished Rias said,
"That's good, at least now there isn't an army standing between us and Ehito when we invade his divine realm." It was at this point Miledi spoke up with her cheeks still somewhat full,
"Thash nots thrue, there's shtill he aposhtels." Though several people wanted to comment once more, they once again stayed silent out of consideration while Alex seemed to suddenly recall something, and muttered,
"Oh no..." Before the hall's door opened once more and a certain someone stepped through.
"Please pardon my tardiness, but I had to finish my work before arriving." The second she finished speaking there was a sudden sound of exclamation, before Miledi rose to her feet and pointed at the newcomer with a look of genuine shock and rage on her face,
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE, AND WHY ARE WEARING A MAID OUTFIT!?" As she looked towards the one shouting at her, Noint's eyes suddenly widened in surprise and recognition.