DxD 0166: Poaching
“We need to leave now, Kuroka,” Bikou said as he slammed his Ruyi Bang staff on the ground. It extended upwards and attacked the ceiling of the sub-dimension that Abaddon had established, cracking it.
Abaddon whistled, “You really are worthy of the name Son Goku. What you just did is no ordinary feat.”
“I agree that you are a strong devil, Abaddon Bael,” Bikou spoke. “But you are not yet strong enough to look down on me as if you are absolutely superior.” He shouted, rousing his spirit and activating his Sage Arts to amplify his attack.
Abaddon let the guy do his thing and brought his focus back to the hesitant Kuroka, “Tell me, Kuroka. What do you wish to do? Do you wish to stay with your Shirone? Or do you wish to return to Vali?”
“Damnit, Bael,” Bikou said frustratedly before Kuroka could say anything. “Stop poaching members of our team. You’ve already taken the heaviest hitter. Don’t try to take Kuroka as well.”
“Please, she doesn’t want to hit anyone but Great Red. At best, she is a support type member of the team,” Abaddon said.
“That support has been invaluable to the Khaos Brigade for so long and you have taken it. Stop trying to mess everything up.”
“Fine then,” Abaddon shrugged as his gaze hardened and his smile disappeared. “I shall free you two from this illusion that you are under.”
“What illusion?” Kuroka asked instinctively.
“The illusion of choice, of course,” Abaddon smiled, his hardened expression disappearing into nothingness. “I was always going to bring you with me, Kuroka. And you, Bikou, the Monkey King and descendant of Sun Wukong, were always going to go to Vali to tattle to him about my actions.”
The aura that Abaddon released suffocated both of them. With their natural attunement toward sensing energies in general, they were especially hard-pressed as the Devil suppressed them with his mere aura. Koneko whimpered from Abaddon’s shirt as he tightened his arms around her, making sure that her face stayed hidden. He focused his eyes on the two, and two magic circles appeared in front of him, chains escaping one circle and whips of destruction escaping the other.
The chains approached Kuroka while the whips of destruction attacked Bikou. Both of them grunted as they utilized their respective abilities to dodge the attacks. Bikou split into multiple clones that sent the destruction whips on a wild goose chase while Kuroka covered herself in a layer of her Ki as blue-colored spheres of natural energy intercepted the approaching chains. Abaddon’s aura had them feeling suffocating, and they were barely able to defend against his attack. He created even more magic circles as more chains and whips of Destruction attacked Kuroka and Bikou.
Despite the increased difficulty, the two were barely able to come out of it safely. At the same time, their movements had gotten smoother and calmer as they got used to the pressure that Abaddon was releasing. He pulled the ability back, knowing that it wouldn’t be effective anymore and that it was instead a waste of energy for him to maintain it.
“How about an offer,” Abaddon said. “This one’s for you, Kuroka. If you can land a physical hit on me, I’ll let you take Koneko without resisting. What do you say?” He had already put Koneko to sleep before saying those words. He didn’t want her to feel disposable. He was confident in his strength to destroy those two absolutely, but hearing those words would have had a horrible impact on Koneko.
“Would you look at that,” Kuroka said, back to her usual teasing persona. “Poor Shirone is probably trembling from your words. What if I do get a hit on you? My sister is going to get such a shock in that case.”
“You need to get a hit on me to do that, Kuroka,” Abaddon said, and the woman disappeared from her position, appearing right behind him. The one he was talking to was a mere illusion.
“Don’t be too overconfident,” she exclaimed and punched Abaddon with her Ki-enhanced fist. She met a crimson veil that made her feel a burning sensation on her knuckles despite the cover of her Ki. She quickly pulled back and disappeared into an illusion, appearing beside Abaddon as another veil of destruction appeared to block her attack. As Kuroka kept trying, Abaddon’s gaze was on Bikou, who seemed to have received some sort of a message.
“You know what they say about cats and curiosity, right, Kuroka?” Abaddon asked as instead of a veil, a chain wrapped around Kuroka’s fist and yanked her forward, diverting her path. She freed herself from the chain with the help of her Ki, but her punch had already been diverted, causing her to momentarily lose her balance as she stepped back to regroup with Bikou. “I haven’t even used my hands yet, guys,” Abaddon said, gesturing down to Koneko, whose figure his hands were wrapped around.
“Never in my life have I felt so disrespected,” Kuroka said. “And by a younger man at that.”
“Please,” Abaddon scoffed. “You are barely a year or two older than me. Stop trying to act like a milf.”
“Oh?” Kuroka raised her brow. “Why don’t you make me a mommy in that case? Join us, Abaddon Bael. Join our cause.”
Abaddon snorted, “And Vali? You do realize that he’s my mortal enemy, right? If he tries to provoke me again, I’m going to whoop his ass before he can even activate Balance Breaker, let alone Juggernaut Drive.”
“It’s time, Kuroka,” Bikou said. “Our work here is done. He’s gone, we should also leave.” The Monkey Kind suddenly released an extremely heavy aura that was infused into his staff as it extended upward to shatter Abaddon’s established dimension. “We need to get going. Now! Nimbus!” A cloud appeared under the Youkai’s feet as it lifted him up, “Kuroka!”
“You go, Bikou,” Kuroka said, looking into Abaddon’s eyes with a stern expression. “I’m going to stay.”
“Are you crazy? He will kill you, or worse, enslave you. Let’s go. Loki’s already left, so our mission to escort him here is complete. We need to move on to the next phase now.”
“I’ve decided, Bikou,” Kuroka said. “Leave. He is correct. I need to stay with my sister, and the only way to do that is for me to stay here. You can take my place in the next phase of the plan.”
“I am not leaving you here, Kuroka,” He said. “I will help you fight him.”
“Please,” Kuroka said, patting the man on the shoulder as a purple glow appeared momentarily. “You have the chains now. I will stay with my sister and you can take care of things in my place.”
“You can still leave with me, dammit,” Bikou said.
“Touching display of camaraderie, really,” Abaddon said. “But I feel slightly offended by your nonchalant attitude toward me. Do you really think that you can leave as you please?” Abaddon stomped his foot on the ground, and a yellow magic circle appeared under both Kuroka and Bikou. They could see some kind of endless expanse of darkness under those magic circles. Both of them started losing their energy. Nimbus, the cloud artifact, started faltering and quickly dispersed under the suppression, destroying Bikou’s flight as he landed on the ground beside Kuroka.
“I told you from the start. I merely allowed you to feel the illusion of choice and nothing more,” Abaddon said, slightly weakening the absorption that Kuroka was feeling. “Come to me, Kuroka.” Abaddon patiently waited for Koneko’s elder sister to approach him while continuing to hold Koneko close to himself.
“Damnit!” Bikou struggled as much as he could, but it was useless. He could barely even stand straight, let alone attack. He was forced to see Kuroka hesitantly walking toward Abaddon while the circle under her followed along, sucking out most of her energy. “What kind of spell even is this …” He mumbled.
Abaddon smiled at the Monkey King, “It’s interesting, right? I can suck in all of your energy and even use it later if I want to. I had to do quite a lot of work to get it to work.”
“What now?” The black cat asked, keeping her eyes fixed on Koneko’s head.
“I have something special for you,” Abaddon said with a smile. “Wear this,” He handed her a collar with a bell attached to it.
“Go fuck yourself,” Kuroka snapped as her eyes focused on the bell on the collar. It wasn’t the kind of thick collar that one would put on a pet, but more of a stylish choker that would chime with every movement of her head. Somewhat perfect for a cat-woman like Kuroka. Under normal circumstances, she might even be willing to wear it as a cute accessory, but the current situation made her feel humiliated.
“I didn’t give you a choice, Kuroka,” Abaddon said. “Wear the collar like a good kitty and await my further instructions.”
She glanced at Koneko as her expression hardened. “Fine, whatever.” She snatched the collar from Abaddon’s hand and wrapped it around her neck, attaching the clasp as it hung on her neck. “Happy now? It’s not even my—“ The collar automatically tightened around her throat, hugging it perfectly, “— size.” She sighed, realizing that it was more than just a simple accessory.
“I will not take you to the gathering with me, for obvious reasons. You are still a criminal cat. Instead, I will send you to my house, specifically, your new bedroom. I will not suppress your magic, nor will I trap you. You are free to come and go from there as you please for now. Set your room up, bring your belongings, and whatever else. I’ll come to you soon. And if you do not wish to return, then that’s fine as well. I’m not going to stop you.” Abaddon said. “Okay?”
Kuroka was a little surprised at how much freedom Abaddon was giving her, and her expression perfectly captured the emotion.
“If you had shown too much resistance while wearing the collar, I wouldn’t have done this. But since you accepted it easily, it means that you aren’t as resistant to my offer as you would have me believe on the surface.” Abaddon said. “Anyway, goodbye, Kuroka. See you soon. Oh, and also,” His eyes seemed to look at her with an even deeper look. He leaned forward, getting close to her face, and whispering in her ear, “You may find a familiar face in my house. I am not restricting your actions, which means you can do as you wish. Just prepare yourself mentally to handle the consequences, which may be bad or worse, depending on your decision …”
“Wait —“ She couldn’t say anything more before she was teleported away from the Underworld and into Abaddon’s home.
Abaddon then turned to look at Bikou, “You are literally the bane of the Khaos Brigade, you know that … You’ve already taken Ophis, and now Kuroka as well. Vali and Arthur will chew my head off …”
“Boo fucking hoo,” Abaddon said. “Fuck off. I’m curious to see what Loki exactly expected to gain from interrupting the summit.” Abaddon’s words were followed by a flick as a chain wrapped around Bikou and flung him into the sky. “Here’s hoping your Nimbus cloud can regenerate in time. Otherwise, enjoy the landing.” He laughed before picking up Koneko in his arms.