Chapter 110

His aura violently lashed out like a barely restrained beast. Compared to when he was in Kuoh, there were no black streaks of malevolent nature energy surrounding him. It was pure red powered by pure rage.

"Himejima…"

Su Su Su Su Su SU SU SU SU SU SU SU

"HIMEJIMAAAA!!!"

GRUUUUU!

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|DxD|

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"Igor! Igor!"

Rage clouded Igor's mind as he felt the power course through him.

"Igor. Calm down!"

It was a torrential wave spurned forward by the hatred he felt for the Himejima.

"Igor!"

But he couldn't sense them anywhere. He couldn't sense that vile aura that had come to associate with that clan.

"Listen to me, Igor!"

His essence yearned to rip each and every one of them apart with his bare hands. He wanted to crush them into oblivion. He wanted to-

"IGOR!"

"..."

He came out of his daze to the sensation of Aurelia looking at him with a worried gaze. Her hands held his cheeks, her expression tense from the burning sensation she was feeling. But she ignored that. The little stinging sensation from his ki was something that couldn't easily penetrate her skin.

What she was worried about was the amount of power he was releasing. The pressure itself was immense, but she feared for his body.

"Igor. Are you there…?"

"..."

"Igor?"

Hearing her voice calling for him again, Igor seemed to slowly come to it.

"...Aurelia?"

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|DxD|

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Central Building for Foreign Affairs, Underworld

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Serafall Leviathan, formerly Serafall Sitri, was NOT having a good day. On her table was information on the recent happenings in both Kuoh and Kyoto. The incident of the Himejima clan being killed off in less than an hour was something that sent a shockwave throughout the entire supernatural world.

It was such an unprecedented event that numerous factions were paying attention to the news. And as the Satan of Foreign Affairs, it was apparently also her job to oversee this mess given that the devils were pseudo-allies with the yokai.

"Sometimes…sometimes I hate this job. I just HAD to be good at it."

Having donned a business suit today, she was clearly not in her normal cheery mood. Ever since that massive power was felt from Kuoh, she had to take the situation seriously since the sudden appearance of an unknown supreme class entity was not a matter to take lightly.

Sighing, she began analysing the stack of documents that were placed on her desk.

"Now, that power came from Kuoh and then instantly appeared in Kyoto. But then…that extra power…"

She was not there in person, but she felt the immense hatred and power coalescing into one giant energy attack that was more than strong enough to destroy the planet. It certainly wasn't the most powerful energy signature she felt, but it was in the top rankings. Given the whole mess in the first fifty years of the 20th century, she had seen and felt far stronger attacks.

Refocusing on the documents, she read a few more passages.

"That attack seemed to have been focused on the Himejima clan, but then it vanished. And soon after that, whoever created that attack was most likely eliminated. But we can't be sure of that."

She put down the document and began twiddling with one of her twin tails in contemplation.

"The entire residence of the Himejima clan has been closed off, meaning we can't get any more information."

From the information she received, the Himejima residence had been sealed off in a barrier and Yasaka was seen to be personally guarding the location.

"Is that person's corpse what they are guarding? But then if that is the case, what did they use to kill that person…"

As far as she knew, there were no reports of any Shinto god descending upon Japan and eliminating the threat. But then again, their intelligence may be lacking.

"Haaa…"

Sighing, she quickly scribbled something on a document before making it vanish.

Shuu!

"Considerations like this are more of Falbium's job."

Looking at the rest of the documents on her desk, she felt a headache coming. Sitting back on her chair, she let her head hit the comfy headrest. Looking up at the ceiling, she began pondering over this matter.

"Just. What. Happened…"

There were so many holes in the story that she couldn't properly make sense of exactly what was happening. Nearly the entire forest of Kuoh was covered in an aura so malevolent that anyone below high class would find it impossible to enter.

Soon after, the same entity responsible for the aura appeared above Kyoto and from that point onwards, seemingly vanished. But the Himejima clan was still annihilated. What was worse was that information on exactly how they were killed wasn't possible.

"No no no. There has to be something I'm missing here. We don't know how the Himejima died, so we cannot be sure if they were killed in an instant or massacred slowly. Details on the situation in the compound are impossible to get without risking the death of our informants. Common knowledge suggests that whoever killed the Himejima was also killed, but I don't believe it. It is borderline impossible for someone of the supreme class to be killed that quickly."

With so many thoughts on her head, she stretched out her hand and reached for a document.

"This…'Subject #1' doesn't seem like someone who would die so quietly."

Lifting the document, she read it again.

…

File ID.#18459: Himejima Massacre

Date: July 16, 1999

Report Summary

On Friday morning at precisely 04:49, there was a sudden burst of energy detected in the town of Kuoh, Japan, where a peak energy output equivalent to low-supreme class was measured. Moments after, this energy vanished and appeared in Kyoto, precisely above the Himejima compound where it was last sensed before it vanished.

Report Details

It has been theorised that the origin of this power may most likely belong to a rogue or stray yokai, whom will be referred to as [Subject #1]. It is suspected that Subject #1 may also be responsible for the 'Red Incident' in the Himalayan Mountain Range on August 23, 1996, and subsequently, the 'False Alarm' incident in the Vatican the following month.

This prognosis was theorised after identifying the auras emitted to be similar in nature, thus coming to the new conclusion that the Church may possibly have an involvement in the Himejima Massacre. Further proof of this stems from when it was discovered that one of the Church's holy sword wielders, Masaomi Yaegaki and his squad were attacked by who we presume to be hunters from the Himejima clan, leaving Masaomi the only survivor.

Reasons as to how or why hunters of the Himejima clan entered Kuoh without consulting Overseer Cleria Belial have yet to be reasoned. But their method of entry suggests that they potentially had a very knowledgeable person in wards. Evidence to support this statement comes from a corroded corpse that was found to possess the tools of a ward master. Further identification on the corpse is currently being carried out but reasons suggest it may most likely be Himejima Takumi, the fourth son of Suou Himejima. The body measurements recorded, his matching profession, and other factors support this conclusion.

In regards to Subject #1's power, information on them has yet to be fully discovered, but this is what has been currently gathered through analysis and cross-referencing. Prior to this incident, Subject #1's peak power output was measured to be in high-god class. Possibilities as to how they have attained the power of low-supreme class is still to be investigated. But current evidence points to the usage of senjutsu, an ability known to be uniquely possessed by yokai.

It is also worth noting that Subject #1 most likely possesses the means to incrementally increase their power as they see fit. In 1996, Subject #1's power was observed to be in the realm of low-god class at rest and peak-god class at peak. In 1999, the current year this document was written, Subject #1's power was briefly observed to be between mid-god class to high-god class at rest and low-supreme class at peak.

Questions of how this is possible have yet to be answered. But this further eludes to the slim, yet very possible scenario that Subject #1 may be this generation's Red Dragon Emperor. However, this possibility is slim due to the absence of any draconic aura.

Further investigations will be continued to determine who Subject #1 is, their abilities, as well as their motivations.

Conclusion

Subject #1 is a low-supreme class entity who evidence supports that they may possibly be in league with the church and their attack on the Himejima may be the result of personal vengeance. In regards to the situation, it is believed that the Church may deny knowledge of Subject #1. Should this be the case, it is advisable that Subject #1 be approached for possible recruitment, should they still be alive. Obtaining them as an asset will no doubt issue a new era for the devil race, especially should they be reincarnated.

End Report

…

Serafall rotated on her chair, her finger fiddling with her hair in thought.

"The possibility that this…'Subject #1' is a yokai is not entirely baseless. But I can't help but feel something crucial is missing."

When her people entered the forest once the aura dissipated, they found nothing that could possibly be the cause for Subject #1 to possibly release such power. Nearly any shred of evidence that could be used for speculation was likely eroded or obliterated by the malevolent aura.

According to the documents she had on her table, the only thing they found of note, was a small clearing no bigger than a car that had vegetation unaffected by the aura. Beyond that, there was nothing more. Serafall took the picture of the clearing in her hand and scrutinised it closely.

"Apart from the vegetation on this spot, everything else had been destroyed. But why was this particular patch left untouched?"

Serafall knew, or most likely suspected that figuring this part out would work as the key to finally finding out why the Himejima were suddenly massacred and possibly, figure out who their killer was.

Thrum…Thrum…Thrum…Thrum…

Tapping her fingers on the table, Serafall had enough trying to speculate about this. Rather than try to make sense of this alone, it would be better to call the person who would most likely know more than her.

Tapping the buzzer on her table, she spoke.

"Inform Cleria Belial, the Overseer of Kuoh to prepare herself for my arrival within the next half hour. Thank you."

Removing her finger from the buzzer, she didn't bother waiting for a confirmation that her request was heard.

"Haaa…"

Falling back on her chair, she cried inwardly.

[I miss So-chan already.]

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|DxD|

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Cleria did expect to be summoned or visited at some point in time. It was a given seeing as how the beginning of everything happened within her territory. Fortunately, she was in the Underworld when most of the events happened, so she could use that as an alibi.

And she could further plead ignorance by claiming to have been resolving the damage caused in the town. Her story was solid and initially, Cleria was confident that she could continue to hide Igor's existence, despite the blonde seemingly doing his utmost to be discovered.

But instead of the "Overseer of Overseers" requesting her, she was called forth directly by Maou Leviathan herself. This was an unprecedented event since even with her title, meeting a Maou wasn't something she was eligible for. It was the same as skipping the ATM and going directly into the vault.

She had never met Serafall before, but she had heard of her fascination for magical girls since the early '70s. It was a somewhat common topic amongst devilkind about her weird interest in dressing up and whatnot. It cannot be argued however that she is the most famous of the Satans and…the least feared.

But what was unheard of was how when Serafall was known for this, the image of the Devil race suddenly began improving. Whether it was a deliberate ploy or the outcome caused by embodying her passion, Cleria cared not for either. Just the concept of meeting Serafall ALONE terrified her. But she held herself steady.

Twenty of the estimated thirty minutes had already passed. Comfortably sitting in her office, she 'calmly' waited for the arrival of Serafall Leviathan.

"I hope this is just routine questioning."

As calm as she tried to be, she was not confident in outright lying to a Maou.