Chapter 102: The Workshop

Chapter 102: The Workshop

Sorry for the late update, folks! The latest chapter on my P (treon) was very hard to write.

Never before seen weapons arrayed on table in the workshop, versions of the exorcist firearms in shapes and form straying from the model the exorcists and angels were used to seeing for so long.

"Where in the asshole of our dead God did these guys get this stuff from?" Lint picked up the shotgun version of the exorcist light pistol.

She inspected it from top to bottom, inspecting the arcane sigils engraved in the silver-alloy casing.

"Lint! Language!" Irina chastised before she picked up the sniper rifle, her eyes slowly enamored by the beautiful and functional design of the chassis.

"Pistols were the standard for centuries. Azazel was working on prototypes with Michael, but to see the finished products made before them..." Baraqiel remarked.

"Why the fuck don't we have shotguns that shoot laser pellets?" Lint asked as she tried to disassemble it, but frowned.

Her hands wore special gloves that insulate the anti-devil properties of the weapons from harming her, yet her fingers could not pry open the casing, nor find a way to disassemble the weapon.

"Discretion is absolute when dealing with the enemy in the shadows." Baraqiel explained as he picked up the submachine gun model.

"These are dwarven glyph runes etched into the metal..." Baraqiel recognized. "Even Abrahamic inscriptions have been mixed in as well. Strange, not even seasoned magicians could craft these, even if they break off the traditional methods." the Lightning of God pondered.

"Whoever made these have a substantial amount of resources..." Reya mused as she could not help but admire the craftsmanship of each weapon.

"And profound knowledge in every art of magic. Whichever deity backs them up, they must be a savant to flawlessly inscribe different cultures like this." Baraqiel added.

"Hmm, remember that time we encountered that mercenary hunter back in our Exorcist days, Xenovia?" Irina asked as she picked up an assault rifle variant.

"Mmmmm. He was hunting a werewolf... unprepared." Xenovia nodded.

"He brought a gun like this. I wonder how he is doing now. He would've loved to have one of these." Irina reminisced.

There were the rare encounters with hired freelancers that were lucky enough to earn a living dealing with the supernatural... They did not last long though and they were very rare.

Reya summoned one of her masks in her hand.

"I wonder..." She activated the scanning feature of her Scouting Persona. She had diligently practiced ever since that encounter with Emperor Sutoku in Yomi.

Her abilities were ultimately meant for support, but she refused to let that chain her with the weakness of inaction in battle. She tapped at the side of her mask, and light projected from her eyes.

"Oohhhh." Lint awed at the 3-D projection of the shotgun in hand.

"Since when did you learn how to do that?" Irina asked.

"Um, just now... I think." Reya awkwardly admitted that she winged it.

The holographic projection turned transparent and was split in four parts, revealing a component, the weapon's core with circuit lines of inscriptions burned throughout the firearm to the inscriptions written on the silver barrel.

"What in the world...?" Reya squinted behind the mask.

"What? What is it?" Lint asked.

"The circuit lines... I'll show you."

Reya moved her hands forward, pinching the air as she spread her arms apart. The hologram zoomed in on the circuit lines.

Baraqiel, Irina, Xenovia, and Lint had a look.

It may look like circuit lines, but it was actually a long mesh of arcane scripts compressed together in a super-thin two-dimensional format.

Thousands upon thousands of scripts, symbols outside of the modern language alphabets, written in a microscopic scale at first sight, that was their impression, woven so finely tight it looked like standard circuit lines.

"...Aren't these the usual magic words used in magic circles?" Lint asked as she leaned forward.

"They are, but this is more than that, it's like... taking very long sentences and twisting them into a fine rope in a way that's no different than hyper-compressing coal into diamonds... I think..."

"Like a cypher, then...?" Irina asked while tilting her head.

Reya shrugged, "I guess you can see it that way too."

"What is that core I see?" Baraqiel asked, pointing at the holographic sphere in the center.

Reya narrowed her eyes, "I don't know. I can't seem to analyze the interior of its making, but it seems to be its self-replenishing power source... I don't know what to call it... I don't know how to parse this but... It's like an angel's soul was compressed into a ball, but it's weird."

"Weird how? To be honest, the way you described that thing like an angel's soul compressed into a ball, already sounded super weird in its own way." Lint asked.

"It looks like a soul but... it isn't? The masks are showing the composition of a soul like our Sacred Gears, but it's off, almost... Artificial." Reya explained.

"...Artificial sacred gears using the facsimile souls of Angels?" Baraqiel asked, "Fascinating... and concerning."

"Still, this is impressive. Our guns only have limited ammo before they become hunks of junk. Screw it, I'm calling dibs on this one." Lint swiped the shotgun with a devious smirk and glint in her eyes, caressing the barrel.

"Lint! They are research materials!" Reya retorted.

"These are spoils of war." Lint returned.

"Then they should belong to Saji and the others!" Reya retorted.

"But they don't use this shit! I do! I've been stuck with that peashooter since the day I could swing a sword! You don't understand how stingy the church is with their budget and armory!"

"Enough." Baraqiel defused the argument, "We will discuss ownerships after we retrieve Rias Gremory safe and sound. Is there anything else we can use from these findings?"

"Uh... I cannot seem to find any clues that might hint us whoever manufactured this. I don't know how long until I can find a lead." Reya replied with an apologetic look.

Baraqiel hummed and nodded, "Then let's hope that our 'guests' can shed us some new light."

OxO

"How are our prisoners?"

Sona asked as she and Ravel trekked through a secluded hallway.

"We managed to stabilize them both, despite the short notice. The male suffered considerable fractures, contusions, and hemorrhages - and considering we prefer not to waste our Phoenix Tears on them, he's not in any condition to talk. He is sedated and Mihae is performing a mind-scan on his memories, with Isabella and Xue Lan as her back-up. The female, on the other hand - since her injuries were lighter, she's regained consciousness enough to resist mind-scan. Akeno is currently with her."

They arrived at a holding room where the female mercenary was being kept, with Akeno also waiting for them. The african-american prisoner in question was bound on the wall - her hands and legs were cuffed in enchanted chains and shackles. She had been stripped down to her black sports underwear, revealing her dark skin where fading inscriptions and spells had been tattooed on her belly, torso and upper arms.

In addition, looking back at the report where whatever spells on her body were activated via her voice, the female prisoner was also gagged with a ball to prevent her from uttering any word - a trail of her saliva was leaking out of the corner of her lips.

"Sona, Ravel." Akeno greeted, albeit her attire caused Sona to raise her eyebrows and Ravel to blush.

The Nephilim was clad in a black skin-tight dominatrix outfit with matching boots and gloves while holding a riding crop. Sona did not need to guess where the chains and ball-gag that were used on the prisoner came from.

"...Did you really need all of... These?" Sona gestured at the woman prisoner who was glaring from her position.

"Considering my dear King and friend is in their grasp? I don't think you can blame me for feeling vindictive." Akeno smiled knowingly, before she licked her lips at the woman prisoner, "...Besides, I can tell she's clearly not in the mood to give us what we want."

"Have you at least analyzed the spells tattooed on her person?" Sona then asked with a small sigh.

Akeno blinked, "Oh, you don't need to worry about that. Notice the tattoos are fading? It appears that whatever spells imbued on her are one-time use. I've analyzed and attempted to tinker with them but the spells didn't give any reaction whatsoever; she's pretty much harmless now."

"Please remove her gag. It is time we get her to talk." Sona requested.

Akeno then moved, walking around Lana while trailing her crop across the woman's waist, before she finally unclasped the gag off her mouth.

"...I'll go straight to the case." Sona then spoke before Lana, "Where are you keeping Rias Gremory?"

The woman stared at the girl in glasses. She smacked her lips in a brief silence.

"...To think the great Princess Sitri would come to us herself." Lana recognized.

Sona could not help but blink and ask, "...How do you know me?"

"What do you think? You saved us the trouble by coming here. You all know you're fucked right?"

Sona then narrowed her eyes - her mind quickly connected the dots soon enough, "...I see, so you people are coming after me as well. But unfortunately, I am here not to surrender myself. I am here to rescue my friend. Let's try this again, where are you keeping Rias Gremory?"

"Pfff. You silly, silly princess. Oh, you are so behind you don't know the position you're in, do you?" Lana snickered at Sona's attempt at bravado.

"I'm well aware, I assure you." Sona returned - on cue, the door was opened with Mittelt entering while carrying a duffle bag.

"Thanks for waiting." Mittelt casually spoke as she spilled the duffle bag onto a nearby table, a torrent of devices and firearms, a walkie talkie and communicator, silver throwing knives, shock baton, enchanted bowie knife - a messy pile of it on the table.

"Where did you get all of these from? Who's your sponsor?" Mittelt quipped her own question.

"Let's see... One, fuck you. Two, here's a hint. Take a pint of something we call viagra, and suck my cunt." Lana sniped at her with vulgar vocabulary.

Mittelt scoffed, "Well, that's worth a shot."

However, before any more words could have been said, the walkie-talkie flared with static noise before a male's voice called out.

[Lana? Simon? Do you copy? Report, over.]

Ravel looked a little panicked at the sudden transmission, as she exchanged glances with Akeno and Sona - who began to work her brain on how to get out of this situation.

Lana smirked smugly, but she blinked at Mittelt, who was not looking worried whatsoever. Picking up the communicator, Mittelt gave it a quick look before putting it on her ear. The fallen angel smiled at Lana, cleared her throat a little before speaking in her own voice.

"This is Lana, I copy. We got a lead, over."

Several eyes widened at Mittelt perfectly mimicking Lana's voice. The fallen put her finger on her lips, silently telling them to be quiet.

Sona quickly caught on - she signaled Akeno towards Lana who seemingly snapped out of her stupor. The female prisoner was about to shout in hopes that her voice could reach whoever Mittelt was talking to; but Akeno had already moved and wrapped a piece of cloth over her mouth, gagging her from speaking any word.

Ignoring the brief struggle between Lana and Akeno - the former futilely shaking and grunting against the latter's hold on her, Mittelt kept listening on the line.

[We got a report of an explosion from the building where you are staking out from. What the hell is going on?]

"Simon was being a dumbass. He was playing with the explosives when he got bored." Miltelt stuck her tongue out at Lana who screamed against the cloth between her teeth.

[What the fuck? That stupid... Did he play with the new C4 or something? Never mind that for now - what's this lead you got?]

"It'll be easier if we return to base and show you, this might be related to the redhead. Speaking of, how is she doing?"

[She's being transported to R&D. Not sure what the commander's thinking, but this is the first time we got a noble research subject.]

Mittelt blinked, noticing the apprehension look on Sona and Ravel's face. Akeno was looking worried sick that her hold on Lana loosened a little, before the Queen quickly re-adjust her hold when Lana began to thrash around again.

"...Right. Anyway, Simon and I will be on our way back once we secure this lead."

[Alright, be quick. I'm taking his beer. Consider it as corporate punishment for stupidity.]

The caller hung up.

Akeno then released her hold on Lana, who spat the cloth out before glaring at Mittelt.

"Sona... We have to move." Akeno implored.

"I know, I know, but now we have no idea where this R&D building is even located." Sona said as she took her glasses off to massage her eyes. She then turned to Ravel.

"Check your brother's Bishop - see if she has learned anything from our other prisoner's memories."

Ravel nodded as she summoned the communication magic circle on her palm and pressed it to her ear.

"Akeno, contact Kiba if Muramasa can locate the building. We are moving up our plan." Sona then instructed the other Queen.

Akeno nodded and did the same, calling to Yuuto via magic circle.

"You got a plan?" Miltelt asked Sona.

"Not yet... we need to buy time. They will be looking for our prisoners." Sona glanced at Lana, who chuckled.

"Your princess is in another base, and she ain't coming out the same." Lana lashed with a taunting smirk. "By now, she's probably waiting at the dissection table where we gut all of you bastards. It's the first time we got a pretty one, so there's no way The Boss will be gentle-"

The next second later, whatever word that was about to come was interrupted by the cracking sound as Akeno's fist sailed across Lana's cheek, snapping her head to the side as drops of blood and a couple of teeth splattered across the floor.

"Akeno!"

Akeno blinked and let out a shuddered exhale, remembering that she was meant to contact Yuuto. Her vision went red the moment she heard Lana's taunt. She stopped her assault, but she remained giving the prisoner a death glare.

The said prisoner whose body has gone limp hung by the chains, with her face sporting a nasty bruise and blood dripping from her nose and lips. Ravel quickly came over and examined her condition and placed her fingers on her neck.

A few seconds later, Ravel then nodded to Sona, indicating that their prisoner was just unconscious.

Heaving a small sigh, Sona then turned to Akeno.

"...Leave her, Akeno. Get out and cool yourself off first. Kiba is waiting for you." Sona spoke with a soft, yet stern tone.

Akeno did not say another word and left the room after giving one last glare at the unconscious prisoner.

The blindfold over Rias' head was removed.

Even if they did remove it, a part of Rias wished that they did not, she could already hear what was around her, more than enough to know that dread and terror awaited her at her destination.

The screams were haunting through the metallic halls as she saw it, glass windows left and right leading to the horrific torture of Devils, their screams so loud Rias felt like she entered a hell made for Stray Devils.

"Welcome to our Workshop." John broke her out of her stupor as he, Natalie and another female soldier - Kate, were escorting her.

A glance at her left showed a female stray strapped to a table, dissected - stomach split open while the subject's eyes were open and her pupils were moving, eyelids stitched open as the scientists... remove one of the subject's organs as the victim stared at the horror.

A glance at her right showed her a flayed, mutilated chimeric beast, a mutant ant-eater mammal type with large sharp teeth and bladed fins, only a large fraction of its organs and skin were harvested.

Worst, it looked like it was still alive, the exposed lungs amongst the pink and red organs expanding and contracting with breath.

"What in blazes...?" Rias was at a loss for words at the carnage around her.

"When defeating the enemy, the first step is to understand them however we can." John explained. "Since your kind is so volatile and dangerous, we have to go to extreme measures to know what makes you tick. We still don't understand the trigger behind the mutations on an academic level, but we are making progress. Why do you look so shocked? Do you still see these monsters as people?"

Rias found herself unable to refute - as far as she could recall, nearly all Stray Devils that had gone beyond the point of returning, had been hunted down without prejudice.

She felt no pity, or no love lost at the death of those monsters, but torturing them like she was seeing? For a high-class devil like her, these conducts were simply barbaric.

"...What is the point of this pointless cruelty?" Rias asked with a calm, pragmatic tone.

"Finding faster ways to kill your kind, as efficiently as humanly possible." John bluntly replied.

Rias bit her lower lip before replying, "You speak as if you're planning to commit genocide."

"Genocide is a strong word. We can be reasonable, as long as you comply." John gestured to Rias to follow him.

The heiress understood where this was going - she was going to share their fate on the operating table.

"Where are you taking me?" Rias asked while steeling herself.

"Confidential - now please follow me." John asked again.

Rias did not move, glancing around as if analyzing her surroundings.

One of the two guards next to her - Natalie stepped forward with her colleague, Kate following soon; the former then placed a hand on Rias' shoulder.

"...Hey, he said mo-!"

Rias suddenly moved.

She grabbed Natalie's hand, twisted her arm until Rias could garrot the woman with her handcuff links, and smashed the ball of her foot against Kate's nose, causing the woman to stumble back until she hit the wall.

Inhaling with the memories of her training with Koneko, Rias tugged and dragged Natalie towards Kate, ramming Natalie's head against Kate's face with all of her strength she could muster.

Their heads cracked against the glass - causing the soldiers to slump down to the floor, passed out from the impact to their heads. John then watched Rias swipe a pistol from Kate's holster and aimed it at him.

"Not bad, not bad. But..." John smiled, unfazed by the gun aimed at him. "Have you really handled a firearm before?"

When John stepped forward, Rias took a step back and straightened her arms as she grasped the pistol with her cuffed-hands, prompting John to hold his hands up disarmingly.

"...You can start by getting this thing off my neck." Rias said in a threatening manner, while craning her head a little to show her magic-suppressing collar.

In return, John took another step forward, albeit slower, until he was within an arm's length.

The two then stood there, with Rias kept the gun trained at John who still had his hands up. However, John took a glance at the pistol and quipped.

"...The safety is still on, you know?"

Rias blinked. Safety?

She glanced at the gun, but the moment her eyes left John for a split second, the latter snatched the gun's nozzle, wrenched it to the side to throw Rias off, then wrenched the gun to the other side while pulling Rias forward - at the same time John raised his knee, ramming against Rias' incoming stomach. The redhead coughed out a few drops of spittles and bile. Then John twisted the gun until Rias' finger was stuck on the trigger, bending backwards.

Rias went down in a coughing fit, wheezing in pain as John applied some pressure, forcing her to collapse to the floor, while Natalie has already recovered and was in the middle of helping Kate back to her feet.

"Need I remind you of your position?" John put a bit more pressure again, threatening to break Rias' finger to emphasize his point.

The redhead could only grunt in pain and grimaced as the guards had recovered. Kate snorted blood out of her nostrils, while Natalie was nursing her bruised forehead. With her hands trapped in John's hold - Rias knew she had lost her only shot.

"I suggest you calm down if you want to keep your finger intact. Be a good girl and everything will be over before you know it."

Rias coughed out some more before clearing her throat. She took a deep breath to sooth her throbbing gut and grimaced as she was under John's mercy - the man kept his own hold strong. Noticing that the guards have pretty much recovered and surrounded her, Rias bit her lips and her body slowly slumped in defeat.

John then slowly, yet swiftly took the gun away, releasing Rias' finger before Nat and Kate moved to 'tend' to Rias.

"Get up." Natalie said with a gruff tone as she and Kate harshly pulled Rias up by her arm back to her feet.

John continued to walk, prompting the guards to drag Rias to the operating room, where two paramedics were waiting for them. Rias then was dragged towards an examination chair - the cuffs were taken off before she was now confined on the chair with leather straps over her wrists, legs, torso and forehead.

A paramedic then came with what appeared to be a gun-like contraption - big enough that it required two hands to carry, with a sizable needle at the nozzle and a glass container on the chamber.

Rias inhaled as her eyes widened by a milli-fraction. She would not show it, but she dreaded what these people were planning to do to her.

The other paramedic then pulled Rias' sleeve over to expose her entire arm, tapped his finger on her skin to look for a vein, before using an alcohol-soaked cotton pad on a spot and injected the gun needle through her skin.

Rias' eyes twitched at the sharp but brief pain - she honestly thought they planned to inject her with something at first instead of extracting her blood as crimson fluid began to fill the glass container.

She stared at her own blood filling the container, then she turned to John with a questioning look laced with a small fear. In return, John simply smirked and winked knowingly at her.

"It will all be over soon enough." John merely replied.

Despite the man's reply, however, Rias could not help but feel concerned at the size of the container and syringe extracting her blood.

It was gradual and noticeable, she could feel her strength leaving her body as her blood flowed through the tube, the sense of enervation spreading through her veins as her eyelids grew heavier and heavier each second.

"Are you... trying to kill me by draining my blood, after all...?" Rias asked with a drowsy tone as her skin tone began to pale.

"Dear me, no." John retorted. "Just enough for you to behave, killing two birds with one stone."

She twitched as she felt the darkness fall over her eyes, sleep consuming her.

The three Rooks then met the dragons' charge - Loup transformed into his Lycanthrope form, tackled one by the throat, sinking his fangs into its neck, Tsubasa struck one headfirst with the Explosive Heart Release Fist in her clash, and Koneko, enhanced and sped with ki, rocketed into the last dragon's solar plexus, driving the creature back for a brief moment before the dragon grabbed her by her torso and tossed her to the ground.

The dragon who engaged Loup, was growling and struggling to get the latter off its throat, while the werewolf himself was struggling to pierce his fangs through the hard scales. Since the dragon was pulling at his body, Loup casted a spell to coat himself in flames hot enough that the dragon had to relinquish its hold from the sheer heat.

Meanwhile, Tsubasa danced with her foe in the skies, capitalizing on her momentum. She rushed at it, her fists pummeling against the thing's hard scales with a spirited warcry.

"Dammit!" Tsubasa cursed as she flew high to avoid another swipe of the dragon's talon, throwing her Twinkle Aegis at the dragon's head - the spot where her fist struck true earlier, wanting to accumulate the damage, but it was as if the dragon barely felt that.

The Explosive Heart Release Fist was a lethal style. Issei said that the shockwaves generated at its peak could ignore defenses and hurt even the user of the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist.

But Tsubasa could not generate the momentum needed without preparation; she was still a newbie that could not maximize the lethal art in the midst of combat.

Back to the others - Sona watched the unfolding carnage and she came to a decision.

"Ruruko, Momo! Go help Saji! Bennia and Reya, go help Tsubasa! Tsubaki and I will help Loup Garou!"

Akeno also decided to take charge, "Lint, Gasper, go help Yuuto and Tomoe! I will assist Koneko. Millicas, Ravel - please take Rias away and regroup with my father and others. Make sure that Rias is safe!"

"Wha- Akeno! Are you telling me to leave you behind!?" Rias protested.

"We came all the way here for you, Rias. If we don't get you back then all of this will be for naught! Go, we'll meet you back home!" Akeno returned.

Rias grit her teeth before arguing back, "I refuse to run when my servants sacrificed so much for my sake! A Queen is subjected to the King, Akeno!"

However, Ravel grabbed her left arm.

"Hierarchy isn't important right now! Millicas!" Ravel shouted.

Millicas nodded and held Rias' right hand.

"Big Sis, we have to go! Grandfather and Grandmother are worried sick about you! Please listen to us!"

Before her nephew's pleading look, Rias grimaced and bit her lower lip in frustration. A few seconds later, she relented.

"Fine! But this is my absolute order; live and come back to me safe and sound!" Rias spoke in a tone that demanded no further argument.

In return, Akeno smiled fearlessly, "Yes, my king!"

With one last look, Rias steeled herself and began to fly away with Ravel and Millicas by her side. While Akeno and the rest turned to engage their current opponents.

But their reunion would not last for long - not long after they flew away, every window of the buildings around them shattered suddenly, then the cracked shards flew towards the three from all sides, flung at them telekinetically.

"What the-!?" The trio were taken by surprise - but Millicas was able to intercept by erecting a barrier made out from his Power of Destruction around them, disintegrating the incoming projectiles.

"Who the hell was that?!" They looked around and quickly spotted a distinctive figure standing on top of one of the buildings.

A woman dressed in a black suit - with curvy frame, short black hair, a tomboyish, androgynous debonair staring down at them.

Without warning, the woman swung her hand.

From the distance, a sandstorm brewed, a storm of grains gathered in the sky before it swarmed towards them.

"Who is she now?! These mana signatures..... She's a devil!" Ravel surmised.

Rias' mind came to a conclusion, "Most likely Mordax Bael's servant... We have to punch our way through!"

However, they failed to notice another coming from behind.

Ravel noticed her too late as another woman, cosmetically identical to the other with black tight skin suit instead of butler suit, struck Ravel midriff with her palm, pushing the Phenex away before she grabbed Rias, arms hooked under her shoulders and escaped with the Heiress.

"Big sis!"

"Lady Rias!"

"Let go of me!" Rias trashed around, struggling to break free from her captor's hold but the said captor's strength seemed to surpass her.

Rook or goodness forbid a Queen - Rias then took a deep breath and unleashed a burst of her demonic power to push her captor away. On the up side, her trick worked as her captor was knocked back while clutching her throbbing torso.

The down side, however, was that Rias could feel her body getting a little sluggish, she had used a chunk of power that kept her body running.

However, the woman was stubborn, this time holding her by the waist again and dragged her into the distance.

The struggle began anew. This time however, Rias had her arms free, allowing her to elbow the enemy behind her. She rammed her elbows, alternating between her right and left, into her captor's head, arms and sides, but due to close proximity between their bodies, Rias could not land any definitive blow.

"Cease your futile resistance. Lord Bael awaits us." The woman stated with finality in her tone.

"Let her go!"

Rias and her captor turned to see Millicas and Ravel were flying after them. Seeing her Pawn, she came up with an idea, "Millicas, we are in enemy territory!"

Quickly caught on - Millicas then shouted, "Promotion: Knight!"

The next second, Millicas then suddenly gained a tremendous boost of speed as he immediately closed the distance in a second, tackling both Rias and her captor. The momentum from his tackle caused all three of them to plummet to the ground below.

"Useless!" The woman drove her feet into Millicas' solar plexus immediately, sending the boy away, before Ravel caught up to them and threw something at her face, three glass bottles containing an unknown liquid.

The woman grunted, stung with pain across her face as she relinquished her hold on Rias in favor of cleaning whatever substance off her face, falling on her all fours in the process.

While watching the woman coughing and wheezing on the ground, Rias could not help but ask Ravel who rejoined them.

"...What did you throw her with?" Rias said as she stood by resting her palm on her knees.

"Um... More of my experimental potions. My apologies, but I was desperate." Ravel replied.

"What do these potions do?" Rias asked.

"Well, different effects respectively, but with all of them combined and exposed to her? It's anyone's guess." Ravel replied with a helpless shrug, as the woman's coughing gradually ceased.

The trio watched as the woman breathed heavily with her head down, still on her fours. When the woman lifted her head up, they saw the woman to be flustered; she was sweating, her face was flushed, and she looked as if she was having a fever.

When Rias, Ravel and Millicas were ready for another fight, the woman - still flustered and panting, trying to stand up only to collapse again with a moan, as if in pain.

"...Is this going to be a trend for you? Throwing dangerous substances at friends and foes alike?" Rias asked, worried about the path Ravel was taking.

Ravel giggled sheepishly, "Err, I was hoping that they would at least set her on fire or something, but this works in our favor, is it not?" she pointed at the woman who was clutching her chest.

"But should we at least check in case she is contracted by some unknown disease?" Millicas put in his two cents.

"Millicas, it is impossible to contract diseases from our blood. Illnesses and symptoms are another matter."

"You... What... I... can't breathe..." The woman's breathing grew heavier, beads of sweat gathering into trickles dripping from her face and to the concrete.

Then, when the woman inhaled to regain her bearings, she suddenly fell into a violent sneezing and coughing fit, she snorted loudly as if her nose was clogged up.

The woman tried to speak, but her coughing and sneezing, she could only glare at them with a flushed expression.

Rashes and boils began to sprout on her smooth skin, blisters bubbling to the surface of her pores much to Rias and Millicas' shock.

"I... My potions seem to have caused some severe allergic reactions!" Ravel sounded elated from the result of her mixed concoctions, "That's actually the best outcome we could get."

Rias and Millicas looked at her with a hint of worry and fear for her psyche's development.

However, before any words could be said, suddenly the ground opened like a mouth, Rias, Ravel, and Millicas falling into the crevice under their feet before it closed, trapping them in the earth from the neck down.

From their new position, they saw another one - the woman who conjured the sandstorm earlier, landing and kneeling next to the writhing woman on the ground.

"Kyne, Kyne? Are you okay? Look at me." the woman spoke to 'Kyne', while checking over the latter's condition.

Kyne could only reply between wheezes, coughs and sneezes.

Millicas broke out of the ground, erasing the concrete with ease, helping Rias and Ravel escape as they took flight, hovering above the two assailants.

"...What have you done to my sister?"

"Why should we tell you? If you answer our questions, I might be able to cure her." Ravel countered with a threat, smiling at her upper hand. "Who are you even, to begin with?"

"I am Ryne, Lord Bael's Bishop, and this is Kyne, my sister - Lord Bael's Rook." the new arrival - Ryne replied before turning her sight to Rias.

Noticing her stare Rias followed suit with her question, "So Mordax Bael sent you to get me?"

"Our Lord ordered us to bring you back to the Underworld from the human's clutches."

"So he is resorting to treachery. I thought it was strange that he would resort to humans to do his dirty work." Rias understood from John's and Mordax's interaction their relationship was as hostile as two male dragons fighting over a meal.

"...Unfortunately, however - considering what Mordax Bael is hiding within his closet, I am afraid I can't afford to trust you, and your master in extension." Rias finished.

"I implore you, Rias Gremory. Things are already more complicated than they should have been." Ryne reasoned, albeit everyone could feel the growing edge in her tone.

"You think that I would care about someone that wants to kidnap me? This is treason, Ryne. Have you forgotten who my brother is?" Rias countered - for once in forever, she decided to throw her brother's status around to her advantage.

"We know. That is why Lord Bael needs you."

"To use me as a hostage. I've seen your King and spoken with him, I know his intentions." Rias prepared her demonic power, ready to fight despite her condition. Millicas and Ravel readied to unleash their magic at her command by her side.

Seeing that conflict was inevitable, Ryne narrowed her eyes and turned to her sister, "...Kyne, can you move, at least?"

With her face still swollen with allergies, and snorting in the snot clogging her nose, the Rook got up on unsteady feet and prepared herself for battle.

"Millicas, can you handle the Rook? Ravel and I will take care of the Bishop." Rias asked.

"Yes! Leave it to me, Sis!" Millicas nodded with a confident smile.

They were up against a Rating Game veteran, one from a seasoned Peerage. However, compared to what they faced so far, Rias felt confident that they could win against something that was not Rover or Black.

However, before anyone could make any move, an ornate canister suddenly fell on the ground before the sisters, pausing them in their tracks.

Before a word was uttered, their answer came in the form of an explosion.

The screams of the sisters was spine-curdling to the three as they watched the sisters flail on the ground while on fire, and the fire radiated the energy of the Holy Element.

Two more canisters clattered around them, but before the three could react, they exploded in a blinding light and ear-ringing sound.

"Ugh!"

"My eyes!"

"My ears!"

"Ravel, Millicas, are you alright!?"

Rias, Ravel and Millicas collapsed to the ground, nursing their eyes and ears to get rid of their disorientation. Through blurry vision, they saw two humanoid figures landing beside the still-burning sisters, armed with weapons, soldiers from Rias' experience.

She watched the soldiers emptied their weapons on their vulnerable forms before the sisters could react, her clearing vision seeing Nate and Kate shooting with their pistols, not the same photon weapons.

She could see the lifeless eyes of Ryne and Kyne, the sisters on the floor, corpses bleeding from the holes in their heads before the fire consumed their faces as they turned to Rias.

When Rias, Ravel and Millicas regained their clarity, they were now looking at John and his surviving squad members.

"Good to see you still in good shape, Ms. Gremory." John greeted with a lop-sided smile.

"You..." Rias seethed as her power flared up through her sheer emotion.

"Apologies for cutting the chatter short, princess. But we need you to come with us." John said as Natalie and Kate joined his side - their guns trained on the devils.

On cue, Ravel and Millicas also joined Rias' side - all three of them were also prepared to unleash their magic at a moment's notice.

However, they suddenly noticed a couple of shadows loomed over them, causing them to look up to the sky.

John and the soldiers froze at the sight of two figures with feathered wings - pure white and blood red hovering above them.

"Rias!"

Rias' expression brightened up, "Irina, Xenovia!"

The angels have arrived, landing between Rias and the human soldiers.

John, Kate, and Nate did not expect the arrival.

"...Angels?" Natalie could not help but ask in awe.

"What are they doing here?" Kate wondered as well.

However, the humans could not fathom when the angels turned to them, shielding the devils behind them.

"...What is the meaning of this?" John asked with a cautious tone, "I thought you and the devils are supposed to be mortal enemies."

"We used to be, sure." Xenovia replied, her Durandal was held against the soldiers, "Times when we were enemies are behind us."

"What she said," Irina nodded to Xenovia, "We are here now to keep the peace in the world and between the Three Factions!"

John, Kate and Nat narrowed their eyes at the proclamation.

"I heard about the rumors, but seeing it is another matter," John grimaced. "Why the fuck did they have to be so cryptic about that part? Shit, I'm definitely going to hell for this."

However, when John was still musing about current development, Kate's radio picked something up, prompting her to whisper to her commander's ears.

Upon hearing the news, John's lips twitched into a smirk.

"Well, as much as I'd like to be updated, I'm afraid we are on a tight schedule." John lifted a radio to his mouth.

"[Euthanasia], requesting assistance at my location."

Rias perked at the codename.

A massive shadow suddenly descended upon them. When Rias and others looked up, they could not help but froze.

A metallic creature on two massive legs, yet upon closer inspection, each leg looked like two legs attached together, making it look bipedal.

Four massive arms, each arm from the three fingers to the shoulders lined with armor, sleek chromium blue, joints protected by the blades, arm cannons attached to the dorsal of the wrists.

The strangest part of the creature was its head.

It was nothing more than a glowing sphere, a massive eye contained within the transparent glass-metallic material that seemed to gaze at everyone and everything around it at once the moment they laid eyes upon it.

It landed behind the human soldiers as it faced the devils and the angels.

Some of the devils and dragons stopped fighting to give the new arrival their attention.

[Assessing... Slave species detected. Dragons detected, analyzing... evidence of replicated genetic material, mutations detected. Requesting orders.]

The machine spoke in an eerily humanoid yet mechanical voice.

Rias felt an unnatural revulsion to this thing. There was something about it that made her blood crawl.

"Eliminate the foreign threats. Incapacitate the slave species without killing them." John ordered.

Without warning, the eye flared.

A sudden flash erupted from the spherical eye.

Tsubasa stared at the dragon she was fighting.

It was without a head, the neck burned off, charred black, the headless corpse still standing on its feet.

"...Holy shit." Tsubasa and the others turned to the mech. Even the evil dragons were giving it their undivided attention.

[Processing. Eliminating contaminated dragons infected with the Primal Seed. Requesting confirmation. Permission to continue?]

"...Permission granted." John smiled.

Rias swallowed a lump - the fight for her freedom turned out to be much more complicated than she expected.

To be Continued.....

Omake - The Holy Hand Grenade

From their hiding spot - John, Natalie and Kate watched as the devils faced off.

"There they are." John nodded to Nat, "Prepare the nades."

"What kind?" Nate asked.

"...The Monty nades."

Kate quipped, "Are we seriously calling them Monty nades? Why not Holy Hand Grenades or Devil Killers or something?"

"Are we really talking about this now? Our window to get our VIP back is closing. Just shut up and do as you're ordered!" John bit back.

Rolling their eyes, Nat and Kate began to work.

"...I never got to ask, but why does this thing look like something from.... What's it called again? It's that comedy movie, the title is on the tip of my tongue... Something-something python?" Natalie asked, holding the golden ornate orb in question while her brows furrowed quizzically.

"Python? Like the snake?" Kate asked.

"Less talking and more working, you two." John reminded.

The female soldiers soon decided to simply get things done and over with. A few minutes later, they were finally ready for their ambush.

Picking up the ornate orb, John also procured a small, thick book from his pocket and flipped open a page. Natalie and Kate blinked quizzically at what their commander was planning to do.

John cleared his throat before he began reciting the page on his book, all while rising the orb up high with his other hand, "...And Saint Attila raised the hand grenade up on high, saying, 'O Lord, bless this thy hand grenade, that with it thou mayst blow thine enemies to tiny bits, in thy mercy.'"

However, Natalie then held her hand up, interrupting her superior, "Um, sir? What are you doing?"

"Reciting some blessings before using this grenade, as my forefathers always did through generations. Now hush and don't interrupt!" John replied before continuing where he was interrupted, "...And the Lord did grin, and the people did feast upon the lambs, and sloths, and carp, and anchovies, and orangutans, and breakfast cereals, and fruit bats, and large chulapas...

"-Sir, this is embarrassing, can we just blast those devils and be done with it?!" Kate finally had enough and spoke up in a frustrated tone.

John rolled his eyes and sighed, "Alright, fine! I'll skip a bit to the last part, so bear with me, that's an order!"

Kate merely threw her hands up in resignation, with Natalie also sighed in sentiment.

John then flipped another page and cleared his throat again before continuing, "...And the Lord spake, saying, ''First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade towards thy foe, who, being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it.'"

Finally, John closed and put the book away, pulled the pin of the grenade and prepared to throw.

"Fire in the hole in 1... 2... 3!"

My co-writer I4md347h and I are going to take a small break. Until then, stay tuned!