Tales Of The Fearless Dragon 46

Hey everyone, and get ready for this chapter. This chapter will be the prologue that starts off this new Arc. The chapter itself won't be long, but it's mainly about getting the starting points out of the way so we can move on to the important parts. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit fan-based parody. Highschool DxD, Highschool DxD New, Highschool DxD Born, Highschool DxD EX, and Highschool DxD Hero are all owned by Funimation, Fushimi Shobo, TNK, Passione, and Ichiei Ishibumi. Please support the official release.

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"Shirou" Regular speech.

"Shirou" Thoughts.

DRAGON SHOT Attack names.

(Shirou) Words said previously.

"SHIROU!" Shouting speech.

[Ddraig] Dragon talking.

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Fighting Heroes And Meeting Parents

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—…

It was back then, during my Third-Year of Middle School…

I remember it well, as this fight wasn't like my usual fights as my opponent wasn't a delinquent…

Today, the man I was fighting was a Karate instructor…

An old man with grey hair that was bolding a bit, he was in his late 50s and was wearing a Karate gi…

"Gugh!"

Hmph… That settles it."

I stood proudly over my defeated opponent while he lay there on the floor of the dojo's training hall…

There was a reason we were fighting today. Ever since I started Middle School, I made it a mission to learn as many different types of fighting that were available, so I went around finding different Martial Arts dojos and training facilities and trained there until I learned all that I needed…

But while I was studying Martial Arts. I never actually stopped brawling. If anything, I used the Martial Arts I learned on weaker delinquents to see if they'd be useful in a real fight. It was much more effective in my eyes than just practice-sparing in a dojo…

But as always, the time came when the head of the dojo learned of my actions. It happened every time. They'd lecture me on how 'my actions were unbecoming of a student of this dojo' or 'how I abused their teachings by using my skills for violence'. After that, I'd be expelled from their dojo, but I'd already learned enough by then, so I'd just find another training ground…

But this time was different. This old man didn't just lecture me. Instead, he challenged me. I'm guessing he thought that he could knock some sense into me. He must have thought by defeating me, he'd show me the true meaning of Martial Arts and set me on the right path…

I thought he watched too many movies…

This didn't have a movie ending. The honorable Karate master didn't stop his rebellious student, and the student wasn't reformed and became a better person…

The old man didn't realize that I was a lot stronger than he thought, nor how much his old body wasn't suited for fighting anymore…

"Too bad, old man."

With those parting words, I turned to leave, but he still called out to me…

"Wait, Shirou…" Shirou stopped after a moment, mildly curious as to what the old man planned to say now. "Don't you understand? What you're doing isn't right. Karate isn't a weapon to be used for violence; its purpose is to protect those who can't protect themselves. That's the purpose of all Martial Arts."

Shirou let out a tired sigh. "I was wondering what you had to say, but are you seriously just giving me another lecture?"

"Ask yourself, why do you think I accepted you as a student of this dojo?"

"I paid the membership fee?"

"I knew what you were the moment I first saw you. I could see it in your eyes. You were someone who only thought of fighting for its own sake. You cared nothing of discipline or self-defense. All you interested in was strength."

Shirou was a little surprised at how accurately the old man described him…

Being able to realize all that right after meeting him meant he must have pretty sharp eyes…

"If you knew all that, why did you train me anyway? You must have seen this coming."

"Because I saw something else in you. You were not an ordinary young man, you had potential that was unlike anything I had ever seen, but you were already on a dark path. I don't know what caused it, but the path that you were on was one of violence. I couldn't let a young man with a promising future be consumed by such darkness. I felt that it was my duty to guide you away from that path before it was too late."

Shirou scoffed at his declaration. "So that's it? You wanted to 'save' me? He sounded offended by the very idea. "Well, unfortunately, you failed, considering I'm walking out of this dojo as the same person I was when I first walked in."

Shirou continued to walk away as the old man reached out one last time.

"Shirou, the road you are on is one of self-deprivation, it's destroyed men before, good men, and you'll meet the same fate. If you continue on this path, you will pass a point you cannot return from. You will never be able to find peace."

He didn't say it, but I could tell what he was worried about…

He feared that I would eventually become something worse than a thug who hurt people because he liked it…

He feared I would eventually become something much worse…

A killer…

A murderer…

Someone with blood on his hands…

But he just didn't understand; he said it wasn't too late, but it was. I had already killed people long before this point. My hands already had blood on them. That was what put me on this path and why I had no intention of stepping off of it…

Shirou stopped in front of the door and gave the old man a last look. "That's fine with me. I honestly don't care if I ever find peace. Darkness, destruction—Both are fine with me. As long as I can get what I want more than anything, I don't care where this path takes me."

After saying those words, I walked out the door and left that dojo…

I never saw that old man again…

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In the present, in Kuoh Academy during lunch break, Shirou was slowly waking up as the morning sunlight started to reflect in his eyes.

"…Mmm…" Shirou moaned softly as he started to awaken.

"Hey, you listening?"

Hearing the voice of his friend—Ren, Shirou looked around and became aware that he was on the roof of the school, eating his bento with Ren, Aika, Asia, Irina, and Xenovia.

Now fully awake, Shirou rubbed his eyes and answered. "No, what were we talking about?"

"Come on, pay attention, we were talking about how it's almost the school trip. So, we need to decide on our group."

Aika informed him while eating her.

It was true, the school trip is coming up. And thus, the second years were going to Kyoto. Lately, so many things have happened to them that no one could have been blamed for forgetting about it. Around that time, their uniforms would have changed into that of a winter uniform—However, the heat of summer was still present.

"Why don't we just make a group with the 4 of us?" Shirou suggested, like it was obvious.

After saying that, Ren nodded. "That's actually what were discussing while you dozed off. Turns out, the place where we will sleep is for 3 or 4 people, and our rooms are separated by gender. The girls are fine because they can just room with Xenovia and Irina, but for us, we'll need to decide on one or maybe two more guys to bunk with."

"You could always ask Kiba-kun to join you guys. Don't you think that'll be great? The three of you all sharing one room. The manga club will go crazy with a Yaoi scenario like that. It'll be a paradise because it'll consist of three Bishonen's, you know?"

The girl who was wearing glasses said all that with such a lecherous face. Ren pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Can't you go through one conversation without turning it sexual?"

"I could, but I don't wanna." Aika grinned.

"Moving on, we can worry about who we'll be sharing a room with later. Right now, let's settle on our group for the morning activities." Shirou took control of the conversation. "We can just stick with the original idea of having a group of the 4 of us."

"Sounds good to me. We're better off sticking together. You agree, right, Asia?" Aika asked her.

"Y-Yes, I want to be with Shirou-san."

Asia proclaimed with a smile.

"All right then, it's settled"

"Yes!"

With that, Asia forgot about her lunch as she reached out and hugged Shirou tightly.

"Y-You guys sure became more 'closer' after the sports festival ended… You guys are talking twenty-four-seven while sending the glares of love…" Aika said that while pressing her glasses up.

"Although, technically, that's mostly done on Asia's part." Ren pointed out. "I mean, she's always been clingy, but nowadays, they're practically inseparable."

"Well, it's not surprising after what happened." Shirou reasoned, not particularly bothered by Asia's attachment. "Besides, I have people clinging to me all the time, and of all of them, Asia is the most tolerable."

"You know, you're a lot more magnanimous about this than usual. You never have this level-headed attitude when Mika is clinging to you like that." Ren noted.

"That's because Asia isn't my Sister."

Shirou felt annoyed that he even needed to point out that distinction.

It was true, though. The distance between him and Asia shortened after the sports festival. Before, their relationship was both intimate and special. They shared a bond that was unique, one that they didn't have with anyone else.

But after the kiss, their relationship grew to a new level… After being free from Diodora, Asia felt as though a weight had been lifted from her chest. It was as though the last vestiges of her troubled past had finally been extinguished, and now she could at last move forward. She felt free, liberated, and truly at peace with her new life.

And even though it didn't seem possible, she fell deeper in love with Shirou. He had always been her savior and the object of her joy, but somehow, after the scars on her heart had faded, her heart grew, and even more love found its way inside, love that was directed at Shirou.

Ever since the incident, Asia gave him a morning kiss on his cheek every morning, sat beside him during every meal, and hugged him every time she saw an opportunity. Everyone around them could see the increase in her attachment to him, but nobody said anything against it, as most found it to be endearing.

"Well, that's how it is, so let's do this as well. For the morning activities, we can have Shirou, Asia, and Ren form a three-person group, and, Xenovia-chi, Irina-san, and I will form another three-person group, and we can all just hang out together. And that way, Xenovia-chi and Irina-san will feel better as well, right?"

Xenovia stopped eating the especially large bento and nodded at Aika's idea.

"Yeah. I also want to be with Shirou."

"It will be more fun with Shirou-kun!"

Irina, who was eating bread, also agreed.

"Just like that, let's move as a group with these six people. Kiyomizu-dera! And Kinkaku-ji and Ginkaku-ji are waiting for us!" Aika declared it while having her glasses glow.

"What about you? Are you looking forward to sightseeing in Kyoto?" Ren asked Shirou.

Shirou shrugged. "Well, I can't say I'm all that into the traditional stuff. That said, I am interested in seeing Kinkaku-ji. A temple made of gold is something I definitely want to see for myself."

Ren chuckled a bit. "That is where your focus would be."

Everyone was happily chatting and enjoying each other's company. It was a truly refreshing atmosphere that was awash with peace.

(If you continue on this path, you will pass a point you cannot return from. You will never be able to find peace.)

Those words seemed to ring in his mind once more. Shirou felt a pang of irritation. He didn't regret the choices he made in the past nor his actions, nor did he believe his words were wrong, but for some reason, memories of his previous life as a human seemed to keep surfacing in the back of his mind.

"What's wrong?" Ren asked, noticing his scowl. "You look like something is bothering you."

"It's nothing… Just… Just thinking about an unpleasant dream."

"A dream?" Asia repeated curiously. "About what?"

"Just something that happened in the past. It's nothing."

"If it's nothing, you might as well tell us." Irina reasoned. "It might help to talk about it."

"Yeah, you can't say something like that and not expect us to be curious." Aika added. "You know we're just going to keep asking until you tell us."

Shirou groaned and tilted his head back. "I beat up this old man one time, no big deal."

"What?" Irina covered her mouth in shock. "How is that not a big deal?"

"You attacked an old person?" Xenovia was taken aback. "Why would you do something like that?"

"I know that you're a delinquent and everything, but attacking the elder is a different matter entirely." Aika gave him a look of disbelief.

"Shut it!" Shirou snapped at all of them. "This is why I didn't want to tell you guys!"

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After school, the five of them parted ways with Aika and made their way to the Club room. It was about time to go home, and most of them were talking about the upcoming trip while drinking green tea.

Azazel hadn't come to the club room today. Lately, he had been returning to the Underworld to discuss something. Even so, he still shows up at school from time to time, so school life must be fun for him.

"If I remember, it's about time for the school trip for the Second-Years." Rias said that while drinking green tea elegantly.

"Where did Chief-san and Akeno-san go last year?" Asia asked them.

Akeno answered her question. "We also went to Kyoto. I went to Kinkaku-ji, Ginkaku-ji, and other locations with Chief."

Rias nodded her head and continued. "Yes. But there are only a limited number of places you can visit within three days and four nights. You should think of going everywhere and make a plan beforehand and move accordingly. If you don't include the time to eat and go sightseeing, you will regret it. You will mainly transport from one place to the other by using buses and trains, but lots of time would be wasted while you are traveling on transport."

"It was bad that we didn't think about transport duration. Buchou wanted to go everywhere, so we lost the time to go to the Nijou-jou, which we were planning to see last. So she was stomping her foot at the railway station."

When Akeno said that with a small laugh, Rias' face turned red.

"Mou, you promised me you wouldn't say that, remember? I was in high spirits. For a Japanese lover like me, it was Kyoto that I admired so much. So I had my eyes taken by the town and souvenir shops more than necessary." Rias started talking about her memories.

"I'm probably going to regret asking this, but why make such a big deal out of it? Can't you pretty much go to Kyoto whenever you want? I mean, with transportation magic, you could go there right now."

When Shirou said that, Rias said, "No, no," while waging her fingers.

"You don't understand, Shirou. It's good because you visit Kyoto for the first time on the school trip. And transporting using a magic circle? I won't do something tasteless like that. It's the Kyoto I long for, so I wanted to walk around with my own feet and feel the breeze with my own skin." Rias' eyes started sparkling.

"Where was this attitude when I wanted to go to Vegas?" Shirou muttered bitterly.

After finishing her tea, Rias changed the topic.

"The trip is important, but we also need to discuss what we will do for the School Festival. Our school doesn't have that much time between the sports festival, school trip, and school festival, and they occur consecutively."

Rias received a sheet from Akeno and put it on the table. Looks like they had to write the idea for the Occult Research Club and submit it to the Student Council.

"That's why we need to discuss the school festival now and prepare for it. If decided beforehand, the Third-Year and First-Year members can prepare for it while all of you are away. There are so many members this year, so that it will be a big help."

"School festival! I'm looking forward to it!" Asia seems like she is looking forward to it.

Asia liked these kinds of events.

"Yeah. I enjoy High School events too. The sports festival was also great." Even though her expression hadn't changed, Xenovia's eyes were sparkling.

She also made a big rampage at the sports festival. Xenovia claimed first place for everything. After the sports festival, each sports club tried hard to have Xenovia join their club.

"It will also be my first for these sorts of things, so I'm looking forward to it. I sure did transfer in at a good time! This is also the guidance of Lord Michael!" Irina says that while making a pose to pray to Heaven.

The Church-trio seemed like they were really looking forward to the school festival. It might also have to do with the fact that they didn't have any chance for these sorts of things due to the customs of their religion.

"Question, can just not participate in the festival this year 'cause it all just sounds like a chore to me?" Shirou lazily requested.

"No, you have to participate. Everyone in the club has to take part in our attraction." Rias insisted.

Shirou threw his head back in annoyance. "Oh, come on, I don't even show up at festivals, much less take part in them. I pretty much only took part in it last year because I was being punished. And Mika hates going to crowded places, so there's that to consider."

"Well, personally, I wouldn't mind joining in on the festival." Ren chimed in softly. "I actually like this sort of thing."

"Seriously?" Shirou raised a brow at him. "You like this overscaled sideshow?"

"It's not all bad. Last year the OCR did a haunted house, right?" Ren asked Rias with interest. "I didn't enter the haunted house, but one of my classmates did and said that it looked real. Apparently, you guys even had ghosts come out."

"Yes. We did use real ghosts after all, so it should have been scary."

Rias said this as if it were nothing.

"You used real ghosts for a school festival haunted house?" Shirou asked as though she were an idiot.

When he asked, Rias normally responded with a smile. "Yes. I requested Youkai, who don't cause harm to humans, to have the role of scaring people. Those Youkai were also troubled because they didn't have a job, so it was good for both sides. Thanks to that, it was a great success."

Rias and Akeno started laughing as they remembered, while Shirou didn't look amused. "That wasn't the takeaway I was implying."

"We were scolded by the Student Council afterward. President Sona, who was the Vice-President at that time, yelled at us, saying, 'Using the real thing is more than just ignoring the rules!'" Akeno finished.

"Well, at least someone had common sense back then… Sorta." Shirou just dropped the subject. "So what, are you just going to do a haunted house again this year?"

"We can top that. Let's do something fresh, something that has more of a festival atmosphere than just an occult one." Ren suggested enthusiastically.

Rias then started thinking about his suggestion. "Hmm…Maybe we should do something new—"

RINGRINGRING!

When Rias was about to say something, all of their phones rang at the same time. Everyone knew what that meant, so we looked at each other. Shirou answered his phone and turned it on speaker.

"What's the situation?" Shirou asked with a serious tone.

{They're at the factory.} Mika responded on the other line. {There's a whole group this time.}

"Heh, about time. I got tired of waiting." Shirou smirked, finally sounding motivated as they all got up and exited the room with him leading the way as he opened the door. "—Let's do this."

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In a small corner of their large town, there was a warehouse and factory district that was mainly abandoned and left empty. In recent years, some delinquents or troublemakers have used this district as a hang-out or gathering place for their own purposes. But right now, one of those abandoned factories was being used for something else.

The Gremory group, with Ren and Irina, made their way there after the sun had already set and the sky was getting dark. There are several presences within the dark factory. And they were mixed with hostility and killing intent.

"—Gremory group, huh? You guys came fast."

The one who appeared from the darkness was a man wearing a black coat. From the darkness around that man, black abnormal things with the shape of a human showed themselves. It wasn't just a dozen. There should be about a hundred of those humanoid monsters within this factory.

Rias took a step forward and asked with a cold tone. "Khaos Brigade—I presume you are from the Hero Faction? Hello. My name is Rias Gremory. I'm a High-Class Devil who was asked to look after this town by the Three Great Power Alliance."

Hearing Rias' greetings, the man smirked.

"Yes, I do know you. Sister of Satan. Our aim is to purify you Devils and to save this town."

He was looking at them like they were garbage. As Rias said, this person was a member of the group called 'Hero-Faction' of Khaos Brigade! Lately, this Hero Faction had been making small-scale assaults in this town. It was more like there were many incidents where people from the Hero Faction were assaulting important places for each of the Factions.

Lately, the Gremory had been taking care of them. Their opponents have been humans in most cases...

Then two people appear next to the man. They were also humans. A man who is wearing sunglasses and a man wearing a Chinese native costume. All three of them were foreigners.

And you can say the weird, abnormal black things were their combatants. It seemed like the Hero Factions were using that as their weapons. Even if they were combatants, they were so strong that Low-Class Devils couldn't take them on. It required you to have the power of a Mid-Class Devil or higher, and luckily in terms of power, their group is between Mid-Class Devils to High-Class Devils—And an Ultimate-Class.

Seeing an enemy that used dark-attributed abilities fired up Shirou's competitive nature as he stepped forward while coated in his own shroud of darkness. "How do you plan on saving this town when you can't even save yourselves."

He brazenly stepped in front as the vanguard. At the same time, Ren stepped forward and stood beside him. Kiba and Xenovia stood at their flanks and made a stance while wielding Sword of Betrayer and Durandal.

The middleguards were Irina, Koneko, and Gasper. They support the vanguard by guarding the rearguards and also do things like middle management support. It was the role of Koneko and Irina to defeat the enemies they let slip past them.

The rearguards were Rias, Akeno, Mika, and Asia. Rias is the leader as well as doing the supporting attacks. Akeno and Mika also supported them by attacking from the rear with their Lightning and demonic powers. Asia's role was to send the healing aura to the vanguard if they were to take damage.

This isn't the formation of the Gremory group but the Occult research club when Ren and Irina were added. 4-3-3. If the enemy's vanguard broke through the first line, Ren was to fall back to the middleguard and help halt any further advance by supporting the others. It then becomes 3-4-3.

It was a different formation to that in a Rating Game. The Game forces you to move your comrades accordingly, depending on the battlefield. When the enemy saw their formation, the man wearing the black coat created what seemed like a white flame from his hands.

Kiba, who was in the frontline, narrowed his eyes.

"—Another Sacred Gear possessor."

"This is a problem. Lately, we have been fighting Sacred Gear possessors."

Rias also made a sigh. But her eyes were filled with determination. The moment the man waving the flame approaches them…

GOOO!

Ren summoned his own fire and hurled it at their enemy at the same time he launched his white flames.

DOOOOOON!

The result was a clash of the two infernos, but Ren's flames proved to be superior as they burned through the white flames and scorched at their enemies. The combatants disappeared into the air when defeated, but all the shadow creatures were destroyed.

As was the custom when facing the Hero Faction, they were quite trained when it came to dodging. While they weren't outrageously strong, they were certainly skilled in evading damage. It seemed like they were trained to fight opponents they knew were stronger than them.

One of the main enemies then shouted.

"Be careful with their vanguard's power! We will get killed from a single attack! We have to stick to hit-and-run tactics!"

It was true. From all the times they had fought members of the Hero Faction, with the exception of their Bishops, everyone in the group had the power to defeat their enemies in one blow.

It was because they were fighting humans. Regardless of how much offensive power they acquired, a human body was still fragile compared to a supernatural being, and even small-scale attacks could be lethal. Against a pure offensive team like this was a horrible matchup against humans.

ZOON!

Suddenly, all of the flames disappeared. Before it spread too far, it seemed like the shadow within the factory stretched and devoured Ren's attack. No, it was actually like that—The ability to control shadow.

The one who had done it was the man wearing glasses. It was that man's Sacred Gear…

SWIFT!

Kiba went slashing forward at Godspeed. The Holy-Demonic Sword swung down at the shadow-user, but… The shadow from before devoured Kiba's Sword by moving fast. Then—

SPIT

From Kiba's shadow, the blade of the Holy-Demonic Sword came out. Kiba twitched his body and dodged it. He then stepped back.

"—! The ability to release things it devoured from one shadow to another shadow as it wishes… It's not a direct attack type. It's a defensive type that changes the flow of an attack. It's a troublesome type of Sacred Gear." Kiba then says it while narrowing his eyes.

Shirou then stepped forward. "Leave this one to me."

"The Red Dragon Emperor. So, you're going to be my opponent?"

"Come on, you didn't really think you could play in the shadows without me."

The shadow-user activated his Sacred Gear, and once again, he created a horde of shadow creatures. Shirou didn't even flinch at them; rather, he looked amused.

"It's not a bad power. Not only can you absorb weapons and attacks with your shadows before bouncing them back at the user, but you can also transmute your shadows into shadows beasts for direct combat. Similar to how Sona uses her water magic….… But."

BOOON!

Shirou gathered a massive amount of the Power of Darkness in the palm of his hand, and with a wave of his arm, he let loose a wave of darkness at the enemy in front of him. The man in glasses tried to bring out his shadows to absorb the incoming darkness, but the darkness pushed past the shadows as though they weren't even there.

With no means to stop it, Shirou's darkness consumed all of the creatures made of shadows, and they were all crushed under the weight of Shirou's darkness before they vanished into nothingness, leaving the shadow-user vulnerable.

"Trying to stop darkness with shadows is like trying to stop a volcano eruption with a forest fire." Shirou finished with confidence. "It doesn't take a genius to know what the outcome will be."

"Tch… Dammit."

He cursed, and in a motion of hesitation, he attempted to take a step back. Not missing the opportunity of that moment, Shirou moved in to strike.

SWISH!

Closing the distance with a speed that surpassed Kiba's, Shirou was right in front of the shadow user, and before he could even react, Shirou buried his fist into his stomach, knocking the air out of his lungs and threatening to rupture his internal organs.

The enemy from the Hero Faction never stood a chance against Shirou's raw might and collapsed to the floor after losing consciousness. With his objective cleared, Shirou turned away from him. "One down."

"Bastard!"

PUUUUUU!

In retaliation for defeating one of their members, another enemy fired an attack in the form of a glowing blue light. When Shirou looked… The one wearing a native costume was holding onto a bow that looked like it was made from light, and he was about to shoot.

A Sacred Gear that held the attribute of light made it an ideal weapon to use against enemies that were made mostly of Devils, and none of them knew what kind of other abilities that bow had. Even if Shirou himself didn't need to fear the power of light attacks, it would be dangerous for the rest of them, who had no protection against this weakness.

The arrow made from light was released, and it changed its direction in mid-air. It seemed that it also had the ability to change its attack pattern after being released.

SHINE! SPARKLE!

Several light attacks also came from the direction behind him.

"If it's a light-attribute attack, then leave it to me!" Acting quickly, Irina made lights within her hand.

Irina was a reincarnated Angel and was also capable of using attributes of light. She canceled the attack of the enemy by using her Spear of Light.

FREEZE!

WHOOSH!

The sound of something getting frozen filled the room, along with the sound of gale winds.

Akeno released spears of ice toward the light user without any pause.

"Haa!"

While Akeno was focusing on her target, another arrow of Light came flying at her. But, it wasn't blue, it was a green-colored arrow!

"—!?"

CLANG!

It never hit her as Mika covered her with a defensive magic circle that deflected the arrow, but what surprised them was that an arrow came from a direction where they didn't see any enemies. Almost everyone was also shocked at the sudden attack. Rias then looked at the shadowy areas within the factory.

"Looks like there is one more enemy. Using the shadow as an intermediary, the enemy attacked from outside, which is the safe zone. Even if we took down the shadow-user, looks like the ability will still remain for a short while…"

"So it's essentially a snipe that uses poison bullets." Shirou summarized. "That shadow Sacred Gear really is versatile."

"I will take care of that one then. Koneko, follow me. You can search the enemy's location with the 'ki', right?"

"…Yes, Xenovia-senpai."

Xenovia left the factory, taking the cat-eared Koneko with her.

Seeing that he wasn't paying attention to him, the flame-user went back on the offensive.

"Damn Red Dragon Emperor! Burn!"

The flame-user created a powerful fire attack with both his hands, aiming at Shirou.

GOOOOOOOO!

A massive flamethrower scorched at Shirou… But, it never reached him.

Ren stood in front of Shirou and placed his palm in front of the incoming fire. Ren brought out his own fire to meet it, and the power of Ren's flames beat back the flames of his adversary.

"Weak—You think flames like that are enough to burn a Dragon? Feels pretty cold if you ask me." Ren ridiculed him before turning up the heat. "Now, pay attention. This is what real fire looks like!"

PROMETHEUS CANNON!

From his hand, a torrent of flames much stronger than the ones unleashed by their human enemy burst out and cut through the enemy's fire. It continued going until Ren's flames swallowed the enemy's body, and the factory was filled with the smell of roasting flesh, along with the high-pitched scream of a person burning alive. It only lasted a few seconds, though, as the flames subsided, and all that remained was a pile of ashes.

It was settled. At the same time as the flame-user went down, Kiba also defeated the light-user, who was only a few feet away. They had successfully defeated all of the Sacred Gear possessors.

Or so they thought.

"Ngggggggggggggggh!"

The shadow-user who was defeated got up and screamed. Then a black thing started covering his body. The shadow spread even more, and it started to cover the whole factory.

CHILLS!

A sudden chill ran down the spines of almost everyone present. They felt a strange power emanate from the shadows that wasn't there before. It was as though there was a sudden change to the human they were facing. Or rather, it seemed like he had reached something new…

FLASH!

Then a light appeared below the shadow-user's foot, and a magic circle was formed. It was a magic circle that was unfamiliar to them. It appeared to be a transportation magic circle, but it wasn't that of a Devil. It didn't have the Devil's only symbol after all. It didn't seem to belong to a Fallen Angel either. They had seen the magic circle Azazel uses quite often, so they knew what Fallen-Angel-type circles looked like, and that wasn't one of them.

Then the shadow user got enveloped by the light. After the flash, the shadow-user disappeared.

"He escaped?" Ren wondered.

"Doesn't look like it was by choice." Shirou noticed. "Either way, it's over now."

The three main Sacred Gear users had been dealt with. Most of the enemy combatants scattered around the district had all perished. The remaining survivors vanished as soon as the shadow-user disappeared. All that was left was for Xenovia and Koneko to return, which they did shortly after.

"We defeated him. We beat him up quite a bit, but we didn't kill him."

Xenovia returned while carrying a man on her shoulder. Koneko was behind her.

They made that man lose consciousness, and Rias and Akeno created a magic circle to send him to the Underworld for questioning and interrogation. Unfortunately, they were only able to capture one of them this time.

"Now the transmission to the Underworld is done. Well, we probably won't get any information this time as well." Rias said that with dissatisfaction.

The group had been sending Sacred Gear possessors to the Underworld using the magic circle for a little while now, but apparently, their memories while being in the Hero Faction always become erased upon their capture. We send them regardless, just in case they could restore their memories at some point, but there's a high probability that we won't get any new information, and this will just be another dead end.

It seemed like they put a certain kind of technological program on the Sacred Gear possessor's memory when they sent them to the crucial locations of each Faction, which deleted their memories. It was near impossible to retrieve the deleted memories without knowing the program itself.

"Mika-san—Did you get the data during the battle?"

Kiba asked, now relaxing his guard with the battle over. Mika, who is a rearguard, had been using a 'device' for the whole time. It resembled a large earpiece headphone that was attached to a transparent square-shaped lens that covered her left eye. The lens appeared to scan her enemies before putting up data in front of her eye.

"I sure did." Mika confirmed his query. "The flame Sacred Gear was called Flame Shake—Boring. And the shadow guy had defensive Counter-type Sacred Gear called Night Reflection—Name's okay. Lastly, the light archers were using Sacred Gears called Staring Blue and Staring Green—Zero points for originality."

Mika was using a device Azazel had created for identifying Sacred Gears. The Sacred Gear scanner machine. It's very effective in a fight against Sacred Gear possessors. Until now, they were all to find all the information they needed by facing new enemies, scanning their Sacred Gears, and placing them in an archive so that whenever they fought other enemies with the same or similar Sacred, they'd already know what they were up against.

The enemies already knew about their group's abilities, so they worked to find ways to even out the playing field.

Shirou scoffed at his Sister's analysis. "You're one to talk about being unoriginal, considering you personally requested the device look like a scooter from Dragon Ball."

"Don't act like a don't rock this look." Mika rebutted his statement. "I always wanted to wear one of these."

"The stronger we get, the more likely we would become their 'target,' and the methods to take us down would be researched thoroughly. Probably something like that, I think." Kiba smiled sarcastically.

Ren approached him. "Yeah, but the upside to our abilities is that their effectiveness doesn't increase even if you know about them."

"But battling without breaking as many things as possible is something really harsh for our team, which is the super-attack type." Kiba made a bitter smile at his comment.

"Well, some of us can't help it. If all of us fought at full strength, we'd level this town into nothing." Ren reasoned. "Some of us more than others."

"I suppose. But it certainly has become troublesome." Kiba said that while sighing.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that there are those who use special techniques amongst the Sacred Gear possessors who are sent to us. If we say it in the way of Devils, then it means those who specialize in Technique and Support-types started showing up. The ones sent first were all either Power or Wizard-types…. Have they started to grasp hold of our battle styles?"

"Now that you mention it, the battles against the ones that have been sent by the Hero Faction have certainly increased lately." Xenovia noticed as well. "Their attacks were simple at first. Then they started sending the ones with abilities that I couldn't understand clearly… This time, the example is the shadow Sacred Gear.

"…Sensei also did say it. That there are many unknown things about Sacred Gears."

Rias agreed with Koneko-chan's comments. "Yes, that's why they devoured the power of the Holy-Demonic Sword using the ability from just before. They must have realized that if blocking the attack is impossible, then you can just do it with a different method."

"U-Umm, there is something I feel suspicious about… Can I give my opinion?" Irina asked.

"Yes, please."

Irina starts saying her opinion with Rias' request.

"I think the actions of the Hero Faction are 'weird' if they came to research about us or to defeat us."

"Weird?" Xenovia asked, and Irina nodded.

"Because if they really are planning to defeat us, then I think they would have made battle tactics after 2 or 3 battles. Then they would attack us seriously in the fourth battle, right? But even in the 4th or 5th time they attacked us, nothing changed. I did think they were just being very cautious, but… How should I put it… It seems like their bosses are doing some kind of experiment."

"Experiments? Do you mean about us?" Akeno asked.

Irina tilted her head. "More like… It feels like they are experimenting on the Sacred Gear possessors… It's just my gut feeling, so I can't express it properly… They are sending their forces apart from this town which belongs to the other Factions, so maybe they are just sending their forces to the places where the ones with strong abilities are."

Everyone became quiet after hearing Irina's opinion. You would think that they were just sending their forces to each force because they have them down as their targets, but could there have been a deeper reason?

CLAP!

Now everyone was caught off guard by the sudden applause of Mika, who smiled at Irina. "Congratulations, the airhead got it right."

"Airhead?" Irina was caught off guard by that sudden jib.

"You're absolutely right—About the experiments, about the change in their tactics, all of it." Mika addressed all of them. "From a strategic standpoint, it's not hard to see that their end goal isn't beating us based on the strength of our enemies. Everyone we've fought until now has been a low-level grunt or a mid-level at best. Based on the fact that the strength of our group is public knowledge, they'd know they can't beat us with this level of opposition. So there must be a reason—Why they make the Sacred Gear possessors clash with us?"

The others pondered that question for a moment until one of them came up with an answer.

"…A sudden change."

Everyone put on a serious face when Koneko said that.

CLAP!

Mika applauded again. "You also got it right. We're on a roll today. There's a strong possibility that the Hero-faction sent these guys to us so they can reach Balance Breaker. I'm almost positive after I saw the response of the shadow-user before he disappeared into the magic circle. The atmosphere resembled a Balance Break."

"True, we've seen enough Balance Breakers to know what they feel like." Shirou agreed with her analysis. "But this was a little different. It almost looked like he was trying to force an awakening rather than let it happen naturally."

"But can they reach Balance Breaker just by fighting us?" Rias asked while sharpening her eyes.

"It's like Broaki just said—It's not a natural awakening. What they're trying to do is kickstart a Balance Breaker using an old-fashioned but effective method, putting yourself in dangerous, life-threatening situations and trying to make the Sacred Gear respond to the situation in order to unlock a Balance Breaker. It's uncommon to awaken dormant power when you're backed into a corner. And they believe fighting us is that type of situation. After all, we've got the Welsh Dragon, the one who controls Holy-Lightning, the Power of Darkness, the Power of Destruction, the Holy-Demonic Sword, Holy-Sword Durandal, Holy-Sword Dyrnwyn, and Ascalon, the Divine-Sword Miike Tenta Mitsuyo, the time-stopping Vampire, Nekomata Senjutsu-user, an exceptional healer, and of course, the Neverworld Sorceress. We're basically a party of 'rare boss monsters' with a crazy high amount of EXP. The idea that an ordinary human could unlock a Balance Breaker by fighting us is completely within the borders of reason."

"But you can say that their methods are too forced and messy."

Irina continued after Mika.

"Remember, we're facing the current largest Faction in the Khaos Brigade. They have enough members that they can afford to lose a few dozen. But, if one of them were to reach Balance Breaker and through a method that they could replicate with the rest of their members, their overall strength would grow so much that it would more than make up for their losses. An army of Balance Breaker wielders would be trouble even for us."

"Then we have to make it a priority to stop them before that happens."

Rias declared after Mika's explanation, but Shirou was unmoved.

"There's the rub, even if we want to find them, we won't be able to." Shirou addressed them. "Think about it, these guys are a problem that's only going to keep getting worse, and they know that, so they'll stay in the shadows and leave us guessing by sending grunts. We have no idea what their goals are, who their boss is, or when they'll act, and anyone we capture gets memory-wiped. By leaving us with so many questions without answers, they're hoping to keep us running in circles so much that by the time we figure out our next move, they're three moves ahead. The only way we'll ever find them is if they come to us."

"And by then, they'll already be in a position to begin their big bad plan." Mika finished her brother's analysis.

The others didn't respond. They now became aware of the situation. The Hero Faction was a much different enemy than the Old Satan Faction. They were much more covert and ambiguous. It was impossible to tell what they were planning, and in terms of threat assessment, they were a wild card that couldn't be measured accurately. Not even Azazel or other Faction leaders knew how exactly to deal with them.

In the end, Rias decided that their business was settled, so they took leave of the factory. The group activated their magic circle and then returned to the base.

….….….….….….….…….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….…….….….….….….….….….….….….….

The next day arrived. It was a day off from school and club activities. After everything that had been happening recently, Rias felt everyone needed some downtime to relax and do their own thing.

That was why Shirou was standing outside a convenience store near a station where he was supposed to meet up with someone. He was dressed in casual attire, consisting of a black blazer, a dark blue shirt, jeans, and leather shoes.

The town looked like a picture of the autumn season, but the heat from the summer was still present. That was why people could still dress in warm and thin clothing despite the cloudy sky and falling tree leaves.

Shirou kept leaning against a lamppost while staring at his phone until it was 10 o'clock, the time he was supposed to meet with the person he promised to rendezvous with. Soon, she arrived. She was a girl around his age who was wearing a one-piece dress attire with a cute frill on it and high-heeled boots.

Shirou addressed her. "Akeno."

Akeno gave him a smile that was sparkling with joy. "I'm sorry. Did I make you wait?"

"Yes, and why, dare I ask, did we have to meet like this when we live in the same house?" Shirou rolled his eyes.

"Because this way, it feels more like a date. I've never been on one, you know?" Akeno answered, her excitement not going down at all.

Akeno was clearly looking forward to this. She had her hair down for a change. Her clothes were those cute ones worn by common girls her age. It was the first time she had appeared before Shirou wearing such clothes. Typically, outside of school and battles, she usually wore more sophisticated clothes. But this is what she wore when she was enjoying her downtime, which in this case, involved a date.

Usually, Akeno looked mature for her age, older than a High School senior, but today it was the opposite. Now, she actually appeared younger than Shirou. Instead of her normal mature, sophisticated beauty, she had an innocent allure of cuteness around her. The difference wasn't lost on Shirou.

"I… I feel shy if you look at me like that….Do I look weird today?" She asked with a blush and her hands behind her back.

"No, I just don't think I've seen you dressed like this before."

"So… What do you think?"

Shirou shrugged. "Pretty good, actually. There's a beauty to the simplicity."

Akeno seemed embarrassed but also happy at his direct opinion. She was usually an "Ara ara" type of woman, but today she was like a smitten teenage girl.

"Today Shirou-kun will be my boyfriend for the whole day….Can I call you Shirou?" She looked up at him with eyes that were filled with shyness.

"Considering that's my name, I'd be confused if you didn't." Shirou sarcastically replied.

Despite his unreserved blunt answer, Akeno put on a big smile after hearing that.

"Yay! Thank you, Shirou." Her expression of joy never seemed to waiver.

CHILLS!

Then suddenly, Shirou felt the presence of someone's killing glare aimed at him. It wasn't anything new for him, but the person behind the glare was different than what he was used to. When I looked around…

"….…Are you kidding?"

…He saw a crimson color.

When he looked carefully, a crimson-haired person who was wearing a hat and sunglasses was looking this way from behind the telephone pole… Not only that, there was also a blonde person who was wearing glasses with teary eyes. And a small-built person who has cat ears growing out from the mask worn by wrestlers. And a suspicious guy wearing a paper bag on his head. And finally, Kiba, who was undisguised and waving his hands apologetically at them.

Yes. It was Rias and the club members. Apparently, they decide to follow after them on their date while wearing disguises that are so bad they are cartoony bad.

"Ara Ara. For checking on whether we are having an affair, they sure have too many people to check up on us."

Akeno realized it as well and made a small laugh.

Shirou almost felt secondhand embarrassment from seeing them like that.

"Why bother trying to hide when they're still in plain sight? And don't they realize those "disguises" make them stand out even more?"

"Strange, I don't see Mika-chan or Ren-kun. I'd have thought at least one of them would have been here?"

Shirou shook his head at Akeno's curiosity. "Oh, I'm sure they're nearby."

….….….….….….….…….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….…….….….….….….….….….….….….….

And just like he thought, Mika and Ren were nearby, only they were following behind them like the others, nor were they disguised and hidden behind a telephone pole. Mika and Ren were above, looking down at them from the roof of a building. Mika was squatting over and watching them with binoculars while Ren just stood by.

"So, let me get this straight, the others are spying on Shirou and Akeno's date, and we're spying on the others?" Ren asked for clarification.

"Actually, both, and what they're doing can't really be considered spying since they've been seen." Mika clarified. "The "Being followed on a date" Troupe is a classic, The protagonist going out with one of the girls while the rest follow and become increasingly jealous is too hilarious for me to miss, especially a real-life version."

"I'm kinda surprised Shirou agreed to go out with her in the first place." Ren admitted. "She just went up to him and asked, and he just accepted it so casually. It was right after our battle yesterday, so it was really out of nowhere."

"Oh, please." Mika replied dismissively. "Asking someone on a date and having them accept is only a big deal based on typical Japanese standards. For Big Bro, a date is just a date, an outing where they spend the day together, and that's it. No strings, no promises. He would have accepted a date from any of them if they had asked. Not that they ever would. All they know is sneaking into his bed and cuddling."

"Hasn't she done that before as well?" Ren thought as a bead of sweat formed over his forehead.

Mika kept focusing on Shirou and Akeno. "I know that look; he's probably thinking they're the biggest idiots in the world and wondering why they don't have anything better to do."

….….….….….….….…….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….…….….….….….….….….….….….….….

"Man, they're the biggest idiots in the world. Don't they have anything better to do?" Shirou squinted at his fellow club members who were following him, unaware that he had just echoed his Sister's words.

She then approached him as if she wanted to show her closeness with him to the others now that they knew they were watching them. Akeno brushed her face against his as though to let him sniff her hair.

CRACK

A dull sound behind me could be heard behind them. When Shirou turned around to see… He saw Rias, who was full of rage, make a crack in the telephone pole.

"Why is she upset by that when we've done so much worse?" Shirou couldn't make sense of her logic—If she had any.

"S-Shall we go then?" Akeno suggested.

"Sure, anything to get away from here."

With that, Akeno and Shirou headed into town.

….….….….….….….…….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….…….….….….….….….….….….….….….

Three hours have passed.

During that time, Akeno was acting like girls her age. They we went inside the brand clothes shop, she would ask me things like "Hey. Do I look good in this?" and "Or do I look better in this one?" just like an ordinary girl. Her speaking manners were just like those of normal cheerful girls. Her usual "Ara ara" and "Ufufu" completely disappeared.

When they bought a crepe from the booth, she said, "This is delicious, right?". They were holding hands while walking in the town, and the way she gripped his hand told him that she was relying on him. For what, he didn't know.

The two of them went into the aquarium after having some fun at the game center. The aquarium in Kuoh was small, but it had a good atmosphere.

From the beginning of the date till now, they had been holding hands. Every time they saw a funny-looking fish, she would point it out and laugh while Shirou thought of what kind of meal he could make out of said fish which just made her laugh even more. From the perspective of others around us… They looked like lovers. That was what the female members of the ORC also thought while watching them, and that made them even more jealous, Rias in particular.

Akeno reconfirmed their presence after the crimson-haired group came out of the aquarium. She put on an adorable, mischievous face, and we started running after she took his hand.

"Why are we running?" Shirou asked in confusion at her sudden behavior.

She turned around and said to him. "Let's shake off Rias and the others!"

"Really? It took you three hours to suggest that?" Shirou asked incrediously.

But despite that response, he didn't argue and started running as well.

Rias and the others also started running after they found out they were running away from them. At first, he was being pulled by Akeno, but soon enough, he pulled ahead, and now he was pulling Akeno along as they ran. Knowing the layout of the town better than any of them, Shirou took a right turn, then left inside the town, trying to lose Rias and the others.

After a few minutes of running, they hid themselves after entering a small road.

After seeing Rias and the rest go past them from the shadows, the two of them came out to the road.

"Ufufu… Looks like we lost them."

Akeno stuck her tongue out, and she seemed like she enjoyed it.

"I'm surprised and… Frankly a little disappointed in them for falling for that." Shirou admitted, not knowing how to process that. "You think at least Koneko would have been able to sense us."

After that was done, they walked around another corner, and because they ran without thinking, Shirou didn't take into account where exactly he was leading them. But it was a place he knew well.

Even a town like this had places like these.

The street was lined up with different-styled buildings that all had one thing in common. All of them were of different colors, sizes, and designs, but they all had signs above their entrances that said [Rest for 5000 Yen] or [Night for 8000 Yen].

This was the center of the Love Hotel district, and it was way before happy hour.

Shirou looked around as though becoming reacquainted with the place. "Huh, I haven't been here since White Day."

"White Day?" Akeno repeated with curiosity.

"Last Valentine's Day, I got a lot from a lot of girls, and a month later, White Day came, and when it came to repay them…" Shirou sighed as he remembered it. "Well, let's just say this—Never write checks that your ass can't cash."

"D-Did you ever come here with Aika-san?" Akeno asked softly without looking at him.

"Actually, I did." Shirou confessed as he pointed to one of the hotels. "See that one on the far right? Believe it or not, that's where we did it for the first time."

After saying those words, Akeno was holding onto his sleeve. She gripped hard as though she didn't want to let go of him. When Shirou turned to look at her, Akeno, who had a very red face, said timidly.

"Then… Would you mind doing the same with me?"

Shirou was caught off-guard, but Akeno went on with a determined face.

"…I wouldn't mind if Shirou wanted to as well….I want my first time to be with you…. Today even."

Akeno didn't have her usual erotic face, and she was showing an innocent maiden's expression. It could even be called pure, despite what she was asking for.

"Well…" Shirou didn't seem abhorred by the idea. "Traditionally, you're supposed to wait for the third day before doing that, But—"

Before he could say anything further, there was someone who interrupted him.

"Geez, trying to make love to a woman at noon. You sure know what to do, Welsh Dragon-brat."

The one who appeared was an old man wearing rough clothes and a hat. Regardless of his tourist-like appearance, Shirou recognized him in an instant. The old man was the Chief God from the North—Odin the Allfather. Behind him, there was a man with a good build and the Valkyrie Rossweisse, who wore a business suit.

"Hohoho, it's been a while. It is I. I came here from the far North." The eye-patched Norse God said with a lecherous smile.

"Odin. What brings you here?" Shirou addressed him with little regard for his status. "Hate to tell you, old man, but Love Hotels don't have senior discounts."

"Hohoho!" Taking no offense, Odin let out a haughty laugh. "What do I care?! I won't be paying for it!"

At that point in the conversation, Rossweisse joined in.

"Lord Odin! I would be troubled if you wander in a p-place like this! You are a G-God, so please act proper!" She yelled at him.

Odin bushed aside her complaints. "Let me, Rossweisse. You are a Valkyrie who has to take care of Heroes, so you need to learn about these kinds of places."

"I am a Valkyrie who has no appeal after all." Rossweisse turned away before she turned her action to Shirou and Akeno. "You two also shouldn't come here in the middle of noon. You two are high school students, correct? Go home and study."

"Gee, I didn't realize a complete stranger had the authority to scold my behavior. I'm sure that's not over stepping any boundaries." Shirou also bushed aside her complaints. "If you don't mind, we were kinda in the middle of something, right Akeno….?"

When he looked at Akeno, she didn't respond. She merely stared as she was being approached by the man who also seemed to be Odin's escort. He had the appearance of a middle-aged, gruff-looking man with black hair, a matching beard, and a muscular body.

"…Y-You are…" Akeno has her eyes opened wide, and she seems shocked.

"Akeno, what is the meaning of this?"

The man seemed pissed. The anger in his words was filled with intensity.

"…It's none of your business!" Akeno sharpened her eyes and started glaring at him. "M-More than that, why are you here!?"

The maiden side she had just before was completely gone. For Akeno to glare at him this much.

"I'm here as Odin-dono's escort today." He answered her despite her glare.

"Am I missing something here?" Shirou asked, not liking the atmosphere that was forming. "Who is this?"

Keeping his gruff expression, the man answered him. "I am one of the leaders of Grigori—Barakiel. I am also the father of Akeno Himejima."

.

.

.

…He was Akeno's father.

—…

Ō ō

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And that's the chapter.

First of all, as I said, this chapter was meant to be the starting point of this Arc. Not much got done, and it wasn't all that exciting, but now that it's done, we can get into the really exciting parts in the next chapter.

Also, as we go along with this Arc, you'll find that there will be several key differences from the canon that I'm sure a lot of you will appreciate.

Anyway, thanks for reading hope you enjoyed. If you want more, then be sure to leave a review. If you like the story, then click the follow/favorite, and as always, have an awesome day.