We are entering Spring! ^_^ Per usual, the next chapter can be found in you-know-where, along with some arts of an OC's base appearance!
"This is what I found from the last reports."
Raphael distributed several folders and files to everyone inside the living room after breakfast, everyone kneeling around the table.
Griselda was present… though her current attire was yet another sight to behold. A sexy military outfit that exudes a dominant persona, a military white cap, a window-boob blouse and tight corset, a short-sleeved jacket, and thigh high heel leather boots. Issei and Vali tried their best not to glance in her direction every now and then.
Even Irina, Xenovi, Asia and Teodoro were doing everything they could to focus on Raphael instead of the woman.
"Sorry, one second. Why is Griselda wearing…. That?" Issei asked.
"She's still on her shift." Black smiled evilly, earning frowns from the Church boys and girls.
Raphael then cleared his throat to keep the conversation from straying away, "Ahem. From what I gathered, I can determine the remaining locations the prisoner mentioned where they might gather the children. I do not know how the report was tampered with, but at least I confirmed that the angels managing these regions are clear."
Raphael rolled a map and pointed out crossed marks on it.
"There are…. Four suspected locations in the countryside not far from Rome, including the one the prisoner mentioned.""What's the plan? Split up and strike them while the iron is hot?" Issei proposed, looking at the map, "These places are quite far from each other."
"I am rather against a brash approach, but considering the deadline we have here, we cannot afford to delay either. So, while we can, as you said, strike while the iron is hot, this needs to be done carefully." Raphael commented.
"We have an army of Blacks." Issei pointed out. "How many lives do you have here?"
"Thirty-nine trillion." Black answered while eating a bag of chips.
The girls, Teodoro, Touji and Raphael blinked at the numbers that surpassed the seven digits.
"What… I…" Touji was overwhelmed.
"I can split into literally thirty nine trillion of mes. And we have the Big Bad among us. So to say, we got this." Black assured. "Unless you want to take some things into account? I can sneak in while you guys do the heavy lifting to make sure we don't have a hostage situation."
Raphael then cleared his throat, "...We don't really have enough information on the enemy's tactics and arsenal. Despite our superiority, the matter is delicate."
"It'll be too late if we do it your way!" Issei argued. "We are on a timetable here! Is there anything we can take and use against them? Dossiers, paper trails, anything?!"
"...None of worth in that regard." Raphael shook his head, "Careful observation and patience is crucial in our position. One wrong step and we'll-"
"Ahem. Hello? Guy that can be everywhere at once? The math isn't hard, people!" Black said as if it was obvious as he popped another chip in his mouth.
"...Hah, right." Raphael nodded, "Mr…. Black's talents, we can use to handle reconnaissance for intelligence on all matters. On to the next subject, I have to deliver bad news."
The seraph then placed a piece of paper with the seal of the Vatican printed on.
"...The Vatican has issued a warrant for a man-hunt against Sister Griselda." Upon the surprised looks from Irina and Xenovia, the Seraph proceeded, "Two days ago, the guards in charge of watching Griselda's domicile were found dead inside her house, with Griselda herself was deemed missing. Reports stated that Sister Griselda has fled after murdering the guards."
"Well, good thing that we've learned of what actually happened, right?" Issei quipped, pointing to the Sister in question across the table, "We even have the victim safe and sound here."
"We should tell the Vatican the truth!" Xenovia interjected.
"...And allow Griselda to go back to her house-arrest?" Vali quipped, "Black said that the corrupt officials believed that the Triads had dealt with her, right? I say we keep it that way for the time being. Let those officials think they have the upper-hand."
"Which correlates with possibly good news I have." Genos then interjected, "Thanks to the location of the Triads our prisoners provided, I was able to tap into their communication line. Last night, I learned that the Triads and the Vatican were having….. Arguments."
Black started to cackle, causing all eyes turned to the creature with trillions of lives.
"They actually bought the dummy corpse!"
Everyone stared at him before they turned to Genos.
"Playing the recorded lines."
Genos said as something clicked from his body
[Like I told you, I did not abscond with your men! They did their jobs perfectly!]
Everyone listened to the recording as Vali started slurping his bottle of soda.
[We picked up your precious woman, yes. They sent us the coordinates to transport her, but then… an unknown entity absconded with the strike team I sent in front of my retrievers' eyes. It left the package, however. We confirmed that it is indeed the woman, but she's dead.]
[What do you mean dead? I don't…]
[Now, let me repeat myself. What did you get us into?]
[I don't follow. Don't you have them by your side?]
[If you don't have them, or at least know where they are, then I believe we need to re-discuss our terms of agreement. Three were abducted, screaming through the radio, left without a trace, the other three KIA by Griselda. We cannot track them with their equipment. I am going to make you and your… cabal of pedophiles pay with your bones if you do not explain yourself. We have your Exorcist. Imagine what we do when we show your people the corpse?]
[...Allow me to remind you that you are in our territory. Our people will not believe you. Showing her… corpse will only be seen as an act of crime.]
[You have no power in your current state, don't pretend that you aren't caught under the dragon's eyes. I will not say this again. Remember your place. You will come and see us tomorrow or else we will leave, no, throw you to the hands of fate. No discussion.]
[...Bring Griselda's corpse with you, I want to confirm her with my own eyes.]
The transmission then was cut there. Everyone had listened to every word spoken in the recording.
"...I recognize that voice. It's Archbishop Crayford Ladora." Teodoro noted.
"Who?" Issei asked.
"One of the many archbishops in the church." Raphael answered.
"How many archbishops are there?" Issei asked.
"More than thirty four, but let's not assume that they're all guilty." Touji advised.
"But he mentioned 'us', that means we are looking for more than one person." Xenovia pointed.
"…Do you think we can capture evidence of the archbishop mingling with a criminal?" Irina suggested.
"We can, but if Ladora were to come alone, bagging him in will alert the rest." Issei reasoned
"Hello? Everywhere." Black gestured to himself. "Just use the bastard as bait for the rest. It's what I did."
"What if the others chose to cut him off? Disavow him?" Issei then asked.
"Why not use a truth serum on him to spill his guts?" Black mentioned.
"There's no such thing as a truth serum. You've been watching too much TV." Genos retorted.
"…But we have a truth-angel." Black pointed at Raphael. "Use him as a viable witness. He can't lie, you know?"
Issei and the others stared at Raphael as if they were struck by the lightning of logic.
"This… can actually work. Accusing Raphael of lying is the same as admitting to treason." Vali pieced together.
"Black's deceptive brilliance allowed us a window of opportunity. I might have a plan on how to obtain new direct evidence, but I am going to need some materials to ensure they cannot slander our findings." Genos followed.
"What do you need?" Black asked.
"...I need some cameras."
"...I do not know what is going through your head." Crayford Ladora said as he sat before the desk. "We had a deal, Ludun. Our transaction is complete. You know better than to welch on us after getting this far."
The room was underground, heavily refurbished, lion statues standing guard by the only entrance inside with two men in zhi fu attire, military kung fu clothes standing by the side of one of the council leaders of the triads.
"...When you came to us begging for aid, out of nowhere, we weren't sure how to respond." Ludun, the asian man with sharp mustache whiskers, donned in a kesi dragon robe, his hair tied into a braided ponytail as his narrowly sharp eyes stared at the fat man in priest robes.
"Our relationship is mutual, but not personal. We are not as involved in Supernatural like your organization. You want us to delve into a world in a level where we cannot yet map… or thrive."
Lundun said as he placed his hand on a jade dragon orb on his desk, caressing it.
"Then, a day later, you arrived with strange materials, claiming that pieces of meat can give us power to reign over lesser men."
"You accepted it yourself. I saw you ate it. The power is genuine, so-"
"I have a son." Lundun said as he nodded. "A year ago, we discovered he had cancer. Terminal. I gave one of those… flesh-balls to him with hopes that it'll cure him. His health did improve greatly, but not before he killed my wife in his rampage."
The atmosphere was suddenly filled with the weight of mortal danger as Crayford was silenced.
"Tell me. What else have you kept from us? Oh, poor fat man that whined about treachery to the cheated? Did you throw red paint on our backs while we weren't looking?" Lundun asked.
"We did no such thing. Our research showed that the test-subjects have gone beyond the current mankind." Crayford defended.
"Then your research was done by short-sighted fools." the Triad leader scoffed. "My wife's blood is on my son's hands. Through my hands. So tell me. What did you drag us into?"
A tense silence sparked. Crawford swallowed a lump.
The doors closed behind him. Crawford looked back, seeing two more of his elite bodyguards standing guard by the lion turtle statues.
He realized that Lundun called him here not because, or not only because, of his mens' disappearances, but to personally quarantine him like a fish lured by the light of an angler.
"I believe we don't need to resort to any violence. We will… compensate for our short-sightedness with your son… is he still alive? Or mentally well?"
"…He regained his senses after we tranquilized him. He is grieving. He still refuses to speak to me…"
"What do you want from us?" Crawford asked, wanting to get this uncomfortable discussion over with.
"The truth. You bought our silence and consent with this power. Now you incurred a debt. Start with, what devil did you bargain with?"
Crayford remained silent as their gazes refused to leave each other, "...I am afraid the word no longer applies here."
Suddenly, the doors slammed open. All in the room, bodyguards and leaders, turned to see one of the Triad's men sliding towards Crayford's chair. The man's head bonked against the leg of Crayford's chair.
"...And you brought your misfortune with you." Lundun gazed at the approaching intruder with squinting eyes.
"Y-You!?" Crayford squawked at the sight of Issei Hyoudou, The Son of the Strongest Man.
"Me." Issei's eyes jumped to the men in the room.
Six people, four bodyguards, one leader of the Triad, and a fat piece of shit. Issei seriously wondered if all corrupt priests are fat bastards. Issei then smiled, particularly at the leader of the Triads.
"Ni hao ma?"
Lundun raised his eyebrows at his native language that came out from the boy's mouth.
"Wǒ jiào Issei Hyoudou, zuì qiáng zhě de érzi. Wǒ shì lái shōushí zhè wányì de*." Issei glared at Crayford. "And I want to talk with the man that agreed with Griselda's capture… you do not look like what I imagined, honestly."
"...Interesting. Nǐ lái dào wǒ de zhùchù, rènwéi nǐ kěyǐ tíchū yāoqiú?**" Lundun said as the bodyguards approached.
"Dāngrán, wǒ kěyǐ***, because I am the Son of the Strongest Man. And I don't want to hear it from someone that breaks into homes for a living."
"Son of the Strongest Man? Zhè shì yīgè àomàn de biāotí****."
"Tā shìyòng yú nàxiē bù cānyù chāozìrán shìjiè de rén*****. You have no idea how hard you stepped on the dragon's tail, do you?"
Lundun cast a glance at Crayford.
"W-What are you doing?! Kill him!" Crayford squawked.
Lundun gazed back at Issei. He raised his hand and clenched it into a fist. The bodyguards nodded as they turned to Issei and… they started changing.
Issei blinked as he stared at the men transforming into…
"...Wow."
One of them was a green cyclops at human size, with a horn sticking up from his head. Two blades of metal extended from the dorsal of his hands. It honestly reminded him of Baraka from Mortal Kombat.
Another was a bird man, a graceful crane with long legs, a spear-like beak and two wide wings of blue and white.
Issei looked behind him, seeing a monster man with four eyes, two on each side where his eyes would be, as bone pikes grew from his shoulders as he yanked them, now holding two weapons of bone in his hand.
The last one beside the lion turtle statue was fat, like very fat. It was a large man-panda thing… only there was a line of teeth across his stomach left and right. It opened, revealing a large tongue where the mouth was.
"Let's see if you are worthy of that title, boy. Destroy him." Lundun ordered.
The stomach-mouth panda roared with both mouths as he stampeded towards Issei first. The others moved in, all ready to destroy the intruder.
They were Lundun's finest warriors hand-picked and trained under his tutelage, now enhanced by the power of the supernatural, no lesser man could defeat them.
However, the boy proved not to be a lesser man.
Pow!
The one with the arm-blades screamed as he flew over Lundun's head. The others immediately flew the moment they entered his range, the giant panda bouncing off the ceiling as the other two flew into the mouths of the lion turtle statues by the entrance.
As the giant panda landed back with a disgraceful thud, Issei quirked a brow at Lundun.
"What? That's all you have?" Issei taunted, gesturing to the fallen warriors.
Seeing his best men were easily dispatched, Lundun narrowed his eyes at Issei.
He could sense that his men were near unconscious, unable to fight further.
Lundun slowly rose from his seat. Issei watched carefully at the man as Crayford immediately ran away to the door. The boy paid the cowardly, snot dribbling man no mind as he and the older man locked gazes.
The desk suddenly flew, being kicked and sliding towards him.
Issei stopped it with his foot as he saw Lundun land atop the desk, something sharp flying towards his eye.
Issei caught it, seeing a spike dripping a dangerously colored purple liquid in that split second before he kicked the table out from under him and tripped the man before he pushed Lundun back.
Lundun tumbled before he rolled back to his feet. There was no pain, only a strong shove.
"...Witness my new power."
Suddenly, Lundun's form was clad in touki as he transformed.
His form was a bit unique, Issei admitted as his human form was slowly casted away.
Issee saw an armored hybrid of a black scorpion and a man, his face covered with sharp, black beady eyes, two crushing pincers added to his clawed arms, his braided tail turned into a vicious scorpion stinger while the area below his neck was heavily armored in natural chitin.
He looked very badass, Issei admitted.
It was even more impressive that the man was suddenly clad in touki.
"You don't seem surprised that I can transform." Lundun's voice chittered, sounding more like three same voices trying to speak over the other.
"I am saving my questions for when we talk." Issei answered honestly as he and Lundun started circling each other like two lions that met in the fields.
The panda man groaned while the two martial artists appraised each other, before they stopped.
"Lundun Si Lam. Master of the Black Scorpion Style." Lundun held his fist against his palm before his chest.
"Issei Hyoudou. Disciple of the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist." Issei returned the gesture.
After introducing each other, they then put on their stances.
His stance was surprisingly gentle considering his show of might. Lundun shifted his weight forward.
Issei had an idea what his fighting style was like, but he had no experience against it.
Breaking the silence, Lundun sprinted, throwing himself forward like an arrow. Issei moved in, past the long pincers' range. Lundun threw a point strike for his eyes but the boy's hand veered his thrust with unexpected gentleness.
Even without the power, Lundun was one of the top masters of the Triad.
He was one of those that could use the power of Ki, the ability to perform feats beyond human limits.
Yet this youth demonstrated superior ability beyond his comprehension as he ducked just when he flicked his scorpion tail, failing to inject his venom, and blocked his knee strike with gentle ease.
Lundun jumped back, spinning as he swung his pincers, the boy grabbed his second pincer arm and crouched, pulling him off his balance with him as he fell to a knee.
Pow!
Lundun's touki shattered.
He stumbled back, holding his face, his mind slipping his hold as his vision blurred to three for a second.
He absentmindedly stared at the boy's fist as the boy slowly rose to his feet. He then looked at his palm, seeing the dark-green blood.
The boy was smirking.
"You gonna go serious now?"
He had the audacity to flick his hand to gesture 'come at me'.
Wiping the blood off his nose, Lundun flicked it off. He had judged the boy enough.
Issei flinched when he sensed Ki flowing into his hands and pincers. He flinched because the ki felt off, nauseating, wreathed in lethal purple.
"Don't die on me now, boy." Lundun's touki re-emerged as he dashed.
Issei raised his hand and deflected a falling pincer to his right, the floor cracking as the energy reached the wall beside the lion statue.
The panda man that was unconscious stirred as he got up, but Issei kicked the panda out of the door like a soccer ball.
Lundun hummed at the boy's quick thinking to evacuate his men as he engaged the boy in high speed combat.
Issei let himself smirk a little as his Water Stream clashed with the scorpion's martial arts, gentle curving streams blocking and deflecting lightning fast devastating strikes before they immediately danced around the room, never straying too far from the borders marked by the other three men still in the room.
His pincers were sharp and continued to snap at Issei's arms, but the way he used them was slightly clumsy, though compensated by his supernatural strength that could cleave through stone like paper.
However, his usage of the extra arms grew cleaner and more graceful with each swing. His arms were like talons, Issei wasn't sure what kind of Ki this man was using but the Water Stream was enough to bounce it off.
Issei evaded the fierce martial combination of the man's seven limbs, from his legs to his hands to his scorpion tail hair. This man was strong enough to give Koneko a run for her money if they fought.
In the climax, Lundun stomped his feet, his stance sturdy with purchase in the earth he threw an unrelenting fury of strikes, swinging claws, his fists, and even his scorpion stinger rapidly fusillading him in a barrage that could overwhelm many two-armed foes as Issei deflected and dodged them all with the defensive style.
His scorpion claws were easy to avoid since they were only effective in a certain range, ineffective one Issei moved in past the dangerous pincers as he caught the scorpion stinger between his teeth to Lundun's shock as Issei pulled back and down with all of his weight and struck the scorpion solar plexus, shattering his touki again and then his carapace while earning a exorbitant cough of blood from the man, then followed up with another strong strike intended to finish him off while sending him flying.
But Lundun possessed a rare tenacity that caught even Issei as he held into his second punch as if he was holding a lifeline while his stinger weaved through the air and plunged right into his wrist, in his vein
Though his counter was not without consequence as he earned retribution via a kick to his face, sending Lundun to the far wall as he violently and explosively became one with the architecture.
Lundun coughed as his exoskeleton shattered like glass, falling off his frame, his insides reeling from the power, stuck to the wall, but he cackled.
"Hahahaha…" Lundun's chittering laughter was interrupted as he coughed blood.
He could no longer fight with this level of injuries.
"It's too late. The poison inside can kill an elephant instantly. Not even another leader survived when he challenged me with our new powers." Despite his coughing fit, Lundun still had the capacity to give a speech. "Such a shame… augh, there's no antidote. You might as well give in and pray to your gods-"
Lundun's next words died in his mouth as Issei took several deep breaths, moving his hands in tandem between his chest and stomach. His skin showed some discoloration, his veins bulge with poisonous energy coursing him.
"Nnngh!"
Then, as if the Gods spat on Lundun's confidence and pride, the poison squirted out of the puncture.
All of the discoloration left him, only the healthy tone of beige as Issei exhaled. He was covered in sweat from exertion, but all signs of poisoning were gone.
"Whew…. Alright, is that all?" Issei asked as he flexed the numbness of his arm.
Lundun's mien was stoic. Issei and the scorpion man continued staring at each other in silence, until the latter bowed his head.
"…I concede to the victor."
Crayford ran past another unconscious guard.
What was happening? Why was the son of the strongest man here?! They could not have gone this far with their investigation!
"Damn it!" Oily sweat ran down his fat cheeks as he huffed with exhaustion already nipping at his heels.
He needed to get away. He needed to warn the others. He reached out for his cellphone, but the whole running made it hard for him to dial on the line. Not to mention, his poor constitution made it hard for him to talk between his breaths. As much as he wanted to make the phone-call, he had to wait until he himself was in the clear.
They needed to send out more of the assassins as soon as possible.
As Crayford ran to the parking lot where his vehicle was…
He stopped, speechless, at the sight of his car between the teeth of a giant black dog with six red eyes.
"...Eh?" He and the dog stared at each other for a moment. The dog dropped the mangled vehicle from his jaw, the remains leaking oil and scrap.
Crayford's blood went cold as the dog began to make its way towards him. He wanted to book it, but the exhaustion and fear froze his legs from moving. Sweating buckets, Crayford could only helplessly stand and watch as the dog gradually loomed over him.
The dog had its maws hanging open, secreting large drools that dropped to the ground. Crayford could feel and was shameful to admit that he was wetting his pants by this point.
The dog then lowered its head, as if it was appraising its new meal. A few seconds later, the dog snorted; Crayford's face was hit by a gust of wind coming from its nose.
As if on cue, Crayford's mind could not take it anymore and the corrupt archbishop fainted on the spot, his sweaty, oily body splatting like a disgusting sack of filth.
XoX
Then Crayford woke up, only to find himself tied in a chair.
"H-Huh? Where am I?" Crayford looked around. He was in a dark place, pure pitch black surrounding him save for the spotlight hanging above his head.
"...Crayford. You have a lot of nerve trying whatever you're going to do to my daughter."
The archbishop blinked and found someone walked into the light - someone familiar.
"You… Touji Shidou!" Crayford then hardened his expression in the last second, "W-what is happening here? Release me at once! I demand an explanat-!"
He stopped when Touji pulled out a light pistol and shot it close to his face, the bullet singing his hair.
"Eek!"
"Don't you dare pretend to be my superior. I'm going to kill you and the rest of your accomplices in the name of justice."
"Father Shidou."
Touji paused, turning slightly to allow another voice to chip in. Crayford, however, had his face paling when the room was illuminated, literally, by the said newcomer.
"L-L-Lord Raphael…?"
"While I understand your anger, we need him alive. He is not innocent, but we need proof of his deed." He placed his hand on Touji's shoulder.
"Y-Y-Y-Yes, hahahaha! Just as Lord Raphael said - you can't do anything if you don't have proof! You have nothing on me!" Crayford immediately regained his confidence. "Even if you do somehow know of our sins, what of it?! My friends will keep sending assassins after your daughter no matter what! You may as give up-!"
He stopped when Touji aimed his light pistol at him.
"Not another word, you piece of filth. You're going to tell us everything you know this instant. There will be no leniency, only truth. Or we're going to… do unspeakable things to you. But first… where is Griselda? I know you hired the Triads to make her disappear, our greatest female exorcist and role model. How could you do such a thing?"
Crayford grimaced as his eyes darted between him and Raphael.
"A-And what if I did? You think you can still save Sister Griselda? You think I'm going to tell you if I did?"
"We can ask the Triads we captured about Griselda. Apparently, we already agreed to his initial condition to let him kill you himself if you don't confess first." Touji warned.
Crayford paled a little at Lundun's betrayal. There was only one reason why he would side with them, and that was if he was defeated.
He clenched his teeth.
"It's meaningless in the end! No matter what you do, you can't save Griselda. Do you want to know what happened to her?"
"Do enlighten us."
"Heh. She has made her way to heaven already. It's such a shame, a fine woman like her is gone because of you all, poking her pretty nose into something that shouldn't be touched. It's only a matter of time before the others come to rescue me. Not by force… but our overwhelming influence as the leading figures of the Vatican."
The lights turned on - The room was revealed as a cubic room with white tiles.
Crayford blinked when he saw four black imps holding…
"Thank you for your assistance." Touji smiled as he holstered his light pistol, before he asked the imps, "Did you get everything?"
One of the black imps with a white face pressed the camera recorder.
[It's such a shame, a fine woman like her is gone because of you all, poking her pretty nose into something that shouldn't be touched. It's only a matter of time before the others come to rescue me. Not by force… but our overwhelming influence as the leading figures of the Vatican!]
Crayford felt his soul and heart die when he heard his own voice play out with perfect lucidity.
"...Y-You… t-the others won't take this! T-They'll say your evidence is forged!" He shouted.
"Not if I had anything to say." Raphael interjected. "I cannot lie, remember? If I support and remind everyone of that… I dare them to besmirch the words of a Seraph. If they did, that is also a confession on their part. Anyone that says otherwise is guilty either way."
"I-I-I…"
Touji smiled as he, Raphael, and the four Black imps walked away.
"Greetings, Lord Crayford."
Crayford flinched at the voice. He was tied up, so he could not turn around fully, but he knew her voice all too well.
Something then was brushed softly against his cheek, he looked down and saw the edge of a riding crop, until his eyes registered the owner who had walked around in front of him.
"I-I-Impossible…" He stuttered with overwhelming fear. She was smiling at him. There was no ounce of gentleness or mercy behind that smile.
"Yes. It is me. I should've already known that it was one of the archbishops… but hearing your confession from your own lips is much more gratifying. Especially…" She cracked the crop against his chair, eliciting a frightened yelp.
"For what you are planning for my student." Griselda coldly finished before she lashed again, this time the crop landed straight on Crayford's nose, breaking it upon impact.
The sound of Crayford's agonizing scream echoed through the night until everything went silent.
Lundun sat on a chair in a lavish hotel room, one grade below the highest class suite of the Terra D'oro.
His men were a little bruised, though they stood beside him as they gazed at the boy that defeated them single-handedly.
"How do you wish to start?" Issei asked.
"Hmmm." Lundun said as he rubbed his nose. The pain was still there. "While it is preferable to end this as soon as possible, let's take the journey to collect ourselves. Let's see… What are you?"
"Heh. Good first question. But I'm a human. Though, allow me to ask you something in return - how much do you know about Supernatural?"
Lundun remained silent.
"The only ones I am intimidated with are the demons, or what you people call Youkai. I can tell you are Japanese. Your Italian is rough but improving with each word. I know little of the superpowers, only the names of the tails I should not step on. The Church is one of them, but the ones I dealt with are lowly serpents pretending to be dragons."
"Heh. Well, I gotta say, it is kinda bold of you to want to become a part of Supernatural like this. You already colluded with someone that did step on a dragon's tail. Hard."
Lundun scowled.
"I already sensed that. Tell me, if you are human as you say… Why are you so strong? Someone like you should not be hiding amongst the shadows when you can rule over lesser men."
Issei snorted, "The only man I wish to rule is myself. I consider your line of thinking a burden. I don't need to prove myself to the world by subjecting the weak. I do it by fighting the strong."
Lundun remained silent until he remarked with a nod, "...Admirable."
"…Your Ki back there is unique. What's your secret?"
"Hahaha!" Lundun laughed in amusement, "...Well, Son of the Strongest Man, it is a path not many can follow. I poisoned my entire body, and then my Dan tian, source of our Chi. The secret is to continuously drink a scorpion venom concoction that is a secret only to my clan. Not many can survive, but those that do will have their Ki inherit the poison attribute. My technique and potential has evolved since I gained the power… but it is frustrating to see a child handle my poison so easily."
Issei smirked at his honesty.
"And your scorpion form… I can guess where you got that from. And you probably have no idea what it is."
"None. We were hesitant when Crayford approached us with suspicious offers, both exorbitant and too tempting. The power to rule over lesser men… The Triad wished to become one of the ruling influences of this world. What better than from the Supernatural world where the many cannot defy and the few can rule like the emperors of old?"
"Then you bit off more than you could chew. Even I can tell you don't have much practice or experience with the scorpion man form."
"I prefer to call it the Black Death, but Scorpion is more literal, I suppose." Lundun chuckled.
"...You're not what I expected from a man that deals in human trafficking, you know?" Issei said.
"We take in orphans not only for prostitution, but to train as soldiers. We buy the healthy young from the Vatican, those with no affinity to becoming an exorcist or otherwise. If we're lucky, we could acquire those that can gather and use Ki. I could say that it is a way of giving them a chance to earn their lives in this world, but you can taste the sophism in these words."
"I can agree with that." Issei shrugged - so the children were nothing more than discarded goods. "Are you going to help us?"
Lundun silently stared at the boy.
"...I have my conditions. I wish… to be compensated for the aid I provide. I can tell you have resources. The serpents hiding under the holy castle can no longer be trusted."
"How many of them are there?" Issei asked.
"Bold of you to try and fish more than you can catch, but I will say this out of respect. Four. You are looking for four serpents within the Church, and that does not include their servants. Some of the others among their station are nothing more than victims of their venom."
"...Victims such as?"
"Blackmail. It seems that they ensnared some of their fellows in their web of deceit. I don't know how, but I do know that one of them is caught for having an affair with the wife of a married man. If you wish to know more, I have my terms."
The door opened. The Triads turned and had their eyes bulged at the sight of a mountain of muscles covered in gold.
"Sorry, I had to make him wait outside to make you feel… not overwhelmed. If you want to do business, do it with him." Issei smiled as the towering golden muscularity dragged a couch from the hotel room before the Triads, placing his rear onto the cushion.
"It is nice talking with you. Wish you luck. You're going to be overwhelmed by what Supernatural has in store for you." Issei then got up and walked out of the room.
He closed the door, walking away as the faint sound of Gold introducing himself faded behind him.
"Well?" Irina, Xenovia, Asia, and Teodoro were waiting for him.
"We got something. There are four archbishops we must bring to justice."
The four sighed with relief that they managed to make progress.
"But we're not out of the woods yet. We still need to find that crucial piece of evidence - the brainwashing machine." Issei said. If they were going to bring them down, they were going to do it with overwhelming evidence.
That, and they need it in order to cure any other victims marked by it.
"...Only those who had an inkling of the location were already dead." Xenovia remarked.
"Yeah, that too. Which is why we hope that the Triads can get us somewhere, if they are willing to cooperate with us." Issei tilted his head.
"What do we do now?" Irina asked.
"Until another lead comes up, I say we take a break; and by taking a break…. I say we do some sight-seeing." Issei replied with a knowing smile. "And by sightseeing, I mean we go to the points where Raphael marked for investigation. And take the time to explore Italy a little. You never know when you need to know the layout of the land."
"I-I'll go with you!" Asia meeped, raising her hand.
Irina and Xenovia were surprised to hear Asia announce herself.
"Uhhh… sure, why not? We can split to cover more ground, then. Asia, Rover and I will cover two locations while Teodoro, Irina and Xenovia will cover the other two. Any objections?"
Irina and Xenovia looked at Asia, the first wanting to object, but seeing the girl's determined expression…
"...Alright." Irina replied with a small sigh and smiled. "We can look around the town. There are some places I would like to show you, but… I think Asia can do that for me."
Asia noticed Irina gave her a quick wink.
"I can also show you around too, I was used to doing errands around the city before." Xenovia chipped in.
Irina quickly grabbed Xenovia's and Teodoro's hands and dragged them with her.
"Eh?"
"M-Ms. Irina?!" Teodoro flustered.
"Have fun, you two!" Irina smiled as she giggled, heading towards the elevator first.
"...Okay, that happened." Issei stared at the elevator before he looked at Asia. "So… Got any places you like me to see?"
Asia blinked, "Huh? Oh, um, yes! Let's see…."
Unknown to Issei and others, during their preparation to go to Italy, Black had approached the blonde and handed her a small notebook, containing the list of places and attractions she could enjoy with Issei during their stay in Rome.
Sending one more prayer of gratitude in her mind, Asia then fished the book out from her purse, looking through the pages.
"Um… I always wanted to try Italian fashion!" Asia said, smiling.
"Sure, shall we head to the mall?" Issei asked.
"Yes!"
Hand-in-hand, they both then made their way to the elevator, with Rover happily trotting behind them.
Irina stared at the piece of artwork owlishly.
It was a somewhat old style of the baroque era, painted by a random person. The price of the painting scored in tens of thousands of Euros in equivalence.
"...Irina. Please don't tell me what I'm thinking that you're thinking." Xenovia asked, knowing her friend too well.
Teodoro was wearing a simple white-dress shirt, knee-length shorts and a pair of shoes with socks up to his shin.
Irina and Xenovia were wearing the outfits which were not dissimilar with the ones they wore during their mission at Kuoh, albeit Xenovia replaced her long jeans with shorts and her hoodie with a hooded vest.
"Hm? What? No! Are you crazy? I'm not planning to do anything" Irina nervously replied.
Above her head, however, her Halo suddenly appeared and appeared to… flicker.
"Irina. We are not buying that." Xenovia shook her head at the sight of Irina's flickering Halo.
Teodoro stood by the sidelines watching out of confusion. "Um… What's wrong about buying that painting? I mean, it does look nice."
"It's expensive and, while I admit that we do have money… I am pretty sure Black's allowance would not be enough to cover this." Xenovia blandly explained. "That, and Irina has a sinful habit of buying useless things."
"No, they are not useless! They are objects of worship! They have high spiritual values!" Irina argued.
"Only if they're genuine, which they're not." Xenovia retorted.
In return, Irina could only pout while looking away.
"Anyway, I think we've been sight-seeing long enough. Should we head to the marked locations?" Xenovia moved on.
"Isn't Mr. Black there already? What can we do?" Teodoro asked.
"We cannot simply sit around while our friend is doing all the work… even if said friend is an accurate representation of a mischievous bible demon." Xenovia replied with a knowing smirk.
Irina and Teodoro could agree with that after what Black had Griselda wear.
"Alright, let's go. Maybe if we get a lead, we can catch another archbishop in the act." Irina proposed.
They then began their trek, looking for some public transport that could bring them faster to their destination. However, as they walked further into the main road, something caught their attention.
A trio of women - possibly tourists, were walking closely to each other, their expressions were distraught. Behind those women were the reason for their behavior; a group of men smiling and leering while following them.
The trio from the church watched as the women made their exit into an alley, with the men following suit.
Irina and Xenovia looked at each other for a moment. They wordlessly nodded and followed them into the alley with Teodoro catching up behind them.
The three confronted them when the men loomed over the women menacingly.
"Stop right there! In the name of God, put your hands up in the air and turn around slowly!" Irina heroically declared with a hand on her hip and a puffed chest.
The men stopped. To her surprise, they did slowly raise their hands in the air as they slowly parted aside.
What shocked her was that the female tourists were holding guns. And they were aiming them at the three while the men swiftly took out their firearms and aimed at them.
Xenovia immediately understood the situation.
"Take cover!"
Xenovia shouted as she tackled the stunned Teodoro into hiding behind a small row of the trash-cans and stacked-crates, while Irina took flight and deployed her magic to protect herself.
Gunfire erupted from the alleyway, bullets and otherwise pelting her magical barrier as, to the three's surprise, a bounded field was cast over this area, shutting them from the outside world.
A white mist started to encroach the alley, Irina's vision of her friends and those below, stranding her in the air.
"My employers never told us the target was an angel. Tsk."
A swarm of bats erupted from the mist and meshed together. Irina readied her light swords as she watched the bats meld into a humanoid form.
"...You're a vampire."
It was indeed a vampire garbed in a trenchcoat, his pale face revealed while a heavy black shirt and pants covered his body below his neck, refusing to show even the barest amount of skin.
His eyes were piercing crimson, the color seemingly piercing into Irina's soul, his hair dirty white as his fangs showed beneath his upper lip.
He was holding a pistol and a sword as well, his vampire wings unfolding.
"Oh, come on, dear. Why not try and see if we can drink the blood of a holy girl?"
Another one appeared from the veil of mist, licking her lips. She was a woman with burgundy hair and pale skin, dressed in light-green silk dress.
The man hissed as he glared at the angel girl, pointing his gun at her. "...Fine. Sorry, girl. Consider your blood forfeit."
"You can try." Irina replied defiantly as she brandished her swords of light.
Within the mist, Irina saw glints piercing through the veil.
"No. We will try." The male vampire corrected as gunfire erupted, the sound of a heavy long range weapon roaring.
Irina quickly flew to the side out of sheer reflex, but a sharp pain grazed her waist, and a small chunk of her wings were blown away, leaving a bleeding gash in the process. She hissed, swiftly applying healing magic to stave the bleeding.
Irina then saw the blood that escaped her was suspended in mid air, before the droplets gravitated towards the female vampire, who opened her mouth wide and drank the spilled blood in fervor.
"Oh….." the vampiress shuddered breathily, her face contorted in pleasure, as her hands ran on her own frame, "It burns down my throat… so this is the taste of angel's blood…." Her fangs then grew, as she sported a blood-thirsty grin at her comrade.
"I have to be the one to finish her off, am I clear?"
Irina scowled - the fight had barely begun and she was already put in a disadvantage. She was going to get an earful from Issei if this keeps up.
Xenovia grimaced, already holding Durandal as her shield against the gunfire since her only piece of cover was torn to shreds. If Griselda saw her like this, the woman would verbally lash her for treating a holy sword like that.
"Teodoro! I need your assistance!" She shouted.
"O-on it!" Behind Xenovia's defense, Teodoro steeled himself as he looked for an opening.
As soon as he saw one, he gathered an orb of light on his palm and shot it towards the direction where the bullets came from.
The gunfire stopped just before the light sphere exploded, banishing some of the mist.
Xenovia widened her eyes when their clothes came off, their pale skin showing slight tan burns and face showing.
The women, on the other hand, were on the ground, bleeding.
"The girls are human! Switch to focus fire!" Xenovia shouted in immediate conclusion.
"G-got it!"
Seeing that the hail of bullets had stopped, Xenovia used the opportunity to go close and personal, "Cover me!"
"Yes!" Teodoro immediately summoned spears of light and threw it at the assailants while they were still reeling.
They noticed as they dropped their assault rifles and took out a machete and a pistol, both firing at Xenovia as she ran with her sword in front of her, bullets coming off holy steel as she pivoted and swung just when the two raised their machetes.
Her blade cleaved through both of their stomachs, severing them both in half as their upper bodies fell from their lowers.
She looked behind, seeing that both of their bodies turned to ash.
"...Vampires?" She muttered. They died a bit too fast to Durandal, and their skin were pale.
"W-What do we do? The mist is still here!" Teodoro shouted as the mist returned to drown their vision and forms.
"Stay close to me!" Xenovia ordered, prompting Teodoro and her to stand back-to-back.
The sound of an explosion like thunder echoed through the air again in succession. Xenovia and Teodoro looked up, seeing faint flickers of golden light through the mist.
"I can't see. Teodoro, can you fly?" Xenovia asked.
"I can… But will you be okay alone here?" Teodoro asked.
"I'll manage somehow. Go help Irina and come back here." Xenovia nodded.
The boy nodded with some hesitation, before he spread his wings out. With a mighty flap, he cleared some of the mist away and took to the sky.
Watching the Nephilim flying away, Xenovia felt a little bad. Truthfully, Teodoro was holding her back due to his lack of combat experience. Now, she could focus on defending herself as she looked around.
Then they came, the shambling corpses that accompanied the vampires.
A vampire jumped down from the roof of the alley, wielding a claymore blade.
Xenovia inhaled as she charged at them with a warcry.
XoX
In the skies, Irina trailed across the firmament, avoiding the bullets of steel and blood as the vampires chased her down.
Irina immediately ducked when she heard the explosive gun of a sniper within the mist.
She grumbled to herself, completely positioned by the enemy, and she walked right into it! If she did not somehow handle them, Issei would definitely send her back to Kuoh…. Possibly in a body bag, in the worst case scenario.
Taking a deep breath, Irina took out Issei's gift, the X-Shaped Divine Bow of China as she turned around and pulled a spear-arrow.
"Take this!" She shouted as she shot at them.
The vampire duo immediately turned to mist, but the arrow then exploded like a flashbang of brilliant sun-yellow.
To her surprise, the mist covering the area was banished while the vampires howled like banshees, the two vampires reforming their physical bodies.
Irina's gaze turned owlish when she saw them look like they were roasted by the worst sunburn in existence.
"What the fuck was that?!" The vampire lady who tasted Irina's blood screamed in outrage, as her skin burned. The male Vampire was heaving with great pain. She swore she heard more screams below, forcing her to glance in the direction to see two more vampires rolling around, screaming 'My eyes!' - their sniper rifles dropped aside.
The woman's beautiful pale skin was now charred pink, steam smoking from her body.
Her lips turned into a cheshire smile as she slowly pulled another arrow. This time she attempted to notch two arrows at once.
"What is that bow?!" The man hissed as she aimed at him. Immediately, he descended, but stopped when he saw a bunch of light arrows coming from below.
"I'm coming to help, Irina!" Teodoro shouted as the man retreated back to the sky, blocking the light spears heading their way.
"Surrender! You are no match for the power of the great Sun-killing Bow!" With a goofy smile, Irina decided to be dorky as she aimed the bow at the two vampires.
The male and female vampires scowled at her as Teodoro joined her.
The two hissed at them before they glanced at each other.
"Is it time?" The woman asked.
"We have no choice. No better time than now!"
The duo roared to the sky as they started to transform, much to Irina's and Teodoro's surprise.
"My goodness…." Teodoro breathed out.
They heard about the transformations from Issei, but seeing it was another story.
The man sprouted skeletal wings, each wing bone connected by bloody sinew and muscle as his form mutated. His clothes seemingly cast aside as his skin started falling off, blood dripping from his exposed muscles as his arms and legs expanded in length and girth, his face elongating into a maw as he grew larger and larger, capable of rivaling a wyvern in size.
He was like a feral were version of a skeletal skinless bat dragon thing, no eyes in his sockets as he growled at them, his two iconic vampiric fangs glistening under the light.
The woman was a different story as she elongated and grew, sprouting giant red wings of crimson below the membrane and white behind as she turned into what looked like a pale vampire dragon with fangs, her irises shrinking into slits as she screeched, forcing Irina and Teodoro to cover their ears.
They look completely menacing now, bigger, stronger, and with powers they did not know or experienced before.
"Witness our true forms! The power!" The lady vampire dragon cackled as she unfurled her pale wings.
Her voice was deeper with a hint of majesty.
However, Irina immediately fired the arrows at them as each exploded with holy sun fire.
The two shrieked in response to the explosion splashed them with concentrated energy as they fell to the room, both rolling around as they smoked like meat over a fire.
Despite their bravado, the two were still vulnerable to the concentrated holy sun energy of the might archer god's bow. Irina felt a little guilty that she was abusing their weaknesses with probably the worst weapon they could ever encounter.
Teodoro watched the light-show and turned towards the girl and her bow, "...What is that?"
"Something I got from my boyfriend! It's awesome!" She smiled from ear to ear.
She thanked both Issei and Black for this gift.
They looked down at the two monster vampires, but they immediately flew away from the crimson stream shot from the vampire dragon's mouth.
"We must flee!" The skinless man shouted, knowing their disadvantage.
"What?! We can kill them!" She shouted.
"Not with that weapon in her hands! We can't get close as long as she has it! Don't let your pride get in the way, go!" The skinless wyvern man nearly roared at the woman before he took flight, his great muscled wings carrying his form.
The woman glared between her ally and her prey, then she growled before she turned to follow the former and took flight. However, a flash of light suddenly appeared in their escape path, forcing them to stop mid-air.
They screamed when spears of light rained down on them and pinned their monstrous forms, their arms, their legs, their wings, their necks to the rooftop like bugs on display, their monsterized vampire flesh singing in reaction to the holy element.
Teodoro and Irina blinked as they looked up…
"Hello, everyone. I'm sorry for coming a little late."
It was a beautiful young woman in a black sister outfit. Her hair was ashen blonde and her eyes were mesmerizing gray with a tint of blue.
"You… You are Mirana Shatarova, Lady Grabriel's Ace." Teodoro spoke in recognition.
"It is a pleasure to be formally introduced. My name is Mirana Shatarova, serving as Seraph Gabriel's Ace." The woman - Mirana curtseyed.
The two monsterized vampires screeched and roared, both trying to pry themselves from the light spears to no avail.
"I hope I can be of help. Lady Gabriel sent me to help with your quest. I had to investigate a separate trail, and I believe I can help you with my findings."
Irina and Teodoro exchanged glances. They smiled as they nodded.
Now they have more prisoners to interrogate.
Issei and Asia - plus Rover panting in Asia's arms, just finished their shopping date, walking hand-in-hand with the girl smiling radiantly while the boy smiling in content. They did not buy much, and all of their bags were stored inside Issei's dimensional inventory.
As happy as Asia was, it was now time to go to one of the locations where Raphael marked.
"Say, Asia, what is the difference between a Pastor and a Reverend now that I wonder? There's all these church titles that I'm kinda lost on the meaning of them."
Asia and Issei already left the train and entered the village on the outskirts of Italy.
The homes were all made of stone, though Issei did not know what to call that kind of architecture where everything was white stone and made by hand.
"Ummm… A reverend is a pastor that has served many years, Issei. Their roles are still the same, spreading the word of God, but a Reverend is more of an honorary title."
"Oh." Issei and Asia stood before the building, the orphanage, a humble building beside the Church of God.
"Looks nice so far." Issei hummed as he scanned the building before him.
"Shall we head inside for now?" Asia asked.
"Think we should meet up with Black for a bit… Nah, I'm not gonna let him do everything." Issei decided against it.
The two then walked towards the door and Issei knocked a few times.
A few moments later, the door was opened, revealing a young girl; her clothes were plain - there were signs of re-stitching but still decent to wear. Her hair was dirty blonde tied in low twin-tails.
"Um…" the child looked fearful for a second, "Can I help you?"
Issei blinked at the reaction, but smiled nonetheless, "Good afternoon, err… Can we see the Pastor in charge here?"
"...Do you mean Reverend Sangril?"
"Uh, yeah. We would like to speak with him." Issei nodded.
The girl fidgeted, even biting her lower lip for a little before she nodded, opening the door wider so the visitors could step in.
"P-please wait for a moment, I will call Reverend Sangril."
Once the girl was out of sight, Asia commented, "...She looks scared. Did we come here on a bad time?"
"Might be just nerves. She looks shy as hell. We're probably asking a lot out of her out of nowhere."
Issei and Asia waited for a moment, until the girl returned with a man.
Issei and Asia were a bit surprised, he looked very gentle, glasses on his eyes with short gray hair with black clergy robes on his person.
"Ah, I'm sorry, but you caught us at a bad time. How may I help you two… young lovers?" The reverend asked, looking at Issei and Asia.
Issei blinked as his mind went to a halt - now that he thought about it, what should he say about themselves… crap, he did not think this one through.
"Errr, we would like… um… uhhhhhhh…" Issei started to sweat. He was definitely sure that he looked like a dunce at this moment.
He looked at Asia for… wait, she's an angel. She could not lie. Crap.
The reverend stared at the young couple, as if trying to read them. When Issei and Asia's eyes darted around between the building and the girl next to him, he spoke.
"Perhaps you two would like to adopt a child…?"
Issei remained silent as he looked at Asia. Asia was fuming with a color so red it threatened to permanently dye her face.
"...Yes." Issei admitted with a blush of his own.
"Aren't you two… a little young to be parents?" The Reverend asked with equal awkwardness.
"My brother owns a hotel." Issei did not completely lie on that part. "We, err, we'd been set up to marry each other….. For business expansions."
"Oh, really?" The Reverend looked genuinely surprised.
"Yeah. We are very wealthy. We would like to raise a child to have early experience in being a parent." Issei managed to weave an excuse… though he was not sure if he would actually adopt someone. Actually, would he even keep one? His mother would definitely raise the children for them.
"I see, very well." The Reverend nodded with a smile, "I have quite a few children who would be thrilled to be adopted by a big family like yours. Please, follow me."
"One more thing, can we bring pets inside?" Issei asked, gesturing at Rover, who had been cradled in Asia's arms.
The Reverend stared at the odd-looking dog carried by the girl for a few seconds before he nodded, "We usually don't allow pets inside, but I guess I can be lenient for a visitor today. Can I ask you to ensure that… will your dog behave?"
"Oh yeah. Definitely." Issei and Asia nodded with a smile as Rover barked, wagging his tail.
"Then please, follow me."
Issei and Asia sighed with relief that they made it as they followed the man. Issei and Asia cast glances at each other.
Asia's cheeks were turning red again when they realized that they were going to adopt a kid as she immediately looked away and focused on the ground before her. Issei's face was not as red, though the anxiety was there.
They could leave the child in the hotel to be with the Blacks where they could receive ample education… assuming that Black knows how to raise a kid well, and would not try to corrupt them.
Again, IF they ended up taking one… no, they would. Issei was sure that they could not fake adoption, and abandoning the kid would be way too cruel.
They soon arrived in some kind of mess hall, where the children were gathering, long tables where children of many hair styles and colors were eating amongst each other.
They looked pretty cute now that he thought about it as Issei tilted his head to get a better look at them. They were all wearing accessories, though every single one of them were crosses.
"You caught us right at lunch. Please, feel free to look around and see if anyone catches your eyes.
A few of the children noticed their gaze, seeing new faces.
"...Father Sangril?" A girl with messy red hair asked, pointing at them. "Are they…?"
"No, dear. We have someone that would like to adopt one of you. They look young, but they seem adamant in being parents."
The children clamored as they all looked at the two. Issei and Asia paid attention at their reactions, they looked doubtful, yet some of them also looked hopeful.
The older kids, however, looked a bit despondent… their gloom was so apparent they practically wore it on their skin.
Soon, they stopped eating as they walked out of the tables and lined up against the wall, each standing shoulder-stiff as they adorably waited for them to appraise them.
"Okay… huh." Some of them were too on guard. The others were anticipating a better life.
He should look into this, though he did not think that anyone would be that dumb to let a potential witness leave like that. He should check on some things first, though.
"Well? Go on." The reverend urged them to take a gander.
Issei and Asia felt their hearts pumping in their chests. Good thing he brought Gold's personal credit card with him, unlimited spending limit, the best bastard brother he could ask for.
Issei and Asia walked towards them as they took deep breaths, trying to compose themselves as they were about to… kind of reach adulthood. Issei and Asia appraised them one by one, looking at them.
The younger ones looked nervous, jittery, and cute, even. The older ones looked downcast, depressed. Issei was not sure if it was because they thought they were too old for adoption or something else, it looked weird.
"Asia, who do you think we should take?" Issei asked.
"Ummm…" Asia nervously looked around as she hugged Rover tighter to her chest.
"...W-What about her?" She pointed at the older girl. She looked older than Asia, though it might be the case since Asia was shorter than most girls her age.
The young woman had chocolate-colored skin. Her hair was white, her face was very pretty, Issei admitted.
She looked up, when she knew that the visitors had picked her. Her eyes bore a sense of self-abandonment that Issei could not help but worry for her.
"...We'll take her." Issei pointed at the girl.
"I… strongly advise you to reconsider." The reverend suddenly spoke out.
"...What?" Issei looked back at the man. "Why?"
"She is… not well. She has… Terminal illness." He answered. Issei blinked as he looked at the girl, the girl flinched.
"She looks pretty healthy to me… No matter. I think my family can whip something up for her." Issei shrugged, knowing that whatever magic items and techniques out there could cure something so menial.
"But…"
"I said we'll take her. If she does have something like cancer, then she should be able to live the rest of her life happily." Issei declared with resolution.
The children looked up at the boy, all of them completely surprised, and caught off guard, his words.
"I…" The reverend looked perturbed, disturbed even. It seemed he could not wring out an excuse to keep her here.
"...Will…" The girl spoke out as she looked him in the eyes. "...Will you take my sister, too?"
Her voice was disturbingly weak, like she almost never used it most of her life.
"You have a sister?" Issei asked - when the girl nodded, he looked around, "...Well, where is she?"
The girl slowly pointed a finger at the right. Issei and Asia followed her direction, seeing a younger-looking girl with similar chocolate skin, though her hair was black.
"...Is that her?" Issei asked, pointing at the chocolate girl.
She nodded.
"We'll take them." Issei said.
"B-But-"
"I said we'll take them." Issei firmly repeated.
The reverend remained silent for a moment.
"...Very well… Please, follow me." He sounded defeated for a moment.
Issei and Asia followed the man to the front. Issei looked back, seeing the same girl showing a small smile on her face.
"Alright…"
Sitting in chairs, Issei and Asia signed the papers the best they could, insurance forms and otherwise.
"Are we set?" Issei asked the reverend.
"Please, wait here for a moment. The children must say their farewells to the others before they leave with their new families, after all." The reverend answered.
On cue, a couple of more men entered the room, clad in a similar clerical clothing as Father Sangril. The orphanage's manager nodded at them, and they walked away, heading towards the left. Issei suspected the living quarters since the other direction led to the mess hall.
"Who are they?" Issei asked, pointing at the men.
"Please, don't mind them." Sangril gave a disarming smile, "They are simply to help young Vincenza and Jonelle to pack their belongings, preparing them for the new life awaiting them."
"...Do they even have much on them?" Issei asked. "Why not have the kids or nuns here help? They don't look like they belong here."
"I assure you, we are short on staff at the moment." Sangril assured.
As if to disagree, Rover, perched on Asia's lap, suddenly perked up and sniffed the air, his ears twitching back and forth. He hopped to the floor, directing his attention towards the direction where the two men disappeared.
Rover growled in their direction, sounding extremely agitated.
"Rover?" Issei asked as he and Asia looked at Rover's line of sight.
He knew better than to not trust Rover's senses.
"Mind if I check up on the girls?" Issei asked.
The reverend looked perturbed.
"I-I assure you that-"
"Yeah, I'm gonna check. Rover, look after Asia, alright?" Issei stood up and walked towards that direction.
"Would I have a moment of your time?"
Asia gasped when the reverend approached Issei with a syringe in hand. When Issei turned around, his hand was already swinging for his neck.
However, Issei's hand grabbed the offending syringe before it plunged into his neck.
The reverend stood still as Issei turned around, his eyes lasing at the man with a murderous glare.
For some reason, there was an inexplicable air of dread surrounding the boy as their eyes met. The reverend's face contorted with fear as he shuddered.
"I-I can explain-"
He was cut off by Issei's fist uppercutting his stomach. The reverend's back bended in a sharp angle as his eyes bulged, spittle and blood leaving his lips as he fell from Issei's fist, knocked out.
"Asia, we're going in." Issei ordered.
"Y-yes!" Asia sounded anxious at first, but her face was determined to see things through, as her wings grew on her back.
Rover started sniffing the ground and walked towards the direction the two men went. Issei and Asia followed him, entering a hallway with doors lined on both sides of the hallway.
Rover stopped beside one of the doors and barked at it.
Without questioning it, Issei grabbed the doorknob and tugged. The knob was locked. Issei broke it with a simple twist and forced himself in.
He should have expected it.
The two men were on Vicenza while Jonelle was being held by the arms, kicking and screaming. He expected magic at play.
"H-Help us!" Jonelle shouted with teary eyes.
"H-How did you-"
Issei stomped towards the priests without hesitation.
The one holding Vicenza down pulled out a lightsword at Issei.
"Don't you dare-"
Issei grabbed it and crushed the hand holding it, forcing the man to buckle and wail with pain before Issei punched him in the jaw so hard his head flew to the ceiling.
Jonelle and Vicenza stared at him with dumbfoundment as Issei dashed towards the man holding Jonelle and immediately punched his face, slamming his head down with his weight and buried his head to the floor with cacophony.
The younger girl immediately scrambled towards her sister, who quickly secured her in her arms as they stared at their newly adoptive father with amazement. They did not even have the urge to cry.
"...Y-You just… how did you…" Vicenza was speechless. She could not find the right words to express her storm of emotions and confusion.
"No time for that." Issei said as he looked towards their direction. This changed everything now.
"Oi, you idiot!"
Issei looked back to see Black popping into the room from the door.
"The hell are you doing?! I was in the middle of something!"
"What do you think I'm doing?" Issei asked back.
"You…! Uuuugh!" Black slapped his face and slid it down his chin. "Alright, alright, I can work with this. First, come here. Before you rampage, we need to talk about battle plans."
Issei exhaled but nodded nonetheless, "...Asia, can you stay here and look after these two. Rover, you stay here too for guard duty."
"Yes, I understand!" Asia nodded and began to tend to the girls, who were still stupefied at what transpired, especially at the odd-looking dog who suddenly grew larger and grew more pairs of eyes.
"Alright, what have you found?"
Issei asked as he and the dwarf creature were walking across the hallway.
"You should know that they are very connected. The guy has a phone in his office. He uses that to call his shady friends over like those two scummy bastards when you're about to adopt their favorite girl." Black said as they walked up the stairs. "This place is a huge underground prostitution ring, you know? You don't even know half of the shit that runs through this place."
"Somehow I'm not even surprised. So where are you taking me?" Issei replied with a sigh.
"Some parts before the belly of the beast. Been pondering what I should do with the kids before we wreck the place." Black replied as he led Issei into the prayer room.
It was not that dissimilar to the altar room in St Adonai, stained color glass windows with sunlight peering in and the abstract art of Jesus, and the holy cross with Jesus on it above the altar.
"...You know, you can just… adopt them all and give them a place to live in that hotel of yours?" Issei suggested with a widening smile.
Black turned to Issei.
"...Are you serious?" Black asked.
"Can you or can you not?" Issei asked.
"...Are you really expecting to play the parent? Me? You think I can just adopt who knows how many kids here and stuff them in my five star hotel without a care in the world? Do you have any idea how annoying it'll be when someone starts accusing me of kidnapping and child labor?"
"Come on, it'll be fiiiine. Thinking about it, it will help your publicity. Hotel Terra D'oro, cosponsoring the Vatican in dismantling a prostitution ring! It'll make the news in the world and jump your ratings through the roof! Imagine it!" Issei smiled and flashed a thumbs-up.
"Did you forget about the underground nightclub and the dungeon? It ain't a place for kids exactly…" Black flatly retorted, "And what the hell am I supposed to do with them? They're not exactly mentally built to deal with stuff like me."
"Come on, man. Black… these kids. They deserve to have a good shot at life, like you. They deserve to have a brighter future… Hope. Like how dad and mom brought you into our lives and look at you now."
Black stopped as he looked up at the kid. Black's face was contorting with a obvious desire to retort, but his resistances crumbled as he groaned.
"Aaaauuuuugh, damn it! Damn it! You're really doing this to me? I… bah… fine, fine. I'll see what I can do. Gonna need some major pull for this to work…"
Issei smiled. Now he did not have to bring Asia and use her against him.
"Alright, alright. There." Black pointed at the altar. "There's a secret passageway there. Couldn't get in sneakily since I can't find the secret lever for this… but before you do this, you do know that the other orphanages will react violently, right? Worst case scenario?" Black reminded.
"We can't let them operate like this anymore. Tell everyone to immediately move in and take them down before they can react through your clones."
"Already am already discussing things with them. They are quickly planning an assault with my clones getting into position. I already sent a bunch of mes to the reverend's room to steal everything juicy. And another thing; we are not exactly alone in this."
"Meaning?" Issei raised an eyebrow.
"One of me ran into this guy called….. Diethelm? He's working for Raphael. Working on a separate case involving the mind-control machine… he ran into trouble."
"And that is...?"
"Mind-controlled exorcist trainees. He was looking into one of the exorcist training institutions."
Issei grimaced at the mention of the mind-controlled exorcist trainees.
"Is…?"
"The guy? He'll live. The girls… are a work in progress. Come on, man. We're moving in." Black waddled towards the altar. His body transformed into a giant, muscular arm with two stubby legs and a white face and grabbed the altar, ripping it from the foundations as he threw it aside.
"Anything else I should know about this place?" Issei asked.
"Gonna show you more after this. The guy keeps a special place for the children that are old enough to 'work' if you catch my drift. It is underground outside through a cellar across the playground. Not sure what this one is for though…"
Black said as he returned to his imp size as Issei looked at the secret passageway, ancient stone stairs leading into the darkness. There was an ominous aura emanating from it.
It instilled a different sense of unease, not like facing a dangerous foe, but the danger of encountering a form of evil that should not exist or be learned.
Issei and Black entered the small underground passageway.
The first thing that greeted them was a thick scent of musk emanating the air, and much to Issei's chagrin as he and Black delved further, there was also the scent of sex mixed in.
Issei grimaced when the scent of acrid iron greeted his nose.
Blood.
"This is new." Black commented as they reached the end of the stairs and…
They stopped at the sight of something that should only exist in horror films.
It was like they stumbled upon a satanic cult room… no, it definitely was one.
Issei and Black stared at the array of skulls lined up around the perimeter of a magic circle with another altar at the very epicenter, splattered with dried blood and other fluids while skeletons were shackled to the walls. All of the skeletons were small… as if they belonged to children.
There was even a bloody athame on the altar.
"What the fuck…" Issei cursed with genuine disbelief at the scene.
"Holy shit, I haven't seen something this fucked up since the old days." Black followed with a hung jaw.
This went beyond the level of scandal, a new word must be made to accurately describe the horror before them.
Black slowly took out a camera and took a picture of the scene. It was a traditional photograph camera as the photo rolled out of the device.
"…You should go to Asia, kid." Black suggested. "This shit is too high level for you."
"Yeah… I'll leave things here to you." Issei said with a low tone before he left the room.
To be Continued….
OMAKE
In the Underworld - in Sitri Main Household, in particular, the Student Council girls were spending time together in the mansion's luxurious hot spring bath after strenuous training given by their new advisor - Fallen Angel Governor Azazel.
Sona Sitri just finished washing her body off the sweat and grime, and entered the hotspring to relax herself when she noticed her Rook sporting a small frown on her face.
"Tough day, Tsubasa?" Sona began a small talk as she stretched her body in the steaming water.
"Uh, no, not really." Tsubasa seemingly snapped out of it when her King addressed her. "Honestly, compared to the training Ise and Gold beat into me, the training from Azazel-sensei felt…. Kind of easier. You get what I mean?"
Sona only stared at her Rook, mulling over her answer. Then, her Bishop - Momo Hanakai, who had been dipping herself in the hotspring for sometime before her, spoke up.
"You know, I ran into Gen-chan earlier. I was honestly expecting him to be more worn out, since he had to train with Lord Tannin. You know what he said? He said fighting Lord Tannin was like fighting flying Rover, which according to him, was not actually surprising. What do you think?"
Tsubaki, who was also in the spring, remarked, "I believe - suffice to say, Ise's training has broken some of us. Still, back to the President's question…" She then glanced at Tsubasa, "If your training wasn't that hard, then what's with the long face?"
Tsubasa's face contorted again, as if she tried to come up with an answer.
"...Do you think I am crazy to feel… this sudden, irresistible urge to fly all the way to Rome so I can punch Ise in the face?"
Everyone - including Meguri who was still in the middle of shampooing her hair, Reya who just finished rinsing her locks, and Ruruko who was in the middle of scrubbing her prosthetic legs; stared at Tsubasa with some odd looks for a few seconds, until they shrugged and shook their heads.
"...Nah."
"No, not really."
"I don't think so."
"Yeah, I don't think that's weird."
"What you said kind of makes sense, actually."
"This is Ise we are talking about, after all."
Tsubasa then snorted while sporting a small smile, "Oh, cool, then."
Sorry about the Chinese lines. Here are the translations:
*My name is Issei Hyoudou, the Son of the Strongest Man. I have come for this piece of shit.
**You come in my abode and think you can make demands?
***Of course I can.
****That is an arrogant title.
*****It is to people who aren't involved in the supernatural world.
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