Chapter 13 - Part 2 - Forbidden Love and Team [DxD] Launches into Heaven!

Jin Skyward's Soliloquy

…

Around an hour had passed, Xenovia and Asia had been in Irina's room the entire time, as were the other angels, Griselda, Gabriel, Inaie and Raynare. I had informed the alliance about the attack and about Ame no Murakumo no Tsurugi and how it was in the hands of Qlippoth. I, however, kept the wielder a secret for now. We needed to—

"Papa!"

[It seems the reincarnated angel woke up,] said Ddraig.

"That, she did," I replied and left my office. I had been in there the entire time. Lavinia was asleep on the couch, so I didn't wake her up. Suzaku had left after checking up on both earlier since she needed to be at the meetings. She was bothered by not being there herself.

Once I arrived at Touji Shidou's room, Irina was standing over her father, tears streaming down her cheeks as she desperately tried to wipe them away. Asia and Gabriel stood beside their friend as they tried to comfort her.

"…I couldn't protect Papa…I froze up…all this power, but for what…? …Papa was overjoyed when I became an angel…" she said in between sobs.

Xenovia, who was still in the room stood beside me instead. Her face was grim and she said, "Perhaps the me of the past would have yelled at Irina right now for the way she's acting…but that would be a hurtful thing to do right now. After experiencing many things over the past years with everyone, I can sympathize with her."

I put a hand on her head and ruffled it a bit. "That's fine, but being supportive from a distance is still helpful, Nova," I told her and she nodded.

According to my shadow soldiers, Yaegaki wasn't the only one there. He apparently brought quite a few shadows from the Phantasma that kept them busy, so that's why they didn't show up when they were being attacked.

"I will go and report this to Michael-sama," said Griselda, I had also given them a small vial of the poison. She's going to take it up to Layla and Altaria, so if they decide to use it again in the future in any other attack, we'll have an antidote ready.

"Alright, call if anything happens," I told her and we shared a quick kiss before she left.

[Yamata-no-Orochi's poison, a poison of another world plus its curse and evil intent. That's a combo for a bad day. It's a miracle that your Kei clone managed to stop it, though I wonder why she didn't just remove it herself?] asked Ddraig.

'She must have panicked. I gave Kei her own consciousness, so she could make her own decisions. If she can't keep calm in this scenario, I may need to make another avatar for the future that just follows orders to a T. However, I don't want that. I want an avatar that can do things within my expectations.'

[Why not make her into an Electa then? If you do that, then she'll have an easier time dealing with things like that.]

'Maybe…let me just think about it for a bit,' I replied. 'But its poison isn't as potent as Samael's, right?'

[Right. But if mixed with all of those, and with how we generally rank their power now…it would have probably killed him instantly if she didn't stop it.]

Just then, Touji Shidou's eyes fluttered open. His eyes slowly moved around the room and he smiled sadly at Irina.

"Papa!" Irina shouted and embraced her father. "…I'm sorry. Even though I was chosen by Michael-sama, even though I became an angel, I couldn't protect you," she whimpered.

Just then Azazel and Rias appeared and walked into the room. They both apologized for being away and not being here, but were glad that everything turned out well.

Touji hugged his daughter back and with tears in his eyes replied, "Hahaha, it isn't Irina-chan's fault. And please stop acting like I'm going to die. I feel great! It seems I was treated by the Middleman; a woman told me so in my dreams."

"Woman? Did she have white hair?" Irina asked a bit confused.

He nodded his head. "Yes, she did."

"Oh, then it must have been Cúntóir!" she exclaimed. "She had some green fringe and wore a white-black yukata, right?" Irina asked and looked at me.

"Y-yukata? No…she had white hair tied up, but in like those old Victorian styles, ah, she also had very kind and gentle green eyes and she wore a long dress! Don't tell your mom but…but my god she was beautiful," he said and laughed.

Irina started to lightly hit him saying that her mother wouldn't like that. But…when I heard that short description, I felt my heart stop. It sounded like my mom, but…she had black hair instead of white…unless it's somehow connected to me? W-wait does that mean she's alive…?! Or—

I quickly tried to looking to the future but…nothing…! Literally nothing happened! I wasn't even allowed over there…?! So does that mean…?!

"Aaron? Are you okay…? You look pale and you're sweating…" Lavinia said and touched my cheek. I glanced at her, not even feeling her entering the room. Everyone else was also looking at me.

I recomposed myself and sighed. "I-I'm fine, don't worry about it…I was just thinking of a way to catch them—or at least just wait for them to attack Heaven and stop them," I told them trying to move the discussion along. I didn't have time to go freaking out about my mom right now…!

"…There's something I need to tell all of you. It's regarding that man that had attacked us earlier." He paused and looked around at all of us. "His name is Yaegaki Masaomi. He was a skilled warrior of the Church, and previously my subordinate."

"When you say 'previously' do you mean…?" asked Asia and Touji nodded.

"…Yes. He had already passed away, and it was because the church executed him."

"So he must have been revived, huh? As to how…they have several ways, but he was definitely stronger, wasn't he?" asked Azazel, and Touji agreed with a nod.

"…All of you are aware of the reports saying priests of the Church are being attacked, correct?" he asked and we nodded. "It must be his doing. He has enough motive to do it, and the ones that were killed were all my former comrades," he explained.

"I see…" Rias stepped forward and added, "The truth is that those from the House of Bael are being attacked right now. That's why we left earlier. There aren't any victims among those from the House of Bael itself. However, those close to the current Head who are the politicians of the Great King faction are being attacked. There have been casualties on their side already."

"So it's starting then…" I said and turned away.

"Starting?" Yumi asked. Her eyes then widened and she added, "The Church side is being attacked and there are victims from the Devil's side too. They have to be connected somehow."

"This is no coincidence then, he attacked the Bael's—the devils and then attacked his former comrades that are involved with the church…he's implying that all sides are involved somehow," said Rias.

She then turned to me and asked, "…Aaron…what exactly happened in this town? I was told that the Devil who was in charge of this place was a relative of the House of Bael. They were basically from my mother's family's side, and I was told that the devil was dismissed from its duty because it caused a stir and tension within the church."

Shocked at this, Touji added, "I see, so that's how it was told from your perspective. Likewise, that's how it was explained on our side. So you haven't been told what exactly happened in Kuoh town by your father or your brother then?"

Rias shook her head and frowned. "I don't think my father knows. He isn't someone who would hide such things from me. My brother had his standing so I'm not sure. Except, there will be a messenger sent from the House of Bael's side to the House of Gremory's side after this."

"It feels as though they are planning to reveal the whole situation since they can't keep this a secret anymore, even more so before it gets revealed to the public. I've just returned with my servants just now and we wanted Aaron to join us...a certain person requested for him."

Touji nodded again. "I see. So they're going to talk about it too, huh? It will be better to hear all of it from the House of the Great King. Except, before you depart, let me share some information about it. He...Yaegaki-kun, my subordinate fell in love with a high-class female devil who was in charge of this town back then."

He started to tear up, but continued. "The high-class female devil was someone from the House of Belial's branch family. Her name was Cleria Belial...we...we...tore them apart in Kuoh town." He took a breath and added, "I won't be able to complain even if he were to kill me…! I've definitely done something deserving of death…! …Yaegaki-kun, I'm sorry…! I'm so sorry…!" Touji Shidou started to sob uncontrollably.

He had been carrying that burden since that day—since that event, and he was still mourning over his dead comrade and the sin he committed. Irina, who was already emotional also started crying since her father was crying.

"…What?" I asked. Azazel had been staring at me the entire time.

"I would have liked to ask how you knew about any of that, but you won't tell me, will you? But tell me this, Jin. How do you feel about all of it? We don't know the entire picture yet, so…how about for now?" he asked me.

This caused the people in the room to look at me. I sighed and looked at the hallway in front of me. "It was…a different time, not like the one we have today. If those two kept it a secret a little longer…then maybe they'd be alive right now—but you can't control your feelings once they start to threaten to leak out like that."

"Love and other emotions like that is way too damn strong at times," I said and left the room. "I'll wait in the entrance hallway." I heard Lavinia call out my name and then her chase after me. She didn't say anything, but she simply hugged my arm and we waited down there.

…

Rias Gremory's Soliloquy

…

After Aaron left the room, we were left there and we looked at each other. He seems to know about certain events of the future…we've already discussed this as a group, and even asked Cúntóir during our 100 years, but…

All she told us was that 'he knows of certain events, but since he's changed a lot of them—not all of them will happen exactly the way it's meant to happen, so he's as unsure of the future as the rest of us.' She also added that Azathoth sealed his ability to look into the future, so he can't just check and change it for his own convenience.

"Tch, that brat acting all mysterious is annoying," Azazel said with a click of his tongue. But he frowned and looked at the ground afterward. "Rias, I'm guessing you knew nothing about all of this? What about Cleria Belial?" he asked me.

"No, I was only told that the previous devil in charge of this town was someone from the Great King Belial's branch family. That was also written in the documents and I even met that devil face to face and heard about their experience at Kuoh town…I guess it all was fake and a set-up," I said and frowned.

Onii-sama, did you know about this? If so, by how much? And if you did…were you ever going to tell me…? I looked back at Azazel and he nodded his head and sighed.

That devil Cleria was related to the current Rating Game champion then? This place…really does feel like the center of everything…if he's part of the Khaos Order—Qlippoth, then Rizevim may have told him about us after being revived.

"Let's go to Jin then, we need to go to the Gremory's home to meet the Bael's," said Azazel and he left the room.

"U-um, what about Papa?" Irina asked worriedly.

"Please rest assured that he will be taken care of, Irina-sama," said Yuri Alpha as she appeared out of nowhere scaring her.

"Uwa! E-er, I mean…thank you!" Irina bowed and said a few words to her father. We also wished him luck before we left.

When we arrived in the entrance hallway, Shirone had already arrived with Akeno. Yumi was the only one who came with me to the room where Irina's father was being kept at.

"Bringing this much is fine, right?" Aaron asked.

"Well, I don't know who's dumb enough to say no to you," Azazel said and snorted.

My peerage, Aaron, Irina, Lavinia, Azazel, Gabriel-sama, Raynare, and Inaie. It's quite a lot of people, but hopefully my father will be fine with it, along with whomever we're meeting. Aaron asked if we were ready and we told him that we were and we finally left.

…

Gremory Territory

…

Once we arrived back at my home in the Underworld, I said, "Follow me, we're meeting at a different location today." I then led everyone there. We walked down a few corridors, hallways and stairs, but eventually arrived in front of a door.

I knocked on it and was told to go in. Once we stepped inside it was a large room—it resembled my father's office, but it was larger and had more bookcases filled with books and other items scattered throughout the room.

My father stood up and greeted us. "I'm glad you're all here." Beside him was a middle-aged man sitting on a chair. He wore noble attire, he had purple eyes and black hair. His eyes looked tired and peaceful, yet he carried himself in a certain way that showed no openings. His entire body gave out an aura of dignity.

'Who is this man? I haven't met him before…from my father's behavior, it has to be someone in higher position as him,' I thought and then looked at my father.

The man then got up from his chair and smiled at us. "Hello there, Princess Rias."

"Rias, you must be respectful of this man. This person is the first Head of the House of Bael," he told us.

Everyone was shocked except Aaron and Azazel. Azazel I can understand, but for Aaron to…no, he must have even put shadow soldiers among the high nobles of the Underworld. 'So this man is the first ever…! Just like First Generation Runeas-sama…!'

"It's nice to meet you, Princess Rias, Governor-dono, Middleman and Team [DxD]. I'm Zekram Bael. You will find out more about me if you read the Bible or read documents related to that matter if you wish to know about me," he told us.

"Hello there, I have read a lot about you in certain documents," I greeted him back. His gaze moved from me to my servants, then to Azazel and then finally Aaron and his group.

"Jin Skyward, the Gremory servants and the newly established 'Team [DxD]', I have heard a lot of your achievements and that you get along with Sairaorg from our household, so let me thank you all."

I didn't think he would thank us for all things…however, he quickly moved onto the main topic.

"Princess Rias, what you want to hear from me is the event that occurred in the past regarding the previous overseer of Kuoh town, correct?" he asked.

"…Yes. The enemies, one of the people helping Qlippoth said he would 'take his vengeance on Heaven and the Bael'," I told him.

Irina then took a step forward and said, "Please…tell us. My papa—I mean my father, was also apparently involved in this. Right now, he is being targeted by that terrorist. Please tell us what happened at that town!" she begged.

The First Bael stroked his chin and looked at Irina. "You're an Angel? When you mean involved, I presume he was an agent sent from the Church back then? Is it perhaps the human called Shidou?" he asked.

"Yes, my name is Irina Shidou. Touji Shidou is my father," replied Irina.

Upon hearing this, the First Bael sighed deeply and looked at the ceiling. "This must be fate then. Oh my, so much is happening after it became Sairaorg's era. Let me ask you first, do you know the connection between us and that land?" he asked us.

I nodded and said, "Yes, it's currently being governed by the Gremory, but I was told that previously it was a shared territory between the House of Bael and the House of Gremory."

"The majority of the places that all of you are using now have had our clan involved in them since ancient times. In spite of this, it was mainly controlled by the Gremory. Likewise, this was the same for Kuoh Academy. However, there was one time when that location was appointed to the sons or daughters of the nobles for a short period in time to let them gather experience…that girl was also among them."

The First Bael went on to explain that Kuoh town was governed by a girl that hailed from the branch family of a certain high-class devil clan, the House of Belial.

The devil who was my predecessor, from what he told us, it was definitely different from the things they told me back then. Also, that girl was the cousin of the current Rating Game champion, Diehauser Belial

"Cleria's management went smoothly. As with many other towns managed by high-class devils, it showed signs like many others did. However, due to many coincidences…Cleria begun a relationship with a human. No, I won't blame her for that. A devil having a relationship with a human wasn't rare, even back in ancient times."

According to the First Bael, 'They are merely an existence with shorter life spans than us. For long living devils, they are a suitable playmate to kill time for a short period of time.' I quickly glanced at Aaron and he hadn't shown any change in expression since we arrived here.

He was stoic, almost unfeeling. I wonder how he really felt about this situation? For someone like him…who once lived life as a normal human—who pursues a harem of whatever species…

The First Bael's eyes sharpened and he added, "Except, it will be a different matter if the human comes from the Church's side."

The First then looked at Irina, Raynare, and Gabriel-sama. "In our current day and age, having an angel present here is allowed. But back then, not only was a meeting between devils and church members was impossible, but romance between the two was something unheard of."

"It would have been alright if you made those from the Church fall and use them as sex tools. However, proper romance was considered taboo. Until six months ago, having these members present in such a meeting was impossible," he sighed and looked at Aaron. "Seriously…there have been many incidents that have changed our values in a profound way since we entered this year. All because of you, young man."

However, Aaron didn't answer him, but simply stared and listened to him. What I failed to notice earlier was that his pupils had changed, no…not just him, Lavinia's also changed. This was definitely a topic that bothered them.

"So the woman was from the Belial and the warrior of the Church was…"

She was cut off by the First Bael as he continued. "We could never allow such a thing. Both sides tried to convince them of their different viewpoints. However, their relationship was already too serious. Cleria wasn't doing it for pleasure, but she was taking such a relationship seriously, which both sides saw as wrong."

"Allowing a relationship like that would mean giving an exception. So we decided to split them apart by using force. This conclusion was reached by the church side as well. Ironically, at that time we united, even though we were foes. In order to protect each side's rules. Fufu, don't you reckon that both sides are sinful beings?" he asked us.

We were speechless by this, for such a thing to happen in the past… "So both of them have passed away? You killed them, correct?" I asked him.

He looked back at me and closed his eyes. "That was the result in the end. We tried to convince her till the very end. However, the church-side couldn't stand the situation…no, it may have been our side that took action first, but both sides solved each of their problems on their own."

In the end, the devil who managed that territory became temporarily absent. Even the servants of that devil that protected their master were either killed off or were sent to remote areas in the Underworld after receiving many 'rewards'.

The Church side also had its staff reassigned since they had to terminate the irregularity that appeared in their ranks. All those affiliated with the Church based in Kuoh town, including Irina's father, and those involved in the incident were sent overseas.

This explained why Irina had to move so suddenly during her childhood. Some of them were promoted as a reward, some broke down because of the doubts born due to their own sense of justice or because they started doubting their beliefs in God due to having their hands tainted with the blood of their comrade.

From what the First Bael said, Michael-sama was most likely not informed about this, and only a few among the Church knew about it. Even people like Freed, or Galilei didn't know about what had happened in Kuoh town. However, due to that incident, people affiliated with the Church also disappeared from that town, and this resulted in the Fallen Angels using that chance to enter the territory.

With such a cruel story, it made very negative emotions boil inside me. Love between a devil and a human, it certainly does make you think about what would have happened if they allowed it.

In spite of this, I am fully aware of the world of high-class devils. It's something you can't easily think of in your imagination, especially when thought in the context of before the peace treaty was made.

From the perspective of nobles that take the importance of their pride and blood relations seriously, then that incident must certainly have been a horrible memory that they would want to be erased.

It's a story that makes me burn with rage, but I am also filled with another emotion as well. As cruel as it sounds, if that incident didn't occur, I wouldn't have come to this town, nor would I have met Aaron and everyone newly added to my peerage, as well as my new friends.

In the end, we did meet, but if the incident between that man and the woman from the Belial didn't happen…it gives me an uneasy feeling. Where would I be now? How would my life be? Not just me, everyone else that met Aaron, would the peace treaty happen? Or would we be dead because of Azrael and Kokabiel? Maybe another Great War would have already happened…

When I looked at everyone present, they all had the same expression on their faces, a mix of anger and sadness. The tragedy of that swordsman and the Belial woman was heartbreaking, and I'm sure Aaron has a lot of things he wants to say, but he's holding his tongue. However, we can't deny the fun days we have had were made possible because of that incident.

"The paradise called Kuoh Town, the place all of you are living in is a place made from many sacrifices," said the First Bael.

After we heard that story, my father put a hand under his chin and quietly said, "This is the first time I've heard about this too. I never imagined such an incident would have happened on my daughter's territory. We certainly had our faults for leaving that territory in the hands of the Bael till it became my daughters' turn. However, we have maintained that land together, even if that may have been in name only. I definitely would have wanted this brought to me if I knew."

"I apologize for twisting the truth of the past and handing the land to Princess Rias. However, it's a land that had such a tragedy occur. If we didn't find a successor in a timely manner, there would have been suspicion," explained the First Bael.

My father closed his eyes and said, "And a talented youth would have been ideal, correct? My daughter is the sister of Satan Lucifer. She also carries the blood of the House of Bael. So you assumed she would have been worthy enough to erase what had happened to the land?"

The First Bael showed a shallow smile and added, "Even if the truth is revealed now…it would be easy enough to cover the past by building many achievements if it's done by a talented youth. However…" He stopped and glanced at Aaron.

"Those were our thoughts back then, but the youth was so talented that the land we gave her turned into a place of peace among the Three Great Powers, and eventually even more factions and pantheons around the world after she became allied with a certain young dragon. So…it resulted in enough achievements to cover up the past."

I took a step forward and said, "I won't say anything about hiding the truth from me since it involved politics of the past, but why—"

"—Why did we twist the truth? Why didn't we tell the truth? Even going as far as to lie to Lord Gremory…is that what you want to ask?" asked the First Bael and I nodded.

The First Bael said without caring, "I have told Sirzechs-dono. If he didn't tell you then that must have been his fondness for you, his little sister. You won't be able to deny that, won't you? He didn't want to give you a negative impression of the town and increase the burdens placed upon his adorable little sister, don't you think so?"

"I will apologize for troubling him between the Great King's will and his love for his sister. But I would like to praise him for his good choices, as they lived up to both sides' expectations."

I felt my emotions stir and I said with more conviction, "Even still…! The truth has been revealed and for that reason, the land became the target for the terrorists! If we had known about it beforehand…then we might have been able to come up with a countermeasure!"

"We…might have been able to prevent casualties from both sides, the Underworld and the Church…"

When the First Bael heard this, he laughed loudly, ungiving for his age. "Hahaha! So young! Likewise with our own Sairaorg, the son of the previous Lucifer-sama, Prince Rizevim. He to acts like this…to act like this for humans is so…" he stopped and stared at Aaron with a smile.

"Dual Dragon Emperor, Middleman-dono, Oppai Dragon and lastly, Miracle Dragon," he called out to Aaron who didn't answer him. "Why don't you become a Satan in the future? With the support you have in the Underworld, and with the Great King as your support, the people will surely accept."

Everyone became shocked by this! He…the First Bael just offered a non-devil to become a Satan…?! Such a thing was unheard of, even with Aaron's world-wide celebrity status, does he really think the nobles will accept such a thing…?!

"Even our Sairaorg will be aiming to become a Satan, you know? Once he becomes the next head, he will aim to be a Satan. After that I will assign his brother as the next head," he explained.

Aaron finally spoke after being quiet the entire time. With his sharp eyes that pierces your soul, he said, "The ones who supported the devils of the underworld after the death of the previous Satans weren't the Satan's clan, but the House of the Great King. The Satans are nothing more than a 'symbol'."

The First Bael smiled. "You know a lot about our past, fufu, quite interesting. Obviously, there is no value in a mere 'symbol'. We needed a devil with strength and charisma. In terms of that, Sirzechs-dono and Ajuka-dono were ideal. They took their positions while understanding that very well."

"They even now know how to have a mutual relationship with the Great King's side. From our point of view, they are the ideal role models for being Satans."

First Bael then laughed. "Prince Rizevim and Euclid are still quite naïve after all. They believe that we devils have to be evil and cruel…" he then looked around at all of us again.

"Rias Gremory, your generation of devils along with Sairaorg, Sona Sitri and Seekvaira Agares will become the center of this young generation. The 'real' devils refer to the kins of the high-class devils that have existed since ancient times."

"Aside from that, there are the 'servants', who are not actually devils but rather are merely nothing. They are the 'commoners' and the 'reincarnated ones'. Being evil or not will change along with humans' and other species' perspectives. I don't see the need to become evil. To keep the society of nobles alive for the rest of eternity is what a 'devil' should do."

After he said that, I felt a bit of Sairaorg's determination in him. Even though he is from a generation long since passed…that will and determination carried onto Sairaorg…he was definitely his ancestor.

The First Bael took a deep breath and sighed. "It looks like I'm being influenced by the young since I just spoke out my thoughts which is unfitting for my age. I apologize. I only planned on talking about the situation regarding Kuoh town. I made you all listen to an old man's speech," he said with a chuckle.

He then said with a bitter smile, "Regarding the incident in which there are casualties from the Bael faction. Normally, we would prefer to send someone from our side, but for this time, I shall leave it to Team [DxD] led by the Middleman. It appears someone is keeping an eye on us and observing how the Bael will move, so we wish not to move carelessly."

Someone is watching the Great King? And for them to take this much precaution…

However, the First Bael bowed and said, "I am sorry that I kept such a secret from you about that time. I shall take my leave now… Oh and Middleman, please do think about my offer." He stared at Aaron as he said that last line.

"…I will politely decline, Zekram Bael. I am not a devil, and even with a lot of support, I doubt the high-class will be too happy about me being a Satan…" he paused and thought about something. "…However, if you wait a few years, an heir may come your way that may become a Satan," he said and looked at me with gentle eyes, the sharp pupils gone.

I felt my face heat up and I blushed hard. Then we heard the First Bael laugh heartily. "Hohoho! Is that so? Then I will wait for that time to come to pass, a devil and dragon hybrid? Shall we call this future heir a demonic dragon?" he asked, but Aaron merely shrugged at him.

Aaron turned around with Lavinia and walked out of the room. The others in his group soon followed, but before they could fully leave—

"Zekram-sama, let me send you off," my father offered to him.

"I…!" I shouted which made everyone stop and look at me. "I love Jin Skyward…!" I declared seriously to him.

The First Bael smiled at me. "Yes, that's fine. Because of the efforts of Jin, and the rest of his comrades, I won't deny romance between different species anymore," he said to us and then left with my father.

…

Jin Skyward's Soliloquy

…

Reading through that scene in the books was one thing. However, listening to it after experiencing my own events and living through it all with everyone I knew was different. The women I love are from all different species and have a variety of backgrounds. If I was in Yaegaki's shoes I would also want revenge if my love with them was torn apart.

I know I said that it was a different time and that if they waited it would have turned out different. However, I still felt my blood boil listening to it. No, I wasn't the only one that felt it. Lavinia who was beside me, her emotions also flared up.

"Let's protect this era far into the future," Lavinia said beside me. When I looked at her, her face was full of determination.

"Mmm! We can't let tragedies like that happen anymore," added Gabriel as the others joined us.

"…My two dads also found love for each other. I can't imagine something like that happening to them, so for those two who were unjustly killed, let's end this," said Inaie. Raynare who was beside her patted her head, she also silently agreed.

I couldn't help but smile. It's a pleasure having such capable friends and comrades like this. "Yeah. Let's stop whatever plans they have for Christmas."

When we went back to my home, we found out that Layla came back with Griselda and asked Touji Shidou to return to heaven with them since they wanted to analyze his body and create different antidotes for the poison of Yamata-no-Orochi, its curse and the poison of the Phantasma. So he was in Heaven in a heavily guarded room.

Grayfia gave them permission since Altaria and Layla insisted on it. Also, Narberal Gamma remained with Touji to be his personal guard since Grayfia and Yuri Alpha assigned her to him.

…

The next day arrived and we made our way to Heaven. Irina wanted to speak with her father so I along with the Gremory peerage went with her. Most of the leaders of each group of Team [DxD] also came with us, as they decided to start a plan for when the attack occurred.

I left Lavinia to attend the meeting for me. Since she left the Slash/Dog Team, she wanted to do small things like this for me, so I let her. But I made sure Raiko and Rose accompanied her.

The medical facility of First Heaven was a mix of modern and fantasy design. It's a place with mixed culture just like the Underworld since there are things like the electronic devices from the human world and a floating bed.

We arrived at Touji Shidou's room and there was a nurse there. She did one last check on him before she left.

"Papa," Irina called out as she walked over and embraced him.

"My little angel, how are you? I didn't expect to be brought here of all places! They've treated me well. Who would have thought that medical professionals from the Underworld, Heaven and Grigori would be attending me? A year ago, we couldn't even think of it!" he said energetically.

I also joined them and checked his health myself. After that, Irina and I explained what Zekram Bael told us during our visit to the Underworld.

He looked up at us with a complicated look and said, "We continued to try to convince Yaegaki-kun to the very end. Our logic back then…no, even now we think that romance between a devil and the followers of the Church is unforgivable."

"Even if she happened to be someone from a branch family member, she was still a devil of the House of Belial. However, if we pursued it, we would turn the whole Belial household into our enemies, and the strongest Belial right now is…"

"The Champion of the Rating Games, Diehauser Belial. His strength is said to rival that of the Satans," said Rias. Touji nodded at her words.

"If we failed to convince him, then Emperor Belial himself would show up. If that happened, then it wouldn't be a mere quarrel anymore. However, it appeared that the devil's side also had the same opinion. So a devil from the Bael's faction came to us."

"He told us: 'We shall cooperate. We also want to settle this quietly'. It was the same for the Devil's side as they also didn't want to start a war. So the Church side, our side, and my comrades made a temporary alliance with the Bael faction in the shadows. As a result, they succeeded in eliminating the 'rebels' secretly without having outsiders find out," he explained to us.

Touji then said with tears in his eyes, "Irina-chan, daddy's hands are very tainted. They're so dirty that I'm unsure if I'm allowed to call myself your father. You're an angel, they're meant to be pure and untainted, but…"

"I'm sorry that I kept this a secret. This was the real reason we moved to England. It was because daddy was incompetent and if I had done a better job, we wouldn't have needed to move homes…I'm really sorry."

Irina shook her head at her dad who kept on apologizing to her. "Please stop, papa. I'm also a warrior. I can understand that you didn't have other options back then…and you were also in pain, right, papa?"

"So you don't need to keep apologizing. I should be the one since I failed to help you. But I'll make up for it. Even if you have sinned in the past, I will still protect you…because we're family."

"Irina…"

Everyone stayed quiet. Xenovia looked like she wanted to say something, but in the end closed her eyes and remained silent. She, too, was a warrior of the church; she may have a lot of things she wanted to say too.

"This is an incident of the past. Regardless of how each side felt, or their reasoning…it was still a tragedy. But as long as he remains at large with Qlippoth and the Khaos Order aiding him, he's still branded a terrorist taking lives. We can't leave him be, so we'll stop him. Whatever the outcome will be, the sorrow and tragedy will only increase if we don't stop him," I said to them.

Touji nodded his head and wiped the tears from his eyes. He then looked at Irina and said, "The truth is, my Angel. Daddy didn't come back just for the Christmas project. I came because there's something I want to give you."

After he said that, he took out a briefcase that was under his bed. He then urged Irina to open it, and what she found was—

"This is…!" she said and stared at the object. It was a single sword that gave out a powerful holy aura.

"I see. The holy sword [Hauteclere]. Wielded by Oliver also known as Olivier de Vienne or Olivier de Gennes, who was the best friend of the Paladin of the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne, Roland, who also wielded [Durandal]," I said and they became shocked.

I looked at Irina and then at Xenovia and chuckled. "It seems fate has brought you two together, huh? [Hauteclere] and [Durandal] now together in the same team." The two looked at me and then at each other before they smiled at each other.

Touji continued. "The sword which is said to be only touchable by those with pure hearts. It has the ability to purify, even those who it cuts. From the results of its ability, it was determined that Irina-chan was the most qualified for it."

"Of course, it had to do with your body being enhanced by turning into an angel. The researchers also said it activated because you had been a long-time partner with Xenovia-san who wields Durandal," he explained. "Irina, please stop Yaegaki-kun with this sword."

"Papa…thank you! I will stop him!" she said loudly with a strong sense of determination. After we spoke to him for a while longer, everyone made their way out of the room, but—

"Jin Skyward…I'm sorry, can you stay? I want to speak to you about something," he asked. I nodded and had everyone else leave the room.

After a short pause, he began talking again. "…Jin-kun, Irina-chan won't be able to live like a normal girl due to her becoming an angel. On top of that, she is also the [Ace] of Michael-sama. She won't be able to become a normal girl again."

Becoming the [Ace] of the former leader of Heaven, and one of the strongest Seraphs, not including Gabriel, then it's a pretty big responsibility. Could you yourself say you could shoulder the burden of being president of the country if given the position at seventeen? I certainly couldn't…well, I'm forced to be something else, but if it was the past me, then yeah, I'd panic.

It's a big comparison, but that's how I saw it.

Touji smiled after saying the harsh reality. "But…she was given an exception; she's allowed to act like a girl when she's with you. I've only stayed a short time in your home, but I've been given updates by her all the time you know?"

"Not only that, I would assume it is the same with the other women in your harem, no? All of them have burdens and responsibilities that no normal person their age should have...even you. Are you sure you're okay?" he asked me and put a hand on my arm. He was acting like a concerned father now.

I gave him a reassuring smile and nodded. "…I have all of them, and my friends. With them by my side, I can achieve anything. So these burdens are nothing to me."

I didn't lie. It's not just my lovers, but my normal human friends like Higuro and Kikijo. They keep a balance in my life, and even after I graduate, I want to stay in contact with them. This also applies with Sairaorg, Tobio and even Dulio who's quite laid back, we've spoken a lot since he frequents my home and 'that' place for the children burdened with Sacred Gears.

I also have Baraqiel and Shuri to thank, and many others…with their support, it makes these feelings and burdens easier to carry. This includes the ones inside of me. Without Ddraig's goofiness it would be lonely. Albion is the straight man, but also still an idiot like Ddraig.

The past wielders were mentors to me, the same with Rudra…

A king is nothing without his subjects and the people that support him. If I'm meant to be the next ruler, I need support from everyone that trusts me, and for me to trust them back.

Touji Shidou then grabbed my hand and begged me. "Jin-kun, I beg you, please take care of Irina…that girl has been raised while being exposed to the thoughts of the Church since she was young."

"There are many things that she doesn't know as a girl. I want you to make her feel it. If it's you and Irina, I believe you two will get along while surpassing general ideology and their standings. You've done it to many others, right? Including Gabriel-sama which made the Church and general populace there to panic, hehe…" he chuckled a bit as some tears left his eyes.

"…Dammit it…! Why couldn't I say these words to Yaegaki-kun back then…?!" he asked himself and cried a bit more.

I grabbed his hands and said, "Touji Shidou-san. Please leave her to me, she's an important person in my life, without her, I doubt my home would feel the same, as everyone else in it. So, I'll continue to be with her and support her. I can assure you of that."

After I told him that, he just kept thanking me for a full minute straight. Eventually we parted ways and he went back to sleeping on his bed. When I arrived outside, Irina was waiting for me.

"Iri—"

"Aaron-senpai, can you come with me?" she asked and grabbed my hand before pulling me away. She led us to a certain building's rooftop in First Heaven, this was one of the taller buildings here as we could see the rest of First Heaven from here.

When we entered the rooftop, I felt four other presences there, but they were behind us. Irina walked over to the handrails and looked down at First Heaven, and then looked up at the floating buildings. I joined her side and waited for her to speak.

"Hey, Aaron-senpai. Do you remember our time in your [Pocket Dimension]? You know, the 100 years we spent together?" she asked.

"Hmm? Yes I do, Irina. Why do you ask?" I replied. "But…which scenario are you talking about? A lot happened in those 100 years."

She blushed and shook her head. "It's when I started being better friends with everyone. You know how I told you that I felt a bit…out of place? It felt like everyone already had a role, so I struggled to find one for myself. I asked you, but…hehe, that didn't go anywhere, so I asked Rias and Lavinia about it."

Right…she had her own worries about getting along with the huge cast of people in my home. She and Natsume are nearly identical, but Natsume didn't have these worries, though it's probably due to her being a bit older than Irina, and not having that burden and expectations on her.

"They gave me helpful advice and I started using it to get to know everyone a bit more deeply. In turn, I also used it on them, so it all worked out well…I felt bad, I'm an angel and also Michael-sama's [Ace], so I felt like I should be able to do that naturally, you know?" she said and twirled around, finally facing me.

"But apart from that, when we first came here, when we went after Kokabiel…I wondered what would my life have been if I stayed with Xenovia? Would I be a devil too? Would I regret it? Would I be one of Rias' [Evil Pieces] by now? Or would I work for you instead?" she asked me and herself.

"I asked Xenovia, Asia and even Rias about this, but they all told me the same thing…that I would have been given a choice. Xenovia chose to become a devil, and so did Asia. The same goes for Rossweisse-sensei. Those two chose to become devils, while Rossweisse-sensei opted to work for you."

A future like that would have been possible, but you left just like canon and Xenovia approached Rias. It would have been interesting…it leaves the question of, who would be Michael's [Ace] then?

"Aaron-senpai is an Outer god, and I'm an Angel. Until recently, we were both humans, right? You in your previous life and me just a few months ago."

"Yeah. I was nothing but an ordinary human though, I'm pretty sure the supernatural didn't exist in my previous universe. You on the other hand were raised as a warrior. You could wield one of the Excalibur pieces too," I told her. "But, even if we're of different races…you know I don't care about that. Regardless of whether you became an angel or a devil, you're the Irina Shidou that I know. That wouldn't change."

I looked up at the floating buildings and clouds and added, "There's no such thing as 'forbidden' in my dictionary. Whether it's between me and you, or any of the girls or my friends, or even ordinary classmates—If any of you were in danger, I'd definitely come to save you."

Her face turned a deeper red as she blushed. "…If Lavinia-san and I were in danger, who would you save?" she asked.

Without hesitation, I answered, "I'd save both of you. I have the power to do so and I won't let either of you be in such a dangerous situation for me to be forced to choose."

Irina began to cry and started to apologize like her father. "…I'm sorry, that was unfair of me…I still asked even though I knew the answer you'd give me…but, I really needed…to hear that…" she said in between sobs.

I approached her and hugged Irina. "Whether it be you, Lavinia, Suzaku, Gabriel, Rias, or even my male friends like Tobio and Sairaorg. If the need arises, I'll come save you all."

"…Maybe I'm not the one being unfair…it's you, Aaron-senpai…if you say something like that, then I can't help but…" she stopped herself—

"Then let me give you my answer," I told her and kissed her. She was shocked, but also kissed me back.

"…You're really unfair…" she muttered after we separated from our kiss.

"Let's stop them, and create that peaceful future we want."

"Mmm…! Yeah, let's do that…!" she said happily.

…

Penemue's Soliloquy

…

"Gabriel, make sure you attack him aggressively!" I told this air-headed angel.

"But…I don't want to hurt Aaron…" she replied in a worried tone.

"Not literally! I meant be more aggressive in your approach towards him!" I corrected the way I said it.

"I think what Penemue means is to be more active with your approach. What do you want to do with Aaron?" asked Griselda.

As we continued to talk about him—and the fact that we accidentally came across each other, we decided to come up here for a bit more privacy, but I didn't expect…

"Ah, it's Irina and Aaron, Aar—mmgh?!" Gabriel saw the two and tried to run after them, but I stopped her and covered her mouth with my hand. She looked at me sadly and with confusion.

"They need to talk, let's just…stay here, I guess…?" I told them.

Griselda and Layla were already watching them as I dealt with Gabriel. However, we eventually listened in to them. This may be wrong, but it would be too awkward to just leave now and act like nothing has happened.

He gave a speech about saving us all because he had the power to do so. He says so many things that sound like lines from a movie, but I am 100% sure he means them all. He's just stupid like that…an idiot with a bleeding heart that wants to help those around him, especially his friends.

Gabriel started to cry in my arms and started to struggle more and wanted to run towards them. But I managed to stop her. The two of them finally left, and before they did, he winked in our direction.

"…He knew we were here," said Layla.

"It would be stranger if he didn't," I added and laughed. "We should go back; they'll probably want to do another meeting about the upcoming attack."

As we left the room and descended the stairs, I thought back to the first time I met Aaron. He was stupid, immature, and had a sharp tongue. But he still cared about people, but he felt a bit…strange at them time, even now I don't know how to put it in words.

But the next few times I saw him he started to change slowly. If I had to compare the two, it's night and day, but…he still has a long way to go. Who would have thought—

"Who would have thought that people would look up to him and rely on him," said Griselda. It felt like she read my mind. "An abnormality. He appeared out of nowhere, and declared he would unite the factions and pantheons. At the time many laughed at him, even doubted he could do it, but…"

But he did just that, didn't he? While the supernatural world isn't under one alliance yet, the things that he's done and showed…they're more inclined to do so, out of respect or fear of his power.

"That's how Aaron is though~!" cheered Gabriel.

I couldn't help but pat her head which made her giggle. 'I swear you and Lavinia are nearly identical—no, maybe it's because they're the ones that have known him the longest and have that trust in him. Like Akeno and Kuroka…' I thought as we kept walking down the stairs.

…

After a short meeting, we decided to switch to a different room that was much more spacious. Earlier, when we arrived in the meeting room, the two people leading it were Altaria and Michael. The leaders there provided their input on what the team would do in different scenarios.

Right now…we were waiting. Aaron said it was his gut feeling so we decided to follow it. The rest of Team [DxD] was teleported here and now we were just getting ready.

"Ahin, are you feeling rested?" Asia asked her familiar. Ahin nodded his head and straightened up.

I hadn't interacted with Aaron for a while, but I kept an eye on him from a distance. He seemed to be thinking about something, and looked a bit nervous, but in the end, he looked the same as usual. I took this chance to finally go up to him.

"Aaron~! How are things? Are all the teams ready?" I asked as I peered at him.

He glanced at me and smiled. "Yeah. I reinforced certain sections earlier, and even had added security at different spots. But knowing them, they'll have a way to bypass it, but we can just stop them after that," he said confidently.

I tried to continue our conversation, but his eyes immediately changed. He then looked at the ground and closed his eyes. I was confused and looked at Lavinia who was beside him. She came over and hugged me from behind.

"You should get ready…" she whispered into my ear…wait does she mean—

Suddenly, Heaven began to shake uncontrollably. Everyone around us stopped what they were doing and looked around us, then at Aaron.

Then…an enormous tear appeared above us, no…not just above us but all around the room. I can assume this is happening all over Heaven! As all of us began to move—multiple monsters, cryptids, vampires, and evils came out of the tears in space!

Aaron silently took a step forward and silently swiped his hand sideways. It's as if all sounds stopped—and then, powerful and loud explosions happened above us, the enemies that had suddenly appeared were all killed instantly.

He took another step, and a powerful and massive aura of white, gold, and blue erupted from his body—his previously black hair had turned silver.

"Team [DxD]!" he shouted gaining our attention. "Heaven is under attack; we've discussed our strategies a few minutes prior…" he paused and raised his right arm up. Suddenly dragon head symbols appeared on our arms.

"…Take them down, and protect this place," he said calmly. I had expected him to scream it, but…everyone else instead shouted in response as they left with their teams. He then glanced back at me, and a few others who stayed. "I feel them…I'm going to Seventh Heaven, the rest of you go," he told us and disappeared.

…

Third Person Point of View

…

Rossweisse, Brynhildr (Zelma) and the rest of the Valkyrie squad and Norse group headed for First Heaven. They were tasked with several other groups to aid the first line of defense for Heaven if that's where the attack had occurred, but from what they saw earlier, the Khaos Order may have teleported to all sections of heaven at the same time.

"What does this mark do?" Helmwige asked. The rest turned to look at Rossweisse as they waited for her answer.

"I can feel some enhancement magic on it, perhaps it's to aid us in our physical attributes?" theorized Brynhildr.

"…It increases your strength, speed, durability, magic power by ten times, it gives you a passive healing effect and immunity to certain mind control, poisons and curses," said Rossweisse. "You're also more resilient to elemental attacks, including time and space altering techniques."

The rest of their group became speechless at what they had heard. They didn't think Aaron would give them such an enhancement.

"I-isn't that a bit much?!" shouted Grimgerde.

Before Rossweisse could answer, several attacks were fired at them and they scattered. The group looked at their attacks and found that they were from a group of Super Devils and Super Vampires.

"Please be careful when dealing with them. They're at least God-class in strength. You've spent those extra few years in the [Training Facility], show them the fruits of your labor!" Rossweisse shouted as she summoned her wand and created thousands of magic circles.

"Kill them!" shouted a devil.

"Don't order me, bitch!" a vampire shouted, but before they could move, mass-produced Evil Dragons appeared and flew towards the Norse group.

Rossweisse fired her magic at them as a series of lights pierced and obliterated large groups of their enemies. The others in her group followed suit as they fired their own magic at the devils, vampires and evil dragons.

[Gahahaha! These little girls aren't bad!] shouted an Evil Dragon.

"We're not little!" Schwertleite shouted back at him and fired a powerful fire spell at the dragon.

[Weak!] He shouted and grinned at Schwertleite. However, Schwertleite also grinned back at him before she clicked her fingers. The Evil Dragon suddenly exploded into a fiery-explosive pillar.

Schwertleite mixed her fire magic and explosion magic and put a delay on the attack. What initially looked like a normal fireball spell turned into an explosion which then turned into a fire tornado that also had various explosions occur within it. The Evil Dragon died, but the attack didn't stop there, as the fiery-explosive tornado began to move around and hunt down the other enemies within its range.

Grimgerde was fighting off several devils that began firing demonic attacks at her. One particular devil had a strange ability to attack with their hair and then use elements on them. The other two who were with her were both close-range combat types.

Grimgerde herself trained in close quarters combat, so she didn't have any problems avoiding them. She had trained in both that and her norse magic as well as other types since she wanted to have diversity.

She avoided the punches and kicks that were thrown her way and also punched both devils back right in their face. Both reeled back at the power the woman produced, as they were about to loudly whine, both were hit by two powerful light beams and were blown away.

Grimgerde increased her speed and showed up behind the devil who had been using her hair to attack her. She clenched her fist and punch the female devil in the back with a fist covered in electricity. This caused the female devil to be hit by a powerful electric attack and also crash into the ground.

As Grimgerde was about to finish them off, three powerful spears pierced all three devils in the head. Grimgerde looked up and saw that her leader, Brynhildr had finished them off for her.

"Don't waste precious time and energy. Kill them as soon as you can," she said to her.

"Y-yes ma'am!" replied Grimgerde. She then flew away not wanting to hear her leader's scolding.

In the distance, both Ortlinde and Helmwige worked together to fight a strong Evil Dragon. He looked different from the others as he had a yellow body with black markings that looked like diamonds. He had glowing blue eyes and had an air of confidence around him.

[What's wrong, is that all?] asked the Evil Dragon. He smugly crossed his arms as he stared at the two Valkyries.

This particular Evil Dragon was a Middle-Tier God-class being. Both Helmwige and Ortlinde were at the peak of True Satan-class at best and weren't having any luck, but with Aaron's enhancement, they breached Low-tier God-class, but were still outmatched. Both women looked at each other before nodding at each other.

Aaron had increased most people's potential to at least God-class in preparation for any future attacks, so this version of the Draconic Deus would have even more God-class beings running around in the future.

[If you're not coming…I, the great Guldret will go to you then!] he shouted and appeared beside Ortlinde. He sent a punch towards her, confident that it would hit, but to his surprise, Ortlinde moved her head back and kicked him in the jaw!

This was followed by Helmwige blasting him with a powerful wind spell causing him to be blown away. Guldret was confused as he stared at the two Valkyries after composing himself. However, upon closer inspection, he saw that both women were covered in a green (Helmwige) and blue (Ortlinde) aura. It was so thin that you wouldn't be able to see it with normal eyes.

[Ho? And what that might be?] he asked them, but both women didn't answer him. As they instead charged him. Guldret grinned and shouted, [Bring it on then!]

Ortlinde summoned a spear and thrust it towards Guldret who dodged the attack, but Helmwige appeared behind him and fired multiple magic attacks at him, causing him to be hit. This forced Guldret to turn around and fire a breath attack at her. She dodged the attack and summoned a large battle axe and swung it down on him.

[You can't—]

He was then pierced through the arm by Ortlinde with her spear which made him grit his teeth. Guldret had high resistance to magic, however, physical attacks were another story. He put on a façade that he had high resistance to both, but in reality, he was basically a mage pretending to be an all-rounder.

[Gahahaha! More! More!] he shouted. To both women's surprise, his scales hardened and they were forced away by him. Guldret can enhance his scales to be sturdier, and in turn make him a bit more durable. However, this cost him in magic and energy which he wanted to avoid.

The Valkyrie Squad had approached Aaron about getting stronger a few months before this occurred. They saw the difference between them and Rossweisse and turned to him for help. He didn't mind asked what kind of help they wanted—they asked for some kind of powerful enhancement magic that would amplify all their attributes.

Aaron then helped them with it…and the result was the auras around their bodies. Each one was different for them, but they collectively decided to name it [Walküre Drive] (Valkyrie Drive). Aaron based this ability on both Sting and Rogue [Shadow Drive] and [White Drive] from the series, Fairy Tail.

[Walküre Drive] amplified their overall abilities by around twenty-fold. This included their strength, speed, endurance, magic, and casting speed. Since they received Aaron's enhancement earlier, and then added their [Walküre Drive], it forced them to reach the same power level as Guldret.

As Guldret was about to attack them again, he felt powerful attacks on his backside and he turned around and saw that another woman had joined them. It was Brynhildr who was also covered in her own [Walküre Drive].

[More pests! …Hmm?!] When Guldret tried to move, he couldn't. No matter how hard he struggled, his body wouldn't move. Brynhildr had her arms extended and both hands clenched. [What did you do, woman?!] he shouted but got no response.

"Finish him," ordered Brynhildr.

Ortlinde and Helmwige brought their weapons back over their shoulders, like they were holding baseball bats and were about to swing them down. Their weapons were covered in a powerful aura. They quickly condensed them and added more.

Guldret who was frozen began to panic, the power he felt from the two weapons weren't powerful, but if both combined with the other powerful aura behind him, he would surely perish. So he tried even harder to break free. He even forced himself to go over his limit and used all his power…but to no avail.

"Ready?" asked Helmwige.

"Yeah!" shouted Ortlinde.

Both swung their weapons forward, and both their attacks then combined into an amalgamation of blue and green. This amalgamation turned into a large swirling vortex which was launched towards Guldret. It caused a distortion of the space around the attack, and any ground or building near the attack was at risk of collapse.

"Hakai!" both women shouted.

[Dammmiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!!] Guldret screamed as he also felt another powerful blast from behind him. For a brief moment, he felt the invisible restraints around his body had lifted. However, when that happened the two attacks had already slammed into his body, resulting in a massive explosion.

Other devils, vampires and evil dragons unfortunate enough to be near the impact of the explosion were also drawn into it and killed. However, because Aaron had reinforced many of the buildings of Heaven earlier, the buildings around them weren't destroyed. When the explosion stopped, they saw that Guldret was dead.

"Yay!" both Ortlinde and Helmwige shouted and high fived each other. They quickly stopped as they felt their leader's glare their way, they quickly flew away to deal with the rest of the invaders.

"Maybe I should be less stringent with them," Brynhildr mumbled to herself. She had talks about this with Rossweisse and even approached several others including Aaron. Most agreed with her and that she should be less strict, but Aaron told her to be less stringent in her own way which confused her.

As Brynhildr was about to move from her spot, she felt two powerful auras clash with each other. This caused the entirety of First Heaven to shake. She became concerned and flew towards the source. She used their transceivers and told the rest of her squad and group to focus on the other enemies. The location she flew towards was where Rossweisse was last seen at.

Once she got there, she saw Rossweisse engaged in battle with a woman. The woman had pale skin with red eyes and black hair. She had a scrolling black tattoo between her shoulder blades and red horns protruding from the sides of her head. Her outfit were Gothic and Lolita in style.

"You killed my brother and then did that to Valentina?! A bitch like you deserves nothing more than death!" she screeched at Rossweisse who didn't react.

'Did that…? What's she talking about?' thought Rossweisse. "What are you talking about? I only spoke to Valentina briefly," she told her.

"Liar!" the woman screamed and fired several magic attacks at Rossweisse who in turn negated them by finding a flaw in her attacks and negating it. "She barely escaped you! She had a missing arm and leg when she came back! Now she's using mechanical parts because of you and she isolated herself!"

Rossweisse was shocked by this. 'Did she do that to herself or put an illusion on herself to fool them? Why would she go that far…? Unless she wants to make it realistic and believable. But their leaders aren't fools, the more powerful would definitely see through it…'

Rossweisse dodged another attack and used her ring's [Appraisal] and saw that the woman who attacked her was a Super Vampire and had the name of Renita. A blood-red aura covered both Renita's arms and they quickly formed the shape of a scythe. She swung it at Rossweisse who again, dodged the attack.

However, small red blades shot from the blood scythe. Those small blades turned around and flew back at the Valkyrie. Rossweisse sensed them and moved her head to dodge them, but she saw that they were homing in on her. So she created a few magic circles and fired elemental attacks at them which destroyed them.

"Give him back!" she screeched and fired several blood-red balls at Rossweisse who simply negated them once they got into her range.

"I can't bring back the dead," she replied and used her superior speed to go behind Renita. "But I can send you to see him," she said coldly and fired a point-blank attack at her back.

Renita gritted her teeth as she was blown away by Rossweisse's attack. However, it didn't kill her, much to Rossweisse's surprise. Her back was missing, and her spine was visible. However, it also quickly regenerated, and her previously visible back was covered with muscle and skin again.

"…You won't kill me that easy…! I put myself through several experiments so I can kill you! I'm stronger than my brother Thentine!" she shouted and appeared behind Rossweisse.

She created large and sharp nails out of her own blood as she slashed at Rossweisse, who promptly dodged the attack. This was repeated a few times as Renita became increasingly frustrated at her own power and Rossweisse's incessant dodging.

Renita suddenly grinned and several large bats with sharp fangs flew towards Rossweisse from behind her. But much to her surprise, when they tried to bite into Rossweisse's shoulder, their fangs didn't pierce. What Renita and much of the Khaos Order didn't know was that after the Azrael and Kokabiel incident, Aaron had increased the defensive powers of his enchantment magic on the girl's clothing.

This included Rossweisse's battle clothes. The Valkyrie in question shot a powerful pulse of magic from her body which killed the bats. She followed up by covering her fist in touki and sent a barrage of punches towards Renita, who wasn't fast enough to react and was pummeled quite severely, which caused her to violently crash to the ground below.

As Rossweisse prepared to finish the female vampire off. Renita started to laugh maniacally, then a sudden and unfathomable amount of power erupted from her causing Rossweisse to back off. A blood-red pillar erupted from where her body was and threatened to destroy her surroundings. The pillar kept expanding and expanding until it suddenly vanished.

What was left was an enormous monster that towered over every single building in First Heaven. It was covered in a lot of blood and had long black hair that covered its face and large horns that protruded from the sides of its head.

'Did she transform?' thought Rossweisse. Suddenly it opened its mouth and a black-red ball formed and then shot at her. She dodged it, but…a large explosion occurred behind her. When she glanced back, she saw that Heaven's door was damaged to the degree that it may need repairs.

Rossweisse frowned and said, "I can't let this carry on any longer. I thought you may have been someone close to Valentina, maybe even an ally, but unfortunately you were not…" she then entered her [Ultra Instinct Sign] and flew towards the monster.

Renita in her monster form fired several more black-red balls at Rossweisse, but instead of avoiding them this time, she created a magic circle that absorbed them. She did this to the other attacks directed at her. Once she had gathered enough, she fired it all back in one giant beam. This beam hit Renita on the right side of her face, completely vaporizing it.

She summoned her [Mistilteinn Wand] and created a large magic circle above Renita. At the same time, another magic circle was created beneath her which sealed her movements.

"…Aaron will have use for her, right? But…it doesn't sound like…no, if anything is left after this then I'll bring it with me," she murmured to herself. She then flicked her wand and a powerful beam left the magic circle above Renita.

The light covered all of Renita's enormous body and most of the buildings around her. However, the light show didn't last long as when it ended, only the footprints of Renita were the only things left of her.

"I used too much—"

[Members of Team [DxD]! Be alert! Both Third and Fourth Heaven possess the Tree of Life and Tree of Wisdom respectively, we are led to believe that they are targeting those, I repeat, to any groups near those floors please protect those trees at all cost!] a group of the Irish group's told the members of the team.

"We're nowhere near it—"

[Attention, the man called Masaomi Yaegaki has infiltrated Fifth Heaven along with several shadows of the Phantasma. Information also says that Chief-officer Touji Shidou made his way there not too long ago for certain treatments for the poison that the angels wanted to analyze,] he added.

Rossweisse frowned. She wanted to go to Fifth Heaven right away, but also couldn't leave her group here by themselves—with [Ultra Instinct Sign] still activated she wanted to wipe out the rest of their enemies here as soon as possible. With that thought in mind, she flew away.

…

"…Papa!" Irina dashed away followed by the Gremory peerage.

"Irina, we'll accompany you and make a way for you!" shouted Rias and Irina nodded.

Their group quickly moved up the floors. At each floor they saw many groups of Team [DxD] fighting, but they quickly arrived at Fourth Heaven when—

[This is as far as you go,] said a voice. When all of them looked upward, they saw a dragon.

"Evil Dragon Ladon! …No, you're a clone!" shouted Yumi as she summoned a holy-demonic sword.

[Kuku, not just one—but many,] he said and around ten more clones of himself appeared all around them.

All the Ladon clone's eyes began to glow red and several dark auras covered most of Fourth Heaven. They had encompassed the place with several powerful dark barriers.

[Fufu, you can't—]

"Get out of our way!" Yumi and Xenovia screamed as they slashed apart the barriers with a single swing of their sword, much to the Ladon clone's surprise.

The Ladon clones expected them to struggle and that their barriers regenerated at a faster pace than they could be damaged. However, the power they saw was beyond what they initially thought. The multiple clones created more barriers and prevented Irina and the Gremory group from moving forward.

"We'll just need to kill him—but we received that from Aaron, didn't we?" Rias asked.

"Mmm. I have it," replied Shirone as she pulled out a charm in the shape of a dragon's head. This was made with Aaron and Suzaku working together. It would trap the soul of whomever they used it on.

"They're not the original, but it should be fine to use it on the original that showed up," said Rias. "Kill him, clear a path and we'll reach Fifth Heaven."

Before they could move—the area of Fourth Heaven was suddenly covered in a pure white field and barrier.

"—And this is where the hero jumps in!" shouted a familiar voice. All of the Ladon clone's barriers were instantly shattered and Kanami Minagawa along with the rest of the Slash/Dog Team appeared.

"We'll take it from here. We just finished up helping another section of Third Heaven, and Meruem and Mittelt stayed behind!" said Kanami.

shouted Kanami and the barriers that the Ladon clones began to create instantly disappeared. "Go!"

"Thank you!" shouted Irina as they began to go towards the stairs. As they did this multiple Ladon clones fired attacks at them, but with a swing of her [True Longinus] she nullified the attacks.

"Natsu-natsu, everyone let's get to work! They won't be useful to Aaron, so no need to hold back or be careful about anything!"

"I know!" replied Natsume as she used [Fallen Spirit's Dance] and also used it on everyone else on her team.

"Fusae!"

"…I'm on it," Fusae replied to Kanami. She created several magic circles around them and then a barrier spell around them. "That should limit the number of times they can use their attacks and also decrease their potency."

"Kuku, let's tear them apart then!" Kouki shouted and ran towards them with Byakusa on his shoulder and with the electric spear covering his arm.

…

[Kuhahaha! I would have expected Slash Dog to be here, but this is it? The famous Slash/Dog Team to be so—]

Kouki pierced this clone's shoulder and punched him in the face, throwing him backwards. Behind him was Kalawarna who fired multiple light spears at the Ladon clone which also stabbed him all around his body. But he didn't go down and only laughed even more.

[You need to be stronger than that, you know?] he said. Upon closer inspection by the two, they saw he had hardened his scales even more, which prevented their attacks from fatally wounding him.

[I may not excel at fighting, and have only a limited number of offensive techniques, but if my strong barriers and other techniques you won't be able to kill me that easily,] he told them and then paused, before a massive grin spread across his face. [They're here…the backup.]

Another tear appeared above them, and two individuals emerged, a man and a woman. Both of them landed beside the original Ladon and they faced the Slash/Dog Team.

"Is this them? The famed Slash/Dog Team?" asked the man.

The man had red-ish skin with a singular horn protruding from the right side of his forehead. He had long white hair and hazel-colored eyes. He wore a white general's uniform with a gourd on his waist and a golden mechanical left arm. He brandished a sword with a golden dragon design handle and an aqua blue blade.

The woman had pale white skin with elf-like ears. Her hair was mostly white with blue streaks on each side of her head. Her hair also reached to her waist. She wore a gold and white accessory on the back of her head. She wore what looked like a kimono as it was mostly white with red and gold accents and designs on it. Her right arm was covered in darkness while her left carried a large golden bow. Behind her was a bird that was made of darkness too.

[That, they are. Who is your master?] the clone of Ladon asked.

"Lord Aerendyl," they replied in unison and powerful auras surrounded their bodies.

"Shall we get to it?" the man asked.

"Do you see who are the chosen ones?" the female asked.

The female took a step forward and a powerful aura blasted at the Slash/Dog Team. However, Fusae created a powerful barrier in front of them.

"Who is the chosen one among you? Do you deserve that power? Were you born with it? Are you royalty!?" she shouted at them.

"Or are you scum who worked for it? Did your 'hard work' get you here?!" shouted the male.

Everyone there was confused by what they were saying. Kouki scratched his head and asked, "The hell are they talkin' about?"

"It sounds like they believe that those born with power deserve the right to high positions. However, anyone born in a low-class family and worked their way up to that seat or rank doesn't deserve to hold that position," said Ajamu. "Some humans and even supernatural beings still believe in that—it may be just an extreme case on their part—or at least their master."

"Ah, they're pieces of privileged shit! Got it, kill them! …No, wait we capture them, right?!" Kouki asked as electricity started to discharge from his arm.

"Be careful, they're powerful. I know that you guys spent 50 years in Aaron's [Training Facility], but you didn't have the same benefits as his 'other place'. Please be careful. I will try to limit their powers as much as I can," warned Kanami.

"Natsu, Shigune. The three of us will take care of those two that showed up. They seemed to be part of the Phantasma. The rest of you, we'll leave the Ladon clones to you. I'll have my warriors help you guys out, alright?" said Kanami.

"Roger that!" they replied.

Kanami summoned her white armored knights, using her Seventh Commandment. Kouki, Ajamu, Kalawarna and Fusae ran towards the Ladon clones, with the dragon marks on their arms, they were empowered like the rest of the team. Kouki and Ajamu took charge and used a powerful combo attack that launched all the Ladon clones away. This was so they could have their fight in another location.

"The three chosen ones, the rest were insects. Shall we kill them, Ikeshia?" asked the man.

"Fufu, of course, Haldir," replied the woman.

"The man is Haldir and the woman is Ikeshia. Who do you want dibs on?" Kanami asked.

"…I want to face the woman," said Shigune, surprising both sisters.

"W-what? No, you two face—"

"I have Poh, I'll be fine. Also…Aaron made a spirit for me like Sylph, so I'll be fine," Shigune told them with a reassuring smile.

"…Fine, but be careful, we don't know what kind of abilities they have," replied Kanami. "Natsu you're with me, let's kick some ass."

"You don't need to tell me twice," said Natsume.

"Enough! Let us start!" Haldir shouted as a large shadow of a bull-like monster appeared from behind him.

"For Lord Aerendyl!" Ikeshia added and a large shadow of a bird also appeared from behind her, her bow also began to glow brighter.

The two subordinates of Rank 8, Aerendyl Liaris charged at the three girls.

…

Check the chapter comments to see images of certain characters.