9 Victory and Devastation
Tenshi inhaled deeply again and yanked the beast toward him as his odachi waited eagerly in his fingers.
The beast was being hauled away once more, and its enormous form trembled. The sight of a sharp weapon in her "prey's" hand caused it to become terrified, and an unknown emotion consumed it, causing her legs to burrow themselves in the ground as it was being pulled.
It wasn't what she had anticipated or thought when it lost control of the ground and flew in the direction of her prey. As it drew nearer, it noticed the massive weapon tiled diagonally and pointed downward. It was aware of what was going to happen.
Tenshi firmly grasped the handle as he threw himself toward the thing with his feet planted on the ground. An explosive noise was made, and smoke of dirt erupted beneath Tenshi's feet.
The odachi came into touch with the creature as its mouth expanded and split it in half.
Tenshi tore through the thing and balanced himself on the other side while giddily laughing.
The creature was the cause of his fortune and misfortune. He would still have both hands if it hadn't attacked, but he wouldn't have met Liya, a member of the family he had built.
Liya descended to the ground to applaud Tenshi's triumph. Because of their relationship, she was able to feel Tenshi's feelings, and she was jumping as well.
"Well…" Tenshi murmured, gazing at the worm he had just cut in half.
"I hope I didn't break its heart."
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With her hands on her slender hips, the curvaceous woman replied, "I think you should take a break, honey."
The red-haired woman, floating in the air with her toes on the ground, murmured, "I can still go on."
Rias was performing the plank as Grayfia had earlier instructed, but she was floating in the air thanks to her magic rather than utilizing her arms and elbows as supports.
Although what Rias was doing may seem absurd, it is helpful. Weights were placed on her back, assisting both her body and her abysmal magic control.
Rias Gremory's mother, Venelana Gremory, was concerned that her young daughter was pushing herself too far as she watched Rias body twitch.
It had been some time since Rias's previous experience, in which she got a vision of Tenshi, as he was near his death.
Since then, Rias has undergone a slight transformation. Admittedly, it wasn't much, but even so, she has undergone enough of a change to begin taking her training seriously and to stop acting out whenever she didn't get her way.
Unfortunately… Rias took her training so seriously that she hadn't gone to school or been outside for weeks. Even Rias's peers were concerned about her new behavior change.
Venelana did discover some hints from Rias, who has remained quiet about whether she has had other dreams involving that boy Tenshi.
Venelana had a hunch that Tenshi had somehow ended up in the Underworld or a comparable location. Sadly, despite her best efforts, there was no information regarding Tenshi in the Underworld.
Venelana was unable to locate even the slightest hint as to the nature of the worm-like thing Rias had stated, let alone where it dwelt.
The Gremory family was already having problems when they heard the information from Rias. They had just learned something new... Creatures that don't exist in the Underworld, as well as a location where everything is red rather than purple like it is in the Underworld.
After days of independent research by Sirzechs and Ajuka, they discovered a location where, with the aid of Grayfia, a member of the Six Houses of Lucifer, they had obtained information from ancient ruins deep beneath the Underworld.
That script contained details about the Alphaverse, which contains both Hell and the Netherworld.
Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Wrath, Heresy, Violence, Malebolge, Cocytus, and Purgatory were among the locations they learned about.
The first and uppermost circle of "Hell" is called "Limbo." Additionally, the ninth and lowest circle of Hell is Cocytus.
If Tenshi was fortunate, Venelana surmised, he might have ended up in the Hades-ruled Realm of the Dead in the Underworld.
If Tenshi is unlucky, she believes he might be in Malebolge, the eighth circle of the Netherworld's "hell." According to texts and legend, it is the location where persons with wicked spirits, wicked souls, and evil minds who have committed misdeeds are sent and punished.
Finally, there is Purgatory, which is a location within the Netherworld but outside of the rings of hell. It is the only location in the entire Netherworld (and Underworld) that has a connection to Third Heaven; it is a place where those who have passed away are judged on whether they are headed to heaven or hell.
Venelana knew that no one ever explored the complete Underworld, so finding this information caused a massive shakedown in the devil community. Of course, this information was not given to the public, not even to those old coots, the Old Satan Faction holed up in good knows where given this information, finding it unsafe. The information is only accessible to Gremory, Sirzechs, and their allies.
Venelana was aware that it would only be a matter of time before some moron exposed this information out of greed.
*Bam*
Darting at Rias, who was slouched on the ground and covered in sweat beads, swiftly diverted Venelana's attention from her inner dialogue.
Concerned, she approached Rias to see how she was doing. Being a devil, however, has the drawback that they cannot use healing magic. Only the Phoenix tear or by themselves can devils heal. Due to the Phenex family's monopoly, Phoenix tears are highly expensive. Although recently a sacred gears path existed.
"Rias!" Rias, whose face was pressed into the ground, was gently shaken by Venelana.
"(⇀‸↼‶)... I'm doing fine. But I'm hurting inside and out" Rias grumbles inanely.
Venelana's cherry lips curled into a knowing smile; she was glad that Rias still acted childishly occasionally because it was the quality she hoped Rias would never lose.
She grabbed her up in her embrace and led her to the restroom after clearing her mind.
"We haven't had a mother-daughter bath time in a long time… we're going to have so much fun~"
[A/N: (^_^;) … I apologize if you found this part to be dull. There is so much information I wanted to include, but I chose to offer it to you in bits and pieces so you wouldn't be overwhelmed. ( ˘ᴗ˘ )]
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"Did you find anything, Kuroka?" questioned a gorgeous blonde with a small build and blue eyes,
"Noo~ Lefay-chan, But I did discover a hint about it," a breathtaking young woman with long, black hair cut in split bangs and hazel-gold eyes with cat-like pupils with a fluffy tail and was dressed in a black kimono stated. A sophisticated man would say that she is crowned as a sovereign of cat girls, or what a cat girl should be.
"it's good, else we would have faced Ophis-sama fury" Lefay's remark made the cat-girl shudder.
"I am not complaining, though I don't understand why Vali wasn't sent on this mission," Kuroka spoke while happily grinning.
After noticing her smile, Lefay inquired, "I see you were able to... stalk your sister?"
Kuroka bared her adorable pink tongue but made no comment. She primarily accepted the mission to see her younger sister.
"So, how are things going with Vali?" Lefay enquired, causing the formerly beaming countenance to flinch.
"Yeah… No progress. I don't even think he can see me past as a 'comrade'... He cares for me, and I know it. However, he simply cares for me as much as he has always cared for everyone else" With her cat ears downcast, Kuroka murmured somberly.
Since joining this group, Kuroka has been attempting to woo Vali, the organization's head and the strongest member, into mating with her. Unfortunately, Vali is a battle-maniac who only cares about taking on stronger opponents.
Kuroka's aim was to rescue her clan, the Nekomata, from extinction and restore it to greatness. However, she needs to have children with the most powerful man to accomplish her goal, and she is willing to sacrifice her body.
Kuroka may come across as someone who exploits her body, but it is not who she is. She has been a virgin for a very long time, and she only wanted to become pregnant with Vali because he was the most capable man she had ever encountered.
After everything she had gone through, feelings of love and affection were long gone from her thoughts. She is just concerned with surviving and exacting revenge on those who killed her clan. That's also one of the reasons Vali, who was well aware of Kuroka's past, feels sorry for her and ignores her approaches.
Kuroka felt a menacing presence behind her and instantly became rigid.
When she turned around, a cute young girl with long black hair that reached her hips and dark eyes caught her eye. Her pointed ears were a little odd, and her dark, black eyes had reptilian-like slit pupils.
…
[A/N: I am not explaining further… it feels weird]
…
Lefay and Kuroka both bowed their heads and spoke "Ophis-sama."
The Ouroboros Dragon and the Infinite Dragon God are two names for the Dragon God Ouroboros or Ophis, for short. She is among the strongest dragons that have ever existed.
While Ophis appeared to be in middle school, a magic user could detect that he was continually releasing immense, terrifying power.
"Did you find him?" questioned Ophis with her usual emotionless tone.
Kuroka shuddered since she couldn't find "him" and could only piece together a few pieces of information about "him."
"I only discovered his name is Tenshi Hoshiko... and he is now missing." Kuroka claimed, mustering her bravery, that she had also discovered other details regarding how Rias Gremory might get in touch with this individual. However, Kuroka had kept these discoveries a secret for her younger sister, who was a rook in Rias's peerage.
Ophis narrowed her eyes, and with a wave of her hand, Kuroka flew towards the wall and crashed.
There was stillness... While everyone else in the area was staring at Ophis, they all began to kneel.
"Liar… Call everyone. You are going to attack the Underworld and deliver Rias Gremory to me!" Ophis announced, sending a shiver across the crowd
Kuroka was terrified upon hearing Ophis; she believed that as a master in Senjutsu, she might deceive Ophis; however, she was unaware that Ophis had already read her mind.
"You... shall be personally sent to... Hell... as a punishment!"
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