chapters 156-160

chapters 156-160

"So this is another universe? It must be, because everything is in Japanese." Heather commented as we walked down the streets of Tokyo. "Did Japan win World War 2 in this dimension or something?"

I laughed. "Heather, we're in Japan. That's why all the signs are in Japanese."

Heather blushed. "Oh...I knew that. I also don't speak Japanese, just so you know."

"Did the Ancient One not give you any spells to understand other languages?" I asked.

Heather shook her head. "Now that I think about it, everyone in Kamar Taj always spoke perfect English to me. That was strange considering we were in Tibet."

"Hmm, let me try something." I said and held up one of my hands towards Heather. "I grant you the blessings of Light and Language." A small amount of Light Energy left me and I blessed Heather the same as I had done for Natasha before. Heather should be able to speak any language now and her attack spells should carry traces of my Light Energy as well. The same way Natasha's bullets did.

"That felt weird." Heather commented. "I feel lighter and all warm and fuzzy."

"That means it worked."

"If you say so. Where are we going anyway?" Heather said as she gestured around us.

"I need to find a Grigori broker." I replied as the two of us continued walking down the streets of Tokyo. "We're in another universe, but not that much appears to be different physically at least. I can sense another Fallen Angel nearby. He feels a bit weird, but similar enough that I recognize the magical signature of one of my own." I explained and Heather nodded.

I led Heather down a few more streets. The streets became less and less crowded as the two of us continued onwards. Eventually, we noticed that there were no regular humans around at all anymore. A subtle barrier had been placed on the small backstreet, we were on, to ward away any non-supernatural beings. I walked up to a nondescript wooden door and rapped on it with a code known only to our faction.

The door swung open and a Fallen Angel I didn't recognize stood there. "What do you want?" The man asked bluntly. He eyed me and Heather warily. "I don't recognize either of you, but you feel like a Fallen." He said while pointing at me.

"I obviously am. I came to do business. Will you let us in?" I asked.

I noticed something strange about this Fallen. He felt really weak, and for an Angel...he was not very good looking. I wondered if he was using some kind of illusion magic to mask his true features. If so, then it was very impressive because even I couldn't see through it.

[Or maybe he's just naturally ugly like Kokabiel.]

That could be true, but it wouldn't explain his low level. I knew what I was seeing with [Observe] had to be fake information because even a two winged Fallen Angel was at least Level 10.

[The Fallen Angel Giarmo: Level 8]

He peaked out the door and quickly scanned the alley around them. When he sensed no one else was lurking nearby he moved out of the way. "Yeah, yeah. Come in...Sister..." He said the word 'sister' sarcastically.

Heather and I walked inside and the door automatically slammed shut behind us. A bunch of runes lit up on the door sealing us all inside with some powerful defense magic. Not powerful enough to detain me, though, should I choose to break out.

I glanced around the shop and was impressed with its inventory. Brokers were members of the Grigori that set up secret shops like these all around the world. They engaged in under the table trading with other factions and occasionally brought in some very interesting finds. I could see a couple of nameless Holy Swords sitting in one corner and piles of exorcist guns in another. What I was really after though, was the giant cross-like device at the far end of the shop!

"How much for the Sacred Gear extractor?" I asked, doing my best to only seem vaguely interested in it. If I acted like I desperately needed it, he would jack up the price.

"That old piece of junk? It's pretty risky to use one of those you know...the church will get really mad." The broker warned.

"That doesn't matter. I merely want it to add to my collection." I lied. As for the church getting mad. I didn't care. I was planning on leaving as soon as I got what I came for.

The Broker grinned at me. "Collection, huh?" He chuckled darkly and I internally cursed. Now he was probably assuming that I had a lot of money on me. "Well it just so happens that another 'Sister' of ours is in need of it. She promised me half a million for it. But then again, you're here and she's not. Can you match that?"

"Who else wanted to buy it?" Heather asked. She was off to the side examining a couple of the Holy Swords. "None of these are as good as the Sword of Gryfinndor..." She muttered before setting a nameless sword back down.

Maybe I could go and collect that sword from Hogwarts for her next birthday.

"A Fallen named Raynare wanted it. She told me she'd have the money, but would pay me in a week after using it on some poor sucker. I didn't see the harm in it considering it's just sitting here collecting dust. Any Sacred Gear she steals could be worth millions." He said. "If she doesn't get caught and executed that is..."

I remembered why she didn't like Brokers very much. They represented some of the worst of our kind. They were all Fallen Angels who fell due to extreme greed. They didn't care about anything except for their own wallets.

"Here." I waved my hand and a few hundred Asgardian golden coins fell to the floor. Another wave and the Sacred Gear extractor was swept into my inventory.

"Pleasure doing business with you!" The broker said as he eyed the pile of gold with greed. "Anything else you want to buy?"

"Can I have a gun!?" Heather asked as she pointed to the pile in the corner.

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Do you know how to shoot a gun?"

Heather turned her head to the side and avoided my stare. "No...I just thought it would look cool."

Teenagers...

"Then no..." I told her. The last thing I needed was Heather accidentally shooting herself. The Ancient One would give me a very disappointed look when we made it back regardless of whether I immediately healed Heather or not.

"Lame!" Heather whined as we left the small, very illegal shop.

XXX

"So the guy we are looking for is supposed to be evil right?" Heather asked.

"That's right," I replied as we made our way towards the church in Kuoh. I could sense the alternate versions of my four most disappointing siblings inside.

"Are you sure? Because this town isn't on fire or anything like that. Does an evil guy really live here?" Heather commented. "Like, how do we know he's evil?"

"Because Lady Death said so..." I said as we reached Kuoh church's front door. I was getting a sense of deja vu. I realized I probably should have gotten some more details from Lady Death about my target. That's why I was here. The broker had sold me Raynare's location with almost no hesitation for only a few extra coins. I wanted to interrogate her to find out more about this world's Issei.

With a grin that I got to do this a second time, I raised my foot and kicked forwards. The rotten double doors blasted off their hinges and flew! There was a loud crash as they collided with the far wall and fell apart.

[I rate that door kick a solid 8/10]

Unlike the previous time I was here, the church was mostly empty except for four individuals who were all gaping at my entrance.

I frowned when I saw the four people. They didn't look anything like I thought they would. The four 'Fallen Angels' in front of me didn't look very Angelic at all actually... They looked like three regular human Japanese women and one man. All of them had the unmistakable aura of a Fallen Angel though...

"Weird..." I muttered as I walked in. Were these four not the same group I was looking for? Or maybe they were just created to look different here?

"Who the hell are you!? Why are you kicking in our door you moron!? You could have just walked in! It wasn't even locked!" One of the shorter women yelled at Heather and me. Both of us were taken aback by the language.

Heather recovered first and grinned cheekily! "Yeah, but then we wouldn't have had such a cool entrance."

I could recognize that foul-mouthed tone anywhere. "Mittelt?" I asked in confusion. The only Fallen I remembered that had a mouth like that was the blonde loli...

"Yeah, I'm Mittelt! Who the hell are you!? And where did you get such a beautiful vessel?" She asked. The other Fallen were all nodding along at her words.

"I must admit that I am jealous that you found such a perfect-looking human host." The man added. His eyes were raking up and down my form, and I was doing my best to not immediately stab him for it.

"...I'm Layla. And this is my own body..." I said. "What are you talking about?"

[Host, I think you're in a universe where Angels don't have physical forms. They can only walk around the Earth if they possess a human vessel. That's why that Fallen Angel Broker was ugly earlier.]

'What kind of 'Supernatural' knock-off crap is that!?' I exclaimed internally.

"You're body? But you feel like a Fallen like us?" The man asked.

"Hold on!" One of the other two Fallen women interrupted. "You're Layla!? You stole my Sacred Gear extractor from me! I had a great plan and everything to make us all some serious money!" I suspected this one was Raynare. It was really weird looking at some random woman's face and visualizing Raynare in my head.

I shrugged at the accusation. "I paid for it with my own money fair and square. It's not my fault your broke ass tried to buy it on credit!"

"Didn't you steal that gold you used earlier?" Heather whispered.

I did not respond to that question...

"Whatever..." Raynare scowled and crossed her arms. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"I want any information you have on Issei Hyoudou, the Red Dragon Emperor." I stated.

The four Fallen Angels all blanched, and their faces all turned pale. I raised a curious eyebrow. I wasn't expecting that kind of reaction.

"Ok! Now that's the kind of reaction I was waiting for. This guy must be pretty evil to have four Fallen Angels looking so scared." Heather said.

"You don't know the half of it, kid!" Mittelt said to Heather.

"What!? Why do you want to know about that lunatic? Why would you think we know anything about him!?" Raynare spat out.

I nodded. "If you're sure..."

...

"Hahahaha! Filthy Yokai scum! You're the last one left!" A young man's voice shouted out. He was Japanese but wearing an exorcist uniform. He had a red gauntlet over his left arm. It was drenched in blood.

"Damn you, Red Dragon! I will have revenge! Even if I die! I will curse you for the atrocities you've committed!" The fox girl, currently facing Issei Hyoudou, spat out angrily. She had tears in her eyes as she lobbed balls of blue fire towards Issei. He was able to dodge all of them before they exploded with the force of grenades.

I noticed that this version of Kunou wasn't a child. She looked older. She looked to be around the same age as Heather, give or take a year. I could see that Kunou was heavily wounded. She had gash marks raked across her form that matched the bloody gauntlet Issei had. Kunou seemed to be on her last legs and was swaying back and forth–probably from blood loss.

"Die!" Issei screamed and charged forwards. His left hand reared back, preparing to deliver the final blow.

I quickly conjured a Lightspear and hurled it directly in front of his path. He was so distracted with Kunou that I could have taken his head off, but unfortunately, I needed him alive for now. Heather also claimed she wanted to face him.

Issei saw the purple spear slam into the ground in front of him, and his eyes widened in shock! He quickly jumped backward and looked around. His eyes landed on me, who was hovering in the air nearby with Heather in my arms.

I descended towards the ground.

"Angel-sama! Why are you stopping me from killing this beast!?" Issei asked when he saw my wings. "We've almost completely cleaned my homeland of them! She's the last one!"

I cringed at hearing that. Kunou was the last living Yokai?

Heather hopped out of my arms and glared at Issei. "How could you do this!? How could you murder a whole race!?"

Issei looked Heather over. "I can tell that you're a human and have even had the blessings of the Angels like me! Why do you care about these pagan abominations? The only beings who should inhabit this Earth are God, his Angels, and we humans! Everyone else should be eradicated! With this, I'm one step closer to cleansing this barbaric country!" Issei said as he spread his arms wide and smiled at all the Yokai bodies scattered around.

"Isn't this your home country?" Heather asked.

Issei scowled at the reminder. "I was born here, but thankfully my friend Irina and her family rescued me from my wicked pagan parents! They took me in so I could be properly raised by the church!"

[So basically, the church found out about his Sacred Gear and abducted him as a child to turn into their killing machine...]

'That sounds about right.' I agreed with the system. This Issei had been brainwashed since a young age and had probably committed uncountable atrocities.

I didn't know if Heather came to the same conclusion, but the girl pulled out her wand and started casting spells at Issei. He ducked out of the way of some of them, and others splashed harmlessly against his gauntlet.

"Fine then, traitor to humanity! You can die too!"

{BOOST!}

XXX

The gem on his gauntlet flashed green, and he kicked off the ground hard. Issei charged forward towards Heather around three times faster than an ordinary person could move. Heather wasn't ordinary, though. She had been training with Earth's greatest magic user for months, and she had been blessed by me recently.

Heather summoned a glowing orange Eldritch Sword in her left hand as she continued casting spells at Issei with her right.

"Fillependo! Stupefy! Bombarda! Incarcerous! Incendio!"

Issei blocked the first four spells, but the torrent of flames that shot from her wand caught him off guard! He let out a loud scream as the flames washed over him!

{BOOST!}

I watched as Issei continued pressing on and ran through Heather's flames. By the time he got close to Heather, his skin was red and blistered. He had a snarl on his face as he swung his claws at her head. Heather brought her own sword up and deflected his strike!

"What!?" Issei exclaimed when he failed to kill the girl.

"Reducto!" Heather took advantage of him being caught off guard. She pointed her wand right towards his torso and released a blasting curse!

Issei's torso caved inwards! The spell exploded against him, and he rocketed backward. Spit and blood flew out of his mouth as he crashed into the ground.

I grinned. Heather was doing great so far. The people of this universe really were weaker. Issei's abilities were barely even at the level of Captain America after multiple boosts. Even if he used his Balance Breaker, I was sure I could casually slap him down.

Kunou was watching in shock nearby. I made my way over to the kitsune girl. Kunou eyed me warily but wasn't outright hostile towards me. "Hi there. I'm sorry about everything that's happened here. I'm Layla of the Fallen."

"Kunou... The last Yokai." She replied.

"Can I heal you?" I asked her.

Kunou nodded her head. She was covered in cuts and on the verge of bleeding out. She'd take any help she could get.

I manifested my Purger of Darkness and began healing Kunou. Her scrapes and gashes magically closed up in only a few seconds, and all of her missing blood was replaced.

When I was done, Kunou looked herself over in shock. "You have a Sacred Gear!? I thought only humans could have those? And I thought all the Fallen lost their wings after they rebelled?" Kunou started rapidly asking questions.

"Gaaaaahhh!" My responses were cut off by Issei's scream of pain. He was barely standing at this point and looking at Heather with hatred in his eyes.

"I see now... You're not a human at all! You're an evil Witch! I underestimated you. But now you're going to die! WELSH DRAGON: BALANCE BREAKER!" Issei's vocal tones shifted as he activated his trump card. Red Draconic Armor surrounded his whole body.

He started to go through a transformation sequence where armored segments manifested on one part of his body at a time.

I sighed at Heather's inaction during his sequence. She was simply standing there and watching him power up while doing nothing. I'd have to lecture Heather about that later. "Heather, come back! I'll handle him from here." I said as I walked forward. Heather looked reluctant to do so, but she acquiesced. She stowed her wand away and ran back towards me and Kunou.

"You'll handle me!? Don't make me laugh!? My Balance Breaker has never been beaten!" The Red Dragon emperor yelled out! Issei's voice was overlapping with the dragon inside him.

{BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST!}

"Die!" He rocketed forward towards me faster than a bullet! He reeled back his arm and focused all of his magic power into one strike. He would kill all three of us with this one blow!

I raised my hand casually. Right when Issei reached me, I swung my arm.

SLAP!

I slapped him right across his armored face. His powerful draconic armor, that could easily withstand even rockets, shattered as if it was made of glass. My hand connected to his cheek and sent his head whipping to the side. Spit, blood, and teeth flew out of Issei's mouth as he immediately lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground.

I made sure he was unconscious before turning to the two girls behind me. Kunou was looking at me in shock while Heather once again had stars in her eyes.

Heather cheered. "That was so cool! Why am I even bothering to learn magic!? I should just be hitting the gym so I can do that! All it took was one slap to beat him!"

[So much for her claims to love magic earlier...]

I sweatdropped. My current strength required a bit more effort than just hitting the gym...

...

–Kunou–

"Y-You beat him just like that?" Kunou asked, stupefied.

"I sure did." Layla replied with a casual shrug.

"Yeah. Layla's awesome like that! She takes down guys like this all the time!" The human girl added.

Kunou was almost speechless.

She glanced down at the unconscious japanese teen on the ground. That was the monster that had plagued her people for months now...

His balance breaker was so strong, not even the strongest Senjutsu masters of her faction could harm him!

...And he lost to a single slap from this woman in front of her... Kunou wondered if she was looking upon a Goddess? Not those false Goddesses in Takamagahara who refused to help the Yokai either! But a genuinely powerful and righteous Goddess! Kunou thought that Layla of the Fallen looked absolutely beautiful and majestic! And the power she radiated could only come from the true divine! Kunou was raised to be a Shrine Princess, and she decided that Layla would be the being she prays to from now on!

...

[You have received Faith Energy +1]

'...What?'

XXX

A/N: The red dragon caught Layla's hands...