Chapter 20: Day of Diplomacy

Finally came the day that possibly dictated the future. The Three Factions meeting in Kuoh. Having still not fully gained enough confidence, Gasper stayed behind in his cardboard box playing games with Koneko there to guard him in case something happened.

On the devils side was Sirzechs Lucifer and Serafall Leviathan, the latter giving horny eyes to Keiji while she held her glare to a person in heaven's corner.

Representing heaven was the Archangel Michael. To his side was a woman of unfathomable beauty, with gold locks that cascaded like a river, a flower in her hair and a golden halo, too. Unlike her brother, she had oceanic orbs. 

As smug as usual was Azazel, sitting casually with Vali behind him. Azazel wore a V-neck maroon long-coat with a wide, open high-collar.

'What is with the supernatural? I can't believe someone so adorable looking has ended up being probably the sexiest woman I've ever met,' Keiji thought, trying not to excite himself at a serious conference.

At last, it began. Keiji mostly tuned out for parts he deemed unnecessary, like the deal with Kokabiel. That bastard was suffering enough, so it didn't matter what happened, as long as he wasn't ever going to be a problem.

"Red Dragon Emperor, is there something you'll like to say?" Azazel asked, seeing the kid (in his eyes) not really paying attention.

"I guess I do want to ask something to Michael," he said, making the archangel look in his direction. "I probably can't understand the stuff you have to do, but I want to know why Asia, Xenovia and Irina were excommunicated. They didn't really do anything wrong, Asia especially."

Michael gave a sad look. "It pains me, too. But we could not afford the risk. Heaven was already weakened enough without the support of God, and I am only His creation. We couldn't damage losing anymore faith, so it had to be done. Forgive me for the pain the Church have caused you three," Michael apologized, prostrating his head.

"It's fine, Archangel Michael!" Asia explained. "I've found amazing people to help me," Asia added, with the two holy sword users nodding.

"Even if it was for a greater cause, the suffering caused by you two should not be ignored."

Keiji stood forward. "I don't know if I have that much interest in it, but I'm sure those three still hold their faith dearly to them. Would it be too much to ask you to remove the power that prevents them from praying?" Keiji suggested, getting looks of arousal and admiration from the Church trio.

Michael shook his head, smiling at the idea. "No, it is very much possible. But I'd like to ask you three"—Michael turned to the trio—"will you still pray, even after knowing the truth?"

"Yes!"

"Absolutely!"

"Of course!"

Keiji smiled at the fact they managed to get some sort of happiness, while Gabriel looked at him with a small look of joy. 'How selfless of him to such a thing. Just what has led to the Red Dragon Emperor to be gentle?'

After the small resolution of their Bible reading issues, the summit continued. Keiji found himself meeting Vali's gaze several times, an invisible clash of lightning between the two of them.

"What about you, Vali? How does peace sound?" Azazel asked, tilting his head back to greet the young man.

Vali shrugged, his back still leaning against the war. "I don't really care. Just as long as I get to fight strong opponents."

"And what does the Red Dragon Emperor think?"

Keiji had an applause of eyes on him, and Rias held onto him a bit. "Way to make me nervous. But I want peace. I don't see anything great if there's division. We've already got enough problems as it is. Thanks to an idiot fallen angel"—Keiji looked towards Azazel, who looked away with a chuckle—"lots of dangerous shit almost happened. My pain-in-the-butt but important Familiar almost died. That's really about it." 

Azazel clapped. "Nice speech."

A greyscale took over as Keiji looked to see that several people were frozen; the leaders, holy sword users, and the Dragon Emperors were free from the chrono stasis. "Gasper's power?" Keiji remarked.

Outside, several magicians came out and began to fire at the group. However, a magical barrier was erected by Grayfia.

"Rias, free your Bishop to bring things back to normal. Keiji, use the power of the Red Dragon Emperor to break the others free."

"Guess we can't laze around. Vali."

Divine Dividing appeared on Vali as he took flight. "Yeah, yeah. These small fry are nothing, though!"

Rias clutched Keiji's hand. "We're going to use castling on the unused Rook piece and go straight to Gasper and Koneko."

"You two!" Azazel called out. Keiji caught a silver bracelet. "Use it on the vampire to help control his Sacred Gear."

A large blast of demonic energy came from a tall bespectacled woman with a voluptuous figure. She had tan skin with long brown hair tied into a bun with a headset and she had blue-grey eyes. She wore an extremely low-cut dress and it had a high slit which exposed a large portion of her breasts.

"Everything that I hate to see. I hate that you Satans dare rule the Underworld! You besmirch the names of the Satans of old!"

"Katarea! Why are you doing this?!" Serafall shouted.

"You... the one who has taken the name of Leviathan! My clan name! I despise you!" Katarea shouted to Serafall.

Azazel sighed as he stepped forward. "It seems you devils are always causing issues. Guess I'll clear this one up. Think of it as thanks for dealing with Kokabiel."

Castling, the two of them witnessed Koneko and Gasper bound to the wall while a bunch of magicians looked in surprise. They got ready but it was pointless as Keiji flaring his aura was enough for them to submit down.

"Rias! Keiji! I'm sorry for failing you! I can't do it!" Gasper lamented.

"Gasper!" Keiji shouted, making the trap stop complaining. Ignoring the pain of cutting himself with Ascalon, Keiji flicked the blood to Gasper. "Forget about it, and drink my blood! You're a man, aren't you?"

Feeling the instinct to prove himself, Gasper's eyes glowed as he ingested the potent liquid, the magicians frozen in place while Rias freed Koneko from the bindings.

"It's okay, Gasper. You did well," Koneko said.

Gasper looked a bit downcast but Keiji put a hand on his shoulder. "Here, wear this. You should be able to control power. Plus, you actually drank blood. So quickly, too. You're learning!"

"Thanks!"

With the time stop no longer active, the other devils, like Sona's Peerage, joined in in fighting the abundance of magicians that spawned; Xenovia and Irina working in a duo.

"What's wrong, Katerea? Not doing so well."

Katerea grinned. "I'll show you!" she shouted, taking out a snake which soon assimilated into her energy, a strong outburst of power.

All of Katerea's stats began to rocket up while Azazel found himself being decently entertained at the boost in strength. "Looks like you had some fun. Where'd you get that power? Looks like a sneaky Dragon God has been doing dodgy dealings."

'Dragon God?'

"That doesn't matter!"

"You're right, especially because I've got a dragon toy to play with as well," Azazel said, pulling out a lance-like golden dagger with a purple jewel at the end of the handle. "Say hello to my creation. Down Fall Dragon Spear!"

"BALANCE BREAKER! DOWN FALL DRAGON ANOTHER ARMOR!" 

Keiji looked in surprise at seeing Azazel clad in golden dragon armour with purple jewels that covers the wielder's body, resembling that of Scale Mail.. "He has a dragon Sacred Gear."

"This presence must be Fafnir, one of the Five Dragon Kings. Vritra is another one of them," Ddraig explained.

"I-impossible!" Katerea shouted. "How can you have a Sacred Gear?"

Azazel smiled. "You want to know?" he asked, watching her narrow her looks. "Because I'm a boss!" he declared with a shit-eating grin under his mask, making everyone sigh at how ridiculous Azazel could be.

'Fucking idiot.'

Blinded by rage, Katerea tried to attack him but Azazel dodged her attacks, countering with quick punches that were too strong for her to handle. Azazel watched her pant as he held his two-pronged spear of light, ready to finish her off.

Only for a burgundy beam to come and smack her into the ground, showing Keiji in his Scale Mail. 

"Oi, kid. You not gonna finish her off?"

Keiji looked at Azazel like he was silly. "Azazel, shouldn't we gather information instead of killing her?" Keiji asked him, with a deadpan face, making Azazel nervously chuckle at the fact he was going to throw away their source of information. "This is a high-ranking member of the pricks that attacked us. She's got the goods on her."

Spotting danger, Keiji shouted for Azazel to move while tackling him out of the way before the attack could hit him. Smoke rising from the large crater created.

"Acting like more of a leader than I am, kid. Want to take over my faction?" Azazel joked.

"No thanks," Keiji responded.

"You sure? You're already very familiar with some fallen angel women," Azazel said, giving multiple brow raises.

"Just shut up and focus at the matter at hand."

Azazel laughed at getting under Keiji's skin. "No fun." Azazel looked up to the assailant. "Still, I didn't expect you to backstab me like this... Vali."

Keiji coughed in disgust. "Sorry, Azazel. This side is just far more interesting. That said, it's a shame the world is in this state. I would have loved to fight God, too."

"You know, my sources told me of a new rising, rogue faction. Khaos Brigade is their name, with their leader being the Dragon God of Infinity, Ophis."

'Sounds like fucking bullshit.' 

"Right on the money, Azazel. Fighting is just so much better."

Azazel stroked his goatee. "That said, I wonder if you have any other ulterior motive for doing this?" he said.

Vali smirked, aware of what Azazel meant. "That's not correct," Vali said, flashing out his eight bat-like wings. "But I'll just clear this up. I'm not like those other stupid Old Faction devils. Lucifer's blood might run through my veins, but I have no interest in such petty things!"

Sirzechs, Serafall and Grayfia's eyes widened while Gabriel and Michael looked in shock. "He's a descendant of Lucifer?!"

Azazel nodded. "And he just might be the strongest White Dragon Emperor in history."

Flames lit up the sky as Keiji blasted a vortex of flames to Vali, moving back from the blast and smoke. Keiji zipped up in the air to meet up with Vali. "That doesn't mean shit, bitch. I'm gonna bring you underground!"

White and red clashed in night time sparks as the two dragons traded blow after blow; to the trained eye, they could see that Vali was holding an advantage over Keiji, but the latter wasn't in any peril as of yet.

Sparks of lightning discharged from Keiji's hand as Vali dodged it. "Oh, you like using elements, do you?" Vali launched a white beam.

Keiji barrel rolled it and unleashed a large heatwave of flames but Vali looked unharmed, the energy feathers glowed blue. "So passionate! I'm liking this!"

Vali flew back but Keiji chased him as Vali continued to dodge every attack, with Keiji varying in how close he was to hitting him. "So much for passion! You keep on dodging!" Keiji angrily shouted.

Like a slingshot, Vali blitz appeared and punched Keiji in the chest, but Keiji used that as a chance to land a kick, followed by the diamond dragon tail to whip Vali.

"Clever," Vali praised.

Keiji positioned himself to battle. "As much as I hate it, you're pretty strong!"

Once again, they both clashed into sparks as they viciously began to land blows against each other. Keiji rapidly let his fists loose, with Vali dodging most of them and kicking him in the face, then jumping back to avoid the potential tail attack. Seeing it not come, Vali then decided to start laying loose on him. 

"Is Keiji going to be alright?" Rias asked with concern.

Sirzechs was going to answer, but he was interrupted. "I-I'm sure he will! Keiji is strong, he'll definitely win!" Gasper shouted, blushing when he saw a few of them stare at him.

Rias smiled; Gasper had truly grown, and she ruffled his hair. "Yes, I believe so too. So I'll have faith in him."

"Master will definitely win!" a familiar voice said.

Keiji allowed himself to get punched, and wrapped his tail around Vali's arm. "Gotcha, bitch!" Keiji spat, letting off his fire beam point-blank at Vali, not stopping and constantly attacking, even with the smoke.

"Divide!"

The sudden energy drain surprised Keiji as his grip weakened, with Vali kicking him back. Must be his technique,' Keiji thought, mustering himself up with Boosts. "Here I come!"

A circle appeared, flashing bright as Keiji found himself holding the attack as it sent him back paces. "As for you," Vali said, catching Ilulu's attack, "did you really think I'd fall for the same attack that Kokabiel did?"

Ilulu raised her hand up but found her arm slipping. "DIVIDE! DIVIDE! DIVIDE! DIVIDE! DIVIDE!" 

Ilulu grunted weakly, only to be dropped by Vali, who rose his hand to finish her off.

Blood splashed as Vali looked to feel the warm liquid dripping down. Pain gripped him as Ascalon glowed with the green power of Boost, sliding deeper into Vali's stomach. "What was that about falling for the same trick?!" 

"W-WHAT THE FUCK?!" Vali screamed in pain, falling like a rogue angel while Ilulu laughed at his downfall, too.

His armour began cracking in places as blood rapidly left his body. "D-dragon slaying! This pain is unbearable!" Vali shouted. "Albion!"

"I'm trying to remove the effects but it's damaging me."

Vali growled. "I'm done playing now!"

" I, who am about to awaken!"

"VALI, NO!" 

Keiji held Ilulu close while looking at the newcomer. "Great. Who is this guy now?" he asked, looking at the man's attire. It looked to be ancient Chinese armour from the Three Kingdoms period.

The new challenger picked up Vali, holding him on his shoulder. "Name's Bikou. Descendant of Sun Wukong. You really pulled a number on Vali, if he got desperate enough to use that."

Vali tried to shrug Bikou off. "I can still fight.

 "Vali, we're getting out of here. You need to be treated, or else you'll die before accomplishing your goals." 

Reluctantly, Vali nodded but cursed at leaving it as it was. Before that, he pointed towards Keiji. "Next time, you're not going to be as lucky!"

Azazel looked at Vali with a bit of disappointment. "Well, shit. Looks like you're going down this path," Azazel said, watching Vali retreat.

"You alright, Ilulu?" Keiji asked, smiling at the grin and thumbs up she gave him.

"Master is touching my boob," she muttered, and Keiji was kind enough to keep it there.

After the messy betrayal, everyone got together and said their goodbyes. Rias and the others were more emotional at the mess made, but Keiji assured them that he was just fine now. The Underworld bid them fairwell, with Serafall and Grayfia giving one last dirty look. Azazel waved them off, flying away. Michael and Gabriel bowed their heads gratefully, before floating back into heaven from a pillar of light.

***

"What are you doing here?!" Rias shouted.

"I'm with you, Rias."

Azazel smirked at their surprised faces, with him sitting at her desk like he owned the place. Azazel was also wearing knee-length dark blue blazer with a lighter blue dress shirt, a black waist coat, and a red tie. He wore faded-purple slacks and black dress shoes. 

"And why are you dressed like a teacher?" Yuuto asked.

Azazel clicked his fingers. "Asking the right questions. Sirzechs has made me your trainers to improve your Sacred Gears. Because all of you could use with some improvements."

"Why Sirzechs?!" almost everyone—except Yuuto, who just laughed—said.

Azazel moved off the chair, and sat on the table, making Rias clutch her fists at him. "That said, we're having some trouble interrogating Katerea. She's a tough cookie."

"Okay, I may have an idea... but it doesn't involve torture."

Azazel stroked his goatee in interest. "Go on..."