Shin High School DxD - Volume 1 - Chapter 2.3

Part 3

I arrived at a town that was three stations away from Kuoh Town. The location was somewhat far from the urban areas, and there were only three houses here, so I was sure it had been deserted for quite a while now. The gardens were filled with wild grass, the walls were also damaged, and windows were shattered. My comrades, all of the Gremory peerage members (Rias, Akeno-san, Koneko-chan, Kiba, Gasper) and the Hyoudou Issei peerage (Me, Asia, Xenovia, Ravel, Rossweisse-san), as well as Irina arrived. And then, a blonde girl with long hair and red eyes that had a face as beautiful as the girls that you would see in paintings, Elmenhilde Karnstein, joined us at a place that was quite far away from the citizens’ houses. Elmenhilde said.

“To think that this is the situation after I returned from a secret intelligence mission… What chaos.”

Unlike Gasper, who was half-human, she’s a pure-blooded Vampire. Also, she was the daughter of a noble family. Things were complicated at first, but right now, she was homestaying in the Hyoudou Residence and had been going out with us with the goal of gaining various information. Her dream was to restore and develop the city that was destroyed by Rizevim. She was prideful and high-toned when we met her at first, but after a lot of things happened, her personality improved as well, making her way cuter now. Usually, she would also be helping me at my office, but this time, she went out for a secret intelligence mission for a little while. My comrades didn’t just include them. A giant being — a Dragon flew down from the sky. It knelt down before me and spoke politely.

“My master, I, Bova Tannin, have just returned.”

The giant dragon, Bova, was my first subordinate after becoming a High-class Devil. He was also one of the legitimate sons of my Dragon master, Tannin-ossan, who was a former Dragon King. He held such strong interest and respect for me that he quickly came to me after I became a High-class Devil and asked to be my subordinate. As I couldn’t disregard it either, he became my first subordinate. Bova and Ravel had to take care of something in the Underworld and had just returned. As I identified my comrades, I asked Rias.

“These are the members for this time?”

Rias nodded.

“Yes. As Sona and the other DxD members have something they need to take care of, this mission has been entrusted to people like us.”

…So that means the subjugation of the unknown Devils was also happening in other places, huh. I looked at the deserted house once again. …I could even feel the presence of Devils and their aura from outside. Also, there was quite the number of them. Not only from inside the house, but I could also feel them behind us as well. Everyone looked like they felt the same thing as they were watchful of their surroundings. Rias stood in front of the deserted house and spoke with a loud voice.

“Come out please. We know that you’ve been hiding here.”

Rias’s voice echoed over the whole area. A moment of silence—. However, the group of suspicious figures started to appear from inside the house and our surroundings. There were humanoid Devils, as well as Devils that looked like monsters. Their numbers were…about ten, twenty, thirty…. No, no, more than one hundred, I guess? What an absurd number! On top of that, every last one of them had an aura that didn’t belong to a Low-class Devil or Mid-class Devil, but a High-class Devil!

This was impossible! Why would a hundred High-class Devils gather at such a remote place? In addition, the number of Devils had been decreasing since the Great War between the Three Factions, so it was impossible for more than a hundred precious High-class Devils to gather at such a place! The unknown Devils, if they were all High-class Devils, then this number was too absurd!

Just as His Eminence Strada said, I wondered if the mother of Devils, Lilith produced these Devils. The Devils grinned and looked calm. As expected, it seemed like they didn’t know about us. If they knew, they would be running by now. If this was one year ago, this number would have been a problem to us, but if it’s us right now—. A male Devil who acted as a representative said to us.

“Devils, Angels, Dragons, and even Vampires. What do you want with us?”

Rias majestically said.

“We are the ones who wanted to ask questions here. You guys, what’s the reason for you to be here? If you spill out the goal, we’ll let you guys live. Our order doesn’t care whether you are dead or alive after all.”

These guys laughed heartily in response to this warning. Ah, it seems impossible to negotiate. Looking at their behaviour, Xenovia already took out her Holy Sword Durandal, challenging them to fight. The Devil who acted as a representative said.

“We’ve simply been ordered to investigate the movements of Devils and Angels around here, and were occasionally ordered to attack them.”

“By whom?”

In response to Rias’s question, the Devil said.

“I also want to know that, as the orders come through our minds only. Also…we can’t contain this feeling of wanting to rampage with this power.”

The surrounding Devils laughed eerily in response to the male Devil’s words. Even these guys didn’t know the one giving them orders, huh. Well, I didn’t know what their true motive was, but I couldn’t overlook this case either since they held animosity towards us…

Rias majestically said.

“In any case, you guys have caused many deaths just for the sake of fulfilling your desires. By the name of Duke Gremory, we’ll defeat you guys!”

And those words marked the start of the battle!

The enemies came at us from all directions! I also quickly changed into my crimson armor and prepared my stance in response to them! The first ones to strike were the sword wielders Xenovia and Kiba, who cut down the Devils charging from the front! Both of their ranks as Devils were Knight, and the Knight’s specialty was their speed, thus those two swung their swords at such high speed.

The Holy Demonic sword that Kiba held and Xenovia’s Holy Sword Durandal defeated several Devils that charged from the front at once! Holy energy is a Devil’s weakness, which meant the special weapons that those two held turned the enemies into dust. Irina and Akeno-san flew into the sky and attacked from there.

“Holy Lightning!”

Akeno-san, who had the blood of a Fallen Angel, spread her jet-black wings from her back and created thunderclouds over the night sky. From there, she struck down with light-imbued lightning. The Devils that were struck by those lightning bolts were burned to ashes in an instant.

Akeno-san’s Devil rank was Queen, and the Queen had the specialty of having strong power. It was endowed with all the specialties of Knight, Rook, and Bishop. Similarly, Irina, who flew to the sky, also made her pure white wings and a halo on top of her head appeared.

“Light attack! Eat this!”

She created light spears from her hands and shot it down to the Devils under her. The Devils that received the intense light attacks head-on were defeated. Light was a lethal poison to Devils, and thus being bathed in it would cause severe damage. Akeno was a Fallen Angel, while Irina was a Reincarnated Angel. In addition to those light attacks, the power must be fatal to them. To top that off, Irina who held the holy sword Hauteclaire was similar to Xenovia, meaning that she could produce holy waves. Being the Ace of the leader of Heaven Michael-san wasn’t just for show. To the unknown Devils, the presence of Irina was nothing but their natural enemy. Xenovia and Kiba cut through them, while Irina and Akeno-san shot down light attacks from the sky! However, our offense didn’t stop there!

“Tou! Ha!”

The one who sent the Devils flying with her bare hands was Koneko-chan, who showed her cat ears and three tails! Koneko-chan’s Devil rank was Rook, and the Rook’s specialty was simple! It was the increase of offense and defense! Koneko-chan was originally a rare species even among the Youkai Nekomata, a [Nekoshou]. Having mastered Senjutsu, she was able to user her own Ki and the nature’s Ki, as well as controlling her Touki. Plus, she could also produce a Nekomata’s special power, Kasha. The wheel that Koneko-chan released — was covered with white flames that had the ability to purify as well. Devils would be burned to ashes if they got hit by that! Holy swords, light, purification, all of these attacks that we gave would give any Devil a fatal injury, so it wasn’t weird that those Devils flinched.

“Shit! If that’s the case, let’s aim for those who don’t use holy swords or light!”

A group of them then changed their target.

“Let’s start with this small fry!”

The target of their attack was — Gasper. If this was the old Gasper, he would have been ‘Awawawawawa! I’m scareeeeed!’ scared by the enemy’s attack and freeze himself. —However, he was different now. He was a different person now. One of the Devils lit his hands with magic and tried to hit Gasper, but…the enemy’s punch didn’t connect as the shadow under Gasper’s feet expanded and created an enormous black hand, defending against it.

Both of Gasper’s eyes lit red in a menacing manner as he said.

“You thought that you could defeat me, didn’t you? You’re gravely mistaken.”

Gasper’s body was shrouded in shadow and turned black. And then, Gasper, whose body turned black, changed his form. He changed as his body got bigger and expanded, surpassing the height of the Devil who attacked him by far. What appeared there was a giant black monster. Being five metres high, it resembled a Dragon closely as it emitted a sinister aura. The whole team of unknown Devils seemed to tremble in fear due to the amount of the aura emitted.

Gasper was without a doubt one of the strongest members here. After going through a lot of things, the Sacred Gear [Forbidden Balor View] that Gasper owned awakened and changed into a completely unknown Sacred Gear. —[Aeon Balor], that was the name of the Sacred Gear that Gasper currently owned.

The Devils that came at Gasper completely lost their will to fight and tried to run. However…the eyes of Gasper, who turned into a black beast, glowed red and stopped the Devils. He stopped those Devils’ time. Gasper knocked down the Devils with his thick arm splendidly. f Gasper wanted to, he could defeat all of the mysterious Devils in that place, but we couldn’t let that happen as well.

“What the!? We don’t stand a chance fighting against them!”

There were some who attempted to run, but we didn’t let them.

“Like hell you can!”

Bova, the enormous Dragon who was my subordinate, kicked the Devils who tried to run away. As expected of the son of a former Dragon King, he could fight High-class Devils without any problems. There was another one who captured the Devils who were running away. The Devils were suddenly surrounded with bats. The Devils who were bitten on the necks and got their blood sucked completely lost consciousness. The one who controlled the bats was the Vampire Princess, Elmenhilde.

“This won’t be useful.”

Although she was a humble girl, we were really grateful as she did her job properly.

“Or rather, this whole area is already surrounded with barriers.”

The one who said that was my Rook, Rossweisse-san. She developed many magic circles on her hands and put up her special barrier technique so the Devils couldn’t run away from this area. On the other hand, Asia, who held the recovery Sacred Gear Twilight Healing, was watching over us behind. Even though Asia had no combat abilities, her healing ability was top notch. She was our lifeline as she could quickly heal any injuries. She was protected by my manager Ravel. Ravel was the daughter of one of the former Seventy-Two Pillars, the Phoenix house. Having the special ability of immortality, she wouldn’t be defeated easily. That being said, the attacks didn’t reach Ravel and Asia’s place. After all, our strong teammates were taking down the unknown Devils one after another! As the King, Rias and I couldn’t afford to lose either!

“Take that!”

Wearing my crimson armour, I sent a number of Devils flying away with my punches and kicks. Rias, who was beside me, shot out a clump of black-coloured mass, the Power of Destruction.

“Blow away!”

The Power of Destruction completely blew them away. It couldn’t be defended against either, even for someone who had considerable skill. Anyone who got hit by it would disappear. That was the Power of Destruction. The unknown Devils vanished upon receiving Rias’s atrocious magic attack. The enemies that exceeded a hundred in number completely changed their expressions upon understanding the overwhelming difference between our powers as they completely lost the will to fight. There were also some who still attacked us despite understanding the difference between our powers.

“Curse you! At the very least, one person!”

They rushed towards Asia and Ravel. However…hose Devils were shot down by light bullets. It was not from us. As I looked at the direction where the bullet was fired from, I could hear a familiar sound.

“Well, well, what a coincidence to meet you at this place, huh, Devil-san?”

The young girl who wore a female church warrior’s battle attire with a mix of black and white hair was — Lint Sellzen. Actually, she was also a Reincarnated Angel, as well as one of the members of Rias’s team in the Rating Game World Tournament. It seemed like she would also participate in this subjugation. Lint-san started to sing.

“My name is Lint ? Lint Sellzen ? I am the church’s emissary~, also Heaven’s Brave Saint!”

…That girl’s older brother Freed also sang that kind of song. His version was more vulgar though… Holding a specially-made gun that shot light bullet, as well as a sword that was made out of purple flames in both of her hands, she walked closer to us as she defeated the Devils that targeted Asia and Ravel.

I asked Lint-san.

“…W-What is it, Lint-san?”

She answered as she scratched the back of her head.

“No, no, I was just confused that you said Freed-aniki sang that. I’ll stop if it bothers you.”

As she pointed her gun to the enemy, she continued.

“I was ordered by His Eminence Strada to join you, as exorcising Devils is a church warrior’s tradition, so here I am.”

Ah, so it was His Eminence Strada’s order.

Well, even without any order, she was the type that would come here and say ‘because it’s interesting’. And as reinforcements for us arrived, we continued to defeat the High-class calibre unknown Devils. Well, there are all sorts of ‘High-class Devils’. The best of the High-class Devils only have slight differences when compared to Ultimate-class Devils, as some High-class Devils like the Great King Bael’s next heir, Sairaorg-san, were said to be equal to or even surpassing Maou-class. However, these guys were on the lower level. Still though, if it were your usual Devil or Angel who fought this number of High-class Devils, it would be a demolition. However, we survived fighting against these treacherous and strong enemies. We had previously faced descendants of the former Maou, those who had inherited the souls of heroes, legendary Evil Dragons, and even Gods. Thanks to that, we were named those who deter against evil intentions by the higher-ups of all mythologies.

I wasn’t saying that all the people here could defeat a High-class Devil with ease, but rather with nice teamwork, we could show them unequaled strength and fight one-sidedly like this. …Or rather, these guys, they were just rampaging around with the powers that they had. They weren’t actually thinking… I couldn’t feel any kind of experience coming from them. It was as if I was fighting against ignorant children who simply relied on raw, unrefined power. Or so I thought, but hey, we defeated more than a hundred unknown Devils within ten minutes—. We sent the surviving Devils as well as the dead bodies to the specialised organisation of the Underworld through a magic circle. After processing things, everyone calmed down and let out a sigh.

“Looks like there isn’t anyone left.”

“… I’m relieved.”

“For now, I guess this area is fine.”

Kiba, Koneko-chan, as well as Elmenhilde, were investigating the deserted house and its surroundings to see if there was anyone hiding. Kiba went by foot, while Koneko-chan used her Senjutsu to detect their presence, and Elmenhilde searched the area by using her bats. Hearing this, Rossweisse-san undid the barrier magic that was placed upon the whole area. Well then, I guess I’ll remove my armour and prepare to go home. —It was the moment I thought such things.

“—?”

I could hear a song. I thought it was just my imagination, but…

“—–? —–?”

The singing voice…got closer. As if everyone had realised this, we became alert and turned to the source of the voice. As we did that, there was a human figure along with a singing voice walking closer. That was — the long and purple-haired girl that I talked about! The girl that disappeared that time! Why was she here!? Wait, she was also there after the unknown Devils attacked. …To think that she would be here in the same situation like before, what did it mean? I said to everyone.

“Everyone, this is the purple-haired diva that I met—-”

The moment I spoke those words—. Suddenly, my vision was warped. I was very sleepy. At the same time, my body lost its strength. I quickly fell down on my knees. …P-Power was leaving… my body… I couldn’t put any strength… I couldn’t retain the power and consciousness to preserve my crimson armour, thus making me release my armor state. Ddraig agonisingly said in response to this.

[…W-What is this…? …Song, huh…that girl’s song…had an effect on…me and partner….!]

…S-Song…? That beautiful voice certainly swayed our brains when we heard it, and my body couldn’t even stop shaking… My vision…it started to get blurry as well… …W-Wasn’t this weird? T-That time, although I did hear her singing voice…I wasn’t like this…

Ddraig said.

[…S-She probably didn’t use…h-her power…that time…!]

I looked at my surroundings, and everyone except me seemed fine. Everyone was in awe as they watched my condition change.

“Ise! What’s wrong?”

“Ise-kun!? What in the world is this…?”

Asia rushed to my side and used her healing magic on me. I was enveloped by her soothing green aura. Usually, I would be healed with this, however…even with Asia’s ability…it didn’t change anything!

“G-Guoooo…”

I looked at the source of the voice and found Bova was also on his knees in agony. It seemed like Bova had also lost his strength… …T-To think that it only affected…D-Ddraig, me…and also Bova… …Did her song only affect…Dragons?

“Shit! Stop that song!”

“Is this girl one of the Devils from before? Well, whatever it is, the fact that she attacked Ise-kun and Bova-san doesn’t change!”

Xenovia and Kiba held their weapons as they became vigilant and faced the purple-haired girl. …If left like that, Xenovia or Kiba might end up attacking that girl! I strained my voice and said to Xenovia and Kiba

“…W-Wait. I don’t think she means any harm… J-Just stop…!”

She didn’t hold any hostility the first time I met her… Although she did have an unusual atmosphere, I had a feeling that…she wasn’t a bad person! That being said, Rossweisse-san created a magic circle and released it toward the purple-haired girl. The girl was covered in a light blue aura. As the aura disappeared, the girl lost consciousness as she fainted on the spot. Rossweisse-san let out a sigh as she said.

“I used my hypnotism magic on her for the time being. Glad it affected her well.”

….That sure was some nifty support from Rossweisse-san. The mysterious girl who sang that mystical song had appeared, but we were able to accomplish the subjugation of the unknown Devils. We then returned to the Hyoudou Residence after we retrieved the girl who fell asleep for research purposes. And then, we were shocked upon discovering her true identity.