Mr. Hat

Kisuke sent the girls to his hideout after a few more adjustments. He already knew that the hideout was compromised, but after checking the logs and traces left, it turned out that only Serafall, Akeno, Irina, and Ophis had been there, so he figured that his place was still safe.

Thanks to his Vasto Lorde Form's increased regeneration, most of his wounds were already healed. However, he chose not to leave this form yet, because he was waiting until he'd be completely healed.

Once he was done checking everything, including Benihime's state, Kisuke went beside Ophis who was still munching away, and asked, "Can you please tell me what happened?"

Although her snack time was interrupted, Ophis still told the previous events to Kisuke from her point of view. Although her accounts were broken, Kisuke was able to understand the gist of what she went through, "So this Cao Cao guy stole your powers through using this Samael that Hades lent him? And a crazy Devil summoned a bunch of monsters before capturing you? And in response, Akeno and Irina followed him to save you, but were hit by this Samael's curse?"

Ophis nodded.

"Well, I still don't really get it, but I can understand that things are getting hectic. But one thing is for sure, since Hades is involved, it's only natural for me to make a mess of his plans." Kisuke then stood up and looked towards Ophis, "Wanna come with me?"

"...Where?"

"To the place where we can kick some ass."

Ophis stayed silent for a minute before replying, "But I need to defeat Great Red so that I can go home."

After hearing those words, Kisuke finally understood what Ophis really wanted. It was never about Great Red, but it was about the place where she could return to. He already had some inkling that this might be the case, but Kisuke kept pushing that possibility out of his mind because Ophis was a being of a different caliber from the rest. His complicated thinking made a biased decision, that it wasn't just that what Ophis wanted, but something bigger, 'So she's really just a little kid... I realized it too late.'

Patting her head, Kisuke said, "Don't you think that this place is such a dreary and empty home? Why don't you come with me? My place is also your home, and most importantly, we have cookies and doughnuts!"

Ophis's eyes widened as she muttered, "...Can I?"

"Of course! I already consider you as a resident of the Urahara Shop. Aside from that, you're a precious friend. If you don't have a home to return to, it's fine to consider my place as your home~."

Visible excitement emerged from Ophis's eyes as she said, "Let's go!"

'I should have done this before.' While thinking that, Kisuke replied, "But before that, let's go kick some ass!"

Ophis nodded in agreement. But when her vision passed by Kisuke's horns, a certain idea emerged from her immature mind. She went behind Kisuke and started climbing up his back. Kisuke didn't really know what she wanted to do, but he assisted her. Ophis then sat down on his shoulders and grabbed his horns before cheering, "Go, go!"

Chuckling, Kisuke took out his blade, the artificial Sacred Gear, where Benihime would be residing in the future, "Alright~! Let's go with a bang~!"

Confirming his mother's location, Kisuke created a hole to the area where she was at. But before he left, Kisuke faced Great Red and said, "Great Red-sama! Thanks for the ride and the help~! Until next time~!"

Then, he jumped without hesitation through the hole he'd created as Great Red roared in farewell. In it, was also his gratitude for giving the 'snake' a home. Although only Ophis understood this and didn't say anything.

Emerging from the sky, what came into Kisuke and Ophis's view was a partially destroyed Devil City and a 200-meter tall humanoid monster, "Whew~. That's one big fella and it doesn't look like it'll be easy to deal with."

Kisuke also saw Grayfia along with some other powerful Devils fighting it. However, no matter what kind of damage they dealt to it, it would regenerate to full health in a blink of an eye. What was worse was the fact that, as it walked, it left hundreds of smaller monsters who attacked everyone around it.

Since it was not really his job to deal with this creature, Kisuke ignored it and looked around again, confirming his mother's location, who was currently fighting some Devils. She was wearing a robe at this moment, combined with a mask that blocked her aura. A giant marionette's arm was currently emerging from her shadow, and that arm belonged to the ever so familiar Benihime.

Beside Sakura was a similarly robed and masked figure, Kisuke guessed that this was Cleria. Since they were safe for now, he looked around again and found another familiar group that was entangled with another unknown group.

If it was a normal situation, Kisuke would have ignored them, and instead, he would rush straight towards his mother. However, the unknown group seemed to be using some kids, who were staying on a bus, as hostages to deal with his friend over there.

Kisuke knew that casualties were normal in the battlefield, and that one should consider doing everything possible to gain an advantage over their opponents. However, involving innocent kids in an adults' fight was stepping over the line in Kisuke's opinion.

Kisuke might not be a good person, but he still had a line that he didn't cross. With that in mind, he redirected his falling body towards them, landing beside the kids with a loud bang.

"W-what!?" Everyone exclaimed at the sudden intruder.

Of course, the first one they noticed was Ophis, who was riding his shoulders while seemingly having fun. "O-Ophis!?", exclaimed Issei and Rias simultaneously.

"What the hell? Who are you and where did you come from? And why is Ophis with you?", asked Hercules of the Hero Faction after he landed behind him. Although Kisuke had already regenerated from his serious wounds, from the outside, he still looked like a tattered white humanoid being with a strange hole and purple gem in his chest.

Since Kisuke wasn't releasing any of his Reiatsu-Ki right now, no one could feel any threat from him.

"Wait...! That sword!", shouted Issei and the rest looked down, towards Kisuke's blade. And sure enough, some people from Issei's group were able to identify it. After all, it was the sword that slew Kokabiel.

When Kisuke looked around once more, he got a closer look at every one. Sona's Peerage members were injured and Asia was taking care of them. Issei was in his Balance Breaker mode, but he and the rest couldn't make any rash movements due to the kids beside Kisuke.

As for their opponents, all of them were looking at him with puzzlement. Kisuke then confirmed the appearance of the man named Cao Cao. 'Whew~. What a dangerous spear~.', thought he, as he caught a glimpse of the True Longinus.

"K-Kisuke?", stuttered Issei.

Kisuke ignored him for now and checked on the situation with the kids. When he looked at them, there was visible fear and confusion on their faces. Of course, that would be the case, as Kisuke's appearance right now wasn't very child-friendly.

Ophis noticed this and thought of something, before suddenly manifesting the green and white bucket hat in her hands using her powers. Without any regard to Kisuke's horns, she placed the hat on his head and said, "Mr. Hat."

Kisuke saw that the kids' expressions instantly changed, and one of them even asked, "You're Mr. Hat?"

Kisuke didn't know what was going on, but it seemed that these kids knew his favorite hat, so he just nodded.

The next moment, the kids started cheering in happiness, "Yay!!! Mr. Hat is also here!!! With Oppai Dragon and Mr. Hat working together, there's no way they would lose!!!"

The 'lovable' shopkeeper was taken aback when the kids suddenly started cheering for him, and what confused him even more were the nicknames, 'Oppai Dragon? Mr. Hat? What the hell?'

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Editors:

28th00: MR. HAT~! Ah, Phis-chama, she truly knows how to raise morale properly, especially among children. Mr. Hat went and saved Ophis, this is going to feed to so heavily into his reputation, especially when he came to save children first. On a side note, this is an absolutely WILD scene for everyone else involved. Hero Faction is going "WTF!? HOW IS SHE HERE!? HOW IS HE HERE!?" and the Gremory group is probably like "Kisuke's here!? Oh thank Satan, we're saved! He saved Ophis, so he probably saved Irina and Akeno too! He's the leading soul expert in the world, if anyone could've saved them, he could!" Serafall's marketing has set Kisuke up perfectly to play the hero, good job Maou Shoujo! Now, it is time for Phis-chama's noble steed, Mr. Hat, to save the day! She has a home now, and that's with Kisuke. She's adorable...

Alexander: I'm not too sure, but I think that there was a side story about a crossover between Serafall's and Issei's show. So I do wonder if there is a chance in the future for one or two chapters about a crossover with Mr. Hat. I can somehow imagine how he would deliver a for-adult-use tool to power up the Switch Princess, with a straight face at that.