Chapter 52: The truth (2)

"Are you not planning on telling them, Lucias Frey? Then I will do it for you, in the war between the three sides, not only the Maous but also God died"

The little revealed causing Lucias to frown as he narrowed his eyes, looking at little girl with hostility.

"W-What did you say?"

Xenovia asked in disbelief as she tighten her grip on Durandal causing Lucias to sigh as he never expected for this woman to suddenly reveal to them the harsh truth about the death of God.

"It's normal for you guys to not know about it. Who can say that God has died? Humans are an incomplete bunch. Without God, they cannot control their hearts and obey the laws, you know? Even the leaders of the the fallen-angels, and devils couldn't tell this to those below them. You won't know where the information about God will be leaked from. Even among the three-powers, only the people at the top and certain people know about it. Isn't that right, Lucias-san?"

She stated with a maniacal smile on her face as she stared at Lucias who was silently watching things unfold.

"L-Lucias? Y-You knew about this?"

Xenovia asked with a desperate expression on her face as she walked closer to Lucias causing the little girl to laugh from hearing her question.

"Know? Oh darling, how can he not know? It is the main reason why he was kicked out of the church in the first place!!"

"I would appreciate it if you shut your mouth"

Lucias said in a deep voice while glaring at her with his golden eyes.

"L-Lucias is this true?"

Rias who was listening from the back asked but was only answered by his silence.

"After the War, what was left were the angels who had lost their God, the devils that lost their Maou and the majority of high-class devils, and the fallen-angels who lost most of the fallen-angels apart from the leaders. So it wasn't a mere exhausted state. All of the factions fell so low, that they had to rely on humans to continue their generations. Especially the angels and fallen-angels that could only continue their generation by mating with humans. Fallen-angels can increase if the angels fall. But pure-angels can't increase their numbers after losing God. Even pure-devils are rare, right?"

The little girl stated with a teasing smile on her face while watching them in amusement due to their reactions.

"…Lies…it's a lie…"

Xenovia muttered to herself in disbelief as she weakly fell to her knees, struggling to keep herself concuous from the sudden shocking news.

"...God doesn't exist? God...is dead?"

A weak and feminine voice said causing Lucias to look at the source of the voice only to find the pale Irina who was being supported by Enkidu as she struggled to keep her balance due to shock and her past wounds.

"Hahahaha, seeing your reactions is really worthwhile isn't it, Lucias? Your reaction was also the same 9 years ago"

She stated with a creepy smile on her face.

"You..."

Lucias said as his bloodlust and dense magic aura came out of his body, suffocating the devils from the incredible amount of blood lust that he posses while the two holy-sword wielders just dazedly stared at the little girl in disbelief.

"Don't test my patience"

"Ara, would you like to try which of us is stronger, Lucias-san?~~"

She said before releasing her own bloodlust to counter his, causing the ground to tremble from the intense clash of their aura but was stopped by a single familiar woman who appeared out of a portal.

"Brigyn, that's enough"

Xaosis who arrived at their location ordered causing Brigyn to pout in response.

"Even though things were just getting good~"

"Shut up and follow me back, the rest are pissed because of your reckless actions"

She said before forcefully pulling her towards the portal.

"Then, let us meet again in the future, Lu-ci-as-sa-n~"

She said as both she and Brigyn dissapeared leaving Lucias standing in front of them with a tense expression on his face.

"Enkidu, let's go"

He ordered causing Enkidu to nod her head in response as they prepared to leave but was stopped by Xenovia who pulled the his arm.

"Let go of me, Xenovia Quarta"

Lucias ordered without forcefully pulling his arm away as it could only potential break her entire arm due to his strength.

"... Who are you..."

She asked without any intention of letting him go until he answers her question.

"... You'll eventually find out in the future"

Lucias answered in a neutral voice as he prepared to leave.

"I'm sorry... I didn't know..."

"I don't need your sympathy, Xenovia. That was all in the past, I'm sorry as well for letting you hear such news so suddenly..."

Lucias said before gazing at Irina who is struggling to keep concious because of the shocking revelation.

"You two have devoted your entire life to the church and... you can still do so if you like. Heaven hasn't died yet and Michael is still there to keep his legacy alive"

Lucias comforted before casting a low-tier psychological spell on Irina to forcefully calm her down.

"Well, since I am also like the two of you when I learned about the truth... I'll give you two a chance"

"A chance?"

Xenovia asked as she stared directly at his golden-colored eyes.

"If you need a place to go to, you can stay with me... as a fellow heretic"

Lucias said with a gentle and light smile on his face before removing two sealing rings from his finger and giving one to each of them causing both his aura and charm to get out of his control.

"If you break one of this rings, my mana will alert my subordinates who is patrolling this area. Use it if ever you want to contact me or if you need of any help"

Lucias said as he placed the rings in their hands but Xenovia immediately gave it back to him.

"No need, I'll join you... since I have no other place to go to, and... I always searched for a powerful partner like you"

"Huh?"

Lucias muttered in confusion.

"... How about you Irina?"

Xenovia asked Irina who was reluctantly looking at him with a shy expression on her face.

"... I-I have no other place to go, and... I feel kind of bad if I ask Issei if I can stay with him..."

Irina said causing Xenovia to smile as she held her hand with her own.

"We'll be in your care, Lucias"

"... Well... Even though I said I can give both of you a place to live at... It requires a few specific conditions"

"Conditions?"

"I'll train both of you in swordsmanship and magic, since you'll die if you remain this weak when the two of you became a part of the team"

"We don't mind"

Both of them said with resolve causing Lucias to smile before patting their heads with a small grin on his face.

"Welcome to the team, also apoligize to Asia once you meet her alright?"

"U-Understood"

Both of them answered in unison as Lucias created a large teleportation circle below them connecting to the mansion.

"Then see you tomorrow, Rias"

Timeskip

"So it's finally starting, huh?"

Justice said in amusement while casually sitting down on sofa.

"I've been waiting quite a while for them to finally bite each other's tails, so when is the conference?"

Justice asked as she sat close to Lucias who was enjoying his late night coffee.

"I guess a few days from now. Also, did you recieve the invitation that Governor gave us for the conference?"

"Got it right here"

Justice said while taking out a letter from between her large chest causing Lucias to wryly smile before placing the letter inside his inventory.

"Oh yeah! who is going to your class visit, Lucias?"

She asked as she leaned closer to Lucias with a large grin on her face.

"... That would be me"

Suddenly a familiar mature yet feminine voice echoed from behind them causing both of them to turn their heads to look at the source of the voice.

"... Iris... Do you want to cause chaos at the academy?"

Lucias asked while looking at Iris who was excitedly holding an expensive camera in her hands.

"I can just use an illusion to hide my appearance. This is one of a lifetime chance for me to visit my son in school. Why would I let something like this pass?"

"... I'm not really your son, though?"

"I was the one that raised you for this past 7 years. You're like a son to me Lucias"

Iris stated with her arms on her waist and a slight pout on her cheeks causing Lucias to sigh as he held his head due to the sudden headache that assulted his mind.

"Ara Ara, then should I go too?"

Shuri who just came out of the kitchen said with a mischievous smile on her face.

"..."

"Now, now Lucias. This is a one time opportunity, why would we let something like this pass?"

"That's right, Lucias~ well, even if you disagree with us. We'll both still go even if you don't want to. I also want to see Akeno"

Both of the said in a calm voice causing Justice to grin in amusement.

"... Just please don't cause any trouble..."

Timeskip

"Morning"

Lucias greeted as soon as he arrived inside the clubroom before sitting down at a nearby sofa without reserve.

"... It's a good thing that you're here... I have a few announcement to make so everyone listen up"

Rias said while looking at Lucias who was grinning at her direction.

"The Church made contact with us devils. More precisely, the Maou talk about this incident. They said, "We would like to make contact with you because of unclear and dishonest actions of the fallen-angels even though we feel unsatisfactory about this". They also apologised about Valper because it was their mistake for letting him escape in the past"

Rias revealed as she sat down on top of her desk with her legs crossed before continuing her words.

"The truth about this incident was sent to the God-side and the devils' side by the viceroy of the fallen-angels, Azazel. The theft of the Excalibur was an action taken by Kokabiel only. The other leaders didn't know about it. He planned to break the tension between the three sides, and the appearance of the Vanishing Dragon, even though it was kind of late, proved that claim of his"

She explained before glancing at Lucias with a mysterious expression on her face causing him to tilt his head in response.

"There would also be a meeting between the representatives of the angels, devils and Azazel. Apparently there is something Azazel wants to talk about. I heard that maybe Azazel would be apologizing about Kokabiel then. Though it's suspicious if Azazel would apologise"

She said in a disgusted and suspicious tone before shrugging her shoulder to shake it off her mind, fully knowing that there is no way for her to understand the intentions because of his carefree attitudes.

"We were also invited to that meeting. We have to report about the incident at the meeting because we were involved"

Rias revealed causing all of them to look at her in shock while Lucias calmly listened to her words as he already expected for it to happen.

"You were invited to join as well, Lucias... Are you free on that day?"

Rias asked causing Lucias to shake his head in rejection.

"No can do, I have an important meeting by that time so I'm sorry but I can't join any of you"

Lucias explained causing Rias to sigh in disappointment.

"Is it not possible? My Onii-sama wants to thank you personally for all the aid that you've given us for the past few days"

"Sorry but I can't... Also, I thought I already told you that I don't need his gratitude nor do I want to associate with him"

"..."

"…The "Vanishing Dragon" belongs to the side of the Fallen-Angels, right?"

Issei asked remembering Vali who appeared last night to take care of Azazel but was far too late as Lucias and his servants has already cleaned the the mess when he arrived.

"That's right. Azazel is gathering Sacred Gear possessors who has a "Longinus". I don't know what he is thinking, but it's definitely something not good. The "Vanishing Dragon" is the top fighter among them. I heard that he is the fourth or fifth strongest out of all the strong people there including the leaders of Grigori. At this point, he is far stronger than you, who is his rival"

Rias anwered causing Issei to bit his lips due to the large disparity between their strength.

"... That's enough, everyone go back and rest early. We have an important event after a few days so preserve your energy and strength until that day"