Chapter 501 - Aftermath (I)...

[7th Heaven] 

Grayfia was gaping like a fish out of water… To be honest, she never expected the fight to turn out like this. Yes, she knew that Sona was probably strong, but Walburga was clearly stronger than Sona, especially with the Incinerate Anthem in her possession. 

At first, Grayfia was stumped when she found that Sona's Demonic Power was almost reaching the Ultimate-Class level, whereas her opponent Walburga was only High-Class level. Even though Sona seemed to be stronger, she was still at a disadvantage. 

Grayfia always knew that Sona was a brilliant strategist, so she wasn't surprised when she saw how Sona had decided to decrease the number of her opponents. While Sona was keeping Walburga busy, the members of her Peerage were cutting down the enemy numbers. 

The awkward stalemate was finally broken when Walburga decided to stop holding back. That is what Grayfia had been afraid of, the woman started to use the Incinerate Anthem due to hysterical anger when she noticed that her group was being killed off at a steady pace. 

Grayfia blanched when Sona's blazer caught fire, but she was proud of how quickly Sona got rid of the blazer. Even though Sona got rid of the blazer, she should have been feeling extreme pain, after all, she was touched by the Holy Flames of the Incinerate Anthem. 

The Flames were strong enough to kill Satans, so Grayfia didn't know how Sona was able to withstand it. Grayfia was sure that Sona was feeling a lot of pain, but didn't look bothered by it. It was a highly commendable feat… Now, Grayfia was really interested to know what sort of training they were going through. 

Grayfia groaned and palmed her face when she saw how Rias was acting. It seemed that the stupid bint haven't learned anything since the last time she had seen her. Grayfia supposed that all of the nutrients in Rias's body had gone to her boobs. 

Grayfia had boobs too, but she was thankful that she had both boobs and brains or she might have turned out like Rias. Grayfia shuddered at the thought. Grayfia had to use all of her willpower to stop herself from teleporting down there and smack some sense into that big-boobed numbskull. 

The upcoming Rating Games tournament is going to be very important for the future of all the young Devils. Rias was already at a disadvantage with her low number of Peerage members and two of her Peerage members, namely Gasper and Asia, were completely useless in combat. Now wasn't the time to alienate a strong Peerage member. 

Shirone had an extremely protective elder sister who wouldn't hesitate to kill Rias along with the rest of her Peerage if she found that her sister was being punished. Sirzechs wouldn't be able to do anything since Kuroka is protected by The Destroyer, so by extension, she was also protected by Lady Hela. 

Once again, Grayfia found herself being surprised when Sona started to use Ice Magic just like her elder sister. Yes, Sona was completely novice if compared with Serafall but, it was still a huge achievement. Now that she knew how to use Ice Magic, she could improve it with time. 

After that, Grayfia saw how Sona instigated psychological warfare with Walburga. After mentally destroying Walburga, Sona killed off the woman. Sona wasn't anywhere nearly cruel like Unohana-sama or Lady Hela, but Grayfia could see some signs… 

But that wasn't why Grayfia was gaping like a fish… something happened after the end of the fight and that is why Grayfia was acting in such a manner. She never expected something like this and she was more than sure that this was the first time something like this has happened… 

[With Sona Sitri] 

Walburga's body plopped to the ground, finally dead and Sona also dropped to her knees due to exhaustion. She was extremely tired as she had used most of her strength to defeat Walburga. It was a strenuous fight. 

A wisp of Purple Flame crawled out of Walburga's dead body and it lunged towards Sona. The bespectacled girl wasn't in condition to dodge even though she clearly saw the Flames approaching her body. Sona gasped in shock when the Flames touched her arm and Flames disappeared into her body. 

Only after a few moments, Sona clutched her chest as she felt like her heart was about to burst out of her chest and her whole body felt like it was being stabbed by Light Weapons. Sona tried… but she couldn't stop herself from screaming in pain. 

Her back arched up and moments later, her eyes started to roll towards the back of her head and her mind started to become blurry. She knew that she was going to pass out and there was nothing she could do to stop it. 

"Kaichou!!" Sona heard several voices calling out to her and that was the last thing she heard before her world turned completely black… 

[Vatican] 

The Pope wasn't a happy camper… he knew for sure that something was very wrong. It has been some time since the members of the Church had been losing the power to harness Holy Power. Additionally, the nature of the Holy Power they wielded was changing too. 

At first, it wasn't noticeable and they were also busy with the fact that they were losing the ability to harness Holy Power. This simply wouldn't do… If they lost the ability to wield Holy Power then who was going to protect humanity from being overwhelmed by evil creatures like Devils and Fallen Angels?

It has been some time since he had been trying to contact Archangel Michael, but he was yet to receive an answer. He wanted to know what was happening and why. He had a lot of questions like all the Exorcists, but he didn't know anyone besides the Angels who could answer the questions. 

Even the Brave Saints were out of reach… the Excalibur fragments were also acting weirdly, and that is why everyone was freaked out. Yeah… the Pope wasn't a happy camper. The Pope was pulled out of his musings when a golden Magical Circle appeared inside the room. 

The Pope immediately shot up from his seat and with a golden flash, Archangel Michael appeared inside the room. The Pope released a relieved sigh internally. He noticed the grim look on Archangel Michael's face and he knew that the Angel probably brought bad news… 

"Your Holiness!" The Pope bowed his head respectfully as he greeted the Archangel. Michael could only smile wryly. 

"Forgive me, I wasn't able to answer your messages, but I was somewhat occupied" Michael said with a complicated look on his face. 

"Please have a seat, your Holiness" the Pope said in a respectful tone. Michael gave the man a grateful nod and sat down. 

"I understand that you have a lot of questions. Why don't you call all of your best Exorcists here… that way, I will be able to answer all of your questions" Michael suggested softly and the Pope immediately send the summons for Vasco Strada, Touji Shidou, Xenovia Quarta, and Irina Shidou. 

Xenovia Quarta and Irina Shidou were novices when compared to Vasco Strada and Touji Shidou, but both of them were wielders of Excalibur Fragment, so he wanted them to be present here. Xenovia Quarta has huge potential as she was a natural Holy Sword wielder. 

Previously she wielded both Holy Sword Durandal and Excalibur Destruction, but after Kuoh Massacre, Holy Sword Durandal was returned to Vasco Strada, and now she only wielded the Excalibur Destruction. If nurtured correctly, then one day, she might gain the title of the strongest Exorcist. 

Touji Shidou, Irina Shidou, and Xenovia Quarta arrived together. Irina and Xenovia were surprised by the presence of an Archangel, so they greeted him with looks of awe on their faces and Michael started to shift uncomfortably in his seat due to guilt. 

Touji also greeted the Archangel respectfully, but he easily noticed the Archangel's discomfort, so he deduced that the Archangel was a bearer of bad news. All of them decided to wait for Vasco Strada's arrival, the said man arrived after another minute. 

Vasco Strada respectfully greeted the Archangel before taking his seat. Throughout this time, Michael had been wondering how to start the conversation, but honestly, he couldn't find a good way to break the news… Michael took a deep breath and decided to start speaking. 

"I am afraid that I am the bearer of bad news…" Michael started to speak in a grim tone and everyone present inside the room could only grimace after hearing his words…

[Sitri Mansion, Kuoh Town] 

Sona gasped when she finally regained her consciousness. Her whole body was sore… and Sona clearly remembered what happened, so she wasn't surprised. She was lying in her own bed, so she was still alive. 

Sona noticed that she was covered by a sheet, and once again she wasn't surprised by the fact that she was completely naked under the sheet, but she was surprised when she noticed that she was sporting a Flame tattoo in between her moderately sized breasts. 

Sona clearly remembered that her body absorbed the wisp of Purple Flames. From Yachiru, Sona knew that Lady Hela had conquered Heaven, so there was a chance that Lady Hela had made some changes in the Scared Gear system. That was probably why she had a Longinus stuffed inside her body. 

As soon as Sona realized that, her mind was assaulted by some foreign memories related to the said Longinus type Sacred Gear… 

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1642 words in this chapter.

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