Dungeons and Devils 2 (Chapter 18) (Patreon)

I come to a stop in front of a tree and turn to face Koneko. "You wanted to know why my arm feels so lifeless? Here."

The illusion around my arm recedes, revealing the robotic form of Overture, the mechanical parts of my hand now audibly whirling and grinding as I rotate my wrist free of Koneko's grasp and clench my fist.

The girl stares at the limb, her mouth slightly agape as she just stares and stares.

"Huh?" She eventually whispers.

"Yeah, my arm got cut off like two years ago." I casually admit.

"Hn. I guess I don't need this either." I note as I brush my hand over my eye, revealing my scar.

My hair and eye color remain illusioned however.

Her eyes stray from my hand to my eye.

After a long moment of silence, she eventually speaks up. "I... see..."

She looks down at the floor, seemingly saddened at my plight.

"How can you be so happy all the time? It took me literal years to be able to sleep after Kuroka killed her master... but... to have something like this done to you..."

"Oh, it doesn't really bother me too much. I'll probably try and figure out a way to regrow my arm after I get tired of the cool robot limb."

She stares at me for a long moment, seemingly deep in thought, her eyes stray from my prosthetic arm to the scar over my eye.

"…"

"Are you... Nagure?" She mutters.

I let out a short sigh and snap my fingers, canceling the entire illusion, my ears and tails turn white at the same time as my hair, my eyes shift color to their normal orange and gold heterochromatic state, my right eye silently ticking as I mute the audible chimes of the clock.

"You were... supernatural this entire time?" She states with a slow blink.

"Yep." I nod. "Serafall told me to test Rias and Sona to see if they could detect a supernatural creature under their nose."

"They didn't." The girl notes quietly.

"They did not." I agree. "Though... after the first year, I can't really blame them. The first year I was barely figuring things out, but after that? I've become probably the greatest at hiding my supernatural presence."

I frown as I remember a certain green haired youkai I met once before.

"Well... Second greatest at the very least."

Koneko stares for a moment. "How did it happen?"

"Principal clans." I answer concisely with a dull scoff. "Two years ago, I lost my eye and my arm in one simple swing of a blade... on my birthday if you can believe it. Luckily, this year for my birthday my body decided to regrow my eye into something that is fairly annoying, so it's like... a mixed bag, really. At least I can see now. Plus my robot limb works well enough."

I rotate my wrist a full three hundred and sixty degrees.

"It... doesn't let me feel with it, though."

"Is that why you were so hostile to Akeno?" The white haired girl mutters.

"Yeah, plus she sort of kept trying to force me to break up with my girlfriend, so understandably my patience was quite a bit lower for her."

"Mn." Koneko hums.

"Wait... if you're telling me your secret... does that mean I can tell Rias?" The girl questions with a small head tilt.

"I'd rather you didn't. I find great amusement in tricking her... but if you really want to, I don't mind... just please give me at least a week to activate my maximum level of prankage."

"mn. I'll tell her... but I'll wait a week." The white haired girl decides with a quiet nod and an Kuudere's 'Mn Mn'.

"Now." I begin as I shift back into my illusioned form, both my orange and my yellowish clock eye transforms into a simple brown with slitted pupils, my hair darkens and turns into a brown color as my six tails match the hue, my simple hoodie is replaced by a grey kimono and my sneakers become socks and sandals. "To training. Where we left off last time, you had just figured out how to extend the use of your touki."

"Yes." She nods.

"The next logical step would be to improve your touki's physical enhancements beyond what they currently are." I announce blandly as a white outline surrounds my body, with a dull crackle I put more power into it, causing it to intensify, improving my natural abilities further.

The third level ability of my 'Touki Champion' class.

Improved Touki Strengthening:
Through mastery of your Ki you have discovered a method to improve the capabilities of your Touki. By spending an additional 1 Ki point upon activating your Touki, you improve the benefits of your stat enhancements by a static +4. This bonus is further magnified within your 'True Form' much like standard Touki.

As of right now, base Touki gives me a plus six to my strength, dexterity, and constitution, thus making it something that improves my health just like a barbarian's rage.

With this, it goes up to a plus ten... for a total of fifteen in my kitsune form.

That is quite a substantial power boost for someone like myself.

It'll be equally as effective for Koneko.

"I see." The girl nods slowly. "Then what."

"Then we'll want to work on molding your touki, then after that we can improve defense." I reply as with a flash my aura shimmers, gathering in my open palm and slowly rising.

After a moment, a simple sword made of white murky energy rests in my grasp.

I give it an experimental swing with a small smile.

Level 4: Touki Weapon:
A master of Touki can use it to create entire weapons merely from their life energy. Swords, clubs, spears, any simple melee weapon is fair game.
Weapons you make with this ability deal base damage depending on their weapon type.
Light: 1d6 every 4 levels + 1/2 Str  
One Handed: 1d8 every 4 levels + Str
Two Handed: 2d6 every 4 level + x2 Str

The touki on my other hand thickens slightly.

Level 5: Touki Barrier:
A Touki Champion has figured out a way to further increase the durability of their bodies with Touki. Instead of the standard defensive benefits of your Touki, you gain spell resistance equal to twice your level+10, and your damage reduction is improved to twice your level.

I allow the sword to dissipate as I cross my arms.

"So, let's get to it." I grin as my tails lash out behind me.

The small white haired girl in question lowers her stance slightly the smallest smile forming on her lips.

**Linebreak**

A red-haired girl looks down a laptop, a frown on her face.

On it is a list of everyone in Kuoh with thirteen letters in their names.

She is currently sat at a simple coffee shop... trying desperately to figure out Argo's big secret that he's dangling in front of her face.

She lowly mutters.

"A, R, no G... damn."

If she finds Argo's TRUE name, he can stop hiding his appearance from them! And then her slight distrust of him can disappear into nothingness!

She KNOWS that she should trust him for all that he has done, but... hn... maybe 'trust' is the wrong word. She certainly trusts him to look after Koneko and help out with her peerage, but he is just... distant. She knows he exists and all, and that he's there when they need help, but... what about when he isn't Argo. What if she just wants to let Koneko hang out with him? It's hard to meet up with and talk to someone whose entire appearance is falsified. You won't find them unless they are already looking for you.

Her eyes skim the coffee shop briefly.

"Nagure is Supernatural."

Her gaze falls to her laptop for a moment before comprehending what she saw, eyes snapping up to the poster on the wall.

"Nature is Sustainable."

The poster continues on below that bold statement.

"Our coffee shop now uses Biodegradable cups and boxes. Learn more at 'Ask-about-nature-dot-com."

She rubs her eyes and lets out a quiet sigh. She's been looking at this screen for far too long. She's starting to see things!

The one thing she didn't see, however, was the white-haired teen giving her an amused smirk from the table behind her, nor does she notice when he gets up and leaves.

"Wait..." The girl mutters to herself as she writes the name down.

"Nagure Kuraudo."

"A... G... R... O..." she whispers.

"Duke... Nauru..."

She lets out an anguished groan as she clutches the sides of her head. "Fuuuuuuuuck. Are you kidding me?!"

It was right in front of her the ENTIRE time.

That little shit! He's been tricking her this entire time!

She's so fucking MAD right now!

Ugh! Every single subtle hint from the past two years is rushing back into her memory.

She'll admit, he's got game. Proudly proclaiming that he was 'ten steps ahead of Riser' despite the fact he had no idea that was going to happen.

She pouts down at her laptop and crosses her arms, glaring hatefully around the coffee shop.

Nagure is probably around here somewhere.

Her eyes skim the room as she eventually lets out a sigh. Well, if he is, she certainly won't be able to find him... damn stealthy little gremlin.

She'll get him back for the teasing! She'll be sure to- wait...

Wait wait wait wait.

He knows that she has been watching him...

He knows when she has sometimes watched him.

A fiery blush appears as she covers her face with her hands, letting out a muted anguished cry. "NOOOOOO!"

**Linebreak**

I slowly blink as I watch a blonde nun poke her head out of the apartment right next to my own.

"Asia?" I mutter.

"Oh! H-Hello, sir!" The girl waves.

"What are you doing here?" I question with a small head tilt.

"Lady Mittelt got me this apartment to stay in so you can keep an eye on me." She mutters as she shyly scratches the back of her head.

"…"

"I see." I eventually note. "How nice of her to let me know in advance."

"So what are you doing?" I question.

"W-Well... it has been a while since I prayed in front of the lord... Lady Mittelt said that she would get me a bible and a cross... so I'm waiting for her to get back?"

"hn." I hum disinterestedly.

Should I meddle?

Eh, fuck it. I'm feeling a little bored.

"You do know Kuoh has a church, right?" I hum idly.

"I-It does?!" The girl questions.

I nod slowly.

"May... May I see it?" The girl whispers.

I tilt my head as I ponder for a moment. "You know what? Sure. I've got nothing going on today."

I pull out my phone and send a quick text to Mittelt.

"Taking Asia to church. Be back later." - Nagure, 3:47 Pm

It takes a few minutes but I eventually get a reply.

"Alright. Be safe. Don't cause an international incident." - Milly, 3:51

I slip my phone back into my pocket. "Alright, let's go."

The girl looks back into her apartment. "U-Uh, please can I have a moment to grab my shoes? Oh... and miss Kokoro."

I was wondering where she had gotten off to. Did Mittelt tell her to watch over Asia? That's fine. I guess. Kokoro is my minion and technically speaking, through dating rights, she gains the ability to order around my minions.

"Sure." I shrug.

She walks back inside and closes the door.

I slip my hands in my pockets and just wait.

The door eventually opens back up revealing the blonde nun herself, she smiles brightly and practically skips outside, the pink haired girl with a large pumpkin-like skirt and blue plaid shirt following after her.

"Oh, Hey Kokoro. I was wondering where you had gotten off to."

"Mittelt said I should protect her." The emotionally muted girl replies. "You're my boss. Do you want me to do something else?"

"Nah. This is good. Let's go. Hide your floating mask."

I gesture for them to follow after me.

**Linebreak**

We make our way up a long winding path to an almost eerie building sat at the edge of town.

"Hrn." I hum as I gaze around the forest. "You know, if it wasn't full of exorcists, I'd almost say that this is the perfect place for a stray devil to live."

"Out of the way, looks abandoned, the perfect place to exist out of sheer spite and to insult the one above." I glance around seeing that some flowers has been planted along the path. "The flowers are nice though. I'll give them that."

I spy a blue haired girl crouched beside the path, her hands in the dirt, a watering can sat beside her, she seems to be beautifying the church.

A small smile appears on my lips as she looks up, there's a brief second of realization, then there is a sudden flash of movement.

I casually take a step forwards, my metal arm coming up as touki explodes around my black and silver limb.

A large sword blade is trapped between my index finger, middle finger, and thumb.

It is about six feet long, the blade having three points at the tip, it honestly, looks a little bit like someone put a massive two-pronged tuning fork on a sword. the middle part of the sword has a little purple and pink metal going down the length of the blade.

At the base of the blade, before it reaches the hand guard-which in and of itself looks like a battle-axe, it looks like the blade is connected by a large stiff chain.

Excalibur Destruction in all of its busted unwieldy glory.

"Fancy stick." I blandly observe.

I had stopped the blade inches from Kokoro's head, my feet have sunken into the ground as a fiery aura of white energy crackles around my hand, looking like something right out of dragon ball z.

The girl's yellowish gold eyes widen in slight horror as her face pales. "W-What?"

"Wait... you! You're that guy from school! What are you doing here?! Your arm?!"

"Tell me. Do you always attempt to kill anyone who visits you?" I ask idly with a small mischievous smirk.

Instead of answering the girl lets out a snarl as she points directly at Kokoro. "Why are you protecting this monster?!"

Said pink haired girl with hollow eyes slowly blinks as she looks around.

With a flash, a naginata made of blue energy forms in her hands-

"That won't be necessary." I sigh, still holding onto the blade of Excalibur as if it were a simple stick.

"But. She attacked you, boss." The girl observes.

"Well, actually, she attacked you and through my defense of you, yes, I suppose she did. But you must understand that you have caused her quite a large amount of trouble in the past." I continue.

Kokoro tilts her head.

I turn back to Xenovia. "To answer your question, Exorcist girl. I protect her now because she is sentient now. Emotionally muted, yes, but entirely sentient. Her little mask incident last year was merely an injured animal lashing out. Mask youkai like her have never once before gained sentience... so if you look at it a certain way..."

"You just threatened the life of a one of a kind youkai." A menacing smile appears on my face. "This could be considered an act of war."

I flex my fingers, causing a blast of energy to shoot upwards, the great sword is hurled backwards, tearing itself from her grasp as it flips end over end.

It sinks into the earth around thirty feet away with a shuddering boom, a deep crater is formed around the blade as it pulses.

She grabs her wrist with a wince, my disarming method apparently being quite jarring.

She takes a fearful step back as the doors to the church are thrown open.

"Oh, how I love blowing things out of proportion." I snort as my gaze strays to the front door, a red haired woman in armor adorned with crosses and other holy symbols stands there. A split second of decision crosses her face as her eyes lock onto me, Xenovia, the crackling inferno of Ki around my hand, and the blade of excalibur destruction in the dirt a short distance away.

Erza Scarlet?

Huh...

I had actually forgotten I asked for her to get inserted here.

Gonna be honest, I should have gone for Tatsumaki instead.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" The woman snarls as she blasts forwards at high speeds.

Oh shit. Scary.

Or it would be if I was a couple of levels lower.

I shift my stance, a sheathed nonmagical katana forms in my hand as some form of magical sword appears in the charging woman's, her clothes shift and glow brightly as she wears an armored, slightly skimpy outfit with large, feathered, white metallic wings.

As she nears and stabs her sword forwards, the blade crackling with red energy I unsheathe my own.

Raw panic enters her eyes as I deflect her attack to the side, causing a beam to shoot off into the distance.

I step past her, twirling my weapon in between my robotic fingertips, preparing to sheathe it.

*Crack*

My weapon cracks and breaks in several places, leaving me holding nothing but a handle

I look over the broken blade and tilt my head slightly. "Huh. You're a pretty good swordsman. But I'd say I'm a little better."

In one clash several things happened.

Firstly, I activated a counter maneuver, 'Mithral Flash', allowing me to counter a sole attack, and if my weapon is sheathed, allows me to make a free attack against the person who attacked me... dealing far greater damage than I normally would.

Then, after that, I used the power of my stance to return my katana to my sheathe and used the ability known as 'Rapid Current' allowing me to strike her twice more. Thrice, if my weapon is sheathed. Which it was.

Then, there's my class feature to think about, 'one strike two cuts'.

Thus, with highly efficient maneuvers, striking both on the swing and backswing, I hit her eight times.

Her hands shake slightly.

"How many times did I hit you there?" I lowly hum. "Twice? Thrice? It couldn't be more than four, right?"

"Eight." She whispers in horror. "E-Eight times. I-In an instant."

"Huh. You got it right. Good for you." I smirk savagely.

*Crack*

Her armor splits right down the middle, a blade apparently slashing perfectly between her breasts without injuring her.

The next cut opens on her armor, at roughly a forty five degree angle from the first, from shoulder to hip. It follows the curve of her armor without seriously injuring her.

A third opens on the other side, going from the other shoulder to her other hip.

Her sword snaps, an angled cut sitting roughly half way down its length.

Her armor falls to pieces in large chunks, leaving her utterly naked besides the metal leggings and grieves.

Blood drips down her face from two small x shaped cuts on each cheek.

She falls to her knees as I take a brief moment to look over her.

'Hn. A fairly powerful sacred gear. A subspecies of blade blacksmith that allows her to make weapons and armor? That's pretty interesting.'

Also, her figure is fucking incredible. Damn.

"So. Are we all calm now?" I ask idly as I fold my arms behind my head. "If so. I believe I'll allow my Nun friend to use your church to pray."

"What?" The blue haired exorcist who had frozen moments ago quietly whispers.

"Asia. You can heal the red haired one." I announce casually with a bored sounding yawn.

"Asia?" Xenovia whispers. "You mean the filthy exile who was kicked out for healing a devil?! Why would that witch want to pray? She has forsaken god!"

Wow.

No survival instincts on this one.

I can see Erza pale.

Asia sadly- and guiltily- gazes down to the grass below.

"Not really." I state blandly. "Her being kicked out is merely a result of your church's corruption."

"That's not true!" The blue haired girl snarls.

"XENOVIA!" Erza snaps, getting her sheer shock under control and most likely deeply annoyed that her student is antagonizing a man who just laid one of the church's best exorcists low in about two seconds.

God I love the fact the system made me an apparent swords master.

That's great fun.

"No, no." I wave off. "I welcome the discourse."

"Tell me, Xenovia. Why is she a witch who has forsaken god?" I ask taking a sole step towards her, a small annoying smirk on my lips as I look down at her with a half-lidded gaze.

"She... she healed a devil!"

"So?" I ask.

"H-Huh?" The girl mutters.

I place a hand on my heart. "Her sacred gear allows her to heal all life, not just humans or those with good hearts."

"T-Then it is an abomination!"

"Once more untrue." I continue. "Sacred gears do not disappear when their wielders are reincarnated into devils. Which implies that your lord doesn't care if they are used in such a manner."

"I-"

"What's more, even what you said was true, she still wouldn't be responsible for this." I state as I turn and walk a few steps away, seeing that Erza put an extra suit of armor on and is gazing at me cautiously.

"Tell me, Xenovia. You said that she is scum because she healed a devil, right? I have a question for you then... why was a devil allowed to get so close to one of the church's holy nuns? Someone who by all means should be one of the most well protected people in your entire organization."

"Why was she, the victim, punished for the sheer incompetence, dare I say corruption, of the people who were sworn to protect her? Why was she the only one punished? Her entire purpose in life, which your church reinforced, was to heal. Not to question who. Not to have fun, or experience a true life. No. It was to simply heal. She wasn't allowed to go to school, garden, or eat whatever she wanted like you do. No burgers. No ramen. She legitimately had to be taught how to eat a burger and fries the first time she ever had fast food."

"And, as she was following the purpose that she had been given, she was punished. Insulted. Berated. Called a witch and kicked out. A girl who didn't know how to live thrown out into the world. Defenseless. Naïve. Innocent."

"So, tell me. Who's the real monster here? The innocent girl who only wanted to help people... or the people who villainized her?" I ask with a smug smirk.

I can see the brief crumbling of her resolve as I take a sole step back and grab Asia's hand. "Come on Asia. Let's go inside."

**Linebreak**

I glance to the side to see Asia kneeling on the floor in front of a large cross, her hands are clapped together in front of her body as she has her eyes closed.

I sit on a pew with the emotionally muted mask youkai sat next to me.

Technically speaking, I do have an arm around her as I rest my robotic arm on the back of the seat, a metallic finger quietly tapping the wood.

But it is by no means that we are cuddling.

I mean, she's physically attractive, yes, but I already have Mittelt, Serafall, Neo, and Yukari to deal with, let alone Koneko and probably Rias, Yasaka and Kunou.

Also Azazel. But she's more of a one-night stand sort of thing.

In my other hand is my phone.

Operating it with one hand is still mildly annoying, but I've gotten used to it over the past two years or so.

My metal fingers can't really interact with the touch screen.

I boredly scroll through the menu of a nearby restaurant.

I'm feeling mildly lazy today, so I'll be getting something to-go instead of cooking.

My eyes stray to the forms of a blonde woman with a nun habit and the orange haired girl with twin tails standing cautiously at the edge of the room. They had apparently been out getting groceries when we showed up.

I look back to my phone.

'Nah. Not sushi... I could never really get into eating raw fish. Meat buns? A meat bun sounds really good right about now... as does some form of noodle dish.'

I watch the corners of Asia's mouth turn upwards as she slowly stands, brushing off the front of her dress as she bows her head slightly.

She seems far happier now. "Thank you so much for allowing me to do this, Nagure."

"It's no big deal." I wave off with a small smile as I quietly begin placing a fairly large order."Anyways. How do you feel about ramen?"

"Huh?" The girl blinks.

"Oh. I'm placing an order for food because I don't want to cook today." I explain blandly. "I'm wondering what you want."

"Oh! I had some ramen the other day. It was really delicious! I'd love to have some more!"

"Alright." I nod once. "Anything to go with it?"

"What do you mean?" The innocent girl blinks with a small head tilt.

"Like... dumplings. Or braised pork belly. Or like... a salad?" I shrug.

"Oh! Cucumber chili salad if you wouldn't mind." She smiles brightly.

"Mhn..." I nod once, adding it to the order.

I look to Kokoro. "What about you?"

"I don't care." The girl simply states. "Anything is good."

"Anything it is." I mutter as I add in third serving of pork ramen.

We begin slowly walking towards the exit, passing the frowning Xenovia and the placated Erza.

She had seemed to realize we meant no harm and has slightly toned down the 'hardcore exorcist' mindset.

She nods once. "Please come again."

"If Asia wants." I agree. "Also. Side note. If you see a petit fallen angel about this tall around here, blonde hair, typically styled in twin-tails... ignore her. If you hurt her I will single handedly go on a war path and won't stop until the entire church is dead and gone. Do. Not. Test me. I could have killed you effortlessly with a non-enhanced nonmagical cheap blade. Don't make me use a real sword and actually try to hurt you. The only reason the church, the devils, and everyone else is allowed in Kuoh town... is because the Youkai faction allows it."

I can see her hand stiffen slightly as her expression becomes strained. "Noted."

"Good talk!" I cheer with a bright smile as I follow after the mask youkai and the excommunicated nun.

**Linebreak**

Pov: Elsewhere.

A blue haired teen bites his thumb in annoyance as he glares down at a crystal ball.

Within it, a scene is playing out, a girl with long blonde hair with green eyes, a fairly average bust, and a bright beaming smile is talking to a white haired teen with an eyepatch and a mechanical hand.

They are in some restaurant, picking up large bags of food.

A pink haired girl with a plaid shirt and an orange hoop skirt stands behind them, her eyes hollow and empty, roughly the same as any one of his peerage.

Some fucking guy is out there speaking to his property.

His plan was perfect. Get her kicked out of the church, and quietly maneuver her into more and more dangerous situations until her life was threatened. Then he could swoop in, wax and wane about how he was so glad to find her and that he was sorry for getting her kicked out.

Then she'd be his.

His to do with as he wishes.

He can already imagine her cries as he forcefully takes her innocence, breaks her fingers and forces her to fix them so he could break them again. Her shuddering gasps and shakes after he punched her.

But this bastard and that filthy youkai girl is ruining any chance he has to approach her.

Damn it. DAMN IT!

He'll fucking kill them both!

How dare they touch his property! After he went through all that effort to bribe, coax, and even injure himself?!

They are in the way.

Thus, they should die.

Simple as that.

He takes a deep breath and slowly exhales, the brutal rage he was feeling moments before slowly bleeding out.

He was simply enraged after deciding to take a look at what she was doing through the eyes of his familiar. But it would be better to think about this objectively.

This is the territory of the Sitri heiress. He can't simply just rush in and kill whoever he wants.

Besides. This is the first time he has seen the boy, and he clearly has some form of connection to the supernatural if the mechanical hand, far superior to any prosthetic on the human market, is an indication.

It is extremely likely that after today, he will simply disappear out of Asia's life and make his goals much easier.

Yes. He should wait for a time. That would be for the best.

Time, frankly doesn't matter...

Asia will become his.