Volume 6 – Chapter 13 – Part 3 – True Desire, Holy Swords and Christmas Miracle

Third Person Point of View

…

Each swing, each thrust, each slash that were launched at the Minagawa sisters produced an amalgamation of blue lights and ice. The lights would explode after a few seconds. Their opponent Haldir, a swordsman and subordinate of Aerendyl rank 8 of the Eradicators.

He summoned two extra arms on each side of his body. This also multiplied his sword, and he then swung them down as multiple slashes went in several directions. Both sisters dodged the attack, but to their surprise, the slashes multiplied even further and changed directions towards them.

<Turn!> Kanami ordered, and the slashes turned back to their owner and it surprised him. However, he grinned and simply swung his swords again and canceled the attacks directed at him.

"Chosen one, you have a very powerful ability…why not join Lord Aerendyl and become his subordinate? Who knows what the future may hold? Perhaps he may even make you part of his concubine!" said Haldir.

"Ew no! I'm already in love with someone else, no thanks!" Kanami replied with visible disgust. This caused Haldir to laugh at her.

"Fuhahaha! He is one of the handsomest beings in our universe, and you judge him to be disgusting? You have guts, girl!" laughed Haldir.

"That's subjective, asshole!" Kanami shouted back at the man. She then charged at him and swung her spear down at him, Haldir blocked it—that's what he thought, but several cuts appeared around his body to his shock.

Kanami followed up by kicking him in the neck, which caused him to crash a great distance away. Natsume who was behind her summoned a spear made of wind just above the location he crashed at and dropped it on him.

Haldir who had quickly recovered swung his sword at the attack above him, and froze it, then the blue lights that appeared exploded causing the attack Natsume created to vanish.

"Ugh, I hate having to hold back. How can they keep doing it? If we didn't, we might accidentally destroy Heaven…" Natsume muttered in an irritated tone.

"Just get used to it. Unless Aaron decides to make this universe much more sturdier when he evolves, we'll be stuck using a certain level of power. Unless we transport ourselves to a different dimension," replied Kanami.

Several blades of ice and light blue balls appeared around them suddenly. The blades flew towards them and the balls began to flash rapidly.

<Blow away!> shouted Kanami which caused the ice blades around them to fly in different directions. Natsume also used her wind magic to blow away the blinking blue balls. Once far away they exploded.

"The chosen ones are strong! This is what we were looking for!" shouted Haldir. His body was immediately surrounded by a light blue aura as he dashed back towards the two girls.

"Shut up, old man!" Natsume shouted back which irritated Haldir.

"…I'm only in my 200s! I'm still young!" he shouted back with irritation and send multiple more slashes towards the girl. He also stomped his foot on the ground, creating hundreds of blades of ice.

Both girls jumped away from the area he created the attack at, but saw him grin. Haldir flicked his wrist upwards and two giant ice warriors appeared out of thin air and slammed their weapons at both of them.

<Halt!> Kanami shouted, and the two warriors stopped inches from them. <Attack him!> she said and pointed at Haldir. The two ice warriors immediately turned their attention to Haldir and swung their weapons down.

Haldir laughed at the situation. "You can control every in this field, eh? A powerful ability, Lord Aerendyl will surely love you!" shouted Haldir as he flicked his wrist again and the two ice warriors vanished.

"Hey, Sis. Can we do that?" asked Natsume.

"That? Oh, you mean, 'that that'!" a wide grin spread across Kanami's face as she grabbed Natsume and started rubbing their cheeks together.

"I'll take that as a yes…?!" she asked confused.

"Yes, do it!"

"Sylph, you're up!" shouted Natsume and the small wind spirit Sylph came out of her body.

"Yay! I get to play!" shouted Sylph. She then looked at Haldir with a cheeky grin and trapped him in a cage of wind. Haldir put his hand forward…but his finger was immediately chopped off.

"Fufu! I also trained you know?! I can't keep up with Natsu-natsu if I didn't!" Sylph declared happily.

Natsume Minagawa was Multiversal – S, Sylph trained alongside her, so she was just an entire rank below her, at Universal – S, but it was still enough to fight alongside Natsume.

"Do it~! K I L L him~" Sylph said menacingly, and then shifted back to her usual self. The two sisters looked at Sylph and laughed nervously.

Sylph sometimes did that as a joke. She wasn't some kind of psychotic wind spirit, but liked seeing those around a bit uncomfortable. Where did she get such an idea? Ddraig…well, Aaron half-jokingly suggested it, Ddraig encouraged it, and…now Sylph would do that from time to time.

Kanami threw her [True Longinus] high up into the air. She then covered her entire body with white flames from her [Ashen Burst]. She slowly gathered the flames around her left arm and held it up beside her.

Natsume also entered her incomplete [Spirit Dive] form and gathered a large amount of magic on her left arm. She then crossed her arm with her sisters as they both stared at Haldir who had a look of concern and panic stretched across his face.

Haldir. He knew his life was about to end, but…he wasn't scared. In a strange twist, this was the calmest he had been in his entire 231 years of living. The last time he was scared was when he was a young child, at the age of 7. He saw his parents killed right in front of him by bandits on a different planet in the Phantasma's universe.

In spite of that, Haldir was born for greatness. His parents were powerful, but were killed by mere bandits. At the time, he didn't know any of this. He was just a 7-year-old child after all. He was born as a Satan-class fighter in his universe, and from there he grew in strength with next to no training involved.

At the age of 12 was when he first took a life, after that, it became the norm. Anyone he came across he would crush, that was the difference between them and him. In his mind and to the world—he was born different. At times he wondered if he knew of this talent, would he have been able to save his parents?

However, once he was exposed to the harsh realities of his universe, emotions such as love or anything related to it…it was useless. You were perceived as weak. In his mind, once he found that out, they were weak. They cared for him, they loved him, and to the hardened Haldir, it was a sign of weakness.

In his world, in his universe, strength and power were the only things that mattered. He eventually learned more about his universe and how it worked, and he aimed to join the Eradicators and be known throughout his universe.

When he was around 98 years old, he finally gained enough power to try to challenge one of the Eradicators. He hated pretty boys. To him, they were nothing but stupid, ignorant and weak. He believed that their powers were nothing but for show. So…

He challenged Aerendyl Liaris, the strongest elf in his universe. And the end result? His complete and utter defeat. He stood no chance, at the time he was shocked, he heard rumors of that pretty boy elf, and he would kill his opponents after every battle, but—he was spared. Then he heard the words that shocked him even more.

'Become my subordinate, I see that you were chosen too.' those were the words that shocked him the most. To be 'chosen'! He believed that he was, and after so long he finally met someone like himself. Even after the humiliating defeat—because their ideals and philosophy aligned, he accepted it right away.

Aerendyl set him to work right away—like the rest of the Eradicators and Phantasma, he was sent to different universes and alternate timelines to conquer them. But he was also given an extra task, to find another subordinate for him. Another…chosen one.

Haldir didn't think it would be possible. However, with each universe he came across, he saw many who had nearly the same requirements, but…they had 'those' emotions that he detested. The same emotions that killed his parents. He didn't understand why they clung to them, even at the end of their lives.

Some even used those emotions to become strong, much to his surprise. When he asked Aerendyl about it, the answer he received was: 'Because they're weak. They rely on emotions to become strong. Those who are naturally gifted and were born for greatness don't need such trivial things.'

Yet, more and more creatures from different universes kept getting stronger because of their emotions. It ranged from rage, happiness, to sadness and many more—even some pushed him to use more power because of those emotions. When he fought a certain person in a certain universe, he heard a strange statement made by that young man.

'Emotions bring out the best in people. As long as that desire remains, and as long as you keep working hard towards that goal—and if you have people to protect, you'll keep getting stronger. Emotions are a powerful thing.'

After that, he kept an eye on those people, and time and time again. Those emotions and feelings kept pushing them into a new realm of strength. Yet…he couldn't understand them, so he simply kept on doing his job until he met Ikeshia. They had the same ideology and philosophy, however, to his surprise their duel ended in a draw, and that was when he called for his leader, Aerendyl.

Once he came, the two of them dueled and in the end, Aerendyl Liaris won. Once Ikeshia heard the same speech that Aerendyl gave Haldir, she immediately became his subordinate. However, such a criterion was rare, so Aerendyl only ever found these two as ideal candidates. The rest were…the ones he labeled as 'hard workers' which he detested.

This is how Haldir's life was for the next hundred years. This was when they were contacted by the Khaos Order, and made an alliance with the organization because of Lapis' power. For the first time in their leaders' eyes, she had seen another 'god of that caliber', and they formed an alliance because of that.

Many were skeptical of the universe they came from. However, once Aerendyl and his subordinates and many others found out about a certain outer god who did something unthinkable. Because they had known all of their lives that they embodied chaos and destruction—every evil in the multiverse would be traced back to them.

Yet, this one…worked for justice? For good? For love? When Haldir heard about it—those words from a long time ago echoed in his head, like a relic of a past, a recording he tried to throw away but kept coming back to him at the most unexpected moments.

Emotions. Even more so when they found out about how Sacred Gears functioned—that they were influenced by the wielder's thoughts, emotions, and their will. Haldir wanted to go there, and see how such powers could change their world.

And…this is how ended up in this mission—how he was about to die.

Haldir smiled as he looked at the two human sisters in front of him. Both had Sacred Gears. The short time he fought them, he experienced their emotions. Anger, frustration, love, and many others he didn't know the words to.

He heard from the Khaos Order: 'Desire. Sacred Gears are driven by the power of desire. And it also determines the power for it as well. The stronger your desire, the stronger your Sacred Gear will respond to you.'

Haldir could only smile bitterly as the attack the two sisters were preparing for was ready. Natsume and Kanami finally thrust their arms forward and a unification of white fire and black-white-green wind was launched towards him. The attack was large, larger than what he had seen in his life so far.

'Desire…emotions…they really are…a powerful thing,' he thought. 'I wonder what desires you two have to make this attack so powerful…?' Those were his last thoughts before he was devoured by the attack.

One their attack had vanished, the lone sword that Haldir had used was the only thing left there. Natsume flew over and retrieved it.

"Do you think we can use this?" Natsume asked Sylph.

"Who knows? You don't use swords though, let's give it to Aaron to analyze and maybe modify?" the wind spirit suggested. Natsume nodded and stored it in her ring. She glanced at the spot where Haldir once stood and sighed. She finally walked back to her sister.

As she did—a large fiery inferno erupted to their east.

…

Hundreds of arrows rained down on Shigune as she burned them, or Poh devoured them. The one attacking her was Ikeshia. She unlike most, did not come from the universe of the Crepuscule Phantasma. Her universe was called the Aeveute Atharea, however, it was long been conquered by the Phantasma and many of their people have been integrated into their rankings.

Ikeshia was one of them, once she joined Aerendyl and became his subordinate, she held no remorse and help eradicate the rest of her universe. She, like Haldir and Aerendyl had the same ideals after all.

However…there was one thing that surprised even Aerendyl, Yve and Phumera…and that was...

"Come on! Come on! Keep on dancing for me!" she shouted as she fired more arrows covered in darkness at Shigune.

Both Shigune and Poh burned or devoured the attacks sent their way. Shigune had been trying to understand what kind of powers Ikeshia had, but so far, she had only used her bow and a bit of darkness manipulation.

Ikeshia grinned and she disappeared from their sight. Multiple clones of Ikeshia suddenly appeared all around her and they fired a volley of arrows at her. Each one had different elements coating them.

"Poh, eat!" shouted Shigune. Poh opened his mouth towards the sky and devoured all the arrows. Shigune summoned her whip and aimed it at Ikeshia who dodged the attack and fired a singular arrow at her.

This confused Shigune, but her instincts told her to dodge, and so she did. Poh tried to eat it but Shigune stopped him, confusing him. Once the arrow passed by them, it landed on the ground and a giant ball of darkness suddenly consumed its surroundings and out came a beast made of darkness.

It suddenly charged at them, and Poh immediately leapt towards it and bit through its head much to the surprise of both women. The beast made of darkness instantly died, and vanished.

"Hmmm…so that thing is as strong or stronger than my beasts of darkness, huh? Interesting. The chosen ones from different worlds are always entertaining," mused Ikeshia. "Oh well~"

Ikeshia summoned more monsters made of darkness. This time they were avians that ranged from ones that Shigune knew of like eagles, hawks, seagulls, parrots, to ones she hadn't seen before—one even looked like a mix of a shark and crow. A total of 50 were summoned and they began to attack the two.

Both Shigune and Poh avoided their attacks. Poh devoured most of them as Shigune retaliated by using her fire magic and whip. She punched in front of her using her left fist and shot a stream of flames towards the avians. Her whip also smacked and slashed them apart. However, as she killed them, more appeared. Not only that, Ikeshia also fired arrows at them constantly using her clones.

'Do you need help, Shigune?' a voice asked in her head.

'No, I'm fine for now, Temprence. But if I do, I'll make sure to ask,' replied Shigune.

Temprence. A fire spirit created by Aaron and gifted to Shigune. She is just like Sylph as she can aid Shigune in a battle, or amplify her use of her fire magic.

Shigune looked at Poh and the small goat-like Sacred Gear nodded. Both of them suddenly disappeared which made Ikeshia jump away in response. However, as she was about to say something, she felt a searing pain in her right shoulder and left thigh. When she glanced back, Poh had bitten off a large chunk of her thigh, and Shigune had slammed her whip into her shoulder with golden flames that covered her weapon. As such, a large chunk of flesh was also missing from her shoulder as it had been burnt up quite badly.

"Tch!" Ikeshia clicked her tongue as she vanished from her spot leaving only a small smoke of darkness in front of Shigune.

However, she and Poh didn't let her get away. As soon as Ikeshia appeared at a different part of Fourth Heaven, both Shigune and Poh also appeared behind her. She was shocked by this as she had been trying to heal her shoulder and thigh, but was interrupted.

"You're persistent, aren't you?!" she asked in an irritated voice.

Shigune didn't answer her as she attacked with her whip again, however, this time blue feathery wings appeared from Ikeshia's back and then her wings fired blue feathers at Shigune. Both her and Poh used their [Devour] attack on the attack which made Ikeshia's even more irritated.

"What are you?! Do you just eat everything?!" she snapped and bellowed at Shigune.

"…My family are known for being gluttons after all. I guess I received Poh because of it," she said with a smile.

'This human is insane!' thought Ikeshia. She flew into the air and summoned more avians made of darkness and fired several arrows and attacks with them. She then summoned multiple clones behind and around Shigune and had them attack her too.

Poh noticed what Shigune was about to do and jumped towards her and sat on her shoulder.

"Gwaaaaoo!!" Poh shouted as Shigune unleashed flames all around her, rendering the attacks thrown at her useless. However, these flames which were previously red slowly turned golden, just like her whip.

"What the…are those flames burning my darkness away…?!" Ikeshia looked at Shigune with horror as she flew away.

Ikeshia. Even though she came from a different universe, Aeveute Atharea. She was one of the strongest in her universe, but unfortunately for her, her universe was a peaceful one, almost utopian even, and Ikeshia didn't like it.

There were a few adrenaline junkies like her, but none of them wanted to have a fight to the death. At best they only wished to test their strength against each other—there was a yearly tournament where they would do this too, but she became the indisputable champion and no one could challenge her, until Haldir came along and tied with her.

However, once she was recruited by Aerendyl, they found that she had a very high affinity for darkness and shadows, almost as good as rank 1 of the Eradicators, Ecthrois. So, for a brief time, and with Aerendyl's permission she was given a briefing on it, and shown how to manipulate both.

As expected, she immediately mastered using them, and the 'training' lasted around a week. Aerendyl didn't look down on her because of it. Strangely enough, he saw it as a way to become stronger. Due to the fact that he planned to kill Haldir and Ikeshia and absorb their powers in the future.

Ikeshia tried to jump into the shadows, but Shigune created a mini sun that made it impossible for any kind of shadow to exist in Fourth Heaven. Left with no options, Ikeshia charged back at Shigune, intending to kill her, instead of recruiting her like they were initially tasked with. But both of the knew that it would be impossible to convince the 'chosen ones' that they found.

She threw her bow into the air which transformed into a moving platform that looked like a skateboard/hoverboard. Ikeshia jumped onto it and covered her right arm in darkness. She also made a new bow out of darkness and without a need to draw it back, she fired arrows covered in darkness rapidly at Shigune.

The hoverboard also summoned translucent cannons beside it and fired feather-like objects at Shigune and Poh. Shigune left this to Poh as he devoured everything that was thrown at them which frustrated Ikeshia even more.

"It's worse than fighting Lord Aerendyl…!" she said to herself and laughed. 'At least I'll die in a more honorable way,' she thought and kept flying towards Shigune.

Ikeshia knew how twisted of an individual Aerendyl was, but she still followed him. Even after he forced her to be in a physical relationship, she still followed him. To him, he was a god that saved her from a hellish hole that she called her universe. To her, it was boring, and the life that she lived now was better, even if she saw a lot of atrocities.

She was still grateful, and would see her mission through. "Bring it on, woman!" she shouted and charged at Shigune. As she did, she charged one last powerful shot. A substantial amount of darkness gathered in her bow. Everything around her threatened to be consumed by the darkness, but Shigune's power overpowered it.

After firing the large black arrow, she also fired her blue feathers into it, mixing together the two attackers.

"Poh…" Shigune muttered and Poh devoured everything again. Suddenly, flaming chains came out of the ground and cuffed her wrists and ankles. This caused her to be pulled off her hoverboard and to the ground.

"Temprence-chan, can you help me now?" she asked the fire spirit in her.

'Okay~!' replied Temprence. She then left Shigune's body and appeared beside her. She was a small spirit, the same size as Sylph. However, she resembled a small Oni as she wore a rag-like top and skirt. She had fiery red eyes, red hair and small yellow horns.

"We got help from Natsume-san, please do it!" said Shigune. A large fiery pillar erupted from Shigune's body—the fiery pillar changed from the regular red to gold.

The flames around her body slowly turned into a gold flaming crown around her head, and two bracelets on both her wrists. Behind her was were two golden-colored fiery wings. What changed about this—were Shigune's flames. The golden flames that Aaron had imbued into her whip were the [Flames of Rebuke], it was meant to be paired with both Poh's and her whips [Devour] effect.

The [Flames of Rebuke] had the properties of purification, anything it touched, any and all evil intent would be purified from that object, place or person, if mixed with her whips [Devour] it would purify it, and if she chose to, release whatever was devoured.

With the help of Temprence, she mixed both the [Flames of Rebuke], Shigune's own affinity for fire magic and her [Devour] effect into her whip. The flames around her body are now capable of devouring and purifying anything they touch or destroy.

"Spirit Assimilation: Spirit Dive," she muttered—she wasn't the only one covered in flames. Like Aaron's own Sacred Gears, as well as Lavinia's, Shigune's Sacred Gear, Poh had also been upgraded, but not evolved.

Whatever Poh devours…he can choose to use whatever power or property he had consumed and use it for a maximum of a year. After that, the ability will vanish from his system, but if he re-devours or eats it again, he will gain access to it again. Right now, Poh was also covered by the [Flames of Rebuke]. His horns had golden flames covering them as well as his small tail.

Shigune raised her arm forward and gathered her golden flames around it. "Poh, can you please deal with those?" she asked and looked at the various monsters made of darkness that were still around them.

Poh nodded and jumped off her shoulder, he ran towards the monsters and leaped towards them, Poh bit, and tore through the monsters while applying Shigune's flames onto them, incinerating them.

Shigune dashed towards Ikeshia, the flames around her arm getting stronger and more intense. Much of Fourth Heaven and even Kanami's white field and barrier began to melt at the intensity.

Shigune never liked fighting. Even before she became part of the supernatural, she was a shy girl who didn't like hurting even a fly, or a small animal. She preferred to live her days quietly helping those around her, or to be left alone. But once her life was entangled in the supernatural, she was forced into many situations she didn't like, but at the same…

She knew she could help people with her powers and the team she was on. So she sucked it up and did it. It wasn't terrible for her as she made friends and found a place that wouldn't judge her too harshly. Even her former group of friends and school looked at her strangely because of how gluttonous she was.

But both the Slash/Dog Team, Aaron's lovers and Aaron himself didn't care. They may laugh at times at how much she ate, but in the end, they accepted her and that's what she loved about them. This was also why she resolved herself. During the time she spent in Aaron's [Pocket Dimension] trips, she would force herself to learn how to properly fight—how to use magic, how to be proficient at hand-to-hand combat and other things…

Eventually she began to master them…and this is where Shigune is today. Like Asia and others who preferred to not fight, if she had to…she would, for herself, her family and her new found friends, family, and lover.

As Shigune punched Ikeshia with her flame-covered fist. Ikeshia's life flashed before her eyes. The day she was born, her family that was still alive on her own planet, the people she defeated in her own universe, the people she killed in various others, and other insignificant memories replayed in her mind.

"…Heh, thanks," Ikeshia said to Shigune surprising her. Before being incinerated by her flames. The flames that Shigune had purified her body and soul as they faded away.

Shigune stood there, unsure if what she had done was the right thing. She wondered if she should have spoken more to her, maybe she could have had her switch sides? But she heard her talking about being loyal to Aerendyl, so she had her doubts that the woman she killed would do such things.

"—une. S—une. Shigune!" a voice shouted pulling her out of her own thoughts.

"E-eh?" Shigune looked beside her as Natsume had her hand on her shoulder with a worried expression on her face.

"Are you okay? You've been standing there for two minutes, everyone else is done…we should head to the other floors to help. Let's leave Fifth and the other Heavens to Aaron's group and the Gremory group," she told her.

"R-right," replied Shigune. She looked around her and everything was back to normal. The Ladon clones were no more, but the bow that Ikeshia used was the only thing left behind. Shigune touched it and put it in her ring for safe keeping.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Natsume asked again. "You can talk to us or Aaron you know?"

"…I know. We can do that later…right now we have to focus on this," Shigune said with a troubled smile.

The two of them left with Poh to join the rest of their group after Natsume nodded. Shigune glanced back at the Tree of Wisdom before turning back.

…

When the Gremory group + Irina passed into Fifth Heaven, they came across some people in their way. Just four, but these four were powerful, but to their surprise there were already two people there in front of them.

"That's…Dulio-san and the Evil Dragon Crom Cruach? My ring says it's not a clone, but the original!" shouted Rias, much to the rest of the group's shock. They quickly arrived by them.

"Hmm? Oh, if it isn't Rias Gremory-san and her group. Ah, yahoo, Irina-chan~!" greeted Dulio.

The original Crom Cruach glanced at the Gremory group and Irina and nodded.

"W-why's Crom Cruach here?" asked Asia.

"When I came here, he was already here, fighting these four, so I joined him. And did you know what he said?" he asked them and laughed. "He said, 'I want to speak to Jin Skyward, I will fight with you, Heaven's [Joker], is that a deal?' Who would have guessed, right?"

The group was stunned by this and stared at Crom Cruach. [I have my reasons,] he told them and didn't elaborate.

"…I think we should trust him," said Asia. She then pulled out…a banana and gave it to him. "Ahin likes these, please have one." Asia then handed Crom the banana and the dragon stared at it before taking it and throwing it into his mouth.

"W-what is happening…?" Gasper asked confused by the situation.

"So leave this to us, everyone. I've gotten extensive training at Jin-kun's place, so fighting these guys won't be a problem. You go ahead and find Irina-chan's dad," he told them. "I'm the sub-leader of Team [DxD]. Jin-kun's been great, and I have to try to live up to it, you know?"

Everyone there had heard of Dulio's past. He had shared it to Team [DxD] during their 50 years in Aaron's [Training Facility].

Dulio was a war orphan. After being involved in a certain country's civil war, his parents died. He had been living under the care of the church, and during that time he awakened the power of his Sacred Gear. Because he possessed one of the most powerful sacred gears, his life changed dramatically.

After awakening his power, Dulio was removed from the church to undergo training in one of the church's institutions as a soldier. Despite his own wishes, he was trained due to his remarkable talent showed at a young age.

In the church's institutions, there were children with innate talent, but also those with none. Because everyone was in the same situation…Dulio would call everyone 'brother' or 'sister', and loved them like family.

The children in those institutions…most of them died before becoming adults. The children with no talent, were killed while trying to obtain power. Dulio saw all this with his own eyes.

Dulio once said, 'In this world, there is a lot of delicious food. There are a lot of people who would want to eat it but can't.'

With that thought in mind, he travelled around the world, tasted food, and experimented with it, so he could recreate it in the church. After countless failures, he was finally able to make those dishes for the children in the church. He wanted them to experience that, because they couldn't leave it—leave the church.

The main reason why he became the [Joker] was to reach the souls of children in Heaven. As the reincarnated angel [Joker], he was able to set foot there.

In Griselda's words, 'Dulio, as the strongest within the church—and also one of its kindest youths. He wishes to spread that kindness to everyone and prevent more tragedies, so that's why—'

That's why Dulio supported what Aaron wanted—what he had been doing and what he would do in the future. He had been to those facilities where children had disabilities because of their innate abilities or Sacred Gears, and cured them. After that, he went to Heaven and fixed that bug in the system, preventing any in the future, then he caused that miracle around the world.

Aaron also cooked for those children, and showed Dulio some of his recipes. He enjoyed the food he ate at Aaron's home, and always asked for the recipes afterward, so he could remake them for the children in those facilities.

Dulio spread his wings and showed them in full display. Crom Cruach also covered his body with his aura. As he and Crom Cruach were about to face the four people with them. A mass-produced Evil Dragon, two Super Devils and a Super Vampire. All were comparable to God-class beings.

"As Heavens one and only [Joker] and one of the sub-leaders of Team [DxD], I won't let you rampage any further in Heaven. I won't let you disturb the peace that my brothers and sisters have while they are here," he told them.

"Gross."

[Bahahaha!]

"Hear that? He won't let us, pfft!"

"Shut up, at least he has more motive than just wanting to kill things without rhyme or reason."

"Go!" shouted Dulio as he fired lighting, wind, water and other elements at their four opponents. Crom Cruach also appeared in front of the Evil Dragon, much to his surprise and elbowed him in the stomach, launching him away.

The Gremory group and Irina ran past the fighting. They glanced back briefly to witness the [Joker] and Crom Cruach dominating the battle.

…

Aaron faced a man that looked like an elf. Likewise, both Lavinia and Altaria were also facing clones he had made of himself. The elf-like man was Aerendyl Liaris, rank 8th of the Eradicators, and he had torn through space directly into Seventh Heaven.

He wanted to see for himself what the two systems of Heaven were like—and if possible, destroy them. He detested the fact that nobody's and commoners could rise to power through 'hard work', and now they were given powers because of a dead God through the Sacred Gear system.

"Step aside, lizard," said Aerendyl. "A fool such as yourself cannot win against me, THE chosen one. I am meant for greatness and will be the next leader of the Phantasma. After that I'll create a true utopia."

"…You're pretty delusional you know that?" replied Aaron as he stared at the man in front of him.

Both Altaria and Lavinia were already engaged in heated battle with his clones. He had told them to delay them, but not to let them get close to the systems since he wanted to see why this man wanted to attack them.

"Hmph." Aerendyl scoffed at Aaron and fired multiple bullets of wind at him. With the same sass, Aaron sneezed in the direction of Aerendyl's attacks and destroyed them.

After the quick exchange, the two silently stared at each other. Aerendyl was clearly agitated by this, and Aaron with an unchanging expression.

"Why do you do this? You were born as THE chosen one to rule everything! Why do you subject yourself to such a farce?!" Aerendyl shouted at Aaron. "Kill, pillage, burn, and destroy everything! This is what you ARE supposed to BE! An Outer God! You are beyond the normal comprehensions for mortals, why do you pretend to be one?!"

"Because I don't care," replied Aaron, stunning Aerendyl. "—This is me; this is who I am, this is my personality…even if I was influenced by many people, even if I become something else entirely, I'll hold true to my own ideals and convictions. That's what makes me — Aaron Toole."

<<…>>

"What…what nonsense is that?! What moron won't take advantage of the things they're given?! If I had your power and position then I would have already created my ideal utopia, a universe—no, a multiverse where only the gifted, the chosen ones are allowed to live!" he declared with indignant righteousness.

"I'm no power-hungry freak. I only want the people around me to be strong so I won't need to worry about them 24/7. Also, everyone has the right to be given a fair chance in life, because every choice we make will change the outcome of the future. Who gave you the right to be the judge of that?" Aaron asked with a bit of anger.

"Because I was born with power! The strong and wise control the weak and stupid! That's how it is with animals, and that's how it should be with beings of higher intelligence!" Aerendyl had lost his patience with Aaron and began attacking him.

Hundreds—thousand—no, millions of magic circles appeared all around Seventh Heaven, and not all of them were aimed at Aaron, some were aimed at Altaria, Lavinia and the two doorways that led to the two different systems.

"Die—"

Aaron appeared just above Aerendyl as he was about to commence his attack. Aerendyl hadn't caught up to that speed, and Aaron simply slammed his foot into Aerendyl's skull. The power used was enough to make his clones disappear and destroy the floors of Seventh Heaven. This caused everyone in Seventh Heaven to fall to Sixth Heaven.

Aaron apologized to himself and everyone else in heaven in advance, as he added another powerful kick to Aerendyl's unconscious body, further destroying Sixth Heaven's floors and forcing everyone to relocate to Fifth Heaven!

"Eeeeeeeeeeh?!" shouted Irina as they were about to reach her father and Masaomi Yaegaki. However, the force that Aaron used for his last kick was a bit too much, further destroying the environment around them and the floor, forcing everyone to Fourth Heaven!

A loud and deafening boom echoed throughout Heaven and the other floors. Aaron raised his hand up and restored the other floor's destroyed sections. Seeing this chance, he appeared beside Touji Shidou who had been captured by Masaomi Yaegaki and brought him back to Rias's group.

"Papa!" Irina shouted after she recovered and hugged her father.

"My little angel…I'm sorry, I was caught by Yaegaki-kun and was ready to be killed by him. If that was the only way for me to atone for my sins…then I was fine with it," said Touji.

Aaron looked around and said, "Fourth Heaven, huh? We're in the Garden of Eden…well, might as well end this, eh?"

However, as he was about to dash back at Aerendyl, the Evil Dragon, two super devils, a super vampire and several other monsters he brought with him after smashing through several floors…a portal opened up beside Aerendyl. She had black hair and sharp yellow eyes, elf-like ears and wore a black qipao.

"Hmm." Aaron used [Observe] on her and found that she was rank 10, Radelia Vaqirelle a fellow elf like Aerendyl.

Aerendyl stood up, fury apparent on his face. He looked at Radelia and to everyone's surprise, immediately grabbed her neck and started to squeeze it. Radelia was shocked, but tried to struggle with his grip.

"Where were you?!" he shouted at her, demanding to know the whereabouts of his fellow Eradicator.

Radelia tried to answer, but couldn't as she was already struggling to breathe. He increased his strength and Radelia's face started to become blue, but Aaron slammed his knee into his neck and flung him away. While he didn't have the intention of helping her, he didn't want to see someone's life so cruelly taken away.

He did the same thing to the devils, vampire and evil dragon. Then, he followed up by punching Radelia in the face, to everyone's surprise. But it was only noticed by Lavinia—that he had punched Radelia in the face and also healed her before throwing her away.

[I'll leave Masaomi Yaegaki to you guys,] he told Irina and the rest. Aaron then jumped towards Dulio and Crom Cruach. "Why are you here, Crom?" Aaron asked.

Crom Cruach stared at Aaron for a few seconds before he uttered, [Let me join Team [DxD]…the bananas were also good.]

'Bananas? What bananas…?' Aaron stared at Crom confused and Dulio laughed at the two. So he told Aaron what had happened and he nodded. "Ah, I see. Well, we can talk about it after this. You can provide some useful information for us after all."

Crom nodded and entered another stance, as did Dulio. "I'll deal with the two Phantasma members. Can I leave the evil dragon, vampires, and devil to you guys? You can leave Masaomi Yaegaki to the Gremory group and Irina."

"Roger that, Captain!" cheered Dulio.

[Hmm,] grunted Crom.

Both Aerendyl and Radelia recovered and had regrouped. However, Aerendyl was still quite angry as he glared daggers at Radelia who looked slightly shaken up, but also stared at Aaron with wonder and confusion.

Aaron dashed towards the two, and appeared behind them. As they began to turn around, he touched their shoulders and teleported them away to a different dimension.

…

Aaron had transported the three of them into the Dimensional Gap, but at a very far section, he immediately informed those in here about his presence, to his surprise, he saw Mothra and Godzilla in the distance. However, both of them were in their 'chibi' form.

[Who are you using, Partner?] asked Ddraig.

'…Let's use the [Boosted Gear], it's been a while,' he replied. Ddraig cheered and he quickly entered his [Queen] form.

"Those Sacred Gear things…perfect, I'll kill you with it and prove my—why didn't you bring any subordinates?!" Aerendyl started to say something to Aaron until he snapped at Radelia again.

"What I do is none of your business," she replied and then promptly ignored him again.

Aaron remembered what Sekudia said to him before, that there were a few that were part of the Eradicators that joined it with some kind of moral compass and wanted some kind of change. Rank 2, 4, 10 and 15 were the ones he was told about. Aaron looked at Radelia again and she stared back at him.

'I'll deal with that after I kill him…' he thought and rushed towards Aerendyl. As he did, Aerendyl summoned thousands of large wind spears. He then threw it towards Aaron who launched several [Dragon Shots] at them, cancelling each other's attack.

But his wind spears also created mini tornadoes after the attacks collided and quickly converged at his location. He likewise fired several of his own magic attacks at the tornado, which also cancelled the attacks, causing more frustration in Aerendyl.

"What the hell are you doing? Attack him!" Aerendyl shouted at Radelia.

"…You're asking for my help now? Didn't you tell me to stay out of your way when we were here? What are you, a hypocrite?" she scoffed at him and leapt away. "You deal with him," she told him from a distance.

"Women…so useless!" he raged and flew towards Aaron. He covered his body with their world's equivalent to touki, which was [Dhavega]. His [Dhavega] was green and when he tried to punch Aaron, he missed. "They're nothing but a liability!" he shouted at Aaron after missing.

Aerendyl punched, kicked and shot [Dhavega] bullets at Aaron as well as several wind attacks, but the young man dodged them all. Each time, Aerendyl's frustrations and anger kept on increasing. He had never been this humiliated in his life.

"…Fine," Aerendyl said and he looked at Aaron face full of rage. "I'll just destroy this planet."

Aerendyl pointed his finger up and Aaron felt a surge of magic all around the world. When he checked through his shadow soldiers, there were several large green balls of pure energy. He could only think that it was Aerendyl's own life force, or touki.

"You protect weaklings, and you protect those who aren't the chosen ones. You waste your energy with them by becoming 'friends'? No God would waste their time on that. You are a failure of a god—you do not deserve the title—only those who are TRULY chosen will use their powers the right way, and so I will, by destroying this precious world."

Aerendyl expected Aaron to panic, but instead what he saw was that the man in front of him was calm—he was very calm. He didn't feel his power increase or decrease. It simply remained the same. This confused him, and he increased the power output of the attacks he made.

"Are you sure you shouldn't try to stop me? Your precious comrades will die you know?" he asked smugly.

"Oh, I already have. That's what you get for having friends and trustworthy subordinates," replied Aaron as he smiled at Aerendyl.

Suddenly, Aerendyl felt as if his attacks had suddenly stopped.

[Aaron-sama, I've destroyed those attacks in space,] said a voice through his ring's [Communication Function]. The voice belonged to Elyscia, the leader of the G.o.B.

[Good work, be on standby,] Aaron told her and smirked at Aerendyl. "What now, Chosen One-sama?" Aaron asked smugly. "If you're not going to say or do anything, I'll come to you instead!" he shouted and charged Aerendyl.

[EX Sonic Booster!]

Aaron boosted towards Aerendyl and appeared in front of him. Aerendyl knew that his speed wouldn't be able to keep up with the god in front of him, so he preemptively covered his body with as much [Dhavega] as he could and grinned.

However, Aaron kept his composure and softly said, "Penetrate."

[Penetrate!]

Aaron's fist bypassed Aerendyl's defenses and his punch landed straight to his gut causing the elf to cough up blood and be blown away. Generally, Aaron would use [Penetrate] without needing to announce it like that. He had gotten a good handling of it during the 100 years thanks to Ddraig's teachings.

But he wanted Aerendyl to know that nothing he would do would matter. He wanted to show him the despair that he would show his previous opponents and victims. Aaron didn't know the man well, but from what he spouted not too long ago, he had a general idea of him.

Aerendyl…was a misogynist—no, he was probably wrong—Aerendyl simply thought that he himself was higher than anyone on the social ladder. It didn't matter if they were women or men, if they didn't meet a certain criterion for him…they were comparable to ants or garbage.

"I…am…the—"

Aaron punched him again, this time all his attacks were imbued with [Penetrate]. A punch to the cheek which cracked his skull, a kick to the groin, obliterating his private parts, a knee to his spine, crushing it. Finally, Aaron gave him an uppercut which sent him flying further into the skies of the Dimensional Gap.

[Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost!]

After twelve boosts, Aaron brought out his canons from his shoulders and aimed it at Aerendyl. The elf hadn't recovered from the quick beating he had received—no, he was half dead at that point.

"If you're reincarnated…be kinder to people next time," said Aaron. He quickly read Aerendyl's memories and found some interesting things and smiled. "Well, you were useful in the end. Let's end it, Ddraig. X Blaster…"

[EX Blast Booster!!!]

A powerful draconic energy beam shot out of Aaron's canon and annihilated Aerendyl. The beam kept expanding until the skies of the Dimensional Gap shook. Radelia stood back and watched this all go down.

Aaron removed his helmet and said, "Your planets have a lot of problems, don't they?"

"You read his memories?" she asked.

'I guess that ability of mine is widespread in the Khaos Order then…' he thought and then nodded at her.

"It's always been a problem, even before the Phantasma took over. Our two planets, Sienerth and Seustea were at war, then there was a small time of peace, but now, because of everything that's been going on, a lot of tension has risen between them," she said and sighed.

"Because of the two spouses cheated on one another and refuse to tell the truth, leading to tension? I read from Aerendyl's memories that he and some hired help amplified this even further. Aerendyl wanted this war," Aaron told her.

"Wha—w-what?! Why!? What does he get out of it? While neither of our races are 'loving' or 'peaceful', we are not the worse race in our universe! Why does he—?!"

"Does he need one? You know his personality a bit better than myself, you know?" said Aaron.

Radelia became silent as she seethed. Aaron went over what he had found after reading Aerendyl's memories. One, he was born into a powerful family—they were the rulers of his planet. As he mentioned several times, he was born with higher powers than anyone on his planet.

He believed power ruled all, and that anyone born with it—he called them 'The chosen ones' and that they deserved everything in life. Aerendyl detested Radelia for her being different from her race, and how she got to her rank through hard work. He wasn't close to anyone in particular in their organization.

He used one of his subordinates—the only female, someone called Ikeshia as a sex tool to relieve himself. Anyone else wasn't worthy of his seed. Aaron also learned that the Khaos Order was planning something big—bigger than the Halloween operation, but Aerendyl himself wasn't aware of it, or at least, he didn't care about it as most of his memories were of his ramblings of finding more subordinates that were up to par with his ideology.

But he knew that Rizevim would also be here, but for a different reason. In the memory, it showed Rizevim telling him that he's going to Heaven for a different reason, and won't need the Tree of Wisdom or Life, but something else…

But Aaron thought otherwise. He knew that the Khaos Order knew that he could read memories, so in his mind…they may have purposely given him fake information in these memories. Rizevim in Aerendyl's memories may say he won't get the fruits, but in reality, he may still aim for them.

Aaron now had to choose which information he learned from reading memories was true and which ones were false.

'They get smarter and wiser, and not just me, huh? God, I hate smart people sometimes…' he thought and sighed. "Radelia," Aaron called out to the woman in front of him. "Why not join the resistance in your world?"

Radelia stared at him in shock. However, truth be told she had been thinking about it for many years now. However, she didn't want to risk being killed by Yve, Phumera or worse, the Outer God, Magnum Tenebrosum.

"I…"

…

In the distance, Dulio the [Joker] of Heaven and Crom Cruach, the [Ultimate Evil Dragon] fought the mass-produced Evil Dragon, two Super Devils and a Super Vampire.

"…That damn lizard interrupted me…!" Yaegaki shouted in frustration.

"…Yaegaki-kun," muttered Touji Shidou.

"Shut up! Shut up! Did you really think I would forgive you just because I would kill you?!" he shouted at the Gremory group.

Yaegaki swung his sword to the ground and created a powerful aura from it. "I loved her! And she loved me! We…even if we were different from each other…! We loved each other! It was real…!!" As if the sword was responding to his cries, eight dragon heads emerged from it. Compared to their first meeting, the dragon heads had increased in size.

<<Mmmmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaggghhh!!!>> roared the man as he swung his sword down again. Yamata-no-Orochi breathed out a dark and poisonous aura towards Touji Shidou.

The man named Masaomi Yaegaki's mind had been taken over completely. His grief, his anger, his sorrow were fed into the blade. His body was shrouded in a dark and powerful aura.

Rias calmly enveloped her body in her [Power of Destruction] and sent out several small balls of destruction. All the heads and the attacks that were aimed at Touji were suddenly destroyed shocking him.

"Touji Shidou-san, please stay back. We'll end this and stop that man…" said Rias, sadness evident in her eyes.

Xenovia summoned her [Durandal] and Irina brought out [Hauteclere].

"You two, we'll be your support, go finish this," Rias said to them. Both Xenovia and Irina looked at each other before pointing their swords at Yaegaki.

"Let's end this, Durandal!" declared Xenovia.

Irina closed her eyes and shouted, "Hauteclere, if you recognize me as your master, then please, I beg of you to lend me your strength! Lend me that strength to help my dad, and help everyone! And liberate that evil dragon from that blade!"

As the two prepared to confront Yaegaki, a sword suddenly crashed into the ground beside Yumi Kira (Kiba). "T-that's—" she muttered.

"Ascalon…" Asia said as she stared at the sword. Rias nodded at Kira as she pulled it out of the ground and stood beside Xenovia and Irina.

"Allow me to lend you a helping hand," she said to them as she joined them.

The three holy swords began to resonate with each other and a holy aura continuously rose from the blades. The holy swords then increased in size, and they finally became three bright pillars of light that extended into the sky of Fourth Heaven.

All three girls dashed towards Yaegaki who began to swing his sword at them in a frenzy. Kira deflected several attacks with Ascalon and so did the other two. Every time their swords hit one of the dragon heads of Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi, it instantly destroyed it.

Masaomi Yaegaki was being overwhelmed quickly, as the three girls approached him. The sword, Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi had finally been…

The three girls then released the powerful holy auras of the sword that swallowed Yaegaki. But as they did that, they all saw it—the silhouette of a woman who hugged Yaegaki from behind gently as tears streamed down her eyes. Yaegaki finally slumped down to the ground. The power of the evil dragon that had taken control of him had finally disappeared.

Irina's [Hauteclere], it's said to have the ability to purify its opponent's sword. When Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi came into contact with her sword, it wiped out all its evil energy. Although Xenovia's [EX Durandal] and [Ascalon] wielded by Kira helped amplify the effect.

"…Yamata-no-Orochi's power is gone…no, its resurrection is uncertain. In any case, there isn't any power of an evil dragon left in the sword," said Aaron's voice. Everyone turned to see him walking towards the group of girls near Yaegaki.

Once he arrived, Yaegaki cried out, "I loved her…I loved Cleria…" He then looked at Aaron and added, "perhaps one day, someone will try to come between you and your lovers. When that happens, you need to—"

"—Protect them. Even if this entire world or universe is against my relationship with these girls, I'll—," Aaron stopped there. He didn't want to casually say that he'd wipe out this reality if they tried to pull him and the girls apart.

Yaegaki remained silent for a few seconds, he seemed to be thinking of something, finally, he spoke again. "…You're a dragon, you don't belong to any side, yet you try to unite everyone. Why...? Today you helped heaven's side, tomorrow who will it be?" he asked Aaron tiredly.

"…Because I'm selfish, and I did it for my own reasons, but that's changed. Here, I have something to show you," Aaron said and a small magic circle appeared.

It was at an unknown location and the ghostly appearance of a woman appeared with Aaron in it—

"T-that's…!" Yaegaki said as tears fell from his eyes.

[I can revive you,] Aaron said through the magic circle.

The ghostly woman in it shook her head. [I don't want to be revived...but...I want to see Masaomi again, is that possible?] she asked.

[…I can show him this conversation, so if you want to say anything to him, then…]

The ghostly woman then said, [Masaomi, I'll wait for you on the other side, so please come join me…we can be together again. I love you…!]

[Then, I'll add a little bonus for you two—once your reincarnation process is complete, I'll make sure you meet in whatever world or universe your souls go to—you'll definitely meet and fall in love again. I'll make sure nothing tragic like this happens there,] Aaron told her through the magic circle. He had a look of anger and sadness on him as he said those words.

[…Thank you, you're too kind, Jin-san,] replied the ghostly woman.

The magic circle vanished and Aaron turned to Masaomi Yaegaki as he was silently crying while he looked at the magic circle.

"W-why…why would you go so far for someone you barely knew and nearly hurt the people around you…?" he asked.

"Because I don't want a tragedy like that to happen aga—"

Aaron suddenly teleported them away and a powerful explosion destroyed the spot they had previously been at.

"Uhyahyahyahyahyah! As fast as ever, Dual Dragon-chan~!" said a very familiar voice.

Rizevim Livan Lucifer stood there and waved at everyone. In his hand was…some kind of triangular object.

"Are you here to steal the Fruits of Knowledge and Life?" Aaron asked as he stood up with his [Boosted Gear] [Queen] form still activated.

"Eh? Well, that was the plan a few months back, buuut I don't need them anymore, so…I just wanted to see the stupid revenge-love-thing that Yaegaki-kun wanted to do. But you dodged the attack, so I couldn't kill him," he said with a shrug.

"I instead got this!" he said happily and brought the triangular object in front of him. "Although, I already sent the real one away, this is just a fake—an empty shell, I wouldn't want super-cool-Jin-kun to get it and stop me, you know? I had to be super sneaky earlier!"

"Wanna know what it is? Hey, hey, do you? Do you?" he asked like a child and started giggling to himself. "I'll tell you! Truthfully, I have no idea what it did! Uhyah! But Promestein told me to bring it to certain floors of Heaven and it would do the rest, so I did! Second, Third and finally Fourth Heaven, and bam! I'm done!" he shouted and laughed again.

A large ice attack was aimed at him but he brought his hand behind him and it vanished. Lavinia had arrived and tried to do a sneak attack on Rizevim, but to no avail. Her attack was cancelled by his [Sacred Gear Canceler].

"Ah, ah, ah, that's a naughty thing to do, Ice Princess!" he said and waved his finger at her. Lavinia glared at him but didn't say a word.

Aaron wanted to end him right now, but he wanted Vali to do it. He had been working his whole life to take that man's life—and he would let his little brother have the honors when the time finally came.

"Enough…" he mumbled and appeared in front of Rizevim.

"Bam~!" Rizevim cheerfully said as he aimed his finger at him. Aaron's armor vanished, but he still sent his punch towards Rizevim. "Eh—wha—"

Rizevim's clone exploded into a bloody mess. The only thing left were its shoulders and head. "Uhyahyahyayah! So violent! My special power also worked on you! But you still hit me. What kind of bullshit is that~!" he said happily.

"…I could kill you right now, but…I'll give that privilege to Vali—he's coming to kill you soon, you piece of shit," said Aaron.

Rizevim smirked at him as his clone's body parts started to wither away. "I look forward to it Jin-chan~!"

…

Jin Skyward's Soliloquy

…

Once I got confirmation that the rest of the attackers had been annihilated from all of Heaven, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Using my shadow soldier's eyes, I checked for myself and there were some light damages, but nothing too severe, so I held my hand up and repaired all of Heaven once more.

"Yaegaki-kun…" Touji muttered as he approached Masaomi. The young man in question silently stared at Touji and didn't say anything back. Once Touji arrived in front of Masaomi he got on all fours and did a dogeza. "I'm sorry…"

Masaomi stared at him for a few seconds, and he then said, "Please get up…I'm the one who should be apologizing. I caused all this mess and even injured you…"

"No! It's because of what we—"

"Alright, stop, stop. We won't get anywhere if you two keep apologizing to each other. Let's accept the facts, alright?" I said and they turned to me. "You're both grown men, and while we understand both sides' pain, let's try to end this on a positive note, shall we?"

They stared at me for a few more seconds then at each other and nodded.

"I'm sorry," said Touji and bowed his head.

"I'm sorry too," Masaomi replied and also bowed his head.

"We can't change the past, but…like what Jin-kun said earlier, we can change the future. For the rest of my life, I'll stay vigilant and try to prevent such disasters like yours from happening again. I promise you that," said Touji while staring at Masaomi seriously.

A small smile appeared on Masaomi's face. "I feel at ease knowing he's there to make sure it happens," he told Touji and gave me a side glance. "…I'm tired, and please keep your promise, Shidou-san…Middle—no, Jin…kun, right? Can you…send me to the other side now?" he asked.

"H-huh? You've been brought back to life by the Khaos Order, right? W-why don't you stay…?" Irina asked.

"…Cleria said she was waiting for me on the other side, and also…we'll be given a peaceful life in the future, so please…" begged Masaomi.

"Alright, do you have any final words you want to say?" I asked him as I put my hand on his shoulder.

Masaomi closed his eyes and said, "…Their Battle Gods are nearly perfected. They have a large operation in the future. It involves all the factions of the current Khaos Order. I believe they'll attack the entire world—both the supernatural and human. Please…prepare for it. The revival of Trihexa is nigh…"

Once everyone heard that, they were shocked, but as I thought…they're planning on a literal world war with us. That means that they'll bring as many forces to this universe as possible, right? Evie and Phantasma soldiers, Battle Gods, those strange creatures from the Phantasma, cryptids, divine beasts, and whatever else they have…

"I see. Thank you for telling us, Masaomi," I said and began the process of undoing his resurrection. His body began to glow, then his body became limp. I caught it and his soul left his body—a ghostly apparition appeared from behind him, smiled at us, then another appeared, it was a woman…the two held hands before vanishing.

I sighed and carried his body. "Let's go get him a proper burial and meet in the same room from earlier. We'll have an impromptu meeting, so we can inform the alliance about what we learned," I told them and walked away.

…

The meeting was over, everyone started to leave back to their own homes, and I was left by myself—well, Lavinia was with me, but…

All the current factions and pantheons will begin preparations immediately, likewise, we were still in the talks about if we should inform the country leaders of what was about to come, because all the current presidents or leaders of the world (well, most of them at least) know of the existence of the supernatural.

"Hmm? Oh, it's you guys. How did defending Heaven go?" I asked. I saw Dulio and Mirana approaching me.

Dulio rubbed the back of his head and said, "Weeeell~ I only managed to beat the 'Super Vampire' because they lacked enough experience. I injured the two Super Devils, but Crom Cruach was the one to kill them all. He took care of that Evil Dragon pretty quickly, you know?"

"I helped defend Second Heaven with other [Brave Saints] and a few of the Norse and Irish members of Team [DxD]," answered Mirana.

Not all of the members were here, but there were at least a few of each group that it was enough, along with my shadow soldiers that were already here. Unfortunately Sona's group wasn't here. They had something to do beforehand and I asked them to keep an eye out for Ingvild since she was going to be gone for the next few days.

"Thanks again, Leader-kun~! Will you teach me some recipes again?" Dulio asked with a chuckle.

"I don't mind, but I might as well get you an upgraded kitchen since the one you own isn't exactly…up to the standard of what I like," I told him and he flinched back.

"Ugh…I knew you were going to say that eventually…! But I don't have that much money…"

"Who said you were paying for it? I want to keep helping those kids too you know? My work didn't stop after I visited you, them and 'him', you know?" I told him and he looked surprised at me.

"Haha, you're right. My bad, Jin-kun. Anyway, we'll still be doing that Christmas Project, right?" he asked and got up. "Can we add food?!"

"Well…I can preserve them, so it's very much possible," I replied…but suddenly someone pinched Dulio's and my cheek.

"Ow, ow, w-wait Big Sis Griselda…!" Dulio struggled to get free from her grip. He looked at me for help but I just smiled. "T-traitor!!"

"We won't be doing that. Do I make myself clear, Dulio?" she asked him and he did his best to nod his head. She finally let go of him, but not of me.

"Um…what about me?" I asked, but to my surprise she grabbed my other cheek and kissed me on the lips.

"Ah!" Dulio shouted and backed away. "I-I don't wanna be here, I, uh, the children need me!" he shouted nervously and ran away. He winked at me and mouthed 'good luck'.

"I want to kiss Aaron too!" shouted Gabriel. I thought she had left earlier—

"M-me too!" added Layla.

"…Fufu, may I also have one, Aaron-sama?" asked Altaria.

"I don't want to be left out!" shouted Lavinia. After that, I was dogpiled by them. Mirana stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to do.

…

"Onwards, our trusty dragon, Toole!" shouted Irina from my back.

A few days have passed and it was currently Christmas. I was in my [Juggernaut Drive] and flew around the northern half of Japan. I got Albion and Ddraig to help out too, so the members of Team [DxD] were flying over Japan distributing presents for everyone. Of course, both dragons were in their dragon forms while the other members of Team [DxD] were on their backs.

I also turned us invisible, so we wouldn't accidentally cause a mass panic. Ddraig would cover the South, and Albion would cover both West and East. We were fast enough to do this, so we were around 64% done, and by Latia's calculations earlier, we would be done with four hours to spare for a party.

On my back were the Gremory and Bael peerage, along with the Slash/Dog Team, and my own (Gabriel, Raynare, Griselda, Lavinia, Inaie, Raiko and Rose.) I had replicated the machine that Santa gave me, so we had a lot of them, so everyone could help with the distributing of the presents.

"Damn, why did does someone want this for a present, aren't they too young?" asked Saji.

"…Maybe they're in a relationship?" replied Kira.

"…Too young! This is lingerie! What kid would have a need for it?!" he snapped back, but also sent it away.

"Well, most are normal toys, but we'll have the odd good-child-pervert every now and again," added Shirone. Kuroka wanted to be with us, but Valerie took her away much to her protest.

[How much is left?] I asked.

"A lot," replied Shirone which got a few laughs from everyone.

"By the way, what happened to that other Eradicator, Radelia, Aaron?" Lavinia asked from my back.

[She…]

…

Flashback

…

"I don't know. I have been thinking about it for a while, but I'm not exactly sneaky, or anything like that. So if I go I might just accidentally expose them and have them wiped out," said Radelia.

She had her worries like that too? I wonder what kind of life she lived to be like this. She seemed like the type of woman to not take shit from anyone, but I guess she has a side like this to her too.

"Are you worried about your leaders and the Outer God finding out?" I asked. She looked up at me seriously and nodded.

"Death is an easy escape in our universe. That's why Aerendyl will be replaced by Caeda fully once his death is confirmed."

…What? Wait what?

"What do you mean? I thought…hold on…" I remembered the time Caeda told me she was rank 8, but when Yanuyo told me the entire list of the Eradicators…Caeda's name never popped up. I thought it was strange, but I chalked it up to his newly acquired memories. Did those two…

"You seem confused. Aerendyl and Caeda shared the same rank, that's why he had a strong hatred for women too, Caeda worked her way up the ranks. She wasn't much of a talker, but…her power is real. She has a moniker in our universe, you know? It's [Mistress of Demise]."

They…shared the same rank…! I see, so that's why he had hatred for women, though I doubt it all came from Caeda. I should ask her about it. I wonder why she left it out?

"Caeda worked hard to reach her rank, but Yve and Phumera didn't want to let a talented genius like Aerendyl out of their grasp, so they made the exception to letting both of them have the same rank. It's rare and they said they'd never do it again," she explained.

Caeda…you're a lot stronger than you let on to be, huh? And also getting that title, it seems strange, maybe it's just a persona you showed them and hid the real one from them? Whatever the case may be…

"I see, that explains what Yanuyo showed me," I told her.

"Is it true he defected?" she asked.

I smirked and shook my head. "No…let's just say I did a bit of my own 'magic' to change him. Anyway, you don't need to fear them. I'm an Outer God too. So as long as I exist, I can counteract Magnum Tenebrosum and whatever Yve or Phumera can do to you." I stretched my hand out. "Join the resistance."

She stared at my hand and then back at my face. "How do you know so much about it? Did Caeda tell you? Did she also defect?"

Should I tell her? …I'll do it, but if she doesn't accept, I'll just do what I did to Yanuyo to her…as much as I don't want to, I can't let her escape if I do.

"Sekudia. His escape from me was orchestrated by the both of us," I told her. Then I told her of our deal, and what would happen afterward, and his own suspicions of certain members of the Eradicators that may defect in the future and join the resistance too.

Radelia looked shocked the entire time, and in the end, she closed her eyes. She stayed silent for a few minutes until she looked back at me.

"…Rank 1 and Rank 2 don't like what they do. I've only met them a few times, but it's much more obvious with Rank 2, but you can only ever briefly see it in Rank 1, also, I think Rank 3 too. He's…he has a sense of 'justice' and 'helps' the weaker ones in our universe. Even if he covers it up by saying 'he's just killing trash'."

Radelia seems to be more informed than Yanuyo. Is it because of her lower rank, or another reason? I think she'll be essential…I should have her join Cao Cao's team in the future then. I took a step forward and stood directly in front of her. She felt intimidated and took a step back.

"Join us. Change your universe. It's obvious that the people there aren't satisfied with how things are. Who would be? If the only ones that can do anything are the ones with power—then the normal ones will just perish and be controlled. That's not a way to live life," I told her.

I held my hand out and waited for her to take it. She stared at it…it felt like hours passed as the tension around us kept increasing. I don't know what kind of thoughts were going through her head, but it must have been a lot.

Whatever life she had before becoming an Eradicator, to the one she currently has…but she eventually, but timidly grasped my hand. It felt small and weak, unlike the headstrong woman I saw from just a few seconds ago.

I then gave her a mark and it appeared on the back of her hand and then disappeared.

"What was that?" she asked.

"…A little something that will help you out if you're in trouble. I'll take this as a yes, so here's the—" I gave her the information regarding the whereabouts of the alliance that Sekudia gave me, and all she had to do was say a certain phrase and give show him this mark.

We spoke about it beforehand. Any Eradicators or whoever from the Phantasma that wants to switch sides and join the resistance will have that mark. Sekudia for the time being, is the only one who can see it.

"Take this too." I gave her a slime pill and explained what it would do.

"…Make it quick. I hate getting hurt," she said and glared at me.

"I'll try," I replied and—

…

Flashback End

…

[As far as we're concerned, she's an ally. But it's going to need time, and the resistance in the Phantasma's universe is small and weak, but with the right allies and with my plan for the future plus Cao Cao's team going there, it'll be a force to be reckoned with soon,] I told them.

A few days earlier, I also went back to Santa's realm to finalize the alliance between us, which also meant he joined the DxD Alliance. I informed the other leaders of this and a few of them were curious about the place, so they plan on going there in the future for a culture exchange event.

[Anyway, let's get this finished and relax for the holidays!] I shouted and so did they.

…

"Merry Christmas!!"

Most of Team [DxD] was at my home and we were having a Christmas party. Just like Latia's calculations, we had four hours to spare before midnight hit, so we were in full party mode. Grayfia, Sharon, the Pleiades, and others stayed behind to get my home ready as we gave out presents to everyone.

We were two hours into our celebration. Suzaku, like she promised also came here, as did a few others like Shuri, Baraqiel, Azazel, Sirzechs and the rest of Rias' family and a few others. However, Fusae and the Minagawa sisters approached me earlier. They want me to actually meet their parents during the new year, so…I'll have to plan for that.

I'll have a much free schedule after new years in school during my last semester there, so I can focus on a lot of things. Touji also joined us for the holidays, so everything, for the time being was…calm. A few groups were gathered in the living room, including the Gremory and Bael peerages along with their family and friends.

The Sitri peerage and Ingvild were in the Underworld still in her tour, as much as I would like them to be here, this was essential for Ingvild, and they didn't mind being with her since they basically had front row seats to her tour.

Crom Cruach officially joined Team [DxD] after being interrogated by all factions and pantheons and they gave him the okay. He was currently at a corner with Ophis and Irene as he ate anything banana related.

Rias and Akeno suddenly stood up and got everyone's attention. Rias looked at Akeno and they nodded.

"Everyone, can we have your attention please? We'd like to make an announcement," said Rias.

Everyone immediately turned to me.

"…No, I did not get anyone pregnant," I deadpanned and everyone laughed.

Akeno quietly giggled and Rias continued. "Although it may seem sudden, but we specifically planned to do this during Christmas," she explained and Akeno nodded along.

"We'd like to announce the new Occult Research Club President and Vice President," said Rias as she looked around at the surprise of everyone.

I knew what was coming, and so did a few, like Ingvild and Sona, but the rest weren't told. The current members of the Occult Research Club stared at them with curiosity.

"As the President of the Occult Research Club for the last three years, during that time I've taken extra care to ensure that the next generation will follow strict rules and principles."

"I hope that the next President and the members left behind will be able to remember one thing. When there's flexibility, the Occult Research Club will definitely become better."

She stopped and cleared her throat and glance at two particular individuals. "The new club President is Asia and the new Vice President is Kira."

"The reason I chose Asia was because I felt that she would most likely be the kind of person to renew the current club. I think she could take our club activities into a different direction...imagining what would happen in the future is exciting to me," explained Rias.

Asia herself was stunned by this as she stared at Rias blankly. I doubt she expected this to happen, but she's changed a lot as a person. If I had to compare her to her Canon counterpart, she's a lot more confident, so I doubt she'll have too many doubts in the future.

Akeno explained her reasoning to everyone as well. "I chose Kira-chan, simply because I thought that having a different sex for the Vice President role would be interesting, but…a change happened in the year, so I guess it's staying the same. I did have other reasons for choosing her, but I think that she will be a positive role model for the school's female populace and club. I also discussed this with Rias beforehand."

Rias turned to the both of them and asked, "Do you two accept?"

Kira nodded. "I don't have a problem with that, I accept," said Kira.

Asia seemed hesitant, though not as much as I thought she would be. So I decided to speak up. "I think it would have a pleasant ring to it, wouldn't it, President Asia?"

"Mmm. President Asia doesn't sound bad," added Shirone.

"Yeah. President Asia sounds like fun," said Gasper.

Asia showed us a troubled smile but agreed in the end. "…Okay, I understand. I may be inexperienced leading people, so I'll be in your care," she said and bowed.

"Yes, President Asia!" the current and past members shouted in unison slightly making her jump.

I stood beside both Akeno and Rias, I then asked, "So, how does it feel?"

"A burden was just lifted off my shoulders," Rias said and sighed.

"Fufu, I feel the same way, but…I think they'll be fine starting the next and last semesters, right?" asked Akeno.

"Of course, they're not weak and have strong personalities. They'll be fine without us being constantly there," I told them. "And hey, we'll have more time to ourselves, as well as with Sona, Tsubaki and Kiyome."

"More Sex?" Akeno asked as she rapidly blinked at me.

"W-well, I guess there's that too…" I replied and Rias sighed at us.

"By the way, what will they call you two now, Rias-chan, Akeno-chan?" Lavinia asked them.

The club members also looked at them and agreed.

"How about 'Onee-san' or 'Nee-chan'?" suggested Rias. But all of them shook their heads in embarrassment.

"W-we can't keep calling you President? …Well, I guess not since Asia is the new President," said Shirone as she sighed.

"You can ask them to suddenly start calling you something new so soon, Rias. But let's keep making suggestions before the new term starts," I proposed.

"Ara~ I guess so," replied Rias.

Everyone started to mingle again and resumed the party. A few others joined us and also congratulated Asia for becoming the next club President. Shuri also hugged her quite tightly as was Akeno since she didn't tell her about it. Akeno tried to tell her that it was meant to be a secret.

"…Oh, right. Rias," I called out to her. She looked back at me and tilted her head. "I didn't get to say it in words when we met Zekram, so let me say it to you now too. I love you too."

She got a bit teary-eyed and hugged my arm. "…I love you too, Aaron."

…

The party was still in full swing and there was around thirty minutes left before midnight struck. We ran out of some drinks, and instead of just creating them—I offered to run to the store to get them. Two people came with me. Gabriel and Irina.

As we walked back to our home, we decided to make a small detour to Kuoh Park. The same one where Issei was killed. Once we entered it, snow began to fall. I guess this year is going to be a white Christmas.

"Snow! This year is a white Christmas then," Irina said happily as she started to skip around. Gabriel joined her and the two girls laughed happily in front of me.

The reward we received for our Christmas deed seems reasonable to me. I stopped and looked up at the sky and sighed. I really…

"Hey, Aaron-senpai," Irina called out to me, and it stopped my train of thought. I looked back at her and noticed she had suddenly placed her lips on mine. "A kiss from an angel during Christmas~!" she said and stepped away from me while blushing. "…Please take care of me from now on, Aaron..." she said and bowed.

"You're being way too formal, Irina. But…yeah, I will," I replied. I glanced behind her as Gabriel smiled at us, but she also looked a bit lonely.

[Are you planning to do it? You have him with you—this is the most suitable time, it's Christmas after all,] said Ddraig.

{I agree with him, do it. I think it will suit Gabriel,} added Albion.

In agreement with the two dragons, I took a deep breath. I walked to Irina, gave her a kiss on the forehead and told her what I was going to do. She giggled and agreed.

I stood in front of Gabriel and took her hands into mine. "Gabriel." She looked up at me with her usual smile.

"What is it?" she asked happily.

"I planned on doing this at a different time, but seeing as how it's Christmas and it's snowing…well, I couldn't ask for a better atmosphere...don't you think so too, old man?" I asked and an old man in a white robe appeared behind me. He also had long gray hair and blue eyes. He looked much younger than when I met him.

"W-wait, t-that's…!" Irina said in a shocked voice behind us.

Gabriel stared up at the man behind me. Tears began to fall from her eyes. She let go of my hands and walked towards him. "F-father?" she asked.

"I didn't think I would be forced back into existence, although I don't mind since it's temporary," replied the God of the Bible.

I found him after a lengthy search. Since I didn't have help from Cúntóir, I had to rely on what a few of the angels told me. So that journey was…interesting since I met a fair few people.

"W-why won't you come back…?" she asked and hugged him.

He hugged his daughter back and said, "Azazel said it perfectly during the Peace Conference. This world moved on without me, and will keep going without me. They're a strong species, you know that…but I do have a different role tonight, and I'll only stay for tonight…" he said and slowly made Gabriel turn around.

I stood in front of her again and grabbed her hands. "I already got his permission so it's fine," I said and the God of the Bible nodded. "Gabriel, will you marry me?"

"…Yes…" she squeaked out and hugged me.

"Didn't you say to me that you weren't going to make her cry?" the God behind her asked.

"I meant by making her sad, she's clearly happy…" I replied and sighed at him.

"G-G-G-G-G-God, Lord, Heaven, Amen!" Irina shouted and got on her knees and prayed to the man.

"Hoho! So you're one of the [Royal User (Brave Saints)] and Michael's [Ace]. Irina Shidou!"

"Y-y-y-yes I am! It's an honor to meet you, Lord!" Irina said happily.

"Fufu, Iri—mmm…"

I stopped Gabriel and kissed her. I wanted to take her out on a date before I proposed, but since the opportunity came to me, I took it. Though Irina and the two dragons with me were the ones to point it out.

"Let's go home then. I'll call the other Four Great Seraphs and Ten Seraphs so they can meet you one last time," I told God.

"Well, I did want to tell them a few things before I passed away, so I thank you again, Aaron," he told me and we left for home.

Once we arrived at the front door, he turned to me and said, "Take care of her."

"I will," I replied and held Gabriel's hand a bit tighter. The Angel in question happily hugged my arm. Irina had been too nervous the entire time to act like her usual self.

...Once we got back inside and called the other angels down…it was an interesting time. Before that day ended, I did one more thing for the world. That night, another 'miracle' happened.

…