Omniscient POV
Kouske had finished reviewing the video footage captured by one of his hidden familiars—unseen by anyone else.
Just then, he heard footsteps behind him. Turning around, he saw two exorcists: David and Freed.
He wasn't surprised. He had sensed them spying on them since the beginning.
Baraqiel and his subordinates had already left with the prisoners and Satanael's corpse.
Tarte and Beltrand were still assisting Suzaku, Tobio, and the others, while the Nakiri Clan's onmyouji were hunting down the remaining strays.
That meant Kouske was currently alone in this part of the forest.
And yet, despite knowing his strength, David and Freed had approached him—likely assuming he was too drained to fight after such a battle.
Delusional as always.
Typical villain behavior: underestimating their opponent and always overestimating themselves.
In reality, Kouske had been waiting for these pests to show themselves. And now, they had finally crawled out of hiding.
"I was almost getting bored. Here I thought you guys wouldn't come out at all. So? How can I help you two kind exorcists?" Kouske asked politely, though his usual frivolous tone and smile remained.
"Teach! This guy's hilarious. He still thinks he can fight after all that! Let me have at him!" Freed said, smiling creepily in euphoria, licking his own sword for some strange reason.
"Filthy demonic spawn! How dare you taint our holy sword with your filthy hands!" David yelled, scowling at Kouske with disgust and anger.
His eyes, however, remained hypnotically locked onto the sword—Arondight—while pointing a finger at it. Kouske could clearly see the fanatical glint in David's gaze. Kouske's smile disappeared.
"Oi! And here I was trying to be polite... First of all, Arondight isn't your sword—or the church's, for that matter. Second, this one isn't even a holy sword. It's a holy demonic sword. Get your facts straight, dude," Kouske said, showing clear displeasure.
"That's church property. Hand it over, and I'll make your end as painless as possible," David declared.
"You... Do you really think you have a chance against me?" Kouske asked, genuinely surprised.
He had only intended to make them retreat without hurting them—well, only him. Freed would've gotten the short end of the stick either way.
But even he didn't think the church fanatics were this blind—unable to think or reason. David didn't even have a Longinus, let alone a Sacred Gear, nor was he the famed Strada.
So where exactly was this confidence coming from? Did he really believe he could fight someone who had defeated a Cadre?
Even the high-ranking exorcists, like David himself, could barely hold their own against high-class devils or fallen, and that too was only because of the holy weapons they wield—tools that exploit their opponents' weaknesses.
Without the protection of Heaven's angels, the hypocrite Church would have been wiped off the face of the earth long ago. Though they do have some legitimate power now, in the form of Strada or Dulio.
"Heh! Taking out an exhausted devil or two isn't difficult. Even you wouldn't want to struggle needlessly. Just hand over the church's property and we can end this—or else..." David said, his tone giving an ultimatum, his serious expression leaving Kouske speechless.
Freed, on the other hand, looked more than excited to skewer the devil as painfully as possible in his mind. Unlike his master, he relished doing things like that.
'Are they really this delusional?' Kouske thought.
In David's mind, even if Kouske acted tough, there was no way he could be fine after fighting a Cadre and a whole army of Fallen Angels.
Not to mention that little girl who had suddenly appeared at the end of the fight with Satanael—David had seen the flash of panic and urgency in Kouske's expression when she arrived.
If even an unknown weak little girl could make him panic like that, then surely Kouske was at his limit. (🤡) He was probably just bluffing to stall for time.
David had already cast a barrier to prevent the devil spawn from fleeing via teleportation. Getting Arondight would be a great accomplishment—but killing a devil who had defeated a Cadre? That would bring him unimaginable honor.
He could finally earn proper recognition for his work. He had always had a rivalry with Vasco Strada (😂). If Strada could defeat Kokabiel, a Cadre, then why couldn't he? (🤡)
In David's mind, he had already won. But still, staying vigilant for anything unexpected—that was what set a veteran apart. While all of this played out in David's head, Kouske finally replied.
Sigh
"Even if anyone else had a claim to this, then it would be the Pendragon family, not the Church. At no point in history had Arondight ever belonged to the Church.
They've already swindled and confiscated so many of the Pendragon family's belongings. So you two aren't even on friendly terms anymore.
Now you want to claim another of their possessions? Not that it belongs to them anymore—it belongs to Akatsuki now.
I'll give you one last chance to flee... Fuck off!" says Kouske as he releases enough energy to make both David and Freed shiver in fear.
Freed even soils himself, unable to hold it in, collapsing onto the ground with numb legs.
But David didn't back down like Freed. As soon as Kouske stopped releasing his aura, David snapped out of his daze and lunged at him with Gelatine in hand.
He couldn't let this chance slip by—no matter what! With all his might, he charged forward…
And instantly, the world darkened. He lost consciousness without even knowing why or how.
Some time later, only by Kouske's courtesy, David regained consciousness—waking up to the sound of Freed's constant screams.
Freed was going through intense torture at Kouske's hands, who looked utterly bored, as if none of it mattered. Freed could only cry in protest as his entire body was impaled with short knives made through the Sabnock trait.
They were even enchanted with enhanced pain, sharpening, and other effects that could make a grown supernatural being cry out in agony—even while unconscious.
"Why?! Why?!... Just why?! I didn't even do anything... Let... Me... Go!... Please..."—those were some of the few understandable screams Freed managed.
The rest were just incoherent, senseless cries. He hadn't even attacked like David had, so why was he the one being tortured instead of his stupid master?
Freed couldn't understand.
His master was peacefully napping after being knocked out in a single hit, while Freed was being torn apart by unbearable pain.
What made it worse was the look in Kouske's eyes—completely indifferent, as if Freed didn't even matter. That cold apathy only deepened Freed's dread. He was scared senseless, truly believing he might die in the hands of this psychopath. His mouth foamed up.
He tried to understand, tried to find some reason why he was the one suffering like this, but nothing came to mind. Or maybe his already twisted mind had stopped working properly.
Kouske kept impaling his body with short knives, ensuring he stayed alive through it all. Freed didn't even feel like resisting anymore.
Kouske had already cut off Freed's dick, guaranteeing he'd never again violate innocent nuns or anyone else.
Just to be sure, he healed the area—without it—so even if Freed somehow got his hands on a Phenex Tear or a high-grade Akatsuki potion, it would be useless. His severed part had already been burned to ash by Kouske.
"W-what are you doing, you demon?!" yelled David, horrified by the scene unfolding before him.
He couldn't bear to look at Freed anymore. David was right—all devils were irredeemable scum. They should be wiped off the face of the earth!
"Oh, you're awake. I was starting to wonder when you'd come around, so I healed you a bit to hasten the process," Kouske said, pausing his torture—but not before driving one last short spear into Freed's ass.
He made sure Freed wouldn't die. That was never the plan. Living after this would serve as the true punishment. Death was the easy way out, after all.
"Y-you m-monster! Just what did he do to you?!" David shouted, glancing to his side for his holy sword, Gelatine—only to panic when he couldn't find it.
"He's more of a monster than I am. But that's not your concern. I won't waste time giving you any justification," Kouske replied, completely indifferent.
"Looking for this? I'll be taking it as payment for attacking me. Just be grateful I'm not killing you," Kouske added, pulling out Gelatine and holding it up in front of David after noticing him searching for the sword.
"W-what! Give me my sword back!" yelled David as he tried to get back up, only to be slammed into the ground again when Kouske stomped on his head. His face was pressed deep into the soil, unable to move even an inch.
"Don't get cocky again. Tell Michael to come to Akatsuki if he wants this back. We're quite reasonable, you know—unlike you fools. If he gives us something appropriate in return, we'll return Gelatine. Aren't we kind?" Kouske said with an innocent smile that might've fooled anyone else.
As he spoke with David, Kouske noticed Nakagami approaching. It seemed they had also finished cleaning up the strays.
"Am I interrupting something?" Nakagami asked, unsure of what to say after seeing the expressions on the two exorcists—especially Freed. He looked horrible. Even someone as cold as Nakagami felt a tiny bit of sympathy for him… especially for his now dickless state.
"No. I just finished," said Kouske as he teleported both David and Freed to the nearest Church under Vatican influence. Then, turning back to Nakagami, he resumed their conversation.
It seemed everything had truly wrapped up, and it was finally time to return home. He still needed to hear from Sakuya about what had happened in the Dimensional Gap—though he was fairly certain she'd handled everything without much trouble.
He had already copied the skills of Incinerate Anthem, but he still needed to decide what to do with it. Should he give it to someone, or trade it with Heaven for something else? There was a lot to think about.
He only heard about his territory being attacked after returning with Tarte and Bertrand. Thankfully, the damage wasn't much. Many of the attackers were captured, including one Ultimate-class devil taken prisoner.
And after a few days, the whole Underworld was already in turmoil following the announcement of Diodora being declared a traitor, though the details were kept hidden from the public.
Many noble clans protested, but none could do anything when Lord Astaroth himself stated that he had banished Diodora for his crimes and had fully cooperated with the Satans.
Even the Rating Game Champion voiced his support for the Satans. After the whole incident with Cleria, he had become a widely known pro–New Satan Faction member.
In reality, Diodora had been handed over to Heaven. Serafall didn't mind giving him up—after all, it didn't matter anymore now that Diodora was officially declared a traitor and considered dead.
The Satans made such secret deals with Heaven to avoid further escalation. Diodora would now face the wrath of the entire Church—and an angry older brother, Max.
His peerage was also handed over to the Church. But before the Church could execute them—former church members who had turned into devils and were now seen as enemies—they were saved.
Due to the intervention of Masaomi, Max and the kindness of Strada, the peerage members were transferred to Akatsuki for treatment, just like the children rescued from the Holy Sword Project.
Soon after, Latia Astaroth was declared the new heir. Around the same time, a disturbing new video surfaced on DeviNet—one featuring Diodora and a monstrous monkey.
People were horrified by the gore and the terrifyingly grotesque creature. Lord Astaroth quickly traced the video's source to an Old Devil Faction criminal who had been hiding all this time.
He was found and executed immediately. Even until the end, he pretended to know nothing, but he was confirmed to be the one who uploaded the footage.
A few days later, the video of the battle in the Forest of Kyoto began trending and made headlines.
The footage showed the overwhelming power of a new Longinus wielder, an artificial Balance Breaker of one of the Four Fiends, and most notably, a young devil heir from a nearly extinct clan defeating a Cadre of Grigori. It became the most talked-about topic.
Obviously, the video was uploaded by Akatsuki. Kouske knew that even if he hadn't released it, people would have heard about the fight.
But without seeing it with their own eyes, they would underestimate them—or worse, attempt to test their strength.
It would've been especially dangerous for Tobio if someone thought he was weak and decided to attack him.
Now, even without direct backing from Akatsuki or Grigori, everyone had seen Tobio's power firsthand. No ordinary fool would dare provoke him or his team.
And because of that video, Kouske soon found a wild White Dragon Empress knocking at his door in Kuoh, looking for him... and for Akatsuki, the Black Dragon King.
But even before all that, while Latia was being appointed as heir and Diodora's video was going viral, another shocking piece of news spread like wildfire throughout the Underworld: Rizevim Livan Lucifer's mansion had been attacked.
Someone had been crazy enough to destroy his mansion during the short time Rizevim had left it unattended.
The entire Underworld was on edge.
Just who was foolish—or rather, bold—enough to poke the hornet's nest?
[A/N: How was the chapter? Don't forget to leave a comment!
A wild White Dragon Empress appeared!
Next chapter will contain the attack on Rizevim's mansion and the start of Sona's birthday party. After that, I will quickly conclude things about Kouske's engagement, and Sona and Rias moving to Kuoh, then we will directly move into canon time.
On Patreon, we are in the canon timeline, and I just wrote a 5k-word R18 chapter about Kouske and Kuroka. It took a lot of time to write. It seems I have a harder time writing R18 chapters.
I will start publishing my Danmachi fic (WebNovel Fanfic Contest) either tomorrow or the day after. It will only be posted on WebNovel and not on Patreon because of the Fanfic Contest rules.
I would really appreciate your support on WebNovel for that fic. The first-place story right now has over 10k collections.
I would need more than that to even have a chance at winning, so any help and support is appreciated. I will give a notice when it starts publishing.
For the last week, there have been many earthquakes in my country. There is talk of the possibility of a major earthquake (8.2 to 9) happening, which would be disastrous.
I hope you will pray for me and my family's safety. Stay safe, everyone. I hope we will be safe and able to continue life normally.
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