Castling

"Hmm...?"

Just as his discussion with the leaders of the Three Factions seemed to be headed in a favorable direction, Vahn felt a sense of incongruency that caused him to fall silent and look around. Microscopic purple particulates had suddenly permeated the air, shimmering and suspended in place like dust harvested from luminous amethysts. Far more pressingly, Issei, Kiba, Xenovia, and Irina were completely encased in them, ostensibly paralyzed or petrified as they didn't move in the slightest...

"Hooo~? It would appear that someone doesn't approve of our pursuit of peace. Though, if I'm being perfectly honest, I'm far more surprised by how few of us were affected by the little dhampir's time stop..." hummed Azazel, sporting a carefree smile as he took stock of who had and hadn't been frozen.

"How embarrassing..." sighed Vali, closing his eyes and shaking his head at the fact that Issei, his supposed rival, had failed to resist the time stop despite being the vessel of a Heavenly Dragon.

Just as surprised as Azazel, Sirzechs, having taken stock of the situation within the room while Michael got up to gaze out the window, supposed, "I presume it has something to do with our young friend here. Unless I'm mistaken, everyone who managed to resist the time-stop effects, besides those with the natural ability to do so, is contracted to Vahn."

"What's going on...?" asked Vahn, sporting a slight frown as he resisted the urge to get up and check on those who were frozen. Fortunately, he received an answer quickly as Rias, sporting a troubled frown, explained, "This is the power of my Bishop, Gasper Vladi's Sacred Gear, Forbidden Balor View. He's the half-vampire I told you about when you first asked me who was behind the seal at the Old School Building. Someone must have removed said seal, and he is now being forced to use his power. Though I've never seen it used on this scale before..."

"Whoever the enemy is, they're certainly very well-prepared," remarked Michael, his expression now devoid of his previously immutable smile as he noted, "They've hijacked our barrier, supplanted the gates we had in place, and are rapidly diminishing our troops and personnel by teleporting them elsewhere..."

"Hijacking a barrier jointly created by the Three Great Factions is no easy feat..." remarked Sirzechs, his expression and tone serious as he crossed his arms and cupped his chin thoughtfully.

"It's something that could only be achieved if the enemy was informed of the barrier's structure in advance..." appended Azazel, his smile gaining a hint of amusement as he reasoned, "In other words, there's a traitor in our midst."

"Mouuuuuu...these jerks need to learn how to read the room..." grumbled Serafall, sporting a pouty but ultimately unconcerned expression as she joined Michael in staring out the window, periodically rippling as laser-like beams of red, yellow, and blue Magical Energy pounded the exceptionally robust barriers that had been erected to protect the meeting room, strong enough to resist a direct impact from a high-yield nuclear warhead. As for the jerks she was referencing, it was a rapidly expanding group of notably well-endowed, virtually identical female Mages in purple, low-cut, hooded robes that obfuscated the upper half of their faces, adorned with a trio of golden eyes that were stacked from large to small.

Surprising nearly everyone in the room, Vahn asked, "Should I destroy the barrier? Or would it be better to overwrite it...?"

Understanding what Vahn had planned, Grayfia adopted a smile and took it upon herself to explain, "One of the abilities Vahn-sama has conferred to Asia Argento through her unique weapon and holy vestments is known as Sanctuary. It requires considerable Demonic Power to activate, but it produces a domain of light that overwrites existing barriers and precludes enemy teleportation."

"A girl once heralded as a Saintess—now a Devil—producing a domain of light using Demonic Power..." muttered Michael, a faint smile returning to his face as he found what should have been a blasphemous revelation to be exceedingly novel.

"I would like to focus on rescuing my Bishop," said Rias, pointing out, "If the enemy's barrier and gate abruptly come down, they could retreat with him as their captive. I won't allow that."

"If you're worried about him falling into enemy hands, I can just eliminate him and the enemy together," remarked Vali, sporting an untroubled smile as Rias glared at him with extreme disapproval.

"Now, now, let's play nice, Vali. We are here in the pursuit of peace, after all," reminded Azazel, though, if he were being honest, the actual reason he didn't want Gasper falling into enemy hands was because he wanted to see how far Forbidden Balor View could evolve in the hands of a half-human, half-vampire-turned-Devil.

"My apologies," responded Vali, exhaling a faint snort as he turned his head to avoid Rias's glare and casually contended, "I'm just feeling a bit restless due to the situation."

"Well, far be it from me to prevent you from heading out to have a bit of fun," hummed Azazel, rising to his feet and rolling his neck and right arm as he added, "In fact, I may just—"

"Huh? What the hell just happened...?" asked Issei, drawing the gazes of everyone present as he abruptly regained his mobility.

"It's about time you snapped out of it, Red..." remarked Vali, snorting with much greater contempt as Issei looked at him in confusion.

"Long story short, the enemy abducted one of your fellow Devils and is using their power to manipulate time," chimed Azazel, pulling out a pair of armlets with spherical gems on them as he added, "It's good that you've awoken. Even if you can't compare to our silver-haired friend here, you're still the Red Dragon Emperor. Put one of these bad boys on your left arm, and you should be able to draw out the full power of your Sacred Gear for a brief period."

Beginning to feel anxious, Rias interposed herself into the conversation, her words directed at her brother as she revealed, "I still have an unused Rook in my room back at the Old School Building. That's where Gasper is being held. Please allow me to rescue him."

"Castling would allow you to circumvent the teleportation restrictions..." confirmed Sirzechs, looking to Vahn as he remarked, "But I would like to hear from our young friend here. What are you thinking right now, Vahn?"

As Vahn had been silent for quite a while, his gaze focused on something only he could see; Sirzechs was far from the only one curious to hear from him. After all, who better to produce a miracle than God's Proxy? Not that they required one.

Nodding in acknowledgment, Vahn asserted, "I will go to the Old School Building with Rias. There, I should be able to use Contract Summoning to call as many people as we require to recover Rias's Bishop. Once we have him in custody, we can attack the enemy from behind as those here draw their attention..."

Raising his right brow, Sirzechs asked, "Are you certain you can perform Contract Summoning under these conditions...?"

"Absolutely," affirmed Vahn, his expression and tone firm, full of conviction as he nodded without so much as an iota of uncertainty in his shimmering aquamarine eyes.

"Well, I'm convinced," said Azazel, spreading his glossy black wings and smiling as he remarked, "And heralding our alliance by jointly repelling an enemy attack is pretty fitting, wouldn't you two agree?"

"Indeed..." hummed Michael, offering a curt nod.

"I personally would have preferred a less exciting resolution..." appended Sirzechs, but the smile on his face made it clear the situation didn't bother him in the slightest. There had been more than a thousand attempts at his life since he was bestowed the title of Lucifer, so this was essentially a bi-annual event from his perspective, as mundane as a routine checkup from his physician...

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Though he normally wouldn't be able to accompany Rias through her use of castling, Vahn was able to trick the Evil Pieces into believing he was an extension of her by emulating her Demonic Power. Afterward, using power borrowed by Sirzechs, who offhandedly remarked that red hair suited him, he and Rias transferred to the conspicuously empty club room.

Mirroring Vahn's confusion, Rias remarked, "Strange. They went through the trouble of apprehending Gasper, but they didn't bother to secure the building? How negligent..."

'It is strange...' thought Vahn, having steeled himself to enter combat the moment the transfer was completed. The lack of enemies confused him, but since they had already formulated a strategy, he closed his eyes and extended his right hand, incanting, "Himejima Akeno, Toujou Koneko, Asia Argento, and Grayfia Lucifuge. Come forth."

Following a sensation similar to blood being siphoned from his fingertips, leaving him feeling a bit unsteady on his feet, Vahn summoned forth the aforementioned Devils without incident. It took considerably more out of him than usual, but he could feel his vitality returning to him as a warmth that permeated his body, originating from his chest.

Standing at the front of the summoned group with a faint smile and her hands folded atop her lap, Grayfia was tempted to greet Vahn playfully but instead turned her attention to their surroundings, her brows rising as she reiterated, "How peculiar..." before spreading her senses through the building.

"Do you sense anything...?" asked Rias, trusting Grayfia's perception and experience more than her own.

Nodding, Grayfia raised her hands, palms facing upward, and created a holographic projection of the building's current state, complete with the location of barriers, red dots to indicate enemies, and green to represent allies. From that, they could see that the enemy had separated into three notable groups: five enemies and one ally in the basement, eight scouring Vahn's room, and four searching Rias's.

"Ara ara? Someone's popular~" hummed Akeno, finding it amusing that there were more people gathered in Vahn's room than keeping an eye on their hostage.

"Is there anything in your room you're concerned with having stolen...?" asked Rias, directing the question to Vahn. The prospect of the enemy discovering her recently assembled collection of hentai and doujinshi made her stomach feel a little fluttery, but since she knew better than to leave magical items and sensitive documents lying around, she was more annoyed than concerned by the enemy's invasion of her privacy.

Shaking his head, Vahn smiled and contended, "Other than you all, I keep everything important to me in my Inventory. There are some outfits and a few minor items created using my power they could swipe, but they won't be able to glean anything from them."

"Oh, you..." responded Rias, crossing her arms and giving Vahn a sidelong, upturned look before turning to Grayfia and adding, "Just to be safe, we'll leave you to deal with the robbers. If we encounter an opponent we can't deal with ourselves, Vahn can always summon you to assist us."

"Does Goshujin-sama agree with this course of action...?" asked Grayfia, causing Rias to frown slightly as the silver-haired Maid looked past her to await Vahn's decision.

Nodding, Vahn appended, "If possible, try to capture the enemies alive so we can learn what they were after. And once we rescue Rias's Bishop and the enemy gate comes down, reinforce the barrier protecting this building. I know it can be rebuilt, but it's an important repository for the memories everyone has made these past few months..."

"Understood," responded Grayfia, offering a steep, courteous bow. Then, as she already had ample time to spread her Demonic Power through the building, she promptly teleported to Vahn's room, jump-scaring the witch who happened to be going through his drawers before stabbing her hand into the startled woman's chest...

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'Who the hell is that...?' Vahn wondered, using his domain to mask his and everyone else's auras as they made their way down the hall leading to the basement. Streaks and flashes of gold, red, and orange light flicked in the sky outside, and as he focused on them, the form of Azazel could be seen engaging a fairly beautiful dark-skinned brunette with red-rimmed glasses and a very aristocratic appearance. However, it wasn't her that Vahn was focused on. Rather, it was the energy exuding from her body, reminiscent of Dragon's but far more potent as it amplified the woman's power enough to go toe-to-toe with one of the most powerful individuals in Creation...

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