Chapter 20: Behind Enemy Lines (2)

"Rias, stay close to your mother"

Lucias said as he let go of the 4 girls and separated with each other. Giving them space to open their wings as Lucias covered them with a coat made from his own mana. Hiding both their presence and mana from being detected.

"Remember, we're not here to kill. We're here to destroy the [Nest] and [Towers] without being detected... but if we have no choice. Do it in silence and disintegrate the body with your magic"

Lucias said as he and the 4 girls landed on the terrace of a 20 story building. Above the large spawns of Gastreas and Wild demons on the ground.

"Where are we?"

Sirzechs asked as she landed on the floor together with Venelana who was holding Rias' hand.

"We're in the borders of Brazil"

Lucias said as he used [Far Sight] to observe the state of the city. And much to his expectations, everything was utter chaos. There were thousands of Gastreas and Demons loitering around their entire location, while the buildings were all devastated. With traces of blood and bones of the humans who fought to defend the city 5 years ago were found scattered around the ground and inside the desolate building.

Various parts of different machines were just left to rot on the ground and used as a nest for the demons and Gastreas to shelter their young.

It resembled that of an apocalyptic world that suffered for decades. A place that was abandoned by the humans of South and Central America in order not to get overwhelmed by the sheer number of Gastreas who managed to invade the area during the first year of the war.

"Let's first go to a temporary shelter where we can stay... A few flying Gastreas occasionally come to this area so it's dangerous to stay here for any longer"

Lucias said as 2 large wings of frostfire appeared on his back. Making the 4 girls spread their own before following Lucias who flew to the air. 

"... There's so many of them"

Rias commented as she looked down on the ground. Finding thousands of Gastreas fighting each other of the scarce food supply that they have while some of them climb the walls of the building. Making her nervously gulp, knowing that one wrong move would kill all 5 of them.

"Don't be too nervous, relax your body. The more nervous you are, the more likely that you'll do bad decisions. I covered our body with mana so don't worry too much about being detected... Just don't touch them, or else the spell would break and reveal your appearance to the enemy"

Lucias said as they all landed on top of a school building. 

"What are we doing here?"

Sirzechs asked as Lucias placed his finger on top of his lips, signaling for them to stay quiet before casting [Detection] on the entire vicinity. To see whether or not any Gastreas or Demons is close to their location.

"This is the only place that I could find didn't have any obvious signs of being used by the Gastreas or demons"

He said before casting [Spiritual Body]. Covering them with a layer of translucent and cloudy white mana. Making them pass through the wall and fall inside the 5th floor of the building.

"Wild demons often leave marks on their territories, and Gastreas just destroy a large portion of the place they are on... but this place looks like it was untouched by them for the last 4 years that we abandoned this place"

He said as he walked through the empty halls of the school building. Arriving in front of the Principal's Office.

"This just means that this school wasn't used as a fort or shelter by the soldiers in the first year of the war. Since those two species would generally ignore a place that has no presence of any living beings or without the scent of blood within it... unless they are ordered to"

He said as he and the 4 women behind him entered the room. Revealing a somewhat organized room with several spots of dust on the desk and chairs. On the floor, there were a few documents scattered on the ground. Unlike the other buildings that reek the scent of blood, this place was much bearable for them to sleep on.

"[Reconstruction]"

Lucias casted as he spread the papers on the floor, turning them into a thick fabric that they can use as a mattress when they sleep. 

"This place will be our temporary shelter while we take care of the 2 towers in this country"

He said before showing a hologram of the map of Central and South America. Marking down 10 red dots at the borders of the continents. Showing the location of the towers.

"There are two towers in Brazil, one in Colombia, Peru, Argentina, and Chile. A total of 6 is found in South America, and all of them are located at the borders to drive off our armies from taking over the borders of the continent"

He explained before taking off the black cloak on his body and creating a barrier around the entire room that blocks their presence, magic, or any kind of noise from coming out.

"In Central America... between Belize and Guatemala, there is one tower that covers the two countries. There's also one in Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. The borders are located in Mexico, a part of North America. That's where our armies are stationed, and there is also one tower at that location"

He explained while the 4 women sat on the ground. Listening to him intently as he informed them about a gist of the locations of the tower.

"I will only bring one of you with me every time we infiltrate those places. Infiltrating with the 5 of us at once is difficult and risky. Gabriel will stay here along with the other two that were left behind. Abandon this place if a Gastrea enters, and moves to another location. Keep your radios close to you so that we can communicate if anything ever happens in this place"

He said, causing the women to nod their heads in understanding.

"We'll complete the mission in one to two days. If I run at my full speed, I can travel from country to country within a few minutes... Since there are 3 of you with the power of destruction, we don't need to worry about any of you running out of mana. We'll just switch so that the others can rest"

He stated as Sirzechs raised his hand up in the air to ask a question.

"... You said a while ago that none of our aircraft can enter this place without getting caught... So, how do we go back?"

She asked, making Lucias look at her with a smile on his face.

"We can't go back, if we can't complete this mission, then we'll be stuck here until the army at Mexico is able to rescue us. We can't cross the borders in Mexico since we'll easily get caught and disturb the momentum of the battle. It's pointless even if we used stealth or the invisibility cloak"

"WHAT!?"

-In the headquarters-

"Uncle Issei, where's papa?"

Hanako asked while tugging on Issei's cloak. Making him smile at the little girl as he gently patted her head.

"Your Papa is out for work, Hanako. You don't want to disturb your Papa while at work right?"

"I don't want to!"

Hanako cheerfully answered while raising one of her hand towards Issei.

"That's a good girl, so go ahead and play with your siblings for a while, alright?"

He said making Hanako smile brightly before running inside the ruby palace with small steps. Where her siblings, and Issei's own daughter is currently staying at. 

"You seem to be quite used in handling children, Issei"

A naked man with a single leaf covering his crotch commented. Walking towards Issei with his usual nuetral expression.

"I wouldn't say that I'm used to it... I just have a bit of experience since I have a daughter myself"

He said while both of them stood in front of the entrance of ruby palace. Standing as guards to the children while Lucias, and his harem were away. Leaving a few dragon slayers and the two of them to protect the children if in case something happens.

"... How about you and your wives, Adam? Aren't you planning on having another child?"

"I don't want to make my wives vulnerable while we're at war... I can't even properly protect my own children during this war..."

Adam answered as he leaned back against the walls of the palace. Making Issei smile in response.

"... The father of humanity, huh? Humanity has it rough for this war... Out of the 3-4 billion that we started with... Only 2 billion remained due to the severe losses in the past years"

"But they matured and grew a lot for this war, so... I'm somewhat happy with about that..."

Adam said before both of them suddenly frowned. Making Issei clench the new sniper rifle that he got from Lucias before he left.

"An enemy attack!!!"

One of the dragon slayers shouted as a giant hole appeared above the ruby palace. Making all of the 100 dragon slayers split up, a third going towards the children, and the rest going outside to face the enemy.

"It looks like we have a few guests..."

Issei said before a blood-red gauntlet appeared on his arm while Adam placed his gauntlets on his fist.

"Let's split up... You go to the children... I'll take care of them from outside"

Issei said before he suddenly dived into Adam's shadow. Leaving Adam alone in front of the entrance.

"You really don't like wasting time..."

Adam said before he turned his head to the direction of the living room of the palace. Kicking the floor below him to increase his speed.

-with Issei-

"... Just like what Lucias predicted... but... Aren't there too many of them?"

He muttered as he jumped out of the shadow, appearing on top of the ruby palace. The closest place to the hole above the sky where several demons, riding a flying insects type Gastreas are starting to enter.

"To think that they'll send the majority of their strongest forces here... This is going to be a problem"

He said as the gem in his gauntlet shone brilliant light before he transferred the rifle in his hand. Making the mana circuits of the gun's body shine as it started to form a bullet of concentrated mana within it.

"One"

He muttered as he pulled the trigger of his gun, firing the bullet at the flying Gastrea below the demons. Injecting a bullet into their body before it travelled to the demon on top of him.

"ARGH!!"

The demon screamed in pain before he and the Gastrea blew up from the inside. Injuring or Killing the demons around them before Issei loaded another bullet into the gun.

[Midnight

Rank: Eternal

A sniper rifle made from the finest mithril and the blood of Demonias. Invented by one of the greatest blacksmith in the dimension, Lucias Frey. Made especially to kill stronger enemies from afar.

Grants the holder:

500% increase in intelligence, agility, and luck.

Immunity to poison, paralysis, and any other status ailments while the rifle is equipped.

1000% increase in damage when in stealth.

Grants 5 seconds of immunity to all types of attacks after firing.

[Darkness Magic]

[Lightweight]

[Compress] - Compress the rifle into any shape and size that is greater than 1 cm. Designed for portability.

[Resurrection] - The holder will be revived by the rifle if the holder dies, with a maximum of 10 number of revivals every 14 days. After being revived, the holder will become immune to all types of damages for 30 seconds. Mana and Health will be fully restored.

Properties of Bullets:

[Infectious Bullet] - The rifle is loaded with a special type of bullet that injects lethal amounts of mana into the body. Having a 50% chance to cause [Mana Overloading] to the target. Infecting any creatures in close contact with it.

[True Shot] - Deals 5,000 (x200% of the holder's total intelligence) to its target. Ignores all barriers and defenses.

[Explosive Bullets] - Upon contact with the main target of the holder. It deals a quarter of the damage dealt by the bullet to its surroundings. 

[Multiplier] - At every kills, the next attack's physical and magic damage is increased by 2x. Multiplier is reset after 30 seconds of no kills. 

Increases the radius and damage of the explosion when on a kill streak

Durability: None]

"Two"

He muttered before aiming the nozzle at his gun to the demon at the front. Firing another bullet to the army of demons descending down to the sky. Creating another small explosion that bursts the demon from the inside as Issei quickly loaded another bullet.

"Three"

He said as he pulled the trigger before suddenly rolling to the side. Dodging the bullet that was aimed at his head.

"Shit!"

Issei cursed as he fired a bullet towards the army at a random location before jumping off from his position. Avoiding the large demonic plant that suddenly grew out of the bullet in time before it restrained and killed him.

He then dived into the shadows of the wall before reappearing on the ground. Readjusting his position as a lone man crashed into the ground in front of him. Creating a small crater below him before it ignited with blue flames.

"I didn't expect someone that has a somewhat similar fighting style as me..."

The man muttered, causing Issei to frown before pointing his gun in his direction with an extremely cautious expression on his face. Not expecting someone like him to appear.

"What's your name, devil?"

"Why would I tell you that... Velos"

Issei said causing the True God in front of him to smile in response.

"I'm glad you know who I am, devil"