Chapter 11 - Part 1 - Prelude to Chaos and Lightning Duel

Japan, Kuoh

Skyward Household

…

Jin Skyward's Soliloquy

…

"After the Great War between the three factions, I was injured severely, so I slipped into hiding. However, since I did not have any assistance, I was near death's door. But, one day a certain woman came to me and offered to heal me. But I was tricked, and my flesh became THAT and I was stuck like that for many, many years."

"At the time I was just desperate. I had lost most of the things that I owned, even though I never 'loved' my husband, the original Lucifer, he was the only thing that came close to 'understanding' me. So it left me confused and without purpose for weeks, but…"

Lilith squinted her eyes at the tea that was in front of her. "I now know who helped me all those years ago. Nyarlathotep, she is the one who created Lapis, Ignia, Frieza and Meruem, was she not? Regardless, I was stuck in that flesh prison for years—no one found me until this year."

"The God of the Dead, that piece of—excuse me. Hades, he was the one using my flesh and blood for his experiments. However, one day Lapis came over and decided to give me a new body. I am thankful to her, but I did not like that place. The original Satans, the other [Malebranche] and other factions of that organization were there and it was suffocating."

"…Over time while I was trapped in that prison, I had thought about a lot of things. Devils are meant to be evil, right? We were meant to do bad and evil deeds… that's what Lucifer told us, so the original devils did just that—though there were outliers, like Runeas Gremory who was quite eccentric and a few others."

Lilith smirked at the thought of Runeas but then continued with a sour expression. "Once I was resurrected, I met a few others that were also resurrected, a few historical figures that were known or not, did you know, Hitler was resurrected too? He wants to annihilate current Germany and the Norse Pantheon."

"What the fuck?!" shouted Saji. He wasn't the only one in shock as many of us were a bit stunned by this revelation. Though he did get smacked on the head by both Ruruko and Sona for cursing.

"Hitler, huh…? I never expected that," I said.

"There are a few more, but I am not certain about them, but I believe Genghis Khan is also alive," she added, sipping her tea.

"Adolf Hitler and Genghis Khan, I wonder how powerful they are now? Especially if they learned magic or were given an Artificial Longinus or Sacred Gear," asked Kira.

So some of the most evil figures in human histories may be alive too… I can confidently assume that they've at least drank the blood then. Alright, how about a few of the operations they may have? Or at least the other factions' plans. She has to know something about them, right?

"So…" I asked her about those and she sat there thinking about my question for a few seconds.

"I was mainly a recluse, however, once I started to plan my escape, I started looking into a lot of things since I knew you would ask me about them. But I suspected a few of them became suspicious of my sudden interest so they did not tell me everything. However, before I answer, please tell me of what you know already."

I nodded and told her what we knew and what Avezza told us, what Yanuyo told us and that I had captured Rubicante and whatever he may know.

Lilith shook her head and said, "He won't be much of use. He mostly picked fights with many of the members of the organization. He prided himself in his strength, his flames, and his magma. He only took part in meetings if he felt like it—though, you may find something about the [Malebranche] if you ask him, or read his memories."

"Do you know what his weapon form looked like?" I asked, but she shook her head.

"To my knowledge, they never used those forms—they never saw anyone in the organization as worthy enough to turn themselves into their weapon form and be used by them, so I can't answer that," she said and put her cup down. "To answer your other question—"

She told us what she knew, but they were mostly everything that we knew of. However, they still plan on attacking Heaven, and a few other pantheons, so I'll tell the leaders of the alliance that too, so they can better prepare. I should also contact the Satans about Lilith's survival and they can have her for a few days, but… I'll have a few of the Electa and my shadow soldiers accompany her just to be on the safe side.

Then, after about an hour of questioning, I had Grayfia bring Lilith to her own room and I would speak to the leaders about her tomorrow, but for now we'll end the day here, so I dismissed everyone and leaned back on my seat.

"It's never ending… I should nuke their base once I evolve just to get rid of the majority of them…" I mumbled to myself and closed my eyes.

"Are you okay?"

I looked up to see that it was Shigune. I didn't expect for her to stay back. I looked around the room and everyone had mostly left, so it was just us in here with Poh in her arms.

"Yeah, I'm good. Just wondering when I can end it all," I said with a chuckle. She walked over to me and handed Poh over to me and he immediately fell asleep in my arms again.

"Any update on your evolution?" she asked and sat down on my lap to my surprise, and she didn't blush while doing it. Shigune was being very bold right now…

"No, as far as I know I'm stuck at 80% and ½, so I don't know when the next increase will happen, but I have high hopes," I replied and brought her closer to me.

"Well… don't worry too much, Aaron," she said and kissed me on the cheek. She then looked at me expectantly.

I liked this aggressive Shigune. I wonder if she's being dared or if she finally wants to do something about our relationship. We had started dating, but our schedules usually didn't align so we wouldn't only have short interactions or sleep together at night.

I kissed her back on the lips, but… it was a bit awkward as Poh kept lightly headbutting us. We eventually stopped and laughed at him.

"Jeez, Poh, can't you see we're having a moment?" she asked her Sacred Gear in an upset tone. She then grabbed him and squished his cheeks.

"He's just like a jealous puppy, but it's fine. Anyway, you're sleeping with me tonight, right?" I asked and she nodded. "Let's go then."

"Mmm."

We got up and made our way to my room.

…

Third Person Point of View

…

Malacoda silently glared at the rest of the Malebranche and Zaorama. He had thought of crushing Zaorama's throat but he still needed him for future experiments. They had just learned of Rubicante's defeat and it was by the hands of the Middleman and he hadn't even used his Sacred Gear.

This information angered all of them, especially Malacoda, since he wanted to challenge them all at the same time when the time came. Yet, his plans were foiled because of the Middleman and Rubicante losing and not using the tools he was provided.

[Finish your projects and experiments. Make sure they are 100% complete. I will not take anything else,] he told Zaorama and blasted him with a powerful aura, causing him to crash into the wall behind them.

[Do we know what happened to Rubicante?] asked Barbariccia.

[According to reports, he was killed by the Middleman. Nothing was left of him. We know that he has the power to resurrect anything and will most likely turn Rubicante against us. Nevertheless, we will kill him as he is not one of us anymore. Go prepare, I will not accept any other failures from any of you,] ordered Malacoda and the rest of the [Malebranche] left.

Once they were outside, a few of them had mixed feelings about the situation, but—

[Kekeke, who would have thought Red Face Terror-sama would kick the bucket that easily~! He was probably all bark no bite,] said Cagnazzo.

[You have not beaten him in any of your duels,] Alichino remarked.

[I wasn't tryin'! If I did, he would have been long dead!] snapped Cagnazzo.

[Hah! We just need to make our comeback flashy, don't we?] asked Scarmiglione.

The other [Malebranche] looked at Scarmiglione, also known as the [Troublemaker]. He smirked at them and jumped down from the spot he had been hiding in.

[We thought you weren't there, Scarmiglione, so we were quite confused when Malacoda didn't lose his shit!] shouted Cagnazzo.

[Oh, I was. But I stayed in a very inconspicuous spot,] replied the Troublemaker. [Ah, that's right, I heard some very reliable information. Apparently, the Middleman plans to visit the Chinese Pantheon soon. As to when? We don't know, but it's helpful to have it out there, no?] he said and then vanished.

[…I can never get a read on that guy,] said Ciriatto.

[Most of us can't, but Malacoda gives him a lot of freedom—more than the rest of us… well…] muttered Alichino as he looked at another member—Draghignazzo.

Draghignazzo, also known as the [Nasty Sneering Dragon]. He, like the other [Malebranche] wanted to battle the Longinus wielders. However, he wanted to fight the Dual Dragon Emperor even more than any of them—even more so after the defeat of Rubicante. In the distance, he oozed killing intent and fighting spirit.

[Oh you mean, Drag? Yeah, he's also quite free, not as free as that weirdo though,] said Cagnazzo.

They exchanged a few more words with each other and then headed their separate ways. However, all of them had one objective in mind—to get stronger than they already are, they all knew and acknowledge that Rubicante was one of the strongest of their group. At the time, they were shocked, but did not show it, but now they wanted to bring down the Middleman—the Dual Dragon.

…

"We lost Rubicante," said Promestein as she rubbed her forehead out of frustration.

"We can't do anything about the [Malebranche]. They do what they want and we cannot force them to cooperate with us. The True Satan Faction, Qlippoth and the Evie faction are backing them," replied Chernobog.

"Exactly, also, has Hades started to send some of his Artificial Super Devils around the Underworld and a few other pantheons and factions. Why?" asked Yashina.

"He wants to test them and make adjustments if necessary. If they don't live up to his expectations, he will adjust the amount of blood that is being pumped into Lilith's old body… speaking of Lilith…"

"She has betrayed us and switched sides, although I expected this," said Leviathan. "She acted strangely after she was resurrected and she was too interested in the Rating Games and the exploits of the Middleman."

"But you can equate that to her being interested in the modern world and the modern Underworld. So we couldn't find out her real intentions unless we were 'close' to her, and she did not let anyone that close to her personal space. I would blame the original Lucifer for that," Oz replied.

"Regardless, we should have monitored her more closely. Her acting was superb and we were fooled by it. Perhaps, this may also be her acting and her gaining insight for us on the enemy?" asked Kyôka.

"Doubtful, I asked Lucifer about it and he said that the Lilith he knew from before he died and the Lilith he knows now are practically different entities. In his words: 'It's as if you removed around 95% of her 'evil' and replaced it with 'good' and you would have the current Lilith'," explained Leviathan.

"She did not have enough pertinent information to be useful to the DxD Alliance. At worst, they may know about our future operations, but not all of them, so we are still in the advantage," added Augusta.

"Yes, as far as I know she did not have too many followers, and the few she did had were not fanatics, so most would eventually lose interest in her after finding out about her new personality. Her betrayal is not a big loss—we will continue with our plans," said Promestein.

The rest of the members of the Seekers of Truth agreed and they discussed further plans for the future.

…

A few months later

…

Jin Skyward's Soliloquy

…

A few months have passed since Lilith switched to our side and a few months since I released Rubicante and he also works for the Alliance now. After I informed the alliance of Lilith's resurrection, she was immediately brought to the Underworld for questioning, and I had my shadow soldiers and Electa accompany her.

A few of the older noble devils protested, but I quickly and quietly shut them up. I didn't use force, but a small show of power made some difference. Also… strangely enough Zekram Bael took my side on it, and he's still quite influential so they stopped fussing about it.

But it was just like what Lilith said. Rubicante did not have any relevant information for us. At most, he told us about the members of the [Malebranche], and I had already known about it because of my previous life. However, he expanded a bit for us. As far as we know they have their own 'titles' like how Ddraig is called the [Welsh Dragon] or [Red Dragon Emperor] or even the [Red Dragon of Domination]. They went something like this:

Leader – Malacoda – Evil Tail King

Deputy Commander – Barbariccia – Bearded Apocalypse

Alichino – The Harlequin

Cagnazzo – The True Dog God

Calcabrina – Grace Stomper and Frost Trampler

Ciriatto – Wild Hog King

Draghignazzo – Nasty Sneering Dragon

Farfarello – Goblin God

Graffiacane – Hound Slasher

Libicocco – Libyan Hothead

Rubicante – Red Faced Terror (Defected)

Scarmiglione – The Troublemaker

What caught my attention was Draghignazzo. He seems to have been modeled to fight us, the two Dragon Emperor's. The same with Cagnazzo or Graffiacane to fight Tobio's Canis Lykaon and Calcabrina to fight Lavinia's former [Absolute Demise], now [Tempest Extinction].

But… one thing that bugged me, over these last few months, they hadn't done anything of significance. Yes, they've attacked a couple of places from time to time. There were even some Artificial Super Devils that caused trouble, were caught, but then killed themselves and wiped their own memories.

It didn't sit right with me, so I had increased my shadow soldiers in all the factions and pantheons that were in the alliance. But it only continued, it seemed like they were testing the waters, trying to see the response time of certain groups.

During these last few months, I did requests for a variety of factions and pantheons. I also trained many in the [Training Facility] and we stayed there for 50 years in total, not in one session, but over a couple of sessions and many in Team [DxD] have grown in power.

A few things to note too. Rose has gotten back on good terms with the rest of the Valkyries and I've also become good friends with them, especially Brynhildr (Zelma), though Rose did show some jealousy because of that.

Rubicante has become my subordinate and also part of the Underworld residents, he works closely with Ajuka so he can try to replicate his own [Evil Claws] in the future, so far there has been small progress, but it's still quite a lot if you think of it in the long run.

Rubicante's [Weapon Form] were crimson-red gloves that make it possible for the wielder to use flame manipulation, lava manipulation and very limited gravity manipulation. You could potentially fly with it if you didn't have enough control over your devil wings.

The most effective users would be brawler or power types since they'll need to use their fist for it. I tried it out briefly and anything I touched would erupt into flames or melt because of the heat of the magma. Like Sacred Gears, the power and potential will depend on the individual as well as how well the [Malebranche] synchronizes with the wielder. So you will need to be compatible with the [Malebranche] if you want to utilize them to their full potential.

Rubicante himself described it like devil contracts with the familiars or spirit contracts or the Artificial Sacred Gears. Speaking of Sacred Gears, Avezza and Azazel made a new batch of them are in the testing phase of creating Artificial Longinus'. That day Grigori and their researchers celebrated and we were invited. It was a fun time.

Of course, Rubicante also travelled there to assist since he himself was an [Evil Claw] and they were modeled after the Sacred Gears, so most of the information he gave were helpful to them. Apart from that… I made slow progress with the girls and went on a date with Yumi, even if I was kind of forced after school. She made it clear that she didn't plan on changing back.

Even after I hinted to her that there might have been a chance one of his comrades may be alive. At the time, she was shocked, but accepted it as fact, but still resolved herself in staying a female, and that she wanted me to take her feelings seriously.

Maybe I was just running away, but I said I'd think it over seriously this time, and so our relationship went back to its usual one where we would banter back and forth, but Yumi is a lot more touchy-feely with me, though I didn't stop it unless she went too far, like how Akeno sometimes does in public.

There were a few more indents, but that leaves us to the present, and… the school has been freaking out about Xenovia. There had been a few small tests, pop quizzes and exams and she had scored very highly on all of them. The former muscle head who relied on her power instead of her brain started scoring high, and the student populace lost their shit.

A few acted like the end of the world was coming, but Xenovia's scores have been only going up since after the sports festival. She just hadn't improved them by this much (it mostly hovered in the 70-80% range but jumped up to the high 94% range in the last few months). Though most of them don't know that she wants to be the next school president.

…

Najima sighed on his seat as he said, "Man, Xenovia-chan is turning into a nerd but is still really athletic."

"Right, it's like she's trying to be Jin or something," added Kouta. "Oh shit, a female Jin?" he said and both of my friends looked at me.

"…What?" I asked and backed away from them. "I'm not—"

"Stop, stop, stop! That's not what I meant!" shouted Kouta. He looked back at me with the same disgust. "I just mean, she's trying to be smart and athletic, just like you. I mean since she was already insanely popular, she has a lot of attention. I mean it's the same as Kiba-kun, right? He was a female all along and pretended to be a guy, which just made her popularity skyrocket!"

The devils had made a spell to make everyone believe that Kiba had always been a 'she' and just pretended to be a guy for some reason or another.

"Well, do you know her reasons for changing, Skyward-sama?" asked Najima.

"I do, but she wants to keep it a secret for now. Please respect that," I told them.

"We were just asking if she had a reason, not what it was, but sure thing," said Kouta and Najima agreed.

"But I do wonder what it is… it's not like… no…" mumbled Najima as he kept glancing at me.

"We're not totally sure but… there is a probability that it may happen!" added Kouta in a panic.

"The hell are you idiots talking about?" I asked a bit annoyed by their whispering.

"She's doing it for you!" they both shouted at me and pointed.

"No. Wrong. You're way off…" I said and waved them off.

Xenovia has her own reasons. It's probably to thank Rias, Sona, the school, the students and me. So it's not totally me, it's just… this is her first school after all, and she wants to repay it—repay everyone for her time here.

Before we could continue, the bell rang signaling the start of classes for the day.

…

Even as lunch arrived, more people were still talking about Xenovia and the fuss she had been making, and in turn, Asia and Irina were asked a lot of questions since they were in the same class as her and were very close friends with her.

So while in the clubroom…

"…Uuuu, I'm tired…" Asia said tiredly on my lap.

"I need to recharge myuuu…~" added Irina on my other lap.

"Ara, ara, did your classmates ask you two questions about Xenovia again?" asked Akeno. The two nodded tiredly.

I was reading a book and occasionally petted the two on my lap. Beside me was Xenovia studying during lunch. You have to admire her work ethic. Once this girl puts her mind to it, nothing is impossible. This includes studying and school work.

She was also being helped by the teachers there as well as Ravel. She had a lot of help and she appreciated it. However, we did have to force her to stop from time to time, so she wouldn't overload herself… and that was about time too.

I lightly chopped her on the head and told her, "Break time, Nova."

She blinked a few times and sighed before putting her pen down. She then rubbed her eyes and looked around. "I-I'm in the clubroom?" she asked confused.

"Xenovia-san, you've been studying since late last time. You barely registered that classes ended earlier and we had to drag you to the club," explained Asia.

"Right, right, Xenovia! You need to calm down with the studying and live a little! …Well, you did live a bit too much before coming to Kuoh, so this might be beneficial for you, amen!" said Irina, though she changed her opinion midway through.

"R-right, I'll take a break," she said and grabbed her teacup in front of her and took a sip. I think I'll do well when the election comes. It's after New years after all," she told us.

"That's correct. That also means… we, the seniors of the club will need to pass the torch down to our juniors. Akeno and I have already picked the next President and Vice-President of the club," explained Rias.

"After a certain time after the New Year, the seniors won't need to come in every day, right? Does that mean Rias-san, Akeno-senpai, Aaron-senpai, President Sona, Vice-President Tsubaki and Ingvild-senpai will stop coming to the school, classes, and club?" asked Irina.

"That would be correct," replied Akeno.

Irina then looked at me and asked, "Does that mean that you will be focusing on building your future business and taking on more requests?" She looked at me with an upset expression that made me feel bad. But…

"Most likely, yes. I need to start on it and I already have the name for my restaurant and future business ready, as well as the menu. As you said, the only thing left is to build the place and open the place up," I told her. "Don't look so sad, I'm not that far from the academy, the same with the college division, so just come back to either place to chat with me. Also, we live together," I pointed out and poked her forehead.

"Name? What did you name it?" asked Azazel as he shoved another batch of cookies I made for everyone into his mouth.

"Ah-ah, spoilers Azazel. I won't reveal it yet, just wait until it's built like everyone else," I said and smirked at him.

He shrugged and kept eating. Though I know they're curious, I thought it would be better to wait until opening day to reveal it. I really tried my best to come up with this, so I hope they like it a lot.

[I helped!] shouted Ddraig proudly.

'Yes, yes you did, Partner,' I replied and internally chuckled.

Our time wore on like that—the seemingly peaceful days were slowly becoming common ground here, but… Halloween was fast approaching, and everyone was aware of a potential attack on the Five Principal Clans. This made Suzaku, the other heads and also Shuri was very worried, but I had to reassure them that I had everything covered.

I even had shadow soldiers protecting the family members of the Slash/Dog Team. Even their distant cousins that Cúntóir and I managed to track down. So unless they decide to do a reverse UNO card on me, no one is dying during this operation by the Wizards of Oz. Not the families, not the clans, and certainly not the Sacred Beasts.

…

"…Hmm." I was in my office, looking over the reports I was given by my double agents, Electa and shadow soldiers. There had been increased activity in Japan, especially around Kyoto, though that's to be expected.

But as I suspected, there has been a lot of activity around Ireland too. —Halloween, that's where it originated from, and Maeve, or Queen Halloween is also there, now I don't know if they'll target Thine Ifreann Réimse or not, but I've also contacted them to stay alert when Halloween comes, and also increased the shadow soldiers there.

Other places that had increased activity were Italy, Germany, Latvia, and France. There may be more places that they might attack so I won't just focus on these places. Now I'm hoping they'll target the supernatural side. However, if not, then I'll just wipe out all of humanity's memories if they do decide to involve them.

"You need to relax, Aaron," said Suzaku.

"Right… you've been like this for months. We know that you're worried about the Halloween attack that the Khaos Order will do, but worrying endlessly won't do you any good," added Lavinia.

I looked up at them and both had worried expressions on their faces. But I couldn't stop. I didn't want to, I didn't want to endanger Suzaku like I did with Lavinia. I won't make that mistake again.

"…I can't, I want Suzaku to be safe, the same with Ouryuu since I promised Tia (Tiamat), the same with the other inheritors of the Sacred Beasts. I made a lot of promises, and I don't plan on breaking any of them," I told them, sighed and looked at Lavinia. "My own carelessness and naivety nearly got you killed."

I stood up which surprised them a bit. "Don't worry, I know how to balance my work life and private life. If I didn't, a certain maid and a few others would scold me," I told them and laughed. "Anyway, I'll stop there for today. I read what I needed and since nothing's happened lately, I got a request from a certain god in the Shinto pantheon."

"Y-you don't mean…?"

"Yes. I'm going to be having that duel with Raijin in two days." I dropped the bomb on them and Suzaku looked worried about me.

"So it's finally happening, huh? Didn't m-mom say something about getting her…?" asked Lavinia worriedly.

"Oh, I don't know about that. You know Shuri is quite eccentric herself, so I don't quite understand how serious they were back then," I replied.

"Auntie Shuri is very serious when it comes to those things. When you win, please keep in mind that Raijin-sama may be part of your harem…" said Suzaku with a grim expression.

This time it was me who put a hand on her cheek and made her look at me. She was confused by this action, but didn't stop me. She did, however, gently grasped my hand.

"Is Suzaku-sama worried about something?" I asked.

"N-no, I was just pointing out the possibility…" she said and turned away.

Oh? Does she not like the fact that a Shinto goddess may be one of my lovers? …How cute.

"Suzaku's jealous… ufufu~"

Suzaku blushed at Lavinia's words and we finally left my office. All the while she got teased by Lavinia about not wanting a Shinto goddess in my harem.

…

The next day I was feeling even more stressed for some reason and I had been checking the entirety of Kuoh every five minutes. A few of the girls were worried. However, I assured them I was fine and I just wanted to check on the town, though my own gut told me otherwise.

"Skyward-sama, why are you so paranoid today~?" asked Najima.

"He's right you know? You've looked stressed the entire day and we only had four classes so far, are you okay?" asked Kouta.

As I looked at my friends, I shook my head. "Nah it's fine. I was just thinking about the restaurant I'm opening soon, I mean after the New Years we won't need to come to school much, so I'll spend most of it overseeing the building and going over a few other details," I told them.

I wasn't lying, though it was just the partial truth. These few months of utter silence and no other big operation have me on edge since the Khaos Order usually had some plan they did to annoy me or something.

"Really? Can we get discounts?" asked Najima with great excitement.

"Hmm? Oh yeah sure, the first 100 customers will receive 50% off their orders. I'll add an extra 10% for you guys, but that'll be just for your first 50 orders, do you hear me? The same with your family by the way, and no you can't stack them up…"

They weren't too bothered by the proposition; on the contrary, they were quite excited by it since they started high-fiving each other. Well at least they're in a good mood, speaking of something good…

I opened my [Inventory] and I still had the uchiwa fan there. I had informed Amaterasu and Shirayuki about it, and Shirayuki said I should keep it since she's too worried that she may lose it again. I'll ask Suzaku to speak with Amaterasu after my duel with Raijin or during it about the King Enma situation.

Before we could continue talking, our next teacher came in and classes started again.

…

Lunch again, and I was on the school's roof top with Kiyome who was also worried about me. She had officially moved in during those silent months and I had created a new space in beside her own room for her own monsters to stay in. To check on all of them, she could only access it through a door in her bedroom. She's also integrated into the household rather well and her haughty and tsundere attitude was mostly absent.

"Stop…" muttered Kiyome as she pulled on my cheek. "You keep checking Kuoh, but nothing has happened in the last few hours. Please relax a little," she begged.

"…My bad, maybe it's not in Kuoh but somewhere else. I'll just have my shadow soldiers on higher—"

I didn't get to finish my sentence as she shoved chopsticks into my mouth and forced me to eat lunch. I awkwardly swallowed the food and chuckled. "A bit forceful there, but thanks, it tastes good."

"Hmph. I had Grayfia-sama and Raiko-san help me improve my cooking over the months. I'll help you in your restaurant if you want, Aaron," she said.

"Yeah, that would be great, thank you…"

Kiyome had also been training with her monsters during these few months. She also joined us for those 50 years total, she's at Low-Tier God-class, the same with her familiars. A couple of others significantly improved over time. One of them was Vali as he reached Super Devil-class and I changed his potential to be at least Universal just like Sairaorg, so he's been training even harder since that.

The same could be said for multiple other groups in Team [DxD]. I could easily rely on them more for other places that were attacked over the few months, so I wasn't the one that always rushed over there. I did add one new thing to the [Training Facility], and it was a teleportation circle that would teleport them anywhere in the human world and supernatural world.

I made it since they usually relied on me, or someone from my household to teleport them somewhere when those random attacks happened.

"By the way, is anyone traveling with you to the Shinto Pantheon tomorrow?" she asked me while feeding me more food.

I ate the food and then answered, "Team Slash/Girls… or whatever they call themselves now—anyway, it's just the girls of the Slash/Dog Team. So, Fusae, Lavinia, Suzaku, Kanami, Natsume and Shigune. Akeno wanted to go, but Rias needed her for something. Mom, er, Shuri also asked to go, but Baraqiel was worried about her and so in the end she couldn't come."

"What about the Sacred Beasts? I know you're worried about them as well," she said.

"You know I already increased the shadow soldiers with them, even if they didn't know, but I and a few other gods have informed them that the Sacred Beasts may be targeted in the future, and even their own pantheon, and they responded well to that, and even invited me to the realm, so I'll go there soon."

As Kiyome went to feed me more, the entire town of Kuoh suddenly shook—as if an earthquake had just hit it. We heard many students below us in the school yard scream in fright. We looked at one another and I quickly scanned Kuoh and saw that Lianne and the Stahlritter were fighting some enemies.

[Enemy attacking, Lianne and the Stahlritter are engaged in combat. I'll check it out, but stay on alert,] I told them through the ring's communication system. I looked at Kiyome as she nodded and left the rooftop.

"Is something finally happening?" I asked myself and appeared above the two groups fighting. It looked like Lianne had covered the area in her own barrier, the Stahlritter were fighting some people in robes, and Lianne was in a staring contest with another one.

I landed beside her and removed all their robes. To our shock, their flesh was rotten—they were zombies, except for the one that Lianne and I were staring at. It was a mecha soldier of the Evie, but they were different as most of those minions had been black in color, this one was white. But on its chest, it said 'W.O.F.O.Z.' which was interesting, but…

"Seeing as how close we're to Halloween, they may be part of the Wizards of Oz, but I didn't think they would rely on mechanical allies… maybe they're also moving on with the times? Magic and Science, huh?" I said and looked at the mecha soldier.

I was also confused by the zombies they were using, but I guess they're just using whatever at this point, huh? But they didn't seem like regular zombies, maybe they were artificially created? Which sounds strange. Well, at least they didn't just snatch up dead bodies from graves…

Suddenly a strange buzzing sound came from the mecha soldier and then a small hologram of… a woman appeared from it. I had asked Lavinia over time about Glenda and she told me about her and the woman in that hologram was definitely…

"Glenda," I said and frowned at her.

[Fufu, it seems my 'daughter' told you about me? My, will I be invited to the wedding~?] she asked smugly.

I didn't give her an answer and silently seethed. Don't worry, I'll get you when I see you for real…

[You may be wondering about the complete silence from our organization over the last couple of months, right? Buuuut~ I won't tell you… but I will tell you this…] she then looked at us with very cold and serious eyes and said, [We will turn this world into a living hell, destroy the Five Principal Clans and ruin the Slash/Dog Team for what they did to us, fufu, look forward to it~! Bye bye~!]

The hologram then disappeared and the mecha soldier charged us, but—

Boom!

I swiped my hand and killed them all. Afterward I read their memories, but they were only created to send this message to us for some reason. 'So they're provoking us now? Fine… bring it on. I'll end the Wizards of Oz myself when the time comes…!'

"Aaron…"

I heard Lianne's voice beside me and she touched my arm. When I turned to look at her, she looked worried.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

She only looked around us and I did the same thing, it seemed that the area around us had been completely destroyed, d-did I do that? I wasn't even aware of it. Looking around more, I saw that her barrier had many fractures. I didn't think I would get that mad when speaking to Glenda…

I took a deep breath and sighed. I needed to calm down. I can't let them provoke me like that. After doing that a few more times I looked at her and thanked her. I glanced at the Stahlritter and they seemed shocked.

"Sorry about that, are you three okay?" I asked them. All of them nodded but didn't verbally answer me. I left it at that and ordered more shadow soldiers to stay in Kuoh.

"We'll have the Pleiades join in our efforts, and we will keep patrolling Kuoh," Lianne told me.

"Yeah, keep it up…" I replied and headed back to the academy. It was still lunch and around fifteen minutes were left so I returned to the clubroom since I felt everyone's auras there. Once I got there, they turned to me and I explained the situation.

"You told us the potential countries and pantheons that may be attacked during this operation the day before, so those from those pantheons and country should be ready. Well, you did send more of your shadow soldiers so they should be fine," said Azazel.

"But Glenda contacted you, huh? But 'Turn this world into a living hell' is a pretty threatening thing to say. What do you think she meant by that? I have my own theories," replied Azazel.

I looked at him, and then took out the uchiwa fan from my [Inventory]. "It wouldn't be beyond them to create replicas of this. They did so with the [Boosted Gear]. A fan like this, and no offense to King Enma, but it would be easier for them, so…"

"…Yeah, I thought the same thing. They may create replicas of it and quite literally use its fire power to turn the human world and those realms into a literal hellscape," added Azazel as he frowned at the fan I was holding.

"Do you plan on bringing this up with the Shinto gods?" he asked.

"Yeah. It would be stupid not to, but I'll get in touch with Queen Halloween. Can I leave the others to you? I haven't established any connections with them yet," I asked him.

"Yeah leave it to me. I have some connections here and there. Anyway, lunch is ending soon, so we should go back to class. We can talk about it more tonight," he said and got up.

Everyone else did so too, but like me, they've become tense, especially Akeno since her clan is being targeted. Now she doesn't care too much about them, but since Suzaku, her beloved older cousin may be potentially hurt, she's even more worried. She also knows her mother still cares for them even after they exiled her and had her killed.

Shuri is a kind woman, but she does set her own boundaries and isn't a pushover. With that, we headed back to classes with chaos threatening to spill over us soon.

…

We finished our meeting an hour ago and Team [DxD] will be ready to deploy to wherever they're needed once Halloween comes. I along with my group will confront them directly, and the others will be there to support us. Like the Slash/Dog Team since it involved them heavily.

Apart from that, the whole town of Kuoh was slowly getting ready for Halloween as many of the houses were already decorating their homes, the same with the school since there's a small Halloween event that's going to happen—a small costume competition, so the devils will just parade their bat wings and I might just walk around in my [Boosted Gear] Scale Mail.

"Back to Takamagahara tomorrow, huh? Rose and Raiko are also coming, so even more people. I just hope nothing goes wrong…" I said to myself and sighed even louder. I was in the open indoor bath and just then, the door opened. The one who stepped inside was Raiko. She was blushing and came over to me, a large towel wrapped around her body.

"Evening, Raiko. How's everything? You mentioned earlier that another meeting with your newly formed group was happening on the day of my visit?" I asked.

She sat beside me and nodded. "Yes, the [Yamaūjin] will be having a meeting again. Many of its members wanted to meet you. We also recently had a cultural exchange with Heaven, and the relations between the two factions are better than ever," she explained.

"Yeah I heard about it from Altaria, a few of the low to high-level angels made new friends and possibly start some other relationships with the Shinto's inhabitants, huh?" I asked and she agreed with me.

We spoke to each other for a few minutes before the conversation died down. We sat there in silence, but it wasn't awkward, rather, it was quite comfortable. With all the things that happened today, I needed to unwind again. Who knew a few months of silence from those guys would stress me out this much.

As I pondered more, I felt Raiko slowly hug my right arm and lean her head down on my shoulder. When I glanced at her, her face was crimson red. I didn't think she was that shy about intimacy.

"You're like a maiden at these kinds of things," I told her.

"I-I did not have time for such things while I was a normal human. I was aware that my body received certain lewd attention from men and envious ones from women…" she explained and I looked at her breasts.

"Certainly, those proportions of yours are quite outrageous. Anyone lucky enough to be able to look at them directly, or even touch them would be lucky…" I said and reached out with my other hand.

Raiko didn't stop me and I squeezed her left breast which made her stifle a moan. Dare I say, they may be the same size as Akeno and Suzaku's or even bigger…? "Excuse me," I said and pulled her towel down, revealing her bare breasts to me.

"A-ah…" she let out a nervous moan as I did that.

Maybe I should slow down and let her get used to this first? However, Raiko didn't stop me, but her face did look even redder than earlier and she might pass out at this rate. As I continued to squeeze her chest, the door slammed open once again.

"I am here, Aaron!" Kunou's voice echoed throughout the room.

Raiko apparently returned to reality, and put her towel back on herself. However, she didn't stop hugging my arm. In came Kunou, Ophis, Irene and Yasaka, the Dragon and Kitsune group.

"Kunou, I didn't think you'd come here this late," I said and she skipped over to us and sat on my lap.

"We had time! And we're staying for the night!" she announced happily.

"Fufu, I wanted to finally see my husband too~" said Yasaka as she sat on my other side and hugged my arm.

"…Yeah, it's been a while. I'm sorry about that," I said and gave her a quick kiss.

"…No, I understand. I'm a leader too you know? I understand we can get busy," she replied.

"And they immediately begin flirting," Irene said and sighed. She then sat beside Yasaka while Ophis transformed back into her loli form and sat on my other free lap. It had suddenly become very crowded in my immediate vicinity.

Kunou then proceeded to tell me about everything that had happened in Kyoto and the West Youkai Faction. It seems that those kids had started a small little group that helped the residents of Urakyoto. Apparently, that young youkai became their leader, but also wanted Kunou to be someone above him since she's the princess of the faction.

She accepted and now they report most of their daily 'missions' to her, and she reports them back to Yasaka. This was valuable since a few things did go under Yasaka's radar and these kids were helping with that, so they became an official group. But she only assigns very small and menial tasks for now to them.

I couldn't help but smile at it. I didn't think they'd go and do that. I expected them to wait until they were a little older, I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to join the International Rating Game in the future.

Kunou and Yasaka told me more about what had happened in their faction. They also told me a bit about the East Youkai Faction since they had been affected by the attacks of the Khaos Order over the last few months. Their hatred for Sacred Gear wielders only increased since most of the attacks had Artificial Sacred Gears with them.

That night, Kunou was like a storm that blew through my home and made things even more chaotic.

…

"…I can't go?" asked Kunou.

"Maybe in the future, dear. However, I can't let you go today. We were informed by Sharon that a couple of things came up back in our faction and we have to go back," replied Yasaka.

Kunou deflated but still agreed to go back to their faction. I gave her a hug and reassured her that I'd bring her to all the factions and pantheons that we're allied with in the future and that made her a little happier.

"Take care," I told Yasaka and we shared a quick kiss before the two headed back to Urakyoto. My group was also ready to leave for Takamagahara. I glanced at them and asked, "Ready?"

"Yeah! I want to go there! I haven't been there before!" shouted Kanami.

"The Slash/Dog Team haven't been to the Shinto realm before?" I asked Lavinia and Natsume. Both of them shook their heads.

….. Interestingly, the Slash/Dog Team of the 'canon' universe have blessings from the Shinto Gods. However, it seems in this world they haven't been there before, so they don't have any blessings, huh…? I found it strange when Suzaku acted like she hadn't met Amaterasu before.

"I see, anyway, let's go then."

…

Takamagahara

…

Once we arrived at the hill, we saw that the entire city was in a festive mood as there were many decorations of that sort everywhere. Last night, Haru and Yoru would come back here earlier in the day than us—around two hours earlier since they wanted to see Ryūjin their adopted father as well as watch my match with Raijin.

"Wooooooooooooah~!" shouted Kanami as she looked over the city. "When's the match?! Can we explore first?!" she asked excitedly.

I looked at my watch and saw that the match wouldn't happen for another hour and I said it was fine. Shigune went with everyone who hadn't been here before. Raiko also left to attend her new group's meeting.

The ones left with me were Lavinia who didn't want to go exploring, Suzaku and Fusae who also didn't want to go exploring and Rose. When the hour was up, we would meet up near Yae's book shop and we would go to Raijin and finally start this duel.

"Let's go meet Shirayuki first. I want to check up on her," I told them and we left for Zyoto.

…

Zyoto, Vadaya

…

"We're not using the proper channels?" asked Suzaku.

"It'd be tedious that way, let's just make it quick…" I replied and she sighed at me.

Rose, Lavinia and Fusae were interested in the place so they looked around quite a bit as we made our way to the whirlpool. However, I sensed someone else down there with her. As I prepared to jump down, Lavinia leapt towards me and I caught her. She smiled at me and finally jumped down.

We arrived at the bottom to see both Shirayuki and Tsukuyomi the God of the Moon. They both turned to look at us as I let Lavinia down.

"Ah, Jin. I see you're here for Raijin's duel? She's been quite excited about it, because your victory over Sakra from the Hindu pantheon was quite the talk—well, it's still is," he said and chuckled.

"I look forward to it too, I hope it's as good as my duel with Indra. What might you be doing here, Tsukuyomi?" I asked him.

"Ah, I'm good friends with Shirayuki and we tend to meet up from time-to-time and have friendly chatter. Why might you be here?" he asked back.

"Just checking up on Shirayuki and…" I pulled out the uchiwa fan from my [Inventory] and let it float towards her. I informed her about it a few months ago, but as she said, I kept it. But since I'm here, I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to let her have it for now.

"Hoho, so that's the famous uchiwa fan of King Enma, a fascinating design," he said while he observed Shirayuki fiddle with the fan.

"Yes, it's still the same as ever, but why did you give it to me? Did I not tell you to keep it?" she asked.

"I just wanted you to confirm that it really was, and also…" I told them about what the upcoming attack of the Wizards of Oz, and them potentially recreating the fan to use for it, and told them what Glenda told me.

"…That's worrying. We were informed of this, but to hear more about it…" Tsukuyomi squinted his eyes at the uchiwa fan.

"How would King Enma feel about it?" I asked Shirayuki. But she didn't answer me as she looked at the fan in sorrow.

"It is my fault that this happened. If only I was more attentive with this fan it wouldn't have been stolen," she muttered. "Lives may be lost because of me…"

"If you were actively taking care of it, or had it with you—you may as well be dead, Shirayuki. That's how they operate, otherwise you would be a mind-controlled minion to them right now. Either way, you not having the fan with you during that time saved you. I may not know King Enma, but I would think he would prioritize your well-being over a fan he gave you," I told her and she looked at me in shock.

"I agree with Jin. Shirayuki, the Khaos Order is a terrorist group. You never know what kind of horrors they can do, and I believe Jin may know a fair share of the things they do. So don't blame yourself for it, and we have it back. Team [DxD] just needs to beat them, right?" he asked and winked.

"Yeah, that's right," I replied. After that we chatted a bit, slowly bringing up Shirayuki's mood, before we left as the free hour we had was slowly ending.

…

We were back in the main realm and were making our way towards Yae's novel shop. As we arrived there…

"I sold more!"

"This is why you're single, fufu~"

"You're single! I'm in a relationship!"

Both Yae and Kogitsunemaru were arguing with one another. Shigune was panicking as she desperately tried to ease the situation while Kanami laughed at the two and Natsume just shook her head. When Shigune spotted us she ran over to us.

"…I can't do it… please help," she begged.

"Is it the typical argument?" I asked and she nodded. I sighed, and clapped my hands and created a small shockwave that got their attention.

"Ara? Have you come here to buy more books?" asked Yae.

"Jin… thanks for last time by the way, and sorry for what I did," apologized Kogitsunemaru.

"No, and no problem," I replied to them. We walked over to them and I explained why I was here.

"Ah, I did hear about a duel happening. So you're fighting Raijin-sama, huh? Well, you did win against the all-mighty Sakra of the Hindu Pantheon. You should have an easier time with Raijin-sama," said Yae offhandedly.

"O-oi, d-don't just dismiss Raijin-sama like that," her fellow Kitsune said nervously.

"I am not. We know how powerful our gods are, but we also know that they aren't near Sakra's power, yet Jin defeated him. So I don't see how Raijin-sama will win this duel," explained Yae.

"I hate it when you use logic…" grumbled Kogitsunemaru.

"Thanks for the compliments, but that duel should be starting soon, so we'll get going. I might come back later to check on some novels," I told them and we left for the castle.

As usual, Sara was there to greet us and brought us to the meeting room. When we entered, the three goddesses from before were there to greet us.

"I've been waiting, Jin. Let's get this duel started, and yes, it will be broadcast throughout our realm," explained Raijin.

"Sure, I don't mind. But where are we fighting?" I asked.

"You have been to Dragon Mountain, correct?" she asked and I nodded. "There is an arena there. We have reinforced it for today, but we would appreciate it if you reinforced it again before we fight. We heard of the rules you had for your duel with Sakra. Then please face me with your [Boosted Gear]," she said.

[Hell yeah! I get to shine this time!] exclaimed Ddraig.

"I don't mind," I replied.

"Good. I will meet you there," she said and vanished in a bolt of lightning.

"So cool…!" whispered Kanami beside me. "I wonder if I can vanish using white flames…!"

"You didn't try it?" asked Natsume incredulously.

"N-no, I was busy mastering a bunch of other stuff…" replied Kanami.

Suzaku had gone over to Amaterasu and spoke to her about something. As they chatted, Suzaku blushed and Amaterasu smiled at her, both of them glanced at me and Suzaku blushed even more. I decided not to eavesdrop and let them have their privacy.

Rose and Lavinia had also been dragged away by Fūjin and the three spoke to one another. So I just stood there chatting and waiting for them with Shigune, Fusae and the Minagawa sisters, until…

"Hey, Kanami, Natsume," I called out to them. Both sisters stopped talking to each other and looked at me. "Can I meet both of your parents soon?" I asked.

Both sisters, Fusae and Shigune looked at me blankly for a few seconds before both of them turned red and started stuttering, but before they could say anything else, everyone else came back to us and we left for the arena. Both sisters were still in shock, and Shigune was too.

…

Third Person Point of View

…

The arena that was set up for the duel was made out of smooth stone. There were also stands around it, but they were quite far from the arena itself since the gods did not want anyone watching to be hurt. Apart from that, there were also magic circles in the sky that would show the match up close.

On the eastern side was Raijin, the Goddess of Lightning, Thunder and Storms. On the western side was Aaron, the Dual Dragon Emperor and Middleman.

[Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the long-awaited duel between our lovely goddess Raijin-sama! And the world-famous Middleman and Dual Dragon Emperor! Today, he will be using his [Boosted Gear] to face Raijin-sama!] explained the announcer.

"I will go all out. Thank you for creating another barrier and strengthening the arena, Jin," said Raijin. She then summoned a sword beside herself. It glowed purple and let out a powerful and divine aura as well as purple lightning. Behind her were seven glowing purple balls appeared behind her.

[There it issssssssss one of Raijin-sama's famed weapons! The Musou Isshin! Now then, what will the Middleman do?!]

"Ddraig."

[Yeah.]

Aaron summoned his [Boosted Gear] and entered his regular Balance Breaker.

"You're not using your [Queen] form yet?" asked Raijin.

"I'll test the waters first with this," he replied. "Blade."

[Ascalon!]

The blade of [Ascalon] appeared on his right arm and he pointed it at Raijin. The Goddess of Lightning smirked back at him.

[It appears both fighters are ready! Let the duel commence!]

Booooooooooooooooom!

As soon as the announcer shouted that, both Aaron and Raijin's swords clashed in the middle of the arena creating a powerful shockwave that shook the ground beneath them and the barrier. However, the balls behind Raijin began to glow and they started to firing bolts of lighting at Aaron who deflected them with his sword. He then jumped away.

'A skilled swordswoman, and those balls periodically fire bolts of lightning at me…' thought Aaron as he deflected a few more attacks that were aimed at him.

"Most opponents I've faced in the past would attempt to dodge those, not deflect them," Raijin pointed out.

"Really? Well, it did cross my mind," replied Aaron. Aaron then dismissed his [Ascalon] confusing Raijin. "Mode change! Welsh Sonic Boost Knight!"

[Change Star Sonic!]

Aaron then released all the excess armor on him and appeared in front of Raijin. "Mode change! Welsh Draconic Rook!"

[Change Solid Impact!]

He then changed into his [Rook] form and threw his empowered [Rook]s right hand at Raijin. Who barely managed to block the attack. The attack created a large explosion and the Goddess of Lightning was launched back with minimal damage. However, her attire was torn apart slightly.

Even though Aaron could use weapons, he preferred to use his fists to fight, even after training with Rudra on how to use a sword properly, he just liked using his fists. Maintaining his [Rook] form he sped around Raijin who defended against his attacks using her sword. The bolts of lightning were easily deflected, so they didn't do much to Aaron.

Even though he was holding back, he felt this was a bit too lackluster and wondered if Raijin was still testing him, or waiting for him to use his [Queen] form. The supernatural world knew of his new form with [Divine Dividing], so in theory, he knew that they knew that his [Boosted Gear] could also achieve a similar form.

A few minutes of exchanges had turned the arena beneath them into mostly broken bits and pieces. Aaron's armor was still undamaged while Raijin's clothing was tattered and she had a few bruises on her body and face, yet was still fine overall.

"Let's stop playing around then," said Raijin. Her eyes glowed, and her power increased several folds as the area around her was charred by the surge of power.

Aaron smiled, and decided to chant to enter his [Queen] form.

…

"She's starting to get serious," said Fūjin. "It seemed like they were just testing each other. This is where the real match starts."

"Why did Raijin-sama want to fight Jin?" asked Lavinia.

"Raijin herself seeks out skilled warriors. They don't necessarily need to be very powerful or well-known. The only requirement she usually wants is a complete mastery of their craft—in Jin's case, his Sacred Gears. He has been the only one to have evolved both Sacred Gears in those ways. No other past wielders did in the past," explained Amaterasu.

"Raijin also fought a wielder of the [Boosted Gear] and [Divine Dividing] in the past, but to her, they were weak and weren't worth it in the end—those were her words at the time. So when new wielders started to appear, she held no interests… well, until now that is," added Hachiman.

Aaron's group were surprised. They hadn't heard about that before. They were aware of some wielders in the past that had killed many in the Egyptian Pantheon. However, now they wondered if any other gods in the past had faced any other Longinus wielders.

Even though they knew the outcome already, they eagerly watched the match unfold. This also included the gods and other friends that Aaron had made during his short trips to this realm.

…

Aaron entered his [Queen] form and faced Raijin again. Both of them had a brief stare-down until they both disappeared, and large sparks were created all around them. As they clashed at different spots, it was obvious who had the advantage.

Aaron sent a punch towards Raijin. The goddess in question created a powerful defensive barrier in front of her with just her eyes. However, Aaron used [Penetrate] to bypass the barrier and landed the punch square in her chest! The goddess grinned and crashed against the barrier.

But she wasn't fazed by this as she got up quickly and started throwing blades made out of lightning at Aaron, who also deflected them with his hands.

[EX Sonic Booster!]

Aaron appeared in front of her again and sent a barrage of punches which she deflected a few. However, some hit her all around her body, yet Raijin kept on smiling through it. Raijin hadn't had this much fun since she fought Fūjin and Amaterasu years ago, and even then, her most memorable duel was with Hachiman, the God of War in her own pantheon. She hadn't ventured out to challenge other gods but she wanted to, but Amaterasu asked her not to, and so she didn't.

[EX Impact Booster!]

Aaron hit her directly in the stomach and she crashed into the barrier again. The crowd had gone silent. This was seemingly a one-sided beat down and they weren't sure if they should be excited or horrified. But…

Aaron jumped away as even more power surged from her body. Raijin had a crazed grin on her face. "Good… good…! This is what I've been waiting for! Dance with me a bit longer, Jin!" she shouted and an enormous purple pillar of lightning erupted from her.

The pillar of lightning eventually faded and what was left was a different looking Raijin. Beneath her was a large purple cloud that was shaped in a hand, her clothing had changed into a skin tight light purple suit, behind her were the seven purple balls, but behind those were two large hands with two large Musou Isshin's.

Her eyes glowed, and her fighting spirit had increased several folds. This was the first time that Raijin had revealed this form in several years. The last time she showed this form was when she fought Hachiman, the god of war.

[W-w-w-what in the world is that?! Raijin-sama has revealed an entirely different form!!] the announcer shouted in shock. [It seems she has finally started taking the Middleman seriously!]

As he finished saying that, the right arm behind Raijin swung its sword down and Aaron moved his body slightly. The attack missed as a powerful slash destroyed the ground beside him and threatened to destroy the barrier behind him.

'That form increased her powers even further. Raw power-wise, she's at least on par with the top five strongest in the world, not including the people I've trained,' thought Aaron as he looked at the damage that she had caused.

Two of the balls behind Raijin turned into drums and they started to beat. The beat rapidly sped up, and purple tornadoes appeared with lightning attack in all directions. The tornado then sped up and headed towards him!

Aaron brought out his cannons, but didn't get time to charge them as large bolts of lightning started striking the spot where he stood. At the same time Raijin began rapidly moving around and throwing slashes at him, which forced him to dodge them all.

The crowd were in awe, both with their goddesses' power, and Aaron dodging it all.

…

"I haven't seen that form in hundreds of years…! I didn't think she would use it!" exclaimed Hachiman.

"When did she last use it?" asked Suzaku.

"Against me. We were having sparring matches on a regular basis back then, but… one day she asked to have a serious duel with me, so I obliged. For most of it, I was beating her. Even during her empowered state, she cut apart large mountainsides and terrain, but she still couldn't touch me or do damage to me, so…"

"—So she created that form all those years ago, right?" asked Amaterasu.

"Correct. That's why I have this," said Hachiman as he pulled his shirt down and revealed a large scar. "I was caught off-guard and she injured me that much, but at the time she didn't have any control. I can only assume she trained even harder to master it. Because if I compare that form from back then and to now, it's a large difference."

Hachiman covered himself again and shook his head. "I won in the end, since it drained her powers and stamina at an absurd rate, but it doesn't look like she has those problems anymore. I wouldn't be surprised if she could stay in that form indefinitely," he explained.

'…You acted indifferently to many things over the years. Were you satisfied with your time with us? Or were you secretly seeking out powerful opponents, Raijin?' Amaterasu asked herself as she looked at the magic circle.

"It seems the Dual Dragon is on the defensive now. Do you think he'll lose?" asked Omoikane, the God of Wisdom.

"No… he'll be fine. I can feel it. He's smiling—he's enjoying this," said Suzaku. Lavinia who sat beside her agreed.

"Mmm. He'll probably do something to match it, hehe~" Lavinia added.

"Yep, knowing Jin he'll do something outrageous!" added Kanami. The others also agreed, and the gods began to wonder about his next move.

…

'Let's go with an instant blast, no charge,' thought Aaron and brought out his cannons and immediately fired a blast at Raijin, who matched it by swinging both her swords down and sending two powerful lightning-coated attacks at the draconic aura.

Aaron held back, but was still surprised that the two slash attacks had matched his blasters' attack. 'No dice, huh? Well, alright then… let's try that.'

[Partner, are you sure? We completely skipped that you know? I mean, those guys no longer exist but…]

'I'll just channel it to my infinite mana, it'll be fine, Ddraig,' he replied and the [Welsh Dragon] relented.

Aaron moved at the speed of light and kicked Raijin in the stomach. She was shocked and slammed back against the wall—again it threatened to break on impact, but held strong.

"Heh, you could end it at any time, but you let me have fun. Commendable, Dual Dragon Emperor," said Raijin as she whipped some blood from her mouth.

However, Aaron didn't answer her and he exited his [Queen] form and switched back to his regular Balance Breaker, confusing everyone.

"Why did you leave your form?" he asked confused.

Suddenly, a large and menacing draconic aura erupted from Aaron. The entire realm felt it—it was an aura they felt only on a few occasions.

[Wait, it's not just the regular? Are we changing the size and adding your powers too? …Ooooh! I'm excited for this!] shouted Ddraig.

{Stop dancing, what is wrong with you?! Stop clapping too! You're like an idiotic monkey!} complained Albion.

[Suck it!!] snapped Ddraig.

Aaron then held his right arm up and chanted…

"I, who am about to awaken—"

The aura around his body increased—the aura of crimson and jet-black mixed together.

"Am the Heavenly Dragon who has stolen the principles of domination from God—"

The armor began to transform. It became larger, larger than what it had originally been intended to be.

"I laugh at the 'infinite', and I fret over the 'dream'—"

The armor became angular, bestial, and more intimidating. A pair of crimson and jet-black wings sprouted from his back. His hands became razor sharp claws, horn-like protrusions erupted from his helmet.

"I shall become the Red Dragon of Domination—"

His eyes glowed, the draconic aura increased even more—the entire realm trembled, powerful winds erupted all around the arena.

Raijin couldn't help but step back as she marveled at the form that she was about to witness. The audience were left speechless. The announcer couldn't say another word.

This… was a dragon. The reappearance of—

"""[And I shall sink you to the depths of the crimson purgatory!!!!]"""

Aaron's, Ddraig's, Elsha's and Belzard's voices said the last line together.

"This is…" muttered Raijin. The realization hit her.

[Juggernaut Drive!!!]

The crimson and jet-black draconic aura finally exploded! Consuming the entire area, and destroying the barrier that had encompassed them. But as the barrier was broken, a new one replaced it, and it was even larger than the last one.

Once Aaron's aura dissipated, the only thing left was an enormous crimson and jet-black dragon with sapphire, gold and white accents all over its body. The dragon's body was also metallic. This was Aaron's [Juggernaut Drive]. Unlike his [Outer Dragon God Form] which would be purely jet-black shadowy, this was much different compared to Issei's [Juggernaut Drive].

Raijin grinned and sent two powerful slashes at Aaron, but…

[Revoke!] shouted Ddraig, and the attacks vanished.

[You in there, Partner?] asked Ddraig.

'Yeah, I'm here. If you expected me to lose control… then you're sorely mistaken,' he replied and chuckled.

Aaron focused his attention on Raijin. He was significantly larger than Raijin now. If he had to compare it to something, then he was as large as Dublin's spire, which stands at 121 meters or 396.9 feet.

Aaron then swiped his tail at Raijin—he increased his tail's speed to reach the speed of light and she didn't see it coming. Raijin crashed into the barrier and made another large dent on it, but this time the wind was knocked out of her.

However, Raijin stood back up and started firing more lightning and thunder attacks at Aaron. She summoned thunder tornadoes again, however, this time around fifteen of them! She also combined the two swords that both her giant hands used behind her and then swung it down for an even more powerful attack… but…

[Revoke! Revoke! Revoke! Revoke! Revoke!] shouted Ddraig.

All the attacks were voided, as they approached Aaron, they were simply removed out of existence, as if they never existed.

[Damn, when did we get this?]

Cúntóir: Answer: You always had it, and many more…

[Nice!]

Aaron disappeared from his spot and that alerted Raijin, but she didn't get time to react as her body was suddenly launched around in the air like a rag doll. Her body then slammed back into the ground. However, she wasn't given any room to react as Aaron who was above her fired [Blazing Inferno of Scorching Flames] towards her.

[Blazing Inferno of Scorching Flames], the ultimate flames which can incinerate anything until nothing remains. Once ignited, they will never go out. Even Gods will be burned to ashes with these flames. It was sealed by the God of the Bible. It was only ineffective against Albion, but since Aaron was the one using it and combined it with his powers—everything will be affected and will perish under it.

Raijin was hit by the flames, yet she still stood up, she did not cry, she did not scream out in pain. She simply had a happy grin on her face. She hadn't faced anyone this strong before, and to her… it brought her tremendous joy.

'I went along with what Shuri said before, but… that deal didn't sound so bad!' she thought and jumped towards Aaron. 'If he takes me, I can reach newer heights in strength!' the two arms behind her brought her sword up and slashed down at Aaron.

[Revelation Barrier!]

[Wait what?!] shouted Ddraig in shock. [We can do that?!]

[Revelation Barrier], a move that only Issei could use while he was in his AxA or [Apocalypse AnswerArms] form. However, Aaron could access the move while in his [Juggernaut Drive] form. With the help of Cúntóir, this was made possible.

A crimson and jet-black barrier had appeared around Aaron's body which blocked the attack. Raijin was shocked. She could cut anything with her Musou Isshin, especially in this form. However, the fact that a simple barrier was able to completely block it left her shocked.

Cúntóir: Answer: Wait for it…

Aaron then hit her again with his tail until she became completely delirious and exhausted. However, Raijin held on, she was at her wits' end, she pushed her body to the limit. She didn't want it to end yet, but Aaron wanted to. Raijin desperately kept her new form up and send out several attacks at Aaron, only for them to disappear after she heard [Revoke].

[Boost x1000! Boost x1000! Boost x1000! Boost x1000! Boost x1000! Boost x1000! Boost x1000! Boost x1000! Boost x1000! Boost x1000!]

[We can do that too?! Also, 10,000 boosts?! Isn't this a bit overkill?!]

The stomach portion of Aaron's [Juggernaut Drive] opened as he had boosted earlier. He hit the ground with his tail which forced Raijin to fly up into the air. She could not defend herself or dodge this attack. If he used it now, he would kill her.

[Longinus Smasher!!!!]

"Stooooooooooooooooooop!!" shouted Amaterasu in a desperate plea. She had teleported to the arena, worried about her 'sister'.

Aaron smiled and teleported Raijin's exhausted body to the Chief God of the pantheon as his x10,000 [Longinus Smasher] obliterated the sky of Takamagahara, ripped through the dimension and broke through several universal barriers, surprising its inhabitants in those worlds.

A crimson and jet-black haze was left behind in the skies of Takamagahara after the attack ended.

[I-it's over!! T-t-the Dual Dragon Emperor and Middleman wins the duel!!] the announcer screamed, and the crowd erupted into cheers.

They were relieved that he didn't kill their goddess, but it reinforced the fact that he had powers that surpassed God-class beings again which left many worried, but also hopeful for the world's future.

…

"Holy craaaaaaaaap he beat her!! He also turned into a dragon!! So cooooooool!!" shouted Itto as he started jumping on the spot.

The residents of Zyoto had gathered in the town's square to watch the duel, this included Shuten and she even more wary about being on the Middleman's bad side.

"Fufu, it would be wise not to make an enemy of Jin-boy," she said and many Oni's agreed with her.

Kuki Shinobu looked at Aaron through the magic circle and then at the ground. She had been contemplating about his job offer from not too long ago. She wanted financial stability, but she also didn't want to leave the gang too early.

"Boss, can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked him.

"Huh? Why not here?" he asked back.

"…It's important," she said and gestured for him to follow her.

Itto being Itto, didn't understand the seriousness of the mood and simply followed her. But he would give her a satisfying answer at the end of it.

…

"Huhu, Inaie is certainly in good hands, don't you think, dear?" Sōjōbō asked his husband.

"Yes. The power she showed us months ago, and also how reliable she's become—she earned our people's respect and they accepted her. We have no one else but to thank him and his comrades," replied Surasu.

"I can't wait for grandkids~!" exclaimed Sōjōbō excitedly.

However, Surasu simply pulled his ear and said, "Maybe in a few more years, she is still too young." He added a glare to his husband.

"A-ahahaha… y-yes, you're right…"

…

"As absurdly strong as ever, fufu," said Maho.

"He did save us during that Kyoto incident, so I already rooted for him," said Inari. "You did so too, didn't you, Tamamo?" she asked the Kitsune beside her. Tamamo silently nodded as she smiled at the magic circle.

Soushi and Youko stood behind their masters as they also looked on at the magic circle in awe. However, it also inspired them to train even harder.

…

"Your fiancé is as strong as ever, Raiko-dono!" said Yoshitsune.

"As expected of Harem-King-Dragon-kun-sama, he's even stronger than before!" shouted Benkei as she took another sip from her gourd.

"Heh, he can only win after all," Yoichi said trying to act cool, but was kicked in the side by Benkei.

"Quit trying to act cool," she said rather annoyed.

"So this is the Middleman… hmm. I saw the match between him and Sakra-dono, but I didn't think he was this…" muttered Nobunaga.

The rest of the legendary heroes in the room silently looked at Aaron, many had different opinions, but… they acknowledge that he was at least God-class in strength. Raiko, who was the leader of the group, simply smiled at the screen. She didn't need to convey anything in words—she knew he would prevail.

…

Jin Skyward's Soliloquy

…

Once I exited my [Juggernaut Drive], I was immediately surrounded by people on the ground—they seemed to be some kind of news reporters for their realm...? I wasn't even aware of that; Raiko never said a thing. The same goes for Yoichi, Benkei and Yoshitsune.

"M-Middleman! Do you have anything to say after this exhibition match?!" asked the reporter.

"Something to say…?" I repeated and looked at them.

"You do know that many will either fear or admire this power. What do you want to say to them?!" asked another. The others also agreed with that man.

I know that they'll either fear or admire it, but… I closed my eyes briefly and then opened them. I smiled at the cameras pointed at me and said, "I can't do anything to those who fear me after seeing my power, but… there's something you can't see unless you're standing at the top. To experience that for the first time, it has to be exhilarating, right? It means that you are freer than anyone else…"

"…Anyway, I showed that power to give a message to those who wish to be stronger. Keep training, because I'll keep flying higher so that others will be inspired to fly with me. If you can't keep up now, what's to say you can't in the future?" I finished with that and teleported to the place where the girls were. I saw the surprised expressions of the reporters and camera crew as I left.

…

The area I arrived in seemed to be part of the large castle that Amaterasu lived in. I felt Amaterasu and Raijin's auras nearby after all—maybe that's where they're healing her injuries? Upon pushing the doors open, I was greeted with multiple gods and the girls in a VIP room.

Lavinia jumped up and embraced me. The rest walked over to me. To my surprise, Fusae tugged on my leave and said, "Good job." It was rather cute if I was being honest and I patted her head.

"It seems you won the duel," said Hachiman. Behind him were several other gods, even Haru and Yoru were here too, but they simply stared at me in silence.

"Indeed I did," I replied.

"Were you going to use that attack on Raijin if Amaterasu did not interrupt you?" he asked.

"No. I was aware of what I was doing. I was going to teleport her away regardless if Amaterasu was there or not. But it was just good timing on her part," I told him. Hachiman seemed satisfied with that answer as he light punched my shoulder and left.

I spoke with a few more of the gods before I made my way to the room where Raijin was being held at. Once we entered the room, Amaterasu turned to us and sighed.

"…You took it too far, Jin," she said with a mix of sadness and anger.

"I didn't plan on actually hitting her with that attack. Also… I think she may have genuinely hated me if I didn't use that level of strength," I replied to her.

"…You're…damn…right…Skyward…!" Raijin said with difficulty. We all turned to her and saw that she was awake.

I walked over to her and laughed. "You're one tough cookie, Raijin. Even after that mild beating I gave you, you're still awake?" I asked.

"You can't…stop lightning that easily…!" she said and grinned. I shook my head, touched her forehead and healed her.

"How about that? Does that make it a little easier?" I asked. She seemed surprised and immediately sprung up.

She moved her upper half around before nodding. "As per the agreement with Shuri, I am now yours," she said casually and opened her arms. "Embrace me! Or fuck me if you like."

"…Let's take it slow, alright? Anyway, I didn't think mom was that serious," I replied and turned away. "But for now, we'll get going," I told them.

"You're leaving so soon? You haven't been here that long," said Amaterasu.

"Can we stay for a bit? I haven't looked at this place enough…" asked Kanami. She also tried to convince me with her cute face. Natsume followed suit and made her own cute face. I also felt Rose tugging on my shirt…

"…Fine, let's stay a little longer," I relented and sighed.

The three of them high fived, left and promised to meet up in front of the two novel shops later. As I was about to leave again, Yoru and Haru stepped through the door and we stared at each other.

"How has training been? Sorry for not being there, I've been busy as you know."

"It's fine. We definitely improved a lot! But we're still far from being able to participate with the mission that Team [DxD] do. Heck, Medusa-san has her petrifying ability so she's been taken on a few missions already! I'm jealous!" replied Haru.

"Buuuut!" Haru then hugged Yoru's head and started moving it around. "Little Yoru here has trouble fighting Albion-san. He's quite relentless with her~"

She pleaded with her sister, "...N-nee-chan... stop..." but her sister did not stop.

I conversed with them for a little while longer and we left. We made plans on meeting at the two novel shops too, so we could all go home together. We spoke a bit more with Amaterasu and Raijin too, the Goddess of Lightning was eager to come train in my home, meanwhile Amaterasu and Suzaku spoke with each other about something. We couldn't hear since they moved to a corner of the room and spoke in hushed whispers.

…

Around two hours had passed and we had decided to return home. We were in front of the two shops. Shigune and Fusae wandered into Yae's shop to look at books while Lavinia and Suzaku headed to Kogitsunemaru, the latter wanting to thank Suzaku since she's related to Shuri.

I was outside waiting for everyone. However, I went to Uwabami's Inn earlier to check in on her and update her on my plans, and she was onboard with them. I may hit up the Shinto Pantheon first when I decide to expand into the supernatural—or maybe the three factions first, who knows…

"Sorry for the delay, I'm here," Raiko said. I looked up and saw a few people with her.

"Oh, hey Raiko. Yoshitsune, Benkei and Yoichi are with you, huh? …And some other people," I greeted and looked at her group.

"It's been a while Jin-dono!" said Yoshitsune and she started to shake my hand, confusing me.

"Yes I am. The ones with me are Oda Nobunaga-san, Ibaraki Doji and Ryouma Sakamoto-san. Congratulations on the win too," she said and stood beside me.

"Thanks, and nice to meet you three," I said and extended my hand.

Oda Nobunaga extended his hand to me and we shook hands, as well as Ryouma Sakamoto. However, Ibaraki Doji just stared at me for a few seconds with an irritated expression on her face.

"So you're engaged to her, huh?" she asked and looked at Raiko.

"I am, is there a problem?" I asked.

"…No," she replied, turned around and walked away.

I wonder if she still holds a grudge towards Raiko? Or does it have something to do with Shuten or even Sakata Kintoki? Whatever it is, I doubt she'd say anything to me.

"How did the meeting go?" I asked, trying to move the conversation along and get rid of the awkward atmosphere.

"We discussed another cultural exchange with the devils and fallen angels, as well as the Greek Pantheon," replied Yoshitsune. She then pulled out a clipboard and said, "Sirzechs Lucifer-dono and Serafall Leviathan-dono will come here for the devils, Azazel-dono and Baraqiel-dono for the fallen angels and the new Goddess of War, Vera-dono and Hermes-dono for the Greek Gods."

Vera, huh? I've only exchanged texts with her and Kuro over the last few months—well, Kuro did visit me twice and I think our relationship did take some steps forward, but Vera has said she's been busy so I didn't push her on it.

"Hermes, huh? I wonder if it's the right choice to send that guy here," I mumbled to myself.

"Is something wrong with him?" asked Yoshitsune.

"Well no… I think? It just doesn't fit him, in my opinion," I replied. We spoke to each other for a little longer. Both Ryouma Sakamoto and Oda Nobunaga invited me to go drinking, but I had to decline since we were going home. Nevertheless, Benkei did go and join them.

"We're ready! I love this place! Let's come again!" said Kanami as her group returned.

"Yeah, though I didn't like getting hit on," added Natsume.

"They didn't exactly get any chance to continue since Rosey-chan scolded them until they started crying," Kanami said with an awkward chuckle.

"Well, that's true," said Natsume and laughed along with her sister. The woman in question just looked away, blushing, and huffing while mumbling 'They deserved it' or something like that.

The ones in the novel shops also came out, and we were ready to go home. Finally, Yoru and Haru also came back and we finally left for home.

…

Time passed on and Halloween finally arrived. Everyone in my household was tense, and we were expecting something—no, not just in my household, but everyone in the Alliance. It was like we were holding our breath for something to happen.

However, as the day passed, morning came, afternoon came, and evening slowly arrived, but nothing happened. We went to school like normal and had the costume competition. It was a tie between Akeno and Rias as they wore a very risqué bunny costumes with their devil wings out.

A few guys were mad at me, since they knew I was dating them both at this point. Ingvild didn't join since she was too embarrassed, the same with the rest. Asia had a cute nun costume, Irina as an angel and Xenovia for some reason was the 'sexy teacher', which didn't fit her, so people were confused by her choice.

"Maybe nothing was going to happen?" asked Akeno.

It was nearing nine in the evening, and nothing had still happened. I was about to agree with her when…

"?!" I felt an enormous spike in magic all over the world. I quickly scanned the world and found it was the countries and realms that were supposed to be targeted. However, what shocked me even more was that most of those human countries were set ablaze.

But from what I could tell—only very minimum amount of people were injured thanks to my shadow soldiers and the G.o.B defending them.

"Aaron!" shouted Suzaku as she burst through the door onto the rooftop.

"Suza—"

"My parents! They just disappeared along with a few others from the Five Principal Clans! One of Shigune's parents, Natsume and Kanami's mother and Sae too!"

I stared at her in shock. But—

[Aaron-sama!] the voice of Ezeri rang out in my ear. [T-they took her! She just vanished—Sofiel, the woman I—]

[Ezeri, calm down. Panicking won't do anyone any good. I will leave her to you, go and find her.]

[…Yes, at once!] he replied and the connection was cut.

I immediately contacted the rest of Team [DxD] and had them meet us in the meeting room. We needed to make a game plan and fast. I have no idea how they managed to kidnap them all like that. I had shadow soldiers in their shadows, so it shouldn't be possible…

Once we arrived in the meeting room, the majority of the team were already there, and a very disgruntled Tobio. Murder was clearly in his eyes, as shadows covered his body. I walked over to him and calmed him down.

"We'll get her back. I have enough protection on her that she or the baby shouldn't be harmed," I told him. He looked at me still angry and silently nodded. "Alright let's—"

As I was about to continue, we heard laughter outside and I created a magic circle to show the outside. What we saw was a woman—

"Glenda…" muttered Lavinia as she stared at the woman with a frown.

[Let's start the party shall we, Team [DxD], Slash/Dog and the Five Principal Clans? Oh! don't forget about Grigori too, fufu~! Try to find us while you can~! Those who disappeared only have a limited time after all!] she said in a maniacal tone and the magic circle disappeared.

[Oi, Jin! Shemhazai's wife also disappeared! A few high-level angels' lovers too, a few noble devil families and… Silveteela Stolas also disappeared! More people around the alliance are starting to disappear one by one!] shouted Azazel as a magic circle appeared beside me.

What the…fuck? How did they… no, I can't lose my cool or focus right now. 'Cúntóir, scan everywhere, I need to know where they went!'

A few in the room began to panic, but I clapped my hands to get their attention. "If you panic now, then we won't get them back. Stay focused and listen to what I have to say," I told them seriously and they looked back at me.

"Alright… let's go with this…"

…