Chapter: 11

Chapter 11:

A few hours later, after Rias had run off, and I had finished my conversation with Asia, the rest of Rias's peerage along with the other chat group members returned. None of them looked happy, so I was expecting bad news.

"Any luck finding Gasper?" I asked the group as they entered the Occult Research Club room.

"Well, we found where he was… it wasn't exactly a pretty sight," Robin said solemnly.

"That's putting it mildly," Koneko said as she plopped herself down on the sofa and immediately opened a family-size bag of chips. Her eyes narrowed, daring anyone to try and ask for some.

"Ara, it was quite a disturbing find," Akeno added with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

Emma scoffed, "There will be more if we don't catch the little bastard."

"That was really messed up. I don't think I'm going to sleep tonight! I'm going to have to watch so much porn to get those gross images out of my mind!" Issei exclaimed. Everyone in the room gave him disgusted looks. Frankly, it's a miracle his parents haven't disowned him at this point.

Kiba let out a sigh. "You need professional help, Issei..." Kiba said. I snickered at the irony of Kiba Yuuto, of all people, being the one to suggest a psychiatrist.

I asked what happened, and they explained it to me. Koneko and Alice were paired together as a team since they had the best sense of smell. About 10 blocks away from the academy, they smelled blood coming from one of the surrounding neighborhood houses. Instead of charging in, they called for backup and waited for everyone else to arrive. That was smart, but it wouldn't have mattered since Gasper had been gone from that house for at least an hour. They could tell by his lingering scent that Koneko was familiar with.

Apparently, the possessed Gasper had fed on an entire family and wiped them out. Sasuke and Robin had then proceeded to search the entire house for clues on where Gasper could have gone next. Unfortunately, they didn't find anything concrete. Robin claimed to have found something odd, but he wanted confirmation to make sure before sharing it with us.

...

Rias returned from the underworld, apparently, a few hours later with a happy smile on her face. At least, that was until she found out what 'Gasper' had done. At least this time, there were other people to help calm her down.

A few hours later, it was just Rias and Akeno, along with myself, who were in the clubroom. The rest had gone to bed so they could start searching for Gasper again early in the next morning. Alice didn't need to sleep, but she had gone off to a quieter room so she could try and have any kind of vision.

I tried to lighten the mood. "Normally, I'd be ecstatic to be all alone at night with two beautiful ladies, but I could tell from those frowns we won't be getting up to any fun tonight." I said, causing Rias to sputter and blush.

"Akane!" Rias pouted my name.

"Ufufu, you never know what the night will bring," Akeno added. I could tell she was only teasing though.

Rias lamented with a groan, "I can't believe my luck! Just when I find a solid way to get out of this marriage, I lose one of my precious peerage members!"

Akeno frowned, before patting Rias on the shoulder. "He's not lost forever, Rias. Akane has promised she'll get him back for us," Akeno said as she turned and gave me a smile. "And once she does, I wouldn't mind giving her a reward for her help," Akeno said as she licked her lips while looking at me.

I will accept any reward she is willing to give…

Her insinuation was not subtle. Or maybe she was just teasing me. What surprised me though was that Rias actually pouted. "No way, Akeno! Akane has been incredibly helpful to me! If anyone will give her a r-reward, it will be me!" Rias exclaimed with a red face and a small stutter.

"Ara, it seems my King is jealous," Akeno said with a teasing voice. "Poor me… I'm afraid I'll have to play second fiddle for your affections. I just can't compete with Rias's beauty, can I?" Akeno said with fake sadness. Who was she kidding? Akeno looked like a goddess and I'm sure she knew it. Or maybe she didn't because of her self esteem issues…

"That's not true at all, Akeno. You're every bit as beautiful and charming as Rias," I genuinely complimented her. I tried to be as genuine as possible to test my theory.

Akeno seemed a bit caught off guard and paused for a moment with a genuine look of surprise on her face from my complement. "It's not fair if you say that with such sincerity," she mumbled with a slight blush.

"So, Akane… you seem to have had some great ideas so far. It's obvious why you are your group's leader," Rias started.

I was the leader? That was news to me. Although, I suppose I was the group admin…. It also seemed like the other members tended to defer to me for decision-making and planning. Huh!? I really was the leader I guess….

Rias continued, "Do you have any more ideas on how we could find Gasper? Maybe we could lure him into a trap?" Rias asked. She desperately wanted to know.

I pondered that for a moment. "What does the transmigrator who took over Gasper want?" I questioned out loud. Rias and Akeno knew I was talking to myself mostly, so they didn't interrupt. "He obviously wants to not be purged. That's obvious, because he escaped this building. But he hasn't left the town yet for some reason… Why is that? Wouldn't it make more sense for him to flee the city? Why would he stay?"

"That is strange," Akeno added.

Rias and Akeno had pondering looks on their faces before I noticed a kind of realization dawned on them. Almost at the same time.

""He can't leave!"" They both exclaimed simultaneously. Rias and Akeno grinned at each other.

Rias appeared to be psyched up. "That's it! That's how we trap him!" Rias said excitedly. I wondered what they had figured out.

"Rias is right," Akeno added. "Gasper physically cannot leave Kuoh town. At least not for long." She said.

"Why can't he leave for long?" I asked.

Rias answered, "it's the same reason I was only able to leave for the underworld for a few hours." She started to explain. "I've had to stay close to Gasper so he doesn't accidentally turn into a stray."

That answer threw me off! "Gasper would turn into a stray?" I questioned. "Why?"

Akeno continued, "Out of all Rias's peerage members, Gasper unfortunately has spent the least amount of time with her, because he can't control his sacred gear. Due to this fact, he is the most magically unstable of all her peerage members. As newly reincarnated devils adjust to their new evil pieces, they need to spend time in proximity with their kings. Otherwise…" Akeno trailed off.

"They become strays." I finished for her and she solemnly nodded. That was a dark little tidbit Ajuka added into the Evil Piece system to keep newly reincarnated devils from just fleeing with their newfound powers. "That sounds like it was a design feature intended to force the newly reincarnated servants to follow their new masters." I voiced my thoughts aloud. Rias cringed but nodded.

"Many devils suspect that to be the case. They could never prove it though. The evil pieces are just so complicated that only Ajuka himself knows how they work." Akeno said solemnly.

That was another reason I wouldn't be joining any peerage. I couldn't just take the free power up and return to my world. I'd end up turning into a cannibalistic stray devil and be put down like a villain.

With this new information we had acquired, a plan started forming in my head. I started going over the detailed points with Rias and Akeno. We could revise them the next morning once everyone else woke up. What it came down to was that we would have Rias leave town. Simple but effective. She'd head out miles into the nearby forest and camp there. Gasper, who was hiding somewhere in Kuoh town, would start to feel the negative side effects of being so far from his King. Apparently, the demonic power inside him would start running rampant. If he didn't want to turn stray, he would have to follow her out into the forest. That's where we would ambush him, and hopefully expel the transmigrator from his body.

Rias seemed relieved after we discussed our plan for the next hour. She could afford to miss school for the next few days since her family co-owned the school with Sona's. Hopefully, We could put this plan into action the next morning. I know everyone, bar Emma and maybe Alice, was itching to return to our original worlds. Not that I wasn't enjoying this moderately peaceful world and it's supernaturally beautiful women as well, but I had training to get back to. Oh, the sacrifices I'd have to make to be the next symbol of peace…

XXX

Tomorrow morning arrived. Unfortunately, plans don't always go as intended. Especially when you're partied up with comic book and anime protagonists. Something will always go wrong.

"I had a vision." Alice said to our group the next morning. We were having a meeting on our own. Away from the peerage members. I wanted their unbiased opinions on the plan we'd concocted the previous night.

"You did?" I questioned in surprise. "Was it about Gasper?"

Alice shook her head. "It wasn't about any of the devils. The vision was from that random housewife we met walking down the street yesterday. Today, her future is going to go blank. It's not just her either. A lot of humans in this town are going to have blank futures today." Alice explained with a grimace. According to her, blank futures meant death… Someone was going to kill a lot of people in the town today. Or at least they'd try to.

Everyone was surprised to hear about that. "Is someone going to attack the town!?" Robin worriedly asked. "But who? It can't be just Gasper can it? Can he do that much damage on his own?"

Sasuke clicked his tongue. "It's going to be those Fallen weaklings. I'll bet 1000 Ryo that the transmigrator is colluding with them. It's why we couldn't find him after the house. He fled to their church."

"Somehow, he's convinced them to attack the town…" Emma said with a grimace.

"But why!?" Robin exclaimed.

"Who cares… Sasuke said. "All that matters is it's gonna happen. Maybe Gasper promised that fallen chick Asia's sacred gear as payment for helping him. I'm not sure what he would get out of it though. Unless he just wants to kill us"

"Is he just trying to kill us in the attack? I know he can stop time, but not on all of us at once. Not if we surround him from all sides." Alice said. I wondered what he was up to as well. He'd have to know he can't take us all on. Which means… This attack was obviously a distraction! But for what? He couldn't leave town without… Rias!

My eyes widened as realization dawned on me! So that was his ploy! This guy was a lot smarter than I would have thought. "He's trying to kidnap Rias! It's the only way he can leave town," I explained. "Gasper has all the abilities of a vampire. If he can turn Rias into his thrall, then he can safely flee Kuoh town and hide with her anywhere for a few months." The others caught on quickly from my explanation.

"Once his magic stabilizes and he's no longer at risk of becoming a stray, he can just dispose of her later." Sasuke added.

To think he was planning on harming such a perfect waifu! He truly was an evil transmigrator!

"I don't like it, but we're going to have to divide our forces." I said. "Sasuke has already dealt with the fallen once, so he should stay in Kuoh town. Alice should stay too, since she can only get visions of Humans." The two of them nodded. "Emma, Robin and I will go to the forest with a few members of Rias's peerage and wait for Gasper to be lured to us. That way, you won't end up getting frozen in time mid battle against the fallen." I explained.

"I suppose this is called the Hero Chat Group. So go be heroes or whatever." Emma said dryly to Sasuke and Alice.

"You got it!" Alice giggled as she gave a playful salute.

"I'll choose whatever…" Sasuke snarked, but I could tell he wasn't opposed to the plan.

"I'll go and speak about this with Rias," I said. "If the town is going to be attacked she'll want to know. She'll also probably alert Sona as well so it won't just be you both and her peerage defending the place." I finished explaining. I'm surprised Sasuke didn't protest about needing help. I know he was strong, but there was a difference between raiding a compound where all the enemies were in one place vs defending a town with thousands of residents from dozens of crazy exorcists and 4 insane angels.

With that, I went to go and deliver the change of plans to Rias.

XXX

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