OCCULT RESEARCH CLUB – KUOH ACADEMY
'Was her personality really this horrible in the anime…?'
Gasper remained leaning against the sofa while observing Xenovia without changing his expression.
'I think I should've spent less time staring at Rias and Akeno's boobs… and paid more attention to the story.'
The thought died the instant demonic energy appeared in the center of the room.
SHUUUN.
The magic circle appeared on the floor and Akeno emerged in the middle of the club without any warning, making Irina and Xenovia react immediately to the demonic presence.
Rias raised her hand before the tension could increase any further.
"Calm down." She kept her tone firm. "She's part of my peerage."
Akeno completely ignored the two exorcists and walked directly to Rias's side before speaking.
"I informed Sona and the others." She lightly crossed her arms. "Everyone already knows about the situation."
"Good." Rias nodded without losing focus.
Xenovia observed the exchange for a moment before returning directly to the main subject.
"Then let's not waste more time." Her tone remained cold. "We only came to warn you not to interfere with our search for the Excaliburs."
The atmosphere in the room immediately grew heavy again.
Akeno lightly frowned after hearing the way Xenovia spoke inside Gremory territory, clearly annoyed by the authoritative tone coming from someone from the Church.
Gasper slowly let out a breath before finally joining the conversation again.
"Then I think we have a problem."
Xenovia turned her face toward him instantly.
"The problem shouldn't exist." She answered without hesitation. "It's simple. Don't interfere."
Irina immediately realized the atmosphere was getting worse again and tried to intervene before the argument escalated.
"Wait…" She looked at Xenovia first and then at Gasper. "What problem are you talking about?"
Gasper rested his arm on the back of the sofa before answering directly.
"Kuoh territory belongs to Rias." He kept a firm gaze on Xenovia. "And unlike the Church, she accepts responsibility for the humans who live here."
Silence fell over the room for a moment.
Rias didn't interrupt.
Akeno didn't either.
Because neither of them disagreed with that.
Gasper continued right after.
"Humans are disappearing." His tone remained steady. "There are Fallen Angels operating inside the city."
He briefly shifted his gaze toward Irina before looking back at Xenovia.
"So it's impossible for us to simply ignore this."
Xenovia held his gaze without backing down.
"Our mission's priority is still recovering the swords."
"And our priority is protecting Kuoh." Gasper replied in the same tone. "Including the humans here."
Irina stayed silent this time.
Because for the first time since entering that room, she realized something strange.
The devils were showing more concern for the humans in the city than the Church itself.
Akeno slightly tilted her head while observing Xenovia, clearly starting to lose patience with her attitude inside the club.
"You don't usually go out much, do you?" Gasper suddenly asked, keeping a calm tone.
Xenovia lightly frowned.
"What does that have to do with the subject?"
"Nothing." Gasper rested his arm on the sofa without changing his expression. "Ignore the question."
Xenovia narrowed her eyes immediately after hearing that.
"Then don't ask questions if you don't want answers."
A small smile appeared on Gasper's face at the same instant.
Rias, who until that moment had been trying to keep the conversation minimally civilized, finally lost part of her patience after seeing Xenovia continue treating Gasper that way inside her territory.
And especially after everything he had already done for her.
Demonic energy appeared around her feet first.
Then it increased.
The air in the room began vibrating slightly while red particles of destruction leaked from Rias's body like condensed smoke, slowly corroding small parts of the floor near the sofa.
CRRSH.
A small crack appeared on the floor right beneath the central table.
Irina's eyes widened immediately when she felt the demonic pressure rising like that.
Akeno stepped back a few paces without hesitation, perfectly understanding what was happening even before the situation got worse.
She was irritated too.
But unlike Rias, she still had enough control not to let her own power leak out.
Her smile completely disappeared while she observed Xenovia.
"Rias…"
"I really didn't want problems with the Church." Rias spoke without taking her eyes off Xenovia, and the red energy kept leaking around her body. "But everything has limits."
The atmosphere instantly became heavy.
Even Xenovia realized the situation had finally gone beyond the level of a diplomatic discussion.
Because at that moment she was no longer speaking with just any devil.
She was directly provoking the heiress of the House of Gremory inside her own territory.
The only problem was that Xenovia clearly didn't know when to stop.
And at that moment, Irina was there with her too.
Both of them realized at the same time that the situation had already gone beyond a simple conversation.
Their gazes almost simultaneously dropped toward their equipment.
The guitar case.
The suitcase.
And Gasper immediately understood what that meant.
'So they really are carrying the Excaliburs there.'
Xenovia moved first.
Her body advanced toward her weapon without hesitation while Irina did the same right beside her.
But before either of them could fully touch the objects—
SHHHH.
The shadows in the room exploded across the floor at the exact same instant.
Black arms emerged beneath the feet of the two exorcists and grabbed their legs, arms, and waists before violently lifting their bodies into the air.
"GH—?!"
Irina's eyes widened immediately while trying to pull her arm back.
Xenovia reacted even worse.
"What?!"
The shadows tightened harder immediately, restraining both of their movements in the air while small black particles spread throughout the room.
Their legs struggled trying to touch the floor.
But they couldn't.
"Let me go!" Xenovia tried forcing her body forward while struggling against the shadows. "How dare you interfere with God's work?!"
Irina also began squirming while trying to escape.
"Wait! Wait! Let's talk!"
Rias observed the scene in absolute silence.
And unlike before, there was now clear satisfaction in her eyes while watching Xenovia completely immobilized.
Akeno brought her hand to her mouth while laughing softly.
"Ara ara…" Her smile slowly widened. "Now this got fun."
Gasper remained seated without even changing posture while maintaining control over the shadows.
"You two really are idiots."
Xenovia kept trying to break free.
"Let us go!"
'God is dead in this world…'
The thought naturally surfaced while Gasper observed her reaction.
'I wonder how she'd react if she found out that.'
He rested his face against one hand for a moment.
'...Doesn't matter. It's not something I need to tell her.'
Irina started praying softly while still trying to escape the shadows, clearly desperate because of how fast they lost control of the situation.
Xenovia still continued resisting with all her strength.
Then Gasper shifted his gaze toward Rias.
"So?" He kept a calm tone. "What should I do with them?"
The shadows tightened slightly harder at the same instant.
"Should I kill them?"
Irina immediately froze after hearing that.
Rias kept observing the two of them for a few seconds before answering.
"Killing them doesn't make sense." The power of destruction was still leaking around her. "That would be too easy of an ending."
Akeno nodded right after.
"Rias is right, Gasper-kun."
Xenovia continued glaring at Gasper with obvious hatred while trying to free herself from the shadows.
Irina already looked close to genuinely panicking.
"Please God…"
Gasper let out a small sigh before undoing the control.
SHHH.
The shadows disappeared immediately.
The two fell directly onto the floor.
THUD.
Xenovia and Irina grabbed their weapons immediately out of pure reflex, but before either of them could fully draw their swords—
The demonic pressure exploded once again inside the room.
"If you point those swords at Rias or Akeno…" Gasper kept an utterly cold gaze. "You will die."
The movements of both of them stopped midway.
Heavy silence fell inside the club.
"You can go." Gasper continued without changing his tone. "Do whatever you want."
He slowly shifted his gaze between the two of them.
"But if you put the people of Kuoh in danger… I'll kill you."
Rias remained silent this time.
Because deep down she completely agreed with that.
Xenovia held his gaze for a few more seconds, clearly wanting to react, but Irina grabbed her arm before the situation worsened again.
"Thank you…" Irina spoke softly, clearly more relieved than she wanted to show.
She pulled Xenovia right after that.
"Let's go."
Akeno let out a soft laugh while watching the two leave the room.
The clubroom door closed a few seconds later.
CLACK.
Now only the three of them remained inside the room.
Akeno was the first to break the silence.
"You gave them a very easy way out, Gasper-kun."
Rias nodded right after.
"Xenovia crossed way past the acceptable limit."
Gasper remained seated for a few seconds before finally responding.
"Just trust me."
The room fell silent again.
Rias observed him for a moment before slowly sighing.
Akeno didn't insist anymore either.
If Gasper wanted trust…
Then they would give it to him.
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