Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
The Narcissa issue was settled. Belle and Ravel were more than adequate for almost anything thrown at them, or at least they'd manage to escape easily. With Lucius behind them, the entire rescue effort would be easier.
That left me to focus entirely on rescuing the succubi. I had no doubt they were in Kuoh. I'd been watching Kuoh for the past few days, waiting for Kokabiel to attack so I could intervene. The mission reward was quite enticing. But I guess I couldn't wait any longer.
I'd make Sellzen suffer. If Kokabiel came out of his hole from wherever he was, then it was good. I'd make him suffer too. No one messed with what was mine.
But before that, I looked at the succubus fingers on my hand. There was no doubt Sellzen had been the culprit. But it was still better to be absolutely sure.
I took out some malatium, an alloy of atium and gold, the metal that allowed me to see into the past. Being an atium alloy, it would allow me to see the spiritual realm, especially the connections and past of the succubi's fingers.
I swallowed the Malatium without hesitation, and the vision of the spiritual realm filled me as usual. Shadows of the past began to fill the alley as I began to relive the memory of the moment I was seeking.
The memory was just as I expected; the succubi were quite close, possibly friends, so they wandered together through Wallachia. They went into the alley to be able to return to the underworld when Sellzen attacked them without warning.
The holy power of the Excalibur left the succubi writhing in pain almost immediately. Sellzen acted immediately and cut off the succubi's fingers before beginning to laugh and gloat, just as he expected from Sellzen.
After inflicting a few more cuts on the succubi for his own sadistic pleasure, the devil that had been patrolling finally arrived and attempted to attack Sellzen and defend the succubi, but was easily overpowered by Sellzen.
The devil's arm was severed as more wounds were inflicted without any consideration. Finally, Sellzen stopped before seeming annoyed at having to leave. He mocked the devil on the ground, but didn't finish him off. He simply dragged the succubi along, and a circle appeared beneath his feet before he was teleported away.
There were a couple of things I noticed. First, Sellzen looked at the succubus's fingers and smiled sadistically, did he know what he was doing by leaving them, some kind of message? Maybe.
Second, the circle on Sellzen's feet was definitely a Fallen Angel magic circle; it was easily distinguishable.
And third, I was able to grasp Sellzen's connection and identity as he teleported away. The effects of the Malatium finally wore off, but I was still holding onto Sellzen's connection. I let myself be carried away by the connection, and just as I expected, it led me to Kuoh.
I stored the succubus fingers in my inventory, created a portal, and entered without hesitation. I looked around. I had decided to leave Rias's club room. If I were going to hunt Sellzen, I would warn Rias. No matter how angry she was, I didn't want any trouble with her right now.
Unfortunately, the room was empty. I knew it was dusk, but I hoped they were still there. I frowned and stretched out my gaze as far as I could. I always had a sense of bronze and began to feel the pulses of magic. I wrinkled my nose. None of them were what I was looking for, and I was covering half the city.
I swallowed some duralumin and the search for bronze spread, covering the entire city and its surroundings, and I immediately sensed what I was looking for.
Sellzen. But he wasn't alone. He could sense seven demonic signatures, Rias, Sona, and Issei among them. He wasn't familiar with the others, trying to recognize them from so far away. But the last signature was the most striking. The angelic drums distorted to sound so deep and unnatural. A fallen angel, a powerful fallen angel.
Kokabiel.
I didn't even hesitate, I opened a portal and walked through it.
"Lady Prince?!" I ignored the scream and looked at my target, too late. They were flying off into the distance with Kokabiel's help in Kuoh's direction.
"Ah! It's the succubus prince! " I ignored Issei's stupid scream.
"Trace On," I muttered as I drew a bow, and Hrunting was created immediately. I placed the arrow on the string and prepared to fire, aiming for Sellzen without hesitation.
"Lady Prince! Wait! " Rias said as she stood in front of my arrow. I frowned. With a bit of magic, I moved Rias out of the way. A couple of kilometers away wasn't far.
"I am the bone of my sword. " Demonic power gushed out of my body, filling it with black stars. "Hunt, Hrunting." I unleashed the Noble Phantasm without hesitation. Hrunting broke the sound barrier at once and accelerated, becoming a red flash that crossed the city almost instantly.
Hrunting quickly reached the target, but Kokabiel noticed it immediately and simply turned around and raised his hand to create a magic crowbar. Hrunting exploded upon impact, creating a massive explosion in the sky of Kuoh.
The explosion took a few seconds to subside, only to reveal a grinning Kokabiel staring back at me. I glared at him. I lowered my bow, however, and Kokabiel laughed mockingly before turning around and heading back to the center of Kuoh.
"What was that for?! Why are you here?!" Rias asked me, questioning me. I clicked my tongue as I drew my bow.
"Sellzen kidnapped two of my succubi." I said emotionlessly. Rias and Sona paled considerably.
"Two succubi were kidnapped?! We have to get them back immediately! " Issei said, I ignored him again.
"What's going on? Why is Kokabiel here? " I asked simply, although I already knew the answer.
"We don't have time, we'll tell you on the way to Kuoh!" Rias said urgently. I snorted.
"We have all the time in the world." I said as I created a time bubble. Rias and Sona froze before sighing in relief.
"That's a relief." Rias muttered before calming down slightly. "So, who wants to start?" Rias asked with a frown. I wrinkled my nose.
"There isn't much to tell from my side, my succubi have a free pass to work in Wallachia, Maria, the succubus in charge of the rotations between them, found it strange that two of them didn't show up in the underworld once again, so she went to look for them."
"She came across a wounded devil patrolling Wallachia and immediately called me. Once the devil was healed and awakened, he told me how he was attacked by an exorcist who, according to his description, could be none other than Freed Sellzen, and who even had a fragment of Excalibur in his possession."
"Once he defeated the devil, he kidnapped two succubi. I followed their trail to Kuoh." I explained quickly. Everyone's brows furrowed immediately.
"That's… worrying. And it seems you were right, Sellzen is in possession of three fragments of Excalibur, no, now four, so there's no doubt that he was the perpetrator." Rias said while thinking.
"The question is, why did he kidnap two succubi?" Sona muttered. "Sellzen worked under Kokabiel's orders. Kokabiel just confessed to us that he wants to create a war between the devils, angels, and fallen angels. What role do you play that brings you into this? " Sona asked while thinking.
Excellent question, isn't it? " I asked dryly. "There are rumors in the supernatural world that my relationship with Rias is closer than it appears. My assistance in her Rating Game to break up her engagement didn't go unnoticed in the supernatural world. He may want to break up my relationship with Sirzechs." Rias paled.
"And you are the prince of succubi, the prince of commoner devils. If succubi die in my territory, or worse, I am framed for it, then there is no doubt that the devils of your city will be angry with Sirzechs." Rias said quickly. I nodded.
"That's my guess." I said with a grimace. "And Kokabiel's plan?" I asked simply. Rias growled in hatred.
"He wants to destroy all of Kuoh. He thinks that by doing so, he'll force Sirzechs to come and start a new war," Rias summarized with a grimace. I snorted.
"Seriously, that's the most stupidly complicated and useless plan I've ever heard," I said mockingly. Rias snorted, but agreed with me.
"Well, no one ever said that fallen angels were particularly intelligent," Akeno said mockingly, with a hint of malice. I raised an eyebrow at her.
"You called yourself a bit of an idiot?" I asked playfully. Akeno wrinkled her nose and glared at me.
"Never group me with those birds of-"
"Akeno!" Rias interrupted firmly. Akeno grimaced, but took a step back. Then Rias glared at me. "Stop bothering my queen when we have more important things to do," Rias snorted. I rolled my eyes in amusement.
"Okay, what's the plan?" I asked immediately. "My plan is to go in, torture Sellzen, kill Kokabiel, and find my succubi." I said simply. Sona and Rias stared at me.
"Not to call you weak, but… what about your queen? The Impaler Queen? " Rias asked almost hopefully.
"Bella's busy." I said simply. Rias grimaced.
"Rias, I know you don't want to upset your brother, but Kokabiel is one of the leaders of the fallen angels; he's not an enemy we can face." Akeno immediately intervened.
"Do whatever you want, I'll go face him." I said without any problem.
"Wait! Kuoh is our territory! You can't just do whatever you want! " Rias said quickly. I frowned.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of that pesky bird without any problem." I said simply.
"Lady Prince, if you could listen to us for a few minutes," Sona chimed in. I raised an eyebrow at her. "We need to plan this carefully. We don't know your strength, Lady Prince, and Kokabiel is a 10-winged fallen angel. It wouldn't be wise to underestimate him."
"I'm not underestimating anyone. I can handle him," I repeated once more. The looks on both kings' faces seemed incredulous. I snorted and ruffled my hair in annoyance. "What will it take to convince them to let me face them once and for all? And I'm only saying this so as not to cause any conflict with you. But if you stop me from facing them, I have no qualms about ignoring you and going to fight anyway." I said, crossing my arms.
Rias and Sona grimaced. They looked at each other and seemed to speak almost telepathically, the conversation lasting a few seconds before Rias sighed and Sona nodded.
"We'll accompany you. My Peerage and I will go with you to face Kokabiel." Rias said firmly.
"I'll place a barrier around Kuoh with the help of my Peerage. I should be able to contain the damage just at Kuoh Academy," Sona continued without hesitation. I wrinkled my nose.
"If that's what it takes, fine, let's move on." I retorted. The two kings nodded. Rias clapped.
"Okay guys, we have- Issei? And your mouth? " Rias asked confused. I looked at the mouthless Issei desperately as he struggled with his hands as if trying to pry open his jaws to see if he could get his mouth back.
"Ah, yes." I moved my hand, and Issei recovered his mouth. "He seemed annoyed that I kept interrupting again." I said dryly.
"Oh, thank- that was awful!" Issei groaned as he sighed in relief. Rias gave me a flat look that I masterfully ignored.
"You were better off keeping quiet." Koneko murmured almost sadly.
" Gah! How cruel! " Issei murmured, depressed.
"Be thankful I didn't reverse your eyes so you only see the scant gray matter in your head," I said dryly. Issei paled considerably while Koneko smiled faintly. I could hear Rias sigh as she massaged her temple.
"Please stop threatening my servants." Rias begged.
"When it stops bothering me," I said with a shrug. "So let's say... when it stops breathing."
"Wait, stop breathing?! That would kill me! " Issei exclaimed in panic.
"Yes, that's what happens when you kill someone, they die." I said so dryly that Issei shuddered considerably.
"Lady Prince!" Rias exclaimed exasperatedly.
"All right, I'll stop bothering your servants. After all, I have a better goal. There are many things I want to try on that stupid exorcist. I just designed some rather appealing reversal spells. If all goes correctly, his skin will peel away from his body in the most painful way possible before reversing itself while leaving all his nerves intact, leaving all his most painful nerves exposed."
"just to cast a little torture spell on him that would activate all his pain receptors, I can already imagine that exorcist rolling on the floor. hehehehe." I laughed sadistically as a huge grin began to appear on my face.
"Lady Prince… please stop talking," Sona pleaded. I blinked a few times and looked at the devils, who were considerably pale and slightly green, all of whom had taken several steps back. I cleared my throat.
"My apologies, I got carried away, that was inappropriate of me," I said apologetically.
"So you're not planning on doing that to Sellzen?" Issei asked shakily.
"I didn't say that. I just said I'll keep my torture plans in mind. By the way, I recommend you stay away when I find that exorcist." I said with a huge, innocent smile. For some reason, that made everyone shudder even more.
"Noted." Rias muttered.
"All right, let's get this over with," I finally said as I dropped my time bubble. It's showtime.
Editors note: the Author Kami has just mastered the great dao of Cliff!