Chapter 177 - You're saying I've been used as a pawn!?
"So you came to Kuoh Town not only to avoid the church's pursuit but also to target me and Sona?" Rias asked, her gaze fixed on Kokabiel with unprecedented seriousness.
"It seems Sirzechs has trained you well. If you take over the Gremory clan in the future, you'll be an outstanding duchess," Kokabiel replied, not sparing his praise.
He laughed loudly and said, "That's right, my goal in coming to Kuoh Town is you and Serafall's sister."
"Originally, I thought that if I stole the holy swords, it would attract Michael's attention, and he wouldn't be able to resist sending someone to eliminate me."
The holy sword, even among angels, is a top tier weapon.
"But what I didn't expect is that Michael doesn't seem to care about the holy swords at all," Kokabiel said, a tinge of anger in his voice.
"Apart from the church sending some expendable exorcists to track me, the only ones worth noticing are the two little girls wielding holy swords."
His anger stemmed not only from the failure of his expected plan but also from the humiliation of being underestimated.
As a cadre class fallen angel recorded in the Bible, Kokabiel might not match the angels like Michael or Gabriel in strength, but he could still hold his own against them.
In the past three factions war, his opponents were renowned angels and devils.
Yet now, despite his efforts to cause chaos, none of his former adversaries had shown up.
Instead, insignificant nobodies were sent to deal with him.
This infuriated Kokabiel.
"Since that's the case, I'll target the devils instead. If I kill you two, Sirzechs and Serafall won't be able to hold back, will they?" Kokabiel said with a maniacal grin.
"Tell me, is there a possibility," Roy interjected, "that the so called plan you're touting is just bait in the eyes of others?"
In the anime, Azazel had already visited Kuoh Town and even used devil summoning to interact amicably with Issei.
The commotion caused by Kokabiel was significant enough to alert the church, so it should have been impossible to hide from Azazel's notice.
Yet Azazel didn't immediately punish Kokabiel to end the turmoil.
Instead, he waited until the situation escalated before sending the White Dragon Emperor, Vali, to clean up the mess.
It was highly likely that Kokabiel was being used as a fulcrum for the upcoming tripartite meeting.
"Who are you?" Kokabiel asked, having noticed earlier that, besides the two holy sword users, there were two humans among the group below.
"You don't know me?" Roy asked with slight doubt.
It made sense that Xenovia and Irina, being far off in Europe, might be unaware of the underworld's affairs.
However, gregori like the devils, were in the underworld.
The recent incident between the Gremory clan and the Phenex clan was a major event among devils.
Anyone paying attention would have heard of it.
"What do I need to know about you? You're just a human," Kokabiel sneered.
"But I'm curious, what did you mean by that?"
"I'm also curious," Roy replied.
"Are you just reckless, or is someone deliberately keeping you in the dark?"
If Kokabiel truly aimed to trigger a new three factions war by killing Rias and Sona, he would have at least investigated the forces surrounding them.
Otherwise, if there were special guards, his plan would fail.
It wouldn't be surprising for the sisters of two Satans to have ultimate class devils protecting them.
"What do you mean?" Kokabiel asked, sensing something amiss after Roy's repeated cryptic remarks.
"He's my fiancé and the current Red dragon emperor," Rias declared.
"The Red dragon emperor?" Kokabiel's eyes narrowed slightly.
The holder of a Sacred Gear typically exudes a distinct aura, easily recognizable to someone with his knowledge.
For instance, Kokabiel had identified Asia as a Sacred Gear holder at first glance.
Yet, he detected nothing from Roy.
However, Rias's words were unlikely to be false.
The only explanation was that the young man before him had mastered his Sacred Gear to a level where he could suppress its aura.
This meant the current Red dragon emperor was far from weak.
Yet, Kokabiel had no knowledge of such critical information?
Although he had come to Kuoh Town on a whim after failing to seize the holy swords, he had still investigated the forces around the two Satan sisters beforehand.
Aside from their peerages, no other significant figures were mentioned.
Now, a heavyweight like this guy had appeared, suggesting his information sources might have been manipulated.
"It seems you've figured something out," Roy said, a trace of pity in his eyes.
Seeing Kokabiel's bewildered expression, he grew more convinced of his theory.
The underworld likely knew the basics of Roy's strength before he arrived in this world.
The Boosted Gear, a Longinus often wielded by its host, had its core ability, Boost, thoroughly studied.
Combined with Roy's baseline strength, even if he couldn't defeat Kokabiel outright, he could likely stall him long enough for reinforcements to arrive, especially with two holy sword wielders and several high class devils providing support.
"You're saying I've been used as a pawn?" Kokabiel's face grew more ferocious, disbelief in his eyes as he glared at Roy.
As a millennia old fallen angel, Kokabiel's experience compensated for any lack of cunning.
Roy's hints made him realize something was wrong.
"Those who play politics have dirty hearts, don't they?" Roy said with a slight smile.
The tripartite talks were too complex to be resolved in a single meeting.
Yet, in the anime, after the talks, the devils, angels, and fallen angels, historically bitter enemies, seemed to enter a honeymoon period almost immediately.
This suggested prior private contact and a reached consensus.
What they lacked was a suitable opportunity for a formal meeting.
As the most restless and belligerent figure among the three factions, Kokabiel became the perfect catalyst.
By allowing him to stir up trouble, the factions not only gained a pretext for the tripartite meeting but also sent a warning to others in their ranks with similar ambitions.
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