DxD : A New Hero : Chapter 63

It was as I was making my way to the kitchen that I was halted in my tracks as a loud thumping noise rang throughout the house. I turned to look over my shoulder at the front door as it shook on its hinges from the force from whoever was enthusiastically knocking on it.

As I continued to look at the vibrating door I seriously contemplated simply ignoring whoever was there. I knew, just knew it was trouble. I could feel it in my bones. 

The very same instincts that I've honed over the course of living with Serafall and her never ending pranks and peculiar brand of madness were screaming at me not to open the door, to just ignore it and carry on to the kitchen and make myself a nice relaxing breakfast.

It was still early in the morning, barely past seven and only a few hours since the end of the battle with Kokabiel and his Fallen at Kaou Academy. 

And wasn't that a mess? While the school wasn't too badly damage it had suffered enough that Sona had to shut the Academy down for the day and had already summoned Devil contractors to quickly repair the damage.

Not to mention the hours I and the others had to spend on convincing Serafall and Sirzechs not to come charging into the city while having an army at their backs. 

Surprisingly it was Sirzechs that was persuaded first, trusting my words that their sisters was safe and helped us convinced Serafall who was far more riled up than I had seen her before. Her face was a mask of rage and fury that could not hide the utter terror that she felt at the realization how close she came to losing me and her sister.

However they did send some Devil to do some damage control on the rest of the citizens of the city. They had a lot of memories to erase if they wanted to keep the presence of the supernatural world contained. 

Truthfully I doubt they'd completely succeed, too many people had seen the fight even if they had not understood what they were seeing. I had a feeling that rumors of stars falling down from the sky will soon become an urban legend of this city.

I'm convinced that the only reason why the secret of the supernatural world hasn't been fully exposed by now was thanks to Ajuka Beelzebub. In the modern world of cameras and internet there was no way they would have kept the existence of Devils and Angels under wraps and they only barely succeeded in doing so was due to a little invention of his.

I couldn't begin to explain how it worked but from what little I understood he had somehow created a living and sentient computer virus and had it invade the internet. 

It searches for and destroys any incriminating evidence of the supernatural world it finds there before tracing the source of the data and informing a squad of Devils about the leak. I was sure it was much more complicated than that but that was the gist of what I understood.

The Devils that were sent to wipe memories would also remain to replace the lost guards. It seemed that when then the Fallen army came charging into the city they intended to ignore the small handful of Devils guarding the city that were there, as even with their bolstered numbers they were posed no real threat to them not as outnumbered as they were. 

Unfortunately that was only so long as they were unprovoked.

The Fallen ran into one of the patrolling teams of Devils from where they decided to enter the city, the Devils numbering only a dozen strong. The squad leader decided to let them pass unobstructed for now before they attempt to contact the Underworld for emergency support.

Unfortunately one of the guards, an eager newly recruited Devil by the name of Leeroy Jenkins, decided to ignore the order and charge the Fallen swarm while screaming out his name like a battle cry of the Gods themselves. Which predictably resulted in the death of most of his squad when the Fallen retaliated with a barrage of spears.

The single guard who had been spared simply survived because the Fallen didn't seem to care whether he and the other Devils guards lived or died. And before he could even do anything the barrier came up and sealed them inside of the city.

The only upside of the entire mess was Asia. I had quickly summoned her when I realized how injured everyone was. And while they weren't back to full strength, with a good night's rest or two they will be. Surprisingly, or maybe not considering it's her, she even patched up the four Fallen who somehow managed to survive, albeit they were badly injured.

They bore her healing them with utter silence as they continued to stare wide-eyed at me before giving her a nod of thanks when they were recovered and took off into the air without another word.

I decided to let them go seeing as I had no reason to stop them. With so many witnesses in both the Devil and Church Factions there was no way I could completely repress the information about my combat skills. And a healthy reputation can be just as useful as a hidden trump card at times.

Another stream of knocking jolted me from my thoughts, and with a heavy sigh I reluctantly approached the door. Might as well get it over with, knowing my luck if I ignore it things will only get worse.

Unlocking the door, I swung it open to find myself looking at…nothing apparently?

"My Lord!" A voice filled with excitement called out and I looked down to find the blue-haired exorcist, Xenovia I believe her name was, kneeling down on one knee while keeping her head respectfully lowered. "My Lord, I have come to serve-"

The rest of her statement was cut off as I slammed door in her face and turned around to head back to my kitchen. I knew I should have gotten some sleep last night, I was beginning to hallucinate.

Unfortunately for my attempt at denial of reality, the enthusiastic banging on the door resumed before I managed to take as much as two steps away. I just palmed my face in both my hands as I tried to stave away the upcoming headache I knew will result from this new mess. It's too damn early in the morning to deal with crap like this.

Spinning in place, knowing that there was no avoiding this, I approached the door with the gait of man walking to his doom and swung it open again to find Xenovia still kneeling on the ground but this time she was looking up at with a single finger held up before her face.

"My lord, it's rude to interrupt people when they're talking. Doubly so when they're trying to swear eternal loyalty and servitude to you." Though the words were reproachful the tone she spoke them with was still filled with respect. 

"Now as I was saying," she lowered her head again, "I have come to serve you my Lord. Please accept me into your household."

I just started dumbly down at where the exorcist was kneeling with her head down by my feet before I palmed my face again. There was so much crazy in that statement that I was sure it would have had Serafall herself dumbfounded.

"You know what?" I stepped back to one side and wave her in. "Come on in. If I have to deal with all of this crap this early in the morning I wanted to do it after breakfast. Maybe with a full stomach and a large cup of coffee in me the world will start making sense again."

A small sarcastic part of my mind, which sounded oddly like Archer, helpfully pointed out that the world hasn't been making any sense for a long time.

...

"So let me get this straight," flipping a pancake into the air as I spoke, "you left the Church because you see no reason to continue serving them with God dead. And now you want to serve me as one of my knights because you think I'm King Arthur?"

"Not think. Know." Her eyes gleamed with such conviction that it would have made even the most self-assured people doubt themselves. 

Unfortunately for her, she would have made a far more convincing image if her cheeks weren't smeared with maple syrup and if her mouth wasn't filled to the brim with so much pancakes that it caused her cheeks to puff out like chipmunks. As it was the words came out so muffled out that I barely understood her.

At first she refused to eat, saying something about how it wasn't right for a mere servant to dine with her Lord, let alone eat food cooked by his hands. But after much prodding and eventually outright ordering her to, she finally complied.

And now I watched as she sat at my kitchen table devouring a stack of pancakes in a manner that would have made starving wolves proud. Apparently they didn't feed them that well at the Church, or at least their choice of focused on the more nutrition variety rather than taste. Then again it could simply be that my cooking is just that awesome.

I shook my head at the sight before I turn my attention back to the pancakes I was cooking. "And why do you think I'm King Arthur?" I asked.

I could hear her swallow before answering. "Who else but you could possibly wield such a blade as Excalibur?"

"You for one." I pointed out as I flipped the finished pancakes on a plate before I started another batch, splitting my attention between her and my cooking. "Your two friends for another."

"Fakes." She waved away dismissingly. "You yourself called them mere toys and were angered at us for daring to name them Excalibur." 

She took another bite from here pancake, occasionally muttering 'Holy Mother of Jesus this is good' as she did so, before nodding to herself. 

"I can now understand your disdain for them my Lord. Such mockeries have no right to be called by the same name as your sword."

I resisted the urge to sigh as I carried on, "And even though I have told you, repeatedly I might add, that I'm not King Arthur you don't believe me."

She finished her current mouthful before speaking. "Your confusion is understandable. After all it has been a millennium and a half since you have been put to rest after being wounded at the battle of Camlann. It is only natural for my Lord to be somewhat confused after having slept for that long."

"Ah, but do not worry my Lord." She continued, misinterpreting the cause for the distress on my face, "I'm certain your memory will return with time. And even if it does not, I shall continue to serve you faithfully." 

She saluted by banging her fisted over her chest, and if she wasn't holding a fork tipped with a piece of pancake on it at the time she would have looked rather chivalrous.

...

Hey guys I really need you to throw some power Stones ;)

...

if you want to read ahead of the public release you can go to my p atreon :

 p atreon.com/Aerle