Joined Forces

Just as Koneko expected, Issei suspiciously made contact with Saji to discuss something. But before Issei could say anything, Aika interrupted him and joined the fun.

Issei intended to help the exorcists destroy the Excalibur Swords. When he said this, Saji tried to ran away but failed when Aika got hold of him. Aika and Issei were able to convince him to join the discussion with the exorcists. Since they knew where they are staying as Akeno aren't didn't keep their whereabouts secret, Aika took the initiative to call them out.

When Aika arrived at the door of the Urahara Household, she started to hear weird noises, 'What's going on now? If I remember it right, only Himejima-senpai and the two exorcists stay here... If they make that kind of ruckus, the house will 'punish' them...'

While baffled, Aika still pressed the doorbell and waited for a minute before pressing it again. It's clear that there are people in the house due to the noise they are creating but it still took Aika five times to rang the bell before someone finally opened the door. It was not Akeno like she expected, but one of the exorcists named Irina, "W-what can I do for you?"

"...Why are you the one answering the door?" As far as Aika knows, Akeno should be the one welcoming her.

"You're Aika Kiryuu..." Irina's eyes widened when she saw the visitor. Hearing her words, Xenovia also came out, "Do you need something from that Devil?"

"Answer my question first... Himejima-senpai should be the one answering the door instead of your guests... What happened? And what's that noise?" Even they opened the door for quite some time, Akeno still hasn't appeared and Aika still kept hearing small banging noises all over the house, "Are you doing some renovation work here? I suggest you don't as you'll only end up miserable."

"You know about this house?"

"Though it is mostly Kisuke's ideas, three more people's idea was in it..."

Irina and Xenovia looked at each other and said at the same time, "That maid is being thrown around the house trying to 'silence' us because we discovered her secret." They answered vaguely but honestly.

"..." Aika knew that Akeno messed up and she won't be able to escape from the series of traps for quite some time. On the contrary, since Issei wanted to keep this secret from his master, it's a good chance to invite the exorcists out while Akeno is still busy enjoying the traps, "A friend of mine wanted to discuss something about your mission. It would be great if you can at least listen."

"Let's go!" Irina and Xenovia unhesitantly followed Aika. They were about to go out anyway as they don't want to stay with a 'hostile' maid.

They arrived at the cafe where they would meet and saw that Issei and Saji already drinking some cold beverages. While Issei is acting nonchalant, Saji is nervously looked around as someone who knew him to witness him talking with members of the Church. It won't end well for him especially when her master who's constantly in a bad mood for some time now knows about this meeting, "Hyoudou! I should really go! I'm going to get killed after getting tortured!"

Saji still wanted to get away but before he could do so, Aika put her hands on his shoulder and released a pressure by controlling her minimal Reiatsu-Ki, "Didn't you promise you'll at least listen?" She said after giving him a 'kind' smile, "Yes! Ma'am!" Saji unintentionally saluted to her. He still has some traumas regarding this type of pressure from Kisuke.

But due to her not yet mature control, she ended up putting Issei, Irina, and Xenovia in her range too. Irina and Xenovia almost pulled out their weapons. If not for Aika retracting her pressure, they might have attacked her out of instinct. Even now, they don't know what just happened.

"Dammit! Kiryuu! If you know that technique, at least say something before you use it! It's really bad for the heart!" Issei complained loudly attracting the attention of other customers so he sat back down in embarrassment.

"W-what was that!?" Xenovia and Irina asked at the same time.

"Oh... That? Just some coercion technique. Nothing impressive. More importantly, we should proceed with our talks." Aika just brushed it off like it was nothing and initiated the meeting, dodging the questions about her and what she just did.

Irina and Xenovia knew that they won't get anything much from her while Issei and Saji aren't saying anything about it either so they started their 'negotiation' instead of just wasting time as they still have to patrol the town to gather more information about the stolen swords.

When Issei let them know his intention of helping them destroy the Excalibur, Irina clamored but Xenovia agreed after a few moments of thoughts. The two ended up arguing about getting help from Devils pointing out each other's weird faith. Xenovia, however, stressed the point that they are borrowing the Dragon's power instead of a Devil and the fact that they don't have much chance of retrieving the swords even with their trump card, after all, destroying those swords is easier than retrieving it. They would rather have the swords rendered useless than being used by the Fallen Angels.

After reaching an agreement, Issei first decided to call Yuuto before they polish the details of their plan.

.

.

.

"I see..." Yuuto arrived a few minutes later and heard the situation, "To be completely honest, I regret that I would have to come crawling to a couple of Holy Swords users and ask for help."

"You've got quite a way with your words." Xenovia closed her eyes and drank her coffee.

"We get your grudge against the 'Holy Sword Project', but thanks to the work performed back then, researched on Holy Swords users has progressed by leap and bounds." Irina followed up, "It's only because of those efforts that Xenovia and myself among others manage to achieve compatibility with the swords."

Yuuto scowled at them, "You think that's enough to make me forgive of the slaughter of all those test subjects!?"

"It's regarded by the Church as a regrettable crime. The individual responsible for it was labeled as a heretic and excommunicated. He's now working with the Fallen Angels."

"The Fallen Angels? What is this guy's name?"

"Valper Galilei, a man known as 'The Archbishop of Slaughter'."

"So if we go after the Fallen Angels, I'm sure to run into him... You know the other day I was attacked by a Holy Sword wielder. It was Freed Sellzen... Ever heard of him?"

"You mean that shitty priest!? That guy can still move around!?" Issei exclaimed.

"...Though it seems that he's looking for Koneko-chan to avenge one part of his body."

"...Seriously?" Issei got a shiver down on his spine when he recalled how Koneko beat him up in the abandoned church.

"What did she do?" Aika who kept quiet until now suddenly asked.

Issei hesitated for a bit before saying the truth, "Well... Koneko-chan destroyed that guy's balls..."

"Wow~!"

"Koneko? You mean that white-haired little girl? She did that to Freed Sellzen?" Xenovia didn't know how to react to that piece of news. Although they came from the same organization, she doesn't feel any compassion with him due to his actions, but she knew how skilled this sadistic guy.

"Yes... Instantly that is..." Issei supplemented.

They then remembered that she was also apparently trained by Kisuke Urahara and looked towards Aika's direction.

"She's a lot stronger than me, alright?"

The two exorcists thought that they could at least gauge the strength of the Devils in this town, but because of this 'Kisuke Urahara,' it became out of their understanding.

They then explained who Freed Sellzen is. He's a genius fighter that was raised up by the Church but he never had faith only fought beings that he considers a monster. He crossed too many lines that his trial is just a matter of time but he was able to escape. They didn't expect that they'll receive news of him wielding one of the stolen Excaliburs here.

With this information, they decided that Issei and the company would have to hide their identities while dressing up as a priest to lure out Freed Sellzen who seems to be the person behind the priest slaughters in the town. They would split into two groups and call the other one if they meet Freed. The mission seems easier now since they knew that only a human is using the Holy Swords.

Their meeting is over so they had to go on their own ways to initiate their plan. After getting out of the cafe, the Devils plus Aika discussed what they are going to do. Aika decided that they would fight if there is only the human present and if any Fallen Angels were sighted, they would have to escape.

Done with that, Saji finally voiced out his confusion of what's Yuuto's connection with the Holy Swords despite being a Devil. Yuuto then decided to tell them his story of the only survivor from the 'Holy Sword Project' because his fellow companions used their lives to shield him for him to escape.

After hearing his story, Saji cried his eyes out and promised that he would help him despite the risk of 'dying' in the hands of his own master.

It took them another two days to lure out Freed.