Chapter 143 - Chapter 14 - Part 1 - Durandal of the General Election*

Third Person Point of View

…

"Haaaa…that little bastard did it again," Azazel said with a sigh.

"Well, you got to meet your father one last time, didn't you?" asked Sirzechs.

Azazel blushed and turned away. "S-so what? That old man decided to make himself look like a hunk, tch!"

"He's conveniently forgetting the part where he also cried along with the other Seraphs," mused Ajuka.

"Shuuuuuuuuuuuuuut uuuuuuuuuuuuuuup!!" Azazel screamed and covered his face out of embarrassment.

Christmas had ended, and the year was about to end. The Four Satans, Michael, Altaria and Azazel decided to meet up to discuss a small issue.

"So, everyone we're in alliance with has been preparing slowly, right? With what Jin told us, Trihexa along with several of those Battle Gods might show up, oh and the monster that Glenda merged with," said Azazel. He tried to move the discussion along since he didn't want to be teased.

"Yeah, I actually asked him about it along with Danu, Hephaestus and other goddesses we're close with and the warriors of each faction are heading to those chambers to get as strong as possible," said Serafall.

"Michael, Altaria, is something wrong?" Ajuka asked the two angels.

"…The unrest of the Church has slowly begun to surface, have you heard about it? The Exorcists who have questioned the reason behind the treaty of the three factions. Peace means that there will be no need to hunt devils. The vampires have also appeared to be starting to accept peace under their new leaders."

"There are those who harbor concerns about what kind of future these exorcists may have. We don't know what would happen if their discontent and suspicion of Heaven reached the top brass," explained Michael.

Azazel rubbed his chin. "Hmm. So you're saying that every opposing organization is raising this issue within the Vatican? I heard that one of the masterminds behind this was the previous wielder of Durandal."

"…The original wielder of [Durandal] has already been assimilated…this is bad. That guy's mastery over [Durandal] was very high. If he were to get his hands on [EX Durandal] then—"

"…The Khaos Order is definitely supporting them from the shadows," Sirzechs said with concern.

"What shall we do then? I'm sure Jin is aware of this already, that brat just knows things—I wouldn't be surprised that he knows we're having this conversation right now," said Azazel as he looked at his own shadow. "Maybe he has his shadow soldiers in our shadows?"

"It's possible, and he would just say it's for our own protection," Ajuka told Azazel who sighed. "What does his direct subordinate say?" Ajuka asked Altaria as everyone turned their attention to her.

Altaria smiled and said, "I can neither confirm nor deny such a claim, Ajuka Beelzebub-san."

"I'll tell Aar—Jin then. Though like you said, he probably already knows about it. Let's let him take the spotlight as usual and work behind the scenes," added Serafall.

All of them agreed and spoke about other things pertaining to how to better their defenses and might before the largest operation that the Khaos Order may undertake.

…

In the Underworld, in a certain building that belong to the Phenex clan, Riser Phenex was elated. His sister Ravel Phenex was also with him.

"Riser-Onii-sama, why are you so happy?" she asked.

"Hoho! My dear sister! In fact, stay calm and listen to me! My return to the rating game has been decided!" he announced happily.

"R-really? Congratulations! Although you were home for a while, I was worried whether you would return or not," Ravel said and sighed at her brother.

Riser blushed and waved his hands in front of her sister. "Don't mention that! Fine, whatever. The opponent for my return game is a big shot. It'll really surprise you!"

"Well, who is it?"

"The Champion! Emperor Belial will be my opponent for my return to the professional scene!" he announced even louder.

"Really?! That's amazing. I didn't think you would have such an opponent for your first return game!" she exclaimed in surprise."

"Right? Being able to fight against the champion is an honor! I've had bad luck since my lost against Rias and against Jin. But since my opponent is the champion, this is a rare opportunity! Although I probably won't win, it should be a fascinating match for the spectators and organizers that will showcase my revival!"

"I will tell the rest of Jin-sama's household, they will surely support you like me!" Ravel said to him, but to her surprise Riser shook his head.

"No, you don't need to do that, you should just focus on your studies. Also, I heard that Rias and Jin are graduating soon, right? Once they are gone, that club of theirs will need your strength and intellect in the future. But don't worry, you can watch my match in a future recording, it will be valuable learning experience for Rias and your future husband," he said with a smirk.

"J-jeez! Stop teasing me!" cried Ravel as she started to lightly hit Riser.

"Hahaha! Then, how is it going between you and Jin?" he asked, making her blush even more.

"W-well, u-um…it's…"

…

Azazel's Soliloquy

…

I'm currently in a remote country side of a certain country. The year was ending and I set up a small meeting between me and a certain god. I wanted…some assurance. I know Jin is strong—stupidly so, but…if somehow he was killed, put into a coma or something like that, I wanted to ask for a favor from someone strong.

I was fishing right now. I had cast my rod into the stream below and waited. I like fishing, but because of the reasons I mentioned previously…

The bushes behind me suddenly rattled and I heard footsteps. I see, so he finally came, huh? Without turning to look at him, the man I had asked to come sat beside me and looked at the horizon in front of us.

He suddenly summoned his own fishing rod and cast it into the stream below. The man beside me had short brown hair tied in a ponytail, golden earrings on his ears, orange-colored eyes, tanned skin, a golden black watch on his wrist, and wore a slick black and white suit. He also wore some glasses.

"Do you like fishing?" he asked.

"…Not particularly…well, I did spend a few years practicing it," I replied.

I lied, I'm a fallen angel, we live…basically forever, so there was a long period in my life that I did spend a substantial amount of time mastering this skill, you could say, I'm a master at fishing.

"Hmm. I did have that same enthusiasm once, but…I don't have it anymore," he said and put some magic into his fishing rod. It suddenly started to violently shake and he pulled it up. He had suddenly caught a fish. "Hehe, I guess using magic is cheating, right?" he asked.

"…Yeah, no kidding," I replied. Immediately following the brief conversation, the room fell silent.

"You're known as the most sinister of the Fallen Angels, you're also their leader, yet you actually tried to spread peace around the world. If I heard that a few years back, I would have simply laughed at it as a stupid rumor," he suddenly said. "Indra would laugh even harder if he heard of it."

I didn't answer him, instead, I asked, "If that day ever happens, can I rely on you to stop the beast?"

"You ask me, and not the famous dragon? His comrades, his team, his friends, and his lovers are quite strong—probably stronger than me, you know?" the man told me and chuckled. "But, it's 666, isn't it? It's a divine beast in your mythology you know. Are you sure about asking me?"

"May I remind you that we're in an alliance?" I asked and he laughed again. "Also…it's just a reassurance. That brat may look invincible, but there are times that he looks incredibly fragile—like if I touched him wrong, he'd completely shatter like glass. So…if he somehow just…disappears, gets killed or is put in a coma…"

"He has his subordinates, The Dragon God of Infinity, and the Great Red, and after that his shadow soldiers, and lovers—finally, me. I think you've skipped quite a lot of them and asked me," he added and glanced at me.

"Also, this is quite a difficult request, you know? The things we're up against are stronger than all of us. He is the only one that can probably fight back against them. From what we were informed—they can warp reality to their liking. In reality, I shouldn't even accept," he explained his reasoning to me.

I gritted my teeth. I understand it's an unreasonable demand, and it's not really…

"If there is anything that you want, as long as it is within my power, whatever it is I'll satisfy your request. If necessary, I'll go ask Odin and Zeus too. I'd give my life to you, it doesn't matter to me. I only need to stop the destruction of this world. Only this."

However, this man—no, this god shook his head and faced me. "There is no need to do such things. I have long abandoned that 'plan' of mine, and that dragon will keep on defying our reasoning. He makes this world—no, our universe a much more interesting place."

He finally got up and stretched his body.

"I will do it under one condition. I will only fight the beast, anything else—I will leave it to that team. Whether it be Qlippoth, Rizevim, the Khaos Order, or something else entirely…if it isn't the beast, I won't interfere. Unless it threatens to destroy this world, I will not make a move…are you satisfied with that?" he asked.

That's enough. That's more than enough—if we can prepare probably, then we can most likely repel all of them even without Jin's help. I just have a strange gut feeling that he may disappear suddenly and I hate it. We're heavily reliant on him…

"You've started to realize it, haven't you? No…you always realized it. Once his presence started to take the supernatural world by storm—it started gnawing at you," he added.

"I have, and my own doubts about you are also gone, God of Destruction, Shiva," I told him and he smiled.

However, he continued. "After finding out the reality of this…world, this universe, he's like a shining beacon of hope, isn't he? All the terrorism that happened in the past year that threatened all of us, yet he always appears and puts an end to it."

"It's not just the leaders, but the people of every mythology have come to expect it from him now. 'The Middleman will deal with it', 'The Dual Dragon Emperor will save us!'. They—we are overly dependent on him. And…then it struck you, 'What if one day…he just disappeared? What then?' Am I right?" he asked me.

God dammit man! Why did you have to put my thoughts and worries into words? Yes, obviously that's what I meant! I'm worried about the world, I'm worried about what would happen to all of us, but God dammit I'm also worried about the people he's made close bonds with, what will happen to them?

That stupid idiot is a bleeding heart, and that annoys me at times—he even tried to help me of all people!

"Hmph. I am adept at many things, Azazel, and understanding emotions is one of them. However, I understand your position in this. Therefore, you better be careful, a man that spouts peace without being able to back it up—I detest it."

"Is that why you support Jin?" I asked and he smiled.

"But of course, he's the only fool that has made it into reality—no one else has done such a thing in all my time of living." He turned around and started walking away. "You're a fallen angel—once an angel, you believe in faith, correct?" he asked me but I didn't answer. "Just believe that even fallen angels reincarnate then," he said disappeared.

"Well…I better hope to that Azathoth person that Jin doesn't randomly disappear, right…?" I muttered to myself and pulled my reel in; it got no bites today…

…

Jin Skyward's Soliloquy

…

It was New Years, quite a lot of things happened after the Christmas get-together, for one, I wasn't allowed a day of rest, so I took a bunch of requests during that time—I also started construction on my restaurant, even today, but I left it to an avatar of mine, so I wouldn't need to worry about it for today, because we were currently in—

"Aaron!"

A familiar voice screamed my name and then…they jumped towards me, all the while giggling to herself. I caught her and brought her closer. "Hey, Kunou…how are you? It hasn't been that long since we saw each other you know?"

We had come to Kyoto for the New Years. We were waiting in front of a small shrine, and to our right was a large red Torii gate. Of course, we contacted Yasaka and the rest about our visit. Suzaku had gone back to the Himejima clan for a small matter and would join us later on.

Our excursion consisted of my group along with the Gremory peerage and the Sitri peerage. Speaking of the Sitri peerage…the tour that Ingvild had was a massive success. She practically became even more popular overnight. But this also meant that her name was exposed even further. Some of my shadow soldiers reported certain people looking at her strangely.

I would normally chalk it up to awkwardly social fans looking at her, but seeing as how the Khaos Order is still at large and that her father and the original Leviathan are part of it, I didn't want to risk it, so…I had them interrogate some of them. One of them was a stray devil who became interested in her, the others were just socially awkward fans, and one…was part of the True Satan Faction of the Khaos Order.

But unfortunately, they were just 'fodder' and didn't have any place in the organization, so any information from them was useless.

"This shrine is—"

"Mine," said another voice. We all turned to it and saw…Yasaka, Tamamo, Maho, and Inari. I hadn't expected to see so many of them…

"Oh, you guys are here too?" I asked. "It's been a while; I hope you're all doing alright."

Everyone here, well, all the women were wearing kimono that matched their personal style. This also included the Kitsune women who joined us just now.

"Happy New Year, Jin-sama," Tamamo said with a bow.

"Yes, yes, Happy New Year, Jinppai Dragon," added Maho as she smirked at me.

That silly moniker that Indra made for me began to spread during the Christmas break, and only in the last few days everyone had started referring to me as that. I didn't really care, but it was a bit strange. Indra also contacted me about it—well, he mostly laughed, but still…

Earlier, I mentioned that 'my group' came here, I also meant that for the Pleiades and Stahlritter—so everyone from my household was here. I glanced to my side and saw some of them playing with the snow, even during Christmas and after it, they were quite enamored by it, so I let them be.

Before today there were also a few meetings that I was called in for. Most of it was…geared towards the unrest in the church. I already knew about it but didn't say anything, though Azazel was the one that told me that, though I already knew, but I still chose not to comment. I already had plans for it, and I had to apologize in advance to the two dragons within me…

[Cheater! Dammit!]

{Quit crying about it…}

[You were more upset about it than me!]

{Shut up…}

"Did Phis come?" Kunou asked from my arms. She looked around but didn't see Ophis.

"She's here," I said and looked at my necklace. "Both of them are, they're just…I guess they don't like the cold too much since they made their own kotatsu in their own dimension of the necklace."

Just as I was about to continue explaining, Ophis' dragon head glowed and out came the dragon god. She was also in a cute black kimono with flower and dragon patterns on it.

"I wanted to get dressed for Kunou," announced Ophis. She was currently in her loli form. I let Kunou down and they held hands and danced around a bit.

"Shall we go further then? We did prepare some pleasantries for everyone. A cold or hot drink and some snacks will suffice, yes?" asked Inari. Upon hearing that food would be there—

"Food! Food!" Irina cheered as she dashed away, followed by several others.

"…So much for paying our respects," muttered Sona as she sighed. Saji and Ruruko were part of the group that ran off.

"Haha, let them be. They're quite hungry, aren't you?" I asked her.

"…Haa, just because we're graduating soon doesn't mean we have to act like old people, Aaron," Sona said as she pinched my nose. "And no, your soul's age doesn't count."

"Read me like a book, huh?" I asked and laughed. "You guys go ahead, I'll wait for Suzaku here," I told them and they left. Well, Xenovia and Lavinia stayed behind. "Is something wrong, Xenovia?"

"Is it strange for me to want to stay behind?" she asked.

"Well, no. I expected you to join the ones that were hungry though…" I replied. She scrunched up her face and…

"O-okay…I admit I'm hungry, b-but…I wanted to—" she cut herself off and just appeared in front of me and kissed me. Once she was done, she pumped both her fists. "Okay, that's what I wanted to do…I wanted some good luck for the New Years, and especially for the upcoming election!"

Xenovia gave me a peace sign with her right hand and touched her lips with her left. "Asia is with you, so is Gabriel-sama, and Irina. I feel like I'm being left behind, so I wanted to be a bit more proactive and officially join before you graduated," she explained and ran off.

"Fufu, it looks like Xenovia-chan is going full throttle already, and the new year just started~!" said Lavinia.

"Yeah…but she's always been like that," I replied. I turned to Lavinia and kissed her. "Happy new year…let's make this one even better than the last."

"Mmm and many more after."

"I'm sorry I'm late!" Suzaku's voice said behind us. We turned around and saw her lightly jogging towards us. She was also wearing a kimono.

"You're fine, they just left…anyway you look fantastic in that by the way." I held my hand out, but she instead hugged my entire arm.

"Compliments won't get you anywhere, Aaron," she said and gave me a peck on the cheek. We made our way through the Torii gates and eventually arrived at a small section that was cut off from the normal world.

A small barrier was placed and a small cottage house with a large garden was beyond it. It felt like spring in there already since the Sakura trees were already blossoming. We went over to everyone else and mingled with them.

Lavinia, Suzaku and I sat with Rias, Akeno, Sona, Tsubaki and Ingvild. As everyone enjoyed their time there, we watched the other members of the Occult Research Club. I wasn't the only one who felt nostalgic as both Rias and Akeno looked at them with affection.

"…We're really leaving them behind, aren't we?" asked Akeno.

"We have to, otherwise Asia won't be able to properly integrate as the new President. Aaron, you also have to not go there constantly, otherwise they'll just go to you instead," Rias said to me seriously.

"I know, I know…I mean I'll be focused on the construction of the restaurant. I requested Zeoticus that we go at a relatively slow pace to make it more believable." I turned to Sona. "What about the current student council?" I asked her.

"…Since Momo is running for student council president, I left her in charge. Saji is also acting as Vice President, although he's also eager in becoming the next one. Tsubaki nominated him for it, and the rest didn't mind."

Hmm…I guess they're also doing the same thing in leaving it to the next generation.

"So much has happened in just a year…" muttered Tsubaki.

"—And it all started because of one harem-seeking dragon," added Sona and everyone looked at me.

"Yes, yes, I'm guilty. Bite me—"

As I said that, Akeno chomped on my ear and started nibbling on it. Lavinia joined her with my other ear. After that it turned a bit chaotic and a few others joined in.

And just like that…our third…and final semester as seniors started.

…

The first day back, the classroom was in a somber mood the whole day. It was lunch but…not one of us in the classroom left. Everyone here had their ups and downs, but in the end we all enjoyed each other's presence and company.

"Damn, it's depressing," said Higuro as he looked around the room. Both my friends had joined me as we ate lunch. Rias, Akeno, Ingvild, Sona and Tsubaki were in their own corner conversing and having lunch too.

"Yeah, even Sakura said her own classroom felt a bit depressing too," added Kikijo.

"I kind of expected some to skip classes today, but I guess they didn't. Maybe tomorrow? But…yeah, we'll see less of each other after today," I told them.

"Way to make it even more depressing, Skyward-sama…"

"Ditto…"

That wasn't my intention, but I guess I did say something a bit negative. However, the mood was getting worse as the seconds ticked on. This was until the door to our classroom opened and in came Sakura and Yua, my two friends' girlfriends.

Without saying a word, they grabbed both of them and left the classroom. Everyone's gaze was on them when this happened, so the two boys felt awkward about it, but—that broke the tension in the room and a few more left and others began to speak normally to each other. Soon enough the place returned to its usual atmosphere prior to the winter break.

After that, the devils came over to me. The 'former' members of the club which were Akeno, Rias, Ingvild and I looked out the window near to me and towards the old school building.

"I wonder what they're up to?" I asked. "Oh, that reminds me, Aika Kiryuu also found out about us, didn't she?" I asked Rias.

She nodded. "Yes, she coincidentally received a flier from us, so she tried to summon someone and got Shirone. After that she revealed our identities, and also promised to keep it a secret. She was quite shocked to find out about your status," she explained and giggled.

"Most people would feel that way, especially after finding out we're devils that are friends with a famous 'dragon'," said Sona.

…

Yumi Kira's Soliloquy

…

The winter break came to an end, and Kuoh Academy has entered its third trimester.

Besides the third-year students who have more freedom, the first and second-year students continued as usual as they had to attend school every day. Because today was a half-holiday, after roll call and the opening ceremony, it was time for club activities.

Right now, it should be 'lunch' so everyone else should be in their classrooms. In the clubroom, we have our new roles, Asia became the President while I became the Vice President. Akeno-san who used to prepare tea for everyone—Ravel was the one to take over that duty.

Once Ravel served everyone tea, our meeting began…is what I'd like to say, but everyone just sat around without saying anything. Even Asia, our new President sat there and stared at the desk in front of her.

I don't blame her. Former President Rias was the one who always sat there, gave everyone orders along with Aaron and we followed them. Akeno-san also stood beside them, so right now…everyone just felt a bit lost. However, as the recently appointed Vice President, I should do something about it.

"President, what are we going to do for the third semesters activities?" I asked her. However, the newly elected President kept on silently staring at the desk.

"President, President Asia—!" after calling her name a few times, and getting increasingly louder, I finally got her attention.

She jolted in her seat and said, "Ah, ah, y-yes, I do have an idea of what we're doing…I made a list here…" she fumbled around for a few seconds before her ring glowed and she awkwardly read through it as we stared at her.

"Well, this is the beginning of the new club after all, this much is understandable," I said and scratched my cheek. When I looked around the room it felt a bit empty, I could see that the only people here (not including me and Asia) were Shirone-chan, Gasper-kun, Ravel-san, and Irina-chan.

Because of the new term, we lost four people, but…we should be gaining new ones starting next year. However, there were some other teachers here like Azazel-sensei and Rossweisse-sensei. Lisa-sensei, Penemue-sensei and Griselda-sensei said they would still be coming here every now and again.

But everyone suspects that Rossweisse-sensei may resign as a teacher once the third years graduate since she'll follow Aaron to his business.

Irina-san put her hand up and asked, "By the way, where are Rias, Akeno, Ingvild and Aaron?"

"Those four said they would come over here if they're interested, but like Former President Sona and Former Vice President Tsubaki, they're in their own classrooms," said Shirone.

I nodded in agreement. "Former President Rias and Akeno-san have basically handed everything over to us. She said that if they came over it would affect the new arrangement, so she said they'd wait until we settle down and then they'd come back."

But…their graduation is only two months away. I wasn't the only one aware of this, the others were too. Even during our short trip to Kyoto, they were looking over us one last time before they stepped away from the club.

"…So they'll rarely come here, and after that, they'll graduate…" Gasper-kun said sadly.

Shirone patted his head and said, "Be more optimistic, Gya-kun."

"But it is lonely though. President Rias and Akeno-san have always been here, and even if it was only a year, both Aaron-senpai and Ingvild-senpai also contributed a lot…"

I can't deny that, Rias and Akeno have always welcomed us to this place with smiles, after that Ingvild-san and Aaron joined that. Maybe it's because they're older? I wouldn't know, but we're generally more reliant on them.

Ravel took a sip from her tea and added, "Nevertheless, they mentioned before the new school term started that the Kuoh Academy's College/University division is quite close to the high school division, so it is possible for them to come here if they wanted."

It's as Ravel said, the high school division and university/college division are very close to us. So if they felt like it, they could just walk here during lunch and we'd see them again, or vice versa.

"…Regardless, they will graduate soon, so we have to settle down quickly and show them we can function without them," said Asia. She looked determined and a bit lonely. "We'll be third years starting next year and we'll have new students coming here, as well as new club members."

"Eh? Who?" asked Irina.

Ravel put three fingers up. "Le Fay-san is joining us, as well as Bennia-san, Sona-sama's [Knight]. As well as Kunou-sama, she will come here during lunch break since she'll be in the middle school division."

"Oh, aren't they taking the entrance exam today?" I asked and Ravel nodded.

"They are, the same with Kunou for the middle school division. Perhaps we may have more members starting next year, but for now those are the ones we're aware of," said Ravel.

"Xenovia-san has also formally resigned from the club because she's running for school president. She's in the other room in the building being helped by Rossweisse-sensei and Kiryuu-san," explained Asia.

After that, we started to get into it and began speaking about various things. One was who had a higher chance of winning the student council president seat. Xenovia and Momo-san had reasonable chances, as well as the other candidates. Saji-kun is also running for the vice president seat. He's already well liked so he has a very high chance of winning.

After that, we spoke about Ravel's brother, Riser. It was about his return match and who he would be facing. It was the Rating Game champion—Emperor Belial—Diehauser Belial. According to Ravel, he was very excited, even though he knew he was going to lose, he would make it a fun match to watch.

Also, Ravel would also be returning to the Phenex Household because Riser was missing a piece, so she would act as his [Bishop] again. Because of her power, she would be the strongest in the peerage, and should prove to be a nuisance to the Emperor.

Azazel-sensei, who had been silent the entire time finally chipped in. "Although it's the beginning of a new school term, I regret to say that there is some bad news. Well, it's not the harrowing thing, but I should at least tell you guys first. Well, the ones not here know already, so…anyway—"

Before he could continue, several more people came into the clubroom. They were Former President Rias, Akeno-san, Former President Sona, Tsubaki and Aaron. After that, Asia went over to the other room and fetched Kiryuu, Rossweisse-sensei and Xenovia.

The formerly empty room was now full of energy and crowded. I couldn't help but smile at it.

"Some of the Church's followers—in particular the warriors under its control are rebelling. I mentioned this a few days ago, didn't I?"

Yes, he did mention that. The Church's warriors are currently at the center of this rebellion. After the Three Factions joined forces, ever since they had to follow the new rules of not attacking devils and fallen angels, they have been dissatisfied with their lives.

Everyone had their own reasons for this, because they originally didn't have positive impressions of devils or fallen angels, and then the peace treaty from the upper echelons appeared out of the blue.

Even so, they were still disgruntled about having to stop their old job. Instead, they went out to hunt vampires and monsters. But now, however, the new vampire faction is also advocating for peace thanks to Aaron.

While some of the soldiers feel at ease at the peace, there are also a number of them who are dissatisfied with the situation. Thus, the outcry by these warriors had caused them to start a rebellion together.

Putting myself in their shoes, it would be like taking away their reason to fight, their chance for revenge. Regarding this matter, Xenovia had previously stated, 'It's not a difficult thing to understand. For the Lord, for the Church, for the fight against the existence of evil, the reason that they were fighting for had suddenly been taken away from them. They don't know how they should live their lives. They're quite pitiful.'

She was quite persuasive. Xenovia once lost her reason to fight, and left the Church, but she found a new reason after leaving the Church and settled down. Not all soldiers are like Xenovia. They can't find another reason for their lives.

Aaron knew this would be coming—and from the sounds of things, they blamed him the most since he was responsible for this. When Azazel-sensei brought this up with him a few days ago, he simply said…

'Then I'll take on their burdens. If it comes to it, I'll let them have that one final battle to satisfy them, and after that—I hope they'll be able to move on with their lives and find new meaning to it.'

Azazel-sensei continued. "The Church's rebels have mostly been dealt with, in fact, the majority of them have been stopped. The Cadre-class leaders who were behind it have all been arrested…but—!"

He then raised three fingers. "Three of the rebels are on the run and also, they still have many soldiers following them."

Aaron continued for him. "The three of them are His Eminence Cardinal Bishop Teodoro Legrenzi, His Eminence Cardinal Priest Vasco Strada, and His Eminence Cardinal Deacon Ewald Cristaldi."

"His Eminence Strada and Cristaldi-sensei…?!" Xenovia said with shock.

"Do you know them?" Rias asked and she nodded.

"Of course, His Eminence Strada…was the previous wielder of [Durandal]," she explained while frowning. Some of us were left speechless. The former wielder of [Durandal] was one of the rebels…?!

Azazel-sensei nodded and added, "That man is among the minority of [Durandal] wielders who is capable of rivaling Roland, and many people believe that he's even surpassed Roland. He's also one of the few people who've successfully emerged from the war. He was a man who embodied strength and authority on the battlefield, and was also a leader."

Aaron explained further. "He's eighty-seven years old, he's a living legend. Did you know, he pushed Kokabiel back during the World War 2? That was before he was saved by Azrael. He's known by many monikers, but the most notable ones are: [The Church's Device of Violence], [The Violence of Heaven], [The True Devil] and [The Limits of Humanity]."

"Right, he was also one of the top candidates to be one of the [Ace] of the Great Seraphs. Uriel and Raphael tried to recruit him but he declined," explained Azazel-sensei. "Apparently he wanted to return to the Lord once he died."

He then turned to Aaron and asked jokingly, "O great wise one, what thee knows about this?"

Aaron rolled his eyes and said, "Let them have it. I already said it…but they need this outlet. We, as Team [DxD] will face them because there's a high chance that the Khaos Order is also involved—we can probably capture someone significant during it too."

Azazel-sensei put a hand under his chin and said, "So they have valid reasons for doing it, huh? …I'll run it by Michael and the rest of the leaders then. I'll tell them that you and Team [DxD] will personally deal with it."

Asia added, "While I was still a nun within the Church, I met His Eminence Strada once…he seemed to be an honest and friendly person."

Even Asia had a favorable impression of him…if so why would—no, Aaron said that they may have legitimate reasons…

"Ewald Cristaldi is also a big name. He's known to have wielded three pieces of Excalibur before. Some theorize that he can wield all of them and even the original. Whether it be Vasco Strada, or Ewald Cristaldi, those two are living legends that we'll have to fight soon," said Aaron. He then looked at Irina and Xenovia. "You two know him personally, right?" he asked.

"Yes, a lot of the Church warriors have been mentored by Ewald Cristaldi-sensei," replied Irina.

Aaron closed his eyes and added, "Teodoro Legrenzi is the youngest, whose position as a Cardinal Bishop is a special case."

"Special case? What do you mean by that?" asked Akeno-san.

"…You even know about that, huh?" Azazel-sensei asked incredulously. Aaron nodded and then elaborated.

"He's…what's called a 'Miracle Child' or one of the 'Miracle Children'. To put it simply, he was made because of a union between a human and a pure angel. I believe this was before I came into the picture and changed the system to make it easier for such a thing to happen," he explained leaving us shocked.

Miracle children! A union between human and angel! Normally an angel would fall if they had sex, but there must have been ways for them to do so if such a term was a thing.

"I've only heard vague things about him from Sister Griselda and others in higher positions, but I assumed that he was just like us…" muttered Xenovia.

"Anyway, since I live here, and I caused this, their next destination is here…so just be out on the lookout, alright?" he said casually and we all stared at him with unease. "Come on, don't be like that. We've been through a lot of battles, we'll be fine. Also, I said it earlier, but…this won't be a bloodshed…"

He seemed hesitant to add something, but didn't. He might have wanted to say 'I think it might not be, but I'm not entirely sure.'

"…But it's possible that this could turn into a full-scale war. Although we're trying not to cause any harm, we can't know for certain what will happen. Terrorists may also capitalize on this opportunity to make their move. After all, this is the perfect opportunity for them to do so," said Former President Sona.

Azazel-sensei shrugged and said, "Of course, we still need to be wary. It's said that this whole incident was started by Rizevim when that guy encouraged the higher-ups of the Church, he just used Jin as a scapegoat. As far as the rebellion is concerned, that man is truly the devil. If it's related to playing with human emotions and their greed, no one can even come close to him. You can't be overly cautious, which is basically what Sona just said."

"It's like this place's fate is connected with holy swords," said Aaron as he stared at me.

I know it involves those again, but I'm not that stupid to let my own past hatred consume me. I'm living for myself, my comrades and others now. I won't foolishly charge forward like that again. I value my life now.

He shook his head and added, "Anyway, we have the current wielders of [Durandal], [Hauteclere] and my [Ascalon] I gave to Kira. They'll definitely test you guys…so…" he looked at us with those sharp eyes of his and declared, "surpass them. Surpass your predecessors, then we'll end this rebellion."

The room fell silent to his words. Xenovia, Irina and I looked down at the ground. 'Exceed our predecessors, huh? In terms of power, we already have that…but what about everything else…?'

…

Jin Skyward's Soliloquy

…

After our brief discussion in the clubroom, it was now nighttime and I, along with many others were down in the [Training Facility]. I walked around looking at everyone's progress. There were several groups here which included Vali Team, and I had a quick match with Vali earlier. Though, it was just a repeat of our first and second match, where I slapped him into the ground for a one-hit win.

Quite a lot of the [Brave Saints] were here since they intended to fight the rebels of the Church. Once they found out about who was leading them, they became fired up. Dulio was also one of Ewald Cristaldi's students and wanted to know why he's doing this and wanted to confront him.

So right now, he was training diligently along with the rest of the [Brave Saints]. In a corner of the training room, I spotted Valerie and walked towards her. I've been meaning to speak to her about a certain topic, so I decided to do it now.

"Valerie, can we talk for a second?" I asked and she agreed. She was with Ingvild so I just joined them.

"What is it?" she asked.

"…Do you know anyone that goes by 'Kecate Tepes'?"

"Kecate Tepes…" she repeated and closed her eyes. She stayed like that for two minutes until she opened her eyes. "I think…I heard my father mention her name a few times, and the same with my brother, Marius. But they never delved into detail. However, I believe I heard once that they mentioned something about 'illegitimacy', but I'm not that sure."

Illegitimacy…so she may be a hybrid, or something like that, a dhampir like her and Gasper. Maybe she's Valerie's sibling? If so…

"Why do you ask, Aaron? Did you find something out about her?" asked Valerie.

"…Kind of, though I have nothing concrete so far. Anyway, sorry about that…actually, Ingvild about your tour…you didn't get stalkers or anything, right?" I asked.

"No, I haven't. I made a social media account on the devil's internet and I got a lot of followers afterward. I also had a few fans message me saying that they'd support me until their deaths which was a bit odd, but I haven't noticed anything extreme like stalking so far."

"Don't…" she grabbed my arm and looked at me unamused.

"What?" I asked a bit perplexed.

"I know that face, I don't think they're like that, so please don't go doing background checks on them, jeez…"

I awkwardly looked away and sighed. "I won't, I won't. Anyway, are you two done training for the night?" I asked and they nodded.

"Mmm. We were just talking about this and that. Kuroka was here not too long ago, but I think she went to train with Shirone and Gasper's group," replied Valerie.

"Oh! A few went to the swimming pool too, so there's that," added Ingvild.

"Swimming pool, huh? I think Kanami mentioned something about going there to relax after training. I'll go after checking on the rest of them. Thanks for the information you two." I gave them each a kiss before leaving.

My next stop was the Irish and Greek group, so I flash-stepped over there and arrived behind Hestia.

"Yo."

"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!" she screeched and threw a punch behind her. I caught it and she glared at me. "What was that for?!" she asked angrily.

"I was just coming here to check up on everyone…I can see that it's going well." I looked around and saw various warriors here from the Greek pantheon, this included Medusa who was meditating, Hermes running around, Hephaestus giving me the side, and Amalthea to my surprise, did she come to visit?

"What's—"

"She wanted to visit; we didn't see a problem with it…it's fine right?" asked Hestia as she stopped huffing.

"Yeah, it's fine. Where are Artemis and Athena by the way?"

"They're back in our realm, the Queen of the elves wanted to speak to the both of them—so expect trouble your way, we already know what happened with her, right?" she asked and snickered at me.

"Yeah…she has a screw loose up there," I replied and walked over to Hephaestus with Hestia coming with me.

"Yo, Phae, sorry about being gone for so lo—" I didn't get to finish my sentence as she embraced me. A few of the members of the Greek group whistled much to her embarrassment.

"Go girl! …Wait, no, I'm like a third wheel then!" shouted Hestia.

"…I missed you, texting isn't enough," she said into my chest.

I hugged her back and said, "Sorry, a lot has happened so…how about you…you know."

"…You can make those door things, right? I spoke with Yasaka and Suzaku a few times and you made one for them."

"Yeah, I can make one, so you can just come and go as you please if you move in," I told her. She looked up at me with a smile and agreed.

"W-was I just ignored…?" Hestia asked herself.

"Fufu, they're in their own world, Hestia. You can't do anything about that," said Amalthea. "Jin, I wanted to speak to you about something regarding Alice and Vera."

I turned my attention to Amalthea, but she shook her head. I let go of Hephaestus and told her to speak to Grayfia about moving arrangements and we could do it as soon as she wants.

"Then I'll go now…thank you," she said and left with Hestia following her.

We made our way to the benches in the room and sat there. Amalthea got uncomfortably close to me and leaned her body against mine. "Alice, after you told her about her mother and grandmother, she's been trying to search for them. She's been quite reckless about it and Senko had to use brute force on her once."

"She wants to join Team [DxD], but it's quite obvious to the rest of us that she's only doing that to be able to freely move around the human world and various other realms to look for them. You've said that they have most likely been resurrected, correct? I doubt Alice in her current state can face them," she said with a sad sigh.

That's my fault. Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut about it. I had a feeling that she was already troubled by their disappearances, but…I didn't think she would take it that far. I sighed and said, "I should go and talk to her then, unless—"

"She's actually coming here tomorrow; she's going to ask you to join the team. If I may, please reject her. Unless you can do something about it…then…"

I don't know anything about them. All I know is that Satanael was responsible for their disappearances, yet I saw nothing pertaining to their whereabouts or anything else. It's a headache and a half. I want to give her closure, but because he's being stupidly secretive…nothing's happening on that end.

"…I'll let her join, but I'll have different plans for her. I have some of my subordinates looking for someone else in the world. I'll just ask them to keep an eye out for her mother and grandmother then," I told Amalthea.

"Huhu, I expected you to give me an answer along those lines, you know?" she said and rubbed herself against me.

"So, what about Vera?" I asked her and she stopped.

"…Her mother has fallen ill, she—"

"I'll leave before tonight ends." I interrupted her and checked on her through my shadow soldiers. However, she wasn't anywhere near her mother right now, so I stopped. "I'll assume she tried to do something about it herself and resorted to other means before me?"

"Yes. She's still a new goddess, so she's asked us other gods for guidance. However, she's still a bit unsure about how to use her powers apart from using it for combat. She did succeed in slowing it down, but completely curing her own mother is beyond her currently," she explained.

I guess I'm meeting her parents again, but in a less than favorable manner. I first met them back at the festival in the rabbit village, but now…no… I got up and sighed. "I'll go now, it's bothering me," I told Amalthea.

"I'll come with you then," she offered and I agreed with her. "They're back in the Egyptian realm, in their village," she told me.

"Alright, let's go."

…

We quickly arrived in the village. It hadn't changed much since I hadn't come back here for a few months. I know I had a request from them, but I haven't done that yet either. I feel bad, but they did say it wasn't anything serious so I shouldn't prioritize it…

Locating Vera's aura, I picked up Amalthea and flash-stepped away. It was up a flight of stairs beside a small pond when we reached the bottom right section of their village. Outside the home were Vera and Kurousagi, sitting on a bench. Vera was looking down at the ground while Kuro patted her on the back. I put Amalthea on the ground and she lightly nudged me towards Vera.

I took a single step before they both looked up and saw me. "Hey, I heard you needed help?" I said and walked up to them.

"…I didn't want to keep on relying on you, but I ran out of options. Please help my mom, Aa—Jin…" she said tiredly. She had bags under her eyes and looked exhausted.

"That's what I'm here for. Lead the way," I said and she immediately got up and we walked into her home. Once inside, it wasn't anything extraordinary, it was a decent sized home, enough to raise at least three kids, the furniture, and interior design was 'normal'.

We ascended a flight of stairs and arrived in front of a room. Vera pushed it open and inside was a female rabbit youkai. She had the same hair color as Vera but had brown eyes. She wore some kind of nightgown and looked very sickly.

"Mom…I brought someone who could help," she told her. Her mother's eyes fluttered open and she looked at us.

"Vera…" she called out to her daughter. I quickly navigated my way beside and she looked at me with enervated interest. "Ah…your boyfriend the Middleman?"

Vera's face turned red as both Amalthea and Kuro stifled their laughter. I smiled wearily at the woman and touched her forehead. "Excuse me." Quickly scanning her body, I found it was some kind of illness that was unique to the rabbit youkai. However, when I delved deeper into how she got it, it confused me.

Myxomatosis, well, that's what the disease is if compared to normal rabbits, but it must have evolved into something else if it affected her mother. Maybe magic or some kind of curse was put on it?

Myxomatosis is transmitted primarily by insects. Disease transmission commonly occurs via mosquito or flea bites, but can also occur via the bites of flies and lice, as well as arachnid mites. I can assume she went out recently to countries that had a lot of those types…

After destroying this new form of the disease from her body, I also healed any internal injuries, and removed anything else from her body that would harm her in the future. Immediately after that, her face that was pale shifted back to its normal color.

"…I feel so much better all of a sudden," she said and blinked a few times.

"I'm glad you are, but I would advise you to just stay in bed for the rest of the day and take it easy for the next few," I told her and she agreed. I wasn't sure if I could do it alone since Cúntóir would usually help or guide me. However, I guess I'm getting better at using my own powers now, huh? Especially with finding intricate things like this.

"We'll leave you two to talk then," I said and left the room with Kuro and Amalthea. Instead of staying inside their home we went back outside. I wasn't sure if we were allowed to stay or if she only invited us to help her mom, though I think Kuro would say otherwise.

"That was rather quick, Jin," said Amalthea.

"Well, it's not like I was planning to embark on some long journey to find a cure…and the fact that Vera and her mother were here worked out well for us," I replied to Amalthea. "I'm guessing you were here for emotional support?" I asked Kuro.

"Yes…her father went to find a doctor, but I should inform him of the good news, so please give me a moment," replied Kurousagi. She summoned a small communication magic circle and spoke into it. After a few seconds she created another one in front of her and a man came out of it.

He immediately ran into the house and we heard some noise inside. I'm guessing that was Vera's dad. He was wearing something different, but I recognized him through his aura.

"It happened around November, that was when she got this illness. At first, it looked like the common cold, but as time passed, she didn't get better, so they started taking her to different doctors both in this realm, the Greek, various others in the alliance and even the human doctors, but no one could find a cure."

"So eventually she was bedridden and Vera finally decided to try to use her own divine powers. The only thing she could do was slow it down, I also helped and slowed it down further. We didn't have divine powers that could help cure it. Mine are vague, and she's the new Goddess of War."

She sighed and looked up at the sky. "I suggested we call you, but she only wanted to do that as a last resort. That was when she confided in Lady Amalthea and I believe she told you?" Kuro asked me and I confirmed that she did.

"Just a few minutes ago, actually. So as soon as I found out, I came here. I would say I'm partially responsible for the both of you, so I wanted to look after my half-subordinates," I replied and she smiled.

"Will you go to Alice now?" Amalthea asked me.

"…No, I'll wait for her to arrive tomorrow. I still have some people to check on and talk to," I told her and turned around. "At any rate we should go back."

"J-Jin-sama…!" Kuro shouted my name. I turned around and Amalthea smiled and walked away. "U-um…"

Hmm. I thought I knew what she wanted to say, so I asked, "Wanna move in? I can make those doors for you like what I did with Yasaka and Suzaku."

"…Y-yes!" she said happily.

"Great. I'll make one for both of your homes then, but man…first Hephaestus and now you, huh? I wonder if I'll come across someone else asking to move into my home," I told her and laughed. That should make around thirty-two people in my home, not including me…

"H-Hephaestus-sama asked to move in too?" she asked a bit shocked.

"Mmm. Just before I came here too, anyway…when do you want to move in?"

"…In a week! I want to clean up my room and my home first before I do!"

"Sure thing, just contact me however you want and we'll get right to it." I walked back towards her and hugged her; she blushed a bit before looking up at me. I leaned down and kissed her. "Alright, we'll really be going, I'll see you soon."

"Mmm! I can't wait to move in!" she happily said before I turned around to get Amalthea who was waiting by the small pond/body of water.

"Are you done flirting with that goddess?" she asked with a smirk.

I shrugged and we finally left back for my home.

…

When we arrived back at the [Training Facility] it was pure pandemonium. I have no idea what happened during the time of our absence, but it looked like all the groups of Team [DxD] were having an all-out war. While I didn't feel any hostility from any of them, it was pretty chaotic.

I spotted…Danu sitting on the bench and we walked over to her. When we arrived, I asked, "How did this happen?"

"…Welcome back," she said and hugged my arm. "It started with Vali Lucifer asking for a match with Hermes…then Dulio…then someone else…and it escalated from there to a team match and then…everyone else was drawn into it," she explained with a troubled look.

Numerous attacks were thrown around, the ground, walls and ceiling were reinforced by me so we don't need to worry about them breaking or being damaged, but seeing things become this chaotic wasn't something I expected when being gone for a few minutes.

"Are you going to stop them?" Amalthea asked.

"…No, I'm going to the swimming pool," I replied and got up. Both goddesses followed me there.

We reached it relatively quickly; I had increased it after the second time I renovated my house. We heard quite a lot of people here, from what I could see…the Slash/Dog Team, Gremory and Bael peerage were here, as well as Cao Cao's [Team Spear of the Draconic Emperor].

"My Aaron senses are tingling!" Lavinia suddenly shouted and in her black bikini, she flew over to me and embraced me. She then looked up at me, blushed and asked, "Wanna feel?"

She didn't give me a chance to answer as she grabbed my hand and made me grope her left breast. She stifled a moan and blushed harder. This was so fast that the two goddesses with me just stared blankly at her. Danu herself was also red.

"I haven't been gone that long you know?" I said and stopped groping her. I looked around and the rest didn't react, but…I did notice that Tobio and Sae were also here. So with the three of us and me we made our way to them.

"Yo. Finally leaving Grigori after being trapped in there for the last few months?" I asked. Both of them laughed and nodded.

"Yeah, the doctors told us that your protections made it okay to leave more now, and she should be due soon. I would like to say I'll be able to rejoin the team, but I want to look after my child for at least the first five or six years before I go back…I saved up a lot, and also your generous donation makes this easier," Tobio explained and fist bumped with me.

Near us, Gin, Nattsu and Poh were playing with each other. Even though this was the pool, some of them were training, albeit not as intensely as if they were in the [Training Facility].

"Don't worry about it. So, do you know the gender yet?" I asked and Sae nodded.

"A boy. We also have a name for him already…but we want to keep it a secret for now."

"Sure, sure, I was just making sure."

We then started talking about random things and what's been happening in the supernatural world. Amalthea left with Danu to join Suzaku and the rest. It looked like they were speaking to them about us since they kept glancing back at me with Suzaku blushing every now and again.

Also, as I spoke to Tobio and Sae, I felt Lavinia put my hand on her stomach. I glanced at her once, but when I did, she just looked at me and at Sae's very pregnant belly. I wasn't ready for that yet. However, I feel like some of them have been asking me increasingly since they know I and a few others graduate in two months.

We finally moved away and I asked, "Do you want children?"

Lavinia looked away and fidgeted for a little bit before she nodded. She looked back at me shyly and said, "W-well, I don't want to force you to have a child yet, but…every time I saw Tobi and Sae that happy while she was pregnant, I became a bit jealous. D-don't get me wrong, I'm happy with our current life and situation, but…"

I get it. Your normal childhood with a happy family was cut short, you long for it—a happy and stable life with a family of your own. Instead, you were given a Sacred Gear, taken in by a woman who you thought genuinely loved you, but in the end just used you. Even after finally finding one of her accomplices—she broke you instead.

"…I want to get rid of the Khaos Order first, evolve and get accumulated in my future position. Once that's all done, I don't mind having children—as many as you want, Nia."

She smiled, nodded and hugged me again. We stayed like that until someone grabbed both of us. It was Akeno and with a mischievous grin she dragged us into the pool.

"You can't keep flirting in front of all of us~!" she screamed before we hit the water.

We emerged from the water and laughed with Akeno. Thankfully, I changed into appropriate clothes before I hit water, so I didn't need to worry about slightly wet clothes.

"Bro, don't worry, I'll get a kid before you—ughaaa?!" shouted Kouki before being plunged into the water by Kalawarna. I guess they have a physical relationship then…

Near the deep-end, Meruem and Mittelt floated in the water. Meruem swam like normal while Mittelt was in a floatie and Meruem helped her swim by guiding her by holding her hands. It reminded me of this past summer with Asia and Shirone.

Those two were swimming normally now, so I didn't need to teach them anymore. Suddenly, Sairaorg jumped high into the air and slammed into the water, a giant wave was created because of it and everyone screamed because a small whirlpool followed after. The Lion King was as eccentric as ever.

…

A few hours had passed since then and it was approaching midnight. The girls I slept with tonight had long since passed out and everyone else had gone home for the night. However, even after being in the swimming pool, it felt strange not to bathe, so I made my way to the bathroom to have some time for myself.

To my surprise, there were three people there already. More like three angels, Irina, Gabriel, and Griselda.

"Ah! Aaron! You're awake?" Gabriel asked and I nodded. I quickly washed myself and joined them in the large bath.

"Any reason for being awake, d-darling?" Irina asked while blushing. She started calling me that after we began dating.

"I just thought I would get an extra bath…what about you guys?"

"Well, we thought the same thing then. We were just discussing more about what might happen when His Eminence Vasco Strada and the others finally arrive in Kuoh," said Griselda.

"I see…I'm guessing some other [Brave Saints] and anyone else associated with those two will want to come along for this mission?" I asked them and they nodded.

"Dulio wants to face Cristaldi-sensei. He was trained by him after all, including Irina and Xenovia. Those two were offered positions to become [Brave Saints] like us, but declined. We always wondered why, perhaps it was because of this?" she asked.

"I knew something like this would eventually happen," I said and leaned back while sighing. "Unrest in any faction would eventually happen. I mean…you've been at each other's throats for the longest time and then poof! Peace all of a sudden and the higher-ups forcing it on you."

"Are you blaming yourself for this?" Griselda asked sounding a bit upset.

"Partially. I was more surprised that the devils or even fallen angels didn't try to do something. However, I can understand the fallen angel's part since Azazel was the first to pull out of the war and not care about it. Angels are for peace, so I don't see them doing anything—but the exorcists, that's another story."

I glanced at her and she was staring at me still upset. "Look, we'll just deal with it when the time comes…I'm sure those two have their own reasons for doing this—they know that they'll be arrested in the end, but those warriors that are following them…"

"They probably had troubled pasts with the supernatural, they joined the church and wanted revenge for whatever happened. You turned out this way and didn't go down that path, Griselda. But they can't move on from it yet. They need this, so I'll let it happen and if the Khaos Order utilizes it for their own gain—we can stop them and kill two birds with one stone."

If Walburga shows up then I can bring in the current leader of the Hexennacht…well I'm assuming that she is. If not then the Hexennacht won't be brought down yet. Though I'm not sure since she didn't show up during the attack on Heaven.

Well, it doesn't matter now, as I mentioned, I'll get her if she shows up. However, if she brought friends…that would be another story. I may as well bring some Electa with me, but…I'll let the rest of them have the spotlight on this. I'll be the supporting character for it…

"You shouldn't blame yourself; you're just trying to do good…" said Griselda as the other two nodded in agreement.

"Even still, I can't pretend that this didn't happen and sweep it under the rug. While I won't stop advocating for peace…haa…let's just leave this conversation at that for now…" I told them and closed my eyes.

This late at night and with such a heavy conversation, the mood will only worsen.

"I along with Dulio and a few exorcists and Irina will face His Eminence Ewald Cristaldi. Xenovia wants to fight His Eminence Vasco Strada. From the former wielder of [Durandal] to the current one, you did tell her to surpass their predecessors," Griselda told me.

"I'll leave the other team for Vasco Strada then. I think Arthur wants to fight him too. But we'll see."

"Eh? What about you then, Aaron?" asked Irina.

"I'll play…a different role this time around, but if anyone strong shows up, especially anyone from the Evie or Phantasma, I'll come in and stop them—well, anyone from the Khaos Order essentially," I told them.

"Anyway, let's just—" as I went to get up, Gabriel tried to stop me and instead grabbed the towel wrapped around my waist. She pulled it down and exposed my erection to them…can you blame me? I'm surrounded by them…

The mood that was serious and gloomy, turned silent, all three women stared at it until I sat back down.

"…Penemue did say the last time you did it with anyone was two days ago," Griselda said with a blush.

"And how would she know about that?" I asked. No, seriously, how? Does she keep tabs on it or something? Does she ask the suspected women I do it with straight after?

"Apparently, she asks about it, Akeno usually tells her since she has a sixth sense about this…" replied Irina.

Then Gabriel poked my member and asked, "Do you need help with it?"

Normally I would say no, but… "Yeah, I'd like that," I replied.

…

Lime Start

…

"G-G-G-G-Gabriel-sama?!" Irina looked horrified at the Seraph, but Griselda was just a bit surprised.

Gabriel smiled at Irina before she wrapped both her hands on my member, that made me let out a weird moan. Her hands were insanely soft. I had held back from doing anything with her for the longest time because I didn't want to corrupt her, but…

I reached out and stroked her head. She was happy with that and began to pump my member with both her hands. Ophis, Gabriel and I watched porn during those 100 years. Both of them insisted, and of course, Gabriel learned from that, so right now she was replicating what she saw.

"Huuu…huuu…huuu…d-does it feel good?" she asked a bit unsure of herself.

"Yeah…your hands are really soft…but can you squeeze it a bit more?" I asked. She nodded and she fixed it. "Yeah, that's much better."

Once she heard that she started to pump my member a bit faster, she removed her other hand and used her other hand's palm to knead my tip which made it feel even better. The other two were unsure of what to do, but Griselda was the second to move as she moved closer to me and kissed me.

The hand that I used to stroke Gabriel's head, I moved it over to Griselda's thighs and moved it behind her and started to squeeze her ass. I also poked her lips with my tongue and she opened her mouth and she hesitantly licked my tongue back.

I took charge and squeezed her ass a bit more and also slowly began a dance with her tongue. Griselda had closed her eyes at this point as she was very embarrassed. Quickly taking a glance at Irina, she had both her hands on her chest as she watched us.

She was hesitant. That much was obvious. We only recently got into a relationship, but many lewd situations have happened between us since she joined us in the [Pocket Dimension], so I gestured for her to come closer with my free hand.

While hesitant, she slowly scooted over and she arrived beside me. I broke my kiss with Griselda. I heard her let out a sad 'ah' as I turned to Irina and kissed her instead. Suddenly, I felt another hand start fondling my balls. I glanced back and saw it was Griselda. I expected her to be clumsy, but strangely enough it felt like she knew what she was doing.

My free hand made its way around Irina's waist then up towards her breasts. Once there I grabbed the left and squeezed it.

"Aaaahn~" she let out a moan into our kiss and blushed harder. I kept squeezing her breast which made her moan more, but she didn't shy away from it anymore. I took it a step further and pinched her nipple. "Hyaaa?!"

This time she nearly shrieked, broke out kiss and covered her mouth. Her face was as red as Rias' hair.

"Let me hear more of your moans, Irina," I whispered to her and she shyly nodded. I looked back at Gabriel as she had kept up her rhythm the entire time. However, she had watched everything I did and she too was blushing.

Gabriel met with my eyes and she smiled. She leaned down and licked the tip of my member causing me to groan. Griselda and Irina watched the Seraph as she began to lick it more. She was clumsy and showed her inexperience. However, because it was her, my member throbbed from the sensation of her tongue.

It was from Gabriel! One of the Four Great Seraphs, and the most beautiful woman in heaven! Those three would definitely faint if they found out I had finally taken my relationship with her into the physical realm.

Gabriel boldly licked across the underside of my member, forming strands of saliva as she licked up from my base to my tip. It seems like watching those videos were worthwhile then…

To my surprise, Griselda moved away from me and joined Gabriel. The Seraph saw this and moved over, giving her some space. Griselda didn't hesitate as she also grabbed my member and began to lick it too.

"…I guess those books about being a good wife worked?" I asked Griselda. She looked up at me and blushed even more.

Gabriel and Griselda began to lick my member from opposite sides. However, to my shock, Griselda began to aggressively lick my member all over as if trying to 'show' that all her reading was for naught.

"Gabriel-sama…nnh…this…nnh…like this…" she said in between licks and kisses. Gabriel stared at her briefly before she matched Griselda.

Gabriel firmly pressed her tongue against my member and began licking up and down the shaft, mimicking what she saw Griselda do.

Using one's tongue to poke at my member's head while pushing their lips against it and sucking… Griselda paved the way for Gabriel all thanks to her books. I believe she got them from the library in my home, so…there had to be educational and lewd ones down there.

My arousal gradually swelled as the pleasure of having Gabriel and Griselda service my member at the same time flowed through me. I glanced back at Irina as she stared at them unsure of what to do.

I instead pulled her back with my arm and kissed her again. But this time my hand moved downward and caressed her thighs. Irina was shocked by this but didn't resist. My hand kept getting closer and closer to her womanhood until I brushed against it which caused her to moan.

"…It's…haah…throbbing…nnh…it's getting harder…haah…our tongues are making it feel good…" mumbled Griselda.

"…Aaron…splurt, splurt~…let it out…~" Gabriel encouraged my member as she kept on licking, kissing, and sucking on it.

That really got me going, you don't really hear Gabriel say lewd things that often but when you do…you generally want to stop her, but here, it only increased my arousal.

Gabriel pursued her lips and began sucking up the saliva that she and Griselda had covered the head of my member with. Their service became more aggressive as they both slurped up the saliva on my member. They did their best to avoid each other's tongues, but would occasionally brush against each other.

Irina on the other hand had used my body as support as I had shifted from teasing her clit, to slowly shoving my fingers into her vagina. I moved and prodded her insides and event pressed against certain walls causing her to moan even more. She had already started drooling, and her eyes looked fuzzy.

Both angels suddenly pressed their tongues against my throbbing member to hold it down as they licked across both sides of it. I stopped both of them briefly and they looked at me in confusion. I touched Gabriel's mouth with my free hand and she understood what I wanted. While blushing, she opened her mouth and took my member into it.

Unsure of what to do, I decided to guide her again. I moved my hips back and forth to scrape my swollen member's head against the walls of her mouth while enjoying its melting warmth. Gabriel's delicate tongue licked across my member's head. Each time she licked, her cheeks wriggled lewdly.

Gabriel was a quick learner; she tightened her lips around my member and sucking hard as she deftly licked all over it.

I could feel my urge to ejaculate steadily swelling thanks to Gabriel's earnest blowjob. 'It's fine, right? She's the one who offered this after all…I'm about to taint Gabriel's mouth with my cum…'

However, as if not acting like herself, Griselda suddenly pulled my member out of Gabriel's mouth much to both our shock. She then greedily put it in her mouth and began to furiously suck and lick it all over. Gabriel sat there dumbfounded by Griselda's aggressiveness and crazed blowjob.

"I'm…sorry…I couldn't…take it…anymore…I want Aaron too…!" she said and looked up at me with tear-filled eyes.

"Crap…I'm gonna cum soon…!" I warned them both. My hand that pleasured Irina also began to get faster and more aggressive. I wanted this angel to reach her own orgasm too.

"Aaahn~ aaaahn~ hyaah~! W-wait Aaron…~!" she moaned out but didn't try to stop me.

Griselda suddenly tightly squeezed my shaft with her luscious lips and sucked with violent, raging force as she tightly pressed my member's head against the inside of her mouth.

"…Khh…I'm cumming…!" I groaned out. Griselda sucked down especially hard and at that moment, the storm of lust raging in my lower body condensed into a boiling hot stream that raced up my member.

My hips bounced and I released my wild ejaculation into Griselda's mouth.

Splurt~ Splurt~

My member raged within Griselda's mouth hard enough to shake her head. Griselda wriggled with a blissful expression on her face as torrents of hot semen struck the back of her throat. I was still cumming and the thought hit me. I quickly moved Irina into the middle of Griselda and Gabriel and moved their heads closer to each other before pulling out of Griselda's mouth.

"Hyah?!"

"Kyaaa?!

"Mmmnh?!"

The semen spraying out of my protruding member like a fountain rained down forcefully upon all three of their faces. One last shot and I was done cumming, when I looked at them, all their faces were covered in white semen. But…

"Mmm…mmm…?!" Irina's body violently shook as she got her facial.

'D-did she also have an orgasm? Is she like Suzaku then?' I thought as Irina's body became limp and she fell back on the water. Her eyes seemed shallow as she floated there.

Both Griselda and Gabriel also looked up at me, lust still evident in both of their eyes. Both breathed hard, Griselda had the most semen since I came in her mouth initially. They then began to lick and taste my semen and then both of them gave me strange looks.

"…It tastes like custard…," said Griselda.

"…Eh? Mine tastes like strawberries," said Gabriel. Both women looked at each other in confusion and I laughed.

"Well, I changed that per Akeno's request not too long ago…my semen…will taste like whatever flavor/food you're craving the most when it happens, so…Gabriel wants strawberries right now and you want custard…?" I told them.

Both of them stared at me before giggling. Irina who was still floating in the water mumbled, "T-that's…so…extra…Aaron…"

…

Lime End

…

A few minutes have passed since then and we left the bathroom. I dropped off Irina first since she passed out after that little event. Neither Gabriel nor Griselda was sleeping with me tonight, so I dropped Griselda off first since her room was nearer. Gabriel had gone ahead and waiting by her door.

"I never thought a former exorcist like you could be so—"

Griselda covered my mouth and quietly glared at me. "Please don't bring that up…I'm embarrassed by it…" she looked around the hallway before she added, "p-please take me out on a date before we…become one."

"You're adorable when you're like this, you know that? You're usually level-headed and have an air of authority around you," I told her and stroked her head. "I'll make sure that happens soon. I'm sorry for the long delays."

"No…I understand," she replied and we shared a kiss before she went into her room.

I'm glad these girls are understanding. While I haven't taken some on those dates, I'm still doing other things for them. When I arrived by Gabriel, she looked up at me looking happy despite the fact that she was exhausted.

"Are you okay?" I asked and gently grasped her cheeks and began rubbing them gently.

She smiled, embraced me and rubbed her face into my chest. "I'm fine…I was just happy to do something like that with you. I heard a lot of things like that from everyone during those 100 years. I was curious and a bit jealous…" she admitted.

"…Please don't tell Michael and the others about it," I told her. She looked up at me, blinked a few times before giggling.

"I won't…I already spoke to the others about if it happened, they said brother Michael, Uriel, and Raphael will be very stressed if I told them about my experiences," she explained and I breathed a sigh of relief.

I should thank those girls for informing this angel beforehand.

She suddenly pulled away and put a finger on my nose. "I'd like to go on another date with you, Aaron. It's been months since my last one~! I'd like to visit Hawaii again…m-maybe we can stay in a hotel or something…" she said shyly.

"…Yeah, I'd like that too. Let's revisit that place again," I said and we kissed before she trotted into her own room.

"Now then…I wonder if they'll arrive by tomorrow?" I asked myself and scanned all of Kuoh, but found no one.

…

The next day came and went, nothing notable happened in the morning except that I got a call from Amalthea telling me that they convinced Alice to not do anything for a while because something is happening over here.

I was the only one in school as Akeno, Rias, Sona and Tsubaki headed to Sona's home to have a 'girly' conversation and spend the day there. Ingvild stayed home to work on more songs and Kiyome decided to spend the day with her monsters.

Out of the 'notable' third-years, I was the only one here. A few of my classmates came, but even my two idiot friends skipped the day to slack off somewhere. Currently, it was lunch and I was walking around the school yard by myself when I came across a curious scene.

Shirone, Gasper and Ravel sat on a bench talking to each other, but as I was about to approach them, the Church Trio appeared with Aika Kiryuu. They set up some kind of stall and began distributing fliers to any students who walked by.

"Everyone, can I have your attention? Please take a look at this! These leaflets contain proposals from the next Student Council President Xenovia! She's a girl who can do anything if she puts her mind to it!" shouted Irina.

"Here you go! Please take a look, and vote for Xenovia-san!"

"Take a serious look at this and judge for yourself, and then vote for Xenovia. She'll step on you!" screamed Aika Kiryuu.

Xenovia gave her a confused look that basically said, 'Why would I step on them?'.

Irina, Aika and Asia were enthusiastically handing out the leaflets to the students that passed by. It was currently election period; the corridors were lined up with handmade posters.

These posters were of Xenovia assuming the pose of the Blessed Virgin Mary, along with 'I will bring true peace to Kuoh Academy! I hope you vote for me!' in large text, creating a rather strange poster.

However, given that Xenovia was originally a transfer student from overseas, along with her personality which was widely known throughout the school, the general opinion of her posters and leaflets from the students were… 'I really like her style', which was a good response, I think?

But the students that walked by could be described as tolerant, calm and probably curious. After watching that from a distance for a few minutes, they moved locations. They arrived at the courtyard's entrance with Xenovia putting on a sash around her body with her own name on her shoulder, and then addressed anyone that walked by.

"Greetings, fellow Kuoh Academy students! How are you? I'm a candidate for this year's Student Council President election, second-year, Xenovia! I hope that everyone will listen to my speech. Once I become president—"

Oh, she dropped the polite tone and she's using her usual manner of speech. This is a pretty bold move from her, but it's her style, so I expected it.

The students stopped walking and listened to her speech whilst occasionally male students would yell out 'Yo, Xenovia-san, go for it!' whereas the female students would cry out, 'I'm looking forward to you, Xenovia-chan!' and similar support or encouragement.

She's popular. From the day she got here to now, her popularity only rose and became even more widespread. She's also quite famous in the town in general as she's kind of a vigilante at times, bringing 'evildoers' to the police station and being scolded for putting herself in dangerous situations.

My three juniors joined me and Shirone said, "Xenovia-senpai is considered someone who is well known within the school, so as soon as she starts a speech, she'll naturally become the center of attention."

Simply being a foreigner was enough to catch people's attention, including her personality which is also different from the general Japanese population, not to mention that she's accompanied by Asia and Irina who, like her, are also highly popular girls in the school…then not only male students, but even the female students would be interested in her.

"Her style is completely different from that of Former President Sona, who also attracted the attention of a lot of people in her own way," added Ravel.

Right, that's why she's the center of attention right now. Sona on the one hand had a robust working capability, and on the other was also able to listen to the opinions of the students, resulting in a flexible response and attitude.

But on the other hand, the opposite of the Student Council President who gained the students trust by producing tangible results, the athletic type, Xenovia. She was more like an athlete, and naturally the students would want to know the reason for her candidacy.

However, just like when Xenovia had attracted everyone's attention, another candidate for the Student Council President seat, Momo happened to walk past, and began exchanging greetings with the students.

"Hello everyone, how have things been recently?" she asked them.

Momo also wore a clam smile like Sona whilst greeting the students. She told me herself that she really respected Sona, and so it naturally reflected in her behavior and attitude.

"Good luck, Hanakai-san, I'm rooting for you!" a student shouted.

"I'll be voting for you, Hanakai-san," another added.

Girls from the same year were also cheering for her. From the grapevine, I've heard that the majority of the students supporting Momo tended to be honors students.

But being Sona's successor isn't easy. When I joined the school, Sona was already the president, and while I knew a bit about her through what my own memories, I didn't know the inner workings of the school entirely. She had already led the school for two years at that point and Momo wished to succeed in her position.

Another person also walked up and stood beside Momo. He was running for the Vice President role, Saji. A few other students also greeted him.

"Yo, Saji, I'll cast a vote for you as the Vice President, but you have to give my extracurricular activities preferential treatment!" a student said and chuckled.

"Those are two different things…but I hope you'll give an honest vote to whomever you like," he said tiredly with half-opened eyes.

"Haha! I'm just kidding man; I'll vote for you!" he said and patted Saji on the back.

"Jeez, you athletic types are all alike," Saji muttered.

I'll also cast a vote for him. He has a serious personality and is quite resourceful, so he's going to receive a lot of support from the sports clubs, especially the male students of those clubs who trust him.

There were already rumors about the new students that will join the student council in the future. I already know about them, so I won't be too surprised when they transfer in, though I won't be here to see them personally.

The next treasurer is Millarca Vordenburg, a vampire, she's also going to be engaged to Ryuuta, the next secretary is Ouryuu (Ryuuta) Nakiri and the other secretary is Tadami Kamo, a human female that comes from an exorcist's family, she has a rivalry with Mil-Tan.

Both Momo and Yura quit the student council and become normal student once Momo loses against Xenovia in the election. The rest stay (Reya, Ruruko, and Tomoe), Saji becomes Vice President and Xenovia the President.

"How well do you think Xenovia fares against Momo?" I asked my juniors. Momo in reality should win because of her experience and being near Sona and being part of the current student council.

Shirone said, "I heard from a friend in the News Club that it's currently six to four, with Xenovia-senpai in a disadvantageous position. Momo-senpai has not only worked alongside Former President Sona, but she has also produced tangible results, so the support from the students for her is relatively high."

"Fair enough, but I'm surprised to hear that there's that much support for Xenovia, as bad as that sounds," I said to them.

Xenovia isn't and wasn't the type you would expect to run for this position, so having 40% of the support isn't horrible. There are still chances for her to turn it around, but…who knows, I've changed this world already, so she may not win.

"She's a foreigner, an outstanding athlete, and able to get along with anyone. So this kind of personality makes her very popular amongst both the male and female students of Kuoh. Especially the first-year female students, she's very popular," added Shirone.

"She's like the tomboy type, so her popularity is high," Gasper said from behind me.

'Popularity with the first-year female students, huh?'

"Xenovia-senpai! I'll be supporting you!" a first-year female shouted.

"Xenovia-onee-sama! I'll definitely vote for you!" another shouted.

Seeing this situation, it was quite evident that she indeed had a lot of female first-year students around her.

She smiled at them and thanked them. "Thank you, I'll work hard for all of you."

The girls around her screamed with glee in response to her smile.

Ravel suddenly said, "I heard that among Xenovia-sama's supporters, half of those votes would be unshakable."

"Hmm. Why would that be?" I asked her.

"Because these people were all girls from the sports club that Xenovia-sama had helped before. Or they were students that she helped when they experienced some difficulties at school. Xenovia-sama was naturally born with this kind of personality. She won't turn her back on anyone who's having trouble with anything."

"From before she became a candidate, or to when she was still a student, she quietly helped around the school. That's the reason for it…in a way, she reminds me of you, Aaron-sama," explained Ravel.

"It makes me wonder, would you run for the Student Council seat if you were in Xenovia-senpai's year?" asked Gasper.

"Good question," I said to him and patted his head. I wasn't sure, but it would make this place a lot more interesting if I was still a second year, then I would definitely try. I think I would have support…maybe?

I sighed and said, "I dunno Gasper. My own popularity is 50-50. I'm either liked or hated, by both males and females, so I don't think I'd do too well if I was a year younger and tried to run for President."

After that, we watched on as Momo also set up her own station not too far from Xenovia and gave her own speech. It was a memorable lunch break.

…

We went to the next town to buy some Taiyaki from a famous local shop after school (Gremory peerage, a few in my household, Raynare, Griselda, Lavinia, Inaie, Rose and Raiko).

It was a relatively calm time. I had my shadow soldiers also stationed here, and there weren't too many people in the shop to our surprise, but chalked it up to it being a small town like Kuoh. We ate there until our stomachs were filled and I also took note of the more notable Taiyaki that were served.

"I think that aside from bean paste filled Taiyaki, the rest are wrong," said Rias.

"But, the ones with custard are also difficult to let go of," argued Ravel.

"…Originally, they were wheat flour, sugar, and eggs. Since these ingredients are also used to make baked pastries, bean paste, custard, or chocolate can be used," explained Shirone.

Rias stuck to the original, Ravel liked custard, whilst there was no problem for Shirone as long as it was delicious food. The discussion of deserts by the girls became very passionate, and I quietly walked with them and enjoyed my own food.

Lavinia and Akeno remained by me as we enjoyed this calm and peaceful everyday scene. But I knew that—

We suddenly felt a large pressure build up in front of us, and the area's atmosphere immediately changed. The two girls let go of my arm and stepped in front of everyone.

"So they're here…the rebels of the Church."

Once they heard that, everyone quickly ate the rest of their food and got ready for a fight.

…