Rhode's meeting with Gabriel ended quickly. As a Seraph, she had much to prepare for the summit. Rhode didn't leave empty-handed; aside from a free holy sword, he had managed some "up-close and personal" contact with the greatest "peaks" of Heaven.
When he left the church, Xenovia and Irina were kept behind. Gabriel needed them for security duties during the meeting. Rhode drove home alone.
"Did Ms. Xenovia and Ms. Irina not come back with you?" Asia asked curiously as Rhode entered the house.
"No, they were summoned by Gabriel for another task."
The current situation was entirely different from the original plot. In reality, Rhode had only changed one major thing: he hadn't given Kokabiel the chance to shout "God is dead" to the world. That one change had altered Xenovia's fate and prevented Rias from successfully "poaching" them into her peerage.
"Ga... Gabriel?!" Asia's mind blanked for a second before she registered the name. Her eyes went as wide as saucers. "Does that mean...?"
"Yeah. Gabriel the Seraph. One of the Four Great Seraphs," Rhode nodded.
Strictly speaking, there were more than four Seraphs, but Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael were the four with the most special status. Rhode remembered others like Metatron, Sandalphon, and Raziel. From the sheer number of Seraph-class beings, it was clear Heaven was actually the strongest of the Three Factions. A Seraph's power was roughly equivalent to a Maou. If the God of the Bible were still alive, they would easily be the world's number one superpower.
"It... it really was Lady Gabriel?! In that case... will the Lord also appear in Kuoh Town?"
Hearing this, Rhode thought to himself that the grass on the God of the Bible's grave was already several feet high. If He were still alive, there wouldn't even be a summit. The Underworld and Fallen Angels wouldn't even have the right to negotiate. As Rhode recalled, the Great War had been initiated by the God of the Bible. Not for the sake of "battle for fun," but because He knew His end was near after sealing 666 (Trihexa) and decided to wipe out the Fallen Angels and the Underworld to protect Heaven and humanity. A legendary "yandere lover" protector.
Unfortunately, the "Previous Emperor" had fallen mid-campaign, leaving behind a lonely exit.
"God likely won't appear. Only the Seraphs are attending this meeting," Rhode decided to keep the secret of God's death to himself for now. With Asia's fragile heart, she'd probably faint on the spot if she found out.
"Want to see a Seraph with your own eyes? I can take you to see the world once the meeting starts."
"Huh? Is... is that okay? Actually, maybe not. I'd probably embarrass myself, and that would be too much trouble for Mr. Rhode." Asia shook her head and waved her hands after agonizing over the choice for a few seconds.
Rhode didn't push it. "Then I'll get you a signed photo of Gabriel later." Asia nodded enthusiastically.
Watching their conversation end, Kuroka sauntered over with her cat-like grace and hopped into Asia's arms. "Can I attend the meeting tomorrow night too, meow? Shirone will be there, meow."
"First, go ask Koneko if she'll let you go. Then come ask me."
"Got it, meow." Kuroka hopped out of Asia's arms and slipped outside. She took a quick lap around the courtyard and was back within seconds. "My sister agreed, meow! She said she wants to see her big sister tomorrow night, meow!"
"..." Rhode was speechless. "Do you think I'm blind?"
"Whatever. This time, Lavinia will come with me. Everyone else stays here."
Lavinia had been a participant in the Kokabiel incident, so her attendance at the summit wasn't an issue. Hearing this, the blonde girl nodded silently. She would follow Rhode's lead. Besides, she heard Vali was working for Azazel; maybe she could see him there.
The weekend arrived quickly—the day of the summit.
Before it was even time to get out of bed, Katereia contacted Rhode via the scale for a quick review of the plan. Rhode wasn't worried about her messing up. It wasn't exactly a complex plan to begin with. To succeed, they just needed to fool the rest of the Chaos Brigade and trust in the character of Sirzechs and Serafall.
To be honest, if these were devils from any other world, Rhode's plan would be a guaranteed failure. But as Maous, Sirzechs and Serafall were more "human" than many actual humans.
"One more thing," Katereia added. "Azazel's subordinate, the White Dragon Emperor Vali, is the mole we contacted. He agreed to help us disrupt the meeting. If we make our move, he might get in the way as part of the act, so keep an eye out."
"Understood."
Rhode ended the communication. Evening came, and after dinner, Rias's familiar drove Rhode and Lavinia to Kuoh Academy. During the ride, Lavinia gripped Rhode's sleeve, appearing a bit nervous at the prospect of seeing Vali.
"Don't worry. This time, even if I have to drag him, I'll bring him over," Rhode said with a light chuckle.
Lavinia sighed softly. "That boy is very stubborn. Doing that might have the opposite effect."
"It's best if we can talk it out, but as you saw the other day, he doesn't exactly look like the talking type." Rhode shrugged. "Relax, I won't hurt him."
"No... I'm worried about you getting hurt, Rhode..." Lavinia looked at him with a strange expression. "Vali is like me; he awakened a Longinus as a child and has trained incredibly hard. He mastered the Balance Breaker years ago. He's likely grown much stronger by now. But you, Rhode, you're still a beginner when it comes to Longinus..."
"By the way, have you felt anything regarding your Balance Breaker lately?" she asked concernedly. "You've been watching a lot of Tokusatsu lately; that's related to the Balance Breaker, right? Are you planning to turn your Longinus into a set of armor?"
"Yeah," Rhode nodded.
They say "cramming at the last minute" doesn't always work, but regarding the Balance Breaker for his Purple Flame Executioner's Stake, he had indeed felt a resonance lately. The direction was almost certainly an armor-type transformation, but he wasn't sure what form it would take.
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High School DxD : Reincarnated into the Multiverse, but it's High School DxD (256 Chapters – Ongoing)
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