Takauji's Treachery

10+ Advance Chapters: patreon.com/Accel14

Discord Link: KQAtTw9u7x

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"Looks like someone's waking up," Takauji commented. Listening to the various grumbles and moans Issei had started to make in his sleep. 

More likely than not rambling about Asia Argento, the nun he so eagerly wanted to rescue. 

His head was currently laid on Rias's lap as she gently stroked his hair in anticipation of him waking up. Not noticing the questionable look her Magician currently had on his face. 

After we finish dealing with the Fallen Angels and I acquire my Familiar, I need to seriously think about how our contract should proceed. 

Do I continue it? 

Do I ditch it? 

Do I add some more clauses to it? 

I'm not sure, I'll have to determine her value once the time comes. She obviously has potential, even a blind man can see that much. But can she make proper use of it? Who can say. 

"Are you alright?" Akeno on the other hand, picked up on it relatively quickly. Not able to decipher exactly what was going through his mind, but aware that something was indeed off about him. 

"I'm fine, just a little nervous about the battle." He was feeling something about the oncoming confrontation alright, but nervous was the farthest thing from the truth. 

"That's natural, but if you don't want to partake then that's fine. Everyone would understand." 

At what point did care for another turn into a form of arrogance where you warp your own perceptions to look down on them? 

"Nonsense, I did not hone my Magic and pick up swordsmanship just to wear them as mere decor. There is no meaning in my strength unless I make use of it," a dangerous mindset depending on who you asked.

Akeno searched for some way to convince him otherwise. 

But ultimately she could not come up with anything, not when he had such a resolute look on his face. 

"... Asia…Asia," Issei moaned weakly. His eyelids started to twitch as he was about to awake from his slumber. 

"ASIA!" He roared as he jolted upright, almost hitting his master's chin with his head. "WHERE'S ASIA!?" He felt the need to yell, immediately turning towards Takauji. 

"Takauji-senpai! Tell me… tell me Asia's safe!" 

The Magician feigned a look of regret on his face, dipping and slowly shaking his head. "I'm sorry Issei-kun, I wasn't strong enough to rescue her. We're lucky to have made it out ourselves." He bowed apologetically. 

"That can't be…" He said in disbelief. Tears almost began to well up within his eyes.

"Get it together Issei-kun," Rias unapologetically commanded. "Listen, I'm going to reprimand you for going against my wishes later, but right now you need to pay attention to what's about to happen. We're going to exterminate the Fallen Angels holed up in the old church right now, and you're going to attack them with us now that you've recovered." 

Are you sure that's a good idea? Ojou-san? 

Well, he is your Pawn, move him as you please. 

"Attack? You'll help me rescue Asia?" She shook her head. 

"I'm not doing this for the nun Issei-kun, I'm doing it because they've attempted to supersede my authority over Kuoh, and are responsible for the targeted deaths of our clients. Please try to understand that," she explained plainly. 

Which earned a stiff nod from her subordinate. "U-Understood…" 

"Good. Issei-kun, you think the Pawn piece is weak don't you?" She didn't need an answer from him to guess what he was thinking. "Like Chess, a Pawn can be promoted once they're in an area recognized by their King as enemy territory." 

Now he was starting to catch onto what she was saying, meaning she didn't need to explain it any further. 

"This is how it's going to go, you, Yuuto-kun, Koneko-chan, and Takauji will be the main infiltration team. You'll need to use your combined strengths to tackle the opponents that you meet, myself and Akeno will remain as support just in case our assistance becomes necessary." 

The three named subordinates alongside the Magician stood in the center, prepared to face their enemy. 

So she intends to use this as a training opportunity, can't say I disapprove. 

But this won't nearly be enough, not even close. You have a peerage full of potential, but you lack the ability to nurture it as of now. 

"Any questions?" Everyone shook their heads. "Then on behalf of your King and Contractor, rid this town of the filth that has chosen to blight it." 

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"No one seems to be entering or leaving the Church," Kiba observed. "They're probably expecting us to attack them, which means all their forces are probably gathered inside in anticipation of our attack."

"I don't see a problem with that," all heads turned towards the Magician. "So what if they're waiting for us? I'm not sensing a single notable presence from inside." 

My strength has heightened ever further as of yesterday night's training session. How else am I to properly test it if not with a little pride? 

Filled with what looked to be sheer arrogance, Takauji stepped out from the bushes and casually began to approach the front door of the Church. 

"Takauji-senpai! Don't be hasty!" His swordplay instructor cautioned, but his student showed very little interest in listening. 

"Well, so much for planning." Issei commented in a lighter mood than the situation required. 

"I blame you for this Issei-senpai," Koneko took a stab at him out of nowhere. 

"Me? Why?" 

"I don't know, I just feel like you're responsible somehow." Who could argue with such flawless logic? 

Left with no other choice, they all rushed to catch up with Takauji as he pried the doors open with his hands. 

The inside looked fairly normal for the most part, laden with chairs on the sides and a podium in the middle supposedly for giving sermons. 

Then again, this church belonged to Fallen Angels so one could only imagine what their sermons consisted of. 

(CLAP! CLAP CLAP!) 

An all too familiar individual started to walk out from the front of the church, stepping into the light as his figure was distastefully revealed. 

"Well isn't this a momentous occasion? I rarely ever meet the same Devil twice, but Devil-kun and–" he paused. Looking at the slowly encroaching figure of Takauji with a frown. "So, you're here." His tone had lost all playfulness. 

"Yes, I am here Freed." Takauji continued to get closer and closer, his blade still lowered for some reason. "And as much as I'd love to go a round with you, the occasion seems to have been reserved for another." He spared a glance in Kiba's direction. 

The Knight having conjured a sword in his hand out of nowhere, the blade slowly encompassing itself with Darkness. 

Wielder of the Sacred Gear known as Sword Birth, which was currently in its "Holy Eraser" form. Enabling his blade to consume light itself. 

As a fellow Darkness user, do try not to tarnish our reputation. 

Then again, you are my teacher. So I expect a lot from you. 

"You don't get to decide who I do and don't cut, mongrel." Freed decided to cut him down, prepared to take advantage of his lowered guard. 

(WHIFF!) 

But the result shocked everyone, Freed included. 

"What is the meaning of this?" He missed. He had utterly and completely missed. Takauji had not used Mana Step, he had simply continued at walking pace. 

And somehow, Freed Sellzen, had simply missed his swing entirely. 

The Stray Exorcist felt his mind beginning to race at Mach speed, but not a single answer was bestowed upon him. 

His eyes darted rapidly, almost becoming bloodshot as he looked at Takauji with a hate fueled expression. Words couldn't even describe the magnitude of the mockery he had just given him. 

"You shouldn't be looking at me right now," he calmly told Freed. The sound of hurried footsteps approaching the bishounen. 

Kiba immediately engaged him in an offensive onslaught of light-devouring attacks, forcing his opponent out of his stupor as they began their blade dance. 

Takauji approached the podium in the middle, examining it momentarily before looking at Koneko. "Toujou-san, would you mind helping me push this?" 

She nodded, pushing it aside with a single punch. 

It seems Rias wasn't lying when she said she was the strongest out of the group in terms of raw strength. 

"As I thought," the three who were not currently fighting peered over what it had left behind. An entrance to some sort of basement. 

"Here to save Asia-tan are you?" Freed said in between breaths. "Unfortunately, it's too late for you Devil-kun." 

A terrible chill ran down Issei's spine as he heard the battle priest speak. 

"What are you talking about?" He almost didn't want to ask. 

"Hehe, sorry I'm a little bit too preoccupied to talk right now," he continued to trade blows with the Gremory Knight. "Just head on down, you'll find out soon enough." 

Once more, Takauji was the first to proceed. Blowing an impressed whistle as he observed the sight below. 

"What a gathering you have going on here," he smiled. Looking at the hoard of priests that had been gathered before him. "I'm honored." 

"You're not supposed to be alive," yet another familiar voice spoke. Belonging to that of the Fallen Angel that had taken Asia, Raynare. "What is the meaning of this?" 

"I've heard that twice in the span of a minute. And to answer your question, I guess you missed." He answered innocently, his eyes hardening as he looked at the sight next to the Fallen Angel.

"No…" Issei said in a pained whisper. 

Oh my. I was aware that she didn't like the nun all that much, but isn't that a bit far? 

I wonder, what am I about to uncover? 

At the very end of the underground room was a cross of sorts covered in chains, and attached to that cross, was Asia. 

Her eyes were completely lifeless, and her body completely motionless. 

"That's a nice expression you have filthy Devil," she smiled venomously and licked her finger. "Like Freed probably told you, you were too late. I have already extracted her Sacred Gear, and now it's only a matter of time before I rise to the top of the Fallen Angel food chain." 

Sacred Gear? 

Extraction? 

Hm. I think I know what she did, although I don't know exactly how she accomplished it. 

But to think the nun possessed a Sacred Gear, I may have acted differently had I known that to be the case. Oh well, the past is the past. 

Sorry girl, if you want to hate me from beyond the grave, or haunt me as a ghost feel free to do so. 

Issei fell to his knees, tears streaming down his eyes as he nearly bit his tongue off. Words continued to well up in his throat, but kept getting stuck on the way up. 

"I suppose I ought to thank you Devil, for being too weak to protect her that is." She cackled. 

"Takauji-senpai." He said all of a sudden. 

He probably plans to blame me for letting her die, well, I am guilty of that to be fair. 

"Yes? Issei-kun." 

"I have a request for you," Takauji raised a brow. 

"A request?" 

"Please, kill that bitch for me." His aura started to flare up, the gauntlet on his hand activating on its own and burning with a violent fiery radiance.

"As you wish." 

"Kill me? Hah. With what strength?" 

Takauji ignored her words. Maintaining his walking pace as he started to walk down the stairs, his expression not changing in the slightest as the priests couldn't help but laugh at his audacity. 

Koneko wanted to stop him, refusing to let her King's contracted Magician deliver himself to his own death. 

But for some reason, she couldn't. 

There was something about the way he was walking, his demeanor, his posture. The confidence he carried, and the eerie look on his face. 

She couldn't explain it in words, it was just something she felt deep in her stomach. 

"I don't know what trick you pulled last time, but it won't work again." She held out her palm in the direction of the priests. "Kill him, alongside the Devils." 

They charged at him, brandishing their blades and preparing to cut him to pieces. 

"Allow me to give you a reality check, Fallen Angel." He started to speak, a few swings already having been thrown at him. 

And the result, leaving her astounded. 

"Placing distance between yourself, and your opponent–" more attempts were made to cut him down. 

And the feeling of dread started to seep into Raynare's mind.

"Is only meaningful when you're fighting someone of equal strength and skill to your own." 

Again, again, and again they tried to slash him. The faces of the priests contorting as they couldn't even begin to fathom what was going on.

But Takauji could just walk through them, as not a single one of them could actually land an attack on him. 

They just continued to miss, and miss, and miss. Even stabbing their own teammates every now and then, Raynare felt like she was in a nightmare. 

"However, it is pointless for you to take such a precaution with me." 

Not once, not once had he been hit. Every time they tried to attack him, they would just about narrowly miss their target. 

The only thing that had been cut, was the air around him. 

"See?" He used Mana Step at its proper strength this time, reaching her in an instant and plunging his blade into her chest. "I can reach out and touch your heart, without breaking so much as a sweat." 

Her eyes had bulged to the point where they looked ready to pop out of their sockets. 

Raynare tried to channel the green aura she had acquired, but it would not listen to her. The overwhelming fear that had plagued her blocking her ability to truly concentrate. 

There was nothing she could do other than fall to the floor lifelessly. However, as she was falling. Takauji had discretely whispered something into her ear.

The remaining priests were promptly dealt with by Koneko and the now returned Kiba. 

"What a strange contraption they've constructed," he approached the cross. Cutting the chains that bound the corpse of Asia Argento, and catching it with his arms. 

Issei then approached him, his movements wobbly like a puppet who had his strings cut. Tears still running down his already strained tear ducts. 

Takauji said nothing. 

He just handed him the corpse, to which Issei held what remained of her tightly. So tight that Asia's bones might as well have popped. 

"Asia… Asia… I'm so sorry." 

Koneko and Kiba fell silent as well, they didn't dare speak in the wake of what they were seeing. 

"I thought… I thought I was someone who could protect you. I thought that I could save you. I thought I could bring you away from these people…" 

His fellow peerage members felt a sharp pang in their chests, almost wanting to shed tears themselves. 

"But… BUT I'M JUST A LIAR!" His roar caused everyone in the room but Takauji to flinch. The aura radiating from his gauntlet surging even higher as they felt their skin start to singe. 

"I'm such… a fucking failure." One would assume despair had sunk in, if not for the fact that his metallic armament had begun to change form. "A good for nothing… failure. Yeah, that's what I am." 

His Sacred Gear. Is it awakening? 

Its size doubled, covering a good portion of his lower arm as golden spikes started to grow out of it. The striking jewel embedded in its core enlarged, shining with a radiance that wished to dominate all it touched.

"My words are not excuses. My words are not a pardon, nor a method to absolve myself of responsibility. But Asia, please hear them nonetheless." 

His Sacred Gear started to settle into its new form, the aura around him turning from blazing vehemence to a cold resolve. 

"I will never, allow this to happen again. To anyone whom I hold dear, I don't care if I have to give an arm, a leg, my eyes, my skin, my torso, my heart. It matters not, I will become someone who can face you properly when we meet again in the hereafter." 

It would seem that in the span of a single day, a boy has been turned into a man. 

But what kind of man he chooses to be shall be left to his own devices. 

That's right, Hyoudou Issei-kun. Choose your own fate, if the day ever comes when you figure out who it was that left her to die, then that is when you will make your choice. 

If you want to resent me, resent me. 

If you want to hate me, hate me. 

If you want to kill me, then kill me! 

This is our freedom! This is why living has any meaning to begin with! 

You and I are now similar in this aspect. You who have decided to save people because you feel it is your right, and I who have decided to greedily pursue strength because I feel it is my right. 

Issei picked Asia's corpse up in a princess carry, slowly walking towards the exit. Noticing that both Akeno and Rias had appeared with frozen expressions. 

But he didn't need to speak to them. Asia was beyond even reincarnation, her soul had long since entered a better place than the accursed world that took her from him. 

"Go with him," Takauji said. His voice being the only thing to snap them out of their trance. "I will clean up what's been left behind, but right now he needs you." 

No-one dared deny his words, immediately following after the Gremory Pawn. 

The Magician waited patiently, standing with his ever present calmness until they had finally left for good. 

"Now then."

He turned his head, facing Ranyare's body. The corners of his mouth dropped entirely as a dangerous glint appeared in his eyes.

"You can stop faking now." 

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Truly a drastic turn in events, and a ominous revelation at the end to boot. 

Just what does Takauji plan to do? 

10+ Advance Chapters: patreon.com/Accel14

Discord Link: KQAtTw9u7x

Word Count: 3063