The Second Round

Underworld, Satan Territory, Capital City, Lilith.

While James was dealing with Siegfried's attack on Ajuka, the rest of the group split up to deal with the rest of the members of the Hero Faction. In most cases, the members of the Hero Faction were killed on sight. However, those with rarer [Sacred Gears] were to be taken into custody, if possible, to extract their [Sacred Gears]. To make this endeavor possible, all the members of the group were wearing transceivers so they could get information about the [Sacred Gears] they came across.

Unfortunately, the members of the Hero Faction were spread out all over the city. And with there being only thirteen members of the three peerages present, the progress was going slower than they would have liked. However, thanks to Scathach and Koneko's sensing abilities, slow progress was relative. Scathach, on her own was rushing from one enemy to another piercing them with her spear and moving on after making sure the foe had died. Koneko on the other hand was working in a group with Yuuto, Gasper, and Issei doing the same, even if at a slower pace.

Tsubaki and Reya were also moving in a group to confront enemies and protect the civilians, but their pace was much slower than the other two mentioned groups. Even though they could sense how powerful someone was, they had a much tougher time differentiating between auras, which often led them to other devils who were looking for members of the Hero Faction.

Rias, Sona, Mizore, Cu Chulainn, and Moka were also searching the city. Their targets were any enemies that the others would not be able to handle with their current strengths. However, that changed when Mizore ran into Heracles attacking a group of children.

"Ahaha!" Heracles laughed loudly. "I, Heracles, will eliminate all of you dark creatures! Urgh!"

*Bang!*

While Heracles was monologuing in front of his scared victims, suddenly he was sent flying into the wall of a private residence, collapsing it on top of himself in the process. Where he stood previously, was a short girl with light purple hair and ice covering her hands in the shape of claws.

"I finally found you." Mizore said in an excited tone. "Because of you, I was punished after the trip to Kyoto. So, you're gonna pay for that now."

Mizore had completely neglected the fac that the reason she was punished was her own fault. Even though she had forgotten that little tidbit, she did remember that letting her enemies live was not allowed this time. Also, she never underestimated her opponents this time around, either.

"It's you again!" Heracles exclaimed after climbing out of the rubble. "I've been looking forward to having my revenge ever since the last time we met."

"Whatever." Mizore said uncaringly. "Let's get to it instead of talking about it."

With that, Mizore used her ice manipulation to freeze a path toward Heracles. However, before she could approach, Heracles did something different than he did last time.

"[Balance Break: Detonation – Mighty Comet]!" Heracles shouted.

After his shout, several missile-like constructs were created around Heracles that he fired at Mizore. Unfortunately for him, Mizore had learned her lesson when it comes to underestimating her opponents after her hell mode training with Scathach.

"[Ice Mirror Prison]" Mizore said as she created several dozen ice mirrors around herself and Heracles.

Mizore had been practicing this move ever since James mentioned it to her. However, this will be the first time she was using it in actual combat. Once all the mirrors were solidified, and before the missiles could detonate, Mizore leapt backward and sunk into the mirror directly behind her. An instant later, she popped out of a mirror above and to the right of Heracles with her claws extended.

"What?" Heracles exclaimed in confusion as Mizore's claws raked across the arms he raised to guard.

Before Heracles could fire another volley of his missiles, Mizore dashed toward the nearest mirror and sank into it once again. Then, she flew from another mirror located behind Heracles and slashed Heracles' left leg. Then, she retreated into another mirror. This pattern repeated itself a number of times with Mizore attacking a different part of Heracles' body each time. Right leg, left shoulder, left ribs, etc. After less than a minute of this, Heracles had been frozen due to the ice that seeped into each of the wounds Mizore's claws left on him.

"Geez, I had to cut him almost a hundred and fifty times to get him to stop moving." Mizore said as she came out of her last mirror at high speed.

Then, without slowing down, she plunged her right claw into Heracles' chest. However, his body was so sturdy that she could not pierce her arm through to his back like she planned. So, instead of that, she gripped his heart and froze it solid. Then, she disconnected her hand from the ice that was surrounding it.

"What do you have to eat to get that sturdy?" Mizore said while she shook her hand after removing it from Heracles' chest. "It actually hurt a bit to force my hand through his muscle and bones. Oh well, back to work."

As she finished speaking, Mizore turned around and dashed off toward the next battlefield. A moment later, the ice claw she left behind in Heracles' chest exploded, causing ice shrapnel to ravage his lifeless body from the inside.

On another battlefield, Moka had also run into an old enemy. Currently, she was facing off against Jeanne, who was standing on top of a dragon made of holy swords.

"That's new." Moka said while in her fighting stance.

"This is my [Blade Blacksmith's] subspecies [Balance Breaker], [Stake Victim Dragon]." Jeanne said with a smile. "Every part of it is deadly to people like you, Silver-Chan."

Moka rolled her eyes at the overly familiar nickname. However, she charged at the dragon without hesitation.

"As long as it doesn't touch me, it doesn't matter how deadly it is." Moka said during her approach.

Deciding that she did not want to let Moka get too close, especially after the beating she received last time, Jeanne used the dragon to attack Moka. As it swung its claws and tail and used its fangs to try and bite her, Moka gracefully weaved between the attacks. Unfortunately, the dragon was about thirteen feet (approx. 4 m) tall, no matter how she dodged, there was no easy way to counterattack Jeanne.

"This is getting me nowhere." Moka muttered to herself as she continued to dodge the incoming attacks. "I guess I'll have to try something new."

With that, Moka distanced herself from the holy sword dragon before stopping at a distance she deemed to be safe for the moment. Then, she used one of her fangs to pierce her left thumb. After a bit of blood began to trickle from the small wound, Moka held the hand forward.

"[Blood Arts: Arrow Stream]." Moka said solemnly.

Once her words fell, blood began to flow from Moka's thumb and created a longbow. Then, three arrows were created in the same way and fell into Moka's right hand. She then knocked the three arrows, drew the bow, and aimed at Jean.

"What is that?" Jeanne asked as she ordered the dragon to defend.

Unfortunately, with Moka's strength, once she released the arrows, they flew at a speed that Jeanne could barely comprehend. Before the dragon's claws were halfway to the optimal position to defend against the three arrows, they had already pierced Jeanne through her stomach, left leg, and right shoulder.

Due to the pain, Jeanne lost control of her [Sacred Gear], which caused her [Balance Breaker] to dispel and the dragon to collapse. That, of course, led to Jeanne falling to the ground, barely conscious. Then, after hitting the ground, which worsened her injuries, with her hazy vision Jeanne saw a silhouette approaching.

"*Sigh* This stupid attack ruined what was supposed to be a happy day for us." Moka said while approaching. "On top of that, it was quite the beautiful day."

By the time she had finished speaking, Moka had reached Jeanne's side. She then knelt and cradled Jeanne's battered body in her arms.

"Even if you fools ruined my good day, it's still beautiful enough to have a bite to drink." Moka said before plunging her fangs into Jeanne's neck.

As Moka was draining Jeanne's blood, Koneko, Yuuto, Gasper, and issei arrived near the battlefield. As they arrived, they witnessed the scene of Moka drinking Jeanne's blood, and Issei could not help but open his mouth.

"I don't know what they're doing, but that looks kinda hot." issei said with a perverted smile on his face.

"Moka's drinking that girl's blood." Yuuto said with a wry smile.

"How can she do that?" Gasper asked while shuddering.

Everyone who was around when James, Rias, and the others were living in the Underworld knew that Gasper did not enjoy drinking blood like the rest of his species did. Instead, he hated it as much as wearing male clothing.

"Calm down, Gaspy." Koneko said while patting Gasper on the head. "Remember, Moka was a full blood vampire before she was converted. So, it was necessary for her to live for most of her life."

After Koneko finished speaking to Gasper, she glared at Issei and continued.

"If it looks so hot, how 'bout I drain all your blood and offer it to Moka-Senpai?"

Hearing that, Issei shuddered, much like Gasper had moments ago. Then, he waved off Koneko' suggestion.

"I think we've stopped here long enough." Issei said with a serious expression on his face. "There are still enemies to take down."

Koneko rolled her eyes at Issei's response. Before she could retort, however, a glowing white light exited Jeanne's chest. Then, it floated away from Moka and Jeanne toward the quartet of onlookers. When it neared, it stopped, floating in front of Yuuto.

"What is that thing?" issei asked in curiosity.

"It feels like [Sword Birth], only... Holy?" Yuuto said with confusion in his tone.

"It's probably her [Sacred Gear]." Moka said while walking over to the new arrivals.

As Moka walked toward them, Koneko, Yuuto, Gasper, and Issei could see Jeanne's body had turned to ash and began to blow away with the wind. Not paying any attention to the state she left her foe in, Moka continued to speak.

"I've heard of something like this happening before from Master Scathach, but to think that I'd see it in person."

"What do you mean, Moka-Senpai?" Gasper asked curiously.

"She said something about one of the [Sacred Gear] moving onto a nearby soul that is compatible with it, instead of going back to Heaven's system." Moka explained. "And it looks like [Blade Blacksmith] found its new wielder."

"Whoa, that's awesome!" Issei said excitedly. "Come on, Kiba, grab it."

Nodding his head at Issei's enthusiasm, Yuuto stretched his hand forward and wrapped his fingers around the silver orb. Once it was securely in his grasp, the orb was absorbed into his palm.

"Are you okay, Yuuto-Senpai?" Koneko asked with slight concern in her tone.

Instead of answering immediately, Yuuto held his hand forward. Then, in a flash of light, a holy sword with no attribute was created in his hand.

"I guess it worked." Moka said with a smile. "Congratulations, Yuuto."

"Thanks." Yuuto returned the smile. Then, he looked at Koneko and continued. "I'm all right, Koneko. Thanks for worrying about me."

Koneko nodded with a smile.

"Alright, we can celebrate later." Moka said. "We've got a lot more of these Hero Faction fools to take care of."

To Moka's words, everyone nodded. Then, Moka and the group took off in different directions to find more of the invaders and neutralize them.

At the same time, James found Leonardo, who seemed as if he were barely conscious after creating so many of his monsters. It looked as if he would die from exhaustion before anyone had the chance to kill him. However, James had no intention of killing him. Instead, he planned to capture him so that his [Sacred Gear] could be extracted if they could not find a use for the boy.

"*Sigh* Killing a kid isn't something I'm comfortable with." James said. "I hope they can put him to use, somehow."

As James spoke, he walked toward Leonardo calmly while avoiding attacks or destroying the monsters between him and his target. Then, when he finally reached Leonardo, he placed his left palm in front of the boy's face.

"[Bakudo Number 27: Inemuri]." James spoke softly.

A moment later, Leonardo's eyes closed, and the monsters he created dispersed into energy. Before Leonardo fell, James grabbed the back of his gakuren and held him up.

"What kind of hell did they put this boy through?" James asked. "It's only been around a month, and he's been pushed up to the intermediate-level of the middle-rank."

Deciding that could be figured out later, James shook his head as he extended his wings. Then, he flew back to Ajuka's research tower. He thought Ajuka would be the best person to ask if they could use Leonardo instead of killing him. And if they could not, James was sure that Ajuka would be able to extract the [Annihilation Maker] from him.