I know I've said this before, but… Ever have one of those feelings where it feels like there's a huge bomb in the room and a single misstep could set it off?
Yeah. Turns out I misused that one before. I didn't even KNOW what a "tenuous situation" was until I stepped into that clubroom, one blonde girl hanging off either of my arms, Isabela walking in right behind us. The moment we walked into that-forgive my language—TOTAL SHIT STORM, all of my confidence faded. Ravel and Asia seemed to realize how much our position, regardless of how amazing it was, would draw attention, so they released my arms.
Everyone was gathered in that room. Rias, Akeno-san, Koneko-chan, Haru, the honorary ORC members (the Fallen Angel Trio), and, of course, the Church Duo who wielded the Holy Swords (Irina and Xenovia). I didn't even have to look to tell Yuuki was there. You could feel the torrent of killing intent that was radiating off of her. Rias and Akeno-san sat on the sofa across from our guests. Even if they didn't mean us ill will at the moment, I couldn't help but feel on edge. It was my instincts as a Devil that was telling me they were dangerous, most likely because it was focused on those Holy Swords. The atmosphere was uncomfortably serious and it didn't help that Yuuki looked like she could go on a murderous rampage at any moment.
I took an awkward place against the wall, as far from the conflict as possible. A small, fearful part of me wanted to be nowhere near there if Yuuki's patience broke and she went on a killing spree. It didn't help when Irina noticed me and waved with that bright… beautiful… smile. Yuuki's killing intent only raised further and her eyes were glowing blood-red.
Irina was the first to speak during this serious time. "Recently the Holy-swords Excaliburs that were kept by the Catholic Church Headquarter Vatican, Protestant Church, and Eastern Orthodox Church were stolen."
I frowned. "Eh? But… how can a single sword be stolen from several different locations? Does their security suck that badly?" Irina frowned. Ah. Bad joke. No insults to the Church then. I smiled apologetically. "Eh… I'm kind of new at this, so how bout an explanation?"
"Ah. That's fair, Ru-chan." Oh thank Maou. She forgave me so quickly. "Ru-chan, Excalibur broke in the war a long time ago."
I froze. "So Excalibur broke… Shattered into a million pieces?" N-No! If that's how it is, then how am I supposed to help Yuuki get her revenge?! She can't break an already broken sword!
"No no! Nothing like that!" Irina said quickly, shaking her head.
"It now looks like this." Xenovia then held out a long sword. It was wrapped in cloth, but I sensed great power from it. "This is Excalibur." There was no doubt in my mind she was telling the truth. Just like when we fought before, it held an amazing power. Far greater than normal light swords or light weapons. I felt a chill go down my spine. I had no doubt that if I got cut by that, I would be reduced to dust. I felt an exciting rush from the mix of fear and awe. The desire to face that sword. But I quickly shoved that desire to the back of my mind. Now was hardly the time or the place.
The atmosphere around us was heavy enough.
"Excalibur was broken into pieces during the war a long time ago. The fragments were collected and turned into a new form by alchemy. It was made into 7 swords. This is one of them." Xenovia continued as we stared at the Holy Sword. I wasn't so sure when Xenovia called her sword "Excalibur", but now that I knew the truth, there was no doubt. It held the same power as the sword Freed wielded, the one he also called Excalibur. It was only one of a set of seven. So Yuuki's revenge WASN'T impossible.
"The Excalibur I hold is 'Excalibur Destruction'. It's one of the 7 Holy-Swords that were created. The Catholic Church is in control of it." Even if it was a fragment of the original, it held terrifying power.
Irina took something that looked like a rope. It started to move as if it was alive. It quickly changed into the form of a katana.
"Mine is 'Excalibur Mimic'. I can change its shape into anything I want so it's really useful for carrying around. Just like this, each 'Excalibur' has its unique ability. This one is in the possession of the Protestant Church." My childhood crush spoke without fear. Even if "Excalibur Mimic" didn't have as much of a badass ring as "Excalibur Destruction", I could still sense the power from it.
"Irina…" Xenovia interrupted with a warning tone. "There's no reason to tell these Devils the ability of Excalibur, is there?"
"Ara Xenovia." Irina easily waved her off. "Even if they are devils we still have to form a trustworthy relationship with them in this situation. Also, even if my sword's ability is revealed, I won't fall behind all the Devils here. And two of them are childhood friends of mine." Then a strange smile appeared on her face and her gaze became directed towards the ground. A light pink appeared on her face. "Besides, Ru-chan would protect me."
I smiled to myself, crossing my arms. "Of course. I did promise after all." I felt my own face become tinged pink.
I then froze upon sensing a powerful killing intent in the air. No… it was MULTIPLE killing intents combining into one. A combined killing intent that could rival my own at its best.
"Heh?" My smile also remained frozen on my face.
Asia, Ravel, Yuuki, Mittelt, Jack (WHEN DID SHE GET THERE?!), and, oddly enough, Akeno-san were all staring (maybe glaring?) at me intently.
"Ruto…" Yuuki started. "
"""WHAT EXACTLY IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THAT GIRL!?"""
I was taken aback by how dangerous everyone was looking right now.
"Hehe! You're in the doghouse nose, ya damn bishounen." Haru chuckled before smirking maliciously.
HEY! Hey! Hey hey hey!... FUCK YOU!
I scratched my cheek, averting my gaze. "Well… we're… I mean we're just—" I was going to just say we were childhood friends, doing my best to hide my crush on Irina, but then Irina said something shocking.
"We're engaged."
There was a long silence following that statement.
I chuckled awkwardly. "Irina, that's not a nice joke to tell. I mean, even I thought you were serious for a moment. You always did have a strange sense of humor, hehehe."
"I am."
I blinked. "Am what?"
Irina smiled brightly. "I am serious. We're engaged."
We all stared at Irina for several seconds.
""'WHAAAAAAAAAT!? E-E-ENGAAAAGED?!"""
Everyone in the room, even me, Yuuki, and that Xenovia chick, had such a shocked response to that.
"What the Hell, Ruto!" Haru screamed, more shocked than the rest of us. "When the Hell did that happen?!"
I was the first to break free from the shocked silence that followed our outburst right after Haru.
"W-What do you mean we're ENGAGED, Irina?" I wasn't sure whether or not to feel happy. The statement "Irina and I are engaged" made me feel so many conflicting feelings inside. "When did that happen?!"
Irina's face turned a clearer red color at that moment.
She then pulled out a small charm. It was like my adorable Devi-chan charm that Oka-san gave to me. But the difference was that while my charm was that of a Devil, Irina's was a white charm with a smiley face, angelic wings, and a halo on its head. "We both made a promise on the charms made by your Oka-san, remember? We promised we would be together someday, remember?" Irina smiled at the charm I gave her. "Angel-kun remembers."
"You also made a promise to me personally, Ruto." Irina said. She was smiling still. "Remember? You were crying when you found out I had to leave, but you made the following promise: 'I'm going to get real strong someday, Irina. I promise to protect you and all of the people precious to me. I swear I'll surpass the powers of Heaven and Hell themselves. I'll become strong enough to beat Satan or even God himself. When I become stronger, I swear I shall marry you.'" She placed her hands on her chest. "While it was blasphemous towards my God for you to swear to surpass him, it was one of the most romantic things I would ever hear in my entire life."
Oh yeah… I think I did promise something along those lines…
I found myself blushing somewhat. "The most romantic thing, huh…?" I felt rather happy… the girl I had loved for a long time thought I was romantic…
Then that familiar killing intent reappeared.
"... Why are you smiling so much, Master…?"
"Ruto-san is truly engaged…"
"Ruto, you better have an explanation for this."
"Onii-chan… We're angry…"
"Ara ara, could it be that Ruto-kun intended to be naughty with the Exorcist girl?"
"Ah! Hahahahahaha!" I laughed, horribly awkward and afraid for my life. "W-Well that's hardly important! W-We have far more pressing matters, d-don't we? HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"See, Xenovia?!" Irina said cheerfully, gesturing to me. "Ru-chan is so responsible! Truly a good husband candidate!"
Another sharp burst of killing intent.
I swallowed hard, my face becoming pale. I was in DEEP shit later.
"Ara, are you getting sick, Ru-chan?" Irina asked with mild concern. It looked like Xenovia was still in shock at Irina's announcement cos she looked as if she lost the ability to speak. But it looked like she was starting to recover though.
I shook my head silently before Rias started to speak again. "… So what do the stolen Excaliburs have to do with this country located in the east of the world?"
Xenovia was the one who answered. "The Catholic Church was in possession of two Excaliburs including mine. The Protestant Church also had two. Also in the Eastern Orthodox Church there were two as well. The last one went missing in the previous war between God, Devils, and Fallen Angels. One Excalibur was stolen from each Church. The ones that stole them escaped to Japan and brought them to this town."
So that means there are even more Excaliburs in town…
Rias sighed. "Looks like my territory is full of incidents. So who are the ones that stole the Excaliburs?"
"The ones that stole them were the Grigori."
Kalawarner, Mittelt, and Raynare all had a shocked expression at that statement.
"That can't be true!" Kalawarner shouted in response. "Azazel-sama would never authorize such an act!"
"Don't insult us, Exorcist!" Raynare screamed.
"You have helluva lot of nerve accusing our group of such a reckless act!" Mittelt was perhaps the loudest of the bunch.
Xenovia narrowed her eyes, preparing to bring back out her Excalibur Destruction. "I have tolerated your presence here, but I won't hesitate to cut you down."
I quickly stepped in, trying to calm down both sides who were clearly itching for a fight.
"Hold on! All of you!" I was ready to intervene in case they tried to come to blows. They glared at one another, but Xenovia lowered her weapon and the Fallen Angels stepped back. I let out a sigh of relief. I turned towards Irina. "Now are you SURE it was the Grigori who did this?"
Irina nodded. "Yes. We know the main culprit involved with the theft of the Excaliburs. One of the leaders of the Grigori, Kokabiel."
The atmosphere of the room became even colder than it had been before.
"Kokabiel…" I uttered the name with complete distaste.
Mittelt crossed her arms, her hostility beginning to change targets. "It was only natural that he would attempt something else…"
I bit down on my knuckles. "It would only make sense that he's the one behind this. I really can't imagine Freed working for any other psycho." The atmosphere became even more serious. "OK, it looks like you guys got the wrong idea. Kokabiel is actually a liar who is under investigation by the Grigori at the moment. If you came here under the misconception that we are working with him because of our Fallen Angel friends who are here, then you can forget it." It all made sense why they were here. They, people of the Church, would never ask for help from us, Devils. So that couldn't be the reason.
I noticed Xenovia's hostility become directed towards ME. "What exactly is your relationship with the Fallen Angels? You seem to know more than I would have thought for one who still possesses the rank of Low-Class Devil." This sounded suspiciously like an interrogation.
Before I could snap at her, Haru took a step forward, his fists clenched. "Don't try accusing my bro of doing something wrong. The reason we know so much about this Kokabiel-guy is because he's the reason we became Devils in the first place. He tricked Raynare and the other two into killing us and almost had another of our friends killed due to his plans. That guy's a douche with a capital B-A-G."
Rias nodded, her arms crossed. "And, as a result, Kokabiel is facing investigation by the Fallen Angel Governor Azazel." Then I was surprised to see her gaze became directed towards me. "But I'm surprised that you mentioned the name of the Stray Priest Freed, Ruto. When exactly did you learn of his connection to Kokabiel?"
SHIIIIIIIIT!
I wasn't supposed to tell Rias about anything related to the Excaliburs and what Yuuki and I were doing! Er…
"Ahahahahahaha!" I laughed awkwardly again.
"Ruto-sama was attacked by the Stray Exorcist on his way home two days ago!" Ravel said bluntly. "And he had an Excalibur."
"What?" Rias's eyes went wide. I stared at Ravel like she was crazy. Was she mad because of my promise to Irina?
I laughed awkwardly once more, something that was starting to become a habit. "Well… er… I…"
"WERE YOU?" Rias's tone became harsher, but she did not really raise her voice.
"Erm… I…"
"Yes, WE were." Yuuki took a step forward, glaring at Rias who was acting so harshly. "Ruto was just trying to calm me down and we were attacked by that person who wielded an Excalibur. If Ruto hadn't been there, things would have ended a lot worse."
"Yuuki! How reckless can you be?! He had an Excalibur! You could have been hurt or, worse, KILLED!" Rias scolded, Yuuki not even bothering to meet her master's eyes.
"Hey! It's not like we had a choice in the matter!" I shouted back at Rias, defending Yuuki. "Besides, it's just as much my fault for getting us involved in that fight as it was Yuuki's, so cut her some slack, Rias! We couldn't exactly escape either! Freed's speed somehow became enough to match ours with that Excalibur fragment he had!" Rias and I had a very harsh stare-down, glaring at one another over who was in the right.
"You say the Stray Priest's speed was greater than even a Devil's Knight's speed?" Xenovia noted with interest. I nodded in response. "Then that was probably the fragment known as 'Excalibur Rapidly'. Excalibur Rapidly grants the wielder and the sword enhanced speed. If the wielder so desired, they could have chased their target to the ends of the Earth, keeping up with them with little effort."
"And let's not forget Freed's working with Kokabiel now." Mittelt said. "That's far worse. Since they have those other Excaliburs as well, then it means that the situation has become even more severe. Freed with one Excalibur was able to fight on par with Kiba and Ruto. If he also has those other Excaliburs you guys said were stolen, then that makes him even more dangerous!"
"Which brings us back to the point of this meeting," Xenovia interfered. "For now, we will accept the claim that Fallen Angel Kokabiel has become a rogue." From her tone, it sounded more like she said "OK, we'll accept this 'supposed' claim that you Devils aren't working with him even though I doubt it's true." I didn't like her very much. "The higher-ups don't trust Devils and Fallen Angels. We were ordered as 'If the holy-swords are taken away from God's side then the Devils would also be happy right? The Fallen Angels would also profit from it. For those reasons it won't be weird for them to form an alliance.' That's why we are giving you a warning. If you form an alliance with the Fallen Angel Kokabiel then we will eliminate you all. Even if you're the little sister of the Maou."
I felt annoyed by her casual tone.
Rias continued to glare at Xenovia. "… If you know that I am the sister of a Maou, then it means that you have lots of connections with the higher-ups in the Church. Then I will say it. We will not form an alliance with the Fallen Angel Kokabiel. Never. In the name of the Gremory house. I will not do something that would tarnish the name of our Maou!"
Xenovia laughed a little. "Hearing that is good enough. I had to warn you just in case that Kokabiel is hiding himself in this town along with the three Excaliburs. If something were to happen I would be the one to be hated by the bunch in the Church headquarters. Well, we won't ask for cooperation. If you were to form an alliance with God's side temporarily, then it would affect the balance of the three factions. Especially if it's the little sister of a Maou."
"So you're essentially telling us to 'Shut up and stay out of the way', is that correct?" I asked in a spiteful tone.
"Exactly." Xenovia agreed without missing a beat.
Hate her! I HATE HER SO MUCH!
Rias took a breath, her expression softening. "Where is the person the Orthodox Church dispatched?"
"They have that person put on hold for this case." Xenovia answered. "They are planning to protect the last Excalibur if Irina and I fail."
"So it's just the two of you?" Rias asked in amazement. "You are going to retrieve the Excaliburs from a leader of the Fallen Angels with just the two of you? How reckless. Are you trying to die?"
Irina and Xenovia both had straight expressions
"Yes."
"I have the same view as Irina, but if it's possible I don't want to die."
"… You came here to Japan prepared to die?" Rias asked rhetorically. "The belief in your teaching is extreme like always."
"Don't talk ill of our beliefs, Rias Gremory." Irina stated with a serious expression. "Right, Xenovia?"
The other Exorcist nodded. "Right. Also the Church decided that it would be better to eliminate all of the Excaliburs rather than letting them get used by the Fallen Angels. Our minimum objective is to get the Excaliburs away from the Fallen Angels. To accomplish that, it's okay for us to die. The only way to fight against the Excaliburs are Excaliburs."
I stared in shock. "W-What? What is with you two? You can't be serious, Irina." These thoughts… it was like they didn't care either way. Just as long as they served the Church and God…
Irina spoke with powerful conviction… but she was smiling too. "Ru-chan, it's okay. As long as I can complete this mission, it is okay."
"NO, no it's not!" I argued. "For you to die foolishly like that is something I can't accept!"
Irina shook her head, apparently refusing to hear anything else from me. I stared sadly.
"Irina…" Have things really changed this much?... No. Regardless if these are her thoughts, I won't accept it!
Rias continued speaking to Xenovia. "Is it possible with only the two of you?"
"We won't die in vain." Xenovia replied fearlessly.
"You seem confident. Do you have a secret weapon?"
"Maybe. I will leave it to your imagination." How mysterious.
There was a small silence between Rias and Xenovia before Xenovia spoke again.
"Then we will take our leave. Let's go, Irina."
Irina nodded. She stood up to leave, turning to me once. "Sorry, Ru-chan…"
I continued staring sadly. "Irina… just be careful… Please?" Irina smiled at my soft expression and nodded. She started following after Xenovia.
I thought that would be the end of this meeting, but then they both stopped, turning to Asia.
"When I saw you, I thought that maybe it was you. Are you the 'Witch' Asia Argento? I never expected to meet you in a place like this." Xenovia said.
Asia started to shake a little at the word "witch". I glared at Xenovia.
Irina seemed to notice this. "Are you the rumored 'witch'? The former holy-maiden? You are said to have the power that can also heal Devils and Fallen Angels, right? I heard that you were sent somewhere after getting exiled, but I never thought you became a Devil."
"... Ummmmm… I… I…" Asia didn't seem to know how to react.
"It's okay." Irina continued. "I won't tell the higher ups what I saw here, so rest assured. People who were around the 'Holy-maiden Asia' will also get shocked as well."
"But to become a Devil. The one who was called a 'Holy-maiden'. You fell to the lowest place you could. Do you still believe in our God?" Xenovia asked. This girl was SERIOUSLY starting to piss me off.
"Xenovia," Irina said. "There's no way that she, who became a Devil, still believes in God."
"No, I can smell the 'belief' from her." Xenovia responded with sharp eyes. "It might be an abstract way of saying it. But I'm sensitive to these things. There are people who betray the teachings and still have guilt within them because they couldn't forget the teachings. I can feel something similar coming from her."
Irina stared at Asia with interest. "Is that true?" She asked the former nun. "Asia-san, you still believe in God even if you have turned into a devil?"
Asia gained a sad expression at that. "… I just can't put it aside. I believed in it for my whole life…"
Asia… you still believed in the horrible God… even after all of your trials and suffering, you believed in that being who failed to protect you…
Then Xenovia began to remove her sword from her cloth. "Is that so. Then you should be cut down by us this instant. If it's now, I can cut you in the name of God. Even if you have sin, our God will—" She stopped when I lunged forward and grabbed her by the wrist, preventing her from getting any closer to Asia. I was glaring at her with absolute hatred.
"Don't you get any closer. Take one more step or try to hurt Asia and I will never forgive you."
Xenovia stared at me in surprise. "Why would you, the son of Shana-sama, protect a witch like her? Even as a Devil, you must know that she—"
"Don't you DARE use my beloved Oka-sama to justify any of your actions!" I shouted at her. Now I was even angrier. "I know in my heart that, regardless of her faith, Oka-sama would NEVER agree to something like that!"
And I actually believed it. The Oka-sama that I remembered… she was a good person. She would never allow Asia, even as a Devil, to be hurt by this girl, regardless if Asia Human, Fallen Angel, or Devil. She also wouldn't be happy with me if I allowed her to come to harm.
"I will protect Asia. I'll protect her because she is a precious person to me who never did anybody any wrong! You know nothing of her pain! Nothing of the suffering she endured! All she wanted was to be loved!" I shouted.
Haru stepped forward, equally enraged. "Don't fuck around! Not even a single person helped her when she needed help! Those who can't understand Asia's kindness are a bunch of idiots! It's also wrong that none of them tried to become her friend!"
"She had God's love," Xenovia defended. "That is all she should have needed. Do you think the 'Holy-maiden' needed friends? What's important is the charity to others. The 'Holy-maidens' are finished when they seek friendship and love from others. She could have continued to live with the love from God. So Asia Argento didn't have the right to be a 'Holy-Maiden' from the beginning."
"So you guys selfishly made her into a 'Holy-maiden' and abandon her because she's different from those who seek her? That's fucked up… It fuckin is!" Haru raised a fist in anger.
"God loved her. If nothing happened then it means that she didn't believe in him enough, or her belief was fake. For someone like her, she would be better off if she were cleansed by our Holy Swords."
I bit my tongue, resisting the urge to spew forth the number of curses I had in mind.
"OK, let me restate it this way: For the people who refused to defend her, for the God who abandoned her so easily, for her happiness, I will protect her with everything I have even if the price is my life!" I declared. "Asia is one the most important people in my life. If you or anyone else even tries to lay a finger on the her, I won't hesitate. I will kill you! Even if the whole world becomes my enemy, I'll take on all of their hatred, all of their strength, nothing will stop me! If what is right and wrong is decided by God, then I'll gladly wage war on Him! I'll use the power of the White Dragon Emperor to annihilate Him from existence!" To demonstrate my point, I summoned Divine Dividing. "I'll be the one who slays God Himself, and who re-establishes the meaning of justice!"
"Ru-chan!" Irina cried out in horror.
"Hells yeah!" Haru also summoned Boosted Gear. "I'm with you all the way, buddy! We're the Red and White Dragon Emperors! With the two of us, no half-assed God like theirs will ever be able to stand in our way!"
Xenovia sharpened her eyes at my provocation. "You had best watch your heretical mouth, Devils. Unless of course you desire to declare war on the Heavens in the name of your Maou." She taunted, not so subtly drawing out her sword. "In that case, I don't mind cutting out those wretched tongues of yours. It would be a shame that your masters did not teach you any better."
Rias opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by Yuuki who interrupted.
"That's good timing. I will be your opponent." Yuuki was carrying a sword. I could literally SEE the amount of killing intent radiating off of her.
"Who are you?" Xenovia asked.
Yuuki smirked. "I'm your senpai. Though I was apparently a failure." That instant a countless number of demonic-swords appeared in the club room. "I'll—"
"CHEAP SHOT!" Before Yuuki could speak any further, I landed a knifehand strike into a certain spot on her neck, around the area where her neck connected with her torso. She crumpled to the ground like a sack of potatoes. I caught her before she hit the ground, earning the shocked looks of everyone.
"R-Ruto—!" Rias spluttered.
"Oh come on! We all knew where that was going! It was only going to get uglier from there and I would prefer Yuuki not get herself hurt." I explained. Then I turned to the Exorcist duo. "And we all know there's only one way this will be resolved!"
Prepared to taste defeat, you blue-haired bitch!