[Word Count: 1962]
...
"How come I've never heard of the Flame Reaver?" Rias eyed Phainon with great doubt. As the daughter of the House of Gremory and sister to the Satan Lucifer, her information channels were quite vast.
Either this Flame Reaver had never entered the eyes of the public, or he didn't exist. Still, Rias decided to ask her brother later; perhaps this Flame Reaver was only known to the higher-ups of Devil society.
"That's because he strikes from the shadows! He's a swift executioner, culling down these "special" people with a grand purpose in mind," Phainon spoke with such a righteous and saintly aura that Rias almost felt like he was telling the truth. There was a feeling to the white-haired man, a hidden divinity of sorts…
Rias was starting to feel that he was no ordinary man. He initially wanted to tell a story about twelve heroes, which led Rias to conclude that Phainon was one of them. But what mythology did these heroes belong to?
"I'm just here to ask you to contact your brother to notify him of this grand threat."
"Why not tell him yourself? You seem to hold great status; my brother or any of the other Satans would definitely listen to what you have to say."
Rias suspected a hidden agenda, something that required her to be in the know.
"Hmm, of course I could have, but my original goal was to meet with the leaders and factions nearby here. I tracked the Flame Reaver to be in this general area, around this prefecture and Kyoto. I would be assured in the Flame Reaver's capture if the great Satan Lucifer knew of this."
"Also, other than you, I'm going to contact the West and East Youkai Factions if nothing befalls me before then. The Flame Reaver is quite a cunning, slippery fellow after all."
Rias fell silent and observantly stared at the man before her. His eyes didn't seem to hold malice but a bright conviction to bring down this Flame Reaver. This man was suspicious but seemed to be telling the truth, or at least part of it.
"I'll contact my brother."
Phainon smiled, having achieved his goal, "Well then, I shall be going now, lest the Flame Reaver escape my pursuit. If you want to contact me… Hm, I'll appear once more in 3 days if nothing occurs."
"Oh, don't be surprised next time!" The white-haired man chuckled.
His lax body pushed against the wall, raising his arm in a finger salute before disappearing from the room. The heavy tension that engulfed the room has slightly dissipated, but Rias's peerage was left on alert.
"Buchou, do you think that man, Phainon as he calls himself, is telling the truth?" Kiba spoke up, his hand clenched into a tight fist. He could feel that the little amount of strength Phainon used to subdue him could not even equal 1% of his power.
"There's a chance it's real, but there's also a chance he's manipulating us toward a goal. I can't be certain, but one thing is for sure: I am going to notify my brother of this, both about Phainon and this 'Flame Reaver.'"
…
"Whoo!~ That was thrilling," I leaned back in my chair inside the guest room that Mr. and Mrs. Kobayashi provided me with.
I would be lying if I said that I didn't enjoy acting as Phainon for a little bit. The complete power gap between us made it seem like I was bullying them, but to an extent, I was.
Weaving my own narrative into reality was truly exhilarating, but now I needed to make it happen.
Rias and her Peerage had granted me no small amounts of EP.
[Emotion Point Summary]:
Rias Gremory: 364(x2) - Shock, Suspicion
Akeno Himejima: 100(x2) - Shock
Yuuto Kiba: 225(x2) - Shock, Anger, Helplessness
Koneko Toujou: 214(x2) - Shock, Anger, Helplessness
Issei Hyoudou: 100(x3) - Confused
Total: 2,106 EP
There was definitely a boost depending on the character's importance in the plot. Issei, as the main character, seemed to multiply the amount of EP given by three, while the supporting cast multiplied it by two.
I don't know the criteria for how the Emotion Points are distributed, but they seem to be based on the level of emotions. I mainly talked with Rias, so I invoked more emotions out of her while I barely interacted with Akeno or Issei. I also manhandled Kiba and Koneko, so there was their source of points.
Just five people had given me 2,000 points for a short stint. I couldn't imagine a faction's worth of points or even the entire world—no wonder the EP prices are outrageously high for most things.
Now, what could I do with 3,105 points? It was enough to deploy somewhere randomly, but I already shot myself in the foot setting up the Flame Reaver's general location between here and Kyoto.
There was no guarantee my luck would manifest in this area or even in Japan. I also didn't have Flame Reaver's form unlocked; I just wanted to set up the story beforehand. I also planned just to use Phainon and disguise him as the Flame Reaver, since no one in this world truly knows who the Flame Reaver is.
As if hearing my thoughts, the system suddenly spoke up.
[Prop Creation Available: Flame Reaver Outfit (100 EP) + Flame Reaver's Mask (250 EP)]
Wait a minute, are you actually sentient?
"..."
Yep, no answer. Maybe the system was guided by my thoughts a bit, offering help when I was stuck or needed it. It likely doesn't tell how Emotion Points are calculated, since I can experiment with that. But there was no way I would ever find a Prop Creation function on my own.
"Why's the Mask separate?"
I mentally pressed on the Flame Reaver Mask, watching it expand in information.
[The Flame Reaver's Mask: Used by the Khaslana of the loop previous to the final cycle, it became a mask of the Executioner and mystery. Beneath it hid a broken man burning to ash to achieve a goal cemented in the foundation of millions of cycles and oceans of blood]
- Voice Modulation
- Image Distortion
Huh, that's quite useful actually. While I didn't have the Flame Reaver's true power, I could now set my plans into motion without it. The only problems would be when I needed Phainon and the Flame Reaver in the same place without raising suspicion that they were the same person.
[If enough EP is given, the Host can manifest with a percentage of your Avatar's strength or appearance personally. However, this siphons the strength from your Avatar at the same time]
And how much is this?
[100,000 for 5%]
Yep, more outrageous prices, but I don't need both in the picture for now. Phainon will set the framework for the terror of the Flame Reaver, while the masked Executioner will silently weave lies to reality. Unluckily, I don't have the power of Coreflame of Trickery.
I was planning to have Flame Reaver enact a similar ploy to the acquisition of the 12 Coreflames, except replace Coreflames with Longinus Sacred Gears.
The term "special people" that I used early to denote Issei was referring to both his status as the main character of the series, and also the Red Dragon Emperor.
He wouldn't awaken his Boosted Gear until the fight with Raynare to save Asia Argento, but I was setting up foundations.
Alright, system! I'll buy the Flame Reaver's entire fit.
EP was deducted from my balance, dropping from 3,105 to 2,755. I could see the outfit manifesting in the Avatar Space, awaiting usage, and I just had the right place to use it.
Since I've entered the eyes of the Devils and Angels (somehow), it's only fitting that the Fallen Angels are next.
And what better way to do that than the few lingering here in Kuoh?
Having the Flame Reaver appear so early after stating his existence could lead to heavy suspicions, but what if the Devils don't know?
I believe with enough strength, the Fallen Angels will "oblige" with my orders.
...
Shadows danced in the night, and trees softly drifted against the night breeze. There was an eerie atmosphere that enveloped the silent streets of Kuoh Town, as if something lurked in the darkness.
Located inside the abandoned church, once housing religious clergymen, a group of Fallen Angels had decided to desecrate it with their unholy presence.
Its history was quite deep and tied to one of the great houses of the Undeworld, but that was a story for another day.
In the basement, they convened to discuss a major issue.
"Raynare, how should we proceed? Issei Hyoudou has been resurrected under Rias Gremory's protection."
Dohnaseek had attacked the newly reincarnated Devil a few hours ago, but was repelled by Rias.
"And? What should we be fearful of? I've already made contact with the red-haired bitch myself."
Raynare, or Amano Yumma, as Issei would remember her, cackled with arrogance. After killing Issei, she had briefly fought with Rias Gremory, fleeing after neither had gained the upper hand.
"Tell me, Dohnaseek. Whose orders are we under?"
"Lord Azazel."
"And what did he tell us to do?"
"Eliminate Sacred Gear users who are possible threats to us."
In Raynare's mind, all that mattered was her loyalty to Azazel and Shemhazai. After assessing that Issei Hyoudou had a Sacred Gear, she eliminated him. Other than that, she was waiting for Freed Sellzen to bring her little lamb to Kuoh Town before she would set her other plans into motion.
As a fanatical researcher of Sacred Gears, Azazel was obsessed with studying them and acquiring new knowledge. Before its complete discontinuation and destruction, Raynare managed to snag a device capable of extracting a Sacred Gear from its user.
She believed that Azazel would be fascinated with her if she succeeded in integrating a Sacred Gear as a non-human. Sacred Gears were only bestowed upon humans or hybrids, but there was a special case with Sairaorg Bael.
If Raynare succeeded, Azazel would likely give her a promotion or even put her in his eyes.
Raynare smiled and looked at the other two in the room.
Kalawarner and Mittelt had no opinions on the matter. They were simply following the orders of Grigori and Raynare's leadership. The four of them had already been treading on dangerous grounds.
Kuoh Town was home to the sisters of Satan Lucifer and Satan Leviathan. Their sneaking into the town and actively killing a Sacred Gear user was pushing their luck.
After Raynare had accomplished her plans, they were likely to leave Kuoh and take refuge in Grigori.
"Hm, do you three feel that?" Raynare's attention was suddenly drawn by an eerie aura that seeped through the walls and into the basement. The four summoned their Light Spears and went upstairs to the church's main section.
There, they encountered a tall figure draped in a black cloak. The shadows around them flickered as if worshipping a god. The figure had his back turned to them as if they didn't have a single care if the Fallen Angels attacked or not.
His arms and legs were adorned by golden armor, with the only difference being that his right arm was covered in a silver gauntlet instead.
"Fallen Angels on Devil territory…" A voice echoed through the abandoned church with great gravitas. The voice was ethereal-like, calm, and crackled with a low rumble.
"You…"
The figure turned around to reveal its whole appearance. A golden mask covered their face, and on the chest was a pitch-black hole with a crescent moon design.
They raised their right arm and pointed a finger at Raynare.
"Have something quite interesting."