Chapter 19 - 19

BANG

BANG ​​

BANG

Sounds like that of the worst of modern battlefields could be heard in the streets of Kuoh.

Ravel was doing her best to dodge as bullets flew at her, her eyes darting from one place to another as she tried her best to not be shot.

"You are quite an agile little pest, HUH!?" Trois aimed the gun in her hand behind her and shot, the force sending her up right in Ravel's path.

Before Ravel could react properly Trois had moved her gun, but instead of shooting she swung it at Ravel's side and sent the Phenex girl flying at a window.

Looking up, Ravel saw the gun in Trois' hands changing. From a simple old-style rifle to a pair of double tri-barrel gatlings that she holds in each arm.

A shower of bullets rained down on the building, each bullet not even half as strong as those from the old rifle, but the number of bullets were overwhelming as if raindrops in a downpoar and the whole building quickly became swiss cheese and collapsed on top of Ravel.

Not that this satisfied Trois who changed her weapon again, going from the double tri-barrel gatlings to a missile launcher carrying around 12 missiles that all flew at once towards the collapsed building and exploded, leveling the building and making the two sides of the place collapse as well.

Let it never be said that the Hero Faction cared about collateral damage, they normally aimed for that at any rate.

Trois just watched dispassionately as she was pushed back due to the blast, creating several simple rifles mid-air to serve as stepping stones until she stepped on the roof of the building across from the rubbles of where she just shot.

She didn't seem surprised in the slightest at what happened next, as if waiting for it to happen.

A spark of flames could be seen, it was barely there for an instant before it rose out of the rubble, and from it Ravel formed. She was now on top of the rubble all around her, looking quite healthy with her blond curls swinging in the wind and a hotty expression despite what just happened, but her clothes have some signs of holes in them making them look a bit tattered.

Waving her hands forward Ravel sent a wave of flames right at Trois, not that it reached her since she created several shields in front of her that were big enough to block the fireballs. Even as several shields melted, more were made in their place.

Ravel released a 'tsk' before having to move, from behind the shields several grenades were launched at where she was standing and Ravel was not a fan of being hurt. Sure, she could heal from almost anything, but the pain was still there even if dulled.

As explosions rang behind her Ravel turned her body mid-air and released a torrent of fire much bigger than before at Trois who quickly jumped down the building to avoid the attack. Ravel had to think fast, she could already see Trois turning the muzzle of her gun towards her and she did not want to be hit anymore.

Ravel closed her eyes to calm her nerves, her mind moving much faster than normal as she remembered her eldest brother. Ruval Phenex, the heir of House Phenex, was one of the top 10 rating game champions who used not his near invulnerability to attacks to win, but his smarts. In the whole family, he knew Fire better than anyone, studied and learned from it more than anyone else, and used what he knew to his advantage becoming one of the strongest devils in the entire Underworld.

'Brother, how would he deal with this?' Ravel thought as she remembered the times she saw her brother fighting. He would never release fire in the way Ravel was releasing in such big and flashy ways, but he was the coolest to Ravel.

Taking a deep breath Ravel put her hands close together and concentrated the heat of her fire before releasing it as if a laser at Trois who barely managed to avoid it even as she put several riot shields in front of herself.

"Well, now this looks more like a challenge." Trois said, a vicious smile on her face as she touched the ground and darted at Ravel who had to move to gain distance.

This attack she just released took time to activate since this was the first time she attempted it and it was nowhere as refined as what her brother could do. She cursed herself for not practicing nearly as much as she should, spending way too much time taking care of Riser's messes or having lessons over how to be a proper noble lady.

"Not gonna get away, little filthy monster." Trois said in a sing-song voice as several guns appeared behind her and shot at Ravel. However, Ravel had tried another of her brother's tricks by making several weak shields of pure heat around herself, enough to displace the air around her and make any projectile not hit properly.

Unfortunately, they didn't work as intended and only a few bullets were displaced or melted, Ravel was still engulfed in a large explosion as the bullets she didn't manage to defend still hit her.

Seeing this Trois nodded to herself before moving to where Kiyoharu stood as if paralyzed in her place, the area destroyed with holes and explosion marks all around.

"So, will you accept being saved by the hero that is me, or would you rather a more, let's say, forceful method." Trois said. "I am, after all, a proper hero and thus won't just let you suffer in the hands of those vile monsters."

"Mami, please stop. We could just sit down and ta-"

"MY NAME IS NOT MAMI! IT IS TROIS! I haven't been Mami for a long, long time now. I am Trois, a member of the Hero Faction. A HERO!" Trois shouted, her voice rising well past screaming and her eyes looking almost bloodshot as she said this.

Kiyoharu took a step back in fright.

"But, but you are Mami-"

"No! I am not Mami, I am Trois! T. R. O. I. S!" Trois said in fury but also as if she was talking to a child, an incredibly annoying child she wanted to strangle or fill with bullets.

"Y-You are scaring me." Kiyoharu said in a timid fashion and Trois sent an irritated look at her.

"I guess you will need some time to understand everything. But, no issues, I can just take you back to the others right now and I am sure Georg-sama will help you see the righteous path you are destined to follow." Trois said, extending her hand to Kiyoharu.

Just as she was about to take Kiyoharu away Trois felt great heat and jumped back just in time as a ball of fire hit where she was standing. Scowling, she looked up at Ravel who stood there perfectly healthy yet again.

"You know, your regeneration is BS."

"So I have been told," Ravel said as she pulled both hands above her head and created a big fireball. Concentrating she made the fireball split into several pieces that she then sent at Trois.

The hero began to move her arms, old rifles appearing as she used them one after another, shooting at every small ball of fire flying her way and blowing them up. Her arms moved nimbly as she continued to shoot one after another, her reflexes honed while practicing to obtain her Balance Breaker shining through as she moved from one side to the other in quick succession and hit every single blast of fire.

As she finished she was about to smirk at Ravel who sent another fireball. Rolling her eyes Trois prepared herself to simply shoot down this attack as well, as she was getting tired of this exchange.

And just like that, she fell into Ravel's trap.

As the ball was getting closer and before Trois lazily shot it down, Ravel sent a blast of air right at the fireball turning the concentrated fire into a big inferno that flew right at the shocked Trois engulfing her in fire.

"KYAAAHHH!" Trois screamed in pain as the fire blistered her skin and burned her body in various places.

Ravel looked a bit torn, she was glad to have landed such a good hit, but she didn't really want to hurt Mami (Trois). Ravel could tell that there was something wrong with the other girl's mind and she still remembers the expression Mami spoke.

'... I am sure Georg-sama will help you see the righteous path you are destined to follow.'

Ravel might not know who Georg is, but that sure sounds like mind magic were involved and that was enough to send goosebumps down Ravel's spine.

Walking beside Kiyoharu she turned to her.

"Come on, let's get out of here." Ravel said as she pulled Kiyoharu into a rather uncomfortable and ridiculous princess carry before beginning to fly away. Ravel did not want to risk Kiyoharu any more than what she already did and she didn't have any reason to push this fight.

The faster she left the faster she could get to her brother (not even thinking of going to Rias who might try and take her chances to force Kiyoharu into her peerage), and if she was with her brother there was less of a chance of another attack and they could think on how to deal with this mess without more collateral damage to the town.

As they began to take off, Kiyoharu turned to look down at the inferno that spread across the street.

"Do you think Mami-san is still *GULP* alive there?"

Ravel was just about to answer when what sounded like a big ass cannon shot was heard, the windows of the buildings around shattered as the biggest bullet till now flew at them and barely missed, but just the windblast was enough to send the two girls flying towards a rooftop.

Thankfully, Ravel used some wind manipulation together with her wings just in time to avoid impact.

Looking at the inferno one could see Mami walking out of it, her skin red and charred in places as she began to mutter.

"It is Trois. Mami is dead, dead, dead, dead, dead, dead, dead, dead, dead, deAd, DEad, DEAD. I AM TROIS! Hahahahahahahaha!"

Around her hundreds upon hundreds of guns started appearing, covering the entire area beside her as if a wall made out of guns of all types. A veritable army's artillery all present and all ready to fire as Trois began to laugh maniacally.

Ravel's eyes went completely wide and, as if by instinct, she stood in front of her friend and created as many magic barriers as she could while using her own body to prepare for this attack.

"Hahahahah-"

"Well, I guess that is enough."

As these words fell Mami froze, her eyes went completely vacant as she dropped to the floor. The guns surrounding her crumbled away into motes of silver and gold as the entire place went quiet and there, on the ground, standing calmly as if she had never moved a single muscle, was none other than Kiyoharu looking slightly annoyed at all this.

Ravel's eyes went wide as she turned to the 'Kiyoharu' that she was protecting with all her might, just to see that Kiyoharu vanishing like dust in the wind.

Ravel turned back to the ground and saw Kiyoharu looking back at her and waving to her with a smile to her face. However, unlike before when Ravel did not think anything of it, now she could see that this was not the smile of someone who was innocent and knew nothing about the supernatural but the smile of someone who PRETENDED to know nothing of the supernatural.

"... Why is my life so complicated?" Ravel sighed and spoke such, and at this moment she could see the ruins of one of the buildings affected by this brief but explosive conflict completely crumble she groaned.

With just a glance she could tell one thing, this night was shaping up to be one filled with collateral damage and there would be so much paperwork to deal with it all. Oh, the cruelty.

///---///

Going back a few minutes, in the residence where Riser and his Peerage were chilling.

"So, Darling, when will little Rav arrive?" Yubelluna questions her king while sitting on his lap. The two were tenderly embracing one another while watching some netflix and had just finished a somewhat decent movie.

"I guess she will take some time. She did say that she was going to buy a gift for a friend of hers from school, that is coming back from some problems." Riser said.

"I think I heard about it, isn't it one of the girls she approached who has a Sacred Gear but is going through a rough patch?" Mihae, Riser's Bishop who likes to wear miko outfits, said with a finger to her chin.

"Oh, I heard of her!" Ile said.

"I did too, I did too!" Nel spoke. "Ra-chan said it was that girl, yep."

"Oh, so it was that one." Riser said dismissively even if there was just the slightest hint of recognition in his tone. "My sister was quite distraught with the situation, if the girl is now returning she should receive a proper gift wouldn't you say, my Queen?"

"Yes, of course." Yubelluna spoke softly in that husky tone that always got her King all excited.

"Marion, be a dear and buy something nice for the poor girl. Something a young girl would like, maybe a diamond and ruby necklace." Riser said offhandedly. The Phenex family truly was so obscenely rich that giving out jewelry worth millions of dollars was normal for them. It was almost courtesy for them really, such was their absurd fortune born from being the only suppliers of a "cure-all" medicine in a world that always had a war somewhere.

"Leave it to me, Riser-sama." Marion said, a shine in her eyes as she would be able to use this opportunity to indulge in one of her favorite hobbies, buying expensive things and taking pictures of them to show on the devil's Instagram.

Riser was just about to ask for a massage when he felt it. As one of the two kings who had to manage the town he was connected to the magic fields throughout town that helped identify when there was a sudden influx of energy in town that wasn't supposed to be there.

Normally this detection aspect was relatively small as no one expected much from the young kings managing the town and instead there were agents watching over the town to report in case anything enters the city unannounced, it was not perfect but at least most stray devils were found with this technique and it was not hard to implement or maintain.

However, after coming to this place Riser refused to work with such a crude detection system and used his own money to improve the whole town's detection capabilities. The total cost was no more than one afternoon of Riser working in making Phenex tears so it barely cost him anything, but the effects were great.

Now it detected the exact location of the energy used and determined the number of different energy signatures.

This was exactly what happened when a total of more than 50 stray devils of all levels of power all showed up almost at once in the industrial area of Kuoh.

Sharpening his gaze Riser stood up, his playful tone changing to one exuding authority and power worthy of a son of a noble house.

"Yubelluna, contact Serafal and the other Satans that an attack is happening in Kuoh. Ask her to shut down communications with the other cities and make the preparations to ensure that things don't escalate. Kalarmine, go to my fiance's house and inform her of the situation and lead her to the place of combat with all due haste. Do make sure to let her know that if she wants to continue in this town then she has to fight to HAVE a town standing, also tell her to keep my sister safe as Ravel is her Bishop and should be treated well. Let her know that if she lets even one strand of my sister's hair get damaged I will make it a point to make our marital life HELL for her out of spite. Mihae, talk with Sona and tell her we are moving and keep communications open, Sona is a better strategist than I am so any advice from her would be worth listening to. Everyone else, suit up as fast as possible, we will be going into battle."

As he finished speaking they all started to move to get things done, even Riser moved as he went to a safe he made in case of emergencies and took out 25 vials of Phenex Tears he had prepared in case of any fight as he did not want to see any of his lovelies hurt if he could help it.

Soon after they all headed out, going to the fight against the stray devils with all due haste. He might not like this town or Earth in general, but this place was still his responsibility now and he would fulfill his responsibilities by any means.

///---///

In the Student Council Room, at the same time, Sona and Rias were drinking tea and talking about the last few days. It was quite interesting, especially with Rias mentioning the video of Soma and Riser playing in the club together and claiming that Riser had some sort of plot against her.

"And I am telling you, Rias. You have been watching too much anime and your head has gone bad. What plot would even be there anyway?" Sona said.

"I don't know, but that human and Riser seemed awfully close in the video. Maybe he is related to it." Rias answered, even though she didn't really believe this but was looking for ANY way to get rid of this unwanted marriage and she was grasping at straws in order to find any way out of it.

Finding Riser in a conspiracy against her or something should do it.

"Soma? He isn't in a conspiracy against you, he doesn't even know of the supernatural and is just a human, even if an uncommon one."

"Oh, uncommon? Is he strong?" Rias asked, her mind changing gears rapidly.

"Not that I know of, but he is intelligent. He is the one that defeated me in chess." Sona admitted, even if the admittance stung her pride. That he always seemed to avoid her was also not helping, She was not used to any form of rejection and didn't know how to react to him at all.

"Wow, if he is so smart maybe I should approach him. Depending on how he is I could maybe add him as a Knight or a Rook of my Peerage." Rias said, liking the idea of having someone smarter than Sona in her Peerage.

Sona's eyes narrowed, knowing her friend's greed and laziness far too well and already knowing that Rias likely wanted Soma for his intelligence and because it would mean she would have someone else to do all the strategies while in battle. Sona did not like that, Soma was HER prey, she was the one that was going to make him bow in reverence, not the big tittie monster that was Rias.

Sona was about to retort when she felt the same thing Riser did, the feeling of multiple strays appearing in town. Rias was the only king who didn't feel anything since she refused to be connected to the new security system paid for by Riser. Thankfully she was with Sona who quickly told her of what happened.

Rias bit her lips in frustration, right now she only had Issei and Akeno with her since Kiba was still in recovery needing to go through physiotherapy to be able to move again and Koneko not being allowed on Japan's soil due to being seen as a traitor to the Yokais for eagerly accepting to become a devil right after the massacre and even changing her original name to the name Rias chose for her. Leaving the name Shirone to Koneko, which literally means in Japanese 'small cat', didn't endear the white-haired rook to the Yokais whatsoever, it was seen as her forsaking her noble race as a Nekoshou to become a pet of the race that exterminated the other Nekoshou.

So, yeah, Koneko was not around.

"Rias, we should go. Call Akeno but leave Issei to guard the Old School building, he is still weak but he should be able to at least protect your first Bishop that is sealed there. I will also be leaving Momo here as she is proficient in communication magic and will be able to send a message in case a stray tries to enter the school." Sona said with Rias nodding, not having much of a choice.

She wanted to trust her dear servants, but Issei was untested in combat and she did not want his first fight being against lots of strong stray devils all at once.

No, she and Akeno would be enough, or at least what was available.

With plans decided both started summoning and explaining the plan for their respective peerages. It was time for action.

///---///

Aya had just arrived back home.

Walking inside with only her mother by her side she did not know what to do, the place felt weird now. There was still an air of oppression, as if her father or brother would appear at any moment to make sure she was miserable, but she still could feel that the only people here were her and her mother.

Aya wanted to go see her friends, especially to see Soma who always had a calming effect on her and always made her feel safe even if he was kind of a brute to everyone else, but she couldn't. Momoko did not take her husband and son away well and Aya was the one to take care of her now that no one else was around that could support her.

Aya, too, needed help but she was deceptively strong and far too kind, she buried her own desires to be with friends if it meant she could help her mother.

She first went to the bathroom to shower, everywhere she looked she saw ghosts of what happened to her and trembled especially when she passed by her brother's room. Taking a deep breath she kept repeating to herself that she had to be brave, brave for herself and her mother as well. This was a chance for a new life, an actual future without her father or brother punishing her for the sin of existing, and she would take this chance with both hands.

Still, she had to stop more than a few times just to breathe deeply, calm her nerves and not think of the past, and to concentrate on the future.

After a long shower where Aya finally calmed down, she went to make dinner. Now that it was just her and her mother she could make the food that they liked instead of only things Jirou enjoyed.

As her mother sat at the kitchen table Aya thought about what to do. She wanted to do something simple but filling with a lot of vegetables and meat but would be easy to digest. After thinking for a bit she decided to make a soup. As she was cooking she froze more than once, as if ready to apologize to Jirou for making a soup but she still marched on as she tried to not focus on that. She was finishing the soup when-

CRACK

A sound of something cracking could be heard from the front door. Momoko went to look at what it was, just to be sent flying with a piece of ice through the shoulder.

"MOM!" Aya yelled as she saw this. Running to her fallen mother she looked at the door and saw a girl was standing there in a relaxed posture. With curled brown hair and yellow eyes, the girl looked at Aya and her mother who was now bleeding out on the floor as if she was bored of being there.

"You are Aya, right? I came to pick you up for you to fulfill your destiny of being a hero of humanity. You can either come with me nicely or I can force you, it is your choice." The girl said as she playfully twirled with some of her hair.

Aya started to hyperventilate, this woman was releasing an aura of menace that was even worse than the one she was used to from her brother or father. Being in this house was also not helping her mental state as her heart started to beat hectically on the verge of a panic attack. Hyperventilating as terror filled her body at this scene in front of her.

She missed the bracelet that Soma gave her a while back, giving off a light for a moment, instead Aya looked as the woman started approaching her one step at a time.

"Don't worry, soon everything will make sense and you will find your true purpose as a member of the Hero Faction." The girl said and stretched her hand towards Aya. As the hand approached it was no just the hand of this girl she saw, but the hands of her father and brother, of the hands of those who would beat, hurt, humiliate, and make Aya's life a true hell.

"No, no more, get away, GET AWAY!" Aya shouted and two things happened almost simultaneously. First was that a gun with a heart shaped muzzle appeared in her hands, and then she shot it without thinking and as if by instinct.

In a pouf of pink smoke, the girl who was threatening Aya was nowhere to be seen. Aya released a sigh of relief, until she looked at her mother.

The ice that pierced her shoulder was releasing a lot of blood, Momoko's face going paler by the second.

She did not know what to do. She tried pressuring it to stop the flow of blood, she wanted to call for emergency service but she did not have a cell phone and she did not know where her mother kept hers. As the pool of blood grew larger, she felt despair growing more and more, and for the first time in who knows how long she did it.

She asked for help.

"Please, someone save my mother." She said in a clear, if small, voice.

"Sure, no problem."

Turning to the direction of the voice Aya to see who was there.

In a simple jacket and jeans and no shirt, he was there.

"So, you finally asked for help, huh. But for you to do so for someone else instead of for yourself, you really are too kind Aya." Soma said as he patted her in the head. "Well done, now leave this to me."

Aya gulped as she realized something, this was the first time she actually asked for his help. He always offered it, making sure she knew she could ask for help at any time, but this was the first time she actually asked for his help. Aya just stood there as she saw him move to her mother and start doing some complicated things with his hands on her wound, Aya could visibly see the hole left from him removing the stake of ice closing at a visible rate.

After the wound closed and the bleeding stopped he released a sigh.

"Well, she will live but will need more medical care. Better take her to my place, it is safe and I can get her some medicine there. It seems like tonight will be a rough one and the faster I can settle this the better." Soma said as if speaking to himself. After thinking for a moment he nodded to himself, thoughts and plans on what to do settled in his mind as he stood up with Momoko in his arms. Looking at Aya he spoke. "So, are you coming or not?"

Aya quickly followed and as she walked away from the house she smiled, feeling safer than ever before. What little distrust she held for Soma disappeared as she chose to believe in someone else for what feels like the first time. And even if this whole situation felt more like a dream than reality she was still glad that she now was sure she had someone that would stand by her side, and that was the most important thing for her.

///---///

Sacred Gears:

- War Hope (Mami's Sacred Gear):

Tier - High Tier Gear

Appearance - Internal;

Description - Allows the user to create weapons used in war that the user can think off. All the weapons would obtain magic attribute but are not considered Holy or Demonic while also not having any unique aspects. Any weapon or armor used in war can be generated through this gear and the more the user can think of weapons usable in war the more varied the options. It is speculated that as wars progress and technology increases the field considered as 'weapons of war' would continuously increase and in time this gear would warrant being called Longinus.

- Solomon's Wisdom (Kiyoharu's Sacred Gear):

Tier - High Tier Gear;

Appearance - Ring;

Description - One of the 10 rings given to Solomon in the past it allows its user to connect their mind to others. This ring has the power to link the user directly to the target's sensory system to control their body, experience their senses remotely, communicate telepathically regardless of distance, create illusions, manipulate memories, and nulify any and all forms of mind control. This gear just isn't considered a Longinus due to it taking a heavy toll on the user's mind and needing it's user to have a powerful enough will, it also doesn't change the user's physical ability and stronger targets have a stronger resistance to it, demanding more energy to connect.

- Vanishing Drive (Aya's Sacred Gear):

Tier - Middle Tier Gear? (mutating);

Appearance - Gun with a heart shapped muzzle;

Description - This gear has the ability to teleport whatever it shoots instantly to places that have a strong impact on the user or where the user is thinking of by shooting them. Distance and dimension is completely irrelevant for it, whatever is shoot is teleported to whatever place the user is thinking off or places of importance for her. It's main weakness is that the area of effect of shots is quite short, needing what she is aiming at to be close to her if the teleportation is to work. No matter what sort of being, if shot it WILL teleport the target away and no defenses can modify that.