Chapter 13: An Itsy Bitsy Spider

Disclaimer: I do not own Highschool DxD but I wonder if the people that keep track of copyright visit this page. I own the OCs. Do you like my OCs copyright people?

Hakone

A town rested on the far west side of the Kanagawa Prefecture. It centered on a large lake called Lake Ashi and the number of people that lived here was a little over 1,000. The overall area was more of a park as many houses were spread out but a small town center did exist. Kids and parents walked through the center saying hello to those they knew. Old men played games like Shogi and small carts littered the grounds, selling different things to the people. A board with information on it stood in the center; it either contained the mayor's announcements or the large events happening in the isolated country. It was an ordinary town that hasn't seen anything exciting in a long time.

'You would never image a Great Yokai that likes to enslave/eat her victims is stalking around.' I sat on a bench by a small cart that sold tea. Vargas was haggling with the cart owner and eventually got to 2 cups of green tea for half their price.

"Ugh, selling this subpar tea for such a steep price. What a fraud!" Vargas walked over and handed me a cup before sitting down. Vargas had a real passion for tea and can't stand it when someone makes tea not to his liking.

"You fought with the owner for 10 minutes for this? It's not even that ba-" I stopped once Vargas shot me a look and choose to stay quiet. Trying to argue with Vargas about certain teas is like stopping Melissa from eating too much or stopping Samantha from telling morbid jokes. You just don't. "Anyway, this place is as peaceful as advertised. I haven't a single crazy spider lady or her maidens."

"You guys aren't actually here for that stupid rumor?" We turned our heads to a young man that stopped by us, he was walking his dog.

'...Cute dog.' I lightly scratched behind the ear of the small pet. "Yeah, we're here to see if the rumor had any truth to it. Who are you?" The young man gained a confident smile.

"My name is Yukan! Direct disciple of Priest Sangan! Pleasure to meet you!" Yukan gave a light bow. I gave the young priest a weird look before nodding back.

"It's nice to meet you too. Not to be cold or anything but…why are you talking us?" Yukan gained a bashful look and rubbed the back of his head.

"We don't get a lot of visitors here and I couldn't help myself."

'That explains the stares.' I noticed a long time ago the attention Vargas and I were getting. It wasn't malicious or fearful (I would know) but more curious and guarded. "Well since you're here, I've got to ask. Many men have disappeared on the road and everyone's blaming the Jorogumo. What's that about?" Yukan snorted

"That's just superstitious nonsense." I couldn't help the lopsided grin that appeared on my face.

"Aren't you a priest?"

"T-that's different! I pray to the Gods and they're all blaming some unfounded myth."

'Cause Gods are founded.' Granted, pantheons actually exist here but this boy in front of me doesn't know that by his reaction. "Still, if it isn't the Jorogumo then how do you explain all the disappearances?"

"Lots of men like to test their bravery by climbing through the forest to Mt. Fuji and back, they typically get lost." Yukan picked up his dog. "It happens quite often so I don't understand why the people want to blame a folk tale."

'Careful kid, that folk tale might eat you if she hears you.' The young priest was nice enough but he left to go do his daily prayer shortly after. I turned to Vargas who had a thoughtful expression as he watched Yukan walk away.

"Well don't keep me in suspense."

"What do you mean?" I deadpanned.

"Unless I got your sexual orientation wrong…" The spirit inheritor snorted. "I guessed as much, so you want to explain the face." Vargas looked in the direction where Yukan left before facing me.

"Have you heard of the Priest Mangan?"

"Nope." It was Vargas turn to deadpan.

"…I can never understand how you know so much about the supernatural world and yet know so little." He shook his head and continued. "Priest Mangan lived here a couple decades ago; the Lord of the area rewarded him permission to set up a new shrine after the one at the summit of Komagatake was destroyed by natural forces."

"What did he do?" I asked while drinking my tea.

"He exorcised a nine headed dragon." I spit the tea all over his pant leg.

I ignored Vargas' "hey!" and looked up at him. "D-do you mean…" Hydra's, like the legend portrays, can almost instantly grow back any head that is cut, ripped, or crushed off. Their regeneration ability is real but it's a myth that they can grow back an infinite amount of heads. The maximum amount they can grow back is eight. There was only ever one nine headed dragon that actually existed.

"The true Yamata no Orochi was killed by Susanoo." Vargas said as he wiped the stain. "I don't know what it was, but I do know that Priest Mangan was a real Taoist spell master. Priest Sangan should be his descendant."

'…What is it with Hero descendants and their unoriginal names?' I shook my head remembering Cao Cao and Siegfried. "Well, whoever Mangan was I hope he did a good job because I came to kill a crazy spider lady. Not a Yamata no Orochi reject."

"I'll drink to that." We clicked cups (though mine was already empty) and after Vargas was done, we made for the hideout in Hakone. It was a small wooden house but thanks to Maven's space magic it was much bigger on the inside and with Samantha's protection arrays a mortal army would have trouble getting in here. They couldn't do this in Constantinople because Froid was a more magic based General; Shiruku mainly relies on her Chi and Senjutsu.

'I wouldn't doubt it if she already knows we're here.' Lady Shriuku is even weaker then Froid all things considered as her abilities are more meant for stealth and ensnarement. My Chi Vision is already considered a high level Chi technique with a large range and for a Great Yokai like her? I wouldn't be surprised if she found us the moment we arrived. That may seem like a bad thing but that just means she'll attack us sooner than later and we won't need to go looking for her. I sat on the porch of the house, overlooking the small town. I smiled once I saw two kids carrying a chicken while being chased by a store owner.

'I wonder how mom and dad are doing.' I sighed remembering my parents, hoping that they were alright and healthy. 'Maybe mom's forgiven dad by now…and maybe Kokabiel will stop being all war crazy but let's be realistic here.' Adrian came up and stood next to me.

"It's quite something huh?" He was looking at the huge mountain in the distance.

"Yeah, what are the odds Shiruku made her base there?" Mt Fuji was a massive natural wonder. It couldn't compare to Mount Olympus but it had its own charm because the mountain wasn't created with magic or by some other supernatural creature (Maven told me so).

"Pretty high." Adrian nodded. "Enough distance so people that go there can't call for help and large enough inside to house whoever she captures. Have you found anything yet?"

"No." I shook my head. "I tried looking for Chi signatures but there aren't any spider Yokai signatures anywhere. I also don't remember the aura of that Emissary so I can't track her. Has Melissa found anything?" Adrian shook his head.

"She hasn't found anything either. But I wouldn't worry too much, Shiruku will slip up and we'll find her. She's known for being particularly greedy."

We walked back inside and everyone was ready to go. The plan was quite simple actually; bait Shiruku with what she wants, unique beings. Melissa was to go with Vargas, the spirit inheritor of Galahad while I went with Samantha, a Sacred Gear user and spell expert. Melissa already put Youjutsu spells on everyone, the moment foreign Chi enters their system we will know. But either I or Melissa still needs to be there to push out the Chi. Maven, Adrian, and Aindrea will be waiting in the hideout.

"So how obvious should we be?"

"Not too obvious. Just walk around, see the sights and honestly have a good time. Lady Shiruku's greedy but she isn't dumb. She's also supposed to be very patient so this may take awhile." We nodded before walking out of the hideout. Melissa gave me a quick kiss for good luck and we parted ways.

3 Hours Later, Town Center

"So you're teacher was what? Contracted with the Angels to learn all that magic?" Samantha shook her head.

"No, she summoned an Angel and they made a deal that she had to serve under them in exchange for the magical knowledge." She ate another sushi roll. "My teacher worked under the Great Seraph Raphael and after her years of service was over; she left to explore the world."

"…That sounds a lot like something a devil would do." I mumbled that as I ate.

"What was that?"

"It's nothing." I put down my chop sticks and looked around. We did as Adrian told us; we walked around and enjoyed the sights. There wasn't much to do but I was originally from a quiet town so this didn't bother me all that much. Samantha also hasn't said a complaint. The people were friendly enough and after showing us how, we even got to play a little Karuta with the old men.

'I still say they cheated.' Crazy thing is that even when I used Chi to enhance my senses, I still couldn't find out how they did it. 'Dumb anime logic bullshit. Old men beating people with superpowers at a reflex game makes no…' My train of thought ended there as my gaze stopped on a woman sitting on the other side of the street. She was a very beautiful woman. Shiny black hair, slim waist, sensual curves, and she was giving me a smile that made my heart rate spike. I felt my body heating up from her look and I couldn't help myself. She was gorgeous. She was heavenly. She was perfe-

'Hold the phone.' I frowned as my heart beat slowed and my mind cleared. 'Heavenly? Sensual? When the hell do I ever describe a woman like that?' Then I felt the problem. Chi that wasn't mine entered my body and was doing something to my brain, I quickly expelled it. The woman seemed shocked by this and I turned to look at Samantha. Her eyes were dazed and I could feel the Youjutsu spell Melissa put on her was sending out an alarm. I quickly placed my hand on her shoulder and sent my own Chi inside her, expelling the woman's.

"W-what happened!?" Samantha came to and I looked over to where the woman was sitting. She wasn't there anymore. I smiled.

"We got a bite." I didn't bother activating Chi Vision since she was in my passive range and I didn't sense her. Her Chi signature however…

"Let's go!" I quickly followed the trail with Samantha running a bit behind. We ran through the town center and into the forest. There were two reasons why she didn't cover her Chi trail; either she couldn't while running away or…

"Pierce…" We both stopped once we were far in the forest, the sky turned a reddish purple.

"I know." I stared at the woman we were chasing sitting on top of a tree. She had a victorious smile on her face. 'Right…Battle Barrier, I keep forgetting about them.'

"I thought they would learn after the first group but hey, I'm not complaining." The woman gave a really sadistic smile and licked her lips. "I just love when toys come here of their own choosing."

'…What a waste of a good face.' I internally sighed. "The first group?" She snorted

"Like you don't know." She stood up on the branch. "Shame my charms didn't work. You're just my type, I loved breaking men lik-" She tilted her head, dodging the arrow I shot at her head. Her face darkened as a cut appeared on her cheek. "Seriously?"

I shrugged as I held the crossbow. "You weren't saying anything useful so I attacked. It's kind of a rule I have." I was about to shoot again before the woman lifted her hand and I noticed over a dozen large aura's dig out of the ground. Large, man sized spiders appeared and surrounded us, they all hissed.

'…Yeah, I saw that coming.' I wasn't really bothered by the large, hairy, man eating spiders oddly enough. When you can shatter concrete with your bare hands and outrun a cheetah; spiders don't really give you the creeps anymore.

"…They're kind of cute." Samantha on the other hand…

"Please don't keep one as a pet." I sighed as the woman and even the spiders looked at the healer strangely. Not wasting this moment I shot 3 more arrows at the woman but she jumped out of the way. The spiders rushed at us and I took out my sword, slicing the one in front clean in half. Spider guts fell to the ground and on my clothes.

"Oh that's just gross!" I sliced apart another 2 as they came from my left and grabbed Samantha's waist as I jumped in the air, avoiding the dog (spider?) pile. I landed on a tree and watched as the spider started climbing. I made 3 Chi Spears and threw them down; they all pierced through a spider. "Are you going to be alright up here?" I got a quick nod as she put a yellow barrier around herself. Seeing she was secure, I activated Touki and jumped back to the ground squashing a spider to death.

"Let's get to it!" I quickly got to work cutting and punching every spider that came at me to bits. With Chi Burst they couldn't hit me and my Chi coated sword made it like I was cutting through butter. Very nasty, green butter. 'Urghhh…I hate my brain sometimes.' Another spider tried to jump on my back but I grabbed one of its limbs and threw it towards its siblings. I lifted my sword and used Sword Fury (that's what I named the meter long blade of Chi), slamming it down on the group of spiders. A massive boom was caused on impact and large cloud of dust picked up. When the dust cleared all that was left was a crater dozens of meters wide and one foot deep.

"Holy shit…" I kicked behind me as a spider try take advantage of my stupor. I only used Sword Fury inside the Basilisk and to stop Froid from escaping. I had no idea its destructive capability was that high and that was before training with Athena. 'Then again, that move took a large chunk of my Chi.' I spinned in place, cutting all the spiders that surrounded me and created Chi Swords that flew towards the remaining spiders, killing them all. Sensing no more in the area I looked over to where the woman was last standing. She wasn't there, big surprise.

'She also didn't leave a Chi signature to follow this time.' I walked pass the mountain of spider corpses and stood next to the tree Samantha was perched on. I outstretched my arms. Giving a quick "wee" she jumped down and I caught her in my arms. Samantha thanked me before standing and looking around at the scene of the slaughter.

"Do you think that was a probe or something?" I shrugged

"They probably did this to test our strength. I should have attacked her from the start." I sighed at my blunder before we heard a caw. The shadow crow that Samantha took with her from the Shadow Realm landed on her shoulder. There was an arrow in its beak.

"What you got there James?" Samantha took the arrow from her pet and found there was blood on the tip. It was the arrow that grazed the woman. We both looked at each other.

"You wouldn't happen to know any spells that deal with blood do you?"

"No." Samantha shook her head before smiling. "But our resident genius mage might." We both grinned and made our way back to the hideout, the Battle Barrier long gone.

Hideout in Hakone

The team was in the living room sitting around a large pile of magic books and scrolls Maven took out. She didn't know any blood spells by heart but there were some in her space ring that may help. I was a little concerned with Maven's definition of "some" when she took out the mountain of literature. I was holding a magic scroll and looking it over.

"Hm? Hmhmn. Yep." I lifted my head from the scroll. "I have no idea what I'm looking at." The scroll was snatched from my hands by Maven.

"Then stop picking them up and go do something else." I left to the corner of shame (basically the couch where Melissa, Vargas, and Adrian were sitting) and sat down. Maven, Aindrea, and Samantha were the real magic users on the team; everyone else either used their natural abilities or Chi. I still had the translation necklace Maven gave me but that's only for regular languages. I can't read ancient text or Magical Languages. Magical Languages are basically what Magicians learn to read and need to actually understand to use magic. Every magic circle that exists be they Devil, Angel, God, Yokai, etc. contains a Magical Language. There's no artifact that can by pass that requirement and you also need learn to do calculations (if you're a human magician). I could have asked Maven to teach me but the 4 days we were on Olympus was spent training with Athena. I honestly forgot too and I already made plans to get lessons from Maven once we deal with Lady Shiruku.

'Oh look how confident I 'am, I'm already planning what to do after this.' I shook my head as laid back. 'I never understood why protagonists limit themselves when there are other avenues for strength.' I for one am not prideful enough to solely relay on Chi and Senjutsu (when I learn some). I'll take Magic, Holy/Demon Swords; steal a powerful Sacred Gear if the owner is a real asshole, etc. If the opportunity presents itself I will take it, not because I'm power hungry but in this crazy world having more strength is always better.

"Found something!" Maven perked up while holding a scroll. She placed it on the table and we all came to take a look. Samantha nodded her head after reading a little of it.

"Yeah, this could work."

"What is it?" Vargas asked for us non-magic users

"It's a blood rune design." Maven took out a small round rune and smeared the blood from the arrow tip on it. She said a couple of words that I didn't understand and the rune glowed. A pattern slowly appeared and she placed it back on the table. "As long as the original owner of the blood gets close then the rune will start pulsing." I lifted a brow at that.

"After what happened, I doubt she'll be easy to find again."

"Well until something comes along this is the best we got." Adrian picked up the rune and observed it before putting it back down. "Can you make more?"

"No, there was only enough blood for one rune."

"Then we'll take turns patrolling with it. I hope when we find her, she'll know where Lady Shiruku is." I snorted.

"Sadistic hot lady that uses giant spiders to attack us? Yeah, I'll think she'll have an idea." We all chuckled at that and turned in for the day. Melissa grabbed my hand and gave me cheeky smirk.

"You thought she was attractive?" I deadpanned

"Why yes, having man eating spiders that want to kill me are what I look for in a woman." She chuckled before pressing her large breasts against my chest and giving me a deep kiss. We stayed like this for awhile and half way through she even used Bouchujutsu. When we separated we were both breathing heavily. "W-what was that for?" I enjoyed it very much and definitely wanted to do it again but I was curious where that came from. She just gave me a smile before lightly pecking me and backing away.

"Just wanted to do it. Good night." Melissa retreated to her room and I swear she added a small sway to her hips as she closed the door.

'…Thank you Ichiei!' I did a small fist pump and thanked the creator of DxD for making every supernatural woman so damn hot. We haven't gone beyond kissing, dates, and a bit of foreplay because of how much time we've been together and other things taking priority (*cough* crazy monster god *cough*). But she's been getting more and more aggressive, in the good way. I had a silly smile as I entered my room and went to bed.

2 Days Later, Town Center

"God damn it! I know you're cheating you shitty old man!" I was over it as this point. This was the fifth game of Karuta and I lost again. 'But how!? I'm actually cheating with Chi and I still can't win!' It was absurd. All I got were laughs as everyone watched my outburst. Old man Samisen just smirked as he shuffled the cards and asked if I wanted a rematch. "Like hell you old cheater!" I walked over to where Maven was eating ramen and sat down next to her.

"You lost again?" She asked before swallowing some noodles.

"Yes." I grumbled under my breath. "It's ridiculous! But I swear, by the time we're done with Shiruku I'll beat that old geezer, I swear on Ichiei!"

"…Who?" Maven was confused by the name. I chuckled when I thought about it. Ichiei is actually the one that created all of DxD, so it was funny with all the faiths around he doesn't have on-

'...Oh…' My eyes widened as I rubbed my space ring and a paper appeared in my hand. On the top of the paper, all it said was "Bucket List". There were only 2 goals on the paper.

1: Create a Supernatural Mercenary Association

2: Sneak into Biblical Heaven and see if they had a picture of God

I quickly wrote a third goal.

3: Create a religion based around Ichiei Ishibumi

My grin threatened to split my face in two as I laughed like an evil genius. The entire time Maven looked at me like I lost my mind.

"…I really shouldn't have given him that space ring…" She scooted over before going back to eating.

Jokes aside, it's been a slow couple of days. We still haven't got a clue on where Shiruku is and the woman that attacked us was nowhere to be found. Besides enjoying the peaceful town and training, there really wasn't much happ-

'…Right, fictional universe logic. Things are slow because the world's winding up to throw you a very hard curve ball.' Why was I thinking this? Cause the curve ball came in the form of 2 vaguely familiar auras. They both felt like Naizer but without the insect aura, it was instead a reptile's. They suddenly appeared in Hakone and were making their way through the town center.

"Maven." She looked at me with serious eyes.

"Yeah, I felt them too. They direct teleported without a marker. Who are they?"

"Devils." Maven's eyes widened.

I looked in the direction they were coming and Maven followed suit. It was a young woman and an older man. The young woman was short, had light autumn hair, a pretty face and was quite curvy. The older man was tall, had brown hair, a suit and was handsome. They both had slit eyes.

'Well they're subtle.' The younger woman must have felt my gaze as she turned to look at me. She glared for a second in hate before she walked out of sight.

'…I can tell we're going to be great friends!' I sarcastically thought as I looked at Maven. "Should we go say hello?"

"I don't think that's a good idea." Maven stood up. "We should group up with everyone else before confronting them." I shrugged at the suggestion and followed her. It was a simple enough plan; meet up with everyone else before talking to the new people. Real simple.

'Well it would be, if they weren't following us.' The moment we got up and made for the hideout, the two Devils started following us. "Maven."

She stopped and turned around. We were in a deserted path and the Devils must have realized they were found as they walked out their hiding spot. The woman was really glaring at us in hatred.

"Can we help yo-"

"Where's my brother?" We both frowned when the woman said that.

"We don't-" The woman didn't let me finish as she closed the distance between us. I crossed my arms to block her punch and a boom was heard as I flew back.

"Pierce!" I smashed through multiple trees and carved a long dirt trail. I quickly rolled to the side as the woman tried to land on me. A crater was left where my head was and I saw the lady's new form. Her limbs became draconic in nature with sharp claws and scales.

"Where is my brother?!"

"Lady, I don't know what you're talking about! How about you cal-"

"Bullshit!" She was on me again and I had to activate Touki to keep up. Funnily enough, the moment I did that she started fighting harder. Every punch I blocked felt like I was being hit with a hammer and more than once did she cut through my Touki, leaving bloody marks that burned. I kicked the woman in the stomach, sending her flying back and looked to Maven. She was casting fire spells to meet the other Devil's ice attacks.

"Oh shit!" I ducked the woman's swipe and grabbed her other arm that tried to gut me. I flung over my shoulder and slammed her right into the ground. I leaned back to avoid her kick and when she got up we brawled again. I Chi Burst to dodge her tail sweep (yeah she has tail!) and I kicked in her ribs. She groaned before clawing my chest, right over my old scar and I punched her gut. We went back and forth a lot like this and I finally had it when she nearly clawed my eye out.

"Where is-" I hit her in the face, breaking her nose.

"I heard you the last fucking time!" I kicked her feet from under her and when she was on the ground, I hit her with a Seismic Fist to the gut. A large crater appeared behind her and she spewed out a large amount of blood. She paled immediately and didn't get up, choosing to take a breather. "Are you calm now!?" She looked up at me in anger before her stomach became bloated and her throat enlarged. "What the fu-" My instincts screamed at me to block and I poured all of my Chi into Touki. Then I saw a blinding, crimson color.

Hideout in Hakone

Melissa played with the small brooch Pierce got her back in Constantinople. She then looked at the bracelet that he got for her after she ate every dish that one restaurant had. Pierce said that had to be new record in her weight class and she deserved a trophy. So he got her a bracelet. Melissa shook her head with a smile at the memory and her boyfriend's excitement.

"Pierce and Maven are in patrol right?" She turned her head to see Adrian walk up to her. Melissa was sitting on the porch.

"Yeah, they left an hour ago. They should still be in the town center."

"You okay?" Adrian asked

"Yeah…why wouldn't I be?" He shrugged

"You had heavy look on her face." Melissa didn't answer him that time and just looked ahead.

"…Adrian?"

"Hm?"

"…Do you really think we have a chance against Zeth?" She remembered Zeus' aura and even now it scared her like nothing else. Going against someone who had the same strength as the God King of Olympus just seemed like suicide. He may be weak now but who really knows how long that will last? Zeth may find a way to restore his strength and then we'll have no chance.

"…I don't know." Adrian crouched next to her. "But we won't know till we try. Humans have done some pretty great things Melissa. So for a Yokai like you this should be easy!" There was silence before Melissa gave a weird smile and placed a hand on Adrian's shoulder.

"You almost had it, keep working on it though." Adrian slumped at that.

"Damn it, how the hell does Pierce make this stuff up on the spot?" Melissa laughed at Adrian's lament. "Are you thinking about him?" Melissa stopped laughing before her face became somber. Adrian frowned at this. "What wrong?"

"It's…it was just so easy before." Melissa looked out in distance. "I knew the risks, I knew what might happen if we fail, and I've come to terms with it. But…"

"But now there's Pierce." Melissa gave a humorless chuckle and shook her head.

"I might never see my parents again, or my clan, or my sister and brothers and I still came along…" God, she sounds horrible when put like that. "But it's when I meet Pierce that I get cold feet…Urghhhh, it makes no sense!" Melissa felt like she was going crazy.

"Love does that." Adrian chuckled at the look of pure bewilderment Melissa had after saying that.

"…I've been with him for a month at most." Adrian just reached for his sword and unhinged the pummel. A wedding ring fell into his palm.

"Love doesn't make sense Melissa." He gave her the wedding ring. "At least, that's what my wife always tells me." Melissa's eyes widened.

"Y-you're married?" She played with the wedding ring before giving it back.

"Yes and what you have may not be love but it's real. So don't think too much on it, just do what feels right to you." Adrian placed the ring back in the pummel of his God made sword and stood up.

Melissa stood in a daze and didn't speak till much later.

"I-" That was all she got out before a massive explosion interrupted her and bright red flames covered a large section of the forest. The blood red flames started to spread and both of them could hear panic in the small town. Everyone else walked out to see what happened.

"Let's go!" Adrian didn't hesitant as he ordered and they all ran towards the flames.

Back to Pierce

It was hot. It was hot as hell.

'…Actually, the Underworld isn't as hot as they say it is so that's not right…' An inferno was raging around me and hundreds of meters of land were scorched. I was more exhausted then hurt as pouring all of my Chi into Touki stopped the bulk of the flames. I was on my knees and I looked up to the woman who I was fighting.

"H-h-how!?" Rage boiled inside me.

"How am I not ashes? Because I'm fucking awesome that's how!" I was pissed, but it wasn't at her (okay, maybe some of it). This woman was angry, confused, and sad all at once. Her aura was making that clear as day. She had the speed, strength, and durability to match my own and that flame breathe was something else but that was it. That was all she had. The Devil woman had no form, was attacking in anger making her sloppy, and at any time I could have taken out my sword and loped her head clean off. But I didn't. Because something was wrong here and killing this woman wouldn't give me any answers. I'm not some altruistic hero that's going to redeem every person he fights (cause when I find that spider lady I'm cutting her head clean off). But I'm not going to start killing people that seem more like sad little kids who are mad at something than anything else (even her killing intent was pitiful). I felt water splashed over me and I looked up to Maven casting a water spell, quenching the flames. She looked alright beside her arm being covered in frostbite. When I looked over at her opponent he was knocked out and was covered in a lightning rope. I got up and walked towards me opponent.

"S-stay away!" She tried backing away but I wasn't in the mood to deal with this. I hit her on the temple, knocking her out and carried her over my shoulder.

"Pierce!" I looked over and I saw everyone arrive at the scene. Melissa ran up to me. "Are you alright!?" Her eyes widened with all the claws marks over my body and the small burns.

"Its fine, they're shallow at best. Let's get out of here before the towns people come with pitch forks and torches." No Battle Barrier was put up this time and we had to go before things get hectic. We made our way back to the hideout and the remaining Chi I had was enough to heal my injuries, so Samantha only needed to work on Maven's arm.

1 Hour Later, Hideout in Hakone

"Ssss…" Maven sucked in a breath as Samantha cast a healing spell over her blackened arm. She had to wait for the frost to thaw before she can work on healing it. When it was done, her arm was still a little black from the freezing done to her muscles.

"Damn it, he sure got me." It was worth it to land a winning blow but it still hurt.

"Here." I placed my hands on Maven's arm and sent some of my Chi inside(I ate a lot so I recovered pretty fast). My Chi moved in her body and refreshed the pain in her arm. I slowly massaged the arm and after 5 minutes of moaning from Maven, her arm was perfectly fine.

"…Thank you." Her face was blood red and she couldn't meet me in the eye. I laughed.

"Anytime." I got up to join everyone else as they were all staring at our prisoners. Melissa elbowed me when I stood next to her.

"Were you enjoying yourself?" I deadpanned at her smile and knocked her on the head, telling her to focus. "That's rich coming from you!" I couldn't deny that.

"So…" I started. "Who's going to wake them up?" No one moved so I rolled my eyes and crouched down the woman I fought. I tapped her on the cheek.

"Wake up." She wasn't getting up so I tapped her again.

"Wake up." I tapped her a little harder.

"Wake up." I tapped her a little harder than before.

"Wake up." You can see where this is going.

3 Minutes Later

"Wak-" My hand was winded back ready to slap her again but she got up. Her left cheek was bright red and she had a crazy look in her eyes.

"Alright, alright I'm up, I'm up!" She laid back down in exhaustion. I just shrugged.

"I already knew that." There's a clear change in someone's aura when their sleeping and awake. She woke up at my fifth tap and pretended to be unconscious. The Devil woman looked at me shock.

"T-then why didn't you just call me out on it!? Why did you keep slapping me!?"

"I'm petty." I stood up, ignoring her look of pure shock and everyone's look of pity towards her. "Why did you attack us?" Her face became hard before she stayed silent and looked away. "Oh, the silent treatment huh? Well I know just the thing to make you talk. Maven!" She jumped up at that and the mage came over. "Do it."

Maven deadpanned. "…You're an idiot." She waved her hand and a magic circle appeared under the Devil woman. "Et Sic Augendae." What was that? It was a strengthening spell that enhances all your senses like how I do with Chi. All of the senses (yes, even those). Of course, those with basic magic resistance aren't affected by it but the Devil woman was beaten and exhausted from our fight earlier, she had no demonic energy left. I actually pity her a little now.

I rubbed my space ring and under the cautious eyes of everyone I took out…a long feather. The silence was deafening.

"Pierce…what the hell?" Adrian rubbed his face. He looked tired. I've been causing a lot of mental fatigue to the poor guy since coming on this team. I walked over to the woman, who at this point had not a clue what was going on. She quickly found out.

I tickled her. Obviously (what were you guys expecting?). Oh yeah, do you know what happens to a supernatural creature like say Devils, who are already superior in terms of senses, and enhance them even further?

"HahahahahahahaIgiveIgivehahahahaahpleaseI'lltellyouanythingjustpleasestohahahahahha." She didn't last 4 minutes. I shook my head as I stopped and stood over her heaving, sweaty body.

"Pathetic." It was truly disappointing. "I didn't even get to the nape." I sighed in the wasted chance and everyone just stared at me. Maven turned to Melissa.

"You're boyfriend is very weird." The Shadow Leopard had no argument against that.

After getting her breathe back and looking around, the woman's face went through some very interesting emotions. There was anger, then confusion, followed by realization, and finally ending in embarrassment. Her face lit up like a red glow stick (even more) and she mumbled a faint "shit". I quickly put the pieces together and I deadpanned the hardest I could.

"Oh you have got to be fucking with me." I rubbed my face and stared down at the bashful Devil. "…We're not who you think we are, are we?" She didn't react for a minute until giving a small nod. I sighed.

"Of course." I crouched down to her eye level. "Let's try this again. My name is Pierce, what's your name?" She stared at me with suspicious eyes before speaking.

"Sophia. Sophia Buné." Maven's spoke up in shock.

"A Buné? From the 72 Pillars, the clan of Dragon tamers and masters of Dragonification?" Sophia nodded at Mavens words.

'That explains the claws.' I remember the draconic limbs in the fight. "Why did you attack us?"

"I-I thought you were with her. I thought if I captured you then you would lead me to my brother…I was wrong. I-I'm sorry." Sophia apologized and explained everything. Sophia and her brother were chasing after a Fallen Angel named Yeqon for years. Something happened that caused Yeqon to be exiled from the Grigori and the siblings saw their chance. The last sightings of Yeqon were in this town and that's where they met Lady Shiruku. She attacked them, enslaved her brother and made him beat his sister half to death. She escaped but she couldn't ask her clan to help because they weren't supposed to be out here. So she came back with her retainer Damian (the older man) and tried to save her brother. The reason she attacked us was because of me. My Chi is immense and she mistook me for a Yokai that worked under Shiruku.

"…Is me being able to use Chi really that rare?" I turned and asked everyone. I know in canon that many users of Chi and Senjutsu are mainly Yokai but come on, there are others.

"It's not that it's rare, it's just unusual. Most human Chi users are monks living high in the mountains, completely isolated from the world." Melissa shrugged.

"Well its getting old." I turned back to Sophia and undid her bindings. "Look, we're going after Shiruku and that means when we kill her, you're brother will be freed. You're welcome to help us, if that's alright with you?" She slowly nodded and I looked back at Adrian for his permission, he nodded as well. "Well all right then! Welcome to the party!" Everyone introduced themselves and Vargas brought up a good question.

"Who's going to wake him up?" He pointed to Damian on the floor still knocked out. I stepped forward.

"I'll do i-"

"Not you!" Everyone shouted with Melissa and Maven pulling me back from the unconscious man. I clicked my tongue.

"Spoil sports…" Sophia woke up her retainer and Samantha healed them of their injuries (though with their Devil physiology most of them were already healed). We got to talking and Sophia had a tracker that can find her brother.

"Where's the tracker pointing?" The Devil got up and looked out the window, right at the large mountain in the distance. Called it.

"He's somewhere on Mt Fuji. Lady Shiruku put up many seals on the mountain and I was going to capture you to get through them undetected. That would've failed miserably." Sophia gave a wry smile to her earlier plan. Adrian placed a hand on her shoulder.

"We'll get Shiruku and save your brother don't worry. Let's go, it's early so-" Adrian stopped once he say the thing in my hand. "Pierce?"

"Hm?"

"…What's with the flag?" I was holding a pole with a white flag attached to the tip. The initial P was on draw on the flag. I smirked.

"Oh this? I had it since we got here. We're going to a place next to the largest mountain on Earth Adrian. I saw this coming a mile away." He just blinked, and then he turned to look at Maven.

"You should have never-"

"I know! I know! I messed up! Let's go climb that damn mountain already!" Maven huffed and walked outside. Everyone laughed than followed the regretful mage, all the way to the great Mt Fuji.