Chapter 5: Masacre and Reactions (Patreon)

Story 4: When a Fallen Angel Gets Creative!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 5: Masacre and Reactions

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- Azrael –

I took the advantage of the lapse in concentration of Satanael and flashed right beside him, swinging the light spear towards him.

At the last moment, he was able to react a bit but he wasn't expecting the level of strength behind my attack.

"What the hell are you!" He roared as The attack sent him crashing into the side of the building. I raced after him to follow up with another attack.

The magicians didn't sit idle and started using their spells to attack as well.

I summoned a bunch of light spears to shower the whole building and chased Satanael.

While the Magicians defended, I attacked.

The Fallen had recovered a bit and raised Arondight to block the hit but was smashed into the ground again. The hit was followed by a thunderbolt which electrocuted him, making his sword fall aside.

"You monster. How are you so…."

His words didn't complete and neither did my attack. The place I was at, was drowned in a wave of purple holy flames.

– Shizuka –

She didn't realise that she had shouted on seeing the scene in front of her.

One moment he had been overwhelming single handedly. A twelve winged Fallen Angel. Weren’t they the strongest of their kind? Then how could someone so young be one?

She had only seen teaching Tsubaki or Akeno but never in her dreams had she ever imagined him to be….this strong. To fight one of the strongest Fallen Angels, one mentioned in the Bible along with a crowd of magicians.

But all of that didn’t matter.

The Purple Holy Flames which burned everything in its path were all over the place and there was not a trace of him to be seen.

On looking at the attacker, she saw that it was… Lavina.

It’s just that the look on her face was completely different. A giant of fire and another one of Ice was around her. Only a few moments later did she understand what was happening.

Possession.

She was being possessed by the witch Augusta who had just died.

The witch turned her attention towards her and sent a wave of flames towards her. She tried to put up a barrier while also trying to dodge but to her surprise, the flames changed their direction.

They swirled into a tornado around the place Azrael had been, rising and tearing through the roof of the building. It shattered and in its place stood, in the middle of the air, a figure with golden armour and twelve wings as black as the darkest of the nights. Perhaps the most awe-inspiring thing about him was the golden lightning running on one half of his body and purple white flames running on the other.

“It’s not possible. It’s not possible!” Satanael, who had barely survived the last attack, shouted. “How can you use both? What in Father’s name are you?”

Azrael however didn’t wait for them to get in control and disappeared from his place, appearing in front of Lavinia. A wall of ice was erected in between them as he swung, tearing through the wall in one go, sending the girl flying to a wall.

“Wait, she is possessed.” She shouted, worried that he would accidentally kill her.

He looked at her for a bare moment and the next moment he was in front of Lavinia, a hand on her head.

What came next was not what she was expecting.

Pure white flames enveloped her and a shriek resounded from Lavinia.

Those are…

The Purifying Flames of Suzaku.

But how?

She knew for sure that Suzaku was inside Suzaku-sama, so then how can he use them?

Lavinia fell to the ground and lost consciousness. He picked her up and under the stunned eyes of everyone present, he flashed in front of her.

“Take her and run. And follow orders this time.” He scolded.

She lowered her head, knowing that her coming back had actually disturbed him instead of helping.

He didn’t wait for her reply as he flashed towards the Magicians, waves of Holy Flames and Holy Lightning following his tracks as the Magicians didn’t stand a chance.

Satanael who was trying to escape had his path blocked by a light spear.

Their fight resumed again but it was less of a fight and more of a one sided beatdown. Throwing Satanael to the ground with another one of his blows, he turned towards her again.

“Run!”

She was broken from her thoughts and quickly picked up Lavinia and ran out of the building.

A few magicians tried to stop them but were stopped by a wall of Holy Flames and a hail of light spears.

The power he was throwing out was astounding. Even the barriers put up by the magicians were destroyed with a single hit. The entire sky was riddled with magic circles which rained death on the magicians while he danced between the rain, reaping the lives which escaped.

But the one which affected her the most was the white flames.

The Flames of Suzaku. How did he have them?

Did Suzaku-sama know of it?

Thousands of thoughts ran through her mind as she took Lavinia and ran, finally reaching the outside of the barriers and looking back once again at the building which was burning with purple-white flames and the figure in the golden armour standing above, and teleported away.

As she teleported, she didn't notice that a ball of light flew and was absorbed by her body very slowly.

- Azrael -

“What are you going to do with the girl, brat? I thought you’d kill her to hide your power.” Fafnir’s voice sounded in my head.

I let out a sigh. “I will think of something. By the way, you seem to be enjoying this.”

Shizuka returning and Lavinia getting possessed was a surprise. Especially since I was sure that I had killed Augusta cleanly first.

"The witch might have escaped as a disembodied spirit." Fafnir suggested it suddenly.

Hmm. That does make sense. We had no idea about what kind of spells they knew.

Thankfully the Purifying Flames of Suzaku were especially great for exorcism.

“I haven’t fought for a long time. And you are quite interesting. I have never seen anyone using all these types of powers by themselves. I can see why you’d try to hide your strength?”

“Oh! Then I will let you enjoy yourself to your heart’s content. How about we call this the Lightning Flame Golden Dragon Mode?” I suggested, mentally kicking the calls of copyrights in the face.

“Sounds great.”

“Okay then, let’s finish this.”

I raised my hand and countless magic circles lit up the sky and blasted the entire place to smithereens.

Within the leftover crater was the charred body of Satanael.

“Was great fighting alongside you, Fafnir. Let’s do it again sometime.”

“Hmm. I bet, with the two of us together, we could probably kick the butts of even those two Heavenly Dragons hahahaha.”

“It would have been great but, those two are actually related to me this time. I am teaching those two.”

“Ahahahahaha. Isn’t that even better? I can call them my students now!” The dragon laughed.

To be honest, my short collaboration with Fafnir had been very pleasant.

“And don’t worry about it, brat. Your secret is safe with me.”

“Thank you, Fafnir.”

– Azazel –

He watched as one by one cadres entered the meeting room.

This was a all a giant fucking mess. Thinking about how it has reached till this point, he let out a sigh. Why couldn't he just pick a middle road.

Entire Grigori was in chaos.

Just to be on the safe side, he kept Velvet, Valerie and Gasper by his side, not sure if Satanael had kept anyone to go after them. Without Azrael thoroughly checking everyone, he didn't plan to send them away.

With all the cadres gathered, he started the meeting.

"Did Satanael really rebel?" Asbeel asked as soon as the meeting started.

"Yes."

"How? What happened to him?"

"Satanael was conducting experiments to boost normal Sacred Gears to Longinus levels. For this, he collaborated with a terrorist group and is planning to find… the Infinite Dragon God, Ophis."

"What!"

"Is he insane?"

"Why go after it?"

Shouts and exclamations came from every side.

"Silence!" Shemhazai banged the table with his fist, making everyone quiet.

"To do so, he took several kids from the Abyss Class and also attacked and kidnapped students from the Nephilim Academy, including Baraqiel's daughter, Akeno, the wielder of the Boosted Gear."

"Who has been sent to bring him in?"

"How many? Satanael won't be so easy to bring down."

"A few teams have been sent."

"If Satanael has really involved 'It', it won't be easy. All the other factions will be on our heads should he do such a thing."

"Do you think I don't know that?"

"But why did he rebel in the first place? He could have worked with the other scientists of Grigori."

"He wanted to experiment on the students of the Nephilim Academy as well as the hosts of the two Heavenly Dragons. Such experiments are highly unstable and could easily lead the hosts to enter the Juggernaut Drive. Not to mention the two are children.”

As he was addressing the whole group, the door to the room opened and Azrael entered.

Few noticed him but didn't react and he signalled him to wait for a little bit.

Velvet, Valerie and Gasper went and joined Azrael in another corner of the room.

"What was so bad about that? A few humans and a half-breed wasn't that big of a deal to increase the overall power of the Grigori." Kokabiel suddenly interrupted.

"Mind your words, Kokabiel. We are not at war. We will not be risking the lives of our subordinates for someone's whims. Not even if that someone is another cadre of Grigori. I have made it abundantly clear more than once." He spoke with a tone of finality.

"If not for that, then have some shame that you are talking about the child of one of your brothers." Shemhazai added too.

Azazel was partly thankful that Baraqiel was not present here or things would have become much worse than they were going to happen looking at Azrael's face.

"The sacrifice of a half blood for the betterment of the Fallen race is a decision which any of us should be able to take. It is your own pacifist attitude which causes dissatisfaction among others. Even after the Great War…"

"The decision to end the Great War was a collective decision." Shemhazai backed Azazel. "We were in a very bad condition. We couldn't fight any longer. And everyone knows this.”

Kokabiel just scoffed, "Always the same excuses. Okay, then tell me. Even if you didn’t want to give up on the other girl, what about her? After all, there are more than one Heavenly Dragons…”

“Be quiet, Kokabiel. I have already given my decision on this. We will not be experimenting on our students. End of the discussion.”

He shut the discussion off before he said anything else and Azrael actually took the matters in his own hands.

For all his lackadaisical attitude, he reminded Azazel of his own youth, a lot.

The one from his less than pleasant days.

He was pretty sure that if Azrael didn’t confess to setting a trap for the Himejima in case they attacked, he or anyone could have never proved anything.

And Kokabiel was already involved with some shady things…

Yeah, he should probably retire.

Pushing the thoughts aside for a while, he addressed the situation in front of him.

Since Kokabiel was eying the children, he will put a stick in front of him to warn him of the consequences.

“Azrael, report.” He turned towards the boy who was suddenly caught surprised by the question but collected himself quickly and nodded.

“Yes. I reached the place where the Slash Dog team was stationed. They were already being attacked by the Wizards of Oz and the Utsusemi Agency.”

– Azrael –

“Wait, he was sent there?” Someone questioned. “Azazel… that’s. He’s a kid.” Gadriel, one of the cadre’s asked, incredulously. This guy was quite a softie.

The reason he fell was because of his curiosity. He was one of the many from the Fifth Heaven who did so.

Gadriel especially, was a unique case as he didn’t even realise that he had Fallen for a whole week while he experimented in his lab.

When another Angel entered and saw him and raised an alarm, the guy’s first reaction was to see if the experiment was successful or not.

The reason for his fall was later found out to be him cussing like a sailor(something which he had witnessed during a trip to the human world) when his experiments failed for the eighteenth time.

I got along with him quite well. He was a great cook when he was not shutting himself up in his lab.

Azazel however didn't give him a chance to speak and raised a hand and signalled for me to continue.

"By the time I reached there, four individuals, Akeno Himejima, Shizuka Himejima, Shigune Nanadaru and Natsume Minagawa were already kidnapped. Fallen Angel Kalawarner was barely keeping up the barrier and protecting the injured due to being injured by Satanael. Tobio Ikuse was fighting one of the leaders of the Utsusemi Agency, Hanezu Himejima."

I took a deep breath and continued. "Their main attacking forces had retreated by the time I reached there. Only Hanezu Himejima had stayed back along with his Utsusemi. I gave Kalawarner a Phenex Tear and we cleaned up the leftovers quickly."

"This Kalawarner, if I remember correctly, was a two winged Fallen, right? I think she was in the Accounting Department but changed to the Scouting Department for quick promotion. She was able to fight one of their leaders and even survived fighting Satanael?" Asbeel asked.

I looked at both Azazel and Shemhazai and the latter addressed the matter.

"As of three weeks ago, Fallen Angel Kalawarner has gained her fifth pair of wings. She was transferred to T&I around five years ago after she helped reveal the fact that one of her previous teammates was stealing the information about Sacred Gear users and passing them on to Satanael. This was also how we caught on to the thing."

"A Ten Winged Fallen from a single pair of wings? How did she do that? Are you sure she didn’t use something to enhance her strength? Her involvement in all this sounds suspicious.” Kokabiel interrupted.

And while it was true that she was enhanced by me a bit, I was already more than pissed off at the cunt today.

I was holding back because today would be my official reveal in front of the whole Grigori and I wanted to keep a professional atmosphere but this asshat was making it too hard.

First Satanael and now this fucker, both targeting Akeno and Velvet…

But it was not the time now… It was never too late to make him disappear somewhere later on when the heat had died down and Azazel was not expecting… maybe when the fucker is making one of those shady deals…

“She was taken into T&I under Penemue and has progressed through training over the years. We have observed the whole process ourselves.”

“Then why is such a person not known?” Another Cadre asked. “I am sure everyone would have been happy to have another such being in our midst.”

“She decided to keep it under wraps due to the wishes of her direct incharge. She is working for the Vice Head of the T&I who also watches over the Espionage and Counter Espionage operations. He has requested all his staff’s identities be kept a secret to allow them to move around more comfortably.” Shemhazai explained.

It was not incorrect.

Penny being the Head of the T&I had over three thousand Fallen Angels under her direct beck and call at any moment so it was only reasonable that I had some of my own underlings too.

I had a team of twenty Fallen Angels under me and another eighty in different places all over the world. The first twenty were given to me by Penny while the later eighty were the ones I recruited from the general populations.

They were all young, full or half blooded Fallen Angels. Several of them were those who were abandoned by their parents or treated badly due to their half blood status.

I had Kala pick them up and checked each of them myself. They were put through harsh training first till they were good enough to gain another pair of wings.

If anyone backed out during that time, they were given compensation, their minds wiped out about everything they had seen and they were sent back to where we had picked them from.

To be honest, there were only four such cases. Those idiots were more interested in using the newly found techniques and spells to make it big in the Human World, which translated to hypnotising humans and causing chaos.

Well, they had their minds wiped out so good luck to them…

Others… they had the hunger for more.

Being discriminated against and treated badly since birth, they wanted to fully use this chance to achieve something and get out of the hellhole.

Life as undercover agents was never easy even in the human world let alone for the Supernatural groups but all these people never gave up.

The reason I opened the Hot Springs and Massage Parlours was also partly to actually provide a source of income for these people.

When each of them gained a second pair of wings, they were offered two choices. First, they could all join the T&I under me or second they could all join me.

In the first one, they get the Grigori salary and privileges.

As for the second one, not only would they be working for lower salaries for a while, they even had to take a security spell to keep them from revealing my secrets.

It was done in any Supernatural Intelligence Agency but only during missions but for me this was permanent.

The surprising part was that each and every single one of the people we had picked up stayed. Their reasoning being, the Grigori didn’t help them out when they needed it, I did.

Currently, every one of them has three pairs of wings. I obviously couldn’t provide them with enhancements, with that many numbers but I made it so they can get such enhancements through Mission Points.

A thing for another time.

“Azrael, continue.” Azazel put an end to the discussion before anyone could ask anymore and asked me to continue.

“I extracted the information about their base from the captives while Kalawarner recovered and found out they were getting ready for a ritual. So I gave the information to Kalawarner who was still exhausted from the fight and asked her to call you or Shemhazai.”

“Yes, I got her call and sent Baraqiel and Penemue to assist.” Shemhazai confirmed.

“While they were arriving, I went ahead to the enemy base by myself.”

“You went by yourself? What the hell do you think you are? Were you trying to give away the fact that we had information about their location?” The idiot interrupted again.

And while his words were harsh, knowing that he thought I was only a young Fallen Angel, probably two winged or even four winged, he was not wrong in assuming what he did but… I was at my limit already. There is only so much one can take.

“Oi fuckface, those two are my direct superiors. Do you see them bitching about my decisions?”

….

….

….

….

A sudden period of silence descended over the room. Some of the cadres were trying to figure out if they had just hallucinated or if I had really said such a thing… including Kokabiel.

Shemhazai had a palm on his face while Azazel was in his rare serious mode. I guess he had already guessed what happened to Satanael.

When he came back to himself, all ten of his wings unfurled as he tried to reach for my neck. “I remember. You are that boy toy Penemue keeps. Do you think she can save you from me, brat?” He growled.

But at the very next instant, I caught a hold of his hand, twisted it, sending a small amount to Holy Lightning to his joints to make him lose control of his limbs and planted him face down to the ground with a foot over his face while all of my twelve wings unfurled and Holy Lightning crackled all over my body.

“Save me? From whom? A weakling like you? Are you living in a delusion?”

“You?!”

I stamped my foot buffed with Holy Lightning on his face. “Shut up! Since I entered the room, I have been seeing you uttering one bit of crap after another. First about Azazel, then about my sister Akeno, then about my student Velvet and then even about my subordinate Kalawarner. But then again, it’s always cowards like you who search for their own weakness. If you want to become stronger fucking train! Don’t expect others to sacrifice their families to satisfy your war fetishes.”

He struggled but I just channelled more Holy Lightning and numbed his limbs, pressing him further down into the floor. “And don’t think for a single moment that no one knows about the things you do behind everyone’s back. By Grigori Laws, it could lead you to four hundred years in Cocytus for those crimes. The only reason you are still strutting around like an idiot is because the same Azazel that you dissed a moment ago, allows you to. But I am not like him. The moment you become a danger to the Grigori, I will know… and I will take your head off. No Questions Asked.”

“Azrael… let him go.” Azazel finally broke his silence with a sigh.

I lifted my leg from his face. There was a burn mark on the side of his face from the Holy Lightning.

I took a deep breath to calm myself down. I guess I had been holding a lot more than I had thought.

Looking around, there was shock on everyone’s faces. Even Shemhazai, who was watching the last pair of my wings.

There were murmurs of Holy Lightning and Twelve Wings going around in the room.

“When did you?” He asked.

“In today’s fight.”

“Continue.” Azazel said.

“I infiltrated their base under disguise and assassinated one of the leaders of the Utsusemi Agency who was holding Shizuka Himejima as a hostage and freed her. Outside, Lavinia Reni had followed me as a backup and was preparing a Teleportation Spell to take any of the hostages we rescued at a moment’s notice. In the main room, Satanael and several magicians including Augusta, Witch of the South and the user of Incinerate Anthem and her Apprentice Walburga were present around the rest of the hostages. I disguised myself as Hanezu Himejima and took advantage of their surprise to behead Walburga and freed the captives, starting the fight with them..”

I took a glass of water and took a sip before continuing.

“I gave him your message and a chance to surrender but and here I quote him, ‘One of Baraqiel’s children was going to die here today. It was the deal. I guess I will have to make do with you.’ He had made a deal with them from the very start to offer Akeno’s life. That’s why they didn’t target Velvet and went for her instead. I am sorry I couldn’t hold back with everyone there. Especially when Augusta somehow, instead of dying after having her head chopped off, still went and possessed Lavinia. I was lucky that she was only using Holy Flames. If she could use Absolute Demise well, I would have been screwed.”

“Is he?” He asked slowly.

I nodded. “I have submitted his body for autopsy. Penny is watching over the process. You were in the meeting so I came to inform you.”

I saw him let out a genuine sigh of sorrow. Understable. They were brothers who had lived and fought with each other for tens of thousands of years.

No matter what, there is bound to be some feelings associated with it.

"Continue."

I nodded. "I used the thing you had given me to assist me in a fight. Shuri-san had taught me some purification techniques. I was able to weaken and knock Augusta out of Lavinia's body. Although I had to finish off Satanael first as he wasn't giving me the chance to do so."

"Did you get treated for injuries?"

"Not yet."

"Alright. You go and get yourself checked first. Submit a detailed report to me after you are released from treatment."

I nodded.

"By the way, when did you gain the last pair of wings?"

"Today."

"Alright. Get going and take the kids with you."

I bowed lightly and left with the kids.

As soon as I got out, Velvet grabbed my sleeve. “Is Lavy alright?”

The other two looked curiously at me as well.

“Yes. She is taking some rest. I made sure she didn’t get hurt.”

“And you are not hurt, right?”

I put a hand on her head and ruffled her hair. “I am fine.”

“Ah umm is….is she?”

I let out a light smile at her question.

“Yes. Akeno is fine too. Were you worried?” I teased her.

“Hmph. Who would be worried about her? I just didn’t want people to say that I won against a weak Red Dragon Empress when I beat her.”

I let out a chuckle. “Sure you do.”

- Shemhazai -

The room burst into an uproar as soon as Azrael left.

“Who was he?’

“Baraquiel had another child?”

“Why didn’t we know of him?”

“How old is he?”

“How did he become a Twelve Winged so quickly?”

“Wasn’t he Penny’s?”

“I thought he was the massage boy.”

To be honest, him revealing himself at this moment was a mixed bag at best.

On one hand, people will be reassured after the rebellion of Satanael if another strong Fallen Angel comes out.

But he had planned to have Kalawarner reveal herself for such a role.

Azrael was supposed to be a trump card.

Then again, him holding back as soon as Kokabiel had opened his mouth was already a fleeting dream. At least now, with another strong Fallen backing the kids up, he will think twice before trying anything stupid.

It would be an incredible mess if another one of the cadre’s were to rebel so quickly after the first.

“Silence.” He took charge of the meeting. “Yes. Azrael is the son of Baraqiel. He is seventeen years old this year. Baraqiel didn’t know about him until a few years ago. We had recruited him because of his Skill in counter Espionage.”

“No.” He raised his hand before Asbeel could ask. “He is not Penny’s boytoy. That’s just what you all assumed and she thought it was funny so she let it be. Azrael is incredibly talented in Espionage and Counter Espionage Skills. We had taken him in when he challenged Azazel to find out the information about five random Fallen and revealed a spy from the Old Satan faction. Since then he had been rooting out spies from Grigori.”

“Oh, so he was the one behind the Great Spy Purge? But that started over five years ago. How old was he then? Twelve?”

“Yes. He was twelve. Penny took him in and trained him. Azrael has caught more spies in the last five years than Penny and the whole T&I had done in the last thousand. Not to mention the incredible growth rate of the kid. He was promoted to the Vice Head of T&I two years ago.”

“So he is the Vice Head? But he is a kid.” Another one questioned.

“He meets all the requirements. He was already an eight winged Fallen Angel by that time and gained his fifth pair of wings soon after.”

“But how is he so strong?”

“He trains.”

Looking at the dumbfounded looks of the ones who asked the question.

“Azrael is no doubt incredibly talented. In fact, I would say that he is the most talented Fallen Angel to ever exist so much so that his talents could be compared with Michael or even Helel or even his namesake.”

He watched as they had become silent at the mention of those three.

“But even before that is the fact that he trains like a man possessed. He kept up with Penny’s training and Azazel’s training… together without ever complaining and after his Holy Lightning awakened, he did the same with Baraqiel’s training. Apart from his work, he trains till he faints. Wakes up the next day and repeats again. We had to send him to the Human World with Baraqiel’s family so that he doesn’t burn himself out. Not only this, he also believes that every Fallen Angel has the potential to reach Twelve Wings. With this in mind, he trained Kalawarner, a normal two winged into a Ten Winged Fallen in five years and proved the point.”

“Why was he kept hidden for so long?”

“We didn’t want to risk him. Azrael’s talents are too important for Grigori’s future and his line of work means any information we could hide about him was appreciated. Which proved to be true with Satanael’s case.”

“If he is so good at his work, then why didn’t we have any information about Satanael’s attack?” Kokabiel snorted.

At this point, even he felt his eyes twitch. “He in fact did. In fact Azrael had been single-handedly destroying all of Satanael’s plans since he was twelve. He has reported over twelve Level 5 Crimes, thirty four Level 4 and one hundred and twelve Level 3 Crimes. And that’s only because Cadre’s can only be charged with Level 3 Crimes and above. Satanael was given three warnings after which he had stopped his activities until recently when he rebelled.”

He then looked at Kokabiel directly. “Incidentally, Azrael was reporting the same to Azazel when he attacked the children. He decided to take action personally because Akeno was involved in the attack. By the way, he was not kidding when he said he knew about all your shady deals too. Seven Level 5 Crimes, Twenty six Level 4 Crimes and one hundred and fifty four Level 3 crimes. You are right behind Satanael.”

Kokabiel’s face didn’t even change at the revelation, not at all repentant. “Just for your sake, I give you some advice Kokabiel. Do not make the mistake of going after Azrael for what happened today, directly or indirectly. Believe me when I say this… he will know. He always does. And then you will find your head flying the next moment out of the blue, maybe at the hands of your most trusted commander and even at the end of your life, you will never know how. Many have tried and they have all met the same end, Fallen or not.”

He looked at the offended look on the man’s face. “What? Did you think him being in that position hasn’t engaged in any assassinations or similar operations? The entire world will think you went rogue and were killed in a fight against someone else who will also turn out to be an assassination target very conveniently. No one will ever find any proof. If it helps you, think of him as an unholy mixture of a young Azazel and his namesake.”

“Alright, that’s not disturbing at all.” Araqiel rolled his eyes. “But enough of scaring Kokabiel with the boogeyman, mum. What do we do now?”

“I am not your mum.” He retorted back.

The one who answered the question however was someone else.

“We do nothing.”

“What?”

Everyone looked at the speaker.

“We do nothing at all. Things go as they have. Kalawarner will be given a position of a cadre. As for Azrael, he will be kept a secret as he has been. We keep him a secret for as long as it can be kept a secret. His work is best done incognito. Let him be. Outside this room, no one will know the secret of Azrael.” Azazel spoke, in a rare show of seriousness.

“Right then moving on to the next topic…” He moved the meeting forward.

- Shizuka Himejima -

She sat in front of Suzaku-sama who was quietly preparing tea.

The only sounds in the room was of the pouring of water and for once, the tranquillity didn’t feel her heart with calm and peace.

She was given a bowl of tea as Suzaku-sama began.

“I did get a message from Az-kun about the matter but I would like to hear your side of the incident too. You were captured before he reached there. They didn’t…”

“They couldn’t do anything.” She responded, stopping the line of conversation both for Suzaku-sama’s sake and her own. She knew how closely she had escaped that hellish fate.

“Are you alright, Shizuka?” She asked, looking concerned.

“Yes. I am sorry to worry you.”

“Silly child. It is my job to worry about you all. Go on. Tell me everything.”

Taking a deep breath, she relayed the whole incident, from the attack to the point where she saw that impossibility.

“How?”

“What? About him using the Purifying Flames?”

She nodded.

“I am afraid that’s not a secret you are qualified to know. I don’t know why but he has asked me to break the engagement between you two. He never told me the reason but I found out that it happened after the two of you had some kind of talk. And now since you don’t look surprised by this statement either, I assume it’s not something new to you.”

She flinched lightly remembering the conversation from back then.

“I was looking to have a talk with you to know more about this matter. Can you tell me what happened between you two? You don’t need to be afraid. I genuinely thought you two would suit each other well considering your personalities. I had no intention of ever forcing you together.”

She looked down, not being able to summon up enough courage to look up. A few moments later, she heard a sigh from her.

“Azrael is the same to me as Akeno. And you are my own niece, like a daughter to me. Why would I want to ruin the lives of two of my children by forcing them into a relationship that neither of them want any part in.” She explained.

It did give her some courage while Suzaku-sama continued.

“Azrael hasn’t had an easy childhood. For this reason, he cherishes anyone he calls friends or family. He might act like he doesn’t care most of the time but in fact he does care more than anyone can even imagine. But in doing so, he always takes all on himself alone. Whether it be blame or danger.”

As she explained, Shizuka couldn’t help but think about everything.

He did take all the blame for the incident on himself, even when he was not involved with it and easily accepted being hated for something he didn’t do… for her?

But why?

She had only treated him coldly.

“I…”

She explained what had happened between them causing them to sigh.

“First of all I would like to apologise for what the clan members were saying to you behind my back. It is by all means my own fault. I thought I had taken care of it but now I see that it was a bit late. And that foolish boy… it’s just like him to do something like that.”

Suzaku-sama let out a sigh.

“Azrael had nothing to do with their deaths. He had seen people keeping an eye on our house for a long time so he had  security installed in the house. He had also found that they were going to attack us that day but instead of confronting them, he had us moved to a different place using a vacation as an excuse. He most likely wanted to use the failed attempt to gather proof of them trying to attack us. That said, he was not even present in the house when the attack happened. So it was impossible for him to do anything.”

She got up and brought a disk from one of her safes and handed it to her. “This contains the video footage of that attack. I didn’t want you to see what happened that day but it seems to have caused different problems entirely. Here. Take it.”

They watched the video over the next hour and sure as she had heard, they had died from their own spells.

“I really thought you being with him would do him good because unlike the other girls around him who all follow his words like a gospel, you can act as a voice of reason if he gets too out of control anytime. I won’t lie that I had no other intentions but I genuinely thought it was for the best for you two. Too bad it didn’t work out.”

“I…”

“Hmm?”

“I would like to give it another try.” She whispered lightly.

“What?”

She finally steeled herself. “I would like to give this engagement another try. I had been blinded by misinformation and my prejudices and as such, I hadn’t treated him appropriately. I apologise for it.”

“I don’t think he would agree.” Suzaku-sama replied.

“Please.”

“Hmm. Are you really serious about it? I will never forgive you if you are doing this out of some kind of obligation. I don’t want my son to be stuck in a loveless marriage. Not even one.”

“Yes.”

“Hmm. I can… ask him to reconsider it but you will have six months at best. Azrael is a very big tsundere. He doesn’t let people get close to him. Even I had to be persistent for over a year for him to open up. Last time he was so open because of my request. This time however, you will be all on your own and it will be extremely hard.”

“I… still want to try.”

“Alright then… I can think of something. We needed a teacher to teach you about your newest gift and I don’t think Archangel Uriel would agree to my request. So we have only one option here.”

….

- Shuri Himejima -

“That was quite devious of you, you know. Sending her after Azrael, even after knowing both their stubborn personalities.”

“I wouldn’t have to do so if my son wasn’t so troublesome. I am just playing a matchmaker. Isn’t that what mothers are supposed to do? I do want to see my grandkids sometime too.”

“Oh please. Don’t put that act in front of me. Not that I disagree. That idiot can be pretty stubborn. It would really take someone equally stubborn for him to open up.”

“He opens up pretty well with you.”

“That he does.”

“Why are you here Momiji?”

Momiji came out of her hiding place. She had sensed her a while ago but apparently Shizuka wasn’t up to the mark yet.

“I was just interested in the topic. I had noticed her being lost whenever his name came up today. So I thought that maybe she had a change of heart. Just wanted to see if my guess was correct.”

“Oh. Why the sudden interest?”

She smiled. “I had an interesting bet with someone.”

“If you keep wasting your time on bets, you will be late. Other girls are going to go after him sooner or later.”

“You are leaving nothing back on promoting him.”

“What can I say, I want more than one grandkid.”

“At the rate you both go on sometimes, I’d think you will have a kid first.”

….

She was not wrong but…

“Now young lady, that’s a bit out of line.”

“Ah sorry. How about I bring the sake today as an apology.”

“Hmm accepted.”

They both giggled.

Momiji was a unique girl.

Being avoided by people had made her personality a lot outgoing and tomboyish, both as a mechanism to show up a strong front and to push away anyone who went out of their way to annoy her.

Although, she had opened up a lot since she had come here. It’s just that, being treated like that for so long, does have its effects. Despite her outward attitude, she had very low confidence. It has improved over the last two years. Getting control over her Sacred Gear, meeting others and making friends made her have confidence in herself. But there was still a shadow of it left.

“But I was being serious. You need to hurry up or you will become late.”

“I just wanted Shizu to get together with him first. They were engaged first. Jumping in on my best friend’s fiance, despite the situation… seemed a bit low. It’s just that she was taking her time.”

“Hmm. Understandable.”

The atmosphere quieted down slightly.

“He was considering asking him for help, you know. My brother wanted to ask Satanael for help regarding my Sacred Gear a while back.”

She paused at the statement.

To say she was angry at the Fallen was an understatement.

If Azrael hadn’t killed the man, she would have done so herself and she would have  made it extremely painful.

That fool had targeted both her children. The same was true for the Utsusemi Agency.

She had in fact been quite sympathetic to their plight and had even given them an opportunity to join the clan but they had rejected. But to think they would try this…

If she had known it, she would have burned them down the first time she had seen one.

She was going to order a purge for them because they had experimented on children but now it was personal.

She will deploy every bit of her power to have them wiped out of this world.

But all of this was not Momiji’s fault.

“He just wanted what was good for you. It’s not his fault that the man he was considering did what he did.”

She caressed the girl’s head and let her relax.

“You don’t need to feel bad about it.”

“Hmm.”

- Azrael -

“While I don’t mind this, why the sudden change?” I asked the one who was responsible for my current situation.

I was currently in bed with Velvet and Lavinia, with the Velvet being in the middle. Gasper and Valerie were sleeping in two coffins near the bed. All three of the kids lived in the same room. They were given separate rooms but they decided to move in together.

Velvet’s words were ‘I want my minions near me so no one bullies them.’

I had merely laughed at the tsundere girl’s antics.

“I-i-it’s nothing. I just thought that you had a dangerous fight today. Both you and Lavy so you both might get scared at night or something. Therefore I am giving you a chance.” She humphed.

….

I choked in a laugh.

While Lavinia… I looked at the girl who was currently glomping the silver haired she-devil due to her cuteness, despite her protests.

Akeno would be discharged tomorrow and I would be spending some time with her so today I decided to spend some time with Velvet, who was actually quite scared after today’s incident.

That fucking Kokabiel.

I am going to fuck up all his plans in this very year.

The children fell asleep due to being emotionally exhausted from the day’s events.

“Aa-kun.” Lavinia started.

“Hmm.”

“Thank you for saving my life and I am sorry for causing trouble for you even when I said I wouldn’t.”

“Hey. It was not exactly your fault. We had no idea she could do that even after I decapitated her.”

She became quiet for a while. “Say, do you want to hear my story?”

“Sure.”

She went on to explain about herself.

How she was often thought to be mad by people who couldn’t see her Absolute Demise and one day she was picked up and given a place to live by a woman. Glynda Goodwitch, the second Witch of the East of the Wizards of Oz.

She had sent her to Gauzaberer under Mephisto Pheles to learn more about other magic Systems.

During this time, she had found that someone called Augusta, another witch from Wizards of Oz, had killed her. Since then, she wanted to get revenge on Augusta and her Apprentice, Walburga.

However it turned out that Glynda had made all that up. She had only picked her up to study the Absolute Demise to get research data and she used this very data to create the Utsusemi.

The brief connection with the dying spirit of Augusta had given her a lot of knowledge of Augusta, maybe because she didn’t have a body to go back to so her connection had been stronger, with the body she had possessed.

I had no idea how such a spell worked but I would love to.

I did get the address for their headquarters and I totally plan to raid it soon.

They were known to have some unique techniques which can be useful.

“So you want to search and catch the Wizards of Oz to put a stop to them because you feel responsible for this.”

“Hmm.”

“While very honourable, I think you should stop blaming yourself. You had no control over the situation back then. Had you resisted, they could have just forced you and that would have sucked. But if you still want to join, I would like to invite you to my team. I am planning to go after them too. I mean, they did go after Akeno.”

“Really?”

“Yup.”

“Then count me in.”

“Great.” I replied with a smile. “Then, shall we seal the deal with a kiss?”

“Huh?”

“A kiss.”

What I wasn’t expecting was a peck on my lips directly.

Soft and warm.

I didn’t back down either and put a hand under his cheek and took her lower lip in and pushed my tongue in.

Our tongues danced together for a while before we separated with a strand of saliva hanging between us.

Kissing

+12,000LP(First Time Bonus, Lavinia Reni)

What the fuck!

This much?

But why?

Maybe because she was the main heroine from her story. I know that the System considered Named characters above others, so could it be that main heroines were getting more points?

Still… twelve thousand for just kissing.

That’s HUGE.

With such a revelation known to me, I knew exactly what to do.

I pulled her in for another kiss for sealing the deal even tighter. She complied.

_________________________________x__________________________________________________________________x_________________________________

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Author’s Note:

Sorry for the delay.

I got the flu this week and it took a while to recover.

I am all well now so here’s the chapter.

Next two weeks will be one chapter each.

Maybe a chapter of ‘The Deal’ or ‘The Farmer’.

Anyways, this chapter was used up in reactions and I couldn’t reach to the point where I wanted to.

But this story is going to truly begin from this point as Azrael ventures into the outside world.

We will be getting some smut next time.

Our dude just saved a bunch of girls. He is bound to get rewarded for it.

Anyways, look forward to the next chapter.

I will try to post on time next week.

Enjoy the new chapter.

Good Day, Peace Out.