"We are going after them, Irina."
"Okay!"
Xenovia and Irina exchanged a firm nod before rushing ahead. Neither of them had the patience or time to bother with Kiba or the other two Devils.
"Damn it!" Kiba cursed and hurried after them. The Holy Sword and Valper Galilei! These were the two things he wanted to destroy more than anything else. Now that both appeared before him, how could he leave them like that?!
"Saji!"
With three of them gone, Saji, exhausted and injured, collapsed to the ground and leaned against a tree. Issei saw this and ran to him, checking his condition. "How are you feeling? Hold on until Master comes. He'll heal you."
"I'm fine, just feeling a little spent," Saji said with a tired smile as he rested his head on Issei's shoulder and closed his eyes.
"Sorry. I'm supposed to be the second in command, yet I was useless," Issei said, lowering his head in frustration.
"Don't push yourself. Not only you, but I'm also new to this. Let's take things slowly," Saji said, trying to comfort him. Then, with a sudden flare of irritation, he added, "But what's the deal with these bastards?!"
That sick freak suddenly attacked them out of nowhere. Then Kiba and the two church warriors showed up, followed by that fat priest, before they all took off and left them behind.
"I don't know. I already contacted Riser-sama. We'll talk about this when he arrives," Issei said, clenching his hand. Frustration and annoyance boiled inside him. Why the hell did they have to get hurt like this for no reason?
If that bastard Freed wasn't already dead at the hands of the trio who left, he'd beat the shit out of him to vent his anger!
...
Standing on the roof of a building, Kiba stared at the sky with a blank expression. He had tried to chase down Freed, but that cunning bastard managed to escape along with Valper Galilei.
Fire burned in Kiba's heart and mind, directed at them and also at himself for letting the two escape.
Suddenly, his brows twitched. He spun around, alert, and called out, "Who's there? Show yourself!"
From the shadows, Riser stepped forward. He pulled his hand out of his pocket and raised it with a smile. "Rias's knight, don't be nervous. I mean no harm."
"Riser Phenex?" Kiba said, his eyes narrowing as he stared at him suspiciously.
..
"How cunning! He escaped!" Irina exclaimed angrily in another part of the town. They had been searching for over two hours but couldn't find a single trace of that stray exorcist and the traitor Valper Galilei.
"Let's find a place to spend the night. Tomorrow we'll continue the search. You're still injured and need to rest," Xenovia said calmly, pulling the hood of her cloak back over her head. After their duel, even with Koneko holding back, Irina had still taken some damage.
"Hmm, where should we go? We don't have money to book a hotel," Irina said, nodding at her partner's suggestion. Then she suddenly remembered she had spent all their money on a painting of Jesus.
Which turned out to be freaking fake!
Gurgle!
"…" Xenovia suddenly froze, pressing a hand against her empty stomach that was screaming in protest. She stared blankly at Irina. "I shouldn't have let you manage this mission's expenses."
The combination of the two was unusual. Xenovia was calm, quiet, and serious, yet blunt and sometimes came off as ignorant in her interactions with others.
On the other hand, Irina was a cute, bubbly, energetic girl, though somewhat of an airhead.
Gurgle!
"…Sorry," Irina said, holding her stomach and lowering her head. She stayed silent for a moment before adding, "I'm hungry. I want to eat something."
"Me too," Xenovia replied.
The two walked in silence for a long while. Suddenly, they found themselves in a park, the night lights casting a glow over the benches. Xenovia scanned the empty area before speaking. "Should we spend the night here?"
However, she received no response from Irina. "Irina?" Turning to look at her partner, Xenovia saw her staring off in a certain direction, lost in a daze.
"What are you staring at?"
Following her gaze, Xenovia froze. Her eyes widened, her pupils dilated, and it was as if her soul had drifted away into paradise, because what she was feeling in that moment was something that could only be experienced there.
Her heart was thumping frantically, so fast that her breathing grew short. Her chest tightened, and she instinctively pressed her hands against it. It felt as if she were trapped in an ethereal dream, an unbelievable dream she had no desire to wake from.
Ahead, sitting on a chair and holding his phone, was a man with a perfect build. His face was average by ordinary standards, but to Xenovia, it could be nothing less than perfect. She felt like a poisoned woman, and he was her cure, like a parched traveler in the desert, and he was her oasis, like an astronaut drifting in space who had finally found her home.
She had never believed in love at first sight. Hell, she had never believed in something called love at all. But seeing this person, she knew… she understood... that he was her destined one!
A strong, increasingly powerful, all-consuming need and obsession for this person grew in her heart at an alarming rate. In less than half a minute, her face flushed red, her breath came in rough gasps that sent steam curling from her mouth and nose, and her eyes glowed with bright pink hearts.
"D-darling, my darling!"
The voice snapped her back to reality. Xenovia turned and saw Irina, clutching her chest, staring at the man with a face full of infatuation and obsession, muttering, "I found my darling!"
"What is she saying?" A growing sense of discomfort and anger surged in Xenovia's heart. What was this woman saying? How dare she speak like that about her man?!
But she was still a follower of God, and Irina was her most trusted partner. She held back the urge to use Excalibur Destruction to blast her into pieces.
Just as she was about to confront her, the man on the bench stood up. He put his phone back in his pocket and actually looked at them. The moment their eyes met, an electric shock ran through Xenovia's body, making her legs go weak. She hurriedly covered her mouth to keep a shameful moan from escaping. 'This feeling! It must be the feeling of love! Haah! It's such a wonderful feeling!!'
"Ano…Hmm…"
While she savored the electrifying, pleasurable feeling, Irina suddenly walked over to him. Standing before him and fidgeting nervously, she gathered her courage, lifted her head to meet his gaze, and said, "I know this is sudden, but I want to tell you something."
"What is it?" Yusuke asked, clearly confused and surprised by her.
Under Xenovia's shocked and horrified eyes, Irina took a deep breath, then bowed deeply and shouted, "Please, make me your bride!" Her voice rang out so loudly it carried across the entire park, startling every couple who was making out in the dark.
"Irina, what are you doing?!"
Xenovia's expression darkened. She rushed over and grabbed Irina, questioning her sternly.
"I found my destined love. Of course I'm going to propose to him!" Irina spoke as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Her heart screamed that this man was her destined other half, the piece she didn't know was missing. Now that she had met him, of course, she would do anything to have him!
"Hmm… So that's how it is, so this is how it works."
Xenovia released Irina, held her chin, and wore an extremely serious expression. "In that case, I won't lose either!" she declared.
"Please take me as your bride! I want to be your wife!" She turned to Yusuke and spoke, and instead of bowing, she rushed forward and hugged him tightly. "Let's make plenty of babies together!"
"Ehhh? Xenovia?!!!" Irina's eyes widened as she roared in disbelief. She rushed forward, pulling Xenovia away from him. "What are you doing?! He's my darling! How could he marry you? He'll only marry me!"
"That's my line! I saw him first, he's my man! I'll make him my husband!" Xenovia shouted furiously, pushing her back.
"He's mine!"
"No, he's mine!"
"Mine!"
"Bullshit! He's my husband!"
The two pushed against each other, glaring furiously as their shouting match echoed nonstop.
Yusuke, on the other hand, watched them with a stupefied expression. 'I thought I'd seen all types of weird freaks, but this… this is new. Are these two what they call airheads?'
[Perhaps,] the system was speechless too.
'This is the first time I've met such frank and direct yanderes,' Yusuke thought, keeping his gaze on the two women. When they first stepped into the park, he had already sensed their presence with his Haki, but he only realized they were yanderes when they stared at him so intensely for a full minute.
However, he hadn't expected that the first thing they would say to him would be a proposal. That was a new record.
[Whatever, here are your Quests!] The system was unusually quiet today, issuing the Quests directly before going silent.
[Ding!]
[New Quest!]
[The cliche childhood friend (except she isn't your childhood friend): Irina Shidou is a devoted follower of God. She is cute and very kind, but as they say, be wary of the quiet ones…
Task: Raise Irina Shidou's submission to 80 without pushing her to the dark side.
Rewards: 1 Level, 4 Skill Points, Random Skill.
Penalty: None.]
[New Quest!]
[The tomboyish musclehead: Xenovia Quarta is a warrior devoted to God, but also an airhead who likes to solve everything with violence, if you know what kind of violence I mean…
Task: Raise Xenovia Quarta's submission to 80.
Rewards: 1 Level, 3 Skill Points, Skill: Ascendant Form
Penalty: None.]
...
As Yusuke's harem continued to grow, Issei's harem was also beginning to take shape. It might not be the harem he had always imagined, but it could still, by all accounts, be considered a harem.
**
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...
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