The rest of the journey passed without incident.
When Rod saw the road sign that read "Kuoh Town," he knew he had arrived at a major plot point.
Past the sign, a modest-sized city came into view. Though little-known on the map, the town was under the jurisdiction of the high-ranking devil, Rias Gremory, and boasted all the facilities and infrastructure one would expect ,except an airport.
Rod had visited Kuoh Town years ago. Back then, the main story hadn't yet begun, his strength was lacking, and there were no system quests to motivate him. So, he left.
Now, years later, he had returned ,for Asia's sake.
"This really is a high-ranking devil's territory?"
Rod was driving when Lavinia, seated in the passenger seat, muttered the question to herself.
Her sky-blue eyes scanned the streets through the window, a trace of confusion clearly etched on her refined, elven-like face.
"Is something wrong?" Rod asked.
As a seasoned mage, Lavinia's understanding of magical energy ran far deeper than his.
"No. That's exactly the problem. Everything seems too normal. Typically, devils will set up detection barriers across their territories to prevent intrusions. But even after we've entered the town, I haven't felt a single trace of magical fluctuation."
"There are only two explanations. One: the territory's overseer is dangerously lax and hasn't set up any barriers. Or two: my skill isn't refined enough to detect the concealment spells."
"I'm more inclined to believe the latter. After all, rumor has it the devil in charge of Kuoh Town is the younger sister of the Demon King himself."
"In other words, someone not to be underestimated."
Lavinia fell silent, her thoughts drifting into overanalysis.
"Looks like we should proceed with caution, Mr. Rod."
Rod almost got swept away by her logic, but then he remembered Rias Gremory's track record in the original story.
Took down a few mid- and low-level fallen angels, a couple of stray devils, and some rogue exorcists. During the Holy Sword arc, she got wrecked by fallen angel cadre Kokabiel. Against Riser Phenex, another high-ranking devil, she was helpless. At the Three Faction Peace Conference? Her peerage member had to use a time-stop artifact just to keep up.
Other than that, what stood out most about Rias was... her fanservice.
As the main heroine, her moments of glory were, if not nonexistent, then definitely hard to recall.
Still, Rod wasn't here to evaluate her combat stats. Her... assets were exactly his type.
"I don't think you need to overthink it, Lavinia."
Rod wasn't about to say Rias's greatest contribution was eye candy rather than power, so he opted to gently talk her down from the conspiracy ledge.
"I know, I know. But as the saying goes…"
"Melius cautus."
"…What?"
"Sorry, that just came out."
"Ugh… You threw me off. What I meant to say was, 'Better safe than sorry!'"
Lavinia enunciated the idiom in painfully accented Latin.
Though she was Italian, her Latin had a strange hint of a Japanese admiral.
Rod managed to keep a straight face, barely.
Still, her caution wasn't misplaced.
She'd spent the last few years clashing with Oz's most dangerous witches, veterans of the magical arts. Just look at Augusta: a top-tier mage and a Sacred Gear wielder. Lavinia was used to high-difficulty encounters. Suddenly finding herself in a "noob zone" like this would naturally skew her instincts.
Plus, the Gremory name carried weight.
Even those unfamiliar with Rias would think twice upon hearing she was the Super Devil's sister. That was precisely why the Himejima Clan gave up chasing Akeno, fear of her brother's wrath.
Still, having a mage on edge wasn't a bad thing. Rod could trust Lavinia to watch his back while he opened the system interface to check an ongoing quest:
[Quest: Asia Argento]
[Objective: Protect Asia Argento from fallen angel interference.]
[Reward: Church Reputation +10, Random Reward ×1.]
Midway through their drive into the city, the quest tracker activated.
Only Rod could see the glowing arrows on the ground, guiding him directly to his objective.
He didn't stop or meander, he followed the markers straight toward the location of the fallen angels.
He'd already spent too long in Kyoto. The fallen angels hiding here were likely growing impatient.
In fact, they were.
The fallen angels stationed in Kuoh Town were beyond frustrated.
Ever since Raynare had learned from an inside source that the holy maiden Asia Argento had been excommunicated, she'd immediately contacted a group of rogue exorcists in Italy. Her instructions had been clear: deliver the saint safely to Kuoh.
They'd acknowledged the order, but then disappeared. No further messages. Nothing but radio silence.
If not for a second tip from their informant, claiming a man dressed as an exorcist had indeed picked Asia up, Raynare would've gone to the Vatican herself.
But that was suicidal.
The Vatican was sacred ground. For fallen angels and devils, setting foot there was like writing their own obituary.
Raynare knew her limits. That's why she used expendable rogue agents.
Still, the wait was getting ridiculous.
"Seriously, Raynare, a flight from Italy to Japan, then a train to Kuoh? Even if they walked the whole way, twenty-four hours would've been enough. Where the hell is this so-called saint?"
The speaker was a twin-tailed girl whose voice carried sharp irritation.
Like Raynare, she was a fallen angel, but instead of a sleek combat outfit, she wore an elaborate Gothic maid dress with an oversized, ornamental pink lance in hand.
"Relax. They'll be here soon. Maybe something held them up, like a delayed flight…"
Raynare herself was already irritable, but she still tried to make excuses.
"Maybe the plane crashed? I heard Boeing's been dropping aircraft like flies these past few years. There's still one flight they haven't even found."
This came from a sultry woman with azure hair styled in a mature, elegant fashion.
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