Volume 4 – Chapter 4 – Part 3 – Two Shadows and Two Foxes

Urakyoto

Jin Skyward

Sharon started to pour tea for everyone as both Kunou and Ophis sat on my lap. That place is destined to be a war zone soon enough, not including the usual suspects of Shirone, Reni, Kuroka, Akeno, and whoever else…

As Azazel glanced at everyone, he nodded at me and I snapped my fingers. A 3D holographic map of the entire Kyoto area appeared in front of everyone at the table.

"So, let's start explaining our battle plan. The region surrounding Nijou Castle, Kyoto station, and the territories of the Five Principal Clans are now in a state of high alert. All devils, fallen angels, and clansmen of those clans stationed in Kyoto have been mobilized to search for suspicious characters."

"The Kyoto youkai are also providing us with assistance. As of now, we have not been able to confirm the movements of the Heroes Faction, but we have detected an ominous presence that is centered around Nijou Castle. Jin did mention this before."

I interrupt him.

"Before you continue, my subordinates have collected more information. Apparently, the Monkai Association and Nilrem faction of Khaos Brigade will also be participating. We also can't rule out Frieza or Lapis showing up again, or even Ignia, or whoever the last sibling is."

Azazel frowned and nodded.

"Alright, we'll keep that in mind going forward. I'll send the information to the ones cooperating with us now."

He takes out his phone and starts texting, once finished with it, he puts it away and turns back to everyone. Kiba raises his hand and asks.

"An ominous presence?"

"Yes, from ancient times, Kyoto was a city constructed using the principles of Yin Yang and Feng Shui like a large-scale magic circle. As a result, there are many special power spots, like Seimei Shrine's Seimei Well, Suzumushi Temple's Kofuku-Jizo, Fushimi Inari's pine tree Hizamatsu-san and others. Locations with incredible auras are too many to count. However, the flow is currently turbulent and is gathering at Nijou Castle."

Saji gulped nervously and asked.

"What, what will happen?"

"No idea, but definitely not something good. Since they plan on utilizing Tamamo no Mae, a legendary nine-tailed fox that used to be a part of the Shinto realm before she was sealed. Additionally, she has the ability to manipulate the leylines of this city to carry out some kind of experiment. We will use this key point as the basis of the entire plan."

Hearing Azazel's words, everyone nodded. And then Azazel officially began explaining the plan to them.

"First are the Sitri servants. You will be on guard in the area around Kyoto station. You are also responsible for guarding the hotel where we are staying. The hotel itself already has a strengthened barrier, so if anything happens there will be a safeguard. Still if anyone suspicious approaches, you Sitri servants will be responsible for handling them."

"Understood!"

The entire Sitri group replied.

"Next is the Gremory group plus Irina. I'm really sorry for putting you all on the spot every time, but you guys will be spread across the entirety of Kyoto."

"Seeing as how two more factions of the Khaos brigade will be joining in this experiment...we'll need you to spread out. We also don't know the number or extent of their powers."

Azazel turns to me—

"Jin, you said you'd be taking on the Divine Beasts, right? I'll also leave the task of rescuing Tamamo no Mae to you. You'll have Aurelia fight Cao Cao if he shows up."

I nod.

"Right, I'll have my other Electa help the Five Principal Clans when the time comes since there will be a total of six Divine Beasts coming our way. I'll deal with the sixth. The Electa, and clans with the other five."

"Hmm, we also have further help, Serafall has gathered troops to help. While the Norse and Greeks couldn't send help this time, the Irish Gods did. Jin, you should know her well, you two fought, didn't you?"

"Scathach? She's coming?"

Azazel nodded to my question. I see, I'm a little surprised but I welcomed it.

"I also have others coming. Let's call them exceptional helpers for now. Finally, some bad news. This time, I managed to obtain three Phenex tears.... Well, I was hoping Jin here could help."

"Whatever, I'll have the slime pills ready."

Saji looked horrified but calmed down once I said that. I can produce an infinite amount so… They should all be fine.

"I know we couldn't produce more on our part, but it's been in high demand. As you know, Khaos Brigade uses guerrilla war tactics against us, teleporting into the area, causing havoc, and then leaving. They're powerful so they can do a lot of damage."

"This means the prices for Phenex Tears have shot up by quite a lot since they need to keep producing more to sell to not just us but to other factions and pantheons, and Skyward-sama here won't sell his Slime pills."

I deadpan to Azazel and produced around fifty Phenex tears and fifty Slime pills on the table. He stares at it for a few seconds before trying to punch me! I dodge it and he lets out a sigh.

"Do that in the first place! Anyway!"

He shifts back to sitting normally and crosses his arms.

"This is a secret, but now the various factions have banded together, and redoubled efforts to find users of [Twilight Healing]. Though it is a rare Sacred Gear, it is not unique, and our investigations have discovered there were several others apart from Asia."

"Finding them will be a significant advantage as well as denying the Khaos Brigade their use. Gaining powerful healers would be extremely unfavorable. However, the current Beelzebub Ajuka has also been carrying out personal research on new ways of recovery..."

"That's about all I can say. There is also Grigori's own research into recovery-type artificial Sacred Gears. In fact, Asia, Sae, and Lavinia have been secretly helping us out with our research and promising results have been obtained repeatedly."

A few people look at me. Yes, yes, I know about it. I signed off on it, it happened when the alliance between the three factions started. It only started up more once the others joined, West Youkai and Irish Gods.

I also believe Asia will reach her [Balance Break] sooner or later.

"So that's the situation. These tears and pills will be divided among the Sitri and Gremory peerages. Please use them with care."

Azazel told them, and I added to that.

"Sitri group, you guys take the Phenex tears. Azazel you keep the three you obtained. Gremory group take the Slime pills. I can create more if we somehow use them all."

"Yes!"

They all answered enthusiastically.

"Right… Saji, you'll help the Gremory Group as well as the other Five Principal Clans with your Dragon King transformation. Your black flames can seal movements of enemies as well as absorb their powers."

Azazel informs Saji as he points at himself looking nervous.

"B-But I can't control it fully yet..."

"I can help with that, don't worry about it, man."

"Ah— Yes!"

Saji looked at me with a thankful look. Irina then raises her hand.

"What other factions have been informed?"

Azazel nods and answers her question.

"As mentioned earlier, the Witch of Dún Scáith, Scathach will be here to provide direct support. Apart from her, Devils led by Serafall, Angels, Fallen Angels and Youkais led by Yasaka-hime will be outside of Kyoto to prevent any of them from escaping.

"She isn't here right now as she's getting everyone in position, Yasaka-hime is here as she's left it to Serafall to get them all in formation."

Asia puts her hand up and Azazel nods.

"Will Rias-onee-sama be coming here to provide support, or President Sona?"

"No, I wanted to tell them... But it looks like the time is not right. They are currently back in Gremory territory. There are reports of riots in some cities located within Gremory territory. They have most likely been dispatched to handle that."

"They were incited by some Old Satan supporters. It looks like there was a group that did not have direct communications with Khaos Brigade. Even so, they're causing trouble, and that's an undeniable truth, so the girls have taken action."

"After all, it will be their own territory in the future. –Also, I have received news that Asteri-san was participating. Yes, since Asteri-san is taking action, those rioters can kiss their asses goodbye."

"I don't know if it's accurate or not, but it is rumored that even the current family head's wife, Lady Gremory, was present at the scene, along with Grayfia, even if she's only the Head Maid now… Once infuriated, the Gremory ladies are quite a force to be reckoned with."

"I know that all too well..."

Grayfia is, well Grayfia. Rias has become a fine woman in a short time, Asteri is quite powerful and has the pants in their marriage… I don't know much about Venelana but… She does have a moniker called 'Flaxen-haired Madame of Extinction'.

Azazel continues.

"If all of them gather there… It'll be an easy fix. 'The Star of Gremory', 'The Priestess of Thunder and Light', 'The Crimson-Haired Ruin Princess', and the 'Silver-Haired Queen of Annihilation'. I don't think those rioters will have a chance..."

I feel Azazel place a hand on my shoulder and look at me in pity.

"It only grows bigger, but with ladies with fearsome and scary titles like that… You're the only one I know so far to be able to take them all on.... In all kinds of ways."

Dude, what the hell? They're not that bad...

"So these are the plans I proposed. I will also search for those terrorists directly from the skies. So everyone will be taking their positions in one hour. If you find anything suspicious, report to one another immediately."

"And try not to die. Until the moment you get home, a school trip is still a school trip. We will protect Kyoto with our lives because they're part of the alliance. Understood?"

"Affirmative!"

The strategy meeting ended with everyone's response. Everyone started to leave and I was left with Yasaka, Kuroka, Aurelia, Sharon, Rossweisse, Kunou, Ophis, and Suzaku. I look at Suzaku as she looks at me back.

"Will you be going back to prepare? I can have Lianne escort you."

"It's fine, Jin, I have my ring and shadow with me. I shall get going."

Suzaku gets up and walks out of the room, I get up and follow after her. Once outside of the meeting room Suzaku looks at me and sighs.

"You're worrying too much, Jin. I'll be fine."

Suzaku hugs me and then creates a magic circle; she had been taught by Reni and Rose during the five years in how to use magic. She's become quite efficient at it; I watch her as she teleports away and left me there by myself. I sigh and go back into the room.

"Will you be heading out to Kyoto to take command, Yasaka?"

"No, I have left it to my two tengu guards. I will stay here and protect my people if they somehow break through the barrier into our realm."

Yasaka answered my question firmly as she glanced at the table and sighed. They should be fine, with Ophis, the four Shadow Dragon Knights, Kuroka, and Sharon here…

"I, will stay here with Kunou and Yasaka."

"Me too nya ~"

"Yeah, keep them safe for me, Ophis, Kuroka. I'll leave them to you too, Sharon."

"Yes, Jin-sama."

As soon as I heard their answers, I nodded and turned around. I felt Rose and Aurelia get up to join me. I leave through the door again and make my way through the halls of Yasaka's home. We have an hour before our own mission starts. I'll set up a few things too…

I reach the entrance hallway and see the Sitri group there. Momo, Reya, Tomoe, Tsubasa, and Saji were there.

"Genshirou-kun, stay safe, okay? You'll be playing an instrumental role here."

"That's right Genshirou, if Sona-sama finds out about you failing…"

"You better come back alive; we still need to buy some things for President Sona!"

"Run away if it gets too tough, okay?"

Saji's fellow peerage members were worried about him. They were mostly responsible for keeping an eye on the hotel, while he had to fight alongside everyone. But some should be calling him 'Gen-chan' by now. I wonder why they hadn't?

As far as I could remember…Ruruko was the one who called him that as of late, no one else though…did I change things too much in the Rating Game between Gremory and Sitri…?

"Oh? Jin-senpai, Rossweisse-sensei, Au-Aurelia-sama!!"

Saji sighs and sees us. He calls out our names and we approach them. I put a hand on his shoulder. Aurelia-sama? I looked at her as she had a smirk on her…

"You'll be a key player in helping fight those Divine Beasts depending on their size, but your… What I call [Vritra Promotion] is quite powerful, do your best and I'll be there to bail you out if necessary."

"…[Vritra Promotion]… I like it! And yes, I'll be relying on you again, Senpai!"

I nod to Saji and look at the Sitri girls.

"The same with all of you. Stay safe, don't push your luck, and know your limits. I would rather not go back to Sona and tell her she lost some servants after tonight…"

Four Dragon Knights retreat into their shadows. I'll have Saji's back tonight so that won't be necessary… Four shadows leave mine and enter the girls. They looked a bit shocked and I explained that it'll help them when and if things get shaky.

They seemed relieved and nodded. They wish Saji a 'good luck' one last time before leaving… Well, not all of them. Momo stayed behind, she tells them she'll join them soon and wants to speak to me.

"…Good luck, Jin-senpai."

Saji puts his hand on my shoulder and gives me a thumbs up… Dude, why? I'm planning to speak to her… Not fuck her. He then leaves with the rest of his group. I walk over to Momo as Rose stays there.

"Jin-senpai, thank you for helping the Volleyball club. I didn't get a chance to thank you for helping them… It became a bit too hectic…"

"Don't worry about it. I enjoyed myself. If you get more requests, feel free to throw them my way."

"…Yes! Excuse me…"

After bowing, she left after her group, lightly jogging out of the building. Mmm-mmm, helping juniors out as a senior feels good. I turned back to Rose as she was shaking her head, huh, why?

"Uh did I do something wrong…?"

"…Haaa… I still like you, even if you're being deliberately dense or not…"

"????"

[Partner…]

No, no, no. I refuse to think that somehow I have managed to win her affection! What did I do? All I did was help her!

[They're still teenagers you know? They fall in love for any reason. Anyway, are you using me or Albion for this fight?]

I'll decide once I see what we're up against. However, I might also use the Dual Balance Breaker. I shrug and walk out of the door. Just outside I see the Gremory group.

"Ah— Jin-senpai, Rossweisse-sensei, Aurelia-san, good evening."

Kiba greets us. The others turn to look at us and also greet us. I saw a sword that Xenovia was carrying…

"Is that…?"

"Durandal. Azazel-sensei gave it to me. Apparently, the upgrades were finished and he handed it to me after the meeting. I will need to use it during a real combat situation rather than be able to test it, but that fits my style so I don't mind too much."

"I see, then do your best. You guys better get moving and get into your positions. I'll also start on my part."

"Yes!"

They answered determinedly. Asia and Xenovia came up to me and we shared a quick kiss. They then joined up with the rest and walked away.

"Rose, you'll be supporting them, right?"

"Yes, I am their teacher so I will have to make sure they make it back alive. I will also be using the new things you gave me…"

Right. A day or two after we got back from my trip to Asgard, I got busy and made those items for Griselda and Rose. While I didn't have a name for it, she defaulted to calling it her own Mistilteinn Wand. Additionally, I made her some custom armor and asked if she had any particular designs in mind.

Her words were 'Make it Jin-like, please.' Since I did not know what that meant, I just made the color palette red, white, and black. More or less, it resembled her old armor, but in different colors.

Rudra and Velgrynd had a lot to say about how I designed it. Therefore, they helped me since 'You suck at this' was thrown around a lot by the Scorch Dragon. I had put the usual enchantments on her new armor too… The wand, well… It WAS an Omniversal-class tool/weapon. So, it was a little bit higher than Rose's current output.

So, I adjusted it, I changed it into a 'growth' type weapon, it will match Rose's current power and rank.

"Yeah, kick ass with it, Rose."

Smack! Jiggle ~

"Hya!"

I smacked her ass and she let out a yelp and I laughed. She glared at me but gave me a quick peck on the lips before leaving too. As I sighed, I looked up at the sky of Urakyoto. It was already dark and many youkai were flying about doing their daily activities.

"Now then…"

My ring glowed as Zeno, Silva, Antares, and Elsa came out. I tap my head and send them my plan.

"You guys pick which clan you would like to support. Aurelia will deal with Cao Cao if he shows up. But if not, you can help a clan instead."

She nods but seemed a bit annoyed at the thought of Cao Cao not appearing.

"These old bones of mine can take me out on an evening walk ~ I will go with the Kushihashi clan."

"…I will help defend the Shinra clan."

"Doumon clan for me ~"

"I shall go to the Nakiri clan, Jin-sama."

Zeno will go to the Kushihashi clan, Silva to the Shinra clan, Elsa to the Doumon clan, and Antares to the Nakiri clan. Which leaves Aurelia to the Himejima clan if Cao Cao doesn't appear.

"Alright, let's go with that then. Go take your positions…"

All of them nodded and disappeared from my sight… Next, you, the remaining Dragon Knights, spread yourselves around Kyoto. You will help the Sitri, Gremory peerage, or the Youkai, Devils, Fallen Angels, and Angels there. Inform Serafall, so our allies don't try to attack you. Once said that I felt the majority of my shadows leave me, leaving me with Greed, Kaisel, Tank, and Jima.

"I'll make my way to Nijou castle then…"

I lightly flash and step my way out of Urakyoto as I stop by to chat for a little bit with the locals. They are aware of what's going on, but not fully so there was some tension in the air. But they are trying to carry on with their daily lives as usual.

I reach the barrier and pass through it. Once through—

"Oh? If it isn't Jin."

A familiar voice called my name, and I glanced to my right. There was Scathach in a black pea coat, black leggings, and knee-high black boots.

"Scathach, I didn't expect you to be helping out. What about the other Gods?"

"You've heard of those creatures attacking factions and pantheons around the world, yes? Well, they are preoccupied at the moment, and not just us."

….So, that's the reason why the other pantheons couldn't help? Maybe even the Alliance of Hell is also fucking with the Greek God's realm…

"I see. Anyway, this is our current plan—"

I tell her what was discussed in the meeting room and she nods in agreement.

"Then I shall accompany you. It seems things will be a lot more interesting on your end."

"But—"

"However, if you wish for me to aid the other groups, I have no problem in doing so."

She interrupts me to say that last part and I look at her strangely… Didn't she say she didn't take orders from others? So, that's why I was surprised by her participation in this as well as her last line. She saw this and continued.

"You bested me in combat, and you were quite forward and brazen with your intentions with me. Aren't I, taking steps towards that relationship goal of ours?"

…What goal?! I asked you to be the girls' teacher! I am interested but I haven't really made my intentions clear, right?

"…It's fine, my shadows are already spread out around Kyoto as well as the Electa. You can come with me to Nijou castle then."

"Electa?"

…Right, that's new and she has no idea in what that is. I explain to her what it is while walking away. She seemed amused. I hadn't told Scathach about what I am since… I really didn't get time, this is a good time, right? Or should I wait till I go to the [Pocket Dimension]?

"Scathach, after this, in a few days or a week's time, I'll be heading to the Shinto Gods' realm. But before that, I'll be going to a different place to train with the girls. Do you want to join?"

She looks at me and then back forward. She appears to be thinking about it, and finally nods.

"Very well, just tell me when and I will be there."

I nod and we continue onwards to Nijou castle…

…

As we approached Nijou Castle, a mist appeared from below us. Scathach looked at it in interest but I just stomped it away from me, so they activated [Dimension Lost], huh?

"Some kind of power?"

"[Dimension Lost], it's a Sacred Gear and one of the original thirteen Longinus. Seems like it's starting then. Everyone else should have been transported too."

—Suddenly multiple monsters and cryptids appeared! They all varied in size and shape, but one thing was for sure. The Cryptids ranged from Middle-class to Ultimate-class and the monsters were from High-class to Ultimate-class.

But suddenly, other circles across Kyoto started to explode. They became alarmed and made magic communication circles and told them to stop teleporting him. Heh, I guess they did it a lot faster this time around.

They turned to me with even more fury.

"Stop them from reaching Nijou castle until the experiment is complete!"

"Before the Divine Beasts are transported in!"

The monsters cheered and rushed towards us! I glanced at Scathach as she smiled. Her casual outfit was discarded, and her battle gear was on her. She summoned her Gael Bold Alternative and pointed it at them.

"Come, you fool. Jin, you go ahead, this won't take long."

I nod and dash past the cryptids and monsters, they didn't expect me to do so and they didn't react in time.

"Like we'd led you— Argh!"

Bam!

I heard a loud thud sound behind me but I kept running towards the castle. I ran past the giant gates and into the courtyard. Even more cryptids, monsters, and humans were there. I could tell some were magicians and some had Sacred Gears and innate abilities.

"It's the Middleman! Stop him!"

One of them shouted and many of the humans started firing their attacks at me! Fire, ice, wind, water, and earth elemental attacks were launched towards me. I swiftly dodged them and balled my right hand into a fist. Control, not too much, not too little... Don't blow away the castle... I punched the air in front of me!

Boom!

A large pressure of air is sent towards the large crowd of enemies and they were blown away! Quite a few of them were knocked out but the ones not near the center of the attack were left standing.

"Dammit! Cryptids attack him! The same with you monsters!"

"Don't order us around, human! Brethren advance!"

They started to charge me. I scanned the memories of the ones I knocked out but they were mobs so they didn't have anything relevant for me. There were a lot of hate speeches and conversations between one another. Can't waste any more time here…

"Sorry for the delay. I did not kill them, I knocked them out and restrained them."

Scathach appeared beside me and I nod… There's no guarantee they won't commit suicide once they wake up, you know?

"Sorry, got more important things to do. Nothing cool, just, efficiency I guess."

I snap my fingers a larger and much more powerful shockwave blasted in front of me— Once it touched the bodies of my enemies they exploded, blood, guts, and bones erupted everywhere. I mass scanned them all but their memories proved useless again.

"Let's go."

"…"

Scathach nodded as she evaluated the scene with a complicated expression. We ran into the castle past the dead bodies…I'll clean them up later. If I'm not mistaken, Cao Cao… If he participated in this attack after Aurelia cut off his arm… He should be in Honmaru Palace.

Within the boundaries of Nijou castle, we walked past the gardens of Ninomaru Palace, and could already see the moat around Honmaru Palace. We passed through the Yaguramon gate that connected to Honmaru Palace.

The place we reached was full of rows of ancient Japanese eaves. The garden was swept nicely and clean. These were all illuminated by lights so even in the dark world of the night it was as bright as day.

"I see you made it. Middleman, you also brought a companion with you…. The Witch of Dún Scáith? How flattering."

A person was in front of us. He was tall, lean, and had the appearance of a young man. He wears a smirk, and he has dark purple hair that is long and wavy. His hair reaches his shoulders, although the majority is tied up in a very large ponytail. Additionally, his messy bangs mostly obscure his dark, slanted eyes.

For clothing, he dons a long, black jacket trimmed with a light-colored flame pattern; the lapels are a matching lighter color as well. The cuffs of his jacket are rolled up, revealing a light-colored inside, which contrasts the black outside of his jacket, and have a black line cutting through the edge of the fabric. The jacket itself is tattered and splits into four torn fabric segments at the tail.

Beneath the jacket, he wears a frilly black V-necked shirt, lined in a lighter color, that closes down the middle and is adorned with a buckle just below his clavicle; just below this is a piece of fabric that he keeps over this shirt but under his jacket, that circles the majority of the lower half of his torso.

The rest of his attire is simple, consisting of light-colored pants that lay lazily over the top of rather plain black boots and have, on each leg, a seam running down the middle, as well as two pairs of buckles that form an X on the thigh and lower calf. However, the buckles on each thigh later disappear, leaving only the ones on each calf.

Beside him was…a Kitsune. Tamamo has yellow eyes and long pink hair that she keeps tied up. She was wearing her typical blue witchcraft clothes that strangely looked like some sort of kimono variation. But she didn't look good— She was clearly physically abused… Sexual? From what I could tell, no.

She was also unconscious at the moment.

"The idea that you would come here with only two of you is astonishing. Though, being able to repel Lapis-sama and Frieza-sama… I can understand why. Worry not, the experiment is nearly done."

Don! Crash!

"….?!"

I appeared in front of him and punched him in the face, he flies into a wall and crashes into it. He comes out of it with a calm look of rage on his face.

"Attacking me before I could finish talking, how rude of you. I am Mard Geer. A new addition to the Monkai association, also part of the 'Seekers of Truth'. I am a mix of Monster, Youkai, and Devil. The pleasure is mine."

He smiles and bows. He dusts himself and continues. As he does, I destroy the device that had Tamamo in place and catch her. I jump back to where Scathach was.

"It doesn't matter. We should have collected enough to put it into 'it', as well as the other parts of the experiment. If you are wondering where Cao Cao is… That woman, Aurelia? He kept shouting and cursing that name— She did a lot of damage to him."

"He is getting a prosthetic arm as we speak, so he is out of commission for the time being. A stubborn fellow, the fool refused to consume the blood, even though the rest did. He will, however, drink some in the future. I am done here."

He stops and thinks for a moment and looks back at us.

"The existence of Kyoto itself is actually a large-scale magical device surrounded by powerful leylines. There are various places known as famous sights, which contain a lot of spiritual, youkai, and demonic power. The ancient yin and yang masters (onmyoji) hoped to mold the city itself into a kind of massive 'power'. Well, precisely because of that, all sorts of existences have been attracted to this place..."

"Our current pseudo space is located in the dimensional gap, both infinitesimally close to and infinitely far away from Kyoto at the same time. The power of the leylines is now flowing here. As a member of the highest level of existence amongst youkai, the nine-tailed fox is said to be on the level of the dragon kings in power."

"The relationship between Kyoto and the nine-tailed foxes is also intricately linked in a variety of ways. That is why our plan must be carried out here."

Exhaling, Mard Geer continued speaking.

"Using Kyoto and the power of the nine-tailed fox, the plan is to summon Great Red to this place. This would normally require a dragon gate as well as multiple dragon kings, but gathering several of them by force is virtually impossible even for god and buddha— So Kyoto and the power of the Kyuubi will have to do as substitutes."

"Great Red? Why do you want to summon that massive dragon? That fellow, all it wants to do is swim and fly around in the dimensional gap, but it is harmless to everyone, right?"

Scathach asks and looks at him with curiosity.

"Correct, however, our current leaders have plans for both that dragon and Ophis."

...Ophis?

The former boss of the terrorists, and one of my lovers. Azazel and Sirzechs know where she is. Her position as leader of Khaos Brigade has ceased to exist, and new leaders are well known in the supernatural realm.

She has nothing to do with anything and wishes to calmly and peacefully live with me and her new home.

"...So you are planning to summon Great Red and kill it?"

Mard Geer shook his head at Scathach's question.

"Well, maybe we won't go that far. Anyhow, we'll catch it first and then decide what to do. There are so many unknowns about its existence, and there is so much to be learned. For example, what effect the Dragon Eater will have on the Apocalypse Dragon. Anyway, no matter what, it's just an experiment to see if we can summon a powerful existence."

"That was the initial plan, but seeing as how you have Tamamo no Mae. This part of the experiment is complete. We'll begin the other part later. We got what we wanted after all."

Dragon Eater… They found Samael? Are they seriously targeting Ophis and Irene? Also, it's more than one part…?

"The information provided was valuable to us. We do have minds as bright or brighter than Azazel and Ajuka after all."

He snapped his fingers and—

Rumble! Rumble! Shake! Shake!

The entire area started shaking and rumbling violently! I felt an enormous— No, multiple enormous magic circles begin to appear and activate! Scathach looks surprised as I grab her and pull her nearer to me, then teleport away from where we were standing. Mard Geer was grinning at me as we left.

Boooooooooooooom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The entirety of the replica of Nijou castle was no more, it had been destroyed, and a giant monster was in its place…

It's one thing targeting me, I really don't care. I can take care of myself. Not that I'm saying they can't but... I took a deep breath and calmed myself. Losing my cool here would do no one any favors.

The 'Divine Beast' in front of us was massive. It resembled a dragon with no wings, hundreds of spikes on its back to its tail, and was on all fours. It had sharp teeth and red eyes.

"Jin, what's the Dragon Eater?"

"I'll explain later, Scathach. Can you bring Tamamo somewhere else? Go and help the others out too… Leave this thing to me."

Scathach stares at me for a few seconds before nodding her head. She takes Tamamo off me and disappears.

"Now then, how should I deal with you? …Perhaps I'll make a shadow out of you…"

…

Xenovia Quarta

"Irina, it looks like we're back in [Dimension Lost]. I can also feel multiple other signatures around us, be careful."

"R-Right!"

Irina summoned her angelic wings and a light sword. I also summoned… Durandal! Or what it's now called Ex Durandal!

Woosh!!

With a violent sound, the mobile portions of the sheath began releasing a large amount of holy aura! It covered the entire length of the sword, and the massive aura shaped itself into a blade! So this is the result, huh?

Combining all the current Excaliburs we have using alchemy; it can use the abilities of the Excaliburs and Durandal's original powers… This is my new Holy sword.

Doom!

Suddenly, we heard a sound in front of us, and then we looked at it...in front of us was... A person? He is a two-meter tall man with a well-built body sporting shoulder-length gray hair. Wearing what appears to be a Japanese school uniform, he is protected by what might be Greek-style armor.

"Hello, Devil! Angel! I've come to play! Let's dance, shall we?! Call me Heracles! I carry the spirit of the Greek Mythological hero, Heracles!"

Dwoosh!!!

He dashed in front of us… He's strong, Irina can't fight him. I have to do it, but the monsters around us…

Boom! Boom! Boom!

…Shadows? I see, Jin has his other Shadow Dragon Knights around Kyoto… They'll surely protect Irina if she's struggling.

Clang! Kshshshshs!!!

Ex Durandal met with Heracles' fists; they were covered in spikes? Is this some kind of weapon?

Boom!

They suddenly exploded and I jumped back. The blast didn't hit me directly, but I was caught by surprise. I glanced at Irina as she was fighting off several monsters and cryptids that ranged from Low-class to High-class in strength. Irina had attained at least High-class status; she had been joining us and training in Jin's training facility, as had Sister Griselda.

She can hold her own—

Gzing!

"Eyes on me, Devil!! Ha!!!!!!!!!!"

Heracles jumped towards me and tried to punch me again, he kept up his assault as I easily dodged them. I twist around and hit him with my sword!

Bang! Crash!

"Argh! …Hahahaha! This is so awesome! Alright, Balance Break!"

Balance Break?! Does he have a Sacred Gear…?! The aura around Heracles' body glows, transforming into numerous missile-like objects on his hands and arms, while smaller missile-like objects cover his legs.

"The Hero Faction is the most powerful faction within Khaos Brigade and today we prove it."

He says with a confident grin. I ready Ex Durandal as I plan to finish this quickly and help Irina out.

…

Yuuto Kiba

Clang! Tang! Kachiiiing!!!!!!! Boom! Boom! Boom!

I clashed swords with a Hero Faction member called Siegfried. Asia-chan and Rossweisse-sensei were with me as they also had their own battles. Asia had used enchantment magic on me and Rossweisse-sensei earlier.

"Not bad, [Knight] of Gremory. You can match me without using your [Sword of Betrayer] that's quite a feat."

Siegfried says with a smirk. He was using a Demonic sword called [Gram], earlier, he said he had others as well as a Sacred Gear… He was quite skilled with the use of swords too… I was only using normal Demonic swords from my [Sword Birth].

While I had refined and fine-tuned the use of [Sword Birth] and my normal swords were strong… They could only last a few attacks against [Gram], it truly does live up to its name.

Gram: Known as the Demonic Emperor Sword, it is a demonic sword with the same properties as [Ascalon] and Durandal, but unlike the latter it doesn't need to charge up to release its destructive aura, thus making it much stronger than it.

It can't be helped… I summoned my [Sword of Betrayer] as Siegfried smiled…

"Balance Break!"

Balance Break?! He's using that now?! Multiple silver arms appear on Siegfried's back. He then summons more swords with three additional arms… He had two in his normal ones, while the other three held their own.

"Meet the rest of the demonic swords I have ~ [Balmung], [Nothung], [Tyrfing], and [Dainsleif]. This one here is just a normal light sword, unfortunately."

…A [Twice Critical], so it doubles his power, but he achieved a sub-species [Balance Break] giving him three extra arms. I de-summon my [Sword of Betrayer].

"Arerere? What's wrong? Giving up?"

"No… I shall use something else then…"

I'll use my other Sacred Gear, the one that I got from my former comrades and the one I trained with during the five years in the [Pocket Dimension]. In my hands I drew a holy sword, and... Dragon Knights appeared beside me. They were equipped with Demonic or Holy swords.

[Glory Drag Trooper], a sub-species [Balance Break] for my [Blade Blacksmith] Sacred Gear. It was inspired by Jin-senpai's Shadow Dragon Knights. I have another technique for them but… I won't use it since I hadn't used it before nor am I close to mastering it.

"Heeee? You have another Sacred Gear? And you also achieved a Balance Breaker for it? Ain't you special? This makes it even more special! Let's go!"

Clang! Clang! Tang! Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzt!!!

I, along with my Dragon Knights, begin attacking Siegfried. While the swords they hold break after a few hits, a newly made one replaces them immediately, the same as the ones I have. But it slowly starts to overwhelm Siegfried as I am by Jin-senpai's standards, a Super Devil in raw power.

My Dragon Knights also imitate my power and speed, so in a way, multiple 'Kiba Yuutos' are attacking Siegfried right now. Regular humans beyond this space may be harmed if we use too much power. For that reason, I had to be careful and not use too much power.

"Khh!! Dammit, I don't want to use 'that' but… I might have to…!"

What was this guy saying…?

…

Rossweisse

"Ahhhhh!! What the hell is wrong with this nun?! Isn't she supposed to be a healer and support?! How can she fight?!"

The blonde woman named Jeanne complained. Another member of the Hero faction stood next to her; Georg was also using multiple magic circles and firing numerous attacks at us. But I matched them, even without the use of the new wand Jin gave me.

Asia was the one dealing with Jeanne. I had heard stories of her being timid, docile, and did not want to hurt a fly. However, during the five years in the [Pocket Dimension], she became a lot more willing.

Asia had been chasing Jeanne-san down while covered in touki. With each punch and kick she gave the Hero faction member, she destroyed large amounts of our surroundings.

Crack!! Boom!!

"Ahhhhh!!!"

Jeanne was sent flying after the debris and shockwave pushed her back.

"Asia…please hold back more, we don't want to destroy this dimension."

"Y-Yes…I'm sorry."

Every time Jeanne-san used her Sacred Gear [Blade Blacksmith], Asia would just destroy it with her touki and fists. Even while she holds back, the difference in their strength is quite pronounced. This man, Georg? He's quite powerful and also an expert in magic.

He is also the apparent wielder of [Dimension Lost]. From what I can see he can use multiple magics, which include: Norse, demonic, fallen angel, black, white, and fairy magic. He has a diverse skill set and can use them effectively, so why would someone like him join a terrorist group?

I matched his attacks with mine, causing them to collide and explode. We weren't really 'fighting' per se, but observing each other, analyzing each other's magic to see how we could—

Rumble! Rumble! Shake! Shake!

"Looks like it's about to start. Jeanne, Siegfried, and I completed the experiment. It's time to retreat. The rest of Leonardo's forces are engaged in combat with the alliance of the Middleman. Fallen, Angel, Devil, and Youkai are battling his monsters."

A magic circle appears beside Georg and he nods.

"Mard Geer-sama has also retreated. Let's go."

Georg tells his comrades, and both of them jump back towards him as they teleport away…. Experiment… Finished?! I look towards the shaking and rumbling and… The boy with [Annihilation Maker] is the one fighting our allies outside…?

"What is that…? A dragon…?"

"A dragon-based Divine Beast? …It's toward Nijou castle, wait, there are other magic circles appearing everywhere… More cryptids and the other five Divine Beasts? Asia, Kiba-kun, let's go."

"Yes, Sensei!"

…

Byakko Shinra

Dammit! What is this?! Why does this thing look like the Sacred Beast, White Tiger?! It's humongous! We had been dealing with weaker enemies earlier and I thought that what the Middleman said was a joke but…

"Is this what he meant by 'God-class being'?"

I am confident in my power and fighting, but I don't think I can win if I come up against that.... It's like I'm fighting the Empire State Building, but stronger…

Fwosh ~

"?! W-Who are you?!"

"Silva. Young Master sent me here to provide aid."

Young master… The Middleman? Who is this guy? He looks strong, but I can't feel his aura or power. His name is Silva? …Silva's body is covered in… Purple-like touki as he floats up. He summons two large glowing balls of touki around his hands and throws them at the beast in front of us.

"That's not going to wor—"

Booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The creature was consumed by a large explosion. Once the explosion was over, the beast was no more. It vanished— Killed in an instant… A God-class being, just killed off like it was nothing. The Middleman said he had more subordinates… Are they as strong as this guy?

I felt a chill when he landed and stared at me— He had sharp cat-like yes. He stayed there for a few seconds before vanishing… The sounds of fighting around me had returned. I look around me and there were still other creatures attacking us…

I slap myself hard on both cheeks—

"The world's a big place, huh? More monsters out there… Let's do this then…!"

I covered myself in touki and charged at my adversaries…. I'm even more excited in fighting him and watching that exhibition match between them! Red Dragon Emperor! Bael!

…

Seiryuu Kushihashi

"…A clone of the Azure dragon…?"

A large magic circle had appeared above our clan's territory and a dragon appeared within it. It resembled our clan's Sacred Beast, the Azure Dragon. I slammed my hands to the ground and millions of roots sprouted!

They shot at the dragon to restrain it. It succeeded, so I fixed my glasses and… Shot bolts of lightning at it. Many other members of my clan were also fighting other beasts that appeared. I was the one left to confront the replica of the Azure Dragon.

"Hoho, you're doing quite well, boy. But it won't be enough."

"?!"

I turn to my right and see an old man…? Who is he?! What does he mean—

Gabooom!!!!!!!

The roots that held the dragon in the sky in place were destroyed easily! …Dammit is that what he meant…?!

"I was sent here by Young Master Jin, the Middleman as many know him by. Anyway, I wish to read up more on a certain book I was reading. I'll rid of this dragon for you."

The old man starts walking away from me… The Middleman's subordinate is him?! How is he of use?! He's old!! He suddenly disappeared.

"H-Huh?! Where did he go….?!"

Gzhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

A loud sound reverberated above us. I looked up along with others of my clan.

"?!?"

Above us was an even larger purple dragon! W-What the… W-Wait is, is that the old man in the middle of it?! The purple dragon quickly plunged down onto the azure dragon—

Booooooooooooooooooooooom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The area was engulfed in a large purple explosion. I covered my head as the wind pressure that was produced was quite powerful. The trees around my clan's territory threatened to fall, however, they stood strong.

Once the blast was over… The azure dragon was gone. There was no trace of it, except for an old man walking back towards us while grinning. He starts to wave at me.

"My work here is done, young head. I shall take my leave."

Just like that… He was gone. He was a subordinate of the Middleman? He certainly has strange taste, but one thing is for sure, they are powerful…

I look back at the destroyed area and felt uneasy. Making him an enemy wouldn't be a wise choice…

…

Genbu Doumon

Everything was going well until that thing appeared! It also looked like a giant version of the Black tortoise, the Sacred Beast of the Doumon clan!

The head, elders, other members, and I were shocked to see this thing appear from a large magic circle near our territory, but the Middleman had warned of such a thing but… I tried my best but they didn't take it seriously.

Even when I mentioned the other clans and his name… The head took me seriously but the elders… I sigh as I didn't know if we could repel this attack. Jin-san, the Middleman mentioned this thing to be a God-class threat… Seeing it here… I couldn't help but start believing his words even more.

"We need to…"

"Ara ara what a cute turtle ~"

"Who are you?!"

I suddenly hear a woman's voice behind me and I quickly turned around, so did the others. In front of us was a woman in… Risky clothing, she had a large dagger in her right hand and her left hand on her cheek.

"Middleman aid delivery service ~"

"M-Middleman?! Is this the subordinate you mentioned, Genbu?!"

She's the one he sent?! I-I-I-I, how do I answer? I instinctively start nodding my head! The lady came over to me and patted my head.

"Leave it to me ~ I'll slaughter that thing in an instant ~"

One moment, the beautiful older lady was there— The next, she disappeared and—

Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiikkkkkkkkk!!!! Bang!!! Crash!!!!

A loud sound reverberated throughout the area. I covered my ears with my hands, I heard it briefly… It sounded like a slicing or cutting sound, but on a larger scale… I looked towards the giant tortoise and…!!!

"It's shell…"

It was sliced into hundreds of parts… It started to fall off the creature as it howled in pain. The beautiful-onee-san was floating above it, as she had a dangerous look on her. One that look of someone who was out for blood, it had a very calm but intense look.

She makes some small and quick hand gestures with her open hand… The tail of the tortoise suddenly was cut off, and dark-purple shadowy tendrils came out of the ground and grabbed a hold of its legs!

She points a finger up to the sky...… A large magic circle appears above the immobilized tortoise, and then…

"My God…"

"What is that…"

"A monster…"

An enormous large black-purple fireball came out of the magic circle. It almost seemed like a large asteroid… It was both awe-inspiring and terrifying, but an uneasy feeling was still nagging inside me, it told me… That she was still 'playing' around.

Kabooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The area where the black tortoise was— It was consumed in a large pillar of black-purple fire. It kept on burning and burning. The onee-san was floating there with a 'smile' on her face. She waited up there until—

The fire went out. Once it did, there was only charred ground left. The enormous black tortoise was gone, most likely burned to ashes…

"…Should we form an alliance with the Middleman?"

One of the elders asked… A deafening silence enveloped the area around us— However, that was short-lived as the sounds of fighting started up again. Alliance… It sounds a lot more enticing after seeing that…

The Middleman is going to have an exhibition match with a Devil in the future. We may watch it; the elders may be more interested in seeing him in action after this incident…

…

Ouryuu Nakiri

Doom!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Genshirou-san!!!!"

I, Ouryuu Nakiri was defending my home, clan, and people from a monster attack. According to a devil of Sitri who came here earlier saying that he will assist us… These things were called 'Cryptids'.

While some of the members and elders were against his help, I persuaded them and together we had been killing the weaker ones for the last few minutes— However, around five minutes ago… A large cryptid, Genshirou-san called it a 'Divine Beast' was summoned through a large magic circle.

This cryptid was powerful… If what Jin-san said was true… A God-class being… It was shaped like a big scorpion, it had red glowing eyes, and had unique markings all over its body that glowed purple and green. Its stinger would also shoot out 'laser beams' to attack us.

We had avoided any serious injuries so far but… I was in my [Dragon Man] transformation, I had learned this over the years and slowly honed it. Tia, or Tiamat helped me along the way. She's one of the Five Dragon Kings.

[Dragon Man] allows me to transform into a golden humanoid dragon. It enchants my physical attributes, it allows me to hurl giant spheres of touki at my opponents, and as well as infuse it with draconic aura.

But… Even with this…!

Dooooooooooon!!!!!!!!!!

I appeared in front of the scorpion cryptid and punched it! But it had no effect! Its eyes looked at me and—

Bam!

"Argh!!!"

It slammed its body into mine sending me flying… I land beside a downed Genshirou-san. He had transformed into his dragon form earlier. He called it his [Vritra Promotion], but even with that— He was still toyed around by the cryptid.

He also mentioned that he couldn't control it yet…! The black dragon beside me got up again and charged the cryptid! He fires some sort of line towards the cryptid and it attaches all over it! A field then suddenly appears around it too!

I don't understand what's happening but… I felt the cryptid's powers being reduced! So I charged back in again. I fired multiple touki spheres towards it, while also adding some draconic aura into them!

Zapapapapapan!!! Bam! Boom! Boom!

It hit the cryptid and did some damage! A little bit of its shell was damaged and cracked! Genshirou-san roared in his Dragon form and… Fired a point-blank black-purple fire breath!

Kashuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun!!!!!!!

I jumped back to avoid being hit by it and suddenly—

"Not bad, Ouryuu Nakiri, Saji Genshirou."

?! I felt a hand on my shoulder and a voice behind me! I quickly swing my arm at the voice and it caught my arm.

"Calm yourself, future heir. I am one of Jin-sama's subordinates."

Subordinates?! Jin-sama? …Ah, so Jin-san did send over some help… I calm down and remove my arm away from him, he nods and turns to look at the two of us and then at the giant monster in front of us.

"It seems the future Dragon King still needs training. Jin-sama is busy at the moment so I will help him exit that form."

He disappeared from my sight…. I couldn't even follow him! I turn to look at the cryptid but it was blasted away! It crashed further back as Genshirou-san's Dragon Form begins to attack anything in sight.

The man from earlier went over to him, and tapped him? Once he did that— Genshirou-san returned to his human form and was sitting on the ground!

"….Ugh… What the hell…?"

I run over towards him while still in my [Dragon Man] form. He looks at me and asks.

"Did we win?"

"No, not yet, Jin-san's… Subordinate is here to help."

Genshirou-san looks at me and then at the man— His face paled and started nodding furiously.

"W-W-W-W-We'll leave it to you, Antares-sama!!!!"

The man named Antares glanced at him before he started to float back up. The scorpion cryptid roared in anger as it came rushing back to us! It launched its stingers toward Antares-san but—!

Slam!

He slapped it away, and the force of it made the scorpion cryptid slam into the ground… Incredible, this man was powerful! I wonder how many more powerful subordinates Jin-san has? He audibly sighs and puts his hand forward.

"Incinerate."

Dagoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A small magic crimson colored magic circle appeared from his palm and a large beam of crimson flames appeared from them— Consuming everything in front of him. However, before it left our territory it stopped...… What control! He stopped his flames from going further from that border!

He eventually cancels the flames and the scorpion cryptid was gone. He turns to look at us without saying a word before vanishing.

"Uwa… As scary as ever…"

"You know him, Genshirou-san?"

I exit my [Dragon Man] form and kneel down beside Vritra's host.

"Yeah… I saw him briefly after the Peace Conference and another one of Jin-senpai's subordinates, Aurelia-sama, told us some of the names of his subordinates. They were… Elsa-san, Zeno-san, Silva-san, Lianne-san, and herself. She said there are more, and they're more or less the same in strength as Antares-san."

They're all the same strength…?! Where did Jin-san find them….? I look back at the destruction Antares-san made… Is… Is Jin-san making his own faction or organization…? Regardless of what he does… I look forward to seeing his match with the heir of the Devil family Bael.

…

Suzaku Himejima

Swish! Dooom!!

"…Aurelia-san, is something bothering you…?"

"That little brat ran away! He didn't show up no matter how long I waited. I didn't feel his presence anywhere!"

Aurelia Le Guin was slaughtering cryptids, monsters, and human mages all around us with quick efficiency. She appeared not too long ago and started helping us. Apparently, many of the Khaos Brigade members were slowly being defeated and some of their key members had retreated.

However…

"Where is that stupid cry—"

Shiing! Boom!!!

"Never mind, great timing."

From the magic circle came out…. A giant shadow. It landed and stood on two legs, it was draconic shaped but stayed silent. It was mostly black with green markings with black shadowy wings…?

"What is that…?"

"Hoho? How did she manage to make that? No, if Lapis was involved, it isn't impossible. Loa Erebonius, perhaps Jin would like to make this into a shadow too? I shall deal with it myself, Suzaku. Deal with the rest."

Aurelia-san started to walk away and I nodded. She's reliable, and while I can deal with it myself… I'll focus on protecting my clan members.

I shot out flames from my hands and killed multiple cryptids and monsters around me. I dashed towards a magician as they opened fire at me with elemental attacks. I cover my fist with flames…

"Fire fist…"

I throw a punch in their direction as huge torrents of flames consumed them. I flicked my left wrist and controlled fire spells that were aimed at me and sent them back to the users as they screamed in pain.

"Huu…"

"Incredible! To think our heiress became this strong!"

Some elders and members of the clan started to shout praises at me… I didn't like it, it seemed fake, superficial… Reni taught me this… I turn around to face more monsters coming my way, I bring my right hand in front of me vertically—

"Fire-make: Brúchtadh"

I boost my fire magic with the power of the Vermillion bird and— The area in front of me was engulfed in a large and wide sea of flames… It didn't just hit the monsters, but other cryptids and human magicians too. The attack covered a large area, and I had complete control over it…

Brúchtadh, it's Irish for 'Eruption' much like how a volcano erupts… I made it with Jin in mind. I look back over at Aurelia-san as she was about to end her fight with the creature known as Loa Erebonius.

She had a fearless smile on her face as she jumped up, she gathered energy around her great sword— And launched an attack at it. It hit the monster and went through it— It started to collapse as she created a platform behind her and pushed herself off it.

She charged through the beast and cut it once again, her attack kept going and hit the ground— Destroying a large portion of it… She covered the great sword again and sent out a horizontal and vertical green slash to the monster.

Boom!

A large explosion occurred as she put her great sword away and started walking back towards me. Loa Erebonius fell to the ground; she kept her word and didn't destroy the body…

"Hmmm, it was quite weak."

…You're just powerful, Aurelia-san… She tapped her ear and the communication function appeared.

[Jin. I have a potential shadow for you, it's Loa Erebonius. Come to the Himejima clan's territory when you are done.]

[Roger that, good job, Aurelia.]

She nods to herself before looking around us— The magicians and monsters were panicking as their 'trump card' was already dead.

"Let us clean up, capturing them will provide more useful."

I agreed with her as she quickly dealt with the remaining forces of the Khaos Brigade.

…

Jin Skyward

"Looks like they dealt with the other five Divine Beasts in quick succession, and Aurelia gave me a potential new shadow soldier? Neat, but I also have another one in front of me… C'mere Sparky."

It heard me as it fired an ice breath at me, I quickly dodged it and it seemed quite annoyed by it. Does, does it have intelligence…? It did look like it understood me when I gave it a name.

"Haaa… Whatever, Albion, we're going to use [Empireo Juggernaut Overdrive] again."

{Right.}

I summon [Divine Dividing] and fly up.

"Balance Break!!"

{Vanishing Dragon Balance Breaker!!!!!!!!}

I don my white armor and begin to chant.

"I, who am about to awaken—"

"Am the White Dragon Emperor who will dominate the law to seize the darkness—"

"I walk the road of domination with infinite destruction and by piercing through the imaginary dream—"

"I shall become a God Emperor of Pure White Dragon—"

"And I shall have you obey the silvery-white illusions and the perfect evil ways!"

{Juggernaut Over Drive!!!!!!!!!!}

I entered [Empireo Juggernaut Overdrive] and stared at the Divine Beast as it had a look of boredom… Geez, at least humor me—

Don! Boom! Crash!

I quickly appeared in front of the cryptid and punched it in the face! Caught off guard— The cryptid flew away and crashed to the ground, I destroyed a few buildings in this dimension in the process.

It got up and looked furious, that part of its face was caved in— It suddenly fired another ice breath at me! I put my hand towards it—

{Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide!}

The attack became smaller and smaller until it became so small that when it hit me… It did nothing, it felt like a piece of cotton hit me. I expelled the extra power through the wings and flew towards the cryptid.

As I approached it, it fired a few more shots at me, I dodged them all and—

Don! Don! Don! Don! Don! Spshhhhhh!!!

I cocked my arm back and sent a barrage of punches towards its eye! It hit it perfectly and its eye exploded as well as bruising its face heavily!

…I back away. Cúntóir, can I make this into a shadow if I used [Compression Divider] on it?

Cúntóir: Answer: Unfortunately, no. You must kill it normally.

"Alright… Let's stop beating around the bush…"

I was starting to enjoy fighting again, though I should do the 'holding back' thing during sparring matches or exhibition matches. Let's end this and get two new shadows…

The cryptid looks at me and the spikes on its back detached and launched themselves at me… When I dodged them— they came back to hit me again, are these things homing onto me? How the hell did she manage to make that…? Unless this is mechanical or something…

I targeted all the spikes and—

"Compress!!"

{Compression Divider!!!}

The spikes kept on shrinking until they vanished! I appeared in front of the cryptid and—

Don!

Using more strength than before, I did a simple punch. The cryptid exploded, and everything else behind it was destroyed. I create a wall of [True Infinity] in front of where my punch was going and it hit it, also stopping it.

I exit [Empireo Juggernaut Overdrive] and land on the ground. Once there I look around, and found the heart, it wasn't mechanical but real, but it was made up of several hearts of different creatures… Some of youkai, monsters, and other supernatural creatures…

Did these beings willingly let themselves be used for their cause, or forced? I look at the ground and saw that turning this fellow into my shadow was still possible.

"…Arise."

Kshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!

The area was enveloped in large black and purple shadows, slowly— A shadow version of that creature rose from the ground and kneeled down to me. I look at it with [Observe] and it was only around Low-tier God-class. I put a barrier around us just to make it safer.

I touch its head and changed its power and ranking. To the peak of Omniversal. Once that was done…

"Name, name, name...… How about, Etoirir. It means 'Champion of the Blue'."

Etoirir nodded his head before going into my shadow… I look at the destruction I caused, uh… It's a different dimension, so not my problem. I quickly locate Aurelia's aura and teleport to her.

…

"Aurelia, where's the thing you beat?"

Aurelia and Suzaku were sitting down and speaking to one another, and both of them turn to me once they heard my voice. She nods and points to her right. I turn to see… Yeah, it's Loa Erebonius… Though it was dead and cut up.

"The Middleman…"

"Sacred Gear…"

I could hear a few whispers around the place as Suzaku looks down with a frown. So, that's the type of shit you deal with, huh? Don't worry, we'll have Amaterasu kick their asses into gear once we visit the Shinto God's realm.

"Wanna see how I make those shadows?"

I ask the two and they both nodded. I mean… I made them and not actually did the 'arise' thing, but still… This will be the second today. I appear beside Suzaku and pick her up, earning a small yelp from the woman. Aurelia just smirked at me and yes… I know that she can reach that spot quite easily but…

"…"

Suzaku lays her head on my chest and closes her eyes… Yeah, I wanted that to happen. I had to stop myself from grinning and flash stepped towards the corpse of Loa Erebonius. I put her down and she frowned a little.

"Hmm well, good job in keeping it mostly intact… I don't need to rename the guy, its name is already enough."

I point at the corpse and make a small hand gesture to point up into the sky.

"Arise."

Kshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!

Again, like earlier, the area was enveloped in large black and purple shadows, slowly— A shadow version of that creature rose from the ground and kneeled down in front of me. He didn't change much except for the part where the green markings turned into purple ones.

I tapped my ring and used the communication featured and connected to Serafall.

[Sera, how are things on your end?]

[Jin? Oh! This thing has this, doesn't it?! Yeah! Yeah! We're doing okay out here! We caught many members trying to escape, how are things in there?]

[Good, we should be done and no casualties.]

[Great! I'll get going, there are a few more we have to round up. I'll see you soon ~]

Serafall cut off the connection and nodded… What plan did they have…? They gave up with Tamamo way too quickly… What the hell did Mard Geer mean by 'first part'… Is there a second part to this experiment…?

"Jin? Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing, I'll need to brief everyone about this, as well as the other leaders. Anyway, let's go and regroup… Will you be joining us or…?"

"This is a different dimension, so no real damage was done to our territory. I will go with you."

I nod and turn around, let's go round up everyone then…

…

Urakyoto

"Most of the key members of the Hero Faction escaped after Georg, the sub-leader said that the mission was completed."

"Yes, even Siegfried, the one I was clashing with left."

"Yes, the same with Heracles."

Rossweisse, Kiba, and Xenovia gave their accounts of what had happened. We were back in the meeting room in Yasaka's home. It was still the same day, well, it's the next day… We just didn't sleep.

I had a bunch of other magic circles open that were connected to the Devils, Angels, Fallen, Irish Gods, Greek Gods, and Norse Gods. We were telling them of what had happened. I was waiting for my turn since I offered to go last. They were finished so they turned to me.

"…Scathach and I met a member of the Monkai association. He called himself Mard Geer and was a mix of different races. Anyway, he explained to us that the assault on Kyoto was just part one of their 'experiment' or 'plan', whatever that means."

"I expect them to attack… Another faction, pantheon, or even a normal human city in the future. As to where… I don't know."

What could they possibly do here that will connect to something else in the future?

"Whatever it may be Red Dragon Emperor… It surely will be chaotic."

I look at a monkey youkai… Who appears around the same height as a kindergarten, covered in golden fur wearing a monk's cassock, a wrinkled, creased face, and black skin, wearing prayer beads around his neck and a golden headband around his forehead.

That's right… The First-Generation Sun Wukong had appeared as the fight with Khaos Brigade ended. He was leaning against the wall.

"You were late, you know?"

Azazel says to him as the now Buddha laughs at him.

"I was held up by something, can't help it now, can I?"

He also arrived with Yu-Long, one of the Five Dragon Kings. But as I said, they were late, so everything had already ended.

I asked Scathach earlier where she took Tamamo and she said she brought her to a random hotel but stayed with her since she suspected the Khaos Brigade to try kidnapping her. She wasn't too upset by it.

Speaking of Tamamo… She was still asleep. When I went to get her after locating Scathach I healed her right up but she didn't wake up instantly. We had moved her to one of the rooms in Yasaka's home, so she was safe here. I also removed the blood she was forced to consume, she was around Middle-tier God-class but once I removed that, she went back to Low-tier.

"Anyway, all factions and others that aren't in an alliance with us yet… Should be on high alert. I mean, we all are already but… It seems like they're up to something big. I'll inform some of them."

The circles agreed with what Azazel said, we discuss a few more things before we ended the meeting. I dismiss the communication circles once it was over. Azazel turns to everyone and addresses us.

"Anyway, this meeting is finished. Go back to the hotel and sleep this off. We still have a few days left so you can spend it easy. Jin here will make sure nothing else happens."

I mean… I was going to do that regardless if you told me or not… Everyone started to leave and I was left there with Scathach, Kunou, Ophis, Suzaku, Yasaka, and Sharon.

"Ahhh… I'm tired…"

Apparently, Azazel was also fighting off a bunch of cryptids, youkai, monsters, and magicians. He wanted to meet up with some of the peerages but became preoccupied. Saji look liked he died, and Antares was the one to get him out of his [Vritra Promotion]. I didn't know that he could do that…

"You're not going yet, Scathach?"

"I have decided to move into your home."

"....."

The remaining people in the room look at the Goddess strangely, she explains that I already put the door in her domain like I did for Yasaka and Kunou. They understood and she comes to sit beside me.

"Sure, why not? Anyway, nothing happened here right?"

"No, however, I did get information from my tengu guards… It sounded quite chaotic out there."

It did take around an hour or two for all of it to end… Ophis shook her head… Yeah no, you won't be targeted by those asscracks. I'll eliminate Samael once I see him, that's one thing I want to avoid…

"Let's go to sleep for now, shall we? It's quite late in the evening… Excuse me, I mean early in the morning."

Yeah, it's around one or two in the morning. Kunou was already slowly falling asleep. She had shot up when everyone came here to discuss what had happened, but she was sleeping peacefully again on Yasaka's lap.

"Scathach will you be staying here to sleep?"

"Yes, if you do not mind."

Yasaka nodded and had Sharon guide her to a room. I turn to Suzaku.

"And you?"

"I will go back to my apartment…"

"I'll teleport you there then."

Suzaku nodded and we got up. I won't be gone for too long so… I stand beside her and teleport us away.

…

Kyoto

I had teleported just outside her door; she opens it and… Doesn't go inside. Um…

"Suzaku?"

"…Good night, Jin."

She says to me before going inside and closing the door. Hmm… Interesting… What was that about? She was blushing, she felt a little embarrassed. Maybe she wanted to do something but didn't have enough courage to do so…

I shrug and go back; I'll leave it for another day then.

…

Urakyoto

As soon as I get back… Ophis returns to the necklace.

"We'll be going to bed then…"

Yasaka gets up while carrying Kunou.

"I'll walk you two there."

She smiles and nods. We silently walk towards their room and we quickly reach it. I open the door for her and Yasaka goes in to put Kunou down on, she comes back to the door and—

Chu ~

We share a quick kiss.

"Good night, Jin."

"Yeah, good night."

I close the door for her. One last stop then… I quickly flash step my way there— I was planning to check up on Tamamo before I return to my own room. As I approached the room, I felt another presence in there…

I opened the door and found… Kuroka was sitting on a chair beside her bed. Actually, when did she leave? Probably when everyone else did...

"Kuroka?"

She looks up and gestures for me to join her. I do so and stand beside her, I check over Tamamo's condition and she was fine, just still asleep…

"I wanted to look at one of the legendary nine-tailed foxes, you know? It's not every day you meet one."

Yeah, if I was a normal person and met THE Tamamo no Mae? I would probably also want to see her. I put a hand on Kuroka's shoulder and she gets up, she leaves the room first as I look back at Tamamo one last time. I close the door and join her. We walk to my room, changed, and got on the futon.

"We're staying for a few more days, right nya?"

"Yeah… I still have my nano flies everywhere. I recalled them back earlier before the meeting started and upgraded them. But I doubt they'll try to attack again."

"We can go on a date then nya ~"

I chuckle and agreed. We then went to sleep.

…

Next morning

When I woke up, Kuroka was gone. I felt everyone else was awake already so I got dressed, fix the room with magic, and left it. No one's room was near mine so I started walking towards the dining room. I also felt Tamamo's aura in the dining room.

"I guess she's feeling better then?"

[Partner, we're going to the [Pocket Dimension] again, right?]

Yeah, fifteen years. That's what I decided, why?

[Just wondering, that's all. I wanna try some… New moves.]

{He's going full Veldora. Ddraig, please don't.}

[Shut up! I'm not!]

'One Veldora was enough, don't make it two, [Welsh Dragon].'

'Calm down Velgrynd… He won't, right?'

[...]

They banter back and forth until I reached the dining room. I push open the doors and enter the room. Once I entered the room, I was hugged by Kunou. I picked her up and joined everyone on the table.

"Morning."

"Morning nya ~"

I felt a certain kitsune's gaze on me, Kunou sat on my lap and I started to mess with her making her giggle.

"Good morning, Papa-san ~"

Yasaka greeted me with a kiss on the cheek making Kunou puff her cheeks.

"Good morning. Looks like you're feeling better, Tamamo?"

I look at her and she nods and then bows.

"I am. Jin is your name, yes? Thank you for helping me… I will be forever grateful."

"Don't worry about it. Anyway, will you be going back to the Shinto Gods' realm?"

"Yes."

"Cool, before you go, can you come with me somewhere?"

Everyone looks at me strangely and I grin.

"I checked with Cúntóir and it's fine. We'll be bringing a certain Goddess back to life…"

…

Kyoto

It was early in the morning, so there was no one here, I, along with Kuroka, Tamamo, Yasaka, Kunou, and Sharon were in Fushimi Inari-taisha, there were many statues of foxes around the place as well as a few red torii gates.

I could feel a few youkai auras around the area, Yasaka said earlier that she has some youkai guard the place in case someone tries to disturb her final resting place.

Now… It's been many years since she left this world so, normally their souls would definitely have passed one but… According to Cúntóir, she hasn't yet. Why? We don't know, we just gotta ask her once we bring her spirit back.

We eventually reach the shrine of Inari and I stood in front of it. I kneeled down and started the process. The area briefly glowed bright green and… An ethereal body came out— It was definitely her, Inari, the Goddess of foxes.

"…"

She was mostly green but she wore your typical Miko attire and sandals. She looks around confused and then back to us.

"You're probably confused so… Let me just get you updated on everything."

I approached her and touch her forehead and transferred what had happened since her death— Well, to what I personally knew. I step away as she blankly stared at us before sighing.

"It's your choice."

"I know, to think so many years have passed, but I am glad that Kyoto has flourished during my time gone. Jin Skyward, was it? Thank you for doing this, and yes, I would like to come back. I have left the kitsunes of the Shinto's realm to fend for themselves for too long."

I nod and complete the resurrection of Inari. She glowed again and… Her normal appearance came back. Inari Okami had white hair, fur, yellow eyes, and her Miko dress was the same as the others, white top, red bottoms, and sandals. She had large diamond shape earrings.

"I-Inari-sama!"

"Ara? Tamamo… My how you've grown. Come here dear, you suffered greatly for a long time, no? Come home with me…"

Tamamo walked over to Inari and started to silently cry.

"Y-Yes…!"

The two embraced each other and once the tears dried up, they started to catch up with each other. Once that was done, they looked back at us and nodded.

"I'll be visiting the Shinto God's realm soon… Mind telling Amaterasu and the other Gods there what I did? Gotta score some brownie points with them."

Tamamo giggled at me and Inari nodded. Great, I'll go in there with a decent reputation. Probably higher than most other factions and pantheons I've been to since I did just rescue one of their foxes and revived a Goddess.

"We will get going. We look forward to seeing you again, Jin."

"Yeah, see you there."

They vanished in a puff of smoke and I turn back to everyone else.

"Let's take it easy then…"

…

"Huuu… We'll get going then, Yasaka, Kunou, Sharon."

It was the last day of the school trip for the second years and… They were going on— No, they were already going home. I saw them off earlier, Azazel and Rossweisse were with them so it's fine. I was back in Urakyoto just to say goodbye to these three.

"Yes, Jin-sama."

"Uuuu… Come back soon, okay?"

Kunou was clinging onto my leg as she wasn't happy about this. I reminded her that they could always use the door to come to my home in Kuoh in an instant.

"Then I'll go there!"

"Well, I did say before that I'll be bringing everyone to the [Pocket Dimension] soon, I'll contact you guys when I do. So, we'll be with each other for an extended amount of time again."

Hearing and remembering that, Kunou smiled, haaaaa… I pet her a bit before Yasaka and I share a quick kiss.

"I will be 'typing the knot' during that time then, Jin~"

"…Sure thing."

She smiled and blushed, she seemed quite excited by it.

"Nyahaha ~"

Kuroka just laughed beside me, 'typing the knot'. I don't think she means getting married, but 'that', oh boy… I wonder how a fox does in bed. I felt an awkward smile creep up on me.

"Anyway, I'll see you guys soon. Take care for now, alright?"

They nod and we teleport away.

…

Nighttime

Skyward household

We were relaxing in the living room and Azazel was here with us too, he said he needed to get away from it all, and chose my house for some reason. I mean, I didn't mind so he's just been here, drinking some tea, coffee and eating some snacks.

"Oh, by the way, the House of Phenex's daughter is going to transfer to Kuoh before the cultural festival."

Other than Rias, Akeno, Shirone, and I, everyone was else surprised.

"Yeah, I was more than expecting that..."

I say as Azazel gave me a strange look and grin.

"Yeah, looks like she was influenced by Rias and Sona's example, and requested to study in Japan. She should be a first year. The formalities are all complete. The same year as Koneko, eh? But cats and birds don't get along too well... Watching them together will be fun."

"...Whatever."

Shirone seemed displeased. Here we go… The battle of my lap will begin soon, but they'll be in the same year, huh? Gya-suke, please watch over them in your classroom...

"Ok, everyone is back safe. Let's call it a day. I will ask for the details from Onii-sama through Asteri later."

Rias says and then donned a serious expression.

"Now then, the school festival is coming up. We have to get serious with preparations. Also--The match against Sairaorg. This is supposed to be the last battle in the youth tournament. We cannot be careless. Let's prepare together."

" " " " " " " "Yes!" " " " " " " "

"I'll be taking everyone to 'that' place again, we'll have an extended training period for you lot. Look forward to it."

They nodded happily with that; Azazel just cocked a brow at me. But knowing I won't say anything about it, he didn't pursue it.

"Hmph, I also look forward to it."

Scathach— As she said before, she moved into my home today, she already had her own room organized and was wearing some pretty casual clothing.

…

Vali Lucifer

"—And that's it. My report is done. Vali-sama."

"Ah thanks, Le Fay. How is Aniki doing?"

"I am very touched to meet the widely known Breast Dragon Emperor and Oppai Dragon!"

"...Is that so? Good for you..."

"One more thing. First Gen-sama seems to be looking for Vali-sama and Bikou."

"We may run into them soon. To completely shake the First Gen off our backs will be very hard... Also...the other thing you mention."

"Vali-sama?"

"[Empireo Juggernaut Overdrive], huh? Very well, Aniki gave me a hint in how to achieve a similar state… I will dominate those past hosts then. Cao Cao, if you want to defeat us, you'd better do it while it's still possible."

"Otherwise… I will reach Aniki's level soon."

…

Sairaorg Bael

"Sairaorg-sama?"

"Hmmm? Oh, Kuisha, is something the matter?"

"Rumors have circulated that Jin-sama achieved a new form for his [Divine Dividing]. It won't be impossible to assume that he'll use something similar for your match for his [Boosted Gear]."

"Fuahahaha! I expect no less from my rival and friend! I look forward to it!"

I felt a wide grin spread across my face, Kuisha was also smiling. She felt less sad these days, I am relieved. Jin, I leave her to you.

"This will be one of the greatest fights I will ever have. I look forward to it!"

…

?????

Mard Geer

"Part one of the experiment in Kyoto is done. While we failed to summon Great Red, we achieved in obtaining necessary data for the second part."

"Yes, Cao Cao is also fixed up. His new arm is an upgrade to his old one. He also got a new eye, one provided by Alice-san. A monster's eye."

That man, who is proud as a 'human' is slowly turning into something else entirely. How will he respond…?

"When will it commence, Promestein, Avezza?"

"If things go smoothly, and with the help of Lapis-sama and the others in the 'Seekers of Truth' then we can try attracting the 'False King' to our universe. Lapis-sama said it will take time but…with enough Chaos created, it will be attracted eventually."

"Monster Zero… I look forward to it."

…

A few days later

Japan, Kuoh

Jin Skyward

"You guys ready?"

They all nodded. It's been a few days and the time to venture back into the [Pocket Dimension] has come. I told everyone that we'll be in there for the next fifteen years, but said that we could take a break a few years down the line, but they didn't mind, so that's good for us.

Now then— The Culture Festival is coming up, my trip to the Shinto God's realm, and finally the rematch and exhibition match between Sairaorg and I. After that, the Rating Game between Bael and Gremory… Jam-packed.

Now, will the Egyptian Gods approach me after the match, or will I have to go there myself…? I'll visit Kurousagi just to be sure…

"Alright, let's get jiggy with it."

…