Issei
It was the day of our match against Diodora Astaroth.
We were in the Occult Research Club room.
It was late into the night as we waited around the teleportation magic circle.
Except for Asia and Xenovia, we were all wearing our Kuoh Academy uniforms.
Xenovia wore her skin-tight battle suit, and Asia wore her nun’s habit.
Everyone looked ready for the match.
Yuuto-san leaned against the wall, a focused look on her face.
Gasper was sitting on the couch next to Yuki-san and Koneko-chan, out of his box.
He looked nervous, but his eyes were determined.
Koneko-chan sat in Yuki-chan’s lap, and the two of them looked relaxed and ready.
Buchou sat at her desk, her hands folded neatly in front of her as she sat with perfect posture.
Akeno-san stood next to her with a calm smile and an excited glint in her eye.
Xenovia was leaning on the couch Asia and I were sitting on, arms crossed and a serious look on her face.
And Asia sat next to me, looking worried.
“It’s about time,” Buchou said as she stood.
We all gathered in the faintly glowing magic circle.
I still didn’t know what Diodora had done to increase his power so much to allow him to defeat Seekvaira-san in the last match all by himself.
He had used his massive amount of demonic power to overwhelm Seekvaira-san’s peerage by fighting them directly by himself.
But our team had plenty of powerful members too.
He was the enemy [King], so if he came forward to face us. We could end the match quickly if we could overpower him.
That also made me realize that I needed some sort of counter ability.
I needed another way to fight besides just using power, so a counter would be good for me.
Especially with our match against Sairaorg-san in the future.
He’s an extreme power type, so if I learn a counter move, then it would be really useful against him.
I was pulled from that thought as Asia’s hand found mine.
I looked over.
She was trying to stay composed, but she was trembling slightly.
She held my hand tightly.
I smiled at her and squeezed her hand.
No matter what happened in this game, he wasn’t going to get Asia.
It didn’t matter how much stronger he had gotten, I would protect her.
The magic circle brightened.
It flashed around us, and then we arrived in a vast space.
“Whoa…” I murmured as I looked around.
There were large stone pillars around us as we stood on the stone ground.
In the distance, there was a large, pristine-looking temple.
It looked like one of the ones built by the Ancient Greeks, though it was fully intact.
That must be the enemy base.
I wondered to myself what the match type and rules would be for the match.
Would it be a blitz like the match against Kaichou?
Or would this be a longer, more drawn-out game?
I wondered for a moment before shaking my head and thinking that it didn’t matter.
Either way, I would play my part and take Diodora down.
I was getting pumped up for our match when I realized that there hadn’t been any announcements for the game yet.
“This is strange…” Buchou muttered.
Everyone became more alert as they realized something was off.
I was wondering if something had happened to the official for our game when a magic circle appeared a short distance from us.
At first I thought that this might be a rather short-distance match and we would be facing Diodora already.
But then another magic circle appeared.
Then another and another appeared all around us after that.
“…Those magic circles don’t contain the symbol of Astaroth!” Yuuto-san shouted. As she summoned a sword.
“Everyone!” Buchou snapped.
We moved immediately.
We each took up a stance and prepared to fight.
Akeno-san spoke as electricity crackled on her hands.
“None of the crests in those magic circles are the same. The only thing they have in common—“
“Is that they are all Devils,” Buchou said, continuing her thought. “But looking at the crests more closely, they seem to be from Devils of the Old Maou faction that joined the Khaos Brigade.”
The magic circles began to flash, and Devils appeared from them.
There had to be hundreds of Devils surrounding us.
Maybe even more than a thousand.
The Devils surrounding us stared with open hostility.
I began to sweat as we were surrounded by enemies in what was supposed to be a normal Rating Game.
One of the Devils surrounding us called out to Buchou.
“Gremory, as a relative ine of the fake Maou, you will be killed here to send a message to the rest of the Underworld.”
Buchou’s aura flared around her at his words.
The pressure coming off of everyone in our group deepened as we got ready to fight for our lives.
Then a scream cut through the air.
I realized it was from Asia and turned to where she had been behind me, only to see that she wasn’t there anymore.
My mind went blank with panic for a moment.
“Ise-san!” Her panicked voice called from above.
I looked up and saw Diodora with Asia in his arms.
That bastard!
“Hello, Rias Gremory, and Sekiryuutei,” he said down to us with that same creepy, calm smile. “I will be taking Asia Argento with me now.”
“Let go of Asia, you piece of shit!” I shouted up at him. “She doesn’t want anything to do with you, you freak! And what is the meaning of all of this?! Why did you take her when we are surrounded by the Khaos Brigade?!"
Diodora’s smile finally changed.
It shifted into a harsh grin.
“Are you really this stupid?” He asked with a sneer. “It’s obvious whose side I’m on. You will all be killed by the agents of the Khaos Brigade here. Your peerage may be rather powerful, Rias, but there is no way you’ll be able to fight your way through all of these high-class and mid-class Devils. Hahahahaha, so this will be the last we see of each other. Go ahead and perish quickly.”
Buchou glared up at him.
“So you have joined the terrorists, the Khaos Brigade?” You really are scum. You’ve even dared to defile a Rating Game. You will die for these transgressions! But more importantly, you are trying to take my adorable Asia away from me!”
Her aura surged as dark red demonic energy surrounded her.
Buchou wasn’t the only one enraged by Diodora.
Everyone in our peerage was glaring at him.
Akeno-san was smiling like she wanted to inflict plenty of pain on him as lightning crackled over her hands.
Xenovia was standing like she was about to leap up at him.
Yuki-san had gone still and was intensely watching him with an expressionless face.
Her ears were pointed at him, and her tails had fanned out and gone still behind her.
Diodora kept smiling down at us, unconcerned.
“As a part of their organization, I can do whatever I wish, whenever I want. There was no reason not to join them,” Diodora said with a chuckle. “We’ll struggle against your inevitable end as much as you’d like. While you are busy fighting for your life, I will become one with Asia,” his smile widened as he looked at me. “It seems your promise to protect her was worthless, Sekiryuutei. I will make Asia mine. If you somehow survive, then come to the depths of the temple. If you do, you will be able to see something magnificent.”
His words made my skin crawl.
Then Xenovia shouted out.
“Ise, Ascalon!”
“Yeah!”
From my [Boosted Gear], I pulled Ascalon out of the gauntlet and threw it toward her.
She caught it and launched herself upward with a murderous look on her face.
“Asia is my friend!” she shouted. “I won’t let you do as you want!”
She launched a powerful slash at Diodora, but his demonic power exploded outward in a wave before she reached him.
Her sword was forced back as she was thrown away from him by the blast.
But the holy energy from her slash still went forward towards Diodora.
At the same time, Yuki-san moved.
She appeared in the space next to Diodora and Asia while already in her state ability.
Her Devil wings were out, and her tails and ears had already shifted to a deep black as she reached a hand out towards him, a spell already forming.
Diodora noticed and sent a wave of demonic energy from his hand as he dodged away from the holy energy of Xenovia’s attack.
Yuki-san’s attack punched a hole through part of Diodora’s attack but dissipated just past it.
She used Misstep to dodge the attack and appear next to Diodora.
She reached her clawed hands out towards Asia as she bared her teeth.
As she tried to grab Asia, Diodora launched a demonic bullet at her, which she barely managed to twist out of the way.
Xenovia was launching herself back into the air for another attack, but it was too late.
Diodora laughed.
“Too slow.”
Both he and Asia began to become blurry as space around them distorted.
Asia twisted in Diodora’s arms, trying to break free.
Yuki-san blinked closed and launched herself back at them, eyes wide with anger as she gritted her teeth.
“Ise-san! Xenovia-san! Yuki! Ise—“ Asia called out, begging for help before she and Diodora disappeared.
I stared in shock.
“Asiaaaa!” I cried out to Asia, but she was gone.
Yuki-san reached the place they had been a moment later.
Xenovia arrived a second later.
The two of them floated together in the air with their Devil wings.
I couldn’t protect Asia.
I’d failed to keep her safe again.
I couldn’t even try to help Xenovia and Yuki-san get her back.
I didn’t have enough demonic power to fly without my Balance Breaker.
I could only helplessly watch as she was taken away.
Buchou and the others couldn’t help, or the enemy Devils surrounding us would surely attack while we focused on saving Asia.
“Ise-kun! You need to calm down!” Yuuto-san shouted to me. “We need to focus on the enemies in front of us, right now. I'm worried about Asia-san too, and we will save her. We just need to win this fight first.”
She’s right. We can still save Asia.
I took a deep breath to try to relax.
Yuki-san and Xenovia came back to the ground.
Yuki-san let her ability drop, and Koenko-chan went to check on her.
Xenovia stared at the ground for a moment before turning to look at the Devils surrounding us with a dark glare.
We had to fight our way through these guys before we could go to Asia.
Once we did, I’d make Diodora regret ever looking at Asia.
Rias
My peerage and I faced the Devils of the Khaos Brigade who had surrounded us.
Ise had calmed down enough to focus after Asia had been taken by Diodora.
He still looked shaken and angry, but he was focusing on the enemy in front of us now.
I was shaken by Asia’s capture too.
She was one of my precious servants and like a younger sister to me.
And now she was gone, taken by the man who’d been trying to take her for weeks.
Yuki and Xenovia both looked rattled by her being taken away.
Xenovia looked furious as she stared out at the enemies surrounding us.
Yuki seemed calm and focused, but knowing her, she was likely pushing back the anger and worry she was feeling.
Koneko seemed to notice as well and was checking on her now.
We were heavily outnumbered and were up against multiple high-class and medium-class Devils.
I believed in the strength of my peerage, but there were too many enemies, and we had just lost our healer.
If Issei could enter his Balance Breaker, it would even the playing field, but there was no way we would be given time for him to activate it.
We would need to break the encirclement and find somewhere better to fight or hide for now.
As the Devils around us seemed tired of waiting and began to prepare their attacks, I was about to give orders to my peerage.
Then I heard a shriek from Akeno.
I quickly turned to her, expecting a sneak attack from the enemy, and instead saw Odin-sama lifting Akeno’s skirt and staring at her rear.
I was stunned by the strange sight.
“Hmmm. It’s a rather nice butt,” Odin-sama muttered to himself. “The curviness of young women never fails to impress me.”
“You shitty geezer! Get away from her! Where did—“ Ise said as he reached out and pulled Akeno from Odin-sama, but he couldn't finish his sentence.
Yuki had moved forward to attack Odin-sama as he pulled Akeno away from him.
She had already placed a Stillmark near him and was aiming a hand towards him to fire a spell.
I reached out and grabbed her wrist, stopping her.
She turned her head to me quickly, an intense look on her face.
“That is the leader of the Norse gods, Odin-sama,” I answered the question in her gaze.
She turned back to Odin-sama, who was inspecting the curse mark floating in the air.
He reached out and poked it as he stroked his beard.
Nothing seemed to happen despite him triggering the spell.
“It’s rare to see Devils who specialize in curse magic. That spell seems like a creative but simple use of a misfortune curse.” he turned to Yuki and looked her up and down. “And you're rather pleasant to look at as well. Rias Gremory, I approve of your selection of servants.”
Yuki looked back at me.
“He’s one of the leaders of an allied faction?” She asked quietly.
I sighed and nodded.
“More importantly, Odin-sama. What are you doing here?”
I glanced at the Old-Maou faction Devils who were cautiously watching us.
They seemed unsure of what to do with the new sudden arrival on our side, as some of them seemed to recognize Odin-sama.
“Well, it would take too long to explain everything, so I’ll keep things short. The Khaos Brigade has taken over this Rating Game. The officials for the game and those present from different factions are working together to fight them. It was already known that Diodora Astaroth was secretly allied with the Old-Maou faction. He must have received a ‘snake’ from Ophis and absorbed some of her power. That would explain his sudden surge in power. But we hadn’t predicted that they would launch an attack during this game,” Odin-sama sighed and looked out at the Devils around us. “This sort of situation would be rather dangerous for youths like you, right? So I came to help. Though there is still a barrier over the game field that is keeping everyone else out. Whoever created the barrier must still be inside. If we could find and defeat them, then the barrier would collapse, and reinforcements could arrive.”
“Then how were you able to get past the barrier?” Ise asked.
“Well, kid, when I traded one of my eyes to Mimisbunnr, I was able to understand most types of spells, demonic, holy, or otherwise. It’s the same with barrier magic too.”
Odin-sama relieved his missing eye.
In its place was a crystal with glowing magic runes inside of it.
Ise went stiff when he saw it.
I instinctively felt nervous looking at it.
Both Yuki and Koneko took small steps back as their animal traits went stiff.
The Old-Maou faction Devils finally decided to act then.
“The new enemy is the Chief God of the North! If we manage to take his head, then our status will rise!” One of them shouted.
There was a roar of cheers before a huge number of attacks were launched at us.
“Get back!” I shouted as Akeno and I prepared to put up the strongest barrier we could.
“There’s no need for that,” Odin-sama said as he tapped the ground with the end of his staff.
All of the attacks dissipated or were deflected when they reached a certain distance from us.
Odin-sama chuckled to himself while stroking his beard.
The enemy stopped attacking, seeing that it had no effect, and nervously watched Odin-sama.
“Normally, I would be able to break most barriers, but I was only able to enter this one myself… Hmm, either it was a powerful enemy or a special type of magic that created it,” Odin-sama murmured to himself. “Anyways, I was told by that brat, Azazel, to give these to you. Making an old man like me his delivery boy… What should I do to get back at that brat after this…”
Odin-sama tossed me a set of communicators, the same ones we would normally use during a game, before mumbling to himself again.
“Now go. Leave this place to this geezer and head to that temple. I will stay here and deal with these fools so that you can flee,” Odin-sama chuckled to himself. “This is quite the privilege to have me protect you, you know?”
Odin pointed his staff at us, and a transparent barrier surrounded us.
“That should protect you. Now get going.”
“Geezer? Will you be alright by yourself?” Ise asked.
Odin-sama grinned widely at him.
“For a little kid to get worried about an old man like me…”
Odin-sama reached out his hand and muttered quietly.
“...Gungnir.”
A golden spear with an intricate, ornately patterned silver spearhead appeared in his hand.
I immediately recognized the legendary spear of the Norse God
He threw the spear forward, and it flew forward at an incredible speed.
There was a loud crash as it tore through the enemy lines and left a massive gouge in the ground in the path it took.
That one attack killed dozens of the enemy Devils.
“Hohohoho, a geezer needs a workout sometimes. Now then, you terrorist Devils. How about you show this geezer a good time?” Odin-sama said as he started walking towards them.
“Thank you, Odin-sama! We will leave this place to you!” I shouted after him.
I turned back to my peerage.
“Quickly! While Odin-sama is holding them back. Let’s make our way to the temple!”
They shook off the shock from witnessing Odin-sama attack, and we quickly moved towards the temple.
The fighting resumed behind us as most of the Old-Maou faction Devils ignored us as we ran.
The barrier Odin-sama placed over us kept us safe from the few who tried to stop us.
But we would be much safer once we arrived at the temple.
And we would be where Diodora had said he was taking Asia.
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