Xenovia would love nothing more than to take the sword in her hand and just cleave the devils in front of her into pieces.
Yes, she understood this was devil's territory. Yes, there was supposed to be a ceasefire between the three factions. No, she did not think there was so much procedure to go through for this meeting. Yes, she figured that Griselda's presence would warrant the presence of both representatives and princess of the town. No, she was not very patient. No, she would rather not spend all this time talking. And certainly, the rumors about the current user of the [Boost Gear] being a perverted high school boy were clearly understated.
If she did not know any better, she would say that there was a higher power intent of making fun of her lifestyle.
They had spent the past hour or so discussing with the representatives of the town about the purpose of their visit and the people involved. She mostly stay silent during the discussion while listening in on their conversation, but she did listened more about the fallen exorcists to understand who they were.
Creed Diskenth, a fallen exorcist whose skills with the sword was supposedly on par with Freed Sellzen, he was one of the few considered to be borderline murderous when it comes to taking out devils and the church's enemies. But compared to Freed's 'loose-cannon' methods of fighting and torture, Creed's would be considered more methodical and ideal for psychological warfare if he ever needed to play mind games with his enemies. He was also someone that could easily take on some of the top fighters in the church ranks if given the chance to do so. He was often sent out a lone for assignments partially because his methods were extremely unethical and more likely to harm rather than protect anyone fighting alongside him.
The other fallen exorcist was the one she was interested though. Lyle Wallner was someone that many had considered to be an enigma; his faith towards their religion was not as steadfast as the rest, but he seems to hold a great deal of respect for the current pope that bordered on near loyalty to him. He was someone who was notably suited to wield some of the holy swords in the church's vault, but he refused to wield them for battles, his reasoning being that he was not the right owner for them.
His fighting style was also one that made many raised an eyebrow; he was skilled with the sword and martial arts to the point of being considered unofficially as one who could handle the top ten fighters in their church, yet he preferred the use of modern weaponry in his fights. He was also someone whose methods of combat seemed more at home as a mercenary than frontal combatant.
Much to her and Irina's surprise, Sister Griselda had met Lyle a couple of times in the past and she admitted wholeheartedly that she would rather avoid direct confrontation with him, otherwise avoid any contact with him whatsoever. She believed that he could easily defeat her no matter how much of a disadvantage he was in as long as there was 1 percent chance that he could turn it around.
It was because of his fighting style that he ended up getting a moniker that was both fitting and somewhat mocking. The Church Slayer.
For her part, Xenovia was confident she could handle Creed easily, but Lyle was someone she had a hard time understanding. As many remarked, him becoming a Fallen Exorcist and seemingly joining forces with Galilei was totally opposite of his loyalty to the pope. There were plenty of rumors and theories as to the reason for doing so, such as him losing faith in the pope's ability to save the church, him simply using his skills as a hitman for hire or he was under the pope's orders to infiltrate the group.
Whatever the case, she intended to find out the reason by fighting him later.
Her musings were temporarily interrupted when Excalibur Destruction glowed brightly in her hand while humming softly. For the past couple of days, the two shards in their possession kept reacting strangely, and it seemed to intensify when they entered the academy. When they revealed their swords to the devils, the repeating reaction nearly got them into trouble as the devils thought they were trying to attack them.
She had conveyed her theory to Griselda that the swords were reacting to the others, but Griselda said that they would have to check up on it afterwards. She could only wait until the meeting was over then she could try out that idea.
Her musings got interrupted by a ringing tone that came from one of the princesses, who blushed lightly while reaching into her pocket to pull out a cell-phone. Why would people want to use those contraptions was beyond her.
"Excuse me for a minute." Sona Sitri got up from her seat and went to a corner to answer the call. Xenovia peeked at her at the corner of her eye and noted the slight confusion and anxiety that appeared on the princess's face. Soon after she hung up and checked her phone for text messages, towards which she frowned heavily before turning back to Rias Gremory.
"Rias, I don't mean to interrupt, but I may have to borrow Asia for a while." Sona Sitri said as she leaned in. "It seems there is some sort of problem going on with Emiya-kun, and the others want her to check up on him to make sure nothing is wrong."
"Emiya-kun?" Rias tilted her head in confusion. "Well this is a first, but I guess his body finally gave out on him."
"Indeed, I think it is high time he takes some R&R and stop trying to force himself to finish all those tasks." Sona sighed lightly. "He is good at his work but he is still human."
"Well, that may be his charming point." Akeno said with a teasing tone. "After all, two of your members can attest to that."
"Akeno~" Sona let out a warning tone to which Akeno responded with a shrug.
"It is fine, I will hold down the fort." Rias turned to the blonde girl in question. "Asia, if you would?"
"Understood, I would like to help Emiya-san get better." She clenched her fists as though she was getting pumped up, though it only made her look cute. She got up and walked with Sona, rounding the table to walk past her. Xenovia looked at her noting her slightly restrained movements as she neared them before she spoke out.
"You are the witch previously called the Holy Maiden." The words directed at Asia was more of a statement than a question. "I thought you looked familiar when we met at the house, but I did not think that one who was called the Holy Maiden would fall so low as to become a devil."
"EH! I heard you were banished for healing a devil, but I didn't think you became one." Irina exclaimed while Asia bowed her head, unable to muster the courage to look at them in the face.
"Tell me, do you still believe in our God?" Xenovia asked while looking at the blonde girl. "I know of a few who tried to remain pious despite betraying their beliefs because they cannot forget their teachings and feel guilty about it."
"… I can't let go of my faith. It has been my entire life…" Asia replied in a soft voice.
"I see, in that case." Xenovia pointed the sword right at her head. "Then perhaps we can do you a service by cutting you down. God should be able to extend his hand to you even if you have sinned this much."
"Cut that shit!" Everyone blinked at the sight of an angry Ise who was on his feet and glaring at the girl in front of him. "You were the ones who put her on that pedestal of being a Saint in the first place so that she can heal all of you back at the church, but you kick her out for saving someone in need and branded her a witch! Nobody helped her when she needed you guys the most! You guys are the bunch of idiots who don't understand her kindness!"
"A Holy Maiden does not need friends. She only needs the love and guidance of God in order to live. The fact that she is here in that form proves that she was not worthy to become one in the beginning." Xenovia replied back like she was talking about the weather.
"CRASH!"
The table collapsed under the weight of Ise's punch as he hit it with Boosted Gear, his arm slightly shaking from the rage he was feeling. "You guys don't know what she went through! You say that Asia would have been fine if she had truly loved God? He didn't do jack-shit when his own son was getting crucified and he certainly did nothing when Asia was getting her Sacred Gear removed by those fallen angels!"
"Ise-san!" Asia, Irina and the others widened their eyes in shock while Xenovia narrowed her eyes in anger and grabbed Excalibur Destruction tighter.
"He did not do anything to help her out even though she is the kindest and most innocent person on this damn planet! We and another guy totally unrelated to any of us ended up doing the saving and at least that unrelated guy even helped to keep her alive long enough to heal her properly!" Ise continued to speak his mind out, being on a high of vitriol and righteous fury to care at all.
"You guys talk big about saving the good and innocent, yet you did not do shit for her!"
"Why you little!" Xenovia poured her will into Excalibur Destruction, making it glow red in anticipation of a killing spree of devils.
"Xenovia, do not get angered by his words." Griselda gave her a warning before turning to Rias. "Lady Gremory, I would ask that you restrain your servant. He seems to be slightly lacking in manners."
...
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