Chapter 39
Junichiro stopped by the living room of his home and glanced inside to see the adorable sight of Asia sitting on his couch and watching a TV show meant for children. Azazel still felt that she wasn't safe anywhere near the Grigori with Kokabiel doing shady shit so she was still hanging out at his place, which was perfectly fine with Junichiro. Honestly, he was half tempted to ask her to live with him forever and even join his peerage in the future.
Regardless of his desires for the future, she was currently doing her absolute best to learn the Japanese language. He glanced at the bracelet on her wrist and smiled. He'd enchanted it specifically for her to help her learn the language faster. With its help, she should become as fluent as a native speaker in just a few weeks.
“Asia.” She looked away from the TV toward him, “Valarie and I are heading out for a little bit. Do you want us to bring anything back for you?”
Asia fidgeted in place while shaking her head and blushing, “No, thank you. I have everything I need.”
Junichiro rolled his eyes, “That's not what I asked. I asked if you wanted anything.”
Asia squirmed while her blush darkened. She still wasn't used to Junichiro's generosity and willingness to buy her anything she desired. On his part, it was super easy to spoil her. Not only did he have, essentially, unlimited money, but she was just so much fun to spoil! Finally, looking down and cutely poking two fingers together she finally muttered something he couldn't hear.
“I didn't catch that, Asia. What would you like?”
Pouting cutely and feeling teased, Asia repeated herself a little louder, “I.. wouldn't mind a cheese burger.”
Junichiro and Valarie both grinned broadly. Asia had fallen in love with cheese burgers after he'd cooked them for her on her first night in his home. He shot Asia a thumbs up, “No problem. I'll get everything I need to make them for dinner before I return.”
Asia beamed happily, “Thank you!”
Junichiro and Valarie made their way to the teleportation circle with smiles. Getting the humble and sky Asia to ask for anything was always a chore that required patience and understanding. She was used to getting close to nothing and being told she should be happy she had anything at all. Frankly, everything he heard about her life in the church made him even more disgusted with them. Fat Cardinals ate like Kings while they forced Asia to subsist on little more than porridge. The sheer level of corruption in the Church was honestly disturbing.
It made his decision to never work directly for them so much easier to maintain no matter how much money or what rare treasures they offer him.
Once both he and Valarie are on the teleportation circle, it lights up and when the light fades, they're in the ORC room. They look around spotting familiar figures all around, the other members of the peerage. Rias perks up at the sight of the pair and grins, “Gasper is in the same spot as usual, Valarie.”
Valarie huffed, “One of these days I'll get that little cutie out of his cave. Then the whole world and cower before the power of the Trap Vampire!”
She cackled as she made her way out of the room causing everyone there to shake their heads. Valarie was the original reason Gasper got into wearing women's clothing and her tastes had not changed in the intervening years that they spent apart. She still very much enjoyed dressing Gasper up in women's clothing and then trying to get him out of the room to show his new outfits off. She was making progress, but it was a slow process.
Junichiro took his seat next to Koneko and began running his fingers through her white hair, “So, what's with the summons?”
Rias cleared her throat and got down to business, “We'll be having some guests soon. Apparently, the church has sent some members into our territory and they wish to speak with Sona and I. Sona is guiding them here.”
Junichiro grunted in annoyance, “Church scumbags eh?” He rubbed his chin with one hand while he gave the cat ears that were now poking out of Koneko's hair scritches with the other, “Do you mind if I take the lead on this one? I promise not to start a war.”
Rias didn't immediately shoot his request down. Rather, she seriously considered it for a few moments before finally replying, “I'll take the lead but the moment I give you a nod, you can take over.”
Junichiro nodded and accepted her terms. This was a scenario where he was expected to play his part properly as a member of her peerage rather than the mostly free agent that he was. It also didn't hurt that it made one of his girlfriends happy with him. That always led to good things.
Ever since the defeat of Riser, he'd been taking Rias and Valarie out on dates once a week each. That only translated to three dates so far, but they had all been wonderful times. The girls knew about each other and accepted it, Rias hadn't been the least bit surprised and was accepting because it was a cultural norm for her. For Valarie, well she hadn't exactly been properly raised so concepts like monogamy hadn't been pounded into her skull from childhood. All she cared about was that she was happy and Rias was a good friend. What was there to be jealous of?
The group waited in silence as the majority of them wondered what the meeting was about. Only Junichiro was partly aware of it and he wondered how it would go in this brave new world. Finally, the door to the ORC room opened and Sona stepped through it leading a pair of strangers wearing long white cloaks with their hoods up to cover their faces in shadows. Trailing behind them and taking up the rear was Tsubaki.
The group of four came to a stop in the middle of the room where Sona addressed Rias, “These are the people from the Church. I've already spoken with them and leave the final decision to you.”
With her job done, Sona and Tsubaki leave the room. Silence pervades the room for a while before Rias finally breaks it, “Please, take a seat and tell me, what brings two exorcists of the church to our little city?”
The two push their hoods down to reveal their faces. They're both beautiful young women. The first had blue hair with a single lock colored green and amber eyes that bordered on yellow in color. The second had wheat colored hair pulled into a twin tail style and violet colored eyes. That made.. what, five women he knew with such an eye color? It was going from exotic to mundane. At least now it seemed like his two girlfriends were the ones with exotic eye colors!
After the pair sit down the one with blue hair introduced herself first speaking in a level, almost bland tone, “We appreciate your cooperation. I am Xenovia.”
The second one spoke up with a much more chipper attitude, “And I Shidou Irina!”
Rias, sitting across from the pair, calmly replied, “And for what reason would two servants of God desire to meet a devil?”
Irina takes up the explanation first, “Though one has yet to be found, the six remaining Excaliburs have been kept by three divisions of the Church. Three of those have been stolen by Fallen Angels.” Her gaze moved to Junichiro, “Though we know one is now in your possession.”
Every eye in the room turned to gaze at Junichiro. While the others looked somewhat surprised, Rias maintained her calm. After all, she knew he not only had Rapidly, but also Ruler, the missing seventh sword.
Xenovia picked up after Irina by lifting the wrapped sword she was carrying with her, “The ones we have are this, the Holy Sword of Destruction, Excalibur Destruction...”
“... and my Holy Sword of mimicry, Exclaibur Mimic!” Irina finished while pointing to a braided piece of rope on her upper arm.
Rias calmly examined the swords, such as they were, then focused on the girls, “And what do you want from us?”
Once again the gazes of the two exorcists focus on Junichiro, “This particular problem is between us and the Fallen Angels. We demand the return of Excalibur Rapidly, immediately, and that you stay out of our way while we work. We don't have time to deal with the devils of this city.”
Rias arched an eyebrow, “You're quite condescending. You think we'll side with the fallen to do something to the swords?” She smirked, “Yet we've had one in our possession for weeks, if we did wish such a thing it would have been done by now.”
Xenovia was unmoved by Rias's point, “If we must, we will destroy you, even if you are the sister of a Satan.”
Rias's eyes glowed with restrained power for a moment before she smirked and looked toward Junichiro while giving him a nod. She could have handled this just fine herself, maybe promised to give back Rapidly and swear to stay neutral, but she was curious about what he would do.
Seeing the signal, Junichiro smirked and took over, “Did the Church give you permission to restart The Great War?”
Irina looked nervous at the question while Xenovia remained stoic. Junichiro continued, “Because that is exactly what would happen if, by some miracle of your god, you managed to harm Rias Gremory. The current state of ceasefire would collapse instantly as you would have roused the anger of a man said to be even stronger than Lucifer himself was. Do you have the authority to plunge the entire world into an endless bloody conflict that will lead to the death of at least millions, if not billions of human beings?”
Irina looked distinctly uncomfortable and while Xenovia's face remained placid, he could see the beads of sweat building on her brow. He pushed even harder, “Well? Do you? Do you have permission to begin a war your side can't win?”
Instead of answering, Xenovia scoffs, “God would not allow us to lose if a war did begin!”
Junichiro gave her a bland look, “Do you honestly think the side of Heaven could win when the Fallen and Devils are both supported by The Artificer and his healing potions while your side has been completely banned from dealing with him?”
Both girls winced at that. It was not a secret that The Artificer had blacklisted the Church, and anyone associated with them, from purchasing his wares. Not to mention, he was so petty that he'd sworn that anyone caught double dealing with the church would receive the same ban after he found out they had agents buying his potions and reselling them to the church.
“It's no secret that he despises the Church. So, it's not much of a stretch to imagine that he would throw his full might behind both the Fallen and Devils. So, tell me Xenovia, Irina, do you have permission from Heaven to reignite the Great War?”
The silence from the pair was all the confirmation he needed that they did not, in fact, have permission. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at them, “This is Devil territory, granted to us by the divine right of the Japanese pantheon. The Church has no authority here. You two will vacate the city within the next hour, or we will consider your trespassing to be a declaration of hostile intent and act accordingly.”
His lips curled into a smirk, “I really hope you two remain within the city after the given time limit. I wouldn't mind adding your Excaliburs to the one I already have. Maybe I should begin a collection?”
Actually, if he took theirs, he would have more than half of the swords in his grasp. Part of him wondered if he could do a better job than Valper at fusing them together. Another part of him knew he could do better.
Neither girl bothered to give him and answer. Instead, they stood and began making their way toward the door, “We'll be taking our leave now.” Xenovia said as they moved.
Junichiro just nodded with a genial smile, “Remember, fifty-nine minutes to go.”
That earned him a pair of glares, but neither of the church girls argued as they left. Everyone remained silent, waiting until they'd left the campus before Rias finally spoke up, “Was that really necessary?”
He turned his gaze to her and nodded solemnly, “It was. I just saved their lives and prevented the Church from empowering an enemy.”
Rias frowned a bit in confusion, “Explain.”
Junichiro shrugged, “We know Kokabiel has been causing problems for the Fallen Angels lately. I would probably be correct to believe it is him who stole the Excalibur swords. If that's the case, the church sending those two after him is the same as the church just handing over their swords. There's no way that those two come even close to the strength of a Cadre even with their swords helping them. They would have died and their swords would have been in Kokabiels hands.”
He crossed his arms over his chest and sighed, “And, given he knows where two more of them are, namely my place, that means he would possess four pieces and know where two more were giving him six of the seven blades, potentially. We have no idea what he wants them for, but it can't be anything good. So, kicking them out of the city keeps their swords out of his hands and maybe buys us more time until he enacts whatever plan he has.”
Rias considered his words before slowly nodding, “I see your point.” She tapped her lower lip with her nail, “It also wouldn't be good for my reputation if I allowed two, relatively, weak members of the Church to just do as they please. It might make others believe I am weak.”
Junichiro chuckled, “Let them think you are weak. It will make it easier for you to deal with them while they underestimate you. Never let an advantage pass you by.”
“I'll try to remember that.”
Junichiro nodded and climbed to his feet, “I'll go keep an eye on those two. They seem stubborn and possibly stupid so I wouldn't put it past them to think they can ignore what I said.”
Rias looked serious as she said, “You have my permission to forcefully evict them, if necessary.” She grinned a little, “Try to be gentle about it though. I don't think the Church would appreciate their people coming back broken.”
Everyone gave awkward chuckles at her comment while Junichiro made his way out of the room.
-----Line Break-----
Junichiro hummed in amusement as he watched the two exorcists actually board a train and leave Kuoh. Perhaps they weren't entirely stupid. Or, more likely, they had orders not to get into a fight with the local devils, despite what Xenovia had said. Which, honestly, while the Church was indeed laughably corrupt, they weren't entirely stupid. They had to know that harming either Rias or Sona would see them in a whole world of hurt.
Hell, if they did manage to kill either of them they would have been completing Kokabiel's plan for him! He'd hate to think what Micheal and the other leaders of Heaven would do to the church if they restarted the war. Heaven had to know they would be the first to fall if the war began again. It would be a two on one fight with Heaven versus the Fallen and the Devils.
Junichiro would make sure it was, if they were stupid enough to start the war again.
He followed the train until it was out of sight, making sure the girls hadn't tried to pull a fast one. Though, even if they did, his security system in the city would detect them pretty fast. It was impossible to hide from it. In fact, his gaze moved from the train station to face a different section of the city where an extremely strong individual and several weaker ones were located. He knew exactly where Kokabiel was but had no interest in going to poke the nest. He planned to watch how things would unfold... or...
He pulled out his phone with a smirk and hit the speed dial for Azazel's personal line. The phone barely rang before Azazel picked the line up, “What now?!”
Junichiro's smirk became a shit-eating grin, “I know where Kokabiel is and have some info on what his plan is thus far.”
There was a long bone-weary sigh from Azazel's end, “That idiot is in Kuoh, isn't he?”
“Yup.” Junichiro popped the P loudly, “Hiding in the industrial district. We also just had an interesting visit from a pair of young, and rather weak, exorcists carrying two of the remaining pieces of Excalibur that he hasn't stolen or attempted to steal.”
There was a loud wooden thump that Junichiro assumed was Azazel's forehead meeting his desk, “That idiot. He's going to reignite the war at this rate.”
Junichiro snorted, “I'm certain that's his goal. He doesn't seem to realize what that would actually mean.”
Azazel grunted, “You're not wrong. If a war were to break out it wouldn't last very long. Kokabiel and his kind would be the first slaughtered. The rest of the Fallen that I command would ally with the Devils just to keep from making you our enemy.” He snorted, though there was no amusement to it, “Not to mention the allies you would have in the Yokai and the other pantheons.”
Junichiro nodded to himself. Over the years he'd made a lot of friends. They may not know who he is, exactly, but if he said he sided with the Devils, at the very minimum, those people would leave the Devils alone during the fighting.
“You know how I feel about war, Azazel.”
Azazel sighed, “Yeah, I do. Even if you make no goddamn sense. 'War is bad for business' my ass! It would be the exact opposite and you know it.”
Junichiro chuckled, “Yeah, I know. Maybe a rephrase? War is annoying? Oh! Or 'war is for idiots', how's that?”
There was a soft chuckle, “It really is for idiots.” He sighed, “Alright. I've got the information now so maybe I can nip this in the bud before Kokabiel does something truly stupid.”
Junichiro hummed, “Or, and hear me out, we let the idiot be an idiot and use it to our advantage.”
Naturally, Azazel was no fool and could see exactly where Junichiro was going with his comment, “That could work. It would definitely give all three sides a reason to come to the table. Are you sure you want to do this? Kokabiel might not pose a threat to you, but he's still dangerous to the others.”
Junichiro snorted, “Who do you take me for?”
“Right, right. How could I forget? You plan for everything.”
“Not everything, but close enough. If it comes down to it I can easily fight Kokabiel and win while the others deal with the trash following him.”
Azazel snorted, “That's an understatement. Between your Sword Birth Balance Breaker and Boosted Gear, I would be shocked if Kokabiel could hurt you. Add in everything else at your disposal and it becomes a sick joke.”
Junichiro gave a dry chuckle, “Yeah. Still, I don't want to kill the guy if I don't have to. Either way, feel free to send Vali over to 'deal with the situation.' I'm sure he's been chomping at the bit looking for a chance to meet me ever since the Rating Game.”
Azazel snorted humorlessly, “You've got no idea. He's practically foaming at the mouth with how excited he is to have such a strong rival. I almost feel bad for the spanking you'll give him. Still, the kid needs a reality check. He's been getting too arrogant lately and it will only cause him trouble later on if it's not curbed soon.”
“Don't worry. I'll be gentle.”
“Whatever. Thanks for the heads up. Keep an eye on the situation and call me if you need anything.”
Azazel hung up. Junichiro hummed to himself and sticks his phone in his pocket. The next moment he teleports near one of the highest class grocery stores in Kuoh. He'd promised Asia burgers and she would get burgers. She didn't need to know that he planned to grind A5 Wagyu steaks into ground beef.
He silently wondered how many people would want to kill him for the sacrilege he was about to commit.
-----Line Break-----
Junichiro studied the item he had pulled out of one of his drawers. It was something he'd prepared just for what he was about to do. With a flash, the Boosted Gear appeared on his left arm, “You ready Ddraig?”
The green gem on the back of his hand flashed as the deep voice of the dragon answered, “I should be asking you that. It's not my heart that's about to stop.”
Junichiro snorted at that, “True. Alright let's do this.”
Putting action to words, a metal strand poked out of his left elbow and quickly began wrapping around his arm until hundreds of strands formed a solid bangle. Once formed the bangle changed to a knotted cord that untied and came off easily. He set Avalon on his desk and picked up the small metal disk that had been sitting, waiting. What he was about to do couldn't happen as long as Avalon was inside of his body to prevent it.
After unbuttoning his shirt, he placed the metal disk on his chest directly over his heart. The disk was obviously an enchanted item. Its job was simple, keep his blood flowing while his heart stopped beating. Hardly anyone in history had used Ddraig to turn their heart into a dragon's heart due to the heart stopping for an unknown amount of time. It could take anywhere from a minute to half an hour for Ddraig to fully transform someones heart. Without oxygen, the brain suffers permanent damage within four to five minutes and severe damage within nine to ten. Even if, by some miracle, the person came back after their heart stopped for thirty minutes, their mind would be completely destroyed.
He wasn't about to risk that, so he did the logical thing. He made a heart bypass unit. As soon as his heart stopped, the enchanted disk would take over and act as a heart while completely bypassing the organ. Then, once his heart restarted, it would disable itself. There was one major downside to not passing out from lack of blood flow to the brain though.
“Do it, Ddraig.”
At his command, Ddraig began his work. Junichiro's whole body seized as his heart immediately stopped and was replaced with agony. Junichiro collapsed to the ground and began pounding on it with one fist while his other hand pressed against the disk on his chest, “Fuckfuckfuck!”
His breathing turned ragged while he clenched his teeth and fought through the haze of pain. Ddraig had warned him, but no amount of words could prepare him for what he was feeling right then. It was like suffering the worst heart attack ever and not getting the comfort of passing out from lack of blood reaching the brain.
It felt like hours but was really only minutes before the pain began to fade and his heart once more began beating properly. Junichiro collapsed onto his back and shivered on the floor while covered in sweat. When he spoke his voice was hoarse from shouting, “Never again.”
Ddraig snorted from his automaton body, “You only have one heart, so yes, never again. Although, you do have two lungs.”
“...FUCK!”
-----Line Break-----
Junichiro groaned as he lay in his bed. He felt like complete and utter shit. Apparently, that bag of dicks Past Junichiro decided it would be a good idea to get all the transformations he wanted done out of the way all in one go. So, last night that dick had Ddraig transform every single one of his internal organs into dragon equivalents.
Now all of his insides throbbed together.
According to Ddraig, changing bones, muscle, and skin are comparatively easier than changing organs. Changing a limb takes hardly any time and at worst leaves the limb a little numb for an hour or two. Organs, on the other hand, being far more complex pieces of biology that are far more delicate, take a gentle (read slow) approach to change safely.
The big upside though is his organs are now far more durable and efficient in their jobs. Downside, his new improved kidneys mean he'd need to drink pure alcohol by the gallon to even hope to feel a bit buzzed. Good thing he wasn't a big drinker.
Junichiro did plan to, eventually, turn his entire body into a dragons, but that was a while down the road. He was in no rush for that. Rather, he had something else in mind for his next stunt.
Namely the usurpation of the Lucifer bloodline.
…
Sometime later. He was in no mood for further body modifications anytime soon. Besides, he needed to get used to the changes that his new organs would bring. Specifically his lungs and heart. With the change to his lungs he was now fully capable of breathing dragon fire. It wouldn't be Ddraig's fire, but rather his own personal flames. He was his own dragon, after all. His heart, on the other hand, was now a magical engine. Every beat of his heart sent magic flowing through his body to reinforce it, enhance it, and just make it better in general.
Thanks to Essence of the Blank, these changes were sped up a fair degree since the Essence saw them as positive and prevented them from being slowed down or restricted in any way. He honestly hadn't expected that Essence to be quite the boon it had turned into, but he wasn't about to complain either. Anything that made him stronger made him and those he cared about safer.
He was drawn from his thoughts when the door to his room opened. Standing in the hallway, silhouetted in the light, was Valarie. She boldly walked into his room while closing the door behind her. With the light cut off, Junichiro was able to see her much more clearly, even if it was pitch dark in his room.
Valarie was wearing a babydoll nightgown that was mostly transparent letting him see everything but her breasts while a skimpy pair of panties cover the rest of her modesty. Junichiro swallowed heavily at the sight of the gorgeous dhampire wearing hardly anything. He'd seen glimpses and teases of her body thanks to how lightly she liked to dress around him, which had given him a deep appreciation of thin summer dresses, but this was all new.
She stepped up to where he was laying on his bed, her red eyes practically glowing in the dark as they looked at each other. Finally, she spoke in a soft voice, “I'm hungry.”
Junichiro shifted a bit to sit up and lean his back against the headboard of his bed, “Alright.”
Valarie gave him a bright smile and quickly climbed onto the bed and then onto his lap. She sat facing him while straddling his hips. He could feel the heat of her body through the thin fabric of his boxers, the pleasant warmth sending a shudder down his spine. Back when he'd first 'kidnapped' her, he'd expected her skin to be slightly cool to the touch, what with her being half vampire and all. It turned out, she was just was warm bodied as a regular human.
Valarie leaned forward, her breasts squishing against his chest while she wrapped her arms around his neck. In response, his hands settled on her hips giving them a gentle squeeze. Valarie leaned down while he tilted his head to the side to give her easy access to his neck.
She nuzzled his neck while inhaling his scent. Her eyes dilated slightly while her fangs grew slightly longer. She gently kisses the crook of his neck before opening her mouth and sinking her fangs into the delicate flesh. Lucky for her, Avalon was still sitting inside of his workshop while his body adapted to the recent changes it went through or she would have shattered her fangs on his skin.
Junichiro felt a slight inch when her fangs pierced his skin, but after that all he felt was her lips sucking on his skin while her tongue constantly licked at the two small wounds she'd inflicted on him. He didn't know what drinking blood was like for a vampire or dhampire, but if he had to go by the moans that Valarie let out, he'd bet it tasted great.
She didn't even moan that much when he put his best effort into cooking!
Junichiro let out a groan of his own when Valarie's body began to gyrate in his lap grinding her crotch against his own. Between still being a hormone driven teenager, a young devil, and just male in general, it was little surprise that he hardened beneath the beautiful woman sucking on his neck and gave her something to grind against.
Unable to stop himself, or wanting to really, he began shifting his hips forcefully grinding himself into her panty clad mound. Her groans deepened while her own gyrations increased in ferocity. This was far from the first time she'd drank his blood and it was always an intimate affair. This time though, it was far more intimate and had taken on a distinctly sexual tone.
Neither made a move to change that. They both continued to move their bodies against one another until they both let out deep throaty moans. Valarie's body shuddered against Junichiro's as she 'suffered' through the aftershocks of her orgasm.
They held each other close savoring each others company until Valarie collected herself enough to lift her head from Junichiro's neck. Her whole face was flushed red while she looked into his eyes. She seemed nervous for a moment before she asked in a quiet voice, “Can I stay here tonight?”
In answer, Junichiro slide down his bed until he was laying down once more, then rotated to lay on his side. They remained in each others arms. He leaned close and gave her a chaste kiss, “If that's what you want.”
Valarie smiled brightly and snuggled into Junichiro's embrace. He looked down at the top of her head and wondered how much sleep he would be getting with her next to him. It looked like it might be a long night.
-----Line Break-----
Junichiro groaned as his hand slapped at his night stand until it landed on his ringing phone. He hit the answer button and held it to his head while huffing out a gruff, “What?!”
“HA! I got you this time! Finally I'm not the one suffering when the phone rings!”
Junichiro scowled at the far too chipper tone of Azazel, “What time is it?”
Azazel huffed, “It's after seven in the evening your time.”
Junichiro grunted and shifted some more. It looked like Valarie had left the bed sometime while he'd been asleep. Granted, he'd been asleep for almost twenty-four hours, so that made perfect sense, “Fine. Why are you calling?”
Azazel's tone turned serious, “You need to be careful and inform your boss that Kokabiel got his hands on Destruction and Mimic. He ambushed them before they could even leave Japan. From what I hear, they were both beaten pretty handily. Though, fortunately, they both survived.”
Junichiro sighed, “Anything else?”
“Yeah, the last sword was also stolen some time last week. The people in charge of it hid their fuckup this entire time. That means the only person standing between him and the last two pieces, is you. And he knows it.”
Junichiro climbed to his feet and made his way out of his room, “Good thing those blades are in a place only I know of and not actually kept here.”
“That is good, but Kokabiel isn't above using any means to get what he wants. If he really wants all the blades, he will stop at nothing to get them. He had to be planning this for quite a while to get those swords so easily.”
Junichiro walked through his home and made his way to his workshop, “Makes sense. I doubt he could just stroll in and take the swords. He definitely had to have people on the inside.”
Azazel snorted, “Wouldn't surprise me. How do you think I got this info?”
Junichiro chuckled, of course Azazel had his own spies on his payroll in the church. Man, that place was even more corrupt than he already thought. He stepped into his workshop and made his way directly to the table where Avalon was sitting. As soon as he touched it, it dove into his body, “I'll keep an eye on my security systems. If he makes a move, we should be ready.”
“Vali is already in town. Good luck and have fun with him.”
Junichiro laughed lightly, “I'll be sure to deflate his ego while he's here.”
“Good. And Junichiro?”
“Yeah?”
“Be careful. You're strong, but Kokabiel is one of the strongest Cadre and vastly more experienced than yourself in combat. Don't underestimate him.”
Junichiro sighed and spoke solemnly, “I'll be alright.”
“Good! I'd really hate for such a great cash cow to die!”
Azazel promptly hung up while Junichiro just shook his head with a smirk, “Jack ass.”
He made his way over to his security system and checked it. It wasn't hard to find that Kokabiel had returned to Kuoh and was back at his base in the industrial sector. Though he wondered how long that would last. Kokabiel knew he had the last two pieces of Excalibur so he had to be coming for them soon.
The question was, should he 'accidentally' let Kokabiel get them? No matter how you felt about the guy, the truth was that Valper had successfully fused the pieces he'd had in the canon story into a functional blade. It was ugly as sin, but it did work. Would it look and work better if it had all the pieces? Could Valper actually re-create Excalibur and return it to its prime?
No. No he couldn't.
Junichiro had years to study Ruler and now weeks to study Rapidly. While both swords contained a fair amount of power, with Ruler obviously having significantly more than Rapidly, they were still not all that strong. The custom rapier he'd made and traded for his hunk of Agreasite was more powerful than the two swords, combined.
Prime Excalibur had been a monstrous blade that only a true Grand Master could have made. When it broke, it would have lost power as he doubted that every last fragment had been found. On top of which, no enchantment could be fully restored once broken. Frankly, it was a miracle that they'd managed to make functional Excalibur blades from the fragments.
Except, making each fragment into a sword of its own would further weaken the enchantments. The powers were all meant to be in a single weapon, not used in individual items. So, over all, their individual powers would be significantly less than when they were all part of Excalibur Prime. Even if they were all perfectly fused back together, he estimated the resulting sword would be about fifty percent as powerful as Prime had been.
If he personally worked on it and fused the swords he could maybe boost that to seventy-five percent of the original power using Boosted Gear and his custom-made Holy Quench.
On the flip side, he was pretty sure that doing so would piss the Church off something fierce. While a seventy-five percent strength Excalibur Prime would make a single powerful warrior, the current fragment swords gave them six decently strong fighters. Given how rare Holy swords were, they would likely rather have the six. Even if they weren't as strong as Prime, they were still plenty strong enough to kill weaker devils with a single cut.
It was all about numbers.
Of course, it was possible for Junichiro to make as many Holy swords as the Church could want. Only, he hated them. He couldn't help wondering, though, what face their leaders made when they learned he'd made a powerful Holy sword. While he never gave any information out about his customers, there was nothing to stop the customers from outing themselves.
Interestingly, the sword had been made for Indra, the Indian God, and given to one of his pawns, Jeanne, in the Hero Faction. Why the god had a custom holy sword made for a woman with Blade Blacksmith, which made Holy swords with the ease Sword Birth made Demonic swords, he would never know or understand.
After he'd bragged about it, the Church had become extremely desperate to make deals with him for more swords. He'd been so happy telling them all to fuck off. Though he was sure Azazel used politer words.
He stopped his rumination on the subject as he felt his wards tremble slightly, the equivalent of a polite knock. That... well that never happened really. Curious, he moved out of his workshop and quickly flew to his property line. He paused when he got a good look at his guest.
Tall, long black hair, a long face with a pointy nose, long pointed ears like an elf, oh and beady black eyes with blood red sclera. Junichiro stood before the man he'd just spoken to Azazel about, Kokabiel. Junichiro's heart began to beat like a drum while adrenaline flooded into his system. Hid fight or flight reflex was screaming 'FIGHT!' but he held it down, for now.
“Kokabiel, this is a surprise. What brings you to my humble abode?” he was happy he managed to keep his voice calm despite the adrenaline.
Kokabiel stared down at Junichiro. There was no anger, smugness, happiness, or any other emotion on the mans face. He shifted slightly, drawing attention to the long cape he wore as it shifted behind him, “It's a pleasure to meet you in person, Artificer.”
Junichiro was so glad he had such good control over his reactions allowing him to maintain an outward look of curiosity. Meanwhile, internally, he was very concerned, 'He can't know that! How could he know that?! Did fucking Azazel tell him before I got him ass under a contract? Why would he?! No one else could have told the man! Everyone else was under contract from the get go! Except Azazel, no one else... Mittelt. She was under orders not to tell for a while until I managed to make the contracts. She could have recorded it somewhere, maybe written it down? Just showing it would trigger the contract, but the contract wouldn't erase what she wrote.'
“I'd say the same, but I'm not a fan of warmongers.”
Kokabiel chuckled, “I would think you, of all people, would love the increase in business it would present. After all, in war the weapon makers always end up the richest. Well, that's of no concern to me. What is of concern to me is two items in your possession. I know you know of what I am referring to.”
“I do. Unfortunately for you, I'm not stupid enough to keep them here. I moved them to a secure off sight location quite some time ago. It's not as if I need them to be on hand for anything, after all.”
Kokabiels eyes narrowed in suspicion, “You wouldn't be lying to me, would you?”
Junichiro chuckled, “Why would I bother? I hid them away.” His lips curled into a wide smirk, “Then I wiped their location from my memory. No one, living or dead, knows where those blades reside now. Are they together? Apart? Are they even in Japan anymore? Did I take one to the Underworld and leave the other with the Yokai? I haven't a clue!”
Kokabiel stared at Junichiro for a long silent moment. When he spoke, there was a hint of humor in his voice, “I believe you. You really did hide them then erase your memory of their location.”
Junichiro calmly nodded. The funny thing is, he really had done that. When he told others that the blades were safe, he meant it. He just had no idea where they were. To others, that might seem stupid. After all, if he didn't know where they were he couldn't find them, right? Wrong! He had so many methods of locating them at anytime that he wanted that having no memory of their locations didn't even count as a minor inconvenience!
Kokabiel continued, “Then there is no reason to delay further.” He grinned broadly showing off his pointed teeth, “Tell your King to meet me at her base or this entire city will be destroyed!”
Kokabiel turned to leave, but Junichiro had to get the last word in, “Kokabiel.” When the fallen looked at him, Junichiro put on a deadly serious face, “You're going to suffer a fate worse than death.”
Kokabiel looked surprised for a moment at the threat, then threw his head back and began laughing, “I look forward to it!”
The next moment the fallen angel was gone, leaving Junichiro alone in the fading sunlight. Junichiro turned around and made his way back into his workshop where he began gathering items while calling Rias to inform her of Kokabiel's words. Tonight, there would be war.
-----Line Break-----
Junichiro stood next to his fellow peerage members as Sona and Rias discussed their plan. It was pretty basic. Sona and her entire peerage would be creating and powering a barrier around Kuoh Academy while Rias and her peerage would be going inside to take on Kokabiel and keep him distracted while waiting for backup.
Not that Rias felt we needed backup. It seemed her victory over Riser had gone to her head a bit. While she was definitely way stronger than her canon counterpart would have been, not to mention more skilled with her Power of Destruction, she was still nowhere near the strength of Kokabiel or any of the other Cadre tier fallen angels.
Even Junichiro, in his base state, was weaker than Kokabiel and he was firmly in the Ultimate tier of power. It just went to show that Kokabiel was no chump.
With the plan hashed out, Rias and everyone else walked through the front gate of the school while a barrier sprang to life behind them locking them inside with Kokabiel. While walking, Junichiro considered summoning the Boosted Gear and using it preemptively. That was one thing about the show, Issei never went ahead and boosted himself a dozen times before entering a fight. He always summed the gear and began boosting after the fight started. Outside of combat, ten seconds was nothing. In the middle of a fight, ten seconds was an eternity. Just spending the minute it took to walk to Kokabiel would let the Boosted Gear boost its user a half dozen times.
Junichiro considered doing so himself. It would be exceptionally easy for him to boost enough to surpass Kokabiel by a massive margin in just a minute. Then it would be an effortless endevour to kill the fallen angel.
Yet, he chose not to. His reasoning was simple, possibly stupid, but he wanted to get more combat experience for not just himself, but all members of the peerage. He knew what kind of horrible things were coming in the future and everyone needed to be ready for it. If he just curb stomped every obstacle that lay in their way, no one would grow. Training could only achieve so much, sometimes a good life or death battle was what was needed to see real growth.
Case in point, Kiba. Even after two years of hard training and the rating game against Riser, he still didn't have his Balance Breaker. In canon it took his emotional confrontation with Valper Galilei to unlock it. Hopefully, that is what would happen tonight allowing Kiba to finally push through the final barrier and grow stronger.
Aside from that, there was also a chance for everyone else to awaken a Balance Breaker as well, if they were pushed to the edge. After all, Rias, Akeno, Koneko, and Kiba all had the Twice Criticals he'd given them as trump cards. It was kind of hilarious that all of them could double in strength at any moment of their choosing.
So, yeah, there was no real need for him to power up and one shot Kokabiel when the battle against him was more of a training exercise than an actual battle to the death. Not that he planned to tell Rias and the others that. Let them take it dead serious and grow stronger.
As they walked deeper into the Academy, a brilliant pillar of golden light flew into the air and pierced through the barrier and into the clouds. Everyone could feel a wave of holy power wash over their bodies. Junichiro glanced to his side and smirked when he saw Kiba had already peeled off from the group and was heading toward the light. Junichiro silently wished the other man good luck and kept his mouth shut.
Instead, he turned to calmly ask Rias, “So, would you say we're in enemy territory now, boss?”
Rias glanced over her shoulder and gave Junichiro a smirk, “I would.”
“Well then. Promotion, Queen.” his body flashed with a bit of light but that was it. If he'd been normal all of his parameters would have increased a fair amount, but thanks to Essence of the Blank he was always 'promoted,' though no one else knew that so he had to go through the motions still. Thank god the visual effect still happened!
Just a few moments later, they found themselves in front of Kokabiel where he sat lounging in a giant floating throne, “Ah, the pre-game entertainment has come at last.” He leaned forward, his yellow eyes boring into Rias, “So tell me, Rias Gremory, who is coming? Your brother, Sirzechs Lucifer? Or perhaps Serfall Leviathan? I'm so excited to know!”
Rias placed and hand on her hip and thrust her chest out in pride, “Instead of my brother of Leviathan-sama coming, we have come.”
Kokabiel's smile slowly faded. He casually lifted his hand and conjured a large double sided javelin of light. With a casual flick of his wrist he sent it hurtling to the ground where it pierced through the roof of the gym and detonated like a bomb. The whole area shook as the gym was reduced to small pieces of rubble and a crater.
Kokabiel sighed, “How dull, but whatever. I supposed we can have a little fun. At least The Artificer with his Boosted Gear might have some nifty tricks.”
Everyone jerked as Kokabiel casually revealed his knowledge of Junichiro's alter ego. An enemy knowing his identity was definitely not a good thing. Kokabiel leaned back in his throne and smiled, “Since you came all this way, I suppose I can let you play with my pets.”
Golden light flashed from the bottom of his throne and slammed into the ground to create an elaborate summoning circle that seemed to open a doorway directly into hell. That image was further enforced as a three headed monster dog came out of the hole and towered above all of them.
Rias exclaimed in surprise, “Cerberus?!” Even as she called out the monsters name, a second one climbed out of the whole. Her cocky smirk faded as she became serious, “Akeno, Koneko, we'll take them on. Juncihiro guard out backs and support us!”
Junichiro considered his options. He could just use Boosted Gear and Gift to make them stronger, letting them hide their Twice Criticals for a critical moment, he could summon swords, he could even use either of his Balance Breakers whenever he felt like it.
“Ah, what the hell.”
Demonic power exploded out of Junichiro as he tapped into his Sword Birth and unleashed its balance breaker, “Sword Birth, Balance Breaker. Infinite Arms of the Forge God, Offense Mode.”
Unlike the Defensive Mode that he'd shown Rias, as it was more impressive looking, the offensive mode didn't cover him in armor made of swords. Instead, it appeared as if nothing had changed. He didn't even have a sword in his hand like Kiba's Sword of the Betrayer. No one had a chance to ask as he moved swiftly into using his Balance Breaker.
Golden portals began to appear hanging in the air with the tips of swords emerging from them. Sword Birth was a knock of of Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon from the beginning, why not make it even more of a rip off?
While the girls fought the two Cerberus' Junichiro would occasionally flick his finger launching a sword from its gate like a bullet. The moment the swords hit anything they would detonate in an explosion of whatever element the sword represented. Explosions of fire, ice, water, lighting, and everything else went off every time a sword slammed into the monsters.
He wasn't trying very hard to deal any damage to the Cerberus' and was more knocking their heads off course to keep them from biting or using their flame breath on the girls. He paused and glanced to his left where a third Cerberus had tried to sneak up on him. He snorted and opened a gate next to himself, though this time it was a sword handle that poked out.
Junichiro grabbed the handle and withdrew a massive black sword with a jagged uneven edge. As the massive monster charged at him with a roar, he reciprocated and charged directly at the beast. Just as the monster's heads dropped down to try and bite him, he dashed to the side and stuck out with his sword. The massive enchanted blade sliced deep into the monster's leg, nearly slicing the limb off. He jumped away as the massive beast stumbled and collapsed to the ground.
Junichiro moved to finish the beast of but came to a stop when he sensed something. A moment later, Xenovia came plummeting from the sky and drove the blade of a massive sword into one of the monster's heads. The large blue and gold blade was the infamous Durandal, one of the pickiest holy swords in the world. He took his time admiring the blade while Xenovia stood proudly on the dead head of the cerberus. Though she was soon forced to move as one of the other two tried to bite her in half.
He calmly watched as Xenovia took over fighting the beast. Frankly, he was a little distracted by her outfit. For whatever reason, the battle outfit of the church consisted of a black swimsuit, thigh high black boots, and black gloves that nearly reached the shoulder, all made of black leather, or a material that looked like black leather. Frankly, it almost looked like bondage gear.
Obviously whoever designed it had a serious kink and used their position to force young women to wear such a thing. Not that it stopped him from enjoying the view. She might've been pretty stuck up and cocky, but that didn't detract from the fact she was gorgeous.
Ah, but now wasn't the time to admire the way she filled out her bondage wear outfit. He lifted his sword and joined Xenovia in the fight against the Cerberus. Thanks to his training with Kiba, it was easy to fall into a pattern with Xenovia each of them taking advantage of openings the other provided. In less than a minute, the Cerberus collapsed to the ground, dead.
Xenovia turned to face him. As her mouth opened to speak, Junichiro grabbed her by her shoulders and threw her out of the way. With a roar, he punched outward, his fist slamming into the tip of a massive light spear that had been aimed directly as Xenovia's back. There was an explosion of heat and light as his fist shattered the spear.
There were shouts of surprise and fear from his friends, but when the dust cleared Junichiro was still standing strong. He locked eyes with Kokabiel while lifting his right hand to his lips and casually blowing away the stream of smoke it was emitting from where it came in contact with the spear, “Cheap shot.”
Kokabiel laughed, “Maybe! But you two killed my precious pet.”
Junichiro tilted his head to the side for a moment, then nodded, “Fair.” Boosted Gear appeared on his left arm, “But if you're going to participate, I guess we can stop holding back.”
[BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!]
At his words four Twice Criticals and one Boosted Gear all rang out with the voice of Ddraig. Kokabiel's eyes widened in shock before he began laughing even more, “INTERESTING!”
It wasn't so much interesting, as a complete change in the battle. Rias and the others had managed to deal light damage to the other two Cerberus' but now they were pummeling them into the ground. Kokabiel wasn't looking at them though, he only had eyes for Junichiro. Junichiro dropped the large sword he'd used against the Cerberus and opened a gate that revealed the handle to a new sword. This sword was comparatively normal and almost looked like a plain steel sword if not for the golden glow around its edge and the runes running down its fuller.
[BOOST!]
He lifted the blade and aimed the tip at Kokabiel, “Time for me to keep my promise.”
Kokabiel stood from his throne and conjured a sword of light in his hand. His ten black wings spread wide as he jumped high into the air to fly above the commotion on the ground. Junichiro responded in kind by leaping into the air and using his enchanted shoes to fly. He was still wondering when Hermes would find out and give him trouble for the little wings on his shoes granting him flight.
Junichiro blitzed toward Kokabiel. Their swords clashed in a flash of heat and light. The next instant, Junichiro's sword slices through Kokabiels. It's only the fallen's millennia of experience in combat that saved him from getting more than a thin scratch from Junichiro's blade. Kokabiel quickly flaps his wings and moves back. He examines the light sword in his hand and then the sword in Junichiro's, “Interesting.”
Kokabiel dashed forward and brought his sword down in an overhead slash. Junichiro's blade met and diverted Kokabiel's. The two rapidly exchanged blows. Junichiro goes in for a slash, Kokbaiel's blade intercepts, but once again Junichiro's blade touched Kokabiel's for a moment before slicing clean through it. Again, only sheer experience saved Kokabiel from receiving a crippling wound.
After the two move away from each other, Kokabiel once more examines the sword made of pure light in his hand once again. Normally, when a light weapon is cut through it would break. His, however, had been cut through twice yet it was still stable. He smirked and focused back on Junichiro, “Your blade, it matches the frequency of mine letting it pass through at a moment of your choosing.”
Junichiro chuckled, “Correct.”
He had to give it to Kokabiel, the man was clever. But, that should be expected of a man who'd fought in a war against God himself and managed to survive. Idiots didn't tend to live very long.
Kokabiel dismissed his sword and conjured up a spear above each hand, “If melee wont work, I'll just have to change the game up!”
With a flick of each wrist, he sent the spears at Junichiro so fast they turned into streaks of light.
[BOOST!]
Junichiro hadn't been boosting efficiently, mostly because he didn't need to. He'd been able to keep up with Kokabiel just fine, but if the man was going to start tossing spears of light at him, he needed to move faster. He punched each spear out of the way using both of his hands. His 'bare' right hand didn't even get scorched while the Boosted Gear was obviously fine. The spears flew off into the distance and detonated when they hit the ground.
His gaze swept over the current state of the battle and he couldn't help grinning. Of the three Cerberus that had been summoned, two were completely dead and the final one was down to just two heads. The girls, plus Xenovia, had really done a number on them. Considering they could barely scratch them in canon, that was a vast improvement on their power.
His gaze moved back to Kokabiel, “Looks like it's time for me to get serious.”
Junichiro dismissed his Sword Birth Balance Breaker, he wouldn't need it any longer, “You ready Ddraig?”
“Ready, Partner.”
“Let's go!”
[RESET!]
[WELSH DRAGON BALANCE BREAKER!]
As the call out from the Boosted Gear echoes across the area, Junichiro is surrounded by read light that solidifies into red armor. His entire body is covered with read armor sporting golden accent spikes and green gems on the chest, hands, elbows, and knees. Large dragon wings erupt from his back while two small boosters just below them roar with power to keep him in the air. A long flexible tail lashes behind him while the green lenses of his eyes flash brightly.
[BOOSTED GEAR: SCALE MAIL!]
[BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!]
“You might want this, partner.”
[BLADE!]
Junichiro laughed as the blade of Excalibur Ruler erupted from his right hand just above his fist, “So, that's where I hid it.”
Kokabiel, clearly not understanding the sheer level of danger he was in, threw his head back and laughed loudly, “Yes! Come! Let's kill each other in the most brutal way possible!”
The lenses of Junichiro's helmet focus on Kokabiel, “No.”
Kokabiel calms down while an air of danger surrounds him, “No?”
With a blast of power from his boosters, Junichiro vanished from where he was and appeared in front of Kokabiel in an instant, faster than even the Cadre's eyes could follow, “No.”
Light flashed off the edge of Excalibur Ruler's blade as it slashed through the air four times so fast that it looked like all four slashes happened in the exact same instant. Kokabiel stared at Junichiro as his mind tried to process what just happened. Slowly his face morphed into a countenance of sheer agony as all four of his limbs, both arms and both legs, fell through the air and landed on the ground. Kokabiel screamed in agony as blood flowed freely from the grievous injuries.
Junichiro lashed out with his left hand and slammed it into Kokabiels cheek. The powerful blow sent the Cadre crashing into the ground. Junichiro joined him down there a moment later with.
[WAND!]
Ruler's blade vanished from his hand and was replaced by a carved wooden stick. It was something he'd worked out with Ddraig. If the Boosted Gear could store a sword, why couldn't it store other things he could use in combat, like wands? Turned out, it could, easily.
Junichiro aimed the wand at Kokabiel and began casting a spell. At the same moment that the spell went to work, the barrier over the school shattered as a man wearing armor similar to Junichiro's but colored white and blue appeared. Junichiro looked up from healing Kokabiel's amputated limbs to stop him bleeding to death, to stare at the man floating in the sky.
“Hello, White Dragon Emperor.”
-----Line Break-----
AN
10k words.
As promised! A brand spanking new chapter of Fabricator! I actually had fun writing this. Looks like I missed writing about Junichiro. As always, let me know what you think!
Also, looks like Book of Solomon won the last vote. Gimme a day to rest up and I'll get started on it. I'll also put the next vote up tomorrow as well so you all have 1 more day to vote on the next chapter. Enough of you haven't voted that it's possible another chapter could be chosen.
Anyway, until next time!