DEVIL SUMMONER DXD: RAIDOU KUZUNOHA VS THE SEVEN WHO ARE ONE Chapter 3: Investigation Begins, a Megami Tensei + High School DxD/ハイスクールD×D Crossover fanfic

Chapter 2

Investigation Begins!

Warning! Walls of words inbound!

Cold wafts of dew drifted gently in the air; it was gradually fleeting away and thus, giving way for the warmth to enter. The chillness that lingered in the atmosphere began to evaporate as the heat from the ascending solar slowly crept into the air, spreading its warmth and brilliance throughout the waking town. Soon, the previously lonely streets turned bustling again with pedestrians and automobiles; the venues that were bare with muteness, now teeming with noises. Another new day finally came, and it was welcomed by the clamor of the people's daily affairs as its praises.

In this particular town, a prestigious educational institution once more commenced the process of teaching and learning for the day to its attendees. Like children drawn to their mother, the students of Kuoh Academy gathered to the elegant European-styled school from various directions.

Some were running and cycling swiftly to arrive at the school grounds; others were ambling lazily in clusters, chatting and giggling to one another without any fear of getting tardy to their destination. Among of these pupils, walking alone on the street leading to the academy, was the newcomer in his signature outdated black uniform. Passing through juniors and seniors alike along the hallways while responding to the greetings of his classmates warmly, Raidou Kuzunoha made his way to the classroom of XII-C. As he entered his new classroom, the newcomer quickly scanned the room, looking for a particular person in his mind.

"You? With a girlfriend? AHAHAHAHAHA!" A near bald youngster laughed out loud at the expense of his friend's vexation. "It's too early for daydreaming, dude!"

The boy's rather sonorous guffaw instantaneously grabbed Raidou's attention, and thankfully it made him found his quarry. He found the speaker was wadding with another two fellow classmates in a conversation, and one of them was the brown haired boy.

"C'mon, guys!" The brown haired boy pleaded impatiently to his friends. "Long black hair, cute face, and perfect three sizes measurement? I introduced her to you guys yesterday!"

"Issei bro, are you high or something?" another person, a boy with glasses, spoke. "Because as far as I know, too much masturbation doesn't cause hallucination."

"C'mon guys, I am being serious here!"

Raidou disregarded the rest of their conversation and the laughter that erupted from it, as he calmly walked to his seat. Even though his expression remained unchanged and his gaze no longer set on the boy called 'Issei', his mind raced with questions and assumptions. He recalled the feeling he had felt when he sensed the boy's energy. It was weak like average human, yet there was something sleeping within him; something with a considerable amount of magnetites, untapped and unaltered- waiting patiently for one day to be unleashed from its fleshy prison. Yet the problem was not laid on the said mysterious power; it was on the energy that the boy's projected out from himself presently.

It was weak, but it clearly wasn't human.

"So, he lives afterall." Raidou mused while he settled himself to his seat. "What have you done to him, Rias Gremory?"

The bell tolled gently, signifying the start of learning session for the new day. As every student returned to their respective seats and awaited the lesson to commence, Raidou's mind reeled back at the event that was happening on last night.

"Please don't!" The girl with the red hair shouted. "Please don't dispose that corpse!"

Although her action did not warrant any hostile repercussion, the two mighty immortals that ruled over arms and warfare quickly shielded their master with their weapons pointed out to the red-haired girl. Such action startled the said girl; the ferocious bearings and visages of the war gods did not stop the girl from yelping out. And as if responding to her cry, unknown individuals immediately entered into the conflict zone, revealing themselves to the young summoner and his enormous allies.

There were three of them; one was a tall and buxom ponytailed girl, the other was a petite girl with a short silver colored hair, and the last was a blonde boy holding twin swords in his hands. Like the young summoner's powerful allies of red and blue, the trio moved in to shield the red-haired beauty; all of them were standing ready in combat stance. Their faces showed determination to ensure no harm would befall upon the redhead behind them, explicitly revealing the girl's importance for these people. Even though they put on an intimidating front, Raidou and his allies could see hints of quivering in their movement. Their body language indicated that they were nervous.

Thin line of a smile broke on each rock-rigid faces of the two gods of war. The nervousness so poorly hidden by their would-be challengers was a sign of weakness; a weakness they so eagerly exploited to bring down these impudent opponents.

"Wait." The redhead head exclaimed. The girl that the unknown three so loyally defended seemed to understand the grave outcome of the conflict that was going to ensue, thus quickly intervening the battle that was yet to happen. "We mean you no harm."

"Would a sheep assume a lion's open mouth to be harmless?!" Roared Atavaka, further daunting the group before him, while empowering his grips on all of his fearsome golden arsenals. "Would a Yakhsa so easily believe the forked tongue of a serpent?"

"So easily to exhibit your foulness, devils." Bishamonten rumbled, with the same scornful tone he had shown to the fallen angel previously. "Your poison words, like your stench, are the last thing to be trusted in the vastness of cosmos. Speak of your true purpose serpent-spawn, or suffer the wrath of a Daeva king!"

Offended, the other party gritted their teeth and clicked their tongues; except for the petite silver-haired girl, who maintained her looks of neutrality- although she had her brows slanted into a frown. Such reaction was quickly followed by the shifting of their stances. The changes in their postures indicated that they were going to respond such insult with violence. Yet before any of them could express their aggravation in action, the redhead immediately spoke again. This time her voice was no longer the panicky, timid tone that she had uttered before. Instead, now it carried a regal, prideful tone with a little taste of anger.

"A devil, I maybe, as all my retainers here. Yet, as one coming from the respectable line of Gremory clan, I uphold my words very strongly, my lords. " The girl spoke proudly, with her eyes now bore a scowling look to her antagonizers; challenging their hateful glares with her own. Her fearful, timid countenance was gone, only to be replaced with a highborn one. Her articulation was composed and calm, confirming the possibility of her prominent upbringing. "I myself may not look like it, but I never break my own promises. So when I say we mean no harm, we truly mean you all no harm."

The two gods of warfare was unmoved….and unimpressed. It was never easy to convince the guardians of Dharma with mere gabs.

"You may doubt me, seeing that I am barely passing my fledgling age." The girl continued with her diplomacy, her sensitive eyes seemed able to interpret the cold, impassive glares of the two vengeful gods. "But I assure you that I am trustworthy and have not the slightest intention to quarrel with you. It will be very unfortunate for all of us if we can't solve this issue peacefully. But let me warn you: should you choose the path of conflict, rest assured that we will bring tremendous amount pain to you!"

The last words in her speech were enunciated with venom; a promise of violence, an unveiled threat to prove her point. And to further reinforcing her claim, her followers quickly assumed battle pose. Truly, the girl understood the charms and the barbs of speechcraft, and her subordinates seemingly very loyal to her as well.

It took a small while for the two terrifying immortals to respond the girl's oration. Yet, surprisingly instead of responding it with another scornful berating, the gods laughed heartily- with the heads reared back and their jaw opened wide. Thunderous gaggle shot out from their mouth, confusing and unnerving the insulted party greatly.

"Interesting!" The eight-armed blue-skinned giant erupted in amusement. The way his other faces chortling along was an image mad from nightmare; it was both disturbing and down right revolting. "It appears this particular serpent has a spine after all!"

"A slithery, vile spine, but a spine nonetheless!" The ruddy armor-clad warrior boomed. "Let see if her other clansmen shared the same courage…..which is unlikely at best."

"Speak ill about me all you want, you arrogant brutes." The girl hissed; all signs of friendliness were drained from her face, leaving only dark contempt that challenged the immortals' baleful looks. "But speak ill of my subordinates again, and I'll see to it that your limbs are severed from your torsos!"

Her dark words only fueled the gods' amusement further. The truth was these deities of warfare were not just amused by the strong words that the girl so brazenly declared- they were actually challenged. As beings formed and molded by the flames of war, every promises of violence directed to them would only rouse their inherent drive to answer such call for blood. The slight quivering of their body, the minor shifting of their footings and the easily-missed tightening of their grips on their golden arsenals proved that such fact to be true. The inhumane blood running within their veins was crackling with potent rage.

The young summoner could also felt such passion, for he also shared the sentiments of his summoned allies. He could feel the cracking fists of his balled hands, and the broiling of his blood running through his veins. Yet, as the master of these two powerful deities, he did not let himself to be drowned by such emotion. When reason began to falter, the young summoner realized that he had to be the one to restore it.

"…How amusing. So you hellspawns believe that you are able to outmatch the eons-worth mettle of the greatest of the four Daeva kings and his vassal?" Bishamonten dangerously picked his words with a precision of a sharp blade being drawn from its scabbard, while he carefully entered his combat mode. In response, his eight-armed partner also did the same thing silently. The atmosphere became so thick with tension, as each party began trading death glares to one another.

"On your-"

The two immortals' acceptance to the challenge was cut short when the surge of power flared out from behind them. The blanket of pressuring magnetites unexpectedly and instantly engulfed both parties with deluging energy. Although it was the substance that gave form to every supernatural being and fed the ever-nourishing power to their veins, the swift influx of magnetites was far from comforting to those affected; the overwhelming amount of the magical substances released in a specific and restricted area was felt painful rather than pleasant. The very space that was trapped by the thin veil of greenish force was thick with sickening density- freezing the air and every living being that was unfortunate enough to be within it.

Fortunately for the soon-to-clash opponents, such discomforting experience swiftly passed, as the veil of thickly concentrated magnetites fled into nothingness in a blink of an eye. The two gods and the others on the opposing side were disoriented by the after-effect of such sudden and extremely uncomfortable outflow of power. The two deities of arms staggered a little bit, trying to stabilize their footing. It was rather mild result of having flash-flushed by overbearing blast of magnetites. Yet, the ones to suffer significantly by the instant show of power were the redhead and her followers.

Although the group was still standing on their feet, it appeared that such deed was maintained with great difficulty- shown by their groggy bearings and the raspy breathing that they were doing presently. Still, the steely looks on their faces did not waver, a living proof to their determination. This bunch of devils in fleshling forms were indeed something else.

"You have to excuse my friends here, Lady Gremory." Raidou finally spoke to break the silence caused by the shock, while stepping away from his enormous allies. "Being the avenging aspects of the cosmic law and order, they have little love to the denizens of the infernal realm."

Raidou calmly spoke to the redhead with formal language that was used to address nobility. One thing he knew for sure that like human society, supernatural beings had their own divisions to differentiate the peasantry, the gentry and the nobility. Such thing was the order of nature, for the seat of power was reserved to those truly worth of such position, while the weaker beings flocked beneath these superior ones- seeking for security and prosperity. This fact might be sweetened with tales of honor, duty and noble cause; that beneath the mantle of power was responsibility to shield those without means to defend themselves. Yet, despite how glorified those tales were, they could not fathom the fact that power equals to authority; that it exists for its own reason, and those who command it has the very right to be right. Might makes things right, and it was the general and the only idea why this social division was born in the first place.

This trait was further engrossed by the devils, who prided themselves in their vanity. With more power they gained, the higher their standing will be among the rest, and with that, more respect were due to these powerful devils. Therefore, it was considered impolite to not addressing devils with their appropriate station. The young summoner learned such truth the hard way, especially when he was a greenhorn in terms of negotiation to the devils.

"…..The feeling is mutual." The redhead dryly shot, while catching for her breath. She had made a mighty effort to remain on her feet and resist the urge to lurch forward on all her four limbs. The same went to her friends, as all of them were trying to hoard the entire precious oxygen into their lungs. What they had felt before, could only be roughly described as being cemented alive in a pit; and it was certainly an extremely unpleasant sensation. They could felt their blood froze within their bloodstream and the air remain inert in their lungs. The stillness of their organs brought an utterly painful cold that could not be registered into their nerve receptors, for such haunting ache rent deep into their spiritual essence. For that moment, they all screamed but their tongues lay numb and their lips sealed shut, yet they all screamed nonetheless within the prison that way their bodies. Thankfully, it lasted in a flash, thus allowing them to remain in their composure without having to retch pathetically on the ground.

Even though the redhead was still struggling to restore her poise, she couldn't help but to be intrigued: Was such monstrous burst of power coming out from him, the boy in the black uniform?

"Apologies, it was my mistake. I should already step in when you have clearly shown to be unhostile to us." Raidou courteously expressed his confession of guilt to the girl with a slight bow. Despite of their surprise to the deed perpetrated by their master, the two deities reluctantly and wordlessly replicated such gesture as well, though it was only little bob of their heads. "Please forgive our rude manners, my lady. I am-"

"I know who you are, Raidou Kuzunoha. We are of the same school." The red-haired beauty cut his introduction tersely. "I am grateful that you are able to stop this faltering discussion turning into senseless struggle. My name is Rias Gremory, and these in a sense, are my retainers. As what your two….friends have said before, we are actually devils."

The fact that she knew his name did not astound the young summoner, for he recognized the girl as his previous stalker from her voice. The truth of her being a devil did not faze him too, since he already sensed her aura, along with several individuals back at school. The irregularly high concentration of magnetites they projected, particularly the red-haired girl, was too abnormal to be considered human. Yet, her appearance in the middle of the night and on such secluded area still made him wonder; was she following him from the school?

"While I like to introduce my friends to you, I am afraid that I have to cut this introduction short." Rias told the summoner. Her countenance once again turned panicky, as was her voice. "I have pressing matter that needs to be done, and that is concerning the boy behind you."

Raidou and his allies instinctively stole a glance to the lifeless body that lay on the ground behind his back, before turning back to the girl with a puzzle look on his face.

"…He's dead." Raidou stated monotonously. "What would a corpse be of use for you?"

"Technically, yes. But he still could be saved!" Rias impatiently countered. "And to do so, I need you and your friend to mo-"

"I am sorry to interrupt you, Lady Gremory." Raidou interjected, earning him a dissatisfied glare and an annoyed huff from the red-haired devil. "But who are you, to decide the life or death of this fellow, especially when the breath of life no longer clings on his body?"

"….I am aware that you may not approve this." The girl exasperatedly sighed. The look on her face was a mixed expression between understanding and irritation. "But you have to trust me on this. That boy is not destined to die yet."

"Not destined?" Raidou raised his question. "What do you mean?"

"Please, Kuzunoha-san, I know that you are entitled to answers and explanation about this." Rias hastily answered. "But the more time wasted on this idle chat, the less chance I have on saving that boy's life."

"So, please, Kuzunoha-san, let us pass and retrieve his body." She pleaded. The troubled tone of her words was sincere, and her restless expression only reinforced the fact of her being gravely distressed. Any man might immediately complied to such pleading, but not Raidou. The young summoner had profound understanding that devils were pretentious beings, who cheated and connived their way to achieve their goals. They might act innocent and pure to cloud their vile intentions, and being an accomplished summnoer, Raidou had no intention to fall into such ploy so gullibly.

Yet, before him was a disturbingly cute girl with an even disturbing beseeching looks that could melt any hearts; Raidou would have been ensnared to such charm if he didn't know better. The trouble that she spoke of seemed to be true, which made it even harder to decline her request. On the other hand, it could just be a ruse to realize some unknown agenda of these devils. Still, the question remained: what did they intend to do with the dead body? Should they revive the boy, what goal would they accomplish by such action?

Without a word, Raidou stepped aside, and the two Buddishm gods of war followed as well- clearing a path for the red-haired devil and her entourage to pass. The young summoner did not know what these devils intended to do with the body of the recent dead, nor would he know if the dead boy was going to be resurrected again. But one thing he knew for sure, and that was whatever came out from tonight's event, would reveal the path he needed to tread in order to solve the case in this world.

And so, he decided to play along.

"I thank you, Kuzunoha-san. This debt of mine to you will not be easily forgotten." She relievedly said while rushing to retrieve the corpse along with her friends. "I had wished that our first meeting wouldn't be on this kind of circumstances. Yet what passed is past."

Raidou silently nodded at her statement, while his two monstrous allies could only glower balefully at the pack of devils that scuttled nervously behind the redhead. Both the ponytailed girl and the blonde boy wore a wary looks upon their countenance, while the silver-haired one maintained her coolness. Despite the differences of their expression, they all kept on staying on guard-as evident by the combat ready posture that they were assuming presently. It was wise move, since all of them were under heavy and sharp scrutiny of the two gods of warfare, whose very purpose dictated them to vanquish every being that had strayed from the path of enlightenment; and devils were unfortunately fell upon such category.

The petite silver-haired girl immediately hauled the dead body unto her shoulder with relative ease; the size and the weight of the corpse didn't seem to bother her at the slightest. With the cadaver finally in her possession, Rias began to chant gibberish words, and in response the ground beneath her feet lit up with magical circle and formation of runes.

"I know that you have questions about things that have transpired tonight, Kuzunoha-san." Rias said; her mood turned a little cheerful than before. "And I promised you that you will have you answers. Tomorrow, meet me in-"

A powerful whip of air startled the group- distracting the girl from concluding her speech. Something had taken off to the sky with great velocity; the gush it caused drove dusts into their faces, blurring their vision momentarily. When the layer of dust finally thinned out, the crowd quickly diverted their sight to the cause of such distraction, only to find a winged figure soaring to the dark sky in a hasty yet clumsy flight.

"So she survives after all..." Raidou noted in his mind. Although utterly defeated, the fallen angel's being able to survive the merciless thunderstorm of Maziodyne was nothing short of a miracle itself.

"So, the all-compassionate Gautama has deemed it worthy to prolong her wretched life on this plane of existence." Bishamonten spoke in his deep, powerful golden irises of his three fiery eyes were glued to the inelegant flying creature on the dark sky.

"But not for long." His eight-armed Yakhsa vassal spat. His arms, brandishing different weapons in each of them, swung menacingly, while his muscled chest puffed upwardly. His face now bore a visage of a predator- a clear indication of his intention to hunt the retreating foe. "Say the word, Chakravartin, and we shall pursue that scoundrel."

"No." Raidou said firmly to the two giant of blue and red, without changing his gaze toward the wounded creature on the distance. "I know that you are more than able to catch up to her, but we are in unknown territory. Although unlikely, she may as well lead you into an ambush, and I don't like being ambushed."

The two deities silently nodded. The hard ferocity dawned on their faces made it hard to read their mind.

"Besides, I have a feeling that this is not our last meeting with her." Raidou assured the two divine beings, feeling their unuttered protests in his mind. "By letting her go, we could find out later if she is acting under the command from an unknown entity or by her own accord."

"Though I dislike the notion of letting the miscreant like her away, I see wisdom in your argument." Bishamonten was the first to speak up after the young summoner finished his explanation. He slackened his tense battle posture and relaxed the tight clench on his halberd. "Very well then, I shall adhere to your judgement, Chakravartin."

Atavaka grunted loudly to show his assent, while mirroring the action of the ruddy god of warfare. All of his hands relented their tight grip on the golden weapons.

"An escaping fallen angel is never good news." Rias breathed resignedly, redirecting the young summoner's attention to her once again. "But it can't be helped for this situation, I suppose. We are on very urgent matter after all."

"For you, maybe." Raidou deadpanned. "And about the answers to my questions…"

"Ufufufufu, you're the straight-to-the-business type, aren't you? I like that very much." Rias lightly chuckled, as she turned her face to the ponytailed girl behind her with a smug. The said devil harrumphed while turning her pouting face aside, making the redhead to chortle even more.

Raidou was confounded by such action, and strangely he felt slightly uneasy; was there something that she didn't tell him? The young summoner quickly filed the information away for later inquiry.

"I have to take my leave then, Kuzunoha-san." Rias told the summoner. "If you want answers, be sure to drop by to the Occult Research Club at the academy tomorrow, after school."

And with it, the redhead and her friends blinked out from his sight in a flash of crimson light.

"You have many things to explain, Rias Gremory." Raidou pondered, as he took one more glance toward the now-living boy and his teasing pals before turning back. "Will your answers bring me closer to uncover the mystery of this world?"

The gentle screeching of chalk on the broad green slate in front of the class room once again reverberated into his ears, ending the young summoner's pondering.

As promised, a blonde boy from last night incident came to his class after school, looking for the young summoner and unsurprisingly, his previously dead classmate. In his brief explanation, he informed to the two that he was tasked to pick Raidou and Issei Hyoudou to the anticipated meeting in the Occult Research Club. The brown-haired boy bore a confused looks upon his face when he was called by the handsome teen; and an even more bewildered expression when the blonde mentioned the name of the red-haired devil, whom he secretly had a crush on, had ordered for his presence in her clubroom. Although momentarily, Raidou could make out a trace of pride and joy in the brown-haired's eyes.

Wasting no time, the boys proceeded to the appointed place. The escort was an appreciated gesture of goodwill from the redhead's side, yet unfortunately it was…..spoiled with girlish squeals of delight from the female passers-by that accompanied them all the way to the assembly point. Somehow, the blonde that led Raidou and his mysterious classmate to the expected tryst, seemed to be a very popular individual in the school, particularly amongst the female population. Unexpectedly, the brown-haired boy was too, a celebrity in his own….reputation.

"Eww!" Cried a girl on the corridor where the trio ambled for the club room. "What does that pervert doing with Kiba-sempai?"

"I don't know. " Another girl replied with a dissatisfied tone. "Does his perversion take to another level? And now Kiba-sama becomes his latest object for his lust?"

A cacophony of disgusted screams erupted from the same mouths which previously heaped blissful moanings and cries of admiration to the flaxen-haired boy, as brief but vivid, disgusting scene of a boy love between the fair-haired idol and the hated schoolboy assaulted the girls' mind.

"Don't you dare soil our precious prince, you monster!" Such short and horrible imagery of mind immediately followed with a curse. One by one the girl voiced their revulsion toward the unfortunate guy.

"May god strike you down for you perversion, hentai!"

"I hope you just die, pervert!"

"Well, he was." Raidou chuckled at the truth. The said person beside him could only flinched at the sharp remarked hurled at him; His face was now filled with ticks of infuriated nerve, and his teeth clenched tight in an infuriated snarl. Raidou could only pity at the boy's predicament. It seemed the rumor of the teen's predicate as "The No. 1 Enemy of the Women of Kuoh Academy" was true after all. Although it served him right to be loathed by most of the female students of the school due to his habit as a peeping tom, the young summoner couldn't help to feel a slight sympathy for the boy.

"And who's that guy?" Another female student pitched in; this time, the question was directed to the stranger of the three- the one with black school cap on his head, and the dull school costume of the same color on his body. His clothing, unlike the academy uniform, had made him sticking out like a sore thumb among his companions.

"I don't know." Her friend coolly replied, but the hint of curiosity didn't leave her voice. "I think he is the exchange student or something like that."

"He looks like a weirdo in that outfit." Said the other with an offending tone. "Besides, who in this time still wear that kind of cap?"

The rest laughed in response. Yet none of these affronted the young summoner. He had seen people with an even stranger sense of fashion in this world through a very helpful thing called the "internet". Furthermore, he knew that those remarks were simply the product of a subjective point of view; therefore, Raidou had no power over such statement, no matter how shallow it was. Trying to change it would be a waste of time and energy, and Raidou had not the habit in being inefficient. In addition, he was quite proud with the uniform of the glorious Imperial student of Japan; would his opinion change because of some petty remarks from few gossiping girls?

"I hope his quirky style is not infectious to Kiba-sama." One of the laughing student commented.

"I hope so." The other added. "But even if it happens, I'll still love him nonetheless!"

Another streak of girlish squeals rang out in the corridor, but the boys remained onward.

"Well, here we are." Said the blonde cheerfully. "The occult research club!"

The trio finally arrived at the destination after passing into the old school building. What barred them from entering the room were two large mahogany doors. With a gentle but strong knock on the wooden entrance by the blonde, a permission of entry was given by a faint voice from the other side. Thus, without wasting time, the boy turned the gilded handle, permitting the two guests to go inside. Issei Hyoudou, unlike his awfully silent and composed classmate, was very nervous. He had not the slightest idea of why his obscure presence was requested personally by the one of the most renowned beauties of Kuoh Academy, and such thought certainly sparked his curiosity. However, the prospect of meeting the bombshell that was the president of occult research club was overwhelming his reasons; and in no time, he and his quiet friend walked inside.

The brown-haired boy was overjoyed; he did not only find the red-haired beauty, but also the other famed 'onee-san' of the Kuoh academy in the same room. As for his classmate in black gakuran, he had on himself a very opposite expression.

Raidou was quite…unpleased. He found the club room to be rather packed with people. The young summoner did find the persons he met last night- minus the fallen angel, of course. But, he too found several unknown individuals to be in the same room. While the red-haired president of the club was lounging comfortably on the cushioned chair behind a large timber desk, the mysterious guests sat on a large sofa facing Rias' retainers who were doing the same on the identical couch. A short, rectangular wooden slab put a division between the two couches, and upon its smooth surface were several neatly placed cups, already filled with warm brew of a tea.

There were three of them, these mysterious visitors, and none of them had the normal presence of a human.

Raidou slightly cursed under his breath, as he began to regret his decision of not bringing his katana and his revolver. Even though his face kept on being impassive, he grimaced inwardly. The summoner knew that last night encounter must have ingrained the minds of the red-haired devil and her friends of the magnitude of his power. What he didn't knew…well, he actually knew but didn't think it would happen, was that those devils would certainly anticipated for any unwanted turn of event that he was capable to do in this meeting. It was a logical and smart move for Rias Gremory to acquire more back-ups for this discussion. It was wise of her to do so, and fool of Raidou to naively believe that the conversation would be held exclusively between him, her and her followers. Still, this deviation of his prediction was still within his boundary of recouping.

The young summoner might feel quite vulnerable without his blade and his gun. Then again, what would be his excuses if one day, he suddenly came into the school ground brandishing weapons, with his signature cloak fluttering over his body? And having numerous experience of being in hot waters more than once, Raidou had a habit in preparing himself for any circumstances. It might because of his familiar habit in over-suspicion starting rub off on him, but the young summoner felt a little bit better to be over-prepared rather than under-prepared.

Feeling the coldness of particularly small items that was already waiting in a hidden pocket, located within the right sleeve of his black shirt, Raidou was ready for anything that would arise from the discussion.

As he walked further into the interior of the room, Raidou used his chance to gain a better look on the unrecognized personae. One of the guests was a bespectacled girl with short ebony hair. The other was a slightly taller girl with purple-framed glasses in front of her eyes, and a lengthy hair of the same color with the previous girl. Finally, the last one was a male, with an unkempt dirty blonde hair. Unlike the two girls on the same couch who kept their strict, business-like expression tight, the boy had a smug grin on his face. All in all, the atmosphere inside the club room radiated easiness, with the redhead and her followers flashing smiles on their face-except for the same silver-haired girl who remained in her disinterested countenance.

"Welcome, Issei-kun! Raidou-kun!" Rias greeted the arriving guests warmly. Somehow, she looked a little bit heady with the blossoming grin on her pinkish face. She looked extremely jubilant for their arrival. "I am glad that you come. Akeno, give them some space to seat please!"

The ponytailed one responded happily to such order by rising to her feet and ambling casually to the redhead's side. The two boys then sat on the recently provided place, familiarizing themselves to the ambience of the room. The brown-haired Issei Hyoudou, had put on a dumb-looking, awe-struck face as he drank the pleasing magnetism that both Rias Gremory and her ponytailed friend radiated; A contrast to his silent companion beside him, who still kept his calm demeanor on. Unknown to the boy and probably to the rest of the occupants of the sitting room, the boy in unusual uniform had readied an item under his sleeve.

"Now, before we begin, I think it will be best if we are to introduce ourselves." Rias announced cheerfully. The blonde, after sealing the door, had moved to take his place at the redhead's other side with his arms crossed. He, too had put on a smile even if it was a false one, as evident by the nervous tapping of his fingers on his upper limb.

"It is indeed a good idea, Rias." The one with the short black hair agreed in her authoritative tone. Through her thin blue-framed glasses, the girl peered the two boys in front of her with studious intent, sizing the boys carefully and thoroughly. "As the president of the student council, I believe I should go first."

The rest bobbed their heads, giving their wordless accord to the girl's notion.

"My name is Sona Sitri, third class student." The student council president placed her hand on her chest in a noble-like manner. The solemnity of her face didn't waver. "And to save some time, I will introduce my equerries here." She shifted the gesture of her hand toward the persons sitting on her sides.

"This is my secretary, Tsubaki Shinra, also a third class student." Her open palm stopped in front of the long-haired girl on her right.

"It's an honor to meet you." The introduced female student politely nodded her head in response. She inherited the president's cool and stern conduct.

"And this one is the latest member of the student council, Genshirou Saji, first class student." Sona continued with her introduction as she repositioned her gesture to the boy on her left.

"Hiya!" The boy merrily waved one of his hands upward, with a wide grin plastered on his face. Unlike the seriousness that his compatriots had displayed, Genshirou Saji's expression and comportment projected an air of brashness and confidence, as if he was impatiently anticipating for something to happen.

"I guess it's my turn then." Rias spoke again. "As you all may know, I am Rias gremory, third class student and the president of occult research club. Members, please introduce yourselves."

"I am Himejima Akeno, third class student!" The ponytailed addressed the visitors cheerfully. At the same time, the tall black-haired beauty purposely pushed her bountiful chest upward with her folded arms. Such teasing gesture was not lost to Issei and Saji, as both boys now stared intently to the girl's mammary flesh with their gaping jaw. The said girl smiled mischievously at the two boys' reaction. It was certain that she was expecting such attention from them.

"I am Kiba Yuuto, second class student." The blonde boy standing at the other side of Rias politely bowed with one of his hands slapped across his chest. Such courteous presentation was noticed by all, except for the two boys of brown and palish yellow hair, who still had their gaze fastened on Akeno's impressive mounds. However, to Raidou's amusement, this time he found the secretary of the student council bearing a craving look towards the golden-haired boy. With hue of pinkish-red plastering on the surface of her cheeks, Tsubaki Shinra beamed the said student with twinkling eyes behind her spectacles, while quietly breathed out a delightful moan.

"….Koneko Toujou, first class." The small girl with silver hair beside Raidou spoke in an even tone, and with an even countenance. As a response to her very succinct explanation on her identity, Raidou bobbed his head to the little girl, which gesture was surprisingly answered in the same manner by the said girl.

"And newcomers, would you mind tell us who you are?" Rias said, particularly addressing Issei, as she noticed the brown haired boy was still captivated by the ponytailed's chest. The said boy was quickly distracted from his train of thought, and wiped the already collecting dribble on his lower lip. The summoner in black gakuran beside him decided it was wise not to wonder what kind of imagination that the boy had to effect such biological reaction.

"Um..ah..I am Issei Hyoudou, second class student." The brown-haired clumsily addressed the people in the room. He put on a dumb-looking smile while scratching the back of his head.

"And I am Raidou Kuzunoha, a classmate to Hyoudou-san here." The young summoner civilly stated his name. Even if he was the last person to identify himself, the majority of the occupants had their eyes fixed on him, especially the individuals from the student council. It was no doubt that the red-haired president had told them about the happening last night, which in Raidou's certainty- had heavily highlighted on his otherworldly allies and probably the unknown burst of power.

"Well, as the president of the Occult Research Club, I welcome all of you once again." Rias lively said as she leaned on her desk; her elbow resting on the table's surface while her fingers twiddling playfully to one another. "With our little introduction concluded, we can start with the discussion."

"Errmm….excuse me, Gremory-sempai." Issei Hyoudou raised his hand; the look of befuddlement was dawned in his face. "What are we discussing about exactly? You know that I am not a part of your club or the student council, do you? And you are also not in any of them, right, Kuzunoha-san?"

"No, I am not." Raidou shook his head to convey his answer. Silently, he noticed the boy to be reasonably quick; perhaps the unpleasant rumor on the brown-haired didn't do justice on his real self after all.

"My, my, I don't expect such question to be coming out from you, Issei-kun." Rias chuckled, yet the said boy didn't bristle at such comment. Instead, he lowered his head sheepishly with an embarrassed smile. "But, it is true that you both aren't members of any of these clubs, but what we are going to discuss right now, is not the issues of our clubs. No, what we are going to discuss is why you are here. Do you know why you are here, Issei-kun?"

The boy awkwardly moved his head to left and right, expressing his lack of knowledge in what the redhead was trying to say. The president only smiled afterwards.

"And I will tell you the reason, Issei-kun, and in turn, fulfilling the end of my bargain to you, Raidou-kun." Rias turned her jolly gaze toward the boy with the student cap, who looked back at her with a face of indifference. Issei was surprised when the red-haired beauty mentioned about a 'bargain' between her and the odd transfer student, who hardly batted an eye at the president's attractiveness. Had they met before?

"I thank you for such consideration, Gremory-sempai." Raidou replied. His addressing the president of the occult research club with honorific made the brown-haired to raise his brow in suspicion. Unfortunately, his look of intent was disregarded by the transfer student, as he continued on conversing with the president of the occult research club. "Although I remember nothing of you saying that our little discussion here will include…outside party."

The sharpness of his message was not lost to everyone, except for Issei, who was still being clueless on what's going on. Uneasy tension began to creep into the atmosphere and as result, everyone, except for the brown-haired boy, now put a sour appearance on their visages. The blonde- Genshirou Saji- immediately rose to his feet with an angry look in his face.

"What do you mean by that?" The boy pointed out his finger toward the young summoner. Irritation of being slighted was thick in his voice.

"I believe he was saying that we, members of the student council, are uninvited in this discussion." The secretary icily added while fixing her spectacles with one hand. Her cold, piercing stare was aimed keenly on the young summoner's eyes, as if those bright yellow eyes of hers were trying to drill a hole into his brain with its frozen fury. "Isn't it so, Kuzunoha-san?"

"Forgive me if you feel offended, Tsubaki-sempai." Raidou straightened himself up, but his speech expressed no trace of guilt. He didn't even flinch at the angry stare that the raven-haired girl had directed at him. "I just prefer to have no…..unknown variables in this matter with Lady Gremory here. Besides, I believe that you along with Sitri-sempai and Genshirou-san, are not exatcly here on the student council business, are you?"

"Why, you arrogant-"

"ENOUGH!" The student council president banged her cup loudly on the wooden table, silencing the blonde from uttering his discontent. With a meaningful scowl she gave to her fair-haired associate, Sona managed to make the boy to return to his seat, albeit the said person was doing so begrudgingly. With an elegant motion, she then turned her sight to the boy who had caused such malcontent to her followers.

"It's true, Kuzunoha-san, that we are here not on the student council affairs." Sona replied in a serious tone. Her articulation was flawless, showing no hint of negative emotion. "We are here, simply as a favor to Gremory-san."

"That's right, Raidou-kun. I personally ask her for help." Rias pitched in with no lesser solemnity in her voice. "I have informed my friend, Sona here about things that had transpired yesterday."

"So, I assume she, along with her friends here, are acting as watch dogs in this conversation then." Raidou noted sharply. The strong words that he uttered so indifferently shocked his brown-haired classmate, and most likely upset the rest- although some of them were very skilled in masking their inner face. Tension began to rise into its uncomfortable level as all eyes were now fixated to the boy with the student cap. Yet, the boy in black gakuran remained in his unchanging demeanor, as if he was unaffected by their death-glares.

The fact of his being rude to the members of the occult research slub and the student council was however not lost to the young summoner. On the condition that such affair was happening in his world and those he affronted were human beings, Raidou would have already profusely begging for their forgiveness. Yet given the fact that he was currently in another world which he had little knowledge about it, and the people he confronted presently were by any means anything but human beings, the young summoner had to wittily play his diplomatic card in this conversation.

Devils, unlike humans, had very different outlook on everything, since devils lived in a warped realm so twisted from the material one. Although many of these supernatural beings might have the faces and speeches that spoke of simple virtues such as equality, justice and the likes, all of them were equally fickle and treacherous. With the reality of the young summoner being in a stranger world, this truth became even scarier than before.

Even though he felt contrite for his uncouth behavior to these 'humanly-looking' devils, whose words and expressions spoke nothing but friendly sincerity, Raidou had no choice but to gauge these strange supernatural creatures in order to understand their purpose.

"….They are simply here because of concern, Kuzunoha-san." The red-haired president rose from her seat with a stern look on her face, no longer cheerfully addressing him by the first name. "They are here to ensure no harm would befall to all of us in this room, and to everyone who might still be in the school premises. I know you might be uncomfortable to this arrangement, Kuzunoha-san, but we seek no quarrel with you."

"So this is simply a preemptive measure then." Raidou noted levelly.

"It is so." Sona chimed in. "I and my friends are here to ensure that you would not endanger innocent lives in this institution, Kuzunoha-san, especially when I heard about your…'unusual' power from Rias."

"Our kind are not actively seeking for violence, you know." The ponytailed girl added with a tone of resentment.

"Heh, now I become the villain." Raidou broke a small curl on one edge of his lips, amused by the irony happening before his eyes. It seemed these 'devils', as how Bishamonten and Atavaka had said before, were genuinely fearful and curious of his strength, and consequently, they anticipated it by bringing more support to this conversation. Feeling satisfied to find his fears unconfirmed and utterly remorseful for his actions and words, the devil summoner decided to end his charade.

"I see." Raidou replied. "You want me to compromise with this arrangement because of your being uneasy with me."

"Please, Kuzunoha-san. We are only concerned." Rias pled with utter reluctance. It was clear that her pride was wounded, yet she swallowed her dignity nonetheless. It was a rare trait for a devil indeed. "It's just logical for us to do so, for we have no clear idea on the full extent of your…talent."

"The fear of the unknown, eh?" Raidou thought. "You're more alike to human rather than devil, Rias Gremory."

"I-if somehow this arrangement did not suit your well, then you'll not be forced to stay here, Kuzunoha-san." The red-haired president spoke with great reluctance. "Although, I really, really want to honor my end of the bargain to you."

Silence lingered after the president of the occult research club spoke her mind. The members of the said club, along with those from the student council, were tensed. The silence from the boy in black could hardly be registered as his approval, and now they were facing the probability of a violent clash with transfer student.

They had thought the boy would leave with disagreement, but knowing he was an enigma, they couldn't tell if his presence here was simply because the reaction to their invitation, or simply as a harm for their lives. His action on the park last night did not speak of foe to the members of the devils of occult research club, but then again, he did not mention being their friends either. There's no definite guarantee that the youngster with the student cap would not cause any harm to them. The president had asked her childhood friend's aid for this reason, but she had personally wished that nothing would escalate from a mere debate.

But the present situation seemed to be unlikely. Rias regretted that she might have dragged her childhood friend and her followers to the mess of her own. So, in silence and with thoughts of their own, the devils in human form prepared for the unwanted to happen - except for the brown-haired boy, who was being clueless as ever.

Then, unexpected by anyone, the boy with sideburns rose from his seat-standing straight on his two feet and with his stony expression facing the president of the occult research club. In one swift motion, the boy bowed deeply to her, confusing the said girl, along with everyone else.

"…..err, what are you doing, Kuzunoha-san?" The president of the occult research club said in baffelement. She was relieved to find her fears unconfirmed, but the action of the transfer student in black gakuran still puzzled her immensely.

"I seek for forgiveness, Gremory-sempai, and to you, too Sitri-sempai. It was not my intention to slight you and your friends." Raidou responded apologetically without pulling his head up. "Like you, I too was concerned being in this alien environment. And so I decided to test you all, if you are truly meant your words. I am glad that I was mistaken and quite regretful for my bad manners. I hope that you can afford a little clemency for my conducts."

"Alien environment?" The boy's statement of apology posed the same question in all his listeners' mind. What was the reason for the newcomer to say so?

"Please raise you head up, Kuzunoha-san." Rias Gremory calmly asked, with the said boy complied immediately and silently. "Be seated, please."

Others watched silently as the boy in black gakuran obeyed the red-haired's command without commenting. All eyes were now fixed tightly at him with greater intensity and curiosity.

"I know I should be the one who should be explaining things to you and Issei-kun." Rias continued with seriousness dawned in her face. However, the girl managed to broke a small smile, showing her intent to pry more answers from the newcomer. "But somehow I feel that you are going to be the one explaining things to me and everyone here, Raidou-kun."

"Then, why don't we begin, Gremory-sempai?"

And as promised, the president of the occult research club fulfilled her end of the bargain. With the help of the student council president, Rias Gremory elucidated the nature of the parallel world to the young summoner and his classmate; divulging the existence of the spiritual realms such as heaven and hell, their inhabitants, the crisis that they were facing presently, and the compromises that they had to take for their survival. Not only that, the girls also revealed the intervention that these supernatural beings had to undertake upon the realm of mortals as part of their means of survival.

The conversation itself was actually an interesting commotion. The members of the student council and the occult research club were expecting the two boys to be dismayed by the revelation. Unfortunately, it was partly happening, since the reaction that the invited guests were different from what they hoped for. The brown-haired Issei was not dismayed- he was actually dumbfounded, and utterly bewildered; disbelieving what he had heard from both presidents of different clubs, as evident by his dumbstruck expression. In other hand, Raidou Kuzunoha remained in his cool persona; and puzzling the others, the boy took out a small memo and a pen from the pouch of his pants, and started jotting down the information he received from the explanation. Once in a while, the boy with the student cap would frown for a moment when a particular subject was mentioned, namely the Great War and its aftermath, yet it didn't stay long. The boy did ask few questions, but they were inconsequential, and nothing of great importance.

For the nature of the spokeswomen in such dialogue was not natural in the first place, so was the conversation itself. Unable to contain his puzzlement any longer, Issei Hyoudou voiced his disbelief, and to his shock, the student council president and the occult research club president revealed the physical characteristic of the devils for the answer. The brown-haired boy's mouth was left ajar and his eyes extended to the size of light bulbs, as the result of witnessing the batlike wings and pointed tails that sprouted from their backs. Some stifled their laughter after seeing the brown-haired's reaction, while other remained impassive. The boy in black gakuran was still on his indifferent persona, yet it was not for long.

When the subject of the conversation shifted to the reason of why there was an attempt made for his brown-haired classmate's life, Raidou's expression turned into a curious one. In a not-so-short moment, both Rias and Sona divulged the existence of sacred gears-rare instruments of Godly origin that capable of performing miraculous feats. Despite of the fact that these sacred gears possessed the power that altered the balance of the universe, and highly coveted by the three great factions that survived after the Great War, these items were scattered randomly among the sentient creations of the Almighty- and sometimes, some of them fell to the hand of the lesser beings. Finally, as the tip of the iceberg to such revelation, among those sacred gears, there were several unique artifacts called "Longinus"- weapons that were solely made to slay their Creator- God Himself. If sacred gears were highly coveted by the dominating factions of devils, angels and fallen angels alike, then Longinus were the items that those factions willing to die and to kill for.

As had been explained before, these Longinus too were indiscriminately found on the unlikeliest of individuals. Those of faith might call it predetermined, that the Almighty One had planned a great destiny upon the shoulders of men and women who were bestowed by these weapons. But the truth might not be so glamorous. As Raidou had suspected, and in turn, answering his question of why a devil like Rias Gremory took a great length to revive a mortal like his brown-haired classmate, was that the boy Issei Hyoudou possessed one of the Longinus within him.

Raidou understood her reason to not let such a powerful object fell to the greedy clutches of the fallen angels, or to be lost forever with the boy's demise. However, he inwardly disapproved her method of reviving the boy, not to mention whether it was her intention or not to have the sacred gear that lay within the boy.

When a mortal was fused with a demon, the stronger personality will overwhelm the other, and took control of the body- slowly changing the physique of the host into the devilish form. In rare occasions, the human psyche might be able to rein the demonic side at bay, maintaining authority on his or her own body, and benefitting by drawing extraordinary power from the 'other' tenant that occupy the same body. Yet in the end, such individual would already be a changed person, for his appearance would be shed for the newer one that bore the evidence of demonic power. However, it was a different case for Issei Hyoudou for he was not simply brought back to life through magical power; he was actually reincarnated into a devil, through the help of devilish artifact dubbed "the evil pieces".

Although the boy clearly still retained his memories, his character, and his physiology, Issei Hyoudou could no longer be called a human. Like the rest of the guests in the clubroom, the typical stench that devils projected was all over his body, although it was milder than the rest. The young summoner was apprehensive to the manner of what his brown-haired classmate was resurrected into. His life was saved of course, as the red haired devil had promised- Yet, not as a mortal, but as a devil. The young summoner didn't utter any disagreement to this matter, yet he was very far than being pleased. He knew, from the information that the girls had told him, what the Great War had caused to the population of the three great factions, and what the devils must do to bolster their numbers-in order to restore their power to contend with other forces. Raidou understood, but he didn't have any sympathy for such deed.

For a human being to be changed into a devil is like an amoeba changing into a primate; it was a transformation of the highest order. Such matter of alteration of a creature was beyond the edges of evolution, since not only its physiology and psychology were changed, but also its nature of existence. This reincarnation was an act of uplifting a lesser creature into a being of higher dimension. The outcome would be a life so very apart from the previous one- with different rules to adhere, warped point of view to understand, and brutal way of life to endure.

This profoundly twisted act of uplifting surely didn't go well personally for Raidou, since the act was clearly a gross violation to the balance of the world, and the young summoner was a sworn to uphold the balance. But knowing that he was not on his world, and the realm he was currently at had its balance broken so long ago- replaced only with a husk of order that three factions had parlayed for, Raidou acceded such thoughts away.

Still, he didn't forget the implication coming from such deed, and surely some of his 'allies' who had the first experience with this strange world devils, felt the same way. This simple act of resurrection that the red-haired devil had done might seem harmless, but for a seasoned summoner like Raidou, such feat was like a ripple on water; a single tip might affect the course not only of this world but also the rest.

Another thing that disturbed the young summoner was the presence of other humanly-looking devils in the room. Aside from Sona and Rias, who had claimed to be the pure-blooded devils, the rest of the guests were introduced by their respective masters as reincarnated devils. Raidou had no idea of the background of these people before they were 'uplifted', or the reasons of why they became one, since it was clear that they didn't possess the longinus that Issei Hyoudou had. Whatever the speculation that the young summoner had on this matter, he rested the question into his mind for future investigation.

After a short demonstration of Issei Hyoudou and Genshirou Saji materializing their sacred gears (which extremely surprised the prior), the two girls finished their explanation at long last. Sparing no time after the long, one-sided lecture, the red-haired president of the occult research club immediately sent an intense glare toward the newcomer in black gakuran. The mute glare that she hurled toward Raidou loudly demanded the young summoner to explain who he really was; and soon, everyone in the room was infected with the same eyes that were directed to the newcomer with a student cap.

What would Raidou do in this situation?

"So you explained everything to these devils?" The black feline prodded. The cat was sitting on a short table before the summoner; and behind him, sitting on her own folded legs, was a woman in a white priestly garb of a nun. Like the herald of Yatagarasu, the holy woman had her entire head covered by a long covering of spotless fabric. She was undoubtedly the agent of the Yatagarasu that the herald spoke of.

"No, Gouto, I just told them that I am just a boy who recently transferred to this school from a rural one in Yamagata prefecture." Raidou replied, to both the cat and the nun, who was observing him with a silent, but punctilious gaze. "About my power, I just told them that I am a descendant from a powerful Shugenja (Mountain Sage) who had the ability in enlisting aid from spiritual beings."

"And how they responded to such answer?" The nun raised her question. As a Yatagarasu's head of operation who was responsible for every field agents under her, the nun in white had the obligation to inquire every findings that her agents had discovered.

"They bought it, except for the two- the student council's president Sona Sitri and the occult research club's president Rias Gremory." The boy calmly answered, as he knew that he was being interrogated by his superior. This was a regular drill for a field agent like him. "The two seemed to be skeptical to the answer that I gave them, but they had yet to voice their doubt. It was not surprised though, to find them doubtful to my story- since the two claimed to be hailing from the bloodline of Sitri and Gremory."

"Mhmm." Gouto responded with a concurring murmur. "Those are the nobilities of the infernal realm after all. To successfully telling them a lie would an impossible feat to do for a human."

"Yet they are still left unaware to the truth of who you are and what do you come for." Quipped the nun. "Tell me, Raidou, what drove you to tell falsehood to them?"

"Although these devils claimed that their cause was just and that they do not seek any harm upon human race, I still wouldn't quickly assume them to be our allies yet. From what had transpired yesterday and the information they gave me today, it seems that the devils of this world are simply seeking to live in peace along with the humankind. But this is merely a conjecture, with many unknown variables still lying around. That's why I decided not to trust them yet with my real identity and purpose."

"These unknown 'variables' that you spoke of." The woman in white said. "Please elaborate them."

"First was that although I had had a rough encounter with a fallen angel of this world, it was with a single creature, so I can't deduce that all the fallen angels are evil, as depicted by the devils. Second was the existence of these sacred gears and Longinus; the presidents of the two clubs claimed that their factions are trying to prevent these powerful items from falling into the wrong hands, yet I am still looking for any evidence to show me that their hands are the right one. Added with their keen fixation on having such items, as shown by Issei Hyoudou's ressu-I mean, reincarnation by Rias Gremory, and Genshirou Saji's claiming to be Sona Sitri's follower, I am now certain that these devils are purely seeking for power to strengthen their 'peerage'- a term for their band of followers."

"They are devils after all, Raidou, notwithstanding the pretty façade that they wear." The summoner's cat familiar piped in. "Every action they undertake serves only their agenda."

"Very true, Gouto-douji." The woman in priestly garb remarked neutrally. "Please continue, Raidou."

"Lastly, I still have not met the representative from the angel faction, or anything to confirm the reliability of the stories that the devils had told me. Therefore, I concluded that it is still too early for us to consider them to be our friends yet."

"I see." The nun slightly bobbed her head. "It is vital for us to keep ourselves and our operation here to be discreet as long as possible. What you have done in dealing with the devils of this world is reasonably prudent, young Kuzunoha."

"It's just a logical thing to do, ma'am." Raidou nodded at the praise given to him. Although his superior had her expression concealed under the shadow of her hood, the young summoner could tell that she was pleased with the report. Raidou had related to the agent of Yatagarasu the confrontation in the park on the previous night and the small talk that he had after school for almost two hours straight. As it was required for a field agent to give account on all findings and information that he had found, Raidou immediately went to the humble abode of this world agent of Yatagarasu, which was a small Shinto temple, situated on the rural area not far from the town.

All in all, a day was wasted solely on receiving and relaying information. But, in Raidou's opinion, it was a productive day not only for himself, but also for his familiar and superior. Such information, even though it was scarce and hardly able to explain things regarding the problem in the Akasaka Corridor, it was enough for Raidou and the Yatagarasu organization to understand what they were going to face in this whole new world.

"So, Raidou, what is your analysis on the information that you have learned so far?" The nun in white was back on questioning the boy.

"Honestly, ma'am? I personally believe that it is a concoction of lies." Raidou responded grimly. "There are many things in this world devil's story that left rooms for doubt, especially about the Great War, its aftermath and the major factions of the otherworldly beings of this realm."

"I see." The nun of Yatagarasu placed a hand on her chin. "You do not believe that God, according to their story, was dead, don't you?"

Raidou wordlessly bobbed his head in agreement, as memories of the past event surged back to his brain. He had faced The Almighty One at the climax of the great battle of the Capital, and it was the single, most terrifyingly difficult struggle for his life.

At the peak of the "Lonely Spirit Case", the young summoner, through the help of his friends and allies, stepped through the massive portal that previously loomed over the Diet parliamentary building, and ascended into the Eternal Kingdom to face the First Cause of the entire existence.

Arriving in a circular dome of rotating lights, Raidou Kuzunoha came face to face with the Almighty Maker of worlds.

"Fallen Son of Adam." An amalgamation of myriad voices spoken at the same time by one will rumbled out; His terrible Voice that uttered no syllable rang deep within the recess of the boy's mind. Even if it was simply an echo of sounds, the magnitude of His power It carried stung deeply into the boy's bone and flesh.

"You have come so far….only to pay your due."

Before the young summoner was a…..Being, an Entity so perfect in every aspect, so majestic and yet so….warped. Was men truly made from This….Being's image?

"Come…..let down your yoke of life.

The air that He projected around was choking with His absolute authority, forcing the boy to gasp for a breath.

"Rest…..Lie on the pastures that I, The Good Shepherd, have laid for you."

The abundant magnetites stored within the young summoner to summon his allies, were used against him. The very ligaments and tendons under his skin were drooping limply. His knees began to creak as the boy fell to the immaculate ground.

"Accept your fate…be free from the illusion of purpose, and return to your root, as my creation."

His body remained motionless as the crushing magnetites, like an ever-embracing gravity, restrained him forcefully to the floor. The boy tried to resist, yet such endeavor proved to be extremely difficult- especially when his lungs were forcefully inflated with powerful energy, and his form was anchored with his own power.

"Forget your duties…Forget your friends….Forget who you are."

His eyelids turned heavy, as the last ounces of resistance within the young summoner fleeted away. The suggestions that The Being ordered felt like a sweeter option rather than his failing struggles for life. His senses began to crumble away to the darkness.

"Forget everything….and die."

The authoritative words of The Being quickly penetrated its way into the young summoner's mind, and without any resistance, every cell of his body complied. One by one, Raidou's organs began to shut down by themselves, leaving him inert like a corpse. The only thing that was left was his vision, which could only behold the Majestic Terror with despair, while slowly fading away.

In his last ditch of defiant attempt to fight against The Insurmountable Foe, the summoner focused his mind to fight of the power of His influence that had robbed his control of body, but his efforts were to no avail.

Was this the end? Was everything that I have done not enough? What…have I done?...Who ..am.I.?

Questions after questions assaulted the failing mind, as it was claimed by the darkness. A sliver of resistance- an instinctive reaction to preserve life kicked in, only to be defeated by the overwhelming peace of the dead. His consciousness failed him at last, throwing his psyche into a lightless abyss.

Seconds felt to have lasted for decades, as Raidou, formless and shapeless, kept on falling into the dark chasm below. Left alone in complete blackness, with everything he gained turned against him; Raidou lay on the unseen precipice of his existence while unseen forces dragged him further in to the depths without any signs of ever reaching the bottom.

In the blackness of nothingness, with howling winds shrieking all over the place, the summoner's will became to falter. He had been defeated. All of his might that he had built lay futile. The fate of his world and humanity had been sealed.

He had failed his duty, his friends, and most importantly,

Her.

Will he die? Must he comply and plunged himself to nothingness?

"Yes."

Yet, before his ethereal form could move, a ghost of an arm, palish green in color, shot out from above and coiled around him. The eerie light it projected burned away the slithering darkness that dominated his form.

"No!"

It was sad voice of an angel that he knew in his life. She had a long ebonite hair on her porcelain face. Many saw her as a weakling, but her tenacity and her willpower proved otherwise. What was her name?

"Get up, Raidou! It is not the time to sleep yet!"

More ghostly arms stretched themselves from nothingness to grab the summoner's formless awareness, and like the previous one, they were accompanied by a voice. This time, it was an angry command of a brother. Gone was his cheerful tone, only to be replaced with stern and commanding tone, yet tempered with concern and encouragement. What was his name?

"You are not alone in this. Let me share your burden in this fight."

It was the voice of a mentor, cursed in an eternal flesh of a beast. Despite of his unending predicament, the master always accompanied the boy through thick and thin. His counsel, his guidance and his companionship had made him the boy's truest friend. What was his name?

"Rise, son of fox, rise. Thou do not defeat me, only to die here."

"On your feet, fourteenth. I do not serve the long line of your family's name, only to see you be brought low by this Creature!"

"Don't die, master! You can't die here!"

More and more voices rang out, pushing away the weeping silence of the abyss, while more hands wrapped around the summoner's ghostly body. The dark chasm where the boy was began to light up. With the darkness forced to retreat from the ever growing light, strength surge to the boy's vein and soon, memories returned like an angry torrent.

Magnetites. They were not simply a magical matter of power to bend the will of supernatural beings. They were the proof of bond, of loyalty nurtured and of friendship tested. They were the evidence of trust unbroken and unity found; the manifestation of determination and will unfailing. They were the mark of tribulation overcame and hardship passed.

In the end, they were simply mortal devices, and could be turned against the one who commanded them.

But for Raidou, for the young summoner who had bled alongside with his friends, of both mortal and immortal origins, these links were chains tempered by fiercest flame of hardships, only to be stronger in the process. Therefore, they couldn't be broken or turned so easily, even by The Almighty himself.

Letting himself to be pulled by the wraithlike arms, the psyche of the young summoner resurfaced into his mortal vessel once again- and in a flash of greenish light, the boy freed himself from the unseen chain that bound him to the ground.

As he pulled himself to his feet and prepared himself into his combat stance, The Voice once again reverberated, but this time, it was not solely in his mind. Quaking the bright circular room with His thousand sounds voice with a tone of slight anger, The Being spoke again.

"So….you decided to contest Me, fallen son of Adam…Yet another sin, commited in the illusion of free will."

Raidou pulled out his sword; a katana imbued by the power of the arch-betrayer had its gleaming edge pointed against the Ultimate One.

"You believe that the power of your bond gives you strength, while in truth, it was simply a flaw in My grand plan for the universe. A flaw that I will soon rectify."

The young summoner immediately reached for the white bandolier across his body, and in a single fluid motion, the boy pulled out a pair of metallic tubes. The two summoning catalysts in the clutch of his fingers were now glinting with green light from magnetites.

"You think you can won…when it is clearly the opposite."

Without any second thought or doubt, the young summoner, armed in both spirit and flesh, charged to The Supreme One.

"So be it."

"He was driven back, after His material form was vanquished. But other than that, no, I don't believe he can be truly killed, either with weapons of unknown origins or not." Raidou said. "and I don't believe with the other casualties as well, especially one of them was the requester of this case."

"And what about these 'sacred gears' and 'longinus'?" The agent continued with her inquiry. "Could they be the source of the ongoing problem in the Akasaka corridor?"

"I think not, ma'am. It's true that these artifacts so called "sacred gears" and "Longinus", specifically those that belonged to Issei Hyoudou and Genshirou Saji, gave off an unusual atmosphere of a living creature rather than a simple magical tool. It is in my firm belief that something lay dormant within those weapons, and if these…..things are to be awaken, surely a greater power could be unleashed through those instruments of combat. I haven't seen this magical items being implemented in a battle, so I can't truly say about the destruction that they could cause. However, deducting that these items would probably have existed from the beginning of this world, I assume that these 'sacred gears' and 'longinus' do not have the capability in disrupting inter-dimensional balance."

"A sound reasoning, young Kuzunoha, especially concerning these magical artifacts with the capability to kill The Ultimate One." The agent commented. "Truth to be told, I find such information about the capabilities of those artifacts to be difficult to digest."

"Oh?" The boy voiced his curiosity. "How so?"

"I have looked on your previous details regarding the great catastrophe, and I too, believe in your deduction." The agent said. "And with I agree with your report. Being Entity that give birth the material realm through His command and logic, and that His existence itself is purely the fruit of His will, He cannot be undone by any tools and means made from the products of His creation. He could only be denied from materializing into the mortal realm. However, on the matter of His true end, only He alone holds such power."

Raidou bobbed his head in accord. He was surprised that someone actually took great length in reading his reports. It might be a simple and random act by the agent of Yatagarasu, who was looking for some information in her research, but it sure made the young summoner glad to find his account on the latest case did not end up in a dusty book shelf.

"There are indeed so many things questionable from the information that you have gained." The nun continued. "I would immediately brand it as a tall tale, if not the fact that we are actually not in our own world. These information that you received-"

"-are most likely to be true." The cat interjected. "But, agent, that doesn't change the possibility of it being false information."

"Correct, Gouto-douji." The agent responded. "But, the story that Raidou had heard rang the same bell with bits of information that I have gathered so far. And since we are lacking any solid material to prove the otherwise, we can only presume that this information may be truthful."

"It seems to be our only option then." Said the cat casually.

"No, Gouto. It simply calls for more investigation." Raidou corrected, which gained him a nod of approval from both the cat and the priestess in white. "So, where did you get your information from, ma'am? I would like to begin my investigation from there."

"Those things could wait, young Kuzunoha." The agent countered, slightly surprising the young summoner. But having a profound knowledge in art of conversation, Raidou skillfully dressed his face of astonishment with his cool and calculating mask. "I need you to momentarily divert your attention elsewhere. I have an assignment for you to investigate immediately."

"She seems….odd." Said the familiar as he walked beside his master along the dimly lighted pathway. Their report on past events had concluded, and now they were walking back to their temporary lodging from the Agent's house. "You feel it, too don't you, Raidou?"

"Yeah." Raidou said with a wary tone. "The agent did try to steer us from digging more information about her informant. It is quite a strange thing, considering we are from the same side."

"And then, she abruptly sent us to this assignment without any briefing." The cat complained. "What do you think, Raidou? Is she hiding something from us?"

"Well, she did say this assignment may give us a lead to the problem we are currently investigating. Although I am skeptical about it, it's better than looking in the dark." Raidou replied, while rummaging and scanning the documents contained in a yellow plastic covering. When assigning the young summoner to a new task, the agent of Yatagarasu had enclosed a file holding several papers in it. These papers without a doubt contained the information relating to the assignment that Raidou was tasked to investigate. "She probably has her own reason to not letting us know about her source yet."

"Maybe, but I still don't like it. It feels like she was treating us as her servants." The cat huffed. His snarky remarked made the laughed lightly. "Elitism should be beneath the noble Yatagarasu organization, yet even right now, such practice still persists."

"She is just being precautious, Gouto. It is her duty after all." The young summoner amusedly said, attempting to allay his mentor's paranoia. Having lived a very extensive lifetime as an undying cat that served as a companion to the every bearer of the title Raidou Kuzunoha, Gouto-douji had been instilled with an extreme sense of mistrust and skepticism toward almost anything and everything. His current master had once told him to be more easy-going and trusting; but against the thousand years experience that had made the familiar to be what he was today, Raidou opted to no longer pester him to change.

"And as our superior in this world, it is only natural for her to regard us as her assistants. It was expected for her to be so." Raidou added.

"Whatever." The cat scoffed at his master's snickers. "Anyways, what case are we assigned to investigate to?"

"Well." Raidou pulled out a piece of paper that seemed to pique his curiosity. "It seems a case of serial murder that recently happened in this town."

"Anything unusual from this murder case?"

"Apart from the absence of connection of the victims, the only similarity that they share is the manner of their death."

"What do you mean?"

"Like the martyr Saint Peter, all the three victims are nailed on the walls upside down."

It was gruesome.

The corpse had been removed for quite some time, yet the dark stain of caked blood was still smeared the wall of the now-abandoned apartment room- and as recorded in the official documents, it was stylized in a shape of a large, inverted cross. The horrid smell that permeated from such massive blot of dirty red confirmed that someone truly had died there, in the most horrible manner.

"What kind of sick bastard would do this kind of thing?" Gouto spoke out his mind after seeing the horrid leftovers painted on the wall.

"I don't know." Raidou said as he observed the macabre painting thoroughly. His inspection on the massive mark was slightly disrupted by the buzzing of flies that darted around the stain, and the horrible smell of putridity that attracted these miniscule vultures of the insect kingdom. "But we are going to find it out."

The cat nodded as both the master and familiar commenced their investigation at the crime scene. As had been ordered from the night before by the priestess of Yatagarasu, Raidou went to the place which address was pointed out in his file after school.

All the refreshing experience he had gained during the school was pushed aside during his investigation; all trace of happiness was replaced with somber attitude of a keen detective. It was the time to work again.

But before one delved deeper into the young detective's quest for the truth behind the killing, one might wonder what had happened to the young summoner at school on that day?

For Raidou, the school would pass rather plainly for that day, if not for the 'surprise attacks' he had on plates for almost the whole day.

For more than once, the young summoner was ambushed by the members of both the student council and the occult research club. Although Rias and the members of her peerage had only felt the fraction of his power, and Sona Sitri along with her peerage, had only the luxury in listening the red-haired president's account of the newcomer's power, the devils from both peerages were hell-bent in enlisting Raidou Kuzunoha to their cause. Their passion to recruit him made real in their relentless action, much to the young summoner's chagrin.

In every encounter, these humanly-looking devils unfailingly attacked the boy with their invitations to join either extracurricular program; and in every encounter, Raidou turned them all down. Beside the young summoner's decision to not becoming these very unusual devils' associate, there was also another reason for him to decline their offers of membership.

The membership to those extracurricular activities, which was actually a front for joining the peerage of either clan, demanded one to be 'uplifted' as a devil. It was the requirements to join these 'devils-only' clubs, as well as one of the many ways for the infernal faction to reinvigorate their numbers. But Raidou would have nothing to do with it.

It was true that a mortal like him, compared to the creature of higher plane of existence like angels and demons, was hilariously inferior in many aspects. Human did not have an ageless life like the inhabitants of heaven and hell, nor the strength and wisdom that they possessed. Even so, as the youngest of all sentient lifeforms in the universe, there was a reason for the human race to be envied by the rest of other greater creations. It was the reason why following the creation of men, The Creator ordered that all creatures that resided the highest peak of the paradise to the deepest chasm of inferno to bow in obeisance toward the first man. And as a result, a great change happened throughout the universe; the sown seeds of discontent had finally blossomed into the thorns of rebellion that painted the heavens red with the blood of angels.

Such was the power infused within the weak vessel of men that both heaven and hell shook from its existence. The power to do the unthinkable- the very power that birthed both order and chaos was bestowed upon man; and it made The Creator to be very wary upon the mortals, that one day, He deemed humankind to be a failure; that the responsibility he had put upon their shoulders was too great of a risk. Thus, The Creator turned into humanity's Ender, devising twisted plans to exterminate their existence. However, through its gift to make his own path, humanity survived every scheme designed for their downfall. And being one of them, Raidou showed The Ultimate One what humanity was capable of.

So it was without second thoughts that Raidou decline every offer that the devils threw at him, despite of the incentives that the girls of the occult research club had so 'skillfully' displayed before him. His humanity was too priceless to be simply bought by beautiful faces and lascivious bodies. His recently reincarnated classmate, Issei Hyoudou also tried to persuade him into joining Rias Gremory's peerage- saying something along the line of "building your own harem" or something like that. It didn't take long for Raidou to outrightly turn down his persuasion.

The young summoner had not considered these devils as some kind of a nuisance, although he was rather vexed with their tactless persistence- especially when they invaded his private moment, namely his natural visit to the lavatory, just for the sake of persuading him to join either peerage. Still, he was rather amused by their relentless efforts. It might be annoying, but it was entertaining nonetheless.

However, such refreshing experience had to passed, especially after seeing the grisly sight on the location of murder. Compared to the atmosphere where the young summoner was currently at, all the commotion he previously had at school were inconsequential at worst.

After the school ended, the young summoner, together with his familiar went for the crime scene immediately. The place where the murder had been perpetrated was located on a simple room on the second level of the two-storey cheap public housing complex. Carefully passing the patrolling cops and yellow tapes that blocked his path to the crime scene through the help of illusion, distraction and invisibility cloak casted by his summoned allies, Raidou and Gotou made their way stealthily to the specific location where the murder had been perpetrated.

"It seems the victim didn't breathe his last willingly." The cat remarked at the shipwrecked state of the room.

The interior was dark, and turning the lights on would surely draw the attention of the police that was still out there. Since he had not the natural ability of his familiar to peer through the darkness, Raidou had to rely on the small flashlight that he had brought with him. Like the bigger ones that he had used in his world, the handy little thing was incredibly useful to produce sufficient illumination inside the room for the young summoner to see, without creating too much attention for the people outside to notice.

As Raidou viewed the interior of the crime scene, he found that his familiar's statement to be true. Splintered plastics and woods from broken furniture, along with shattered glasses were sprawling all over the place. Overturned drawers and torn clothes were also scattered on the floor. The walls were not spared as well for upon them were some scorch marks.

"But in the end, the victim was overpowered." Raidou responded as he brought out a small picture from his pocket, depicting the horrid state of the victim when he was found- naked, with multiple lacerations, numerous gashes and bruises all over his body and his limbs. The victim's eye sockets were bleeding hollows- for the murderer had in cold blood, plucked out the unfortunate boy's eyeballs. "Kazue Marusuke, son of Touno and Miwa Marusuke; a seventeen year old, second-year student from Morichika Public High School. He was doing his best to become a doctor."

"…" The cat was silent as he ambled past the wooden chips and shattered glass on the floor. His attention was now undivided in order to search for clues or little object that might help his mater's investigation.

"Living alone in this small town by himself, Kazue had to work part time to alleviate his parents' burden of sending his monthly allowance." Raidou continued to speak while looking for evidence on the other side of the room. "He has a little brother who was still living with his parents in his hometown."

"Is there any apparent reason for you to tell me these things?" Gouto drily said as he continued to look around. The familiar's tone indicated that he was not comfortable with his master's cold recital on the murdered's information.

"I thought you want to be informed about the victim." Raidou grimly said without looking at his mentor's back. "Does this looks like a bullet hole to you?"

The familiar turned to his master and walked closer to his position in order to get a better look on the blots that the young summoner was pointing out.

"Yes, it looks like a bullet hole to me." The cat answered after looking at the small holes on the wall. The familiar noticed that the holes of the same size were also swarming all over the places. "It seems the murderer is a bit of trigger-happy nut-job, doesn't he? Why do you ask?"

"The cops did not find any bullet shells in this place." Raidou neutrally replied, earning him a stunned look on his little mentor's face. "And the ballistics explained that the holes on this wall and on many other places in this room do not match with every known bullets that they had tested on."

"So, these holes weren't made by bullets?"

"No, I am positive that they were." Raidou confidently said while illuminating the bullet-ridden wall with his flashlight, and quickly focusing the light to a specific hole near his familiar spot. "You see the dark splotch around this hole? They could only be produced by firearms."

"I see." Gouto was impressed with his master's insight. It was clear that the boy was prospering under the tutelage of that easygoing detective. "So the question that I should be asking is: what are the gun and the ammunition capable of inflicting this kind of damage?"

"Correct." Raidou replied. "among many other things."

"And what are those –" Gouto didn't finish his words when his paw stumbled upon a crumpled piece of paper lying on the ground. The feline familiar went totally silent when he set his eyes on the information contained within.

"What's wrong Gouto?" The young summoner lowered himself closer to his feline friend; concerned with his abrupt silence.

"Raidou….." The cat finally spoke with a grave tone. The familiar turned to face his master, only to reveal a worried look in his eyes. With his front paw, Gouto pushed the paper to the already squatting summoner. "Look."

Silently picking the crumpled paper from the dirty floor, and bringing the light upon it, Raidou saw the cause of his familiar's distress after brushing off the dust on the said paper.

It was a pamphlet with questionnaire on its back. It has bright red cover with embossed letters in black on its front. The list of questions provided on the brochure was like any other feedback forms that many companies had printed out for the sake of evaluation; multiple choice questions on service rendered, as well as the client's level satisfaction and suggestion for improvement. Yet, what made the difference with the rest was laid on the brochure's front page.

GREMORY'S REQUEST SERVICE.

WHAT EVER YOUR WISHES, WE WILL MAKE IT TRUE.

LIVE OUT YOUR WILDEST DREAMS, WITH NO COST AT ALL!

Frowning with a boiling anger brewing inside of him for the first time after so long, the young summoner dug his nails deeper on the pamphlet, further crumpling the already crumpled paper.

When did he go wrong? Where did he go wrong?

Was it their beautiful faces that threw him off guard? Was it their sincere words and promises that put him at ease? Or was it their humanly-looking outward appearances that made him unwary?

They had spoken about peace and living harmoniously along with mankind. Was it just a lie?

The girl had rescued his classmate from his doom by reviving him, although the act costed the boy his humanity. Was it simply a ruse- for the sake of claiming the power within the boy and not an act of kindness?

Devils- inhabitants of hell, whose purpose concertedly focused on expansion of their own power and influence. Be this was his world or not, The summoner should have known better that these beings did not have qualms in utilizing most revile and treacherous designs just to fulfill their most base desires. They would cheat, deceive and murder without even any slightest care of the destruction and desolation they wrought upon the world; they simply enjoy such thing.

Did he forget those facts, or did he simply choose to forget such truths? But most importantly, were the red-haired girl and her friends any different from them?

Several days passed without any unusual incident, except for more ambushes/invitations from the members of both peerages of the Gremory and Sitri clan; and on those days, after the school and under the blanket of the darkening sky, the young summoner and his companion went to the other crime scenes- only to find the same thing he had found on earlier night in the abandoned apartment. The large bloodstain of an inverted crucifix, walls and floors swarming with holes from mysterious bullets, and crumpled pamphlets bearing the name of the Gremory clan were found on those locations of crime.

The revelation of those brochures found on the location of crime was bearing down on the young summoner's mind. The victims had nothing in common; their gender, age, and profession were dissimilar to one another. The only thing to relate these victims, apart from the pattern of their death, was the brochures found on their abodes. Yet, why didn't the police find this important piece of evidence during their search on these crime scenes? Were they inconsequential for the cops? Or were there something else at play, concealing these brochures from naked eye?

Through the help of his unnatural friend, namely the thunder spirit that never left without its cursed pot-Agathion, Raidou discover the weak residue of magnetites swimming around the rooms where the murder was perpetrated. It was inconclusive whether the magnetites he found were originated from the brochures found in those crime scenes or not, since there were other possibilities on where these magical substances springing out from. According to the report from the forensic, the lacerations found on the victims were instantaneously cauterized, meaning that those slash wounds were burned away at the same moment when they were inflicted. Such nature of damages baffled the cops, but not the young summoner, for he was positive that they were caused either by magic or magical infused weapons. The same thing could be said as an explanation to the strange bullet holes in the walls found on those crime scenes. Still, the question remained: Could she or any of the members of her peerage be capable of murder? And what would be her reason to perpetrate such act?

His mind raced with possibility of answers, but only one thing popped out from his mind repeatedly.

Magnetites- the magical substances that fuel the miraculous power of the angels and demons, as well as the might belonged to other supernatural beings. They were the golden apples for the Asgardian Deities, Ambrosia for the Olympian immortals, and the liquid of immortality for the Mayan celestial beings. They were the priceless gold for the creatures of higher dimension, since possessing opulent amount of these magical substances meant great power and authority over scores of other creatures. The abundance of this mythical matter would also mean greater rank and respect.

The red-haired president of the Occult research club did not mention about magnettites, and nor were her friends and guests. They did speak of power and its importance to strengthen and promote one's social standing among other clans in the infernal circle. This power could be gained through many ways; through fulfilling certain requests of mortals, vanquishing rogue devils, and finally winning rating games. They did not specifically tell him what this power was, and how they were rewarded after those feats mentioned previously had been accomplished. But the summoner understood that what was going on around. The term might be different, but the element was the same.

There were many sources to acquire magnetites, or in the term used by the devils of this parallel dimension, power. But the most universal and prolific source was mankind themselves.

Mankind, by design, had the largest concentration of magneties within their bodies, and in their uniqueness, capable of giving off their own magnetites unconsciously. Those who were aware of this peculiarity usually learned to utilize it, tapping the power within to bend the material realm. These people were known in many monikers; ESPs, mages, casters were among them- but they were not the target for the supernatural beings as the source for magnetites.

Normal, ignorant men were the healthy and desired source of magnetites, since they had yet to recognize the power within them and establish a conscious connection to such raw and untampered magical matter; making them bountiful when extracted. The magnetites from this kind of sources could be obtained in two different ways: one was the violent course, while the other was a much subtler approach.

Preying upon men would be the fastest way, yet it was the riskiest, since aggression to the world of the mortals would be seen as invitation for all-out war of dominance to other factions of supernatural creatures.

It had happened once, and it wasn't pretty for everybody.

So, to the other way, the subtler and more complex path, was to become the entities patronized by the mortals. When a man felt genuine happiness, he or she unconsciously released magnetites from his or her body. The discharge of magnetites was profoundly connected to the emotion of men; the stronger the feeling one felt at a time, the stronger expulsion of magical substances coming out from such individual. But the most productive discharge for the supernatural beings was when mortals feared and adored these beings- and these could only be achieved by realizing the wishes of the mortals. The absorption of magnetites from men to the creatures of higher dimension was most effective when the prior offered prayers to the latter.

This method was greatly utilized by beings that were considered as gods, namely Quetzacoalt from the Mayan legends, Dai Nichi Nyorai from the Buddhism, YHWH from the Judeo-Christian beliefs, and many others.

As for lesser beings who inhabited the dark corner of the supernatural realm, who were unable to inspire awe and reverence from the mortals, they had to resort in other ways, such as instigating terror or playing pranks toward the unsuspecting mortals; the magnetites they received were not much, but it was the only thing they could do to survive the unforgiving realm of supernatural, where the weak were devoured or enslaved by the strong.

The method of getting magnetites from rogue devils, as had been mentioned by the presidents of Occult Research Club and the student council, was not a strange thing either, for magnetites also made the bodies of the supernatural beings. By destroying the devils, one could absorb the essence of magnetites that comprised their bodies. The stronger the rogue devil was, the more magnetites could be harvested. It was a lucrative business, since there were a number of devils and other otherworldly creatures who still lived in the old ways of conquest and domination, thus contesting the law of balance. Yet, due to the rule of discreetness, and the regulation between forces of heaven and hell that governed the jurisdiction of the hunting ground, along with the fact that the rouge devils were not pushovers either, the extermination of rebelling infernal creatures must be taken with the greatest care.

The last but not least was through rating game- an exclusive tournament between devil clans to find out which clan was the best and the most powerful among them. Through this game, hierarchy between infernal nobilities could be established and order could finally return to the hellish domain of the devils. It was also a way to regulate the distribution of power fairly among the infernal inhabitants since the winner of this competition would be rewarded with evil pieces – magical chess pieces capable of transforming any beings into devils.

The leaders of the two peerages did not explain thoroughly about the nature of these enchanted items; their origins, and how they were made. Fortunately, they told him that these unique chess pieces were made to help the devil faction in recovering their numbers, and how these items enhanced the physical and spiritual power beyond imagination- yet sadly limited by the vessel capability to contain. The presidents of the two extra curricular programs activities only mentioned about more powers coming with the evil pieces, but Raidou knew for sure that those items were actually enchanted container of magnetites.

The first and second method of accumulating 'powers', or in Raidou's term, magnetites, were mostly employed by Rias' and Sona's peerage, according to their testimony. The third alternative was not as popular as the two since the two pure-blood devils had recently formed their peerage, and they had yet to build their strength to contest other clans.

Still, would these scions from the nobles houses of hell preyed upon the mortals to gain the power that they hoped to achieve?

"Hey, Kuzunoha-san!" A voice resonated in the young summoner's ears, breaking him from his reverie. Turning his head upward, he saw a brown-haired boy, he recently resurrected classmate, was already standing before him. His face was a cheerful visage of a teenager, full of hope and full of life.

"Yes, Hyoudou-san." The summoner replied. "What can I do for you?"

"I want to talk to you about something." Issei Hyoudou scratched his head. He was looking somewhat nervous and abashed. "If you don't mind."

"I don't mind." The intent look on the brown-haired boy's face was not lost on Raidou's scrutiny; he was hinting something at the young summoner, and the youngster in black gakuran understood it well. "But I bet it is not something you can easily say in here, right."

The boy embarrassedly bobbed his head with a snicker.

"Then, shall we?" Rising from his seat, Raidou walked to the exit of the classroom with his classmate walking in the tow, leaving the sparsely populated classroom for a much secluded place.

"Then, do you understand what I am facing right now?" The boy said with a frustrated look on his face, while leaning himself on the railing. "I can't just meet her without getting punished by Rias-sempai."

"I...see." Raidou was appalled behind his usual composure, while leaning on the same railing. He had brought the boy to the roof, expecting to learn something amiss from him. Unfortunately, the recently-transformed boy was pouring out his seemingly love dilemma to him for a quite some time.

"So what should I do, Kuzunoha-san?" The boy grimaced, positively irritated from weighing options in his mind. "Should I keep on being friends with this girl, despite of Rias-sempai's protest? Or should I listen to Rias-sempai's order, and keep my distance from this girl?"

Raidou frowned. It was not his way to listen to others' troubles, yet troubles had a penchant to seek him everywhere and anywhere. And being a problem-solver as he always was, the young summoner had an instinctive drive that compelled him to help others in need. If his classmate-turned-devil was in need of his advice, then by Kohryu's golden beard, he would gave him his advices – even though he himself was an amateur in the matter of teen love.

"You know, I had once a neighbor."

"Huh." The boy put on a dumb look on his face.

"He was an oddball." Raidou fixed his cap as he stood up, distancing himself from the railing. "He could see things that no one couldn't."

Issei was now shifting his expression, from the dumb-looking one into a curious one. Raidou did not to wait for him to utter any words to continue his 'tale'.

"Naturally, everyone kept their distance from him, and it didn't take long for others to despise him because of his gift."

"...What happened to him?" Issei pitched in.

"He was left alone." Raidou replied with a distant look on his face. "And in his loneliness, he became bitter with the world, looking everything from a very warped point of view. He became cold, calculating and cruel. In his skin of man, that boy was more akin to devils rather than human beings."

"So….this boy…he became evil?" Issei became even more curious about the 'boy' in his classmate's story. He had some reservation on the identity of his classmate's neighbor, but he kept his silence.

"Misguided actually." Raidou answered. "He became bitter with everything around him."

"Then what happened to him after that?" Impatience was rich in the brown-haired's tone, which made Raidou to be rather amused.

"He kept on living like others, yet still shunned by many." Raidou continued. "He believed it was not his place to be amoong humans, until one day, it changed."

"What changed?"

"He realized that it is human nature to fear the unknown and shun the irregular." The summoner said with a thin smile hanging on his face, remembering a long past event that still lingered in his memory. "And he is part of them, the people he hated the most."

"Huh." The face of befuddlement once again made its way into the humanly-looking devil's visage. "I don't understand."

"Loneliness, Hyoudou-san, loneliness." The boy in the black gakuran spoke with slight melancholy, but his expression remained unchanged. "Nobody wants to bear such pain, be it devil or man."

"You don't mean..."

"You don't need any more explanation from that, do you, Hyoudou-san?" Raidou displayed one of his rare smile to his classmate. "And, Raidou, just Raidou please."

"Raidou-san..." In a brief moment after Raidou had uttered his words, Issei Hyoudou seemed to be struck by lightning and his expresssion changed into one filled with clarity. He suddenly charged to wrapped his arm around the boy with the student cap and wrenched him from the ground in a hopeful bear-hug, which failed miserably for Raidou was not light nor was he small. But his failure did not diminish the overflowing emotion he was showing to the summoner. "Thank you so much."

"...Err…..that's quite alright, Issei-san." The summoner was getting uncomfortable with a boy lashing out his inner joy to him, especially when the said boy was resting his head on his chest- emptying his tear sacs on his gakuran. "You can let me go now."

"Right, right." The brotherly hug abruptly ended, with the brown-haired devil pushing himself away from the summoner. The cheerful smile on his face, reinforced with the determined looks on his eyes, exhibited his fiery resolution that was made within his mind. "I owe you one for this, Raidou-san."

"There's no need for that. We are friends, aren't we?"

"The bell chimed loudly, signifying the study session was going to be in session shortly.

"I'll treat you to a nice rice bowl, Raidou-san." The boy said as he walked to the door, anxious to be not tardy to the class. "I promise that!"

"I say it's okay." Raidou said as he walked beside him. "But rice bowl sounds good to me."

The brown haired devil laughed while he put a light pat on the summoner's back. While doing so, a piece of paper escaped from the inside pocket of his blazer, and drifted downwardly like a feather- until it finally landed on the concrete ground. Instinctively, the boy in black gakuran reached out his hand for the paper, and as he grabbed the said item, the young summoner was struck to the core.

The item in his hand was the identical brochure that he had found earlier in the crime scenes.

"So, you sent the wind spirit poltergeist to tail him." The cat said to the summoner.

"Poltergeists." Raidou clarified. He was in his usual get-up, with his sheathed blade strapped to his waist, and his white gun-holster/ bandoleer hybrid secured across his torso. "I sent three of them to observe anything unusual from him."

The boy and his familiar were not on their usual patrol. This time they were on surveillance mission. Standing at the lonely newspaper stand near a simple shopping complex, Raidou wait for the opportunity to arise.

"You're suspecting that he is going to murder someone." The cat spoke his mind freely. It was fortunate for the boy and his familiar that the shopkeeper at the newspaper stand was a drowsy old man, who had dozed off presently; leaving Raidou and Gouto to converse freely. The only thing that was peculiar about the old shopkeeper, despite of the thick scarf around his neck and a big cap on his head that concealed most of his face, was the long, strange beak-like nose that jutted out from the shadow of his hat. The old man also had a very odd snoring, which resemble a creepy chuckles rather than regular snorts.

"I am not sure, but I just hope he is not being coerced into murder." Raidou exhaled.

"...They are devils, Raidou, and he is now one of them." Gouto solemnly responded, knowing exactly what's going on in his master's mind. "There's no telling if they had been speaking truthfully to you, especially with the so-called 'Great War' and its casualties. And for that boy, sooner or later, he will finally cede to his inner desires."

"He was reincarnated, Gouto, not fused." The summoner sternly spoke up, remembering his personal assessment about Issei Hyoudou after their previous conversation at school. "His personality is still his, for there is no demonic being forced into him in the first place."

"Fused, or not, he would one day felt that hunger within him." Gouto let out a sigh. "Having that strange power within him will require him to consume magnetites in great amount, and I fear just be doing small time jobs will not sate him of his hunger."

"It works out fine with you and other guys, doesn't it?" The young summmoner was implying his supernatural allies.

"Don't you get smart on me, boy!" The cat snapped. "It takes rigorous determination, massive willpower, and a very powerful mystic to remind these devils to not drowning into their senseless craving. These burdens double when their powers evolve, and you have guided every one of them through hell by instilling powerful sense of discipline unto them. This "boy" that you speak of has none of these traits, or none of your aid. So tell me now, how will he control himself when his 'urges' arise?"

"He is still a human being."

"In mind, but not in body." Gouto retorted. "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak, remember?"

"...Must you always look things only from a gloomy point of view?" The youth in black cape exhaled defeatedly. Sometimes he had to force himself to understand that his familiar had actually more experience than himself; and from those countless experience, the familiar formed a very bleak point of view upon life itself.

"It's my identity. I couldn't help it."

"Yeah, but at least, you can try to change."

"No thanks." The cat shook his little head condescendingly. "I am what I-"

"MASTERRR!" A cute voice of distress, belonging to one of Raidou's summons, yelled out- cutting short the familiar's sentence. A little brown doll-like spirit was zooming in the air, toward the Summoner's direction. It was a clear sign that something had happened, as evident by the return one of his helpers that he had sent before was returning to tell him so.

"What happened?" Raidou immediately questioned the frantic adorable wind ghost

"He killed Kenny!" The voice came out from the little hole that acted as the wind spirit's mouth was full of grief, and Raidou knew that one of his summons had been vanquished. Cursing inwardly, Raidou was faced with the truth that the target he was tailing on had found out about the stalking spirits, and had taken the drastic measure against them.

"C'mon master, he's going to kill him and Bobby!"

He? Him and Bobby? What was the Poltergeist saying? Didn't he only send three of them to observe the boy?

"What are you talking about?" The cat cut in, equally confused as his master was.

"A bad guy!" The spirit screamed. "He is going to kill Bobby and the boy!"

"Show me." Raidou ordered; his confusion was quickly pushed away by the rising emergency and quickly his expression changed into one that was ready for confrontation. At once, the wind spirit darted through the air with greenish waft wrapped around his body, leaving tails of green light for the summoner to follow.

Guided by the fleeting streamline of emerald upon the night sky, Raidou rushed to the destination; his cape fluttering with the passing air. Unnoticed by the young summoner, the odd shopkeeper, who he thought to be drowsing, was actually and genuinely laughing at him creepily.

"Please save me, mister!" A strange doll-like creature cried out while scurrying speedily on the air, avoiding the jetting streams of light that seek to eradicate the gentle spirit.

"Ugh..Don't worry." The brown-haired devil groaned while clutching his bleeding thigh. He tried to inspire hope and confidence to the strange creature, who suddenly appeared at the moment his assailant showed up. "I'll save ya."

He made a mighty attempt to stand up, but it didn't succeed; mainly because of the debilitating wound he had sustained from the gunshot that unknown and deranged attacker had inflicted on him. The injury caused by the evil-looking blonde had seriously rendered his enhanced healing abilities to be useless; proven by the still flowing darkish crimson liquid from the horrible gap on his leg. The killer's other weapon, a blade of bluish light, was also fearsome in its way; one of the doll-like creatures that appeared shortly after the psychotic blonde showed up to take his life, had fallen victim to such unusual sword.

"Dammit." He cursed in his breath. "How can things turn out like this?"

Being the newest member of Rias Gremory's peerage, the newly reincarnated devil had been taught of his power, his role and his duty. In the spirit of his revival and the prospect of realizing his dream as infernal nobility, Issei Hyoudou was fired up to rise the ladder of power, even if he had to do arduous and tedious tasks from the lowest level of the infernal hierarchy.

This evening was just like any other nights before; the task at his hand was just the same as his previous assignments. But when he arrived at the client's home, he was greeted with an open door- inviting him to witness the gruesome dead within. The sight of a mangled corpse, bathed in blood, crucified in an inverted position on the wall was, fortunately for Issei Hyoudou, not enough to make the brown-haired boy to fall on his four and puke the entire content of his stomach. Still, he was utterly shocked and disgusted at the sight of the freshly dead.

Such thing was absolutely unexpected by the brown-haired boy, and he was stricken stiff by his inability to stomach such cruelty. He tried topull himself back together, but before he could recollected himself, a man who called himself "exorcist" suddenly made himself appear from his hiding place. The stranger had the most twisted smile on his face. After his very short introduction, the man in black coat then proceeded in giving the brown-haired devil a short and illogical lecture about good and evil, about his duty to purge every filth in the world and that the boy he lectured was among the filth he had mentioned before.

Issei immediately knew that his life was in danger, even before stranger lunged at him with his sword of light.

The stranger came at him with promise of deadly violence, and the brown-haired boy responded in the same manner, for his impulse of self-preservation got the better of him. In his reaction to defend himself from the imminent threat to his life, the strange artifact within him was brought to life once more. In split seconds, a red gauntlet with green gem adorning its fist, materialized on his left hand.

The confrontation was inevitable; jeers and taunts from the exorcist fell deaf upon his ears, for his heightened senses- excited by the rush of combat had deemed them insignificant. With his improved physical abilities and better reaction time, due to his new status as a devil, Issei Hyoudou went toe-on-toe with the crazed murderer. His chance of survival was further raised with the sacred gears he was wielding against the enemy. But it was all before he got shot.

Using an underhanded means to distract the brown-haired boy, the exorcist managed to find the window of opportunity that he was waiting for. Grabbing such moment without any hesitation, he inflicted a terrible wound by his gun, and as a result, Issei Hyoudou was brought to the throes of his assailant's mercy.

The jaw of death was once again on Issei's throat. But before the killing blow could be administered, a trio of little creatures that looked like dolls of clay appeared before the brown-haired boy to save him. One of them fell in his defense. The other ran away to God knows where, while the last stayed behind, unsure what to do – and later, getting killed because of it.

Issei could only grit his teeth in remorse when the little creature he promised to rescue was hit with the strange sword of light. The creature's scream of pain and terror as the blade sliced through its tiny torso in two echoed in Issei's ears over and over again.

"Ah, the pesky little bugs are finally dead." The exorcist happily whistled while brushing his palish flaxen hair with his gun. "One got away, though. But that's life for you! You win some, you lose some."

Turning his eyes to the boy laying on the floor, with his back against the wall, the exorcist revealed his demented smile to him.

"Well, well devil. Where were we before?" The blonde psychopath ambled leisurely in torturing pace. "Oh, yeah. I was going to kill you!"

A furious flash of light blasted from the muzzle of a handheld firearm, followed by a sudden boom. Another shot was inflicted to the wounded boy's arm, and he screamed.

"Scream! Squeal! Beg for your life!" The ecstatic voice of the exorcist rose to unsettling pitch, with his foot stamped on the boy's wound on his leg. "I want to hear that voice from you, pretty please?"

"Why do you do this?" Issei roared in desperation; pain had made his body numb, and fear for his life had paralyzed his senses.

"Why?" The psychopathic murderer cackled wildly while jumping onto the boy's body and straddling on his torso. "Don't you understand? It's your existence that demands to be erased, and who am I to shirk from my responsibility to make it happen?"

Raising his blade of light high above his head, the exorcist gave off his demented glee to the helpless boy.

"Come, scream some more."

The blade swooped downward, creating an arc of light as its trail.

The wind felt cold upon his nape, the sweat that trickled from the top of his head and unto his cheek only served to add the uncomfortable chillness that already crept unto his body.

Yet, he rushed on.

The cape of black fluttering behind him; the friction it caused with the air slowed him down.

But he kept on rushing on.

People on his left and right looked at him with curiosity and puzzlement, assuming him as another regular teen who had a penchant on cosplaying. Whispers and giggles on his strange get-up followed him as he breakthrough the crowd.

Yet they all fell deaf upon his ears as he kept on rushing on- guided by his little friend who had made himself invisible to many, except for the young summoner himself.

His mind was concentrated to his destination, and to what he would find there. He had felt another fit of uneasiness similar to one he had felt before the Poltergeist came, and he feared that something bad had happened. His Poltergeists were not among his elite associates, but they were not exactly the weakest as well- since Raidou had made it his personal quests to make his otherworldly friends capable of fending themselves. Unfortunately, due to the nature of Poltergeist being a gentle but mischievous ghost of the wind, the poltergeists under Raidou's guidance were still undeniably weak.

His mind raced with speculations as he kept on running. If the uneasy feeling he had felt before was related with the fate of his two other summons, what would happen next to the boy he had tailed before? And according to the information that he had heard from the fearful wind ghost, there was actually another person who by any means had not shown the best intention toward the boy and the gentle spirit. Was this mysterious person the actual individual responsible to all this murder?

With such questions hanging on his mind, the summoner finally arrived to place where the latest murder was found – indicated by the little wind spirit who flew in circles above the location. It was a two storey house, with tall concrete fence covering its four sides. Without losing any time, he ran through the open gate and headed to the gaping door. Before he gained access to the house, the young summoner's instinct screamed danger had awaited him inside. His reason advised that things had gone terribly wrong within and a swift response would be needed to counter it. Answering to such calculation, Raidou swiftly pulled his revolver. The handheld firearm felt heavy in his grasp; the weapon was loaded, and it soothed the young summoner.

Charging into the house, Riadou finally saw what was happening inside. Apart from another nameless victim nailed on the wall upside down, there was a blonde little girl, half-naked and bruised, sprawling on the floor of the walkway; her expression was of pain and it was further supported by her whimpering. Not far from her was the summoner's target of observation- laying bloody all over the floor, with his back leaning against the wall. On the top of him was a man in dark long coat. With his ashen yellow hair, he could be categorized as good-looking. Unfortunately, the crazed look upon his face quickly denied such fact. Above his head was a strange weapon- a sword of light; its hilt was tighly secured in the blonde's reverse grip while its pointy edge facing downward directly to the bloody boy's chest.

There was no sign of his other Poltergeist, and Raidou knew the worse had transpired to the last gentle spirit. Without any second thoughts, Raidou took aim, controlled his breathing, and opened fire.

He fired once.

The bullet went straight to the sword guard of the strange weapon, displacing the weapon from the murderer's hand. The sound the shot produced, along with the loss of his weapon, shocked the crazed killer from his trance. The gun shot also stole the surviving victims' attention. As the killer and the would-be victims shifted their gaze to the man at the doorstep, they look upon his eyes. It was the eyes of a furious predator, ready to maul its prey without mercy.

He fired again.

The bullet barely missed the blonde's head, and it was enough to send him rolling backwards. The shot was purposely made to fail for the killer to back away from his would be victim. With his enemy in retreat, Raidou stepped forward. His eyes fixed on the withdrawing enemy, unaware of the glazing eyes that were affixed on his form.

"Raidou-san?"

He did not reply, nor did he answer. He kept on pushing on, releasing another shot that once again missed the target, and drawing the assailant further and further away from the helpless boy and girl.

Four bullets left in the chamber of his revolver, four more chances to immobilize the enemy. From the scene he was presented with at the walkway, Raidou had a strong postulation that the man that was presently ducking away from him, was the actual individual responsible to every strange murder the summoner was currently investigating on. If the truth was simply so, then Raidou had only the duty to incapacitate the man in order to bring him to justice. Due to the grevious nature of the crime, the summoner was entitled to put the killer out of commission. But feeling that the man had many things to answer, it was the best route to bring the criminal alive.

Unfortunately for Raidou, the missed shots had driven the enemy away to a hiding spot behind a couch- making such task a little bit difficult to perform.

Remembering the strange bullet holes he found on the previous crime scene, Raidou was suspicious that the stranger might possess a unique firearm of his own. Consequently, the young summoner took cover on a wall that provided him with a good covering and vantage point for retaliation.

"….Raidou-san." The brown-haired boy groaned, struggling with pain with every syllable he uttered. "He had a gun."

Raidou silently bobbed his head in response, and with a gesture of his hand, he ordered the boy to move backward to safety. His classmate's statement had confirmed the existence of his enemy gun, and it gave him a chance to be vigilant of his

"Heeyy~. Stranger-kun~." The assailant called out from his cover with his sickly sweet voice- trying to sound cute, but turned out creepy in the end. "Why are you impeding the servant of the Holy Church to perform his duties?"

"Is killing innocent people the duties of men of cloth now?" Raidou coldly replied from his vantage point, his gun was aimed at the couch.

"Innocent? HAH!" The stranger loudly laughed to mask his annoyance. "You're a funny one, stranger-kun~. No man is born innocent, especially those who walked away from the path of righteousness. And only in blood, could such transgression be washed away."

"Like the men and women who you nailed on the wall upside down?"

"Please, they were hardly my best works." The man of cloth clicked his tongue. "They were simply chores; exercises for me to perform appropriate sacraments of purging in the future. They should be thankful to me that I have cleansed the filth from their flesh before I ascended them to the Maker, if there was One to begin with."

Although for just a moment, Raidou could grasp the tone of impatience and infuriation in the hiding man's voice. And from the way he spoke about his 'rituals' showed the man was unstable, and it made him all the more dangerous. However, despite of his assumed mental instability, the unknown man made a remark about the Maker? What did he mean by his last statement?

"You use so many fancy words to sweeten your murder." Raidou sharply criticized. "Do you enjoy killing that much? Or are you simply a maniac?"

The stranger suddenly showed himself out from his cover, with his hand already armed with a gun. Giving no chance for the shooter in black gakuran to adjust his aim, the blonde squeezed the trigger of his pistol repeatedly, letting out projectiles of light from its muzzle. Having his barrage done in hasty moment and in fury, all of the bullets impacted harmlessly to the wall, the floor and the furniture- missing the shooter with black student cap; but it was enough to send him back into his cover.

"A little bit of both." After saying his words, the blonde was once again back to his cover to avoid the ricocheting bullets that was unleashed by his opponent's revolver. "Don't be so fierce to me, stranger-kun~. I am not the enemy here."

"And the helpless people that you murdered were?" Raidou's rhetoric made the blonde to curse out loud, and he unleashed another storm of bullets of light wildly without looking at the target.

"How many times did I have to tell you that those things are just practices for me? They are inconsequential, you numb-nuts!" The blonde shouted behind the cover while his armed hand continued to empty the magazine of his gun. Streaks of bullets of light fly wildly like shooting stars, but never meeting their target.

In his crazed shooting, the blonde noticed that his displaced sword was lying not far from him at the back of the now torn-up sofa. Without a second wasted, he quickly extended his free hand to grab the lost weapon back into his possession.

The man of the church put on the feral smile that he always wore as he took back his lost weapon. Fate was always the indecisive one, and it seems it was now in his favor. The unknown newcomer had fired so many rounds, and it would not be long before the song of the blonde's assured victory- the sound of the used shell being emptied from the gun cartridge. And when such opportunity arose, the blonde would finally be free to show the impertinent newcomer what it meant to cross the servant of 'God'.

The moment finally arrived as his earlobes captured the tingling of metal upon the wooden floor, and in single breath, the blonde leaped from his cover with his recovered weapon already blazing out its long deadly edge of radiance. He intended to take the stranger off his guard and made him suffer through losing a limb or two.

In his frenzy to bring down the whole world of pain upon the unknown challenger, the blonde had guessed the youngster in black would be defenseless, since the unknown boy had yet to reload his gun.

He was wrong. His assumption on the boy being weaponless shattered.

Already waiting for him was the stranger in black, who had taken the initiative to welcome the blonde. His hands- one grabbing the scabbard, while other was on the handle of the handle of the unsheathed blade- were raised against the exorcist. The way the stranger brought out his weapon before him was likened a tiger exposing its fangs. Standing tall imposingly with the weapon of his own, the boy was ready for the melee with the man of the church.

The two other occupants of the room were looking at his caped back with mixed feeling. His pose, straight and flawless, was poised for battle, and it made hope to rise within the two unfortunate victims. Surely the boy in the black was their savior.

The impressive stance of the unknown challenger was not the only thing that grabbed the blonde's attention; the other attention-grabber to the man of the church was the folded steel wielded by the stranger in black. The weapon itself was not any less majestic than its wielder. Like any average Japanese blade, the curved sword was sleek and slim- exhibiting a mysterious beauty from its smooth and razor-sharp arc. Its medium length, appropriate for melee even in a limited space, gravitated its own charm.

Japanese master-craftsmen were well-known in their capabilities to fuse beauty with razor-sharp precision; the sharp metal that defined the weapon was a testimony to such virtue.

Gleaming in bright silver hue, and bathed in streamlines of darkish red along its stunningly smooth outline, the sword radiated a peculiar, but profoundly terrifying power. From their places, the supposed killer and the surviving victims could felt a powerful presence seeping out from the weapon. It was strangely pleasant and majestic, and yet behind the sweet and imposing aura the presence, a looming and dominating atmosphere of vileness could be sensed. Its unseen, oppressive authority, subtly hiding behind its sweeter persona, put a strong pressure to the occupants of the room- except for the wielder of the weapon, who had made himself a master worthy of such arm.

Last but not least was the handle of the sword itself. The hilt of such weapon was neatly wrapped in leather coverings, and separating the said section of the weapon from the exposed gleaming death was a coin-shaped blade guard in black. Each of its sides was stylized in symbols of yin and yang; the universal representation of balance.

It was a piece of art, a worthy labor of a master craftsman, infused with otherworldly existence to enhance its already superb beauty. In the hand of a mere man, it was a priceless collectible. But in the hand of a worthy swordsman, it was an instrument of death.

Seeing his enemy already had the advantages he needed to bring himself out from his cover and charged him with his unique blade, Raidou spared no time to lunge himself forward. The clash between magical metal and killing light was inevitable, as both sides smashed their weapons to one another.

"Impossible." The blonde barked. His smile had utterly eroded; leaving only his demented grimace, as he witnessed the weapon he wielded was pinned in a tight lock against his impertinent challenger's blade. The friction between the two unnatural weapons produced flickers of light. "Nothing can stop the blessed blade of Camniel's flame. NOTHING!"

"Then what are you seeing now?" Raidou spoke without any hint of panic while keeping his deadly stare of severity and coldness upon his enemy's crazed look. His opponent's instability could be exploited to his advantage, but the young summoner would not slacken his focus. The weapon that the mysterious blonde used against the young summoner was not a regular arsenal he had faced on regular basis; not only because of its name and distinctive appearance, but also because of its massive consumption of magnetites that the young summoner felt coming from it. Surely the blonde psychopath he was dueling right now was not an amateur in the ways of manipulating arcane energies, and it made the young summoner to be more prudent in his way to handle his adversary.

"You insufferable dog!" The crazed killer's eyes glared back in retaliation to the summoner's scowl, showing immense hatred to the youngster. "You dare to think highly of yourselves just because of your heretical weapon. I'll show you the error of such thought dearly."

The two broke off from the lock, only to re-engage themselves against one another once again. The two began their melee without any showing any sign of relenting. Slashes after slashes were traded, with blows and blocks exchanged regularly between the two. Ploys and counter attacks were brought out to play maximally. Unlike the voice of metal grating against another metal in normal swordfight, the battle between the youngster in school uniform and the blonde in dark robe created a loud sound that similar to the welding of steel. The flickers of light flashed throughout the little room, as the duel continued without anyone showing clear advantage to the other.

The skill the youngster with student cap employed was flawless; his form and technique with the sword were impeccable- yet it was not enough to truly bring down his enemy. In the other hand, lacking in real skills with the sword, the blonde psychopath made up the said flaw with his erratic fighting style and underhanded moves. But against the cold and calculating fighter like his foe, whose expression was as obscure as clouds and eyes that seemingly analyzing his moves without pity, the blonde were having the hardest time in his life.

"You are good. Very good." The blonde in black robe forced a smile while ducking from a quick overhead slash. He managed to look at his opponent's eyes; it was devoid of all emotion of restraint. "It seems you are not a stranger to the killing as well. Perhaps we are not so different after all."

"I still keep my sanity on." Raidou replied emotionlessly as he dodged flurry of furious thrusts that followed by an imbalancing sweep of a kick, which the summoner avoided as well by lightly jumping to the air. Having a vigilant and quick mind, the youngster in gakuran launched his deadly counter attack without delay – the elegant strikes of his blade found their mark on the stranger's coat.

"Heh, you speak of sanity." The blonde snarled as he blocked the relentless slashes from his opponent's blade. "When it no longer inhabits this mad house of a world."

"It's a funny thing to be said by a man claiming to be a servant of the Church." The summoner mocked his golden-haired adversary while gaining more grounds and was beginning to push his adversary back. His skill with the sword started to overwhelm his enemy. "Isn't faith and hope the basis of your belief?"

"Faith? Hope?" The blonde sardonically laughed while pushing back the assault with his own offensive in order to regain his lost ground and advantage against his enemy in black uniform. The fizzes coming out from his blade of light was evenly matched with the singing metal that cleaved through the air. The pungent smell of burned oxygen and heated steel bore into their nostrils, but no one was distracted it; the minds of the two duelists were too heavily concentrated on the deadly combat they were currently in. "They are the follies of old; worthless virtues of a crumbling order who is tethering to its grave. And I am not part of it."

"Then what do you stand for as a member of the Church?"

"Why, the eradication of all miserable lives, of course." The man of the Church replied with a disturbing grin forming on his lips, while shoving his opponent with his weapon. Using the momentum from his enemy being pushed back a step or two, the crazed fighter spontaneously reached for his gun. The deed succeeded, as he was now pulling the unique firearm out and lining it up to meet the aiming of his eyes. To add the blonde's glee, his uniform-clad opponent had pushed himself forward to re-engage him in a close-quarter combat, while he had already pointing his gun to the youngster's head.

He smirked wickedly, as the boy before him had just rushed at him carelessly. With his trick in placing a hole on the impudent challenger's head at point blank range was about coming to fruition, the psychopath with flaxen hair squeezed the trigger of his gun with his index finger elatedly.

Yet, nothing happened.

No deafening sound was made from his gun; no blast of light was ever produced from the firearm. The insolent foe still stood before him, without the expected bloodied hole that should already appear on his forehead.

All that he felt, all that was captured by his senses were a flash of a movement that was followed by a slight uncomfortable sensation of cold that traveled through his raised hand. The moment the blonde passed his gaze to his raised hand, he was forced to behold the sight of his wrist detaching itself from his limb.

All of his limbs, his organs and his nerve system were stunned dead. The cleric's eyes enlarged in a silent shock with his pupils trembling incessantly as they followed the trail of the severed hand- still clenching tightly around the handle of a pistol- went dumbly onto the wooden floor. The loud thud that automatically came after brought the flaxen haired man to his senses; thawing the cold numbness that overwhelmed his body when the shock struck him, and almost instantly, the pain receptors that were converging at now his stump of a hand, blared out furiously – sending simultaneous impulses to his brain on the grievous wound inflicted on his limb. The effect was instantaneous and deafening, for the impaired man unfastened his mouth and began to scream.

It was a cry of a wounded beast.

Long and painful, unburdened by reason and unchained by emotion, the excruciating roar rang out from the male's throat. The booming mixture of extreme agony, confusion, anger and shock was complexly intertwined the blonde's voice. The piercing resonance made its way forcefully through the crevices of concretes and lumbers, and without a doubt, such agonizing shriek must have echoed to the ears of those who were unfortunate enough to be in such vicinity.

The blonde fell to his knees; the dripping dark crimson liquid of life from his bleeding appendage had already beaten his legs in the race to meet the floor; the said crimson unsolid matter splattered itself generously upon the board of timber like wine being poured out from a jar. Messy inkblots of red soiled the wooden ground as the earsplitting howl kept on reverberating from the wounded man. His windpipe began to yield voices of exasperation and dryness, confirmed by the weakening yell that was descending into an intelligible, phlegm-filled gargle. Yet, the jaw of his mouth never shut itself, leaving a gaping void between his upper and lower jaws wide; as if a pair of invisible hands had yanked them exposed for indefinite period of time. A pause was made when the blonde painfully gasped in a short exhalation for air. Then after that, he continued to scream, while cupping his bleeding stump in a vain attempt to halt the spilling streams of blood.

"YOOOOUUUU FILLLTHH!" The curse propelled out from the blonde's tongue, along with wild slobs that escaped from his mouth. It was then followed with intelligible profanities and retching that the blonde coughed out from his throat. His eyes, bloodshot and wild, were glowering with hatred; their ferocity was comparable to those belonged to the inhabitants of the deepest abyss of Cocytus.

"….." Raidou remained silence as he flicked his blade gracefully, ridding the gleaming metal from the minor stain of red on its edge, before sheathing it back to its rightful place. He took few steps back from the kneeling man before him, while looking at him with his unchanging expression.

From the manic and highly delusional murderer that had no qualms in taking lives, into a pathetic mess that looked like a mental patient in straight jacket, Raidou felt a sliver of pity toward the wounded blonde- in spite of the manslaughters that he definitely or most probably had done in his twisted quest to purge the world's refuse. Despite of his apparent madness and terrible penchant in bloody violence and killing, the blonde was still belonging to the human race- the very thing that Raidou and his organization sworn to protect.

But since he was not in this world, and that there was no telling what the wounded man capable to do, added with the fact that the said man was already and going to kill another before his arrival, the young summoner had no qualms in making expeditious decision to disarm the man in extreme way. He did not need to take his life…..not right now, for there were many things that the blonde seemed to know better from the summoner and Raidou was damn sure to dig them out from the now handicapped man.

"CURSE BE UPON MEN AND HIS OFFSPRINGS, FOR YOUR TRANSGRESSIONS UPON THE MOST HIGH!" Incoherent words, laced with detestation, slurred loudly from the edge of his lips. His cursing and yelling did not had any effect on the youngster in black; but they certainly affected the other people in the area- namely his classmate and the unknown little girl- who jumped at the blonde's vulgar ramblings. The said girl with long golden hair seemed to be heavily disturbed by the wounded man's frenzied vocabularies as she had collected herself to the nearest wall, huddling herself with her hands around her head- trying to block the voices to get into her head. Her effort yielded only disappointment for her, since her body was now rocking back and forth, with sobs escaping from her mouth.

"AND YOU!" The man barked at Raidou. "YOU SON OF A HARLOT! SEED OF A BASTARD! DEATH WILL NOT COME EASY FOR YOU! ENDLESS WOE BE UPON YOUR WRETCHED NAME AND THOSE WHO BEAR YOUR BLOODLINE!"

Raidou kept his mouth shut while staring back emotionlessly to the defeated foe's eyes. No verbal come-back was made, and no demeaning gesture was performed. All that the young summoner did was simply standing unmoving before him like a mountain; his shadow fell upon the small space that stood between him and the bloody foe. It was a meaningless act, but for the trounced opponent who had his hand removed as the price of his losing, it was a loud, wordless deed of mockery.

"YOU DARE TO LOOK DOWN ON ME, YOU MANGY CUR!? YOU DARE?!" The blonde yelled as he tried to lunge at the youngster that stood in front of him. Unfortunately for him, the wound he sustained was so great and so debilitating that it held him down with a painful groan. "SAY SOMETHING, DAMN YOU! SAY SOMETHING!"

Raidou averted his eyes, and turned his back away from the wrecked mess that was his foe, while making his way to the other persons in the area. With the threat neutralized, and probably concluding the case of gruesome serial killings that befell upon this town, the young summoner went to check the condition of his wounded classmate and the mysterious girl.

"COME BACK HERE! I AM NOT DONE WITH YOU!"

Raidou lowered himself to the wounded devil who reclined painfully on the floor with his back against the wall. Although his limbs were riddled with holes and his body was filled with cuts, the brown-haired teen managed to give out a ghost of a smile. His eyes were showing confusion, but the curl of his lips displayed hope and relief blossoming within him.

"Please go check on Asia-san over there, Raidou-san." Issei spoke weakly to the boy squatting beside him, before the said boy in black could utter anything. His words, his changing expression and his failing attempt to point the fair-haired girl showed his serious concern over the said trembling girl, despite of the fact that he himself was in need of medical assistance. Such selflessness did not escape Raidou, as he answered the boy with a small smile before turning to the girl his classmate called "Asia-san". But before he could lay a calming hand upon the girl's shuddering shoulders, a fierce bellow intervened him.

"LEAVE THAT BITCH ALONE!" The one handed blonde forcefully pulled the attention of Raidou and his classmate; the degrading moniker he used to address the little girl made her to weep and shake even more uncontrollably. "SHE'S MINE!"

"NO, SHE'S NOT!" Issei furiously responded while attempting to be back on his feet; he was then quickly back on his backsides, groaning laboriously as the consequence of underestimating the gravity of his wounds. Still, the flame of his determination and ferocity to challenge the wounded blonde never left his eyes. "You will not hurt Asia-chan anym-"

"SILENCE THRASH! YOU HAVE NOT THE PERMISSION TO SPEAK!" The blonde silenced the brown-haired with his yelling. "You think that just because I have been defeated, you two can ignore me and just waltz away from here with that traitorous HARLOT, don't you?"

The blonde girl shuddered further at his words.

"DOHNASEEK! KALAWARNER! MITTELT!" The one-handed man yelled out names of unknown individuals, as if he was trying to reach out to these mysterious beings. "HELP ME!"

Silence passed for a second before threatening presence was felt and getting closer to the premises where the group of people was currently in. Sensing the ever expanding level of magnetites coming from the unknown entities that were heading towards their location, Raidou immediately knew that things were about to get ugly. But before he could pull his katana and reached his cellphone in his pocket, the mysterious creatures summoned by the wounded blonde made their entrance.

Like a thunderstrike, sudden and powerful, the unknown crashed to the building and into the room where the duel between the summoner and the man of the Church had occurred. Thick clouds of coarse dust immediately rose from the impact with splinters and broken glasses flew over the places, making Raidou and his brown-haired classmate to quickly shield their eyes from the scathing debris- hindering them to see the things that had made such an explosive entry to the spacious area. They heard several vigorous flapping of wings coming from behind the polluted veil of dust, and felt strong gushes of wind colliding against their bodies.

In an instant, thick murderous intent, intermingling with magical substances, flooded into the room like a torrent. It was certainly enough to make Raidou take a several steps back and pulled out his weapons. With his Katana in his right hand and his already active cellphone in his left, Raidou stood as a shield for the wounded devil and the girl, waiting for the shroud of smoke and dust to dissipate and reveal the horror beneath.

It was fortunate for Raidou that whatever hiding beneath the cover of smoke did not use such momentum to launch a surprise attack. But reversal of fortune was never stationary, and thus Raidou could not afford himself to be lax in such moment.

The fog of dirt finally dissolved with dust and grime settled on the surface of everything that was exposed to it. Sensing that their eyes were no longer threatened by the miniscule debris that floated with the clouds of dust, the boy in black gakuran and the devil in blazer unblocked their visions and look directly at the things that were previously concealed by the thick cloak of flying dirt.

With his vision restored, the first thing that Raidou noticed was a massive hole gaping from the ceiling- it was an entrance made so violently by the unknown entities to gain entry into the building. But such thing was quickly forgotten when the young summoner set his eyes upon the three unusual individuals that were standing at the opposite side of the room.

In the first glance, a group of people who stood at the opposite end of the room might look like normal persons. A stout middle-aged man in trenchcoat with a black fedora on his head, a tall buxom woman with long hair in revealing blouse and a tight short skirt, and a little girl with blonde twin ponytails in a cute dress that strangely gave off the atmosphere fit for a funeral; these outfits that these nameless persons wore did not shouted peculiarity in the young summoner's eyes, although such fashion might actually be considered odd according to the standard in his own world. All of these people showed great amount of hostility toward the young summoner, as it was dawned in their faces. The man, woman and child snarled at him, flashing their unnatural canines. But it too did not cause strangeness in Raidou's mind.

But the fact that these unknown people were far from being normal remained steadfast; the evidence that proved the inhumanity of these mysterious individuals still stood firm before his eyes. It was the reason that made Issei Hyoudou to grimaced in horror, it was the reason that made Asia to back away with teary eyes and clattering teeth, and it was the reason that made Raidou to be even more alert than before.

It was their wings- the pinions on their back, with feathers as black as the night sky.

"Fallen angels." Raidou spoke softly in his breath, and without presenting the unknown individuals the chance to begin their assault, the boy in gakuran tapped on his cellphone.

"Heh." Gouto-douji sighed dejectedly, while walking at his master's side. "If only they showed up faster, these things would all be averted."

"We cannot be so sure, Gouto." Raidou said to his familiar. The boy was walking back to his apartment from the academy. Another day had passed, with another long explanation in the lounge room of the occult research club to conclude the afternoon. The student council- or to be precise, the peerage of Sona Sitri, was thankfully absent from the discussion. But without their presence, the conversation itself was far from being a nice social gathering.

Instead of being inquiried and explanation on latest events, Issei Hyoudou, and strangely Raidou Kuzunoha himself, were actually getting verbally chewed by the red-haired devil. Blaming them to nearly breaking the uneasy truce between angels, devils and fallen angels, Rias Gremory showed the two boys how hellish could a woman scorned be.

Issei could only lower his head in shame while grimacing at the lashing given out by the red-haired president. Against the master of her peerage which Issei Hyoudou was made a member of it, the brown-haired boy could only accede in gloom. However, his classmates in black gakuran did not share such attitude.

Being a reasonable man, Raidou knew that the president of the Occult Research Club was being unfair to him and his classmate, and he could not bring himself to stand such unjust accusation. Defending himself, Raidou stated in gentle but stern words that he was doing his best to save lives, and Issei was actually a wrong person to be caught in a wrong place and time.

Unfortunately, the young summoner was shot down since according to the fiery club president, it was not the reason why she was mad at them. The real cause of her displeasure was the brown-haired's disregard of her order to not meeting the girl named 'Asia Argento' anymore. The reason to such order was that being a member of the Vatican Church –therefore a sworn enemy to those who bear the blood of devils, Asia Argento had the power to purify Issei's demonic trait, which would kill him in the process. The young summoner was also to blame in this matter, since he was the one who encouraged the said brown-haired boy to keep on meeting the girl.

Raidou was surprised; how did she know about his little pep-talk with Issei Hyoudou? As far as he knew, his classmate would never tell such thing to her especially when he was to defy his master's order. Was she actually spying on him? Raidou was about to voice his curiosity, but before he could do so, the blonde member of Rias Gremory's peerage raised a question to the young summoner.

Having a healthy amount of suspicion toward the transfer student, Kiba Yuuto questioned the young summoner about his part in this matter; displaying his analytical brightness, Kiba Yuuto asked about how the young summoner knew that his classmate, Issei Hyoudou was in grave danger.

Such question immediately piqued the interest of other members of the club and their red-haired leader, and it was not long before their gazes shifted to him. With eyes thick with curiosity and wariness peering at him like accusatory fingers, Raidou began to explain everything about his involvement.

He told them that he was investigating a streak of unnatural deaths that were happening in the town, and that in his investigation, he found brochures bearing the name of the Gremory clan in every crime scene. He confessed that he found his brown-haired classmate was in possession of said pamphlet during their short conversation in school before the night when the incident happened, and that the young summoner had taken upon himself to tail the boy in order to put a stop to the serial killing. It was then he discovered the real thing.

After hearing the young summoner's confession, Rias and her peerage was flabbergasted, with mixed emotion heaping on their faces, except for the petite silver haired girl- although she had a slight scowl on her brows. Relief and anger washed upon their visages as they spoke their mind on his explanation. It was not a strange thing when these humanly-looking devils expressed their disappointment toward the young summoner for his doubt on their peaceful nature. Words like "How could you?", "Do you think so lightly of us?" and the likes berated him for quite a time. Smiles gone, only to be traded with scathing and scornful scowls were now affixed to their countenance. As the rebuking continued, Raidou kept his silence since he knew it was appropriate for them to feel offended and act according to it.

The scolding finally concluded with Rias Gremory's unhappy words of advice, which stated her hope for the young summoner to be more trusting to other goodwill and honest words in the future. Raidou did not answer; he only smiled stealthily at the irony where a devil lectured him about trust and honesty. He too, silently chuckled at his current predicament; surely this was how Gouto felt when he was being reprimanded for being overly paranoid on almost everything. After the members of the Occult research club had their fill in expressing displeasure toward the young summoner, the discussion between the red-haired president and the boy in black gakuran would then be able to commence. Information was exchanged with questions raised and answers presented; but in the end, Raidou got the essential information regarding the unusual case that he was investigating.

It turned out that Rias was telling the truth, that she and the members of her peerage did not resort to extreme course of murder in order to gain more power. Apparently, the victims of the serial killing were recurring clients to Rias Gremory's services, thus explaining the mystery of why these unfortunate men and women were in possession of the pamphlets that promoted the red-haired devil's name. Somehow, the psychotic priest, or 'exorcist' as how the president of the occult research club described him, was able to find out that that 'Gremory's Request Service' was a devil's mean to acquire power, and who these ill-fated customers of such services were. Thus in his mad quest to purge evil in the most extreme manner, the exorcist- the true perpetrator of series of murder happening around the town- commenced his twisted crusade upon the mortals who had strike a bargain with the devils.

"The investigation is practically over now, though." The familiar said to his master with a lighter tone. "The culprit has been identified and grievously disabled, thanks to you."

"But he escaped nonetheless." Raidou replied dejectedly.

The cat was about to rebuke his master's self-criticism. But when he looked upon his countenance, which was cold and composed as ever, the feline familiar knew that the young summoner was not punishing himself; he was actually reminding himself that a more adroit action must be undertaken in the future, thus making this past incident as a lesson to improve himself. Smiling inwardly, the cat let out a puff of breath.

"At least we got his name, and his real allegiance." Gouto repeated the information that the young summoner had obtained during his talk with Rias Gremory and her peerage. "I say we have the advantage to apprehend him in the future."

"Indeed, his connection with the fallen angels is a clear sign that he does not represent the will of the Church. Therefore we can be certain that we will suffer no repercussion from the heavenly forces in dealing with this rogue exorcist." Raidou supported his little mentor's claim, while remembering the testimony of the brown haired member of the Rias Gremory's peerage. Such inference should actually be spoken with confidence, yet Raidou uttered those words with detached emotion. His friend immediately knew that there was something bugging in the young detective's mind.

"You're worried about that little girl, aren't you?" The cat carefully spoke his mind.

Raidou gave his silence as an answer. His mind travelled back at the continuation of the duel that happened last night.

Right before Raidou summoned his otherworldy back-ups, a big circle of teleportation rune manifested behind him, and stepping out from there were the entire members of the Occult Research club, along with its president, who immediately assumed battle position beside the young summoner.

Knowing that they were facing against infernal foes whose power rivaled their own, and that they were outnumbered by these foes, the fallen angels could only stood still with threatening poses. Their expressions could be summed up as those of utter discontent and mortification, since they were unable to do anything against their most hated enemies that was standing before them.

After the opposing parties traded glares and intimidating frowns wordlessly for a while, the red-haired devil stepped up to solve the silent stalemate.

"Enough." The devil spoke with dignified and authoritative tone, but her words did not lack any hint of displeasure toward black-winged angels. "You know that you and your friend will not achieve any victory here, o former-angels. So, why don't you back off and return to wherever you came from? "

"Still your vermin tongue, devil bitch!" The smallest of the fallen-angels, the one who donned in a cute but grimly-looking dress, shouted hatefully. "If you are thinking that you and your filthy kind are already winning, then you are sadly mistaken."

"What makes you think that you all are on our level of power?" Said the one with a hat contemptuously, while helping the one-handed blonde to get on his feet.

"Know your place, devils." The beauty with black hair haughtily announced to the group of teenagers before her. "For you are now before your rightful masters."

"For our 'masters', you all don't look so tough." The blonde hair boy from the opposing side, wittily replied with rather polite tone, but it did not lessen the mocking contained in his words. Twirling the twin swords in his hand, the boy assumed a combat position with confident bearing."Would you angels mind to show your worth as our 'masters'?"

"Fufufufu, you are always the polite one, Yuuto-kun." The girl with long and black ponytail remarked ecstatically, before turning to the group of black-winged individuals. Small sparks of lightning bolt danced around her fingers playfully as the ponytailed girl twirled the front locks of her hair. "But like him, I too, would like to know how worthy are your claim as our superiors."

The way the girl played with her long hair and smiled at her enemies, somehow suggested that she was expecting for the conflict to happen. The fallen angels were aggravated by such behavior, yet they couldn't do anything but to rein their instinctive impulse to spring at the impudent devils before them.

Meanwhile, the petite devil with silver hair had already gone to the brown-haired boy to check on his wounds. With her passive face, it was hard to tell if she was worry about the boy or not. But one thing for sure, she was able to discern that the boy was not in a life threatening condition even with numerous wounds on his body. By silently nodding to the red haired girl, she relayed such information to her.

"As you can see, foolish cretins, we are not pushovers like you think us to be." It was now Rias' turn to put on a confident front, but it was not an empty bluff like those displayed by the fallen angels. Ominous aura began to rise up from her body, displaying the tremendous power that she possessed as a king of her peerage. "We may look like average school teens to you, but know that when you are facing the devils of the high ranking clan, you all have chosen…..poorly."

The fallen angels could only grit their teeth in indignation. It was unnatural and improper for them, the beings that previously belonged to the divine hosts, to lose against the treacherous scums of the infernal world, even if it was in a verbal combat. The desire to silent the insolent she-devil along with her ilk pounded strongly within their chest; the image of these devils bathed in their own blood pleasantly seeped into their eyes. But, being formerly agents of The Most High and having trained to withstand any demonic wiles, reason still reigned over the mind of these fallen angels. With a wounded man in their tow and with the devils numbering more than their own size, victory seemed to be very distant from their grasp. Still, the internal conflict that raged on in their psyche reminded them of their wounded pride. Being casted out from the glorious, immaculate city that they once called home was a disgrace without equal, but running away from the hell-kind without putting up a proper fight would be the crowning laurels of all their failures and embarrassments.

"…retreat now." The wounded blonde weakly said, earning him the appalled look from the fallen angels at his side.

"Freed-dono, what are you talking about." The bearded fallen angel who was the closest with the man spoke first.

"We can still beat them, you lousy priest." The short one spoke next with anger uncontrolled. "Why are you being a coward now?"

"Mittelt! How dare you being disrespectful toward Freed-dono!" The black haired woman scolded the little fallen angel, who responded immediately with a scowl and a pout. The cohesion between these black-winged creatures began to show the signs of breaking apart, as their morale was straining under the pressure of the present circumstances. Yet despite of such difficulty, the buxom angel still tried to salvage the crumbling unity.

"Apologies for our audacity, Freed-dono, but I have to agree with Mittelt here. We can still vanquish these filths, if you would just order us to do so." The woman pleaded with sweetened words.

But instead of a conformity, or rejection as an answer, the fallen angel received a harsh reproach as a response.

"SHUT YOUR USELESS TRAPS, YOU NIMCOMPOOPS!" The blonde roared impatiently. "Are you birdbrains always this blind or just plain dumb? Does the fact that I just lose a hand escape so swiftly in your mind?"

The tall fallen angels could only grimace at such discourteous admonishment from the wounded mortal, while the short one clicked her tongue agitatedly.

"But -"

"No BUTS! I don't give a shit on your thoughts. We retreat now!" The man of the church snarled vehemently. "There will be plenty of time to exact vengeance upon these thrice-damned excrements. But for now, we are getting the fuck outta here!"

"As you wish, Freed-dono."

"Tch, so be it." After giving her short response, the little black-winged angel then averted her eyes to the petite blonde who still cowering at the walkway. "Hey nun! Come over here!"

Taken aback from the angel's rude hailing, the girl refused to stand up.

"Ooh, our little traitorous nun has decided to be bold, hasn't she?" The blonde angel in black dress spoke with sweet derision. "Has the little whore forgotten who took her in when her precious Vatican excommunicated her?"

Gasp escaped from the little girl's lips as she paled from the daggers of words that were purposely directed to her. She turned her head only to see eyes of hungry beasts from the fallen angels, and stares of pity and confusion from the devils. She was at a fix, not knowing what to do, and where to go. The girl needed someone to give her a way out; she was waiting desperately for an offer of help.

But none came, but the demand of the fallen angels.

"Come now." The petite angel added, her tone indicated a slight delight at the human girl's torment. "If you come with us like an obedient whore you are, I promise I will not hurt you….much."

"You little-" Issei Hyoudou was boiling at the degrading words that the fallen angel utilized to address the human girl, and was about to rise in order to challenge the foul-mouthed angel. But unfortunately for him, the petite silver-haired devil pinned him down with a hand on his chest, shaking her head left and right without uttering a word.

Slowly, the said girl rose to her feet. With her haggard face half-shadowed by her hair and with her pale hands grabbing on the torn clothes that was barely covering her modesty, she slowly made her way to the fallen angel's fold.

"Asia…." Issei raised his hand in an failing attempt to reach her, yet the girl keep on going forward – until she was one step short into the black-winged creatures' side. Turning to face brown-haired devil, the fair-haired girl put on the sweetest smile on her face, trying to cheer the boy. But with tears streaming on her cheeks and the sad situation she was currently in, it became a heart-wrenching moment rather than an uplifting one.

"Don't worry, Issei-san. I will be fine." The girl cheerfully said. The mask she wore to hide her inner emotion was unfailing. Truly this young little girl possessed a mental fortitude like no other. "I am glad to be your friend. I will always cherish the time we spent together."

After saying such words, the girl was whisked away by the blonde fallen angel who immediately took flight into the night sky through the gaping hole on the ceiling. The long haired beauty followed her suit next. It was the bearded angel's turn to flee, with the wounded man hanging on his shoulder. But before he could leap into the opening, the blonde in his arm gestured him to stay for a while.

Turning his face toward the boy in black gakuran, who had strangely been silent from the moment when the devils manifested themselves into the fray. With his eyes full of contempt stared directly into the cold and collected ones belonged to the youngster with student cap, he addressed the teen.

"You! What is your name?"

The youngster in question let the question sank into silence for a minute; re-sheathing his blade during the moment before uttering his response.

"It is impolite to demand another's name without firstly presenting one." The youngster in black gakuran spoke with a detached tone.

"Oh, to hell with your good manners!" The blonde cursed, ignoring the pain and the blood loss from his wound. "Tell me your name, damn you, so that I, Freed Sellzen, can find and end you myself."

It was not the answer that Raidou hoped for, but it was the answer nonetheless; the enemy had given his name, and it was only right for Raidou to give his to the man.

"I am Raidou Kuzunoha." Raidou replied with an even tone, making the wounded man to grin wickedly. Sadly for the blonde, it lasted only for a scarce minute, for the young summoner had not quite finished yet.

"Rememver my name well, Freed Sellzen, for I will find you, and I will stop you for good."

The wounded man was enraged with the response and was about to gave the young summoner a piece of his mind. But before he could let out any verbal retribution, the tall angel in trench coat already flew upward in breathtaking speed, sending powerful gale downward as he and the man in his arms vanished into the dark.

"Rias told me that the girl, Asia Argento, is an ally for those fallen angels, that she is acquainted with that psychotic exorcist." Raidou said. "But from yesterday's observation, on their language and treatment to her, it is clear that she is not their friend. She is more akin to victim rather than ally."

"Maybe she was indebted to them in some ways." Gouto replied with a theory of his own. "That's why she had to rejoin them, although reluctantly."

"Probably. The fallen angels did speak of her being excommunicated and that they received her when she had nowhere to turn to." The young summoner supported his familiar's theory. "Even so, she has shown great distress when going back to them."

"It's her choice, Raidou." The cat voiced his mind out loud. Though it was unsaid, the feline familiar could discern his master's regret of being passive when the girl in the conversation was taken away by the rouge angels. "You cannot save her if she did not ask for it."

"But, her expression, her body language, all of them was clearly crying for help that night, even though she did not give any voice to them."

"Then you have been assuming things without clearly seeking at the facts." The cat rebuked the youngster, making the summoner in question turned at his companion with a puzzled look. "We do not know if she is truly what she is. She was excommunicated from the legitimate religious institution, remember? Surely she had done something of great offense to be punished so."

The summoner remained silent. His mind was evaluating the reasoning his familiar had expressed, and he found it to be well-founded.

"Sometimes, you are too good for your own, you know." Raidou conceded, with amused expression he displayed to the feline familiar. It was uncommon, but not rare occasion to find the cat still lecturing the master summoner on things he encountered in daily lives; and it was absolutely appreciated by the youngster himself.

"Heh, you maybe the king of summoners, but you're still wet behind your ears, kid." The cat smugly threw his prickly remark at the boy, who responded with a weak chuckling. "Tell you what; if we meet this girl again, we'll try to talk to her- getting the bottom of this whole damn thing. How does that sound?"

"It's a fine idea, Gouto. But I fear one thing." Raidou said, but there's no optimism in his voice; there's only a sober tone of grim premonition. "I fear that when we meet her again, it will be the last time we'll be seeing her."

Another day, another moment to pass.

Hours after hours went by as Raidou played his part as a student of the Kuoh Academy. Although his task in this parallel world meant that he would be only staying temporarily as a high school student in this school, Raidou still strived to excel academically. Notes were taken in great details, assignments were impeccably undertaken, and questions were raised analytically- surprising the teachers and students alike. In this parallel realm of modern times Japan, Raidou Kuzunoha displayed the rigid discipline and stupendous brilliance of the Imperial student of the Taisho era. Despite of the difference in technology and standard of learning, the youngster in black gakuran was actually thriving in the world that was more advanced than his own.

Only few days had passed, and the attendees of the class XII-C had all felt the outstanding presence that the newcomer displayed. They knew that the transfer student was not some kind of a bumpkin; he was even better than that. Even if his intellectual prowess had not been officially assessed by examination, his classmates realized that the boy with student cap was destined to achieve greater things in the academy.

Such realization, of course spurred the finer and the lesser qualities within the students of class XII-C. Some felt inspired by the newcomer's deed, aspiring to achieve the same or even better feats for the glory of their own names. Some felt threatened, seeing their popularity and authority being slowly weakened and shifted to the favor of the newcomer. Some felt jealous of his inborn talent, viewing it in the worst possible light; while others were simply attracted to it. Nevertheless, be it good or bad, Raidou Kuzunoha had planted his seeds of influence over the students of class XII-C; except for the brown-haired devil, who had been missing since the morning class.

"Did he go looking for Asia Argento again?" Raidou muttered in his head. Even though he was headstrong and hot-headed, Issei Hyoudou surely understood how far he could try the patience of her red-haired president. With the events that had transpired recently, the boy would never be left on his own by the members of the occult research club, lest he went to seek the estranged young nun again.

A devil broke the rules of his house, just to look for a human priestess that he cared so much about.

Raidou could only give an inward smile at such awkwardness in his mind.

This was the devil who belonged to the peerage that chose honest hard work rather than easy-to-do atrocities in order to achieve power. The law made after the Great War might compel them to do so. But these devils, who in every conception is homologous with baseness and malevolence, were actually doing their best to uphold peace and order with other living beings while struggling to make ends meet. These were the devils who wholeheartedly would destroy their rebellious kin, rather than feeding on mankind like their strayed comrades. And these were the devils who actually protected the lesser beings from the supernatural horrors, rather than preying upon them for entertainment and food.

These humanly-looking devils were unlike the devil-kind he knew from his universe for sure, but it makes them all the more interesting.

They might bear the name of the infernal lords that Raidou had encountered, but it was the only thing that connected them to their diabolical heritage. There was hardly any resemblance between them and their counterparts in Raidou's original world; except for Rias' flirtatious act to incite the young summoner into joining her ranks, which MIGHT be the only thing that could be related to the original Gremory in his realm.

Raidou did not doubt their status as demonic entities, since such claim was supported by their tremendous power, their aversion to sanctified elements, and their unnatural level of magnetites in their bodies. He, however, put a great doubt on their nature as devils.

"What kind of devils are they?" was the question that always dawned in his brain whenever he put his mind on them.

The Prince of deceits did not lie about this world being fascinating. Unfortunately, it was the only probable thing that the demon lord had spoken truthfully to him. The rest were just plain lies.

This parallel world was interesting to say in the least, with its mysteries of the unknown allured the summoner to delve deeper into layers after layers of secrets uncovered. Being a prodigious sleuth that he was, Raidou was intrigued by it and it would be a grave disrespect to his calling as an investigator if he did not welcome such challenge. Even so, the young summoner kept a healthy amount of reservation on information he had obtained so far, especially the materials he first received from the fallen bringer of light.

Did he really have nothing to do with the sheer disparity of this parallel world? Did he know anything about the Great War? Or did he actually participate in it and was slain along with his Father in the great plain of Megiddo, as how it had been told by the heiresses of the two great infernal families? If so, was it the main cause of his inability to return to this realm?

Questions only bred more questions in his mind, as the young summoner cultivated the details he had gained so far. In his reflection, he found himself to be even more lost rather than found. Like a hydra, with a question answered, three more popped out in his contemplation.

Realizing he had not he necessary information to truly solve the mystery he was supposed to be investigating, Raidou pushed his thoughts on the matters of investigation away for a moment; clearing his head from the confusing things that were previously swarming within, and entering into a state of tranquil silence. Even though the classroom he was currently at was not entirely quiet, Raidou was at ease when the pleasant blankness soothed his straining mind. It didn't take too long though, for the young summoner's imagination to form wild speculations.

In his wild pondering, Raidou did wonder, how would Lucifer react when he heard the news of his and his Father's demise?

Shuddering at the vivid image that his creativity produced, Raidou swept the thoughts away and returned to his studies.

Another school day ended with a toll of a bell. For average students, it was just like any other day, a repetition of chores and lectures that they would face again on the next day. But for Raidou, it was a very different day.

The young summoner was deeply intrigued on learning new knowledge on this parallel world. Every day was a productive day for Raidou, since he was able to find subjects that piqued his curiosity in each passing days. Things he had learned from this educational institution would without a doubt be beneficial to him and many in his own realm. But knowing his vow as a protector of balance, that he was sworn to uphold the code of non-interfering the fate of his world with resources he gained from the other dimension or timeline, the young summoner sadly understood that whatever he had gained from this parallel world would never be brought to light in his home. Still, it was a pleasant experience for the young summoner, since it was a very rare occasion for him to be able to learn new things in a very different world.

But gaining new knowledge was not the thing that made this particular day a very unusual day for Raidou.

It was how perfectly normal this particular day had passed without invitation/ambush from the red-haired devil and her minions.

Since the day after their first meeting along with the student council members in the occult research club room, Raidou had been relentlessly stalked, pursued, cornered and bamboozled by both peerages, who seek to enlist him into their ranks. Sometimes both sides tried to outdo one another in recruiting the young summoner, resulting their target to flee during their times of bickering and quarelling, thus making the endeavors of these humanly-looking devils to be fruitless.

Their pursuing of him was turning into the young summoner's daily platter in Kuoh academy.

But someow, for this day, the young summoner only encountered members of Sona Sitri's peerage, whose invitation he turned down quickly and politely. There was no sign of the members from the rivaling side, effectively making this particular day to be quite peaceful for Raidou, which in his opinion was too peaceful for his liking. One way or another, he felt that something had happened on Rias' side, and he sensed in his gut that the brown-haired boy had got something to do with it. Unfortunately, without any thing to support his assumption, there's a little thing to do for the young summoner in this matter.

Without anything to do, Raidou decided to head back home, when suddenly the familiar ringtone blared out from his cellphone. It was the tune when a message was delivered to him. Picking the device from his pocket, flipping it open and highlighting the icon displayed on the monitor, Raidou unlock the message. When his eyes moved through the letters contained in the electronic mail, the young summoner's eyes widened to the size of a street lamp and immediately he rushed for the exit.

Who in the world could have sent him that message?

Raidou quickly paced on the hallway, passing on the people in his left and right with his mind focused only on one thing- Getting to the church, which address was listed on the message, as quickly as possible.

Those who possessed his number were limited in this world. His contact list only contained several people from his class; along with some important numbers that belonged to the agent of Yatagarasu, his landlord, and other amenities. A separate contact list in his cellphone held the contact numbers of his otherworldly allies, which the young summoner used when the need to summon them arose. The same went with his mail box, where two folders mere made to held messages from different acquaintances; one was sparsely filled with short messages from his classmates, while other was dominated with daily long ramblings from his supernatural associates. Hence, there were no other people or outwardly entities from this parallel world in possession of his contact number.

Yet minutes ago, Raidou received a message from anonymous source, telling him that his friends was in danger- that they went into a trap laid by the enemy he had made recently.

There had been a leak of information about him, but it was the least of the issuess the young summoner had in his mind presently.

He kept on running, passing through the school gate with great haste; his school bag was laid forgotten in his locker. Students in the vicinity looked at him with puzzled look, and wondered what had made the transfer student to dash off like he was chased by a ghost. Despite of the attention he gained, the young summoner remained in his hurried pace. He just hoped he could make it to his apartment and then, to the church.

As he ran as fast as his feet could sustain, his mind reeled back to the message he had previously read.

From : Unknown Number xxx-xxxx-xxxx

YOUR FRIENDS ARE IN MORTAL DANGER!

THEY ARE FIGHTING AGAINST THE FALLEN ANGELS IN THE DESERTED CHURCH, LOCATED AT THE FAR EAST SIDE OF THE TOWN, IN FRONT OF THE OLD MAYOR'S MANSION.

YOU MUST COME QUICK! YOUR BROWN-HAIRED FRIEND, ALONG WITH THE OTHER TWO, INTENDS TO RESCUE THE GIRL THAT WAS TAKEN BY FALLEN ONES, UNKNOWING THAT THEY ARE ACTUALLY BEING LED INTO A TRAP.

THEIR LIVES, INCLUDING WITH THE LITTLE GIRL'S, ARE IN GRAVE DANGER.

PLEASE, I BEG OF YOU! SAVE THEM!

"Please hang on." Raidou pleaded silently while gritting his teeth. He hoped that he could make it there in time.

"Shit." Issei cursed while fending off a lethal thrust of a spear- its edge was a blazing light of gold. Using the momentum he gained from avoiding the killing lunge, Issei shoved the shaft away and launched a painful hook upon the bald face of the spear wielder. "How many are they?"

"I don't know." Kiba Yuuto replied as he utilized his godlike speed to avoid the deadly projectiles of light that were hailing down upon him. Crisscrossing from the bullets and spears that was directed to him, the dual-wielding boy performed a breathtaking acrobatic feats. With his unnatural gift of swiftness, the boy accelerated from the ground unto the walls and onto the arched ceiling, defying gravity in order to survive the assault that was meant to take his life. In a fluidity of movement, Kiba Yuuto leaped right into the rear side of his converging attackers, and without wasting any moment, he unleashed flurry of slashes with the twin blades in his hands that left his aggressor incapacitated. Even so, the blonde was denied from any reprieve, since shortly after his victory against a combined group of stray exorcists and fallen angels, another cluster of assailants came after him. "But they are relentless for sure."

"A trap." The little girl with short silver hair uttered her mind with her detached tone, while flinging a long chair unto a bunch of exorcists, crushing them beneath its sheer weight. The little girl's inhumane strength was balanced with her superhuman fortitude, as evident by her physical resilience against the sanctified bullets that was showering all over her. Even though the damage inflicted by those shells was easily shrugged off by her, Koneko Toujou still suffered the uncomfortable and unsightly scorch marks on her skin. Her clothes were also torn in many parts.

"At this point, we will never reach the heart of the enemies' territory." Issei frustratedly shouted as he ducked an overhead swing of a glaive that was meant to slice his head off. The boy repaid the dodged attack with a powerful uppercut from his gauntleted hand to his attacker. The counter attack hit its mark with a force that would surely slacken the jaw of its victim. "I cannot get a promotion if I am not deeply entrenched in their base."

The trio from Rias Gremory's peerage had made a daring plan to rescue the excommunicated nun. Based on leaked information that Kiba Yuuto had got into his hands, they knew where the fallen angels and their master, the lunatic named Freed Sellzen, hid themselves. The abandoned church that was located on the remote side of the town was believed to be the hideaway for this rogue angels and the unstable priest; the three members of the occult research club also believed that it was the place where Issei Hyoudou's little friend was imprisoned. Having thought that several fallen angels along with an impaired exorcist would pose a heavy but manageable threat, the three stormed into the church.

Their strategy could be viewed as simplistic, but suicidal. Relying on the element of surprise, the devils intended to charge deeply into the fallen angels' base in order to activate their latest member's unique ability that he had been given during his reincarnation through the evil piece bestowed upon him. Having assigned to the role of the 'pawn', the weakest piece of all evil pieces yet hold a strange power, Issei Hyoudou had to thrust himself far behind the enemy's line in order to activate the power of promotion, the exclusive ability of the pawn to advance in rank and turning into any type of pieces the possessor of the pawn wished to be. By advancing in rank and turning into a more powerful piece, the holder of the pawn would acquire even more power and unique abilities according to the piece he chose to be. In Issei's case, such power could be increased even through the special ability his sacred gear possessed. The boosted gear, the crimson gauntlet that enveloped the brown-haired boy's left hand, was capable of doubling the level of strength and the amount of damage that its wielder currently held. Therefore, through the ability of "promotion" from the pawn piece, then followed by the ability of "boosting" by the boosted gear, Issei would have a staggering amount of power that would make easy his fight against the fallen angels. Unfortunately, there was a flaw in such plan.

The group had heavily relied on the information that the church would be lightly guarded, thus they had great confidence that they would have an easy time in penetrating the enemy's line to enact their stratagem.

The problem was, when they arrived, the once holy site was already swarming with dishonored exorcists, and angels with black wings.

Even though they were faced with such difficulty, the group kept on charging on and carving their way into the heart of the enemy's territory.

"Have some confidence, Issei-kun." Kiba Yuuto encouraged his friend, despite of his own struggle to defend himself. His breath had started to become ragged, signaling the near-depletion of his stamina. It would not be long for him to eventually land in a fix. Still, the boy kept on maintaining the pressure against his assailants. "We can still do this."

"Plan must happen." Koneko Toujou said while lifting a burly man with her two hands, and chucking him away onto a group of armed people who was storming to her position. Bruises and bleeding wounds started to appear across her body as her exceptional endurance and healing power began to be burdened from the damages she received. "Fast!"

"I know, I know." Issei impatiently replied as he launched his knee into his attacker's abdomen. He was not in a different state from his friends. His blazer was torn in many places. Cut wounds and burn marks were teeming on his body. Yet despite all of those things, he was hanging on for the sake of rescuing Asia Argento. "But promoting myself now will not accomplish anything. I have to get deeper."

The trio kept battling their way against the defenders of the tumbled down church. Even with weariness and pain were heaping on their forms, these brave devils put up a worthy fight against the numerous foes that would not hesitate to end their lives. As for the opposing force, they were quite surprised to find that the devils were defiantly unyielding, despite of the fact that they were outnumbered by the overwhelming number of the exorcist and fallen angels. However, these ambushers had not the intention of being easy adversaries for the three devils, and so, they doubled their efforts to bring down these young trespassers.

The heat of battle was abruptly halted, when all of a sudden, a long, bloodcurdling and dreadfully excruciating scream of pain resounded across the great hall of the church. The shriek was so gut-wrenching that it made the combatants to freeze on their feet, and look at the direction where the scream originated which was from behind the twin great iron doors that were located right under the large wooden cross at the back of the altar.

It lasted for more than a minute before it finally descended into an eerie silence that made the fighting men and women to be very uncomfortable with such atmosphere. Before anyone could make a move, a powerful force suddenly flung the twin doors open, and coming out from the dark corridor previously concealed by the iron doors, was the dark-haired woman, who Issei immediately recognized. She was his girlfriend! Or what he believed to be so.

"Amano Yuuma-san?" The brown-haired spoke with puzzlement in his voice. The girl that probably was his girlfriend wore the most unusual outfit of tight black leather that hardly covered any of her modesty. If it was in any other day, Issei would certainly drool over his face at the sight of the dark-haired girl's twin bountiful mounds of glory that were inadequately concealed behind a thin glossy strip of leather. But seeing the fearsome pinions of black feathers coming out from her back, the brown-haired devil remained in his vigilance.

"Guess again, lover boy." The girl said haughtily while she approached the devils. The sound of her tall boots thumping on the hard floor further enhanced the aggravating charisma that she generated in her arrogant manner of walking. Her voluptuous, scantily-clad body swaying in enticing way, had succeeded in grabbing the attention of the male population within the room, except for the Issei Hyoudou and Kiba Yuuto. The devils' attention was however, fixed on the dull form of a human body that was rested in the fallen angel's clasp.

Noticing their concentration was glued on the unmoving body that she was lugging within her arm, the fallen angel dropped the body unceremoniously unto the ground.

"It was done." The fallen angel said again while shifting her gaze to the lifeless form that was sprawling beside her. "I have no more use of her."

"Is that-" Issei was choked by the sudden realization that was dawned in his mind. The lifeless form beside the fallen angel was small in size and nude in appearance. The pale bluish skin the body displayed indicated that the breathe of life had no longer lingered within. Its long golden hair hid the face of the said lifeless form, but it didn't take a genius to identify who the corpse really was.

"YOU BITCH!" Issei immediately jumped onto the black winged creature. His demeanor had changed into a furious one when he realized what his ex-girlfriend had done on his friend. Pulling back his left elbow as far as he could, the brown-haired devil was about to launch his clenched fist upon the fallen angel's face with full force- intending to separate her pretty head with his bare hand alone. But before he could do so, the fallen angel already raised her hand and pushed back the youngster in mid-air with force of a gale, sending him skidding onto the floor before he finally hit the wall.

"Issei-kun!"

Kiba Yuuto and Koneko Toujou rushed to their fallen friend, intending to check on his condition. It was a relief to find him lightly injured. Unfortunately for them, before they could aid their comrade to get back on his feet, the black-haired angel already called out for reinforcement with a long whistle. Soon, exorcists armed with guns and other sharp weapons poured out from the door, while angels of black wings crashed into the interior of the church from the window, shattering the multicolored stained glass in the process. It did not take long for the three devils to be completely surrounded by the combined forces of disgraced clerics and angels.

"I have hoped that the transfer student is going to be with you." The black-haired fallen angel in S&M outfit said while hovering on the air with her black wings spread wide. "I wish to repay him and his friends the 'kindness' he had so generously shown to me. Unfortunately, it seems such thing is not going to happen. Oh well, at least I get to kill you filth, and acquire another sacred gears in the process. Oh, Lord Kokabiel will be pleased with this turn of event! We will finally reclaim our rightful place among these animals!"

But before she could exact her plan, an intervention came.

The fallen angel's thrilled voice was suddenly drowned by three loud bangs coming from a firearm; three bullets ricocheted harmlessly on the ceiling, causing dust and concrete micro-matters to fall off to the ground.

Turning their heads to the entrance where the gunshots were coming from, the men and women from the opposing sides looked upon the youngster in black gakuran already standing at the entrance of the church. Around his body was a cape of black, with his signature revolver in his right hand and his sheathed blade strapped on his waist. The same student cap still adorned the top of his head.

"You finally show up!" The black-haired fallen angel ecstatically squealed. "I was expecting for you!"

"Well, I got your message?" Raidou lightly answered while shaking the cellphone in his left hand. He ambled slowly to the converging group while holstering his gun. In exchange of his pistol, he pulled out his sword.

"Message? What message?" The black-winged scantily clad girl was puzzled, but it was quickly forgotten since the desire of vengeance defeated her sense of curiosity. "No matter, thanks to these little trinkets, I am able to heal any injury!"

The fallen angel arrogantly flaunted two ornamented silver rings that adorned each middle finger on her both hands. She had hoped the boy in black gakuran to be shocked at her possession of those magical items. Unfortunately for black-haired fallen angel, the said youngster displayed only his disinterested expression, as if he had not the slightest idea on those rings. Even with her petty hope dashed, the black-winged girl still intended to get her revenge from the said youngster.

"Now call out your friends, boy." The nefarious black-haired girl taunted while she darted left and right on the air. "I still have a debt to those two abominable brutes of yours and I wan to repay you and them of the 'generosity' you have been showing that night. Besides, this party would not be complete without those beasts, would it?"

"Be careful what you wished for, fallen angel." Raidou challenged back, stopping at the distance not far from the group of exorcists and angels. His expression was as calm as ever, showing that he was not taking the bait from the black-haired fallen angel. "Because you never know what you'll get on your plates."

"Heh, big words for a mortal." The fallen angel could no longer hide her aggravation toward the boy. Raising her finger toward the boy in black cape, she shouted.

"Everyone, get him, but don't kill him! I want to rip his spine personally! But feel free to tear off his limbs though."

With the order being given out, the exorcist and fallen angels roared their battle cry as they rushed to the boy in black.

Shout of warning called out to the boy with the student cap, telling him to run away and save his own life. Yet the said boy remained on his spot.

He was greatly outnumbered, with his enemies' seconds away from closing in to his position. Still, he was unmoving from his ground. His winged foes and armed adversaries had expected the boy to flee, but they were astonished to see him standing threateningly before them- with his blade pointed at them. Was the mortal so desirous to forfeit his life?

Shrugging away their assumption on what their prey was thinking presently, the dishonored servants of The Most High charged at the boy. Orders are orders, no matter how easy and trivial they sound; and these strayed children of the Almighty had no intention to disobey the command that was charged upon them.

Unfortunately for them, the fact that they boy in front them had pressed the button on his cellphone had slipped their mind so easily.

In the moment the young summoner pressed the green button on his cellphone, the ground beneath the church quaked.

The very foundation that slept under the abandoned holy site rocked so violently that it made the aggressors stopped on their track. Along with the earthquake, winds and clouds outside of the building began to stir uncontrollably, as two massive summoning circles appeared in the middle of the air in front of the young summoner. In blinding light of green, two unknown beings manifested themselves from the summoning runes – passing from the distorted realm of the dark world into the material realm of mortals. Descending from these hovering discs of emerald light, these unknown beings swiftly broke the cocoon of light that had concealed them from the sight of the mortals, angels and devils.

As they were freed from the light that bathed their form, the unknown entities made themselves known before the friends and the foes of the young summoner.

"WE WERE THE ENGINE OF YOUR CONCEPTION."

A voice made by a combination of different pronunciations and pitches, cracked out like a raging storm. Its furious intonation on every syllable shook the very souls of every individual within the room- making all of them to avert their attention to the utterer of such words. Each of their eyes enlarged to the size of a dinner plate when they looked upon the form of the newest guests to the battle.

The life forms that materialized in front of the youngster in black had wings on their back. One had the most beautiful and immaculate pair of wings; every feather attached on each of his pinions was as pure as a snow. The other had two pairs of wings on his back; their color was fiery red of the raging flame. Suspended on the air, these beings spread their wings wide, creating a gale that rocked the interior of the church even more.

The sight of these winged entities extending their pinions wide struck the opponents of the young summoner in awe, fear and jealousy.

"FROM THE FARTHEST CORNERS OF THE UNIVERSE, WE BROUGHT YOUR DUST FOR THE ALMIGHTY TO FORM, AND FROM THE DEEPEST CHASM OF THE VOID, WE CARRIED YOUR AIR FOR THE FATHER TO BREATHE UNTO YOU."

The one with the white wings was clad in a majestic armor of red. A golden cloak enveloped his protected form, yet it did not obstruct his wings- since those blazing pinions of white passed through such magnificent fabric unhindered. The pristine skin of his face only enhanced the brilliance that he had already possessed.

As for the other being, instead of a suit of armor, the crimson-winged creature was sported in a white priestly garment with big outline of crimson that was stylized in the form of blazing fire. His feet were bare from any footwear, making his onyx-colored skin visible for many to see. His towering height dwarfed the armored being beside him, further increasing his imposing bearing.

"TOGETHER WITH THE FATHER, WE BROUGHT YOU LIFE, WE BROUGHT YOU JOY."

The being in red armor was brandishing a long sword in his right hand; the blade reflected the light with its gleaming metal. In his left hand was a golden round shield, with its protective side embellished with a golden head of a lion. Tremendous heat could be sensed seeping out from those two weapons; it was an absolute certainty that the blade and the aegis were brimming with mysterious power capable of wreaking terrible destruction.

Regarding the arms of four winged creature, he carried with himself an enormous gilded horn. The item in his hand seemed to be an unlikely weapon, compared to the sword and shield that the being beside him wielded. Yet somehow, the golden musical instrument in his hand generated a terrifying authority.

"YET YOU REPAID US WITH YOUR BETRAYAL AND YOUR HERESY."

Upon the head of the armored being was an open helmet that let his long wavy hair of silver flowed freely. His uncovered visage was a cold mask of anger and fury given form. His eyes were glowing with baleful glow of gold, and they stared menacingly upon the corrupted men, women and angels that were filling the holy building.

If the appearance of the winged warrior was the divine face of righteous fury, then the face of the creature in a long priestly garment of white and red was the face of incongruousness unmasked. His visage had a pair of eyes that was covered by an odd goggle of red with yellow lenses, but apart from that, was where the oddity lay.

Instead of other parts that made for a normal face, filling on the surface of his head were numerous mouths that were constantly shifting from one place to another. The entirety of the being's head was a peculiarity itself since there was no contusion or jaw line- thus making his entire head a black orb with too many mouths that kept on moving round. On the top of his head was a tall, white cap with long tail of black cloth trailing from its lower crown.

"AND SO, WE CHANGED. FROM THE ENGINE OF YOUR CREATION, WE BECAME THE ENGINE OF OUR FATHER'S WRATH. FOR YOUR FOREFATHERS' TRANSGRESSION, WE SEVERED YOUR CITIZENSHIP IN EDEN."

Having fully shown their entire physical splendor unto the summoner's friends and foes alike, the winged entities let out a fraction of their power. A rippling layer of air suddenly engulfed the entire room with its transparent energy, and it pushed forward- passing through the walls and into the outside. Instantly after that, the earthquake died and the stirring clouds dispersed, stilling the furious wind and silencing the cracking thunder.

"HEED US, O CHILDREN OF MEN, LISTEN TO THE TOLLING BELLS OF YOUR RECKONING, FOR THOSE ARE THE SIGNS OF OUR ARRIVAL, AS WE BRING YOU YOUR DUE. BEFORE US, ALL YOUR TRIUMPHS ARE MADE VAIN AND ALL YOUR EFFORTS ARE MADE NAUGHT."

Even though the natural disorder had been sated, the exorcists and the fallen angels on the opposing side were trembling. They had felt the sheer power that the two unknown winged beings had projected; it was way beyond their level of power, and the fact that these terrible entities were standing at the side of the boy in black troubled them greatly.

There were no more black-winged angels hovering on the air, as all of them had planted their soles firmly on the stony floor. The violent presentation of the two imposing figures with white and red wings had forced them to land. They were all driven by an unrecognized urge springing from within their psyche, telling them that such action was appropriate to do before these mighty creatures.

The black-haired angel, the chief among these rogue exorcists and dishonored angels, was among them; standing weakly on her two feet while struggling to keep her knees not cluttering to one another, she was not excluded from the uneasiness that slowly crept into her entire body. The girl did not recognize the winged entities in front of the boy in black uniform, but she remembered the taste of power being exhibited by them. Something arose from the depths of her memory that it made the black-haired angel stricken with terror.

"No…It can't be…." The fallen angel tried to deny the thoughts springing up in her head, but it was to no avail. "It can't be!"

"ALONE, WE ARE THE CLARION CALL OF YOUR DOOM. TOGETHER, WE ARE THE RIGHTEOUS INSTRUMENTS OF YOUR DOWNFALL."

The feeling of terror did not only affect the combined forces of exorcists and fallen angels; the same sentiment also affected the three devils in the same room. Witnessing the power of the youngster in black gakuran being unfolded right before their eyes, the trio could only remain in silent. Extreme curiosity assaulted their mind as the three humanly-looking devils watched the unexpected turn of event in awe.

"What are you exactly, Raidou Kuzunoha?" was the question that simultaneously dawned in their heads.

"I AM CAMAEL, THE GLORIOUS ONE WHO ALWAYS SETS HIS EYES TO THE ALMIGHTY."

"AND, I AM ISRAFEL, THE HORN-BLOWER OF FATE, AND THE CALLER OF THE END-DAYS."

"REPENT, O CHILDREN OF MEN, REPENT, FOR YOUR ACCUSERS HAVE ARRIVED AT LAST."

"They are…angels." One of the fallen angels gave voice to her thoughts. There was a hint of great fear in her voice, and soon after, it spread like a terrible pandemic among the foes of the summoner. "of the highest order!"

Murmurs of panic suddenly rose from crowd of mortals and traitorous angels. Some even began to clasp their hand and chant prayers catatonically. But before the fear-stricken mob could even raise their incoherent rambling even more, a thunderous voice assaulted each of their ears, relaying a message of fear that painfully made its way into their hearts like a cold razor stabbed through their chests.

"REPENT AND DIE!"

The echo of the stern message resounded once more in their hearts and mind, further paralyzing the exorcists and fallen angels alike in terror.

To be continued…..

Notes:

I feel sorry to you mooks. I really do.

Real Notes:

I am very late, I know that, and I am very sorry about that.

About my source for the "Lonely Marebito Case", please refer to the notes in the prologue.

About The Crimson Lord's A Demon Among Devils, I am surprised to find this masterpiece of a crossover, and even more so when I found out about the summoning scenes that you guys have talked about. I really, really thank you, good people of the internet, to have shown me such glorious crossover. The Crimson Lord's A Demon Among Devils certainly has made me more pumped up to improve myself.

But seriously, you can't compare this crossover of mine with The Crimson Lord's. His writing style in that Persona & Highschool DxD crossover is just divinely greater than mine. If we are to be compared, his is the blossoming cherry blossom, while mine is the dormant seed.

Seriously, just don't.

Once again, Raidou Kuzunoha series and Highschool DxD series are not mine. If they are, I would already make a game about them. Sadly for me, they belong to their respective owners. You can look for these owners in internet.

This crossover is a tribute to The Crimson Lord's A Demon Among Devils. I have just read few chapters, and it already blew my mind repeatedly with its awesomeness.

P.S:

So I have covered the Buddhist gods of warfare, and the angels from both Judeo-Christian and Islamic beliefs (according to the compendium). I will probably cover the mythical deities from the Hinduism or ancient heroes/demigods in next chapter. But, I am not so sure yet. Maybe I'll cover deities or youkais from Shinto beliefs...or maybe the infernal lords.