Chapter 52: A Knock at the Door
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The Phenex family was carried by Sapphire all the way back to the Underworld. Since they used a portal, it didn't take time to reach the Phenex Family mansion. She dropped all the bodies, including the dead bodies, in the garden of the household.
"Whew, we're finally back." Ranefer Phenex heaved out a sigh as she fell on her back on the grass, staring up at the sky where the artificial sun was rising.
The family guards noticed the sudden emergence and rushed to the scene, and the yard got loud. There were quite a few injured, since most of the fighters weren't direct Phenex family members and therefore didn't have the power of immortality, the guards began to carry them to the infirmary.
The family members who hadn't participated in this raid gathered, all looking at their ancestor in awe and surprise. As they talked between each other, people realized that many of the older family members had died in this raid, and even the current Lord Phenex had lost one of his arms. Due to the death affinity from the young human's sword, this was a permanent change to Lord Phenex.
"Just…" Riser Phenex, the youngest son of the family, gulped as sweat trailed down his cheeks. He faced the Original Phenex who was still lying on her back, but her eyes were on him now. "How can a human do all this? This sounds unbelievable."
Ranefer's expression twisted, "Who are you, brat? You dare doubt what I am saying? While it's true that his humanity is somewhat dubious, he is at least partially human for sure. Regardless of that, who do you think you are to question me?"
Riser shuddered and lowered his head at her scornful tone, and his father quickly chimed in with a gulp. "Forgive my foolish son, grandmother. He is a worthless son, but it is because of him that I was even able to contact the current Lord Gremory to ask for Lady Sapphire's help. He is engaged to the heiress of Gremory Clan."
"Oh," Ranefer didn't pay much attention.
Sapphire laughed from the side. "Yeah, that's Rias. I will ask her about him, she might know something about that interesting boy since he said they're friends. Why did you have to go pick a fight with him, Ran? Serves you right."
"Shut up," Ranefer sighed and closed her eyes. "That arrogant little brat, I want to chew him apart."
"Try to regain your strength first, then," Sapphire said as she stood near her, her arms crossed and a small smirk on her face. "Otherwise you'll be beaten again."
"I am just venting, I actually don't want to pick a fight with him. I am sure you noticed too, he had other cards up his sleeves." Ranefer shivered a little and said, opening her eyes and slowly getting up. "That weird bastard is too strong, I didn't lie when I said I wanted to mend things between us nicely. Even if he still tried to strike me, I will keep that promise. Instead, I will properly compensate him with a gift next time we meet."
The Phenex clan members were perplexed hearing her words. To compensate the enemy who killed so many of their members, what was their ancestor thinking?
"That sounds so much like you, you coward, always playing safe despite having the power of immortality." Sapphire mocked her, making her laugh with a smile. She didn't appear offended in the slightest.
"When you have the power to negate most things that can kill you, your fear for the few things that can kill you increases." She explained and fully stood up, with Sapphire lending her a helping hand.
She paused for a moment when her eyes locked on the youngest member of the family; that little girl reminded Ranefer of herself in the past. "That is your daughter, Rargrig?"
Lord Phenex nodded, and Ranefer smiled. She slowly approached the girl, reaching out a hand and caressing her face. "She's adorable. What is your name, and do you have a peerage of yourself, love?"
"Uh…" Ravel Phenex froze up for a bit but quickly answered. "It's R-ravel Phenex, dear ancestor. And no… I am currently a part of my brother's peerage."
"This useless bastard?" Ranefer turned to Riser in surprise, "What a waste of talent. What's so good about him, Rargrig, that he is getting married to the Gremory heiress and also has his own sister in his peerage?"
"Erm, about that…" Lord Phenex didn't have an answer.
"That is why Rias is against it, Ran," Sapphire said. "They'll be holding a Rating Game in a few weeks because of that, if Rias wins she gets to cut the marriage."
"Ah, serves him right," Ranefer said, looking at Riser, who had his head lowered. She shook her head. "I will attend it. Sapphire, can I ask you a favor? Ask Rias to invite that boy- ah, we don't even know his name. Anyway, if he attends the show, I will meet up with him and gift him something. Though don't tell him that, he might mistake it for a trap and not come."
"Heh, sure." Sapphire nodded, "Sounds easy enough, as long as he accepts."
After that, the crowd was dismissed and gathered inside the mansion. Sapphire spent some more time with her old friend, catching up with the recent ongoing and planning on how they'd fix the issues with her Sleeping Disease.
They discussed how the underworld would change now that a former Duke returned. The current Phenex Family was a Marquis Family, while formally, when Ranefer was active, it was a Duke Family, just like the current Gremory Family. Now that Ranefer was back, it's a matter of time before she'd restore the clan's former glory.
Hours later, Sapphire left, she'd have to attend the meeting with the Shinto along with the Satans. She hoped there wouldn't be too much of an issue.
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[First Person Point of View]
My body glowed brightly and when the light vanished, I was back inside the resort's room where we were playing cards. The three girls I left in the middle shore too appeared beside me, almost tripping since they weren't used to teleportation.
Sunlight was peeking through the glass windows, and the room felt like it was from a horror movie as cards were spread through the bed but there was nobody playing.
"We are finally back, phew."
"It's been around 36 hours, it seems."
Mem-Cho and Mai said while Akane took a few more seconds to compose herself. When she did, she turned to me, looking at me in worry. "Are you alright, Aqua? What did you do on the other side of the portal?"
"I killed some of the devils," I replied, yawning as I rubbed my eyes. I haven't slept in a few days since I focused on cultivating instead, and since I just spent so much of my Qi and willpower, I felt tired. "Couldn't kill that woman, however. Her healing was too strong to be dealt with normally, and when I went beyond normal, this other devil meddled and stopped me. I hurt her enough to count more than a single death, though, so I guess it's alright."
The three girls looked at me, each with a different expression at my admitting that I had killed people. None of them looked at me negatively though, which was good, they were just surprised that I could talk about killing so easily. Oops, I forgot they're normies.
Mai was the first to react, she sighed and rubbed the back of her head, looking out the window. Mem just shrugged her shoulders, shaking her head at herself. Whatever thoughts she may have had the first time she knew I killed someone, back when I crashed in her home, that thought probably looked real funny to her now.
Akane was the only one who didn't even look guilty, it's as if she looked happy that I managed to get the woman who hurt me. Something might be wrong with this girl…
"Memmy," I called her as my eyes locked on certain parts of her body where her clothes were burnt off. She was slightly wounded.
"What do you want?" she said, sounding a little annoyed and distant, even as I walked to her and held her by her arm. Her left hand was pretty bruised and burnt, I didn't have the time to tend to it before.
"Let me fix that," I didn't mind her slightly harsh tone. I deserved that for purposefully acting lovey-dovey with Akane when just a few days ago I had to explain why I had kissed Mai. "It might hurt a little."
"Never mind this, it'll heal off on its own."
"Shh," I said and spread my Qi over her arm and entire body, and then activated the newly strengthened [Pure Storm Baptism]. Electricity spread through her arm and healed the wounds, sizzling the flesh and causing smoke to rise. It healed in no time.
"There you go," I finished and said, smiling up at her, but she just looked away.
"Yeah, thanks." She said coldly and I continued smiling.
"Mhm, then- cough!" I started and was interrupted by a cough, covering my mouth with my hand, as blood splattered out, and I fell on one knee.
Ah shit, switching between such strong Icons and even going as far as mixing solar power with the Death Sword was more taxing than I thought. Now on top of that, the healing. It's not anything serious though, I won't be losing any powers or anything really, I just need a good night's sleep and I will be back to full health.
However, Mem-Cho didn't know that. Her head snapped to look at me as she crouched down fast. Akane and Mai moved at the same time, but when Mem crouched they stopped themselves. Mem grabbed my hand, looked at the blood, and then looked up at me with a scowl.
"Bastard, why did you have to heal me when you're not in a good condition?!" Her eyes, so cold until now, were suddenly teary as she glared at me. "Stupid. Here, stay still, let me wipe it off."
She raised her sleeves and wiped my bloody, smiling lips. "Stop smiling, you bastard. I will beat you up. Why do you keep getting hurt like this? Always spitting blood and all this, take care of yourself better, will you? Bloody bastard. Don't heal others if that'd end up hurting you instead."
She was frowning, glaring, and crying as she wiped my blood. I laughed and reached out to put my fingers through her hair, her soft feather-like hair brushed against my fingers as I chuckled at her behavior. She yelled, but I only laughed more, pulling her closer as she was kneeling between my knees.
She complained, yelled a bit more until she cried for real and put her face on my chest. Such an adorable little devil, she deserves better treatment.
In the meantime, as we two got cuddly and emotional, Mai shook her head and left the room while Akane stood still and stared at us with a sad look on her face that Mem didn't notice and I pretended not to. She too turned around and left, her movement sluggish and expression down.
….
Later, I let out the other cast of the show from inside my Void Storage. Thanks to my quick thinking back then when I used the Symphony of the Ephemeral Veil, they woke up remembering nothing. Me and the three girls also pretended to not remember anything, though they did realize a day had passed so something must have happened.
Soon, we were found by the filming crew who went crazy over seeing us. They asked us where we were, and when we answered we didn't know, and they realized we weren't lying, they just exchanged glances. They knew about the mysterious missing reports, so it's a miracle they shouldn't question that we returned even after going missing.
I had feared they must have informed the police and families, but to my relief, they had waited a day to search for themselves instead of that. They informed the families that the trip had been extended for a day, and the families understood that. They would have been in serious trouble if we never returned after they made this claim, but luckily for them, we were suddenly back without anything wrong with us.
However, it still took me by surprise that my lovely mother hadn't come rushing here due to the suspicious delay, or hadn't eaten out the producer's brain by calling every five minutes. Maybe she was mad at me or busy with something else. Oh well, it's good for me.
It was good news that she didn't cause a scene but… what is this ominous feeling? No, she should be fine, I have installed a strong attack inside the Seal in her abdomen, so unless she got into some strong magical trouble, she should be fine.
* * *
[Third Person Point of View]
Back home, the doorbell at the Hoshino household rang. It was a normal ring at first, but the person at the door rang the bell again three more times.
"There, there, gosh, so impatient," Ai called out in annoyance as she walked to the door, opening it with a frown. "Excuse me, who is this- Ah, a priest?"
It was a young man, dressed in a white coat resembling a priest. He had white hair and red eyes, and he was smiling. Ai didn't like his smile, it was fake.
"Ah, sorry about that." The creepy man said, making Ai frown. "My name is Freed Sellzen, I am an exorcist. Can we talk for a bit?"
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