Chapter 306: Interlude 20
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Chapter 306: Interlude 20
Venelana Gremory POV
"And you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine, really." Wilhelm replied, giving me that handsome smile of his. "Just been dealing with the aftermath of everything."
"And Yasaka?"
"Physically, she's fine. However, I'm sure you can imagine the stress and weight of everything that's hit her right now."
I could imagine, having experienced similar conflicts before. I felt bad because there wasn't anything I could do to help right now. She was supposed to be my Harem Sister, yet we haven't even met yet. I knew it would only cause problems if I tried to force myself into everything now.
"I heard that you are going to war...." I was surprised by the announcement and the attack. It had been so sudden, and it reminded me too much of what happened during the Great War. There haven't been any large-scale conflicts between factions in centuries, I was caught off guard by this.
"We can't not respond like that after being attacked so blatantly and brutally. Right now, we're just working on shoring up our defenses. I've personally been going around the city preparing for any potential attacks, setting up defenses and countermeasures."
"If you're still busy, I don't want to be a bother. It sounds like you have much more important matters to deal with than going on a date."
"Actually....I wouldn't mind a break." He had a little bashfulness to him that was just so cute. "I've mostly finished up what I needed after a couple days and can't really continue until Yasaka and I work out some logistics. A break would be.....welcomed. There really isn't anything else we can do at the moment until we solve certain....issues."
Hmm, probably some secret information he's not aloud to talk about.
"Is there a day that's good for you? My schedule seems to be much more flexible than yours right now."
"Uh...how about three days from now? I can text you a specific time and place when we get closer."
"That would be lovely. I was already planning on going to the Human world in a little bit to see my daughter. I'll stay over in one of our houses there in the meantime." The timing was perfect. Going to the human world was such a hassle for someone of my status, especially with Sirzechs and everyone trying to make sure I was shadowed.
It was annoying enough going on our last date without being followed. I had half a mind to just let whoever it was follow us and let them report back to that foolish son of mine how I rode my Grandson and all the juicy details again.
Of course that was just me being annoyed. I knew he's doing it out of love and worry. Though, I doubted there were many safer places than next to my cute Grandson.
"I look forward to it." He replied, an excited look on his face.
How much I adored that desire again. It felt nice to be wanted like that after so long.
"Well, I don't want to keep bothering you while you're busy. Until then."
"You're never a bother." He cutely retorted. "And I can't wait to see you again."
"You're so sweet~ Finish your important things before worrying about us. We have all the time in the world, make sure your other women are taken care of." I didn't want him to force himself away from any responsibilities because of me.
There was no rush on our end, we could go as slow as we wanted.
And I knew I would enjoy every moment of it.
"Alright, alright." He sighed. "I'll get back to work, I'll give you a call in a day or two to settle time and place, see you then."
"Bye~" I smiled back at him as we finally hung up.
Oh, that boy was just too adorable, I wanted to eat him up again.
I'm looking forward to when he can trust me with some of the secrets he's obviously keeping. I'm glad he hasn't lied to me about it, and made it obvious we just weren't at that point yet.
Oh well, no point in dwelling on that at the moment.
It'll be nice to go to the Human World again, always so many interesting things that seemed to change every few years.
But first, I would go see my Daughter.
Activating the Teleportation Circle, I connected it to that School of hers and disappeared.
***
"Mom!?"
"Rias." I smiled brightly, holding my arms out. My Daughter immediately dove into me. She's always been a bit of a momma's girl.
"I thought you weren't coming for like, another few days?"
"I said I would be coming over soon." I chuckled.
"That usually means days, not hours." She replied but didn't really seem to mind.
"Well, I missed my daughter." I squeezed her tightly before letting go. "Did I come at a bad time?" I tilted my head, looking around the room.
Other than Rias, there was Akeno her Queen, Koneko her Rook and Sona along with her own Queen sitting around like they were chatting about something.
"Nothing important." Rias shook her head.
"It's good to see you again, Lady Gremory." Sona was the first to speak up, as polite as always. No matter how many times I told her it's not necessary, she insisted on calling me 'Lady Gremory'.
I swear, that girl does it just to be the opposite of her sister.
"Sona, It's been too long. How have you been? I've heard you also got a new member of your peerage, Serafall just wouldn't stop talking about it. A Sacred Gear user as well?"
It was fun to watch her get flustered at the mention of Serafall.
"Yes, he's shown a lot of potential so far. He took four Pawns to reincarnate, and he's taken to being a Devil quite readily." Sona forced herself to keep an even expression.
I stopped myself from chuckling as I walked over to Akeno pulling that girl into a hug too.
"Momma Gremory~" She giggled, always the mischievous little girl. I practically raised her alongside Rias, a daughter by any other name.
"And Koneko." I held my hand out, the one with the Bracelet that Wilhelm gave me. Such a convenient thing and I'd come to adore it. I was able to retrieve a small box of cookies for just the occasion. Watching as her eyes light up was very adorable as well. I gave her a pat on the head as I sat down in a free seat infront of them.
"Hmm, I did hear about that. Don't worry, I had words with the Phenex family about his conduct. He will not be bothering you again like that until the promised date." That was all I could do for her.
I hadn't entirely on board with the marriage contract in the first place, even if it came with pressure from other families to continue the 'pure bloodline' or some other nonsense.
"Yeah, and he said he would help us train." Rias sounded a little sheepish. "We've been doing some training with his Peerage so far, but after that whole thing that happened with the Youkai.....he said he had to go check in on some friends."
"It is as she says, Lady Gremory." Sai's Knight spoke up again. "My King wished to aid Lady Rias in her upcoming fight, thus we have been helping where we could. As my King has ties with the Youkai of the East, he was duty bound to offer any assistance that he could. The remainder of his peerage followed him, while I remained to continue my teachings as I have not much to give in such a situation."
Maybe I was wrong then? It seems that Rias had started taking things more seriously if even Sai was helping. As much as that boy would jump into fires to help those he cared about, I know for a fact he also wouldn't suffer Rias's laziness.
And Sai headed off to help his Youkai friends then? Leaving behind his Knight to help those who needed it the most if I guessed right.
I'll need to do something to thank that boy later once the mess was cleaned up.
"Do you –" My words were cut off as the entire building shook violently.
"An earthquake!?" Rias squeaked out, bracing herself along with everyone else in the room.
"No..." I whispered, immediately standing to my feet. "That was the wards and defenses around the school being undone."
"What do you –"
Out of instinct I honed over the course of many years of war, I gathered a significant amount of Demonic Energy and shaped it into a shield around us, right as the room was consumed with a familiar and deadly Light.
***
I pushed a piece of rubble off myself as everyone else slowly pulled themselves to their feet.
I looked around to make sure everyone was alright, my shield took most of the brunt, but it still shattered in the end.
Atleast, the collapsing of the building shouldn't have harmed anyone significantly. A by product of our Devil physiology giving us enhanced abilities.
"Furcas." I called out, noticing he was only slower than me to raise to a standing position, and clearly was ready for a fight as he had a weapon in hand already.
"I am here, Lady Gremory."
"Your priority is their safety." I ordered him.
He nodded, not arguing with me.
Good, he seemed to have experience in this sort of thing while the others still hadn't quite realized the reality of the situation.
"W-what happened?"
"There was a flash of light, then suddenly...."
"Did something hit us!?"
"Get to your feet." I said sternly, stopping them from their idle chatting. "If you're not heavily wounded, then don't speak."
"Mom?"
"Rias, listen to my words. This is not a game, this is not an accident. Focus, and defend yourself as best as you can." I took a deep breath and my Demonic Energy began flowing more than it had in many years, no, many centuries at this point. "Sona, call your sister. Rias, call your bother. Everyone else, prepare for a fight."
I looked around, expanding my senses for anything.
"I-I can't connect." Rias whispered, holding her Devil Phone.
"Neither can I." Sona replied as well, as they both seemed to now understand the situation.
Infront of us, several spell circles lit up on the ground, monstrous beasts appearing. Two large canine-like creatures with three heads each with molten lava dripping from their jaws.
They growled, eyeing us with baleful eyes.
"Hmph." I took a step forward, my Power of Destruction igniting in my hands as they leapt. Grabbing them both by the scruff of the necks, I began disintegrating them from existence. They whined and howled in pain before I casually tossed them up in the air, a sudden burst of light impaling their bodies.
Spears of Light that were meant for me.
"Tsk tsk, treating my pets so poorly~"
I looked up at the source, a man sitting on the edge of the nearby school building.
A face I hadn't seen in person since the Great War.
"And I wondered who it was. How absolutely horrible to see you again." I scowled upon seeing who it was.
"Hurtful words for an old friend?" He slowly stood up, ten Black wings unfolding from his back. "And here I thought I was only going to get to play with the kids. What an unexpected surprise this turned out to be."
It wasn't just him either. High up in the sky, I saw them. Hundreds of Angels, wings as black as night as they appeared under the moonlight.
"Lets go a round or two, for old times sake, huh Vene?" The Fallen Angel laughed in his annoying voice.
"Rias, Sona." I said under my breath. "Get ready, do whatever you can to escape. I'll do my best to make an opening for you."
"Mom, who is that?" Rias shuddered and I couldn't blame her.
She's never faced an opponent this strong before, let alone one who was our natural enemy. The others weren't doing much better, but I couldn't turn my attention away.
"Yes, yes~" The Fallen angel landed on the ground within a blink of an eye. "Who am I?" He held his arms out as if to proclaim in such a grandiose manner. "I am Kokabiel, Angel of the Stars." His lackadaisical attitude shifted abruptly, a sneer now on his face. "And I'm here to fulfill my purpose."
***
Almost didn't get the chapter out for today before work. So I originally planned to have a few more things before the Kokabiel arc, but I decided to axe those and just go ahead with this.
If you want to read 7 chapters ahead or support me, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / astoryforone
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
Chapter 306: Interlude 20
Venelana Gremory POV
"And you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine, really." Wilhelm replied, giving me that handsome smile of his. "Just been dealing with the aftermath of everything."
"And Yasaka?"
"Physically, she's fine. However, I'm sure you can imagine the stress and weight of everything that's hit her right now."
I could imagine, having experienced similar conflicts before. I felt bad because there wasn't anything I could do to help right now. She was supposed to be my Harem Sister, yet we haven't even met yet. I knew it would only cause problems if I tried to force myself into everything now.
"I heard that you are going to war...." I was surprised by the announcement and the attack. It had been so sudden, and it reminded me too much of what happened during the Great War. There haven't been any large-scale conflicts between factions in centuries, I was caught off guard by this.
"We can't not respond like that after being attacked so blatantly and brutally. Right now, we're just working on shoring up our defenses. I've personally been going around the city preparing for any potential attacks, setting up defenses and countermeasures."
"If you're still busy, I don't want to be a bother. It sounds like you have much more important matters to deal with than going on a date."
"Actually....I wouldn't mind a break." He had a little bashfulness to him that was just so cute. "I've mostly finished up what I needed after a couple days and can't really continue until Yasaka and I work out some logistics. A break would be.....welcomed. There really isn't anything else we can do at the moment until we solve certain....issues."
Hmm, probably some secret information he's not aloud to talk about.
"Is there a day that's good for you? My schedule seems to be much more flexible than yours right now."
"Uh...how about three days from now? I can text you a specific time and place when we get closer."
"That would be lovely. I was already planning on going to the Human world in a little bit to see my daughter. I'll stay over in one of our houses there in the meantime." The timing was perfect. Going to the human world was such a hassle for someone of my status, especially with Sirzechs and everyone trying to make sure I was shadowed.
It was annoying enough going on our last date without being followed. I had half a mind to just let whoever it was follow us and let them report back to that foolish son of mine how I rode my Grandson and all the juicy details again.
Of course that was just me being annoyed. I knew he's doing it out of love and worry. Though, I doubted there were many safer places than next to my cute Grandson.
"I look forward to it." He replied, an excited look on his face.
How much I adored that desire again. It felt nice to be wanted like that after so long.
"Well, I don't want to keep bothering you while you're busy. Until then."
"You're never a bother." He cutely retorted. "And I can't wait to see you again."
"You're so sweet~ Finish your important things before worrying about us. We have all the time in the world, make sure your other women are taken care of." I didn't want him to force himself away from any responsibilities because of me.
There was no rush on our end, we could go as slow as we wanted.
And I knew I would enjoy every moment of it.
"Alright, alright." He sighed. "I'll get back to work, I'll give you a call in a day or two to settle time and place, see you then."
"Bye~" I smiled back at him as we finally hung up.
Oh, that boy was just too adorable, I wanted to eat him up again.
I'm looking forward to when he can trust me with some of the secrets he's obviously keeping. I'm glad he hasn't lied to me about it, and made it obvious we just weren't at that point yet.
Oh well, no point in dwelling on that at the moment.
It'll be nice to go to the Human World again, always so many interesting things that seemed to change every few years.
But first, I would go see my Daughter.
Activating the Teleportation Circle, I connected it to that School of hers and disappeared.
***
"Mom!?"
"Rias." I smiled brightly, holding my arms out. My Daughter immediately dove into me. She's always been a bit of a momma's girl.
"I thought you weren't coming for like, another few days?"
"I said I would be coming over soon." I chuckled.
"That usually means days, not hours." She replied but didn't really seem to mind.
"Well, I missed my daughter." I squeezed her tightly before letting go. "Did I come at a bad time?" I tilted my head, looking around the room.
Other than Rias, there was Akeno her Queen, Koneko her Rook and Sona along with her own Queen sitting around like they were chatting about something.
"Nothing important." Rias shook her head.
"It's good to see you again, Lady Gremory." Sona was the first to speak up, as polite as always. No matter how many times I told her it's not necessary, she insisted on calling me 'Lady Gremory'.
I swear, that girl does it just to be the opposite of her sister.
"Sona, It's been too long. How have you been? I've heard you also got a new member of your peerage, Serafall just wouldn't stop talking about it. A Sacred Gear user as well?"
It was fun to watch her get flustered at the mention of Serafall.
"Yes, he's shown a lot of potential so far. He took four Pawns to reincarnate, and he's taken to being a Devil quite readily." Sona forced herself to keep an even expression.
I stopped myself from chuckling as I walked over to Akeno pulling that girl into a hug too.
"Momma Gremory~" She giggled, always the mischievous little girl. I practically raised her alongside Rias, a daughter by any other name.
"And Koneko." I held my hand out, the one with the Bracelet that Wilhelm gave me. Such a convenient thing and I'd come to adore it. I was able to retrieve a small box of cookies for just the occasion. Watching as her eyes light up was very adorable as well. I gave her a pat on the head as I sat down in a free seat infront of them.
"Hmm, I did hear about that. Don't worry, I had words with the Phenex family about his conduct. He will not be bothering you again like that until the promised date." That was all I could do for her.
I hadn't entirely on board with the marriage contract in the first place, even if it came with pressure from other families to continue the 'pure bloodline' or some other nonsense.
"Yeah, and he said he would help us train." Rias sounded a little sheepish. "We've been doing some training with his Peerage so far, but after that whole thing that happened with the Youkai.....he said he had to go check in on some friends."
"It is as she says, Lady Gremory." Sai's Knight spoke up again. "My King wished to aid Lady Rias in her upcoming fight, thus we have been helping where we could. As my King has ties with the Youkai of the East, he was duty bound to offer any assistance that he could. The remainder of his peerage followed him, while I remained to continue my teachings as I have not much to give in such a situation."
Maybe I was wrong then? It seems that Rias had started taking things more seriously if even Sai was helping. As much as that boy would jump into fires to help those he cared about, I know for a fact he also wouldn't suffer Rias's laziness.
And Sai headed off to help his Youkai friends then? Leaving behind his Knight to help those who needed it the most if I guessed right.
I'll need to do something to thank that boy later once the mess was cleaned up.
"Do you –" My words were cut off as the entire building shook violently.
"An earthquake!?" Rias squeaked out, bracing herself along with everyone else in the room.
"No..." I whispered, immediately standing to my feet. "That was the wards and defenses around the school being undone."
"What do you –"
Out of instinct I honed over the course of many years of war, I gathered a significant amount of Demonic Energy and shaped it into a shield around us, right as the room was consumed with a familiar and deadly Light.
***
I pushed a piece of rubble off myself as everyone else slowly pulled themselves to their feet.
I looked around to make sure everyone was alright, my shield took most of the brunt, but it still shattered in the end.
Atleast, the collapsing of the building shouldn't have harmed anyone significantly. A by product of our Devil physiology giving us enhanced abilities.
"Furcas." I called out, noticing he was only slower than me to raise to a standing position, and clearly was ready for a fight as he had a weapon in hand already.
"I am here, Lady Gremory."
"Your priority is their safety." I ordered him.
He nodded, not arguing with me.
Good, he seemed to have experience in this sort of thing while the others still hadn't quite realized the reality of the situation.
"W-what happened?"
"There was a flash of light, then suddenly...."
"Did something hit us!?"
"Get to your feet." I said sternly, stopping them from their idle chatting. "If you're not heavily wounded, then don't speak."
"Mom?"
"Rias, listen to my words. This is not a game, this is not an accident. Focus, and defend yourself as best as you can." I took a deep breath and my Demonic Energy began flowing more than it had in many years, no, many centuries at this point. "Sona, call your sister. Rias, call your bother. Everyone else, prepare for a fight."
I looked around, expanding my senses for anything.
"I-I can't connect." Rias whispered, holding her Devil Phone.
"Neither can I." Sona replied as well, as they both seemed to now understand the situation.
Infront of us, several spell circles lit up on the ground, monstrous beasts appearing. Two large canine-like creatures with three heads each with molten lava dripping from their jaws.
They growled, eyeing us with baleful eyes.
"Hmph." I took a step forward, my Power of Destruction igniting in my hands as they leapt. Grabbing them both by the scruff of the necks, I began disintegrating them from existence. They whined and howled in pain before I casually tossed them up in the air, a sudden burst of light impaling their bodies.
Spears of Light that were meant for me.
"Tsk tsk, treating my pets so poorly~"
I looked up at the source, a man sitting on the edge of the nearby school building.
A face I hadn't seen in person since the Great War.
"And I wondered who it was. How absolutely horrible to see you again." I scowled upon seeing who it was.
"Hurtful words for an old friend?" He slowly stood up, ten Black wings unfolding from his back. "And here I thought I was only going to get to play with the kids. What an unexpected surprise this turned out to be."
It wasn't just him either. High up in the sky, I saw them. Hundreds of Angels, wings as black as night as they appeared under the moonlight.
"Lets go a round or two, for old times sake, huh Vene?" The Fallen Angel laughed in his annoying voice.
"Rias, Sona." I said under my breath. "Get ready, do whatever you can to escape. I'll do my best to make an opening for you."
"Mom, who is that?" Rias shuddered and I couldn't blame her.
She's never faced an opponent this strong before, let alone one who was our natural enemy. The others weren't doing much better, but I couldn't turn my attention away.
"Yes, yes~" The Fallen angel landed on the ground within a blink of an eye. "Who am I?" He held his arms out as if to proclaim in such a grandiose manner. "I am Kokabiel, Angel of the Stars." His lackadaisical attitude shifted abruptly, a sneer now on his face. "And I'm here to fulfill my purpose."
***
Almost didn't get the chapter out for today before work. So I originally planned to have a few more things before the Kokabiel arc, but I decided to axe those and just go ahead with this.
If you want to read 7 chapters ahead or support me, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / astoryforone
Chapter 306: Interlude 20Venelana Gremory POV "And you sure you're okay?" "I'm fine, really." Wilhelm replied, giving me that handsome smile of his. "Just been dealing with the aftermath of everything." "And Yasaka?" "Physically, she's fine. However, I'm sure you can imagine the stress and weight of everything that's hit her right now." I could imagine, having experienced similar conflicts before. I felt bad because there wasn't anything I could do to help right now. She was supposed to be my Harem Sister, yet we haven't even met yet. I knew it would only cause problems if I tried to force myself into everything now. "I heard that you are going to war...." I was surprised by the announcement and the attack. It had been so sudden, and it reminded me too much of what happened during the Great War. There haven't been any large-scale conflicts between factions in centuries, I was caught off guard by this. "We can't not respond like that after being attacked so blatantly and brutally. Right now, we're just working on shoring up our defenses. I've personally been going around the city preparing for any potential attacks, setting up defenses and countermeasures." "If you're still busy, I don't want to be a bother. It sounds like you have much more important matters to deal with than going on a date." "Actually....I wouldn't mind a break." He had a little bashfulness to him that was just so cute. "I've mostly finished up what I needed after a couple days and can't really continue until Yasaka and I work out some logistics. A break would be.....welcomed. There really isn't anything else we can do at the moment until we solve certain....issues." Hmm, probably some secret information he's not aloud to talk about. "Is there a day that's good for you? My schedule seems to be much more flexible than yours right now." "Uh...how about three days from now? I can text you a specific time and place when we get closer." "That would be lovely. I was already planning on going to the Human world in a little bit to see my daughter. I'll stay over in one of our houses there in the meantime." The timing was perfect. Going to the human world was such a hassle for someone of my status, especially with Sirzechs and everyone trying to make sure I was shadowed. It was annoying enough going on our last date without being followed. I had half a mind to just let whoever it was follow us and let them report back to that foolish son of mine how I rode my Grandson and all the juicy details again. Of course that was just me being annoyed. I knew he's doing it out of love and worry. Though, I doubted there were many safer places than next to my cute Grandson. "I look forward to it." He replied, an excited look on his face. How much I adored that desire again. It felt nice to be wanted like that after so long. "Well, I don't want to keep bothering you while you're busy. Until then." "You're never a bother." He cutely retorted. "And I can't wait to see you again." "You're so sweet~ Finish your important things before worrying about us. We have all the time in the world, make sure your other women are taken care of." I didn't want him to force himself away from any responsibilities because of me. There was no rush on our end, we could go as slow as we wanted. And I knew I would enjoy every moment of it. "Alright, alright." He sighed. "I'll get back to work, I'll give you a call in a day or two to settle time and place, see you then." "Bye~" I smiled back at him as we finally hung up. Oh, that boy was just too adorable, I wanted to eat him up again. I'm looking forward to when he can trust me with some of the secrets he's obviously keeping. I'm glad he hasn't lied to me about it, and made it obvious we just weren't at that point yet. Oh well, no point in dwelling on that at the moment. It'll be nice to go to the Human World again, always so many interesting things that seemed to change every few years. But first, I would go see my Daughter. Activating the Teleportation Circle, I connected it to that School of hers and disappeared. *** "Mom!?" "Rias." I smiled brightly, holding my arms out. My Daughter immediately dove into me. She's always been a bit of a momma's girl. "I thought you weren't coming for like, another few days?" "I said I would be coming over soon." I chuckled. "That usually means days, not hours." She replied but didn't really seem to mind. "Well, I missed my daughter." I squeezed her tightly before letting go. "Did I come at a bad time?" I tilted my head, looking around the room. Other than Rias, there was Akeno her Queen, Koneko her Rook and Sona along with her own Queen sitting around like they were chatting about something. "Nothing important." Rias shook her head. "It's good to see you again, Lady Gremory." Sona was the first to speak up, as polite as always. No matter how many times I told her it's not necessary, she insisted on calling me 'Lady Gremory'. I swear, that girl does it just to be the opposite of her sister. "Sona, It's been too long. How have you been? I've heard you also got a new member of your peerage, Serafall just wouldn't stop talking about it. A Sacred Gear user as well?" It was fun to watch her get flustered at the mention of Serafall. "Yes, he's shown a lot of potential so far. He took four Pawns to reincarnate, and he's taken to being a Devil quite readily." Sona forced herself to keep an even expression. I stopped myself from chuckling as I walked over to Akeno pulling that girl into a hug too. "Momma Gremory~" She giggled, always the mischievous little girl. I practically raised her alongside Rias, a daughter by any other name. "And Koneko." I held my hand out, the one with the Bracelet that Wilhelm gave me. Such a convenient thing and I'd come to adore it. I was able to retrieve a small box of cookies for just the occasion. Watching as her eyes light up was very adorable as well. I gave her a pat on the head as I sat down in a free seat infront of them. "Hmm, I did hear about that. Don't worry, I had words with the Phenex family about his conduct. He will not be bothering you again like that until the promised date." That was all I could do for her. I hadn't entirely on board with the marriage contract in the first place, even if it came with pressure from other families to continue the 'pure bloodline' or some other nonsense. "Yeah, and he said he would help us train." Rias sounded a little sheepish. "We've been doing some training with his Peerage so far, but after that whole thing that happened with the Youkai.....he said he had to go check in on some friends." "It is as she says, Lady Gremory." Sai's Knight spoke up again. "My King wished to aid Lady Rias in her upcoming fight, thus we have been helping where we could. As my King has ties with the Youkai of the East, he was duty bound to offer any assistance that he could. The remainder of his peerage followed him, while I remained to continue my teachings as I have not much to give in such a situation." Maybe I was wrong then? It seems that Rias had started taking things more seriously if even Sai was helping. As much as that boy would jump into fires to help those he cared about, I know for a fact he also wouldn't suffer Rias's laziness. And Sai headed off to help his Youkai friends then? Leaving behind his Knight to help those who needed it the most if I guessed right. I'll need to do something to thank that boy later once the mess was cleaned up. "Do you " My words were cut off as the entire building shook violently. "An earthquake!?" Rias squeaked out, bracing herself along with everyone else in the room. "No..." I whispered, immediately standing to my feet. "That was the wards and defenses around the school being undone." "What do you " Out of instinct I honed over the course of many years of war, I gathered a significant amount of Demonic Energy and shaped it into a shield around us, right as the room was consumed with a familiar and deadly Light. *** I pushed a piece of rubble off myself as everyone else slowly pulled themselves to their feet. I looked around to make sure everyone was alright, my shield took most of the brunt, but it still shattered in the end. Atleast, the collapsing of the building shouldn't have harmed anyone significantly. A by product of our Devil physiology giving us enhanced abilities. "Furcas." I called out, noticing he was only slower than me to raise to a standing position, and clearly was ready for a fight as he had a weapon in hand already. "I am here, Lady Gremory." "Your priority is their safety." I ordered him. He nodded, not arguing with me. Good, he seemed to have experience in this sort of thing while the others still hadn't quite realized the reality of the situation. "W-what happened?" "There was a flash of light, then suddenly...." "Did something hit us!?" "Get to your feet." I said sternly, stopping them from their idle chatting. "If you're not heavily wounded, then don't speak." "Mom?" "Rias, listen to my words. This is not a game, this is not an accident. Focus, and defend yourself as best as you can." I took a deep breath and my Demonic Energy began flowing more than it had in many years, no, many centuries at this point. "Sona, call your sister. Rias, call your bother. Everyone else, prepare for a fight." I looked around, expanding my senses for anything. "I-I can't connect." Rias whispered, holding her Devil Phone. "Neither can I." Sona replied as well, as they both seemed to now understand the situation. Infront of us, several spell circles lit up on the ground, monstrous beasts appearing. Two large canine-like creatures with three heads each with molten lava dripping from their jaws. They growled, eyeing us with baleful eyes. "Hmph." I took a step forward, my Power of Destruction igniting in my hands as they leapt. Grabbing them both by the scruff of the necks, I began disintegrating them from existence. They whined and howled in pain before I casually tossed them up in the air, a sudden burst of light impaling their bodies. Spears of Light that were meant for me. "Tsk tsk, treating my pets so poorly~" I looked up at the source, a man sitting on the edge of the nearby school building. A face I hadn't seen in person since the Great War. "And I wondered who it was. How absolutely horrible to see you again." I scowled upon seeing who it was. "Hurtful words for an old friend?" He slowly stood up, ten Black wings unfolding from his back. "And here I thought I was only going to get to play with the kids. What an unexpected surprise this turned out to be." It wasn't just him either. High up in the sky, I saw them. Hundreds of Angels, wings as black as night as they appeared under the moonlight. "Lets go a round or two, for old times sake, huh Vene?" The Fallen Angel laughed in his annoying voice. "Rias, Sona." I said under my breath. "Get ready, do whatever you can to escape. I'll do my best to make an opening for you." "Mom, who is that?" Rias shuddered and I couldn't blame her. She's never faced an opponent this strong before, let alone one who was our natural enemy. The others weren't doing much better, but I couldn't turn my attention away. "Yes, yes~" The Fallen angel landed on the ground within a blink of an eye. "Who am I?" He held his arms out as if to proclaim in such a grandiose manner. "I am Kokabiel, Angel of the Stars." His lackadaisical attitude shifted abruptly, a sneer now on his face. "And I'm here to fulfill my purpose." *** Almost didn't get the chapter out for today before work. So I originally planned to have a few more things before the Kokabiel arc, but I decided to axe those and just go ahead with this. If you want to read 7 chapters ahead or support me, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / astoryforone
