Ch 76: Don’t summon me for this shmuck.

Noah spent some time playing with his maids, in a non-sexual way for once, until Suzu and Kaede returned, both looking quite satisfied. On Noah's suggestion, Kaede invited Asia, Xenovia and Irina to have dinner together, and they introduced themselves with the maids. It didn't take them long to forget that said maids were half devils or yokai, and they got along without difficulty.

The three church girls took a liking to Noah's cooking and helped wash the dishes. Once the maids changed their outfits to something that wouldn't attract too much attention from the people outside, they left the house and headed to the place where Rias, her peerage, and Kuroka, were waiting.

Following the plan they had discussed, they all walked among the trees surrounding the church, and Noah created a magic array on the ground, infused with the Light and Stop runes. They all walked inside the formation, becoming invisible from the outside while their auras and the sound they made was trapped inside.

The Magician - Arcana really was a wonderful thing. It only took him fifteen minutes to create the magic code for the array.

As part of the plan, Noah walked out and posted himself just outside the entrance of the abandoned church, on the theory that Galilei would be more inclined show himself if he saw someone likely waiting for him, even if he didn't know that person.

For two long hours, Noah simply stood there, occasionally wasting time on his smartphone.

Until a few minutes before midnight, where he heard the faint sound of footsteps coming up the gravel patch leading from the street to the church.

The full moon illuminated the sky, and Noah, aided with his night vision, saw three people walking toward him. They looked quite relaxed.

"Hey, you! Where is Raynare-chan?" asked the youngest, a twenty-something young man with white hairs and red eyes. His smile was crazed. Behind him were the two others, one a rotund man, mostly bald, dressed in clergy clothes, the other tall, with long black hairs, red eyes and pointy ears far too long to pass as human. He was dressed in a black cloak with golden spaulders. That one exuded a strong aura. Kokabiel, the ten-winged battle freak wanting to plunge the world into war, was someone whose existence Noah simply couldn't tolerate.

"I was waiting for you guys." replied Noah, letting them go closer.

"Who are you?" asked the priest when they stopped five meters from him.

"Are you Valper Galilei?"

"Yes."

"Very good. It's not Raynare who asked you to come. I did that. I have business with tall guy here. You, Galilei, have business with someone else."

As Noah said those words, the people waiting in the formation walked out of it.

Freed, as Noah knew was the name of the crazy rogue inquisitor, as well as Galilei made a step back as they realized they had walked into an ambush, but Kokabiel only smiled.

"What's this? Are you guys thinking that you can defeat us just by numbers? You're all insects."

"Valper Galilei, we came to make you pay for your crimes. It is time for you to confess and seek absolution." declared Asia.

"I think not, servants of a dead god." sneered Valper. Despite being ambushed, he was confident that his strongest ally would turn the table on their enemies.

"Did Raynare-chan betray us? Next time I see her, I'll have to cut off her limbs, as punishment." said Freed, almost licking the light blade he had just activated.

"…What a disgusting man." complained Kuroka.

"Servants of a dead god? Do not spout blasphemous nonsense." angrily shouted Asia.

Kokabiel recognized Rias and his arrogant expression turned into a grin.

"Well, if it isn't the daughter of that bitch. You guys gave me a great gift, bringing her here. With her death, Venelana is sure to act!"

A large portal appeared besides him, and a huge Cerberus beast came out of it, ready to spit fireballs at the group.

"Oh, a Cerberus. Bring back memories." smiled Alice to Claire and Hisui. She had slain a half-dozen of them in her time in Hagun Island and never gotten injured.

"What Valper said is the truth, though. The God of the Bible died in the last conflict between angels and devils." claimed Kokabiel.

"That's a lie!" shouted Xenovia, her voice slightly quivering.

"Ah, ignorant fool." sneered Kokabiel, fully deploying his ten black wings.

"Ten wings!" gasped Akeno, suddenly worried. She wasn't the only one. Everyone, with the exception of Kaede, Suzu and Noah, knew that a ten-winged devil, angel or fallen angel far outclassed them.

"I was there when it happened." said Kokabiel, clearly happy at their reaction. "God was already exhausted when the battle started, and he and two of the great Satans killed each other. Michael is now the one calling the shots in Heaven, and the only miracles still occurring are made by the automatic systems God left behind, like the attribution of sacred gears."

The mental attack was super effective, as Asia and Xenovia fell to their knees, while Irina's grip on her sword loosened to the point that she dropped it.

"Anyway, let's start the slaughter!" said Kokabiel, as the Cerberus and Freed rushed toward the group.

Noah considered for a moment, and decided to just watch for now. He didn't need to intervene unless Kokabiel acted directly, and it would be an opportunity for his team members to gain some experience.

Kokabiel's sneer disappeared when his giant Cerberus was mobbed and dispatched in mere seconds. Kaede and Suzu used Shunpo to get behind the beast and start cutting tendons, decreasing the beast's ability to turn or evade, and a fairly large ball of Destruction power, created after Ddraig boosted Rias's power four-fold, crushed its middle head. The beast screamed in agony and flailed around, but its demise was certain.

Seeing the battle start, Xenovia, Irina and Asia shook themselves. They could think about the absence of God after securing their own survival.

As most of the girls were busy with the Cerberus, Yuuto ignored the Cerberus and made a beeline toward Galilei, a demonic sword in hand, but was intercepted by Freed.

"Stop right here, you shitty devil! You have been naughty and need to be punished!" sneered Freed.

"Out of my way!" shouted Yuuto, trying to force him aside, but Freed was a little stronger and stood his ground.

Galilei had created a barrier around himself and simply waited for Kokabiel to act.

Kaede drove her spear deep into the Cerberus's chest, piercing its heart and delivering a fatal wound to the beast, while Suzu used Shunpo again to help Yuuto, or rather, take over the fight against the rogue exorcist. In barely two moves with her twin daggers, she batted away Freed's swords-yielding arm, then took off his gun-yielding one. Before he even had time to register what had happened, Suzu slit his throat and kicked him away.

"Thanks." said Yuuto as he ran to Galilei, creating a large demonic greatsword to try to break Galilei's barrier.

"Incompetents." grumbled Kokabiel, his expression turning to anger as he lifted his arm in Yuuto's direction.

Noah decided to act and used Shunpo to appear near Kokabiel, his hand on the hilt of his Zanpakuto, in a classic Iai stance.

Kokabiel, a multiple thousand year old battle freak with extensive battle experience, reacted the instant Noah appeared near him and manage to block the incoming slash with one of his wings. The fallen angel's feathers, infused with his heavenly power, were stronger and sharper than steel and could be used as both swords and shields.

Noah's blade still cut deep into Kokabiel's wing, damaging the bone, and for the first time in a long time, Kokabiel experienced pain.

"You!" Kokabiel focused his whole attention on Noah and slashed at him with his other wings as he created a light sword in each hand, and Noah jumped away.

"Eh! I was hoping for more damage on the first strike." mused Noah.

"Who the hell are you?" Asked Kokabiel, taking an instant to inspect the gash on his wounded wing.

"I am Noah Enfield, Champion of the Goddess Lilith. And speaking about her, I might as well try, this."

Noah reversed the grip of his Zanpakuto, pointing it downward, and stabbed the ground.

Releasing his hold on the sword, Noah stepped to the side, creating a light blade on his own, and spoke with a loud voice.

"Come and Subjugate, Seifuku no Ken!"

Seifuku no Ken, aka Sword of Conquest. This short incantation was necessary for Noah to activate his Zanpakuto's first release.

The Zanpakuto planted in the ground suddenly shone with a bright white light, forcing everyone to shield their eyes for an instant. When the light dimmed, a woman stood just behind the sword. A woman with long, straight black hairs and golden eyes, wearing from the neck down a set of white plate armor inlaid with gold, and emitting an aura of sacredness. If not for the eyes and hair color being different, and the aura being a lot more muted, Seifuku could have been mistaken for Lilith.

And she was irritated.

Picking up the sword from the ground, Seifuku swiftly struck Noah's forehead with the hilt.

"Ouch! What was that for?" complained Noah, rubbing his forehead with a hand.

She only snorted.

"I have my pride! Don't call me for a shmuck like this. Make it at least a Vasto Lorde or equivalent before you use my shikai."

With this said, Seifuku forcefully handed the blade to Noah and disappeared, her body turning translucent before fading.

Noah sighed, not wanting to look at the face his girls were without a doubt making. He could already hear Kaede starting to giggle.

"Sorry. I'll keep it in mind." he said as he started to cast Augment on himself and created a few floating swords with Hard Light Arsenal.

"What was that?" asked Kokabiel, more than a little outraged by being called a shmuck.

"Well, this sword of mine is moody…" he stopped as he felt the hilt vibrate in his hand. "… I mean prideful. So, I'll have to fight seriously."

Kokabiel looked like he was about to say something, but Noah didn't leave him time. He lowered his center of gravity, then pushed on his legs to the point of destroying the ground around his feet, almost instantly reaching Kokabiel. Noah used his light words and his Zanpakuto to rain blows in his opponent, who used all his wings and his own light swords to block the attacks and send a few strikes of his own as well. The sounds of the blades and feathers clashing against each other occurred so often that they started merging into a continuous keen.

But while Kokabiel had managed to avoid any serious injury, it was obvious to everyone watching that he was at a serious disadvantage in the exchange, as he kept pulling back, and his wings were gradually getting mangled.

"Argh! Enough!" raged Kokabiel as he took to the air to try to put some distance between them. Noah could also fly using his own devil wings, but had another thing in mind. He was going to repeat the move he had made with Aspite's Ace, but would step it up a notch.

Letting go of the light sword he held in his right hand, Noah used the strongest lightning spell in his budding arsenal.

"Thundergia!" (Thunder God Raiju)

An intense, continuous stream of lightning poured into the portal he opened, its other end being set just behind Kokabiel. Before he could react, he was struck, and the lightning robbed him of control of his body. Kokabiel spasmed as he started to fall, and Noah made sure the lightning kept hitting him as he did. He was already starting to char when he crashed on the ground, and looked barely conscious.

"Y-You… damned…" His words were interrupted forever when Noah sent forward the four light swords surrounding him and pierced his head, throat and heart.

Noah sheathed his Zanpakuto after cleaning its blade with a tissue and turned to the many girls staring at him.

And the sounds of a sword crashing against a barrier resumed.

Galilei had blanched, understanding that he was about to die. Suzu, Kaede and Xenovia joined in on the hammering, and in seconds, the barrier crumbled.

"Remember to interrogate him first." said Rias, and Yuuto nodded, not taking his eyes away from the trembling former priest.

Kaede used the shaft of her spear to smash the right knee of the priest, causing him to fall with a scream.

"We should break his limbs first, so he can't pull out some surprise escape or whatever." she explained to the others, and they nodded.

Leaving Yuuto and the girls to it, Noah walked to the others.

"As expected, we didn't have to fight much." grinned Akeno.

"All of us going was way too much, but with scum like those, there's no such thing as overkill in my book. Please step well away from the corpses, I'm going to open Holes to get rid of them." nodded Noah.

"You are, quite strong." said Kuroka, appraising him with a gleam in her eyes.

"The woman who appeared… Was it your sword?" asked Rias, looking with awe at the blade on Noah's waist.

Noah smiled as he patted his sword. "Yes. I told you before about a Zanpakuto's first and second releases, right? This was the first release. When in that form, Seifuku can use my abilities and act independently. From my enemy's point of view, it is like fighting two of me."

"She was beautiful." breathed Rui.

"Of course she was." laughed Noah. "Seifuku is one of Lilith's avatars, although she limits her strength to my own. Seifuku has her physical appearance, except Lilith has red eyes and silver hairs. Her aura is much stronger, too."

Kaede had put a sound-dampening barrier around the screaming priest and the people interrogating him to silence his screams. The interrogation didn't last long, and Yuuto finished it by piercing Galilei's heart.

When Yuuto and the others came back, Noah saw his expression and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you ok?"

Yuuto blinked and took a deep breath.

"Yes… It's just… I do not feel as relieved as I thought I would. Thank you for your help, everyone."

"The best vengeance isn't to kill your enemy. It is to live happily, to show that their actions do not have any lasting influence on your life. To forget them completely."

Yuuto seemed lost in thought for a few seconds, until he nodded. "I see… Maybe this is what my comrades truly wanted of me. Not to avenge them, but to live for them…"

Asia suddenly jolted when Yuuto mentioned his former comrades.

"Ah, Yuuto-kun… Was there someone named Tosca among your comrades?"

Yuuto's eyes widened as he recognized that name.

"Yes? How do you know that name?"

"She's still alive."

"What did you say?!" Yuuto's eyes widened and he made a step toward Asia.

"The Inquisition's agents who investigated Valper Galilei's activities found her. But she is in a state of suspended animation, and covered by a barrier we didn't manage to undo. She is currently in the Vatican." said Asia in a hurry. She had the feeling that if she didn't speak fast, Yuuto would seize her by the collar and start shaking her.

"A barrier? I may be able to do something about it." said Noah.

"But me and Yuuto being reincarnated devils might be an issue, if we have to make a trip to the Vatican."

"I think that might be possible." said Asia. "I'll have to talk to my superiors about it, and about… what Kokabiel told us." she added in a low voice, her eyes on the ground."

"I don't want to believe it."

"Let's return home first. Asia, Irina, Xenovia, do you want to come to my home tonight? In these circumstances, I think you could use some company."

Asia looked at Noah, then at Kaede, who nodded in approval, then Irina and Xenovia who didn't object.

"If it's not a bother."

"Not at all. I have a large house, and we have rooms ready for guests."