"From what we know, there have been fifty-two deaths in just four days. All of them were caused by heart attacks. Every victim was either a wanted criminal or someone already being held in prison. There are probably other criminal deaths that still haven't been confirmed."
"Does that mean the death toll could easily be over a hundred?"
Murmurs spread through the conference room.
After the large number of unexplained deaths that had continued over the past four days since the hostage incident, the ICPO (International Criminal Police Organization) held a conference to discuss the situation.
"At any rate, they were all criminals who probably would have been executed anyway. Perhaps this is not something we should be too concerned about." an old man with blonde hair in a white suit argued.
"How stupid! It doesn't matter whether they were criminals or on death row. Killing them is still murder." A man in a red suit shot back.
"We aren't even sure they were murdered."
"There's no way over a hundred people could all have heart attacks at the same time! It has to be murder!"
The argument was between two people, while everyone else listened to them.
"Is it even possible to kill that many people at the same time?"
This time, another man spoke. He was on the same side as the man in the red suit. "We believe these killings were carefully planned and carried out by a large organization."
"If you're saying a large organization is involved, I can't help but think of the FBI or the CIA."
"I dare you to say that again!"
Apparently, the two men on the same side were Americans and connected to one of those organizations.
"Now, now, let's stop joking around. First, we need to determine whether these are murders or just strange coincidences," an old man in a green suit said, cutting into their argument.
"But don't all the autopsy reports say the deaths were caused by unexplained heart attacks?" the blond old man shot back.
"I don't see what else we can learn just from the way they died."
"That's right! It would only be worth investigating further if they had been stabbed or shot!"
More people started joining the argument.
"If that's the case, then we'll just have to let L solve this!"
Silence suddenly fell over the conference room. Representatives from multiple countries began murmuring and whispering to one another. The killings were happening all over the world, not just in Japan.
"Chief, what is L?" a rookie detective quietly asked the chief beside him.
"This is your first time at this conference, isn't it? No one knows L's real name, where he is, or what he looks like. But he has solved every case he has taken, no matter how difficult it was. He has cracked many of the world's unsolved cases. He's our ace—our trump card. Something like that," the chief replied.
"But isn't L the kind of arrogant person who only takes cases he's interested in?!"
"That's right. We can't even contact him."
Voices criticizing L started rising from different people across the conference room.
"L is already involved."
Everyone turned their attention toward the sound of footsteps coming up to the stage. A mysterious man dressed entirely in black stood before them, wearing a long trench coat, a high layered collar, and fitted gloves.
"L is already investigating the case," the man said.
"Huh? Watari?"
"Watari…"
"Who's Watari?" the rookie detective asked.
"He's the only man who can contact L. Furthermore, Watari's true identity is also unknown."
"Please be silent," Watari said. "L will now speak."
On the large projection screen behind Watari, the letter L appeared, and a distorted voice came through the conference room speakers.
"Members of the ICPO… I am L."
--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>
"Yarghhhhh! Don't chase me while waving that Durendaaaaal around!"
"All right then, start running. You're a Daywalker, so moving around in the sun shouldn't be a problem for you."
The wielder of the Holy Sword was chasing Rias's resident vampire across the grounds outside the old school building at sunset.
The vampire was an androgynous-looking boy with platinum-blond hair and pinkish-violet eyes. His hair was cut in a short bob, with several small bangs falling over his forehead, and he had pointed ears.
Gasper Vladi was Rias Gremory's other Bishop, a half-human, half-vampire. He had been sealed away because of a powerful ability he could not control: his Sacred Gear, Forbidden Balor View.
Forbidden Balor View gave its user the ability to momentarily stop time for anything within his line of sight. The length of the effect depended on the user's mastery of the Sacred Gear, as well as the target's power compared to the user's. The problem was that Gasper could not control this ability, he could only activate his Sacred Gear involuntarily. That was why he had been sealed away until now.
The other problem was that Gasper was originally a coward and a shut-in with a very shy personality, he also liked to wear female clothing.
After Rias managed to fight Kokabiel, even though she lost, she earned a reputation among the important decision-makers. They decided that she should be capable of handling him.
Kokabiel was a ten-winged Cadre, while Rias was only a two-winged High-class devil, yet she still managed to fight him for a short time with the help of her peerage. Because of that, the higher-ups were impressed with her. The same thing happened with Sona as well.
Adrien's Familia had been staying at the old school building for the past four days together with Rias's Familia. They still had not heard anything from Adrien, which only made them more worried. Most of their time was spent going to class—Rias had made a teleportation circle for them so they could travel back and forth between their school and the old school building—training, and spending time with their new friends.
Xenovia decided that she would help in training Gasper, so now Gasper was fleeing for his life. If Xenovia managed to land a blow with her Durendal, it would mean the end for him. According to her, a sound mind started with a well trained body, so she took his physical training upon herself.
Here's the corrected and smoother version in easy English:
"I was looking forward to meeting another Bishop like me, but he would not even look me in the eye…" Asia said to Issei with a regretful sniffle. She looked like she was about to cry.
Like Xenovia, Koneko was also chasing after Gasper with a handful of garlic.
"…Gaspy. Garlic will make you big and strong."
"Yarghhhhh! Why are you bullying me, Konekooooo?!"
"I think that's a bad idea. Maybe we need to be gentle with him," Mahiru said as she watched the young vampire being chased around. "I wish Adrien were here. He could probably find a way to help him…"
"No, it's a good thing he isn't here. Gasper would probably shit his pants from the kind of stuff Adrien would put him through. He might even bully him for fun." Mary said shaking her head.
"Adrien isn't that bad!" Mahiru retorted.
"Not that bad!? I still have PTSD from the shit he did to Riser Phenex, if you was watching with us you would have understood how scary he is!" Saji Genshirou said as he approached the group.
"Hey, Saji," Issei greeted his friend.
"Yo, Hyoudou. I heard you let your Familia's shut-in out, so I thought I'd come take a look."
"Yeah, over there. The kid Xenovia is chasing around with her weapon."
"W-wait, she's actually waving her legendary Holy Sword around? Are you serious about that? Ah! It's a girl! And a blond!"
"Sorry to break it to you, but he's a cross-dresser."
Hearing that, Saji was immediately crestfallen—completely devastated.
"That fraud. Don't people usually cross-dress because they want to show themselves off? He's an indoor kid. Who's he trying to impress? That makes no sense. I don't get it."
"That makes two of us. I don't understand Gasper either. Feminine clothes suit him so well that I don't even know what to say. Anyway, what's up?"
Rustle…
Everyone turned their attention toward where the sound had come from.
"Heh. So this is where the servants of the Demon King families come to play?"
A man with black hair and golden bangs, dressed in a men's summer yukata, walked toward them.
"Azazel…!"
"Yo, Mr. Red Dragon Emperor."
Everyone immediately turned to look at the fallen angel. In an instant, the atmosphere grew tense.
Flash!
Xenovia quickly took a fighting stance with her sword ready. Mary instantly summoned Excalibur Rapid and Excalibur Destruction. Asia hid behind Issei while he activated his Boosted Gear.
"H-Hyoudou, is that really Azazel?!"
"I'm not joking around, Saji. I've already met him a few times now."
Saji also braced himself for battle.
Azazel let out an amused laugh when he saw all of them ready to fight. "Relax. I'm not in the mood today. Come on now, little low-class devil brats. You do realize none of you can beat me, right? If I wanted trouble, you'd already know it. I'm not here to waste time bullying kids. I was just taking a walk and thought I'd stop by your little demon school. So, is your Holy Demonic Sword kid around? I'd like to see that thing for myself."
"Kiba isn't here! And even if he was, I'd never hand him over to you!" Issei shot back.
"…Bold words from someone who couldn't even stand against Kokabiel," Azazel said lazily. "There's no chance you'd beat me. Still… the Holy Demonic Sword kid really isn't here? That's a shame." He scratched the back of his head as he casually walked closer.
Azazel pointed toward a nearby tree. "You. The vampire hiding over there."
Gasper, who had indeed been hiding behind the tree, suddenly let out a panicked cry.
Azazel walked straight toward him. "You're the one with Forbidden Balor View, right? If you don't learn to control that thing, it's going to hurt everyone around you. It's a support-type Sacred Gear, so it can become useful if you make up for its weaknesses. But unless I'm mistaken, you devils are behind when it comes to Sacred Gear research."
He stopped in front of Gasper and looked directly into his eyes.
"A weapon that activates through one of the five senses is dangerous. If you pour too much power into it, you might trigger it by accident."
Gasper trembled violently as the fallen angel stood over him.
Azazel suddenly turned and pointed at Saji. "That's the Absorption Line, right? Since you're here training, why don't you try using it? Hook it onto the vampire and activate it while draining his power. Do that, and he'll be far less likely to run away."
Saji's expression stiffened when he heard that. "…I-I can use it to absorb power from other Sacred Gears? I thought all it did was drain energy from my enemies and weaken them…"
Azazel let out a tired sigh. "…This is exactly what I mean when I say people these days have no idea how to properly use their Sacred Gears," he said, sounding genuinely disappointed. "The Absorption Line carries the power of one of the Five Great Dragon Kings—the Prison Dragon, Vritra. Though, to be fair, it was my research that uncovered that little detail."
He folded his arms and continued.
"You can connect it to almost anything and drain power from it. You can even detach it for a while and make it latch onto someone… or something… else."
"S-so I could… I could connect it to Hyoudou, for example? And then Hyoudou would receive power from it?"
"Indeed," Azazel replied. "The more you grow, the more lines you'll be able to use. Your power output will rise as well."
He then pointed at Gasper while looking at Issei. "The fastest way to strengthen that Sacred Gear would be to have your vampire drink the blood of the Boosted Gear's host. Give him some of your blood, and his power will increase."