Chapter 568 - 35

Naruto stared blankly at the array of dishes in front of him, unsure of how things got to this point.

Okonomiyaki, that was what this dish in front of him was, right?

...Correction, the dish that was in front of him.

The shinobi in question was currently sitting in a stall with a certain church agent, side-by-side while he was eating a large amount of Japanese food beside him.

Rather, he was inhaling them.

Did he have time to breathe while going that fast?

Some part of himself, deep inside his brain wondered if this was how people saw him eat ramen.

He should probably apologize for all those times that he ate in front of Mio and Maria then...

Anyway, the young agent; Dulio, wanted to make sure that he ate as many delicacies as possible while in the country of Japan, as he seemed to have a penchant for gobbling up as much exotic food as possible.

So here they were, sitting in a stall, where the agent essentially invited the blond to eat along with him.

Naruto lost his appetite roughly around the same second that he saw the guy start chowing down.

If anyone asked though, the shinobi would deny that the two events had anything to do with each other, he definitely just had a stomachache dattebayo...

"Hey, Naruto-dono."

Naruto was quickly brought back to reality by the church agent, with his blue eyes quickly registering the young man's slightly excitable features.

"...Are you going eat that?" Dulio asked politely, pointing at something in front of Naruto's body.

The shinobi followed his finger, deadpanning at the tempura dish that managed to escape the man's stomach for so long.

It was a trooper, but even the mighty tempura must fall sometimes. As all exotic food must in front of this glutton.

"...Help yourself." the teen tried to say, but the dish quickly vanished from his eyesight, erased from existence by Dulio's bottomless appetite.

The shinobi couldn't help but notice that he would have to split the difference of the cost of all of these meals, despite the fact that he didn't even eat anything in the first place...

"Ah~ That was good. So this is Japanese food, hm? It really was worth skipping over breakfast and lunch for this~"

Oi, he skipped over breakfast and lunch? No wonder he was hungry!

Poor Gama-chan, his faithful toad-themed wallet...he would be a hell of a lot skinnier after this...

As the blond continued to lament his decision to split the bill, Dulio finally turned his attention back to the teen. All smiles. "Well, I'm sorry for the shoddy introduction earlier, I was quite hungry you see, and was really looking forward to trying out the food in this country. I might have actually overdone it a bit, but it was worth it in the end I think."

The agent paused for a moment, frowning, before he quickly turned back to the table to snatch a napkin, wiping his face of all of the leftover food.

Naruto stared at him, a single eyebrow twitching sporadically as he waited.

He could tell that the guy was a good person...but even good people could annoy the crap out of you sometimes.

For a while, the 'priest' wiped his mouth with the napkin, taking his leisurely time, until he finally returned his gaze back to his newest acquaintance. "Alright, I'm good now. So, you ready to talk now?"

The shinobi wanted to hit the guy now, he's been ready to talk for the entire time!

But he -somehow- managed to quell that overwhelming desire and swallowed the feeling away.

"...Yeah." the blond remarked, huffing. "About your mission, if you even remember?"

While Naruto was admittedly annoyed, and mostly said that due to his petulant attitude, he didn't actually expect to see the glutton next to him blink confusedly.

"...Oh, right." Dulio murmured, eyes widening.

A blank look was all that the shinobi could spare to the church agent.

Nevertheless, Dulio took the silence as a chance to finally begin speaking about the serious topic at hand. "Ok, so you told me before that you wanted me to back off from my assigned mission, yes?"

Seeing that they were finally getting the show on the road, the shinobi straightened himself and nodded.

"...I see." the 'priest' spoke softly, before tilting his head to the side in curiosity. "But how exactly do you even know about that mission? It was very much classified information, and I fail to see how you could have gotten that without...an informant."

Like flipping a coin to see another aspect of the same thing, Dulio's demeanor shifted to a far more serious side to his personality, suspicion in his eyes as he pinned his fellow blond with a stare. "...It wouldn't be something like that, right?"

Naruto already had an answer ready for him, mentally rehearsed for a few hours for just this moment, and he opened his mouth to deliver it.

But then he paused mid-action, reconsidering on the fly.

...

"Yes, actually. That's exactly how I found out." the teenager admitted easily, sliding in closer conspiratorially. "Not only that, but I'm here because the leader of the fallen angels; Azazel, has requested me to be here."

The 'priest' blinked, all pretenses of seriousness gone from his face as he looked at the powerful teen with an owlish expression. "...Really?"

Blue eyes were lit up in amusement at the look he was getting. "...Really."

Yes, instead of trying to justify where the blond got this information from, he'd just be blunt and honest.

It would catch the agent in front of him off-guard, give himself a sense of honesty, and he'd be able to stick it to that old bastard.

...Ok, that last part was a bit petulant, but still, he wanted to get back to Kuoh Town, not be out here trying to stop a possible war from breaking out.

That should've been Azazel's job, or at least one of his underling's.

Yes, yes, he knew that there were other circumstances that prevented this, but the entire thing still irked him regardless.

...He'd at least make sure to properly explain the situation to the church agent next to him, and make sure to get Azazel-san's agent out of whatever post he was in unharmed.

Dulio leaned back, looking apologetic if anything. "That...seems kind of irresponsible of him, don't you think?"

The whiskered teen couldn't have agreed more. "I know, right!? Where the hell does he come off, interrupting my peaceful days by dragging me into this!? The man's definitely super irresponsible!"

The church agent sighed, sympathizing. "Yes, sometimes the higher ups just don't understand the feelings of those below them. Sometimes I wish Michael-sama would give me a break on these missions so that I could try out the local cuisine more..."

Suddenly, instead of talking about the serious topic of subterfuge and Dulio's mission, the two began complaining about their 'bosses' like a pair of tired salary men.

One could be forgiven if they rolled their eyes at the scene, as neither of their complaints were that valid, but still, the two were practically forming a sense of camaraderie due to their respective situations.

Still, Naruto knew that even if he wanted to deny it, he still had a stake in this. So he had to cut this nice complaining session short.

However, it would seem that Dulio had the same idea.

"...That being said, Naruto-dono, why are you so intent on aiding someone like Azazel if he interrupted your 'peaceful days' as you've put it?" Dulio wondered, seeking understanding. "He's not threatening you, is he?"

Getting right back into the thick of things again, Naruto refocused and shook his head. "No, nothing like that. Actually, I was exaggerating a little back there, as I do have a stake in this. But it's pretty complicated dattebayo."

Taking this chance, the teen continued, absentmindedly tapping his index finger against the counter that they were occupying. "You see...if you left to go to Kuoh Town, then there'd be a chance that a...big misunderstanding could occur. A massive one. So I'd like to avoid that if possible, as I have people that I care about that live in the area, and I don't want anything bad to happen to them. So to that end, I'd like for you to cancel this mission."

The church agent leaned in closer, a frown marring his features. "So...there are circumstances in Kuoh Town that could cause a misunderstanding? Well then, maybe you should tell me what's going on so that it doesn't come to that."

Ah, if only it was that simple.

The shinobi honestly thought about that as he made his way to the airport as he considered his options.

Explaining the situation, especially after telling the man that he was sent by Azazel-san, would just make him look guilty.

'Hey, I'm here to stop you from seeing Azazel-san's representative meet with the imouto of a Maou in regards to the legendary blades that were stolen by Kokabiel. So please don't come to Kuoh Town so that we don't get into a misunderstanding~'

Yep, that sounded bad.

Best to just avoid that mess.

"...Yeah, I'm gonna have to be unfair and ignore that reasonable advice."

"...So...you'd like me to cancel my mission on the off chance that you're being straight with me?"

"Yep."

Dulio went silent after that, eyes blankly locking onto the blue pupils of the completely unreasonable blond teen.

Then the 'priest' did something unexpected.

He began to chuckle, looking entirely amused rather than anything else.

"You..." the agent couldn't help but say out loud. "Are an interesting one, you know that?"

"...Oh boy, I can't tell you how many times I've heard someone say something along those lines before." the shinobi replied, a tired grin stretching across his lips.

An easy-going shrug was the teenaged blond's only response. "I figured that you would hear a comments like that on a pretty common basis, considering your personality and all. Though, that being said, we now have quite the dilemma, don't we?"

The church-aligned man allowed his form to lean back, away from the counter, before simply laying his arms onto his stomach in relaxation. "How exactly are you going to convince me to back off from my mission? While I think that you're a decent man...I don't necessarily think that you're a trustworthy one, at least in regards to something so important. What you're asking of me is pretty unreasonable after all, you do realize that, right?"

Yeah, Naruto was definitely being unreasonable, at least he probably looked that way in Dulio's point of view.

But it didn't change the fact that his motives were decent, and that someone aligned to the church couldn't afford to see something so...easily misunderstood.

Hell, even if Dulio seemed like a decent guy, his superiors, who he'd have to report his findings to, might use this as a convenient excuse to fight.

So, ever the improviser, Naruto offered a suggestion.

"Trade fists with me." the shinobi offered, his blue eyes dancing.

In what was possibly the most 'normal' reaction to such a strange request ever, the young man tilted his head and gave his fellow human an inquisitive look. "...Why would you want to beat me up?"

Despite being seated, the teenager nearly tripped over himself.

"N-No...that's not what I meant." the young blond denied, eyebrow twitching again. "Haven't you ever heard of the concept of 'understanding one another through our fists' before? That's what I was talking about dattebayo..."

Despite the explanation though, Dulio didn't look any more enlightened to what the point of trading fists was.

"...Can't we just talk it out over some food?"

"No!"

The church agent winced, scratching his cheek nervously as he looked away from his companion to get the attention of the cashier, who had, up until this point, stayed away from them.

Talks about supernatural things naturally tended to spook some people away.

Before he could even try to get his attention-

"Oi! Don't order anymore food! My wallet can't handle more of your lust for food!" the shinobi protested hotly, a red tick on his forehead.

Naruto moved to raise his hand in his anger, trying to intercept the order that was about to be given-

"Do you really want to do this?"

The hand froze in mid-action, it's owner's eyes snapping to his fellow blond in genuine shock at the tone of voice that was used in the question.

It was only when he actually looked at the young man that the Vatican sent, that he knew that something changed.

His eyes were suddenly shadowed over by his dirty blond locks, but his serious demeanor was easily noticeable if one accounted for the complete lack of a smile on his features.

It was such an abrupt change that the whiskered teen had no idea what to say.

"...Naruto-dono." Dulio started seriously, steepling his fingers together as he brought his arms onto the counter again. "Do you really want to fight me? Whether there's some sort of way to understand one another by fighting or not is irrelevant...as I don't think that you're in any condition to fight."

The shinobi felt his hackles rise up in challenge, opening his mouth to express his displeasure.

But the psuedo-priest continued, cutting him off. "...I mentioned it before, didn't I? By the time I was arriving in Japan, I very quickly felt your presence. Or rather, your inner conflict, thanks to my Sacred Gear. This isn't really my business...but I think that you should see a psychiatrist, or at least speak to someone about whatever...'problems' you're going through."

Blue eyes stared at the solemn visage of his new acquaintance, speechless, then quickly moved to scan their surroundings, making sure that their conversation was still private, before turning back to him with a stern look. "Look, I have no idea what you're talking about. If there's any kind of 'problem' that I'm having today, it's trying to convince you as quickly as possible, as I want to get home sooner rather than later. So come on! Let's get this over with before we fall asleep, huh?"

Dulio's green eyes crinkled lightly, silent for a few tense seconds.

Naruto didn't respond either, maintaining eye contact with the -presumably- powerful member of the Vatican, hoping to convey his need to rush.

Apparently he managed it, as the psuedo-priest let out a sigh, relenting, and slid off of his seat, walking off. "Come on, if we're gonna do this, then we should make sure that we involve as little people as possible. And I think I know just the place."

The shinobi watched Dulio's retreating back, slightly disturbed at the change in topic, but was grateful for the fact that they were about to move back into far more familiar territory.

Fighting.

So Naruto slid off of his own seat, prepared to follow him.

"...Aren't you forgetting something there, kid?"

...Until the authoritative voice of the owner of the moderate-sized stall stopped him, much to his chagrin.

Slowly, the blond turned around towards the counter to spare a glimpse at the small landowner, a question at the tip of his tongue.

Once more, he didn't even get the chance to ask. As the slip of paper between the owner's fingers told him all that he needed to know.

It was a receipt.

"You forgot to pay." the man noted gruffly, waving the slip of paper in front of him tauntingly.

Naruto didn't even bother to refute his claim, opting to just grab the receipt so that he could pay and get this over with.

At least until he saw the number of digits on the slip of paper.

He paled immediately.

...Wait, he was splitting it with Dulio, so this shouldn't be too-

The shinobi snapped his head to the side, eyes on fire as he realized that the bastard left him!

He left him to deal with the bill!

"DULIOOOO! Get your ass back here you cheapskate!"

His furious roar echoed across the area, soon followed by his sad whimpers, bemoaning how skinny poor Gama-chan would become.

*Owoooo*

The howl that echoed across the grove was the signal that the stray devils were looking for.

Rias narrowed her eyes as the sick squeals of the numerous stray devils around them echoed back, quickly charging forward to overwhelm their enemies.

"Second wave! Everyone be careful!" Sona ordered her fellow devils, eyes sharp.

The small group didn't answer her verbally, but they definitely heeded her words as they prepared for the next group attack.

The battle that everyone there was a part of has only started a few moments ago, and so far the devils had just gone through their first wave of enemies without too much difficulty.

Far too little difficulty.

At first, everyone was confused about why the stray devils came in a small wave instead of coming at them all at once, especially Sona.

To her, such a move made absolutely no sense whatsoever, as while there were an extreme amount of stray devils around them...they weren't especially strong.

'Stray devils' was the description that any being received if a member of a Peerage runs away from their king, breaking away from them illegally.

However, not all strays turn into monsters, like the ones that were mindlessly following this werewolf's orders. Only weak devils that were overwhelmed by their power without their king turn into monsters.

The more powerful, or at least the ones with moderate control over their power, don't lose their sanity.

But when they do lose their sanity? Well...they tend to turn into twisted beasts that only listened to their new-found animalistic instincts.

So while these beasts weren't much a threat if they were by themselves...they were far more deadly as a group.

But the answer to her concern very quickly became apparent to not just Sona, but to Rias as well.

Their 'leader'; the werewolf, was watching them, studying their movements and abilities.

The stray devils were meant to gauge their strength.

A smart, if cruel tactic.

While the first wave of enemies revealed most of the devils' basic abilities, it also did help the beleaguered group in a roundabout way.

For one, Yuuto made sure to quickly create a new 'wall' around them by using his Sword Birth, creating rows upon rows of demonic swords that ringed around the group to slow down their greater amount of enemies.

Not only that, but it gave Yuuto plenty of weapons to choose from should he lose the weapons he had on him.

To add to that, there was currently a large eastern dragon made out of water that was coiled around the group protectively, controlled by student council president herself with almost frightening ease.

The rest of the devils were simply doing their overall best to entrench into their position, making sure to obliterate any stray devils that managed to get close to breaking through the perimeter that was made.

So everyone was mostly ready by the time that they were subjected to another wave of enemies.

Rias easily created a crimson magic circle, which spewed an obscene amount of Power of Destruction onto the incoming foes, obliterating all that tried to tank through it.

The wave of power only affected a part of the swarming horde however, leaving the rest to try and get over the wall of swords to get to their meals.

Though this task became more difficult when the water dragon that was encircling the group suddenly lashed out, engulfing the front row of stray devils as it made it's pass.

Despite this, more just took their place and moved up, finally reaching the wall of swords as many of them opened their sharp jaws to begin their feast on the sane.

Unfortunately for them, a certain knight took the reins from there by quickly moving up to intercept the horde, flashing forward while dual-wielding two demonic swords.

Yuuto glowered as he stabbed his right blade into the closest stray devil near him, which was a hybrid of a chameleon and a human, and brutally impaled it with his sword.

Flames erupted from the demonic sword and enveloped the monster whole, forcing a screech out of it as it tried to put itself out.

Without pausing, the young man ducked and grabbed another blade to replace the one that he abandoned in the stray devil. Idly noting that a stream of powerful lightning soared over his head and ripped apart scores of strays that were getting close.

Akeno was busy.

The knight couldn't help but silently marvel at how efficient the group was being, working together to make sure that the artificial perimeter wasn't broken.

Hell, the simple fact was that he couldn't fight in his fullest capacity thanks to the wound on his leg, as his speed was drastically reduced. As well as his overall reflexes.

Yet he barely had to move, mostly thanks to the fact that the occasional burst of Power of Destruction or lightning would decimate small groups of the beasts that were attacking them.

Not to mention the water dragon that was continuously spinning around the group and crashing against any stray that got too close.

Indeed, the perimeter hasn't been breached once yet, which was quite the surprise considering the numbers that were getting sent against them.

But still, they couldn't afford to become lax in their defense. As it was obvious that the leader of these monsters was still keeping something in reserve.

Yuuto's thoughts were cut off from there when a crab-squid hybrid swung it's large mandibles in an attempt to rip his neck off, forcing him to raise his left blade up to cut the attack short.

He managed to do just that, as his demonic blade sliced through the mandible and left a stump in it's place, splashing him with quite a bit of blood.

Electricity sparked from his sword as the monster roared in pain, arcing from the blade's tip and towards the open wound.

If possible, the beast roared even louder as it's body began to shake violently from the high voltage that penetrated it's body. Before falling over, it's body smoking.

The knight had no time to watch however, as he had no choice but to weave his body around and glance away the deadly blows with his swords that the three stray devils attempted on him.

Bringing himself to grips with the situation, the blond swung his right demonic sword around so that it could cut off all of the offending limbs that tried to give him harm, succeeding in doing so and beginning the freezing process of the monsters.

Ice elemental swords worked like that.

All of the insane strays backed away in primitive pain and fear, registering the danger that they were in, but it was too late.

Yuuto stabbed the ice sword into the ground, making sure to focus on his demonic energy...

Pillars of ice pierced through the ground and through the monsters before they could get away, their blood spurting from the fatal wounds that they received as they flowed down from the clear ice.

Mercy simply wasn't affordable at this point in time.

...At least another wall was erected to stop the flood of strays, or at least slow them down enough to give them some space to breathe.

...Yes...another wall...

"Yuuto! Look out!"

Grey eyes snapped back to reality just fast enough to see a large husk of...something swing towards him with great speeds.

He was only fast enough to bring his last sword up in a defensive posture, blocking most of the damage, but still managing to knock the knight off of his feet and into the core of the perimeter.

Rias grunted when the young man crashed into her, sending her to the ground.

Her warning came too late.

Sona snapped her gaze to her friend as the two devils tried to get back into position before the strays took the golden opportunity that was given to them, but-

*Owoooo*

...Unfortunately, someone managed to catch their moment of weakness, and was about to exploit it.

Before anyone could have said anything, beams of demonic energy was shot by some stray devils out of their line of view and began to rain down on them,

All while the stray devils close to them moved to engage them in close-quarters combat, not caring or knowing about the impending doom that was about to take them all out.

"Tsubaki!" Sona shouted above the chaos, refusing to budge as the water dragon made another pass and obliterated another wave of strays before they could breach their defensive circle.

The queen of the Sitri group, who was taking charge of the front line at the opposite side of the perimeter that Kiba Yuuto was taking, did as ordered, and broke off from her side to address the 'problem'.

The king made sure to work double-time to make up for the shortfall, knowing that her old friend was one of the few that had the abilities to turn all of this around in one swift stroke.

Tsubaki flew up towards the sky, just as the beams of demonic energy was nearing towards the group from the air, and raised her hands.

"Mirror Alice!"

Just as she cried out her Sacred Gear's name, a large mirror formed right in front of her heterochromic eyes, facing the beams that were about to reach them.

Said attacks quickly closed the gap between themselves and the strange mirror, crashing into it with surprising strength.

Yet, it didn't crack.

Nor did it break.

On the contrary, the mirror remained in the air, static, unresponsive.

Then suddenly, without warning, the very same beams that once crashed against the mirror, suddenly were thrown outof the mirror, retracing their trajectory back to their owners.

Not only that, but those beams were glowing far more brightly when compared to their original counterparts.

Squeals and screams echoed across the plains as the demonic-based attacks ripped apart a far-off section of the forest surrounding the grove, probably destroying the stray devils that launched the attacks in the first place.

Sona nodded, more than satisfied with that outcome.

Truly, the ability to stop and redirect an attack while doubling it's power is an invaluable one, especially in terms of strategic counters.

It was too bad that it came with a cool-down.

Still, their position wasn't that much better than before, as the stray devils that stuck to the ground were still pushing against their position. Hard.

Rias and her rebellious knight have recovered after their tumble, now due to the fact that the perimeter had mostly broken down -even with the wall of swords- the duo were literally back-to-back against one another. Supporting each other against the horde.

Despite the rough situation, the Sitri heiress couldn't help but find something humorous in the fact that a king and a knight was back-to-back. The optics of that was all wrong.

But really, this entire situation, from beginning to end, was nearly impossible to speculate about and just flat out out of her depth.

Still, she had no time to be reflecting on their situation, especially when she was focusing on keeping her water dragon stable as it made another pass around them.

And her focus stood strong, at least until she quickly realized something after taking a chance to scan the area around her.

Meanwhile, Yuuto had managed to grab another flaming demonic sword and thrust it towards an oncoming stray, keeping the large monster at bay temporarily, despite his bad footing.

The wound that was made from his attack was quickly cauterized thereafter, as the flames severely burned the body which it was currently stuck into.

Still, the beast that he attacked, an abhorrent monstrosity made of wood with some traces of humanity sprinkled in it's form, was still powerful enough to ignore the pain and continue to attack the young man.

Even with that worrying development, the blond wasn't really worried. He just bent over in order to duck the swing that was inevitably about to come.

As well as the absolute power that was his king's attack, which flew over his head and completely erased the arm that came swinging.

Rias' Power of Destruction was crackling on her fingertips, as she had just let it loose onto the monster that nearly beheaded her knight.

She did not look happy.

Her blue-green eyes were practically boiling over with her anger as a matter of fact, as miasma-like power emerged in her pupils and locked onto the screeching beast.

"Disappear."

An even bigger wave of power emerged from her fingertips as it completely overwhelmed the monster, erasing it from existence without any evidence that it even existed to begin with.

Yuuto just watched, the edge of his lips twisting upwards, completely outside of his will and control.

His king's gaze trialed downwards, her mouth open to ask if he was alright, but she paused after seeing the ever-so-light upturn of his lips, surprised.

She blinked.

Then an enigmatic smile grew across her own lips in response, as if there was some sort of personal joke between them.

It was at that moment that the blond stopped, realizing what he was doing. What they were doing.

Sharing a feeling of camaraderie.

...He had to stop, before he-

"Rias! Kiba-san! Above you!"

Sona's shout immediately made both devils react as ordered, snapping their heads to the sky, both pairs of eyes widening at the blur that was speeding towards them.

Before the red-head could even try to respond to the attack-

"Buchou!"

-she felt herself shoved away, bodily pushed back without warning.

Whatever the blur was, as soon as she was pushed out of the way, it crashed right where she was once standing, smashing the ground apart.

Rias managed to scramble back to her feet, eyes wide as she watched Yuuto throw up an obscene amount of blood, clutching at the massive paw that embedded itself onto his stomach.

"...Yuuto-?"

"GAAAAAH!"

Yuuto's scream rang in the ears of everyone in the grove, voice strangled as he began to choke, coughing harshly.

The werewolf used it's massive claws to hold the young man down, it's harsh eyes glaring at the group around it, as if daring them to do something.

All of the devils present froze up, afraid of the implied threat as the beast put a little more pressure on the blond under it, allowing whatever attacks that they were controlling to fizzle away.

"...Buchou..." Akeno murmured grimly, seeking direction on what to do.

Except the red-head locked up, she had no idea how they could possibly get the blond out in one piece.

And as she hesitated, the rest of the groups hesitated along with her.

Which meant that the horde of strays finally managed to break through the perimeter, crawling or walking over the bodies of the other mindless beasts.

Their de-facto leader just watched all of them with it's animalistic demeanor, no mercy offered or provided.

Sona spared a glance at her childhood friend, lips thinning, knowing full well that she was hesitating precisely because she didn't want to run the risk of getting her comrade mortally injured...or worse.

And she could understand, but it didn't change the fact that such indecision would get them all killed.

If either of them; the Gremory or Sitri heiresses, got severely or mortally injured...well, it would evoke a very very bad response from at least two Maous.

An unfortunate side-effect of having such affectionate older siblings, which just so happened to be extraordinarily powerful.

They had to think beyond their basic circumstances and think about their overall positions, as they both had dual responsibilities; to nurture their Peerage, and to make sure that their stupid older siblings didn't start a war over them.

So even though she was sympathetic to Rias' plight...someone still had to make the call, for everyone's sake.

Even as she was finally solidifying her resolve to continue the fight, whether the red-head approved or not, she refocused her energy on recreating the oriental water dragon so that it could make another pass around them.

She needed to regain control of the perimeter, they stood no chance without some space.

Although she knew that her queen; Tsubaki, was already aware of what she was about to do, it seemed that others also caught on to her machinations as her demonic energy began to build up.

The werewolf snapped it's eyes towards her, narrowing darkly as it put a little more pressure on the boy under it.

Almost immediately afterwards, Rias turned as well, eyes as wide as saucers, not quite believing what Sona was doing.

But she knew, she knew.

"No...!"

The water dragon was already taking shape again in the Gremory heiress' peripheries, beginning to thrust itself forward in order to crash against the unsuspecting waves of enemies.

"Stop! Sona!"

But she didn't stop, and she wouldn't stop.

And her knight was about to pay the price.

Yuuto himself realized this as well, as he watched the beast above him raise it's foot, presumably to crush the young man's torso.

It was hazy though, just like his mind, while his breathing was more shallow than he thought possible.

Even with this troubling development, and the overall threat of death literally hanging over his body, his hazy mind was still focused elsewhere.

...Why did he push Buchou out of the way?

When the young man saw the werewolf barreling down onto the two of them, he didn't even think about what he was doing.

He just moved, like an idiot.

...The entire point was to abandon his former life and comrades, yet he went ahead and saved his former king. What was with that?

It was ludicrous, yet it happened, and strangely enough...the blond wasn't really upset over it.

How irritable.

How unfortunate.

Still, there was a small smile on Kiba Yuuto's face as the werewolf sent it's foot straight down onto him, the weight behind it sure to kill.

"Hei!"

Almost as soon as the beast moved to finish him, a familiar voice entered the young man's eardrums, legitimately knocking him from his mental trip.

Above him, the great beast that was poised to be the last thing he ever saw was gone, sent flying if the loud crash from a way's away could attest to anything.

Instead, all he saw was the short yet strong body of the young rook of the Gremory group, with her short bob of snow-white hair and her firm hazel eyes aimed at their legendary adversary.

"...Koneko..." he murmured, unable to believe his luck.

Like clockwork, the young girl turned to look at him, her classic poker face on.

"...You're coming home." she said simply.

It wasn't a demand.

Nor was it a question.

It was a statement that posits as to what was going to happen.

A simple fact, no more or less.

Yuuto was genuinely unsure about how he should answer.

"Koneko-chan! W-W-What are you doing here!?" Rias cried out, dragging the attention of the two teens as she ran towards them, breathless. "Wait, if you're here, then Mio-chan is-!"

"Safe." Koneko replied, not worried at all. "I'm sorry Buchou...but I knew that you needed help after I heard the werewolf..."

The red-head narrowed her eyes, a reprimand on the tip of her tongue-

However, before she could even do so, Akeno took a step forward while placing a calming hand on her friend's shoulder. "Buchou...we need the back up, and the longer that we stay locked down here, the longer that Mio-chan will remain alone with that...fallen woman."

Rias slammed her mouth shut, eyeing her queen sullenly at the sensible fact that she just espoused.

Still, there was a possible third party involved in this...

...Well, it was too late to worry about that now. What was done was done, all they could do now was finish this as fast as possible.

Even as she was accepting their change in circumstance, the werewolf that Koneko knocked away with her fist got back up, snarling.

At least until something big came crashing against it.

An absolute huge body of water suddenly enveloped the beast, as well the large amount of stray devils that were following it, sending them away or outright crushing them thanks to the water pressure.

The entire perimeter was suddenly cleared up, giving them all the breathing space that they needed.

Blue-green eyes shifted to see the owner of the water-based mythical creature walk towards them, pushing her glasses back onto the bridge of her nose. "...It looks like we've got reinforcements."

Rias turned to her, her eyes wary and voice neutral. "So it seems."

Sona didn't respond, nor did she face her fellow high-class devil face-to-face, focusing all of her attention on the enemies that she wiped away with her attack.

Until she finally tilted her head to the side, just enough so that she could look at the Gremory heiress with the side of her eye.

"...I'm sorry Rias, if I had known that your rook was coming to reinforce us, then I wouldn't have been so quick to call that werewolf's bluff. It seems that I unnecessarily placed a member of your Peerage in danger..." the Sitri heiress apologized quietly, meeting with the other high-class devil's gaze.

The Gremory heiress searched those violet eyes for a few precious seconds, before turning away, a sigh escaping her lips. "...I'm sorry too, for nearly getting all of us killed and all..."

Unbidden, Sona's lips twitched upwards. "It seems that we can't help but try to get other people killed today, doesn't it?"

A snort was her only answer.

Koneko looked at both of them, confused, but didn't question any of it, mostly because the werewolf she just punched has just got back onto it's feet.

With it's sleek pitch-black fur wet, it growled lowly in a threatening manner, another group of stray devils backing it.

But unlike before, where the horde of beasts seemed endless, there were obviously fewer than before, at least if the large group of bodies seemed indicative.

Wherever this group of strays came from, there at least seemed to be a limit to their numbers.

So the devil group prepped for another round once more, with the rook making sure to guard Yuuto as he pushed himself back to his feet.

And they needed to be, as the werewolf was done standing on the side lines and studying them.

This time, along with the remaining strays, it charged.

Naruto was squinting, using his eyelashes to try and keep his sight clear as he continued to focus his wind chakra onto the soles of his feet.

Using his recently made ability to jump in the air, the blond soared through the air, trying to keep up with the guy who was leisurely flying towards...wherever it was that they were going.

After Dulio ran off from paying his half of the bill, the shinobi made sure that he caught up with him so that he could express his displeasure...loudly.

But before he could-

'Hey, we should take our fight somewhere else, it's a bit too crowded here I think. Come on, follow me, I know a good place.'

The psuedo-priest made that suggestion all of a sudden, before using his strange powers to levitate into the sky, flying.

Moving so high up into the sky that the clouds eventually covered him up whole, making it practically impossible for normal humans to see him.

Which was exactly the point.

So here Naruto was, trying to keep up with the soaring man, wondering how ridiculous he looked as he was essentially hopping in the air while sticking to the clouds.

They haven't been up here for that long, and they were moving pretty damn quickly, so if this place that he was being led to was close...then it shouldn't take them much longer to get there.

The shinobi focused his gaze on the flying human in front of him, every pore of his body language screaming of how lofty he was.

Strange, considering he was super serious just a few moments ago.

But more important than that...was the sheer ease of the man's flight, or rather, how easily he could use his abilities.

Now...just to be clear, Naruto wasn't jealous of his ability to fly, no, not at all, definitely not.

...

Ok, maybe he was a little jealous. It was all just totally unfair.

Anyway, Dulio claimed that he could control 'weather' with his Sacred Gear before, and the blond supposed that flying would be included in that control.

But what else could he control? Like, what the hell was he dealing with?

'Weather' was super vague, and he supposed that it could encompass a lot of things, so what exactly could this guy do? What couldn't he do?

Blue eyes traveled away from his future opponent's form to check his surroundings, idly seeing the clouds pass him by as they were heading to their battleground.

Then and there, he actually wondered whether he had made a mistake in challenging Dulio, as the young man could very well be the worst match-up for the shinobi.

Azazel-san might have actually had a right to be concerned, amazingly enough.

...Then again, Naruto didn't have to win, he just had to prove his integrity over to his opponent by trading fists.

As long as he did that, he didn't really mind losing.

...

Ok, that was a lie. He wanted to win.

"Alright, this place should be good enough for a small fight, wouldn't you say, Naruto-dono?"

Naruto was knocked from his thoughts when Dulio called out from him, his voice barely recognizable over the air that was pressing against them.

He still managed to get the gist of what he said though, thankfully, which led him to scan the ground to check where they ended up at.

What the shinobi saw surprised him.

A rather plain area filled with misshapen, uneven, and worn out rocks was registered to his brain via eyesight, with a large body of water right next to it.

There was practically no signs of civilization around either, with the only exceptions being a few rundown fishing houses nearby.

"...Naruto-dono, did you know that there's something known as a 'Typhoon Season' in Japan?" Dulio inquired rhetorically, his voice more clearer as he floated closer to the shinobi.

Naruto spared a glance at the obnoxious man, idly hopping up and down, since he had no way to float in the air like his compatriot.

Yeah, he wasn't jealous at all.

Even though the whiskered teen didn't actually respond to his query, Dulio still continued to speak regardless. "Well, due to the fact that this country is essentially just a big island, which happens to be surrounded by an ocean, it should come as no surprise that it is particularly susceptible to extreme weather conditions...such as the naturally spawning typhoons of the Pacific Ocean."

The psuedo-priest then brought a finger up, almost like he was a teacher that was bringing up an important piece of information that was vital to a test. "Now...Typhoon Season hasn't started quite yet, but it's just around the corner, so many who live near the coastline are quite busy making last-minute preparations, just in case. So this area, which is already sparsely populated, should be perfect for our little bout."

Naruto blinked, cocking his head to the side. "Wow, you actually thought this through, huh? Alright, so then I guess that we're gonna be fighting on the coastline?"

Even as he was speaking, the blond had already stopped his incessant hopping in the air, beginning his fall towards the ground.

But before he could even start, he felt the air below him, in no uncertain terms, pull him up, keeping him in his place.

"Wait, no, there's still a chance that people could see our fight if we're not careful. Rather, I don't want to give anyone even the remotest chance of seeing us." Dulio claimed reasonably, quickly offering an alternative by pointing towards somewhere else. "So...how about we just take this out there?"

Blue eyes followed after the digit, wondering what his new acquaintance was talking about, but was unable to.

The man literally just pointed at the ocean, or more specifically, the Pacific Ocean, so how the hell was Naruto supposed to know where he was-?

Oh.

Oh.

"...You mean...you want to take this fight to the ocean?" the shinobi asked, needing to ask just for clarification, such was his disbelief.

Dulio scratched the side of his head nervously, an apologetic smile creeping it's way onto his face. "Ah, I'm sorry, is that disadvantageous to you? I wasn't entirely sure what you were capable of, so if you want, we can take this somewhere else-"

"No." Naruto interjected, straightening his back. "This isn't a problem, it's better than the air at least, and it does keep regular people from getting involved since neither of us know how to make a barrier. This'll do."

Indeed, even though his abilities could prove to be annoying in the middle of the water, he still needed to get this over with as quickly as possible.

He needed to get back home before the rogue Grigori member; Kokabiel, could make his move.

There was no time to waste.

Seeing the determination that was in his future opponent's eyes, the church agent nodded, accepting his words, and made the very air push them towards the massive body of water.

For all intent's and purposes, they were literally riding the wind, allowing the two humans to cover vast distances with very little effort, which Naruto couldn't help but silently stew at.

Ok, yeah, he was jealous, sue him.

Nevertheless, the pair of blondes eventually covered enough distance for their fight, moving so far away that the coastline of the Japanese islands were completely out of sight.

"Are you sure that this kind of battleground is alright with you, Naruto-dono?" Dulio checked again, allowing the air to lower both of their bodies to the water, slow and steady.

Blue eyes peered into the water, seeing his reflection becoming bigger and bigger as he got closer to it, blue reflecting off of blue. "No...this is good, I don't really even have to beat you anyway, I just gotta prove myself to you, right?"

And with that, the shinobi's foot tapped into the ocean surface, not breaking through it despite being heavy in density, relying on his chakra to stand upright on the water.

Dulio's eyes widened fractionally, seeing the blond stand on water was something that the young man didn't really think that he'd see today.

But he smiled nonetheless, happy to see that this wasn't much of a disadvantage for his fellow blond.

The agent of the Vatican then lowered himself, keeping himself suspended just above the water, and stared down the teen that sought him out.

"...Ready?" Dulio asked, not beating around the bush.

Naruto smirked. "Ready when you are."

Emerald-green eyes blinked, as their owner began to smile bashfully at the unspoken offer.

He was given the right to make the first move.

"...You know..." Dulio started, voice light. "You reallyshouldn't give someone like me the initiative..."

The shinobi quirked an eyebrow, but didn't bother to question his words when the older male slowly raised his arm.

Then, quickly, used his index finger to point at the whiskered teen.

Naruto was already prepared for whatever the 'priest' had in store for him, watching for any sudden movements.

But, to put it bluntly, he wasn't prepared for what happened next.

It came without warning, and the shinobi didn't even realize what had happened until he suddenly lost his balance, tipping over like a falling tree in a clumsy fashion.

And as he lost his balance, the blond tried to use his feet to recover, but they, for some reason, didn't move in accordance to his will.

The end result was Naruto slamming into the hard surface.

Wait.

Hard?

Yes, hard, but not just hard, it was icy.

Almost as far as the eye could see, ice had completely overtaken the ocean surface, leaving both combatants on an icy arena to fight on.

And it just so happened that Naruto not only didn't expect such a tactic, but Dulio also took the liberty to freeze over the blond's feet, sticking them in place.

The shinobi growled and pushed himself back onto his feet, trying to get himself out of the trap, already aware that the fight has started.

But it seemed that the other human wasn't going to give him the opportunity, as he narrowed his eyes and swiftly jerked his hand upwards, eyeing the struggling teen seriously.

"...Sorry, Naruto-dono." the agent murmured, closing his eyes. "But I can't let you win."

In an instant, the ice suddenly swallowed Naruto's body up into his waist, seemingly crawling up from his feet, much the the shinobi's rising alarm.

In the next instant, the ice managed to cover up to his neck, giving the teen one last chance to look at his opponent.

"...This...!" Naruto managed to growl out, teeth clenched. "Isn't over yet-!"

In the last instant, the ice had completely covered him whole.

The whiskered teen's entire body was frozen in time, encased in a large block of ice made Dulio's Sacred Gear, reinforced by it's incredible power.

He was trapped, unable to move, let alone fight.

The 'priest' then spoke up, finalizing what anyone would think in such a situation.

"...It's over, I guess."

Kiba Yuuto was bodily dragged backwards when the fighting resumed in earnest, with the mighty werewolf leading the charge, and it's minions descending upon them once more.

At least, unlike last time, they had a genuine power-based fighter to counteract that legendary beast's strength.

Even as he was thinking it, the werewolf was physically stopped from getting inside the perimeter made by the devils by Koneko, facing it head-on.

The beast roared as it brought it's massive form forward, surging to face the tiny frame of the rook of the Gremory group.

At first glance, it looked like it was about to crush the first-year high school student, but appearances could be deceiving.

As Koneko, despite being three times shorter than her adversary, actually managed to bring an end to the beast's charge by catching it with her arms, slowing it down significantly until it stopped.

That being said, just through a cursory glance, he could tell that Koneko was very quickly becoming overwhelmed by the werewolf's power.

She wouldn't hold out for long, and he was sure that everyone there was aware of that.

While the two were busy, struggling with one another in their contest of strength, the various monsters under the powerful beast's control moved to take advantage of the loli's weakness, trying to attack her from behind.

Before that could happen however, Rias and Akeno intervened by using their own perspective demonic powers to obliterate the small group of strays that attempted that strategy.

They succeeded, with an explosive display of yellow light and red-black miasma.

Almost immediately afterwards, Sona took a step forward with her hands out, trying to bring her water-based oriental dragon around to crash against the werewolf while it was distracted.

Unfortunately, by this time, the werewolf managed to overpower Koneko, pushing her back enough that her footing was compromised, before literally lifting her up off of her feet.

With her hazel eyes wide, the beast bodily threw her at Sona, much to the kaichou's shock.

Both teens were slammed into the ground once their bodies made contact, breaking Sona's concentration on her demonic construct, making it fall apart into a mini flash flood.

At that moment, the bespectacled woman remembered that their enemy was watching them fight for a little bit before intervening, meaning that it was well aware of their tricks.

Not good.

And this belief was proven further after Tsubaki, her queen, stopped dragging Kiba Yuuto away from the front line and re-entered the battle, her naginata being swung about so that she could hold off the great beast.

At least, that's what it seemed like she was up to.

But in reality, she was actually prepping herself to utilize her Sacred Gear; Mirror Alice, in order to beat him back long enough to buy her king some time.

So she charged forward, grabbing her adversary's attention as well as the brunt of his next attack.

It sprinted towards her on all four of it's limbs, obviously moving to ram her with it's largess.

Despite it's speed however, Tsubaki still managed to form a mirror in-between the two of them, using it as a shield which would strike back against the werewolf with double the power that it produced.

However, when the beast neared the mirror, it actually stopped in place, it's momentum completely gone.

The teenaged girl with heterochormic eyes was caught off-guard by this sudden move, not all aware that the werewolf had unsheathed it's claws into the ground so that it could slow itself down without warning.

But to make matters worse for her, as soon as it had stopped, it had then jumped into the air, completely avoiding the mirror placed in it's way in order to get to the young reincarnated devil without issue.

And that was exactly what happened.

The great beast smashed onto the former human, sending her deep into the ground, forcing her to cough up an excessive amount of blood from the damage.

The loud crash that resulted from Tsubaki's body getting smashed into the ground quickly attracted the attention of Rias and Akeno, who were both busy obliterating the last of the stray devils that accompanying the werewolf.

Both powerful devils shared glances with one another, before turning around to aim their next attacks at their powerful adversary.

Roughly around the same time, Koneko had managed to recover enough to charge at the large creature again, her small fists raised behind her in order to throw it with all of her might.

With all of it's attention on her, it practically didn't even see the red-head and ravenette preparing to blast it with their magical attacks, focusing on crushing the small powerhouse instead.

So when the two strength-oriented beings crashed into one another again, their fists managed to create a shockwave that blew away the ground underneath them, as well as the many bodies of stray devils that were slain prior.

While they clashed, Rias and Akeno took the golden opportunity given to them, and fired.

Lightning and Power of Destruction danced on their fingertips as a ball of their respective powers rammed the powerful beast from behind, the air charged with the intensity of their attacks.

However, in spite of this, the beast didn't even flinch.

Oh, it was hurt alright, but the damage was minimal at best, and all they really succeeded in doing was pissing it off further.

With a guttural roar, it managed to overpower Koneko a second time, pushing her into the ground, and then using it's clawed hand to grab her face and dig her in deeper.

Blood spurted from her head as she struggled to get out of it's hold, her hazel eyes dilated as she pushed against it's hold.

But it was no use, as the beast raised it's other hand as well, prepared to inflict a mortal wound this time.

"Sword Birth!"

Until those words echoed across the field, making the werewolf hesitate, then flat-out back off by jumping away.

It got out of the way just in time, as numerous swords emerged from the ground immediately afterwards, obviously trying to impale the beast.

Koneko glanced around her, seeing the many blades that surrounded her like a protective cocoon, allowing a sigh of relief to escape her lips as she forced herself onto her feet, ignoring the blood that was leaking from her forehead.

As soon as she did that, she was very quickly scooped up from the small hole, as she was grabbed by her king as she passed by with her wings out, flying her away from the spot to get her to safety.

Apparently Rias wasn't the only one with that idea, as everyone else had also moved to group up around Yuuto and Sona, including the wounded like Tsubaki and Koneko, probably so that they could properly prep for a counterattack.

Yuuto clutched at his stomach, his breathing a little shallow as he glanced at the many faces that moved to his position, seeing the wariness on many of his allies' faces.

He barely managed to stop the legendary creature from squashing Koneko with his Sacred Gear, but it wasn't the game changer like he hoped it would be.

He was pretty much out of the fight now, that was as much as he could do, and he lost the element of surprise.

More than that, it actually seemed like that thing was pretty knowledgeable of how to counter their attacks now...was it studying them before?

As he pondered the issue at hand, the student council president very quickly voiced the thoughts that he was wondering about.

"...That werewolf is aware of how we fight." Sona noted crisply, eyeing her comrades critically, especially the ones that were wounded. "We have to change tactics, otherwise, at the very least, we'll get locked into a stalemate for an extended period of time."

And wasn't that the truth?

When her violet eyes scanned her comrades, she already concluded that a 'stalemate' may be a bit of an optimistic conclusion by this point.

Tsubaki was favoring her left arm, which just so happened to be in the way of their adversary's attack when it smashed her to the ground, not to mention the fact that there was quite the gash on her abdomen as well.

Koneko was in similar shape, as she was putting on a strong front after her king let her down after cradling her, but her body was slightly bowed, trying to cover the bloody hole on her stomach.

And Kiba Yuuto, of course, was in no condition to fight.

Which only made the necessity of a new strategy even more paramount.

"...Yes, I think so too." Rias responded levelly, her eyes narrowed at the enemy. "And I think I might have just the plan for that."

Sona shot a look at her fellow high-class devil, intrigued, and that interest was only further strengthened when Akeno moved closer to her king to place her hand onto her shoulder.

"Buchou, you can't mean-?"

The red-head didn't reply to her query, nor did she divert her attention away from Sona, who was looking more and more curious by the second. "Sona, can you do me a favor?"

The Sitri heiress squinted, uncertain of what her friend wanted, but quickly decided to nod her head anyway.

Seeing this, Rias continued. "...I need you to stick with me for a little bit longer, to buy me time to be specific. Then to lead that werewolf to me when the time is right. We need to time this perfectly if this is going to work."

Sona raised an eyebrow, her unspoken question obvious.

Thankfully for her, someone else was going to indirectly answer her questions for her.

"Buchou! You're not really going to be using that new technique of yours already, right? You said it yourself while you were testing it, it's not ready for use in battle!" the raven-haired queen claimed, still holding onto Rias' shoulder as she tried to convince her out of this foolish idea.

At first, when the pure-blood devil turned her head around to look at her, Akeno thought that she managed it, but her next words quickly belayed her of that belief.

"Akeno, I need you to help Koneko-chan, Tsubaki, and Yuuto get back to safety. More than that, you should go to Mio-chan's place, as if I remember right, Naruto once claimed that he placed energy-muffling seals in his home. If they go there, those seals should prevent this unknown third-party from locking them down, if that was the intention of this monster's master anyway." the Gremory heiress stated sharply, her tone leaving no room for discussion. "This is important, we still don't know who this third-party is, and I want to make sure that everyone is present and accounted for."

Even as she was speaking, she was chancing a glance at the werewolf, which was in a crouched position, looking for a chance to rejoin the battle again.

It wouldn't have to wait long.

"...Rias, what are you planning? It doesn't sound quite safe..." Sona couldn't help but drawl out, pushing her glasses up onto the bridge of her nose absent-mindedly.

A sly smile spread across her fellow high-class devil's features. "Something that should finish this fight, but like I said, I'll need you to buy me a little time. Is that alright?"

The bespectacled girl stared at the red-head, silent for a few tense moments, her mind whirling.

It took a few seconds for her to understand her friend's vagueness.

That werewolf had managed to understand their attack patterns by watching them, it wasn't exactly much of a stretch to assume that it could make countermeasures to any plan that they make then and there.

Such a beast could no doubt hear them with it's incredibly sensitive ears.

More than that, not only was a new strategy necessary, but the wounded devils around them would probably get in the way as well.

This was probably the best course of action.

"Tsubaki!" Sona called out, alerting her Peerage member to her next order. "Take everyone and retreat back to Uzumaki-san's home, we'll follow you shortly."

Tsubaki didn't hesitate when the order came, forcing herself to ignore her wounds in order to accomplish the directive that was given.

Akeno, for her part, bit her lip in frustration, but didn't question the two kings. "...Fine, but please be careful...Rias."

Rias nodded, smiling. "I will. Please take care of everyone until we get back."

Both queens nodded, and spread their wings in order to get out of the field, helping their comrades pull themselves up to leave as well.

Kiba Yuuto in particular was quiet, watching the two pure-blood devils stand close to one another in order to face the powerful beast.

More importantly, so that they could get out of danger.

Almost as if his king heard his thoughts, she turned around to look at him in the eyes, connecting with him for a few sparse seconds.

Then she smiled, expressing her fragile hope.

"Care to stick with us a little longer, Yuuto?" she asked gently, afraid to push too hard, too fast.

The simple fact that she felt it necessary to do that in the first place nearly made him crumple then and there.

Not that it mattered though, as despite his pause, he still slowly nodded after he thought about it a little more.

...It was fine this way, right?

It was alright for him to spend time with his comrades just a little longer.

A last 'hoorah' before he separated for good.

At least, that's what he assured to himself.

Even as he was helped up by Koneko-chan, with her wings out so that they could take to the air, he still didn't stop staring at the Gremory heiress.

And that stayed true as the small group of devils began to ascend above the treeline, moving to recuperate in a safe area, and to give their kings the space that they need for their 'plan'.

The werewolf just watched them go, unresponsive, focusing on the remaining adversaries left to it.

"...I'm surprised that it didn't try to intercept them on their way out." Sona noted bluntly, subtly concentrating on her demonic energy, using the lull in the fighting to prepare herself.

"Yeah, I suppose that it partially heard our planning. Maybe it wants to deal with us now that we're separated?" Rias wondered aloud, idly lowering her hand to slip it into her shoes, slowly leaving herself only in her socks.

The Sitri heiress raised her shoulders in a halfhearted shrug, more lax now that it was just the two of them, not questioning her weird behavior.

But, knowing what effect her next words would contain, she spoke again with barely a whisper. "...I'm ready when you are."

And, just like that, the battle was restarted.

The werewolf suddenly growled threateningly, lowering itself closer to the ground to pounce.

It heard her, despite her caution.

"Sona! Now!" Rias exclaimed, spreading her arms and legs out wide, the Power of Destruction manifesting themselves on the palms of her hands.

Sona was curious about what she was doing, but she didn't have time to ask, as the beast very quickly charged forward as soon as the red-head made her move, obviously trying to take her out before she could accomplish her task.

The devil barely had any time to react, but she somehow managed it, swiping her hand into the air, lips curling in concentration.

As the werewolf charged, it's large form deceptively masking how fast it could move, it was suddenly forced to stop in it's tracks without warning or reason.

Or, to be more precise, it was forced to.

A while ago, the beast actually managed to destroy the Sitri heiress' water dragon, which was wrecking havoc on the battlefield, by breaking her concentration.

However, when it lost it's form, the water that comprised it fell apart onto the ground, making something of a large pond in the area.

And it was this terrain that Sona used to her advantage.

As the beast was charging, the young devil made sure to focus her demonic energy onto the sizable body of water, creating thick tendrils which formed something of a barrier in front of the two devils, and then used it to catch the werewolf before it could reach them.

Immediately after she caught it, she allowed the water to rise up.

The pillars of water that were formed rose high into the treeline, bringing the werewolf up with them, and then surrounded it like a jail. Keeping it in suspension, without any way of pulling itself out.

At least, that was the plan.

However, after pausing slightly to register it's new reality, the creature began to struggle, it's powerful roars echoing across the field, disrupting the water that was holding it.

Even worse, it was also flailing it's extraordinarily muscular frame around as well, making the 'jail' fluctuate unpredictably.

Just as the black-haired pure-blood expected and feared.

"Rias...! I can't hold this thing back for too long! Whatever you're planning, I hope that it's fast!"

The red-head didn't even register the words that was given, focusing all of her strength onto this one overriding objective.

As red-black miasma covered the palms of her hands, she carefully crossed her right foot over her left, while making sure to keep her arms spread out.

Then, she pushed herself up by going onto the tiptoes of her feet, balancing herself perfectly.

Finally, she used that position to push herself with that front right foot, keeping her left foot in place so that she could literally spin on the spot.

With a dancer's grace, she spun, her long crimson hair flowing in tandem with the power the she wielded, her hands splayed out as she released the pent up energy that she was keeping in check.

Or rather, she released the pent up energy the she kept stored in her right hand.

At first glance, someone could be forgiven for being confused by the strange actions that the Gremory heiress was taking, but at the very least, there was a reason for her actions.

This entire trick was the method that she came up with in order to solve two basic dilemmas that faced her; a means of defense and how to use her powers more effectively.

If there was one thing that she has learned about the power that she has inherited, it was that the name; Power of Destruction, was a little misleading.

Indeed, the power that she utilized could obliterate anything in it's path, but only if the power behind it is dense enough to overpower whatever it's facing against. Whether it's an enemy, or another attack.

If she used her inherited powers against, say; an angel with five pairs of wings, then her powers would be knocked away as if they were nothing. As she did not have the control to pack enough demonic energy into her attacks to overpower such an opponent yet.

In short, the more demonic energy in her attacks, the more people she could obliterate with her power.

Yet she couldn't do that, not yet.

But with this method, she could potentially do something like that.

As she spun around, almost like a professional dancer, she could release her pent up power in her right hand, keeping it in place around her, and as she continued her arc, she could then use her left hand to help stabilize that very same power.

Instead of actively forming and controlling her attacks all at once, she'd just alternate in making her attacks more denser, and stabilize the energy that she was forming it with. In essence, allowing her to put more power into her Power of Destruction than ever before.

Not only that, but thanks to the fact that she's put such dense demonic energy around herself, she has pretty much made a veritable wall of defense to protect herself with.

So she continued to spin, her right hand unleashed her Power of Destruction in a thin arc around her body, as her left hand then moved to stabilize that very energy, the red-black miasma growing more and more wild after every pass.

As the power held in Rias' fingertips grew more uncontrollable, Sona's hold over their adversary grew more and more frayed.

The werewolf was almost free, the water getting splashed away from it as it swung it's mighty limbs without thought, ripping apart the de-facto prison that was holding it at bay.

Sona was just about to give her fellow high-class devil a warning, that there was a high likelihood that the beast was about to break free any moment now.

But she needn't have bothered.

"Sona...! Get out of here! Quickly!" Rias called out, her voice distorted by the very power that was spinning around her, surrounding her.

For some reason, despite her reservations, she didn't hesitate to spread her bat-like wings and jump into the air, making her way out from the grove as fast as possible.

For some reason, her instincts were screaming for her to get away.

Her flight took her high into the air, speeding away from the battle at high speeds, biting her lip at the prospect of abandoning her old friend.

Especially when she felt, more than saw, the legendary creature break through her demonic-powered water.

So she kept her gaze downwards as she flew up, straining to see what Rias had up her sleeve.

It took a few tense seconds.

One...

Nothing.

Two...

Nothing.

Three...

...

...

Something changed.

It was small at first, a small ball of dark energy that appeared in the middle of the grove, easily noticeable when compared to the greenery around it.

But it didn't stay like that, no, that dark mass very suddenly expanded outwards, becoming something like a disk which encroached in every direction. Swallowing up the grove and the forest surrounding it.

It felt like she was looking into the eye of a pitch-black hurricane, as the Power of Destruction continued to spread, covering the earth with it's energy.

Strangely enough, like an 'eye' of a hurricane, the middle of the explosion was completely bare, and almost bereft of the erasing prowess of the Gremory heiress' inherited power.

Worse than that, bordering on disturbing, was how...quietthis power's expansion was.

If Sona wasn't seeing it with her own eyes, she wouldn't have known that this phenomenon was even occurring, as there was no noise coming from this disk-like expansion at all.

It was silently obliterating everything in it's way.

...

As the Sitri heiress continued to watch the new technique that her old friend boasted, she couldn't help but silently reflect how...different this very attack was for the red-head.

Truly, between the two of them, Rias rarely, if ever, had inventive uses for her Power of Destruction.

If anything, she was always the type to overpower her opponents, as her inherited powers was always more than enough to deal with her adversaries, until recently of course.

No, it was Sona who always sought for more intricate strategies, for both; her own abilities and for her Peerage.

Indeed, that was the single most important advantage that she held over her friend and rival, especially when considering how much raw power and potential that Rias' Peerage held.

It was practically a brains vs. brawn comparison between the two.

Yet...this wasn't 'brawn' anymore. This was creative, this was strategic, and it was powerful.

She had changed.

And she thinks that she knows who helped facilitate that change in mindset.

A certain -annoying- blond teenager popped in her head, flashing a cheeky smile, as if taunting her with her loss of her main advantage over her fellow high-class devil.

...

Once this entire 'incident' is over and done with, that would have to change.

Her extended thoughts about Rias were cut off abruptly after that, as the large disk-like expansion of the Gremory heiress' Power of Destruction soon began to fade away, disappearing without a trace, like a black mist.

And since that miasma faded away, the young devil finally got a chance to look at what happened to the terrain around the grove.

Or rather, the fact that there wasn't anything left of the area around the grove.

It was gone.

All of it.

Completely barren, as everything around the center of the initial expansion was obliterated outright, erased even.

The grove itself, by this point, looked more like an oasis in the middle of a desert than anything else.

And right in the middle of that grove, stood Rias.

With the werewolf, nowhere to be seen.

Sona carefully lowered herself back down to the 'oasis', eyeing the red-head carefully, noting the subtle way that she was keeping her hands close to her skirt, hiding them from view.

As well as the fatigue that were dulling her blue-green eyes.

Before she could even try and ask whether the other devil was alright-

"...Sona, I know what you're about to ask, but don't worry, I'm not badly hurt, just a little tired. We need to get back to everyone and regroup, now that we have the chance." Rias quickly spoke up, a grimace being the most prevalent expression on her face. "That technique is still in the works, suffice it to say..."

Violet eyes narrowed. "What was that technique, exactly?"

The red-head pushed her wings out, letting her hands become visible as she prepared to take flight.

Sona quickly took note of the fact that the skin of her palms were completely erased, which allowed quite a lot of blood to pool from the wound onto the floor.

"...I'd like to call it; the Malicious Ring." Rias claimed, as that grimace from before began crossing over with a half-smile.

Hyoudou Issei raised his fists into a fighting position, a fire lit in his brown eyes, more than ready to take the offer that had been handed to him by sheer luck.

Behind him, were his two allies, both of which were pre-occupied and unable to fight.

Naruse Mio, the imouto of a certain spiky-haired guy that was probably in Kyoto by now, enjoying his time away from Kuoh Town.

Argento Asia, the nun that he swore to protect ever since she even bothered to give someone like him the time of day, forever earning his favor.

...Damn, that sounded sad now that he actually thought about it...

Anyway, those two teenaged girls were out of the fight, so he had to make sure that the bastard in front of him didn't get past him.

He was of course talking about the devil which led a bunch of weird monster-like beings, 'stray devils' if the perverted boy remembered right.

Diodora...uh...whatever his last name was, he didn't know or give a shit.

This guy was targeting Asia, as well as Mio for whatever reason.

No matter how he looked at it, this was the chance that he was waiting for...to get him back for what happened the last time they met.

Back then, at Buchou's summer retreat...

He was weaker then, and he had only just unlocked his Sacred Gear; the Boosted Gear.

Now was different, of course, but it didn't change the fact that this guy was a high-class devil.

...He couldn't fuck up, and he couldn't count on this guy being arrogant enough to hold back a second time, like before.

Not to mention he had these stray devils backing him...and where the hell did they even come from anyway?

"...Are you hesitating, boy?"

Issei snapped his gaze to Diodora, his skin crawling at the smile that the arrogant asshole tried to make, but failed miserably at.

It was probably because he had...well...half a face, with the other half burned beyond recognition.

"...You know that you can still run, right? There's no need for you to waste your life protecting someone that has done nothing for you. I'll even leave Asia alone...for now. So why don't you just abandon Mio-chan already?" the scarred devil wondered mockingly, his words slurred thanks to the fact that only half of his mouth even properly worked.

The perverted boy narrowed his eyes, but didn't respond, knowing on some level that the devil was just trying to psych him out.

But he wasn't going to let him, instead, he was just going to wring his neck.

Issei raised his fist, the green orb in the center of his red gauntlet glowing brightly as the device announced the start of his offensive.

Boost!

Diodora's remaining orange pupil dilated at the familiar sound.

"Quick! Before he has anymore time to power up! Destroy him immediately!" the devil ordered harshly, glaring at the monsters beside him.

As expected, they obeyed, refusing to question the master of their leader.

A humanoid with fur all over it's body, hooves, and curled horns charged alongside some kind of abomination made of scales, heading straight for the young reincarnated devil.

Both monsters raised their arms, prepared to crush their target, using their larger frames and presumably greater strength to their advantage.

Though this belief proved to be false, as Issei raised both of his hands and caught both of their swings, knowing damn well that he should have the strength to do so since it was just doubled.

He just needed to hold out a little-

Any plans were thrown out of the window when he saw a dark blur move around him through the side of his eye.

Following the blur, the brown-haired boy moved his head to the side, just in time to see a black spindly-looking creature with sharp claws charge him from behind while he was stuck in position.

He tried to think of a way out, but he couldn't come up with anything by the time that the monster slashed it's claw across his back.

The young man winced in pain, even though the attack wasn't strong enough to do anything serious, but it did do enough to distract him.

So it came as no surprise when the stray devils from before took the chance to ram their fists into him, sending him backwards and against the ground, rolling.

Issei was trying not to wheeze at the blow as he rolled back onto his feet, but he still clutched at his stomach as his body remained bowed, feeling the pain.

Still...!

Boost!

He had bought himself enough time to actually begin fighting back.

"Alright...this should be good..." he mumbled to himself, straightening his body as he eyed the trio of strays, already feeling the increased power bolster his resolve.

Good, because if he got knocked back one more time, Asia and Mio could seriously be put in danger.

"...Hey...are you doing alright out there? Wanna switch out? You're getting your rear-end handed to you, you know that, right?"

Issei tried not to be offended by the clear lack of belief that Mio just uttered, hearing the clear drawl in her voice from behind him.

Screw her! He could do this, damn it!

As the perverted boy swallowed the retort that he wanted to make, the three stray devils began stalking towards him again, slowly, with the two strong ones taking the lead as the spindly one moved behind them.

Then, in a sudden switch, the two monsters in front charged forward, screeching loudly as they descended on him.

This time at least, Issei was ready.

Instead of just raising his fists to intercept the two blows, which were aimed downwards thanks to their taller statures, he did something else entirely.

The young man watched the strays throw their fists, as if their movements were in slow motion, waiting for just the right moment as their close and parallel attacks moved closer.

That moment quickly approached when their fists were mere inches from his face, lighting up his eyes.

At that split-second, Issei took a step forward, moving into their fists, and raised his own in-between both of their arms, which were very close to one another thanks to their attempt at a coordinated attack.

As soon as both of his arms were in-between both of their extended arms, the pawn swung his arms out.

Instantly, with his boosted strength, both fists were sent awkwardly away from their original objective, as the young man let both strays fall over themselves when their attacks met nothing but the empty air.

As soon as that happened, Issei swung his body around, throwing his fists out, and smashed both monsters in the head before they could recover, hearing the sick *crack* of something breaking under his attack.

Brown eyes blinked, trying to stop his eyesight from spinning after he finished...well...spinning.

Good thing too, as once more, he saw a dark blur move past him through the side of his eye, trying to circle him.

And, as expected, the stray devil that stayed behind charged towards his back and moved to impale him with it's sharp claws.

In it's view, it was about to succeed.

Except, just like last time with the other strays, the perverted boy wasn't about to get caught by the same attack a second time.

But, unlike last time with it's compatriots, Issei wasn't even going to give it a chance.

The reincarnated devil turned his head to look at the stray, seeing where the claw was trying to impale, and then promptly, moved.

He lowered his body just enough to cleanly dodge the attack that would have stabbed through his shoulder, narrowly though, since he could literally feel the air shift slightly at the blow that moved past his hair and body.