Chapter 60: Set in motion

Beta read by n1ch, Shigiya, Solitary heart and 8kagi

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-Old abandoned church-

When I first accepted to let Asia live under my and Azazel's protection, I didn't really think too much about her future at that point. My goal was to give the excommunicated nun a safe environment to grow up and finish school in a few years. Attend university, pursue a career she desires and start living an independent life outside of the church.

Of course, the fact that she bore Twilight Healing as her Sacred Gear was not lost on me. No matter their power, strength, or classification—these items always made it impossible for their host to live a normal or peaceful life. Like a sick curse, God left for those 'lucky' enough to be chosen, probably as a way to counter their good fortune. One could possess the power to simply make flowers bloom a few days sooner and suddenly find themselves being hunted by rogue Devils, Exorcists, and Fallens for just being in possession of a gear. There could exist a mage thousand of times more powerful than an average human roaming the Earth without a faction to serve, yet they could easily be glossed over by all the pantheons for the simple reason of them not possessing a Sacred Gear.

These items just carried too much power and the ridiculous ability to grow infinitely stronger depending on the user's will.

Those who wielded Longinus were not the only ones who had access to a god-killing tool, they just had the ability to attain that power much faster than your regular Sacred Gear. Just like Vritra once told me, achieving a balance breaker meant breaking the norms and all the limitations to go beyond anything thought possible—and every gear could theoretically reach this point with enough training.

Asia was cursed from the beginning. To never be granted the life she wished to live. No matter how much she would have prayed or cried to God, for no such misfortune befall her, in the end, the inevitable would happen.

Vritra liked to talk about my luck being so bad due to a dragon's inherent nature of attracting danger and powerful beings towards them. But was that really true for only dragon gears?

I didn't think so.

I knew this. From the beginning, I knew that Asia would never remain truly safe around people like the other holders of Sacred Gears and me. Kiba, Gasper, and Sona's peerage. We all acted as a gigantic magnet for trouble, and what do you know, Kokabiel roamed Kuoh with the bloody holy swords, ready to use them for whatever purpose he desires.

I wanted to deny it.

Asia was safe with me.

She wouldn't be hurt.

Nothing bad would happen to her.

She was safe with me!

She was safe!

She was safe…

She… was safe…

She…

I would make sure that…

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…She would be killed at one point in the future due to my presence. Or at least, get caught up with another dangerous battle and get hurt.

It was inevitable with everything going on around me. It was a miracle how she was still alive with all of that Raynare thing in the past. I

"You're taking Asia away," I said, not bothering to hide the pain in my voice.

Yet, I also did not try to stop them in any way as even someone like me realized that course of action was the best for Asia. It was the responsible thing to do.

Gabriel, being one of the most empathic beings in this room, hesitated.

"I… I am. But, that depends if she wants to join me and leave for Heaven during these next few weeks. The process of turning a human into an angel hasn't been perfected, and we haven't reached the level the chess pieces Azuka Beelzebub created. Even my brother, Azazel, has admitted to struggling to recreate the process without the creator's help."

"So Azazel is also involved? And he's trying to recreate the Evil Piece system? I guess that makes sense."

Hmm, something felt off here. Why was she talking about creating their own version of the Evil Piece System? Couldn't God just convert a regular human to an angel, or was he incapable of doing it?

Out of the three Factions, the Fallen fell in the most disadvantaged position compared to the Angels and Devils. Sure, one could argue with the argument that the Devils were being targeted by both sides, but so were the Fallens. Fortunately, they could increase their numbers through the birth of half-Fallens like Akeno, with many choosing a human partner or Yokai to form a family and repopulate their species.

The Angels didn't share that luxury and had their numbers decrease every year. At least, that's what Azazel told me, and he didn't specify why didn't God just couldn't create more.

Yes, something definitely felt unnatural about this, as if I was missing an important piece of the puzzle.

"Asia, what do you think?" I asked the person who this matter concerned the most, leaving the mystery for later.

"I…" she was at a loss for words, still reeling from Gabriel's proposition. "Why do you want me to become an Angel, Gabriel-sama? God has deemed me unworthy and has thrown me out of his guiding light. Can I still face him after what I've done to merit his anger?" she questioned the Seraph, but was unable to look her in the eye.

"No!" Gabriel denied it immediately, surprising the young nun. "Father doesn't hate you. He would never hate any of his children."

"But then why…."

I decided to intervene. Placing my hands on Asia's shoulders, she looked at me with begging eyes for an answer to her situation. Not knowing what decision to take and even wanting to leave this place as soon as possible.

"You don't have to give an answer right now Asia. This is an important decision that will need a few days for you to figure out what you want. So don't rush it and take your time. Don't rush and take your time. In the meantime, can you wait for me outside the church for a bit? I have some important matters to discuss with Gabriel if you're okay with that."

Asia nodded to my words and ran out of the building without a word. I really wanted for her to just say 'no' and ask them to go back, but that was a selfish decision on my part, and I also knew that she would never say that to a Seraphim, of all beings. Knowing Asia, there was a real possibility of her declining the invitation, but I couldn't let her waste such an amazing opportunity just because she wanted to look out for me. It wasn't like we wouldn't see each other every again. So no matter what, I needed to make her certain about joining Gabriel.

Click

The entrance doors closed shut, and I was finally left alone with the duo in front of me.

I sighed.

Gabriel was the first one to speak.

"The choice the girl will have to make will not be easy. Whatever she may end up choosing, just let her know that I'll support her no matter what. The church Griselda is in charge of will always have its doors open for her, and if she has any request whatsoever, I'll do my best to fulfill them."

"I know," I said, knowing that this person was being honest with her words. "I'm glad you came. Your presence and words meant a lot to Asia,, and your proposition has more merits than I would like to admit. I believe you know what's been going on in Kuoh recently with Mother Griselda's two students coming along with their own Excaliburs?"

"Indeed, Father's Angel of the Stars, my little brother—Kokabiel. Both Michael and Azazel have kept me up to date with the latest happenings."

Her wings slumped down, mirroring her crestfallen face.

"I do not want any of them to get hurt. Despite them not being able to come back home, they all still hold a soft spot in my heart. They are all my siblings, always will be for all of us and seeing this happen just makes me recall the Great War. I do not wish to lose another one, never again." she said as her voice started to break up at the end, probably recalling all of the family that she lost in the past.

I sighed, again, feeling shitty for what I was about to ask after seeing her distraught state, but I needed answers.

"Gabriel-san, is God dead?"

"—!?"

Immediately, both Seraph's and Griselda's eyes widened in shock as they looked at me in horror over the words I had just uttered.

Gabriel staggered backward, "H-How… how did you know!?" she asked me in disbelief.

So it was true… I hoped that I was just spitting bullshit, but it ended up being true.

"I wasn't. Your reaction just confirmed my suspicion. Not to mention just how all of this matter concerning Asia and your talk about your own version of the Evil Pieces sounded ridiculous to me. Why go to such lengths to convert people to Angels? Why not have God just create more? Your declining number, as confirmed from many sources, the Holy Sword project, the silence from your faction after the Great War, and so much just doesn't add up if you had a being like God on your side. If he was still alive to this day, then he wouldn't have let Asia be treated as a witch and thrown out. If God was alive then why would you mention that YOU missed this incident in the first place? Shouldn't your father be able to know about all of these things with people's prayers reaching his ears?"

The more I talked, the more their faces dropped refusing to meet my gaze.

"Don't give me the bullshit of him being too weak or injured to help out his children. I've met gods in the past, and that battle hungry witch even confirmed that gods could still attend to their duties no matter their state."

If Asia were to learn this news, she would become devastated.

'Hrm, now it makes sense, now that I think about it. The Angels were far more involved and active when Yahweh still resided in Heaven, not to mention just how powerful people's prayers were at that time, now they have weakened considerably. Holy energy used to be much more dangerous to Devils in the past. I am really losing my touch if I missed such obvious details.' Vritra grumbled, unable to believe that he missed out on such important clues.

"If everything I've just said is false, if God is still alive and well, then tell me. Tell me that I'm wrong and all of this is just a misunderstanding on my part."

My steps neared Gabriel, yet she still refused to meet my gaze.

"Come on, tell me, Gabriel, tell me that I'm wrong, that the being Asia devoted her entire life to is still drawing breath as we speak. Is Heaven really without a leader and just lied to the rest of the world?"

I knew this was extremely scummy on my part, but I was targeting Gabriel's trait of never telling a lie. Before I could walk any further, I was stopped by Griselda, her eyes no longer looking as kind as before.

"You have spoken too much, Hikigaya Hachiman."

I felt my danger senses tingle, as if she was about to launch an attack at me.

"Griselda, stop. This is a matter that he needs to know if he was able to figure this out," Gabriel said, giving me a saddened and resigned gaze, "I trust that he will not spread this to the public."

No, I wouldn't.

I didn't even want to imagine the backlash this would have in the supernatural world or the human world. That was if anyone believed me that is.

"But…"

Golden wings fluttered once again, golden feathers thrifting in the air. She smiled at her follower before sitting on a bench and before gesturing for me to take a seat.

"We have much to discuss, Hachiman-kun."

{Break}

-Kuoh-

(The next day)

"Jeez bro, what was the reason for calling me right after school ended? Kaichou is having us do extra work with the Phenex siblings." Saji said as the boosted gear wielder trailed behind him.

"Same for me. I promised Matsuda and Motohama to pay them a visit to finish the latest 'Swing in Sisters 2' eroge!" Issei answered, looking a bit grumpy with the sudden call from what he considered more important than what he was doing right now.

"Dude, they released another one? Wait, no—what the heck are you doing playing those kinds of games!? Kaichou will burn your sorry devil ass with a freaking cross if she ever found out about that!"

Issei just waved at him, scratching his eyes while looking at the rays of sunshine peeking through the white clouds. He still wasn't used to his now Devil body as it apparently got kinda weak in the morning. Though he did appreciate the added strength and night vision that came with it, as it made peeking much easier!

"Shut up, man, you're just jealous. I got a mutant pawn piece along with the other three pieces! I'm worth more than your weak ass, that rope of yours has nothing on me!"

"Oi, don't diss my new Sacred Gear, you bastard! Unlike my last one, I have the full version and not some piece and it's much stronger than the Absorption Line! Kaichou even said that not even weapons like the Holy Swords would be able to cut it, at least according to its legend." he boated proudly, being super excited with what he got after losing his old Vritra Gear.

"Still not a dragon."

"Wanna fight!?"

Clap!

The handclap broke their arguments as they came to see a smiling Kiba in front of the train station. He called both Sona's Pawns, Saji and Issei, that day, without having anyone else know about it. Hachiman was absent this morning. Kiba found him sitting alone in the garden of his house, asking to be left alone for a while.

Unexpectedly, both Koneko and Momo were with him as well. The girls were shopping when they found Kiba and decided to join him for the day. Not having any choice, he decided to include them as well.

"What were you two trying to do in the middle of a crowd? Stop being disgusting losers and behave a bit maturely." Momo said without hesitation, hurting the two with her cutting remark.

"Perverts," Koneko commented, giving the finishing blow, hurting both boys in the heart with the look of pure disgust she was giving them.

The white Nekoshou was holding onto Momo's shirt and wasn't letting go. According to Momo, she also met her by coincidence when she was on the way to buy some supplies near the train station. She tried to walk away, minding her own business but ended up being caught easily. Being inferior in terms of physical build to a bishop, she had no other choice but to accompany the little girl—it couldn't be helped.

What she found funny was how people confused both of them as siblings with their matching looks. It made her want to hang out with Koneko more often. This feeling further intensified when she brought the Rook on a clothes shopping spree and made the girl try the cutest outfits that made her want to steal Koneko from Rias!

"So harsh…" muttered Issei, feeling his mood plummet by the cute girl's statements, before turning to Kiba, "So why did you call us here anyway?"

"I'm going to ask Irina and Xenovia to help me catch the rogue Exorcist in possession of a holy sword and eliminate them. I'll try asking them to let me destroy the sword, but I'll try to do so during the fight."

Not only Sai, but Issei, Momo, and Koneko eyes widened to comical levels as they were shocked by Kiba's, in their minds, suicidal mission.

"I know how dangerous this mission is going to be, so whoever feels uncomfortable or unsafe can leave. I am not going behind Buchou's back, as I've requested to go on a stray hunt and it just so happens that this rogue Exorcist targets Stray Devils a lot—so it is out of my power if we end up bumping into each other." Kiba said with a confident smirk on his face.

What he didn't realize was that a mile away from them, perched on top of the largest building in Kuoh was a young girl with black hair and deep black eyes that resembled the void watching them from afar.

{Break}

-Underworld-

Step

Step

Step

Walking through the large hallways of the Astaroth castle was none other than the younger brother of Ajuka Beelzebub, Diodora Astaroth. He is wearing his familiar green coat and being accompanied by the dozens of his peerage members, all wearing a veil hiding their faces.

"Weird, the familiars I've sent to Kuoh haven't reported back to me. They're alive, I can still feel their connection and so can the others… what is going on here?"

Ever since he swore to get his revenge on the current host of Vritra's Sacred Gear, Hikigaya Hachiman. Diodora worked tirelessly to come up with a plan and forge a proper retrieval mission to get the young Asia away from that disgusting human's hands without causing a ruckus.

He forged a foolproof alibi and even made as many public appearances as possible before preparing to start his strike.

But all of that went to smoke with what happened in Ireland!

That darned bastard just somehow got possessions of every single Vritra Sacred Gears, causing an uproar in all of the Supernatural world, as a complete Vritra Sacred Gear was not seen for centuries! This caused many of the Underworld clans to try to add Hikigaya Hachiman to their peerage, but was put to a stop when Lucifer himself came to end their plans.

Diodora then tried to kidnap Asia while she was with Rias and her group. If she had become a reincarnated then he would have tried to trade some of his useless and broken pieces for her, he was even willing to trade half of his peerage for her! But he couldn't have that option as Asia Argento was apparently under the protection of both the Fallen Angels and the Black Dragon King.

But he didn't care about those crows and fucking human, who was halfway around the globe, from reaching his prize!

So he opted to just take her.

But when he tried to open a portal near their location, he came face to face with death itself.

A mysterious woman with straight and long pale blue hair, dark blue eyes, and a cold demeanor stopped him in his tracks. His muscle seized up as an ocean of pure chaotic power fell down upon him, an endless well of might and magical energy that instantly crushed one of his peerage members, without the latter being even able to let out a single scream. She turned into meat paste right in front of him, even the blood boiled and evaporated in a matter of seconds.

…Then its eyes turned towards him.

At that moment he screamed in pure terror, hastily trying to run away from the monster. Just to gain a few precious seconds of freedom, Diodora didn't hesitate to throw away some of his subordinates he had brought along and even more of his peerage members to an inevitable death. Yet all it created was a bloody carnage of blood and body parts flying everywhere. All this happened while the monster remained in its spot with crossed, scaly arms and a disinterested look.

Yet it didn't try to pursue him as he was halfway through the teleportation back to his castle.

In the end, he hears parting words from it that still gives him nightmares till this day.

"This is your first and final warning, child of Astaroth."

He hoped to never again meet that monster.

Not wanting to keep thinking about his traumatic encounter once again, Diodora made his way towards his main office room where he could come up with another plan to take Asia away. Maybe make a deal with the Fallens or pull in some favors from his other contacts on the other side.

Maybe those people could kill Hikigaya Hachiman once and for all.

"I'm going to get her, one way or another," he said as he pushed the large doors to his office room.

"Hm?"

To his shock, he found someone sitting in his seat, with his feet up his table in a disrespectful manner and arrogant around him, that mocked everyone around him.

"Riser Phenex, what is the meaning of this?" Diodora said, putting on a fake smile, trying to hide the building fury inside of his core at the sight before him.

How dare this man show such disrespect in his own home!?

Yet that was not what caused him to have his knuckle whitened from clenching too hard.

Pa!

Riser threw something at his feet, a charred ball of fur which just so happened to be one of the many familiars he'd sent in Kuoh to keep an eye on Asia. It was long dead, burned by the flames of none other than the son of the Phenex family.

"I should be asking you the same question." Riser said haughtily, not giving the green-haired boy the slightest glance.

The temperature of the room began increasing slightly, and that proved to be enough reason for Diodora's peerage to surround him in a protective shield against the blonde-haired man.

"I found one of your pets near my school. I don't want your presence to sully the life I'm trying to build for myself and Ravel. A worm like you shouldn't meddle in places where they don't belong."

Flames covered Riser's hand, the air starting to become stifling.

"Or they might end up dying like that bug of yours."

"Just who do you think you're talking to..." Diodora was seething at this fools blatant arrogance and cocky attitude. He dared disrespect him!?

Riser smirked.

"All I see is just another coward trying to act mighty without realising how pathetic it makes them look." he said, walking past the heir. The latter's clothes nearly catching fire from Riser's flames.

"Stay hidden in your hole like the insect you are, Astaroth. Or else, I'll burn that disgusting smile off of your face."

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The next 5 chapters of Snafu, Harry Potter and my 2 Fate fics (Fate Coiling Sword having 3 chapters) are already available on my P@treon. With 4 more Broly chapters at /NimtheWriter. Also, I post monthly commissioned arts on each story, already posted a few on an Archer's Promise and Snafu.