New Developments and New Swords

Underworld, Satan Territory, Capital City, Lilith.

Shortly after the residents of the Human World's Alaverus Estate realized that James and Scathach had left, Grayfia was able to successfully teleport Ravel to the Underworld. After they appeared outside of the Four Great Satans' meeting room, Grayfia politely knocked on the door.

"Excuse me, I have brought Lady Ravel Phenex." Grayfia said in her usual tone, announcing both her and Ravel's presence.

"Please, come in." Sirzechs replied.

A moment later, Grayfia opened the door. Then, she turned sideways and gestured for Ravel to enter the room. Nervously, Ravel took a deep breath, a moment later she entered the room as confidently as she could. Admittedly, her appearance did not appear to be very confident, though. With this being her first meeting with the Satans, Seraphim, and Cadre-Level Fallen Angels in an official capacity, it could not be helped.

Naturally, the leaders of the respective factions, namely, Sirzechs, Ajuka, Serafall, Falbium, Michael, Gabriel, Shamhazai, Baraqiel, and Azazel, all noticed the nervous expression that Ravel wore.

"Hey, no need to be nervous." Azazel said with his usual grin. "We called you here for something good. So, you should try and smile."

"*Sigh* If you want to console someone, Azazel, you should get rid of that mischievous grin that you always wear." Sirzechs said while shaking his head.

"Oh, should I wear the same kind of ridiculous doting smile you wear when you talk about Rias?" Azazel asked, his mischievous grin transforming into a shit eating one.

That comment led to Sirzechs and Azazel beginning to bicker like old friends. This, naturally, left Ravel confused. Another thing that confused her was that Grayfia had not taken her usual position behind Sirzechs. However, she did not have the time to ponder that fact for too long.

"Ravel-Chan, there's no need to pay attention to those childish boys' argument." Serafall said.

"Hey, you have no right to call anyone childish." Sirzechs and Azazel shouted, interrupting their bickering to object to what Serafall said.

"Are you saying that I, Levia-Tan, am childish?" Serafall said as she struck the iconic Sailor Moon pose. "In the name of the Satans, I will punish you!"

Naturally, Serafall's antics led to the meeting room falling into even more chaos. That, of course, left Ravel to stand there even more confused than she was before. The silver lining to this situation, however, was that Ravel's nervousness had all but vanished due to the silly display she saw right after arriving in the meeting room.

"Ahem... As much fun as it seems that the three of you are having, we invited Miss Phenex and her father here for something important." Michael said in his usual kind and bright tone. "Perhaps we should tell them why they are here."

At that moment, Ravel noticed that her father, Lord Phenex was also present. Due to her nervousness, she failed to realize that he was standing next to her the entire time after she entered the room.

"Father, please excuse me for not greeting you earlier." Ravel said, hurrying to greet her father.

"Pay it no mind, Ravel." Lord Phenex said, waving off her apology. "I can understand how you were feeling."

"Anyway, like Michael said, it's time to get down to business." Azazel said, wiping away the grin that usually adorns his face. "Earlier today, I finished running all the experiments that I deemed necessary on the kid who wields the [Annihilation Maker.]"

From there, Azazel went on to explain what he had found out. He also mentioned the boy's past from what he could piece together from Leonardo's fractured memories.

"So, basically, the kid doesn't have much time left to live." Azazel said, wrapping up his explanation.

"Such a pity for a boy of his age to have had to go through a life like that." Michael said in a compassionate tone. "Since you called us all together, I would assume you took pity on the boy as well."

"Something like that." Azazel said with a shrug.

"And I'm guessing that you are suggesting that he be reincarnated into either a devil or angel." Ajuka said, the next to try and predict Azazel's intentions. "More specifically, you wish for him to be reincarnated into a devil, under Ravel's employ, correct?"

"The title of the Underworld's most intelligent devil isn't wasted on you, huh?" Azazel said with a grin. "That's right. I feel that turning the kid into a devil would work better than having him become an angel. With his current psyche, it probably would not take long for him to fall, which I wouldn't complain about."

"*Sigh* Although I'd rather have [Annihilation Maker] under Heaven's supervision, I agree with your assessment, Azazel." Michael said with a nod.

"On top of that, he will be living with James and Scathach." Azazel said with a grin. "That boy has had positive effects on those with damaged psyche for quite some time, according to the reports I've received. And with Scathach nearby, the boy will get some of the best training available."

Everyone present, with the exception of Falbium who had nodded off at some point, nodded at Azazel's statement.

"Even though he is a half-devil, his acts of helping those in need is saint-like." Gabriel said with an innocent smile. "And [Senbonzakura] is really pretty. I wanna see it again."

At Gabriel's last sentence, those who were present could only smile wryly at Gabriel's innocence. Then, they continued to discuss the possibility of Leonardo being reincarnated. Meanwhile, Ravel could only stand there with her mouth slightly ajar. Never did she think that she would be given the opportunity to add such a powerful [sacred Gear] into her very own peerage.

'With this, I'll be able to help James.' Ravel thought to herself as she firmed her expression and clenched her fists. 'he's done so much to help me ever since I arrived in the Human World. I'll be able to repay the favor. Then, maybe I can ask him for a d... d... date.'

As Ravel continued to think, her face grew redder and redder. Lucky for her, no one was paying attention to her as everyone was busy discussing the ramifications that turning Leonardo into a devil would have.

Meanwhile, around the same time that Ravel entered the meeting room with Grayfia, James and Scathach had arrived outside of Muramasa's smithy.

"*Sigh* It's only been, like, three weeks since the last time I was here." James said while staring up at the shop sign. "So, why does it feel like it's been forever."

"It is natural." Scathach replied from next to James. "A warrior will always look forward to wielding a weapon that suits him. And you are no different."

"You're probably right." James replied with a shrug. "I've been feeling like my swords might break ever since you took the suppressions seals off of me in the summer."

"I could tell." Scathach replied. "To be honest, I am quite surprised that you were able to defeat me using those swords."

"Honestly, I think I just got lucky." James said with a wry smile. "If I hadn't used [Shukei: Hakuteiken], neither of my swords would have been able to handle the stress I would have put on them for that final attack. Even with that, it felt like Ochiru Sakura was going to break, and it was already in, like, a million pieces."

"Do not sell yourself short, my disciple." Scathach said with a gentle smile. "It was due to your strength and skill that you were able to defeat me. And had you not, I would still be bound to the Land of Shadows. So, please take pride in your accomplishment."

Hearing that and seeing Scathach's gentle smile, James turned his head away in embarrassment.

"Anyway, let's go inside." James said, an obvious attempt to change the subject.

Scathach's smile became even more gentle as she observed James' reaction. However, she had no intention of embarrassing her man any more, while they were in public, anyway. So, instead of speaking any further, she followed James as he pushed open the door to the shop.

*Ring!* *Ring!*

As james pushed the door open, the bell hanging above it rang as it usually does. To James surprise, Muramasa was actually sitting in the storefront.

"So, you're here." Muramasa said with a smile. "I knew you would be here soon, I just didn't think it would be this soon."

"Of course." James replied with a smile of his own. "I never expected to see you in the store front, though."

"Hahaha!" Muramasa laughed hardily. "I guess you could say that I am more than satisfied with my work this time. And I was excited to see what you would think of your new partners."

James' excitement rose even higher, if that were even possible, after hearing Muramasa's excited tone.

"Well, then let's see 'em." james said in an impatient tone.

Without wasting any more time, Muramasa reached under the counter and pulled out two sheathed katanas. Then, he set them down on the counter in front of him. Wasting no time, James approached the counter and picked up one of the katana. As he held it, before unsheathing it, he looked over the katana in his hands as well as the one still laying on the counter.

In his hands was a katana with a red sheath, a cherry blossom petal shaped handguard, and it's hilt was wrapped with a black cloth. Near the mouth of the sheath was a ring of finely carved cherry blossom petals. On the counter, the katana had a similar appearance, with the color schemes swapped. Black sheath with red hilt. The cherry blossoms engraved onto the hilt were identical, though.

"Oh, this one is much heavier than the ones I'm using now." James mused as he inspected the sheathed appearance of the sword he was holding.

"Of course, it is." Muramasa replied. "The materials the two of you brought me were much denser than the metals I used for your original swords."

"I guess that makes sense." James replied as he set the first sword back on the counter and lifted the second. "At least they are the same weight."

"Don't talk like I'm some kind of amateur!" Muramasa exclaimed indignantly. "I've been doing this for centuries. I know my damn job, and I know it well."

"Chill out, Old Man." James said with a smile. "I was just thinking out loud.'

"Hmph!" Muramasa snorted in irritation. "Why don't you hurry up and check out the blades. Then get out of my shop."

"I guess I touched a nerve." James said with a shrug.

However, as Muramasa said, James wasted no more time unsheathing the sword he was holding. When he did, what he saw was a pitch-black blade with a red tinted edge. He could feel a destructive force emanating from it, and even with his naked eye, he could see just how sharp the blade was.

"That one was made when I reforged and combined the demonic swords, Nothung and Tyrfing." Muramasa said, beginning to explain the sword that James was examining. "Combining their abilities was the hardest part of forging that beauty. Although the sword no longer has the ability to fire off a destructive aura, as Tyrfing did. Instead, it is concentrated on the blade's edge which holds the sharpness of Nothung."

"Oh... Shit..." James said absent-mindedly as he listened to Muramasa's explanation.

"So, in theory, as long as you pump enough demonic energy into it, you should be able to cut through anything." Muramasa said, bringing his explanation to a close. "But you should be careful, the stronger the thing you wish to cut, the more demonic energy it will take. And the rise in energy consumption is exponential and not multiplicative."

"I'll keep that in mind." James said as he sheathed the sword and materialized his sword belt on his hips.

After placing the new sword on his sword belt, James picked up the other sword. Then, he slowly unsheathed it. And as he expected, the blade was a crimson red with a black tinted edge.

"That one is special, too." Muramasa said, beginning his explanation about the second sword. "It would seem that the sea beast Master Scathach left with me must have had the ability to affect causality. I tried to keep that ability when I forged the blade and succeed."

James could see the pride leaking from Muramasa after he announced that this weapon had the ability to affect causality.

"However, since you have the other sword, I tried to direct that ability into a more defensive one." Muramasa continued. "So, when you activate the sword's ability, it will affect causality in a way that you will always be able to defend an incoming strike. However, like the other sword, with the strength of the attack, the demonic energy consumption will grow exponentially."

"Noted." James replied as he sheathed the sword and placed it on his sword belt.

"So, have you decided on names?" Scathach inquired.

"I have." James replied with a smile. Then, he placed his hand on the sword made from the sea beast. "This one will be known as Sixth Sense." {A/N: I just wanted to add my name into the narrative. Bite me.}

"Since it can defend automatically, the name fits." Scathach nodded as she replied. "And the other?"

"This one will be..." James said as he switched to holding the other hilt. "Carnage."