DxD: Like a Devil Chapter 68

Edited by: Marethyu, Priapus

Watching as a dozen of my scouting bots fly around the resort, I smile to myself in satisfaction. Sure, they may not be the best things I could’ve made at my engineer level, but I’m proud of my work regardless. Something about creating a functional device like this makes me feel very good about myself. Despite being relatively inferior to my Spyders, they have a mobility advantage. Which I was planning to incorporate into the Spyder upgrade before I realized I actually wanted to keep the spider theme. Because I like spiders.

What can I say? Spiders are cool as fuck. And useful, too. I remember I had one when I was a kid. I let it stay in our nice warm home, and sometimes even gave it stuff to eat every once in a while. In return, it killed the disgusting and annoying bugs like mosquitoes. That was probably the best summer of my life. Little bastard was good at its job.

But good things don’t last forever, as, eventually, my mother found out about it and got rid of it, knowing nothing about our symbiotic relationship. I’ve had pets before, but I don’t think I’ve ever gotten as sad about any of them dying as I did about Mr. Crumbs. It was kinda my fault for not telling her about it, yes, but I still stopped talking to her for a week.

Maybe I should get a pet tarantula or something, but I digress.

I don’t want to sacrifice the awesome spider design for a more aerodynamic look. It’d be practical, yes, but damn it, I want my creations to have personality. A floating sphere doesn’t look very intimidating, either. But spiders and other arachnids? Brimming with character and ferocity. They have an awesomeness element.

I thought about maybe giving them wings or something like that, but that doesn’t sound right. Spiders don’t have wings, and I want the design to stay somewhat accurate to one of nature’s most remarkable inventions. I guess some kind of floating device? Something like that is possible to make, but I don’t know how I’m supposed to integrate that into them.

“Since when did you have the time to make six more?” Ichiban asks, standing next to me as he looks at the sky.

I guess I’ll think about it later.

“When you five were out playing volleyball,” I respond. “I’d rather not crush everyone and prove my superiority for the thousandth time, so I used my time to be productive instead.”

“I don’t even know what I’m looking at,” Issei says.

“Scouting bots.” I tell him, “Made them to help us look for Lani. We’re only a handful of people, so a dozen of these things floating around Hawaii will make our search easier.”

“You’re so resourceful, Akane-san,” Asia says, looking at me in admiration. “I’m sure we’ll find her in no time.”

And I’ll catch the little bastard messing with my tech. Really, these things are ultimately just bait. With a function, yes, but finding Lani is secondary to me. As soon as I find out who it is and get rid of them, I’ll be a happy woman.

I’m such a genius for coming up with this plan. Seriously, does my intelligence know no bounds? It’s almost frightening.

“What do you plan on calling them?” Ichi asks.

“Hmm?” I blink.

“You know, some kind of name? That’s how it usually works, right?” He clarifies. “You give each tech a name or something.”

I pause and think about it. Well, yeah, that’s true, but I don’t think this even deserves a designation since it’s not even my best work by a long shot. Things like my Spyders and Nemesis? Yeah, absolutely. But this? I’d rather save the brainpower for something worth my time. Something I wish to upgrade rather than just replace.

Still, I’m supposed to be proud of my ‘masterpiece’, so I might as well…

“Bronze Spheres.”

Yeah, I got nothing.

“Seriously?” Issei mutters, unimpressed.

“Wow,” Koneko says with a deadpan tone. “Ice Queen is so creative. I’m in awe.”

“You should be,” I reply with a smug grin, making her roll her eyes. “How many people do you know that are as resourceful and magnificent as I?”

“Right, well…” Ichi rubs his neck. “How do you control them?”

“Two ways,” I respond. Actually, three, but they don’t need to know about Nemesis remotely controlling them when I’m not. “One is simply through my phone since they’re connected to it. I developed an app that lets me control them like drones, and I can see all the footage they record anytime and anywhere. As long as the connection isn’t terminated, of course. Look.”

I show them the phone’s screen, split into several displays of real-time footage of the Spheres flying around the resort.

“That’s so cool…” Issei whispers under his breath.

“How can your phone handle all that without it blowing up? Silky smooth performance, too.” Ichi questions with a thoughtful hum. “I mean, I imagine an app like this would be pretty CPU-intensive for a simple phone, right?”

“I just upgraded the phone,” I answer with a shrug.

It can endure things even a NASA computer would fry itself trying to handle.

“Right. That makes sense. And the second way?”

“This.” I show him a bronze ring on my middle finger. “This ring is more of a backup control. I can simply do this—”

I wave my hand down while pressing a small button on the ring, calling the Bronze Spheres to my location. I hear ‘wow’s and ‘ooh’s from the people around me as the spheres perfectly line up next to each other, impressing them with a mere fraction of my unparalleled intellect. This is never getting old~

“—when I can’t use my phone. In case I lose it or if I’m in the middle of a fight.” I explain. “It’s also a lot faster to use.”

“That’s very convenient,” Kiba says with a hum. “And it didn’t even take you a whole day to do this? I’m admittedly very impressed.”

“So hold on, we don’t even have to leave the resort to look for Lani, right?” Issei points out, glancing at me.

“Not really, no,” I confirm, putting a hand on my hip after waving at the Bronze Spheres to start their search. “But we might have to go to Honolulu anyway.”

“Yeah. If we stop showing up, the Overseer will think something’s wrong and get nervous.” Ichi nods, crossing his arms. “He probably already knows that we’re involved, so suddenly disappearing will just make him more guarded.”

“Precisely. Giving him the illusion that we’re in a place he can monitor gives us a lot more flexibility through the spheres. Besides, we haven’t found Wong or Dwight yet.” I remind them. “They likely have information about the Overseer’s identity.”

Also, I’ve noticed that whenever I’m here in the resort, whatever the Overseer does to spy on me doesn’t work. It only works when I’m in Honolulu. And yeah, it’s not like he’s watching 24/7 even when I’m in the city, but counting how much time I spent in the resort relative to how much I spent in Honolulu, it’s very consistent. He can’t see me while I’m here. I’m sure of it.

So this ‘power’ of his has some kind of range limit, huh? That’s convenient. Then he’s definitely somewhere in Honolulu. I still don’t know how he does it, whether it’s some kind of clairvoyance technique, a Sacred Gear, or tech, but it’s limiting me. I can somewhat avoid detection if it’s the former or latter, but Sacred Gears are a little harder to counter.

Assuming it’s tech, then he’s most definitely the one who broke my adorable Spyders. And if that’s the case, then he’ll pay the price a thousand times.

“We still have our work cut out for us, huh…” Issei sighs. “Man, this is a lot more complicated than I thought it would be. Did you ever struggle this much when you destroyed other gangs?”

“Nope,” Ichi answers with a shrug. “It was always pretty straightforward. We walked into their base, kicked their asses, and left.”

“This is a lot more fun, in my opinion,” I say, tapping on my forehead. “This cat and mouse game requires you to think. Simply knowing who and where this Overseer is and beating him up would’ve been dull. A little challenge never hurts anybody.”

Not that I’m struggling. Really, I’m barely even trying.

“I guess I can see where you’re coming from,” Isse mutters, rubbing his neck a little anxiously. “But don’t you feel worried?”

“Why should I?” I tilt my head in confusion.

“Well, you heard what Magnus said. The whole world could be in danger.” He tells me. “Feels like a lot of responsibility for a bunch of teenagers. Doesn’t it feel stressful to you at all?”

“Not really,” I respond truthfully. Er, well, I am somewhat stressed, but for different reasons. “A part of me thinks Magnus is exaggerating, but if he does end up being truthful, then so what if he got Lani first? I’m sure whatever this Overseer’s cooking up pales in comparison to my tremendous power.”

And I’m serious. I still have my own world-ending artifact to fall back on in case things go to shit. I’m sure I can find a way to use Excelsis without anyone here knowing I have it. Somehow.

…I’m tempted to use it again, admittedly. The side effects of having to puke out the energy from my body are extremely unpleasant, yes, but the feeling of overwhelming power when I hold that blade in my hand is unlike anything I’ve experienced. It makes me way more powerful than I already am. Constantly evolving. Utterly invincible. And unlike devouring souls, that feeling isn’t fleeting. It’s not instantaneous. It’s persistent.

Ignoring the immense rage and desire for violence it feeds me, of course. But I’ve been used to that my whole life, so whatever. I’ll still be conservative in its use. Lucy warned me of the consequences of overuse, and I’m not stupid enough to ignore them. I want to eat souls, not have mine eaten.

“Never change, Ice Queen,” Koneko mutters, sounding exasperated despite her blank tone.

“Also, keep in mind that if he does end up succeeding and getting this weapon and/or artifact of his working—” I ignore the cat’s comment and grin. “He’ll be drawing the attention of every faction leader. You can’t tell me a team of gods, literally and figuratively, won’t fuck him up.”

“That’s true…” Issei mumbles.

Probably not without the cost of countless humans dying, but oh well. Not like they were doing much with their lives anyway.

“I’m saying that, even though we don’t know where or who he is, we still have the overwhelming advantage,” I conclude with a shrug. “The Overseer was fucked the moment his little idiot band of thugs bothered us.”

It’s almost pitiful, really. Could’ve had what he wanted had we not chosen Hawaii as our vacation spot. Then again, Hawaii is the vacation spot, so like, maybe he should’ve hidden somewhere in the North Pole or something. It’s his fault for not seeing something so obvious coming.

This won’t make me any nicer to him. When I get my hands around his neck, I’m slowly gonna choke him to death, prolong his suffering for as long as possible, and then take whatever power he has for myself. If it really is a Sacred Gear that he’s tracking us with, then that would be one hell of a tool to add to my arsenal.

After all, for some reason, I’m the only one who can sense him watching us. Not even Koneko — our tracker and the most sensitive of us all — feels it. A power like that would be convenient. It’ll make it extremely easy to avoid others with it. And considering my alter ego, that’s needed.

Suddenly, my phone vibrates in my hands, making me pause and wonder if the spheres have already found something. But, to my irritation and mild dismay, it just shows me the duo of dumbasses standing in front of the resort’s gates as the blue one stares right back at the sphere.

“Are you for real…?” I click my tongue in annoyance.

“Took them long enough.” Ichi, however, sounds a lot more amused as he chuckles. “I was wondering when they were gonna find us here.”

I’m contemplating killing Xenovia. I don’t know how or when, but I think I have to at this point.

“Hey, what’s that over there?” Irina asks her partner, pointing at the sphere.

“I don’t know. And I don’t care.” Xenovia responds. “I know you can hear me, Amamiya! I’ve had enough of you rejecting me and running away! Open the gates and face me like a proper swordsman!”

A pain in my ass is all you’ll ever be.

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– Xenovia –

“What a surprise.” The blue-haired exorcist hummed, staring at the yakuza princess once the gates opened. “And here I was, sure you’d choose to stay holed up in the safety of your home.”

Despite Xenovia’s provocations, tensions were surprisingly low. Rather, most of those around them were more exasperated and tired than nervous. Irina would keep begging her to turn around and go home, perhaps try challenging the Tojo princess when they were all back in Japan. Akane’s friends were either amused or bored, and even the meek nun wasn’t all that anxious.

Except the blond devil boy. She didn’t know what his problem was, but their interactions consisted of him trying to glare a hole into the back of her head, then looking away when Xenovia tried to confront him about it. He clearly did not like her very much, but she wouldn’t call what he felt toward her ‘fear’. Not that it mattered— he was a heretic devil. He could die for all she cared.

With a hand on her side and an infuriating look of superiority, Akane raised an eyebrow.

“You mistake my annoyance for fear? Be for real.” She scoffed. “Do you want me to kick your ass again to prove a point?”

“Oh, I’m almost begging you to try,” Xenovia smirked, pointing her sheathed sword at Akane. “I’ll have you know, I’m nothing like the person I was before.”

With each defeat, Xenovia would push herself to her absolute limits, doing everything she could to learn and improve to be a better swordsman—a better exorcist. To honor David’s legacy and bring glory to God and the church. This was why she fought, and after being bested by this arrogant princess who’d only learned how to hold a sword this year, Xenovia knew she couldn’t move on until she reclaimed her honor.

Of course, she didn’t have anything against Akane. Sure, she was cocky and annoyingly self-important, but really, she had a reason to be. Xenovia knew that she had been introduced to the supernatural very recently, so to get to this level of strength in just a few months was absurd. The girl was talent incarnate. But talent can only get you so far.

Xenovia didn’t let such a thing deter or demotivate her. How could she? This was a massive opportunity to improve, like she always wanted. Against someone who wouldn’t hold back on her like her teachers back home. Someone who, despite her scathing words and claims of arrogance, still took her seriously to an extent. She knew that to be true as, each time Akane swung her sword in their duels, Xenovia would feel something she had never felt from her teachers.

Imminent death.

And it scared her.

There were moments of hesitation, wondering if she had made a mistake in challenging someone with so much killing instinct. Someone who genuinely wouldn’t bat an eye if she accidentally killed Xenovia. Someone who hadn’t just been trained to kill, but was almost born to be a killer.

But just as terrifying as those moments were, they felt exciting. Even with how quick their duels usually were, not even lasting a second, it made her feel she could learn something new—a way to sharpen her skills against an overwhelmingly powerful opponent. Indeed.

To Xenovia, Akane was nothing more than a measuring stick.

“I’m sure you are.” Akane rolled her eyes. “But I’m actually super busy right now. Find someone else to bother.”

“Why open the gates if you’re gonna reject her anyway?” Irina asks a good question.

“Because I wanted to do this.” Akane gave them the middle finger. “Now fuck off back to Honolulu. I’ll think about dealing with you morons once I kick the Overseer’s ass.”

“It can wait, can’t it?” Xenovia argued. “Besides, the CIA agent told us to stay put for now. Until he’s done with his report.”

“There’s no ‘us’ in this.” Akane snorted. “This doesn’t concern you, alright? Don’t get involved in things you don’t understand.”

“That’s too bad.” Durandal’s wielder disagreed. “You’re not our boss, and you don’t get to make these decisions for us.”

“Xenovia…” Irina muttered, hesitating a little.

“No. Lives are at stake, and I refuse to do nothing about it.” Xenovia replied firmly, before giving Akane a smirk. “Though I may reconsider for the right price.”

Akane didn’t look very pleased with this, as, although still maintaining a look of superiority, she frowned in annoyance. Of course, Xenovia wasn’t willing to give up on this conspiracy, no matter what, but she was willing to compromise a few things to get the duel she desired with the princess.

She visibly took a few moments to think this through, and as expected, she finally relented with a frustrated sigh.

“If it’ll get you to stop getting in my damned way every five seconds…” She muttered. “Follow me.”

Xenovia and Irina did so, walking behind the yakuza princess as she led them toward the beach of the private resort. Without wasting another second, Akane created two blades of ice, one of which she casually tossed to the blue-haired exorcist. Xenovia skillfully grabbed it out of the air, noting that the girl in front of her, despite her skill in the arts, had no respect for these beautiful weapons.

“First blood,” Akane said, twirling the sword in her hand. “Nothing more than that.”

“Fine by me.” Xenovia grinned, gripping the ice blade and somewhat surprised at its temperature. It was cold, but not painfully cold. “Get ready, Amamiya.”

“Oh, I’m not fighting.” She responded.

Xenovia blinked.

“What do you mean?”

Instead of verbally answering the exorcist, Akane, with a smirk, glanced at the blond devil boy watching this unfold, just as confused as Xenovia.

“You look like you want to take a crack at her.” She said, gesturing for him to get closer. “C’mon. Get over here and take the sword.”

“Um…” He seemed surprised, but obeyed regardless. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll talk to Rias about this.” She said. “Go on. You’ve been glaring at her since she got here. Might as well give you the chance.”

“That’s not what we agreed on!” Xenovia scowled as the devil boy held the ice sword.

“Oh shut the fuck up. I don’t owe you shit, so stop complaining.” Akane quickly replied. “You better be glad I didn’t kick you out and call the church on you for being a nuisance. I could’ve done that ages ago, but I was being nice with you, so I suggest you don’t use up all my goodwill.”

The blue-haired exorcist growled in annoyance, but said nothing.

“But tell you what?” The yakuza princess added. “If you defeat him, I’ll play with you next. Fair?”

“Tsk. Fine.” Xenovia scoffed, glaring at her opponent as he got into a stance and glared back. “I might as well warm up…”

“You better give her a good thrashing,” Akane told the boy, patted him on the back, then walked away.

“Way ahead of you.” He muttered.

Xenovia’s eyes narrowed as she took a deep breath, preparing for battle. Truthfully, she preferred this. Getting to test her skills could wait. With this idiot glaring at her all the damn time without ever telling her why, her patience was starting to run thin.

She had always wanted to give this heretic a beating.

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– Akane –

You know, there’s a reason I get annoyed by Xenovia’s challenges. Typically, I wouldn’t want to waste the chance to kick someone’s ass free of consequences. I’ve been beating up people despite the repercussions since I was twelve, so getting a freebie is great. So why would I reject Xenovia practically asking to get her head bashed against a rock?

Because this crazy bitch enjoys it. Losing and getting beat up doesn’t bother her at all, and that pisses me off. There’s no point in kicking her ass because she wouldn’t give me the reaction I want. I hate people like her because it’s almost impossible to bully them without taking drastic measures I’m unwilling to resort to unless necessary. It’s precisely why, despite her potential as a minion replacing Issei, I’m also considering killing her at some point.

She’s nothing to me— she couldn’t be a threat even if she tried, but her extreme mental fortitude makes her bothersome. To the point where I’m sure if I tell her right now that God is dead, she’d recover from the shock with barely any issue. She’s difficult to exploit or break down, and the rewards for doing that are not worth it. Like a worse version of Ichi that I’m not even fond of.

Killing her and getting her holy factor to use Durandal and the Excaliburs, though… that’s worth considering. Yes, I already have Excelsis, but expanding my options wouldn’t hurt. Also, dual-wielding holy and unholy weapons sounds cool as hell. But for now, as I said, I’m not willing to take violent measures with her. I’m supposed to be the good guy, after all. And seeing that controlling her fully is out of the question, I’ll try to steer her into doing things that will benefit me one way or another if it ever comes down to it.

Watching as the two swordsmen stare down at each other from a distance, mentally preparing for their duel, I notice Koneko beside me looking uncharacteristically nervous. Rather, she looks worried about Kiba. Odd. I mean, he’s probably losing the fight, but I doubt Xenovia is gonna do something to hurt him seriously. Really, I almost want her to do that because then I’d have an excuse to kill her.

Speaking of Kiba, I’ve noticed it ever since they showed up during the Kokabiel business in Kuoh, he’s been really mad about them existing anywhere near us. Of course, I understand that. I don’t like her either, but he was like that even before they opened their mouths and demonstrated how irritating they are. I don’t remember much about his backstory, but I don’t think it ever involved exorcists, right? Or maybe not those two, especially.

Something that has to do with the church, but I cannot for the life of me remember.

Thanks, Game. You asshole.

“Are you two ready?” Irina asks. At their nods, she begins counting. “Three, two, one, go!”

The two rush each other, ice blades clashing with each other and causing the sand to blow away in all directions. Locked in a contest of strength, Xenovia slowly but surely overpowers Kiba, but Rias’ Knight is no slouch as he can still contend with her. Knowing he can’t directly overwhelm her with pure strength, he steps back before rushing back in with speed befitting his status as a Knight Piece. She’s stronger, but he’s slightly faster.

Each sword clash causes tiny shockwaves, forming a miniature sandstorm from how fast they are swinging their blades. Kiba tries to dominate with quick strikes, aiming at her blind spots as Xenovia struggles to defend herself, quickly reverting to the defensive and trying to think of a new plan. Had I let her use Durandal, Kiba would’ve lost seconds in the fight. Not only because of the weapon’s intense holy power, but because of its properties. A weapon changing shape and size instantly makes it hard to counter.

Unless you’re vastly stronger than its wielder, of course, and as I’ve established before, Kiba definitely isn’t. By limiting Xenovia to using my sword, I evened the playing field by a huge margin. Everyone present is aware.

I could’ve done a funny thing and given Xenovia a weaker sword, but that wouldn’t really fix anything, would it? I bet someone like her would notice something is off, too. It’s hard to trick someone who’s trained using swords her entire life.

“Holy crap, they’re really good…” Issei says out loud. “I mean, I always knew that, but seeing them like this…”

“Makes you wanna pick up a sword, huh?” Ichi agrees, looking down and clenching his fists. “Too bad I’m only good at throwing punches.”

“You have that golden baseball bat I gave you.” I remind him. “And you use it well.”

“Yeah, but it’s not a sword.”

“Who cares? It works pretty great as a weapon, doesn’t it?” I snort. “You should be proud of that, seeing how it held on for so long. You take good care of it.”

“I guess…” He sighs, crossing his arms as he returns his focus toward the duel. “I wish it were enchanted or something, though. I mean, it’s a golden baseball bat. I don’t want it to break, y’know? Not when it’s a gift from you.”

Aww. That’s so sweet~

But enchanting, huh… That’s another cool crafting class I could’ve picked up. I’m happy with the engineer class, of course, but it’s definitely one to consider as a secondary. Really, imagine enchanting my mecha armor? I feel with the path I’m taking in terms of mixing magic and machine, it would synergize with my tools very well.

Decisions, decisions…

To my surprise, the battle continues, with neither getting the upper hand over the other. Personally, I’m already bored as hell since both are way weaker than me and less skilled than me in swordsmanship. It’s not like watching Majima or my uncle— I’m learning nothing from this. Also, no bloodshed.

It’s becoming really hard not to fall asleep.

“I don’t know what frustrates you so, devil—” Xenovia growls, pushing Kiba away with a swing he barely blocks. “But I shouldn’t be surprised that you find the light of the lord repulsive. A heretic through and through.”

“You gullible, self-righteous exorcists…” He spits out with a tone I’ve never heard him speak in. “Wielding instruments of pain and suffering, pretending to be virtuous. You know nothing.”

“Woah.” Issei blinks. “What’s wrong with Kiba? I’ve never seen him that mad before.”

“Is he okay?” Asia questions.

Hmm…

“Hey, kitty.” I glance at Koneko. “What’s up with Kiba? What’s gotten him so mad?”

Koneko blinks and glares at me.

-3 Reputation with Koneko Toujo… [62/100]

“Racist much?”

Fucking hilarious is what it is. Worth the REP loss.

“Please. I let you call me Ice Queen, and you don’t see me crying about that.” I roll my eyes. “Also, I’m technically a Yokai, too. I can say that.”

…Huh, I wonder what the slur for Yokai is? I bet it’s something funny.

Also also, her name is Ko-NEKO for fuck’s sake. She should’ve lynched whoever named her. I know I’d be mad as hell if my mother named me ‘Yuki’ or some shit like that. Even themes should have a limit.

Koneko looks like she wants to argue before dropping the subject.

“He has a bad history with holy swords.” She says. “I don’t know the details, but corrupt church members used him and a bunch of other kids in experiments. They wanted to reproduce the holy factor needed to wield weapons like Excalibur and Durandal.”

“What?” Irina whips her head at Koneko in surprise. “What are you talking about?”

“You say that’s corrupt, but I’m still not hearing what’s bad about that,” I reply, raising an eyebrow. “Getting more people who can use the church’s most powerful artifacts is good, no?”

“She just said they experimented on kids, Akane.” Ichi looks at me weirdly.

“Yeah, sure, but you can still be ethical while experimenting.” I point out with a shrug. “Then again, considering the implications…”

I glance at Kiba, struggling in his duel with Xenovia, jaws clenched in anger and frustration.

“…I don’t think they cared about ethics very much.”

“Kiba said that when the project failed, the supervisors killed everyone involved. Subjects included.” Koneko adds. “He’s the only one that survived.”

Case in point.

“That’s— that can’t be true,” Irina disagrees vehemently, glaring at Koneko. “The church would never do something like this. That’s wrong and evil!”

“You know what’s also wrong and evil?” I ask, making her look at me. “Touching kids. But stereotypes exist for a reason, don’t they?”

Irina flinches and shuffles uncomfortably. Surprisingly, she’s the only one who read between the lines of what I just said. None else does, not even Asia.

“I don’t get it? What’s the correlation?” Issei asks.

“T-that’s different! We punish those people!”

“They still exist.” I shrug. “Look, Irina, I’m sure you have a good heart, but you don’t need me to explain that corruption exists pretty much everywhere, right?”

She says nothing and looks away.

“Point is, everyone has skeletons in their closet. Some more than others.” I continue, crossing my arms. I definitely don’t want my skeletons to leave mine. “Your faction isn’t perfect, so don’t be all shocked and surprised when you hear about whatever fucked up projects or secrets they might’ve kept hidden. You’ll save yourself a lot of heartbreak.”

The conversation has visibly gotten uncomfortable for her and everyone else around me. They don’t want to admit it, but it’s true, isn’t it? Every faction has its dark secrets, no matter how ‘good’ they may seem. The devils, the yakuza, the church— it doesn’t matter where they come from. None of them is truly ‘good’.

There might be objective evil in this world, considering the Old Satans, for example. But objective and perfect righteousness? Oh please. There’s no such thing. And pretending it exists makes you sound pretentious.

Hell, I think I am evil. My way of thinking isn’t what I consider moral and pious. No way, I’m definitely some flavor of fucked up and unethical. I just don’t really care about morality all that much. I think it’s a weakness. A leash that holds me back from reaching my true potential.

One day, I’ll be free. I don’t know how, I don’t know when. I just know it’ll happen, and it’ll feel good. Because when that day comes, I’ll be unstoppable. 

“Does it really have to be that way, though?” Ichi asks.

“That’s simply how the world works.” I shrug. “Even if you’re not corrupt, sometimes, you need to get your hands dirty. Do things you know are wrong for a good cause.”

Ichi gives me a conflicted glance, but says nothing. Not that he could’ve started another conversation as the duel between Xenovia and Kiba finally ends, with the former landing the first hit and making the smallest cut on the devil’s cheek. Shame…

“As expected.” Xenovia pants, smirking widely at her victory. “Dark and sinful creatures such as yourself are nothing but a speck. Inferior to the light of the Lord. Heretics like you will never defeat me!”

Kiba grits his teeth and tightens the grip over his sword, on the verge of continuing the fight for real before I snap my fingers and destroy his sword. This makes him snap out of it as he whips his head at me, giving me an apologetic look.

“Amamiya-san…” He mutters, lowering his head.

“Don’t worry about it.” I wave it off. “You tried. That’s all that matters, right?”

Not like I was counting on you to win, anyway. I’m more annoyed at how boring the fight was.

He looks up at me and smiles—a real smile, not his usual fake one.

“Thank you.” He nods. “For giving me this opportunity. Even if I lost.”

Surprisingly, he took his loss with grace, even though he was on the verge of blowing up just now. He’s definitely still mad about it, but I can respect his control over his emotions.

“Sure, sure,” I say, taking his place and creating a saber. “Better watch and learn, then, so when Rias asks, you tell her who taught you real swordsmanship.”

“Haha!” He laughs as he rejoins the group. “Will do, Amamiya-san. But I’m warning you, my master wouldn’t take such challenging words lying down.”

Tell them. I’ll beat the shit out of them too.

“Finally.” Xenovia huffs. “Get ready, Amamiya! And you better not hold back on me!”

“Oh, you have no idea what I’m about to do to you…” I give her a vicious smirk.

“Are you both ready?” Irina asks, and we nod. After a moment, she gives us the signal. “Fight!”

As soon as I hear that word, I rush toward the blue-haired moron as fast as I can, even activating my Touki for that split second. But unlike that time where I simply point the blade at her throat and end the duel then and there, I instead drop my saber, grab her by the face, and smash it against the sand just hard enough to knock her out, but not kill her.

Rendered unconscious, Xenovia drops her sword and falls limp, while I stand back up and stretch my arms with a groan. I stare at the girl next to my feet with a cold expression. Really, did she think I wouldn’t notice? Using me to train herself and improve? As if I’ll let her. What a dumbass. I refuse to satisfy her ridiculous desires. I refuse to let a moron like her use ME.

“So, I win, right?” I look at Irina, whose jaw was hitting the floor at my brutal efficiency. “Unless I had to land a hit with a sword?”

“Y-you made the rules…” Ichi mutters, looking concerned for Xenovia’s well-being.

“Oh, right.” I blink. “Then I win~”

“There’s something wrong with you…” He sighs.

Most definitely. But if I’m playing along with these idiotic duels of hers, then I’ll do everything in my power to make it the most unpleasant thing imaginable. I’ll make sure she doesn’t benefit from it.

That oughta teach her not to mess with me again.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

– Mizuki –

Why? She thought to herself, panting in exhaustion and distress. Why would she do this?

She could barely move. Her legs trembled, and her knees felt like they were about to give out. Just why would she do this, indeed? What kind of sadistic monster could come up with something so evil and devious? Did she enjoy the torment of others? Did she love watching people fall into despair?

When coming to Kyoto to meet up with a certain Kyuubi, Mizuki had admittedly forgotten a crucial detail about her journey. Something she should’ve expected and properly prepared for, but because of her earlier encounter with the Amon leader, she had forgone her usual preparation. A stupid mistake that was costing her a lot. Just what was she to do now?

She wasn’t built for this. Even during her time as an assassin, she would struggle with this each and every single time. Despite being supernaturally powerful, Mizuki was only human, damn it. She had hard limits, unlike the other races, and no human alive could accomplish such a herculean task painlessly. It was impossible.

Was this hell? No matter how long she spent, she made no progress. It really felt like she was stuck here forever, and there was nothing she could do to make the situation any better.

Hoping that she had made some progress, Mizuki raised her head, stared at the giant mansion in the distance, and cried loudly in utter despair. It seemed that she would never see Akane again.

“Why are there so many goddamn stairs?!” Mizuki whined. “What the hell is wrong with you, Yasaka?!”

Her screams went unheard, making her break down and sob to herself. This was a nightmare. Worse than anything she’d gone through as an Amon. She couldn’t keep this up for much longer. Mizuki had already spent more than an hour climbing these stairs, and she was rapidly reaching her limits.

Within the city of Kyoto, there was a hidden portal that could only be accessed by someone proficient in Youjutsu, and it led directly to a city of the eastern faction of the Yokai world. A flight of stairs that felt longer than the Great Wall of China. It just went on and on and on. 

Progress was a mere illusion, and Mizuki wasn’t sure if that was literal or figurative.

One might ask why she was troubling herself climbing the stairs when she could either fly or teleport there, but that was considered highly disrespectful. The Kyuubi wouldn’t allow an audience with anyone who didn’t take the stairs, even a friend like Mizuki, as taking the hard path spoke true of one’s qualities as a person and their determination.

But in reality, Yasaka was one vicious bitch and found this endlessly hilarious. Honestly, Mizuki had somewhat contemplated going back down and asking someone to teleport her to the top, courtesy be damned. But pissing off the person you’re asking for help wasn’t the brightest thing to do.

“‘It’S jUsT a SiMpLe FlIgHt Of StAiRs, MiZuKi!’” She parroted what Yasaka said once upon a time in a mocking tone. “My ass! You know what you’re doing! Own up to your sadism, you cruel jerk!”

This was more than just troublesome— this was torture. Mizuki was too old and out of shape for this, and realizing the latter felt like getting slapped in the face. When she’d been younger, she’d only started gasping for air once she reached the mansion. It was painful all the way through, but at least she hadn’t struggled as much.

Compared to now, where she didn’t even make it halfway there before nearly collapsing. To say this made her self-conscious about her body would be an understatement. She knew she had a terrible diet and had eaten garbage most of her life, especially after Tatsu had passed away, but that couldn’t have affected her that much, right? Sure, she never exercised either, barely even trying when helping the kids train, but she’d always had an ultra-fast metabolism, and she’d never gained weight before…

…

Mizuki sat down, lifted her shirt, and, with great fear, pinched her stomach. She watched the squeezed flesh all flabby and gross, making her want to cry and scream like a middle schooler getting rejected by her crush.

“Hah…” She sighed quietly instead, her tone in utter despair. “I am getting fat…”

This was the worst day of her life.

“When I get my hands on you, Yasaka…” She growled. This was that fox bitch’s fault. Mizuki was perfectly okay with being ignorant of her weight gain. “When I get my hands on you, I swear I’ll make what I did to Diodora look like a fucking joke.”

“That can be taken as a serious threat, y’know?”

Her glare dropped, quickly replaced with a nervous expression as she turned to stare at the one who’d caught her whispering promises of death and violence she most definitely didn’t mean. The Nekoshou stared back with a wide smirk behind a black fan she held, her golden eyes glimmering with amusement.

“Ah, um…” Mizuki cleared her throat awkwardly, then tried (and failed) to brush it off like it was nothing. “Pssh, you know I was just messing around. I mean, come on, Yasaka and I have known each other for years~ She’d take it as a joke, too.”

“Uh-huh.” Kuroka rolled her eyes. “Well, I don’t know about that. I came here to pick you up under her orders cuz she felt bad for you, but now I’m not sure if I should…”

“Huh? Wait, no, please!” Mizuki’s eyes were wide in terror. “I swear I didn’t mean it! It was just a joke!”

“I dunno. You did look prett~y mad just now.” The Nekoshou shrugged. “And I’m not sure it’s wise to take an angry assassin to meet the subject of her anger. Wouldn’t be a good bodyguard if I did that, would I?”

“I’m not mad! I’m not mad!” Mizuki replied, growing very desperate. “Please, Kuroka! I can’t do this— You can’t do this to me! You gotta teleport me with you!”

“Good luck climbing the rest of the stairs,” Kuroka said with a wink. “And mind the gargoyles. They tend to get slightly cranky when they see a new face.”

“You have gargoyles here?! Since when?!”

“About a year or so ago? New addition. Yasaka got them as a gift from Carmilla.” Kuroka responded as she floated a few centimeters in the air, a teleportation circle forming underneath her. “Make sure not to damage them too much—”

Before she could finish that sentence, Mizuki leapt toward the floating Nekoshou and wrapped her arms around Kuroka’s legs, surprising the latter.

“Hey, get off me!”

“No, no, no! Take me with you!” Mizuki cried childishly. “Please, save me from this torment! You have to!”

“Get off! You’re gonna mess up the teleportation!” Kuroka scowled, trying to push the older woman away. “Seriously, it’s just a bunch of stairs! And you’re a grown woman! Do you have no shame?!”

“I’m sorry, please forgive me!” But Mizuki didn’t budge, holding onto dear life as if she were to let go, she might actually die. “Pwease!”

Kuroka hesitated, clearly affected by Mizuki’s adorable and not at all pathetic crocodile tears. Not long after, she sighed deeply and reluctantly complied, letting the former assassin hang onto her legs.

“Fine.” She said, teleporting the two of them to the gates at the end of the stairs. “You’re so embarrassing sometimes…”

“Oof!” Mizuki grunted as she was dropped to the ground like a sack of bricks, but she didn’t care about that as she stood back up, looked down at the stairs, and puffed her chest in pride as she pointed at it. “I win again, evil stairs! You will never defeat the great Mizuki!”

“Don’t make me kick you down.”

“I’m just kidding.” She whimpered, prompting Kuroka to scoff and open the gate.

“Right, right. Well, Yasaka is waiting for you. You know where.” She said before cracking a smile. “Surprised us with the random visit, but it’s good to see you again, Mizuki.”

“Yeah…” Mizuki smiled back. “Likewise. And I’m sorry for not calling first.”

“It’s fine. Not like we’re busy these days.” She responded. “Anyway, don’t let me keep you. We can catch up once you’re done with Yasaka.”

“Sure. Thanks again, Kuroka.” Mizuki waved and winked, going inside the palace.

During her walk there, Mizuki was greeted by some of the guards, most recognizing her as one of Yasaka’s friends or the descendant of the legendary Yuki-Onna. As it turned out, her lineage carried quite a lot of weight in the Yokai world. Although nearly extinct and reclusive, the Yuki-Onna were heavily respected, as they were some of the strongest and oldest Yokai around.

More than that, Mizuki and, by extension, Akane were related to the strongest Yuki-Onna in the world, who supposedly still lived today. It explained why her Yokai blood was so strong despite her being ⅞ human.

Unfortunately, she was incredibly hard to find. It was so difficult that, even with the Amon Clan’s resources, Mizuki couldn’t find her. Very few things could go under their radar, and her ancestor was one of them. Perhaps this should be one of the things she asked Yasaka about? She was almost sure the Kyuubi knew of the Yuki-Onna’s whereabouts…

As the guards opened the front doors of the mansion and led her through, Mizuki entered the personal living room of the Kyuubi, seeing the nine-tailed fox waiting for her by the Chabudai, a pipe in hand. Yasaka’s lips curled into a smug smirk the moment their gazes met, and before Mizuki could even explain why she was here, the blond Yokai spoke with a knowing look.

“I told you so~”

Maybe Kuroka should’ve kicked her down the stairs.