"...I will release it!"
I let a smug smile cross my face, as the blue-haired exorcist before me drew forth one of the most powerful holy weapons in existence from a sheen of golden light.
I barely even have to play up the whole standard 'cocky arrogant pagan god' thing, she's just that quick on the draw.
Really, I am going to have to thank my cat girls for softening them up quite a bit for me.
The quick meet-up we had before this gave me a general idea of what they've been doing to the poor band of girls.
Their antics have been nothing short of diabolical, not even a joke, and I'm shocked it didn't take Lint longer to put her foot down on the whole thing.
Oh, right, Lint.
Out of this whole situation, her being here, with the Holy Cross no less, was something I didn't account for, nor see coming at all.
The cat girls came in clutch regarding her. Taking her away from the situation, and enabling me to reverse her likely intended purpose from deterrent to reason to show up and pick a fight is…just, chief's kiss, truly.
Fucking love those girls.
What I don't love…is what Lint's being here with the Holy Cross means.
Because Incinerate Anthem should be with the Wizards of Oz right now, within one of the witch's apprentices whose name I couldn't care to dig up right now.
Lint isn't supposed to have that Gear until next year, yet it looks like someone got an early Christmas present.
Internally, I click my tongue at the only conclusion this info brings me to.
The Church, and possibly Heaven, is hunting down the Holy Relics. Either are currently, or they already have them all.
This means the Graal and the Crown, two obscenely powerful weapons, are something I might have to contend with in the future.
Grand.
On the flip side though, that future isn't now.
Instead, I get to face-
"DURANDAL!"
Golden aura bubbled around my hand and rose, as the massive blue and golden kitchen knife of a holy sword was brought down straight for my center mass.
For a human, I'll admit, Xenovia was pretty fast…even while lumbering around such a cumbersome weapon.
Unfortunately for her, I'm more than just human, even in the dark.
My hand causally stops the massive cleaver in its tracks. To the causal observing eye, I'd bet it'd look comical how fast the blade suddenly stopped.
Xenovia herself nearly flung forward as the momentum of her swing didn't suddenly disappear, her feet briefly lifting off the ground before she managed to push herself back down, her face twisting into a shocked grimace.
I looked down at her, and chuckled, in a way that only an arrogant god could.
It took me but a moment to notice there was something…different, about her.
Oh, yeah.
My face turned blank, as I stared pointedly at her…attire, and spoke, "So, Church pig, what's up with the fetish wear?"
She had ditched her cloak as soon as she made her attack, which made sense, of course, a large billowing thing like that was pretty much only useful for covering the borderline fetish outfit underneath.
Xenovia's gaze sharpened with near outrage, "Of course, only a Pagan such as yourself would call the traditional battle suit of the Church as such…!"
"Yeah!" Irina finally spoke up in the back, throwing her cloak off as well to reveal herself wearing the same outfit, "It's not a fetish thing whatsoever! It's durable, very breathable, and allows for incredible ease of movement!"
I snorted, before retorting, "Right. It also looks like it came out of an amateur porn production."
The two girls gasped in something like indignation, while the third, their blonde-haired nun who thankfully was wearing her nun habit, just tilted her head, left sitting in the place Xenovia dropped her when she made her attack.
"Umu…" she began, looking cutely lost, "I…don't really get it?"
…Never stop being so pure, Asia. If there's one person in the world who deserves to be made an Angel, it's you.
"Doesn't matter…!" Xenovia barked out through gritted teeth, as she tried pulling her sword out of my grasp.
To absolutely zero effect.
That avenue blocked off, the unga bunga swordswomen could only think of one alternative.
Double, triple, and quadruple down!
Her grip on Durandal tightened, and the blue blade of the sword began to shine with Holy Power of His variety pouring from the blade like a broken dam, a golden aura pouring and bellowing off the blade in droves.
In the novels, I recall Durandal being described as something like a bull, or horse.
It loves to kick, to bite back, against anything and everything, including its wielder.
And with my own Holy Spirit Power coating my hand and brushing up against it, I can kind of feel it myself.
My aura explodes out from my palm as the sword's aura immediately tries to bite through violently, at the same time, I can see and feel Xenovia turn the pressure up, trying to make the sword go down, not only to cut me in twine but to even direct the sword's power in the first place.
Durandal's power is that its aura can be changed according to the user's preferences or needs. That, along with its extreme sharpness, is why the blade is one of the strongest in the world.
I can feel it, Xenovia's destructive impulses being pressed through the sword, she wants to blow me apart, shatter my existence, and so the aura of the sword responds in kind.
Such a power though, is a double-edged sword, by Durandal's nature.
Yes…a shard of this sword, with even just a fraction of its Holy Power, would be perfect for my plans. It could help construct a Holy Aura exactly the way I need it to make a convincing fake spear!
I don't even stagger, nor flinch, as a silver line flies in from the side, and wraps around my throat.
Holy Aura immediately radiates from it, and although it's not an insignificant amount…well, compared to Durandal, it may as well be.
I don't even need to use my aura to protect my neck, the whip-like blade just can't cut my flesh as is.
"Xenovia!" Irina calls out, holding the golden glowing silver whip-like blade out, "I'll back you up-E-EHHH!?"
Irina was quickly cut off, as I reached up with my free hand, grabbed the silver whip casually, and pulled, and like a fish caught on a hook, the chestnut-haired girl was reeled straight to me.
The sword Irina is wielding is called Excalibur Mimic, and it pretty much enables her to shift the sword's form into whatever she wants.
In this case, as I pulled her in, the whip-like sword wrapped further and further around my neck and throat, trying its damnest to cut through, or even just constrict it.
Zero plus zero doesn't stop being zero though, and as unfortunate as it is to say, Irina and her sword…are kind of just here. They don't matter, Xenovia and Durandal are simply far more powerful it's sad.
I lash out with my other hand as soon as she reaches me, grabbing the chestnut-haired girl's throat and immediately start wringing her out by her neck.
"A-ACK!" She cries out, or, well, she tires too.
The Holy Aura of her sword almost immediately falters as soon as I grab onto her throat, Mimic's blade growing increasingly slack as its owner suddenly finds herself with the increasing desire to breathe.
I'd make a joke or something about her liking it, because sheltered virgin Church girl in fetish wear and all that, but instead, her friends speak up before I can.
"I-Irina!" Asia called out from behind Xenovia, sounding increasingly panicked, "Please, Mr. Pagan, w-we didn't…we a-aren't…don't hurt her!" She settled on crying out desperately.
…Fuck. Now I feel bad.
Xenovia on the other hand, her eyes widened in indignation and horror, "Irina…Tch…Let her go…now…!" Before she grits her teeth harder and pushes forward even harder still.
This time, I actively have to brace myself, as the ground around us promptly shatters and craters inward, with us in its center.
Durandal's Holy Aura lashes out violently, focused predominately on pressing down on me, but it takes any it can get, including the surroundings now.
One, twice, a third. The ground shudders and buckles under the force of destruction Xenovia commands be brought down upon me.
Yet, even with her renewed determination, I remain standing regardless.
My aura pours from every pore in my body, cloaking me entirely, and I click my tongue with distaste at the wanton destruction around us, my arm never even buckling the slightest bit.
"...How obscene." I utter, the chestnut-haired girl in my hand finally going completely slack, Mimic falling off me and out of her hand, onto the ground with a strangled gasp.
She was not dead of course, just unconscious. She'll be fine once I toss her at Asia.
But I still have a part to play.
So I continue, "The way you small, insignificant, pigs struggle…"
Now, I start putting some strength into my grip, turning it from an iron hold to a crushing grasp.
Xenovia had just barely registered the fact that her partner fell unconscious, or in her eyes, possibly worse, judging by the way said organs widened before she faced a new problem.
My fingers all of a sudden digging into her sword.
She perked up as, amongst the roar of holy auras wildly bellowing, the sound of creaking and bending metal could be heard, followed by the increasingly growing echos of cracks and fissures forming.
"W-What…? Wait…!" Her eyes finally found the cause, and it took everything in me too not to start laughing at how panicked she quickly became as she watched Durandal begin to break apart.
From where my hand held the oversized meat cleaver, the metal bent around my digits, and from there, spider web-like cracks and fissures traveled up and down the length of the blade.
As more appeared, the worse they became, and the worse they made the pre-existing ones. None of this was helped by Xenovia still trying to force the blade down, just putting even more pressure on the sword even more.
That didn't keep up for much longer once she realized that she was only making it worse, but by that point, it didn't matter anymore.
To complete the act, I leaned forward, just a bit, and smirked right in her face.
I didn't even say anything, I didn't need to.
Xenovia tried to pull back, better senses finally coming over her as fear overwhelmed her righteous fury and indignation, and it showed on her face.
She barely managed one step before the golden aura from Durandal, along with the blade itself, ruptured within my grasp.
The crater we stood in immediately doubled, no, tripled in length as the destructive aura rippled out like a shockwave, tearing the hole in the ground asunder even further, with Xenovia flying off with it, as did Irina who I let go.
A flashbang of golden light went off and within it, I took my closed fist and dumped the shards contained within into a pocket inside my robe. My Holy Spirit Power quickly acted by my will to contain the boiling Holy Power within.
When the smoke and light cleared, I didn't stand entirely alone within the smoking crater of a holy sword detonation.
At my feet were several more shards of Durandal, along with the blade's massive hilt, which was entirely intact. The shards were mostly spread out, and of similar size, save for those closest to the hilt or tip of the blade, which were the largest and least damaged.
Within the rubble, I saw what looked like some sort of white and gold…arrowhead. That is the best I could describe it. I assume that's the sword's core, and it didn't look damaged.
Good. I figured it'd be closer to the hilt, and intentionally aimed to destroy the sword closer to the center to avoid it. Judging by where it ended up, right next to the hilt, it looks like I was right.
No then.
Where did those girls fly off to?
My halo flashes behind me, as I slowly lift off the ground and into the air, and despite my sluggish pace, I find myself out of the ground in no time at all.
It doesn't take too long to find them.
It also doesn't take too long for me to be reminded what exactly kind of world I reside in.
"...durable, huh." I deadpan down at the girls.
Specifically, the blue and chestnut-haired pair, albeit only the former is conscious at all to hear my snark.
Both girls 'battle suits' were torn to shit, and in all the wrong…or right, if you're a pervert…places.
Not even a joke, everything besides their tits, thighs, and judging by the lack of spandex around the latter, their asses as well, was covered. Only those three general areas weren't covered now.
Beyond that, the two were riddled with scrapes and bleeding cuts.
If I had to guess, fragmentation from Durandal's explosion likely nicked the two.
Yet miraculously, heh, that looks like all they got.
Xenovia glared wrathful daggers my way but bit back a retort as Asia of all people looked at her and spoke, soft green light erupting from her hands and surrounding Irina as she did so.
"She's alive…even though he didn't have to let her be…" Asia pointed out, tellingly.
Xenovia looked back at the blonde, meeting her almost chastising glare with a huff, but she seemed to get what Asia was saying and kept her mouth shut.
Now then, I got what I wanted, and there's no better time to de-escalate than now I think.
I slowly floated back down, my halo snuffing out behind me as my feet touched the ground.
Xenovia, despite being more than down for the count at this point, still moves to preemptively protect Asia and Irina, sliding across the ground to block me with her own body.
I open my mouth, but, unfortunately, I can't get any words out, as Xenovia deigns to speak first.
"I won't let you hurt them, Pagan," Xenovia spews out, "spare them your wrath and take me instead…" She pauses, as if building courage for someth- Oh fuck, please, don't!
For the love of me, please don't fucking tell me what I think she's about to say!
Stifling a sigh, she looks at me, stoic and resolute, "I may be inexperienced, and a virgin, but I'm sure I'll be enough to calm you down." She states without even a hint of disgust.
…Fuck me, she said it.
Asia blinked, "E-Eh?"
Irina's unconscious body twitched as if trying to say the same thing.
The blue-haired exorcist sat there on her knees, staring up at me expectantly.
I stared right back down at her, deadpanning.
"...No." I stated back, plainly.
Xenovia tilted her head, "...Why not?"
"Because I don't rape people?" I snapped back as if it was obvious.
Xenovia shook her head, "It's not rape if I offer up myself." She denied it cleanly.
I'm not even next to a Grim Reaper, yet I feel the urge to kill myself.
"E-Eeh!?" Asia shrieked out in increasing alarm as she finally started getting what was going on here.
"By a definition technicality," I stress back to Xenovia whilst refuting her, "but the act would still be rape adjacent! Besides!" I continue quickly before Xenovia can butt in with something stupid, again, "I wasn't planning on killing you lot. Just messing you up a bit."
Asia let out a sigh of relief.
Xenovia crossed her arms, and huffed, "Ah…why didn't you say so sooner?"
Because you're a fucking moron.
"Because you opened your mouth first and started spewing…that." My filter processed out my lips in response instead.
"...I figured that's what you Pagans like, considering how you talked about our outfits earlier." Xenovia, weakly, tried to defend herself.
I won't be saying this out loud, but while their suits are hot, I actually find nun clothes unironically more sexy.
I can't say exactly why, maybe it's because of the association with the nun's vows, or maybe it's because certain girls fill them out perfectly…
Or maybe, I'm just a degenerate at heart, and there's a reason the big man upstairs doesn't like me so much beyond me spamming his name like a cheat code.
I stare down at Xenovia, who refuses to meet my gaze for obvious reasons, before looking back at Asia and the still unconscious Irina.
"So then, you there, blondie." I spoke up, causing Asia to perk up and nearly start sputtering at being singled out, "I asked what you folks were doing out here, I expect an answer. Now."
"U-Um…well." Asia, also, avoided direct eye contact, "We…were just passing through, on the way to K-Kyoto, to look for something. But, well, it's been-"
"Annoying." Xenovia huffed, finishing for Asia.
The blonde nodded, and gulped, "Ever since we got here, nothing has been going our way, and our chaperone isn't around. Before you showed up, a…" her voice drifted off, likely realizing how stupid and nonsensical she was about to say sounded.
Xenovia didn't see it though.
"A cat stole our friend's gun, she ran off to chase it, and even used her Sacred Gear to try and stop it." Xenovia finished for the blonde one more, succinctly.
Asia shot the blue-haired girl a panicked look, but when she saw the expression on my face wasn't one of pure disbelief, but rather, understanding, she turned confused.
"A cat, huh…" I murmured in faux thought, "Sounds like a Youkai, then. Specifically, a Nekomata."
Xenovia blinked, "...Youkai?"
I waved the blue-haired girl off, "A group of supernatural beings around these parts, considered monsters or maybe even demons. Not all of them are actively malicious, most are usually just tricksters… especially Nekomata. You know, cats."
With my words, a look of understanding dawned over the two girls.
Meanwhile, in my head, a thought occurred.
Plans were being updated on the spot.
I rubbed my chin, and this time, I didn't have to fake being lost in thought.
Maybe…I should take these girls back with me?
It'd definitely win brownie points with Dulio whenever he shows up, and it'd also make keeping an eye on all these Church people easier if they were right in my backyard.
What was that saying again? Keep your friends closer, and your enemies closer still?
I sort of originally planned to vanish after making sure they were okay, be all mysterious and all that while hiding the fake spear and setting them up to find it, but this could work better.
Of course, there's always a risk they'd catch me…but, well.
I looked over the three and nearly snorted.
Fat chance of that happening.
Lint might. Maybe. I'd have to meet her first to see.
Hmm, yeah, actually, I'll decide after meeting her first. If she's too smart, I'll take my mysterious leave, otherwise, I'll host them for a little while at my place.
Asia suddenly spoke up again, a slight frown slowly marring her cute face, "...speaking of, Lint hasn't returned, even after all the power being thrown around over here."
Xenovia frowned much harder and tried to stand up, before wincing and falling back to the ground, "Tch…Damn it…"
She then shot me a glare, which easily transmitted 'This is your fault!' clear as day.
Heh. I had to stop myself from chuckling.
I waved her off, stepping around the Church girls with a sigh, "I doubt your friend is in any true danger…but I guess it wouldn't hurt to take a look anyway. Usually, it's the job of the Kami to make sure the Youkai aren't getting too…uppity, anyway."
Xenovia turned up her nose, clearly thinking something that I would spank her bare ass for saying out loud.
Luckily for her ass though, she didn't.
A rare moment of self-restraint.
Ganbatte, Xenovia-chan!
"I trust blondie can take care of the healing…so I'll be right back with your friend." I wave back at them as I leisurely walk off.
Asia turns and calls out, "A-Ah? T-Thank you!"
Xenovia, once again, huffs, and crosses her arms, pouting.
~ A New Sun ~
It didn't take long at all to find the abandoned mansion the two told me they were going to lead Holy Cross user too.
When I walked in, I didn't at all expect what I found inside, though.
Through the front door, then forward through another set of doors into what looked like a big dining area, I saw Kuroka cackling in front of a strapped up, pinned to the far wall unconscious Lint, as she brushed…makeup? On her face. Or is that paint?
I don't know, both look the same to me if I'm telling the truth.
A second more inspection though, damn near made me keel over laughing.
As it was though, I barely managed to hold it in my gut.
They did Lint's white hair up and dyed it all sorts of colors, like a rainbow. Her nose and lips were now painted red, and Kuroka was busy currently making the rest of her face even paler looking than it was before.
They're turning her into a clown.
Fucking hell…!
Shirone watched this from the side, arms crossed, an eyebrow slightly raised. She didn't seem that into it but was still smiling slightly all the same.
It was Shirone's lack of paying complete attention to her sister that enabled her to hear me when I came in, as the sound of my attempts to hold my laughter in made her perk up, and swivel on her feet my way.
She came right up to me, "You better not have messed anything up, pervert-senpa-MMM!?"
I immediately snatched her up as soon as she was within arms reach of me and pulled her in for a big hug, and searing kiss.
"Mmaahh~...Senpai~...You~..." Shirone pretty much moaned into my mouth, as I also didn't waste a second coping a feel of her nice and big luscious ass.
Shirone's very lewd noises finally managed to grab Kuroka's attention, who turned our way very fast after they started.
"Hmm? Eh?! Darling~! No fair, nyah~!" She immediately started bounding over.
And in much the same way?
"I want some to-NYAH!?"
I snatched her up too, removing one of my arms from Shirone to do it, pressing her against me all the same, while finally releasing Shirone's lips.
Only to swiftly give Kuroka's lips, and body, the exact same treatment. Claiming her lips with a passionate kiss and burying my fingers in my black-haired shortstack's bodacious backside.
"Mmm~! Darling~..."
They even have the same reaction too!
After a moment of this, I released her lips as well and grinned down at them both.
"You two are doing absolutely amazing~..." I breathed out easily because they had, everything was going so smoothly, "I've got what I need, and now?"
I look past them, at Lint, and smile.
"It's onto, possibly, the final act."