Volume 7 – Chapter 7 – Part 1 – The Tiles of Dog City and Surprise*

Third Person Point of View

— ○ ● ○ —

"The entire village is surrounded, Silphia. What do we do? As far as I can tell it's people from Ningguang's pantheon, but they haven't infiltrated us yet. They've only stayed around the perimeter of it; do you think they're waiting for more backup?" asked one of her subordinates.

The members of [Tiles of Dog City] were in a remote village in China—their last stronghold. They had built their base near a mountain side that also connected to a large underground stronghold.

Silephia had four trusted individuals with her. The aforementioned Zi Xia was one of them, as leaned against a wall near the entrance as the other three crowded around a table with a 3D hologram of the village that also showed a live feed of their enemy.

"They know we're looking at them," said another. Countless people looked directly at their magical cameras and waved at them. "Are they mocking us?"

Silphia squinted at the members of Ningguang's side. While she felt a bit anxious about the situation, she didn't feel helpless—in fact, her gut told her that this was a good thing…all that she had to do was use her wits and smarts to pull out of it alive and intact.

She knew that they were reasonable, and out of the 'evil' organizations, her group was the least threatening. Even if they did cause trouble for the supernatural from time-to-time, it had changed from when her adopted father and mentor used to lead it.

'If the Middleman comes here, I can probably speak to him and maybe…come to some sort of agreement?' she thought. "We'll wait."

"What!? Why?! Why don't we—" Another member started to say, but a single glare from Silphia shut her up.

"Do you think wish our members we can take them on? If they enlisted the Middleman's help, and God forbid—Team [DxD], do you think we'll be the winners?" she asked her subordinate. They did not have an answer to that as they regrettably stared at the ground.

"We have to be smart about this—think of it logically and with a clear head. The Khaos Order, The Vortex Bunch, The Z-Team and us—The Tiles of Dog City. Out of all the groups, which one of us has caused the least amount of trouble?" Silphia asked the room.

The members looked at one another, but the first to answer was Zi Xia. "Us, obviously. The Khaos Order is one thing—they're number one enemy for everyone. The Vortex Bunch was full of idiots, but still caused trouble and [DxD] had to respond, and recently, the [Z-Team] was defeated. All that's left is us."

She opened her eyes and they glowed. "Granted, we still did bad things, but we didn't do them out of maliciousness. We did it to help ourselves and this village, but they don't know that, only us. So if we explain ourselves to someone reasonable, then maybe we'll get out of this situation intact."

"You…you want to ally with them? Is that even possible? What the hell can we even offer to them?" asked another member.

The room fell silent as they couldn't think of one. Zi Xia walked over to them and laughed, confusing everyone.

"Why not appeal to the Middleman?" she asked and grinned. She tore open her top revealing her bra. "You know what I mean?"

"…I am not whoring myself out," another member deadpanned. The others agreed.

Silphia sighed and shook her head. "Have we not heard of the rumors? That he's not like that—he won't just target any woman with a pulse to add to his harem."

Zi Xia shrugged and covered herself up. "It's worth a shot, so if I do come across him, I'll try to coax him," she said and laughed.

"I'll think of something, until then, just act normally. This meeting is adjourned," said Silphia.

One of their members stopped and asked, "What about Lei Wen? You know how he's a bit…"

"What he chooses to do when the time comes, I won't stop him. Whether he chooses to sacrifice his life and fight for whatever beliefs he has, that is his choice," said Silphia.

Zi Xia also added, "He won't listen to reason too. I mean, he tried to fight Sil here a few months back for leadership. He even has his own little faction here, he's an idiot. We should be coming together, not making different factions within our organization."

The other three agreed with Zi Xia but didn't vocalize it. They nodded and left the room. Zi Xia and Silphia were the ones left in the room and the leader sat on her chair and sighed.

"So? Do you have a plan for that? I've heard that the Middleman is reasonable to some degree. However, if he doesn't agree with your views or whatever, he'll decline and we'll just become prisoners like the rest," asked the red-haired woman as she sat on a free chair.

Silphia sighed and put her hands on her face. "I don't know…I just wanted to be positive in our dire situation. If we make the wrong choice, our entire organization will fall and disappear. The families we help will be dead in a year if we're gone."

She looked up and asked Zi Xia, "Is our only option left to sell our own bodies?"

Zi Xia shrugged. "Beats me. You're the leader. I'm just the muscle brain who goes out and does assignments. You were elected leader for a reason—for your intelligence and because you were the previous leader's daughter."

She got up and started to leave the room, but as Zi Xia arrived at the doorway, she added, "I know you'll think of something—oh, I heard a rumor, but he cares a lot about 'family'. Do with that information however you like." She then left through the door, her steps echoing in the silent hallway and room.

Silphia brought out a locket necklace she had hidden around her neck and opened it. In the necklace showed a picture of a man—this was her adopted father, as well as her parents. "Family, huh? If I appeal to that…will he help us?" she asked herself, unsure of this.

"It's our last resort, we'll use it as a last resort," she muttered to herself.

— ○ ● ○ —

Aaron Toole's Soliloquy

— ○ ● ○ —

After mom, Cindy and Aoife left, I was left in the room with Lavinia and Suzaku. I already had an idea of who to bring with me. Safe to say, this trip will be chaotic. Although I do expect that the last group to be interesting. They do have some in them that are a bit reckless, but a quick beating should do the trick.

…That sounds a bit deranged, but I can't phrase it any better. What about 'knocking some sense into them?' I mused, but was brought back to reality by both women's giggling.

"What's up with you two? You've been giggling together since you came here," I asked. It wasn't strange for them to do that. Those two have become even closer since they first met.

Lavinia pointed at herself. "Elvira."

Suzaku did the same thing. "Etsuko."

A troubled smile spread across my face. "Our daughters' names, huh? You're really that happy after hearing that…"

Just like Suzaku, I let Lavinia see a bit of the future, and she knew one of our daughters' names, which was Elvira—Elvira Reni Toole. She was the one who picked it with Giorgia, her stepmother.

"I wish I knew our other daughter's name~" she said and pouted at me.

"Do I have twins?" Suzaku asked.

I don't know what they're trying to do to me right now. Are they trying to coax out an answer? If so, I won't budge, regardless of their very cute pouting…I-I won't falter…

Choosing to ignore them, I brought out the fridge and had a drink of juice from it. However, both of them came over to me and kept bugging me about it and I relented.

[Weak…man!]

'…Shut it.' I sighed and said, "Livia…that's the other twin's name…and for you, Suzaku—you don't have twins, but at a certain point, you do become pregnant again and it's another girl…"

"Elvira and Livia…" Lavinia said dreamily while looking at her hands. She hugged herself and began happily making strange noises to herself.

[What about me, Partner?! I know we didn't ask these types of questions! But now I'm curious!!] asked Ddraig.

Why is everyone so curious about this all of a sudden? I mean, I don't mind telling them, but still…

'What about you?' I asked back.

[Kids? Wife? Harem?]

{Did he become gay?} asked Albion. After that, I heard powerful explosions in my soul.

'Well, both of you will find wives eventually,' I replied and the fighting immediately stopped. Then, Ddraig began to creepily laugh, even after he was told to stop, he wouldn't.

Well, I prefer this to him asking me about specifics. So I'll silently apologize to the ones in my soul right now.

"By the way, Aaron. Who do you plan on taking to China?" asked Suzaku.

Summoning some chairs, they both sat on them and we began to talk about the request I'd been given by Ningguang. I took out the document and it simply said 'Solve the issue with [The Tiles of Dog City]'. It didn't specifically say defeat or kill them which got me thinking. What did she want me to do with them?

"I have an idea on who to bring, but I don't think Ningguang wants me to kill them. I've had my shadow soldiers report activity on them and while they're mostly stuck in that small village in China, previously they mostly did mercenary work and the like. You know, steal food from the rich, give to the poor kind of situation," I told them.

Lavinia clapped her hand. "Oh! They're like modern day Robinhood~! …Hmm? If they are, are they really bad people?"

"They still steal from people. We don't know the circumstances of the reach, so until then, they're at least innocent in this. I know many people don't like rich people for various reasons, but stealing from them is still a crime, both in the human world and the supernatural world," said Suzaku.

They suddenly looked at me, waiting for my opinion on the matter. "I mean…I'm rich too you know? And by proxy, you two are rich too. As a matter of fact, everyone in this home is since I give everyone a pretty big allowance—as you can tell from Kuroka. When was the last time you two seen her room?"

"I went there recently, actually! It's full of those vinyl records with old songs, and new ones. You made some for her right? Last year, well, you still do since she regularly asks for them," said Lavinia.

"I've only been there twice, but it seems like it means a lot to her. I haven't pried into it, but it may involve her mother, right?" asked Suzaku. Lavinia nodded and told her a bit about it and she smiled bitterly.

"Ah, by the way, can you be a bit more detailed, Aaron? About the group you plan on bringing, I mean," asked Suzaku.

"Well, assuming you guys want to come (Fated Ones), then a few others in our home, the 8 Divas, mom, Cindy, Aoife and whoever else—"

[Me.] My necklace—Irene's dragon head shone and she came out. "I'm coming with you along with Ophis."

"…It's been a while, Irene. Where have you been?" I asked.

She smiled and laughed. "My necklace is connected to the original Dimensional Gap, remember? So I've been back there for a little bit, flying around and exploring it a bit further. There doesn't seem to be any kind of disturbances there."

I nodded. "Yeah, I've reinforced the barriers in the Dimensional Gap, but nothing will come since universal travel has been limited to me. We are the only ones that can do that now."

Suzaku, Lavinia and Irene looked at each other, smiled and the two beside me got up, kissed my cheek and left the room while talking to each other. I was confused by their actions, but I dismissed the chairs beside me and Irene walked over to the couches and patted it. Getting up from my spot, I joined her over there.

Once I got there, she asked, "Do you remember what I said a few months back?"

"Of course. I showed you, didn't I?" I replied and remembered what she said to me a few months back.

— ○ ● ○ —

"You have shown me an interesting world so far. Although I have enjoyed spending time with you, I have yet to decide whether I will consider you as my mate. So, show me. Can you achieve that dream of yours? Ophis, she is a lot more naïve, and has already chosen you, but to me… It will take a little more time," said Irene.

"Uniting the entire supernatural world, ending Nyarlathotep, saving Azathoth, proposing to your women, and traveling to Rudra and Velgrynd's world. I wish to see all of it come true."

"Show me. You said to Sirzechs Lucifer that you're a man of miracles, didn't you? I'll be watching."

— ○ ● ○ —

Irene smiled and said, "Although you haven't fully united the supernatural world officially, everyone is for it, even some of the reluctant factions and pantheons. What Lapis showed them was that there were bigger threats out there and while they don't know what you did after her attack, it made them consider yours and the DxD Alliance's offer. In a way, you've already achieved it. All that's left is officially heading to those places, and Rudra and his world."

I looked at the ground when I heard that. There's no way that Rudra would accept me resurrecting him, and he's been adamant about it. We had a few discussions about it during the 10,000 years I spent in that realm, and he repeatedly told me no. However, I should expect some kind of graduation ceremony with him when we do go back there.

—Temporarily resurrecting him for that occasion and then he'll be gone after it. Thinking about it makes me a bit anxious, but I won't force him since I already told many people about my stance on resurrection. However, I did force a few to come back for one selfish reason or another.

"So? What are you trying to say, Irene?" I asked, feigning my ignorance. She gave me an amused smirk, leaned closer to me and kissed me.

She pulled away a few seconds later and nodded to herself. "That should suffice, should it not?"

For some reason, I wanted to tease her for a little bit and said, "Hmm~? It's not that clear to me. Do you mind elaborating using words?"

Her face became flushed and she squinted her eyes at me. However, she did deliberate for a moment and nodded to herself again. With the utmost serious expression on her face she said, "You've shown me the world, in turn you slowly squirmed your way into my heart and soul. You're the only mate I can see being with—let me stay with you forever."

[Holy shit! Did she just propose to you!?]

{…I didn't expect that.}

Cúntóir: Answer: Both of you, be quiet.

Ddraig was right though, I believe Irene just proposed to me, and I honestly didn't expect it. Although it wasn't strange since she used the word 'mate' and not, I guess, boyfriend, husband, or fiancé. She's been using the term 'mate' from the beginning. I wonder how Ophis would phrase it? Since we were dating too.

"…A-aren't you going to say anything?" she asked still with a flushed face.

"My bad, I wasn't expecting that at all, but yeah, I accept. Let's—" Irene pushed me down and straddled me, even more to my shock.

"If that's the case…I'd like to mate right now," she demanded. She began to take her hat and top off, but the door to my room slammed open again.

"Aaron, I'm here to get fuc—eeeeeeeeeeeh!? Irene-san?! W-w-what's going on!? It's my night, not yours!" Kanami screamed.

We stopped and she looked back at the horrified and flustered Kanami. She smirked and fixed her clothes before getting off me. "Yes, you did scream that out earlier in the day. My apologies, Kanami Minagawa. I will have my time at a different date, Aaron. I'll be waiting," she said and left the room.

Kanami looked at me and started poking her index fingers together rather shyly. She then started to look at me and then into the hallway, subtly (kind of) telling me to go with her. I laughed and agreed. Clicking my fingers and tidying the room up, we left together.

"Y-you're serious?" she asked a bit unsure.

"You're asking about this now? Kanami, I agreed with your earlier demand," I replied. She didn't say anything else and we arrived in her room. Kanami had tried to share rooms with Natsume, but her younger sister declined.

Well…no, they temporarily shared rooms, but after we got into a relationship, she wanted to have her own one, for privacy reasons, and Kanami understood what she meant by that. I hadn't been into Kanami's room since those two separated into different rooms, so I was kind of curious on how it looked.

Entering the 'new' room, I was surprised to see that it was…normal. Most of the things that Natsume had here were gone, and were replaced with the things Kanami liked. A variety of posters, statues, and plants were scattered around the room. What I saw the most were manga volumes and light novel volumes and a few Blu-rays and DVDs. One thing that she ordered was a pretty large flat screen TV here.

"W-welcome to my humble abode!" she suddenly said and gestured for me to her bed. It also had a few stuffed animals on it. Kanami wasn't the type I would expect to have stuffed animals, but it was quite cute.

Clicking my fingers, the lights in her room turned off. It finally dawned on Kanami that we were going to do it and her face turned redder.

— ○ ● ○ —

Lemon Start

— ○ ● ○ —

After getting everything in order, we ended up on her bed, both naked and in the missionary position. To my surprise, and even with all the teasing, Kanami was quite vanilla, just like I used to be a year ago.

She held both her hands in front of her chest, blushing. "Y-you're staring too much…" she softly squeaked. Kanami was fidgeting and rubbing her thighs together as I was above her. As she stared at me with expectancy, I traced my finger across her slit.

"Hyah! Wha—hnnh, wh-what was that…nh…kh…fuaah…" she moaned, eyes wide open at the sudden stimuli.

It was warm. I could feel steam against the tip of my finger. "…You're quite wet already. Were you looking forward to this all day? …Be honest with me, Kanami," I asked.

With tears threatening to spill from her eyes and her face flushed out of embarrassment, she quietly and cutely nodded. "…Idiot…" she mumbled

"Sorry…"

"…It felt good," she said. "…B-because we were kissing as we got undressed, and you rubbed my chest…it felt good, s-so I got wet…" she looked at her chest and looked troubled. "My chest…isn't big as Natsu's but…they did grow bigger…"

The thought did cross my mind, but I didn't think it bothered Kanami that much. Natsume did have bigger breasts than her before they entered my [Pocket Dimension], but most women do feel a bit insecure about that towards their partners…

Leaning down, I captured her lips and also knead her left breast with my left hand. Kanami was surprised by this, but kissed me back with the same intensity. This seemed to calm her down a bit, as she continued to go after my tongue after I poked and prodded hers with my own.

We eventually parted and Kanami seemed disappointed about that. However, I continued to gently grope her breast which prompted a few soft moans from her.

"Hyah?!" When I pinched her nipple she yelped in surprise, but didn't stop me. "…Are you only going to tease me…?" she asked while looking at my obvious erection. "I'm already…wet enough…I-I spoke to everyone about this before, s-so…"

She was giving the go-ahead to do it. Without another second of a doubt, I positioned myself by her legs and placed my member against her slit.

"Nh…fhh…nnhh…" Kanami flinched as she felt my member against her. Even with her unease, she nodded again, giving me permission. "Aah…fh…nnh…gh…!"

I felt my member be enveloped in soft but warm flesh. "Are you okay?" I asked as the vast majority of virgins are tight.

"…Nnh…it just feels a little strange," replied Kanami as she had wrapped her arms around my neck.

"…I'll move further in then." I press on further, deeper into her narrow corridor that's never been intruded upon before.

"Fhh…kh…nh…hafh…" Once I'm about halfway, surrounded by Kanami's softness, I reached her barrier—her hymen. "…I-is something wrong…? Why did you stop?" she asked, confused by my sudden stop.

"Your hymen…" I mumbled and she giggled at me.

Kanami leaned up and pecked me on the lips. "If it's pain from you, then I can take any amount of it…so take my first time, okay?"

I nodded. "Okay, bear with it just for a little bit," I replied and kissed her. Kanami kissed me back and as she did, I put more force into my hips and pushed the head of my member into the walls that attempted to block my intrusion.

"A-Aaaahh…! Khh, haah…ah…aaahh!! Aaah…nnh…aagh…! Hih…hgh…! Ffh…nghh…!?"

I felt something tear open as Kanami let out pained moans. And then—

"Ow!? Aaaaaaaah!? Aah, ah, khah…nnnnnghhhhh!!" Tears welled up in her eyes from the pain, and she wrapped her legs around me as if clinging onto me. She took short, rapid breaths, over and over, trying to pull more air in.

That was one of the more extreme reactions I had to taking their virginities. I almost instinctively tried to pull out. But she stopped me with her legs.

"Haaah…aaah, fhh…kafhhh…hafht…don't…pull out…please…" she begged. Her arms and legs that were around me trembled. "I've been waiting for this for so long…"

I felt a surge of affection for her as I watched her bear the pain. I reached out and stroked her hair. "I could remove it if you wanted, but…"

Kanami shook her head. Yeah, I guessed as much—I doubt the others would want that either. To some, this is like a monumental moment for them, others not so much. It looks like Kanami was the former.

I brought my hand up to her forehead and wiped away the sweat that stuck to her bangs on her face. Kanami kept on taking short and rapid breaths trying to ease the pain she felt, and it eventually worked as she seemed to relax.

"Um…fh, nnnh…y-you can start moving…nnh…you want to, don't you…?" she said while looking me in the eyes.

It was still clear that she felt a bit uncomfortable. However, she went as far as to say that since it might have been pretty obvious on my face. "…I'll move then. If it hurts, I don't care if you dig your nails into my back, so hold on tight."

"Mhm…I won't let go," she replied and held onto me tighter. I checked to make sure she was and carefully begin to move my hips. Her inner walls clenched even tighter, as if they were bracing against the pain.

Her insides tightened with her breathing. I measured out the timing and moved my hips a little at a time. I leaned back down and kissed her as I moved my hips. My movements naturally became faster and she didn't seem that bothered anymore, or she just didn't show it.

I swung my hips faster and embraced Kanami and gorged myself on her lovely, drool-dripping lips.

"Mmchu…chuuph…nnhafht, hahyh, amh, mlhemlh, mlh…I…love chuu…Aawon…" she mumbled in between kisses.

My waist goes comfortably numb as I continued to swing my hips, but strangely enough, I felt my release coming soon.

"Kanami…! I—" As I began to warn her, she tightened her hold on me, silently urging me to finish inside her. Accepting her resolve, I thrust into Kanami's insides aiming for my own climax.

Kanami kissed me again, and forced her tongue inside me, lapping, licking and entangling our tongues together. "Leh ouh all of your lovh…all of ih, inshide me…chlh…chummh…!"

As I continued to swing my hips, Kanami told me to let it out inside her and I did that. "I'm…cumming…!" with one final thrust, I released my seed in her.

"Nnnnnnnhhhhhh!? Fuah, aaah, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!" she screamed, digging her nails into my back. Kanami's insides also tightened up, as she reached her own climax. Kanami accepted all of my semen. Her body shook as I pressed mine against hers.

"Haaah, ffh…nnh…semen…inside me…so…hot…" she mumbled. "Can…we stay like this for a little bit…?" she asked tiredly.

"…Yeah."

— ○ ● ○ —

Lemon End

— ○ ● ○ —

"Ehehehe~" Kanami snuggled up to me as we lay on her bed after doing the deed once. "I finally graduated and can brag to Natsu!"

"…Is that the reason why you asked me to do it today?" I asked. A look of panic flashed across her face and she shook her head.

"Huh?! N-no! I wanted to do it with my fiancé! B-being able to tease Natsu is just a plus!" she said, correcting herself as I laughed at her. "Ah! You were teasing me! That's mean! My heart nearly stopped!"

She lightly hit my chest, but suddenly stopped. "I heard you can go for multiple rounds, are you still—?" she pulled away and looked southward and smirked. "Iyaaa~ little Toole is still raring to go, huh?"

"Well, I won't deny that I do, once doesn't usually satisfy me…" I told her my honest thoughts and she wrapped her leg around my member and squeezed it tight.

With a mischievous smile on her face she said, "Well, I better keep you company for a few hours then~"

For a few hours that night (with a barrier around us), Kanami and I did it a total of six times before she passed out.

— ○ ● ○ —

Two days had passed since then and in a day's time, I along with my own group would make our way to China and confront the [Tiles of Dog City]. But for now…

"Hehehe~"

"Khhh….!"

I was out on a 'shopping date' with the Minagawa sisters and they've been at each other's throats since two days ago. The morning after Kanami and I did it, she bragged about it to Natsume so much that the two of them got into a fight. Naturally I tried to intervene, but it was useless and I let them go at it.

Bringing both my hands up, I lightly chopped their heads with them. "Come on, behave. You're both grown women. Ah, Kanami can you go get that, and Natsume, some of those lettuce," I ordered them.

Surprisingly enough, they were amicable enough to do that. Grayfia was the one to ask me to do this. She told me it was a way for both sisters to make up, although I haven't seen any of that happening yet.

"Hmm? Oh, yo, Jin!"

Hearing a familiar voice behind me, I turned to it. I found my two friends Higuro and Kikijo, with their girlfriends and…Aika Kiryuu, surprisingly enough.

"Hey, hey, Jin-senpai~ I came across these four while shopping and then we found you…alone?" explained Aika. However, seconds later Kanami and Natsume came back and put the ingredients in our shopping cart.

"Hmm-hmm, Natsume-san and Kanami-san, huh? We met because of Reni-san! Anyway, are you on a shopping date? …I'm the only one single here," Aika Kiryuu said and slumped her shoulders. She then came over to me and started to rub her shoulder against mine. "Jin-senpai~ is there still space left in your harem~?"

As I went to answer her, Natsume and Kanami picked up Aika to her surprise and plopped her down in front of them. They began to lecture her…about something which I decided to ignore. I turned my attention to my friends instead.

"Yo. Out on a date too?" I asked.

"We've been thinking about moving in with our respective boyfriends, Jin. So tonight, we plan on spending the night in each other's home. Well, we plan on spending the night in each of their homes," explained Yua. "Higuro's parents are really excited about it, and I heard you plan on…you know…"

"Haha, yeah, it's still in the works though. We're planning on moving it nearer to my shop and expanding it," I replied. Higuro's parents own a bakery and I already told them about my restaurant and maybe doing business with each other.

Turning my attention to my two friends, I smirked. "So, finally moving onto the next stage, huh? Am I going to be a godparent soon?"

All four of them blushed and both Higuro and Kikijo grabbed my shoulder and brought me away.

"Dude!! What the hell?!" asked Higuro.

"I mean, I hope so, but I don't want kids until I graduate!!" added Kikijo. They both started taking turns while telling me about their plans, and that they had saved up enough money to rent an apartment and go from there.

"Your parents are happy about this, right, Higuro? What about yours, Kikijo?" I asked.

Higuro's parents made it apparent that they wanted their son to be happy in life, with a girlfriend and then a wife if possible. As for Kikijo, I hadn't heard much from them, but they most likely shared the same sentiment for him.

"They're fine, hell they want me out of their house soon, I'm fine with it. Ah, I mean, they want that cause they wanna travel more and stuff, not cause they don't like me, my parents are great," he told us.

They then squinted their eyes at me.

"You already own like three houses? The one in Kuoh, the Dimensional Gap and that place you teleported us to. Man, it's like your life is set," said Kikijo. "But I wanna see the world you operate in with your business, so I'm taking those damn pills to live longer. Sakura also agrees, so you'll be seeing us in the foreseeable future!"

Higuro nodded along. "Yeah, Yua also agrees. I wanna see a world with both humans and supernatural getting along—I wonder how it would be like? How would people and world governments change? The supernatural side will surely be in control, right?"

I shrugged. "We're not too sure on the details yet, but hopefully it would be equal on both sides, but reality is that we'll have more firepower than humans, so it will always be unbalanced," I replied.

Our powers, magic and other inventions, the humans won't be able to match it, even if they go out in space in our universe, there isn't much for them to use. Even when I look into the future, they only fuse technology with magic to make things more convenient, and some use magic for wars, but it's relatively peaceful too because of [DxD] and [EXE] working together to shut down those organizations.

Higuro patted me on the back. "Well, we'll leave it to you. Could you make virtual reality a thing, please? I wanna experience that!"

Kikijo also patted my back. "Right, right, great God-king-sama, please make it happen!"

I sighed and smacked them both on the head. "I already had plans for that, ya filthy gamers." Both of them cheered before going back to their dates who had been curiously looking at us.

At the same time, Natsume, Kanami and Aika came back to us. Aika looked exhausted and bowed to me for some reason.

"I'll be your onahole instead," she said and I gave Natsume and Kanami a confused look.

"That's not what we meant!!" both sisters screamed.

We spent a bit more time in the shopping district with Aika following us behind, and thanks to Aika, the two sisters made up…because they teamed up in shutting her down. What a troublesome girl…

— ○ ● ○ —

The day to go to the remote village in China came. The ones going with me were…

"Mom, please be careful, okay? Suzaku-onee-sama, please look after her…" said Akeno worriedly.

"I'll make sure to do that, Akeno," replied Suzaku.

"M-mother, p-please s-stay close to Aaron, okay?" said Rias.

"Ufufufu, I'll be fine, Rias. Aaron-kun will take good care of me~" replied Venelana.

As you can see—the Mother's Association are coming with me. Shuri, Venelana, Misla, Göndul, and Róisín. Suzaku's mother decided not to come since she was busy, the same with Chysis and Runeas. Along with the Mother's Association, the Slash Dog Team was coming, along with the Fated Ones, Azathoth, Cindy, Aoife, Rossweisse, the Valkyrie Squad including Brynhildr and the two dragons, Irene and Ophis.

More wanted to come, but I didn't want it to be overcrowded since the 8 Divas were also coming along with us and a few of Ningguang's other allies.

"Are we ready? This won't be a trip to China until we're done with the request, alright?" I told them.

"Yes~" the mothers replied, and the others nodded along.

"Stay safe, Aaron. We'll have some food ready when you're back," said Grayfia. I nodded my head and we finally left.

— ○ ● ○ —

"That doesn't look like a remote poor village in China…" mumbled Aoife as soon as we got there. But she was right.

From what I found, this place used to look very barren, star roofs on houses, with bamboo walls and rice fields everywhere. To put it simply, it was just a small village that did farming, but now it didn't look like that. I could feel magic all around the place that would force normal humans away from here.

The 'village' in front of us resembled more of a fantasy town with swords and magic as a premise. Many of its houses were made of wood, but they looked like they were interwoven with each other as most houses that had a second floor had wood bridges or vine bridges that connected to each other. A lot of the houses had moss on their roofs and vines on some of their walls.

That wasn't all as there were plenty of other buildings that were at least five to six stories tall. Paper lanterns hung from various homes as well. This showed us that we were still in China, apart from older humans wearing traditional Chinese attire and the younger generation wearing modern clothes.

Instead of dirt paths like those in villages like these, their paths were made of stone. The town also looked to be full of life—having a battle here would put them in danger. Behind all of this were some large mountains, or should I call them hills? They had some trees on them as well as some kind of hut at the top of one of them.

"Jin-san," a voice called out.

I turned to it with Suzaku as the rest were busy observing the 'village' we just saw. The one who called out to me was Rixia, the leader of the 8 Divas. With her was Nuwa, a goddess of the Chinese Pantheon.

"Rixia. Have you been updated on what I want to do?" I asked and she nodded. "Great, tell me what we have right now."

She nodded. "The entire perimeter of the base has been surrounded by the 8 Divas, and a few of your shadow soldiers as we came across them on our way here. Lady Keqing is here with Lady Ganyu and—"

Feeling a presence behind me, I turned around and saw a woman. This feeling was the same when I went to the Chinese Pantheon—was she the one who was staring at me in those mountains?

Her hair was parted off-center with evenly cut locks that flow just past chin-length framing her face, one side covering her right eye, the rest styled in a low, loose, thick braid fastened at the top below her shoulders with a red cord tied in a bow.

Her outfit consisted of a black backless bodysuit that faded into a dark turquoise at the legs and had intricate patterns all over it. It extends to her hands, covering her middle fingers with a gold stud on each of the knuckles.

At the back of her bodysuit is an article bearing resemblance to coattails, consisting of white fabric patterned with gray. She wore a cropped white-and-gray sleeveless qipao top over her bodysuit. Her accessories consisted of a detailed white-and-black curved headpiece and a red clover leaf knot with a tassel as an earring on her right ear.

"And this is Quan Xinyue. She lives mostly in the mountains and forests of our pantheon, but she's also close to the Sacred Beasts and Divine Spirits of our realm—you could say, she was raised by them," explained Rixia.

…She looked like Shenhe. I brought my hand up for a handshake, to my surprise, she grabbed it with both hands like Suzaku, who looked at her with interests. Next…she put my index finger into her mouth and licked it, prompting me to pull my hand away.

"…S-she can be a bit strange, but she's a good girl…" said Rixia with a strained smile. "Quan Xinyue is a competent fighter though, so you can rely on her for today, if a battle breaks out, I mean."

"R-right, good to know," I replied. Suzaku took my hand and wiped the saliva away, she then stared at it, and I told her not to do it telepathically—she looked rather disappointed.

"How will you do this, Jin-san?" asked Rixia.

"Well—"

"Guns Blazing!" said Zhang Mei, who had clung onto me from behind and propped her head on my shoulder.

Again, I tried to speak, but we were interrupted by an explosion and a large magic circle appearing in the sky.

[Middleman!! And Bitchxia (Rixia), we, the Udder faction of the [Tiles of Dog City], won't go down without a fight, our group will go to you nooooooow!! Awooooooooo!] said a man and the magic circle immediately vanished.

Tilting her head, mom asked, "Why did he howl?"

"Is he stupid?" asked Shuri.

"People that fight a lot tend to have their heads hit, in turn that would cause brain injury and brain damage, so you're not completely off, Shuri," said Venelana. Göndul nodded along with what the older devil said.

"Why did they call themselves 'Udder'?" asked Aoife. "I don't see or sense too many cows here."

"…There." Meruem and Ajamu pointed towards a single cow near one of the homes.

"Point taken! So, what do we do, Aaron?" Aoife peered at my face while blinking innocently—it didn't seem like she liked what Quan Xinyue did to me.

I put a finger up. "First, who wants to fight? Knowing the 'Udder' faction, they may not agree to just talking, so a few of us may need to fight. For now, don't kill them, just capture them." My eyes glowed briefly and I said, "There are six of them in total. Their leaders' powers are comparable to a high-class devil."

"Me! I'm curious why they called themselves the Udder Faction!" both Aoife and Zhang Mei shouted and put their hands up. Both girls looked at each other and high fived each other with both their hands.

"You two can go fight the leader then. Rixia, can I leave the 8 Divas and you to keep an eye on the perimeter along with my shadow soldiers?" I asked.

"Yes, we can do that," she replied. "I can inform Lady Keqing and Ganyu about this. They have already made their way to the 'hut' on that mountain."

I nodded. "We'll join them shortly. Valkyrie Squad with Göndul and Rossweisse. Can I leave the other six of the 'Udder' faction to you?"

"Very well. We'll take care of them, Göndul-sama, may I give you the position of leader for this mission?" asked Brynhildr.

"Fufu, that's quite a thing to bestow upon me, but I don't mind. I'll have you, Rose and the others accompany me," replied Göndul.

"Slash Dog Team, I'll leave the villagers protection to you, any stray attacks, please block or redirect them to a different area. The rest can come with me. Any questions?" I asked. No one had any. "Let's start this mission!"

— ○ ● ○ —

Once our groups separated, I picked up Shuri to her surprise. "Let's make our way to their main base in the mountains and meet up with Ganyu and Keqing. As I said, we'll leave the Slash Dog Team to defend the village."

Everyone nodded and mom wrapped her arms around my neck. Focusing on Ganyu's and Keqing's auras, I jumped from the area we were in and began running down the hill, everyone else followed after me with mom pouting slightly. Shuri should be the weakest here, while the rest are relatively stronger, even Misla.

I heard from Sairaorg that she began training after she declared me her other 'son'. So I expect Misla to be able to create shockwaves with her fists soon, unless she can already do that. We passed by the village as many of them looked panicked at the sudden shift in mood around the place.

Most of them ran back to their homes or nearby shops to take cover. Thankfully the Udder faction didn't try to destroy the village. We made our way through it and once we were near the taller buildings, he jumped past the wooden gate that ran around the village, and towards the large mountains in the distance.

Looking back everyone was doing alright, so once we got to the mountainous region, I jumped up and towards the rocks and kept going, the rest either did the same thing or flew up. Halfway up, we saw Ganyu and Keqing, so I used telekinesis to bring them up with me.

They were initially shocked and panicked a bit, but calmed down once they saw me. Upon reaching the top, I set them down, the same with Shuri. Everyone else also joined us by the hut. Looking at it, it resembled a normal hut, but I could see some mechanics that beneath it that resembled an elevator.

This mountain range and below was their real base as it went deep underground too, but I don't expect any real resistance.

"What—" Keqing began to ask, when I pointed at her and Ganyu and sent the relevant information to them. "…I see. Alright, we'll join you. We wondered about the sudden explosion, but we'll leave it to Rixia and the others," said Keqing.

Looking around us, I saw no surveillance for some reason, but I didn't question it. If what I thought was right, then we may be able to negotiate with them. Stepping into the hut, the floor under me felt metallic and had light that indicated it may be something else.

"I'll go down first, everyone else can follow after me—" Is what I wanted to say, but Lavinia and mom jumped towards me as it began to go down after I pulled a certain lever that wasn't that hidden.

"This is pretty fast, huh?" Mom said while looking around us. The elevator was just the platform underneath us, no walls or anything else, so if you took a few steps forward, you would be free falling to the ground.

"It's quite spacious though, it reminds me of the place where we rescued Shigune and Koga," said Lavinia.

"Ah, that was when you—" Mom was about to talk about the books when we reached the ground. For how big it was…no one was here. However, beyond the doors in the distance, I could feel a lot of auras and life energy coming from it. They were waiting for us over there.

We stepped off the elevator and it stayed there for a few seconds before going back up. I contacted everyone on the surface and told them it was going back up, and that we'd go ahead. The closer we got to the door—the more of our comrades arrived. A few ran up to join us and when we arrived at the door, I touched it and it slid open.

In front of us was a woman with long white hair that was tied in a ponytail, and purple eyes with red pupils. She wore a slick black business suit, black gloves and a red tie.

"Welcome, Middleman to our base. I'm the leader, Silphia. You may know our group as [Dogs of Tile City] or [Tiles of Dog City]. We don't mind which one you call us," she said. She gestured behind her and added, "Shall we talk?"

There were around fifty other members behind her, and four others that looked like they were close to her on a personal level. A red-haired woman with glowing yellow eyes kept staring at me with a smirk—almost silently asking me to fight her.

"We'll accept this, Sil," said Keqing.

"Fufu, it's been a while, Keqing," replied Silphia.

It seemed that they had some kind of history. With Keqing and Ganyu taking the lead, we followed them past the doors with many eyes staring at us as we did. The underground base was illuminated with magic with small balls of light everywhere, and there were many wooden boxes around, with a with other doorways that led to different rooms.

Apart from that, it was mostly barren. It made me believe that they mostly operated above ground and only used this place for emergencies and probably meetings they wish to keep secret. It didn't take us long to arrive at a room and we all entered it—there were many chairs around and we all picked one and sat on them.

I glanced at Keqing and she started. "Even though we requested the Middleman to do this job, he asked to change the request. I'll be blunt, Sil. Will you be willing to 'change' sides and work with us and the [Boundless Dragon's United Front]?" she asked.

Silphia seemed surprised by this, but a smile appeared on her lips. "I was hoping for something like this to happen. Shall we talk about details then?"

— ○ ● ○ —

Third Person Point of View

— ○ ● ○ —

[Fusae, where's everyone's location right now?] Kanami asked through their transceiver.

Fusae Hirawa used her magic to create a 3D holographic map of the entire village and kept track of everyone's movement and location. She was with Shigune and the three MuskaPohs. There were a few members of the Udder faction that ran to them and tried to attack them. However, it was painfully obvious that they had the bare minimum experience in combat.

So Shigune ordered Poh, Pooh and Pon to tackle or headbutt them light in the stomach which knocked them out.

[A few weak members are converging directly on us, and a few more are on their way. Most citizens have run into a building, so they shouldn't be affected. The Valkyrie Squad have engaged in combat, the same with Aoife and Zhang Mei-san,] explained Fusae.

All around the village, but not beyond the perimeter, Kanami had activated her Balance Breaker and used her [First Commandment]. She had used it to subdue quite a lot of the 'rebels' and forced them to sleep. The rest were outside of her barrier and left it to the 8 Divas and the Valkyrie Squad to defeat.

In the distance, Ajamu worked with Mittelt and Meruem. The son of Aaron did not move much as a single glare from him made the humans that tried to fight him pass out. Mittelt also only needed to do the bare minimum as Ajamu used his wood and planet manipulation to ensnare their opponents.

"…Mittelt, can you make fried rice?" Meruem suddenly asked his lover.

Mittelt stared at him for a few seconds then nodded. "I've made a few variants of it over the years, Meruem. Would you like me to make some for you?" she asked as she noticed Meruem staring at some small rice fields in the distance.

Meruem nodded and glared at another man running towards them. "…Mittelt."

"Yes?"

"Should we move in together? I could…ask father to buy us a home, if he accepts," he said, stunning both Mittelt and Ajamu who heard it. "I…don't have enough saved up yet…maybe we should wait a bit longer…"

Mittelt was confused by the situation as her face went completely red. Ajamu didn't want to get involved so he continued with his job while silently watching the two.

"C-c-can we look at h-homes together after this mission!?" she asked and Meruem nodded. With renewed energy Mittelt flew around at great speeds, capturing the rebelling faction.

'…That ended well, I-I guess?' thought Ajamu, unsure of how to react to the situation.

— ○ ● ○ —

"Hiaaaaaaaaaa!!!" a muscular man screamed and did a flying kick towards the valkyrie Schwertleite. The woman in question easily dodged the strange attack.

"Impressive! You managed to dodge my [Death God Killer Kick]!" he said proudly. Again, the valkyrie simply squinted her eyes at her enemy as she was mostly confused. "I am the [Fang Killer], Lei Jung! But you can call me Jon Bovi," he said with a wink.

Lei Jung—or Jon Bovi was a muscular man with a very long black beard and a bald head. He had bright blue eyes and wore a martial artist gi.

"…????" Schwertleite didn't know how to respond, so she continued to quietly stare at the man. 'Lei Jung? Jon Bovi? How do those two names even connect?'

The other Valkyrie with her, Helmwige put a hand in front of Schwertleite, and said, "Hold up! Let him cook!"

"I am not cooking!" responded Lei Jung while changing into a martial arts stance! (?).

"T-that's not what I meant! Never mind, you're a country bumpkin, they wouldn't get it, right?" asked Helmwige.

"Neither do I," replied Schwertleite

[Aaron!!! They don't know about memes!!!] Helmwige screamed into her transceiver.

[…Divine Punishment,] replied Aaron, before both valkyries head a slap from his end and the line going dead.

Schwertleite reached over to Helmwige and pinched her cheek. "Take this seriously," she told her friend.

"Yeeeesh~" replied Helmwige. The valkyrie flew towards the man who swung his elbow down and thrust his foot forward…and then fell on his face as he tripped over himself, knocking himself out.

"…Eh?" Helmwige landed in front of him and scratched her head. "Um…do we win then? Wait, are these guys just idiots?" she asked and pointed at Lei Jung.

"…They call themselves 'Udder Faction' and he has an English name that's 'Jon Bovi', you tell me," said Schwertleite. She walked over to the two and tied up Lei Jung with anti-magic rope. "Let's go and bring them to the Slash Dog Team. Can you contact Rixia-san?"

"Right-o!" replied Helmwige and saluted her friend. [Rixia-san!]

— ○ ● ○ —

Ortlinde's spear slammed into a man's sword. Even though she was 'fighting' this man, she wasn't taking it seriously, because—

"Take this! Mega Ultra Slash of the Stars!!" he screamed…and swung his sword down normally—there was no magic, touki or…an innate ability. The man swung his sword down like a normal human would—there was no trace of power.

Ortlinde had a blank expression on her face. After she heard her friend and squad member, Helmwige report one of the members of the Udder faction, she concluded that they, as a faction, were all filled with idiots.

"Impressive! You can take on my powerful attacks like they're nothing! Very well, I'll go all out starting from now! Haaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" the man stood still and began screaming. The more he screamed, the redder his face became, and some veins began to appear around his face.

Ortlinde stood there speechless at the idiocy. However, she also humored him…and he stood there for a full minute straight just screaming with no change whatsoever.

'There are six of these guys…Helmwige and Schwertleite defeated one already, perhaps the only one who's a threat is the leader…?' she thought while staring at the man who had finally finished 'powering up'.

"Th-this…i-is…my…final…form…give me one moment…!" he gasped out. "I am the great Teng Su! The [Calamity Eater]! Rejoice as you can…fight with…me…!"

Teng Su, he had long black hair, a semi-handsome face, green eyes, and like the others of the Udder faction, wore a martial artist gi. However, he was a bit chubbier than his other members.

"…Ortlinde," replied the woman tiredly. She didn't know if she should keep playing along or if she should end the farce already. However, at the same time she knew that he had tired himself out after screaming for so long.

To her surprise, Teng Su ran towards him and screamed. "Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!! Mega Ultra Thrust!!"

With a dead look on Ortlinde's face, she sidestepped the attack, put her foot out, making the man trip on it, and he face-planted onto the ground. She then brought up her right leg up and stomped on the man's head. She used enough force to knock him out, but not enough to kill him or seriously injure him.

She dismissed her weapon and tied the man up. A sigh escaped her lips, but then her lips curled into a smile. "What an 'udder' (utter) waste of time." Satisfied with herself she walked away. "Aaron will like that pun, right?"

— ○ ● ○ —

Grimgerde faced two members of the Udder faction. Unlike the other two, these two were semi-competent as they knew magic. They launched water and fire magic at Grimgerde, but…they had no coordination, so they would accidentally hit each other's attacks.

"Bai Ai, I was aiming there!" shouted a woman.

"I was aiming there, Ye Fen!" replied Bai Ai.

Both women were of the same height, around 5'3", and they both had their hair tucked into a double bun. Bai Ai had red eyes while Ye Fen had gray eyes. However, many in the organization's members joked that they were long lost sisters as they said and did many of the same things. Both wore qipaos. Bai Ai had an emerald green one with flower patterns and Ye Fen had a crimson red one with a panda head around her chest.

"Why are you rebelling?" Grimgerde asked the two. They looked at her and tilted their heads. 'They don't know…?'

"Boss Lei Wen said that it was for the greater good, so I went along with it," replied Bai Ai.

"If Bai Ai does something, I usually just follow," added Ye Fen.

Grimgerde face palmed after hearing both their explanations. Both of them were bona fide idiots. Typically they're harmless as they tend to harm themselves more often than not. However, today they were…slightly more dangerous because if they lost control of their attacks, they would accidentally damage buildings or worse—people.

Grimgerde sighed and brought out her golden staff and pointed it at them. "You two need to think for yourselves. In order for that to happen, some punishment is in order."

"Punishment!" shouted Ye Fen.

"She said punishment! Let's go!" shouted Bai Ai. Both girls ran towards Grimgerde and started recklessly firing their flames and water innate abilities.

Grimgerde's staff briefly glowed before she slammed her staff into each attack that the two girls sent to her, destroying them. With the attacks that ran wild, she used her Norse-style magic to destroy them from a distance. Firstly, she would shoot a raw bullet of magic, then entrap the explosion in a small barrier, minimizing the damage.

"You're wide open!" shouted Bai Ai.

"Our first victory!" added Ye Fen.

Grimgerde sighed at their flippant attitudes and in one strike, smacked both of them on their heads ten times over.

"Ow!!" both girls screamed and clutched their heads.

Both squatted down and kept clutching their heads out of pain. Grimgerde loomed over them and said, "…Time for a bit of punishment, yes?"

Both girls looked up at the woman in horror as tears threatened to spill from their eyes. An evil smile spread across Grimgerde's face as the wails of horror came from the two girls.

"Iyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!"

"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!"

The winner of the quick fight (?) was Grimgerde. Both Bai Ai and Ye Fen regretted their actions afterward and behaved like good girls…

— ○ ● ○ —

"Granny, why did ya come on this mission?" Rossweisse asked her grandmother who floated beside her.

Göndul tilted her head and smiled. "What do you mean, Rose? I wanted to keep an eye on my granddaughter and see my future hus—son-in-law. Is there anything wrong with that?"

'...…You were definitely going to say husband!! I'm not dense, granny!!!' Rossweisse screamed in her mind. With a forced smile on her face, Rossweisse said, "I-I see, then let's defeat this person quickly and rejoin Aaron…"

The two casually chatted as they avoided every attack that was thrown at them. The man they were facing had announced that he was their faction's deputy leader and was 'strong'. However, reality dawned on him as none of his attacks were hitting the two women in front of him.

This man's name was Qiao Zhen. He was a human born into a family that focused on martial arts and magic, mixing both together to grow themselves into strong humans that could fight against the supernatural races.

For the most part, their family was successful at that, and Qiao Zhen was a prodigy in his own right, as he managed to use touki at the age of ten after training relentlessly for hours on end. He also studied magic extensively, so that he wouldn't fall behind talented magicians of his age.

Today, at the age of twenty-four, he could be classified as…a middle-class devil in terms of power. Now normally that wouldn't be anything to scoff at. However, in front of the people he faced today, he was nothing more than an ant in their eyes—although neither Göndul nor Rossweisse would call him that.

With enhancement magic empowering him and touki covering his body, Qiao Zhen dashed towards Rossweisse. He thrust his right arm towards the woman, acting like it was a spear. With minimal movement, the valkyrie dodged the attack. She looked at him briefly before her palm struck him in the face, blowing him away.

Göndul pointed her finger at Qiao Zhen and he felt his body suddenly become heavier. He looked around himself, but didn't notice anything different. 'Gravity magic?' he thought and began to slowly move back towards the two valkyries.

"He's very determined," Göndul said while staring at the young man.

"Whatever the reason for their rebellion, he must believe in it," said Rossweisse.

"I…! I don't care about the reasons for rebellion! Lei Wen is wrong, but since I owe him one, I had to participate," explained Qiao Zhen.

"Owe him one…? What do you mean?" asked Rossweisse.

"Because he saved my life. Even if I know he's stupid and wrong in this, I can't ignore that, so I'll just have to keep fighting," replied Qiao Zhen.

During his training Qiao Zhen embarked on a journey through China. He met many people and experienced many things on that journey. Even though he was strong, he still met even stronger people on his journey.

One of them was Lei Wen. Although they met in an unconventional way. It was when Qiao Zhen was training on a mountain side—he wanted to push himself past his limit, but became a bit too careless, and fell from a cliff. As his life flashed before his eyes, a hand grabbed his wrist, saving him.

That's how they met—after that day, Qiao Zhen owed a huge debt to Lei Wen. However, Lei Wen hadn't asked anything back from Qiao Zhen, but said he would eventually ask for his debt to be paid. He didn't expect to see Lei Wen ever again, but surprisingly enough they met again after a few years when they joined the [Tiles of Dog City] and became friends and close comrades through that.

Qiao Zhen brought his arm back and threw a straight punch at Rossweisse, who easily caught it. The female valkyrie shook her head and sighed before punching Qiao Zhen, knocking him out. The man fell on the ground, completely out cold. Göndul made the young man float and they began walking away with him in tow.

"Would you do the same thing if someone saved your life, Rose?" Göndul asked. Rossweisse looked up at the sky and thought about her grandmother's question.

'Would I? Perhaps it may depend on the debt I owe, but…if they saved my life, I may also do the same thing to a certain degree. This 'rebellion' wasn't that violent and they made sure the citizens here weren't harmed,' thought the young valkyrie.

"…Maybe," she mumbled and glanced at the unconscious young man. However, she heard her grandmother giggle, confusing her.

"Wouldn't you say Aaron saved you? For years you were single, and then he came and now you're…" Göndul stopped and stared at her granddaughter. "…You're engaged, right?"

Rossweisse's face turned red as she shook her head. She was dating Aaron. Yes, she slept with him, yes, but engaged? No, she was not.

"…Hmm-hmm. So that young man makes my granddaughter fall in love with him, and even sleeps with her, but isn't engaged to her yet? …I'll have some words with him—perhaps it's my slightly old ways, but I want to speak to him about it~" Göndul said slightly upset.

"G-g-g-granny, w-w-wait!!" shouted Rossweisse as Göndul angrily stomped off.

Rossweisse was worried for her boyfriend, but also confused on why her grandmother reacted like that. So she ran after her while trying to calm her down.

— ○ ● ○ —

"Ho! To! Ho!"

"Ya~ Ha~ Wa~"

Lei Wen was frustrated—no, he was furious. He had come across two ladies who had challenged him together and he accepted. He couldn't feel any power from them, so he assumed that he was much stronger than them or they simply didn't have any magic or touki to begin with.

Aoife and Zhang Mei had been avoiding his attacks as if they were dancing or playing around. They jumped around playfully and would occasionally high five each other, further annoying him.

"Take this seriously!!" Lei Wen screamed. He summoned ten magic circles and unleashed various elemental attacks. Both girls brought out their weapons and slapped or sliced them apart. 'How can they do that so casually!? I don't feel any power from them!!'

"Hmm? Why?" asked Aoife. She had jumped towards Zhang Mei and the two high fived again. Strangely enough, these two became quick friends even though they only had a few things in common.

"We're fighting for our lives! You obviously have to take it seriously!!" screamed Lei Wen.

Aoife put a finger on her cheek and thought about what he had said. After a few seconds she shook her head. "Do we have to? I mean, the rest of your members have been captured, so I see no reason to fight you."

Lei Wen became shocked. 'Captured!? Already!? They were powerful fighters! How!?'

This man overestimated his companions' abilities. On the day he wanted to see their powers, it was as if the God of Luck shone down upon them all as he was shown his five other companions' highest output of power without incident. Normally, a lot of disasters would happen, but on that day, only good things happened and he made his decision almost immediately afterward.

He laughed and a powerful aura coated his body. "I'll just defeat both of you here and rescue them!" Just like Qiao Zhen, Lei Wen preferred hand-to-hand combat, so he mainly used enhancement magic and touki. But he wasn't against using range attacks with both either.

While charging towards both, he fired touki bullets from both his palms and created numerous magic circles behind him and released them at the two women. His touki bullets were slapped away by both women, but he quickly arrived in front of them.

He thrust his hand towards Zhang Mei. As he did, he used duplication magic on just his hand to create even more of them and around fifteen hands were now thrusting towards the woman. Zhang Mei looked at this amused and in one fluid motion, sliced apart all the hands—Lei Wen pulled his real one back just on time and avoided it being sliced apart.

However, he wasn't fast enough because he received a few cuts on his fingers and he jumped away as his magic attacks hit the women! …Or so he thought. When the smoke dissipated, he saw a defensive magic circle had been created to stop his attack from hitting them.

'That's usually a surefire way to defeat my opponents! Or I would usually injure them a lot! These guys are powerful. Are they using a technique to hide their powers?' he thought.

"Hey, can I ask you a question?" Zhang Mei looked at Lei Wen and the man reluctantly agreed. "Why are you rebelling? With what Aar—Jin told us, your group aren't really 'bad guys', are still 'bad guys', if you get what I mean."

"The Robinhood of China!" said Aoife and Zhang Mei nodded along.

Lei Wen smirked and laughed…and he kept on laughing for a few seconds. Once he was done, he pointed at them. "We may be the 'Robinhood of China', but we get nothing out of it! What we're doing is charity work with zero appreciation! Some even demand more from us when we can't give it to them—and if we can't, they'll turn their backs on us!"

He was frustrated because of this. One side benefited while theirs struggled to have ends meet. Even if they're doing good—at the very least, he wanted some recognition and thanks out of it, yet the groups they helped only wanted more and more things while never being grateful—this really annoyed Lei Wen.

Aoife frowned at this and said, "If you want to do good and out of the goodness of your heart, you don't expect anything back from anyone. A thanks, or anything else is just a bonus. I volunteered and did a lot of things that people will see as 'good', but I just wanted to help them, regardless of whether they give me thanks or not. I may not know the specifics of your organization, but that's my opinion about it."

Le Wen scoffed. "Your boyfriend—the Middleman, he receives payment for the things he does, doesn't he? Yet we do the same thing and get nothing. He's hailed as a Hero for many while we're villains? What kind of shitty logic is that?"

"You're forgetting that Jin did this at the start to get a harem, while I think it's still his goal, I think it's change too," added Zhang Mei and Aoife agreed.

"Yes. His goals have changed, he doesn't even get paid that much to begin with because of various reasons (he can just make money out of nothing…), but people only see him as a Hero because of the things he's done. What has your group done that's 'hero worthy'?" asked Aoife.

"We—!" Lei Wen stopped and thought about it. As he did, the only thing he could think of was when the 'war' was at its peak and they tried to prevent as many deaths as possible. The pink lasers that Lapis unleashed upon the world killed many of them, this included Lei Wen.

Zhang Mei squinted her eyes and said, "The fact that you can't think of anything is telling. You mostly steal from the poor and give to the rich, right? You may not like the rich, but most of them were innocent to some degree. Furthermore, you only hated them because they were rich—some of them may have gotten rich through hard work, you know? Or being lucky in the lottery, but you still stole from them. How can you justify that?"

The man in front of them fell silent, but his own anger kept on rising. "What do you know!? You've lived a privileged life!! You have no idea how the weak and poor go through!!" he roared and appeared in front of Zhang Mei and sent a full-powered punch at her.

Zhang Mei also frowned and gritted her teeth. Her eyes shone, and her body was enveloped in a powerful aura. She swung her sword once, but she had slashed at Lei Wen multiple times in that single strike.

"You also don't know my past! I'm not privileged, you asshole!!" Zhang Mei screamed back. Lei Wen's arms were cut up into tiny pieces and blood gushed everywhere.

"Aaaaaaaaaaghhhh!!!!" he screamed and fell to the ground. Zhang Mei stood over him and was about to deal a striking blow when Aoife stopped her. Zhang Mei looked up and back at Aoife as she shook her head.

"…Sorry," mumbled Zhang Mei.

She put away her sword and calmed down before walking away. Aoife rushed over to the still-screaming Lei Wen and used a sleeping spell on him to knock him out. After that, she stopped the bleeding and forced a smile pill down his throat. While it didn't regenerate his arms, it still stopped the bleeding.

'I'll ask Aaron to give him his arms back, or at least some prosthetics?' thought Aoife. She then lifted the man up using magic and glanced back at Zhang Mei—the woman's mood had dropped because of her interaction with Lei Win.

"Mei, let's go," Aoife said, and the two walked back to Rixia and the other. [Rixia, we have the leader, we're coming back. Kanami, can you wrap up over there too?]

[Roger!!] responded Kanami.

[I see, good work. The others are with us too. Once we're done, let's go join Jin-san,] replied Rixia.

— ○ ● ○ —

Aaron Tool's Soliloquy

— ○ ● ○ —

…What is happening? As I sat there, sipping some tea, the previously calm atmosphere was now gone. What was left of it was—

"I told you it's thiiiiiiiis!!" screamed Keqing as she slammed her fists down onto the table repeatedly.

"Keqing, you're as stubborn as the day I last saw you!! Even your allies agree with me. Will you just listen!?" Silphia screamed back while violently ruffling her hair.

It had turned into a screaming match between Keqing and Silphia. These two briefly met after Silphia joined this organization, and when Keqing was traveling China to broaden her horizons. From the moment they met, they didn't get along that well. They could be amicable with each other when the time came, but with anything else…no.

"So, is it like this every time they meet?" I asked a woman near me.

She nodded and said, "Yes. Although if it's very serious they can stop themselves from going into…well that." She pointed at the two still screaming—no, they've grabbed each other's hair and began to pull.

The woman I spoke to was called Feng Yazhu. She was level-headed and calm about their entire situation, and even during this.

She had low gray hair tied in a ponytail with a yellow bow and yellow eyes. She wore a brown shirt with a golden necklace and blue gem around her neck. She also wore a short black pencil skirt, black tights and a pair of black pump heels. She had a white jacket hanging from her shoulders and a wrist watch on her left wrist.

"Want some?" she asked and offered me some of her chocolate bar. Seeing how she was the one offering it, I leaned over and took a bite of it. As I did, I saw a few people stare at me for some reason.

They're being way too weird. Feng Yazhu offered and I took a bit of it. Talk about making a big deal out of nothing…

"Lady Keqing is usually calm, but it seems Lady Silphia brings out the bad side of her," Ganyu suddenly said from behind me. Unlike some of us, she and a few others decided to keep standing. She started to massage my shoulder confusing me even more.

'Am I like some kind of VIP or something?' I thought jokingly, amused by the situation.

'{[You're asking that now?]}' Rudra, Ddraig and Albion asked in unison.

A smirk spread across my face as I didn't respond. Across from me were the last two members of the organization and of the small group that was close to Silphia. The first two were Zi Xia and Feng Yazhu. The ones across from me were Ishii Uzuki and Shinsato Hana. We were surprised to see some Japanese names here. However, they explained that their parents were immigrants here, which was a surprise to me.

Although it was the supernatural side, I expected some animosity between them. However, I guess it wasn't as serious here, or I wasn't exposed to it enough, but they were quite close to each other…even if they sat across from us…

Ishii Uzuki had long flowing brown hair with a crown of pink flowers around her head. She had yellow eyes and wore an elegant white dress with pink and purple highlights and accents.

Shinsato Hana was a timid-looking lady. She had light blonde hair in a ponytail, blue eyes, and wore a light pink smock with a black ribbon with a red gem in the middle. She also had a black high-low skirt and had black kitten heels.

"Shouldn't you do something about this?" Mom asked while looking at me. The others also shared the same sentiment and I finally clapped my hands hard enough to create a small shockwave, which grabbed their attention. If I let them go on any longer, they would have definitely torn each other's hair off.

"How about this?" I said and brought out a document and slid it over to them. What I gave them was a document that Ningguang and I spoke about the night after I did the deed with Kanami.

She worded like: 'In case something happens between you and Silphia, give this to them.' And this document ended up on my desk via a magic circle. I swear, she should have done this by herself since it feels like I only came here to keep things amicable (to a degree) with my presence.

Silphia and Keqing read through the document together calmly. After a few minutes of silence, Silphia chuckled and Keqing sighed.

"…If Lady Ningguang thought of this at the start, then we wouldn't have needed to try to speak about the details ourselves." Keqing looked at me and glared. "Why didn't you bring this out earlier!?"

Titling my head, I replied, "Well, she did say to only bring it out when things start to go downhill, and from how you two were acting, I'd say it was the appropriate time to bring it out."

She stopped glaring at me, but didn't continue arguing about it and just sighed defeatedly. The door to the room suddenly opened and more people came in, ones that belonged to my group. I could sense that Göndul was upset and Zhang Mei felt down, but apart from them, everyone seemed fine. Although Meruem kept staring at me, it seemed like he wanted to speak to me.

"We have brought the rebellion 'Udder' faction back," said Rixia. She put the leader in front of me. It seems like his name was Lei Wen.

Looking at Aoife, she explained that Zhang Mei got a bit carried away and sliced up his arms into tiny bite-size pieces and she couldn't reattach them with the pills. I nodded and walked over to him, she had added that she wanted me to restore his arms, but when looking at him, he just seemed dead inside. I was going to check his memories, but…whatever happened with Zhang Mei may relate to it, so I held back.

For now, I gave him new arms and also sealed his powers. The other five were…in my friend's opinion, idiots, so I don't see them as big threats. Qiao Zhen was probably the most level headed there, but because of his debt to Lei Wen, he fought us today which was sort of understandable.

Rixia and the rest relayed that information to Silphia and everyone else in the room.

With a sigh escaping her lips, Silphia said, "At least it wasn't for anything stupid. If it was, I would have been even angrier. I can understand his frustrations, but that was the direction I wanted to take our organization…also, we make money in other ways that let us stay afloat—and they're legal."

"H-huh!? How?!" shouted Lei Wen, suddenly coming back to life. A few near him were surprised by his sudden yelling.

Silphia stared at him as if he was stupid. "I told you before, Lei Wen. Weren't you listening?" she asked. The man on his knees had no answer. "Various fast-food industries in China, as well as smaller convenience stores and clothing shops and brands are tied back to us. So we make money from that. It's seven figures yearly. We are nowhere near poverty."

Lei Wen looked dumbfounded as he stared at his leader. "W-what about the cut backs on defense and buildings not being improved?"

"We were hoping to make an alliance with DxD before improving that. We spoke about that too. As for the buildings in our village, we let the citizens vote, and they liked the aesthetic of it and decided to keep it. All buildings are maintained on a regular basis," explained Silphia.

"M-my point still stands about not being appreciated by those people!" he said desperately.

Silphia sighed again. "Yes, it does, but what Miss Aoife said earlier is what I believe in. I don't need their thanks, but it is a bit bothersome that they keep asking for more when we give them resources to improve themselves. We won't constantly provide them with those things—we help them a few times and also impart knowledge so they can survive on their own and improve their own livelihood."

Lei Wen had nothing to say about that. So Silphia said, "I'll have you spend some time in our jails, although it seems most of us are going to be confined to this place for two months and can only move when we're under strict supervision."

"Miss Rixia, you've already been here before, so can I leave them to you?" she asked and Rixia agreed before leaving with the rest of the 8 Divas.

I wanted to speak to Zhang Mei, but I guess I'll wait for that later then.

"Let's discuss this a bit further then. Keqing, can you contact Ningguang? There are some policies her that I want some clarifications on, Middleman. I'd like your input too," asked Silphia.

"Fine." Keqing created a magic circle and connected it to Ningguang and I agreed too.

— ○ ● ○ —

A few hours later, we were done. Many with us…became bored and began reading a book or messing with their phones during that time.

"That should be everything. If you wish…you can stay here for the night—"

"Aaron!!" the group of moms a few of the girls screamed at me excitedly.

"…S-sure, let's stay." I was expecting them to ask, but didn't expect them to scream at me so suddenly.

"There is an Inn here that can accommodate your group. I am going to book you the entire Inn for the day. Excuse me," she said and left with her group. We followed behind them as everyone began to excitedly talk to each other.

— ○ ● ○ —

As we arrived outside, the place had become bustling again. People were walking around and going about their usual business. My phone in my pocket buzzed and I looked at it.

|Aaron-senpai!! How do you do a threesome!?| Saji asked through text.

I was genuinely speechless at this. Who asks another guy about this? Also, doesn't he have a phone to look this stuff up? Experiences from other guys, or even just porn…

|…The internet is your friend. Look it up.|

That's what I texted back and put my phone away. We eventually arrived at a large wooden Inn that was built in a large tree that also went underground. It wasn't as high as the buildings that belonged to Silphia and her group, but I would wager it was around the fourth or fifth largest and highest.

Entering it, Silphia spoke with the owner, paid and we were given keys.

"I don't know how many of you are staying in the same room as Jin, so please discuss it with the owner. These sets are for the established groups that you mentioned earlier. If you have any more inquiries, please reach out to me. But for now, I will leave with Keqing and Ganyu," said Silphia as she left with her group, Ganyu and Keqing.

As I went to speak, the girls began a group rock-paper-scissors tournament. The remaining eight (instead of seven) get to sleep in my room, so we were stuck in the lobby for thirty minutes.

— ○ ● ○ —

"Aaron, do your magic!" said Natsume while pointing to the room we were given. The room was one of the largest, yet it was still quite small, so with a bit of magic, I changed its size along with everything else, including the bed.

The ones who won the tournament were Natsume, Grimgerde, Helmwige, Ortlinde, Rossweisse, Schwertleite, Fusae, and Lavinia. Göndul won a spot, but the Mother's Association convinced her to stay with them, so another small tournament happened, and Lavinia won that…her eyes were bloodshot red as she was in the finals with Suzaku.

But I am surprised that the entire Valkyrie Squad, minus Brynhildr (who refused to participate in both games) were going to sleep with me tonight. Apparently, she had gone off on her own after we split up, none of the other valkyries saw her at all.

It seemed like something had been bothering her since we split up, so I plan on talking to her soon about it.

Natsume jumped onto the bed and began to roll around it. A few others joined in and we began making plans for the rest of the day. However, as we did, a knock came from our door and when I went to open it, it was Brynhildr and Zhang Mei.

"Oh, hey you two. I wanted to speak with both of you at some point, but…what's up?" I asked. Both of them looked at each other and Zhang Mei shook her head.

"I'll talk to you another time, Jin," she said and walked away.

Brynhildr looked at Zhang Mei as she walked away, but didn't stop her. She gestured with her hand silently and we left the hallway and out of the Inn. I wanted to tell everyone that we'd be gone, but she reassured me that it wouldn't take long.

She brought us to the same cliffside that we teleported to. As we looked over the village, the sun had already begun to set. I quickly sent a text to everyone about being gone and will be back soon and we saw some of them leaving the Inn and began exploring the village.

"So—"

"Jin—no, should I refer to you as Aaron?" she asked—no, that sounded rhetorical.

"Either is fine," I replied.

"The world has become strange since you came here," she said and paused. She looked up at the sky, then at the horizon and then turned back to look at me. "I received a request for a marriage interview back in Asgard."

{[Ooooooh!]}

'Albion, I thought—'

{Shut up, Rudra, this is getting interesting!!} Albion interrupted the man and he stopped talking.

"…Let me guess, it's Vidar?" I asked and she confirmed with a nod.

"That's not all though." She paused again and sighed. "The other four in my squad, Grimgerde, Helmwige, Ortlinde, Schwertleite and even Rossweisse received marriage interviews. Apparently, Apollon-sama wants to marry Rossweisse, while various other higher-ups in the Norse and Greek realm want to marry the rest."

......…Huh?! What the fuck?!

Brynhildr just threw an 800MPH curveball at me! What the hell is this!?

— ○ ● ○ —