108)New Face

A/N: Just a quick note at the start to say Merry Christmas~!! Thank you to all of those that have stuck with me up until now, both here & on the many other sites and I hope that by the same time next year, all of us are either still here or at least still in good health.

Anyway, on to the story~!!

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“Come on, Isaiah Azathoth. Surely an hour or two in holy water wouldn't hurt that much, right?”

“Add some lightning into that too.”

“Ooh~ I got a better idea! Use the little venom concoction we made to take out his eye.”

“Ooh~ Nice idea. Hey, did you hear that? Looks like you're going to be the first test subject of our new little project~! Now, just open your eyes and scream!”

“Gah!” The air around me exploded as I flew up from the bed, my head snapping to every dark corner of the house as sparks of lightning impacted the area around me while Gram overflowed with demonic energy.

“Isa!” I blinked as I heard Akeno's voice behind me, turning around only for my eye to widen as I saw looking at me in both shock & concern with Kuroka & Tsubaki having the same expressions as I slowly took a deep breath while dismissing the spell around me.

“S-Sorry, just…another nightmare.”

“That wasn't like your usual ones. What was it this time?” Kuroka asked as they stood up & slowly pulled me back to sit down, to which I rested Gram on the bed while resting my right palm on the eyepatch over my empty right eye socket.

“When they took my eye with the venom. That…that hurt the most out of everything they did and I have a constant reminder about it. Ha! 'Strongest Prodigy of the Underworld' and I can't even beat an Evil Dragon.”

“They are beings that have been alive for millennia. No one is blaming you for losing against them, especially when it was the strongest out of them all that you lost to.” Akeno whispered and I gave a soft smile before shaking my head as I stood up.

“I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight so I'm going for a walk.”

“Okay, we'll come with.”

“You guys don't have to.”

“We want to.” Tsubaki spoke with a smile, the other two nodding and making me sigh before they cheered softly as I smiled softly & nodded while pulling Gram up from the bed & into my grasp.

“Fine, come on, then.”

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“So, where are we going?” Kuroka asked as she skipped happily in front of us, Tsubaki rolling her eyes at her fellow Queen's childish antics as she walked besides us while Akeno & I had our arms wrapped around each other while following after the happy Nekoshou.

“My usual spot that I go to when I have to clear my mind.” I answered as we walked towards the back of the castle, the girls smiling in amusement as we slowly made our way to the blue rose garden or to be more specific, the pristine white gazebo in the middle of it.

“So, this is your usual spot?”

“The crest for House Azathoth is not the Blue Rose for no reason. A symbol of mystery and the impossible, just like how it was impossible for a young reincarnated devil to go from being a low-class devil to one of the most influential devils before he could hit eighteen years of age.”

“Hmm, and just a few minutes ago, you were whining about not being strong enough.” Kuroka spoke with a smile and I chuckled at the death glares Akeno & Tsubaki gave her as I smiled & nodded.

“I was, but wallowing in my pain would get me nowhere.”

“You really don't know how to read the room, do you?” Akeno asked Kuroka with a raised eyebrow, who simply stuck her tongue out as Tsubaki sighed.

“Must you two argue right now? It's not even four in the morning.”

“Which is why I told you three to go back to sleep. I don't want to disturb your beauty sleep.” I spoke up, drawing their attention to me before rolling my eye as they all shook their heads.

“Nope, we're not leaving you out here alone.”

“Don't worry, ladies. You guys go get some sleep and I'll watch over him.” I turned my head to see Okita walking up to us, dressed only in a pair of black pajama pants with his katanas still sheathed at his side.

“Well, this is a pleasant surprise. What are you doing here?” I asked with a smile and he shrugged as he leaned against one of the gazebo's poles with his arms crossed.

“I'm the one who volunteered to be on guard duty while you recovered, especially since us two are the closest and you wouldn't be able to chase me away if I didn't want to leave.”

“Oh, go jump off a cliff.” I spoke with a scoff, the man simply chuckling before turning to the girls.

“So, will it put your minds at ease if I stay with him?”

“A bit, yeah.” Akeno spoke with a slight frown as she looked at the other girls, who all nodded before they stood up and gave me a soft kiss right as Okita sat down next to me.

“So, this one was bad, huh?” Okita spoke with a slight frown and I watched & waited the girls got back to the room with Air Current Sense before sighing & nodding silently.

“Yeah, I don't know why though. The others were unsettling & uncomfortable to relive, but this one just seems to be getting worse & worse the more times I relive it.”

“That's usually how it goes with trauma you try to push away. You think that you can deal with it like that only to later figure out that in your attempts to ignore your pain, you caused irreversible suffering to the loved ones around you.”

“Speaking from experience there?” I asked and Okita gave a sad smile as he looked out at the roses in front of us a look of pain in his eyes.

“You have no idea, Isaiah.” He whispered and from the use of my actual name instead of calling me Isaiah, I knew he was being serious and nodded as I looked at the roses, a calm silence hanging in the air between us as we just sat there.

A few minutes must have passed before the man stood up, making me look at him as he placed a hand on my shoulder & surprised me by kneeling down besides me with a soft smile.

“You're a good kid, but you're young. Young enough to not realize what incredible bonds you have with others and old enough to understand what it would do to you if you lost those bonds. Like Lord Sirzechs said, you have done so much more for devilkind than what any other devil your age & probably most older than you, but in doing so, we never realized how hard we pushed you. Relax, take some time off and spend time with your friends & girlfriends. Maybe even take them on a couple dates away in the Human World.”

“Last time I did that, I got called back to fight a god.”

“And it resulted in you being targeted, which was a complete fault on our side for just sending you & Serafall away without any additional help. Therefore, take time off in Kuoh Town and help Rias & Sona look after your shared territory.”

“…You're not going to let me do as I want, are you?” I asked with an amused smile, shaking my head as the man stood up & nodded.

“Nope. Besides, you have a fiancée so help her plan out your wedding. That should keep your mind busy, but can I ask one thing? Talk to someone about what happened. It doesn't have to be the girls or even someone you know. It can even be a random person you meet in a bar. Just…talk it out.”

“…Hah, okay. I think…I think I will. Thanks for the advice.” I spoke and the man smiled & nodded before waving over his shoulder as he walked away, turning back to the field of roses before unsheathing Gram & placing it on the table.

“So, you still think I'm worthy of you, bud?” I asked, watching as the blade simply glowed in response while sparks of electricity raced up its form.

“I'll take that as a yes. So, do you count as someone to talk to?” Gram simply sparked rapidly in response and I chuckled as I nodded while sitting back in my seat.

“I guess that's a yes too. Well, you were there but let's relive the memories together. First I woke up in Rizevim's base…”

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“You're returning to Kuoh? What did you tell him last night?” Akeno asked to Okita with a glare, the man simply shrugging as I suppressed my snickers to turn her face back to me.

“It's okay. He told me that I should make more time to hang out with you all and he's right. I've always been busy with work and I've made so many promises to spend time with you guys, but every time I do, it's like something pulls me back into work.”

“That is true.” Kuroka answered bluntly with a nod and Tsubaki gave a sheepish smile as she nodded in agreement, to which Akeno sighed while I smiled & placed my arm around her.

“Besides, now that I have all of this free time, I can finally help you plan that wedding along with taking Tsubaki on our first date, whom I would like to apologize for waiting this long before taking her out on one and hope she can forgive me by the end of it.”

“O-Oh, i-it was not necessary to do that.” She stuttered with a blush and I laughed as I leaned over & gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

“Nonsense. Akeno, Kuroka & Sera have all gotten their dates so why can't you?”

“He is right and this way, he won't keep bothering us when he gets bored.” Akeno spoke with a giggle, Kuroka following suit as Tsubaki pushed up her glasses with a blushing smile while I turned to stare at the giggling Queen that had my arm around her & the other leaning onto her fellow laughing Queen.

“Just for that, Tsubaki, you & I can go on that date tonight and we'll sleep over at a hotel & leave these two to sleep alone on the bed.”

“I do not agree with what she said and I find it very rude. Please let me sleep with you guys too~!” Kuroka whined as she knelt besides me while holding onto my pants and Akeno gave me a pleading stare, making me pinch the bridge of my nose as Tsubaki giggled at their looks.

“Fine, but! Tsubaki gets to sleep on top.”

“What~?! Urgh, fine~but just for tonight.”

“Nope, we're doing it in rotation now. One gets the chest, one gets the stump & one gets the arm.”

“And I get the crotch & legs!” Serafall exclaimed as she burst through the front door, my peerage immediately turning around to hide their stifled laughter as Okita looked at me with a grin.

“One word from you and I'm telling Evelyn about your secret stash.”

“You would dare betray your own master? Your 'father'?” Okita asked with a betrayed look and I rolled my eyes as Akeno leaned in with a sly smile.

“Secret stash of what?” She asked and I shrugged, making her pout as the man sighed in relief.

“Don't worry about it. So, you guys finally ready to go home? I asked while turning to my peerage, who all turned back with nods.

“Yep! I like the castle, but the Underworld feels too eerie for my taste.”

“Same. Castle? good. Underworld? Creepy.” Issei answered in agreement to Meredith's words, to which I snorted & gestured for them to come closer right as I created a large Azathoth crest below us.

“You coming or going?” I asked Okita, not being surprised as the man smirked & winked.

“I'll catch you there. Just got a few stuff to handle first.”

“Sure. See you in Kuoh, then.” With that greeting, I activated the crest & whisked us away from the Underworld, smiling as I reappeared in the familiar sight that was our manor before wincing as I felt an ache in my eye-socket

'Right, Lord Sitri did say that using any spells that would shift my position through space & time may cause me pain for a while as the few remnants of the Hydra venom in it reacts violently with those types of spells.'

“Are you okay?” I tried to hide the pain, but Serafall was quick to catch my wince, drawing the others' attention as Meredith frowned.

“Isa, were you told to not to teleport during your time of rest?”

“…Perhaps.” I answered and winced as all of them glared at me, my peerage shaking their heads as they walked away while I grumbled as Samson picked me up above his head & walked up the stairs followed by the girls.

“Come on~ I just wanted to see if it was painful.”

“Lord Isaiah, I love you pushing your limits as much as any of your sparring partners, but you were the one who told me that resting is just as important as training & experimenting.”

“…Never thought you would be the one who would use my own words against me. Well done, my dear training partner.” I spoke with a proud nod as the giant placed me on my bed, to which he simply smiled & bowed his head before walking back out the room.

Immediately, I was not surprised to be lying face to face with Tsubaki as she laid down on my chest, her face a bright red while I heard the other girls groan as they laid down as well.

“Sera, no.” I spoke out as the Satan laid her head on my lap, feeling her whispered cursing as she pulled her hands away from my inner thighs before she decided to hug my legs as tight as she could.

“You know, this feels nice.” I whispered as I laid still, the four of them humming in agreement before I looked up at the ceiling as a loud explosion echoed from outside, the four of them not even moving as we all lied silently.

“I'm being forced to lie still?”

“Yep. Your peerage is out there. Let them deal with it.” Surprisingly, Tsubaki was the one who said that as she pushed my head back down, an impressed smile growing on my face as the blushing girl hid her face in my chest before I hummed in defeat & laid back down.

“You know, perhaps we made you a bit too confident.”

“Too late for regrets. Now, sleep.”

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“The Boss sleeping?” Issei asked Valerie as the Azathoth peerage gathered around the large crater that had broken through the estate's barrier, to which the Dhampir nodded before Sephiroth Graal appeared floating around her.

The others did the same as they all activated their Sacred Gears, Samson unsheathing Tyrfing while swinging it at the dust cloud to disperse it as well as revealing the being standing in the middle of the crater with an urgent look.

“Woah~” Both Issei & Saji muttered in unison as they stared at the beautiful teenage girl with long, light purple-coloured hair and shimmering orange eyes.

She was dressed in a white dress fit for a noble woman that exposed her cleavage with long slits up the sides & a black miniskirt under it and as she floated out of the crater with her eight bat-like Devil wings, the two boys couldn't help but be mesmerized as they watched her landing softly in front of them with a slightly hesitant smile.

“Issei! Saji!”

“W-Wha…what?” Saji asked in a daze, Issei unresponsive as the other three frowned before glaring at the woman as Meredith raised the tip of a holy nail at her.

“Okay, who are you and what the hell are you doing here?!” Meredith barked out, shaking the two boys from their daze as the woman waved shyly before answering.

“My name is Ingvild Leviathan and I'm here to warn you of an attack on Kuoh Town.”

“…I swear, somehow this is the Boss' fault.”

A/N: Another short chapter, but this time to kickstart the next battle of the war.

Next chapter, explanations and the battle kicks off!!

As always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one…

Ba-Bye~!!