"Are your mistakes understood?"
"Y-Yes, they are…"
"What was that?"
"Y-YES, SENSEI!"
I nod, pleased, as the little cotton candy-haired maid cries out in strain.
She struggles, trying to sit up. But can't, pinned down onto the dojo's floor as she is.
That all might have to do with the fact I'm sitting on her back right now, but the girl one-hundred percent deserves it.
You don't talk that kind of shit right to someone's face 'respectfully' then expect not to get your ass handed to you later if you're wrong.
I let out a sigh and lean back slightly, causing the girl to wheeze beneath me.
"N-Now, may I please be a-allowed, up?" Elta barely manages to ask, breath practically gone.
My gaze sweeps across the rest of the room, finding the other girls sitting off to the side with expressions of pure and utter pity.
Or pleading, in the cases of Avi and Zekka, causing me to click my tongue.
Maybe I'm getting a little soft.
"Oh, fine." I relent, causing the cotton candy girl to perk up, before I then add, "In a second."
The poor girl lets out a long groan, and I resist letting out the petty, sadistic chuckle I wish to.
Mostly because I don't want to scare the other girls, yet.
Well, besides Zekka and Avi, we still have things to discuss regarding their attack and the club's involvement in something that happened in the Underworld.
So yeah, yet. I'll hold off.
Instead, I let out a hum, place the wooden practice sword I was holding over my shoulder, and give a glance down at the girl beneath me.
The maid uniform I got for her fits perfectly. My guess, based on my clone's memories of her appearance, was thankfully spot on. Besides looking exhausted and put through the ringer though, she's fine.
As is the dojo, unlike her bout with Zekka.
Instead of putting a hole in it, though, we simply made a mess, that's all.
My head turns, gaze sweeping across the floor, where the evening light catches lines upon lines of metal thread scattered about, giving off small patches of glints like stardust.
In our duel, I let her use anything.
Turns out, for cotton candy girl here? That includes straight-up steel wire.
And, hidden knives. Needles.
It was really easy to clock in what kind of fighter she was.
An assassin.
Pretty unique considering the standard I've seen so far in fighters, and not only that, she's a particularly powerful one to boot.
Seriously, it didn't particularly help against me, but she was using her demonic power to strengthen and reinforce the metal threads, and she even had enough spooled up hidden in her sleeves to cover whole parts of her body.
None of that ended up helping her since I just focused my aura on my blade and easily cleaved through it regardless. Even smacked through her little wire armor trick with ease, too.
But I can see why her fighting against Zekka would end with the dojo taking some damage. She's not as skilled as Zekka, that's for sure, but her bag of tricks lends surprisingly well against swordsmen.
That, and she's not weak devil-wise either. I'd clock her demonic power in at high-class levels, with what I'm seeing of her control possibly letting her hit even above that weight class!
Impressive.
Won't catch me saying that out loud right now, though. Too busy being petty.
I nod as my thoughts arrive at their conclusion, before I promptly sit up.
"Ough…" Etla grunts and then lets out a long, relieved sigh.
Still, though, there's something that's bothering me…
Satanachia. Isn't that one of the Six Houses of Lucifer?
Hmm, sounds like a whole lot more than what my clone saw happened. And what little he did learn drove him to lock himself away from the sheer absurdity of it all.
Right, from the beginning then?
I turn toward Avi and Zekka, "Now," I begin, causing both girls to perk up, "my clone didn't really involve himself in everything going on, so he ended up missing a bunch."
I know why. He only learned about the absurd shit, like the attack on Avi by two people, one of whom was Michelangelo, who had the Tower of Babel as a Sacred Gear, a potential Longinus, after the fact.
Still can't get over how absurd that is!
Before then, he kept himself out of it because it all started with something he didn't need to get involved with.
Avi was basically being tested by her house to see if she should remain in the Human World; that was what the cotton candy maid was here for, proctoring the examination and scoring everyone.
Because, of course, the club got roped up into it too.
This is where the cotton candy maid 'scored' my clone, resulting in my current pettiness, even though I technically didn't even count as part of it because the exams were based around Avi's aptitude.
In any event, from there, a whole series of events ended up with Avi getting attacked, Zekka and Elta dueling, and a club trip to the Underworld.
Simply. Fun.
"So," I continue with a smile, causing both girls to shiver for some reason, "while cotton candy maid cleans up her mess, what did I miss, hmm?"
There's a haughty harumph from behind me, and I almost smack the little devil on the ass with my wooden sword for it, but I'm too focused on the two girls I'm looking at to care at the moment.
"W-Well, eheh…" Avi starts, unusually nervous, rubbing the back of her head, before suddenly looking at Zekka, "Z-Zekka! How about you go first, eh?" The shrimp nudges the girl.
Predictably, Zekka freezes, mouth open like a fish on dry land.
…This might take a hot minute, isn't it?
~ A New Sun ~
A hot minute later.
By that, I mean by the time I got a coherent, in-depth explanation, my cool uncle had just begun to reclaim the sky with his silver orb.
Now, I sit, cross-legged, in the center of the dojo, palms pressed together, hand in front of my face as my body leans forward, a deep sigh flowing from my nostrils.
Before me, the four girls sat, half perfectly fine, the other two far more nervous.
The first thing I have to say?
"Once it switched from a big test into attempted kidnapping and assassination from someone outright declaring themselves Hero Faction, that's probably when you tell my clone." I state, blandly.
Yeah. Michelangelo's descendant, she exclaimed as much herself, and another girl, Chinese, some nobody I don't recognize at all, called Wu Song, attacked Avi.
Wu Song outright declared they worked for the Hero Faction.
Which, huh, could have sworn I destroyed them, but fuck me, I guess?
And I thought Freed and Cao Cao were cockroaches in the original series, turns out the real cockroach all along was the damn Hero Faction itself.
See, these two attacked and damn near killed Avi when she didn't have the information they were looking for.
What information?
On the fucking Malebranche!
Lucifer's stupid overpowered Longinus equivalents, the same tools that gave a weak bitch from Belezebub's line the power to force Sirzech's to go True Form to destroy it!
And as the thing claimed, it was only a small bit of power it loaned him!
Fortunately, they were so strong that they were also insane. Lucifer and the other Satans feared their power and instability so much that they sealed them away.
They were briefly unsealed during the Devil Civil War, but the last I read of them, a branch of Nebiros had taken them all away, and sealed them again after the conflict ended.
Importantly, and I can't stress this enough, not just anyone is supposed to know these things even exist. The only ones who do are that one branch of Nebiros I mentioned, not even the Satan's descendants know about these things.
So, for the leader of this Hero Faction to know about them?
Not good. At all.
To be honest, I'm not sure I can fight someone who has a Malebranche backing them up. If it's someone simply enhanced, maybe.
The full thing, however?
Yeah, I'm fucked as I am right now.
Now, granted, all this? It doesn't matter to the girls; they had no idea.
Hell, the only reason these two from the Hero Faction attacked Avi was that they thought she knew, but the shrimp didn't even know she was adopted.
Oh. Yeah. Avi isn't an Amon; she's an Agaliarept. Another one from the Six Houses of Lucifer, the secret keepers who controlled the Underworld from the shadows with, well, secrets.
Basically, this house is what Fanon insists the Great King Faction is. Hilarious.
There's a whole bunch of stuff going on with Avi's birth mother and adopted mother during all this, stuff that's already sorted and doesn't need more than a mention, so let me get back to the meat and potatoes.
Regardless of Malebranche, Avi did almost get killed, and nobody said anything to my clone.
While the big two slumped even further, I focused my gaze especially on a particular Voyalkyrie, "And you didn't tell your master, did you?"
She froze like a deer caught in headlights.
"Ah, e-eheh, well…" Schwe slowly directed her gaze elsewhere.
I don't give her time to think up an excuse, "She will be notified now. By me. Whatever she decides to do after that will be on her."
"H-Huh!?" Schwe sputters, "Wait, p-please! It's-"
I turn away from her, looking at Lilebette now.
The French blonde knight is the one most detached from this. She has nobody else to go to for any of this besides my clone, and everyone booked it to the Underworld pretty quickly once Avi recovered.
Ah, right, the whole thing in the Underworld didn't end up amounting to much.
It was just a big Fallen attack on Amon's lands. Part of Kokopuffs last big battle or stand, what have you.
The rest of the club ran off to help. Elta tried to stop Avi from going, for her protection, and to maintain the good health she had just gotten back.
This resulted in Zekka dueling Elta to give Avi the chance to go, with Zekka winning and following after her, with her showing up and immediately ending the battle by one-shotting the executive leading the attack on Amon lands.
Well, I say it didn't amount to much purely because it's the Fallen, but apparently, this particular executive was strong enough to threaten Avi's mother?
I don't know, I wasn't there. But if so, man, Kokopuff's really sent some guy stronger than him after Amon lands, huh?
I mean, I'm just assuming the guy is stronger than him. Feel like you'd have to be to matter.
At least this random executive didn't get taken out by a butler.
Anyway! I'm getting off topic; there's just so much shit to go through. The point I was trying to make is Lilebette is the most accessory here, she doesn't exactly have the ties to me or my own, like say the Voyalkyrie does.
In essence, she was practically dragged along through all this.
So!
"You understand what went wrong here?" I ask her simply.
Lilebette nods, "I do."
"Will it happen again?" I ask again.
Lilebette shakes her head, "I will endeavor to see that it does not."
"Good." I nod, pleased.
The other three girls look at this and stare in complete and utter disbelief.
Yeah, it's not like I can really find any fault in her for this.
That all said and done, I clap my hands together, causing all the girls to perk.
"Well, this night and day have been fairly eventful!" I begin anew, "Usually, I'd come up with personalized punishments, but I'm going to be real, after everything I heard today? I just want to go home and get some stress relief." I emphasize with a hiss.
Unfortunately, the only one who seems to catch my meaning is Voyalkyrie, who blushes madly and looks away as soon as I say it.
Really not helping with your nickname there, huh Schwe?
"So!" I continue unabated, "For right now, I'm going to give each of you girls a good smack over the head and send you home." I pick up the wooden practice sword to my side and shake it, "We'll deal with actual punishment when I feel like it."
Three of them gulped, while Lilebette alone accepted my words with a simple nod.
Still, I hear no objections, thankfully, so I rise.
At this point, I'm mostly just ready to get this day over with already.
"You first, Schwe." I crack the wooden sword against my palm.
"Huh? W-Wait, let me-!"
THWACK.
"EEEEEKKK!"
~ A New Sun ~
Home at last, at least for now.
My couch feels absolutely divine right now.
I shot a message to Rias, telling her I'll be there tomorrow morning to manhandle Yuuto.
Now, I can be alone with my thoughts. Oh joy~!
Even before everything else came up, Yuuto was always the one I was sure I could fix, relatively easily.
A stern talking to and a slap will get him going. Of that I'm sure of.
It won't be the same as killing Valper and reconciling with a bunch of his dead family's souls in a Light Container, but it's better than remaining a constantly angry bitch, that's for sure.
Though. Speaking of, now that I'm thinking about it, where the hell even is Valper?
Did Kokopuff have him as some sort of armorer during his little war? Or did the Church get his ass even before then here?
I never really considered any of that. Having Valper would certainly make fixing Yuuto way easier, but I doubt he's within reach of me by now.
Or even alive for that matter.
I can send some clones to check out the abandoned areas around Kuoh, but I doubt I'll find anything.
Still, it wouldn't hurt to at least look. Who knows, maybe I'll even find this Great Emperor who took over the Hero Faction.
Or has their own Hero Faction, independent of Cao Cao?
Whatever. Either way…
I slump, a frown crossing my face.
Hah, yeah, fat chance of that happening.
This other Hero Faction is quickly becoming a bigger and bigger issues then I once assumed. It isn't a matter of power, really. I doubt this Great Emperor could be any stronger than Cao Cao.
The difference is that Cao Cao was an absolute idiot. A clown fumbling around with the world's strongest Longinus.
This Great Emperor? Whoever they are? Doesn't strike me as stupid. They have a goal, and they seem to be pursuing it, whatever it is.
See, I'm not sure this new Hero Faction's main goal is the Malebranche. Mayhaps more like a side thing. The way Zekka described them talking about the weapons, like they weren't sure about them existing, makes me think the Malebranche are a side project, almost.
A collector's item.
Which, if so, might even be more horrifying than the Malebranche just being their goal.
Mostly because I can't see a world where someone knows about the Malebranche, but somehow doesn't know about their power, either.
Their power is the very reason they were sealed away after all. If you were after the Malebranche, it'd most certainly be for their power. If they could control the Malebranche, I doubt anyone besides people like Shiva would be able to stand up to them.
They could get whatever else they wanted as a result.
Yet, so far as it's been described to me, their pursuit of the Malebranche has been somewhat half-baked.
Believing Avi, a devil of all people, right off the bat, off intuition, instead of capturing her just to make sure, killing her instead?
I'm not sure entirely, but it doesn't feel like they were committed to this course of action.
Which is why I don't think the Malebranche is their big goal.
But then, if not the Malebranche, what else could be?
I resist the urge to slide further into my couch and groan.
I know infuriating little about any of this, and have no idea where to even start investigating this.
Logic holds that eventually, these people, this Hero Faction, and its Great Emperor will come out by themselves, likely to enact some plan.
But not knowing what that plan is will start driving me nuts. Especially considering everything about the Malebranche.
In a sense, it's exciting, not knowing what'll come next.
On the other hand, with what little I do know and can speculate on, it doesn't give me much hope that whatever is coming will be particularly fun.
Well, here's an idea I floated in my head off and on before.
If this Hero Faction has any connections at all to Cao Cao's Hero Faction, that means they also have connections to the Khaos Brigade.
To be honest, these guys are pretty forgettable right now because they haven't done anything as of late.
With Cao Cao's Hero Faction gone, there's really no one to stir up trouble across the mythologies, besides maybe the Old Satans.
Unless they got involved in the war with the Fallen against the New Satans, and got themselves killed.
Wouldn't shock me, they're idiots.
But let's say they haven't, if I can find them, I can use them to discover where the rest of the Khaos Brigade, and thus Hero Faction, might be hiding out, or what they may be up to.
Of course, that plan hinges on the idiots being told anything, and more importantly, being alive.
Maybe a better move might be finding Ophis through them, and bribing her with bananas and friendship and shit to get her to point the way?
Eh, she was always more of a figurehead than an actual leader. I doubt she'd know anything more than the Old Satans.
Rizevim isn't in anything right now because he lacks motivation, but I believe Euclid might know something, right? He's the leader of the Magician Faction within the Khaos Brigade. Nilrem, I'm fairly certain they exist at this time.
Though getting in contact with Euclid runs the risk of getting Rizevim's attention and getting him off his ass.
It could all be for nothing, straight up. Euclid is Rizevim's dog. He won't give me anything unless Rizevim allows it.
Then a follow-up question: if it comes down to it, could I defeat Rizevim?
At full power? Hah. Easily. He's the weakest Super Devil in existence; his special power is worthless against me, and I have a type advantage on him. Twice over.
I'm more than confident I could kill him. How easy? Eh, that I'd need the fight to decide.
That just leaves finding Euclid. After all, to the Underworld, he's basically dead.
I guess, I could head over to the Norse, ask Vali's Team about Nilrem, see if they know anything about their whereabouts, then work upwards, tearing what I need from their heads until I get someone high enough rank that actually has talked to the man personally, or knows a way how.
Huh, am I actually doing this?
I slowly sit up, my finger coming up to tap my chin.
Well, that's a plan. Not the greatest, but it is workable. Probably.
If it does, it'd lead me straight into conflict with the Khaos Brigade and potentially Rizevim directly.
Which is exactly the point, because really, both of them need to go.
Khaos Brigade is obvious as to why, a terrorist organization and all that, meanwhile, Rizevim is a ticking time bomb, not yet motivated to explode.
But if he does? Yeah, that's a problem best addressed before it can.
Well, shit. I guess I know what I'm doing after Yuuto and Rias Rematch!
I blink as a magic circle suddenly spawns directly in front of me.
"Huh? That sigil…Gremory?" I mutter, trying to figure out who it could be.
My other senses tell me, but only far too late.
Shirone comes leaping out of the light, and by the time my mind catches up with this fact, she's already directly on me.
Grasping onto my robes tightly.
She looks up at me, face partially flushed, breathing strained, pupils dilated into slits, her usually stoic face cracked with need and frustration.
"Done. Waiting. Perv." She intones.
Oh fuck. Doesn't this feel familiar?
"N~Nyah~..." She practically moans as she breathes out.
Oh. Oh yeah, I'm in danger…
I just hope Kuroka doesn't waddle down from upstairs to try and join her!