The Maniac of DxD (Highschool dxd insert/ semi-crack): Chapter 22

I patted Akeno’s head as she held my sleeve with a depressed look.

Honestly, for a teenager, she is quite clingy. Not that I can blame her since, in her perspective, she had only got me back recently, and I am once again leaving for distant lands, leaving her behind.

Even if it is only for a weekend at most.

“Come on, Akeno. Don’t be a crybaby like back then. I will only be gone for a couple of days at most and will be back before you know it. Besides, you know me, nothing can keep me down.”

My arrogant look must have been funny since she chuckled but continued to look sad before giving me a hug.

“Be safe. And don’t forget to call me.”

“Don’t worry, you can see my adventures on live stream.”

“That is what I am worried about!”

Her sudden glare was quite jarring, but I just laughed at her expression.

Akeno has always been like this, worrying too much about minor things and my safety.

Shaking my head, I waved to her and headed towards the boarding point in the airport while she waved back.

Just like with most airports in the world, this one also held a hidden section that only those of the supernatural community can access, allowing the passengers to board a heavily modified jet liner that is much, much, faster than their regular counterparts.

Why go to such lengths instead of using simple teleportation magic? One word: money.

Teleportation is instantaneous and extremely effective once set up, but the initial cost of setting up such circle is prohibitively expensive in terms of materials, not to mention the cost of having a mage on standby all the time to finetune the circle each time someone wants to use it so that the circle did not have any adverse effect on various races and creatures that passed through it.

Granted, this is a negligible cost for most supernatural races. But, for the humans, this is an unfeasible method of travel since they don’t have the kind of deep pockets that most of the Supernatural and long-lived races have.

In contrast, the process of taking an existing aircraft and then enhancing it with magic is an extremely simple affair both in terms of cost and maintenance, hence its popularity and implementation across the world.

Thankfully, the supernatural community finds the boarding process of a regular airport just as tiresome as I do, so the process for the supernatural version is relatively simple.

They just scan the ticket, which contains that magic signature of the organization that operates the aircraft, and then let the passengers board without a fuss.

Part of the reason is because of the sheer number of people and races that use this kind of service across the world, making the punctuality of the airline in question an extremely important thing for their reputation.

Another reason is that they flat out don’t care about the safety of the passengers, given the fact that all of their patrons are those who are accomplished in one supernatural art or another, every single one of the passenger is equivalent to a natural disaster in physical form, so there really is no sense in trying to maintain any semblance of safety for those that board their planes.

Within a few minutes, I was already on board a magically enhanced passenger craft, taking my seat in the first class section, as the plane was quickly filled out and began its take off procedure.

As a plane for supernatural people and enhanced with magic, there was no need for a full-fledged crew within such flights. Instead, everything from serving the needs of the passengers to piloting the craft is taken care of by familiars.

Soon, we were in the air and bound for my destination.

The Vatican.

After that stupid attempt made by the Sitri and Gremory heiresses to threaten me and the realm big shots arrived to negotiate, the talk we had was something that I truly wished to live stream.

The juicy gossip I got in that meeting is enough to churn content for my channel for more than a year.

Unfortunately, as per the agreement I made with Lucifer and Leviathan, I cannot expose those details to anyone, not even their sisters.

This is what led me to my sudden travel to the Vatican city in the first place.

While the details of the deal are something that I can’t speak about to anyone else, the main point is that I am to act as their Leason along with Baraqiel’s and go to Vatican for a meeting with the Archangel Michael who is to be accompanied with the higher ups of the church.

Why did they choose me for such an important role? How the hell should I know?

The only thing I care about is the pay, and trust me, my imaginary audience, the pay is definitely worth this trip into enemy territory and facing the wrath of an Archangel for trying to seduce his sister in the past.

What should have been a journey of 14 hours or more was cleared in mere two hours thanks to the magical nature of the aircraft and I took my first steps in the Vatican City in more than a year since I was blacklisted.

Instantly, I felt the holy energy in the very air of the city, showing why this place was the seat of power for the Angels and the Church.

However, no level of holy aura and energy can cover the undercurrent of corruption and sin buried in the foundation of this city and its very people.

Trust me, the things I have seen during my brief stint in this place would haunt the nightmares of a sane person.

Fortunately for me, I am no sane person so I am unaffected by those sights.

As I walked out of the airport and headed straight towards the location given to me, I could feel countless eyes on me throughout my walk.

Another reason why I found this city to be so creepy.

No matter the world or the state of my sanity, being stared at by a large group of religious fanatics is never a comfortable experience.

Shaking my head, I continued walking, completely aware that I was being watched by people who would like nothing more than to end me right here and now if they had the power.

“Lord Strada! We have information from our scouts. Maniac Ren has arrived in the Vatican.”

The two-meter-tall old man with white hair smiled at the panicked shouts of his subordinates, finding amusement in the fear that they exuded at the mere mention of that young man’s name.

And yet, even the gentle man that was once called the strongest human in history could not help the hint of worry that made its way into his eyes.

Just to be sure, he wanted to confirm that the contingencies were in place to deal with this anomalous existence in the Human race.

“How are the preparations?”

At the Cardinal Priest’s words, his subordinate kneeled like a knight of old before speaking.

“The security staff around the Vaults have been quadrupled, along with tripling the defensive blessings and magics on the Vaults themselves. We have also made sure to send out raw Holy Power obtained from the continuous prayers of a thousand priests and nuns to scramble any kind of recording equipment that the Maniac might use to tarnish our reputation.”

“All in all, we have done everything we can. The rest is up to your excellency and Lord Michael.”

Finally sure that his church would not be robbed blind again, Vasco Strada leaned back into his chair and chuckled a bit.

On one hand, he could not help but feel trepidation towards the young man that had arrived in the city. The mental scar he left on all the members of the church the last time he raided their vaults after emptying the vaults of the Heavens themselves, somehow sneaking into and out of the realm of the Angels, was so high that Vasco personally had to hire a literal horde of supernatural mind healers to help his staff.

Such a huge expenditure of resources, especially after loosing most of their treasures, was so scary that the mere mention of Izayoi Ren’s name invoked nightmares in the mind of his staff to this day.

On the other hand, Vasco could not help but admire the sheer balls of the young man who always punched way above his weight class and lived to tell the tale.

Truthfully speaking, if Vasco was in his prime, he would have loved nothing more than to spar with the boy and see how far his talents went.

Alas, such a time had long since passed for the old human since he is now in his eighties, way beyond the age where he should strain himself more than necessary.

Vasco Strada continued to chuckle as his subordinates stared at him with confusion.

“How interesting.”