The Maniac of DxD (Highschool dxd insert/ semi-crack): Chapter 28

Within the darkness of the night, illuminated by the street lights, Akeno Himejima walked while talking on the phone with her brother.

“And? How did you get out of that situation?”

“It was not easy! I had to convince a bunch of young Serpents to let me through without making things difficult. Needless to say, we quickly came to an agreement after my convincing argument.”

“You mean bashing them with your Gada until they either surrender or end up as a meat paste on the ground?”

“You know me too well.”

Akeno giggled at Ren’s words.

“So, you succeeded then?”

“Yeah. I passed that stupid trial, and that old bat Amaterasu is finally willing to meet me. Seriously, for being a Goddess of the Sun, and not that high in the overall hierarchy of Gods across all pantheons, the Shinto are truly arrogant to the extreme.”

“It is really easy to see where the principal clans get their arrogance and short-sightedness from.”

Akeno hummed in agreement, not allowing the twinge of anger and hatred to rise from within her heart when remembering the clans.

This was not the place nor the time to allow such dark emotions to consume her.

“…Are you thinking about bad things again?”

“……No.”

“You are really bad at lying to me, you know that, right?”

Akeno felt a wry smile form on her face as exasperation and fondness filled her heart. With love, she returned her brother’s words to him.

“You know me too well.”

“Touché. But still, what are you doing out so late?”

“There was some paperwork that Rias and I had to fill out for the four Satans. General conduct, contracts gained and lost over the last few months, and overall progress in both our peerage and personal power. That kind of stuff.”

“Sounds harsh.”

“And whose fault is that? I wonder.”

Ren laughed from the other side as he could practically hear the pout in the girl's tone.

“So you are heading home then?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Can you make some food for me and keep it in the freezer? I’ll be home in a few hours at most, and I am starving!”

Akeno had a grin on her face at those words.

“Oh! Is the great Maniac Ren saying that the divine food of Takamagahara is nothing compared to the cooking of little ol’ me?”

“Basically? Yeah. These guys don’t know what they are missing out on!”

At the genuine reply, Akeno could not help but smile warmly and continued walking down the road.

However, her senses suddenly picked up a rather large group of people with higher-than-average magical energy closing in on her.

“Akeno?”

“…Someone is coming.”

“Well, well. Would you look at that? The info we received was right. The abomination is really here.”

From the shadows of the street, a large group of humans wearing traditional Shinto clothing walked out. Arrogance and pride practically dripped from them as they looked down on the Half-Fallen girl with disdain and lust in their eyes.

“....What do you want?”

The leader of the group, Izayoi Haruto, sneered at the girl while shamelessly looking at her body, showing just what kind of person he had grown to be.

A true Himejima, who only cares about himself and the pride of his clan while blatantly committing evil disguised as ‘clan matters’.

“Isn’t it obvious? We are here to do what should have been done all those years ago. It is a shame that my insane brother is not here. It would have been convenient to strike two birds with one stone. Oh well.”

“Akeno? What’s going on?”

“Your brother is here. Along with the forces of the Clan.”

“The Himejima are there!? And you are alone!?...Also, what brother are you talking about?”

Since the surroundings were relatively silent, the enhanced senses of the humans allowed them to listen in on the conversation, instantly making Haruto red in the face at the genuine confusion in Ren’s words.

“Your blood brother! You insane monster!!”

“…..Ah! The mindless puppet? I remember that there was someone like that in the clan, right?”

“YOU BASTARD-“

“Izayoi-sama. We don’t have much time. Our window is very small, and our ally can only delay the other side for so long.”

At the whispering of the older Clan member by his size, Haruto calmed down his anger and hatred.

“Cripple her, kill her, destroy her mind, torture her, its up to you guys what you want to do. But I want this stain on our family name gone.”

“”””Yes! Izayoi-sama!!””””

At once, the humans surrounding Akeno moved, deploying their magic. Some of them had murder on their minds while others had much worse thoughts that they did not bother disguising from the girl through their grins and gaze.

However, none of their attacks would find purchase as the Rosarie around the girl’s neck suddenly started to shine, creating a barrier of divine energy that felt much more ancient and potent than anything the Shinto could produce.

The shocked look on the Himejima clan members was also shared by Akeno who had already prepared to fly into the air and rain down death, only for this barrier to spring up from the gift that Ren gave her.

“WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?”

“Don’t worry, little puppet. This is not the only surprise I prepared for you guys.”

A collective chill went up the spines of the Himejima clan members when they heard the eerily calm voice of the Insane Man.

A premonition that was proven correct when a flash of light passed through their ranks, severing the limbs of various people, reducing them into a screaming mess on the ground.

“Hey! Hey! Looks like I have quite the feast prepared for me~ I am going to enjoy myself so much that I might even clima-“

“Freed. Control yourself. Also, you are late. That’s a two-thousand-dollar deduction from your contract.”

“WHAT THE FUCK! NOT FAIR!! I WAS ON BATHROOM BREAK!”

“As far as excuses go, that is a good one. Still, a contract is a contract, and you violated it. That being said, if you perform well in this incident, I might consider giving you a pretty good bonus.”

“Hell yeah! Now we are talking! You’ll get a premium Freed service for that price! Boss-man!!”

The remaining Himejima clan members, including Izayoi Haruto, stepped back in trepidation, as the man with silver hair, a manic expression, and grin, holding two light swords and wearing a priest garb, stepped forward towards their group.

On that night, the Himejima clan lost their most elite members in a storm of light swords and peerless swordsmanship, directly reducing their battle power.

All the while, Akeno just watched all this with a dumbfounded expression.

“….Ren? What is this?”

“What? Did you really think I would be so negligent as to leave you alone without some kind of protection in place?”

“I may be insane, but I am not stupid, Akeno. I know very well that our old enemies, and my enemies in particular, would try everything they can to get to me during these four years I am staying in Kuoh. Of course, I would come up with some way to protect you and my stuff from such people.”

“The rosary that I gave you, and your personal bodyguard, are two of the many contingencies I have in place.”

“…..And what other contingencies do you have in place?”

“Sorry, that’s a secret. Not because I don’t trust you, but because I don’t trust Gremory.”

“….Fair enough.”

Akeno watched silently as her newly revealed secret bodyguard, Freed Sellzen, the insane exorcist formerly associated with the Church, decimated the Himejima clan’s members and proceeded to take his time and torture Haruto, making the teenager beg for mercy, only to receive the deranged giggles of the Exorcist.

“…Seems quite the interesting character you’ve chosen as my bodyguard.”

“Hey! He is the best man for the job. For all his quirks, his professionalism is unquestionable. Besides, I’ve got quite the leash on him, so you don’t have to worry too much about your safety, even if he says something stupid or tries to imply anything towards you. Seriously, don’t take anything he says to heart since he is all talk and no bark when it comes to you, thanks to our contract.”

“Can’t say the same for your king, though, so tell Gremory to be careful from now on. Freed’s job is to protect you from any threat to your body, mind, and soul. This also includes any kind of subtle influence that Gremory can exert on you through the Evil Pieces. I have equipped him with some stuff to detect such manipulations.”

Akeno sighed as the old and familiar argument came back again.

“Ren, how many times must I tell you? Rias is not like that.”

“And how many times do I have to teach you not to fully trust anyone but yourself?”

“…Fine. I don’t have the energy for this argument again. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Alright. Oh! Would you look at that? The old bitch is finally ready to meet me.”

“Izayoi Ren! You better hold your tongue-“

“Whatever! See you soon.”

Akeno heard the rant from someone from Takamagahara on the other side at Ren’s comment towards the Goddess of the Sun before Ren cut off the call, making Akeno sigh once again with exasperation.

“Oh!? Is Boss-man done talking? Then, I guess it's time for introductions! Devil bitch!”

Akeno’s brow twitched at the insult, but she did nothing as Freed gave an exaggerated bow.

“Freed Sellzen at your service!”

Akeno knew, deep within her heart, that things were going to get really difficult from this day forward for her poor king and the Sitri heiress.

Simply nodding at the blood-soaked figure of the insane exorcist, Akeno walked towards Ren and her house while the exorcist trailed behind her, spouting rude remarks, sexual innuendos, and other such things that were already getting on her nerves.