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Thanks for reading!
May be ongoing/ May not, it depends.
Might up a p.a.t.r.e.o.n in the future, but not right now.
Plot-heavy chapter, yeah?
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-Bael Estate, Underworld-
In the ancient halls of the Bael Estate, rows of lanterns were lit as the room was encased in an aura of gloom and ill intent.
What was currently going on was a meeting between Nobles--- Nobles of the Devil variety.
Convened behind closed doors, the atmosphere was nothing but heavy and oppressive, not just with magic, but with history.
After all, what was occurring was no mere strategy session.
It was preservation.
Cutting loose ends, if you will.
A middle-aged man with flowing black hair and peaceful violet eyes sat at the head of the obsidian table as if he were held in reverence.
---He was none other than Zekram Bael, the ancient patriarch of the Bael Clan, and the de-facto ruler of all Devils due to the death of the original Four Satans.
He exuded a presence powerful enough to silence those who may even be considered great as he sat the representatives of the Great King Faction, scions of noble bloodlines, their sigils sewn into robes older than some devil lineages.
"She knows," Zekram said without preamble. His voice echoed, though no acoustics could explain how. "Cleria Belial has confirmed the existence of the King Piece."
A murmur ran through the room like a tremor beneath the earth. One of the lords leaned forward, steepling his fingers. "She was never meant to reach that far. Her family was disgraced. Financially irrelevant. A curiosity, nothing more."
"Yet here we are," Zekram replied coldly. "The moment we deemed her harmless, she not only obtained her own Evil Pieces, but investigated further. Dug too deep. And then… the worst of it…"
He tossed a file onto the table. It slid, landing before a minor noble from the Bael Clan branch
"A human lover," the noble muttered. "An exorcist. Masaomi Yaegaki. Protestant-trained. Currently residing in Kuoh Town with his mentor, Touji Shidou."
A long silence followed. Even devils understood the danger of that kind of union. Forbidden love wasn't the problem. It was what it represented. A union like that spoke of something more dangerous than heresy: rebellion.
"She must be severed from him," the youngest of the Lords said. "Preferably alive. We can bring her back into the fold. Her cousin Diehauser still holds influence—"
"No." Zekram's voice cut through like steel across stone. "Diehauser's loyalty is uncertain. We will not risk another embarrassment."
He turned, and with a wave of his hand, summoned an image, a projection spell. It showed the Protestant Church in Kuoh Town, where Exorcists are training.
Files are being exchanged as a young man with light brown hair and eyes was sparring with holy blades.
---Touji Shidou.
"He has a daughter in Kuoh Town," said a black-robed noble. "She's young, still attending the local school. We believe she's been taught how to wield light."
"Perfect," Zekram said. "He and his colleagues are zealots. Idealistic. If we convince them that Cleria is a seductress who has corrupted an exorcist and threatens the balance between Heaven and Earth… they will act."
"And when they do," said another lord, "we simply regretfully observe as a tragic conflict unfolds."
Zekram nodded. A cold, ancestral nod. "Exactly. Cleria and Masaomi die. Neither the Church nor we will take the blame. And the secret of the King Piece remains buried."
"And what of Touji Shidou's daughter? Should she become involved?"
Zekram's eyes narrowed. "Collateral. If it comes to that."
Silence again. But this time, it was in agreement. The kind of silence only old devils knew--- the sound of centuries of cruelty folding neatly into a decision.
"We will prepare falsified communications from the Grigori," one of the nobles said. "Make it appear as if the Fallen are influencing Cleria. That should stir them."
"And if the Protestant fools hesitate?" asked another.
"Then we simply leak the truth. That a devil and a former exorcist have uncovered a forbidden secret, one that could upset the balance between the Three Factions. We whisper just loud enough, and righteousness will do the rest."
Zekram sat back, folding his hands.
"Begin the operation. By the time the fires settle, be sure that the King Piece will be nothing but rumor."
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-Kuoh Town, Holy Church-
The makeshift chapel was modest, a building constructed from stone and prayer.
Candlelight flickered against the iron cross at the altar, the scent of old paper and holy oil clinging to the air like ghostly breath.
Touji Shidou stood in the side chamber, alone with a folder in his hands.
A knock at the door had delivered it. No voice. No presence. Only the cold snap of divine wards warned him that something powerful, something dark that had slipped past the barrier wards to leave it.
Inside: photographs. Reports. Transcripts of intercepted communications.
---The subject?
Cleria Belial, High-Class Devil.
Her consort?
Masaomi Yaegaki, his former comrade, now a traitor in the Church's eyes.
Touji's jaw clenched as he turned the pages.
---This was a direct order from the church itself.
There was a list of "suspected violations", devil expansion in Kuoh Town, unlicensed experiments on human-demonic hybrid theory, and... a fragment of forbidden knowledge.
"The King Piece."
He had never heard of it before. The word was written in cautious, fearful language. Not dogmatic fear... political fear.
And then, one document stood out: a message.
Stamped with a symbol Touji didn't recognize. Fallen? Maybe. It was designed to look like them. But the phrasing was too… sterile. Too well-written.
"A threat has been identified. If left unchecked, the union between this Devil and your former colleague will spread corruption into both worlds. Heaven's silence does not mean Heaven's approval."
Touji read the line three times.
"...Heaven's silence does not mean Heaven's approval."
He closed the file slowly, his fingers trembling just enough to feel it.
"...Masaomi," he murmured. "What have you gotten yourself into?"
He looked toward a photo on the nearby desk.
---Irina, his daughter, smiling beneath a sakura tree in Kuoh Town.
The silence of the room thickened. A choice lay in front of him. His faith pulled in one direction, and his instincts in another.
But even now, something didn't sit right.
But in the end, he chose his faith.
"Everyone, get ready." Touji gritted his teeth. "In God's name, we have a mission to do."
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-Nighttime-
Midnight strolls, who doesn't love 'em?
During the night in the Kuoh Town suburbs, the streets were quiet.
Devoid of cars, weird kids running around, and no unnecessary noise save for the occasional rustle of the wind through trees and the near-silent buzz of streetlights.
'Just how I like it.'
There was just something about that late-night air that felt... Nice.
I wasn't a night owl, no sir, but I do like hanging around the dark, walking slow, taking my time with no destination in mind as I let the silence soak into my skin.
But the issue with the night was often well... The crazy folks who like to either do dumb shit or crazy crimes in the night.
And in this world, in Kuoh Town? The thugs, crackheads, and wild animals were replaced with a whole 'nother class of crazy.
And then I felt it.
Not ki, not demonic energy. Not even magic.
No, it was something else. A shift in the air. Like walking into a room right after someone screamed and threw a tantrum.
---Everyone's a bit uncomfortable, and you don't know exactly why.
I picked up my pace as I turned through corners and avenues, my instincts humming low and sharp as I neared closer.
That's when I saw them.
Five figures, frozen in time under moonlight.
One of them was on his knees—Masaomi Yaegaki, blood dripping from a wound in his side, his arm protectively around the woman beside him.
Her hair was wild, with an ashy grey quality to it, as her face was bruised, but her eyes remained defiant.
---Cleria Belial.
And above them… blade raised and hands trembling…
---Touji Shidou. And his colleagues.
'Well. Shit.' I grimaced. 'Am I really walking in on a canon event?'
Should I do anything?
It's not like I have something to do with it. Even if I turn around and live my life, my life wouldn't be much different.
Later in the novels, they would touch on this again...
Spoiler Alert, but later Masaomi would get revived by the Khaos Brigade and would be set loose on his former colleagues, killing them all except for Touji---
---But right in the end, as he has a change of heart after seeing Issei and Asia, he gets one-shotted into oblivion by Rizevim. (rip x2)
Does anyone important really pay for doing this?
No, not really.
They find out that Old Daddy Zekram was masterminding the whole operation, but he essentially offers Issei a Maou position, calling the current Four Satans figureheads---
---Before he tells Issei and his crew in the most polite manner to 'fuck off and focus on something more important' like the Devil race's future, before sitting down to have some tea or something.
He even tells Lord Belial to his face that his daughter's death was a canon event, so just deal with it!
Sure, Lord Belial punched him in the face, but that was it...
---And that's it. That's how the whole caseended.
It's like if, after all that A*zen did to Ich*go and the Spirit Society in 'Detergent', everyone decides to go, 'Well, it is what it is...', and the episode ends with them all laughing together as the screen pans into the sky...
'I know, I almost couldn't believe it when I read the novels...' I thought. 'I was like, 'damn, that's it?' Huh?'
Thinking this, I realized one thing: 'If nothing changes anyway, then doesn't that mean that I'm free to act in whatever way I want?'
'Fuck it, I'm gonna get involved.'
'I won't interupt and get too involved, but I'll do just enough to fuck up their plans...'
[Body Manipulation]
My body changed into that of a middle-aged man as I stepped out of the shadows into the light.
"Hey… kinda weird place to hold a sermon, don't you think?" I just let my voice carry, flat and casual.
Touji flinched.
His sword hung in the air, caught between purpose and doubt.
Cleria's eyes widened the moment she saw me. "You…"
Masaomi grunted through gritted teeth, "W-who.. Are you…"
"A really nosey motherfucker who can't mind his business," I replied, my voice reminiscent of a man who's had fifty too many cigars. "That's who I am."
Even Clint E*stwood would point at me and say that I'm overdoing it.
I kept walking forward, slow, like I had all the time in the world. My hands stayed at my sides, and my voice remained dry and calm.
"Not to tell you how to do your job, but you might not wanna kill them."
Touji's jaw clenched. His voice was rough, strained. "Who are you, and why are you here?"
"You heard why already." I blandly stated. "Then again, when it comes to guys like you, you hear whatever you want, right?"
-swish!-
The Holy Blade in Touji's hands blurred, as in less than a second, it reappeared by my neck, ready to separate my head in a single swing.
[Sensitivity Manipulation x1000: Five Senses]
My senses all bloomed exponentially, as I could feel my mind expanding, taking in everything that entered my world.
The Holy Sword, the colleagues in front of me, the injured duo of lovers, everything.
'This Touji guy, right now, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that he's at least Mid to High Class...'
I looked at his form as I dodged his blade, slipping past all of his flurries as I kept an eye on the injured duo under the street lights.
'And he has quite the skill with his sword, too...' I greedily absorbed everything in his attacks, using my boosted senses to etch everything I saw deep inside my subconscious.
I would now substitute these skills for my own weapon skills later on.
-clash!-
You wanna know what are the gains of having a Fallen Angel as a minion?
Well, since they've been alive for hundreds of years, they naturally have some connections if not some loot that they've acquired throughout the years, and what I got from my trusty loyal dog Sebas was...
-A Light Sword.
It wasn't something special, especially not when compared to the likes of Holy Swords, but it was what I could use now, so I did.
With a retractable blade, a beam of Light Power shot out, clashing with Touji's Holy Sword.
"An exorcist!?" Touji frowned as he saw me wield a Light Sword with a similar technique to how he wielded his Holy Sword. "You!? Are you a Stray Exorcist!?"
"Why are you interfering? Are you working for them!?"
And while Touji was naturally stronger with decades of experience, putting me at a disadvantage...
[Sensitivity Manipulation x5000: Ears]
-rrrummmbllllee!-
---If you aren't cheating when stronger opponents want to kill you, are you even trying?
"Arrgggh!" Touji stumbled back as the sound of our clash nearly ruptured his eardrums.
I jumped back a few feet, as I neared the slightly wary Masaomi and Cleria.
"Hey, you guys are still alive... That's neat." I chuckled.
"Who... who are you?" Masaomi wheezed.
"As I said before, just a nosey guy who wants to interfere with others' plans."
I crouched down by Cleria and Masaomi. Her breathing was shallow. Masaomi was barely conscious. I touched them gently, just enough to activate my skill.
[Body Manipulation]
A soft pulse of power rippled under my fingers, easing damage, stopping internal bleeding and damage.
---Not a full heal—just a patch job. Enough to keep them alive.
Especially Cleria Belial, who, while she was fine, was still dealing with the mental damage from the exorcists' Holy Weaponry.
"Hang in there, I'm not a damn miracle worker," I muttered. "But if I were you, I'd get out outta here, capisce?"
Realizing that there was no need for them to stay here, although they seemed to have many questions, they decided to shelf it.
"Thank you." Cleria said as Masaomi nodded.
"If you're thankful, then get outta here." I waved them away, as I turned to face Touji and his exorcist companions.
I glanced back at Touji and his fidgeting colleagues, who still hadn't moved.
"You've got questions. So do I."
"And by the way, I'm not answering any of yours, okay?"
This would be my first fight with a named character in canon DxD.
Next Chapter: Ecchi Boy Gleefully Ruins Canon In Disguise And Visits A Shrine!
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Trivia Time! (Againx7!!!)
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Zekram Bael's name is based on the two legendary Pokémon in the Pokémon franchise, Zekrom & Reshiram.
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Due to the origin of High School DxD, the top major countries where Christianity flourishes (United States, Italy, France, Germany, Russia, United Kingdom, and China) are not elaborated and instead focus on Japan.
(Of course, it's a manga; only important things happen in Japan in most manga)
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Also
Exorcists are also trained in using Magic, mainly Holy Magic derived from Christianity, as magic knowledge of other factions, particularly those derived from the Devils or other mythologies, are declared officially heretical.
(Only our holy magic is allowed; all else are filthy heretics in need of a good purging.)
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Despite the airs of superiority that members of the Old Satan Faction possess, only a few of the Satan descendants in the Old Satan Faction can actually manifest their Clan's abilities like Shalba Beelzebub's King of the Flies.
(womp womp)
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