(DxD: Black): Vampire-Devil Conference Arc

**The Vampire-Devil Conference**(悪魔と吸血鬼の出会; Akuma to kyūketsuki no deai) is the eighth major arc in the story High School DxD: Black.

Perhaps the most branching and convoluted arc so far in the story, being divided into 4 different perspectives all taking place in the single night of the peace conference between Devils and Vampires, the latter wanting to ensure the survivability of their race.

## Characters

In order of appearance:

* Kabel Leviathan
* Drambuie Mammon
* Marcenas Lucifer
* Marye Beelzebub
* Merienda Satan
* Maverick Asmodeus
* Alice Belphegor (unmentioned during Satan conference)
* Yoko Akabane(messege)
* Zenjirou Sasamoto
* Akatsuki Shiranui
* Lavinia Allocer
* Serena Sitri
* Aubrey Gremory
* Berolina Allocer
* Evelyn
* Lilim Livan Lucifer
* Winston Churchill
* Reika
* Haruka
* Desmond Helsing
* Cordelia Vladi
* Sheridan Nosferatu
* TBA.

## Story

### Ch. ???: Vampire-Devil meeting

"My fellow satans, as you all now, the day of the conference draws near. Such event that will literally decide the fate of our fellow vampires, creatures of darkness such as ourselves. In their need for a place and warmth we shall extend our hands and embrace equality between us so that the Ghost of Rizevim can finally vanish from our thoughts. However, as desperate as they be, Vampires are still very condescending and prideful creatures, and even as the Demon Lords of Leviathan and Mammon, my persuasion powers might not be enough for the young Lord Nosferatu. As such, Drambuie-kun and I shall summon one of you to be our partner and guide in order to convince our brothers from the darkness of the world to join us. And for that, I choose the obvious answer... Marcenas-senpai!"

"Aaaaayyyyyy~...!"

...

"Guys, do you really think sending Marcenas with Kaba-kun and Drambuie-kun to the conference that pretty much seals the fate of the vampires is a good idea?" In the middle of our own conference room, the Satan Room somewhere hidden in the Purson mansion, I asked to my cohorts. I, Marye Beelzebub, an completely baffled and vivid for Kaba-kun's choice for a partner, and I need to stay calm and see if I'm the only one to consider that.

"I tell you what it is: it's a brilliant idea!"

"Shut up, Marcenas. I did not ask you." I said at him, turning back at some of my comrades Demon Lords for some backup, but apparently even Maverick and the brainless Merienda are a little unnerved by such. I turned back to Kabel to see if she has anything in mind. "Kaba-kun, please reconsider. I know this idiot for almost all of my life and I know he'll screw up big time."

"Wow Marye, that's cruel!" The Demon Lord of Lucifer rose from his seat with a pained expression and drying some fake tears, all while pointing a finger at me with a pout. How old is he again? 36-years old, I'll tell. "I have you know, I might've been the Lucifer demon Lord for not that much long, but my skills as a peace diplomat has also improve in order to put up with my own Predecessor, Lord Sirzechs."

"Marcenas, you're an Alastor. You lived in the slurs of the Underworld, you were only took by Allocers because Nerio needed a bodyguard. Your social skills are par with nothing, and honestly, living with you for almost thirty years have not improved my vision about you." I said dryly, coughing a little. Marcenas continued to pout even more, but then he flipped and stuck his tongue out, blowing a raspberry. Oh, Gosh...

"You're just jealous because I'm the Lucifer Demon Lord, you only got the silver medal." Oh please, don't start this again. I have to coup everyday this, I don't need this shitbasket to remind me too. Marcenas then sighed, grinned and shrugged. "Besides, it's not like I didn't already participated in a peace conference. Remember that time with the giants?"

"The one that killed practically all the titans and giants, and restrained our relationships with the Nordic and Greco-Roman Lores?" I said in a deadpan tone. The tone around the conference meeting room grew cold and dark, but Marcenas continued to smile.

"C'mon, they had it coming. It's not my fault we had a disagreement."

"Marcenas, you committed *genocide*. How... Just how...?"

"They wanted to keep on living, and I disagreed with that."

"Someone please stop this man." I said in mock horror, but in the end flicked a finger and an explosion came down on him, blowing up his face. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough, as his face end up charred, but intact nonetheless. Damned be the Alastors... Minus Beroli-chan and Rina-chan, they're okay. In the end, Maverick held me by the wrist, so I had keep it down for now.

"Marye, I know you're upset, but think about it: the second most dangerous devil alive is with Kabel." Maverick murmured on my ear, making me lower my hand even more. Damn, is Kaba-kun really pulling this one? "If anything goes wrong, well, We'll know that our side will come out unscratched."

"Tch..." Annoying, all of them. Underestimating me just because I'm not the Lucifer. Even so, I so heavily have to agree on one thing: Marcenas is undoubtedly stronger than I am, so of course, as a weapon and not an 'comrade', Kabel and Drambuie would choose him. Even so... "Marcenas, if you screw this up, I swear I gonna put up a red wig to pretend that I'm Lord Sirzechs and pull one of your ears... Again!"

"Again?" (Kabel)

"Just, don't ask." (Merienda)

"You try, darling." He shrugged with a final victorious smile, using one arm to up Kabel and give him a half hug; the Demon Lord of Leviathan joining him. What a duo of idiots, they'll probably kill everybody... Again. "So, Kabel. Off we and Drambuie go, Right?"

"Yep! We'll just need Berolina-chan permission and we're all set!" The smaller, younger Satan spoke. He then turned to me, and gave me a thumbs up. "Don't worry, Marye-senpai! I'll manage to control the situation and find some peace even with vampires!"

"..." I arched an eyebrow for that. Youth, eh? Marcenas gripped my wrist again, and helped me to sit down again.

"Marye, let trust them just this once. I know for sure that Marcenas at least knows the gravity of the situation." My husband said with a puff of sigh, looking at his runes about the Rating Games, before turning back to me. "Even if he doesn't, well, \*Yawn\*, it doesn't mean he will raise hell on the human world or something."

"Tch... Okay." I sat back down, passing some of my research files to the other Satans to go on with another subject. He's right. Marcenas is an idiot, but he'll know what to do. It's not like he's a... Complete idiot. Okay, yes, he's a moron, but with someone as professional and calm as Drambuie and Kabel with him, what's the worse it could happen...?

.

~~x~~

.

*'Hey, Zenjirou... Are you there? Are you listening? I know this is kinda strange, voicemessaging when a call could've worked better, but there's something that I want you to hear and I don't think I would've the courage to say if you were in front of me. The thing is... I know I can trust you, you have been so brave and strong; and not only in the battlefield, but at home too. You always tried to make us at home in your own, and while we would bother you to no end, I have you know I appreciated every second of it. But I can't shake off the feeling that I can't trust Either Berolina-dono or Rina with you. It sounds strange, I know but... If you're ever scared or hesitant, don't hesitate to say no to whatever they order you. You have... Your wife will always be waiting for you. Don't... Make her wait... Please.'*

End of message.

This is probably the dozenth time I heard this message, yet it feels just like the rest: complete melancholy filled with despair. I wanted to play it just one more time, but the conference will be taking here in only a few minutes, so I can't let myself become depressed. Or dull, that's why I've sharped my tie a little more. Yet still, Yoko seems so...

"Are you still playing that thing?" Shock! The scare almost made me drop my phone, and soon enough I hid it inside my pockets to turn around and face the fallen angel also sitting next to the sofa. Shiranui-san blinked a few times, sighed and hit the knots of her hand on my head as she's trying to lecture me. "And why's the long face, Sasamoto-kun? It's a cute message from your girlfriend, no need to look so gloom and doom about it."

"..." I made a face, and she jumps from the other side to sit next to me. I picked my phone yet again to look at the blank screen, and sighed, feeling my face frown a little. "I know you're kinda right, Shiranui-san, but there's something about it really pisses me off. Sounds like a testament or something, and the more I hear it, the more I hate it. It's like she's saying goodbye or something."

"Well, she's not." She bluntly said, ruffling my hair a little and then knocking her knots on me again. Well, I can say that wasn't reassuring at all, but doesn't mean it didn't help. "Ah contraire, apparently. She's waiting for you. Be a man and don't make a girl wait. It's disgusting."

"I don't want to hear moral lessons from someone named after a Gundam." I spat at her, and she frowned her eyebrows and hit me with her knuckles again. I chuckled and she forced a smile; and then she put her hand on my chest, taking a deep breath. Ah, I think I get it. "Sigh, don't worry, Shiranui-san. I'm just a little nervous but... Doesn't mean I will lose control. Stop checking on me."

"Whatever." She sighed as well. She stopped doing it when half an hour passed, yet she when we first met here in the Old Building, she wouldn't let go of my emotional state. Checking my pulse or seeing different reactions, it's like I'm being analyzed. In the end, she put her feet on the sofa we are sitting one and supported her head with her hands on the sofa arm. "I hate it, but since Grandpa left me with some of his research books, I can only try to update them for the sake of what's left. Also, there's something almost irritating about you and your Destroyer Astra, and I want to know what it is."

"I don't know if you're being very subtle or not subtle at all." Yeah; really. Is she complimenting me? Complaining to me? Saying stuff from her head? I bet Azazel-sama was worse than that at least. "Irritating, eh? I passed a semester with this thing on my arm, and not even myself can tell exactly what it is. I guess it's living with it you can at least learn a few things, but even so..."

"It pisses you off, doesn't it?"

"Sometimes." I said to the jewel on the back of my hand. I need to really start asking more things. otherwise I'll be lost again, and this can be dangerous. But better not mind much for now, I gotta better things to do. "Doesn't mean I don't like it."

"Is your life better with it or without it? The sacred gear, I mean..."

"..."

"You don't need to answer if you want it to. I don't know the answer about my newly discovered ancestry as well."

"And it pisses you off..."

"To no end."

We looked at each other, and we shared another chuckle. Ah, ah! This is kinda nice, but maybe I'm growing demented with this conference. I took another deep and slow breath, and sat properly on the sofa while also putting my phone back in the pocket. She's right about one thing: I won't die. I can't die.

Another half an hour passed, and soon enough; three magic circles emerged in front of us, and from them, three figures of pretty girls appeared with faces that looked they are out of breath. They adjusted they uniforms and supported against each other, while Shiranui-san and I helped them to get sit on the sofa. I waved my hand in front of my own king and Aubrey-san to fan the sweat away, Shiranui-san doing the same with Kaichou...

"I guess this is enough. This is the first time I did such a complicated barrier." Rina shouted with a tongue sticking out of her mouth, kaichou laughed and pinched her childhood friend.

"Huhuhuh, I guess a little of Akane got stuck in you during the time, Lavinia. That barrier you made was impressive!" Kaichou complimented her, her Rina gasped and sighed, standing herself sit on the sofa and coughing a little. I myself am patting her back so that air could run better into her body and soon she stopped with her throat fit. To think Akane could make better barriers according to Mizuki-san and Takeshi. Aubrey pulled her hair backwards, stood up and summoned another crimson circle. "Well, our pieces are in place, the magical barrier is lift and the clouds are just right. I think it's time to call Berolina and make her call the Satans."

"Whatever you think it's best, Aubrey-neechan." Lavinia said, I helping her stand up with Shiranui-san. So it's starting, the conference is here, and with it, a certain someone who has been missing for so long...

With a touch on the crimson rune, Aubrey-san and Kaichou apparently called for Berolina-san, and in no time during such, I saw five runes appearing on the floor to materialize six figures: sharing one was Berolina-san wearing he typical headmistress attire of white shirt, black pants and black as night jacket, carrying next to her chest a little girl with black hair and bicolored eyes, Evelyn, wearing her usual attire of a yukata tied by a red obi around her waist, and with another familiar dragon loli, while the other figures behind them were a black-haired young man in what I could only describe as a black-colored, ragged and torn military general's uniform with bandages around his arms, an ghostly silverette young man with green eyes and bright smile, an adult man with blue hair tied in a ponytail with a eyepatch and a snobbish expression, and finally another adult man with white as snow short hair with red slit eyes and a scar crossing his face, all wearing something like black capes with kickass shoulder plates. If I remember correctly they're **Marcenas**-sama, **Winston**-sama, **Kaba**-sama, and **Drambuie**-sama, three of them being current seven demon lords and the other the head of the underworld's defences. Once out of the circle, Kaba-sama came down on us.

"S'up, Zenjirou! Long time no see! Hi-five, friend!" He said with a bright smile and a hand in the air. I blinked once, and turned around to see if anyone is reacting the same way I am, no one was. I knew from the introductions that he was someone happy go-lucky, but even here? The stares I received instead were of expectations, so I lifted laos my hand and hi-fived him.

"Y-Yeah, nice to see you... Again, Kabel-sama." I said with a forced smile, and he looked at his own hand as if he was mesmerized by it. Kabel-sama then turned to Lavinia and lifted both hands this time.

"And how's my favorite maggot doing? For you, double you, Rina-chan!" He said in another cutesy voice, and unlike me, Rina responded with the same enthusiasm, clashing hands together and laughing under their breaths. He then turned to Shiranui-san, who smiled just a little. "And Shiranui-dono! I know you know that, but I'm a great fan of your ancestor! If you can give me the honour...!"

"Everyone can, except me. Hello anyway, Demon Lord of Leviathan." She greeted just like me, a small slap of hands, and then he turned back to Serena-kaichou. Instead of a hi-five or anything else, he picked both her hands and bowed to her in a rather gentlemanly way. Kaichou however seemed unimpressed.

"And hello to you, Lady Serena. Are you ready to admit the error you made after all this years? I mean, I am the current Leviathan, after all." He smirked, and so did Kaichou. This made me tilt my head to a side. What the hell is going on now? A bet? An error? Instead, kaichou imply shrugged and chuckled.

"In your dreams, Kabel-sama." She said. Before anything more could be added, Kabel-sama was dragged by Marcenas-sama followed by Drambuie-sama, who then gave him a quick knock on the head with his knuckles. The silver demon lord scratched his head facing the older ones, and then he faced us, a smile on his face.

"Hello, Heretic Plague Dragon, Fallen angel, Sitri, Gremory, and Lavinia. I hope you are all doing well." He said in a rather cheerful tone, but not before flicking Kabel-sama's ear. "I mean, despite the behavior of this little one. Alice said she'd take care of him, but no progress as it seems."

"Now, you're just being hurtful, senpai." The silver said massaging his affected area. The two satans started to bicker each other, and while that happens, Berolina-san and Winston-sama walked towards us, Winston's hands on his head besides the loli and Berolina, taking deep breaths and on her own. I bet their having their own problems.

"I apologize for this, you all don't deserve to see that." Winston said with a facepalm and a sigh, leaning on a wall to take another deep breath... and drink. Apparently, this is also taking a toll out of everybody, not just us and our Kings.

"Nah; we're good. It's not like it's the first time we see that happen." Rina said in a nonchalant matter and a shrug, and I could only nod for that. Yeah, their first impressions were to be desired, yet I couldn't say a thing about their power, I can feel them from here. Speaking of power, my eyes went adrift and turned back to the dragon loli who had her eyes back to me. She tilted her head to a side.

"Salutations, we meet again. Brass dragon." She said in a lower tone, arms crossed and blinking a few times. I tried to maintain my cool, yet I could feel her energy oozing from her being, making me sweet. I instead reached for her head to pat her, in which she snuggled herself on. "Huhuhufuh, nice response. I must say, your reading is getting a lot better as of lately."

"Please don't talk." I sighed, but instead she came closer stood next to me like a little kid, as she's trying to hang on me. Everybody else reacted differently: Aubrey-san and Evelyn were laughing under their breath, Serena-kaichou had a face that was practically screaming 'raging lolicon at the loose', Rina was scratching her cheek with a finger in nervousness and Shiranui-san... Actually seemed to be curious about the little girl, poking her a few times before also patting her head, in which she accepted it. I wonder if she can sense who Shiranui-san actually is. Before things could get any more awkward, I turned around to Rina. "So... Any sign that the vampires are coming? I mean, it's raining cats and dogs, so I can only assume they're coming, right?"

"Possibly. They're probably taking a look around for possible suspects." Rina said. Yeah, 'possible suspects', such as humans with special abilities. Berolina-san said they would make a victim out of anything that would stand in their way, but fortunately, Mizuki-san knew about it and used her abilities to... Persuade some people to not leave their houses, herself not being able to be here, not Sally-chan or Robinson. Winston-san, after taking a long swig from his flask, looked up, sighed, and his eyes opened in a rather ominous way, taking a deep breath.

"They're here..."

He just said it, and then the door bursted open and two figures jumped from there. I blinked and right next to me was my albino friend Reika of the Hidden village of the Hot Springs and next to the door, Haruka-sama, supporting herself on the wall next to Winston. But that wasn't all: from that same door, A cold atmosphere started to spread across the room, and I started to tremble with the sudden chill, yet the darkness of the corridor wasn't showing anything else. And then, a colony... colony? I think it's colony, of bats came storming in, creating a mini tornado of complete bleak and chill, I had to protect my eyes to still see what was going on. In the end, in the place of the colony of bats, three figures stood: one was Desmond-sama, but the others were a small, petite young girl of typical vampire-like feautres: platinum blond-colored hair, pinkish-red sharp eyes and doll-like features, wearing a black dress with silver and red highlights. While the other was an rather tall young man in about his early twenties wearing a hood, empty blue eyes and a piercing smile, who looks someone you wouldn't trust at first glance.

"Thank you for gifting our humble selves for thy illustrious presence, Young King of Vampires **Sheridan Nosferatu** and lord **Desmond Helsing**! And lord Desmond's bodyguard **Cordelia**-chan too!" Shock! The moment they appeared, everyone around me bowed until their heads were almost on the floor, and with a violent pull, Shiranui-San forced me to do the same. Oh right, vampire's snobby asses needs to be pampered or else they'll turn against us. After we heard a small chuckle of approval coming from Lord Desmond, we all lifted our heads, Haruka-sama now appearing next to us.

"You taught your children well, Demon Lord of Lucifer. Or they just know how to behave in front of your illustrious truly." The young-looking black-haired man I can only assume is lord Sheridan said with a chuckle, pulling a chair in the middle of the room and sitting there, his feet on the table. Lord Desmond did the same, so did Kabel-sama and Drambuie-sama, while Marcenas-sama just idly stood next to him. There was a small silence between the five, but I noticed that Rina held my hand tight, and so I reciprocated. In the end, the Vampire King was the one who started. "So, shall we start our little reunion?"

"Of course, Young Nosferatu. Who better to start such a rich and lovely conversation and conference than you? I wouldn't, honestly." Said Kabel-sama with a wink and a shrug. I dunno why, but it didn't sound that much respectful, as he's mocking him. Lord Desmond, before anything else could be said, move forward to face the demon lord of Leviathan.

"As we are discussing now, our deal is that, if we vampires swear loyalty to Hell and the Demon Lords, it'll be promised for us an isolated and reserved chunk of the underworld, as well as a small piece of territory into the Gremory an Allocer territories in Japan, as well as protection from others lore and vampire hunters in our place, Romania." Lord Desmond said placing his hand on the table in an almost demanding manner, despite still be smiling at Kabel-sama. "Isn't that right, Demon Lord of Leviathan?"

"Oh, you're so rich, Lord Desmond. It makes me jealous somehow." Kabel-sama continued to laugh under his breath, somehow bringing levity to the situation now. However, suddenly, his eyes sharpened to almost an animalistic degree, in which I could feel gripping harder on my hand. I massaged the back of her hand with my thumb, and her breathing returned to normal. The pressure around here looks it grew tenfold. "This is our condition, Prime-minister of the Vampires and Illustrious King of Vampires. We're trying be generous here, but anything else than that is off-limits. Vampires might become servants and ascend as new members of the Devil society, but this is the best we can offer."

"..." The vampire King said nothing, only narrowed his eyes. A chill ran down my spine, as the gravity was now of almost a hundred times worse. Everybody here besides the ministers, Winston-sama, Haruka-sama, Aubrey-san and Evelyn were being affected just like me, but Kabel-sama was still staring back with the same intensity. So this is the power of the demon lord! In the end, Lord Sheridan grinned, and I could finally breath normally. "Do you really think such small piece of land would satisfy me? I, the Vampire who killed all the higher-ups of both Carmilla and Tepes factions and ascended as the Vampire King on their corpses, to be degraded in asking Devils for favors, and pretty cheap ones as well... That's why you disgust me, Goddamn bats."

"Your majesty, let me handle the situation here." Lord Desmond said turning back to Kabel-sama. Despite still maintaining his grin of audacity, I could see that was also cold-sweating. Even so, the demon lord of Leviathan wasn't faltering. "Kabel Leviathan, I can only say that your bargain offends us as Vampires. We vampires have been living in the darkness of this world for generations. Unlike you Devils, who have the underworld only to yourselves, us have to share our world with humans, other mythologies and mainly, believers of the God from the Bible. Facing us today is the proof of our tenacity, and offering such small piece of earth is revolting to our pride. I'd say... We want half of all devil territory in the human world, protection and warranty for our already established areas and an equal position in Underworld matters as a shared property. This are my conditions!"

"..." Hey! Hey, hey, hey! That's a little too much! I'm still clueless about all of this, but I think I'd be happy to have at least half of what the Devils are offering! To think Lord Desmond will take such a bold step further. I looked around and Rina was heavily breathing, while Berolina-san couldn't stop biting her own lips, kaichou tapping her fingers still trying to maintain her smile, Shiranui-san still with the frown from before and Aubrey-kin with a emotionless face. Kabel-sama, however, smiled and chuckled. "Ahah... Ahahah... I'm sorry, and a thousand apologies for that... But I think you got all wrong!"

"...?"

"You see, vampires... This is not a bargain, this is a begging session." Those words were too much for me. I could feel myself dizzy, and for the first time, Lord Desmond looked... Angry. It was a subtle change, but I could see it. Nothing different from the Lord of the vampires, though. "I'm so kindly offering you a piece of our own territory, our own gain, to you. I'm being generous here, considering that none of us want the Ghost of Rizevim wondering around our current generation. However, to think you bloodsuckers would want more from our generous offering offends me as well! I will ask again for you to reconsider such, with our feelings into it as well, and accept our conditions."

"Demon Lord of Leviathan, as eloquent your words are, with me praising them for their sagacity, I must say that it's still not enough for us." Lord Desmond continued, hands firm as they are, but almost ready to strangle the Leviathan. This is kinda getting dangerous. A deep breath, and he continued: "It is also noteworthy to mention, vampires, unlike Devils, have been prejudiced from all races, not just humans. Angels who think of us as monsters, Devils who see us as cheap copies of themselves, humans can only consider us as threats, and all the other mythologies who couldn't care less. Unlike you, Devils, we vampires had to deal with those every single generation, and our numbers have shown this as such. Kabel Leviathan, you make such a poor case of our situation and looking down on us as a prideful race... Might get you in bad waters."

"Call what you want, the reason why this conference is taking place in the first place is because you Vampires can't save your own arses." The Demon Lord of Mammon finally spoke, and through one sentence, made me cringe. I bite my lips as hard as I could, and the atmosphere grew tense as Kabel-sama approached the prime-minister and tossed him a very contemptuous stare. "I apologize for such words of my fellow satan, but I honestly don't give a damn of what happen to you or your race. I'm just doing it out of respect for my predecessors and My own high ups. Like I said, nobody wants ghosts from the past lurking into this new world, but you're making my job quite difficult. For the better or for the worse, if you don't throw away that pride of yours and accept our conditions, I'll have to call it quits."

"..."

Silence, nothing more than silence. The two ministers were staring at each other, no more words traded between them, but I could feel the atmosphere and tension growing to ridiculous levels, like the world itself is trying to swallow me. Even with grins, the two are tense because of that stalemate, but however you look at it, this is not a peace conference; it's more like a Cold War. No, worse than that, this is a gamble roulette. They're just waiting...

"May I speak?" The Vampire King, who has been quiet all this time, lifted a hand and a gentle smile, which I could see was actually full of malice, and as such nobody bought it. Lord Desmond turned to the vampire King, but soon lowered himself on the chair so that all the attention could be centralize around the lord of the vampires. Once that out of the way, he took a deep breath, and for some reason, the air around here grows colder. Then he shifted his attention to Marcenas-sama. "Marcenas, my comrade, what do you think of this generation?"

"Huuuh~? Watcha mean, Dark King?" The silver-haired demon lord of Lucifer finally started speaking, jumping to sit on one of his chair. I dunno why, but this silly show of power brought some levity into the situation. Even so, with a thoughtful finger on his cheek, he questioned again. "What do I think of this generation? Watcha mean, Dark King?"

"Tell me, as one of the Heroes of the Underworld who fought and survived to the Great Apocalypse, the rampage of the monster who would've destroyed the whole world, and now the respectful leader of the Underworld and right-hand of Grandmasters Rampardos and Millicas: Would you let the guard and safety of the Underworld and everything that your predecessors fought for at the hands of your children and their equals?" Marcenas-sama didn't move a muscle for that question, only blinked in apparent boredom. Myself am confused about this, ahh what does he mean by that. However, Rina's grip on me grew tenfold, as she also bite her teeth, even more when Marcenas-sama gave her an aside look across the room before turning back to the Vampire King. "I do believe in a 'yes'. And at the same time, your answer will also be a 'no'. How do I know this? Because you devils can be as prideful as we, vampires."

"..."

"And you might be asking yourself why I am asking this. It's very simple: To me, you're the children, and being here, in this conference between our race and the Devils, might be the most unnecessarily complicated child's play I've ever played." Laughed the Vampire King, receiving only a stare back from the three Demon Lords, while Lord Desmond continued to face us with certain disdain. The vampire king suddenly stopped, and sighed. "Hero of the Underworld, what a joke. You're nothing more than a kid, kinda like me but, chosen by other children to play papa in the child's play that is the Underworld. To ask us to accept your puny conditions would be lower our entire race to your level, and I, who killed every single one who opposed me in order to become King, won't bend over a child and his silly games. However, If you want me to accept your conditions, you have to behave more maturely, and for that, I ask a bigger piece of he underworld, then I'll... Reconsider our deal."

"Why you...!"

"Kabel-kun, let me." I had to grip Lavinia harder for her to leap against the Vanpire King, same for Berolina-san and Kabel-sama, I could even feel Takeshi-san wanted to kill this man, even I was a bit disgusted but his words, underestimating even the Lucifer demon Lord. But with a sign, Marcenas-sama silenced everybody, and turned back to the Vampire Lord, standing up from his seat and taking a good look at the younger bloodsucker. "You might be right, Vampire Kid, ahh, I mean King Sheridan Nosferatu, I'm not my predecessors, Sirzechs Lucifer or Lord Vali, and while I can't complain about my accomplishments, it's nothing compared to the sacrifices he and his cohorts did in order for us to be having this conversation. However, when you asked if I would hand all of my responsibilities at the hands of my daughters and their cohorts, there was only an answer in my mind: Yes."

"Hoooh~, really?" The grin on the Vampire King's lips grew amused, and he moved his hands in a 'go on' sigh. "Please elaborate. I'd love to hear your excuses."

"You're right. As an Alastor, despite our position as Extra Demons, I grew up in a humble house by the outskirts of the Underworld. I only ascended to where I am now thanks to Lord Rampardos, who gave me the opportunity to work under the name and Grace of the Allocer and Gremory." Marcenas-sama started. So... He's an extra Demon, just like Defrah-san, Balflear and Grayfia-sama. Yet, he's saying he grew up in a poorer state. And now he's a Lucifer. Wow. "But enough about the humble me. What I'm saying is: given the opportunity, I'm sure that if I hand my political power over any of my children, they'll make an even bigger Demon Lord than I am today. All they need is a chance, an opportunity."

"Father..." I heard Berolina-san murmur, her face as stoic as ever, and there was a shine in her eyes that was very apparent. Rina, on the other hand, was almost crying while making a sad face, so I gripped her hand even more, and smiled at her. She nodded at me, smiling too. We turned back to the demon Lord.

"What a joke. You have no self-respect, Lucifer." But everything shattered with Sheridan Nosferatu's words, as he put both his crossed feet on the table with a loud **\*BAM!\***, both soles facing the demon lords as he's challenging them. There was a small frown from the Lucifer, and the rest of us. "You say those kind, altruist, sugar-coated words for me, but I know, deep down, those are empty words, just saying for the sake of our Conference. Your lack of honesty makes me sick, just like the rest of you, **Devils**."

"..."

"Generation after Generation, you Devils trick us with those same kind words and lies just to lower our defenses and strike. Even the name of the Gremory is not an exception, and seeing that you have become a Lucifer, dear Marcenas, only cements this truth." Now it was the Demon Lord's time to frown. I'm livid about this whole ordeal, but I get what he want: they're playing a game of endurance. If any of them gives up, it's over. I was right: this is not a peace conference, this is a Cold War. "Words that say that you want to the rid of the Ghost of Rizevim for this generation, that you want to maintain peace like your predecessors wanted, that you want to preserve our race, it's all fallacy, typical of devils. What you really want is see yourself as someone who brought peace between the two races and feed your own ego. You don't really care for anything else, do you?"

"Now, you listen here...!"

**\*BAM!\***, we all flinched and stayed quiet. Before Rina could snap again, Marcenas-sama descended his feet also on the table, crossing his arms and looking at the Vampire King dead in the eyes. The aura around here also grew tenfolds again, And even the gulp after felt heavy on me. But even so, the five on the table continued to stare at each other.

"It is true. I hate practically everything. I don't care about what happens to the vampires, I don't care about the conference." He said, taking a gasp from all of us. "If I could, I would instead rid the world of all of you bloodsuckers in a blink of an eye, even faster than that. However, my pride as Sirzechs's Successor won't let me. It is true, I want this conference running as smoothly as possible only to feed up my own ego, and all the words said until now to you we're complete lies. I really want this to be over, I really don't care much what happens to the Vampire, but as a Lucifer, it's my duty to preserve the balance of the world and the underworld, and if this means putting my bloodlust aside, so be it. If lord Sirzechs wanted peace, as his living legacy, I'll assure this. Either by killing you all or through a pact of peace, and trust me; if you're alive right now it's because I made a choice way before this meeting."

Silence again. Those are very eloquent words, coming from the Lord of Demons. I don't know if that was a threat or another deal, but neither of them seem too confident in their words, while also not faulting either. Marcenas-sama... Is both an admirable and a despicable, hateful and frightening devil. Is this another power from the Lucifer position. The Vampire King, who couldn't stop frowning, suddenly chuckled, and grinned at us. He lifted one hand and pointed at Rina.

"Hey you, Spawn of Marceans, Lavinia Allocer!" He said out loud, enough for Rina to jump on her place, and nod either way. Her reaction brought a grin from her father. "Tell me, honestly: if one day you ever become a Demon Lord, would you say the same thing as your father?"

"Eh...?" She murmured, lowering her head for a second deep in thoughts. Oh crap, this is something she wasn't expecting. In the end, before I or Nemesis-San could do something for her, she went ahead, took a deep breath and said: "Of... Of course! You have only two options: join us or rot! Stop wasting my time with your stupid philosophy and decide! *DECIDE AND STOP BEING A SPOILED BRAT*!"

"..."

Oh, **Fuck**...

...

"Gyahahahah! Your daughter is at least Honest, Marcenas!" The young Vampire Lord grinned. A-Areh? This is really awkward. When Rina came back to her senses, she practically erupted from embarrassment, but before she could apologize, the Vampire King lifted his hand again to silence us, looking towards the three demon Lords. "That is it. The Vampires accept your conditions, Lord Marcenas, the Lucifer."

"Eh...?" Was the word that escaped my mouth. I mean... So simply. It was so fast, and in the end, I don't feel... Anything. I mean, yeah, the conference was a success, but there's something bugging me. I turned to the others, and they were confused as I was. "Uh... Guys, what just happened?"

"I... I don't know." Of all people, Berolina-san was the one who said she was speechless as well. This isn't good. I'm still a rookie here, so a vague response from her was expected. Aubrey and Reika, however, stayed neutral, only looking at the five who were now on better terms, but still bitter.

"Tch, to think the Vampire King would be convinced by my daughter... Maybe we're not that different, Sheridan Nosferatu. We can believe in the future Generation." Marcenas-sama said with a smirk. But there was another response from the King of Vampires.

"No, it's nothing like this, Marcenas. I just **gave up** on both my **own** and **next** generation." He answered, and for that, we all turned to him, as he tapped his finger on the table. "The moment this conference ends, it'll also be the end of the Vampire era. By signing this treat, I shall become the last Vampire King, and the generation after that will only he known as Devil wannabes. The reason why I accept your conditions now it's not because I want to save other vampires, damned they be, but because I, as the last Vampire King, want to show them... They've *failed* as a race. And every generation after it will have to carry this burden for the eras to come."

"I see... But still, we're still pretty much the same." Kabel-Sama said with a smile as he handed the contracts of alliance. I see now: no matter how much they say, both are not doing this for others, but themselves. But it's a good thing, right? It's a good thing, even if driven by bad intentions, right?! Right?! I turned to Rina, and she was as shocked as me. This is... This is... Kabel-sama sat down facing an also smiling lord Desmond, and they shared papers. "Now, please sign this treat and swear loyalty to the Demon Lords. I'm really thankful... That your hate for your generation is bigger than for our race, Lord Desmond, Lord Sheridan."

"Indeed." And the two vampire lords cut down their fingers and signed the contract in blood.

So... This is how it ends, right? An end of an era, and the start of another. This is... the correct answer, right? Even if cultivated by contempt, hate and pride, signing that contract is a good idea nonetheless, right? I mean... This is how it happens... Right? Why do I feel so uneasy, like that everything that happen here just've dirtied me? It's like I'm seeing four complete demons pulling some sick prank. This is... Hard for me. A tap on the head snapped me back, it was from Reika.

"What's up, Zenjirou? The show's over. It's all going to be fine." He said, shaking me off. I sighed, and turned to him with heavy eyes. The uneasiness just won't go away.

"I dunno... Reika, don't you think it's kinda wrong? All of this? We've reached so far for this conference, yet after what we've seen, this is not how I've envisioned a Peace Trade." I said honestly, seeing those four lords smiling to each other and sharing papers, yet the animosity between us does not go away. I turned to him, and he also sighed.

"There's no such thing as true Peace, Zenjirou. Only cease-fire. As long as there other beings who think differently than you, conflict will always follow." He said, narrowing his eyes. He's... Kinda right. "I'm a ninja, so I can't decide which side I'll end up with. However, this is the truth after years: the only way for true peace is to have everything and everyone wiped out. Any other way... Is just a facade. I'm at least glad that they're honest to each other. Peace conferences are usually filled with false smiles and fake trust. To think those four are powerful enough to be this honest..."

"Yeah, but still..."

**\*CRASH!\***

"...?!" We all stopped when we heard a loud sound coming from outside, enough to shake the whole place and crack the windows a little. We all turned outside, and we all now saw several black magical runes emerging from the floor, summoning from them several cloaked figures, and leading two of them, there was a couple of identical-looking silver-haired, doll-like figures,wearing the same golden attires as King Nosferatu. What the, an invasion?! Looking even further, we saw a crack on the sky, which soon enough closed shut, but an entire army was already there. The seal was already broken.. But how.

**"FATHER! PREPARE TO LEAVE THY POSITION SHAMEFULLY! WE SHALL TAKE WHAT IS OURS, AND YOU SENILE SELF WILL FALL! THE VAMPIRES WILL RISE AGAIN!"** The Male of the two said out loud in a powerful voice. Wait... **'Father'**?! So he's the son of the Vampire King, damn. We all turned there, and yet the Vampire King didn't even seemed fazed.

"What a troublesome duo, that **Plumpe** and **Wilhelmina**. But still..." He murmured, as something like a barrier was lift between the five. Soon enough, we started to hear explosions and clanks of weapons. So they started to fight already.

"Shiranui! Sasamoto Zenjirou! Rina! Serena Sitri! Berolina! In position! We shall protect our Demon Lords at all costs!" Aubrey-San screamed, standing tall while her skin started to get harden and dragon scales and wings appeared from her back. Haruka-sama, on the other hand, jumped off breaking the roff for some reason. "Haruka-dono will search for any intruders in the parameters of the old building, but she so, never let your guard down!"

"Yes, ma'am!" We all said. I summoned my Destroyer Astra and Ix, and aimed at a direction while Rina and Shiranui-San guarded my back. Reika also took a battle stance on a side of the room, and Winston-sama started to his fingers while summoning his gauntlets. I heard a **[BOOST!]** coming from my gauntlet, as much as I hate you, thanks for the jewel Oliver. This is it! "Okay, guys! Focus! No matter what, we'll stay...!"

**\*PULL!\***

"Eh...?"

"Zenjirou...?" I don't understand what happened now. Before I knew it, I felt someone pulling me by the collar, which is impossible since everybody was guarding my back, and then... I couldn't feel the ground under my feet, or anything to hit my back on. Darkness suddenly started to take over me, and then, I was falling backwards, into the void of nothingness. The complete black. The last thing I heard was: "Zenjirou!"

And then... Complete darkness.

.

~~x~~

.

"A-Ah! What happened?! Zenjirou! Zenjirou!" I don't understand what happened! The moment I blinked, I felt something lurking on my back, and when I turned around, I saw something like a black fog covering my queen. In another blink, it engulfed him and disappeared, leaving nothing but air! What happened?! "Ah! What?! What's happening?! Zenjirou!"

"Lavinia, calm down!" Shiranui-san said, shutting me up with her hand as her purple eyes wouldn't stop moving. With her other hand, she summoned a spear of light and started to look around with everyone. "This wasn't a demonic Rune no matter what you say, neither some puny magic I know about vampiric magic. I can't assure you, but Sasamoto Zenjirou is relatively safe. This is not mere magic. This is..."

"A Sacred Gear, yes." We all turned to the direction of that voice, and all we saw was three figures, one of a pale blond young man wearing priest robes, a white young boy wearing rags holding the hand of a woman, with four arms, and an undescribable face! Out of instinct, I fire a ball of darkness-nullification at them and again the priest summoned something like a black fog from his feet, which shielded him and the young boy and woman from my sphere of darkness before munching it out and vanishing with it! What?! "How rude. And I thought the Allocers have at least some courtesies."

"W-What the...?"

"Rina-chan, get down!" I couldn't finish my sentence because Serena-chan pushed me to the ground, and for a nail, I was saved from a... frozen sphere of nullification?! I looked up from where that blast was shot, and there was also a black mist there! It soon crawled back to the priest's side.

"Honestly. But that's what Maes said, wasn't it? Treat others like you would want to be treated, take this as payback." The young boy said to the priest.

"Huh!" With a snap of her Fingers, Serena-chan's queen summoned a bunch of light spears from around her, then pointed at the man with the mist and the other two! On the command, all of the light weapons rained on him, as the mist covered him again, but before it could hit, Shiranui-san lifted her fingers, and all the spears but one stopped in midair. Once again, the light spear was munched and disappear from within. Without even taking the eyes of him, Shiranui-san effortlessly caught a light spear that was about to fall in her hand, then crushed it. "So, I was right. It was just a hunch, but now I'm sure. Unnice to meet you, users of **Dimension Lost** and **Absolute Demise**."

"Same here, same here." The older man said. "Hiya." The young boy said. They were distracted now! I blasted another blast of darkness-nullification at him, and his fog soon turned to engulf my attack. But then, a giant centipede with two snake heads appeared out of nowhere to also reach for him! Unfortunately, the fog covered him and the boy and woman instead and they disappeared on a poof! I stood up, and when I noticed, he was supporting his back on the wall, far away from us! "Wow, scary scary. I heard the younger sister can be a bit barbarian, but to think the eldest one was also not for a talk surprises me."

"You! What did you do to Zenjirou?!" I said pointing a finger at him, where a Small aura of darkness was oozing. Even with us facing him, his smiley disposition didn't change, which pissed me off even more! "I'm not going to ask again!"

"Chills, please. Like our Lord said once, he gave us the power of love and self-control, not fear. Although talking about such is not a positive thing for a devil." He tilted his head to a side, and we fired! Again he was engulfed in a black fog before disappearing, then reappearing on another wall! He's too fast! "Maybe I'm the one to blame for not explaining things. For that, I apologize and shall ease your curiosity: believe me, the 'Heretic' Plague Dragon is safe from going anywhere dangerous with my Sacred Gear. However, I cannot reaffirm such about our client who asked such."

"Keep talking priest." Berolina said. She looks calm, but I can see that she's oozing a powerful killing intent. It's five against two Longinus-users. Doesn't matter, I want my queen back! "What is this 'job'? Who is this 'client'? With whom you're working with."

"Oh, it's just a job we got from someone who doesn't like the Brass dragon. Even with Alice's pleas, she gave us some good money for him, so we had to comply. That foolish girl kept wasting our savings with ramen, it was only natural." He keeps saying nonsense! Someone who doesn't like Zenjirou used him to do what?! He also said something like Lisa... So it isn't the Hakuryuukou, but then... who?! "We don't usually take those requests, but then she said something about how to find and open the barrier to the conference, and well, our vice-leader got excited and stuff..."

"Who are 'we'? What group do you and the child belong, priest?" Berolina asked.

"Of course. How rude of us, let me introduce myself properly this time. My name is **Adolf Medici**, and my friends name is **Daniel Chicago**, of the Weiß Team!"

The... **Weiß Team**?

.

~~x~~

.

"Gaaaaaaaah!"

**\*BOOM!\***

"Shit!" I cursed after landing on an unknown place. What the hell now! Things are only getting worse! First the invasion, then something pulled me away from my friends, and now... Here I am, on an unknown place in the middle of nowhere! What is this place, anyway! It looks like a church I saw on TV once, but everything here is broken. All the crosses and statues are broken, and honestly, there's something quite eerie about this place.

**[I REMEMBER THIS FEELING! IT SEEMS YOU WERE CAUGHT BY THE LONGINUS DIMENSION LOST!]** The glow on my Sacred Gear said to me. What the... Dimension Lost, one of the Longinus that has the ability to transport anything anywhere under the user's desire. Even so, this doesn't explain why I am here. Any idea? **[IF I HAD TO GUESS, PARTNER. ON THE WORST HYPOTHESIS... THIS IS NOT A RANDOM PLACE, BUT AN ARENA.]**

"Arena... I have an ad feeling about th-...!"

**[WATCH OUT!]** The dragon cut me off as I sensed something coming. Faster than anything I've ever seen, a massive light torpedo came in my direction! I was fast enough to block it with Ix, but once it had contact with, it exploded in a show of lights, and then a blank pillar ascended to the sky, while I was blown away against one of the walls, losing the jacket of my suit and my shoes! What the hell! **[PARTNER, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?! STAY FOCUS!]**

"Yeah. I know!" I jumped away to land where I originally was, then turned to where that blast of holy energy came from. This wasn't an ordinary attack. This was way worse than anything they've thrown against me. I heard the sound of steps coming this way, and a silhouette of something appeared at the church's door.

"I underestimated you, brass dragon. You do have the power to defeat my precious Rei." I heard from the shadow, and coming to the light, I saw a new figure: a tall, beautiful and mature woman of long white hair, cold blue eyes and skin so fair it shines. However, the most impressive things about her was at her back: she had six pairs of clean-glass angelic wings coming from her back, and a halo so bright it looked like a sun! This feeling again! It's probably my devil senses going overdrive. This lady, this angel, is not my natural enemy. If I'm not careful, she'll be my death! "But this mistake will not be repeated, therefore... Prepare to die."

"W-Who are you? Are you... Also a Miyama Runaway?!" I asked, lifting Ix at her and getting ready to use my Balance Breaker. She said something about defeating her 'precious Rei', so it's only a hunch. Even so, I remember Oliver and Sarah-san only saying there was Only nine runaways plus Suruga-chan. Instead of answering, she drawed a light sword. "I won't ask again, damn it! **[BALANCE BREAK-...]**!"

**[G-Gertrude...?!]** I heard from inside my Sacred Gear, which was enough to put me unbalanced. Ophelia-san?!

"Hah? Gertrud-...?!" In that instant of hesitation, the angel swung her light sword, and with that simple move, a completely destructive blast of wind blew against me, debris hitting me from all directions and making me fly a few meters! In another flash, that angel appeared in a blink right in front of me, swinging her light sword! Damnit, I blocked it using Ix, but then she kicked me in the stomach and threw me against a wall! I coughed blood, and only now I noticed I couldn't move! She tossed me so hard I stuck in the wall! Shit! I looked forward when I felt an immense power growing, and I saw her aiming a massive light missile at me!

"I don't know how you know my name, but I guess it doesn't matter." She said, her light power growing and growing! I need to get out of here, I need to unstuck and escape! If that thing fires, I'm screwed! Not even an iota will be left! Damn it! I need that power now! Move! Move! Move! "As a devil, pay for your sins, Brass dragon. For hurting the only memento of my dear sister, Begon-...!"

**\*VUPT!\***

"Hmmmmph...!" I was so busy trying to reach Balance Breaker, I didn't notice when a muffled scream echoed across the place. All the light there suddenly stopped too, so I turned back at that angel whose name is Gertrude, only to see her struggling... With my jacket?! Yeah, she got my dark blazer all rolled up on her face, and it wasn't just in her way, it moved like it was alive and was dragging her left and right! What day is THIS?!

**[ZENJIROU, THAT IS YOUR CHANCE!]** Amurokros roared inside my head. I snapped back, he's right! I took a deep breath and soon enough, I let that warm and violent aura took over myself! The claws that cover my feet and hands, the dragon scales that spread all over my body like an bronze armor and then the helmet of the heretic plague dragon! I bursted out the crack in the way, the whole place trembling now trembling to our power! **[BRASS DRAGON, HERETIC DESTROYER ASTRA! BALANCE BREAKER: CRIMSON-BRASS PLATE MAIL!]**

"WOoooOOOOooooOOOOoooh...!" And without a second of hesitation, I used the jets on my back to burst forward and, using the armor's bulky forearms, tackle the hell of that angel! The impact was intense, so much a small crater was created on where we stood, and her body came down flying away, until it met the other side of the church! Strangely enough, apparently the Blazer flew away before it could be taken as well, and instead it glided until it reached my shoulders, where it wrapped itself on it, like some kind of cape. "Oi, seriously, what the hell is with that Jacket? It looks like it's alive..."

**[I CAN SURELY FEEL SOME KIND OF POWER COMING FROM IT. SPECIFICALLY, SOMETHING OF A LINK BETWEEN IT AND THAT PRIME MINISTER.]** Makes sense, Amurokros, and by that it means It does jackshit sense to me. But it doesn't matter, this thing saved me, so I'll trust it for now. Light, those glass-clean wings spread its light all over the church, as she so lovely descended from her place to the ground. I prepared my Sword against her. Whatever you think, Ophelia-san, unfortunately she's my enemy now. I can't back down. **[I... I understand...]**

"Dirty trick. It disgusts me. Maybe that's the reason how you defeated my dear Rei even though he's stronger than you. Brass Dragon, you're scum." She keeps saying that 'Dear Rei' thing, it's really starting to get on my nerves. She again summoned a light sword with her hands, so I gripped the handle of mine for another possible clash. She spat, walking towards me. "Prepare to die, Brass Dragon. As a messenger of God, embrace your sins and die by my hands..."

"Bring it on, bitch. There's still several sins I want to try out..."

"Insolent little...!"

**\*VUPT!\***

"Huh...?!" But before she could do anything, when she was about to step another one, I flash appeared out of nowhere, and hit something right next to her feet. I saw it, it was a Kunai! She took a step back, and in another second, a shower of those descended from the skies! She rapidly backed away several times, trying to get rid of the weapons at her direction, until she was against a wall, and was forced to use her sword to get rid all of the knives against her! "What... What trickery is this?"

"If anyone will kill this asshole the cold and heartless way..." A strong wind blew at my direction, and suddenly I saw leaves flying to all directions as a mini tornado took form in front of me. In the end, the dust settled down, and from it, silver hair, school uniform all buttoned-up and piercing golden eyes! He's here! "... It'll be me!"

"Reika! But... How are you even here?! What the hell happened?!" I asked him, as he dusted his clothes and turned his head to gave me a side glance. He shrugged.

"I don't exactly know, but when I saw something to a black fog reaching you, I jumped into it and was dragged as well. If I have to guess, it was something like the Dimension Lost Sacred Gear." He said, turning back forward. So maybe you're right, Amurokros, it was because of Dimension Lost, but the question it doesn't shut up is: why that angel want my head so much?! We turned back at the angel, and she frowned, oozing killing intent.

"Tch, for swearing loyalty to God and Angels, Adolf can't do a decent job for any of us." She murmured to herself. Then she turned back at her, and her eyes sharpened dangerously. She drawn now two light swords. "Doesn't matter, be one, two, even a thousand people protecting you, you won't escape my wrath, Brass dragon..."

"Oh, trust me. I'm enough." Reika said with a flick of his wrist, where he snapped his fingers with his thumb. Damn, that was a great line. He turned back at me, and drawing a Kunai, he stood side-by-side with me. "Zenjirou, I don't think she'll let us escape so easily, so the only alternative is deal with her, then we can go back to Kuoh academy."

"Yeah, you took the words out of my mouth." I said back, preparing Ix while the cape around my shoulder wouldn't stop trembling in excitement. I really don't know why I'm here with her, but I have a mission to do, and she won't be the one stopping me! "Okay then! Reika, let's go! Plague dragon, Full power!"

**[OF COURSE!]**

"Struggle... So pitiful. Die and pay for your sins, Brass Dragon!"

"Let's go, Zenjirou!"

"On my way, Reika!"

**[BOOST!]**

### Ch. ???: Battle

What?! So an angel for some reason contact this so called **Weiß team** so that she could finish off Zenjirou for herself?! But that doesn't make any sense! Even if you think him as my Queen, why target only him?! An angel looking for him... I know there is something more than just that, but I can't think of anything right now, only that he's in danger!

"Zenjirou Sasamoto was captured just so an angel could fulfill something of a vendetta on him?" Berolina echoed what that priest, I think his name was Adolf or something, just explained to make sure what we hear is correct, and then he nodded with a smile. There's something quite ominous about this guy, and not just because he dresses like our natural enemy.

"This is correct, yes, Madam Berolina of the Allocer clan. Despite my position as a man of God, I had to convince my other fellow teammates to accept her offer of such. Quite troublesome, indeed." He said in a lower tone which mixed mockery and genuine contempt, which made my blood boil for some reason. Before I could react, Akatsuki-san made me lower my head while Serena-chan took a step forward, making the priest guy turn his black eyes to her. "Anything to add for our conversation, Serena Sitri? Apologizes, but our contract with miss Gertrude forbids us to talk about her and the Brass dragon's whereabouts."

"Not exactly. But I was wondering one thing: is the Hakuryuukou around here somewhere?" Serena-chan asked, which made the priest wild his eyes in surprise, then open an even wilder smile. This is not good, not good at all! He scratched his cheek and opened his mouth, but then Serena-chan asks again: "No, even better: does the Hakuryuukou knows where Zenjirou-kun is? Does she have access to him or something, even closer than we already are?"

"Sharp as expected, madam Serena from the Sitri clan. Sir Artoria did say Devils from your family are one of the sharpest tools in their drawer." He smirked and chuckled with a hand in his lips. How does he know so much about us, and Serena-chan's question, she's really playing with fire now! I took a step forward towards with a handful of darkness-nullification!

"Answer Serena-chan's question, priest!" I declare at him, but no reaction, only another stupid grin and chuckle. Ugh~! I know he can still deflect all of our attacks with his lousy Dimension Lost, the Fog of Extinction, but maybe If I can concentrate enough... In the end, the priest sighs, and holds his hands up the air in a blasé pose.

"Alright alright, we might be in a impasse, but to further avoid detriments, I shall answer the question." He said in a lower, sweeter tone, which didn't fool me in the slightest. One second, in one second he opens one of his eyes, and the smirk on his face grows darker. "As a matter of fact, Miss Alice might not know the whereabouts of the current Heretic Plague Dragon, but it needs it's a small slip of him for her to know exactly where."

...!

**BAM!** All it took is a small explosion to wake me up from my little reverie, courtesy of Berolina who hurled another sphere of nullification at the priest, and once the dust cleared, he was there no more. What does that mean?! The hakuryuukou, Alice or something, doesn't know where Zenjirou is, but if he missteps even once, she'll know?! This is way, way worse than just bad! I need to find him, I need to help him, I need to...!

"Rina, where do you think you're going?" Berolina's voice echoed in my head when I reached the door. So cold, so robotic. I'm afraid to turn around and see her, but my body did it anyway out of instinct. The moment I turned around and faced her, I met with sharp purple, slitted eyes looking at me like knives, yet my hands are firmly gripping the door leading to the outside. She frowns, and I gulp a hard one. I grit my teeth. "You know the drill, Rina. We're serving as bodyguards to the Demon Lords, one of them is our own father. Moreover, the building is under attack, and if another of us leaves this room, everything that happens here to them will befall us, it'll befall you. Besides, the priest was too vague about Zenjirou's whereabouts, we don't know where he is at all. Going blindly into conflict is foolish, even for you."

"Berolina..." I gulp yet again, looking at the pillar of light covering the five members of that Reunion everybody was expecting. I really, really want to leave this place, I really want to look for Zenjirou and help him, but Berolina is... And what if... That happens again? Ah~! I don't know! Her eyes grow colder, making me loose grip on the door and take a step back inside the room yet again, making my way to next to Shiranui. I look at Berolina again, and she lowers her yet. **DRIP! DRIP!**, I hear around the room, and looking down, I see drops of blood coming from Berolina's hands. I look up, she has her head lowered.

"I know it's painful, but you'll need to step down this time. Going blindly again... It's foolish."

"Berolina..."

I grit my teeth. Ah! This is so complicated! I really want to get away and find Zenjirou, but Berolina is right! If anything happens here, it'll be the devil's fault! And another blow of such, during a peace conference no less, will be really bad! Damnit, why did the hakuryuukou has to be here! Why is this so complicated! I just want to...! Suddenly, I hear some robotic and quirky noises, so I look at one direction: It is Serena-chan, and she's typing on her phone! What the hell?!

"Serena, what in the bloody name of God are you doing?" Shiranui asks what everyone here is wondering out loud, as Serena-chan finishes her message and a quick and rather cute **\*BLIP!\*** sound effect comes from said phone. Serena-chan then smirks.

"Well, if we can't find our little dragon, might as well call for some backup, right." She says with her tongue sticking out in mischief. I don't get it! I leaned a little on her phone, and then I took a step back seeing the name on her phone, the name of the receiver of such message!

Are you kidding me?! Of all people, she'll contact **him**?!

.

~~x~~

.

...

...

**\*ZOOM! ZOOM! ZOOM!\***

Fast! She's too fast! Even when her clear as stars wings leaves several afterimages of her light tracing a way behind her, I can't still see her movements very well! Ix trembles and reacts like crazy every time it's blade faces her light swords, and even with Reika serving as a distraction, I can't bypass her defenses at all, and none of his ninja arts are enough to even scratch her skin! Gertrude... who the hell is this bitch?!

"Ninja Art: mud creation!" Reika makes some handsigns and then kicks the ground with a single foot, creating a path of dense and completely dark mud under our feet! That angel Gertrude, who was sparring with me on midair, lands right there, making her feet get stuck on the floor! She noticed only too late, as I used the jets on my back to boost my speed on her direction! "Zenjirou, now!"

"On it!" With Ix on my hands and going at high speed against her, I locked on her, ready to strike with everything that I got! Whatever happens, happens! C'mon, Let's finish this right away! "Take th-...!"

*['Big sis, I love you!'*]

...

...

Eh...?

"Huh, too slow." It was only for a second. For a second, something inside my head whispered something, and when I came back to it, I've lost grip on Ix, my jets were no longer functioning, and something quite warm and shiny, yet horrendously ominous, was coming right at me. "Die."

"Eh...?"

"What the hell are you doing, Zenjirou?!" But the light escaped from my sight the moment I felt something quick pick me up away from it. The light however was enough to dent the helmet of my Scale Mail. I fell, I landed on the ground and then rolled away from danger! Before I knew it, Something punched my exposed face in the helmet. It was Reika, who's right on top of me! "What the hell was that?! Are you stupid or something?! You could've died!"

"W-What?" I took me a few seconds to realize that I'm still in the middle of a fight, making me push Reika aside and stand up tall against the angel, who set herself free from the muddy floor and materialized another duo of light swords, the grip coming back to me. Reika makes other handsigns and pulls another set of ninja stars and knives from his pockets, all of them Sparkling small sparks of electricity.

"Whatever, just follow my lead, I'll open an way and then you finish her off with Ix." He says, all the lightning in his weapons echoing a chirping sound through the empty and lonely church. I nodded to him, and pointed Ix at that angel. Yeah, he's counting on me, time to finish her off!

*['Ophelia, you know what Israel think of you with that human. Please, be careful...']*

...

...

A-Ah... Again? What is happening?

"Don't chicken out now, Zenjirou! You're the only one who can kill her!" Reika calls for me, so I blink back to reality and follow him against Gertrude! The angel also comes to us, and so I take the lead to clash Ix against both of her light swords! Sparkles fly everywhere as Ix protects me and oozes demonic power to counter the holy aura of her light weapons, and after some seconds of struggle, we jump away from each other and she hurls a light spear at me! But then, from behind her, Reika launches his ninja weapons at her! She tried to use her wings to protect herself, but the electricity running on the weapons passed down to her, and then she sparkled in a show of lights! "Now! It won't be enough! Zenjirou, kill her!"

I grit my teeth, and jumped at her direction again, as little by little the electricity running on her would fade and light would come back to her eyes! I don't have much time! I'm just in front of her, I just need to use Ix and be done with this angel! C'mon, a good **[DESTROY]** and **[DIVIDING WYVERN FAIRY]** slash right at her face! C'mon, Boosted Gea-...!

*['I shall... Protect him. I promise, my dear sister...']*

"Ah...?" And I falter again, the grip of my sword escapes my hands, and I misstep as those echoing voices won't stop inside my head. Why, why can't I do this?! Once Gertrude comes back to her senses, all of her wings spread through out the place, shining like true and clear stars, only to in a second later unleash a frenzied barrage of slashes everywhere! My Scale Mail armor couldn't take much from it, as it shatters away as I was sending flying from it! However, as I flew away, I saw the image of Reika, also victim of such attack, with cuts and bruises all over his body, flying until he hit a wall and it crumbled away, debris all falling on him! "REIKA...!"

A hand of mine tried to reach for his fallen body, but my own hit the hard floor, making me roll away from him as Ix also escapes my grasp and I hit a wall, fortunately the Cape around my shoulders softening my hit, coughing a little of blood from my mouth. Ugh... I can't... Move. My body falls forward, and Ix falls right next to me. My vision is all blurry, and I can't move my body. I see my sword just a handful next to me, so I try to reach my hand to it, the cape helping me crawl to it, slowly reaching for it, but when I tried to grip its handle, a foot descended on me, stomping my hand! S-Shit...

"Indeed pathetic. Killing you would be devoid of any merit or credit except for the sweet taste of revenge." I heard a voice above me, kicking Ix away with another foot. I see a hand reaching for me, and then it picks me by the collar, lifting me from the ground until I could see the light of her eyes, shining pure hatred and contempt against me. Why? Why is that? I try to grip my hands, but I'm too weak to do anything. Gertrude blinks again pure hate, and summons from her hand a spear of light, pointing it against my chest. "This is your end, Heretic Plague Dragon. As face to such humiliating defeat, I shall grant you one last request: any last words?"

"W-Why...?" If I can't escape this, this is the only thing that I want to know now. She blinks, lowering the light spear against me, a small hum escaping her lips, as she doesn't know what I meant. I grit my teeth. "Why? Why me? What the fuck did I do to you?! What is your... Your relationship with that Miyama Bastard?! What is wrong with you to side with that asshole?!"

"..." She says nothing, casting a small shadow from her bangs on her eyes, as her holy aura turns dark, murderous, and her wings goes from pure, clear crystal white to the darkest shade of blade I've ever faced. What is that now? Is that what the call an angel falling? Her lips then start to move. "Unforgivable..."

"Huh...?" I couldn't hear her quite well, but nothing else came from her. Instead, she went ahead and pierced my shoulder with her spear! Ah! It burns! The light spear! The wound feels like it's burning my flesh, and my blood is boiling inside my arm! It hurts! "GYAAAAAAAAAAAH~...!"

"Unforgivable! Your pure contempt against my precious Rei is unforgivable!" She tossed me upwards and then kick me away until I hit a wall! Fortunately, the fall afterwards was enough to bounce me back and I could at least stand a little this time! I used all of my energies to pull that light spear out of my shoulder, tossing or away, but I couldn't even counter her as a new barrage of spears came down on me, with me dodging them by a nail! "Cursed thy be, damned thy be, Heretic Plague Dragon! You have a slightest idea of what my precious Rei have been through! All the suffering, all the pain, all the misery he had to face in order to take revenge on the one who make him suffer, only to be ruined by YOU!"

"..." I took cover under some debris, holding my breath as she started to hurl more and more spears of light at random directions and cut everything on her sight with her light swords, little by little encircling her frenzied self. So she's indeed related to that Miyama bastard, she knows about his history. Even so, why me? Why did she went thought all of this work just for me?!

"Who are you to end all of his hopes and dreams of revenge?! After all the problems he went through, couldn't you just die for his idea?!" She's shouting now complete nonsense, light weaponry going berserk and everywhere except on me. I need to find Ix, I need to fight her back! I peeked on a small gal between the debris, and lost between the rubbles and rocks, there was my sword, shining under the moonlight. A foot kicks it away, so I rolled around hidden under the rubbish as her words keep echoing inside our arena, light weapons destroying everything! "Who are you to deprive him of his revenge?! How can you consider yourself of any worth to destroy the so-await conclusion of his quest?! YOU CANNOT COMPREHEND HIS PAIN! YOU CANNOT GRASP THE IMPORTANCE OF HIS QUEST!"

I heard that bullshit before, she's spouting that same stuff Miyama used to. I try to pay no much attention to her words, still looking for my sword through the gaps of my hidden place. My eyes were scanning the place as fast as they could, when again I saw Ix reflecting the moonlight above us! But then, BAM!, another explosion beside me, making me roll away, and before I knew it, Gertrude was with her killing intent pointing at me, since I couldn't hide anymore.

"He's the last memento of her, he's the last memory of her... The one I love the most. He's everything to me, so I it's my job to destroy any reason for his sadness." She says summoning another spear of light. She hurls it against me, while I roll away to escape her new barrage of light weapons. However, she's way faster than me, and in a blink of an eye, when I thought I could escape her, she stomps on my chest, pinning me to the ground, now pointing one of her light spears on my chest. "... Even if it is a almighty evil dragon..."

Why? I still don't get anything! She keeps saying those thing, by they don't make any sense! Why do I keep hearing those echoes in my head?! And it's not any voices, but hers! And now I'm going to die because of those! I grit my teeth, and groan under her eyes! This is not enough explanation! This makes no fucking sense! She pulls her light spear backwards and descends it against me! Oh shit! No, I can't die here!

"Now... Die, Heretic Plague Dragon!"

"NO!"

**\*BAM!\***

**\*DOOOOOOON!\***

...

...

*'Ophi! Jake! Asri! Over here!'*

*'Wait a minute, Ger! I'm coming!'*

*'Ger! Ophi! Asri! Wait for me...!'*

*'Then come on Jake!'*

*Where... Where am I now? I just remember holding Gertrude's spear of light with my Destroyer Astra, and then suddenly there was this really weird flash of light that covered us both, and now... I'm here, in the middle of nowhere, a vast green field, where I could see four kids, two girls and two boys, playing around. One, one of boys, who was the smallest, had bright and smooth white hair, while the second smallest girl had long and rather darker tone of silver, the taller boy had short golden hair and abnormal black eyes, and finally, the fourth and tallest girl that bright yet short white bluish hair. They all look so happy. Why do I have the feeling that... I recognize some of them?*

*...*

*'Ophelia... Israel's warnings are getting dangerous! I know you're waiting a baby, but you need to stop seeing that human! Our younger brother... Won't hesitate to do his job. Even with you like this...'*

*'Even so, Gertrude, I have to continue. Fuichi is doing wonders with his researches with everything we share, and I think even our brother will understand it once we're done. Just imagine, a world where the Supernatural and humans can coexist...'*

*After another bright light, now I see myself in a clear white room, with nothing else but a set of three chairs, a table with a set of tea and three figures sitting on their respective seats while sharing a moment. I blinked a few times until my eyes grew used to the clarity, and under closer inspection, I gasped when I realize who they were: one was that Gertrude angel, and the others were Asriel-sama and Ophelia-san, who was massaging her swollen belly. So this is... What really is. There is a story behind them. They keep calling themselves 'sisters', so this can only mean...*

*'Alright sister. I shall believe in you.'*

*'Thank you very much, Gertrude.'*

*'But, do tell, what are your plans of naming your kid?'*

*'Oh, Fuichi suggested a name which I grew really fond of.'*

*'Really? What? What'll be my new nephew's name?'*

*'Rei.'*

*...*

*And after another flash of light, all of that scenario disappeared into the brightness, and soon enough, after a blink, everything I see it's rain. The dark sky, the muddy ground under my feet, and then figures. Four of them, all covered in shadows, blood everywhere. When my eyes grew used to it, I could see it. One was Ophelia-san's... Corpse, being held by that angel Gertrude as tears run down her eyes. In front of her, two tall shadowy figures, who despite being only images. I could feel the cold dread emanating from them. So heavy, so powerful, one I could recognize from afar, one is Marcenas-sama's form, while the other... I don't know...*

*'How... How could you kill your own sister, Israel?! She had dreams... She had a son... How could you have done such horrid thing?!'*

*'Ger, this is the Singularity's wish, this is the rule of our world. And anyone who tries to go against it... Shall be eliminated.'*

*'Eh, I'm bored. Say, Isra, can I kill her too?'*

*'Do what you want, Marcenas...'*

*'ISRAEEEEEEEEEEEL...!'*

*...*

*'W-Who are you? Are you a bad person too?'*

*'No, my little precious Rei... I'm... You can say that I'm your guardian angel.'*

*'My guardian angel?'*

*'Yes... And from now on... I'll take care of you. I shall help you, because you're my precious Rei...'*

*...*

...

What was that? I blink again, and the bright light spear was just a few inches from my face. As before that blackout, my Destroyer Astra reached and stopped that weapon of light, drops of blood falling down my metal dragon arm and dripping on my face. However, there's no struggle coming from it. On the contrary, one second later and that weapon dissipated in a show of lights, and Gertrude's arms fall down, as shadows still covers her face behind her bangs. Out of instinct, I crawl away from her and stand up ready for an encounter. However...

"How... How did you do it?" I hear she asking me. I said nothing, I still hold my Heretic Destroyer Astra for a possible clash, yet there was no response coming from her, except a tremble repetition. "Answer me: how did you do it? The chain to the hearts, my sister's... Most precious ability."

"Huh...?" I lowered my stance, just a little, to try to grasp what she meant by that. 'Chains to the Heart'? Does she mean Ophelia-san's skill like from that time? I still don't understand! However, from the moonlight coming from the broken parts of this rundown church, it illuminated her face, only to revealed another thing: she was crying.

"You saw it, didn't you?" She says, blinking as tears run down her face illuminated by the moonlight. Yes, I saw it, four kids, then two women and a man, the four figures and then death. What was that about? "Those visions, my memories... How did you do it? This ability to link our hearts belongs to my sister... Answer me! How do you have it with you?!"

"..." I was at loss of words. Would she believe me if I say what I know? That Ophelia-san's spirit was sealed inside Rhongomiant and that it now resides inside my Boosted Gear? Of course not, who would? A moment of hesitant, and her now dark wings flick viciously, and from her hands another spear of light came!

"Answer me, cursed be you! If not, then I shall descend Divine punishment upon thy until the answer that I'm looking for is...!"

"*Ophelia*..."

"...!" A simple word, a simple name. That was enough for her to stop once again. Now I have a reaction, and I can take it from there. I see her gritting her teeth once again, so I take another deep breath and one step forward.

"Ophelia... Is the name, right? The name of your sister you love so much? Miyama's angel mother?" I say still walking towards her while herself won't move or say anything. I think I'm in the safe zone, at least for now. "Yes, I do know about her. Miyama's angel mother, killed by the Demon Lord of Lucifer. You may not believe in me, but she helped me in a time I couldn't help even myself, reaching deeper than anyone has ever reached inside of me. I ask for nothing, and you might not believe me, but tell me... What is Ophelia-san to you?"

"So she helped you... Hahah... Typical sister, even to a... Bastard like you." From the moonlight and under her own bangs, I saw something I didn't think it could happen. Amidst the tears, there was a melancholic smile plastered on her face. Her own expression shows at the same time happiness, sadness and sorrow. I feel... Something for her. "She was... The most precious person to me..."

"..."

"You saw, didn't you? We were four, me, My brothers Asriel and Jac-... Israel, and mine, Asriel's and Israel's older sister Ophelia." She starts telling me, every word coming from her mouth heavier than any word has any sense to be. "We lived peacefully, we lived happily. Even with the impending doom that was the Beast of the Apocalypse, Our Sister Ophelia would always be there for us. When we were scared, afraid, at the doors of despair, she'd always use her special ability, Chain To the Hearts, to link her own warmth into our souls, for us to feel safe and comfortable. Even when our brother became one of the Seraph and didn't care for us anymore, she extended her kindness to him, to everyone. She loved everyone, and everyone loved her back."

"..."

"But everything changed when she met that cursed Miyama." And we reached the bitter part, her expression changing to an equally bitter emotion. "She fell in love with that monster in human form, and together, they planned to reveal the supernatural world to the human public, claiming that they would create a world with no fear. No fear of the unknown for humans, and no fear of unfaithfulness or betrayal for Divinities, a so-called world of equals and joy, where beings no matter their race or upbringing, we would all hold each other's hands and walk into a perfect future. It was a simple, childish, unthinkable dream, yet I loved her so much, I followed her and helped her and her blasted Husband. But then... She was killed... Marcenas Alastor, who became the Lucifer demon Lord, and our own brother killed my dear sister.

"..." its that same thing Miyama said back then, the same story Ophelia-san told me back then. What kind of bad blood is there in this cursed bloodline?

Miyama ran away with his son, Asriel went missing, and I became an stray angel, my love for my sister keeping me alive. I wanted to take revenge on Miyama Fuichi. I wanted to take revenge on my own brother and the demon Lord of Lucifer, but something came to help me overcome this, my sweet... Darling Rei." She finished with a sigh, drying her tears as she shakes her head with confidence. Even so, she crumbled her own will one second later, and then lowers her head in shame. "I found him so broken, under a family which isn't his, and chased by Fuichi's shikigamis. He suffered so much, much much worse than I did, for he had nobody. So I've decided... I decided to become his guardian angel... To protect him against all harm, and help him in everything, just like my sister helped others without even a second of hesitation. He's the last memento, the last living memory of my dear sister, and so, If I lose him, or make him sad, I won't have anything else. That's why... I must keep him happy, even if it means... Doing everything that I've done so far."

**[Gertrude...]** That wasn't an echo, it was Ophelia-san's words reaching inside me. So Ophelia-san was indeed a kind person, too kind for her own good and for this world, and that... Took her away from those who need her the most. Those Miyama bastards and Gertrude, they're all lost in themselves because of that. Under all that hatred and vengeance, lies those who couldn't take loss, and are now lost... Just like... Just like... I took a deep breath, as Ophelia-san's words escape my Sacred Gear, and reach a hand for Gertrude, who was now at loss of words, without an action, reacting to nothing but her own sadness. I get it now, the feeling I felt before... It was...

"[Gertrude]-san..." I said reaching for her. From her desolated self, she hears my calls, and then lift her head to look at me. This is it. "You... You are..."

"O-Opheli-...?"

**\*BOING~!\***

"Huh...?"

**[PRIDE EATER!]**

"HUH...?!"

**[BUST!]**

**[BOOST!]**

**\*PUNCH!\***

"... REALLY **PISSING** ME OFF!" And after I used my Cloth Eater to rip her tunic to shreds and turn her breasts into mosquitoes bites to boost myself back to full power, I buried my Silver Gauntlet into her pretty face! Ah, what the hell is wrong with those Miyama's?! What the hell is wrong with the birdbrains of those idiotic assholes?! It really, REALLY pisses the fuck out of me! The hit wasn't enough to damage her pretty face, but her nose is already running crimson. Due to her previous broken and now startled state, she was confused by my actions, so before she could react I punched her again! "Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with you all?! 'Be his guardian angel'?! 'Do everything for his happiness'?! '**TO HONOUR THE DEATH OF YOUR SISTER'?! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!**"

**[BOOST!]**

**\*PUNCH!\***

"GYAAAAAAAH~...!"

"So are you telling me that you did everything to him, and will continue to do it anyway?! Have you seen how that asshole end up like?! HAVE YOU?! Have you any idea how you smothering and spoiling has rotten his already fucked-up mind?! HAVE YOU?! He thinks he's the hero of his own story because of you!" I continued to punch her over and over again, drawing blood everywhere as my Boosts were starting to make me bruise her fair skin! My attacks were continuous so she had no time to fight back! But I don't care about that! I just want to punch her! "He almost destroyed The whole Kuoh in a hissy fit! How can you call yourself a guardian angel if everything you did was fuck him up like that?! HOW CAN YOU HONOUR OPHELIA-SAN IF WHAT YOU ARE DOING IS RUINING EVERYTHING SHE BELIEVED?!"

**[BOOST!]**

**\*PUNCH!\***

"GAAH~...!"

"So before you take revenge on me, or that other Miyama bastard, or anything that you THINK has fucked with your 'Precious Rei'...!" And this is it! I clutch my Destroyer Astra as hard as I can, and grit my teeth as my last punch holds her stunned a little longer. I scream inside my head, and the dragon in my gauntlet releases all the energy inside as it screams **[EQUATE!]** and **[EXPLOSION!]** and my fist enters in contact with her ugly face! "... WAIT AND THINK IF YOU ARE NOT FUCKING HIM UP YOURSELF!"

\*DOOOOOOOOON!\*

And I did it! Just like that time, I smashed my fist into her face, so satisfying I started to move in slow motion just to feel every crack and break on her skull, and in one second, an explosion of power pushed her away from me! Just like a jet, she was tossed away, hitting debris, walls, chairs, everything on her path like a mad car, leaving nothing but a path of destruction! But for my surprise, or maybe not, it wasn't over: in one second, she flicks her wings back, and help herself stand still and up! Blood comes from the whole that was now the left part of her face, and the single eye remaining looks at me with pure hatred.

"You... You... **YOU CURSED MONSTER! YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND AT ALL! YOU, DEVIL, WOULD NEVER UNDERSTAND! CURSED BEING!**" And even with all the teeth that was on her now stuck in the crannies and cracks of my gauntlet, she screams bloody murder summoning two light spears on her and ready to leap on me! Shit, I'm without Ix and Ascalon, but don't matter! I just need to take her on just once more and then find it! Too bad, the moment I tried to make a stance, she's already covered our distance! "**JUST HUSH AND DI**-...!"

**\*BAM!\***

"WHAT THE...!"

"**SURPRISE, BITCH! BET YOU THOUGHT YOU'D SEEN THE LAST OF ME!**" And in another flash, faster than even Gertude, I saw a silver white lightning cutting the distance between us and hit her with something! The blurry vision began to take shape, and then I saw: it was Reika, bruised and bloodied all over but still alive, with Ix in his hands, hitting the angel with all of his strength! Since he doesn't have any link with it, the hit only tossed Gertrude back to the ruins, but even so nice save! He lands right in front of me, and then turn to me, frowning. Oh shit. "What the hell was that all about?! We had her in our hands and you give it up on a silver platter to her?! Gosh, I wish that someone would request me to fuck You up!"

"It's... Complicated." I said in defeat. Yep, even so, even being him, being scolded by a woman is not good at all.

**\*BAAAAAAM!\***

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH...! DIE YOU ALL! DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE! FROM THE ASHES THY CAME, FROM THE ASHES THY SHALL RETURN!" And before we could discuss it even more, a bright pillar of light ascended to the skies. We turn back there and in the heart of that calamity lied the angel Gertrude, all of herself going overdrive, until the light was too bright for us to see even her silhouette. "NOW DIEEEEEEEEE...!"

"Huh... This is... Troublesome." I said as calm as I could, which means I'm almost shitless of that thing! I look at Reika and even with his stoic and bloodied face, a drip of sweat run down his face, indicating that he was also thinking we're fucked. I turn to him in a cold sweat. "Huh... Reika-san, do you have any form of solution for our problem at hand? No hurry, but this whole is pretty much screwed if this continues... REika!"

"We could do just that... But I don't have the power to do it..." he says on his tired breaths. I'm also out of energy with all the punching and the final explosion, and with each passing second, that pillar of light comes closer and closer, slowly burning my skin! We're running out of time! I turn to Ren, and even so, he says nothing, only thinks and thinks. "Maybe... Maybe if you could use your **[EQUATE]** and **[TRANSFER]** on me, I can... I dunno! Escape this, but I'm too tired, and we won't reach that unless we summon... But...!"

"..."

"I guess, this is it..."

...

"Ah! Whatever!" I said, tossing all of my integrity as I pushed Reika towards me and ripped his shirt open, revealing his bouncing breasts under his sarashi bandages. He screams, and then I fondle his breasts, making him chirp even louder! This is so embarrassing, it's all happening again, but this is important for our survival! No need to be a gentleman now! "Reika, do you trust me?!"

"**YOU HAVE THE BALLS TO ASK THAT AFTER THIS?! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!**" I wouldn't trust myself either, but that pillar of light is coming closer and closer, ready to explode! I grit my teeth and nod at him as an apology one last time, and then I used it.

"My bad, that was a stupid question. Whatever: **{{AMUROKROS DRAGON ENGINE!}}**" I said out loud! With another bronze and emerald light covering us, I used my **[PRIDE EATER]** to suck as much Breast Energy I could from her mounts, shrinking them in the process and taking her power as my own! My Heretic Destroyer Astra went into overdrive, shouting countless **[DESTROYS]** and **[BOOST]s** in desperation, and once I was at my limit, the Heretic Destroyer Astra and Boosted Gear jewel used **[EQUATE]** and **[TRANSFER**], passing all of my powers to Reika! The pillar is already crumbling this place! "REika, DO WHATEVER YOU NEED NOW! NOW!"

"AH, WHAT THE HELL...!" He screams in agony, making several hand signs in an instant! My flesh is already burning with the pure light! It's all or nothing! When he finally ends in, he extends his hands to the skies, then shouts. "*NINJA ART SUMMONING: FORBIDDEN BEAST- QILLIN!"*

**\*ZING~...!\***

**\*DOOOOOOOOON...!\***

...

And then there was light...

Blinding light...

I thought it was the end...

But it wasn't...

"Huh...?" In just a second, all the lights died out, and then after a few instants of darkness, everything was back to normal. The dark sky, the ruins of the church, the moon above us. My vision was blurry, it took me a second to distinguish anything from anything, but when it came back, I gasped in surprise seeing the scene in front of me:

Total defeat. From where Gertrude was expelling her ultimate attack, there was now a majestic creature that it was the first time I was seeing it. It's body was covered in jade scales, which would sparkle golden lines of electricity from time to time, and while the huge body resembled a large horse, it's face reflected the image of a eastern dragon. What the hell? I look down to the beast's pawns, and buried under a hole shaped like a perfect circle, laid the fallen angel, her whole body scorched and crushed under the beast's foot. I look at it, and for some reason, I hear a laugh before it becomes engulfed in bright electric waves and then disappeared. What the hell?

"This is... Desmond, my Dear mother's ninja beast, her familiar, a Qillin she has a contract with." I turn back to Reika, as he was struggling to stand up, so I help him by supporting his arm on my shoulder. He was tired just like me, and his arm he used to summon that... Qillin was all black and scorched, but nothing but laugh came from his mouth. "Kinda of an overkill, right? Mom is so powerful, but having a sacred beast like that is just... Ridiculous..."

"..."

"..."

"Heheh... You're right." We laughed, then we choked on our own tiredness, then we laughed again. This is our win, this is our victory. We did it... But even so... Reason soon reached our heads with that moment of joy. Shit, we forgot! The conference! "Reika, the conference...!"

"I know! I know!" He says, supporting himself on a piece of marble on the floor and reaching for his pocket. He flinches a little with his burned arm, but even so reaches for his phone, reaching for a map, and then frowning. "Damn, that angel bitch send us too far! We're in Venezia now for some reason!"

"What?! Venezia?!" I... Don't actually know where the hell that is, so I have no idea how far we are from home, but I have to act surprise because I don't want him to think I'm stupid! Goddamnit, I remember dad talking about that place?! Where was it?! Is it too much to think it is in Venezuela by the name? "We are... Like, too far! How are we gonna go back home!"

"..."

"...?"

"C'mon Zenjirou, it's just us." And I lower my head on defeat, while he pats my head in pity. Goddamnit. Even so, it sounds very far from Kuoh academy. He grunts under his breath, taking a minute to meditate before letting a 'tch' escape his lips. "Damn. I don't have much chi left after we summon Desmond, and even if we did, any technique of mine would take too much for us to go back to Japan!"

"Same here..." I said as my Destroyer Astra resets yet again. I don't have any energy left on me, and even Aria-nee's seal on me won't be useful at all. We're in a stalemate, worst than that even. Even if we do come back... Shit! Why does shit like this always has to happen with us?! How about Rina?! Berolina-san?! Annie?! If only we could..!

**{Oh shut up, you and i both know their fine Zenjirou}** I the Heretic Destroyer Astra say, it was Takeshi-kun.

**\*DOOOOOOON...!\***

Suddenly, before I could respond to Takeshi, we all silenced ourselves with that pressure against us. What now?! Don't tell me... But I thought we were over this! Me and Reika looked down on the ground Zero where We thought we have defeated Gertrude, where the pressure was coming from! Little by little, what we thought was defeated would slowly crawl back onto its feet!

"Unforgivable... Unforgivable..." she mumbles under her breaths, her now deformed face and crushed eyes running down bloody tears as her body would slow tear itself apart, yet all the power coming from her would not cease! Her power was so great, our weakened form couldn't stand it, instead pushing us to the ground, like gravity itself is on her side! So this is the power... of someone close to Ophelia-san! "UNFORGIVABLE!"

"Ugh...! I can't...!" I tried to stand up, but the fatigue and the pressure was too much for me! I couldn't help myself, and I watched hopelessly as she would draw a single light spear from her hands, and then look at me! Oh, no! Not here! Not now! "S-Shit...!"

"UNFORGIVABLE! DIEEEEEEEEEE...!"

"Watch out, ZENJIROU...!"

"REIKA, NO...!"

**\*ZING!\***

**\*STAB!\***

...!

Oh, no...

Not again!

.

~~x~~

.

"**Annie-san**, really? Carving a mole hole down all the way from your classroom to the outside just to skip classes?"

"Hey, it was useful. Kuoh isn't all that tidy and neat anymore, anyway..." I laugh under my breath as Mukuro, Ichigo, Momo and I dust ourselves from the dirt we got from that rabbit hole I carved back in April. My God, I know Kuoh is oblivious sometimes, but this is ridiculous. Whatever, intrusion successful, we are now inside Kuoh academy, bypass that lousy barrier under the higher-ups noses! Next step: assassination of the Vampire King, then profit! I signed for Mukuro, Ichigo and Momo to follow me. "Now, to find that blasted Vampire King and kill him! Good thing the Black twins were also planning an invasion, so while everybody is fighting their army of ghouls and orcs, we can sneak right under their noses yet again."

"Seriously, how fair is that you get all the luck in one night." Ichigo snarks, taking me back a little, that time I passed as Red's tutor. Good times. I just need to become the next Vampire King and the Kagura, and then I can go back. I'm sorry Allocer, but my family first. As silently as we could by the shadows of Kuoh academy, we sneak through the corridors, seeing the chaos outside with the ghouls and orcs, explosion of fire and light coming from all directions, probably from witch boob, while we are here with no problems at all. Life is good. Mukuro though looks a little nervous. "Ay, Annie-san. Are you sure we won't be spotted? Those guys sound tough, and that wasn't in my and the others contract."

"Rest assured, Mukuro, I got everything under control." I said as we open a door leading to a dense forest leading to the old building, the place where the conference is taking place. That's right, thanks to my ninja senses, I can feel whoever is and their location, and even so, with that, No one will be able to stop me. I touched my eyepatch, even if throb a little in my socket, then sighed. Turning around to face my comrades. "Besides, with you guys by my side, I have nothing to fear. Just a reminder: don't kill anyone. Our objective is the Vampire King. When the time comes, give me your sword for me to kill him, okay Mukuro?"

"If you say so..." she sighs. Yes, with her swords poured in the curse of the Licantrophy, I'll be able to dent and kill the Vampire King. But we need to be careful, and even without anyone in our radar, we must be careful. "Say, don't you think the winds are blowing a little too hard?"

"Yeah, now that you mentioned, they are. Huh, but don't worry, it's nothin-...!"

**\*BOOM!\***

I spoke too soon. Before I could finish my sentence, someone land right in front of us. First, there was just a shadow under the curtain of dust, but as it cleaned it off, I saw a new figure: a girl of purple shaggy and messy hair, dark blue eyes and big breasts, wearing a exorcist-like outfit(the eastern ones) and holding a sword... in all six of her arms. What the...? Did she pass under my scan ability?! However, another blink, and I dodged a slash coming from elsewhere. The author of that failed attack, a silverette of wolf features with the same smell of Mukuro and a bald man with an emotionless look with the same smell as Ichigo, landed right next to the girl by his side. No, my scan is working perfectly, So why?

"Tch, cowardly tactics can only take you so far, Sanada-dono." The i'm guessing, asura boobs scolded her partner. The wolfman spat back at her.

"Shaddup, Ichinose! I won't miss next time!" He says. Inner she's someone related to China boobs. I won the bet, pay me now.

"So much for that scan ability, Eh Annie-san..." nothing but snark, that's Mukuro for you. Even so, she didn't seem disappointed, only a little bored, as the ground summons a greatsword for her to use alongside the other two preparing their equipment. I simply shrug and equip myself with a kunai. "Okay then, if looks like we have no choice."

"You four, identify yourselves now." Ashura boobs says again. I try to use my scan on her, and surprisingly got nothing. So she can bypass even my own scan ability to feel. What is she? So mysterious. She scoffs yet again, then points one of her swords as us. "Don't matter anymore. Prepare to feel the fury... of the descendant of the great ashura guru Śukra, Miyuu Ichinose, and now... Lavinia Allocer's Knight!"

"..." I was taken back. Ohohoh, karma as it seems. I let a small laugh, and everybody around just look a little confused at my antic. I put myself in a battle stance, looking at my newest opponent, while Mukuro does the same against the other werewolf and Ichigo and Momo against the baldy. "Ohoh... This is kinda surprising..."

"Hah? Explain, intruder."

"Oh, nothing much, just... Nice to meet you, Miyuu. I'm your senpai, Lavinia Allocer's first Knight, Annabelle Helsing."

This will be a nice fight indeed...

"I don't care."

...

Bitch...

### Ch. ???: [[Unnamed]]

It all happened so fast. That bitch angel Gertrude forming a last, glowing spear of light from her hands, Reika jumping in front of me, my hand trying to reach for him, and then silence. Nothing else but the sound of something cutting the air in a rapid fire, and then the echo of flesh being pierced, blood splaying everywhere as words die inside my mouth in horror and surprise. It happened yet again, something inexplicable and sudden happened in front of me again, and with nothing to say, I could only gasp in surprise...

It wasn't me...

It wasn't Reika...

It was **Gertrude**.

"W-What...?" It took me just a few seconds to process what just happened in that blink of an eye, but then it hits me: A golden spear pierced Gertrude's torso in just a second from behind, making her bend her body forward while said weapon pins her to the ground, the hand which she used to summon her light spear falling and shattering said light element in small sparkles instead. She spits blood, her only good hand trying to reach for the spear's blade, her single good eye trembling, trying to comprehend what just happened to her. "W-What in the name of the Lord... How...?! Brass Dragon, what the h-...!"

**\*STAB! STAB! STAB! STAB!\***

"...!" She couldn't finish her sentence as another wave of weapons shower from above, piercing her already broken body even more from behind, as she mutely screams in agony. I gasp in surprise as Reika wides his eyes, probably thinking the same as me. Okay, what the hell is going on now! Even with her back now resembling pincushion, the fallen angel didn't give up, supporting her bloodied body with her only good hand and turning her enraged eye at me. "Curse you, Heretic Plague Dragon...!"

"Hey, don't look at me! I didn't do shit!" I pointed an rebuttal finger at her, soon regretting it because of all the pain and wounds in it, yet she's still staring at me with all hatred and confusion. I shared a stare with Reika, and by the look on his face he's telling me without a word the same thing. With that, my eyes darted everywhere, trying to find any signal of who or what is doing all of that, my weak grasp on Ix getting tighter by the thought. "Yet, this is really... Really...!"

I couldn't think of any word, another sound invades the abandoned church and echoes through the ruins of it. As tired as we are, we three turn around to the direction from where that effect came from, only to stare at a golden magical circle hovering just behind Gertrude's back. Just by seeing that, a cold chill ran down my spine while burning blood would go upwards towards my head, making my face hurt with the sudden scowl it adopted. I wasn't expecting anything, I didn't want anything like this to happen, but it happened anyway: in a smooth move, a figure jumped from said magical circle, a figure I didn't want to ever appear in front of me while I live, with his dirty blond hair tied in a small ponytail, that same contemptuous look on his clear eyes and both his arms, which weren't there last time I checked, now with golden dragonic details such as claws and scales, all while wearing now an impeccable uniform of Gessen high school. My blood boils now, there he is! The golden dragon King, the nephilim son of the angel sealed within me, and my arch-nemesis...

"***MIYAMA REI*****!**"

"Rei~...!" In contrast to my total disgust over seeing the Golden Dragon one time more that I've ever wanted, the angel pinned on the ground called for his name in total bliss, almost orgasmic bliss(ew~). Even with my disgust growing, the grip around my sword didn't fall even a little, that Miyama bastard is still too dangerous even after his beat down, but even so, why now?! I thought Sarah-san said that after the last battle, he wouldn't ever get up from his defeat! Why now, of all times?! Did we... Make a mistake in believing her?! In believing in them?! That Miyama bastard didn't respond to Gertrude's call, only scans the room with his eyes as sharp as ever, then laid them on me, a grunt escaping my lips as his presence alone is already ticking all the strings on my body. Suddenly, he walks towards me, hard steps on the floor, hands on pocket, and the place suddenly gets colder. In the end, he stops right next to Gertrude. What the hell. "Rei~! You came to rescue me~! I'm so glad, just like your mother~! Quick, kill this cursed Brass Dragon and his friend, and then we can escape~! No more Fuichi, no more pain, just you and me~! My dearest, dearest Rei..."

"..." To those almost obscene words of affection, Miyama said nothing, only now looks as his... 'Aunt'(?) from the corrner of his eyes, and suddenly the frozen sensation on the back of my head returns when he summons a magical golden rune with one of his hands! My heart freezes, Reika tries but fails to get up, and I could only lift Ix and Ascalon against him in defense! Whatever, I've dealt with his shitty aunt now, I'll kick his ass even if it kills me! His eyes return to me while Gertrude would now stare against me confidently, and then he shoves his hand inside, while I jump towards him, ready to face anything he throws at me! Bring it on! "Heretic Plague Dragon Zenjirou..."

"MIYAMA R-...!" I scream at the top of my lungs for him, Ix ready to strike, but then my foot stepping on the ground prevents me from walking any further. The reason for it? What Miyama threw at me was something I wasn't expecting. Maybe a Lance, or a sword, or even panties again, but no. This time, he throws at me a very shiny and jewel-like crimson flask, two in fact, which them proceeded to roll next to me and Reika, something liquid and golden inside of it. A second of silence, no one spoke anything during that moment, not even Gertrude who was pretty much sexing the air now, I didn't bother much either, too confused to do anything. In the end, I blink, and turn my eyes to him, as he blinks as well with the usual frown. "What... What the...?"

"Those are **Phoenix tears** stored inside Fafnir's treasures, use them as let's go." He says in a lower, quiet, almost bored tone of voice, while I couldn't believe my eyes looking at the flasks in front of me. A mute gasp escapes my mouth, not even Reika is able to say anything. Gertrude also expresses her exasperation by tilting her head to look at her 'nephew', while he still looks at me. In the end, air escapes his lips. "Come with me, brass dragon Sasamoto Zenjirou. I shall return you to Kuoh academy under Serena Sitri's wish."

"Hah...?"

"R-Rei? What... **WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!**" Gertrude took the words out of my mouth, which made me sure what I was hearing is right. What the hell did he just say?! Serena-kaichou is asking him, of all people, to help me?! I couldn't take such nonsense like that, only a faux scream escaped my mouth while Reika would take said flasks, look at them and confirm to me those were genuine healing items. This only made things more confusing! Gertrude was so taken into it she turns her head to see her 'nephew' and look him in the eyes! "What are you saying?! Have you gone mad?! Rei, this bastard... This cursed Brass Dragon is the reason why your quest for revenge halted! And you're giving him Phenex Tears, under the command of a Devil no less?! Rei! Open your eyes! See your true enemy! Look at me! Think about your moth-...!"

**\*SLASH!\***

"Hush, you." Again, too fast for eyes. Miyama Rei, the bastard golden dragon nephilim, didn't even blink or turned his head off me to summon them a sword of light and, without a single second or thought, *decapitate* Gertrude with one fast, smooth movement, her body now turning into dust and leaving only the weapons that were piercing her to the floor, now disappearing as well! Something inside my head screams, it's Ophelia-san, while my own goes overdrive! What the hell is even going on anymore?! Even after such atrocious act, he still stares at me like nothing happened, then sighs. "What are you waiting for? We don't have all day. Take the tears and let's go back to Kuoh so we can be over with this."

"What the HELL are you even talking about, Miyama?!" I shouted on the top of my lungs only to cough a little. No, this is wrong! This is insane! Is he really that stupid to question me like this?! Even for him, this is fucking weird! I used Ix to stand up on he floor then unstuck it to then point my sword at him, while Ophelia would still wail inside my head! Calm down, I'll only kill him if he moves. "Explain yourself, right now! I won't be doing any shit you say until you tell me what the hell is going on!"

"I hate explaining myself again and again, Brass Dragon. But I want this to be over soon, so I shall explain." Hearing his voice calling for me so contemptuously is almost giving me a stroke. But I need to calm down, I need to hear him, I need to learn left-from-right otherwise he'll play with my heart yet again. The golden dragon sighs, then our eyes meet. Just by looking st him, I feel my blood boil, and then he speaks. "Heretic Plague Dragon Sasamoto Zenjirou. I'm here under Serena Sitri's order to retrieve you from your current position and save you, and in exchange, she shall lend me some freedom for my quest for revenge."

"What?!"

Serena-Kaichou, what the hell!

.

~~x~-

"NO! NONONONONO! FUCK THAT! No more scene-transitions! I want this explained, right here, right now!" I finally got my wish granted as we continued with the scene without jumping to another part of the plot, so I returned my stare to Miyama, who could only puff his chest, tapping his foot on the ground, clearly getting upset. Bastard! "Miyama, what the do you mean by that?! Kaichou sent you here?! She sent you here to help me and return me to Kuoh academy?! You want me to believe in this bullshit like this?!"

"It's not bullshit, Brass dragon. If you want to believe in me or not, that's none of my business. Take the tears or not, I couldn't care less. But I'll say this: you'll be coming with me back to Kuoh, and Serena Sitri shall reward me." He says nonchalantly. Reminder that he just killed his own aunt, so I have all the rights to think what he's saying is complete and utter bullshit! I took a glance at Reika, and before I knew it, he dropped the said liquid on the flask onto himself! I tried to stop him, but then I could see that, in a second, all of his wounds and bruises were cured, and now he could stand by himself! What!?

"He's... He's not lying. Phoenix tear or not, this stuff works." He says, picking the other flask and trying to give it to me! Of course I'm not falling for that, so I jumped away as far as I could from the flask, making my albino ninja frown. "Look, I know all the shit he did ain't cool at all, but Zenjirou, we have greater matters do deal with now. If he's not hostile, then we have no reason to be either. Besides, your little quarrel is the least of our problems now, all things considered. Berolina-dono and Lavinia-dono and the others might be struggling with their own battles. We won't stay here and let things get worse just because you're throwing a tantrum. Also, it kinda taints your style, really."

"Tch!" Goddamnit, why does everybody but me has to be right?! This is really fucked up! Begrudgingly (thank you poetry classes for teaching me this word that I'll apparently use very often!) I took the flask and smash it between my hands, as the tear on it had its effects on me: all of my wounds and bruises suddenly healed, and it was easier to breathe and stand. Even so, I grunt looking back at Miyama. Shit, I'll have to thank mr. Meta later. But for now... "Now that we're all set, care to explain what the hell is going on, Miyama?!"

"Do I have to keep repeating myself, or you're just using me as a tool for exposition? There are several other writing tropes more fitting than this one in this sole situation." He speaks in a blasé pose while his eyes shine the same contemptuous look as always, making me grunt. Even so, he crosses his arms and look me even deader in the eyes. "This is my mission, sent by Serena Sitri herself: to retrieve the Heretic Plague dragon back to Kuoh academy, safely, and eliminate any threat that might come unto him. In exchange for some freedom for me and the rest of the Red Team to find our target beyond Kuoh's boundaries."

"**Red Team**? You mean the other Miyama runaways?" I asked, and he nods. That's a... Very unimaginative name! What the hell, did Sarah-san thought that one up? If so, I'm very afraid about her Mangaka career... I slapped myself awake from silly thoughts back to reality! This isn't the issue here, goddamnit! I again pointed a finger at him. "Forget that shit! You still didn't answer my question, Miyama! What the hell was that all about?!"

"Do you have earwax on your ear or are you just that unintelligent? I'm tired of exposition on the same thing, what is this, a forum?"

"Why, you...!"

"Miyama-dono, I think what he means is what you did earlier." Reika was the one to stop me on my tracks before I could separate his skull from the rest of his body! That's right, asshole! You even notice what you've done?! Ophelia-san won't stop screaming in my mind, and even for a bitch such as Gertrude, that was fucked up! Still gritting his teeth, Reika took another step to put himself between us and speaks again. "Any reason for you to indiscriminately kill one who says it's your beloved? You might not know her, but she claims she's your aunt. Even so, between us and her, Even without attachments, it'd have been wiser for you to chose her instead."

"..." I hear a sigh coming from him, then a small hum under his breath, as he suddenly discovers what I meant. Even so, his eyes continue to stare at me with contempt, making Reika push me back so that I wouldn't jump on either of them. He clicks his tongue, then looks at us once again. "Because... She got nothing that I wanted to offer."

"...?!" I wide my eyes in surprise for that. What?!

"Brass Dragon, and you, as you two know, I'm a character of Three defining traits: Revenge, disregard of anything but my 'family' and; doing anything for the first two. If I had sided with Gertrude instead of sticking to Serena Sitri's offer, I wouldn't be none of the three. Don't think I came to your rescue out of kindness, it was just... Business." He speaks. Again, his tone makes my blood boil, so much I had the power to overcome Reika's place, push him away and point Ix yet again at him, again with no reaction from the Golden Dragon. "Be grateful for both of us, Me and Serena Sitri, Brass Dragon."

"Be grateful?! For what?!"

"Zenjirou, calm down! We need to go back! We need to...!"

"Shut up, Reika! This asshole is still my Enemy!" Even with all of that, those words, this whole situation is revolting! Who is this guy?! I don't get him, I don't get him at all! He killed his own aunt, the one who said loved him the most, just for his revenge?! I thought... I thought...! "You piece of shit! I should... I just should...!"

"You're wasting our time, Heretic Dragon Zenjirou. I have no interest in you or any of our previous quarrels. If you want to risk it and take me on, I won't bother, but I'll tell you this: I have no interest in you anymore." I could almost feel my heartbeat, my head going overdrive just by hearing his voice. In the end, however, he summons from thin air a sword of light, turns around and, with a single slash into the nothingness, he opens a rift-looking cut in the air, then gave us a side glance. "As for now, I'm under Serena Sitri's orders, so you are my baggage, not my enemy. Help me reach Miyama Fuichi, and you're my ally, be in my way, and you're my foe. When this mission is over, you won't be anything anymore for the time being..."

"Grrrr!" I grit my teeth so much I thought I would break them against each other. I really, really hate this guy, and whatever he's saying it's not helping! However, a hand landed on my shoulder, and before I knew it, Reika pushed me closer on a half-hug, whispering on my ear.

"Calm down, Brass Dragon. You know Sitri-dono, she won't be played with by this half-assed generic light novel protag, she's smarter than that. If anything, she's the one who has his strings, not the other way around. Besides..." He pulls me closer. "You saw what's happening back in Kuoh. If we refuse what Miyama is offering and engaged in combat, that mess will go on without you. Think again, hard this time. Don't be an idiot."

"..." Fuck! Why does every time I want to do something, logic has to come on me and kick my ass back to the road?! I know this! I know everyone is in danger there! I know that Miyama's the only way back now, since we're too weak to do shit, but still! I grunt, biting my lower lip to the point I think I'm almost ripping it off, I turn to Miyama. I have no choice, Kuoh is... For now, more important than this asshole! I summon Ix back, but even so lift a finger at him! "Don't think things have settle between us, Miyama!"

"I've already said it: there is nothing between us anymore, Brass Dragon. You're my mission, and nothing else now." He simply says, making me almost burst a vein of rage have Reika not pinched my cheek again. He returns to the direction of the golden rift next to him, and looking at us by his shoulder, he signs for us with his chin. "Come, this portal shall lead us back to Kuoh. If you have been listening to me this whole time instead of dwelling in your own foolish quarrel, You'll know it's true."

And then he enters the portal. I'm still not okay with this shit! Yet, Reika let go of me, punches lightly my shoulder and walks into the portal, waving me to follow him. As much as I hate this... I'll have to comply, I have to go back to Kuoh academy and help my peerage with that mess. Plus... The vampires will have a lot to talk about! Shit!

"C'mon, hothead. Let's finish our job, then you can kick Miyama's ass for what's worth." Reika said, jumping into the portal, with me following soon after. He's right, let's go back and kick some Vampire ass!

.

~~x~~

.

"You sent Miyama Rei of all people to Save Zenjirou?! Are you out of your mind, Serena-chan?!" I practically screamed against my Childhood friend seeing that bastard's name on the screen of her phone! What the...! I just... Miyama Rei is...! What does she have in her head to think something like that~?! IS Serena-chan trying to get my Queen Killed?! "Do you remember what he did to Berolina?! What the Sekiryuutei and the Miyama Runaways did to us?! And you said you're now using him?! What's going on~?!"

"Exactly what you want to happen, Rina-chan. I'm saving our Brass Dragon." What?! What does that mean~?! Saving Zenjirou, and you're calling Miyama Rei for that?! What logic are you following to lead into that conclusion?! I know I used to have some very screwy logic myself, but c'mon! This is way too much even for my former self! Before I could have a stroke, Berolina comes and lands a hand onto my shoulder, pushing me away to face Serena-chan. My sister was oozing such a killing aura, it was almost scary.

"Care to explain such, Serena Sitri? How does calling one of our previous nemesis help us in any way, commanding to help him locate and retrieve our biggest trumps on top of that? If you think you can pull a 'friendship token' with a previous enemy, I must say that this isn't a light nov-...!" Berolina was spitting venom from every word, all while Serena-chan was still smiling under her lips, when suddenly she stopped on her tracks and he taken back a little. Are? Berolina, of all people, stopping in the middle of a rant? I don't get it! My sister blinks one, two times, like she's trying to grasp something on her head, and then wide her eyes even more! Really, what's going on?! "Or... Maybe you... Can? Serena, you didn't...!"

"... Turn our previous delusional '*villain*' into a delusional '*anti-hero*' so that he could help us under certain conditions, all while reassuring that he won't turn his back on us since he thinks us now as the 'good guys'? I believe I did." Serena-chan smiles, and then lightbulb on my head! Ah, I get it now! That Miyama bastard did say he's the 'Hero of his own story', and Berolina explained that for some bullcrap reason he believes he's a protagonist of a manga or something. So... Wait for it, I'll try to imagine... Ah! She used his own mentality to turn him into an ally! ... Right? I think. Serena-chan huffed a cloud of satisfaction out of her mouth, proud of herself, then smirked. "He might not know, but as for now, he's our little tool to use and abuse. As much as it pains me a lot in my arse, if we make him think he's on the 'right' side this time, we assure his loyalty, as well as way to locate our precious brass dragon. Good idea, don't you think?"

"Ooooh~! Serena-chan is indeed a genius! Or maybe Miyama is a complete idiot~!" I said, bewailed! Now I get it completely! Using his own stupidity, she was able to turn Miyama into our ally... Kinda. He's not all trustworthy either, but according to Berolina, he's indeed an idiot, so easily manipulated! Berolina then sighs, taking a quick look outside, which makes me do the same looking at all the explosions and pillars of demonic power cutting through the army of ghouls and orcs. To think they'd approach us so easily, what happened?

"As much as this relieves me, this isn't our only problem. Even if they're just zombie ghouls and orcs, their number itself might pose quite the problem for your peerages, and knowing Madam Haruka, friendly-fire... Is a thing." Berolina gritted her teeth, while Serena-chan and I shared stares and laughed a nervous one. Haruka-sama and their ninja mottos, plus anti-army techniques and for the fact the ninjas aren't in our side means... I wonder if they're gonna be okay. I took a deep breath. At least for now she'll be just protecting the vampire lords, but even so they're one number down, same with us! Nemesis notices my little uneasiness. "Rina, I know what you're thinking, but we shall continue our job regardless. If what Serena Sitri is saying it's the truth, then he'll be back in one piece, with the help of the Golden Dragon."

"..." I know that, but asking for not to worry about my queen is asking almost impossible! I have no idea where he is, what happened to him until that point, nor how he'll appear! It's frustrating, and she knows that! I take another glance outside, and bite my own lips seeing another fireball flying into the air against a platoon of zombies! Ugh~! "I know that, Berolina! But still...!"

**\*ZOOM\***

**\*BAM!\***

"Eh...?" Suddenly, the sky turned from crimson to a tone of mystic pearl blue, then a tone of black and white, pearl and dark like stones in a checked pattern. This presence, that sensation of dread and uneasiness of being watched, it flashed for a second, then vanished in another. This is... **[ROLE PRAYING GAME]'**s, Nero-niisama's Balance Breaker! Even Berolina broke her facade to look at the sky in surprise! That was definitely Nero-niisama, but that answer actually brought up even more questions! Seriously, this peace conference is getting out of control! "Berolina! That's definitely Nero-niisama's Balance Breaker! What is going on?!"

"Like I'd have a clue, Lavini-...!"

"Berolina! Rina-chan! Serena-sama! Akatsuki-dono! Aubrey-sama! Get down!"

For a second, I could hear Nero-niisama's voice calling for me and Berolina, and then, in a blink of an eye, a blinding blue light came from the window, as if we we're being scanned, followed by something hot, almost scalding! Before it could happen, however, something black came from the door, and engulfed us in darkness! I felt myself sink into a hollowed place, it was almost suffocating, but when I knew better, I was looking at the crimson sky of the barrier, laying on something quite soft and warm. I took me a few moments to realize I was on top of Berolina, on a position no sisters should share and be with each other!

"Eek~!" I jumped away, helped by my sister who pushed me away to stand up herself. With that, I stand up myself, dusting away all of the dirt and grass on my clothes, only to notice the new Place I was in: dense forest, dark sky, grassy field and smoke everywhere! Something teleported us in a place outside the old building! Berolina, who just dusted herself clean now, also looks around to see what place she is, only for us to lock our gazes on a single, well two things: "Ah! Nero-niisama and Jacob-sama!"

"H-Hey, you two. Sorry for the trouble." Jacob-sama spoke! Never mind that, what are they doing here of all places?! First Nero-niisama's Balance Breaker appears out of nowhere, and then we're teleported away to the forest surrounding the old building, and now their here! There's something very fishy going on! Berolina was the one to help him stand up, and when she did, **\*SLAP!\***, a handmark was printed on Nero's pale face. "Oh, hey Berolina."

"Don't you 'Hey, Berolina!' Me, Nero Gladius! What is going on?! You too Jacob Emmerich!" She spits in a very dangerous, almost satanic tone(oooh~.), which didn't flinch her own knight, couldn't say the same for the bishop, who were now both getting their collars suspended by her hands. I'm not as mad, but I do want to know what's going on! I looked around and then I miss two other important members of our defense team!

"Nero-niisama, what about Serena-chan SEED-san?!" I exasperated coming closer to him to almost put myself on the same level as Berolina'. But he continues to stay calm at that situation, making me think either he has been brainwashed or is just messing with us! I was already thinking the worst scenario regarding that light! "A-Ah! D-Don't tell me... Don't tell me they're...!"

"They're fine, Rina-chan! Serena-chan and Gundam-sama are safe with Evelyn, and Aubrey-sama is with Winston. Don't worry, everything is fin-...!" And before nii-sama could even dare to say those words, Berolina went ahead and hit a good one on him again, this time leaving a pretty big black mark. Even so, with such a mark, he could only pout a little, turning to his daring King. "Right. Sorry, my bad. I'll measure my words about the current situation the next time I open my mouth..."

"Explain, now. Please..." Berolina says shaking her hand to get rid of the bruises there, letting go of their collars to sigh, fingers pinching the bridge of her nose. I said nothing, only nodded waiting for his answer. Nero-niisama adjusted his clothes and collar and sighed, taking a quick look at the old building at the distance, suddenly sharping his gaze. Berolina did the same. "Nero, could this be something do to with the Vampire King's children? Worse, the Vampire King himself?"

"Unfortunately I'll have to say 'yes', Berolina-sama. This whole Conference was a scam, a ruse." Jacob-sama nodded at my sister, making me gasp in surprise! So all of this has been for nothing?! I know that vampires are sneaky and untrustworthy as all hell, but at least some smooth politics would happen this time! Things are not how they used to be anymore~! He then shrugs, in a thinking pose. "Sort of. According to the new Laws of the Vampire Empire from Lord Desmond, the Vampire who kills the current vampiric ruler shall reign anew as the supreme leader the moment the previous one is dead. According to Lord Desmond and Alucard, King Nosferatu knew about the invasion, and decided to use it as a way to... Destroy the current rulers of Kuoh academy, and maybe three of the Demon Lords and the devil's head of defense against attack."

"I see." Berolina calmly says! What was that?! He knew about the invasion yet let it happen just to target us?! So that vampiric bastard knew it, yet let it happen! If it wasn't for Jacob and Nii-sama, we'd have died!

"Lord Desmond's bodyguard told me, Jacob, Lord Winston and Lord Marcenas about this ruse so that we could avoid causalities, and even took Evelyn, Jacob and I as precautions in cases like that. Even so, we'll have to protect him or else one of the Vampiric princes will take his place, and the vampires shall cut ties with us." He explains! Screw the vampires, we almost died, how the hell am I going to fight knowing I'll have to protect those traitorous bloodsuckers! Nero-niisama turns to me before I could manifest any other emotion. "But this surprised me: Rina-chan, where's Zenjirou? His cape made from Lord Desmond's blood was suppose to shield you all from that Light element attack and let you stay during the invasion, but I couldn't see him with **[Blackboard Death]**, neither could Jacob with the drones made by Unknown Dictator. You were lucky for me to think that. Where is he?"

"..." Okay, first, this whole 'bloody cape' thing is kinda disgusting. But this is not the time to think about Zenjirou wearing Lord Desmond's period. After a quick moment of weakness in which I let out a small puff of smoke through my lips, I recomposed myself. "We don't know. Some guy affiliated with the White Dragon said he sent him to a place where a certain someone would get his revenge... Bottom line, we don't know where he is, but Serena-chan sent... Someone after him. Whatever the case, he might be appearing anytime now."

"Great. That's a relief, but I'll have to explain the situation for him regardlessly." Nero-niisama pounded. I honestly think Zenjirou knows his position as for now, but also knowing HOW he is, he'll definitely turn down any form of protection towards the Vampire King now. Nero-niisama then looks at the small bracelet around his wrist which shines a few times, then sighs. "Not good. My **[Holy Arms]** overheated from that attack alone and the escape. It'll take some time before I can use it again. Regardless, we should return to the Old Building and protect the Demon And Vampire Lords."

"Wha...?!" I exclaim to that heel-turn out of the sudden, but then I looked at Berolina's stare at me, and pouted with the realization: That's right, it's our job to protect father, Kabel-sama and Drambuie-sama, plus help the Vampire Lords, because if anyone succeeds in killing the Vampire King, they'll become the next Ruler, and then everything will be for nothing. Even so...! Nero-niisama and Berolina turn to a side to the direction of the old building, but I set my feet down and to another direction. "Okay, fine. But you go on ahead, I think I'll stay."

"Ah? What are you talking about, Rina?" Berolina ask with a frown while her eyes start to turn dangerous. Ah, crap! I've upset her again. Before she could make more scary faces, Nero landed a hand on her shoulder, and for what's worth, she sighs, calming down. Even so, her eyes still shines through, and she asks me again. "Rina, what are you planning, you know is dangerous out here. We should go back and protect things from father. You know that... He can be dangerous when threatened, and Kuoh would not survive if he retaliates."

"I know you're right Berolina, but I don't want to be in the same room as those lying geezers." I said with a pout, clinching my fists a few times. Even so, I turn back at them and give them a positive thumb up. "But don't worry. You guys go on ahead and take the lead, since you're one of the targets, Berolina! I'll be here dealing the problem myself! Besides, who knows, I'll be finding Zenjirou and or Annie sooner to give them a heads up! Can't let those two dorks get themselves killed, right? After all... I'm a king first, then someone else's pawn!"

"Tch. You're really starting to get smart with me." She clicks her own tongue with a frown, but then a small glint of hope in her eyes, as she dries them up a little then turn around to face the old building, where the conference is taking place. Like she said, if we leave our position, any harm befall onto any of the four members will weight on our families, and can't let that happen, while I don't actually give two damns about those old vampire geezers. I'll be looking for my peerage and fighting out here, while she'll be supporting us. Jacob-sama however, went closer and gave me a heads up.

"Rina-san, a little heads up: When I used the drones Ichimonji-san and I made to see the situation, I saw a small glimpse of that little seaweedhead coming from Kuoh's direction. She's fast as ever, and she has three people by her side, but I thought that might help." He says, and in return I give him a little grateful peck on the cheek! Jacob-sama is so reliable! So Annie is here alright, and as expected, she's coming for the Vampire King! Also, someone screwed up the barrier or she found a way to bypass it, none of them would surprise me much. In the end, Jacob-sama turned around besides Berolina and Nii-sama with Nii-sama activating his Sacred Gear. "Right. Let's go, Berolina, Jacob, I saw that Serena-sama, her queen and Aubrey-sama are also heading back to the Old Building with Evelyn. Don't let your guard down, also. Those light attacks can be faster than my **[Role Praying Game]** can detect, and even know I can't see very well."

"Right ahead of you." Berolina said with that little cowlick on top of her head wiggling left and right, and in a flash, they vanished, leaving me by my own.

Oof~. Okay, in the middle of the battlefield, surrounded by friendly fire and ghoul zombies and five-foot tall orcs, not to mention the Vampire King's children who are probably as strong as me and with my Knight and Queen lost among them. This is indeed one of the worst scenarios I've ever been, but for some reason, I'm cool with it. Maybe because Berolina taught me some cool tricks, maybe because I know everything will work out in the end. Serena-chan and my sisters are okay, so I'll just need to help them too. Not everything is lost for now, I can still fight...

Okay, time to counterattack! No matter how powerful those vampires are, they're no match for the Allocer heiress! I just hope... My pieces are ok-...

**\*STAB!\***

...

"Eh...?"

"How unfortunate. The Allocer's offspring giving no suitable fruit." But when I was about to take the first step, something fast and dark crossed among the trees of the forest, and before I could react, I felt a heavy tug on my chest, followed by a tremendous pain. I look down, and right where my heart should be, I saw a thin yet sharp blade piercing my shirt. I was left mute after that. "You will have no last words, Lavinia from the House of Allocer, because a dog's death is what you deserve for such shameful defeat."

"...?!" I couldn't say anything, I only look up, running my gaze through the blade, and saw something looking at me, holding the Saber which pierced me. A young man of piercing crimson eyes, pale as snow, whose delicate, doll-like face features could not hide the great amount of contempt and hate from his scowl at me, his silver hair tied in a ponytail and falling down his forehead, showing how fast he moved. What the... He's not... One of the Black children. And that stare... I saw it somewhere else...

"But in the end, anything is complete rubbish at the presence of yours truly, Esther Helsing, son of the illustrious Prime-minister of the Vampire Empire Desmond Helsing." Esther Hellsing... Hellsing? Does that mean he's related to Annie or Alucard-san in some way? He's also fast as her... Curses, to be caught like that... When I said that Berolina shouldn't be worried. I heard a light 'hum' coming from him, and another sigh of contempt, as he tugged his saber on me again. "Now then, with you gone, I shall resume my mission. Those three other filthy bats... They're also heading towards King Sheridan and Lord Desmond, right? I shall clean a path for my prince and princess, and then they'll become the new vampire lords. So, Farewell, Fioth of the Alloce-...!"

**\*TUG!\***

"...?"

**\*TUG!\***

"What the...?! Did my precious saber just got stuc-...!"

**\*VOOSH!\***

"You're Annie's relative alright... Your pride leaving you wide open!" And just like that, before he could realize how his saber got stuck in me, I summoned a rune from my hands and unleashed a hell of darknull on him, only saving himself by leaving only part of his saber on me, which turned into ash by contact with my power! That was kinda nostalgic, just like Annie, his pride blinds him to surprise attacks! But that was a close one, and knowing such, he won't commit that same mistake again. Shoot~! Even so, he's only half a saber now. "Eheheheh~, how much for a filth of Allocer?"

"Impossible, my saber is made from the iron taken from the Blood of the Vampire King himself, granted for me as a reward for being Your Majesty's children's bodyguard. To be stopped like that and broken as such..." He said cleaning the sweat from his forehead, his red eyes showing a bit of concern and confusion. Again with vampires and their blood relations? Ew~. He scowls yet again at me. "Lavinia from the House of Allocer... What are you?!"

"Exactly that... Lavinia from the House of Allocer! As for who I am, well..." I said with a small smirk, unbuttoning my shirt a little just to show a little bit of cleavage... Not! In reality, when he saw what I was hiding under my uniform, he soon figure it out. Under my shirt: there was an entire set of nets wrapped around my body made out of Alastor strings, Vassago nullification and Ahriman Darkness, and where he stuck me, a little deformation, which wasn't enough to pierce me! "... I'm just a precautioned girl! Nothing more or less!"

"Damned be you. Alastor strings... Wrapped like that to form the strongest Chain Mail in the underworld." He spat, looking on my web mail(?) I made it myself. Just like Berolina told me to do. It hurt a little, but in the end, those strings saved me. Alastor lineage, I pay you my respect! You to Vassago lineage. And Akane i guess. However, once recovered from my attack, That guy of name Esther... Guy? Guy! Stood up from the ground and pointed his saber at me again. "Well, no matter, now that I've discovered your little trick, I shall fall for it no more. Instead... I shall aim for your brai-...!"

\*VUP!\*

"Huh...?!"

"Take this!"

\*BAM!\*

"Gh...!" And I was so close! For a second, he leaped at me with his eyes locked on my head! Was he going for my neck? My brain? Didn't matter! In an instant I was 'faster' and reached him before he could reach me, and almost blasted a dark-null bomb on his face! Ah, he's too fast! How annoying~! He landed not a few steps from me, his eyes still scowling, but with a glimpse of fear in them. "How... How is this possible? An illusion? Another trick? I perfectly calculated my speed for a decisive blow, and yet you...!"

"Well, that attack certainly blew, if you know what I mean..." I chirped under my breath a little, and as expected, I pushed a button on him. He stood up once again and leaped with his saber pointing at me, his eyes screaming bloody murder against me, yet I couldn't care less!

"Do not underestimate the blade which protects the Vampire lord-...!"

**\*VUP!\***

"Catch you!"

"Uuuugh~!" Uuuuh~! Another close blow! I was against 'faster' than him and almost opened a hole in his chest! However, I saw it coming and avoided with a roll to the side, burning only parts of his formal wear! I gotta say, no wonder he's Annie's relative, he's fast and sneaky as a ninja! Without losing any second, I turned around to face another possible attack, but then he stop on his tracks, feet firm on the ground, then the scowl back, recovering from his little display of despair. "I understand, I understand now..."

"Eh...?" I say back. Oh no, did he get it?

"Don't play as a fool at me, Lavinia from the House of Allocer. I've discovered your secret in those little attacks." He declares, and I pout for that. Aw man~, so fast like that?! Sure, Berolina taught me this not very a while ago, but to think he'd discover this skill so soon... I gotta hand it to him, he might be a genius. "My calculations were flawless, my attacks were perfect, yet new breaches would open in my defense with an attack of yours. However, since you said anything, And I made no mistake, I've discovered such: it's not my attacks which were slow or imprecise... You are the one making me get closer to you!"

"..."

"Am I wrong, Lavinia from the House of Allocer?!"

"Heh..."

'*But... I think there's something I can help you with. You remember Grandmother? From mom's side, at least.'*

*'Ah? Ah! Yes, Grandmother Rillumu. She always would treat me candy.'*

*'Yes, remember that she was a also Paimon before being part of the family from her own mother's side?'*

*'Y-Yes. Not much, but I remember.'*

*'Very well, Since I'm here, let me teach you an ability from the other branch of our family tree... [Charisma].'*

Paimon, I pay you my respect!

.

~~x~~

.

"And this is the closest we can get from the conference place without harm. This is the farthest I can go with you all." And my feet finally met with the familiar ground as Miyama, Reika and I reached our destination, the outskirts of Kuoh academy, not very far from the Old Building. I took a look around to see if there was anything fishy going on, but in the end, nothing. Still, I can feel something uneasy from that Miyama bastard. Miyama took the lead, then reached his hand for the air, only to small sparkles fly off of it. He grunted, summoned a golden rune, and then, **\*CRASH\***, there was a small crack on the air, opening a translucid hole in there. He turned around and starts to walk away. "There, this small rip on the barrier shall allow you to enter this place and do whatever you want. Mission accomplished."

"Tch... Don't expect me to thank you." I spat at him, Reika giving me a small nudge on the stomach while he was bowing himself and saying thanks. Apparently, Miyama doesn't give two shits either, as he didn't turn around, just opened around rip on the air with his light sword.

"I did not help you out of pity or charity, Heretic Plague Dragon. The reward was clear: I shall now receive more freedom in order to explore Kuoh and other places in order to find my bastard of a father and kill him. Me and my sisters are still chained by the Devils." He says, without looking around, his voice filled with contempt and acidic power, which only makes my blood boil hotter. "You won't help me, nor get in my way, so you're nothing to me, at all. The only things in this world for me are my sisters, my brother, my father, myself and all the methods to reach him. Anything else... Is waste."

"Even your mother?" I blurted out. For a second, I saw a small reaction from him, her when he turned around to look at me with those hollowed, cursed eyes, that same stare of hate and delusion clashed on me. I can still hear Ophelia-san weeping inside me, and this pisses me off. She doesn't deserve this, at all. I'll take some satisfaction, right here, right now! "Your mother, the angel Ophelia... I met her. Don't ask how or why, because I won't tell you. I will tell you this though: She can see you right now. And she saw what you did."

"..." He says nothing. Our clash took a minute or so, and again he turned around, with nothing but a single annoyed buff, which was enough to get a reaction out of me. Before I could give him a piece of my mind, he responds to me. "I don't have a mother."

"...!"

[...!]

"The angel known as Ophelia... The wife of Miyama Fuichi... And my progenitor... Has no right to be called a mother." He says. I clench my teeth, tears run down my face, and I'm really ready to summon Ix and cut his fucking head off! Reika however stops me with a friendly hand on my shoulder, allowing him to continue. "That angel... Was a fool, reaching for a dream impossible even for someone of the Godly realm. Her death was the price she paid, but what she left in this life, in this earth, has shown her ultimate price wasn't even enough. Miyama Fuichi went mad, and all the suffering, all the pain, all the despair the Black Team suffered can be boiled down to her actions, her foolishness, her pretentious objectives for a united world... This is not what a mother leaves to her children. Trust me, if she was still alive, she'd be also my target besides my father. I never had a mother... In all the possible means available."

"...!"

**[... What a dick!]** (Takeshi)

[...!]

"Zenjirou... Let's go! Don't do that to yoursel-...!"

"Go. Just go, Miyama." I muttered before Reika could scold me again. He gasps in surprise, while Miyama frowns again. The sounds inside my head stops, I stop completely for that. Even so, we continue to look at each other, and little by little my vision starts to blur. I don't know what is happening, but... I want it to stop. "Don't ever come back. Don't ever appear in front of me again. You say I'm nothing to you, right? Good, so get out of my life, leave my friends and family alone and go away, don't ever come back. Go kill yourself against your father, I don't care."

"Tch." He spits in disgust, he's probably thinking I'm a waste of time, but even so, I'll make this an ultimatum.

"But... If I ever see your face again. I promise you." I pointed a finger st him, even though my eyes were clouded for some reason. Yes, this is my ultimatum, My warning for my eternal hate for him. Not just because of the terrorist attacks, not just because of Berolina-san, but because... Because! "I won't kill you. I'll make you suffer... I'll make you suffer things worse than hell... Until you apologize to Ophelia-san."

"..."

"..."

"As if. If this is how it goes, then I'll give you this as well." And his eyes turned sharp, the golden aura around him grew Tenfold, and fangs and slitted eyes turned to me, but even so, I still emanate hate for him. "Don't ever stand in my way again, brass dragon. If we ever clash paths as enemies again, I'll make sure to get rid of you... Permanently."

"Just you wait."

"..."

"..."

And just like that he jumps into the dimensional rift and leaves us with nothing but ourselves. Reika grips his hand on my shoulder tighter, but I dismiss it such with a shrug. I dont know how to feel now, all the tears, all the trembling, the blows and cries into my ego, all coming from all the places, Yet I don't know how to deal with them, I have no idea how to react. However, I know one thing I know for real...

I have nothing but hate towards Miyama Rei.

**[Rei... Zenjirou-san...]**

**\*PAF!\***

"Ow!" And that burning slap on the back wake up me sooner than I wanted! My hands reach for the affected area to give it a light massage, then I turned to the author of such attack. "Reika, what the fuck?! What was that about?!"

"I swear, Zenjirou! If you continue to give those little bitch fits in the middle of nowhere, I'll abandon you without questions!" He screams back as we walk pass the open barrier, only to turn around and hold me by the collar! Ah, now he wants to go?! Those tears might've restored our strength, but if he wants to let it loose, I won't question him, I'm ready to kill someone right now! Instead he went ahead to headbutt me a few times. "Just! Calm! Down! And! Put! Your! Head! Back! In the! Game! Our job isn't finish yet! Accomplish thy mission, then you can go back in being a little wailing bitch!"

"Tch! I know! It's just... *FUCK*!" I spat a little, feeling the little burning point in the middle of my forehead, looking also at the big red dot on his. It took another slap in the face from Yagura and a flick on the head from Amurokros for me to return to normal. Yes, I hate that Miyama bastard, but this is not the time to think about him... For now. Our priority is the Vampire King, and whoever sold me out for that angel! I took a deep and heavy breath, then touched foreheads with my ninja friend again. "Reika, let's go. I'm okay now... I promise, I'll target this rage... At the enemy now."

"..." He buffs from his nose then let go of me, heading now towards the Old Building. Adjusting my collar, I took a quick glance around, and as expected, those armies of zombies or ghouls or whatever are heading there as well, being blown up by magical and physical attacks. Reika touched me on the shoulder. "Okay, let's go, dragon. It'll be a bitch to explain to mother, but let's resume our job."

"On second thought, Reika, I think I'll stay for a while." I concluded with a sigh, drawing a surprised look from him. I mean, no joke, if I drag someone else into my shit again, my party will stay at disadvantage again, and in times like this, I'll have to think faster. That angel, the hakuryuukou, and now that army of zombies and whatever and those two vampires, I can't let my guard down, but I've to protect my team as well. I turned back at him. "If that shit happens again and I drag you along with me, Rina and the others will stay at disadvantage. I'll work solo for now here while you go ahead and help Them."

**\*PUNCH!\***

"Ow! Again?!"

"Who the hell you think you are ordering me around? Know your place, Devil." He just hit me on the head! Why did he hit me on the head?! That's it, I'll give him a piece of my mind!

"Why, you...!"

**\*CHU~!\***

"...?!"

"Idiot. How idiotic, getting worried about me. You deserve a smack in the face." And then he removed two of his fingers that so gently touched my lips with its knots, in something that I recall made me feel like I kissed somebody. This is really strange now. However, in the end, he just laughs, then turns around with a smile. "But that's cute, in a way, so I'll let you pass. Suit yourself, Dragon. Just try not to die by the hands of angels again, you still owe me a French kiss. Heads up, too."

"..." And then I couldn't say a thing, since he vanished from my sight without a trace, leaving a blow of wind into the direction of the old building. One... Two... Three... It took me three seconds to realize what just happened, and my face burned up. Ah! AH! What the hell?! What the hell was that all about?! I turned to that same direction and then Screamed at the nothing. "You... Hou bitch! I'll show you! When we meet each other, I'll suck your face off with that kiss!"

...

...

...

One... Two... Three... Another three seconds to realize another spurt of the moment for me, so I mumbled curses under my breath. Ugh~, what was that about?! He comes remembering me about the kiss only to get a Reaction out of me?! This is so stupid! But now... I can concentrate. It was just for a second, but in those small bursts, K feel... Calm now.

Huh. Sure, I still hate Miyama, but even so... I feel lighter. Maybe that was kid plan from the start. Tch, just like his sister, playing his tricks on me. Now that I'm calmer, I turned my attention to the Boosted Gear, which was now glowing a little more. Of course, or wasn't just about us, Takeshi and Ophelia-san was also hearing us, and only now... I can see that. Hey, Ophelia-san, are you in there?

[...] No response. I was expecting that. She must be feeling bad now, even worse than I am. I really didn't want her to presence that, but he left me no choice. I just... Wanted him to see a little bit of love, but as always, he's blind to it. I turned my attention elsewhere. Hey, Heretic Dragon, can I use my Balance Breaker as for now? **[UNFORTUNATELY, THAT MATCH WITH THE ANGEL TOOK TOO MUCH OF YOUR STAMINA, PARTNER. I WILL TAKE SOME TIME BEFORE YOU CAN POSSIBLY USE BALANCE BREAKER AGAIN, AND EVEN SO, YOUR TIME WITH IT MIGHT END A BIT SHORTER. BE WISE.]**

"As expected." I mumbled to the voice in my hand. Figures, there is only me to blame, but I'm confident now. Just a few moments and I'll be on fire again, and even so, just to think that Rina and the others are safe next to the Demon Lords and with Reika in their way, it means I can go all out now. Great! Now, to find Annie and put an end to this madness of a night! Let's Go, Destroyer As-...!

"Get down! Get down! GET DOWN!"

"What the...?!"

**\*BOOM!\***

"Kuuuuuh~...!" And I couldn't even finish my epic closing words, something like a comet descended from the skies and landed right next to me with the force of one, lifting a curtain of smoke in front of me! What the hell?! Enemy attack?! I used Ix and Ascalon to clean the place from the dust, and looked at the ground zero of that land, only to look and gasp in surprise: what landed next to me wasn't a projectile, but a statue! A stone statue of Miyuu! "Ah! What the hell?!"

"Out of the way! OUT OF THE WAY!" And in another second, **\*BOOM!\***, something else fell besides me, again lifting a cloud of smoke into the air and covering the whole place in dust! That one was a person, I could tell, with a very familiar voice as well! Again I used Ix and Asclon to clean up the place and looked down to see the new figures which opened a new whole on the ground!

"Ah! SEED-chan!"

"Stop calling me references! It gets annoying fast!" Indeed it was that dark-haired/blonde fallen angel hybrid, all of her clothes a little tattered while under one of her arms she was carrying another statue, this time shaped just like Sanada-senpai! And under her other arm... Deucalion's decapitated head! First Miyuu, then Sanada-senpai as statues and Deucalion's bloody head, and now she's here, of all people! The stands up from the ground and look around, taking deep breaths. "Great, looks like we're away from the ghouls now. One more second and they'd have shattered those two, or worst."

"Akatsuki-San, what are you doing here?!" I asked her, enough to call for her attention and make her turn around to face me, although her alerted expression remained neutral. Like, really, wasn't she suppose to be guarding the demon lords and her King?! How about Berolina-san and Rina?! "I thought you were suppose to be guarding the demon Lords and the others! What is going on?! How about the conference?!"

"There is no conference, Brass Dragon. It was a ruse, a fraud, a plan to get rid of us." She says, and yet again, I'm at the dark here, while she draws a weapon that looks like a crimson fan out of thin air.

Those statues and head... SEED-chan not in her position... this whole ruse and plan thing... What the hell happened why I was away?!

### Ch. ???: Hysteria

"Huff... Huff... Huff..."

"Are you really okay, Annie-san? That eye of yours really seems to take a toll on you." Mukuro says as we, Ichigo and Momo walk in between the trees of the dense forest leading to the old building, myself having to support my body on hers due to the tiredness the use of that caused. I actually activated on my own, but my to control and aim this is still such a pain. Literal pain, and exhaustion. I can't believe I was forced to use that so early into the plan, so now I have to take extra care. We'll have to find Lord Nosferatu as soon as possible.

"I'm fine, this thing is just really hard to control, just that." I huff standing tall and on my own yet again, dusting my cloths a little and using a special palm on my wounds and cuts, all caused by those goddamn swords. Fortunately, I won't have to worry about it for now. Now almost fully recovered, I look forwards towards the old building, then I pass a small flask with my own blood to Mukuro. "Mukuro, we can't hold back now. That Miyuu chick was a foot soldier, so that means whoever enters our way is just as strong, if not stronger, than her. We better be careful now."

"Understatement of the century." She stuck her tongue out for me, but even so I can see she's shaken after all of that. Truth to be told, those swords, that chick, she might be weaker than me, but to have the tenacity to continue fighting so much I had to use my eye... That werewolf and homunculus too, not bad for mere servants. Just like me. Once the place started to get plain and uncovered, we hanged even lower, under the bushes and on the floor, even more unnoticed by the fighting armies outside. Thank goodness those zombie ghouls and the Black heirs are here as well. "Are we getting close, Annie-san?"

"Almost. I can see from here the Old Building, and with those other pieces fighting with those ghouls, it looks like the place is deserted. Good timing." I smirked, but unknown to her and the others, gulped hard. We're getting closer to my objective, and this fills me with excitement... And fear. If I encounter Lord Nosferatu there; it means papa and Alucard-nii will also be there, and so... I'll have to fight them... Them! I'll have to fight THEM, that's what I mean. Once we stop by the edge of the forest, next to the ground leading to the old building, I turn around to see Mukuro, Ichigo and Momo, giving them an apologized look. "Mukuro, I know this might sound desperate, but if you and the others ever feel too much threatened, just make a sword for me and run away as fast as you guys can. I won't judge."

"..." She wides her eyes a little bit, in surprise and shock for my bold words. I never thought we would be this close so soon, so I can only assume things will get saltier very fast, and to sacrifice someone like that so easily will leave a bad taste in my mouth. That, and it'll kinda tarnish my pride as a ninja, my platoon dying like that. In return, she just shrugs off, and nods. "Nah, we'll stick with ya. This is the most exciting we have ever had in years, and besides, you taught me some tricks in being a werewolf-thingy, so I can only thing of that way as a thanks."

"..." Ah, man. That feeling again, my face contorting in an awkward way and a cold sweat drop running all the way down on my nape. I turn back to the doors leading to the old building, and take a deep breath. So this is it. Well, at least they got my back, one worry less. "Suit yourself, Mukuro. So let's go, no turning back now. I shall become the Vampire King."

"Right. Fame and money, here we go." And so we stood up and ran towards the Old Building. Reika must've put traps all over the corridors, but no matter as Mukuro summoned from her Sacred Gear a toothed Sword which she said it can cut anything, so no more strings in our way! However, he's so stupid thinking that we'd use such childish ways to enter! We'll go by the front door, of course! However, when we came close enough, my sixth sense noticed that something was way off, and by the magnitude of such aura, I noticed that it wasn't a friendly one. Mukuro helped me stop on my tracks, as apparently her werewolf instincts also kicked in. "Wowowow, Annie-san! You can feel it too, right? That aura..."

"Yes, I know. And unfortunately, I know from whom this is..." I sigh, stomping hard on the floor so I could make a battle pose with a small kunai at hands while Mukuro would summon a katana-like demon sword from thin air, Ichigo would form his hands into silenced machine guns and Momo would summon her three animals. I sharpened my senses, then frowned to a random direction. Damn, to meet her of all people I know here, this is probably fate toying with me again. "Ryuubi-chan, we found you, we can sense you. No need to hide now! Just come out now and we can deal with this as fast as possible!"

And for that... Silence. No words exchanged, no sound coming from anywhere. Only the sound of the war happening right behind our back, yet nothing else. My hands were still tightly gripping my kunai, and I could hear Mukuro sniff the air a few times and then blink in realization. I can sense that monkey sense as well, and before I eyes, right in front of the entrance to the old building, a gust of wind strong enough to lift a curtain of dust came in a sudden way, and from within, after a few seconds of waiting, I could see a silhouette, a very known silhouette. Even with one eye covered, I can see her. Her pink long and wild hair, her equally pink eyes and fair skin, black tracksuit that couldn't hide her curvilinear and busty figure, and that daring smile, so daring it pisses me off. The elder sister of Lavinia Allocer's first Rook, the descendant of the Great conqueror of the Three Kingdoms, Ryuubi Gentoku, student of the monkey king, Son Goku. She smiles...

"Salutations and greetings, Annabelle-dono. I see that you brought new acquaintances as well, how delightful." She smiles, and I could help but smirk as her flowery speech always gets me. Mukuro on the other hand is completely baffled by Ryuubi-chan's sudden appearance, while her eyes would ogle that fit yet womanly body.

"Whoa~, just by looking at her it makes me wanna do some pushups and lift some weight~!" The werewolf girl commented with a bit of drool out of her mouth, making the monkey princess puff her already giant boobs in pride, her smile turning now into a prideful smirk. Mukuro then lowered her weapon and turned to me. "Annie-san, you never told me that 'Ryuubi'-san is actually Saiki Reika! You saying that she trained under the Monkey King with her sister, had me thinking she was hideous!"

"I know, right? Who could've thought you could end up such a hottie training under an over-sized monkey. Even I can't believe it, And I'm a ninja." Now Ryuubi-Chan's nose was growing up to impossible lengths with all that praise, and honestly who could blame her. Enough of eating her out with our eyes, I stomped the floor once more to draw her attention, and began to walk towards the entrance. "But that aside, move aside, Ryuubi-chan. If you know what's good for you, you won't stop me."

"Ohoh~, so what Lu Long said about your defection is true, all things considered. Very well, then." The pinkerette then jumps to cross her legs in midair and clash onto the floor, like a Butsu would, and crossed her arms under her giant bosom as she picks a small glass of sake from between her boobs, likewise two other cups. Wait, what? "Care to share your adventures with yours truly with a glass of sake? As comrades and former acquaintances, we can offer each other so much!"

"..."

"So... You left this kind of people for your goal, Annie-san?" Mukuro pouted seeing how nice Miss Three Kingdoms has been, and even so, just like her master, I can see far from the deception of words. And there was none, she was dumb as a primate, so much to pour some sake into her cup and drink it in one gulp, benching a cloud of smoke out of her system afterwards. I roll my eyes, turning back to her.

"I know what this looks like, Mukuro, but don't be fooled. Ryuubi-chan is the kind of person no one should ever be like." I state, frowning as Ryuubi-chan stops with her drinking and turn her eyes to us. I snickered, apprentice of the Monkey King or not, she's the kind of person I can't be like. I won't be like. "I admit. She's pretty, she's strong, she's smart, but by the end of the day, she rather laze around, play games and eat with people than search for any greater purpose. She's already on her twenties, yet chose to stick with a Group like Allocers' just to find some excitement around and walk the earth, like someone who doesn't care, but to also look after her sister. I'm not like this, I reach for higher grounds. Otherwise... It's not different from being dead."

"Aye, Annie-san..." Mukuro nodded, taking her time to digest all of my ambition and slaps against the monkey girl in front of us. Ryuubi-chan, on the other hand, snickered as well, making me blink in surprise, only to sigh. Of course, taunting won't work on her so easily.

"Well, it seems that your pilgrimage has taught you some new perspectives about yourself and others, Annabelle-dono." Ryuubi-chan declares, putting her glass of rice wine down, taking a deep breath. I reached for behind my back, ready to pick up that for a possible fight, but instead, she shot her head hack, then forward, and smiled, a smile that reflects nothing but motherly love, for some reason. But then changed to something quite bitter and sorrowful. "Congratulations for seeing beyond the most of your own mind. However, I must say, it pains me to hear such harsh words against yours truly."

"Tch, Liar." I muttered, and from her faux pained expression, came a smile.

"Hohoh~, still seeing through deception, I see." She says, laughing out loud. I'm losing my time here, I can hear the steps of that ghoul armies marching all the way here, and if papa or nii-san just so happens to be the line of the defense, I'll be caught in the crossfire, and all of my plans will go down the drain. Ryuubi-chan, in the other hand, just chuckled yet again. "But again, I can see through yours as well, Annabelle-dono. And I'm fairly positive that you do not want to harm me. Because you cannot, and don't want to."

"..." I gulped, taking a small breath to rethink and maintain control over my mind. No, she's just toying with me. 'Cannot'? Let's see about that! 'Don't want to'?! That's... Below me. It'll just make me waste time. I open a smile and walk towards her, Mukuro-san following me suit. "Yeah, right. Ryuubi-chan, I have no intention in wasting my time here with you. I have more important things to attend to and, unlike you, time does not give me time to waste!"

"Time won't go anywhere, Annabelle-dono. But I must praise your tenacity. It is indeed remarkable." She says, taking one last drop of sake and throwing both the bottle and the cup away, taking another sigh and smoke out of her breath. Mukuro moans in awe, while I could only sigh. It's not like I've abandoned them. "It's a pity is going for the waste, abandoning us like that..."

"SHUT UP!" I yell startling her, Mukuro, Ichigo, Momo, even myself, for that outburst. Arah? what's that about? Suddenly shouting like I'm some kind of harem series protagonist? I look at her, and that smile is really starting to piss me off! Is she reading my entries or something?! No, I need to stay calm, going overdrive will only make things worse. I take another breath. "Ryuubi-chan, I did not abandon you all. I didn't, and I won't. However, I will become the Vampire King, whatever you like it or not. And since my idiot... Brother got stuck in Kuoh, I had to vanish for a while..."

"Is that so, I wonder." She says, now standing up and stretching herself. Again, we readied ourselves for a possible combat, but again she smiles at us, taking a few steps back and cracking her neck. In the end, she looks at us once again. "And... Are you happy about it?"

"..."

"Are you, Annabelle-dono?" She asks again. "Do you miss... Lu Long? Master Lavinia? Campbell-dono? Akabane-sama? My sister? Shoda-sama? Takesh... All of your friends in Kuoh Academy, all of their shenanigans? I shall be immensely saddened if your answer is a negative one."

"I... I do miss them." I honestly say. Heh, what the hell? What can I say? I do miss those idiots and their jokes, and to be fair, I would still be sticking with them if was not for that idiot big bro of mine. I do miss a warm bed, some good food, someone to laugh at and feel superior to. But then, dragon started to grow stronger... And being defeated in that lame way back in The Golden week... Shit. I shot my eyes back at her. "But if I would stick with them, growing lazy, while everybody grows stronger, and losing grip of what I really want... Look, Ryuubi-chan. I won't go back! Don't try to convince me! Until I become the Vampire King, I can't face everybody like this! That was my objective from the start, to grow stronger and become the next Vampire King! And if I have to sacrifice my happiness for that, so be it!"

"And... Are you fine with that?"

"It doesn't matter! On the long run, everything will be worth it. I'll be the Vampire King, the Kaguya and everything will be settled straight. That has been my objective from the start, and to think I almost lost control over is... Is..." I sigh, cursing how I was led by her to fall into that same trap. Why? How? I hate this. I feel a warm hand descend upon my shoulder, I look around, and Mukuro is there, comforting me. Huh, pathetic. If I have to face the vampire lord like that, he'll laugh to death instead. In the end, I heard a huff of sigh, and turned back to Ryuubi-chan, who hopped aside from the entrance.

"Your eyes, they have a certain shine. A shine of complete yet trembling resolution. I can't say I dislike it." She moans under her breath, then smiles, another smile of genuine and motherly love. I close one of my eyes since it got a little itchy, but when I was about to say something again, she stops me with a finger on her lips. "Very well. Annabelle Helsing-dono, your courage and resolution has reached me. Even in the face of danger and responsibility, you stood strong and never wavered at my sight. As a token of my respect for thou, I shall allow your passage into the road leading to the Vampire King."

"Eh...?" My voice died inside my mouth, and the only thing that came was that surprised gasp. Wait, what? So easily? I turned back to Mukuro and Ichigo so I could be certain of what she just said and, really, the nod she gave me was a dead giveaway. Wow, I know that her pride and ideals are a little messed-up, but this is going a little too far even for her. I blinked once, bewildered, against her open smile. "Wait, come again, Ryuubi-chan?"

"Do not let my current position as a bodyguard make you I will throw away my pride and admiration for you, Annabelle-dono." She gives me a light wink, now sitting down on the ground and letting herself rest a little, elbows on knees and hands cupping her face, whistling nonchalantly. I hesitate, she notices it. "I love your spirit, Annabelle-dono. And as a token of my admiration, I shall let you pass without my interoperation. You will already face problems of bigger magnitudes than yours truly, so I will not break your spirit as for now. Just promise me... You will return to the embrace of Lavinia Allocer once you become the highest Vampire in existence."

And then, silence. I'm stunned, Ryuubi-Chan is quiet and immobile as a statue, and Mukuro is as equally as surprised. I guess... that's Ryuubi-chan for you. 'In love with my spirit'? This is so lame, but even so, I can't stop blushing for it. But her last question did get me. To return to Allocer as her knight, after becoming the Vampire King... Hahah... What a stupid question. Why would I? I am already in the way to become the leader of the Hanzō village and the next Kaguya, the strongest Ninja Alive, and when I become the Vampire King, nothing shall stop me. Why would I ever return in being Allocer's Knight? I won't need her protection anymore after those, what a stupid question! But again... Ah, maybe just this time, I'll humour her. After all, those months... Weren't that bad.

"I'll... Return, of course. Once a devil, always a devil, even as a Leader." I said, but then, out of the sudden, my voice slips on the last words, and for some reason, I feel like saying something else. I feel warm now, yet I could hold my words before anything else could come out. I take another deep breath, and started to walk to the entrance to Kuoh Academy. I signed for Mukuro and the others to follow me, and without a doubt she did. When I reached the front of her, I took a quick glance at her serene self, and gave her a V-sign. "After all... I think that being a Maou sounds neat too."

"Certainly." She smiles, and I returned to my walk to the entrance, to reach my ultimate destiny. In one second, Momo, whos been quiet the whole time, then called for me.

"Hey, Annie-san, dont you think that's fishy? I mean, letting us go to assassinate someone like that? I think it's really fishy~." She says in a lower tone as we so casually pass around the empress of the three kingdoms, so cheerfully waiting for the army that is coming to our direction. I pay her no mind. I mean, my eye is stuck on her as we pass through, for sure, but not for a single second I can see any form of animosity coming from her. On the contrary, all I feel is pure moroseness. But again, that time with Allocer is what made me change the eye in the first place. Mukuro then pointed at one of her eyes. "I think you best... Y'know, just to make sure."

"I'm aware of that. I just need some space from us and her. You better watch it too, Mukuro." I whisper back, returning my walk away from Ryuubi-Chan's stare and presence. As told, I'm not the old-Annabelle Helsing anymore, with my new trustworthy allies and a definitive solution for my only flaw, no one shall stop me from becoming the Vampire King. Just a few steps, just a more few steps. I have to stay calm, keep my cardio under control and make her suspect nothing. In the end, after a good distance was drawn between us, I stop on my tracks, gesticulate for Mukuro to give space and turned around, teaching for my eyepatch. No more ms. Nice Annie, this is my ultimate weapon. "Ryuubi-chan, I'm sorry, but this is I-...!"

**\*VUPT!\***

"Ara...?" But when I was about to use That, I stop mid track when I notice something missing: Ryuubi-chan, whose presence was all there when I turned around, in a split of a second, disappeared completely! Not even a spec of dust from her previous location, she just disappeared without a trace! I wide my eye, hand still on my eyepatch for a possible use, as I could only frenetically look around for her! C'mon! Just one stare! One stare! "Ryuubi-chan, you cheater! Let me look at you...!"

"Annie-san! Watch out!"

**\*VUPT!\***

"Huh...?!"

"Too slow, Mukuro-dono...!"

"Damnit! *Summoning weapon: WAR FAN*!"

**\*PUNCH!\***

**\*DOOOOOOOON!\***

**\*FLASH!\***

She underestimates me and my ninja instincts. I took us just two seconds, two fast seconds, but the moment Mukuro tried to protect me, Ryuubi-chan leaped again to our back, ready to strike. In the last second, I summoned mum's weapon for protection and then used that on her! The impact she left on the war fan was immense, so much me and Mukuro were tossed back, but fortunately due to her Sacred Gear, we stopped not very far away! Shit, my eye is bleeding, and using that two times in a same hour is exhausting, but I think... I think this is enough. I did it, I looked at her, this is enough... Now, for the Vampire Kin-...!

"Annabelle-dono, that wasn't very acceptable. Truly, even ninjas ought to have some honour in a battlefield, although seeing through my deceptions has been also a weak tactic for me." My blood froze hearing those words. Her words. I used my legs to stand up from my kneeling position to take a pineal from upwards my current weapon, and all I saw was a curtain of dust. However, when it cleaned up, I could see from within some Golden aura surrounding a tall and busty silhouette. When it finally cleared, there she was, Ryuubi-chan, wearing a Touki coat all over her body and in a defensive pose, with just one arm turned into stone. She peeks between her arms, then look at her petrified one. "As suspected, that eye of yours was not claimed. Rather, you seem to have acquired an interesting weapon for your arsenal. A **Gorgon eye**, I presume? Not to mention, that **war fan**..."

Just hearing that makes my eye twitch and burn. Yes, she's right, she's one hundred percent right. I remember that one time with Allocer, and that other time with Big sister boobs, and that time with blond dragon boobs. All getting the upper hand, just because I got distracted for a second, a small second. Well, guess what? No more, because once you're turned into stone, it's over. No more second chances, no more slips into defense, it just takes one stare from it to make sure I've won, definitely. But this thing costs me too much ki, and for her to defend herself using Touki it's just... Lame! Fortunately, I got my gigantic War Fan**(Gunbai Uchiwa)** to protect me. The symbol of Mom's authority over the Ninja Village of the Hot Springs said to be the ultimate ninja shield, I stole it from her since she's not guarding her office now that she's here in Kuoh. And with those weapons, I'm invincible... Or at least I thought I would be. Mukuro stands up right next to me, summoning a greatsword, and smirked to the general of the three kingdoms, who returned the kindness with a warm smile.

"My, take a look at this. Annie-san wasn't kidding, you guys sure do put your everything at work! It makes me kinda excited too, really!" She speaks, readying her Sword. Ryuubi-Chan's smile then drops and what remains is a doubtful and dumbfounded face.

"My, oh my? Mukuro-san, are you intending to clash fists with yours truly?" The pinkerette asks with an uncertain expression, taking small glimpse at Mukuro's sword. "Certainly, you have no business into our affairs, and I can't guarantee your safety while in the heart of our confrontation. If you hold your life dear, please withdraw. Or else..."

"Nah, I don't want to go back and watch Toriko with my brothers. This is way more exciting." She smiles, turning her head around to face me so I can see her pearly whites. I can feel that strange heat on me again. What in the world? She turns back at Ryuubi-chan. "I always thought I was a freak for being born with those things and having been attacked by a werewolf. Even when my brothers and parents were totally cool with it, heing something you can't understand was quite scary. Now that I see that are freaks out there worse than I, how can I say... it's lottsa cool!"

"Is that so?" Ryuubi-Chan's eyes turned bright pink with Mukuro's words. "Then, maybe perhaps you and your comrades want to join our family, the Peerage of Lavinia Allocer? I promise you, there's a lot of excitement waiting for you at it. Our master is a fountain of exquisite encounters, and our Queen doesn't fault too much behind. Plus, Annabelle-dono shall come with it as well. I promise you, every night shall be tonight..."

"Eh, I think I'll pass for now. Annie-san helped me out, so I can only give her that much as a thanks. After all, a Miyamoto don't turn back on it's words!"

"*Miyamoto*...?"

"No relation!" She lifts a finger for that small warning, and Ryuubi-Chan giggles for her reaction, right on track! In the end, Mukuro turns to me and tilts her head forward, while summoning a Sword to pass it to me. "Annie-san, your eye got busted, so I guess miss Pink-hair won't be falling for that again. Ichigo, Momo and I'll try to keep her busy then, you go ahead and becoming the Vampire King or whatever. Plus, save a bit of gold for me."

"M-Mukuro...?" A-Ara? What is this now? Ryuubi-chan calling us family, and now Mukuro showing that side of hers for me. This is so strange, so freaky, but for some reason, I'm not... Scared, not at all. I pick that demon werewolf sword on the ground, feeling all the eerie aura around it since it's a lycanthropic Sword, and sighed. I smile was drawn on my face. For some reason, I'm really feeling pumped up now! "Okay... Let's go!"

"How romantic, such display of affection. I can sense all of your ambitions overflowing from within! Very well then! I shall show you my power, so please...!" Ryuubi-chan took a deep breath, and in a second, all of the aura around her expanded so much it blew a few bit of dust around! So much energy! However, the most surprising part came next: suddenly, I could see cracks around her petrified arm, all opening and getting bigger and larger for every wave of energy coming from her! In the end, it spread all over her arm, and then it bursted open! But instead of shattering her arm, what came from inside was a new member, all shiny and covered in natural energy! She... She broke the Gorgon curse with **Touki Alone**! What?! "... **SHOW ME THE EXTEND OF YOUR OWN DETERMINATIONS**!"

And then she came! In a step faster than I could see, she passed right through Mukuro's and Ichigo's defenses and reached me in a flash, her monkey staff at hand ready to strike! I lifted the War fan for the upcoming clash! But instead **\*CLANG!\*** there was the sound of metal clashing, much for my surprise! Mukuro didn't slow down either as she was already in her ruffian werewolf form with wolf ears, legs and tail with a sword defending me from Ryuubi-Chan! They clashed, they faced each other, the pushed each other away! Still overflowing with power, the pinkerette landed then leaped towards us yet again!

"I see! I werebeast, a homunculus, a descendent of a culture hero, another good inclusions in your arsenal, Annabelle-dono! But I shall not allow them to step in the conference!" She said, clashing weapons again with Mukuro! They stop in a suspenseful stalemate of weapons, then in a blink, blades started to go left and right, slashes and bumps appeared all over the place, too fast for the eye! Cut after cut, hit after hit, there was no remorse or mercy on either side, they were equally matched! However, I saw it! In a glimpse of that second, I saw it! "Now! *Ba Ji..*.!"

**\*CLANG!\***

"What the...?!" For a split of a second, Ryuubi-chan used her staff as a distraction, and using her legs, she kicked it in a way that would clash against Mukuro's blade, making her spread her arms and leave herself wide open! In another flash, she flexes, she charges, then she stomps the floor, so hard it creates a crater there, and aims for Mukuro's body! Damnit, so much power! I have to...!

"... *QUAN*!"

**\*PUNCH!\***

"Not so fast!" But I was faster! I used all of my strengths to reach them, and using my war fan, shielded Mukuro from the massive attack of Ryuubi's fist! No doubt, she's using Hakkyokuken, and seeing that she's strong as a middle-class Rook, plus using Sage Arts like that, that one would be an ugly hit! Even with the so-called ultimate ninja shield, the blow was intense, so much it bursted both parties away with the clash! I rolled in midair and landed on a three-point, while Ryuubi-chan lost her weapon and was rolling around uncontrollably. Now's my chance! I hand-signed at light speed, then filled my lungs with air to then spit a chilly storm of ice! "Ninja art: Winter Collapse!"

"Hah! HAH!" The cold air and freezing temperature was about to reach and stop Ryuubi-chan, but then she stopped her rolling herself, and before it could freeze her in place, **\*DON!\***, she stomps the floor in such a way the ground beneath levels itself against and clashes with the freezing floor! Another move, she punches the air, and the massive pressure was enough to blow the remaining cold air away! What was left was the image of Ryuubi-chan, covered in a gold aura, surrounded by snow crystals while a stage of pure ice surrounded her figure! Gosh damnit, she's so damn cool sometimes! Where's the lazy and lame Ryuubi-chan?! "Truly, your skills are one of a kind, Annabelle-dono. I can feel them with every inch!"

"Feel this, then! **BLADE BURST**!" And our of nowhere, dozens upon dozens of blades emerged from the ground below Ryuubi-chan ready to stab her! She jumps out of the way up in the air, away from the reach of the edges, which followed her shadow suit until she landed, pursuing her figure throughout the floor while all she could do was dodge and retreat! However, again she stomps hard on the floor and kicks the air with an enormous pressure, causing all the edges to either break or be blown away! In another glimpse, before she could reach the ground, Mukuro appears out of the floor carrying five swords with her members and tails and clashes her blades against the Chinese boobs. "Hah! No support for your Hakkyokuken now, huh?! A breach!"

"Not... Bad!" And once separated, Mukuro started a barrage of slashes and kicks against Ryuubi-chan, not letting her even for a minute touch her feet on the ground! No place for her Hakkyokuken, and her defense and Touki are dropping by the second! That's my chance! I leap towards them with my own weapon and started another barrage against her! Weapons all over the place, slashes and cuts everywhere! We're doing it! We're with the upper hand! Even with her ever expression, I can see her swearing in frustration, after so long, we're cutting through her defenses! "My, oh my! This is getting... Rather Troublesome...!"

"And you'll be in even more trouble now!"

In the end, Mukuro, Ichigo and I clashed weapons with Ryuubi-Chan's arms while Momo was supporting us, which then bursted with blood with overuse, and then there was a pause. A second turned into a full eternity while my eyes caught in slow motion Ryuubi-Chan's last attempt to reach the ground. It was so fast, she thought I would be distracted again with such small victory I would make a breach in my defense and give her a free pass, but not this time! In that split second, I let go of the war fan, and slipped underneath her before her foot could reach the ground, tripping her again by kicking right on her balance bone. She slipped, she fell, but before her body could reach the ground, a myriad of Swords came from it instead and bedded her in a flood of blades courtesy of Mukuro. It didn't pierce her iron skin, didn't need to, it trapped her body in that forest of blades instead, leaving no room in that cushion of edges and blades for movement or tricks, and so she was trapped, like a mouse on a water tank! That's it, this is the final move! I jump upwards right on top of the forest of swords, reached for my eyepatch and look directly at her! Yes! My final move! This is the end!

"This is the end, Ryuubi-ch-...!"

**\*BOOOOOOOOM!\***

But it didn't came to be. In that moment the gorgon eye would stare and petrify her, an explosion of dire darkness instead took place, blowing me and the rest of the swords away. What the hell? What was that? I was at lost of words as my body would limply he tossed around after that explosion of energy, and didn't fall onto the earth because Mukuro caught me midair, landing me safely...

"What the hell was that? Annie-san?!" She asks me, I could see her now silver hair with two ruffian ears sprouting from her head and slitted pupils looking directly at me. It's kinda cute. I dismissed her care as I jumped away and stood on my own, but my vision was too blurry to see anything, in the end, I look back at Mukuro, and she was staring at a direction with a horrified expression on her face. "W-What... What is that?"

I said nothing, only looked at the direction her body was pointing at, and a gasp of surprise also escaped my lips. From the ground zero of that massive explosion, we saw something quite new: Ryuubi-chan, the General Demon is the Three Kingdoms romance stood right there, at the heart of that explosion, but something has changed: her pink hair, which was neat and proper most of the time, has become a true mane of unruly pointy and sharp edges, her muscular figure was now covered in several black tribal-like marks, her pink eyes has turned into the darkest shade of red, and two demonic-like horns were sprouting out of her head. What the... She looks even more like a devil now! She looks at her own hand, grip it a few times, then her eyes wide while a sigh of tiredness escaped her lips. She turns right back at me, her stare being so intense it was almost physical at me.

"Oh my, it looks like you've made me reach Such peak, Annabelle-dono. To think your determination would make me turn this way." That's not Ryuubi-Chan's voice, it's too deep and powerful to be hers. Yet that tone remains the same as hers, soothing and calm, if not a bit regretful. In the end, however, her calm expression vanishes, and instead she opens her mouth, now a jaw full of sharp, pointy fangs! What is that?! "But again... Feeling the whole world's malice is an indescribable joy!"

"Whole world's malice...?" I sigh under my breath. What is that? I can feel Ryuubi-Chan's aura, but this time is so dense and malevolent... It feels like she has just absorbed pure evil into her entire being. She let out a laugh of deranged joy, then smashed her fists together, the impact being enough to burst her hands apart, but in another instant, they regenerated completely! What the?! Is that... Touki?! No, it's too malevolent to be just Touki. "Ryuubi-chan...?"

"Now, Annabelle-dono, Mukuro-dono, Ichigo-dono, Momo-dono! Come! Come and face the ultimate form of The sage arts, the forbidden art...!" And then a black aura surrounded her, much more like Touki, But the evil in it was practically using from her. She put herself in a fighting pose, and while we prepared for the clash, she spoke. "The forbidden art... Of the Evil Fist!"

Evil Fist... **Jaken**... Don't tell me... I thought it was just a myth, but she's using it right in front of me! The Jaken... The power to use Sage Arts...

And fuel itself with all the *evil of the world* instead...

"Mukuro! If you and your comrades want to run, it's your chance! She's... No longer playing around!"

"As if! This is getting exciting! Let's see what this Jaken or whatever is!" She spoke, picking a flask of my blood from her jacket and gulping it down her system, making all of her wounds instantly clear as her form became more feral, like a true werewolf! Of course, when a werewolf drinks the blood of vampire, their natural enemy, it can only mean one thing: "**HYSTERIA MODUS!** ENGAGE!"

"Tch... Suit yourself." I said, picking up my War fan and ready to hide behind Mukuro and for my own goal, and the demonic Ryuubi-chan in the middle.

Gosh, this is going to be a long night for sure...

.

~~x~~

.

So this whole thing regarding the peace conference between vampires and Devils was all a ruse, a fraud, an idea the Vampire King had to get rid of Berolina-san, Aubrey-san and kaichou while using his own children's delusions and desire to become Kings and shift the blame elsewhere. No matter how many times I repeat what Akatsuki-san just said to me inside my head, I get more and more confused and frustrated with it! So he knew it was going to have an invasion, yet decided the conference anyway to kill kaichou, Aubrey-san and Berolina-san while shifting the blame on his children! Does Lord Desmond and Alucard know about this?! Does Haruka-sama know about this?! DOES REIKA KNOWS ABOUT THIS?! I know I don't want the answers for that! But even so... EVEN SO...!

"**FUCK**!" I punch the floor beneath my body, not being able to coup with all that information?! What do people know?! What they don't know?! Is Berolina-san playing her games again? What am I saying, of course not, she's the target, but even so...!

"Keep It down, brass dragon. Or else the ghouls will find us!" Akatsuki-san, Who, with the bodyless Deucalion, was now trying to figure it out how to 'unpetrify' our comrades, says to me. We're currently at the edge of the barrier, free and away from that army of ghouls, orcs and the Nosferatu siblings marching all the way to the old building, with her messing with some runes and magic to bring our comrades back to normal while I'm here guarding her. The brass dragon says I'm still unable to enter Balance Breaker, so going inside and face the enemy now alone would be suicidal! Worst of all, it wasn't my own mind which figured that out, Akatsuki-san had to hit me hard on the head so I wouldn't leap towards the old building and smash those geezers into oblivion! I grunted. "Calm down, focus on the mission, Brass Dragon. Then you can go and strangle those bloodsuckers to your heart's content. For now, keep it down and survive."

"Tch..." Damn it, why can't I be the one in the right for once? This is getting so annoying. But she's right again, I have to calm down. I take a deep and long breath, then turn to her, Ix still on support on my shoulder. "How Long is it gonna take? We've been here for over half an hour!"

"Sorry for that, but for a while! This kind of Greek magic is very old and antiquated. Even when I know it's a Gorgon curse, it takes some time to figure how those things work!" She says with a sweat running down her face. Wow, she looks so mature now. I shut myself up with that scold, continuing to look around and scan the surroundings. It's quiet, too quiet... huh, never thought I would say that. "Damn it, I wish Master Anakim or even Shirayuri were here to work that out! Master Anakim's the one with the genius genes, she would be able to...!"

**\*CRACK!\***

"Ah..."

"Eh...?" What... What was that? I mean, I might imagining things, I think I just heard he sound of rock, statue rock cracking, in such loud and clear way it might be a pretty ugly crack. But I must be imagining things. I mean, I barely know Akatsuki-san, but she wouldn't the type that would... Crack our own comrades' Stone-selves like that! "AKATSUKI-SAN...!"

"Hey! Don't look at me, I didn't do anything!" She says, but when I turned around just to make things sure, I saw a huge crack on Miyu's and Sanada-senpai's statues! Oh crap, this looks bad! What the hell?! Is she betraying us too?! No, wait, wait! It's just a crack, as long as the statues remain intact, there's a way to bring them back! It's not like they'll die if we break them apart... Right? **\*CRACK!\***, oh shit! "A-A-Ah! No good! No good at all! I don't know what's happening, but it can't be good!"

"You think?!" I exasperated at her while she would summon dozen more runes around the two cracking statues and move her hands at high speed. Oh gosh, not now! What kind of development is this?! Another character death so that the plot can move on?! This doesn't make any sense, I barely know them, It can't have plot development with underdeveloped characters! One crack after another, this is really getting out of hand for us! It's spread all over the statues! "Akatsuki-san! Hurry up and help them! If this continues...!"

"I'm trying! I'm trying!" She says moving her hands in lightspeed! All the runes doing a thing or two, but it was too late. In the end, the cracks and breaks has spread all over the statues, and something started to happen. There was a pause, and then, the bursted open in an explosion of dust and rocks! Oh no! Oh no! "H-Hideyoshi...!"

"Miyuu...!"

**"FUUUUUUUUUUCK YOOOOOOOOOOU, FAAAAAAAAAKEEEEEER...!"**

**"啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊...!"**

"..."

"..."

"**W**-Wait? Hah? Where's... That werewolf faker?"

"E-Eh? Zenji? Where... Where am I?"

"..."

"Ah! They hatched."

"Tch, Shut up Deucalion. You're just a head!"

What the hell is even going on anymore?!

### Ch. ???: Fanatic

Ah man, things are really heating up around here...

Even from here, at the top of Kuou academy, I can smell the stench of the ghoul army Lady and Lord Nosferatu unleashed around the perimeter, and from the explosions and blasts of power coming from all directions, I am almost certain that either brother Esther, brother Alucard or Annabelle are showing off their skills against the Allocer, Gremory or Sitri groups, as father said they would. They talk and brag about being descendants of the noble vampire house of Helsing, but by the end of the night they're just a trio of knuckleheaded hooligans, no wonder father's getting grey hair so earlier...

And what about me, the third son of the so-called 'illustrious prime-minister of the Vampire Kingdom and the right-hand man of the vampire king Sheridan Nosferatu', William Helsing? I'm just minding my own business here on top of the main Kuoh building, drinking some blood from my beloved thermos and seeing hell quite literally rising down there. As the son of the Prime-minister and the official bodyguard of the Nosferatu siblings, I should be there helping them take over Kuoh and kill Lord Nosferatu for a new vampiric Era to take place...

But nah. Too much work, and unlike my troublemaking brothers and half-sister, I abhor direct confrontation. Screaming attacks, boasting titles and names, doing stupid entrances and poses? Not for me, no sir. Even during wars such as that I prefer to stand a certain level of elegance and grace. So I shall do what I always do: watch how things go from the backstage, and when the dust settles and everyone is tired to the bone, I jump into frame in the last second and break some necks to finish the job...

Annie and Esther call it 'cowardice', Alucard and I call it 'strategic standing'...

So yes, I shall hang low and watch the madness that unfolds down there. Since nobody is paying attention here, nor want for those ghouls to reach here anyway, I am safe for the time being. So I should just sit down, relax, drink some blood from my thermos and wait for my cue, either to finish the job of save lady and Lord Black in the last moment. I might be a vampire, but to lower myself on the battlefield would also lower my status as a functional being, so I refuse to do such.

...

Strange, why do I get the feeling that someone or something is watching m-...?

"*SITRI RIDEEEEEEEEER... KICK*!"

**\*DOOOOON!\***

"Holy shit...!" And from the curtain of dust that move created I emerged, running as fast as possible from the ground Zero! What the hell was that all about?! If that attack had hit me, I'd be history by now! I turned my head to the direction of that explosion only to see something or someone jump from the dust cloud it formed and land right on top of the clock tower, the purplish dark sky hiding all the features of the mysterious figure besides her female frame. "Who... Who the hell are you?!"

"I... Am the dark light that scares off the darkness and protect the light! The devilish goddess of power and elegance, the spawn of the Sitri and the Black Dragon King... SERENA SITRI!" And just like in those cheap live-action shows, an explosion of lights emerged from behind her figure, and from it I could see the devil standing there: a voluptuous, scandalous young woman of long black hair and brown eyes, fair skin and the stench of a devil, doing an extremely campy pose. See, this is the type of thing I hate very much! She then pointed a finger at me, her eyes in a daring stare. "And I can assume you're up to no good. I know this school and its students and staff like the palm of my hand, and I know for sure you're not from here! So speak, evildoer! I might get generous in your punishment!"

"Tch...!" Well, there goes my plan to stay in the shadows and wait for a breach for a turnabout entrance! She did say Sitri, so she's without a doubt one of the devils in charge of this place like Sir Nosferatu said, which means she might be strong, very strong. Oh no, I was hoping to stay low as much as possible, but it seems that my only choice now is... To run away! "Screw this! Bye!"

"Wait, what?!" And I didn't even leave one last goodbye, I just turned around and skedaddled away from her! Hell if I'm going to face her on my own like that, this is not my turf nor my usual strategy! The best I can do now is retreat and regroup! To my misfortune, Serena Sitri followed me suit! "Where's your pride in your race and powers, vampiric evildoer?! Come here and face me like one of yours would! Let's clash our ideals and see who's on the right this time!"

"Hell no, sister! Unlike you barbaric devils, I'm more on the strategical side of warfare! Direct confrontation is not on my book, sorry!" I said to her, both fingers pointed at her as she chased after me like a rabid animal! In a move of mild desperation, I cut the tip of my finger and formed a blood bubble ball from it, tossing it against her. "Look, leave me alone for now! I don't wanna fight you, I'm here just to kill people! I'll give you some of my blood balls just so you can leave me alone!"

"What? A ball of blood? That's it?!" She says, eyes turned to the small blood orb that was floating away like a soap bubble to her direction. She didn't even want to pay any attention to it, neither try to reach it or hit it down, she just dodged it and resumed her chase! "Sorry, but I'm not that stupid to underestimate this cute thingy! I'll just dodge it and then...!"

"Okay, your loss, Serena Sitri." And she took notice of my change of expressions and tone and turned around, but it was too late: I snapped my fingers once and that little ball of blood suddenly grew minuscule and then exploded in a firework of blood needles, piercing and launching Serena Sitri away. That's what you get when you mess with William Helsing, dear. I stop on my tracks and turn back to her, who was still using her arms bloody arms as shields after that. "**[Blood Royal]**, my inherited ability to control my own blood and change it to any shape or state I want. The name's very tacky, but for a vampire noble like me, it gets the job done. You shouldn't underestimate me entirely, dear Serena Sitri, otherwise you get wrecked just like that."

"Point... taken." She whispers, and then her eyes shine brightly with a certain hope to defeat me. I grimace at her, and without losing a second thought I toss another blood ball at her! However, she stands up and from her palm she summons a water whip to slash my red sphere in two pieces! "Like I said, point taken! Now that I've seen your ability, it's time for me to show you mine...!"

"Like I said, you underestimate a Helsing, you get wrecked, Serena Sitri!" I said with another snap of my fingers, and then the two elliptical red balls start to spin on their own, spinning and spinning so fast they turn instead into saucers, almost red rings considering how fast they were spinning! I snap one more time and then both launch themselves against a surprised Sitri, who tried to slash them again with her whip, only to turn now into four bloody saucers! I turn around since, like I said, I have too much class, even to see carnage. This match is already over. "Honestly, you devils..."

**\*SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!\***

"... Have no class at all."

...

**\*DON!\***

"*EEEEEEEK*...!" What the hell is now?! I thought I could just come down and hide like I was suppose to, but instead something came down and hit me on the back, launching my body forwards and making me fall on my belly! I soon recompose myself, shake the pain away and turned around to face my defeated nemesis only to gasp in horror. She was still standing, and now has massive giant snowflake-shaped ice surrounding her! What?! "Oi oi oi, what the hell is that?! I thought I was done with you!"

"Yo thought wrong, evildoer!" She smiles, lifting both of her hands just to show me four small red rings that were frozen in between her cut fingers, soon smashing them to pieces between them. Wait, are those... My blood saucers?! "Blood... Is still a liquid, right? So all I have to do is freeze them a little so that they enter my domain. A person like you has like... What? 5 liters of blood in your body? For I have the entire humidity under my command! I am the dark flame... And the empress of ice, Serena Sitri!"

"..." Oh boy, I was not expecting this! I don't even need a mirror now (mostly because I don't have a reflection to begin with but whatever) to know I'm sweating buckets and making an undignified face just by looking at her. This is the part where a normal vampire would launch a suicide attack out of pride even if he is pissing himself out of fear... But not me! William Helsing is getting the fuck out! "Okay nice, so then bye! See ya later!"

"ARE YOU SERIOUSLY RETREATING AGAIN?! THAT'S NOT FUN, VAMPIRE!" She claims, chasing me yet again with her snowflake discs and frozen droplets of blood following suit. Oh shit, oh shit! Leave me alone, you devil lady! This is honestly a bad day for me! There's no way for it to get any worse! I just need to run away and regroup with Esther and find Annabelle! I just need that! "Sousuke-kun, help...!"

*"GÀE BOLG*!"

What the...?!

**\*ZIIIING~...!\***

"Yeow...!" And for a nail I dodged a crimson spear that appeared out of nowhere, coming from the sky and emanating a deadly aura! However, the scare and the jump were miscalculated, so I ended up tripping and kissing the rooftop floor! When I could stand up and face Serena Sitri again, I could see another figure: a bleached-haired smiling doofus unsticking the crimson spear off the floor and scratching his neck apologetically to the dark-haired chick.

"My bad, kaichou. I missed!" He says in a nonchalant way while flipping the spear between his fingers, as if he didn't try to kill the illustrious me! Said Serena Sitri sighed a smile, patting him on the head.

"It's alright, Sousuke-kun. You can try as much as you want." She smiled, and in another second, both of them turned to me with bloodthirsty eyes. This isn't good, this is not good at all~... I just wanted to stay Low and watch hell unfold downstairs, but it seems... I'll have to go to the main line now. I sigh. "So, are you ready to face us or you're gonna flee like before, vampire-kun?"

"Sigh..." I sighed, a hand on my face doing a pensive pose. To join the frontline on a conflict... This is so inelegant and barbaric, and unlike Annie or Esther, this is not my approach as stated before. To make me come to this... I shall give them what they want. "Okay fine, Serena Sitri and other... I shall show you... What I, William Helsing from the illustrious house of Helsing and the bodyguard of the royal family, is capable off, but just don't go regretting it since you're the ones who pushed me that far..."

And then, I could feel my body unfolding into several, dozens, hundreds, thousands of bats as the shadow below my feet start to creep all over the floor and cover the rooftop in a black miasma. This is why I hate going to the frontline, because every time I'm forced to do so, how can I say it...

I end up stealing the whole show.

.

~~x~~

.

'*Rina, have you ever wondered why Zenjirou Sasamoto always seems to land on your bosom or other indecent places when he falls near you? How he seems to trip very often only to land on you like a molester would?'*

*'Hah...? I thought I was just a gag, a joke about him being a harem protagonist?'*

*'Well, that too. But besides that, it is because of the [ability] we inherited from Grandmother Rillumu: [Charisma], the special power to attract. Here, let me show you have you can use it...'*

...

The therianthropy of the **Allocer**...

The nullification and immense magical reserves of the **Vassago**...

The metamorphosis of the **Alastor**...

The ahriman darkness of the **Angra-Mainyu**...

And now, the charisma of the **Paimon**...

... I feel them. I feel them deeply from inside me. All those abilities and powers given to me thanks to my ancestors and parents. Being useful or not, they're a part of me, and now I know, I shall pay my respects to all of them, not just the ones I find it more convenient. I am Lavinia Allocer, and I pay my deepest respects to all the bloodlines that compose what I am!

"Don't get too cocky, Lavinia from the house of Allocer!" I blink once, twice, and even though it is just a blur, I can see him: I can see the son of the illustrious Desmond Helsing, Esther Helsing, preparing an attack against me with his sabre! He makes a pose, stomps firmly on the ground and then comes with a thrusting move! However, as he takes the first step, his body literally pushes itself against me, the sudden move making him lose his composure and miss my throat for an inch! I smile. "What the...?! Again...?!"

"Take this, Esther Helsing!" I declare with a ball of darkness-nullification to his direction! I thought I had him for a second, but he was faster and ducked the upcoming attack, however losing his balance and rolling on the floor like a ball! He soon regains his sense of honor and stops himself on a three-point pose, fangs gritted and sweat running down his face. He's quick on the catch, but apparently does not know how to deal with upfront. I start jumping back and forward, arms in a combat pose. I feel so light right now~! "What's the matter, Esther Helsing? Afraid of a little trick? Not to brag or anything, but I feel like I can defeat you, even if you discovered the mystery behind my [charisma]!"

"Tch... You are really the spawn of a Lucifer and a Grandmaster devil, Lavinia from the house of Allocer." He declares with a serious tone, standing up and dusting his clothes a little only to point his sabre back at my direction again, eyes brimming with killing intent, yet I'm still so light. "Do not mistake my faults as a sign of weakness; I'm just adjusting to this new gimmick you placed on this spar. Once I'm able to withstand it, nothing but defeat and death awaits thee!"

"Then I'll just have to defeat you before that, right?!" I answer back, running to his direction! I extend a hand towards him and from it unleashed a stream of darkness-nullification, tinting everything in a eerie dark tone! Esther Helsing was able to dodge it, ducking to a side and now dashing on my direction! Again, I used charisma to drag him even closer and then he was too close for him sword to even reach me! At this distance, he can't cut or thrust me, but I can attack him! "Now you're mine...!"

**\*VOOOOOSH...!\***

**\*SCREEEECH...!\***

"...?!"

**\*SLASH!\***

"...!" Gah! It hurts! It happened so fast, I didn't even react to it before it was too late: before I could finish him off with a clawed slash or stream of darknull, he simply dodged it away and like a freaking car he drifted a crescent moon under and around me and slashed my back! The pain and surprised made me pull myself forward and kiss the sandy ground, rolling my way to very far so I could recompose myself! Once far enough, I jumped from my rolling pose and stood up facing a now grinning Esther Helsing. Ow, ow, ow~! The hit was superficial, but still hurts~!

"I see~. So this is how it is~." He intones a mellow voice, toying with the tip of his sword, only to turn back to me with a sharpened sight and whip out his weapon once more! "I figure it out now! If mid-range won't work, I shouldn't distance myself, but come as close as possible!"

"Eek...!" And he comes without any warnings or caution, ready for the kill! I use Charisma once more and like before he comes faster than anticipated, both making him on my range and cutting his time short to even form an attack! I tried once again to slash him, but again he escapes my grasp by drifting around me to cut me down! "Kyaaah~...!"

"Oh no, you don't!" But before I could escape, a hand reaches for my collar and instead pulls me closer to him, too close, as if he wants to shove his sword on my throat instead of piercing me with it! I was able to dodge it, just lightly cutting my neck, but once I try to jump and gain some distance, he jumps with me, covering that already! "Why don't you use your charisma now, Allocer? If anything, it'll make my job easier! To throw yourself into my sword!"

"Kh...!" I gasped, not just because he's extremely close to the point it's a bit uncomfortable, but also because he found a weakness on my charisma! As expected from Annie's half-brother, they might be arrogant pricks, but they are sharp, very sharp! I try to fight back with punches, scratches and streams of darknull from my palm, but Esther could see through my moves and dodged all of them, while he sliced me left and right and filled my uniform with holes with his own! Too close! He's too close!

"Child's play. I knew that your charisma was only a temporary bother in my chances of victory. Dealing with devils... It's just child's play!" He declares, pride oozing from his voice as he apparently regained his lost confidence. No wonder, he discovered how to counter my charisma in no time, and he got me cornered, forced to just dodge! But I still... I still! "Give up now, Lavinia from the house of Allocer. I'm really getting bored from your display of immaturity. I've already proved myself superior, so the least you could do is to elegantly admit defeat... And die by the hands of the illustrious Esther Helsing!"

"Shut up!" I roared back! I know! I just have to aim at his most exposed and obvious weak point! He's so on the offensive, he won't even notice! I dodge one more slash from his sword and then extended my left hand against his torso! I will blow his main body to smithereens and end th-...!

**\*VUPT!\***

**\*GRAB!\***

"...?!"

"Game over, Lavinia from the house of Allocer."

"..." I had no words for that. Again, I ended up underestimating him, and it costly me dearly: I was foolish to think he didn't have way to counter a direct him on his main body, and for that, the moment I was about to blow him up right in the stomach, he disappeared from sight, and in another moment, a hand appeared from nowhere to firmly grab me by the wrist of the left hand while a blade appeared right below my chin, lightly touching it. I blinked once, twice, and turn my eyes to my left side, where Esther Helsing was now.

"This is the end, Allocer. Your struggle was amusing, but in the end, it was all in vain compared to the might of yours truly, the son of the vampiric prime minister and bodyguard of the royal Nosferatu family Esther Helsing." He declares with a smirk, I grit my teeth in response. "It's no use. I've covered this blind spot of yours easily, and I've also noticed that for some reason you're unable to fire your power of destruction from your bandaged right arm. Neither your charisma, your claws or your nullification can reach or affect me now, and all I need is a little push from my sabre to end it all. So, do you admit defeat now, Lavinia from the house of Allocer?"

"You...!" I tried to fight back, but he soon shuts me up by rising his blade just a little so my jaw was back in place. The pressure he's putting on his sword is too much, it's even cutting my chin ever so slightly. No matter how much you cut it, I'm trapped in here, and one wrong move means my death!

"Still fighting? You devils really don't know when to quit. It'd be amusing if not also slightly irritating." He declares, pushing his sword further and further into my skin, making blood come from the wound it made. I'm stuck, I'm trapped... I'm at his mercy. "Huhuh, do devils even have a God? A real god, that is? Then you should pray for whatever you believe, because I'm sending you to the otherworld. Any lasts words?"

"..."

"..."

"Hah... Your next line is *'Begging for mercy won't work, but I'll give you a quick death at least*', right?"

"Begging for mercy won't work, but I'll give you a quick death at least..." He laughs under his breath, but then realization hits him like a brick, and he turns his incredulous face to me. "W-What in the world...?!"

"Hahahah~!" Now it was my time to laugh, smiling a catty one at him as his smug expression turns into a frown. I guess I made him mad!

"You dare to make fun of yours truly, the illustrious Esther Helsing?! Die as your kin deserves, child of Allo-...!" And he was about to thrust his sabre further into my body, piercing my skull and killing me instantly, but instead... **\*ZING!\***, all I could feel was a light poke on my chin. It even tickles a little. I turn to him, and his grimace of doubt and surprise didn't vanish, as he tried, with no avail, to pierce me, his sword going back and forth but unable to go close to harm me. "What in the world...?! What kind of sorcery is this...?! A barrier?! A shield?!"

"Not really... Actually..."

**\*ZING~!\***

"It's *strings*." I said, my right hand reaching for my gray hair to pull from there... A string. A thin, almost invisible silver string that was attached to the rest of my hair which went from my scalp all the way to his hand and the grip of his sword, which under closer inspection, was completely wrapped with Alastor strings, too thin for the eye to see, yet remarkably resistant! I pulled the strings on my fingers, and in a move, I forced his sword to turn away from me, while also pulling his arm backwards!

"S-Strings?! How... When...?!" He started to question, but then as realization comes to him, he blinks once in surprise and shock. Yes! While he was too busy dodging my seemingly harmless attacks and boasting how awesome his own were, I might have used the opportunity to toss one or two Alastor strings around him and, among the chaos that ensued, wrapped a good one on his hand and sword, loosely enough for him not to notice before it was too late! He turns to me with hateful eyes. "You...! YOU...! DAMN ALLOCER...!"

"That's Lavinia for you!" I said while I pulled the string attached to his arm as forceful as I could, making him practically spin around and twisting his entire arm in a gruesome way while he loosed the grip on my wrist, releasing me from his grasp! I clenched my left hand a few times and once on my range, I aimed it at Esther, who was also recomposing himself! "I'm Lavinia first, then Allocer! And now, away with you!"

"Don't get cocky, Lavinia Allocer!" He roars back, jumping a good distance from me and then in another flash, dashing in my direction, his sword ready to strike despite his broken arm! I unleashed a stream of darkness-nullification to his direction, but as expected he dodged it and instead aimed to my right side!

"Not so fast!" I then lifted my right bandaged hand at him clenched In a fist! His response was a laugh!

"I know you're unable to use therianthropy or fire the nullification or ahriman darkness for whatever reason from your right arm, Lavinia Allocer! Even if you could, your streams are too slow against me! Just accept defeat against the blade of the illustrious Esther Helsin-...!"

"Rocket... **PUNCH**!"

**\*BEEP-BEEP!\***

**\*ZOOOOM~!\***

"WHAT THE FUC-...?!"

**\*PUUUUUUUUUNCH!\***

Yes! I did it! I knew accepting Marye-sama's offer to install a **rocket punch** command on my artificial right arm would come in handy someday!

With just a voice order, my extended right hand clenched in a fist started to beep and produce steam, and then as fast as a rocket, it ejected itself from the rest of my wrist and collided against Esther Helsing's face in a painful, excruciating punch! I used Charisma one more time to practically make him bury himself against the attacking fist, and then when it ceased, it made him fly away by the sheer impact, his body spinning like a top in midair due to the momentum and lack of solid ground! However, it wasn't over: I attached one of my Alastor strings to the flying rocket punch which now was stuck on his body, so he rolled and rolled in midair while the razor wire would wrap itself against him tighter and tighter, practically mummifying him on itself!

In the end, with a loud **\*BAM!\***, the so-called illustrious son of the vampiric prime-minister and bodyguard of the Nosferatu Royalty Esther Helsing fell on the ground, his entire body wrapped in Alastor strings with no chances of escape or movement and his face wrecked beyond recognition, a steam of heat emanating from one of his cheeks, where my rocket punch hit him square!

He's knocked out cold! I've won! This is a victory for Lavinia Allocer! Alastor, Paimon, Angra-Mainyu, Vassago, Allocer! I dedicate this victory in your names! But most importantly... I've won! Flawless victory! Lavinia Allocer... WINS!

"I've won! I'VE WON! Hahahahahah...! The victory goes to Lavinia Allocer!"

"Fuck you... Not cool, Lavinia from the house of Allocer..." Whispered a defeated Esther Helsing as he then spits a few teeth away. Well, I might suck a lot, but who's the winner here?! I laugh some more, all the adrenaline coming like a volcano of emotions as I cry and laugh at the same time in deep euphoria and relief!

"Yay! Go me!" I celebrate some more and lift my right hand on the air!

Only to realize that I have one arm missing now. Oh right, Marye-sama did say it is a one-time use since its potent enough to destroy concrete and the likes and it's of highly improbable recovery. This means that I probably won't ever be seeing that arm again and even if I do, the circuits and artificial flesh in it would be fried to the point they'll become unusable, meaning I'm going to spend the rest of the night with just one arm until I get a new one.

Seeing from that perspective, maybe a rocket punch arm is more impractical than useful... On the other hand, it's a very cool Rocket Punch arm!

Wonder where it went, though...

.

~~x~~

.

**\*BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM BAM BAM...!\***

"Annabelle-dono! It's all over now! You have nowhere to go, and even if you escape, I shall pursue you! Just graciously accept defeat and let me smash you!"

Damn it. As much as I hate to admit, she got us good! I threw everything besides my own trump card against the lady of the Three Kingdoms, yet not even combined with Mukuro's Hysteria Modus and Ichigo's Machine Guns and Rockets were able to finally defeat Ryuubi-chan in that state! Her entire being is oozing a malignant aura and her appearance and personality took a turn to the darker, nastier.

So that's the Jaken, the evil fist, that branch of Touki that instead of the natural power, draws energy from the evils of the world! No wonder, Koneko-sama was afraid to use her senjutsu for the longest time, this amount of dark energy would've killed a lesser practitioner, and even Ryuubi-chan's body being Ryuubi-chan's body is barely able to contain it, breaking and ripping her bones and muscles each second that passes only to regenerate it to cause more mayhem! Waiting for her to get tired will be dangerous and she might even die, one of her eyes was already lame due to excess of dark energy, so I'll have to defeat her right here, right now... Easier said than done, though!

**\*BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM!\***

"*ANNABELLE-DOONOOOOOOOOO*...!"

"Holy crap, this chick is packing heat! I don't think my barrier will last long, Annie-san!" I turned to my partner Mukuro-san as we were protecting ourselves under a massive dome made out of swords from her Sacred Gear plus under my War fan and Momo's eastern magic. Layers upon layers of blades and magic shielding us from the berserker big-boobed lady outside, yet with each punch the barrier of swords and magic was growing thinner and thinner. "Annabelle-san, if you want to go, just go! We can distract her! She wants nothin with you, so the moment she tries to chase you, I can maybe land a hit or two on her!"

"No way in hell! I dragged you lot into this! Leaving you all just to become a punching bag against her will leave a bad taste in my mouth!" I said back, and she widens her eyes in shock and surprise. Damn it, I won't abandon someone like that in that kind of dangerous situation, I already left my peerage and home just so I could keep up with my dream! If I leave her on her own luck, I won't be able to talk shit about either mom or dad! I reached a hand for my eyepatch. I still have one more use before exhausting all of my chi reserves, but if it has come to this...! "Mukuro, close your eyes and dismiss the barrier! This is my only chance... I will... I will..."

"Annie-san...!" She screams back at me, holding her pawed hand up so she could cup my hand and stop me from unleashing another paralyzing gaze from the medusa eye I stole. I looked back at her in surprise, and to my own, she was... Smiling. Even with in this erratic situation, she's smiling. "Don't... Instead, let me do something for you instead. Today has been such a nice trip, seeing you throwing everything away just because I wasn't able to keep up with those friends of yours... I feel guilty as well! So let me give it my all as well! Let me show you my own trump card!"

"Mukuro...?" She... she's so cool now for some reason. Huh? Is this... What is this feeling on my chest? Why am I so relief and... Happy? I don't remember ever having this kind of feeling, not ever since... Ever since... I hear a faint sound of a rune, and turned back to Mukuro, who summoned a sword for her own and tightly gripped its handle, taking and deep breath and sharpening her stare!

"Okay, here goes nothing..." She whispers, a solemn whisper even at this moment, and then... "**[SWORD BIRTH]... [BALANCE BREAK-...]**!"

**\**ZOOOOOM!\****

"WHAT...?!"

**\*PUNCH!\***

"*GYAAAAAAAAAAAAH*...!"

And then... Silence.

...

Wait, I'm not dead. What the hell happened? I heard the sound of something cutting the air like a razor and when I thought everything was over, an impact shockwave shook the entire barrier around me, Mukuro-san and the other two, and then silence. Again, what the hell?

"Uh... What?" And loosing her grip on her sword, The werewolf lady peeked outside through a small hole on the barrier and, gasping in surprise, dismissed the barrier around us. The suddenness of such action was enough to make my heart race as I picked a kunai or two to defend myself, only to loose it up and sigh in surprise with a rather strange sight...

Ryuubi Gentoku, the Elder sister of the Rook Dairyuu Gentoku of Lavinia Allocer's peerage, has fallen flat on her back, a massive bump on her face oozing steam as she lies unconscious next to a bodiless arm wrapped in burnt bandages, twitching and trembling, but ultimately knocked out and defeated.

...

WHAT?!

"Well... That happened." Ichigo commented, kicking Ryuubi-chan a few times to test and then confirm that she was indeed out of commission. Little by little, the dark aura that surrounded her started to fade and her horns, dark gauntlets and cleaves started to fade and her skin to adopt a more natural coloration until she was just as the way as I remember, but filled with bruises and broken bleeding wounds everywhere, the aftereffects of said Jaken. My silverette companion then kicks the ownerless arm to a distance. "I guess we gotta thank this arm for saving us I guess. No idea what happened, but I'm glad it did."

"Yeah." I concluded. Why do I feel like this is the punchline of a joke I'm not part of? Well, whatever. Victory is ours, if just by chance. Taking a deep breath, Mukuro turned back to normal and cracked her neck a few times, turning her attention to me...

"Well, shall we go, Annie-san? The vampire king ain't just gonna kill himself, right?" She jokes, and I let out a small chuckle, if only to get rid of the cryptic and awkward aura surrounding us. I know she's just trying to break the ice, but she doesn't have to force herself. I was about to turn around and resume my quest in killing and becoming the new Vampire King... But then I stopped. I looked back at Mukuro.

"Wait... Mukuro, I think it's best for you to stay." I said to her, and she widens her eyes in surprise. Before she could say anything, I reached for my pockets and tossed her two items: a flask of Phoenix tears I got from the black market and a small box containing... My former left eye. "Here, use the liquid on this flask to mend Ryuubi-chan's wounds, and as for the box... If you ever find yourself in a pinch again, just eat what's inside and if you're a real werewolf, you'll be invincible. Besides that, I will go on my own from now on."

"Eh...? What gives? Annie-san, what gives~!" We inquires me with curiosity. I can sense she's not actually upset, and I'm glad for that for some reason. I turn around and wave her a goodbye as I walk towards the Kuoh's old building and pick one of her demon swords, the crude aura around it showing me it has he same vampire-properties of a werewolf. "Annie-san..."

"I shall become the new Vampire king by the end of the Night... But I refuse to let people die that simply on my way to royalty. I want you to help Ryuubi-chan and take care of yourself. You can even run away if it becomes too much." I say to her, and I could sense that she no longer questions me, as she instead smiles and nods as I give one last look at her. Yes, no more sacrifices or risks from now on, either I become the Vampire king... Or die, no reason to drag anyone else towards this mess. "So please... Let me finish this. I am forever grateful for your loyalty, and you're my friend, Mukuro, so please... Live now. And thanks for everything..."

"Annie-San..." She whispers, but then sighs and nods, as I can see she sitting next to Ryuubi-chan to drop the Phoenix tear on her, soon mending and closing all the wounds the Jaken left on her body. That's good. Letting people die or be killed at this rate would be too much even for me, and I wouldn't ever be able to badmouth mom or dad about anything anymore...

As for me... I step right in front of the door leading to the old Kuoh building and braced myself for what's to come. Be heaven or hell... I'm ready! I am Annabelle Helsing, and tonight, I either become the new Vampire King... Or die with all the sins that led me here! Let's go!

.

~~x~~

.

"...?"

"Is something to matter, Sasamoto-kun?"

"Nothing, Akatsuki-san. I just feel... A disturbance. Something's not right, I can feel it."

"Maybe it's those two?"

"*GRAAAAAAAUR...! YOU GODDAMN FAKER! I WILL RIP YOUR FACE OFF AND USE YOUR FAKE FUR LIKE A MATT..!"*

*"CURSED BE THE VAMPIRE! CURSED BE THOSE TWO...!"*

"I think you too are forgetting the homunculus and witch."

And Akatsuki-san and I were forced to cover our ears as our knights started to scream for dear life, something about Annie having a trio of a werewolf, a homunculus, and some apparant Momotarou wannabe as partners now and fought them beforehand until they were turned into stone by a medusa stare and tossed aside like trash. Sheesh, what the hell. Of all the archetypes a Knight could have, why the temperamental one ended up with us...

But as we calmed down, I started to have a pretty good idea of what's going on: The children of the current vampire King wants to kill him and take his place as the strongest vampire on command, and for that they not only have an army of ghouls but also their bodyguards, whore are Desmond-sama's other sons and Annie's and Alucard-san's brothers, to clean the place so they can reach the Vampire King faster. Also, Annie is here with werewolf, humunculus and witch friends and she wants to kill Nosferatu-sama too, all the while the latter knew about this entire plan and wants to use that as an excuse to kill Berolina-san, Aubrey-san and Serena-kaichou and pretend they were just casualties of the independent actions of his kids, escaping better judgement...

Again, I'm baffled at the supernatural world's unnecessarily complicated issues, conspiracies and networks. Why can't this be a 'bad villain doing bad stuff' kind of story?!

"Akatsuki-san, you said Nero-San and Jacob-San are also here because he knew from the start about Nosferatu-sama's machinations from Desmond-sama's bodyguard, right?" I turned to my fellow queen and she nodded in response. Apparently, Nero-San and Jacob-san got involved into this mess as well due to Marcenas-sama, so they must be with Berolina-san and Rina since Akatsuki-san was with kaichou and Evelyn and Aubrey-san was with Winston-sama before that massive light beam attacked the conference room. That's good, with them around, our chances grow even more. "So, what's the plan now? We still have an army of ghouls to clean before we can reach the conference yet again. Any idea how to? Don't you have, like, a super proton cannon from Azazel to help?"

"I used to, but then Master Tomoe confiscated it after master Anakim and I almost accidentally blew Mount Fuji off with it." She said with a weight on her words and making a face. Yikes, so she also has some pretty colorful people on her life, specially this master Anakim gal. Sorry for asking, Akatsuki-san. Her face then sharpens and her brows furrow even more. "Incidents aside, our only choice is to open a path ourselves and either confront or contour in order to reach the old building. We still gotta protect Lord Lucifer, Lord Leviathan and Lord Mammon and the Vampire Kings."

"Like hell I'm gonna protect a damn vampire! Even more than ever now that I know he almost killed Serena-sama!" And then her own werewolf came screaming at us, barring his fangs and eyes shot in red. Oh right, not only he's pissed about this whole conspiracy thing, werewolves have a natural hatred for vampires and vice-versa. Miyu came right after, also with bloodshot eyes and almost salivating.

"Seconded! My loyalty are Lavinia's and Ryuubi's only! For a traitorous bloodsucker to toy with it is nothing short of worth execution!" My knight exploded, and even Akatsuki-san had to take a step back to gain some space from the raging speedsters. Shit, they're too angry to reason with, two on top of that even.

"I know you're both mad. I know how you feel too, matter of fact, I'm just a**head** of the situation right now, but we have to protect not only our own demon lords, but also that dastardly Vampire King. If they fall, so does the reputation of our King, Sanada Hideyoshi." Deucalion-san, nothing but a head in Akatsuki-san's lap, tried to reason with them, but all he got were growls of protest and wrath. This is exactly what Akatsuki-San said to me, and this reasoning is not wrong in the slightest, but this won't work with those two simpleminded idiots... I snap my fingers in realization.

"Also, since the vampire king is the main target, this means everyone will be heading there as well!" I said with a bright lightbulb practically shining above my head, and everyone gasped with that as well. Of course! We might want to gut Nosferatu-sama for this whole shtick, but while that can wait, since he's the main target of all the factions in this place, he's also the sink draining everyone around. Everyone will be heading there! "So, if we are able to reach the old building before either Annie or the Nosferatu siblings...!"

"We can kill Sheridan Nosferatu first and become vampire kings before them!"

**\*BONK!\***

"No, you idiot! It means we'll be able to gather all our enemies in one place and dispose of them at once while protecting the members of the conference!" Thank God Akatsuki-san was the one to hit her own Knight on the head for his erroneous deduction, because while it was nerve-wrecking, hitting someone else's evil piece just sounds wrong. Miyuu, unlike her knight companion, also came to that conclusion. Yes, we know where they're going and why, so all we need is to get there first and face them before they can reach the conference room!

"The problem is, the Nosferatu children probably are halfway through the place and we're still far away from the old building." I deduced, looking at the tip of the old building's tallest roof and the army of ghouls surrounding it. "Aubrey-san, Kaichou and Rina also lifted a barrier around the building, so it'll be hard to teleport anywhere near it. If only there was a faster way to get there... The army of ghouls is also a problem..."

"That won't be a problem, at least for us." Akatsuki-san declared. I turned a puzzled stare at her, and her only response to that was to turn to Sanada-senpai. "Hide, if you please."

"Hell no! I'm still mad about this whole 'killing Serena-sama' stuff!" He growls like a mad dog, but Akatsuki-san was unfazed, only sighing while cupping her face.

"Hide, I know how you feel, but if we don't do something, Serena will be facing even more problems if all of our enemies start to gather there since I know she'll carry her mission regardless of circumstances. It is our duty as her evil pieces to help her and her mission." She declares, frowning even more. The werewolf senior was still on the edge, I don't blame him, but I could see he was starting to fault. "Sanada Hideyoshi, evil piece of the Knight, I'm the queen of Serena Sitri's peerage. In her absence, I'm the one who shall lead her pieces. As such, please help me reach the main building before its too late for both us and Serena!"

"Shit! Okay, fine! Fuck..." He curses one more time, but then shakes his head and nods at his queen. He must really admire Kaichou.

Sanada-senpai then starts to bend over to the floor and while doing it, his body started to change: his back bends and grows, grey fur starts to grow from his skin while his face features turn sharp and canine. His hands and feet turn into pass with sharp claws and his teeth turn into pearly white fangs, while his legs and arms grow and bend! In the end, he open his now golden eyes with sharp irises, and let out an animalistic howl.

He was man no more, but a beast, a massive grey wolf that was as large as a horse. In no time, Akatsuki-san jumped on his back with Deucalion's head and adjusting herself a little on his back, pulled from inside her clothes a ruby-colored chinese fan and turned back to me!

"I'll be going ahead and trying to open a path! Miyu-san, Sasamoto-kun, please follow suit! Don't be slow!" She declares and without pause the grey wolf jumps into the army of ghouls, tearing them apart with his sharp claws and teeth while the girl riding him summons light spears and creatures powerful gusts of winds from her fan, opening a straight path of destruction towards the old building.

"Ah~, what day is today, anyway? I thought it couldn't get any worse, but now..." I murmur in misery yet surprise with a hand on my face. No joke, this night has been a rollercoaster of events that I shall never forget no matter how much I try. A fallen angel riding a grey werewolf, unfortunately not the craziest thing I've seen so far, so it means it can only get worse from here. Snapping from my stupor, I turn to Miyu for some reason was also staring back. "Is something to matter Miyu?"

"I'm waiting." She declares with arms crossed. I frown a bit for that, silently asking what she's waiting for. She catches my cue. "You saw how Sanada-dono served as a ride for lady Shiranui. Aren't you going to morph as well into a passable vehicle so we can resume our mission?"

"You think I'm Friender or something?! I can't turn into a vehicle or an animal like that!" Just because my Balance Breaker looks like a Gundam doesn't mean I have the ability to transform or change into a vehicle! I know that much because, uh, I already tried doing that, with no results whatsoever! (That's so embarrassing...) I puff a sigh of distress and rage out of system and taking a deep breath, I summon Ix and my Destroyer Astra, facing the remaining ghoul army. "Whatever. It might take a while, but I know we can at least dent our way into this mess. Miyu, I'll looking after your back, so please, look after...!"

"So you have no ways of locomotion whatsoever. Again, you never fail to disappoint me." She however takes one step further forwards Away from me, then turns around to give me a contemptuous side glance. I was ready to talk back, but then she sighs and blinks once, twice, before leading her fingers to her mouth in a ring. "It seems you leave me no choice. I will have to request her assistance."

"Her assistance? Miyu, what the hell are you saying...?"

"**\*PHEEEEEEEEEEW\***...!" She didn't even let me finish, The asura blew a whistle as loud as she could, loud enough to resonate with the entire aura, and then waited. I was about to say what the hell was that all about, but what happened next left me speechless: out of the sudden, a black rune around our size appeared in midair in front of us shaped like a Chinese mandala and from it came a sound. It was... A neigh?

Suddenly, without warning, something jumped from the rune, crossed all the way running forward only to drift around in a crescent moon shape and run back at us, stopping right in front of Miyu! With that speed, it lifted a curtain of smoke against us, making me shield my eyes against the dust around.

When I could see clearly again and the dust settled, I was bewildered and at loss of words with the sight in front of me: in front of Miyu was a massive, extremely cool, über-badass black motorcycle with crimson highlights, massive exhaustion pipes from each side and monster dark wheels! That's... That's the coolest motorbike I've ever seen! What the hell?! What is today?!

"M-miyu... What... The hell... Is that thing?" I murmured between horror and sheer bliss, almost drooling just by looking at that awesome ride. In response, she frowned, reaching her hand for one of the engines.

"Watch your tongue, Zenji. This is not a 'thing', but a family heirloom passed down through generations of Guan family just like the Seiryuutou. I won't allow you to disrespect it." She says, revving the engine a few times. However, instead of the usual roar of the exhaustion pipes, what came from that badass bike was... A neigh? The sound of a horse?! How come?! "His shape and form might've changed, but the spirit within and it's loyalty to the Guan bloodline remains. This is... The ultimate war horse given to them by lord Cao Cao himself, Chi Tù, the Red Hare!"

No way! I thought she only had the Seiryuutou and nothing else since she never said anything, but it'd make sense for Kan'u to have one of the most famous horses in history, the ultimate war horse originally belonging to the warlord Ryoufu only to pass down to Kan'u from SouSou, now something shaped like a very awesome motorbike, sekitoba, the red Hare! But wait. Why is- no, how did Miyu...

Miyu wasted no time as she hopped on the motorbike that was apparently also a horse, and a purple tiger-themed helmet materialized on her head. She revved the engine, and again the pipes neighed!

"H-Hey, Miyu... Can I... Can I... Can I ride on it too? Pretty Please?" I said, coming closer to my knight who so suddenly became the most radiant person around with an anticipation grin and my best good-boy impression. Oh please, let me at least sit on the back~! I want to taste how a real bike feels like! She stops on track, and frowns again, but sighing soon after.

"In any other occasion, I'm sure Kan'u-dono would ask you to go fuck thyself and thine mother. However, seeing how dire our situation currently in, I have no choice. Tell no one and hop on." She declares with a defeated sigh, and I try not to show, but I'm almost jumping in euphoria for that! Hell yeah! I practically hop behind Kan'u and started to feel the bike on its entirety: the soft yet firm seat, the trembling of its engines and the fumes coming out of the pipe, leaving a remarkable impression of potency and power! Hell yeah! Now that's what I'm talking about! She revs the engine once more, making the entire back practically roar. "Hold on tight now! Chi Tù can run 1,000 ri in a single day! I won't be responsible if you get careless!"

"Right!"

**\*GROPE!\***

"..."

"..."

...

"Zenji..."

"Yeah..?"

"You were suppose to hold me by the waist, not by the mammaries."

"Oh, my bad. Force of habit." I said in a sincere apology, lowering my hands from her C-cup to her massive hips.

"Get your hands off my crotch as well!"

"Sorry. Like I said, force of habit." And I remove my hands from her nether areas and lock them around her stomach.

She let out an annoyed grunt, but the revved Sekitoba's engine once again, and then off we went, practically running over a horde of ghouls in high speed!

Hell yeah! That's the shit! That's what I'm talking about! Prepare yourselves, vampire royalty!

Cuz the brass dragon is back in action!

### Ch.???: SxS

*'Rina-chan... I apologize for your arm, but even I won't be able to make a perfect copy of it.'*

*'...?'*

*'That structure of yours... When Miyama Fuichi cut your arm down with his fangs, I'm afraid he also placed a curse of a sorts on the wound, a giving considering I've told he was an amalgamation of all the powers of the six dragon kings. No matter how much I try, I couldn't reattach your arm back.'*

*'Oh, I... I see...'*

*'I hate to say this. I really, I really tried my best to put your arm in place, but no matter what I do, it just won't go back to normal, and that curse... I can try to break it, but it might take a while. In the time being, I can only make you a new arm with Katalia's cells so it can stick to your stub and some of the flesh from your arm to avoid rejection. It might take a while to get used to it, but soon you'll be able to move, hold and even feel things through it. It'll be basically a flesh prosthesis. But I promise you, I will find a way to break the curse and turn you arm back to normal...'*

*'It's okay, Marye-sensei...'*

*'Rina-chan...?'*

*'I... I can get used to it. I'm not Akane anymore, and even now it feels like a distant dream, but this arm... It'll remind me of all of my failures and hubris from now on. I'll keep it, and every time I look it, I'll remember... To never waver or cry anymore. That's... Also a promise.'*

*'Rina-chan...'*

*'...'*

*'On that topic, since I can't turn your arm back to normal, might as well do something cool with it: how about I turn that prosthesis into a Totally rad, voice-commanded rocket-powered fist? It'll be nearly unretrievable once launched and you'll have to wait with just one arm for me to make another one, but you wouldn't mind a rocket punch attack, right? How about? Do you want it?'*

*'DO, I!'*

*'Hell yeah. Here, let me build the jets and the voicebox for the commands*...'

...

Haaaah~, I'm so glad I accepted Marye-sama's offer for a super cool rocket fist~! I had to hide it from everyone since I knew that would eventually reach either Berolina or Zenjirou and they would scold me hard for that, but the fact I'm safe and sound and, above all else, victorious from a war means my request wasn't for nothing after all! Although having to spend the rest of it with just an arm might become a problem later...

Hmm~... **\*VUPT! VUPT!\***, yep, I can still 'feel' I have an arm, but in reality is gone for now. I wave the air in front of the stub on my right forearm just to confirm that Marye-sama's prothesis is there no more yet I can still sense something from it. I guess it's the so-called 'ghost effect' or whatever, kinda creepy if you ask me. On well, I clench my left hand instead in a fist, and aim my sight to the old Kuoh building! I still have a mission to accomplish, and no arm or lack thereof will slow me down! Maximum effort! Be prepared, Lord Nosferatu, when I'm done with your kids, your butt is next on my shoe's list!

"Kh... Kh... Ugh..." Before I can take the first step towards a new quest however, I hear some grunts and gasps from be beneath me. Some more moans and groans, and I turned my attention to where Esther Helsing, son of the illustrious prime-minister of the vampiric empire Desmond Helsing, was, all wrapped up in Alastor strings, trying yet failing to break free from it. It's no use, those are resistant enough to shield me from his attacks, escape from those is a whole another level. He gives up, sniffs the air and then turns to me, only to furrow his eyebrows. "Tch. You... You stink, Lavinia Allocer..."

"..."

**\*KICK!\***

"Let me finish my sentence, you fucking devil barbarian!" He declares with now a broken nose and a few teeth less after I treated his head like a soccer ball. So I can only assume he didn't want to insult me, good to know, but that one's on you, Esther Helsing. He spits a little bit more on blood and tried to continue. "I meant to say that you stink of a hybrid, or rather, I can feel the distinct stench of a vampire hybrid around your own putrid devil scent... Not to mention, the small drops of blood coming from it... I can assume they are from my cursed little sister, Annabelle Helsing..."

"...?" Oh-hoh? So he figured I have my bonds with Annie of all people due to my scent? I don't smell that bad, do I? That aside, I turn to him completely, my body pointing at his direction, and nodded, arms crossed and a smile on my face. "Yep, you can say that. I mean, we weren't that close, but I guess it's a given..."

"So it's true, Annabelle downgraded herself to a lowly devil under the command of a Alocer... Well, at least I know she won't be mistreated for what's worth." He sighs to himself a dark smoke, but despite his face and words, he actually sounded relief in hearing those, not something I expect from a vampire of all things. "Tell me, Lavinia from the house of Allocer, is my sister being useful or worthwhile to you? I know she can be hardheaded and ignorant at times, but I do want to know if your time together is being productive, and she's not... Being a hindrance."

"Well, you see, Esther Helsing: Annie and I didn't got to interact much because, how I can say it, I had a pretty bad breakdown mid-semester, and then she ran away from home, but for what we could share... She was a very awesome dumphir... I mean, a vampire-ninja hybrid." I declare with a hand in the air, and again the silverette vampire sighs and clenches his teeth, but despite such he sounds relieved in hearing that. I think even those bloodsuckers are not as heartless as I thought, but then again, family is family, no matter how much you try to put a rock over it. "Esther Helsing, are you perhaps... Worried and proud of your sister Annabelle?"

"..." He says nothing, only closes his face and turns away to instead look at the sky. Who he thinks he's fooling with that? "Preposterous, Lavinia from the house of Allocer. I'm just relieved that piece of hybrid trash is not tarnishing the illustrious name of Helsing any further. Her own existence is a sin, so if by chance she would be dirtying our name more, I would personally end her existence myself."

"Okay, whatever you say, Esther Helsing." I shrug with a smile that would probably piss him off if he wasn't too busy contemplating the dark sky. Like I said, family is family, and to be honest, it's kinda cute. If only Annie knew... Maybe we're not that different. Speaking of which, now that I'm done with him, I should be going back to the conference to protect father, Kabel-sama and Drambuie-sama and maybe bump into Annie in the meantime. "Well then, bye. I gotta get back to the conference and do my duties. Smell ya later, Esther Helsing..."

"I can sense Annabelle's smell around too, Lavinia from the house of Allocer." He declares, making me turn back to him and give him a side glance, not all interested in hearing what he has to say. "That foolish lass... I can assume she's no longer with your group considering that her main objective was to become the vampire king by killing lord Sheridan. So, what are you going to do, Lavinia? Are you going to destroy her for the sake of this reunion?"

"Of course not. Who do you think I am?" I laugh a bit for his little words, and he sharpens his sight at me. I'm still a bit irked about Annie having a brother who knows exactly how she smells like, but that aside, I won't destroy my own Knight, she's still part of my peerage after all. "I'll just kick some sense into her and make her return to the peerage. I mean, she might want to become the Vampire King, but even so, I want her to at least be able to come back alive from it if she fails."

"Tch, she becomes a stray devil and betrays your group, yet you still wants her back into it? No wonder you Allocers has such a bad reputation among other supernatural creatures. Same as those Gremories." He spat with contempt and arrogance, yet I can still sense some kind of affection and shine into his otherwise ruby red eyes. I can't help but smile since the name of Allocer is kind of infamous in the world. "That affection of yours will take you nowhere, y'know. Forgiving and forgetting the sins of others is only an invitation for a blade on the back."

"You might be right, but this is how my clan is, this is how I am." I smile. Call me gullible, call me stupid, but if people want to help me or be part of my peerage regardless of motives, I'll always be glad to have a super cool, super strong piece into my peerage, and if he or she betray me... Then I'll just have to show why I am a high-class devil in the first place! "Besides, this is quite obvious... You can only end in a stalemate with just a King piece."

"Lavinia Allocer..." He grunts, and I close that epic boast with a quick hair flip... Only to remember that my right arm is gone, which means I just dumbly waved a stub around. The feeling still remains, though! No matter what, my peerage is my own, and I'm me, flaws and cups included for both of them...

**\*DOOOOOON!\***

"...?!" The ground shakes! I just take one step forward and the sole beneath my feet shakes as if something exploded from within! From the cracks and craters it created, a black blob of darkness emerges and starts spreading all over the remaining terrain! Those black figures, they have something quite malevolent about them, even worse than a devil's aura! Soon, the place were I stood was covered in a shadowy mass of darkness, and started to consume everything around! Esther Helsing, who was already on the floor, had his eyes bewildered as he slowly sinks into the black void, as if he was standing on quicksand! "William... Is that... Is that your doing..?"

"Esther Helsing...!" Even though he is an enemy, I tried to reach for him and pull him out of the consuming blackness, but it was too late as when I was able to get my left hand to him, he already sank into nothingness! The black mass grows unquiet and frenzied, now latching onto me like a wave from hell! I jump out of the way and spread my wings to try to fly away from the dark matter! "What the... What even is this?! I gotta run away!"

**\*GRIP!\***

"...?!" But I didn't go far: a smaller, slender, dark tentacle of yet strong grip reached for my ankle and held me in place in midair, no matter how much I struggled it wouldn't let go or allow me to move! I lifted a hand and fired a ball of darknull at it, but if it were a snake, it simply dodged the area that would hit and before I could do anything else, it slammed me against the floor, making my ears ring and my head spin! I regain some conscious a few seconds later, but it was too late: the black shadows were already sinking me into themselves! "Gaaaah~! Get off me~! No..! NO~...!"

I try to fight it off, launching random streams of darknull left and right and trying to stand up and emerge from the consuming void, but it was of no use: it's like my body is glued to the darkness, and like quicksand, the more I struggle the faster I sink! Curses, at this rate, I'll drown in blackness and who knows what'll happen next!

The cold, eerie darkness little by little spreads all over me and practically engulfs me into itself, and I start to lose conscious yet again! No, no, everything... Is... Getting... So... So dark...

**\*FLASH!\***

**\*SHRIEK~!\***

"Huh...?" But before the void could swallow me whole, suddenly I'm blinded by something else; not darkness, but instead light! Intense, bright light! The shadows around me shriek like a scared animal and little by little retreat from me, finally letting me breathe in peace! I stood sit on the floor that little by little was being released from the darkly grip of those shadows, and notice something new: above my head there was a small sun-like ball of pure light, and out of the sudden a ring of flames emerged around me, protecting me from the shadows that were struggling to get it! "This light... Warm... What the...?"

"Lavinia-san~...! Quick, here~...!" I recognize that whiny voice, and it's coming right above me! I turn around to the other direction and then I saw Shoda flying with somesort of awesone jetpack and both Tasha and Whiswain standing right on top of a flying broom, with the latter waving at me with a crying face while the others had runes and kunais around their hands. So it was Tasha's flames! "Quick~! Hop on the broom, Lavinia-san~...!"

I'm still a bit dazed about what has been happening until now, but as fast as I could I spread my wings and jump onto the flying broom my bishops were riding! Tasha, who was balancing her feet on top of the broom's body, nodded firmly at me while Whiswain latched herself on me with a crying face.

"Weeeeh~! I was so worried about you, Lavinia-san~! When the ghouls started to attack, I was so worried everyone was getting attacked too~! I'm sorry if I sound I don't believe in your strengths, too~...!" She declares, hugging me tightly, and regardless of intentions, I feel safe now.

That was a close call! So this means the barrier is no more around the Kuoh buildings, if they're here to save me. Well, the Vampire children broke the barrier from inside somehow, so I guess it doesn't matter if they uphold the barrier or whatnot. "Oh Shit!" Suddenly, I hear Shoda exclaim in suprise at something, but before i could I ask, I hear another shriek coming from below, and learn what he was yelling at. Turning back there, I saw that somehow the mini-star died and the darkness started to reach for us as massive black tentacles!

"Uh-hoh. Allocer-chin, Whiswain-chin, hold on tight." Tasha commanded with sharp eyes, and so Whiswain and I held tightly the broom's grip with our hands and thighs!

The tentacles tried to reach for us, but in a moment, the broom kicked the high gear and started to fly around like a falcon, still being pursued by the darkness from below! **\*ZOOOM~! ZOOM~!\***, the magical cleaning tool would make curve, turns and drifts in midair while trying to escape the black tendrils, until there was a good number of them pursuing up, forcing Tasha to turn the broom upwards and jet us straight to the skies, still being chased by the darkness! We went higher and higher, so much I started to get hard to breathe, and the tentacles were already coming too close!

"Whiswain-chin...!" Tasha spoke with a sharp look to Whiswain. The grim reaper let out a surprised gasp, but then put up a trembling face and nodded!

"Right...! Please, cover yours ears!" My second bishop spoke and after we did so as ordered, she turned around to the ground and let out one of her screams! Even with us protecting our ears against it, her ghastly wail shook my entire core, making me a bit sick as well! However, the one affected the more was the darkness, which trembled once caught in the vocal blast and like simple goo it fell to the floor, completely immobile! So her screams works even on non-corporeal things, shaking their core so much they simply cease function, either physical or magical. I'm glad to have her on my peerage!

"And now...!" Tasha lifted a finger and blasted a small firework show from the tip of it. Not as a weapon, but like a flare gun for some reason. I turned my attention to the sole as we descended to it, and I noticed the goo haven't give up, it started to twitch and slowly recompose itself!

Before it could do it though, **\*BAM!\***, out of nowhere one of Serena-chan's rooks, Bellerophon, and Aubrey-chan's pawn, Namari Subaru, emerged from nowhere and, while the latter was lauching flares everywhere, Bellerophon smashed a massive piece of concrete on top of the darkness, making it splat everywhere! Then Serena-chan's bishop, Akira, also jumped into frame to place a paper seal on top of that piece of concrete! It shone, it sparkled, and suddenly the darkness was no more! It simply disappeared from under the ground sandwich.

"And that's that for now! I'm afraid our efforts will no be enough to take care of such darkness unless we find the cause of it though!" Came the thunderous, powerful voice of Bellorophon as we came to the ground and I could finally land on solid footing. Tasha and Whiswain also jumped from the flying broom and Shoda dismantled his jetpack and soon enough we came to encounter Serena-chan's pieces, not only Akira or Bellorophon, but Orie was also here!

"Ah~! Lavinia-san, you're hurt! Please don't move, I'll heal your wounds right away!" Came the worried but firm voice from Serena-chan's pawn, the chestnut-haired second year!

I was about to dismiss her worries since they didn't hurt that much, but nothing came as she summoned something that surprised me: from her fingers, two silver rings shaped like vines appeared, and once she reached me, they started to glow a small and pale green light, slow but steadily healing my wounds and closing any marks! I don't believe it... She's the user of **[Twilight healing]**, the [Smile of the holy mother]! Or at least one of them. How come I only know this now~?! Serena-chan, you meanie! **(Serena - In my defense, she was still in that phase, so she would pester me to no end for 'stealing' a Twilight healing user from her)**.

"So you guys are no longer holding the barrier, right? Any reason for that?" I asked as Orie heals my wounds with her Sacred Gear. The five of the them look at each other and awkwardly smile. I already know the answer for that, but I'm just making sure of things. Tasha was the one who came closer to respond.

"Lavinia-chin, I know it sounds strange and like an excuse, but as we were trying to maintain the barrier, an army of ghouls invaded not just from inside the barrier, but also the room where we were." She starts. Wait, what? "If it wasn't for Bello-chin, Shoda-chin and Namari-chin, we would be goners by now. Fortunately, once we could grasp what was going on, we are now trying to contain not just the army of the undead, but also this darkness that came out of nowhere but is consuming everything it touches. I couldn't contact the rest of our peerage, though. I hope they're okay..."

"..."

"What...?"

"You... You can speak full sentences? This is the most I've ever heard you say anything!" I finally say it. No joke, ever since she became my Bishop she only speaks in a broken way like mom's old records! I even thought she had a speech impeachment or something! How come she's speaking so normally now?! She blinks a few times, and hides her mouth with her hand while turning her eyes away, embarrassed.

"A witch's tongue is important to recite and conjure spells, hence why I avoid talking too much since I have this bad habit of biting my tongue a lot." She says, clearly embarrassed to say so. "This is a moment of crisis, so I can allow myself to speak in full sentences as my spells will also grow stronger with some special magical verses. Sorry if I ever bothered you with this quirk of mine. I'm really sorry..."

"..."

"..."

"Huh..." I chirped as I ponder those words a little. It actually makes sense, and we finally have this mystery out of the way. Good for us. Returning to the more important plot-points at hand: it seems that teleporting Zenjirou and Reika-kun away wasn't the only 'interference' that blasted priest caused, only a Sacred Gear on the same caliber a as Longinus could break inside the barrier we created, or perhaps it has a finger from Lord Nosferatu instead? I just don't know anymore! What I do know, however, is that we must reach the old building! "Fine then, I gottan idea: we should head to the old main building and protect the Demon Lords and The Vampire King anyway! The Nosferatu twin's plan is to kill their father, so we must be there to stop them! We already know where they're heading, after all!"

"Roger that, my King." Tasha nodded with Shoda and Whiswain. I turn my attention to the other four pieces next to my own and bowed so-slightly to them.

"And I'll be also counting on you four as servants of Sitri and a servant of Gremory. Please, lend me your strengths!" I bowed again and requesting their assistance. I might not be their King, but I'll be really glad if they can lends us a hand! The three pieces turned and nodded to each other, and then kneeled before me. Ah~, so much respect, I'm a bit embarrassed.

"We're unworthy, but please use us well, Lady Lavinia! Until we find our own dear King, we shall follow thy instructions, so please, use your better judgement to guide us to victory!" Bellorophon announced while his fellow evil pieces nod back. So this is the feeling of a leader, I think it's a bit too much for me, but I will do my best as well! I wrap the sleeve of my right arm so it couldn't fly all over the place and pointed my left pointer finger onwards!

"Alright then! My dear servants, pieces of Serena-chan, pawn of Aubrey-chan, onwards to the main building! And to victory!" I declared with the fire of determination burning deeply from within, and all of them cheered their own way! With all those people, I'm certain for sure we'll wipe those zombies and vampires with ease!

I just hope everyone else is also okay!

.

~~x~~

.

**\*SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!\***

**\*DOOOOOOON...!\***

And no matter how much we try, this army of ghouls doesn't seem to wither! While they are pathetically weak and easy to bring it down, a since slash from Clarent being enough to reduce them to ashes, their numbers is where the problem lies. Still, I guess we are making some progress since we're getting closer and closer to the meeting room at the old building...

"Just a little more. Those ghouls might be many, but they ain't tough." I ponder to myself, cracking my knuckles a few times so that the grip around my sword could loose a little. I turn to my redheaded king, and with another swift move from her tusk-laced, centipede-like tendrils coming from her back, she swap an entire platoon of ghouls while also firing small bullets of power of destruction from their segments, annihilation another army. She then redraws her Alastor-Allocer tendrils and sigh, cleaning her face from the sweat. "How are you holding up, Berolina? I'm sorry to drag you into this whole facade, but Marcenas-sama left me with no choice. Besides, I'm your knight. It is my duty."

"Don't speak like I'm not part of this as well. If they want a piece of me, I'm more than willing to give it with extra charge." Berolina instead sighed and made a pose, flipping her crimson locks and blinking a few times with an expression that conveys confidence. Oh man, she's indeed a cool beauty worthy as a King, makes me feel a bit unworthy to be her boyfriend. I take a deep breath to regain my composure, and walk right beside her on the now deserted school ground. "But it is indeed foolish to try to get rid of all of the ghoul army. We should regather with the others as soon as possible and protect Father, Kabel-sama and Drambuie-sama."

"Roger." I nodded to her. She's right, the main target is the vampire King, both for the Nosferatu siblings and Rina-chan's Knight, so going there not only to return to our position as bodyguards, but also to use them as bait to fight the intruders is the correct answer. However... I turn to Berolina again. "Uh, Berolina, you're not going to... Turn Sheridan-sama into paste once you find him, right?"

"..." She says nothing, she doesn't even turn to me, only gives me a not-so-friendly side glance. That's not reassuring at all. I know her for quite a while now, but when she's cornered like that between her duties and own personality, she tends to get... Unpredictable. I draw a half-smile.

"Berolina, please..."

"I have... My own duties as the devil in charge of Kuoh town, not to mention my honor as a child of Allocer and my own name as Berolina. Regardless how I feel about that old sack of bloody pus, I shall return to my work as the protector of this place... Although, it would be such a pity if an accident were to happen in the conference room..." She's getting sardonic; nothing good ever comes when she gets sardonic like that, and the pitch-black aura she's exhaling is not helping matters. However, in one second, she flinches a bit and let out a moan of pain, slightly twitching her back upwards. "Ugh...!"

"Berolina...?" I blink a few times for that small display of discomfort, only to turn my eyes to her back and notice a small tint on blood spreading all over her white shirt! Oh no, is she hurt? But those ghouls didn't even reach her, let alone attacked her, what gives? "You're bleeding, from your back. What happened?"

"Am I?" She let out another uncomfortable moan, and after a sigh, she turns back to look to her derriere, pulling her shirt up to see the blood mark and the cause of it: her wounds from that time... The dark scar shaped like a deranged spider she got fighting Miyama and his goons, they were bleeding from the sides. I could help but to grit my teeth, but Berolina's only response was an annoyed grunt. "What a disgrace. It seems those wounds are not fully healed yet. No wonder my metamorphosis got so weak out of the sudden. We should hurry before this becomes an issue."

"Berolina, this is already an issue. I won't let you fight just so you can open those wounds and potentially kill yourself." I declare, and once again she grunts in annoyance. She did it while looking at me, but I know she actually is annoyed and angry at herself. Why does she has to push herself like that every time? "You better rest for now. Opening those wounds will be dangerous, and you are already a target. Leaving you vulnerable while losing blood is not wise, it's stupid. Just... Let me handle this for now. I see what I can do."

"..." She grunts yet again, louder this time. Now she's annoyed and angry at me for worrying about her. She says a lot about Mahou-sama and Rina-chan, but she's as stubborn as they are sometimes. But even so, I won't allow my King to act do recklessly! I'm a knight, after all.

"C'mon, don't be like that." I whine a little, trying to kick her Allocer instincts so she would reconsider her choices. I know it's a low blow, but she's being careless and reckless, and so a reality check is needed. However, what she did next surprised me: she pulled her shirt up so that her wound would be visible, and from her hand she summoned a small dose of nullification to cover her palm. What... What is she doing? "N-Nemesis, what, what are you doin-...?"

**\*SLAP!\***

"...?!"

"Done. I guess this is enough for now." She just slapped a handful of nullification on her back to cauterize, or atleast slightly nullify, the wound! What in the world in she thinking?! That could've killed her! Her face grimaces a little and she bites her lower lips with a grunt of pain, but her stoic stance doesn't fault, not even in the slightest. She pulls her shirt down, and turns to me. "No more bleeding, no more issues, right? It hurts a little, yes, but I'll be damned if a bit of pain will stop me now that I have approval. How about it, Nero? Shall we proceed?"

"..."

"...?"

**\*Chuu~!\***

"**\*SIGH\***, no matter how much time I spend with you, you find news ways for me to fall in love." I said in a defeated but relieved tone, kissing her cheek and ruffling her precious red hair. She blushes a little and let herself be spoiled a bit. She did something absurd just to prove a point, and while it is kind of dumb, I can't be mad at her, her commitment to her duties is both admirable and beautiful...

Again, I wonder if I'm worthy enough to be her boyfriend.

"Let's go."

"Umu." She nods, and together we cross all the school ground until we reached the gates to the Old Building.

However, much to my surprise, someone was already there, a young woman not older than Rina-chan or Zenjirou of dark blue short rebellious hair and ruffian eyes, and despite the utter chaos that has been happening, her pose was quite relaxed: laying on her side on the floor, a hand supporting her head and legs one above the other. She also had a tired but concentrated stare, as if she was waiting for us.

"Yo." She greeted us with a hand in he air, her blasé pose still unchanged despite noticing us. Even her words are a bit too relaxed. "Let me guess: you guys are devils, right? I can sense a distinctive scent coming from you two that is similar yet so different from Annie-san, I can only think about it. My instincts are not kicking into overdrive either, so I assume you're not vampires."

"Who wants to know?" I inquire, and from her pose, the girl smiles. I remember her, she's the girl that was with Rina-chan's Knight, who broke in into the barrier with her and two others when I used **[BLACKBOARD DEATH]** into this place. So that can only mean the others are somewhere and Helsing-chan is already inside the building, we gotta be fast!

"A friend of Annie-san, you can say. My name is Miyamoto Mukuro (no relation!) and I'm a she-wolf, as they say." She responds, jumping from her stance to land on a stand. From here I can see she's being serious: she had a grey tail waving left and right, and her feet were shaped like a wolf's. "In case you want to know, yes, Annie-san already entered the building, and it's on her way to become the next Vampire King. She wanted me to stay and take care of her fallen friend, though, so I did."

"Fallen friend...?" And turned my eyes to right beside her and the shock made me gasp: wrapped in a cocoon of blades, like a hut made out of swords, I saw Rina-chan's rook Dai Liu-chan's and her elders sister Liu Bei's unconscious bodies, their clothes cut and rip and a massive black mark on Liu Bei's eye. Unbelievable, Helsing-chan, who's so flat and slender (wait, why do I have to bring up the fact she's flat?) and this werewolf girl were enough to knock Rina-chan's strongest pieces and comrade out of commission? But then again, that dhumpyr wouldn't choose her if she couldn't! I turned a serious look at her! She doesn't look it, but she's dangerous. "You..."

"Y-Yeah, I know this looks awesome, but trust me, it was very confusing on our end." But instead of pride, I could only see awkwardness oozing from her eyes, like she just remembered a bad Joke or something while scratching her wolf ears. Half of me wanted to stay on guard, but the another went along with her words, as if to believe her. "But anyway, Annie-san is on her way to become the next vampire King, and I can only assume you people want to avoid that at all costs or something. So, if you don't mind, I will have to stop you right there and...!"

**\*ZOOOOOM!\***

**\*DOON!\***

"You devils really have no patience!" And a red flash crossed the way from my side to Miyamoto-chan's, and when I could see clearly what was going on, I saw my King creating a crater with her Alastor-Allocer tendrils, to no use since the she-wolf jumped to dodge that attack. However, Berolina completely ignored the flying girl and instead reached for the entrance gate. "Oh no, you don't...!"

**\*ZING! ZING! ZING!\***

"Berolina...!" But when the redhead tried to reach for the handle of the door, several tall blades suddenly emerged from the floor, reaching for my king ready to stab her! But I was faster, and using my Knight speed, I reached for my king, grabbed her by the collar and pulled her to somewhere else before she could be harmed! She landed right on my arms as I held her bridal-style. "That... Was a close one!"

"Not bad, you guys have reflexes. But it won't make a difference, I feel invincible now. Like I just woke up from a nice 8h nap and changed my underwear!" And Miyamoto-chan landed on the same place, stretching her arms and rabbit-jumping back and forth. My red-haired King jumped from my arms and started to walk towards the dark-haired she-wolf, emanating a rather somber but controlled aura.

"Out of the way, she-wolf. I have greater issues to deal with, so if you're in my way, prepared to be swapped like a fly." Berolina declares, but despite the threat, Miyamoto-chan doesn't seem all that fazed, worse, she seems really in the mood to press some of Berolina's buttons.

"No way, sis. I won't allow anyone to interfere with Annie-san's affair, be devil or vampire, and since I feel invincible, I guess I can even take you on!" The werewolf snapped and then Berolina herself twitched jus by hearing that. Oh no, I better stay on guard or else the redhead might go too far regarding Miyamoto-chan!

"As you... Wish!" And from her back a new tendril shaped like a demonic bladed-centipede emerged, slapping Miyamoto-chan away! But actually no, before she could even be hit, the werewolf jumped and landed right on top of Berolina' dark extra limb, running on top of it while summoning a sword between her teeth! "You little shit...!"

M king then lifted a finger and started to fire a barrage of mini-power of destruction, all to the direction of the she-wolf! However, the latter was too fast and would jump and dodge the small bullets of doom while swinging her sword against Berolina' tendrils, fortunately not leaving any damage since they were pretty resistant!

I had to do something, so I did: I jumped right on the opposite end of those extra black limbs and ran towards Miyamoto-chan, clashing swords with her! **\*TING!\***, it was just a clash, but I could feel that her sword had something on it, an aura, a pressure very dissimilar to Clarent... A sacred gear? Of course, her sprouting swords out of nowhere should've been. Major hint, but now I know for sure: she's a Sacred Gear-user, the user of the **[SWORD BIRTH]**, the creator of demonic swords!

As expected, my genuine demon sword was too much for her, and soon her own blade crumbled in contact with my own as I pushed her away with another swing! She jumped away from Berolina's tendril and landed on her foot, again jumping up and down and with a daring expression on her face while dodging more of Berolina's bullets of nullify. I wonder why does she feel 'invincible' when she's clearly outmatched!

"Alright, alright. I am complete now. I've figured how to fight you both, and now, time to go all out." I heard she say while still jumping up and down, getting a curious hum from both me and my king. Instead of answering, however, she opened her mouth to show a golden eyeball between her teeth, which she soon smashed between them. What in the world was that about?! "I hope you're prepared to face me now!"

"No good, if she's a werewolf, that eyeball can only be...!" Berolina's words were filled with dread, but before she could finish her sentence, Miyamoto-chan swallowed something and after that, her body started to emit a heavy and malevolent aura, a howl escaping her lips as I could feel her growing stronger tenfold! When the dust settled, she then summoned a sword on her waist and grabbed it by the handle: "Oh shit! Nero...!"

"On it...!" And then we ran towards her as fast as we could! No matter what she has in mind, it can't be good! In the end, we reached close to her in a blink of an eye, reading to cut down her sword and incapacitate her as we could, but then she pulled her sword up and then...!

"**[BALANCE BREAKER]**...!"

**\*SWING!\***

**\*SWING!\***

**\*BAAAAAAAAAAM...!\***

I tried to swing my sword and hit her, maybe slap the sword away, maybe distract her long enough for Berolina to poison her, but we were too late: from her unsheathed sword an explosive energy emerged and as I was about to cut her, something massive and strong halted all of my movements! I tried and tried, but it wouldn't even budge!

"What... What is this power...?!" I questioned, and as if to answer me, the dust caused by that explosive power cleaned to reveal something beneath it: a massive, eastern-style, utterly black armor which was larger than any of us, maybe even larger than Hwan Jin-Young, carrying a massive sword that was easily countering me and Berolina' tendrils, and right under it, Miyamoto-chan with her own sword shaped like a black Katana. No way, this is her balance breaker?!

   "Grand crusader, slash!" Commanded the dark-haired girl under the armor! The so-called grand crusader then broke the clash we had and, at an incredible fast speed that would be impossible otherwise for his side, swing his massive sword against me and Berolina, practically swapping us away for a good distance! I rolled and rolled until I could stop myself kneeling on the group while Berolina landed on her feet, but with a tired grunt of effort!

"A Balance Breaker... That creates a massive samurai? That's new..." Berolina commented, retracting her Alastor-Allocer centipedes and making a combat pose. Using Clarent I help myself to stand and turn to Miyamoto-chan, who was so dreamily skipping on the same place while swinging her own sword between her fingers.

"Now, I know what you're thinking: a massive samurai armor? Wouldn't be more convenient for my Balance Breaker to be something like a small army of werewolf-based knights, or maybe an work of unlimited blades? Maybe, maybe not. All things considered, that should be more awesome regarding the circumstances, and I know where you're getting at." She lifts a finger and starts to lecture us with a rather blasé attitude. Huh? What's that out of the sudden? Although she is right somehow, I was thinking that maybe a Balance Breaker similar to Kiba-sama's would be more convenient. But she continued: "But here's the thing: I believe quantity does not equal quality. I may create over a thousand bones of my sword with my body of steel and blood of fire, or a platoon of knights ready to fight for me... But they wouldn't amount to nothing if they're weak. Hence, my Balance Breaker rather turns into something that is singular, but can pack quite a punch."

"..."

"Don't believe me? Your loss, then. Slash!" And again the massive swordsman lifts his sword to try to harm us! As fast as I could, I jump into the air and clashed blades again with it! No matter, I just have to cut that thing down!

"Sever the ties that holds this world, Clarent!" I chant, and my bloody sword Clarent starts to resonate and create a massive aura of power on the blade... Only to dissipate as soon as it formed! What?! How could this be?! No, wait... There's a small blade inside the sword of this great swordsman, in fact, his entire black sword are actually small blades merged together! And my energy did not dissipate, it was just absorbed... By that tiny blade inside the bigger weapon! It didn't budge his stance! My demon sword didn't even move past his own! "W-What...?!"

**[TOH!]** And as I tried but failed to break down the massive samurai, it just pulled his sword away from me and instead punched me to the ground! My body skips on the ground, my head is spinning and my ears are ringing... I lose control of my body and clash on the floor like a sack of potatoes.

"Nero...!" Even from here and in this state, I'm still conscious enough to hear my King call for me.

When my head stops spinning and my vision clears, I saw instead Nemesis with bloodshot eyes firing massive spheres of **[Ruin the Instinct: Nullify]** against the massive swordsman! She's going for the kill now. The grand armor let out a shriek as little by little the spheres of nullification would chomp down massive nags out of it, leaving it with more holes than a Swiss cheese until it could no longer stand and fell to the ground, it's body turning instead into blades around Miyamoto-chan! With that done, my King turned her attention to the swordsman lady and sprouted her tendrils for a poisonous attack.

"Why you...!"

**\*SHING...!\***

"...?!" But another surprise: before she could reach the she-wolf, a massive black armored arm emerged from the sea of swords beneath them and grabbed Berolina whole! She tried to fight, but it wasn't over yet: little by little the arm would grow a chest plate, another arm, a torso and finally legs and a head until the entire armor was completed, As if it wasn't broken at all! "You...! Don't tell me...!"

**\*BAM!\***

"Berolina...!" And I couldn't contain my anger and worry as the grand armor slammed my King on the ground and made her skin on the floor like a ball! Fortunately, she made a cocoon from her own tendrils to shield herself of that nasty impact and landed right next to me, tired, scratched and breathless, but still standing. I myself stand up using Clarent next to her.

"Damn her...!" Berolina curses, firing another ball of nullification against the helmet of the great armor, only for it to dodge it not by moving, but by simply retracting the to-be affected area, soon recollecting its former state once the attack was done. I see! I get it now! "No way... So it's not a single entity shaped like a samurai..."

"... But several swords clustered together to form one." I concluded. It makes sense how it was able to use a specific ability against my Clarent and how it reformed even after being destroyed: that massive armor, that giant samurai, is not a singular creation, but an amalgamation of several swords shaping something far bigger!

"Bingo." We turned to the creator of such abomination, Miyamoto-chan, and the dark around around her just wouldn't go away. Worse, it seemed to grow even more. She winked at us, and sighed. "Like I said, my Balance Breaker is not to create several swords unknown to death nor known to life, or soldier for my own, but to form the combination of all of those in a single, massive entity. All of the swords I can create, [Light/dark absorption], [elemental blade], [Ghost sword], and many more compose my great guardian spirit. So if you wanna fight it... You better be prepared to face a sword that is worth a thousand more."

"Tch..." Berolina doesn't seem fazed, as she spits a bit of blood from her mouth and make a battle pose. I couldn't get left behind, so I made a stance with Clarent. A genuine demon sword against thousands of fakers in one, there's a joke in there that I might be missing. Miyamoto-chan lifted her own sword while the shadow of her guardian was casted upon her, and all I could see... Were golden hunter eyes...

"So as I pray... **[GRAND CRUSADER]**..."

.

~~x~~

.

What the hell is that?

No, seriously! What the hell is that?!

"Yo, Miyu! Can you see that shit?! There's a giant mecha near the Old Building!" I said while supporting myself on Miyu as we ride across hordes of ghouls on Kan'u's motorcycle that was suppose to be the Red hare! What day is today?! Seriously?! "Unless Ryuubi-sensei or Kan'u has some kind of transformation or Serena-kaichou's peerage can pull that, I think that means trouble!"

"Might as well be right, Zenji! I can sense some malignant aura coming from that figure, and the shape of that sword... It is the same shape of the sword of the partner of Lady Lavinia's former knight! Only bigger!" The asura concluded, and I had only a gasp to respond to that. So Annie really is here with company, and since she's already there, it means the ninja is getting closer and closer to the meeting room! Hell, she might even be there! We're late! "Curses, she got there before any of us. Chi Tù, faster! We have to reach that building as fast as possible!"

And the black motorbike neighed once again, kicking it into high gear and destroying every ghoul that dared to stand in its way, all while reaching break-necking speeds!

This isn't good! Either Annie kills our protectorate and our reputation goes down or she kills herself trying to stand up against him! None of those alternatives are good! Miyu orders the red hare to go faster, but it neighs as if its hurt! Maybe he's also getting exhausted after running down so many zombies! Damn it, we have to reach there, and fast!

**\*BAAAAAM...!\***

"Now what?!" And if things couldn't get any worse, out of the sudden the ground below out wheels bursts open like a volcano, and from it a dark shadowy matter emerges like lava! Miyu was fast to react in time, maneuvering the Red Hare up the broken concrete and avoiding the dark waves as much as possible as if we were surfing on them! I saw a glimpse of two figures among the shadows, and once we got closer, I could see what, or rather, who they were: "Ah! Serena-kaichou! Nanami-senpai!"

"Curses! Hang on!" And I was right: the heiress of the Sitri clan and the student council president and her otaku knight were flying across the shadows with their bodies filled with scratches, cuts and bite marks, as they seem to struggle against the darkness! Miyu also took note of them and moved the Red Hare to catch up with them!

"Kaichou...!" I screamed to her, and she blinked a few times to regain her conscious and turn her attention to me. I reached for a hand for her as we come closer and closer of the wave of shadows, and in the last minute I grabbed her by her arm while Miyu grabbed senpai by the collar with one of her other arms! We escaped the dark sea of shadows as it was about to collapse on us, and kaichou landed right on top of my lap!

"My hero~." She murmured in a teasing way. For that trouble, I bonked on her head. That's not time for jokes, kaichou!

"Hohoh~, it seems that my Charms have captured this lady as well~!" Like I said, this is not time for jokes, Nanami-senpai! Once we landed on safe and firm ground, Miyuu did a sideway drift and stopped to look at the shadows, while dropping senpai on the floor and kaichou jumped from the bike.

"What the hell...?" I murmured to the sudden darkness that was covering the whole place in black, lifting a massive wall to separate us from the building. Once the wall was lifted, from the dark emerged a small silhouette that started as obscure as the shadows that it composed, but soon started to regain form, shape and color, until it took the form of a tall, shaggy haired silverette of pale skin, doll-like features and red eyes in a bored expression.

"This is the far as you'll go, devils. Damn it, making me do all this work while I just wanted to rest... You're all so annoying." He whined, and while he seemed spoiled, his aura is downright murderous. I prepare Ix while Miyu calls back the Red Hare and summons her precious six swords into each of her arms, Nanami-senpai dusting himself to stand right next to us with Kaichou doing the same. The man sighed seeing our stance, and his stare turned from bored... To angry, his entire body being covered in shadows once again. "You shouldn't have done that, Serena Sitri... You shouldn't have brought the ire of William Helsing..."

William... Hellsing... So... Another brother...

Hate to say this, but Desmond-sama and Haruka-sama really suck at raising children if all of them are crazy like that...

And Annie's no exception.

*Elsewhere...*

"Atchoo~...!"